#designs and i do n 't know how to describe it but like;;; the titles; the preview images;; you can just tell they're not v open to the idea

[kiwiana-writes]

WIP Acrostic Game

Thanks to @cha-melodius @porcelainmortal @anincompletelist @sparklepocalypse @firenati0n for the tags! I really need to do this before I get any more tags huh 🤣

Rules: From your story/WIP, find sentences that start with each letter of the given word.

My words: BOLT / SING / IRON

Your word: FAME, OR you can generate your own word here: handy dandy word generator

B - from the Big Secret Collab with @indestructibleheart

Beside him, Cash sucks in a sharp breath, his left arm moving almost imperceptibly so that it’s covering Alex a little more as his right moves towards his hip.

O - from the Anastasia AU

Once his dad pushes him inside, he realises why—it’s a storage cupboard, probably designed to have the door blend into the wall so visitors don’t try to open it.

L - from the Alex/Henry/Liam/Spencer fic that's been languishing for an embarrassingly long time

Liam reaches forward, wrapping a hand around Alex’s cock. 

T - from the trans!Alex fic for Fandom Trumps Hate

There’s something in Henry’s expression that feels a little like a challenge, but he doesn’t voice it.

-

S - from the Stranger Than Fiction AU

Structural edits, Henry is inclined to think, are a task sent directly from Hell to make him hate himself.

I - from the Rafael POV of select scenes in With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest)

If you tell him I said that, Luna, I’ll skin you alive.

N - from Chemistry without a recipe

No point in complicating it.

G - from the "Henry can't come for all of June and somehow it's Alex that feels denied" fic

“Guess our sex life’s gonna be all about me for thirty days, huh?”

-

I - from the WIP just titled 'Fetlife lol'

If you want to know how big my cock is, dear, all you have to do is ask nicely.

R - from a Southern Philanthropy FTH fic

Roommates, Liam knows, can be pretty hit or miss; he got lucky with his current one, a tall Māori guy who keeps referring to his time in the UK as his “OE”, which Liam is given to understand means “overseas experience” and is, in his opinion, a pretty fucking grandiose way of describing pouring pints in a London pub for a year.

O - from the fic titled simply 'horny soulmates'

“Okay, well, it’s not my fault my soulmate is either some kind of sex goddess or has a deep personal connection with her vibrator, is it?”

N - from my OTHER trans!Alex fic

Now they’re like… I mean, I can still feel them, but I don’t think I could come just from having them played with anymore.

...and that's still not all of them. Help.

TAGGING... @agame-writes @affectionatelyrs @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517 @celeritas2997

@getmehighonmagic @happiness-of-the-pursuit @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @inexplicablymine

@larkral @lilythesilly @littlemisskittentoes @nontoxic-writes @onthewaytosomewhere

@orchidscript @piratefalls @read-and-write- @rmd-writes @sherryvalli

@ships-to-sail @sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @thesleepyskipper

@thinkof-england @tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland @whimsymanaged 

And, as always, anyone who wants to play!

[cafeinthemoon]

Feral Heart - Chapter III

Chapter 3/?

Wordcount 2,6k

Title Morning Lessons

Fandom Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyo Bugeisha Ketteisen

Previous chapters

Prologue . 1 . 2

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ 🖤

Warnings: none except that Yagyu tries to keep the inner shinigami quiet

Tagging ? (If you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just leave a comment on this chapter or send an ask or a message)

N. A.: So I'm really self-conscious about this chapter bc though I've had it in mind for a long time, it ended up looking like a joke that was only funny in my head, mostly bc I struggled to describe y/n-san's strike without knowing the exact word for it, I mean how do you English speakers call it when someone clenches their hand and hits other person's head? I've found some expressions like "noogies" and my friend who's also an English teacher sais it's "deck" (a word she claimed to love btw), but tell me what do you think...

Anyways I hope you enjoy this one :)

The morning when you should gather at the training area to watch Yagyu-sama give you a glimpse of what swordsmanship meant was awaited with great expectation by most of the young women, and they couldn’t refrain their tongues to speak about it the night before. At first, since you had no particular interest in the path of the sword, you only hoped that it didn’t leave you as bored as the day of the first presentations, but as time passed you started to think of it seriously, to the point you allowed yourself some curiosity – after all, an opportunity to see the Peerless Swordsman in action didn’t come every day, and deep inside you were willing to see if he was worthy of such esteem.

When the day came at last, you and the others were led by a palace servant to the designated place, where your master was already waiting for you with his usual, composed manners. You glanced as his hand’s height and noticed two katana… made of wood. Of course, real weapons wouldn’t be used against inexperienced students, but somehow you felt relieved with their sight. You raised your eyes again and suddenly startled when they met with his; overcoming you in self-control, he gave you a gentle smile, which you didn’t reciprocate and looked away. You observed the other girls, but they were too focused on their master to pay attention to anything else. You glanced at him again, and your heart skipped a beat when you saw that the smile disappeared from his lips as he interacted with the others; you hated the warmth that reached your cheeks with the realization.

The air around you were full of whispers and excited chattering, but they ceased once Yagyu raised his hand. You weren’t surprised with that: he would never have a hard time managing the girls’ reactions once he was already popular among them.

His first words were less formal than you expected, yet they emphasized the seriousness of the occasion.

– Good morning, girls. I’ve heard you’ve been expecting this moment with great enthusiasm, so let me say that the same goes for me.

The girls cheered up at those words. He walked toward the center of the area, his hands hidden behind his back.

The lesson started with no ceremonies.

– Developing or sharping your skills with the sword is not the only task that will be assigned to you as Nobunaga-sama’s living weapons, but neither it is less important, and that’s why you will be practicing by this hour everyday from now on.

The word “everyday” was followed by a wave of murmurs that echoed or added exclamations of surprise to it. You were looking directly at his face and saw the grin with which he made the announcement, and it was hard not to twist your lips in response.

Of course, he’s enjoying all of this.

– Some might think that wielding a sword is an act restricted to the physical – Yagyu continued – But this is because they only look at things from the outside. You cannot commit such foolishness, my girls. The path of the sword is a mental, even spiritual one. It can reveal things about yourselves that you’ve never imagined to be there, as well as teach you how to read the secrets of your opponent.

From your spot, you were still able to see him, and that’s how you saw the moment he approached the first row. Tension spread around when he offered his hand to a short girl who didn’t seem to be older than you.

– Now, would you mind serving as my volunteer? – and, when the poor girl accepted the invitation with an unintelligible murmur, – What is your name?

– Akemi… Yagyu-sama.

He nodded and took the girl to the center of the area with him. Letting go of her hand, he took one of the wood swords from his belt and offered it to her.

– Do you know how to hold it?

The girl shook her head in a positive answer and held the sword with reasonable balance, even though it was a bit long for her.

– Very well – Yagyu held his own weapon and started walking around the student as he spoke – Let’s see how many secrets we can unveil.

You saw Akemi’s hands tighten their grip around the sword.

– W-what’s going to happen, Yagyu-sama?

His response was to giggle and to poke both her elbows with the tip of his katana, making her raise them a little.

– Nothing you need to be afraid of. After all – he glanced at the girls – Each of your friends have their own secrets as well.

You lowered your eyes at those words, so that there wouldn’t be a chance for another look exchange between you.

– You might have noticed the little correction I made in Akemi’s posture right now – he continued as if nothing happened – Here we had our first revelation. Nervousness, perhaps from lack of confidence, even when it’s clear that she knows how to hold the weapon – he used his sword to touch hers underneath, making her hold it higher – Another one: uncertainty about the strength necessary to hold it properly – he poked each of her feet in their inner side with the sword, separating them from each other – And, finally, not knowing exactly how to occupy the space around her, in order to stay in the right position.

Silence was still lingering as the girls heard the explanations. Now that Akemi was apparently prepared to whatever might happen now, no one knew exactly what to expect, not even herself. Yagyu raised his sword… and put it back on the belt. The girl, still waiting for a response, didn’t move until he approached her.

– As you can see, all of the imperfections on our friend’s performance were fixed once they were identified – he said to all the presents – This is what you are going to learn. Spotting failures in your adversary’s posture while concealing your own weaknesses is the key to a good result. As you can easily suppose, this lesson applies to many fields apart from swordsmanship, but keep in mind that in this specific case, this will mean the difference between your life and your death.

It didn’t escape you the grin growing on his thin lips as the word death crossed it. But, before its shadow lingered on the minds of the students, Yagyu suddenly softened his manners, turning to Akemi and taking back the katana.

– You made an excellent job, Akemi-san – he patted her hair – You were very brave.

The girl agreed with visible relief, then was sent back to her place among the others. No one dared looking at her direction, even less chattering or mocking her. You looked away, scratching the back of your neck. Part of you was relieved for Akemi, while another one was even happier for not being you in her place...

Such happiness didn’t last long, however.

– Reading your adversary, figuring out their weaknesses and using them to your advantage… – he continued his explanation – All of this seems easy when we speak, but reality always brings surprises. This is your second lesson, and to demonstrate it I’m going to need help from another one of you.

Another murmur spread among the girls, the expectation of being the chosen one passing from heart to heart. You just stood quiet, hoping he didn’t extend this for any longer. And, well, he didn’t… but not like you were imagining.

– Y/n-san, can you come forth?

Yagyu’s voice, though soft, entered your ears and shook everything inside like a thunder. You looked ahead, to make sure you weren’t hearing things, but the quietness with which the other girls opened the way for you, as well as the teacher’s eyes glued on your figure, waiting, wouldn’t let you be deceived. You bit your lip and started walking toward the spot where Akemi once was.

You stopped in front of the group and waited. Yagyu approached and offered you the sword used by the previous girl; you observed it for a moment before extending your hand to grab its base: you somehow were aware of the possibility of your hand touching his, and wanted to avoid it. Then, being successful in this, you nodded and murmured a “Thank you”, but your attempt to keeping a formal distance were frustrated when he dismissed it with that soft, clever smile of his, as well as a verbal provocation.

– Too bad that I’ve already learned your name, isn’t it?

Your eyes widened at those words, but you didn’t say anything in response. He just continued the lesson.

– Please, get in position – he asked while doing that very thing.

You obeyed and posed yourself the same way as Akemi. Fortunately for you, he didn’t need to correct anything… Or perhaps he did, but had no intention of doing it, for the gaps in your guard were going to serve as a precious lesson to the students, as suggested by his next command.

– Now, use what you just learned and show us your defense, y/n-san!

And, before you could think of what was going on, his sword came to clash with yours from all possible sides, and you were forced to follow his movements to not stay behind. Indeed, you weren’t experienced with swords or any weapon that surpassed the size of your arm, but you did your best, not wanting to know what would happen if you were hit with a wooden stick. At the same time, you were able to notice the fluid, free way in which he would wield his weapon, almost like a dance. And you sort of admired that.

He moves around with such balance and grace. No wonder I thought he was a woman.

At some point, you stood face to face, your swords pressed against each other. While you held your breath to contain the fatigue, he showed no signs of struggling. The smile he gave you was tender, but you saw the cunning expression in his eyes.

– Tell me, dear – he whispered – What would you do if I was about to kill you?

It was when you understood it. The lesson about surprises – he was expecting you do to something that the girls couldn’t predict. But what could it be? A sudden change in your fighting style? A low blow? A sign of surrender?

You glanced down at your feet and had an idea.

With your left heel, you hit the inner side of his ankle in an attempt to interfere in his balance: supposing that the probability of him being right-handed were higher than the opposite, he might never expect a strike from the left, which would give you a second to move away from his katana’s reach. In your mind, that was an excellent thing to try… but you hadn’t the necessary experience to make it work, and once he understood your tactic he wouldn’t miss the chance to use it against yourself: moving his foot away from yours, he increased the pressure of his sword and, at the same time, stroke your leg on the spot behind your knee. His superiority in speed and strength resulted in you dropping your sword and falling on your back, your breath suddenly pushed out of your lungs.

If only that was all, you could deal with it, but Yagyu seemed to find it insufficient for the lesson: pressing the “blade” of his sword on your neck, he bent down in front of you, leaning on one knee and giving you no space to move or to escape.

– So, now you’re without your sword, immobilized and at your adversary’s mercy – he commented – Breathe heavier and this might be the last time you do it. What are you planning to do now, y/n-san?

You didn’t say anything in response: your mind was everything but concerned about the task of choosing words when you had him closer than he has ever been.

The strands of his hair are spreading around, tickling my cheeks, and I can hear his breath and the clink of his earring.

Those few seconds you stood like this felt like an entire hour, during which neither of you spoke. You thought of moving one of your feet, but you wouldn’t manage to lift it without being stopped by him; then you considered striking him with your knee, but his own was already being used to trap yours; you even thought of headbutting him, but that would be too painful.

You glanced at your right hand and noticed it was free. You clenched and moved it before anything else...

And hit him on his forehead.

You two stood there, silently staring at each other until the a wave of laughter and mockery raised among the entire group of students. Their fragmented voices reached your ears with comments that would go from mild observations such as “I can’t decide if she’s insane or just incredibly funny!” to not so gentle ones, like “What a stupid thing to do! Doesn’t she take the lessons seriously?!” However, you had neither the time or the energy to give them attention, for what you had in front of you made you totally absorbed: Yagyu didn’t deflect or made anything to stop your hand, and you were surprised to see that it was less because he didn’t see it coming than because of his capacity of doing it; his eyes, widened a bit as much as his lips, let that clear.

He wasn’t expecting this. I really caught him off guard.

Perhaps he sensed this realization from your part, for soon after this thought crossed your mind he acted as if nothing happened: leaning the sword on his shoulder, he moved away and stood up, freeing you from his grip and offering his hand to help you leave the ground. You avoided his gaze while you did, then cleaned your clothes and grabbed your sword, forgotten near your feet. The voices of the girls were a constant murmur by now.

Yagyu was the first to speak.

– It seems that y/n-san has a peculiar concept of self-defense – the girls giggled at that comment; he turned to you, scrubbing his forehead on the spot you hit him – But I don’t think she did that as a joke. So, can you explain to your partners what you meant with that… strike?

Part of you was relieved that he took you seriously, but you were a bit annoyed by the way he touched his forehead as if you’ve put all your strength in that move.

You offered the presents an honest explanation.

– I clenched my hand because I had nothing to hold on to in order to make the strike realistic – you pointed at your own forehead – Of course I wouldn’t hurt you on purpose, Yagyu-sama, and that’s probably why you didn’t stop me, but what I imagined was hitting you with a rock or a small knife that I might’ve hidden in my sleeve.

A strange glimmer appeared in his eyes when he heard that, but it was gone as fast as it came, so that you wondered if you just imagined it.

I’m not really sure if he sensed any hostility from me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Maybe he was just a bit shocked that I had the nerve to simulate what I had in mind. Most of the other girls wouldn’t go so far.

The laughter of the said girls turned into whispers of “Ah, now I get it!” and “That makes sense!” and your master seemed satisfied with that. Since the lesson was well assimilated by all of the students, he decided to continue the classes. With a bright smile, he took your sword and sent you back to the group, where you were surrounded by cheerful girls, excited with the possibility of being his next volunteer.

[misslavenderlady]

A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock 'N Roll - Chapter 1

Summary: What if instead of Arizona, Michael was born and raised in the heart of Texas? He's a smooth-talking, risk-taking, guitar-playing pretty boy with the sweetest southern drawl you've ever heard. The Lost Boys are completely smitten with him, especially David. A fun, romantic "what if" story that gives Michael a bit of a fun twist.

The amount of enthusiasm I received for that one post I made about a Southern Michael was so big, I went ahead and made it real. Shoutout to @michael-after-hours for helping out since he's actually from Texas! Title is inspired by the Donny and Marie Osmond song of the same name.

Next Chapter

David rarely enjoyed taking on tasks for his sire. Max was a pretentious man who demanded absolute loyalty and perfection. It was something that the Lost Boys were expected to follow without questioning his authority. They already despised the man. Doing chores and errands like a bunch of lackeys didn’t exactly make them like him more. 

Still, as the man’s childe, David had to follow his orders lest he wanted to be at the receiving end of punishment. Behind that dopey smile and nerdy set of glasses was a rather sadistic monster when it came to discipline. All of the Lost Boys knew that quite well.

They were ordered to turn two kids into one of them. Max gave their names and descriptions. A freckle-faced boy who had barely begun puberty and his older brother, a tall boy with brown curls and blue eyes. Sam and Michael were their names. Why Max wanted more sons that he’d just end up neglecting, David didn’t know. He didn’t ask any more questions than he had to.

Besides, he was open to the idea of having more friends to take under his wing. To help shape them into becoming fellow creatures of the night. Maybe it would go a lot better than expected.

When Star confirmed that she found the eldest boy, David was fully prepared to take on the challenge. Once she met up with him on the boardwalk again, he and the others would swoop in and take it from there. They could all be quite charming when they wanted to, and it would be easy to manipulate Michael. 

At least, that’s what he initially thought.

When the next night came the Lost Boys were parked by a small area on the boardwalk designated for smoke breaks. David had been finishing the last few puffs of one of his cigarettes when he caught sight of Star. She was further down the path but he could see someone walking next to her. With a flick of the cigarette butt and a signal to his boys, David gunned his bike and rode over to the two of them so he could get a better look at their new "friend".

Paul and Marko boxed them in on one side while Dwayne took the other side with Laddie holding on behind him. That allowed David to be front and center, just the way he liked it. 

When he got a better look at the guy, he was caught a little off guard. Sure, Michael looked just how Max described him to be, but he wasn't expecting to be face-to-face with someone dressed as a cowboy.

Michael had a worn-out, brown suede cowboy hat perched on top of his head of curly hair. He wore a rather tight, white t-shirt under a gray-colored flannel, which was not something David had expected to see in the middle of summer. A large, golden buckle shined in the center of the belt that wrapped around his pants. His jeans were thick, dark denim and the cuffs were tucked inside boots.

Cowboy boots, of course. They were the same shade of brown as his hat and had seen many a day of wear and work. Scuffed and stained with mud on the toes. The boots David always wore were more of a fashionable pair, not the best for actual labor like Michael's were. 

It was a little confusing taking in such an appearance. Maybe the guy had just come from a costume party and had worked extra hard on his outfit for it? The idea sat in the back of his mind as he spoke to the lady of their gang. 

"Where ya going, Star?" David asked, an amused smirk on his face. 

"For a ride," Star explained. They must have been walking to his bike somewhere in the mass collection of parked vehicles on the side. He wondered which one belonged to the human boy. 

"This is Michael," she said, gesturing to the boy. Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink color at the sound of his name. 

Michael was certainly a good-looking guy, but it took a bit more than a pretty face to get Star a little flustered. David couldn't help but wonder if he had said or done something to their only lost girl. 

David opened his mouth to greet the human boy, but he didn't get a word out. Michael himself made the first move, and boy was it a shock.

"Well Howdy there!" the boy cheerfully said, reaching a hand out to David. The vampire barely had a moment to comprehend the words before a hand was wrapped around his own. Michael had the strongest grip he ever felt on a human, energetically pumping his arm up and down for an enthusiastic shake. 

Paul, Dwayne, and Marko all perked up, worried about this guy putting his hands on their leader. Nobody ever got to touch David without his consent and live to tell the tale. 

But David wasn't threatened. Just utterly dumbfounded. If it wasn't the greeting that caught him off guard, it was the megawatt smile on Michael's face. He couldn't recall the last time someone was actually excited to meet him. 

"The little lady mentioned she had some pals I could meet. I reckoned I was in for a treat and it's sure nice to meet ya!" 

It was like hearing someone talk in a different language. Michael's voice was quite loud and powerful, but what really made it stand out was the accent attached to it. The accent was a smooth, southern drawl. The kind you'd hear in an old western film.

So the getup wasn't just for show. Whoever this guy was, he had come a long way from somewhere in the deep south. It made him stick out like a sore thumb against all the surfers and punks of California. Michael finally let go of his hand, yet David still felt the aftereffects of the shaking. If they did end up turning him, Michael would probably be as strong a vampire as David himself. 

"Shoot, don't y'all know howta greet a new friend 'round here?" Michael asked with a soft chuckle. "What's your name, Hoss?"

David was finally able to snap out of his confused state. He couldn't let himself get caught off guard again if this was going to go right. 

"Oh! I'm uh…David," he managed to get out. "These are my friends. Paul, Dwayne, and Marko. The little guy is Laddie"

Laddie gave an adorable smile and an eager wave while the three other vampires simply shot Michael a small nod when they were named. Though they all remained casual, they still traded looks of curiosity with one another. Apparently, they also weren't expecting someone so bold and brash as a possible addition to the family.

Michael took no notice of it, instead tilting the brim of his hat and giving a nod to them. 

"Mighty nice to meet y'all!" he smiled. "I ain't ever seen any folk like you back home. All the flashy clothes and makeup. Y’all are more decked out than a pine tree on Christmas!"

The Lost Boys exchanged looks and snickers with one another. It was painfully obvious Michael was from somewhere that was the exact opposite of Santa Carla. They'd probably be just as caught off guard if the roles were reversed. 

"Oh yeah? Where's 'back home' for you, Cowboy?" Paul teased, leaning forward on his bike. Star was pouting at his question, no doubt from worry they were going to start making fun of him. Thankfully, Michael didn't mind the question or the nickname.

"Lone Star State!" he chirped. When the others looked back at him in confusion Michael just let out an amused laugh. "That's Texas, y'all! Born and raised smack dab in the middle o' the Bible belt"

They weren't surprised to hear that. If Texas looked like a person, Michael would be the spitting image. While the others were still giggling at their potential friend, David just stared in curiosity. 

He hadn't expected Michael to be like this at all. When he first met Dwayne, Marko, and Paul they were all quite different than how they were now. Scared, miserable, and desperate for a reason to keep living. David gave them a reason and a purpose, helping them all be reborn into their true selves. 

Michael was far from that. He was practically bursting with life and joy, that charming smile not fading for even a second. After being surrounded by the worst kind of people in Santa Carla for so long, David was a little taken aback by someone so genuine and happy. 

It made him wonder if this would prove to be a challenge for him. He had to be a bit cautious. 

"You know where Hudson's Bluff is? Overlooking the point?" David asked, giving a small rev of his engine. If there was one thing he was sure of it was his ability to intimidate others. Challenging Michael to a race would be the perfect way to catch him off guard. 

At least, that's what he thought until Michael threw his head back and let out the biggest laugh he'd ever heard. David raised an eyebrow in curiosity. What the hell was so funny?

"Oh buddy, if you're lookin' for a race, ya ain't gonna get far against a ride like mine"

Michael stepped away for a second to grab said ride from the parking section. When he came back to their spot it was while riding a massive ATV. 

David had seen a few before, but nothing quite like this. It was as big as his Triumph and was fitted with bulky tires built for the toughest terrain. The paint job was red but was covered in layers of dust and dirt, no doubt from years of joy rides. The engine roared powerfully with every rev Michael gave it. 

If it had been a much smaller ride he would have just told Michael to keep up and have fun watching him struggle to beat his bike. Now, there could be an actual sense of competition between the two of them. It was the perfect chance to see just what the human was capable of. A test of power, nothing more. The others must have also thought about Michael posing a threat to their leader because they tried to downplay the actual power his ATV had. 

“Ha! Four wheels? You afraid of falling over on a two-wheel ride or something?” Marko asked, playfully biting his nail. 

Once again, Michael wasn’t bothered one bit by the teasing. He simply smiled and shook his head. 

“Aw hell, you ain’t ever been four-wheelin’ before, have ya?” he asked. “I been through every kinda mess on this baby! Hills, woods, ditches, mud, even snow. Ridin’ down the beach would be a cakewalk for me”

David glanced at the others, curiosity rising more and more by the second. If Michael had been through some tough obstacles, that meant he had strength and dexterity. Not to mention a bit of a wild streak. That was definitely something the Lost Boys would love to have in a friend. Now things seemed interesting.

“Well then,” the bleach-blond smirked, giving his Triumph another rev. “Show us whatcha got, Cowboy”

David kept his eyes locked on Michael as he watched him smile and reach a hand out for Star to take. He normally wouldn’t let someone try to make a move on their ‘sister’, but he couldn’t deny that she looked quite intrigued by Michael’s 4-wheeled ride. She looked quite bashful as he slipped his hat off and carefully put it over her mass of wavy hair. 

He gunned the engine one last time, not wanting Michael to be distracted by Star. If he was a little less stubborn he would have admitted it to be jealousy. Of course, pride was stronger than his better judgment.

Michael shot him a wink and a playful smile before zipping off down the boardwalk. It was a miracle David was able to keep his focus and do the same, speeding behind the human boy. All three of the other Lost Boys followed their leader, eager to see what the fresh meat was capable of. 

The Lost Boys were no strangers to racing down the beaches of Santa Carla. One of their favorite things to do on a nice night like this was to cause a ruckus on their bikes, shouting as loud as they could while steering in between couples and families splayed out on the sand. They didn’t care what kind of trouble they caused because nobody could stop them.

Tonight was no different. David led his boys down the stretch of the beach, cheering them on as they kept formation. While his focus was on his own bike, he let his gaze fall on Michael’s again.

David thought he and his boys were wild riders. Michael was an absolute madman on his ATV. He was pushing the ride to an insane speed, yet he maneuvered the thing like he was born to use it. Even with its bulky size, he was able to slip between crowds and dodge obstacles perfectly. That itself was impressive, but what was even more surprising was that he was doing it while barely watching where he was going. Star was holding him tightly as she watched ahead, but Michael had his eyes closed most of the time. 

“WOOO! YEEE!!” Michael hollered. The boys were all known to be loud with their calls when they rode their motorcycles, but with the power behind his voice, Michael was far louder with his whoops and calls. 

It made David want to keep watching him. He’d never seen someone so eager to do something so dangerous before. Even when he pushed forward and led them all to more tricky terrain, Michael never once lost his focus. Down and up hills, around sharp corners, through thickly wooded areas, it didn’t matter to the human boy. He handled it all like a champ and was still able to push ahead of David.

The more they rode, the more David felt intrigued by him. He was a true wild child. Fearless and fun. It took the other boys some adjusting to let themselves be carefree as they were now, but Michael already had that sense of freedom. Truly curious as to how reckless he could truly be, David pushed his bike forward, getting ahead of Michael and signaling to follow him to where the bluff was. Once they cleared out of the tree-filled area, David drove down the rocky path to where the cliff connected with the ocean. 

He knew this trick well. Play a game of chicken with Michael to see how far he'd go before pulling off to the side. How badly did he want to show off his bravery? No matter how far he went, David had the upper hand with his powers. He'd never be in any kind of danger, but it was fun to see where the stopping point was for Michael. 

Only one way to find out. 

Michael had driven his ATV up to be side-by-side with David's Triumph. They were perfectly matched in speed, their hair whipping in the wind as they rode on. 

Star held one hand around Michael's waist and the other over the hat so I wouldn't go flying off. Her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and excitement. David could tell her adrenaline must have been sky-high. She had learned to love wild rides like this after her first time on the back of his motorcycle. Now Michael was giving her a whole new sense of thrill with his ride.

Still, David would show who truly was the braver one of them. 

"C'mon, Michael!" he called out to him, encouraging his recklessness. Star's expression morphed into worry from how eager David was to push Michael. She of all people knew how much David enjoyed testing others to see what they were capable of. They were speeding faster and faster to the edge of the cliff and neither boy showed signs of stopping. 

David barely glanced at the area, perfectly entertained enough by Michael. A goofy smile still stretched across his face and nothing but shouts of joy came from his mouth. 

Even from across the space David could hear how fast his heart was pounding. It certainly wasn't from fear because Michael was still pushing himself. The tires of the ATV bumped and rattled over the rocks and ditches, yet he took the danger with a look of excitement. 

Only then did the vampire realize Michael wasn't going to back down. He had zero intentions of slowing down just a bit, even with the available stretch of path getting smaller and smaller by the second. This guy was either stupid or crazy. So David did the one thing he didn't ever want to do. 

He chickened out first. 

With a screech and a sharp turn of his Triumph, David pulled off to the side, almost going over the front from the sheer force of the abrupt stop. He nervously watched Michael, mentally preparing to fly off of the cliff to catch him and Star if they went over the side. 

But they didn't. Miraculously, Michael was able to pull his ATV off to the side at the very last second, sharply turning and kicking up a massive cloud of dirt in its path. He revved the engine of his ride several times as he drove in a celebratory circle, shouting up into the night sky with pure joy.

“YEEEAHAWWW!” he hollered, finally screeching to a halt. Both he and Star were breathing heavily, finally beginning to calm down after that intense rush of a ride. 

The others had stopped their motorcycles much sooner, clearly just as worried as their leader had been. They each had gone through similar tests in the past but hadn’t made it as far as Michael had. As they ran up to the edge of the bluff they exchanged surprised expressions with one another, sharing a sense of mutual shock. Marko stood beside David while Dwayne scooped up Laddie from the back of his own bike. Paul ran up to the ATV, holding out a hand to Star to help her down. 

“Holy shit, that was crazy!” Paul chuckled, letting Star hold onto him so she could regain her balance and focus. “You okay, Starlight?”

Thankfully, she managed to calm down enough to start laughing. The others settled their nerves down a bit too as she smiled warmly at Michael and handed him back his hat. 

“Are you kidding? That was incredible!” she chirped. “I’ve never done anything like that before! Thanks for the ride, Michael!”

The Lost Boys finally pulled back on their fight to show off their own joy. Grins painted their faces as they glanced at one another, utterly impressed by how great a rider Michael was. The human returned a smile of his own, tipping the brim of his hat again as a gesture of ‘thanks’ to Star. She giggled softly, clearly smitten with his southern charms.

“Aww shucks, it was nothin’,” he said. Once she was off to the side with the others, Michael turned his attention to the bleach-blond vampire. “David! That was some impressive ridin’ on your part too! I ain’t ‘ave that much fun since a got here!” 

David had to force himself to stop staring at the southern boy. He had to admit, he was pretty impressed himself. He’d never met someone so reckless yet so skilled with a joy ride like that. Humans were usually so cautious and scared when it came to danger, yet Michael looked it head-on with a smile on his face. 

The more David interacted with him the more he was interested in getting to know him better. Maybe their punk gang could benefit from having a bit of a southern twist with Michael on their side. 

“That was quite a stunt, Michael,” David complimented him, gracefully stepping off of his Triumph before walking over to the human. The others watched carefully, ready to back up their leader with whatever he wanted to do next. “I have to say, we’d love to hang out with you more. See if you can join our little club”

Michael raised an eyebrow, curiosity flashing over his bright, blue eyes. The more David was around him the more he could see what a danger junkie he truly was. Just what he wanted in a potential vampire companion.

“Hell, if y’all have fun like this, you bet your ass I’d love to spend a little more time with ya!” he chuckled. David couldn’t deny that accent suited him so well. A slow, sweet drawl for such an intense guy. 

“Oh yeah?” David asked, stepping closer. He and Michael couldn’t have been more than a foot apart from one another now. The others were watching closely, intrigued by where things were going. “How far are you willin’ to go, Michael?”

A devilish smirk formed on the brunet’s face as he closely gazed at David. He was matching the energy quite nicely.

“I dunno…how far can ya take me, David~?”

If David wasn’t so sure of his vampiric nature, he would have sworn he felt the once-forgotten sensation of a sharp beat in his dead heart. 

Holy shit, this was going to be interesting.

[pannacottawarrior]

Me: oh wow Marvel really fucked up with those New Warriors characters :/ their designs aren’t;; bad;; but they’re not good either and could definitely use a redesign and name rework

Some white person on YT: :) want to see me redesign them and talk about what i think of these black characters (and one that’s nb)?

Me: i;;;; i’m kinda scared what you’ll say ngl

Actually LGBT (particularly black, trans or nb people) content creators + commenters on YT: want to see me redesign them and/or talk about what i think of these black characters (and one that’s nb)?

Me: m u c h  better;;

[emilycollins00]

Hey, if you want to (you don‘t have to through) could you maybe write a Muku x Reader, in which Muku‘s crush writes him a anonymous love letter but he recognizes his crush’s handwriting? But if you don’t to write it for Muku, than it can be somebody else! Like idk... Juza or Sakuya (that would have been cute too). Everybody’s just great🥺❤️ Have a great day!~ (*´꒳`*)🌸

Sorry for the delay, love. You are the sweetest thing! I don’t really mind if reader is the same age, also crushes are the cutest thing so... Muku it is! 💕

Hope you enjoy!

Title: Love letter

Pairing: Muku Sakisaka x reader

“I don’t know Yuki-kun, I’m sure Sakyo-san also wants the play to be a success. Why would he try to make it difficult?”

With school hours finally ended for the day, both middle schoolers talked as they prepared to go back to the dorm.

Yuki clicked his tongue “If he wanted the performance to be good he should at least be more lenient with the budget” he mused opening his locker, already making a mental list of the materials he would have to buy to make up for the cut he had been informed in the morning “That money grabbing yakuza… he could at least think how much work is to piece everything together”

“I-I’m sure you’ll do an amazing job! We’ll all make sure to help if it gets too much!”

“Of course I was already counting on it. I haven’t been training you all for nothing”

Muku laughed nervously at his retort.

“Muku-kun!”

His heart made a leap at the unexpected sound of your voice. Turning around, he found you running in his direction from the crowded hall.

“Y/N-san?”

Once you managed to catch up you held a hand up, asking silently for a few seconds to regain breath. Finally you lifted your head, cheeks slightly flushed from the sprint “Sorry, I wanted to give back the volume you let me before you left!”

“Ah, you shouldn’t have had to bother coming all the way!” Muku stuttered, taking the manga from your hands and holding it against his chest. He glanced at you hopeful “Um... What did you think about it?”

You clapped your hands, beaming “Oh, I couldn’t put it down! The main character was so sweet it made me want to cheer for them so much!”

Muku felt his previous tension being released. He had been the one who had recommended it after all. He smiled happily “I thought so too! T-the way the festival had…”

As always happened when he talked to you lately, Muku hoped he wasn’t blushing too much or sounded too weird. It had been a few months since you both started exchanging romance novels due to mutual interest and the more you got to know each other, the more Muku noticed he had developed quite the crush on you.

“I see you guys are leaving already. Practice?”

Muku played with the string of his schoolbag, self-consciously “W-well, spring troupe is next so we usually make street acts for the time being until Tsuzuru-san writes ours- ah, he’s the person I told you that writes such wonderful stories!”

“Oh! I hope summer comes soon then” you chuckled, making Muku’s stomach stir “I have to go now too, see you both tomorrow!” .

Once you were out of sight, Yuki glanced at the former athlete sighing with a hand placed in his chest and rolled his eyes “Why don’t you just invite them somewhere? I doubt they’d say no”

“Uh?”

“Y/N” his pointed the way you had left with his chin “You are painfully obvious, you know”

Muku waved his arms neglectingly, flushing “I-I can’t! If only I had the charismatic aura of Itaru-san or the elegance of Citron-sama b-but I don’t have any of those qualities and...!

“I keep telling you those two are the worst examples you should be trying to learn from”

He kept shaking his head stubbornly. You had become someone he truly admired for always doing their best. Your approach and attitude were so nice, so warm...  The thought of dating was too much! “A-anyway, shouldn’t we hurry to get to the dorm?”

Yuki squinted his eyes, but opted to shrug it off “Sure, I need to change before going to that thrift shop by Veludo Station. Last time the worker there showed me some…”

Muku relaxed inwardly, seeing Yuki was already on work mode. As he opened the locker to change his shoes though, something white fell from inside. He crouched down to the floor to retrieve it “A letter?”

He turned it, but saw no sign anywhere, which made him tilt his head confused. Why was a letter inside…?

Something clicked in his head as he stood up, blue eyes staring at the white envelope.

It couldn’t be real. He must be daydreaming.

“Maybe I could even- Muku?”

Oh god, what if he had been transported to one of his mangas? What if he now had to overcome the plot of the story to be able to get back and…?

“Hey! Earth to Muku, geez!”

Snapping out of it, he finally focused on the annoyed green-haired in front of him “Yuki-kun…? Have you also been transported into the manga world?”

“What are you talking about” the young designer sighed, crossing his arms over his chest when he noticed the envelope “Was that inside your locker?”

“You can see it too?!”

“Of course I can idiot. You didn’t have that before”

Muku nodded to himself blinking at the letter. So he wasn’t imagining it…

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?” Yuki leaned his back on the lockers, bending curiously.

“Yuki-kun”

“Mhm”

“I-I can’t”

                                           -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Mucchan received a WHAT?!”

“Could you say it any louder, you idiotic dog? It’s just a letter, who cares”

“Mukkun, I’m shook!” as Taichi kept crying about wanting to find love too, Kazunari jumped in completely elated “Isn’t this like the highlight of your school life mangas in real life? You def have to open it!”

Taichi’s reactions and Kazunari’s comments didn’t reach Muku, still zoning in and out of the conversation. After a long banter in school, he hadn’t had the guts to open the letter, so Yuki decided for him to take it home and give him time to process the situation.

Which is the reason he was now sitting on the couch in the middle of the lounge, surrounded.

It was true he had often dreamed of love letters. Who wouldn’t? They were so romantic! To receive a handwritten confession maybe even in poetry professing an undying love, rushing off to a midnight rendezvous with one’s true love… the mere thought made Muku swoon.

But one thing was his imagination, and another one real life, as much as he sometimes mixed both.

To think something like that actually happened to him didn’t feel real.

“I…I already told Yuki-kun this must be a mistake” he murmured fidgeting, not able to take his eyes off the yet-to-be-open envelope on the table “Who would want to write to someone who is a half-pint, small, dried-up stale beansprout like me?”

“You sure s’not a letter for a challenge, right” Juza grumbled from the other couch, throwing daggers to the letter.

“J-juza-san?!”

“Why am I not surprised that’s your first thought, Standard Gangster”

Muku lifted his head gasping with eyes wide open, scared “I-I hadn’t even think about that! What if I did something and now they are looking for revenge and…!”

“S’okay, Muku” Juza stopped him, cracking his knuckles “I’ll take care of ‘em if that’s the case”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on, dude!” Kazunari laughed nervously, placing a hand his shoulder to calm him down “Before we decide it’s something like that, how about opening it?”

“Mr. Extrovert is right for once” Yuki rested his chin on the back on his hand “You are taking too long”

As everyone watched expectantly, Muku glanced at the letter once more, swallowing with difficulty. Even just looking at it made his heartbeat go wild. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and carefully tore the edges apart.

The first thought that came to his mind was the fact that the colour of the paper was the same as his hair.

Then, the fact that his whole face was probably heating up after he read his name.

“Mucchan?”

“Just tell me who I have to beat up”

The summer troupe member lifted his head flustered, forgetting where he was “S-sorry I- it’s okay, Ju-chan! um, it’s not that type of letter!”

As he kept reading the content, Muku felt his heart ringing in his ears as well as the heat reaching and warming his cheeks. The message of the letter was definitely a confession worthy of a manga and the way he was being described… nothing could compare to what he was feeling at that moment, eyes fixed on the letter, practically glowing.

By the second read though, he noticed something weird. A somewhat familiar feeling, as if he had read this before.

He read it again. What was it?

“Let me see, let me see!” Kazunari soon moved to his side, reading with him and whistling “Mukkun whoever this is you have to find them, this is totes cute!”

He didn’t answer, still in deep thought. This handwriting… where had he…?

You.

A flashback of him looking at your notes in class and thinking how beautiful your handwriting looked crossed his mind. Muku covered his mouth from the sudden revelation.

“Muku!?”

“You okay, Mukkun?”

If he was blushing before, his face must now be a downright crimson mess.

Could it be a joke? Or was he daydreaming again? B-but that WAS your handwriting. He had caught himself so many times staring that it.

He checked once more afraid. No, it definitely was yours.

“B-but Y/N-san, they…”

“Y/N?” the surprise on Yuki’s face when he heard your name was palpable. He grabbed the letter, smiling at the end “Well, aren’t you lucky Wonder Boy”

“Who’s Y/N?”

“Ah, Muku’s crush”

“WAIT- MUKKUN’S!?”

“MUCCHAN’S?!”

“Muku, you…”

“W-wait, what if they did this as a way to test my acting? O-or to try to recreate a scene for a new manga?” his mind kept rejecting the idea “They said they wanted to see our performance, what if tomorrow they keep asking me what happened today and I can’t act naturally and then they think I was spying on them only to be told that-!

“Muku, please” Yuki rolled his eyes “As if someone like them would do this as a prank”

The young actor looked around everyone in the room insecure and then again at your letter, taking it with both hands carefully “It’s just… I’m just me” he finally whispered.

Kazunari chuckled softly, ruffling his hair.

“Well, that’s plenty for us, you know it! And judging by the letter it’s the same for them”

                                           -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Next day Muku paced around the entrance of the school, waiting for you. No matter how many mangas he had read, nothing had given him the answer for how to act. 

Was this how the heroines felt? His lower body was barely being able to sustain him.

“Muku-kun, you called for me?”

Okay, stay calm Muku. Y-you got this! He forced himself not to let his nerves show as you walked up “Y-yeah! Um, do you have a moment to talk?”

“Sure?” you tilted your head curiously.

He had to avert his gaze “t-The thing is, um; yesterday this was on my locker…” Muku took out the letter from his pocket, praying for a reaction.

You stared at it dumbfounded, and for the first time, Muku saw your cheeks growing slightly red. He kept talking “I… I somehow recognized your handwriting! S-so I wanted to say that I too-!”

He couldn’t finish as he watched you covering your face, which caused him to frown confused “Y-Y/N-san...?”

“Please hide me” Muku could tell your ears were bright red at this point “Sorry, this is not… it wasn’t…”

You groaned to yourself. You worked so hard to not let it show, appearing even before he saw the letter and your handwriting was what gave it away in the end…? Talk about embarrassment.

“Ugh, I’m so lame”

“It wasn’t lame! Not at all!” Muku’s heart squeezed, talking louder than he had imagined, but he wanted to make his point clear this time. Lame was the last thing that could have crossed his mind when he read it “You are so cool and the letter was beautiful!”

“I-It was…?”

He nodded although you couldn’t see him “Y/N-san” you felt his hands holding yours, taking them away from your face. Once you couldn’t hide anymore you looked up, a blushing Muku welcoming you with a warm smile.

“If you are okay with me, would... would you like to meet up sometime?”

He really looked like a prince.

_______________________________________________________________

Wishing you all a wonderful day! 💕

[wowweeharrystyles]

Part 15 | The Final Show | 5.9k words

‘Sequins & Zippers’ Summary: An internship with Harry Lambert transformed into a job of a lifetime - Aurora Del Gatto finds herself touring the world with the one & only Harry Styles as his ‘Head of Wardrobe.’ Aurora is nothing but nerves & excitement as she packs her bags & almost 100 custom designer suits that belong to an unbelievably kind rockstar. She never thought she’d fall in love on top of it all.

Sequins & Zippers Masterlist

General Masterlist

A/N: as the title suggests, this is the final show, the end of s&z. I want to thank literally anyone who has read a single word of this story. I started Aurora & Harry’s story at the end of hslot18 & was working on it off & on but set out to finish & post it all in 2020. Thank you for not only reading but for bearing with me when I posted late or not at all. I love these 2 with my whole ass heart. & a big sappy shout out to @sadaboutniall​ for chatting through S&Z with me for well over a year & not getting sick of me (or at least not telling me AKLNADSHADF) & for still to this day sending me links to random things & being like ‘omg this is so aurora’ 🖤

anyways, here we go, the final part to Aurora & Harry’s story, for now. 

love you all, mean it. 

Don’t forget to reblog :) 

__________

Aurora made sure to wake up before Harry. She knew it wouldn’t be too hard considering how late they were up after the show last night, high off the 1st show in LA and celebrating Mitch’s birthday. She wrote him a note saying she’d meet him at The Forum and left it on his bedside table. Tiptoeing through Harry’s unfamiliar LA home, Aurora gets ready quickly. It’s gonna be a long day, she knows it and the early sunrise is just starting to cast through the windows. Her phone dings from her bag on the counter and it’s Jeff letting her know a car is picking her up from Harry’s in 10 minutes. 

She’s still not used to all of this, the jet black private cars and the back doors to arenas even after 67 shows in 5 months. It still makes her anxiety spike when she doesn’t know where she is exactly or where she’s going. She’s learned to trust more, trust her own gut, trust people that are on her side, her team, her family. Aurora’s still not used to the fact that this is her life but just as it’s gotten more and more familiar, it’s about to change. 

Large cardboard boxes are waiting for her when she gets to The Forum and meets up with Jeff.

“Have you opened them yet?” Aurora asks him, giddily. 

“Nope, was waiting for you. It’s all you,” Jeff says while motioning to the boxes. 

Aurora rips open the top box and a wide smile finds a home on her face. 

Harry Styles

The Final Show

Of The 

First Tour

Of The

Debut Album

Los Angeles

California

“Oh my god, they’re perfect,” Aurora exclaims. As she admires them Jeff is directing a group of people to start handing them out. Aurora grabs one for her and another for Harry before she gets to work helping hand out the tshirts to everyone. The crew and all the tour staff are changing into the matching white t-shirts when Aurora’s phone chimes with a text from Harry letting her know he’s left and on the way. Aurora’s smile hasn’t left her face since she got to The Forum this morning and she knows the smile will only get bigger as the day goes on. She also knows that if she stops smiling she might start crying and she’s not ready for that yet. 

Aurora and Helene make their way to the tunnel they know Harry will be driving into and parking his car. They’re waiting for him in their matching t-shirts, Helene’s camera ready and giggling about something from the night before when they see the first glimpse of Harry’s bright yellow car come into view up the ramp. His windows are down, music is playing loudly and he’s wearing his pink tinted sunglasses as he pulls in. People are bustling around, some arriving for the first time today and others already running around with lists to complete before the final show. Everyone looks the same and it’s exactly how Aurora wanted it. The celebratory t-shirts remind her of the big productions they put on at school or the end of year dance recitals. She likes the feeling it creates when everyone’s decked out in their shirts and she wants to celebrate Harry and his entire team. The final show. It’s marking the end of an era. His era. 

When Harry gets out of his car, tossing his duffle over his shoulder and sliding his glasses into his hair he stops before he gets to closing the driver door. Aurora hears the click of Helene’s camera. A dimpled smile forms on Harry’s face and no one is really sure if it’s because Aurora’s waiting for him or it’s the tshirts everyone seems to have gotten the memo about. He closes the door eventually and beelines straight for Aurora. 

“I have a feeling you have something to do with this,” Harry says as he tugs lightly at Aurora’s t-shirt. 

“Might have,” she giggles before kissing him quickly. “Happy final show day!” 

“Don’t make me cry already,” he whines, wrapping his arms around Aurora’s shoulders before hiding his face in her hair. 

There hasn’t been a single moment of silence all day. The excited chatter, the reminiscing of the crazy moments of the past 5 months, the inevitable tears from just about everyone as they begin their goodbyes. Aurora hasn’t strayed much from Harry all day, only once to sneak out to the entrance of The Forum to see all the displays with Helene and check out the lines of fans. Aurora had to cut her adventure short when she felt her eyes start to fill with tears. She wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. 

They’re finally alone in Harry’s dressing room and the silence is welcomed. There’s still bustling and muted chatter and excitement coming from the other side of the door. 

Aurora adjusts the shoulders of Harry’s velvet jacket once he’s slid his arms through the sleeves. She lets out a heavy sigh when she drops her arms to her sides. Harry gives her a look that she can only guess is in place of a million words that he can’t manage to string together right now. Aurora has a million and one that she would like to say to him but it’s not the time or place and she really doesn’t want to cry right now. In the silence, Harry pulls at Aurora’s shoulder and wraps his arms around her tight. 

“Your shirt is gonna get all wrinkly,” Aurora comments after a few beats. She doesn’t make a move to pull away from Harry, instead she carefully buries her head into his shoulder and squeezes him tighter. 

As if on cue, a knock on the door pulls them apart. Harry calls back letting whoever had knocked that he’ll be ready in a minute. Harry kisses Aurora quickly before he grabs his boots from the bottom of the wardrobe case and sits down on the couch to slide them on. 

“Ope, love, got some lipstick on you,” Aurora notices. Her lips quirk up in a smirk as she grabs for a makeup wipe nearby. Harry’s standing from the couch when she turns back to him. “Lemme,” she offers, a soft hand reaching up to cup his jaw to hold his head in place. As she goes to wipe away the red waxy mark across his mouth, she pauses first. “One last good luck kiss,” she whispers. When her lips meet his, it's like their tiny little world unfurls right before them. As if today hadn’t been reminiscent enough, Aurora is reminded of all the moments they’ve spent here in what feels like the same dressing room that has just been picked up and moved to another city every day. As Harry runs a light touch down Aurora’s arm they’re both reminded of the small burn mark that’s left from the steamer back in Germany. And Aurora can’t help but pull him in closer because that was one of those early memories that she knew he was a good one, that he wasn’t just some rich pop star that had a revolving door of women coming through his hotel rooms. Another knock pulls them away, yet again. And when Aurora opens her eyes she can't help but squint because she has literally sunshine staring back at her. She steps away only a few inches and goes back to what she was meant to be doing. Wiping away the red stain from Harry’s mouth, she avoids his eyes and focuses on the colour disappearing from his skin. 

“Should touch up your lippy,” Harry chuckles when Aurora fully pulls away to toss the dirty makeup wipe in the bin. Aurora takes a look in the mirror and laughs along with him. 

“Yikes, I’ll fix this and meet you out there okay?” 

“Promise me you’ll be right here when I get off stage tonight?” 

“Of course,” Aurora promises, squeezing his hand. The last bit of the pre show playlist starts to near the end and Aurora wants to find her spot in the audience and she has just one last surprise for Harry before he starts his last show. “I should go find my seat,” she almost whispers, not really wanting to leave him just yet, but time is running out. She reluctantly kisses his cheek, careful not to leave any lipstick behind and pulls a piece of paper out of her pocket and hands it to him. “Thought I owed you a note,” she says before she begins to walk away. “Good luck!” She blows him one last kiss before walking through a curtain, away from Harry and into the audience.

Harry, 

No words will ever properly describe how proud I am of you. You will forever be my biggest inspiration; from your music to the way kindness is embedded in everything you do. You have changed so many people's lives and I am lucky enough to say that mine is forever changed because I am loved by you. I love you so much. 

You are absolute sunshine. 

Have fun on stage, rockstar. 

Love ya ta bits, Harry Styles. 

All the love. As always, 

Rory

Nobody is there to see it, but his eyes sparkle, even in the dark of the backstage. The sparkle could be a reflection from the already flashing stage lights or it could be another tear trying to make its way out of his eye, it’s hard to tell at this point. He takes a shaky breath and thanks all the rock gods before him for his life. He reads the note one more time before folding it back up and sliding into the pocket at the inside of his jacket and running up the stairs as the opening of Only Angel begins. 

“Good evening, Los Angeles. Welcome to the final show!” Harry speaks for the first time since appearing on the stage. There are chills running down Aurora’s spine as the entire arena erupts in earth shattering screams in reaction to Harry using his own lyrics as an homage to the tour. Aurora keeps catching the faces of fans in the pit and around her when the lights flicker against their tear splotted faces but bright smiles still permanently shine regardless. She can’t even begin to explain the beating of her heart, the fullness of her chest, the tingle in her fingers. It’s truly remarkable that they can hear Harry’s voice at all over everyone singing along to every song. 

As Stockholm Syndrome begins, Aurora smiles even brighter remembering where it all started. The pink suit she had to repair in a quick few minutes and hearing a lone Harry Styles sing a song the world is used to hearing being sung by 5 boys. It’s a moment of shock that jolts Aurora as she stands against the banister and she shakes her head because she’s missing it. Missing Harry give this song his all. Probably the last time he’ll ever perform this song. Cause the next time around he’ll have more of his own music to share and won’t be able to make a disclaimer about only having 10 songs to his own name. 

Alongside Stockholm Syndrome, there’s a list of songs he’ll never perform live again but Aurora does her best not dwell on that because she gets to hear him sing for the rest of her life. 

Sweet Creature and If I Could Fly leave the majority of the audience swaying slowly, still singing along and Harry barely manages to open his eyes. When he does open his eyes it's only for a moment and he’ll catch a glimpse of someone in front of him and he can’t help but stupidly smile. He’s soaking it all in. He wants to remember this feeling. He wants to remember the sound of an echoey arena when the audience sings along gently, completely in unison, filling in the parts he doesn’t sing anymore. They aren’t yelling or screaming the lyrics, but treating them with care, the same way Harry has delivered these lyrics to them every night. He tries to quiet them down and it takes longer than it has any other night. 

“Shh, it’s your turn,” he says with such a calming tone that Aurora stops dead in her tracks. She knows that voice better than anyone and she instantly loses the tingling of nerves in her fingers. She welcomes the calm and closes her eyes for a second. The sound of everyone in the room finishing If I Could Fly for him makes his heart float right up to his throat and it threatens to fall out and explode as the singing continues and he keeps playing his guitar. God, he’ll miss this, he thinks. He finishes the last few lines with the audience and closes his eyes again. He’s really gonna fucking miss this. 

“I’d like to invite my wonderful band up on the stage,” Harry interludes while moving his mic to a new spot and adjusting his guitar. A little surprise for the final show. And yet again, Harry shushes the audience as the excitement of something unique to the Final Show arises. 

I’ve got a girl crush. 

The audience erupts so loudly so quickly it's startling. It's impressive how loud the audience is when they start singing along to a song that hasn’t been on a single set list all tour. The way Harry sings this song in particular reminds Aurora of all the times she gets to hear him sing when he’s on his own, not putting on a show, singing for himself. 

I hate to admit it but, I’ve got a heart rush, it ain’t slowing down.

This is how he sounds when he’s messing around, having fun, pure undeniable joy while singing. It’s different behind closed doors somehow. He doesn’t mind when his voice cracks, or belts too high and he can’t finish the lyrics or even a single word. He laughs at himself in those moments and Aurora isn’t sure if he’s aware of it when he’s singing around like that. She loves him in those moments, soft and carefree. 

“This is the final night of the tour, of everything,” Harry says after the lights on the audience have turned up and he’s back on the mainstage. He points to a fan in the audience “What’s wrong with you?” He mimics the girl shaking her head, clearly not wanting to come to terms that this is the final show. “Oh you’re just sad?” he asks to confirm. Harry’s voice pitches up, “how do you think I feel?” and the audience erupts in laughter. It's the theme of the evening, being emotional over the final show, being excited to be there. Harry see’s Kacey in the middle of the pit and she’s holding a sign thanking him. Harry praises her from the stage and thanks her in return for joining the tour. 

“We’re gonna sing another song for you now, but before we go any further I will be thanking people along the way. I hope you don’t mind. There are so many people in this audience tonight that quite simply I wouldn’t be on this stage without.” Harry pauses and turns his head in the direction where he knows everyone close to him is at. “All of you, you know who you are. Thank you so much for coming tonight. I love you very much. Thank you for being here with us tonight.” Somehow in a room of thousands of people Harry finds Aurora’s eyes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he runs on before a quick pause. “And,” he gathers his thoughts again, clearly losing what he was meaning to say or do next, “I’ll see you in a little bit,” he rambles quickly. 

“Promise me you’ll be right here when I get off stage tonight?”

The simple request rings in Aurora’s head and she misses what he says or does next but when she focuses back in the opening notes give her the gist of what he might have said. 

It’s the song that made him. The beginning of it all, really. Yelling along to these lyrics is anyone's right of passage into the room filled with love and kindness. Aurora knows this song isn’t one that will be performed for it’s last time tonight. It's his anthem as an artist, as Harry Styles. It's the song anyone and everyone knows regardless if you were ever a One Direction or Harry Styles fan. What Makes You Beautiful echoes off the walls and the floor and the ceiling and even though Harry has fully made it his own, changed the octave, changed the backing track, changed the rhythm of the lyrics, every single person that fills The Forum is singing along like it’s the original track. As the audience sings the version they’ve known for 7 years and Harry performs his solo rendition, it’s hard to fight the utter joy that erupts in Aurora’s chest. 

The anthem is completed with Harry dancing around the stage while waving 3 different flags. The image alone ecompases the whole point of this song, the whole point of this tour, the whole entire fucking point of Treat People With Kindness. And right now there’s nothing more Aurora loves than watching Harry dance along to the “na na na’s.” His hair wildly flopping around, the light reflecting off of the gold and silver details, the sight of the ENTIRE pit jumping up and down. 

“Okay, let’s get emotional,” Harry says before asking for the lights up again. “Thank you, this is part of the show where I’m gonna say thank you to a couple people, then I’m gonna sing a song and then I’m gonna leave. We’re gonna all pretend like I’ve gone but 90 seconds later I’m gonna come back and do a couple more songs. Alright?” Screams, nothing but screams fill the room. 

As Harry begins his thank you speech to his crew Aurora just knows. He’s hitting that point where it’s all really sinking in. He’s taking long pauses between words but masking it as needing to take a breather from being out of breath from singing and dancing. Aurora knows, though. She knows he’s pushing back the tears, swallowing down the bittersweetness of it all. 

“Thank you to my friends, my family, my manager, to all who are all in the audience tonight.” And then Harry starts to stutter over his words. “I-I have to thank my Head of Wardrobe that’s been on tour with me since March.” Aurora brings her hands up to her heart because this is the thank you she wasn’t prepared for. “Thank you for making me sparkle just right on stage and for making sure this was always a family show after I ripped several trousers.” And that’s where Harry leaves it. He doesn’t finish the family show bit, but the audience knows enough to finish it for him. 

Aurora’s in shock. It was unexpected and she feels like there’s cotton in her ears as the audience continues to scream and she hears waves of “aw” coming from the fans when they put it together. Jeff claps a hand on Aurora’s shoulder and it brings her back to the moment. Aurora mouths a thank you to Harry on stage while he’s still looking in her direction. 

Harry shakes his head before completing his thank yous to the fans. The ones who made this all possible. 

Sign of the Times hurts. It really truly hurts. The way his vocals are pretty much perfect and there’s almost a pained look on his face as he belts through it. Aurora doesn’t take her eyes off of him the entire time. He feels it too, the heavy emotion of the song. And he knows he’s not crying in a cool way, he’s crying cause this is it for now. This is the last of it. There's no reason to act cool about it. And Aurora can see the sparkle in his eye and it’s not from the rhinestones on his jacket. It’s from the tears that are welling up in his waterline 

And it’s when he snaps his mic back into the stand at center stage, lets out a quick breath through pursed lips, his eyes looking up to the ceiling, that Aurora knows he’s really crying. The quick wipe across his eyes and cheek solidifies the thought. 

We don’t talk enough. We should open up. 

And then there are tears brimming in her eyes. And as he continues to sing Sign of the Times she lets the tears fall for the first time that day. 

“I hope to be seeing you all very soon.” The gritty opening of Kiwi starts and it rattles Aurora’s chest. The last and final song of the tour. Harry blows Aurora a kiss before fully going for it. It's the end and he’s got nothing to lose. 

There’s a sinking feeling when Harry goes for his water bottle once he’s finished singing the last lyric of Kiwi. It’s the end. 

But it seems that it’s not. His band doesn’t stop playing and Harry swallows the last gulp of water he took and launches into Kiwi for a 2nd time. 

Aurora’s jaw drops. She had no idea. He hadn’t told her about this. She wishes she could say she’s surprised that this is something he planned but she really isn’t. When she thinks about it, she should’ve known. 

It’s pure adrenaline coursing through him. There are no words to describe him on stage right now. Carefree or loose doesn’t even cut it. He’s out of breath but STILL dancing around, singing into the mic and engaging with the audience and his band. 

“Holland tunnel for a nose it’s always backed up!” The audience yells when he points the mic towards them unable to finish the line himself. 

And then he snaps his mic into the stand and starts to jog down the stairs and through the aisle. Aurora just laughs cause at this point there’s literally no telling what he does next. A cordless mic appears in his hand halfway down the aisle. 

I’m having your baby!

He appears on the b stage, a spotlight following him the entire time. As Harry dances along to the music Aurora’s hands go into her hair and her eyes widen. She can’t help but shake her head when he changes the lyrics. 

She’s all over me and I'm exhausted, I’m exhausted. Sing it ! 

And he’s running back down the stairs, through the aisle again and up the main stage stairs. Aurora’s still in her spot unable to even dance around or sing along as she watches him. It’s entrancing to watch this all go down in front of her. He catches a sunflower mid air when he’s back on stage. Literally anything could happen at this point. 

Aurora’s sure he’s gonna collapse right there on stage but he doesn’t, yet. He takes a last sip of water and makes his way to center stage for the finale. 

He sticks his tongue out which indicates to the fans that he’s not finished yet, he’s not ending this night just yet. He’s not about to do the signature whale. Instead, he pumps up the crowd, mouthing “make some noise,” and then he motions to Alex, his guitar tech and the rest of his sound crew that are at the side of the stage. Aurora catches him yelling “I’m exhausted,” to them but still turns away and walks back to center stage. He makes eye contact with each of his band mates and circles a hand around above his head to indicate One More Time. He raises up his pointer finger to Mitch, “one more time” he mouths at him. 

“Should we do it one more time?” Harry yells. 

Earth shattering screams are the response and Aurora thinks all the times before when she thought that she’s never heard such a deafening audience she was wrong. Because now, in this moment at The Forum with Harry asking the audience if he should do Kiwi for a 3rd time she knows it’s the loudest thing she’s ever heard in her entire life. The sound will ring in her ears for days. 

And so he goes for it again. A third time. Now she’s in shock. 

She worked her wait through a cheap pack of cigarettes, 

Hard liquor mixed with a little bit of intellect

And all the boys they were saying she was into it

Such a pretty-

He’s well and truly out of breath. The look on his face is helpless. “Sing it,” he manages to breathe out into the mic before almost doubling over. So instead of taking the mic with him and trying to muster through the vocals, he leaves the mic snapped in and walks away from it. He’s mouthing the lyrics as every single person in the audience yells them to him. He’s walking back and forth from stage left to stage right, making sure to give enough of himself to every single person in the room. 

The shock has slightly worn off and there’s a hint of concern weighing on Aurora but she still sings along with everyone. He ends up singing some of the chorus but he really can’t get through much of it on his own. He doesn’t finish a single line himself the rest of the song but he doesn’t care, nobody cares. Even though he can't muster up the energy or adrenaline to sing he doesn’t stop dancing. He’s tangling himself up in his mic cord and Aurora hopes he’s got enough luck and adrenaline left in him to not fall. 

And now she’s all over me, it’s like I paid for it, It’s like I paid for it,  I'm gonna pay for this. 

He drops to his knees center stage, head hanging low. It's a quick second of pure exhaustion before he’s bobbing his head around, hair flying and arms pumping. 

Finally, as Kiwi comes to an end for the 3rd time that night, he takes a sip of water and gives the final show. He sprays water into the air, the music blares out and the lights flare. 

“I’m gonna go get him,” Aurora tells Jeff before leaving their section. She moves through the pit as Harry is hugging his band once the music ends. She understands now, the last thing he said to her before getting on stage. The look on his face when he goes to hug Mitch says it all. Aurora waits backstage near the stage steps, watching Harry, Mitch, Sarah, Clare and Adam take their final bow. She hugs Harry’s bandmates as they come down the stairs one at a time. Harry is taking one more lap of the stage before he is walking off, a stark contrast from how he normally runs off the stage after all of his other shows. When he reaches the stairs he walks down slowly and lets out a big sigh, shoulders dropping and a hopeless look appears on his face as his feet hit the floor. Aurora feels like she can’t move fast enough towards him even though she’s not even 2 feet from the stairs. She wraps her arms tightly around his shoulders, his face instantly finding a home hiding in her neck. A sob racks through his chest and she reaches up to place a hand in his hair. He’s breathing heavily and she’s running her hand over the back of his head, smoothing down his curls. Harry wraps his arms around her waist, his grip getting tighter every second they stand there.  

“Hey, Sunshine,” Aurora says softly, her hands making their way to Harry’s cheeks, so she can look him in the eyes. Once she makes out his face in the dark, she can see that his eyes are already swelling up from the tears that are now consistently flowing down his cheeks. “Hey,” she coos at him, using the pads of her thumbs to wipe the tears from the top of his cheeks. Aurora’s heart breaks at the sight in front of her but she knows she needs to be his rock right now. She can be sad about this tour ending later. She can be emotional about how proud she is of Harry, later. Aurora kisses him softly, fitting their lips together perfectly, just as they always do. The kiss is a bit more wet than normal, from the tears still falling down Harry’s face. When they break apart, he offers her a small smile before there’s a laugh erupting from him. He takes his hands from her waist and uses the back of his hands to wipe at his eyes roughly. 

“That was the final show,” he says softly. 

“Yeah,” she sighs, her hands reaching to grab for his, “you did it, Rockstar.” He drops his head onto Aurora’s shoulder again. He’s utterly exhausted, physically and emotionally.  “Come on, let’s go get you some water and I’m pretty sure you’ve got some friends that wanna say congrats.”  She drops his hands and wraps one arm around his waist and he throws one over her shoulder as they make their way to the double doors that lead them to the dressing rooms and lounges. 

“Thanks for being there when I got off,” he says as he presses a kiss to her hair, “knew I was barely gonna make it to the end.” 

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” 

It’s a weird feeling, pulling every single suit from the wardrobe cases. It’s a weird feeling to be around while the stage gets taken down. They never stayed long enough after a show night to see it get taken down, Aurora’s only ever seen it being built night after night. It’s stupidly therapeutic and symbolic Aurora thinks to herself as she checks off another item of clothing on her list. 

She really doesn’t have to be organizing Harry’s suits right now. She doesn’t need to be taking inventory at this exact moment. This could easily wait till tomorrow afternoon. But Harry’s been lingering around the Forum since his last guest left. He’s completely sober even after the several drinks he tossed back with friends in the backstage lounge in celebration. Everyone’s left besides the crew. Harry can’t pull himself together enough to leave and accept that tour is over. That this era is over. 

“I’m gonna go away for awhile. I’m gonna make some more music and I will see you again very soon.”

The 2 sentences echo in his head. The hitch in his throat comes back every time he thinks about it. He’s having a hard time saying goodbye to this. He’s never loved the end of tour. It’s too bittersweet. The performing bit is his favourite part of his job. This time though, it's more bitter than sweet because he doesn't have to go running back home to fit in all the time with his loved ones. The past 2 years have been on his terms. He doesn’t have to hectically plan visits or vacations. He gets to take his time. Go stay with his mum for a month if he wants, travel with Gemma and Michael, visit his god children, freaking write music whenever he wants, whenever the inspiration comes about. 

Harry knows the inspiration won’t be hard to find. He takes a glance over at Rory. Her tongue is poking out between her lips in concentration as she examines another one of his suits. He can’t help the blush that rises to his cheeks as he watches her. His Rory. He knows in the back of his mind that he’ll have to say goodbye to her more than he would like in the next couple of months. More goodbyes than they’ve ever shared in the past 5. That’s what makes this more bitter than sweet. 

Harry just sits on one of the crates as he chats with his crew. It’s the most genuine time he’s been able to spend with them but he knows these people, his tour family. He asks a few about how their wives are doing and when the due dates are of their babies. He jokes about hoping he didn’t work them too hard and to expect a call from him in the future to pack it all up again and get on with another tour. Harry’s laughter echoes through the emptying arena and every so often it pulls Aurora from her concentration. She catches his eyes sometimes and she can’t help but smile. And in the bright overhead lights of the almost empty arena, the brightest light is the one smiling back at her. Harry’s tear streaked face, unruly curls and dimpled cheeks are the only thing that she can focus on. 

Aurora now stands near the door that leads back to the dressing rooms, her wardrobe cases ready to be packed up and dealt with later. She watches as Harry continues to shake every single person’s hand. He thanks everyone individually, even approaches the Forum’s cleaning staff that are weaving in and out of the seats. Every few thank you’s he looks back at her, his Rory. His Rory who has been his rock, his best friend, his stylist, his lover. There are too many words to describe his Rory but also not enough. He doesn’t think he could’ve made it through this tour without her and he’s so fucking thankful. 

When he finally joins Aurora in the doorway he presses a sure kiss to her forehead, their hands tangling together. They don’t say anything as they walk back through the now empty halls back to Harry’s car parked on the other side of the arena. Harry’s lost in his head and so is Aurora and neither of them need to say anything to each other at this moment. 

Harry can’t grasp how he’s supposed to explain to Aurora that he didn’t expect her to have this amount of an impression on him. Didn’t expect her to change his entire life. How does he explain to her that he doesn’t think he could’ve done all that he’s done since March without her? How does he show her that she means that much to him? 

Harry doesn’t know, but Aurora's thoughts line up almost perfectly with his.

And as they get into his car, buckle their seatbelts and make their way home Harry doesn’t turn on the music and Aurora simply reaches for his hand to anchor herself to this moment. It’s way too late at night, or maybe by this point too early in the morning but when Aurora looks at Harry, it all comes flooding back to her. 

Sunshine in its purest form is sitting next to her. When Harry catches Aurora’s gaze before driving out of the parking lot he remembers all the things they’ve done, all the things they’ve seen and he can’t help but be excited for what will happen next. 

He can't’ wait to see the colours she’ll shine just for him, his own Aurora Borealis. 

She doesn’t have to go a day without sunshine. 

Who knew that a pink Gucci suit would have started all of this. 

🖤🖤🖤

[aquata-the-champ]

#13 Crack!ship AU: Write a crack!ship au. This should be a one shot of any characters in the roleplay, yours or someone else’s! Definition of a crackship: seriously this shit can’t happen but in an alternate universe. Add 10 applicable aO3 tags (enemies to lovers, modern au, etc.)

Lauren I’m so sorry

Title: You’re On My Heart Just Like a Tattoo Rating: Teen and Up Relationships: Aquata Triton/Gregory Eeyore @notmuchofatail Additional Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Tattoo Parlor/Flower Shop AU, Canon Divergent, No Seriously Nothing About This Is Accurate To Their Personalities, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Gazing Into One Another’s Eyes, Purple Prose, Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Hallmark Movie Vibes, Wattpad Vibes, Inaccurate Portrayal of Tattooing, Inaccurate Portrayal of Eviction, Inaccurate Portrayal of How Twitter Works, Deus Ex Machina, Happy Ending

A/N: Sorry :)

Every day, packages are delivered to the wrong shop at 37 Main Street. What many people don’t realize is that the building has two floors, a florist on the bottom floor and a tattoo parlor on the top floor. Every day, Aquata Triton signs for packages that do not belong to her, and every day she stomps upstairs, her annoyance building as she climbs each stair. “Eeyore! Another one!” she shouts as she rounds on the tattoo parlor. Regulars at Gregory’s shop have come to expect this.

Every day, Gregory Eeyore looks up from the design he is working on and grunts that Aquata can leave it wherever, and Aquata complains that he needs to start specifying to people that Eeyore Tattoos is located on the second floor at 37 Main Street, and Gregory promises he’ll do it, going back to working on his art.

But Gregory never does.

Here is another thing many people don’t realize about the tenants of 37 Main Street. That they don’t even know themselves: the owner of the tattoo parlor and the owner of the florist are desperately, hopelessly in love.

~*~*AQUATA’S POV*~*~

Aquata never wanted to be a florist. She inherited the shop after her mother’s death, after her big city dreams of coaching the England National Swim Team were dashed and she returned to her small hometown to start over. People are often surprised when they hear that this is her profession, because florists are supposed to be gentle and Aquata is anything but. 

“Wow. What’d those flowers ever do to you?” Gregory snorts, loitering in the doorway of the florist. 

Aquata looks up from the bunch of red roses she is wrestling into a complex arrangement for a summer wedding. It’s a difficult operation, and it takes more strength than people realize. Aquata’s long brown curls have seemed to escape her scrunchie, and small tendrils stick to her sweaty forehead. 

And there’s Gregory, standing in her doorway. Cool and composed as ever. Aquata hates that clever little smirk, how his blue eyes seem to see right through her.

“What do you want, Gregory?” Aquata groans, wiping her forehead. 

“Do I need a reason to stop by my downstairs neighbor’s shop and see how things are going?” 

Aquata looks at Gregory quizzically. There has to be a higher motive. There always is. She’s been feuding with the tattoo artist ever since she moved back to town, and neither can ever seem to resist the opportunity to get the upper hand.

“Yes,” she says, then goes back to fighting with the flowers. She can feel those blue eyes on her, somehow, and a strange feeling comes over Aquata. One she can’t describe. She wants to say something, but she doesn’t even know what. So Aquata puts up her defenses. She looks up again. “Well?” she says impatiently.

Gregory nods, smiling to himself but looking resigned. 

“Right, then. I’ll let you get on with it.”

~*~*GREGORY’S POV*~*~

Gregory knows it was stupid. He gets back upstairs and kicks a file cabinet, cursing his own silly notions. There was so much more he wanted to say. That his shop was in trouble, that he was thinking of leaving this town for good after the last disaster to hit, that he wanted to run away to Paris-- but that he wanted her to convince him to stay. For some reason. It was ridiculous. They were enemies!

But something in the way that Aquata smirks at him every time she hands him a wrongly-addressed package, something in the way that Aquata looks both strong and soft at the same time when she holds a delicate rose, something makes Greg wonder what it would be like to hold her hand.

Gregory is no romantic hero. He’s never been able to charm people the way that the protagonists of rom coms can-- all he can do is be himself. His confidence around Aquata has always been a shield, a shield covering his fears and his insecurity deep inside. 

Things are quiet for a few days after that. The stairway to the tattoo shop is woefully quiet, and Greg wonders whether he completely misread things. He finds himself idly sketching hands-- always hands, curled around delicate red roses. 

And then one day, it happens. An eviction notice. Gregory never had the kind of money Aquata Triton has, and this shop isn’t a fallback career for him, it’s his whole life. The Paris plan was always a fantasy, never a reality. Maybe, he supposes, he can move in with some old friends out in Manchester.

~*~*~*AQUATA’S POV *~*~*~

When Gregory mentions this, in passing, as she drops off yet another package, Aquata’s face falls. Gregory? Leaving? Aquata complains about him, makes a big show of annoyance when his packages mistakenly arrive, but she’s fallen into the easy rhythm of seeing him. 

It’s five thousand dollars of rent that Gregory cannot pay. Chump change to Aquata, who’s never had to worry about money in her life. For the first time, she understands the difference in their positions.

Aquata stares at Gregory, as though trying to take in every detail before he disappears. His eyes are as familiar and yet as ever-changing as the sky above, his tattoos peeking out of his shirt collar like a book at the library Aquata wants to read but never has gotten around to. The world seems to go dark around her as Gregory idly supposes he’ll probably end up a few hours away in Manchester. As dark and black as the ink that Greg is now turning around to prepare for his next client. 

Gregory can’t leave. He just can’t. Not before Aquata has the opportunity to tell him everything she’s never said. Not before Aquata can finally read the book in Gregory’s blue eyes, in the tattoos that cover his body. 

She has an idea. It’s a ridiculous one. But not nearly as ridiculous as the magnetic pull she feels toward Gregory. 

“Do you take walk-ins?” Aquata blurts out, before she even has time to think it through. 

Gregory looks taken aback. “Er-- yeah. I do. Why?”

“I want one. Before you go.”

“Now?”

“Now.” 

For the first time since she’s ever spoken to him, Aquata’s voice quivers shyly. “To remember you by,” she adds.

They lock eyes, and a million years flash by in a brief ten seconds. Everything Aquata wants to say is blooming in front of her eyes like flowers, and everything Gregory wants to say is spilling out like ink. But they can’t say it. They can only stand, eyes locked, hands shaking, the world spinning around them, and suddenly they both understand.

Gregory is first to break the spell. “Right then. What did you have in mind?”

“Whatever you want to do. I have five thousand dollars. I want to spend it all-- I don’t know what that gets me, but do it.”

*~*~*GREGORY’s POV *~*~*

Gregory’s jaw drops. It’s so much money, and to spend all at once... He’s never inked anything close to this price. “Aquata...”

“Do it, Gregory.” 

“Don’t you want to see a design?”

Aquata shakes her head. And she hopes her gaze conveys the truth: she wants him to ink from the heart.

The tattoo takes weeks. Every day, after work, Aquata makes her way up the stairs for the next installment in her sleeve. Some days, she’s chatty, prodding Gregory for details about his next move and teasing him about the music he plays while he works. Other days, she’s more subdued. Those are the days when she remembers that the last stroke of ink to go on her arm will also be the last time she sees Gregory.

The design starts to take shape: roses twined around hands, winding all the way up Aquata’s left arm. Aquata wonders whether it’s a stock design, something Gregory would give anyone. And then one day she notices his notebook. “Are those designs for someone?” she asks curiously.

Gregory suddenly looks hesitant. “Erm, don’t worry about it,” he stammers.

“No, I want to see,” she says, grabbing the notebook with her free arm. The first page she opens to almost causes her to drop the book. It’s a drawing of the design Gregory has been inking onto her, dated one year ago. And in the bottom corner, it reads: For Aquata.

Aquata stares at Gregory. “You’ve... been planning this for a while.”

He blushes. “Well, I never thought you’d actually want it.”

“Why’s that?”

“I always thought you hated me.”

“I always thought I did, too.”

They lock eyes, and this time, Gregory doesn’t look away. There’s a silent exchange between them-- a nod of the head, a quirk of the eyebrow, a twist of the lips. And then suddenly, Gregory puts down the tattoo gun and Aquata leans forward and draws Gregory into a long, passionate kiss. He leans down to the tattoo bed to kiss her back.

It’s not the most productive day. But together, Aquata and Gregory create something even more beautiful, two roses twining around one another.

*~*~*~*AQUATA’s POV*~*~*~*

When the tattoo is finished, it’s bittersweet. “I suppose that’s it,” she says, looking down at her arm and then back up at Gregory. “You’re just going to leave.”

Gregory nods. The money was enough to keep the shop open for another month, but after this, he knows he doesn’t have long. The landlord has been banging on his door every day, demanding more money, and one tattoo isn’t enough to change everything.

Aquata is fighting back tears. She never cries in front of anyone. But Gregory isn’t just anyone anymore. “Will you do one thing?” she asks desperately. “Will you take a photo?”

It’s a miracle the photo doesn’t come out blurry, because Gregory’s eyes are filled with tears now, too. But the photo captures every line, every meticulous detail, now covering Aquata’s arm forever. 

Later, when Aquata tweets the photo out, she knows that nobody will truly understand it. Nobody will know all of the laughter and the tears and the heart-wrenching emotion that has gone into every line of the sleeve, flowing through the ink. Nobody will know that she fell in love over this tattoo, or that it was a year in the making. But she decides to try to explain it anyway, in a thread that is more emotional and raw than anything she’s ever said to anyone, much less the entire internet.

She just hopes it can be enough. But part of her knows that it won’t be. Gregory and Aquata share one last kiss, and in the fading light streaming through the windows, Aquata wants to remember Gregory like this forever. A tattoo on her heart.

*~*~*~*ONE YEAR LATER*~*~*~*

“Gregory! We need more roses out front!” Aquata calls from the register. Gregory emerges from the back room with a box overflowing with red roses.

“Just tell me where to put them!”

The Grand Re-Opening is tonight. 37 Main Street no longer has two shops: it has one.

The Inked Rose is the newest addition to Main Street, a combination tattoo parlor and florist where fleeting beauty meets permanent art. After Aquata’s tweet went viral, everyone demanded their own floral tattoos-- and the landlord simply couldn’t evict Gregory any longer. Business exploded and Aquata proposed a deal: if they merged their shops, they never had to worry about packages being delivered to the wrong place again.

Some days, they switch off. Aquata is learning the art of tattooing, and Gregory is learning about flower arrangements. Main Street is booming with business, and Aquata has learned that, while she still has no particular passion for flower arranging, there’s something about doing a job with a person you love that makes it so much better.

Because she does love him. And he loves her too.

“Special delivery!” Gregory announces, presenting the box of roses to Aquata.

“What?”

The roses spell out two words: “Marry Me”?

“Eeyore!” Aquata groans, but she can’t keep that stupid grin off her face. She tackles him with a hug, and he stumbles backward into a flower display. Daisies rain down around Gregory. 

“Is that a yes?”

Aquata smiles. “Yes.”

[happytsukki]

common sense

k. tsukishima

you were a fool. but only for tsukishima. (f! reader)

a/n: ive been reading the manga and chapters 370+ literally have me bawling, im so emotionally attached. also fun fact you cant get your drivers license in japan till you graduate high school,,big rip for (y/n) and her food.

someone with common sense would’ve ran home to avoid the predicted forecast. they would’ve enjoyed safely arriving home without getting a single drop of rain on their uniform. but you lacked common sense.

the steady beat of raindrops hitting the ground accompanied by a strong gust of wind greeted you as you exited the school. you stood waiting, a bright green umbrella painted with purple triceratops in one hand while you rocked back and forth on your heels.

“what are you still doing here?” a voice suddenly asked, snapping you out of your trance. looking up you locked eyes with tsukishima causing a champagne pink hue to creep onto your cheeks.

“oh, i-uh, knew you didn’t have an umbrella, so i figured i would wait for you and we could walk together,” you beamed. tsukishima rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses, but you swore you could see the corners of his lips curl up.

you knew tsukishima. you knew he hated the rain and deep down, he appreciated your kind gesture even if he didn’t say it.

he grabbed the umbrella in your hand and opened it outside the safety of the building. he took two steps into the rain before turning around to realize you were still frozen on the steps of karasuno high. there you were, an idiot shivering from head to toe in the cold weather, yet you still had a smile painted across your face.

“are you gonna just stand there or are you actually coming?” he muttered, his eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion.

“coming!!” you cooed before running down the steps and practicing colliding with him as you pressed closer to him under the tiny umbrella. maybe you should’ve packed a bigger umbrella, but you definitely weren’t complaining.

you walked in unison, small drops falling onto your sweater as you could barely fit under the umbrella with the beanpole. you took notice of one hand tucked away in the warmth of his jacket and the other clutching the umbrella for the two of you. and with your warm gloves, you placed a hand over his.

“sorry, your hand seemed a little cold” you blurted out, slightly afraid he would take his hand away in disgust. but he didn’t, he let you hold his hand. you could finally release the breath you were holding and smiled. rainy days never felt good. the sky may have been dark and gloomy, but being with him felt as if it was another spring day, the sun beaming brightly and the birds chirping.

your walk consisted of asking tsukishima about his volleyball club season and him asking about your classes. you wanted to amuse him, to hear his laugh just once, so you told him the story of how you went to school thinking you math test only to find it was actually an english test, receiving a grade no higher than your age.

and miraculously, he laughed. it was subtle and quiet, but it took away your breath and made your heart race.

tsukishima halted, finally arriving at his home. he glanced up at the sky before catching it slowly transform from a color to a baby blue.

“it stopped raining—“ you cut him off midsentence, grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him closer before you placed a quick peck on his lips.

“bye!” you shouted as you ran away. leaving poor tsukishima standing there, dumbfounded as to why his heart was beating so fast and why his knees turned into complete jelly.

you liked tsukishima. and luckily, he liked you too.

someone with common sense would’ve finished their homework and took advantage of a night free of worry. they would’ve enjoyed a full eight hours of sleep while dreams danced through their mind. but you lacked common sense.

the kitchen clock read 2:18, you were growing impatient waiting for cookies in the oven. before your crazy attempt to make lunches and treats for the entire karasuno team, you studied for your history test and finished a 10-page essay due the next day.

with your apron stained with all sorts of condiments and food, you glanced at the pile of bento boxes placed on your dining table. each decorated with a name of every player on karasuno’s mens volleyball club, of course including the cutest managers and best coaches.

the lunch box on top, reading my tsukki, my moon made with extra love and care for you boyfriend.

tomorrow was the miyagi prefectural qualifiers and as much as you wanted to be there, you had school. you longed to be in the crowds, screaming for tsukki and karasuno at the top of your lungs. so of course, you felt guilty for not being able to give your support. an alternative? food.

beep beep. the timer of the oven finally went off and you breathed a sigh of relief. you weren’t sure how long you could keep your eyelids open. your tiredness must’ve gotten to your head because without a second thought you opened the oven and reached for the scorching pan.

you spewed a variety of curses quietly in an attempt to not wake your parents, but the pain was intolerable. after taking the cookies out with the opposite hand, throwing them in a container and trying to type out ‘how to deal with burns’ with your pinky while one hand held ice (not a good idea) to the burn— you fell asleep on the couch.

not even 3 hours later, you woke up. oh the things i do for this boy. you shook your head, a smile creeping onto your face just thinking about him. you quickly throw on a hoodie and carefully place the food into a basket attached to your bike.

the sun had barely come up, just peeking from the horizon. it was way too early. riding your bike to karasuno while you rubbed your eyes constantly and yawned nonstop was a challenge. you almost tipped over several times. but once you arrived you were greeted by a horde of “hey it’s y/n!!” but the only thing you could really hear was “y/n what are you doing here?”

“well, good morning to you too, tsukki,” you chirped, taking the food out of your basket and carefully distributing it to everyone.

“wow y/n, you really didn’t have to do this.” daichi said. “but this does look amazing.” sugawara butt in, admiring the cute design. “y/n you’re the best, seriously!!” praised hinata, already shoving a small bite into his mouth for a quick ‘taste.’

when you handed tsukki his, confusion and worry came across his face. “but— look at you y/n. you look terrible.” he spat, reaching over to inspect your face. he titled your chin up and pulled your eyes wide.

“is that what you tell your girlfriend after she spent all night to make you lunch?” you pouted, slightly hurt from how he reacted.

“i think y/n looks pretty, like always.” yamaguchi gushed from afar.

“shut up yamaguchi.” “sorry tsukki!!”

“but you know thats not what i meant. i’m just worried about, you look like you haven’t sleep at all.” he shook his head.

“hey! technically i slept for 3 hours.” you argued, earning a signature tsukishima eye roll from the man himself.

“you’re an idiot, y/n. but thank you.” he muttered and placed a kiss on your forehead. suddenly, coach ukai cut in and yelled for everyone to get in the van. groaning, tsukki squeezed you into a hug.

“sorry i can’t be there, but win for me and i’ll be there next match. i promise” you pouted, adding an extra boost of encouragement for tsukishima. these days, you’d noticed how passionate he’d become about the sport and no words could describe your happiness over this.

after waving bye to the team and wishing them the best of luck, you stood alone in the parking lot. happy and excited for what was to come for the karasuno boys volleyball club. but stupid for thinking you could make it through the rest of your day on the mere 3 hours of sleep.

you were an idiot— a fool, perhaps.

someone might as well hand you a jester hat and shoes, bells included, of course. because you were a fool, for tsukishima kei only.

someone with common sense would’ve followed the sign saying “only players allowed on court.” they would’ve yelled praises of encouragement from the stands and just sent a text. but you lacked common sense.

as soon as you saw red liquid ooze from tsukishima’s hand, you hoped out of your seat and grabbed your belongings without hesitation. oh no. your heart sunk and before yachi could even try to calm you down you were already running.

past the crowds and down the stairs leading to the court. you sprinted towards the karasuno team, completely ignoring the officials yelling at you.

you gently pushed through tsukishima’s teammates and an angry expression reached your face once you met eyes with the boy.

“tsukishima kei, are you stupid?” you cursued at him. his face turns a slight pink as his teammates snicker at your typical girlfriend antics. meanwhile, several tournament officials walked over to check on tsukishima’s condition and kick you off the court since you weren’t a player. but you didn’t care. you took his hurt hand into yours, putting your face closer to examine the extent of his injury.

he winced in pain causing your anger to melt away. “you almost gave me a heart attack, you have no idea how worried i was up th-“ you blab on before tsukishima reassures you.

“y/n i’m still breathing, right? you care about me that much huh?” tsukishima smirked as he tried to hide the pain he felt in his right hand.

“okay lovebirds, why don’t you go to the medical office together and get it checked out? we’re going to need you back on the court, tsukishima.” coach ukai quickly sends the two of you away in hopes of him returning by the fifth set.

akiteru and yachi anxiously follow as you and tsukishima rush to the medical office. they wait outside and the doctor tells you two that only his pinky is discolated and the rest of his fingers are fine, so he can still return but he has to wait for the bleeding to stop. the doctor excuses himself to get more bandages, leaving the two of you alone.

you stand up from your seat to stand in front of tsukishima. his face is serious, clearly still fixated on the game still going on at the moment. you wanted to give him peace but you couldn’t hold in how proud you were.

you go on to explain how amazed you were. “and when you jumped up to block, i knew ushijima had no chance— then BOOM! his spike goes straight down into the floor. i think i broke yachi’s eardums with my screaming. not to mention how hot you looked out there like what the hell??” you gushed, making tsukishima smile amidst his pain.

he pulled you in closer and wrapped his long arms around your torso, tucking his face into the comfort of your neck. like muscle memory, your hand finds its way to his back and began to rub circles.

“you’re really sweaty, tsukki. its kinda gross.” you whisper into his hear making him click his tongue in response. but despite the perspiration dripping down his back, you honestly didn’t mind.

tsukishima pulls away, his eyes wander around your face. his breath hitching at your every feature, especially at how your eyes possessed a unique twinkle that didn’t just resemble stars but the entire galaxy. then he remembers the day he fell in love with you, that day you walked home together in the rain.

“god y/n, you’re crazy you know that, right? but i love you.” he chuckles. “i know.” you proudly state while you try to hide the fact that your heart was physically hurting from how fast it was beating. “and i-“ you sprinkle a dozen kisses all over tsukishima’s face. one for eveything you loved about him.” love you too, kei” you say before pressing your swollen lips against his.

“now go out there and beat shiratorizawa’s ass!”

and that’s exactly what he does.

[broadwaynoodle]

bitter sweet pt 3

Title: bitter sweet pt.3

Pairing: mob!Racetrack higgins X reader

Word count: 1078

A/N: ahhh, i feel like this is a mess, but you get what you get. I’m so sorry, I’m an intern at a costume designer and life is just so busy right now.

taglist: @organabanks​

 Race stood in the hallway, looking at his shoes, what was he going to do with you? He wanted you to like him so badly, but you didn’t, even worse you hated him. He wandered around his house, eventually deciding to go to his office and writing your brother a letter, a randsome note if you will. He didn’t really feel like doing it yesterday, as he finished it he put it in a envelope and walked over towards Albert his office, jumping lightly as he opened the door and Albert was still there. ‘Hey Red’ he mumbled as Albert laughed his ass of at Race his scare. He layed the envelope on his desk ‘Get the Cowboy to deliver this to the Y/L/N’s mansion tomorrow please.’ He said as he sat down in a big leather chair. ‘‘Course Tony.’ He said. ‘Don’t call me that Red, I’s ya boss.’ He said, lighting a cigar, presenting the cigar box to Albert, he thankfully nodded as he took one and hung it from the corner of his mouth. ‘Owh and Al, can you escort Y/N to breakfast tomorrow, wake her about like 11 I’ll have Jacobi cook something up for her and then escort her to my office please?’ he said making puppy dog eyes at the redheaded boy. Albert scoffed and nodded. Race got up and wished Albert a quick goodnight, which Albert returned. Race headed to his bedroom where he go tinto his pyjama’s and thjen he stared at his ceiling while finishing his cigar, he wasn’t feeling like going to all his meetings tomorrow, but he knew he had to, but he didn’t want to, he wanted to spend time with you, he knew he couldn’t though, so he just fell asleep staring at the paterns of his ceiling.

You groaned as a loud banging on the door woke you up. ‘What?!’ you yelled, the door slowly opened as Albert came in. ‘Morning princess, dinner is ready in 30 so you better be up and ready toe at, chef cooked for you and also boss wants to see you after, be back in 25 to bring you to the breakfast bar if you are not out of bed byb then I’ll whoop your ass understood? Okay great see you in a bit dove.’ He rambled on before walking out of your room again to do whatever it is he does in a day excepr for babysit you. You moaned as you slowly got up from your bed and walked towards the bathroom, washing your face before applying some of the make-up that had already been in the bathroom when you first arrived there, you went to your closet to see if Race fixed you a new t-shirt and sweatpants, but to your surpise it was full of brand new clothes, you scoffed, if Race thought you where going to get all dolled up for him now, he was deadly wrong, you kept the same pair of sweatpants on that you were already wearing and pikked out a huge cable sweater and after that you tooka book from the bookshelf in the corner of the room, as soon af you sat down on the little couch next to it Albert stormed into you room again.

‘Ah your done, Jacobi made you some chocolate waffles, you have to choose between starberries rasberries or blueberries though, he didn’t know if you are allergic to anything.’ Albert kept rambling before he acctually look at you. ‘you look nice dove, now come on.’ He said as he started walking towards the hall. You jogged out of your room to keep up with him. ‘Why are yo uso happy today?’ you asked finally catching up to him. ‘Won a bet from the cowboy, made some big bucks doll.’ You nodded understandingly ‘Who’se cowboy?’ is all you responded. ‘he’s our driver.’ Albert said opening the door to the kitchen for you. You walked in and a man in a cheff’s uniform and a thick moustache greeted you. ‘Goodmorning ma’am Y/N, My name is Jacobi and I’m the cheff around here.’ He stuck out his hand and you shook it before sitting down at a bar stool. ‘What fruit option did you want hunny?’ he asked as he smootly flipped an egg. ‘Rasberries please.’ You said as Jacobi put a few waffles, an omelette and some rasberries on the plate in front of you. ‘coffee or tea darling?’ he continued, you shook your head ‘I’m good thank you.’ You said as you looked at the breakfast in front of you with wide eyes, it’s been a long time since you actually had such a nice meal, when you still lived with your brother, you always would eat this nice, but when he kicked you out, you would barely eat a banana in the mornings. ‘thank you so much Jacobi, this is really nice.’ You said as you took your first bite, moaning a little at how nice it all tasted.

‘Well doll, I see you are enjoying yourself.’ The voice from behind you sent shivers down your spine, you really couldn’t describe the way Race made you feel, his voice was oh so warm, welcoming, nice to hear even, but yet he was so cruel, at least thats what you heard about him. He wasn’t mean or cruel towards you, but you had only been there for a day, you didnt know what he would be like when you where there for a week or a month, maybe two, you had no idea how long it would take before he realised your brother wouldn’t going to pay whatever huge sum of money he owed him, you didn’t even know if Race would let you go once he realised it though.

‘Yes, you have a great cook.’ You said politly smiling at the man in question, who shot you a little nod. ‘Well I know that darling, I only hire the best of the best.’ He said with a wink, which made you feel weird, god you wanted to slap his stupid smirk off of his face. ‘Where is Albert, I want to go back to my room.’ You said grumpily. ‘Well darling i also have legs I’ll walk you.’ He said, you rolled your eyes. ‘I’d rather get lost Higgins.’ You said as you got up and left the room, you assumed you knew the way back to your room, boy where you wrong.

[wc-ff]

X.

There wasn't much to be done in a situation like this. What could you do?

Sage was almost sure she'd have to plead for her job back after having two detectives come in to take her to the station and interrogate her, leaving them with one less staff member for the day. They were already short and had called her in on her day off. She could always use the extra money so she agreed to work.

She knew they would come asking for her eventually but she didn't expect for it to be this soon and it showed in her demeanor. She couldn't stop moving around and fidgeting with her fingers as she sat all alone in the dull colored room. The room was cool but she still felt hot as she waited for them to come back in. Sage was also beginning to taste blood from the excessive amount of gnawing she was doing to the insides of her cheeks.

Her eyes couldn't do anything but dart around the room as she sat there. They had nothing else to focus on. She looked like a train wreck but was trying her best to seem as cool as a cucumber.

The detectives abruptly entered the room with stone cold glares on their faces. They weren't exactly looking at Sage though, and it made her a little nervous because she couldn't keep her eyes off of them.

Agents Morris and Steele sat down almost simultaneously, Morris releasing a slow sigh as Steele sat the case file on the table and opened it up. She sat a few pictures of the twins' dead disfigured bodies out in front of the platinum haired woman and Sage instantly winced. Her eyes quickly averted back up to the detectives. She could have kept the close up of the girls out of her imagination forever but now it was permanently etched there.

Still, no one said anything. She didn't know what they wanted her to say to those photos.

Sandra was getting tired of looking at this spec of dirt who she already felt most likely did the crime. She was just ready to put this woman behind bars so the case would be over with. At that point, there were no other leading suspects. "Do you know these two young ladies?" Her voice came out firm and slightly echoed throughout the plain room.

The only color on the walls was a dull gray that contrasted with the darkness of the double-sided windows the detectives were using to watch Sage before they entered themselves. The table and chairs they were sitting on were also metal and cold to the touch. The interrogation room was cool in general and wasn't quite designed to make people feel comfortable.

"No, I don't." Sage answered without so much as a second glance towards the disturbing pictures that were still laid out in front of her.

"That's Kaniya Holt," Sandra spoke as she pointed at one of the disfigured bodies, "and this right here is Malaysia Holt. Mayor Holt's twin daughters and only children. Well they were at least." She added, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Sage with her lips cut into a scowl.

Ronald felt like it was then his turn to speak up. He knew how worked up his partner could get and if this was a good cop bad cop scenario, she would most definitely be the bad cop. "And your phone?" He pulled the evidence bag containing her phone seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on the table. "Was found at the scene of the crime."

"And I saw you running away from the crime scene the next day when we were gathering evidence. Perhaps coming back for a certain cellphone you dropped while you were running away after you finished murdering those two girls." Agent Steele added, her voice stern like a mother scolding her child.

"What—no! I can explain that."

Sage barely even got to plea before Sandra cut in again. "Well you're gonna have to because surveillance cameras showed you running away from the crime scene around the estimated time of death. And after doing a little research... you have a motive better than anyone to hurt Malaysia and Kaniya."

The platinum haired woman's eyebrows instantly furrowed together. "What are you talking about motive? I just said that I don't know them." Her tone came out a bit more harsh now as she got defensive. She hated having to reiterate herself, it didn't matter who it was to.

Sandra only smirked and flipped through a few pages that rested in the manila folder sitting in front of her before laying out an article about Shamar's car accident from a couple of years ago. The headline read: Man Left in Critical Condition After Brutal Collision on Intersection.

Sage's face turned up in disgust and she pushed the article away, no longer wanting to read it. The way the title alone sounded as if there was no empathy involved when coming up with it was enough to turn her off completely. "What does this have to do with them?"

"Kaniya Holt was behind the wheel of the vehicle that hit your father and her sister was in the passenger seat. They both came out seemingly unscathed." Steele responded as if the woman was slow for even asking her the question. She knew exactly what the detective was talking about, Sandra was sure of it.

Sage stared at her for a while, unable to form any words to reply with as her eyes unwillingly swelled up with fresh salty tears. They were the reason that her father could never hug his family again? Why wouldn't anyone have told her that? "N-no, you're lying. I would have heard about it, the news would have reported about it."

"C'mon now. They're the mayors daughters and Kaniya didn't even have her driver's permit so the drivers of the other vehicle were kept under wraps and you're angry about that... aren't you?" Agent Morris' Italian accent was in full effect as questioned her, studying her behavior.

"Of course I am. My dad almost died! That girl should have been in jail, not protected. And y'all knew about this and just did nothing about it? You say your duty is to protect and serve but only when it's convenient, huh?" In all honesty with the news she had just received, Sage had completely forgotten what she was being interrogated about and was just livid as hell now. They did nothing to help her family when it was their job to do so. It made her realize how corrupt the world really was and how close to home it could hit.

"You're angry we didn't do something about it so you took it upon yourself to get justice for your dad. It's only human to feel that way and all but you have to own up to what you did now and sign a confession. These girl's families deserved justice too." Ronald continued, trying his best to sound as soothing as possible so he wouldn't upset her anymore than he knew she already was.

Sage immediately sucked her teeth. "For the last time, I don't know those fucking girls and fuck their families!" She stood up from her seat as the detectives just sat back and watched her point a harsh finger at them. "Neither them or you gave a fuck about my family when it came down to it. But that doesn't mean that I killed those girls."

"So who did then?"

The light caramel toned woman's words got caught in her throat as she tried to think of a response. She gulped hard as she sat down and began trying to explain everything that had happened that night. The date, why she was walking through that area in the first place, and what she saw and heard coming from that abandoned house that night. She hated reliving that moment but knew she had to for the sake of her freedom.

Sandra and Ronald looked at each other before looking back over at their suspect. "So you mean to tell me a 'black figure' beat them to death?" Agent Steele looked Sage dead in the eyes as if she was completely bored by the story she had just told her. It was unconvincing to say the least. She had the strongest motive and was literally in the area at the time of death. Sandra knew for certain that they had their man, they just needed to get this damn confession out of her and she was making it hard.

"I don't know how else to describe it. The person was dressed in black from head to toe, I couldn't see any skin."

"How convenient." Sandra gave her a sarcastic toothless grin, not moved by her story in the slightest.

Suddenly the door busted open and in walked Sage's mother followed by her attorney. "Sage, you don't have to say anything else."

It was sort of already too late. She had already said everything that she needed to say, she just didn't know where to go from there. The detectives didn't seem like they believed her at all.

Steele immediately rolled her eyes and closed up the case file, already knowing exactly where this was going and it annoyed her. She wasn't finished with the suspect, she knew she could break her down if she just had a bit more time with her. Everything lined up and pointed to her as the murderer but it was all circumstantial evidence. Neither her prints nor DNA were found in the actual house or on the persons of the deceased so they needed that confession from her to be able to make the arrest. Sandra was itching to slap some cuffs on her and finally close the case.

"If it's ok with you all, I'd like to take my daughter home now. You interrupted her life enough today." Sanai spoke in the voice she used when she was trying to sound as professional as possible.

Sandra scowled at the both of them but said nothing as she and Ronald watched them walk out of the door.

*******

Ronald sat in his office, typing away on his keyboard. His partner assumed he was doing the work to find more evidence on their case like she was, but instead he was chatting with a woman he had met on a dating app a few days ago.

She was average looking to him but she was of actual Italian descent and had a body that most women her age didn't have anymore so he felt like they could make something work. Thus far, she had been cool and funny. She had jet black hair that she had cut in a blunt bob that reached her shoulders, pale skin that had a few beauty marks scattered here and there, and thick fluffy eyebrows that arched perfectly over her dark brown eyes. She was a seven at the very least and since she exercised frequently, her body was nice and fit.

Ronald could only imagine how much stamina she'd have in bed. She seemed like she was down to find out too. They had planned to meet up that weekend at a bar for the first time and have a few drinks. He was ready to put that entire Chantell situation behind him now.

She had been texting him nonstop since the night before and apologizing about making him feel like she was playing with him but he could honestly care less. He said what he had to say already and wasn't going to spend anymore energy on it. He was too old to be playing games or going back and forth with anyone so he wasn't going to.

He already had his next few options lined up and while Chantell was one of the best looking ones, she wasn't the only one and that was something he felt he needed to make clear to her.

A light knock sounded off on his door which instantly caused his eyebrows to come together in confusion. Usually, Sandra would just barge right in without so much as a warning first so he was sure that it had to be someone else. "Come in." He called out, his eyes trained on the wooden office door.

As if he had thought her up himself, Chantell sashayed through the door and closed it shut behind her. Her bronzed skin was radiating and the lip gloss that coated her lips made them look extra kissable. An all black strapless sundress hugged her curves perfectly and she wore a pair of black furry Ugg slides on her feet to match, showcasing her freshly polished toes. Her hair was slicked back into a low curly puff with two stray curls hanging at her sideburns and framing her gorgeous face that was dressed in light makeup. Her natural beauty never failed to amaze Ronald. She looked good without even trying.

Still, he couldn't let her off the hook that quick. He wasn't about to allow her to hypnotize him. "What are you doin' in my office? I'm at work and my partner works right next door so if you think you're about to come bring drama into my workplace 'cause I ain't been answering you then you got another thing comin'." He seemed to say all in one breath while Chantell just inched closer to him.

She inwardly rolled her eyes about his nagging before he even knew what she was actually there for. She rounded the corner of his desk and approached him seductively causing him to roll back in his chair a bit, unsure of what her next move would be since the last thing he did was smack her food out of her hands and left her standing on her front porch.

Chantell reached out and lightly caressed his face, slowly making her way down to her knees. Within seconds, the detective's belt buckle was undone and his pants were unzipped. Ronald kept his arms at his sides but kept his eyes on her as she kept eye contact with him with each new movement she made.

Her soft plump lips wrapped themselves around the tip of his member, immediately causing it to begin to harden in her small hands. The middle aged man's eyes rolled to the back of his head as her tongue traced circles along the skin of his dick which had now grown stiff. She kept her eyes trained on him, knowing how it made men crazy when they looked in her eyes while her mouth was full of their manhood.

She was glad he wasn't an unattractive older guy because it would have made everything ten times harder. She knew she needed to get back into his good graces, especially after speaking about the surveillance video he was going to show her the night before. He couldn't leave her hanging like that.

One of Ronald's hands rested on the back of her head as she began bobbing it up and down, an audible grunt escaping his mouth which made her smirk to herself. She wasn't even giving her best effort and she still had him right where she wanted him.

Her spit slowly oozed down his shaft while she picked up her pace, deep throating the entirety of his length with no hands as loud gargling sounds filled his office. She continued to orally pleasure him, allowing herself to get sloppy and nasty with it until he released in her mouth, a long barely audible groan coming from his own since he was sure Sandra was still closed up in her office beside his.

Chantell gathered all of his nut and the tip of her tongue and traced small circles on his tip with it before sucking it back off and swallowing it whole, a smirk forming on her face as Ronald widened his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out to show him that she hadn't missed a single drop of it.

He had never had a woman swallow his kids like that with no problem before. He couldn't do anything but watch her astonished. His ex-wife, Marjory, could and would never. She always said his semen was too salty to keep in her mouth and would spit it back onto him. He should have known she'd think that though because she barely seasoned her food.

"I'm sorry for what I said." She mumbled as she planted a light kiss on his skin of his shaft, batting her long mink eyelashes as she looked up at him. "Forgive me?"

Ronald couldn't even form any words so he just nodded his head instead which instantly made Chantell smile at him before standing to her feet. "Call me when you get off. Don't wanna get you into any issues with your partner." She added, along with a seductive wink before making her way back out of his office with a grin, twisting her ass with each step she took.

She had him right back where she wanted him.

*******

Loud and hurried knocks sounded off on Sergio's front door as if it were the police ready to break it down at any second. He smacked his lips and instinctively pulled his strap out from underneath his mattress before heading over to find out who the hell was banging on his door like that.

He looked through the peephole and immediately furrowed his eyebrows when he saw his sister's face staring back at him. They hadn't had any type of contact with each other since the day he went over there and Sanai slapped him. Sage hadn't texted him either so he wasn't sure what she was here for but he unlocked the door and swung it open anyway.

Sage instantly barged in, pushing Sergio with all her strength and causing him to stumble back a few feet, twisting his face up as he glared at her like she had lost her mind. He wasn't sure what she was mad about now but he didn't have the time or patience for her shenanigans at the moment. "Fuck is wrong with you?"

"What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you!" She pushed him again and this time he forcefully grabbed her wrists, snatching them away from him. "You're the one that told me to watch the news so you knew who those girls were!"

Once he realized what she was rambling on about, his faced straightened out into a more bored expression. He was just telling her to let her know, he didn't think it would be a problem. "And?"

"And when you and daddy got into that accident, they were the ones driving the car that hit you. You didn't think that was something I should know?" Her face was a reddish tint and her blood was boiling at this point. Her family kept so many big things from her all the time when all she did was help them and she was beginning to get really tired of it.

Sergio slightly rolled his eyes at her dramatics. She was always overreacting to things that weren't that big of a deal and then blew up the same way she was doing now. "Why would you need to know that? You wasn't in the car. You wasn't even in the state. You wasn't around when it happened so it's irrelevant." He shrugged.

Sage only glared at him for a split second before she swung but her little brother's reflexes were a bit quicker than hers and he swiftly dodged out of the way in time before grabbing both of her arms and spinning her so that her back was to him as he pinned her hands by her sides. "Aye, stop fuckin' hitting me!"

"They think I killed them because dad got hurt and they didn't get in trouble for the accident. You should have fucking told me that when you found out it was them!" Tears were coming to her eyes because she was so pissed she couldn't take her anger out on him. He was stronger than her and had an advantage.

"I don't like talking about that shit Sage, you know that." Sergio retorted right before his sister abruptly stomped on his foot causing him to involuntarily let go of her as he howled in pain. He was barefoot and only wearing slides so he felt all of the creases from the bottom of her shoe sink into his toes.

Sage quickly tried to gain an advantage over him with the time she had bought herself but was again pinned down ten seconds later. Now they were both angry and their tempers were no match for each other. "You wouldn't understand Sage."

"No, I don't understand because you don't tell me shit and I barely see you because you moved out and never come around except when you feel like it. Mom was right, you're selfish!"

Sergio smacked his teeth. "Man, fuck you and fuck mom. Both of y'all bitches can go choke on a dick. Y'all not the ones that gotta walk around everyday feeling like it's your fault your family's fucked up now. We used to be close and now we always fighting and I'm the one that gotta carry that burden, not y'all."

"Gio, what the fuck are you even talking about? How could it be your fault when dad was protecting you from those girl's reckless driving? And they said they found you only with a few cuts and a broken arm in the passenger seat which was a miracle considering they hit that side."

Sage couldn't even see her brother's face because her back was turned to him but if she could, she'd know that he was silently shedding a few tears. He hated to be reminded of that night but it seemed like no matter what he did, even years later it would never stop. "They weren't the ones in the wrong that night, Sage. Kaniya just didn't have her permit but her light was green."

"So their light was green. That still doesn't make everything your fault, you weren't even driving—"

"I was driving, Sage!" He snapped causing the entire house to fall into an eerie silence. Sage began to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, realizing why her brother barely liked to come around or why he rarely saw his father in the hospital unless Shamar was asleep.

He felt guilty for being the reason their dad was the way he was and he beat himself up everyday for ruining his family with just one dumb mistake he wished he could take back. Everything was starting to make sense to her. The drugs, the isolation, the constant state of anger Sergio always seemed to be in. She couldn't even say it wasn't his fault because it was. He had only just turned fifteen when it happened so she was sure he didn't have his license and he still ran a red light.

"So why'd they say they found you in the passenger seat?"

Sergio released her arms and walked away from her, running his hands over his face as he began pacing the ground. He had lived with his secret for two years and hadn't told a soul. He wanted to keep it that way because he didn't want her to look at him any differently but something in him had to let her know. "They did find me there... I knew I would never be able to get my license if I was the one responsible for the accident so I switched me and dad around before the cops could show up and when they did, I acted like I had passed out from the impact so they wouldn't suspect anything. And dad never told them nothing either."

"So you moved daddy to the driver's seat? What if he was..." She trailed off, not even wanting to think of the possibility of her father passing away. Him getting hurt was enough heartbreak for her. "You really would have just let him take the fall like that?"

Sergio didn't look at her nor did he answer verbally but that told her everything she needed to know. She shook her head as she looked at her brother, barely being able to recognize the chirpy teenager she had left in charge of helping out their parents when she first went off to college.

With tears clouding her vision, she slowly began backing out of her brother's house before turning on her heel and running out the door.

[hitsuackerman]

Unpredictable (Overhaul x Reader) pt.19

a/n: so... uhh... nothing much happens here but the last part is worth it :’) i guess? hope ya’ll like this nonetheless! 

warnings: this cannot be read solo

Links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 20

Masterlist to my other fics: here :)

Overhaul’s waiting list: @jjk-biased @infinite-universe-love @dirtypride @blackymomo03 @azzie @purple-rabanito​ @meximorrita @awesomeee19​​ @celestial-kanzakii​ @laure-lo​ @team-wang-puppy​ @aydience-world​ @choros-main-hoe​ @colorseeingchick​  @but-kairis-not-that-smart (i cant seem to tag again :( hope this lands in your timelines!)

Two days since that fated encounter with Chronostasis, you were now left with a vacant rest day. And where better place to spend it than with Dr. Hanayaka. Setting an appointment with him, as he liked to call it, you were tasked to help with the blood pressure for each patient he had. Luckily, his schedule wasn’t that straining.

“So you mean to say, his henchman met with you in secret?” Gei asked and raised an eyebrow. With his stethoscope resting on his shoulder and white coat on, it was sometimes hard to believe that this flamboyant man was a well respected doctor. “And handed you trash man’s sim card?”

“Yeah. I’ve already checked the contents of the sim and there’s not a lot to go on.” Aside from your messages, the contents of his inbox were that of an average man’s. Expecting some tea about his trade or even important numbers of other villains, you had to think whether or not Chrono deleted some or not.

“And what about that plan of yours, hmm?” Gei fixed his eyelashes before staring back at you. “What if it backfires and Chrono takes the blame?”

“He won’t. My instructions were clear and I set a time frame as well. Just something to please the heroes for setting me up.”

“You movin over to the dark side, baby girl?”

“Just balancing things out.” You shrugged. “Levi made it clear that they shouldn’t interfere with my relationship with Overhaul. Even though I’m on justice’s side, I still want to tip the scales a bit due to personal reasons.”

“Wouldn’t your badge and title be removed if they found out? And why in Todrick’s name are you so chill with this topic?! Are you certain you don’t have a bug on you?” Your friend eyed you down so quickly. Worried that policemen might end up barging inside his office.

“Don’t worry. I’m wearing new clothes so there’s no way they can. Besides, I’m being as cautious as ever. Seriousness aside, I do have some information you might want to feast on.” You smirked at the mental image of a maskless Chrono.

“Spill…” Gei shifted in his seat and leaned in closer. The look on your face only meant one thing.

“Okay, so Overhaul’s right hand man was the one who met me right? Well~ He took off his mask and I will have to admit the man looked hella fine~”

“Describe! Describe!”

“For starters, he has bluish-gray eyes. Though he looks like he wants to kill a person right there and then, he probably could since his jaw was rather prominent. His voice without the mask is different too.” You watched as Gei listened with such focus. “But, if I were to be honest, describing him doesn’t do him good. He looks really handsome.”

“Why is it always the villains who look good?” Gei commented with a pout. “Hawks aside, because that man is something else, but they just hit different you know?”

“That’s true. Shame they have to wear those masks, though.”

“On the contrary, I think it’s good that they do. Otherwise they’d have to endure the wrath of fan girls.”

“Right. Also feels good when they trust you enough to show what’s behind the mask.” Nodding at your own statement, the memory of having lunch with Overhaul came back. With no given warning, he took off his mask and casually drank water. Realizing that he had done it on purpose, a tiny smile formed on your mouth.

“If you miss him that bad, just call him.”

“He changed numbers and I’m not that desperate to ask Chrono for it. Nao said in due time he’ll contact me but the chances of that are negative.”

“Honey, it’s the modern era. Women aren’t as shy as they were before. If you want something, go and get it. If it is a guy’s new number, then go ahead. It’s not just men who make the first move. And besides, I think Overhoe would be surprised if you just suddenly ring his doorbell.”

“You do realize, I do not have the same confidence as you.”

“Fake it till you make it, boo.” He snapped his fingers in a z-formation.

“You’ve been watching Soopernatural again, haven’t you?”

“Okay, first off, Jenred Padackles is a god and I would worship his feet. Second, that show has references to everything and you can’t deny that.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Standing up from the sofa, you stretched your limbs. “Anyway, I gotta scram.”

“Where you headin’ off to missy?”

“I have to meet up with Nao regarding the Fukuo Kai case.”

“But it’s your day off. Get a life and do something else other than work, (n/n).” Gei threw a pen to your direction but you dodged it effortlessly. “Don’t make me tell your father.”

“It’s only for a few minutes. It’s in preparation for tomorrow.” Not bothering to wait, you exited the room and sofly closed the doors to his office. Time spent with Gei was always an eye opener. However, it still wasn’t enough for you to stoop so low and ring his doorbell.

Making your way out of the hospital, you took a quick stop to the vending machines and chose a cold cafe au lait. Perfect for the hot and humid weather Japan had to offer. Feeling the cold liquid running down your throat was amazing and within seconds, you downed the whole drink. Tossing the empty bottle to the recycle bin, a gust of wind caused you to lose balance.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

“I have a meeting to attend to Hawks.” Hawks took his visors off and ruffled his wings. Offering to buy him a drink, he chose a tetra pack of  apple juice. Walking to the vacant bench, you followed him and decided that perhaps his visit would be worth it. “So what did the bird hear today?”

“Twice and Toga Himiko.”

“League of-” Then it hit you. “I see. Since when?”

“Yesterday. One of my informants saw them entering the base and left late at night. They didn’t look too happy about it, though.” Lowering his headphones, he ruffled his hair and stared at the clear blue skies. “Do what you will with this information. Just thought I’d let you know.”

“How and why do you even bother?”

“I work for the HPSC dove. If I don’t want them getting in my head, I gotta kick their crotches first.”

“That’s not the best analogy.”

“Still works though.” He winked and put on his headphones and visors back. Standing up, he offered a hand and you accepted it. Tailing you, Hawks was now opening the door for your car. “And one more thing, another of my birdies caught the scent of the quirk erasing bullets nearing its completion stages. Probably 80% now.”

“That’s fast.” You had to admit.

“Heard he’s been pissed. Be careful baby bird.” Hawks closed your door and saluted before flying off.

80%? That was enough information to speed up the Shie Hassaikai raid. Reaching out for your bag, you took the burner phone you recently purchased and reread each message the both of you exchanged. With two League of Villains now part of the yakuza, the possibility of casualties was much higher now.

Within minutes, you were now on the road. Fingers tightly wrapping the steering wheel. Your thumb bouncing with growing guilt at choosing to hide what Hawks had just said. Of course this wasn’t to ensure his victory, it was to even the field, right? It was the pettiness taking over you and Nighteye going against his words. It had to be.

Turning towards the precinct, you saw your designated parking area. The basement parking was a bit crowded today.

Heading towards the meeting room Tsukauchi had prepared for the small info sharing, you greeted fellow coworkers and kept conversation till you disappeared around the corner. Not too long after, you were now fiddling with your fingers. Basking in the silence till the doors opened revealing your partner and Shinezu. Both men took their seats and commenced the meeting.

“So, Shinezu will be tagging along.” He nodded at your coworker who seemed to be trembling at the thought. “It’ll do you good, Shinez. Trust me.”

“I-I know, Tsukau-kun.” He adjusted his tie, loosening it a bit. “I just think I’m not cut out for this mission you know? I do better behind the scenes.”

“While I believe that’s true, the 4th division works best when you’re around.”

“That’s true.” You agreed. Shinezu may not be the most social cookie out there but his brain was close to Namase. He also had the knack of coming up with solutions when things went wrong. All he needed was to amp his social skills. “We all know the 4th division leader is weak for you.”

“Not t-true.”

“All too true. You’ll be fine, Shinez. Have I ever lied to you?”

When the raven-haired man finally nodded his head, Tsukauchi cleared his throat and relayed the plans for tomorrow. It was the standard undercover data gathering in your books.

“So, to recap, the 4th division will be handling the snooping and we’ll remain on guard should all else fail?” You repeated the information given. Tsukauchi scratched his chin and nodded. Confirming that you had fully understood his message. “All this should happen within 5 hours. Got it. That’s quite cramped but manageable.”

“5 hours was the only allotted time I could fit in.” He scratched his nape and looked away. “You were right when I had to take it slow with my cases.”

“I’m not one to comment~” Waving the conversation aside, you stood up and the others followed.

With the short meeting now over, Tsukauchi and you were now seated in the break room. Cups of coffee present as you exchanged more information about your days and current mission. For a brief moment, despite him not being a part of the Shie Hassaikai Raid, you wanted to pour every single information you had just gained from Hawks. The lingering guilt was much more present now.

“You’re spacing out.” He snapped his fingers in front of you. “You alright?”

“Aside from the growing problem of trashman, I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.” Taking a sip from your coffee, the usual taste of bitterness was strong today. “Nothing to worry about~”

“You should go home, (n/n). I already took up a portion of your time. Any more and I might drown from embarrassment.”

“That’s gross. Even coming from you.” Kicking him from under the table, the two of you laughed before chugging the remaining drops of coffee. “I will take that offer though. Need me some beauty sleep before shit happens again. See ya!”

Hours had passed and you were now stuffing your face with chips. He was right when he said you had purchased too much but you weren’t complaining. The movie playing now was one of your favorites, Prisoner. Gake Jyllenhall was divine in this movie. It was always the twist of the movie that kept you watching it over and over again.

“I wonder if we had watched this… would the wall pinning  happen?” You thought out loud. Shaking your thoughts away from him, you stopped the movie and stored the chips.

Now that you were settled in bed, Overhaul’s jacket rested on top of you. By now, his scent had disappeared and was now replaced by yours. Grabbing your phone, you opened the messaging app and clicked on a certain conversation. Rereading his messages was not the best idea but at least you would be able to relive whatever memories you had created.

Glancing at your desk calendar, in just two months time, you would meet him again. Would things still be the same? Or would things go back to the way they were? Tucking your phone under the unused pillow, you willed yourself to sleep and surprisingly succeeded.

Waking up not so refreshed happened again. But, nothing out of the ordinary. Not being a morning person, you dragged your body away from the bed and began the necessary clothes. Deciding to just buy breakfast, it took you less than an hour to lock your doors and head over to the parking lot.

Making your way up the steps, you met up with Shinezu.

“You look like shit, Shinez.” You teased him. “Take a chill pill.”

“I already did. But it’s still not working. This would be the first case in a while where I’ll interact with others.” Leading the way, the both of you were now walking through the empty hallways. The sounds of your footsteps muffled by the cheap carpeted floors. “How do you guys even manage to survive situations like these?”

“By taking it one step at a time~” Not the best advice for someone who’s socially challenged but it is what it is.

Opening the doors for you, the both of you entered the room and took your designated seats. A bunch of people from the 4th division were now present. Tsukauchi had not yet arrived but it was still early so it was excusable. Exchanging a few small talk, you caught up with what the 4th division was up to till the doors finally opened.

“Good morning everyone.” Tsukauchi greeted. Feet glued to his spot. His eyesight focused on you. “Before we head out, we have a special guest joining us.”

“Holy shit.” Shinezu uttered under his breath.

- - - - -

a/n: shits bout to go down again! I would like to take this time to thank each one of you who take the time to read this! Unpredictable was supposedly a 10 chapter story but we bout to reach 20 now! i cant really respond to your comments as much but i read all of ‘em and they always make my day :’) my schedule has just been very hectic these days huhu and yeas that ends my rant~ see ya’ll next week! :* and yes, the waiting list is still open :)

[aion-rsa]

15 Hardest PlayStation One Games of All-Time

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The PlayStation is fondly remembered for its classic collection of revolutionary games, advancements in 3D technology, and CD player functionality that let you easily play the Men in Black soundtrack whenever you wanted. As you’ve probably guessed from the title of this article, though, it’s also the home of some of the hardest games of the ’90s.

The PlayStation may have helped move us out of the arcade era and its notorious difficulty levels, but with the challenges of 3D game design came a new set of in-game challenges that tested a generation of gamers in ways that they simply were not prepared for.

Even after we’ve grown accustomed to the machinations and expectations of 3D game design all these years later, I suspect that many modern gamers would struggle to beat the 15 hardest PlayStation One games ever.

15. Crash Bandicoot

One of the funniest things about the release of 2017’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was watching everyone suddenly remember that the Crash Bandicoot games were absurdly difficult. 

Despite their linear design, the Crash Bandicoot games demanded a level of platforming perfection that proved to be elusive enough at a time when modern video game graphics, cameras, and controls made the remakes of the Crash Bandicoot games much more accessible but was nearly impossible to achieve in the early days of PlayStation gaming.

The later Crash Bandicoot games made things slightly easier, but the first title’s combination of intentionally challenging obstacles and a few questionable design decisions make it one of the most truly difficult games of its era.

14. Fear Effect

The original Fear Effect games are awkward to play today for a lot of reasons (casual racism and strange “softcore” cutscenes, for instance), but if you find yourself struggling to make it through these titles, it’s not just because they haven’t aged especially well. Fear Effect was an incredibly difficult game even for its time.

Essentially a blend of Resident Evil-like controls, point and click adventure puzzles, and awkward stealth sequences, Fear Effect is like a Hall of Fame for the most challenging and infuriating gameplay concepts of its era. 

Fear Effect 2 might even be harder than the first game, but the nod here goes to the original for featuring one of the most uniquely difficult gaming experiences the PlayStation has to offer. 

13. Driver

22 years after its release, I’m still convinced that Driver is a prank. How else can you explain developer Reflections Interactive’s decision to make this game’s tutorial mission one of the hardest levels in video game history?

Driver’s first level requires you to complete a series of complex maneuvers in a confined space while racing against a way too short time limit. To make matters worse, the game often fails to recognize when you’ve properly completed a maneuver, which means that you might not pass the test even if you’ve somehow mastered the game’s most complex movies the first time you’re ever asked to perform them. 

If you’re one of the many who has never beaten Driver’s opening level, you may be shocked to find that there are difficulty spikes later in the game that are even more difficult than its notorious opener. At least this game is still better than the sequel. 

12. Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey

Oddworld’s unique puzzles and strange core mechanics would have made it challenging enough for players just trying to figure out what’s expected of them, but this game goes one step further by employing some of the most unforgiving level design tactics in PlayStation history. 

Your margin for error in this game rarely rises above zero as gunfire and traps constantly threaten to end your fun. While that kind of unforgiving gameplay makes sense in something like a bullet hell title, it can be frustrating to work with in a puzzle game where your trial and error attempts are hindered by an additional series of wrong moves. 

Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey is clearly meant to be a difficult game, but knowing that doesn’t make it feel any less unforgiving. 

11. Rayman

As strange as it may seem given the evolution of the franchise over the years, the original Rayman is by far one of the hardest games of the ‘90s and arguably one of the hardest platformer games ever made. 

Unlike other platformers that challenge you with rewarding gameplay that requires precision movements, most of Rayman’s challenges can be best described as “bulls***.” The slippery slopes and spiked pits spread generously throughout levels might kill you, but the game’s bizarre enemy spawning system that makes it practically impossible to anticipate their placement certainly will. 

If Rayman isn’t one of the hardest games ever made its certainty among the most frustrating. 

10. Vagrant Story

For years, fans have called Vagrant Story one of the most underrated PlayStation games and one of the most overlooked RPGs ever made. It deserves both those titles, but I think Vagrant Story also deserves to be remembered as an absurdly difficult epic. 

Initially, the challenge of Vagrant Story comes from learning its unique combat system that often leaves you feeling helpless. Even after you’ve made sense of the basics, Vagrant Story’s brutal bosses, clever traps, and even “basic” enemies will constantly make you wonder whether or not you can ever really master what this game throws at you. 

Like Dark Souls, Vagrant Story’s difficulty is very much part of what makes the game work as well as it does. Appreciating that doesn’t make the game any easier, though. 

9. Heart of Darkness

Never heard of Heart of Darkness? I’m not surprised. Even for its time, this was a relatively obscure title that is now fondly remembered for its visuals, excellent story, and interesting gameplay. Mostly, though, Heart of Darkness is remembered for its nearly unrivaled difficulty spikes.  

In fact, Heart of Darkness could give Driver a run for its money in the battle between games with the most absurdly difficult opening levels. Enemies swarm you in this opening section like you’re playing a bullet hell shooter, but the game controls like a particularly clunky FMV puzzler. Even if you know what you’re doing, it’s incredibly difficult to respond to the on-screen action in time. 

Things get slightly better from there, but I’d still say that most gamers will not have the patience for this game’s labyrinth levels, bewildering puzzles, and often painful controls. 

8. Blasto

To be fair to Blasto, this PS1 action game was probably released a generation before technology could properly support it. In another timeline, it might have turned out to be as good as the first Ratchet and Clank game. To be even fairer to Blasto, it starred the late Phil Hartman who always went above and beyond for everything he did, including the voice work for this game. 

With all of that out of the way, let’s focus on Blasto’s real reputation as one of the PS1’s most reliable sources of broken controllers. It’s bad enough that this game’s slow movements and dodgy camera make even basic sections challenging, but the fact that many levels have no barriers to speak of means you spend most of your time falling to your death while trying to complete even simple jumps. 

This is a truly painful gaming experience that snared many unsuspecting gamers with its charm and front-loaded good ideas. 

Read more

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15 Hardest Sega Genesis Games of All-Time

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7. Einhander

While not the most difficult 2D shoot ‘em up ever made, Einhander was high-profile enough to lure in many early PS1 adopters who were completely unprepared for its retro difficulty level. 

Rather than throw as many enemies at you as possible and call it a day, Einhander increases the health pool of the average enemy while requiring you to navigate some truly devastating death zones. The impact of that design decision really comes thorugh in the game’s boss fights which task you with taking down massive foes who employ complex and shifting attack strategies. 

This is a truly great game that stands the test of time, but don’t let its looks and sounds convince you that Einhander is anything less than a classic example of “NES hard.” 

6. Irritating Stick

Yes, the game’s title gives its difficulty level away, but to truly appreciate how frustrating Irritating Stick is, you’ve got to play it for yourself. 

Irritating Stick is like a blend of Super Monkey Ball and the board game Operation. It requires you to guide a small ball through a series of themed mazes that leave you almost no room to safely maneuver. To make matters worse, you have to race against a constantly ticking clock that’s absurd restrictions essentially require you to truly master this game within a few levels. Of course, true mastery may not be possible for most players as each level seems to add a new wrinkle that makes you wonder how you will ever get through in time. 

Oh, and I have to give a special shout-out to the game’s announcer who screams “Watch out, you’re too close to the edge!” whenever you’re near the game’s barriers. Yes, I know I’m too close to the edge, now kindly leave me the **** alone. 

5. Incredible Crisis

Remember that scene in Metal Gear Solid when you had to mash the Circle button to survive the torture device until it felt like your wrist was going to break? Well, imagine that scene stretched out across most of a full game. That’s Incredible Crisis. 

Incredible Crisis is a collection of eclectic minigames that often require you to mash buttons as fast as humanly possible. Actually, I take that back. No human can be expected to survive this gauntlet of finger destroying terror. Oh, and if a minigame doesn’t require you to furiously mash buttons, that means it’s only going to destroy you in some other strange way. 

The bizarre set of skills required to beat this game means that it may even frustrate gamers who otherwise seek such challenges.

4. Tomb Raider 3

Yes, the first two Tomb Raider games are difficult. However, part of their challenge (especially today) stems from their ambitious design which was often ahead of what you could reasonably expect from video game technology at the time. 

Tomb Raider 3 is on a different (difficulty) level, though. Even if the game didn’t add a ridiculous number of spikes, boulders, pits, and traps waiting to end your run before you know they’re there, its bewildering level design that tried to recreate the experience of having no idea what you’re doing in the middle of a dark tomb has broken even diehard series fans. 

Despite its better moments and incredible pedigree, it’s genuinely hard to recommend this game to anyone but masochists. I genuinely don’t know if it’s possible to beat this game without a strategy guide or walkthrough. 

3. Nightmare Creatures

There’s a degree to which early PlayStation games were fundamentally unprepared to handle the challenges of 3D action/adventure game design. That means that any additional difficulties added to that underlying level of challenge make some games of that era nearly impossible to properly play today. 

I guess that’s just my way of saying that Nightmare Creatures is indeed the nightmare it bills itself as. What would already be a challenging romp through a hellish world of monsters is made that much worse by the presence of an adrenaline system that effectively serves as a time limit and forces you to kill enemies as quickly as possible despite often being unprepared for them in every conceivable way.

Some games throw you into the water to teach you how to swim. Nightmare Creatures holds your head under the water as you lean because it fundamentally doesn’t want you to succeed.

2. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

The “fall” of the stealth genre from mainstream gaming in recent years has long disappointed genre fans who rank such games among their favorites of all-time. Yet, it has to be acknowledged that even the best stealth games were often difficult in a way that could immediately dissuade even tested gamers. 

While difficulty is a given in many stealth titles, Tenchu sometimes abuses the privilege by going out of your way to remind you that you are weak. Maybe it’s because many of us were just excited to play a game where we were a badass ninja assassin, but the way that Tenchu required you to play it safe and employ trial-and-error tactics to survive its various challenges left many burying their hands in their face as they tried to understand what they were doing wrong. 

Even after you appreciated Tenchu for what it was and even discovered what the game expected of you, it always found a way to force you to make that little mistake that would instantly end a run. 

1. King’s Field

Is it cliche to name a game from eventual Dark Souls developer FromSoftware as the hardest PS1 title ever? For the sake of argument, let’s say it is. That doesn’t change the fact that even Dark Souls veterans will find themselves surprised by how difficult this game truly is. 

King’s Field was pretty revolutionary for its time, which means that many gamers simply didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing when they booted up this title. What the most patient PS1 gamers discovered, though, is that King’s Field is basically a rough draft of Dark Souls combined with an especially difficult dungeon crawler. Even if the game’s ambitious 3D visuals and the jank they produce didn’t create additional challenges, this title’s brutal combat, a parade of traps, confounding controls, deliberately slow pace, and complete lack of direction even made hardcore PC RPG fans wonder what this game was and why it hated them so much.

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King’s Field doesn’t hate you, but it’s a testament to what the game was going for that it’s both clearly an early look at the next 25 years of gaming and a title that will likely still challenge generations to come.

The post 15 Hardest PlayStation One Games of All-Time appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3hh6wBX

[iseultdeservedbetter]

With Her Sweetened Breath, And Her Tongue So Mean

Brida x Skade (Modern AU)

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

I just wanted to put a huge disclaimer over this fic, because I do have to say that I haven’t any experience in the foster care system, so my judgement of it is mostly based on what I have seen and heard through media.

I do know that isn’t always as it goes, many times it is a way for children to escape abusive households, instead of ending up in one, and many people have good intentions, so please don’t think that what I described is my thought on all foster care.

I just felt like it’d be Brida’s personal experience and feelings she felt in it.

I have no intention of insult/make fun of such a system or people who have been in it!

(I hope it wasn’t offensive but do let me know if it was so that I can remove it!)

As always, feedback is very welcome, it makes my fingers writer faster and my heart beats stronger!

Have a lovely day!

SUMMARY:  After the break up of her life, Brida is thrown in a confusion that risk being extremely destructive for her heart, which never learned that love should be free and sweet and adorable... and not a constant struggle.

WORDS: 1, 9

WARNINGS: Mention of Abusive Household, Unhappy Childhood, Internalize Misogyny, Mention of Casual Sex, Modern AU.

Brida hadn’t known much about love, but she knew one thing for sure about it.

Love was a constant battle and struggle.

As a child in foster care, she had seen this happening continuously.

When you were raised in foster care, you weren’t a child, you weren’t part of the family, no matter how much the people in it treated you better than the previous one you had been pushed in.

You were simply there because your ‘parents’ got paid a special extra to take in ‘rascals’ like you and although her latest and most-lasting family, who had later adopted her alongside another boy, had been absolutely the best she had ever known…

… the sensation of having to fight desperately for their approval had been constant.

And it hadn’t helped in the slightest Brida to grow with a notion that love was free and shouldn’t be something that is bargained or bought with small gestures and such.

That it was much more than being the perfect girl, the one that was different from everybody else so that she could stand out above everyone, surviving through high school successfully and then moving in university with a law enforcing degree, becoming the lawyer her ‘parents’ had always wanted her to be.

She had harbored so much pain and hurt through those years still, feeling like there was this desperate rush in her to show everybody how truly strong she was, how successful she could be.

Almost to thank them for having chosen her.

Eventually she had gotten to a breaking point.

She had discovered at twenty five that she couldn’t have children, a problem with her ovaries due to the starvation she had suffered as a child, before she was taken in by her ‘beloved family’.

It was something that had hit harder Brida’s partner and fiancé, Ragnar, her first love, than her, truly.

She remembered his desperation for it and how well she had faked being disappointed in her ‘unworking body’ but internally, she was glad.

She had wanted to become a mother… eventually.

But not at that age.

Not when she had fought so hard to obtain everything that she now had, wanting to enjoy the freedom of being without duties.

Eventually she would have liked to become a mother.

But did she want to become like her ‘parents’?

Pushing her children into choices that weren’t theirs and forcing them through the notion that all pain and suffering was worth it if they brought you to his ending, and most importantly that all this heartless conquering would be one day what they would have given to their children.

What kind of children would she have raised?

Heartless monsters like her.

So, when she had found Ragnar’s ring left on his side of the bed with a note, she had been strangely euphoric.

No wedding to prepare, no people to disappoint because of her choices and no children to think yet.

Although her eyes had leaked tears for a few minutes, she had then danced around the sitting room, like a crazed woman, feeling like for once, she wasn’t loved, but she wasn’t also struggling to fight through a life she didn’t want and through a love that hugged her too tight to be truly free.

Still the following months had been hard on her.

And confusing.

It had then suddenly hit her how truly alone she felt and she had to admit that she hadn’t gone through the best of remedies to soothe the ache of freedom, still burning in her chest, mostly using the taste of whiskey, which matched perfectly the fire in the pit of her stomach.

An ache that she didn’t know how to use, and it burned her to the core, with a coldness that risked freezing her heart and make her mind go crazy.

And after one of these awful nights, she had woken herself in the arms of a pretty blonde thing.

The surprise had paralyzed her in the bed, meanwhile the woman onto her, obviously half-naked, moved lightly on her bare chest.

She hadn’t known what to do.

Had she seriously just had her first experience with a woman?

Was she seriously too drunk to remember it?

What the heck had she put her body through?

And then the beautiful blonde thing had quirked an eye open at her, a smirk on her face, almost playful and yet it held so much darkness that Brida wondered whether she was under some kind of enchantress and about to be offered to some dark god.

Later on, she had discovered that Skade, that was the name of the girl in whose bed she had ended up, was indeed a witch, but she hadn’t put any enchantment against her.

‘It goes against my professional values’ she had commented, meanwhile she wore back all her clothes, discarded through her room, designed by an elegant emo phase that Brida almost would have appreciated, hadn’t it been one of the many things she had stopped herself from having.

Emo kids, back in high school, according to her brother and boyfriend were creeps and although Brida had admired their bravery and loved their songs, she had just repressed herself through showing any sign of her interest.

‘… and what about taking strangers in your bed?’ she hadn’t meant to sound so bitter, but she had to admit that she had never had an experience like that and all her reactions right now were based on the ‘flight or fight’ thought ‘… is that something that you do usually?’.

Should she do some test for STDs?

She wasn’t a saint and she had had her own experience before becoming Ragnar’s stable girlfriend (looking back to it, she also realized the title was horrendous) but she hadn’t ever been one to ‘stray around’, since she had been taught that it wasn’t something ‘people like her’ did.

She was still wondering what ‘people like her’ meant, because if it was some way to describe the middle-class behavior her ‘parents’ and ‘friends’ followed, she had to say she had never belonged with them.

‘Oh but, my dear Brida, we aren’t strangers” Skade commented, licking her lips with the face of a cat who had stolen milk from her owner.

A cunning expression that almost made Brida reason why she might have been interested in the blonde witch

‘… we talked a bit at the bar, although you were utterly smashed, and you commented about how you had never experienced with girls in college… and I thought about suggesting a little experimentation…’.

Gosh, what had seriously gone through her mind, the previous night?

‘… a little experimentation with a stranger?!’.

Brida should have seriously stopped making questions and gotten the fuck out of there, before she got probably killed by some kind of Mason fangirl.

She had seen too many ‘Criminal Minds’ episodes to know how this would end up.

But blondie over there didn’t seem to acknowledge her uneasiness as she moved to put on a ruined band t-shit on, something metal and Nordic.

Something that didn’t surprise Brida in the slightest

Skade then moved to collect her ruined thighs, probably a gift from Brida.

She had never had too much patience with those things, always ending up with various ruined pairs of thighs because she just didn’t have the patience to roll them up properly.

She had then pushed herself to solely wear pants.

‘You are a tomboy!’ had thrilled her mother with disappointment when she had told her that and Brida had pushed that to become her new identity, throwing herself away completely from all the girly thing she liked and pushing herself to constantly repeat ‘I am not like the other girls’.

She wondered if it was more a compliment or an insult.

Either way that phrase had fucked her mind up greatly.

‘…again…  I don’t think that you are a stranger…’ had commented Skade, her voice was suddenly deep and any trace of amusement had left it, and although Brida should have seriously run out of the fucking building, she had turned around, halfway through adjusting the bird nest that her hair was in an high ponytail.

Skade had immediately caught her eyes and she had known that she had spoken the truth.

‘… I do think that I have known you before’.

It had sounded extremely creepy.

And yet she had found the way right back to that apartment the following week, not knowing how much truly it was the alcohol’s blame since she had kept herself sober that night, having Skade guide her through a ‘sober exploration’.

‘Nothing happened last time’ she had commented and Brida knew that she spoke the truth, this time ‘… you just seemed very lonely, and drunk… and you got naked and tried to actually “have your way with me”…’.

‘I don’t do this often’ Brida hadn’t know why she had had to specify it.

Although she had never been a prude with sex and such, she had always stuck with guys, simply.

And even back then, it hadn’t like she had explored much, having had two boyfriends for most of her life, one of them having become her best friend, although it went through periods.

Meanwhile Ragnar was still somehow an interrogative point.

A bracket left open.

She knew that she had hurt him, somehow.

But she didn’t feel in the slightest guilty for it.

And yet she knew she should.

But here she was, again, in a stranger’s bed.

A stranger that said they knew each other from some kind of past life.

She had seriously reached a new low.

Even more because, as she got to know Skade, she soon realized what a pain in the ass the woman was, hysterical at times and definitely manic in others.

And yet, she felt good with her.

Much better than with everyone else she had been all her life.

And suddenly their meetings weren’t simple exploration (although Brida had understood that she certainly wasn’t as straight as she had thought herself to be) not only because they’d have breakfast in the bar in front of Skade’s apartment (at first Brida had tried hiding herself, but right now she honestly didn’t care who saw her).

But Skade had started casually dropping small gift of protection in her clothes, something that she had dubbed as straight up psycho at first and then had slowly classified as a nice gesture and now she pinned the small objects in every coat she owned.

‘They just bring luck’ she had muttered as a justification, as Skade smirked back at her.

‘Oh, of course’ she had teased her, but it had felt so soft and yet so light that Brida could allow herself to be ‘undermined’ by her for once.

It had felt strange falling in love with Skade.

She had known deep downm she should have been afraid of it, but yet, it was so natural and it wasn’t a struggle for once, although there was plenty of teasing between them, mostly from the blonde woman.

But it felt harmless.

It wasn’t a struggle.

It was a power exchange.

And yet it didn’t lessen the competition between them.

Mostly for questions such as the anniversary presents.

She knew that Skade was quite the sneaky bitch when it came to this, going as far as go through her thing to catch a glimpse of her plan so that she could outmatch it, something that Brida had never allowed her to do, since she wanted to always come up on top.

Old habits died hard.

And yet it always felt like a playful competition.

There wasn’t any prize in this one.

Love was already between them

She hadn’t to win it for once.

And she felt amazing, for once.

[fizzyhosh]

tagged by @kabeswaters !!!! love u big time

1. on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now? .... 3

2. describe yourself in a hashtag? #onedirectionstan

3. if you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be? gross Harry Styles

4. if your life was a musical, what would the marquee say? get ready for disappointment but the good thing is one direction would be to my musical as abba is to mamma mia

5. what’s one thing people don’t know about you? i have strong ambitions but they are outweighed by executive dysfunction so lots of adults like teachers just think I'm lazy 🤪🥴

6. what’s your wake up ritual? currently it's get up at 2pm, look at discord, snapchat, and instagram, then eat some gosh darn food

7. what’s your go to bed ritual? this is so unhealthy I know grab a snack and a soda and scroll mindlessly on social media until I get tired, get up and brush my teeth, go back to my bed and put on my sleep playlist (called sleeby) and set a time so it stops playing after I fall asleep

8. what’s your favorite time of day? despite the fact that I get up in the afternoon, it's actually like 10am that's a goooood time

9. your go to for having a good laugh? I look up Niall Horan laugh complications it genuinely works every time

10. dream country to visit? Germany or Italy

11. what’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? my 19th birthday my roommates had a surprise party for me and I was so shocked and almost cried bc it was so sweet and bc made me anxious

12. heels or flats/sneakers? I thought that said heelys :(( but sneakers

13. vintage or new? vintaaaage

14. who do you want to write your obituary? uh idk hopefully none of my current family bc I don't want to die before them cause that'll mean I die young??? this question is making me overthink so I'm just gonna say Ewan Gregor and move on

15. style icon? this chick named mathilda on Instagram you might have seen her on insta or Pinterest she's a redhead but her style is brilliant

16. what are three things you cannot live without? music, dr. pepper, eggos

17. what’s one ingredient you put in everything? I sound so white but SALT I salt the heck outta everything

18. what 3 people living or dead would you want to make dinner for? Steve Irwin, Harry Styles, Freddie Mercury

19. what’s your biggest fear in life? dying while I'm taking a shower and having my family find my naked, wet, dead body falling out of love. which makes me not want to fall IN love bc then the chance of falling OUT of love becomes a possibility

20. window or aisle seat? window window window window window

21. what’s your current tv obsession? not really obsessed with anything rn but I rewatch new girl every chance I get

22. favorite app? instagram

23. secret talent? I can wiggle my ears

24. most adventurous thing you’ve ever done in your life? i flew to New Orleans during a break with two of my friends bc they found $60 round trip tickets. We bought the tickets the day before. We literally got to NOLA at 7am and left 8pm the next day. only spontaneous/adventurous thing i have ever done

25. how would you define yourself in three words? funny, understanding, quiet

26. favorite piece of clothing you own? my overalls :'))

27. a must have clothing item that everyone should have? a jean jacket !! looks good on anyone and with anything and they're so cute

28. a superpower you would want? to make people see themselves as their loved ones see them

29. what’s inspiring you in life right now? music I'm fixated on one direction and harry styles and louis tomlinson rn of you cant tell by a lot of my answers

30. best piece of advice you’ve received? don't apologize because you like something. don't be embarrassed that you have preferences

31. best advice you’d give your teenage self? be unapologetically you. life is too short to feel guilty for having opinions.

32. a book everyone should read? me and earl and the dying girl

33. what would you like to be remembered for? being kind to all

34. how do you define beauty? kindness, humor, a sweet soul makes a beautiful person

35. what do you love most about your body? I think I'm proportional? like... my size and shape... I hate how that sounds but my overall body ,,,,,,,

36. best way to take a rest/decompress? crack open and nice cold soda and put on headphones and lay on the ground (it makes me back feel better)

37. favorite place to view art? art galleries the environment and ambiance is immaculate

38. if your life was a song, what would the title be? Everything is Outta Reach cause I fail a lot but also I'm sHORT

39. if you could master one instrument, what would it be? pianoooo

40. if you had a tattoo, where would it be? I want my forearms to be filled with random little doodle tattoos I get over time (picture louis tomlinsons right arm, like the "oops!" and skateboard, and dumb things like that)

41 dolphins or koalas? KOALAS

42. what’s an animal that represents you? .....koala. also chameleon...

43. best gift you’ve ever received? so I need to be hugging a pillow or stuffed animals to sleep and I lost some stuffed animals that I loved and were huge and my go to for hugging at night and that Christmas my brother got me a huge elephant and a body pillow to replace them and I actually cried

44. best gift you’ve given? im really bad at giving gifts but my brother searches everywhere for this book in specific print and language and after years I found one and got it for him for Christmas. he's not good at showing appreciation and excitement but I could tell that he was stoked

45. what’s your favorite board game? BETRAYL AT THE HOUSE ON THE HILL it's so complicated and so good and I love it so much

46. what’s your favorite color? yellow and red

47. least favorite color? o r a n g e I just realized it's between red and yellow make it make sense

48. diamond or pearls? diamonds

49. drugstore makeup or designer? drugstore! I don't wear makeup often enough to spend money on designer but occasionally I get some good stuff from ulta then immediately regret it and go back to my Walgreens makeup HAHA

50. pilates or yoga? yoga

51. coffee or tea? I don't drink either but I like the aesthetic of tea more

52. what’s the weirdest word in the english language? pneumonoultrascopicsiliconvolcanoconoiosos because it's the longest word in the English dictionary and it's has a very specific definition and it's so extra when I was 7 i had a friend who could spell it forwards and backwards

53. dark chocolate or milk chocolate? milk!! I only like dark chocolate if it's reisens

54. stairs or elevators? stairs I'm afraid of elevators

55. summer or winter? summer

56. you are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat? mac and cheese

57. a dessert you don’t like? uhhhh... umm... uh... anything with tree nuts cause I'm allergic??? I love dessert

58. a skill you’re working on mastering? I'm learning guitar !!

59. best thing to happen to you today? I woke up before 2pm

60. worst thing to happen to you today? my family all decided to a be in a bad mood today so that's super exciting to deal with :))))))

61. best compliment you’ve ever received? that I'm a really good listener

62. favorite smell? candles right after they're blown out and the air outside when it's cold. it has a smell. it DOES.

63. hugs or kisses? hugs

64. if you made a documentary, would it be about? the one direction boys' solo careers and eventual reunion when it happens

65. last piece of content you consumed that made you cry? if that includes music, louis tomlinsons album walls. but if not, ehm the martian that movie makes me cry don't come for me

66. lipstick or lipgloss? lipstick

67. sweet or savory? savory

68. girl crush? lily james

69. how do you know you’re in love? I've been trying to figure that out... I think it's when everything reminds you of them and you can completely be yourself around them and feel a sense of home and belonging.

70. a song you can listen to on repeat? greyhound by calpurnia or baby driver by simon and garfunkel

71. if you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? h a r r y s t y l e s I have questions I need answered and I wanna hear unreleased HS and 1D music

72. what are you most excited for/about this time in your life? going back to school so I can be with my best friend slash future boyfriend

tagging: @lupinlongbottom @outerlacy @fortisfiliae @theseuscmander @wizardwritings

[nezothecat]

Chapter 18

Naell and Owly first took a break at the nearest café in the inner circle. As they were taking a break, he decided to get a change of clothes for the occasion.

His white robe lined with red accents was a rather extravagant cloth to wear, but since it was a gift given by Estra from Sestra, he happily accepted.

After a little while, Naell and Owly managed to locate the Adventurer's guild. It was lacking compared to the Star's mansion but was quite extravagant compared to its establishments nearby.

Naell recalled in the novel that the guild house was so large, it could house hundreds of adventurers. Its burnt umber walls represented a magnificent structure of magic and aura.

Upon entering, Naell and Owly felt that the atmosphere was quite rowdy. Some were looking for members or commissioning quests on the mission boards, while others were just laying low, happily drinking and eating food with their companions.

Naell immediately stood in line as the queue was already long. Some gazes were thrown at him since he was young and good-looking, but again as often as not he misinterpreted it as hostility.

After a while, Naell was already in front of the receptionist. As the first impression was important, he bowed down with his right hand at his chest, showing an elegant and respectful performance.

"Greetings Milady."

"..."

She was blushing and could not react.

Tahina Runata graduated at the capital school of Autumn Kingdom last year. Due to her outstanding grades and magic, she was offered a job as a receptionist in the capital. As someone who didn't enjoy bloodshed but had a luxurious lifestyle, she happily accepted the job.

Tahina's black long hair and grey eyes complimented her white pinkish skin. She was tall for a girl and made use of this with her fashion sense. Her curves showed even as she wore a standard white shirt tucked beneath a simple black vest, matching her auburn button up skirt.

Tahina was so beautiful that being courted was a normal occurrence for her, yet most men in the adventurer's guild were afraid of her. They had witnessed her powerful wind magic that almost killed a pervert with the simple snap of her fingers.

• What's wrong with her? HOOT. •

• I... don't know. •

Tahina's stunned look lasted only for a couple of seconds, as her professionalism brought her back. She managed to speak without a hint of despair, but her reddened cheeks would not easily disappear.

"Greetings Sire, I'm Tahina. What can I do for you?"

"Lady Tahina, I'm here to register as an adventurer."

Tahina was expecting the young-looking noble guy to commission a quest, but registering wasn't new to her either. She recalled months earlier that there too was a group of good-looking ladies and guys that registered and caused an uproar at the guild house. Looking back, she was curious if this young boy here was their friend.

With a [ poof ] Naell handed the recommendation letter to Tahina. After receiving it, she was surprised seeing it was also from the Beryldot estate and noticed the snow crystal emblem embedded in it.

She knew of a rumor that the trashy son of a pitiful Baron caused an uproar, resulting in his engagement being broken by the daughter of a Duke.

"Young master, please do follow me."

Tahina was certain that it was impossible this guy was the rumored trash.

'Black trashy hair and almond dead eyes as they described him.'

Since he, fortunately, had the recommendation letter of the Baron of Beryldot, some tests would be skipped, and they would only need to meet the vice-guild leader.

Yet before they could even get far from the crowd, a rowdy and bulky guy that seemed to be in his 50s, approached them with a hearty laugh. Soon the crowd got noisier and bigger.

"HAHAHA-!"

"Guild master!"

Tahina was one of the staff who greeted the bulky man. His crew cut red hair radiated authority even with his uncle like demeanor, but what caught Naell's attention the most were his black eyes that seemed to discern a person's ability from ones look. Not to mention the necklace that had the design of a hammer on his neck, was also intriguing.

"Tahina, who is this boy?"

Before Tahina could even reply as she handed the letter to the guildmaster himself, Naell calmly spoke, his fearful eyes yet again emitting a cold look.

"Greetings, Guildmaster. I am Naell Beryldot." Naell's graceful bow soon followed his words.

"HAHAHA-! Aren't you the rumored trashy son of Fharom?"

"Indeed I am."

Tahina gasped, she couldn't believe this boy was the rumored trash, yet she could only hide her expression with her smile of professionalism. The black hair was as white as snow and the almond eyes were as bright as a red diamond.

The guildmaster then looked at Owly with a grin.

"And who is this companion of yours?"

• HOOT, wow I feel like I'm being figured out. •

Owly and Naell were sure that this guy was the real deal, since both of them could not entirely read his aura, but an oozing strength was slightly gushing out.

"He is Owly."

•...•

"..."

"HAHAHA-! That's a nice name for... awhile..."

Naell and Owly flinched at the word and were impressed with his discerning eyes. The guildmaster knew they were misunderstanding him, as both of their eyes were sparkling with respect.

"Ahem! It was written in your letter so... relax, I am acquainted with both of your mothers."

The guildmaster then added on while looking at Tahina,

"Tahina, if you please."

"As you command." With a snap of her fingers, Naell, Owly the guildmaster, and herself teleported to the guildmaster's office.

Naell got excited as it was his first time experiencing that kind of magic.

Teleportation was possible if certain conditions were met, such as placing spatial accessories in areas while activating the necessary codes that were known only by those working in that place.

Even in the novel, it was vaguely explained as the company who made the spatial accessories, Escuel co. was very secretive.

They were all seated down with cups of tea and assorted cakes that were suited for their situation.

"I apologize for my late introduction. I am Odino Thorton, the guildmaster of all guilds."

"Ahem, please do not forget your other name, guildmaster."

"Urgh... That embarrassing title... Aigooo."

Tahina interjected as she dramatically added on,

"AHEM! JACKhammer, the one who inherited the name, and the one who had a draw bout with the former JACK of All Blades, Leonard Cross."

*******

Marquis Metero W. Star,

Warm standard greetings, Marquis.

Even the contents are just formality.

Do pardon if we could not meet.

Of course, not that you mind.

Nevertheless, I'm here to report

That my son is in the capital.

Neither Naell nor I need your aid.

Everything on our side, we'll settle it.

Everything, rest assured.

Do please pardon our independence.

You do not have to mind.

Only a standard greeting.

Under the pretext of formality.

With your utmost respect,

Fharom Beryldot

.

.

.

Later that night, upon returning to their mansion, the Marquis could not hide his chuckle upon reading the letter from Captain Aestero. The content was ridiculous, to begin with, but what made it worthwhile to read was how Fharom insisted to not drag Naell to their side of the family.

"So captain, why do you think the rumors are more than what it seems?"

"Young master Naell at first glance could be said as carefree but..."

"But?" The one who interjected was Sarah W. Star. She was also curious since Captain Aestero never once said complimentary words towards anyone besides the Star household.

"His demeanor was more of a calculative man's. I could see him as someone who would have planted the rumors themselves."

"How could you even say that from a guy you just met, Aes." Teasingly said Sarah, her platinum blond hair and golden eyes completely matched her bright grin.

Nonetheless, the reply given to them by Aestero made them even more curious than a cat.

"Because he was just like the former Marquis, Roetem Star... your father."

It was then rumored that both the siblings' laughter had even reached the castle of Taglagas.

[manrocket-mo]

Momma’s Home - Morgan Rielly

requested: yes (by anon) and no (lol) 

prompt(s): “Daddy Mo and his babies picking mommy up from the airport” + my extraneous twist

word count: 1,822

author’s note: I’ve been trying to crank out Mo content for you all! Hope you enjoy! I have another one coming tomorrow leading up the Raptors game and Leave the Light On (Part 4) on Tuesday! Leave me some Mo asks, blurbs, etc. and I’ll be answering some tomorrow night during game 5!

Morgan had always been so supportive of your professional development, from the time you were in university to when you were working in the industry to now when you had expressed interest in attending a conference that would sharpen your skills and reignite the passion for marketing. You were three years out of the industry, taking a break to raise a family of your own but that didn’t mean that you didn’t want to continue to grow in your field or at least just catch up.

Once Morgan caught wind of it and heard just how passionate you were and how sad you were that you couldn’t go, he convinced you otherwise. He loved watching you learn and grow and thrive and this was no exception. He was willing to do whatever it took to send you to that conference.

However, that meant that for the first time, you’d have to leave your two babies for more than 24 hours at a time. Yeah, you were used to having Nana and Papa take them for sleepovers on the weekends every now and then but you don’t think you’ve ever truly been a far distance away where you couldn’t just drive over to pick them up. This trip would require you to be in Indianapolis for four days. And just the thought of being in another country away from your boys hurt your heart. Lukas was only two and a half, very mobile and very much living up to the Terrible Twos face and Levi was only six months old and highly dependent on his momma. You weren’t sure how it was going to work but Morgan shushed you, booked your plane ticket and walked you to security boys in tow and sent you on your un-merry way to the US.

Four days later, you returned to Vancouver inspired and full of knowledge and passion but missing your boys most of all. Morgan tried not to overwhelm you with videos and texts of what they were up to during your seminars but you couldn’t help it when you opened those sporadic messages. Seeing their little faces climbing all over your husband, spitting up on him and making a mess made you miss them all the more. The FOMO was very much real.

So as soon as you got off the plane, you couldn’t help but sprint through the airport, your backpack bobbing behind you, in search of your little family. You were hoping to beat the customs line and when you finally did after the longest line you’ve ever seen in YVR, you took off for the escalators.

You couldn’t even describe the giddiness, the aching in your heart, the want to just be home to snuggle with your family.

And when you saw them, at the base of the elevator, you heart burst. Levi was all snuggled up in Morgan’s arms and Lukas was bouncing on his feet with a “Welcome Home, Momma” sign, written sloppily in Crayola marker, by Morgan’s side and you knew instantly that this was where your heart belonged.

“My boys!” You squealed, running up to where they stood and scooping up your son and pressing a big kiss to his cheek.

“Momma, momma,” Lukas chanted, getting your attention. “Miss you!”

You smile at him and dropped another kiss to his forehead, melting as your little man snuggled up into you. “Missed you, Lulu!”

And then you look to your husband and your heart bursts with thankfulness and gratitude. He’s holding Levi’s tiny baby hand in his with a bouquet of peonies outstretched in your direction.

“Welcome home, momma,” he smiles, his arm winding around your waist and pulling you in for a kiss. “We missed our girl, didn’t we, Levi!”

You throw your arms around his waist and hugged him to you. “Missed my boys more than anything in the world,” you mumble into his neck. “I’m so glad to be back home with you.”

He presses one last kiss to your temple before stepping back. “Let’s get your bag off the belt so we can get you home for a good cuddle session, k?” You let a wiggley Lukas down and nod, extending your arms for your baby boy, letting Morgan go to grab your bag off the revolving belt, your two and a half year old in tow.

You cuddle Levi to your chest, his head tucked tiredly under your chin. You press a gentle kiss to his tuft of blonde hair and enjoy his soft breaths against your skin as you rub up and down his back comfortingly. “Momma’s back, baby boy.”

You lament on the long weekend behind you and although you had the best time, learning from the greats in the marketing industry and teaming up with the up and coming from around North America, you knew that the workplace was no longer for you, at least for now. You belonged here, with your youngest baby cuddled up in your arms, watching as your husband swung your toddler up and onto your luggage, rolling him along, squeals of excitement in the air. You knew you belonged with them, no matter where that was: at home, at the airport, in Vancouver, in Toronto, at the rink, on vacation. With your boys, that’s where you wanted to be.

“Ready to go?” Morgan asks as he nears you and you nod, taking his hand in yours and walking toward the parking garage.

After tucking in the boys into their car seats, you got into the front seat.

“Mo, is this Ice Cap for me?” you wonder, staring down at the frozen beverage sitting in the cup holder.

Morgan joins you in the front seat and grins at you. “Yeah, I had my morning coffees, thought you’d need your caffeine fix, too.”

You brighten up, taking a much needed sip and moaning at the caffeine jolt. “How’d you know I’d need this?”

“Well, Lulu here wanted a doughnut on the way and you know I can’t resist doughnuts...” you roll your eyes but giggle at the admission. “And I remember what you were like after our honeymoon, so...”

“Okay, to be fair, we were flying from Italy. The jet lag was insane.”

“...And every time we fly from Toronto to Vancouver...” he laughs and you shove at his arm.

“Shut up and just take me home, Mo,” you grumble, taking another sip. “Can’t even save me a donut...”

“What do you think I am, a monster?” your husband challenged, reaching back and throwing a paper bag your way. “Chocolate frosted with sprinkles, baby. Your favorite.”

“Lulu’s favorite, too!” Your toddler chimes in from his car seat.

“You boys are buttering me up... What’s going on?” you mumble, narrowing your eyes.

“We just miss momma, don’t we?”

Levi’s coos fill the car as if agreeing with Mo and you all laugh.

“But I guess you’ll just have to see when you get home.”

When you got home, the scene before you was enough to drive you to tears. You walked into the entryway of your home with your baby boy sleeping soundly in your arms to a huge banner strung across the foyer reading “Welcome home, momma!” in paint, Levi and Lukas’ hand and footprints making all the vowels.

“Oh my god, Morgan!” You cried. “This is too sweet! I can’t imagine how hard it was!”

“Oh, yeah. Lulu over there finished his handprints and took off to the nearest white wall he could. Grabbed him last minute.” But you were thankful nonetheless. “Come on, got another surprise for you!”

Morgan grabbed you by the hand and led you into the study.

“What could you—“ and you were speechless.

What once was the room that held Morgan’s extra gear was now an actual study, outfitted with books and decor in the built ins, a brand new desk and sitting area. It was straight out of a catalogue.

“My mom helped me clean and decorate it. Thought, you know, since you’re serious about going back to work that you’d need an office of your own.”

“Morgan, that’s not—“

“I already have some interior designers back scheduled to visit the house in Toronto in a few weeks. It should be all done before we get back!”

“Mo...” you didn’t know what else to do but hug your husband, so you did. You held him tight, careful not to disturb your son sleeping in your arms. “Thank you. Thank you.”

“Anything for my girl,” he whispers against your head. “Come on, I got dinner ready. Let’s go, you must be starving.”

And you were. You scarfed down the home cooked meal like it was your last, the lasagna rich and warm in your belly.

“Thank you, Momo,” you murmured, resting against your husband, his arm wound around you as you laid back and watched Moana for what was probably the hundredth time with your boys all cuddled up on the couch.

“For what?” he asks, absentmindedly, one hand playing in your hair, the other cradling Levi.

“For this. The trip, the conference, taking care of the boys on your own while I was away, dinner, the sign, the study! This was all too much!”

His gaze shifts to you tenderly and he watches you tenderly. “You spend all your time supporting me and my career and sacrificing everything... that this, this is the very least I can do and the very beginning of a lifelong devotion to thanking you for what you do for me, for us... I can’t imagine what it must be like to give up something you love, your dream job and I don’t want you to—“

“Morgan...”

“You had fun, right? This weekend, you had fun?”

“I mean, yeah. I had fun, I learned a lot. But, Morgan... that was my past life. This, here, with you and the boys... this is where I belong. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

The way he looked at you... you didn’t think he could ever look softer, more tender, more in love.

“I love our babies, our family more than any job, any position, anything else. I will always pick our family over anything. Momma is the title that was meant for me.”

And in the dimness, the flickering of the television with Moana score playing in the background, your children surrounding you, Morgan leaned in to press a kiss to your lips.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, too, Momo.”

And with that, you snuggle up, pulling the blanket further over you and Luke who was cuddled into your side.

“But Mo?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I can take a trip every now and then if that means coming back home to this sweetness every time... and to dinner and a clean house and a chocolate frosted sprinkle doughnut.”

Mo chuckles at your statement, presses a kiss to your temple and murmurs, “that can be arranged.”