#bye i need to sleep so its morning asap

[headfullofpresley]

I CAN'T WAIT FOR LAVENDER HAZE MV WHEN I WAKE UP AAAAAAH

[stardustedseas]

rafayel idea that's been bouncing around my head since this morning, tried to make this as gn as possible but i apologize if it comes off as more afab :'3 and since this is just me throwing ideas into the void, its a little chaotic and all over the place, i started adderall and am just getting back into writing after Years so im a little rusty, just used to yapping to my friends in text. i hope that if anyone reads this they enjoy!

-longish 18+ nsfw under cut-

imagine it's a while after you become his body guard, you have a routine that you're used to and your body can just work on autopilot, and while that's all fine and dandy, very helpful even, it can really fuck you up if your schedule is disrupted... imagine for whatever reason a day that you would normally meet up with him at his place is canceled ahead of time. eventually, you just kinda forget about the change, not looking at your schedule very in depth because you don't think there's anything different.

when you wake up on your own without your alarm, you obvi think you have a little bit longer to sleep but panic when you see its past when you should have been up and getting ready to head to rafs, thank god your bodys internal clock still works! you ofc rush to his place as fast as you can, not even thinking to check your callander or text him yet, and pray that you get there before he starts his theatrics that you forgot about him and hate him and are gonna leave him to die and 800 years has passed and oh look jelly fish are walking around and

when you get there youre a little thrown off at how quiet it is, raf isnt in his studio like normal or in the kitchen hunting for some food, you dont hear the sound of his tub either, is he still sleeping as well? if it werent for the fact you need to make him do something, maybe theres a meeting or a painting that needs finished asap, you would have left him alone and taken the chance to just relax. you love him so much yes but lord can he be a little much, especially in the mornings

after some calling his name and looking around, you come to his bedroom, not even bothering to knock and just fling the door open, getting ready to shout his name again and wake his lazy ass up but are quickly caught off guard at what you find- rafayel, all spread out in his bed, naked as the day he was born and desperately stroking his dick while holding the sweater you forgot there the day earlier to his nose, deeply breathing in your scent

idk about yall but if i saw that instead of him sleeping id probs just evaporate right there

hhdggeggrhrhr i know he would look absolutely ethereal all layed out on his bed like that, surrounded by the soft sheets and blankets, body actually shining like a gem from the early morning sunlight coming through his windows and hitting the slight sheen of sweat on him, a faint flush all over his cheeks and chest, his hair a mess from sleep and moving around, face all contorted in pleasure <3 whew

AND HE WOULD SOUND SO PRETTY i mean have you HEARD the sounds he makes in game... him full on moaning is probs better than angels singing i stg and i just know he would have the prettiest cock i just know it

hhhh his hips bucking up into his hand and his abs tensing, the most beautiful sounds youve ever heard are pouring out of his mouth instead of his normal yapping(i just know he moans and whines) the noise slightly muffled by the fabric over his face... but then he moans your name?? bye im on my knees

LMAO he would make the funniest yelp/scream when he sees you, both of you obviously embarrassed and caught off guard by the situation. hed probs frantically try to cover up, yelling and call you a pervert as if he wasnt just jacking off while huffing your shirt

OR if you are also a degenerate like me and believe raf has a scent kink (we've all seen The Card right) he could be using your panties you forgot there after changing clothes the day before, whimpering and whining at your scent, unable to get enough while his pretty eyes roll back... god i need to see that man all pathetic and debauched

this can go one of two ways imo- either you leave and try to pretend it didnt happen before the tension eventually bubbles over and yall confess your feelings later on, orrrrr you can offer to help him, he did look like he could use a hand after all :(

if you chose to stay and offer yourself to him, he might think youre teasing him and get huffy at first, but quickly calm down and let his favorite bodyguard help <3

gooodddd not to be feral but i need that clown fishes dick in me NOW

i personally don't think he would have had many s/os or one night stands, he did wait for you for 800 years after all, but he probs at least somewhat knows what he's doing. id like to think that means he's also very sensitive tho, even in game our touches make him all flustered, so he may not last long the first couple times you two are together, especially if he was already touching himself beforehand. he just can't help it :( his beautiful bride/groom/partner- his soulmate- is finally back with him and touching him so sweetly, ofc hes gonna cum soon so dont laugh or tease! you probably would too, mx. bodyguard!!!

this is more a general hc but hes a switch for sure, hes a bratty dude, not even in just a sexual way, so hes gonna be a little shit no matter if youre on top or he is (hes a brat bottom and still bratty service top to me okay) ive noticed a lot of ppl seem to like,,,, almost infantalize him? like make him not know anything about sex, never serious? and need babying. like, while yeah hes a silly, dramatic babygirl of a man, he is also very old and has his serious moments when he wants/needs to. i cant not see him being goofy during sex but to him, this is also a very intimate and intense thing, he loves you so so much and he needs you to know that, to show you it

that out of the way, back to the fantasy. could you imagine how he would look at you as you come into his room, slowly taking off your coat and equipment, kneeling on the bed to crawl fowards and stradle his hips... hes t h r o b b i n g

god the first kiss with him would be so <3 the need and love and lust and longing and affection and so many other emotions just all pouring into your lips on his, hed sit up to kiss you better, holding you close, not wanting to let you go now that he finally has you again. you guys know that scene where you smooch and theres a string of saliva between you? yeah <3 i need to feel his dick twitch under me so bad while we kiss, yall

he would absolutely complain that its unfair hes naked but youre still mostly clothed, 'subtly' begging for you to take them off or let him do it. he thinks you're the most breathtaking thing hes ever seen, better than any other person, scenery or art ever made, he could stare at you for hours if you let him.

to me, none of the LaDS boys would care much about looks and beauty standards, not even your gender. i know the ppl who made the game are homophobic and its obviously very woman centered,but these guys would not take gender/sex into consideration when it comes to a partner. it doesn't matter how skinny or fat you are either, how tall or hairy, how many scars or stretch marks or moles you have, you will always be beautiful/handsome to them, your body is attractive and who you are as a person makes you even more appealing

sorry got a little sappy there lmfao where was i

right, after he gets you naked as well, he would want to worship you. yeah, you offered to help HIM but raf is a man of art, he cant just have the masterpiece that is you on his lap and not want to touch and admire. if you want to just pleasure him first, he would argue but eventually let you do whatever, his body is yours just as much as yours is his after all

please, slowly touch all of his body, make him relax back and just,,, touch him. his skin is mostly perfect (lucky bastard) but he does have some light hair and a few moles and scars (like the one on his chest <3) pls kiss them, praise him and tell him how attractive he is. he knows hes a very good looking guy, but ik he is a sucker for praise and would love to hear you say it. tell him how much you care for him, how even if you havnt known him long (that you remember), your heart still belongs to him. he could cum just from hearing it combined with your soft touches

god i wanna kiss all over his body so bad, touch him, feel how soft his skin is and trace his lean muscles, nip at the few pudgier spots on him, and just absolutely worship him like the sea god he is. hes sensitive all over but ik his chest is especially receptive to you. i just KNOW he wouldnt be able to stop himself from whining when you touch his nipples, run your thumbs over them, gently pinch them between your fingers, leave kisses and lave your tongue all over and suck at the tender flesh and he will be moaning and twitching under you in no time, demanding begging for more

i wanna leave hickeys all over his body too, his soft skin would look gorgeous painted with the bruises. he would say something like right now you are the true artist and his body is your canvas,so do whatever you want, make him your masterpiece. i think his fave spots to get hickies would be where he can clearly see them, he would get a little flustered if others could spot them too but he would also like how they all know hes taken. cough healsothinkshelookshotashellwiththemandhesright cough, he loves when you leave them on his neck and chest, put one right over his heart and hes about to swoon stg, i also think he would have sensitive inner thighs so he also enjoys when you put some there.

the first time you touch his cock he about nuts on the spot, white knuckling the sheets. it won't take much for him to finish, but i think he would have a quick refractory period and the urge to go multiple rounds, horny ass, so its okay. i hc him as being longer than he is thick, nothing crazy but def enough to reach all your deepest spots and choke you when hes in your mouth. god i just know he has the prettiest dick, its pale at the base like the rest of his skin but gets pinker near the tip, uncut, a slight curve and has a couple of faint veins that make him gasp when you touch them. the more turned on he is/the closer to cumming, the deeper shade his tip gets, very leaky too imo. i dont think he would have a lot of hair down there, for one the rest of his body doesnt but also hes a merman, underwater creatures dont tend to have a lot of hair, and even if he did he would absolutely keep it well trimmed,not completely shaven but short and neat. yes the carpet matches the drapes

okay sorry i keep getting side tracked i cannot shut up about him

after you have your fill with the rest of his body and reach the main course, pls gently kiss his tip first and he will die happy. since its your first time together, you start off slow and easy, just lightly stroking him while kissing and licking all over his shaft and suck on his tip. hes def already close and his sounds are clear indicators, as well as his hand gently petting your hair. he would tell you what he likes/doesnt like, if he wants you to keep doing something ect but otherwise he just lets you do whatever you want. please dont get mad if he bucks his hips up and accidently chokes you tho, he doesnt mean to but you just feel so good </3

like i said, he probs wont last long, he might try to pull you off, embarrassed hes close already but if you insist it's okay, its actually flattering, he will let you continue and tell you when hes about to cum incase you dont want it in your mouth. if you let him finish in your mouth and swallow, though? lord have mercy he just ascended. i dont think he would taste bad at all, he has a good diet and exercise so its not unpleasant. if you lick any remaining cum off his dick or your lips/hand, he may need cpr tho so be warned

that being said, theres a good chance he will just cum unexpectedly without being able to warn you, especially if you deep throat him, youre so hot and wet around him that he cant help it, he really does love how warm you are. when he orgasms, he def is louder and will chant your name, gripping onto any part of you he can whether its your hair, shoulders or hand, he just needs to be touching you. be careful that he doesnt gag you btw, he sometimes loses control of his body and fucks up into your mouth, he will apologize and make sure youre okay afterwards tho

please hold him while he comes down, pet his hair and praise him, he will be ready for round two soon. speaking of, he will want to make you feel good so bad too, if you dont want to go all the way just yet, he would gladly just give you oral as well. i just know he would be so good with his mouth and fingers, he is an artists and never shuts up after all, plus he learns quick. he will roll you over so hes on top after he catches his breath, necklace brushing your chest as he kisses you again, enjoying the taste of his cum and your unique flavor. if you let him, he will absolutely return the favor ten fold, his lips and hands will touch every centimeter of your body, the sweetest things youve ever heard murmured agaisnt your skin.

it also doesnt matter how big your chest is, he absolutely has his mouth all over it and is groping anything he can. i like to think he would have a slight oral fixation when it comes to sex and could spend hours just sucking your nipples until theyre too sore to continue. he says it helps him relax lmao (he may have a mommy kink but thats for later speculation)

hes gonna love to bite at and knead any and all rolls/curves you have. he just loves how soft and squishy you feel under him (you become his own personal stress toy later on btw you are now a stress ball) hes addicted to touching you already. if you are insecure about anything, he will absolutely shower it in even more love, waxing poetically about how beautiful you are so dont say stupid things about yourself

if you dont have much body fat and are more muscly/boney, he will love to trace them just the same, being able to feel so much of your body, even the parts inside of you, makes him feel some kind of way.

god help you both when he reaches your groin, he will become addicted to your taste and smell so fast. he will probs start off trying to tease you by just kissing around where you need him most, sucking little hickies here and there and lightly brushing your sex but he is also impatient and quickly moves on from that lmao once he gets his mouth on you its all over, i feel like he would be the type to hump the bed and moan as if hes getting the pleasure while giving you oral too, your sounds, taste, smell, touch, all combine to turn him on again. please tug his hair lightly, i dont think he likes a lot of pain but if you grip a little he will happen to moan louder against you. also PLEASE use him for your pleasure, press him closer and grind into his face all you want, he can take it, cover his face in your wetness or fuck his mouth, he is in heaven rn

his tongue and fingers should be illegal ngl they are dangerous weapons, he will have you cumming in no time at all. even if you didnt give him oral he would still want to do it to you, he loves seeing you feel good so much, he will probs need to paint after you make love because he feels so inspired.

he will absolutely turn from teasing to begging, pleading you to cum in his mouth, he needs to taste it so bad. if you have amab anatomy he wouldnt want you finishing on his face, only in his mouth simply because he feels like it would be a waste and be better off in his belly <3 he also just doesnt like the mess, butttt he can be persuaded, if you really want to or you say something like you wanna paint his face with streaks of white like the prettiest picture he will fold in two seconds flat.

if youre afab he will love it if you squirt, if you cant or just dont this first time he wont be upset, but if you do? he is trying to catch as much in his mouth as he can and milks you for all youve got, you will have to pull his fingers away and make him stop before he accidentally overstimulates you lmao

fuck he would look so hot after too, his face all covered in your cum and his spit, eyes hazey from arousal and love, panting slightly and his hair all over the place from where your hands were in it. pls help him clean up, if you wipe his face and push his hair back from his eyes he will melt, leaning into your touch and kissing your hand, ironically, hes like a big cat, especially after sex.

if you want to go all the way and do penetrative sex he will be so down and already has the lube and condoms ready, but if you arent ready or are okay with just that one round he is happy too, content with just snuggling you in bed. dont expect to leave anytime soon tho, he is a leech and WONT let you go, convincing him to let you use the bathroom is an actual battle. he is the clingiest, cuddliest mf ever, it doesnt matter what position youre in, as long as hes close to you hes happy. i do think he would like being the little spoon more tho, he loves being big spoon because you feel nice in his arms and he feels like hes protecting you but he just loves being held a tiny bit more. its like you are the one protecting him and dont want to leave him, its comforting

if you do want to continue tho... dont have any plans for the rest of the day, period. between making love and cuddling after, youre not going anywhere.

like i said, hes a switch for sure, so hes good with whatever you wanna do. wanna ride him? perfect. want him to fuck you? also perfect. want him to ride you? yee haw baby. want to fuck him under you? hes ready. be warned tho, if you do the penetrating or ride him, he will be whiner and more bratty, making more demands and back talk 🙄 someone please fuck this man stupid he needs to be humbled yall /aff

if he does the penetrating/is on top, he will be more gentle and a little more serious, wanting to make sure you feel the best you can. he wont stop being silly ofc but he wont be as much of a shit head, especially if its your first time with anyone, not just him. he would prefer missionary this way too(or mormal cowgirl if hes riding you) so he can hold you close and see your face, he loves watching how you react to anything he does. he also has a big thing for eye contact, he wants to press his forhead against yours and gaze into your eyes, it feels so intimate and wholesome despite what youre doing.

he will absolutely get upset if you try holding back your sounds, bro is about to throw a temper tantrum stg /lh, he thinks you sound amazing and he likes knowing you enjoy what hes doing. if youre just naturally quiet he will understand but be a bit bummed, pls talk to him and tell him how good hes making you feel and what hes doing right :) he will perk back up quick. i think he would probs press his nose unto your neck and hair a lot ngl, your scent is so lovely and being so close to you makes his heart vibrate lmao also pls hold his hand during

he would love to be the one to stimulate your clit/dick to help you cum but if you prefer to do it yourself thats okay too, he might be a little whiney but still happily touch other parts of your body instead, just wanting to make you feel good

again, i dont think he would last overly long but he would make sure you get off too, even if it means he gives you oral again or just pushes through his sensitivity, you Will cum. if you take longer to finish, its okay, he wont be upset or leave you hanging, absolutely determined you orgasm. lmfao he gets more locked in to make you cum than when he paints.

when he gets close, hes gonna cling to you again, holding you as tightly against him as possible and his thrusts will become shallower, more humping you than full on strokes yk. fyi when he does finish, hes gonna imagine he doesnt have the condom on and that hes filling you up, i know in my heart that he has a thing for creampies (maybe even breeding later on but thats not for rn), seeing your combined cum drip from your still twitching hole makes him want to go again. its the same if youre penetrating him, he wants to feel your hot spend inside of him. when you do follow suit and cant help but moan his name, hes gonna get the most love sick look on his face and probs groan too

after you both finish and relax into eachothers arms, hes gonna ask if this was serious for you, if you meant what you said about Liking him, if this means you two will start exclusively dating now... he wants to make sure youre on the same page, to him, this wasnt just helping eachother get off, it was making love and showing eachother how you feel, he really hopes that its the same for you...when you say yes, he tries not to show it but hes about to start giggling and kicking his feet lmao he pulls you somehow tighter to him, almost wanting to crawl into your skin so you can never leave him again, kissing your breath away

p.s. pls bully him about huffing your clothes earlier, especially if its your underwear lmfao do not let him live this down, call him your pervy dog

all in all i need to fuck rafayel, specifically after i walk in on him jerkin off, and then cuddle him

[moonlight-canavalia]

Ch. 4 - Jupiter

Summary: A new beginning and some reminiscing of the past. It’s fluff and just a quick little angst.

Pair: Satoru Gojo x F!Reader

More of my works on my AO3

CW: 2,794 words, fluff, a bit of doubts, smidge of angst, pet names.

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“So, what do you think?” he says in a voice so small you might think he’s second guessing his question.

You look at your phone as if it was somehow distorting his words “Wait. Can you repeat that again, Satoru? I want to make sure I heard you right. “ Confusion mixed in your tone. Not even believing your own hearing.

Clearing his throat he repeats his earlier question.

“Do you want to move in together? It’s just a yes or no question, Angel. Don’t feel pressured to give me an answer right now. You can think it over and give me an answer when I get back.” He says confidence returning to his tone. “I’ll try to text or call you tomorrow. Anyways, stay pretty. I love you. Bye-bye.” The high pitch in his bye erupts some giggles in you and the moment of uncomfortable silence is broken. And Gojo feels some of the tension leaving his body.

“I love you too. I know you’ll be busy. Stay safe and see you in a few days, Toru.” Ending the call, your mind goes back to his question. ‘Is it right?’. ‘Should we do it?’. ‘Is it too soon? ’. So many questions coming to the forefront of your mind gives you a sense of dizziness.

Sitting on your sofa to catch your breath, you look around. Staring at your things, around you, pictures, books, little knick-knacks scattered here and there; you can’t help the smile that’s suddenly adorning your face. Because everywhere you looked, you could see some of Gojo’s things that have made themselves at home with yours.It’s not like you two are strangers, it's different of course. In every relationship it’s a scary step, no matter how long you’ve known each other; things change. But why not give it a chance, when you already know you want him. The both of you already took that leap into the unknown when starting a relationship. And even with its ups and down you two are still standing together.

While you’re lost in your own thoughts the poor white haired sorcerer is nervous and alone in his hotel room. “How am I supposed to sleep now?” he asks himself. What if you say no? Was that an early push for you? He didn’t want to pressure you but he really hopes you say yes. All he wants is for you to be there each waking day by his side, his hectic hours keep him away from you enough as is. Sure, there will still be missions where he goes away for days or weeks. But knowing you’re there waiting for him to get back and attack him with care and so much love makes his little heart leap with joy. He has high hopes that you’ll answer him by tomorrow. Even if he’s unable to reach out to you first, he just wants an answer from you. Wanting desperately a ‘yes’ so he can get back to you as quickly as possible and start helping you pack up. The heavens above seem to favor him most times, and this time is no different. Before you text him an answer, you’re already making a checklist in your head on things that you can get rid of and what will you keep. Space is the last thing you need to worry about moving with Gojo. He’d never make you get rid of your things. It could be a random piece of plastic that you’d like to keep for some weird reason of attachment and he’d get a glass box for you to keep it in. But you’re ready for new things, new things you’ll get to do with him. So, imagine his big bright smile the next morning when he reaches for his cellphone and the first thing he sees is your sweet good morning text finishing off with a “You’re doing the heavy lifting <3”. And that’s all it took to start a new adventure with Gojo. You lost count of how many of your firsts he’s taken, but if there’s one thing you’re sure of, it’s how you wouldn't change a single thing.

Satoru <3 BABY YOU JUST MADE ME HAPPY I’LL KICK THE CURSES ASS ASAP

Sending him a quick reply of “Please be safe and try to call me later if you get a chance.

That was sent early this morning. Now it's 8:00PM and it still reads ‘delivered’.

The mind could be quite treacherous at times. Alone in your apartment, with a mess around you as you started taking things out of your closet, cabinets, old boxes you forgot about when you first moved in. ‘He’s fine’ you kept repeating in your head; stop overthinking. But you can’t help it. Sure he might be the strongest but things happen, and even though you trust him you still worry.

Lost in your own world of worry you fail to notice he’s right beside you. Until he’s shaking you asking ‘did something happen?’

A wave of relief washes over you seeing him. “When did you—hi baby” you say letting go of a breath you didn't even realize you were holding.

“What’s wrong?” the tall white haired male asks again.

Turning fully to him you wrap your arms around him in a tight hug. “Just try to not do that again.” You say as if it was obvious.

You can almost see the question marks around his head as he asks “ do what?” as he reciprocated the hug.

“Not answer me” you whisper.

And it clicked just then for him. You were worried. “Sorry sweetness, I stopped by our favorite take out place to get us some dinner.” He apologizes pointing to the plastic bag left forgotten near your entrance. Resting a hand on the side of your face, he angles you up to look at him “I missed you” he says leaving a quick peck at your lips.

“I miss you too” and just with those simple words he feels his chest fill with so much warmth, so much love he thinks he might explode. The twinkle in your eyes looking up at him always takes his breath away. There’s so much love behind them that he finally understands why people say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

“Come on let’s eat sweetness so I can help you with packing so you move even faster. I can’t wait to have you with me day and night.”

Your nerves were buzzing with excitement at this next big step in your relationship. Barely eating you’re quick to continue rummaging through things to pack even faster. Gojo tried to get you to sit down and eat more but you just smiled and waved him off saying how much you just wanted this to be over with. Nothing can bring on more stress than packing, so the quicker it’s done the better.

Once your white haired man-child of a boyfriend finished eating he was on you. Instead of helping you sift through things he was slapping your ass every time you bent down, adorning your neck with kisses when you stood still looking over things. Pinching your hips randomly, he was bored and didn’t really know what you wanted to keep or throw out. He just waited like a dog on beck and call. Any time you needed something from a place you can’t reach, or were done with a box he was there to grab whatever you wanted or tape shut the boxes.

“This is such a small apartment. How did you manage to fit so many things here, Angel. Things just keep popping out of the most random of places.” he said chuckling.

“I’m tired already. I'll do those two small boxes up there and call it a night.” turning towards your boyfriend you wrap your arms around his midsection and in a honeyed voice tell him “can my strong boyfriend get them for me?” There was no reason to use those words, you can ask him to go through a wall and he’d do it without asking why. Anything that came out of your pretty little mouth was an immediate ‘yes’ for him. He’s happy all the same, boyish smile and bright eyes looking at you flexing his muscles.

“Of course I can, it’s me we’re talking about” — Reaching for the boxes he puts them in front of where you’re sitting on the floor.

Taking the lid off you’re met with a pair of faces brimming with joy. Geto, Shoko, Nanami, Haibara, Gojo and you. Smiling while posing for the camera. Well, all of you but Nanami who had such a deep frown in his face, if looks could kill you all would’ve been scorched. Tears streaming down your face at such a fast pace it’s concerning. Gojo immediately kneels down by your side looking at what you’re holding on to. The carefree smiles most of you were wearing, happy with ice creams on that warm summer day. When you all were just teenagers having fun. Enjoying the small things all of you could afford, no classes, no missions, no curses that day.

Just fun.

Your boyfriend, being the strongest as always, swallows the lump that forms in his throat. It’s something he’ll deal with later, first you. You’re his priority and seeing you this way breaks his heart. He also misses those times, when everything was easier. When you all felt like the world was in the palm of your hands. Laughter filled every square inch of whatever room you all were, snarky remarks here and there from Nanami with Haibara trying to keep him positive.

“Every time I think I can handle what happened I get proven wrong” you choke back a sob rummaging through more pictures. Gojo takes the one you’re still clutching on to out of your hard so you don’t crinkle it further. It’s a painful memory, but that moment, frozen forever in time, is filled with warmth and joy. The purest form of happiness the most simple of things used to bring.

“I still remember our inside jokes.” —Gojo murmurs looking at the picture— I replay them sometimes when I reminisce. We were kids and we were thrown into things we couldn’t quite handle yet, not alone at least. We dealt with it how we could.” Tristful eyes staring at the picture. He sounded so dejected, mind probably off revisiting an old memory.

There’s one thing you wish you could change from what happened. Well…actually two things:

1- Geto leaving, hurting and killing innocent people.

2- Gojo having to keep a strong face in front of all other people, not being able to mourn his best friend how he should have .

“I’ve already told you, you were it for me since I first saw you. But I think this day really cemented it for me. This was the day I stayed up all night talking with Geto about whatever the hell I was feeling. He tried pushing me to confess to you and I didn’t want to.” Looking at your tinged face he chuckles. Big hand cupping the side of your face, thumb brushing away stray tears. “I wish I had done it sooner.”

Putting your hand over his you earnestly tell him you wished he did, but also how you could have done it too. You’re just grateful it still happened, even if it took you two some time. You two start going through the pictures together. Snippets of stories here and there from your younger days. Making fun of each other, until you found a picture that showed your boyfriend with such a huge love- sick smile adorning his face. You were laughing at something, eyes crinkling unaware of Gojo looking at you. Wracking your head for any memory of this picture you turn it around and see it’s signed by Shoko “when you two end up together, remember I told you so.”

“I guess she snuck this in here, after everything that happened I hid these boxes and forgot about them.” Looking back at Gojo you shove the picture in his face and coo how cute he looked and how this is your new favorite picture. “We’re hanging this one up, we have to. Look at you” you say with heart shaped eyes.

Agreeing with you he can’t stop looking at your carefree smile. The way it hasn’t changed even when the world around you both has. That same sweet smile that has always helped him get out of his darkest times is still there. And he’s looking at it right now as you hang on to the picture resting it over your heart.

“Okay, okay, before I start crying again. Put these over by the door so it can be taken with the first things we move.” Handing them off to him he’s gone in an instant. ‘Did he really just warp? Just for that?’ Short answer, yes, yes he did. Making sure it’s not lost or damaged when you start moving the bigger boxes.

Cutie you think fondly.

Once he’s back you two are quick to move every box into position for tomorrow. It’s Gojo so of course he’s promised you to move everything in one day. ‘You don’t lift a finger’ he let you know. And he’s true to his word, but to his dismay you don’t even wait for him to be done before you’re tearing at the boxes to start putting things away. He's in awe with how on his second trip back you already have so many of your things hanged, your small figurines and funkos already decorating the empty shelves he has. Seeing the mess in the kitchen where you’re putting your plates with his makes his chest feel tight, almost suffocating on his love for you. The pure happiness he’s feeling with finally having you with him day and night, well starting today.

Bringing in the last box he throws himself on the couch dramatically he huffs out “you should have left me warp”

“No, I told you not to use your powers. You can’t be that tired when you can carry four to five boxes without breaking a sweat, that one cant be turned off” – you bring up – “you’re just being pouty.”

“Am not” he says – sunglasses almost falling off his face when he sits up looking in your direction.

Cocking your head to the side you stare at him dumbfounded. “Any bigger sweet boy and I’d probably trip on your bottom lip.”

He just slams himself against the couch and extends his hands up and does a grabbing motion. Signaling for you to come and rest with him. You decide to accept and make your way towards him. Laying on top of him, you make yourself comfortable against his strong hard chest, burying your head in the crook of his neck, peppering it with kisses.

“I know you’re not letting me go for a while so I’ll just take a break with you” you inform him.

Some minutes go by in silence, just listening to the sound of your breathing when the snowy white haired male suddenly speaks up “It’s gonna be nice that the first thing I hear when I wake up is your voice.” You smile up at him and chuckle “I’ve stayed with you before, and you’ve stayed with me before or am I going crazy?”

Tangling his hands in your hair he gives you a deep kiss, tongue swiping at your bottom lip before going in your mouth. The kiss is all consuming, and breathtaking.

“That’s true pretty girl, but now I’m not gonna have to wonder when you’re leaving or when you’re coming back.” Wrapping an arm around your waist while the other one cups the back of your head he brings your head down so you’re forehead is resting against his “I get to have you with me day and night, I get to come back from missions and have you here, I get to tell everyone I have someone waiting for me at home and its the love of my life. We get to build a home together.”

It’s hard fighting the waterworks, you start sniffling trying to not let the tears spill. He is the sweetest human ever, and you can’t believe he’s yours. You can’t wait to show him all the things he deserves and be there for every new milestone that's to come between the both of you. The words are lost on your tongue, the threat of so many emotions bubbling up constricts your throat. You give him a hug that's near bone crushing even for him

“I love you so much” is what you manage before he’s changing positions and is on top of you.

Pt: 1

Pt:2

Pt:3

[w1tchcr4ftt]

Pre-show thoughts

Tomorrow is my big live show for drama so Im gonna go on about random stuff im thinking abt right before so I can get it all out

Bg info-

Show: The Little Mermaid (Jr.)

Character: Jetsam (Ursula's eel)

This is my first time being on stage since like third grade im so nervous but also excited

theres literally no room on the wings of the theater so its so hard to find a place to stand

Flotsam and Jetsam have such silly costumes its a frilly arm puppet and we wear turtlenecks and mohawks

Killing scuttle asap I hate human stuff its been stuck in my head for 9 months

If backstage dont start singing im gonna fo insane they need to sing louder

we get to show the younger grades our show tmr before the big family show so yippee

I love singing in Jetsams voice its so fun

Im going to have the strongest right shoulder ever cus i have to move it up and down for my puppet

All my friends are coming to my show

why are the platforms 6 feet up thats scary

I HAVE TO JUMP OFF THE 4 FOOT PLATFORM BREAKING BOTH MY ANKLES TMR

I hate the stupid mics so much why do we have to tape them on I hate it

its so hot in the theater im wearing a turtleneck

we get bagels tmr morning yay

If i mess up on the bows im jumping off the 6ft platform head first

If i get a hyperfixation on The little mermaid of all things im gonna scream

this is some kids last year and thats so crazy to me like- waht do you mean thats gonna be me next year what????

Im so excited to be on stage theres just something about it that makes me happy

Its crazy how much i love the stage even tho im fairly introverted 90% of the time its just different there

Im so excited for tmr this is so fun woohoo

Okay thoughrs over this was much longer than I thought time to go sleep for tmr buh bye

[strawbrrysun287]

Office Chaos #1

Hi everyone!! Recently I got into writing again and decided to cross post on here and AO3! If you take the chance to read it I hope you enjoy it <3 This will be part of a series of one shots! Happy Reading <3<3<3

If there was one thing Seokjin could safely say, it was that he was a confident gay. He would always throw a wink or a kiss to baristas, those who held the door open for him, or just anyone within the distance of him if he was feeling particularly playful.

That being said he was also openly gay. In no way shape or form was he afraid or worried about showing the person he truly was. Be it soft pink off-the-shoulder sweaters, a pair of heeled boots that made his bum look like it was carved by the gods (fun fact: it was), or even a black shirt with pastel lettering literally saying (I’m Gay, Suck It).

This was amazing for his social and love life because there was no confusion platonically or sexually. However, a certain middle-aged squat ugly fuckwad who was too dense to realize sooner Seokjin’s sexuality despite all the signs decided to fire him solely for Seokjin giving a customer, a fellow gay, his number.

In his defense, the customer was cute, was hitting on him, and was even interested and gave his own number to Seokjin as well. So all in all, who could blame Seokjin? He was young, horny, and single.

But back to the original issue. He was fired for being himself which led him to where he is now. Walking down the busy streets of Seoul heading to some gaming design company for an interview as a personal assistant to the CEO. It was a major jump from a barista to PA but he had experience… in high school, he was student council president, led three clubs, and even fixed their student budget so that way they could throw a fun concert/overnight party for the graduates.. Okay, maybe that one was a little selfish. It was still experience though! College didn’t exactly go as planned but he still was involved in the radio station and another club… although he couldn’t for the life of him remember what the club was about.

As he arrived in front of the building he could feel his heart beating against his rib cage just the tiniest bit more. He was confident though, he could do this. It would be a breeze. Throw a wink or kiss at whoever was interviewing him, talk about his experience, talk up himself and his abilities, then leave with the job and start the following Monday.

Walking inside of the building left him just the slightest breathless. Fuck. Who designed this building? Who PAID for the building? Or the interior decorating? As he tried calculating it in his head he vaguely heard someone clearing their throat but didn’t pay it any attention. After a few more minutes he finally snapped out of his calculations when the throat-clearing wouldn’t stop. He was two seconds from shoving a glass of water down the person’s throat only to look around and realize the throat-clearing had been directed at him.

With a guilty smile flashed towards the main receptionist, Seokjin finally made his way up to the desk gripping the strap of his bag even tighter.

“Kim Seokjin? I’m here for an interview with a Mr. Kim? For his personal assistant?” Despite the flash of nervousness when he was caught staring into space he quickly put the confident smile back on. The receptionist seemed less than pleased though.

“Elevator down the hall to the right. Floor 35. Park Jimin will help you from there. Try not to stare off into space again, yes?” With a sinister smirk, the lady lifted her hand just to point down the hallway and Seokjin took that as a dismissal which is exactly what it was. It didn’t stop him from mumbling down the hallway the whole time though.

“Honestly? With that kind of attitude, it’s amazing someone hasn’t dumped their coffee over her by… accident... “ Once inside the elevator he hit the button for the 35th floor and listened to the boring music as the numbers flashed above the elevator doors showing what floor it just passed. Once the doors opened for the 35th floor he took a deep breath and stepped out.

Immediately he noticed an adorable guy, younger than him with bubblegum pink hair and the cutest smile when his eyes crinkled. Okay, maybe this place wasn’t all bad. That was until he heard a deep voice shouting, seemingly the pink-haired man’s name if the way his head snapped over was any indication, and then there was a body colliding with his sending him straight to the floor with the other man on top of him.

“Kim Taehyung!! You need to watch where you are going!!” Pink-haired guy’s voice rang out. Seokjin wouldn’t be surprised if the entire floor didn’t hear the shrill yell. Which seemed plausible as there were four other heads that poked out from different rooms like little peeping parrots. Well, this was turning out to be quite the impression to leave on the people he would hopefully soon be working with.

“Sorry, Jiminie! But!! We got the house! I just got the email and we can close on the house today but we have to be there within the next hour!”

“Taehyung I swear on Yoongi’s new laptop th-”

“Don’t be swearing on my things Park Jimin! I will skin you alive!!” A voice seemingly coming from nowhere yelled in offense.

“... that you better be telling the truth or else I will make you sleep our on the balcony for the rest of the week.”

“It’s real. Like really real. The realest real you can really real kind of real! But we have to GO. NOW!”

“Okay okay! Fuck. I gu-.. Oh… Hello there. I uh… kinda forgot you got thrown to the ground in the process. I hope you aren’t injured? No injuries right? Taehyung can’t afford to be sued we are closing on a house today. Uh… if I make Namjoon Hyung give you the job would you be willing to forget this entire mess? He still owes me because of that ridiculous picture I took of him a few weeks ago when he decided to get shit-faced.”

It was official. Seokjin clearly hit his head too hard on the floor and now he was in some kind of dream drama. Shouldn’t the drama involve some super hot guy? A best friend who has his own issues but they support each other no matter what? What about the chaotic couple who he questions how they are still alive? Well… he might have found the chaotic couple. But that didn’t mean anything else. Once he realized he was being spoken to he had to blink a couple of times in order to clear his head and only vaguely caught the end.

“You… you would force your boss to give me the job just so I don’t sue the guy who knocked my ass to the ground? What if I tell you I wasn’t planning on suing him anyway? Although it did kind of hurt but if you could still get your boss to give me the job that would be fantastic and I would kiss the floor you walk on because this job is desperately needed and I’m too handsome to be walking from building to building begging for a job.”

Finally getting up from the ground he rubbed the back of his head where it hit the floor before fixing the wrinkles in his shirt. As he finished getting straightened (HA) out again another deep voice that was almost addicting echoed from down the hall along with heavy footsteps and deep down Seokjin just KNEW that the person coming towards him was the big boss. AKA the one who would hopefully be signing his checks if he got the job. Before he could utter a single word bubblegum hair spoke up again.

“Namjoon Hyung! This is Kim Seokjin, your new personal assistant. Long story short, Me and Tae got the house but in his excitement he kind of barreled into your new assistant here and sent him hurtling towards the floor, and because I’m a good honest person I told him I would assure him the job.”

Namjoon stared at bubblegum hair, Jimin?? In what seemed like absolute boredom like this was a daily occurrence. Well then again, it might be. Things were already more than a little chaotic but chaos is where Jin thrived.

“Jimin. You can’t just give people jobs because Taehyung knocked them down. You have so far given away a car, an apartment, a date, a fashion shopping spree, and part of your investment in the company which I was thankfully able to get back all because Tae didn’t watch where he was going. You know, apologizing in a HEARTFELT way will do the job nine out of ten times.”

“Okay you may speak some facts but I already gave the job to Seokjin and I already read over his resume. He seems like he can tolerate you well enough and you need an assistant to start ASAP because Tae and I have to go sign for the house okay hyung? Make sure you show him the ropes and don’t fuck it up! Bye!!”

With that Seokjin and Namjoon stared as Jimin dragged Taehyung along into the elevator with a cheeky smile and flirty wave before the elevator doors closed on the image that left the pair sputtering.

“Well… I guess they won’t be back till tomorrow afternoon. At least all my morning meetings are finished so I shouldn’t have to worry too much. Ah. Kim Seokjin-sii I apologize for the uh..”

“Chaos?” Jin supplied with a cheeky grin of his own.

“I suppose that is the best possible term for what happens on the 35th floor. Since Jimin already gave you the job I am in no way able to deny it and if I’m being honest I am in desperate need of an assistant as all my paperwork is piling up and I’m not sure where the mailroom is or where the place I normally get coffee from is and the coffee here is made by my director of media and he makes it as black as his soul is what he says at least and no amount of sugar makes it any better.”

And that’s when it happened. When Jin went from being the confident flirty gay to the shy flustered panicked gay that he always read about in stories. Namjoon smiled and he had dimples. Fucking dimples. There was no way the man standing in front of him was real. Tall, handsome, successful, understanding, kind, big hands, muscled if the fabric fighting for its life stretched over Namjoon’s biceps and thighs were anything to go by, and he had fucking D I M P L E S. Who did this Kim Namjoon think he was? God? Actually, that may be true. It wasn’t until he realized he was about to suffocate did Seokjin exhale the air he was holding in before stuttering out a hasty reply.

“Assistant? Now? Like now now? Me? For you? Coffee? I’m good with coffee and with paperwork. Yeah. I can 100% do that for you, Mr. Kim. And there is no need for formalities you can just simply call me Jin as I will be working closely with you. With you. Closely. Working. Yeah. Now?”

Seokjin knew the second the last syllable left his mouth that he was an idiot. A certified idiot who shouldn’t be allowed to be the personal assistant for a business of Namjoon’s caliber but like hell, he was going to give up the opportunity to get to know the taller man and completely wow him. Fuck was he even gay? It didn’t even matter. He could figure that out later down the line but first…

“Just tell me where to sign Mr. Kim and we can begin our new… partnership as boss and assistant. I promise I’ll do everything to learn the ropes quickly to help make your life a little less hectic.”

“Namjoon is just fine Jin. Even though I’m your boss I like to keep a close relationship with those who work close with me. You will find everyone on this floor is on a first name basis and the chaos is real and alive everyday.” And there were those fucking dimples again.

Maybe Seokjin needed to send a gift basket to his homophobic ex-boss because this new adventure at Kim. Co was going to be fun.

Chaos and all.

[lynelovespopculture]

THE  CHILLING ADVENTURES OF ZELDA CHAPTER 14-A SPELLMAN FAMILY SOLSTICE

 Faustus and Zelda had a long recovery in front of them.  Faustus had only awakened 1 hour before his wife so they were healing at the same time. They both were assigned to complete bed rest for the next 3 weeks. In that time, they rested, snuggled together, and watched the defeat of Blackwood video numerous times. They both agreed that there was no foolproof way to get rid of Blackwood forever; they had to just keep their guard up and hope for the best. Zelda also told Faustus how Lilith had reclaimed hell for herself and found happiness with a new Adam. After the 3 weeks of bed rest, Faustus and Zelda were up and around and just in time to help celebrate Sabrina’s 18th birthday. (Since this was Sabrina’s last year at home before college, new rules were set. Thursday nights were family dinner night, absolutely no excuses for not attending, and Sunday was family movie night.)

Later that week, Faustus and Zelda managed to find some time to sit down with just the twins to have a serious talk about the adoption. Zelda explained that this adoption was less about guardianship, as the twins were almost 17, but more of a show of commitment to be their mother. Zelda nodded with understanding when they told her that they wanted time to think about it. Yet, there was 1 issue that the male twin didn’t need to think about at all. Just like his sister, Judas wanted to forget about his life with Blackwood. Soon enough, he confessed that he hated the name of Judas, so with his parents’ full support, changed his name to Jacob.  It wasn’t long at all until he was used to the family calling him Jake. 3 days later, Faustus took Zelda for a romantic dinner in the fanciest restaurant in town. As they clinked their wine glasses together, Faustus explained that it was the 1st anniversary of him being free from the curse. Hearing this, Zelda re-clinked the glasses.

“To the first of many, many years,” She smiled.

They went home, and make wild, passionate love before drifting off in each other’s arms. Late that night, Zelda turned around and found herself alone in bed. She caught Faustus at the entrance of the attic, which Ambrose and Jake now shared.

“I still can’t believe we’re all home now,” Faustus whispered as his wife linked her arm with his. With a kiss, Zelda led him back to their room, where they made love for the 2nd time that night.

  Their 1st solstice all together as a family was a very special one. LJ and Jake were both all smiles as together, they handed Zelda a gift. After wrapping it, Zelda gasped, for the box was filled with papers, but not just any papers. On top were the half-filled adoption papers and beneath that, were papers for legal name changes. The twins explained that not only did they want to be adopted but they were also ready to become Spellmans. All the family couldn’t agree fast enough. Zelda did a pretty good job of blinking back her tears of joy, or she did, right up until the twins called her ‘mom’ for the very 1st time. This happened right after Zelda gave LJ and Jake their Yule present. A thick photo album filled with pictures of their birth mother, Constance, at every stage of life so the twins could look at it whenever they wished.

In the new year, after Hilda and Dr. C celebrated their 1st anniversary and Zelda filed the paperwork for the twins’ adoption and name changes, plans went full steam ahead for LJ and Jake’s joint dark baptism. Jake kept it simple, by picking Jacob Faustus for his baptismal name. LJ’s was longer. LJ explained that her name was to be Letitia Judith Constance Zelda.

“To honor both my mothers.” LJ smiled and Zelda kissed the girl on the head, blinking back happy tears once more.

The baptism, attended by family and coven alike, went off without a hitch. For the next few months, the Spellmans’ lives were blissfully quiet and uneventful. Their lives revolved around work, school, and most importantly, each other. On April 2nd, the whole family gathered to celebrate Cordelia’s first birthday. They threw a party, of course, with cake and gifts but it was Faustus and Zelda who got the best present that day. It was later that night after they readied Cordelia for bed, they sat Cordelia down in front of her crib as they did for the last 3 weeks. It was normal when Cordelia pulled herself up to the crib with her tiny hands but then something new happened. Cordelia took her hands off the crib and took her 1st few unsteady steps towards Zelda. She playfully touched her mother’s cheek before saying her 1st word loud and clear. “Mommy!” After kissing her daughter silly, Zelda turned Cordelia around so she could walk to Faustus. The baby took 3 steps before she stumbled on the 4th and would have fallen but Faustus managed to catch her. He was rewarded with a giant smile. “Daddy!”

 Spring and summer flew by and before anyone knew it, it was September again. Everyone came out to see Sabrina and LJ, who graduated a year early, off to college. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. When she was 3 and big enough for a big girl bed, Cordelia was given Sabrina’s room by her still at college cousin. The following year, Hilda, Faustus, and Sabrina convinced an uneasy Zelda to allow Cordelia to attend mortal kindergarten, just like Sabrina before her. Cordelia’s parents sat her down and explained to her not to talk about witches or use magic at school. They also kept their promise to the witch’s council, to keep them updated on Cordelia’s magical development. Yet, there was little to report. The baby who cried the devil out of the house was growing up as normally as any other little witch, except for a slammed door or a few floating items. Her powers were at their strongest when her emotions were at their peak.  One afternoon, Cordelia wanted to play outside but Hilda explained she couldn’t because it was raining, hard.

“I don’t want it to rain!” As soon as Cordelia stamped her foot, the sun came out. Hilda stared wordlessly, yet Cordelia didn’t even seem to notice. It was on the 1st day of school that Cordelia met Erin, Emily, and Erica Warner, mortal triplet girls who quickly became her BFFs. Meanwhile, with his youngest now in school, Faustus was feeling a little lost.  Ambrose and Jake formed the perfect team to run the funeral home together and the rest of the family were busy with their own thing. 1 night, Zelda suggested her husband should return to teaching. Zelda knew she got through to him and was waiting for Faustus to ask her to return to the academy. So, she was shocked when he told her he gotten a job at Greendale middle school, teaching 7th grade. Theo Putnam was also a new teacher.

 It was a cold night in the late December of Cordelia’s sixth year that the child awoke with a start.

“Who’s there?” She demanded with the greatest demand she could mutter as she sat up and looked around the darkened room. She looked around and saw nothing, yet she felt someone was nearby. Cordelia sighed, this wasn’t a new feeling. She pulled back her blankets and got up. Might as well go to the bathroom while I’m awake. She thought.

“Hey, Salem.” Cordelia petted Sabrina’s familiar on her way back to bed. Then she picked up her favorite doll, tucked it under her arm, sighed as she laid down, and closed her eyes.

 The next thing she knew, sunlight tickled at Cordelia’s eyelids. 1 quick look at the clock and she jolted out of bed and down the hallway. Her own school had let out for Christmas yesterday, but the academy was a year-round boarding school that demanded much of its headmistress. Cordelia felt that she spent less than 10 minutes with her mother all week. Maybe it was still early enough to catch her. She stopped short in her parents’ doorway. Not only was no one in here, but the bed was made and everything was neat, suggesting that both her parents left long ago.

“It's not even 9 yet! Well, so much for that idea.” Cordelia muttered as she headed for the steps. Downstairs, Cordelia found her brother fluttering back and forth before the front door as if he was preparing to go out. “Where’re you going, Jake?” she asked from the stairway.

Jake looked up, pausing as he put on his coat. “Good morning, Cordy. Mom just called, she needs someone to fill in for her with the choir ASAP.”

“Mom’s already at the school?”

Unfortunately, Jake was too busy to notice the sadness in his sister’s tone. “Yeah. Bye.”

Cordelia was left to frown at the closed door when the wonderful smells finally reached her nose. Those smells only appeared when someone special visited. Now wearing a tiny smile, the 6-year-old ran into the kitchen and hugged the visitor from behind. “Hi, auntie H!”

Hilda, who was baking, half-turned and gave her niece a 1 arm hug. “Hello, darling.”

From his stool 3 feet away, Ambrose waved. “Hello, cousin.”

“Hello, another Spellman who no longer lives here.” Cordelia teased good-naturedly and Ambrose laughed. He and Prudence had only moved into a small apartment together downtown 3 months ago.

Meanwhile, Hilda wiped her hands on a towel. “It’s cereal alright for breakfast?”

Cordelia smiled and nodded. “Yes, please.”

“So, Cordy, how did you sleep?” Asked Ambrose.

“Good! For the most part.”

Ambrose and Hilda exchanged a look. “For the most part?” repeated her aunt.

“Ghostbusting again, cuz?”

Cordelia gave Ambrose an annoyed sideways glance. “No, Ambrose. Ghostbusting would imply that I actually see the spirit.”

Ambrose was now confused. “Wait, you don’t see the ghosts? Ever? But you had this problem for a while.”

“Since before feasts of feasts as I recall,” Hilda added.

“I don’t understand. If you can’t see them, how do you know they’re ghosts?”

Cordelia shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know, it’s just a feeling. Most girls my age are scared of ghosts; I just want them to make up their minds! They should show themselves, tell me what the problem is so I can help or just let me be so I can sleep at night.”

Hilda and Ambrose both had nothing to say so they just stared at the girl. Cordelia sighed, what was needed now was a change of subject and she found it on the serving tray. “Who pops popcorn this early in the morning?”

Ambrose sprang to life. “Oh, I almost forgot!  I was supposed to bring out the cranberries and popcorn to Dr. C and Uncle Faustus. They finally setting up the Yule tree!” Ambrose grabbed the tray and rushed out of the kitchen.

“Well, I got to go too,” Cordelia announced.

“Why?” Asked Hilda.

“Because my bowl of cereal was on that tray!”

Hilda laughed, shook her head, and returned to her baking.

 “I swear, we get this tree up later and later every year.” Faustus sighed.

“Well, we’re busy men,” Dr. C assured him. “Me at my bookstore, you at the middle school. Here comes Ambrose, at last.”

Faustus smiled as the younger warlock rushed in. “We were beginning to think you’d forgotten us.”

“I’m so sorry that it took me so long,” Ambrose said.  “Aunt Hilda and I got to talking and then Cordelia walked in.”

“Oh? Cordy’s up?”

“I sure am!” The child was right on Ambrose’s heels. She was closer to Dr. C so she greeted him first. “Hi, Uncle C” She hugged him and then went over to her father. “Hi, Daddy” she giggled when Faustus kissed the cheek of his youngest child. The 2 men went back to trying to steady the tree, as Ambrose found a chair and began to thread the popcorn and cranberry strings together. After reclaiming her breakfast, at last, Cordelia sat on the sofa and asked about the only thing on her mind.

“How long ago did Mom leave for the academy this morning?”

“About an hour and a half to 2 hours ago” Faustus answered casually. “Why? Do you need her?”

Cordelia frowned. “No, I don’t need her per say, but I do miss her. It’s like I barely have seen her this week.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Faustus soothed his daughter. “While it’s true that Solstice demands more of the high priestess’s time than normal, all she has to do is get through today and perform tomorrow’s midnight mass then Zelda will be free to spend the rest of the holidays with us.”

“Don’t forget when we go get the girls tomorrow.” Dr. C added. “Zelda would never miss that.”

Although both LJ and Sabrina left for college 6 years ago, the girls were still away for their education but for different reasons. Unlike Jake, who left a year after his sister and cousin and return 2 years later, business degree in hand. Poor Sabrina was having a tough time, having changed her major 3 times. On the flip side, LJ had not only completed university in record time but was enrolled in 2 different medical schools. When done, LJ would not only be 1 of the few female witch doctors, she would also be the 1st witch doctor trained in mortal medicine. With a sister on her way to glory and her mother already in the history books as the 1st high priestess, Cordelia was extremely proud of her family and sometimes wondered if greatness lay in her future as well.  Having finished her breakfast, Cordelia now lay the now-empty bowl on the coffee table and went to the old cardboard box that held the tree decorations.  After a few seconds of digging around, Cordelia was able to her favorite one. It was a diamond full moon on 1 side and the other side was a picture frame. The picture itself was taken on her 1st solstice. It was of Zelda, Faustus, and Cordelia herself, when she was still just a baby. While Cordelia stood admiring the photo, Dr. C lost his balance on the step stool and bump into the girl, causing her to lose her grip on the glass moon and it smashed on the floor.

Dr. C rushed to the child’s side. “Oh Cordelia, I’m so sorry!” He hugged her.

Cordelia put on a brave face. “It’s okay, uncle C. We have lots of others.”

As they spoke, the fragments of the glass moon float up in the air and magically fixed itself.

“But this 1 is your favorite,” Faustus held it in the palm of his hand. “I know because it’s my favorite too.”

Cordelia smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”

  Putting up the tree nearly took all day. Cordelia was excused because right after lunch, the Warner triplets called their friend to come with them to go to the mall to see Santa. Cordelia was gone all afternoon and returned just in time for dinner yet her mood seemed to change. She was quiet and seemed angry. At first, Hilda thought her niece was annoyed because Zelda called to say that she was too busy to come home for dinner.  Then, in the middle of supper, Jake knocked over a glass of water. On the other side of the table, his baby sister jumped up in horror.

“You should be more careful!” She shouted before she ran out of the room. Faustus and Hilda found Cordelia in her room pacing back and forth before her bed. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!” She muttered to herself.

“Cordy? What’s wrong?” Faustus asked.

His daughter looked up, frowning. “You should have told me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“THAT OUR KIND CAN MELT!!”  Cordelia shouted.

Faustus and Hilda exchanged a confused look. “Cordelia, love,” Hilda said gently, “what exactly did you and your friends do this afternoon?”

Cordelia sighed. “After the trip to the mall to see Santa, Mr. Warner invited me back to their house for hot chocolate and it was there that Erin, Emily, Erica, and I watched a movie.”

“What movie?” Her father asked.

“The Wizard of Oz.”

Both Faustus and Hilda felt instant relief. Hilda left to go inside the bathroom while Faustus took his daughter by the hand, guided her to the bed, so they could both sit down.

“Darling, while it’s true the mortals have short lives, while we witches can live for centuries and centuries. Surely, we can’t live that long if we are in danger of something as common as water.”

“But in the movie-“

“The movie is not real. It’s pretend, make-believe. You remember when you, Mommy, and I had our talk about make-believe?”

Cordelia nodded. “I remember, but it’s so confusing! After all, mortal parents tell their children that witches are make-believe.”

Faustus nodded. “That’s true but I can prove I’m right! Think back to every mass you attended, all the times Zelda took you with her to the academy, have you ever, after all that time with the coven, even seen a green witch?”

“No. Hey, wait  a second, I didn’t tell you that the witch was green! How did you know?”

Faustus laughed. “The Wizard of Oz is a very famous movie and you’re not the 1st witch to get spooked by water after seeing it. I guess you could call it a witch childhood rite of passage by now.”

“Your father’s right,” said Hilda, coming toward the bed, glass in 1 hand. “When your cousin Sabrina saw that movie, she reacted the exact same way you did. That’s when Zelds and I came up with the test.”

“Test? What kind of test?”

“Come here and I’ll show you.” When Cordelia didn’t move and kept staring at the glass, Hilda tried again. “What’s wrong? Don’t you trust me?”

This softened Cordelia immediately. “Of course I do, Auntie H.” The child got off the bed and came forward and Hilda knelt down to look her niece in the eye. “Now just give me 1 of your fingers.” Cordelia offered up a finger. Hilda took it and put the tip of the finger just under.  “Now, how does that feel?”

“Wet.” Was the child’s only reply.

Hilda laughed. “Yes, it’s wet, but what else? Does your finger feel like it is going to fall off or melt?”

Cordelia smiled and shook her head.  Hilda smiled. “Good, the test has worked in our favor yet again.”

“Thank Hecate!” Faustus added. “Can you imagine how foul our world would be if none of us would be allowed to bathe?”

Cordelia laughed at her father’s funny face as Hilda kissed her brow.

  A few hours later, Faustus turned down the bed as Cordelia got ready in the bathroom.

“Cordy, have you brushed your teeth yet?”

“Doing it right now, Dad.”

Faustus couldn’t resist. “With water?”

First, there was silence then came a low moan. Faustus smiled to himself.

Cordelia switched off the bathroom light and walked more into her bedroom. “Hecate, I’m dumb,” She muttered.

When she was close enough, Faustus put his arm around his daughter. “You are not dumb. You, my girl, are 6. Considering how you speak and behave most of the time, it’s easy to forget how young you are.”

Cordelia gave a half-smile. “Still young enough to be read to?”

“Not very subtle, miss Spellman.”

Cordelia giggled and crawled into bed as Faustus grabbed the book on the nightstand. Some little girls like fairy tales, most, at least, like a story with a plot. But most nights, Cordelia favored spell books, especially the Latin ones, even though Cordelia didn’t speak the language. She said it soothed her faster. Tonight, Faustus only read a page and a half before Cordelia was fast asleep. He tucked her in and tiptoed out of the room. The next thing Cordelia was aware of; someone was arranging her blankets. Her 1st thought was that the troublesome ghost was back but she was instantly awake when she saw who it really was.

“Mommy! I missed you so much today!” Cordelia sat up and threw herself into Zelda’s arms.

Zelda kissed her brow. “I’ve missed you too, little one. I didn’t mean to wake you, but your father told me that you had a scare today.”

“That’s not important,” Cordelia dismissed. “Will you come with us to pick up LJ and Sabrina tomorrow morning?”

Zelda nodded. “I will, but I must get back to the academy by early afternoon at the very latest.”

Cordelia frowned. “But tomorrow is the day before Solstice. You always spend it with us.”

“I know precious but we’re so behind this year. I mean, the church is not yet decorated or prepared for midnight mass yet.”

“How about I go with you? That way you could get your work and we could still be together.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“No! Wait! Don’t go yet.” Cordelia grabbed her book. “Read to me.”

“It’s late, Cordelia.”

“Please, Mom?”

Normally, Zelda would have held firm but she felt massively guilty about barely being home lately. Zelda sighed and took the book. “Move over.”

An hour later, Faustus went to look for his wife and found Zelda and Cordelia snuggled up together, both fast asleep. Faustus went to Zelda to whisper to her. “It’s late, my love. We’re going to have to leave for the airport, well, in just a few hours now.”

“Mmm,” was Zelda’s only reply.

It was only then that he saw the book. “Did Cordy get another story out of you?”

Again, “Mmm.”

“Dearest, are you asleep?”

“Mmm?”

Faustus smiled. “That’s what I thought.” Gently, he put 1 hand under Zelda’s head and the other 1 under her knees. Then he carried Zelda out of Cordelia’s room and back to their own bed.

 Even though they had only been home a few weeks before for feats of feasts, Sabrina and LJ’s homecoming was a joyful one. At the airport, there was much hugging and kissing, done by all the family. The morning flew by with all their laughing, talking, and catching up. After lunch, most of the family went to the church with Zelda to help set things up, yet Sabrina went for a different reason. All Sabrina had to do was wait for an opportunity to talk to her aunts alone. She got 2 and chickened out both times. Fed up with her own failure, Sabrina teleported herself back to Spellman’s kitchen and groaned.

“Just tell them, you coward!”

The loud whistle of the kettle startled Sabrina. She turned and saw Faustus at the stove,1 of his eyebrows rose. “Something wrong, Sabrina?”

She could feel her eyes watering. “Yes.”

Faustus said the 1st thing that came to mind. “Are you changing your major again?”

Sabrina shook her head. “No, I’m not changing my major. I’m not going back to school at all!” There, she finally said it.

For his part, Faustus got out 2 cups and saucers, poured the tea, and sat down at the table with Sabrina.

“I can’t seem to bring myself to tell Auntie Hilda and Aunt Z. I wasted 5 years, 3 majors, and all that money. My aunties are going to be so disappointed.”

In an effort to comfort his niece, Faustus took Sabrina’s hand in his. “All your aunts have ever wanted for you is to be happy.”

“I tried, I tried so hard.” Sabrina’s lip quivered.

“I know,” Faustus soothed. “Maybe this could be a blessing in disguise,” he suggested. “Maybe, by taking a semester off will help you relax and figure out for sure what you really want to do.”

“But I was sure all those times I change my majors,” Sabrina stressed.

“You know, 1 of my favourite teachers once told me that the secret to professional success is to pick something that you love and are good at.”

“But I don’t know what I’m good for a job.”

“What about helping people? You’re good at that.”

“But that could any career.” Sabrina pointed out.

“How about a therapist? I would be lost without mine.”

Sabrina smiled. “A therapist? Me? You remember I’m the one who causes most of the problems around here?”

“Oh, that was when you were a teenager,” Faustus dismissed. “You’re grown up a lot since then. Besides, if nothing else, the outlook of a half-mortal, half-fallen angel raised by witches is bound to be interesting.”

Sabrina laughed. “True. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks, Uncle Faustus.”

He was shocked. “You’ve never called me uncle before.”

“I know but it’s high time I did.”

 “Dad? I’ve been wondering something for a long time, but I’m not sure how to ask.”

It was late that night and Faustus was readying Cordelia for midnight mass. In his opinion, she looked great. His daughter was wearing a new red dress, her white winter tights, and shiny black Mary Janes. He was now adding the finishing touch of a ribbon in her red hair, exactly like her mother’s. “Cordy, don’t be scared. You know you can ask me anything.”

“Okay, Dad, don’t you believe? I mean, I know that Uncle C isn’t a warlock, so it makes sense that he doesn’t share our faith, but why don’t you believe?”

“But I do believe, sweetheart. I was baptized the night after you were born.”

Cordelia seemed confused. “You were?! Then why don’t you ever attend mass?”

Faustus sighed. “You have to leave in a few minutes and it’s a very long story and I promise that someday we will discuss this in greater detail, but for now all I can tell you that when I was high priest, before you were born, I did things that I am deeply ashamed of. The coven has since forgiven me but I am still weary of being near them.  I do attend mass, in fact, I’m there every week, but I don’t sit up front with the rest of the family, I actually like to sit in the very back pew. I also like to be the last one to arrive and the first one to leave. I like it when the coven doesn’t even notice me.”

Cordelia thought for a moment and then said, “Are you sorry about what you did?”

“Oh, Hecate, yes! I’m sorrier than anyone can ever know.”

Cordelia shrugged. “Then the coven has to forgive you. It’s just good manners.”

Faustus hugged his daughter, grateful for her innocent logic.

   A little later, Cordelia found herself at the church, sitting in the front pew with Hilda, Sabrina, Ambrose, and the twins while Prudence sang in the choir. Even at 6, Cordelia felt proud that it was her mother who performed the service, glorious in her white and gold robes. During the middle of the service, Cordelia took advantage of her end seat and looked toward the back. Sure enough, she found her father, who waved at her. After mass, Cordelia stayed behind to help clean up and help her mother say goodbye to the coven. When they drove home, there a raven haired woman near the stairs. Cordelia didn’t know who the lady was but, judging the way her mother was gripping the wheel, Cordelia guessed her mother did.

“Is she the one who keeps bothering you?” Zelda asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Mom, who is that?”

“Go inside and get dressed for bed, Cordy. It’s late.”

Cordelia did as she was told but she did pick up some bits of dialogue.

“Bright solstice, Zelda.”

“What are you doing here, Lilith?”

“Come now, surely I’m allowed to check up on my son’s future bride.”

That was all Cordelia heard. 10 minutes later, Zelda came into Cordelia’s room to kiss her daughter goodnight.

“Mom?  I heard you and that lady talking. Who’s getting married? Prudence or LJ?”

“No one in this house is getting married!” Zelda declared firmly.

Zelda went to bed mad and woke up even angrier. “I don’t get it, Faustus.” She said to her husband as they went downstairs for breakfast. “We heard or seen nothing of Lilith these past 6 years and the 1st thing she mentions is that stupid marriage contract that I signed in invisible ink and can’t possibly be binding. Lilith knows that! What game is she playing at?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Faustus answered honestly. “Whenever it is, we’ll deal with it together like we always do. Today is solstice. It’s time to celebrate that and the fact that this is your 1st day off in weeks. Then, later on, tonight, I get to show you how terribly I and our bed, have missed you.”  He kissed her hard before they walked into the kitchen, hand in hand.

 According to tradition, the family waited until sundown to gather round the Yule tree and start exchanging gifts. Half an hour later, the get together was in full swing, with music, talking, and laughing all filling the air. It was about this time that Faustus gave Zelda a small blue ring box. Inside was the 6th annual charm that Faustus gave his wife every Yule to go on the bracelet that he had given her on their 1st Solstice that they spent together as a married couple. However, the meaning of this year’s charm was lost on Zelda.

“A white rose?”

Faustus nodded. “A symbol of eternal love.”

Zelda gave a sly smile. “Yours or mine?”

Faustus laughed and stroked his wife’s cheek as he received Zelda’s thank you kiss. Then Faustus stood up and grabbed a skinny gift from under the tree. He passed it to Cordelia.  “Speaking of jewellery, here a little something from your mother and me.” Cordelia smiled as she took the gift and unwrapped it. It turned out be a golden chain with a crescent moon attached, not unlike her own birthmark. She looked up at her parents from her place on the floor.

“I love it! Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom.” Cordelia got up and hugged both her parents.

“May Hecate bless and keep you, my Cordelia.” Zelda smiled at her daughter.

“Amen.”

“Oh, it seems we ran out of music and could use a new Christmas CD.” Hilda sighed.

“I’ll go change it since I’m up.”  Cordelia offered and journeyed to the stereo but before she got there, she passed a window and froze.  She looked very upset.

It was Hilda who first noticed her distress.  “Cordy, darling? What’s wrong?”

“It’s her,” Came her niece’s reply. “The ghost that keeps up me at night. She’s right outside.”

“How do you know? You said you never saw her.” Ambrose pointed out.

Cordelia shook her head. “I never did, but I always felt her just as I feel her now and I’m looking straight at her.”

Faustus got up to collect his daughter.  “Come sit down, sweetheart.  We’ll figure all this out later.” Yet just as he put an arm around Cordelia, he looked out the window and saw the ghost too. “Constance?”

“Faustus, may I see you out in the hall for a minute?” Zelda asked as she rose.

 “I think we should let Constance in.”

Faustus couldn’t believe his ears. “What? ��Zelda dearest, what are you saying?”

“Well, I think it’s perfectly oblivious why she’s here.”

Faustus nodded. “Yes, she’s here to ruin our family solstice.”

“No,” his wife disagreed, “I think she’s here to see her children, the twins, as is her right.”

“I think you’re giving her too much credit. Don’t you remember how she behaved the last time we made contact with her? You had to bar her from the house!”

“That was over 6 years ago. Maybe she changed.”

“Changed?!” Faustus sneered. “Then why has she  been  bothered Cordy for over a month?”

“Why don’t you go out there and ask her yourself?”

“Fine, I will,” Faustus agreed. “But you’re coming with me.”

A moment later, Zelda and Faustus stepped out onto the frozen porch. Constance was right before them.

“If we allow you into this house, will you abide by its rules and customs?” Faustus asked.

Constance smiled as she nodded. “I will.”

“Come in. You are welcome.” With those simple words, Zelda broke her own spell.

The whole family was shocked when Faustus and Zelda returned with the ghost. Hilda was the 1st to recover.

“Um, Ambrose, Prudence, Sabrina, Cordy, could you come to help me and your uncle C in the kitchen?”

“I think I’ll join you.” Zelda turned to join the family, but Constance called her back. “Please stay, Zelda, there’s something I would like to say to you too.”

“Ok.” Zelda was unsure as she slid into her chair next to Faustus. The twins were sitting on the sofa. Zelda noticed that the twins were holding hands, something they only did when they were really anxious.

“Is it true?”  Jake asked. “Are you really our mother?”

“She’s only our birth mother,” his sister answered him, “Zelda is our real mother.”

“LJ, please!” Zelda didn’t mean it, but her mothering tone came through.

Constance didn’t seem to mind as she stared at the twins and smiled. “You are both so beautiful.”  She touched LJ’s face. “My daughter on her way to becoming a witch doctor!”

Jake lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry I’m not a genius like LJ.”

“Are you happy, my son?”

“I am.”

Constance smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

“And we’re safe,” LJ added.

“That’s right,” Jake agreed. “Blackwood is no more.”

Constance smiled. “I know; I’ve been watching you. I’ve been watching all of you.” Constance turned. “Which brings me back to you, Zelda Spellman. I have something important to say to you. Thank you. Ever since you dispatched with Blackwood, you have done everything to make sure that my children felt safe and loved. I can never thank you enough for that.”

LJ got up and walked to Zelda’s side. “Why would even doubt her? She cared for us when we were babies. I mean, this is the same woman who whisked me away at birth and loved me when she didn’t have to.”

You must understand,” Constance stressed. “The last time I saw Zelda; she was heavily pregnant. I thought that she would prefer her own child and become a petty and jealous stepmother to the 2 of you. Just” Constance sighed and cast down her eyes in shame. “Just as I did with Prudence. Happily, that didn’t happen. She loves you as if you were her own.”

“I love them because they are my own,” Zelda said gently, “Just as Cordelia and Prudence are. Perhaps you would have learned this if you’ve survived but a mother’s heart can never be too full.”

“Wait,” Jake was confused. “If all you wanted was to have a peaceful heart-to-heart, then why have you been bothering Cordy all this time?”

Constance looked startled.  “Have I?   I didn’t mean to. Please apologize to her for me.”

LJ leaned in to whisper in Zelda’s ear.  “I guess the divine child’s powers can pick up a rogue ghost better than we can.”

Zelda’s focus was elsewhere at the moment. “Constance, you’re glowing. You’ve never looked better.”

The ghost blushed like a schoolgirl. “Am I? Well, I guess being at peace agrees with me then. You see, I recently re-met a friend from childhood on the other side, and he has been helping me to put aside my anger and bitterness. I’m starting to see things differently now. Zelda, I understand that you didn’t set out to break up my marriage, Faustus’s heart was yours long before I came around. It’s perfectly fine that my children have 2 mothers, as long as they are loved and protected.”

Sensing that her time was up, Constance kissed both her children and turned to leave when

“Wait.” It was the 1st time Faustus had spoken since they had all sat down. Now, he stood and when to the ghost. “Constance, I have never seen you speak so tenderly or behave so kindly. I just to say I’m sorry. We never were a love match but I could have been kinder to you during our marriage. Not pressuring you for a son, been more of a comfort during your miscarriages. Enjoy the happiness you have now; you certainly deserve it. Bright Solstice.” He gave her a peck on the cheek. The lights flicked and then the ghost was gone.

It was when Constance was gone that Jake fell on his knees before Zelda. “We love you, bonus mom.”

LJ hugged her. “We sure do.”

Faustus watched this touching scene for a moment and then turned his attention to the hallway.  “Okay, guys, you can come out now. Don’t think I don’t see you spying over there!”

The guilty gang filed back into the living room and the Solstice celebrations continued.1 hour later, the room was quiet as Ambrose read Charles Dickins’ A Christmas Carol aloud. Fearing that she would too big to do it next year, Cordelia grabbed her favorite blanket and settled herself on Zelda’s lap. She was going to ask if she was too heavy when her mother held her closer.

“Hecate, bless us, everyone,” Cordelia whispered.

[montser-on-the-dim]

Another Venom fic because I have the imagination...

Being a college student was fun and games until you actually had to do college shit.

Waking up, studying, showing up at classes, and all that all day every day. EXAUSTING thank god weed exists.

-Isnt a little early for it-

-Hey V- Its voice calms me. Its raspy, obscure, soothing, like if it was my own darkness talking -I know, I know. I just.... I need a break from... well... reality-

-We can help-

-We?- I said while smoking.

Venom is a scary alien, big scary alien with sharp teeths, white eyes, and that tong, please dont get me started on that tong, but the thing is, when it’s is a blob of pure ink and comes out of the window every morning just to make me company, you realize it’s cute, almost like slime.

-You know i can get in you and create the same effect as weed thru the bond-

-V, last time we tried that i was high for a whole ass day- Best day of my life but Venom doesnt have to know.

-We just want to help-

-I know V- I pated the black goo and in return it made happy noises... Well happy alien noises.

-Yo, nice eyes- my lovely friend Yiss said as I got out my car.

-Want to have yours like mine?- i said as i lit up the roach.

-Woaah what a nice service- Alex said from my behind.

See... We college students dont think its early because we are miserable 24/7 and if im being completely honest, time becomes realtive as fuck, especially if you had an all nighter.

-So how is that sexy neighbor of yours?- Yiss said as i passed her the roach.

-I dont know- honestly.

-Oh come on, you are the only person i know its capable of talking AND getting words out of a wall, and you cant talk to your nerighbor?- Alex took the roach and look at me with snappy eyes.

-Very difficult to talk when i spend all day here with your sorry asses- i snaped back

-Oh wow, dont snap at us, snap at yourself- Yiss said as she took Alex’s and my arm to walk in the campus.

The day went on as any normal day, at the end tho we wanted to do something so me being me... well...

-Ok lets go to my apartment- me, thats my idea, of course it is.

-Yesssss- Alex and Yiss said.

-We should get buzz- Maya said.

And we did. Now something you should now about me its im good at getting away with my shit, i can orginize, plot and execute a plan with my eyes closed, thats how i met Venom.

I didnt know it was my neighbor, i got saved once and i needed to know by what or who, so i did it, and i was about to do ir again.

-Ok lets play truth or dare- Step one done.

-Ok yeah, Maya you start- Yiss as always jumping on my wagon, what a friend.

-Truth- Maya said as she drank one shot of tekila.

-Are you a virgin?- Alex asked asap. Maya blushed HARD.

-Yeah- she answered quietly.

-Oh dont be embarrased, everything at its time- Yiss ashured her.

-Oh shut up, thats only because you a virgin too- Alex snapped.

-How dare you?- said Yiss -Ok mister sex, truth or dare-

-Truth, im an oppen book- Alex was sure of himself, i was more tho.

-Did you fuck your girlfriend before or after she fucked your brother?- i asked inocently

-After, also FUCK YOU- Alex snapped the finger at me how dare he -Ok, you truth or dare-

-Dare- Step two, check.

-I dare you to invite your neighbor- Yiss said, men i love this women.

-Oh come on- i said as i was standing up. Step three D-O-N-E.

-Uuuuuuuh- Alex and Maya said.

I walked toward his door, i knocked and i wasnt expecting what answered the door.

-Oh, hey, sorry wasnt expecting you- Eddie said putting his shirt on, what a waste.

-Yes we did- Venom said outloud.

-Hey so, im having a little party at my place if you want to come- i ignored venom because what was that supposed to mean?.

-Yeah, shure, sounds nice- he closed the door and now we were standing way to close, you smell fucking nice close.

-Ok everyone, this is Eddie, my neighbor-

-Hi Eddie- the threefecta said.

-Hi- he answered.

-Have a shot, you are way behind us- Yiss put a shot of tekila on one hand and a lemon on the other. My plan was fulfilled.

The night went on, drinking, laughing and talking.

-Ok i should go- said Maya

-Yeah me too- answered Alex -You need a lift Yiss?-

-Yes please- Yiss took her stuff.

-Bye Eddie, nice to met you-

We were alone, and drunk.

-I think we should get high- V said outloud.

-Shure let me roll..... it- before i could finish the sentence a black line touched my neck and i felt the thc numbing my brain.

And i got high, we got high, so high.

We started laughing, so, so, so much, until i started seeing stuff, Eddie on top of me, Venom touching every single inch of my skin and i knew right there, we were both thinking the same.

-I should go to sleep- i said pannicking.

-Yeah me too- Eddie answered a little ashamed.

-No we shouldnt- Venom said as it pinned me against the wall, now, Venom was in my brain so of course it noticed me liking it, and for the buldge in my hip i knew Eddie liked it too.

I just stared at him, couldnt move, not that i was complaining.

He kissed me, nice, slow, tempting, i felt Venom move touching me, caressing me, and i knew i was fucked, literally.

[agustdef]

Here & Now - Chapter 1

Pairing: Yoongi x OC

Genre: Fluff; Chill romance

Word Count: 1,963

Warning: None.

Banner Marker: @dee-ehn​

Author’s Note: This is my first time posting fanfic so I hope it’s alright. I’m going to try and update at least once a week. 

"Kendall!" The shrill voice barely registered through the music blasting through my ears. Pausing the track I pushed off my headphones and turned around. I was met with my friend, Matthew, glaring me down.

"Can I help you?"

He rolled his eyes, plopping onto the couch next to my work station.

"You've been ignoring emails, calls, and texts all day. You know those time-sensitive ones that need responses asap."

"Oh calm down, I still have ti..." My voice trailed off when I glanced at the clock on the wall. Four thirty flashed at I'd realized eight hours had passed since I'd come in, instead of the three I'd thought it to be.

"You would think that Ana bringing you the breakfast you ordered and then the lunch from the meeting we had would tip you off. Sometimes you worry me, Kendall. Your brain still working?" Matthew was clearly amused.

My mouth opened and closed, not one comeback surfacing. If I was honest he wasn't wrong, per se. Often when focused on a task it felt like my brain refused to function beyond that. Nothing else mattered and it would last for hours, or days like it did that one time where production deadlines were pushed up from a week out to four days. It didn't help that my sense of time regardless of what I was doing.

"Shut up. Just tell me why you're here."

Matthew being the jerk he is just continued to smile at me, languishing in my annoyed state. He enjoyed rendering my speechless way too much. I think it was because it was the only time he could win against me.

When minutes passed and silence became too much I grabbed a crumpled wrapper from my desk and launched it at his face. His arms waved about in a panicked manner as if he hadn't watched the trash sail through the air and into his face.

"Chop, chop I have things to do."

Picking up the wrapper he launched it back at me, missing by a foot. He seemed less than pleased, but didn't grab anything else to complete his retaliation.

"As I was saying," he huffed, "you've not answered anything all day. There's some stuff double checking sessions, post-production information, two tracks you need to look over, some requests. Oh and obviously that thing from Hals."

"I dare you to call her that to her face."

"What? No. We're not close and that would be weird." His cheeks turned red and he glanced everywhere but at me.

It was so cute. "Your crush is showing."

"I don't have a crush. She's not my type." He scoffed.

It was my turn to scoff and to roll my eyes. I had no clue why he always used that as an excuse. "It's perfectly healthy to acknowledge that even though you are not attracted to female and femme people that they are attractive. Don't know why you weirdos fail to understand you can appreciate a person's beauty without having a thing for them."

Matthew groaned, throwing himself back against the couch. No doubt he was tired of having that conversation with me, but I needed him to get it together. Nothing about being flustered about someone's level of attractiveness meant that you were something you weren't.

Another dramatic sigh from him and he sat up again. "Anyways... you should get those out of the way and then go home. Seeing as I know you have a full day for both your jobs tomorrow. And because you're only here working on your own stuff and not for a client."

Arguments presented themselves in my head, but none of the came out. I was in no mood to back and forth with him all day. Plus, he wasn't wrong yet again. I'd finished working on a song for an upcoming album an hour after I arrived and had only been emptying my head of all the beats locked in there. They tended to be like plot bunnies and those rarely left my head unless I gave them some attention.

"Better idea. I go home and answer the emails." He went to interrupt me, but I held up a finger. "With the promise of getting it all done by seven thirty and sending you images of my empty inbox. As well as the sent box."

For a second he stared me down, eyes narrowed. You could see the gears turning in his head and it almost looked like he'd say no.

"Okay. Go straight home and get it done. I will let myself in if none of that is done and will micromanage the whole process."

He stood and so did I, move in for a hug.

"And stop blocking Marcus when he annoys you. He, your agent, shouldn't have to send me to tell you this stuff," he said as he pulled away.

"Will do."

With one parting glare he left the studio, leaving me to myself. For a moment I just stood there, tired washing over me as I finally realized how long I'd been awake. The night was spent pumping out a scene that had come just as REM sleep was hitting and I'd only gotten about an hour and a half before coming in. I'd knock out the moment I got home if I had my way, but I had stuff to do. So much stuff.

Taking a deep breath I pushed a stray braid behind my ear and got to work cleaning up. Most of the stuff was sitting piled neatly together, so I shoved it into the trash can. Once the bag was tied and next to my door I replaced it and gathered my other stuff. I'd left my laptop at home, so I just shoved my notebooks into my bag along with my chargers. After sending myself everything and saving it in a million different locations I shut it all done and left.

A few people were heading out with me, the workday finishing for everyone. We all nodded in greeting, but thankfully no one stopped to chat. By the time I reached the exit the Uber I ordered awaited me outside and I hopped in. The universe had to love me because besides a greeting my college-age driver didn't say a word to me.

On the ride home I skimmed my emails via phone and noticed that a lot of them weren't even that pressing. Most were just quick things that I could answer right then and there. And of course there was the email from Halsey, but I already knew what it had to say and I didn't have the information she needed with me. As I sifted through the emails about wanting to work with me I saw one that was interesting, but before I could open it we came to a stop.

Glancing up I noticed we were at my building and got out with a quick bye. Walking in I waved at the woman at the security desk and ran to the elevator whose doors were closing quickly. I just barely slid through, hurting my hip a little from it hitting it.

"Shit."

Rubbing it only irritated the area and I was sure I'd have a light bruise by morning. Why I continued to try and squeeze my hips through things knowing that there wasn't enough room I was unsure. One day I would learn. Though probably not.

By the time I reached the inside of my apartment the throbbing had dulled a bit, but increased in frequency. Reaching down to take off my shoes at the door was no, so I had to kick them haphazardly onto the rack.

As I assumed I felt the urge to face plant onto my couch or bed upon entry, but I fought it off. I needed to eat and handle the emails, but I'd drift the moment my fingers stopped typing. So, I rushed to the bathroom, stripped and hopped into the shower. The scorching heat put some pep into me and made me forget all about those articles that said overtly hot showers were bad for you.

Fifteen minutes later I emerged refreshed and with wet braids. Putting on my shower cap was an option but my box braids were almost done for and I couldn't be bothered to try and protect them.

Once I was dry and dressed in a too big shirt and cotton booty shorts I moved to my studio. For a second I thought about working on the track I started at the office, but I knew that I'd spend all my time doing that and only that. It almost sent me out of the studio and took the office I had set up in the spare room, but I needed a lesson in self-control.

Booting everything up I absentmindedly fiddled with the rubix cube I kept on the desk, but never actually tried to solve. After a few seconds, the silence got to me.

"Alexa."

The device glowed from where it was placed on a shelf in the corner.

"Play Always and Forever playlist."

Several seconds later she complied and HyunA's Cause I'm God Girl came on. A smile formed as I hummed along to the song. It was one of my favorites by her. Working with her was still on my goal board and it felt so close and yet so far.

Finally, my computer was ready to go, so I logged in and ignored the call that the icon for my software put out. There was one mission and one mission only. The same urge came when I logged in and saw the copy of the chapter I'd finished sitting in my inbox, but I ignored that as well.

"Focus ya weirdo."

I sped through the rest of the easier emails and forwarded the ones that requested me to work with them to Marcus with a yay or nay. It was technically his job to look and then show me the options, but I preferred to see them myself first.

When I reached Halsey email I almost rolled my eyes, a small laugh at her overly sweet wording. Though cute it made me question if I was being buttered up for something, since she tended to do that when she knew I wouldn't agree or that I was on the fence.

By the time I'd sent her over the tracks similar to what she was looking for, some files of vocals she'd done when I worked with her before and my schedule for the next month my speakers went through two other songs and was playing BTS' Baepsae.

Everything else was taken care of, which left the email I'd seen while in the car. Its subject line was normal, giving nothing away but something about it just felt different. Opening it up the difference jumped out immediately. Korean filled the screen and for a moment my brain shut down. After a deep breath, my eyes scanned the text, slowly decoding what it said. I tripped here and there, because even after ten years of learning it sometimes words were forgotten.

At the end I felt like I'd read the entire thing wrong, my chest was moving rapidly and I didn't know if I should be excited or if this was some cruel joke. Once the Korean stopped English started, all of it relaying what I'd just read. I frantically read until the completion, looking for the words that had sent me into a tizzy and there they were.

Our artist and producer SUGA/Min Yoongi would like it very much if you consider his offer to work together.

J-Hope finished out Baepsae just as I slumped in my chair.

"Holy shit." 

[whiskynottea]

An interruption in the 1st law of thermodynamics.

Previously Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

If you prefer the AO3, you can find the story here!

Once again, thank you @katnoenau for editing/beta this! 💗💗

This chapter is for my birthday anon!! Happy Birthday darling! 🎁🎂🎈

Chapter 12. Change of Plans

source

We kissed! We kissed! We kissed – we kissed – we kissed!   I was singing - not too loudly because Lamb was still awake in his office -  these two words over and over again in every possible tune I could imagine.   We were holding hands and then we kissed!   I was so happy I could hardly stop smiling and I felt dizzy. Soon though, second thoughts and doubt started sneaking their way into my mind and made me sober up a bit.   Should I have waited for him to kiss me first? Had I been too bold?   No, my wiser self argued. Judge from the outcome. And judging from what followed my bold action last night, I had done right.   Oh God, how perfect his kiss was!   He didn’t just reciprocate my kiss. That kiss, the first one, was so light and chaste. I knew he never expected me to go for his lips, but the moment I kissed him everything changed. He could have stopped it all there if he wanted to, but he didn’t. What he did was start another kind of kiss, a passionate and intense one. Because he wanted to kiss me! I was sure of it. I did right. And he… He did great. 

After a mini jumping dance around my -too small for this activity- room, I slipped in to my pajamas, climbed into my bed, and burrowed under my duvet. I planned on replaying our time together in my mind’s projector over and over, to remember every word that he’d said and every move he’d made before saying, “Goodnight to ye too, Sassenach.” But sleep soon claimed my thoughts.   It didn’t matter at all though, because Jamie was in my dreams all night, smiling to me with mischief in his eyes and making me feel like I was the only person that mattered in the world. Pretty much all the same things real Jamie did.   **   The next day I was smiling even before I was able to open my eyes. I could almost feel his breath on my lips, his tongue touching mine, an arm pulling me tight to him while his hand got entangled in my hair. I was on my tiptoes, leaning all my weight into him and he was there to support me. All the tension from our previous attempts to touch was finally released.   I wanted that moment to last forever, but time was cruel and my mind got itself out of its stupor faster than I wished it to. With a deep sigh I opened my eyes and licked my lips searching for his taste, trying to keep the memory of our first kiss in my mind forever.   I couldn’t wait to see him again tomorrow at school. Would what had been between us change in any way?

  Entering the kitchen, desperate for a glass of water, I found uncle Lamb sitting at the kitchen table reading his newspaper.   “Did you have a good time last night?”, he asked me.   “Mmhmm.” I said, before gulping down a large glass of water and then refilling it. He must have seen a hint of something in my face because he turned his attention away from the  newspaper in his hand.   “Hungry?”   I shook my head no. Food was the last thing I could think of. Things like food were suddenly so… trivial.   “Are you planning to bless us with any proper English words today?”   At that he received only a sardonic look from me.   “I see.” He said and while I was searching for the orange juice in our fridge he started humming a familiar tune, and then sang the accompanying words, “That’s amore…”   Yeah, I knew this song. “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore…”   Who writes lyrics like that? I wondered, the smile on my face notwithstanding.   Glancing at the table I realized that my uncle had only pretended to sip nonchalantly from his cup of Earl Grey and read his newspaper, while in truth all he had done was to glance periodically at me, ready to tease me.   Great. How does he know now?   Slowly, I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder.   “We’re out of orange juice.” I said, trying to distract him.   “What a catastrophe, I’m sure.” He said with an air of blatant sarcasm as he looked at me with half a smile on his lips.   “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”   He said nothing, just smiled widely at me and resumed his singing.   “You’re incorrigible.” I shook my head, kissed him on the cheek, and headed to my room, his singing growing louder with my departure from the kitchen.   “When you walk in a dream, but you know you’re not dreaming, signore…”   I was sure his song would be stuck in my mind for the whole day.

  After a few minutes’ search I found my bag and checked my phone.I froze for an instant looking at the screen. Five texts and three unanswered calls -  very uncommon for a Sunday morning.   Two calls from Lilly, our dance instructor and another from Jenny.One text from Jenny, two from Joe, and two texts from Jamie.   Two texts!   With a smile and without thinking, I opened Jamie’s texts first.   Jamie: Good morning, Sassenach. 😊 What are your plans for today?   And then the second one.   Jamie: Jenny just told me. You two are going to have a tough week…   What?   I hurriedly checked Jenny’s text.   Jenny: Hi Claire! Lilly couldn’t reach you. We’ve had a change of plans and we’re performing on Saturday! Call me or Lilly ASAP!   What? No, that couldn’t be.  Our performance was supposed to be next month. A week was way too soon, we weren’t ready yet!   I was already calling Lilly back, pacing my room while I did so.   Five minutes later I’d changed into my tights and tank top, threw everything I’d need in to my rucksack, and after a short stop at the kitchen to inform Lamb that I was going to the dance studio and I’d be gone for most of the day, I raced out the door.   **   For thirty minutes all I could see was the panic in everyone’s eyes, and I was pretty sure that mine weren’t much different. Indistinct chatter was heard from all around the room, all of us gathered into smaller groups of two or three girls discussing the same thing - the injustice of this change in the program.   Jenny waved at me the moment I had entered the dance studio.   “Oh God,” I said the moment she was within hearing distance. “Why did they change the date?”   “I have no idea. We haven’t practiced the choreography enough, I still forget some of the moves, to be honest, and they want us to perform so soon?” She said incredulously and the frown between her eyebrows deepened.   “I know. It sucks. We’ll be terrible.” My optimism was apparently hidden in the middle of earth or somewhere else far away from our dance studio.   “Girls! Calm down and come close. I need to talk to you.” Lilly, always calm and composed, motioned us to gather as she walked to the center of the room.   **   Four hours later we lay exhausted on the sleek wooden floor. I could feel the hard wood against every inch of my spine and my back, complaining about the hard use as much as my body did. However, I couldn’t get up even for the softest, fluffiest mattress in the world. I had my doubts about performing on Saturday, not because we wouldn’t be good enough but because we might be dead by then. I was sure my legs would wobble and I’d end up straight on the floor if I tried to rise any time soon. Turning my head to the right, I saw Jenny in a similar condition. I smiled at her and she rolled her eyes and feigned sleep. Yeap, I could use some sleep myself now. This was going to be a tough week.   This was going to be a tough week! Oh my God, I hadn’t replied to Jamie’s text!   Without a second thought and with vigor I couldn’t fathom how I still had in me, I rose and strode briskly across the studio to the locker room.   I should have replied hours ago! Would he now think that I didn’t care?   Up until the moment I got the phone in my hands, I had changed my mind two hundred times.   Text him right now? No, send something brief now, shower and continue the conversation, if there was to be one, later. No, better shower first, as not to delay another text in case he’d reply immediately.   Before I made a decision on how and when I’d respond to Jamie, I read the texts from Joe and briefly informed him about the reason he had received radio silence from me for more than a day.   JA: “You’re omitting valuable information Lady Jane! How did the date go?”    CB: “It wasn’t a date and it went great.”   JA: “Look at you now, hanging out with the jocks and not even texting us, poor nerds.”   CB: “Very funny, Joe. Ha Ha. And FYI, they’re cool. It was fun.”   JA: “Fun fun or… fun fun *wiggling eyebrows here*”   CB: “You’re an ass.”   JA: “That’s why you love me. Did you two kiss?”   CB: “…”   JA: “Come on! Did the Viking warrior kiss you?”   CB: “Bye Joe!”   JA: Did you kiss? JA: Did he kiss you? JA: Did you kiss him? JA: Did you two kiss?   CB: “Shut up!”   JA: “Did you kiss?”   CB: “Yeeeees ❤️”   JA: “Good. CU tomorrow LJ”   CB: “xoxo”     While I was texting Joe, the rest of the team came into the locker room, dragging feet and all. I felt quite refreshed. Better text Jamie now.   CB: “Hi Jamie! Sorry for the delay. I had to come to the studio, we had an extra practice session today.”   Jamie: “Yeah, I know. Jenny told me.”   CB: “Right. Got to go shower. TTYL?”   Jamie: “😉”

  If I wasn’t so tired and I didn’t want to resume texting with Jamie as soon as possible, I would have stayed under the hot water forever. The soapy bubbles and the water’s pressure on my body gradually removed the fatigue like a layer of sweat being washed out, forever lost in the shower drain. It wasn’t that I could run a half marathon right then, but I felt quite well.   The endorphins are doing their job, I suppose.   I was even confident that the performance would be just fine. If we continued training like crazy, that is.   Jenny was getting into her coat when I left the shower. She’d told me that Ian was waiting for her at home and she wanted to get back quick since she’d left him alone for the whole day.    I checked my phone to see if Jamie had sent anything else, and somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t, I got dressed.

  With my beanie and a huge scarf around my neck covering half of my face as well, I walked to my bicycle.   “So ye’re here incognito, Sassenach?” His voice came from my left and his hand was on my waist a moment later. “I almost didna recognize ye.”   My heart was banging in my chest so loudly I was sure he could hear it. I turned to face him, giving him the opportunity to pull me close to him, which was exactly what he did.   “Let’s see what we can do about it.” He said in a low voice pursing his lips as he lowered the scarf from my face. “Much better.” And seeing me smile he bent and kissed me. I didn’t think he was going for a long kiss, but I wouldn’t pull my lips from his now that they were on mine. They were so warm and soft and hungry that I felt intoxicated. We got lost in the moment and in each other, and we opened our eyes again only when we had to part for valuable oxygen.   Without an inch between us for the cold wind to invade, I inhaled his scent before looking into his eyes. “What are you doing here?” I said with a questioning smile.   “Ye said we’d talk later. I thought I’d come so we could talk.”   “Mmhmm. This is how Jamie Fraser talks to girls, then?” I raised an eyebrow.   “Only if they’re named Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp.” He said soberly, his eyes intent on mine.   “Okay then.”   He shook his head, disapproving of my way of thinking, and with a smile he claimed my lips again.   “I couldn’t wait till tomorrow to see ye.” He said and pulled me closer.   “I know.” I said, feeling my legs wobble again, but not from fatigue.   This time they wobbled from happiness.

Chapter 13

[my-elevenoutof10]

Make me feel. #5

Just realized I haven’t updated in a while. So here’s the post-sex awkwardness. Have fun!

————

Chapter Four

The following morning, Alice was awoken by a constant vibration near her head; but not the good kind of vibration, rather the annoying, sleep-depriving one. Slowly, she opened her eyes, stretching her muscles and grumpily searched for the cause of her rude awakening.

Just in this moment, she remembered that she in fact wasn’t alone in bed and turned around to face the still sleeping boy. He looked so peaceful and relaxed, which even made her feel bad for a second for rudely waking him up, since it was his bloody phone that was vibrating like crazy on the nightstand beside the bed.

“Brad, you twat, your phone is ringing”, she whispered in a soft voice before pinching his left nipple.

Bradley was up within seconds, sitting in bed as straight as a lamppost, hair a mess and obviously not fully awake yet. His appearance made Alice giggle, as she let herself fall back into the pillows.

Bradley blindly grabbed his relentlessly vibrating phone, finally answering it.

“Huh?”, he mumbled, waiting for the person on the other line to speak. “Yeah, I’m okay, I’m at a friend’s house”

Silence.

“Yeah, ok.... bye”, the boy said, eventually hanging up the call, falling back into bed beside Alice, releasing a deep sigh.

“Morning”, Brad mumbled, turning his head in the girl’s direction.

“Hi”, she answered, wearing a smile on her lips.

Don’t make it awkward, Alice, don’t make it awkward.

“So, thanks for the sex-“ Dammit!

Fortunately, after spending all of 12 hours with this girl, Brad had already kind of gotten used to the awkwardness that seemed to surround her. Therefore, and because he was just a nice guy, he simply laughed while leaning forward and kissing Alice lightly on the lips.

“You’re welcome.”

Remembering the phone call, Alice furrowed her brows, “When do you have to leave?”

“Need to be ready in an hour, we’re doing a radio show today”, Bradley answered before again letting himself fall back against the mattress.

Alice followed his movements, reversing the roles as she was now the one leaning over the curly-haired boy. “So no morningly heavy petting plus minus intercourse?”, the girl asked with a grin on her face.

“Jesus, doll, your choice of words is so romantic, gets me in the mood asap”, Brad rolled his eyes fondly. “And unfortunately, no, I have to still get back to the hotel to get changed - I’m sorry”.

“No sweat, don’t think I would have been able to take another round anyway”, she shrugged, flinching when she tensed her muscles, feeling a sore ache between her legs.

“I would apologise”, Bradley smiled, “but I’m not really sorry”.

“Me neither. Besides, you have made up for it plenty afterwards”, Alice stated, smiling cheekily. The girl leaned down, kissing the singer before looking deep into his eyes. “Now piss off, Popstar, you have places to be”, which caused Brad to grin widely, pulling the girl back down by the back of her neck.

———————

At around noon, Bella finally walked through the door of their flat, wearing the biggest smile and of course, her clothes from last night.

“How does it feel to do the walk of shame?”, Alice asked, not even looking up from her phone, as her best friend entered the living room.

“Shut up, it was totally worth it”, the black-haired girl grinned, moving Alice’ feet from the couch and letting herself fall into it.

“So, it was good?”

“Good?”, Bella asked, “Bitch look at me, I’m technically bald right now”.

Alice had to laugh at that, finally looking up.

“Wig flew into space?”, she grinned.

“Wig flew into fucking space alright”, Bella giggled. For the next half hour, she told Alice all the details of her night with the cute bassist, while drinking the tea she stole from her roommate, who couldn’t even complain, because she had never seen Bella so smitten by a one night stand before. After finishing her story, both girls sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Bella suddenly remembered the piece of paper in her pocket.

“Oh, by the way, I’m supposed to give you that from Brad. He was quite smiley when he came back to the hotel, what did you do to him?”, she asked, looking suspiciously at Alice. The blond girl took the paper and put it in the pocket of her sweat pants.

“Well, nothing special, we just-“

“You shagged him, didn’t you?”, Bella interrupted her with a wicked grin. Seeing the blush appear on her best friends face was answer enough for her. “I fucking knew it! Connor owes me twenty quids”, the girl cheered. Alice just rolled her eyes at her behaviour, but couldn’t contain a small smile herself.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower and then I want to know everything!”, Bella demanded before walking towards the bathroom. “Yeah yeah, whatever”, Alice shouted after her.

As soon as she heard the shower running, however, she pulled the paper out of her pocket, unfolding it.

Thanks for the sex ;) - xx

Underneath was a number scribbled on the paper. Taking her phone from the side table, Alice opened a new message and typed in the given number at the top.

Exploiting my awkwardness? Not very gentleman-like, Mr. Simpson!

After hitting send, the girl put the device back in its previous place, taking Bella’s tablet from the couch table instead. Although Alice was quite familiar with their music, she never fell into the rabbit hole that was the Vamps’ fandom. Therefore, intensive research on various social media platforms was more than overdue. Spiralling into a world of interviews and fan fiction, the blonde girl didn’t even notice her roommate emerging out of the bathroom, towel turban on her head. For that reason, she almost fell of the sofa in shock, when Bella appeared behind her, whispering “are you already stalking him?” softly into her ear.

“Jesus Christ, Mary and Joseph, B! You know I almost die from a heart attack every time you do this shit!”, Alice hissed agitatedly, desperately trying to get her heart rate to a normal pace and hiding the deep red blush on her face.

Bella, on the other hand, simply shrugged, “Not my fault you always disassociate when you’re on tumblr”, before leaving towards her bedroom. The blonde girl was still mumbling curse words into her non-existent beard, when she suddenly heard her phone vibrate next to her. Alice raised her eyebrows, since she didn’t expect a message back this quick.

Just paying back the compliment :P

Alice felt a deep sigh coming up from within her and an electric feeling in her fingertips. This was going to be interesting.

[thepeopletm]

11/5/2021 -💤? idk 6:00 pm

2day we had 2 spend hours around some1 we don’t like. we also we’re dissociating for half of it, wilbur fronted for awhile to help us out w socializing. overall it waz kinda a blur tbh. we saw sad-its new video which was kewl :] i’m extremely tired zince last night a new alter fronted and decided 2 chug the last of our monster under a minute and left me having 2 deal w the effects of it (which was not fun) usually once every month we’ll be paranoid that we’ll die that night, it’s kinda a long story so i’ll explain later probably :p sorry these posts are always usually short, i can’t remember much even tho i wanna talk abt interesting stuff. Today was nice tho cus we didn’t have school since the braves won apparently. later i’m gonna get ice cream and watch tiktokz and yt maybeee and play genshin and cookie run, hopefully we get to play genshin w my sister!! or hopefully she’ll help us out our led lights on!! :D anyways that’s abt all 4 now! (also random thing whenever i get home from school or a friends house i always see my cat laying on the bed sleeping but she’ll be awake by the time i open the bedroom door, and when i try to lay down or anything she’ll immediately climb on me to sleep just like how she’s doing rn. sad tho cus i have to get to a comfortable spot and unlock the door even tho shes sleeping on me ☹️) bye byezzz

11/5/2021 -📀? 7:56pm

Sometimes I get paranoid that c!Dream is watching me somewhere, our c!Ranboo gets extremely paranoid and anxious when he sees the dream smiley face when he’s fronting which sucks :( but idk right now it feels like someone is watching me ig.

Also tw for self harm? And gross stuff ig?

One time when we got extremely sick we tried to drink more water but immediately after we’d throw it up, but at the time we didn’t care and kept drinking it anyways. Somehow it kind of made it as a self harm thing. So whenever we feel like we need to throw up we’re so used to it that when we say “hey i might throw up later, just a heads up” our friends will go “oh my god r u ok? do u need to rest? do you need help?” and we’ll go “no dw it’s fine! i’m used to it” cause i am, with our adhd meds we have to take if we didn’t eat breakfast we’d throw up every morning at school even if it was just some water. Every time we throw up it’s always fuckin painful cause it hurts my stomach and ribs and torso a lil too much which is kinda concerning considering we need to get our ribs checked asap. But either way if we feel nauseous like our head hurts or stomach doesn’t feel good we’re so used to it that it doesn’t phase us, and in fact my head is blurred a lot rn i think cause of the monster that bitch ass headmate chugged last night. So i might try to throw up later even though it won’t do anything. Overall I’ve just been feeling like shit. We’ve been having somewhat “extreme” pains in the sides of our stomach/torso and when we move sometimes it feels like our ribs are moving an organ or something. And sometimes our stomach or bladder (i think?) hurts or like that one word that starts with an “s” i think? i just can’t remember it rn, anwyays basically we have a lot of problems and my mom STILL hasn’t called the fucking doctor when she said she was going to. AND THAT WAS A MONTH AGO!! AND she STILL hasn’t brought us to therapy or tried to fix the payment issues so i cant even talk to my therapist to ask if we can find a new one to help with our disorder!! She doesn’t care about her own children very much unless it’s cooking for us, and she’s made that very clear when she leaves for almost all day and night to go out with her friends or her bitch ass bf. How the hell did she expect our twin to be happy here when she gets drunk of tipsy every weekend??? Also her bf is fuckin weird. He comments on things he doesn’t have the say to, He’s literally been here for a few months and yet he commented on how messy my room was. He was like “yeah you better clean that room of yours cause it’s disgusting” or something like that. LIKE?? SIR. You have no fucking say in my room. Anyways i’m getting a huge headache and stomach feels like mush and i hate how we feel rn, i think we might be sick?? Sorry for the vent if anyone is even reading this. I doubt it though.

[artificialqueens]

But I’m A Cheerleader! - Chapter 28 (Aja x Farrah) - Millie

A/N: I really hope this was worth the wait. This was definitely a more heart-wrenching chapter to write (maybe I’m just sensitive) so I hope you enjoy a bit of angst/hurt/comfort!

Aja was filled with guilt, yet she felt so hollow, as if that guilt had eaten away her insides and replaced them. She could never stand to see Farrah upset, and it was even worse right now because she was the one who’d made her feel this way. Sure, Farrah understood that Aja couldn’t reciprocate yet, but Aja knew that her girlfriend had practically exposed herself that night, opened up, confessed something. But the words didn’t quite feel right on her tongue yet, no matter how many times she’d tried to muster them up, speaking to herself in her mirror.

Yet. That was the word they kept focusing on. But when was “yet”? How far away was it? - and would it even come?

Of course it will, Aja scolded herself. She wasn’t in this relationship just for nothing, not expecting any outcome or progression over time. Christ, they’d started off as sworn enemies, and look how far they’d come.

But something at the back of Aja’s mind was now whispering to her, its words wrapping around her brain, and telling her that maybe she’d never feel the same as Farrah. And she hated that. She hated the very idea of not being in love with Farrah, because she was such a huge part of her life, now. They sent each other “good morning” texts; she saw her every day at school; she saw her at practice (which was now discontinued until after summer vacation, since the football season had ended and they had no idea if they had passed the tryouts). Farrah was Aja’s last thought before she went to sleep - so how in hell could she just eliminate that from her life? And how the fuck could she live with herself if she lost her?

Aja pushed herself off of her bed, still in her prom dress. She had to admit, although silently, that she actually liked the way it looked, and overall, she’d had a fun night. She walked over to her mirror and just stared at herself, her reflection seeming to glare back. Looking at herself as if she were another person sometimes helped her solve dilemmas, but no solutions came to mind; her head felt heavy, and she hunched over lazily. Maybe getting out of her prom dress would help relieve some tension, so she did just that.

As she unzipped the dress, her phone buzzed from the bed. For a second, a flash of worry struck her, and she wondered if it was Farrah, panicking and apologising and trying to resolve this issue. She quickly snatched the device from her pillow to see, thankfully, that it was not the former girl mentioned.

Unknown Number Hi, Aja! This is Farrah’s mom. I heard you two had some sort of disagreement and I just wanted to know if you could tell me what happened?

Aja raised a sculpted brow in response. Farrah’s mom was one of the nicest people that Aja had ever met, and the fact that she had the decency to text her so politely almost astounded her. Back in middle school, the families in her neighbourhood would never dare do such a thing - one little squabble, and the two belligerents’ mothers or fathers would be having a screaming match outside someone’s house. Aja couldn’t count the amount of times the police had got involved, either for the fights or just out of sheer pettiness from the parents.

She quickly added Farrah’s mother to her contacts.

Aja Hey. I don’t want you to worry too much about it, I’m sure we’ll sort it out asap. Farrah didn’t tell you what happened?

Farrah’s Mom Nothing at all. Is it serious?

Aja’s lips contorted into a hard line, and she debated what she should reveal. Farrah’s mother had no clue about their relationship (none of their family did), so she couldn’t exactly tell her all about it, as much as she wanted to get this huge weight off her chest.

Aja I’m sorry, I wish I could help, but I feel like this whole situation is too personal, and I don’t want Farrah to feel like she can’t control what you know, y'know? Maybe it’s better if you speak to her about it.

Farrah’s Mom That’s okay, sweetie. I understand. I’ll speak to her now.

She let out a relieved sigh - that could’ve gone south very fast. She hoped that Farrah would at least tell her mom something; when she would bottle up her feelings, they would overflow very quickly, and those feelings turned to tears at a drop of a hat. Aja did not want to be held responsible for that.

-

When her phone buzzed to life the next morning and woke her up, Aja really wished it hadn’t. She’d expected sleep to take care of the draining feeling of guilt she had, but her head was still heavy and dense, and the wave of emotions just came into shore all at once.

It was Saturday, so she hadn’t set an alarm, and it took her a hot minute to realise that the buzzing was signalling a phone call. She grabbed at her phone from the desk beside her bed and blinked a couple of times before she read the name at the top: Farrah.

Her stomach sank and she took a deep breath before sliding her thumb along the bottom of her screen and pressing the cold glass to the side of her face.

“Hello?” she said tentatively into the phone, her throat clearly dry.

“Did I wake you up?” Farrah replied quickly, with an obviously worried tone. “God, I forgot you’re not normally awake at this time-”

“Yeah, but it’s okay,” Aja cut her off. This early in the morning (okay, it was half past ten) was not the right time to be feeling remorse. “What is it?”

“Um… Can I meet you at some point today?” she asked, and Aja took note of the hoarseness in her voice. “I feel like we need to.”

Aja nodded to herself. “We do. Any place in mind?”

“Just anywhere is good. The park, maybe.”

“That’s alright with me.”

“Good, good…” There was silence for a moment.

“So, I’ll see you at, like, three o'clock?”

“Yeah, sure,” Farrah said quickly.

“Okay.” She sighed as she spoke the word. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Their farewells lacked their usual cheeriness, and the bitter sounds left the air around Aja feeling cold, despite the oncoming summer heat. She shivered under the thick duvet of her bed and rolled over in an attempt to go back to sleep, if that was even possible with her mind running endless circles. She forced her eyes shut and pulled the covers over her head as if that would block out all mental sound, and tried her best to relax once more.

-

Aja woke up again, this time by her own accord, around two o'clock. She was always one to sleep in at the weekend, although never normally until this late. With one less-than-swift push out of bed, she figured her body knew how much she just wanted to curl up under her duvet and escape the whole situation, which is what she usually did. Until she met Farrah.

Every time she wanted to keep something locked up, someone always found the key and pried it out of her; whether it was willingly or not varied, but most of the time it was the latter.

From the moment she’d found Farrah that night, all ability to keep things avoided had vanished. And she wasn’t exactly blaming Farrah for this, like it was a bad thing, but she definitely didn’t enjoy it. However, if anything, it was for the greater good. A year ago, Aja would’ve flat out ghosted someone in order to never bring up an issue that certainly needed addressing, and now? She was actually leaving her house to discuss such an issue.

Dahlia was something - or someone (she was simply just a subject to her now) - that needed to be talked about. Not with anyone in particular, but Aja had been actively ignoring the weight in the back of her mind for the past year at least. It would take a while, but some time soon, she’d take that key for herself and unlock all the thoughts that had been trapped in her head, ones that needed to be spoken aloud instead of just to herself when it crossed her mind.

Aja quickly got dressed, grabbing some clothes from the floor that she’d discarded after school yesterday, before taking her phone and heading downstairs. Her mother must’ve been out; she could tell by the fact that she wasn’t standing annoyedly in the kitchen, about to scold Aja for getting up so late. She was grateful - it meant she didn’t have to talk to anyone else about what was going on.

She glanced over at the toaster in the far corner of the countertop, her stomach rumbling, but she wasn’t hungry. The thought of confrontation made her sick to her stomach, full to the top with nervousness. But it was still too early to leave, and she needed some sort of distraction, so she grabbed a piece of bread from its bag and anxiously bit into it.

The time it took was agonising, and Aja was sure that time had decided to slow down and no one had told her the news. But, eventually, the clock on the cooker struck 14:40, and she decided it was time to leave.

When she eventually arrived at the park, Farrah was already sitting on one of the swings, rocking it back and forth nonchalantly. Aja approached her, a concoction of fear and guilt rising in her gut the closer she got.

“Hey,” she greeted quietly, and Farrah’s head snapped around and up to face her.

It was clear that she resisted the natural action of smiling, and instead replaced it with a simple, “Hi.”

Aja sat down on the adjacent swing and rocked it too, albeit far more nervously, and turned to face her girlfriend. “So…” she started. “Where should we start?”

Farrah shrugged. “You can start, if you want,” she said. “I… I’m not really sure what I want to say.”

Aja nodded and tried to compose herself. Her mouth didn’t exactly understand the meaning of control, and she didn’t want whatever she was going to say to come out as some incoherent mess.

“First of all, I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant the apology wholeheartedly. “I’m sorry, and I never meant to make you upset.”

Farrah acknowledged that with a nod and a quiet, “Thank you.”

“I’ll be honest, I’ve never been in a proper relationship before, and I’m not the one to throw around love all the time- not that you do, I’m not saying that.” She put her hands out in front of her in a low surrender to accentuate her point, and she felt as if she were pushing down the rising levels of anxiousness. “And, when you told me you loved me,” her blood ran cold at the thought, “it made me panic, because… Well, I didn’t expect it. I didn’t believe it- that’s not me doubting you in any way, it’s- I don’t know. I think it’s me doubting myself.” She closed her eyes to shut out the world for a second, and inhaled deeply to bring herself back.

“That… That makes sense, now that I’ve heard it,” Farrah said, and her voice didn’t sound as forlorn as before. “And, Aja, I do love you-”

Aja was going to frantically interject and reiterate her excuse yet again, but Farrah continued.

“-And yes, I know you can’t say that back yet. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to remind you. Unless that makes you really uncomfortable, then I’ll stop immediately-”

“Farrah, it’s okay,” Aja said, and those three words seemed to relax her hunched shoulders and calm her voice. “Look.” She looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact. “I really like you. Really like you, trust me. And, fuck, I don’t want to lose you. So, I’m just asking for you to wait. I’m sure you have way more experience than me when it comes to relationships, and this one probably isn’t great-”

“Aja, are you serious?!” she questioned, and Aja’s heart stopped. Her eyes shot back up to Farrah’s, and her eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion. “This isn’t bad at all - this is one of the best relationships I’ve had. Yeah, of course I was hurt, but I’m not an asshole. Of course I’ll wait.”

Aja launched herself at Farrah, wrapping her arms around her, and a second later, a wave of relief washed into shore at the contact. Farrah responded a moment later with a squeeze, her arms around her girlfriend’s neck. Aja was off of her swing now and simply bent down so she could reach Farrah, and her hands impulsively went to stroke the top of her blonde waves gently. She buried her head into her hair, feeling like she’d missed the smell of Farrah despite it being less than a day since she last saw her.

“So, are we good?” Aja asked, her voice muffled.

Farrah nodded against her shoulder. “We’re good,” she said.

-

Snuggled under Aja’s duvet, the two cheerleaders felt at home again, watching a movie on Aja’s mom’s laptop. For once, Farrah had let Aja pick the film (probably out of pity, considering the vast amount of movies that Farrah had forced her to watch) and she’d decided on Rent. Its long length kind of made up for everything she’d been made to see over the past couple of months, plus its songs were amazing, so it really was the best choice.

Aja had a double bed with all the space in the world, but Farrah had decided she needed to be as close as possible to Aja, so they were both pushed towards the right hand side of the mattress. Aja kind of liked it. No, she loved it. She loved being this close to her.

“No!” Farrah let out a yelp. “Angel’s dead? Aja, is she dead?”

This part always made her tear up, but she wasn’t going to cry in front of Farrah. She’d only seen her cry once, she was pretty sure, and she wasn’t about to make herself look like a pussy. In her own words.

She simply nodded, adding a faltering, “Yup,” to it.

Farrah gasped as if this was the biggest plot twist of all time, and the action made Aja chuckle and choke back some of the approaching tears. She held on to Aja’s midsection, pressing her forehead into her ribcage and letting out a small whimper, much like a child’s.

Watching this scene had always forced Aja into the characters’ shoes, and the empathy she felt for them was far too overpowering. She rubbed Farrah’s back, and her reaction made her feel better about her own; she let a few tears slip out, and she sniffed.

This caught Farrah’s attention, and she slowly pulled back to look at Aja, eyes reflecting the laptop screen. She felt uncomfortable under Farrah’s gaze, slightly exposed, almost.

Farrah just looked scared; she knew that if seeing Aja cry was a serious matter, and if she even recounted it to anyone, Aja had told her, “You’ll no longer have a mouth to tell anyone with.” She wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but it was threatening all the same.

So, she just hugged her, which was probably the best thing to do. Aja couldn’t help but feel childish crying over a movie, even though Farrah did it all the time. Well, she felt childish crying overall. She felt too vulnerable. And as she returned Farrah’s hug, she thought about embracing that vulnerability - Farrah already had. Because if this was how she felt just showing emotion, she needed to change - maybe take that key and finally unlock something by herself

[summerrrluvvv]

Chapter 3

Music featured in this chapters: 

Cranes in the sky by Solange

Crew by Gold Like ft Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy

Yesirrrskii by Lil Uzi Vert ft 21 Savage

Act Up by City Girlz

Cash Shit by Meg Thee Stallion

Miami: Day 2

Ariana:

“Uhhhhhhh what the fuck” I groaned waking up. I had a huge headache and my stomach was on fleek. I still had on my fit from the night before, my damn wig was barely hanging on. “Bro what the fuck man” I said taking off my wig. I got up and got undressed and into the shower, which did not last long because I needed some medicine ASAP. “Rise and Grind girls” Melody came in happily. “Mel why did you not help me out my clothes?” I asked her. “Uh we all passed out in here. I got up in got in my bed and i guess we all just took showers” She said drinking out of a coffee mug. “What is that?” I asked. “Hangover Tea, Tye made” She said. I laid back down. “Tell Tye Tye to bring me up some” I told her. “Ari you can’t sleep in all day today is the yacht party” Mel said. I almost threw up thinking about being seasick and hungover. “When can we rest?” I asked. Melody looked at me crazy. “Miami never sleeps, shake that hangover off so we can drink again” She said. “Ima go get your tea” She told me closing my door. I sighed at the idea of getting fucked up again. I rolled over and grabbed my phone. “I want you so bad” I see. I had remembered that Marlon crazy ass messaged me last night. Tye came walking in with my mug. Melody was right behind her. “Okay now that we all in here except Zion ass, we need rules” She said. Melody groaned. “Boring” She said smiling as Tye playfully pushed her. “Aight so, basically rule #1 is always always get lit, #2 is never worry about yo girls get the Dick sis but send us your location so if shit go down you know #3 No sad girl shit, no mopping #4 if bitches try us they try us all and that’s the rules I love you hoes” She said laughing. “Not the ditch your friends for the D” I said laughing. “Well Zion completed #2, and I’m get on her ass too. Saying this trip all about my girl’s face ass” Tye said. “Yall um I think I seen Isaac last night” Melody said. “And I oop” Tye responded. “Are you sure we were drunk as fuck” I said to her. She nodded. “I know what Isaac looks like and his friends you know Freddie and Trey” She said. I nodded, “Well don’t let that ruin your trip fuck Isaac” I said. “She going to fuck Isaac alright” Tye said smirking. “Nooo Im not” Mel said. “Ima get me a new boo”. I clapped for her. “You see that, growth” I said imitating Kelly from insecure. Tye looked at me as Melody walked out. “She happy as fuck on the inside” I started laughing. “Shut up!”.

 After our little house meeting. I decided to take a run in our Airbnb subdivision. I always ran to clear my head especially after a hangover, Thank God Tye got me that tea. I took a break, caught my breath, and took a sip of my water. I see a Convertible pull up near me, and the top lifted off, revealing some sexy light skin guy. He started talking to me, but I had my headphones in listening to “Cranes In The Sky” by Solange. I took my earphones out. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you” I said smiling. He laughed a little. “I was saying damn it rare we see such beauty in this area, normally got to wait till you hit the beach” He said. I rolled my eyes playfully. “Uh boy” I said. He smiled at me. “I’m Anthony” He said. His voice was so whew lord. “Ariana” I said. “Call I call you Ari or RiRi for short?” He asked. I shook my head. “Nigga I don’t know you like that” I told him placing my hand on my hip. He laughed. “Feisty little thing, aight I dig it. Hopefully, I see you around, Ri” He winked at me before pulling off. I cheesed all the way to house cause that man was an Angel. “Girls, Ladies, Bitches I seen a fine ass man on my run. I’m talking GQ fine” I said blushing. Melody and Tye came out they room and looked over the staircase balcony we had in the house. “And?” Tye said. “His name is Anthony and he stays over here I guess; He has a nice ass car and he called me Ri” I said cheesing. They just looked at me. “Number?” Melody asked. I bit my lip and shook my head. “He just said, see you around Ri” I said smiling. Melody and Tye laughed. “Well at least it aint that nigga Marlon” Tye said. “We gone go to every door and find him” Mel said. I started laughing. “Ima get me some Anthony” I said. “You better” Tye said. I could not stop squealing about that man.

  Zion:

I woke up to sun beaming bright as fuck in my eyes. I put my hand up to block the sun. I turned over to see I was in bed with Kyrel from last night. I palmed my face. I got up and grabbed my shit. He rolled over and looked at me. “Good morning Beautiful” He said. Normally I would cringe at any nigga telling me that, but it made me slightly smile. “Hey, I’m sorry. Last night shouldn’t have happened” He said. I looked at him. “Yeah, I didn’t want you to feel like it was a one-night stand. I really dig you and I want to see you again if that’s okay” He said to me. I nodded. “I would like that” I simply said smiling. Normally my ass would say something smart, but his energy was different. “Let me get my ass up, so I can make sure you get home okay” He said. A man! I thought. These niggas in Atlanta do not even care if I made it home unless they thirsty as fuck. He got dressed and we got in his car. “I see money all around me, I feel like I’m the man. But I was done and out like last week tell me where have you been? You came out of hiding girl. Don’t act like I’m your man, you just a fan, don’t hold no rank” He sang along. He looked over at me smiling. “What?” He asked. I giggled. “Nothing, you just cute. I guess” I said. He put his hand up to me like a mic. “Come on sing it with me” He said. I laughed. “I see money all around me, I feel like I’m the man. But I was done and out like last week tell me where have you been? You came out of hiding girl. Don’t act like I’m your man, you just a fan, don’t hold no rank” We sang turnt in the car. “Aye see” He said. I playfully pushed him. “Got me slipping out here” I told him. He started laughing. We pulled up to my Vacay house and just sat in the car. “So, Ima take you out Wednesday if that’s okay?” He asked. I looked at him crazy “And where we are going sir?”. He smiled. “It’s a suprith” He said in a funny voice. “Aight We gone see about that” I said laughing. He leaned over and pulled my face towards his and we started kissing. His lips tasted so nice; it was about to be a Tsunami in this car. I had to go. I pulled back. “Thank you for the ride, home and to sleep” I said laughing. He smirked. “Keep your phone on you” He said. I got out the car and waived bye. I walked into the house and Ariana met me at the door. “Its 2pm Mam, where have you been young lady?” She said with her hands on her hip. “I went to see a man about a horse” I casually said. “Irrrrr ok” Ari said making a funny noise. Tye came downstairs in her swimsuit looking like a goddess. “Okay I see you” I said. She twirled around. “Inches on Inches baby”. Melody came down after her in her swimsuit. “Yeahhhh get intoooo itttttt” She said holding Patron in her hand. “Okay Ari I see you too girl” I said gassing up my girls. “Bitch go get motherfucking dressed; our ride will be here soon” Tye said. I ran upstairs got in the shower and got myself all the way together. That took almost 2hrs. “Zion! Hurry up!” Tye yelled. “Im coming!” I yelled. “Ooh Z you look good girl” I told myself. I did a little twerk, and scurried downstairs before them hoes leave me. “Dick got you taking yo time huh?” Melody said. I playfully pushed her. “Shut up, I have yall know that Kyrel is a gentleman okay, and he is fine as fuck. He laid it down good as hell, Yall I’m let him go because he gone fuck me up” I said. Ari sucked her teeth in. “You better get you that gentlemen peen” She said. I almost spit out my water. “Bitch, I almost died” I said laughing. “Shots!” Tye said. “I’m not uh uh, only a little Tye” Ari said. We all took shots before we headed into the party bus.

  Melody:

“Hit your main bitch, yessirskii, Doin' donuts in the six, yessirskii. You got engaged but she still wanna slurpskii” Lil Uzi “Yessirskii” played as we walked onto the Yacht. I never been on no Yacht before and bitch this shit was a dream come true, another lit drunk night for me Yesssiiirrr. My girls and I were twerking our ass off. “Fuck it up Tye!” We yelled as Tye twerked on the opening of the boat. “I always wanted to do that” She said taking more shots. We were eating and Ari and Tye were smoking, just enjoying the vibes. 2 hours had passed, and we had drunk 2 bottles of Patron. I felt more fucked up then I did last night. The movement of the boat was causing my world to spin, and I needed to sit the fuck down, ASAP! “You good Mel?” Tye asked high as fuck. “No girl I feel sick as fuck” I said. She took me downstairs to lay on a random ass bed. No matter how much I stayed still the rocking of the boat was making me feel nauseous. I got up to look for a bathroom. “Fuck” I said realizing this room had no bathroom. I stumbled to quickly find one before I threw up in these people’s boat. As I was moving fast but woozy, I bumped into somebody. “Sorry” I said. I felt hands around me. “Yo you good?” I heard. I looked up seeing the beautiful man, but I was so messed up I did not care. I shook my head “No” I could feel the vomit rising. I tried to get out of his way, but he was trying to check on me, and what I feared most happened. I could not hold it in, and I threw up all over him. I could not stop it just kept coming. “Bro what the fuck!” He yelled. “I’m sorry” I said faintly before I knew it my eyes got heavy and I passed out.

  Tye:

“Real ass bitch gives a fuck about a nigga big Birkin bag hold 5,6 figures stripes on my ass so he calls this pussy tiger, fucking on a scamming ass rich ass nigga. Same group of bitches aint no adding to the picture” All of us girls were screaming the lyrics at the top of or lungs. “You check on Mel?” Ari asked. I looked at her crazy and hurried downstairs, because niggas is weird. When I got down there, I seen she was wrapped in the blankets on the bed. “This your friend?” I heard behind me. I turned around to see a fine ass black man wrapped in a towel. I nodded. “Yeah she didn’t feel good, I’m sorry I will get her up” I said. He shook his head. “Nah, she good this my boat so she straight. She must be sick or something she threw up all over me bruh” He said. I guess that explains the towel. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry” I said. He laughed, “It’s cool if it was anybody else they have to get the fuck off, I had my home girl clean her up and I put her in here, so yall enjoy the party. Here is the key to this room just check on her when you need too” He told me. I smiled “Thanks”. I locked Melody in and went back upstairs to go see Samar.

 “Hey stranger” Samar said as I walked over to him DJing. “When we gone be able to kick it?” I asked. He looked at me confused. “What you mean nigga? we are kicking it now” He said I rolled my eyes. “Samar I’m talking like how we do back home we in Miami nigga lets kick shit have fun” I said. He nodded. “Aight movie night at my house, bring the liq I got the wings and the weed” He said. I smiled at that idea. “Aight cool motherfucker” I said just dancing to the music slick coming down from being lit. “Here drink this and come over here” Samar told me. I took the shot and came near his mixing station. “Okay now what?” I asked. He smiled. “You gone learn how to mix for a little minute”. I was excited, “Bitch I’m a star, I got these niggas wishing. He says he hungry this pussy the kitchen, yeah he my dog he going to sit down and listen call him a drink and he don’t get offended” He clicked on some buttons then went to his computer. He brought the mic over to me. “Say something” He smiled. “I don’t feel like yall lit enough for me, let me run that shit back!” I yelled on the mic. Samar ran it back. “Bitch I’m a star, I got these niggas wishing. He say he hungry this pussy the kitchen, yeah he my dog he going to sit down and listen call him a drink and he don’t get offended” Every female sang. I got happy as hell. For the whole party that is all we were doing, I am surprised they aint pay me the fuck. After, the boat owner helped us get Melody on the bus, and Samar pulled me to this side. “Do me a favor bro, don’t be out here wilding with these Miami cats okay?” He said to me. “Can it just be yall girls chilling and shit?” He asked. I busted out laughing. “Samar, I’m grown sir you don’t have to worry about me honey, I’m good” I said. He looked at me annoyed. “Tye, I’m trying to be like a big bro and be protective but okay city girl Tye” He said. I shrugged. “Thanks bro” I said rolling my eyes. Nigga fuck yo big brother face ass, the fuck. He hugged me and said bye to everyone on the bus. I see him go talk to some Randoms. Typical Nigga shit. I pull out my phone a text Julian.

[khaleesi-in-the-north]

In the crosshairs (14/?)

@lanasexuall

After hanging up with Tommen Baratheon, the first thing Margaery feels is guilt. And a slight headache from drinking the night before.

Because she doesn’t feel sorry or sad or upset in general by Joffrey’s death. She feels guilty for not feeling those things, though.

The boy likely told her more than he should have when he said Joffrey’s death was being investigated by police. Jaime and Cersei would want to keep that out of public attention for as long as possible.

Margaery can scarcely blame the boy. He sounded far younger than 18, scared and shaken. Almost innocent in a way his family could not replicate. Margaery could see why Cersei had him call rather than his secretary.

She sets down her phone and pours her coffee. She forgoes her usual amount of sugar with hopes that the bitterness will jolt her numbed senses and cure her headache.

A few minutes later, with half a cup of the most disgusting coffee she’s forced herself to drink, Margaery is back to work. She takes care of Lady, who jumps and yips with excitement as Margaery puts her leash on and takes her to the front yard. When she comes back, there’s a text from Renly saying Jorah wants all writers in the office ASAP.

Her shower is quick and she rushes to apply her make-up, done in twenty minutes rather than her typical hour long ritual to get ready.

Ready to head out the door, she stops at the closet. Alayne doesn’t know she’s heading to the office today. Before news of Joffrey’s death flipped her story into uncertainty, today was supposed to be a lazy “work from home” day. Two weeks ago, Margaery would have already been out the door without a thought as to what Alayne would say or think.

Now, she found herself going back to Alayne’s room. The door squeaks in a way it wouldn’t have had she not been trying to keep it quiet. Alayne lays sprawled on the bed, still in the same position Margaery had awoken to. Margaery kneels beside her and gently strokes her hair, stiff from having unwashed hair product in all night. Alayne turns her head toward Margaery in her sleep. Her nails lightly over Alayne’s cheek. Alayne flinches in response. “Good morning, sweetling,” she says softly.

Alayne groans. Her eyes blink open, dazed and unfocused until she finds Margaery’s smile. “Nnnn, what time is it?”

“Eight,” Margaery says.

Alayne groans again and turns her head to the face the ceiling, throwing an arm over her eyes. “T’s too early.”

Margaery chuckles, “You can go back to sleep. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going to the office.”

“But you’re s’posed to cuddle with me,” Alayne says. She rolls onto her side to properly face Margaery.

“Mormont called all reporters in. Joffrey died last night,” Margaery pauses for a moment, to allow the news to sink in for Alayne before continuing, “It’s going to be the biggest story on television and in all the papers, so I might be home late too.” She can imagine the list of people Jorah will want her to interview and the amount of editing he’ll want for the article she’s been crafting.

Alayne’s lack of reaction doesn’t surprise Margaery. Alayne made it well known that she loathed the Lannister heir. That hatred combined with the daze of waking up made things difficult to process. It had taken Margaery long enough to process the news herself.

“I have to go. Goodbye, darling,” Margaery says.

Alayne lays back down. “Bye Marge, stay safe, okay?”

“I always do,” calls Margaery over her shoulder as she walks out.

The office is buzzing as usual. Interns race back and forth, juggling coffee cups with notepads and cameras. Old lady Fossoway chatted away on the office phone that in a conversation that sounded far from work related. On days like these, Margaery was thankful that her office was upstairs away from the chaos.

She narrowly dodges Jorah’s frazzled graphics intern who rushes around a corner, shouting out an apology that sounds like it’s been repeated a dozen times today alone.

Renly, Jorah, Myranda, Doran, and Irri are already gathered in the conference room when Margaery arrives.

“Nice of you to join us,” snarks Myranda.

Margaery shrugs off the comment and takes a seat beside Renly. She doesn��t know what she’s ever done to Myranda, just that the girl has hated her every moment from the day Margaery accepted a staff position with the Courier. Her jealousy has gotten worse the longer she’s worked on her story about Cersei.

“Where’s Tarly?” Jorah barks.

As if those were the magic words, Sam tumbles through the doorway, red-faced and puffing. “Sorry, sorry. Little Sam was under the weather and Gilly was still at work and my mum got stuck in traffic-”

Jorah glares at him. “Enough Tarly. Sit.”

Sam grabs the nearest chair and sits, trying to shush his panting breaths.

Jorah stands at the front of the table. “As you all know, or should know, Joffrey Baratheon died early this morning. Personally, this news is not news. It’s tabloid fodder of a banking heir. However, thanks to some investigative work from one of our own,” he looks pointedly at Margaery before returning his attention to the rest of the table. Myranda rolls her eyes. “I believe his death warrants a major news story. Therefore I want three reporters covering the Lannisters.”

Margaery straightens up, ready to pitch an idea for how to get a response from Cersei. Tommen told her that she was welcome to attend Joffrey’s private funeral. Although she declined because of Jorah’s strict ethical code, she might be able to get a word or two from Cersei if Jorah cared enough to bend his rules.

“Tarly I want you checking the hospital and the police department. Speak with anyone who will talk. Rhoyce and Baratheon, you two are going follow the family. See what L&C is doing. Respect their privacy though. If they ask you to leave them alone, then back off. Martell, you will be pick up Tarly’s workload for the day. Speak with him about what he needs done. Tyrell, you’ll attend the mayor’s press conference on the preservation of Baelor’s Sept. You’re all dismissed.”

The other journalists file out of the room, but Margaery remains seated. Jorah gathers his work together. “Is there something you need Tyrell?”

“Why am I not working on Joffrey’s death?” asks Margaery.

“You don’t need every major news story, Tyrell. Other writers deserve their spotlight coverage too,”Jorah opens the door to leave.

Margaery follows close behind. “Yes, but this is my story. I’ve built a repertoire with the Lannisters. They know me. They’ll talk to me.”

Jorah walks into his office and shuts the door after Margaery follows him in. “First, they don’t know you. If they did, they’d know how your interviews have cost them thousands of dragons in profit, sent the Cleganes on the run, and imprisoned three associates. I’d like to keep it that way. You don’t need to be on every story concerning them. And you’re too invested in them.”

“I don’t feel sorry about Joffrey’s death,” Margaery says. “You know emotions won’t be an issue.”

“That’s enough reason to have Rhoyce cover the story,” Jorah says as he writes on a sheet of paper. “You’ve got a vendetta against the Lannisters. I understand, they’ve done terrible things. It works itself out in an investigative piece. I can’t run the risk in a straight news story.”

“I can put it aside. I’ve never had issues being fair.”

“What I said is final. Stannis’s press conference begins in an hour. Get down there,” Jorah says. “Wait.”

Margaery stops at the door and turns back.

“I’m edited you’re first article. It’s nice work. I’m not publishing it yet.” Before Margaery can argue, Jorah adds, “Not until this story blows over. It will look too convenient, like we’re taking advantage of the situation. It will see the front page soon though.”

Margaery nods curtly and leaves.

The typical reporter pool mills around the vicinity of fold out chairs in front of City Hall. Cameraman jostle each other to reach the best angles of the mayor. Although the pool is smaller than the typical crowd that usually attends Stannis’s press conferences. The renovation of Baelor’s Sept is secondary news today.

Margaery sits in the first row of reporter chairs, directly in front of the podium. There’s no way Stannis will be able to ignore her questions.

As she slides her purse under her chair, a voice clears their throat above her. Margaery looks up to meet an unhappy looking Melisandre glaring down at her. Shouldn’t the most controversial reporter in Westeros be writing about the most famous death in Westeros since Ned Stark’s family died?

Margaery smiles charmingly. “Hello Melisandre. Lovely day.”

“This is my seat. I always sit here during the mayor’s press conferences,” Melisandre says, unamused.

“Perhaps you should have them engrave your name on the chair,” Margaery clicks her pen and crosses her legs, a firm stance that she will not budge.

Melisandre sits down next to her. “Why are you here? Where’s that little Myranda?”

“Didn’t you see it in the flames?”

“Don’t jest Margaery. R’hllor will remember.”

               The Red Watch published her first two articles written in King’s Landing. They both concerned minor new stories, but when Margaery the articles, The Red Watch was finding its foot hold. It wasn’t the tabloid rumor mill it turned into. Which made Melisandre’s presence even more baffling.

               “Jorah assigned me to this conference? What about you? Shouldn’t you be twisting Chief Lannister’s arm to spill what he knows about Joffrey?” That’s what she would be doing now.

               “Stannis does the Lord’s work. He has an announcement that my readers will want to know.”

               It made sense now. Melisandre was here to fuel work for her opinion section “Through the Flames”. Apparently Stannis was R’hllor’s chosen vessel this week.

               Personally, Margaery still followed the Seven. Although following the scandal outing the sex slavery ring the High Septon ran, she found it more and more difficult to trust the Septons and Septas of the faith.

               Other reporters joined them as Stannis’s aids came out, followed by Stannis himself. The team of aids checks the sound before giving Stannis the thumbs up to walk to the podium. Margaery turns on her recorder. It will be easier to go back and take direct quotes from that later than to attempt to scribble every word he says.

               “Good afternoon,” rumbles Stannis’s deep voice. His movements are stiff and awkward. “Thank you for coming today. I’ve prepared a statement in regards to the renovations of the Sept of Baelor. The back will be rebuilt, using the stone and mortar method that was used to construct the building 500 years ago to maintain the building’s historical integrity. There have been fireproof pillars added to update the building to fire code regulation. The roof is…”

               Margaery could feel herself nodding off. It wasn’t all Stannis’s fault. Okay it was 70% his fault. He lacks the charm and charisma of Renly, his younger brother. Without a proper DNA test, Margaery wouldn’t be convinced that the two were even related.

               The only thing keeping Margaery awake is the spectacle that goes on between Melisandre and Stannis as Stannis talks. Melisandre makes smoldering eyes toward Stannis, who tries to ignore her, except Margaery can tell by the way he quirks his lips unnaturally as Melisandre winks that something is definitely going on there.

               “Questions?” Stannis asks, reminding Margaery that she had completely blown her purpose of being here.

               Sitting in the front row is a regret. Especially when Stannis stares at her, daring her to raise her hand. No one else raises their hand, so his pressure tactic fails.

               Finally, Melisandre raises her hand with a flourish. “Mayor Baratheon, followers of R’hllor have been petitioning for a place in which they may freely worship the Lord of Light. What have you done to address their concerns?”

               “Thank you for the question,” Stannis says. He must not receive questions often at these events. “On the top of Visenya’s Hill, we will begin construction of a temple shortly.”

               Margaery turns to Melisandre. The red witch smiles smugly at Stannis, partially in adoration and partially in self-pride. She knew what he would say. Yet, there had been no hint of news that construction of a temple would begin anywhere in the city. This wasn’t Margaery’s typical beat, so Myranda may have had an insight, but based on the shocked faces of those around her, Margaery was willing to bet this was a bombshell in the world of small city government.

               “Until construction is finished, the High Septon of the Sept of Baelor has agreed to allow use of Stranger’s private alter for any such rituals the Lord of Light would require of his people.”

               Stannis grimaces at the audience. Margaery could only imagine he was attempting a smile. From that point on, questions flowed easily. Despite coming unprepared, Margaery manages to conjure a few on the spot. Stannis’s abrupt and cold responses don’t come as easily. They sound intelligent and thought out, but rehearsed and as though he would rather be anywhere but here. Margaery has a specific place in mind for them as Melisandre continues her strange telepathic flirtation with the mayor.

               “You knew,” says Margaery when Stannis’s aids shuffle him off stage.

               “I knew what?” asks Melisandre innocently.

               “You said he was making an important announcement and then he says they’re beginning an immediate construction of a temple for the Lord of Light. That’s not coincidence, darling.”

               Melisandre barks a laugh. “I saw it in the flames, child.”

               She gets up and walks in the direction that Stannis’s aids led him.

               Margaery lets it go. Who her fellow reporter does in her free time is none of her business, and she’d like to keep it that way.

               She goes to the nearest coffee shop with free wifi, where she has a quick phone interview with one of the Red Priests and with a Septa at the Sept of Baelor, then types up a draft highlighting the news about the new temple construction focusing on how the priests and septons plan on working together during the next few months.

               Once Jorah sends her the thumbs up for the article, she’s free to go. For a moment, she considers pitching her idea for her next investigation piece to Jorah, then decides against it. She hasn’t even finished interviewing Cersei. She could hear Jorah droning on about the importance of wrapping up one story before moving on to the next.

               Yet, how could she finish her story on Cersei now? Moving on to the next story was the smart move. Margaery would call Cersei’s office again in a few days to check on her.  Meanwhile, she would begin searching for leads on the Stark girls.

               On the drive home, she thinks about what Jorah said. Joffrey’s death should impact her more. She spent almost as much time with him in the last month as she did with Alayne. The boy was spoiled and disgusting, but she didn’t even feel the slightest sense of loss. Being able to compartmentalize work and real life has always been a point of pride. It never hindered her work in the past; it typically promoted her work.

               As Margaery walks through the front door she notices a distinct lack of wolf-dog attacking her.  She can hear Alayne’s voice drifting down the hall from the kitchen. Walking closer, the words become audible. “I wish I had seen her face when she heard.  I want her to know how it feels to have everything ripped from you… Not yet. Speculation needs to die down before that… I’ve taken care of that. No one knows she was there… I made sure he took care of it, Petyr. I know what I’m doing… Yes I know what I’m doing with her too! I’m not a damn child anymore…”

               Margaery stops outside the kitchen door to listen a little longer. “It’s done, that’s all I’m concerned about… I’ve got to go Petyr…Just because you don’t a love life doesn’t mean I should sacrifice mine,” she hears the teasing note in Alayne’s voice, more playful than she usually is with Baelish.

               She takes that as her cue to enter the kitchen. Lady lays at Alayne’s feet, gnawing on a raw-hide. Her teeth crack against the bone. “I told you, I have to got Petyr. Bye.”

               For a split second, Margaery thinks Alayne’s voice sounds slightly different a moment ago. Slightly more like Ygritte’s, and not with the hint of Riverland she hears now. She shakes off the ridiculous thought. They’ve been together for over a year and Alayne’s voice has always had a Riverland lilt to it. A long day at work is finally taking it’s toll.

               “Hello my pretty little rose,” Alayne smiles dazzlingly. “What happened to a late night at the office?”

               Margaery picks an apple out of the fruit basket on the island. “Not as busy as I thought it would be.” She takes a bite. “Why are you so happy.”

               Alayne takes the apple from Margaery and takes a bite from it. “What’s not to be happy about?”

               Pure joy emanates from Alayne. Margaery feels her mood brighten just looking her girlfriend’s smile. Still, something felt off about the conversation she overheard. If she was going to be forthright with Alayne, she expects the same in return.

               She playfully snatches the apple back from Alayne. “Did I interrupt something important?” Not wanting Alayne to feel defensive, she keeps her tone light.

               “You heard that?” Alayne asks, her voice level and not sounding overly innocent to compensate for a lie. Good. It relaxes Margaery.

               “Mmm-hmm. Sounds like you’re playing dirty with your business endeavors,” she leans on the counter island and chomps another bit of apple, juicy and skinless so there’s no bitter aftertaste.

               “Maybe a little,” Alayne winks. She comes closer and wraps arms around Margaery, towering over her. “I finished the deal with the cosmetic company. It will take some time to get it off the ground, but it’s mine.” She squeals like a little girl. Sometimes Margaery forgets that Alayne is younger than her, but moments like these remind her.

               “That’s amazing,” smiles Margaery. She kisses Alayne’s cheek. She pulls away and moves to the fridge to get a drink.“You must have driven a hard sale with the old owner, to hate her so much.”

               Alayne’s face darkens slightly. “Let’s just say she rubs me the wrong way.” The slight dip in mood quickly disappears. “Anyway, how was your day?”

               “Odd,” admits Margaery. She chews more of the apple. She spits out a piece of skin that’s too big and unsavorable and watches Lady eat it off the floor. “A man I’ve spent the last four weeks getting to know in depth died last night and I feel nothing toward him.” She turns back to Alayne. “Shouldn’t I feel sad or sorry?”

               Alayne looks at her sympathetically. Her eyes pour out the sympathy Margaery wishes she felt for Joffrey. “You shouldn’t feel obligated to feel anything for him. He was awful, Margaery. He told you the things he did to that Stark girl. And the way he looked at you, touched you,” Alayne’s voice becomes angrier and harder with every allusion to Joffrey. “That monster could have tried to do you what he did to those women from Winterfell.”

               “What women?” Margaery asks. She drinks a sip from her glass of water. Joffrey had never mentioned any women from Winterfell besides the Stark women and a girl named Jeyne Poole.

               “Did you not hear? Let me show you,” she takes Margaery to the living room, where Alayne’s laptop sits closed on the couch. She opens the screen to an already opened website, Winterfell News Network.

               A video begins playing. Even though the sound is off, the bruises and busted lips of two women, prostitutes based on the article’s title, tells the story.

               The graphic pictures don’t seem doctored as far as Margaery can tell, although Renly has a better eye for such things.

               “The newscaster said the women would only speak with WNN,” Alayne says. Warning flags set off in Margaery’s head. WNN isn’t the most trustworthy of news outlets to begin with, considering a sketchy association with the Stark family. These women might be looking for a bit of cheap fame from a bitter news station. She has her questions, but she’s inclined to believe the women.

               “Joffrey was an arse and a prick, but I that seems beyond his power.”

               Alayne holds Margaery against her. “Why would they make it up? They put themselves at risk by speaking out against any Lannister. You proved as much with your interview with Sandor Clegane.” That was true. There was more to lose than gain for these women by throwing Joffrey’s name under the bus now.

               Margaery lays her head on Alayne’s shoulder. Alayne closes her laptop. “If he did that to them, I don’t want to imagine what he could have done to you. I’d rather him dead than ever have another chance to hurt you.”

[anamuseinglife]

Iditapod: Taking 24-hour rests, as Aliy takes the lead

Aliy Zirkle: Sure. Name of the race is Iditarod, why not go to Iditarod. I haven’t been there in a long time.

[theme music plays]

Casey Grove: Welcome to the Iditapod, a podcast about the Iditarod that aims to take you out on the trail. I’m your host, Casey Groves, and before we take you out on the trail, why not a word from our sponsor?

[ad plays]

CG: Well, everybody, the frontrunners made it into Ophir Wednesday morning, and all along the trail mushers are starting to declare their 24 hour rests; as Iditarod declare those rests, Girdwoods Nicolas Petit - he took second place last year, let me remind you - he pushed back into the lead, and reached the ghost town checkpoint of Ophir about 1 am Wednesday. He was trailed by Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle and Nenana musher Jessie Holmes. But, it appears, according to the GPS tracker, that Aliy Zirkle, as I’m recording this Wednesday morning, is leading the Iditarod, it looks like she took off out of Ophir before Nicolas Petit, that is based on a look at the GPS tracker at Iditarod.com. As I’m recording this, the current standings in the race - that’s the list of when mushers arrive and leave which checkpoints - that has not been updated to reflect that Aliy is in the lead, but I believe that to be true. Anyway, the trio that had been leading the race, they declared their 24 hour rest immediately after turning into Takotna. That is a nice place known for its pies and hospitality, I can tell you that firsthand. It’s a little over 20 miles before the mushers reach Ophir. And the first one in there was Joar Leifseth Ulsom, followed by Jessie Royer and Pete Kaiser. So, Tuesday night, a little after 7, Ulsom led that first set of mushers into Takotna.

[dogs barking]

Unknown male voice: 24

Unknown female voice: Declaring 24, alright

CG: Ulsom’s team parked in one of the choice spots for a long term rest, against the wall of a community hall, out of the way of the wind. About an hour later, Jessie Royer pulled in. Jessie said she always takes her 24 at Takotna, and her team has a little bit of a routine there.

Jessie Royer: They know where they’re going. They’re already headed to the church.

CG: It’s a quiet spot near the building, where the mushers sleep, but unfortunately the deep snow there was punchy, and the checkers were finding other areas for dogs. For Royer, the decision to stop at Takotna is part of her overall race.

JR: It’s where I 24 every year [laughs] so not a whole lot of thought behind it. Mostly, just a really good spot, um, for both a musher and dogs. I’ve been here enough that I kinda know where I want, where I like to stay, although apparently this year it’s a little different. It’s just so convenient here, so it’s easy to take care of the dogs fast. So I can get more sleep to.

CG: Little while later, Pete Kaiser arrived, parking his dogs not far from Royer. And hot on his heels was Nic Petit, who was in the Takotna checkpoint for only a minute and half.

Nic Petit: So you’ve got to sign my book?

CG: Petit was in a rush, he was trying to get all his paperwork signed ASAP, with a dog team that was so amped, they were dragging the sled for about two dozen feet at one point. His big headphones blasted music while his dogs yelped, they were eager to keep running. Zachariah Hughes was in Takotna giving us this report, he said it was pretty hectic. Petit took off before getting any of his drop bags, or even a premade meal to take along with him.

[dogs yelping]

Unknown Male Voice: Need anything out of your bag?

Nic Petit: Nope!

CG: So, after they take their 24, the mushers have another 8 hour rest they have to take at a checkpoint along the Yukon river, and another mandatory stop at White Mountain, that’s about 80 miles from the finish. So that’s a long ways from now. There’s a lot of strategy as to where a musher takes their 24 hour rest, though. That mandatory stop, it’s related to how the Iditarod corrects the race times for that staggered start in Willow. Remember, they don’t just all take off at once. Here’s today’s listener question, it comes to us all the way from England. Take it away, Morgan

Morgan: Hey guys, it’s Morgan, from England. My question is, if the mushers all have a staggered start time at the start of the race, how are the times manipulated so that when it comes to the finish line, it’s the first musher over the line that wins. Any help would be great. Cheers guys. Bye.

CG: It’s a good question, thanks Morgan. We tossed this one to KNOM’s Ben Matheson, who is good with numbers and math and things like that.

Ben Matheson: The short answer is that the start differential is made up at the 24 hour break. And the way the math works is that the musher that left Willow last, in this case bib number 53 Cindy Gallea, will rest exactly 24 hours. Mushers with lower bib numbers will be allowed to leave their 24 hour breaks the equivalent of 2 minutes for each bib place. So, the first musher this year to have left Willow will rest a total of 25 hours and 42 minutes. The longer answer is that the different 24 hour breaks take place over 2 or 3 days, in multiple locations. It becomes difficult to see who’s up front and who’s behind. And then, there’s daylight savings, that takes place early Sunday morning during the race. So I hope everyone is ready to do some math.

CG: Thanks for that, Ben. We appreciate your analytical mind. Speaking of which, Ben does a lot of work with data, you can find some of his work at benmatheson.github.io. Also, I want to mention our twitter handles. Ben is simply @benmatheson, Zach Hughes is @zachhughesak, and I’m @kcgrove. You can also find a lot more reporting at alaskapublic.org. That’s kind of where we house all of our stories and photos. Zach and Ben will be talking to more mushers here as they take those 24 hour rests, I’m interested to hear from Linwood Fiedler, I guess he hit a stump earlier in the race, his sled came unattached from his dogs, and Mats Pettersson actually towed his sled, with him on it, until, in the dark, they found Linwood’s team, all of his dogs together, kind of bunched up. He, in a video at Iditarod insider, described, very emotionally, how he thought there might be some damage to the team, and running along by themselves, not pulling a sled and getting tangled and things.

I’ve also seen some video and pictures of Richie Diehl, who has kind of a black eye right now, because as he was mushing along, he kind of looked away for a second and then got hit in the face by a tree, but he was able to hang on to his sled. Still though, as of Wednesday morning, here we have a full field. Nobody has scratched yet, we have all 52 mushers still in the race. All those mushers are now navigating through warm temperatures and sometimes inconsistent trails though. They’re racing deep into the heart of Alaska’s interior. The teams are gearing up for the push through the emptiest parts of trail. You heard from an amped up Nic Petit earlier, but we’re going to go back to McGrath, back in time to Tuesday, and back to KNOM’s Ben Matheson and his report from McGrath. Petit sounded a lot calmer there, feeding his dogs. He told Ben about his loose plan and how he’s been camping out a lot more in this years Iditarod.

[sounds of movement and moving equipment]

Ben Matheson: Nic Petit was first into the McGrath checkpoint.

Unknown male voice: So, what’s your plan?

Nic Petit: I’m gonna hang out here until I decide what my plan is.

Unknown voice: Ok, sounds good

BM: Petit’s afternoon arrival appears to mark the fastest trip to McGrath on the Iditarod books. And now the mushers are beginning to take their 24 hour rests at the checkpoint of their choosing, Petit was not speaking openly about his plan.

NP: I may stay a couple three hours… maybe 24. We’ll see.

BM: He parks in a secluded spot in the trees, one that the checkpoint crew typically saves for teams doing their 24 hour rest. For being the first to McGrath, Petit wins the Spirit of Iditarod Award, with beaded beaver mitts, and a musher hat sewn by McGrath residents. It was the first extended look for many of the Girdwood musher, who has been camping the entire race, and has not stopped at any checkpoint for more than a few minutes.

NP: You know, Rainy Pass is a zoo. I can’t get any rest there, and all the nice people are trying to talk to you. It’s not really constructive.

BM: He’s said in the pass that he allows his team to run at the speed that they want to. In today’s run, he’s said that they reached a blistering 15 miles per hour. But, his competition was moving fast too. While he was resting in the late afternoon, three teams flew through the checkpoint. First, was Joar Leifseth Ulsom. [dogs barking]. Jessie Royer and Pete Kaiser were next through. Aliy Zirkle stopped for what she expected to be a few hours. She’s been working hard to keep her team hydrated during warm, daytime runs. She says that the trail has alternated between good and soft.

Aliy Zirkle: For all the talk of “there’s tons of snow it’s gonna be a slog”, it hasn’t been that bad. But, things can always be badder, worse.

BM: This is the third day of racing, mushers need to be thinking about taking care of their mental and physical state, something that Zirkle was determined to work on during her brief stopover.

AZ: The only thing I’m missing is sleep. I need to sleep a little bit. I’ve had the opportunity and for some reason my body’s been like “no you’re good, you don’t need any!”. Which isn’t true.

BM: As for her 24 plans, she says she’s going all the way to Iditarod this year, some 124 miles down the trail. When past champion Mitch Seavey arrived later in the evening, his decades of experience told him that something was different on the way in.

Mitch Seavey: It felt like that was an extra long route. Just for me?

BM: That’s because Iditarod trail breakers placed the hundreds of reflective stakes along the Iron Dog snow machine route, instead of the normal Iditarod trail. That tooks teams along the long Oxblow bend on the Kuskokwim river, tacking on 8 more miles than mushers had planned. And plan as they may, it’s now decision time on where to take their crucial 24 hour breaks, and ready their teams for the long march to the Yukon river. For KNOM News, I’m Ben Matheson in Mcgrath.

CG: So, sounds like the Iditarod trail this year became maybe a little bit longer than usual, but that’s the way it goes. They’re doing their best out there, trying to mark that trail and make sure that everybody stays on it. You heard from Nic Petit there, in McGrath, that was earlier in the race of course. We have an extended cut of that interview posted here as a bonus episode of the Iditapod (note: link to that transcript is here - https://pdxjenni.tumblr.com/post/183282060394/iditapod-bonus-episode-interview-with-nic-petit) and there’s one in the works with Aliy Zirkle (transcript link: http://anamuseinglife.tumblr.com/post/183282961791/iditapod-bonus-mcgrath-interview-with-aliy-zirkle) and I’ll be putting that out here shortly today.

It’s really interesting to see her leading the race. Of course, women have won the Iditarod in the past, there was a long string of wins between Libby Riddles and Susan Butcher that led to the saying “Alaska: where men are men, and women win the Iditarod”. But, a woman hasn’t won the Iditarod since Susan Butcher did it in 1990. This year, we have the highest percentage of women in the Iditarod, so maybe this is the year that we crown another female musher as champion. A lot of people out there rooting for Aliy Zirkle from Two Rivers. She’s mushing out in the lead as I record this, and she’s finished in second three different times. A lot of good mushing from her in the past, she’s got a top notch dog team, and there’s a lot of people that are pulling for her.

As always, I want to remind listeners to send us their questions about dog mushing or the Iditarod, you can type those out and send them to iditarod@alaskapublic.org, or if you want a shot at trying to get on the podcast, you can open your smartphone and find you voice memo app, record yourself asking the question, and send that to iditarod@alaskapublic.org. We’re loving all the great questions, we’re going to be asking mushers some of these questions, Ben and Zach are answering some. We’re going to try to check in with Quince Mountain at some point, he’s out there snow machining along the Iditarod trail, I’m very curious as to how’s he doing. But for now, that is all the time we have. Our theme music: it’s by the band Sassafrass. I’m your host Casey Grove, and until next time - happy trails.

[theme music plays out]

Aliy Zirkle: I uh, I always 24 in Takotna, and, you know, Allen and I were talking and, I kind of think we should shake it up a little, I’ve obviously got one thing a little bit wrong, mmmmmmmm, sounds like a good shake up, huh?

Ben Matheson: I was going to ask about a little bit of diarrhea, I saw?

AZ: I’m doing fine, thank you for asking [all laugh]

[versingspace]

Chapter 1

“James White, please report to level 3.” When Jim heard the first announcement come across the PA, he thought nothing of it and continued his meeting with the ship’s captain, Stanley Bell. They continued discussing their plans for sending the ship’s first surface detail to the uncharted planet ‘PLX01’. “So Stan, I would really like to start the preparations for a surface detail tomorrow after breakfast. Will we be able to maintain orbit..” as he was cut off by the PA again. “James White, please report to level 3 ASAP.” He looked at Stan and said as he hurried out “This can’t be good. That was your wife’s voice.” He made his way to the central hallway in record time. Stan watched Jim crawl along the ceiling using the handles from the flight deck as he picked up the phone to call Stacy he thought, “I haven’t seen him in a hurry like that since our freshman year in college.” The phone just rang with no answer. As he hung it up the phone he was going over in his mind what kind of emergency they had on their hands. As James hit the last 5 feet of the tube connecting to the main body he slowed and prepared for the gravity shift. A handle attached to a series of clutch brakes that began spinning you slowly and eventually matched the speed of the main body of the ship creating a pseudo gravity field 29 days out of a month. Once he was on his feet he took the right hallway down. He passed a library and two school rooms on the right before he came to the first door on the left. His family had been friends with the Bells for years. He had been in attendance at Stacy’s graduation from Nursing School. She had made a major career change after a brief battle with breast cancer when their kids Michael and Sarah were still in diapers. He had heard a tone in her voice that made him uneasy as he made his way back to the last room of the hospital area. Making his way towards the screams and crying he jumped over broken glass and a few puddles of blood, he thought ‘I haven’t seen this since we were working the bugs out of our gravitation generator 7 and a half years ago.’ When he hit the opening to the room Stacy spotted him and came to the door. While he listened to her say “Someone had finally snapped” he scanned the area to make sense of it all. He saw Susan Evans, MD. His Vice President’s wife; Dan Carter, the ships only Psychiatrist; Eddie Jackson, the ships veterinarian; and subdued but now getting weaker and quieter as the sedation they obviously had given her had started to take effect , Audrey Jackson, one of the ships chefs. While Stacy continued to speak “she was in talking with Dan and lost it. It was very sudden. Dan said they were discussing the possibility of the a search detail going down to the planet they came upon and that she was upset because she needed a break off of the ship and wasn’t chosen for the detail. He said he started to explain that the people chosen would be chosen because of their field of studies and she just slammed a picture frame she had picked up off his desk and the glass hit her in the face. I haven’t had the chance to figure much else out. Now that she’s a little calmer we can talk to Ed and Dan.” James felt Dan’s wife, Samantha Carter the other chef, touch his shoulder. “Is that Audrey in there? We were prepping dinner and she said she needed a break. That was almost an hour ago and I heard Stacy call you on the intercom. Hell, everyone did. Is everything alright?” James turned around trying to block her view and said “Yes that is her. She is ok now. We need to sort this out still. I will let you know something here in a little bit. We will meet with you shortly. Do you need me to find someone to help you with dinner? Of course you do its steak night. I’ll send one of the kids. Who’s been interning in there?” “Violet Ward has.” She answered. “I’ll make sure she gets over to you after school.” As she walked away James turned back to Stacy and said “I’ll be right back. Can you get Dan, Ed, and Susan to meet me in Susan’s office and I’d rather we clean Dan’s office instead of the housekeeping detail. You know rumors, kids and all.” As James walked away Stacy went back to a much calmer Audrey and assisted with her souchers. James thought ‘We knew this would happen sooner or later. I’m glad no one was seriously hurt. I’ll make a small announcement during dinner tonight.’ Janice Hughes, the high school teacher, was writing the homework assignment on the board in front of her class when James walked through the door. Janice greeted him as he said, ”Pardon the interruption. May I please have a word with you in the hall? Thank you.” He turned and stepped out into the hall quickly to avoid any inquisition from the class. Janice, a little puzzled by the interruption told the kids she’d be right back. As she shut the door behind her, she asked “Is everything okay James? The kids have been asking about the announcement? They seem a little concerned and I’ve been unsure as to what I should tell them.” In a soft voice he replied “There has been an incident… or should I say more of a mental breakdown with Audrey Jackson. We are still trying to figure things out right now. Samantha told me that Violet Ward was doing her internship in the kitchen and I need her to come in early today. I guess more like now so dinner won’t be affected.” “Not a problem, I’ll send her right away” she replied. “Thank you. I will have a meeting with the main staff at 7pm in the conference room to discuss this and a few other topics as well. Just let the kids know their parents will fill them in later tonight.” “Sounds good” she said as she opened the door and walked back into the classroom of talking teens that was silenced when she asked Violet to meet Mr. White in the hall. As Violet stepped out, her mind raced with a million thoughts. ‘Why does he want to see me? Have I done something wrong? Is my hair okay?’ She had had a large crush on him since she started liking boys. He had a tall slender build, dark hair, clean shaved, easy on the eyes look, with a very easy to get along with attitude. Her idea of the perfect man, though she was intelligent enough to know this was a teenage crush. Her mind wandered off again about another boy in her class with similar traits when she snapped to as James asked “Hello Violet. We’ve had a development and need you to come into the kitchen a little early today. Mrs. Hughes has been informed. Samantha will fill you in on any other details when you get over there. Can you get over there pretty quick so that dinner won’t be affected?” She nodded with confusion. “We appreciate your help on such short notice.” He said with a smile that sent shivers through her body causing her to fumble with the door knob as he walk away heading now to Susan’s office to try and get a handle on what was going on. As he walked back he thought ‘I’ll have Stacy call Maxine and ask her to meet me in Susan’s office. By then I should have a better idea on what’s going on and how to handle this. Maxine Long, the project’s administrative manager, was meeting with Justin Barnes, an Astrophysicist, when her phone rang causing them both to jump. She answered to hear Stacy say “Hi Maxi, James needs you down in Susan’s office.” “What’s going on Stacy” she replied. “I heard you on the intercom. Is everything alright?” “James will fill you in when you get here. It’s nothing too terrible bad. I need to go but will chat with you at dinner tonight. OK bye sweetie” Stacy said as she hung up quickly so she could check on Audrey who was stitched up and sleeping now. While she was walking back to Susan’s office she heard Eddie yelling at Dan “What the hell did you say to my wife?” And Dan yelling back, “Nothing. She showed up wanting to talk and…” Cutoff by James raising his voice “Calm the fuck down.” She thought ‘he must be at wits end with this as I’ve never heard him yell like this. James is always the cool, calm one. Someone set him off, I better hurry.’ As she walked through the door Dan had just finished explaining that she had come in and asked to talk to him. “hell I thought it was a marital issue when she first came in” he said “I had no idea it was cabin fever. Has she been acting funny lately Ed?” Dan said calmly. “Nothing out of the ordinary. She has been working longer hours to show the kids how to harvest the ships garden. But last night she said they finally finished up. At least until the next cycle. Dan looked at James and explained while the other three listened, “She walked in looking down. I asked if everything was alright. She shook her head no and asked about the surface detail and who would be chosen. Then she started to cry while I explained who would probably be chosen and why, she became more upset and said she needed a break off this ship picked up a picture off my desk and slammed it down. Stacy and Susan responded to the glass shattering noise and we subdued her which caused her glass wounds to open up more. We got her to the back room so that her screaming would be more muffled and not alarm everyone. By then Stacy had gotten you down here. Anyways, I record all of my sessions and will put this incident on a flash drive for you” “Please do” James said pausing briefly “You, Susan, Stacy, and Eddie please continue to discuss a treatment plan as well. Then please clean Dan’s office. Tomorrow morning after breakfast, Dan, I’d like you to meet with Samantha and see if Audrey has been acting differently at work. Thank you. I need to meet with Maxine now about the main staff meeting after dinner at seven” he said hearing her walk in behind him. As he lead Maxine away he brought her up to speed on the current events and asked her to bring John Evans, Vp of the project, up to speed as well and to meet him in his office at 5 and to please keep a lid on this until the staff meeting later. “I need to get back to my meeting with Stan. Thank you.” He said as they went separate directions. Violet had left class immediately after her meeting with James White and went to her house on the second level to change into her work clothes. She was a little thrown off due to the fact this was not a scheduled day for her kitchen internship. She was however excited to get the opportunity to work with Samantha in the kitchen and it was early enough in the day she would actually help with the butchering of the main course. 'Tonight is steak night she thought' a once in a month treat. And this was the first time in her 2 years of internship that she was able to participate in the full preparation. Violet was a blond hair, blue-eyed tomboy. Back on earth she would’ve probably won the Miss California beauty pageant. Raised her on her Grandfather’s dairy farm there until 7 and a half years ago. Her father, Richard, head of security on the ship, helped farm while holding down a security job after a few tours in the Marines. He raised her and her twin brother Sage the same. He used to say the only difference between the two was their looks. Sage got his rough look and build from his father while Violet got hers from her mother, Willow, the Kindergarten through 8th grade teacher onboard. Aside from that they were proficient in survival, hunting, and very astute students. This helped with their selection for this expedition they were on. When she turned fifteen, as all children onboard do she had to choose 4 occupations and work a couple hours a week in each one for a year. After that year they were able to narrow it down to 2. They would then intern these jobs for the last two years of high school and then work them while they went to college. Violet was very fond of science so biology and geology were at the top of her list and she picked nursing and cooking for her other two. She fell in love with culinary arts and narrowed her two jobs down to biological science and cooking. Her rotation had her working with Carol White in the bio-science lab this week experimenting with plant nutrients, so she stopped in to see her before heading to the kitchen. As she was leaving the lab she passed James in the doorway and gave him a smile with a nervous giggle that raised his spirits a little in light of recent events. As the door closed behind James, Carol said “Honey, that girl has a crush on you.” He laughed as she jokingly continued “I don’t have anything to worry about? Do I dear?” as she pulled him in for hug and a small kiss. He held her tight and drew in a deep breath smelling her hair, which always put him at ease but also helped drown out the other lab smells. In a soft voice she whispered “is everything alright baby? Violet told me you pulled her out of class to go help in the kitchen.” “We’ve had what appears to be our first case of cabin fever. Audrey snapped in Dan’s office” he answered As he filled her in on the details she could see sadness in his eyes as she knew this project was his passion and he hoped that everyone else felt the same. In an attempt to console him she whispered “This has been a pretty good run so far seeing as how we’ve made it this long and this is our first one.” “I know” he replied “I’m just trying to figure out a way to prevent the next one without sounding like a dictator.” “You and John will figure something out. And I know for a fact that everyone is still happy and excited about our journey in our little metropolis” she said in a way that always stopped his thoughts from racing. He kissed her and said “Gotta get back to it baby. Love you and will see you at dinner. By the way I’m calling for a main staff meeting after dinner at 7.” “I can count on seeing you there as well?” he said throwing her a wink as he walked out letting her know that seeing her helped “I love you too baby and of course you will.” She replied as she returned to her work. As James headed back to the flight deck he was met by Jeremy Jackson, Eddie and Audrey’s 17 year old son. James nodded and continued to pass by in hopes that Jeremy had not heard yet about his mother as James felt it was Ed’s responsibility to inform Jeremy and his younger sister Christina about today’s incident. James felt a weight on his shoulders when he heard Jeremy’s voice speak “Any word yet on your decision?” he asked. It took a few seconds for this to register and the lack of response cause a nervous Jeremy to continue speaking “I was just hoping to get the opportunity” which caused James to realize he was inquiring about his application to be included on the surface detail. This brought a wave of excitement over James as this brought light back to this shadow cast over these very exciting times. They have discovered the planet with some sort of atmosphere. The drone sent out 3 days ago was returning today and probably already had. A now excited James responded “We are making our decision later tonight and we will let you know in the morning.” “Thank you” Jeremy said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. His internship in Flight engineering and security along with his excellent psych evaluation gave him a shot to accompany the detail. He shook it off and continued on his way to the library to meet with his study partner Mary Evans. As James continued to make his way back to the flight deck he felt a little lighter on his feet due to his previous two meetings. ‘I can’t allow today’s incident to overshadow our recent discovery. I will take ideas from the staff for how to handle the incident and let the four other governing members make the decision along with myself. This will expedite a move past this’ he thought as he walked back onto the flight deck where he found Stan speaking with Zach Davis, bio space scientist, and Justin Barnes the projects astrophysicist. “James we’re glad you’re here” Stan said with excitement. “Zach and Justin were just explaining that two of the four probes had returned with promising findings.” “What have you got gentlemen?” James asked trying to contain himself “The atmosphere will accommodate a safe entry and allow us to test our new bio-suits” Zach replied. The bio-suit was an idea James came up with many years ago that would allow the suit to introduce a mixture of the planets air along with the Self Contained Breathable Air packs needed for human consumption thus conserving the ships reserves. This can only be accomplished if the nitrogen and oxygen levels are within ten percent of acceptable levels. This really was great news to James and to the project he had put all of his money into prior to leaving earth on this one way expedition. This would help shed light on Audrey’s problem today in the possibility that everyone might get a break from the ship as well as speed up preparations for their first trip off of the ship in over seven years. “Beautiful.” James said with enthusiasm yet asked with concern “Where are the other two probes?” “Was afraid you would ask that. One is due back around lunchtime tomorrow. The other one” Zach paused with a concerned look on his face, “We are tracking it now, finally. We haven’t figured out exactly why yet but it blacked out for about two minutes and we’re still trying to regain control of it.” “When did this happen?” Asked James “An hour and a half ago. Zach replied “Please keep me apprised” James paused for a moment then spoke “Unless you three foresee any other issues that would prevent us from continuing to the next stage and making final preparations for the detail, we have 45 minutes until I need to meet with John and I’d like to announce this at the Main staff meeting this evening. This will surely outweigh the earlier incident I need to discuss with everyone.” All three nodded their heads with approval “what did happen this afternoon James?” Stan asked James held up is finger as he pressed the Maxine Office button on the com phone on Stan’s desk and asked her to bring him the files she pulled the other day for review. After which he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of what appeared to be burnt coffee from this morning and asked “anyone else want some” as they all chuckled he took a sip and swallowed it down as if it wasn’t awful just to show them up and then answered “Audrey Jackson had a pretty big mental breakdown. Cabin Fever. Dan Carter, Her husband, Susan, and Stacy are coming up with ideas for treatment. I’ll explain it later which is why I called for the staff meeting this evening” They all nodded and Stan knew he would get a more details when Zach and Justin weren’t in the room. As James took another sip of his coffee Maxine enter the room with the files. James thanked her and she asked “ You aren’t drinking that god awful stuff Stan made this morning?” As james held the cup up as if to cheers while choking it down causing everyone to bust up laughing as she left. She just shook her head as she walked away. “Ok Gentlemen, let’s firm up our party of six and the two alternates for the detail so we can get the show on the road. Here are our choices from our meeting two days ago. John and I discussed it and decided that we can use one intern at least 17 years of age for one of the security officers and the co-pilot spot. We will finalize our candidates during our meeting. Let’s run down the list..” James said as they huddled in close while James layed out folders on Stan’s desk and continued “ We have Steve Hughes piloting, Zach, you and Carol are the scientists, and Richard Ward as well as his son Sage an intern for security. Now originally we were all onboard as having Jeremy Jackson as an intern co-pilot due to his secondary occupation being in security which did give us warm fuzzies, however, because of the event earlier today I am going to call him in to meet with John and I at five thirty. So if we aren’t comfortable whole heartedly, we will go with Wilfred King as our alternate being as he’s an aerospace engineer with pilot experience.” “Why don’t we just go with him and have Jeremy as the alternate?” Stan asked “He is in the middle of testing a prototype sort of dune buggy for travel on surfaces with zero gravity and asked to be an alternate and as for the other alternate Dave Miller volunteered to step in if need be.” James replied Now if there isn’t anything else I’d like to prep for my next meeting and will see you at dinner. Steak night!” he said with excitement as he walked out and headed back to his office. As he headed to his office he stopped at Maxine’s office poked his head in and asked “At 5pm can you please announce the Main staff meeting tonight at 7pm in the conference hall as well as having Jeremy Jackson report to my office at 5:30PM tonight.” “Sure thing” she said hearing a thank you as he continued onto his office.