#but there ya go bleep i answered them all

[alanaaii]

I miss you.☆

!plugeren misses his girl-a lot.

nsfw towards the end.

Wiping the drool off of your the corner of your puffy lips, you get woken up from your dream by the sound of your phone. Perfectly placed next to you for your alarm—but this wasn’t your alarm going off. Before your eyes can see the screen clearly, you were only able to make out the letter R with the color red. It could only be one person. The only person who would EVER call you on a random wednesday night. Your man eren. Calling you at 2 in the morning and disturbing your beauty sleep. After 3 rings, you finally answered the phone.“hello?” You mumble-still trying to wake up fully. Wondering why was he calling you at this time of the night.

It took a minute, but you could recognize the sound of music in his background along with wind blowing. Was he in a car? “You sleep?”

You exhale into the phone unknowingly. “It is 2am, what the fuck do you think i’m doing?”

Clearly annoyed that he snatched you from your peaceful sleep. “watch your mouth. i’m on my way ‘n put something on”. Snapping completely from your sleepy state, you register the words that you hear and grab your phone. “No the he-“ bleep.

Eren hung up the phone. Sitting up, looking at your phone you shaking your head and start getting ready.

Taking your bonnet off, you let your hair down and put on some grey tights along with a random white shirt you had in the corner of your room, you threw the random fit on but it was still cute. You only realized you were taking your sweet time when you heard your phone ringing again but this time it was a facetime call. Instantly picking up you were greeted with his pearly white smile along with his tattoo that went from his neck to his arm was partially exposed from the black t-shirt he had on as he whipped the steering wheel. Your insides were burning.

“I’m outside ”

“okay”

The call was quick but it left your heart pounding. Why did he want to see you? All of your questions were answered when you got to his car. Hopping into the passenger seat, your favorite tatted arm grabbed your neck. The warmth of his hand could’ve made you bust right there. He pressed his lips onto your glossed ones. To deepen the kiss, his slick warm tongue passed through your lips and into your mouth.

The kiss was long and nasty. The slippery tongues tackling each other for dominance. As you pulled away, the only thing connecting the two of you was his arm wrapped around your neck. which you didn’t mind at all.

“i missed you mama, why don’t you call me no more?”

The eye contact was intense. It was as if he was hungry and you were his next meal. You could feel the heat between your legs rise. oh the things he do to you without even trying.

“i’ve been busy with school and work, it’s hard juggling both”

Eren let out an annoyed huff. Openly annoyed with your response he releases his hand from his grasp around your neck.

“i told you i got your bills n shit, i just want you with me” The corners of your lips rise up as you take in his offer. “ren i don’t want you to spend all ya money on me”

“but i want to” His hand makes its way to your thighs, squeezing them. He knew that was your weak spot. “rennn” You practically whined. begging him to stop teasing you.

“c'mere” With his free hand he pat his lap, hinting for you to sit in the driver side.

Your brain was no longer in control. You were thinking with your coochie.

Putting your bag to the side you got up and sat on him. Your thighs squished on either sides of him. As you rest your butt on him, you feel a bulge between your legs. You take a glimpse at his pants and back up at him. He took this as his chance to move his face to your neck. Gently, he began to litter your neck with his plush soft lips getting you all flustered. Your mouth fell open with a light moan escaping from your lips.

Without even thinking, your body began to move on its own. Grinding your hips onto him to ease the aching heat between your legs.

“take these off..” Eren said as his attention trailed to your waist band tugging on it and letting it snap back onto you. Wincing at the pain, it didn’t stop you from basically jumping out of your pants. He unzipped his pants just enough for his dick to spring out and flop onto your entrance. Your heart was beating out of your chest and eren could feel it. “calm down mama, you know ima take care of you” His voice was low and raspy but like music to your ears. Pressing your lips onto his, you could feel his hand snake its way to your exposed waist. His fingers dug into your skin as he pushed you down onto him. Gripping onto his arm for support as you adjusted to his length. Noticing the tat he got for you. “y/n” with different swirling designs. He really loved you.

When you were finally adjusted, you pull away from the kiss and started to buck your hips onto him. Moans and grunts from you and eren filled his car. The tints made it extremely dark but that was the least of your worries your mind was turning into mush and was slowly losing your grip on him. Eren picked up where you left off and thrusted into you. “Eren wait!” The way his dick disappeared into was like magic. “shut up and take this dick”. Hearing him be mean to you made you bite your lip.

Your slick completely coating his dick and wetting his pants but he paid no attention to that. With one of his hands, he moved his thumb to your clit and did circles with the pace he knew drove you crazy. The feeling of pure bliss filling you up but a familiar feeling in your gut made you snap back to reality. Beginning to ride him to catch your own high. The build up was intense but not more intense than your release. Whining out “ren”’s over and over again as you came. “let it alll out mhm” he grunted. Talking you through your orgasm but that didn’t stop him from catching his own. Still fucking into you, he clutched his jaw and held onto your waist. All you could do was look at him and sob. Your eyes filling with tears that are threatening to fall.

You suddenly feel warmth shoot inside of you followed by a low “fuck”. Erens lips magnetically found their way to yours as he groaned into your mouth. Filling you like a twinkie.

Once both of you came down, he left himself inside of you as you laid your tired head onto him. The few minutes of silence was abruptly interrupted. “you gon’ quit that job fa me?” You lift your head and rubbed your eyes. “mhm"

Likes, reblogs and follows are always appreciated! ♡

[pitchshitterarchiver]

Black velvet interview with J.S Clayden from Pitchshifter.

PITCHSHIFTER

(JS Clayden Questionnaire - Taken From Black Velvet 20 - May 99)

By Shari Black Velvet

When JS Clayden sang ‘I must be some kind of genius’, he was not too far wrong. www.pitchshifter.com is an immaculate piece of artwork in one of its noisiest forms. It rips, cuts, tears, bleeps, bops, blares and generally twirls you around in circles leaving you dizzy and decidedly off-balance afterwards. JS Clayden, his brother Mark, plus Johnny Carter, D Walters and Jim Davies are one of the most inventive quintets in rock today. Let’s find out more... courtesy of an email questionnaire which JSC was kind enough to fill in.

J = Js clayden

BV = black velvet interviewer

Black Velvet : What has been the highlight of your career so far?

JS Clayden: Meeting Jello Biafra, selling out the Astoria, playing with Black Sabbath, playing Reading Festival to a full crowd, going to Troma Films offices, not having to get a real job for the last five years.

BV: If you were a contestant on Mastermind, which subject (excluding The Life & Times Of Pitchshifter), would you most like to answer questions on?

J: Punk rock/jazz/art.

BV: How was your UK tour back in February? Do any gigs stick out? Which and why?

J: The UK tour was amazing. We sold out about five venues which was a nice surprise. Our fans in the UK have been very patient while we have been touring the world in '98. It was great to get back home and play to a very appreciative crowd. The London gig was obviously awesome, as there were 2250 nutters up for a mad night out.

BV: Which has been your favourite tour to date and why?

J: Personally I loved the American tour with Gravity Kills, Junkie XL and Cold. It was summer, we had a great tour bus, the tour was 3 months long and we all got along really well. I met a lot of really cool people that I still correspond with over the net and it was just one of those Summers, ya know? Japan was also amazing, but I think America had it.

BV: What would be your dream gig? Where? When? Supported by whom?

J: My dream gig? Dead Kennedys, Big Black, Plug, The Walking Seeds, DJ Shadow, Sex Pistols, Jeff Mills, The Specials, Everclear, The Ruts, Shellac and Girls Against Boys.

BV: Are you looking forward to the 'Big Day Out'? How do you think it will be?

J: We are all looking forward to it. The Ozzfest at the same place was amazing and the Big Day Out will be just as cool I'm sure. I like the fact that crowds get so see different facets of harder edged music rather than just a day of ‘heavy metal’. We'll have to wait and see, I guess. Hopefully I can get in the crowd again and meet the folks down front.

BV: What do you think of Earache's re-issue of 'Infotainment?'?

J: I think for someone who doesn't already own the release it is a great package. And for those who already do, well you get the 3 mixes and all the videos for free if you have a computer. Although the band had nothing to do with the re-release it is quite tastefully done and it looks pretty good. The CD-Rom portion is comprehensible and easy to use.

BV: Fanzines - your thoughts on them...

J: They get to review stuff commercial mags are too afraid to, or can't sell. I like fanzines. Pitchshifter have always featured well in zines. Good luck to them all!

BV: Is there such a thing as a typical Pitchshifter fan?

J: I don't think so. Our public is very cross-genre. I would hope that one thing all our fans have in common is their willingness to be open-minded. We try and give our fans every opportunity to experience new things when we can. We take new bands on tour with us, we talk about what affects us on our website, we get interesting remixes done etc.

BV: You're admired as a band by all sorts. Who would you say is your most famous fan? How do you feel knowing that you might have fans who are also into bands ranging from Bon Jovi to 3 Colours Red to Napalm Death?

J: I was out with 3CR last night! They played Rock City and we had a party afterwards (ouch!) (S: I know, I was there). I am always flattered that people have even heard of the band. We never get any radio play or major press. It's through the small indie stations and fanzines and mags like Metal Hammer and Kerrang! and Terrorizer and our website that people know what we are up to. Our most famous fan? The aliens that left the crop circle in the shape of our eye logo!

BV: Since the Seagram merger/Universal Group takeover, have you found any major changes occurring that involve Pitchshifter? How do you think, as a band, this change will affect you?

J: I can't discuss that element of our deal right now. I can assure you that the new LP is on its way however.

BV: The tour diary on your web site is very interesting and enjoyable to read. When is the release of the book and will it be available worldwide?

J: When I collate it and find a publisher! I am actually in the process of writing a novel based on the first tour diary I did in 1994. It won't be finished for some time though. I am actually far more comfortable writing prose instead of music.

BV: Why did you start writing a tour diary in the first place? Do you keep a regular diary? When did you first start keeping a diary?

J: I have the worst memory. I started writing a tour diary to try and remember what the hell I've been doing for the last 5 years. It was just for me. I think being able to see what you think on paper on the screen also acts as a cathartic catalyst for what you think. You should try it.

BV: You've been touring pretty much constantly for ages. How do you keep things fresh and fun on the road?

J: Satanism, child slavery, sex before marriage, crack cocaine, AC/DC records and Sony playstations. No, seriously - we are having so much fun playing music that we just enjoy it every night. We just literally goof around with each other on stage. Watch us and you'll see us laughing as we stage dive. It's a great life style and it's a shame it can't last for ever. The plethora of laptops, digital cameras and samplers that travel with us keep us on our toes too.

BV: How would you like to see Pitchshifter in the 21st century?

J: Madder, balder, fatter, richer, more irreverent, more cynical.

BV: You once said "The music that spoke to us unemployed kids on sh**ty estates in the North of England was punk music... It was angry and we were angry...". Are you still angry now? What makes you angry?

J: Take a look outside your door... GM foods, police brutality, racism, us f**king the 3rd world over, bulls**t politics, right wing lunatics, pro-life extremists, restrictive religions... Want me to go on?

BV: Is there any subject you'd really like to write a song about that you haven't so far?

J: I think we should write a love song. Now that would be funny.

BV: You come up with all sorts of samples. Where do you get your ideas from for them? Have you thought of anything you'd already like to sample for the next album? Anything really weird?

J: We just go to the studio and sample what we like. I think there will be some more back tracking on this LP. We tried dog whistles but they are outside the audio range of a CD. I have sampled my answer phone messages, my flatmate talking drunk, a woman sleep talking and the sampler feeding back through my computer - I'm sure other stuff will ensue.

BV: If you could introduce three new conditions/regulations into today's society, what would you like to introduce?

J: 1 - Radio stations would be forced at gun point to play wide variety of music and the DJ is only allowed to talk if she/he is telling you the name of the record. 2 - Politicians are not allowed to own ANY businesses and any that are caught lying have to parade naked with a dunce hat around Trafalgar Square for 30 minutes while the populous get to throw rotting vegetable matter at them. 3 - Big business is never allowed to regulate itself, no more BSE scenarios please.

BV: Similarly, you like to get people to question what's going on and you hope to open their eyes by writing and/or talking about your beliefs. What do you currently think the masses should open their eyes to?

J: The continual stream of bulls**t in the news and the government line. The classics from Tony Bore: 1 - "We will not support actions that will endanger the lives of people in minority communities abroad". So what does he do? Grants MORE weapons licences to countries like Indonesia who we know for a fact will use to kill people in East Timore. 2 - "GM foods are safe". Yeah, just like BSE baby. We have no idea what the repercussions of altering food might be until 10 years down the line when they say "Oops, actually they kill you". Just like the pill, just like BSE.

BV: When you originally set up the band, and when you bring new members in (i.e. when Jim began working with the band), do things such as whether the guy is a vegetarian, into Greenpeace and all the other same political and social beliefs as you take up as much a role as whether he's a good musician?

J: They are not mandates but they are important. Jim is a veggie and he believes in a lot of things that we think are important anyway and so all is well. We don't care if people eat meat. It's up to the individual. We don't do it and it works for us and we will be happy to explain why to you. But if you don't want to know then we aren't going to shove it down your throat. It's about education not indoctrination.

BV: Describe the other members of the band.

J: Drinky, mumbly, randy, and happy (does that make me snow white?).

BV: Sum up Pitchshifter in ten words or less.

J: Degenerate low life, mal-adjusted freaks.

BV: Anything else you'd like to add?

J: Go to http://www.pitchshifter.com now and see what's up!

Yep, do as the man says.

[1d-discourseoftheday]

Sat 9 Jan ‘21

LP Show Act 4, the Final show was today! Liam told us over and over it was gonna be a long event today but honestly it flew by? It was so good! The show opened right into an absolutely blistering 1D set and just kept going strong from there. The little commentary he had in the first part was to say again that he has a different understanding of the 1D songs then he did when younger and about how when he's doing those songs he gets flashbacks of being onstage with the band and where he'd be and stuff. Only You & I gets a different treatment, with a cute title card intro about the hard year, thanking us for providing a livlihood for his team by supporting the shows through the past year and saying “we can do this together... You & I”, plus it has footage of fans lip syncing along spliced in during the chorus. The highlight there though is when Liam hit that high note, and thanks to his recent comments I think we all know he was thinking about Zayn when he did; way TMI but that's Liam for ya! ANYWAY there's an intermission and then the hits just keep on coming, including Nina Nesbitt coming out to do Rita Ora's part in For You, plus an interlude where they chat and play some of her tiktok content (but with a lot of bleeping-- it WAS a family show!)

I have been a big fan of his chaotic format in the previous streams, with all the interaction and mixing it up with different parts- I feel like it both played to his strengths and was perfect for 2020 and I wouldn't have traded it- but this was very cool for the big last show and it felt like... more serious? It was straightfowardly just Liam and the music and the songs- TBH it felt very influenced by Louis' stream, with the format and also the lighting and set design. The sets were prerecorded, but aren't really edited; he's playing the songs live and back to back, just not TODAY. Plus with the prerecorded version we got Liam joining in with us (and his sisters) to also post about how great the songs were as they aired and interact with fans a bunch, so that was lovely. Anyway it's awesome to get these versions of Liam's songs (I would say the best ever version of some of his solo stuff honestly), especially as it seems like this will be the last time we hear some of them as he moves on to new things- as he says at the end of the stream, “I'm gonna take a little bit of time out right now but next time you see me I'll be singing some brand new music.” Fans hoping for new music TODAY were disappointed but he's gotta go write the songs first! Something to look forward to! He finishes it all on one last high note: “Thank you. Here's to the future.”

But that's not quite all the Liam! Before the big event, he did a live from home, with Maya and Winston the puppy present. He upset some by saying that Zayn wasn't in the 1D chat “because he isn't in 1D”, I mean...yes? He quit? It is what it is guys. Well, I'll also upset others by saying that Maya was very funny! I agree with Liam that her answer to his question- what kind of trend he should start about fans saying looks like Jesus- being “LPhasRisen” is, in fact, hilarious, and I also agree with Liam about Zayn's videos-- “he goes to town on the videos doesn't he?” (and that Vibez is lovely.)

Zayn meanwhile is doing Vibez promo and it continues to be a TREAT. Today we got late night instagram “answering” questions over a backdrop of Homer Simpson decked out in Nobody Is Listening gear, GOOD TIMES. Do you ride a horse often, “eh what?!” do you celebrate, “in general? or for specific reasons?” fave song “the next single” tell us more about it? “yeah it's me ft me” but does he really love yoga or was that just snark? The world may never know.

Also online, Louis! He tweeted during Liam's show “Hope everyone's doing alright! Stay safe”- but was he watching the stream? “Of course!!”

And the JHOlivia love triangle tabloid soap opera continues-- if they're trying to get people talking about Jason Sudeikis it's working (I had to bite the bullet and look up how to spell his name! It's that bad!); unfortunately for him despite the tabloid reports everywhere you look that suggest that he was the victim of H and O 'becoming close' before he and Olivia's breakup (which is weird given that until like yesterday we'd been told for months that O and J broke up at the beginning of 2020 and he never saw fit to correct that), what rumors are saying is that in fact he really did cheat (as opposed to her pretend thing). So why would Olivia sign on to this charade to make him look good at her expense? Who knows man but if the players' priority is publicity there's no denying that's working.

Anyway Niall posted from his bike ride, and Trump's deletion meant everyone went up a notch in the twitter “most followed” rankings, with Niall having most out of our five and the only account coming between Harry and Louis being Real Madrid (football club) which is all right I guess, I feel like they're probably good with that.

[thedepthsoffandomminds]

Collidescope hearts part 15

Master list

Johnny has you in the back of his car, keeping you away from the commotion of police and spectator's. Sam arrived with her dad and she came running over to you, hugging you.

Her phone rang and she pulled it out. It was the group chat.

Mitch: just tried Tory at work, she didn't go in tonight.

Devon: this isn't good.

Miguel: we're fucked.

Demetri: well only ex CKs are

...

Demetri: sorry

Yas: you guys all need to stay inside.

Sam went and spoke to Johnny. You stayed where you were clutching a small box in your hand.

Your phone bleeped, the ring tone that was only for Eli. With a shaking hand you pull it out. It was a picture message. Eli was tied to a chair between another man and Tory. You could only see the other man's shoulder so you couldn't be sure who it was. Eli's eyes were closed, one of them already swelling and blood drying on his skin. Fresh tears filled your eyes.

"Johnny." You called out to him and you stood from the seat. Johnny was stood with Danny and a police officer, he rushed over to you and took your phone. His jaw clenched, handing it across to the policewoman. His arm went round you.

"Oh, I found this on the floor in the office." You hold up the small box.

"Thats not mine." Johnny said, sadness doubling in his chest.

"Oh, Miguel said that you were going to..."

"Mine's at the apartment, I think that's-" he cut himself off as your eyes met his. "Hey look at y/n he's going to be okay, we'll get him back." You nod trying to hold back fresh tears.

Danny shook the policewoman's hand before coming over to you, handing your phone back to you.

"Hey Sam's going to drive your car back home, you can come with me." You nod again. Johnny and Danny talked for a moment before he took you over to his car and helped you into the passenger seat.

"They've asked you to go down to the station tomorrow so they can take your statement. I'll go with you if you want me to." Danny explained on the journey home. You didn't say much, just nodded and agreed with him.

Once home you walked silent to the guest house, still holding the tiny box in your hand. Sam came in behind you.

"Shall I make us a tea?"she asked

"If you want." You say sliding onto the couch.

"This is a stupid question, but are you okay?" Sam sat across from you.

"I'm angry, all I can do is sit here and wait, while they do who knows what to Eli."

"You're pregnant y/n even if we knew where he was you couldn't do anything. Hawk will always want you and the baby safe over him."

"I know. I just wish I could do something."

"If the police can't find him we will." Danny was standing at the door. "Let me see that picture again." You hand over your phone, he studies it, looks at the walls behind them, the floor.

Sam's phone rang, she went outside to answer it. You watch as she listens, she nods then remembers she can't be seen and says okay. Your friend takes a long breath and steps back into your home.

"That was Miguel, they got Johnny. He heard a fight happen inside the apartment when he got there some guy beat the crap out of him and Johnny was gone."

Danny stormed out of the guest house in to his small dojo and started kicking stuff. You wanted to do the same.

Part 16

@lulubutton34 @carliim @buckysdemonsimp @space-helicopter @slytherinroyalty16 @shotosgirl @hannyhoe @torynichcls @hurricanerex666 @sabrinablack1 @harulindao @sarcastically-defensive17 @peppamultifanimagines @1-fuzzy-squirrels

[alolowrites]

Everyone’s Got a Sweet Tooth!

Summary: Bakugou hates sweets. You don’t think this is true and begin a mission to discover his favorite candy. After all, you are the brilliant Candy Master who won’t stop until Bakugou’s sweet tooth is satisfied.

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! I’m so glad I was finally able to write a full fic for Bakugou; it’s been so long. Originally, this was supposed to be for the bingo event, but had trouble fleshing out the story’s direction. I really wanted to write this story since the plot was hilarious to me, idk why. 

Please enjoy!

10.30.21 UPDATE: HI!!!!! I went back and edited the heck out of this baby since it’s my favorite Bakugou story I’ve written. I hope it is now decent lmao. Happy Halloween!! 

Word Count: 2.4K+

“Katsuki, what is the meaning of all this?!”

“The hell are you talkin’ bout?”

“This!” 

You marched with purpose and plopped down on the couch where he sat. Bakugou remained unfazed, clicking on the remote control. He mindlessly surfed through the channels with an attention span of an HR recruiter combing through a mountain pile of resumes. Stupid sitcoms, fake ass “reality” tv shows, QVC advertising their products like it's Black Friday all day, every day. Bakugou frowned—why does he pay so much for these useless channels? 

His eyes teared away from the screen as the phone waved frantically on his left. 

You huffed. “According to Maximus Heroes, you—and I quote—‘bleeping hate sweets!’”

Bakugou clicked his tongue. “Damn idiots censored my words.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Then what is?”

“That you hate sweets!” 

You viciously smacked a pillow at him, ignoring his yells. Bakugou snatched the weapon with a growl. For a soft pillow, it felt like a firm foam roller. You stood up and paced around, arms flailing in the air. 

“How can my boyfriend say such a thing?!” You pointed at your signature black top hat. “Do you know who I am? I’m the lovable Candy Master, CEO of the Candy Basket Factory!” 

Bakugou shrugged. “So?”

“So, you can’t say you hate sweets!” You gripped your chest, sniffling a bit. “I feel as though I’ve been betrayed.”

“Would you sit your ass down?” 

Bakugou tossed the pillow at you and crossed his arm; he was too tired to deal with this nonsense. Somehow the QVC channel looked more appealing now. You begrudgingly plopped on the couch, a small pout growing on your face. Bakugou snuck a glance and sighed, tossing the remote aside. 

“Are you seriously so upset about this?” Instant regret flooded through his mind as he remembered that ridiculous day. “It was a freakin’ answer to a stupid question in a stupid celebrity article.” 

“…maybe…”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. You took off your signature hat and examined it; the hat was firm yet soft and had three peppermint candies artistically attached like a beautiful brooch. You moped silently for an eternity until an exciting idea rushed into your mind. Bakugou jumped as you squealed, his mouth ready for snarl, but you beat him to the punch. 

“I got it!” Two hands eagerly cupped his sharp cheeks, your whimsical eyes meeting his feral ones. They did nothing to damper your beaming smile. “You don’t hate sweets; you just haven’t found your favorite candy!”

Bakugou grabbed your wrist yet didn’t pull them away. Another giggle rang throughout the living room as you shot up from the sofa. A specific look crossed your face—one that both irked and frightened Bakugou to no end; he was through dealing with your shenanigans. 

“Whatever you’re thinkin’ about, the answer is no!”

“Too late! The mind is churning,” you piped, taking a cheerful step toward the doorway. Spinning on your heel, you gave a hat tip to Bakugou and declared, “I won’t rest until that sweet tooth of yours is satisfied!” 

Yup, it was too late. Bakugou had no choice but to go along with this dumb idea. Closing his eyes, he slammed a pillow over his face and screamed.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Ground Zero’s hero agency was buzzing with life. Phones rang off the hook, yet all were answered to avoid the voicemail machine. Interns carried endless stacks of papers, their dying arms begging for relief and fingers stinging from brutal paper cuts. The afternoon shift sidekicks clocked in their arrival while the morning ones yawned out the door.

Everything ran like a well-oiled machine, just how Bakugou liked it. He took great pride in this, hiring only the best and brightest. However, none of them held a candle against him—the number two pro hero. Unfortunately, being a prominent hero brought lots of reports he needed to sign.

And he was not excited about this.

“Um, sir?”

“Damnit, Small Head,” Bakugou growled, halting his pen’s movement. Fiery eyes glared at the man peeking around the ajar door. “If you bring me another paper to sign, I will stab this pen in your damn eye!”

“I-I assure you that I bring no reports, sir!” Kioshi, Bakugou’s personal assistant, waddled inside the office, fixing the tie that was strangling his neck. He slid a peculiar package toward his boss and bowed his head. “You have a special delivery from the Candy Master.”  

Bakugou scrunched his eyebrows. On his desk was a white box with an orange ribbon wrapped neatly in the upper left corner. A tiny card sat underneath it, and with closer inspection, had his first name written across in gold letters. Bakugou shooed Kioshi away, waiting to hear the door close to ensure absolute privacy.

At first, Bakugou had a mini stare-down with the gift. When it didn’t burst into flames, he sucked his breath and snatched the card. Bakugou turned it around to read the following message:

Everyone knows you got a sour attitude, but only I get to see that sweet side of yours. Figured these treats might do the trick. I made them just for you!

Enjoy,

C.M

P.S. These are an ~exclusive~ batch from my top-secret collection! So hush-hush!

Bakugou snorted at your writing, tossing the card aside and opening the box. His eyes narrowed at the vibrant gumdrops nestled above the black tissue paper. White sugar lightly coated the green and orange candies, each twinkling under the natural light that shined through his large window. A smirk curled on his lips; the whole package reflected his hero costume.

“Let’s see how good these are.”

Bakugou ate the green gumdrop. It was chewy and sour, the lime flavor making him twitch a bit. The sweetness kicked in ten seconds later. Bakugou tried the orange gumdrop next, and the acid was strong too but enjoyable. He soon devoured the entire box in one sitting.

Once that was done, he marched out of the office to start his daily patrol. It didn’t take long for a stupid thug to cross his path. Bakugou slammed him against the concrete wall, hauling him up with just one hand. The man trembled in fear but stopped squirming and cocked his head to the side, dumbfounded. 

Bakugou growled. “What the hell are you looking at?”

“Your tongue...it got weird colors, man.”

“Eh? The fuck are you talking ‘bout?” 

Bakugou peeked at his reflection on the store’s window. He recoiled when he saw the horrible swirls of green and orange covering his tongue. A vicious scowl crossed Bakugou’s face, his iron grip tightening around the thug’s collar. The guy’s high-pitched yelps fell on deaf ears. 

“Fuckin’ gumdrops!”

They were crossed off the list.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

“I don’t want it.”

“But, sir, the gift—”

“I know who it’s from, and I’m telling you no.”

“Sir,” Kioshi gripped the massive, cherry red treat in his hand. A black ribbon with long strings almost reached the floor. The assistant sighed. “It’s just a lollipop.”

“Do I look like a fuckin’ baby to ya?” Bakugou crossed his arms, refusing to budge on his childish decision. The irony made Kioshi roll his eyes mentally. “Give it away or something. Now get out.”

“Yes, sir…”

Lollipops were crossed off the list.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Another day, another gift Bakugou received from you.

They came sporadically and kept the hero on his toes. He never understood why you sent the gifts directly to his office; you both lived in the same apartment for crying out loud! Worst of all, he could never get a single hint on what candy he would receive next. Every time he asked—or more accurately, demanded—you shot him a coy smile and purred, “Ah, ah, ah! It’s a surprise!”

Bakugou wanted to rip his eyeballs out.

However, he reluctantly played along with your stupid game. Whenever Kioshi entered his office, Bakugou masked his slight interest with the usual scowl. If the assistant didn’t bring candy, then Bakugou blamed him for interrupting his private time. The anger was worse if Kioshi brought more reports for him to sign.

Kioshi was thankful for the days when a new candy gift arrived.

Unfortunately, the last three gifts were complete failures. The first was the strawberry licorice, which dangled in Bakugou’s hand. He took a few bites and complained that he was eating a rubber wheel. Next was a bag of colorful gummy worms. Bakugou shoved a couple in his mouth and swore he felt one of them move on its own. Finally, there was the lemon green jawbreaker; it was the size of a baseball. One look and Bakugou shouted over the phone: “You tryna give me dentures?!”

All three candies were crossed off the list. Still, you didn’t give up and sent another gift to Bakugou. He read the simple message on the card:

Chew and blow to your heart’s content, babe!

Love,

C.M

P.S. I promise this won’t change the color on your tongue, haha!

Bakugou opened the sleek, rectangular box and found a bubble gum packet inside; there were three thin pieces. He slipped one in his mouth, surprisingly pleased with the bold raspberry flavor hitting his taste buds. Bakugou skimmed the card again and did as instructed—he chewed.

Typically, an ordinary bubble gum would lose its flavor after five minutes. But the flavor in your gum only got juicier; it encouraged Bakugou to continue chewing. He then blew a tiny bubble before popping it in his mouth. Not bad, he thought as another bubble expanded in front of him. His chews became more aggressive, and the bubbles more prominent than the previous ones. Stupidly, he puffed out a massive bubble, and it grew…

…and grew…and grew until there was a loud pop.

Bakugou’s roars shook the entire building, spilling cold tea all over Kioshi’s shirt. 

Bubble gum was crossed off the list.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Everything was going well down at the Candy Basket Factory. People lined up outside for the magical tours that ran every hour. Kids bounced off the walls as if they were on a sugar rush while their parents felt a migraine pounding on their heads. Inside the factory, the ceilings were high, and the walls were vibrant like the sun. Laughter rang from every corner as employees chit-chatted about their daily lives; they were relaxed yet efficiently worked to the same drumbeat.

A soft smile crept on your face. You were glad everyone was happy; it was the driving force behind your factory’s joyful spirit. Eventually, that spirit would leave these doors and touch billions of people’s hearts with your precious candies.

Just as you closed your eyes, someone barged into your office and barked your name. You chuckled, spinning the leather chair around to meet a furious Bakugou. His nostrils flared like a bull, and his menacing eyes looked ready to kill. However, the gum’s blobs stuck on his porcupine blonde hair squashed the pro hero’s intimidating aura.

“You—”

“—I’m so sorry, boss!” Nozomi panted into the room, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. “I tried stopping him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“It’s quite alright, Zomi!” You chirped without breaking Bakugou’s intense eye contact. “I can handle him. Please let everyone know I’ll be busy with an important meeting.”

Nozomi bowed and closed the door behind her. Bakugou wasted no time complaining, his hands slamming on your desk. 

“Quit sending me your cavity-infested garbage! I’ve had it with this fuckin’ game.”

“Oh, come on, babe!” You rolled forward and rested your chin on your gloved hand palm. “Can’t I just send my dashing boyfriend some sweet gifts? Get it!” You jokingly slapped his forearm. “Because candies are sweet? Man, I crack myself up at times…”

“You’re insufferable.”  

You winked at him. “But that’s what you love about me!”

Bakugou gritted his teeth and looked away. A light blush tainted his cheeks; he hated how right you were. You walked around the desk and stood beside him, wiping off the fairy sugar dust on his shirt. He probably barged through the sample stand near the entrance, scaring off the poor intern. 

“Alright, alright.” You gave a gentle pat. “Sorry for going a little overboard with the gifts. I was just excited about finding your favorite candy! I don’t want you hating them.”

Bakugou’s anger subsided. “Why is this so damn important to you?”

“Because I love spreading endless joy through sweets.” 

The answer was simple and innocent. Bakugou blinked and was taken aback by the gentleness in your eyes. 

“Candy makes everyone happy,” you chirped. “Knowing someone’s favorite candy helps me bring their smile back whenever they’re upset or lost. Can’t have the world be all mopey now, can we?”

Your fingers hovered above Bakugou’s head. The gum moved under your command and floated in the air. You flicked it into the trash bin with ease, and Bakugou murmured a quick ‘thanks’ under his breath. After ruffling his hair, you suddenly remembered something sitting on your shelf. Bakugou stared at the small pyramid of chocolate truffles coming toward him.

“I made these babies a few minutes ago,” you said, eying the plate with a proud grin. “Normally, I do a taste test and then send the gift if it satisfies my expectations. But, I got a feeling you’ll love them.”  

Bakugou’s face was unreadable. You gave him a gentle nudge and encouraged him to take one. He sighed before picking a chocolate truffle; it was warm and soft, the cocoa powder dusting his fingertips. After suspiciously staring at the truffle, he ate the entire thing in one go. His eyes widened as all the flavors exploded at once. The crushed red pepper flakes, the hints of rich cinnamon and orange zest, and the bittersweet dark chocolate made from the finest quality found on Earth all danced perfectly together with every bite. 

“So…” You placed the plate on the desk, watching Bakugou swallow the truffle down. “What do you think? Give me your honest opinion! Don’t sugarcoat it, haha! I’m on fire today!”

Bakugou turned away. “I’m leaving.”

“No, wait!” You hugged his bicep with a pout. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop. Just tell me if you liked the chocolate truffles.”  

“They’re good.”

Your smile grew. “Good enough to be your favorite?”

“Sure,” he smirked, shoving another truffle into his mouth. You cheered on the spot after weeks of constant failures. Of course, some of the complaints were nonsense which didn’t surprise you. Bakugou was a picky bastard; the lollipop fiasco served as a great example. You were glad he thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate truffles.

Before you walked away, Bakugou pulled you close to him and crushed his lips on yours. He caught you off guard, but the surprise was certainly welcomed. You soon melted into the kiss after tasting the rich dark chocolate and spices on his lips. Bakugou’s arms snaked around your waist as your hands gripped his broad shoulders.

“You know,” Bakugou’s hot breath tickled your right ear, sending shivers down your spine. “I think I got a new favorite candy.”

“Is that so?” You hummed, a coy smile plastered on your face. 

“Let’s hope it satisfies your sweet tooth then, Ground Zero.”

“Oh, it will.”

After all, you were the one and only Candy Master.

As always, thanks for reading!

10.18.20 UPDATE: Story’s sequel, Gold Coins and a Gold Heart now uploaded. 

[summahsunlight]

Perhaps It’s Fate, Part 20

Rating: T, to be safe

Word Count: 1.8k+

Summary: After joining the Resistance as a mechanic, you were happy to keep to yourself, until a little orange and white bb unit and his master wander into your workshop one day.

Pairings: Poe Dameron x Mechanic!Reader

Start from the beginning! 

Taglist: @ms-dont-care​, @starless-eyes-remain​, @elmoakepoke​, @marvelobsessiononastick​, @kiaralein​, @softly-sad​, @totalpoedameron, @ordinarymom1​, @sevvysaurus​, @spider-starry​, @liadamerondjarin​, @jingyuhearteu​, @dream-alittlebiggerdarling​, @paintballkid711​

It’s here! The much anticipated next part! Hope you enjoy it. I’m excited for you to be able to read it🥰 Remember if you want to be added to the taglist, just let me know!

You had managed to disable the tracker. Poe had piloted the ship, using the phony code to land in the hanger of Snoke’s ship--and Finn had been able to secure you disguises and find your way to the control room where you worked your magic.

It was when you were making your way back to the ship that everything unraveled. Your team had been discovered; Captain Phasma and her troops were waiting in the hanger--and there was absolutely no where to go. 

Poe wanted to fight--of course he did, it was in his nature--but once a blaster was pointed at you he surrendered. 

Now you found yourself on your knees in front of Phasma. 

This is how your parents must have felt, you imagined, in their final moments before they were executed by the First Order. At least you’d been able to help the Resistance, at least you had been able to disable the tracker so they could escape.  But now you knew you were going to pay the price.

“Make it painful,” General Hux snarled before leaving.

“Only the most painful for rebel scum,” Phasma assured him.

Blinking back tears you glanced at Poe; he was looking at you with such regret in his chocolate brown eyes that it made your heart break. Somehow, you managed a weak smile to let him know that it was okay--that you didn’t blame him for anything.  He had believed in you so much, how could you? And for you, this was a much better option of dying together than having to live without him. 

Poe softly smiled back at you, the pain in his eyes so evident as he mouthed the words I love you. Oh how you wish you could respond, but there was a boot on your neck, pressing your head forward as the troopers prepared all three of you--Poe, Finn, yourself--for execution. Squeezing your eyes shut, you prayed that the end would come swiftly...

.....instead there was a loud explosion, you were thrown from underneath the boot on your neck clear across the hanger, the blast knocking you unconscious for a few moments. 

When you regained your senses, the hanger was on fire. Poe was leaning over you and talking to you, but you couldn’t hear him over the ringing in your ears. He suddenly pulled you into his arms and you realized he’d been asking if you were okay.  Amazingly, you were fine, other than a few cuts and bruises. 

“Sweetheart, can you stand? We need to get out of here.”

“Yes, Poe, I’m fine. Just some scrapes.”

Despite this statement from you, Poe still pulled you to your feet, carefully.  “I saw a shuttle still in tact; if we can get to that I can get us the hell out of here.”

Clinging to his hand, you nodded. “Where’s Finn? Is he okay?” you asked, anxiously, looking around the hanger.

There was no time to even search for Finn, the stormtroopers had emerged from the smoke and were firing at you and Poe. The two of you barely had enough time to duck behind some debris to block yourself from getting hit and you realized, with desperation, that they had cut your path off to the shuttle. If you and Poe were to move now in an attempt to get to the shuttle, you’d be shot dead before you even took three steps. 

Poe desperately tried to shield you, all the while trying to just as desperately come up with a plan on how to get the hell out of this situation. And then suddenly, there was BB-8, having hot-wired an ATST--clearing a path for them. 

You were too shocked to even move a muscle, watching that little droid blast troops. It was Poe that grabbed you by the arm and shouted, “Run!”

“But...but...BeeBee!”

“Don’t worry! He does stuff like this all the time!”

There were so many questions that you needed answers too, however, there wasn’t time at the moment.  Thanks to BB-8, you were able to stumble and fall your way onto the shuttle. Somewhere along the way the little droid had picked up Finn and the pair had also made it to the shuttle.

Finn looked anxious. “Can you fly us out of here?”

Poe threw him an incredulous look. “Can I fly us out of here? Of course I can!”

“Glad to see nearly dying toned down your cockiness,” Finn snapped.

“Actually dying is going to be the only thing to do that,” you tossed out.

“If the two of you are done--I’m about to save our asses,” Poe quipped.

Flickering your eyes towards Finn the pair of you made eye contract briefly while Poe piloted the shuttle out of the burning hanger. Immediately a pair of TIE-fighters were on your tail--admittedly none of you thought it was going to be easy to escape, even if Snoke’s ship was scattered in pieces around you. 

Holding your breath, you realized that Poe was pushing the shuttle hard and fast towards the surface of the planet. He was following the escape transports but even as he made his approach, he. saw that the blast door was about to closed. “Hold on!” he shouted. “This is gonna be tight!”

BB-8 let out an anxious trill as the shuttle dove underneath the closing door, shearing off the wings of the shuttle. Your closed your eyes tightly until the shuttle came to a groaning halt. 

“See. Told ya I could fly us out of there,” Poe said, laughing slightly.

“Yeah... barely,” Finn sniped. 

“Are you off Snoke’s ship or not?”

“We’re off but I wouldn’t call that a landing!”

Poe shrugged. “I’ve had worse, right Bee?”

BB-8 bleeped an affirmative.

Slowly you opened your eyes and glared at him. The amused look on his face didn’t last long as the surviving Resistance members opened fire on the shuttle. The three of you, along with BB-8, ducked for cover, while Poe screamed, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! It’s us!”

Carefully, each one of you raised yourself up so the Resistance fighters could see it was indeed your tiny group. 

“Finn? Poe? Y/N? You’re alive!” Rose gasped.

“Yeah!” Finn yelled back. “Although Poe tried to kill us!”

“Hey!” Poe protested, glaring at him.

All you could focus on was the small group of fighters left; you’d failed after all.  The tracker had not been disabled in time for anyone to get away before they had to abandon ship and take refuge in this old Rebel base. Your one chance to prove you belonged here--and you’d blown it.

------

Poe had actually lost track of you once you had left the shuttle. He’d immediately been swept up in preparations that the First Order was going to land ground forces and attempt to flush them out  After it became obvious that they were tucking their tails, licking their wounds, and heading back to their space--that was when Poe noticed you were missing.

He found you, huddled behind one of those ancient, decaying. speeders--which between the two of you, he was happy he did not need to fly. Poe squeezed in next to you. “Hey. There you are. I’ve been looking for you for over an hour. Why are you hiding back here?”

“I failed,” you mumbled, tears slipping out of your eyes.

“What do you mean you failed? You disabled the tracker,” Poe countered.

“Not in time.”

Gently, Poe pulled you close to him. “Sweetheart, most of the fleet got away--the decision to destroy the Raddus was made so the others could flee--just incase the tracker wasn’t disabled. You’d disappeared before Leia could explain to us what happened.”

Wiping the tears from your eyes, you shook your head. “If I had disabled it faster than the Raddus would have gotten away too.”

“They didn’t want to leave us behind,” Poe said, softly.

“What?” you rasped, raising your eyes to look at him.

“Leia didn’t want to leave us behind.”

“We knew it was a suicide mission when we took it.”

Poe quietly stroked your hair; yes they had all known that the mission was probably going to end up in their deaths--it almost had--but none of them had voiced that sentiment out loud--until now. His lips brushed against your temple so softly it was like a breeze tickling your skin. “Your parents would be proud of you.”

You wished you felt as confident as he did about that but the truth was you didn’t. How would your parents feel knowing that you couldn’t control your panic attacks? That you had such severe anxiety that you often hid away from others to tinkering in your workshop? “They wouldn’t be proud of a coward.”

“Stop!” his voice was so firm, angry, that it startled you. “Stop right now,” Poe growled, low in his throat. He grabbed you by the shoulders and forced you to face him. “You are not a coward. You marched onto that ship and disabled something that none of us knew how to disable. A coward would not have done that; your anxiety, your panic attacks, they do not define you. So stop talking like this.”

“I can’t stop feeling this way! It’s not easy!” you sobbed, wanting to run away from him, but he would not let you go. “Do you think I want to feel this way? I can’t control it, Poe. Somedays, I feel like I’m drowning, that I can’t breathe!”

“So do I!”

“You?”

Poe swallowed, nervously, and nodded. “Ever since I escaped Jakku and made it back to the Resistance--I’ve felt an increasing dread, pressure--fear of failure, Y/N. When Kylo Ren tore through my mind, my memories, he saw the most vulnerable side of me and it haunts me, sweetheart, that I couldn’t protect you from his mind probes! That he saw what you meant to me, and that by him seeing this, it puts you in danger!”

Seeing the fear in his eyes, you sucked in a shuddering breath. “You don’t have to protect me, Poe.”

He wiped your tears away and then you were pressed, tightly against him. “I love you,” he whispered, “I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. Never.”

You wrapped your arms around him and buried your face against his chest. If you could have, you have stayed in his arms like this for the rest of the day, but as life had it--someone was looking for him. Poe kissed the top of your head and whispering an, “I love you,” he stood up and left you sitting there, giving you complete control of when you wanted to leave your safe spot.

“Did you find her?” Finn’s voice carried across the room.

“Not yet; she’s damn good at hiding,” Poe replied. “Don’t worry, she’ll show up when she’s ready to come out of hiding--or BeeBee will track her down, and then coax her to come out.  She can’t say no to him.”

“Okay, but we better find her soon,” Finn said. “Someone responded to the General’s distress call for emergency evacuation transport. We’ll be leaving soon as they get here.”

[lilyofthesword-writes]

Robotic Friendshp - Chapter 12

Summary: The Autobots get a super virus on their computer system. Raf's oldest sister is brought in to help.

Pairing: Ratchet x OC (platonic), Soundwave x OC (platonic)

Word Count: 1211

Warnings/Disclaimers: Soundwave being not so nice to Nikki but then attempting to make up for it.

Masterlist

A tendril swept out and slammed Nikki into the wall. A throbbing pain shot down from her head all the way down her spine. "I'm sorry!" she cried out.

Soundwave held her datapad in another tendril. Nikki had been working for almost twenty-four hours now. She was exhausted, but apparently that did not excuse the few mistakes she made in the last set of assigned code.

"Please!" Tears welled up in her eyes.

He squished her into the wall more, his blank faceplate staring at her intensely. She cringed even more. I don't want to die… Not like this!

Soundwave swung her back gently to the panel she sat on before, not giving her back the datapad. She looked up at him meekly, wondering what his next move was going to be. He held her gaze silently before lifting up a servo and softly pushing her to lie down.

She watched him with wide eyes. Does he…want me to go to sleep? She did not fuss once she was lying on her side. It felt nice to relax like that. Within moments, her lack of sleep overcame her.

-

Ratchet tapped his pede on the ground. He had sent a transmission out to WheelJack and had not received a reply. Raf was asleep on the couch. While everyone else had gone home to rest, Raf stayed. He wanted to be there when they found Nikki. In his hand, he held the Energon shard he had found. For some reason, he felt better with it near.

A quick beep startled Raf awake. Ratchet made a b-line to the computer. "This is Ratchet."

"Yo, Doc."

"It's about time you responded!"

"Whoa! Calm down, Doc! What's with the urgency?"

Raf sat there, fiddling with the shard.

"You didn't even listen to the transmission?" Ratchet's servos were up in the air. "One of our human allies has been kidnapped!"

"And this is Autobot concern beca—"

"—By the Decepticons."

Silence.

"What? Are they trying to use it has bait?"

Ratchet shook his helm. "We are not sure yet."

"…Send over a Ground Bridge?"

He was anxiously waiting for that response. He pulled the lever to the bridge and WheelJack dissolved through. He waved to Raf. "Sup?"

Raf shrugged and kept fidgeting.

Ratchet proceeded to explain what had happened. "We need extra scouts. Have you seen the Nemesis recently?"

WheelJack shook his helm. "No. But if the Boss Bot is that concerned, I'll help ya out."

Ratchet nodded. "Thank you. Optimus and the others went out searching. They will be regrouping here soon."

WheelJack began to pace. "Soon" meant nothing at this point. He took notice of Raf and leaned his faceplate over the railing. "Whatcha got there?"

Raf jumped. "I-It's…" He held out the shard in his palm. "I found it earlier…"

Ratchet made his way over for a look. "Where in the Allspark did you find that?"

"Mmm… By the couch."

"What? Are you feeding humans Energon now?" WheelJack joked.

"Wait…this…" Ratchet held out his servo.

Raf placed it in the medic's palm.

Ratchet studied it closely. "This was…the shard that cut her…"

-

Nikki's hand burned when she woke up to the feeling of a breeze. Her eyes opened and she saw the walls moving. What in the… She sat up groggily. She nearly jumped out of her skin, finding she was sitting on Soundwave's shoulder.

Realizing her awakened state, a tendril wrapped its prongs around her and pulled her off. They reached an automatic door the whizzed open. A short distance away, Megatron stood in front of gigantic screens with his back to the two of them. Nikki held her bandaged hand, which made a crunching noise. Though startled by this discovery, she was still more worried about Megatron.

"Soundwave, report."

He handed Megatron a datapad.

"…Good. Now fix the navigation and flight."

Soundwave answered with one solid nod.

-

"What are you going on about, Doc?"

Ratchet waved a servo, shrugging WheelJack off. He brought the shard to his workstation. Raf looked to WheelJack who glanced back and raised his servos meaning, "I don't know." Frowning, the tiny human went to the other side of the platform. "Ratchet, what are you doing?"

Waving them off again, he replied, "I'm working." He put the shard into a test tube and began melting it down. He mumbled to himself, "This is insane, but it might just work."

-

Soundwave brought Nikki back to the workroom and placed on the panel she was at before, setting the datapad in front of her. He pointed to it. Nikki re-situated herself and reviewed the code. Oh boy… This is starting to get out of my league… She glanced up at Soundwave who was staring down at her. Sighing, she starts typing. What am I going to do if I hit something I don't know?

The lanky, voiceless robot turned to his own work. He was going through the navigation system. That required so much data that a mere human could not possibly fathom it. Every now and then, he glanced over at Nikki. Her pace was much slower than it had been. After an hour, he suspected she might be stalling in some futile hope that the Autobots might triumphantly appear and save her. He paused. She looked…frustrated. She was running a hand through her hair and clenching it. Then, she typed a few more lines of code. As she reviewed the next lines, she pulled her low ponytail over her shoulder, twirling it into knots. Soundwave stared down. She would only write a tiny amount of code and then replace it while sighing heavily.

He picked up the datapad. Nikki spun around and cringed. What did I do wrong? Her eyes widened, for fear that he might throw her into a wall again. Her back still hurt if she moved too quickly. Soundwave tapped the screen rapidly before placing it back. She checked it and scrolled down. Everything she had just worked on had been fixed in some slight way. At the bottom was a relatively large set of code but it was much easier than what she had been doing. She looked up at Soundwave confused. He had already turned away to finish his own project.

-

Raf and WheelJack sat around, impatiently waiting for Ratchet to say something. Optimus called for a Ground bridge about half an hour in, to which Ratchet switched on in a huff. The Autobots rolled in and transformed. Bulkhead, normally excited to see his old buddy, only said, "Hey, Jackie," and bumped knuckles with him. Ratchet walked away before shutting off the bridge. Optimus looked to Arcee who was the closest to the lever now. She shrugged and pulled it, the glow of the portal dissipating.

"Ratchet?" Optimus walked up behind the normally grumpy medic.

He waved his servo. "Just a moment. Almost have it…"

Optimus glanced to Raf and WheelJack who had no answers for him.

"Ha-hah!" Ratchet yelped triumphantly.

The monitor in front of him bleeped and ran through the command code. It then displayed a map of Earth and began scanning.

WheelJack vented harshly, "You gonna tell us now, Doc?"

Ratchet spun around with a grin on his faceplate. "I have, theoretically, found Nikki!"

[waywardimpalawriter]

Hey luv! It's been a long time since we've talked! Hope you're doing fine!

Led astray

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x ReaderRating: PGWarnings: Angst, sadness, being bumped, anger, Seb’s a bit of an ass in this one, curse words Word count: 1,441Notes: Requested by the very lovely @chrisevansthedoritobastard I’m so very sorry it took me over a year to get this written out. But better late than never right? *looks hopeful* Hope you enjoy sweetie. The idea actually came from listening to the radio one very early morning. The local station has a segment called ‘2nd Date Update’ the rest as they say is history.  

Forever:

@winters-buck @angryschnauzer @feelmyroarrrr

 @aquabrie @fandommaniacx  @supernaturallymarvellous  @smoothdogsgirl @becs-bunker

This story: @not-another-fangirl

You’d given it thought, rolled it over in your head for the last few days, asked friends, hell even your sister, all agreed that this idea would come back to bite you in the ass. But you just had, no needed to know and hopefully understand why he hadn’t returned your calls or texts. Sure the same old thoughts came to mind, he’s busy, sick, working or just plain dodging your calls. Enough is, enough you needed answers and this seemed to be the only way to get them.

Though now as you wait for the host to come back your nerves start to get the better of you making you pace the short distance between the kitchen island and stove. Cell pressed between your shoulder and ear, hands wringing like a wet washcloth, till a male voice comes back to the line.

“Good Tuesday morning to ya this is Jason Douglas joined by my cohorts Megan Wright and Michael Masters on 93Q country. It’s 6:45 just this side of the dawn, on a fine morning and we’re bringing you 2nd date update.” There’s a slight twang in his voice while speaking, flipping switches and taking a sip of his coffee. “Morning Y/N thank you for joining us this fabulous morning.”

Clearing your throat, “You’re welcome,” swallowing to try to coat your dry throat once more, “Thanks for having me.”

“So I hear you went on a date a few weeks ago and the guy hasn’t called you back?”

“Yeah, yes,” rolling your eyes at how stupid you sound thinking this may be the disaster everyone warned you about. “Sorry, I’m just a little nervous.”

“Don’t be, we’ve had many people call wanting help trying to find out why calls haven’t been returned. It’s only natural,” pops in Megan, voice bright and cheery for how early in the morning it is.

Nodding though no one can see, you’ve finally sat down on a barstool, cell in hand now. “I thought we’d hit it off, the conversation flowed, we laughed, shared things about each other.” Shaking your head not wanting the tears to come and clog your voice. Had you been wrong about him?

“Tell us more about your date and how the night went? Did he seem put out by how the date went? Had you done something to offend him or him, you?”

“NO,” the one-syllable comes out louder than intended laced with a small amount of anxiety. “I mean I don’t think so like I said it seemed to me the date went well. For my part I thought we hit it off from word go. It’s why I’m so confused as to why he hasn’t called me back.”

“Well alright then let’s get this settled and call up Sebastian,” flipping a few more switches, Jason brings up what he needs. “Now remember Y/N you’ll be listening in try not to say anything till I cue you. He won’t know until that moment so if you want answers, you’ll have to be patient.”

Nodding, realizing they couldn’t see you, your voice cracks as you answer, “Understood.”

“And we will get to that call right after a few words from our sponsors,” sitting back the three of them talk while you’re on hold hearing nothing but elevator music for almost two minutes.

Weather finished up and Jason comes back, “Time is now 6:55 and we have Sebastian on the line, welcome sir and good morning to you. I’ve got my cohosts, Megan and Michael with me.”

Both give him a welcome before Sebastian himself speaks, “Morning.”

“Do we have your permission to talk with you and ask a few questions? This is on air and being recorded of course so if you aren’t comfortable with that speak now or forever hold your peace.” a soft chuckle leaves his lips at the corny joke he makes.  

Puzzled and curious as to what the radio station could want, Sebastian gives consent knowing he might get in trouble with his agent and manager later for this. As there are no movies or TV shows to promote at the moment. So that little voice in the back of his mind keeps poking. Saying this could bring trouble to his door.

“Can I ask what this is about? I didn’t win anything did I? Especially since I didn’t enter,” he jokes seeing the confused looks from his friends beside him.

“Well, it seems there’s someone out there that thinks you’re amazing and wanted to let you know. Do you remember going on a date with someone a few weeks ago?”

Thinking over his schedule, everything he’s done in the past few weeks, he remembers one and wants to smack himself. “There’s one that comes to mind.”

“Y/N?”

Sighing, running a hand through his hair, Sebastian steps away from the group to make the call a little more private. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“You don’t sound so happy to hear the name, did something happen?” Megan chimes in.

All the while you’re listening to the conversation trying to keep yourself from interfering, wanting to have this answers to put this behind you.

“No, nothing happened; Y/N’s a sweet girl I just didn’t feel any sparks with her. The thing I regret the most is giving her so much hope by agreeing to the date.”

Shaking his head, Michael speaks, “I don’t follow you, dude.”

Not wanting to sound too harsh but knowing the truth is always better than a lie, “We met at a party one night, thought she was a nice girl that we could have chemistry, I was wrong. We talked on the phone for a couple of nights before agreeing to a date. In that time I learned from a friend of mine that she’s a very clingy person, needy and always wanting to be the center of attention.”

“What the f*ck,” you couldn’t hold back your tongue anymore and let slip a curse word that Jason told you wouldn’t be allowed. “I’m sorry Jason it slipped out.” Breathing deep to regain yourself, “If your friend told you all that about me then why did you even agree to the date you asshole.”

“Yeah sorry Sebastian, Y/N has been listening in the whole time we’ve been talking,” butting in to explain just making sure to bleep the curse word.

Shrugging to himself, “Thought it would be fun, you’re a sweet girl Y/N just not my type is all. Besides you did talk way more about yourself than I did, I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise.”

“That’s a lie Stan and you know it you jerk. Why make up stupid crap like this if all you truly wanted was a good fuck. That’s what it truly was about, man up and tell the truth.” Anger building now as you jump from the stool sending it backwards to pace the floor, “And here I thought you were a better man than that Sebastian Stan.”

“Whoa, whoa there is this true y’all had sex and what that wasn’t good enough for you Sebastian?” Megan asks wondering if they were talking to who she thinks it is.

“Listen she called my cell, no blew it up more like it with calls and texts, every half hour wanting to know when and where we’re going back out. I told her when she left that morning, things wouldn’t work,” trying to push the problem in your lap, making things your fault rather than his.

“You know what fuck you, Stan, your dick wasn’t big enough anyway to satisfy a goldfish,” done with the whole thing you don’t wait for any answers. Instead deciding to hang up on them, grab the pint of Ben and Jerry’s you stashed for times like this and headed to your bed to cry it out over Pretty Woman and other chick flick movies.

Clearing his throat to get the shock out, “Well then, I take it there will be no second date huh?” laughter clearly in his voice as he looks at his cohosts with a shake of his head. “I guess being an actor and trying to find love isn’t as easy as people would have you believe.”

“So not funny asshole,” hanging up Sebastian shakes his head going back to the main part of the gym to finish his workout and forget the stupid call even happened.

“You know they air that shit on the radio these days? Your fans are going to hear it,” one of his friends states a smirk on his lips.

“Who listens to radio anyway?” is his comeback while flipping his friends off to lift weights.

[punkscowardschampions]

Zelda & Zach

ihatemyguts: Good thing you told me how bubble boy posi Robyn’s ‘rents are

ihatemyguts: ‘cos that felt like such a brush-off

ihatemyguts: I feel kinda bad, it’s low-key just upset her with no shopping trip pay-off 😬

inandout: your first date was today

inandout: the insane jealousy must have forced me to forget

ihatemyguts: Obviously

ihatemyguts: moping and staring out of open windows would be bad for your health

ihatemyguts: probably

ihatemyguts: can’t have that

inandout: mope hard enough and fling myself all over the house, they’ll call it exercise

ihatemyguts: I’d let Rob know but her parents would probably sue me

ihatemyguts: I did some research

ihatemyguts: and yeah, flare-ups fucking suck, but if she was struggling that bad rn she’d be in hospital getting her 💉 on

ihatemyguts: makes me ⁉️ if the meetup will happen

inandout: makes me wonder if her brothers are allowed out

inandout: if they are maybe they can help us smuggle her to the meetup

ihatemyguts: not just a pretty face

ihatemyguts: that’s a damn good idea

ihatemyguts: I can slide in their DMs

inandout: Cranking up the jealousy metre to give me a full work out, I see, are you gonna be a PE teacher when you grow up?

ihatemyguts: *prays they aren’t like 12*

ihatemyguts: imagine if that was my life’s ambition

ihatemyguts: wear unflattering sportswear and give kids complexes

ihatemyguts: even without the potential life-shortening illness, I’d reconsider that

inandout: it tracks that you’d wanna make them 💩 and bringing back the bleep test could work

ihatemyguts: okay I’m not 🦹‍♀️ or 🐯 levels of sweet but is that what you really think of me? 😏

inandout: I think there’s only one rebel teacher coming to mind and I haven’t watched that film so all I know is they stand on desks

inandout: probably not a perfect fit for you

ihatemyguts: I could force you to watch it for our first date

ihatemyguts: and ask you, what your dream job would be

inandout: Netflix and chill or cinema screening of the ‘classics’?

inandout: we could do a drive-thru

ihatemyguts: hmm 🤔

ihatemyguts: there are pluses to ‘em all

ihatemyguts: cinema, we could laugh at all the snobs and 🤓s

inandout: Cool, reach out to me with the time + date when it’s showing

inandout: Are you allowed 🍿?

ihatemyguts: oh hell no

ihatemyguts: have to find another way to hold my hand

inandout: 🦸‍♀️ said she was gonna look up ice breakers and stuff, hopefully it was a fruitful search and she won’t mind sharing the info

ihatemyguts: do you think she legit didn’t realize how thirsty that boy was for her

ihatemyguts: or is it all uwu coy-ness

inandout: It’s hard to tell

inandout: but if I remember my glasses I’ll do my best to decode her body language from 6 ft away

ihatemyguts: aside from hospital, have you ever met someone else with cf?

inandout: Nope

inandout: jokes aside, it really is discouraged

ihatemyguts: that’s a hard one to get your head around

ihatemyguts: far as adjustments go

inandout: getting Robbie at this meetup won’t be easy

inandout: separate ones mean we might not have her there

ihatemyguts: I reckon we can trust you and Kara to keep the teen love story fictional

ihatemyguts: for all our sake’s

inandout: She’ll get her man

inandout: it’s not like bad advice and dating pitfalls are just a click away

ihatemyguts: cosmos never steered ANYONE wrong

inandout: Yahoo answers neither

ihatemyguts: might be confused as to why they’re not related

inandout: [I like to think he’s just sending his fave yahoo answer answers now for the lols]

ihatemyguts: [meme back and forth lads]

ihatemyguts: if she gets her date we could go into the matchmaker business

ihatemyguts: start at home

ihatemyguts: 🤖 don’t last forever

inandout: Rob’ll need to be next or she won’t forgive us

inandout: and we’ll soon get tired/guilty of seeing the amount of 😿💔 spam the chat

ihatemyguts: we’ll have to liberate her first

ihatemyguts: in a literal way

ihatemyguts: not the pretentious, free your 🧠 type of vibe

inandout: Kidnap’s playing into her parents’ fears but we don’t have a better option

ihatemyguts: now it’s my turn for a potential 💡

ihatemyguts: what if that is exactly what she should do

inandout: jump scare them?

ihatemyguts: if she did some actual wild shit to show them they’re being suffocating, ‘scuse the mention, then they’ll have to compromise and let her do normal kid things and everyone will win

ihatemyguts: I realize getting her to wild out might be a problem

ihatemyguts: catfish it though?

inandout: 💡⭐️

inandout: getting her to agree to do it for real would take longer than we have but you’re right, faking it wouldn’t take any time at all

ihatemyguts: get Lauren to picture whatever the hell she’s up to

ihatemyguts: sorted

inandout: + there’s your next photo challenge ready to be accepted, dressing as if you were going on a date with 👵🌈✨ instead

ihatemyguts: hold my neon

ihatemyguts: and think, do we clue Rob in on this plan now or do it on her behalf first, ‘cos we could hit up her house phone with some madness to get ‘em sus now and when she’s like wuuuuut it’ll sound even more

ihatemyguts: or is that a bit evil genius instead of 🦹‍♀️

inandout: Does she even have a house phone? We don’t

inandout: you’ll have to find another way to trick my parents into believing I’m a badass

ihatemyguts: I bet they do

ihatemyguts: can’t trust a mobile

ihatemyguts: and I bet they don’t have a microwave, they’re that sort

ihatemyguts: obvs I’ll just direct them to Lauren on your friends list with a 🤔

inandout: We should probably warn her, in case she takes it the wrong way

inandout: or decides to stand up to them for her YA movie moment

ihatemyguts: yeah, you’re right

ihatemyguts: if she doesn’t go for it, her brothers might be of use still

ihatemyguts: have to focus my evil energy elsewhere

ihatemyguts: such as…

ihatemyguts: 🥁

ihatemyguts: [one of the crazier lewks from babyteeth for the photo challenge]

inandout: 🤞🏻 one of them is old enough to drive the people carrier

inandout: Uhh… that was a suspiciously fast transformation

ihatemyguts: didn’t know you was challenging a pro?

ihatemyguts: and someone with a lot of time on her hands

inandout: I do now

inandout: and I’m guessing it’s not every day you get stood up based on what else I know about you

ihatemyguts: it’s a first

ihatemyguts: not that I constantly ask people out

ihatemyguts: but that is what I’ve put across so fair enough

ihatemyguts: what am I interrupting for you?

inandout: I’m waiting on friends

inandout: this could end in both of us being stood up

ihatemyguts: am I a drag you down with me type?

ihatemyguts: hmm

ihatemyguts: nah, I’ll cross my fingers that your friends aren’t flaky

inandout: Late, but I’d be too if it wasn’t my house

inandout: What are you gonna do now shopping’s off?

ihatemyguts: life is one big photo challenge, right

ihatemyguts: yours is ‘whatever will make your friends double-take when they open the door’

ihatemyguts: it’s a good question

ihatemyguts: we’re going to virtual shop tomorrow but she wasn’t up for it today

inandout: Wait for it and their faces

inandout: + you’re virtually invited to watch movies and play games, you won’t be the only one who isn’t here in person

ihatemyguts: 👍

ihatemyguts: cool

ihatemyguts: meeting new people is my new thing, as long as your mates are down/not the level of nerd that they might get a nosebleed if a girl is about

inandout: Some of them are girls if that helps

inandout: and my brother won’t be there to bring down the cool

ihatemyguts: low-key a shame

ihatemyguts: have to meet him before the first date though

inandout: I’ve got a father you can ask for permission if you’re feeling old-fashioned

ihatemyguts: full set

ihatemyguts: fun

ihatemyguts: mines in scotland so we’ll let you off that trek

inandout: But a road trip is a coming of age movie staple! 😫 Has Netflix aired any YA without one + are you willing to take that risk?

inandout: mine’s a workaholic but we’ve got years to catch him

ihatemyguts: forget the meds, see who gets fucked up first

ihatemyguts: it’d be a journey, for sure

ihatemyguts: do you know what he does? ‘cos so’s mine and I couldn’t tell you, tbh

inandout: Or mix them up and see what happens when you take the ones for my 💩

inandout: He’s a sales manager, he says, but why so vague?

ihatemyguts: sounds like something they’d do at cool parties

ihatemyguts: and that sounds suspish

ihatemyguts: they should have this 🤓 but with a moustache instead of the buckteeth

ihatemyguts: dads are elusive creatures… conspiracy time, what are they all up to

inandout: Not sure that’s the topic Rich has been watching vids on but I’ll ask

ihatemyguts: he can always tactfully ignore you if he’s 😳

ihatemyguts: like he does with 👵🌈✨ when she’s extra

ihatemyguts: more than usual

inandout: Be harder to do that in person

ihatemyguts: I think everyone will still get on

ihatemyguts: unless fibrofog shows, then that’ll be teen show worthy drama, of course

inandout: I think he’s genuinely blocked, he’d need a 2nd account to find out about it

ihatemyguts: hope he’s seen catfish too

inandout: He’d be a fan of the one where the man refused to believe it wasn’t Katy Perry

ihatemyguts: it does seem like the sort of thing she’d do

ihatemyguts: poor bastard

inandout: 😂

ihatemyguts: ultimate photo challenge, catfishing everyone and then going for the ruveal

ihatemyguts: might need more than just a wig 🤔😏

inandout: Dressing like her would make my friends do a double-take

inandout: [pics of some of her outrageous lewks with his head put on]

ihatemyguts: 😂😂😂

ihatemyguts: you suit the 🍦🧁🍭🍩✨

inandout: We’ve probably got a can of squirty cream lying around for hot chocolate

ihatemyguts: inhaler but make it ~sExxxIii~

inandout: [a lil video of his failed attempt to re-create that in her insta DMs or wherever because idk if they can send stuff like that here]

ihatemyguts: Katy dat you 😍😍

inandout: I’ve agreed to only string you along for 4 years not 6 and I don’t have any savings to spend 25% of on a 💍

inandout: looks like the comparison starts and stops with our black curls

ihatemyguts: not much of an orlando bloom clone myself so it’s alright

ihatemyguts: pirate is always an excellent disabled-friendly costume though so add that to the ideas board we should start

inandout: If we decide the next meetup is fancy dress, Lauren will never go back home

ihatemyguts: that’s the mood

inandout: [sends her whatever he did for the photo challenge and his friends reaction to it because why not say they’ve arrived and there’s a similar feral mood here]

[justjessame]

Babysitting Butcher Chapter 53

How would a normal person unwind after a day of learning that a trio of assholes literally stood over her body while she was bleeding out basically watching to see if she was going to go “BOOM” and then learning that a little boy had three bleeping microchips inside of him to keep a part of his being neutered because it was easier than teaching him how to control himself?  

I’m not asking because I’m clever and want to brag about my ways, I’m asking for ideas.  I was completely fucking twisted into a tight bundle of nerves and tension and Billy wasn’t much better.  Even knowing that there was a way to inhibit supe powers that didn’t include packing their poopers with C4 didn’t really completely bring him back down to less amped Butcher levels.  

We called Mom from the office, asking her to keep Terror overnight.  Whatever she heard in Billy’s voice, or mine when I got on to tell her everything was fine, we just needed a night to ourselves, she didn’t pry.  We picked up take out, and if you ask me what kind - no fucking clue.  I’m still not entirely sure we ate it.  All I know is that the drive home was a feat of muscle memory.  Getting inside, eating (if we did it), locking up the house for the night, all of it was literally just from routine.  

Once the doors were locked, once night fell, when we were alone and secure in OUR house, away from everyone and everything, though?  That’s when I didn’t need ideas for how to unwind after anything with Billy.  Because that’s when our real muscle memory took over, and when his hands reached for me, we looked for a distraction from the reality of the shit show that surrounded our bubble.  Outside of Billy and me?  We knew we couldn’t be certain of the answers to any of it, or how it would turn out, but here, as his fingers slid down my bare spine and mine danced up his biceps, which I would swear that some sculptor had seen in a vision and based those Greek gods on- here we could be certain of.  

Billy Butcher and Ronnie Taylor. Together. This was something I would be the farm on. Time and time again. Because we’d faced down death and beat it. Repeatedly.  What could possibly pull us apart after that?

We woke up, tangled limbs and sheets.  My face pressed tight against Billy’s chest, his arms wrapped around my shoulders holding me tight against him, not a hair’s breadth between us. The sun was barely cresting the horizon, but we were waking after a well earned rest that came after psychically demanding everything we dared to from one another. Knowing damn well the other would answer with a challenge.  

The night hadn’t been about rewards and gold stars, even if we’d both seen celestial bodies, it had been about remembering that throughout everything that the world threw at us, we had one another.  And when push came to shove, we would always be the best distraction for one another.  

“Hey you,” I smiled into the warmth of his peck, the growl of his voice harsher this morning with hoarseness from overuse and I liked to think I helped cause it.  “Don’t know about you, Ronnie, but I’m tempted to call in sick.”

Chuckling into his skin, I didn’t fight my urge to kiss the smoothness of it.  Salty from a well earned sweat, and uniquely Billy, I propped my chin so I could look up at him.  “Quitter.” It was a mocking dare, but honestly I was pretty damn sore and I hoped he’d call my bluff and roll me over and make me forget I dared utter the damn word.  

His smirk coupled by a flash of those white teeth of his and I was on my back, making me wonder if he could read my mind.  “Not hard to do, Ronnie, you’re practically telepathic when you want me.”  I gasped as our bodies joined, tender from our arduous activities overnight, but Billy knew me too well to give me an inch of leniency.  “Tell me this ain’t what you were hoping for.” His breath fanned hot across my face, and instead of answering him with words, I arched up and his forehead came down, meeting mine.  “That’s what I thought.”  

We didn’t call in sick.  We are actually adults, even if we act like sex crazed teenagers - A LOT.  We got showered, dressed, and we even ate breakfast.  We managed to get to work earlier than usual, simply because we’d been HORRIBLE pet parents and left Terror with his grandparents all night, but Billy and I promised each other that we would not only stop and get him on the way home, but we’d stop and grab him a treat first.

“Not a stuffy,” I muttered, thinking that someone had to put their foot down about Terror’s sexual deviancy before it got out of hand.  “He can have a bone or a box of nibbles, but NOT another STUFFY.”  

Billy was grinning a little too widely to allow me to believe I was winning the argument, but we were in the parking lot and work was a reality that couldn’t be put off.  Since our only avenue for the video sent me would be to have the trio who arrived first enhanced, hopefully so we could do facial recognition on at least one, should some tech magician find an angle that showed one of them NOT shielding themselves completely, we sent that on its way and Billy fired up the drone footage that they’d shot of Ryan’s neighborhood.

We must have watched it fifty times, even with the break for lunch - longer than usual because I found a specialty pet store that we stopped by to grab Terror some guilt gifts - and the verdict was simple.  Ryan’s new placement was shittier than either of us had considered.  Becca might not have had the best option, with Vought’s little cookie cutter make believe shit, but this?  This wasn’t even that.

“Facial recognition has the tutors as teachers, or at least they have certificates to teach.”  I’d brought up the man and woman’s information, throw away lower level agents.  “Nothing special, they’ve been in the CIA for years, utilized for non-dangerous assignments.  This is right up their alleys.”  The neighbors bothered me more.  None of them were recognized.  None.  “Not a single one of these people come up in anything, not CIA, FBI, NSA, OGA.”  I sighed and sat back, licking my lip and trying to think of another avenue.  “Why populate the neighborhood with anyone, let alone untraceable people?  While you happen to be inhibiting his powers?”  If they were, which I was starting to really lean toward.  

Billy was looking out the wall of windows, eyes not focused on anything in particular.  “Going in with you,” I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.  “It’ll be the first time I’ve seen him since -”

“I know,” I could have moved to him, curled into his lap and distracted him, but not now.  Becca was in his head, his vision was on her, his last moments with her and Ryan.  He didn’t need me muddling that up.  “I know it’ll be the first time, but he’s a little boy who is all alone and he has no one, but you.” I hated to say it, to weaponize it, but it was true.  Ryan had no one, and he bore Billy’s name.  And a promise his mom forced out of Billy.  That was it.

“What if I look at him -” Billy stopped, eyes closing as he took a deep breath.  “And I see HIM.”  

“You won’t.”  I wanted to feel more sure than I did, but I wasn’t.  I could only hope that having me next to him, knowing that when I looked at Ryan I didn’t see Homelander would somehow help, but I couldn’t swear.  “And I’ll be beside you.”  

“Until ya get sick of me,” he turned then, eyes open and blazing when they met mine.  

“There you go, making me promise to become immortal,” I shook my head, even as he was reaching for me, needing so badly that reminder of us, and our permanence.  

[schrijverr]

School at Work

A classic field trip to Stark Tower, where Peter already works and they find out fic. 

Here Peter is already in the building when he stumbles upon his classmates on a field trip, they are a bit surprised to see him there.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none, but tell me if I need to tag something!

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the other class who got to go on the field trip in the end, it was on the day the rest of the school was free and Peter didn’t mind not going all that much if he was being honest. He and field trips didn’t have the best of history. Besides he would get to spend an extra day at the Stark Tower on his “internship”, even though it wasn’t really an internship anymore.

It had all happened when Pepper and Tony wanted to go on a vacation and Peter had wholeheartedly encouraged them, but they didn’t have anyone to watch over all the projects. Peter really wanted them to go, because they deserved it, so he had offered to do it as a joke. And Pepper and Tony had taken it completely seriously. So a week later he found himself in charge of the biggest company in the world.

When Pepper and Tony came back everyone had been very enthusiastic about Peter, who had enjoyed being in charge a lot, minus the sleep deprivation, but he was used to that. After that he helped much more in the Tower itself. He oversaw the other interns and checked projects in all the departments before they went into production. He practically worked full time and he earned money.

The money he earned he saved for college so that May could use the money she had been saving for him to go to school and go up in the hospital. This was also why he lived in the Tower with Tony and Pepper. Life was great, it was amazing even. He had everything going for him, outside of school that is. No one believed him there, but he didn’t mind MJ and Ned believed him and that was what was important for him. He had wanted to invite them to hang out today, but they were going on that field trip to, uh..., Peter had forgotten where to, but they were both going, he knew that.

He got out of bed at 8:00 and put on Tonys too big for him Stark Industries sweater and some jeans. He ate some breakfast and decided to chill on the Intern Levels today as he reviewed some of the stuff there and went through the projects he was sent.

~

The Midtown Tech class was standing in front of Stark Tower with wonder in their eyes. It was an impressive building and only MJ wasn’t looking up. Ned leaned over to her and said: “I wonder if we bump into Peter today.”

MJ shrugged, but didn’t get to respond because Flash pushed through them while loudly exclaiming: “It so sad that you two believe Penises lies.”

MJ rolled her eyes and said: “Just because you are too dumb to get a spot doesn’t mean Peter is, alternative.”

Flash huffed, but left them alone in favor of getting in front of the group as they started to walk inside. Their teacher got to the desk and the woman behind them pointed them in the right direction where a thirty-year-old woman was waiting on them with a basket of badges. She smiled: “Hello everyone, I’m Mira and I’ll be your tour guide today. I will give you a badge, which you need to pin on your clothes. Do not take this off, because you will be escorted out of the building. At the end of the tour you will have to give them back.”

Then she went down the line handing them out and the tour began. Mira talked about the history of the building while they went through a small museum, the Arc-Reactor and the current projects.

They got into the elevator and the tour guide said: “We’re going to the Intern Levels, there our 50 interns work on their own projects next to the work they do for the employee they follow. I have ask you to be respectful and leave them to do their work. There will be a few who we can ask questions about their internship. You are talking to the bright minds of the future, so be polite.”

After that the elevator doors opened and they were in a gigantic space. There were work stations everywhere and it was one big hive of production. People were walking in and out, packages were bing delivered and from time to time lights flashed. The group moved slowly as they tried to take everything in, when they were distracted by a loud cackle and a loud yell.

“NO!”

Then an explosion. They whipped their heads towards the sound and saw no one other than Peter in a SI sweater laughing while standing next to a table while brushing a bit of dust out of his hair. Next to him stood a college aged guy with big shocked eyes. Peter put a hand on his shoulder and said: “I told you it would be fine.”

“It exploded.” the guy said back.

“Yeah, that was the point. We put it in danger of being captured by someone unknown, so it self destructed. We can employ these safely to distribute information without risking enemy capture.” Peter was still grinning manically.

From a station over someone arrived with a fire extinguisher. She put out the small burning robot and said: “Really Peter, you need to stop testing explosive stuff here when it’s not from here. You’re scaring people.”

“If they want to work on the higher levels they need to get used to sudden explosions, I’m doing them a favor.” Peter shot back with a smile, then he added: “Besides, who doesn’t love a good explosion.”

The girl only rolled her eyes and pushed Peter. Then she waved and said: “I have a tour to go to, see ya.”

“No, wait. I’ll come with.” Peter ran after her, “I’ll green light this for production and then I need a break I’ve been busy since 8:30. And I’ve promised to help on Level 80 when I wasn’t busy and I don’t want to go without taking a break, so I need to be busy.”

“Only you, Peter, only you. What were you going to help with?” the girl said, they were pretty close now.

“Just the alien tech stuff. We’re trying to figure out if it can give us clues for better and cleaner energy or if it’s harmful to the environment as well.” Peter said.

They were next to the group now and the girl said: “Hello everyone. I’m Kyra and I’m an intern here. I’ll be answering your questions about the internships at Stark Industries and if I don’t know it Peter here can answer you.”

She pointed at Peter who looked up from his hologram tablet and promptly dropped it. The small rectangle device hit the ground and the hologram disappeared. He quickly picked it up, straightened himself and said: “Uhm, hi guys. Fun to see you here.”

“What the hell are you doing here!”  and Flash had found his words again.

Kyra raised his eyebrow at Peter who rolled his eyes back at her and said: “These people are from my school, I forgot they had a field trip here today. So, I think I’m just going to bail on you and help upstairs.”

He started to walk away, but Kyra got a evil glint in her eyes and she grabbed his collar. He chocked on it and shot a glare back. “Let me go!”

“Nope,” Kyra replied, “This is way too funny and you still owe me for hiding you form Clint last week.”

“That’s no fair.” Peter whined, “You said I didn’t owe you because no one should be tester for punch-arrows, and I got you that material you asked for, I even rushed it.”

Kyra gave zero fucks about his complaints: “I retract that statement. You owe me, now stay and answer this nice boys question.”

She pointed at Flash and Peters face turned sour. “He’s not a nice boy.” he whispered, then he said: “Well, Flash, since I am free from school today, I’m using my extra time to work. I thought I told you about working here.”

“Yeah, but you were lying. You have to be. They don’t take High-schoolers as interns I called and asked.” Flash was frowning.

Kyra said: “They don’t, but Peter isn’t an intern. Seriously, did no one believe you?”

Peter shrugged: “Ned and MJ do, right?”

Ned nodded excitedly and gave him two thumbs up and MJ also nodded, but more subtle. Kyra smiled at them, meanwhile Flash was having some sort of meltdown. He said: “If Peter isn’t an intern, what is he doing here. He doesn’t even have a badge, so shouldn’t he be escorted out of the building?”

Kyra started laughing now and Flash was getting mad. He was demanding an explanation and Kyra managed to wheeze: “Peter is a full time employee, he is so high up he doesn’t even need a badge and you, you all just didn’t believe him. That’s really fucking funny.”

Kyra dissolved back into giggles and Peter just rolled his eyes at her antics. The teacher broke the shocked silence with: “Uhm, can you tell about your position in the company.”

He too was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Peter had a full time job at he company they first didn’t even believe him to have an internship at. He needed someone to talk so that he could regroup himself.

Peter was also taken aback by the question, but soon answered: “I’m a bit of the last stop before things go into production. Everything that this Stark Industries building makes goes through me or Mr. Stark, but I’m also a helper. I go around and help where extra hands are needed.”

His watch bleeped and he said: “Speaking of that, they really need me now, so I have to go, but enjoy your tour! I hope you enjoy the robot exercise I designed at the end.”

And then he was running away while putting an ear piece in. Before the elevator closed behind them they could hear him say: “Do not touch a thing. Try to stay still the particles are-”

Kyra had now sobered up some more and she said: “Peter is one of our best, but he is very humble. There is no one in this building who doesn’t like Peter. There are rumors that he was in charge for a week and is the heir of the company, but those are just rumors, for now.”

The whole group was silent. Their brain was overflowing with information and no one knew what to make of all of this. This wasn’t Peter, it couldn’t be. The tour guide seemed to sense this, because she clapped in her hands and said: “Well, why don’t we take a break. It’s lunch time, follow me.”

As a horde of zombies they followed her.

Peter avoided school for the next two days, but after that he never got called Penis or a liar ever again.

[ballumsecretvalentine]

Four months, two weeks and five days

Happy Valentines Day @dingletragedy 💖

“Dear Ben,

I hope that you are doing well. Apart from getting up at all hours and going backwards and forth from the kitchen and standing at the firing line, I’m not doing too bad myself. Thank you for sending me letters, they really make these dark days here much brighter and they make me smile. It is funny how I have only had you in my life for a few short months and I already recognise your squiggly handwriting and it makes my heart burst when I receive them.

I really don’t know why you are waiting for me but I’m so happy that you are as ever since Chris, I have never felt this way about a guy before. I really do miss you. You make me so happy and I really cannot wait to see you very soon. I will make a note of the dinner arrangements for when I come back and I will also text you on the day just to make sure we are still good for our date! Maybe the next time that I have to go away, we can invest in Skype because at least I would be able to see that cheeky smile of yours more often despite being on the other side of the world.

Apart from being out on the battlefield, Tom and I have been experimenting with new dishes in the kitchens. We have come up with this amazing chicken pasta recipe…well more like I did! 😊  It goes down a storm in the army! I will have to make it for you when I come back, I’m sure Stuart and Rainie will not mind making themselves scarce for a bit.

I cannot believe and it really does break my heart that we have been apart for over 4 months but you will be worth the wait. I cannot wait to be reunited with you again my love.

I’ll see you very soon.

All my love always,

Callum xxxxxx ”

Four months, two weeks and five days. That’s how long they had been apart.

Ben was thankful that no one had walked into the car lot when he was reading his lover’s letter, it would have destroyed his bad boy reputation. His cheeks were a radiant shade of pink and he was smiling so widely that you could actually see his teeth which rarely happened, unless you walked in when Ben was brushing his teeth or using a toothpick to discreetly pick food out of his teeth.

Callum seemed to have that effect on Ben and Ben did not know how it happened and he had no control whatsoever over it. Callum was only supposed to be one in his long line of one night stands but here he was, four months, two weeks and five days later, and the man who called himself Callum Highway had filled his heart in ways that were indescribable but it was an amazing feeling. A beautiful and exotic feeling and Ben had not felt this way since Paul. To be honest, Ben was starting to sadly wonder that maybe Paul never made him feel this way.  

Ben sighed happily as he put his tartan coat on and hid his letter from Callum safely in the inside pocket. He strolled out of the car lot with a spring in his step and locked the door behind him. As he walked through the Square gardens, he inhaled the smell of a crisp winter’s morning and cold air blew out of his parted lips.

Nothing would destruct this delightful mood that Ben was in as he smiled to himself. People who knew Ben around here would probably have their suspicions that he was up to something.

But he wasn’t.

It had been four months, two weeks and five days.

And today was the day that Ben Mitchell was going to be reunited with Callum Highway.

/*/*/*/*/

Ben sat on a stool at the bar of the Prince Albert. He tilted his head back and shut his eyes as he tipped a shot of the burning liquid down his throat and leaning forward against the bar whilst he scrunched his whole face together in a grimace as the shot sent bright orange flames through his blood stream. Ben had only arrived ten minutes before and he had already downed two shots and drank half of his beer. He had a row with his mother about him staying out late and constantly reminding him about his responsibilities as a father to his little girl, Lexi. After a few retaliations, Ben stormed out of the house and ended up at the gay bar that his mother happened to own.

Ben let out a heavy sigh and planted his face in his hands, letting his hands run down his face as he let out a soft groan.  

“Alright sweetheart, what can I get ya?” He heard the female bartender ask the next customer close by.

“Just a bottle of beer please,” the bloke sounded polite.

When the bartender moved away, Ben sneaked a glance up to find a tall man standing close by to him and was smiling timidly as he looked around awkwardly, tapping his foot anxiously. From a side glance, Ben could already tell that his blue eyes shimmered beautifully under the many colourful disco lights that were flashing in every angle and every direction of the bar and he also had some amazing hair. Brown hair that was slicked to the side and raised a little at the front. You could tell the guy had spent a lot of time and effort to get it perfect and precise. He did not even know the bloke but just from a single look, he could tell that this guy was rather conscientious about his appearance.

“Have I got something on my face?”

Ben jumped slightly as he got pulled away from his thoughts to find the guy looking back at him. His breath hitched at the back of his throat.

“Sorry,” Ben coughed awkwardly as he scratched his chin. “I didn’t realise I was staring, was deep in thought and you just happened to be in my eyeline.”

The guy gave a small smile, “It’s fine, I do that quite a lot.” He continued to look around the room awkwardly.

Ben took a gulp of his beer, “Are you okay? You look a bit lost?”

The guy looked back at Ben. “Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just not every day that I go to bars or clubs, especially a gay bar, even though I’m gay!” He chuckled nervously.

Ben licked his lips and raised his eyebrow intrigued, as he felt his heart leap. The right answer to his suspicion and he wouldn’t mind bagging him up and taking him home. “Oh yeah?”

The guy nodded, “Yeah.” He coughed slightly. “I’m Callum by the way.”

Ben flashed a smile. He wanted to get acquainted, he was in. Ben held his hand out, “Ben Mitchell.”

Callum shook his hand. His hand was warm and welcoming and just from one firm but gentle grip, they both felt safe.

“There you go darling.”

The bartender put Callum’s beer down on the bar making Ben and Callum claim their allocated hands back.

“Thank you,” Callum gave a small smile as he took a sip of his beer whilst Ben took another sip of his.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” The bartender smiled politely.

Callum stole a glance over at Ben who was looking up at him with the beer bottle still held at his lips. “Did you want a refill?” He asked.

Ben took the bottle away from his mouth and held it up, observing the amount of liquid that remained in the bottle.

“Yeah go on then,” Ben smiled. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll buy as a couple of shots later!”

The bartender smiled at them both before she went to get Ben’s beer. Callum laughed as he took his wallet out of his inside pocket of his navy-blue jacket. Ben stole another look at Callum and smiled mischievously.

“There you go,” the bartender put the beer down in front of Ben and turned back to Callum. “That’ll be £12.17 please.”

Callum took his debit card out of his wallet and scanned the card using contactless. The card reader bleeped as it registered that the drinks had been paid for.  The bartender thanked him with a smile before quickly moving onto the next customer.

“So,” Ben cleared his throat as Callum took a seat on the stall next to Ben and watched as he took a sip of his beer. “I take it you’re not from around these parts if you very rarely go to bars or clubs unless you’re a bit of a hermit?” He teased.

Callum smiled. He had a beautiful smile, Ben registered. “No,” Callum chuckled. “I’ve just come back from the army. I’m in the army for a few weeks, mostly months at a time. I’ve come back to visit my brother, who would rather still spend time with his girlfriend who he sees every day.”

Ben threw his head back and laughed, “Families, eh? Who would have ‘em?”

Callum let out a small sigh, “Yeah. Oh well. It’s nice to be free for a bit.” He shrugged as he took another gulp of his beer.

Ben smiled as he stroked the neck of his beer bottle, “So the army? What’s it like?”

Callum shrugged, “It’s alright. I mainly work in the kitchens, but I do go out on the field quite a bit too. Guess it gives me a purpose in life and when you have time off and  you can properly catch up with friends and family, it makes you appreciate the things you have in life more.”

Ben nodded. “Well, I’ve always wanted to meet a hero.” He added smoothly, smiling cheekily up at Callum.

Callum looked at Ben and rolled his eyes as he laughed humorously. Ben let out a slight chuckle. Once the laughing had died down, they both found themselves looking at each other and their eyes were locked together for longer than what they thought. Callum smiled at Ben and looked down, feeling his cheeks start to flush. Ben smirked as he finished off his first beer. Callum looked back up to find Ben gazing at him, those mischievous dazzling blue eyes sparkling in his orbit. Callum found himself automatically smiling shyly back at Ben, like he was on auto pilot.

Ben had suddenly found that his sour mood had faded very quickly since this mysterious handsome soldier entered his life for the evening.  

*/*/*/*/

“Ben, BEN!”

Ben jumped as he got dragged away from his pondering thoughts as he looked towards Jay who was sitting opposite him with an annoyed look on his face. He was sitting in the café having breakfast with him.

Ben cleared his throat, “Sorry bruv, totally out of it then,” he let out a breath as he picked up a sausage from his plate and bit half of it.

“Yes, I could tell,” Jay rolled his eyes as he went back to reading the paper. “I swear ever since this Callum came on the scene, you’ve switched off. The eyes are there but the ears…” He scoffed.

“I’m sorry,” Ben apologised genuinely. “He’s coming back today and I’m just so nervous. Like what if he’s had second thoughts?” He begins to ramble.

Jay looked up from his newspaper, “I think you’ll be able to convince him to change his mind if that were the case.” He piped up. “And even if he did have second thoughts, he wouldn’t be writing to you every week would he. He must be keen which I can’t see for the life of me why.”

“Just because you’ve only managed to properly pull two women in your lifetime,” Ben retorted. “Both of them in which I slept with as well,” he pointed out smugly which made Jay’s eyes roll.

Ben finished his coffee with a big loud slurp much to the irritation of Jay before putting his mug down, “Anyway I better get off, those motors won’t sell themselves.”  

“Alright mate, will I get to see ya before the big date?” Jay asked.

“Well it depends whether you decide to take a break from the dead and grace me with your presence,” Ben quipped as he held his hand out to Jay and slapped his hand into his.

Jay rolled his eyes smiling, “Well if I don’t see ya, hope it goes alright and I’ll tell your mum not to wait up.” He smirked.

Ben chuckled and walked out of the café, waving Kathy goodbye on the way out.  

*/*/*/*/

“To my darling hero Callum,

I hope that you are well and I hope that you are keeping safe as I am dying to see those beautiful blue eyes of yours and your smile that just lights up a room. I cannot wait to see you. I am counting down the days until I get to see you again. It’s been too long since I last saw you, just over four months ago to be exact.

I cannot wait to see you so we can distract each other from our sleuthing by whispering sweet nothings in your ear and spending countless hours in bed with you. You could probably do with all the rest you can get but I’ll warn you, it’s going to be very doubtful as I want to get as much of you I can get before you leave me again. I’m sorry if I sound selfish. I’ve only known you for a short amount of time, but it feels like I’ve known you for longer. For the first time ever, I believe that it really was fate that brought us together. I miss you so much, babe.

I also look forward to seeing you playing wifey and cook this chicken pasta that you’re raving about for me. I hope you like burgers as that’s what my brother’s restaurant mainly serves and he keeps putting the restaurant up for nominations and cannot see why other restaurants are ahead of his??  If you don’t like burgers, I think I know something else that you could devour on instead 😉 Plus I would also like to show you off as you already mean so much to me. I was also thinking of maybe introducing you to Lexi if it’s okay with Lola and also if you want to? But I will have to make her try to understand that you will have to keep going away. I’m sure she will understand if I tell her you’re some superhero who fights off the bad men!

Anyway, I’ll let you go now. We will have a lot of catching up to do when you get back.

Forever counting down the days my handsome soldier.

All my love,

Ben xxxxxxxxxxxxx

If he smiled any wider, he swore his face would split in two. Callum Highway looked up from the letter and his eyes searched his surroundings as he sat in the back of a black cab as it started to drive through Albert Square.

He was getting closer to his love. The extraordinary man who has only been in his life for a few short months but already means the world to him and plays a big part in his life. Since Chris, Callum thought he would never get this chance again, the chance to find love and be the happiest he has ever been, but he did and in the least unexpected ways possible. Callum very rarely stepped foot in a bar let alone had a drink in one but on the one occasion that he did to get away from his brother Stuart and his girlfriend Rainie, he managed to find love himself and it was the best feeling in the world.

Ben was different compared to Chris. Ben was cheeky, flirty, gorgeous and was so soft, even though he acted like the hard man at times to most people but he was one of the lucky ones who saw the soft side, who got to see his heart and who Ben purely was. Callum did not think Ben would ever be his type but he was and he is and could not be happier that their paths entwined. Ben made Callum feel all warm and fuzzy inside and most of all, Ben understood Callum, he could see right through him and the amazing thing is was that Callum could see right through Ben as well.

“Coker and Mitchells?” The taxi driver called out for clarification.

“Yes,” Callum responded as they drove past the small market area. “Just here, thanks.” He said as they pulled up outside the funeral parlour. Callum looked up and smiled. He was at his destination and within a few hours, Ben could be there with him, in each other’s orbits.

After four months, two weeks and five days.

“That’ll be £35 please mate,” said the taxi driver.

Callum got out his wallet and paid the taxi driver before shuffling out the back of the black cab with his massive rucksack following behind him. Callum stepped out of the black cab dressed in his army uniform from head to toe with his rucksack hauled on his back. He turned his head to find the usual combustion of the market and people going about their day to day lives. These days, Callum wished that in a way he could have this life, but he kept pondering whether this life was for him or whether he was born to be out on the battlefield.

Callum sighed as he stepped up onto the pavement and pressed the buzzer to the flat.

“Hello?” A cockney voice echoed through the outside intercom.

“Stu, it’s me,” Callum responded in a chirpy tone.

“Bruv!” Stuart exclaimed excitedly. “I’ll buzz you up.”

With that, there was a loud buzz and the front door opened. Callum entered the flat and went up the stairs but was not expecting to be pounced on by his heavy (and much bigger than him) brother Stuart as soon as he stepped foot into the flat. Stuart enveloped Callum in a tight hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” Stuart murmured into Callum’s shoulder.

“It’s good to see you too,” Callum smiled, patting Stuart on the back. They pulled away from their embrace and walked further into the flat.

“Would you like a drink?” Stuart offered as he made his way into the small kitchen area.

“I could murder a cup of tea,” Callum sighed dreamily as he dropped his rucksack down on the sofa.

“Coming right up!”

Rainie suddenly came out of the master bedroom.

“Ah, I thought I heard your voice!” Rainie squealed excitedly, as she rushed over to Callum and pulled him into a tight embrace. When she pulled away, she ran her hands down his arms. Callum was like a little brother to her even if the feeling might not be mutual. “How was the journey?”

“Not too bad,” Callum responded. “Just a bit tired.”

“Well you might want to get some kip before your big date tonight,” Rainie suggested with a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Want to save your energy. You had a delivery come through, not from Ann Summers is it?” Rainie prodded teasingly, winking melodramatically.

“Rainie!” Stuart exclaimed as he got three mugs out of the cupboard.

Callum felt his cheeks turn slightly hot and laughed awkwardly, “No, I got a new shirt for tonight. Want to try and make the effort.”

Rainie smiled and folded her arms across her chest, “I saw lover boy in the café this morning.”

“Did you?” Callum said a little too enthusiastically, his eyes lighting up.

“Yes with Jay, looked completely not with it, must have been thinking of you,” Rainie commented playfully which made Callum chuckle embarrassingly.

Stuart rolled his eyes as he turned and waited for the kettle to boil.

“I better text him in a minute, let him know I’m back,” Callum says as he went to grab his rucksack from the sofa. “I’m going to go and get changed and I’ll come back out for a catch up in a bit.” He hauled the heavy rucksack on his back.

“Alright bruv,” Stuart acknowledged. “Your package is just on the side there.” He pointed to the kitchen counter.

“Thanks,” Callum smiled briefly and grabbed the parcel before retiring for a short while into the guest bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He put the rucksack down on the bed and ripped open the parcel to reveal a plain navy shirt. He removed the clear foil from the shirt as he walked over to the landscape mirror on the wall and held the shirt up against him. He flashed a wide smile at his reflection.

After days of waiting for this day to finally happen, it was finally here.

*/*/*/*/

They ended up on the top terrace of the Prince Albert leaning against the balcony drinking beer as they laughed freely and happily. They ended up talking for hours and learnt a fair bit about each other through the course of evening. They learnt about each other’s lives and their families. They were both astonished when they realised that they had both lost someone they loved.

“I wonder if our past significant others planned this y’know,” Ben suggested, teasingly. “Paul could be a bit of wind up merchant at times.”  He chuckled slightly, scratching the stubble on the side of his face as he reminisced about his past love.

“Yeah so could Chris,” Callum smiled, mesmerizingly. He looked up the stars that were twinkling and shimmering their light down towards them and a soft and gentle expression formed on Callum’s face.

“I forgot to ask,” Ben cleared his throat, scratching the stubble on the side of his face. “Since you know my last name, what’s yours? You know so I can add you on Facebook.” He winked.

Callum laughed softly, it was a beautiful sound, followed by his wide cheesy smile that Ben had very quickly grown to love. “It’s Highway.”

Ben smirked, “Well maybe I fancy taking the Highway tonight.” He quipped, flirtatiously.

Callum tutted and rolled his eyes with a smirk, feeling himself blushing slightly. Ben chuckled and watched Callum for a moment as he was looked up at the beautiful night sky with Callum. Ben did not realise until now how amazing the dark sky could be with all it’s twinkling stars and all the continents out there. The universe really could be an incredible thing.

Callum licked his lips as he continued looking up the sky with a tilt of his head. “Do you believe in fate?”

Ben burst out laughing, “Not necessarily, no.”  

Callum ended up laughing with him. Once the laughing had died down, Callum looked over at Ben to find him gazing up at him, his eyes burning into him. Callum gulped.

“What?” Callum chuckled nervously.

That’s when it clicked. The sudden need for Callum emerged from Ben as he felt the fire roaring from the pit of his stomach. The unexpected urge to be close to Callum. However, it wasn’t as unexpected as he thought as his feelings were brewing since the moment Callum walked into the bar and suddenly, he craved for Callum’s touch, for Callum’s lips against his. Ben looked at Callum with want and burning passion. Callum’s awaiting gaze was burning into him like he was imprinting himself into his heart and soul.

It was now or never.

Ben leaned forward and pressed his lips against Callum’s for a single full on kiss before quickly pulling away. Ben waited for a reaction.  Callum’s eyes turned dark and lustful as he stared back at Ben and before Ben knew it, his lips were being pounded by Callum’s as they came crashing down and it felt like the thrill of fireworks when they explode in the night sky. Callum clasped Ben’s lips in a passionate kiss which Ben eagerly responded to as he tugged at the lapels on Callum’s thin navy bomber jacket whilst Callum cradled the back of Ben’s head, running his fingers through his hair. Ben moaned softly into Callum’s mouth which allowed Callum to press his tongue into Ben’s mouth. Ben collided his tongue with Callum’s. Both were moaning into each other’s mouths as Callum got pressed gently into the balcony, his back against it.

This was not really in Callum’s element but being out here with Ben in public, it felt so right and so comfortable that he was not worried about there being an audience or gawping eyes in their direction.

Ben pulled away, panting for breath, “You know what you just said about fate?” Ben said cheekily, “I think this is it.”

Callum smirked, “Do you want to go somewhere else?” He asked, grinding up against Ben.

“Woah,” Ben halted. “Easy tiger!” He added playfully making Callum chuckle and kiss him again.

“Where do you want to go?” Ben asked, “I’m already in mother’s bad books, I’m sure she would love for you to join us at the breakfast table in the morning.”

Callum laughed, slightly tipsy from the thrill and intoxication, “Well let’s go back to my brother’s flat?” He suggested.

Ben arched his eyebrow, “You sure? When he said you can stay for a few weeks, did that include bringing a guy you met at a bar back home?” He asked playfully.

Callum shrugged casually, “He’d want me to enjoy myself. Unless you don’t want to?” He challenged with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Oh believe me, I want to,” Ben said huskily, pulling Callum towards him by the lapels and kissing him again.

When they pulled away, Callum grabbed Ben by the hand and led him out of the bar. Their laughs and smooches of kisses echoing through the night sky.

*/*/*/*/

Callum left the guest bedroom and carefully shut the door behind him to find Stuart and Rainie sitting on the sofa nursing a cup of tea and smiling in Callum’s direction.

“You alright?” Stuart asked. “Tea’s on the side there.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Callum smiled widely as he grabbed his cup of tea. “Thanks.”

Callum picked up his cup of tea and went to sit in the chair.

“So you all excited for your date later?” Rainie asked enthusiastically.

“Yeah I am,” Callum smiled shyly. “I’m just a bit nervous as I haven’t seen him in over four months. I know we have been writing back and forth but it’s not really the same. I’m looking forward to seeing him.” He said honestly.

“Well, Rainie and I are going out for the evening, using my bonus to take my lady to London for the evening so if you want to bring Ben back to the flat later on then you are more than welcome to,” Stuart offered.

Callum felt his cheeks flush as he looked down shyly and running his fingers through his hair. This was really happening and who knows where they will end up.

*/*/*/*/

Ben tapped his foot anxiously and was biting his nails nervously as he sat in Beale’s restaurant. It was nearly 7pm and he was due to meet Callum soon.

After four months, two weeks and five days, he was almost going to be reunited with him. He felt the butterflies churning in his stomach. He checked his phone to notice that he still had another 5 minutes until they were due to meet.

He couldn’t wait to see Callum. He had wondered what he would look like now, whether there would be any difference. Would he be slightly bigger or even skinnier than he was before? Would he have grown a beard? It didn’t matter to Ben as to him, Callum would be perfect. To Ben, he would still be the crystal blue eyed angel with the most angelic smile that lights up a room.

*/*/*/*/

The yellow light of the early morning sunshine blinded through the small gap between the curtains and illuminated the room with a soft glow. Ben stirred and wriggled slightly as he turned over in the bed and laid on his side and stretched his arm out to the other side of the bed. When all he grabbed was warm screwed up sheets, Ben’s eyes fluttered open and he frowned slightly. He hastily sat up in the bed and absorbed his surrounding with a grin on his face as he started to remember the night before where he copped off with the mysterious tall handsome soldier that he met at the Albert and at the end of the night, had brought Ben back to his brother’s flat.

Ben touched the side of his neck and ran his hand across it with a satisfied smile, having flashbacks of how Callum was sucking and nibbling on his neck between the sheets. Ben started to think of the Kings of Leon song ‘Sex is on Fire’ and he always use to think “How could sex feel like that?”. Then, in came Callum Highway who walked into the Albert looking sexy as hell and lifted him off his feet, literally. And what went on between those sheets was indescribable. It was exotic, it was very intimate, hot and playful and Ben had never felt any pleasure like it. Ben felt great. This sex really was on fire. It was a burning passion that Ben did not realise he had been craving for so badly and now that he had a taste of it, he wanted more.

Ben suddenly got a whiff of bacon floating under the bedroom door and heard the soft sound of the morning radio. Ben turned his head towards the bedroom door. Ben smiled as he scrambled out of the bed and managed to find, amongst the scattered clothes on the floor that were thrown across the room the night before, his boxers and jeans along with his t-shirt that he wore under his shirt. He quickly fumbled about putting them on, leaving his feet bare and his toes curling into the carpet as he opened the bedroom door.

He found Callum whistling merrily to himself in tune to the radio wearing a navy t-shirt and grey jogging bottoms. Ben had to smile as he leaned against the door frame due to that Kings of Leon song conveniently playing on the radio in the background.

“Ohhhh, ohhh, your sex is on fire!” Callum sang happily as he tossed the bacon in the pan.

“Ah thanks babe,” Ben piped up, jokingly.

Callum jumped and spun round on the spot, spatula in hand. “You’re awake,” he smiled happily.

Ben smiled genuinely as he strolled over to Callum and peered at what Callum was cooking. “I didn’t know you did a bed and breakfast service,” he commented playfully.

“Yeah well I thought you would have a bit of an appetite,” Callum said, as he swallowed and felt his cheeks flush, feeling confident to flirt with Ben back a bit but wasn’t confident enough for his response.

Ben smirked sexily and kissed Callum on the cheek, “Oh definitely. I should come here more often.”

“Would you?” Callum said a bit too enthusiastically, mentally kicking himself afterwards for being a bit too forward. Callum cleared his throat, “How do you like your eggs?” He asks, changing the subject.

Ben looked at Callum with a soft expression, “I would like to see you again,” he admitted sheepishly. “If you want to.”

“Really?” Callum said flabbergasted but couldn’t stop smiling.

Ben smiled back as he stroked down Callum’s arm, “Yeah I would. You may be going back to the army, but I feel like we’ve got something and I would like to see where this goes. I wouldn’t mind a bit more of your company before you have to go back as well.” Ben licked his lips.

“Yeah, me too,” Callum responded with a soft voice. “I’d like to see you again.”

Ben and Callum found themselves gazing into each other’s blue pools, it felt like time was slowing down around them and it was just them, in that moment, together. They both blinked and within that millisecond, time seemed to go back to normal.

“So how do you like your eggs?” Callum queried as he leaned back on the worktop next to the stove. He had a slight pout on his lips and his eyebrow slightly arched in question. “Fried or scrambled?”

“Poached,” Ben teased, putting his hands on Callum’s hips. The two of them chuckled softly and pulled each other in for a passionate kiss.

*/*/*/*/

“Ben.”

Ben looked up to find him standing there. After four months, two weeks and five days, he was finally standing there in front of him, in the flashlight and it felt like in that moment, Ben had his breath taken away.

“Callum,” Ben breathed out, in amazement.

“Wow, Ben Mitchell, speechless?” Callum smiled. “That’s something I thought I would never see.”

Ben smiled back. His eyes felt wet. This was actually happening. He was finding it hard to process that Callum was back with him.

“Come here,” Ben croaked out as he immediately stood up, pulling Callum by the lapels and connecting his lips with his in a deep loving kiss.

They only pulled away when they could hear Ian coughing and clearing his throat behind them as a distraction. Ben pulled away and turned around, scowling at Ian’s back. When Ben turned back to Callum, he grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit next to him on his side of the booth. Their entwined hands were in between their bodies, that could not be close enough if they tried, and Ben’s thumb was stroking his hand.

“I missed you so much,” Ben admitted desperately, swallowing a lump in his throat.

“I missed you too,” Callum responded with the same amount of desperation in his voice. He couldn’t resist but kissing Ben again for a single kiss.

“How are you?” Ben asked, his voice sounding concerned.

“Bearing up, just glad to be out for a few weeks,” Callum gave a small smile. “What about you?”

“I’m good,” Ben smiled back. “I’m just so happy to see you.”

“Me too,” Callum smiled just as widely. “Me too.”

“Are you two going to take a look at the menus at all, Ben or are you going to be all lovey dovey all night and scaring my customers away?” Ian interrupted rudely and snidely.

Ben looked around the restaurant, “What customers?” Ben challenged with a smirk. “Apart from us, there’s only two other tables.”

“Just hurry up and order,” Ian snapped hastily before marching off.  Ben put his middle finger up behind Ian’s back, making Callum chuckle.

Ben scoffed before turning back to Callum, “Sorry about my brother. I would love to say that he’s a lovely bloke deep down, but he really is a self-centered pompous twat.”

Callum chuckled, “I don’t mean to make things worse, but are you hungry?”

Ben smirked, “Why aren’t you?”

“I could eat if you’re hungry but I can wait,” Callum said, his eyes suddenly turning dark.

Ben gulped, “Thinking about it, I’ve lost my appetite.” He gazed up at Callum and allowed himself to be absorbed into Callum’s burning eyes.

“Will your brother mind?” Callum asked awkwardly, “We can always come here to eat another time.”

Ben laughed but smiled softly at Callum, his face full of devotion, “You really do worry too much babe.”

Ben stood up, “Ian!” he called out, “Change of plan, we’re going to head off.”

“What?!” Ian came back round from behind the bar outraged. “I could have got another table booked in! You’ve just wasted company’s time.”

Ben rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet, pulling out a tenner. “Look, here’s a tenner,” he slammed it down on the table. “I deeply apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused.”  He added, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ben took hold of Callum’s hand and led him out of the restaurant, Ian’s rants soon turning into silent echoes.

The cool air of the night caught Ben and Callum as they shivered slightly and breathed in the heavens of an already perfect evening. Their hands were clasped and swinging together and as they walked through the Square.

“So what did you have in mind?” Ben wondered. “We could always have a drink in the Albert?” He gestured with his head towards the Albert that was standing in all its bright colours and flashing lights, in all its glory. “Where it all began,” he added teasingly.

Callum smiled, “I was actually thinking of heading back to the flat. Stuart and Rainie are out for the evening so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

Ben turned to Callum and raised his eyebrow, “Oh yeah?” He smirked, playfully. “Fancy having me all to yourself, do ya?” He flirted.

“Yeah, I was thinking that maybe we can do what you mentioned in your letters,” Callum says suggestively, gulping afterwards.

“Callum Highway!” Ben gasped, mock offended. “What do you take me for? A gigolo?!”

“No, not at all,” Callum said reassuringly. He used his other hand to stroke down Ben’s arm. “I just want you all to myself.”

“Hmm,” Ben looked at Callum suspiciously before his face softened. “I just want you all to myself too. Plus that navy shirt would look soo much better on the floor anyways.”

Callum snorted and rolled his eyes with a soft smile. This was the Ben he fell in love with and one of the many attributes that he loved. “And maybe if we do work up an appetite, we can always order a Chinese later on?”

Ben snapped his head round to look at Callum, pausing them both still in the street as he kissed him full on the lips, “Look at you, you already know me so well.”

Ben and Callum smiled brightly at each other as they continued the very short walk back to the funeral parlour, nothing but smiles, laughter and kisses along the way.

The four months, two weeks and five days was totally worth it.

[robron1609]

Remembering Robron 2020

Day 2 - Friendship

Prompt: "You took all the pillows, so I'm using you as one."

AO3 Link:

Pillows

Robert guarded the mountain of creased, misshapen pillows at the foot of his bed, a smirk spreading across his face. Aaron sat across from him, leaning on the headrest with his knees drawn up to his chest as he held his chin up high. His feet relentlessly prodded Robert in the back of the kneecap, much to no gain.

“Seriously?” Aaron sulked, regaining his lost breath.

Robert leant backwards, letting the pile of pillows consume him to rub it in his best friend’s face. His lanky, overly smug frame was stretched to its limit, sprawled out across the feather-soft barrier of pillows and blocking Aaron’s access to each and every single one of them.

Robert sniggered, “Just because you’re weak, mate.”

“You have five hundred pillows and won’t even give me one?”

Robert craned his neck, peering around the mess on his bedroom floor. He shifted his weight to reach for a rather large plush toy cat with a pink bowtie that Victoria had left discarded in his room the night before. He lobbed it at Aaron who caught it with a scowl.

“There you go.”

“Cheers.” Aaron replied, shooting Robert a melodramatic smile that spewed sarcasm.

Aaron flung the fuzzy cat up in the air before booting it across the bedroom, watching as it slammed into the bedroom door with such momentum that the power of it brushed the sticker-littered door shut.

“Nice one.” Robert remarked, his eyes closed as he rested his hands on his stomach. Aaron’s gaze had naturally landed on the rise and fall that came from Robert’s steady breathing before drifting up to his light pink lips that twitched a little when he was really relaxed; but it went a miss by both lads.

Aaron sighed before getting up to route through Robert’s desk for the television remote. The only noise in the meantime was the rhythmic ticking of the slanted clock on the wall. It was framed by a few pieces of homework and revision that Robert’s dorky brain had deemed important enough to pin up on the wall for the duration of Year 11.

The noise of the second hand then faded away, replaced with the distant nattering of Jack and Andy’s voices coming from somewhere downstairs, bouncing off the stone walls at an irritating volume. They sounded joyous, laughter trickling into their conversation and all it did was wind Aaron up, reminding him of Robert’s countless rants on the way home from school each afternoon. He would go on and on about how his dad and brother grew closer each day, pushing Robert further and further into that blind spot. Each bluster would always finish in tears that flowed freely by the time they ended up at Robert’s front porch.

Letting it go, Aaron finally ended up with the TV remote in his hand. He pointed it at the TV but got nothing in return. Scoffing, he peeled the back off, only to be greeted by a blank, empty space where the batteries should be. He chucked the control on the bed with a frustrated puff of his cheeks.

“Andy stole ‘em.” Robert simply said. Aaron just rolled his eyes because what else would he do?

As the sun set, Aaron successfully hunted down a pack of double A’s and the two friends shared a greasy, takeaway pizza under the glow of Robert’s lava lamp with reruns of Top Gear playing on the 24 inch television screen. The window rattled and howled and there was a chill in the bedroom as powerful gusts of winds squeezed through the cracks in the windowpane, jumping at each boom and clash of thunder. If Robert listened really carefully, he could hear the familiar sound of the loose TV aerial flapping against the chimney. It was a miracle that they were seeing any pixels at all as the sound kept dipping and cutting off. But neither Robert or Aaron cared, they were just grateful to be in each other’s company.

They were both stuck in the exact same positions as earlier, Robert submerged in his pretentious amount of pillows and Aaron at the other end of the bed, wrapped tightly in Robert’s duvet. As he wiped his lips with the sleeve of his school jumper, Aaron tossed the now empty pizza box aside. High pitch but almost inaudible whistle sounds came from Robert’s nostrils with each slow breath he emitted and Aaron stopped blinking, fighting away a smile. He shuffled around, dragging his duvet cape with him as he rested his head on Robert’s belly. He let out a content sigh.

“What are you doing?” Came Robert’s anxious voice.

“You took all the pillows, so I’m using you as one.”

Aaron’s victory was small. It meant nothing, it was just Aaron being his cheeky self. But the trail of sweat clinging to Robert’s back disagreed. He had gone from warm to hot and didn’t know what to do with himself. He wanted to jump up and shake away that feeling of the back of Aaron’s head pressing on his tingling stomach, the hair at the nape of Aaron’s neck tickling his belly button. Robert’s weary eyes flickered to the clock. It was nearly nine thirty.

“You should probably get home.” Robert said, sitting up so that Aaron had no choice but to shift with a groan.

Aaron frowned, “I thought I was sleeping round tonight?”

“I just remembered I’m needed on the farm in the morning.” Robert muttered. “You’ll probably deck me if I wake ya up at the crack of dawn.”

Robert couldn’t tell if his lies were absorbent enough for Aaron to soak up but either way there was a glint of dread in Aaron’s eyes that shattered his heart into lots of little pieces. He cleared his throat before handing Aaron his tattered school bag, eyes going blurry as he focused on the large coca-cola stain at the bottom of it.

“Sorry.”

Aaron just grabbed his blazer, swinging it over his shoulder as he scuffed his shoes across the hardwood floors. Once Robert had glimpsed out the window to see Aaron trudging down the driveway past the puddles that were reflecting the orange glow of the outside light bulbs, Robert slumped miserably against the back of his bedroom door and let the floodgates open, tears rolling down his pink cheeks one by one.

The following Monday came around quicker than the flick of a cat’s tail and Robert stood in their usual afterschool spot, shivering from the cold as he waited for Aaron to turn up. He leant against the rotting fence, grimacing at the streaks of moss and grime whilst watching the caretaker tirelessly shovel piles of grit onto the icy road.

Him and Aaron had a routine. The same routine they’d been doing together since that fateful day they became friends nearly two years ago. They would meet by salt bins at the top of the school field, start the treacherous path to the bus stop, hop on the bus to Emmerdale and listen to the same songs on Robert’s MP3 player that he’d bought with months worth of pocket money, chatter on their way up to Butler’s Farm and spend the evening playing monopoly or scrabble in front of the log burner as they toasted marshmallows. Most nights they would pair up to scramble something together in the kitchen whilst Jack and Andy grafted on the farm all night. But on Friday’s, they would both chip in to order a takeaway, whether that be pizza or curry. Never fish and chips though, Aaron was oddly persistent about that. They’d eat, they’d laugh and then if he wasn’t staying over Aaron would begrudgingly get the last bus home.

Robert couldn’t imagine his life without Aaron. Now now, not ever. Whatever he dreamed of, whatever he envisioned for his future; Aaron was always there. It all started on Aaron’s 14th birthday a couple of years ago, also known as the first day that a broken Robert had to go back to school without his mum there to fasten his tie and make his packed lunch in the morning. That whole day had been a blur and every inch of his body felt numb. He’d walked around with the kind of pain he would never wish on his worst enemy. That was until the last lesson of the day - Physics. This mouthy chav with weird spikey hair slouched on the chair next to him, wearing a giant ‘14’ badge and chewing way too much gum. He had somehow stayed in Robert’s life, and heart, from that day on.

Today, however, it was getting dark and Aaron was still nowhere to be seen. So for the first time in two years, Robert stepped on the empty bus back to Emmerdale by himself.

When he arrived home, he creaked the door open and flicked his bedroom light on, shuddering at the silence. He dumped his bag and let out a wivering sigh as he sat on the edge of his bed to pull his shoes off, letting them tumble carelessly to the floor. He sniffed, swallowing the scared, cowardly lump at the back of his throat. His watery eyes landed on the small collection of framed pictures on his dusty windowsill; one of his mum sporting an infectious smile a few months before she’d died, and one of himself, Aaron and Liv. He’d only met Aaron’s little sister and step mum once - the day they’d posed for that photo together. He hadn’t stayed for long, Aaron had been on edge the whole time, sending Robert away before his dad had even returned home from work. Aaron never speaks of the day he let Robert come round.

The display on Robert’s nokia came to life and Aaron’s name flickered on the screen. Robert answered it as quickly as humanly possible.

“Aaron? Where were you after school?”

”Can I come over?”

“Of course.”

The only response was a bleep at the other end of the line so Robert stayed put. And waited. And waited some more. Until an hour or so later when Aaron snuck into Robert’s bedroom, snowflakes melting away on his coat. Robert gasped slightly, eyebrows pressed together in a frown as he told Aaron to put his sopping wet jacket on the radiator and chucked him a chunky woolen blanket.

Aaron cosied up in Robert’s desk chair, picking away at the peeling leather on the side. He chewed nervously at the inside of his cheeks, gazing up at Robert through his eyelashes.

“Why did you suddenly get rid of me on Friday? And don’t lie to me again.”

“I- I told you.” Robert stammered, after a moment of uncomfortable silence that ran Aaron’s patience thin. “I was busy.”

“And I told you I don’t believe you.” Aaron retorted.

It wasn’t a complete fib. Robert had been busy, just not on the farm like he’d claimed. He’d spent that entire morning feeling sorry for himself, laying in bed as he stared vacantly at the cracks and tears on his bedroom ceiling with a stinging heart. Aaron’s name had illuminated Robert’s phone screen for hours, staring him in the face. It nudged him until the battery fell flat and Robert sulked over not having the bottle to press the green button. Instead of nicking the charger from Andy’s room, Robert threw his phone in the wicker shoe basket next to his wardrobe and buried his hand in the sand. Well, his pillow.

Robert wasn’t stupid. He knew that as much as he wanted it to, this... crush he had on his best friend wasn’t going away. It began as a flutter in the bottom of his stomach when Aaron did as much as give him the time of day. And as their friendship grew stronger, that little butterfly that Robert had gotten used to reproduced. It multiplied until a flock of them took over Robert’s body in a matter of months and it was powerful.

Aaron wasn’t stupid either. He’d noticed the not-so-subtle shift in their dynamic. At some point in the past couple of months, when they came back to the farm after school, the scratchy living room carpet they sat cross legged on had changed to the lumps and bumps of Robert’s spring mattress that had seen better days, the awkward silence had changed to a lack of boundaries, the playful slaps and punches had changed to hugs that lasted for just a little too long and the one versus one football matches in the park had changed to stingy little dinner dates that they both turned up to looking their best.

The squeaking of the wheels from his desk chair brought Robert back into the room and he looked up to find Aaron spinning in circles on the chair, like what Vic does when she’s waiting for her big brother to get off his arse and play Vets with her.

Robert perched at the edge of his bed, drumming on his knees.

Aaron spoke tentatively, “What is it, really? I can take it.”

Robert stuck his leg out, hooking the bottom of Aaron’s chair with his foot. It stopped spinning abruptly and Aaron then realised just how serious Robert’s tensed features were.

“Do you remember last summer when you caught me kissing that boy in one of the barns?” Robert asked, a little clumsily as he raced through his words.

“Yeah, the farmhand. We never spoke about that.”

“We didn’t need to.” Robert exhaled shakily. “Anyway, things went a little further. We ended up in here.”

Aaron felt a wave of jealousy splash over his feet which he tried his utmost hardest to ignore. “Okay. And then what happened?”

“My dad caught us before anything could happen. He sacked him on the spot and then he- he beat me black and blue, basically. He started proper shouting, kept saying how no son of his would ever-” The strain in Robert’s throat caught up with him and he couldn’t breath, scraping for air as his tears burned and hushed him. He felt Aaron’s hands on his trembling back, pulling him close enough to feel Aaron’s chest heaving in sync against his. It calmed him like a lullaby.

Robert could still feel the bruises from Jack's disgust that marked him for days. They’d followed him the next morning when he hobbled over to the church, sobbing and desperate to talk to his mum again. Just to feel her arms around him one last time, listen to her calming voice tell him that he was loved for who he was.

“Listen to me.” Aaron put his palms either side of Robert’s face, tilting the blond’s heavy head up to meet his eyes. “Whoever you like, whatever you like, it doesn’t matter. Okay? You’re still so amazing and Jack is mad for not seeing that.”

“Do you really mean that?” Robert asked through a sniffle.

“Of course.” Aaron smiled, rubbing Robert’s back to sooth him.

Robert dabbed at his tears with a balled up fist under his sleeve, counting softly and silently to try and calm his uneven breathing. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Aaron lunged forward to give Robert a tight hug. He nestled his head in the crook of Robert’s neck and Robert let one last tear fall, melting in Aaron’s uplifting embrace. With Robert’s nose snug against Aaron’s shoulder, he inhaled the warming scent of his best friend and the corner of his lips curled up. It was like he got high off Aaron’s smell and often used, no, needed it as relief when his head was mashed. Except this time, he couldn’t seem to get enough and when Aaron let him go he delved in, eyes squeezed shut, and planted his lips on Aaron’s. But before he even knew what he was doing, he felt Aaron’s palms press firmly on his chest, pushing him away.

“What are you doing?” Aaron gulped, a flash of panic flying across his face. He backed away from Robert like a threatened animal at the zoo.

Robert’s stare flicked repeatedly between Aaron’s slightly parted lips and his hand that hovered over the door handle ready to flee if need be. Except Aaron wasn’t leaving. He’d froze on the spot, chin trembling as his eyes glued themselves to Robert’s. It was like he wanted to tear them away with every fibre of his being but something was stopping him.

Robert shrugged, “I- I’m sorry.”

And he honestly didn’t know what was running through Aaron’s mind. Perhaps it was a reflection of his own memories. Vivid images of Aaron clicking his pen on the desk at school, head resting on the palm of his hand as waited for the bell to ring. When he thought Robert was solely focused on jotting down notes, Aaron would often let his eyes avert to the odd boy who had been taking up his daydreams that week. Wistfully gazing into the back of some boy’s head until he snapped his attention away and frantically scribbled in his text book, acting like all those thoughts and labels whirling around his mind from day to day weren’t important.

Robert had picked up on it and it kept him awake at night.

It had landed them both to this moment right now.

“Robert?” Aaron’s voice was timid.

“Mm?”

Aaron reached to put his arms around Robert’s neck, gently pulling him closer until their lips met again. Robert relaxed and kissed him back in a heartbeat.

 

8 Years Later

Aaron dangled the key to his and Robert’s new home off the tip of his finger. Their first home. He was standing in the centre of the unfurnished flat, Robert’s arm draped over his shoulder as he beamed at his fiancé.

“It’s going to take a lot of work but-”

Aaron cut Robert off, “It doesn’t matter, it’s already perfect.”

“Soft lad.” Robert noted.

“Oi!" Aaron jabbed Robert in the stomach. "There’s only one soft lad around here and it’s not me.”

Robert gave a light laugh before worming his hand around the back of Aaron’s neck and smiling into a kiss.

Years ago, as the last year of school had drawn to a close, the two of them had gone their separate ways. When their little bubble of secrecy burst and the honeymoon period came to an abrupt end, Robert fell to the black sheep of his family. With a long summer ahead, the feuding became tiresome and eventually drove him out of the village as autumn loomed. Aaron woke up one morning and Robert just wasn’t there. No note, no goodbye, nothing. Just a cold pillow and a long continuous beep when his number was dialled.

Aaron had never needed him more when things at home spiraled into dark, nasty and uncharted places and he felt constantly bruised and suffocated under the monstrous hands of the one person who was supposed to love him and keep him safe. With the help of Sandra and his mum, he’d successfully fought tooth and nail to put his so called father behind bars and leave him to rot all the way to hell.

Him and his mum's relationship had had a bumpy start but that can be expected when coming face to face for the first time in over a decade in a courtroom of all places. Hardly ideal. However, Chas battled seamlessly to prove herself and now they had got back the bond Aaron had dreamed of having since the day she upped and left. Aaron had got his life back. Even if it was incomplete until Robert had returned.

And as for Robert… well, that's a story for another day. For now, it remains one of those questions that lives on unanswered.

"So, pub or takeaway? Unless you want to cook." Robert asked, snagging Aaron's train of thought.

Aaron snorted, "And wake up on moving day with food poisoning? Nah, you're alright."

"Fair enough. Pizza it is." Robert patted himself down in search of his phone and pulled it out, his back scraping down the wall until he landed on the floor with a thud.

Aaron slid his hands in his pockets and parroted Robert, legs stuck out in front of him as he sat.

"We should've brought a cushion or something." Robert pointed out.

Aaron looked at Robert like he had hung the moon. "Don't need a pillow, I've got you for that."

As Aaron curled up and snuggled his head between Robert's stomach and lap, Robert wondered how his heart hadn't swelled up so much that it burst through the defences of his ribcage and flustered skin. Robert truly counted his luck stars because if he ever lost Aaron, he would lose his heart as well. But they were a long way from that. In this moment, his hand covered Aaron's and their engagement rings clinked together in sweet harmony.

[birdsareblooming]

While taking a shit I had the idea of Sans and Papyrus starting a comedy show on the surface and by god i need this to be a thing.

The episodes have zero structure and it’s mostly the brothers doing random shit.

They constantly have audience participation. That can range from answering a weird-ass question to getting covered from head to toe in buckets of spaghetti and getting to take a bobble-head of a disturbing monkey home.

An entire episode is dedicated to Sans getting a high-school science teacher to explain to Papyrus that humans do have skeletons inside them at all times.

Yeah the show has no structure but there will be a ten minute segment of the brothers trying to tell human history and butchering it.

They have their friends on as speical guests constatly but the squad are never told what they’re going to be doing. 

(about the above) For all they know it’s a cooking contest, an obsticale course, or a fucking battle to who can speedrun through Sonic 06 and finish it first.

An entire episode was the same very tired high-school teacher from before explaining going to the bathroom to the skeletons.

Frisk is a regular victim to this show bc they’re free like all the time and once one of the challanges they’re put through is seeing how many members of the audience they could flirt with without the audiance member laughing. If they don’t laugh they get a friendship bracelt. If they do laugh they get a friendship braclet. 

One of the episodes was just the bros and the lesbiens playing D&D

The annoying dog shows up on the show constatly and once just fell asleep on an audiance member’s lap for the whole episode.

One episode Sans is sleeping the whole godamn time so Papyrus has to improvize off of his unconious body.

Papyrus has broken at least 2932023 of the set peices.

The show is “safe for kids” so everytime some one is about to swear Sans pulls out an air horn and bleeps them.

Once Papyrus was mad so he stole Sans’ air horn so he could swear, but Sans pulled out another air horn. This repeated unitl there was a pile of discarded air horns on the floor.

Sans WILL air-horn bleep himself. 

For a whole episode Papyrus spoke excusivly in spanish and no one could stop him.

Underneath at least ONE audiance member’s seat is a whoppie cushion and everyone sits down with such causion. 

An episode was Toriel trying to teach Sans and Papyrus to cook pie but it goes terribly in the best way you can think of.

Flowey does appear in the show but with no warning and whenever he wants.

He once did a surprise pop up when they were making golden flower salad and no one planned this. This was followed by five whole minutes of awkward staring as Flowey gazed in horror upon Papyrus and Sans holding salad making utensils and his fallen brethren. 

Mettaton makes regular appearence but unlike every other speical guest MTT’s are pre planned for weeks. His entrance not what he’s doing he never knows what the skeletons have in store for him.

No one knows what Papyrus is going to wear when he enters the building.

There’s a running gag backstage with the crew of this fucked up rubber ducky that the brothers hide in the most random places and whoever finds it gets a bag of spaghetti. 

A whole episode was Sans staking things on audience member’s heads. 

Sans eats actual feces on screen.

Once Papyrus walked in to the episode not wearing any clouths but he’s a skeleton so no one could tell him it was wrong.

They had Undyne fight an actual toaster.

Once some shit was going down and Papyrus solmly put his hand on Sans’ shoulder and Sans just nodded and Papyrus yelled. “WHAT THE FUCK.” 

Papyrus intoduces himself like Julia Morris:

“hi i’m sans” “AND I’M FORMER EXORCIST, PAPYRUS”

“AND I’M THE MASTER OF SLUGS, PAPYRUS”

“AND I’M THE THING THAT’S UNDER YOUR BED”

“HI, I’M IN DEBT.”

“AND I’M THE SECRET THIRD BROTHER........AMERICAN TYPEWRITER.”

“HI I’M LUIGI AND THIS IS MY BROTHER MARIO.”

“AND I’M THE SEXY FOREST NYMPH YOUR GRANDMA WARNED YOU ABOUT”

“AND I’M RUDOLPH THE-I DON’T HAVE A NOSE.”

“i’m sans hello-” “FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIIIIIIDE.”

“AND I’M THE ROBOT PRETENDING TO BE, PAPYRUS.”

“I’M HERE, I’M QUEER, SO DEAL WITH IT.”

“AND I’M SKELETOR THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE.”

“I’M THE SHADOW OF THE MOON AT NIGHT, FIILLING YOUR DREAMS TO THE BRIM WITH FRIGHT.”

“WHAT UP! I’M PAPYRUS, I’M 23, AND I NEVER FUCKING LEARNED HOW TO READ.”

“AND I’M UNKILLABLE.”

“HELLO I AM SANS.” “and i’m papyrus what’s good.”

“AND I’M AN EDRICH GOD TRAPPED IN ETERNAL SLUMBER.”

“HI I’M PAPYRUS AND THIS” [holds up a worm] “IS YOUR NEW LORD AND MASTER, GRAPLEOGADUS”

“AND I’M THE ONE WHO REALLY BURNED DOWN ROME.”

“hi i’m comic.” “AND I’M PAPER.”

“AND I’M GAY.”

“yo it’s me ya boi what’s good famalam.” “WHAT’S POPPIN MY HOMIE BROTHER.”

“hi i’m former scientist sans.” “AND I’M FROMER ESCAPED LAB EXPIRIMENT, PAPYRUS!”

“hoi i’m sans.” “AND I SMELL YOUR MONDO FART.”

“AND I’M....ALEXANDER HAMILTON.”

“yo world i’m sans.” “AND I’M-” [does a 180 spin then splits] “PAPRIKA”

“hello there.” “I’M THE ANGEL FROM YOUR NIGHTMARE.”

“HELLO I’M [car alarm noises from hell]”

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x05-- The Gang Goes to War

under the cut

This episode starts with Caleb and I don’t totally hate it. This means the writers are doing a good job with him so far. I’m surprised I feel that way considering I loathe the plot he’s here for. 

This is the first case heavy episode in ages and I have more thoughts on the fact that somehow the space from 6x19 has become military court than I do on the case. As always, that’s not to say it’s bad (tbh, this case was the exact right blend of simple and captivating it reminded me of old school TGW). It’s just to say I have literally nothing to add.

Lucca’s off to visit Bianca. She is still extremely uncomfortable with very wealthy people. 

Oh, a mention of babysitting! Kind of sad I’m surprised. 

I forgot to mention that this ep is on the shorter side, almost network length. Woo! 

Lucca describes her life as “I have a toddler. I’m trying to make partner.” Remember how last season either Lucca or Rosalyn (or MAIA hhahahahhahahaahahhahaahahahhahahahaahahhaahhaah) were going to be made partner and that plot just vanished?

Lucca says that of work, family, fitness, friends, and sleep, the three she’s chosen are work, family, and sleep. I believe it. Though we’ve seen Lucca exercise probably more than most TGF characters? But that was before she had a baby. 

If you leave your phone on while you’re on a plane and someone places a voice call would your phone actually ring? 

Marissa TOTALLY has a crush on Caleb.

Oh, a Francesca mention AND a mention of Lucca and Marissa being friends?! The continuity fairy likes me today!!!!!!!! 

Caleb threatens to quit (I think he knows he wouldn’t be taken up on that offer) unless Mr. Firth lets him take a month for this case. Come on, Caleb. This is TV lawyering. This case will take two costume changes and you know it! Months are a thing for real lawyers. 

Diane and Adrian aren’t in their offices, so when Firth finds a partner to assist on the military case (I do not understand why this is a thing he is doing in the first place, but alright), it’s Liz. How conveniently awkward!

(Adrian just isn’t in this episode-- he is apparently at a conference in New York-- and Diane is barely in it, and I’m fine with that. LET LIZ AND LUCCA SHINE!) 

(Liz and Lucca are my faves, if that wasn’t obvious.) 

Awkward awkward awkward, fucking your boss is very awkward. I hate everything about this plot in theory and yet somehow like Liz, Caleb, and maybe even the idea of Liz and Caleb, but every time I think about the boss/employee dynamic my only thought is: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liz’s divorce! Continuity fairy has blessed me again!

I do really like Caleb. 

I somehow almost turned that last thought into a rant about Maia and I’m not gonna do that to y’all in this Maia-free season.

Rich people are getting away with more shit in Julius’s court. He’s resigned to it, until he meets his alter-ego from the play again. I get that they want to use this device to show why he’d change his mind so suddenly but omfg please don’t remind me of the last episode. 

My first thought was “maybe that long ass episode was even longer and this is a cut scene” but Julius seems to be wearing a different tie in this scene than he was before. Oof.

JUDGE KUHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Judge Kuhn. I think I said this last week but it isn’t often we get truly good, considered characters who want the best and actually take fair steps to see it happen. Judge Kuhn is great. 

And so is the actress playing her. Her expression as the seat shrinks-- which is some Kingsian bullshit-- makes the joke work. 

This episode relies a lot on that device Jane the Virgin loved where back to back scenes will be linked by a theme or a word. In this case, Julius and Liz/Caleb are both dealing with continuances. Yay for structure, even a simple case related structure!

“A sofa would have blown up here”... I can’t, y’all. “A conference table would have blown up here”. Is this a joke about coronavirus or a real need for more graphics or both? I lean towards it being a joke, but before I say that lemme play these credits side by side with last week’s… 

Okay so there are differences. Last week there was an aerial view of a wine bottle exploding while this week there’s a second one in the background. They replaced an exploding coffee set with the sofa text. There are some other differences too. But not enough to convince me they didn’t have footage they could have used. So I think it’s a joke.

Welcome back, season two Diane. I missed you, ya weirdo! 

(But like actually Diane is staring out the window at a bird, not doing anything or responding to questions. Why so weird?!)

Now that Diane isn’t hunting down answers on 618, she has “nothing to do.” Oh, suddenly no one in the world is in need of pro-bono assistance? Sure! 

Continuity on the SWATting, too! 

AND A WILL REFERENCE.This episode may be nothing special but it sure is endearing. 

Diane explains that Judge Kuhn is tough but fair and Will ended up liking her. That’s a pretty good summary.

Diane spots the woman who she dreamed was Weinstein’s lawyer in a meeting, drawing dots. Guess that’s one of the drawbacks of having windows everywhere. She chases her up the stairs to STRL and asks if they know each other because, and I quote, “I had a dream and you were in it. You were Weinstein’s lawyer.” HOW FUCKING WEIRD ARE YOU TRYING TO BE, DIANE? Are you microdosing again?! (This feels so season two.)

Props to this lady (do we know her name? Has it been said on the show) for taking that weird-ass comment in stride and joking she probably didn’t do very well. She needs a favor-- she has a case in front of Judge Cain and wants Diane to sit with her.

Diane asks about the dots. Apparently this lady draws-- and counts!-- dots. Hundreds of thousands of them. During meetings. Because it’s calming and nothing matters. See?! Season two! 

Lucca does get a little bit of work to do on vacation-- Bianca wants to buy the resort.

Case stuff happens.

Someone explain to me what the fuck this bright neon lighting in the office late at night is all about. Why is it so bright?! Why do the colors change!? Am I just supposed to accept this?! I suppose it’s no weirder than a woman who draws dots instead of taking notes-- and admits to it-- but WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

I know there is supposed to be some sort of parallel between the case having an element about disobeying your superior and the Liz/Caleb dynamic, but as you will recall, I hate everything about the boss/employee plot AND find it incredibly boring so if you would like to see analysis of that parallel… I’m not your gal. 

Oh look I can see the office bathroom of Willicia sexytimes in Liz’s office

My god this lighting is distracting. 

It sounds to me like Caleb is in the legal field for idealistic reasons. I can’t get a sense of if wanting the country to stay the same is liberal or conservative or admirable or misguided but it’s definitely something. (I have a feeling he means “stay the same” as in “return to 2016” though.) 

Since she has not been in the military, Liz worries out loud that she hasn’t lived much of a life. This leads to flirting and intimacy and another hookup. Bleh.

Creeper from Kurt’s office comes to visit Julius and compliments him while basically telling him to keep quiet and be corrupt. He promises Julius the chance to move up the ladder and implies Julius should rule in favor of some rich donor. 

Julius, who, like all characters on this show and maybe just people in general, does NOT like being told what to do, promptly does the opposite. And he feels really, really, really good about doing the right thing. 

Case stuff happens.

Lucca now gets invited to play poker with a bunch of millionaires and celebrities. Lucca is highly uncomfortable. The names of the celebs are bleeped which is… not as clever as I think it was meant to be.

Also I’d be uncomfortable in this situation too. I’m just ready for this plotline to go somewhere beyond “Lucca is uncomfortable with rich people”.

Recapping goes fast when most of the show is case stuff.

In another throwback, Diane (lit by the weird lighting) is watching what looks like a parody of SNL allowing 45 to host? Or maybe it’s just some unfunny bit that goes on too long? Odd target for a parody at this point in time.

Whatever the point, it prompts Diane to start drawing dots of her own. 

Lucca’s luck at the poker game is fantastic. Bianca encourages Lucca to keep her winnings-- she wouldn’t give back a stuffed animal or goldfish won with someone else’s money at a carnival, would she? 

Case stuff, now involving 45, happens. This is a missing season two episode, I swear. 

Wow lol those establishing shots and stock footage do NOT convince me that Lucca lives in Chicago. Nor do they convince me that anyone involved with the show has visited Chicago.

Case stuff happens! 

Another Lucca and Marissa scene! Lucca asks what to do about her poker winnings. Marissa says Lucca should keep the money because Bianca doesn’t need it-- get Bianca a gift if she feels guilty. 

Diane sits next to the seemingly nameless lawyer and they compare their dots. Unfortunately for Diane, the case she’s decided to sit in on as a favor? It’s another case in front of Julius, and it also gets 618’d. How convenient for the plot! When Julius doesn’t go for it, Diane is intrigued and reenergized. She boldly goes to Julius’s chambers to suggest trading info about 618.

No matter how many times I write “618” in the context of Memo 618 I still think 618 = Loser Edit. 

Case stuff happens! It’s good for Caleb and Liz! 

MALCOLM GETS MENTIONED BY NAME! CONTINUITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Caleb and Liz continue the tradition of using meals as code for sex and now I have to watch them kiss. Pass.

Lucca gets Bianca a gift of a goldfish and a giant stuffed bear (a reference to their earlier convo about carnivals). Cute, but I still don’t quite get where this plot is going.

There’s a “Skye and Moon” logo on the plane. I wonder if that is the name of Bianca’s cosmetics empire.

Oh, it’s over. This episode was perfectly fine. Nothing challenging, nothing innovative, but a solid and enjoyable outing closer in length to the average TGW ep than the average TGF one. After last week’s long-ass episode, this is really all I wanted/needed. 

[goldenpinof]

Here's the thing, you want me to talk candidly about sexuality as if it's something that I understand? I don't know what it is, why it is. Turns out no one knows. I've been sitting here for years waiting for scientists to just work it out like bleep bloop. [Oh this is why and exactly how it's different for people. There we go.] Thinking I shouldn't run off my mouth on the internet in case my theories and opinions on varying gayness get debunked next week. Well, I waited long enough and it didn't happen. Science, ya fucked up, you let me down. And I fully expect to have to delete this video in two weeks when you find out all the answers suddenly. Thanks a bunch. What makes someone gay or straight or all the things in between? What the ever loving fuck is gender about? This is a mess. Yet people want you to give them a word because that's how humans communicate with words that have meanings. Which is why our disgusting species is impatient, stupid, and obsessed with labels. And this applies to everything, sexuality, gender, political identity, what obscure genre of synthwave you listen to. People just want a label that represents something they understand so they already know how to feel about you and don't have to bother thinking....If people just want to find a way to disagree with you or dislike you, they can refer to the label and turn off their brains. Hey, what does my label say? Huh. The issue is, especially when we start talking about the writhing mass of confusion and suffering that is sexual and gender identity, the limits of language and specific terminology become a big problem. What does being gay mean? You never thought about a boob once? What does being a man mean? You wanna be an emotionless rock rubbing raw steaks against your biceps? It's not like humanity is all in agreement right now.

Daniel Howell on sexuality, gender and labels, Basically I’m Gay