#fun fact I drew this while sleepy myself so that’s something

[catalystnick]

just a small drawing of the tired orange guy

[whatthefuckisasweep]

Grif

For the character ask! Sorry this took me a while, I can't copy and paste on mobile, so I waited till I got on desktop tumblr! Thank you so much for asking about him, I could go on forever lol so this is gonna be fucking LONG. Please, anyone, feel free to ask about any other character, too. These are fun.

Why I like them: Grif is, for lack of a better word, complex. On one hand, it's like, okay he's just a funny comedy character. But on the other hand, he's like every all of my favorite archetypes of a character. He's crafty but stupid, selfish but selfless, antisocial but friendly, the straight man but the dramatic guy, he's snarky but oddly caring: the reluctant hero. It's kind of paradoxical, and I feel like not only do I relate to him, but I just really enjoy him overall. Whether it's because he's a good brother, being a complete dickbag because he doesn't know how to handle emotions, being a complete cynic on the battlefield, or being hyperactive and snappy, it's just... ah. He. Everything in his life just happens, and he has to deal with it, and yeah he'll kick and pout and probably eat everything but in the end, he's gonna choose his family and he cares deeply... even when he can't really show it.

Why I don’t: I see this a lot in myself too - the fact that he's impulsive and inherently negative when he speaks specifically. his words don't match his actions. He often doesn't hesitate when it comes to making negative comments because they are easier than saying something nice, but what his intentions are are completely different. in other words, he's a jerk, lol. Especially in season 15. I know people felt bad for him because he was partially right and went insane on Iris, but he lowkey deserved it. He said he hated his friends, and even his closest friend. He didn't want to admit that he was a good person just because he didn't want to help. yeah, it was valid, but he needs to learn how to make a case without fucking everyone emotionally and being so clammed up. >:/ sometimes it feels like he regresses in character, as much as he's matured. i guess that's realistic and just the writers making comedy, but also the way he handles Doc specifically irks me. so mean spirited for no reason, as funny as it is.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): OH MY GOD, okay, literally, every single episode with Grif starring as a main is fucking gold. I think for this I'm going to say, uh, This One Goes to Eleven. Even though it's not Grif-centric, it's the episode that's my favorite overall because it introduced me to RvB and made me like Grif right away, simply because he was attacked so much and I felt so bad for him. Another great one that sticks out right now in my sleep deprived state, is Grif does a Rescue. Augh. And the episode where Grif and Simmons get stuck underground in the caves.

Favorite season/movie: Season 8 (shotgun!!!, hyperactive ai grif), Season 11 (hanging in the canyon with simmons), Season 4 (the tank and blue simmons w/ grif), Season 5/6 (kai and rat's nest), Season 12/13 (the recruits, grif building the snowmen), Season 14 (backstory with simmons, Room Zero), Season 15 (you know why)

Favorite line: OK, don't make me choose. There are SO many that are good!!! I think one of my most favorite things that Grif says is "yoink!" It's so adorable! I also really enjoy "BLUEEE TEAAAAM SUCKKKKKS" with his epsilon double, the whole "invisible nap" scene, "what are we, on a date?"/"I can tell you what we weren't doing", "no one made me, I made me", "WERE GONNA FUCKING DIE" when charging at the meta, "that's a figure of speech?" [when carolina says im so hungry i could eat a horse is a figure of speech], "dexta grif he who shall not be messed with!"... I'm sure I'm missing a lot, he has SO many snarky funny lines, but these are some off the top of my head.

Favorite outfit: LOL THIS IS SUCH A FUNNY QUESTION BECAUSE THIS IS RVB. HAHAHA. Uh. Season 6 probably. I just like Halo 3 Graphics. Also s14 Room Zero because THEY DREW HIM FAT CANONICALLY. THANK YOU.

OTP: I'm with the majority of people in the fandom who like Grimmons! I think Grimmons is the only ship that I really vocally ship with my whole heart besides OC ships. I just very much enjoy their dynamic -- it's very angsty, dialogue full, intimate yet so unspoken. It's just a really good pair to write about and see the development of through canon. And, not to mention... season 15... hrk...

Brotp: I really REALLY want grif/tucker, grif/church, grif/locus BROTP. SO SO SO BAD. I've always seen grif and tucker as bros, grif and church are HILARIOUS together and we were ROBBED of more time together, and grif and locus are fucking adorable.

Head Canon: I have a lot of headcanons about Grif, but one of my favorite ones is that he has half-lidded eyes, like he's always sleepy. I also headcanon him as bisexual, though I think that is a popular headcanon!

Unpopular opinion: I dunno if I have super unpopular opinions about Grif... maybe that I think that his labryinth wasn't as bad as it seems at first? A lot of people seemed to think that though, yknow. Like if you look deeply into it, it's actually kinda fucked. But I feel like we should have gotten the Hawaii scene anyways. Hm. I also didn't like how they altered the canon so that Grif wasn't drafted. I think it does add something to his char that he chose to go, but I always really liked the aspect that Grif didn't control that, and yet he still did this on purpose. He was good on purpose.

A wish: A badass Grif carchase scene for the love of FUCK. We need to have him drive more stuff !!!!!!!!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Have him betray the reds -- i think every other red has betrayed the team at some point. please god for the love of god dont do this to grif. it really adds and says something about his character that he doesn't ever betray his team.

5 words to best describe them: (eye roll) eh. fuck it.

My nickname for them: this isn't really my nickname, since I mostly just call him grif -- but 'gif'. It's cute, and my QPP came up with it! I also really like dex. augh

[yeahimaloser]

Happy Birthday My Love

Hi everyone!

So I wanted to write some cute Keigo birthday fluff, so here you go!

Please read: in this one-shot, you and Keigo do have a kid, but I didn’t put any features of him. So it’s still all gender inclusive! Just wanted to put that out there!

No pronouns mentioned

Keigo loves his birthday, only because you make it so special. 

Enjoy!

Requests are open

….

Keigo sighed as he arrived home.

Today was his birthday, the only problem was, crime didn’t stop even on someone's birthday. Especially his.

He had been dealing with villains and hero reports all day; to say he was exhausted would be an understatement. 

He didn’t celebrate his birthday all that much. For him, he didn’t care all that much. His childhood birthdays were normally him with a slice of cake if he was lucky enough. Considering the fact that his mother barely had any time for him, and his father didn’t actually care about him, his birthday was never a day to look forward to. But, when he had met you, that had changed. You wanted him to enjoy his birthday. You wanted him to actually like it instead of just putting up with the day. Even if he just wanted to lay around the house and do nothing on his special day, you always made it entertaining. Always finding a way to lift his spirits on his birthday, it surprised him every year how much thought you put into the day. After you two had been blessed with your son, Keigo found that he genuinely started to appreciate the day. 

Whenever it was you or his son's birthday, he always found himself going all out for the event. For him, money was never an issue; if he had to spend a lot of it just to see his son's happy smile beaming up at him, it was worth it in his mind. As for you, any present that he thought you would like he wouldn't hesitate to grab it instantly, not even checking the price. You told him once how much you didn’t care about anything expensive, as long as it came from him. He told you in return how he loved seeing your shocked face whenever he got you something so outlandishly expensive. Perhaps he did spoil you two, but he always found it to be worth it. With his son, all he wanted to do was see him happy, to make sure his childhood was one of happy, enjoyable memories, he wanted to give his son the exact opposite kind of childhood he had. As for you, well, Keigo would admit he felt like a bad partner for having to leave you for missions. So, when it was your birthday, Keigo tried his best to show you how much you meant to him. It helped a lot that after he gave you his mountain of gifts, you would always cuddle up to him.

Yet, when it was his birthday, he couldn’t help but feel bad for you two. He would always admit he was a bit hard to shop for, and it didn’t make it any better that his birthday was near the holidays. He knew that finding presents were hard for you to find for him, he kept telling you how he really didn’t mind having any presents, as long as he got to spend some time with you and his son.

But he remembered what his son, Kyo, had said to him, “But Daddy, your presents are always so cool! So, we need to find you a cooler present!” Keigo just ruffled the boy’s hair, saying, “Anything from you two would be amazing, kiddo.”

He chuckled at the memory, he wished he could have spent more time with Kyo today. His son was one of the most important reasons he was still a hero. He loved coming home to see Kyo’s proud face whenever Keigo told him about a bad guy he had stopped, or how he saved helpless civilians. He just loved coming home from work to see Kyo’s smiling, proud face.

But, he also wished he could have spent more time with you too. Being a hero came with many perks, but the one that he loved the most was how pampered you made him feel when he came home tired and needy for some snuggles. You would always softly preen his wings, help him into some comfy clothes, and let him envelop you in a warm embrace. Some days, he would get especially needy; when he would get home on his needy days, he would immediately grab your hips, telling you how much he wanted your attention. Some days you would happily oblige him, others you would be too busy. But at the end of the day, you also wanted to cuddle up to your whiny bird of a man.

However, on his birthday, he got twice the service from you. After he would spend some time with both you and Kyo, and after, Kyo either goes to bed or decides to go to his room to play with his toys. Then, after he was tucked in, you offered Keigo a nice massage and some warm tea. After which, he always got major cuddles, from you playing with his hair to you lightly stroking his chest as you laid your head lightly on his shoulder. To be perfectly honest, the thing he loved most about his birthday was spending it with his family. 

So, Keigo unlocked the door to his house, still thinking about how much he wanted to be cuddled up with you.

He didn’t even take one step through his doorway till he was greeted with his son running up and hugging his leg, “Daddy! Your home! Happy birthday!” 

Keigo bent down, “Hey there kiddo! Thank you, Kyo, where’s-”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw you walk into the room. Keigo wasn’t expecting you to be all dressed up, he did get home late, but he sure was not expecting to see you in a flour filled apron. 

There was some of the white powder, which he assumed to be some sort of baking ingredient, in your hair. Your apron looked like it had been washed out in the powder. Well, he surely wasn’t expecting to come home to see you like this.

He laughed lightly, walking over to you and lightly wiping it away, giving you a little kiss on your cheek in the process. 

“What’s all this for,” he couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice. Before you could respond, Kyo cut in, “We made you dinner and a cake, Daddy! It was really fun, but we got flour everywhere.” 

You chuckled, “Yeah but we cleaned it up. Hey, Kyo? Can you do me a favor and show me how much of a big boy you are by setting up the table for daddy’s birthday dinner?”

Kyo nodded excitedly, being the son of the Hawks made him want to show how responsible he was. You and Keigo both knew he wanted to show you two how mature he could be, even though he was only 6. Kyo was a lot like Keigo in regards to how passionate he was, he wanted to show you two that he was a “big boy”. You both found it to be adorable.

As Kyo ran off to the kitchen, you turned back to Keigo. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, leaning into him more. Even if you had flour all over you, Keigo could care less. This whole day he was looking forward to holding you in his arms. He wasn’t about to let some powder get in the way of that. “Mmmm, how was your day honey,” he asked you. You chuckled against him, “I should be asking you that, it’s your birthday. I’m sorry, you probably had so much work to do, so,” you pulled away, making Keigo whine a bit, you rolled your eyes at him, “Kyo and I just want you to have a relaxing evening.”

He brought his hand up to cup your cheek lightly, smiling, “Baby, anything with you two will make my day.” 

You smirked, “Ok Mr. Sweet Talker,” just then, Kyo walked in, announcing that he was done preparing the table.

The three of you sat down and you pulled out the chicken to see Keigo’s hungry eyes stare at it.

“You two know me way too well.”

Dinner was spent with laughter and Keigo telling little Kyo stories about him beating up criminals, keeping everyone safe. Kyo looked at his father with admiration, he loved when Keigo would share his work stories. You too listened, just basking in your love’s presence.

Then, after Keigo had polished off his chicken, you brought out the cake.

“Daddy! I decorated it myself,” Kyo exclaimed proudly, Keigo couldn’t help but adore the look of excitement on his son's face. When you brought out the cake, he saw that it had a very crude drawing of him, Kyo, and you on the surface of the cake. It was obvious a child had drawn it, but Keigo thought it was amazing.

“You drew that?” he asked the boy, Kyo nodded back, excitedly. Keigo looked over at you to see you giggling. “Well, I didn’t know you could draw so well,” Keigo said excitedly. 

Kyo just giggled, “Come on Daddy cut the cake, I’m still hungry!”

He smiled, kissing Kyo on the forehead before cutting the cake. After Kyo had his slice, you two noticed that he had gotten sleepy.

“Kyo, honey,” you asked, “do you wanna go to bed? You look so tired.”

But Kyo shook his head, “No! It’s Daddy’s birthday! I wanna make his day really fun!”

Keigo just chuckled, patting his son's head lightly, “Buddy, you already made my day. You decorated my cake and helped make chicken for me. You already made my day perfect.”

Finally, you and Keigo convinced Kyo to go to sleep.

After the boy had gone to sleep, you decided to clean up. Keigo sat at the table, polishing off his cake. You decided to turn on some nice music while you finished cleaning, humming a bit to yourself; the whole thing was relaxing, normal even. The light scraping of Keigo trying to get every crumb of cake into his mouth.

“Careful there, Kei, you don’t wanna get a stomach ache,” you scolded lightly.

But Keigo just smirked, he stood up from his chair, making his way over to you. He let his hands drop to your hips, swaying you back and forth as romantic music played in the background. He placed his head in between the junction between your neck and shoulder blade. Still swaying with you, he lightly kissed your neck and shoulder, causing you to shudder. This was one of Keigo Takami’s charms, being able to romance you in any situation, how he did it you will never know. It’s like he always says, “I have a problem holding back sometimes.”

“Come on Dove, dance with me,” he whispered before kissing the shell of your ear.

 You giggled a bit, “Keigo, I have to finish cleaning.”

He just groaned into your neck, “Come on, I thought it was my birthday. Are you not gonna grant the man you love his birthday wish? That's a bit mean of you, baby.”

You turned back to him, making his hands go to your waist, still swaying you to the music. You placed your hands around his neck, pulling him in closer. 

He lived for moments like this, where you two were a normal couple: he wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t concerned about anyone's safety, he’s only concern was being with you, holding you to him. He wished moments like these would last forever, he wished he could hold you and Kyo as you three had relaxing days like these.

You rubbed your hands over his back, rubbing the sore muscles near his wings. He groaned as you did so, it was a relaxed kind of groan, as if he had been carrying all his stress on his back.

“Aww, you ok baby? Hard day flying,” you asked.

But Keigo just nuzzled his body closer to yours, swaying you back and forth, leaving a little kiss on your forehead, “I’m ok now that I’m home, honey. Thank you for today.”

You chuckled against him, “Thank you, Kei, but we didn’t even get you any presents.”

He pulled his face from your neck, “Who cares? I got to spend time with the two people I love, I couldn’t ask for a better birthday. I don’t need some fancy gifts or some sort of big party, just you and my son. The two people I love the most.” 

You smiled, leaning closer to him, he met you halfway, meshing his lips against yours. Still swaying you to the music, the kiss was playful, a cute tugging at your lips, a loving embrace you two shared.

It was all perfect. 

[holycow99]

石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 8

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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(t/n: ** means translation may not be accurate.)

*He started drawing choujin X.

I: I’m gonna do my work. It’s gonna be a work streaming onwards. Whoever is sleepy can sleep.

*Showing the screen.

I: This is the 2nd chapter. I’m doing this for the magazine. Even though I’ve done this chapter before, I’m still drawing it. This is what I’ve been doing.  Pitiful, isn’t it? I’m doing this because I want to though. Then, I’m gonna casually draw this for a bit.

C: Looks tough.

I: Not at all. Which page should I do? So exciting!

I: The bgm is called Cry by Queen Bee.

I: I wasn’t told to do this by Young Jump or anything. I voluntarily wanted to do it. I asked them to let me do it.

C: Tell us your favourite panel.

I: Hmm…I wonder. I don’t know.

I: I’ve been doing the manuscript by myself, along with the background as a challenge. When I was able draw the background pretty well, I thought, surprisingly, working this way was better. So, I got carried away and had fun drawing them. I drew too much to the point the pages piled up. It didn’t need these many pages. You can’t have these many pages for the comic, so it’s difficult. The 70 something pages for chapter 2 is gonna be compressed to fit the magazine. I feel embarrassed. I was like “what is this super big spread?!”

I: My goal is to update 3 chapters this month while creating chapter 2 ver 2, and there are coloured parts in between the pages for the magazine. I’m not supposed to do that either… It’s troublesome.

*Someone commented there’s a weird URL. (t/n: the highlight of the stream.)

I: There’s a weird URL? Should I delete it? Which one? Oh, it’s an R-18 URL. “Hot Girls and Boys”. This is definitely an adult URL! Maybe I should check out. Hahaha! I’ll pin this message! What should I do with it? Then…I’m blocking it.

C: Sensei, check it out for us.

I: I’ll take a look at it for a bit later. The virus might corrupt my manuscripts.

C: That’ll be a problem.

I: Do you mean me pinning the message? Oh, you mean my manuscript getting corrupted. That’s okay. It’ll be a corrupted version of chapter 2. The virus version. I have to quickly make ver.3 if that happens. Choujin X adult ver. Adult sites often put X in their URL. That kind of info came out when I searched about the letter ‘X’. Therefore, I wanna do that kind of collaboration, please. I’ll be waiting for it. To shueisha, To Ninohara Matsuo, please make it happen. I’m looking forward to your cooperation.

*Someone commented for him to try get his files corrupted by adult site’s virus for the 30,000 commemoration.

I: That’s a good idea! Try getting corrupted by pc virus. Let’s do it, by all means. Don’t hesitate to tell me any sites filled with virus.

*People commented they can see the comment being pinned.

I: It’s because it’s being pinned. Really? I can’t even unpin it! Why? Amazing. The comment is strong. How about If I randomly pin another comment? Is there any interesting comment? MM, comment something interesting.

*The comments had already been unpinned.

I: I don’t know whether MM is still here or not. They must use the word ‘On the contrary’ in the comment. Something like, “On the contrary, adult sites are…” That person only comment contradictory stuffs.

C: MM’s syntax.

I: That’s a nice one. “On the contrary,…” even though it isn’t. Has MM gone? I’m curious. Maybe he’s thinking of what “on the contrary” stuff to comment. “On the contrary, open the URL.” Haha. “On the contrary, try getting corrupted by the virus.” On the contrary, how about I spread the virus to you guys? You’ll see adult stuffs if you open it.

*Someone commented Ishida would be on Yahoo News if that happened.

I: That’s good. Let’s do it. I’ll add trying to spread the virus into the 30,000 subscribers’ commemoration proposal.

C: I can’t handle the virus.

I: That’s right. The pc will be heavy if there’s virus.

*Someone asked why he wanted to be a mangaka.

I: I’ve told this before, but because I didn’t wanna get a job. I thought it’d be easy being a mangaka. Then, I thought of retiring when I was in my 30s after I’ve earned enough money. Haha. I thought of having an easy life. These were my thoughts when I was 19. But reality is…how do I put it? There’s still more to life.

C: Is it as what you’ve planned?

I: Is it? I did become a mangaka. I’m amazed by that fact. I wondered whether I was gonna be one when I was aiming for it. I thought of being a mangaka and I really did become one.

C: What anime did you obsessed with lately?

I: I don’t have one. I’ve been watching movies only. I watch them if the anime is the laid-back, calming type.

*Ishida mentioned that Goubaru started doing something so passionately, but he couldn’t understand why Goubaru’s doing it. Goubaru tried to explain to Ishida but he was unable to understand what he’s doing anymore in the end. Ishida ended up giving advice to Goubaru.

(t/n: I couldn’t translate the part above properly, so I just summarized it.)

* The adult websites comment came back in the chat.

I: It’s here again. This thing is super famous. I’ve blocked them though. Should I block it? How should I do it? Report it or using moderator? What is moderator? Something like a management or some sort? Would it disappear if I report it?  

C: Moderator is someone who’d ban it for you.

I: I see. A guard. That’s good. But if the moderator is a nasty person, like S******, they’ll ban stuffs randomly. They’ll be playing around with it.

*Talking about the weird comment again.

I: Erotic websites also appear in my stream. Isn’t it amazing? The only thing I’ve got before was a URL for a ramen blog. I should’ve taken a look at the site secretly after that. It was a ramen blog, but the name of the blog was something related to excretion.

*Ishida imitating the ramen blog’s comment.

I: “I’ve written reviews about ramen that I ate.” The content is okay, but the blog name is…, but he might’ve been a good person. But he’s probably not if he put out his url there. Like what are you trying to promote? I’m still regretting not taking a look at it.

*Ishida finding page to draw.

I: I’ll draw this. It looks fun. Is it okay for me to show these drawings? Well, you’re gonna read this in Tonari Young Jump in the end. I’ve drawn it, so it’s okay.

C: Until what time are you gonna stream?

I: I haven’t decided it.

C: You’ve been streaming for almost 4 hours.

I: That’s nice. This can be a record.

*Someone asked if he’s day and night became reverse when working at home.

I: Yes, definitely. That’s basically what’s happening now. I’m currently a nocturnal maybe. I wake up at wrong hours.

*Searching for bgm

C: Please play something that wouldn’t get you banned.

I: I won’t be banned, but I’ll get a copyright notice, just like Juuzou’s video. I got a notice saying I wasn’t allowed to monetise the video. I wasn’t going to. I can’t play songs I usually play because of the copyright.

C: Try getting your account banned for the commemoration project.

C: Copyright is bothersome.

I: You can’t help it. Everyone is protected that way.

*Ishida forgetting Chandra/Chandler’s outfit.

I: Did he wear a tie? He does, doesn’t he? Ah, he does.

C: It looks like Animal Rap at a glance.

I: Quite a while ago, I forgot if it was the drawing stream or not, I was drawing while animal rap videos were playing, right? During the night of the day chapter 2 was released probably, I did a streaming with animal rap videos playing on the screen. I said I wanted to see the final battle. I thought of uploading animal rap video after the stream. Now, I can start uploading them. I’ll upload animal rap video while drawing Choujin X. Need to see the conclusion of it. Are you guys anticipating it? Haha. I’m the one who anticipates it the most.

C: I wan you to bring back the Vtuber.

I: That thing? It’s a nuisance. Hahaha.

C: Is the name of the smoke guy supposed to be Chandra or it is translation error?

I: Is there translation error? I don’t know though.

I: I’ve drawn until B Block’s match for Animal Rap. The 2nd match is over, so another 4 matches to go? Or 3 matches? Huh? Let me scribble (the matches’ chart) , since I’m dumb. It’s like this, right? Until which match did I draw? I’ve drawn the B Block’s matches but I haven’t uploaded them yet. So, I have another 3 matches. So fast! The first match was super long.

*Someone wanted Animal Rap to continue forever.

I: That’s tough. Endless stuffs are tough. It’s good because it ends.

Part 9

[rainyjackalope]

Just for fun while not feelin great I drew my Jellycat Dexter plushie. I was really fortunate in that I bought the biggest one before it...seemed to just vanish?? But he's been my nightly snuggle buddy and I love doodling him so I did this as a comforting lil drawing for myself He's a good sleepy boy I love walking in the bedroom to see him in his naturally curled up snoozy position like he's napping, what a lad Anyway I was kinda inspired to do more 'full' pieces (shaded, maybe bg elements more often) since I don't really anymore. Funny enough looking through my ancient art made me want to because I'd do drawings like this alllll the time, not really caring if things weren't 'perfect' (because I mean...they can't be! but tell that to adult me's brain) I also used to draw some more random things like fanart and gift art and animals and such, which I'm like...afraid to do anymore or something. Like I have to draw an oc in every piece, but that's kinda weird to feel like, so I'mma draw whatever comes to mind from now on Art should just be fun. The fact I can think of a thing to draw and just draw it and make it exist is super cool and I want to go back to that feeling of empowerment Expect more art of plushies bc I LOVE my plushies sm ;;

[octupus-on-the-moon]

A roommate

~Hi :l I know, I know, I'll update regularly my ass. The good news are, that i wrote a lot. My Star Wars obsession is back and i started to write a fic about it and I'm writing a Short Story about Sam. Sooo i got distracted. But I sat down yesterday and got some writing done here aaaand I made a Masterlist, linked over here. I shut up now, have fun ;)~

《 Previous -- Masterlist -- Next 》

Seventh part of a nightmare

Word count: 1542

Pairing: Bucky × Reader

Warning: Mental health issues

It was a long rough night. For both. The silences and darkness prevented Barnes from sleeping, he doze off a few times just to wake up, sweating and panting. Thinking about all the horrible things his Alter Ego did, what he did. Even though Bucky really wanted to stand up stretch a little and turn on the lights, but he did not, because he feared he might wake up y/n and needed to explain himself. So, he kept sitting on the cold floor, waiting for the sunrise.

On the other side of the door y/n, wasn´t having a better time either. The whole thing with her father was slowly driving her crazy. She replayed every single memory she ever had of him. And suddenly there were little but clear hints about his other life. Strange man in black suits, that came to visit them. Her dad every once in a while, disappearing for a few hours just to come back with a present, telling y/n that he had work to do outside. And the panic he managed to hide in front of everyone but her, when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell and the media went wild. It started to make sense. Everything started to make sense. And it scared y/n, because a little part of her did not want it to be real. To calm herself down y/n was walking around the room, playing with her hair, picking on her skin. She was tempted to open the door, but on a second thought, y/n did not want to intrude in James’s space. She was already a burden enough.

Holding that thought y/n, decided to try and sleep. Under the blankets she stared at the ceiling. Y/n could hear almost anything that happened in the apartment. The quiet humming of the fridge. The steady leak in the bathroom sink. The fluttering of the curtain and obviously the sounds of the Big City, that came through the open window. The only thing she could not hear at all was James.

Finally, her curiosity won.

On tip toes y/n stood up and went to the door. Every little noise in this apartment could be heard from the bed. Everything but him. Was he meditating? Did he leave? Did he die from a strange disease from one moment to another? She was about to laugh about her own silly ideas. Preventing it by putting a hand over her mouth, while the other one slowly lowered the door handle. It opened easy without making any sound. Y/n took two light steps ahead and looked over the edge into the living room.

As she saw James leaning upright against the wall, she hid herself behind the wall. Nothing happened. Once again, she leaned over the edge. He did not move. He was sleeping. Y/n took a deeper look on to the scene before her. Mr. Nakajima’s Mattress was carefully placed on the wall, besides the TV. James was sitting on the opposite side of it, between the armchair and the only chair he had. The head straight up as if he were looking at the ceiling. Under the long-sleeved t-shirt, he was wearing, you could see the singular shapes of the metal arm. His legs stretched out in front of him wrapped in a dark blanket. The curtain was closed, but the window was open, so that the thin fabric flooded up every few moments and the street lights submerged the room in a strange light.

Y/n did not know how long she admired the scene. Every little detail consumed her in that quiet night. Then the magic broke.

James set himself up, struggling for air, gripping the blanket with one hand, putting the other one on his chest. Taking one heavy breath after the other. To just break down against the wall again. Y/n froze. She was not meant to see that, but she could not move without drawing his attention to her. Y/n kept observing the scene, that had lost all its charm. The room was cold, because of the wind that came through the open window. The furniture lost its shape, turning into threating shadows. In between, James suddenly seemed so small and lost. He forced his breath to slow down. It took him a few tries, and when he hesitantly drew his knees to his chest, something inside her broke. Her face grew cold. Eyes narrow, Lips pressed together. Her fist closed tight.

Even though she long thought of him as a monster, now she decided to make everyone pay, who was responsible for this. If this sudden feeling came, because it reminded her of someone long lost or because the person in front of her was scared child, instead of the strong Avenger she thought he became, did not matter.

James started to become more conscious of his surroundings as he calmed down. Y/n took the moment of confusion and escaped silently to her room.

The first rays of light from the morning sun, vanished the cold shadows of the moon. After sleeping a few hours, y/n got up of her bed full of zest for action. It was not enough sleep, but nothing that a good coffee could not solve. While she hurried to the bathroom, y/n noticed that James was still sleeping, rolled up in the same place she left him last night. With a smile she brushed her hair and teeth. Y/n planned a little surprise for him, that would work even better if he slept a little longer.

After y/n dressed up, made a good coffee, drank a cup and left a little note for James. She went out to buy some things for her host. The usual stuff. Food, easy to cook for one person; Some good wine; Toilet paper; soap, etc. As she passed a little Flower shop y/n had an idea and went inside.

 With all hands full of bags, she carefully balanced her way to the door of the apartment. Then it struck her. She did not have any keys. Rolling her eyes sighting, y/n slowly let all bags down to the floor. Taking a quick look on her wristwatch, that told y/n it was almost noon, she decided to knock.

Like the last time y/n heard some mumbling and quick steps behind the door. With the same sleepy face of the first time Bucky greeted y/n. When he registered all the bags on the floor, his face lit up in astonishment. It was a really long time ago someone went grocery shopping for him.

Y/n and Bucky brought everything to the kitchen, both equally excited about all the bags.

“Why and what did you buy?” Barnes asked with a soft smile and a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Oh, just some food aaaaand” Y/n was searching through the bags “Some little plants” she finished showing him a little pot with a tiny round cactus. “Because you need food and taking care of plants is fun, apart from the obvious fact that they look great”

“Wow” was the only response from Bucky. The little plants reminded him of Wakanda, they were not exactly goats, but y/n bought a lot of them so he would have enough to do every day.  

The Sunday rushed by between cocking their late-late-breakfast, eating and talking, repotting the plants, looking for the best place for all the little flowers, cactuses and little bushes and last but not least cooking their on-time-dinner. As the sun sets, both were sitting on the living room floor enjoying a bottle of wine, surrounded by little colorful pots.

“I didn´t think you could cook, it was delicious” Bucky commented looking down on the empty plates.

“Thank you. Yeah rich-girl-complex doesn´t work with me. I like doing stuff myself and I lived alone a few years.”

“Well, you really didn´t seem that kind of girl, but you also don´t seem that kind of girl that likes doing domestic tasks” He took a sip of his wine, without letting her out of sight.

“Good point, but I think that isn´t a gender-relevant-thing everyone should be able to take care of themselves”

“Agreed. I´ll cook the next time”  

“Agreed too, this place looks great by the way” Y/n praised as she took another look around the room.

“Yes, you were right plants do look fantastic” Bucky approved with a soft smile.

“Oh I bought something else” Y/n jumped up and went to the bedroom. He took another sip of his wine frowning. Then she came back with two Books “These two are my favorite” y/n explained holding them up “Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis”

“How did you? Never mind. Thank you” Barnes reached out for the books beaming as if it were Christmas. Y/n gave them to him, sitting down, studying his expressions. She was nervous at first, because she did not know if he would like them, but the smile told her everything. She relaxed, reaching for her glass.  

“Can we read them together?”  Bucky suddenly asked, after reading the backs and observing the covers awhile “No pressure, if you already…” His shy stutter got interrupted

“Of course”

All rights reserved.

~I loved writing this one, it was really fun and I love its vibe. If I'm intruding too much into the reader character, I'm sorry, I'm really trying not to~

《Previous -- Masterlist -- Next》

[fichtner-fics]

Christmas Miracle (Alex Mahone)

Warnings: none (besides some spoilers in the context describing, mention about family problems (just a few words)), in contrary TOO MUCH FLUFF AND CUTENESS OMG my heart just can’t take that

Context: So this is a bit out of the PB storyline. Cameron, Alex’s son is alive, but Pam is not in the picture at all. I didn’t exactly clarified, where she is or what has happened to her (she’s not necessarily dead), and from the point of this fic it doesn’t matter. What does matter: Cameron is five (just like in the serie), living with his dad, spending so much time with Y/N (who isn’t from the office, not even working in law-enforcement). And the rest is down there, I just wanted to explain the basics. 😊

A/N: So I thought it would be nice to surprise you with a little Christmassy-Mahone, with so much fluff, cuteness, love, joy, gingerbread and sparkles. This is the end result. ✨  (2298 words??? sorry I was just typing and suddenly it happened) (I’m already visualising a secod part of this, help, things started to get out of my control)

Originally I wanted to post this on the 22nd, BUT I JUST COULDN’T WAIT YOUR REACTIONS so tell me tell me whatever you think about this. 😭😭

I know this is quite early to say, but I want y’all to have yourself a very happy, merry, holy, jolly, fun Christmas, take care yourselves, and rest as much as you can. We all have things to recover from, so let this period be that recovery’s time. Thank you all for making my 2020 whole, giving me some light during these shadowy times. It is such an adventure which started this year. ❤

I know I have 2 requests pending, I’ll start the next year with them. Pinky promise!

[yeah, that’s Carl Hickman on the gif, but as I realized there’s no footage in the wide Internet of Mahone smiling so I had to improvise😆; gif’s from here, thank you!]

Alex and I were friends for such a long time. Though during his marriage we hadn’t seen each other as frequently, our friendship remained. What’s more, since they split up with Pam and he was left alone with his son, I was the first person he came to. I usually cooked them and spent so much time with the little boy. We grew closer and closer – with both of the boys. With Cameron in the sense of a mother-son relationship and with his father… well, I fell in love with him, and I was quite sure that he felt almost the same way. There was nothing on Earth I would enjoy more than our long nights with deep conversations and a cup of tea, which happened pleasantly often. We could talk about anything and everything, he shared with me all his ups and downs, everything at the office, in his (ended) marriage, and vice versa. I didn’t have a failed marriage to talk about, but given my drunk father, I had some things to share about as well. Long story short, basically we would just have to say things out loud to become a couple.

Given Alex had to work late (unfortunately) on the 25th of December, he asked me to look after Cameron, which I took happily. I already planned our whole day during the night before, so I arrived with decided plans at their house.

First things first, we of course bake some gingerbread to build a house. When finally it wasn’t hot, I put everything on the table and called Cameron. While I was gathering some tools missing, he took the plate in front of him.

“We won’t have anything left to build the house if you keep eating all those gingerbreads” I said laughing and messing up little Cameron’s hair. He giggled but kept chewing a gingerbread man’s leg. “And tell me” I asked, sitting on the chair next to him “what did you wrote on your list?”

While I was waiting for him to answer, I started to prepare the frosting and the tubes with coloured icing in them.

“I asked a huge… truck…” he said excitedly. “With a remote controller. And a toolbox for myself, because daddy has his own, and I want to help him repair things. And some Lego!”

“That’s amazing. You will have so much fun with these” I smiled at him. “Give me two sidewalls, please” I said after finishing the preparation of the necessities. It wasn’t the funniest part of making the house for a five-year-old, but I hoped that by involving Cameron in the process would cheer him a bit. I put some frosting on the sides of the gingerbread, then glued two pieces together.

“And I asked a gun, too” he said suddenly, while we were holding the pieces to stick. I laughed in surprise.

“Like daddy’s” I presumed.

“Yes” the little boy chuckled again. “To fight the bad guys, so daddy don’t have to do it alone. And you know what else?” he whispered, leaning close to my ear. His huge, brown eyes sparkled in excitement, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“What else?” I whispered back, pecking his cute cheeks.

“I asked for you to be my mommy” he said out finally, scanning my face just to see my reaction.

At first, I couldn’t find the words. Just in a half second all our shared little tender moments with Alex flew in front of my eyes and suddenly I was aching for his love even stronger. I was so in love with him, I would do anything to know he feels the same. And of course, I was fond of this little boy, too. I already imagined the tree of us being a real, whole family.

“Aww, you’re so sweet, darling” I hugged him finally. He put his little arms around my neck and hugged back tightly. Luckily the frosting between the two gingerbread parts was stiff enough now to stand alone. “That would be my best Christmas present, too” I said quietly.

After our little squeeze-session, Cam helped me piping frosting and icing, pouring sprinkles and gluing sweets on the gingerbread roof with some syrup. Of course, at the end he looked like he was the one who had been decorated, but it was nothing a solid wash wouldn’t fix.

Rest of the day passed by with playing, laughing, and while he had his daytime nap I rested too. When I noticed the snow started to fall, I got so excited for Cam to wake up and see it.

It was around 4pm when I heard some noise from his room, so I went to take a look. He was sitting up in his bed with cute messy hair and sleepy eyes.

“Good morning, my sweetheart” I whispered happily. I sat next to him on the bed, letting him to lay on my lap. I started to play with his soft hair. “Did you sleep well?” I murmured. He was to drowsy yet, but his waggish smile already sparkled on his face.

“Yes. And… I dreamt about stars and reindeers” he said after a yawn. “And you and daddy and I was playing in the snow, really.” 

“I’m so happy you dreamt these nice things” I smiled at him, gently touching his nose. Talking about it reminded me the fact that it was actually snowing outside.

“Hey, you want to see something amazing?” I asked after some minutes, leaving him stretching a bit and playing with his plush rabbit. When he agreed in a quiet, husky little voice, I took him, and we left the room.

Cameron stayed in my arms as we stood in front of the window in the living room. We were watching the silently falling, huge snow-petals. I was surprised that he didn’t change his mind after a few minutes and wanted to play or do anything else – he was unusually cuddly that day. He just leant to my chest with his thumb in mouth, breathing quietly while I was slowly rocking him. There were no lights on in the house besides the light garland’s yellow twinkle on the Christmas tree, which gave such a warmness to the room. It was just the two of us, the snow and the spirit of Christmas around us.

“Are you awake, honey?” I whispered, because I thought he fell back asleep. Feeling him nodding made me smile. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Can we go out for a walk?” he asked in a dreamy voice.

“We should wait for your dad to come home” I suggested. “If he arrives and it’s okay for him, we can go and check the Christmas lights in the street. How does it sound?” I placed a kiss in his hazel brown curls.

It was his first thing to ask when Alex entered the house a few hours later. He said yes of course, so we put on some warm clothes, and left. Cameron ran forward, leaving us slowly mooning behind him.

“Did your day went well?” Mahone asked quietly.

“Yeah” I looked at him. “We built a gingerbread house, which you could see only in its ruins, because Cam pretended to be a shark and… bite the roof off” I laughed. “We played hide and seek, drew some amazing pictures and while he took his nap, I finally finished my book.”

“I’m glad to hear” Alex nodded. As we walked, he suddenly offered me his arm. I glanced at him, and with cheeks turned into rose I accepted the gesture. “Thank you for being here for us” Alex whispered. “I have no idea what I would do without you. Truly.”

I smiled but remained silent, only fixing Cameron standing mesmerized in front of a huge, sparkling snowman statue. His words came up in my mind, and at that moment I decided not to let the moment go.

“Did he tell you what’s he wishing for?” I asked innocently.

“You mean the gun?” Alex burst out in laugh. “Yeah, well, he won’t get that one. Not yet” he shook his head. I refused the temptation of rolling my eyes.

“Mommy look” Cameron shouted when we finally reached where he stood. Timing is perfect, little guy, I thought myself.

“What did you say?” Alex asked immediately, astonished. I remained silent, curiously waiting for what was going to happen. “Since when do you call Y/N mom?”

“It’s a secret, dad” said the little boy. “Only Santa has to know, and mommy has to know” he added, while nodding seriously. Then he took my hand and started to pull me where he saw the thing he wanted to show me. Alex just frowned more, but this time looking at me, waiting for a proper answer.

“It’s on his list” I mouthed while smiling wide at the confused agent. I only hoped this is enough information him to understand the situation. Letting him go, I crouched next to Cameron, to look at a little sheep in a Nativity Scene he was excited about.

“Look at him, he’s so cute” I said kissing the little boy’s rosy, cold cheeks.

“Can we have one at home?” he looked at me. I chuckled and looked towards Mahone who stood a few steps behind us. His face surprised me. He was watching us so tenderly, with sparkling eye, slight smile glued on his lips. I felt my cheeks burn suddenly and I had to fall my eyes.

“I don’t think your dad would approve” I answered to Cam. “Go, have a look at Rudolph” I suggested, pointing towards an at least three metres tall, red reindeer-silhouette. The boy nodded, then he started running immediately.

“Don’t rush, son” Alex tried to calm him, without any effect at all of course. I stood up biting my lips, because I had no idea what the agent will say about what happened earlier. “So, what’s this between you two and Saint Nick?” he laughed as I took his arm again. We walked slow, so he could scan my face as I looked at him almost laughing in embarrassment.

“Cameron wants Santa to make me his mom” I replied shyly. “I think he wants him to be reminded. But as you heard, it’s a secret, so I shouldn’t have told this to you.”

“This means I have to wrap you and place under our tree?” he asked. I heard on his voice that he was playing. If it wasn’t for his arm, I’d fly away by happiness for sure.

“Why, do you think it’s a wish so easy to make come true?” I teased back.

“Well, this is Santa Claus we’re talking about. He can do anything” he looked at me, smiling wide.

Suddenly I felt myself ran out of words. These past three minutes made me fall for Mahone even harder, but I couldn’t imagine what was going to happen. I pulled him closer, and in the same moment he lifted his other hand to fold on mine. When I looked at him in surprise, I found his wondrously blue, sparkly eyes already fixing me. He smiled at me, and I suddenly got sure about the meaning of the word ‘Christmas miracle’.

We remained silent until finally reaching Cameron, who basically looked around in the whole street while we walked slowly after him. When he noticed us, hugged our legs.

“Hey baby” I ran through my fingers in the boy’s hair.

“Aren’t you cold, buddy? Can we go home now, you saw everything?” Alex asked.

“Yes” Cameron nodded looking up at his father, but he suddenly froze. “Look daddy, mistletoe!” he pointed above us. And he was right. We stood right under the huge reindeer, who has a great deal of mistletoe hanging in his neck. I laughed out loud, shaking my head. This only could happen in movies.

“Do you know what it means, Cam?” Alex asked his boy but smirking at me. He shook his head. “We all can wish something” Alex explained, awfully misinterpreting the whole thing. I curiously watched them, my eyes jumping from one to the other, and I couldn’t believe what Mahone was doing. “But we must close our eyes, otherwise it won’t come true” he warned his son. “I count to three, then everybody shuts their eye, okay?”

“Okay, daddy” Cameron replied, then he lifted his hands, ready to place them in front of his face. When Alex counted three and Cam covered his face, we looked at each other, and within a split second he placed his cold lips upon mines. I felt him cupping my cheeks and I pulled him closer by his waist. He let me go after a little while, but before he would completely pull away, he whispered just on my lips:

“I love you.”

“I love you too” I breathed back. Suddenly we heard Cameron bursting out in chuckling. When we looked at him, he stretched up his arms towards me, giving a sign he wants to be taken up.

“And I love you so much too” I squeezed him after lifting him in my arms, making Cam laugh even louder.

“What’s so funny, little man?” Alex asked smiling as well. He stood next to me so close, resting his hand on my waist. I looked aside at him, just to see the joy in his eyes.

“I peeked” Cameron giggled with his little hand in front of his mouth. He was so sweet I almost couldn’t bear.

“You were so fast making your wish” I said pretending some surprise. Alex laughed through his nose.

“Because I knew what I wanted to wish” the little boy rolled his eyes. “But you didn’t wish. I saw” he stated.

“What makes you think we didn’t wish?” his father asked.

“Bec…” he yawned just in the middle of his sentence. “Because you kissed Y/N, so you didn’t have time for… wishing” he grimaced by pulling up his nose impishly.

“Hey, I made one” I said while nodding. “Did you make one?” I looked at Alex.

“Of course, I did. And you know what? It came real immediately” he added, looking straight into my eyes. Cameron gasped in surprise, and Alex pressed a soft kiss on my temple.

[aster-aspera]

One love, one house

CW: food mention, loads of fluff

Relationships: romantic DLAMP

Chapter title is from sweater weather by the neighbourhood

read on ao3

Masterlist for my superhero AU

Patton loved his roommate, he really did, but he was just a little eccentric. Patton could deal with the sneaking in at hellish hours in the early morning, and the mud he tracked into the appartement and the faint smell of antiseptic and blood that was always present in their bathroom.

He could even deal with his roommate occasionally forgetting his tasks or even disappearing for days on end.

But this was just unacceptable. Patton stood in front of a near empty fridge, only a refrigerated tupperware full of noodles and a jar of pickles left.

“Virgil?” He called.

His roommate looked up at him from under his messy bangs, dark circles that seemed to take up half of his face under his eyes. He really should stop sneaking out at night. Patton had hoped he would have gotten more sleep during the holidays, but it seemed his roommate was determined to work himself into an early grave.

“What have you been eating?” He asked, pointing to the fridge.

Virgil gaped at him for a moment as the question made its way into his sleep deprived brain.

“Uhm, noodles?” He said, sounding unsure of himself.

“Just noodles?”

“And pickles, I guess.”

“During the holiday season?”

“Yes?”

Patton sighed. Virgil just continued staring at him, seemingly unaware of why Patton was so upset.

“You did eat something other than noodles on Christmas, right?” He asked, his voice edging on desperation.

“I dunno, when was Christmas?”

Patton snapped.

“Nope, this is unacceptable. I don’t care if you celebrate or not, but you should at least eat something.”

“I ate.” Virgil grumbled.

“Noodles!” Patton interjected.

“And it’s not like I had a lot of time on my hands to cook an elaborate meal.”

“One, it’s not that hard to throw some vegetables into a wok and two, what are you even doing during the holidays, it’s not like we have classes.”

Virgil looked down.

“Studying.” He mumbled.

“More like studying , with the way you look.”

“I don’t look that bad.”

“You look like a corpse, a cute corpse, but still a corpse.”

Virgil flushed and Patton had to fight not to coo. He was just so cute.

“Whatever, are you free tonight?” He continued.

“Uhh, sure? I have something at 11 though.”

“That’s fine, I’m cooking you dinner tonight and we’re going to have a little holiday celebration.”

“Patton, I don’t really celebrate Christmas.”

“It’s not about Christmas. I just want to have a nice night with my friend and while I’m at it, I want to make sure you’re eating something for once.”

“Ok, fine. We’ll have a holiday celebration.” Virgil groaned, but he didn’t seem totally against the idea.

Patton cheered.

“Okay, I’m going to pop over to the store first. We’ll need ingredients.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to bother yourself too much.”

“Nonsense, I love cooking for others. Also, we’re all out of food except noodles, so I’d have to go shopping anyways.”

Virgil had the decency to look mildly guilty at that.

Virgil accompanied him to the store. Which, unlike Patton had expected, did not speed up the shopping process, but only slowed them down as they fooled around.

“Okay, okay. Let's get this done quickly, thyme is money.” Patton said, waggling his eyebrows at Virgil.

“What the hell am I doughing here.” Virgil groaned.

Patton gasped. “You made a pun!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah well, don’t expect too many of those. I wouldn’t want to oatverdo it.”

Patton gasped in delight.

“The s’more puns you make, the s’more i love you.” He proclaimed and Virgil blushed beet red.

Patton giggled as he looked at Virgil having fun. His roommate was usually a lot more reserved and morose. He had no idea what had happened that had put Virgil in such high spirits, but whatever it was, Patton was grateful. The smile that graced Virgil’s face was the most breathtaking thing he had seen all week.

Patton looked away, aware he had been staring just a little too long.

The meal was delicious, if he said so himself, and Virgil seemed to agree. He lounged back in his chair languidly, sleepy from the good food. He looked better than Patton had seen him all month. The colour had returned to his cheeks again and his eyes sparkled.

Patton silently congratulated himself on a job well done.

“That was great, Pat. Seriously.”

“I’m humbled by your compliments.”

Virgil smiled.

“Where did you even learn how to cook like this?”

“My moms taught me. They made sure to teach me all the basic survival skills like cooking, laundry and how to snare and skin rabbits.”

“Snare rabbits?” Virgil laughed.

“I lived in a forest, I had to be able to take care of myself. They taught me all kinds of other cool survival stuff too.”

“Nice, my mom barely taught me how to turn on a stove.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Virgil waved him away. “My parents just had other priorities in my upbringing. Maybe you could teach me to cook something other than pasta?”

“I’d love to.” Getting to cook and spend more time with Virgil? It sounded like heaven to Patton.

Virgil looked at the clock and suddenly shot up.

“Shit, I have to go. I’m sorry. Thanks for the food, Patton.”

“It’s fine. Anytime.” Patton watched him leave with an empty feeling in his stomach.

He didn’t mind his roommate’s odd habits, but sometimes he wished he didn’t always run off.

~

Patton had to be honest, when Virgil had first told him about his boyfriends, he had been quite shocked.

Not because of the boyfriends, plural. Patton was pretty sure he was polyamorous himself.

No, it was the fact that quiet, shy, reserved Virgil, the guy who Patton had never seen interact with anyone except Patton, had somehow gotten himself not one, but two boyfriends.

And yeah, maybe he did feel a sharp stab of jealousy when Virgil first told him. He wondered how his boyfriends had gotten him to realize they wanted to date him. Patton had been trying to make his feelings clear for months now and was almost convinced Virgil was aromantic.

They must have yelled something along the lines of “We have romantic feelings for you” to get through that thick skull of his.

Patton didn’t resent Virgil for dating them, he was happy for him. Virgil really needed something good in his life.

And now, here he was, cooking up an elaborate meal for Virgil’s boyfriends.

When Virgil had told him about his boyfriends and the fact that they had been going steady for a while, Patton had insisted they come over for dinner sometime.

“I have to make sure they’re not going to break my best friend’s heart.” He had argued.

Virgil had complained at that, but his boyfriends had agreed and a date had been fixed.

Patton had maybe gone a little overboard with the meal. Two curries stewed on the stove and he was just about to throw the homemade falafel into the pan. In the oven, naans he had made from scratch were baking.

He hoped they liked Indian.

Virgil let his boyfriends into the appartement and wow, they were hot.

One of them, the shorter of the two, beamed at him, his smile perfectly blinding, and walked over to him.

“Hello, you must be the charming Patton I’ve heard so much about.” He said with a theatrical bow.

The taller one walked over to them with a more reserved smile.

“I’m Logan and this character here is Roman. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Virgil has told us a lot about you.” He stuck out his hand.

“Really, he has?” Patton felt a warm glow at that knowledge.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too.” He continued.

“So you’re the one who’s been keeping our Virgil alive?” Roman asked him.

“What?” Patton asked.

“V has a lot of skills, basic self care isn’t one of them.” Roman clarified.

“We’re happy he has such a good friend.” Logan added.

“Well, I’m happy to take care of him. But, yeah, self care isn’t one of his skills.”

“As much as I appreciate you guys bonding, I can take care of myself.” Virgil interjected.

“Debatable.” Logan said.

Roman seemed to have noticed the food bubbling on the stove by now.

“Ooh, indian.” He exclaimed.

“It smells good.” Logan complimented.

“Well, it’s nearly done, so get seated and I’ll bring the food over.”

“You guys are in for a treat. Pat’s the best cook I know.” Virgil informed them.

Patton blushed at the high praise.

“I must say I’m intrigued.” Logan said, while taking a seat at the table.

Patton turned off the stove and added a few leaves of coriander before carrying the dishes over to the table.

“Do you need a hand? It looks like a lot.” Roman offered.

Finally, with Roman’s help, the table was set and they all dug in, dipping their naans into the curries Patton had made.

Roman moaned theatrically.

“God, this is just heavenly.” He praised.

“It’s great Patton.” Virgil offered.

“Yes, it is quite splendid. What spices did you use?” Logan asked him.

“Well, this one has chilli powder...”

“I can taste that.” Virgil grumbled.

“Turmeric, cumin and coriander and the other one has bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and more chilli powder.”

“That’s a lot of spices.” Roman said.

“That’s the secret to Indian cooking, the things they can do with spices is just magical.” Patton replied.

They talked more.

Logan told him he was studying theoretical physics at the university where Virgil also studied.

“Wow, theoretical physics. Isn’t that like black holes and stuff?” Patton asked, intrigued.

“Oh boy, don’t get him started.” Virgil muttered.

Logan paid him no mind.

“That’s one aspect but it’s also so much more. It touches on all aspects of our lives.” With that Logan launched into an impassioned speech about all the things theoretical physics touched on and the different aspects of it.

Patton didn’t understand everything he was going on about, physics hadn’t been his best subject in school, but he enjoyed listening to Logan all the same. He had a way of speaking that drew you in. It was clear he really enjoyed the subject he was studying. Patton felt like he could listen to Logan for hours on end. A glance at the others told him they felt the same way, both of them staring at him with fond expressions.

“I apologise. I was rambling again, I have been told I have a tendency to do that.” Logan cut himself off.

“What? There’s nothing to apologize for, it was really fascinating.”

Logan smiled softly but didn’t go on. An awkward silence fell over the table.

“So!” Patton piped up brightly. “What do you do, Roman?”

“I’m studying to become a nurse actually.”

“Really? cool!”

They chatted about all kinds of things. Roman complained about the amount of things he had to learn. Logan told him it was nothing compared to what he had to study. Virgil lamented about annoying professors. And Patton listened, feeling a little like an intruder but a part of it all the same.

They complemented each other perfectly. Patton had no idea how they had met or what made them such a good team, but it must be something wonderful indeed.

In that moment, Patton wished so fervently he could be a part of it. He barely knew Logan and Roman and yet he could feel himself falling for them even now.

They didn’t seem to mind him being there, roping him into the conversation easily.

Logan smiled at him from across the table and Roman slung an arm over his shoulder, laughing at one of his puns.

Virgil was just getting up to refill the water jug, when an alert on his phone went off. All three of them jumped up.

“We have to leave.” Logan said, looking at his phone.

“Shit, I’m so sorry Patton.” Virgil repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time. It felt like whenever Patton was finally making progress in his relationship, something interrupted.

He didn’t mind the weird habits, he just wished he would let him in on his secrets. Hadn’t he proved his trustworthiness to Virgil?

They left him with the dishes and an empty feeling in his chest.

~

Roman, Virgil and Logan sat at the dinner table while Patton busied himself in the kitchen, finding comfort in the familiar routine of cooking. A tense silence filled the usually cozy apartment.

“How long have you known?” Logan asked finally.

Patton looked at Virgil when he answered.

“Probably since the first month.”

Virgil stammered. “I thought…”

“You thought what Virgil? That I didn’t notice you sneaking in at five in the morning? That I didn’t notice that whenever you ran off during dinner, Storm was suddenly on the news? That I didn't notice all the cuts and bruises you collected? You thought, what? That I was stupid? Blind? Deaf?” He knew he was being unfair, the others looked tired and miserable and guilty. But all his frustration at being left in the dark for years was bubbling over.

He was so tired of being treated as stupid, of being left behind when the others had to attend to hero bussiness. He was tired of lying awake worrying about them.

Patton returned to chopping the leeks with more force than absolutely necessary.

“We wanted to protect you.” Logan said, guilt colouring his voice.

“I don’t need your protection. I think you saw that tonight.”

“Yes, we were wrong. I realize that now. We apologize”

“I don’t.” Virgil said.

Patton stared at him. “What?”

Virgil stood up and faced him. “I’m sorry about lying to you, but I won’t apologize for trying to protect you. It’s bad enough these two are out on the streets, I don’t need another untrained civilian risking their life.” Virgil gestured at Roman and Logan, who didn’t look happy about being called untrained.

Patton laughed bitterly. “I’m not untrained, that much should be clear. And what makes you so trained then?”

Virgil sighed.

“When I said my parents had other priorities in my upbringing, I meant it. Instead of learning maths and chemistry, I learnt how to fight, how to take down a grown man, how to disappear into the shadows.”

“Why?” Patton asked, he was aware Virgil hadn’t had the most traditional upbringing, but this wasn’t what he had expected.

“I was to be an assassin, but the company we worked for disbanded and my mom decided to give me a normal life.” He explained coldy, it was clear there was more there, but Patton decided now was not the best time to ask.

They were all tired from the events of the evening and Patton really just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for another week. All his anger at his friends keeping him in the dark had faded, leaving him with just his exhaustion.

He turned back to the quiche he was making, with store bought dough, his mom would be shocked, and slid it into the oven.

“I’m just happy you guys are alright.” He said, extending an olive branch.

“Well, we were lucky our valiant knight in shining armour came to our rescue.” Roman said, his voice lacking his usual flamboyance.

Patton sat down next to Virgil and laid his head on his shoulder. Virgil wrapped his arm around him.

“You guys are lucky I knew where you were.”

“Yeah, how did you do that? Do you have us micro-chipped or something?” Roman questioned.

Patton just smiled mysteriously.

~

Patton popped his head into their bedroom, where Janus was talking into a phone. Patton listened for a moment as Janus talked to someone in rapid fire French, sounding mildly irritated.

He noticed Patton standing in the doorway and held up a hand signaling he would be done soon. He rolled his eyes and mouthed “Grandmother” at him.

Patton stifled a giggle. Janus’s grandmother was notoriously difficult.

“Oui, oui mémé, je promets.”

He put down the phone with a sigh.

“Why is she like this?” He sighed in exasperation.

Patton wrapped his arms around Janus’s waist and nuzzled into his neck.

“It’s ‘cause she loves you, honeybee.”

“Loves to annoy me, more like. Anyways, did you need something, mon cœur ?”

“Yeah, you said you’d help with dinner?”

“Course, give me a minute, I’m coming.”

“I’ll go peel the potatoes.” Patton bounced down the stairs.

On the couch, Logan and Roman were attempting to watch a period drama, keyword, attempting.

They were currently critiquing the costumes in the show, Roman in particular was raving about corsets on bare skin.

Patton smiled, he loved them both very much, but watching a movie or show with them was nearly impossible. They both had trouble keeping their thoughts to themselves.

“Having fun?” He asked as he pressed a kiss to Roman’s forehead.

“Corsets on bare skin, Patton! What is wrong with them?” Roman flung his hands up, nearly knocking Patton’s glasses off.

“Whoops, sorry.” He apologized.

Patton kissed him again and gave Logan a quick side hug.

“You guys enjoy, I’m going to get started on dinner.”

“I highly doubt I will be able to enjoy it, considering all the mistakes in the writing and costuming.” Logan muttered.

Janus joined him in making dinner and together they worked efficiently. Janus was a great cook and a good help in the kitchen. Together, they managed to make something good without getting in each others’ way too much.

Janus put on an old timey jazz song and as the food sizzled on the stove, they slowed gently in the kitchen.

The door opened and Virgil blew in with a gust of cold air. He groaned as he dropped his bag on the floor.

“Everything all right, mon amour?” Janus questioned.

“Just tired, training was hard today.” Virgil sighed.

“Yeah, I see. Go take a shower.” Janus wrinkled his nose.

Virgil made to kiss Janus but he warded him off.

“Go shower first.” He instructed.

“I want a kiss.” Virgil whined.

“I’ll give you a kiss.” Patton said.

“Don’t enable him.” Janus groaned but he pressed a quick kiss to Virgil’s nose.

Patton drew Virgil in for a soft, gentle one and then pushed him in the direction of the shower.

“Go. Food’s nearly done.”

Right on cue, Roman bounced into the kitchen, Logan trailing behind him.

“Food’s ready?” He asked.

“Not yet. Will you guys set the table?” Patton asked.

As busy clattering filled the kitchen, Patton felt a smile slip onto his lips. Janus noticed and wrapped his arms around him.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispered into his ear.

“Just thinking about how lucky I am.”

“Yeah, we really are.” He sighed.

They smiled as Virgil entered the kitchen and promptly got wrapped up in a hug from Roman.

[nikstersss]

Not How To Pass The PLE

Before I go into the main gist of this post, let me give you a small background story. I was a mid-year post-graduate intern in Manila who started in January 2021. I lived alone in our condo unit near the hospital I went to. My usual routine was to get up early, prep, take a short walk to the trike station where I’d take a tricycle to the hospital, go on duty, insert a coffee or carioca break in between, walk all the way home at the end of the day, then maybe have a short study session with a couple friends after dinner or just chill at home. It was a pretty good setup. But then COVID happened. Suddenly, I was a pandemic e-ntern stuck at home listening to Zoom endorsements and lectures all day. At first I was hopeful that things would somehow go back to normal and maybe I wouldn’t be spending the rest of my internship in front of a screen, but we all know how that turned out. 

I finished the first half of my internship with the regular year PGIs online. While they were prepping for their boards, I was on my second half with the new batch of interns (that’s probably you, dear reader)—still online. Now you might think that it would have been wise of me to use all that “free” time to start early with my own boards prep and you would be correct. I thought the exact same thing. And trust me, I tried. And failed. Countless times. I won’t even try to justify it. Admittedly, I still think it was a wasted opportunity to read more and make notes, but then again, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Besides, while it would have been nice and probably less stressful, I still survived without it. Which means that you can, too. So if you’re one of those who’s berating himself because you “didn’t make the most out of your time”, cut it out. You’ll be fine.

Towards the end of my internship, I enrolled in a review center. Despite the asynchronous setup, the review schedule was super tight and the sessions already started while I was still in the middle of final reports and exams. Needless to say, I was already behind on that before it even began. In fact, I didn’t even get to focus on reviewing itself until maybe around early February because of clearance, paperwork, and application stuff. So if you were to ask me how long I really reviewed for the March 2021 boards, I’d say just a little over a month. Kasalanan ko. Wag po tularan. Stressful siya. Nakakaloka. 

And even when I did get to really buckle down and do some intense reading, I didn’t follow the program anymore. I tried to catch up at first, but I was already way behind. But I am grateful for all the summarized material because that meant I didn’t have to pore over the mother books anymore. What I will say, though, is that because I didn’t exactly follow the recommended study hours etcetera, I was able to enjoy the whole process because I did it at my own pace. Sure, there was still that dread that maybe I wasn’t on the same level as the others, but I learned to tune those thoughts out eventually. And that’s where goal-setting and discipline comes in, I guess. 

The most common question I’ve been getting is what was my day like during the PLE review season. Honestly, I’d like to say I had a routine I followed, but that’s only half-true. While I did have a structure for my day, I rarely followed it exactly. Nevertheless, allow me to share what it would have been like if I did: 

Ideally, I’d wake up at 5:00 A.M. then do my morning routine which included prayer and meditation, making my bed, taking a shower, and brewing coffee. And because I’m the type of person who enjoys these mundane activities and slow mornings, I also took this opportunity to get myself in the zone before all the studying that’s to come. I’d plan out my study goals and outline (something you can do the night before, actually) then maybe have breakfast while watching some videos (could be review-related, or those self-motivational vids, or maybe even Korean street food). I’d do whatever I wanted to wake my brain up without stressing it out too much until around 6:30 A.M. By this time, I’d work on backlogs for about an hour and study until about 10 or 11 A.M.—it depends how in the zone I am. I’d prep and cook lunch and then eat while watching Netflix maybe or even play a bit of Fortnite or Paladins until about 1:00 P.M. At this point, I’m pretty certain to be quite sleepy so it’s either I make coffee or tea, or maybe even go out to study at a coffee shop, and then it’s study all the way until 7 P.M. I then take a break to get some exercise, take a shower, have a light dinner, and if I feel like I deserve it, nap for a little bit. At around 8:30, my family usually calls and then we pray the rosary together. After this, I study again, but more of a recall and review session for the day’s progress until about 11:30. I then have my night self-care routine and then go to sleep around midnight. 

The main takeaway from the previous paragraph? “Ideally.”

During the first few days of setting up my schedule or routine, following it was already challenging, but still doable. But then the backlogs started piling up and no matter how much I tried to streamline the whole study process, I just couldn’t keep up. I did what I could to follow study habits and schedules, but the setup was falling apart. And you know what? That was okay. 

Normally, my type A self would have been so frustrated already with how poorly I was handling my review season. Admittedly, there were a few meltdowns and anxiety attacks as the exam drew nearer, but for the most part, I just let things happen as they did. I still adjusted, sure, but I wasn’t hard on myself for always having to. I kept changing goals when I didn’t meet them (which was probably 80% of the time). There were even instances where I’d finish a handout and then I’d say that okay, I’ll watch an episode for a reward, but that episode became the entire season. While I considered myself to be the most chill reviewee, I also thought I was the worst because I refused to give up any of my wants for my needs. I resisted, of course, but then they’d bug me the entire time I was studying so instead of staying productive, I’d just annoy the hell out of myself. I was probably just lazy and stubborn. LOL. Long story, short, it was a constant battle. 

There were times when I felt confident enough to power through the whole thing. I enjoyed the whole process of studying, actually. Making notes and my own ways of memorizing things was fun. I made use of different study strategies, self-checks, and motivational boosters (more on these on a different post). Aside from these, having review-mates who were just a chat away made things bearable. Breakdown session muna tas aral na ulit. And how could I forget all my sweet friends who would send over coffee ayuda every now and then? To me, passing the boards, while mainly should be for oneself and one’s self-actualization, is also about not letting down these people who have been with you throughout your journey. 

But it wasn’t always a hyped-90s-movie-transformation-montage kind of environment. Other times, I was just worn out and dejected by my lack of progress. In the already meager time I had to study, I still had plenty of off-days. Concepts just wouldn’t stick and it was disappointing how I’d already forgotten what I just read a couple days ago. It got really tiring even if I was staying indoors all the time. I missed the comfort of coffee shops and the company of study buddies. I missed my family. I wanted to hug our dog. There were days when I couldn’t even bring myself to make coffee and open my notes. I even reached a point where I was sure that I wouldn’t finish reading all the material. (I kid you not, I have handouts I never got to open.) 

Yet here I am. Here I am writing about how I survived all that and got those two letters attached to my name. I am not a good example, obviously. There are hundreds better than me and you probably should be taking advice from them instead. I’m simply writing this to tell you that you don’t have to worry. This is all just to ease your anxieties about the PLE. I’m not saying it’s an easy feat that you can just achieve just like that. While I seemed rather complacent, I still put in the work, after all. Admittedly, I know I could have done more, but again, I’m not going to dwell on that anymore. It’s done. 

My goal in writing this is to let you know, my dear future doctor, that you’re going to be just fine. Here’s someone who understands the huge disconnect that stemmed from being a pandemic e-ntern. Here’s someone who’s always been doubtful and full of anxieties about the PLE even before she filed her application at the PRC. Here’s someone who constantly prayed that the PLE be moved even for just a month (or kahit two weeks lang masaya na ako nun) up to the week before the exam along with a rising number of cases. Here’s someone who barely has the capability to maintain focus for more than an hour. Here’s someone whose reading pace was literally at 10 minutes per page (yes, I actually timed it and IDK if that’s slow or really slow). Here’s someone who still allowed herself to study at coffee shops and even have samgyup (with proper health protocols, of course) even if she knew she was drowning in backlogs. 

My point is that if I managed to pass despite all that, you can, too. My close friends know that I developed a rather funny mentality to ease the jitters as the boards drew nearer. I knew and claimed it for myself that I would already pass. I viewed the whole PLE as just a “formality”--a means for His plans of me becoming a doctor to manifest in this realm. I believed it so much to the point that I thought that no matter what bloopers and slip-ups I have during the test, I’d still see my name on the list of board passers. I’m not saying you should totally ease up and just have a come-what-may attitude. Again, I’m not the model student you should be following here. What I’m saying is to have faith in yourself, your capabilities, and in God. So chin up, Doc. Just a little more ‘til you get to legally practice with that MD at the end of your name.

[jamielea81]

Conversations

Chapter 2

Description: You accompany your friends on a day trip to Animal Kingdom Theme Park where you meet Scott Evans by chance. This one afternoon leads to a year long friendship with both Chris and Scott over text messages and phone calls.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Cursing

A/N: Here is chapter two! Cast members are what Disney calls its employees. Italics are internal thoughts. Tag list is open, please send an ask if you would like to be added. Likes, comments, and reblogs are wonderful.

Chapter 1

When he added you on Twitter, that was strange enough. You could reason it out that he saw your name spread through the tagged post and he did it on a whim. Or maybe he followed a lot of people. But that one was easily debunked after a quick glance at his profile showed he only followed about three hundred people. Maybe he was just friendly in that way. A quick add here and you’d be unfollowed by Thanksgiving. There was no chance he actually liked you as a person. Right?

You hit reply before you could overthink it more than you already had.

Y/N: I’m not always grumpy, I’ll have you know.

Y/N: Are you guys still on vacation or back home?

When he didn’t immediately reply, you decided to put your phone away and actually go to sleep. You’d be bringing Jana coffee in the morning which meant you actually had to get up before noon.

Your alarm sounded at eight which it hadn’t done in at least a year. Since you worked mainly on assignment, you rarely went into the office until well past noon. Some days you didn’t even go in. You were a night owl, so unless there was a morning meeting you slept in. Living alone also brought less interruptions to your schedule. You’d been in your sleepy vacation style home for the last two years. Your father regularly lectured you on the importance of homeowner ship. Paying rent wasn’t doing anything to build equity. Blah. Blah. Blah. He was only looking out for your future, but between lectures about settling down and having a family, the house stuff pushed you over the top. You still weren’t sure where you wanted to end up, so buying wasn’t on the top of your priority list.

Florida really was a mixed bag. Between the retires that lived in Florida during the winter months, the tourists, the general crazies that you heard about on the national and local news each night, and those like yourself that were just trying to live your life, you never officially settled in. The ocean called to you, but the pricey lifestyle and fear of evacuating each year due to a hurricane did not. Being fifteen minutes from both the Disney and Universal parks would also be nice, but the traffic and long lines at Target were not appealing. You were currently living in a cute two-bedroom home fifteen minutes outside the parks bubble where life was a little more affordable and groceries weren’t inflated. It was still technically a vacation rental, but the owner liked the idea of having a long-term leaser. The fact that it had its own pool that you didn’t have to maintain was just an added bonus. Driving into Orlando wasn’t great, but at least you missed the bulk of rush hour by sleeping in.

You texted Jana to let her know you just pulled in to the parking lot. Balancing your laptop bag, oversized purse, and two coffees through a busy office rotunda wasn’t easy. Thank goodness for stylish flats. If you had to navigate in heels every day, you’d probably never get out of bed. God bless Jana. How she handled it, you had no idea.

The security desk knew you by name, but due to protocol, Jana actually had to sign you in. After exchanging a few good mornings, you set both cups on the desk and waited. Most of the time she was already in the lobby when you walked through the double doors. No doubt this was a form of punishment for not telling her about meeting the two boys from Boston. Not that you looked that up or anything. You totally didn’t Google anything that night when you got home. And she calls you the brat. Ten minutes later her smiling face walks out of the elevator and up to the security desk. She signs you in while you stare her down.

“Let’s go pokey,” she says before turning away from you, leaving you to carry your bags and both of your coffees.

You huff but manage anyway, making it to the waiting elevator she holds open with her hand.

“Did you know Phil’s wife just had another baby?” She shakes her head no. “Yeah, it’s their third. These are things I wouldn’t know if you didn’t take your sweet time signing me in. Coffee’s cold by the way,” you add for good measure.

“I already had some, that’s fine,” she said, one eyebrow pointed daring you to complain.

When the elevator stops on the twelfth floor, Jana gracefully exits on three inch heels, swaying her hips in the tight and posh pencil skirt with matching blazer. You get it. It’s a well-established law firm full of sharks all trying to get ahead. She exudes confidence. There are whispers of her making partner in the next year. At least that’s what Brooks has told you. Jana’s mum on the subject, not wanting to jinx or tempt fate or whatever.

You drop her coffee in the trash bin just outside the elevator doors and hurry after.

“Y/N! Nice to see you gracing us with your presence.”

Jana turns around to see Ethan’s predatory stare. You don’t mind it. Ethan’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing and has been coming on to you for the better part of a year. He’s good looking with his sandy brown hair coiffed in the front and bright green eyes. He’s up for partner as well. You know this because he tells you this at least once a week. He’s harmless and always has a kind word for you.

“Well, good morning to you too. Any word on getting partner yet?” you practically whisper. You have to give him something.

“Soon. It’ll happen.” He looks behind you and then meets your eyes again. “Here by yourself? Come to see me?” he asked.

You gesture behind him. “Nope. Just here to see my bestie.” You move past him, but turn your head to him as you do. “Have a good day, Ethan,” you reply.

Jana enters her office and closes the door after you enter. You take a seat in front of her desk as she walks around to sit behind it.

“Are you ever going to throw him a bone? Not that I want to see you with him, but it’s hard to watch sometimes,” she says picking up her phone, fingers moving quickly before setting it back down.

“Am I here to talk about Ethan? I thought I was here to beg for your forgiveness and tell you what happened,” you asked.

“Grovel first. Ethan next week,” Jana says with a smile. She taps her desk in a ‘speak now’ fashion.

Taking a quick sip of your coffee before setting it on her desk, you take a deep breath and lick your lips.

“Okay, so I found a table at Nomad, which was packed by the way. The sever was apparently pulling double duty as Mickey as she just never showed up. You know me, I was impatient and probably drew attention to myself with excessive eyerolls or whatever.”

Jana mouths “no way.”

“Anyway. Scott Evans was sitting at a couch across the aisle from my table. I didn’t know it was him until later. Apparently, I caught his attention, so he bought us both a drink and sat at my table. We chatted for a while, did a shot, no big deal.” You smirk and shrug a shoulder. Jana’s mouth is hanging open. “He somehow drags me to Everest and because they had a cast member with them, we got ushered right to the front of the line where I end up sitting next to Chris. That’s when I knew who I was with. Had no idea before that because I hadn’t talked to Chris at the bar. I thought that was the end of it until you mentioned the photo of me last night. I still hate that ride by the way.”

You down the rest of your coffee because it’s cold, but damnit if you don’t need the caffeine.

“Well, fuck. Who would ever see that coming? It’s a fun story you can tell at parties or I don’t know, to your best friend,” she said.

“Oh, I planned to tell Brooks at work,” you said with a grin.

“Wow. I’m really hurt,” Jana said while clutching her chest.

“You love me.”

“Hmph. Maybe,” Jana added.

You don’t check your Twitter account again until you get home from work. You don’t even want to utter the word Twitter or have it on your screen in case someone sees it and starts asking how you were able to sit next to a celebrity on a ride. You didn’t think anyone would have seen it anyway. No one outwardly admitted to being a die-hard Chris Evans fan at the Sentinel. At least not in the circles you ran in.

Grabbing yourself a beer from the fridge, you made your way onto your lanai. The weather had just started to become reasonable at night with temps dropping into the mid seventies after dark. Still warm, but comfortable.

Opening your Twitter app, you did indeed have a message from Scott.

Scott: I’m pretty sure you’re always sassy.

Scott: Nope, in Boston for the next week. Left the other night.

Y/N: I Hope you all had a good trip.

I mean really, what do you say to someone you just met?

You took the time to go through your follow requests, deleting every one of them as you had no idea who they were. Most likely they were only adding your because they saw that you were tagged in the picture. On the positive, Jana was smart enough to tag your personal account rather than your work account. Your personal account was one you made up in college and did not include your actual name. As hard as it is to keep your anonymity in this day and age, some things you could still keep private.

Your mail notification lit up on the app again so you clicked into.

Scott: Oh my god she’s alive. That was like a full day for you to respond to me.

Oh boy.

Y/N: Sorry. I’m trying to lay low after my Twitter kind of blew up.

Scott: Yeah, sorry about that. Didn’t see that coming.

Y/N: Not like you released the picture. If anyone is to blame, it’s the tequila.

Scott: It’s always the tequila.

 Your new formed friendship continued like that. The two of you messaging each other at odd times of the day and taking several hours to respond to one another. Scott was back in LA, putting a three hour time difference between the two of you. It wasn’t uncommon for you to wake up to see you had a message that came in at three in the morning.

It was just before midnight when you noticed you had a message from Scott.

Scott: It’s been a shit day.

It was only sent about twenty minutes earlier, which was pretty much a record for the two of you in seeing the other’s messages.

Y/N: Do you want to call me?

Crap! Why did I type that? He probably doesn’t want me to have his number. Twitter is one thing. A telephone number is too personal.

You wanted to close the app and get ready for bed, but you were worried that you’d miss a message from Scott in case he did want to talk. Not necessarily on the phone, but in direct messages. You did the only thing that made since, you walked around your house with the phone in your hand and direct messages open. This was your life now. Apparently. If it ever got out that you spent thirty minutes with your phone in your hand while brushing your teeth, combing your hair, removing your makeup, changing into pajama shorts and a tee, and prepping the coffee maker for the morning, you’d blame it on lack of sleep and the neighbor’s dog. When you were about to call it quits and crawl into bed, a message came through.

Scott: What’s your number?

So, we’re doing this.

You replied back with your number and waited. Deciding to crawl into bed in case he didn’t actually call you tonight seemed like a wise choice. The air conditioning was blasting as it always was because you needed to sleep cold, so you pulled your warm flower comforter up to your elbows and waited for a call from your acquaintance that was maybe becoming a friend.

To your surprise your phone did ring with an out of state area code. Answering it on the second ring you heard him sigh when you answered with “Hello, this is Grumpy.”

“Really? I’m the grumpy one tonight, we both can’t be,” he whined out.

“Fine. Fine. Hello, this is Sassy,” you said.

“Better,” he muttered.

“You know, I’m just going to enter you as Grumpy in my phone contacts now,” you said.

“I expect nothing less. You’ll just have to wait to see what I’m adding you as.”

“Why? Are you making a return trip to Florida so soon?” you asked.

“Nah. Maybe Miami, but I’m good on Orlando for a while. Just don’t tell my brother that.”

“And here I was going to invite you to my wedding. One less mouth to feed,” you said, him chuckling at your response. “Was even going to let you get the steak.”

“Wait. Are you really getting married?” He sounded surprised which you weren’t sure how to take.

“Do I not seem the marrying type? I know this friendship is new, but dude.”

“No. No. No. Don’t start that. I just meant that you didn’t mention anyone while we chatted. Just that you were there with friends,” he explained.

“Single as a bird. Wait, that’s not right. Free as a bird?” you laughed out.

“Got it,” he chuckled. “When you do get married, I will be attending.”

“Perfect. You’re back on the short list for steak as your entrée. Now, tell my why you’re having a shit day,” you asked.

 Two weeks had passed with you and Scott exchanging short text conversations each day. You took to calling him before you went to bed once or twice a week if you had a funny story to tell him. Eleven at night your time seemed to be the right time to catch each other. Besides, it was nice to head to dreamland with a smile on your face because Scott always had a joke.

Jana picked up on your happier mood after a week.

“What’s going on with you? And don’t say it’s nothing,” she demanded.

Picking up your pint of beer, you took a mouthful of the amber liquid before addressing her.

“So, don’t get mad.” She shook her head, resting one palm on her forehead. “Scott and I have been chatting. He’s become a real friend.”

You knew she wouldn’t be upset about you having a new friend, but you were worried she would be because you hadn’t told her right away. First you didn’t mention meeting the Evans brothers, now you were corresponding with one on the regular.

“Just like that? You meet the guy one time and now you’re friends?” she questioned.

“He DM’d me on Twitter when that ride photo came out and we just started chatting. It’s like how you and I text every day. It’s similar except I don’t see him because he doesn’t live here. It’s just nice to have a new friend,” you said shrugging your shoulders.

She laid her slender arms on the table, resting her chin on her down facing palms. “Does this mean you are replacing me?” she says with her bottom lip jutting out.

“Of course not. Did you not catch that he doesn’t live here?” Some days you couldn’t help but be a huge smartass at the expense of your friends.

Her head slumped forward even more as she let of a groan.

“Babe. You know you’re my one and only. I lub you,” you said with your lips puckering out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

“Cah’mon, that’s it. Can you put the damn phone down for two minutes?” Chris asked.

Scott shushed him, placing his fingers in front of his lips, but eyes still locked on the phone screen in his other hand. “Give me a second,” he said.

Chris sighed and sat further back against the couch cushion in his living room. His wide stretched legs kicked out further in front of him, hitting the coffee table before pulling his feet back a bit. “Fuck. Ouch,” he muttered to himself.

Scott chuckled to himself as he typed out something before setting the phone on the cushion beside him. “Now, what do you need big brother?”

“I don’t need anything. You just seem to be more involved with your phone than the person your visiting,” he spits out, hand wildly gesturing in front of his chest.

Scott puffs out a laugh and shakes his head. He straightens up a bit and turns his phone face down. “Sorry. Truly. How’ve you been?” he asks.

“How’ve I been? Pfft. Really?” Chris asks.

Scott shakes his head in all seriousness.

“I’m fine. Just bored out of my fahckin’ mind, but fine.” Chris says, running a hand through his hair before brushing it back down. “Look, I know I said I wanted a break before starting up another project, but I just thought I’d have more goin’ on. Seems like everyone’s so busy all of a sudden. I can only get drinks with Frankie so many times before I want to check into rehab,” he said.

Scott laughed at his brother’s tantrum. “I get it. Wish I was around more. Maybe go back to Mass. Or go to Disney! M’sure I could get Y/N to meet you at Magic Kingdom,” he said.

Chris tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Who?” he asked.

“Y/N,” Scott said matter-of-factly. When the confusion didn’t wipe off Chris’ face, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Y/N! The woman that you sat next to on Everest. The one in the ride photo.”

Realization struck Chris. “Excuse me. I didn’t remember her name,” he said.

“Ouch. I’ll have to remember not to tell her that,” he said picking up his phone to see a new message from you.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

Scott set his phone back down, turning his body to face Chris head on. “Huh?”

“You said you wouldn’t tell her that I didn’t remember her name,” Chris said.

Scott shrugged one shoulder, lifting up one hand in the process before plopping it back on his knee. “Yeah?”

“Wait a minute. Are you still talkin’ to her? How?” Chris asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“That picture. She got tagged in it and I happened to see it. Messaged her on there and now we talk. She’s frickin’ hilarious.”

Scott grabbed his phone again, scrolling a bit before flashing the screen to Chris. It was a picture of you with a woman next to you who had one of the overly large lollipops in her hand. Your mouth is wide open and your pretending to bite the large candy right out of her hand while she laughs in the picture.

A small smile curls up on Chris’ face but he shakes it away immediately. “Dude, you don’t know her. Ever think she’s just nice to you because of who you are?”

Scott rolls his eyes. “First off punk, she’s not like that. She’s pretty private. She didn’t know who any of us were until after you said your name on the ride. Secondly, she didn’t even ask for a photo nor did she try to keep hanging out with us after riding Everest.” Chris rolled his eyes this time. “Thirdly, I contacted her, not the other way around. And lastly, she’s a friend now, so just deal with it.”

Scott was right. You hadn’t behaved like most others would have.

“Fine. Whatever,” Chris said. “You can be friends with whoever you like.”

“Thanks, dad,” Scott said lamely. “Anyway, like I said, she’s great. Her Twitter blew up after that picture. She did a good job of locking her account down and ignoring comments. It’s hard to be pictured with the likes of you.” Chris chuckled and shook his head. “Smart that her handle isn’t actually her name. Crappy that her friend tagged her, but at least she didn’t tag her work one. Like I said, she’s a pretty private person, so she didn’t like the attention.”

Chris nodded his head. “Yeah. Glad it wasn’t worse for her. Think I should apologize?”

It was Scott’s turn to be shocked. His head whipping back and forth a couple of times eyeing his brother. “Okaaay. Not your fault, but maybe don’t add her on Twitter. That’ll just draw more attention. If you’re serious, I’ll give you her number,” Scott said.

“You know what? Never mind. Just tell her sorry for me.” Chris slapped his hands down on his jean clad legs before getting up and walking into the kitchen.

“Too late,” Scott called out. “I just texted you her number. Do what you want.”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The Jonas Brothers’ concert was tomorrow night, so you were doing your best to get stuff done at the paper before heading home. You planned to sleep in extra late and get some errands done before heading to the venue. Your press pass got you into some reserved places at concerts, but it didn’t get you an interview. While you had been writing and covering entertainment for years, you were mostly known for theme park and tourism coverage in Florida. So, yes you could always land an interview with a Disney Parks or Universal Studios park executive, but other doors in entertainment weren’t flying open.

Grabbing your purse and zip file, you shut down your computer and pushed in your chair. Your phone dinged with a text message. It was probably Jana asking you to get her a t-shirt at the concert tomorrow. Fancy attorney or not, your friend loved a concert tee.

Once you arrived home, you put a frozen meal in the microwave and changed into a pair of sweats and a comfy t-shirt. Grabbing your phone out of your bag, you took a seat sat at your kitchen bar top to wait for your meal to be done. Opening your texts, you saw a new one from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: Hey Y/N, this is Chris. Scott gave me your number.

Unknown Number: Evans

Unknow Number: Should have typed that the first time. Just wanted to say I’m sorry that ride photo got out.

You dropped your phone out of your hand. It hit the quartz countertop hard which jolted you out of your daze.

“What?!” you yelled into your empty home.

It was crazy enough when Scott messaged you, but the fact that the two of you had drank together made this whole friendship make a tiny bit of sense. But Chris now? This was just not real. And it made you feel weird. On one hand it was nice that he reached out even though it wasn’t his fault at all. One the other hand, was this it? The one text and then you move on?

The microwave beeped at your harshly indicating your meal was done. Leaving your phone on the countertop, you moved to grab your food, picking up the hot plate with a potholder. You made your way into the living room, setting the potholder and plate on your lap. You picked up the remote for the TV, flipping through the channels and settling on The Golden Girls. Maybe a little Rose and Dorothy banter could settle your mind.

This was silly. You were going to text him back. Of course, you were going to text him back. You weren’t a rude person. This whole exchange didn’t have to mean anything. This would be a one and done conversation and to Chris you would go on being nothing more than Scott’s friend.

After scarfing down your cheese ravioli, you made your way back to the kitchen to clean up. You eyed the phone on the counter where you left it. You quickly scooped it up and plopped yourself back on the couch, opening Chris’ text again before you could change your mind.

Y/N: Thank you for reaching out, but that photo getting released was not your fault at all. I appreciate the gesture though.

You threw your head back against your couch cushion and groaned. Why am I responding like it’s a work e-mail?

You shot Jana a text to get your mind off of the message you just sent Chris.

Y/N: What size Jonas Brothers shirt am I picking up for you?

Your phone buzzed in your hand before you even had the chance to set it down, but it wasn’t Jana responding. Clicking the back arrow, you saw that Chris had responded.

Wait, he responded? Already? And at all?

Chris: I still feel bad that you were dragged into it.

Chris: Hope I’m not interrupting a Friday night out.

You chewed your bottom lip, trying to think of how to respond. Should you tell the truth that your life is pretty lame and you’re watching The Golden Girls? Did Scott talk about you to Chris? Maybe it was best not to lie.

Y/N: Just hanging out with my friends Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose.

Y/N: You’re actually saving me from another long drawn out story about Rose’s hometown of St. Olaf Minnesota.

Chris: I’m surprised your friend Blanche is home on a Friday night.

Y/N: Oh, you know Blanche? Is this going to become awkward?

Chris: 😂😂😂

Chapter 3

Tag list: @mustangshelby04 @bellaireland1981 @carolina-thiell @sullyosully @straightforwardly​ @torntaltos​ @denise1605​ @mcuclintasha​ @southerngracela​ @iam-cj @trynnabemultifandom​ @chrisevansforever-blog​ @kelbabyblue​ @broadwayandnetflix​ @kyjey​ @thevelvetseries​ @i-just-feel-like​ @daddieslittlefangirl​ @stankface​ @denisemarieangelina​ @im-not-an-armrest-im-short​ @whymalu​ @the-doctors-fallen-angel​ @mariswritingforfun​ @tessabb7​ @hista-girl​ @tanelle83​ @pinknerdpanda​ @allaboutthebooz​ @estillion14​ @panicfob​ @patzammit​ @heartislubbingdubbing​ @collinsstanharbour​ @twittytelly​ @thefandomzoneisdangerous​ @linki-locks11​ @mywinterwolf​ @ab-baybay​ @rda1989​ @impalaimages​ @jesseswartzwelder​ @rainbowkisses31​

[idanwyn-et-al]

Duets and Dastardly Deeds: A Harbor Herald Exclusive!

[The Palazzo Aldenard, Mist.]

Good day, lovely readers! It is daytime where you are, perhaps, yes? Or perhaps the stars have begun their slow scrawl across the darkened bowl of the heavens, the sun a memory to be gossiped about while Her Radiance is raising crops and crisping skins on the other side of our own star. Whatever light is creeping across your parquet floor, your larboard, your patch of forest, I hope to find you in good health and with a hankering to read about a most curious concert that took place at the Palazzo Aldenard’s Opera House a few days past.

This concert hall is well-known to many, but I confess, lovely readers, that it was this reporter’s first chance to visit the venerable venue for herself, and it did not disappoint. A crewmate of mine (ah yes, yours truly is a captain now, of her very own definitely-haunted ship; quite the tale of an unlikely inheritance, and utterly better-suited for another column entirely) and I took our seats, sharing uisghe and waiting for the show to begin. As this reporter is a long time fan of Savo’s (she is indirectly responsible for a prison sentence I served some years back, another story best shared over a plate of steak frites and a gallon of stout), I knew that her gnarled, underfed-despite-everyone’s-best-efforts paw brings a twist to every show, and inspires the audience to loosen up when confronted with the unexpected. Little did I know how much of a twist this show would wring itself into, like a wet rag squeezing water over still-smoldering embers! However, I am getting ahead of myself, lovelies. 

The evening began with a dueling duet; T’ahlia and D’ahlia! D’ahlia played classical piano with poise and elegance, fingers running over the keys nimbly. T’ahlia echoed and responded with her ceruleum guitar, sending reverbs into the rafters. Still, D’ahlia was dauntless, playing the act of straight man to the showy comedy of T’ahlia’s riffs. Both showcased skill and playfulness with ease, getting things off to a joyful start.

The duo was joined by Hani Dan’na, singing a song about lost relationships. Resigned, lovely lyrics left many an eye wet; surely, it was the profusion of springtime blossoms outside that caused such a thing. Surely, that.

Lionnellais Deveraux and Rythas Brynelle next took the stage, a pas de deux in lyrical form about looking at oneself in the looking glass and resolving to change. The two tall, lithe performers did, indeed, seem to be looking into a mirror as their eyes met and their melodic runs tumbled into harmonies. To this reporter, they seemed to encapsulate the desire to make today the first day of the rest of their lives---to use a quote oft-seen in cross-stitch on one’s grandmama’s wall---but were almost daring the other to be the first to change.

Aero, a new performer to this reporter and many others in the audience, was as forthright about being high on Shroud mushrooms as he was about body positivity; he performed entirely in the nude, and one was certainly larger than the other (pupils, I mean. Pupils!).  Savo provided riffs on her famed ten-stringed viol, and the pair brought levity to the stage. I do believe in a thing called love, even if it comes at the cost of Keepers of the Moon dragging you out into the woods and making you question all you’ve ever known. 

Zanin Briggs and Rythas continued in this vein with the next piece; it seems they, too, are reluctant-yet-indulgent caretakers of Savo and Fheyla. Family may make you question everything, dear readers, but if they lead you to great adventures, things like fleas, questionable manners, and spotty hygiene can be overlooked. 

A pair of mysterious Elezen women took the boards with a back-to-back set filled with as much fire as a bellyful of my late Papa’s famous uisghe. Injecting the room with a raw-hearted, toothy roar of lyrics meant to ignite the still-simmering resentment in Ishgard, these mysterious performers dressed to impress did just that! Yes, dear readers, although word out of those stony, snowcapped spires is that the Lord Commander has done his level best to close the gap between high and lowborn, it seems a thousand years of rigid social structures and war leave those still in the social depths wondering when their voices will really be heard. It was then when this reporter began to notice something of a theme throughout the night’s performances; unease, discontent, loss, building into...

FIRE! You read that right, faithful readers; a fire erupted backstage, and we were all summarily evacuated to the lawn for half a bell’s time. Take heart; the Palazzo’s staff were professional, efficient, and informative. I have now learned that if one must shout fire at a crowded theater, this is the theater in which to do so, lovelies. Once the blaze was contained, the show did indeed go on; and that, I believe, is my quota of cliched phrases for this article.

Once we had all filed back in---neatly and in single file, I assure you---Lionnellais and Rythas welcomed the audience back with a jaunty tune with the refrain “Under Censure”. This reporter must confess that the untimely fire combined with the lyrics that speak of restraints fraying under pressure had her wondering a great many things. Still, just as the show went on, so, too, must this article. 

T’ahlia returned to the stage with an acoustic guitar, and was joined by Hesper of Trinity. The pair sang a soulful duet about an “army of two” that would stand against all odds and defy the world. Your faithful reporter was very much lost in her own thoughts and suppositions, but was briefly brought back to attention by the songstress Sif, who joined T’ahlia for the next piece. This one spoke of T’ahlia’s conflicted feelings of yearning and betrayal directed at her mother, a woman of the Shroud who did her best for the young Miqo’te and yet left her wanting. The duo of Sif and T’ahlia singing call-and-response that melded into soulful, wistful harmonies drew the audience in and included us in such tender, bittersweet recollections.

As their last chords were still lingering like dark tea on the sides of the tongue, we were all drawn to our feet by an upbeat, glittering tune about calling on shinobi when in need! True to the legacy of those infamous assassins, the stage effects were superb; one might even believe that said shinobi were hiding in plain sight, deploying mudra and shadow-smoke to great effect amongst the waving glow wands of the enthused crowd. This reporter could not help but muse over how some of the other performers might, indeed, be inspired to hire a shinobi for their current troubles that simmered along the floorboards along with the occasional puff of singed scenery.

T’ahlia and Dane Escherra brought us all back to those melancholy undercurrents, with the latter offering soulful vocals recounting being a wartime prostitute. They fight like men, die like boys, and the women are expected to pretend it doesn’t affect them, offer themselves up as trophies. It was a simple yet poignant view into a world that many would rather pretend does not exist; this reporter, for one, was more interested in the stories of these women than the wars that raged around them.

Oh, dear readers, how I do eat up the ilms of column space on this one! The final two acts followed the evening’s emotional hills and vales, leaving us on a hill of humor. Zeraia Reynard crooned and Savo clawed tunes about male Seekers of the Sun, and...well, the lyrics are not entirely fit for print, but in the interest of public health (and allowing for poetic embellishment), this reporter must firmly suggest that all those who have enjoyed sexual relations with male Seekers of the Sun be tested for diseases at your local chirurgeon. E’rin Rae’s finale piece, in which she joined the dogpile (catpile) upon male Seekers, was a humorous lament about how they all seem to prefer the same sex, and how she has resigned herself to this fact. 

Though this sennight’s issue has been dedicated to my personal review of this revue, I must let you all in on a little secret; the fire that occurred backstage is quite suspicious, and this reporter will be writing another article or two as she investigates it. In the next sennight’s issue, please look forward to a collection of thoughts, statements, and observations by those that attended the show. In the meantime, I wish you all health and happiness, and would highly recommend the Palazzo Aldenard for its fine facility and superb entertainers.

Song and Scandal,

Idanwyn Lluanswys

Harbor Herald Food and Lifestyle Columnist

((tagging @palazzoaldenard​ , @savothesewercat​ , @rythasbrenelle​ , @fheylahaken​ , @whitherwanderer​ ! Please tag others, I am sleepy and forgetful. Thank you for the excellent show, and please stay tuned as Idanwyn does her best to investigate! I also enjoy going to concerts, restaurants, and other such fun social events to write articles, so message me here or on discord at #esper3592 if you’ve got something fun coming up!))

[love-conquers-everythingg]

The Fall

Falling.

We were falling before we even met. When we did meet, it was in a hurricane, a clash of emotions and devastation.

The Ground

Treason, murder, theft.

None of it matters here.

What’s wrong with a little chaos you once asked me.

Nothing, and everything.

We fought like cats and dogs for a while, until you showed me your true colors.

Colors I never knew existed until I met you.

We did good, once we started to get along that is.

“Have a drink.” You smiled at me that night, and I’d never felt like that before.

I don’t know if you remember that you once asked me to run away with you. I do, and sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I had said yes.

Forgiveness.

It all started that night.

I forgave you wether you deserved it or not.

The War

War made us murderers.

Took the lives of so many of our friends.

You sacrificed yourself and I had to pull the lever.

The first of many.

Fire, smoke, and then you were gone.

The Mountain

Scared.

I remember being scared when I woke up alone. Confused too. Where was I? Who was I now that you were gone.

I tried to be brave. I tried so hard, for them, but thoughts of you and those unaccounted for wrecked me.

We were finally safe.

Not all of us, though. Not you.

I had to find you, I had to know.

Getting to where we lived was hard, but seeing you, running to you, hugging you. That was coming home, and that was as easy as breathing.

Alliances and sacrifices were made. Some unforgivable, but that’s not our thing, our thing is forgiveness.

Weakness, love, it’s the same thing, isn’t it?

My mother told me I wouldn’t be able to wash my hands clean after what I did, or really what I didn’t do. I put so many people lives in danger, but, I’d kept you safe.

I had faith in you, I cared for you, and I was right to trust that you’d get the job done. You did.

It was my faith in others that led us to that impossible choice.

I had to save them, and you understood why. You placed your hand over mine and whispered “Together.” We pulled the lever and saved our loved ones.

At what cost though?

The Aftermath

The mountain destroyed who I was and made me who I am. Or maybe I was always this.

Destroyer of worlds.

I don’t know which is true, all I know is that if I must command death, it is you who must command life.

Hurt and angry and half in love with you I left. Left you and them, and a piece of myself back home. I didn’t realize it then, but I took a piece of you with me when I walked away, never glancing back.

Together.

That word rang in my ears. I bore it, you shouldn’t have had to.

I was in danger, captured, and I thought this was the end for me.

Then I saw you, and my heart dropped. You came for me. Then when you were the one in danger I begged and pleaded for your life. I couldn’t loose you too. I was taken away and I’d never regretted leaving more.

When you and I are separated we make mistakes.

I’ve never known that more than during this time. I know you felt that too.

I was a bad guy, when I needed to be. You thought you were a bad guy too. Though I’ve never seen you that way.

Lost, misguided, sure, but bad guy? Never.

I trust you.

The real bad guys, they know it too. So they used it against me, wanted to start with you, but it ends with you, right there holding my hand, promising to protect me and keep me safe.

Another lever, another choice.

She’s trying to make me stop, so she say our word.

Together.

When I hear it I know what I must do.

The Fire

We were doomed from the start. When I think of everything stacked against us, I could cry. I do cry. Only when I’m alone. I’m a leader, though I never wanted to be. You help with that, shoulder the weight with me. I can never thank you enough for that.

We center each other, that’s what they say. When the hard call has to be made, you’re the heart and I’m the head. Together we work, but separate, we’re just missing something.

Everyone seems to realize that, or at least most people.

When they threatened your life, I had no choice.

You are more than worth the lives of those fifty people on that list. That’s stupid, horrible list.

Your name was the easiest to write, mine on the other hand, I just couldn’t.

You could though, and you wrote my name under yours. That night will always haunt me for many reasons.

When I tried to save you, you looked at me as if I’d done the opposite. You always were so damn stubborn.

Again, you made me choose, you or the fate of the world. A warning shot rang through the stairwell, but I could never pull the trigger once it was aimed at you. You knew that.

Forgiveness, again. We’re getting good at it.

When I sacrificed myself to save you again, it wasn’t a hard choice. A sad choice, yes. A scary one, of course, but hard? No.

“Don’t wait.”

I watched you go, and I was just glad I could get it done in time for you to live.

The Distance

Life was hard after you were gone. So hard. When I couldn’t go back home, I almost gave up hope.

Hope, another thing you promised me.

I was completely alone, just me and the ghosts of everyone left behind. Until I wasn’t alone.

Meeting her was the best thing that ever happened to me. I loved her, cherished her, taught her for years. Just me and her. I missed you, of course I did, I drew you, all of you. Told her stories about you too.

She thought it was silly when I talked to you. I talked and talked and talked, and knew you weren’t listening, but I hoped. I always had hope.

Space

Six years later. You’re so different, but still the same. Your face is a little fuller and my hair’s shorter. You have a new family, and so do I.

I love her.

She reminds me so much of you, and the others that I loved before. You and I used to be so close, and now it’s almost like we’re strangers.

I’m in danger again, thinking no one will rescue me. Just to prove me wrong yet again, I look up and there you are. When she asked you if I was worth the lives of 283 people, you looked at me and said without hesitation. “She is.”

After all this time you still choose me, and I, well....

The Betrayal

The heart and the head were whole once again. Although so much time had passed, everything, everyone seemed so different. You and I however, we still worked. Up until you made that choice.

I don’t blame you now, I understand. You did what you thought was right, to save us all, to save her, your child.

I understand, I do. But she is mine and I couldn’t risk it, not when yours was so far gone.

I made the wrong call that night, and I did something I’d never imagined I would do.

I put you in danger, and I left.

The End of Life As We Know It

I made some more mistakes, how could I not, we weren’t together.

Please don’t think when I left that it was an easy choice to make. It was not. I care about you. I’ve always cared.

Then I heard the most wonderful news, you were alive.

Still mad at me, you helped my child make the right call. You were the good guy, the guy I always knew you were.

Soft words, and kind eyes give me hope as you walk away from me, inviting me to the meeting.

When sleep comes, I tuck in my daughter and go to bed, happy that we were finally safe, despite all of our wrong choices.

Everything was different now, but at least we were all together.

When I wake you, years later, your sleepy “hi” makes me smile. I’m just as confused as you are until we hear from an old friend, and meet a new one. As we stare at our second chance together, my head on your should we cry. I’ve never been happier, and I’ve never been sadder.

The Fresh Start

You not only trust me to join you on the ground, you try and help everyone else see. The eclipse doesn’t help, in fact it only messes everything up.

When we met the new people, we tried. We tried so hard to be the good guys. The only thing I’m glad came out of all it was the lanterns.

Once upon a time I chose you. Again and again and again. I thought I always would.

You were my world.

My heart.

The first time that I didn’t choose you, the one time that I couldn’t-

You are my heart, but she is my soul.

I’m sorry. So sorry. I can’t ever tell you how truly sorry I am.

When I do, you give me that look, give me that smile and pull me in close.

Forgiveness.

Relief.

Your sigh mixes in with mine and it echoes in my bones.

I love you.

The three words we don’t say. Together.

The one word we do.

My Death

I’d never been to a dance before, at least not one like this. I was trying to have fun, for once- and when I did, well, it just didn’t end well.

I thought after my death, I would finally be at peace.

I was wrong.

Neither of us were at peace. In fact, you were inciting a war.

I didn’t see it all, just a fraction of your grief. But what you did for me, everything you risked to save me, that I saw that.

And you did, you save me. Again. When your hands held mine everything felt better.

After putting my life on the line yet again, we didn’t the impossible. We made it yet again.

Not all of us.

Not my mother.

Not your father.

When our eyes linked in the crowd of people, I felt my vulnerability flood from my body. You’ve always been able to draw it out of me.

Walking towards one another, we hugged yet again.

We did better this time.

You believe it, and I want to.

This should be easier, losing people after all this time. It never gets easier.

6/102 left.

[sweet-steddie]

Good Luck (e.d. & g.d.)

Summary: @slovakdolan requested that I write about the main character getting ready for the first day of school and the twins helping her get ready and dropping her off and maybe each giving her a kiss goodbye in front of everyone before they leave. Thank you so much for this prompt, I had a blast writing it! I hope you enjoy it!

A/N: The feedback that I’ve been getting on my other works has been incredible. So, again, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my stuff and actually enjoy it! I hope this one is just as fun for all of you to read!

3.1k+

I’m brushing my teeth and staring at the mirror above the sink just as Grayson comes sidling into the bathroom behind me. His eyes are a little puffy and his hair is tousled from sleep as he offers me a lopsided grin.

“Morning,” he greets in a deep voice, scratchy from a night’s worth of misuse. He rests his chin on my shoulder, resting his palms on the sink on either side of me, caging me in from behind as he closes his eyes.

“Good morning,” I garble through foamy toothpaste as he breathes out heavily through his nose. I carefully spit into the sink and rinse my mouth out a few times before heaving out a large breath of my own. It’s just simply too early to be awake and doing things at this hour. “I don’t wanna go to class, Grayson,” I whine, eyebrows furrowed as I close my eyes against the blinding fluorescent lights. Grayson begins rubbing my shoulders lightly, only deepening my sleepy state.

“I know. I don’t want you to go to class, honestly,” he agrees, “but it’s your first day back. You know you have to,” he explains gently and I groan because he’s right. I had already broken my own rule of isolation leading up to school, hoping to buckle down into school mode as the first day of the semester drew nearer. However, that plan quickly went to shit when I’d made the decision to leave my own, on-campus apartment in favor of driving the 30-plus minutes away from my place to Ethan and Grayson’s house several days ago. I only have one class scheduled this morning, at least, but that doesn’t override the fact that I’d much rather fall back into bed at this early hour. I give a petulant huff, even stomping my foot for good measure and I hear Grayson laugh sympathetically at my disgruntled state.

And the thing is, I know I shouldn’t have stayed up as late as I did last night. But stupid Ethan and stupid Grayson and their stupid, handsome faces and unbearable ability to convince me to do anything is how I ended up in a dog pile with the two boys at well past midnight, Netflix watching us as we ended up crashing on the couch. Grayson is cuddling me close to his warm, bare chest and it feels pleasantly similar to snuggling up near a furnace on this chilly morning. I have half a mind to shove him away in retaliation for keeping me awake for so long last night, but then I take into account that he voluntarily woke up early with me this morning even though he, himself, didn’t have to go to class and that makes me huddle in closer, instead.

We stay like this for a handful of minutes, just embracing each other in the quiet of the bathroom and struggling to keep from falling asleep on the spot. “You should probably start getting dressed,” Grayson murmurs eventually and I groan softly into his naked skin. “It’s just one class, baby. One class and I’ll bring you back here and I promise you we won’t leave the bed all day,” he bargains and my god, does that sound good. The ‘staying in bed all day’ part, not the ‘going to class’ part.

“Fine,” I huff quietly and he goes to disentangle our bodies so that I can begin getting dressed, but I whine softly and pull him back in tight. He smooths my hair back with one hand and cups my cheek with the other, kissing me firmly on my forehead.

“C’mon, sweetheart. I’ll sit with you while you get ready. Would that make you feel a little better?” he asks and I nod wordlessly, allowing him to pull me in the direction of his bedroom, where I’ve been storing my overstuffed overnight bag. True to his word, Grayson perches himself on the edge of his bed as I begin to rifle through the contents of my bag. As I peel through layers and layers of clothing, I quickly realize that my mind is anywhere but on the task at hand and I tell Grayson as much.

“I can’t even process what I’m looking at,” I croak out tiredly. “Help me pick something to wear,” I demand more than ask, but that doesn’t seem to bother Grayson too much, as he promptly rises from where he’s seated on the bed and joins me in front of my duffle bag.

“You sit and gather yourself for a minute. I’ll find something,” he promises, playfully hip checking me in the direction of the bed and I don’t put up an argument. I shuffle over to the mattress, careful to sit at the very edge so that I don’t accidentally retire back into my previous slumber. The room is peacefully quiet as Grayson sorts carefully through the clothes that I’ve packed. As expected, my eyelids begin to droop as I wait and, before I know it, I’m being gently nudged awake.

“Ethan?” I question as the boy, himself, stands before me, hand resting softly on my shoulder that he had gently shaken moments ago. His sleepy eyes crinkle at the corners a bit as he chuckles at my confusion.

“I know; I can’t believe I’m awake, either,” he answers the unspoken question groggily as he makes himself comfortable next to me on the bed. He slings an arm around me, situating me comfortably into his side as I rest my head on his shoulder. Not unlike Grayson, he radiates a pleasant heat that has my head lolling. “I wanted to make sure I saw you and wished you good luck on your first day before you left,” he explains, thumb running soothing circles over the skin of my arm as he and I watch Grayson continue to dig through my clothes.

“Thanks, E,” I hum, lazily pecking a kiss onto his shoulder in gratitude.

“Of course, babe,” he returns easily before asking, “are we picking out your outfit?” in reference to Grayson’s sifting.

“Yeah, dude. So far, I’ve got this top but I don’t know what bottoms to choose with it,” Grayson answers for me, holding up one of my shirts to show Ethan his dilemma. Ethan’s quiet for a moment, deep in thought.

“What about those black ones? The leggings,” Ethan points to a pair of discarded leggings on the floor near Grayson’s feet. Grayson pauses for a moment, seeming to give this suggestion some thought before he leans down to pick up the leggings, holding them near the shirt and nodding.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea,” he agrees, putting the whole outfit off to the side. “And what shoes?” he asks. Given the fact that the outfit is pretty simple - some leggings and an oversized T-shirt - I have a pretty good idea of the type of shoe that would match. Before I can give my input, however, Ethan interjects.

“The sneakers with the blue and gray. Easy,” he contributes and all I can do is shake my head at the ridiculously adorable situation at hand. Having these two pick out my outfit has to be near the top of the list of the cutest things they’ve ever done. I’m more than capable of picking out my own attire and doing a damn good job at it, but I simply lack the energy this morning and the boys can tell.

“Should we help you get the clothes on, too?” Ethan asks suggestively and I swat at his chest, giggling nonetheless at his advances.

“He has a good point,” Grayson chimes in, eyebrows raised as he shrugs his shoulders at me. “If you’re too tired to even pick out an outfit, who knows what else you might need help with,” he reasons and I feel Ethan’s shoulders shaking with quiet, smug laughter. I shimmy out from under his arm, feeling considerably more awake in my state of feeling so utterly flattered.

“Or,” I start enticingly, padding over to where Grayson’s set down the outfit and picking up the clothes, “I could do it myself.” I throw a playful smirk over my shoulder as I waltz back into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

————

No less than 45 minutes later and the boys and I are piled into Ethan’s Jeep, maneuvering side streets and back streets in order to get to my university in a timely manner. Ethan had surprised us all when he not only volunteered to accompany me to school this morning, but to drive as well. It’s the least I can do for making you stay up late last night. And I wouldn’t want you driving while you’re this tired was all he provided as an explanation and that was that.

Going to a university in L.A. meant that Ethan and Grayson rarely made campus visits, simply due to their notoriety around town. As I’ve insisted on the many occasions that we’ve hung out, I have no problem coming to them, instead, and that’s why the locale of most of our hangouts is at the boys’ house as opposed to my apartment. I remind them of this fact as we draw nearer to my campus.

“I really don’t want you guys to have to meet a million people just because you’re dropping me off. You can honestly drop me off a few blocks away and I’ll walk. Seriously, I don’t mind at all,” I stress, but am quickly shot down.

“No way. We’re not gonna dump you on the sidewalk and leave,” Ethan protests and Grayson is quick to back him up as he swivels around in the passenger seat to furrow his eyebrows at me where I sit in the backseat.

“Why would we do that? No, we’re dropping you off on your campus and whoever sees us, sees us. We’re here for you. If that means taking some pictures, then that’s ok,” Grayson reassures me and I can’t help but to smile at the sentiment he and Ethan are expressing. I simply nod my understanding, feeling an immense amount of guilty pressure lifting from my shoulders in the wake of Grayson’s and Ethan’s attitudes toward the impending situation.

There are about 15 more minutes of driving and chattering to pass the time before we arrive at our destination. In the haze of the first-day-back rush, there are plenty of people dashing too and fro in front of the campus buildings and cars and buses parking to drop students off. Ethan luckily finds parking along a curb and brings the car to a halt before he and Grayson turn to face me in the backseat almost simultaneously. My shoulders sag in defeat as I register that I’m here now and I actually have to go to class. After what felt like an endless summer break, returning for school is on par with pulling teeth right about now.

“One class, remember?” Grayson reminds me, giving me a soft smile that Ethan mirrors in my direction.

“One class,” I repeat back to motivate myself. I keep nodding as if to cement the mantra in my mind as I stare at the twins and they stare back for a few moments. “I can catch a ride back with a friend or something,” I tell them, remembering suddenly that my car is still parked at their house and that they would have to stay nearby while I sat in class if they wanted to pick me up afterward, too. Just like my last suggestion to increase convenience for them, this one is shot down.

“Nope. We’ll head to a coffee shop or somewhere else near here so we can be ready to pick you up when you’re finished. Just text us,” Grayson pipes up and I playfully roll my eyes at them both, but I end up smiling.

“Hey really though, thank you guys so much for waking up at the ass crack of dawn to take me to school. You really didn’t have to do that,” I let them know, using my hands to fondly stroke at their stubbled cheeks. They each nuzzle into the touch unconsciously.

“How about some extra good luck for your first day?” Grayson asks after a moment and I tilt my head slightly in confusion as I slowly drop my hands, waiting for him to explain. His lips helplessly twitch into a smirk as he side-eyes his brother. Their annoying twin telepathy allows them to reach a silent understanding, evidently, because Ethan is similarly smirking not a moment later before he and Grayson both fix their eyes back on me. Grayson grasps my hand and gently pulls me until I’m leaning over the center console and I suddenly understand the bigger picture just as he brings our lips together in a soft, sweet kiss.

I sigh into it as my eyes quickly fall closed and I rake my fingers through his soft hair. The kiss naturally deepens and, for quite a while, the only sounds heard in the car are the music seeping lowly through the speakers and the soft smacking of Grayson and I’s lips. He lands one more searing kiss to my lips before pulling away. I take my sweet time allowing my eyelids to flutter back open and, when they do, Grayson’s giving me that droopy-eyed stare that’s making it even harder for me to want to leave this car. Just as I’m thinking this, he swoops back in to give me one more quick kiss  before pulling back for good.

I feel Ethan’s fingers tracing lightly up and down my arm, a gentle reminder that hey, he wants some love too and I’m more than happy to oblige. I turn to face him and he’s giving me that smile that I know and love so much. The one that’s so absolutely, unquestionably Ethan that it melts my insides. He cradles my jaw with one hand, using his thumb to trace over my lips for only a moment before he’s leaning in and sealing our mouths together. I fall into it just as quickly as I had with Grayson, fingers finding a home tangled in the unruly hair at the nape of his neck. Our tongues dance around together and I hear him moan quietly, causing me to unintentionally mimic the noise. I don’t even have the wherewithal to feel embarrassed as his hands burn blazing hot trails where he caresses down the sides of my neck and my shoulders.

This continues for several minutes until we pull away, slightly breathless with our eyes sparkling a bit and skin flushed beyond belief. “Good luck,” Ethan breathes, looking more than a little dazed and I hear Grayson laugh, startling me out of my reverie for a moment.

“Dude, you look so fucked right now,” Grayson teases and I watch as Ethan rolls his eyes, but it lacks conviction in his blissed out state.

“Whatever. You’re just,” he searches for a word and quickly gives up, settling once again on, “whatever,” and that causes Grayson and I to laugh in unison this time at the lame comeback. I eventually retreat to the backseat to gather up my backpack and I heave a big sigh, suddenly feeling more energized than I have all morning.

“I’m gonna get going,” I declare out loud and the twins nod their understanding. “I’ll see you guys soon,” I bid as a goodbye, deciding that it’s best to stick to a verbal farewell in fear of getting caught up again between the two boys and possibly missing my class.

“Bye, baby.”

“We’ll be right here when you get back.”

Both boys call after me as I open the back door and land on my feet on the pavement. I shut the door and take a moment to put my earbuds in and queue up a song before embarking on my walk to class. When I stare ahead of me, I notice that there are plenty of eyes already looking in my direction. Most people look downright shocked, to say the least. Others look mildly impressed. Others look blatantly jealous. I bite the inside of my lip to suppress a laugh as I quickly knock on the passenger window of Ethan’s Jeep. Grayson’s face appears as he rolls down the window, looking at me questioningly.

“Are these windows tinted?” I ask.

“No, why?” Ethan answers, leaning his head forward so that he can look past Grayson to address me. I hide my face in my hands, cheeks flaming up as I smile into my palms.

“Then I think everyone just saw you guys wishing me good luck,” I speak through my fingers. It’s silent for a moment as I keep my face hidden. A couple of seconds later, I hear Grayson’s signature guffaw, along with Ethan’s loud, husky laugh. The three of us share a laugh - the boys laughing mostly at my expense - before I slowly reveal my face again, cheeks still feeling warmer than ever before.

“As if the three of us need any more dating rumors,” I say, shaking my head at our antics. Grayson still sports a smile, teeth on display as he shrugs a shoulder.

“Wouldn’t be so bad,” he says and my eyes dart to Ethan’s face for a reaction, but he looks just as nonchalant as his twin. My stomach does a flip that would put somersaults to shame and I bite my bottom lip in place of responding. It’s quiet for a few seconds as both pairs of eyes in the car scan over me, their smiles simmering down into something a bit more smug and sultry. Before I can even think to splutter out a reply, I hear my name being called.

I look over my shoulder to see a friend of mine waving me over, clearly having just arrived on the scene as she looks completely unaffected in comparison to our surrounding peers. I nod back at her and whirl around to face my boys once more. “Bye for now,” I give them a coy wave before turning on my heel and walking toward my friend. As I reach her, we begin our walk to class and I feel the eyes of those around me following my every step. But there are two pairs of eyes that I can still feel burning a hole in my skin as I retreat and those pairs stand out pleasantly from the rest. My friend’s words become white noise as I slowly become hyper focused on how long I’ll have to wait to see the boys again. Something tells me that I’m in for a long morning and an even longer day after that.

[originaldanganronpascenarios]

PRANK WAR with s/o and SDR2 boys ?! Happy April fools *throws delicious pie in face*

Thank. Also holly shit I got more April fools requests than I imagined. I also don't know much about pranking so I will probably repeat myself (and pranks will be lame) but reactions will be different for sure! Have sleepy Chiaki since I did it instead of sleeping. Sorry but there won't be any Twogami here-

Prank war with SDR2 boys.

Gundham Tanaka

Surprisingly Gundham was the one to start that prank war. He literally gave you dog food and you didn't notice until you took a bite.

It was on. You never expected Gundham to do something like this. But he knew he will regret this.

Both of you agreed to leave his devas out of this (too bad for Gundham since he could make some good pranks with his devas help-). It was personal war.

You knew now that all that required you giving him a gift were off the table.

What you did was just use some tape on doors since you didn't wanted to go too far. You called for him and he got fooled as your trick worked "What kind of force field did you enchant my love?" his dorky face and comment at the time was too cute.

He knew he got pranked of course but each time he didn't show any anger since it was just for fun.

His next prank was attaching airhorn to your chair. You immediately stood up as you were quite sleepy. You could hear him laugh at your reaction as you playfully punched him.

You decided to leave him small 'surprise' in his room and it was- tons of cups filled with water. Luckily none of the animals knocked them out as in his bedroom only his devas rested. Once he entered his room he couldn't belive you.

When you were exchanging pranks back and forth you decided to leave it a draw.

He couldn't belive he enjoyed it this much.

Fujuhiko Kuzuryu

When you heard him yell your name you had to rethink of the choices you made and probably move to another country.

How this happened? What you did? Its simple. You left fake snake toy. He got scared at first not because it was snake but he was surprised. Then he realized what day it was and the war began.

He thought about his prank quite a lot since he couldn't think of anything that was harmless. Since you were so generous and left him a gift why wouldn't he leave something for you aswell? There were rubber ducks everywhere. On your desk in your dorm locker and even im your bag!

He knew the joke was bad but he laughed at your shocked expression whenever you found a duck.

When you two decided to make this war official you made one thing clear. It was just yours war no one can interrupt it so no asking for help (for example Teruteru or Peko).

When it was your time to strike you left bubble wrap under the carpet. But it was just a distraction for real prank that was waiting under it. Once he lifted the carpet what he saw was scarry picture of your choice. Once again picture itself didn't scare him but the fact that it was unexpected.

He made small changes on your laptop. Nick. Cage. Was. Everywhere. Each icon was replaced with actors face (you can replace Nicolas Cage with someone else but I just really thought how funny it had to be seeing him basically everywhere).

The war continues and pranks were lame but enough to make both of you laugh.

Hajime Hinata

He forgot that it was today. And when he went to fetch himself some orange juice he actually drank the power from Mac and Cheese box that was mixed with water.

As he spitted it out he thought who could possibly do it and only option right now were you. He couldn't belive you and he looked for you. Of course you left also another thing waiting for him on his way. Classic bucket of water.

As he changed and dried himself he was more cautious while making his way to you. He couldn't stay mad at you for longer time but still he gave up on you.

While he was walking he thought he could just get back at you! He got fake bug prepared and when he went to where you lived. You thought that your pranks had failed since he didn't act any different.

Once you left for a minute to get your back up plan (toothpaste oreos) he taped the fake bug on your lamp.

Of course he was suspicious of them but looking at the fact that you pranked him already twice... Maybe this time it was- get fucked. You couldn't help but laugh.

He declared war. And you gladly accepted.

The thing was that the whole class got involved as they took sides.

On his team was: Nagito Chiaki Mikan Mahiru Hiyoko Fujuhiko and Peko.

On your team you had: Nekomaru Akane Sonia Gundham Kazuichi Teruteru and Ibuki.

Twogami left it be as he didn't take any side.

The was was very brutal as you thought this was the end of you while Hajime felt the same.

When it was finally over you went back to your room. Hajime just realized that he left that fake bug when he heard your scream. He was keep apologizing and said that he set that up earlier.

Nekomaru Nidai

You allways had prank war each year this was no different.

You mostly drew spiders on toilet paper or add something spicy to his food when he isn't looking.

This year you did something else. You taped tons of balloons on glass door making it seem the gym was filled with them. Of course not to seem lazy you left some balloons in gym too but it was much less than it seemed.

What he did was leave you small 'gifts' everywhere. From just bunch of rubber ducks to fake insects.

Traps were everywhere and not only you and Nekomaru got pranked because of that. Everyone had to look out since it was no better to be safe than sorry!

You two never let it end with a draw. So it was impossible to end those wars. They took about 3 days each time. This time you won!

You allways have a small bets this year it was simply about deciding about everything for 2 months.

Kazuichi Souda

You were suspicious of him day before but when you got inside shower on April fools you noticed he prepared you Chicken soup shower.

You were quite mad at him but little he knew that you had something in your sleeve too!

Ice cubes with mentos hidden in it. When you two were at your place you got him some soda and he added your evil cubes. You were the one to clean it up but it was worth it.

But he messed more with your bathroom as he ALSO had dyes water in your sink red. After you cleaned up you left leek in your sink.

As you went to him you said "Kaz could you fix leak in my bathroom sink?".

When he saw it he yelled from bathroom "Nice one S/O".

Your pranks were very harmless and you laughed each time.

After it ended you called it even. Yet you thought that his pranks were much better than yours.

Nagito Komaeda

He didn't wanted to prank you but you begged for some prank war. Why whould he say no? He can allways intentionally make his pranks be something lame.

You allways told him what great surprise you had for him. He was concerned but he couldn't wait for what you prepared!

He left visable pranks so you allways knew what was going on thanks to his luck... You asked him if he did it intentionally "I don't. S/O I just don't think I can prank well that's all" you knew he was lying...

You left it be as he still didn't knew what you were planning.

He didn't bother following you becouse he wanted to see what his S/O can come up with!

At the end of the day you told him that your plan was prank itself. You didn't had a proper prank war but still it was fun while he tried to make his things obvious as you acted you were doing something.

Teruteru Hanamura

"Prank war you say... Well we can try it. But what will the winner get?" you couldn't help but laugh as you managed to convince him.

It was hard for both sides since Teruteru didn't leave kitchen often and he whould never do anything to his dishes.

Teruteru came up with an idea. He won't do anything to food itself but he can mess with plates glasses etc. And in the worst case scenario he can make fake food (Wich was reserved for you).

Yes you did leave some outside ones but Teruteru didn't get caught on any of those. Teruteru himself got you some of the fake food you took it since you knew he wouldn't do anything to it.

1:0 for Teruteru! Now you had to think of something...

With Mikans help you managed to convince him that you got food poisoning. After saying April fools you were even.

The hole (;)) in a cup from him. The bucket (;) for homestuck who follow me) with water from you.

It kept going like this back and forth and you ended up not winning nor losing...

He still had fun with it and so did you!

~Mod Chiaki

[thepatricktreestump]

Naughty or Nice: ch2

A/N: damn... definitely wasn’t expecting such a positive response from you guys on that first chapter, but i should have known, y’all never disappoint! hope you enjoy this one my lovely little sinners- i mean saints ;)

               Bright lights, loud music, a roaring crowd- this was most definitely the best decision you’ve made in a really long time. To think that you’d get to experience this every single night, for weeks on end, it was absolutely surreal. Snapping photos of the boys playing their hearts out on stage only made you fall in love with them even more. You wanted to know everything about them, how they started the band, how they came up with all these crazy ideas, anything they’d have to offer. All of you met back at the tour bus after tear down and the two sweaty boys took turns taking showers while you began to download and backup all of the photos you had taken that night.

               “What’d you think of the show?” Josh asked, sitting on the sofa beside you as the tour bus began rolling back onto the highway, water droplets still coating his skin from the shower.

               “It was great!” you gushed. “God it was absolutely amazing. I mean, I’ve been to your shows before, but this was unreal to be that close up, especially at such a huge venue.”

               “Ah I remember playing at yours,” Tyler nodded. “Cool place. The fans are always super creative. I remember we got this huge painting from one of them there last year. They’re talented kids.”

               “I’m going to go turn in for the night. I’m absolutely exhausted. You guys have a nice chat though,” Josh sighed, getting up and waving you both off as he disappeared into the bunkers. “You should get to know y/n a little better Ty, I bet she’s pretty rad.”

               “Whatever,” you laughed.

               “Well I guess he’s right. Seeing as you’re keeping some dirty little secret, aren’t you?” Tyler raised an eyebrow.

               “Oh stop it!” you rolled your eyes. “I can’t even believe you’d remember that.”

               “How can I not?” Tyler argued. “I’m just naturally inquisitive.”

               “How about you guess and then I’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong,” you quipped, seeing as you could almost guarantee they’d never in a million years get either of the two right.

               “Do you pee in the shower?” he questioned and you narrowed your eyes.

               “Dude, everyone pees in the shower,” you scowl. “Just like everyone picks their nose and masturbates.”

               “Right, right,” Tyler chuckled, sitting down on the sofa beside you and taking what had been Josh’s seat prior to him leaving for bed. “Hmm, let me think for a second.”

               “Take your time,” you insisted, setting your laptop and camera aside to face him. “We have all night.”

               “Do we now?” he smirked, making your insides squirm. He was kind of hot you had to admit. Especially with all of his tattoos and him coming out of the shower shirtless. So much for keeping things professional. He sighed, putting his hand up to his chin in a thoughtful position, and you could only imagine the dirtiest of fantasies as you gaze lingered over his knuckles and veins and fingertips. Fuck, it was getting late, wasn’t it? That’s when your naughty side always came out. You swallowed awkwardly, trying to keep your composure.

               “You don’t even have a relative idea?” you tilted your head to the side. “Now come on Tyjo, you’re better than this.”

               “Tyjo?” he tugged his lips into a surprised smile. “Cute you keep up with the nicknames.”

               “I heard a fan scream it out at the show tonight, thought it was cute,” you shrugged, unable to hide the blush that rose to your cheeks. “I think Josh’s is Jishwa if I’m right?”

               “Mhmm…” he affirmed.

               “Extremely cute,” you winked, making him smile wider.

               “Alright stop distracting me,” he teased. “I need to come up with some good guesses. Are you secretly an over obsessive fan or something?”

               “You wish,” you chuckled. “Nah sorry. Just a casual listener.”

               “Do you have some sort of amputation you’re hiding?” he wondered.

               “Nope, got all my limbs,” you shook your head.

               “Are you a serial killer?” he asked.

               “Not yet,” you joked.

               “Maybe I’m the serial killer,” he challenged, evil glint in his eyes.

               “Oh yeah?” you laughed. “What? Are you going to choke me to death on the sofa?”

               “If you’re into that,” he winked, making your heart skip a beat.

               “Maybe I am,” you replied way too quickly for your liking, having him raise both of his eyebrows.

               “Yeah?” he verified. “You’re a kinky one?”

               “Tyler,” your voice took on a warning tone but you could already feel your palms begin to sweat. Even though you were both just playing around and joking, technically, half of your secret was out.

               “I never said I was or wasn’t a serial killer,” he shrugged, naughty smile on his face. “Or a kinky person myself.”

               “Ah!” you dished it right back. “So you are too.”

               “Never verified,” he smirked. “However, you just did.”

               Your entire face went completely red. “Wait Tyler no-” you panicked, your heart racing.

               “Nope, you just told me,” he chuckled. “God, is that really what you were so afraid about us finding out?”

               “Ty,” you felt your body shaking. You were so fucking stupid. How could you let him already know? Might as well throw professionalism out the window at this point. Might as well resign on the first night. You wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

               “It’s not that big of a deal,” he laughed. “Dude, I’m pretty sure anyone would be turned on by a little bondage.”

               “Woah, I said nothing about bondage,” you insisted, his laughter and carefree attitude putting you at ease.

               “Not yet,” he chuckled. “God, are you for real about all of this? Or is it just a ruse?”

               Part of you just wanted to save your ass and tell him yeah, you were keeping up with the joke just to be funny or whatever, but another part of you wanted to know what his reaction would be. Much less, if he’d ever act on it. Instead you just stared at him blinking, unsure of what to say.

               “I know a way we can find out,” he suddenly came to the realization, simper on his face growing wider as he reached his hand out to wrap around your throat, you staring at him wide eyed, involuntarily parting your lips and tilting your head back to give him full access, closing your eyes and sighing as he tightened his fingers around you, then released the grip after several seconds and pulled away, smiling ear to ear. “Well ladies and gentlemen I think we have an answer.”

               “Tyler…” you drew in a shaky inhale, trying to catch your breath, staring at him still, mesmerized. “We can’t- you can’t- this isn’t-”

               “What?” he cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly. “We can’t have a little bit of fun, doll?”

               “Ty-” the nickname made you weak and he could tell, chuckling to himself.

               “Come on baby,” he put a hand on your thigh, looking into your eyes. “You can’t have possibly just confessed that to me for no reason, I know a flirt when I see one.”

               “Okay maybe but-”

               “Another confession,” he hummed. “Well here’s one from me for once, yes. I am into that kind of stuff too. In fact, particularly interested and into you.”

               “Tyler,” you warned but he just began to run his hand up and down your leg.

               “What? You can always tell me to stop you know,” he reminded. “But that’s the thing, you want this.”

               “Yeah, I do,” you looked away, shy. “But I’m not allowed, what about Josh?”

               “Josh doesn’t have to know,” Tyler offered. “This can just be our little secret, you know?”

               “That’s the thing,” you suddenly came up with an idea in your mind, smirking yourself. “You only know half it yourself.”

               “Woah, woah, woah, wait. Half?” Tyler stares at you, withdrawing his hand, shocked. “There’s another half? You’ve got more tricks up your sleeve? Hold up, you’ve got to tell me the other half! Are you like paid for this kind of shit or are you some sort of porn actress or something?”

               “You’ll never know,” you shrugged teasingly. “I’m not telling you. And even if you guess, I’m still not going to. Because you only know one part, and you know who I’m going to tell the other to?”

               “Don’t you dare say Josh,” Tyler warns. “Y/n no way- come on, I thought we were bonding and really getting to know each other and stuff.”

               “Nope, decision made final,” you grinned. “You know this little dirty part of me, and Josh gets to know the other part you’ll never figure out.”

               “Not fair!” Tyler whined. “Hey, I thought this was like our moment of becoming close friends and stuff.”

               “I’m not going to be friends with benefits with you Tyler Joseph,” you narrowed your eyes. “You either date me and fuck me right or not at all. I’m a slut, but I’m not a whore.”

               “Goddamn,” he drew his lower lip between his teeth and stared at you with half lidded eyes. “You’re being serious right now?”

               “Depends if you want to be,” you offered. “But Josh gets to know the other half. This is all I’m giving you.”

               “You’re giving me plenty,” Tyler sighs. “I can’t imagine there’s more.”

               “Well there is,” you remind.

               “Damn,” Tyler sighs, watching as you cover your mouth as you yawn, then flutter open your sleepy eyes to chuckle at him.

               “I’m turning in for the night, I’ll catch up with you later,” you decide, caressing his arm before getting up and leaving, him reaching out to grab your wrist.

               “Wait,” he stops you. “Just so we’re clear, this is like, not just a benefits thing. I really dig you, y/n. Truly. I want to get to know you more.”

               “Me too, Joseph,” you smile as he lets go of your wrist, staring at you with fascination. “So looks like this will work out perfectly for the both of us.”

               “Sick,” Tyler gives a boyish laugh, almost in disbelief that this was really happening.

               “Goodnight Ty. Get some rest, yeah?” you tell him, blowing a soft kiss.

               “Will do,” he promises. “And sweet dreams to you too, y/n. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

               Tucking yourself into your covers, you close your eyes, thinking of what you’ve just disclosed to him. Years of trying to keep it a secret from people, chatting through long distance relationships online about your dirty fantasies, constantly trying to seek out someone with similar interests, and then of all places, you just happen to get stuck on a tour bus with a fairly attractive man who just so happens to claim to be as kinky are you are. It couldn’t possibly be a mere coincidence. This had to be fate. And if you played your cards right, deliberately, cautiously, and decisively, you just might miraculously find the other piece to complete your puzzle in the exact same place as the first.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Lil’ Guy

Request: The reader has twins (boy and girl) maybe 5ish and the boy really gives Jensen a hard time every time they meet and the girl is totally the opposite. Jensen's really trying to be nice and spoils them because he's in love with the reader...

Pairing: Jensen x reader

Word Count: 2,300ish

Warnings: none

“Hey cutie,” you heard Jensen cheerily say as Emma opened the front door when she heard him using his key. She giggled as he undoubtedly had picked her up at this point and was flying her down the hall into the kitchen. “Hi other cuties. Dinner smells great.”

“It’ll be done in just a jiffy,” you said, Jensen plopping Emma down beside Eli at the kitchen table, Eli busy with his coloring at the moment. “Guys, set the table for mommy. I don’t want crayon wrappers in my dinner again.”

“What can I do?” asked Jensen, wrapping his arms around your waist, hearing a small snort as the kids moved their papers to their bins out of earshot. “Eli still hates me I see.”

“He’s a momma’s boy. He’s protective of me I guess,” you said. “He does not hate you either.”

“I’m pretty sure he hates me,” said Jensen. “I’ll just have to start bribing him with candy.”

“Maybe we finally have that kids day we were talking about,” you said. “You have Friday off and the kids are on spring break. The weather is supposed to be nice. You could take them to the zoo.”

“You’d let me?” he asked. You cocked your head, Jensen holding up his hands that he knew it was a stupid question in the first place. “I’m kidding. What if we did some other stuff beside the zoo?”

“It’s your day. Bring them home alive but the rest is up to you,” you said.

“I can come up with something good in the next few days,” he said, slipping away from you with a smile to grab your plates. “Let’s eat up guys.”

“Okay Eli,” you said that night. Emma was down for the count in her room, your little boy giving Jensen a hard time again about going to bed. “What’s the problem tonight?”

“I’m mommy’s best guy,” he said grumpily, crossing his little arms over his chest, puffing it out.

“Eli, of course you are,” you said, Eli turning away.

“Then why’d you tell him that too?” asked Eli, his face turning red. “I heard you at dinner.”

“Honey,” you said, sitting down on the edge of his bed, Jensen moving to stand up from where he’d been reading to Eli until you caught his wrist. “You are both the most important men in my lives. Love isn’t finite, Eli. You can give and give and give it to so many people. The fact I love Jensen doesn’t mean I will ever love you any less. You’re always going to be my little boy.”

“Ok,” he grumbled.

“Goodnight,” you said, kissing him on the top of his head. You stood up, leaving Jensen to tuck him in bed, earning a big sigh when he joined you on the couch.

“Told you he hates me,” said Jensen, resting his head on your shoulder. “I even gave him my desert and you make really good brownies.”

“You can’t buy his love Jensen,” you sighed, wrapping your arm around his shoulders. “You’re so good to them both.”

“Emma doesn’t hate me,” said Jensen. “It’s got to be a guy thing.”

“The twins are five. I don’t think any of his male hormones are kicking in yet,” you said.

“No but like you said, he sees me as some kind of threat to protect you from. I can’t sit him down and tell him he’s got it all wrong,” said Jensen. “He doesn’t understand how much I care about you guys.”

“Maybe you should tell him that,” you said.

“Tell him he hurt my feelings?” asked Jensen. “I don’t want to make him feel bad.”

“Just keep trying with him I guess. He’ll realize this can’t keep up eventually.”

Friday Morning

“Okay, lady and gentleman,” said Jensen, clapping his hands together by the front door. “Who is ready to have some super extra fun today?”

Emma’s hand shot up, Eli shrugging. Jensen smiled back at you like this was going to be the longest eight hours of his life.

“Okay,” said Jensen, setting his backpack on the ground, pulling out a pair of baseball caps and plopping them on the twins heads. “We’re gonna be outside a lot today so first we put on some sunscreen.”

He splattered them up, acting like a goofball, Emma laughing and Eli letting out a small one that made Jensen smile.

“Why isn’t mommy coming again?” asked Eli, Emma rolling her eyes.

“It’s Jensen day, that’s why. Mommy has to do chores, remember?” she said.

“Can’t she come later?” asked Eli.

“Mom’s going to meet up with us for dinner,” said Jensen. “We’ll see her soon. You guys all set?”

“All set,” you said, giving them each a fast kiss on the cheek. “Have fun you guys.”

“I see you found their limits,” you said at the park, wandering over to the picnic table Jensen was sat at around dinner time. Emma was tucked up under his side, Eli sprawled out on top of the table, both fast asleep.

“I didn’t realize even their endless energy wasn’t endless,” he said with a smile.

“Sucks for them cause I brought burgers from the food truck around the corner,” you said, unwrapping one and handing it over to Jensen to eat one handed as he held onto Emma. “How’d your day go? I see you’re still in one piece.”

“So many piggyback rides,” he teased, taking a big bite of his dinner. “They had fun at the zoo and the baseball game. The go karts were their favorite I’m pretty sure.”

“I assume you won?” you asked.

“Of course. They had a blast,” he said.

“What about tough guy? He fawn over you like Emma?” you asked.

“I think he’s warming up to me,” said Jensen, stealing a fry from you.

“It’s about time,” you said.

“You do know that if he didn’t ever warm up to me...I wouldn’t make him have to be in that kind of environment that bothers him,” said Jensen.

“Whoa, you better rephrase that because it sounded an awful lot like a breakup,” you said.

“No, no. I love you, Y/N, along with these two. But I won’t be that guy that Eli can’t stand to have around but always is,” said Jensen.

“You would end this, even though you love us, so he wouldn’t have to feel bad?” you asked.

“You’re pissed at me, aren’t you,” he said.

“You just told me you care more about my child’s wellbeing more than my own,” you said.

“Yeah,” said Jensen. “I mean, it’s a little hypocritical if you’re gonna get mad at me. You care about them more than me.”

“They’re my children,” you said.

“So? I’m not allowed to care about them because I’m not their father?” he asked.

“This is flying way over your head you handsome boy. Do you honestly think I’d let a guy that puts my kids before himself or myself go? You’re like, super perfect,” you said.

“Oh,” said Jensen, scratching his head. “You’re happy. I’m just an idiot like normal.”

“But your our idiot,” you said with a smile.

“You called me handsome,” he said with a smirk.

“You’re such a loser,” you said shaking your head, a crackle of thunder off in the distance. “Cute loser.”

“Don’t you forget it,” he said with a laugh. “We should probably take our dinner to go before it pours on us.”

“You take the girl and the food. I’ll grab the boy.”

You were lying awake in bed, the wind howling and rain smattering against the windows, Jensen in a half sleep beside you. The power was out and you knew it was only a matter of time before the kids woke up to dark bedrooms and no nightlights.

You dragged yourself into the bathroom, coming out a minute later to find Jensen on the edge of the mattress, back to you.

“Jen,” you whispered, nudging him back towards the middle, his head shaking. “Jensen.”

“Shh,” he whispered, pointing to the bundle of sheets next to him. It took you a moment to realize there was a tiny body in there, jammed so tight against Jensen you barely saw him. “S’just a storm, honey.”

Jensen ran his hand up and down Eli’s back, shushing him as you climbed back into bed. He stayed with Jensen though, Jensen popping open an eye when Eli finally relaxed.

Emma made her way in a short while later, finding a spot near you, Eli already back asleep by the time she had curled in behind her brother.

“Morning sleepy boys,” you said from the doorway, the pair of them groggily lifting their heads up. “How about some Saturday morning waffles and cartoons?”

“How about five more minutes,” said Jensen, Eli plopping back down next to him. “We’ll get up.”

Ten minutes later you were back in there, Jensen plucking Eli up and tossing him over his shoulder, carrying him down to the kitchen. You were pretty sure you’d never heard him laugh like that because of something Jensen did, Emma quickly wanting a ride of her own.

“I think we got to the root of the problem,” you said after breakfast, the twins watching a cartoon as you cleaned up with Jensen.

“A cuddle has won over you more than once,” he teased, the lights flickering overhead before shutting off. “And the power is out again.”

“At least we already made breakfast,” you said, Jensen tugging you into the living room. The pair were already sprawled out on the floor with their papers and crayons, Jensen taking a seat close by and drawing his own picture.

By the time the lights were back on, it was raining out again and you had countless drawings to sort through while you sent them for a nap.

“Here you go,” said Eli, handing one to Jensen, giving him a strange look. You peered over his shoulder, knowing Jensen’s face had to be ready to burst that Eli drew him in a picture for once.

“Thanks, Eli. I’m gonna take this home with me and put it on my fridge,” he said, Eli giving him a hug. He took off after his sister upstairs, both giggling and bouncing on a bed from the sounds of it before it got quiet and they settled down. “You were right, he doesn’t hate me.”

“I knew he didn't. He’s a little you,” you said, Jensen cocking his head. “Protective, shy, he puts his little walls up until he knows he can trust someone...was scared of thunderstorms when he was little.”

“I guess we’re a bit alike,” said Jensen. “He was very quiet when we met. I was more scared of the kids than they were of me.”

“Well they both love you and I know you believe me this time when I say it,” you said, Jensen humming. “What if we upgrade that drawer you have to part of the closet?”

“You want me to move in full time?” he asked, your head nodding. “I thought we wanted to take this slow for the kids.”

“We have been dating for quite awhile, Jensen. You’ve been staying over almost that whole time. I know you were nervous about pushing too fast for them and for me but we’re ready for it,” you said.

“That’s probably a good thing considering,” said Jensen.

“Considering what?” you asked.

“The kiddos may have cornered me this morning and asked…” he said, scrunching up his face. “Oh it sounds so stupid.”

“What did my expert interrogators ask?” you asked, Jensen closing his eyes.

“They asked if I was their dad,” he said.

“They know he got in a car accident when they were newbies,” you said.

“They asked if I was their new dad,” he said.

“What’d you say?” you asked.

“I told them I’d be whatever they wanted me to be. A dinosaur with lion hands in a purple tutu is apparently what they were looking for,” said Jensen with a smile.

“It’s hard to have meaningful life conversations with five year olds before it just takes a left turn into crazy town,” you said.

“I’ve come to realize that,” he said. “They seemed to be excited about the idea though...of a dad.”

“You really want them to be happy, don’t you,” you said, Jensen giving a shy smile. “Trust me, they are. You made me happy back when I really didn’t want to be and they both know it.”

“I think I’m going to take you up on that moving in thing,” he said with a smile. “Since I’m so good at this making everyone happy deal I got going on, I should probably stick around.”

“Like you were going anywhere,” you said, Jensen getting to his feet with his drawing, sticking it on the fridge with a big old smile. “You happy?”

“More than you’ll ever really know.”