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to-star-lake · 5 years ago

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re: untitled [ pt. 1 ]

pairing | jjk x reader genre | ceo!jk, arranged marriage word count | 5.4k pt. 2, pt. 3, end

“Do you really have to leave?” Taehyung whispered against your skin, his lips pouting and caressing your bare shoulder. “It’s not like he’s waiting up for you.”

You scoffed, scooting to the edge of his bed, picking up your t-shirt from the floor and sliding it over your head. “It’s not him, it’s Namjoon and the goddamn board of directors,” you said, standing up and shimmying into your jeans that were hanging off the armchair beside the bed. “Acting like he’s our guardian or something, that guy really pisses me off with all the curfews and rules,” you mumbled, making your way over to the desk and picking up your purse.

Taehyung sighed and you looked over to see him sitting up against the pillows rubbing his eyes. “I don’t get it, why doesn’t Jungkook do something about that fool sitting up in his office calling the shots, he acts like he doesn’t give a shit about the company.”

You rolled your eyes, looping the strap of your purse over your shoulder. “It’s cus he doesn’t give a shit about the company, I’m the one in every single board meeting and strategy meeting and business development meeting.”

You picked your coat up from the back of the desk chair and walked over to sit down on the mattress beside Taehyung. He leaned forward, giving you a kiss, taking your left hand in his. When he pulled away you saw him look down at your hand in his, his fingers brushing over the shimmering diamond on a silver band on your finger.

“It’d be nice to see you in the daytime once in a while, you know,” he said softly, leaning his head against your shoulder. You sighed and tried to muster a smile, lifting his face and giving him a peck on the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll see you in the office, k?”

Those are the last words you always say to him before you walk out of his apartment, down the elevator, and out to the garage where your car is parked. And you always thought about him on your drive home. About how if maybe circumstances were different, you might love him, and could actually be with him. You caught your gaze shifting to the diamond on your ring finger, glittering from the lights of the city flashing by as you drove downtown to the steel and glass highrise and the penthouse where you lived.

“Miss Y/N, you’re cutting it close tonight,” Johnny, the valet teased as you pulled up in front of your building, getting out from the driver’s side of your car, tossing him the keys.

“I set an alarm this time,” you quipped back, pushing through the glass doors into the marble lobby of your building, noticing the security guards at the front desk exchange nervous glances as you walked into the elevator. It rose above 48 floors and the doors opened with a ding to the penthouse suite, and you heard a shrill screech coming from the end of the hallway.

“What the fuck, Jungkook?!” the voice shrieked, and the sound was followed by a half naked girl, running towards you into the open elevator doors, holding a silk sheet around her chest, a loud revving sound following closely behind. You ducked out of the elevator, and saw a 2-foot long toy tonka truck was chasing her at full speed. Turning, you saw Jungkook at the end of the hallway, wearing nothing but his briefs, the controller in one hand, the other clutching his stomach in laughter.

“You’re no fun!” he shouted down the hall.

“You’re fucking insane!” the girl yelled back as the elevator doors closed on her and the toy truck hit the doors at full speed with a thunk, pieces of its hood shattering across the floor and leaving a dent in the bronze elevator doors.

You rolled your eyes, walking down the hallway towards the open door to the penthouse you shared with the man child in briefs, who slid down to the floor, still laughing. You walked past him without a word, making your way across the marble foyer, straight to the mahogany liquor cabinet beside the large sofas in the living room. Taking the top off of one of the crystal decanters, you poured yourself a drink and heard Jungkook’s footsteps behind you. He reached out and grabbed the decanter from your hand, taking a swig and plopped down onto the velvet ligne roset sofa.

“Nice hickeys, what is this guy, 15 years old?” Jungkook scoffed as you took off your coat, revealing the trail of purple and blue marks along your neck and collarbone. Already irritated, you were about to snap when you heard the elevator doors ding and looking out into the hallway, you saw Namjoon step out.

“I just saw a woman wrapped in a bedsheet fuming and stomping out of the building, I can assume that was your work?” Namjoon walked into the living room, stopping in front of Jungkook, whose body is leaned lazily into the sofa, taking another swig. You laughed audibly at this remark but Namjoon turned, also noticing the hickeys on your skin.

“And you,” he began, holding up his phone, open to a dark and blurry paparazzi photo of you leaving Taehyung’s building next to a photo of you and Jungkook at an art function last month under the headline ‘Marriage or Merger? Billionaire Couple’s Sham Relationship.’

You rolled your eyes at this, taking another sip of your drink.

“This is on page six,” Namjoon pressed on, pushing the phone closer to you, making you flinch and swat it away. “You need to be more discreet.”

Jungkook chuckled from the couch, gulping down a few more swigs from the decanter. “And who knows how many paps got photos of that amateur’s work on her neck,” he snickered.

“You’re the one chasing a naked girl around with a fucking toy truck,” you were becoming more irritated by the second.

“Both of you shut up,” Namjoon raised his hand to his face, rubbing his temples in frustration. “Alright, you,” he said, pointing at Jungkook. “No more chicks in the penthouse, ok, I can’t keep paying your valets and doormen to keep this quiet. And Y/N,” he turned to you. “No more going to Taehyung’s house, and from now on both of you,” he shook his hand back and forth between you and Jungkook. “Both of you go to a goddamn hotel for your torrid affairs like normal, bored heirs alright? And do me a favor and do not arrive or leave with your flings. I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down before continuing. “Now we have a board meeting tomorrow morning at 10, you’ll both be there, right.”

“Obviously,” you crossed your arms in front of your chest, annoyed at the insinuation.

“I’m not asking,” Namjoon said, turning and walking out of the apartment.

“What’s got his knickers in a twist,” Jungkook said, drinking down the rest of the bottle before tossing it to the opposite end of the couch.

You rolled your eyes and crossed the foyer to the other end of the penthouse where your bedroom was. You were pulling your t-shirt over your head when you heard Jungkook’s footsteps.

“You need to stop seeing that asshole,” he said, leaning against the doorframe, drunk and slurring his words.

“Fuck you,” you scoffed, sliding your jeans off and tossing them where you dropped your t-shirt and walked into your bathroom, turning the water on in the ivory tub.

“I’m telling you to stop seeing him,” he raised his voice, walking up behind you, grabbing your forearm. You whipped around, twisting your arm from his grasp.

“I don’t say shit about all the girls you have coming in and out of here, so stay out of my life.”

He let out a bitter laugh, “I’d stay out of your life except we’re supposed to be fucking married here,” he held up his hand, pushing the silver band on his ring finger at your face. “We’re supposed to run the company together and you’re fucking the CFO.”

You unhooked your bralette and slid out of your underwear and climbed into the half filled tub. “And you’re fucking, oh wait, I’m sorry, who is it this week? And don’t act like you give a shit about the company.”

Jungkook put his hands on his hips, exasperated and averting his gaze from your naked body in the water. He took a deep breath and turned to leave. “It doesn’t matter who I’m seeing, they’re nobody. You’re fucking the CFO. If you fuck this up, he’s gonna fuck us over, don’t think for a second that asshole won’t.” He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

You felt your anger boiling over and reached for the nearest thing you could get your hands on, a loofah, and threw it against the door.

“Fuck,” you said under your breath, brushing your hair back and dipping under the hot water.

You were angry because you knew he was right. And you’d thought about it many times, what could happen if things turn sour between you and Taehyung. But you were so glad to spend time with anyone other than your arranged marriage husband that you didn’t even question it. But despite your anger, you could admit it was possible you were being more reckless than he was.

It was the end of summer last year and you were in the bedroom of your apartment, packing your bags to begin your first graduate school semester when your parents called, letting you know they were in the city and asked you to have dinner.

You remembered arriving in the restaurant and when the hostess led you back to a private dining room with gilded wallpaper and dimly lit by a crystal chandelier, you saw that it wasn’t just your parents. You weren’t particularly surprised by this, your parents had been taking you out to functions and dinners with their various business partners your whole life. The Jeons had been friends of the family for a long time and you greeted them cordially before sitting down.

The conversation was light, which contrasted a stark and obvious tension in the air which you felt immediately that never lifted. Your parents had just begun to tell you about their plans to retire very soon and move to the chateau on Lake Como when the door to the private room burst open and the Jeons’ youngest son stumbled in.

You’d known Jungkook since you were children, and you weren’t particularly fond of him. You remember him always causing trouble, and was a rowdy, mischievous kid, who followed you around at events and parties, tugging at your hair or smearing food on your clothes when you weren’t looking. You remember his older brother constantly chasing him to sit him down on a couch or chair in time out for misbehaving, and he would jump up and run away into more trouble the minute his brother turned his back.

It’s been quite some time since the last time you saw him. During his last years in middle school, he’d gotten expelled from the prestigious private academy his parents worked hard to get him into, so they sent him away to boarding school. You hadn’t seen each other since you were 15.

He’d grown so tall, you thought. His dark hair, which you remembered his mother always kept properly groomed had grown long, strands of it falling over his eyes. You watched him slide languidly into a chair beside his mom, removing his sunglasses and tossing them onto the table. It was 8 PM at night. His father coughed audibly upon seeing his mother’s distressed expression.

“‘Sup, creators,” were his first and only words that evening.

Your parents commented amicably on how much he’s grown and asked him seemingly innocuous questions like how was Cambridge, how was his big South America excursion with his friends, and his mother answered for him. You stared at him in awe, at how little he could care to behave in any acceptable way in front of his parents and their business partners. He didn’t lift his face to look at you once.

A number of agonizingly long and uncomfortable silences passed when your father finally said, “Well, I’m sure the both of you are wondering why we’ve asked you out to dinner tonight.”

That was the lead-in to both sets of parents informing the two of you that they were planning a merger. And a merging of their two enterprises would be on a scale that the industry hadn’t seen in a long time. But they were getting old, they said, and wanted to retire and do some traveling. Your mother wants to tend to a garden, and Jungkook’s father spoke extensively about the books he wanted to write.

So they were handing the company over to the two of you.

And not only that, that the two of you would marry, and that this had been the plan for a very long time.

You felt your eyes growing wider in shock by the minute but there was something holding you back from blurting out all the things you wanted to say to your parents in that moment, like a heavy rock in the bottom of your stomach weighing you down. You kept glancing over at Jungkook, who sat in the same lazy posture in his chair, pushing his food around mindlessly on his plate with a fork, the same blank expression on his face, while you were panicking.

You parted ways with Jungkook that evening without so much as a single word addressing each other. His mother asked for your phone number and gave you his in exchange before they left. You expressed your grievances in full to your parents that night. They did not listen.

The wedding was one month later at your family’s chateau on Lake Como. It was a small, private ceremony, but your mother made sure there were enough photographers and journalists there to cover the event for publicity. The only words you and Jungkook exchanged on that day were your vows, which were carefully crafted by the company’s publicist.

That night both your families left the two of you alone in the chateau. This was following a lively dinner with close family friends who were invited and flew out to stay in Lake Como for the weekend on private flights. You were not intimately familiar with any of them, and as far as you could tell, neither was Jungkook.

You studied him carefully that day, nervous, but also resolved that even if the marriage is a sham, you wanted to make sure the two companies’ merger went through properly and that you would do your level best to run the enterprise with him. Despite the arranged marriage, you knew this company was your parents’ legacy, and you would not let it fail in your hands, and certainly not Jungkook’s.

After everyone left that night, you sat at the boudoir nervously in the silk slip you wore under the custom gown your mother spent weeks with the designers in the Saint Laurent atelier crafting. The doors to the bedroom opened, and you turned to see Jungkook walk in. He had changed out of his tuxedo and into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head.

He stood in the center of the room looking down at his shoes for a few moments and you were about to break the silence when he looked up at you and said, “Let’s go for a drive.”

Those were the first words he spoke to you directly of his choosing. And that was the first time his eyes met yours with any substance.

You threw on a coat and followed him out of the residence to the white Maserati gran turismo parked on the gravel lot in front of the house. A long and quiet car ride later, he pulled the car to a vantage point at the side of the road. He got out and walked to the overlook, climbing over the stone ledge and taking a seat. You followed suit.

The two of you sat in silence for a few moments and the stillness of the chilly night air fell upon you. He took a deep breath and turned his head, and your eyes met his, for the first time in earnest. His dark irises shone in the moonlight and they gazed into yours placidly and he said, “What do you want to do?”

It was a simple question, but both of you were well aware of the gravity of their meaning. What he meant was, ‘What do you want to do about this marriage?’

You looked out onto the lake and thought for a few moments.

“We will be the picture perfect corporate couple in front of everyone,” you began. You saw him nodding gently in your periphery. You turned to face him, taking a long breath in before saying, “But we will stay out of each other’s personal lives. Let’s not pretend like we actually have any feelings for each other. And I have no illusions about you actually wanting any part of this merger or running the enterprise. But I will not let you waste and wreck this empire our parents worked their whole life to build, so you will stay out of it.”

You saw his eyes grow wide in incredulity at your words for a brief moment before he turned away and took a deep breath. “Going to be kind of difficult to stay out of it since the general counsel wrote into the terms of the merger that you and I hold equal shares in the merged enterprise and you will be CEO and I will be president of the company.”

“You’re just a figurehead to represent your father,” you scoffed at his remark, though you were surprised that he actually seems to have read the terms of the merger. “Stay out of the operations. I will run this company.”

He stood up, smirking. “So that’s it then?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“That’s it.”

Both of you were silent on the drive back to the chateau, but you noticed his hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel, knuckles white under his skin, and he drove far past the speed limit. Of course he’s like this, you thought, a child throwing a tantrum and can’t control his emotions.

You got out of the car but he didn’t, instead, rolling down the passenger side window and calling out to you, “I trust you can find your own way home? I’m sure you can use the jet at your will, Miss CEO,” his mocking tone continued.

“Where are you going?” you asked, an annoyance and frustration building in the pit of your stomach which you were certain would persist every day of your marriage.

He shrugged, “I hear Portofino’s lovely this time of year. Or maybe I’ll take a flight out to Majorca. I don’t really know, honestly, since I now have all this unexpected free time from not having a run a company or participate in a marriage.” And with that, the tires of the car screeched from the gravel lot and you stood on the steps of the residence, mouth open in awe at this display while the engine roared down the road and disappeared into the night.

The entire last year of your marriage and partnership was like this. While you attended strategy meetings with your c-suite and reported earnings to the shareholders, Jungkook was galavanting around Europe, Asia, and rumors of his numerous affairs were well documented by the press. He would show up at random to meetings and events, undoubtedly dragged back from some wild binge by Namjoon, who was appointed acting president by the board when Jungkook’s behavior was finally deemed too erratic.

Initially you were overwhelmed by the amount of work you had to take on in the absence of the business partner you were supposed to have. Part of you considered calling Jungkook, and asking him to return to help you run the business. But your pride wouldn’t allow that. And the longer his erratic behavior drew on, the more your anger grew until it grew to the point of apathy. And it was then that you found a new partner in Taehyung, the company’s newly appointed CFO. He was calm, collected, brilliant, and more than anything, understood you and the business. He was someone you could confide in.

---

It was 10:55 AM and you had just concluded the last discussion item on the agenda for this month’s board meeting when the glass doors to the conference room flew open and Jungkook sauntered in, plopping down into one of the chairs along the room’s periphery.

“Ah, Jungkook, good of you to join us,” Namjoon commented, looking around nervously at all the shareholders around the table exchanging concerned glances.

He took the sunglasses off his face, “What did I miss?” he asked but didn’t mean.

“Only everything,” you muttered under your breath as you slammed your laptop shut, but somehow Jungkook did manage to hear your remark.

“Oh that’s alright, I’m sure Miya would be happy to uh, debrief me after this,” he chuckled, looking over at the secretary seated in the opposite corner, fully blushing at his comment.

“Oook, well, this was a productive meeting everyone, thank you for coming in today, we’ll meet again next month!” Namjoon stood, laughing nervously, clasping his hands together and quickly dismissing everyone before they could think too much on what Jungkook just said.

“That fucking asshat,” you dropped our laptop onto the desk in Taehyung’s office and he looked up at you his hands raised in surprise at your entrance. You slammed the door behind you, brushing your hair back with both hands in frustration, pacing.

Taehyung leaned back in his chair, twirling his pen in his hand, “I take it he actually did show up to the board meeting?”

“Barely,” you muttered, still pacing.

He laughed softly, but sat up quickly, and gestured for you to look at something. You looked over across the open office floor to Seokjin, the company’s in-house counsel’s office where Taehyung was pointing, and saw Jungkook taking a seat while Seokjin brought over a stack of papers, which Jungkook proceeded to flip through and sign.

“What the fuck is he doing?” you asked, trying not to stare.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung responded, equally curious, but less concerned than you were. “I have never seen him have a single conversation with Seokjin, what could he possibly be working on?”

You scoffed, “Maybe he’s finally being served for harassment in the office.” Taehyung chuckled at your quip, but you were only making a joke to suppress and hide your concerns. You watched as Jungkook shook Seokjin’s hand and left his office. You waited, pacing for a few minutes before rushing out of Taehyung’s office, making a beeline to Seokjin.

“Y/N! Oh, what a surprise, I wasn’t expecting-” Seokjin jumped in his chair, his glasses falling crooked on his face when you blew in through his office doors. You sat down in the chair across from him and crossed your arms.

“Well, I uh, this is great timing, because I was actually just about to come to your office,” he tripped over his words in nervousness. “I uh, I need you to take a look at this, please,” he pushed a stack of papers over to you and you could tell from the manila binding it was the same ones Jungkook was just signing.

“What is this?” you asked, flipping through the pages of legalise.

“Well, uh, Jungkook just brought in three new defense contracts,” Seokjin replied. You froze mid-motion and stared up at him.

This couldn’t be true.

“What?”

“Jungkook brought in three new defense contracts,” Seokjin repeated, enunciating his words.

“I heard you, I mean how?” you said, impatiently flipping through the pages of the contract, eyes wide at the fact that Jungkook has actually somehow brought in new business for the company.

“I’m not sure, uh, you’d have to speak with Jimin over in business development for the details on how they executed the contracts, I’m sorry, I just write the terms, protect us from liability, um-” he looked at you nervously, knowing full well he wasn’t answering your real question. “But Jungkook asked me to present you with a plan,”

“A plan?” you scoffed, looking at the numbers in the contract.

“Yes, uh,” Seokjin took the pile of papers from you and slid you a folder with more papers.

“Ok,” he took an anxious breath in, “So, Jungkook wants to give you his shares. And actually today’s board meeting is the final meeting with six of the 11 board members. In the last couple of months Jungkook bought their shares, which made up about 45% of the total enterprise shares. He wants to give you that 45% he acquired, along with his 10%, which, added to your own 10% would give you 65%, making you the majority shareholder of the enterprise, you just have to sign here,” he motioned towards the dotted line at the bottom of the page and held out a pen to you.

You sat frozen for a moment before standing up, shaking your head and pacing.

“Y/N?” Seokjin asked anxiously.

“Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me he was buying out our shareholders?”

“Well, I, I can’t speak for the shareholders themselves, but I was told this was need to know only..”

You were in shock, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. “So you’re telling me he went around buying out our shareholders to acquire a majority of the company, just to give it to me.”

Seokjin nodded nervously.

“You don’t find this suspicious? He’s bringing in new contracts, he’s buying out shareholders?”

“Well, there is one stipulation,” Seokjin pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and leaned over the stack of papers, flipping to a specific page. “Jungkook is asking that 5% of annual earnings be dedicated to a new R&D department.”

“What?” you asked, walking over to look at the page Seokjin was referencing.

“What does he want a research and development team for?” you were fully perplexed.

“I’m not sure, maybe he’s trying to work on some things for the defense contracts, I’m not clear on all the details. Again, Jimin could tell you more, or you could ask Jungkook directly..” he stopped, realizing you were glaring at him. “Uh, in any case, the numbers look good, I was going to run them by Taehyung after I got your ok. The R&D will cut into 5% but the new contracts will bring about a 12% growth in revenue so it’s all offset with a good profit.”

You scoffed, falling into the chair, shaking your head. “Go, get the financials verified,” you said, waving Seokjin off and he sloppily gathered the papers and stumbled out of his office over towards Taehyung’s.

You stood slowly, and walked in a daze down the hall to your own office, barely registering your secretary trying to tell you something before you turned the knob to the door and walked in and saw Jungkook standing behind your desk, looking out the windows at the city view. He turned when he heard you walk in.

“Have you talked to Seokjin?”

You took a deep breath in, trying your best to control your tone but failing, “Sure, let’s just get right down to it. What the fuck are you doing buying out our shareholders?”

He smiled and you couldn’t tell for the life of you if it was genuine or mocking. “I thought you’d be pleased to become the majority stakeholder.”

You slammed your laptop down on the desk, your anger and impatience growing and you stared in annoyance at him, standing in front of you in a suit and tie, feigning legitimacy. “Why the fuck would I be pleased about that? How the hell did you land those defense contracts?”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his perfectly creased slacks and moved closer to you, close enough you could feel his breath on your skin. He lowered his voice and the sound resonated through the air as he spoke.

“I don’t want to argue and I shouldn’t have to explain myself. You’ve been running the show long enough to know why I’m doing this. Those contracts will bring us 12% revenue growth, and the R&D will give us tax exemptions to put even more in our bottom line. I’m making you the majority stakeholder of the company because you should be the one running the enterprise, not Namjoon and his board of clowns. Let me work on the R&D and the defense contracts, and you can fully own this company. It was never our parents’ intention for us to report to some gaggle of stakeholders dicking around, raking in our money, and if it was, they’re idiots.”

He walked over to the door of your office, turning the knob and opening the door, and you stood frozen at your desk.

“Sign the papers, Y/N.” And with that, you heard the doors shut behind you.

#jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfiction #bts fanfiction #jungkook scenario #bts scenario #bts x reader #jungkook series #bts series #jungkook angst #ceo!jungkook #arranged marriage au

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jessgartner · 4 years ago

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2020 Life Olympics

The real Olympics may have been canceled in 2020 but the Life Olympics persevered like the postal service of Olympics.

First, I’d like to apologize for my role in the chaos of 2020 because I think I had a slight miscommunication with the powers that be and I feel partly responsible. Here was my plan for 2020:

My theme for 2020 is Intention because I want to take the energy I feel right now and deploy it with more intentionality next year - bringing increased mindfulness to how I spend my time, money, physical and mental energy. And because I love wordplay, I also literally want to spend more time camping “in-tent” to enjoy more peace and quiet and beauty in nature.

The universe was like, “Oh, she wants to spend less money and more time outside? Well, shut it down. Shut the whole planet down.”

I mean, mission accomplished, I guess? I did spend less money and more time outside and had to be VERY intentional with my mental energy to survive the day-to-day morass of 2020. Next time, I will be more specific with my annual manifestations. Sorry to all.

2020 was brutal for pretty much everything and everyone. I don’t know anyone who isn’t in some state of grief right now, including myself. I debated doing a Life Olympics at all this year, feeling like-- what is the point? Hundreds of thousands of people died, our democracy is hanging on by a thread, and millions of people lost jobs, businesses, and homes.

Like many people, I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression this year which intensified as it got darker and colder outside. At a low point, I talked with my therapist about the struggle of just not wanting to do any of the things that usually bring me joy-- and how periods of relief were so fleeting. “But you have to keep doing those things,” she said, “even if they’re not working right now, you have to keep doing those things and trust the process; the joy will return.”

So even though I don’t really feel like it and kind of feel like it’s dumb, I’m writing the 2020 Life Olympics. I’m trusting the process.

2020 Life Olympics Recap

Work - Participation Trophy

Starting a company is hard, operating a company is harder, but running a company during a global pandemic and economic crisis is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. 2020 was not a fun year to lead a business; it was hell. On March 15, the plan for the year pretty much went out the window and everything went into survival mode. I never take the company or my team for granted, but I’m particularly grateful to be able to usher this work into 2021.

Despite the craziness, we still had some big wins this year. We launched new product partnerships with PowerSchool and Amazon Business. We rebuilt our tool for equitably calculating district funding formulas. And I got to flex my creative muscles with EdFinToks! Throughout it all, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a team of people who are as compassionate as they are talented.

I’m worried about public education more than ever after this year, but I’m going to keep fighting every day to make it work better for kids.

This is Work-Lite but I also spent a good chunk of time this year leading the modernization workgroup for Bill Henry’s transition committee after his spring primary election to become the new Baltimore City Comptroller, ousting a 25-year incumbent, Joan Pratt. This was an enlightening (and infuriating) experience for me that gave me a glimpse into the operations of a segment of the City government. This process also really helped crystallize how much I enjoy making public agencies function more efficiently; I’m excited to see what Bill does with the recommendations (some are already being put in action!)

Health - Gold

This is the second year in a row (and ever) that I’m giving myself a Gold medal for Health. This was easily a year that I could have regressed on all of my healthy habits and no one would have blamed me. Instead, I leaned into protecting and improving my physical and mental health in 2020. It’s not an exaggeration to say that walking probably saved my life this year. I spent a lot of time walking around my neighborhood and various state and city parks-- walking is maybe not the best word; I stomp and charge around like I have a score to settle with the ground beneath me. My walking increased 370% in 2020. This is a habit of 2020 that I’d like to keep. My brain and body are happier if I can spend a little time walking-- stomping-- around outside each day.

I also did a lot of biking this summer. My cycling increased 200% this year-- with much more time spent cycling outdoors. My crowning achievement this year was biking to and from Annapolis:

I spent a LOT more time outside this year which was critical for my mental health. On the downside, I only did 90% as much yoga and 60% as much strength training, so I want to try to be a little more balanced next year.

I also invested a lot in my mental health this year. I kept up with therapy every 2-4 weeks and in October I decided to pursue a formal diagnosis for ADHD which I definitely have! Needless to say, staying in one place this year has been a special kind of hell for me.

Home - Silver

Well, I definitely spent less money this year. And the way I did spend money made me (mostly) sad:

Travel down 70%

Auto & Transportation up 200% (boo cars)

Shopping down 60%

Personal Care down 35%

Gifts and donations up 200%

Food and Dining down 40%

Entertainment down 35% (I kept up my singing lessons virtually which accounts for a lot of this category)

2020 was quite the palate cleanser from my 2019 year of hedonism but maybe we can go for a happy medium in 2021? Just kidding-- I will resume my hedonist ways the minute the world opens.

I also redid my home office like every other work-from-homer on the planet and replaced my crumbling kitchen floor so the house got some TLC.

But nobody enjoyed having me home all year as much as Darwin:

Relationships - Bronze

What a weird year for relationships of all kinds. I’m giving this a Bronze because while I invested a lot into a few relationships this year, there are also a lot of people in my life to whom I haven’t been able to give my time and love.

One of the most important relationships in my life this year was with one of my former students. After bouncing around in the foster system for many years, we reconnected around the holidays in 2019 and he started crashing with me while we tried to figure out stable housing and employment. He was arrested in January and was incarcerated for the next several months awaiting trial. Finally, we were able to negotiate a plea agreement with the State’s Attorney and he came home around Independence Day. We spent the next several months getting him set up with a phone and various identification documents-- a nightmare in normal times and a total abyss during the pandemic. I got him registered to vote when we got his ID card and I took him to vote for the first time (a supreme treat for this former social studies teacher):

He’s now got a full-time job and stable living situation. Calling this THE success of 2020. Thank you to everyone who helped me with resources all year for housing, legal processes, and documents. It takes a village.

It was a bizarre year for family. We lost my grandmother in September, so not being able to spend the holidays together felt like an especially cruel loss. Other big losses this year include a trip to France to celebrate a milestone birthday for my mother and my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding (Mosby seemed pretty ok with the alternative plan, though):

But in many ways, my family has been more together than ever this year thanks to prolific group chats and photo-sharing. Mostly, I’m just glad everyone else is safe and healthy. As my father often reminds me, “Our problems are small.”

And dating? What to do with this weird Jane-Austen-esque dating scene-- as if modern dating weren’t fraught enough. Is this the universe punishing me for ending my 2019 dating hiatus early? I, for one, have given up. You win this one, pandemic. I’m just going to have my little Twitter crush and call it a year. Next year, though...

Horizons - Silver Gold

You know what? It’s hard to expand your horizons without people or places.

I did the best I could. I finally got back on track with my Goodreads challenge and actually had a really good year of reading, including finally embracing audiobooks through my Libro.fm subscriptions. I especially enjoyed Michelle Obama’s book Becoming and Mike Birbiglia’s The New One on audio-- both narrated by their authors.

I camped in Pocomoke (MD), Western MD, Lake Michigan, and Ohiopyle (PA):

I explored over 30 new hiking/biking trails-- some favorites including the Youghiegheny River trail in PA, the NCR trail, Catoctin Mountain, the C&O Canal Towpath, Annapolis Rock, and of course, Stoney Run in my backyard.

I left Facebook and started the Life Olympics newsletter. I’ll be honest, I don’t miss Facebook but I also don’t understand where that energy, time, and brain space went. I was spending cumulatively hours a day mindlessly scrolling Facebook and I quit cold turkey and barely noticed-- what black hole of our brains does social media occupy? I kind of thought that with all that extra time I would write the next great American novel or something. I’m probably spending a little more time on Twitter, which I could stand to cut back on. Other than that, I think I was just trying to process the shitstorm of this year. Maybe I’ll write the next great American novel post-pandemic.

For the first time in my life, I feel somewhat ‘caught up’ on pop-culture. I finally watched Parks and Recreation (twice); I watched The Mandalorian and finally actually watched Star Wars (episodes IV-IX); I watched the final seasons of The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek; I’m caught up on Insecure; I watched The Prom and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Jingle Jangle; I even started Bridgerton. I know what everyone is talking about and I’m catching so many more pop-culture references these days. (I guess instead of writing the next great American novel I watched Netflix?)

2020 Lessons

I’ve spent plenty of time mourning the missed opportunities of 2020 and will probably always wonder what this year could have been in an alternate universe with a functioning government. But we only have this reality for now, and we made the best of it.

I wanted to slow down in 2020, try to be more intentional, more mindful, and...

No thank you! I liked the pace of my life; it makes my brain and heart happy. I’m happiest when I wake up in a different city three days in a row. I like darting around every borough of Manhattan for nine meetings and three cocktails and then taking a red-eye to Europe. I want to run around to eight conferences for 18-hours a day for three weeks and then sleep for 22 hours. I miss overloading my brain so much that I need a deprivation chamber to sleep. This is who I am. This is how I like to live. And when I was locked down alone in the house for a year, slowing down, being mindful, I never once thought, “I should have... when I had the chance.” Because I always did. And I always will.

2021

We shake with joy, we shake with grief.

What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body.

Mary Oliver

We’ve had enough grief. 2021 is going to be all about joy.

Universe, let me be clear: this is not a euphemism or code or secret signal.

I want pure, unadulterated, abundant, joy. I want multi-course dinners in restaurants with lots of close friends and good wine. I want the virus so far gone that I can make-out with handsome strangers. I want a rollicking good time in France and/or Brazil and/or Prague and/or New Zealand and/or Bali. I want to spend the day after Christmas in NYC with my father. I want to be a glutton for theatre and art and music. I want celebrations and parties and sequins.

I want to shake with joy.

If you’d like to receive the (shorter) monthly Life Olympics, subscribe here.

#lifeolympics

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pcygoldenchild · 6 years ago

Text

The Traveler

🥀summary: Running away was useless in your world, but that didn’t stop you from trying. But Baekhyun was skilled in finding anything. Especially if it was you. Especially if it was a chase. Traveling was his hunting sport.

🥀genre: slight smut&angst//mafia au!//adult themes//sexual content. maybe a part 2

Pride was a blessing and a curse. Turmoil and suffering with a little mix of pride made you the person you were today. The person who ran away no matter what. The person who would hide from trouble instead of face it straight on. There was never a problem that you have encountered that you faced. It wasn’t like you. It scared you to confront something. But that’s because the things you would have to confront, were things that could kill you. Death would look you right in the eyes if you had yours open. You witnessed your brother die right in your arms when you were only 5. You heard your mothers screams as you hid under the bed in a raid of your house. Your father, the only one left of you, was the one who told you it’s ok to run. But you can’t run your whole life.

But that’s all you’ve done. You had to run. You were wanted. You were being hunted. You were the prey. You were a killer.

You killed once. You killed once and it was the end of your life. Your own life was on the brink of falling off a cliff and you had to do what you didn’t think you would. With a gun to your chest you couldn’t think straight. The only reaction was shoot. The gun in your hand firing a single bullet through his head. Through Mino’s head. And he was dead. And so were you.

Ever since then, you had a silver bullet with your name on it. And your father had a pretty bronze one just like yours. But it was not your fault. You were kidnapped, abused, used for ransom and information. You had no choice and everyone knows that. But a murder, is a murder. And you had to leave.

You left without anyone knowing. You couldn’t tell your father, he’d be killed for information if not for being your father. So you told no one and left in plain sight. It would be less conspicuous if you did. You left while the house was busy; Chanyeol, Jongin Baekhyun, Junmyeon and your father all doing work to ensure your safety. The safety of a lost soul now leaving right under their noses. They said their goodbyes thinking you were only going to your daily shops. They made sure your driver took you everywhere and followed you in and brought you out. But you knew ways around that. Eyes weren’t always on you. There were blind spots.

You went to the coffee place you always went to and got you and your driver a coffee. You added a little something to his, just to help you get away from him. You made a few stops around, grabbed a few things you would need for your escape. Only two hours later, you noticed your driver become sloppy. This was your time to leave and you took it. You left the shop with him waiting by the dressing room and called a cab to the outskirts of the city.

You had to go somewhere no one would figure you’d go. You had a condo in the city but that’s exactly where they’d look. But they wouldn’t look in the woods. Your mother had a little cabin, not very little but it was homey. Only you two would go there while the boys were hunting or working. You figured you’d stay there for a few days until everyone cooled off.

You settled in and made sure to lock all the windows and doors. You turned off your location to all of your contacts. You only used lights of rooms you were in. You stayed off your phone and limited social interaction if you had to leave. But even then, it only took 3 hours before someone contacted you. Baekhyun.

↳ B. : i’m looking for a little princess who seems to have lost her way home

↳ B. : she’s cute and funny. brown long hair and deep beautiful eyes. a really pretty smile that makes your heart flutter and a clearly useless brain if she thought she could run away

↳ B. : so where is my princess? do you happen to know?

You had to answer. He was the last person you could stay away from. He was the last person to let you stay away from him.

↳ you: yes.

↳ B. : hey princess

↳ B. : mind telling me where you slipped off to? you’d make me a really happy man

↳ you: no.

↳ B. : no? is that your final answer princess?

↳ you: B don’t do this.

↳ B. : you give me no choice

And that scared you. You and Baek have a history no one knew about. Other than the obvious that you two were close. He was the one who found you after your brother and mother were killed. He was the one always finding you when you wanted to be lost. It was his title now. He was your hunter but he looked at it as your savior. And you knew there was nowhere you could go that he wouldn’t find you. But you didn’t mind it. You didn’t mind if he found you. You didn’t want to be found by anyone but him.

↳ B. : tell me one thing? how do you think I feel when you run away?

↳ you: I’m not running away from you B

↳ B. : it doesn’t matter who you’re running from. you leave the only place that’s safe for you.

↳ you: I don’t want to have any of you hurt

↳ B. : it hurts me more that you leave my side

↳ B. : it hurts me more that you think anywhere you go, I won’t follow until you can’t run anywhere else.

↳ B. : it hurts me more that when I look for pictures of you in my phone, you’re happy in my arms or my bed. and the next time I could see you, you could be dead because you don’t know how to stay put.

He was doing what he always did. Made you feel guilty for leaving him. But he knew you didn’t leave because of him. It was for your own good. But he would say it was being selfish. It’s selfish to make him have to look for you whenever you wanted to be dangerous. But it was all you could do to keep them safe. But he would always say,

↳ B. : I don’t need your protection princess. I need you here with me to protect you. To love you the way you know I can.

It rips you apart. It breaks you down. He was good at breaking your wall enough to see through the crack. That’s how he always found you. But not this time. You couldn’t let him in.

↳ you: B let me do this. I’m ok and safe.

↳ B. : it’s not up to you anymore.

And that was game. He wouldn’t listen to you. He wouldn��t stop until his hands were somewhere on you.

The first 5 hours were the quietest. You needed to leave to keep him off your trail. You jumped state lines and stayed in one of your families camp houses. Staying in the woods was the best option. He’d never looked or found you there. You’d ran away enough to know his first places and last places he’d look for you. He didn’t say anything until it was well into the midnight.

↳ B. : on the move princess?

↳ you: B stop.

↳ B. : why would I?

He was getting into it now. If there was one thing he enjoyed, it was hunting. Hunting down his enemies, your enemies, your families enemies. But you, looking for you was his favorite sport. Because everytime he did, he was rewarded with your weakened heart craving nothing but his touch. He thought, at one point, that you would do this for the sake of getting him to find you. But he learned that you were just too scared to stay put.

Every hour he’d send you his location for the first 4 hours he was in the city. Then every 30 minutes he’d send you pictures of yourself and him. Some cute and innocent. His tactic to make you miss him but you were already missing him. You always did.

Then the pictures and messages got to be deeper. There were pictures of you in nothing. Pictures of you on top of him. Pictures of you that you sent to him. He was doing something you didn’t get to see before. He would have found you by now. This must have been a new stage. And it was breaking you down.

↳ B. : I miss my princess...

↳ B. : tell me where I can find her so I can do whatever she wants. anything my princess wants.

He was teasing you. He knew your weakness. You wanted to be his. But there was a father who wouldn’t let that happen at home. But here, in the woods, he could have you and make you his; as loud as he wanted to. But you couldn’t do it.

↳ you: B please.

↳ B. : I love it when you beg for me. Nothing makes me harder than your voice. Let me hear you.

You wanted to do nothing but let him hear you. You wanted nothing but to hear him. He was so devine when he wanted you. His voice deeper and huskier. You almost called him. Almost fell for his trap. But you knew he could track your call faster than anyone else.

↳ you: B just stop. It’s not working. Just go home.

↳ B. : I’m not going anywhere without you princess. You just wait until I get to you.

And you did. You wanted him to reach you. But you wouldn’t go home even if he did. You weren’t going back. But it was now the next morning and you needed to move.

You flew three states over. To the place that always rains. It was your favorite. Maybe it was a bad idea to hide in plain sight. The place where you would go to in a heart beat but then again it was so obvious that no one would look. So you thought.

↳ B. : good morning princess ;)

↳ B. : had a dream about you in my empty bed. wanna know what it was about?

↳ B. : i’ll tell you anyway. I tied you all up and told you never to leave me again. I did whatever I wanted to you. You liked it like you always do. You always have liked the way I fucked you don’t you? What is it? Is it the way I touch you? Is it the way I talk to you? Tell me while I’m still in bed so I can come and find you faster.

It was driving you crazy. He was good with his words. He was good with his hands and everything. He was good. Perfect. That’s what it was. But you wanted to tease him how he was teasing you. You figured he didn’t find you yet because he liked this game. He’d found you way faster any other time. And now you just wanted to be found. So much you wanted to go to him.

You didn’t reply with words. You sent a picture. One of you in nothing sitting in the bed. Sitting on your knees with your legs open and chest perky and bare.

↳ B. : dangerous to tease me like this

He replied with his own attachment. A photo of his chiseled body in silk sheets with his manhood in his hand. It burned your core.

↳ B. : but you are a lot closer to me than you think princess ;) see you soon

How? How were you so dumb? The picture you sent showed your window. The grey skies and trees. But there was one thing that gave it all away. The clock on the wall. You could barely see it but he knew it better than anyone because he made it for you. He knew where you were. Exactly where you were. And he’d be there before you could get far. So you stayed.

Only 30 minutes later a knock on your door, soft and small, made your heart stop. You knew it was him. You put on a robe and walked to the door shaking. You weren’t scared but you knew what he would do once his hands were finally on you. You opened the door to see him standing tall and triumphant. His princess in front of him. His chase finally over.

“Hello Princess.” he said.

#baekhyun smut #baekhyun x reader #exo fanfic #exo #exo smut #exo scenario #baekhyun fanfic

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mageicalwishes · 5 years ago

Text

A Smashing Summer - Chapter 2

Read on AO3: here

Read the previous chapter (On Tumblr): here

Summary: “I’m egging your house for a dare, but you’re parent is a cop and now they’re yelling at me, so I told them you were my ex and you wronged me, and now you’re coming outside, so please just go along with this, I really don’t want to go to jail” AU When Simon Snow agreed to egg some posho’s house, he never thought he’d find himself here - The only thing standing between himself and a criminal charge, the word of a handsome stranger.

Chapter: 2/?

Words: 4,269

Simon

“Who is it?” Baz calls, pulling the door ajar.

“Uh … Me?” I answer, my voice creeping with uncertainty. “You told me to be here at eight sharp. So … here I am?”

“If I told you to be here at eight sharp, then you’re three minutes late. But, I highly doubt that I did - I don’t know anybody called 'Me', and I don’t invite strangers over.”

“Come on, Baz,” I whine. “Don’t be a prat! You know who it is. It’s me … Simon!”

He stalls, and for a moment I think his shenanigans are over - But then, he’s pushing the door closed, the latch clicking into place loudly. “Nope, sorry,” he sings, pushing open the letterbox so I can hear him properly. “Doesn’t ring any bells,”

Peeved, I hammer my fist against the door.

“Baz! Come on! It’s me! Simon. Simon Snow!”

I pause, awaiting another snide response. But, all I’m met with is silence. I’m pretty sure he’s still there, though. I don’t think that he’d actually leave me like that. I mean ... I know that I egged his house, but dragging me all the way out here, just to slam the door in my face, would be a bit harsh. Baz may be slightly prickly, but he’s not actually mean (Well … I don’t think so, anyway).

“Seriously, Baz! You know me! It’s Simon Snow,” I continue. “You know … The egg guy?”

The door swings open suddenly, revealing him to me - Leaning against the door, a wicked grin spread across his face.

“Oh, of course! You should have just said so! ... How is my favourite juvenile delinquent doing?”

“Twat,” I grumble, unimpressed. “I’m not a juvenile delinquent.”

He laughs, bright and effusive.

“I know, I know. I’m just winding you up - Don’t worry,” he smiles, stepping aside to allow me in. “Come on in. Father is at work, so you don’t have to worry about him jumping you.”

If the outside of Baz’s house was intimidating, the inside is positively terrifying - All dark wood, and gilded, antique furniture. It’s a bit gaudy, to be honest - More of a show of wealth than a home. But, it’s still far nicer than anything I’ve ever had, so I can’t really criticise.

“Stop gawping, Snow,” He scolds. “You look ridiculous.”

“Sorry,” I drone, my voice heavy with sarcasm. “I'm just not used to creepy, Gothic mansions. You know … Most people avoid the 'Dracula’s lair ' aesthetic. It’s terribly outdated.”

“Shut up, you dolt,” he snickers, the tip of his nose scrunching up slightly. “It’s not even Gothic. It’s Victorian.”

“Whatever! Just … Is there a tap I can use? I should probably get on with it. I brought a bucket … And some soap. I just need some water.”

He smirks, raising an elegant brow in question.

He has nice eyebrows - Dark, and sharply arched. Not a hair out of place. He must wax them, or something - Because there’s no way they could be that perfect naturally.

“You’re not very observant are you, Snow?” He asks, amused.

“Huh? What are you on about?”

“The door,” He drawls - Acting as though that clarifies his meaning perfectly (Which it definitely doesn't). “The one you knocked, like, five minutes ago?”

Lost, I stare at him blankly, throwing my hands out in question - Helplessly confused.

He sighs, rolling his eyes upwards, exaggeratedly.

“Seriously? You didn’t notice the lack of Egg?”

Oh.

“What?” I bark, outraged. “Who cleaned it off?”

He shrugs, nonchalantly. “I did. Obviously.”

“What?” I repeat, my voice absurdly small. “I told you I’d do it. Did you not believe me? I told you, you could trust me - I wouldn’t lie.”

I don’t really know why I’m protesting. I mean, it’s not like I really wanted to spend my Saturday scrubbing away dried Egg. He’s done me a favour really - Although, it certainly doesn’t feel that way.

“No, it’s not that. I knew you’d come back,” he reassures, his tone sincere. “But, Father wasn’t exactly chuffed about waiting until today - Apparently dried eggs are incredibly difficult to remove. So … I cleaned it up last night. There’s no need for you to have a meltdown, though. It wasn’t a problem.”

“But … I was supposed to make it up to you,” I murmur, picking at the sleeve of my hoodie.

“I know. It’s okay, though. Seriously. I’m really not that bothered.”

I tug a hand through my curls in frustration (I should probably stop doing that, to be honest. Penny says I’ll end up bald otherwise. But … Old habits are hard to break).

“When?”

“When, what?” He asks, clearly confused.

“When did you clean it up? Like - What time?”

He huffs out a laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe … Nine-ish? Why does that matter?”

“If you did it at nine - Why didn’t you just tell me when we were texting, then?”

————————————————————————————

Baz

Oh. Shit. How the hell am I supposed to reasonably explain that?

‘Oh, sorry. My life is just so irreparably dull that you’re the most exciting thing to happen to me all Summer. So, I just really wanted to see you again - Even without the valid excuse of making you clean up the mess you made‘ - Yeah, because that’s not at all creepy.

I shrug, coolly - Building up a facade of indifference. “It must’ve slipped my mind.”

“Oh,” he mumbles. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah,” I breathe, unsure of what else to say.

Could I invite him to stay? Or would that be too much? I mean, he didn’t come here to ‘hang out’ - He came here under the pretence of scrubbing the bloody egg off of our front door. He'd probably just be freaked out if I did.

Nervously, I trace the pad of my thumb against my ring (I hardly take it off, nowadays. It was my mother’s, once. A simple, silver band. Elegant - Just like she used to be).

Luckily for me, before I have to face the humiliation of speaking, Snow is stammering out another sentence.

“Well … We could, you know. I mean, hang out or something? I did say I’d make it up to you. So ... We could go to the cinema, or something? I have money in my bag.”

“Sure. I suppose I don’t really have anything better to do.” I quip, suppressing a smile.

“Wicked,” he says, beaming up at me, his blue eyes shining.

“I have to get changed first though.”

“What? Why? What’s wrong with that?” He questions, gesturing towards my chest.

“These are my tennis whites, Snow,” I deadpan. “I’m not going into town dressed like this. I’m not an animal.”

He guffaws loudly, clutching onto his stomach. “But … It’s just a polo and shorts! There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“There definitely is.”

“You’re so weird,” he laughs, poking my arm lightly.

“Sure. I’m the weird one,” I mock. “Just follow me, okay? I’ll get changed in the en-suite. And, you can just wait in my room. It won’t take long.”

————————————————————————————

Simon

Baz’s room is certainly striking.

It’s as gaudily overdone as the entrance hall - With the same dark walls, and unnecessarily ornate furniture (I mean, he’s got a proper, curtained four-poster bed, for Christ’s sakes!). But, his room has way more personality - Every flat surface littered with papers and well-worn books, and an assortment of silver photo frames lining the top of his dresser.

“Hey, Baz?” I call, sliding my hands over the silk of his bed sheets, absentmindedly. “Can you hear me?”

“Obviously,” He rumbles. “I’m only on the other side of a door.”

“Oh right, yeah. Cool … Can I ask you something?”

“I suppose so,” he sighs (Although, I’m pretty sure he’s not actually annoyed). “But, I reserve the right to refuse to answer, if it’s a stupid question.”

“It’s not stupid! I was only going to ask how old you are?”

“Wow. You’re right - That’s not stupid ... However, it is exceedingly boring.” He jeers.

“Don’t be a dick!” I growl. “Just answer the question”

“Seventeen. I’m in Lower Sixth."

“Oh nice, same.”

“Yes- I know. You said yesterday.”

“Oh yeah ... When’s your birthday?”

“Seriously? Why? Are you going to buy me a present?”

“Yes, seriously!” I cry, lobbing a pillow at the door.

He yelps, surprised. And, I can’t help the splutter of laughter that erupts out of me.

“Jesus Christ! There's no need to throw a tantrum. It’s in February. The twenty-fourth, if you want to be exact about it.”

“Fair enough. You’re older than me, then. Mine’s the twenty-first of June.”

“Oh well,” he purrs. “I’ll be sure to send you a card next year.”

“Oh wow. That’s very generous of you,” I sneer, pulling my backpack open, and grabbing my packet of scones. “Imma put a scone on your bedside cabinet, okay? It’s for you to try later on."

He doesn’t answer, so I just assume he’s alright with it.

“Baz!” I whine, flopping down against his bed. “I thought you said you were just getting changed. How long does it take to change your bloody top!”

He tuts loudly, clearly underwhelmed by my level of patience.

“Just wait, you Git. I’ll be out in a minute. You know what they say, Snow … You can’t rush perfection.”

He definitely takes longer than a minute, but soon enough the bathroom lock clicks, and he’s stepping back into the room.

I sit up quickly, desperately trying to scrape the scone crumbs off of his bedding. And then, I freeze - Utterly dumbfounded by the sight of him. Oh no.

“What’s wrong with you? Never seen proper clothing before?” He taunts, the smirk audible in his voice.

I stare at him, wordlessly - Slack-jawed and wide-eyed. I probably look slightly insane, but I’m powerless to stop myself. He looks ... Otherworldly.

His hair has been pulled back into a loose bun - A few strands left hanging free, expertly framing the sharp edges of his face. His polo has been swapped out for a boxy, white shirt - Adorned with embroidered bumblebees, and only partially buttoned. The deep V of the neckline, exposing the bronze expanse of his chest - Teasing me with a view of the alluring groove of his collarbone. The shorts, too, have been upgraded. White polyester having been replaced by tight, black denim. And, as if all of that wasn’t enough, his nails have been painted a deep shade of maroon.

He’s a vision. Tall, dark, and handsome - The perfect cliche.

“What,” he asks again insistently, his voice weak with insecurity. “Seriously? Is - Is it too much, or something?”

He stomps over to the mirror, staring at his reflection blankly, and tugging at the bottom of his shirt.

“No!,” I snap, perhaps a little too urgently. “No. It’s fine. I mean - It’s good. You look good. I was just - I was just admiring your shirt. It’s nice. Proper fancy, like.”

“Right,” he drawls, his eyebrows drawn in suspicion. “Well … You shouldn’t stare at people. It’s rude.”

I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly, my face flooding with heat.

“Yeah,” I mumble. “Sorry about that.”

“Yes. Well … Come on then, Snow. Enough gawking! We haven’t got all day, you know”

————————————————————————————

Baz

The drive to the cinema is painfully awkward - The two of us sitting side-by-side in complete silence. I flick on the radio, attempting to alleviate the crushing weight of the quiet that hangs between us. It doesn’t really work, though.

He’s definitely sulking. Although, I don’t know whether it’s because of all the weirdness in my bedroom, or because I refused to walk into town. I will admit that, he didn’t seem all that thrilled with my justification that you can’t risk breaking into a sweat when you’re wearing a six-hundred pound Gucci shirt - Just grumbling on about how I was a "High-maintenance, twat".

He quickly cheers up when we reach the cinema’s kiosk, though - Dashing about scooping sweets into his Pick-And-Mix bag, and beaming over at me as he orders the largest carton of popcorn available.

“Sweet tooth, Snow?” I tease.

“Uh huh. Definitely … Do you want anything? I brought enough money for the both of us.”

“Maybe just some Revels,” I shrug.

“Oh God! Yuck! You’re one of those people,” he complains, grimacing. “Gonna be honest with you Baz, I don't think we can be friends anymore.”

“Oh, piss off,” I scoff. “What’s wrong with Revels?”

“Everything but the Malteasers and Minstrels is what is wrong with bloody Revels! The rest of the flavours are just offensive. I mean, what kind of psychopath wants to eat Coffee and Orange Cream … And don’t even get me started on the fucking Raisins!”

“Uh, I believe I'm the kind of 'psychopath' you're referring to” I snap, swatting at him, jokingly. “They’re sublime! Your palette is clearly just too unrefined to appreciate them.”

He coughs out a mirthless laugh.

“Whatever. Enjoy your shitty chocolates, Loser. Don’t say I didn’t try to save you from your own poor choices!”

————————————————————————————

Simon

“Are you seeing this, Snow? How fucking inconsiderate is she?” he hisses, his breath tickling the shell of my ear. “I mean, why come to the cinema, if all you want to do is sit on bloody Snapchat? Literally, what is the point?”

I huff out a quiet laugh, glancing over at him - His brow creased, and his lips pushed into a grumpy pout.

“It’s only the adverts, Baz. Chill. I’m sure she’ll turn it off when the movie starts.”

‘Well, that’s not really good enough. The adverts are a key part of the cinema experience! I really don’t see why they should be ruined, just because she wants to send some useless selfie.”

“You stress too much,” I whisper, shrugging as I shovel a fistful of popcorn into my mouth. “It ain't so bad.”

He snarls over at me, shoving a hand against my shoulder. “That is vile! Don't talk with your mouth full, Idiot. Seriously - Who raised you? Did they teach you nothing about manners?”

I don’t answer. Choosing instead, to make a show of chewing with my mouth open, in retaliation - Earning myself an icy glare.

“Barbarian,” he gruffs.

When the lights dim further, I beam over at him, excitedly.

To my surprise, he’s already looking over at me - His signature eyebrow raise in place, but a soft, shy smile dancing across his lips. Caught, he quickly averts his gaze, shuffling in his seat nervously.

“It’s time!” I murmur, pushing my leg out slightly, and pressing our knees together.

“I know. I have been to the cinema before.”

“Whatever,” I snipe. “I just hope you don’t get too scared. Living in a haunted mansion, I imagine this may hit uncomfortably close to home, for you”

“Hmmm. Somehow, I think I’ll manage … I’m a big boy, you know.”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Tyrannus,” I tease, drawing out each letter of his name.

He bashes his knee against mine, forcefully - Clearly unimpressed with my little joke.

“Don’t worry though,” I continue. “If you do get too scared, you can always cuddle up to me. I’ll keep you safe.”

‘Just shut it, Snow,” he sighs, rubbing a hand against his brow bone in frustration. “I will hurt you if need be.”

I muffle a giggle with my hand, but I oblige - Biting my tongue, and turning my attention back to the movie screen.

————————————————————————————

Squinting against the bright lights, we step outside the screen room - The disorienting feeling of being plunged back into reality, making my head whirl uncomfortably.

“Did you like it?” I ask, chucking my rubbish into the bin as I talk.

“Yeah,” he murmurs, blinking his eyes stupidly. “Yeah. It was good. Thank you for the ticket - And the invite, of course. You’ll be glad to know that you can now consider your debt to me, repaid.”

I chuckle halfheartedly, bitterly disappointed.

If I'm being honest, I don’t really want my debt to be repaid - It’s the only reason I was allowed to hang out with him, in the first place. I suppose I could just egg his house again - Although, I doubt he would be as lenient with me the second time around.

Dissatisfied, I decide to try and drag the day out as much as possible (It’s only midday, so I have ages until I need to get back).

“I’m starving!” I complain, clutching at my stomach dramatically. “Are you hungry?

“I could eat,” he shrugs, smirking amusedly.

“Perfect! I know a great pizza place. It’s only like … Five minutes away.”

“Go on then, Snow. Lead the way.”

Grinning over at him, I grab his hand, weaving our fingers together unthinkingly. His are slimmer than mine, long and elegant where mine are short and stubby, but we fit together perfectly - The feel of his palm pressed against mine, causing my stomach to flip strangely.

When I realise what I’ve done, I pause - Loosening my grip on his hand, so that he can drop it if he wants. But, to my delight, he doesn’t - Instead opting to give it a light squeeze.

“Carry on, then” he drawls, his voice flat with boredom (Although, his cheeks are dusted a light shade of red, so I think he’s just putting it on to be a prat). “There’s really no reason to stand here all day.”

And with that, I start to walk - Bounding off towards the diner, pulling him along behind me.

————————————————————————————

Baz

I scowl down at the plate, completely off-put.

“This looks foul, Snow. It’s practically soaked in oil! You don’t actually expect me to eat that, do you?”

He swallows showily, gulping down his bite of pizza.

“Come on, Baz,” he whines, tilting his head to the side pleadingly. “Don’t be a snob! I know it looks a little gross, but it's really delicious. Trust me. Just have a bite - It won’t kill you!”

Hesitantly, I raise a slice up to my lips, and take a minuscule bite. When the flavour hits me, I groan embarrassingly - Unable to control myself.

As much as I hate to admit it, he was right - It’s infuriatingly delicious.

“Aha!” he yells, sticking out his hand, and jabbing a finger at my face. “I told you! Isn’t it so great?”

“Alright, alright,” I chuckle. “There's no need to make a scene. I will admit that it’s fairly pleasant - As far as pizzas go, anyway”

“Nah. Piss off. It’s great, and you know it!”

I quirk my brow, swatting his hand away from my face.

“Me and the boys come here after college sometimes,” he continues, biting into the pizza sloppily. “I know the owner, and everything. Sometimes he gives me free wedges … It’s a pretty sweet deal.”

“I see. And who are these boys, you speak of?” I laugh.

“Josh and Nathan. We all go to Brockenhurst, but we live together too, so we’re pretty close. We’re practically brothers at this point!”

“Oh nice. Do you have your own flat or something?” I ask, confused.

“Oh no. Not yet, anyway. We will do it soon. But, right now, we’re living in a kid’s home. Murdoch House? I don’t know if you know it.”

Shit. I’m such a twat.

“No. I don’t,” I sigh, twisting my hands together, ashamed. “I’m sorry, though. I didn’t realise. Some of the stuff I’ve said … If I’d have known, I wouldn’t have. I mean, if I touched a nerve or anything, I really am sincerely sorry. I’d never mean to actually hurt you - I just like taunting people. It’s my way.”

“Baz,” he chortles, the sides of his eyes scrunching up sweetly. “There’s no need to get all serious, you Numpty. It’s okay, I know you wouldn’t. It’s chill, seriously. I've lived in homes my whole life, so I’m not really bothered. Not anymore, anyway. It’s just - People tend to go all awkward when I tell them, so I try not to bring it up”.

I puff out a breath, relieved.

“Okay. Well, good. Thank you for telling me, though. And, don’t worry, I won’t 'go all awkward' on you. That would be below me.”

He hums, smiling across at me, his cheeks stuffed with pizza. He looks like a hamster - And really, it should look ridiculous, but somehow, on him, it’s stupidly endearing.

“Do you like it there, though?” I ask. “I mean, I don’t really know much about living in care - Only what I saw on Tracy Beaker as a kid. And, I’m not sure that’s exactly the most accurate account.”

“Not far off, to be honest,” he shrugs. “It’s mostly good. I mean, the kids are alright. And the staff at this place are nice - You can tell they like, properly care, you know? The rules are kind of strict, though - Which is annoying. And the food is abysmal … That’s probably the worst thing about it, to be honest . They’re pretty underfunded, so they have to just bulk buy the cheapest shit they can find … Leads to some interesting culinary creations.”

I shake my head in disbelief.

“Of course that’s what you care about, you absolute disaster!”

“What?” He calls, outraged. “I’m a growing boy, Baz - I need sustenance! Delicious, well-seasoned sustenance.”

“You’ll have to come over to mine for dinner sometime, then,” I smile. “My step-mother is a pretty amazing cook - So, I’m sure she could make something you'd enjoy. We’ll have to wait until Father is away, though. I doubt he’d appreciate me inviting the hooligan that egged his house over for dinner.”

“Seriously?” He asks, his tone achingly hopeful.

“Yeah. Why not?” I answer, schooling my voice into an indifferent drone. “My family are convinced that I have no friends besides my cousin and his mate, so it would be satisfying to prove them wrong.”

“Oh well, cool,” he mumbles, his freckled cheeks flushing a light rose. “I’d like that.”

————————————————————————————

We stayed, sat together in that grotty little diner for hours after that (Right up until Snow’s phone started blaring out an alarm - Signalling the approach of his of measly eight P.M curfew). We didn’t really talk about anything important - Mostly sticking to inane chatter about school and football. But, that hardly matters. It was still good. It was so, so good.

I lean against the Jag’s bonnet, starting over at him silently.

“Well,” He sighs, kicking his foot against the pavement childishly. “I suppose this is a good night then?”

“I suppose so,” I mumble, desperately trying to prevent the disappointment welling up within my chest from seeping into my voice. “It's probably best to avoid triggering a search party.”

“Yeah - But … You’ll text me, yeah? I mean, I’ll text you, obviously. But you will answer won’t you?”

“Of course.” I answer plainly. “You know where I live, remember? Ignoring you is meaningless - You could just stalk me into submission.”

“Oh haha. Very funny, Dickhead,” He groans. “But seriously … I’ll hold you to that.”

“I hope you do, Snow,” I say, simpering meekly.

“Oh don’t you worry, Pitch. I will.”

With that, he flashes me a soft smile, waving me goodbye, before turning and trudging down the driveway. “Make sure your phone’s volume is up! I’d hate for you to miss my fantastic texts!” He calls, pulling the gate closed behind him with an ear-aching screech. And then, he’s gone.

————————————————————————————

SS (23:47): Tonight was fun :) We should hang out again soon

ME (23:47): Definitely.

SS (23:48): Aha yes!

SS (23:48): You’re paying next time tho.

ME (23:49): If you insist, Snow.

SS (23:50): I defo do!

SS (23:50): Oh, also ... Speaking of insisting

SS (23:50): You should call me Simon. You don't have to keep referring to me by my surname, you know?

SS (23:50): I call you Baz. So, I reckon it's only fair!

ME (23:52): I'll consider it, Snow. I make no promises, though!

SS (23:52): You're well mean! :(((((((

SS (23:52): Imma make you call me Simon one day! Whether you like it or not!

ME (23:53): I'd love to see you try. Pitches are not easily swayed!

SS (23:54): Pftttt! Whatever!

SS (23:54): Say what you like - I'm still gonna get you to call me it!

SS (23:54): I've got a plan!

SS (23:55): And it's defo going to work!

SS (23:55): I gtg to bed now tho. My phone’s gonna get confiscated if I keep this up.

SS (23: 55): So ... G’night Baz. I'll talk to you tomorrow :)

SS (23:55): Don’t let the ghosties get you!

ME (23:56): You’re ridiculous.

ME (23:56): Goodnight, Snow. Talk to you then.

————————————————————————————

ME (1:19): Good Morning, Snow. I know you're asleep right now, but I thought that you'd like to know that I ate the scone you left me. You were absolutely right ... It was delicious. So, thank you for leaving me one - With your insatiable appetite, I can only imagine how difficult that must've been for you.

ME (1:20): You'll definitely need to bring me some more, at some point. I'll make more concrete plans with you at a more reasonable hour, though. I seriously need to sleep.

#carry on #wayward son #snowbaz #snowbaz fic #simon snow #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch

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kittyprincessofcats · 5 years ago

Text

GPF Torino - Day 2

I'm going to continue what I did yesterday and write down my thoughts of the day before going to sleep. Small warning: While I feel better now compared to earlier, I'm still heartbroken about Rika, so if I sound sad/angry/bitter in this post, that's why.

- We watched the Ladies, Pairs and Men's practices this morning, which was amazing. I'm honestly enjoying the practices more than the actual competiton. Maybe because there's no stupid judges and no points to worry and stress about during the practices. I can just lean back and enjoy the skating.

- Yuzuru went for the 4A in practice 3 times. One the one hand it was pretty epic to see those attempts. But on the other hand, he fell pretty hard of all of them, and I don't want him to injure himself before the free skate.

- Nothing to do with the GPF, but we went to eat Sushi for lunch and it was delicious.

- Here's my story of trying to deliver my cat plushie to Rika: I asked one of the security guys where the gift boxes for skaters are (because the website said there'd be some, and because it's hard to throw a plush toy from all the way up there. I also wrote letters to Rika and Yuzu and you can't really throw those on the ice.) The man told me it's not allowed to throw stuff from all the way up there anyway, but he didn't know anything about the gift boxes and just told me to "ask downstairs". I went to one of the organizers downstairs and asked. She didn't know either and went to get her collegue. The collegue asked if I speak Italian. I don't. They finally told me that there is no gift boxes, but that I could leave the toy with them and put Rika's name on it and they'd give it to whoever's responsible for delivering fan presents. I left it with them and now I can only hope it'll actually get to Rika. I guess I'll have to look for that plush cat in her Instagram present photos later :D

- Junior Ladies: As someone who's neither a big fan of Kamila nor of Alysa, I'd say that based just on these skates the placements were fair. I also have to say that both of them impressed me with their performanes here. The one placement I don't agree with is Daria's bronze medal - I'd have given that to Ksenia.

- Funny moment:

Alysa: *jumps "4Lz" in the warmup*

My dad: How many rotations were that?

Me: The judges will say 4.

My dad: I counted like... 3 and a bit?

Me: Yup, that's about right.

My dad: Good, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

- Though one thing I have to say is that I did kind of start rooting for Alysa halfway through just because there was some really obnoxious Russian fans sitting close to us. They screamed like crazy at the Russian skaters, didn't bother clapping for anyone else, one man was shouting things all the time, and the only time they cheered for Alysa was when the announcer said the words "second place". And that wasn't a "Well done, second place is a great achievement" cheer, it was a "Yay, we're glad you're not in first" cheer. And later I felt like Alysa was kind of left on her own during the victory ceremony while the two Russian girls had each other (kind of like Rika at the NHK ceremony). So yeah, I felt pretty bad for Alysa here.

- I don't understand much about Ice Dance tbh, but P/C were really fun to watch. My dad keeps calling him "giraffe man" because of his long neck.

- Ladies SP: a.k.a. the moment my mood went from good to absolutely awful :( I don't even want to say much more, I'm just really sad. The free is where Trusova is planning 5 quads and Shcherbakova 3, so the short really is where Rika should have placed ahead of them to have a chance at a medal. I kept doing the maths in my head and even if she skates a clean free now, it's not going to be enough for anything more than 5th unless some others make mistakes (which is also thanks to Shcherbakova and Zagitova being overscored here).

- And just to be clear: I don't hold this against Rika at all. She's injured, jetlagged and nervous and I saw how much better she was in practice. Anyone who says anything rude about her will catch these hands.

- Also the scoring was awful again. No edge calls from what I've heard. Even with this performance Rika should have been ahead of Trusova and arguably Tennell as well. Scores for Shcherbakova and Zagitova were too high. Alyona Kostornaia was amazing - I'd have given her a few points less, but only 1 or 2.

- This honestly made me way sadder than Yuzu yesterday. Mostly because 1) Yuzu has already achieved everything and has nothing left to prove, 2) Everyone and their mom is a Yuzu stan so it's not like he's lacking fan support, and 3) ... I'll honestly admit that I'm a Rika stan first and a Fanyu second.

- After Yuma Kagiyama and Haein Lee yesterday, I asked if my faves placing last in the SP was going to be a trend - guess I shouldn't have said that.

- One thing that made it better, though: I loved seeing all the fan support for Rika! From what I could hear while cheering myself, the cheers for her weren't any quieter than the ones for the 3A. And she got so many presents thrown on the ice! That was really lovely to see.

- Sweet moment:

Me: I wish there was other Rika fans sitting next to me.

My dad: Hey! I'm right here!

- My dad brought his huge camera and he's taking pictures of all the skaters. He's at over 6000 pictures now. When we get home, I'll delete the bad ones and post the really nice ones here.

- The two girls sitting next to us saw some of my dad's pictures and asked if he has any of Yuzu. He sent them over 15 pictures from practice. Which would have been cute and all if this hadn't been right after the Ladies short and if I hadn't been sitting between them feeling like crying.

- I tried to enjoy pairs after that, and I kind of did. I'm happy for Sui/Han, though their performance was far from what they're able to do. I'm thrilled for Peng/Jin - that's my two favourite Pairs of the competition winning gold and silver, so that's nice.

- The Ladies FS is last tomorrow, and I genuinely suggested just leaving after Rika's performance - because I really don't care about the ET girl showdown. Obviously Kostornaia is better than the other 3 and should win hands down, but I'm not invested enough in even that to sit through the outrageous scores the others are sure to get. But my dad thought it would be rude to just leave - as if the skaters will notice 2 people more or less in the audience.

- The men's practice is at 7AM tomorrow and whoever made that decision is my enemy. I hope I'll be able to get up that early, since I'd really love to be there for practice on Yuzuru's b-day, but I might oversleep :/

- Even though my BiB nails didn't seem to have helped, I'll still do IAoP nail polish tomorrow.

- I'm starting to think that Rika should go for the 4S. Not like she has anything left to lose now. Except, of course, if risking a quad could make her injury worse - in that case I wouldn't do it and just focus on making it through the comp without worsening her condition.

#Figure skating #GPF 2019 #Rika Kihira #Yuzuru Hanyu #Alysa Liu #Kamila Valieva #Alena Kostornaia #long post

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jawnjendes · 5 years ago

Text

shawn meets... | sapphire

SUMMARY: in the life of a rockstar, shawn mendes comes across some unique people. sometimes, things stray from the norm. (AU, shawn x every one of my oc’s)(continuation/spin off of goth gf)

AN: it REALLY feels like shawnblr is fuckign dead but yknow what its spooky szn so death is acceptable! speaking of spooky, this is another for @fourtristattoos spooky writing fest! i swear im building up to actual spooky stuff pls bear with me oh and theres more smut in this

***let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist

previous chapter

sapphire’s blog | sapphire’s playlist | masterlist

Shawn was quite open to wearing anything these days. He was also open to wearing nothing, but that photoshoot opportunity hasn't come yet, though. But this pastel pink and white suit was a bit much. Actually, the sparkly silver boots were the tackiest part of this getup. Sure, the entire outfit was worth more than all three of his guitars he'd be using during the performance, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to resembling the Had To Do It To 'Em guy when he took off the pink blazer. According to Tiffany, the birthday girl wanted all party entertainers to be in her signature color.

He still hadn't met Sapphire Venus Lilith. This performance was for her, and she hadn't even attended the meetings for it. She was apparently busy with an old friend… catching up in her bedroom. For two straight days.

The yard was full of partygoers already. Tables with hot pink clothes were displayed with all sorts of snacks and drinks. Servers were going around tending to guests, all in pink bowties of course. There was also a raised, pink metallic throne in the middle of the yard, surrounded by 2 burly security guards. The throne was right in front of the stage that Shawn was going to perform on, so he wouldn't miss Sapphire in the crowd. Music was already booming through the large speakers, a Little Mix song that reminded him of a different time. The bass was shaking the window Shawn was looking out of.

“Fan of myself, I’m stanning myself I love me so much I put my hands on myself”

Tiffany was fixing the cuffs on Shawn’s blazer. Anna was doing last minute touch ups to his hair, which was slicked back. It was similar to the 2019 Met Gala, but instead of bronze streaks, it was silver glitter that was definitely going to be a bitch to wash out.

“You nervous?” Tiffany asked.

“Excited,” Shawn corrected. “I missed playing shows.”

“We need to get you on tour again.” She smiled.

“Gotta make a record first.”

There was a sudden knock on the door, making all three of them jump. Shawn made eye contact with Tiffany, and they both chuckled at the ridiculous response.

Anna went to answer, since the door was locked. “It’s probably Andrew, wondering if you’re ready.” She opened the door, and let out a surprised, “Hello! Hi, come on in!”

Just by the change in her tone, it was safe to say it wasn't Andrew who had knocked. Shawn turned to see who had come in, and was first met with a powerful flowery scent, followed by a tall, petite woman.

“Make way for the G-O-double D-E-S-S I spare no enemies in this dress Uh huh, uh huh”

This woman was blonde, curled princess locks cascading down her shoulders. On top of her head was the largest and most extra looking sparkling tiara Shawn had ever seen in his life, but it suited her. Her face was soft with pretty pink lips and piercing blue eyes. Her petite body was clad in a tiny top made of soft pink bedazzles and equally tiny shorts of the same color. There was no other way to describe her as anything but beautiful. Knock-the-wind-out-of-me, step-on-me-in-your-white-Louboutins beautiful.

She was followed by Kat, who was the polar opposite, color wise. Tight black dress, long dark hair in a high ponytail. Unlike her employer, she was not smiling, nor giving Shawn any attention. She merely typed on her phone in a professional manner, the same look Andrew would have when he was texting important people.

Shawn couldn’t even think about the potential awkward tension he would have with Kat because he was too busy gaping at the blonde. How was one person so powerful already?

“Hello, I’m Sapphire,” she greeted, holding out her hand.

Something possessed Shawn the moment he touched her soft skin, and he bent down to kiss her hand.

That seemed to please her, because she grinned, showing the tiniest dimple in her cheek. “You’re my little singer tonight, aren’t you?”

“That’s me,” he replied, almost losing his voice by how much it softened. He really couldn’t stop looking into those eyes. “Happy birthday!”

“Oh thanks, love. I can’t wait to see what you’re gonna do for me.” She was still holding his hand, squeezing ever so slightly.

Shawn’s cheeks heated up so goddamn fast. There was something in those worse, something sickly sweet and intoxicating. “I, uh, I think you’ll like it. I hope you do.”

Sapphire was still smiling as she turned to look at Kat. Wordlessly, the assistant went to Tiffany and Anna, chatting them in on the evening’s events. Then, Sapphire took Shawn by the collar of his blazer and stepped closer to him, her glossy lips at his ear.

“If I really love your gig,” she whispered, “I may give you something extra.”

And yeah, his pants got tighter. Good thing he was going to be holding a guitar all night.

Sapphire leaned back, smoothing the area she had been clinging to. “If it’s okay with you, of course.”

He cleared his throat, trying to calm his body. “Uh, no yeah. Yeah. Yes. Very okay.”

“Wonderful, darling! I’ll see you out there. Come along, KitKat!”

With that, she turned on her heel and left the room, Kat in tow.

Shawn immediately plopped down in the nearest chair, starstruck. He’s never seen nor heard of this girl ever in his life, and somehow she managed to turn him into putty within the first few minutes of meeting him.

“You need anything?” Tiffany asked, trying to mask her amusement. “A glass of water? A cold shower perhaps?”

He blushed even more. He’s never been so flustered so fast, let alone from someone he just met.

“Did I say happy birthday to her?” he asked, dazed.

“Yes,” Anna and Tiffany said at the same time.

Then, Brian entered the room, a dopey grin on his face. “Guess who just met the birthday girl!”

“Shawn did,” Tiffany answered.

Brian’s grin vanished. “What? Man, I thought I was the first one! She’s so…”

“Yeah,” Shawn agreed. Then he got up and took his friend to the side. “Dude, she wants to meet up after my set.”

“No way.”

“I swear.”

“Didn’t you just hook up with her assistant?” Brian asked. “You’d think she caught wind of that.”

Shawn didn’t know, nor did he really care. “That’s why I need you to hit up the assistant. I don’t know if she’s hung up on me or anything and I don’t wanna take that chance.”

Brian made a noise between a scoff and a laugh. “Full of ourselves, are we?”

“Please?” Shawn asked, bringing his hands together.

“Well, what if I want Sapphire and not her stuck up assistant?”

This wouldn’t be the first time Shawn asked Brian to distract a former one night stand. But it was the one time Brian wasn’t agreeing to do it. Shawn put his hands down, surprised and mildly annoyed.

“Kat’s not stuck up, trust me,” he said. “And… Sapphire said she wants me. It’s her choice.”

“I’m not taking your leftovers again, man,” Brian said as he folded his arms. “You always get the girl! Let me have something for once!”

Now Shawn was even more annoyed. “Maybe you’d get something too if-”

“If I was a famous popstar? If I was as good as you?”

“Why are you being such a dick?”

Then, Tiffany stepped in, literally. She stood between Shawn and Brian. “Guys, don’t do this. It’s just one girl.”

Brian ignored her. “I’m being a dick because I’m tired of being an extension of you! I’m being a dick because you’ve taken dates from me! You don’t even give a shit about any of them because you can’t get over-”

“Don’t!” Shawn warned, raising his voice.

Brian narrowed his eyes. “You’re not over Annalise Flores!”

“Who?” Tiffany asked, bewildered.

Paralyzed with anger, Shawn glared at the other man. The man who was supposed to be his friend. Why couldn’t he just do him this solid?

“Get out,” he said venomously.

“You know I’m right,” Brian sneered.

“Get the fuck out!” Shawn yelled.

He scoffed as he stormed out. Shawn huffed out a sigh, wanting to punch something.

“What the hell was that?” Anna asked, utterly confused. “Who’s Annalise Flores?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “Can you bring me Jocelyne?”

One quick shoulder rub and a redress later, Shawn’s disgruntled state eased a little bit. It was enough for him to fully focus on the beautiful lady he had to impress.

The set went well. It went great, because not long after leaving the stage, Charles the butler found Shawn and led him up to Sapphire’s bedroom. Shawn didn’t get to see much of the party, but that was very, one hundred percent okay.

Most of the mansion's interior was baby pink, but this was an overload. Shawn wandered around the large, pink bedroom as he waited. The walls were made of soft pink felt, and there was a large, sparkling chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The desk against the wall was the same color, along with the laptop and picture frames sat on the surface. The photos in the frames were only of the girl he was waiting for. There was no room for modesty apparently. Shawn was never not going to think of the birthday girl whenever he saw this color.

He went over to the king size bed, draped with the softest velvet covers he's ever felt. The headboard was a metallic pink… with bars. Shawn couldn't deny how exciting that felt. He really couldn't believe someone as breathtakingly attractive as Sapphire could possibly want him.

"Didn't know it was my birthday," he mumbled with a smirk.

"What was that?" a soft, female voice said from behind him.

Shawn jumped as he turned around. There stood the birthday girl, Sapphire, blue eyes wide and expectant.

"Uh, I, I didn't hear you come in," he stammered. Way to keep your cool.

She smiled warmly, fixing the silk robe she was wearing. She was quick to get out of her tight little party outfit, but she still had that sparkly tiara resting on her head. Shawn couldn’t help but notice the perky little nipples poking through the thing material, only adding to the burn in his pants.

Wordlessly, Sapphire moved past Shawn and crawled onto the bed, letting him get a view of her ass. He was about to follow, but her high heel clad foot landed gently on his chest, stopping him.

"Take off your clothes," she ordered, her voice still soft.

Shawn had a feeling he shouldn't challenge her, even though that was something he grew to love and get off on. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he felt his face and chest grow warm; Sapphire's gaze was intimidating, she didn't even blink. She looked at his face, trailing down his body as he removed more of his performance clothes. Her tongue peeked out of the corner of her mouth as she watched him drop his briefs and step out of them. Shawn felt mildly embarrassed that he was already hard, but just looking at Sapphire's pretty features made him this way. She already possessed him without even doing a single thing.

And somehow, he couldn't tell if she wanted to fuck him or eat him.

"Don't be shy," Sapphire told him as she curled her finger to get him to join her.

She moved to the side and patted the center of the mattress. Shawn crawled onto the surface and lied down against the pillows. The velvet sheets felt incredibly soft against his skin, heightening his senses.

Sapphire traced the butterfly tattoo on his bicep. The tip of her manicured fingernail left a tiny trail of fire on Shawn's skin.

"I'm so glad you were able to sing at my party," she told him. "And I'm glad you stayed."

"Me too," Shawn replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "Really, really glad."

"I can tell." She glanced down his body, making him blush.

Shawn really wanted to touch her, feel her, learn what makes her tick. He couldn't wait any longer, and it made him feel incredibly juvenile. He hasn't been so easily wound up since his university days.

"Saph-" he tried to say but a finger went over his lips.

"Shh, I know, baby boy." She leaned in close, her nose touching his ear. "I know what you want." Then she gently cupped his chin and turned his head towards hers. "I just need to know how far you're willing to go."

Shawn could barely hear himself. "As far as you want."

Sapphire's glossy pink lips curved up as she leaned in closer. Shawn closed his eyes, taking in her intoxicating flowery scent, craning his neck in the slightest, and then he felt her lips press the quickest kiss on his cheek.

He didn't even have time to breathe before she was straddling his thighs. Smooth hands went up his torso and rested on his broad shoulders, and she was hovering over him. Shawn lifted his hands to cup her pretty face, but she was much faster than him. Sapphire grabbed his wrists and pinned them down.

"No touching," she told him, her voice still soft and borderline innocent. "Understand?"

Shawn nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

She cupped his chin once again, her blue eyes piercing his brown ones. "Use your words."

"I understand."

"Good boy." She patted his cheek. Then, she moved down his body, to his hard cock.

Breathing out, Shawn braced himself for what was about to happen. His eyes fluttered shut as a soft, warm tongue ran up the length, and then his whole cock was engulfed by her soft mouth. His immediate instinct was to place his hands in Sapphire's hair, but he had to follow her single rule. But she also had a lot of pretty blonde hair, and it was covering her face. Shawn couldn't see her mouth move on him, and he really wanted to.

Just as he lifted his hand, Sapphire sat up again, taking in a breath. She looked Shawn in the eyes as she wiped the corner of her mouth.

"I know you wanna touch me," she muttered. "But you'll have to prove that you're gonna listen to me."

He nodded rapidly, and then she was going down on him again. Shawn breathed out a soft moan at the feeling, his fingers curling around the silk sheets. It felt amazing, way too good to be real. His toes curled as he felt her mouth suction lightly, tingles spreading all throughout his body. Tiny little whimpers came out of him as the tingles persisted, causing Sapphire's blue eyes to flicker up to him as she pulled off once again.

"You are so cute," she said, reaching up to cup his chin. "Most guys don't like to make little noises like that. Keep it up."

He couldn't stop the sounds even if he tried.

Sapphire sat up and turned her body, straddling Shawn's thighs. She pushed her robe back from the bottom, letting the smooth material spread over her partner's torso. Shawn felt his cock on her ass, and resisted the urge to move his hips up. He had to be good, had to do exactly what she said.

"So, what do you prefer, little one?" she asked, moving her ass back and rubbing against his cock. "I'm on the pill, but I have condoms here if you want that."

"Mm, no condom," he answered a little too quickly, feeling the need for relief.

Her head turned, so he could see her perfectly sculpted eyebrow quirk a little bit. Then, she sat up on her knees, taking hold of the base and swiftly sinking down on it. She let out a little hiss, and remained still in that position.

"You oka-" Shawn almost got out before choking on his words.

Sapphire very quickly recovered and started bouncing on him. For a moment, the only sound was their skin slapping together, until she pinched his thigh.

“Where are my little sounds, little one?” she asked between pants.

Shawn found himself blushing yet again. What was with that nickname? What did that say about what she thought of him? He was about to ask, but he saw the back of Sapphire’s robe fall, exposing her skin. She was naked under that little robe, and she wasn’t letting him see anything. It was a tease, and only drove him further, causing a little moan to bubble past his mouth.

“That’s it,” she praised, leaning forward on her hands so as to get better leverage. She was practically twerking on his cock, making him want to grab the plump cheeks.

Obscene noises of their skin slapping and Shawn's moaning filled up the room. Sapphire was incredibly talented with her hips, keeping the rhythm steady, and she didn't stop or slow down. The coil in Shawn's abdomen was tightening more and more every minute, making his heart race and his breath hitch.

He rested his hands behind his head, eyes squeezed shut from the feeling. Fuel to the fire were Sapphire's first sounds of the evening. Shawn picked his head up and noticed her arm moving rhythmically in front of her, and he immediately knew what she was doing. God, he wanted see that, and she probably knew that too. She probably picked this position on purpose.

Even after a shaky orgasm, Shawn was still thinking about the ways he wanted to take her. All the things he wanted to do with her. His body was weak and sweaty, and he was catching his breath while Sapphire fixed her robe and plopped down next to him.

Like Kat, she still looked well put together, like all she did was go for a casual stroll. Not even sweating or panting. Sapphire did all the work and all she did was dab at her leftover lip gloss with her finger afterwards.

Shawn was a little confused at this. Why was he the only fucked out mess here? He lifted a hand, his fingers gently touching Sapphire's blonde locks to get her attention.

"Was that good for you?" he asked.

She nodded with a smile. "You did everything right, babe." Then, she took his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, and she lied her head on his chest. "Hell, I might even keep you here a bit longer than planned."

Whatever the fuck that meant, Shawn didn't really give a shit. Looking down at the beautiful socialite in his arms, he realized he wasn't prepared to leave either. And he certainly wasn't thinking of Brian, or his ex-girlfriend.

next chapter

_______

taglist: @normalcyisoverrated-beyou @justordinaryjen @chillingbythesea @iloveshawnieboi @shawnsunflower @someoneunimportantxx

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes smut #spookytattoosfestival #shawn x oc #shawn meets fic #if this story sucks its bc i lost motivation #n im tryin to finish it anyway #bc im tired of abandoning fics

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hunnywrites · 5 years ago

Photo

Arcade Dreams: Chapter Twenty One

Summary: There’s a new girl working at the Palace Arcade and Hawkins’ Family Video. Billy can’t stand her, and the feeling is mutual. No matter what everyone else seems to think.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: It’s a Thanksgiving miracle I’ve finally finished the chapter. I’m sorry this is so late! We’re heading into the summer of ‘85 now, but don’t worry! I’ll be writing a few chapters of Chasing Yesterday to fill in the spaces between Billy and Teddi moving in together and now. I just didn’t want things to feel too clunky. This chapter also ends a tad awkwardly, but I’m breaking it into two parts so the chapters don’t get too long. Hope you enjoy!

The Hawkins public pool was packed to the brim with people. As Teddi hopped out of her van and made her way through the parking lot, the sound of splashing, kids yelling and laughing and the Power of Love playing on someone’s boombox nearby grew louder and louder. Today was her day off, but since everyone she knew was working Teddi decided laying out by the pool was probably a better decision than staying home and watching Star Trek reruns all day.

Teddi made her way inside the gates, passing the bulletin board that read “Meet our ‘85 swim season lifeguards’ in large yellow letters. Teddi’s photo was between Heather and Billy’s. Her hair was longer than it had been when she moved to Hawkins and no longer platinum. Heather had helped her dye it a more natural, golden, honey blonde at the beginning of the summer. The silver ring that had been through her right nostril had been replaced with a thin gold ring that Billy had gotten her simply to match the small gold hoop that was in his ear now (the silver dangly earring Billy had been wearing before was now in Teddi’s ear). Teddi was smiling brightly at the camera, which was a stark contrast from the cool, almost bored expression that was on Billy’s face in his photo.

“Hey, Katie.” she said with a smile as she passed by the front desk. Katie was sitting with her feet up on the counter and a magazine in her lap. Katie threw a wave in Teddi’s direction, not bothering to look up. Heather was perched up in the lifeguard’s chair, glaring down at a group of kids who were running over to the diving boards. Heather waved at her before blowing her whistle at the kids loudly.

Teddi walked over to the tiny snack bar window, smiling tentatively at the girl on the other side. Cheryl Burns had gotten a job at the pool at the beginning of the summer. Initially she had applied to be a lifeguard, but had quickly changed her mind. “You mean if someone totally disgusting starts drowning or whatever I have to like...give them mouth to mouth? Gross. No thanks.” were her exact words. So Freddy had stuck her at the snack bar. She of course hated it.

Cheryl’s strawberry blonde hair sat high up on her head in a ponytail. She brushed her feathered bangs out of her eyes, her eyebrows raising expectantly at Teddi. “...Coke, please.” Teddi squeaked out. Cheryl was an intimidating girl, and she knew it. Sometimes Teddi was certain that Cheryl enjoyed making her nervous.

Cheryl set down the can of coke in front of Teddi, sneering at it in disgust. “I don’t know how you drink that shit,” she jabbed one of her long, painted nails at the “New Coke” logo. “They totally ruined it.” she held her out towards Teddi.

Teddi dropped her change into Cheryl’s hand. “It’s not that bad...you get used to it.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “I’d rather shove old man Myers’ speedo in my mouth,” she scoffed, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. Cheryl was also the most dramatic person Teddi had ever met. Cheryl looked back at the red clock on the wall behind her, a smirk forming on her lips as she leaned forward. “Here comes lover boy,” she said in a sweet, sing songy tone, nodding her head towards the locker rooms.

Teddi turned just as Billy was walking out. While Teddi enjoyed the summer time, Billy came alive in it. It brought out the Cali boy in him like flowers that bloomed with the warm weather. His sandy blonde hair had turned a few shades lighter in the sun. His skin was a deep, golden bronze. Billy had gotten a new air of confidence about him ever since he’d move out, but now it was something different. Something that Teddi wasn’t the only one to notice.

Karen Wheeler and a few of the other moms showed up to the pool every day around mid afternoon for Billy’s shift. They weren’t very secretive about it either. Heather would climb down from the lifeguard chair and each of them would start adjusting their swimsuits and makeup while they waited for Billy to come out.

“Look at them,” Cheryl scoffed. “It’s so gross how they’re all drooling over him. I mean, Karen has a kid his age. And like he’d want some dried up old hag anyways,” she said with an eye roll. “You should go over there and like french him or something and tell that tacky bitch to back off. I mean, who the fuck wears a pearl necklace to a pool?”

Teddi couldn’t help but laugh. She pulled her eyes from Billy, turning back to Cheryl. “Cheryl, do you always have to be so...blunt?” she asked, taking a sip of her coke.

Cheryl pursed her glossy lips. “I’m a leo. It’s what we do,” she said matter of factly. Teddi coughed on her soda, sputtering loudly. “Jesus, Larsson. Say it, don’t spray it.” Cheryl frowned, leaning away from Teddi.

“Sorry,” Teddi cleared her throat. “Sorry...I’m gonna go. Always a pleasure chatting with you, Cheryl.” she gave the blonde an awkward salute, wincing at herself as she spun around on her heel and heading over to Billy.

Billy smirked down at Teddi as he watched her approach him, pushing his sunglasses down his nose to look at her. “You stalkin’ me, Larsson?” he teased. Teddi stepped up onto a bar at the bottom of the lifeguard chair, balancing carefully as she reached up to kiss Billy. She laughed when she felt his fingers slipping into the back of her cut off shorts, smacking his hand away. No doubt a show for the group of eyes that were glaring a hole into Teddi behind her.

“Aren’t you a little over dressed for the pool?” he asked, his hand resting on her lower back.

“Cool your jets. I’m gonna change,” she rolled her eyes. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

Billy looked at her cooly. “...Depends.”

Teddi let out a huff. “Depends on what?”

“On what you’re gonna ask me to do...and which bikini you’re wearing under there.” he was smirking again.

Teddi pulled a face, popping her hip slightly and raising an eyebrow. “Who says I’m wearing anything under this?”

Billy’s smirk twitched just slightly before he looked over the top of his glasses at her again, his eyes trained on the white crop top that was covered in little daisies that Teddi was wearing before looking back at her. “...Where am I going?”

Teddi laughed. Sometimes it was just too easy. “It’s El’s birthday tomorrow. Hop’s having a party for her at the cabin and then she and Max are sleeping over at our place.” dinner at Hopper’s cabin had become a regular weekly thing for Billy and Teddi. He’d started to invite them over after the fight between Billy and Tommy. Billy had of course been closed off to the idea at first. Teddi had gone to the cabin alone for about the first three weeks before she convinced him to join her.

“You want me to go to some 13 year old’s birthday party?” he asked.

“She’s 14 now.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh come on,” Teddi huffed. “It’ll be fun. There’s cake. How can you say no to cake?”

Billy held up his hands. “I’ll go. But don’t expect me to play pin the tail on the donkey or whatever the hell those little dorks do at parties,” he grumbled. Teddi rolled her eyes. “Speaking of birthdays...what do you wanna do for yours?”

Teddi let out a groan. Her 18th birthday was in a week and she’d been trying her damndest not to think about it. “I don’t know...do we have to do anything?”

Billy shot her a look. “If I tried that with my birthday would that work?”

Teddi sighed “No…”

“What’d you used to do back home?” he asked.

Teddi thought about it. Birthdays in her family had never really been a very big deal. Her parents hadn’t even celebrated their own unless you counted the fancy new purse her dad would buy her mother every year. “...Me and Hannah would drive into the city and we’d ride the Staten Island ferry back and forth for a few hours and smoke weed.” she finally said.

Billy laughed. “Jesus, Larsson. As fun as that sounds, you got any other ideas?”

“Well what did you do for your 18th birthday?” she asked with an irritated sigh.

Billy smirked. “Cheryl.” he said with a snort.

“Ugh. You’re disgusting,” she groaned, Billy chuckling at her. “As fun as that sounds, I think I’d rather just go to the movies or something. Maybe we can go to Starcourt and bring Max and El.” she suggested.

Billy’s smile faltered for just a moment. “Whatever you say, Birthday Girl.” he said cooly.

Teddi frowned slightly, pulling away from him. “...I’m gonna go find a lounger and read for awhile. You gonna come see me after you’re done up here?” she asked. Billy’s smile was back as he nodded and leaned in to kiss her again as if nothing had happened. Teddi hopped down, not looking at Karen and her friends as she passed them and headed for an empty chair by the pool.

She started to wonder almost obsessively about the look on Billy’s face when she suggested going to the movies as she peeled her crop top and shorts off. She knew that he was watching her strip down to her bright green bikini, but didn’t turn to look at him. Had he maybe planned something different? Was it because she wanted to go with El and Max? When it came to Billy there was really no telling what was going on in his head.

Teddi let out a heavy sigh, plopping down onto the white lounger and pulling her copy of the Fellowship of the Rings out of her bag. With her sunglasses on, she allowed herself to peek back at Billy as she pretended to read. He was watching her with a sort of confused frown before his jaw set tightly and he turned away from her.

He was definitely up to something.

---

Teddi was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, chewing on her bottom lip as she carefully folded the bright purple wrapping paper around the stack of books she’d gotten El for her birthday. Teddi had picked them out carefully. There was the Princess Bride, Alice in Wonderland and the Last Unicorn; each bound in intricate covers with a short message that Teddi had written inside each of them.

The phone started ringing as she scrawled From Teddi and Billy on the little tag she’d stuck to the wrapping paper. “I got it,” Billy called from his room. Teddi didn’t pay much attention to him. She grabbed a smaller present, wrapped in the same purple paper, and set it on top of the other, larger present. “Yeah?...Oh, yeah hi,” Billy threw a look over at Teddi before he turned from her, lowering his voice to speak to whoever was on the other end.

Teddi watched him with a frown. She grabbed the TV remote, muting the Starcourt commercial that was playing so she could hear a little better. “Just give me like...an hour. I’ll be there. Yeah. Alright, I’ll see you then.” Billy hung up. He turned, going still when he met Teddi’s eyes. She crossed her arms.

“Who was that?” she asked.

Billy shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nobody...uh, look Ted, I know I said I’d go to El’s party…”

“You’re cancelling? Billy, we were supposed to leave like ten minutes ago.” she huffed. Teddi stood, scooping the gifts into her arms.

“Something came up is all. I gotta…” he shook his head. “I just gotta be somewhere, okay? El’s not gonna give a shit that I’m not there.” his tone was starting to get a little colder. Like Teddi was accusing him of something. It only made her more suspicious.

“You know that that’s not true,” she argued. While Teddi and El had grown significantly closer over the last few months, Billy had also (begrudgingly) bonded with her much to Teddi’s surprise. “What’s going on here? You’re acting really weird. Why can’t I know where you’re going?”

She was trying to keep her tone light, playful. She even let out a little laugh at the end like she was teasing him. Billy’s jaw clenched, and Teddi’s stomach dropped. “...I gotta go. I’ll see you later. Tell El I said happy birthday.” he muttered, grabbing his keys and quickly walking out.

Teddi glared at the door. The Camaro’s engine rumbled in the distance, slowly disappearing as Billy drove off. “Of all the nights to pull this shit…” she mumbled to herself, nearly stomping over to the kitchen counter and snatching up her keys. She spent the drive back into Hawkins going over theories to herself. Teddi found herself feeling ashamed when she wondered if maybe there was someone else.

She liked to think that if Billy was cheating on her he’d hide it better. Or maybe that was just her ego. It was Billy after all. Teddi let out a heavy sigh. It had to be something else. She just had absolutely no idea what it could be.

When she arrived at the cabin she pushed Billy from her mind. She wouldn’t let this ruin the party. Teddi grabbed the presents, hopping out of the van and heading up the porch, her boots thumping against the old wood. Hopper answered when she knocked.

“Hey, kiddo,” he grinned down at her, his eyes immediately looking over to the empty space beside her. “...No Billy?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Something came up last minute,” she explained, trying to keep her tone neutral. “It’s probably for the best. I’m sure he’d complain about the cake ruining his physique or something.”

Hopper chuckled and stepped aside to let Teddi in. He’d traded in his uniform for some jeans an old plaid button up. Teddi always thought he looked less intimidating in his own clothes. More like a dad that liked to tell cheesy jokes...which was exactly what Hopper was.

The kids were all already there aside from Dustin, who was off at summer camp. They were all crowded around the dinner table playing a game of Candyland. The cabin was decorated with colorful streamers, balloons and a big banner that read Happy Birthday! was hanging above the kitchen. There was a small cake sitting out on the counter waiting for it’s candles. It was a soft yellow color with bright pink piping and Happy Birthday El scrawled in shaky lettering that Teddi assumed belonged to Hopper.

“Teddi!” El said, smiling brightly at her before pushing her chair back and hurrying over to the blonde. Teddi set her presents aside before wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Jeez, Ellie Bean. When’d you get so tall? I don’t have to bend down to hug you anymore.” she laughed. All of the kids had hit a growth spurt over the summer. Teddi no longer towered over them. She wasn’t really sure when it had happened exactly. It was like one day suddenly Mike was taller than she was and she’d nearly had an existential crisis.

El let out a small laugh. “Hop says I’m not allowed to get any taller.”

“He’s right.” Teddi muttered.

“...Where’s Billy?” El asked, peering out one of the front windows as if she expected to see Billy smoking out on the porch.

Teddi winced a little at her disappointed expression. “He’s not gonna be able to make it. Something came up, I guess. He told me to tell you happy birthday.”

That had gotten Max’s attention. The redhead looked away from the board game, looking at Teddi suspiciously. “What do you mean something came up? Did you guys break up?” she asked.

Teddi let out a sigh. “No...it’s a long story. I’d rather not talk about it.” she mumbled, heading over to the fridge to grab a drink. El and Max shared a knowing look. They’d agree to drop the subject. For now.

“Hey, how come we can’t go to the sleepover?” Lucas asked as Teddi pulled a seat up to the game.

Max rolled her eyes. “Because it’s a girl’s night, genius. None of you are girls.”

“That’s pretty sexist of you guys.” Mike argued.

Hopper scoffed loudly from his spot on the couch. “Quit while you’re behind, Wheeler.”

“What do you guys even do during a girl’s night?” Lucas asked, looking between the three girls.

“Summon demons.” Teddi said with a straight face.

Mike, Lucas and Will all shared a look. “...I’m pretty sure she’s kidding.” Will finally decided.

After the game of Candyland (Mike won, but Lucas had accused him of cheating) they all crowded around El to sing happy birthday and eat cake. After the presents had been opened, Teddi held up the smaller gift she had wrapped earlier, motioning to El to follow her out to the porch.

She handed the small, but long box to the teen with an almost embarrassed look. El smiled at her, making quick work of ripping the paper open. Inside the white box was quite frankly one of the tackiest necklaces Teddi had ever seen. It had a clunky, golden chain and a deep blue stone at the end of it. In the stone there was a constellation that was almost crudely carved into the stone.

“When I was little and my dad started working for the city, he took me and my mom to this state fair so he could make himself look good for his bosses. There were all these game stands, and one of them was this little pool that had these little rubber ducks in it. You got to pick three of them, and if you picked the right one you got a prize. So I begged him over and over to let me play and I ended up winning that horrible necklace,” she said, her and El both laughing. “It’s how I found out I was a gemini. The girl that worked at the stand was a total hippie and gave it to me when I told her my birthday. The stone is supposed to be our birthstone and then that’s the gemini constellation...I don’t know. I found it again after I moved in with Billy and I thought you should have it. It’s ugly in kind of a cool way.”

El held the necklace up, smiling up at Teddi. “I love it.”

“Yeah?” Teddi asked, letting out a relieved sigh. “Good! Here,” she took the necklace from El, twirling her finger to tell her to turn around and clasped it around her neck. El turned back towards Teddi, taking the small pendant between her fingers. “Perfect. Come on, we should go get Max and head out before Hop tries to kill Mike.” Teddi snickered.

The two girls headed inside, El hurrying over to Max and pulling her to her room to grab their things. Hopper looked so relieved Teddi thought he might cry. He stood up from the couch, waving his hands at the door. “Alright, boys, the party’s over. You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell outta my house.”

“This is totally unfair!” Mike complained. “I can’t spend time with my girlfriend on her birthday because of girl’s night?”

“How ‘bout you complain to someone who cares, Wheeler. Let’s go.” Hopper said, herding him towards the door. El and Max came running back out, arms full with their bags and sleeping bags. Lucas and Will wished her happy birthday again before practically dragging Mike out to their bikes.

“Don’t worry chief, I’ll take good care of them,” Teddi said, placing her hands on El and Max’s heads. “We’re gonna make crank calls and break out the ouija board.”

Hopper smiled thinly at her. “Funny. You two be good, alright? No boys or ritual sacrifices,” he leaned forward, hugging El and placing a kiss on her head. “Happy birthday, kid.” he said, smiling down fondly at his daughter.

Once the three girls were in the van and headed back for the apartment, Max spoke up. “So...what’s going on with Billy? Is he being an ass again?”

“What happened to not talking about it?” Teddi asked.

“Why not? The boys aren’t here. So, what did he do? What was this thing that suddenly came up?” Max asked, leaning forward excitedly.

Teddi looked at the two girls in the rearview mirror before letting out a sigh. “...I’m not really sure yet. Someone called right before we were supposed to leave for the party and he said he had to go. And when I asked him what was going on he got all...weird.”

Max and El looked at each other. “Weird how? Like weird weird, or Billy weird?”

“Billy weird. He’s been acting like this all day. Like he’s keeping a secret or something.”

“We should find him.” El said with a firm nod.

Teddi laughed. “Find him and do what? Spy on him?”

Max looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “Duh. If he’s with someone else you can catch him in the act and dump his ass.”

Teddi actually considered it for a moment before shaking her head. “That’s insane. What about the sleepover? And how would we even find him? You want me to drive all around Hawkins all night?”

“We can still have the sleepover later,” Max shook her head. El shot her best friend a brief, knowing look. Max looked back at Teddi with an unsure expression. “...El can find him.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

El smiled at Teddi sheepishly. “...Long story.”

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x oc

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gaelfox · 7 years ago

Note

Oh my stars your art is amazing!!! Do you think maybe you can make a shading tutorial sheet? owo

Hey there Anon! Sure thing! I’ll do my best to explain the process of how I usually do things in regards to coloring and shading. I’m not the greatest at Explaining, so I’ll do my best to keep things as crystal clear as possible!

Step 1: LineartI’ll start with Lineart purely because this step is important to the coloring process in one regard, and that is making sure the entire line layer is closed without any holes. Even the smallest little gap will make the selection process hard later, and we don’t want that. So the cleaner lineart you have, the better. I’m going to go ahead and use my Monster Hunter Generations Huntress for this.

Step 2: SelectionEither in Photoshop or SAI or whatever you use, click outside your character and any other negative space surrounding them. This means…basically anything that’s not your character. Then go to Selection > Inverse and invert the selection. You should have something similar to what I have below. This makes it so much easier to add colors without having to worry about all the little nooks and crannies that could mess the cleanliness of the drawing up real bad.

Step 3: Flat BaseCreate a new layer beneath your line layer with the selection still active. This will be our color layer. Remove the visibility of the line layer, and fill the remaining “Silhouette” with a dark base color. This makes those nasty corners look a bit cleaner, as sometimes if there is a lighter color your computer will want to make them stand out pixelated. Again, this is just for cleanliness beneath the line layer. Turn your line layer back on, as they will now act as barriers for the fill bucket tool. Make sure the entire silhouette is filled, and that no lines were accidentally selected! You want a see a completely filled and flat color if you turn the line layer off.

Step 4: Flat ColorsAt this point you can lock the transparency of your Color Layer, and go ham. Either with the pen or a fill bucket, figure out how you want to color your character and add in the flat colors. Notice I’m on the same layer as the Base that we made. This is so those lines still play nicely with one another. Clean up where necessary.

Step 5: Analogous Color GradientWell, we don’t really want our character to be too flat, do we? This is where the color wheel becomes your best friend. Select similar colors with the Magic Wand (like I’ve done her skin tone here) and using the color wheel, choose an analogous (that means “close by” in color wheel terms) color to add a bit of depth to the color. For skin, I usually go with a red or a bronze, sometimes purple. Use the airbrush for this. Then, deselect and select another color to gradient, until all the colors have some degree of new color to them.

See? Now things look interesting! We added some blue to the greens, some purples to the reds, some blues to the grays and so on and so forth.

Step 6: ShadingOkay, here’s where things get interesting. Time to shade. Make a new layer between the Line Layer and Color Layer, and make sure you make it a clipping group/clipping mask. This is so it won’t go anywhere that you don’t have color. Set it to multiply or linear burn (whichever you think looks best) and bump the opacity down to about 40-50%. Choose a color (or color-value gradient, if you have drastic value changes in your piece that make light and dark values not play well with the single color you picked, and swap between those) that you want the shadows to be; I like deep pinks and purples. AVOID BLACK. I first use the Pen tool to get down “hard” shadows - shadows cast by hard materials, close shadows, and inorganic materials. Once I’ve got those down, I head on over to the softer areas, such as the skin, hair and cloth and alternate between the watercolor and marker tools to give “softer” shadows. There’s no real law to this, you just have to know where shadows fall and how they behave and work with those three tools to get the look you want.

Step 7: “Highlights” - Rim Lighting Okay, these aren’t really “highlights” in the correct sense, but adding sort of “rim lighting” around forms really helps make a picture pop. To do this, make another layer above the shading layer, set it to “screen” and keep the opacity at 100%. Then, get really familiar with your CRTL key because you’re going to be color sourcing a lot. To add a rim light to a form, select the base color of that form, and use the marker to trace along the edges. For example, I picked up the nude from the skin, the silver from the dagger, the gold and maroon from the hair and the tawny brown from the skull to use on those specific objects. Any place you want clean works well, but the edges of forms works best for this technique. Additionally, if you’d like, you can create another layer above the Screen Layer and set it to Linear Dogde, and do my “glowing eyes” technique on anything you want to stand out, such as the metal of the belt, gold objects and of course, eyes.

Step 8: The OverlayAlmost done! While your photo can now stand alone as “finished”, there’s one more thing that I enjoy doing, and that’s adding a simple color overlay to bring the whole picture together. This is done by flattening all the layers you have so far (you’ll want to “Merge Down” in order from bottom to top or “Flatten” to avoid the layers going crazy on each other) into one layer. Then, make a layer on top of that one, set it to a clipping mask, and set it to “overlay”. With the Airbrush, choose some colors (I prefer soft pinks, blues and violets) and go along the “edges” of your character with a BIIIIIG brush. This kind of resembles soft ambient lighting or shadows. I just think it makes the photo look nicer.

TA-DA! And Now we’re done!

And there we go! I hope that helped, and I also apologize cause this ask sat in my box for awhile and I never got around to it until now. :PI’d be happy to answer any questions y’all have, but this is the simple basics! Remember to practice practice PRACTICE! -Gael

#my art #art tutorial #shading tutorial #art advice #paint tool sai

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lastweeksalcoholao3 · 7 years ago

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After Party (T)

Christophe has a party after Worlds. The skaters all decide to play Truth or Dare. Antics ensue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were very few things that Yuri would ever say he liked about Christophe Giacometti but one of those things he could admire was the logic that got him invited to the party in his suite.

"If you're mature enough to win silver at Worlds you're mature enough to attend a party with some skaters."

Worlds. Where Yuri had pulled silver after Yuuri but a few points, Otabek pulling a bronze, then JJ in fourth, Phichit in fifth, and Chris in sixth, after that Yuri didn't bother keeping track but knew Leo, Guang-hong, and Segung-gil had been there as well. He gave himself credit because it's more than he had ever bothered to check in Juniors. Another thing Yuri could appreciate about Chris was that he knew how to throw a party, even having 'mocktails' when Otabek firmly stated that Yuri was too young to drink. Chris looked like he wanted to protest but went along with it.

So Yuri was drinking something way too sweet on the floor with the skaters from the event that he had bothered to remember, Isabella, and of course Victor who was all over his fiance`, wasted.

"How about game time?" Phichit smiled. "Truth or dare?"

"What are we, thirteen," JJ asked.

"Wuss," Yuri shot at the Canadian.

"King JJ Leroy is no wuss! Bring it on!"

With everyone else agreeing Phichit smiled brightly.

"Alright, host first."

"Victor, truth or dare?" Chris smirked at his intoxicated friend.

"Truth."

"Have you and Yuuri had sex yet?"

"Of course we have and he's fantastic in bed." Victor's eyes glazed over for a moment. "The way he moves his hips-"

"Victor!" Yuuri blushed. "They don't need details."

"But we want them!" Chris pretended to fan himself. "I have a few thoughts about what the two of you get up to in the bedroom."

"My turn!" Victor was beaming, leaning heavily on Yuuri. "JJ, truth or dare!"

"Dare."

"Oooooo." Victor smirked. "Change your Instagram picture to a photo of Yuuri with his gold for the rest of the night! No explanation."

Everyone looked confused except for Yuri who looked oddly impressed.

"Fine." JJ pulled out his phone, tagging everyone in the picture. "Happy?"

"Very!" Victor did a little happy wiggle.

"Phichit, truth or dare?" JJ opted for one of the few skaters who was actually nice to him.

"Truth."

"Who was your first time with?"

"Yuuri."

"What?"

"You know? Katsuki? The gold medalist sitting right there." Phichit motioned to his best friend.

"What?" Victor leaned away from Yuuri, looking betrayed and sounding shocked. "Yuuri, how could you?"

"Victor, you knew about this." Yuuri rolled his eyes a bit.

"Besides, it was years before you two even met," Phichit finished.

"Wait, you two were seriously together?" JJ was looking between the two.

"We were never dating or anything," Yuuri explained. "I think the proper term is friends with benefits."

"And wow I benefitted. I also decided it I was going to go all the way with a guy for the first time I wanted it to be someone with experience."

"'Someone with experience'? Yuuri Katsuki I am impressed." Chris toasted to Yuuri.

"Well I'm disgusted," Yuri stated. "I officially know too much about Katsudon's sex life."

Phichit could tell Yuuri was getting uncomfortable. "My turn! Otabek, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Do you have a crush on one of us?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Phichit sat ramrod straight. "You can't leave us hanging like that!"

"Sure I can, I answered the question. Yura, truth or dare?"

The game continued for a while longer until finally Phichit was up again. "Okay, Otabek, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss whoever you have a crush on."

It was still in the room for a split second before Otabek turned Yuri's head, hesitating for a second before gently kissing the boy's cheek. Yuri's jaw dropped and he stared stunned at his friend who's face didn't shift, the older skater sitting back down fully.

"JJ, truth or dare?"

"The fuck?" Yuri's voice was quiet.

"Oh, uh truth," JJ shook his head.

"Are you really to hold up that deal that you'll marry Bella when you win gold?"

"Not if I don't win gold before the Grand Prix Finals next year, but what are the odds of that happening? Of course I'll win gold again before the Finals next year!"

Yuri wasn't paying attention to JJ, instead opting to stare at his friend.

"Staring is rude Yura," Otabek mumbled.

"So is leaving someone hanging like that," he mumbled back.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Obviously."

"After the game we will, I promise."

However, it seemed like everyone had their fill of secrets as they got drunker, the game ending when Victor began sobbing when he realized that his fiance` had really been in relationships before him, though they weren't romantic.

"Yuuri, truth or dare," Chris asked, the only one who still seemed invested in the game.

"Last one?"

"Sure."

"Truth."

"How many people have you had sex with? Not just full on, any sort."

Yuuri froze for a minute, already seeing his wasted fiance` moping. "Six."

"Six?" Chris gasped. "All male?"

"No."

"Yuuri isn't even gay! It's like I never knew you!" Victor began moping.

"Victor, you knew about all of this!"

During the commotion Yuri and Otabek slipped away, stepping into the hallway. Yuri leaned against the wall and shoved his hands deep into his pockets before meeting Otabek's eye.

"So, you've got a crush on me," Yuri asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, this isn't how I thought this would go."

"Huh?"

"I figured I would eventually blurt out that I liked you and you'd gently turn me down."

"You like me too?"

"Yeah, you don't need to be so surprised. I asked you to rip my glove off. With your mouth. During a performance."

"I thought that was more about upstaging Yuuri and Victor. So we have feelings for each other?"

"Apparently."

"What do you want to do about it?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"I mean, you're in Kazhakstan and we're both busy skaters. I'm all for trying a relationship but between the two of us I'm definitely not the level headed one."

"We could see how we work, and if we do I could go to Russia for training. Not Yakov, I don't have the natural grace he looks for but I'm sure I could find someone."

"How much of this have you thought out?"

"My crush isn't exactly a recent development."

"Neither is mine. So, we're doing this?"

"We're doing this," Otabek agreed.

"Good."

Yuri stood up straight from the wall and kissed the other skater, Otabek kissing back gently, placing one hand on Yuri's hip and running the other through silky blond hair, Yuri's hands resting on his shoulders.

Neither knew what next season held for them other than rough ideas of their programs, but both were eager to explore this new relationship in the off season. After all, both cities had rinks to practice on and each skater was way past overdue for a vacation. So if Otabek happened to want to visit Russia or Yuri wanted to go to Amaty? Well, they both deserved the break.

And maybe had one more thing to like about Christophe Giacometti.

~END~

#Fanfiction #yuuri on ice #Most characters mentioned #otayura #otayuri #victuuri #past Yuuri/Phichit #Fluff #Comedy

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mysticseasons · 7 years ago

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From picnic table to Pyeongchang … How three Canadian medal contenders coordinated their Olympic comebacks

A luger, a bobsledder and a figure-skater are sitting on a picnic table on Parliament Hill …

Sounds like the start of a corny joke, doesn’t it?

It turned out be a turning-point type of conversation for a trio of Canadian Olympians and close pals — all legitimate medal contenders at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

“It’s so funny … Luge and bobsled, obviously those two sports have similarities. But ice dance?!?” said Scott Moir, one half of Canada’s darling duo with long-time skating partner and now fellow flag-bearer Tessa Virtue. “I mean … I guess we all wear tights. Those guys just don’t have as many sequins as I do. I bet they wish they did.”

Outfits aside, they are bonded by a picnic-table pact.

Without it, perhaps they wouldn’t be packing for Pyeongchang.

Rewind to June 2014, with Canada’s athletes from the Sochi Winter Olympics assembled in Ottawa for the so-called Celebration of Excellence.

At some point, three standouts from separate sports — Moir, luger Sam Edney and bobsled brakeman Jesse Lumsden — plopped themselves atop a table in an outdoor courtyard.

Talk turned to the future.

“The three of us, we were enjoying our time to celebrate and to cut loose, but we were all tired,” said Lumsden, a star running back in the Canadian Football League before retiring from pigskin to focus on his quest for Olympic glory. “We got talking about what comes next, and there was kind of this, ‘Well .. I’ll come back if you come back’ and ‘Well … if you’re coming back, then I’m coming back too.’ But we needed to take a break. And that’s sort of what it turned into.

“We’d keep in touch, and it was always like, ‘Where’s your head at? How ya feeling? You coming back still? I am if you are.’ So it’s been this continual thing. Sam went off to Victoria to go to school but always said, ‘I’m doing it. I’m making the comeback.’ And then Scotty and Tessa announced their comeback, as well.

“I’m not going to say that it’s because we promised each other we were going to do it, but none of us wanted to let each other down. We said that we were doing this together, and we wanted to see it through.”

Moir and Virtue will lead Canada’s contingent into the opening ceremonies next Friday in South Korea. After winning gold at Vancouver 2010 and then silver in Sochi, they’ll share flag-bearer duties, an honour that Moir never could have imagined four years back.

Because when the pride of Ilderton, Ont., arrived at the 2014 Celebration of Excellence, his mind was made up. Or at least he thought it was.

“I thought, for sure, I was done,” Moir admitted. “Those two guys had both played with the idea of maybe taking a bit of a break, and I know Jesse had a very clear plan where he would start to work back in bit-by-bit, year-by-year. And that was the first time I sort of thought of it like that. So for me, it was a huge moment, because I kind of thought, ‘Whoa, maybe I could take some time off AND come back for the Olympics.’ That kind of made that click.

“Sitting there on that bench in Ottawa … it planted a seed in my head.”

A legacy baby of the 1988 Winter Games, Calgary’s Edney skipped the following season on the World Cup luge circuit, cramming to complete a commerce degree.

Lumsden, who originally hails from Burlington, Ont., but now also calls Cowtown home, didn’t compete for the next two winters.

According to Moir, about a year passed before he and Virtue started to chat about a push for Pyeongchang, spit-balling about where they would train and what they might do differently. They made their comeback official early in 2016.

“Once we started to kind of play that game, we fell in love with the idea so much that it was something that we couldn’t live without,” said Moir, who turned 30 in the fall.

There is one other character in this picnic-table tale — Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

What does he have to do with it?

That day on Parliament Hill, a spotting of Trudeau — then leader of the opposition — caused a fuss.

Athletes scrambled for selfies with the hunky politician.

Edney, Lumsden and Moir stayed put.

“All of a sudden, there was this big commotion, and it was like, ‘Holy jeez, what’s going on over there?!?’ ” Edney recalled. “And the three of us just took this moment. It was our moment, I guess. We had a bit of time, and it was like, ‘Boys, are we going to make this happen in another four years? Are we going to all band together?’

“We all made a bit of a pact that we could rely on each other and if there was ever a moment through the next cycle that we needed a hand or needed a buddy to chat things out or just talk about whatever, we would always be there for each other.

“I think somebody even said, ‘Boys, this is a great moment. We have to capture this.’ I don’t remember who took the photo, but we all threw on the serious faces, pondering what’s going to happen in the next Olympic quad.”

The future they were staring into is now.

When the picnic-table pact was made, Edney was motivated by “unfinished business.”

Canada’s luge relay team — Edney, Alex Gough and the tandem of Justin Snith and Tristan Walker — finished fourth in Sochi, missing the podium by one agonizing tenth-of-a-second. They learned in late December they had been upgraded to bronze due to the doping disqualification of two members of Russia’s silver-medal squad.

With the 33-year-old Edney as their elder statesman, Canada’s luge relay team is again a medal threat.

Lumsden, 35, is one of two brakemen who pushed pilot Justin Kripps to the overall World Cup crown in two-man bobsled this season. Kripps, Lumsden & Co. are among the frontrunners in four-man competition, too.

As two-time Olympic medallists and reigning world champions, there are sky-high expectations for Virtue and Moir.

“Four years away is such a long time, but I think we all know from our various sports that it goes by way quicker than you expect. I can look back to that moment and it doesn’t feel like that long ago,” Edney said. “For me, it was looking at setting a goal but also committing your life to being very different. I mean … the amount of effort and work that has to go into an Olympic quad and basically knowing that each moment over the next four years is going to either add up or take away from that Olympic moment …

“It’s a big life-changing decision. I guess it was nice, in that scenario, to know that you weren’t making that decision totally alone. When you have two other guys that are sort of in the same mindset, I think it’s easier to get stoked about it.”

It was, they all agree now, a good decision.

Hopefully, a golden one.

“Every time that there is a team selection, I just watch and think, ‘Thank God we came back,’ ” Moir said. “Because I couldn’t have sat at home and watched all of my friends have the time of their lives and compete in Korea without me.”

- Calgary Sun, Jan 28th 2018

#Serious faces lol #Scott Moir #Tessa and Scott #Sochi14 #pyeongchang2018 #<3 #Can't wait to see the pics we get of these three!

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isakthedragon · 7 years ago

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Super Sonic Thieves Chapter 3

Chapter 3- The Case of Thieves and ‘Killers’

Intro Cutscene:

Sly: “Another look into the Thievius Raccoonus led us to visit England during the Victorian Era. Our family had an ancestor during that time, Thaddeus WInslow Cooper III, that was known as one of the richest families at the time. Besides being known as a wondrous mechanic, building one of the earliest flying machines, he was also a well-known detective from Scotland Yard as well. There was something very worrisome about it though; not only is that information missing, but it seems he was arrested for committing attempted murder he was investigating! Looks like we’ll have to put on our thinking caps and grab the magnifying glasses to solve what has happened to my ancestor.”

Sly Cooper and the Gang in…

*An old timey book opens up to an empty page and a raccoon hand comes in with a red-inked quill and writes: ‘ The Case Of Thieves and ‘Killers’ ’. The ink slides down off the letters a bit, looking like blood.*

-----

Hub Layout:

The gang has their hideout just outside of London to the West in an abandoned farm (so they can hide the van since they don’t exist yet) during the winter, so not many people are outside as well, along with a covering of snow everywhere. The police department, and the jail as well, are in the center of the city, just West of the River Thames. Nearby is Big Ben, chiming on the hours. Since this is the 1800s, the city is much smaller, and is more filled with houses. The map ends on the River Thames though, so you can’t go any farther. The north side of London is the home of a huge manor and in the air is one of Eggman’s airships floating about, creating all the badniks.

Enemies

Crows: Black crows that flutter about the roofs in search of thieves, or anyone breaking the law for that matter. They will caw for other guards if provoked. Carries/drops 5-7 coins to pickpocket has 10% chance of treasure.

‘Werewolves’: Wolves that walk around, patrolling the streets with their heightened sense of smell for blood (Wolves in Sly’s world are anthropomorphic already, but they are ‘werewolves’ for being more fluffy and having longer claws, seemingly being transformed by the London moon.) They will counterattack with their claws with a nasty claw swipe that is almost unavoidable. Carries/drops 7-9 coins to pickpocket has 25% chance of treasure.

Horses: Brown-colored stallions that search the streets with their flashlights for anyone where they aren’t. Attacking these guys will make them retaliate with a hoof kick, but it does take them a bit to charge up. Despite what you’d think, it’s best to stay real close in front of their face if there is no alert about as they can’t see in front of their own head for a few feet. Carries/drops 7-12 coins to pickpocket has 50% chance of treasure.

Bobbie Pawns: Egg Pawns acting as the actual police force of London, but will club at anyone with their oversized clubs and will whistle for other enemies if left alone. Don’t attack their head as their have a spike on their cap that is NOT for show and WILL hurt. Drops 6 rings when smashed.

Egg Fighter Knights: Also wearing a police uniform, these guys opt for a sword and shield instead (But forgot their spike caps). Either hit them from the top or from the back to destroy them. Drops 8 rings when smashed.

Egg Gunners: Eggman’s blatant disregard for time has had him send his futuristic (And humanoid looking) badniks to fight Sonic and co. They can float in the air and fire at you with their vulcan cannons. Sonic and the others can handle them, but the Sly characters may need to get creative to smash these things. Drops 10 rings when smashed.

Nebula: Helicopter like badniks that drop spike balls on you if you pass underneath them. Better destroy them before that happens. Drops 4 rings.

Balkiry: Fast bird baniks that jet towards you. Better smash them when you see them. Drops 5 rings.

Turtloid: A small turtle badnik that controls a bigger turtle badnik that fires small missiles at you. Destroy the smaller one to make the bigger one useless. Drops 6 rings.

Treasures:

From Guards:

Bronze Quill: Worth 40 coins and 20 rings.

Silver Quill: Worth 60 coins and 30 rings.

Gold Quill: Worth 80 coins and 40 rings.

From Pedestals:

Pearl Necklace: No bobby trap. Worth 400 coins and 200 rings. Found around Annis Fox's home.

Gold Crown: Bomb booby trap, with 2:00 timer. Worth 450 coins and 225 rings. Found near the courthouse.

Silver Clock Hands: Bomb bobby trap, with 1:00 timer. Worth 500 coins and 250 rings. Found on Big Ben’s roof.

Golden Magnifying Glass: Fall Damage Sensor booby trap. Worth 600 coins and 300 rings. Found near Thaddeus’s home

The coins here have an old Victorian England Coat of Arms on them.

Secret Sighting of Clockwerk: Acting as a gargoyle statue in a park. Maybe he’s a Weeping Angel? :P

-----Jobs-----

Another London ‘Murder’ Mystery

Find a disguise for Sly

Go talk to Thaddeus

Steal the case info

Head off to the manor and take recon.

Sly: “It feels weird that I am going to a police station voluntary again.”

Carmelita, through the radio: “Giving you bad memories? Preferably in shocks!” *She chuckles.*

Sly: “Huh, so that’s why my tail has a tingling sensation near you.” *He chuckles back.*

Bentley: “GUYS! PAY ATTENTION!!”

Sly: “Buzzkill.”

Carmelita: “Indeed.”

Bentley: “We don’t got time! We need to hurry in and find Thaddeus! His trial is tomorrow, and we need to figure out to save him before then, but first we need to talk to him!”

Sly: “Alright, Bentley, don’t get your shell cracked. We’ll talk to him, although I wonder if they might arrest me for looking like him…”

Espio: “Don’t worry, I’ll distract them, but perhaps you might need a disguise…”

Bentley: “I would guess the evidence locker for clothes might have something you can use. Now come on!”

*Sly and Espio head into the Police Station. The player has them sneak around, avoiding and distracting police officers with various things to get their attention as they make their way to the evidence locker where they store clothes. There are waypoints in the room for things to collect.*

Sly: “Alright.” *He puts them on.* “Heh, should fool them enough. Now to find Thaddeus.”

*The player continues sneaking on, making their way to Thaddeus’ cell. Once there…*

Thaddeus was sitting, looking away from the bars. “Huh? Who goes there? Another annoying bobby making fun of a ‘lost’ detective?”

Sly: “Quite the opposite really. I want to help restore your reputation.”

It peaked Thaddeus’s interest, with his ears twitching and tilting his head a bit. “Oh, really? And who might you be?”

Sly: “Well, it’s a long story, but I am an ancestor of yours. My name is Sly Cooper.”

Thaddeus turns and walks up to the bars to look at Sly. “Hmmm… it appears you are a Cooper alright. But what are you doing here?”

Sly: “Well, it seems obvious you aren’t meant to be in prison. I know you are a great detective, but someone has altered history to put you in here.

Thaddeus: “Is that so? How? And why? You didn’t have something to do with this, did you?”

Sly: No! ...Well, I hope. Anyway, I’m afraid I can’t explain right now. Can’t risk overstaying my welcome here. But what can you tell about what’s going on. How’d you get arrested?

Thaddeus: “Ah, it is the most infuriating thing! I was framed for attempting to murder Lady Fox, a fox of extraordinary wealth.”

Sly: “WHAT?!”

Thaddeus: “Yes! Even though I’ve never been nor had any reason to ever visit her place, the law found my items in her living room where she laid comatose, and her own valuables were missing! Being from a family of master thieves, I was of course accused of the crime despite none of those valuables being in my possession.”

Sly: Blamed for a thieving you didn’t even commit. Unbelievable…

Thaddeus: Oh, I shudder to think of how tarnished my legacy has become with this unfortunate event...

Sly: Hey, don’t worry! Me and my gang are going to do everything we can to clear your name! I’m not going to let one of my favorite ancestors go down like this!

Thaddeus: A thousand thank yous, my dear descendant. I bet if you want to know anymore of the case, they probably have the information handy, since my trial, which is gonna be more of a death sentence than anything, is soon.”

Sly: “We’ll figure out some way-”

Espio interjects quickly. “Someone’s coming! And we can’t hide you!”

Sly: “Don’t worry, I got this.”

Police Officer: “Hey?! Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Sly (In his favorite accent, Italian :P ): “Oh? A-me? I’m-a the defense lawyer sent to defend Thaddeus. It’s-a my first case.”

Police Officer: “Hah! I see they found a sucker to defend Thaddeus! No one wants to touch that! Good luck, buddy, his case is a lock! Better be prepared to lose!” *The thought was apparently funny enough that the officer leaves.*

Espio: “That was close.”

Sly: “Guess I’m gonna defend you then, Thaddeus.”

Thaddeus: “Knowing you’re doing it, I feel relieved. I wish you luck.”

Sly: “Thanks.”

*The player now makes their way back out, taking the case info someone left out along the way.*

*Outside…*

Bentley: “So you had to tangle yourself with the case huh?”

Sly: “Well, someone has to defend Thaddeus! Besides, it might help with whatever plan we come up with later.”

Bentley: “True. Well, I guess you should make your way to the manor then. See what the crime scene suggests.”

*The player heads off to the manor and in disguise, enters it. They make their way to the master bedroom, where the crime occurred.*

Sly: “Hmmm… quite a mess in here…”

*The player takes recon photos of the broken window, hole in the wall, the neat bed, and the trail of loot leading out of the open empty safe.*

Bentley, on the broken window. “It seems to be where the criminal entered, considering the glass on the inside floor.”

Bentley, on the hole in the wall. “That shape seems quite odd. Maybe we need to ask Sonic and his friends on that.”

Bentley, on the neat bed. “Hmmm, for the mess in the room, the bed looks oddly neat. This Ms. Fox must have been put to sleep before she could even react.”

Bentley, on the trail of loot. “Whoever did this seems to have dropped a money trail, literally. I think we should check where it goes.”

Sly: “That seems to be everything interesting we can find here.”

Bentley: “Alright, come back to the hideout so we can read the case info and we’ll go on from there.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Bentley: “Alright. Here seems to be their case for the prosecution: Yesterday morning, nearby neighbors awoke to the sound of glass breaking from the manor. Worried for Ms. Fox, they immediately went to get the police. They came quick and found her comatose on the bed and her safe open and completely empty of money and valuables. Finding what was a calling card for Thaddeus, they immediately arrested him and took his cane along with them. Oddly, the cane is missing from the evidence log, so it can be assumed it was lost on the way to the station. They threw him in jail, and now it’s just waiting for the case to finish to kill him.”

Vector: “Seems like they have a really good case against him, especially with the calling card.”

Charmy: ♪ “Heh, maybe we should take it back so they have no case!” ♫

Bentley: “That’s what we were thinking. We need to steal it so they will have a harder time prosecuting him. And it might also free Thaddeus for the time being.”

Charmy: ♪ “Sweet! So who gets to go?” ♫

Bentley: “We’re gonna have Espio and Carmelita go in to find the evidence. It’s too dangerous for anyone else.”

Charmy: ♪ “AW! I wanted a mission!” ♫

Bentley: “Don’t worry, you got a mission with Vector. You guys will follow the money trail to see where it ends.”

Charmy: ♪ “YAY!” ♫

Vector: “We won’t let you down!”

-----

Follow the Green

Follow the trail of money to its end

Vector: “Alright, we’re under the broken window that the trail of cash leads to, but it seems the snow is covering more it.”

Bentley: “Darn, I see the snowfall has been heavy recently. How are we going to find it?”

Charmy: ♪ “OH! Oh! Vector can find it! He can find the trail, no problem!” ♫

Bentley: “Really? How?”

Vector: “Heh, well, I have somewhat of a sense of money. I can smell it from a distance.”

Bentley: “Great! Go on, then! Follow the trail!”

Vector: “Got it.”

*The player has to hold down a certain button to make Vector sniff the ground, which makes green clouds float above the ground, showing the money trail. The player has Vector and Charmy follow it among the streets, alleys, and roofs throughout town, until they reach Big Ben.*

Charmy notices them stop. “What is it?”

Vector: “For some reason, the trail stops here in front of Big Ben. It might continue, but we can’t get up there.”

Bentley: “It’s alright, guys. Come back to the safehouse. We’ll find a way up there.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Freeing the Innocent

Enter the evidence locker and steal back the evidence leading to Thaddeus

Save Carmelita from the police officers.

Carmelita, wearing a period accurate police uniform stolen earlier by Sly. “I wonder if they will believe me in this get-up.”

Espio: “Well, I just need you to convince them long enough so I can get through the evidence locker for Thaddeus’ stuff.”

Carmelita: “Hmmm, if they are like present day evidence holding rooms, it should be alphabetized. So look under ‘C’ .”

Espio: “Got it.”

*The player enters and takes control of Espio as Carmelita grabs the attention of the police around. The player makes their way to the evidence locker and enters it.*

Espio: “Oh my!”

Bentley: “What is it?”

Espio: “For being the 1800s, the place sure has modern-day lasers.”

Bentley: “Hmmm… I wonder if Eggman has messed around in here?”

Espio: “Well, it’s not going to stop me. I got this.”

*The player makes their way through the evidence locker, avoiding the lasers and other modern-day traps to reach Thaddeus’ evidence, which Espio grabs.*

Espio: “Alright. Time to get out of here.”

Bentley: “You better hurry. Carmelita seems to be having trouble keeping up out there. She sounds mad.”

Espio: “Got it.”

*The player now has to make their way out, noticing Carmelita is overwhelmed. The player has Espio make some noises and distractions to help Carmelita escape. Once it works, they leave to finish the mission.*

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Bentley: “Alright. I got good news and bad news.”

Sly: “I’m guessing the good news is Thaddeus is now free from jail?”

Bentley: “Yes.”

Sonic: “That seemed too easy.”

Bentley: “Well, that’s the bad news.”

Thaddeus: “Apparently, someone claims they saw me putting Ms. Fox to sleep and stealing her money, and they are testifying in court tomorrow. I’m free to move around the city, but I can’t leave.”

Charmy: ♪ “Darn! All that for nothing!” ♫

Thaddeus: “Well, I’m here now, and I want to help you find the real criminal!”

Sly: “So what are our plans on doing that?”

Bentley: “Well, Silver and I will be entering Big Ben to continue on the trail of the money. I have a feeling it will lead us to who did all this. Also during this time, Murray and Vector will check on Ms. Fox.”

Vector: “I think what has made her comatose is an Egg Flapper badnik. The hole in the wall matches up to one.”

Bentley: “Besides, she could be useful in solving the case. Finally, Thaddeus, Sly, and Sonic are going to take Thaddeus’ plane into the air. I think that airship is producing all the badniks down here and it might make our plan harder if we don’t take it down.”

Sonic: “Sweet! Some air time!”

Sly: “Huh, flying with my ancestor. Never thought I’d see the day.”

-----

Going Cuckoo

Make your way through Big Ben

Steal the cane back from Bark the Polar Bear

Tails: “I can see you guys are at Big Ben. Now how to help you guys get up on the roofs.”

Bentley: “Hmmm… nothing seems obvious…”

Silver: “Can I try something?”

*The player has Silver telekinetically grab Bentley…*

Bentley: “WHOA!”

*... And place him on the roof nearby before telekinetically floating Silver there too.*

Tails: “Well, that worked.”

Bentley: “I flew! But please warn me next time you do that!”

Silver: “Heh, sorry, and alright.”

*The player makes their way across the roofs of Big Ben tower, following the money trail as it takes them into the belfry's. It’s a bit of a dangerous trek, avoiding various swinging parts and for some reason, lasers again and being spun around on gears and destroying junk and walls with Bentley’s bombs. The money trail ends at an ajar door that they enter. Inside they find the vault contents and something more…*

Silver: “Look! The money!”

Bentley: “Shhh… that’s not all.”

*We pan to see Bark the Polar Bear sitting in a lounge chair, talking to Eggman.*

Bark: “Well, it’s a bit unconventional, but I’m going to be testifying to get Thaddeus executed.”

Eggman: “I can only guess that pesky hedgehog is the reason why you have to.”

Bark: “Sorry.”

Eggman:”It’s fine. I’m used to failure. Just make sure your case is solid!”

Bark: “It is, I promise! It can’t be disproven otherwise!”

Eggman: “You better hope so!”

Bark: “Well, if it’s any consolation, I have the info for Thaddeus’ cane and moves and stuff.”

Eggman: “Good. Send it over.”

Silver: “I think I can grab the cane, but we need to distract Bark first.”

Bentley: “I think if I hit the various bells and stuff above him, it should annoy him enough! I’ll use my darts to work them.”

*The player has Bentley shoot darts at various gears and bells, making them work to make a big cacophony that makes Bark cover his ears.*

Bark: “AH!!! The noise! So deafening!”

*The player has Silver take the distraction and telekinetically get the cane over to Silver.*

SIlver grabs them once they are close. “YES! I got them!”

Bentley: “Let’s get out of here before he notices.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Grey’s Robo-Anatomy

Defeat the enemies in the hospital

Save Carmelita’s ancestor from the Egg Flapper

Vector: “Alright, Tails. We have made it to the hospital… although it looks quiet.”

Murray: “Too quiet. The hospital looks dark.”

Tails: “That doesn’t sound good. You guys better check it out and find out what’s happening.”

*They enter and find the place swarming with badniks and guards chasing the hospital staff.*

Tails: “Oh my! They seems to be attacking the staff and patients! You guys better stop them before anyone gets hurt!”

*The player goes on a protection mission, finding hospital staff and protecting them from the badniks and guards.*

*Once everyone is saved:*

Vector “Alrighty, we saved everyone.”

Murray: “But still no sign of Ms Fox.”

Tails: “Hmmm… I’m seeing a strange mechanical reading from one of the rooms that’s covering up someone’s signature. I’ll put a waypoint. See what’s in there.”

*The player goes to find the waypoint and enters the room to find…*

Murray: “ *GASP* Sly’s not going to believe this, but it appears Ms. Fox is actually Carmelita’s ancestor!”

Vector points out the badnik next to her. “Looks like she’s being held asleep by that Egg Flapper!”

*The robot wises up and flies out of the room.*

Vector: “After that badnik!”

*The player know has to chase after the Egg Flapper, throwing things at it to make it crash onto the ground so it can be attacked. Once destroyed, the player returns to Ms. Fox’s room to find her slowly awaking.*

Ms. Fox: “Oooh… what happened… feels like I’m drunk…”

Vector: “Hello, Ms. Fox. You were in a comatose state, but we found a way to wake you again.”

Annis Fox: “Mmm… please, call me Annis. And thanks. But why was I in one, and why am I in a hospital.”

Murray: “We can explain, but it might be safer to do it someplace else.”

Vector: “Is that alright, Ms?”

Annis: “Mmm, anything better than this hospital seems good at the moment.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Robots in the Sky with Coopers

Survive the flying badniks

Take down the airship

Thaddeus: “Ah, home sweet home. I was worried I wouldn’t make it back.”

Sonic: “Why have you taken us here again?”

Thaddeus: “I’m your way of getting into the sky!” *The doors to the shed open, revealing a plane belonging to Thaddeus.*

Sly: “Wow! I saw it in the Cooper Vault, but seeing it here makes it look that much more awesome!”

Thaddeus: “It should work, but this will be my first time flying it, so I’d like apologize if things go south.”

Sonic: “Heh, it wouldn’t be my first crash landing.”

Sly: “Mine neither.”

Thaddeus: “Good. Your friend Bentley seemed adamant on taking out those robots flying up there. I guess you guys can balance on the wings to attack them. I’ll do my best to keep steady.”

*The trio get on the plane and Thaddeus takes off. The camera goes to 2D as a level like Sky Chase Zone starts.*

*The player is zoomed on forward, attacking badniks as they pass by. Sly is useful for close combat while Sonic can hit the more distant (floaty) badniks more safely.*

*Once that is all done, the airship closes in on them and cannon shells whiz by.*

Sly: “WHOA! What was that?”

Sonic: “Cannon shells. Eggman always outfits his airships with cannons. We better get off and destroy that airship as we are still close.”

Thaddeus: “I’ll distract them, but please hurry and destroy them first! I can’t save you guys otherwise!”

*Sly and Sonic jump off. The player now has them destroy the cannons on top of the ship then go into the interior and destroy the computers and other guidance systems to force the airship to crash. The player must then get out and get onto Thaddeus’ plane.*

*Getting on will let a cutscene play of the airship crashing into the River Thames.*

Sonic: “You keep building them and we keep knocking them down, Eggman!”

Sly: “Guess I can check that off on things our gang has destroyed. Let’s go return to Bentley with the news.”

JOB COMPLETE

-----

Bentley: “Alright, Thaddeus’ trial is today and we need to get him found innocent. I got… no plan.” *He sounded sad.*

Sly: “Well, I am acting as Thaddeus’ defense attorney. (In his Italian accent.) “I shall-a find-a my client not-a guilty!”

Bentley can be heard slapping his face. “We’re doomed.”

Sly: “The only thing I need to do is just convince the judge Thaddeus didn’t do it by countering Bark’s testimony. Is there evidence I can use?”

Charmy: ♪ “Well, we do have the money trail leading out of the manor and to Bark and the valuables!” ♫

Sly: “That’s a good start, but I worry they might think I planted it then.”

Vector: “Well then, how about Ms. Fox’s testimony.”

Sly: “Sure, that would- wait, what?!” *He notices Annis.* “Carmelita?!”

Annis: “No, I’m Annis. I was told already and she knows about me being her ancestor around this time.”

Sly: “I… I see.”

Carmelita: “Don’t get any ideas, Cooper!”

Sly: “I’m not! I’m still surprised to see an ancestor of yours.”

Bentley: “I’ve made some calculations. Using her will most certainly free Thaddeus and implicate Bark! But we have to make sure she can survive a trip to the courthouse.”

Carmelita: “Blaze and I will do it. We’ll get her there safe. Just don’t mess it up Sly.”

Sly: “Heh, knowing I’m at the end of that barrel will keep me from messing up.”

-----

Operation Turnabout

Get Sly and Thaddeus to the courtroom

Protect Annis Fox

Stall the Courtroom

Defeat Bark

*The player controls Sly and Thaddeus, helping them make their way to the courthouse. But thanks to a heavy guard presence along the ground since the airship crashed, the duo have to stay among the rooftops to avoid being shot at.*

Sly: “We need to make it to the courthouse in one piece.”

Thaddeus: “Being eviscerated is for court.”

*Once they get there, the camera returns to the safehouse, everyone leaving ahead save for Carmelita, Annis, and Blaze*

Bentley: “We’ll scout ahead to make a path, but you guys will have to deal with any stragglers.”

Carmelita: “I’ll make sure they don’t lay a hand on my ancestor at all.”

Blaze: “I’ll make sure of that.”

*The player now has to escort Annis to the courtroom, taking down any guards and badniks along the way. Annis is not much of a fighter, but can dodge somewhat. Just make sure to not let any enemy get close to her and you’ll be fine. Once at the courthouse, they immediately enter...*

*The Judge snaps his gavel to quiet the gallery.*

Judge (He’s an owl): “Order, people! The attempted murder trial of Ms. Annis Fox is to begin now. Is the defense ready?”

Sly: “As-a ready as we can-a be, ‘Udgy!”

Judge: “And the prosecution, Mr ‘Wolf?”

Prosecutor Edge-Were-Wolf: “Despite some setbacks, yes.”

Judge: “Setbacks?”

Prosecution: “Someone… stole some evidence…”

Judge: “But that means there’s no case from what I read.”

Sly: “Then-a my client should-a go free!”

Prosecution: “HOLD IT! We may not have evidence, but we have the next best thing! Testimony from someone who witnessed the crime and certainly put Thaddeus as the killer!”

*The gallery murmurs.*

Judge: “Then bring him out! We got executions and cases to get to!”

Prosecution: “The prosecution calls Bark the Polar Bear to the stand.”

Sly whispers to Thaddeus: “Alright, you ready?”

Thaddeus: “I am used to this, but are you?”

Sly: “Yeah, if it means I save you.”

*Bark takes the stand*

Judge: “Please state your name and occupation for the court. Not that it matters.”

Bark (Having a British accent): “My name’s Bark and I’m Annis’ butler. I know what I saw when I walked in! Thaddeus was there!”

-WItness Testimony-

Bark: “I had finished my work for the day and left, but I forgot something and went back in. There, I saw Annis’ bedroom in ruin and Lady Fox on the bed motionless. And I saw Thaddeus, that very raccoon, pilfering her most treasured items with an evil grin!”

Judge: “Well, that seems to wrap this case up quite nicely! Be the quickest conviction ever! I find Thaddeus-”

Sly interrupted: “OB-JECTION, ‘Udgy, but did-a you forget I’m here to counter?!”

Judge: “Why should you?! Seems pretty open and shut, honestly.”

Sly: “I can find some-a holes, trust-a me.”

Judge: “Fine, but don’t waste our time.”

-Counter Argument (The player decides if Sly presses, objects, moves on, or moves back a statement with dialogue trees from Sly 3. Wrong objections empty the penalty bar, doing it twice gets a guilty verdict and must start over from the beginning.)-

Bark: “I had finished my work for the day and left, but I forgot something and went back in.”

Sly- Do I press him for more info, object to the statement with evidence, or move on to a new statement?

-*If Press is chosen: (CORRECT OPTION)*

Sly: “HOLD IT! What is it you forgot-a to do that required returning back to the manor bedroom?”

Prosecutor: “OBJECTION! Does it really matter?”

Sly: “I-a think so! It might be-a important!”

Judge: “I’ll allow it. Witness?”

Bark laughs nervously: “I… uh… forgot to lock the safe.”

Prosecutor: “WHAT?! You didn’t tell me that?!”

Bark: “It didn’t seem relevant… you’d have to be a part of her staff to even know if the safe was locked.”

Sly: “See! I-a told you it was important!”

Prosecutor: “Ob… Objection! As he said, it’s not relevant totally”

Sly: “Is it? The crime occurred-a when the safe was-a unlocked! Smells of an inside job if you ask-a me!””

Judge: “I have to side with the Defense. Witness, amend your testimony.”

Bark: “I had stupidly forgotten to lock the safe.”

Sly: “Do I press him for more info, object to the statement with evidence, move on, or go back a statement?

*If Sly presses*

Sly: “Hold it! Why did you forget to lock the safe?”

Bark: “I was… busy… Annis had pushed me around a lot that day. It slipped my mind.”

Prosecutor: “I don’t see a problem here, honestly.”

Sly: *Is there?*

YES (Incorrect)-

Sly: “I… I think?”

Judge: “Allow me to decide: No!”

Sly: “D’oh!”

NO (Correct)-

Sly: *Mmm, he is right… if I was busy, I could forget something important.* “Fine, move on.”

Bark: “There, I saw Annis’ bedroom in ruin and Lady Fox on the bed motionless”

*If pressed*

Sly: “Hold it! How did you know the bedroom was in ruin?!”

Bark: “Well, the safe was ajar and the bed was a mess, like with a struggle!”

Prosecutor: “Is there a point?”

YES (Correct)

Sly: “Yes! I took a photo of the scene and found the bed to be neat and tidy, as though she never got out of bed in the first place!” *Shows a period accurate picture of the bedroom for the court.*

Bark: “Oh… darn...”

Prosecution: “Damn it…”

Judge: “The witness will refrain from lying on the stand.”

Bark: “Sorry… I just forgot…”

NO (Incorrect, but just does nothing, as it requires a revisit)

Sly: “No… not that I can see…”

Judge: “Please continue.”

Bark: “And I saw Thaddeus, that very raccoon, pilfering her most treasured items with an evil grin!””

*If pressed.*

Sly: “Hold it! How do you know it was Thaddeus?”

Bark: “It was him for sure! I saw his cane!”

*The prosecutor slaps his face.* “Damn it!”

Judge: “HUH?! Why the outburst, Prosecution?”

The prosecution seethes. “That… was the missing evidence.”

Sly: “Perhaps we can-a help?”

Prosecutor and Judge: “What?!”

Sly: “We found the cane.” *He shows it to the court.*

Judge accepts it as evidence. “Where was it?”

Sly: “Well, it might-a not help the prosecution. But we found it in Bark’s possession. He-a dropped it.”

Bark starts to look worried.

Sly: “And while we are-a on the subject, I think the police should-a visit Big Ben! We did some detective work and found a money trail leading for Annis’ home to his secret hideout in Big Ben. And we found the lost valuables!”

Bark now looks angry.

The judge is surprised. “You found the money and valuables?!”

Sly: “Yeah, and Bark’s testimony seems to neglect the hole in the manor wall and the glass on the inside of the window on top of the hole!”

Judge: “How about you tell us your theory, Defense.”

Sly: “I-a think Bark doesn’t work-a for Annis, and was actually planning on-a robbing her! He-a knocked her out beforehand with one of-a those weird things flying around outside, creating the hole and making her comatose!”

Judge: “So weird things outside belong to him?”

Sly: “Yes! Then he crashed in-a through the window and then robbed her of-a her stuff, leaving a trail to-a his place! Thaddeus is wrongly implicated here!”

The prosecutor smiles: “And can you prove this?”

*A voice can be heard in Sly’s ear at this time.*

Bentley: “Sly! We’re here! We can hear you! Finish it off!”

Sly: “Yes!”

The prosecutor loses his smile fast. “Wait, what?”

Sly: “Why-a don’t you ask Annis Fox yourself?!”

Judge: “But she’s comatose!”

Sly: “We-a found a way to revive her! Just ask her! I call Annis Fox to the stand!”

*The court doors open and Annis walks in.*

The prosecutor: “A-a-a-a ANNIS FOX?!”

Bark: “Damn it…”

Annis: “I heard the defense, and he is right! I believe I saw a bear outside a few times beforehand, and Bark looks just like him! I feel confident that he robbed me!”

The prosecution is speechless.

Judge: “I guess that wraps this up nicely. I find Thaddeus -”

Bark: “NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

-*If Object is chosen at a wrong time.*

Sly: “I-a Ob-ject!”

Prosecutor: “On what grounds? Even a fool could tell nothing is wrong there!”

Judge: “Sorry, but I’m with the prosecution. Penalty for the defence”

Sly: “D’oh!”

-*If penalty bar is empty*

Judge: “I’m sorry, but I must stop the defense from making a fool of himself. I find Thaddeus: G U I L T Y.”

Sly: “Sorry Thaddeus…”

*In a fit of anger from losing, Bark pulls out a button switch*

Sly: “What’s that?”

Bark: “I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU FOOLS!!! DIE!!!!”

*He presses the button, and sounds can be heard outside…*

Sly: “Everyone! Get out now!”

*One of the crashed airship’s last cannons, still operational apparently, aims itself at the courthouse and fires a powerful shot. Everyone scrambles to get out of the courtroom before the shot collides. Once the shot hits, the roof collapses and the debris wreck the courtroom with only Carmelita and Knuckles remaining inside, the rest of the team unable to get back in due to the debris blocking them.*

Knuckles: “Ugh… Oh thank the heavens, we’re alive.”

Carmelita: “Urk, yeah… Unfortunately, we’re alone with him now.”

Bark: “Dammit! How did that not kill anyone?! No matter! I’ll take you both down and then kill that brood like I was supposed to!”

Carmelita: “HA! Good luck with that! I’ll have you know I’m Interpol’s top detective and I’ve taken down criminals far stronger than you! And if you think I’ll let you kill my ancestor this easily, you’re very mistaken!”

Knuckles: “Yeah! And my strength easily outmatches yours! You have no chance, Polar Bear!”

Bark: “We’ll see about that, you echidna lastling!”

*Carmelita fires an electric blast from her Shock Pistol at Bark. Right when the shot was about to hit Bark, it disappears and the polar bear is not affected*

Carmelita: “What the-?!”

Bark: “Hehehe, my boss prepared for your arrival and gave me a device to activate an Electric Shield! It protects me from electricity and gives me a shocking punch!”

*Carmelita growls and jumps at Bark, intending to deliver a powerful kick to his head, but he catches her foot and tosses her into one of the rubble*

*And so the boss fight against Bark begins. Thanks to his Electric Shield, Bark is completely invulnerable to Carmelita’s shots. Thankfully the Electric Shield will disappear should Bark suffer a powerful enough hit but he is tough as bricks, so only Knuckles can do anything about this. The first part of the fight has Knuckles and Bark duking it out like boxers. In other words, this part of the fight plays like a simplified fighting game; the controls have you punch, block, dodge, and move, with the objective being to deplete the Electric Shield’s “HP” to zero. Once it’s gone, you can switch to Carmelita and start unloading her Shock Pistol at Bark and whittle away at his health. Once his health goes down 25%, Bark will bring up another Electric Shield and the process begins again. While fighting against Knuckles, he’ll start off with just punching, then jabbing quickly (75%), throwing uppercuts (50%), and finally fake-outs (25%). And while fighting against Carmelita, he hide more often and throw stuff at you the more health he loses.

*Once Bark is defeated*

Bark: “I may have lost… but Eggman is still winning…”

-----

Outro Cutscene:

Sly: “After knocking out Bark, the court deemed Thaddeus as not guilty for the crime and arrested that polar bear on the spot. For both the crime and destroying the courthouse, Bark was to be sentenced to death! But we couldn’t let that happen, both to keep the timestream stable and because we can’t allow anyone from Sonic’s universe to die in our world, so we managed to convince the law to let us apprehend Bark and then toss him back into Sonic’s world. After having to solve that whole mystery, we all decided to stick around with Thaddeus for a bit and get some downtime. With the way Eggman and his goons operated so far, we need all the energy we can get. Besides, with time travel, it’s never too late to do anything.

Sly: “Heh, Thaddius sure is spending quite a bit of time with Annis, talking about cases and the like. Guess he must of convinced the Fox family to go into law enforcement.”

Next Time: Sly and Sonic batten down the hatches in the 17th Century Caribbean.

#Isakthedragon's fanfiction #Super Sonic Thieves #SST #Super Sonic Thieves: Chapter 3 #SST: Chapter 3 #Featuring an ancestor to Carmelita... Annis Fox!#I wonder if people will like her... and Thaddeus.#Also Phoenix Wright references cause why not?

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jessgartner · 11 years ago

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2013 Life Olympics

I don't want to tempt (or limit) the fates by awarding this year any premature superlatives, but I have a suspicion that I will always look back on 2013 as a pivotal year in my life.

It's a little surreal to think that so much of what brings me daily joy and fulfillment didn't even exist a year ago.

For the past few years, I have come think of adulthood as the Life Olympics: the constant striving for balance between Career, Home, Relationships, Health, and Wellness.

The results are in for 2013:

Career - Gold Star

Founding and growing Allovue has been a thrilling and fulfilling journey, and I can't wait to see what next year brings. Despite the popular myths about startup founders failing to sleep, eat, or do anything unrelated to business orders, I think I succeeded in striking a pretty fair balance with the other 4 realms of my life, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.I resigned from my job the first day back after the New Year holiday. I had come across this quote on Pinterest from We Bought a Zoo, and just kept repeating it to myself: 20 seconds of insane courage.

Emphasis on insane.

I had no plan, no funding, and no experience - just some gnawing intuition that I had to go bring this idea in my head to life, or feel the churning discontent of regret forever. So, into the abyss.I woke up on Monday February 4 - my first day as an untethered, fun-employed entrepreneur - feeling an odd mix of liberation and terror. For the first time in my adult life, (maybe my entire life?) I felt solely responsible for myself. There was no one to tell me what to do or how to do, but then, there was no one to tell me what to do or how to do it. I was a bit paralyzed by the weight of my newfound freedom at first, and then at 9:49am, I remembered: "To begin, begin," and so I began. I'm not sure what I did that first day, but I must have felt some vague sense of accomplishment, because I had this to say at the end of the day:

I know it won't always be this fun...But isn't it ok to bask in the sheer exuberance of it - just for a little while? Just for today, I'll relish in the joy that accompanies the audacity to live the very life I imagined. Just for a moment, I'll play in that narrow intersection of pleasure and purpose, feeling infinite and electric.

Fortunately, that feeling lasted more than a day. The chaos of "startup life" feels oddly natural to me in a way that the routine of other jobs never had before. I think I worked on 8 different jobs this year to make it work, but I did it on my own terms, so I can finally read this speech without the nagging feeling of being slightly off center:

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

- Steve Jobs

Relationships - Gold Star

Speaking of matters of the heart, two weeks before I started Allovue, I decided I was tired of eating dinner alone and revamped my online dating profile for what I promised would be the last damn time. I agreed to exactly one date the day after I activated my profile. On the way there, I reminded myself (aloud) that I was officially done compromising on my non-negotiables in relationships. Maybe the universe just wanted to hear me say it out loud, because I went into Brewer's Art that night to meet the actual man of my dreams in real life. I don't know if there's ever a good time to start a new relationship, but I'm pretty sure it is not two weeks before you leave your job to start a company. I've heard it said that you find love when you find yourself - I just wasn't expecting it all to happen, like, immediately, all at once, very fast.

Home - Silver

In the Home category, I include basic home maintenance, cleaning, and keeping personal finances in order. My home was probably cleaner than usual this year, because I was constantly hosting new AirBNB guests. Talk about an incentive to keep the house in order when people are literally rating your house on its cleanliness! Of course, part of my strategy was to just relegate the mess to my room, but even that's had to change with the addition of our new kitty, Darwin, who likes to scratch, sniff, claw, and eat anything in reach. I'm running out of room to stash junk and mess, so it looks like I will finally have to be a grown-up and either purge excess or keep things tidy! #likeanadult

Health - Bronze

As it turned out, it was a good year to start dating a doctor/lawyer. At the end of January, I found myself engaged in a class-action lawsuit after it was discovered that my doctor had been allegedly secretly photographing patients with a camera pen and subsequently committed suicide. Feeling anxious about the care I had been receiving for the past 4 years, I quickly sought a new doctor and was diagnosed with endocervical adenocarcinoma in situ - stage 0 of a fairly rare form of glandular cervical cancer. My doctor said it was usually difficult to catch this type of cancer so early, but since we did, I was able to have a minor surgery to remove the cancerous cells. I just had my 6 month check-up, and my tests came back normal!

So this whole litigation/investigation process turned out to be a bizarre, potentially life-saving blessing. Unchecked, the cancer would have very likely progressed and I would have been facing far more invasive treatment options. This made me think about all of the men and women who put off visiting a doctor for routine check-ups because they lack basic insurance. If my father hadn't harangued me about securing private insurance before I left my job-with-benefits, a health crisis would have been a financial catastrophe, too. Even my small surgery would have cost over $10,000 without insurance. This whole ordeal gave me a deeply personal lens with which to view the Affordable Care Act debate this year. I'm thankful our country is finally making an attempt to fix what I can attest to be a very broken system.

Despite attending more Bikram yoga classes this year than either of the past 2 years I've been practicing, I still didn't get to as many as I had aimed for. This is an area of my life that I really to need to work on making it a permanent habit. It's (sadly) looking like the best way to do that is to just get up at 5:30am to make the 6am class. I've gotten better at it, but it's still going to take some practice to make it less of a struggle-fest in the morning.

Wellness - Honorable Mention No surprises here. Personal wellness falls to the bottom of my priority list, year after year. I define personal wellness to include the things that feed my brain, creativity, and soul - probably not where I should be slacking off. This realm looks different for everyone, but for me it includes reading, writing, singing, cooking, taking pictures, and going to yoga. I fell woefully short of my book-a-week reading goal this year and abandoned my photo-a-week project in February. I did maintain my singing lessons every other week, which is a small victory, and I've started to carve out time for cooking delicious things on Sunday afternoons. This area definitely needs more work in 2014, and I think it needs to start with a shift in value judgment. In my gut, I know most of the inspiration for my "real" work comes from this personal creative time, but it's so indirect and quiet that it's easy to write-off these activities as less essential. No more! Wellness is essential.

You'll Figure It Out. In 2012 I wrote a lot about gender politics in the tech world. One day, I stopped and took a hard look at my own life. Technology, specifically as it related to solutions for education, was clearly a big passion of mine. Why wasn't I doing work in that field? Why wasn't I taking a leadership role in the very area that I was lamenting a lack of female leadership? The answers were all rooted in blinding fear. I was afraid I wasn't appropriately "certified" to do what I wanted to do. I was afraid I didn't know how to do what I wanted to do. I was afraid of what people would think, or say. Then, I realized that none of these were particularly good reasons to not do a thing that I wanted to do. So, I decided to just muster up that 20 seconds of courage, and force myself to figure it out. I surrounded myself with smart, helpful people, and asked a LOT of questions along the way. "Leap and the net will appear," says an old Zen proverb. Sometimes, you just have to build your own net.

#lifeolympics

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man-reading · 8 years ago

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Lost in Ferrari

Written by Chris Campanioni

Learning to drive the 2017 Ferrari GTC4 Lusso

Ferrari GTC4Lusso in white. Photo courtesy Ferrari

I learned to drive the 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso by driving my 2011 Kia Forte on the NJ Turnpike, and imagining I was behind the wheel of Ferrari’s front-mid mounted 6.3-litre V12 engine shooting-brake 7-speed dual-clutch hatchback.

I don’t know what any of these numbers mean; I’m just reading from the e-mail Ferrari’s travel agent had sent an hour ago. When I was still moving with my own legs. As a rule, all writers do this, all the time, so it didn’t feel so strange, to drive through Staten Island, toward the Goethals Bridge, the NJ Turnpike, the rust and metal and the hot-trash stink of Elizabeth, and to picture I was rounding the foothills of the Apuan Alps instead, wind curving up my shirt and through my hair, squinting so you can see I really feel it.

The hatchback on my Kia Forte is probably the only similarity, besides the exterior’s cerulean hue. Ferrari’s three-door grand touring goes 0 to 62 in 3.4 seconds. The cost to own one, according to the spec sheet attached to the e-mail, is $300 thousand. The cost to drive one, for an afternoon, over the foothills of the Apuan Alps, and very likely, along the stretch of Marina di Pietrasanta’s gold-sand coast, is free, at least if you’ve been entrusted with the responsibility to write about it for the GTC4Lusso media launch.

But we’re not there yet. I’m still on the NJ Turnpike, somewhere across Elizabeth, revving my 2.0 4-cylinder engine under one, two, three white-silver specks which are embarking on their own journey, Newark Liberty International receding in the rearview. I’ll be on that jet tomorrow.

“You’d need to look up to understand how blurred your line of sight is, in the passenger seat or otherwise, when you’re going 208 miles per hour”

“So how fast does this machine go?” I ask, turning to the man in the passenger side who’d just switched seats, glancing up from the spec sheet which says 208 miles per hour. Spec sheets, like cell phones, are useless. They only give answers. What I want is to only ever ask questions; to know what you could never know; really, I’m not interested in how fast we’re going, or how fast we’re going to go. I want to know how it feels. I want to tell you how it feels.

You can’t ever get that from a spec sheet or a Google search. You’d need to look up to understand how blurred your line of sight is, in the passenger seat or otherwise, when you’re going 208 miles per hour.

Which we’re not.

Chris Campanioni driving the 2017 Ferrari GTC4 Lusso in the Apuan Alps. Photo courtesy Ferrari

The winding roads of the Apuan Alps are nearly one-lane in the Ferrari; Fiats and Lancias pull over at the sound of the approaching growl, except for the rare moments you turn a curving bend and slide by a commercial van or utility truck ambling in the opposite direction. The Aerautodromo di Modena this is not, but the GTC4Lusso is better for it, nimbly handling every literal bump of the road with the type of ease and immediacy I’d only ever witnessed in the movies. The thing about wish fulfillment is, Ferrari makes these aspirations of grandeur possible for the everyday driver, and this, more than anything else, is what sets the GTC4Lusso apart from its predecessors, and its competition, or at least the cars that trail behind, or pull over at the sound of that growl, the sort of operatic treble that distinguishes a Ferrari from any other car, my driving companion tells me, as much a part of the brand as the spirit of artistic innovation and adventure. And today we are having both.

It’s no surprise that Ferrari, which picks a different location for each of its media drives, chose Pietrasanta in Versilia to unveil the GTC4Lusso. Tuscany’s city of art has twenty-eight laboratories of marble and nine foundries of bronze, and its streets flourish with actual art objects, including a massive window without a frame that opens up to a long stretch of stone sidewalk into Piazza del Duomo, where we meet in the morning to pick up our keys and find our Ferraris, a dozen parked alongside a majestic monument of Leopoldo the II and the white-marbled gothic spires of La Collegiata, as the village’s red-bricked bell tower chimes, reminding us that time is money but adventure is always priceless.

The night before, after a media presentation and dinner in the Museum of Sculpture and Architecture, a maestro regaled us under the half moon with a Stradivarius from 1728, a machine that creates a distinct acoustic because of its soundboard, itself a type of engine; the varnish, the wood, even the width producing a tonal accent that is inimitable. In that way, it sounded a lot like Ferrari, a company driven by luxury and sport but also by the desire to create something beautiful.

“Decades ago, Ferrari re-defined adventure. Now the automobile company is re-defining how we have adventures”

In Tuscany, at least on this balmy afternoon, all roads seem to lead to Lucca. Despite Ferrari’s pre-programmed GPS-guided route; 146 kilometers through six strategically-placed waypoints toward our eventual return to the Piazza del Duomo, we are circling Lucca, twisting around those mountain turns and idyllic villages as young boys and old men raise their arms up and cheer us on, hoping we’ll give them another growl in our wake. We’d lost the pack of other journalists sometime after Waypoint 1 and Waypoint 2, spotting the Mayor of Pietrasanta in a café’s parking lot, and pulling in to join him for a macchiato, what he referred to as “the unofficial checkpoint”—the first, it turns out, of many.

Decades ago, Ferrari re-defined adventure. Now the automobile company is re-defining how we have adventures. And it has attracted a new generation of drivers. Today, Ferrari drivers are ten years younger, and they are taking sixty percent of their trips with at least four passengers. So Ferrari responded with improved efficiency for CO2 and fuel consumption, and almost-instant responsiveness even at low revs, thanks to the GTC4Lusso’s new thrust vectoring control and its SSC4 Side Slip Control System, the closest thing to a car having its own sentience, with a brain that receives information from onboard sensors and grip estimation, intervening when necessary and adapting the car’s behavior to suit road surfaces and grip conditions of all types.

“This is the Ferrari you can use daily because customers want an everyday Ferrari,” the GT product manager explained to a room full of writers, the night before at the MuSA. In doing so, Ferrari has designed the GTC4Lusso with more storage space, more luggage space, more rear leg space; more space to create more adventures. Smiling toddlers in infant seats, skis and snow boots secured in the trunk, brown bags filled with apples, and carrots, and organic cream in the back seat.

A photo montage from the presentation flashes in my mind as we speed under another sign indicating LUCCA; the Fortezza delle Verrucole and five other points of interest shown in the 10.25-inch high-def touchscreen, all of these places we are supposed to be. Now we’re waiting for a call from Ferrari, from other journalists, from the Mayor, maybe, to tell us where to go, or how to get there.

“It could be worse,” my co-pilot admitted, navigating our ride in Ferrari’s new dual-cockpit passenger display; click anywhere on the map and it automatically becomes selected as a new point of interest on our ongoing route.

I ask him how much worse and he tells me about the time, in Spain, when a wave of writers were detained by Spanish police for speeding past their unmarked cars over the Pyrenees.

And in fact, in the GTC4Lusso, it only gets better, circling Lucca instead of following the rest of the pack toward Barga and the Verrucole Fortress, replacing a guided tour with our self-made journey, the way I think Ferrari always intended.

“Turn left,” the guidance instructs, in its best lady-like British voice. “Then go straight ahead.”

“You know what they call that in Virginia?” my co-pilot asks, turning to me, not really expecting an answer. “They say, ‘Drive straight on, and then keep on getting it.”

We keep getting it. Then we get some more. “I say, ‘Taste everything,’” I return, glancing back at him, the road a stretch of black-grey blur. “‘Then go back for seconds.’”

Eventually, we make it to lunch, as everyone else is preparing to depart. Rolling green hills, brick-walled ruins, more mountains studded with more enchanting villages. A view of the castle that everyone else has already visited, taking the same photos everyone else has. Espresso arrives at the table. Mounds of golden pillows called pasta fritta in a bowl to my left. Cured meats and cheeses from the region to my right. A hulking slice of beef still forthcoming. Unofficial Checkpoint 2, I think, as I take my first sip, glancing at the Mayor who’s now sitting at another table, speaking in Italian, probably relating the incident about the two American journalists who got lost moments in and joined him for a macchiato.

Ferrari GTC4Lusso in blue. Photo courtesy Ferrari

We pull in to the Piazza del Duomo next to only two other Ferrari. Unsurprisingly, we’ve arrived ahead of schedule. The idea of schedules was thrown out the window, or the panoramic low-e glass roof, several hours earlier.

“Don’t worry,” a Ferrari rep tells us, sitting on the stone steps that lead to the cathedral, hands on her knees, keeping time without a watch. “There’s two more right behind you.”

I stand silent for a moment, scanning for the potent purr that heralds a Ferrari, the V12 engine that customers say is their favorite part of the experience. I bend down, reach for a step, take a seat beside her as I think of titles to this story. All Roads Lead To Lucca, Unofficial Checkpoint, Points Of Interest, Lost In Ferrari.

Ferrari creates adventures. The point is to lose yourself.

#Chris Campanioni #Ferrari #cars #driving

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peace-coast-island · 8 years ago

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#ChoicesCreates: “So… what’s the story behind this picture?”

Title: Kintsukuroi (Endless Summer) Rated: T Summary: Kintsukuroi - “To repair with gold”; the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. A few weeks before heading for La Huerta Kieran Akiyama (MC) finds an old music box that belonged to his mother.

Author note: So I decided to make things a bit interesting by making my own music box tune that you can listen to. I was inspired by this comic where you can use your phone to scan a code and it’ll take you to youtube to listen to the music boxes featured which I though was clever and cool.

“How many more boxes do we have left, Kieran?” Grandma asked

“I think that’s the last one.” I took a quick glance at the basement.

“Wait!” Diego said, pulling up a dusty tablecloth covering a table stacked with books. “I think I see one more box!” He reached under and pulled it out, revealing a wooden chest.

“Oh, I was wondering where that went.” Grandma took a cloth to wipe the dust off. “I wasn’t sure if it was here or if I gave it to one of your aunts.”

“What is it?” I asked. The chest looked familiar.

“It was your mother’s” she said. “I think I still have the key taped somewhere…“ She tilted the box over. "There it is!” After wiping more dust off, she pulled off the tape that held a bronze key.

“I wonder what’s inside.” I said, curious.

She put the key in and turned. Inside was a diary, a wooden picture frame, a pair of train tickets, a gold watch, two rings, and an old silk blanket.

Diego picked up the photo. “Was this when you were living in Sapporo?”

“Yes it was.” Grandma said. “I think Kieran was a little less than a year old in there.”

“I’ve never seen this picture before.” I said. My parents died when I was two so I don’t have a lot of memories of them. “Where was this taken?”

“Somewhere in the country, it looks like Mion’s farm.” Grandma said

“I think I remember her. She’s the one with the big garden, right?”

“That’s right. Last I heard, her oldest daughter’s graduating high school this year.” She put the frame to the side. “I’ll clean this up and put it in the living room. Find anything else interesting?”

Diego and I looked at the other stuff. An old diary with a bunch of torn and yellowed pages, some jewelry, a bunch of odds and ends. I skimmed through the diary while Diego looked over my shoulder.

“What does it say?” He asked. “Care to translate?”

“Not today.” I put the book down. “I feel weird looking at my mom’s innermost thoughts, plus I’m kind of rusty in reading Japanese.”

While Diego and Grandma were looking at the other items, I reached into the trunk to take the blanket out when I felt something underneath. I put the blanket aside and examined the ornate black and gold ceramic box.

I opened it to reveal a painted backdrop of a tropical setting that looked peaceful. The spinning figures seemed to tell another story. On a cloud stood a small blue fox-like creature with a snowflake on its paw. At the cliff was a figure that looked like a ballerina who had what looked like a sword in her hand surrounded by vines. Below her was a princess with a torn skirt next to a wrecked boat. She was surrounded by flower petals and was in a fighting stance. Beside her was a prince holding up a shield with a rose emblem on it. The music sounded like it was coming from the seashell next to the two.

(Click to listen)

“That’s an interesting tune.” Diego said. “It looks like some sort of island.”

I picked up the box and examined it closer. “It looks like it’s been broken before.” I pointed to one of the cracks that was painted in gold. “I think there’s a word that means ‘to repair with gold’ that involves fixing something like that.”

“It’s called kintsukuroi,” Grandma said. “The art of repairing pottery with lacquer. Instead of hiding the imperfection, it’s highlighted in gold.” I handed the box to her so she could have a better look. “This is definitely your uncle’s handiwork.”

“So… what’s the story behind this picture?” I asked. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“A shipwreck maybe?” Diego said.

“Your mother got it as a gift from someone she met during a trip. It tells the story of an island called The Garden of Summer.”

“I think I saw her mention that somewhere.” I picked up the diary and scanned the pages until I found the page. “Is this it?”

“There it is.” Grandma said. “Just as she told me a long time ago.”

************

The Lost Siblings of the Garden In a far away land up high in the sky was a castle made of stardust There once lived two princesses and a prince Aisling, the visionary, she who can see beyond what is there Ianthe, a child of spring, who carries flowers everywhere she went And Herrick the protective, the peacemaker

One day a fierce wind blew the castle away Bits of stardust scattered into the night sky Raining colorful lights over the Garden of Summer Down came the siblings, floating, falling Into the Garden they landed

Aisling the clairvoyant felt something was off She told the others to keep their guard up There’s something unsettling about this place An endless summer it seems to have fallen in the Garden A place to escape the imperfections of the outside world

From above lived a fox, a creation of the Garden Banned for his imperfection, hidden away for no one to see He’s seen this story play out far too many times For when the Garden sees their true colors They too will be cast away to the sea

Every day he would watch from the shadows The Garden would test the siblings for their perfection Making everything ideal, a world just for them And yet, they questioned such occurrences What good is a utopia when everything is met with skepticism?

The fox knew the inevitable would come Perfection drilled into their minds All flaws washed away by the Garden’s waters He can picture the siblings driven by the need To eliminate all that is imperfect

But the day never came Instead, the siblings grew more unsettled Why hide the flaws? They wondered Oh how boring it would be If everything was exactly as it was supposed to be

The Garden grew frustrated How could they accept such imperfections! How dare they show off these flaws with such pride! Aisling, whose mind holds too many possibilities Ianthe, who prefers wildflowers over camellias Herrick, one who sees the good in everything no matter what

Something in the Garden snapped You want flaws? I’ll give you flaws! So the vines coiled, the flowers wilted Pieces of a boat washed up on the shore Revealing the fate of the previous inhabitants

So the siblings fought back Aisling with her sword sliced the vines Ianthe scattered the petals of dying flowers into the wind Herrick with his armor prepared for the Garden’s next attack For the first time in centuries, the fox was surprised

You can’t fight forever, the Garden scolds Sooner or later you will be cast out Lost to the deep seas The Garden will be restored to its former glory And you will be wiped from existence

It was a long and hard fought battle The siblings remained true to their word Even when they are tossed into the sea Their presence will linger in the Garden For the image of perfection has begun to crack

Alas the Garden won and away the siblings were cast Dusted in golden stardust hidden under the surface Hidden to everyone except the fox Maybe, the fox thought, maybe one day The endless cycle of perfection would cease

**************

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Diego said

“Do you know where she heard this story?” I asked

“I remember her saying that it was an old tale from the mountains in a village called Ashmeadow. That’s all I know about it. She never spoke much about the trip but she would listen to the music box a lot.”

“Did it always sound like that?” Diego asked. I forgot that it was playing the whole time we were listening to the story.

“Now that I think about it, that tune sounds really familiar.” I said.

“She would sometimes play it to help you sleep. The music always helped calm her down when she was stressed so she figured it had the same effect on you.” Sobo said. “I’m surprised it still sounds the same after all these years.”

“It looks like it went through quite a bit.” I said “If I didn’t know, I would have thought the gold was part of the design.”

“When in doubt, fix it with gold.” Diego said. “Sounds good. Maybe I should apply that to my life.”

“I could use some magic fix-it gold to help me out.” I said. “Anything else hidden in there?” I asked Grandma.

“Unless there’s a secret compartment, I think that’s everything.”

“See?” I told Diego. “I told you that helping me and Grandma clean the basement isn’t so bad.”

“Well,” He said, “I did find a bunch of cool stuff. Plus that story with the music box was interesting.”

“Need help with anything else, Grandma?” I asked.

“You two have already done so much today!” She said. “Unless you want to help me run some errands, you are free to go.”

******

“So….” I said, probably the third time now. “What do you want to do?”

Diego shrugged. “I dunno. What do you want to do?”

“Want to…watch something?”

“What do you want to watch?”

“Umm..I don’t know. Anything you want to watch?”

“I have no idea.”

“You keep saying that.”

“So do you.”

Silence.

“So…” Diego said after a few minutes. Here we go again.

“What?”

“How long are you going to keep that music box open?”

“Wait, what?” I looked at my nightstand to see the box open, the tune chiming, and the figures spinning. I guess that’s why I was feeling so sleepy. “Oh that. I um forgot it was playing.”

“Yeah I just noticed it was playing for a while. Almost forgot it was there too.”

I reached over and closed the box. “Wanna go out somewhere?”

“Sure. Where?” We both got up.

“Um…you choose.”

“How would I know? I don’t live here!”

“Right. We could take the bus and figure out where we want to go from there.”

“Sounds good.”

#ChoicesCreates #choices #playchoices #endless summer #headcanon ramble #Kieran Akiyama #this was a challenge for me to write #mainly because if you seen my past prompts stuff i'm not like a story writer if that makes sense #like i always struggle with dialogue and writing other characters that aren't my own #which is why i don't do it much #also please correct me if i'm wrong about things like the word for grandmother in japanese #i also did some research like basic symbolism and the meaning of the title to make sure i didn't misinterpret the meaning #and i was stuck on a lot of parts #it was hard but i'm kinda happy that i challenged myself like this??#though maybe when i'm less stressed out from school it might be a little better #at least i won't be as stuck with it #and yeah the tune i made is well i'm not very musical so yeah #but it's supposed to be a bit kinda weird #also the story about the music box idk i just made it up as i went making sure it tied in with the title #okay enough muttering i need to sleep now morning class tomorrow

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emiriwrites · 8 years ago

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Victuuri Week Day 1: Firsts

Title: An Unending Chain of Surprises

Rating: T

Summary: He never fails to surprise me. Ever since I first saw his skating, it's been an unending chain of surprises.

Or, in which Yuuri and Victor never fail to stop surprising each other

Notes: wheezes what are titles but happy start of Victuuri week!!! Well, at least on the blog considering it’s technically the halfway point of the event haha. These two have taken over my life and I love them so much.

I mostly went with surprises for the day’s prompt but it also goes along with confessions as well! Hopefully I'll be able to write for the whole event so look forward to it!

Word Count: 3,266

[AO3 Link]

The first surprise comes a decade before they meet.

It all starts when Yuuko puts on one of his performances after skating one day. Takeshi is ignoring them as usual, but he can’t bring himself to tear his eyes from the skater on screen.

“That’s Victor Nikiforov!” Yuuko exclaims. “He won the gold in the Junior World with the highest score in history!”

Victor Nikiforov...Yuuri can’t help but keep his eyes glued to the screen. There’s something about the way he moves, the way he jumps that captivates him. It’s enough of a feeling that causes a gasp of surprise and wonder to escape him.

From then on, Victor becomes an important part of his life. Yuuko and him spend hours copying his routines, they spend their allowances buying posters and magazines with articles about him; one of which causes him to get a poodle of his own which he names after said skater, Vicchan for short.

Yuuko’s not wrong when she says he really likes him. It’s been one surprise after another, and he’s enjoyed it all.

Someday, he’ll skate on the same ice as him. He’s looking forward to it.

The next surprises come hours apart from each other.

The Sochi Grand Prix Final arrives and the results are as expected. Victor wins gold yet again, with Christophe Giacometti getting silver and Jean-Jacques Leroy getting bronze.

As for Yuuri...it’s an utter defeat. Fifteen points behind the other finalists, all due to his usual anxiety, stress eating before and his dog dying.

Fate has not been kind to Katsuki Yuuri, and it only gets worse, or better depending on your sense of humor.

Sure, it’s humiliating to get yelled at by a fourteen year old Russian Punk, who has to stand on his tiptoes to yell at you, but it’s got nothing on how the meetings with his idol are to go.

Newscaster Morooka comes up to him as he and Celestino are leaving, telling him not to give up. After this season, that almost seems to be what he should do. How is he supposed to recover from a defeat like this?

“Yuri.”

He turns only to see Victor talking to the other Yuri. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up, today was already enough of a disappointment, he didn’t need another reminder.

Maybe I was just hoping for too much thinking I could catch up like this...but the chance was there… he sighed to himself. It wasn’t like this was the first time those thoughts had come up, but with his idol right there he couldn’t help but think like that. And said idol seemed to have notice him, turning around and with a smile on his face, “Commemorative photo? Sure!”

Yuuri couldn’t help but gasp and turn around, watching the other way. Sure he had wanted to meet his idol but not after what had happened. Not after a defeat like that, and not especially with the same intentions as a fan. He wanted to stand as equals with him. But that was too much to hope for wasn’t it?

Later that night at the banquet, while Yuuri drank to forget about the previous few hours (and everything else that had happened), Victor was socializing with the other skaters that were there and the sponsors, most of them congratulating him on his victory. He simply smiled and accepted the thanks. It almost seemed expected for him to win, and while it was nice to win, it didn’t seem to mean anything anymore. No matter what happens, no one’s surprised with what he does. He almost didn’t want to come tonight, the banquet’s are all the same.

Though when someone points out how drunk a certain skater looks, maybe it was a good idea he came.

He recognizes him, Katsuki Yuuri. He finished sixth and had walked away from his offer of a photo. His skating wasn’t bad, but he had stumbled a lot, but his step sequences had caught his eye; along with his offer of a photo being rejected.

Well this is certainly unexpected, he thinks with a smile as he takes out his phone. It’s not everyday that someone gets drunk at an event like this. Yuuri stumbles around before his eyes seem to fall on one Yuri Plisetsky (who was nearby on his phone as well taking photos; he might be a bit of an angry kitten but this had to have caught his attention as well) and challenges him to a dance off. Yuri looks almost offended at such a request, but complies anyways. They’re gathering much more attention, he can spy Chris taking photos as well, along with some of the other finalists.

The next couple of events happen in what seems like a blur, one minute the two Yuris are having a dance battle, the next Chris and Yuuri are pole-dancing half naked (apparently Chris had been challenged as well, or had wanted to get in on the action as well, when was there a pole in the banquet hall anyways?) and then Yuuri is latched onto him with Yuri looking mortified and Chris is looking on in amusement. He can catch a string of slurred Japanese coming from the other’s mouth, but the one thing he hears clear is in English as Yuuri jumps at him, a half-drunk and half-heartfelt plea of “Be my coach, Victor!”

Katsuki Yuuri is a man of surprises he can tell, if the forming blush and the gasp he lets out says anything.

It’s months later that the two begin to surprise each other yet again.

Nationals come and while Yuuri fails horribly and moves back to Japan as a result, Victor crushes the Russian Nationals, European and World Championships. Shortly after the end of Worlds, a video goes viral and everyone is telling Victor to watch it; his name was mentioned several times as the video spread over social media.

So one afternoon he watches with Makkachin curled up in his lap said video, and it then that he realizes that what he had thought after the banquet was true.

‘Katsuki Yuuri Tried to Skate Victor’s Free Skate Stay Close to Me’ is the video in question and it is an exact copy of his program. He knew that Yuuri hadn’t gotten to Worlds or the Four Continents, yet here he was, perfectly replicating his program even if he was slightly out of shape. Yet he was good, and this only proved it more. Yuuri had the skills needed, so why wasn’t he at either championship?

It was then and there that he decided he was going to Hasetsu; Yuuri had asked him to be his coach and he couldn’t forget that (plus with how utter enamored he was with him; Chris hadn’t stopped teasing him about that shortly after the banquet when Yuuri hadn’t tried to contact him)

Which had lead to Yuuri being greeted one April morning to snow in the beginning of spring, a very affectionate poodle greeting him when he was to snovel said snow and…

“Victor...why are you here?”

One Victor Nikiforov, naked in his family’s hot springs, declaring that he was to be his coach and help him win the Grand Prix Finals.

If this didn’t say that Victor would keep surprising him, then he wasn’t sure what else would.

Over the course of the next few months, that seemed to have been the understatement of the year.

Shortly after Victor had showed up, Yuri Plisetsky had arrived as well, demanding for Victor to come back to Russia to be his coach and then the Nishigori triplets had proposed a competition between the two Yuris to see which one of them could impress Victor more. Simple it seemed, yet Victor had assigned from him to skate to Eros (and Yuri to Agape) surprising him yet again. A program meant to portray sexual love could he even do that? If he was going to keep Victor as his coach, he was going to have to.

Even with his inspiration for Eros found, it still wouldn’t be easy. Yuri was more technically sound of the two and he was still having trouble nailing his quad salchow even with Yuri’s help. Yet Victor had said that he just needed to have confidence in himself and that was what he was here to do. He needed to win, he wanted to keep Victor around.

It’s a win by both equal parts skill and performance. He was worried that not landing the salchow cleanly would cause him to lose, yet it was enough. Declaring that he’d try to win the Grand Prix Final with Victor as his coach.

Even a week later the shock of winning and having Victor around as his coach hadn’t left. It still felt like a dream in some ways that he was here teaching him, but he was going to take advantage of it for as long as he could.

Even then it’s still a surprise of how little the two know each other. It’s been a month since Victor arrived and sure, they’re learning about each other bit by bit but it’s a sore spot when Victor brings up the topic of lovers, which results in him shutting him out for the rest of the day and brings them to the beach the next day.

It takes a lot of courage to be able to open up about his doubts and shortcomings, and it’s just as much of a surprise to Victor as it is to himself. “You’re not weak Yuuri. No one else thinks that either,” is what Victor tells him and he’s surprised by both that statement and Victor’s offer to be his lover. He just wants Victor to be himself, he doesn’t need him to be anyone else but himself.

And if anything, the head poke is a surprise that he just did that. Maybe he just needed a physical confirmation but this is real and is happening.

The Chugoku-Shikoku-Kyushu Championships come and with more surprises such as the hug before his short program, cheering for Minami, his program having all the original jumps (even if he had gotten a lecture about that afterwards, especially for hitting his face in the barrier), Victor wordlessly signaling for a hug and dodging said hug, but by far the biggest one is during the press conference and announcing his theme.

It’s both equal parts a confession and admission to himself about how he feels about love. It was something he knew that was around him, but never could really realize until Victor had showed up. His family and friends were people he knew that he loved, but it was surprising to figure out that he could count Victor among them and perhaps even more than that. Maybe he was in love with him, but who could really say at this point if that was what this feeling was.

All he wanted at this point was to prove that he could win at the Grand Prix Finals, with Victor at his side.

The Cup of China comes with some of the biggest surprises.

Phichit getting carried away with social media and posting a rather risque photo of him and Victor the day before the Short Program is something he’s come to expect from his best friend and former roommate. It’s more amusing if anything in some ways (other than that people might be thinking they were fooling around the day before)

Coming in first after the Short Program is the real surprise of that day. He was half-expecting Chris to catch up and overtake him but that doesn’t happen. All he knows is that he’s in first going into the Free Skate and that his anxiety and nerves are acting up more than ever. He can’t let them get the better of him now, lest it reflect on Victor as a coach, so he needs to keep it together.

It’s then that he learns just how inexperienced Victor is as a coach. Sure he tries to do everything he can to keep him from having a full blown attack, but even then he goes too far to the point of him crying and having to tell Victor what he needs. He forgives him anyways if the head poke before he goes out to skate says anything.

The crying planted a strange seed of calmness in his body as he begins his program. He feels a lot better after it, and the look on Victor’s face when he had cried causes a smile to creep up on his face. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Victor doesn’t know what to do as his coach when his mental health starts acting up, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t scold his coach a bit before he lands his quad salchow.

It’s when he does his triple flip that the thought pops into his head. What if he changed the last quad to a flip? How would Victor react? Even if he’s exhausted from his lack of sleep, he wants to be able to surprise his coach, to be able to surpass his wildest imagination that gives him the strength to push into a quad flip, even if he goes falling down afterwards.

He finishes and all he can do is scan the rink to see Victor’s reaction. Was he crying, mad? What did he think? He spots him with his hands covering his face before he moves to run over to the kiss and cry. He skate over, his arms out, smile on his face. “Victor! I did great, right?”

One minute Victor is there, a smile on his face and the next he throws himself at Yuuri, arms coming to wrap around and their lips meeting in a kiss. He sees Victor’s eyes flutter shut beforehand but he can only keep his open and before he knows it they’re no longer kissing but on the ice, a hand protecting his head.

He feels Victor move on top of him to look at him and he’s still in disbelief over what had just happened. “This was the only thing I could think of to surprise you more than you’ve surprised me.” So he had managed to surprise him with that.

“Really?” Is all he can manage out, but by the look in Victor’s eye he knows he’s being serious. Even managing to get silver after his performance isn’t enough to out do the biggest surprise he’s had in a lifetime it seems.

Rostelecom brings along new surprises, but not as big as the ones from before.

It’s surprising how fast they fall into simple actions that speak about their relationship, Yuuri muses to himself as Victor ties up his laces before it’s his turn to skate. He pulls at Victor’s tie to get his attention before his Short Program, a reminder of what he said before at China. It’s embarrassing but it works and he’s surprised he had the confidence to do that. Then again, he’s changed a lot in the past several months.

Victor kisses his skate at the kiss and cry after his score was announced and he can’t help but let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a giggle of amusement. Oh how he’d never fall to surprise him.

So when Mari calls to say that Makkachin is being hospitalized, it takes no time for him to tell Victor to go back to Japan. He doesn’t want him to go through what happened to him.

Getting to the Grand Prix Final by the skin of his teeth is a surprise in some ways, considering how his Free Skate had gone beforehand. But he’s going, and he’s going to prove himself there this year; he’ll make up for last year. Yurio surprises him with the katsudon piroshkis (and remembering his birthday as well) but the better one is waiting back home at the airport.

He doesn’t expect anyone to be waiting for him considering when he gets back to Japan, but that familiar bark tells him who is waiting for him. Yuuri doesn’t take his eyes off of him for a second as they’re running and as soon as they’re in each other's arms, all he knows is that he doesn’t want to be apart from Victor again.

The Grand Prix Final is here, and with it is the most important surprises that they’ll remember for as long as they can.

Barcelona is beautiful and Yuuri can’t help but ask for Victor to take him sightseeing after practice wraps up. They haven’t really had time for themselves with practicing and the like, so it’s a nice change of pace (even if he has another reason for wanting to go sightseeing; there’s something he has to find while they’re out).

That he does, finding a jewelry shop and even while trying to justify to himself what he was doing, he can’t help it. He loves Victor so much and wants to be with him for the rest of his life if possible and even if he calls it a good luck charm, there’s evidence that it means something more than that. Even standing in front of a church with a choir singing and slipping the newly purchased ring onto Victor’s finger, there’s no other explanation for what is happening. It takes almost all of his willpower to not jump at him to kiss him as he feels Victor take his hand and slips a ring onto his hand as well. It’s the best surprise from him, in the years that he’s known him.

Then he finds out about the banquet from last year and wants to die in the restaurant. He knew he could lose control when he got drunk but still. Though he forgets about that when the other finalists notice the rings and he’s surprised when Victor casually announces their engagement. He’s not wrong but he just...wasn’t expecting it.

The next few days are a blur looking back on it. All that mattered was the joy and thrill of performing his best and breaking Victor’s record for Free Skating (considering what had happened the day before and what he had said in the hotel room that night), Victor announcing that he was coming back for another season and staying on as his coach for the next season.

Sure, he might have only gotten silver but everything else that had happened made it feel like a gold one and it was perfect.

“Move in with me.”

It was the casual way he said it that it caught Yuuri off guard.

“What?”

“When I go back to Russia, I want you to move in with me Yuuri. Is...is that okay?”

Always, always this man had managed to surprise him, and he was able to do the same in return but this...this felt more important than the other ones. If he needed more of a confirmation that Victor loved him, then this was it, more than the kiss back in China, more than their reunion at the airport and even more than them exchanging rings in Barcelona.

“It’s...it’s more than okay Victor, I’d love that.”

The look on Victor’s face, much like the one from when he’d asked for him to stay with him for another season said it all. And that was enough.

All he could hope was that Victor wouldn’t stop surprising him, and he wouldn’t stop surprising Victor. After all, they’d been doing it to each other since they meet.

#yuri on ice #victuuriweek #victuuri #victuri #viktuuri #vikturi #yuri katsuki #victor nikiforov

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