#captioned as such because she could ruin a lot of lives very quickly if she decides to act on her ambitions

[olessan]

danger mιlf (OC)

[aplusblogging]

An Analysis on the History of Gender in the Horror Genre

This is one of my classmates’ final projects for Sociology. I loved it so much I asked for her permission to share it here. Hope you enjoy it too!

Transcript under the cut, since the auto-generated captions are mostly accurate but punctuation is good for comprehension.

TRANSCRIPT:

“My name is Davis Barelli, and in this video essay I'm going to look at the portrayal of gender through the lens of the horror genre.

Women in particular may have a reason to keep coming back to the genre, outside of a cheap thrill. In a study done by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and Google, using the Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient—or the GDIQ—it was determined that women are featured on screen and in speaking roles more than men only in the horror genre. With the advent of the MPAA rating system in the '30s, the kind of horror we know today didn't re-emerge until the '60s.

Making female characters who would later become known as "Final Girls" the vessel for traumatic experiences allowed viewers—especially men and boys coming home from war—to see someone reacting to trauma in the way that they wanted to, but wasn't socially acceptable. Instead, the model for men to see themselves in was the macho, womanizing jock who goes outside to find the big bad, typically resulting in him being the first to die. While there was a lot of good in the survivors of these horror movies very commonly being female, a specific archetype of the female survivor made it clear what kind of girl it took to be the hero.

The Final Girl being portrayed in '60s, '70s, and '80s slasher horror as an innocent virgin stereotype was no accident, what with America experiencing the breakdown of the nuclear family and Christian morals thanks to the free-love movement of the '60s. This led to frequent themes of occultism, homosexuality, and hypersexuality in horror at the time. Characters who gave in to these evils were given a death sentence, as opposed to the Final Girls, who were rewarded for their abstinence with survival.

When films did stray from the norm by casting male leads in sequels in place of the Final Girl, a double standard emerged. Male protagonists were branded as "homosexual" for acting like the Final Girls before them, and the actors who portrayed them had their careers effectively ruined. Where the '70s gave rise to exploitation horror centered on violence against women, '80s niche horror had different scapegoats.

Cannibal Holocaust, released at the beginning of the decade and directed by Ruggero Deodato, tells the story of a group going to the Amazon in search of a missing film crew. They discover footage detailing the gruesome things the crew did to the tribe they encountered before they were killed. Not only is the portrayal of hostile tribes in the Amazon harmful to the actual tribes in the Amazon, but framing the main character of the film as a kind of white savior for not wanting the footage of the tribe distributed is basically rewarding him for the absolute bare minimum.

The other standout film of the '80s notorious for its subject matter is that of Sleepaway Camp. Sleepaway Camp tells the story of a young girl who experiences the death of her family during a boating accident and is sent to live with her aunt and cousin. She and her cousin go to the summer camp and it quickly becomes a bloodbath. The reveal at the end is that the young girl was the culprit, because she wasn't a girl at all, but her twin brother who was forced by the aunt to live as a girl. The narrative of trans people as dangerous, deranged villains pretending to be a different gender due to mental illness or against their will is deeply harmful to the LGBTQ people who were battling misconceptions at the time similar to this, and still are.

This energy evolved with the '90s, which shifted its focus to supernatural teenage hormones, with the likes of The Craft and many others. Looking at the villains of these movies, though, is a clear pointer to the ostracization of the "weird kid" in the '90s. This is most prominently seen in The Craft, where a girl with supernatural powers befriends a group of girls pretending to be witches. She bestows them with real powers and hijinks ensue. The film culminates in the ringleader—who, out of the group, is the least conventionally attractive—being put in an insane asylum for her misdeeds, while the rest of the group gets off relatively scot-free. This served as an unfortunate continuation of the narrative that girls who were weird were to be punished, but if you were pretty, you could get away with it.

With the 2000s filled with American-made J-horror and classic horror remakes, I'd like to skip forward, save for one movie.

In the 2000s a movie came out that caused a huge ruckus over how bad it was, but I think deserves a spot here for its portrayal of teenage girls in horror. Jennifer's Body, directed by* Diablo Cody, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, tells the story of Jennifer getting possessed after a botched human sacrifice because she lies about being a virgin. It was almost universally panned by critics, who called it a "sexploitation film lacking the all-important ballast of sincerity." Both Cody and Fox—who were gaining fame for Juno and the Transformers franchise, respectively—were already written off by critics, most of whom were men, before the movie had even been released. In reality, Jennifer's character was unique for being the mean girl who gets killed off, the big bad, and a revenge film-esque survivor, all in one. And her best friend, "Needy," was the sarcastic, dorky, sexually active Final Girl we never would have seen in classic horror.

The last decade has given rise to a genre dubbed "intelligent horror," ushering in an age with less mindless bloodlust and more nuanced characters and themes. Directors Jordan Peele and Ari Aster are arguably at the forefront of the intelligent horror genre; Peele's Get Out and Us giving people of color representation in a severely whitewashed genre. Get Out, especially, has received praise not just for the representation of people of color, but the very real, very prevalent issues of race and police brutality. One of the most important aspects is the depiction of the white savior character in the form of the protagonist's girlfriend, who is revealed to actually be a villain, showcasing the dramatization of the danger of performative activism and how that affects people of color.

Ari Aster, on the other hand, deals with themes of mental illness and family trauma, something unfortunately somewhat universal. While mommy issues and cults are nothing new in horror, Ari Aster's work frames both subjects very differently, especially in regards to the women in his films. Midsommar heavily focuses on Dani, the protagonist's, mental health and manipulation by others throughout the film, as she navigates grief unapologetically and realistically. This portrayal of grief in Midsommar from a woman's point of view is so important, because Dani is clingy, she's anxious, she's emotional, and she's human. As opposed to the polished, over-dramatic depiction of women and their emotions that are so commonly seen in horror.

Over the decades, horror and its portrayals of the human experience have shifted to continue being a compelling mirror for the issues of the time. But something that will always be current is that we can be scared.”

End of transcript.

*Jennifer’s Body was written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama

[krreader]

my pleasure.

pairing: kim seokjin x reader fandom: bts warnings: sugar daddy!jin ; mentions of sex genre: fluff ; hints of smut word count: 1.5k+

summary: yes, this was an agreement between you and jin, but sometimes it didn’t feel like it.. it almost felt.. natural.

a/n: aaaah, thank you so much for your request angel, I hope your first request doesn’t let you down ♥

This was such a nice change, waking up to rays of sunshine hitting your face and not your alarm clock while it was still dark outside.

Waking up in silk sheets and not in your old bed sheets that you hadn't washed in a while because you simply didn't have time for that.

Waking up not filled with stress and anxiety, but completely relaxed and happy.

People might judge you for the job you now had, but only because of the prejudices it brought with it. If they knew what kind of life you were living now, you were sure that 90% of them would consider switching to this life too.

Your hand reached out, wanting to feel the warmth of the one that made this all possible, but your hand was only met with coldness instead.

He must have left a while ago.

Forcing yourself to open your eyes and look around, you realised that there was no sight of him whatsoever. The clothes he wanted to wear today were gone, his belongings as well and all you were left with was the faint smell of his cologne.

And as if he had installed cameras here – which you really hoped he didn't, or that would kind of ruin your perfect little fantasy – you got a text from said man that made you smile instantly.

“It was so much fun last night. Thank you for everything.”

You've been doing this for almost a year, he paid you for being his, but not really being his and yet he always thanked you for it.

You quickly prepped up the pillows behind you and let your fingers glide over the letters on your phone.

“I wish you could have stayed a bit longer.. would have loved to go for round two.”

Jin smirked as he was sitting in his make-up chair, quickly sending you a photo with the caption, “I had to leave early so I could look like this, my love.”

Your heart immediately pounded harder in your chest, biting your lip and pulling your phone a little closer, “Ah, so handsome. Just as handsome as you looked last night on top of me, daddy.”

Jin began to squirm in his seat, apologising when he saw his stylist look at him disapprovingly, before quickly and discreetly replying one last time.

“Not while I'm working, baby girl, you know that. I'm going to call when I'm done. Make sure to pick up.”

And with that you knew that the conversation was over.. at least for now.

If anyone were to have a conversation with you about the pro's and con's of your job, you doubted you could name any con's. You were living the best life you've ever lived with minimum effort. Because being with Seokjin, sleeping with Seokjin.. that wasn't something that you had to do, it was something that you genuinely wanted to do.

The first time you slept together wasn't because of an agreement, it was because you had met each other at a party, hit it off and then went home together. It was only afterwards that he suggested this arrangement and you had agreed in a heartbeat. Because why wouldn't you?

Sure, the first thoughts that came into your mind were: is this degrading?

But the more you thought about it, the more you realised.. no. You didn't feel ashamed for doing this. For you this was more pleasure than business after all. Of course, you didn't outright say to your family: “I'm a sugar baby”, but you told them that you were making business with someone very important and that that was the reason you were earning so much nowadays.

You quickly jumped under the shower, then got dressed and ended up going to a nearby café for breakfast.

The reason you went here was because you've been so often at this point that you and one of the girls that worked here have become really good friends.

And she was someone that knew precisely what you were doing for work.

“Ah, I'm so jealous,” she sighed deeply, “I admit, when you first told me about this all, I was judging you really hard, but I realise that it's actually such a good job if you genuinely like the man you're spending time with.”

You smiled sympathetically at her and leaned over the table to put your hand over hers, “I told you that he has a lot of friends that I could introduce you to..”

“You make it sound like a prostitution ring.”

“It's not.. really. Because some of them aren't even looking for sex, they're just looking for a bit of normality. Someone they can have a conversation with that doesn't revolve around their jobs.”

You would never force her to do something that she didn't want to do, but you also knew that she was curious about this lifestyle and if she really wanted to see what it was like, you might as well help her out. And you meant what you said.

This whole business wasn't always about sex.

Take you, for example.

Yes, you did sleep with Jin, but that wasn't what your relationship was about. What he truly needed was someone to listen to him, someone that could just be with him and understand him. Someone that he could feel at home with. You provided all of this.. which is why you got along so well.

For you, sex was just a side activity that you liked to do with each other when you were feeling like it.

The rest of your day was quite uneventful. You just walked around the city some more, went grocery shopping and then went home, putting down your groceries just when your phone started ringing, answering it within the first few seconds.

“Hello, handsome.”

“Are you home?” Jin asked.

“Just got here. I'm about to make dinner.. do you think you can make it within the next hour?”

“I'm ten minutes away, love,” he chuckled, “I'll be right there.”

If you had heard that nine months ago, you would have hurried into the bathroom and would have put a little more effort into your look to impress him.

But you felt so comfortable around him these days, make-up or not.

Might have something to do with the fact that he always complemented you and pushed up your confidence to the sky.

So you just started cooking instead, smiling at him when he entered the kitchen, clearly exhausted.

“Oh, boy,” you chuckled a little, “Hard day, huh?”

“It's just gotten ten times better,” he hugged you from behind, breathing in your scent and gently rocking you from side to side, “I missed you so much, my love.”

And even though this was an agreement, it was easy to forget in moments like these.

It was so domestic.. like he wasn't your sugar daddy, but.. your husband.

“I missed you too.. dinner will be ready soon, so how about you take a quick shower, relax and we have dinner in bed tonight?” you carefully turned around in his arms to look at him.

“You treat me too well,” he kissed your forehead, then did exactly what you just told him to do.

You stared after him for a while, only catching yourself doing so after a few minutes and quickly shaking your head.

Lately, this idea of love wasn't something you could push out of your mind anymore. It was weird, it made you feel fuzzy and you weren't sure if you should feel that way.. not that you could change it.

But Jin.. he acted differently too, so this wasn't just your fault.

The way he acted towards you nowadays, of course you'd start to feel things.. more things, deeper things, for him.

And when you ended up eating in bed later that night, watching shitty TV and him and you talking about the other one's day.. you felt so.. at peace.

Home.

Like this is where you belonged.

“You've been thinking a lot, haven't you?” he whispered, gently brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Is it that obvious?” you smiled a little.

“To me it is.. so tell me. What is it?”

Other people in your situation would be scared to bring up this topic in fear of ruining what they had.. but not you. You felt like the answer you were going to get was exactly what you were hoping for.

“I'm just really happy lately, you know? Here.. with you.. this isn't where I imagined myself to be eventually, but.. I'm glad I ended up here.”

The corner of Jin's mouth curled into a smile, “Go on.”

“I just can't help but wonder.. what the future has in store for us. And.. I mean.. a possible future without contract.”

Jin sat up a little straighter, mostly just to look at you properly, “The only reason I ever set up a contract in the first place was because I needed security because of my job. But I won't always have that job.. and everything that comes after.. I want to share with you.”

“So.. we're on the same page here?”

“I think.. we have been from the start, love.”

And that's probably why it worked out the way it had.

And why it continued to do so for years after.

[ms-rampage]

Eden's Gate: Left Behind Chapter 1 - Welcome to Hope County

A new series!!!. Take place 2 years before the events of Kidnapped.

I created "Hope County University" for this series, and a few other locations that aren't in the game. Because its all headcanon shit.

Warnings: None

Word count: 1.9k

John Seed slightly out of character. (That's what happens when you encounter a Winchester 😂😂)

*********************************

Hope County, Montana, February 2018

*Arizona by Hey Monday plays on the radio*

A black 1970 Monte Carlo with a small trailer attached to it drives down the road with an Arizona license plate on it "ARIZONA E34R90D". 

19 year old Kate Winchester, who just moved out of her aunt and uncle's house drove 7 hours from Jackson, Wyoming to Hope County, Montana. Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel to song. 

Starting her new life, leaving the hunter life behind her, she applied and got accepted at Hope County University. 

Hoping to get her Master of Science degree in Psychology, and then move on to get her Doctorate Degree. 

Luckily her aunt and uncle were able to cover her tuition for the whole year. She even told them that she was willing to pay her own rent, and which surprisingly is only $750 a month. Hell her rent is cheaper here, than Arizona and Wyoming put together, but of course they're willing to pay for it, even though she refused, so she saves some money there.

She’s been attending college since she was 15 years old. She lied about her age to get a head start, with the help of her aunt Laura, and her grandmother Eliza. She attended community college in Wyoming before wanting to get transferred out of state.

She was able to rent out a small 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with a decent size backyard that is owned by the University, which is why the rent is pretty cheap usually it costs a lot more, and she also got a job at the University's café & diner with starting pay at $14.50. To her that seems very unrealistic but she’ll take it, she ain’t complaining. 

She drives down the road with her dog Haley in the passenger seat with her head out the window trying to bite the wind as they drive down the road.

"Smell that fresh Montana air Hale" she says with a smile, Haley pulls her head back in and lets out a bark, her eyes widened and has that look like she's smiling. 

You know that look dogs do with their tongues hanging out making them look like they're smiling. 

Driving down the road, off on the side, a huge billboard sign with a photo of some man with the caption. 

“We Love You and We Will Take You”

"That's very welcoming" she jokes.

Kate turns onto a small side road that leads to her new home. 

She drives slowly, while looking at the GPS on her phone. 

After a few minutes she finds the house.

"Here it is" she says, pulling into the driveway. 

Shutting off the car, and getting out. 

"Come on Hale" she says, padding her thigh. 

She takes the house keys out of her pocket, and opens the door. 

It's a decent size house for someone who's living on their own, the house is slightly furnished. Her uncle Brent sent some of their old furniture to her new house.

A coffee table, a few chairs, few lamps, a night stand, and a full size bed with the frame, head, footboard, mattress and box spring.

The backyard is bigger than she thought. She opens the door, and lets Haley out to the back. 

"Go sniff around" she tells her.

The 2 1/2 year old German Shepherd sniffs the corners of the fence, looking for a spot to do her business. 

Kate goes back inside, leaving the backdoor open for Haley.

She checks out the rest of the house, the 2 bedrooms, the bathroom and washroom, luckily a washer and dryer comes with the place. So at least she wouldn't want to buy it.

She goes back to the living room, and sees that Haley came back inside. 

She goes to close the backdoor, locking it, she heads out to the front and unpacks her trailer. Boxes, boxes and boxes of her stuff, clothes, books, her WiFi router, personal hygiene products, small furniture, stuff for school, some groceries she has in her mini fridge, some of Haley's stuff, her toys and food. 

She finishes unpacking around 3:30pm, her room is all set up, her bed is fixed, all her clothes are put away in the closet and dresser, she has photos of her friends, family and posters of bands she likes hanging up on the walls. 

She set up her 60inch TV, the box and WiFi router in the living room, she put up curtains on all the windows, and put some plants out on the front porch. 

She has all of her hunter stuff in the 2nd bedroom, her angel blades, demon blades, holy water, bags of salt, her books, her dad’s journal. Bullets filled with rock salt, and all of her other hunting supplies.

She has everything set up, and all she needed now was a kitchen table, a couch and maybe some appliances like a microwave, toaster and a coffee maker. 

She sighs in relief, lays back on her bed, Haley jumps on, laying next to her. 

"You wanna go into town?!?" she asks the dog, she looks at her while tilting her head to the right. 

"You wanna go for a walk?!?" she asks again, she tilts her head to the left while still looking at her. She lets out a loud bark which catches Kate off guard, and jumps off the bed.

Running back and forth down the hall, jumping at her on the bed in excitement. 

She gets up from the bed. 

"Okay let me find your leash" she says, while going into the living room. 

She goes through some of her boxes. 

After a few minutes, she finds her leash and puts it on her collar. Debating whether or not to take her in the car, or walk into town. 

"It's only a 10-20 minute walk from here to town" she says out loud. 

After a couple of minutes, she decides to drive, just in case some stores don't allow animals in, she can leave Haley in the car with all the windows down of course, or maybe leave her outside.

They drive into town, and she parks her car next to a gas station store. 

"Come one Hale" she says. 

She jumps out of the car, Kate locks it up and they walk past the small shops. 

A grocery store, a pharmaceutical store, a gun shop, an autoshop, and  lastly a bar called "The Spread Eagle". 

She looks around, and sees an appliance store, she really does need those appliances. 

She walks closer, and sees a sign on the door saying "Sorry, no animals allowed inside". 

"Of course" she says to herself. 

She ties Haley's leash to a parking meter under a tree 

"I'll be right back" she says to her, petting her head. 

She goes inside the store and looks around. Right off the bat she finds a toaster with 4 slots, and it costs $30 in which to her is a steal. 

She finds a coffee maker and a microwave all that costs a decent amount, less than she thought it would be. 

She pays for her stuff, and goes back outside to untie Haley, they walk back to the car, and put the appliances in the backseat covering them with a blanket. 

They continue to walk around the small town of Falls End located in the Holland Valley region. They cross the street to go onto the opposite side. Up ahead Kate sees a small group of people walking into a church on the other side of the street. Thinking nothing of it.

While on the other side of the street at Falls End Church, John Seed is standing outside of it holding the Book of Joseph, preaching.

"Sin must be exposed so it may be absolved. We must wash away our past" while some of his men escort some locals into the church. 

"You will know the power of Yes, you will confess your sins" he continues.

As he looks around he sees Kate with Haley walking on the opposite side of the street. 

He stares at her as she walks by, a smirk appears on his face. Perhaps he is engrossed by her?. He gets a weird feeling in his stomach but he ignores it. 

He continues to watch her as she walks further down the street away from the church. 

He shakes his head, snapping out of that trance, and continues to preach to the sinners.

Kate walks down the street towards a different market. Once again they don't allow animals in the store. 

So she ties Haley to a small iron fence in the shade "I'll be back'" she tells her again. 

She shops for about 25 minutes, she doesn't like to keep her dog outside that long especially out in public, she grabs bread, eggs, orange juice, fruit, cereal, milk, breakfast sausages, bacon, dog treats, grounded coffee and butter. 

Typical stuff you would buy at a grocery store. 

She pays for her stuff, goes outside, unties Haley putting the leash around her wrist. 

"Here you can hold your treats" she says, as she gives Haley her bag of Beggin Strips. 

She carries it in her mouth making the bags less heavy for Kate, and they head back to the car. They cross the street, now walking on the church side. John steps out of it, and sees Kate walking towards the church. 

He gets a better look at her, she's really cute. Actually she’s more than cute, she’s beautiful. Black hair past her shoulders, brown eyes, looks like she could be 19-22 years old?. Could she be a college student?. He's about to say something to her, but it gets ruined when one of his men calls out for him. 

"John!!" they call out. 

Turning his head to look back at him. 

He quickly looks back at Kate who is too far for him to call out to her. 

He rolls his eyes in annoyance, and goes back inside the church to see what they want. 

Kate walks back to her car, and puts her groceries in the back seat. 

Haley jumps into the front seat, and they drive off. 

They get stopped at a red light in front of the church, John looks out the window, and sees a black 70 Monte Carlo with a German Shepard sticking its head out the window. 

He quickly recognizes the dog, and sees Kate in the driver seat. 

Quickly, he goes outside before the light turns green. He doesn’t know what to say to her, so he yells out "Nice car!!". 

Kate can't see who yelled it because Haley is blocking her view from the passenger side, and is barking at some of the peggies outside the church. 

So she yells back, "Thank you!!" followed with a honk of the horn. She in a way acknowledged John even if she didn't really see him. 

She continued to drive down the road heading back home. 

After a 10 minute drive, she makes it home, and puts all her groceries away, hooks up the appliances and sits back on one of her chairs for the rest of the day watching TV with Haley chilling at her feet. 

“What a day Hale” she says, resting her feet on the table.

*3 in half hours later*

That night John is baptizing, cleansing some sinners, making them a step closer to being a part of Eden’s Gate. He’s doing his usual thing, making sure they are cleansed, and washed away from their sins. 

He can’t seem to get Kate off his mind, he finds this very strange because these are some new feelings, that he has never felt before. 

After he finishes the baptism, Joseph notices something is off about his younger brother. 

He approaches him once he’s finished.

“John?!” he says, approaching him. “What is troubling you brother?”.

John doesn’t know what to say, he stumbles with his words “Nothing, Joseph”.

He places his hand on John's shoulder, their foreheads touching. 

“It’s about a girl, isn’t it?” he asks, sounding like he already knew what this was all about.

John looks down, and lets out a soft sigh.

“Go to her. She can be your other half, when we cross Eden’s Gate” he tells him, before walking away. 

John looks up at his older brother as he walks away, leaving him to contemplate with what he should do next. 

[fromthewifecage]

Imagine Kombants sees Reader with bunches of cats

I LOVE kitties, all kitties, ALL of them. So do Erron Black, Johnny Cage, Nightwolf, Bi-Han and Kano. As usual Kano is last so if you don’t like him then you don’t have to read that one.(Yeah I kinda got over excited writing this and went a bit crazy. The Johnny Cage one is inspired by a scene in Red Dragon/Hannibal.)Hope this is ok, if not then feel free to throw a shoe at me.

Erron Black: (So this I actually took from a stupid Cowboy/Victorian Lady (called Clementine) thing I’ve been writing. It’ll never be finished because it needs to be probably 50k words or more, but this bit I liked writing. Erron’s trying to be a better man, got caught up trying to save a kids life, but the kid died, and Erron’s pretty cut up about it. Yes it’s not the reader with a bunch of cats, it’s about Erron with a cat, but the other Kombatant’s scenarios definitely the reader with kitties!! Please don’t hate me.)

Arms slid around his waist, her body pressed hard to his back and enveloped him in a much needed embrace. His head drooped forward, shoulders slumping, his head in his hands. He’d tried his best, hadn’t he? But it wasn’t good enough, never was. He was a God-damned failure.To his eternal shame his eyes prickled with the threat of tears. He hadn’t cried since Ma had screamed at him for crying over the body of a barn cat. The large ginger cat had been Erron’s only friend since he’d had first found the cat. He’d first seen it sat upon a dark brown saddle in the barn, the saddle’s leather gleaming from the earlier oiling. The cat paused between washing its ears to stare, and when Erron held out a hand it took a moment to sniff at his fingertips before going back to its wash.

Erron had named the cat Peter and they’d quickly become firm friends. Peter would chase after mice and spiders, batting at them with a large ginger paw until he got tired of the chase and quickly killed them. Erron would bring Peter scraps of meat and cheese filched from the larder as a reward. Erron would often find half a mouse in one of his boots, Peter obviously thinking Erron was too skinny and needed fattening up, and Peter was right, Ma was far too stingy with her portions. If Erron had been judged to ‘deserve sleeping outside’, usually after answering his Ma back or being caught filching from the larder, then Erron would climb the long rickety ladder to reach the hay loft, and spend the night with Peter on his chest, purring happily.

They’d been friends for 3 long summers until Erron had gone into the barn at the end of a particularly hot and long day helping in the fields. Ma found Erron sobbing over Peter’s stiff and lifeless body, and dragged him back into the house by his ear, beating him harshly for caring about “that ginger shit more than you care about the rest o’ us.” It was true, so Erron didn’t put up a fight as he took his hits. He merely filed away the hate with all the other times she’d beat him, hurt him, scorned him and neglected him, so when years later, he stood by Ma’s bed as she took her final breaths with cancer riddled lungs, he shed no tears.

Erron sat there, fighting with the sadness of not being able to save the child, until the small bedchamber was dark enough that he could barely see his own hands. Clementine still held him, had made no protest or whispered fake platitudes that he’d get over it or he’ll feel better soon. She’d let him take the time he needed.

More after the cut! (these ones really are about the reader with kitties, promise!)

Johnny Cage: Johnny is more excited than you are for your birthday. His grin has been extra sparkly for the entire past month, and each hint about what he’s got for you has been more ridiculous than the last. You keep trying to tell him you don’t want a fuss, and to not spend more than £20 on a present, but it’s like telling a child they have to eat their broccoli if they want ice cream for afters. He’s not going to eat the broccoli, he’s sneaking into the freezer as soon as your back is turned.

He wakes you up extra early, despite your protests that it’s your birthday and you want to sleep. In the end he picks you up and carried you into the shower, washes your hair and refuses to leave the bathroom until you brush your teeth. He doesn’t stop singing ‘Happy Birthday’ either. Even when you threaten to leave him he doesn’t stop being annoyingly amazingly cute.

He blindfolds you in the car (the driver starts to get worried that you’ll ruin the seat leather but Johnny calms them down with promises there’ll be no sex in the car) and does his best to confuse you with increasingly remote landmark spotting. Quite how you’ve gone from home to the Louvre, past the Pyramids via the Lin Kuei Temple, you have no idea. Eventually he leads you from the car, your hand tightly in his grasp and a hand on your shoulder so you don’t stumble.

As you walk to your secret destination you hear all sorts of animal and bird sounds, chirruping, squeaking (including a couple of gasps from some humans along with “OMG it’s Johnny Caaaaaaaaaaage” whispered under their breaths), some growling, even trumpeting.“Surprise!” Johnny stage whispers as he unties your blindfold, leaving you blinking in the dim light.

Before you is a scene from one of your very best daydreams. A room full of lion cubs, each one rolling, biting, investigating, chewing or playing with it’s brothers and sisters. A hand clasps over your mouth when your heart bursts with joy, Johnny chuckling and letting you know that the kitties are so little that they’ll be scared by squeals of happiness. The zookeepers are more than happy to let you play with the cubs, showing you how to feed the furballs, how to hold them and cuddle them.

You spend the rest of your birthday in lion cub heaven. Johnny takes so many photos of you surrounded by the kitties that his photo groans, and of course you take a bunch of him with the cubs too, he’s just as excited by the balls of fluff and teeth as you are and he almost cries when it’s time to go home.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Nightwolf: The man is an expert on nature in all its forms. He can live self sufficiently from a small plot of land, he built his own home and keeps not only real animals happy, but spirit animals too. An ideal day for him would be to tend to his crops and land during the day and spend the evening surrounded by his animal and human companions.You’ve spent significant time with Nightwolf, and he’s grown not only to love you, but trust you to share his life and loves. Hana took a while to warm up to you, but will now sit on your shoulder almost as happily as she will with Nightwolf (it took many batches of mini pancakes for her to get to this stage, and now she demands you make her some food whenever you cook).

Nightwolf is in the kitchen when he realises you’ve run out of salad ingredients. The evening air is warm and sweet, the frogs by the small creek are noisily calling for mates, and the idea of a short walk to the vegetable plot to stretch your legs before dinner sounds appealing. Hana follows you out the door, first taking to the sky and circling the house, then drops down to land upon your shoulder, tugging at strands of your hair in her own way of looking after you. As you gather some lettuce Hana squawks and flaps her wings, then flies over to a patch at the very end of the plot, squawking some more. You call out to her, maybe one of the frogs has got lost?

But it’s not a frog you find, it’s even cuter than that. It’s a tired stripy cat with large ears, surrounded by the smallest of kittens, each one latched to a teat. You gasp excitedly and whisper to Hana to go fetch Nightwolf. Hana gives one final indignant squawk, then flies off, returning on the shoulder of the beautiful man you love.

“Welcome back Koko, it is an honour to meet your children.”

Nightwolf greets the cat as a friend, and your heart melts a little more for this wonderful man. He asks you to stay with the kitty family whilst he returns to the house to fetch some things. Koko watches you with sleepy eyes, trusting that since Nightwolf trusts you, you aren’t a threat. You don’t reach for the kittens, they are far too tiny to play with, but you make a wish upon the stars that you’ll get to play with them when they’re a little older.

Nightwolf returns carrying one of the chicken coops he’d been mending and with blankets in a backpack. He sets up a little home for the cats in the dark corner of the vegetable plot. You’ll be able to visit the kittens whenever you like (with Koko’s permission of course).

Yay for kittens!

Bi-Han: The man might be a deadly (the Lin Kuei are NOT ninjas) ninja assassin, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a heart. As a trained spy he has to take notice of everything, no matter how innocuous it seems, so he knows more about you than you know about yourself. So he knows that you’re getting a little lonely in his absences, and recently, he’s been absent a lot more due to an influx of contracts.

You’ve tried so hard not to show your loneliness, thinking it would upset Bi-Han and make him consider breaking off your relationship to try to save you from more pain, and that has crossed his mind. Then he looked upon his life and decided that he didn’t need anything but you, and that no matter how often you were apart, it was the together that mattered.

It was early morning, the blood of his latest target swirling down the sink as he scrubbed himself clean, when his phone blinked with a new message from you. His smile curling the corner of his mouth when he sees that you’ve sent yet another cat picture, this one of 2 kittens wearing ninja outfits with the caption “You and Kuai!” Bi-Han is about to flick back up through the conversation to where you’ve sent some pictures of yourself rather than kittens, when his smile widens as an idea pings into his head.

You’re woken by a cold gentle kiss to your forehead, a brush of icy fingers across your cheek when you stir then wake with a happy yawn.

“You’re home!”

You sprint to the bathroom to first wee then brush your teeth, sprinting back to jump into Bi-Han’s fierce embrace. When he doesn’t immediately tug off your pyjamas you’re puzzled, the man is normally insatiable. He laughs at your pout and tugs you into the living room where he nods towards a box resting on the table.

“Happy Tuesday!”

His grin is huge when you squeak upon looking inside the box to find two kittens curled around each other. It widens even further watching you cry with happiness when the kittens wake to first sniff you, then immediately demand attention. He pulls out his phone and takes some pictures, seeing you this excited has to be recorded.

Yay for kittens!

Kano: The big burly scary Australian beefcake actually has a soft spot. You.

You’ve heard the stories, the ones about him scaring someone so much they wet themselves and when Kano laughed at their fear they burst into tears. About the time he had someone skinned alive and thrown onto the street. Kano could be a Bond villain, he already has the one-eye thing down, he had the comfiest squidgiest chair for his desk (it swivelled so Kano could spin around when he got bored), all he needed was a cat for him to stroke when watching a Special Forces member wet themselves.

You’d gone to the animal shelter to pick up a cat for him (he’d laughed at your idea then shrugged.

“I already got my kitten, but if you want a kitty, I ain’t gonna stop ya.”

Then he’d pulled you into his arms and kissed you until you forgot how to breathe.)

At first you were going to adopt the fluffy white cat with the huge blue eyes, she was gorgeous, but it was when you were walking to the corner of the room to discreetly take a phone call when you saw the 2 kitties that had been forgotten by everybody. They sat by their small window, peering out into the world they’d never get to experience again. One of the kitties had lost a leg, the veterinary nurse later telling you she’d been attacked by an enormous dog and had carried on fighting even when she’d lost the leg. The other had only 1 eye, again, having lost it in a fight. Your heart went out to these sweet brave kitties, and you knew you could give them the best home.

“What you got there, love?”

Kano stood in the doorway, bare chested as usual, huge 'sexy-as-hell' grin as usual.

“I couldn’t leave them, no-one wanted them and they’re all little.”

Kano looked from you down to the kitties exploring every nook and cranny of the bedroom, tails twitching secret messages to each other as they couldn’t believe that they were finally out of the shelter. He chuckled then strolled over to you to wrap you up in a huge embrace.

“Think that one wants a cyber eye?”

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

19. What They Deserve

5336 Words, No triggers detected.

Previous

People loved to hear about the trials and tribulations of others. That was the core of half of the entertainment sites. Grace didn’t like to put her hurt on display, but she did want to reintroduce herself, or rather, debut the new Grace to the world and she realized that would entail people bringing up her past and/or intruding on her private life. 

For instance, people would ask her how her relationship with her parents is…

Grace’s first day out, her mother was in the car whenever she got in. They were driven, in silence back to the estate, where guards were posted for the occasion, in case someone noticed or tried to get in, as they sometimes did. Her room was still the same, but there was someone there to help her pack up her essentials and her pleasures. She was going to be moved to a secure location that people didn’t know about, because her parents didn’t want the family house to be any more of a sideshow that it had been following her institutionalization. 

Her mother still had not said anything to her and it took hours for her to go through her personals and decide what she couldn’t live without and see the things that she could live without go into a donations box or a trash bin. “Where are all of my pictures of me and Simon?” she asked, when she opened the designated box for those.

“Surely, you’re joking,” was the first thing her mother said. She tossed the box into the donations. Her father didn’t even show up during this time frame. By the time she was moved into her new home, she had only gotten one word from her mother and none from her father. So, whenever someone asked about them, she would say, “How is everybody’s relationship with their parents? It’s personal. It’s a relationship between one and one or two more people, and their dynamic and their emotions are fluid. The three of us have very different wavelengths and concerns, so my relationship with them is something between me and them and then, my relationship with you all is what’s between me and you.” She’d laugh a little, but after a few times, people got the message. 

People would ask her about her mental health - if she was better, what happened in the first place, does she think it could happen again, etc.

Hazel wound up in another facility after a few months with her new foster family (mere weeks before Grace was released). The charm bracelet was sent back to her and for several days, she didn’t know what that meant for Hazel. If she was okay, if she was hurt or worse. They had only told her that they thought that she should have it back, then failed to communicate anything else about Hazel, for legal purposes. Grace was in shambles, until FINALLY she was told that Hazel was fine, but she had a relapse and was “in turtle form” for several days, making them have to take her to a doctor and seeing her file, they committed her for 72 hours. She was fine and heading back home. 

When Grace got out and looked her up, she was no longer at the same home. She had been redirected elsewhere… They couldn’t give Grace that information at the time. She thought she would lose her mind trying to contact someone who would be willing to help her out with this information, but most of them informed her that such information was secure for the safety of the child, and she understood it and couldn’t argue with it or convince them that she was more concerned for the safety of this child than anyone. It remained at the forefront of her thoughts. 

“I went somewhere to get help. I got help. A lot of people just get bounced around in life and never truly get the help that they need or deserve. I’ve been very fortunate, so I try to focus on that. Some days, I succeed. Some days, I do not succeed. I feel good today.”

They would ask her about new music, what beauty products she used now that she was no longer associated with her old brands, and if she would be dancing again. All things that she still wasn’t completely certain of yet, but lighthearted enough that she didn’t get too stressed out about that line of questioning.

The questions that brought her the most visible displeasure and clear distress were the ones about Simon. What about your relationship with Simon Laurent? Nobody has heard your side of the story. Have you seen or talked to Simon? Are things well between you? Has he forgiven you?…

“I don’t speak about Simon. The most that I can tell you is that I hope he has what he needs and gets everything that he deserves.” They might try to make jokes to prod about what she thinks he deserves, but she generally redirected the conversation. “He deserves what he deserves, and that’s what I hope he gets.” She would smile and nod, but her eyes would be sad. Eventually, people stopped asking her about him. She began posting dance videos, remixes, and songs again. This time, being confident in herself and away from her parents. It was no longer an escape from her life, because her life was lonely, but she was happy with it. There was freedom in her world that she hadn’t imagined in the past. She had more followers than ever before. Some people still called her Apex, but she never put that into any of her bios or captions, herself. 

She had a routine that worked for her wellbeing, from the time that she spent in the center, and she still had very regular sessions with her therapist, not to mention a medication regimen that assisted in her wellness. 

Anyone who wanted to contact her did so through someone else who would be the go-between, just in case. She moved out of the house that her parents placed her in and found something more suitable for her style, and closer to Julliard, because she still wanted to try to go, if she could make it in. In the meantime, she enjoyed the music scene in New York, branched out to finding new artists that she hadn’t heard of, made a few new friends in the industry, got hired for music videos and song demos. Some days, she expected to wake up and discover that her life had all been a dream. She would wonder if she actually did spend over a year in a mental facility, if she had gotten into some trouble with Simon, if she ever actually had met Simon… He seemed so far away, so long ago and so unfamiliar sometimes. But, whenever he did come back to her, he came flooding back.

Like if somebody casually asked, “You got kids?” and she remembered that while the answer was no, she had gotten pregnant at 16 and was so stressed out, that she hadn’t noticed for several weeks that her body was behaving differently, and that she spent several more trying to figure out what she would say, what she would do, how she would handle this. “No, no kids. But, I did have to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy when I was younger.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. There’s a stigma about it, but it was something that was best for me and I don’t harbor anger or disgust with myself about it.” Then, she could remember Simon’s eyes, his hands, other parts of him, the way that he held her, the things he had said to her. She would have to try not to cry and if she did, be totally honest, “Sorry. I haven’t really thought about the guy in a while, and I’m just in my feelings, Don’t mind me.” She didn’t like to lie, if she could help it. She tried to be as honest as she could these days, without saying too much. But, she had a pretty good crew in NY. They always were understanding and if someone said something, they’d gather them up pretty quickly. Her therapist told her that friends do things like that. It made her feel bad. She thought that friends shared everything, and since she was still very closed off to these people, she didn’t really consider them to be friends of hers, just associates that she really liked.

“That can be considered friendship, too. You don’t have to tell every friend that you have your life story and every person who you share mutual connection and kindness with isn’t going to be your lifetime bestie. Just enjoy the company of people who make you feel good and let the people who you make feel good enjoy your company.” That’s what she did. 

She got into Julliard when she was 20 and she was pretty known in the music scene by the time she was 21. Grateful that she had been able to finish high school in the institution and happy that she hadn’t gotten so comfortable that she was afraid to get better and leave there. Because, she was living a life that she had always wanted, and whether or not she deserved to, she told herself that she did and she was sure to enjoy it. 

.

That bitch was trying to ruin him! Simon could hardly catch his breath as he paced outside of the hearing for his academic integrity. She’s just mad that you’ve done BETTER than she has, with her work!

It was one thing when she was taking her bitterness out on you, telling you that your weapon failed to meet the requirements of the assignment, even though it was theoretically FLAWLESS. The CIA spoke with you about your plans for this weapon! But her? She told you to stick to something that your “childlike little mind” could actually comprehend the endgame of. “How about your little robot figures?” she’d taunted. 

Other students had laughed. LAUGHED! His project was miles ahead of everyone in that class, and her tone was disrespectful and condescending! “I haven’t had a childlike thought in my mind since I was 10, you old bitch!” It just stumbled from his lips. She frowned at him and demanded an apology to her and to the rest of the class. He snatched his presentation supplies and stormed off. He’d be damned if he apologized for her antagonizing him! He heard a few more laughs and he knocked the items off of her podium on his way out. He knew that couldn’t work out well… at least in hindsight, he did. In the moment, all he knew was rage.

He even sent her an email apologizing to her and the class and offering to replace anything that he damaged in his outburst. She had only replied to him not to return to her class until further notice. But… he needed her class. It would throw off his entire educational trajectory not to be able to come to her class! Even for a few days!! He was almost ready to grovel. Almost. That would be too much like showing weakness. He apologized, what more could she want.

So, Simon filed a complaint on her, accusing her of being combative, rude, and making her classes toxic environments. Now, the Committee on Discipline was meeting to look over all of the details of her complaint. 

“I truly wanted to give young Mr. Laurent a moment to think about his actions in the classroom and to realize the err of his ways. His complaint against me during this time, being both unfounded and untrue, caused me to have to rethink my decision. I don’t think that Simon Laurent is capable of the behavioral status that we require of students here. I don’t think that he has the temperance for all of the criticisms his flights of fancy are sure to get over the course of his career. I gave him the option to try another avenue for the assignment, as his assignment, while a very significant project did. Not. meet. The. requirements. Of. the. Assignment. He needed to be able to give us a small demonstration. His project was a weapon. He could only grant me a simulation and that is not what I asked for. Telling him this incited him to rage in which he disrespected myself and his peers, disrupting the classroom with his antics. Like a child, throwing a tantrum.” 

Even then, his face was looking like all he wanted was to murder her right then and there. When the committee allowed him to speak, he changed his tune. He was calm and even voiced. “Professor Hughes made a lot of points about me and my particular struggles when it comes to being disregarded. I did respond angrily and I know that it was wrong of me to react the way that I did. That’s why I sent her an apology after I had the chance to cool down. But, she didn’t decide to turn me into the committee until after I filed a complaint on her for even bringing me to the point that I had such a meltdown in her classroom in the first place!” Amelia frowned and members of the committee shared various facial expressions.

Simon looked directly at her and said, “I’ve been a long time fan of your work and your accomplishments. I specifically fought to be in your classroom because of the way that I regard everything that you’ve done throughout your career and I just wanted the privilege to be able to learn from you. But, you’re very unkind. You make people feel bad. You don’t think about the things that you say to people and how those things might affect them. You didn’t even care about my psychological makeup until you could use it against me in these proceedings. You humiliate people in front of others and you don’t even break a sweat.”

“This is not my hearing, Mr. Laurent.”

“But, it matters to this hearing, because I never would have reacted that way if you weren’t being so abrasive.”

“That is a word that men like to use against me whenever I meet them with the very same energy that they put out. I’ve been called worse. By professors, colleagues, and for over 30 years my own psychological settings came into play whenever a discussion was to be had about me. This isn’t about your mental disposition. It’s about your behavior. Your angry and hostile behavior at any old sign of criticism!”

“Professor Hughes,” one of the committee members said. She went silent.

Simon proceeded, “I know that I’m not good at handling criticism, especially coming from a woman. My mother was… difficult to communicate with and the only other woman I was close to…” His eyes grew damp. “I’m sorry. My education means a lot to me and I’ll do anything to stay here.” He rushed out of the chambers, covering his face as he did. Amelia pulled herself up to go check on him. He was in the waiting section, in a seat in the corner with his back to the wall, still covering his crying face. She took a deep breath, grabbed a seat and sat next to him.

“There’s not a person in that room who isn’t familiar with the hardships you had to face in order to get here. We know about your family. We know about your abuse.” He wiped his face and glared at nothing in particular. “We also know how smart you are. You were able to get into this school based upon your intelligence. Nobody is doubting that you are capable of doing great work. I wasn’t even implying that I hated your work that day. But, it wasn’t the proper assignment, Simon. I needed you to give me one thing, you not only gave me another, but you refused to even consider that what you were trying to give me was impossible to meet my requirements. Then, you got angry because you had refused to listen to me in the first place. Now, I admit… I’m not the most courteous member of staff at this institute. I can be…”

“Bitchy.”

“Unapologetic.” She chuckled. “Let me tell you, I know how it is to be in a room full of people who underestimate you and make you feel like you shouldn’t be in the room. There wasn’t much respect for female engineers in my day and there’s not a proper amount even now if you ask me. Half of this staff is composed of pretentious, pompous, puffed up paragons, and it takes next to nothing for anybody outside of their ideals to be met with disdain. What you did, by reporting me was to make me a target. I disagree with your evaluation of me and I can’t tell if it came from a place of genuine thought or retaliation, but you can’t be trusted to continue your education here unless you are willing to listen to others, especially those of us who are trying to help to teach you!”

He wiped his eyes with his sleeves. “They’re gonna kick me out. It’ll look bad on me, and all of my research and work from the past two years might not even matter anymore…”

“That doesn’t have to happen, Simon. Listen… I think you’re brilliant. I am willing to vouch for you this time, under the circumstances that you see someone about getting professional help for your responses to adversity.”

“You… want me to see a shrink.?”

“I think you could benefit from getting mental healthcare and I don’t want you in any classroom of mine unless you do.”

He shivered. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. She went back in to explain this to the committee and he went through the campus counselors, hating most of them whenever he met with them, switching every time he didn’t like something about one of them, making very little progress, but still fulfilling the deal he made with the committee, for a time. He and Professor Hughes bickered a lot, but he had kept his temper in check whenever she aggravated him, and he eventually settled on a counselor that he didn’t completely hate, too.

He’d always come in, not at all wanting to speak to them. He tossed some books on the table and said, “That’s my dream journal, my intrusive thoughts notebook, and the standard journal. Look through them and then tell me whatever you need to tell me for me to get my paperwork signed off on.”

The man pushed the books back to him and said, “I’m not going to read those, but you’re free to talk about anything that you’ve written in them to me. Let’s start there.”

Simon flopped into the seat and rolled his eyes, “There’s nothing in these that I want to talk about. That’s why I wrote them in here. You’re the brain person. The information gets to you whether you read it or I say it.”

“Okay. Well, let’s see what the first entry is in this one…” He picked up the standard journal and read out loud, “I saw that they let the void out into the world again… What’s the void, Simon?”

Simon turned red and didn’t answer. After a while, the man continued reading, “It didn’t look like Grace. It was beautiful like her, but it looked older, which makes sense, because it was gone a while, and now it’s back…” 

Simon snatched the book from his hand and stuffed it into his backpack. “This was a bad idea. I’m not here to talk about or hear about the void.”

“I don’t know what the void is, but you wrote about it, so I’m inclined to believe that you think about it.”

“I’ve seen it!” Simon snapped pounding his fist on the desk. He took a deep breath. “I had a vision, at least I thought it was a vision. Whenever I was 16, when I was with my ex… we weren’t together for a long time, not that way. We were friends, first. We were friends for a long time, but I always loved her. I loved her before she even knew herself. I loved her with all of my heart.” He picked at his forearms where his tally marks were. “She just saw me as a friend, even though it was obvious that we should be together. Maybe I pushed too hard. Should’ve just left well enough alone. I had to have her and what I got was something else. She wasn’t the same. That wasn’t the girl I loved and I didn’t know it until I saw this… vision that I call the void. It came out of her, it engulfed her and consumed her and it took her place.”

“In a dream?”

“I’m not crazy.”

“I would never use that word to describe anyone.”

“I’m not whatever word you would use for crazy people! I know that it wasn’t real. But, I saw it and I knew that it was what replaced my friend. I hated it for taking her away, and I hated her for letting it. The void was just a way of dealing with the separation. I omitted everything connected to it from my life.”

“You voided her out.”

“Yeah. The person who looks like my friend got out of a mental institution a while back. That’s what that entry was about.”

“Do you honestly feel like the person who you saw is a different person than the one that you used to love? Do you believe that this void that you saw replaced her and that the entity you refer to as the void is now existing in the form of your friend?”

“What? No. I’m not crazy!”

“I’m asking you if when you refer to your ex as The Void, is that because you don’t see them as the human that you knew or because you have purposefully reduced them to something subhuman?”

“What difference does that make?”

“One would be purposeful dehumanization of someone you didn’t like and the other would be out of your control.”

“Nothing is out of my control,” Simon said.

“Some things have to be, Simon. Like the fact that you don’t want to be here, but the school is making you in order for you to remain enrolled. You can’t control everything, not even everything in your life. But, just because you can’t control everything, that doesn’t mean that you don’t control anything. So… Did you force this dehumanized version of this girl into your mind, or was it something out of your control?”

“I… I created it. I didn’t want to see the person that I needed turn away from me, so I imagined her as something else.” The man just nodded. “But, she made me do it! She was going to…” he shook his head. He couldn’t think of what it was that Grace had done that was so wrong. He needed to think back, remember the pain she caused him. Remember the damage she was willing to inflict… but, he felt like he was grasping. There had to be some reason. He couldn’t believe that he spent close to what 4 years now hating her for something that she didn’t actually do… No! She definitely was going to hurt him more than anyone ever had. “You had to know her. You had to know who she was to know what she could do to me.”

“I looked her up. She recently gave an interview about you. I can send you the link, if you haven’t seen it and are interested.”

“Grace did an interview about me?” He shook his head, “Whatever she said, she’s lying! It didn’t happen that way!”

“Simon… why don’t you do this… See if you can handle what she has to say and we can speak about how it made you feel next time." 

Simon left pretty upset. An interview? She hadn’t had anything to say all of this time. Why now? Was this some sort of reckoning against him? He waited until he got home, glanced around him at all of the destruction he’d caused in the past but few weeks. He had been enraged so frequently that he couldn’t even see his floor. 

But, he couldn’t rush into this. First, he picked up his mess, put things away, discarded what needed to be thrown out thanks to his destructive anger, and washed up for the night. No working on any projects or hobbies. Nothing that he loved or cared about in the event that this interview pissed him off. He let his hair fall and grabbed his phone. They were easier to replace than laptops. You could STOP raging when you get mad… Yeah right. And risk doing it at school again? They’d put me out for sure. 

He opened the link and the first thing he saw was Shana’s face. "This is already a bad start." 

"Hey Shady Kindred! Welcome to Shady Shana’s Dish, where we partake of both relevant and ratchet news. I’m your host, Shady Shana and today, I have a very special guest. My… frenemy turned… friendly associate?" 

Grace laughed. It sounded like music to Simon, even though he glared at her. "Let’s.. just say associate.”

“OOF. Shade. Okay, well… classmates, former classmates, at the very least. This is Grace Monroe. I think my audience would definitely know you. From your videos and songs and stuff. But, let me dish this out, I saw homegirl perform live in NYC, and this bitch had a cello. Okay? A cello! She was singing some opera stuff.”

“I don’t sing opera!”

“She was hitting high notes, this kinda alluring witch noise… you sounded like those tuning things, but like high-pitched… you had to be there. Just… check out her page. I’ll have her links in the description. She’s working on music, putting stuff out all of the time and also attending Julliard. Many talents, very beautiful, sweet, when she wants to be… But, we’re actually here to dish about something that Girlfriend hasn’t talked to anybody about in a long time. Mr. Simon Laurent.” Shana exaggerated how French she said his name and had a look of disgust when she did. 

He rewound to see Grace’s reaction. She nodded. She had prepared herself for this. She didn’t look angry or grossed out. Faking. Lies…

“Yes. I agreed to sit down with you in your really nice little studio here and talk about how I feel about Simon.”

“And just to let you messy ones at home know, we will not be speaking about the old school stuff. Grace was nice enough to give me an exclusive about her current day, so if you came to see what she wanted to say about the old stuff, this will not be the place. What he did do, didn’t do, how he done it, naw! None of that! So, I guess, my first question about it is how would you describe your current feelings about Simon Laurent?”

Grace laughed nervously, licked her teeth, sputtered out air (Simon hadn’t heard that sound in so long), and she shook her head, “It’s a loaded question. Ummm… I can’t say that I really have feelings about Simon. I have memories. I know that we were virtually inseparable for a long time. I know in my mind who I thought he was to me when we were younger, but, none of that has had any real bearing on my life in a while.”

“You don’t think about him or nothin?" 

"I mean… I’ve thought about him, but no, not like actively. It’s not a part of my day. It’s more like an occasional experience, when something triggers it or… even sometimes, it’ll be put of nowhere, but just not often. I don’t even know what Simon looks like right now. If you were to trick me and have him backstage or whatever and he came out here right now, Girl - it might take me a moment to recognize him.” Simon felt himself trembling. She didn’t even check up on him? She didn’t want to know? Of course she didn’t! She didn’t care about him..

Shana laughed. “Well, not to be messy…” was her trademark line for when she was about to say something really messy, “Sounds like he’s basically become, what did you two used to call those mediocre types? Non-essential!” Grace’s lip dropped and she titled her head and squinched her face, “Well…” she said in a high pitch, “I… he’s not present. He isn’t part of my life. He detached himself from my life, and I had to learn to move on and now, there’s simply no attachments. Like, if I ran into him, no, I might not know him right away, but the moment I realize, I’m sure I’d be overcome with emotions. I couldn’t tell you how I’d react.”

“Would you uppercut his ass?” Grace cackled and covered her face. “I mean..  if anybody deserves it…”

“I don’t think I’d uppercut his ass, as you so eloquently put it. I think… I’d check to see how he’s feeling. How he’s doing. If he’s found his peace now that I’m not there to affect anything. If he’s better off without me, like he figured he’d be.”

“Sooo… if I can get you two in a room, you wouldn’t even lay hands on him?”

“I… remember what happened. I remember how it felt. I remember pain. But, since then, I’ve learned empathy. I’ve learned pacifism. I’ve learned healing. So, it’s not that I’ve forgotten how hard that time was, but I’ve forgiven everything and I’d just be curious if he had forgiven things too.”

“Whooooooooooo,” Shana let our a long deep breath, “You are better than me. Because if I see him, it’s hands on sight. He’d better not have his head turned. I’ll bust him right in his neck vein." 

Grace laughed and shook her head, waving her hands, "I do not share in this sentiment. If you are a Simon stan, do NOT message me. I didn’t say anything bad about this man.”

“Which surprises me, because I know YOU won’t say anything about this, but I’ll say this and I’ve said this to him, as well… I still think that a lot of the things said about you were not true and a lot of the things done to you were just something that basically the lowest form of scum would do to someone. Something a… girl, I’m reaching back for this terminology… it was some… null type shit. Somebody less than zero would do that kind of thing, to anyone, much less someone that they cared about.”

“Well… I can’t speak for him, but you know… maybe he didn’t care about me as much as he seemed to… maybe these things are things you do to people you hate and maybe that’s what it was always gonna be with us. That’s why I would ask him how he’s doing. Maybe he was tired of being stuck around somebody he resented. I don’t know. But, I’ll always value any type of growth that I have. And if nothing else, Simon was definitely a harbinger of growth in my life.”

Simon didn’t realize that he was crying. Shana and Grace wrapped up the show and it went off with some music video that they worked on with a little girl. He didn’t watch it… his vision was too blurry. But he heard the song asking “Where would you be, without me?” And he couldn’t help but feel attacked. But, he closed out the video. If she wanted to see him and ask him how he was doing, sure… he could make that happen…

Next

[dreamsofnude]

An Ode to a Past Love

This is the hardest thing I will ever write.

It started a little more than six years ago. I met you at a concert in Philadelphia. I didn’t think much of you then. You followed me around all day with those big blue eyes and I thought nothing of it. You annoyed me actually.

You were persistent, and I liked that about you. You annoyed me, but you had so many traits that I admired. You were easy to talk to. You were kind. You knew how to make me laugh. We shared similar interests and values. But of course, you were just a friend.

Your entire existence conflicted with what I wanted in life; with who I wanted in life. You were wild and had experienced so much in just 18 years. You didn’t want to settle. I was 19 and in my first year of college, and didn’t know what my future held. I had a very clear idea in my head of the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. You weren’t it.

You were always persistent. Despite how busy I was working and going to class, day after day we would text, talk on the phone, Facetime, send each other Tweets, and so on. There was never a time where we weren’t connected. I loved to hate that about us.

I turned 20 and decided I wanted an adventure. You were in bootcamp in North Chicago and I suggested that I would come visit. I had never traveled on my own. You agreed, and we made arrangements. Little did I know, that this would be the trip that ruined me forever.

I got on the plane, full of excitement and butterflies. I didn’t know why I was feeling them. I was just going to visit a friend; nothing major. We were going to meet downtown at Ogilvie Station. I got lost trying to find it. When I first saw you exit the train platform doors, we ran up toward one another and embraced each other with a force and closeness I had never felt — and that is when my life changed.

I didn’t know what was in store for us. I didn’t know that our first kiss was going to be on the top of the ferris wheel at Navy Pier that night. I didn’t know that we would spend the evening tangled in that hotel room bed. I didn’t know what was happening, and honestly, I didn’t care. I was happy. For once in my life, I felt happy.

I went back to Pennsylvania, and you went back to bootcamp. You got assigned to be in San Diego a month later. The distance between us just got larger, but I didn’t care. I wanted it to work.

You came back to Pennsylvania before they sent you to San Diego, and I promised I would drive 3 hours to see you. I will never forget that day. Unfortunately, it would be the last time I saw you for a few years.

We continuously found ourselves in a rigorous cat-and-mouse game for the years to follow. I would date someone; you would talk to me. You would date someone; I would talk to you. When it failed on both ends, we talked to one another. I didn’t mind it though, because we always found our way back to each other again.

I was in my last year of college. You called me one December night, drunk out of your mind. You confessed your love for me. You said “I want you from the beginning to the very end.” Though it didn’t make sense, I knew what you meant, and the cycle started all over again.

We decided to plan a visit after 3 years of not seeing each other. I flew to San Diego to spend 10 days with you in your apartment on the naval base. It was the new start with you I had craved for years.

We got a little drunk one night and got carried away. I found out two months later that I was pregnant. We agreed on an abortion. I want to say more about this but it’s hard for me to put it all into words. It still haunts me to this day.

I asked you if I could move to San Diego to be with you after I graduated college. I wanted us to finally be in the same place at the same time. You told me no. Later I found out it’s because you had a local girlfriend that you didn’t want me to know about.

At 23, I decided to move to Chicago after graduation and have a new start. I wanted to be with you but you still had a few years left in the Navy, and you didn’t want me to be in San Diego. I figured, Chicago was where we got our start, why not go there and make it our forever?

You told me you were afraid of me. You said you were afraid of how much I loved you, and how much you loved me. You said you were afraid of how intense and serious our connection was. You confessed to the secret local girlfriend that I had my suspicions about, but said you didn’t want to be with anyone else ever again. We finally made it official and started dating. I shouldn’t have forgiven you then, but I did. I should have hated you then, but I didn’t.

Things were rough because of the distance, but one thing was certain: the love we had for each other was on fire. We were wildly passionate about one another. We made several trips back and forth to see each other, but each time left us with wanting more. I have come to learn from this situation that sometimes just loving someone so much is not enough.

I always had my suspicions about your girl best friend. I knew in my gut she liked you, and that she always had. You denied these statements every time I made them.

You asked me in April if she could move in with you and your other roommate because there was an opening and her lease was up. I was not keen on the idea. I believe I said no several times because of how uncomfortable it made me feel. Truth be told, I didn’t trust her. I knew she would try something. Eventually I gave in, and said she could, but that there would be some ground rules in terms of what questions I could ask in order to ease my mind and reassure me with her being around. As I’m sure you recall, there wasn’t much reason for me to trust you either.

We broke up in May — two weeks after I resigned my lease for the apartment you were supposed to live in with me. I was now stuck by myself in a city that I hated. I hated the lifestyle. I hated the people. I hated the apartment that I once loved. I hated everything, but somehow I didn’t hate you.

We kept in touch, constantly actually. You still called and texted me every day. We still told each other about our days. We were both unprepared for what was to come.

My mental health started to decline rapidly. My therapist wanted to admit me to in-patient therapy, but I didn’t have the money. You sent it to me so that I could get the help I needed.

Time went on. I got a little better. I was released from the in-patient facility, and quickly started acting out. I was doing drugs and partying a lot, and you stuck to your reserved roots. We still talked every day. You were concerned, but just wanted me to have fun and feel free. I took advantage of that. I’m 25 years old and still sulking over my ex-boyfriend, so what better way to cope with the loss than with partying and drugs?

You came back to Pennsylvania for the holidays, and I promised I would drive 3 hours to see you, just like I had done years before. I will never forget that day. It was the first time I had seen you in person since we broke up.

We spent the day together in Harrisburg; we went to the bookstore and the coffee shop, walked around the city, and sat on the swings at the park. I asked you about a photo of you and your roommate that looked very couple-like that was on Instagram, and I said, “You know how this looks, right?” You denied and said that it was just because your other roommate didn’t want to be in the photo.

As the sun started to set and I knew I needed to make my journey back home, I felt so strongly in my gut that I didn’t want to leave you. I would rather die than be apart from you again.

I dropped you off at your cousin’s house. We didn’t even hug goodbye. We were both hesitant to leave but knew it’s what we had to do. I started to drive away, and not even 30 seconds down the street I started hysterically crying. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I called a friend to calm me down and he said “You need to tell him, Lydia!” — so I did.

I texted you and told you I was crying. I said how I regretted not hugging you goodbye. You replied almost instantly and said “I regret not kissing you, so there’s that.” I abruptly turned the car around and headed back toward you.

I picked you back up and you kissed me immediately. I hate to say it but my soul left my body with that kiss. I had craved it for so long. I had craved you for so long. We couldn’t stop so we drove to a clearing in the woods. You know the rest. You played Heavenly by Cigarettes After Sex as I drove you back to your cousin’s house.

I started on my 3 hour drive home that night, intoxicated from your kiss and the connection that we built once again. I didn’t know that would be the last time I saw you.

Time went on, and things were good. You said how you wished you could come home to me. We talked about visiting each other again, but you were unsure of the timing because you were trying to start a new job. We were desperate to make it work; well, at least I was.

You started to grow distant. I asked you about it several times. I asked you if there was someone else. You told me you just were afraid of hurting me again. You said there was no one else.

Valentine’s Day rolled around, which is a particularly hard time for me because that is the anniversary of the abortion I had for what would have been our child. The day was already off to a rough start. I had a disgusting gut feeling that something was going to happen that day, but I tried to brush it off.

I happened to look at your roommate’s Instagram story and saw a post of beautiful flowers on the table in your home, captioned “Thank you my love,” with you tagged on the image. I ran to the bathroom and threw up. My worst nightmare had come true.

I asked you about it, you initially denied and said how the two of you talked about needing more plants in the house so you thought buying her those flowers would be a nice gesture. On Valentine’s Day? You always thought I was a fool. I knew you were lying. Sparing the details, you eventually confessed to having been with her for quite some time.

I know that my actions were toxic as a response to trauma, and for that there is no excuse. However, my intentions were never evil or to hurt you. I was lost. I was hurting. I was dealing with the greatest loss I had ever experienced. I was fighting for my life, and my mental illnesses were winning.

I said I wanted to come to San Diego. In the heat of the moment, I did not express the intentions of that statement clearly. I really just wanted to come to talk to you in person and explain everything that I had done, face-to-face, so we could fix it. But, it was interpreted as a threat. Now, I sit here with a 3-year restraining order.

I left out so many details from our story as I find them to be sacred — for you and me only. I have done a lot of terrible things to you, as you have done a lot of terrible things to me. We can’t take back what has already happened. I just wish you wouldn’t have given up.

Time has gone on and I’ve grown so much as a person. I have learned to deal with my mental illnesses more proactively. I’m finally doing things that make me happy. I’m leaving this city I hate to move somewhere I actually want to be. I am living for me now, not for you. I hope you’ve changed for the better, too.

There are so many things that I would go back and relive if I could, as well as go back and change. Surprisingly, I wouldn’t turn you back into a stranger. But, I didn’t know that was our inevitable outcome.

The last time we spoke was March 14th. Don’t worry, I’m not counting or anything.

This is the hardest thing I will ever write. I hope you read it.

[noona-clock]

Perfect Plan ❤🖖🎃

Hi there ♡ if you still accept Halloween request, could you pretty please do one with Sungjin from Day6? Like y/n and him like each other but they're really shy about it, so rest of guys somehow help them get together on Halloween party? Like they would somehow tell everybody that she likes him and she would be embarrassed but he would find her and some fluffy ending? Idk, I hope it's not too specific or anything. Anyway, THANK YOU for your amazing writing always and have a nice day 💞

I’m on it, anon! I’m going to tweak the plot just a little bit, I hope you don’t mind!

Genre: AU/Fluff

Pairing: Sungjin x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Words: 2,264

Author’s Note: This is based in @cramelot’s Delivery! and my Keep The Change world.

“I told you, we’re fine,” you assured your roommate, Becky, for probably the sixteenth time.

“Yes, but fine does not equal in a relationship,” she retorted. “You two have been seeing each other for over a month but you still don’t call him your boyfriend!”

You almost rolled your eyes, and you would have if you didn’t - on some level - agree with her. “We just... haven’t talked about it! We like each other, we’re happy, we’re both busy with work. Do we need to make it official?”

Becky pursed her lips at you, and you’d been friends and roommates for so long that you knew what she was going to say.

“I need you to make it official for my peace of mind. I have a boyfriend, and I want you to have a boyfriend, and you kind of do, but I just --”

“I know, I know,” you chuckled. And, just for the record, you had known what she was going to say.

“I have the perfect plan,” Becky said, her eyes getting wider. “Brian is throwing a Halloween party next weekend. Jae told me about it -- Sungjin is closing the restaurant for the night so they can all go. If he hasn’t asked you to go with him already, I bet he will soon.”

“...Okaaaaaay,” you replied expectantly, waiting for her to continue with this so-called perfect plan.

“You ask him to be your boyfriend at the party!”

You blinked at her, your lips curved into a very confused, very humoring smile.

...That was her perfect plan?

I mean, it wasn’t imperfect because the end result would be Sungjin as your boyfriend, and how much more perfect could you get?

But... still.

The plans you had devised for her when she was crushing on Jae the Delivery Guy (who had now been her boyfriend for several months) were way more elaborate than just “Go to the party and ask him to be your boyfriend!”.

Oh, well. You knew it had come from her heart, and that’s really all that mattered.

“Okay, you got it, Chief,” you finally replied with a soft chuckle.

Becky let out a squeal of joy as she beamed and clapped her hands in delight. But then she cut herself off and reached into her pocket for her phone.

That meant she was about to text Jae... and that was your cue to leave.

Later that evening, after the restaurant had closed, your phone lit up as it always did because Sungjin was calling you -- as he always did.

“Hey, Handsome,” you greeted, your lips pursed in slight embarrassment. You guys weren’t the kind of couple to be all cutesy and PDA-y, but you still liked to show your admiration and affection for him every once in a while. Especially if you were in a particularly good mood, and tonight... you were in a particularly good mood. For reasons we’ll discuss in just a bit.

“Hey,” Sungjin replied with a bashful chuckle. “Sorry -- Hey, Beautiful.”

“How was --”

“Wait, before we start talking,” your not-quite-boyfriend interrupted. “Brian’s having a Halloween party next weekend, and I was wondering --”

And now it was your turn to interrupt.

“Yeah, Becky told me about it,” you told him.

“Damn it, Jae!”

“I know,” you laughed. “And trust me: you’re not the only one who says that around these parts.”

Sungjin’s soft, breathy laugh filled your ear, and your heart clenched because you desperately wanted to see him right now. And you knew, in just a few minutes, you would desperately want to see him even more.

“So, you’ll go? To the party? With me?” Sungjin asked, his amused tone now sounding a bit more nervous.

“Of course,” you assured him with a wide grin. But then, just like his tone had changed, so did your smile. Your lips faltered just a little bit as your nerves took over. “Actually, uh -- Becky has come up with this little plan to, uh -- well, she thinks we need to make this -- make us official, so she’s been plotting with Jae to make things, like, more romantic than a typical Halloween party so it’ll be -- anyway, I think we should make a plan to foil their plan and just become officially boyfriend and girlfriend right now.”

And cue the longest exhale you’d ever breathed because you had managed to get everything out in one fell swoop.

“Wha -- hold on a -- did --” Sungjin stammered, and your heart began to thump with anxiety.

“I know we’ve been seeing each other for a little while, and I don’t really feel like we need to establish labels, but --”

You heard Sungjin take a breath before cutting you off -- in the best way possible.

“Yes,” he said, his smile very apparent in his voice. “Yes, of course. Let’s do it.”

Phew.

You hadn’t expected him to say ‘no,’ of course, but it was still a weight off your shoulders to hear him say ‘yes.’

“I mean, if anything, it’s a chance to take Jae down a peg or two, right?” you chuckled.

“Yes, but that’s just a nice side effect,” Sungjin assured you. “And... sorry if it sounded like I was freaking out just a second ago. I wasn’t. You just caught me off-guard is all.”

“Better to catch you off-guard when it’s just us instead of at the party next week,” you pointed out, keeping your tone light to distract from how relieved you were.

“This is true. I... I have been meaning to ask you about it, I just --”

You shook your head even though he wasn’t there, your brows knitting together gently. “No, it’s okay. I really don’t mind. I wasn’t, like, worried or anything. Becky’s just been on my case --”

“And Jae on mine,” Sungjin interjected.

“And she’s my roommate --”

“He’s my delivery guy--”

“It would just make my life a lot more--”

“Peaceful--”

“If we just made it official!”

“Exactly, I totally understand,” Sungjin finished.

...Well!

You were glad the two of you were on the same page! Not that you ever thought you weren’t, but still!

“All right, then!” you said with a content sigh. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Tomorrow was Friday, and ever since you and Sungjin had started seeing each other, he always left work early on Friday so he could eat dinner with you, Becky, and Jae at your house. It had quickly become one of your favorite traditions in the history of ever, and it was pretty much always the highlight of your week.

“Tomorrow,” Sungjin affirmed, and you could just imagine him nodding and smiling in that earnest way of his.

“I thought Jae was dressing up as Darth Vader?” you asked as you adjusted the red crown on your head. 

“He is,” Becky affirmed.

“So... why are you dressed as someone from Star Trek? Darth Vader is Star Wars.”

“You know I don’t watch those movies,” your roommate scoffed with quite the unpleasant frown on her lips. “Too much fighting. So, I figured if he’s too stubborn to change his mind, I’ll be too stubborn, too.”

A soft chuckle escaped your lips as you shook your head to yourself. The two of them were something else, that was for sure. Darth Vader and a Star Fleet officer for Halloween. What a pair!

You couldn’t really say anything, though, because you and Sungjin had decided not to dress up in couples’ costumes, either. Sungjin had wanted to be a grim reaper, and you couldn’t convince him to dress up as the Grim Reaper from Goblin. You had simply shrugged and decided on pretending to be a member of Red Velvet from your favorite music video.

And you had to say: you looked fantastic.

“So,” Becky needled after pinning her communicator badge to her blue uniform. “When are you going to ask Sungjin?”

“Do I have to share everything about this plan with you?”

“Well, yeah!” she cried in response. “I came up with it!”

A smirk tugged at your lips and you lifted one shoulder in a very casual shrug. “I don’t know, when the time is right, I guess.”

“You won’t do it when I’m not around, right? I want to at least be there to celebrate with you afterward!”

“Becky,” you laughed. “I don’t think Brian lives in a mansion.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Yes, I’ll make sure you’re in the vicinity,” you assured her, feeling just a little bit guilty for basically lying to her. But if you told her that you’d already asked him last week, your whole plan would be ruined.

“Good,” Becky beamed, smoothing down her bangs one last time before skipping over toward you. “Ready?”

“Aye aye, Captain,” you nodded.

“Ooh, Captain,” Becky crooned with a delighted wiggle of her shoulders. “I like that. I’ll make Jae call me that all night.”

“Yeah, and you know he’ll make you call him the Dark Lord or whatever.”

Becky immediately rolled her eyes. “He’s already texted me -- multiple times -- that he will only answer to Supreme Commander tonight.”

“Oh, good god,” you murmured.

You had only been at Brian’s house for less than an hour, and Jae had already tweeted out a picture of him and Becky in their costumes. 

We’re from two different universes, but somehow we make it work.

“Somehow?!” Becky had cried, distressed. “Uh -- don’t you think that ‘somehow’ would be love?!”

“It’s just a caption!” Jae had defended, pulling up his Darth Vader mask so she could hear him properly.

Sungjin had simply nudged your side gently, and the two of you had turned around to hide your laughter as Jae and Becky had continued on with their squabbling.

As to be expected from a party with Brian as its host, the food on the refreshment table was plentiful and delicious. Of course, he had brought mostly food from Sungjin’s restaurant, but there was also Halloween candy, chips and dip, popcorn -- usual party food.

“Are you having a good time so far?” Brian asked as you approached the table and grabbed a plate.

“Oh, definitely,” you grinned. “It’s always a good time when those two argue over a Tweet.”

Brian’s eyes shifted toward Darth Vader and the Star Fleet captain, his lips quirking with amusement. “Just wait until one of them brings up a meme --”

“Well, then maybe you should have taken me to the Area 51 raid and just left me there!” you heard Becky declare.

“And there we go,” Brian sighed, sounding very satisfied with himself.

You couldn’t stop a laugh from bubbling up in your throat, and then you felt Sungjin’s presence at your back. Before you could turn around to smile at him and request a kiss, Jae joined you.

“Are girlfriends worth it?” he asked, half-joking and half-serious. “Apparently, they get mad at you for not taking them to Area 51. Who knew?”

“I want no part of this,” Sungjin replied immediately.

“You’re lucky you don’t --” Jae began, clapping a hand on Sungjin’s back.

“Jae!” Becky hissed, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

“Oh -- whoops --” Jae murmured. He took his hand back and plastered an innocent smile on his lips. “Never mind!”

“Actually,” Sungjin said as he moved to put an arm around your waist. “I am lucky because I do have a girlfriend.”

Your cheeks warmed, and you leaned into him -- your boyfriend -- with a shy smile pulling at the corners of your lips.

“Aw, really?” Wonpil piped in, now standing next to Brian. “You guys are official?! Since when?!”

“YEAH, SINCE WHEN?!” Becky insisted.

“Since last week,” Sungjin answered casually.

“What?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Brian asked with a chuckle. “Congratulations you guys!”

“What?!” Jae lamented, his tone conveying both his astonishment and annoyance. “Last week?! But -- what about the plan? Becky’s Perfect Plan?!”

“Yeah, what about my plan?!” Becky echoed.

You smiled at your best friend, doing your best to put every single happy emotion you felt in your eyes as you looked at her. “We came up with our own plan.”

“Well, that’s just offensive,” Jae retorted as he put a very protective arm around his thwarted girlfriend. “After all we’ve done for you.”

“Shall we duel, then?” Sungjin offered, holding out his grim reaper scythe. “Where’s your lightsaber?”

“Oh, you’re on, dude,” Jae answered without hesitation.

As the two of them stepped off to another part of the room, Becky stepped over to you with a sigh.

“Those would be our boyfriends,” she said, nodding to them as they began to fight each other with their costume weapons. Apparently, she had already gotten over being upset, though you knew that was because she loved you too much and was far too happy for you.

“Yep,” you sighed, watching as Sungjin pretended to try and slice Jae’s head off with his scythe. “Those would be our boyfriends.”

And then you looked over at her with raised eyebrows. She turned to you, matching your expression almost identically.

“What have I gotten myself into?” you asked.

“Something... pretty great,” she answered, her lips curving into a smile. And then she leaned over and put her arms around your shoulders, pulling you in for a brief hug. “Really great, actually.”

And you knew she was right.

So long as you and Sungjin never fought about Tweets and used memes in your arguments...

[cheshiremadd]

Superfluous

AO3

Chapter 2 A flashback already?!

-

sometime late last year

Chat found her at Patrol Starting Spot #13, looking for all the world like she intended to become this generation’s Thinker statue. She didn’t turn her head or acknowledge him as he approached. Even when he took a seat beside her, she stared resolutely forward.

He slowly leaned against her, giving her the opportunity to pull away. He gave her his full weight when she didn’t, putting his chin on her shoulder. “What’s the matter, Bug? Wanna talk about it?”

She stayed quiet. Chat gave her a bit of a head nudge and prompted again. “Or I could talk about my problems? They are many, and I can make more when I run out.”

“Love problems.” It was a soft warning, her accompanying shrug saying that he could give the conversation a pass if he wanted.

Chat, though, apparently liked pain and heartache. So of course he pressed on. “Ah, trouble with the boyfriend? Wonder Boy not everything he’s cracked up to be?”

And, wow, that wasn’t exactly how he meant for that to come out. They’d talked a lot about boundaries and relationships in general, and their boundaries and relationship specifically, and he hoped she knew that wasn’t meant to be a dig.

“I wouldn’t say we progressed to the ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ stage.” She trailed off. Scrubbed her face with her hands, and blew out a gust of air. She waved a hand, and Chat took his cue. He flopped away from her, keeping his butt in the same spot beside her but laying back across the rooftop.

“Oh, LB, I’ve got a big problem.” He ran his claws through the part of his hair that he could reach without moving too much. “So I don’t think I told you that my girlfriend and I broke up.”

Ladybug gasped and looked his way. “Oh, Chat. I’m so sorry.”

He waved her off. “Eh, don’t be. It kind of sucked, but it was very mutual. We both decided that we were better friends. She realized that, while she is- was- something interested in me, she also really likes women. And I realized that- well..”

He huffed.

“Look, I am not telling you all this so I can get another ‘I told you so’.” His hand mimicked a talking puppet with the phrase. He was very tired of it by now, thank you very much.

She pushed her arms in the air, stretching her back, and then leaned back with her arms to prop her up. “I won’t give you one if you’ll refrain from using it on me.”

“Deal. My good friend that I apparently talk about too much? She got a boyfriend right before we broke up. He’s a mutual and honestly a real nice guy. Very chill.”

Ladybug gave him a knowing look. She could already tell where this was going. She knew him too well, just like he knew her. He sighed.

“Yeah. I hated seeing the two of them together. Hate. Ongoing thing. Problem not resolved. I was -am- so jealous, and I didn’t understand why because I had just the tiniest crush on her, not a big deal, not any bigger than anyone else who knows this woman. Seriously, Bug, everyone who ever meets her gets at least a small crush on her. It’s a fact of life. Minus, you know, those who aren’t female attracted.”

She finally allowed herself to relax all the way back, laying on her side facing Chat. “I know someone like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded. “She’s kind. Very strong. Bold and determined. Sometimes she messes up, but she always tries. I would have wondered if she were Ladybug, if I weren’t.”

He shot her a bright grin. Such glowing praise for his princess! “Exactly! My Lady, I almost wonder if we’re talking about the same person.”

The air between them turned somber just as quickly. “We can’t confirm it.”

A reminder that was for her as much as it was for him.

“I know.”

Silence fell between them, the world as quiet as it was noisy. A city as big as Paris always had some activity going on, and this building was on a busier road. It was several minutes before Ladybug prodded him.

“So. Crush not as tiny as you previously thought?”

He covered his eyes with his forearm. Hoped against hope that the ground would just swallow him. “Noooo. Plagg was actually helpful for once. He suggested comparing my feelings for- well. To be perfectly candid, my Lady, he suggested comparing my feelings for each of you. And I-”

He sighed.

“I don’t even know when I started to love her.” The declaration came out softly. It still felt like betrayal to utter it. “I can’t think of a time where I didn’t think about her, strive for her approval, want to just..be in her presence.”

Ladybug let out a humorless laugh. “We just love to make life complicated, huh.”

She fell to her back and picked at her fingers.

“So, the jealousy is a problem?” She seemed to be grasping at whatever conversation threads she could find.

He shook his head. “No. I mean, it is. But not, like, in a way that’s going to cause problems for our relationship, or her relationship with her boyfriend. I’m doing better at keeping it a me problem.”

She turned over to lay on her belly. Buried her face in her arms.

“Did you really think she could be me?” And, yeah, she was definitely stalling.

“I considered the pawsibility once, my Lady, but I’ve seen the two of you at the same scratching post more than once. Unfurtunately for this poor Tom’s heart, it seems I’m destined to love two Queens, instead of one.” He could see her blush, which spread all the way to the tips of her ears. An interesting development. But she giggled, too, which had been his goal.

It was a long moment before she spoke again.

“I wasn’t dating Wonder Boy. I didn’t know that I’d given you that impression. He’s still as wonderful as ever.”

Oh. Yep. He could have this conversation. He would rock this conversation. He’d be the best, ever, at this conversation. He took a deep breath. She’s his best friend. He could do that for her.

“Everything was nice! My not-quite-boyfriend and I got along great. It was...calming. Easy. But my brain decided it was too easy.”

He released the breath in what he hoped was a measured way, and reached a hand over to rub between her shoulder blades. Just enough to give support without interrupting.

“I just. The anxiety wasn’t there, which was nice. But...I knew that if we ended it, I wouldn’t be heartbroken. I’d call one of my best friends and we’d use the excuse to stay up all night and eat too much ice cream. Maybe I’d cry a little. And I’d be okay the next day. He could stop being my friend, and that would honestly be awful, because he’s fun to hang around, but I know that I’d get through it.”

It was her turn to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“It wouldn’t be like losing Wonder Boy...or you.”

Chat stopped the motion of his hand and stared at her.

“You’re one of my needs, Chat. Right up there with food and water and shelter. And Wonder Boy...I think it’d kill me if he walked out of my life.”

And wasn’t that just what he’d always wanted her to say. He’d heard her gush about Wonder Boy, and here she was placing them on the same level. Yet. He found that he was glad she’d never said it before. He loved Marinette, and he wanted to love her.

He turned over to match her, threw an arm over her, and did his level best to bury his head in her shoulder.

What a mess.

She turned to face him more. “Why are hearts so complicated, Chat?”

He shook his head against her, still not quite able to speak.

Sometimes they defined ‘patrol’ as training. Sometimes a break from hectic lives and grabbing a bite to eat. It was helping that little old lady over on Rue Clément Marot bring her flower pots in. And sometimes it was having an emotional conversation and keeping watch for butterflies.

They stayed like that for some time. Until he had to do something to change the mood, because his first priority had to be her, had to be them, and akumatization was not an option.

“Want to hear something funny?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Is it actually going to be funny?”

“Hey! Don’t lie! You cat get enough of my humor.”

“Yay. The low-hanging fruit puns.”

Chat narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her. She looked away and picked at her thumb. One of her nervous ticks. “You stole that line from Marinette!”

“Did I? Or did Marinette steal it from me?”

He paused at that, thoughtful. “Hmm. My princess is a majestic thief. But I’m certain that was her crowning jewel before it was yours.”

“Oh, all right,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “What was your ‘something funny’?”

“I don’t know if you deserve to hear now, after such blatant thievery from the Kingdom of the Pink Lands.”

Ladybug huffed. “Fine, don’t tell me.”

He chuckled, enjoying getting a rise out of her, before he told her anyway. “I wanted to break up after I figured out how much I liked my Good Friend, and that I was happier having my ex-girlfriend as a good friend. She wanted to break up because my Good Friend was her gay awakening.”

He heard a startled laugh, and turned to see Ladybug covering her mouth with her fist. “Way to ruin the moment, Chaton.”

He shrugged, unrepentant. “It needed ruining.”

-

two and a half months ago

Adrien lay on his bed, arm propping his head up, and stared at his phone. Pictures took up the screen. Kim walking towards the camera, holding Max and Ondine’s hands. The three sitting at a cafe table, Kim making exaggerated motions to Ondine, Max forgetting the computer in front of him to stare at him with her. Ondine and Max surprising Kim by kissing his cheeks.

The caption below the three pictures read: Sassinette: Look who Kagami and I ran into!

To Adrien’s knowledge, Max and Ondine weren’t interested in dating each other. But they got along well enough, and they both loved Kim, and they were okay with (encouraged, even!) Kim to love both of them. The arrangement worked for them. And Kim didn’t have to choose.

Adrien had never imagined having this problem. When he and Kagami started dating, he hadn’t dreamed that Ladybug might have feelings for him. Even when he and Kagami split, he didn’t know. But then that conversation happened, and they’d sat on the information for months. Each of them unwilling to pursue one while they still thought about both.

And now a crazy solution presented itself. Deceptively simple, until he considered the secret identities in play. Ladybug would understand, but could he ask Marinette to be in a polyamorous relationship when he couldn’t introduce the two?

A new message came through. Marinette’s text tone was reminiscent of collecting coins in a retro video game. He chose it for her because he felt like he was gaining every time she texted him, and she rocked at video games.

Sassinette: I think Mme. Tsurugi is warming up to me. She asked about the competition that I’m prepping for?

Sassinette: I mean Kagami and I were talking about it in her hearing, and all she asked about was who was putting it on, then nodded and said ‘They’re a prominent company; worthy of your time.’

Rapunzel: That’s not ‘warming up’, Maricakes. That’s downright approval.

He still smiled when he saw his contact name. Marinette had stolen his phone and changed it in retribution for what he did to hers.

“Disney Princess, golden hair, questionable parent.” She’d ticked each point with her fingers. “All you need are the magical powers!”

Joke’s on her. I do have magical powers.

….That he needed to use soon. Joint patrol started in twenty minutes.

His phone collected more coins.

Sassinette: I’m not convinced, but I kind of only care as far as it lets Kagami hang out without the subterfuge.

Sassinette: Between you and me, we’ll convince her of the importance of socializing with one’s peers!

He covered his eyes with his free forearm and whined. If he didn’t do something soon, Kagami was going to ask her out. He just knew it. She kept saying she wasn’t going to, that Marinette didn’t like her like that, but Adrien could see how well the two of them got along. They’d make such a cute couple.

Coins again.

Sassinette: Still alive over there? I’m getting up to take a shower and find food in a few minutes, in case you come back later and wonder why I’m not answering.

His eyebrows drew together. That was odd.

Rapunzel: Those sound like things I should be doing. No dinner with the parents tonight?

Sassinette: Wednesday night is their night to work on business accounts, and my night to sleep early!

He snorted and turned to his belly, gathered a pillow in his arms to lazily prop himself up.

Rapunzel: Tell me the truth. Are you actually going to sleep?

Sassinette: Your lack of faith astounds me! Of course I’m going to sleep! ….after I finish the rough draft of this commission.

“Soft and gooey Cancoillotte, you’re still mooning over your phone?”

Adrien startled at the harsh sound of Plagg’s voice in his ear.

“What do you mean, ‘still’? I haven’t been laying here for long.” It was funny how admitting to his crush on his good friend took most of the sting out of Plagg’s teasing.

The Kwami wasn’t buying any of his bullshit. “I napped near two hours. You haven’t moved.”

“I moved! I turned over.” He indicated his new position with a grin.

“You’ll miss Bugsy if you don’t move some more. Unless we’re skipping tonight. In which case I’m going back to napping.” Plagg exaggerated his yawn.

Adrien most certainly did not yelp and tangle his feet and fall out of his bed. And if Plagg told anyone he did, well, Plagg wasn’t always a reliable source for information.

[captainillogical]

Devil’s Ballroom ch.1

A year after the events from the earth’s final attack, Little Homeworld is finally complete, and there’s a new jazz bar where gems and humans mingle and drink. - As you’re typing back a reply, someone pulls the stool out next to you and takes a seat. You see a sliver of pink out of the corner of your eye as you try not to actually Look. Oh god. It’s her. God can’t help us now.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

Beach City was a small, lovely town, where pretty much everyone knew each other from the inner city to the boardwalk. You've lived your whole life there, and you loved it. It was home. It was also a really strange town, and you're pretty sure the world almost ended like six times in the last 4 years. Although honestly, you never had to worry about that much, since Beach City was also home to the Crystal Gems, and that Steven Universe who just always managed to save the day. So you’re told. Steven was a fun kid, and grew to be one of your good friends (he’s so insistent on being everyone’s friend. It’s very charming and you love him for it), but you’ve mostly spent your time at work this summer.

One of the easiest jobs to get is Funland, since that always tired Mr. Smiley is chewing through people constantly as the pay is shit, the hours are long, and it’s so hot. Like Mr. Smiley says, "Funland is funderstaffed". You feel like he says that to mock you a bit, since there’s just the two of you here. You really only cared to work there on your off season to help dad out with bills, and to see your best friends. Except THIS summer you guess, since all (2) of your best friends had to go out of town for summer either because of family get togethers or romantic getaways. Those bitches. And you were finally of drinking age this summer. You weren't about to let that get you down, or ruin any plans you’ve made yourself in the next upcoming weeks though.

You’re on the last forty minutes of your shift doing the work of four people. Emptying tills around the food court, cleaning tables, emptying trash cans, and jesus christ this task list seems longer today. It feels ever so fucking slow. And warm. You’re melting, you feel disgusting, and you just want a shower. Thank god it’s payday and you have the next two days off, because you seriously wanted to go out and unwind. See, there’s this newly renovated piano bar you’ve wanted to go to for weeks here locally in town, and you had planned on going with your friends.. but. You know what? Screw waiting on them. You’re going tonight. And besides, who knows! Maybe you’ll meet some new people and make a friend, or show your best friends that you can finally get a girlfriend!! Haha.. or at least get drunk enough to ignore the growing loneliness you’ve been feeling as of late, and desperately trying to ignore.

Funland never truly got busy, so you quickly closed the food court that had been dead for hours down. The last 15 or so minutes you spent sitting at the ring toss booth, and very thankful for the protection from the beating sun on your face. 

"YOOOOO (Y/N)!!!" You hear a familiar voice shout from your left. You put down your phone (obviously looking at memes) and lean over the counter just in time to see Amethyst, accompanied by Steven, jogging over to your booth. 

"Oh, thank god. Finally some human interaction." You responded to the purple gem as they reached your booth. Steven smacked down some tickets for the game and grinned.

"Just spending some time away from the temple". He says, and you nodded as you handed him two stacks of rings. He joyfully pulled them towards himself as Amethyst snickered. 

"He means to say his A/C broke, and Pearl got tired of hearing him groan about it so she kicked us out." The short gem elbowed Steven playfully. 

“Us? Why’d she kick you out too?” You say, giving Amethyst a pointed look. “That’s because Amethyst brought up like 7 of the junk fridges from her room to try to create some sort of.. open fridge cold air whirlwind right in the middle of the living room. It didn’t work as intended at all, though. I’m pretty sure those fridges were really old, or something, because 3 of them caught on fire and now we have scorch marks all over the floor. Anyway, Pearl was pretty mad about it. Sooooo, now we’re here!” Steven says while laughing, and attempting to toss the rings onto the obviously not rigged bottles. 

"So anyway," Amethyst turns to you and leans her elbow on the counter. "Any big plans for tonight?" She steals half the stack of rings from Steven and starts chucking them in the most violent way possible without actually breaking anything. She somehow gets 3 perfect.

 “Ughhh, yeah actually. I sort of convinced myself I’d go out and drink tonight.” You say with a tired grin. “I’ve been kinda daydreaming about not being here all day, and I’ve been wanting to try that one place.. the uh.. piano bar. That new one.”

“Isn’t that the place Bismuth helped fix up, and now bartends at?” Steven says to Amethyst. “She said this place was 1930’s themed with a stage, a spotlight, a piano and everything! It sounds like fun and I want to go.. a lot of the gems from Little Homeworld hang out there. Bis says I’m too young.” “Yeah,” You say, “You’re what, 17? You’re still just a baby, dude. If you want, I can try convincing Bismuth to let you in sometime just to sing.” You say to him and wink. Amethyst bursts out laughing. “You can try!! Bis won’t even let Peridot in!” She laughs. “She says her maturity ain’t the right fit. Whatever that means. She lets Lapis work there sometimes though when she wants, and Peri is still mad about it.”     You watch Steven miss every single shot. How can this kid be the person who saved the planet? His aim is terrible. Amethyst also misses the rest of her shots. 

“Have you guys actually ever won anything here?” You say out loud. “Only when Amethyst cheats.” Steven says. “And anyway, I really want some food. Amethyst. Pizza?”

“Duuuuuuuude. I could eat at least 10 pizzas right now. PLEASE.” She slaps her hand down on your booth. “Y/N. Go out tonight. Have some fun for the both of us, because it’s my turn to clean the kitchen, and if I skip out again Pearl WILL make me do my own laundry.”

“Wooooow, jeez, it must be so terrible to be self-sustaining and clean your own shit,” You’re smiling while chiding her, “and yeah, I will. Maybe next time come with me?” “And leave me all alone!?” Steven whines while starting to walking away. “Go hang out with Connie, you turd. At least you HAVE a girlfriend!” You reply. “You’ll find one eventually Y/N!! Maybe tonight!!” He yells back while waving before they both disappear from your field of vision.

“I really fucking doubt that.” You say to yourself, alone.

You busy yourself cleaning up, and walk over to the main building to clock out. You check your phone, and it looks like the group chat pinged. It’s Harper. FINALLY. Harper has been MIA for the last week. Well, not missing, per se, but she’s been on a roadtrip with her girlfriend of 6 months and didn’t invite you..or your other best friend, Alex. And yeah, you would’ve had to decline because your dad needs you to pick up some slack while he’s out on business, but.. STILL. Shit kinda hurts. But it seems like she finally got service and remembered you guys exist. It’s actually just a selfie with her and her girlfriend with a mountain in the background. She captioned it “I wanted to dive right into mt st helens but she wouldn’t let me get close enough.” You grin and decide to reply with, “Maybe next time Leah won’t let you pussy out”. Honestly, you really didn't mind being the 'single' friend most of the time, but sometimes you wished you could finally meet someone. Then you could also be sending cute couple pictures to your idiot friends, and finally feel like maybe you’re worth someone’s time.

Alex just responds to the chat with 14 flame emojis in succession. Before you can send any knife emojis back, your phone lights up with a call from your father. You answer on the second ring.

“Hey dad. What’s up?” “HEY KIDDO!!” Jesus. Your dad is enthusiastic and as loud as ever. “HOW ARE YOU TODAY, my sweet, dear offspring?”

“I’m chill. Getting off work. You?” You smile to yourself while grabbing the rest of your things to leave for home.

“Just got out of like, my fifth meeting today. It’s awful. I think they’re trying to kill me over here? I’m pretty sure they only paid for the plane ticket because they’re going to reap my organs after they LITERALLY bore me to death. I’m 100% sure my presence isn’t even needed for any of this.” He rants into the phone.

“Dad. You’re the lead project planner. You have to be there. It’s like.. your entire job.” You laugh into the phone. “I thought my entire job was so sit there and look pretty?” “Really? You think they’d choose you for that when they have Brian? Dad, come on. You know how beautiful he is.” You hear your dad sigh wistfully. “Yeah, that gorgeous bastard. Anyway. I’m real sorry in advance, but they’re extending my stay for another couple of days, and instead of being back tomorrow, I’ll be back next thursday.” He says, sounding apologetic.

“Oh, okay. That sucks.” You try not to sound disappointed. “Kiddo I’m sorry! If I could come home tonight I would get on that plane in a heartbeat. I hate this as much as you do.”

“I know. And it’s alright. I’m going out tonight anyway, and I’ll hold down the fort until next week yeah?” “You know you’re my favorite kid, right?” He says. “Dad, I’m your only kid.” You scoff into the phone. “That YOU know of! Love you!” and he hangs up. You roll your eyes, stuff your phone into your pocket, and head out.

Your house wasn't very far from Funland, meaning you could walk home alone safely even at night. Not that Beach City was ever an unsafe town.. if you conveniently happen to forget the aliens trying to destroy the town several times. 

Within minutes you were unlocking your front door, toeing off your work shoes, and heading up into your room. You drop all your shit onto the floor, and flop on your bed. You wonder to yourself, should you be putting more effort into your appearance tonight? Steven did say it was 1930’s themed.. you don’t have very many dressy clothes. You feel like the only color you look good in is black, so you get up and open up your closet. Flowery dress.. God no. Overalls? Noooooo. You swipe through too many sweaters, honestly. There’s a couple decent things in here to put an okay outfit together, or.. wait. Ha! There. That cute black dress you wore 2 years ago for your aunt’s funeral. It’s the best you’ve got, you admit to yourself. And you even still have those black flats! Look, like basically zero effort involved.

You head to the bathroom with your things for tonight and take a shower. It feels nice to scrub off the layer of sweat and grime that come specifically from working at Funland. Oh and, not having to smell like carpet deodorizer and stale caramel popcorn is always a plus. Once out of the shower, you dry off and get into your clothes. You style your hair in your favorite way, and just put on a small bit of makeup. You know, small efforts help to feel less like a paper bag. You look nice for once, you admit to yourself. 

You head downstairs, stuffing your phone and wallet into a small shoulder purse. Grabbing your keys, you put your shoes on, say goodbye to your cat, and walk out the door, making sure to lock it behind you. With your keys safely stored in your bag, you headed into town. The bar was roughly ten to fifteen minutes away, so you decided to hoof it. No need to waste money on a taxi when you had two perfectly toned legs, ya’ll.

[livsoulsecrets]

Incantava AU - Chapter 3: My soul is in the sky

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

Summary: Eleonora is in London for some days for her brother’s photograph exposition. In her last night in the city, she is convinced by her friends to go out by herself and have some fun. Unexpectedly, she meets other Italian there, a charming boy named Edoardo. Not knowing much else about him, she takes her friends’ advice and has a one night stand with him, not expecting to see the boy after that. Little did she know they were bound to meet each other again.

August 22nd

21:58

For some crazy reason, it was ridiculously easy for Eleonora to talk to Edoardo. She usually took a lot of time being comfortable with people until getting to the point she was okay with making a fool of herself.

Weirdly enough, Edoardo could manage to make her do that easily.

During their walk until the said square, they had started talking about the city and how different it felt. Edoardo had told her about his work with his dad and how it drove him crazy sometimes, making it very clear his father was a difficult person to deal with. Ele told him about Filo, his chaos and swetness, how he made her pick up a damn plane to come to his exposition even if she was just one week away from starting college.

They never ran out of things to talk about and that itself was more than enough to make Eleonora feel a bit dizzy. The way he was looking at her wasn’t helping, though.

— Okay, so you are either leading me to the place where you will murder my defenseless self or this square is in Narnia. — Eleonora joked, trying to keep herself together.

— What makes you think I’m the serial killer here? Maybe you are the physco who is playing the defenseless part to murder me. — Edo barely hid his smile and Ele felt pleased with herself for that.

— It is so nice of you to know women can be serial killers too, we totally appreciate the inclusion. — Their shoulders bumped while Ele sarcastically answered him.

— You are very welcome. — He replied, stopping to walk and pointing at the square in front of them. — Anyway, let’s drop our paranoias! We arrived. This place’s sky is not so polluted for some miracle, so we can actually look at the stars.

— And at those heavy clouds, huh? Do you think it is going to rain? — Ele looked up to the cloud, a bit worried about the weather.

— Honestly… When is it not raining here?

— You do have a point.

Edo kept walking and they finally sat down at the bench, side by side.

Ele felt peaceful while looking at the intensity of the sky above them.

— Okay, so the whole our souls being at the sky thing is done. — Ele spoke up after the two of them spent a couple of moments admiring the sky.

— You’re away too impatient, you know? — Edo joked, sending an electric pulse through Ele’s body when he jokingly shoved her, making the sides of their bodies touch completely. — To actually see something, you need to pay attention.

— You sound like a poorly written self help book.

— And you’re away too good at insulting me. — Edoardo laughed at the way Ele rolled her eyes at him, not being able to see the grin that formed in her face shortly after.

— Thank you, it has been years of practice.

— Guess you’ve been preparing for me.

— Guess you think the world revolves around you.

— I do get this a lot. — If Edo realizes Ele’s eyes keep being attracted to his lips, he doesn’t show so. His arms are spread in the bench and his hand is softly touching Ele’s shoulder. — Anyway, if you want to do something, we can just do our thing again.

— Our thing, huh? — Ele makes fun of him, despite the way her heart is racing with the suggestion.

— Yeah, the book thing. — Her grin gets wider and Edo rolls his eyes. — Just do it.

Eleonora doesn’t say a thing, but she reachs into her bag and takes the book out.

— Okay, this time I will just open in a random page and see what it says. — Ele offers and Edo bows closer to spy at the book, almost breathing down her neck, only the fragile light of the street lamps illuminating them.

— As you please. — He complies.

— “We will meet; and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.” — Ele carefully reads every word out loud, feeling herself blush when Edo lets out a hoarse laugh.

She doesn’t know what she is supposed to do after that, but, luckly, Edo comes to her rescue.

— Well… We should be courageous then.

— What do you mean with that? — Ele’s voice gets weirdly high and she curses herself for that.

— I mean: we should play a game! — Edo suggests and Ele crooks an eyebrow at him, surprised.

— Don’t you dare trying to push “20 questions” down my throat!

— Too late, that is what we are doing. If you don’t answer the questions I make… Then I can post something on your social media.

— Same thing for me? — Edo nods. — Okay, then, I’m in. But, can we please go to somewhere safer than an empty square at night? — Ele demand and Edo nods, agreeing to her.

They walk for a bit in silence until finding a restaurant to hang out at.

— Okay, I’ll take it easy on you. Worst pain you ever felt? — Edo asks once they find a good table, away from everyone else.

— When I was 12, I had appendicitis. I thought I was going to die, it was horrible! Nothing ever came close to it ever since. — Ele lets out the part where she had to take a taxi to get to the hospital because she had nobody to go with her, but the thought wanders in her mind for a bit longer.

— It’s your turn now. — Edo says, seeming to notice she became distant for a bit.

— Alright… If you had to be trapped on a desert island, who would you take there with you?

— That’s easy. My best friend, Fede. He’s annoying as fuck, but that is good to fill all the silence, right? Who would you take?

— My brother… Probably for the same reason. Favorite cartoon growing up?

It is weird to think of Edo as a kid, but there’s a certain light in his eyes and a levity in his features that make him seem so young at certain moments despite his facade. Eleonora wonders what made him put that facade on in the first place.

— Okay, don’t laugh at me! — He asks and Ele gets pulled out of her thoughts.

— I won’t, come on, say it!

— It was Winx. — Ele almost gasps because of how unlike him it sounds. — My dad didn’t want me to watch it, he said it was a “girls’ show”, but I would do it anyway. Every time he entered the living room, I would just change it to Mickey Mouse or some shit.

— Are you kidding me? — Ele wonders again.

— What? Are you saying you agree with him? — Edo dramatically puts a hand on his chest, pretending to be disappointed.

— Of course not, that’s bullshit. But… Winx was my favorite show growing up too. — Ele says back and they both laugh at another coincidence bonding them.

— Flora was my favorite.

— Oh, darling, I was Flora! I would fight anyone that tried to be her when I was a kid while we played together.

— Oh, someone was taking it too seriously! — He looks delighted with the story, though.

— Look, she is the best one, okay? The guardian of the nature!

— The Fairy of Flowers! All of that! — Edoardo completes her without hesitating.

At that moment, Ele feels young. Maybe it is being out in the middle of the night in a beautiful city. Or perhaps it is the memories of the times where she was a easy going and happy kid that do it to her.

It could as well be Edo’s company.

— Hum… First kiss? — Edoardo asks this time and Ele freezes on the spot.

The memories that come back to her this time are not very pleasant. Ele thinks back to Francesco and her heart aches a bit. Everytime she thinks she’s over him, over what he did to her, life finds a way to bring all the pain right back to her.

— Guess I’ll take the challenge. — Ele says, quickly reaching for her phone to open her Twitter app.

— Oh, that bad?

— Just do it. — Ele faked a smile and handled him the phone. Edo typed fast, a mischievous smile never leaving his lips.

— And it’s done! — He seemed too excited for it to be a good thing, but Ele took a look at it anyway.

— Oh my god, you just ruined my life. For the next weeks, that’s all my brother will be talking about! Filo will never let it go. — Ele grunts, but Edo keeps laughing at how red her face got. — Asshole! — She curses over her breath when their eyes cross again. — Okay… I’ll end you now: worst lie you ever told your mom?

Edoardo bites his lip when he hears the question and Ele is sure he’s about to burst out some dumb joke, but he stays silent.

She is confused by his reaction, until he pulls his phone out just like she did before and handles it to her.

— Well, if I didn’t tell my mom about it, I certainly can’t tell a stranger. — Edo says, the stupidly gorgeous smile returning to his face, as if his previous silence meant nothing.

— Ow, you hurt me like this. You know my name, what my favorite show is and who I would take to a desert island with me. I went to high school with people I knew less about, do you know that? — Ele teases him just because she doesn’t like the worried bow that was in his face before.

Her idea works, because he immediately laughs in return, his head being thrown back during it.

— Alright, I will post something in your Instagram, but you gotta take the picture. — Ele says, telling Edo what he should do next. He gets oddly quiet while she posts the pic he took. — What? Was the picture not good?

— No. It was awesome. You’re awesome, I mean. — Edo said, swallowing nervously.

— Oh… Thanks. — She answers, an unexpected shyness taking over her when she posts the picture with a ironic caption on his Instagram.

— Here it is. — Their hands brush when she handles Edo his phone. If he takes notice of that, he doesn’t show.

— Alright. Your turn. — Edo says, his chair somehow getting closer to hers in the process.

— Fine… Do you have a secret?

— Oh… That’s deep. — Edo says, surprised.

— You act so mysteriously sometimes. Guess the question fits you. — Ele shakes her shoulder, her whole body aware of Edo’s arm resting in her chair.

— Alright, I suppose you’re right. You know… I do have a couple of secrets, but I can only think of one right now. — She was nervously aware of how close he was right now.

Surprisingly enough, Eleonora wouldn’t mind if he somehow managed to get closer.

That was the moment the waitress decided to come close to them, letting them know the bar was closing off.

Edo almost jumped away from her, given how unexpected the interruption was, but he managed to keep his voice normal while talking to the waitress. They paid the bill in an awkward silence.

Her stomach was turning and her hands were sweating. Ele was so nervous she didn’t realize it had started raining outside.

— Shit. Can’t believe it started raining already. — Edo said.

— It’s not too strong, if we hurry, I think we won’t catch the worst part of it. — Ele suggests, trying to focus on something other than the fact Edo was about to kiss her.

Or better: that she was about to let him.

— Yes, it’s better if we leave before it gets heavier.

— My hotel is over there. — She pointed to the upper street.

— So is my apartment. — With that, they both took some courage and left the bar behind, doing their best to avoid getting soaked with the rain.

At certain point, Ele wasn’t able to see a thing and her body collapsed in Edo’s arms. He catches her out of reflex, they both almost falling down.

They were standing in the middle of the pouring rain that had no signal of stopping.

Ele’s dress was getting tighter and tighter as she stood there, Edo’s hands still on her lap, hers on his shoulders.

— We should go. — Edo whispered, but he didn’t make any move.

— Yes, we should.

— Will we? — He asked cautiously.

— What was it the book was saying again? — She gives him another question instead of an answer, but he seems satisfied with it by the smile on his face.

— “We will meet; and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.” — Edo quoted, his eyes not leaving hers.

— We met. Maybe it’s time for the rehearse. — Ele whispers, barely registering the confusion on Edo’s eyes.

She reaches out and pulls him into her, her hands moving to his neck as their lips crash against each other.

Ele only has a second of lucid thoughts to consider the insanity of what she’s going, but that moment is quickly gone, forgotten by the overlying sensation of being held so fiercely. The feeling of being lost and found all at once.

Maybe it’s insane. Maybe it’s stupid.

But when Edo takes her off her feet, Eleonora couldn’t care less about logic.

Previous Chapter

[dlewrambo]

Déjà vu

"So you're a popular writer from the Philippines?" A doctor asked me as he was wearing his suit. I nodded in response. We are at a famous hospital here in New Jersey because I was assigned to research a disease. I'm a documentary writer at the Philippines and this project is my stepping stone to fulfill my dreams to be part of an international writing agency where they go to different places to get information.

I am here to write down what I know and to surprise my readers who will push me to join the agency. "Oh! So let me give you a tour to the hospital... I know it's not quite what you've expected since everything was a bit messed up-because of that virus, " a hint of sadness carved upon her face as she mention the word " virus" "It's okay with me actually I really like to see what's inside this hospital," I looked at him and smiled. I was in his office and I had never been to the wards where they were full of people.

He knocked on the door and started walking out of his office, and I started filming events as I followed in his footsteps. Like me they also have covers on their noses. With nurses and doctors coming from different islands, many patients are in need of immediate medication and assistance but due to the content of the responding doctors it is difficult for them to notice everything. "Dr, there's a riot at ward number 2," A nurse attached to the doctor who was the reason for the operation, ward 2 was at the end and we were able to get there quickly.

There were shouts and cries as I heard him give a hug as we walked down the road. "Have you lost your mind?!" I heard a Spanish doctor shout. There’s a doctor, I mean scientist whose crazily doing wild actions while holding a small bottle.

"We are all infected! The mask you wearing has nothing to do with those virus, they can still pass through! We... We are all going to die in here-" it ended in a riot when two men bound and released him. The silence lingered and I seemed to have a hard time standing up, that man is a very popular scientist for his discoveries and I know that he's not joking... I know that everything that he said was true. "I think the tour is over, I'm really sorry about that but I think it's time for you to go back, " the doctor grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his office.

"Dra. Kleina..." I called out for her attention. "Hmmm?"We stopped walking and turned to me. "Am I infected with that virus?" Shake it. Silently we continued walking when we met an older man. "Dra. Klein, can you please lead me to the bathroom?" The old woman glanced at me as she look back to the doctor. "Of course," its gentle promise once held in the arm of an adult for support. "Wait for me," she promised me so I nodded. When I lost my gaze, I lost sight of my surroundings. There were pictures hanging on the wall so I stepped closer and one looked at them and one picture caught my attention.

[1918]

I read in the caption below. This is the last photo of the head doctors where Doctor Kleina was the last. It's 2020 now and I'm not mistaken! Why this picture is in the year 1918? 102 years ago. The photo was too blurry because it was too cluttered but I knew I was not mistaken. I’m pretty sure about on it. I looked around and from a cozy facility it was dark and old-fashioned, with lots of dirt and dust all over the place.

With the help of the light from the sun I went to the wards where many people had been but unfortunately I could not see any shadow. I was supposed to step backwards but I noticed a newspaper lying on a bed without foam. I gently grabbed the newspaper and the sign read to me.

[SPANISH FLU AT NEW JERSEY]

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide about one-third of the planet’s population and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans. It was the deadliest plague of 20th century. Infectious diseases already limited life expectancy in the early 20th century, but life expectancy in the United States dropped by about 12 years in the first year of the pandemic. Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill the very young and the very old, with a higher survival rate for those in-between.

However, the Spanish flu pandemic resulted in a higher than expected mortality rate for young adults. The Spanish flu originated somewhere in northern China in late 1917 and swiftly moved to western Europe with the 140,000 Chinese laborers the French and British governments recruited to perform manual labor to free up troops for wartime duty. They found that a human H1 virus that had been circulating among humans since around 1900 picked up genetic material from a bird flu virus just before 1918 and this became the deadly pandemic strain. Exposure to previous strains of flu virus does offer some protection to new strains.

The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain. Citizens were ordered to wear masks, schools, theaters and businesses were shuttered and bodies piled up in makeshift morgues before the virus ended its deadly global march I read the article with a complete silence. The flu took a heavy human toll, wiping out entire families and leaving countless widows and orphans in its wake. Funeral parlors were overwhelmed and bodies piled up. Many people had to dig graves for their own family members.

The flu was also detrimental to the economy. In the United States, businesses were forced to shut down because there are too many employees were sick. Basic services such as mail delivery and garbage collection were hindered due to flu-stricken workers.

In some places there weren’t enough farm workers to harvest crops. Even state and local health departments closed for business, hampering efforts to chronicle the spread of the 1918 flu and provide the public with answers about it. The Spanish Flu Pandemic, also known as La Grippe Espagnole, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919.

I read the Newspaper slowly… "One known hospital was forced to shut down because of it's rapid increasing of that so called virus. The hospital was now closed for some reason because the virus might still live and can still affect someone who will go inside.

The doctors and all the foreign nurses were affected with their patients so they all left with no choice but to wait upon their death." It seemed to overwhelm me when I realized that all I had seen before was one soul that had forgotten that they had died....

They had forgotten their souls but still carried on with their actions as if they were a normal human being. I held my hand tightly in the newspaper as we ran out of the ward. When I got to the door I was shocked and locked it. There are so many locks and even if I kick, I can't do anything. I tried to go upstairs to find Emergency exits but I couldn’t find one. I tried to roam the whole ruined building… there’s nothing I could find, only the light of the sun that shines from above. Slowly I am conserving my energy just to find a way out, how?... How am I suppose to get out?

I tried to shout and asked for help, I see people outside the building but no one could hear me. I am soaking wet because of running and trying to escape. I burst to tears when I ran out of options. I knelt down in fear. Before .... There were people here .... Once it was an open door- Maybe this is just a dream. I tried to slap myself but I didn't wake up to reality.

I remembered that I was holding the newspaper so I quickly read it to read this hospital article but for the last part I was in tears. [This article was released by a writer, Noel Castil Tomaroy, a Filipino writer who also died inside that hospital.]

I'm Noel Castil Tomaroy....I was in the newspaper. I have mixed emotions I felt as soon as I appeared in the newspaper…. I was the writer who wrote in 1918 ... I am the writer who died in this hospital.

-Marweld M. Barillo

#ShortStory #CreativeWriting #11Humss2

[simplyserens]

yeethaw and howdy once again partners, it’s me your extremely annoying friend sierra, back at it again bringing her usual garbage characters. anyways if you’ve been here for a bit you’ll remember saturn, my infamous gossip spreader, she’s back! but with a new fc and a new name, so buckle in. new york just got a whole lot messier.

╰☆╮SCARLETT LEITHOLD ─ SEREN KLINE identifies as DEMI-FEMALE and uses SHE/HER & THEY/THEM pronouns. they’re a GOSSIP COLUMNIST/SINGER, and they’re only TWENTY-TWO! they’re said to be SOCIABLE, but also MANIPULATIVE. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE GOSSIP in the tabloids. ( sierra, she/her, cst, 18+ ) ( marina )

the polymath & the contingent — aka her early years [ 0 to 12. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. ]

seren arian kline was born to two parents, who were running away from their past, and who had no idea what they were going to do with a child at their age, both of them being 20 & 21, respectively. 

fun fact! seren’s name translates roughly to ‘silver star’ in english

her mother amelia was a daycare assistant, and her father found wok in the tech industry, together their small little family of three tried the very best to handle whatever life threw at them together

they gave seren the best life that could possibly afford, not having much but the roof over their heads, and barely making enough to say that they were living paycheck to paycheck

at an early age seren proved to be exceptionally smart, not smart enough to be some crazy child genius or anything like that, but she was smart enough that her parents knew they needed to get her the proper education that she deserved, if only they could afford it

seren spent most of her adolescent being the kid that was teased on the playground for reading a book instead of playing soccer, but instead of telling her parents, she’d repress it deep down inside

 seren’s bullying eventually lead to her insatiable need to be liked by everyone, no matter who it was, a teacher, a principal, a fellow student, she craved the validation, nay she needed the validation that came with being liked by other people

her parents began busying themselves with work and lost the special connection they once held with their daughter, their schedules never crossed paths, and soon seren would end up feeling more alone than before

at the young age of 12 seren kline tried to take her own life in her childhood bedroom, thankfully her parents quickly rushed to her aide, and she was being treated in a hospital before she knew it

after spending time with the therapist that seren never knew that she needed she was diagnosed with severe depression, quickly put on medication, and told not to try to throw herself back into her school work, except that’s exactly what she did, throwing herself back into her work like she’d never done before

she thought that this endless cycle would go on for the rest of her life, until one day her father came home with news that would change seren’s life forever 

the opulent & the sovereign — aka her teen years [ 13 to 18. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. ]

her father had landed a new job far away from Wales, and they’d be moving to America, Pennsylvania to be exact

seren was more than ecstatic to get this news, not only did a higher pay increase for her dad mean a nicer lifestyle, it also meant a higher status for her & her family

seren’s mom quickly took the opportunity to find a new job in teaching, and managed to get seren into a very prestigious private school in pennsylvania

it impressed seren’s mother because their mission statement involved churning out well-rounded pupils and a focus on college readiness, it excited seren because she knew she’d finally be with the in crowd

the minute that her bran new louboutin stilettos crossed the pavement she became the new queen b, much to everyone’s dismay

she immediately developed a superiority complex over her peers, showing off her riches whenever she got the chance, constantly reminding them she was better, and despite her behavior she had herd of girls that wanted to be like her, and even more guys that wanted to date her

but despite leading multiple guys on, and then proceeding to do the same thing in secret to some of female peers, she was never fixated on a relationship, all she ever wanted was success

 though her life was about change for a second time on the days leading up to her seventeenth birthday, her parents announced to her that they were getting a divorce, that there relationship wasn’t working out anymore, for trauma's sake seren moved in with her mom, and her father was given visitation rights

her mother ans seren moved to new york, she was no dating some bigshot music producer that she’d met during one of her dad’s many business events

seren was a singer, but mainly kept it hidden from her parents, so the day, aka her seventeenth birthday, she accidentally slipped up and sang in front of her mom’s new boyfriend, he signed her to a music contract, or more her mother signed for her

tthe vindictive & the gossip — aka her current years [ 19 to now. musings: 01. 02. 03. 04. ]

her parents became overbearing in trying to control her image and the music that she wrote, so she became very good at lying, and so most of seren’s freetime was spent with her dad in pennsylvania

to try and escape her parents overbearing nature seren applied to nyu university, and to everyone’s surprise, including her one, she was accepted on a full ride scholarship for journalism

in hopes that she finally was beginning to focus on her studies, seren’s parents allowed her to take an extended hiatus from her music career that was just beginning to flourish

seren didn’t do the best in college, like she wasn’t the worst, but she was definitely called into the guidance counselor's office more time than she can count

seren usually used manipulation tactics to get what she wanted during college, heck at one point she even had her roommate wrapped around her finger, and for a majority of her college life she had everyone believe in things she wasn’t even sure were true, but rumors from a pretty face are a powerful thing

seren ended up sleeping with her journalism professor, which basically gave her free reign to do whatever she wanted during class, and soon enough despite everything she thought would happen, she graduated with a degree in journalism

immediately seren was thrown back into her music, and she released her second album at nineteen

though perhaps the more debatable thing that really kickstarted her career is a thirst trap picture that was reposted on chance’s instagram with the caption ‘who is this’, she gained followers overnight 

though seren knew that she wanted more to life than just music, and instagram clout, so she began a gossip blog, she goes under the pen name saturn, but lately it’s been harder to keep the secret from everyone

her gossip blog is the one place where she’s truly herself, spreading rumors being vindictive, and just overall ruining things for people she’s supposedly cares about

though reading her articles and meeting her in person is two completely different things, she will quite literally smile in your face as she twists a knife in your back, and you’ll never suspect a thing

[timelock97]

Out of Order Love

Chapter Seven: Shenanigans

Summary: It was meant to be a fun time in Vegas. Spending time with the best friend and celebrate getting done with college to turn the page to a new chapter in life. If only (Y/N) realized she would be turning a few extra pages by accidentally marrying her favorite actor.

Word Count: 1890

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  

I watch as Tom and Harrison run ahead of Emily and I and fling themselves on the display beds in Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I sigh and glance at her.

Emily is shaking her head next to me. "How old are they?" She laughs sarcastically as an employee walks over to the boys to scold them.

"Five," I muse, Emily looks at me in amusement. I smile at her before we lean together and look at the long list of things that Tom and I needed for the new place. It hadn't taken us very long to sign the papers and get the keys for the place. My family was excited, and that meant packing all of my things and trying to get everything in place at the same time. Today was a day of making sure we had everything else we needed to stage the "perfect home" not only for our friends and family, but the press too.

"So, is he paying for everything or...." Emily asks, voice trailing.

"Well," I nod at her to follow me into the bedding section. "You know my mom. Even after I told her not to say anything to my family she goes and tells my aunt, who tells my grandma, who tells my aunt on my dad's side." I give Emily a sideways glance, "Now my whole family knows that I got married. I've been getting Facebook messages, text messages, and phone calls about it and over the past few days I have been receiving cards and letters-"

"All with a little bit of cash since you didn't have a shower?"

"Yup, so Tom paid for a lot of the bulkier stuff, I helped with what I had left of my school funds and what we got in the mail." I walk away from my cart and stare up at the different colored comforters, "Now we are here."

"Am I allowed to ask about all the choices of furniture? Like the king-sized bed?" Emily wiggles her eyebrows at me making me chuckle.

"Well, Tom and I had originally just planned to buy the two beds for the upstairs, that was until his family decided that they were all coming when they bring a majority of his things."

"Oh, shit. They don't know either do they?"

"Nope, we kept it to the people we talked about in the beginning, so they are coming down in a week and are bringing Tessa. They plan to stay for the week, help us unpack, and then they are heading north to see the sights. I don't know if any of his brothers will stay with us while their parents go up north or if they all will go up too. It's going to be interesting." I sigh, stretching my arms over my head.

"I mean," Emily moves to the other side of me, pulling a light and dark blue comforter from the shelf for us to look at. "He did meet your parents and passed with flying colors, meet your close group of friends and basically got accepted into the group without a problem. Why would you be nervous about this?"

"Easy," I take the comforter in my hands and place it in the cart. I look over at Tom and Haz who are laughing while looking at sheets a few rows away, "It's been awhile since I've had to meet a significant other's parents, and I'm a little nerve wracked by it." Emily puts her head on my shoulder, looking up at me in a way I know is her way of telling me I'll be fine. I sigh and pull her into a side hug. "I don't know, Em. You know what I'm feeling, right?" She nods and squeezes me. I let out an annoyed groan and let her go, only to be grabbed by someone else causing me to squeak.

"That was definitely not the noise I thought you would make, darling." Tom coos in my ear causing me to roll my eyes and place my hand on top of his.

"Are you two done playing so we can go back to our shopping?" I inquire, raising an eyebrow even though I know he can't see it.

He groans behind me and places his forehead to my shoulder. "You're no fuuuuuuuuuun."

I giggle and squeeze his hands. "Poor baby," I hum. Tom's lips brush my shoulder that isn't covered by my shirt causing the heat to rise in my cheeks.

Emily smiles widely in front of me and sees my distress. "Alright, lovebirds, you two need to finish your shopping. Is there anything that Haz and I can shop for that is already specifically chosen?"

"I can send you the list since it's on google docs." I pat Tom's hands to tell him to let go; however, instead he keeps on arm around me and grabs my phone out of my back pocket for me. "Getting handsy there, Holland?" I smirk as I take my phone from him, he stays silent but I can feel him smiling against my skin. I type out a quick email and share it to Emily before the two of them leave to go find the baking and cooking supplies, hand in hand. I sigh and look back up at the comforters with Tom still holding me to his chest. "Can I ask why we are still like this?"

"Some paparazzi followed us in." I stiffen in his arms, his thumb begins to rub my hand that is now between his. "Relax, just cameras, and I told the employees that if they get too close to ask them to leave. I don't need you to worry about them."

"Me?" I turn my head toward him, his nose brushing against my cheek.

"Yes, I don't want you to have to worry about them when you have other things on your mind. Which reminds me," He loosens his grip on me and turns me in his arms so I'm facing him. "You're worried about meeting my family? My family already loves you, why are you worried?"

"Your family," I slide my arms around his neck, "doesn't even know me. How can you say they like me-"

"I did say love, not like, darling." He chuckles, but quickly looks down bashfully. "And it may be because I have been sending them short videos of some of our more interesting conversations."

"Like what?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Like when you and I were cuddled in the basement and we found that spider..." He begins to chuckle.

"Tom that was embarrassing!" I bury my face into his shoulder.

"I captioned the video 'my knight in fuzzy pants.'" He chuckles.

"I hate you." I laugh, placing my head on his chest to hide my blushing cheeks.

"No you don't, love. Besides, there were other videos,"

"Which you will show me when we get home, yes?" He smiles and nods before pressing his lips to mine. It's soft and sweet. Once he pulls away I lean forward again and peck his lips before taking a step back and get him back at the task at hand. "Alright, Holland, what color do you want for the master bedroom?"

Later that evening, Tom plops down next to me in my room with his Mac Book in hand.

"Alright, love, are you ready to see what I have sent my family to make them love you?"

"Honestly, I am afraid, but that never stopped me from watching quality content." Tom looks down at me with a raised eyebrow. "Oh my god, just play it." Tom laughs above me as he pulls me more into his side and plays the first video titled 'Pool Shenanigans.'

The video shows Jamie's pool, and all of us except him in it. I am sitting on the ledge when Chris pushes me in from behind with his foot.

"You brat!" I get out of the pool with Chris' water gun in hand and chase him around the edge of it until I manage to push him in. "HA!" I throw my hands in the air before yelling "Geronimo!" and throw myself into the pool while everyone laughs.

"Oh gosh," I laugh as I cover my face.

"Don't worry, (Y/N), they get better from here."

The next video is shot from the entrance of the living room, I am currently laying on the floor.

"What are you doing, love?" Tom asks concerned, chuckling slightly.

"Laying on the floor." I say matter-of-factly.

"I can see that, why are you laying on the floor?"

I shrug and look at him. I cross my eyes at him making him laugh. "I make you laugh a lot, I've noticed that, ever since we met."

"That's because you're easy to talk to and a dork."

"Yeah, but so are you." I let out a sigh, "Actually the reason I'm on the floor was because I was hot from being outside so I laid on the floor, but my knees locked up so I can't get up and have been waiting for you to get out of the shower to help me."

Tom snorts from behind the phone. "Okay one sec," the video pauses at me laughing harder on the ground.

"That was 'A Regular Morning.'" Tom laughs.

I groan. "Why did you send these again?"

"So, my family knows what I see on a daily basis."

The next video is the spider video. Tom and I had been downstairs watching Spiderman: Homecoming of all things when a spider had come straight down from the ceiling, the video cuts to me yelling at Tom.

"You're the guy, you're supposed to kill the spider-"

"That FUCKER is HUGE! I'm not going near that!"

"Ohmygod, just watch it, I'll be back" I turn and leave Tom by the couch.

"YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE?!" I come back with a shoe and quickly squash it while letting out a scream. "My hero~"

"Can it, Holland. I could have died!" I walk back over to the couch and the screen goes black.

"I swear to God, Tom." I cackle into his chest. His arm tighten around my shoulders laughing with me.

"My family loved that video." He clicks a few more buttons then pulls up another one, "This is from today."

"Oh god." I wheeze.

"Tom," The video turns toward me. "What if we moved all the furniture in this set one inch to the left?"

"Love, no."

"Love, yes!" I whisper but only look at the furniture. "Never mind, that's mean." Tom laughs behind the camera. Next, it cuts to me laying on a couch with Haz at the other end. "We are testing it." Again, Tom laughs and the video skips.

Haz is now heard. "Mate, look at (Y/N)."

The camera turns to me laying on the bed in a 'draw me like one of your French girl' poses before Emily jumps on the bed with me causing me to say loudly, "NO! You've ruined the moment!"

"Why did you send these to your family?" I laughed, shaking my head against his chest.

"Because." He muses.

"That's not a good answer. What was this one called?"

"Furniture store fun."

"I should have taken video of you and Haz jumping on those beds in Bed, Bath, and Beyond."

Part 8 

[omegaling]

Allez Cuisine! ~Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen: Biscuits and Double Doubles

   The chicken in the hot skillet popped, and the only thing that saved Rey’s cashmere sweater from being ruined by flying globs of molton butter were reflexes earned from working with spitting meats, roiling hot broths and sauces for a living.  She glared at the offending pieces of poultry, still plump and pink and unassuming as they sizzled away. She already knew that wearing nice clothing while cooking came with considerable risk; she didn’t need to be reminded of it by her own dinner.

It wasn’t as though she didn’t have other clothes to wear.  However, it just so happened that all her casual day-to-day clothes were in desperate need of a wash (she hadn’t planned on doing her laundry until Monday, because who washes clothes while on vacation?).  So that left her to choose between faded sweatpants and over-stretched sweatshirts or the outfits she saved for more formal occasions. Since she had sworn long ago that the former was saved only for the comforts of home and in the presence of close friends, she had no choice but to wear one of her nicer sweaters and pair of jeans tonight.  It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that Kylo was coming over for dinner.

The same went for the hours she put into vacuuming and dusting the apartment and scrubbing the kitchen counters and cabinets until they gleamed.  It was just one of those things she kept putting off that needed to get done.

It was a little harder to make excuses to why she decided to shave her legs in late November, when it would be at least another five months before she wore anything resembling shorts again.

She didn’t even attempt to justify her choice to wear makeup, or in why she was wearing her sexiest bra and panties.

The watch on Rey’s wrist chirped the hour, and her grip on the tongs in her hand instantaneously tightened; Kylo was due to arrive at any moment. If she was going to be completely honest with herself, she still wasn’t entirely certain if inviting him to dinner was the smartest thing to do. True, he apologized about being an ass about her humble upbringing, but there was still that small, unsavory detail about their last face-to-face when she hurled his real name at him before she left.  The memory of the look he gave her before she walked out his door haunted her for days afterward. She had expected rage and shock and indignation, but what she hadn’t expected was… She couldn’t quite put it into words, but the closest emotion she could compare it to was fear. As though that by saying his name had consequences she didn’t understand.

Against her better judgement, Rey did a Google search for Ben Solo and was surprised to see that it yielded very few relevant results.  The top results were only a handful of articles from culture and entertainment publications, all of which were at least ten years old. When they did refer to Ben, it was only as a passing mention as the only son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, as though he was nothing more than an afterthought, or maybe a footnote.  There were even fewer pictures of him; just a few shots of a tall, gangly teenager with his eyes cast to the ground, trailing behind a smartly dressed woman who held herself with all the grace and confidence of royalty. In the captions, he was simply referred to as “Leia Organa’s son, Ben,” as though he were a mere accessory.  

Rey did come across some old interviews done with Han Solo when Going Solo was still being filmed, but those were even more disheartening.  While Han always told the journalist yes, he would love to take his family with him on his travels and that he believed the bonds formed on the open road were priceless, Rey wondered how much of an effort was really made in getting Ben on the show… or what discouraged him from ever bothering to try.

What Rey didn’t find was anything touching on the fact that Ben Solo and Kylo Ren were the same person: no gossip, no fansite conspiracies, no comment from some random bloke saying Kylo looked like someone they went to high school with.  Even sites like Twitter and Reddit were strangely mum for once. It was almost as if Ben Solo was phased out of existence, fading further into obscurity with each passing year, and for whatever reason, being reminded of who he once was scared Kylo something awful.

Rey’s grip tightened around her tongs as a wave of indignant anger welled up in her.  Though she had no evidence to back it up and no reason to believe it, she knew deep in her gut that Snoke was behind it.  How could he not? She did not know how Snoke managed to turn the son of his greatest rival to his side, but if half of what Rey heard about that horrible man was true, she could not imagine how deep he had his claws in Kylo to ensure remained loyal to him, no matter what.  The fear in his eyes was testament enough to that.

A knock on the front door nearly sent the tongs flying from Rey’s hand, her mind rapidly flashing “he’s here he’s here he’s here” like an over-excited teenager going on her first date before she reigned it in.  She had to make herself not sprint to the door, but instead to calmly turn the chicken over, confirm she was satisfied with the golden-brown hue it had taken on, then calmly walk to the entryway. Her hands had a small tremor in them, but that was quickly done away with by rubbing them against her jeans. By the time she opened the door, she was confident that she was composed enough so at least the night wouldn’t start on an awkward note.

Kylo stood in the building’s hallway, once again immaculate in a finely woven sweater, smartly creased pants and hair falling to his shoulders in soft waves.  In one hand he held a bottle of white wine, and in the other…

… a bouquet of sunflowers and yellow roses.

Rey felt her heart seize and stutter, regaining its normal rhythm just before it stopped completely.

Shit.  

So much for keeping the night casual.

It’s finally happened.  I’m turning into my father.

To say that Kylo had few fond moments of his father was an understatement.  Long before Going Solo was ever pitched to a network, Han had been a fleeting presence in Ben Solo’s life; at home only when he wasn’t off gallivanting around with Lando Calrissian or Tobias Beckett on whatever new scheme they cooked up.  Things would be good for a few weeks - Ben could almost fool himself into thinking they felt like a real family, and maybe this time it would stay that way.

Then the arguments would start.  At first they would be small, over things that should have been inconsequential, but soon they’d grow in frequency and intensity until his mother and father’s voices filled the house. Something would break, a door would slam shut, his mother would cry in whatever chair was closest for her to sink into, all the while Ben huddled in his closet with his hands over his ears, waiting for it to be over.  The next day his mother would try to reassure him that she and his father really did love each other, and that sometimes adults had issues they needed to figure out by themselves. Then she would throw herself into her work, leaving him largely in the care of nannies as she visited the trendiest new restaurants, made appearances at press events and gave interviews.  Or, she would simply shut herself up in her office for what seemed like days on end, working on her articles.

Then, after a month or two of hearing nothing from him, Han would reappear on the doorstep of their brownstone with a bouquet of flowers for Leia and a treat for Ben from wherever he’d been: Moon Pies from Tennessee, Garett popcorn from Chicago, maple sugar candies from New Hampshire. And, like a couple of idiots, he and Leia welcomed him back every time and the cycle would start all over again, when what they should have done was slam it in his face.

Rey didn’t slam the door on him, but the bewildered look on her face made the palms of his hands slick with sweat and his heart do a weird little stutter behind his ribs.  Had he somehow misread her texts? There wasn’t a lot of ways to misinterpret “come over for dinner” and “be here at six,” yet in that moment, as they stared at each other from either side of the threshold of her apartment, he was convinced there was something he got wrong.

“Flowers.”

Kylo blinked, the one word stopping his spiraling thoughts before they descended into full-blown panic.  “I’m sorry?”

“You brought flowers.”  Rey’s words had no tone or infliction in them, which meant Kylo had no way to gauge her reaction.  Was she surprised? Annoyed? Offended? Her eyes were so wide he could see the reflection of the bright yellow petals in them.  Kylo was known around the culinary world for his cuisine that awoke desire and lust in even the most prudent of diners, so people naturally assumed that being a Casanova in the kitchen meant being one in all aspects of his life.  If any of his peers found out that he was really as suave as an acne-ridden teenager out on his first date they’d laugh until they pissed themselves.

Suddenly Rey jerked as if something had jabbed her which - embarrassingly - made Kylo jump in turn.  “Oh, shit!” she exclaimed before dashing back into her apartment, leaving him to stand alone and confused in her building’s hallway.  He was just about to leave when he heard her shout “You can come in!” from somewhere inside her home. Sighing in relief, Kylo stepped into her apartment.

   Rey’s apartment that she shared with a roommate was exactly as Kylo pictured it (not that he dwelled on how she spent her time when she wasn’t cooking, thank you very much).  The modest space was filled with an array of furniture that looked to have come from second-hand stores: the cushions of overstuffed couch were frayed and the arms threadbare in some places; the surface of the coffee table had a map of old scars from coaster neglect that not even a fresh coat of polish could hide; a bookshelf filled with an array of Blu Rays, video games, and books, with framed photos and an assortment of trinkets and brick-a-brac took up what free space was left.  A candle burned in the center of the coffee table, giving off a subtle scent of pumpkin pie spice and cloves, and a lighted fall garland draped over the entertainment center gave off a warm, cozy feeling that embodied the holiday season. It was all so wholesome: relaxed and lived-in, where friendships were cultivated and fond memories created.

It was a stark reminder of how much Kylo did not belong here.  In Rey’s world: in her life.

There were personal touches and details throughout the apartment that hinted that its occupants were not typical 20-something college students.  All art hanging on the walls related to food in some form or fashion: vintage prints of French pastries, art nouveau green fairies, watercolor paintings of herbs, charts showcasing all the different varieties of sushi and pasta, and stylized baking utensils with short, motivational quotes such as “life is short, lick the bowl!” A smaller bookshelf situated between the dining table and the kitchen counter held not only an array of cookbooks ranging from horderves to Chinese cuisine by region, but also a number of chef autobiographies, books on culinary history, and stacks of magazines stuffed in the bottommost two shelves. The pots and pans that hung neatly from hooks on the kitchen walls definitely did not come from Target, and he knew for a fact that most people wouldn’t be able to identify half of the utensils and knives he saw at a cursory glance, much less know how to properly use them.

Rey was in the apartment’s small kitchenette, transferring golden-brown chicken breasts from a frying pan to a glass baking dish.  There was something different about her tonight; Kylo had noticed the moment she opened the door. It was only as she busied herself with dinner that Kylo risked a glance to determine what it was.  It did not take him long to figure it out: it was evident in the dusky pink sheen of her lips and the hint of smoky shadow on her eyelids and the tan cashmere sweater outlining the gentle swell of her breasts and hips, not obscuring them as most of her clothing did.

She looked nice.  Not just pretty as she always did in her casual, au natural way, but done-up nice.  Date nice.

Suddenly there wasn’t anything Kylo wanted to do more than throw the flowers into the nearest garbage can.  He could only imagine what Rey must have thought when she saw them. He had only grabbed them on a whim as an apology for being such an ass, hence their color (never mind the fact that the sunflowers made him think of her the instant he saw them). Then again, she had obviously put time into her appearance before he arrived, not knowing he’d be bringing flowers. Had she just been nervous about being the host for once and wanted to make a good impression? Or what if - like his flowers - there was a subconscious reason for doing what she did, and did not realize it until they were standing face-to-face?

When he was about five or so, Han nearly drove Ben insane with the age-old “chicken or the egg” debate.  Now, thirty-something years later, he was feeling much as he did then.

“Sorry about running off like that,” Rey said as she set the pan down on a cool burner.  “Nearly forgot I had chicken on the stove. Then again,” she added with a small laugh with just a touch of nervousness in it, “it wouldn’t be Maz’s golden mushroom casserole if the chicken wasn’t slightly overcooked.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kylo said absently, mostly because he wasn’t sure what else to say.  He did, however, notice the rest of the ingredients neatly lined along the countertop: several cans of Cambell’s golden mushroom soup, a bottle of inexpensive sauvignon blanc, and a bowl piled high with a mix of shredded yellow and white cheese.  An automatic rice cooker ticked away by the sink, occasionally emitting up puffs of steam. “So I get to try this infamous dinner tonight?”

“If you knew that’s what I was making, would you still have come over?” Rey was rummaging through one of her cabinets so her voice was muffled, making it nearly impossible for Kylo to determine her tone of voice.

“Of course I would have,” he answered, and he meant it.  Rey could have told him she was heating up TV dinners in her microwave and he still would have accepted her invitation without hesitation.

Rey emerged at last from the cabinet, a glass pitcher in hand.  “I thought I had a vase lying around somewhere, but I guess not,” she said, more to herself than to him.  She filled the pitcher with water, then motioned for Kylo to pass the flowers to her. He obliged, their fingers brushing as the bouquet passed from his hand to hers.  He immediately dropped his hand to his side as she arranged the flowers in the pitcher, flexing it and unable to ignore how his skin tingled where it had touched hers, even for that brief instant.

He was so screwed.

At a loss for what else to do or say at the moment, Rey offered Kylo to have a seat and returned to finish their dinner.  It wasn’t easy, not with Kylo sitting at her counter, looking almost too big for her modest-sized apartment. It was even harder to not show how nervous she felt.  The same hands that could de-bone a duck or french a rack of lamb in less than five minutes now shook so bad as she measured the amount of wine she needed to mix into the soup that some of it sloshed over the side of the cup she was holding.

(She was suddenly very glad she didn’t choose to make anything more complex, otherwise tonight might have ended with a trip to the ER).

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Thankfully, Rey didn’t jump; if she had, then she would have showered the whole kitchen with a giant  handful of cheese. “Oh...um…” she stammered, thinking fast. “This is practically done, it just needs to go in the oven.  However,” she added quickly, “there’s a tube of biscuits in the refrigerator, if you want to get those ready. The baking sheets are to the right of the oven.  Unless you think that’s too many carbs with the rice.”

“I don’t mind,” Kylo said as he joined her in the kitchen.  “The war on carbs was a dark time in culinary history. I knew quite a few Italian chefs and bakers who almost had to close their businesses because their food was seen as ‘bad’ thanks to a few choice buzz words from companies pushing their low-carb products on people who didn’t know better.”

“And how can anyone possible refuse a basket of hot bread with real butter when it’s right there on the table?  That’s just not right. If there was such thing as a perfect food in the world, that’d be it.”

“I think I have to contest that,” Kylo said with what could have been a chuckle, but Rey couldn’t sure since his head was currently in her fridge.

“While you’re in there, can you grab me a Yuengling?  You can help yourself to one too if you’d like. I know you brought wine, but I figured we can save that for dinner.”

Kylo emerged from the refrigerator, a tube of Pillsbury biscuits in one hand and two green bottles dangling by their necks in the other.  He pushed the door closed with his elbow, then paused. Rey looked up from the oven as she pushed the casserole in, then froze when she realized what he was looking at.  It was a photograph of three Ghostbusters, one Stay Puft Marshmallow girl and a Sumerian demigod, inebriated and excited from having just placed in a costume contest. Rey loved that picture, even though she looked positively unflattering with her disheveled blonde wig and suggestively licking the blaster of her Proton pack.  She could only imagine what it must look like to Kylo, or what he was thinking seeing her with Finn and Poe. She did, however, hope that knowing she was friends with them outside of work didn’t sour the evening, but she braced herself for an abrupt end all the same.

To her surprise, Kylo only said, “That’s a good look for you.”

A laugh escaped her.  “Glad you think so. I was pretty hammered at that point,” she said, closing the oven door and standing up.  “I don’t even remember that picture being taken.”

“I could never get Phasma or Hux to do anything like that.  Well, maybe Phas if the conditions were right. Hux is about as much fun as an intestinal parasite, and he’d probably try to contract one just to get out of it.”  Kylo handed the beers over the Rey. She quickly popped off their tops with a bottle opener and passed one back to him, telling herself that she was not disappointed when their hands didn’t touch again.  “Do you spend a lot of time with Dameron and Trooper outside of work?”

“Considering Finn’s my roommate and Poe’s his boyfriend, just a bit,” she answered, hoping to keep her tone light.  Then, feeling a little bolder, she continued: “I’d like there to be a time when I don’t have to keep meeting you in secret.  That there’s some kind of neutral ground all of us can find. Not any time soon. Just… some day.”

Rey knew she was poking a hornet’s nest; Kylo’s shoulders instantly tensed, and a very long moment passed before he spoke.

“Someday.  Maybe. I wish I could give you a better answer Rey, but right now I can’t.  It’s...complicated.”

It’s Snoke and the leash he’s keeping on you, you mean, Rey wanted to challenge, but she was done testing her luck for the night.  She only nodded and said, “Someday is a good enough answer for me right now if it’s good for you.”  

Before they could lapse back into silence, Rey quickly changed the subject to more familiar territory.  “So,” she said, hoisting herself onto the counter on the opposite side of the sink. “You said you didn’t agree with my claim that bread and butter is one of the most perfect foods. What then, in your infinite gastronomy wisdom, is?”

“An In ‘n Out Double Double animal style, of course,” Kylo said, opening the can of biscuits with a wet, airy pop.  

Rey couldn’t help the astonished noise she made.  “Doth my ears deceive me? The great Kylo Ren’s favorite food is a fast food burger?”

“You’ve obviously never had an In ‘n Out burger,” he chided.  “To be honest, if you had asked me that same question a few weeks ago, I would have given you a completely different and horribly clique answer like I would for a magazine interview; just some fabrication of what people want to hear, and not what I really think or feel.”  He stopped placing the biscuits on the baking sheet and looked at her, his eyes so intensely focused that it took her breath away. “You changed that.”

Rey swallowed thickly, taking a sip of her beer to hide what that gaze did to her, inside and out.  “Oh? How did I manage to do that?”

Was it her imagination, or did his eyes wander down the length of her body, taking in the way her neck arched when she drank from her bottle to how her jeans conformed to the curve of her thighs and calves?  Rey never was very good at picking up on cues when people genuinely flirted with her, and she was even worse when trying to flirt with someone herself. Was she reading too much into that look, or not enough?  She barely managed to hold her shit together when he showed up on her doorstep with flowers, and now he was damn near looking at her like he had when he spoke of Hades and Persephone on Iron Chef America.  If he made any kind of real move…

Luckily (or unluckily; Rey wasn’t quite sure which) she wouldn’t be finding out, because he returned to the task at hand.  “Because you were right,” he continued. “People shouldn’t disown their pasts. Especially chefs. For most of us, our passions were born from the kitchens of our mothers and grandmothers, learning what was passed down to them from their grandmothers and back through generations.  Other chefs always return to that one defining moment when they discovered food was special. Important. That sharing the right meal with the right person can make it feel like all’s well in the world.”

Kylo’s voice grew so soft that Rey wondered if he was only talking to himself.  She wanted nothing more than to slide from her perch and wrap her arms around him, but she didn’t want to risk him withdrawing back into himself because of her unwanted advances.  When he didn’t say anything else, Rey gently prompted, “So which one are you? The pupil of generations past, or a single moment of epiphany?”

“It was a boy and his father sitting on a pier in Southern California, eating fast food burgers and watching the sun set over the ocean and seagulls fighting over dropped fries.  And the boy thought, maybe if he learned to make food just like that hot, greasy, wonderful sandwich, maybe the father would stick around for a change.”

Rey’s body moved on its own accord, sliding off the counter and crossing the kitchen to lay her hand on his: their first true intimate touch.

He wouldn’t look at her.

“Is that what happened to Ben Solo?  Is he still on that pier, waiting for his father to come back?”

She waited for him to answer, but the oven timer went off instead.

“I’ll go set the table,” he said softly, his hand sliding out from under hers as he moved toward the cabinets where she and Finn kept the dishes. Rey’s heart ached for him, but at the same time she could not deny that she also felt a little happy, as selfish as that was.

Kylo was opening up to her.  More importantly, he wasn’t running away.

For now, that was enough.

“How did you find out?” Kylo asked, passing Rey a dinner plate freshly rinsed of suds.

“It turns out that my foster mother knew your father from way back,” Rey said, accepting the plate and attacking it with her dish towel.  “Do you happen to remember Maz Kanata?”

Kylo made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan.  “Oh yes, I remember old Maz. And I can already hear what she’ll say when you tell her you proved me wrong about her cooking.”  Rey giggled, recalling how Kylo unabashedly accepted seconds of the steamy, cheesy concoction that he once deemed sounded “revolting.”  “Did she say anything specific about me, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Rey shrugged with one shoulder.  “Not really. Only that you were a scrawny kid and you need to call your mother,” she said, taking another dinner plate from him.  “But I’m assuming that’s another complicated issue?”

“Very,” Kylo agreed solemnly, and Rey took that as a cue that that particular part of the conversation was over.

“It’s funny, though, how things like that come full circle,” Rey mused. “Your dad and my mom were once friends, and now here we are, cooking for each other and washing the dinner dishes afterwards.”

Like friends.  Maybe even almost like a couple.

Kylo grunted in affirmation, scrubbing at the crusty cheese that ringed the baking dish.  The sleeves of his sweater were rolled up to his elbows, and fluffy soap suds covered his forearms.  Maybe it was the earlier beer and half a bottle of white bordeaux in her system, but Rey suddenly felt devilishly mischievous.  Reaching across the sink, she caught of blob of bubbles on her finger and then dabbed it on the very end of Kylo’s nose.

Kylo jerked back as if he’d been shocked, and the look he gave her was so incredulous that Rey couldn’t help but burst out laughing.  

“What was that for?” he demanded, hastily scrubbing the bubbles off.

“You’re just so serious all the time,” Rey said through her mirth.

Kylo turned away, but before Rey could wonder if she’d gone too far he scooped up a handful of bubbles and smeared it in her hair.

Rey practically shrieked and threw herself at him, armed with a softball-sized ball of bubbles.  Before she could reach her intended target - Kylo’s aggravatingly handsome face - he effortlessly caught her wrists and pinned her arms behind her back, her forward momentum causing her to crash against him.  

Rey’s breath hitched in her chest, which only made her more acutely aware of the way her body was pressed flush to his.  It was impossible to believe there was a time he was made up of anything other than knees and elbows, not when he felt like a living mountain against her own softer curves, his thick arms on either side of her efficiently trapping her. How many times had she imagined herself in a situation just like this with him, with the fingers of one hand curled inside her and the other on her breast as a cheap mockery of his sensual mouth? How would this night end if she rolled her hips into his, or if she pushed herself up on her toes and closed the space between their lips?  If the dark light in his eyes was anything to go by, he was thinking the exact same thing.

That was until he cleared his throat and released her hands, taking a step back.  “Truce?”

“Sure… Truce,” Rey agreed reluctantly.  “I can finish the dishes later. Do you maybe want to watch a movie or something…?”

“Actually, I should get going.  Vader is hosting its first major executive Christmas party this week and there are a few kinks in the menu I still need to work out.”

Rey hoped her disappointment wasn’t too evident as she walked him to the door.  He shrugged into his coat and put on his shoes, but as he reached for the doorknob he paused, looking back at her.

“Maybe after the new year and our schedules clear up we can do something together.  Something non-food related, I mean.”

Rey’s heart skipped a beat.  “You mean like a date?”

The tips of Kylo’s ears turned red.  “Yeah, I guess I do mean like a date.”

Rey smiled, causing Kylo’s ears to go even more read than before.  “I’d love to.”

Kylo took Rey’s hand and raised it to his mouth, brushing a kiss over her knuckles.  He thanked her again for dinner and left.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Rey raised her hand to her mouth and gently pressed her knuckles to her lips, breathing in the lingering scent of Kylo’s aftershave hanging in the entryway and wondering if, some day, the same scent would be left on her pillow too.

[kairi-chan]

Fighting For You [3/?] - SasuSaku

[First Chapter]

Summary: They were from different worlds. They were both interested, but knew a relationship between them was less than likely to happen, even if they both wanted it. Sasuke’s profession was dangerous, and Sakura was sheltered. Her parents’ did not approve of him. Slowly though, feelings started to take root and both of them were willing to fight for each other.

Genre: Romance / Humor

Rating: M

A/N: Co-written with @ss-tyytyy she will be posting it on her FFnet, while I will be posting it here on tumblr.

Sakura watched Ino position her food on the table, and readjusted the small flower vase for the ninth time before finally snapping a picture. The blond smiled, obviously content with her photo and quickly typed up a caption before posting it. She then flipped her phone over, screen first on the table, before finally looking at her again.

“So,” Ino propped her elbows on the table and leaned closer to her.

She pushed the chicken around her salad, refusing to meet her gaze. “So what, Pig?” her voice was merely a whisper. She couldn’t shake off the way Sasuke looked at her earlier, or the way his muscles rippled as he sparred with Naruto. It was sending all sorts of feelings and sensations into her system that she couldn’t explain.

The blond scowled. “What do you think of Sasuke?”

“I don’t think he likes you very much.” She teased.

Ino stabbed her chicken with her fork and ranted on. “He thinks he’s so high and mighty! He’s not even that good. I bet Naruto could kick his ass.”

Sakura laughed. It was really easy to rile Ino up. And she wasn’t going to lie, she liked teasing her best friend because her reactions were always gold. “I know. And he ruined your chances of getting Naruto’s hands on you.”

“I know!” She screeched. “What a bastard. Now I know why Naruto calls him that all the time.” She paused for a while before blurting out, “Oh my gosh! Did you see the latest summer collection? They’re adorable!”

This was exactly how things were supposed to be for Sakura. Brunch dates with Ino on Saturday mornings in fancy places while she listened to her rant on about boys and her latest fashion obsessions. After she would go around the fashion district and maybe do some shopping.

Her driver would then fetch her, and bring her home. She would have just enough time to freshen up and have dinner with her parents. Both of them were very busy people, but they always made it a point to spend time with her at least three times a week. It was like a schedule to the both of them. Ino often commented it wasn’t normal, but Sakura never paid too much attention to it. She loved her parents, and cherished all the time they could spare for her.

“Darling,” Her mother reached up, and Sakura bent down for her mother to kiss her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

Sakura smiled until her green eyes disappeared and walked over to her father.

“My precious flower is always beautiful.” He cooed. She kissed his cheek and settled into her seat. “Just like your mother,” He pointed at her, and then winked at his wife. Who blushed in return.

Sakura laughed and shook her head. Despite being married for twenty-two years, her parents still behaved like two teenagers in love. She eyed her father with a small smile on her face. Even if he was a CEO, he was still pretty humble. And not as scary as people thought him to be. She then shifted her gaze to her mother. The fine lines on her face only emphasized the knowledge she had acquired during her years in medicine. She adored her mother, and so desperately wanted to be a doctor, just like her.

“How’s your Shadowing going, darling?” Her mother asked. “Tsunade isn’t working you too hard, is she?”

She shook her head and took a sip of water. “No, mother. She’s a little scary sometimes, but she’s been very nice. Dr. Tsunade even offered more hours for me to stay. Next week, she’ll allow me to watch a surgery!” Sakura spoke excitedly, to which her mother’s smile only widened.

“She’s a good surgeon. I knew she would like you.”

Her father crossed his arms and smirked. “Good thing she recognizes talent when she sees it! My daughter will exceed her, I am sure.”

Sakura grinned and started to eat. The rest of the dinner was filled with lively conversation. Her father shared funny stories of how he liked to scare the new recruits sometimes, only to end up laughing as soon as they exited his office.

“I think,” He said in between laughs. “I think he requested to be moved to a different department!”

The two women laughed. They then moved to the living room for dessert.

“Sakura,” Her father pulled out a small box and presented it to her. “I know how much you love strawberries. I heard the first harvest in London was good, so I had some brought for you.”

She felt her cheeks color. Strawberry season wasn’t even starting yet, and here her father was, air shipping fruit halfway across the world just because he knew his daughter liked them. She opened the box and her green eyes glittered. They were red, and plump.

“Thank you!” She grinned. She eagerly dug into the fruit and ate.

Her father grinned back, and plopped down on the sofa next to her. “This is exactly what I needed. Just a night to spend with my two favorite ladies.”

Her mother looked up from her phone and asked Sakura, “Is Ino dating someone new?”

Sakura stopped mid bite. “Yeah, she is.” She replied warily. “Why?”

Her mother showed her screen to her husband. “Hey, isn’t that MMA fighter? Uhh… I forgot his name.”

Sakura froze. She did not want to have this conversation with her parents. It was embarrassing enough that her mother followed Ino on Instagram, and they were both friends on facebook. “Naruto.”

“Ah yes!” Her father perked up. “He’s a good one. I watched one of his fights in the pantry once. Young and agile.” He nodded.

A wave of relief washed over her. At least her father slightly approved of Naruto. Slightly.

“Have you met this boy, dear?” Mebuki asked.

Ah, she was dead. “N-no,” She lied. “Ino likes to talk about him a lot, though. I think I waved at him through facetime once.”

Both of her parents gave her a look, but let it pass. “No boyfriends until you graduate medical school.” Her father said with a stern stare. To which, she merely nodded meekly.

Her mother laughed and held on to her father’s arm. “Sakura’s old enough, don’t you think? She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

Sakura was thankful for her mother’s trust. But she knew her father always got into a huff about these things. “Exactly, Mebuki. Which is why I’m sure boys would just fall all over her!”

Sakura laughed half heartedly. This wasn’t exactly the case, but it had happened on more than one occasion.

After taking a shower, Sakura lay in her bed and scrolled through her phone. She finally saw the selfie she took with Naruto at the gym earlier. She sighed and placed her phone down. She stared at her ceiling and contemplated how her life had been going so far.

Maybe Ino was right. She needed to get out more and live. But how could she with her overprotective parents and high expectations? Sakura groaned and turned to her side. She picked up her phone and scrolled through her instagram feed some more. She stared at Ino’s photo with Naruto again and saw that she had tagged him. She clicked on his username and looked through his profile.

It appeared to be a personal account, and yet he had more than a hundred thousand followers. There were no photos of Ino on his feed, though. It was mostly professional photos taken during fights, and some videos of him training. There were occasional funny photos of himself, and selfies with his manager. And then, her breath hitched. It was a photo of Naruto and Sasuke.

Without thinking, she read the caption and hastily clicked on the tag with Sasuke’s name. He also had a lot of followers, but her face fell when she realized it was his professional account. The feed was clean, and it contained photos from his fight, videos of him training, and snippets of interviews. It barely contained any casual photos of him, which made her frown.

She wasn’t going to lie. She repeatedly watched the videos of him doing push ups, and pull ups. She adored the way his muscles rippled. Sakura also enjoyed listening to his voice during the interviews. He often gave one word responses, and smirked often. Which she enjoyed. She found herself laughing when someone asked him about his friendship with Naruto.

“We see you and Naruto train together often. I heard your managers were good friends. What do you think about him?”

Sasuke smirked. “He’s a loser,” came his automatic response.

“Aren’t you afraid you may have to fight him one day? I believe you two belong to the same weight division.”

He shrugged. “If it comes, it comes. It won’t affect me, or my standing. I’m still going to beat the Dobe anyway.”

Sakura laughed. His confidence was mostly taken for being cocky. She wasn’t going to lie, he was cocky, but there seemed to be so much more to Sasuke than that. Plus, since she had already seen Naruto and Sasuke’s exchanges first hand, she knew he was bluffing. They were both good friends, and it seemed like the media ate it up like hotcakes.

She read through the comments, and through more of his photos. She found a link of a compilation of his best fights. She clicked it and her phone redirected to Youtube. Sakura found herself holding her breath with each second that passed. All of the videos were less than five minutes long, and that was already including his entrance. The cut version, at least. Sakura couldn’t take the idea of someone punching that face. It was too pretty to take a hit.

Luckily, he almost never received them. Sasuke was quick, and dodged gracefully. It almost looked like he was dancing. His face was mostly nonchalant, but there was an unmistakable glint of fire in his eyes. He was in it to win, and he always did.

After watching nearly all of the fights on his youtube channel, she moved to watching other fighters. She couldn’t believe how brutal these fights could get. She felt all too relieved that Sasuke never received a fatal blow.

“Oh my god, is that blood on the mat?” She muttered to herself as she pulled her phone a little closer. The guy kicked him in the face and sent blood splattering. He fell on the mat with a thud. “Oh my god!” She screamed. Sakura was never one to be fazed by blood. It was next to normal for her. But the thought that people actually placed themselves in situations to get knocked into the next week baffled her.

“He could be a model with how hot he looks.” She muttered, as she rolled on to her other side. She closed the Youtube app and went back to his instagram. Once she got bored with that, she went to google and searched up his name.

Sasuke Uchiha

Even his name sent thrills through her body. After reading his wikipedia page, she checked the time. It was already passed midnight. She set her alarm and put her phone away to her side table. All of her stalking suddenly made her feel so tired.

“Why do I do this to myself?” She whispered as she pulled her blankets to cover her lithe body. Tomorrow would be another day. Another day where she would start her routine again. But she half hoped that she would get a little disruption, and an invitation to come and watch him train again.

Sakura started her day early with a yoga class near the hospital. She always liked attending, as it helped prep her up for her day. It was nice to sweat and practice both physical and mental discipline before her day actually started. After she took her shower, her driver fetched her and drove her to the hospital.

She walked through the halls and smiled warmly at the staff who had recognized her as Tsunade’s ward. She usually shadowed her from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. Doing hospital work always made Sakura forget everything else that went on in her life. It was one reason why she liked being there in the first place. Other than helping people of course. She always knew that helping was one of her life’s callings.

During lunch, she decided to eat at the pantry, instead of staying at Tsunade’s office. The television was on, and the other hospital staff gathered around to watch some reruns. Sakura perked up as soon as she heard his voice.

“I train hard. It’s only natural that I win.”

Her green eyes were glued to the screen, completely forgetting the meal in front of her. She caught herself smiling. She had already watched this interview last night, but it still sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach to hear him again.

After her hospital shift, she decided to spend some time for herself. She saw Ino’s Instagram story that she was spending some time with Naruto. She didn’t want to bother her, so she walked to the park across the street and found herself a tree to sit under. She had two more hours before she had to meet Ino and their other friends for dinner. Sakura was half hoping she would bring Naruto along. He seemed like he would get along with their group of friends. She then found her thoughts drifting back Sasuke’s smoldering gaze. She shook her head to clear it and pulled a book out of her bag.

She had had enough of him invading her thoughts for the day. For now, she wanted to spend time getting lost in another world. Sakura opened the book and began reading.

“Forehead! You’re late!” Ino chided.

Sakura laughed nervously and took a seat next to Shikamaru. “Sorry, I lost track of time.” Her green eyes then roved around to everyone at the table. Tenten, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino and Naruto were there.

“Hey, you’re here!” She greeted him.

Naruto grinned, making his whiskered cheek rise, until his blue eyes disappeared. “Hi Sakura-chan. I didn’t really have a choice, ya know?”

The whole table erupted in laughter. Everyone knew Ino probably threatened him to join, but judging by seeing no damage on either of them, Naruto had come on his own free will.

Dinner was filled with laughs and stories. She rarely got to see Tenten since she was busy with her summer job, and Shikamaru and Choji were helping out with their family businesses. It was all the more reason for her to cherish these moments with everyone. But as the laughs died down, the food all gone (mostly thanks to Choji), and the bill paid (courtesy of Ino), they all shuffled out of the restaurant and said their goodbyes to each other.

“When can I go and watch you train again?” Ino asked Naruto.

“I have a fight coming up, so I’m a little busy. I’ll have to ask if you can come when my coaches are around.”

Sakura watched as Ino pouted at Naruto, who then grinned. “I’ll ask and then I’ll call you, alright?”

She brightened up. “Yeah! Hey, can Sakura come, too?”

“Sure! But just so you know, Teme won’t be there.”

The pinkette turned bright red and flailed her arms around. “It’s fine! I don’t want to intrude.”

Naruto and Ino laughed. “Hey, it’s no problem. I can ask Kaka-sensei if you can. But as soon as I get a free day with Sasuke, I’ll let you two know, alright?” He kissed Ino’s forehead before walking away.

Sakura watched him leave. The hope of seeing Sasuke again made her heart soar. She was more than excited to see him again.

A/N: Now we got a glimpse of Sakura’s life. What do you guys think? Tyy and I love hearind your thoughts!