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scandalousfemale · 4 years ago

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Total Eclipse of the Heart

Kelce x Reader, Topper x Reader

“It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you,” the male protagonist in the movie told the female lead. You wanted to throw your laptop on the floor as you laughed, “ha!” As if he can hear you, “what a fool.” As if you can save him.

WC: 12,034

Warnings: Cursing, drinking, CHEATING, slight smut if you squint, hint at a fight (so blood), vomiting, this is a cheating/break up fic., it’s angst

A/N: I’ve been working on this fic for almost a month now and I’m so glad that I’m finally getting this to you all. Thank you for being patient. A special thank you to @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @millyelliot and @rafecameron for listening to me talk about this almost every single day for that long and every single thanks to Chloe, @rafecameron for helping me edit this document 22 pages document. You are a blessing. Without further ado, please, enjoy.

Heartbreak is something you’ve become very accustomed to these past three months. It all started when Kelce, your boyfriend of seven years, had started coming home later than usual. Which, to be fair, you didn’t think much of at first because there are endless possibilities for why he was late for dinners that he had never missed before. Maybe he was talking with his coworkers after work, you offered, or maybe he had extra work to do. Though there were feelings of speculation in the pit of your stomach when he’d come home and not even look at you before rushing into the shower. That was also new. Yet you made excuses for him then, too. Actually, forcing yourself to be grateful that maybe he wanted to clean himself up for you. Even though your armor was cracking, you believed yourself every time.

One morning though, he was in such a rush to leave to work that he had forgotten his phone at home. Being the good fiancée that you were, you had decided that maybe this rut that you’ve hit in this relationship was somehow your fault. You had begun doing a lot less for him so you couldn’t fully put the blame on him, you thought. One of the things you never did anymore was pack his lunch. So, since you’re dropping off his cellphone anyway, you’ve decided that you were going to pack him up lunch and made your way to your father’s company to maybe give Kelce a little of your own company.

On the way to the office, his phone started beeping, signaling the arrival of new messages. You will yourself not to look at them because that’s not you. You had never had to snoop into his private belongings before. You’d also never, ever checked his phone. But...just once maybe it wouldn’t hurt. It could’ve been something important to do with his family that maybe you’d be able to help if you got to the messages first. Yes, that’s exactly it. When you arrived at the parking lot of his workplace, you’d already talked yourself into opening the messages.

Olive Garden (4)

The screen read and your nerves washed away. He must’ve ordered lunch already since you didn’t call the office to tell him that you were coming. This is what you get for trying to surprise him, you thought, with a little laugh. Well, maybe actually you can meet up with the delivery guy and pay for his lunch, that would also be a nice thing to do. When your fingers slide on the screen to reveal the messages, you felt your breath leave your entire body. You didn’t know how long you were staring at the picture or the text, you didn’t even know when you started breathing again.

There were three pictures, they were all of the same girl. In one of them, she was standing in front of a floor to ceiling window, posing in front of it so you could only see her silhouette. The second, she was on her bed with lingerie on and her legs spread. The third, the third made you almost lose your mind— if you could even get it to come back from the shock. It was a picture of her topless in bed with Kelce’s smiling face behind her as his arms wrapped around her chest.

The text saying: This meeting suxx. I miss you, I can’t wait for this weekend xxx

You don’t remember the last time Kelce smiled that big at you. Hell, you don’t remember the last time he even wrapped his arms around you in bed. Oh, wait, no, you did, because it was just three nights ago when he told you that he loved you and that nothing was going to change how he felt. You practically had a meltdown and confronted him about not coming home on time and how he never made time for you anymore so he made sure to be home on time that night and you remember how he held your face and cuddled you after sex, telling you how he couldn’t wait to marry you.

You thought of everything at once, even though you thought of yourself last. Without even processing that you’re sat in front of his office where this woman was sending your fiancé raunchy messages, you thought about how you hoped that your father wouldn’t find out. How horrible this would look for you if your family friends were to catch wind of this. You didn’t even want to imagine your mother’s face when she finds out and she’ll tell you that she had told you so from the very beginning. That 20 was far too young to be engaged, too young to know what you wanted but you were so sure. You were so sure that you wanted Kelce and he wanted you back just as much...just not as much.

The next couple of minutes felt like a movie, where the person was drunk and the camera shot was right under their face, everything was blurry and in slow motion. You might’ve said hi to the security guard on the first floor and maybe you greeted the receptionist on the office level but your head didn’t snap back to reality until you saw Kelce in his office with that girl. Olive Garden. Pathetic, you thought to yourself. She was leaning over his arm, her tits practically in his face as if she couldn’t even act like she was showing him something on a graph instead of trying to tease him.

You forced your feet to walk into the office casually, or what you thought was casual. You could’ve burst in the office looking like a madwoman for all you knew. Once you were there, you cleared your throat, causing Kelce to jump back, flushed against his seat, and the girl to stand up straighter. The look in his eyes was wild for a split second before he composed himself again in front of you. As if you didn’t know him well enough and spend enough time with him to know when he was uncomfortable or how he would brush the palm of his hands against his shirt when he was caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. You walked over to his desk with a fake smile on your lips as you set the meal and his phone on his graph.

“Wha—what is this?” He stuttered as he brushed the palm of his hands against the front of his shirt. You tilted your head at him and looked to the girl beside him.

“You left your phone at home,” you began and you saw the very moment when realization had hit the girl in front of you. An assistant, you were sure, because you knew every single person in your father’s company. How could you not? You were in charge of overseeing payroll. Her face though, you did not recognize, which definitely meant she had just been hired recently. Eyes, coming back to your fiancé, you shrugged, “I thought I’d bring it over and also make some lunch for you. It’s not Olive Garden or anything but it’ll do.”

You only stayed long enough for Kelce’s eyes to go wide as he grasped what you were saying before you gave a curt smile and walked out of his office. Did you walk or rush out of the building? Why were your hands shaking so much? God, you were reacting to this as if you were going to— and then you did. You vomited all over the bushes in front of the building. Somehow convincing your stomach not to embarrass you any further, you pulled out a small napkin from your bag and wiped your mouth before dropping the tissue in the trash and making your way back to the car.

You must not embarrass your family, your mother’s voice rang in your ears, keep personal affairs personal; no one else should be around if you’re going to disagree. Maybe this was an exception though because you weren’t disagreeing. He did the unimaginable to you and you have every right to be upset, so why is your head-turning against you? At this point, you didn’t even believe your eyes anymore. Maybe she had meant to send those pictures to a different person, you bargained with yourself. That does leave the mystery of the picture of his arm around her though…but maybe it’s photoshopped. It could’ve just been a sick and unprofessional joke that they play at the office and that’s why she clamped up when you mentioned having his phone. Then again, that doesn’t explain why her name was changed in his phone contacts.

With your mind going a hundred miles per second, you almost didn’t hear the sound of hurried footsteps from the entrance of the building getting closer. As you reached your car door, a hand came from beside your head and slammed the door back shut. Without turning around, you knew who it was. His scent from the cologne that you bought him, lingered in the still air between the two of you. Kelce had you trapped between the door and himself, both of his arms on either side of your head. You didn’t want to turn around. You couldn’t face him right now without having a complete and utter meltdown but he wasn’t giving you a choice. You could feel his breath on your shoulder and the back of your neck as he leaned into your body, dropping small kisses as he whispered how much he loves you. His hands dropped to your waist, circling them around you as he hugged you, your back flushed against his front and it dulls the searing pain spreading around your heart.

“I love you. Thank you for lunch,” his words jumbled together as if he couldn’t decide which line he wanted to use first.

“Okay,” you said, as the words burned your throat on the way out. It meant a lot more to you than he could’ve known. It meant, okay, I’m going to forget about this. Okay, I love you. Okay, please don’t go back in there with her. But you didn’t utter a single word other than just…okay. You allowed Kelce to turn you around in his arms and kiss your forehead before saying he had to get back to work and that he’d see you at home. You weren’t known for causing a scene in a public place and neither was Kelce, so maybe that meant that you’d talk about this at home. Or maybe there was nothing to discuss when it came to the photos so he actually meant he’d just ‘see you at home’. So, if that’s the case, why did the picture of Kelce smiling wide behind his girl bother you so much? His girl. You wanted to scream.

The drive was long and before you even realized where you were going, you found yourself at Topper’s house. It’s kind of a sad story but because you’ve been with Kelce for so long and he’d always only hung out with his friends, they’ve kind of just become yours too. Meaning you didn’t have a lot of girlfriends or friends of your own. Though you are sure that Rafe and Topper love you equally, as you do them, you found Topper a little less intense and easier to talk to.

After knocking on his door, you found yourself feeling a little silly. You didn’t even call to see if he was home and what if he wasn’t? Would you cry to his mom instead? Would you even cry? You felt like you almost couldn’t breathe, standing there waiting for him. The shortness of your breath had now turned into you sobbing as you grabbed onto your chest, willing your heart to please stop hurting. The door had opened and you were so embarrassed to even be seen like this that you curled up with your knees on the ground, hugging your arms around your stomach as your head bowed to try and hide your face.

Strong arms quickly wrapped around you, pushing your hair back from your tear-stained face. You know this wasn’t a pretty cry, you probably had snot running down your nose and saliva coming down your mouth but you couldn’t help it. It felt like the ultimate betrayal. As if you spent years building this beautiful sandcastle and right as you’re about to present it to a judge, someone on your team had come around and knocked it down until it was just particles of sand again. The image of what it once was is the only thing you’re left within your mind.

Calm down, you tried to tell yourself but the blurred vision of the worried blonde didn’t help either. After trying to talk to you and getting no responses because honestly, you couldn’t hear him over the sound of your own hiccups, he carried you into his house, across the hall into his room, and took off your shoes before sitting you on his bed. His arms still around you until your sobs turned into sniffles.

“Please tell me what I can do to fix it or who I can hurt back,” Topper almost whispered as he placed his chin on your head, basically cradling you. Your response was just a shake of your head because he couldn’t fix it. Not unless he could go back in time and change what Kelce had done to her, and another thought had popped into your head, you didn’t want anyone else to stop Kelce but Kelce himself. You had wanted him to love you enough to not get in bed with her.

“Do I need to call Kelce?” He offered and though you know that Topper knows nothing of the situation, your body still tensed and you found yourself moving away from his lap, scooting up next to the headboard as you brought your knees in against your chest and shook your head.

Your puffy red eyes and tears stained face was enough for him to shoot a quick text for Rafe to come over instead. At this point, Topper thought the worst and he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear it but he had to ask.

“Did Kelce hurt you?”

You nodded because he did but you were coherent enough to process the words and hear an intake of Topper’s breath to look up at him and shook your head.

“Not physically,” you quickly corrected, “but I think he’s cheating on me,” you whimpered, trying not to fall apart again. You didn’t want to tell him that you were sure because technically you weren’t, you didn’t trust your eyes but a part of you knew that it was true. That was the part that was putting together all the pieces in your puzzle for the past couple of months, filling in the empty spaces where Kelce was supposed to be with that damn photo. Topper didn’t react at first, then almost looked uncomfortable as he shifted his body from the end of the bed so that he could take a look at you.

“How do you know for sure?”

And so, you told him. You told him about how Kelce was acting weird for the past couple of months and how you couldn’t place it. You told him about the texts, the pictures, and what you saw in the office. You sobbed on Topper’s bed until the tears had dried on your face and you felt like there was nothing left to give. In the midst of all your sobbing, you had somehow tangled yourself up with him. Your body was against his as he rubbed circles on your hips until you fell asleep.

Falling asleep on Topper’s bed wasn’t something that usually happened. Actually, it was never something that happened because Mrs. Thornton would’ve killed you if she saw it happened.

“A lady should never be caught lounging nor in a questionable scenario, you’d do well to remember that,” she scolded once when she caught you hanging out with the boys in her backyard with your legs draped across Kelce’s knees.

Oh, Kelce, the familiar squeeze around your heart appeared again. You felt so pathetic as you pushed the blanket off of you and planted your feet against the floor.

You shuffled your way to the kitchen, noticing that the sun had gone down so you must’ve slept the day away. You saw the fire flicker by the glass doors to the backyard and saw Topper and Rafe talking to each other, holding on to their beers loosely around the bottlenecks. You took a deep breath in and pushed open the door, the boys immediately stopped whispering to each other as you walked towards them.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Rafe said, eyeing you as you walked over to them. The way that they both tensed up, gave you the answer to a question you’ve yet to ask.

“How long have you known?” you asked as you sat down on the outdoor sofa across from them, tucking your legs underneath you. You haven’t felt this small, this insignificant in a while.

You watched as the boys spluttered, Topper in a coughing fit from swallowing the beer down the wrong way. They looked to each other as color rushed to both of their cheeks and honestly, you would’ve found it funny if it was any other situation but you could see their lies forming and you hated it.

“Please, just tell me. We’ve known each other since we were ten, I know when you’re lying, please. Don’t make me beg you,” your voice hoarse from crying before, and having just woken up is making it sound even worse.

Rafe sighed as he looked at Topper and then back at you, “Listen, I--,” he was cut off by a booming voice you’re way too familiar with.

Kelce’s voice was shouting your name from the front door but you knew he was making his way to the back since his cussing and mumbling became more audible. This made both boys shut up and you knew that your chance to hear their side of the story was over for tonight. You moved in your seat to bring your knees up to your chest, resting your chin at the top of your knees as you kept your eyes on the fire in front of you even as a body moved to block your view.

“You’re too good to answer your phone now?” Kelce asked. The anger in his voice is apparent, “do you know what time it is? I’ve been at home worried sick and you’ve just been here? You couldn’t send a text?” he bombarded you with questions and though you know his concern is valid and that he just cares, all you could do was shrug because you knew the moment you opened your mouth, nothing good was going to come out.

“Come on, man,” Topper tried to butt in but stopped when it fell on deaf ears. Kelce had knelt down in front of you, making eye contact as he reached out to grab your hands that were wrapped around your legs.

“I was worried,” Kelce began but then he looked behind him and asked if the other boys could give you two some space, in which Rafe impolitely declined.

“Must be hard, huh?” You finally spoke, “to be home alone and not know where I was or who I was with…just waiting for a phone call or a text,” you couldn’t help the anger that bubbled inside of you and though you didn’t actually mean to do it, you were glad that Kelce got a taste of his own medicine.

“Is that what this is? You’re teaching me a lesson?” Kelce asked but his voice stayed soft, his thumbs making circles on your hands and you were so angry. You were so angry that he betrayed you and even worse because looking at him now, knowing that he understands you, that he loves you—yeah, that hurt.

“I shouldn’t have to teach you how to be a good fiance, Kelce. I shouldn’t have to teach you how to be considerate to me,” you said, physically and mentally exhausted.

“Hey man,” Rafe came around to put his hand on Kelce’s shoulder, “how about you stay with us tonight? Topper can take her back to your guys’ apartment.”

Without even looking back to the boy standing next to him, Kelce kept his voice low and his eyes and hands on you, “You want that, baby? You want me to stay away from you for tonight? We haven’t gone to bed angry at each other for seven years, baby. You want that?” and even as your heart broke even more because it was true, you nodded. You needed the space and you knew it was because the moment Kelce got you alone, you’d forgive him. You’d crawl back to him and ask him how you could be better for him, even if you knew that it wasn’t really your fault, you’d ask him how you could be more like her.

Topper offered to stay on the sofa at your apartment and you allowed him to, only because you knew if you didn’t, Rafe would come knocking at your door demanding that he’d stay here instead, all the while not giving anything up to you about Kelce and his other girls.

You took a brisk shower before pulling on your pajamas and then numbly staring at your bedroom. You couldn’t help it but you started checking drawers in the nightstands and the dresser. You checked his jacket pockets and his sacred little organizer with all different kinds of numbers on here, some written fast with tacky lipstick kisses on the napkins and others were business cards. Your heart was pounding in your chest when you reached into his shoes and felt something in there. You pulled out two photobooth strips and if you had it in you, you’d cry again. Unfolding the strips, it was Kelce and that girl from his job. The pictures were taken at the carnival that comes to town once every year and these two pictures looked like they must’ve been a couple of years apart. One of them, Kelce was wearing the gold chain necklace that you got him for his 17th birthday and the second photo set looked like it was taken last year. So, if your calculations were correct, he’s been seeing this girl for almost three to four years.

People usually said that they blackout when they destroy rooms and furniture, but you? You were hyper-aware of pulling Kelce’s jackets that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars and dumping them in the bathroom as you poured a toilet cleanser all over them. No, you were definitely aware when you opened the window to your bedroom and threw out his shoes. Maybe you blacked out when you tried to put his collection of million-dollar watches down the kitchen disposal but that’s honestly just because you forgot that Topper was staying over. You didn’t even want to know what it looked like to him coming out of the guest bathroom to the noise of a watch in the sink disposal, others lined up to take its place. As you reared around the corner of the kitchen and beelined to the living room before you jumped on Kelce’s game console.

“Stop!” Topper ran towards you, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you up, over his shoulder as you scratched and screamed in an attempt to escape and destroy everything that belonged to Kelce. He dragged you with him to go turn off the disposal but he didn’t attempt to pull the watch out. Topper dropped you on the sofa and grabbed your face in his hands, “stop! Please, stop. Do you think this is going to hurt him? Do you think he’ll care? He has the money to replace all of this.” Topper tried to put sense into your head but you couldn’t see anything that made sense. Your whole life, this man you were supposed to marry and have children with, was nothing true? Pushing the photo strips that you still clutched in your palm against Topper’s chest you grit through your teeth, “how long?”

Topper shook his head and sighed, sitting on the floor in front of you, “Rafe and I only found out this week, we’ve been trying to find a way to tell you, I promise. I just—I didn’t know if it was my place and Kelce said he’d tell you first, he said it just began but then he said it’s been a while. I’m sorry,”

“Get out, Topper.”

“No.”

“Get out. I can’t deal with this, everyone around me is a liar,” you began crying again.

“I love you. I’d do anything for you but right now I’m not leaving you alone,” and he didn’t. No matter how much you cried against his arm and felt like you were self-destructing, all Topper did was hold you to him and apologize. He apologized for everyone even if it wasn’t his place.

The morning after felt eerily calm, probably because you knew that the storm hadn't hit. You’ve yet to have a conversation with Kelce since you’ve found the pictures last night and basically destroyed everything he owned. He’s texted you about five times though, reminding you that he loves you and how he hoped you slept well. You didn’t. Then again, you haven’t slept well for a while. Topper had untangled his arms from you sometime last night and you both just laid on the floor of your living room, staring at the ceiling until you dozed off for a couple of minutes.

Sitting up and looking around your apartment with fresh eyes, you cringed at the sight. Mostly because you knew that you had to clean up the mess and secondly because you knew that Kelce was on his way home this morning to change for work and you had doused his suits with a toilet cleanser. As if the devil was listening to your every thought, your phone beeped with a message from Kelce that he was doing just that and that you both had plenty to talk about.

The picture of Kelce and the other girl was found on the floor next to the kitchen and you tried to walk by it as you went to grab a cup of water but you couldn’t. There’s just something so hypnotic about his smile, his almost laugh. Though through the years he has changed, in those two pictures, his smile hasn’t. You held the pictures in your hand as your engagement ring mockingly shines from the sunlight peeking through the balcony. Topper had gotten up and nodded his head at you before he made his way into the bathroom and then to the kitchen to shove a piece of bread into his mouth before chugging a glass of orange juice.

“I need to eat something before I deal with today’s bullshit,” he had explained and when the door handle turned, you wish that you had done the same thing.

You were sitting on the sofa against the wall of the living room, perfectly in line with the front door, and Topper is in the chair next to you, with his forearms on his knees as if he was already over whatever was going to happen.

Kelce walked through the doors with a dozen roses and a red gift-wrapped box in one hand and you want to feel guilty. You almost did, until you looked down at your palm to the pictures you were holding and all you felt was rage and pain.

“What did you?!” Kelce’s voice shouted from the apartment door as he looked at the mess in front of him. His eyes were trained on the gaming system at the bottom of the TV, clearly damaged. He walked with a purpose to the console but then stopped as he was passing the kitchen. You know he saw the watches and with a deep inhale, his eyes squeezed shut and his hands ball up into fists. You can see Topper put his shaking head in his hands, preparing for the worst, you bet. Kelce exhaled, his feet taking him to his million-dollar collection, sticking his hand down the sink and pulling out a watch you got him for Christmas four years ago. You couldn’t see the damage but the look on his face annoyed you. He looked pissed that his precious gift was ruined, he had thrown (what you assumed) was your flowers and gift on the floor as he looked around the living room and the kitchen for more damages. You could tell that he was angry but so were you. You looked down at the pictures in your hands again.

“What did you do,” he came charging at you and you couldn’t help jumping up to your feet, not noticing Topper follow suit.

“Me? What did you do?” You yelled back, your voice scratching your throat. “You did this to us!” You pushed against his chest and you kept pushing him until you were lifted and pulled away. You threw the picture at his face, “three years, mother fucker? You wasted three years of my life, of me being in love with you and for what?”

Kelce grit his teeth, his eyes lingered on Topper’s arms as he held you back but all you knew is that Topper was holding you together. Keeping you from falling apart again.

“I was going to tell you but why the fuck am I explaining myself to you? What did you two do here last night?” He accused and you knew that this was a deflection tactic but it didn’t help the fact that you wanted to scratch his eyes out for insinuating that you’d sleep with Topper.

“Listen, man, don’t even go there,” you felt Topper’s chest vibrate with his voice.

“Oh, so you speak for her now?” Kelce took a step forward and maybe he meant to be threatening but you’ve seen these boys go toe to toe countless times before. Before you choked on the testosterone building in the atmosphere, you moved between them. Placing your hand against both their chest and it would be a lie if you said that touching Kelce’s chest didn’t erupt pain and longing within yours.

“He was here last night to make sure I didn’t burn this place down and trust me, I would’ve. I should’ve burned everything I’ve ever given you, everything that belongs to you,” you said and you intended it to come out maybe a bit calmer than the harsh tone that it was laced with. Kelce reached up to grab your hand and press it harder against his chest, right over his heart. You felt his heart beating underneath your palm and you remember the nights you’d fall asleep listening to that. You saw his eyes leave yours and to your other hand that was still on Topper’s chest, too, and you could’ve sworn Kelce snarled.

“You can’t burn your virginity, I took that. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re still mine,” Kelce spoke and you yanked your hand back as if he’d electrocuted you. That was not the Kelce you knew. He would have never spoken to you like that. Fully facing him now, you folded your arms across your chest, feeling Topper’s hand lingering on your back, as if he’s ready to pull you back if you lunged at your cheating ex-boyfriend again.

“Like. Hell.” You grit through your teeth. There was a time where you would’ve wanted to die than to be without Kelce and now you couldn’t even picture the two of you together again. Okay, no, you could but you cannot see yourself forgiving him any time soon.

“We’re getting married. The wedding date is set,” he reminded you and with that, Topper did step away. He mumbled something about getting your stuff as he disappeared into your bedroom and if you were thinking, you’d warn him about the mess he’d be walking into but you couldn’t take your eyes off of the cold brown ones staring at you. It was unfair how much you loved Kelce and how you’d probably take him back if he had gotten down on his knees in front of you and begged for you back, but he wasn’t even doing that. He stood upright, his hands at his sides. His eyes were not sorry.

“Are you crazy? The wedding is canceled. The wedding was over the minute I found out. The second you cheated-,” you couldn’t even believe what he was saying, what you were saying. It was getting harder to think because, with every step back, he took a step forward, unconsciously playing a game of cat and mouse.

“Y/n, the wedding will seal the deal with your father, okay. I need this,” his tone low and desperate.

Then it clicked. Of course. Your father owned a couple of casinos down the east coast and all the way to Vegas. It was a running joke that he looked at Kelce like his own son and once you two were married, he’d sign a couple off to him. Of course, the joke turned into a serious discussion once Kelce’s father’s business got hit hard by the stock market crash. His family had changed a bit after that, they made budget cuts that Kelce was too embarrassed to tell his precious little friends about but had no problem throwing it in your face when he needed you to cover payment on his car or the apartment. You didn’t mind, of course, you knew he’d get back up on his feet again. You would’ve spent every last dime on him without him even asking.

With a staggering step back, you brought your hand to your chest because you swore that you could catch the shattering pieces in your hands. “So, it was a marriage of convenience,” you said, almost to yourself. In which Kelce’s eyes widened in response, trying to shove the words back into his mouth and you couldn’t tell if it was because he had said too much or he had worded his phrase incorrectly. Either way, the words were there, laying between the two of you. Both of whom didn’t really know what to do with it.

“You know I love you,” Kelce’s voice tried breaking down the walls that you were quickly building up and it was like you could see the bricks shutting him out. The words in the present tense did not escape you but neither did the fact that he had been seeing someone else for the past three years behind your back.

“I believe that you believe that, Kelce, I do but I don’t think you even know what love is,” you searched his eyes, his hands reaching for yours but you kept stepping back, “or maybe this is the way you love and if this is it, I don’t want any part of it.”

Kelce shook his head and tears were filling up his eyes, the first time during this whole situation where he was showing you any type of emotion. Anything real. “I do. I love you and I’ll make it right. I’ll- I’ll leave her. If that’s what you want, I’ll leave her,” his voice cracked and as if it was really clicking in that you were going to leave him, he dropped to his knees in front of you. The sight reminded you of a happier time when he was down on one knee in front of the Cinderella castle at Disney World and you thought it was a joke. Now, you wish that this whole situation was a horrible elongated joke.

“I don’t want it to be what I want. I want you to not want anyone else,” tears silently ran down your cheeks as his arms wrapped around you. You tried to push him off but your strength failed you when he buried his face into your stomach, his tears staining your shirt.

“We’ve been dating since we were 12. You’re going to throw that away?” He looked up at you, begging you not to give up on him and you knew better. Your intuition was telling you that he had been lying, the walls you built up screamed that they weren’t coming down so easily but looking at him, feeling him…you couldn’t help yourself.

“I’m not going to forget this, you know. I’m not going to just pretend like it never happened,” you explained but at this point, he knew that he had you.

“Just give me one more chance. Please. Just one more. And then you can walk away forever if it doesn’t work. Please.”

Finally, you nodded. You said yes to one more chance and Kelce finally got up off his knees to tower over you again as he engulfed you in his arms. He kissed your forehead even as you explained that you couldn’t live with him again, just yet—though you’d continue to pay the bills and you even gave him your credit card to pay for the suits you destroyed.

-------

One month has passed since that day. You’ve been shacked up in Topper’s guest house, which means that you roomed with Rafe from time to time but only when his dad was being a jerk. Both of the boys disagreed with you giving Kelce a second chance, saying something about the player’s handbook and how that was just an excuse to get you back but you blocked out their advice. Stupidly.

It took you less than a week to find some other lie, a tagged picture on his social media with two girls sitting on his lap at the club. His location on his phone would always pin him at a point when he said he was at another. A part of you grew resentful at the man for being such a horrible liar and the other part grew resentful towards yourself for believing that he’d change.

Kelce would blame the strain on your relationship on your constant paranoia that he was texting or talking to another girl but you couldn’t help yourself. Everywhere you looked, there was a clue that he was lying until one day he just told you not to look. He said that you hurt yourself by checking his phone and that at this point, you were doing it on purpose to try and find reasons to end your guys’ relationship. He said it so often that you started to believe that it was true. Were you just looking for reasons to be angry at him? So, you stopped checking. You stopped snooping. Luckily, you didn’t move back in with him because that would be a hell of a lot harder if he wasn’t coming home. To be fair, it was easier to lie to yourself that things were doing a lot better when you couldn’t see the truth.

After making a hefty dent in your wallet to replace everything that you’ve damaged, he began working for your father and you finally got your credit card back. Things were looking up; he was a lot happier and actually spent more time with you. Granted, it was also because your parent’s 50th anniversary was approaching so they were doing a week-long celebration of their love. Kelce attended every single party on your arm but after the parties were over, he’d always slip out and disappear.

One night, he asked you to come to the wreck to hang out, just the two of you. No one to dress up for and no one to impress. He convinced you that it would be a lot more fun if you had a real proper date at a fancy restaurant instead. So, you agreed. You made reservations two weeks in advance and wore a long fitted green satin dress. You’ve both agreed to arrive in separate cars since he said that he was coming straight from work so you didn’t mind when he ran late. Work must’ve been keeping him from arriving on time and you understood that, so you waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

If the pitying look from the waiters weren’t embarrassing enough, it was even worse when you found out that the chef was a family friend who came out to personally recommend something off the menu that she promised that you’d like, just so you could order. To be polite, you did order—to go. While waiting for your meal, two hours late, you were checking people’s stories on an app and found out that there was actually a kegger at the Boneyard tonight and you wished that you were surprised but there was Kelce in the background.

Sending a quick text to the group chat you have going on with Topper and Rafe, labeled Golden Girls, you had informed them that you’d be attending the kegger, in which they replied that they were also on their way. Leaving a hefty tip for wasting their time and probably taking a table from multiple people who would’ve tipped them well, you left the restaurant fighting the urge to put a paper bag of shame over your head.

You didn’t think about the fact that you were severely overdressed for the Boneyard at this point, when you were getting out of your car and taking off your heels to throw them into the backseat, you were too late to do anything about it. Walking to the beach, a couple of pogues laughed at your dress as it flowed in the wind. Some shouted that you were on the wrong side of the island while others offered to take the dress off of you but you didn’t pay attention to any of them. You were a woman on a mission: alcohol first and then find Kelce.

“Damn, you know we don’t actually have a dress code, right?” JJ teased you as he filled the red cup with beer before handing it to you.

“Oh man, I must’ve missed the memo,” you played along as you laughed, seeing as he’s basically harmless. You see him hanging out with Rafe’s little sister, Sarah, all the time since she started dating John B a year ago.

Tipping your cup and giving the blonde a wink, you continued your search on the beach. To be fair, it’s not a big enough place for Kelce to hide. This whole island is not big enough for Kelce to hide his lies from you. You found him by a bonfire, his arm wrapped around her. You were disgusted by the sight yet intrigued at the same time. You’ve always wondered what it was about her that had bewitched him, so you found a tree to lean on and watched the two of them as they laughed. You memorized her curves and her face. Her smile as she places careless kisses on him.

You found yourself comparing yourself to her. Your hair fell the same way. She even kind of had your smile but what is it that you’re missing? If she kind of looks a bit like you then why were you not enough? You were shaken out of your thoughts when someone threw their arm around your shoulder.

“How is it that you always manage to stand out even when you’re hiding in the shadows?” a gruff voice whispers in your ear. You looked up at Rafe with a sad smile and shrugged, taking another sip of your drink.

“It’s a curse more than a gift, Mr. Cameron,” you replied in a somber tone as you kept your eyes trained on the couple. He followed your gaze to Kelce and his body tensed before he snapped out of it and his head turning to you again.

“Are you fucking serious?” Rafe said and you weren’t sure if he was directing the question at you or at Kelce. Rafe had gauged your reaction, probably wondering what you were doing here staring at the two of them instead of storming up to them and claiming your man but as you stood here, you realized that that man on the beach was no longer yours. He might’ve been yours at one point and he did a damn good job at pretending to be yours for the past few years but now that you’re watching him blissfully happy with some other girl, that illusion has definitely been cracked.

Rafe pulled his arm back from around your shoulder and made his way to Kelce. You should’ve stopped him but you also knew that once Rafe had his mind set on something, it was almost impossible to get in his way. You weren’t close enough to hear what was said but Rafe had probably notified Kelce of your whereabouts since he pointed right at you. You expected your boyfriend to yank his hand back from the girl next to him and come and apologize to you like he did before, back at your apartment but he didn’t. As you stepped out of the shadows of the tree, not really seeing a reason to hide anymore, Kelce shrugged.

You wanted to be hurt and to be angry but all you could do was shrug back at him while rolling your eyes. Keeping your eyes trained at the starry night as if looking up would keep the tears in. What else could you say? You didn’t want to cause a scene, you didn’t want confrontation, and honestly, you were tired of always having to fight for his love that you clearly did not have anymore. If you had it in you, you’d be embarrassed. Seeing the stunt that he’s pulling in front of both sides of the island when the two of you were aware that everyone knew you were together. As if hearing your thoughts, Rafe began arguing with Kelce about how disrespectful he was to your relationship.

You gulped the remainder of your beer, feeling a little spill off the side of your mouth. You wiped it with the back of your hand. You needed to get away from the scene, from watching Rafe and Kelce argue while your look-alike stood by Kelce’s side as if she already was his girlfriend...was she already his girlfriend? Was she the one he brought to parties while he kept you at home? The pounding in your head was getting too much, mixed in with the murmur that now sounds like a roar of people talking but not loud enough to drown the fact that your name was being yelled back and forth between the two men. You watched as Topper ran in the middle of them and you turned on your heel before you could see anything else. At this point your mind was focused on an exit, you needed an exit but the sand was weighing your legs down, or was it the alcohol? Or was it this unbearable sadness that’s crushing your heart and making it feel heavy on your chest.

You didn’t know if you took two steps or walked a mile before someone grabbed your arm and that was all it took for the dams to burst. It sounded almost like a wail but the person had muffled it in their chest. If you had the energy and if you weren’t so drunk, you’d be angry enough to fight but right now all you wanted to do was mourn. That’s usually what breaking up was all about anyway, it was literally called breaking and that’s what it felt like you were doing. Breaking down into anonymous’ arms that had now swooped you up with their arm behind your knees and the other still pressing your head to their chest as if to protect your face from onlookers but anyone could tell that you’re crying by the way that your body was jolting. You wanted the ground to just open and swallow you up.

You didn’t ask a lot of questions as you felt the body get in the back seat with you and heard someone else get into the driver’s side. You didn’t even look up as you felt the car start moving. The two in the car had left the radio off on the drive to wherever as you cried yourself drowsy. Not once did either of them tell you to stop crying or even give you any type of advice and though it didn’t make you feel all that better, it guaranteed that you wouldn’t feel any worse.

After one episode of crying was over, you calmed yourself down enough to try and push off the next episode as long as possible. With your head still on the person’s chest, you looked over to see a bloody Rafe driving, his lips in a thin straight line. Rafe’s eyes flickered to yours from the review and you can feel the wave of sorrow through them. Your group was broken forever and each of you knew it but you also knew you’d never ask the guys to take your side when Kelce was their friend first. Speaking of him, the arms that were trailing circles on your back started to burn as acid felt like it was coming back up your throat.

“Pull over,” you said, your voice hoarse as you pushed Kelce’s hands off your body that he has no right to anymore. When no one said anything or made any moves, you unlocked the door and opened it, causing Rafe to bring the car to a screeching stop.

“Are you fucking crazy?!” You heard them yell as you all about ran out of the car and began releasing your half-eaten dinner onto the poor grass on the side of the road.

A car behind you has also pulled off to the side of the road, your car. Topper had stepped out of the vehicle and it was just three angry men, watching you dry heave until you were ready to get back into the car again.

When you were back in the car, Kelce’s eyes wouldn’t leave your face and you knew it because you felt the stare but you didn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Please take me home,” you requested as if you had just jumped into the back of a taxi cab, making Rafe shake his head.

“I’m not taking you home and leaving you alone when you’re drunk. We’re going to Topper’s and Kelce can go start packing his stuff from your apartment before you’ve sobered up tomorrow,” he said sternly but with that, the wave of sadness came over you again as you buried your face in your hands, sobbing the whole ride back.

When the car reached Topper’s house, yours pulling up beside you, the two boys stepped out. Topper going to unlock his door and Rafe standing right outside the driver’s door. Is it possible to cry the alcohol out of your system because you felt like you’re suddenly a whole lot soberer now than you were when you asked them to stop the car. You sat there in silence with Kelce beside you.

“You don’t love me anymore,” you stated, finally looking at him. He had a cut on his lip that looked pretty gnarly. Good, you hoped it hurt.

“No, at least not like before,” Kelce explained unnecessarily. You dug your nails into your legs to keep you from crying again.

“You love her,” another statement but this time it was met with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know how I feel about her yet,” he admitted and it almost felt disgusting. As if your parents had just described their sex life to you. You didn’t want to hear it, it made your skin crawl.

“We’re not going to be friends after this, you know,” you began and he opened his mouth to say something but you brought your hand up to stop him, “we’re not. The respect that you’ve shown me is little to none and that means you didn’t even love me as a person to treat me better than an enemy. I don’t even know where I went wrong and what I did to deserve to be treated like this but it is borderline inhumane. The past few months you’ve been cruel and I’ve loved you through it. I loved you and lost myself in the midst of it,” you said, the words spilling out of your mouth and you hoped that it made sense.

“One day we’ll be friends again, you’re just emotional about it right now,” he said with a roll of his eyes, the same tone he always uses when he thought that you were being dramatic. With that, Rafe had come around your side of the car and all but pulled you out of the car, throwing the keys to Kelce’s car at him. But after Kelce stepped out of the backseat and began getting in the front seat, you yelled back at the car.

“Hey!” You twisted in Rafe’s arms and Kelce sighed before looking at you, “I don’t love you anymore either,” you lied hoping that it’ll sting but the bored look he had in his eyes made you want to scream. What did you do to deserve this?

After crying while shoving the cold pizza that Topper offered to warm up in your mouth and the bath that Rafe had put on for you and insisted you looked like a beach cat, you were looking at yourself in the mirror. You were given some clean clothes. Basketball shorts, that were basically capris for you and a school t-shirt that looked like a dress and maybe you were reaching delirium but you couldn’t help but laugh. You looked like a 12-year-old boy with puffy red eyes and you felt like someone had ripped out your heart with their bare hands but you couldn’t help but laugh at yourself.

After giving yourself the worst pep talk ever in the mirror, you shrugged at your reflection as you walked into the bedroom. You felt bad that you had kicked Topper out of his room for the night, causing him to share the bed with Rafe but you told them that you needed to be alone. Plus, they were sharing a king-size bed so it wasn’t like they truly had a reason to complain. You checked your phone and not a single notification appeared and now that you were laying in this bed, you were restless. You walked to the window and cursed the powers that be that made heartache hurt this bad. Nothing else had hurt you as much as Kelce did before and you placed some of the blame to yourself mostly, for filling your head with possibilities instead of reality. You knew what he was doing, you knew that he was seeing other girls and you were naive enough to say well, at least he’s lying but he’s also lying in your bed at the end of the night. Deciding that your thoughts were too consuming, you pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around yourself, your legs making their way to the guest room.

Hearing the tapping of controllers and muffled commands, you pushed the door in softly just to see Rafe and Topper illuminated by the TV light. Both of them, leaning over with their arms resting on their knees, controllers in their hands as they were whisper-yelling to each other.

Topper was the first to notice you but his head turned to you for less than a second before turning back to the tv, cussing at...well, you couldn’t tell if it was Rafe or the TV.

“Hey,” he rushed out, “couldn’t sleep?” He asked and at this point, he definitely had to be doing it out of niceties because in the same breath he also said, “that fucker— Rafe! Where are you? Are you just staring at the wall, huh? The flowers pretty enough for you? You wanna help me out here?” Which only landed him a side kick from Rafe.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” sarcasm draped Rafe’s voice as he banged on the buttons in his hand, “I didn’t realize I had to carry both of us during the game.”

You couldn’t help but laugh and shook your head at both of them. You climbed up onto the bed behind them, keeping the blanket wrapped around your shoulders, listening to them helped drown out the thoughts you were having for sure. So you tucked yourself in between them and hugged your knees as you watched them play and insult each other. It must be well past two in the morning now and all you can think about is the phone that hasn’t lit up with notifications and if he brought that girl into your bed. He had to have at least brought one in there once and the thought made your skin feel so dirty that you wanted to shower again. Before you even sniffled, you crawled up the bed and laid down right in the middle, wiping your tears away and knowing full well that if Kelce were to walk in through those doors and tell you he’s changed and that he’d love you again, you’d take him back...again. Because you knew his heart.

Two hours had passed since the boys turned in for the night, climbing in beside you. Rafe was sprawled out on the bed, lightly snoring. As Topper laid still, his arms stretched back behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. You nudged your friend lightly and without even moving, his eyes found yours.

“Can’t sleep?” He whispered, already knowing the answer.

You shook your head and then motioning to Rafe, “never thought I’d be jealous of Cameron over there,” you murmured.

It wasn’t long until Topper lured you out of bed, claiming that he had the perfect remedy for a broken heart. Trailing behind him as you both descended down the stairs, you found yourself nursing a glass of bourbon in the basement of his house. Walking around as you took tiny sips, you read each plaque on the trophies on the wall. There was a lot. Topper sat on the makeshift day bed in the corner of the room with his legs outstretched and ankles crossed in front of him. He kept his eyes on you as you walked around his room of achievements. You two didn’t really say much at first. He allowed you to use this moment as a distraction and he was probably afraid of saying the wrong thing to trigger the wrong memory, so he let you be. He took a sip straight from the bottle of liquor before offering you more once your glass was empty. After two and a half glasses, you were sat by him, trying to make sense of your head. To give credit to the boy, he was saying all the right things. He wanted you to know that you had done nothing wrong, that it was Kelce and his own choice.

“Honestly, you wouldn’t want to keep someone around who’d treat you like that anyway,” Topper offered.

“I know, I just,” you chewed your lower lip trying to find the right words, “I don’t think I know how to be without him. I don’t know how to start dating again, I don’t think I’ve ever really done it. We just met each other and it just flowed…you know? Everything about Kelce and I just flowed and now I feel like it’s totally unfair that he’s left me without any type of warning when I was still off in Happily Ever After Land, planning weddings, thinking that nothing was wrong. I started naming our kids. I just feel so dumb.” Exasperated, you shook your head at Topper who was still giving you his undivided attention. You downed the rest of your drink before you continued.

“Everything around me is him. Everything I’ve touched, he’s touched. Everything I’ve owned, he’s seen. Hell, some of my personality is him. He’s the only guy I’ve ever been with and I just wish I could wash him off of me like he’s done so easily to me. I don’t know, I just wish I could fuck him out of my system.” You said with a small laugh, feeling the buzz and finally putting the glass down and cutting yourself off for the night.

Topper had laughed along with you and as you were looking at the man in front of you, an idea had popped into your head.

“Would you do it?” You suddenly asked him.

“Do what?”

“Would you help fuck him out of my system?” And you saw the wheels in his head turning as he took another sip from the bottle before placing it on the floor beside your glass.

“I don’t think you know what you’re asking of me,” Topper explained but something else was laced in his tone, “we’re friends and I don’t really want other feelings to get involved, you know what I mean? I love you but just…that’s not us.” It was quite painful actually, watching Topper turn you down as if you offered him up a relationship.

“No feelings,” you assured the blonde man in front of you, “just sex. I mean, it doesn’t have to be you, I guess. Please don’t think I’m like trying to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I just trust you and I know you’d treat me right during it and we’re friends so like it won’t be awkward but I guess I could also just ask Rafe or like I can go over to the cut and I’m sure one of them might, like, maybe--,” and though you knew you were rambling in front of Topper and your cheeks had gone red, you hadn’t imagined he’d shut you up with a kiss.

The kiss was hard as his lips crashed on yours and his lips were so completely different from Kelce. No, you weren’t going to do that. You weren’t going to compare this experience to Kelce just because he had been the only guy that you’ve ever kissed.

“I’ll be damned before you fuck a pogue,” Topper mumbled on your lips before he took your face in his hands, leaning back to look at your eyes for a moment. Making sure that you had the chance to tell him to get off and change your mind but you didn’t. You put your hands on his waist, using them as an anchor when you threw one of your legs over him, straddling him. Closing the space between the two of you, you kissed him. Unlike the first time, your lips didn’t collide, they pressed against each other gently. Your tongue is the first to slip in between his lips, your hands the first to remove his shirt, allowing him to follow suit with yours. He was letting you guide him and though you appreciated it, you wanted him to take control of the situation as well. You wanted him to want you as much as you wanted to get a new experience and yes, that was incredibly selfish but you couldn’t help it. A part of you wanted reassurance that other guys wanted you as well…that the best part of your life wasn’t Kelce.

So, you wrapped your arms around Topper’s shoulders, your hand getting lost in his hair as you deepened the kiss. You rolled onto your back, pulling him on top of you, wrapping your legs around his waist. He sits up between your legs for a moment, taking off his shirt and you follow suit. As awful as it sounded, you needed the skin contact. You needed the body heat.

Pulling Topper down by the back of his neck, you kissed him again, tracing his skin with your lips and leaving marks on his neck and chest. Instead of stopping you and telling you that he didn’t want to look claimed, he allowed you to do as you wish to his body. So when you pushed down your pants, and then Topper’s shoulders, he didn’t hesitate. He settled between your thighs and moaned at the sight of your glistening pussy which only turned you on even more. You sunk your nails into Topper’s hair and tugged him closer to your entrance because the look that Topper was giving you almost made it look like he wanted more than you were offering and you didn’t want to think about it. This was just friends helping friends, and he did help you. Multiple times that night on multiple surfaces of his furniture and occasionally the floor and the walls.

-------

You don’t even remember falling asleep but the next morning, you woke up with your back to Rafe’s front as his arm was draped across your middle. Your arms and your leg rest on top of Topper’s body. You wondered how cold it had to have been in the house to make you not overheat with two bodies beside you and a heavy blanket on top of you. Then again, Topper’s family believes it should always be less than 65 degrees in the summer and you weren’t sure if it was just to prove that they had the money to pay for the electric bill and impress their friends or because they truly loved the cold.

You heard the door click and you pulled the blanket over your head, sinking in just a smidge lower between the boys in case Mrs. Thornton is checking in on them. The movements caused the boys to stir and you heard the door click.

“Hey,” you heard, and your body immediately tense, clinging onto Topper tighter than you already were.

“Hey, man,” Rafe was the first to speak, untangling himself from you. Sleep laced his groggy voice as he stretched and yawned, waking Topper up in the process who was following suit.

“Is she still here?” Kelce asked and you wished that you could take the guilt in his tone away but remembering all the details from the night before, never mind.

“Who?” Topper asked, still half asleep before the answer clicking in his head, “oh yeah, yeah, she is. What do you want with her?” His tone suddenly changes into a suspicious one and you couldn’t help but squeeze his side tighter. Not really realizing why you didn’t just pop up from underneath the blanket...well, probably because it might give Kelce a terrible idea about what happened last night.

“If you wait outside, we can go wake her and have her meet you,” Rafe said before Kelce could even respond and you figured that it must’ve worked because the door clicked shut again and the blanket was being pulled off of you.

“Hey!” You pouted, removing yourself from Topper as you tried to pull the blanket back on yourself.

“Do you want me to go out there with you?” Rafe offered seriously and as much as you hated the idea and did not want to speak to Kelce, you knew you had to.

“No, I’ll be okay,” You said, annoyed at the situation as you crawled over Topper to get off the bed.

“If you need us, we’re just a shout away,” Topper said as he sat up in bed, marks along with evidence of what you both did last night peaked through his T-shirt as you quickly nodded and looked away.

You found yourself in front of Kelce on Topper’s front lawn, dressed in Topper’s clothes and a part of you felt guilty. Almost as if you’d cheated on Kelce with his best friend.

Kelce took a look at your outfit before his eyes landed on your face.

“I’m sorry,” he all but blurted.

“Out of everything, I wasn’t expecting that,” you answered, honestly.

“I know. I was mean, I’m sorry. I forgot that I had told you I’d be coming to dinner. I was drunk and upset that I had to leave her to take care of you even though you are my girlfriend or was my girlfriend...but you’re right. I’ve been cruel to you and I never meant to be. You were a good girlfriend and a great friend and you didn’t deserve what I did to you. I didn’t know how to handle the situation and it just never felt like the right time to tell you and then after the first year, it just felt like it would’ve never been the right time,” and even as he said it, he shrugged. “I wasn’t prepared to handle the situation or to figure out how to tell you what’s been going on and then you wanted to say that I disrespected you, which—okay, I deserved that. So, I had all my things moved out of your apartment last night and one day I hope you can forgive me. I’m sorry.”

The silence between the two of you was deafening and though you had so much to tell him, this boy who grew up to be the man who broke your heart, you couldn’t.

“Okay,” was all that you mustered yourself up to say and with that, he turned and walked away.

—

Two weeks after Kelce had moved out of your apartment, you found yourself at the Boneyard again. Rafe with his new girlfriend, Chloe, and Topper and you. You didn’t really know what was going on with you and Topper because you didn’t want to jump into something right after your relationship with Kelce but you couldn’t deny that something was definitely there.

The boys were still friends and you had learned to accept that. There wasn’t much animosity between Kelce and you but the two of you didn’t really speak to each other anymore either. Except, for tonight of course. When Kelce had pulled you away from the group and towards the girl whose face you’ve committed to memory.

“Ashley, this is an old friend,” he introduced you to the girl. “Y/n, this is my girlfriend, Ashley.”

That stung a lot less than you thought it would, raising a glass at her to give a silent acknowledgment before turning on your heels to go find your friends. He didn’t even have the nerve to call you an ex-girlfriend and at this point if seven years of your life were wasted to just be an old friend then so be it.

You found Topper, Rafe, and Chloe standing around a bonfire before squeezing in between the boys.

“Are you pulling any girls tonight?” You teased Topper before wrapping your arms around his middle.

“No,” Topper replied, looking at Rafe to make sure that he was right before continuing, “Yeah, no.”

“Unless...” Rafe looked at you with his eyebrows raised, joking as he nudged your side with his elbow.

“Luckily, I don’t think I have to,” you said as you laughed.

“Come on,” Topper said as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and started walking you towards the car, “I bet I can beat all of you in COD.”

You can hear Rafe snort at the statement as he trailed behind with his girlfriend, whispering in her ear and kissing the top of her head. As you passed the partygoers on the beach, you looked at Kelce one last time. His smile was as wide as when you’d first met and you’ve finally accepted that he’s happier with her now. At least happier than he was when he was with you for the last couple of months and even if it hurt, you were going to be okay.

taglist: @letsgofullkook @downbytheouterbanks @jiaraendgame @diverdcwn

#kelce x reader #kelce x y/n #kelce outer banks #about outer banks #my writing #my drabbles #deion smith

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kashuan · 4 years ago

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All right, there are quite a few things that come to mind with a question as broad as this, so here’s my best attempt to sum up what character design means to me in like 5 minutes :,D. I’m going to start with a few very quick sketches that talk about more my general approach to drawing, but I’m going to build up to how it all connects with character.

Step 1) Find reference! Whenever you can, use reference, it will always make your character’s posing look 100 times more genuine than anything you can pull from your brain, and that’s nothing to feel bad about. It’s not cheating because we’re not stopping at Step 2 either, which is where the misnomer comes in that you’re just ‘copying’ (protip: even step 2 isn’t a straight Copy; as long as you’re not tracing, you’re not copying, and even tracing has its uses for personal studies). I could do a whole answer of it’s own about picking your reference, but I’ll keep it short by saying: not every reference will fit every character. Keep in mind your character’s attitude when choosing your ref. Some poses are so generic they’re one size fits all, but even this very simple pose has unique character to it. The way the legs are posed, to me, gives it a young and girlish feeling, and depending how you played with the expression, you could even make it come off shy. An overbearingly confident character, while also taking an arms crossed pose, will likely position their legs differently, assuming a stance that takes up more space, etc.

Step 2) Draw pretty much exactly what you see first, but keep it simple. Think of the body like individual shapes; anatomy is not the focus right now, and you’ll actually hinder yourself if you hone in on that first. What you want to do at this stage is capture what the pose is generally doing; character isn’t involved yet Step 3) Now, working off 2′s framework, start considering body type. If you skip the previous step, you might have a hard time capturing the gesture correctly, since it’s a lot for your brain to juggle at once. When I sketched these two different body types, I built it straight off the first drawing, erasing lines as needed.

So the first image includes some extremely basic body type variations, this one pushes that idea further. 1 is the basic frame from the last image, while 2 is about playing with proportions. There are a lot of ways you can play with proportions, and as I’ll come to sound like a broken record about: make those decisions thoughtfully. For example, when I made this version shorter than the reference base, I had to consider exactly where I wanted her to lose that height. Here, I made her shorter waisted, took a little length from the legs, and gave her a squatter neck as well. You can do one of these or all of them. Just keep in mind those are all individual options. Letting your train of thought stop at ‘this character is short/tall so I’m just going to generally shrink/stretch their body’ means you’ll run out of variety pretty fast, and sometimes the overall proportions can end up looking wonky (though there’s always exceptions to the rule, remember that the individual body parts should remain correctly scaled in relation to each other). Image 3 is another approach to proportional manipulation, except rather than focusing on height, it focuses on fat distribution and to a lesser extent bone structure. Again, there’s so many individual places you can focus on here, make sure to mix them up. Arm size, shoulder broadness, chest and hip size, leg thickness and musculature, foot and hand size and so forth. Image 4 is a further exaggeration of image 3 and the lines have started to get a little more stylized. While image 3 is still reasonably realistic, 4 is just starting to cross into cartoon territory. Advantage of 4 is that when you are able to push the proportions further due to the leniency of style, you can sell a clearer idea and a clearer character. Downside is, well, it looks more cartoonish now, and depending on the needs of your image that might not be what you want ie: it can look like a mistake rather than a purposeful choice if everyone else around the character is drawn more realistically.

Also… I see variations on this general advice quite a lot for women, but don’t forget about doing the same for men. It’s great to see how eager a lot of artists are to experiment with the female form that is simply absent in a lot of mainstream media, but I find that men really tend to fall by the wayside here even though they often get equally shallow treatment in the mainstream. There’s usually like 2-3 ‘go-to’ body types for men and that’s it. Men’s bodies can have the exact same amount of variety as a woman’s, including the individual ways the fat can be distributed on it, and the assorted ways their proportions can be played with. Whenever I find an artist that does this it’s like striking gold to me tbh.

So there’s some very rough hows. But, perhaps even more importantly than any of that, is WHY you make these choices. This is going to get a little stream of consciousness, but with a question this broad, I tried to hit on as many general points I could think of in regard to my own process.

-When I start to design a character, I really need to have an understanding of them first. This includes things like backstory, personality, habits, so and so forth… Yes, all of this stuff shows up in their design, even if it’s just a drawing of them standing straight up. This isn’t just like ‘this character got this scar at age 7 so I need to know where it goes′, I mean in depth info about them. I touched on this a little bit earlier, bringing up the different ways a character would assume the same general pose, but let me expand on that. -What do I mean by personality? So there’s the most obvious answer, which is that a bubbly character will assume bubbly poses, a sullen character will slouch more, etc… But let’s take it further than that. This is a concept I’ve touched on in past tutorials, but here’s a quick recap. A character’s personality involves their opinions, for one; how do you make that show up in their design? Well, one of the most obvious questions I always ask myself is: what is their opinion on their own appearance (the thing we are drawing)/how do they want to be perceived by others? Consider a strong character. I see a lot of artists who take this thought as far as: okay, this character is strong, so I’m gonna throw a 6 pack on him, maybe a nice pair of guns, and call it a day. Which leads to like, nice art, but also...kind of bland? I think that’s because this is a rather half-baked approach. How can we take it further? Ask yourself more specific questions. Is your strong character concerned with being perceived as an ‘ideal’ sort of fit by others (the type you give that showy 6 pack to) or does that not matter to them? (more likely to look ‘chubby’ if not outright fat, though probably is just as if not more capable of actually doing some real heavy lifting than saran wrapped abs man). If they’re some kind of mystical being that can look like whatever they want (ie: the anime waif that can also lift 1000 lbs-trope), you should still take into account their personal perspective on appearance. Don’t just stop at ‘this guy/girl is strong so they’ll look super shredded’ or ‘they’re magic so I’ll do whatever’. Doing this, you’ve instantly lost a chance to inform the audience more about the individual there beyond ‘they’re strong’ -Break it down further with their habits. What is their daily life like? If they’re running ten miles every day they should probably have some strong looking legs. If their job involves a lot of lifting, maybe focus on the upper body more and leave the legs less defined. Do they eat a lot? Or drink? The way the fat distributes in both these cases will be noticeably different (and this isn’t even taking into account points like an endomorph vs an ectomorphs body, which I always suggest reading up on). I’d definitely recommend drawing as many different body types as you can just as studies, in order to add these variations to your mental library. I’m sure every artist has seen this popular athlete line up by now, but really study images like this. Don’t just mindlessly copy what you see when you create your own characters though; think about why those athletes have the bodies they have, what they specifically did to get them like that, and how that can apply to your character’s own life. -One thing that has always bothered me is how often artists are afraid to use the head (not the features; I’ll get to that in a second) as an extension of the body when it comes to imbuing it with variety and character. While it is absolutely possible to have a thin face and a fat body (as is any combo), it’s another missed opportunity not to experiment with chubby cheeks, a soft jawline, etc. It’s a cliche to mention him at this point as an inspiration, but one of my very favorite things about Mucha’s art was how he was able to make fuller faces look so beautiful despite being a rather nontraditional approach (so many art books try to tell you this is a big NO). example, example. These faces actually look like real individuals to me than a drawing that focuses too hard on being generically aesthetically pleasing. -So, facial features. A face with less traditional features isn’t just going to be more memorable than Stock Beautiful Face #73, but it’s basically a more zoomed in version of informing the audience about the character in the same way the body does. -Know tropes, play with tropes, do not rely on tropes. Sunken bone structure, long features-guy will always pretty much read like a villain (or at least someone off-putting), but find somewhere to make the formula your own. Give him thicker eyebrows or big ears. Give the girl with the standard doll-face a nose that sticks out a little more prominently or a crooked smile. -Speaking of are so many different ways to draw a smile, do not underestimate the mileage you can get out of this one feature alone. Artists tend to have a favorite way to draw smiles, in my experience, but remember your character. Would they have a big toothy grin, a handsome ‘cool’ looking smile, a small shy lopsided one, ones that touch the eyes, ones that don’t… This is probably a repetitive point by now but just do whatever you can not to draw the exact same feature on two different characters, and make sure to think through your reasoning for every choice you make. To me, it’s always immediately evident if an artist really knows their character or if they’re just trying to make something aesthetically pleasing. The former is always more attention grabbing in my opinion. -One of my favorite things to consider when designing a character who’s part of a family: genetics and how you can play with them to inform the audience more about the character’s story. Does this character take after their mother or father? How? Why? Why why, you might ask? This isn’t a photo of a real person, this is an illustration that you should be making deliberate choices about every step along the way. It’s one thing to draw a character that looks like their parent simply because logic dictates they should, another to make meaningful decisions as to where and why they do. Some examples: He has his father’s eyes because they carry the same intensity and other characters are a little put off by him because it (conversely, maybe he’s such a gentle character that this detail stands out twice as strongly). He has the same hair as his father, but he styles it differently to avoid the association. She has her mother’s nose which everyone compliments her on so shes happy to be seen in profile. She has her father’s broad shoulders and she’s a little self conscious about it so she tends to wear baggier clothing. Etc etc! In all these cases, you can communicate these details through even a simple drawing of the character standing alone, and should try to as often as you can. -In the end, the only way you’re going to know how to draw all these different details, whether they be different body types or different facial features, is by studying real people. Draw as many different kinds as you can, add them to your mental library. Your reference will never give you everything you need to work it, and I’m not sure if that’s maybe what this question as getting at-- if I have a reference folder of go-to ‘types’ or something. I don’t. I have a folder of poses labeled with characters I think they’d fit, and that’s about it. If you’re just imitating what you see in a photo, you’ll always be drawing That Person, not Your Character. So you are going to have to pull some of it out of your brain. Note, however, the important difference between just ‘making it up’ and recalling information you’ve studied in the past. That said, while on this last topic of expanding your mental library, that includes not just doing studies, but also learning and observing the ways other accomplished artists work. Here are some of my book recommendations when it comes to those which have most helped me in regard to this particular subject. This includes books that specifically tell you how to vary your body types, but also ones that just have a lot of examples of different kinds: Morpho: Anatomy for Artists Morpho: Fat and Skin Folds Famous Artists School Course in Illustration and Design (If anyone is interested in this one and has trouble finding a non $500 copy, hit me up and I’ll help you out) Spirit of the Pose Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure Figures from Life (my favorite currently; not the most varied array of figures but he goes in depth on how to successfully grow an academic study of a model into an illustration influenced by your own ideas and personal style) If you found this answer helpful, although it isn’t specifically about character design, I go a little more in depth about some of the topics I briefly covered here (such as choosing the right reference, good vs bad reference in general, honing in on shapes, pushing the pose, etc) in this short book of mine :>

#tumblr messed up the coding on the original ask so I had to repost this!#art tutorial #hope this helps!!#not sure if got a little too rambly #i wonder if it's hashtag justintpthings to spend 3/4ths of a post talking about how to draw by talking about thinking lol

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sorrytodistract · 4 years ago

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such a fun and natural sight

Day 4 of @jayviesource’s 12 Days of Jayvie is Artists AU

You can check the previous days here

“A little bit to the left,” His voice was patient as she adjusted her movement, her head tilting slighty to follow his instruction.

“Perfect,” he nodded and Evie did her best not to chuckle. He was being too nice really but she did agree to be his model for his photography project. She didn’t mind posing for him in her leotard and leggings but when he first asked her about being his model, she expected a more… private setting for some reason.

In all honesty, she mostly accepted to help him so she would finally be able to tell him how much she wanted them to be more than friends.

Evie had known Jay for about three years now and had had a crush on him for about the same amount of time. The thing was, she was a flirt and everyone that had ever heard of her on campus knew that. But when it came to Jay, she didn’t know exactly what was preventing her from gathering her courage to simply tell him she wanted them to be more than friends.

Actually, she had tried to be subtle a few times but she had come to realise that Jay was more oblivious than any guy she had ever flirted with. It was a shame really knowing he was as much of a flirt as she was.

“Jay?” She asked softly. She was tired of beating around the bush with him. It was high time he knew how she felt and did something about it (hopefully).

The young man looked up from the screen of his camera to meet her eyes. Evie was silent for a moment, a lump appearing in her throat as his brown eyes bore into hers. She couldn’t do that, what if he didn’t reciprocate her feelings? They had been friends for a while now. Best friends even, if she dared thinking it. She had been dancing ever since she started kindergarten and even though Jay had begun photography in a club during his high school years, he had always had an eye for it. They met when Jay offered to be in charge of taking the pictures of the dancing classes to introduce the program to the new students. They got along right away, their banter easygoing and their vibrant personalities matching as if they had known each other since they were children. If she remembered correctly, it seemed that at the beginning of their relationship, Jay was interested in developing a more romantic relationship with her but she was dating at the time and when one of her dancer friend pointed it out to her it was too late, as Jay already had someone else on sight. It was as if they had been in a game of cat and mouse ever since, with one of them always in a relationship when the other wasn’t and vice versa.

But things were different now. For the first time since they had known each other, they were both romantically available: Jay had broken up with Audrey, a dancer from Evie’s group with which he’d had an on and off relationship for a few months and Evie was single ever since she caught Doug making doey eyes at Alicia, a girl from his drama class - she always wondered why her ex-boyfriend chose this career seeing as he was definitely more pragmatic than artistic - she had been mad at first but soon enough she realised it was for the best as their relationship had kind of felt like a burden from the beginning.

“Is there something wrong?” His voice brought her back to the present and she realised he had been waiting for her to say what was on her mind this whole time. She shook her head lightly.

“Sorry, I was-”

“Miles away, it seems,” Jay chuckled. He stood up and walked closer to her.

“A penny for your thoughts?” His signature smile made her heart melt. It was now or never.

“I was thinking that… maybe we could get a drink together after? If you aren’t busy of course.” She had started her sentence watching it but her courage was slowly fading as she went on and he kept looking at her, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. She averted her eyes at the end. Maybe this was a bad idea and she had been misreading all the signs from the beginning.

Evie heard Jay clearing his throat and she was dying to see the expression on his face but she was too scared to find disappointment or worse, disgust.

“Now I feel like a fool.” Jay’s voice was quieter than she'd ever heard it and as she raised her eyes to meet his, it was her turn to be confused.

“... I was the one who was supposed to ask you out first.” He chuckled, his broad smile lighting his face up.

Evie harrumphed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well… I wouldn’t have had to if you’d taken the opportunity weeks ago,” she was teasing him of course but the relief she was feeling was almost overwhelming.

Jay gasped in mock outrage. “Oh so that’s how it went for

Jay had no idea how she would have ended her argument as he crashed his lips against her in a valiant effort to shut Evie up. Seeing as she immediately kissed him back and moaned when his tongue made contact with her lips, it was probably the best idea he’d had this day. At least that’s what he thought until he felt her hands pushing him away from her.

“Jay…” her eyes were still closed and she was licking her lips, which was a very distracting sight but the photographer did his best to focus on her words. Evie looked up at him, a look of mirth mixed with a hint of annoyance.

“Did you just kiss me to shut me up?” Jay couldn’t tell if she couldn’t believe him or if she wanted to kiss him again so he was not certain his next words wouldn’t ruin everything.

“Well you did just tell me that the ball was in my court so…” He shrugged and attempted to smile at her, even though he probably looked more confident than he actually was.

He had been wanting Evie ever since the day his eyes landed on hers. She was perfect. Talented, smart, interesting, and possibly the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. And she was approachable. He had been a bit taken aback at first when they started to interact because he would have taken her as the popular “mean” girl. Looks could be disappointing. But in her case it was for the best. She had been the girl of his dreams but as soon as they started to be friends and hanging out together, Jay realised he was too much of a coward to try to ask her out and risk losing her friendship if she said no. He wasn’t an idiot (well, except when it came to Evie apparently) he knew his looks and attitude were attractive and he wasn’t afraid to use them but for some reason in his mind it had never worked on Evie. She was much too good for that. He just realised now that they may have been flirting all along but were both too dumb to realise it was more than a friendly game for both of them. Oh the fear of rejection… it made them waste quite a bit of time.

Evie smiled back at him, almost shyly. Jay cupped her cheek with his hand, his thumb grazing it softly.

“I’m sorry I was too much of a scaredy-cat to let you know how I felt from the beginning.”

Evie nodded.

“Well… if you hadn’t done anything today I would still have had one last plan.”

Jay’s eyebrow raised in question and Evie smirked back at him before putting her arms around his waist.

“Well Mister photographer, what do you say to a private photo shoot… in the nude?”

His gobsmacked expression was one for the ages and if it wasn’t for the rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought he was having a heart-attack. Evie really wanted to burst out laughing but she had her priorities straight and so she swiftly took the camera hanging around his neck to snap a few shots of his face while he was still recovering. She only managed the few though because as soon as he realised what she was doing, he reacted by trying to get his camera back. He started to tickle her sides so she would let go and as she finally cracked and began to giggle uncontrollably, he soon joined her hilarity.

“You minx! You’re going to be the death of me,” he stated as he finally got a hold of his device and they were slowly coming down from their high. She looked up at him, still proud of her deed and leaned forward to give him a long kiss. Jay’s hand came up to rest against the side of her neck as she deepened the kiss. When they finally broke apart, Evie gathered her stuff while Jay put away all his material too. As soon as they were done, Evie grabbed his hand so they could walk out hand in hand, towards her dorm.

“Speaking of death,” Evie began conversationally, “I wouldn’t mind experimenting “la petite mort” with you as soon as possible…”

Jay frowned at her for a moment, until he was struck by a flash of realisation at her words… he remembered the idiom from one of his literature classes. He could feel himself blushing as he let his mind wander towards that territory while Evie delightfully watched his micro-expressions. She laughed once again when he stopped abruptly to kiss her passionately, his tongue caressing hers teasingly, his right hand went down to grab her bum gently and Evie squeaked. She glared at his annoying smirk but his other hand was still holding hers and he didn’t waste time with more words as he dragged Evie towards her dorm.

#jayvie #12daysofjayvie #jevie #jay x evie #descendants fic #hope you'll like it #writing*

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bernardhiking · 4 years ago

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Rabbit Ear Saddle

Date of hike: April 11, 2021

Country: USA

Region: Organ Mountains, New Mexico

Trailhead: Unmarked parking at mile 3.6 on Baylor Canyon Road (coming from US 70)

Hike Destination: Rabbit Ear Saddle (col between South Rabbit Ear and Rabbit Ear Plateau)

Distance: 5.5 miles (9 km), out and back trail

Elevation gain: 2,400 ft. (ca. 800 m.)

Difficulty: Difficult route

The Organ Mountains of New Mexico are a narrow mountain range running north-south to the east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The range presents a single jagged comb with a few prominent spires called the three Rabbit Ears visible from many miles around.

This is superb hiking territory—wild, scenic, and uncrowded. But the area has a drawback in terms of trail conditions. Except for the most popular trails like the Dripping Springs trail on the western side or the Pine Tree Loop on the eastern side of the range, you will have to proceed under the assumption that the trails are unmarked and very faint at times and that there are few if any directional sign posts along the way. Note also that some of the “trails” are actually just routes. Proceeding along these routes requires that you follow somebody else’s recording trail, using a GPS positioning and tracking service like GAIA or a very detailed description in order keep to the route. A complicating factor with these trails and routes is that cairns have been erected by well-meaning trail users. But the cairns are haphazardly placed, and at times a series of cairns can actually lead you away from the hiking trail/route if they have been erected by climbers going for the entry point to a technical climb. This happened to me on a solo hike along the Indian Hollow Trail, where I ended up at the foot of Sugarloaf Peak, way off trail (note the neatly stacked cairn in the foreground).

We’d already been enjoying several moderate hikes in the Organ Mountains and were looking for something that would stretch our abilities and get us to greater heights. We got more than we bargained for.

Reading up on the more difficult trails Alltrails, we were tempted by the Rabbit Ear Saddle trail. All reviewers all emphasized the difficulty of the trail, but overall it seemed well worth the try. The saddle lies to the south of the three Rabbit ears (see arrow), and it promised to be much more thrilling than the sedate Baylor pass further to the north which also straddles the Organ Mountain range.

One of the reviewers, a local man by the name of Mike Hoskins, even left his contact information on his Alltrails review, along with the offer to guide anyone who was interested to the top. I contacted him, and he answered right away, but unfortunately he couldn’t do it the next day. Still, he kindly offered a wealth of information, including an annotated terrain map from GAIA with some landmarks and tricky passages marked.

Equipped with this information, we set out at 9 am full of vigor and anticipation.

We parked the car at the trailhead along Baylor Canyon Road (Alltrails reliably guided us there) and then set out as the sun was climbing up into a cloudless sky. The first part of the trail proceeds along a former mining road, which has been eroded to the point where it resembles a dried up riverbed. A motorized vehicle would have no chance getting through. The approach to the foot of the Organ Mountains is beautiful, though, as one is heading straight for the most dramatic section of the Organs.

After about a half hour, we met a man coming the opposite way, and he asked us if we planned to go “all the way up.” When we answered in the affirmative, he made a concerned face and said something about us being rather late in the day. “You’re going to get the full sun both ways,” he added with a frown. Since this was early April and we had plenty of water with us (we thought), we were not too concerned about this.

A mile and a half into the hike, we came across a former fluoride mine.

The mine shafts were exposed, with the trail passing right between two deep unprotected clefts. I dropped down a stone and didn’t hear it plunk at the bottom. It’s best to watch your step around this place--once you slip on the scree, you are done for. Here, we met another group with backpacks, but they weren’t going much further than the mine, as we learned. For the rest of the day (another 8 hours) we were completely alone.

The trail climbed up steeply here before easing into the canyon bed where it essentially ended. From here on we were faced with a boulder field. Following the instructions from Mike, we clambered from boulder to boulder. At one point, a truck-sized boulder blocked the way, and to get around it, a slight overhang had to be negotiated. Only after I took off the backpack and flung it up above the overhanging boulder, could I pull myself up, then I grabbed Liang’s hand and got her up as well. This kind of scrambling and boulder-hopping continued for about two hours. Since the hiking poles were now more hindrance than help, we stowed them in the backpack and instead donned gloves, so we could more easily go on all fours, which was increasingly called for as the terrain got steeper.

Brambles and cacti were omnipresent, and soon the water breaks were interspersed with cacti-spike removal stops. The sun was baking the canyon pretty good now, and I began to cast a somewhat concerned look at our shrinking water supply (we brought 2.5 liters). We were now directly underneath the southern Rabbit Ear, and aiming broadly for the col between that and the Rabbit Ear Plateau.

Sometimes, smooth granite slabs were quite steeply inclined and after one tricky passage ,I said to Liang “If there’s another exposed portion like this, we should turn around.”

In this kind of rough territory, the Alltrails map is only of limited value because the blue location dot does not move with the accuracy necessary, and my other apps, including GAIA and OS maps did not have a trail marked that we could follow because there simply was no trail. From here on, we increasingly started to verge off the route. At one point, we again lost the canyon floor and began scrambling up the side of a blunt protrusion that curved away from our intended direction. It got to the point where we either had to backtrack a considerable distance or forge ahead, bushwhacking through dense brambles and traversing a steep slope to rejoin the canyon floor. While I was scouting the terrain ahead, Liang was checking Alltrails, and we both arrived at the same conclusion, i.e. to proceed diagonally downward to the left.

When we were back on the route, a boulder big enough to cast some shadow beckoned as our lunch spot, and here enjoyed a hearty sandwich, while trying to drink (water) responsibly. It was now 2 pm, and we’d been on the hike for over 4 hours. The saddle above us looked still pretty far away, and we began to entertain doubts whether we’d even make it. But refreshed after the picnic, we tackled the slope with renewed resolve, scrambling over endless boulders, trying (often unsuccessfully) to avoid cacti, and keeping an eye on the directional progress.

About 5 hours into this adventure, we had once again lost the route and approached a conveniently located outcropping where we could assess the situation. Panting and gulping water (irresponsibly), we decided to call it quits since the saddle still looked quite a bit higher than our position, and we were running low on energy. After resting a few minutes, though, I suggested to Liang that I might as well press on and see if the saddle was perhaps closer than we thought. Equipped with only a water bottle, I tackled the slope one more time, making swift progress now. Ironically, the going was only getting easier from here on up, and ten minutes later, I stood on top of the Rabbit Ear Saddle, taking a selfie.

Liang and I texted a few times trying to determine whether she should make the effort to come up as well. At first I thought it was barely worth it, but then it seemed silly not to reach that sense of completion. So, while Liang scrambled up toward the saddle with the backpack, I raced back down to meet her halfway. A short while later, we both stood beaming and high-fiving on the col. From here, one could progress up to the Rabbit Ear Plateau, but the way was very steep and would require the better part of an hour to complete it. We were now down to half a small bottle of water, and the afternoon was advancing, so we decided to take in the view and then started our descent.

It’s amazing how much easier it was to keep to the route going down. Assessing the shape of the terrain from the higher vantage point is much easier, and we cold follow the canyon without getting lost. We were going at a good clip now, occasionally entrusting our lives to the soles of our shoes when traversing leaning granite slabs. Some large boulders again posed challenges on the way down, and at one point Liang, trying to slide down from a sharp-edged rock suddenly lost her balance and could have ended up head-down in a crack, but I held on to her forcefully and tilted her back upright. Shaken by this almost accident, we took a break and decided to proceed more slowly from her on.

The wind had picked up ever since we left the saddle, but now it was blowing at an almost frightful force. My eyes watered so badly, I had a hard time seeing clearly, which didn’t make negotiating the extended boulder field any easier. There is a point where strong winds are more than simply an inconvenience but turn into an actual hindrance. This stretch of the way seemed to go on interminably, as we were leaning into the wind, fighting to keep our balance. After a long series of boulder-hopping, we arrived at the tricky rock with the overhang. Here Liang jumped down into my outstretched arms, and things got easier from here on.

After reaching the narrow trail that led down to the abandoned mine, we stopped briefly to finish the last of our water. The former mining road from the parking lot had appeared to us full of stumbling blocks on the way up; but now, heading down, it appeared like a hiking superhighway, compared to the situation back in the canyon. On that final stretch, the scenery turned quite spectacular, as the late-afternoon sun bathed the Organ Mountains in yellowish light.

We reached our car just under 9 hours after starting the hike. We both agreed that this had been among the toughest hikes we’d yet undertaken and certainly the most unpleasant. But looking back on it now, it had certainly been worth the effort.

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tfw-no-tennis · 4 years ago

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mtmte liveblog issues 4&5

its delphi time babey

I'm sorry but drift & co look like such fuckin nerds on their scooter things on the cover lmaooo

oh god. seeing the first page just reminded me of how horribly confused i was for this whole little arc the first time i read it. i was like ok, who are all these new characters, and also why does everyone look so similar

anyways now i now what's going on. i love first aid

love the running continuity of rung being the literal only psychologist on cybertron (except for fr*id but that's later). no wonder everyone's fucked up they all have to share a single therapist

ok i find it extremely funny that first aid was demoted from doctor to nurse, as if that's a thing that happens EVER - I mean it'd be one thing if first aid was a nurse practitioner (which i doubt is a position that exists here), at least that demotion would make sense, but like...the doctors i work with don't know how to do most nurse stuff (like BP, cathing, vaccinations, hell even using some of the thermometers - that's all stuff nurses/etc do), so demoting one to a nurse would be a disaster (just like promoting a really good nurse to a doctor would be a bad idea). anyways i know I'm being pedantic but it Be like that when you work in the medical field and read something that has medicine-related stuff in it

i love swerve giving ratchet the tiniest free drink ever lmaooo

is that skids being a rowdy drunk in the bg lmaoooo

unironically i love medical statistics. keep it comin

i love magnus’s giant sternal chestpiece thing. its like a bird’s sternum but without the massive pec muscles attached

i love magnus and rodimus’s dynamic so much

oh pipes....im so sorry but this fun space adventure is going to be not so much fun for you

ratchets ideologies are certainly interesting, and i liked seeing how they changed over the course of the story

drift: why would i be SCARED of the DJD, I've got a SWORD, two swords even,

hvbhajkhfbsdjkf pipes really said ‘oi, you two - what's this, then?’ that's the most british fucking thing, that's literally something i say when I'm doing an overexaggerated british accent, oh my god,

PIPES IS SUCH A TINY DUMBASS. ILY SIR BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING

aaaand now you're covered in dead bodies, pipes. look at your life, look at your choices

drift epic sword moments

drift confirmed for the kinda weird guy who has katanas that he uses to like, cut up fruit and water bottles in his backyard while rodimus films him

‘i thought i heard...bickering’ lmaooooo

ah, so its covid

this arc is how i feel working in healthcare lmaooo especially now that i probably have covid

so rewind condensed the entire war into an 11 second long cringe compilation. nice

seeing the mechanical stuff past tailgate’s visor is so cool

poor tailgate, this guy is getting slammed with history from multiple sides. and like, bias is inevitable in ANY sort of recounting of events, especially controversial historical events, so poor tg just kinda has to take it all in and decide who to listen to

that’s...not really how immunity works, guys. also, you shouldn't be exposed to so much disease with proper ppe usage

is there even such thing as ppe in the transformers universe?? there are fluid- and contact-transmitted illnesses, so there SHOULD be

is there even OSHA in this universe??????? unbelievable

first aid, holding a giant fucking claw clamp: we haven't tried EVERYTHING............

first aid read a human wikihow article on how to jumpstart a car and took notes

i love tailgate’s ‘mom says its my turn on the xbox’ pose

tailgate has a point - he’s from pre-war times, where things weren't as grey so of course he would try to divide the two sides into ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’

CYCLONUS BE NICE DONT HIT UR FUTURE HUSBAND

go get some character development and then maybe you'll feel better

seeing the word quarantine is making me twitchy w/my possible month-long complete isolation quarantine on the horizon

drift pulling his swords on pipes and ratchet pushing down drift’s arms...lmao

poor pipes...even tho this is completely his fault, its still rough

also jesus, pharma and ratchet look so goddamn similar, reading this was so confusing the first time around

drifts idea of subduing pipes involves turning into a cool car and also posing with his sword

also. never gonna be over drift’s massive thighs. jesus man

ooof now drift has the rona. ouch

poor drift, his covid realization is getting overshadowed by pharma being flung around

first aid bustin thru w/the epic medical nipple clamps and some Big Boi Backup

ok that's an epic pre-beatdown speech from fort max right there, daym

im just gonna continue on w/issue 5 now for continuity’s sake. yay!

the cover of tailgate in magnus’s autobot school is so cute

and we open with an incredible shot of fort max str8 up ripping a guy in half. i mean, to be fair, he DID just give an epic speech about how much he was gonna do that, and he certainly followed thru

yeahhhhh, fort max is not doing so well atm

when he puts that dudes head in his chest vent thing and then snaps it shut....man

also i fucking LOVE when their faces are shaded all in black w/only the eyes/mouth fully drawn...fantastic stuff

ratchet: phew i am not equipped to deal w/this level of Fucked Up Mental Trauma. u good m8?

ratchet is already writing up a referral to rung for fort max as this is happening

drift is just laying on the ground dying like, oh hey yeahh I'm still here too

i fucking love when punctuation is drawn in story - like here where first aid has a little ? over his head....fav

ratchet holding drifts hand ;_;

ok tbh ambulon having switched sides 10 yrs ago is wild bc like, 10 years is barely any time for these guys, especially in a war that lasted 4 million years. that would be like a human switching sides in a war like, 3 months before it ends. probably. i sense some math bs, I'm just extrapolating here

all that mexican standoff shit is going down and first aid is just like But That's None Of My Business

ah so ambulon is an asymptomatic carrier

and there's first aid with the save! iconic

pharma calling ratchet ‘buddy’ hbvakjdsbfhkasdf

ooooh i love that they figured it out - and i love that twist, that transforming is what triggers the start of symptoms. remember when drift turned into a cool car? yep

s/o to Ambulon Transformers for helping me in my medical terminology courses, bc now ill always remember: Leg(tm)

also this explanation makes a ton more sense (in universe, at least) than the whole ‘i guess we as medical staff have been exposed to enough Germz that we’re more immune to this or something’ theory

ah, i love the meaningless (to me) alien robot medical jargon

drift and ratchet hhhhhhhhh

‘I'm too wide’ fort max L O R G E

also once again drift is forgotten in favor of a bunch of other dramatic stuff happening vbhjksdfbjhskdf

godddd i love tailgates little flashbacks where we see how Important and Special he is, complete with his ‘bomb disposal’ arm label...augh its so good!

and tailgate’s autopedia page even reflects his lies! like, did tailgate go edit that first thing upon waking up??? seriously, I'm fascinated by tailgate’s meticulous dedication to his fake life

also the fact that ultra magnus believes everything he read on autopedia is amazing lmao

ultra magnus: you think somebody would just go on the internet and tell lies?

fuckgin love magnus’s long ass name/title placard

tailgate hvbahjkdfbjhaskf i mean, he’s gotten the abridged version of everything else, of course he would assume that’d be the case here too...but not on magnus’s watch

magnus cant even say ‘fun’ hvukdasdbjfkjsadf i love my uptight law dad

love rung implying that upon questioning, he would easily divulge a patient’s name and maybe even information about said patient’s treatment while under him....love the disregard for patient confidentiality and hipaa in general

not that hipaa seems to exist here, at least not in a fully realized form

also i mean the above genuinely, i think rung’s tendency towards at least slight malpractice is very interesting

poor red alert....super bad luck that HE was the guy to get roped up in that overlord business

I'm glad that, at the very least, red alert was able to prove that he was Actually hearing something to rung, rather than get brushed off completely

god magnus and tailgate’s interactions are golden

also tg is much more sarcastic/quippy than anyone gives him credit for tbh

‘thought warfare,’ ultra magnus says with complete seriousness. god i fucking love this comic

now i can tell pharma apart from ratchet bc pharma has let his true Petty Bitch nature emerge and you can see it in his expressions

the whole ‘tarn is addicted to transforming’ thing didn't really go anywhere, right? i feel like i noticed that on my second readthru as well

also pharma is such an interesting character given the context of him like, trying to strike a bargain w/the djd to keep them from destroying delphi, but that arrangement inevitably kinda making him lose it as the situation escalates. he’s also just really entertaining bc i feel like he kins the joker or st and probably gets into really heated arguments w/people on twitter about just abt anything

‘sound bomb’ i love this comic

another important facet of pharma’s character becomes clear around this time as well - how he’s really into ratchet. i also choose to read them as awful exes tbh, it makes their dynamic even more entertaining

‘killmaster, with the wand’ is one of my favorite running remarks lmao

also, was killmaster even a character before mtmte? or, if he was, was he an important one? it would crack me up the most if he literally didn't exist at all, but any way you spin it is still funny

ratchet’s tiny humansona facing off against pharma is wild

‘I'm miles from anyone i truly care about’ brutal, ratchet, drift is dying like 2 floors away (im p sure)

SUDDENLY DRIFT IS HERE, ACTUALLY

oh don't worry first aid, that sure isn't the last we’ll be seeing of pharma

so like, did first aid save everyone by posting that data log to his wreckers fan blog or something? lmao love it

i love the pretty fucked up reveal of ratchet having stolen pharma’s hands. like, damn dude.

and that wraps up the delphi arc! our first true ‘arc’ of mtmte, and a fantastic one at that. short and snappy and fresh, with some very clever writing and cool new characters, and a lot of great plot threads to be picked up later. plus, we got to see the beginnings of drift and ratchet’s whole thing (and ratchet and pharmas whole thing). and the lost light gets some much needed extra medical staff, so everyone wins!

well, we’ll see how fort max feels about this all pretty soon.....

#lj rereads mtmte #love me some delphi

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texanredrose · 5 years ago

Note

What did Roman do to in dnd?

L I S T E N

It’s early in the morning for me when we play DnD. I have to wake up around 0430, get a few things done, hopefully don’t zone out/fall back asleep, and eat breakfast before the 0600 (my time) start.

Today, while we were waiting for @kambiteydragon to finish a WoW raid, shenanigans began. First, @theunredeemable posted a picture of what another session’s screen looked like due to shenanigans, and I started complaining because there were 8 dicks drawn on the map. (Subsequent investigation proved there were 11 dicks on the map; the longer I looked at the map, the more dicks I found.) There were two other things on the map: a duck and Solaire. Now, while I was giving Roman shit for the lack of creativity over the bouquet of dicks, @mistfather drew a duck on our game in one click of the mouse. Which, honestly, was impressive and creative. This duck became the Duck of Doom. Then, a second duck was drawn, and I realized that this meant a goose needed to be drawn, because Duck, Duck, Goose.

And this, my friends, is where things began to spiral.

You see, while Kandar drew a goose based off Untitled Goose Game, Roman was talking about how Elsssa would Chaos Bolt everything, as she’s wont to do. The wires in my brain became crossed and I started to laugh. Because, for some reason- a reason known only by the powers in Heaven, Hell, or both- I smashed these two things together and produced Chaos Goose. It’s like Chaos Bolt, except instead of a bolt, a goose flies towards the target.

I said this out loud, to share the insanity.

And that’s when we lost all semblance of control. May day, may day, we dove headfirst into the deep end.

Roman, enamored with the idea of Chaos Goose, began suggesting a subclass called “Goose-mancer”. Naturally, I couldn’t let a subclass have only one unique spell.

So, here’s a list of some spells a Goose-mancer can use.

Chaos Goose, 1 bonus action, 60ft range, instant, shoots a goose at a target. The goose remains active for 3 turns and attacks the first target it hits regardless of if it's conscious or not. Chaos Goose has an AC of 15 with advantage against attack rolls and hits +9, 2d8+4 damage on hits, half damage on misses. Chaos Goose, if its original target is rendered unconscious, will continue to attack unless something else attacks it. Chaos Goose will attack the nearest PC if all enemies are unconscious or destroyed.

Geesageddon, 1 action, 120ft range, duration 1 hour, calls forth a dark cloud 50ft in diameter centered on a spot of your choice. Anything directly beneath the cloud is subject to the relentless attacks of several flocks of geese. Ignores AC. Damage: 6d10.

Healing Goose, 1 action, 60ft range, 10 minutes, summons a goose to fly in a circle. All friendly creatures able to hear its honks are healed 2d10. If Healing Goose is the target of a spell or attack, Healing Goose stops healing and does 2d10 psychic damage to enemies who can hear its honks of rage.

Duck Duck Goose, 1 action, 120ft range, 1 hour, verbal, summons a flock of ducks with 3 geese hidden among them. Every turn, roll a d6. On evens, the 3 geese target random enemies (never the same one) and attack with +5, 2d6+3 damage. On odds, the ducks fly in random directions and sow confusion, all characters except the Goose-mancer have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls.

Then, the question was posed: which class would the Goose-mancer be a subclass of?

I, naturally, said Sorcerer, as it’s a wild magic deviant if I ever saw one, but then thought better of it. The power of the goose cannot be contained. The goose is a subclass of every class.

Goose Barbarian - honks for a battle cry Goose Bard - all spells require honking Goose Cleric - prays to the Goose Goose Druid - calls upon the power of the goose Goose Fighter - trained in the relentless fury of the goose Goose Monk - trained in the focus perseverance of the goose Goose Paladin - all smites are replaced with honks (as in, Branding Honk) Goose Ranger - goose familiar Goose Rogue - sneak attack replaced by sneak honk Goose Sorcerer - goose magic Goose Warlock - goose patron Goose Wizard - goose school

Then, I made some more spells.

Goose Of Death 7 necromancy Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 feet Components: V S Duration: Instantaneous Classes: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard You send forth a goose filled with negative energy to attack a creature that you can see within range, causing it searing pain. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. It takes 7d8 + 30 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie that is permanently under your command, following your verbal orders to the best of its ability. It can only understand honks.

Find Goose 2 conjuration Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: 30 feet Components: V S Duration: Instantaneous Classes: Paladin You summon a spirit that assumes the form of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal goose, creating a long-lasting bond with it. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the goose takes on a form large enough to bear you. The goose is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice). The goose can only understand the direction to attack; all other communication must be in honks, which it will likely ignore. Your goose serves you as a mount, both in combat and out, and you have an instinctive bond with it that allows you to fight as a seamless unit. While mounted on your goose, you can make any spell you cast that targets only you also target your goose. When the goose drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can also dismiss your goose at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same goose, restored to its hit point maximum. While your goose is within 1 mile of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. You can’t have more than one goose bonded by this spell at a time. As an action, you can release the goose from its bond at any time, causing it to do what it wants. You cannot regain control of it.

Goosedance cantrip divination Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Components: V S Duration: Up to 1 minute Classes: Cleric, Druid You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can honk and roll a d4, then add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the ability check. After the ability check, the target must attack one creature within 5ft while honking in rage. The spell then ends.

Then I realized, there had to be other animals to balance the power of the goose.

Meanwhile, Roman and Kandar began filling the tomes of the many goose-related fiction out there, like Goose Souls, Goose Fantasy 7, Resident Goose 3: Gemesis. Video games, movies, TV shows- all were touched by the goose. (Where in the World is Carmen Sandigoose?)

Today marks the first Honkening.

How many more will pass before the goose finds you?

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afterthelastreset · 5 years ago

Text

Krisei Zodiac Event Pisces Week

Pisces Zodiac Sign Info Gotten From:

https://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/zodiac-signs/pisces/

“Pisces are very friendly, so they often find themselves in a company of very different people. Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back.

Pisces is a Water sign and as such this zodiac sign is characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity.”

💧Pisces Week

(This the entire element Is water Im going to base the element off that with the au Ocean rune or just water scenes, since in the rules were aloud to do stuff based off the element of the Zodiac sign.)

Day 1:

The beach. A wonderful place to go on a hot day for anyone with plenty to do and see and so much activities for anyone even if you weren't a swimming person. Building sandcastles. Getting a tan. Going swimming. Just relaxing with a good book or painting the scenery. Volleyball. Collecting seashells. Snorkling or diving and seeing all the cool fish and underwater life. There was also the occasional fisherman and someone doing watersports like surfing, water skying, jet boats, a whole lot of fun on the beautiful waves and deep blue sea- Or if you were the pair of friends in question, you'd be sitting at a picnic table under the shade and snacking on the food you got. Milkshakes ain't got NOTHIN' on the heat here now, except maybe the chocolate ones they served. Chocolate milkshakes was always the best in his opinion as he happily ate and watched all the other people running around and doing whatever they wanted to do on this smoldering hot day, it was too hot for him though sadly. Fur and all but the scenery was really pretty, even more so now that it was sunny and not cloudy like it had been recently. So of course he'd drag his friend out of the house and into the glorious great outdoors!!......Buuut they were a little busy looking at a little piece of drift wood they had found while walking In the hot sun before being dragged to the giant umbrellaed picnic tables of the beach resort. They'd been doing that for quite a while actually.

"Kris?" The human hummed not looking up at the other one across from them. "What are you doing there?"

Instead of looking up from their lap they just shrugged. "Carving somthin'."

he frowned. he knew Kris wasn't a big fan of being in public, but this wasn't exactly what he had in mind for the two of them to do when he dragged the brown haired human out of the house. SO hhe smiled politely and asked. "Really? Whatcha carving now?"

"You'll see. Almost done," they mumbled still not looking up from their position and Ralsei just groaned and sat down into his seat.

he sighed and went back to his coco milkshake then. Watching as people still walked by and once and a while looked up just to see Kris still carving something with their carving knife and keeping it out of sight of the other until they suddenly brought it up and finally held it out to him. And in their hands was a small little carved out fish. he smiled and took the small gift from them and looked at the neatly carved little goldfish he was just handed. If it wasn't obviously made of wood then she would've sworn it was a real goldfish. They always had a nack for this thing and found Kris giving a small smile back, Ralsei couldn't help but stand up to go hug his friend.

"This is beautiful Kris! Thank you!"

"Your welcome."

Day 2:

*This takes place in the Au OceanFellrune since I wanted to try exploring this au more*

Well this certainly was a pickle wasn't it. Imagine just going for a swim with your best friend and enjoying a nice day at the beach to just relax, simple right? Yeah- Nope. A storm had blown in unexpectedly and swept through the sea just a few hours after they arrived. All he wanted was to just relax around on his floaty, not be swept out to the middle of the gigantic lake with no way back..Well, he could swim but those waves didn't look so promising against his mediocre swimming skills, at least if he stayed on the floaty he could stay afloat and not worry about sinking.

But now he had another problem...The sky was starting to get darker by the minute and he wasn't too sure which direction was the way back to shore anymore. It was kinda hard to tell with the waves being so tall and him getting tossed back and forth like a ragdoll on a beach ball wasn't the best feeling in the world, and he was starting to feel like puking. Man....he was starting to get tired of this-

"HELP!! ANYONE?!" Don't ask why he thought it was a good idea to start shouting for a friend who couldn't help him, might've been just a reflex or a hope but it would soon lead to more bad than good...Or would it? "HELP?! HEL-"

A wave chose that exact moment to rear it's ugly head and crash down over the poor human's body, the wind was knocked outta him like a rock slammed into her. Immediately air bubbles surrounded his form as he unceremoniously screamed from the hurtful impact, darkness surrounded his form as the stormy waves above continued to rattle about like some sort of punisher. It was surprisingly....calm in the dark black surrounding him. Almost like the night. Completely silent. A peaceful way to go if she didn't want to die.

It was when he turned and found two pink eyes and a mouth full of teeth staring at him did he scream again.

You know....It's really troubling trying to find some peace somewhere where there's not a lot available just swimming around, so imagine his luck when he stumbled across a seemingly dumb person just floating about in the middle of his territory. Kinda dumb being all the way out here in the middle of the dam storm, but who was he to judge. A human's a human. A quick wave was able to knock whoever the person was over and into the water where he waited. He grumbled just thinking about it... But that thought soon vanished after seeing her face.

UGH- He hated puny fighters. This one wasn't worth the trouble...Not enough courage on her. He also didn't appreciate the bubbles shoved in his face when she screamed again and started kicking up towards the surface. His face scrunched up in annoyance. Did everyone always have to be so rude when they see a gigantic aquatic goat monster looking at them? Oh well. At least he got to do the scaring part he always liked.

Ounce he made it back up through the swaying surface, coughing and spitting out out hislungs, a dark shadow loomed out from under him. In a split second the shadow had bust through the waves with ease. Water splashed over him, almost sending him down under the water again.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU FOOOOOL!!!" His raspy voice boomed over the noise of the waves and wind. "Those who enter my territory are doomed to DIE! Wha- H-HEY!" He flinched back when he yelped and instinctively grabbed onto him to keep from being drowned down by a wave. "HEY! Do you have a death wish! Those who ever as much as touch me are bound to- HEY! STOP DROWNING WHEN IM TRYING TO THREATEN YOU!!"

With a blub sound another wave sent him under. He groaned. Did his enemies ALWAYS have to make things more difficult like this? He stuck his hand back under the waves and a moment later he pulled the shivering, sputtering human back out of the bobbing water. he coughed and spat out some of the salt water, heaving and looking up at him.

".....*sigh* You know what? Screw this. My voice isn't worth some drowned human."

He began turning in the opposite direction and making swimming through the waves look like a breeze. he gave him a confused. "Where-....W-Where are we g-g-going?"

"Im dumping you on the shore. You're not worth the trouble of straining my voice."

Day 3:

IT WAS HOT!!

A lot hotter than what he was really used to, and to be perfectly honest, he didn't enjoy having the burning feeling in his lungs, or the amount of ssweat running down his body, or the heat baring down on himself. What was wrong with enjoying a nice inside inside and relaxing? Maybe cuddled up together in a nice air conditioned room, watching the live action of Romeo and Juliet? That was a beautiful tale is he did say so himself. But Noooo- he just had to go running today of all days on the beach. When the sun was fricking making it almost 80 DEGREES!! He stopped and heaved his lungs out, hands on his knees and gasping for breath like a fish out of water. Soft foosteps rang out behind him and soon someone stopped next to him. It took a few moments but he eventually looked up into the smiling face of human.

"W-What art you..*wheeze* smiling at?!"

He laughed. "Ralsei, when was the last time you even took a relaxing jog?"

"KRIS?! Running on the beach with fur is too much. C-can’t we just go swimming instead?)

He laughed again and very easily stood on one foot and stretched the other out into a ballet pose. "Ralsei, exercise never hurt anyone. I know I enjoy it.~''

''THAT'S BECAUSE YOU’RE BUILT FOR THIS!! W-With NO fur!! I-I feel horrible! Why did I bake and eat so many cakes!?”

"Oh don't be so cranky." He rolled his eye not paying him any attention. "We still have half a mile before we can start back."

He heard his lover groan behind him and he chuckled again, well the sooner they finished the sooner they could go back. It was just then he heard wheezing sounds behind him and he turned around....and blinked. His boyfriend was no where to be seen. Until he looked down that is and saw a puddle of exhausted ghost monster on the sand.

"RALSEI!!"

Day 4:

*merman Kris braces legs and goes on land to ask Ralsei a question*

The screams of children swarm about the place as he stood outside the building. He never did like the thought of screaming little munchkins running around him, or their dirty little hands grabbing onto him, or sneezing on him-; He shuddered just thinking about the germs. Funny coming from someone who's eaten raw fish, but he was free to not like what he wanted. But, he was here for a different reason. Not for the kids-

"ACK-"

One of the small buggers crashed into his legs while running around. The little girl shook her head before squealing in delight and getting up to run after another child. Playing tag he presumed.

"Kris?"

He jumped and whirled around into the curious face of the very person he wanted to see...And who he sometimes got mad with. No he didn't like it when he held his hand. Or when he gently kissed him. Or when he smiled and hugged him- He hissed at himself which made him frown and raise a brow.

"Um. Are you ok?"

"NO!...Yes! Im fine. Im fine!"

His crooked smile didn't seem to faze him more and only resulted in more confusion. This wasn't going as he planned was it? Nope! He could see it in his eyes as he looked him up and down. It was pretty rare to see Kris on dry land, with legs, he seemed to despise legs and preferred to sticking to his underwater domain. ….So why was he here in the first place?

"Ok....Um. What're you doing here? I thought you hated land."

"I do!....I- Uh-" His face flushed a light pink, and he mentally cursed himself for stuttering. "I-....C-Came to see you."

"Really?" He nodded and he became a litle redder. Of course, he giggled at the cute sight as soon as it happened and he groaned. Did he always have to respond with his cute little giggles or when- HOLY CRAP! he grabbed his hand! His eyes shined like little gems up at him, and he actually gulped. "That's so nice of you. Did you want something?"

This was it. This was the moment he came for. So of course he opened his mouth-....And a high pitched squeak came out. They froze. A look of abosolute horror coming over his face. he however went wide eyes and gasped. ….Oh no. Not this. He didn't like where this was going- he squealed in glees and immediately grabbed his face.

"THAT WAS SO CUTE!! YOU SOUND JUST LIKE A BABY!!"

His face blew up a bright red and he sputtered. "I-IM NOT A CHILD!!" he cooed and booped his nose. "S-Stop! I didn't come t-t-to be treated like a child!"

he hummed. "Then what did you come here for?"

"I want a date Ralsei! I h-hate it when...you...….." His eyes widened. " D*MMIT!! Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?" he faked innocently batted his eyelashes and giggled once he drowned in the red sea of blush. He was always so easy to fluster like this. So, it was perfectly natural to place a small kiss on his cheek. The result was weird drowning fish noises and him reaching up to try and fail to limply pull his face away from him. he giggled that cursed cute smile. "I'm really honored you came all this way to see me and I'd love to go out with you."

His mouth dropped. "R-Really?!"

he nodded. "But I have to finish work first. Is that ok?";

He nodded silently and he patted his cheek before letting go. A couple children came up to him and wisked him away into a game he didn't understand and he didn't move. Just stand there red faced and silently watching after him...…..He gulped heavily and slowly leaned back up into standing position.

He needed to get better control of his expressions.

Day 5:

*more merman Kris*

What had made him come to this? What lunatic controlling fate made the grand decision of making him fall for such a small weak little thing like him? He would probably never know, but the way he was giggling and holding his very red face right now in his soft little hands. He could always turn around, swim away, and never look back-....but he mustve put some kind of spell on him as he continued to gush at him.;

"I could eat you right know." He gave a small growl, showing on his fangs to give his point. "Know one would know and you always risk yourself by coming you know.''

he smiled. "You won't do that."

His brow raised. "How can you be so sure?"

he smiled wider. "Because your face tells a lot more than you think."

D*M IT ALL TO NEXT HELL!! He cursed himself for being like this, for being so weak and vulnerable around someone who wasn't even a threat to him. What would happen if some danger did come along?! NO! He didn't like the way he looked at him with those big beautiful eyes, or the way he was so patient with his stupid arse, or the way he was always squishing his cheeks in his soft paws and calling him cute- NOPE! NOT AT ALL!! And he definitely didn't spend last night laying awake thinking about how cute and soft he was! Nope! And he definitely didn't hit his head trying to catch him a fish she loved just to see him smile at him-

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

…...Ok. Maybe- But that's a very small maybe.

Day 6:

*even more merman Kris*

"S-Stop it."

"Why? You're acting like a child."

"Because I don't like physical contact. And I'd like to see you prove me wrong.'' He made a move to pry his hands from his face but that idea was scraped when he felt something small on his face.

OH SWEET MOTHER OF HECK-!! WAS THIS GOATvSERIOUSLY-?! he gave a small kiss on his cheek which he froze at, immediately his face broke out into a watermelon red. His hands were shoved in front of his face as to hide his embarrassment.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH- STOP THAT!!"

She just giggled and gave him another small kiss. More muffled screams followed, before the flustered screaming merman turned around and jumped from the doc red faced still holding his face as Ralsei giggled and waved good bye.

“Bye, Kris. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Day 7:

*ralsei helping Kris with his fear of water*

He shouldn't. He couldn't......HE CAN'T!!

"I can't do this."

The human whimpered out as his red eyes gazed over the body of water that was in front of him. Already he could feel his body sweat and legs wobbling as he stared at it. A small black hand grabbed his making him flinch and look at the smaller demon next to him.

Ralsei blinked his pink eyes at him and smiled. "Oh, come on. It'll be ok." To prove his point, he stepped into the kiddy pool still holding his hand. "See? It's safe and sound."

He shook his head. "I-I don't think t-t-this is a good idea, Ralsei." He gulped down the lump in his throat. "I-I think it would be m-much better if I-I watched..through a window."

Ralsei still didn’t back down as he pulled Kris forwards more and yanked him a bit forwards enough for the human to yelp and freeze when the water came up to his ankles and shuddered at the cool feeling around his feet but managed to smile for Ralsei sake. Making the goat monster smile back.

“See? I told you it’d be alright”

@krisei-world

#KriseiZodiacWeek

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tslasvegas · 4 years ago

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Episode 13: “What a depressing trip to Las Vegas” - Jaiden

I just have one thing to say.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It worked! I didn't expect Joey to vote with us. I feel bad about that, but hey, we couldn't see him being sincere. If he told us who the others were voting for, then maybe we would have changed votes. Jaiden was open to it already. Kailyn is probably the one who voted with John for Liv. Maybe she thought he would play and idol or maybe jury management. Anyway, she should have told us.

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Joey got voted out. Which was not supposed to happen this round. Pat and Jeff are just so naive and easily to manipulate. I’m sure they could be convinced to self vote without any real effort. I don’t even want to bother working with them moving forward because of it. But I might have to. I can’t let grudges get in the way of getting to the end game. Honestly at this point I’d be happy going to F3 with Liv and Kailyn. Xavier is too nice. Jaiden is too... out there? Love him, but I don’t want to sit next to him at the end. And Pat and Jeff i just don’t think they deserve to make it that far

I still can’t believe tribal tonight was real. It’s been like six hours and I’m still in shock that Joey finally went home. Like... what??? I’ve been dealing with that dude for three weeks and I’ve held his little secret in until it finally came of use to me, and... now I’m in the final seven. The game has NOT been won yet and while I feel like cheering and celebrating, I need to maintain my focus and center myself as the game is nowhere close to being over yet. We’ve still got at least four tribals to go, but after tonight I might be able to say that I’m exactly halfway through the merge (assuming it’s a final three... dear god please be a final three). Top eight was a really hard mountain to climb and once I lost immunity I felt a little out of touch with what was gonna happen next. I really felt like my time was going to come, and I’m so thankful that it wasn’t. Tbh Kailyn might’ve gone home today had Jeff not told me about a Palazzo chat still being alive and well. I don’t know how I’m gonna turn this bad situation around again but I need to convince Keegan and Livingston to work with me, Kailyn, and Xavier. It is critical now that Jeff or Pat go home because one of them is going to win. Before Joey left, he told me that there is a rumor that Jeff or Pat have an idol nullifier. While a nullifier won’t affect me right now, it’s not something that I want to see in the game going forward period and I want to use that little piece of information to my benefit and finally get rid of Pat. I’ve been saying for SO LONG that we need to get rid of Pat and now the time is ticking down. He has to go as soon as possible, fuck whatever Jeff says. Tbh I want to fly into the final six with no votes cast against me, still. I wonder if I can get Jeff and Pat to target like Keegan or Livingston and I really just need Xavier or Kaitlyn to bring up Pat’s name first before Jeff.. I doubt they have the smarts to recognize the danger that they pose, but we will see... Keegan is DEFINITELY pissed off at me now too. I made the mistake of telling him that I was “a little annoyed” about how tribal went, which was such a dumb thing to say bc tribal went exactly how I wanted it to. I’m playing off the fact that Kailyn must’ve known abt Joey voting for Livingston because her name was on the chopping block too so that’s why it went 4-2-2 rather than 5-2-1 like it was supposed to. I don’t want anybody to know that I was playing for Joey’s advantage which I’m sure people think I have right now lmfao... Anyways really I need to just make Keegan NOT hate me because he’s still part of my plan long term (I think)... he’s really smart tho and I’m not counting him out to win the whole thing but he hasn’t really done much of anything whereas people like Jeff and Pat and Xavier have kinda done a lot... If Keegan isn’t prepared to be fully loyal to me til the end then there’s nothing I can say to him except adios. All I really need right now is an immunity run til the end. I hope that the next challenge is something that doesn’t require a lot of skill because I am INCREDIBLY anxious just thinking about a competition, live. I need final seven immunity because then I’m guaranteed top five... the furthest I’ve ever been in Tumblr Survivor by a mile. I’ll break so many of my own personal records with that one single immunity win. In fact, if I make it to final five, that will be the best I’ve literally ever done in a Skype survivor org. I haven’t done that good since April and it’s just really affirming to me that this was the right decision for me to come back to Tumblr. Aside from winning challenges and making more moves, I also have gotta start fixing my bad relationships. Like I mentioned earlier, Keegan seems REALLY pissed off at me for how things went down with him being left out of the vote again. I can only apologize so many times before I am simply unforgivable. Maybe say sorry less and work to do better??? Idfk. But if Jeff or Pat can just say Keegan’s name, I’ll do what I can to prove to him that I’m loyal to HIM and not them. I hope that the Palazzos are falling to pieces now and realize that the only way to the end is to stick by us and nobody else. Jeff was also pretty mad at me for pushing his buttons a lot today. But honestly he was feeding me utter bullshit. I don’t buy that he was my savior and guardian Angel today, protecting me from having my name come up. I should honestly tell Livingston that Jeff sold him out to me not too long after Livingston said my name in their little chat. That would be hilarious. Kailyn and I are pretty close, but it could be better. I think I tend to revert all game-conversations with Xavier, so I don’t consider Kailyn my main ally unfortunately. If I want to go to the final three with her and Xavier, I need to really work on building that GAME relationship up because as a person I think we vibe well but it’s gonna come down to a couple factors and if she *has* to be sacrificed for me to get further, I can’t do anything but let it happen unfortunately.. As I just said, Xavier is kind of my main strategic ally right now which is super weird to say. He has definitely stepped it up A LOT in the strategic department and I have a lot of respect for him just as a person and I want to try and pick his brain a little bit more. The only thing with Xavier is that he seems to be playing really “safe” right now - I think had the opportunity presented itself to vote for Jeff with Joey, Xavier wouldn’t have gone for it and would’ve wanted to stick strong with voting Livingston instead. Which I totally get, but this game right now kinda requires we make bolder decisions than just what kinda didn’t work last time, you know? Okay now for Pat - god our relationship is just so weird. I have virtually not ties to Pat except the one alliance with Jeff and I feel like Jeff wants to control Pat rather than let Pat be his own player. It’s weird. I wonder if Pat would be down to vote out Jeff but fuck it’s gonna be hard to pull that off. I don’t want to hold off on Pat BECAUSE if I can’t get him out next, I will need him at final six and hopefully final five to serve as a sacrificial lamb or something. I’m wondering now if maybe Livingston needs to go because people are gonna always view Pat as a huge threat to win, even though he might not necessarily do so if he gets there. Livingston... yeah I really don’t like Livingston lmfao. I think it’s because of his super close connection to Rachael but it might also be because he is like, cool and nerdy and a bit of a try hard “around camp” so to speak. What REALLY gets on my nerves about Livingston is that he possesses zero of the charisma to convince me that he sucks at this game but enough social finesse to make me think that he’s actually gonna win if he gets to the end. He’s like, that cool dork everybody was friends with in high school. Even though parts of his game have been lackluster as fuck, he’s still a massive threat to win and I might just need to kick him off to the jury as soon as possible. :) And finally... me! I’m gonna try hard to be unbiased and self-aware but it’s so difficult to do that bc I genuinely don’t know how ppl are perceiving me this time.. I THINK it’s mostly positive but tonight was definitely one of my most negative episodes bc of how stressful I was being before tribal. Just ask Jeff. I think I’m definitely succeeding in getting votes to go my way and I have had a LOT of things go right for me since the merge. From Stephanie leaving right when I needed her to, to the double removal, to the super idol coming out and getting rid of Joey... It’s been so good so far. BUT I’m not being subtle about it. Subtlety is not a strength of mine that’s for sure.. I think I succeeded in being “subtle” about the Steph thing bc I was not making it overly obvious I wanted her out but otherwise I’ve been very clearly controlling other decisions and how certain votes went. Leaving two people I don’t trust in the game (Pat/Jeff) is tough but at least I worked with them on something, right? Joey was telling me so much that he was gonna lose to me and I think he was right. Now Jeff is saying that he’s probably going to lose if we’re in the end, but he doesn’t want to vote me out. Do I trust that? Not really... But fuck, I don’t even know anymore!!! I think if the game was over right now, I’m going to be grilled to DEATH for being fake as hell to Joey. I think that’s gonna come back to bite me so I need to start talking POSITIVELY about Joey to EVERYBODY. Read him for game, not for personal reasons. And maybe I’ll even talk his game up going forward just so that the person who goes into jury at least relays that I made a “good move” voting for Joey to leave (even tho I didn’t vote for Joey hehe). I wonder if people think I’m just playing tjem as pawns and not as real people.. bc these are definitely real people we are playing with here and I recognize that, but honestly in my mind nobody here wants this as badly as me. If that makes me the villain, I’m fine being the villain. But I’m not a human being that will ever play this game with a passion to play humanely. I want to win so badly. I’m going crazy in my own head, the wheels turning in hyperspeed. I’ve never been hungrier for something like I am for this win... I can hold out another year in this environment if I have to. I can and I will 🤠

Darn third world slow internet connection! Anyway, it made others look like challenge threats more than me, so hopefully that gets me through more rounds if they think other people can win more :)

That was a very stressful and very tense immunity challenge. Jeff was the clear front runner for the first five rounds, being the first person to advance in all of them. He’s a quick typer which made me very worried I wouldn’t be able to pull off a win. However, the last round was “Name That Song” and with the help of Siri, I snagged the immunity necklace! Final 6 here I come! This round presents me with an interesting dilemma. Since I have immunity I can be a little more ballsy. So I could throw Jeff or Pat under the bus, try to sway Jaiden, Kailyn and Xavier to vote one of them out. Or I can stick with the OG Palazzo group that is saying (for the fifth time I might add) that they want to stick together. That hasn’t worked out at all yet this merge and we’ve voted 4 people out. Pat and Jeff seem pretty interested in targeting Xavier for being a social threat which I don’t disagree with. But Jaiden is a very strong player. This is one of those rounds where I’m insanely grateful to have immunity because there’s also a bunch of advantages out there. I know Livingston has a regular idol now. But there’s vote steals and extra votes and idol nullifiers out there somewhere and that’s so nerve-wracking. Also, Jaiden mentioned to me that this is the last round for a lot of those advantages and I just don’t think I buy that. Final 7 is a weird place for that. Regardless, I’m fully expecting this to be a wild and crazy tribal tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what happens because I get to sit there looking pretty with my new bling. Xoxo Gossip Girl

I am terrified of tribal today and I have a bunch of different ideas in my head but I just want to survive. Kind of where I am at is I feel like I am getting 7th no matter what because I have never tasted top 6 in an ORG. I could play an idol here at 7, waste it, and then just get fucked at 6. One thing I thought about was "finding" the idol part of the way through tomorrow and then letting OG Palazzo know to build trust. The only issue with this is that the idol nullifier is in play. It could still be on the board. It was on the board when I got my auction advantage. But if it isn't, and Pat and Jeff turn on me, I could be fucked idol or no idol if the nullifier is played. I suppose that Pat and Jeff have both never voted me as far as I can tell, unless I have miscalculated one of the vote counts for the past 2 tribals. Maybe it'd be safer to hold onto the idol quietly and just hope I don't leave with it in my pocket. This is so stressful because if I leave with it in my pocket, I look like an idiot that had the luck to get two advantages but couldn't traverse the game much past that.

Okay so, Jeff is my closest ally at this point. Voting out Joey was our move and I am very happy we did. I don’t express the anger that I’m feeling and I think that helps keep my relationships good with people. I think I’m good with Livingston and Keegan and also Jaiden and Kailyn. I was Xavier out this round but I feel like something is going to happen. No one knows I have an idol which is amazing and I hope I don’t have to use it til final 5 and I have immunity and can play it on someone else for the fun of it. I can’t believe I made final 7 and am actually kicking up playing the game by voting correctly on Joey. I think so far I have 2 of the 4 votes at final tribal council, Andrew and Steph. I think I have a road there, I just hope I make the right decision because I’m still in I a weird phase of the game and anything can happen.

This tribal feels very weird. Jaiden is insisting he hasn’t heard anything at all about the vote. Which I find very strange considering he’s basically been running things most of this merge. Why would suddenly no one tell him anything? Especially Kailyn and Xavier. Seems like those three are fairly open with each other. I could not be more happy to have immunity this round. No matter what happens, I am safe and have not a thing to worry about. I really really hope that Pat and Jeff are being honest and actually voting for Xavier like they say they are. If they’re flipping and voting for Livingston.... I don’t even want to imagine that. But I’m getting some sketchy vibes. Fingers crossed it’s just me being paranoid, though any time I say that something unexpected happens.

Ok I'm calling it, I'm going home tonight ! Literally nobody is telling me anything and it's really quite pathetic to see Keegan, who says we're super cool and good friends and will be friends once this is all over, win immunity and then not make a single attempt to pick me up and flip me to his side. Unless he's so confident that the Palazzo four will stick loyal to the very end... which they probably will, but Jeff is gonna beat all of them in the end and I think they see me as a big threat or something LOL I guess it's good gameplay for them but I hate it either way. I don't really have a lot to say bc now I just feel dumb. I wish I had an idol, but of course, I do not. Anyways, I'm going to have to stick with the fact that people are voting for Xavier tonight and hope my name doesn't come up at all. I'm going to lie and tell Xavier that I'm certain its me or Kailyn tonight and hope he holds an idol if he has it... or plays it on me heh. We'll see though... What a depressing trip to Las Vegas if it ends like this.

The last Confessional :(

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caps-lockdown · 5 years ago

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Trick or Steve (One Shot)

chHello boo!! I are here to request a Steve x Reader halloween one shot. Where the reading is out trick or treating and runs into a few VERY realistic looking Avengers. Who she then awkwardly learns later on, were actually the real Avengers. Not just guys in costumes. 🤣 can’t wait to read what you come up with for this in Octobeeeeeeer!! 😍😍😍 eeek! So excited!!

As requested by @katurrade! I’ll be posting 4 Halloween themed one shots this month in celebration of over 100 followers and SPOOPY SEASON!!! Hope you enjoy!

In Y/N Y/L/N format.

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Rating: PG 13 for violence, language, alcohol, party scene, adult themes (ish)

Words: 5,341

AU because no one died in Endgame, Steve didn’t go back. I can’t move on.

Summary: You’re taking your niece and nephews Trick or Treating proves to be an event in itself, but running into three of the Avengers was not part of your plan.

No beta and so I only own the mistakes and the reader!

Trick or Steve

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

And so here you were, taking yet another picture of yet another group of knock-off Avengers at precisely six thirty on the evening of Halloween, listening as your two nephews and niece squealed over the men dressed in painstakingly obvious mass produced costumes. They had been nice enough sure, one poorly body painted Hulk giving the kids some of the candy out of his bag when they complained the houses they had been hitting during the night were being stingy with their offerings. A very tan, we’re talking spent- his-whole-summer-on-a-cruise-ship –in-the-Bahamas tan Hawkeye helping the youngest of the three pose correctly. It was quite cute.

“My feet hurt!” The five year old aforementioned child whined and you were suddenly aware of two things.

One, you were in no rush to have children of your own.

Two, you were entirely too sober for this.

~~~Earlier~~~

“Andy will you stand still? I need to fix your left wing.” You huffed, hot glue gun locked and loaded as you stared down at the fidgeting five year old. The living room was silent other than the preening of your sister, too caught up in snapping a thousand pictures to help you with her own kids. Gee thanks for the help Sis.

Your peripheral vision caught your niece reaching to grasp at her newly straight long blonde hair, your voice making her jump. “Hana don’t touch your hair it’s still hot from the straight iron!”

“Yea Hana leave your hair alone!” Her twin brother mocked whilst opening his third piece of candy. You raised an eyebrow as you directed your playful scolding his direction.

“Liam you take one more piece of candy out of that dish and I’m not taking you!”

“Sorry Ant.” The chorus of small voices around you had a hint of a smile cracking at your lips as you tried to remain stern. After a few extremely short minutes of holding Andy’s cardboard wing at a forty five degree angle, it looked like you had finally managed to get them even in height.

“There! Everyone ready to go?” You sat back on your heels to look at the three, a big smile overcoming your features as they all got excited over their outfits.

“But Ant,” Andy exclaimed, pointing to your sock clad feet, “You’re not wearing any shoes!”

“Thanks Buddy, you’ve just saved my entire Halloween!” You snatched your nephew and flew him through the air of the living room, the small human giggling and squealing as you made whooshing noises, his arms out in front of him. Whatever kept him in good spirits and helped the glue dry faster. Placing Andy on the floor of the foyer you made a quick grab at your heeled boots that sat by the door, zipping them up to just above your knees before standing to look in the mirror.

The black tactical suit you had made yourself looked great, the matte fabric the perfect choice for your costume. You had taken a few liberties with the original suit design, trading the slightly loose pants for something a bit more feminine and curve hugging, eighty-sixing the knee coverings and opting for sleek heeled boots instead of chunky combat ones. You were sure your feet would hate you later, but Carpe Diem right? The black straps and buckles were still covering the top half of you, although you had chosen to turn them into more of a corset of sorts, your chest pushed up under the dark gray vest you had made. It wasn’t overly cool outside so you went sleeveless, allowing for more mobility. You readjusted your hair, smoothing away any fly aways of your current bobbed style. At least you didn’t have to wear a wig. Readjusting the straps that held your very fake guns to your thighs you wrapped your hands around the handles of the three appropriately painted jack o’lanterns, the plastic thunking together as you passed them to their owners, the kids pooling around you to get a final group picture. You headed out into the crisp air as your sister waved you on, saying she and her husband would see you all later at Maria Hill’s party.

That was an hour and three groups of Avenger wannabes ago.

Of course the kids all but tackled their respective counter parts, save for Andy. You felt bad that no one had dressed up as Falcon yet, but you were constantly assuring the slightly upset child that he would see him tonight. You hoped anyway.

It was when you finished sacking the last house on the block when you saw them.

“ANT LOOK IT’S HIM IT’S HIM!!!” Andy’s shrill voice shot off with the rest of his body as he sprinted as fast as his small legs could carry him towards the three men, one of them no doubt dressed as The Falcon. You groaned as the two twins followed suit, racing to catch up, and then outrun their youngest sibling to the group of guys. You silently prayed this would be the last time for the night, your phone only able to hold so many pictures.

As you reached the three kids, once again mooning over the “superheroes” you couldn’t help but notice that their outfits looked extremely authentic. And they were equally extremely good looking. Thor’s hair was perfect, Falcon’s gapped tooth smile made you smile back. Hell even Captain America had an ass on him that made you want to sing the national anthem. Out of tune and all. Your face flushed as you came up to them, the kids talking a mile a minute and their questions making your face burn.

“Well if it isn’t the Walking Lightning Rod, Bird Brain, and America on Ice. You guys look great, did you assemble the rest of the girl scout troop or is it just you three tonight? Sorry about the kiddos. Wish I could say they’re mine, but they aren’t. Thanks in advance for being nice to them, they kinda can outrun me in these heels.” Your greeting forced the three men to break their eye contact with their miniature versions to give you a quick once over. The man dressed as Falcon took one look at your costume and about died.

“YOU DRESSED UP AS BARNES?!” He exclaimed, voice laced with gulps of air and hard laughter as you adjusted the duct tape and silver painted left arm you had fabricated. You noticed the blue eyes of Captain America’s wander over your figure as Falcon bent at the waist, trying to catch his breath and failing miserably. “Sorry it’s just…” He breathed, standing back up to fully give you a once over, “You managed to make him look good. And that’s a big deal. Doesn’t she look amazing Steve?”

The man in the mask sputtered out jumbled words in agreement, and you felt your face grow hot even though your smile grew. He took a breath and composed himself “What’s…what’s your name Doll?”

“Y/N Y/L/N, and my eyes are up here Mr. American Dream.” You caught him staring at your chest through your mostly unzipped vest as he awkwardly cleared his throat, his face a few shades of pink that you were quickly finding adorable.

“So, ahem, why the Winter Soldier?” His blue eyes sparkled when he talked to you, and man you’d be lying through your teeth if you said they weren’t making you feel some things. Out of all the Captain Americas you had met this evening, this one was very quickly becoming your favorite. You admired the long hard lines of his body, that suit not leaving much to the imagination. Jesus you could pray with your knees upward with him anytime. You snapped your head up realizing what you were doing and forced your mind to focus.

“Well it was either him or Stark, and I don’t have the face for a goatee.”

“You would have made a hilarious Tony!” Sam was laughing again, and you were trying to hold your own inside. His joyous noises were infectious.

“But what’s with your arm?” The star spangled man stuttered and you smirked, showing the kids handy work in the form of “get well soon”s, hearts and happy faces.

“Ah well you see,” You leaned in closer to the man, motioning the other two closer to you, “The kids uh, the kids think he just hurt it really bad and that it’s in a cast. I don’t have the heart to tell them the truth. Especially Andy, he’s really sensitive.” You looked pointedly down to the five year old who was clinging to the last of the three as if his life depended on it.

The Falcon gave a smiling nod before crouching down to unwind the child in question from around his legs, chuckling as the kid attempted to hold on tighter. “So your name’s Andy huh? That’s a pretty cool name kid. I’m Sam. I like your costume.”

“My Ant made it for me! I wanted to be you because I think Falcon is the coolest!” Andy pumped his fist in the air with a shrieking holler that reminded you for the eighth time that night you were too sober for this shit. But you couldn’t help but smile as he continued to gush over his favorite super hero, your heart warming to see him get the interaction you’d been hoping for all night. “He can fly!!”

“Did you make all of your garments then?” Thor’s voice was deep, booming, and beautiful and for a second you almost regretted not dressing up as him, giving him a small nod. “They are exceptional Lady Y/N.” You scoffed, waving off the compliment although it was the first one you had gotten all night.

“Yea Ant is the best fairy godmother in town!” Hana squeaked, twirling around in circles to show off her red cape that hung from her shoulders. “She worked super hard for months so we could all be our favorites tonight! Even our mom and dad have costumes!”

“So I am your favorite hero then?” Thor inquired, taking a knee to look at the small blonde girl.

“Yep! You control lightning and we both have blonde hair, and you’re really nice to girls. My momma says it’s cause your momma raised you right, and that’s why you have a kind smile. I don’t know what that means but my momma is always right.” Hana smiled, showing the tall man her missing two front teeth, who looked like he just about melted into a puddle at the girl’s statement. He opened his arms and before you could object your niece ran into them, hugging the man fiercely.

“Wow little one you are incredibly strong!” He complimented her, breaking away as she fell into a fit of giggles. “What is your name?”

“Hana!” Came the squeak of your niece, beaming with pride.

“My name’s Liam and I think Captain America is the best!” Liam piped up, finally finding his voice and bringing a large smile to his counterpart, who reached his hand out to give him a high five from his waist. “You were frozen! You have super strength and you’re like really really old.” Sam snorted at that as Liam went to cover his backside. “Like a cool old though! Not like my dad old.”

“Nice save Li,” You rolled your eyes as the man in blue laughed heartily at how much Liam looked like he was going to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

“So how old are all of you?” Sam questioned, finally giving in and hoisting Andy up to sit on his hip, you rubbing your temple in exasperation. These kids.

“I’m seven and the oldest!” Hana called, Liam shoving into her slightly.

“Only by three minutes.” She stuck her tongue out at her twin, Andy staring down at hand, hardened expression on his features as he thought up his answer. His face lit up as he swung his whole hand out, nearly falling out of Sam’s grip as his shifted his body weight in excitement.

“I’M THIS MANY!” He promptly smacked Sam in the face as he held up his small chubby digits into his field of vision.

“Oh I am so sorry, Andy my dude you gotta apologize for hitting the nice man.” You lightly scolded the child, his face falling as he avoided his gaze and stared at his bucket.

“Sorry mister Falcon sir.”

Sam grinned as he put the kid down, “It’s alright Andy, I accept your apology. And you can call me Sam. Now how about we take a photo huh?”

All the kids cheered as you pulled your phone out from your cleavage, watching Steve’s eyes widen at just where you hid your electronic device.

“Alright kids, pose like you’re about to save the city!” You snapped multiple shots, the kids breaking into different stances with their idols. Sam offered to take a picture of you next to Captain America, and after much convincing from two particular seven year olds you allowed him to oblige. You pulled out one of your guns and stood back to back with him, both of you laughing at the absurdity of it all. After he had finished capturing a few memories for you the group went to separate.

“Alright kids, we’re losing candy time and we still got hit up the rich people before we head to Miss Hill’s house for her Halloween Party! So tell the nice men goodbye and move your butts!” The kids nodded at your order, hugging the men and saying thank you.

“Miss Hill? Like Maria Hill?” Steve asked, you nodding.

“Yea she’s having a party, we worked together briefly and have stayed friends ever since. You know her?”

“We’ve..uh heard of her parties before.” The blonde smiled tightly, your bright smile making his pulse quicken.

“Cool beans well small world! If you’re in the neighborhood stop by yea? I’m sure she won’t mind! And I wouldn’t mind seeing you again blue eyes.” With a small flirty wave in Steve’s direction you were gone, moving to catch up with Hana and Andy already ahead in their trek. You came to a stop when you realized Liam wasn’t with you, turning your body to motion him with a “come on” motion. He held up a finger to you and you sighed, pointing to your nonexistent watch.

“Pssst! Mister America!” Steve crouched in front of Liam, who had called him over and was now digging through his pumpkin vigorously. You had turned your back, not wanting to intrude on their private moment, missing your cheeky nephew pull out one of your business cards from his plastic treat holder.

“What’s this?” Steve whispered, Liam’s eyes glinting with mischief as he smiled broadly in your direction. Thor was speaking into his comms link while Sam edged closer to the two to eavesdrop. Which wasn’t hard because Liam hadn’t quite mastered whispering yet.

“That’s my aunt’s number. You’re her favorite and she thinks you’re a total hottie. My mom says she needs to fall and love and get married so her womb doesn’t shrivel up and she dies alone with like eighty nine cats. So if you like her you should ask her out. She likes coffee and pink roses but hates bad breath. And A-holes who don’t use their blinker! Okay, bye!”

Sam saved his laughter for when Liam was long out of range, racing to grasp your hand as you walked away with the rest of the kids. Steve only smiled warmly at the slightly crumpled card.

“Dude I need that kid as my wing man.” Sam was shaking his head when Thor came back to them. “Nat have news?”

“Yes she believes they found the location of the Arsonist’s next target.”

With that the three men were back on the mission, their moment of carefree fun over. That was the whole reason they were in the neighborhood patrolling as it were. There had been six massive fires over the course of the last two months, all with the same cause behind them. They had gotten a letter earlier that day saying that the arsonist, Mr. Ash, yes that was what he had chosen to go by, would be striking this very evening. The team had split up to cover more ground as Nat and Pepper worked back at the tower to crack his pattern and thus tracking him down to his next target to apprehend him. They had all agreed to go to Agent Hill’s party in celebration after they caught the asshole, but now Steve was more determined than ever to make sure they made it. Even if it was just to see you again.

~~~Two Hours Later~~~

“Come on Ant, you got this!”

“Yea you can do it!”

The kids cheered you on from the front porch of Maria Hill’s home, the large basin of water and floating apples the only thing in front of you. You gave them a wink before putting your hands behind your back. Quickly finding your target you felt the cold splash of chilling water hit your senses as you dove after you prize, the kids clapping loudly as you emerged victorious. Biting into the tart granny smith you stood up wiping your eyes and smearing some of your mascara in the process.

“Pretty impressive stuff there Y/N.” Your vision adjusted to the figure of Maria, who was holding out an orange solo cup and a towel to wipe your face, which you happily took.

“Helps when you have your own cheerleading section.” You shrugged, taking a large gulp of the apple cider that had been mixed with fireball whisky. The alcohol burned your throat for a second as you weren’t expecting that much to be in it. Note to self, don’t have too many of these. She laughed and handed you your apple back, taking the slightly damp towel from you.

The five of you wandered into the spacious house where you could see everyone in costume, loud party music blaring through every room of the house, kids and adults alike playing games like Sorry and Pin the head on the Zombie. The rooms were all lit in different eerie colors, streamers and scary window clings decorated the house. There had to be at least 60 people here, and that wasn’t including those bobbing for apples or playing yard Jenga outside.

“Hey Ant Y/N look!” Liam pointed to the large T.V screen, you turning your body to face it and feeling your entire body go rigid. “It’s the Avengers from earlier! They were the real deal!”

Your eyes widened in shock as you instantly recognized three of the men from earlier, albeit their perfectly authentic suits were just a bit charred, they still looked incredible. And you looked like The Incredible Idiot. They were exiting a building that had been on fire, Thor holding a screaming man while Steve and Sam went to help put out the flames with the local fire department. You were pretty sure your face could give the warehouse a run for its money with how hot you were. You swallowed hard at the questioning look on Maria’s face, opting to just pull your phone from its hiding place and shoving it in her hand once you pulled up the photos.

“Holy shit Y/N, you didn’t tell me they were…” She tried to cover her escaping giggles with her hand as you began looking for a rock to climb under. She especially found the picture of you and the very real and very handsome Steve Rogers to be absolutely hilarious.

“How was I supposed to know Maria?! They were like the fourth group of Avengers and I was completely done with the whole thing by group two!” You whined, sitting down in a large overstuffed recliner with an ungraceful thump. This was single handedly the most embarrassing moment of your entire existence. And that was saying something. You had once forgotten to wear pants to school your sophomore year of high school and had to loan a pair of god awful gym shorts from your best guy friend at the time. They did not smell clean and didn’t match your bright orange fall sweater. It was also Winter, and the shorts were two sizes too big. You never thought anything would top that. “I’m just going to die here now.”

Needless to say between finding out they had met their actual heroes and all of the candy, the kids were absolute beasts to put to bed. Maria had been kind enough to let them crash on an air mattress in a spare room upstairs when your sister and brother in law texted saying they were running a bit behind. They had won first place in the costume contest at their party, so they were celebrating a little longer than intended. When you realized your plans had changed, you had opted to have a couple more drinks. It’s not like the absolutely attractive earth savers would actually show up.

“Heeey the party still going on?!” Sam’s deep voice came bellowing through the house while you were draining your third drink, nearly choking as the three Avengers from earlier, and an extra few including the one you had dressed as entered the living room. You quickly dodged your way into the kitchen, wondering silently if you could fit in the very tiny water heater closet and they wouldn’t even know you were there. You listened as the room gave them a round of applause, finally reaching your “fuck it” meter for the night and pouring yourself another drink. You were never a lightweight, but the effects of the booze would at least keep you from being a total freak when you came in contact with them.

“Y/N you’re still here, how fortuitous!” Thor clapped loudly causing you to jump and sputter into your cup. You steeled your nerves and turned around and felt your face pale for the second time that night. That was a habit you didn’t need to be forming.

“So I am.” You pretended to shrug in indifference, a small shy smile on your features. “You guys were pretty great out there tonight, thanks for catching that asshole and saving that family. Guess that’s why Stark keeps you around huh?”

“Well it’s isn’t because they’re pretty to look at, but everyone’s a critic. Tony Stark. Hi, great to meet you.” The man wearing a simple “This is my Halloween costume” tee shirt approached you, you smiling wider and shaking his extended hand. “I see you’ve met my coworkers. Wilson told me about the names you called them tonight, they were great. Mind if I steal them?”

“Oh umh, um, no not at all!”

“Great, because I was going to regardless.” He winked and moved to the side, allowing you to introduce yourself to Clint and Natasha, who shook your hands with happy chuckles.

“Nice arm.”

“Thanks, made it myself.” You winked at the woman who shook her head at you, Bucky coming up with to stand next to Steve, giving you a once over.

“See Barnes didn’t I tell you? She made you look good for once!” Sam slapped the quiet man on the back, earning a glare from his otherwise stoic face.

“Shut up Wilson.” Bucky responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “But yea, you actually look pretty great. I can see why Steve here was all bent out of shape thinkin he wasn’t going to see you again tonight.” Came his gruff reply, his blonde friend groaning and jabbing an elbow into his side. “Ouch. What where you’re throwing that thing Punk.”

You brought your vision to look at the handsome Captain, wondering if it were possible to drown in his blue eyes. You felt yourself smiling, your eyes crinkling as you took a step closer to him, watching him swallow hard. “Awwwh. Did you miss me Captain?”

“Are you kidding? He’s the whole reason why we had to work double time at tracking the arsonist down, just so he could see you.” Sam grinned, running to hide behind a very amused Tony as Steve contemplated murder for the sixth time that evening. “He wouldn’t shut up about you boo..”

“Mister Sam… Falcon…sir?” You were never so thankful for a child in your entire life. All of you turned to look at Andy who stood alone in the kitchen doorway, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. His wings were long since off of him, you knowing full well with his thrashing the cardboard and hot glue would not withstand the rage of a five year old with constant night terrors.

“Yea buddy it’s me. Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

“You have a nightmare again Andy?” His teary nod at you had you placing your cup on the counter, leaning down to motion him to you. He hurried into your arms, you effortlessly picking him up, taking your silver arm covering off to allow yourself more range of motion as you cradled your sobbing nephew.

“Shhh you’re okay my dude, I’ve got you.” You muttered, listening to him cry uncontrollably into your neck, the evidence of his emotions soaking into your skin. “Tell me what you dreamt.”

“It was AWFUL Ant!” The boy exclaimed, pushing off of you slightly to look at Sam, tears still stinging his eyes. “Yo…you guys..didn…didn’t make it…out and the the building..” He started crying again and you felt the whole room melt around you.

“Hey Andy it’s okay see, we’re okay though.” Sam whispered reassuringly, asking you without words to take the child, which you gave him over with a nod. “See look, no harm done.” He let the little boy place his chubby hands all over his face, brushing over the soot and ash that had stuck to the man’s skin.

“…but what about smoke infal..mathc..ion? Momma says you can…di..die from too much smoke infalmathcion.” The brunette boy hiccupped at Sam, and you didn’t miss Tony’s huge smile at the kid’s difficulty at pronouncing big words.

“We’re gonna be fine. Don’t you worry. Takes a lot more than nasty smoke to take out the Avengers, don’t you think?”

“Y..yea! You guys are the best in the whole galaxy!” Andy cheered, as if he hadn’t had a complete meltdown just moments prior. Sam smiled back at him, turning his head to mouth a simple “I’m gonna keep him.”

You were almost tempted to let him, until you remembered he wasn’t yours.

“Hey there’s my little love bug!” Your sister cooed from the hallway, stopping for no one as she reached for her son, eager to hold him.

“Uh honey…” Your brother in law motioned to the group of super heroes, her face reddening as she looked at Natasha and Clint, who looked back at their doppelgangers with wide eyes. Tony and Thor howled with laugher as the pair took an extra step apart from each other as they took in your sister and his costumes. “I never thought we would meet like this. Man no one is going to believe me at the office on Monday.”

“Of course they will, you’ll have proof!” Tony belted, motioning for Maria to come and take pictures of everyone. You all elected to stand on the front yard, your sister going to drag the sleepy kids out of their slumber so they could be a part of it. After many different poses and many different phones later, everyone seemed happy with their captured memories.

“Night night Ant Y/N, sleep tight. Don’t let the bad guys bite!” Liam joked, the two of you breaking into your secret handshake.

“And if they do, I’ll beat them til they’re black and blue with my shoe!” You called back, hugging Hana and waving to Andy who was already nearly passed out in his dad’s arms. He gave a half wave back, all of their figures fading into the distance as they swam through the sea of parked cars.

The rest of the party cleared out a bit later, you staying behind to help clean up the apocalypse level mess in Hill’s house.

“You’re really great with kids Y/N.” Steve held the trash bag open as you piled cans and cups into it, meeting his gaze with a grin.

“Only because they’re related to me.” You admonished, the large man chuckling as you continued about the living room, you both being the only ones in there while the others helped take down decorations in the other rooms and outside. “Listen about earlier, I’m sorry if I may have seemed a little forward. I had no idea it was actually you and I’m not normally that flirty.”

“Ah I see. Well if it helps I’m not offended.”

You shot your head up to look at him, arm mid swipe to push more cups into the trash bag. “You’re…not?”

“Nope. Especially knowing I’m a total hottie, and your favorite. According to Liam anyway.” Your voice died in your throat as the man lost in time actually had the nerve to wink at you. You placed the cups in the bag, coming up to your full height to stare at him. Your feet were burning from the whole night in heels but you’d be damned if you backed down now. You didn’t know if you wanted to kill your nephew or hug him until he complained about it.

“Oh really? Well then can I ask you out for a cup of coffee sometime?” You spoke lightly, question almost coming out in a whisper on account of your nerves.

“Sure, I’ve got no plans in the morning.”

“Eleven work? I’ll be dead with a hangover until at least ten.” He laughed at your honesty, reaching to pull out his phone so you could type your number in. You procured your phone from its warm resting spot, taking extra care to slow your movements. Steve actually looked away from you after staring for a beat or two, his ears the same shade of pink from earlier. Cute.

“As long as we can yell at a-holes who don’t use their blinkers, sure.” Hug Liam it is. “There’s a café on 23rd and maple by the tower…”

“Queenie’s?” You finished, smiling brightly at Steve who nodded back enthusiastically. “Then it’s a date Cap.”

“Yep,” He pulled you into a surprising yet warm hug, you nose breathing him in and taking note that he smelled exactly how you thought he’d smell. All masculine and deep and smooth and rough and your brain stopped trying to think of good words to use. He offered to walk you to your sister’s house, a pensive look washing over you as you looked at the clean living room.

“What about saying goodbye to the others?”

“What, like you’re never going to see them again? Not if I can help it” He mentioned nonchalant, another blush sweeping over your face as he bluntly admitted to seeing you more than once. You only nodded, accepting defeat as he put his arm around your shoulders to keep you warm on your walk home, not that you needed it with the adrenaline coursing through your veins.

A short fifteen minute stroll of content and happy chitchat about yourselves later you were at your sibling’s door, finding the spare key in a ceramic frog just along the edge of the fish pond that sat on the left side of their stairs.

“Well this is me, see you at eleven hundred?” He smiled at you, tucking a stray hair behind your ear before placing a chaste kiss on your cheek.

“Eleven-hundred. Pleasant screams Y/N.” You outwardly giggled at his pun as he pulled back, turning towards the street and walking away with a noticeable pep in his step.

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

She was right for once.

End

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#steve rodgers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #marvel fanfiction #captain america #fanfic #avengers fanfiction

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