#but mostly he just sits there in the background smiling and appreciating her performance

[starbuck]

so this old man did a little outdoor patio garden concert at my park today and it was a really nice day so he kept reiterating how fun and happy he had made his set to match the weather. at a certain point he said “i’m gonna do some joni now :)” and i’m like “all right, sure” mentally running through all the songs he might potentially pull out and, i kid you not, this man starts singing fucking A CASE OF YOU.

[ikigaisvt]

our dawn is hotter than day.

in which you and your boyfriend says i love you for the first time surrounded by his friends.

pairing: jeonghan x reader, seventeen x reader (in a friendship way lmao dw) words: 1.6k content: fluff warnings: talk of drinking (like two times but it's not a main theme), reader sits on jeonghan's lap, reader kisses jeonghan's cheek, they hold hands, jeonghan's tucks reader's hair away from their face, pda ig?, petnames (for reader: angel, baby / for jeonghan: hannie) note: jeonghan's instagram post from a few days ruined me,, he's my bf :( this idea was mostly @homerunhansol so credits to her for this story (and for making me delusional about hannie 🫶) thank you bb! minors can interact with this fic but pls don't follow! comments, likes and reblogs are always appreciated, pls don't forget

You thought when you would meet Jeonghan’s bandmates – his soulmates if we’re being truthful, that it would be nerve-recking. You thought you would be stuck to your boyfriend’s side, never letting go of his hand and always looking at him only, never meeting anyone’s eyes. No matter how many times he said in a reassuring tone you will be just fine, you didn’t believe him. You knew you were going to be anxious and there was no way around it. At least, you thought you knew.

What you never expected is – as the forever introvert you are, that you would get along with them this well. Since you walked into the place the 13 boys have rented for the weekend, it has been a constant exchange of laughter, smiles, drinks and food. Even the most introverted boys – such as Wonwoo or Soonyoung (who’s the shyest of the band, surprisingly) have opened to you. What you have realized in this little time together is that there is a snippet of Jeonghan in every single one of them. And that makes them feel like home, as if they always were just this much to you.

That’s how you find yourself, enjoying the night away, as it is still young, with 13 boys. You and Booseoksoon, which you have learned are the entertainers of Seventeen, enjoyed the karaoke together, singing at least 5 songs before the eyes of the other boys whom are clearly amused. A few times Chan joins you four to add some humor to the performance - and Seungkwan squeals every time or Jihoon adds some of his beautiful notes into the background. You have spent most of your night away from your boyfriend as he watches you from the couch, smiling and giggling, a beer in hand, at the way you are getting along so well with his favorite people in the world. It truly is a gift to see you this happy with the ones that made him into who he is.

As the night get deeper and colder, you find yourself at the campfire with most of the 13 boys – some of them being too tired to continue the night, to settle down and talk some more. Sat down on Jeonghan’s lap, in one of his comfiest hoodies, you talk and laugh with the boys as they share some of their funniest stories. You think your favorite one so far is about the famous Dokyeom and Seungkwan fight in Jeju.

It’s after almost an hour outside that you feel Jeonghan pulling you closer by the waist, resting his head on your back.

“Angel,” you hear him whisper softly.

“Hm, what is it, Hannie?” you answer quietly, turning around a little to see him look up to you with doe eyes.

"Are you enjoying tonight?" your boyfriend asks you, his eyes shining so much you wonder if the galaxy didn't find a home within him.

"Yeah, I am!" you tell him with a shy smile, knowing he's going to tease you with an I told you so even though it never comes. You see Jeonghan thinking about his next words, the teasing still ever present in his eyes when you hear a voice calling for you.

"Y/N!" Dokyeom says loudly to catch your attention, "Come talk with us!" he adds, sitting next to Seungkwan. You give them a thumbs up before turning around in Jeonghan's embrace, giving him a kiss on the cheek and squeezing his hand.

You spend the next hour or so sat down with Dokyeom and Seungkwan as you talk and laugh as if you knew each other for years. You only look up once or twice to look at your boyfriend, your eyes locking every time. If you were more attentive to him, you'd see how he'd be distracted by you, not being able to hold a conversation with anyone, including Seungcheol. He knew, when he first asked you to meet his members, that it would pull at his heartstrings. Despite all your beliefs, he knew you would fit in just well and they would welcome you with arms wide open.

He never really took the time to think about what it could mean for him. To see his favorite people love each other this much. He was hit with a wave of familiarity at the scene, as if his life always was like this, as if you were always just right by his side. However, what hit him the most at this instant, as he hears your laugh meld with Dokyeom's, was love. For some months he had been thinking of how much he loves you; he felt it mostly when you'd cook his favorite meal for him after he'd tell you practice was hard on this day, he could feel it in the way his heart would miss a beat when your eyes crinkle up in a smile or when you'd cling to his shirt, when he joins you in the middle of the night, making butterflies erupt in his stomach. But the moment he could feel it the most was right now: seeing you be your true self around his own people made him realize he wanted to provide this safe place for you for as long as you wanted him to. If you needed an island to rest on, he will be one for you.

It's after a few minutes, when Dokyeom decides to go to sleep and Seungkwan gets in a chaotic conversation with Chan, that you join him again, finding rest on his lap once more. As you talk lively with Seungcheol, the idea of playing mafia game pops up in the conversation which gets everyone excited.

After 2 mafia games - one won by Jeonghan as a mafia, the other one by the mafias again, which you were a part of, you can feel the sleepiness seeping through your bones. As you and your boyfriend were already eliminated from the current game, you fully let yourself rest against your boyfriend, your head in the crook of his neck, his hands keeping you still at the waist. You feel yourself drowsing off to the sound of Jeonghan's laughter, losing it at some of the boys' competitiveness.

"Baby," he whispers in your ear, "do you want to go to bed?"

"No, no," you whimper, shaking your head slightly, "Wanna stay here. With you." you confirm, grabbing his hand tightly.

"Okay, angel." he says in a short chuckle, "But let me know when you want to go, hm?"

"I will, don't worry. Thank you, Hannie." you say sweetly, looking at him. The stars found a home in her eyes, Jeonghan thinks to himself.

"I love you." he says in a mutter, entirely to himself, thinking you're already dozing back to sleep.

Yet, he hears your giggle and feel the smile forming as your cheeks hit the curve of his neck.

"I love you too," you answer, still giggling. "Why are you saying this so suddenly?" you murmur, hiding your head deeper in his neck so no one can see the blush covering your cheeks.

"First of all, I didn't think you'd hear that and-" he says in a pout, as you look up at him, seeing a blush on his face.

"I can't believe the Yoon Jeonghan is blushing." you tease softly as you start to play with his fingers.

"And-" Jeonghan starts again, ignoring your teasing - even though a small smile makes its way on his lips, "I do really love you. Seeing you tonight, with all of them, tugged at my heartstrings." He explains, brushing your hair out of your face, "I felt like you were comfortable around them and it just makes me want to have countless days and nights with all of you. I just realized how I want to be with you forever." he confesses, still looking down at you, your eyes welling up with tears at his words.

"You know, why I felt this comfortable tonight?" you ask, waiting for his answer which comes in a shake of his head, "Because they really feel like you. Not in the I'm-in-love-with-you way- because yeah, I am in love with you, but- I just see parts of you within them. In their actions, in their kindnesses, in their words; that's why I felt so safe. They are people you love," you say as look around to see them still playing mafia game - Mingyu on his knees, begging Seungkwan not to kill him, making you snort, "You all grew up together, you taught each other how to be good people, and you did it pretty well. I don't think there'd be a single soul who would not feel safe with any of you." you tell him, holding his hand, "I was nervous about meeting them all, I wanted them to like me but tonight I realized it would be pretty damn hard to be hated by them-" you chuckle softly, your eyes meeting, "That's why I was so myself tonight."

"They'd never hate you." he whispers, "Not because they are good people - God only knows these idiots can be petty as well," he sneers, all the love in the world showing up in his eyes, "but because they saw how you made me happy, day after day. And that was enough for them to love you. It will always be enough." he tells you, eyes still locked, "Also- I am in love with you too." he adds as Seungkwan screams out in despair for losing while Chan stands up and does a silly dance to celebrate his victory, making you both laugh out loud at their antics. You look up briefly at the sky, seeing the stars still shining bright even though it is becoming brighter as the minutes passes by. I don't think I will be able to sleep anytime soon, you think to yourself as you feel your heart buzz with excitement, your boyfriend pulling you closer by the waist. But after all, as 13 boys once said, our dawn is hotter than day.

thank you so much for reading! i hope you liked it 🫶

[briamichellewrites]

22

2002. Everything Bria touched turned to gold. The short film she and Topher did was getting great reviews. Critics praised her acting, as well as the film itself. Topher gave her friends and parents a screening after it was completed. They all gathered in her theatre room. She provided them with snacks, drinks and blankets. The film was forty minutes long, but she wanted them to be comfortable. There were no sex scenes because she wasn’t comfortable with that.

During the bar scenes, she was shown having a non-alcoholic drink since she was underage. Everything worn during the film was their own clothes. They hired a hair and makeup team, along with a film crew from UCLA Film School. It was mostly because it was less expensive than hiring professionals. However, it was also a great opportunity to give them real-world experience.

Topher had them submit applications. He then picked the ones he thought were the best. For the dancing scenes, he had to get the rights to use The Sound of Music. He was able to buy them with financial support from Bria. Jasper was hired as a crew leader. He got instructions from Topher, who relayed them to the rest of the crew. Working on the film was a great idea for him. After officially retiring, he enjoyed not having to make all the decisions.

His co-workers brought him a cake. The staff came to say goodbye to him and thank him for his years of being a doctor. They would miss him. Bria was not there because she had to work. She ordered his favourite meal and had it sent to him and her mother. Just so he didn’t have to cook. He greatly appreciated it. She also sent him a card of congratulations.

Mike saw parallels between his relationship with Bria and the one on film. Especially the fighting and the resentment between the two characters. The dialogue felt real and believable. They laughed when during an argument scene, Micha meowed loudly in the background. Almost as if he was improvising. They stopped arguing and looked at him. She went over and picked him up before sitting on the couch. Topher’s character came over and sat down next to her.

“What do you want me to do? I’m losing my mind here because... I love you so much. But I’m not going to be your second choice.”

“You’re my first choice. I try to prove that every fucking day. I love you, too.”

“No. No, you don’t. If you loved me, you would make time for me.”

Mike started crying silently. He wanted to crawl into the screen and tell him he was making the mistake of his life. But, he couldn’t. The post-breakup was shown with him trying to work on his book and her rehearsing for her upcoming performance with her instructor. She is shown practising in a leotard, cropped t-shirt and ballet shoes. The scenes were shot at UCLA with students and staff in the audience during her performance.

Her dancing was real. She danced like she did as a child. They could see the joy she had when she was performing in front of a crowd. She was wearing the same leotard and shoes. The scene was Jasper’s favourite because he got to watch her dance. She had to do it over and over until Topher got the shots he wanted.

When she took her bow, she spotted Topher in the crowd. He had shown up for her. They shared a smile before the screen went black. Oh my god! They got up and clapped whilst the credits ran. Topher got up and bowed. He then gestured to Bria, who also bowed.

Mike wiped his tears from his face. Meow! Micha wanted attention, so he walked in like he owned the place. They laughed. Bria had them take as many snacks and drinks as they wanted. Rob asked Micha what he thought about being in the short film. He answered him by licking his paw and using it to clean his face. Dave asked if that was a good thing. She had no idea.

They laughed again. Since it was early in the evening, they continued hanging out. Though Christina and Jasper excused themselves. They had a cat they needed to go home to. Bria hugged them and thanked them for coming, as did Topher. They then sat back down. It had been quite the year. Rob asked about her modelling career. It was keeping her busy. What was she doing? She signed a contract with Chanel to be the face of their brand.

That meant doing print work. What was that? It was advertised in magazines, newspapers, billboards and online. Anything that didn’t involve television commercials. She had to learn how to walk down the runway at “runway school”. It was not as easy as it looked, especially in heels. They laughed. Warner wanted her back in the studio, so she was finding time to do that.

Even though she was a singer first, she was okay with putting it on hold for years. What about her and Topher? No. As adorable as he was, they were not dating. She was happy being single because she was so busy. Her manager was going through offers for her to do acting work. How long was her contract? It was for two years. She would decide what she wanted to do when it expired next year. Whether it was modelling, acting or singing.

Was she still sober? Yes, she was. They congratulated her. Thank you! Being busy helped distract her from her cravings.

“My mom called me because she saw you in a magazine. She was at the dentist’s and she was waiting for her appointment. It was at like ten in the morning and I was just waking up when my phone went off. I was half asleep and she was telling me about seeing you. It took me awhile to get what she was trying to say. She was so excited, she had to call and tell me.”

“That’s adorable”, Brad said with a laugh.

“It was so adorable.”

They laughed. Meow. Princess was hungry when Jasper and Christina arrived home. She met them at the door when they walked in. He crouched down to her and asked her what she wanted. Food! She meowed again. He got up and followed her to the kitchen. She stopped to make sure he was following her. He was. She ran over to her bowl.

Once she was served like the Queen she was, she started eating. It was time for dinner. Jasper was full of energy as he went to the refrigerator. She helped him since she was starting to see the symptoms of mania. He found chicken broth, vegetables, noodles and chicken breast. They worked together to make chicken noodle soup. Because he was distracted, she had him wash the vegetables in the sink after he washed his hands.

He did. Once they were washed, he handed them back to her. She used paper towels to dry them off before cutting them. He stayed away because he didn’t want to get cut. Instead, he poured the chicken broth into the stainless steel pot. They should have preheated the oven first, but oh well. They just had to watch it.

Once the oven was ready, they added the vegetables and noodles. He got a wooden spoon and stirred everything together. She added a chopped-up onion to give it flavour. It was ready within a half hour. She made sure he turned off the stove. He double-checked. Yes, he did. He got a ladle and served her up a bowl. Thank you. They kissed before he poured himself a bowl and brought it to his place at the dining room table.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon

[yoongis-tangerines]

hey I love your fics! can you do something where the reader is a badass like sasaengs are scared of her and the member boasts about her to others? thank you💜💜 Have a nice day!

➼ pairing: idol!yoongi x fem!reader

➼ summary: established relationship, reader is less of a badass and more of a tsundere, hope that's okay, teeny little drabble

➼ word count: 2k, short and sweet :)

➼ what to expect: "yeah, actually, taehyung hosted a live yesterday. maybe you should hop off and go watch that one, hm?"

➼ warnings: language?? reader is a bit rude to the vlive viewers (the ones that deserve it anyways)

➼ talk to the characters!

➼ thank you for the request, anon! if you also want to request something, do it here!

➼ THIS IS NOT A TRANSCRIPT OF HIS PTD LA VLIVE! i just picked a random concert for him to do a live after and this one seemed fitting

yoongi starts the live, eyes flitting around the screen as viewers trickle in quickly

"hello." he waves awkwardly, smiling at his awkwardness just a moment after

you're mulling around in his hotel room just off camera with a book and a stoic look on your face

it's a well known fact throughout the fandom that you're yoongi's girlfriend, it's been a public relationship for a little more than a year now

yoongi appreciates that his fans love you, you're very well adored by them

but of course, there are always those fans who are quite jealous of you, but those aren't real fans anyways

and yoongi knows that

in fact, your relationship isn't only good for him, but quite frankly his safety as well

you're a closed off person, you're not very cheerful or bubbly, but yoongi loves you all the same

you tend to..,,,. intimidate people

more on that later :)

"just waiting for everyone to come." yoongi reaches for his glass of wine sitting near him on the table, taking a sip and reading over the multitude of comments, mostly filled with purple hearts and well wishes

and the thirst comments, but those are always good for his ego (however graphic they are...)

it's not long before he sees them: the comments asking where the other members are

it's not like he doesn't mind them, deep down he wishes they would just pay attention to him. if he wanted to bring another member in, he would have already

"how did you all enjoy tonight's concert?" yoongi asks softly, leaning on the table to watch the comments in all the world's languages bombarde him

he and the members have just finished another successful concert in LA, and although he absolutely loves being with his fans and performing with his bandmates, sitting with you alone in a hotel room and winding down is pretty appealing as well

comments of praise filter in pretty quickly, he struggles to keep up with them all

"they're probably not even all home yet." your voice chimes in from the background

yoongi turns to face you, you haven't even glanced up from your book. he turns back to his live

"oh, right." he smiles his gummy smile

"i hope everyone gets home safe. it's probably hectic, fifty thousand people leaving all at one time." he grimaces at the thought, playing with his chain bracelet

you enter his mind again after a moment of silence and he turns back to you

"come here, baby, come sit with me." he pats his lap and gains your attention for a moment

you gently place your bookmark on your page and settle your book next to you on your shared bed, swinging your sock-clad feet over the edge and striding over to your boyfriend, his gummy-grin on fully display as you comply with his request

you cross your arms and raise an eyebrow, seeing there's only one seat and he's sitting in it

he pats his lap again cheekily

"c'mere." he urges again

you roll your eyes and settle down on his lap, flicking your hair over your shoulder and peering into the camera and reading the comments of your arrival

y/n-ieeeee!

💜💜angel💜💜

너무 예뻐요💜💜🤍🤍 (so pretty 💜💜🤍🤍)

милая пара! (nice couple!)

¿estaba ella en el concierto? (was she at the concert?)

you squint, much like yoongi, and nod

"i was there. but i'll never tell you where." you sigh casually, crossing your legs and slinging your arms around yoongi's neck

i thought i saw her! my friends thought i was crazy

yoongi! get us an uber, we're stuck at so-fi! 🚗🚗

service sucksssss, still watching the live tho

okay wait is no one gonna acknowledge that she can read spanish?

yoongi laughs, "she's a woman of many talents." he's so very proud of you, but he'd never say it that way. it makes you feel like he's being condescending, but you know he loves you

there's a comfortable silence as the pair of you read through the constant comments

he can feel you tense suddenly, and he follows your eyes to the comments

and then he sees it

where's taehyungie-oppa? 💜

he can feel the storm brewing right next to him

your tongue pokes inside your cheek in irritation and you hum in mock fascination

yoongi tries to quickly change the subject

"so, um, you guys-"

"hi, um... what's your name?" you squint to read the username, "mrs-kim. yeah, hi. nice to meet you. i think you've forgotten who's hosting this vlive?" you tilt your head, feigning innocence

"y/n-"

"yeah, actually, taehyung hosted a live yesterday. maybe you should hop off and go watch that one, hm?"

as much as yoongi wants to stop you, he can't help but listen, his lips tugging upwards fondly at your attitude

he doesn't mind the comments, he knows he's loved, but it's just fun to watch you get all fired up

yoongi can't help but just stare at you, his eyes landing unabashedly on your lips as you speak

see, this is why your relationship is good for his safety and his management sees no problem with you dating him

you scare people

you're not afraid to put fans in their place when they're out of line

disrespectful shippers, fans of only one member, sasaengs, you name it

yoongi can't remember the last time he saw a sasaeng at the airport or even caught wind of one on their tail

you're also pretty good of... taking care of things

not in a violent way, per say, but he notices when things haven't gone according to plan, one dirty look from you and things are going right again

your type of personality has attracted your own group of little intimidating friends before you even met him

how did you meet him? well, that's something he'll never forget

the only part yoongi doesn't like to admit is he was attending a club in france in disguise

and surprise surprise, someone recognized him from only his eyes in a mask and a beanie

now that he thinks about it, it's actually quite impressive, the dedication that his fans put into his features and recognizing them

he's sure they weren't meaning to swarm him, but they were causing quite a commotion and drawing even more fans over to him

he really just wanted to be alone

and then- that voice he would never forget

"hey, leave him alone. it's like you're all leeches; scram."

once you shove through a few fans (and a few more aggressive ones) the others take a hint and scatter, still whispering to each other and glancing over at him every once in a while

"hope that helps. you looked a little claustrophobic in there. i'll be with my friends if it happens again." you point to your group and start to join them again when he instinctively stops you

"hey! um, thank you... for that. can i- can i buy you a drink?" he gestures vaguely to the bar he's sitting at

he doesn't know what just happened- but he knows he doesn't regret asking

you smirk knowingly, "sure. thanks." you take a seat next to him and inform the bartender of your favorite

the two of you got to talking and he ended up asking for your number

oh, he knew his management and probably namjoon would be absolutely livid when they found out, but who's he to care? he just met the girl of his dreams

and, something he didn't know until much, much later, is that you were actually a huge fan of him and his members

you were very good at keeping that under wraps until he got to know you better, and he appreciated that more than you could know

it wasn't until a little further into your relationship that he started noticing the fangirl traits about you

anyways, back on track with your friends-

your friends know people who know people, if you know what he means

"and if you can't-"

as you go on your little rant, yoongi grabs your chin between his fingers and effectively interrupts you mid sentence by planting his lips firmly on yours

you let out an uncharacteristic squeal at his behavior as his hand hooks under your leg

first of all: yoongi is pretty strict about the limited pda in front of his fans because he knows a lot of them have jealous tendencies (he was the one to tell them they were cheating on him if they had partners after all)

second of all: you're not huge on it either, and he knows that full well

you're still in shock when he pulls away, blinking owlishly as the comments go positively wild

you clear your throat and lick your lips

you don't even glance at the comments flying in before rising off yoongi's lap and waltzing over to your shared bed

"well, i guess we're done here." you hint quite obviously

yoongi can't suppress his grin as he takes one more quick glance at the screen

as much as he loves his fans-

"i'll see you guys at the next concert. sleep well, everyone." he blows a brief kiss and fumbles to end the live before shutting off the camera and joining you in bed

♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        

it doesn't take the other members long to notice yoongi's chipper attitude the next day, his arms woven around your waist and his chin propped on your shoulder

you're in a relatively quiet part of LA, so as to not draw as much attention as they would in crowded areas

nowhere near so-fi stadium, that's for sure

"handsy today, yoongi-ah?" jin teases as he sets yoongi's coffee on the table, joining the rest of you in your little corner of the coffee shop

yoongi hums in agreement as his hands run up and down your sides, making you squirm

"min yoongi." you scold, swatting at his hands

"sorry. can't help it." he's not sorry in the least, settling his hands on your thighs as you swat at his hand once more

"am i going to have to sit in a different seat or can you be civil?" you turn around to face him with mock seriousness

"yes, ma'am." his roaming hands come to a stop on your hips and they stay there. you nod in approval

"get a room, won't you?" jimin teases, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly

"you guys are just jealous that this woman is dating me and not you." yoongi shrugs, feigning innocence

"mmm, we mustn't be so modest." you tone drips with sarcasm as you run your fingers casually through his orange locks

"i'm actually kind of glad she's dating you... you both scare me when you're together, so perfect match." jungkook teases from his seat

"i scare you, jungkook?" you tilt your head

somehow, the simplest of questions strikes a bit of fear in jungkook's system. he gulps

"... no?" he manages

hoseok bursts into laughter and hits him on the arm, "oh man, that was the most unconvincing "no" i've ever heard." he wipes his tears

"shut up, hyung!" jungkook whines, taking a cautious glance at you

you chuckle, "it's okay, jungkook. i get it a lot." you wink and the maknae's face turns a beet red color

"but you don't scare me." yoongi muses from below you

you raise an eyebrow, "oh yeah? weren't you the one 'yes ma'am'-ing me earlier?" your voice has dropped considerably, and yoongi gulps, similar to jungkook

"yes, ma'am."

want to read more? check out my masterlist 💜

how can i make your dreams come true? request something 🌹

have any questions? ask me here 💌

like what you read? leave a like 🤍, or better yet, reblog or comment any feedback you might have

[amishfruit]

Lady Of The Lake, Chapter One: Wade

pairings: fakir/ahiru, background mytho/rue

word count: 7048

on ao3

A young woman comes out of the lake one day mid summer, walking into town completely nude, long ginger hair falling in waves over her petite frame. Her wide blue eyes blink naively back at the stunned people milling about. It doesn’t take long for someone to provide her with a blanket to cover herself with and later clothes once they’ve gotten somewhere safe to dress.

Once the initial shock wears off a bit, the woman observes the space she has been welcomed into. She sits on a bed dressed with a soft purple duvet and a pleasant assortment of pillows. It is simple but elegant, the walls were left mostly bare, but the sweet collection of knick knacks more than made up for it. The clothes she's wearing now were given to her off a rack by the bed, where a modest number of dresses hung. She finally turns to the friend who had invited her into their room and attempts to speak, at first nothing but a strangled call comes out but after clearing her throat she begins again. “Thank you.” she meets eyes with them earnestly, “for helping a stranger.”

The person across from her flushes lightly, seated on a stool in front of a small vanity.

Tucking a strand of their long black hair that had fallen out of a lovely ribbon behind their ear, they answer. “You’re very welcome, though I don't think we are truly strangers anymore.” Their voice is gentle and light, but there is a playful glint in their grey eyes and the woman of the lake realizes she is being teased.

Her cheeks heat, but she knows it is not malicious. “You're right, we aren't strangers.” She huffs a small laugh, “though i do not know your name, i am..” her face falls momentarily as she struggles to remember, but it comes to her in time. “Ahiru. my name is Ahiru.”

Her new friend smiles beautifully in response, rosy lips contrasting against their pale unmarred skin. “A lovely name, I am Raetsel.” A pause, “..forgive me if this is rude, but why, or, how did you walk out of the lake today? Where do you come from? Also, are you alright?” it all comes out in one breath and Raetsel gnaws on her lip anxiously once she finishes.

Ahiru smiles a small, sad smile, blue eyes seeming to dim. “I don't remember..I cannot answer even one of your questions, Raetsel. I only know my name.”

Raetsel leans forward delicately, concerned. “You don't need to answer me Ahiru, i'm sorry to have upset you.” She grasps ahirus hand in hers and gives an encouraging squeeze.

This seems to warm Ahiru who lifts their joined hands and leans forward to embrace her new friend. “I think I am alright.”

-----

The sun was just at its highest when she had risen from the lake and after a very eventful few hours of awareness, she finds herself quite hungry and tired. Raetsal hears her stomach growl and laughs, leading her to the kitchen and informing her that it is time for supper. Upon entering, Ahiru wakes up a bit in response to the wonderful smell coming from the stove. She follows and sits next to Raetsel at the table, there is an extra setting next to her. Before she can ask, the smell gets closer and stronger and she can't suppress a delighted sound as her nose chases the scent. Opening her eyes after a particularly deep sniff she is met with the sight of a tall, handsome stranger. Their skin is a deep olive shade and it compliments their dark green hair beautifully. Like Raetsel, a few locks of shorter hair fall out of a low ponytail that reaches down to the middle of their back, the ribbon tying their hair in place is simple and not as decorative as Raetsel’s, but it has its own charm. Their face is stoic, thick eyebrows resting low over their sharp green eyes. They turn to the side a bit and Ahiru admires their strong profile, a strong nose is the most noticeable feature from this angle, long and curved down with a high bridge that flows into sharp brow bones. Their jaw is square and defined, but their neck and shoulders are more lithe than she expects. There is clear strength in their arms but they maintain a lean figure that holds a surprising level of grace.

They turn to ahiru with a quizzical expression, lips twisting before they decide to speak. “I take it you are the lady from the lake?” Their voice is rich and low, quiet but stern.

She nods slowly, “yes, i am Ahiru. Thank you for allowing me into your home.”

The stranger sets a plate of food in front of Raetsel, and then another in front of her giving a noncommittal grunt. “Mm. I’m Fakir, am I correct in assuming Raetsel has already introduced herself?”

Ahiru smiles, “yes, she has been very kind to me.”

Fakir looks at Raetsel, searching for something in her face that he seems to find. He nods to himself, sitting down next to Ahiru. “I hope the food is acceptable to you.”

She grins, “it smells delightful, I have no doubts I will enjoy it.”

He flushes a bit at this, fidgeting with the rolled up sleeves of his white linen button up.

Raetsel laughs lightly, “Please excuse my brother dear Ahiru, he is not accustomed to company.” She leans closer to Ahiru and continues in a conspiratorial tone, “Especially not company as kind and lovely as yourself.” She ends it with a wink, laughing as fakir chokes slightly on his food and flushes red.

Ahiru, for her part, is just as embarrassed and is very sure her face has turned the same color as her hair. Rather than trying to respond, she stuffs a bite of the meal into her mouth, quickly forgetting her own embarrassment as she tastes things she has never tasted before. “Oh!’ She exclaims after swallowing, “this is so good!”

Raetsel hums her agreement, “Fakir is a talented cook, most of his ingredients come from the garden out back as many of them are not commonly used in this town.”

Fakir seems to be pointedly ignoring the conversation, focusing on his plate and pretending not to notice how his ears are burning.

Ahiru turns to him, “where did you learn to cook like this?” She asks earnestly.

He seems surprised at being directly addressed but he swallows and clears his throat, looking to Raetsel for help but eventually realizing he cannot avoid the question. “I taught myself.” he meets her eyes and looks away quickly.

Raetsel, satisfied that she has tortured him enough for one night, fills in the blanks. “Fakir came here as a very young boy from a place far away, there are spices and herbs from his home that aren’t commonly used here and when my mother took him in she provided him with many books about his culture, though the food is what turned out to be most important to him.” She smiles at her adoptive brother, who’s embarrassment seems to have faded if only slightly. “He has been cooking for our family ever since.”

Ahiru is very impressed, taking a moment to look at Fakir with appreciation. He pointedly ignores her stare and lets his bangs fall forward to shield his eyes.

They finish the rest of their meal with minimal conversation, both of the women respecting Fakirs clear desire for the topic to be dropped. When every plate has been cleared, Ahiru offers to clean them up. Raetsel quirks a brow at her and asks if she has ever actually washed a dish before.

Ahiru rubs the back of her neck, “well I.. don’t remember if I have.” Fakir seems surprised at her response and she avoids eye contact with both of them, “but it can’t be that hard! I remembered that they needed to be cleaned, right? I’m sure I can figure it out!” She is so passionate that Raetsel chooses not to question her further, but she does accompany the tiny woman into their kitchen and watches over her as she carefully cleans and dries each dish. Fakir joins them in the kitchen, quietly putting away ingredients and tools that he had used to cook their meal, when he is done he bids them both farewell and retreats to his room.

“I hope he hasn’t put you off.” Raetsel comments, showing Ahiru where she can hang the dish rag.

Ahiru shakes her head, “not at all! The food was so delicious, he is very skilled.”

Raetsel is amused, “you didn’t find him rude?”

Confused, Ahiru tilts her head to the side. “Why would i? He fed me.. that was very kind.”

Raetsel smiles, “you have a very open heart, many of the townspeople have issues with him. He's just a bit too blunt..” she puffs out a breath, “sometimes they misunderstand him, and he gets frustrated.”

Ahiru nods sadly, “I would too.”

Raetsel seems surprised at this answer at first, before settling into a very pleased disposition. “You are really something new Ahiru.”

The aforementioned lady blushes softly and straightens up. “T-thank you Raetsal.” She ducks her head in a miniature bow.

“Come dear, I’ll show you your room.”

————

Once she gets settled and bids goodnight to her host, Ahiru takes a moment to breathe. Slow, in and out. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with, well everything that had happened in the day, she wishes to braid her hair, dress down and sleep. In the room Raetsel provided to her there is a vanity, and on top ribbons and a wide tooth comb. Ahiru smiles at the thoughtful touch and carefully undresses, mindful of her steps so that she does not damage Raetsels’ lovely dress. She hangs it on a hook by the door, removing her socks and leaving her chemise on, remembering the earlier incident and cringing at herself. Next, she sits on the vanity stool and takes the comb carefully, starting at the ends of her long hair and working her way up slowly. Once all the tangles are gone she separates it into three sections and plaits in a simple pattern. She hums as she does this, a tune she knows and loves, something comforting. At the end of her hair, she ties a thick satin ribbon into a bow and tucks herself into the comfortable twin bed.

She is on the lake, dancing mournfully by herself. In the distance, she sees a royal couple performing a grand pas de deux. They only have eyes for each other, and she dearly loves them both. Her steps don’t falter with her sorrow, she only dances more freely, allowing her tears to fall as she lifts herself up into the air. The foggy air grows dark and eventually she realizes she’s alone, the prince and princess are gone and everything is quiet except for the sound of her own crying as she falls into the lake.

She wakes with a start, the grief in her chest real and heavy, cheeks wet. Deep breaths in, and out. Again, until she feels ready to open her eyes. The sun is rising, shining soft light on her face and the pain from her dream eases slightly. She sits up, donning her socks once more and making her way to the window and leans on the sill, observing the small flock of birds on a neighboring roof. Soon Ahiru is able to put the nightmare out of her mind, and the sun gets higher so she dresses once again, at first struggling to fasten things by herself but figuring it out through trial and error. Her braid is a mess from tossing and turning, so she sets to combing her hair out once more and choosing to do two braids today, parts it all down the middle. Her fingers are quick and nimble and she picks a set of wide gray ribbons to match her dress. Once she is ready, she makes her way back into the kitchen, hoping she hasn’t woken up too early.

At the stove once again, Fakir doesn’t notice her right away, continuing to add ingredients and muttering quietly to himself on occasion.

Ahiru chooses to sit down rather than interrupt, leaning on her palm and watching him as he works. His shoulders are wide but she can see how narrow his waist is, emphasized by the plain apron he wears. Fortunately, she catches herself as her gaze wanders lower and her eyes snap back up to his hands. They are large and clearly strong, but he handles everything he holds so gently. Ahiru wonders if she would ever want to see the strength in those hands used rather than controlled, and she cannot decide. Lost in thought, and busy staring a hole into fakir, she doesn’t see Raetsel come in.

“Oh ahiru! You look lovely this morning!”

She doesn’t react quick enough and is caught when fakir turns around quickly, eyes wide and mouth opened in a surprised little ‘o’. they both flush and break eye contact, electing to ignore Raetsel’s amused smirk.

“Smells good Fakir, something special for our visitor?” Raetsel continues teasingly.

He shoots her a sharp glare but it lacks it’s usual spark when his face is still bright red. “It’s just bread, Raetsel.” His tone is measured but it’s clear he’s irritated.

Ahiru finds the exchange remarkably cute and tilts her head to the side in wonder as she observes the siblings.

“We should get you your own clothes and shoes.” Raetsel says to her, looking at the ill-fitting dress she’d loaned ahiru. “I don't mind sharing, but they’re much more comfortable in the right size. When we are done eating I know someone who can help.”

Ahiru is hesitantly excited about this, swinging her feet a bit under the table.

Fakir comes with the food soon after, setting each plate on the table.

“Woah.” Ahiru states quietly, when Fakir had said bread earlier, she hadn’t expected french toast. Upon tasting, she notices something floral and a bit of spice and sweet honey. She can’t identify all the flavors but she loves it all and happily digs in.

Raetsel watches her in amusement for a moment and then turns to Fakir who also watches Ahiru eat with an unreadable expression. He is focusing more on their guest than he is his own breakfast and she stifles a laugh as he misses his own mouth.

Ahiru seems to realize she has all but ignored the two others at the table and slows down, swallowing and wiping her face with a napkin. “This is very good fakir.” She looks down as she says it, a bit embarrassed by her own actions.

Raetsel agrees, “delightful as usual.”

Fakir thanks them quietly, looking at his plate with the same unreadable expression and eating slowly. The two women finish eating before him, but Ahiru still insists on cleaning the dishes that he isn’t eating off of. He almost smiles at her, but the urge to confuses him and he is easily distracted.

“Are you coming with us?” Ahiru asks when he brings his own plate to the sink, wide eyes boring into his skull.

Fakir falters, looking at Raetsel who simply shrugs. “Uh.. I don't know if I would really be of any help.” He hopes his reasoning is enough to appease her.

Ahiru furrows her eyebrows, “why not?”

“He’s avoiding his fan club.” Raetsel chimes in, amused by the exchange and how easily their guest catches her brother off guard.

Ahiru does not know what this means, imagining a group of people gathering together to discuss fans or perhaps dance with them as she remembers doing many times. She notes the remembrance to herself before speaking, “was there a disagreement? If you’re in a club with them, you should be friends right?”

Fakir looks at her incredulously, “I'm not in the club.”

“Well then, what’s the problem?” She asks innocently.

Raetsal chooses not to help clarify, retrieving her boots from the front door and sitting at the table to lace them, leaving the two alone.

“It’s- well,” he shoots her a quizzical glare, “are you teasing me?”

Ahiru is thoroughly confused, “what?! No!! Why would you think that?”

Fakir can tell she’s being truthful, “it's not really a club Ahiru, Raetsel was joking.”

She sticks out her lip in a small pout, “why?”

He sighs in defeat, “you’ll understand once we get there.”

Raetsel returns to them, “so you’re coming?” She sounds surprised and more than a little impressed.

“Yay!” Ahiru claps her dainty hands together cheerfully.

Fakir nods, still unsure of how she had convinced him.

—

The summer weather allows them to leave the house quickly, not needing to don cloaks or extra layers, and they walk a short while to the stables.

Raetsel turns to Ahiru, noting the nervous glances she shoots towards the horses they pass. “Have you ever ridden?”

Ahiru’s face is pale and she wrings her hands in front of herself. “No.”

Fakir turns from where he is retrieving their steeds. “No? Or you don’t know?”

She laughs a bit at this. “Definite no. I think I would remember a creature of this size.”

Raetsel notes that Ahiru is a whole head shorter than herself, and Fakir towers over

her in a way that would intimidate anyone else, but it doesn’t seem to bother the bright little flame of a woman. “You should ride with Fakir then, he can keep you safe.”

Fakir looks at her, opening his mouth to argue but he snaps his jaw shut once he sees that Ahiru looks less afraid. He waits for Raetsel to mount her own horse before swinging himself up onto his. They both look at Ahiru who is once again starting to look a bit sickly.

“You’ll be fine.” Fakir reassures, “you were watching me and Raetsel right?”

She nods, spark returning to her eyes and mouth set in a hard line of determination. She steps into the stirrup that Fakir has left empty for her and attempts to swing herself up onto the horse's back like her two companions. At first she thinks she has succeeded, but her leg doesn’t go all the way up and she begins to slide backwards towards the ground. Fakir grabs her ankle, then uses his other hand to guide her by the waist until she is settled in front of him. Her head is still spinning from the near fall and it takes her a moment to find her words again.

“Thank you.” She breathes, overwhelmed by the feeling of his hand still on her waist.

He moves his hand as if he’s been burned and thanks everything that she can’t see his face. “Dont mention it.” he responds gruffly, avoiding Raetsel and using the reins to steer their ride forward.

Raetsel follows them close behind, looking up at the bright sky and wondering what good deed she did for the universe to think her worthy of this newfound entertainment.

They ride mostly in silence, except for Ahiru’s occasional exclamations of delight or awe as they pass under trees and through town. She is constantly turning her head in an attempt to take everything in.

It isn’t a very long journey, and soon they come to a quaint little shop with mannequins dressed in a variety of fabrics displayed in the large front windows.

Raetsel is the first to dismount, smoothing her skirts down as Fakir follows her and offers a hand to Ahiru.

Once the three of them are safely on the ground, Fakir guides their horses to a small grazing area where they will wait obediently until the shopping is complete.

Raetsel leads them into the shop, Ahiru close behind her and Fakir bringing up the tail end. A bell rings as they open the door and a head of blonde hair pops up from behind a counter.

“Welcome in- oh! Raetsel! Let me grab Pike.” Before they can respond, the shopkeeper is running to the back, pigtails bouncing as she moves.

Fakir finds a bench in a corner and sits down, hoping the racks of fabric and garments are enough to hide him.

The shopkeeper returns with her coworker, “has Lilie helped you at all yet?” She asks, tying her shoulder length violet tinted hair into a high ponytail.

“Hmph.” Lilie pouts, “I thought you’d want to do the consultation together.” She lowers her voice so only the three women can hear her, “plus, the handsome Fakir has graced us with his presence.”

Pike rolls her eyes, “you are so dramatic.” She scolds, though it doesn’t have much bite when she is craning her neck to peek at the man hiding in the corner.

Raetsel clears her throat politely, “My new friend could use your expertise.”

The two shopkeepers turn to Ahiru at last, looking her up and down before turning to each other.

“Do we have enough yellow left?” Pike asks Lilie, ushering Ahiru to a section of the room where the floor is cleared and producing a measuring tape from thin air.

Lilie hums, moving towards a rack against the wall and sifting through the materials until she finds a sunny yellow linen. “Yes! And perhaps a blue?” She suggests, stacking a soft blue cotton atop the yellow draped over her arm.

“Oh yes, that will compliment her eyes nicely.” Pike addresses Ahiru directly for the first time, “how many dresses are you looking for today?”

Ahiru looks helplessly towards Raetsel, letting Pike move her arms as she takes her measurements.

“We are starting her wardrobe today, so however many items you both think she will need.” Raetsal answers, earning a surprised look from Lilie.

“What happened to the rest of your clothes?” The blonde asks, pausing in her search for fabrics.

“I don't have any.” Ahiru answers simply.

“Long story.” Raetsel adds.

The two accept this answer easily, “Well then, we should send you home with something today. Lilie?”

Lilie looks over, setting the chosen materials on a large cutting table. “A premade garment for now?”

Pike nods, “just try to find the smallest things you can and we can alter it to fit her properly.”

Raetsel interjects, “she will also need shoes, mine are too large for her. Do you think you have something that would work?”

“Oh i’m sure we do,” Lilie answers, returning with an armful of dresses and blouses. “Shoes are over by Fakir.”

He starts at the mention of his name, looking at his surroundings and finding the shelves stocked with shoeboxes.

Pike measures her feet and calls out the length, instructing Fakir on where to find the correct size of boots.

He carries them to Ahiru once he has found them, bringing a few different options and setting them down next to her before awkwardly standing off to the side.

“Alright, you can try those on Ahiru. We’ll be right back.” Pike says before disappearing into the back of the store with Lilie.

“Do you need help?” Raetsel asks, showing Ahiru where she can sit to unlace her borrowed boots.

“No, thank you, I think I'm alright.” She smiles gratefully at her and sets to work, slipping her feet into one of the pairs Fakir brought her. She carefully tries on each pair but ends up settling on the first, made of dark brown leather with a slight heel and strong black cord lacing them securely.

Lilie returns and writes down the price on a pad of paper tucked into her dress pocket, setting it aside and guiding Ahiru to a fitting room. She helps Ahiru undo the fastenings on her loaned dress, hanging it carefully and instructing her to keep the chemise on before darting out and returning with Pike, both women are carrying armfuls of clothing and Pike has a pincushion strapped to her wrist. They help her into a simple white blouse, pinning where it needs to be taken in. The remaining garments are tried on in the same fashion and Ahiru watches them work. Before she knows it, they are done, helping her back into Raetsel’s loaned dress once more and walking her back to her companions, assuring her that they will return momentarily and asking her to wait while they stitch the adjustments into place. Ahiru seats herself on a bench next to Fakir and Raetsel follows the two shopkeepers to assist them and discuss the items they will be making for pickup at a later date.

“So..that’s the fanclub?” Ahiru guesses.

Fakir looks uncomfortable, “that’s just what Raetsel calls them.”

She giggles, “did you hear what they called you when we walked in?”

He shakes his head, too afraid to ask.

“The handsome Fakir.” Ahiru tells him, stifling another giggle. “Is that your title?” She teases.

He shoots her an irritated glance, “you know that it’s not.”

She shrugs, an impish grin stuck on her face. “It could be.” she states it as if it is a fact and doesn’t seem to catch what she is implying.

Fakir stammers, embarrassed. “W-wha-“ clearing his throat and looking out the window to hide his blush, he scolds her. “You can’t just say things like that!”

She sticks her tongue out at him, “why not? They said it first!”

He shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “They shouldn’t be saying it either.” He groans, wishing he had stayed home.

“Hm. whatever, I still don’t get why it’s such a big deal.” Ahiru bumps her shoulder against his, “are they your friends?”

“I barely know them.” He answers honestly, “they’re the best seamstresses in town so I’ve been a customer but Raetsel is the one that comes here most often.” He looks at her for a second before continuing, “I usually avoid them.”

Ahiru hums, “I think I understand why.” She acknowledges, “they’re a bit like a whirlwind aren’t they?”

He snorts out a laugh, “don't tell them that, they’ll never let it go.”

She nods. “Yeah, that doesn’t really surprise me.”

They fall into a comfortable silence and fakir studies her when she isn’t looking, trying to understand the mystery of this little lake lady.

It doesn't take long for Raetsal to return with a large package wrapped in brown paper and fastened with twine tied in a bow. “That’s it for today, we will return at the end of the week for the rest of it.”

Ahiru moves forward and takes the package despite Raetsel’s protests, “wow! That was so fast!”

Raetsal winks, “6 hands work faster than 2!”

Fakir takes the package from Ahiru while she’s distracted and holds it where she can’t reach when she tries to take it back. “You’ve paid already?” he nervously glances around the store as he says it.

Raetsal laughs. “Yes Fakir, don't worry. Those two are busy in the back, we’re done.”

He relaxes a bit and they make their way out again, Fakir holding the door for both of the women.

Ahiru skips forward, looking down at her new shoes and admiring how comfortable they are. When she looks up again Fakir and Raetsel have already mounted their horses, the package safely secured to the back of Fakir’s saddle.

“Do you need help? Or would you like to try again on your own?” He asks, looking down at her with his brow furrowed in concern.

Ahiru answers by sticking a boot in the stirrup and once again trying to lift herself up. This time she gets closer to her goal, but Fakir still has to catch her when her leg doesn’t properly hold her up.

“Good try!” Raetsal encourages from behind them, smiling as Fakir adjusts their friend with gentle hands before taking up the reins.

They ride home with minimal conversation, the two siblings focused on steering their horses in the right direction and Ahiru distracted by the people out on the streets, going about their days.

When they are home again, Fakir helps her down and retrieves her parcel, leaving no room for her to argue as he carries it inside.

She follows him, Raetsel not far behind. He stops outside the door of her room, waiting for Raetsel to open the door before carefully setting the package on her bed and excusing himself politely.

Raetsel helps her unpack and hang her new clothing, she picks out a new chemise for Ahiru and shows her to a room down the hall where she can bathe. After making sure she knows how to fill the tub, she too excuses herself with the promise that they will see one another at lunch.

—

Once she has dried herself and wrung most of the water from her hair, Ahiru dons the fresh chemise and pads up the hall to her room. The new clothes hang neatly and she has trouble choosing when given so many options but eventually she settles on a short sleeved, collared blouse made from a lovely cream colored cotton and a simple, tea length yellow linen skirt. Plain white socks cover her feet and the boots are left by the door for when she needs them. She sits at the vanity to comb her hair, leaving it down to dry but tying a yellow ribbon under her hair and around the top of her head to keep it from getting in her face. She smiles at her reflection, the clothes fit perfectly and she can finally see herself now that she isn’t drowning in fabric.

She retrieves Raetsel’s loaned dress and chemise and carries them out to the room she was first brought in to. She knocks gently, and when there is no response, she cracks the door open.

“What are you doing?”

She jumps, turning to find Fakir glowering at her. “I-well I was trying to find Raetsel!”

His face softens, “she’s the door at the end of the hall, moron, this is my room.”

Ahiru flushes, indignant, she bites back “I’m not a moron! How was I supposed to know that! I've only been to her room once and it was a really hectic day!”

Fakir puts a hand on her head, “I know, I was teasing. Could you move out of the way?”

She settles down, embarrassed. “Yeah, sorry.” She shuffles off down the hall and he watches her go, shaking his head and entering his room.

Raetsel, having heard the exchange, opens her door before Ahiru can reach it and gives her a kind smile. “You can just set those in the laundry basket over here.”

Ahiru follows her instruction and smiles at her gratefully, “Thank you Raetsel.”

“Anything for you Ahiru, now, would you like to see what’s for lunch?”

Confused, Ahiru tilts her head, “didn't Fakir just go to his room?”

Raetsel nods, “He’s probably referring to one of his cookbooks.”

“He doesn’t keep them in the kitchen?” Ahiru asks, following Raetsel back out into the hall.

“It’s easier to keep them in good condition away from the steam and mess of food.” Fakir answers from his doorway, “Plus, I don't always need them.” He closes his door and leads the way to the kitchen, resuming his work.

Raetsel and Ahiru seat themselves in the same spots as always, chatting and watching Fakir cook. Raetsel asks how she likes her new clothing and Ahiru gushes her thanks and talks about her favorite things.

Fakir comes with plates of food soon after and seats himself next to her.

Ahiru claps in excitement, tucking her long hair towards her back before digging in.

Raetsel eats more politely, complimenting Fakirs choice of ingredients and asking him questions about the recipe.

Ahiru barely pays attention to them, so focused on enjoying her meal that she doesn't notice when the conversation turns to her.

“Ahiru?” Raetsel prods gently.

she starts slightly in response, looking up and finding them both turned to her. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

Raetsel smiles, “Do you know what you want to do here? I work at Ebine’s bakery for part of the week and Fakir writes for our local paper. Pike and Lilie offered to teach you how to cut fabric but you are free to choose what you like.”

Ahiru blinks, “I’m...staying?”

Fakir answers this time, rolling his eyes. “Of course you are, where else would you go stupid?”

Raetsel swats his shoulder, “Oh be nice to her Fakir.” Turning back to Ahiru, “Yes, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish dear.”

Ahiru grins, “Thank you! I like it so much here, I’m so happy!” She looks down at her hands, “As for what i want to do.. I’m not really sure yet. Pike and Lilie are very nice but I don’t know if I could really be of any help to them.”

Fakir nods, “You don’t have to decide yet. You haven’t even seen your other options so take your time and don’t feel bad about it.”

Raetsel agrees with him, “I'm sure you will be good at whatever you choose, with passion like yours you can do anything.”

Ahiru flushes and curls into herself, hair falling forward to hide her face.

Fakir watches in horror as a lock of her hair begins to flop into her plate, instinctively he tucks the hair back into place. Once he realizes what he’s done he can feel the steam coming out of his ears, “Y-you should probably tie your hair up when you eat.”

Raetsal barely stifles her laugh, shoving a bite of food into her mouth to keep herself quiet.

Ahiru stares at Fakir, mouth open and cheeks pink. It takes a few more blinks before she twists her knee length hair up and up and up, using the yellow ribbon to loosely tie it into place, it’s the best imitation of a bun she can do with the current materials.

Clearing his throat and drinking water in an effort to cool the flush on his skin, Fakir continues eating as if nothing happened and the two women soon follow his lead.

Ahiru is grateful for the diversion, feeling more shy than usual and needing the silence. She is also easily distracted by how much she loves this food and each bite brings her farther away from the embarrassment.

Soon, the meal is over and they separate, Ahiru washing the dishes without supervision as Raetsel has deemed her able. Fakir puts away anything left over in the kitchen and excuses himself to his room.

When the dishes are cleaned, dried and put away, Ahiru wonders what she’s meant to do, yesterday and this morning there was no time for boredom. Now she feels like she should be doing something and without noticing she has begun to dance, the kitchen floor not ideal for ballet but accommodating her nonetheless. There is no music, but the early afternoon sun shining through the windows above the sink highlights her more beautifully than any spotlight. When she finally realizes what she’s doing, she is in the middle of simple barre exercises. Her muscles ache in relief, as if they have been waiting for her to use them. She smiles, closing her eyes and tilting her head up towards the sun, letting muscle memory take over.

Fakir carries his notebook under one arm and holds his inkwell and quill in his hands. He is headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, but stops when he sees her. Not wanting to interrupt, he sits at the table, partially hidden by the open doorway that connects the two rooms. His things are set down carefully and quietly, and then he turns his attention back to the ballerina in his kitchen.

She moves through her relevés with the ease and joy of someone who lives to dance.

Chin in palm, Fakir watches her. The light flickering over her face moves with her and he is entranced. Warm ups finished, Ahiru moves into a choreography as if it’s second nature. His heart aches in his chest when he realizes it is meant to be a pas de deux, her body struggles to support itself and he longs to take the weight for her.

She continues, oblivious of her audience, dancing to the song only she can hear and baring her emotions with every movement.

When the steps come to a close and her head is bowed in an ending curtsy, Fakir panics, realizing that soon she will open her eyes and he will have to explain why he’s been creepily watching without saying a word. Cringing, he braces himself and opens his notebook, hoping to at least look busy when she catches him.

She lets out a small startled noise when she opens her eyes, coming back into her mind after letting her body take over. She sees Fakir sitting at the table and despite the open notebook, she knows that he has not written a word for she would have heard the scratch of his quill. She flushes prettily, sneaking out of the kitchen while he’s still looking down and all but running to her room.

She leans against the inside of her closed door, putting her head in her hands and trying to calm herself down. She hadn’t planned on dancing and she definitely did not expect an audience, no matter how politely he pretended not to be watching she knew he had seen at least some of her dance and she hopes that she danced well. Most of the remaining afternoon is spent like this, trying to distract herself by thinking over the job offer from Pike and Lilie, but mind wandering back to the kitchen and her dream from the night before. There is a mix of confusing emotions swirling in her chest and she unties the ribbon holding her makeshift bun in place, running her hands through her own hair in a calming fashion. The dream had felt so real and coupled with some of the memories that had come back to her, she has a feeling it was something that had really happened. Brows furrowing as she thinks, she tries desperately to recall the events of her dream but most of what she can remember is emotions and steps of a dance. There is a flash of black curls and red lips kissing a pale figure with hair like the feathers of a swan, but this imagery brings a panging sorrow and the tears rising in her eyes warn her not to push this memory back into her conscious mind. Wiping her cheeks where they have gotten wet, she takes Fakir’s advice and sets to braiding her hair into a crown. It doesn't take her very long, and soon Raetsel is knocking on her door to alert her that supper will be ready soon. Ahiru thanks her and says she will be there in a moment, needing some time to collect herself and finish tying the braids in place around her head.

When she finally comes to the dining table, Fakir and Raetsel are already seated and a plate is waiting in her usual spot. She squeezes by Fakir, who avoids her eyes and looks at his plate with pink dusting the bridge of his nose. Once she is settled, the three begin to eat, they are all tired from the eventful day and conversation is light.

It is a quick meal and Raetsel is the first to bid them goodnight, letting Ahiru know that she will be gone for work by the time they wake and making sure Ahiru does not need anything before she excuses herself.

Ahiru pokes at her remaining food listlessly, wishing she could enjoy it the way she wants to but emotions ruining her appetite. Sighing, she carries the dishes to the sink and begins scrubbing, not even noticing when Fakir follows behind her.

“Ahiru?” Fakir asks quietly, “I hope I didn’t upset you earlier.”

This breaks her reverie and she looks at him, confused. “What? No! Why would I be upset?”

Fakir seems doubtful. “Well you’re obviously upset about something.”

She puffs her cheeks out. “No, i just…” brows furrowed she admits defeat, “Okay yeah you’re right I am. But I promise it has nothing to do with you!” She says the last part earnestly and Fakir is momentarily stunned by the shine of her eyes.

“Do you.. want to talk about it?” He says it awkwardly, as if the idea is foreign to him.

Her eyes dim, “I don’t think I was very happy before I came here.”

He seems surprised at her answer, “Was the lake not good to you?”

This makes her puff a tiny, sad laugh, “The lake may be where I came from, but it wasn’t where I lived before.”

Fakir looks at her concerned, “You don't remember very much, do you?”

She shakes her head, “Most of it is just feelings, there’s something there definitely but trying to recall more than just blurs hurts.”

He feels deeply sorry for her, “It sounds like.. well sometimes our brains try to protect us by blocking some things out.”

She tilts her head to the side, “You think it could be that?”

He nods slowly “There are many written accounts of this experience, if you’d like, I can help you research more about it tomorrow?” He says the last bit as a question, unsure if she really wants to open herself up to possible pain.

She smiles gratefully, it is smaller than her usual grin but still makes his heart skip, “Thank you Fakir, I would like that very much.”

Flushing at her sincerity, he looks away. “D-dont mention it.” He dries the dishes that she is finished washing and together they finish the chore faster than either could on their own. When the dishes are put away and the kitchen is clean, Fakir walks her to her room and bids her goodnight with the promise of a library trip the next day. Ahiru is so exhausted she barely manages to take her hair down and remove her blouse and skirt before crawling into bed and falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

[kurinoot]

[day 3] three convention days | kozume kenma

-> being a cosplayer means being the star of the show, or in this case, an anime convention. gifting your introverted boyfriend with the ticket could either be a good, or a bad idea, but who knows? it’s valentines after all

pairing: kenma x reader

themes: fluff, post-timeskip, cosplayer!y/n

word count: 2031 words

author’s note: sorry for the late update tho hehe burnout has been consuming me lately but I'll do my best to follow plans as scheduled :) also, Y/C/N in this story refers to your cosplayer name just in case :)

“Eh?!” His voice cracked, and as if on cue Kenma’s hands accidentally unclasped his controller from shock, letting it fall on the floor as his character was immediately killed in the background, showing a game over screen. It was, perhaps, too much for Kenma to process what was unfolding before him.

“P-Please come to my performance at the convention!”, you stutter as you hand out a ticket to a 3-Day Anime Convention to your boyfriend, whose attention is now on your hands as he hesitantly accepts the tickets from you and then goes to pick up his controller from the floor. You watch as your boyfriend looks over the details on the ticket, eventually finding out that the last day falls on Valentines.

You mustered what was left of your courage before gambling your chances whether he accepts it or not. “C-Consider it as my Valentines’ gift or something.”, you stutter as you shyly turned away with flustered cheeks as your eyes glanced over to him reading the details on the ticket.

“I’m not sure about the first two days, but I’ll be there on the last day.”, he nonchalantly replies, much to your shock, as he scrolls through his phone’s calendar, checking and finalizing his schedule. 

You gave out a sigh of relief, despite knowing how busy your boyfriend is, and it is definitely not easy when he has to juggle various jobs as a YouTuber, stock trader, professional gamer, and most importantly, a CEO of his own company while being a university student at the same time. Even though he won’t be able to go for the first two days, you wholeheartedly appreciate that he gets to go on the last day, which coincidentally fell on Valentines’ Day. Although you and Kenma have been happily dating for a few years now, you both agreed to keep your relationship a secret for privacy reasons, although in recent years, you were feeling the urge to introduce your and Kenma’s relationship to your fans.

Despite that, the two of you enjoyed the peace and solace in your relationship, and have never been more grateful to have someone like Kenma supporting each other, even if it was in secret.

The two days went on without a hitch, as the last day arrived smoothly, you quickly prepared in anticipation for your performance. At the back of the stage, other several notable cosplayers were occupied with their preparations as you finished putting on makeup as well as your costume and accessories. You hear noises from the venue outside as the crowd starts to fill the area as you carefully try to look if your boyfriend has arrived; although to no avail, you dismally had to start preparing for the event beforehand.

Unbeknownst to you as you head to the backstage, a red jacket and sunglasses-clad figure steps into the venue, trying to avoid standing out and drawing unnecessary attention to himself while holding a cup of apple juice on one hand. He cautiously avoided the crowd as he carefully made his way to the main stage situated in the center of the venue. He looked around, somehow looking for you as he waited for the program to start. He then fishes in his jacket pocket with one hand to grab his phone to text you as he takes another sip of his apple juice with the other.

The lights started to dim as it fixed on the stage, with your face and the other cosplayers displayed on the LED screen. As he watched, he had a gentle smile on his lips as he captured the sight of your moments shown, somewhat proud of your feats. He knows how hard you worked to become the well-known cosplayer and model that you are today, and although both of you were busy with your passions, he still supported you in his own ways; thus it was for the first time he will get to see you in your own element in person.

A figure walks up to the stage with a microphone on one hand and then taps it to check for any faults. When the microphone worked, they cleared their throat, attracting the attention of the audience. “Please help me welcome to the stage, Y/C/N!”, the emcee enthusiastically cheers as you enter the main stage in your simple yet eye-popping Tekken’s Alisa Bosconovitch cosplay.

The spotlights were fixed on you as you cheekily stood in the center as you unleashed the chainsaw portion of the costume in an X-formation, winking as you see your wide-eyed flustered boyfriend staring at you in the middle of the audience. The music started to play in the background, prompting you to do a couple of dances that you practiced in secret from Kenma, mixing with a few of Alisa’s fighting stances from the game. Your overly enthusiastic fans kept on cheering every time you did the familiar stunts; and Kenma—albeit silent, was enjoying your performance, if his intent gaze on you were an indicator.

All seemed to disappear around him as you danced on the stage with energy, elegantly, and beautiful in his eyes. His gaze was only on  you, watching you perform that seemed to be just for him. It was all a blur to him, but you were so clear to his eyes only as his phone recorded every moment of you.

As you performed, you gazed in his direction when the routine gave you an opportunity. Even in the dark, his eyes had a certain spark that you were familiar with, it was always when he was engrossed in something he loved. You felt such bliss with every step you took, prompting you to blow a kiss to his direction in front of the unsuspecting audience that had the clueless crowd rile with joy to your display; unknowingly, it was only for your boyfriend. Receiving your kiss, a gentle smile formed on his lips, his heart beating faster more than whenever he finishes his games as his face started to redden from your stunt. He felt a thorn in his chest as his ears rang from the cacophonous crowd. His hand started to shiver as his grip on his phone tightened with animosity as the other cuffed into a fist that he shoved into his jacket.

I don’t like this crowd… He thought as he watched the audience cheered before he resumed to watch you with a tender gaze while recording your performance. As he watched you twirl and kick, it was as if on cue, a tear unknowingly escaped from his eyes, filled with nothing but happiness as he compelled his hand to stay still and record this very moment.

“Eh~” A familiar voice cooed from behind Kenma. He quickly wiped his tears before his eyes shifted to the voice he heard as the familiar figure walked towards him.

“I never thought Pudding Head is a fan of the goddess Y/C/N.” The familiar voice continued, distracting Kenma’s train of thought just to find a flustered Tora holding a staunchly pink uchiwa fan with your face imprinted on it in one hand and a lightstick on the other while wearing an official headband merchandise of you sitting on his head to finish his weird outfit.

“Ah, Tora.”, the former setter casually replied back.

“Yo, Kyan~ma!” Yamamoto says with a teasing tone as he waved at the former setter. Kenma, shocked but not surprised, kept on looking up and down at his former teammate with mixed feelings while his handheld phone still recorded you. Kenma scoffed with loathe as he returned his gaze to your performance.

“This guy…!” Yamamoto grunted. “Hmph, a long time has passed, and this is how you greet an old friend?”, he teases out of annoyance as he crosses his arms in irritation. Kenma gripped his phone tighter as he looked at the annoyed mohawk.

“Are we even now?” Kenma replies, further annoying his old friend.

Kenma shifted his gaze to you again, ignoring Yamamoto’s casual annoyance. The former spiker scoffed as he turned on his lightstick, preparing himself to cheer for you. “I’ll show you that I’m her number 1 fan!”

Yamamoto returned his attention to your performance, as he raised his lightstick to cheer for you before being met with Kenma’s gaze.

“...show me.” Kenma looked at him with the familiar spark and confidence that he had during their old days as Yamamoto heard his inaudible whisper and could only look in his direction with a dumbfounded look. Before the spiker could reply, your performance had just ended in high spirits while being followed suit by the next cosplayer as your fans disperse to see you. 

Kenma walked around the venue for a moment as he waited for you, still pleased with your performance, and seeing you ecstatic in your own element for the very first time he’ll remember while he continued on to look for you.

“Thank you everyone! I had so much fun with you all!”, You beamed in delight as you walked around the venue sans the chainsaw and wing accessories from your costume earlier. A few of your fans, mostly boys, recognized you and have gone to flock towards you, wanting to express their love and admiration for you. Somehow, one voice stood out to you, as the blonde-dyed mohawk guy approached you with a phone.

“Y/C/N-san, can we take a picture?”, He beamed with a large smile—albeit his intimidating physicality, to which you gladly accept as you can see how much he respected your space. You both took a couple of selfies before the guy—in tears—thanked you.

Kenma, hearing your voice, was drawn to your direction before seeing your fans flocking to you. Seeing you up close in cosplay—albeit far—felt an urge within him, wanting to sweep you away from the convention. His body froze, hesitating if he should do it or not; feeling the cold sweat forming as he watched your fans crowded around you. Without a thought in mind, his feet subconsciously walked towards your direction with haste, his eyes locked onto you as he clutched his sunglasses safely. His arm outstretched until he grasped your figure within his reach as he swiftly pulled you towards him before making a break for it, much to you and your fans’ surprise.

As you both sifted through the crowd, earning quite a bit of stares from the passer–bys that you ignored. You could only gaze at him from behind in awe at his stunt. You rattled through your mind, trying to find the words in the sudden situation.

“K-Kenma? Wh-what are y—” You were suddenly cut short before Kenma tightened his grip on your hand, not wanting to let you go.

“Is it wrong for me...” Kenma said in a hushed tone that only you and a few nearby people heard. “that I want to spend time with you…?” His words left you astounded as you followed him suit as his hands suddenly emitted his warmth to you. You felt your cheeks redden in surprise to his words. You couldn’t help but chuckle at his embarrassed state while walking hand in hand out of the venue.

You and Kenma looked at each other in unison as the sun glistened on his flushed face with a smile that was only for you.

Back inside the convention, a couple of stunted fans are left in shock from what they have just witnessed. The few fans who somehow heard the inaudible interaction you both had earlier were now freaking out in their heads as if they have pieced something together.

“D-Did she just say K-Kenma? Like you know, that YouTuber?”

“You mean Kodzuken?”

Various fans who have caught the interaction were now starting to talk amongst themselves about what they had just seen. Yamamoto, despite having the chance to take a selfie with you, still got left in the dust as he knew that familiar pudding hair from anywhere. In fact, he was just with him earlier, and the current discussion amongst the fans have somehow just confirmed his suspicions.

“...show me.” Kenma’s words and the confidence he emitted from earlier finally sunk into Yamamoto.

“KYANMA!”

back to valentines masterlist

[jpegjade]

Drinks and Clinks - Spencer

all right frens and ferns, WE’VE GOT OUR FIRST FIC OF THE WEEKEND HERE. it’s cute fluff and i’m okay with that. i really worked hard to do the name section so please laugh with me. thank you. ((Also i made a minor change because i wanted an excuse to do the names so hi sorry anon but ily))

Request ((I can’t find it on my page so i’m paraphrasing here)): The team is out for drinks and they run into Garcia’s friend, y/n, who is equally eccentric and the reader starts flirting with Reid.

________________

“Pen, where are we going?” You asked, being tugged along into a bar. 

“We’re going to meet my team! I think someone’s going to loooove you.” Garcia said, pushing open the door. 

The two of you were close friends from college but you barely got to see her when she was working so much. After work hours for her meant you were most likely working on another project for work that required your full focus and being with your best friend meant that your focus was on her, not what you were really supposed to be doing. 

The closer you got to a table of people, the more nervous you got. You didn’t know the plan was to go to a bar, not go to a bar where you would have to interact with people. Garcia went to the table, dragging you along, and you saw everyone laughing before taking a break to cheer because Garcia made it. 

“I would like to introduce my close and very lovely friend, y/n!” Penelope pulled you forward, causing you to stumble a little bit. You weren’t expecting the tiny pull forward so your first interaction with the team was a stumble and a weird hand wave. 

“Hello, I’m y/n.” You flinched. Penelope just said that. With a sigh, you composed yourself as everyone smiled at you. 

“Hi, I’m-” Someone started but Penelope cut them off.

“No. We’re going to have her guess based on what she knows about you guys from me.” Penelope said, beaming. You were nervous so you took a moment before saying anything, just surveying the table. 

“Okay well… I’m going to guess that you’re dark and juicy, Derek?” You pointed to the first guy who wanted to introduce himself. 

A round of laughs erupted from the table as Derek raised his hands and shrugged. 

“You have a very serious demeanor. You must be No Humor Hotchner?” You pointed to the guy sitting to Derek’s left. More laughter and Hotch smiled. 

“Okay you’re blonde and don’t look like a goth so ma’am with the black hair over here, you must be goth from the grave, Emily?” More laughs and nods. 

“That leaves you three. So we have Papa Pasta. He looks like you guys could be his kids, honestly.  I would love to try your pasta fresh because Pen has brought me leftovers and it beats the fast Italian I get for lunch breaks.” You said, pointing to Rossi. 

“Okay that leaves the two of you. I’m going to guess, by your gender, you’re JJ the kickass momma.” You pointed at the blonde girl sitting next to Rossi. 

“And you must be Spencer, doctor wonder baby.” Spencer smiled as he looked down at the table. 

“Wow, Garcia, your friend is good. Are you sure she’s not a profiler?” Emily said, nodding towards you. 

“She could be with the way she pays attention to literally everything.” Garcia said, sitting down. 

You were awkwardly standing at the table while everyone was seated when Reid stood up and grabbed a chair from another table so you could sit by him. You didn’t think much of it because of course, he was just being nice. 

SItting next to Spencer was nice. He smelled nice and it wafted over to you because the air conditioner was blowing in your direction. You were so happy that you brought a sweater because you would’ve frozen to death in front of a bunch of very nice people, all of which were talking amongst themselves while you and Spencer tried to keep up. Well… You tried to keep up and it looked like Spencer was trying to wind down. 

“What are you drinking?” You asked him, trying to get him to make conversation. Garcia told you he was cute but you didn’t think she meant stunningly cute in person. Photos did not do this man justice.

“Apple juice. Do you want something to drink?” He asked. You hadn’t gotten the chance to order something from the bar since you got swept away with introductions. 

“No, I can get it later.” You said, watching Spencer stand up and pause. 

“Are you coming?” He asked, as though it was obvious that you were supposed to tag along. 

“Oh. Yeah, I’ll go with you.” You got up and followed with him. 

Sitting at the bar with Spencer was an experience. You ordered something fruity and Spencer smirked. 

“You look like the type to order something fun and flavorful.” He said, looking at the bartender. 

Damn his jawline was sharp. How were his features so defined? It was like-

“How do you know Garcia?” Spencer brought you out of your thoughts. You were in the middle of giving him the up and down and by the looks of it, he noticed. 

“We’ve been friends from college. I was there for her when her parents died, she got arrested, she started working with you guys. All that good stuff.” You said, thanking the bartender for your drink. 

“Oh you’re the one who sends us flowers.” Spencer’s face lit up. 

Whenever you heard that someone close to Penelope got hurt, you sent flowers. Sometimes, you even sent Spencer flowers just because. It was rare but you did it. 

“That is me!” You said, taking a large swallow of your drink. “I didn’t know you liked them.” 

“I love them. I tell my mom about it every time I get a flower.” Spencer couldn’t look at you out of embarrassment. 

“Aww, Pen didn’t tell me you were a momma’s boy. You’re such a cutie, oh my god.” You smiled at Spencer, who looked slightly embarrassed but nodded his head. 

“Okay doctor Reid, what else haven't you told me? Are you hiding a caffeine addiction and a tormented soul behind that cute haircut of yours?” You had an extreme urge to ruffle his hair but Penelope told you about his thing for people not touching him so you restrained yourself by tapping on the bar counter. 

“Something like that. Although I wouldn’t say it’s an addiction. It’s more like an extreme appreciation that I can stop any time I feel rested enough to perform my best.” Spencer smiled again. 

Going back and forth with Spencer like this felt so easy. It was like you found someone just shy enough to be open to your advances without being so shy that everything was overwhelming. Although, this boy was gaining more confidence the more you talked to him. 

“So tell me, good doctor, why are you avoiding your team?” You leaned in closer to him so it wasn’t so loud.

“I’m not avoiding them.” He said, glancing over at them. 

The whole table was talking about the two of you but they were too far away for you to hear them saying how Spencer had never looked so happy to talk to someone he just met.

“I’m not avoiding them.” He said, slightly defensive but mostly just tired. 

“Then why haven’t we gone back over there? We’ve been over here talking the whole time.” You said, followed by a pause from Spencer. 

“I’m just tired from the case we finished up.” He said, obviously avoiding something. 

“Really? Jet lag kicking that cute little ass of yours?” The drink was definitely starting to hit you. 

“A little bit, yeah. It was a quick turnaround with little sleep.” Spencer looked so cute but he was even cuter when he was embarrassed. 

“Can I ask you something?” You said, swaying just a little. Spencer put his hand on your arm, scared you were going to tip over. 

“Sure.” He said, putting his arm back down. 

“Did you really get me over here so you could talk to me alone? Because I’ve downed two drinks and you’ve made not a single suggestion to go back to the group.” You squinted at him suspiciously in all kidding but he couldn’t hold his calm demeanor. 

“Are you sure you’re not a profiler?” Spencer asked, taking a sip of his apple juice and smiled. 

“Well, doctor Reid, I have to be going. I propose that maybe, and correct me if I’m flying in left field, we would be a good fit to go on a first date? Just you and I, not with your team.” You said, sliding off the bar stool. 

“I believe that’s a baseball reference and I don’t watch baseball but I think a date would be nice. Somewhere… Not a bar.” He said, writing down his number on a napkin with a pen from his pocket. 

“Oh don’t worry about it. I’ll let you find my number when you’re done doing a full background check on me with Pen later tomorrow. Call me when you’re done with that. Bye, Spencer.” You grabbed the napkin with his number on it and slid out of your seat. 

You motioned to Garcia that you were ready to go and the two of you left in a fit of giggles. You looked back at Spencer one last time to see him smiling to himself.

[atlafan]

Nonfamous Harry dating famous yn would be great

a/n: a little bit of fluff, thanks for the idea! 

Starstruck 

Harry couldn’t believe his eyes. There she was, Y/F/N Y/L/N, leaning on the bar, laughing with her friends like she was an ordinary person. Okay, underneath it all, she probably was a normal person, but still, this was a big fucking deal. 

She could sing, and had been in the public eye for quite some time. Harry and his friends were on a little trip to NYC, just to see a show or two. He never thought when they walked into the random bar they chose after seeing The Book of Mormon would lead him to the girl of his dreams. He had been a fan for years. He would tweet about her, respectfully, and even make tik toks saying how amazing he thought she was. 

He had imagined it in his head so many times, but he never thought he’d be in the same room as her, well, he had been, but it was a few of her concerts. 

“Harry, you should go over to her.” One his friends says.

“She’s with her friends, I don’t wanna look like a creep.”

“So just go sit down near where she’s leaning and play it cool. Shoot your shot.” 

Harry takes a deep breath and starts walking over. He didn’t wanna seem like a crazed fan. He didn’t want to cause a frenzy and ruin her evening. He sits down on the stool near where she’s standing and she looks at him. He looks up at her and smiles. She nods at him and looks away. He runs a hand through his hair and looks over at his friends. They gesture for him to try to get her attention again. 

“Whatya have?” The bartender says. 

“Just a shot of tequila, and uh, I’d like to buy her next drink, whatever it is.” This catches Y/N’s attention and he looks at her. “Hope that’s alright.” 

“You know who I am, don’t you...”

“I do.” He sees the visible annoying and defeat on her face.

“Damn, I thought this place would be lowkey.” 

“Woah, woah, listen, I’m a fan, and I just wanted to buy you a drink, that’s all.” 

“Really?” She scoffs. “You mean you haven’t already given up my location? Haven’t tweeted or texted a ton of people?”

“Well...my friends are over there.” Harry points without looking. “And...I wouldn’t do somethin’ like that. I know you like your privacy. I didn’t even want to disturb you, they know I’m a big fan, and-”

“So you started out as a fan, and now you’re a big fan.” She smirks and sits down on the stool next to him. “I’ll have another vodka tonic...on you, right?”

“Absolutely.”

The bartender nods and makes her drink. Harry waits to take his shot. They clink their glasses and he throws his head back. 

“I’ll get the next one, it’s the least I could do since I can’t offer you a picture tonight.” 

“Oh! That’s really okay, I-” He starts to get up, but she grabs his wrist. 

“Relax, you’ve already caught my attention. I don’t get one on one times with fans much anymore, I sort of miss it.”

“Yeah, you don’t really do the meet and greet thing as much...” 

“I felt bad making people wait all the time for two seconds, plus, it’s really tiring.” She sips on her drink. “So, what’s your name, where you from and all that. Clearly you’re not from New York with that accent.” Harry chuckles and nods. 

“Right, yeah, I actually live in upstate New York. My friends and I are just in the city for the weekend to catch some shows we’ve been wanting to see.”

“You still haven’t told me your name.”

“Harry, Harry Styles.” She extends his hand to shake it and he nearly wets himself from the skin on skin contact. 

“What brought you to New York on the first place?”

“University. I’m in a doctorate program now, so I’m teachin’. I plan to go back to London once I’m done.”

“Oh, I love London.” She swoons. “I always have fun performing there, and I love going to BBC radio. Actually, any of the radio stations are fun to visit. I love the people at Capital FM.” 

“I can’t lie, I love whenever your interviews get posted on YouTube...”

“I appreciate that, you’re sweet.” She smiles. She was feeling a little tipsy and was looking for a little bit of fun. Harry was cute, really cute. “So you must know why I’m in New York then?”

“I actually didn’t put two and two together...but...oh! I heard rumors you might finally be doing Hot Ones.” She winks at him, but doesn’t confirm. 

“I’m here for a few things. I’m actually performing on GMA in a couple of days. How long are you in the city for?”

“Tonight’s our last night.”

“Hm, too bad. I probably could’ve gotten you tickets to the show.”

“I’d drive back.” He smiles. “Yikes, that sounded desperate.” She can’t help but giggle. 

“You really like my music, huh?”

“I do. You’re one of my favorite artists.” 

She’s tapped on the shoulder by one of her friends. She turns to her to chat and he takes the opportunity to look at his friends who are all giving him a thumbs up. He notices her wave her friends off. 

“Harry?” She says turning back to you. “I don’t wanna get too drunk here.” She says, putting some cash down on the bar. 

“Oh, well, I really appreciate your time, thanks so much for talkin’ to me.”

“You’re too cute, the night’s not over yet...not if you don’t want it to be.”

“What are you sayin’ exactly?” 

“I’m saying...well...my car’s pulling up out back and you’re welcome to come back with me.” 

“Are you serious?”

“Sure.” She shrugs. 

He gets up and follows her out, not even bothering to look at her friends. They go down a long hallway and a man opens the door for them. Another man opens up the car door and they both get in. There was a driver already up front. She tells him what streets to take to avoid papz, he nods, and rolls the partition up.

“Bert is the best driver I’ve ever had. Simply the best.” Harry was trying not to shake. He wasn’t sure what was happening. “Don’t look so nervous.” She places her hand on his knee. “I don’t typically do this with fans. I mean, I wouldn’t even date a fan to be honest with you.” 

“So...what’s happening right now?”

“I don’t know...you’re really cute, and...I thought it was sweet that you genuinely just wanted to buy me a drink and chat. No one ever does that for me. You seem...normal.” 

“In case you’re already runnin’ a background check on me, I do make posts about you sometimes...nothing that would show up in a thirst tweet video or anything...but like I said, I’m a big fan.”

“Do you have a shrine to me in your closet?”

“Jesus, no.” 

“Alright, then we’re good.” She shrugs. The car stops. “We’re here. We’re going in back, but keep your head down the entire time.” She puts a pair of sunglasses on and out the door they go. 

Harry stays quiet as he follows close. She leads him down a few bare halls, and then they come to an elevator.

“Ever been to a penthouse suite before?”

“Can’t say I have.” He smirks. 

“Well, you’re in for a treat. This is one of my favorite hotels to stay at when I come here.”

They get off on the floor, and go down the hall to a large double door. She keys in and kicks her heels off. 

“Finally.” She sighs. “If I weren’t so short, I wouldn’t even wear those things. Can I get you a drink?” She walks over to the mini bar and grabs some tequila and orange juice. “Feel free to say no.”

“A drink sounds great, actually.” 

She makes them up and he sits on the couch. She rifles through the desk in the living area. She brings over a pen and a few papers.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an NDA.” She sighs. “Before we continue chatting you have to sign it. My manager insists on it, and so do I. You could easily run out of here and report everything to the press.” 

“I thought this was just...a rumor.” He takes the papers and pen from her. “But I’m happy to sign. You have a right to privacy like everyone else.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that, Harry, really I do.” 

He hands everything back to her after he signs, and she takes pictures, sending everything to her manager. 

“Would you mind keep your phone where I could see it too? I’m sorry.”

“Sure!” He takes it out of his pocket. He even turns it off, and then sets it on the glass coffee table.

“Thank you.” She smiles. “You have so many tattoos.” She points to his left arm. “Tell me all about them.” 

They talk for a while, having a lot of pleasant conversation. She loved the sound of his accent, it  was intoxicating. And because Harry was so nervous, he didn’t mind talking about a storm. He looks down at his watch and sees that it’s nearly 3AM. 

“It’s gettin’ late...you must be wanting to go to sleep.”

“You’re a real gentleman, you know that? You haven’t made a single move on me all night.”

“I...I’m just trying to be respectful. This has already been the greatest night of my life.” 

“Would you like it to get better?”

“What do you mean?”

“Harry.” She sighs. “Not that you need to do anything you don’t want to...but don’t you want to?”

“Like...have sex?” 

“Yeah.”

“You want to have sex with me?” 

“Mhm, you’re really handsome. But if you’d rather leave, that’s fine too.” She smiles. “No pressure.” 

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please.”

The kiss lead to some heavy petting, and the heavy petting lead to Harry having sex right there on that couch with Y/N. And that lead to him sleeping in her comfy hotel bed. Well, they didn’t get much sleep because they had sex at least two more times. Once he passed out she looked up his accounts on her phone. She wanted to know just exactly what he might be saying about her in the social media world. It really wasn’t anything bad. It was mostly memes or him telling people to stream her music. Not the worst she’d seen. When he wakes up he feels like he’s in a dream.

“Morning.” She says.

“Hi.” He smiles. “I’ll, uh, get outta your hair.” He gets up and grabs his boxers and other clothes. She grabs one of her large bed shirts to throw on.

“Wait! I promised you tickets to the GMA performance.”

“No you didn’t.”

“But I wanna give them to you. I’ll put your name on a few lists, you can come back stage. I’d expect you to say hi.”

“You’ll really remember be in a few days?” 

“Of course! I don’t think I’d forget the guy that gave me six orgasms.” He blushes at her words. 

“Right.” 

“I’ll need your phone number and all that.” She hands him his phone, and he cautiously takes it to add his number. He texts himself. “Thanks.” 

“Well...thanks for an incredible night.”

“No, thank you. I know you’re going back to your friends, but remember what you signed...”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

“Good.” 

Harry had no idea his life was going to get turned upside down by going to that GMA performance. He was able to go on a real date with Y/N and they continued to hit it off. A budding relationship was getting ready to bloom. 

[tangledstarlight]

julie’s ready for a year away from home, studying and trying to refind the magic in music. luke’s about to start on a summer tour around europe opening for a band. they meet one night, sparks fly and emotions run hight. now they’ve just got to try and see if they can maintain a long distance friendship.

DAYS GO BY AND SEASONS CHANGE (LETS TRY AGAIN NEXT WINTER)

trigger warnings!! alcohol and swearing and mentions of death (julies mum)

also on ao3 –– [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | extras 1 & 2 ]

summer

Summer had always been Julie’s favourite time of year.

Well at least it had been. Back when summer's meant spending time with Flynn and Carrie, making up dance routines and climbing trees and begging Victoria to take her to get ice cream from the shop near the pier.

Back before her mom got sick and hospital visits took over from dance routines and a funeral replaced visits to an ice cream shop.

It took her a long time to start liking summers again. To stop associating warm nights with hospital a/c and trips to the beach with a distraction technique while her mom got chemo. She can appreciate summers again now. It had just taken a long time.

But there’s still moments when it hits her. When she remembers all the long hours spent in hard hospital chairs and the terrible staticy tv’s in waiting rooms and the half finished songs tucked away in the back of her old favourite notebook.

(That she’s not touched in years but still brings along with her, just in case. In case of what, Julie doesn’t know, but it’s not stopped her from packing it on every trip and extended visit somewhere new. Just in case she wants to look at them. Just in case inspiration strikes. Just in case she suddenly decides she’s ready to finally finish the songs they started together. Just in case.)

Her favourite moments in summer had been when her mom would pack up their car, with fold up chairs and blankets and a cooler full of snacks, and drive them out of the city until all the bright lights faded away and the sounds of cars grew distant and they could see the sky.

Nothing but the sky and the moon and the stars.

They’d done it every year since Julie could remember, always at the end of summer before school started again, always just the two of them. It was their thing. To go watch the stars and eat all the sugary foods they could. Julie had learnt the stars like that, working her way through bags of gummy worms and sugar laces while her mom told her stories and made the world feel magical.

It’s been a long time since Julie had been out of the city and looked up at the stars with her mom. They’d not been able to make it that last year, and her dad offering to take her hadn't been the same. So it had been a long time since Julie had seen the stars so clear in the sky and remembered why she’d loved it all those years ago. Other than getting the chance to spend time with her mom, the stars made her feel like anything was possible.

There’s something about looking up at a night sky, full of hundreds of thousands of little pinpricks of light that fills you with wonderment and awe. It reminds you that in the grand scheme of things, they’re all pretty small. And that people throughout all of history have looked up at the same sky and seen the same stars and come up with their own stories for them all.

“I hate this, how are you so good at finding the constellations?” Flynn’s complaining brought Julie back down from her wondering and winding thoughts. Back to Cairngorms National Park and the crappy chairs they’d borrowed from the hostel they were staying in and the ‘who can name and find the most constellations’ game that Carrie had started.

“It’s a skill,” Carrie shrugged, trying to toss her hair over her shoulder as she did, but she didn’t want to take her hands out from under the blanket, it was a lot of shoulders jumping up and down and head swinging wildly in a circle. A far cry from the usual smooth movement it normally was.

Julie bit down on her lip to not laugh, Flynn didn’t have the same courtesy and outright cackled, but took sympathy all the same and helped move the stray locks away from Carrie’s face.

“Told you you should have bought gloves.” As if to prove her point Flynn wiggles her gloved fingers in her face and Carrie just frowns, pretends to lean forward to bite them.

“It’s summer. It’s meant to be warm,” she grumbles, and Julie secretly agrees. The three of them aren’t used to having to remember to take a jacket out with them in the middle of summer. But England always seems to run a little cold and the Scottish Highlands don't seem to know what the word ‘summer’ or 'warm' even means.

Especially not at 3 in the morning, but that’s more on them then the country.

Julie pulls her jacket a little tighter to her body as a breeze blows through their little clearing – the collar still smells faintly of Luke’s aftershave and mint, like it’s trying to cling to the last remnants of it’s rightful owner for her sake and it’s own, so she doesn’t forget who she wants to return it too one day – and tilts her head back to look at the stars. She can still hear Carrie and Flynn talking, bickering about gloves and a very clear, “You’re cheating! You’re looking them up on your phone!” from Flynn that makes her smile.

She’s twenty and with her two best friends about to start on an adventure through a mostly unknown country and she’s looking up at the same stars she’d once looked at with her mom, but everything else is different enough that it doesn’t hurt like she thought it would.

Sure she’s still a little sad, still wishes it was her mom sitting next to her, coming up with a wild story or an on-the-spot song about Cassiopeia. But she takes in a breath of air and feels her phone vibrate with a text notification where it’s tucked under her leg and smiles.

She’s always loved summer and despite all the bad memories she’s gained of the season over the last few years, she’s determined to enjoy this one.

//

“Tell me about the music thing.”

Julie blows out a breath at the question, her gaze fixed on the ocean in front of her as the waves crash against the shore, the sun just starting it’s rise into the world on the horizon. It’s 4:40am and the world is silent save for the waves and Luke on the other end of her phone. They’d picked this time because for him the sun was making its final push into the world and for her it was just starting. The closet they could get to watching it rise together with their hour time difference.

It did also mean Luke had been up for a whole hour longer than her, but he didn’t seem to mind. Julie was just happy she’d managed to find coffee in the small hotel’s kitchen before she’d left.

“How do you know there’s a music ‘thing’?” She asks and she knows she was avoiding it, talking about it, thinking about it, but Julie liked that Luke didn’t treat her any differently. That he didn’t know about how she’d once dreamt only of playing music and how now it was like a festering wound in her heart every time she looks at it.

“So I wasn’t like, preying or anything, but Bobby mentioned how you and Carrie and Flynn used to perform together all the time. But that you stopped. After your mom,” he doesn’t say the word, that one little word that still makes her feel sick. But it still hangs in the air between them.

Julie’s pretty sure if she said she didn’t want to talk about it then Luke would let the subject drop. That he’d talk to her about the sea and the sun and the tour and what weird information Reggie had learnt about wherever they were today. And a part of her wanted to do that. To avoid the conversation and having to try to explain all her messed up feelings to someone else. She had no reason to think Luke would understand anymore then her family had, and yet she found herself letting out a sigh and talking.

“My mom she– she introduced me to music, y’know? She used to be in this punk rock band, toured around the US, and made this amazing music that made you feel stuff. And then, even after she wasn’t in a band anymore and had met my dad and had me, music was still this like– it was this huge part of her life. Of my life,” Julie blinks back tears as she talks, her eyes still fixed on the horizon as if it will help. “She taught me to play piano. A little guitar too, but I’ve never been that good at it. But the piano, I fell in love with it. Everything about it. It used to be the one thing in the world that I knew would cheer me up. When I think about my childhood there’s always music in it somewhere. Playing in the background or mom making it or me trying to help her write it. She loved music, and it– it was more than that because it was like music loved her too, y’know?”

Julie pauses, to breathe, to collect her thoughts, to make sure she hasn’t scared Luke off with her rambling. But she can still hear him breathing on the other end of the line and the little ‘yeah’ he breathes out at her rhetorical question.

“She was there for every show I did, for every performance and recital, every time I had too many emotions and needed help to write them down. We did other stuff together too, but music was this thing that we did together that– that made anything feel possible. Is that stupid? That making music with my mom made the world feel magical?” She doesn’t really expect him to answer, it’s a weird question after all. But Luke has a way of surprising her every time.

“It’s not stupid. You spent so much time making something amazing with someone you love more than anything. I can’t really think of anything more magical than that.”

It knocks the breath out of her, the way he seems to get it after such a short time when even her dad still doesn’t really get it. Julie takes in a stuttering breath, unable to stop the tears that pool in her eyes this time with excessive blinking. So she lets them fall.

“Whenever I used to play or sing it always felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do. Like, sitting behind a piano was where I was meant to be, y’know? It was just one of those things I was so fucking sure about. Like that my dad would make pancakes on Saturdays and Sharpey wasn’t the villain of High School Musical and my tia would never learn to knock before coming in and that my mom would always be there. But then she–– she died. And it was like– fuck, I don’t even know. It was like nothing in life made sense anymore anyway, so why would music.” Julie bites her lip, blows out a shaky breath and wipes at her cheeks with her sleeve.

“I stopped playing for a– a long time, afterwards. I just...I couldn’t, y’know? And I know it worried everyone, me not being able to play. So I um I made myself sit at the piano and play something, anything really. Just to prove that I could. That I can.”

“So you made yourself play for everyone else and then last year you finally admitted that it wasn’t the same anymore?” Luke puts it so simply it almost makes her want to laugh.

“Pretty much, yeah,” she says, blowing out a breath. “It’s like, I don’t know how to play music the way I used to without my mom. Everything about music to me is so connected to her that when I play or sing it’s like something is missing and I don’t know how to fill it.”

“Maybe you don’t fill it then.”

“What?” Julie blinks, a small furrow between her brows as she tries to work out what he means.

“Music and your mom, they’re always gonna be linked together for you. There’s no way to undo that, even if you wanted to. And, honestly Julie, it sounds like you got back into music before you were ever ready to and not for yourself. Which, I– I mean, I get it. Everyone who cared about you was worried and you didn't want them to be. So you made yourself play again. But music shouldn't be something your force, it should just be, y'know, easy. And I’ve seen the way you used to play and– fuck, it’s–” Luke blows out a breath as he seems to struggle to find any words and Julie feels her frown deepen, just a little.

“You said making music with your mom felt like magic and that’s what it looked like too. That’s not something you can rush back into. It’s not a gap you can just fill in. It’s something you’ve got to look at and accept and use. When you’re ready to.”

It’s the last thing she expected him to say. Because honestly Julie has never thought about it that way, about how it wasn’t something to fill in or plaster over. That it was just a part of her that she’d have to live with, sand down the edges and put up hazard tape but maybe make into something new. One day.

A bit like how the grief she still feels about her mom is always with her, even though it’s easier to look at now, easier to think about. She’s learnt to live with it. No one’s ever said she should do the same thing with music.

“No one’s ever put it like that before.” No one else had ever seemed to understand that music for her felt a lot like magic either. Part of her knew it should scare her how much Luke seemed to understand her after so little time, but another part of her, a bigger part of her, was just relieved that someone got it. That she didn’t need to explain it again or pretend it was fine.

“Yeah well, music and pain is something I get. Not to the same extent but, yeah. I get it,” his voice trails off and Julie wonders what he’s thinking about. What memories his words have conjured early in the morning. She knows he’s got problems with his parents, that things are strained, she wonders if there’s story there he'll share with her one day.

The sun is peeking over the horizon now, a small semi-circle of orange light that makes her squint as she looks out, but it’s beautiful, watching the sun rise over the sea.

“When have you ever seen me play?” Julie blurts out, suddenly recalling Luke’s earlier words that had made her frown.

“Oh uh–” the question seems to catch Luke off guard and he’s stuttering, a bit like the first time they’d met in the cafe when he’d ruined her jacket. Julie can practically see him, sitting on his bench overlooking the tourist traps of France, hand rubbing at the back of his neck as his cheeks slowly turned pink. “So I wasn’t like, internet stalking you or anything. But, well when Bobby mentioned that you used to perform and I uh looked some of them up? Carrie has a very organised facebook and youtube channel. There’s playlists.”

And this time Julie does laugh, loud and bright in the still morning because he’d see the jumpy and blurry iphone videos of them messing around for their parents and school and still thought it was magical when she played. If he hadn’t sounded so serious when he said it, Julie would think he was just trying to be nice.

“God those videos were terrible. We got Flynn’s mom to help us make costumes for some of them, I definitely remember us being convinced that pillowcases and duct tape would make the most killer look,” she shakes her head at the memory and it feels lighter, easier than it would have done an hour ago.

“You looked very cute in your pillowcase dress and duct tape headband, I’m honestly surprised it never took off. You could have been a trend setter,” Luke says and she can practically hear him holding back a laugh.

“Alright Mr I-think-jean-chains-are-cool, settle down.”

“Hey! You said my chain was very cool,” he whines, she can practically see his lower lip protruding in a pout.

“I was also very drunk at the time, I was probably just trying to be nice.”

“You know what? As soon as the sun is fully up for you I am so hanging up the phone dramatically,” Luke mutters and it makes her laugh again. How he’d made her go from spilling her emotional guts up to crying to laughing all within a few minutes she’ll never know.

But she wants to thank him for it anyway, for understanding and helping and calling her magical. She’s not quite sure how to fit that into a single thank you though.

“Hey Luke?” She says it softly, almost as if she’s scared of frightening him away.

“Yeah?” His voice is just as soft and it makes her smile.

“Thanks for watching the sunrise with me.”

“Anytime.”

//

When they had first planned out their summer road trip starting in Scotland with a side trip to Belfast and ending in London they’d imagined something a lot more glamorous. They’d planned out all the places they wanted to see and visit that weren’t on the usual tourist route, and Flynn had even bought a paper map so they could mark places off as they went. They’d definitely anticipated more sunnier days then they’d gotten. And the surprise detour into a rural Welsh village was still being argued over about whose fault it was.

(Julie firmly blamed Flynn, she was the one giving directions. Flynn blamed Carrie because she was the one driving. And Carrie blamed Julie because she was sitting in the back having a nap. Either way they’d ended up stuck in a field after following a dirt road and only got back on track when a farmer had laughed at them for what felt like an hour.)

But this was their last weekend before they went back to their respective schools and they were determined to make it the most memorable yet. Full of drinks and laughter and tourist photos and over priced food.

Carrie had spent hours on instagram, sitting cross legged on the weird little half sofa in their hotel room, looking through all the bars and clubs people frequented with the best drink prices and photo opportunities. Flynn and Julie had spent the same amount of time on instagram looking for the cutest places to eat and cheapest spots for shopping.

They’d all reconvened on the bed in their shared hotel room with their lists of places and made a plan. They had three days and were determined to do all the touristy things they could. They’d saved it all for London because that had made the most sense when they’d first made their plan. What was a trip to the UK without a photo of the London Eye or the weird clock thing?

“...and then we went to Camden Market which was really cool. There was this stall with these really cool photos that my dad would love, now I’ve just got to work out how I’m gonna keep them safe until I go home. And oh my god! This other stall had all these old tapes and records of some real old school classic bands, you’ve got to check it out when you’re back.” Julie glanced down at her phone where she’d propped it up against the door while she sat in front of the floor length mirror in the hotel, makeup and hair products scattered around her.

She can see half of Luke’s face and half of Reggie’s watching her from the screen, both of them listening to her ramble about her day like they care what she has to say. Like they’re truly interested in the prints she bought for her dad and the pins she’d found for Victoria.

“Ask her if it’s–” she can hear someone start on their end of the call, the voice growing muffled as Luke’s eyes look somewhere over the top of his phone. She thinks it’s Alex talking, but she can’t be sure.

“Alex asked if that’s the place with the people painted gold and the ones who juggled in the streets?” Luke relays the question, an eyebrow raised as he looks at her. And Julie knows, logically, that he’s not really looking at her, because there’s a screen and a few hundred miles between them, but it still feels like he’s staring right into her soul. Even with the one and half eyes that the screen lets her see.

“Um,” she swallows, bites the end of her eyeshadow brush as she looks away and tries to think, glad for the slightly staticy quality of their facetime call. “No, that’s the other place. Um – hang on, Flynn! What’s the name of the other place we went?”

Flynn’s head appears around the doorframe of the bathroom, hair already done, eyeshadow standing out against her skin – the blues and greens of her eyeshadow blending together so well it makes Julie want to ask her to do hers too – and a mascara wand in hand. She tilts her head to the side, lips pursed as she thinks about it before leaning over Julie’s head and pointing at her phone.

“He’s thinking about Covent Garden. It’s got that design your own ice cream place and looks way cleaner.” They both watch as someone's hand descends over the camera and someone shouts and the phone shakes and then Alex’s face is filling the screen, the snapback on his head doing nothing to stop his hair from falling into his eyes.

“They had a really cool cupcake store, did you go there?” Someone’s hand appears in the frame for a second, and they can hear muttering in the background but Alex just shifts slightly to the left of wherever he’s sat, completely ignoring who she can only assume is Luke and Reggie complaining.

“Mhm,” Julie nods, not even bothering to hide her grin at the annoyed ‘Alex’ she can hear one of them make in the background.

“Did you try the triple chocolate one?” Flynn asks, sitting herself down next to Julie on the floor and wordlessly plucking the brush from her hands and picking up the palette she had been using from the ground. She swears, it's like Flynn can read her mind sometimes.

“Yes! It was so good,” Bobby pushes himself into view, chin resting to Alex’s shoulder like he’s draped himself over the drummer's neck like a scarf. From the corner of her eye Julie watches as Alex tries to shrug him off only for Bobby to somehow wrap his arms around his neck, holding on tighter.

“Close your eyes,” Flynn says, brush poised in the air to work and Julie quickly does as instructed.

“I preferred the coconut lime one,” Julie comments and she can hear someone let out a gasp on the phone.

“Over chocolate? Oh man, I didn’t know you had such a bad taste in cakes Julie.”

She bites her lip to stop herself from laughing at Lukes words – who has clearly forced his way back into view of the phone because his voice is close and unmuffled and teasing.

“What are you going to do? Hand up the phone dramatically?” She wishes she could open her eyes, to see his face, see if he remembers saying that. But she doesn’t have to open them to know he remembers when she can hear him laughing, can hear the smile in his voice.

“I would if Alex would give me my phone back.”

“Don’t you dare hang up I want everyone’s opinions on which dress I should wear,” Carrie calls from the bathroom and Julie peeks open one eye to see her poke her head around the doorway to glare at them and the phone before vanishing again.

“Ooo fashion show! Lets go girls!”

Flynn stops tapping at her eyelid and Julie opens her other eye to look at her quickly before glancing down at her phone where half of Reggie’s face takes up the screen, the other three boys fighting in the background.

“Did someone say fashion show?” A new voice joins the chaos on the other end of the phone and Julie frowns a little until Willie’s face joins Reggie's, blocking out the other three and grinning at them. “Woah your eyeshadow looks wicked Julie!”

“All credit for that goes to Flynn,” she says, waving her hands at Flynn as she finally gets the chance to look in the mirror, taking in the magic Flynn has worked on her eyes. It’s all dark purples and hints of silver and specks of glitter and Julie honestly has no idea how she’s done it. She turns her head to give the other girl a wide smile, “Fuck, this is so pretty Flynn!”

“If my music career doesn’t take off I’m going to make a killer makeup artist,” she tosses her braids over one shoulder, eyes glancing up a little as she grins.

“Always good to have a back up career,” Bobby’s face appears between Reggie’s and Willie’s, his arms wrapping around their shoulders. “Mine is landscape gardening.”

There’s a beat of silence on both sides of the phone, even Luke and Alex in the background seem to have gone quiet at their friends' words. Julie opens her mouth, though she’s not sure what she’s going to say, and she can see a similar thing happening to Willie while Bobby is just smiling, either unaware at the confusion he’s caused or knows, and is just extremely pleased with himself.

They’re all saved from breaking the weird silence by Carrie coming out the bathroom, burgundy slip dress swishing above her knees and blonde hair curled down her back, she puts a hand on her hip and rolls her eyes at the phone.

“Robert. You still cut your chin every time you shave, shut up about being a landscape gardener,” after rolling her eyes again, Carrie straightens up a little, brushing down her dress and posing so they can all see, “Now, this is option one!”

Eventually, after Carrie has gone through three dresses – picking the first option, of course – and Flynn has shown off her dark blue halter neck jumpsuit and Julie has twirled in her black lace skater dress, they’ve all done a shot together in solidarity and reapplied lipstick and they’re getting ready to leave. Julie is cradling her phone in front of her face and it’s just Luke on the other end now.

“You look really nice, by the way. Beautiful in fact.” He rubs at the back of his neck, an almost shy smile on his lips as he looks at her.

She gives him a small smile in return, just a twitch of her lips really, even though her stomach feels like it’s exploded in butterflies. Julie knows she doesn’t need someone else's approval on how she looks, but hearing Luke call her beautiful doesn’t exactly hurt.

“Thanks,” she bites her lip, wanting to say something more, but not knowing what. Carrie calls her name from the hotel door, nodding her head to where Flynn is already waiting in the hallway. “I gotta go. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, yeah. Have a good night. Let me know when you get back okay, okay?” He raises and eyebrow at her and Julie can’t help but let out a small laugh.

“I will.”

[halothenthehorns]

THE DARK MARK

"Here you go Padfoot," James finally handed over his prize, the widest most stupid smirk still happily planted on his face.

Sirius eyed it, before stretching leisurely and saying, "nah, I'm good, I think I like being skipped. It's technically Harry's turn, have at it pup."

Harry didn't argue the point as he flipped to his chapter, ignoring that stupid little bubble that was trying to burst his good mood and inform him that nothing would be pleasant for much longer now that the Cup had ended.

Mr. Weasley was cautioning the twins not to go telling their mother they'd been gambling as they headed back to the stairwell.

"Oh that's nice," Lily muttered, "encourage them to lie to their mother."

"It's not lying," Remus said at once.

Even not having heard what Lily had said, Sirius agreed with him at once, "it's just keeping information from those who don't need it, a rather kind endeavor really, you should be thanking us."

"I'm sure that was your motto at school," she snorted at him.

"No," James smirked, "it was 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'"

Harry burst out laughing, even Lily couldn't stop a little smile as she shook her head at the lot of these boys.

      Fred promised that wouldn't be a problem, as they both had big plans for this gold and didn't want it being confiscated. Mr. Weasley hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to ask for details, but seemed to decide against it.

"I want to know," Sirius pouted, still happily bouncing in place in hopes they were going full throttle with that joke shop idea.

They were soon back in the crowds, heading back to the tents through the lantern path once again, leprechauns commonly cruising by above still happily laughing.

"That's going to be happening the rest of the night," James snickered.

They reached their tent and as no one was ready to settle down, they all got some cocoa ready, and were happily still arguing about the game.

"What kind of arguments were these?" Sirius demanded at once.

Harry opened his mouth to start saying the many spiraling conversations that had been going on, but Lily quickly elbowed her way in saying, "not now boys. How many times do I have to tell you, we are not spending hours just sitting around talking about Quidditch, I want to hear this."

"But, Quidditch," James turned pleading eyes on his wife.

"And the World Cup at that," Sirius nodded fervently.

Lily didn't budge though, so Harry turned back to his chapter.

It wasn't until Ginny fell asleep at the table did Arthur cut in it was time for them to get some sleep.

"Well that's not fair," Remus smiled lightly, "making all of them go to bed just because one fell asleep."

"They might have to get up early again," Lily offered.

As Hermione roused Ginny and they went to their own tent, they heard a small bang from the Irish side of the campsite, and Mr. Weasley happily said how he was pleased not to be on duty tonight, he didn't envy those who had the task of telling the Irish to settle down.

"I can only picture the bravest of souls taking up the challenge," James said solemnly.

"And the beautiful responses said Ministry employees will receive," Sirius cackled.

Harry lay in his bunk, watching the tent ceiling which occasionally still had a flash of color flying overhead. He was fantasizing about flying his own Firebolt when he got back to the Burrow, wanting to try out that Wronski Feint.

Lily groaned, placing her face in her hands and cursing his Quidditch father, broom giving godfather, and whatever else felt the need to encourage her son to continue with that insane sport.

Remus gave her a light pat on the shoulder in comfort, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing at the boys on the couch who were all laughing lightly at what they felt was an overreaction from her.

Harry was surprised Wood have never told him of this technique.

"Well it is rather advanced," Sirius nodded sagely. "I can understand if he hadn't even shown it to you yet."

"With the broom and experience you've got though," James hadn't thought it was possible for his mood to keep soaring, but speaking of this was doing so! "I wouldn't be surprised if you pulled it off first try."

"You are literally encouraging our son to ram himself into the ground as hard as he can until he pulls that off," Lily got out, her face still buried in her fingers.

"Ah, it won't cause any permanent damage," Remus snickered, "James seems mostly intact after his many attempts."

"Mostly?" James demanded with a challenging brow but, still snickering lightly, Harry decided to keep going himself now.

His daydream continued to morph, so that he was now performing that move in front of the stadium they'd just left, with Ludo Bagman calling out the name Potter to the cheering crowd.

"So now you actually want the attention?" Remus laughed.

"It's for Quidditch," Sirius said like it was obvious. "If Harry goes on to remember he joined the professionals, I wouldn't be surprised one little bit. That's the kind of fame I'd never be worried about him getting."

"You're all fired from giving him advice," Lily said stoutly, finally pulling her face out of her hands so they could see her rolling her eyes.

Harry wasn't sure if his mind's eye changed to actual dreams,

Harry was trying very hard now to force himself to relax. He'd gone to sleep after all, surely whatever was trying to creep up and ruin his mood wasn't going to happen...

but the next thing he heard was Arthur shouting at the lot of them to get up, this was an emergency!

The four who weren't reading felt terrible little twists inside of them, but at once tried to convince themselves they were being paranoid. They'd had an excellent run thus far, there was no way something to bad could be happening...

Harry sat upright and was lucky not to hit something harder than canvas above him as he muttered what was going on? He could still hear in the background some banging noises, but somehow they felt different, and he could hear people screaming now.

Lily began gnawing on her lip again at once, picturing all sorts of terrible things like a fire breaking out. In that kind of crowd it could cause a stampede and get someone hurt. Or worse the rival team and someone had started a riot, one drunk thing had gone too far, or...her mind kept offering up one worst thing after the other, and judging by the boy's faces, she wasn't the only one.

Harry slipped out of his bed and began trying to find a change of clothes, but at Arthur's insistence there was no time, he simply bolted out of the tent after Ron, and ran into a nightmare.

There were several camp fires still burning, now lighting his surroundings with ghostly shadows, and loud noises like gunshots coming closer.

"What on earth?" Remus muttered, his mind spinning to try and understand what Harry's half-awake mind couldn't process yet.

Harry couldn't answer, even if he wanted to. There was a hard knot of dread forming up inside of him, making it hard for him to concentrate on the words and keep going.

There seemed to be a large ring of people, all looking up and laughing at something, then there was another flash of light, and Harry could see that there was something hovering in the air above the crowd...people. Directly below them was a condensed group all wearing masks.

"Oh, oh no. Oh no, no, no, no," Lily was shaking her head so furiously to insist upon her brain she hadn't just heard the worst implication, that her hair was flying into her face and she didn't care.

"It doesn't necessarily mean," Sirius tried, but even his voice failed him and he couldn't keep it going.

"What, what's going on?" Harry demanded, as clearly they understood something.

"It, they-" James tried furiously to get the words out, but he'd switched from cloud nine to the worst form of agitated fear so quickly, he was having trouble processing anything.

"They're called Death Eater's,"* Remus was the first to get out, new worry lines appearing around his suddenly dark eyes. "They're what Voldemort calls his followers. Horrid people who do whatever their master commands-"

"Often while enjoying doing it," Sirius added on.

Harry was looking between all of them, now wishing more than anything they could just go back to talking of Quidditch. He'd sadly worked this out for himself, this wasn't the first time they'd mentioned Death Eaters, but only in passing. He'd long guessed for himself what they must be referring to, but now he was getting a firsthand account of their work, and he did not appreciate it.

When the silence dragged on though, Harry knew he may as well keep going, to get through this chapter and this terrible event and just hope nothing like it came up again. They may even be wrong after all, then again, how many groups of people wore masks and would be doing a thing like this?

High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes.

Lily gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth to muffle a scream at who those people must be. Muggles, or Muggle-born, being put on display, and- she realized she was shaking then, but not in fear as Remus throwing her a concerned look suggested, but in rage. In her last few years at school it had been made more clear than ever that her parentage made her stand out, and while there were those who couldn't care less, there were those who only cared about that. Those second groups were most likely the current Death Eaters, in her own time and in Harry's. She'd stepped in many a time to stop terrible fights breaking out, now she was having to listen to her son witness such a thing happening!

The other boys looked just as outraged at hearing this, and Lily was almost sad to see Harry was as well, because she'd have rather seen him confused. She wanted to shield him from that terrible knowledge that people would act this way towards each other, but then she realized she was feeling all the more proud for the reaction she was seeing. If she couldn't protect him from this, at least she was warmed that he knew how terrible this was, how much worse her son could have turned out if he'd been under the influence of someone like the Malfoy's.

Harry did not want to keep going one little bit, but as always he knew he may as well get the experience over with and just hope they turned out okay.

It seemed the masked people below were holding their limbs in invisible magic, and two of the four were very small.

"They've, got, children, up, there," Remus said slowly and dangerously, his hands curling into such tight fists the tendons were showing.

Harry wanted more than anything just to deny that one thing, but the words failed in his throat as he turned morosely back to the book.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies.

"How is that funny?" James seethed. "I, just, you don't-" his temper kept tampering off his words, leaving him a spluttering mess, while his face slowly grew more and more red from outrage.

Tents were being smashed to pieces as the group grew closer, either blasted out of the way or being trampled by the ever growing cheering crowd. The ones that did remain standing were caught on fire, and the screaming kept growing louder.

While Sirius deeply regretted forcing Harry to read this, and was fighting back the impulse to wrench the book away from him to prevent it continuing, he recognized he may not have been able to get these words out himself as his throat kept vibrating with repulsion, forever unable to kick away the mental image of his little brother, and now someone he'd once called a brother, joining in on this group.

The people above were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Harry recognized one of them, Mr. Roberts.

There were many times in the past where Harry actually regretted understanding why he'd felt a missing memory and did not appreciate having it returned, and this was definitely one of them. His feelings went beyond just pity for poor Mr. Roberts and his family, who had done nothing to deserve this treatment, but a righteous fury was quickly coming in as well, making him want to draw his wand, his body acting without his conscious mind telling him to go and help those people, you had the experience. He forced himself to shake that off though, blinking until the words below him came back into focus, and recognized that however he felt now, he could only deal with the then.

The others were most likely his wife and two children, all were receiving the same vile treatment. Mrs. Roberts was suddenly hung upside down, unable to stop her dress falling with her, leaving her flashing the crowd below.

Harry wasn't entirely sure he'd gotten through all of that and been completely understood, but he was sure they all got the gist of it by the murderous looks on their faces somehow increasing.

Ron managed to spit out how sick that was as his eyes followed one of the children being spun on his head like a top.

"Please be asleep, please let that poor thing be asleep," Lily murmured to herself, her nails digging into her own palm she was wringing her hands so hard.

Hermione and Ginny came out of their tents then, and Mr. Weasley then instructed all of the underage kids to get into the forest, while Percy, Bill, and Charlie were already running towards the mass with their wands out.

Each of them felt torn in half at that news. Of course they wanted Harry to get out of there, but they wanted Mr. Weasley to stay with him incase things somehow got worse, which seemed impossible at this point but as they'd all thought that before and it still somehow happened they weren't putting it past anymore. Then the other side, which was grateful relief that Arthur and his boys would blow those bloody Death Eater's sky high for what they were doing and make sure Mr. Robert's family was fine.

Harry reluctantly turned away as Fred and George each took one of Ginny's hands, and Ron and his two friends quickly followed them into the path where most of the other bystanders were running. Harry took one last glance behind and saw several ministry people were trying to muscle their way through the crowd to get to the masked people,clearly not wanting to curse anyone in fear it would make the Roberts family fall.

"Understandable that, can't apparate to their side either without risking getting blasted to smithereens, have to be a group effort," Remus was muttering under his breath, tapping away an insane rhythm on his knee in pure agitation he couldn't be helping.

The lanterns from before had been put out, the people shoving into one another along the dark path was causing just as much mayhem inside the trees, children could still be heard crying and still more anxious people were screaming into the night.

James and Sirius remembered their earlier joke about how they'd wanted to start a riot between the two rival Quidditch teams, and how that had somehow been turned on its head into this catastrophe, and now they just wanted to hear that everyone made it out of this night alive!

Harry felt himself being pushed hither and thither by people whose faces he could not see. Then he heard Ron yell with pain.

Lily yelped so painfully, she sounded like she'd been sat on, but she couldn't even pretend to be okay when they all gave her anxious looks. She was picturing those Death Eater's catching up to her son, gagging and dragging him back to that decrepit Voldemort, or any other number of terrible things all because Ron had somehow gotten hurt!

Harry wanted to reassure her, he may feel dread for this night but he wanted to calm them all down that nothing too bad was going to happen to him, but that felt like he was dismissing what had happened to Mr. Robert's family, and he wasn't even sure if he was completely right, so he decided to keep going instead.

Hermione cried out for him, and when he didn't immediately respond she lit her wand to find Ron just a bit off the path lying in the dirt.

"He's going to get trampled like that," Sirius muttered, still jittering in a wholly different way than he had been in just the previous chapter.

He grumbled that he'd just tripped as he got back to his feet.

That was such a mundane thing compared to what they'd been afraid of, it almost caused them to laugh in surprise. Almost. They still felt wound up and wretched, but at least it was a breath of fresh air reminding that everything must turn out okay.

Someone began laughing at this misfortune, and Harry didn't have to look hard to find Draco Malfoy,

"Of course," James spat, his hazel eyes lighting furiously. "Why am I not surprised, it was probably his parents idea to do all of that!"

"Won't find anyone in here disagreeing," Harry muttered with such a vicious flip of the page he nearly tore it out.

leaning against a tree in the most casual of manners, clearly watching the show back on the campsite.

"Oh he's being real subtle," Remus sneered. "May as well go out and wave a sign around."

"Please have Hermione punch him again, please," Lily growled.

Ron told Malfoy to do something that Harry knew he would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley.

"I don't know," Sirius rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, though his tone wasn't up to its normal teasing levels even in appreciation of that statement. "I think she might just turn a deaf ear in light of what's going on."

Malfoy hardly reacted, saying they'd better keep running before Hermione was seen.

Harry felt himself stiffen up in even further disgust, the thought of Hermione up there with Mr. Robert's family making him want to retch, but he drew on every last drop of confidence he could muster that wasn't going to happen to his sister.

At that moment the loudest bang of all went off, green light flooding their surroundings.

Lily shuddered in renewed horror, the color green taking on a whole new light with what could be going on back there.

Hermione snapped back she demanded to know what he was on about, and Malfoy just laughed that those people out there were after Muggles. So unless she wanted to show off her knickers next, which would be pretty funny.

"You can't spot a Muggle just by looking at them!" James ground out through gritted teeth.

"Though I wouldn't put it past Malfoy, either of them, to shout it out," Remus seethed.

Harry snarled back that Hermione was a witch! Malfoy's smirk just widened, saying that if they wanted to test how well someone could spot a Mudblood, they should stick around.

Harry felt an acrid taste burning his tongue as he said that for the first time in his life, now knowing how his father felt. Even when you didn't mean it, it would always feel wrong to say.

Ron shouted at him to watch his own language!

"Do the slug curse again," Sirius suggested viciously, "you've got a proper wand now!"

"That's being kind, but a nice start," Remus nodded.

Hermione didn't seem to care too much, as she grabbed the back of Ron's shirt and began pulling him away.

"Or just punch him," James smirked, "I'll take either."

There was another bang, getting closer every time, and even more people screaming. Malfoy just continued to laugh.

It did not surprise them this was his reaction, not after everything he'd said and done previously, it was just all the more loathsome to continually hear about it.

He mocked the people around him for scarring so easily, then demanded of Ron if his dad was one of the idiots trying to save those Muggles? Ron shot back that Malfoy's dad was probably one of those keeping the Muggles up in the air.

"So proud of you, that's exactly what I was going to say," James sighed.

Malfoy's smug expression didn't even twitch as he said if his dad was out there, he wouldn't be telling them.

"Just put a big ol' sign up to say he was right why don't you, it would be much subtler," Remus hissed.

Hermione was really trying to get the two boys to walk away now, saying they'd gotten too far away from Ron's siblings. Malfoy laughed as she convinced them to start leaving, mockingly tossing back to keep her head down.

"Can't believe Hermione actually did manage to pull you both out of the way after all of that," Lily sighed in honest disappointment. Harry couldn't be out there helping Arthur, but he could at least get his own payback on this pompous child.

"We really did want to get Hermione out of there after that though," Harry muttered darkly.

Ron was still muttering about how he was sure Lucius was one under those hoods.

"Am not taking that bet," Sirius agreed.

Hermione was trying to sooth that the Ministry would most likely catch them, while still looking around desperately for the other three, who'd vanished.

"Of course you got separated from them," James groaned, rubbing furiously at the ridge of his nose and nearly knocking his glasses off he was already so upset by this set up. Nothing good had ever came of these three getting separated!

They kept pushing through though, running into a few random people along the way. One girl caught sight of them and ran up, asking them something in pure French, only the name Madame Maxime coming through.

Harry successfully butchered that so well, it took Remus a moment to ask, "was that French?"

"Err, yes," Harry muttered with a slight blush.

Whether he'd done it on purpose or not, probably not, that actually managed to cause genuine smiles back on all of them for at least this small and funny little distraction.

When they responded back in English, the girl muttered an apology and walked back to her group, muttering something about 'Ogwarts. Hermione said Beauxbatons as they kept walking,

After the last chapter he'd heard about involving several of the foreign schools, Harry didn't need much to put together that must be the French equivalent of Hogwarts.

explaining for the boys that was the French Academy of Magic. She'd read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe.

"Of course she did," Remus gave a soft snort of delight, remembering how both he and Harry had thought earlier that's how Hermione would come across that information.

Harry agreed with disinterest, while Ron lit his own wand and rose it above his head to look for his siblings. Harry went digging for his own to help, when he realized he couldn't find it.

"It what!" James squaked in alarm.

Harry was gaping down at the book like a fish out of water, patting his own pocket now and feeling comforted his wand was at least there now!

"You, you left it in the tent, or," Sirius began stammering, eyeing Harry like he'd instead said he'd left his glasses behind. Even that would have made more sense.

"I, no I don't think so, the last time I remember having it-" he struggled, his mind floundering because he never used it on his summer holiday, but he always kept it in his pocket, so it was an unconscious feeling. He hadn't used it his whole time while at the Burrow, but he'd brought it along to the Cup. He hadn't used it there either, but it had always been in his pocket. There was an alarm bell going off in the base of his skull, something painful telling him he should know quite well where it had gone, but that was missing like any other important thing he tried to remember!

His frustration was clearly growing on his face, so James quickly jumped in by placing a calming hand on his shoulder and soothing, "relax Harry, I know you find it, and I also know you didn't just leave it lying around." He struggled for a moment, trying to understand what could have happened to it, as a wizard's wand was akin to an extra finger, you were never without it. He couldn't fathom what could be going on, but still persisted, "so let's get to that part where everything gets better again."

Harry nodded without any enthusiasm, but at least appreciated they weren't all badgering him about losing it.

The only thing on him was his Omnioculars. Harry exclaimed in fear it wasn't there, and Ron and Hermione froze as they looked on the ground for it now. Harry kept patting himself down, but it was nowhere around.

"Be a little worried if it was just randomly lying around," Remus muttered, as wands weren't know for just randomly falling out of pockets. If it had been him who'd tripped over a root, that would have been one thing, but no, he was sure something else besides dropping it was going on, that Chamber must have taught Harry about throwing his wand any old place.

Ron suggested it had been left in the tent, while Hermione offered he may have dropped it while they'd been running.

They shifted uncomfortably, finding these fair enough answers, but still as unusual as it could get, and just as unlikely coming from those two as themselves.

Harry absently agreed, suddenly feeling naked. He never went anywhere without his wand, and now felt ten times more vulnerable.

"Glad you agree," Lily murmured, those horrible visions from before still twisting away behind her mind's eye, now more terrible than ever that her son couldn't magically defend himself.

There was a rustling noise to their left, and then Winky came stumbling out. She was moving odd, like she was trying to run forward but something was pulling her backwards.

Harry choked as he got that out, going incredibly wide eyed all over again, but whatever he felt for that description was gone in a flash and his mind was back to gnawing on what had happened to his wand, something that was causing him an equal amount of pain in his head, no need to add more. Then why was something trying to warn him these two things were connected...

She was muttering to herself about how bad wizards were around, people being lifted in the air, and how she wanted to get out of there! She managed to struggle into another clump of bushes and vanish again. Ron asked why she'd been acting like that, and Harry offered it was probably because she'd been doing something without permission.

Even as Harry said that...(again...this time travel thing made that annoying,) he could feel something wasn't right, this was the wrong answer, and still he couldn't grasp hold of it for any reason and instead forced himself to concentrate on the print, much less painful.

His mind was on Dobby, who often acted the same way when he disobeyed a Malfoy order. Hermione was frowning after the little thing indignantly as she said how bad house-elves had it.

Harry nearly sobbed in relief at finally something much lighter for his conclusions to settle on, though he did wonder what about Hermione speaking of house-elves would lead to. He greedily latched onto it though, as he'd nearly developed a second pulse behind his eyes he'd been thinking so much about things he should know better of by now.

Speaking of how that was slavery. Mr. Crouch had forced her to go up to the stadium even though she'd been terrified to do so,

"Did he even show up?" Lily muttered randomly, that never having been noted at all. It was quite rude of him to force his house-elf to go up there and never even bother to show. Surely nothing so important could be going on during the actual cup.

and now she couldn't even run when all the tents were being trampled.

"She's not bewitched," Sirius snorted. "She didn't get permission, and was probably told not to leave the tent for some reason. That's just part of how they are."

"So you're okay with Winky getting hurt, just because Crouch didn't release her from that command before he ran off?" Lily demanded of him in blistering tones.

Sirius threw his hands in defeat at once, saying, "hey, I'm just saying he didn't do it on purpose."

Lily still had her eyes narrowed at him, and while Harry would have been more than happy at this rate watching them bicker about this, he also noticed Remus quickly trying to wave him on before the argument could escalate as well, so he sighed and kept at it.

Demanding of nobody why hadn't this been stopped long before now. Ron just shrugged that the elves were happy the way they were, but Hermione turned on him at once that it was people like him who were too lazy-

"Lazy?" James raised a brow in surprise. "He's just saying it like it's always been for thousands of years. I really don't see what Hermione's so strung up about either."

Lily ground her teeth together, but shook her head in furious silence. She understood completely where Hermione was coming from, after watching poor Dobby for a whole year and now this, she was really regretting her own life that she hadn't looked into this more. All she'd ever known were the house-elves at Hogwarts, treated perfectly well and never a care, and she'd naively believed that all were treated the same. She now realized how ignorant that was, and quite agreed with where she was positive Hermione was heading, there should be a standard for their living as much as anybody's.

There was another bang from behind them cutting off the rest of her words, and Ron suggested they keep moving with a worried look at Hermione. Harry couldn't help but agree, maybe there had been some truth to what Malfoy had said and Hermione was in more danger than them.

Sadly, that really was true. Honestly all three made wonderful targets for any Death Eater. The son of a blood traitor, who readily stood by his father and family. The Muggleborn, though not obvious Malfoy at least could point out. And the Boy Who Lived, which went without saying, and wandless! All three of them really needed to keep their heads down.

They set off again, Harry still searching his pockets, even though he knew his wand wasn't there.

Sadly that pain popped right back into Harry's temple the moment he was reminded of that, somehow doubling since it had gone away in its persistence he should be remembering something.

They continued down the dark winding path still keeping an eye out for more Weasley's, but all they passed were some goblins laughing over a sack of gold,

In his current mindset, he didn't even notice the light flutter he felt that this detail may have been important later.

and then a large group of veela,

"Guess they're not worried about anything," Lily rolled her eyes.

surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly.

"Well that'll make you forget what's going on behind you," Sirius snorted with derision. Even he had to admit this was a terrible time to be flirting.

They were all shouting nonsense at the veela, one saying how he made a hundred Galleons a year!

"Congratulations," James rolled his eyes, "you should be richer than the richest by next month."

Another was yelling how he was a dragon killer!

"Not everyone appreciates that kind of boasting," Lily sniffed, finding that far more sad that this was a needed job then brave or whatever that numbskull was going for. She wasn't even the biggest fan of dragons and she wasn't fond of the idea of killing them.

A boy right beside him called him out on that lie, shouting that he was a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron, but then boasted his own that he was a vampire hunter!

"Right, and you happen to be friends with a dishwasher. Good of you to keep the company," Remus muttered.

One who stuck out to Harry who had pimples all over his face shouted next that he was slated to be the youngest ever Minister of Magic.

"I'm sure he'll do a better job than the current one," Sirius snorted, while Harry randomly thought he should find that funny, giving a slight snort as he recognized this young man, and finding irony that he in fact would do better.

Harry snorted with laughter as he recognized him, Stan Shunpike, a conductor on the Knight Bus.

"Oh that's brilliant," Lily snickered. She understood it was the magic of the Veela forcing them to want to impress making them act like fools, but she still found it sad that the way they went about it was lying. At least James never resorted to that in his mad attempts to gain her favor. Not that she was dumb enough to believe half of this bullocks, so it was a moot point.

Harry meant to tell Ron this, but then Ron chose that moment to begin shouting that he'd just invented a broom that could make it all the way to Jupiter.

"Now that I'd like to see," James laughed. "What's the brand you're calling it then, the Zeus model?"

"I'll let you know if he does," Harry promised with an easy smile, thanking once again this lighthearted switch for the reprieve he was getting, no matter how short.

Hermione sniffed as she and Harry grabbed hold of Ron's arms and dragged him away.

"I noticed you weren't affected that time," Remus pointed out.

Harry just shrugged, muttering, "wasn't really paying attention till I heard Stan speak up, then I was too busy laughing."

By the time all of that yelling had faded away, they were now mostly alone in the dark forest, things seemed to have gotten quieter.

Lily felt like goosebumps were smothering her as she said, "well, then perhaps you should go back and laugh at the Veela's admirers a bit more. It's not good for you to be so far out by yourself. Plus, you never caught up to Ron's siblings, I'm sure they're worried about you."

Harry wanted to agree, to voice that he had gone back into the more populated areas of the forest, but the words wouldn't come, something he knew he'd regret.

Harry was looking around as he said they should just wait where they were, they could hear anyone coming.

The four of them sighed in disappointment. Why did Harry have to be the one to suggest that? Was he trying to make their life more miserable by seeming to go out of his way in his younger self to cause these situations?!

He'd hardly got done saying that when Bagman burst from the trees, looking quite disheveled.

Sirius was frowning in concern for someone he'd almost call an idol, wondering what on earth could have happened to him. He hadn't been mugged had he, he'd been carrying around an awful lot of gold for his betting. Had he perhaps run into a not happy customer about a big loss? He really hoped he was okay, or had Bludgeoned whoever it was, causing that other person to look far more than strained.

He caught sight of them and asked what they were doing out here? Ron pointed back towards the campsite and said they were hiding from the riot. Bagman blinked in shock before demanding 'what?'

"So, he didn't know?" Lily raised a brow in surprise.

"What's he been doing this whole time, it's hardly been subtle," Remus agreed.

"Maybe he found an old friend and brought her along for some privacy," James smirked, thinking there were plenty of reasons he could be looking tossed around.

They began to explain, but once they were done Bagman swore in surprise,

"A very appropriate reaction honestly," Sirius huffed.

said 'damn them',

"Them?" They all asked in surprise, Sirius now thinking he may have been closer than he thought, but hopefully Bagman would file a report of it later and get back whatever he deserved.

and then Disapparated away. Hermione was frowning where he'd just been, saying how he wasn't on top of things much.

"You can't blame him for not being on high alert twenty four seven," Sirius muttered, grains of pity still lingering for him.

Ron just shrugged and said that he'd been a great Beater,

"Because that just made everything better," Lily snorted.

his old team the Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times when he'd been playing for them.

Sirius was more than happy to make a triumphant noise in delight at this news, hoping Harry and Ron would whittle away the boring hours until Arthur found them with Quidditch talk.

He took his figurine of Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around.

Giving all of them a nice laugh as well. They were still tense and uneasy, they couldn't help it until Harry was back out of that forest and safely back at the Burrow, but it was nice that he had Ron and Hermione there in the meantime to keep up distractions like this from the worst of their thoughts.

Ron sat down in the leaves to watch it pace around, and silence lingered for a few more moments before Hermione again voiced that she hoped the others were okay. Ron assured they were all fine, and Harry voiced that he hoped Arthur caught Lucius in the act.

"This whole ordeal will be worth it if that's true," Sirius nodded.

Ron agreed that would make his life, while Hermione whispered how bad those poor Muggles had it, wondering if they would get down okay?

"They will," Remus said at once at the uneasy look on Harry's face. "Then they'll make sure they're okay, before most likely giving them a powerful memory charm to erase this terrible instance from their mind."

"A kindness honestly," Lily sighed, "otherwise they may have gone mad from this."

Ron once again assured her everything would be fine. Hermione then changed to pointing out how mad those masked people were to have pulled this with so many Ministry people around.

"While true-" Lily sighed.

"They don't care," James finished for her with an ugly look in place. "It's all about making a statement with that lot, so long as there were more of them then the Ministry who would help, with a nice loud distraction which I'm sure they easily got, they'd keep at it till they had no other choice."

Harry was frowning sadly out the window, now wondering just how often events like this occurred in their time.

Neither boy got a chance to respond as they heard someone in the nearby blackness stumbling around.

They all went ramrod straight, their hands going instinctively towards their wands, a stupid but involuntary reaction as they heard some stranger was around Harry at this time.

Then the footsteps stopped, and Harry called out if anyone was there? **

James looked like he was visibly restraining himself from snapping as he said, "Harry, did you really just ask that! You're supposed to be quiet and stay out of sight at this time, not go yelling 'hey I'm over here!"

Harry was frowning at him, half feeling chastised that it probably had been a bad idea in retrospect, but also wanting to defend himself that at the time he hadn't seen himself in that much danger. He suppressed it though, they were tense enough and he really didn't want to pick at this.

Another long beat of silence, then a voice shouted out the spell 'Morsmordre.'

"Don't recognize that," Sirius muttered to himself, not that this made anyone feel any better. There were plenty of terrible curses out there these people had never heard of because they wouldn't go out looking for them.

Something vast, green,

Lily felt a scream rearing up in her throat at the thought of any green spell being set off around her baby, again!

and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.

Then she felt foolish and embarrassed when he finished, sounding more puzzled than anything. She was being jumpy and paranoid, he was sitting there reading it, of course he hadn't had the killing curse set on him. It still wasn't helping her nerves one bit though. Maybe she'd made more a noise then she'd intended to, maybe Sirius was just getting to fidgety with all of this built up angst and he knew he was upsetting his charge, but the next thing Lily knew she had her baby in her lap which quickly calmed her down far better than anything else could.

Ron gaped in shock as it continued to rise above the treetops, looking much like the leprechaun formations from before. It transformed itself into a skull, with a serpent coming out of the mouth.

Harry was blinking in puzzlement as he finished the description, just knowing he should know what this was called, but when he looked up expectantly in hopes someone would tell him, he instead found all of them with sickly pale skin and gaping at him like he'd just turned into a corpse.

"Y-You're within shouting distance of a Death Eater!?" Sirius' throat couldn't seem to decide if it was going to fail him or release a rumbling growl as he got that out.

"That's what you got out of that?" Harry asked in surprise. "From some snake in the sky?"

"Th-that's, the Da-Dark Mark. Voldemort's symbol!" James managed to stutter out, wondering far too often for his liking how his son had survived to his current age. "Only a Death Eater knows how to produce it, so yes. That is understandably the first thing he, and the rest of us, grasped on."

"Oh," Harry simply muttered, unable to think of anything else to add to that. None of this explained what his ever growing agitation was, something building in the back of his mind that was quite insistently saying he should know this particular Death Eater, but that must be ridiculous. Hopefully he never got any closer to one of Voldemort's henchmen then he was in that moment, otherwise his family really might have a stress heart-attack.

Deciding to keep reading rather than watching them gasp for air, Harry forged on.

It seemed to grow brighter, like a new constellation forming, and then the screaming began again, louder than ever. Harry had no idea why, though he linked it to the glowing image in the sky. His eyes went back down to where it had been cast, and he again called out for who was out there.

"Harry James Potter, you stop that before you give me a heart attack!" Lily half screeched, only able to strangle off the full volume because even that scolding of her elder son made his younger counterpart begin crying in protest.

Harry was watching her with severe worry, remembering the last time she'd told him off for something he'd done in the past. At least then the other boys had helped her to laugh it off, as it had already happened long enough ago her snapping wouldn't do any good. Looking around now though, he saw they were quite in agreement with her exclamation, which wasn't making him feel any better. Desperately hoping now he had stopped shouting out or he'd probably regret it in this time, Harry tried to keep going in as calm a voice as possible to remind them all he was perfectly fine.

Hermione was trying to get them to move again, tugging on his shirt and begging him to run.

"Least one of you lot has some bleeding sense," Remus hissed, now wishing more than anything Harry hadn't been split off from Arthur, or Sirius had come, or if he'd bothered to keep in contact, anything then this constant mess that was Harry's life seeming to find the most danger when he was at his most vulnerable.

Harry asked what her problem was, as she'd gone white faced with fear.

"Does she know what that is?" Sirius asked in surprise, at least that distracted him from picturing that thing being cast right over his little pup's body while he was on the opposite side of the world.

"I guess I can see how," James muttered through almost chattering teeth as he was picturing much the same thing. "Wouldn't surprise me if the marks shown up in a book or two about Voldemort's reign."

Hermione told that it was the Dark Mark, You-Know-Who's sign!

"Right in one Prongs," Remus muttered, shifting his weight with continuing agitation, no matter how much it aggravated his injuries, that flare of pain was a constant reminder he was in the hear in now, listening to Harry read this rather than picturing it go a more gruesome way.

Harry tried to ask for more, but Hermione just begged them to start walking. Ron paused to pick up his Krum,

"Priorities," Lily mumbled, bouncing her infant in her arms to keep them both calm.

but the three of them only made it a few steps before there were about twenty pops of wizard's apparating into their space, surrounding the three.

Harry hadn't believed they could be more upset than they had in just the last book, but when he read that and their first thought was to jump to the fact that Harry was now surrounded on all sides by Death Eaters like that had been a calling, he was pretty sure his dad having vomited back during the Chamber would be a kind look back.

Harry recognized all wands were pointing at them,

Harry was quite glad he was the one reading, as when he glanced up all he saw was a mask of shocked faces on convulsing throats like they were all fighting back the urge to scream some more, most likely their own voices would have failed them at this point. All Harry remembered feeling at the time was shock, and the urge to hit the deck.

and he reacted first by seizing his friends necks and pulling them to the ground, screaming 'Duck!'

"Anaticula!" Sirius suddenly yelped at his side.

Harry looked at him with great concern, like he thought his godfather had finally lost his bleeding mind, but it had the desired effect of causing James and Remus to snap out of their comas and burst out laughing.

Lily looked just as confused as he felt, but Harry still had more sense about him as he demanded, "what's that mean?"

Sirius had to shake his head a couple of times to make sure his head was on straight and clear, before putting on a farce of his carefree nature and explaining, "it's a curse that makes your wand only able to produce ducks for the next few spells. Great laugh while you're running away." He managed to say all of that with only a few minor spasms of shock still wearing off from picturing all of this being directed at Harry.

"Remus used it on us once," James added on when it seemed Lily was finally calming back down as well, and hoping to keep them all breathing on this subject for as long as possible he turned mock angry eyes on Remus and finished in a 'huffy' tone, "in the middle of dinner. McGonagall wouldn't believe we hadn't done it on purpose, gave us detention that night, forcing me to reschedule one of my Quidditch practices."

"You two deserved it," Remus shot back, an old satisfied smirk in place his friends hadn't seen in awhile. "It was one of you lots fault I got strung up by my foot and missed my Care of Magical Creatures class that day, and since neither of you would tell me who did it, you both deserved it."

Lily was watching between the three with an actual smile in place now, unable to believe she could hold the expression in light of what was happening to her son, but had actually quite enjoyed during school watching the Marauders pick on each other much more than watching them go after their prank victims, so hearing retellings like this were always a treat.

The distraction had worked, they were all much more grounded and feeling at least less likely to have heart failure as Harry continued.

They slammed into the ground,

"Thank Merlin for those Quidditch reflexes," James murmured.

just as all the voices shouted as one 'Stupefy!'

At least that made them all feel better at the situation Harry was in. Certainly not content, but it was nicer to hear he only would have been stunned then something far worse.

Beams of red light went whizzing above their head, ricocheting off of trees and going every which way, and only ceasing when one voice called out above the rest for them to stop, that was his son!

"Arthur," Lily nearly sobbed in relief, knowing that couldn't refer to anyone else.

"So it was the Ministry who went there," James agreed, still looking fairly faint but at least some color returned to his face as he realized that.

Mr. Weasley came stumbling towards them, looking more terrified than Harry had ever seen him as he asked if they were alright?

"I can imagine," Remus nodded, knowing Arthur would have felt the same way they just had of finding his son under that mark.

Someone snapped at Arthur to move,

"Bite me!" James snapped at once, riling up at anyone trying to get in Arthur's way as he checked on those kids.

which turned out to be Mr. Crouch.

"I'll second that," Sirius agreed with a nasty look still in place, wanting to crack all twenty of those ministry fools over the head for shooting at his pup.

He and the other Ministry people were coming in closer as Harry got to his feet, facing Mr. Crouch who had his face drawn with fury. His wand was pointing at all three intermittently as he demanded which of them had done it.

"He actually just looked you in the face and demanded that?" Lily growled, her eyes narrowing furiously. "You? The bleeding Boy Who Lived."

"Plus a Weasley and a Muggleborn, the only ones they caught sight of, oh yeah it's hard to tell who has more motive in that group," Remus snarked.

"I'm just hoping they did manage to stun, incompetently but still, the one who did do it," James grumbled, hoping at least some good came of their heart attack moment.

Harry frowned in confusion as he said they hadn't done that while gesturing up above. Ron agreed they hadn't done a thing while looking indignantly at his father.

"He's the one defending you," Sirius snorted. "What's he glaring at him for?"

"Mr. Weasley looked just as shocked as anyone else," Harry shrugged, "maybe to Ron it looked more acquisitory."

While demanding to know why they'd been attacked.

Crouch snapped at Ron not to lie, while adding on a sir.

"At some point you can drop the manners," Remus muttered with an eye roll.

His wand now pointed right in Ron's face, his eyes popping with fury.

All of them scowled heavily at that, finding it completely uncalled for to be pointing a wand in Ron's face, when he hadn't even drawn his own to defend himself!

A witch in the back reminded Crouch that these were just kids, they couldn't have done that. Arthur turned on his charges and asked them where had the Mark come from?

"At least there are some sensible adults around," Lily sniffed.

Hermione pointed to the space, saying an incantation had been shouted. Crouch turned on her now, shouting about how she seemed well aware of how to make the Mark appear.

"Oh goodness me, you use an incantation to summon a magical image in the sky, who would have thunk it!" Remus snapped, not being able to press any more sarcasm into that if he'd tried.

No one else paid Hermione a second glance though, instead all wands turned to where the kids had pointed.

"Great, good to know it's only one out of twenty we should be really worried about," Sirius grumbled.

The same witch from before sighed it was no good, that person would have Disapparated by now.

"Probably at the exact same time they appeared, so you wouldn't have even heard it," James sighed, mostly in relief whoever that was, wasn't around his son anymore.

Then another spoke up saying he didn't think so, and Harry recognized Amos Diggory,

"Oh great, now I get two people in one clearing to piss me off," Sirius mock cheered, making Harry already long for the carefree chapter they'd just had and see them really happy again.

saying how they may have got a lucky shot with their stunners, they had gone through those trees. He walked off to go check himself, with several people behind him calling out warnings to be careful.

"Or, you know, at least a few of you could go with him!" Lily snapped, taking every last bit of her self-restraint not to facepalm in exasperation. They outnumbered that one lone person who was back there, and even if there were more, it was still more safe than just sending one person.

Mr. Diggory shouted back a few moments later that they'd caught someone,

"Finally, some good news," Remus sighed, actually sagging back in relief, thinking that was one less problem they had to worry about.

Harry though, was wondering why his first reaction was to think Mr. Diggory was wrong, they hadn't gotten anyone that night... but the thought flew away almost at once and he simply agreed with Remus instead.

but then he trailed off in surprise as he seemed to recognize whoever it was.

"That didn't seem like a good reaction though," Sirius frowned in concern.

Crouch did not sound convinced as he demanded who,

"He really still thinks it's those three kids?!" James snapped in disbelief, wanting more than anything to smack Crouch a good one.

as Diggory walked back in, with Winky in his arms.

"What?" All five of them yelped at once.

"There's no way that little elf did that," Sirius snorted in disbelief.

"The voice didn't even match," Harry agreed, still frowning deeply as he gently tried to understand why his earlier feeling was clearly right now.

"What was Winky even doing in that area though?" Lily's frown kept deepening the longer she thought about this. "We heard a Death Eater's voice in that direction, it's impossible Winky would be following them around as she belongs to Crouch."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it and quickly shut it before he vomited instead from the stress of repressing his response. The truth was, none of them had any idea what was going on, and absolutely none of them wanted to find out. They didn't care about this mystery, didn't want to sit on the idea any longer then they had to, because they didn't want it to have anything to do with Harry. They kept hoping any second now Arthur would jump in and say that these kids were no longer needed and take them away back to the Burrow for some actual peace!

Crouch froze as Diggory placed Winky at his feet. Crouch muttered this must be some mistake as he walked off to that same area, going out of sight but could still be heard searching the bushes for another culprit. Diggory called back that he'd checked, Winky was the only one there.

Harry had to blink hard a few times to keep some bright spots out of his eyes, but then kept on after a moment, now working harder than ever to ignore whatever feeling that gave him for whatever reason.

Diggory was shaking his head sadly as he muttered what a surprise this was, for Crouch's elf to have done this.

"They can't really think she did it?" James raised an even more disbelieving brow, somehow managing to find this more ridiculous than them thinking it was Harry. "She's a house-elf!"

While Lily agreed with him it was every kind of ludicrous, she didn't much like his tone of saying it.

Mr. Weasley scolded this was ridiculous, he couldn't really be serious in saying it was an elf to have done this.

"Now why would he think it was me helping the elf?" Sirius quickly inserted, ignoring all accompanied groans. "I like to think mine's gone off and died by this point."

Harry gave him a smile, still not having grown tired of that joke yet, but didn't linger on it either.

Reminding you had to have a wand to summon the Dark Mark, and Diggory agreed she'd had one.

"Had a what now?" Lily demanded, sure she'd heard that wrong.

They all turned surprised eyes at that, as Diggory said she'd had one in her hand, in direct violation to a code stating that non-human creatures weren't allowed to carry such a thing. Ludo Bagman Apparated onto the scene just then, gasping about the Dark Mark!

"Thank you, I hadn't noticed," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Where's he been this whole time?" Sirius asked in confusion, some of the misty eyed awe of a Quidditch star starting to wear off. "I thought the last time he Disapparated away was to go help with the riot. He should have seen it at the same time as the rest of these twenty people and come then."

"Search us," Remus sighed, thinking they'd had more questions from this chapter alone already building up, and it was clearly driving Harry mad as he once again went cross eyed in pain at being unable to answer them. He, along with everyone else, really wanted this chapter to be done with already.

His eyes flickered to Barty, who was coming back into sight, but then he added on another question of why he hadn't been at the match?

"So he never did show up," James murmured.

"That's incredibly odd for him," Lily explained to Harry, who was watching all of the boys holding a puzzled expression. "He was a big hand in putting this event together, he was expected to show up for it. Crouch does not miss that type of thing, it wouldn't look good," she finished with a sniff of distaste.

Harry felt like he was getting a little tick at the base of his skull, a muscle that just kept spasming every other sentence now as more and more of what he was hearing he was sure would come to bite him in the arse later, but for now he thanked his mum and kept going.

Reminding that his elf had been saving him a seat, but then Bagman caught sight of Winky and yelped in surprise what had happened to her? Crouch explained that she'd been stunned, and it took a moment for Bagman's eyes to flicker to her, then up to the Mark, before understanding took him and he gasped in surprise she couldn't have done that! She'd need a wand! Diggory repeated she'd had one, then asked Crouch if it was okay they unstun her to get some answers.

All four of them mumbled something about how it was bleeding obvious from the start she hadn't a thing to do with this and they should be out looking for who really did, but none of it was articulate enough Harry stopped.

When the spell 'Enervate' was used on her and she sat up, Winky burst into tears instantly. Diggory snapped at her to look at him, reminding of his position as a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"Is he trying to scare her?" Remus' scowl deepened at this, finding this more than uncalled for of the clearly innocent creature.

"He's certainly not going out of his way to pretend otherwise," Lily nodded in agreement.

Then he demanded an explanation of what she'd been doing. Winky sobbed she hadn't done anything, while Diggory flashed the wand for all to see and snapped at her to explain where she'd found this. Harry caught sight of it properly for the first time, and exclaimed that was his!

"What?" They all yelped, finding that all too common an occurrence recently!

"How in Merlin's underpants did your wand end up in the same clearing as Winky, and a Death Eater!?" James gasped out first.

"That sounds like the bad start to a joke," Sirius moaned, rubbing furiously at his forehead to stave away a growing sense of doom.

"I-but-you-when-" Lily could not get out more than one word before her voice failed her and she just kept looking at her gobsmacked son, but he shook off the shock quicker than she did and continued in a hurry now.

Everyone turned startled eyes back to him.

"Guess that wasn't the best time to go shouting that when they all think it's you," Remus muttered.

"There really isn't a good time to say that in this circumstance," Sirius reminded.

Harry repeated that was his wand, that he'd dropped it. Diggory repeated that back in absolute disbelief. Demanding of Harry if that was a confession, that he'd thrown it aside after he'd conjured the Mark?

"Yeah, that's what he said," Remus snorted, his eyes darkening more and more every second the longer he heard about Diggory. His jumping to conclusions attitude along with his no good character was making Remus edgier the longer this carried on.

Arthur jumped in angrily then, demanding Amos think about what he'd just said to Harry Potter. Diggory agreed he'd gotten carried away.

"Damn right you did," James snapped, happy at least Arthur was keeping that man in check.

Harry then explained he hadn't dropped it anywhere around there, he'd only noticed it was missing when he came into the woods.

"But," Lily finally managed to collect herself to get out a real question, "does that mean Winky did take it from you in the Top Box? She's the only other person outside of your group who had the means to do it. I just cannot for the life of me imagine why."

"If not, then it's a really big fat coincidence," James sighed, running his hand through his hair in agitation. Of all the people who could be suspected of taking Harry's wand, as the more they heard of this the more they believed Harry hadn't simply dropped it, and it simply wound up in the grip of a Death Eater to use in the conjuration of the Dark Mark, this was beyond words unbelievable.

Diggory instead turned back on Winky, demanding of the elf that she'd found it and decided to have some fun.

"No one's going to question that she just, found it!" Sirius scowled, knowing the elf probably didn't have a better answer than that, but he wanted one anyways.

Winky wailed that she hadn't done anything!

Lily began wriggling around in displeasure now, feeling bad she'd thrown out a question regarding Winky herself now, and she wasn't even there. The elf clearly had no more to do with this then Harry, couldn't they lay off her?

She'd just picked it up!

Hermione jumped in then, going pink in shock when all eyes turned to her, yet still insisting it wasn't Winky.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Remus gave a small smile, "she's shown time and again she'll do and say what she thinks is right."

"In this case, I'm grateful for it," Lily nodded in agreement.

Explaining that Winky's voice was high pitched and squeaky, and the person they'd heard summon the Mark was definitely male. Diggory did not look impressed as he said there was a way to check and see what the last spell was used on a wand, directing this at the elf.

"That doesn't prove anything," James snorted. "She just said she found it, and she's got witnesses proving it wasn't her who used it last. It's been established Harry's wand was the one to use that spell, showing that off doesn't mean a thing."

Diggory then placed his wand tip to Harry's and used the spell 'Prior Incantato.'

Harry's heart gave a very hard twist when he read that, for some reason leaning just slightly closer to his dad and glancing up at his mother for a moment, but only had a moment to wonder why before he kept going.

Both parents were still so wound up over the situation at hand, neither noticed Harry's second of hesitation.

Sprouting from Harry's wand came a smaller resemblance of the glowing mark in the sky, which Diggory seemed to think proved his point as he shouted in triumph Winky had been caught in the act!

"I am going to punch him." Sirius scowled, beginning to tense up on the spot the longer he kept going. "I don't even like elves and I don't talk to them like that. Use some brains man, she's obviously not got a thing to do with this."

"Thinking he doesn't need to be working with Magical Creatures much," James agreed with a serious nod. "He clearly looks down on them too much."

"He's much too quick to blame as well," Lily added on in the same tones as them.

Remus couldn't help but give them a light smile they hopefully didn't see, he knew for a fact they could get overly touchy about this without even realizing it.

Arthur cut in then though, reminding how few wizards knew how to summon such a spell, where on earth could Winky have learned to do so? Crouch snapped that Diggory was implying he'd taught his elf this?

"Ooh, snappy," Sirius raised an imperious brow, feeling his point had been made quite well, and he didn't even like the man who'd done it.

Diggory went horrified with shock, stammering out of course that wasn't it to Crouch.

"Little late for backtracking you hobnocker," James huffed.

Crouch pressed in though, telling off Diggory for now having accused the two people in this clearing least likely to have done this, Harry Potter and himself! Surely Diggory knew of who Harry Potter was? Diggory agreed in uncomfortable tones everyone knew that.

"Glad someone put him down," Lily gave a soft laugh, not having thought she'd be rooting for Crouch any time soon, but at least she found he was useful for something.

Then Crouch also reminded he'd shown time and again the lengths he'd gone to prove how against Dark Magic he was!

Harry felt a stirring in him again, like earlier when he'd felt something was off about Crouch speaking of his perfect unbreakable vows about rules. There was something there that Harry knew he should have a puzzle piece to, but it faded through his conscious like his brain was filled with cracks.

Diggory tried to protest, saying he'd never meant to accuse Crouch.

"You suggested his elf did," Remus smirked, "and that's as good as."

Crouch shouted back that to accuse his elf was to accuse him!

Diggory tried to say she could have picked it up somewhere else,

"Oh yes, I'm sure Death Eaters pop by all the time selling cookies and just give a friendly tutoring session of how to do that in the meantime," Sirius snorted.

but then Arthur agreed Diggory had spoken true on that one. He turned his own attention on Winky, the first person to call her by name and kindly meet her eyes, but Winky still flinched away from him like all the rest,

Lily couldn't help cooing again, wanting to do something to help the poor dear relax, as she knew there was no way she would be getting in trouble for anything, or at least she shouldn't be.

as Arthur asked where she'd found the wand? Winky's voice still came out watery as she said she'd just found it lying there in the leaves. Arthur stood back up to face Diggory, saying clearly what had happened was that the person who'd cast the Dark Mark had simply used Harry's own wand then Disapparated away. It was actually clever not to have used their own wand. It was just Winky's misfortune to come across it moments later.

"While I don't think he's wrong," James's frown just got deeper as Arthur drew the same conclusions they'd been forced to come to.

"That hardly explains anything," Sirius grumbled.

"It actually just raises more questions," Remus sighed.

Diggory gasped that this must mean that Winky had seen the person who had done all of this!

"That," Lily struggled for a moment before grudgingly admitting, "is a really good point."

"Wish she'd started with that," Sirius huffed, "this could have been going a lot better."

Then he turned on Winky and demanded of the elf if she'd seen anyone!

Winky's eyes flickered to her masters as she whispered she hadn't seen anyone.

Harry had a mad desire to laugh, like he knew Winky was telling the truth in that moment...but leaving something off...

Crouch seemed to decide that was enough, as he addressed Diggory by telling him that he was aware the normal course of events would be Diggory to take her into his department, but if he'd allow him to take his elf home? Amos clearly didn't want to agree, but clearly Crouch was such an important person he wasn't going to argue.

"I'm truly shocked at how pleased I am," Remus frowned in pity for the poor thing, finding just a grain of irony that the very thing she'd feared would happen to Dobby was in fact being hung over her head this very same night, but at least her own master would be a better option.

Crouch added on though that she would be punished for this night.

"Ouch," Lily winced. After hearing about what the Malfoys had done to Dobby, she was actually quite afraid for Winky and what might become of her now.

Winky began sobbing in shock, begging her master to reconsider, but Crouch's face was like stone as he snapped at her that he'd commanded she stay in the tent, and she'd disobeyed! This meant clothes!

"Wow," James blinked spastically like Crouch had just started swearing in Mermish. "That was harsh."

"Yeah," Sirius had his head cocked to the side, his eyes narrowed like he was trying to study Crouch in person. "She did disobey, but it's hardly so grievous she should be sacked like that."

Remus and Lily exchanged a surprised look, considering their usual attitude towards elf's they would have honestly expected those two to agree with Crouch, but for all their laughing at the creatures, they clearly weren't as hard on them as they would lead.

Harry may have input his opinion on them, but he was too busy fighting back word vomit. There it was again, something involving Crouch and Winky that made him want to spew out something like a huge silent chunk of conversation had been taken place right in front of him, but he had nothing to offer except to read what was in front of him.

Winky wailed, crawling to Crouch's feet and begging for anything but that! Crouch shook her off in disgust, but then Hermione jumped in by trying to defend the elf! Saying she'd been frightened, and shouldn't be blamed for running!

Lily looked very much like she would get up and hug Hermione now, as well as shield her, for standing up to Crouch like that in front of everyone.

Crouch did not remove his disgusted eyes from the elf as he told Hermione off to, saying he had no use for a servant who didn't listen, who ruined his reputation!

"Oh I get it," Remus gave an ugly sneer now as his eyes flashed. "He's not getting rid of her because she didn't listen to him, she's getting the boot because she got caught and dragged Crouch into this."

"This is terrible," Lily scowled. "I don't even understand why he's reacting like this, no one's going to look twice at him now that everything's out in the open. Everyone there knows he's nothing to do with the dark arts, he shouldn't be taking all of this out on his elf like this!"

"While we agree," James sighed, feeling like they were hearing about a Dobby all over again, how often were these other house-elves treated like this? "It's no good shouting about it now dear."

She shot him the stank eye, but didn't pursue the point.

Hermione may have kept going, but Arthur put himself back in then, saying Harry should have his wand back, which Diggory did, and then began escorting the kids away. He had to call twice before Hermione would follow, and the moment they were out of sight she began rampaging about the lot of them and how they'd been treating Winky! Everyone just referring to her as 'elf!'

Sirius and James shared a surprised look, they hadn't even noticed that part.

How dare Crouch do that to her, treating her like she wasn't even human! Ron did point out that technically she wasn't.

Sirius closed his mouth sheepishly, he'd actually been about to say the same thing, but was now happy he hadn't gotten it out at the flashing look Lily gave the book for Ron's comment.

Hermione turned on him and began shouting he wasn't acting any better than those- but Arthur cut her off by saying she could go on about elf rights later. Then he asked where the rest of his kids were? Ron said they'd gotten separated, then asked what that skull thing had been?

"I'm actually a little more surprised Ron didn't know," James quirked a brow. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful he's never seen it, but still. You'd think his parents would have mentioned it."

"Not necessarily," Remus shrugged. "In the same concept as Ron not saying Voldemort's name, Ron and the kids of his generation would have been told as little as possible of what would have been a common occurrence to their parents, err us, whatever. The next generation of kids would have been shielded and told as little as possible of the horrors of this war."

James pondered that for a moment, not really in agreement as he didn't think this should just be glossed over, but couldn't argue the point much either. They were only fourteen, James wasn't even happy Harry was so involved with this at that age, so he let the matter slide.

Mr. Weasley didn't relax one little bit as they made it back out of the forest, but were bombarded almost at once by a group of people demanding questions of Arthur, asking if anyone had been caught, who'd done that Mark, and was it Him? Arthur snapped back of course it wasn't You-Know-Who, and the perpetrator had Disapparated away, then he escorted himself and his kids off to bed.

"Snappy," Sirius gave a small smirk.

"Probably still worried about the rest of his kids," Lily added, thinking that as soon as Ron was back at the tent Arthur would probably go looking for the twins and Ginny, most likely as his eldest three were now doing.

Arthur escorted the three to the tent, but upon their approach Charlie poked his head back and called out to his dad that the other three had gotten back, but he didn't know where the others were.

They all released a sigh of relief. They hadn't exactly been worried for their safety, but it was good nothing had happened none the less.

Arthur sighed in relief as he entered the tent, and Harry spotted all three of the eldest Weasley's sporting bloody injuries.

Harry's tone was already pitching in surprise, but he read out;

Bill had a sheet to his arm where it was quickly turning red, Charlie had a large tear in his shirt, and Percy was trying to stop a bloody nose.

before he asked, "what could have happened to them?"

"Probably some of the Death Eaters shot some spells back," Remus sighed. "Either that or the riot got a little more hands on then wands."

The twins and Ginny weren't harmed, but looked white with shock. Bill asked if his Dad had caught whoever had done the Mark?

"Well Bill at least knows what it is," James muttered to himself, thankful that it clearly wasn't going to be erased from history what was going on now. He'd be satisfied if only the older type of kids knew about it then.

Arthur said they hadn't, but instead explained that they'd found Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, which had been used to make the Dark Mark. They still had no idea who'd done it.

"That about summed it all up, yeah," Lily sighed, running a hand through her hair in agitation.

"Was a lot more bloody traumatizing to hear about it," James grumbled.

All of them yelped in surprise, Fred repeating the part about Harry's wand, while Percy in response to Crouch's elf.

"I can't decide who more deserved what was caught on," Remus snorted.

"Fred," Sirius said instantly, knowing he'd happily side with the twins then their immediate older brother any day.

The four who were present explained more fully the entire situation, and when they were done, Percy swelled with indignation.

"I'll agree with you now," Remus rolled his eyes.

Saying Crouch had been perfectly correct in his actions! Hermione snapped at him at once, causing Percy to take a step back in surprise. She and Percy usually got along pretty well, better than with his own brothers most days.

"Well that's just sad," Lily frowned slightly, always having suspected Percy didn't get along with his brothers very well, but for an outsider of the family like Hermione to so obviously be doing a better job, really got to her in that moment.

He pulled himself together quickly though and said that Crouch couldn't be seen going easy on an elf running amok with a wand.

"Run amok?" Sirius repeated in disbelief. "I'm still confounded what Crouch did, blowing that out of proportion. Though I guess I'm not that surprised Percy's agreeing with his boyfriend," he finished with a rude little curl of his nose.

Hermione shouted back that Winky hadn't done anything, but Ron butted in saying that he still wanted that Mark explained. Hermione turned on him and said that was You-Know-Who's symbol, something she'd read about in a book.

"Of course she did," Lily snorted, that felt like Hermione's answer to everything.

Arthur quietly added on it hadn't been seen in over thirteen years, it made perfect sense why people had panicked, it felt like seeing You-Know-Who back. Ron was still frowning though, saying it was just a symbol. Arthur tried again, telling that this mark was left over people who You-Know-Who had killed.

Causing the four around Harry to shiver, leading him to wonder and smother the question all at once who they'd found this mark hovering over. He decided he didn't want to know.

Trying to explain how much fear it instilled in people, coming home to your house and seeing that, knowing the very worst was inside...

Lily paled to the color of new snow, cuddling her baby all the closer to her.

Remus and James winced like they'd just been socked in the gut, but Sirius had the worst reaction. He'd lived that nightmare vividly in his dreams the previous night, coming over to find James and Lily...the only reason that mark had been absent was because no one was left alive to cast it...coupled together with the one responsible for it. He made a keening noise, shaking his head violently to get rid of that. He kept seeing it every time he closed his eyes, no need to dwell on it when he could give an unconvincing smirk to them now that he was just fine and could play this off as long as he dared.

it was everyone's worst fear.

"Okay, I'm appeased, Ron and Harry get it now," James murmured, deciding he'd never complain again about something Harry didn't know involving this type of thing.

There was a thick silence in the tent before Bill finally spoke up again, saying that whoever had cast it tonight had done them at least one favor. It scared the Death Eaters away, they all Disapparated the moment they saw it, and they'd only just caught the Roberts in time.

Giving them all a sigh of relief again. They had not forgotten what had started this whole mess, and it was a very good thing that Bill hadn't mentioned they'd been injured.

Explaining they were having their memories fixed now.

"Best thing that can happen to them," Remus gave a sad shake to his head, wanting to strangle every last one of those Death Eaters all over again at the thought of those poor Muggles suffering through that.

Harry repeated back the term Death Eaters in surprise, and Bill said that's what You-Know-Who's followers had called themselves. The ones they'd seen tonight were those who'd wriggled themselves out of Azkaban. Arthur tried to say there wasn't any proof it was them,

"Who else would it be?" Sirius asked, wishing to mock, but the tone wouldn't come as he would have been glad for an alternate answer.

but then relented it probably was. Ron perked up then, telling everyone what Malfoy had said to them about his Dad being out there. Harry then asked what was the point of doing that to those Muggles.

'Please stay that naive forever' Lily mentally sighed, brushing her baby's hair from his forehead for just a moment, as a reminder that scar wasn't there yet. While she never wanted it to, it was clear how much fiction that dream was since Harry hadn't even asked this now. He hadn't questioned this terrible act, even at his regrowing pace of learning he was already so much more aware of the crueler side of the world then Lily would ever wish her child to know.

Arthur looked sadly at Harry as he said the point had been for fun. What those Death Eaters had done tonight was their idea of entertainment. Ron then asked if those were You-Know-Who's supporters, why would they run at the sight of You-Know-Who's symbol? Shouldn't they have been happy? Bill told Ron to use his head,

"I thought it was a fair question," Harry said with a shrug, as he'd been wanting to ask it as well, but wondering if Ron would for him since he'd had a similar face to what Harry was feeling at the time.

explaining those Death Eaters were the ones who'd gone out of their way to denounce and say You-Know-Who had forced them to do all of that. They'd be as afraid as anyone if You-Know-Who came back, they'd have some retribution to pay.

Sirius gave a twisted little smirk that honestly scared the others, they didn't really want to know what his mind had jumped to, but it wasn't hard to picture either. One Death Eater in particular stuck out to all of them now, picturing that pathetic little rat and his hatred of being returned to his master. Those other loose Death Eaters would probably get much the same treatment if they ever found out any remnant of Voldemort existed. Not that they hoped this at all, the less people out helping Voldemort, willingly or not, the better.

Hermione then asked of the person who had shown the Dark Mark tonight, had they done it in support, or to scare off those Death Eaters?

"My guess is a combination of the two," Lily offered with a small frown, still hating to linger on this subject, but that was a good question. "They'd be showing off that they were winning, but warning it was time to go as well."

"I'm still trying to shake the feeling it wasn't left over a dead body," Remus shuddered, "and that individual wasn't doing some old time celebrating of his own."

"Thank you Sunshine," James groaned.

"That one was terrible," Sirius snorted in true amusement again. "I never understood why you tried to pitch an opposite of our nicknames that day."

"Thought it added an extra layer of mystery," James shrugged, managing to return the smile.

Arthur sighed her guess was as good as anyone's. Then he ushered they should all try to get some shuteye before they went out soon to grab a Portkey. Harry crawled back into his bed, but this time no Quidditch fantasies came to mind to help him relax. He instead let his mind spin back, to three days ago when his scar had awoken him with a burning pain. Now tonight, Voldemort's mark had appeared again. What did it all mean?

Lily's teeth started chattering as she huddled into herself, keeping her baby wrapped protectively in her arms and never wanting to let go. None of them had put those two things together until just now, but Harry was right, and they couldn't have felt worse about it.

'Nothing good' was the one thought that ran through all of their minds for his thought, and yet none of them could bear to say it in hopes they were wrong.

He thought of the letter he had written to Sirius, would he have gotten it yet?

For the first time since this had started, James felt no spike of jealousy in hearing Harry's first thought of help flit to Sirius. He'd happily take the idea Sirius was out there worrying about Harry like this.

James decided right then he wanted more than anything for Harry to work out with Dumbledore and the Weasleys that he'd in fact gotten a new dog and it would be with him at all times now! He'd take every minor annoyance in the world from his brother if he could have some more reassurances Harry would just be that little more safe.

Harry hoped he'd get a reply soon, and was left wondering on these things the rest of the night.

Harry gave one last deep sigh of discontent, already longing for that happy mood of the last chapter as he gave the book to Remus.

HPHPHPHPHP

*I recognized Harry should have questioned this long before now, it has been mentioned many times before, but even I forget sometimes Harry shouldn't have some knowledge that seems obvious. Can't go back and fix it now, just put all previous mentions of them not being questioned by Harry down to the fact that he worked it out himself considering the light they were being discussed in.

**No, really though, did anyone else besides me read this moment and think 'Horror movie alert' Harry is officially the dumb blonde of the series.

[ey8508]

Rumors & Secrets LZ

Totally more contents about LZ : )

[Finally, we meet again]

Note:

R&S for this card (CG above)

Chapter SPOILERS up to chapter 37 (read with your own risk)

Contains 5 chapters

Translation isn’t 100% accurate (or grammar errors)

This is mostly in Li Zeyan’s POV before he meets MC (in the past original timeline) and ends with the iconic “Evolver?” question (where it all begins in chapter 1)

Do not repost to any other site (reblog is fine)

Chapter 1

Page 1

The sun is slowly setting...

At the horizon, a large rose color slowly fainted from the golden sunlight, soaking the low-hanging cloud curtain, allowing the color of the stratus clouds to burst out, reflecting the blue sea surface that meets the sky.

The extended Bentley drove away from the bustling part of the town and moved slowly along the winding road. It rained at noon, and the air was full of the smell of wet soil and raindrops soaking leaves. Li Zeyan lowered half of the car window and turned his gaze to the red-brick and white-walled building under his feet, unconsciously a little surprised.

Eze, one of the most beautiful towns on the Mediterranean coast, is also the former residence of Li Zeyan's grandfather and grandmother.

Page 2

Since he can remember, he has often come to Eze with his mother to stay for a while. The leisurely and beautiful memories of his youth are composed of the humid sea breeze here, the touch of the ankle being drawn by the low bushes, and the moment when the eyes are filled with bright and full bouquets.

Mother always likes to go to the market in the early morning to buy a few bunches of flowers, before he gets up. He then will put the flower branches in various containers or clay pots or glasses as the way he likes.

When grandpa and grandma were still alive, they would have a richer breakfast. Although they had settled in Eze early in the morning, they still had a Chinese stomach. They wanted to eat porridge and noodles. When they passed away, breakfast becomes a little simpler, only bread, omelette, or instant cereal...

Page 3

Of course, his mother is also studying cooking seriously and wants to cook some complicated dishes for him, but progress is slow.

Although these memories became more and more blurred with his busy life, as soon as he returned here, the images of sunlight, green trees, ocean, and flowers in his mind became particularly clear.

The corners of Li Zeyan's lips showed a faint smile.

The video conference is already being connected, and Li Zeyan withdraws his gaze and sets his sights on the laptop in front of him. Soon, several young people in suits and leather shoes appeared in the meeting room. Although their hair colors were different, their pupils were different, the confident and relaxed look on his face was particularly noticeable.

Page 4

They are several industry stars recently discovered by Li Zeyan. They have been successively arranged in several venture capital companies established by Huarui overseas. In Li Zeyan's view, the times have changed. It is no longer the person in the investment department holding a bunch of industry data. In financial statements, you can easily figure out whether a company really has the stage of commercial value. They need to work hard in a field, understand every link that a student can accomplish, understand the most innovative business models, and look at all new things with suspicion and surprise.

They can contact any field they are interested in on the platform of Huarui, accumulate experience, and become Li Zeyan's eyes for exploring new tracks.

Page 5

The car drove halfway through the mountain, and the cascading sunset cast a golden glow on Li Zeyan's face, covering his smiling eyes in a warm color.

[They're talking in EN]

"Li, looks like you've got a brilliant sunset."

"It sure is."

[Back to CN]

"Isn't it Eze? It's a place worth sitting on the balcony all day."

" Indeed. "

Page 6

[Now they're talking in French]

"Better to drink good wine and appreciate the scenery."

"D'accord."

Chapter 2

Page 1

The relaxed video conference ends when the vehicle reaches the top of the mountain.

Li Zeyan got out of the car, strode forward, and a gentle breeze came towards him, messing with the strands of hair on his forehead. He fastened the suit that was blown up by the wind, took the rose bouquet from the entourage, and walked to the corner he knew.

Only a little golden light remained in the setting sun, hooked in the dark blue of the starry sky, quietly spilling on the white marble tombstone.

"mother."

Page 2

Li Zeyan put down the flowers, took out a brown handkerchief from his pocket, and knelt down to wipe the floating dust on the monument. Although there are people taking care of it every day, the tombstone is never slender. Every few days someone will come to replace a bunch of flowers, they are all taken care of and was cleaned with moisturizing liquid in the crystal vase that was placed in front of the tomb.

"Father was originally going to come over, but something happened temporarily. He asked me to bring you this bouquet of roses to make amends."

Li Zeyan slowly stood up as he spoke, looking at the sun that had completely sunk at sea level, inadvertently folded his fingers slightly, and clenched into a fist.

Page 3

On this day of the year, he will definitely take time to return to Eze. Although the schedule is tight, sometimes he can only stand in front of the grave for a short while, and has to rush to the next meeting. However, he still insists on coming in person...

His mother's death day is of extraordinary significance to him.

Li Zeyan breathed the cool air at the top of the mountain and talked about trivial matters for no reason.

"The charity project I talked to you last time is fully operational. I have found a lot of professional teachers who are willing to teach music to disabled children. Many of them have experience in caring for disabled children. Some also have a background in music schools. It should not be an issue to send gifted children to regular schools in the future-"

Page 4

"By the way, I saw the Moments two days ago. Aunt Gu said that she wants Wenwen to accept the wedding, as she has a very good boyfriend. Given her previous battles with Wenwen to urge her to marry, I think they will be urged to get the certificate soon."

" Do you remember Ronan? He went to Italy two days ago and sent me a two-meter sculpture, the sculptured piece was me.

...It is really difficult for him to spend such a large cost to let the world's best sculptor accompany him to do such boring things."

After a moment of silence, he remembered another thing.

Page 5

"Father’s favorite program "Discovering Miracles", the ratings and profitability of the last year are not good, Huarui is preparing to divest. Although it is a pity to say that, in the process of fast-forwarding, many people have been left behind, and "Discovering Miracles" is just one of them."

The hands on the dial had reached the time when Li Zeyan planned to leave, but he was standing in the dark, looking deeply at his mother's silent gravestone.

A breath of wind was quickly blown away by the night wind, and his voice became lighter while he was talking.

"All leads are broken..."

"I still didn't find her."

Page 6

After that, Li Zeyan sighed slightly emotional. He retracted his gaze from the tombstone, raised his hand to shake off a leaf hanging on the neck of his suit, and then strode away.

As if responding to his lonely back when he left, a quiet meteor suddenly struck across the endless night.

Chapter 3

Page 1

On the tarmac, Li Zeyan's private jet had been waiting for a long time. The weather tonight was good and the field of vision was wide. When boarding the plane, the captain rarely suggested that he could take a look at the sea covered with white moonlight from the porthole.

As soon as he sat down, Wei Qian walked over with his tablet computer.

"President. Regarding today's schedule, there are some parts that need your confirmation."

"First of all, the equity investment plan of the SE network video platform has been formally established. The relevant meeting is scheduled at 2 pm, and the representatives of SE will land at 12 noon, and the airport pick-up personnel have been arranged."

Page 2

"But you have promised Mr. Chen to attend his cocktail reception at 7pm on time, so the dinner after the meeting with the SE representatives..."

"Just say that we understand their hard journey, postpone the meal for one day, let them rest for the night."

"Understood. Also, Yaoxing Circus has accepted our invitation and is willing to come to Lianyu City for performances. However, they still have some doubts about the performance venue and performance permits, and they want to determine the original schedule. Is it possible to successfully obtain the performance license? Regarding this point, I have asked the relevant person in charge to prepare the materials required to apply for the license. I apply in the name of Hua Rui. I believe that it is not a big problem to get this license. So please ask the president, can you give them a positive answer directly?"

Page 3

Li Zeyan nodded faintly, and turned his sight out towards one of the porthole. The plane was flying over the city, and the star lights were gathered in his eyes. In the darker glass, a pair of eyes were also as deep as night.

"President Mr. Bao's payment for this month has passed, but he replied to this email and asked me to convey it to you."

"He said that he has only found some useful clues in the first few years before. In the last year, almost nothing was collected. He loves money very much, but he does not want to take your money for nothing. None of these investigations have yielded much. He is willing to help you do some commercial work. Business. No additional fees will be charged to you. He has a wide range of knowledge and resources. If you can find some news, you can help your friends... "

Page 4

Lao Bao's original words were "commercial espionage," and Wei Qian thought about it repeatedly before coming up with this rhetoric.

Li Zeyan couldn't help but smile faintly when thinking of Lao Bao's joking expression.

"Tell him, we don't need it for now. Hua Rui's information channels may not be less than his. Let him take money at ease and do things seriously."

Wei Qian replied in a low voice and stopped talking. The silence in the cabin was comparable to that of the night. The plane traveled steadily in the quiet, clear night, repeating the journey it had traveled countless times without moving.

Chapter 4

Page 1

Half an hour later, Li Zeyan finished shower, changed into a white bathrobe and sat on the bedroom sofa.

The red wine in the decanter has reached its best taste. Li Zeyan poured himself a half glass and tasted it, his expression was neither salty nor light. He vaguely remember that this 85-year-old Romanee-Conti seems to be a gift specially given to him by a director of Yuelai Entertainment at the auction.

At Yuelai Entertainment, Li Zeyan was tasting the wine, and a few projects that could work with them flashed in his mind, but when then changed his mind, as he puts it down.

Can wait, they are not qualified now.

Page 2

Li Zeyan leaned on the sofa, turned on the computer, and casually browsed the letters in the mailbox and the approval process.

An e-mail with the subject "Facial Structure and Profit Prospect Analysis Report" was lying on the first line of his mailbox. He clicked it in and glanced at the conclusion part 1 hastily.

According to the final data analysis, the film company’s only variety show "Discovering Miracles" lost about 80% of its audience in the last year, and its ratings ranked thirteenth (that is, third from the bottom) among the programs at the same time. At the same time, the film and television company has changed the person in charge a few months ago. The investigation showed that the person in charge had no experience in program production, company management, business negotiation, etc. before officially taking over the company. Accordingly, the venture capital department requested the president and the board of directors to suspend the continued capital injection of the company.

Page 3

Li Zeyan replied to the email with one hand with little thought: Approval of the withdrawal.

It never takes him too much time to make such a decision.

In the last two weeks, Li Zeyan has divested five companies, and this film and television company is the sixth. At the same time, he also made a lot of investment transactions, such as SE.

Huarui's capital chain is operating at a high speed, quickly responding to the market.

Page 4

Many people think that there is a gamble in this. Li Zeyan never denies that Huarui's style of offensive and never procrastinating seems too "aggressive" in the entire industry. But it doesn't matter. He knows better than anyone that the steady fight of the so-called industry giants is just a strategy that has to be adopted without an efficient business promotion mechanism and redundant management structure.

In a few years, perhaps Huarui will do the same.

But it doesn't matter, before that, he will lay the best foundation for Huarui, so that Huarui can still maintain active and vigorous vitality in the continuous expansion.

Page 5

After drinking the red wine in the glass in one sip, Li Zeyan pressed the sleep mode on the remote control, the light-shielding plate slowly fell, and the surrounding lights dimmed a little bit. He walked into the bathroom again to brush his teeth and wash to end the busy day.

This night, Li Zeyan had a deep dream.

In the time of emptiness, countless spots of light flowed slowly between his fingers. He tried to hold one or two in the house, but every time he made a fist and opened it, his palm was empty. Someone was smiling in front of him, her long light brown hair was slightly curly, and the corners of her lips were slightly raised with a smile, that was his mother. She smiled at him, her eyes calm and gentle, as if looking at a unique treasure in the world. She seemed to be asking something, but she also seemed to be just smile quietly.

He couldn't keep up with her.

Page 6

He knew that he had been waiting for a long time in a strange vortex, but who was he waiting for?

The indicator light on the wing is not clear in the thick night, the whole continent under the clouds is sleeping, and the time is as quiet as stopping, freezing the whole world at this moment.

In the sky, the stars are shining, and the whole Milky Way witnesses him breathing while in a dream.

Page 7

In the same deep dream, a girl was holding a mobile phone with a flashing light in her arms, and she was talking indifferently in a drowsy sleep.

As the two ends of the world are finally connected, the trajectory that continues to move forward is quietly changed.

The smoothly moving plane passed the sunrise scenery on the horizon.

The light-shielding board was slowly raised in accordance with the program instructions, and the first ray of sunlight in the morning shone into the porthole, covering Li Zeyan's bed.

Chapter 5

Page 1

Li Zeyan originally planned to go directly to Hua Rui, but halfway through, he received a message that Mr. Cai said that he had committed rheumatism and wanted to ask him for two days off.

He was a little worried, and after hesitating a little, he decided to visit.

Coincidentally, it was close to the meal time when he went to visit. The elderly eat early, and the house is full of plants when he enters the door. Mrs. Cai said that it would keep her down for a casual meal. He couldn't refuse the meal, so she took over the dishes.

Li Zeyan held a bowl straight at his waist, eating, and asking about Mr. Cai's condition. He had already arranged for a doctor to follow up for Mr. Cai before he finished the meal.

Page 2

Mr. Cai was grateful, and remembered some gossip he had seen on the Internet before, "I saw a lot of people commenting about the restaurants on the Internet. You must have seen it, manager, don’t keep it to your heart."

Li Zeyan smiled, he did not expect Mr. Cai to comfort him in return, "Mr. Cai, I never care what they think, how the restaurant wants to operate, I have always been aware of this, please rest assured. You can rest in peace in these two days. According to what I just said, Souvenir will be out of business for a week. Firstly, see what the doctor says."

Mr. Cai pounded his long-painful knee with a smile on his face, "I am old and useless. You don't have to do it for me"

Li Zeyan remarks "It's nothing"

Page 3

Then Mrs. Cai silently took a thin blanket from the living room to cover her husband. The two couples looked at each other for a short time, and said nothing. They still followed the topic just now and started talking cheerfully. The restaurant diners praised the manager’s craftsmanship.

Li Zeyan took the scene in his eyes, and a faint smile flicked across his lips.

After finishing light meal with a cup of tea, Li Zeyan did not want to disturb the couple too much, and left after that.

When he came, the weather was fine, the sun was fragile, and there was a leisurely sunny day scenery. Unexpectedly, when Li Zeyan walked to the intersection across the street from Huarui, there was both the sun and rain.

Page 4

He thought of the evening reception, thinking about whether to let Wei Qian bring him a clean suit. At this moment, a petite girl suddenly stood in front of him.

The green light on the crosswalk turned red just after the countdown, the vehicles coming from a distance did not slow down at all, and the girl was still standing in the middle of the road slowly, not aware of the coming danger!

It happened too suddenly, and two rapid bangs rang out.

Page 5

Li Zeyan's expression between his eyebrows changed slightly, and all the noise around him stopped in the moment.

He took a step forward and held her in his arms.

The girl stared at him with stunned eyes.

"Evolver?"

When time stands still, raindrops hover in the air, he also stopped his gaze.

[freakystrashdump]

This might be quite a big question but what do the coven think of/their relationship with the hotel gang✨✨✨

Alright friendo this is a looooooong one, so get ready! This took so much time to write holy shit

The person who spends most time at the Hotel is Salem, as part of what she calls her “punishment” for calling Lucifer a shit dad. So lets start with her.

Salem

Charlie: Being Lucifers assistant/body guard on the side, she knows Charlie pretty well, and acts as a dotting nanny to her for the most part. While she does love Charlie a lot, she tends to talk down to her at times, like one would to a child, which sometimes makes them clash. But, even so, they are very close, and Charlie appreciates that Salem takes her side often when dealing with her dad.Vaggie: They get along great! Not only have they died in a short time apart from each other, meaning they came from a similar time, they bonded a lot over their love for Charlie. With Charlie being a literal ray of sunshine and the two of them being much more down-to-earth(hell?), cautious and cynical, it’s not hard to see why they like each other. Salem does love to pull the “embarrassing mom” shtick and gush over how cute Charlie and Vaggie are together, much to their dismay.Alastor: Alastor drains her. She does not have enough spoons to deal with him, but even so she is constantly forced to because he likes her. Or likes seeing her suffer. She met him early on after arriving to Hell, what with him and Lucifer being on good terms and all, and it’s been exhausting ever since. She’s Lucifer’s favorite, meaning she’s the most powerful in the coven, meaning Alastor loves pushing her to her limit, the most notable moment being The Witch Bar Incident. To make it worse, she caught a very unfortunate case of the feelings for him at some point when he did something vaguely romantic towards her, and she hates it. She internalizes that shit like a pro, tho.Angel Dust: Kind of sees through the fact that he’s using the Hotel as a free place to crash and is not the happiest about that. Especially after the whole fiasco he pulled with Cherry Bomb. However, even if he is there for his own selfish reasons, he still is a ray of hope for Charlie and the Hotel, which Salem appreciates a lot.Nifty: Even with Nifty being an associate of Alastor, Salem does love how hard working and energetic she is, and what a big help she is around the Hotel.Husk: Salem tends to info-dump about her problems on Husk more than she does to others. It’s the whole bartender thing, probably. Also, the fact that Husk is the least likely to care about it (meaning he wont spread it around to others) and that he’ll give her the most brutal, no-bullshit answer to whatever she’s jabbering on about is somehow comforting.

Draco

Charlie: Despite being a flirt, he did manage to stop himself from being his regular self with Charlie for the most part. Not a good idea to flirt with the Boss’s daughter, afterall. Also, Salem would kill him. He does still flirt platonically and make cute comments, most of which make Charlie giggle a lot. Vaggie and Salem both roll their eyes at this.Vaggie: When they first met, he tried flirting with her before Salem could stop him, and he ended up with a spear in his gut, much to his amusement (”Oh look, I’ve been impaled”). Despite first impressions, they mostly keep it civil.Alastor: He met Alastor when they were both alive, during the height of Alastor’s murder terror. Draco describes it as being the most overwhelming evil he felt during his life, which left him both excited and terrified. Him and Alastor interacting is always filled with politeness and smiling - with a lot underlying threats in their words and tone. -After the Coven formed officially, Draco opened the Bar he always wanted (which the entire Coven helps run, promptly named the Witch Bar), which Alastor visited and almost killed every patron during a song performance (”The Witch Bar Incident”), while possessing Dax, Boogie and to an extent even Draco. While Salem managed to stop him, barely, Draco made a deal with Alastor that he’s allowed to come to the Witch Bar whenever he wishes (the 30/40s aesthetic made Alastor feel like home), letting him perform, entertain and relax - on the house - in exchange for him never harming any of the bar’s patrons.Angel Dust: They had a short fling or two. They’re still super flirty towards each other, and while they don’t hook up very often anymore, Dax, Boogie and Salem still classify Angel as Draco’s “friend with benefits”. Draco finds Angel absolutely hilarious and loves hanging out with him, both sharing a gangster background.Nifty: Finds her weird thing for men a bit off-putting. Something there ain’t right. But he can’t put his fingers on it.Husk: Knows Husk well from his late nights out, they played card together on the occasion. Husk would also visit the Witch Bar at times, and in general, their relationship is pretty chill. Draco loves annoying him with jokes, tho.

Dax

Charlie: Finds Charlie’s energy refreshing (”You’ve got moxie, kid! I love it!”), but the “naive” part doesn’t bode well with her. It’s a dog eat dog world, kid, and she sees Charlie as a bunny about to be torn apart by feral wolves. Because of this, she tends to be tough on her a lot and doesn’t entertain Charlie’s optimism at all, because she feels that Charlie needs to get thicker skin.Vaggie: Appreciates Vaggie’s no-nonsense attitude “You remind me of me when I was younger, kid! Take no shit from no one! CRUSH THEM UNDER YOUR LOUIS VUITTON HEEL! KILL THE MEN WHO WRONGED YOU!!!”Alastor: First met him during the Witch Bar Incident, which is not a good impression to say the least. Being a woman of steel, she tries not to show it, but is absolutely scared shitless of him. She hides it behind obnoxious laughter and loud talking whenever she’s near him, but she’s absolutely sweating bullets. She turns on her professional business mode to the max when dealing with Alastor, because that’s the one role that gives her most comfort, and by Jove she needs that confidence when talking to him.Angel Dust: Oh she just adores him. They love chatting it up about how they eat men for breakfast. Very similar, crude sense of humor, meaning they get along swell. Also, they both have that whole “I always come first” attitude going for them; they know the world is shit and the only person they can rely on is themselves.Nifty: She only had the gremlin child for a day and a half, but if anything happened to her, she would kill everyone in Hell and then herself. Husk: Dax is a betting woman at heart, and Husk quickly became her favorite gambling buddy. They constantly make stupid wagers and play cards in their off time.

Boogie

Charlie: Charlie may be too energetic for poor Boogie, but if anything, Boggie really feels at ease when Charlie is around. She is much nicer than anyone else she met in hell, and gives off very warm vibes and feelings. Loves talking to Charlie because it’s nice to have a positive conversation once in a while.Vaggie: While not super close, Boogie and Vaggie do get along better than most. Boogie sees a similar pain to hers in Vaggie in regards to abuse, which she finds solace in. But Vaggie is also prone to angry outbursts, which don’t bode well with her.Alastor: Like Dax, her first meeting with him was the Witch Bar Incident, and boy oh boy, she can’t stand him at all. Her being an Empath also means whenever Alastor is near, it’s like a constant influx of murdery energy inside her head, and it makes her anxious. He’s dangerous, powerful, and he takes joy in knowing that, and Boogie does not fuck around with that at all.Angel Dust: She’s actually pretty okay with Angel, because she takes solace in the fact he has no interest of that kind for her, one less thing to worry about. Finds him absolutely hilarious, she just wishes he wasn’t so touchy-feely.Nifty: Too energetic. Way too energetic. She talks to fast, everything about her is overwhelming and it really gives Boogie anxiety. Husk: He’s much more chill than everyone else and Boogie really, really appreciates that. She does not mind sitting at the bar with him in silence. Even with Husk being grumpy and yelling a lot, the fact that he doesn’t ask too many questions and respects her physical boundaries makes him one of Boogies favourites in the Hotel.

[brightengale]

Plotted thread with @barnes-and-noble

Alison prided herself on being a kind person. A patient person. A forgiving person. She was a saint by no means but most would say she was a genuinely wonderful person to interact with. Which made Bucky’s coldness baffling. 

As an occasional superhero and straight A student in all her classes, including AP US History, she was well acquainted with the surface level specifics of his past. As newly appointed SHIELD agent with the title of Mutant Liaison she was even privy to some further details not common knowledge. And as a relatively good friend of Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson she got informed about jokes, stories and info involving one Bucky Barnes in the modern era. Yet none of this had given her one iota of credit in his book, apparently. 

Because even when she was hanging around with two of his best friends, in his presence, the man never went out of his way to interact with her. Hell, anytime she tried to break the ice using her usually well received sunny disposition, it seemed to prompt an elevated disdain for her. 

Yet, Alison still tried. She gave him space but still remained polite and friendly whenever she saw him at work or visited the Avenger’s compound space. Ignoring someone wasn’t her style but she did her best not to put any pressure on him. At least in her opinion. Maybe if she was younger and still filled with the intense need to be liked by everyone. But luckily she had matured past that naive notion. 

When the hullabaloo of Kobik being thrust into their universe happened Alison wasn’t immediately notified. She wasn’t a fellow mutant so she wasn’t in her jurisdiction. But once Ali learned about the horrendous way SHIELD chose to handle the situation she couldn’t just stand by. Confronting Director Hill took guts. Which Alison always had in large supply when the safety of a child was at stake. Even if that child was a physical manifestation of relics of immense power. Especially when that fact gave the child the ability to rewrite reality however they saw fit and had been used as a weapon by one of the most vile villains to exist. 

Hill sanctioned Alison’s suggestion to enroll Kobik in the Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach. Sure she wasn’t technically a mutant but Alison pleaded the case that it would be one of the best places for her to practice her powers while also being surrounded by other students also learning about their own powers. Kobik would have the opportunity to build positive relationships with other young people as well as adults that actually cared about nurturing her personal growth and seeing to her all around well being. Plus, it would be another building block in establishing a better foundation with the mutant community. 

Since Kobik and Bucky had bonded throughout the aforementioned hullabaloo he had been consulted over suggestion as well. Or more aptly stated, Alison first discussed it with Sam (who had a social work background and helped her build then supported her case when approaching Hill) then had Sam also back her up when approaching Bucky about the idea. Although it had already been cleared with SHIELD management. Perhaps, the case could be made that she should have looped Bucky in originally, given he was filling the role of guardian for Kobik. But in the grand scheme of things it was really the best option in the long run anyway! 

But that was in the past. Now, nearly a month since Kobik had started attending the Xavier Institute, with Alison and Bucky working together toward Kobik receiving the best care possible, one would think he would be more cordial. Yet for some reason he continued to give the barest of graciousness. Not that she expected continuous platitudes and accolades. But a damn thank you would be nice! Not to mention that his continued standoffish nature was being replicated by Kobik, who looked up to him immensely. This was impeding Alison’s ability to do her job properly and finally something had to give. 

After another check-in with them both that consisted mostly of her asking questions which received overly concise, non detailed answers Alison’s patience finally snapped. 

Alison was sitting in a comfortable chair across from the two of them who occupied similar seats in the office. She’d rounded the desk to consciously attempt to dispel any barriers, physical or otherwise, that could be preventing a deeper connection during their meetings. Although, she held a pen and pad of paper in her lap she’d made very little use of them. Final question briefly remarked on Alison sported a wistful smile. “Well, if that’s all the updates you have for me I guess we’re done here Kobik. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me again today, it’s always nice to talk with you.” 

Ali’s voice was gentle and sweet. She meant everything that she was saying. Standing, she set her pen and paper on her seat before moving to open Kitty’s office door. Kitty generously allowed her to use it for these meetings. “I need to talk some extra things over with Bucky but why don’t you go meet up with some of your friends for free period and he’ll find you when we’re finished?” The young girl gave Bucky a big hug before skipping out the door to find her new friends. Alison’s smile grew brighter as she watched the interaction and waved the girl off out the door. 

When Kobik was out of sight Ali’s smile shrank away as she closed the door and faced Bucky with a practiced poised expression. “I’ll do my best to be professional and straightforward and would appreciate you do so in kind.” Her fingers ran through strawberry blonde hair that hung just below her shoulders. A tick of agitation she failed to notice as she circled back to her seat, setting the pen and paper on the nearby desk’s edge. With a heavy sigh she returned her attention to Bucky’s. Bright electric blue leveling on his icy hued gaze. “What is your problem with me? Because whatever it is it’s impeding my ability to build trust with Kobik, which hinders me performing my job. And that is a bigger problem than you not returning my greetings in the hallway. So please tell me so I can hopefully rectify it.” 

She did her best to tamp down the inner tizzy of emotions swirling within. Hoping they didn’t leak through in her tone.

[alphabees-writes]

Glee - S1 E1 (Pilot)

Is it a smart idea to rewatch glee again? No.

Am I going to do it anyway? You bet your sweet bippy I am!

Am I going to liveblog my garbage monkey brain thoughts along the way even though nobody asked for it? Hell yeah.

Here goes!

Wow. The first frame of this entire show is literally of a woman who looks like she’s about 10 years above the natural lifespan of a Cheerio. Then again, I’m sure Sue’s not above holding back her best recruits for multiple years because Ohio high schools are apparently just Like That™

I also never notice this opening song was a remix of Keep Me Hangin On, wow. That’s actually kind of interesting foreshadowing of sorts, like, kind of smart. I’m glad I’m watching the part of Glee that was kind of smart.

This scene also doesn’t feature any of the Unholy Trinity as far as I can see. Are they a JV squad? Am I putting too much thought into this?

Sign #1 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Really, my guy? Driving around with your muffler dragging on the ground so bad it’s making sparks? That’s not very Road Safety of you. Fuck off. 

Sign #2 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Wow, there’s going to be a lot of these, huh? Anyway, anybody with working eyes would clearly see how scared Kurt is right now. “Making some new friends Kurt?” Fuck off. 

KURT. FIRST SIGHTING OF THE BOY. What a delight. But also, not a delight, because he’s being bullied and he deserves better. Look at his outfit. Iconic from day fucking one. 

Finn, you’re a himbo. What’re you doing with these assholes?

Puck’s first line in the whole series is “It’s hammer time!” What a fucking dork? Who made this boy popular. 

DO MORE THAN TAKE HIS COAT, FINN. LET HIM GOOOOO!!!

I paused while they were tossing Kurt in the dumpster and, wow, got the most hilarious frame where the guy who isn’t Puck is getting a meticulously polished boot to the face. Netflix let me take screenshots, you coward.

The first shot of Quinn... My wlw bones are shaking.

Why would they use that photo for Lillian Adler...? WHO WAS BORN IN 1937, MIGHT I ADD. THAT’S NOT A REAL YEAR. 

It’s weird to see Mr Schue actually speaking competent Spanish. Why did they veto that later? The ONE likeable thing about him was his competence as a school teacher, and they really threw it out the window huh?

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE MEMBERS OF SANDY RYERSON’S GLEE CLUB??? This kid seems to really like singing. Also, welcome to the beginning of Ryerson being annoying as all hell.

Oh my gosh, the background choir stuff. This show really had style back in the day!!!

R A C H E L B E R R Y Y O U R M A K E U P ! ! !

Ken Tanaka walked so incels could run.

Jane Lynch you beauty. You absolutely impeccable beauty. 

“Since when are cheerleaders performers?” Uh... Emma...? I get that Sue’s going ham on her budget but, like, be nice to the students? They perform their butts off!

Sue really just BRAGGED about having an iPhone. I was 9 when this came out. Why do I feel old...

Sign #3 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: He hears his coworker, presumably of several years, just got fired and doesn’t even ask why. He just jumps on the glee club like a frog on hot asphalt. 

He really wants to Make The Glee Club Great Again, huh? 

MySpace was really a thing, huh? And why does this grown-ass male teacher know so much about the students having them?

I know nothing about actual American schools, but I do know that they sure as shit don’t work like this. Why does a club have to win EVERY competition to be considered an asset?

Mr Shoe really lying awake at night half-naked next to his wife thinking about the glee club already? Yeah sounds about right. Also, of course you’d think up Nude Erections for a name, you asshole. Put some clothes on.

R E S P E C T MERCEDES YES!!!

Brad the piano player was really here from day ONE... Icon.

Cellophane, Mr Cellophane... Yes Kurt bby you killed it. 

Chris Colfer looks so YOUNG here!!! 

The hair fix... I C O N I C !

Tina really wrote her stutter down, huh? And nobody ever saw through it? Amazing. 

The goth Tina look, too... Perfect... Never change...

Say what you want about Rachel Berry being generally insufferable, but I really fucking feel it when she sings On My Own. The monologue kind of kills The Drama of it, but they really solidly established her character by layering them. She really is a gold star right now.

The first-ever on-screen slushie!

The way she walks down that hall. My God you can just see how terrible she is to be around.

Never forget Rachel staring at photos of her with two men who turned out to not be her dads. Who are they? What are their stories? We’ll never know.

God, I love this stupid scene of Quinn, Santana, and a bunch of Cheerios cartoonishly typing hate comments on Rachel’s MySpace video and laughing like knock-off Disney villains. 

I like watching season 1 Artie because season 1 Artie was a good character. Mostly. And he KILLED Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. Rachel wasn’t asking for a male lead who could keep up with her vocally, she was being straight up ableist and that’s a fact. I love Cory, but Kevin McHale was always a better singer.

Mercedes picking up and spinning Rachel for this little routine is something I never really appreciated before, it’s cute even though they don’t like each other yet!

I really don’t get why Rachel says they suck. Yeah, sure, she’s gunning for a solo, but the vocals were solid there. The choreo was just a little janky, possibly because it’s their first EVER rehearsal?

“There is NOTHING ironic about show choir!” Incredible.

How long did it take Mr Shoe to find Rachel out on the bleachers? Did he search the whole school first?

ARTIE! CAN! KEEP! UP! WITH! YOU! VOCALLY!

I never understood Rachel quitting so soon. How long was she in the old glee club for? Surely they were never popular either?

Ah, the first “My hands are tied” for the series. Mr Figgins is a garbage principal. 

Not going to advise the principal against referring to Artie as a cripple, William Shoestir? Alright. 

How did the Schuester marriage last as long as it has? Do Will and Terri’s insufferable personalities just cancel one another out?

Sandy Ryerson really just openly brags about cheating the system for medical marijuana and dealing it? 

Matt Morrison 100% has lip fillers. Nobody’s smile curls like that naturally.

“Terri and I are trying to get pregnant” What a weird way to phrase it. What is it, a race? Who’s going to get knocked up first!

A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN, HOW I’VE MISSED YOU... The sound design of this show at this point is just... *Chef hand kiss*

“What you’re doing right now is called blurring the lines” Oh just wait until season 4, Sue... Just you wait.

WHY is Mr Schuester so ridiculously sweaty? I didn’t need to think about that?

EVERYONE on the football team is 30.

William Schuester you can’t just watCH TEENAGE STUDENTS SING IN THE SHOWER YOU ARE A TEACHER WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR LICENSE?! 

Hearing Cory sing this always makes me emotional. What a talent!

Sign #4 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: I don’t think I need to say why using the weed to blackmail Finn is a shitty thing to do, do I?

“I’ll pee in a cup! ...I’ll pee...” I love Cory’s delivery. 

PRIORITY #1: HELP THE KIDS Oh season 1... I love you so.

Mr Schue you WISH you were anything like Finn Hudson. You never will be.

Ah... Finn’s first monologue. He’s such a sweetheart. AND SO IS CAROLE. Carole is a queen I will stan forever. YOU THROW THAT MILK BB!!!

All Finn wants to do is make his mom proud. What a sweetheart. Mr Schue you do NOT deserve him.

These POV shots really enhance things, why the fuck did they stop using them?

Subtly having Kurt look at Finn in the same shot as Rachel was a nice touch indeed!

RACHEL WAS REALLY DOWN WITH ROLLING ARTIE RIGHT OFF THE STAGE HUH?

Terri’s a straight up hoarder, huh? Like a raccoon but instead of collecting edible garbage, it’s monogrammed garbage.

Surely you can’t just... BECOME an accountant, right? You need some serious qualifications for that right?

Also say what you want about how insufferable Terri is but her actress is ridiculously talented and absolutely steals every scene she’s in.

Now the background choir is doing Soul Bossa Nova and I am L I V I N G why didn’t they keep that motif!!! It was so ICONIC!

I don’t need my prostate removed. RIP Carole Hudson but I’m different :/

NO MEANS NO, KEN! TAKE THE L AND MOVE ON! Way to take out the fact that a girl won’t date you on everybody else around you! Toxic bastard. The absolute stench of melodrama on this bastard is noxious.

I was going to ask why Rachel didn’t know about Finn and Quinn if they’d already been together for 4 months, but then I remembered gossiping requires friends...

“Terri rides me. Hard. And I’ve always appreciated it!” Why don’t we talk about how this line sounds more. Why doesn’t Emma bat an eye at it oh my god

HERE COMES VOCAL ADRENALINE!!! And Jesse St. James is nowhere to be seen. How convenient. Also, they’re all 30. I’m sensing a pattern.

Sorry VA, all songs popularised my Amy Winehouse legally belong to Santana Lopez

Puck, if you were stupid enough to fall for the prostate excuse, that’s on you. Or maybe it’s on the education system...

You can do better that Mr Schue, kids. Don’t mourn him.

Ok, what the fuck is this scene where he’s filling out the job app to become an accountant? There’s a dude in the row in front off him just throwing crisps around? What is this place?? Why are you here sir??? 

“Accounting is sexy” shut up you horrible married man

The Cheerios sure did have straight ponytails for like, one episode, huh?

Finn is such a good boy. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is, and saving Artie from that portapotty is his first step to figuring it out.

This shot of Finn just wheeling Artie out of there... Ugh. My HEART.

KURT WHAT ARE THOSE LAYERS? SWEATER SHIRT SWEATER? HELLO???

Pee balloons. Nailing the lawn furniture to the roof. Finn, you’re better than that!!! Stop your dudebros. 

They really had Artie be a guitar player, and a pretty good one at that, but they never mentioned it again? Artie had such potential SMH. (Also, Netflix subtitles are telling me it’s Arty, but I categorically refuse to spell it that way.)

Whyyyyy didn’t he go to KURT for the costumes as well? Look at his outfit, Finn. He clearly wants in on that job. 

Will Schuester really is just desperately clinging to his glory days in high school. I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a creep about it. 

Emma, meaningfully: Do you know who that is? That’s you, Will... [FRANTIC DISCO MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND]

I find it hilarious how the audio of Don’t Stop Believin’ just DOES NOT match the characters except for the solos... Also wow, autotune city. Am I awful for genuinely not liking this cover? 

I like watching them perform it though. Kurt’s adorable little shimmy... Rachel and Tina smiling at each other like that... Everybody having a blast... I’m here for it

LOOK AT MY BABIES TILTING THOSE MIC STANDS...

Ok the way Rachel and Finn look at each other here is making me FEEL

I know Puck’s about to join anyway but WHY is he there watching... Just to have a mysterious bad boy moment? Lol you dramatic bastard

Please let them win nationals without you, Will.

So, yeah! There’s that! Those are my thoughts and feelings, basic though they may be. Episode one is fantastic, the kids are fantastic, and William Schuester can suck a toe. 

[mock-star-aq]

Supermonster Dinner Party: a Dragula fic.

Happy Holidays y'all! This is my fic for the @rpdrficexchange for Wolfie, aka Wolfie @thepastpresentandfutureofdrag !! I hope you like this darling! (For some reason I can't tag you in this?)

This is a weird cannon divergent style where they are their drag personas but dragula and drag race still happened, (if that makes sense) so make of that what you will.

Edit: Thanks to @hellobiqtchlasagna for helping me come up with the surprise at the end. I forgot to credit them in my rush to get my fic up and I feel bad😅

"Do you know anything about him?" Vander asked, pulling a batch of cookies out of the oven and sliding them onto a cooling rack. Biqtch was leaning against the wall, nursing a mixed drink.

"Just that he's Boulet approved, same as you." Biqtch drawled. " Swan actually told me to be nice, as if I would be mean to anyone who wasn't mean first, or a Republican." 

"You can be a bit crass at first. Drac told me to be mindful of not coming across too snooty, but she's one to speak." 

"Oop, I'm snitching! I'm going to tell her you said that!" 

"Oh, she knows, she makes fun of herself. And she would just brush it off. I can tease her a little since I know her relatively well." 

"Yeah that's fair, Lord knows they talk shit about us all the time in private."

"I'm pretty sure it's mostly good things, but yeah, they absolutely poke at our screwups with each other. " 

"Because they want the best from us, cause we're super monsters and all that." Biqtch pushed herself up from the wall, crossing over and rinsing out her cup to use again later. 

"And also because we have to work together from now on, so we have to be at least cordial to each other." Vander said, pulling out her phone to check the time. "He should be here anytime now. I told him 6, and it's 5:55." 

Just as Vander stopped speaking, the doorbell rang. 

"Speak of the devil, that should be him." Vander motioned for Biqtch to follow her as she went to the door, smoothing out some wrinkles from Biqtch's shirt before opening the door wide. 

"Hi, nice to finally meet you! Landon, right?" 

"Yup, Landon Cider. Nice to meet you too." He affirmed, holding a hot bag. Vander waved him inside and relieved him of his dish, allowing him to hang his coat up as Biqtch closed the door. 

"Nice to finally meet you, I'm Biqtch Pudding, and that's Vander Von Odd. You're hot as shit." Biqtch introduced herself, leaning against the wall as Landon took off his outerwear. The most prominent thing about him was how chiseled he was, even his face. The Boulets weren't ones to choose supermonsters based on conventional standards of beauty, but Landon was certainly very attractive. 

"Ah yes, you two are infamous. The first two supermonsters!" Landon smiled, slightly blushing at Biqtch's remark.

"I hope our fearsome reputation precedes us." Biqtch flexed, her arm about half the size of Landon's. 

"Landon, does this need to be warmed up at all?" Vander asked, holding up a casserole dish from the hot bag, interrupting before Biqtch could embarrass herself more. 

"Maybe? I pulled it out of the oven before I left, so it should still be warm." He crossed over and took off the top, holding his hand over what appeared to be a lasagna. "Oh it's fine. It probably needs to cool down a little actually. Biqtch, I know you're a vegetarian, so this is just cheese." 

"Yasss thanks doll!" Biqtch cheered. "What do you want to drink?" Biqtch led Landon over to Vander's drink cart as Vander pulled together the last little bits of the meal and set the table. She put the basket of rolls down as Landon and Biqtch came back, and Landon immediately put his drink down to help Vander put the last few things on the table. 

"Thanks babe." Vander said as they all sat down at the table and started serving food. It was quiet for the first few minutes while they ate, but then Vander started asking Landon questions, since the main point of the dinner was to get to know him. 

"So tell us about yourself Landon, where are you from, what do you do outside of doing performing .."

"Are you single?" Biqtch interjected. And Landon chuckled before responding. 

"Well, I'm from Long Beach, and I have a Hispanic background. I am happily married, sorry Biqtch." He apologized, and Biqtch pretended to be upset, pouting and snapping her fingers before sitting up and shoving his shoulder, indicating that she was joking. 

"We fucked like the all of the drag race winners do when they win but neither one of us liked it, so she was hoping to get a second chance." Vander explained, and Landon spit out his drink. 

"And you know that HOW?!" He spluttered as Biqtch clapped him on his back. 

"Sasha told me. She doesn't love the tradition, but I have a feeling she'll change her tune if Shea wins an allstar season." 

"So they haven't fucked?" 

"Oh no, they have. And they'll take any excuse to fuck. They're just rarely in the same place at the same time anymore. Trust me, Sasha's an open book once you get to know her well enough. So are most of the other RuGirls. Several of the other winners have offered to include us in the tradition, but unfortunately that probably ends with you. At least the sex part, most of them would probably be willing to makeout with you or cuddle with you." 

"Fine by me!" Landon declared, wiping his brow. And they all started laughing. 

"Yeah, we all saw you make out with Evah!" Vander teased, and Biqtch hooted appreciatively. 

"Neither of you can talk!" Landon retorted, and they all started laughing harder. "Biqtch is a dick pig and Vander handled a pup during her final floor show. Hypocrites, both of you!" He wheezed out, clutching his stomach with one hand while pointing with the other. 

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black!" Biqtch screeched. 

The rest of the night dissolved into hysterics, scream laughing at each other so loud it was a wonder they didn't get a noise complaint. The food was barely touched and cold, but no one cared. 

"I was inside so I couldn't see, but you could just hear her screaming! FUCK THE BIG PICTURE CLINT!!!" 

"That's better than Loris's temper tantrum. "NoT tOnIgHt!" 

"Well we didn't have any fun catchphrases like y'all did!"

"Bitch the fuck you mean? Everything that came out of Disasterina's mouth was fucking iconic! "Attention human males? She's murdering my pussy?" You just gotta think!" 

"Ooh ooh! I know! "You're just a trigger happy alcoholic that's what I said bitch you gotta pop a xanax every 10 fucking minutes!" That's the closest thing  Dragula has to the sugar daddy speech so far!"  

"Ok, you both are right. What can I say? I just a dummy ass thick Biqtch." She joked, standing up slightly to twerk slightly to the amusement of Vander and Landon, who laughed even harder.

The doorbell rang, interrupting their laughter. Vander got up to answer it, and came back carrying a white box, slightly damp from the snow. 

"What is that?" Biqtch asked as she and Landon got up and walked over to the counter where Vander sat it down. 

"No idea, but it's addressed to me and it's from a really nice bakery." Vander replied, cutting the string tied around the box off with a pair of scissors and opening the box. All of their jaws dropped as the lid fell back and revealed what was inside. Biqtch came to her senses first, hunching over laughing and clutching the counter. Vander covered her mouth and started wheezing as Landon chuckled and pinching his forehead as if he couldn't believe his eyes. 

"That is not what I think it is." 

"It is." Vander and Biqtch said in unison. Biqtch pulled out her phone and took a picture, still laughing. 

"I'm sending this to her right now. It's so lifelike, and I should know, I stared at her mug for weeks!" Vander laughed, kneeling to get a better look. 

"Did she send it?" Landon asked, taking out his own phone to take a picture. Vander plucked up an envelope that was beside the cake and opened it, laughing harder when she read it. 

" It's from the Boulets." She wheezed. 

" Happy Holidays uglies. Hope you don't mind if Meatball crashes your supermonster dinner party. We truly are proud of you all. XOXO. Dracmorda and Swanthula."

"Swan wrote that." Biqtch said, looking over Vander's shoulder. "Drac has chicken scratch." 

"Ooh! I'm snitching!" Vander mocked, and Biqtch doubled over again while Landon laughed in a confused way. 

"So who wants to do the honors of cutting Meatball's head and seeing what flavor her brain is?" 

"Landon should do it, welcome to the family bro. " Biqtch said. Vander nodded and handed Landon a knife, which he took. 

"Alright, cheers Meatball." Landon said as he sunk the knife into the cake shaped like her head and cut away a piece. 

"It looks like Red Velvet." Vander said as she held out a plate for Landon to put the cake piece on. 

"That's clever as fuck!" Biqtch smiled, watching as Landon cut the next piece. 

"Now I know how the Boulets feel, this is a powerful feeling, slicing someone up." 

"Oh he's definitely one of us!" Biqtch cheered, high fiving Vander. Biqtch high fived Landon as Vander's phone went off and she unlocked it. 

"Swan's glad to hear we got it and Meatball sent a bunch of grave emojis." 

"That tracks." Biqtch said as Vander put her phone away and went to grab wine glasses and a bottle, uncorking it and handing them all a glass of red wine.

"A toast." She said as she held up her glass. "To the Boulets, to Dragula, to good food and good times, and to the supermonsters, past, reigning, and future. Cheers." 

"Cheers!" Biqtch and Landon echoed. And they all drank. 

"Now let's go eat our cold food and our Meatball head cake." Vander directed. "This is a dinner party after all." 

"A holiday dinner party! Where's the mistletoe?" Biqtch joked.

"I am not kissing you again! Once was enough!" 

"Spoil sport. Landon will make out with me, won't you Landon?" 

"Umm, we'll talk. " 

"That wasn't a no!" 

Landon rolled his eyes and laughed at Biqtch's perseverance and Vander's apologetic face. This family was strange and weird and unconventional, but he loved it and wouldn't have it any other way.

[artificialqueens]

First Day Of My Life (Trixya) - Sinatra

A/N: Songfic, titled and based around the song First Day Of My Life by Bright Eyes. I use Brian for Trixie and Katya for Katya to keep from confusion. Pronouns change from whether they're in drag, but mostly it is either mentioned/implied, or isn't very important. Also, sorry if the formatting or spaces are a bit screwed, I'm not used to submitting on Tumblr mobile or on Tumblr at all. Enjoy!

This is the first day of my life,

Swear I was born right in the doorway.

Trixie remembers sauntering through those bright doors, insecure and making a faux-play at confidence all the while. Seeing that face, just for the first time. Nothing was brought on that first encounter, besides the fact that Katya, that was her name, made her feel so much more insecure due to her beauty.

I went out in the rain and then everything

changed,

They're spreading blankets on the beach.

Elimination was something that was inevitable, that was something Trixie learned much too early on. But there was always a sense of security in it; If she was going to make a fool of herself for national television, might as well make them feel as if her time was due. There's no comfort in a second, or sorry, 10th, place. But keeping up a false hope always seemed corny to her.

Yours was the first face that I saw,

I think I was blind before I met you.

In the midst of the controlled chaos, Brian saw far too much when he wasn't in the outfit that helped him shut it out. It started with jokes only they would laugh at in the workroom, vents and stresses. And then before he knew it, he packed his things and left. As Trixie was approaching the back of the main stage, ready to make the final impression, her eyes caught to Katya's. Only a shocked face was caked behind all the makeup, and Trixie couldn't blame her. There really were no hard feelings in it. It's all fine for now, no more stresses, no more vents, no more inside jokes. Dedragged the next day, Brian was emotionally empty, and he didnt know why. There were no bright white smiles in his life anymore, he guessed, and that would stay for a while. But a number placed in his makeup bag changed that; He'd just have to wait a little longer.

I don't know where I am, I don't know

where I've been,

But I,

Know where I want to go.

As the airing started, he was booked to the fucking max.

Booked to where he couldn't find a single empty space in his calendar.

And as much as it was comforting, it was draining, and he knew who to call just for that. So he did, a lot, almost every other day. Instead of waking up with headaches and sore feet and back, he got up, motivated, knowing at the end of all of this he'd get that call from Katya, who was coincidentally also Brian, (they had a good laugh at that). It ended his bad days, long shows and meet and greets with a smile, even if he was gross and made crude jokes just to get a laugh out of him at night.

And so I thought I'd let you know,

That these things take forever,

I especially am slow.

It was when he was staying with Katya, a few years after they had met. Best friends, beyond best. It's humorous looking back, seeing how frank and bold the situation, or Katya, was. It was a simple ask to fuck, and though Brian was tempted in the most disgusting way, he couldn't let what they have sink over an impulse. Laughs and no's, they carried on until the next encounters that got weird, and Brian just wanted to keep things in control. Thats just how he was.

But I realized that I need you,

and I wondered if I could

come home.

It was a bad night. Everyone had them, no one wants them, and no one wants to go through them alone. Grabby people, shouts of drunken people. It got to the point where he got heckled, fucking heckled on the street when he wasn't fully dedragged and he decided to just walk the small way home after changing his wig and heels. Random people threatening, chasing, him running, locking the door two times over and sitting on the couch with the only available weapon next to him. He was shaking violently, and the only person he wanted to call had no hope of response. But he called anyway, letting the rhythmic dial tones almost calm him until he heard a pause and a, "Hey, whats up?" amongst booming club music somewhere in the background. Explaining the situation was the last thing he wanted to do as it was fresh, but when Katya heard the shakiness in his voice, and the almost-crying panic, he had to.

And Katya helped.

So much.

I remember the time you drove all night,

Just to meet me in the morning.

And I thought it was strange, you said

everything changed.

You felt as if you just woke up.

It was no place any friend wanted to be in when your friend said they'd drive hours to your stupid apartment just to make sure you're okay. It's the ultimate guilt, ultimate "I'm okay, I swear. If you come up here I swear to god..". But if Brian was convinced Katya didn't have a followthrough with something, he wasn't now. Hours later, still wired with panic, his head shot up to a jingle of the front door trying to be opened, and then a knock. He couldn't feel his god damn skin he was so freaked out. But he knew the outcome of opening the door wouldn't be dangerous mere moments later when he remembered their conversation. With a shaky step, he unlocked his door, and opened. There stood Katya, with still a small fading black liner around his eyes. His grin shone brighter than the rising sun in his living room after no sleep.

"Thank you." He said, after Katya let himself in and promptly wrapped his arms around the taller man in a gentle hug. He couldn't not cry. He was dramatic, and even if there was no harm, his night- no, day, became so much better then.

And you said,

"This is the first day of my life,

I'm glad I didn't die before I met you.

But now I don't care, I could go anywhere

with you,

And I'd probably be happy."

Years pass after their encounters and soothing patterns on Brian's back just to get him to fall asleep. They're successful, and together so often Brian's feelings have almost stopped bubbling at the edge before they spill. There's always the reassurance, for both of them, that they're there for eachother no matter what. Being on tour together was another odd component of closeness, because unlike being near acquaintances, it didn't feel as if Brian was being suffocated or he was wearing thin with the constant interaction. It was easy, almost too easy to be with Katya.

So if you wanna be with me,

with these things there's no telling,

we just have to wait and see.

But I'd rather be working for a paycheck,

Than waiting to win the lottery.

"You do know we have separate rooms right.." Brian said with a light laugh afterwards. Katya was sprawled out horizontally on his bed, with Brian on his phone watching as Katya did the same and hummed to himself. He laughed and nodded, looking over to the other man. "It's no fun. And I'd be texting you from the other room anyway." Brian simply sighed, not out of annoyance or a need to be alone, just to fill the air because he was right. "Well can you at least sit on my bed like a normal person?... And not perform gymnastics for your Instagram stories?" Brian laughed harder as Katya's leg came up and peeked behind his head on the screen of his phone as he filmed. "Mama, this is a deep stretch rou-TINE!" As the laughter died down Katya let out a, "Y'know what, yeah." and got up to crawl over next to Brian in his bed. Brian smiled and rested his head on Katya's shoulder, just appreciating his company even if he's had an abundance of it over these months. He saw Katya position his camera to take a selfie of them both and Brian just laughed at the sheer cheesiness of it. Katya sported a grin next to the meek smiling Brian, and he captioned the story, '3 year anniversary with my beloved wife! Honeymoon bound.' along with the location of the major city they were in. Brian laughed, "Please send that to me."

Moments later, they were in a comfortable silence, and within minutes they were just cuddling together as Brian watched what Katya was doing on his phone out of sheer boredom. "I love you." Brian said as almost a small nothing now, and Katya smiled and said, "I know." Brian knew the response he'd give, and he was satisfied. "Cunt." He giggled, letting them both ease into a fit of laughs, with Katya looking at him earnestly only centimeters away. It always got to him how good Katya looked out of drag, made him almost as insecure as when he saw him in drag in the workroom the first day he saw his face. There didn't need to be any non-drag kisses to solidify whatever this was, which was a bit sad on his part, but his feelings were so strong sometimes he gets blinded. There truly was no appropriate way to show his appreciation. So there they were, staring mindlessly at eachother with a hint of a smile on both of their faces. "Can I kiss you?" Katya said as he always did. Brian of course chuckled and nodded, and it happened sincerely. Not heated, not masked. Eyes just slipped shut gently, just as gentle as the kiss. It was long, and it didn't change. Maybe the emotion he put in it will do for now, because he couldn't imagine finding words after they pulled apart. And he couldn't find any words. Just a strong tugging at his heart, not so much bitter as it was dying to be heard. But he didn't allow anything to become of it as he put his face back into the crook of Katya's neck and exhaled, closing his eyes and letting the sleep approach him slowly, and then all at once.

Besides, maybe this time is different

I mean, I really think you like me.