#claps HEY ok I finally feel like I’m getting some of my chops back

[fisherrprince]

get licked idiot (2142 words)

“Tataru,” Ch’ari blinks, one end of his mouth twitching. “You wouldn’t happen to have been… sewing upside-down, would you?”

“Why, no! Nothing of the sort. What makes you ask?”

“You’ve got, um...”

Tataru looks down in confusion and fusses with her clothes a moment, seeming satisfied as she straightens her overalls and completely misses the massive cowlick sticking straight up off her head. Ch’ari twitches. 

To make matters worse, she sits down next to him — still armored in his dragoon gearset after a day of hunting fiends out near Coerthas — and snags a bottle of rum from behind the counter to pour herself a drink. “Though I admit I was a bit busy. You’ll have to wait and see what with,” she says, trying to have a little conversation with the midnight crew.

Nursing his own bottle (a cheap unopened mead that he never pours into a cup, not that he needs to), Ch’ari can’t figure out how to respond and just watches her take a sip. The cowlick bobs comically with the motion. 

“Lemme just…” Ch’ari reaches over and flicks it. It pops back up. 

“Hm? Oh, is there something in there?”

“Hold on.” Ch’ari licks his finger and combs it down. It stays for maybe a second, and then… pops back up. He bats it reflexively. 

He’s aware his pupils are probably dilated as far as they’ll go, but this is his prey now.  This is his quarry. This bouncy cowlick. It will submit to him, this cowlick. 

He looms over Tataru’s head, and luckily she’s familiar enough with him to simply raise an eyebrow and not wonder if he’s going to eat her like a python. Ch’ari proceeds to insistently lick his fingers and smooth out her hair, as if she were a diminutive Miqo’te. He’s tempted just to — just to lick it down so his tongue can do the combing, but he’s not sure that Tataru would be amenable. He does care about her as a friend, and is aware Lalafell do not groom each other like his instincts want him to do. Even if it’s, getting fixed one strand at a time, infuriatingly, fighting him the whole way.

Eventually — eventually — Tataru’s hair looks… presentable. The cowlick, at least, is gone and not offending Ch’ari’s sensibilities, and the rest of it looks like it usually does outside her messy bun. Ch’ari growls at his work in satisfaction, and returns to his mead, starting to turn a bit pink despite his scowl. 

“…Was it really that bad?”

“You looked like a coeurl toy,” Ch’ari mutters. 

Tataru chirps a little delighted laugh. “Well! Then I’m glad I have you to protect me!”

••

For some reason, everyone had been fine upon arriving to Ishgard — freezing cold, yes, a bit miserable, but not sick. Alphinaud had, however, upon returning to the Rising Stones to recuperate after the defeat of Nidhogg, gotten a nasty cold and the worst sniffles known to man. He had been knocked out in bed for the past two days, and just barely able to shuffle about and pretend to be normal for about ten minutes in the morning for breakfast. 

Key word “pretend”. Despite his airs, it was abundantly clear to anyone who looked at him from closer than five feet that he had dragged himself out of bed to be here, and as soon as he had a croissant in him he was going right back to bed. It was how Ch’ari knew the cold was bad — he wasn’t off making it worse somewhere and ignoring it. 

Which is why Ch’ari almost excuses his dreadful upkeep. Unfortunately, it’s dreadful. 

He slumps carefully into the seat next to the Warrior, a croissant in his hand and a wheeze escaping his nose. His hair is pulled back in a looser braid, which is messy, but forgivable; his whiskers, however, are entirely crooked. The soft fluff around the base of his ears looks glued on and sticking up in places, and his fringe is almost sideways. Unconscionable. 

“Good morning, plague bringer,” Alisaie says by way of greeting. Alphinaud grunts in response. 

Ch’ari does not greet him. Ch’ari places his hand on his head like he’s a pickle jar and starts licking his fluff. 

Alphinaud jerks backwards, fast for a sick boy but dazed enough to be unable to break out of Ch’ari’s hold. The croissant drops to the table in a shower of crumbs. “A-Ari!” he splutters. 

Whatever the fluff is made of, it’s thinner than Miqo’te hair, which means it’s thinner than his papillae are really good for combing through. No matter, he will just have to do a more thorough job. He continues to lick and Alphinaud continues to writhe, and as he does his ear keeps flicking Ch’ari in the eye every time he runs his tongue near it — Ch’ari brings his other hand up and slaps it down, trapping it against the Elezen’s head. He pins Alphinaud with a glare. 

Alphinaud withers and stops trying to wriggle free, shrinking down in his seat. Pointedly ignoring Alisaie, who is watching the spectacle with her mouth open, Ch’ari snorts and continues his ministrations. One side done and straightened, he adjusts the boy’s head and works on the other. 

Alisaie mouths something to her brother, who does not dignify it with a response, whatever it was. At least he’s given up on trying to get out of being cleaned, but Ch’ari could feel the heat coming off his face from a malm away. Wether it’s embarrassment or fever, he doesn’t care to know. 

“You’re next if I catch you unkempt, red girl,” Ch’ari says, and he hears the click of a certain jaw being snapped shut. And an impulsive brush of hair being checked. 

The fluff successfully smoothed out and clean, Ch’ari decides to spare Alphinaud any further public displays of affection and only gives his fringe a cursory swipe through. 

“You may eat your croissant now.”

“…Thank… um. You,” Alphinaud mumbles, caught between a rock (mortification) and a hard place (critical unknown etiquette situation). He does not look at anyone else as he picks up his food and shuffles off back to bed.

••

Doman summers are humid. That is not the excuse Ch’ari has to make to get Alisaie to peel herself off the floor, but it is one of the ones he has ready. 

It only takes two excuses — namely that everyone else is asleep and so should you be, and that he insists come over here the futon by the window is more comfortable than the stool yes even if it’s small you’ll get a horrible crick in your neck just slouching there. It probably helps that she’s allowed to keep watch over her brother, and Ch’ari isn’t forcing her to go to the room she’d been provided with to go to bed. He’d be a hypocrite, anyways. 

She situates herself on the opposite end with a blanket, lost in thought. Ch’ari always thought the Leveilleur twins to be in their heads a bit often — as a negative trait, in the past, though it had morphed to being endearing to neutral in recent months. Always worried about such big pictures that the small ones scamper away outside their notice. Or always so preoccupied with what they can or can’t do to be useful, to change the things that aren’t fair about the world. So afraid of failure. Such a self-made burden on their fragile shoulders. 

That trait drives them underneath all their sweet selflessness and stubborn idealism. And it gets worse and worse with fear, the kind of fear that narrows the world down to two or three people at a time when the world demands thousands be paid attention to. 

Ch’ari has always been good at caring about two or three people at a time, and one or two things at a time. The title of hero is one he ultimately doesn’t deserve if one casts aside the ends and asks the means. He’s really more of a sword to be pointed, to intimidate. All the talk of politics, the big world important stuff his twins care about so so much, had washed over his ears a bit, ears that are not even now accustomed to a world bigger than a twenty yalm flat. He cares for the world and the whims of its protectors because there are people who live in it he cares about, as a sword loves its wielders, and they care for the world in that grand and wonderful way they do. 

Ch’ari has his thoughts, Alisaie has hers. He thinks she’s probably running herself in circles about the fate of the star and the fates of her loved ones, and Ch’ari is here thinking only of how he might be able to get her to stop. 

As it is, it’s ultimately not his decision. Guards patrol the Kienkan at night, and pass by windows with intermittent frequency, and it is as one shadow filters through the moonlight and shutters that Hydealyn deigns to grace him with a splitting migraine — but it’s a migraine he knows, it’s familiar. Not the overwhelming voice of the Call. He flinches backwards, claws to his head.

Alisaie startles and jumps to her hands and knees, gripping the blanket. Gods, not now, he has to-

“Echo. Echo—“ Ch’ari manages to choke out, before the memory takes him. 

There is nothing. 

It is a peaceable morning devoid of aught unusual, aside from its expansive, yawning emptiness — the soldier stands at the edge of the river, hand to his head in confusion as water sprites wink out and wither, far along the bank. No birds. No fish. No efts. Nothing. Even the babbling of the stream seems muted. 

The nets are empty. He goes home. 

Ch’ari comes out of the — short, but rather to the point — memory with a heavy shake of his head. He gets the message. At least the mother crystal is not one to dilly-dally when she has something to say, though he wants for priorities. There is so much going on, would Hydealyn have him abandon all else to fix this problem? Where to begin?

He comes back to awareness with Alisaie’s hands on his knees. 

Bereft of a good reassurance, he gives her a little thumbs up. She nearly deflates with relief. 

“Gods, Ch’ari. Do not do that again.”

“You’ll have to neg Hydealyn for that one.”

“Ari.”

“I’m fine. We’re fine,” he rasps. A dangerous wobble is sneaking into her eyes, born of stress and more stress and comatose family and the fear of being the only one left and in a room with her empty brothers. Ch’ari is struck as if with an axe at how much he would do to stop her. 

Any other circumstance would be met with characteristic yelping and protesting and perhaps a death threat or a tussle, but Ch’ari beckons and helps Alisaie (so light! Like a chocobo chick) into the crook between him and the window and puts his head atop hers and curls his tail around her feet and she doesn’t protest. Instead she tucks her arms around herself and pulls her tail in against his legs and drops her head right on his chest and does not cry. 

“We are fine,” she mutters. 

“Very. And if we are not, we will be not fine together.” The axe still embedded deep in his chest, he does not much hesitate to start licking through her bangs to smooth them out. 

She stiffens, her ears swiveling upwards as if to figure out what it is. Then, slowly, they drop back down, and her tense posture eases ever-so-slightly. Evidently, Alphinaud’s investigation into Miqo’te culture after his encounter with Ch’ari while sick was shared for scientific discussion. What fast learners. Even if Y’shtola had shared with him the disastrous results of Alphy asking her for tribal advice. Chuckling under his breath at the memory, his purr starts up without his bidding. 

“…How are you vibrating?”

Ch’ari stops and heaves a great sigh, and then bullies her head back down from where it had tilted up at him quizzically. “Your brother asked the exact same thing. It’s not vibrating, it is purring. It means I’m happy.”

“Oh. …oh,” Alisaie says, quieting. She casts a long glance at the bed set up against the wall, its occupant not even snoring or shifting. “I wasn’t aware you could feel it.”

“Little opportunity to find out, th’ past while.”

She pauses for a long moment. 

“Even now?”

“M’ happy you’re still here.” He turns his attention to her part, carefully grooming apart the mis-tied strands. “Not a fan of being alone.”

“I see.��� Her tail shifts, the inflexible tip curling closer like either a stuffed toy to clutch or a protective sheet to block the world from hearing. “Neither am I.”

“Lucky.”

[bqstqnbruin]

No one told you life was gonna be this way

clap clap clap clap

Get it?

But here I am with that request that was sent in FOREVER AGO but I’m actually proud of this one. I haven’t been really happy with the stuff I’ve written in a while, but what are ya gonna do? This was requested from the fluff prompts, which I will still take (I think I still have one or two more currently ?) Sorry to the person who requested this the first time because for some reason the list shows up weird on my computer and the list only goes to 56 unless I’m on my phone but HERE WE ARE ANYWAY 

65. "So, we're just going to ignore the fact that you drunk-dialed me to tell me you love me?"

EDIT: so I really loved this one and noticed that no one has every reblogged it (probably because everyone hates the Bruins but Gryz deserves more attention TBH), so I edited it a bit, added stuff, rewrote parts, and here we are! 

Flashbacks are in italics!

________________________________

“How come you haven’t gone out on a date in a while?” your roommate, Emily, asks you, plopping down next to you on the couch for what would be another night inside watching Netflix, snacking on popcorn from Trader Joes, and drinking wine. 

“No guy has asked me out in a while?” you shrug, taking a large sip of your wine.

“Then why don’t you ask a guy out? You know plenty of single ones.” 

“I’m not interested in the ones that I know,” you say. She knows you’re lying. You’re well aware that you’re lying, but you’re not going to tell her that. Your entire friend group knew that you’ve had a crush on Matt pretty much since they day you met.

You were sitting in the dining hall at BU during your freshman year. You only knew Emily, but she had managed to make what seemed like millions of friends in the first two weeks, always surrounded by people while you watched from the outside. You were sitting there trying to keep up with the conversation they were having but not concentrating at all. 

“Hey, Gryz!” one of the guys yells, calling over to a babyface, blue eyed boy to come sit at the only available seat across from you. He sits down, giving you a small smile before you both turn your attention back to the conversation. There was something about him that you found yourself going back to looking at him, unable to hold the stare for more than a few seconds before turning back to whoever was talking so that he wouldn’t notice. 

Before Emily and her friends had joined you at the table, you were working on some stuff for class, a pencil and pen still laying there on the table. You absentmindedly pick up the pen, using it to push around the pencil. You weren’t sure how long you had been doing that on your own when all of a sudden another pencil is shot in your direction. You look up, the cute guy you had only known as Gryz smiling at you, pen in hand. 

“Shoot it back,” he eggs on. You shoot the pencil across the table, it landing right in his lap. 

“Oh, come on, Matt,” Vinay says, “You’re on the goddamn hockey team.” Everyone at the table laughs, Matt’s face turning red.

“Let’s do a tournament. We’re all sitting across from someone else,” you suggest. 

“I’m not going against you again,” Matt teases, making Alex get up and switch seats with him. He can’t help but smile as you explain the rules to everyone, scrambling to find enough writing utensils for everyone to play.

“First one to get it off the table five times is the winner. The loser of the last round owes the winner a favor of their choosing,” you finish, everyone going unnecessarily crazy. 

You were the one who invented the game just then, which surprisingly played to your advantage. You made it to the final round no problem. Your opponent: Matt. 

“You’re gonna win,” Matt groans, you just smiling as Emily cheers you on.

And you do. Matt had to buy you breakfast from the diner off campus every weekend for a month as his favor to you. The two of you went every weekend, and you wanted nothing more than for it to be a date each time. 

But you didn’t know if he wanted that, too. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t notice that you were absolutely smitten with him. Either that, or he didn’t really care. But regardless, you weren’t about to ask him out and find out that he only thought of you as a friend. And that’s probably why you don’t want to go on a date, you think to yourself. Part of you is still hoping that there’s something there between you and him. Why date other people when you can just wait for the person who’s right there and will never want to date you, right?

“What if I set you up with someone?” Emily suggests, earning what was probably an unnecessarily mean laugh to escape from your lips. 

“Yes, because we all know that’s going to end well.” Emily means well; she’s tried to set you up on blind dates before, but they normally end with you going home by yourself because you were too busy comparing the guy to Matt, or finding something wrong with them. It always came down to the same thing: they weren’t Matt. 

“Ok, fine. How about this weekend we go out and just have fun? You and me. If we find someone to like hookup with, consensually, then we go for it.” 

You give a heavy sigh, staring at your glass of wine. You don’t want to get with another guy. You were crushing hard on Matt, and you didn’t see yourself trying to go for anyone else until the crush was gone. “Fine, sure. It’s a date,” you say reluctantly, knowing that you really didn’t have a choice.

----------- 

“What are your plans for the weekend, Y/N?” Matt asks you, leaning against the counter in your kitchen. At least once every other week, you and Emily, Lydia and Jake, Vin and Alex, and Matt would rotate who would have the group over for dinner at one of the four apartments. This week was your and Em’s turn. Since she could really only make pasta, you were in the kitchen making burgers for everyone while Matt was helping you with whatever sides he could scrounge up from your cabinets. 

“Em and I are going out somewhere. She thinks I need to get out more.” You turn to him. He’s looking down at the cutting board, concentrating on the peppers he’s cutting. A single strand of hair falls in his face. You just want to brush it out of his face, him to look up at you with those blue eyes you loved, smile at you and -

No. No. You shake your head, turning back to the burgers before he can realize you were even looking at him. “Where are you headed to?” he asks, you not sure if he looked up.

“No clue, she just wants to go out so we can, like, hook up with someone,” you shrug, noticing that he stopped cutting the peppers. He was probably done chopping, anyway. If he was done, though, he would have asked what he could do next. It wasn’t like him to just stop. You take the last burger off the grill pan, and turn to him to see him just staring at the peppers, brow scrunched, almost looking upset. “Matt? Are you alright?”

 “Uh, yeah.” He clears his throat, throwing the peppers into the bowl for the salad you knew only the two of you would end up eating, anyway. “So, do you think you’re actually going to hook up with someone?” He was smiling, but there was something about the look in his eyes that made you think he wasn’t alright.

You chuckle, seeing the upset look in his eyes start to fade, “Probably not,” you shake your head, putting the burgers on buns, “You know me, I’m not into hooking up. Em just thinks I need a boyfriend so I don’t spend every night alone. She thinks my love life is D.O.A, just like in the Friends theme song.”

“What does D.O.A. even mean?”

“Dead on arrival. Basically my love life doesn’t exist.” Both of you laugh, Matt finally smiling with his eyes, “Which it does. Kind of. I mean, I’m interested in someone, so hooking up doesn’t seem that important when he’s around.” You stop for a minute, sort of shocked that you even admitted that you liked someone in the first place, much less admitted it to the guy you liked. 

He lets out another sigh, grabbing the bowls to bring to the living room where all your friends were, a smile on his face, that hurt look in his eyes reappearing. “Well, whoever that guy is, he’s really lucky.” 

------------------

“Oh. My. God!” Emily practically screams. She wouldn’t have to if the bar you went to wasn’t so loud, but when you tell her about what Matt said to you the other night, she started to lose it. Normally, she would just say you were reading into things too much, but hey, you were drunk. Everything was more interesting when you were drunk. 

“I know!” you scream back, mirroring Janice and Rachel. 

“What do you think that means?”

“I have no idea.” You take a long sip of the bottle of Corona that had only been in your hands for the last ten minutes. You end up finishing the bottle, swaying a little bit. Whoops. You were a little too drunk already, and the night was only just beginning. “I’ll be right back.” You had every intention of going to the bar and asking for water. But instead, you ended up in an outdoor area of the bar, one that was much quieter than inside, less crowded, more calm, almost soothing.

You take a deep breath, letting in fresh air. What would it be like if you told Matt you liked him? You can just picture telling him, even so much as pulling out your phone to find his contact. You could just hit the little call button next to his name. He would be asleep by now, seeing as he had practice tomorrow and a road trip. You would call him and leave him a message for him to find in the morning. You would say, “Hey, so, we’ve been acting weird around each other lately. Actually, we have been forever. And it might be drunk me talking, but it’s because I’m in love with you, and I have been. I’m not sure about what you’re feeling, but I know for me, it’s you. You. Ok, bye.” And then something great would happen the next morning, where he confesses his love to you, too. 

You always hoped that he would. The day he won the Beanpot, you thought he would. 

All the guys were celebrating, told to bring as many people as they wanted to the party, which, for some reason, you had to wear a dress for. You thought that Matt was going to invite the entire friend group: you all hung out together when ever you were free. You almost never saw one person from the group alone, but when you asked Emily why she wasn’t getting ready for the party Matt had invited you to, she had no idea what you were talking about. 

You show up at Matt’s place where you told him you were going to meet him. He was wearing a simple white button down, navy pants and brown shoes to complete the outfit. It was so simple, but, shit, that crush you had on him was driving you crazy looking at him. You could have sworn you heard him mutter something under his breath when he opened the door and saw you, when he took your hand to lead you inside to the rest of the guys who where there. He spent the entire night by your side, dancing, drinking, laughing.

“I didn’t tell you this before, but you look amazing,” he says, quiet enough for only you to hear while you were surrounded by the rest of his belligerently drunk teammates. 

You swallow hard, the alcohol and your crush making you swoon. “You look pretty great, too.” 

You should have just told him then and there. It would have made your senior year together much less distracting before he left to play for the Bruins anyway. 

But you didn’t do that, and you wouldn’t do that, now. There’s no way you have that sort of confidence to confess that you love one of your best friends. Nor would you do it because there’s the possibility of losing him instead. You put your phone away and head back inside to get that water and find Emily. 

There’s no way you could ever tell Matt that you like him. But what if you did?

-------------

“How much of last night do you actually remember?” Emily comes out of her room and into the kitchen, eyes barely open, hair a mess, makeup still on from last night, but now it was all smudged from having slept in it: the classic hungover look that the two of you tried desperately to avoid every time you went out, yet never did.

“I think we made out with some guys?” you say, not really sure. You knew you looked the same as here. All you needed was a good breakfast, which Matt should be coming over with once he got out of practice. 

“I remember a guy.” 

“Was his name Cory? Or Cody?” 

“Yours or mine?”

“Yes.” You both groan, really wishing you remembered what happened last night. You were sure that if you actually made out with the guys that nothing more happened besides that. No boys were present when you woke up, you remember coming home with only Em and no one else, unless she let someone in after. 

“I’m making coffee,” you say starting to get up. The room started spinning as you did, pretty much forcing you to sit back down. “I’m texting Matt to also bring coffee.”

‘Gotcha’

“I need water.” Emily whines, still not opening her eyes. Damn, you two really were dramatic. 

“You’re on your own for that. But get me some, too.” She manages to actually get up, coming back to your table with two glasses of water. Even the act of her putting the glass on the table a little too hard makes your head pound. You groan, downing the entire glass, putting your head down planning on staying there until Matt comes. 

When he knocks on the door, you groan again. “You’re getting that,” Emily says, refusing to lift her head up. 

You practically waddle over to the door, where Matt continues to keep pounding on it, each knock sending another throbbing pain through your head. You open the door, “There was no need to keep banging like that.”

“Well don’t you look beautiful.”

You turn to him, glaring, “Fuck you.” 

He laughs, bringing the food to the table, unpacking everything he got for the three of you; two black coffees, scrambled eggs for the three of you, bacon for him and Emily, chicken sausage for you, pancakes for him, waffles for Em, french toast for you, and the biggest container of home fries you’ve seen in a while that you knew would be split between you and Emily, even if Matt intended it to be for all three of you.

“This is the only reason we keep you around, you know,” Emily says, digging into the food.

“Yeah, we all know that’s true,” Matt says sarcastically, making eye contact with you as you pretty much scarf down the eggs. He has a smirk on his face like you should know what he’s talking about.

“What are you getting at?” you ask through mouthfuls. You were hungover, you didn’t need to be ladylike in front of him and Em. The expression on his face changes. His face is a mixture of confused and shocked like he’s surprised you don’t know whatever it is you’re supposed to know. 

“Uh, nothing.” He shakes his head, the strand of hair falling in his eyes as they turn from you to his food. 

The rest of the time is spent with you and Emily trying to piece together what happened last night. You had figured out: you got there, almost got denied entry because the bouncer thought your ID was fake. Then, you pretty much bee-lined your way to the bar where you both ordered two drinks to start off with, because the bar had a $10 minimum in order to use cards, and you had no cash. You started looking for guys to hook up with, seeing no one you liked. At one point you remember going outside, but you don’t remember what you did other than come back to find Emily with two guys. You were pretty sure they were the two guys you ended up making out with, but she seemed to disagree. She thought you two found two other guys to make out with, but then realized that was something she had talked about in the Uber ride home that was a hypothetical. You pretty much made out with the guys then left, not even remembering their names. You weren’t even sure you had asked them what their names were. But you didn’t care. You just needed to rehydrate yourselves and hope the remaining alcohol would be gone by later tonight.

Matt stayed quiet the entire time. He seemed off, but you had no idea why.

“Welp, that was good, but if you excuse me, I think I’m going to go pass out in my bed.” Emily gets up, leaving you alone with Matt.

He doesn’t say anything. There’s a weird tension in the room until you decide to cut it, “Gryz, what’s wrong?” 

He looks at you, upset. He takes in a breath before letting out, “So, we're just going to ignore the fact that you drunk-dialed me to tell me you love me?”

Your jaw drops. You remembered thinking about it, but you don’t actually remember going through with it. You thought it was just a drunken fantasy, that you would in theory tell him that you loved him. “I’m sorry, I did what?” 

“Do you not remember?” 

“No,” you admit. That part of the night was fuzzy. You remember going outside for air. You remember thinking about it. But you don’t remember doing it.

He just takes out his phone. “Do you want to hear the message you left me?” 

You don’t even know what words to say. You were scared of what the message said, but you just nodded your head anyway.

‘Hey, so, we’ve been acting weird around each other lately,’ your drunk voice from last night slurring through the speaker. It was the message you didn’t think you had sent, having no memory of actually dialing him in the first place. ‘Actually, we have been forever. And it might be drunk me talking, but it’s because I’m in love with you, and I have been. I’m not sure about what you’re feeling, but I know for me, it’s you. You. Ok, bye.’

You were mortified. You get up from the table, your hands on your face, “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you mutter to yourself, starting to pace the kitchen. 

“Y/N-” Matt starts, getting up from the table to try to stop you from pacing. 

“No, it’s fine. If you want to leave I get it. I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I actually called you and told you that. What the fuck is wrong with me?” You can feel your friendship start to break now that you know what you did. How would he ever be friends with you knowing that you liked him? You could blame it on the alcohol. He heard you and Em talking about how drunk you guys got, it wouldn't be so unheard of that you were just calling people and saying things. “I was drunk. I didn’t mean it,” you lie to him.

“You didn’t?” He takes you by the arms, stopping you from pacing, pretty much forcing you to look him in the eye. He looks almost hurt that you said you were lying.

“Uh, yeah. What do you not want me to be?”

“Jesus, Y/N, I don’t know,” he says, letting go of you, starting to pace himself, running his hands through his hair. “You told me the other night that you had your eye on someone and part of me was hoping you were talking about me? But I didn’t even realize it until the other night when I remembered you were going out for the sole purpose of hooking up. How do you think I feel knowing that the girl I love doesn’t think I love her enough and has to go out and get someone else?”

It’s your turn to grab him by the arms to steady him. “And what about me? You’re in the National fucking Hockey League. You’re a professional athlete with this amazing life. You could get literally any girl you wanted, meanwhile I work at a job that I hate, that gives me enough money for me to have an extra ten dollars a month after I pay off all my bills and student loans. I can’t even get a guy to look at me unless Emily provokes it.” 

“You both love each other! Do something about it or shut up!” Emily yells from her room.

Emilys voice made both of you freeze. You had been too nervous to do something about it for all this time, were you about to change all of that now? 

You didn’t know who kissed who. You were probably still too hungover to even be able to tell, anyway. You didn’t even care. His lips moved with yours, his tongue swiping the bottom of your lip as you felt yourself start to smile that this was finally happening. You never thought that this would actually happen. 

[britishchick09]

1984 livewatch

the time has finally come to watch the full movie! it’ll be sad, it’ll be disturbing, it’ll possibly be cringy, but it’ll be a lot of fun! :D

we start out with the mgm lion! noice ;)

epic quote B)

wait why is opera music playing i thought we’d start at the 2 minutes hate

OMG what if they’re gonna hate on opera

this looks like a drive-in movie tbh

narrator: “this is a land of peace and hope, a land of plenty...” OH SHUT UP YOU

they’re showing wheat like it’s little house on the prairie BOI YOU’RE IN LONDON

this is epic propaganda B)

what if the war footage was taken from ww2 and thus... isn’t real :o

HOLD UP is the eurasian war racist?

THE QUEEN HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

WHAT ARE THEY ALL SHOUTING I CAN’T HEAR WHAT THE FDR GUY IS SAYING SHUT UPPPPP

oh no it be u (his face is like ‘WHAT IS GOING ON’ and it’s very lol)

julia’s so into this! :o

o’brien’s like ‘ohhh!!!’

look who decided to SHOW UP FINALLY

he pauses a bit before reluctantly joining in yas ♥

OMG THIS IS LIKE A SCHOOL ASSEMBLY STOP TALKING GEEZ

good they stopped!

WOWWW DON’T EVEN LIST SUZANNA HAMILTON’S NAME WITH THE OTHERS GIVE HER A ‘WITH’ CREDIT WOWWWWW

this IS a school assembly they’re going back to work!

winston in glasses *chef’s kiss*

ooh a rotary dial! great use of tech from when the book was written :D

winston’s looking over at syme WITH SO MUCH JEALOUSY lol

what if the words they speak are just random stuff with no meaning

OMG confession!!!!!

poor winnie with his cough :(

this confession sounds JUST LIKE WINSTON’S OMG!!!!

winston: “bugger!” he’s a brit lol :D

epic B)

OMG this guy read goldstein’s book SO DID WINSTON!!!!

i love how the diary is in a brick hole that’s so cool :D

the diary scene was filmed on april 4th just like in the movie so that’s way rad man :D

i want you valley!!! :D

ooh they’re put a smol scene of his childhood in there coolio! :D

he  s l e e p

this violin squeak tho :o

OMG THIS IS THE STANDING UP SCHOOL SCENE

it’s not but i can easily imagine it lol :D

he’s a stick omg ;o

when the lady talks to him you know it’s not a recording ;)

lady: “anyone under 45 is perfectly capable of touching his toes” BOI

oh no PARSONS

parsons: “choco rations are going up” c h o c o

parsons: “i seem to have run out of razor blades for some reason’ yeah,,, for some reason... ;)

this is so a cafeteria scene at school

THEY SAW EACH OTHER OMG

♫ i suddenly see him standing there, a beautiful stranger tall and fair, i wanna stuff this weird food in my faaaace! ♫ :D

me: “this is so romantic!” winston’s thoughts: “lemme smash HER WITH A ROCK”

wait did the lady say pineapple grenade???

HIS FACE LOOOL

syme rip boi

the 11th edition isn’t thicc :/

aww winston’s smol nod ♥

parsons: “by 2050 we won’t have conversations like this!” yeah because of screens lol

OMG the food looks and taste like meat but isn’t IT’S PLANT BASED MEAT!!!! :o

parsons just pulled a ‘hey need help with that?’ and put winston’s food on his plate EPIC

julia’s lookin’ at u ;)

YAS PROLES HOPE!!! :D

oh no DON’T TALK ABOUT THE 50 YEAR OLD WOMAN SEX WINSTON

OH NOOOOOOO

he liked the ‘bright red lips’ yet...

THIS CHICK’S LIPS AREN’T BRIGHT BOI

poor baby desperate for money :(

let’s GET THIS BEAT

hand on cheek = doublepluscute ^_^

epic foreshadowing B)

OMG CHESTNUT TREE POEM FORESHADOWINNNGGGGGG

OMG a couple is making out in the bar EPIC

winston’s just like ‘nnope’

OMG THE THOUGHT POLICE WERE FOLLOWING????

he’s at an antique store in prescott bless his heart ♥

mr. charrington sounds so kind WHYYYY

THE BIRTH OF A QUEEN ♥

mr. charrington says ‘4 dollars’ but they’re in london??

YAS BELLS OF ST. CLEMENS!!!! :D

winston: “what was that?” mr. charrington: “something old.” no DUH

they see each other againnn!!!!! :D

winston writes that he hates her SAME WITH A LOOK LIKE THAT

OMG SMOL WINNIE BIG O’BRIEN????? :o

his mom is lying dead in the field like the erza kid in ‘kirsten’s promise’ :(

he’s just... staring

OMG SPYING ON THE SPICY STARING ACTION :o

she PLONKED

that ‘ow!’ was so fake jules!

this is like anna and hans but not as bad underneath!

julia: “it’s nothing!” but this is turning out to be something... ;)

we’re half an hour in and wowza it’s gone by so fast! :D

winston: *gets a cute love note from julia* YEET!

THE HELICOPTER IS BACC!!!!! they’re really not making the spying subtle

OMG THIS IS THE THOUGHT CRIMINAL SCENE YAAAAS!!!!! :D

winston is the best plummer confirmed

kid: “you’re a thought criminal!” winston: *gives a slight ‘wha’ face and smiles* ICONIC

:)

the crowd is clapping and cheering over the war yet winston’s not doing anything SAME

jules is just scooching by lol

HAND HOLDING WHILE PASSING A NOTE OMG ♥♥

the sky does exist! :o

the telescreen has some great music :D

winston’s joining the ‘big man’s hiking group’ suure you are... ;)

the train is going to the beat of the kids’ singing coolio! :D

big brother is called ‘bb’ yas bby!

YEEES THE I WANT YOU VALLEY SCEENE!!!!!

the lq audio made the twig crack and the leave brushing really weird lol

winston: “i want you.” I-CON-IC!!!! :D

THAT SMIRK THO

winston: “i want everyone corrupt.” julia: “i’ll suit you, then. i’m corrupt to the core.” *mal screech*

OH NONONONOONO SHE GONNA TAKE HER TOP OFF BI PANIC BI PANICCC!!!!!

she really went commando huh

ALL THE WAY

the sex looks like it hurts NO WAY MAN NOT FOR ME NNNNOPE

i’m glad it was only a part you couldn’t really see and not a full on thing I DON’T NEED THAT

awww she’s so peaceful after big naughty :)

this is vaguely gay...

aww winston’s hair ruffling in the wind ♥

c r o n c h

also did he just cronch into a potato???

OMG THIS IS JUST LIKE SCHOOL

teacher: “when the orgasm is finally eradicated...” totally julia: “NOT ON MY WATCH”

winston is the kid who smokes in glass while julia is the one kid who Just Doesn’t Care lol :D

thoughtcrime THIS IS THOTCRIME

wow syme is still alive?

julia: “you dropped your ink pencil” you mean pen?

winnie’s back in prescott! :D

the room is 4 bucks a night noice B)

BACC TO THE H8 BBY

the modern say 2 minutes hate is probably just a livestream with kids texting ‘h8 xd’ in the chat lol :D

winston’s thoughts: “she who is so careful...” boi she threw a dictionary at the telescreen in the book THAT’S SO NOT CAREFUL

hey girl CUTE LQ SMILE YOU HAVE THERE!!! :D

YAS THE REAL COFFEE SCENE!!!!! :D

she has so many smiles YAS!!!!

she’s so eager with showing him I LOVE YOU SO MUCH JULES ♥♥♥

she says ‘real sugar, real bread’ and... jam

winston: “how did you manage to get all this?” jules has her ways... ;)

winston: “i want you” julia: “i want you too” YAS :D ♥♥

the thiccc singer is here!! :D

she’s so pretty! ♥

aww the stroke ♥

his hands are shaking as he touches her :(

winston: “freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four. if that is granted, all else follows” iconic!

YAS THE PAPER!!! :D

it be gin time ;)

he scratches the face off the gin bottle woah :o

I JUST REALIZED THAT THIS IS O’BRIEN :o

winston’s little ‘yes!’ at getting the 10th newspeak dictionary ♥

that’s a look of longing my friends! :o

winston: “the call has come. all my life i’ve been waiting for it...” and now he’ll go into the unknown... ;)

AAND we cut to naked julia eating an apple! slight bi panic

she’s touching the paperweight queen love it ♥

SHE KNOWS THE CLEMENS YAS!!! :D

julia: “i just know it!” BOI YOUR G-PA HELPED OUT

winston: “the only thing to do is to walk out of here before it’s too late” thus my ‘julia lives’ au comes in! :D

winston: “never seen one another again” ...oh he was talking about that NOT IN MY AU SON

julia: “you do, i do.” omg marriage :o

YAAAS JULSTON KISS!!!!!!! :D

fluffy! ♥

julia: “i love you.” awww :)

winston: “julia. do you think the resistance is real?” julia: “none of it’s real.” STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER!

♥

OMFG THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION :o

work is scrambling like eggs!

poor headache bby! :(

epic B)

winston’s dreaming of his bishy selfish chocolate mom adventure!

the rats were there when his mom and sister were vaporized! :o

she’s in the dress! ♥

they’re talking about betrayal and julia’s like ‘they can’t do that!” OH BOI BUT THEY CAN!!!!

julia: “they can’t get to your heart” aww :)

awkward...

winston sees o’brien WITHOUT JULIA THE F????

this feels like the principal’s office lol :D

o’brien’s voice is so deep and british ♥

the way he clutches the newspeak dictionary is so cute! :D

aww he’s stroking the pages as he reads :)

the oceania anthem sounds russian :o

YAAAAAAAASSSS!!!!!!! :D

so soft ♥♥

winston: “julia, my love.” MY LOVE MY LOVE AHHH!!!! :D

YEES THE COFFEE SMILEEE!!!!! :D

she’s hungry... she wants coffee... who’s gonna tell her coffee isn’t food?

omg i saw winston butt :o

:)

winston: “she’s beautiful.” julia: “she’s a meter around the hips easily” winston: “that’s her standard of beauty.” YAAAS!!! :D

winston: “the future is ours.” YAS

OH CRAP THEY SAID ‘WE ARE THE DEAD’ NOOOO

mr. charington is loud compared to how i thought in the book

his ‘you are the dead’ should’ve been quieter like winston and julia’s then he could be loud!

FBI OPEN UP!!!!!

charrington: “here comes a candle to guide you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head!” OHHHH NICE ONE MR C!!!!!! :D

RIP TO A QUEEN :’(

i should be a bit more heartbroken BUT THAT MR C RHYME MAN

OMFG THEY JUST BEAT UP JULES

SHE’S IN SO MUCH PAIN NOOOO :’(

why does he look old

awww :(

delete the drunk old lady BUT GIVE US PARSONS SUUURE

i dread the scene to come...

parsons didn’t say that he said ‘down with big brother’ so that’s a bummer :/

aww poor parsons he’s crying! :(

oh SNAP room 101!!!! :o

poor parsons but at least that scene wasn’t a thing!

OUCH THAT SMACC LOOKED LIKE IT HURT

is this leading into the bloody mouth scene? I STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT IS

winston doesn’t know where he is IT’S THE I WANT YOU VALLEY!!!

hold up this is just a vision ok BUT WHERE’S THE BLOODY MOUTH SCENE

frankenstein and spirit halloween called!

also o’brien flipped the switch without warning BISH

o’brien: “you suffer from a defective memory” and you suffer from a BISH MEMORY SIR

remember winston it’s all in the mind... ;)

WHY DID O’BRIEN SHOCK  WINSTON HE SAID FIVE

'how many fingers’ is a trick question because winston sees four YET WE SEE FIVE OHHH

mother gothel vibes...

awww winston’s little scared squeak :(

winston: “i don’t know... i don’t know!” SAY FIVE WINSTON SAY FIVEEEEE

o’brien’s voice is so calming yet it spouts evil words...

julia immediately betrayed winston BECAUSE SHE HAD A ROSEMARY KENNEDY yet she’s somehow still alive without damage by the end???

ooh a new shot! :D

they just faded to black and showed a new angle which is a bit weird...

o’brien: “you’re thinking that my face is old and tired...” because it belongs to poor richard burton!

o’brien just yoinked winston’s tooth out tho :o

mother gothel strikes again!

winston to o’brien: “i love you.” you don’t say that back to jules YET YOU SAY IT TO O’BRIEN BOIIIII

o’brien: “you’re one of us. one of the chosen.” one of us gooble gobble! also ANAKIN IS THAT YOU????

winston just said ‘i love you’ oMG OMG OM WAIT WWAIIITIT

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

seconds after she says ‘i love you too’ SHE’S FREAKING SHOT DAAANG NO PUNCHES PULLED BACK!!!!!

aww he called her ‘my love’ even in a dream

so that was the infamous bloody mouth scene and it was quicker than i thought it would be? at least i have a bright julia smile! ♥

OMG winston’s calling for her yet it sounds so weird WHYYY

he’s much improved!

they’re skyping lol

after all he’s been through he still hates bb! :o

ROOM 101 :o

room 101 is a personalized experience just for you! :D

also IT’S A DREAM MIRROR

omg the rats are GOING AT EACH OTHER GEEZ

winston’s squeak at the rats no!!! :(

‘do it to julia’ sounds a bit selfish but it’s the betrayal we’ve been waiting for!

...NOT

uh oh here comes the awkward reunion...

they should’ve said “...sup.” to each other

the bartender saying “on the house!’ tiredly each time is great :D

winston: “thank you for coming.” julia in her thoughts: “yeah whateves bro.” :/

at least they can still bond over something :)

jules gin time ;)

they ratted out on each other true love???

julia: “we must meet again.” winston: “yes, we must meet again.” ...they never met again

but if they did it would be a bro time!

winston: “i have seduced party members of both sexes” BI NANI???? :o

since his crimes are like the guy’s from earlier... what if he didn’t do them and was convinced that he did? :o

in the book he says i love you to bb, but here he turns away and says it... what if he still loves julia? :o

and with that question, the movie has come to a close! it’s a fantastic little film that closely follows the book. while i would’ve liked to see julia with winston at o’brien’s and the drunk jail lady, the cutting of the gross parsons scene, the addtion of the bloody mouth scene and the possibly hopeful ending make up for it. overall, this is an amazing adaptation of such a great book! :D

[thebutterflyestate]

movement 3

"Have you heard? ! Have you heard? ! Sumiyoshi-kun has a samurai for a visitor! How lucky of him, I heard he's hot!"

"Ehhh? Really?? I wish I could go to Kamado-san's House, only if his house weren't at top of the mountain!"

"I bet you could see the samurai, (Name)-chan! Since you deliver fruits to the Kamados! Tell us if he's hot!"

"Huh?" (Name) blinked. She was in a daze. She stared at her family's hired workers, the girl gatherers, while she was focusing on packing the fresh oranges in bundles, "Did you say something?"

"Geez, (Name)-chan! You've become out of it ever since last month! No demon will hurt you anymore, ok? You were saved, after all." The oldest of the three clapped the girl's back. (Name) staggered on her spot and pouted.

"I know, I know... And what were you both saying earlier?" She asked, curiously.

"We were saying that there's a rumor that a samurai is currently residing with the Kamados at the mountain!" The oldest answered. Her name was Chiyo and she was the loudest of them. Next to her was her cousin, Yan, who was more quiet but cheery.

(Name) furrowed her brows, she placed a hand on her cheek and spoke softly," Oh? Really? The Kamados sure are odd, inviting a stranger into their home. Last rumor I heard from them was that Suyako-san fell asleep on the road."

"I can't argue with that." Yana chuckled, "Anyway, (Name)-san, if you're going to deliver to the Kamados today...please scope out for us. See if that samurai is hot..."

"EH? ! No! I'm only going there to deliver the fruits since Suyako-san is having a baby!" (Name) shook her head, her face turning pink. Deep within her, she was thinking that it was Yoriichi who was residing in the Kamados but then again, the said family invites whoever into their home. It was only wishful thinking that she'd see the handsome samurai again.

Her mind started to wander again to Yoriichi, reminding herself of her debt and his perfect face. She could feel herself get excited, her face turning a shade darker at the thought. Yana and Chiyo were staring at her, eyes narrowed curiously. The latter flicked the girl's forehead, resulting her to throw her head back for a second.

"Ow!" (Name) placed a hand over her temple, rubbing where it hurts, "What-what the heck!"

"Were you tinking of something lewd, (Name)-san?" Yana asked, "You looked estatic for a second there."

"I wasn't..."

"You're thinking of the guy who saved you, am I right? Who was that? Uh, Moriichi Suchikuni??" Chiyo arched a brow.

"N-no! It' Tsugikuni Yoriichi-san!" And how-how did you two know! I don't remember telling a story about that!" She exclaimed, embarrassed.

"Your father was ranting about you and that samurai guy that saved you, you know. I think that was a few days ago or so. Hey! Maybe he's the samurai with Sumiyoshi-kun?" Chiyo smirked, hands on her waist while reading the expression on the orchard heiress' face. (Name) looked hopeful but then it her face blanked.

" No, no. It cannot be him..." She replied meekly," It's too much of a coincidence. "

" Coincidence? Hah, that's bullshit! I bet it's him!" She barked. Yana nodded in agreement.

"Maybe if you two are meant to be, you'll meet again, for sure." She said, smiling softly at the girl who pouted and finished up with her packing.

"I don't believe in destiny or fate either..." She said, hosting her new woven basket and filling it up with the fruit deliveries. The two older women helped her wear it, "Anyway, I'll be back!"

"Sure, dear! Come back before dawn, ok! You know that or else your dad might start a riot and a party search again!" Chiyo laughed, Yana retreated back into the house then returned with a necklace. It was a necklace made out of the vines of wisteria, in the middle of it was a small puch filled with wisteria powder.

" Do not forget your charm, (Name)-san. Your mother will go ballistic." Yana said, putting the necklace on the girl's neck. The necklace was made a day after she was attacked by a demon. After that, she was required to wear it everyday to work or if she's going outside even tough it would completely throw off her kimono.

(Name) bowed and smiled at them before leaving through the back door of the orchard. She was immediately greeted by the farmers that live next door to them and she shyly greeted them back as she walked down the stony path. She went into the village prper to deliver the goods then to the markets and then to the houses of their loyal customers.

It took a while since she was carrying such a heavy load but it grew lighter with every delivery she made. Until it was time for her to deliver to the Kamados. She didn't know why she felt nervous, even though she had climbed the moutain to the charcoal family's home a couple of times. Maybe it was because she was hopeful to see that it was Yoriichi who were with them. Yet a part of her was telling her that why should she be happy to see him? For what reason? Because he saved her once? Because she owe him her life? Yoriichi had already told her that she need not to repay her so for what reason was she hopeful for?

"I'm thinking too much..." (Name) sighed to herself as she climbed the mountain. Thankfully, it was not winter so it wasn't as dangerous to go up the mountain. She trekked slowly and carefully, following the markers that the Kamados have left along the path. She saw the top of the Kamados house and she sighed in relief that she was close to finishing her deliveries. And because her frail legs were shaking like crazy already and her calves were stiffiening up.

However, at the last step, her legs gave and she fell back. Her eyes widen.

Someone had aught her by the waist and she looked up to see the silhouette of the person. The sun glared behind the person so she couldn't clearly see their face. Her heart began to pound against her chest, her face turned red, her stomach started to grow butterflies, and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

'Could it be...?'

Judging from the figure, it was a man. A strong one at that. She could see the silhoutte of a pony tail. Hope bloomed within her.

"Tsugiku--"

"(Name)-chan! That was close! You nearly fell!" She was pulled back to her feet and she deadpan need. It was just Sumiyoshi, the charcoal maker. He beamed at her and she just gave an embarrassed look. he noticed her flushed face and tilted his head to the side," Is there something wrong? "

"U-uhm...no, the-there's charcoal on your face..." She pointed at her left cheek as an excuse. He chuckled and wiped his right cheek when in fact there was no charcoal smears, "A-Anyway, I have your fruits!"

"Oh, perfect! If that's the case, why don't you join us eat it, (Name)-chan? My wife and baby would definitely love your company!" He said, grinning. She couldn't reject the offer because one, she also wanted to see the samurai, and two, she wanted to see how Suyako and the baby in her stomach was doing. It has only been two weeks since they knew she was pregnant.

Sumiyoshi led the way around the house to the back where Suyako was found sitting on the engawa and sewing together a haori. She lifted her head up and beamed upon seeing (Name).

"(Name)-chan, my, you're here!" She stood up, putting her sewing to a halt, "I'll prepare you tea--oh! Did you actually come here to deliver our fruits?"

"Yes, Suyako-san." (Name) smiled and clumsily put her basket down and reached for the packaged fruits. She handed it to the woman while Sumiyoshi put her basket on the side for a while. Suyako unwrapped the packaged and  gasped.

"My, your family is really thriving! Your fruits look healthy and yummy!" She complimented and (Name) bashfully scratched her cheek.

"Oh, no... We just take good care of the orchard and the farm." She replied, she unconsiously looked around for their other visitor but then she turned back to the couple who were talking about what to prepare as snacks.

"Come on up here the engawa, (Name)-chan! In the meantime, I'll make us some snacks!" She said and the younger girl nodded as she got up on to the engawa and sat there next to the haori Suyako was working on. Sumiyoshi went back at the other side of the house, saying that he was chopping wood. (Name) wanted to ask if they had any other visitors but she was too shy to do so.

She sat in silence on the ngawa while winging her feet back and forth. She inhaled the fresh forest breeze and smiled. It was nice to be up the mountain surrounded by pure greenery. After a while, she could hear Suyako calling out to Sumiyoshi and she came out from behind (Name) while holding a bucket

"Dear, we don't have water for washing the cutlery any--oh, he isn't here." She said, spotting the girl only.

"Ah, he's on the other side, chopping wood by the front, I think." She replied softly, standing up, "I'll get the water for you!"

"Aw, my, thank you, sweetie." Suyako handed the bucket to her, "Just walk ahead the forest until you find a ditch. In that ditch, runs river water. A bucketful is fine, okay? Also, don't exhaust yourself! You know how your body is!"

(Name) bowed and waved at her, the woman smiled sweetly and retreated back in to attend to what she was making. (Name) hummed as she threaded through the foliage and she would look up occasionally to see the trees' canopy. Only few sunlight poured out because the trees covered most parts.

Ahead of her, she could hear the flowing of water. She grinned to herself but then froze when she heard a rustle close by. She paused to look around but found no signs of demons. Of course there would be no demons, it was broad day light. Maybe it was just  a wild animal. She breathed a sigh of relief before pressing on in a hurried manner.

Finally, she spotted the ditch SUmiko was telling her and hidden in between it was clear river water. She smiled and kneeled on to the ground, one hand laced against the soft soil to support her and one on the bucket's handle. She scooped up a bucketful but instantly regretted it because her noodle arm couldn't lift it up.

"Hnnng.. !" She tried lifting it up but her arm shook violently, the water spilling out of the bucket. She pouted and bent down again to scoop what water she lost. But she still couldn't lift it, "Why...am I...so weak... !"

She then grabbed the handle of the bucketful of water with both hands, her legs being the only support holding on to the ground. She felt her arms shake from the water's weight as she was slowly managing to lift it up. She beamed and cheered.

'I can do it... I can--'

"Do you need help? "

She flinched and let out a shocked gasp, she dropped the bucket and the bucket took her with it and she fell into the river. She quickly scrambled up, grabbing the bucket, and standing on the shallow water. She looked up to see Yoriichi. On his back was four heavy looking tree logs that were simply tied on to his person. He didn't have his haori on, meaning that the haori Sumiko was sewing earlier was him.

She gaped and turned red. While he was looking hot even in sweat, she was drench from head to toe like a lost kitten. Plus she was standing in the river with an empty bucket. He gave her one of his indifferent gazes, "Sorry..."

"I-i-i-it's okay! It's okay!" She stammered, getting herself out the ditch, he offered a hand and she looked at his calloused hands. She blushed and took it. He pulled her up with ease, scaring her a bit on how strong he was. He took the bucket from her and scooped up water," O-oh! Thank you!!"

He nodded and they silently walked back. (Name) felt a bit guilty that he carried her bucket despite the heavy load on his back but she was glad that it was indeed him who was the visitor of the Kamados. She wanted to ask why but kept it to herself.

" Oh, what happened to you, (Name)-chan? ! You're drenched!" Sumiyoshi spotted her as soon as they came out into the clearing, "Yoriichi-san! You're back! Thank you for helping out, both of you!"

"(Name)! What happened, did you fall in the river?" Suyako yelled from the engawa, "Come over here and get changed, we don't want you to get sick!"

(Name) smiled then she remembered that Yoriichi was carrying her bucket butbwhen she turned around, he had already given it to Yoriichi.

"Uhm, thank you for carrying that for me. I'm sorry for being weak." She bowed at the samurai who put down the logs on his back.

His hanafuda earrings swayed along when he shook his head, "You are not weak." He said, she blinked, "You were trying your best earlier, that is strength and not weakness."

She gaped her mouth open, her cheeks tinted pink at what he said. That was the first anyone told her such a thing. It was just a little effort yet he noticed.

She opened her mouth to speak but Suyako called her and when she turned, Yoriichi was already with Sumiyoshi.

"No one ever called effort as strength to me..."

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part One

Part Two , Part Three , Part Four

Pairing: Douglas Booth!Nikki Sixx X OC

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Language

**Let me know if you want to be tagged**

———————————————————————

For anyone else born in the generation I was born in, they were usually allowed to go out on the weekends with their friends, do questionable things and actually learn from mistakes. I, however, couldn’t learn from any mistakes because my parents didn’t give me the room to make mistakes. If I even came close to something our church deemed “out of line”, my mother would remind me “this is not what we do, Vivian” and I would correct whatever it was I was doing. 

It drove my best friend, Tommy, crazy that I would never be able to hang out on some of the biggest nights for him to go watch bands play on the Sunset Strip. He had a passion for music and he wanted to share it with me, but he couldn’t do that unless it was in the form of a cassette tape that would make my mother have a stroke, in his van every Tuesday and Thursday when I was supposed to be tutoring him but ended up getting off topic.

I finally went against my parents when Tommy got in to another band, as a drunmer, our senior year.

"...Tommy, I am in bed. I have church tomorrow and my parents will kill me if I leave right now, especially if they find out it's to go venture down the strip." I argue to him, rubbing my tired eyes and he groans out.

"Viv, you're gonna get dressed, put on something hot, and get your pretty ass down here. I need your support. We've put out fliers everywhere but I don't know how many people are gonna show and I need my favorite girl in the entire fucking universe to come cheer me on." He argues and I yawn.

"Flattery will get you nowhere.” I remind him at the sound of him calling me his favorite girl and he goes silent for a moment, prompting me to sigh out. "I will be down there as soon as I can be. If I get caught, I will kill you. You're buying me food after the show." I state and I feel his excitement through the phone.

"Ah, Yes! You're gonna fucking lose your mind, Viv--"

"Alright, I'll see you in a few minutes. I love you, bye." I hang up to avoid wasting time.

When I finally get down to the Starwood and get inside, I wait patiently for Mötley Crüe to start their performance, my nails nervously digging in to my palms at the little amount of people in here.

It’s not packed out by any means but it’s a decent amount of people, meaning if they blow it, it’ll be hard to come back from it.

My green eyes catch on the first boy I see stepping on to the stage in bright red thigh-high boots, black leather pants and a red tank top with a fishnet mesh layered over it. Following the black-haired bassist is another man who looks a few years older, his black hair long and his choice of T-shirt and dark pants, less flashy than Vince Neil in his white leather pants and black and white striped shirt.

I roll my eyes at the mere presence of the blonde singer, fallen victim to his constant attempts at trying to get me in to bed with him since freshman year.

Lastly, I see Tommy, his excited, puppy-like energy beaming off of him. He sees me, giving me a subtle wave as he twirls his drum stick through his fingers.

His outfit is more so toned down like the guitarist’s, leaving all the show to the bass player and Vince.

I hold my breath as Vince greets us all with a loud “Alright! We’re Mötley Crüe!” As Tommy rattles the Cymbals for extra effect and I squeeze my eyes shut when he accidentally knocks one over and causes a loud crash on stage as it hits the floor.

People start booing and telling them to get off stage, which they ignore, and when Tommy fixes his drums and settles in, Vince starts up.

“C’mon, boys. Let’s rock this hole.” He says into the mic and I rub my forehead at how bad that sounds.

They start playing, and I personally think it could be worse, but the people around me aren’t impressed.

“Who’s the chick singer?” One guy shouts and I open my eyes in time to see Vince retort.

“Fuck you, asshole!” He throws at the guy.

The stranger flicks him off then proceeds to spit on the expensive looking leather gripping at Vince’s legs.

My brows shoot up, wondering if Vince will react. He does the exact thing I knew he would do.

He jumps off the stage and lands in front of his target, but before he can get in a hit, the guy gives him a good punch.

The crowd’s “oh” echoes the walls, and the bass player picks his instrument over his shoulder and hits Vince’s attacker with it before lunging into the crowd at another man joining in on the brawl. I can’t hold back my laughter as Tommy dives at another man about to hit at the bass player.

The guitarist just stays on stage, kicking a guy in the face that tries to start something with him, before strumming his guitar, minding his own business as his band mates are pummeling and being pummeled.

Security eventually breaks up the fight, escorting the trouble makers out, and I wait for the quiet crowd to say something when the three boys stand at the foot of the stage, looking like their careers that never started are ending.

“Fuck yeah! Mötley Crüe!” A random dude screams out, gaining odd looks from everyone, but when he starts clapping, the room slowly joins and ends up cheering for the band.

I clap a little bit, not wanting to give any of them a big ego, but making sure to give an encouraging smile to Tommy.

The three excitedly look at each other before climbing back on stage and getting their crap together to perform to a now willing audience.

The crowd moves closer to the stage as they start playing, an electric feeling coursing through the room, and as compelled as I am to move to the front, I stay in the back, watching critically as Vince starts singing their song “Take Me to The Top.” After they finish their tenth and final song “Live Wire” and close out to a roaring crowd, I head backstage to see Tommy.

We’re on opposite ends of a hallway when we see each other and he screams out my name joyfully and rushes to me with his arms wide open.

“Viv, did you fuckin’ see that?!” He asks, eyes wide and smile big as he picks me up and squeezes me to him tightly. I laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck, and my legs around his waist, hugging him.

“I did, Tommy, I’m so proud of you.” I say to him.

“It was fuckin’ sick, dude!” He pipes, looking at me like a child in a candy store before putting me down.

Our interaction is interrupted by Vince clearing his throat, looking at me like I’m a helpless gazelle and he’s a cheetah.

“Oh, guys, this is Vivian.” Tommy tells them. “Viv, this is Mick,” He introduces me to the guitar player.

The man nods at me and mumbles “what’s up.”

“And obviously you know Vince.” He reminds me and I glare at Vince, who’s staring at me.

“Unfortunately.” I mumble.

“Hey, Vivian.” The arrogant peacock says in his “seductive” voice that every girl falls for, his eyes briefly taking over the exposed skin of my legs and arms, being that I’m wearing short, light colored jean shorts and a tight white tank top. “Did you like the show?”

“It was ok.” I don’t even think before blurting. I personally think it went well, but he doesn’t have to know that.

“Ok?” Tommy asks.

“There’s room for improvement.” I reply politely. “Particularly the vocals.” I chop out and Vince cuts his eyes at me. I learned in school I have to mock Vince at least once every time I see him to knock him off of his high horse. It’s a hobby of mine.

“Well you sing the fucking songs and see if you can do any better.” A voice snaps and I turn my attention to where it came from.

Propped against the door frame of the dressing room is the bass player, with similar long, black hair like Mick’s. His hair is heavily teased at the top, making his hazel eyes barely noticeable but I can feel that I struck a nerve without even seeing the look in his eye.

“Nikki, she was just kidding.” Tommy laughs it off. “Lighten up, dude.”

“I was only joking, Vince.” I state to the blonde. “Having a good voice doesn’t change the fact that you’re swine, though.”

“Sticks and stones, Viv. Sticks and stones.” He throws a wink my way as he steps past Nikki to get in the dressing room and change.

“Hey, I’m gonna cool off real quick and I’ll take you to get something to eat.” Tommy tells me, still beaming with excitement from his performance.

“Okay, I’ll be out here.” I assure him and he gives my hair a playful ruffle before heading inside with Mick following him.

Nikki’s still staring at me and I try to pretend not to notice it as I smooth my hair down from where Tommy messed it up, but I finally look at him with raised brows.

He just scoffs at me, not saying a word as he takes a gulp of Jack Daniels straight from the bottle and slips in to the dressing room, shutting the door.

[cherry3point14]

SO NOW YOU WANT TO READ?

DESCRIPTION: You need a break and you think you’ve figured out the perfect way to not research. That is it’s perfect until you need your research. 

[A short oneshot based during S12? Basically whenever Sam is in the library (so all the time).  Characters: Sam x Reader, Dean. Words: 1,768. Warnings: Blink and you’ll miss it violence. Allusions to human sacrifice]

AO3 link here if you would prefer.

You were a genius. One day the finest scholars would dare to try and unravel the subtle intricacies of your mind and they would, undoubtedly, fail. Because you’d been sitting with super nerd Sam for the past week now and he still had no idea that you weren’t doing research.

He was better at research anyway so it’s a victimless crime really.

You had briefly considered telling Dean of your brilliance and how you were getting away with it. You know, paying it forward, but somehow you just knew that he would get you caught. Probably by getting caught himself and then ratting you out to take the fall. 

The trick was cliff notes. Or at least the text summarizer you found online. For twenty minutes prep, you had found a way to create compelling lore cliff notes. A little scanning with your phone, let the OCR app do its magic and then plop that into the text summarizer. Bingo, bongo baby.

Then all you had to do is decide what you wanted to do with your time. One time you’d watched four episodes of the office on your phone, it wasn’t the first time you’d researched with your headphones on after all. Yesterday you’d sat there genuinely reading, just not the ridiculously dull, half Old Russian book on ritual sacrifices.

The best part? Whenever he looked up at you with those big, round eyes of his and asked you how it was going you had your little summary right there to casually throw into the conversation.

“Getting through it, I don’t think there’s anything on why we’re seeing this pattern in South Carolina, I mean this is just going on and on about the deity Perun, a big deal by the way, like a mix of Thor and Odin. But I don’t think twelfth century Slavic is going to help.”

You almost crack when he smiles at you like you might just be the most helpful person in the universe, “don’t worry Y/N, we’ll figure this out.”

Yep. You can feel the guilt creeping up your chest. You know you should be helping. You almost throw down the trashy romance novel you're reading in favor of actually reading the huge chronicle you’re balancing on your knees.

But you just wanted a little downtime and with the number of cases you’d been working lately, this was the only way you might get it.

Besides Sam loved research, so it was a victimless crime… right?

The Thor looking piece of work has you tied up against an oak tree. Luckily, it’s young and narrow enough that your arms aren’t being painfully pulled from their sockets while you try to maneuver yourself out of the bonds, unluckily the boy scout knew his knots and the whole process was taking you longer than you hoped.

And considering Dean is being prepared for some good old-fashioned human sacrifice you really needed to get free.

Sam is struggling the same as you, his bigger hands against the tough knots proving harder than expected. You make it out first and wait only a minute until the God wannabe is distracted with some concoction he’s mixing, before you slip out of sight to free Sam.

He turns to you without thanks, a giant bundle of panic and adrenaline, “ok so angel blades are a no go. You read the stuff on Perun, what kills him?”

So much for your victimless crime.

You rack your brains hoping that somewhere in those summaries, which you hadn’t even read properly, you’d flitted your eyes over the answer. But all that’s coming back to you is experts from your tacky erotica.

Eduardo held her by the waist, pinning her to him with every ounce of his strength. His height towering over her made her feel small, but his hands wrapped around her made her feel safe.

“Um, well, I’m trying to remember…” you trail off trying to buy some time.

Sam claps his hands to your shoulder like it might wake you up from a trance. “Y/N we don’t have time, you spent hours going through the Russian. He’s going to kill Dean. What do we need to use to kill him?”

Eduardo leaned into her with a hand fisted into her hair, “you are so beautiful my love, my Isabella. Like the morning sun that drowns out the night. Kiss me and I’ll be yours, forever.”

“Oh my god!” you shout whisper, mindful of the enemy who would only be distracted for so long, “you got me ok. I didn’t do the reading. Are you happy? I read some shitty romance novel instead and I haven’t been doing research all week and now we don’t know how to kill this pantheon prick and he’s going to sacrifice Dean and then you and me, and I have no idea how to kill him.”

He looks horrified and although it’s not a great moment to make a joke you think he’s probably most horrified that you weren’t doing research. Not the imminent deaths. 

You feel like he’s about two seconds away from telling you he’s disappointed, which everyone knows is worse than angry, so you ramble on hoping for the best. “Let’s just take a guess ok. I mean these idiots are normally bite the hand that feeds you types so maybe it’s something that he gets his power from can also be used to kill him?”

“So, any idea what that might be? And don’t suggest thunder, please.”

You’re pacing the shadows now willing yourself to remember anything.

“He’s hot for fire and mountains… maybe fire? Burning him? Need to get him to stay still first though.”

You lean back against the tree Sam had been tied, the bark against your back is like a jolt to your head, “oak!”

Sam raises an eyebrow at you, apparently, all the trust was gone. “Oak?”

“Yeah. His mythology is not that different from Zeus. I’m telling you, it’s oak. We’ve just got to… hey, give me a boost.”

“What?”

You thrust a finger in the direction of the alter Dean is unconscious on while Perun is anointing him with shimmering, golden oil, “I think he’ll hear us if we start trying to chop one of these trees down but if you help me up there I can probably break off a branch.”

The next five minutes involve Sam pushing you up into the tree he’d been tied to and you, not a natural tree climber, attempting to not slide back down the trunk. You eventually manage to start pulling a hefty branch back and forth but that’s when Sam hisses at you, “he’s chanting now.”

You give up being quiet for the sake of speed, holding yourself to the tree with one arm and leveraging your weight into repeatedly kicking the branch until it starts to splinter. It takes a few tries but finally, the stump of wood falls to the ground where Sam grabs it and rushes over to the sacrificial scene in front of you both. That leaves you on your own to fall, pretty pathetically, from the tree.

Perun, having sped up his words once he heard the commotion you were making, is now holding up an intricate, curved blade when Sam takes his shot. He pushes the oak branch through his chest. For a moment it looks like it hasn’t worked and only slowed him down instead but Sam, being brilliant as he is, worked it out from the rest of your rambling.

He pulls out a lighter and sets the wood on fire while the phony God is still impaled on it. The fire sets quickly and you suspect that Sam doused the branch in lighter fluid first. Perun doesn’t look angry as he burns just frozen in shock as the fire licks at him, leaving a smoldering pile of ashes in seconds.

You pull yourself up from the floor and run over to check on the elder Winchester, “Hey Dean, wake up.” Sam joins you in shaking him until Dean’s eyes open and he jokes like only he can after nearly becoming a human kebab, “what’d I miss?”

“Hey Sammy, mind if I join you?”

He’s looking at the book he just lifted from the shelf when he glares at you like he’s not quite over you betraying the sanctity of the library.

“I’ll take that face as a yes.”

You sit down in the vacant seat next to his pile of books knowing he will have no choice but to return to his seat next to you. Which he does with pursed lips as his eyes scan the page.

“Come on, I said I was sorry. You know I love reading obscure lore books with you it’s just, I needed a break.”

He sighs, “why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“Because then you’d have tried to read my pile on top of yours and, well, how was I supposed to know that the exact information we needed would be in one of the books I pretended to read?”

Although there’s still a crease in his forehead you can see the lines of his mouth soften, “we don’t know what information we need or what book it's in, that’s kind of the point of research.”

You grin because you think that means you’re forgiven but you ask him just to double check, “so you forgive me? I can be your book buddy again?”

“As long as you don’t call us book buddies.” This time he’s smiling too.

An hour later and you stand up stretching your arms and offering to go make some coffee, which he gladly encourages. When you return with two mugs he has an unexpected twinkle in his eye as he accepts one from you.

“Oh, my Isabella, you are too kind to Eduardo.” He's put on a ridiculous Spanish accent.

You freeze for a moment, absolutely mortified. The only thing that saves you is Sam’s face, it’s not as judgemental as you might have expected, and maybe after the whole fake research thing you deserve some measure of embarrassment.

Clearing your throat, you adopt an equally bad accent, “Oh Eduardo, take me away to the sea!”

His eyebrow raises dramatically, “Kiss me my Isabella and I’ll be yours, forever.”

You join him in the laughter and throw a playful punch to scold him for teasing you. Sitting down with your coffee and returning to your reading you barely manage to stop your wistful sigh.

God, if he kissed you right now you would be his, forever.

[rogesims]

Elimination

And it's ELIMINATION NIGHT! The Brothers reunited in the living room in front of the huge TV and waited for Ninja to show up.

"Goooooood evening, Twitter! Are you ready for our first Big Brother Sims Elimination? Let's begin!"

"Chopping Block Squad, how are you feeling? Optimistic?"

Dustin answered first: "I don't think I could be bad!"

"My tan is done and my hair is laid, so I'm feeling stunning", said Nina

"I'm at peace, independently of the results" finalized Salim.

"To show support to Dustin, here in the studios is his WHOLE family! Your mom, dad, little brother and grandparents are here!"

The Brokes and Newbies showed up on the screen and Dustin couldn't help but cry.

"Here on my other side, showing all their love to their beloved Nina, is her family!"

Katrina, Don and Dina appeared, screaming her name and clapping. Nina screamed!

"Oh my Watcher!!! Even Don left the hospital to come! Thank you, guys!"

"Salim, you probably expect nothing from this segment of the show, right? There aren't any of your relatives on the save."

"Well, yeah, I'm cool with that." Salim answered.

A video showed up on the screen.

"Hey, Salim, it's Baba"

It was HIS FAMILY!

His dad Fahrid, his mom Fatima and his little sister Aisha!

"The producers asked us a video sending you love. You left Al-Simhara with big dreams, and we're so proud of you, every day."

"Always, habun" said his mom.

Aisha ended: "A wan you to win this! I want you to lend me some money!"

Ninja came back to the screen.

"Well, now that everyone is energized, let's not waste time! Let's get to the results. Are you all ready?"

"The sim on the Chopping Block who goes home first, totalizing 40% of the votes, is DUSTIN BROKE! Come outside, Dustin!"

And, just like that, we have our first Brother going through the door!

At the House front door, Plumbob Network correspondent, Baby Ariel, waited for the Eliminated.

"Is this thing on. Yeah? Ok.

ahem, AHEM!

HEEEEYYYY SWEEETIES! This is your girl Baby Ariel with the Elimination Interviews. Who comes thru? The suspense is killing me!!!"

"Dustin, our first Eliminated! Tell all our watchers, how are you feeling?"

"Guys, I'm really happy! My family came to support me. That's a first. Also, all these people are CRAZY!"

"This was Dustin Broke, everybody. Back to you, Ninja!"

[n00dl3gal]

Someone To Skate For (Voltron Secret Santa)

Hi @lceithkogane! This is my gift for you from the @voltron-ss!! You asked for a hockey au with shance/klance/shallura, so I hope you enjoy. Happy holidays!

Read on AO3 here

If you had asked Lance seven months, two weeks, and three days ago if he’d ever play ice hockey, he’d probably laugh in your face. Lance Fuentes, playing hockey? It wasn’t that he was unfamiliar with the sport- he’d seen it on TV a couple of times- but actually standing out on the ice, batting around a disk like it offended your mother… yeah, that wasn’t for him.

Of course, seven months, two weeks, and two days ago, Lance saw Takashi Shirogane.

And that’s how it began.

…

He was probably the hottest person Lance had ever seen in his life, regardless of gender. Chiseled chin, sculpted muscles, delicately wind-swept hair, and a scar running across his nose that didn’t detract from the appearance in the slightest. Rather, it added to it.

“W-welcome to the Quiznak Snack Shack, what can I g-get for you today?”

The man smiled, scratching his cheek in thought. “How about a medium lemonade and a fruit cup, please?”

Lance nodded, busying himself with pouring the drink and slicing the fruit. Pidge and Coran were likely in the back, and this guy was their only customer- a little flirting couldn’t hurt, right? “I-I’ve never seen you here before. You new?” he asked in his most casual voice, chopping a strawberry.

He laughed, eyes crinkling. “Ah, no. I just haven’t been able to stop by before. I’ve been meaning to, though.” He fished in his back pocket for his wallet. “My name’s Takashi Shirogane.”

“Lance,” he replied, ringing up the food. “That’ll be $5.86.” Takashi paid and dropped the change in the tip jar, prompting another smile from Lance. “Enjoy your food!”

“I plan to,” Takashi said, heading towards the door. He paused just before opening it. “Hey, do you mind if I put up a flier for work on the community board?”

Lance’s gaze flicked over to the corkboard of pamphlets and posters for events around the city. He shrugged. “As long as it’s not for anything illegal, go ahead.” Takashi lifted his lemonade in thanks before tacking a sheet of paper on top of an ad for a tanning salon. Then he left, vanishing into the crowd on the street, leaving the tinkling door chime and a wistful sigh in his wake.

Once his shift ended, Lance took a moment to memorize the address on the flier he had left. The Voltron Ice Arena, huh?

Works for him.

…

“You mean to tell me-” Keith said, pushing the puck away from the goal effortlessly, “that you decided to play hockey to impress a guy you hadn’t even spoken to.”

Lance panted and dribbled the puck back to the neutral zone. “I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds creepy.”

“It is creepy.”

“Alright, alright, so I wasn’t really thinking and I ended up signing up for tryouts. And you remember how that turned out.”

…

It wasn’t that Lance was unfamiliar with ice skating. He’d done it a few times with his family and friends. Wasn’t too shabby at it, either. He knew hockey well enough, too, or at least had seen enough on TV to get the gist of it.

So while he wasn’t expecting much when he tried out. Probably to be rejected outright. But… somehow, he wasn’t. Not that he was pulling off last-minute nosedive saves or cross-rink goals, but he still managed to control the puck well and keep himself upright, which was more than most of the other tryouts were doing.

The woman in charge, a tall, pretty thing named Allura, smiled and patted him on the back once he finished. “You did well, Lance. Have you played before?”

He shook his head. “Never in my life. Don’t know how I did all this.”

“Well, whatever the case, with a bit more training, you could be a valuable member of the Paladins. Tryouts continue for the rest of the weekend, but don’t be surprised to hear from us come Monday,” she said cheerfully. “Once you return your skates, you’re free to go.”

Lance skated over to the penalty box, where a young man about his age sat. For some god-forsaken reason, he had a mullet. “Name’s Lance,” he said, sticking out his hand.

The boy grunted and shook it once before dropping it like it bit him. “Keith. Goalie.”

Well, this guy was easy to talk to. Not. “So, you already tried out, then? I thought results weren’t up until Monday.”

“I’m still on the team from last year. Only replacing a few people.”

Lance pulled off his left skate, shaking his foot loose. “Well, I may be one of those lucky few, which would make us teammates. Should probably get to know each other then, right?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re not on the team, yet, so what’s the point?”

OK, now he was just being purposefully difficult. But Lance wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, be it trying out for a sport he’s never played or befriending a jerk. “Just cuz I’m not on the team doesn’t mean we can’t talk. How long have you been playing?” he asked, smile somewhat forced.

“Since I was in middle school. Look, why don’t you just return your rentals and leave? Tryouts are over for the day anyway, I’m just sticking around for my ride,” Keith said, crossing his arms.

“Well if you’re gonna be like that, fine. Maybe I will leave,” Lance countered, picking up the skates. “Don’t even know why I bothered talking to y-” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something. Something that made Lance shiver.

Takashi Shirogane, dressed in sweats, twirling across the ice. “Oh, holy crow,” he breathed, moving closer to the rink to watch.

Keith stood and glared at Lance all the harder. “Wait, do you know him?”

Lance blinked and turned back to the other boy. “Um, maybe? So what if I do? Can’t I watch him practice his hockey?”

There was a second of silence, and then a snort as Keith doubled over, laughing. “What the hell, man? What’s so funny?”

“Shiro playing hockey, now that’s something I would like to see!”

…

“You seriously thought he played hockey?”

Lance batted the puck out of Keith’s reach and launched it across the ice. Keith blocked it with ease, but Lance chalked it as a victory to even get it away from him. “Well, given his physique and what little information I had to go on, it was a reasonable assumption,” he argued.

Keith huffed and rolled his eyes, smiling. “But still an assumption, and you know the old saying.”

“Yeah, yeah. And then I found out he was taken…”

…

His eyes tracked Shiro as the latter drifted across the ice. Keith sat a few rows behind him, no doubt pouting. In the two weeks since Lance had joined the Paladins, he hadn’t seen Keith smile once. If it wasn’t for them laughing when they met, Lance might’ve thought it was impossible.

Nevertheless, he focused on Shiro and his routine. Once he had seen Lance and they both laughed awkwardly about the misconception, he was happy to let Lance watch him practice. “New source of feedback,” he said, patting Lance’s shoulder.

Lance blushed and mentally made that his favorite shoulder.

Shiro transitioned from a triple lutz to hydroblading, zooming past were Lance stood. Despite the glass, Lance could feel the passion and friction Shiro’s skates were creating. After a quick mohawk turn, Shiro pulled into a lunge before striking his final pose. Lance clapped wildly, slightly muffled by his mittens.

Shiro stood and smiled, waving at Lance. He waved back eagerly. There was a snort from somewhere up in the bleachers- oh yeah, he had forgotten about Keith. Lance spun on his heel and glared at him. “He did fantastic- much better than what you could do!” he snapped.

Keith stretched and walked down to rink level. “Oh, you’re not wrong about that. It’s just how obvious you’re being with that silly crush of yours,” he said.

“S-so? Why would that be a problem?“ Keith pulled a hand out of his pocket and pointed across the ice. There stood Allura, who Shiro was skating towards. “And?” Lance asked. “They’re co-workers, it makes sense for them to-”

And then, in a decidedly NOT co-worker-like fashion, Allura leaned up and kissed Shiro on the lips. Shiro responded by equally unprofessionally wrapping his arms around her waist.

If Keith said anything else, Lance didn’t hear it. He just curled his fists and shook.

…

“You’re not… still mad about that, are you?” Keith asked suddenly, skidding to a stop. Powdered ice shot up in his wake, splattering Lance’s knees. “About him and Allura being engaged.”

Lance sighed but shook his head. “I mean, I was at the time, but I don’t really know why. I barely knew the guy and I was already infatuated with him… it was stupid. I’m glad I found out pretty early, though.”

Keith nodded, skating back to the net. “I guess I’m just surprised you stuck around.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance accused, pointing a gloved finger.

“I mean that you only tried out to get close to Shiro. It wasn’t for a love of the sport or for exercise or anything, it was cuz you were being a stalker,” Keith explained.

“I was not being a stalker!”

Keith shot the puck back towards Lance and rolled his eyes. He lowered his faceguard, saying “we’ve been over this, you were being creepy-”

“Yeah, yeah, just get ready for this shot, Samurai.”

As they practiced, Keith had to admit it- Lance had improved quite a bit since he tried out, and even then he was no slouch. He would never say it out loud, but he was glad Lance had stuck around, even after finding out about Shiro. They still bickered- a lot- but in the past seven months, they formed a strange sort of friendship that Keith wouldn’t trade for anything.

Suddenly, Lance stopped and beckoned Keith closer. Keith wondered for a second if Lance was injured and skated over, dribbling the puck idly. “You alright?”

“You asked me why I stuck around- there’s a couple of reasons. First of all, you’d all be dead without me on the team and you know it,” Lance boasted, grinning.

Keith exhaled. “Whatever lets you sleep at night,” he muttered.

Lance dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “It’s also good exercise and it’s fun and it’s something to do when I don’t have work. But… in regards to Shiro, well…” His voice fell a few decibels as he leaned into Keith’s ear. “I may have found someone else to skate for.”  

He couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his back when Lance said that. Who was it? Hunk? Pidge? Maybe- it couldn’t be him-

Lance took the shot and scored. “HA! I knew that would throw you off!” he laughed. He kicked off and made his way towards the door to the stands.

“B- La- you- I was nowhere near the goal, it doesn’t count!” Keith sputtered, chasing him. “Get back here!”

“Nah man, I wanna get out of this smelly jersey-”

“They are called sweaters and you know it, Lance!”

Lance just chuckled some more. Maybe one day he’d score a real goal against Keith. Maybe he’d score something else with him, too.

[werewolfdays]

Taste, but instead of Jayde who is a cooking pro, I challenege Nadya to try :P

ok you know I’m runnin with this one, it’s about time Nadya cooks for Jayde. Here’s some good sweet fluff with a hint of spiciness

- [ taste ] for your muse to cook for mine

“Okay, here’s how this is going to go,” I told Jayde as we were standing in the middle of the safehouse kitchen after I set out all the ingredients I needed to cook us dinner, “You’re going to let me cook.” 

“Yup.” She nodded with a smirk.

“And you’re not going to try and take over.” I pointed my finger at her for emphasis because I was sure that my words weren’t going to stick.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Jayde replied with a shake of her head, though she still looked smug.

“Even if I’m not doing it the way you would do it.” 

Another nod.

“And then you’re going to try it.” 

“Yes.” 

“And even if it sucks, you’re going to pretend that it’s delicious for one bite.” 

“Cross my heart.” She confirmed while doing the motion over her chest. 

“Good.” I said happily and turned around to get to work. 

I started to chop things up on the cutting board and began smiling to myself when I got to the mushrooms, “Hey, want to hear a joke?”

“Sure.” Jayde said as she was helping me get everything prepped. 

“Why did the mushroom go to the party?”

She shrugged and looked at me expectantly.

My broad grin nearly hurt my cheeks, “Because he was a fungi.”

Jayde’s shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes so hard that I thought she would get whiplash, but she couldn’t stop her laugh even though she tried to hide in with a loud groan, “You’re on your own after that one.” She stated and retreated to the dining table. 

I spent the next few minutes laughing at the pun and trying not to accidentally slice my own fingers. 

Once I got everything chopped up, I threw it all in the pan with a little oil and jumped back slightly in surprise at the violent sizzling noise. Jayde let out a small snicker from her place at the table, making me throw a warning look over my shoulder at her. She was sitting backwards in her chair, arms crossed over the back so she could rest her head while she watched me, and that attractive lopsided grin she wore made it impossible to be too annoyed with her. I simply rolled my eyes and returned my focus to dinner. 

I was stirring the ingredients in the pan for a few minutes, making sure that everything was being evenly cooked, when I suddenly felt Jayde’s arms wrap around my waist from behind. She kissed my temple before resting her chin on my shoulder and I tilted my head to lightly bump hers. I could tell that she was studying my work with a critical eye, but I acted like I didn’t notice so I could go on with my business. 

“Babe, why’s the heat on so high?” Jayde asked, reaching out to adjust the dial.

I batted her hand away, “It’s so it’ll cook faster.” 

“It probably won’t cook faster, but it’ll burn faster though.” She pointed out. 

“Well, maybe I like it a little burnt.” I retorted, resisting the urge to rectify my mistake out of spite, “Also, I don’t remember asking you.” 

Jayde chuckled again, this time close to my ear like she wanted to throw me off balance, “Fair, but if I wanted to eat charcoal, I could just go to the gas station and buy a bag for seven bucks.” 

I gave her a cheeky side glare and turned the heat down, “Better?” 

Her lips pecked the corner of my mouth, forcing me to smile, “Much. Now how about the seasoning, are you just doing a sauce? I don’t smell a lot in there right now. You know, I could get to work on some—” 

“Okay,” I set my cooking spoon down and turned around in her arms, placing my hands on her shoulders to start pushing her back to her seat, “Remember what you promised earlier? This is me cooking for you.” I pushed her downwards until she sat in her chair with an exaggerated plop, “Now sit and give me a chance.” 

Jayde’s fingers hooked into my waistband when I tried to walk back to the stove and she started to thumb the button of my jeans while raising a cocky eyebrow at me, “Have I ever told you you’re kinda sexy when you boss me around?” 

If she wanted to play with me, then I could play right back. I snatched her wrist, pulling her hand away from my waist and when her other hand reached up, I grabbed that one too. Then I straddled her, settling myself in her lap, and pressed my lips to hers in a heated kiss. I felt her push against my grip to try and touch me, but I bit her lower lip in warning, causing a quiet growl to rumble in her throat, and forced her arms down until I was able to wrap her hands on the edge of the chair. 

“You are gonna stay right here until I’m done cooking.” I commanded against her mouth. 

I could feel her smile against my lips, “Yes ma’am.” 

I rewarded Jayde with another kiss, parting her lips and deepening it for some positive reinforcement. The action made her fight my grip once more in her growing need to get her hands on me, but I only pressed myself harder against her, pinning her to the back of the chair so she wouldn’t be able to move. Her needy groan made heat flush through my cheeks as well as other places, but I ignored it for now. Satisfied that she would be satiated for a little while, I suddenly broke away and stood up, feeling rather proud at the look of flustered bewilderment on her face.

“Stay.” I told her firmly. She didn’t have a snappy reply this time. 

The process continued fairly smoothly. I avoided burning anything, thanks to Jayde’s somewhat unwanted advice earlier, and there was another sizzle when I added the sauce in, but this time it was more satisfying than startling.  

“Hey, watch this.” I said, lifting the pan up off the stove.

“What are you doing?” Jayde asked from her chair.

“I’m gonna do the cool flippy thing.” 

She nodded me on, “Let’s see it, chef.” 

I followed the motions I’ve seen on multiple cooking shows, but held back in fear of all of my hard work having a suddenly intimate relationship with the floor. There was a small flip that was almost graceful, so I tried it again with a little more confidence. All of the ingredients were thrown into the air and I was shockingly able to position the pan to catch all of it. 

“Ha!” I yelled in triumph, setting it back down on the stove. 

Jayde clapped a few times for me, “Impressive stuff, Bobby Flay.” 

“I thought so.” I agreed, then looked at the food, “I think it’s done?”

“Is that a question?”

I studied the contents in the pan and checked my watch, “No, it’s done. Grab some plates.”

We got everything plated and set on the small table. I took a seat across from Jayde and took a nervous sip of my drink while I watched her poke at her food with a fork and eventually spear a bite. She was turning the fork over so slowly, trying to study every detail, that it took me a moment to realize she was only doing it to mess with me. 

“Oh, come on,” I complained, “Just put me out of my misery already.”

Jayde’s mischievous gaze shifted up to meet mine before she finally ate her bite. I watched her carefully as she chewed, but she intentionally made her expression unreadable. I hung in quiet anticipation until she finished. 

“Well?”

She smiled brightly at me, “It’s delicious.” 

I smiled back at her, “Oh, good. So should we just toss the rest and get pizza?” 

“No, Nadya,” she chuckled and started to gather more onto her fork, “I mean it, it’s really good.” 

Not fully believing her, I forked my own bite and tentatively put it in my mouth. I was pleasantly surprised to find it edible, even pretty tasty. “Okay, I’m not sure what happened, but I don’t think this was me.” 

Jayde threw me a crooked grin, “You had me exiled to a chair, I didn’t exactly have any time to sneak in a hidden ingredient or anything. This is all you, babe.” 

“Hm,” I hummed as I enjoyed another bite, “Maybe I should cook for us more often then.” 

“I think I’d like that.”

[the-fauxpas]

five / watermelon granita

uni AU co-written with @ineffably-styles

a story of late nights, unorthodox household plants, and a trip to Vegas that changes everything

“How’s it going, guys?” a new voice sounded, Zayn appearing a few seconds later and taking a seat beside Alexa. “Has anyone tripped yet?”

“Niall landed on his bum about fifteen minutes ago. Kept whining about how he’s probably bruised his tailbone. Personally, I don’t think he’s really cut out to play this game,” Savannah commented, waving a hello at Zayn.

chapter four / story page

“Oh no,” Savannah slumped, spotting Louis and Reyna chatting together by Louis’ car, identical cups of coffee in their hands.

“Crap,” Alexa sighed, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder and biting her lip. Reyna and Louis’ heads snapped up as they approached, a broad smile stretching across Louis’ face.

“Need a lift?” Louis asked once they were close enough, dangling his car keys before them.

“Uh, sure?” Alexa replied, a little confused. Savannah just stood there, squinting over at Reyna as if she was trying to decipher a particularly difficult maths equation.

“Lou’s offered us a ride to uni,” Reyna shrugged, raising an eyebrow at Savannah’s blatant staring. “It’s a peace offering for ruining the movie yesterday,” she explained, narrowing her eyes a little at Louis, who was still grinning like a fool.

“Sure is. Now, chop-chop,” he clapped his hands together. “Don’t wanna be late now do we?”

“Ha!” Reyna scoffed, watching as Louis pulled open the passenger side door for her to climb in. “You’ve never been on time to anything education-related,” she said, moving past him.

“Not true!” he defended, racing over to the driver’s side. “I was usually on time for football games!”

“That’s not exactly education-related,” Savannah piped up, buckling her seatbelt and placing her bag between herself and Lex.

“Plus, you were late to those half the time,” Alexa joined in.

“I thought this was a peace offering,” Louis grumbled, pulling his car out onto the street. “Not a ‘let’s attack Louis’ freefest.”

“You brought this upon yourself,” Reyna shrugged, pulling out her phone. “What class do you guys have this morning?” she asked Savannah and Alexa, twisting a little to face them.

“I’ve got Brain and Behaviour,” Savannah grumbled. “Our lecturer talks at about the speed of light so taking notes is impossible. Plus, there’s someone who sits behind me who eats the noisiest food, I feel like he does it on purpose.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got Menzies first thing,” Reyna sighed. “If you guys don’t hear from me after that class, it’s safe to say that he’s locked me in the morgue to join the other bodies there.”

“I don’t have class until noon,” Alexa grinned cheerfully.

“I hate you,” Savannah glared at her.

“Yeah but you have a seven hour Renaissance art class later on in the week, so really, who’s the real winner here?” Reyna shot back, high-fiving Savannah as Lex slumped down in her seat.  

“I have a marketing class first thing,” Louis chirped with false cheer. “Not that anyone asked me,” he said, rolling his eyes and chancing a glance at the three of them. “It’s like I’m only good for giving you guys lifts to places and being made fun of.”

“That’s not true, Lou. You’ve also got a pretty sick apartment.”

“You know, if we weren’t already here, I’d throw you out of my car and make you walk the rest of the way,” he shook his head even as a smile fought its way onto his face - he was very proud of his apartment.

“Liar,” Savannah sing-songed as she crawled through the car and out Alexa’s door. She had a thing where, if her passenger side door faced the road, she would crawl over and exit the car through the opposite side.

Neither Louis, Alexa nor Reyna even blinked at her, but a couple students who were passing by sent them some weird looks.

“I can’t believe I’ve come all this way for a class that finishes at eleven. I’ve only got a lecture today and it’s more of an intro to the topic than an actual class. Apparently all we’re doing today is partnering up for some assignment,” Savannah rolled her eyes.

“My condolences to the poor soul who ends up being your partner,” Alexa joked.

“Hey, I’m not that bad!”

“Yeah, ok. Not like you basically traumatised the last girl you were partnered with by literally turning up at her doorstep at 2am one night with an ‘idea you just couldn’t wait to share with her’,” Reyna laughed.

“It was a good idea,” Sav grumbled, hitching her bag higher up on her shoulder as they four of them made their way towards their respective classes. “Why do we have to park so far away?”

“Because, finding parking on campus is near impossible,” Louis explained.

“It's true,” Alexa nodded. “Side streets are your best bet. Usually I just drop Sav off and find a place to park so I can escape her whining about why we have to walk for ten minutes.”

“I don't whine.”

“No, just a healthy level of complaining,” Reyna laughed.

“I like to think so,” Sav grinned brightly. “Is that Harry?” she frowned, leaning forward to try and get a better look at the figure heading towards them.

“Looks it,” Louis shrugged. “Oi! Haz,” he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth for maximal volume.

“Warn us next time you're gonna yell,” Reyna growled, thumping him on the back harshly.

“Ow, sorry,” Louis apologised sheepishly as Harry hurried his way towards them.

“Morning,” he yawned.

“Long night?” Reyna asked.

“Dad wanted to go over some old cases with me,” he nodded. “Wanted to prepare me for some of the classes I'll be taking.”

“Sucks,” Reyna made a face. “I'm so glad I didn't follow the family business. There’s not really much investment bankers can teach me about the cardiovascular system.”

“Yeah, but you’re studying medicine now, so obviously they’re not going to be disappointed in you,” Harry scoffed.

“True,” Reyna grinned. “Maybe you should’ve done medicine too,” she nudged Harry as they continued walking towards their classes.

“Dad probably would have disowned me.”

“But you literally just said parents wouldn’t be disappointed if you do medicine.”

“No, I said your parents wouldn’t be disappointed in you. I didn’t say anything about my parents,” he joked, although Savannah could tell there was a slight truth to his words.

“So, anyway,” Louis interrupted the two of them. “You’re coming to football practice today right, Harry?” he asked. “Reyna’s said she’ll come for moral support.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth,” Reyna cut in. “I said I might come if I’m not busy.”

“Are you busy?” Louis asked.

“Depends what Sav and Lex are up to.”

“Sav?” Louis looked at her pointedly.

“Probably nothing,” she shrugged.

“Good, then you guys can tag along too,” he nodded decidedly. “See you guys tonight,” he dragged Harry away before Reyna could argue.

“Great,” she muttered. “Come on, Sav.”

“Uh, actually, I’m heading in their direction,” she said apologetically, hurrying to catch up with the boys. “Wait up!” she yelled.

-

“You will be expected to attend all lectures and tutorials within this course. Failure to do so may result in your tutor refusing to acknowledge your final assignment. Now, the first part of this assignment is due back in week four of this semester, and so you will be expected to choose your partners this week to be able to get started on it as soon as possible. Please, choose wisely. No changes will be permitted once the names are written down and my free time is very limited. I’d rather not spend it listening to you bicker about who did what.”

Savannah sighed while her lecturer, a short, plump woman with wispy, grey hair droned on about the importance of the first assignment for the term. The lecture had been forty five minutes of absolute torture and if she had to listen to another minute of this speech, Savannah was sure she was going internally combust… somehow.

It was taking everything she had not to fall asleep and Savannah found herself regretting the decision to skip out on the coffee Alexa had offered to get her before class. Especially when the brown haired boy beside her was sipping leisurely at the cup of coffee sitting on his desk. Every time he picked it up and put it down, the smell would waft over towards her, making her even more grumpier than she already was.

“Remember, this assignment is worth an overall 50% of your final grade so failing is not an option.”

“Just like this class,” Savannah murmured, dropping her head onto her palm as she chewed on the pen she’d found buried in her bag. She had almost drifted off to sleep when a quiet chuckle made her jump.

“Tired?” an amused voice asked from her left. Savannah turned towards the Coffee Boy, narrowing her eyes a little at him.

“What could possibly give you that idea?” she asked sarcastically. “Was it the fact that I was half asleep?” So she wasn’t the most friendly person when she was hungry and tired, sue her. But Coffee Boy didn’t seem to mind, grinning at her as he downed the rest of his coffee while she eyed him enviously.

“I’m Dylan,” he whispered, glancing towards the front of the room where their lecturer was now going over the assignment’s marking criteria.

“Savannah.”

“Nice to meet you, Savannah,” Dylan smiled merrily before the two of them lapsed into silence as the lecturer - Savannah didn’t even know her name if she was being honest - finally stopped talking for more than a couple of seconds as a student asked a question.  

“Someone I know took this unit last year,” a girl sitting towards the front spoke. “He said we had to partner up boy-girl. Is that true?”

“Yes,” their lecturer nodded her affirmation. “I was just getting to that part. As part of this unit, it’s come to the faculty’s understanding that the there is a difference in the physiology of the way the brain works as well as a difference in behaviour between the two genders. And through this assignment we are hoping that this difference will be made prevalent.”

“Bloody fantastic,” Savannah grumbled, scribbling down a few notes as the lecturer made them.

“Not a fan of partnered work?” Dylan asked curiously.

“It’s not that,” she looked over at him thoughtfully. “Just don’t know any of the guys in this class is all.”

“You know me,” he grinned and Savannah saw that as her opening. “Is that your way of asking me if I wanna partner up?” she raised an eyebrow at him. Dylan shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I mean, yeah,” he muttered. “You don’t know anyone and I don’t know anyone. Makes sense we’d partner up, yeah?”

“You better do your share of the coursework,” she tried to glare at him fiercely, but from the small smile on Dylan’s face, it only amused him. After a quick glance at his notes - which were about two pages longer than hers - Savannah felt herself perk up at the prospect of spending the rest of the semester with someone who actually seemed like he cared about his work. She’d promised herself that she was going to try her best this semester, and partnering up with this Dylan guy seemed like a step in the right direction.

After the lecture, the two stood around exchanging details before they parted. As she walked away, Savannah spotted Harry sitting by himself on one of the couches, his head buried between the thickest book she had ever seen, brows furrowed in concentration. Knowing better than to distract him, Savannah walked on, feeling slightly sorry for Harry Styles.

-

“Louis, you owe me about three cheeseburgers for dragging me out here to this godforsaken place to watch you guys kick a football around while not actually scoring any goals,” Reyna grumbled, taking a seat on the bench as Louis swapped his trainers for some cleats.

“Come on Rey, just bask in the gloriousness that is English football. Doesn’t it feel incredible?” Louis said, lacing up his shoes and moving to stand up.

“No,” she grumbled in reply. “It feels like a wet patch on my bum and a field that smells like garbage.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” he sighed, saluting the three girls before running off to join Harry and Niall on the field. They were a part of the university football team, and were spending the evening getting ready for the first game of the season coming up. If Savannah had known that she was going to be spending the next two hours on a damp seat, she probably wouldn’t have been so okay about going.

Savannah and Alexa sat there silently, trying to follow what was happening with their practice. They started off with laps around the field followed by a couple of drills. By the time they started with their actual practice, Savannah was ready to fall asleep on Alexa’s shoulder. Reyna hadn’t even bothered looking up from her phone since it started, and was now playing Solitaire to kill time.

“Aren’t you supposed to be paying attention to this?” Alexa asked her, effectively pausing her game. “I mean, you’re the reason why we’re here in the first place.”

“Oh please, Louis’ the reason you guys are here. I was forced against my will,” she grumbled, tapping the start button on her game.

“How’s it going, guys?” a new voice sounded, Zayn appearing a few seconds later and taking a seat beside Alexa. “Has anyone tripped yet?”

“Niall landed on his bum about fifteen minutes ago. Kept whining about how he’s probably bruised his tailbone. Personally, I don’t think he’s really cut out to play this game,” Savannah commented, waving a hello at Zayn.

“Sounds like him,” he agreed, nodding his head as he watched the match.

“Why aren’t you playing?” Reyna asked, locking her phone and joining in on the conversation.

“Ah, I did for about two seasons but then my workload at uni kept getting in the way so I had to quit,” he shrugged in reply, not seeming entirely bothered by it. “Good riddance, I’d say. I barely managed to score a goal.”

“Oi! Zayn! Give us a bottle of water!” Harry yelled from across the field. Savannah looked up to find the group slowly making their way back to the benches.

“Get it yourself you muppet, I’m not your bloody waterboy,” Zayn yelled back, but went to retrieve a bottle of water from the cooler anyway. He threw it towards Harry once they were within close range - which he caught deftly - and reached back in to grab another one for Louis and Niall.

“How’d you guys find it?” Niall asked, moving to take a seat between Savannah and Reyna before gulping down half the water bottle in one breath.

“Uh,” Savannah began, watching wide eyed as he downed the rest of the bottle within the next two seconds. They were set to get back out there within the next five minutes and she briefly wondered whether he was worried about getting a stitch or not.

“It was good,” Reyna cut in quickly, not wanting to drag this conversation out for any longer than necessary. She really wasn’t much of a sports fan.

“Come off it,” Louis interjected, opting to take a seat on the grass instead of finding room on the bench. “You were on your phone this entire time, I’m pretty sure you didn’t even glance up once.”

“I did too!” she argued.

“Oh yeah? Which side of the field did we have to shoot a goal in?” he challenged, smirking.

“Left,” she replied coolly, holding his gaze as a means to say that she was not backing down from his challenge.

“Ok, you got that one,” he said. “But I’ll be quizzing you when this is over so you better be paying attention.”

A whistle blew from the distance and all the guys hurriedly got up to return to the field, but not before Louis gave Reyna a look to show that he wasn’t going to forget about their conversation.

“Ok Sav, Lex, keep your eyes peeled,” she commanded them once they were out of earshot. “There’s no chance I’m losing to this.”

Savannah sighed, leaning her head against Alexa as she concentrated on the game in front of her. Five minutes later, she found herself being shaken awake by a glaring Reyna. The sky had darkened considerably and the boys were all gathering their things surrounding them.

“I can’t believe you fell asleep,” she scolded, arms crossed as Savannah blinked the sleep away from her eyes.

“Oh, I did?” she asked, still groggy.

“Yeah, and it cost me 10 quid too,” Reyna sighed, pulling Savannah and Alexa up from the benches. Savannah glared at the empty field, as if expecting an apology for it costing two hours of her life and her dignity.

Harry strode up to them, all sweaty and gross with his bag slung over his shoulder. “How was the nap?” he smirked, bringing a water bottle up to his lips and taking a long gulp.

“Terrible. The only way I’ll come to a practice again is if you kidnap my family and use it as blackmail. Even then I’m not sure I’ll willingly come,” she deadpanned, falling into step with Harry as they followed the others out to the car park.

“Oh lighten up, Simba. A couple of the guys have taken a fancy to you girls, by the way. Proper think we’re the coolest dudes on the team for even knowing you guys,” Harry smirked.

Savannah raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?”

“Yeah,” Harry grinned. “So you’re coming to the game next week, right?”

“Apparently, I have fans. So I’ll definitely be there to sign a few autographs if you want to give your team the heads up,” she grinned while Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’ll see you at uni, Sav,” he chuckled, squeezing her shoulder before sauntering off to his car.  

-

Savannah walked through the entrance to the library, juggling her laptop in one hand, while attempting to hide the greasy bag of hot chips she’d snuck in with her. Reyna - who was manning the front desk - rolled her eyes when she saw her creeping past, struggling to disguise the fast food by hiding it under her sweater. When she realised who was working, Savannah visibly relaxed, the stiff set of her shoulders softening as her whole demeanour changed from ‘innocent student’ to ‘tired student’.

“Thank god,” she breathed. “I feel like I’ve gone for a swim in grease,” she joked, pulling the food out from under her clothes.

Reyna only raised a brow. “You’re not allowed food in the library.”

“I thought you might say that,” she rolled her eyes. “Here.” Savannah pulled out a neatly wrapped burger and chips, placing them on the counter before taking out the bottle of Sprite she’d thrown in her bag. “Happy?”

“Very,” Reyna smiled cheerfully. “You’ve made my day.”

“I hope you realise how sad and boring that makes your life sound,” Savannah warned her.

“Piss off,” Reyna reached over the counter to punch her. “My life is plenty exciting,” she argued, retracting her arm to unwrap her burger.

“Plenty violent more like,” Savannah scowled, rubbing the spot that was now starting to turn slightly red.

“Whatever. How’s the assignment going?” Reyna asked, taking a bite of her burger chewing expectantly.

“It’s not. But Dylan will be here soon, and maybe we can finally start it. Send him over to my secret corner when he gets here will you?” Savannah asked, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder. The weight of the textbooks were now starting to really bother her, and she couldn’t wait to get to her seat.

“I hope you realise how kinky it sounds when you say it like that,” Reyna mocked, brushing some crumbs off the counter. “I hope you have the handcuffs ready.”

Savannah chose not to reply and instead walked away to eat her lunch - and possibly dinner because neither she nor Alexa cooked very often. That was maybe one of the cons of having them both living in the same space - both managed to burn water when cooking and so took to ordering in each night or eating at uni before they headed home to crash. Which meant that there was a significant dent in Savannah’s bank balance, leading her to pick up more shifts at the cafe and therefore significantly reducing her free time.

It had been a week and a half since uni had started which meant that the first part of the assignment was due in less than two weeks. Upon realising that a substantial portion of their assignment was undone, Dylan and Savannah had finally agreed to knock some sense into each other and both swapped their shifts at work in order to schedule a night to meet up.

Dylan appeared as soon as Savannah turned around, a strange expression on his face as he studied the contents of the paper box situated in front of her laptop.

“You know… there are at least 20 calories and 0.8 grams of fat in one single chip,” he chastised, glancing down at the mass of chopped potato on the table.

“Oh no,” Savannah muttered, trying to shield the box of food from his scornful gaze but to no avail.

“Meaning that of the maybe 25 to 30 chips in that box right now, you’d be consuming about five to six hundred calories alone. And don’t start me on that burger…”

“Please don’t start on the burger,” Savannah whined at him, pushing her meal to the side to try and ward off his attack.

“You could go for something so much better like carrot sticks and maybe a tuna sandwich with wholegrain next time. Great for your health and helps you study better too,” he said, pulling off his bag and sitting down next to her. Savannah rolled her eyes. She’d rather eat a burger and risk her health than eat bunny food and study better.

“I’m hearing words coming out of your mouth,” Savannah began, pulling her food back towards her - she really wasn’t going to waste a perfectly good burger. “But none of it seems to be making any sense.”

“Probably because of all those calories that you’re consuming,” Dylan scolded, eyeing the take-out with distaste.

“There you go again,” Sav rolled her eyes. “Speaking words that don’t make any sense,” she glanced down at her food, her gaze resting on the textbook she was using as a makeshift plate. “Just like the words of this assignment,” she sighed.

“Which we really need to get started on,” he nodded, seeming much more determined than Savannah was at the moment. Maybe it was all the bunny food he was consuming.

“Yeah,” she nodded sadly, taking a few final bites of her burger while Dylan unpacked.

“Ok, so for the first question…” his voice was all business as he dived right into the details of the assignment, and unsurprisingly, Savannah felt her attention instantly wane as she continued to pick at her food.

-

“Well, at least that part’s all over,” Dylan tried to reassure the both of them as they made their way out of the library together. After a gruelling four hours of research, they had mutually agreed that it was best to leave the rest of the assignment for the coming week instead of risking eating each other alive. “Besides, we’ve done all the research that we need. We just have to type it all up and I’m pretty sure we can do that over Facetime or something,” he continued.

“That’s comforting, we only have about fifteen pages to type up,” she snorted, hitching her books closer to her chest. “Anyway, it’s getting dark. I better go,” she said forlornly, glancing at the illuminated sign signifying the entrance to the tube.

“You sure we can’t give you a lift? Jess won’t mind,” he offered, eyes darting around for his girlfriend’s car.

“No. No, it’s okay. I don’t live far from the station. I’ll be fine, I don’t want to be a bother,” Savannah argued, turning to leave before he could really change her mind.

“Ok, well get home safe, ok Sav?” Dylan said weakly, spotting a car with it’s headlights on and turning towards it. “Text me when you get there!”

“I will!” she yelled over her shoulder as she power-walked towards the station. The entrance was near - she was only a few metres away from the top of the stairs. Keeping her head down, she snuggled deeper into her jumper and tried to look inconspicuous as she made her way there. The streets at night in London always freaked her out, and for good reason. She was maybe five metres away from the station entrance when a car screeched to a stop right next to her.

Savannah was more than sure she resembled a deer in headlights at that moment. She stood frozen on the side of the curb as a car faced her, two silhouettes barely discernible against the bright light. She knew that she should probably run. Or hide. Or grab a weapon of some sort - though she doubted her jelly pencil case would do much as a weapon, but she just stood there freaking the fuck out because she was an idiot and she wanted to get killed.

Suddenly, the door opened and the driver got out. He was obviously male, his face still hidden in shadows against the bright lights of the headlights piercing her eyes. The figure made a move towards her.

“Stay the hell away from me,” she warned, though her voice was barely a whisper. She took a couple of steps back, hugging her books tighter to her chest. Books! Her textbooks weighed at least one stone apiece, for sure - that was a lie but they were still bloody heavy.

The figure took a couple of steps forward.

“You know what,” Savannah muttered under her breath, fingers tightening around the spine of her Psychopathology textbook. “Sod it.”

And with what resembled a loud gargled shriek, she launched herself at the stranger, textbook swinging wildly into what she thought to be the side of the guy’s head. She backed up, tightened her hold once again on the heavy textbook and launched the book at him from a distance, nailing him in the face. She quickly pulled open the top flap of her satchel to grab one of the lighter books - anything to attack him again - and she almost succeeded in getting her relatively heavy workbook out (anything but the laptop) when the figure held up his arms in defeat, speaking out for the first time since he got out of the car. Or rather, the first time Savannah actually heard him. The ringing in her ears from her panic had just managed to dissipate as the noises around her became clearer.

“Stop it you psycho! What the fuck!?” the voice yelled, sounding slightly familiar.

“Harry?” Savannah asked, doing a double take as she gripped the second book in her hands.

“Yes, I’m Harry you crazy bint! Who did you think I was?!” he exclaimed, one hand covering his cheek as he stepped into the light.

“I thought you were some sleazebag who wanted to kidnap me or something! Who the hell just pulls up next to some unsuspecting girl in the middle of the night like that?!”

“Fuck, remind me to never try to do something nice again,” he muttered, pulling his hand away to see if there had been any major damage.

Suddenly, the passenger door opened, and the second figure in the car all but fell out of his seat, clutching his stomach in laughter.

“Shut the hell up, Zayn!” Harry yelled in the direction of the car, still glaring daggers at Savannah who at least looked a little remorseful.

“That was hilarious, Sav. Please do it again so I can record it,” he managed to say between gasps of laughter. “You know, your war cry was definitely the cherry on top. How does someone so small make a noise so loud?”

Savannah blushed a deep red, head hung in shame as she tried to avoid Harry’s glare. “What the hell were you guys doing here anyway?” she asked Zayn who’d managed to compose himself and was now stood next to Harry.

“We were going to give you a lift home,” he smirked as Harry fumed from beside him. “Which, uh, didn’t really go well, did it?” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck nervously, shooting quick glances at Harry to see if he was going to get attacked anytime soon.

“No kidding,” Harry spat out. Savannah couldn’t help but laugh at the red welt appearing rapidly on his face - there was no doubt he was going to be sporting a massively bruised cheek the next day.

“Look, Harry,” Savannah started towards him but he pulled back, taking a couple of steps away from her as if she was going to attack him again. “I’m sorry!” She tried to get closer to him once again and this time, he allowed her. Tentatively, she reached up a hand to inspect his cheek in the light. It was definitely swelling rapidly - a lot faster than she thought.

Curiously, she poked it.

“Oh my god, don’t poke it!” he exclaimed, hissing in pain.

“I’m sorry!” she cried again, as Zayn doubled over in laughter once more. “Are you still ok with taking me home?” she asked, suddenly shy.

“Guess I have to now, despite the fact that you’ve just disfigured my face,” Harry sighed, pulling his hand away from his cheek once more and turning back to his car. “Come on, We’re not letting you catch the train alone at this time of night,” he said, gesturing towards the back seat.

“Is he mad at me?” Savannah asked Zayn as she picked up her fallen textbook.

“I have a hunch... considering you just nailed him in the face with a bloody book,” he chuckled. “But he’ll get over it soon. Come on, let’s get you home.”

-

“This is your place?” Zayn asked as they made the way up the stairs towards Alexa’s flat. On the car ride home, Savannah had insisted (albeit annoyingly) that Harry and Zayn come up so that she could get him some ice and some painkillers for the rapidly swelling bruise on his face and he’d grudgingly agreed.

“Yeah, I’ve just moved in with Lex,” she said, unlocking the door and letting the two boys in.

He whistled. “It’s pretty nice,” he said, admiring the cabinets laden with every movie and TV show known to man.

“Savannah? Is that you?” a voice called from down the hallway, followed by a pyjama-clad Alexa in her fluffy slippers. She stopped short when she saw who was accompanying Sav, shooting her best friend a questioning look.

“Honey, I’m home!” Savannah announced with a grin. “And, you know, these two,” she waved towards the boys.

“Hey Zayn,” Alexa greeted, trying to shield her less-than-presentable outfit from their line of sight. “Hey Har- what happened to you?”

From behind Savannah, Harry sighed.

“I hit him in the face with this,” Savannah explained weakly, holding up her textbook for Alexa to see. It was slightly battered and beaten from the events of the night, but still usable nonetheless - which Savannah was endlessly thankful for because that alone had cost her about 100 quid.

“Hold up,” Alexa interrupted. “You’re telling me that you attacked Harry?” she questioned, eyes widening as three heads nodded back in response. Harry began to look slightly smug as Lex’s face dropped, appalled. “And no one filmed it?”

This time it was Harry looking appalled. “That’s it? That’s what you’re going to ask?” he demanded, while Zayn chuckled beside him. “Piss off,” he turned his face to glare at Zayn.

“You know,” Savannah spoke softly, moving towards Harry. “I really don’t think it’s going to be all that bad?” she offered, but it came out as more of a question than anything else. Her finger was, once again, a couple centimetres away from his cheek when he reached over and gripped tightly onto her wrist, making her squeal and jump in surprise. “Sorry!”

“Oh, my god, Simba,” Harry groaned, eyes wide with disbelief. “Were you going to poke it again?”

“I just wanted to see if it still hurt as bad,” she admitted sheepishly, blushing slightly, wrist still held tightly between Harry’s slender fingers. “And don’t call me Simba.”

“I can assure you,” Harry rolled his eyes, releasing her wrist. “It does.”

Savannah bit her lip, her eyes lingering on his cheek as she unconsciously rubbed the wrist Harry had just freed. “Ok,” she said decisively. “Come with me.”

“Wha-” Harry didn’t really have a chance to respond as Savannah dragged him through the flat - almost knocking over a lamp - as they left Alexa and Zayn to awkwardly fend for themselves. “What are you doing?” Harry finally managed, once they came to a halt in front of Savannah’s rather large bathroom.

“Go in and take a seat,” she ordered. “I’ll be right back,” and without giving Harry a chance to argue, she was disappearing back to where they had come from.

-

“Hold still,” Savannah grumbled, tilting Harry’s face so that she could rub the ointment she’d found in the cabinet over his cheek. She remembered when Alexa had tripped and twisted her ankle last Christmas. They’d been out trying to find last minute gifts, when everything had gone horribly wrong. They’d gone to the emergency room where Reyna had been volunteering as part of her coursework (and even though her commitment was over, she’d stayed on because she enjoyed the experience). Reyna had sighed at the sight of them, throwing the stolen medication at them with instructions to tightly wrap the ankle and ice it afterwards.

“I just don’t understand why you’re covering my face in that gunk,” Harry pouted, once again trying to move his face away from Savannah’s fingers.

“Because,” she jerked his face back. “It will help with the swelling.”

“But it’s cold,” Harry mumbled, his pout deepening. “And it smells!”

“Don’t be such a baby,” she laughed lightly. “You’ll be thanking me for this ‘smelly gunk’,” she quoted him, “tomorrow morning when your face doesn’t feel like it’s been hit by a truck.”

“I’d be thanking you more if you hadn’t been the one to put me in this position,” he retorted.

“Potato, potahto,” she shrugged, refusing to rise to the bait. “There,” she exclaimed brightly, finally moving her hands away from his face. “All done. Now put this on,” she handed him a bag of frozen peas.

“Really?” Harry raised a brow in amusement.

Savannah tried not to blush. “We didn’t have an ice pack?” she posed it as more of a question than she’d intended, as she turned back to the sink where she’d set up her supplies.

“Of course you didn’t,” Harry chuckled before tenderly placing the bag against his cheek. “This hurts like a bitch. I expect you to be nice to me for at least a month after this, by the way.”

“I’m always nice to you,” she retorted, gathering the stuff on the counter and placing them neatly back in the bag. “It’s you who shouldn’t test me.”

“That’s no way to speak to the wounded,” he scolded, pressing the pack more firmly on his bruise. “I’m going to be sporting this bruise for a good week, at least. Going to have people ask how I got socked in the face.”

“I suppose you’ll be making up some macho story. Injury-via-textbook doesn’t sound so cool,” she replied, laughing lightly.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll tell them something wild. Like I wrestled a lion or something,” he grinned cheekily.

Savannah snorted, gathering up all the rubbish and dumping it in the bin. “Yeah, because Louis’ definitely going to believe that when he finds out about this.”

“Oh shit, Louis,” Harry’s eyes widened as he thought of his best mate and his tenacity to find things out before they even happened. He quickly pulled out his phone, determined to be the first one to tell him the story.

Savannah left Harry in the bathroom with the peas while she went to pack away the first aid kit back in the cabinet and headed out to Zayn and Alexa who were sat in the kitchen, chatting. They looked up expectantly upon hearing her come into the room.

“How’s the princess?” Zayn asked, smirking.

“Whining like a little bitch,” Savannah grinned, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. She had to admit, she felt slightly bad for the inevitable bruise that was going to appear on his face the next day, but the situation was too funny for her not to joke about.

“What’s new, hey?” Zayn laughed, immediately cutting off as Harry entered the space. He eyed the two of them suspiciously, eyes narrowing.

“Ready to leave, Malik?” Harry asked, glancing over at Savannah who stared back questioningly.

“Oh… yeah,” Zayn mumbled, pushing off the counter and walking towards the hallway. Alexa followed him, leaving Savannah and Harry alone once again.

He took a careful step close to her. “Give me your phone,” he demanded, holding his hand out.

Eyebrows raised curiously, Savannah pulled her phone from her back pocket and placed it in Harry’s hands. After a minute, he handed it back to her as his own phone beeped from his pocket.

“You have my number now. Any time you find yourself needing a lift, give me a call, yeah? I don’t want you travelling home alone in the dark.”

To Savannah’s complete and utter surprise, Harry’s cheeks flushed a pale pink, and she couldn’t help but be flattered by the gesture.

“I’m a big girl… I can handle myself,” she retorted half-heartedly.

Harry chuckled, shaking his head slightly, “Trust me, I know,” he gestured to the mark on his face. “But just in case,” he winked.

And with that, he turned around and left the room.

AN: hi guys, sorry we’re a day late on this chapter but we had a long weekend here and if i’m being completely honest, we both forgot about it oops. hopefully the content makes up for it though bc this was definitely one of my favourite chapters to write. as always, we love to hear your thoughts so shoot us a message if you have a spare moment. otherwise, enjoy!! x

[pen-masta]

It’s a Joyful Life Part 3

1    2    3   4

Castel stares back this guy who is claiming to be his brother. But he can’t be his brother...he’s much too young.

“I’m sorry...w-who did you say you were?”

“Come on Cassie,” Mikey laughs. “I’m your brother, now come on we don’t have too much time.” He says and takes Castel by the arm.

“What do you mean?” Castel asks as he stands.

“We have a lot to see tonight,” Mikey smiles.

“What are you talking about!?” Castel demands

Mikey shakes his head and smiles, “For someone so smart you’re not too quick on the uptake are ya?” He sighs and sits on the stone railing. “Sit.”

Castel hesitates before he sits on the wall that moments ago was going to be the stage for his final act. He stares at the young man next to him, who’s claiming to be his brother. Mikey smiles sweetly at his baby brother. 

“What were you just doing?” Mikey asks

“Huh?” Castel blinks

“Before I got here what were you doing?”

Castel blinks again and looks down at his feet.

“I...I was standing on this wall...and I was going to...leap off.” He says slowly.

“Why?”

“Because...because I’m a mess!” Castel snaps, “I-I-I’m useless! All I do is wreck things for everyone! I’m a mess for the masses!” He huffs a short breath, puffing a cloud of ice into the frigid air. “Everyone would be better off without me around.” His eyes drop to the ground again with a small sniffle.

“Exactly,” Mikey says and pokes Castel’s side. “You think everyone’s life would be better off if you had never been born, yes?”

“Yes,” Castel nods and looks up at him.

“Well when you slipped back you hit your head on that rock over there.” Mikey says and points to a rock a little ways from them. “Right now you’re unconscious in the snow.”

“What!?” Castel jumps up in a frantic panic. “I’ll freeze to death!”

“Isn’t that what you wanted though?” Mikey questions, “To die?”

Castel blinks and nods slowly, “I suppose so...”

“Anyways,” Mikey shrugs and stands up. “Even though you’re knocked out you can’t seem to find any rest little brother.” He chuckles, “Your mind is still working, and that mind of yours has created just what you’ve been wanting.”

“What?”

“A world in which you were never born,” Mikey says slowly.

Castel blinks and looks down at the rock. Could it be possible? Could he really be lying here in the cold, snow slowly covering his body like a blanket? And his mind has created an...alternate universe...?

“Don’t believe me do you?” Mikey chuckles watching Castel’s face.

“It is a far fetched story,” Castel laughs airily. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Mikey smiles. “Well I can tell you why I’m here.”

Castel nods, “Ok...sure. Why are you here?”

“I’m dead.”

“You’ve said that,” Castel sighs.

“Let me explain then,” Mikey says. “Do you remember when you were fourteen and we were on our family camping trip?”

Castel nods, “Yes.”

“Well you remember when we got there you and I decided to go off and find a good log to chop up for firewood. I took you out to show you what kind of wood to look for, the stuff you can’t burn, and how to not get lost out in the woods. When we were walking along the edge of the cliff some of the dirt from under my feet crumbled under my weight falling down into the river.”

“Yeah, yeah I remember.” Castel nods as the memory floods his mind, “You lost your balance and ended up falling down the side of the cliff and into the river.”

“That’s right, when I fell in I broke my ankle and got taken under the rapids. I was tossed around under the water and was thrown into a rock. I hit my head so hard I was knocked out immediately. Do you remember what happened?”

“Of course I do,” Castel says. “I slide down the cliff and dove in after you. It was hard to fight against the rapids, but I got to you.”

“I was a lot of dead weight for you to handle,” Mikey says. “But you did it. You got us to shore, you patched me up, you saved my life little brother.” Mikey smiles kindly at Castel.

Castel shrugs feeling a slight blush rising in his face, “Yeah, yeah it was nothing. You would have done the same if it were me.”

Mikey pats Castel’s shoulder, “It was just you and me out there Cas, you saved my life Cassie. You did. If weren’t there well...”

Castel blinks, “Wait...this is a world where I was never born right?”

Mikey nods, “That’s right. Without you there I went off by myself and fell in the river. Without you there...I drowned to death at twenty-eight.”

Castel blinks and shakes his head, “T-that...doesn’t prove anything.”

Mikey shrugs, “Other than the fact without you being born I would have died?”

“You could have easily taken Zack with you,” Castel shoots back.

Mikey sighs, “Stubborn as ever.” He smiles and claps his hands together, “Alright then let’s get going.”

“Going? Going where?”

“Going to see everyone else,” Mikey smiles. “Amy, Nathan, Zack--”

“Zack?”

“Yeah he’ll be the easiest to start out with let’s go!” Mikey says and takes Castel’s arm.

===============

Before he can blink Castel finds himself in a coffee house. He looks down at the small table he sits at and the cup of coffee in front of him. How did they get here? Did they teleport? Did his mind just transport them here? Did it matter?

“Why are we here?” He asks looking up at Mikey who sits across from him at the table.

Mikey sips his cup of coffee and smiles, “We’re here to see Zack.”

“What does he work here? Or something?”

“Just wait,” Mikey smiles and looks down at his watch. “He should be here in three...two...one.”

As if on cue a man bursts through the door of the small little coffee shop. Snow flies into the shop as the man slams the door shut. Castel blinks taken back by the man that bumbles into the coffee house. The guy wears baggy gray sweatpants, a bright red t-shirt, a gray hoody one size too big, a baggy black beanie, and a lot of flashy, gaudy jewelry. As if that wasn’t enough he’s wearing dark sunglasses and is talking very loudly on his cellphone.

Castel’s eyebrows furrow, within seconds this guy has let the world know who he is--a jerk. Castel watches as the guy ignores the few people in line as he walks in front of them STILL on his phone! The people grumble and complain as the self-absorbed jerk pushes passed them and very rudely places his order before returning to his phone call.

“Disgraceful isn’t it,” Mikey sighs shaking his head.

“What a self-center jerk,” Castel grumbles as the guy tosses some money carelessly at the barista, who looks quite disgusted with her customer.

“Yup,” Mikey nods as Castel sips his coffee. “That’s our brother.”

Castel coughs and gags on the hot beverage staring at Mikey in disbelief.

“That...that’s Zack!?” Castel turns back to the guy.

No way that this self-center inconsiderate tool is his big brother! Zack was the most caring, loving, selfless person on the planet! He never did anything without considering how it would affect someone else. He was always looking for different ways he could help other people. He would never act this way, not his big brother, not Zack.

“See without you being born Zack never had a little brother,” Mikey explains. “He never had someone he had to think of first. Someone to watch out for, someone to take care of. Without you Zack was the baby of the family,” Mikey sighs. “Which means he got everything he wanted. He was spoiled with a capital S. And a spoiled little boy grew up into the spoiled, self-absorbed, arrogant, nasty, uncaring man you see before you.”

Castel watches as Zack sips his coffee and spits it on the floor before berating the poor baristas. He shakes his head looking at Mikey.

“Still think this guy would have jumped into the river to save me?” Mikey asks sipping his coffee.

“There is no way my not being born affected Zack this much.” Castel waves his hand dismissively. “Having a caring spirit is something a person is either born with naturally or--”

“Or is something they acquire over time, having someone or a situation to teach,” Mikey cuts in.

Castel blinks and shakes his head, “No I think Zack would have been the way he is in real life with or without me. H-h-he’s just a loving guy it’s the person he is.”

“Only because he had a little baby brother to watch out for,” Mikey says in a sing-song tone.

“There is no possible way my life really built Zack into the man he is today. Just forget it bro,” Castel says and sips his coffee.

Mikey sighs and nods, “Alright that’s fine let’s keep moving.”

“Moving?” Castel asks, “I haven’t even finished my coffee yet.”

“Cas-”

“No Mikey,” Castel cuts him off. “This is my mind and if I’m unconscious I’m going to make the most of it. Starting with enjoying this nice warm cup of--” he looks down at his hand to see the cup is completely gone without a single trace. He looks back up at Mikey stunned.

Mikey smirks and shrugs, “Hey dude it’s your mind.”

Castel rolls his eyes and growls inaudible words. Mikey laughs and stands up.

“Just as well come on let’s go.”

“Where now?” Castel whines growing tired of this tale--and he’s only seen two people...geez he’s getting old!

“We’re going to see someone...a little harder to see.” Mikey sighs, “We’re gonna stop and see Amy.”

“Amy? My business partner?” Castel asks and rolls his eyes. “Amy is a bright girl, she basically runs Cubs Industries. She handles all of our buyers, investors, sales, everything. Sans for a few meetings and show of face, all I need to do is keep building the products. She’s the one that sells everything I build. She’s an incredible business women, she’d be perfectly fine without me.”

“Maybe so,” Mikey shrugs. “Let’s go find out.”