#happy new year everyone! catching up like a fiend currently!

[atomicpunch-natsume]

PUNCHED HIM IN THE EYEBALL!

[bellaxgiornata]

If We're Being Honest [1/2]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader Word Count: 6.8k [Part 2]

Summary: Already having an awful week, you're a bit out of it while at Josie's with your friends, too busy sulking and drinking down your feelings to keep up with conversation. The sight of Matt wandering off with a beautiful woman yet again certainly doesn't help. But when you stay behind by yourself to finish your drink and wallow a bit more, you're surprised when Matt reappears and offers to let you stay the night at his place. Eventually, the night takes a turn you weren't anticipating.

Warnings/Tags: Angst with a happy ending, confession of feelings (with a twist), delayed comfort, anxious/depressed inebriated Reader

a/n: This is a two part little fic with angst in this first half and the comfort y'all want in the second half. I was craving angst and a twist on the typical confession of feelings fic, so here y'all go! Feedback is always appreciated!

Matt Murdock One Shot Tag List: @pazii @shouldbestudying41 @kmc1989 @ebathory997 @mattkinsella @yeonalie @shiorimakibawrites @xxdrixx @wkndwlff @leikelle @pinkratts @lazyxsquirrel @1988-fiend @marvelcinematiquniverse @carstairswife @stilldreaming666 @kiwwia-wiwwia @willwork4dilfs @will-delete-this-later-probably @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment @theetherealbloom @yarrystyleeza @dramaholic18 @ladywholikesreading @sleepysleepymom @tartbeanpuzzles @harleycao @sunflower-tia

Absently spinning your bottle of beer on the table with one hand, your eyes were fixed on the little droplets of condensation along the side of it. Your chin rested in the palm of your other hand as you watched one of the droplets begin to snake its way down the side of the brown glass, moving as if it was in slow motion. Outside of the bar, the downpour of summer rain battered against the window to your left.

Foggy’s hand loudly and abruptly slapping the table broke through your daze, causing you to jump in your seat. Eyes flying over towards him beside you, you watched as he let out a boisterous laugh, throwing his head back over his shoulders. Karen and Matt both quickly followed after, breaking into a fit of laughter along with him. Meanwhile you sat in your seat with absolutely no idea what had them laughing so hard because you hadn't been paying attention to the conversation for the past few minutes. 

You'd been having a rough week, both emotionally and mentally, and were currently trying your hardest not to sit and wallow in self-pity tonight–but you weren't doing a great job of that so far. Not only had you received a wedding invitation to your cousin's wedding the other day, but last night Marci had asked you to be a bridesmaid at her and Foggy’s upcoming wedding. Which of course you'd said yes to, ecstatic for your friends to finally be getting married and having an actual date set for their big day. But all of that had made you increasingly aware of your own single-ness this week in particular, especially after Karen had spent the first part of tonight gushing about the new guy she'd been seeing. 

You were happy for your friends, honestly. They were amazing people who deserved nothing but the best. You absolutely couldn't wait for all of the wedding festivities coming up that you'd be celebrating with everyone, either–for Marci and Fog's wedding and your cousin. You even thought the guy Karen was seeing sounded like an actual great catch for her for once. 

But you just couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with you tonight. It had been far too long since you'd last had a date, and even longer than that since you'd been in a relationship. It didn't help that you certainly didn’t feel like you fit in with this group of friends you’d somehow found yourself a part of for the past almost year now. 

It had been by sheer accident that you’d met Foggy and Karen one morning all those months ago. And it was only because the three of you had had a coffee mishap at a coffee shop near the office where they worked. It was Foggy who’d chased you out of that shop for the drink you'd accidentally grabbed by mistake. Apparently it had been for his law firm partner Matt, who happened to be very particular about his coffee. They needed to be at the courthouse in time for a court case that morning so he didn't have time to get back in line to reorder the coffee. Having not had a chance to drink from the cup in the time you'd managed to grab it and make your way out the door, you'd readily swapped Matt's drink with your actual coffee that Foggy had grabbed. You’d apologized profusely for the mistake, but you'd formed the opinion that his firm partner sounded like an ass to be that particular about his coffee.

And for the next few mornings before work after that, you kept noticing Karen and Foggy at the same coffee shop. The pair of them were always excited to greet you, jokingly dubbing you the ‘coffee thief’ from that moment forward. It wasn’t long before the morning small talk in the line for coffee eventually led to them inviting you out to this little dive bar at Josie’s where you had finally met him .

Matthew Michael Murdock.

As the laughter subsided at the table, your eyes shifted over to Matt as if they were magnetically drawn to him. There was a broad smile stretched wide across his face, displaying his perfect, white teeth. The adorable, lone dimple in his right cheek was visible tonight just beneath the stubble that was a bit darker and thicker than he usually kept it. His dark hair was partially windswept but now finally dry from the rain that had dampened it earlier. Somehow that had just made his hair look messy in a way that seemed intentional. His tie was partially undone, loose around the collar of his light blue dress shirt; and as usual by the time he’d reached Josie’s, his sleeves had been rolled up exactly two times to reveal those muscular forearms of his covered in that smattering of little dark hairs you’d always longed to touch. 

He looked good– so good. But he always did. 

And of course, you were aware that you weren't the only one who ever noticed that.

The tall brunette you’d caught eyeing Matt all night finally appeared just over his shoulder and you released a sigh, already knowing what was coming next. Matt always attracted attention from beautiful women wherever he went because he was handsome and charismatic and sweet. He was impossible to miss in a room full of people. Which was honestly true of Karen, Marci, and Foggy, too. They were all attractive, successful, and exceptionally well-spoken individuals with big personalities that you couldn’t help but be drawn to.

But not you. You stood out like a painting on a hotel wall wherever you went–common, bland, and not remotely out of the ordinary. 

“Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt,” the brunette began as she stopped beside the table. Her eyes landed on Matt as she flashed a stunning smile his way. “I couldn't help but keep stealing glances at you all night and I figured I'd finally just say hello.”

Matt turned in his chair towards the woman, a charming smile already prepared on his face for her. “Well I'm flattered,” he told her. “I only wish I could say the same about stealing glances at you in return all night, but well–”

Matt gestured at his red glasses as the woman laughed, the sound itself somehow even perfect and attractive. That dark feeling of jealousy and despair began knotting together, swirling in your gut and mixing with the beers you'd already downed. Movement across the table from you caught your attention and you glanced over, catching the sight of Karen playfully but discreetly rolling her eyes at you and Foggy. Foggy chuckled lightly in response, nodding a little. Your attention returned back to the condensation on your beer bottle, not interested in having a front row seat to watching another one of Matt's hook-ups pan out.

“Would it be alright if I bought you a drink?” you overheard the brunette ask. “I mean, if I'm not interrupting?”

“I can assure you that you’re absolutely not interrupting anything,” Matt told her, already sliding his chair back and rising to his feet. “I think these three have endured my company long enough for this evening anyway, and it isn't often a woman offers to buy me a drink.”

Matt said a quick round of goodbyes to the three of you as that beautiful brunette’s perfect laugh trilled over the sound of the rock music playing on the bar’s speakers. You muttered something back half-heartedly, not even bothering to glance up from your beer. It wasn’t like he’d have noticed anyway.

“Well maybe it’s about that time,” Foggy said, pulling the sleeve of his dress shirt back to check the time on his watch. “Marci had appointments for cake tastings tomorrow morning and I do not want to miss out on that.” 

Across the table, Karen raised her bottle up to her lips, downing the rest of her beer before setting the empty bottle back onto the table. “I might see if Alex wants to stop over tonight, actually,” she told you both. “Since it’s Friday and I don’t need to show up at the office for once on a Saturday morning.”

As both of them began sliding their chairs back, gathering their things from the table, you remained seated. Fingers tapping against the beer bottle, you watched as a droplet of condensation raced another over the curve of the glass. Out of your peripheral, you caught the way both Foggy and Karen’s movements slowed, the two of them exchanging an uncertain look with each other. Then you heard the way Karen said your name softly in question. Eyes shifting upwards, you focused on her on the other side of the table.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked. “You’ve been oddly quiet all night.”

You forced a tired smile onto your face, nodding as you continued to rest your chin in your hand. “I’m fine,” you lied. “Just going to finish my drink before I leave, I think. Been a rough week at work and I just need to relax a little.”

“Do you…want us to stay?” Foggy asked.

You shook your head, releasing the bottle from your grip long enough to wave the pair of them off. “I’m fine drinking by myself, don’t worry about me,” you told him. “Go on. You both have someone to get back to tonight anyway, I’ll be alright.”

Karen hesitated beside the table, her concerned eyes landing back on Foggy still standing next to you. It looked like they were having a silent conversation with each other, but the thought of them staying here to keep you company when you knew there was somewhere they’d rather be–some one who’d they’d rather be with–only made that uncomfortable and sickening feeling of jealousy in your gut worse. 

Forcing that smile back on your face, you sat upright in your chair, ignoring the way the bar around you briefly spun in your vision from the beers you'd drank. Attempting to play the part of being just fine, you hoped that neither of them could see the truth behind the mask you’d thrown on. You just wanted to sulk back for a few minutes and finish your beer while you unhealthily forced yourself to acknowledge the fact that Matt looked far better next to a woman like the one he was currently laughing with at the bar than someone like you. Then you’d go home, throw on your stained and worn pajamas that weren’t remotely sexy, and probably watch a bit of mindless television before going to bed. Alone. Like every other night.

“Alright, well…hopefully you enjoy your drink,” Karen replied hesitantly, still looking uncertain.

“Make sure you call for a ride, too,” Foggy said, pointing a finger at the window beside you. “Still raining cats and dogs out there. You don’t want to step in a poodle–I mean, puddle–on your way home.”

You laughed lightly at his joke, though not as much as you would’ve done any other night. Exchanging goodbyes with both of them afterwards, you sighed in relief when they finally turned and headed towards the exit. Slumping back down in your seat, you focused on the window to your left as you drew your bottle of beer back up to your lips, watching as the rain continued to come down hard. 

Maybe Melissa at work was right. Maybe it was time you tried downloading one of those stupid dating apps, even though the thought of weeding out so many assholes who just wanted sex was the last thing you wanted to do. But maybe it would beat being alone all the time. It wasn’t like you were having any luck trying to meet someone the old fashioned way–in person.

Taking another drink from your beer, your attention returned to Matt's back as he sat at the bar beside the attractive woman. Drinking down a few deep gulps, you wondered what it would be like to ever have his undivided attention like that. To have him throw jokes your way because he was trying to win you over, not because you were just one of his friends. To have his hand linger on your thigh while he spoke to you because he wanted you and he wanted you to know that. Or to have him lean in towards your ear and whisper literally anything to you. 

Swallowing your beer down, you tore your eyes away from the sight of Matt at the bar. He'd never once flirted with you like that, the thought only increasing the lingering pain of jealousy now spreading to your chest, feeling like it was sucking your heart into a blackhole of nothingness. You just weren't good enough were you?

Ducking your head, you tried to hide the emotion on your face even if the only person left at this bar to notice and comment would be Josie herself. Still, you'd rather not be asked to explain why you looked quite so miserable. But it hurt to realize that every single one of your friends had someone else to go home to tonight, and here you were drinking alone. Going home to an empty apartment after.

Figuring it was time you just downed the rest of your drink and headed home, you grabbed your beer and quickly drained the rest of its contents. Maybe being drenched in the summer rain on your walk back home would make you feel something tonight besides the growing ache of loneliness. 

Setting the finished bottle of beer back onto the table, you clumsily pushed your chair back. Rising to your feet, you nearly lost your balance when you slid out of the chair. Your hands darted out, grabbing onto the table to steady yourself for a moment. Maybe you'd drank those beers back faster than you'd realized, clearly a little more buzzed than you'd expected.

“Not a big deal,” you mumbled to yourself, maneuvering around the chair, “I can still manage to walk back inebriated in the rain.”

Slipping your purse from off the back of the chair, you tossed the strap over your head and readjusted it on yourself. Then you pushed the chair forward so as not to trip over it before turning. 

Immediately you stopped when you saw you weren't alone, a surprised gasp coming from you. You would’ve stumbled backwards if it hadn't been for your hand that flew out, grabbing onto the back of the chair you'd just pushed in. Matt was standing at the edge of the table, his cane unfolded and in both of his hands.

“Hey,” he said, his attention clearly fixed on you. “Josie said you were still here by yourself.”

Brows knitting together in confusion at him suddenly appearing over here when he had just been at the bar, you glanced back over to where you'd last seen him. The brunette he'd been talking to had disappeared entirely, no longer sitting on the bar stool. 

“Yeah, I was just…finishing my drink,” you replied, still scanning the bar for the woman. “Weren't you with someone just a minute ago?”

“Well I was,” he answered, “until Josie pointed out how you were sitting here all by yourself after Fog and Karen had already gone home. Had me worried. Are you doing alright?”

Your gaze returned back to him, taking in the look of concern etched across his handsome face. The same look Karen and Foggy had shared tonight. 

“I'm fine,” you said, repeating the same lie. 

Matt's head tilted curiously to the side, a mannerism of his that you always found adorable. Except for right now, because it felt like he was analyzing what you'd said far more closely than your other friends had.

“If you're heading out, I can call you a car,” Matt suggested. “I can even wait with you if you'd like.”

You shook your head, beginning to make your way past him. “I'm fine, Matt,” you told him. “I was just going to walk back.”

“In the rain?” he asked. “I might be blind but I'm not deaf. It's pouring outside. And you've had quite a few drinks tonight, let me just call you a car. You shouldn’t be walking home in that.”

“Maybe I want to take a walk in the rain,” you countered, coming to a stop beside him. “Something wrong with that? It's just rain.”

His brows drew up onto his forehead behind his glasses as he shifted on his feet. “You really want to walk almost two blocks in the pouring rain right now? Stumbling down the sidewalk alone?” he asked. “You sure about that?”

A frown settled onto your face. When he put it like that, no, you sort of didn't. But you also didn't feel like waiting to grab a cab, either. Especially if it meant waiting with Matt and being the cause of further ruining his evening.

“Alright, how about this,” he continued when you hadn’t answered. “You come back and stay at my place tonight. I think we can both manage a walk around the corner in the rain. I'll let you borrow something dry to sleep in and you can take the bed. That way I won't have to worry if you made it home alright and you can still have your walk in the rain.”

As his offer made its way past the alcoholic fog in your brain, your body stiffened. Had Matt really just invited you to stay the night at his place? Because he was worried about you getting home? And he'd walked away from what was clearly going to be an obvious hook-up? For you ?

You could feel your heart beating a little faster in your chest as all these things gradually began to register in your mind. Why would he do that? He’d never invited you to stay at his place before.

“I–” you began.

You could barely find the words to reply, your brain too muddled by the alcohol to think clearly. Was this just an invitation as a friend, or was it something more? 

“Is that a yes?” he questioned. “Because it sounds like the rain has eased up a bit, now would be the perfect time to head out before it downpours again.”

Slowly you nodded, the ‘yes’ coming out of you before you even realized you’d agreed. Because could you really pass up the chance to stay over at Matt’s place? You knew you’d always be left wondering what might’ve happened if you didn’t go. 

His hand extended out towards you, the movement drawing your gaze downwards. It hovered there in the space between both of your bodies, your eyes lingering on it. 

“Should we go then?” he asked.

Swallowing hard, you hesitantly reached your hand out, slipping it with uncertainty into his. But when his fingers curled around your hand in return, you realized that’s what he’d been silently asking. For you to hold his hand as you walked back with him in the rain.

“Probably will make it easier to keep either of us from tripping,” he told you, turning the pair of you around in the bar until you were both facing the exit. “Though I suppose now if one of us falls down, we both do.”

His head turned towards you, a cheeky grin on his mouth directed solely at you. You could feel the way your heart skipped in your chest at the sight, the cold, miserable feeling that you’d been experiencing all night easing its way out of you just a little. 

“So, do you care to lead the way or…?”

Snapping out of your daze staring at him–something you were grateful he couldn’t see–you quickly nodded. “Right, sorry,” you muttered, beginning to lead the pair of you towards the door.

The moment you’d led the pair of you out of Josie’s and out from beneath the little overhang at the entrance, the warm rain had already begun to soak your hair and your clothes. It had felt good though, especially with Matt’s warm, calloused hand wrapped around yours. As you sidestepped a puddle, you found yourself surprised at the unexpected turn that your evening had taken. Though there was still something on your mind and your inebriated brain just couldn’t resist finding out the answer as the pair of you neared the corner of the block.

“So…how much did I ruin your night tonight?” you asked Matt cautiously.

He glanced over his shoulder towards you, his cane tapping along the sidewalk and occasionally splashing up water each time it hit a puddle. Your bottom lip rolled back between your teeth as you began nervously gnawing on it, afraid of his answer.

“You didn’t ruin my night,” he replied easily. “Though I’ve been a bit worried about you. You’ve been quieter more than usual tonight. Is something on your mind?”

Yeah, you , you thought.

But of course, you couldn’t say that aloud.

You shrugged, your gaze dropping to the pavement ahead of you. “Just feeling a little down on myself, I guess,” you muttered. 

Hearing the words aloud had you cringing as you walked. You hadn't exactly meant to be honest and tell him that. 

“Feeling down on yourself about what, exactly?” he asked.

The pair of you rounded the corner, your blouse already drenched and sticking to your skin. Glancing up at Matt from beneath your lashes beside you, you couldn't help but notice the way his dress shirt was soaked and clinging to his muscular torso. It was physically painful how attractive he was. 

“It's stupid,” you mumbled, focusing back down on the pavement. 

Matt's hand squeezed yours, your heart practically slamming into your ribcage in shock at the gesture. You hoped he didn't notice the way your palm was gradually beginning to dampen with nervous sweat.

“Tell me what's on your mind,” he urged. “You know I won't judge you.”

The pair of you were quickly approaching Matt's apartment building as his words hung in the air between you. It was true though, in all your time knowing Matt he'd never once been mean to you. Never once had he made you feel bad about yourself. If anything he'd always been sweet and supportive, which only made you like him that much more. You sighed, and then suddenly you felt your drunk thoughts spilling out of your mouth faster than you could stop them. 

“I feel like I'm not good enough,” you confessed, the words spewing from you. “I haven't had a date in a long time. And then there's Marci and Fog who're getting married soon–and that's great. They're perfect for each other. And Karen, well, she might usually have poor luck with men, but she gets dates left and right. And she's gorgeous and smart so I get it. And then you–” you continued, wincing at the memory of him next to that brunette at Josie’s, his hand on her thigh, “–you could have a new fling for every night of the week in this damn city. But me?” You roughly shook your head, a tear managing to slip out of your eye and camouflaging itself with the drops of rain on your cheeks. “No one looks twice at me. I'm not special and I'm certainly not Karen or Marci. I don't even remember the last time a guy showed up to my place with flowers. It's been a long time since someone actually asked me on a date. And–”

You stopped short, your brain finally catching up and realizing all the things you'd just said aloud. You sucked in a breath as the wave of embarrassment hit you, your mouth promptly closing. How could you have possibly just admitted all that to Matt of all people?

“You know that's not true, right?” Matt said gently, his hand once again squeezing yours. “I'm sure plenty of guys have given you second or third looks. You're an incredibly smart and talented woman and you're being far too hard on yourself.”

You scoffed loudly, rolling your eyes as heat burned at your cheeks. But at the sound of your disbelief, Matt's hand gave a sharp pull on yours, drawing you both to a stop in front of his building. 

“Hey,” he said, tugging your hand and pulling you towards himself. “You should stop thinking about yourself like that. Stop being so critical of yourself. You're so much more than you give yourself credit for.”

Hearing his kind words, you couldn't bear to look him in the face. Feeling awkward, your gaze fixed down on your wet dress flats. “Easy for you to say,” you muttered, the alcohol once more loosening your tongue, “because you're successful and don't remotely have an issue attracting the opposite sex. It's not like that for the rest of us.”

Matt said your name firmly, the tone of his voice practically commanding you to focus back on him. His expression was serious despite the red glasses he wore obscuring his eyes, making it impossible to see the entirety of his face. His hair was soaked and clinging to his head from the rain, a few droplets streaming down his handsome face as he fixed his attention solely on you. Your hands instantly began to grow clammier under his undivided attention and you hoped he thought it was just from the rain.

“You're an amazing person and some lucky guy is going to come and sweep you off your feet,” he told you. “You'll find him, I can assure you of that.”

As you gazed back at him on the sidewalk, the rain still falling over the pair of you, your buzzed brain tried to understand if there was something else hidden in Matt's words, some other thing that he was trying to tell you. Because just like he'd never invited you to stay at his place, he'd never said anything like that to you before. He'd certainly never looked at you like he currently was before, either. 

“Please try to be kinder to yourself,” Matt nearly begged. “Okay?”

Unsure what to make of his behavior tonight, you nodded slightly. “Okay,” you agreed quietly.

He smiled back at you, the sight nearly knocking you off your feet. It was quickly becoming far too difficult to just stand here trying to look at him as only a friend. And it was getting harder and harder to keep your mouth from blurting out how you felt with that stunning smile on his perfect mouth. Thankfully he continued on towards the entrance of his building, breaking you from your thoughts and leading you into the small lobby and over towards the elevators.

The entire way up to Matt's apartment had been silent after that. You were too busy trying to analyze everything he had been doing and saying tonight to even remotely think of conversation. Because it was supposed to have been that pretty woman at the bar coming up to his apartment tonight, not you. Yet here you were, still holding Matt's hand as he led you down the hallway to his place.

And while this certainly wasn't the first time you'd been here before, it was the first time you'd been here alone at night with him. The thought of staying here overnight in his bed still had your insides buzzing along with the beer you'd downed this evening. 

Was there something more you were missing? Every step closer to his apartment had you feeling like there was.

Matt eventually pulled you to a stop in front of his door, fishing his keys from out of his dress pant pockets. You watched in silence as he unlocked the door, your nerves only growing as you stood there. 

“You can come on in,” Matt told you, swinging his door open and gesturing for you to step inside. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Chewing the inside of your cheek, you hesitantly stepped forward and made your way past Matt into the apartment. Your shoulder gently and accidentally brushed against his damp chest as you tried to squeeze past him. Immediately you wrapped your arms over your chest, feeling your heart beat a little harder from the brief touch. His chest was so incredibly solid, you'd never understood how he was so in shape.

Glancing down as you paused in his entryway, you noticed the damp patch you were making on his floor as he shut and locked the door behind you. 

“I'm sorry, I'm dripping water everywhere,” you told Matt. “Do you have a towel or something?”

“How about I grab some dry clothes for you to change into,” he replied, slipping out of his dress shoes. “Then we can worry about the mess we're making.”

As he made his way down the short entryway, you stood awkwardly in place, arms still wrapped around yourself. When Matt reached the end of the little hall, he paused, glancing back at you with a charming smile on his face.

“It's just water, it's fine,” he assured you. “You can come in.”

Slowly you began to make your way into his apartment, cautiously making your way over to the side of his leather couch. Matt once again assured you he would grab some dry clothes for you to change into before disappearing into his bedroom, leaving you alone.

The lights were off in his apartment, but truthfully you didn't even need them. Looking out the window to your right, your eyes landed on the eyesore of a billboard just across the street. It had been awhile since you'd been here at night with your friends and you'd forgotten just how bright it was. Currently it was advertising a nearby hospital, the blue light shining through Matt's windows and coating the room in a navy glow. In a way it was beautiful, but you could absolutely understand why he’d gotten such a great deal on the place. 

“Hopefully these will work,” Matt said.

Tearing your eyes away from the window, your attention returned to Matt as he was leaving his bedroom. But your breath immediately caught in your throat at the unexpected sight of him sauntering his way towards you with some neatly folded clothes in his hands. It felt like you suddenly couldn't breathe as you watched each of his casual steps towards you.

He'd taken his damp shirt off and removed his glasses when he'd gone into his bedroom to grab you some clothes. The sight of which had left you damn near speechless because you'd never seen him shirtless before. It was impossible not to just blankly stare at the sight, taking in all of the defined muscle along his chest along with the girth of his muscular arms. You curiously noted the scars on his chest, but you were too busy trying to control your now violently beating heart at the view before you to think much more of them.

Matthew Murdock looked far too good to actually exist in real life. 

But why hadn't he thrown a shirt on before he'd come out to hand you the clothes? It would’ve taken him barely any time to do so. Had it been intentional that he'd done that? Was it…possible that Matt might’ve been trying to make some sort of move on you tonight? Was that why he’d invited you back here this evening instead of the other woman at the bar?

He stopped just before you, a smile on his face as his eyes fixed somewhere along your chest. You always loved when he took his glasses off around you, but unfortunately it wasn't often. He always seemed far more vulnerable, which was probably why it was a rare sight. But he’d removed them now, and as you watched him, you noticed the faintest twitch to the corner of his eyes. You wondered what that was about as he extended the clothes in his hands out towards you. 

“Here,” he said softly. “Hopefully they're comfortable, but if not, I can always get you a towel to dry off. Though really you can sleep however you're comfortable.” His smile turned cheeky–a smile he didn’t often flash your way–as the corners of his eyes creased. “Not like I can see anything anyway.”

Your fingers tightened around your damp blouse at the implication of his words. Had he just said he didn't care if you slept in nothing? In his bed?

Swallowing hard, your eyes dropped down and focused on the shirt and sweatpants that were neatly folded in his outstretched hands. His clothes. He was offering you his clothes to sleep in. Nervously you unwrapped your arms from over your chest as you took a step towards him, your trembling hands carefully reaching out and accepting the clothing from him.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

Glancing up, you realized how close the pair of you were now standing to each other. Barely any distance was left between you two. Had he even managed to move closer or were you imagining that?

“Of course,” he whispered back.

He was still smiling down at you as you drew the clothes in towards your chest. His head had tilted ever so faintly to the side as you observed him, the heat of his body warming you in your damp clothes. Why hadn’t he moved? Why was he still standing so close? 

A thought struck you as you stood there, your attention turning towards his lips. Was he…wanting to kiss you? No, that couldn’t be it.

…could it?

He had invited you back to his place after all. He’d walked you home with him in the rain hand in hand–which had been his idea. That had been far more intimate than anything the pair of you had ever done before. And now he was letting you stay the night in his bed, offering you his own clothes to change into. Saying such nice things about you. And he was just standing there, gazing down at you in nothing but a pair of damp dress pants because he’d removed his shirt without bothering to put on another one. 

This had to all be intentional, right? He could’ve easily gone home with the brunette from the bar, but he chose you, didn’t he? Maybe what he’d been saying earlier outside the building in the rain had meant something more. Could he have been talking about himself being the guy to come along and sweep you off your feet? Had that been what he’d meant all along?

Hope instantly sparked in your chest at the thought. Everything seemed to make sense, everything seemed to point at the fact that Matt might possibly view you as more than just a friend. So was this your moment then? Your chance to tell Matt how you felt and to hear he felt the same in return? Because he was still just standing there, so close you could kiss him. Why else hadn’t he moved?

Without even thinking–most likely due to the alcohol in your system–you leaned forward and boldly closed the rest of the distance between your mouths. It was a hesitant kiss, your lips ever so gently pressing against Matt’s in an uncertain connection. You couldn’t believe how incredibly soft his were, how warm they felt against your own. Your stomach began somersaulting inside of you because you were kissing Matt. It was everything you’d wanted for almost a year now.

Until he gently but abruptly pulled away from you.

Your eyes fluttered open as you drew back from him, taking in the look of utter confusion on Matt’s face. Panic immediately set in, your hands tightening around the bundle of clothing in your hands. 

“What–what are you doing?” he asked.

“I–I thought–” you stammered, struggling to form a sentence. “Was that–is this not…?”

Matt’s head only tilted further to the side, his dark brows furrowing further together on his forehead until there was a deep crease between them. You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol or your nerves at this point, but you felt on the verge of vomiting now.

What the hell had you just done?

“Did you think I was inviting you here to sleep with you?” he asked in disbelief. He said your name, the sound like a stab to your chest as he shook his head. “I had no intention of that. You’re drunk and you’re my friend. I wanted to make sure you got to somewhere safe tonight. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. That’s not–that’s not what I was doing.”

“Oh my God,” you breathed out, taking a step back from him. “Oh my God, I thought that–that you…”

Your words trailed off, eyes growing wide as the urge to bolt quickly took over you. You could feel the sting of tears burning in your eyes already, absolutely mortified at what you’d done and how you’d wildly misread the entire situation. How could you have been so incredibly stupid?

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, vision blurring from the tears welling up in your eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have–that wasn’t okay. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve had too much to drink and–and I wasn’t thinking,” you blabbered on. “I absolutely misread things, I just thought that–that maybe you liked me, too and–”

Matt said your name softly, as if he was trying to calm a panicked animal. “You’re my friend,” he told you. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression at all this evening but–”

You practically threw the bundle of clothes back at Matt’s bare chest. His hands flew up, somehow catching them, but the gesture had cut him clean off. That spark of hope that had formed in your chest moments ago quickly sizzled out. A roiling, churning instead grew in your stomach, making you certain that you’d throw up soon if you didn’t get the hell out of here. 

“I need to go,” you blurted.

Turning abruptly, you hurried through Matt’s living room and down the entryway hall. Behind you, you heard him calling your name, but you didn’t dare stop. You couldn’t face him, not after what you’d just idiotically done. Especially not now as the tears were finally falling down your cheeks in hot spurts, embarrassment and rejection both burning inside of you. You just needed to get out of here, needed to get away from this entire horrible situation. You couldn’t believe you’d just gone and kissed him like that.

Your frantic hands fumbled with the lock on his door, but you managed to undo it and wrench it open in a rush. Continuing to ignore him calling after you, you pulled the door shut after yourself before you darted across the hall and straight to the door leading to the stairwell. Throwing it open, you began racing down the stairs as fast as you could, a hand covering your mouth as you tried to muffle your pathetic sobs. Your heart slammed away against your ribcage as the tears began to fall faster down your cheeks. As you descended the stairs, your vision blurred from tears and the alcohol you'd drank, causing you to stumble a few times on your way all the way down to the main floor. 

Ignoring the looks from the few people you sprinted past in the lobby, you headed straight towards the building’s exit. Forcefully pushing the doors open, you made your way back out onto the sidewalk and into the rain. A choked sob slipped past your fingers as you continued to hurry down the pavement and back towards your own apartment, your flats quickly becoming soaked as you stepped through a few puddles, splashing water up onto your dress pants. 

You’d just gone and kissed Matt like an absolute idiot. Of course he’d told you that he only saw you as a friend. Why would Matt ever be interested in someone like you? Someone awkward and average, nothing special. 

You’d absolutely ruined that friendship now, too. There was no way in hell you could ever face him again. You weren’t sure how you were going to survive Marci’s wedding months from now. Maybe if you were lucky you could try to ignore him all day. He’d probably be more than happy to do the same after tonight.

“ Why did I kiss him?” you lamented to yourself. “How stupid !”

Your tears continued to fall, mixing with the heavy rain drops pelting your cheeks as you rushed back to your place. All you wanted to do was get up to your apartment and crawl beneath the blankets in your bed and hide. You just wanted to forget this entire nightmare of an evening. There was no way to salvage what you’d done, to take it back. 

You should have never gone out tonight.

[asian-hero]

Hmm how does "Itss freezing, come here" sound with todoroki?

A/N: You got it! I hope you enjoy, and I also hope that I did Todoroki justice!

“It’s freezing, come here” from this prompt list (feel free to send in a sentence(s) and a character!)

Summary: When coming back from their remedial classes, Bakugou somehow breaks the heating system for class 1-A’s dorms, which is unfortunate, as it’s possibly the coldest night that year. However, you’re lucky to have your own personal heater to keep you warm through this dreary night.

Words: 1,846

There were some days when you questioned just why you came to U.A., of all places. Of course, you wanted to be a hero, and with U.A.’s track record, you knew it was the best school for your ideal job, not to mention all of the famous alumni the school had. However, whenever you had to deal with the mostly endearing, but also irritating, personalities of your classmates, it was safe to say that you questioned whether being enrolled here was truly a good idea or not. 

You absolutely adored your classmates, for the most part. Everyone would do their best to help one another, even if it weren’t in the most conventional way. Even Bakugou, much to his annoyance, would help out his classmates, though it usually ended up with him yelling confusingly encouraging threats to everyone. All of them were, whether you liked it or not, were your family away from home. It was heartwarming to see how close you all had become. 

With that being said, there were also times that, similarly to most family structures, they’d drive you absolutely crazy. Which is what brought you to what was currently happening:

You were just sitting on one of the couches in the common area, minding your own business, when you heard the soft click of the heater turning off. Lifting your head up, you looked around to see if anyone had messed with the dial, and before you could even get up and walk towards it, you could hear a certain overly aggressive, explosive porcupine of a student yell out: DAMN IT. Confusion and curiosity getting the best of you, you decided to follow the scream. Pulling on a sweater, you headed down the stairs and out the dorms. Popping your head around the corner, you were faced with Bakugou (what a surprise) looking towards something with a pissed off look on his face, and, more surprisingly, Todoroki, who was currently looking up at the sky, looking as if he wanted God to strike him down where he stood. Clearing your throat, you made your presence known.

“What are,” You started, before your eyes traveled to where Bakugou was looking, “How the fuck?”

“Shut up, extra.”

The two of you stared at the heating system, or what was left of it. Somehow, the damned idiot had managed to blow up the heater, if the large hole in the middle of it were to say anything. Slowly, you looked at the two boys, your face morphing from your initial shock to annoyance.

“I— Bakugou how do you even do this?”

His head whipped towards you, anger and embarrassment mixing together. “Why do you assume it was me!”

“It was him,” Todoroki chipped in, holding his indifferent facade as the other male turned his anger on him.

“Listen here, IcyHot—“

Not wanting to see this one-sided argument, you sighed loudly, once again capturing the two’s attention.

“Just,” You started, pinching the bridge of your nose, “Just get inside.”

With that, you didn’t bother to wait up, opting to walk back into the dorms, hoping to catch what was left of the disappearing warmth. However, once you got back upstairs, you noticed Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida sitting in the common area, bundled up in their blankets and perplexed looks on their faces. Once they had noticed you walking over Uraraka was the first to speak:

“What was that yelling outside?”

Squishing in beside her on the couch, you wrapped some of her blanket over your body, “Bakugou managed to blow up the heating unit outside.” 

“Ah, so that’s why the dial wasn’t doing anything,” Iida chimed in, before frantically jumping up, “Wait, Bakugou did what?”

“He blew up the heating unit.” A new voice stated, his blunt nature making him easy to identify.

Twisting your head a bit, you took note of Todoroki coming in, waving a quick “hello” to the four of you before heading off to his room, most likely to avoid from the lecture Iida was about to give. When your eyes lingered on the spot he was at, Uraraka smirked, bumping your shoulder with her own.

“You know,” She started, her voice masked by Iida’s lecture, as Bakugou had just entered, “You can always ask Todoroki to keep you warm tonight.”

Feeling the heat rush up your neck, you shoved her face away, coughing in embarrassment. “Ochako, don’t say that!”

She wriggled her eyebrows up and down, her smirk never leaving her face. “I don’t know why you don’t ask, you know he’d be happy to cuddle you.”

You rolled your eyes, praying that your blushing face wasn’t noticeable. “Don’t be ridiculous, it’s not even that cold.”

She gave you a quizzical look, as if not believing you for a second, but she dropped the subject. For the next hour, it was rather pleasant. The conversation rolling between the four of you was distracting you from the fact that the air was getting considerably colder as time went on. Eventually, you couldn’t really keep the chill away from your body, no matter how tucked in you were. At one point you were convinced you saw Uraraka’s breath when she spoke, although, with the way her teeth were starting to chatter, it wasn’t a surprise. As a matter of fact, Midoriya and Iida were also shivering, with the latter doing his best to hold it in. It was honestly shocking that none of you brought up the fact that it was as if you were all sitting outside, but perhaps you could attribute that to the fact that none of you actually wanted to complain.

Just as you were about to call it a night and see if you could try and retain the small remnants of your body heat, Uraraka’s yelling pulled you out of your thoughts.

“Oh, hey Todoroki!”

Turning your head slightly, you could see the Half-Cold Half-Hot quirk wielder shoot you all a small wave, his other hand occupied with a glass of water. Glancing at your fiend of a friend, you saw a mischievous smirk appear on her face. You didn’t even have the time to question it before she spoke:

“Well, it’s getting a bit late, we should head off to bed. Right Iida, Deku?” Standing up, she shrugged off her blanket and turned towards Todoroki, “(Y/N) wants to stay up for a bit, you’ll keep her company, right?”

She didn’t bother waiting for a response, instead opting to drag the other two by their blankets, not listening to either of their concerns.

“Ochako, your blanket!” You yelled after her, but to no avail. She’d already left the scene.

Sighing, you settled yourself back into the couch, further wrapping yourself into the blanket. A few seconds had passed and you felt the weight shift from under you. Peeking a glance at the boy, you noticed he didn’t have a blanket on him, or any form of coat for that matter. Actually, he didn’t even seem bothered by the lack of heat.

“Are you not cold?”

He shook his head, placing down his cup of water, “No, I can regulate my own temperature,” Bending over a bit, he tried to make eye contact with you, “Why, are you?”

You pursed your lips together in an attempt to stop any smart remarks to come flying out. Huffing, you turned your head away from him, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing your flustered appearance.

“Well excuse me, but not everyone is able to control their body temperature on demand.”

The chattering of your teeth and your slight shivering made it hard to hear his comeback, but you just knew he said something snarky. You playfully glared at him, though, in your current state, you doubt that you looked any form of threatening. He snorted, but you could tell he took some form of pity on you, if the creasing of his eyebrows were any indication.

Thinking back to what Uraraka said, you couldn’t help but wonder that, if you asked nicely, Todoroki would be up to cuddle you. Not in a romantic way, as much as you wanted it to be, but mainly to keep you from dying of hypothermia. Of course, he’d probably be too nice to say “no,” but you didn’t want to overstep your bounds. But, on the other hand, you were cold as hell and he looked like a nice, warm, pillow.

“(Y/N)? Are you still there?”

You blinked a bit, leaving your thoughts. Todoroki was staring at you, one eyebrow propped up in an inquisitive nature. You must’ve been staring at him while you drifted off. Looking at him once more, all you could see was a warm heat radiator that wasn’t broken. So, as anyone would do in this situation, you spoke:

“It’s freezing, come here.”

It was his turn to stare at you, a bit confused at your request. “I’m sorry, what?”

You groaned internally, not really wanting to repeat yourself and kind of wishing that the earth would swallow you whole. However, you already jumped through the rabbit hole, so you might as well let yourself fall.

“I said come over here you glorified heating pad and cuddle me,”

You seemed to get his attention with that one, as a small smile found its way to his lips. Letting out an obnoxious sigh, he scooted towards you, pulling your blanket cocoon form by the waist. Once you were settled onto his chest, he wrapped both arms around your figure. Or, whatever figure your cocoon had. 

“Better?”

You shook your head, wriggling your way out of his grasp so you could unwrap yourself from the blanket. Once you were out, you placed the blanket over the two of you and laid back down, burying your face in his chest so he couldn’t see you.

“Perfect,” You mumbled, closing your eyes and wrapping your arms around his torso.

You couldn’t see it, but Todoroki’s facial expression turned even softer at that. Somehow you had managed to wrap him around your little finger, not that he minded. One of his hands had came up to brush through your strands of hair, while the other wrapped around you securely. You didn’t know how long it took, but somehow you had managed to drift off, and eventually, you fell into a peaceful sleep.

Once he’d felt your breathing start to even out, Todoroki patted your head. Shifting ever so slightly, he rested his head on the armrest of the couch. Looking down at you one more time, he smiled.

“Goodnight, (Y/N).”

It wasn’t that much of a surprise to you that, the next morning, you were woken up by the sounds of cameras shuttering and lights flashing. Of course, in all fairness, it also shouldn’t have been surprising for the half of your class watching you and Todoroki sleep that you’d immediately chase them and give them hell.

It wasn’t that bad though. After all, you did get a nice picture to use as your screen saver.

[unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin]

Can you do a male reader x bayley. the reader is a face n fan favourite and was close friends with bayley for years but when she turned heel she neglected to him for a year until one day he is fighting rollins for the title and is winning it but gets jumped by seths goons and new day come out to help but reader snaps and attack everyone and wins the title, backstage hehas a panicattack untill bayley consoles him and apologises and they get together and he joins her and sasha . Luv your work btw

AN- Thank your for being patient for this

Readers POV

    "There he is!" I turn away from the screen in front of me where the matches were playing to see Xavier, Kofi, and Big E all walking towards me. "What up guys." I say before turning back to the screen. My sister Becky and Bailey were having a tag match against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for the main event on raw.

  "We just wanted to say thanks for helping us out today, could've ended up a lot worse." Kofi said patting my back, referring to when I helped them after there match earlier. I was currently in a feud with Elias. "Don't worry about it." I mumbled watching the video feed. Sasha had recently came back and was watching the match closely, having her eye on the Raw women's championship. Me and Sasha didn't always get along, but we tried as Bailey wanted her two best friends to like each other.

  "So, you glad to see Sasha back?" Xavier asked causing me to snort. "Not really, and I have no idea how Bailey just let her back in, I mean she was devastated when Sasha just.....disappeared after Mania." I explained. When they lost the tag belts and Sasha took time off Bailey had felt betrayed and I had been there for her -a shoulder to cry on- and she was doing better. But now Sasha was back, and it didn't help that she wanted my sisters belt. The ring of the bell caused us all to look up to see who had one, but instead of two people with there arms raised I saw Sasha attacking Becky?!

  "What the fuck is she doing?" I said standing up, anger obvious on my face. I watched as Sasha went to hit my sister with the chair again, but Bailey stoped it. I could see Sasha saying something to Bailey. "Come on Bailey, do the right thing." I whispered, and I watched as Bailey hit her in the back. I jumped up, ignoring people's yells as I ran towards the gorilla. Just as I got there Bailey was walked in. I rushed up to her so we were face to face.

  "What the fuck was that Bailey!?" I yelled causing the people around us to stop what they were doing and look over. "I was helping my friend, like I will always do! Come on, Sasha deserves to have that title!" She argued.

   "How could you possibly want to help her!? After what she did? If you're ere thinking clearly Bailey you would send her to the curb! I mean, all she does is manipulate you!."

  "Um, do we have a problem here?" Sasha asked stepping between the two of us. We stood there glaring at each other before I spoke. "Na, no problem at all. Oh, and Bailey? Don't expect me to catch you when she lets you fall." I say turning on my heals and walking away.

—————————————————————

Time Skip To TLC (let’s pretend Seth didn’t lose the title to the fiend)

   “One......Two ........Kick out” The ref yelled as Seth kicked out of the pin. For the first time in my career I had a shot at a singles title, and it was against Seth Rollins for the Universal title. The match had been going for about 30 minutes, we had used tables, and one ladder, but I was a disadvantage because AOP and Buddy Murphy were out here incase Seth needed them. I stood up as quickly as I could and climbed up to the tope rope.

   I did a shooting star press on him, and went for the pin. I knew I had him and waited for the 3 count but it didn’t come. Instead I felt someone grab my foot and pull me off of Seth. AOP and Buddy Murphy started beating on me immediately. I couldn’t fight them all at the same time, and as I was thrown into the barricades all all three were pulled off of me. I looked up to see New Day bearing up the three of them. I didn’t know what happened, but I felt something in me snap. This was supposed to be my time, I was supposed to beat Seth and be champion.

   I stood on my legs shaking a bit and grabbed a chair from the floor. I could hear the crowd going whiled and I was sure the commentators were talking about me ‘having enough’ or some shit, they had no idea. I got in the ring behind Seth just he was getting up and hit him square in the back, causing him to collapse. I got the pin and the bell rang, signaling the end of the match. I pulled myself up and except the title holding it up. New day got in the ring in front of me to congratulate me, but before they could I hit Big E in the stomach with the chair. Kofi and Xavier froze in there tracks staring at me wide eyes, but went to check on there friend. I started beating on all three of them with the chair. I kept going until the ref had to physically take the chair from me.

   I looked out at the crowd as it set in. I just attacked three of my best friends. What was going on? I struggled up the ramp and went backstage. Becky was waiting for me, and rushed over when I got there. “Y/n! What was that?” She asked trying to grab my arm but I pushed her away. “Leave me allows.” I growled. I walked for a bit, but soon I was jogging, then full on running. What was going on? Why did I do that? Why don’t I feel bad? I felt my breathing get hard, making me stop in my tracks.

   I looked around and saw a small meeting room. I rushed over praying the door would be unlocked. As I pushed it open, i rushed in and slammed the door shut. I slid down so I was sitting, holding the red title in my hand. “Y/n?” My head shot up to see Bailey and Sasha. Apparently they had decided to make this there own locker room. “I-“ I tried but didn’t know what to say, but I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm myself. I get a presence slide down the wall next to me, and an arm wrap around me.

   “I saw your match, you killed it out there. Congratulations.” Bailey said hugging me slightly. “Why did I do it?” I whispered, looking over at her.

   “You were worked up, that’s all. I’m sure you feel bad, and I know you can just explain that to them-“

    “That’s the problem Bailey. I don’t feel bad, I should be guilty, but I’m just not. What’s wrong with me?” I asked looking over at her. I watched her face smile as she looked at me. “Your realizing you deserve better y/n. You aren’t going to be complacent anymore. It’s what me and Sasha realized.” Bailey explained. I looked up at Sasha to see her smiling. “You know, we would love for the Universal Champ worked with us.” I was a bit taken back, me and Sasha never got along, but the more I thought about it, I realized this could be good for me. Most of my ‘friends�� were baby faces , and would bot be happy about my behavior tonight.

   “Ok.” I whispered, pulling my self up from the floor. A champion should not sit in the floor. Sasha continued to get ready for her match as me and Bailey talked. “You know...” she said looking up at me. “I think WWE could use a new power couple.” She said wrapping her arms around my neck. Me and Bailey always were close, and I would be lying if I said I never felt anything for her.

   “And who do you suggest that be?” I asked my own hands wrapping around her waist. “I think you know.” She said smirking. Instead of answering I pulled her into a kiss, witch she recuperated immediately. As I pulled away our heads rested together, and I could hear Sasha telling us to ‘get a room’ but I didn’t care. In one night I won the championship, and got the best girlfriend ever.

[landlordrecords]

Bassline (& 2020 in general): Re-e-wind

 What a strange year, as everyone, everywhere has said a million times… Writing-wise, I’d been doing Record Collector magazine since 2014, and uDiscover (the Universal Records online mag) for not much less, & that all just seemed to (understandably) stop dead with the onset of the pandemic. Since then, I’ve polished off my chapter on the work of Simon Morris and the Ceramic Hobs for Palgrave, & that’s about it, so you’re more likely to find me over on Twitter at Sniffy (@philblackpool) / Twitter these days, blurting out the odd sentence. I hence thought it might be time to revisit a very old piece…

Like many, I’ve been working from home for much of the year, and although I’ve occasionally wanted to pull out my own eyeballs, it has generally been very pleasant for a voracious music-lover. I started by catching up on the vast majority of my insane, years-deep second-hand vinyl buy piles, and then chomped through a load of ‘long listen’ stuff I’d had on the backburner forever (including, astonishingly, eventually getting through something like 40 hours of Pan Sonic live sets someone had dumped online). I graded hundreds of releases for sale on Discogs, and revisited umpteen musical thangs extensively, including 90s gabba, Sun Ra, music hall, Schoenberg, dancehall reggae, the acknowledged worst albums ever, happy hardcore, Italian house, bounce and makina (I’ve lost track of how much time I’ve spent checking out youtubes to try to identify a couple of most-wanted bounce and makina tunes), Britpop (!), cosmic disco, and Belgian popcorn. It’s been an extraordinary year, packed with cultural discovery and rediscovery. In amongst this, in no way ashamed of my abject love of Discogs, and already having used and edited it for many years, I read the entire guidelines and decided to go hard on sorting out stuff I care about on there. Seeing they’d finally added various more recent ‘styles’, I’ve spent the last month and a half doing a ridiculous amount of edits on a dozen or so niche genres of importance in recent times (footwork, Jersey Club, yadda yadda). My tweakings around Bassline and UK Funky eventually drew me to the attention of UK Garage legend Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown, a fellow Discogs obsessive not so keen on the editing side of the site, who wondered if I might give him a hand sorting out the mess of his own and his label’s (2Tuf 4U) discographies. His entertaining phonecalls were enough to convince me.

I dug out all my stuff related to Karl’s label to listen to along the way, and found myself noticing how much UKG has been back in the spotlight of late (key, and brilliant, article here: RA: Like A Battle: The Push For UK Garage's Future (residentadvisor.net) ). While by no means unaware of this (I’ve had some lovely promos from Kiwi and the like of late, plus some moodier bits from various El-B worshippers), my status as a confirmed middle-aged semi-retired raver had hidden much of this from me. This leads me onto one of my big philosophical points of recent years: I listened to dance music avidly before I ever went out dancing, and listen to it now in lockdown, and in semi-retirement. There is far too much an emphasis among ever-rejuvenating dance music correspondents on ‘the club’ as the only way to enjoy dance music, but we know that OG disco fans are 60+ and unlikely to be out every weekend these days – is their experience now worthless? Online fans talk up their love of dance music for exercise soundtracks, bedtime calming soundtracks, etc: this is reality. Dance music is as valid to all these people as rock is to people who haven’t been to a gig in 40 years.

The style I felt myself most drawn back to was bassline (largely via Karl’s low-key issue of some DJ Q material). My love of UK Garage and all its offshoots largely stems from how physically removed I have been from it from virtually its entire history. Only my 2000-03 stint in Essex perfectly matched the garage waveform, and that was the 2-step era, quite the opposite of bassline. Despite being largely a northern phenomenon, Blackpool is largely untouched by bassline, being all about punk and bounce to my mind. An instant love for me circa 2007, bassline feels like one of those genres with unfinished business, but remains one I’ve rarely danced to. Cut off in its prime, it is now back, enormously popular, and rightly so, but, due to the vagaries of the digital music world, some of its key material remains tough to access in any decent form.

I originally wrote the piece I have butchered for this one in March 2008, on Myspace (remember that), in reaction to the exciting waves of bassline and UK funky then reinvigorating the world of UKG. It looks a bit embarrassing now, with more writing experience, although I continue to applaud my own willingness to be open about my innocent appreciation of things I love but am not truly part of.

 The most notable misstep in my original piece was the presumption that bassline would become the latest enormous chart sensation. Like happy hardcore before it, the ball was, in reality, fumbled. Instead of hoped-for freaky innovation, the producers also opted, as many in years gone by, for smoothed-out commerciality (in unholy alliance with low-grade grime crossovers), although the main adversarial issues seem to have been police crackdowns and the London-centric ‘cool police’. Although I was long aware of such problems with Niche in Sheffield (the genre’s spiritual home), it appears that the police interference had a devastating effect across the board ( Banned From Sheffield: How Jamie Duggan fought for bassline… And won (ukf.com) ). This largely explains why many of the bassline producers gravitated towards the largely wack bass house/house & bass style so beloved of teenyboppers in recent years. Thank heavens that era is now largely over.

Niche reputedly specialised in an arguably unholy mixture of dated late 90s speed garage and ‘bassline house’ (think ‘Let Me Show You’ by Camisra, and MK’s ‘organ house’), way past their sell-by date (I still only really like a handful of Shaun Banger Scott bits in this style, one single 2009 Brummie CD EP, and one Virgo remix). Ultimately, though, this experiment unexpectedly created something magical. The crucial element here is the 4/4 beat. While undoubtedly skippy, the vast majority of the material favoured had a firm 4/4 beat, always favoured across all key scenes in the north of England from northern soul onwards. When they ran out of tunes to rinse, in time-honoured fashion, they made their own. Long, rumbling walls of bass, organs, and hoppy-skippy beats, with raggafied samples and gunshots over the top. Popular in Birmingham as well (pretty much the centre of a vinyl glut at the time, and now notable in the popularity of DJs such as Chris Lorenzo and Hannah Wants), B-side titles hinted of coke overload. Disenfranchised by London’s movement away from the holy 4/4 (despite a slight revival in the early noughties), and via messenger services and the like, northern producers began to exchange a new hybrid in the mid-00s which took these speed garage and bassline house influences and updated them with current R’n’B bootlegs, with influences from grime (regional grime producers were key here) and, most notably, with rococo basslines. Its most obvious comparison point was Sticky’s garage productions, concurrent with the early grime era. Southern producers such as Agent X, Delinquent (who featured Gemma Fox on their magical 2006 ‘Boxers’), and Dexplicit (Fox again, 2005’s ‘Might Be’) ran with that, and the north lapped it up. Key early pointers also included DJ Narrows’ superb 2001 4/4 tune ‘Saved Soul’, and early 00s DND work (Artwork, later part of dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man). A notable increase in output came in 2006, and 2007-9 were the genre’s original glory years. And the bulk of producers and up-&-comings delivering serious anthems to the scene came not from London and the south-east, but from Leeds (T2, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), Bradford (TS7), Manchester (Murkz, Burgaboy, Subzero), Nottingham (Virgo, IllMana), Leicester (JTJ, H20, FB & Zibba), and Wolverhampton (EJ, TRC, Brett Maverick). EJ’s Ejucation mix series (all up on Soundcloud) is a good place to start, beginning as the bassline house began to be overtaken by the pure bassline numbers.

Distribution for serious UK garage music has often been woeful, with only high street compilations & the chart singles (‘Heartbroken’ by T2, ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ by H20, etc) making it all over the country, and this helped stymie the true development of bassline, although vinyl prices, dreadful video promos, and the leap to digital in some ways didn’t help. Years on, as an incorrigible vinyl fanatic, I still only have handful of bassline 12”s. Yes, you can now access this stuff the world over via Youtube etc, but decent, high-quality copies of full-length tunes (they are often hacked about to great effect, but in a way which obscures the original intentions, in the mix) are not always the easiest to come by, although the classic producers are increasingly putting out digital compilations of their original work. Material that would, for previous genres, be fiended after, is lost to being just more online links. At the time, I looked high and low for 12”s, succeeding only rarely, largely on the flip of UK Funky releases. The (mixtape) audience, going by comments online, were often extremely young, are probably now still only in their mid-twenties, and are seemingly happy enough with this chaotic model. Bassline originally, as all rave genres, largely ran off mixtape boxsets, and a 2007 ‘Pure Bass – Fantasy’ box from Stoke remains my key document of that era: seven bassline CDs, with many tracks repeated, but packed to the gills, with most tracks only lasting a minute or two in the mix. As with all rave mixes, it has taken me years to suss the majority of the track IDs. In the Resident Advisor piece linked above, DJ Q (from Huddersfield) talks about thousands of lost bassline tunes, the bad side of the digital revolution. My recent Discogs ferreting suggests more bassline tunes than one might imagine did make some sort of decent release, but too many only made white labels, promo CDs for commercial releases (before being snipped from the main release), mix CDRs, or Youtube’s grainy depths. Classics such as TS7 featuring Bianca’s ‘Seems Like’ appear to never have had any decent release whatsoever, despite TS7 going on to be a big name in bass-oriented house, and Bianca Gerald having kept at the vocal turns ever since.

T2 hit biggest, with ‘Heartbroken’, a gorgeous, smashed-vocal garage dub so popular that it even inspired a Jersey Club refix. His catalogue was immediately deep, although I get the impression he has stopped adding to it. One complaint about bassline, including some of the T2 work, regards the untutored vocals, which can sometimes be rather flat, and certainly lacking in dynamics compared to the dazzling US vocalists featured on some earlier UK garage pieces (I refer here, as always, to TJ Cases’ remarkable ‘Do It Again’). I kinda like that - it shows amateur enthusiasm not far removed from punk, and most obviously links to lover’s rock, as does the production at times: it gives a feeling of melancholy entirely suited to the vocals. Other bassline heroes include TS7, who briefly brought to the fore sassy female garage MC T Dot. His productions also include ‘Smile’, one of my very favourite bassline tracks, full of that Simon Reynolds-quoted 'weird energy’ possessed by DJ Hype & co in the early nineties. Male bassline vocalists such as Ideal also remain unfairly forgotten, although some of the female vocalists have gone on to work in related genres since bassline’s peak.

Paleface, an ex-member of London garage rap crew Stonecold GX, runs Northern Line Records (FB, TRC, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), something of a quality mark for bassline productions, while also making highly successful UK Funky tunes as part of Crazy Cousinz, and later progressing into commercial house territory. He chronicled much of bassline’s high-water mark (including being married to Kyla, since sampled by Drake). Wolverhampton-based Northern Line signing TRC proved particularly adaptable, spewing out a legion of original tunes and remixes before retreating for a while to grime. Leeds’ Nastee Boi was a favourite of mine at the time, with his pitch-black gangsta bassline tunes, but pushed on towards a mixture of underwhelming R’n’B vocal cuts and nursery grime toons. Wittyboy started similarly punishingly but also went smoother, unbalancing the classic bassline rough and smooth combination.

Now that the dubiously poisonous rep of Niche has been dispatched, the key bassline acts have returned to their key battleground, and the genre seems in full throttle again. Much of the new material seems a little one-dimensional to me: producers invariably big up Bristol’s My Nu Leng as, I suppose, a bridge from bro-step to 4/4. Everything, as acknowledged by the DJs, is huge drops and nothing much else. It still sounds pretty hot though – not the updated lover’s rock of a decade ago, but worth supporting. Bassline is NOT finished!

[prorevenge]

Spread rumors about me? Well guess what, I'm dating your son, and you don't have a job.

I had a coworker about 6 years ago who was quite the bitter pill to swallow. She was about 45, and the special variety of holier-than-thou, my-shit-doesn't-stink christian we all know and hate, Ill call her Chastity, the one thing she lacked(I'm promiscuous, but she may as well have had a revolving door for all the men she saw).

We had worked together for 2 years prior to this, but our animosity truly began when she first came to my church. I'm not the most pious man, but I try to do my best as a person and I think in gods eyes, thats good enough(I could get preachy here but I'll spare y'all the excess). And the fellow members of my congregation shared that same belief.

Chastity seemed to have an issue with the fact that I, a heavily tattooed, gay, not-well-dressed, gossip fiend, former addict(9 years clean), DARED to enter a church. I mean, how dare I not run away hissing and screeching from the house of god am I right?

And so Chastity began to try and undermine me to this second family of mine. Now this was a bad idea on her part because I had been with this church since almost day one. When its first services were 20-30 people up til now, three services of 4-500. Many people knew me well, the first to volunteer and welcome new members, happy to take the lead for the childrens services on occaision, overall I'm well liked.

But Chastity decided she would just tell everyone and their mother how much of a sinner I was. Talking about things I had supposedly said or done in the office. Naturally, this got back to me, a proper slut for gossip, VERY quickly. At first, I ignored it, then I got irritated, around Christmas I was fuming. Now whataya know? Chastity dragged her current piece of meat, her two daughters and her son with her to the christmas service.

Suddenly something clicked, office gossip played in my head about Chastitys son. You see shortly after I began working with her she called out for about a week solid with "inconsolable grief" and she wouldn't explain why. Then the gossip began, and it was revealed to me that her son had come out of the closet and she was heavily in denial about it. This all came back to me in seconds, and the gears for sweet revenge began to turn in my head.

I waited like a patient tiger for my prey to approach, watching him near I realized he was actually pretty cute. About 21(I later found out he had just turned 21)nice little butt and a pouty RBF, and honestly, the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen. Now at the time I was 36 and I had years of experience tripping up inexperienced men. We have a large coffee bar in the foyer that I was waiting at. The music had begun(we have a full band) and most everone was out of the foyer when the bar cleared enough for him to approach.

I started soft, just some gentle flirting, prodding to see if he was even interested. As soon as I got a response I went in for the kill. Pulling him close and pushing the napkin with my number on it into his shirt pocket. His eyes go a little wide and I release him before anyone can take note of what happened. That afternoon I wasn't surprised to get a text. I can't remember it exactly, but heres how the conversation went.

Cutie-pie: You never told me your name.

Me: Oh my bad, hope thats not a problem.

Cutie-pie: Nope. Think you can tell or do I have to find out? ;)

Me: Well if you really want to know you'll have to ask me later, I gotta go. But I'll be at [bar] tonight if you don't want to wait.

And I had him. That first date went really well and as it turns out I was the first person he ever got drunk with. Now I had intended to just have a one night stand with him, just to rub it in Chastitys face, but I fell for him pretty hard, pretty fast. Next thing I know, a little less two months pass and I had totally forgotten my irritation with Chastity.

Until she does it again, irritating me again. So the next day at work I take my lunch a little early to catch one of Chastitys "friends" who works in the same department as her. We talk and I say how glad I am to have gotten Valentine's day off, how much fun I was gonna have with Cutie-pie. I pretend not to notice her eyes bug out for a second. And so, lunch over, I head back and get back to work. In the middle of typing up a report I hear Chastitys heels click-clicking up to my office door. Living in a one party consent state, I set my phone to the side to record her. And boy does she have a lot to say.

Chastity: What the fuck is wrong with you!?

Me: Pardon?

Chastity: Don't you give me that shit. Are you fucking my son!?

Me: I don't think thats any of your business.

Chastity: It is my business! My son is not a fucking homo like you, what did you do!? Blackmail him!? Bribe him!? I'm gonna call the cops!!

Me: What I do on my free time with another adult has nothing to do with you, now if you would, leave me the hell alone.

Chastity: You stay the fuck away from my son or there will be hell to pay, you hear me!!??

And she stormed out. Five minutes later I'm in HR reporting her with the recording as evidence. An hour after that I leave early and take this to the police and get the info on how to file a restraining order on Chastity. Two hours later I'm home and fucking her son.

The next day was my day off, and the day after thay I was all too happy to hear she has been fired for gross misconduct and discrimination

My husband(yes the very same CutiePie) and I are celebrating our first anniversary next week.

TL;DR- Co-worker tried to bad mouth me to my fellow church members, I got with her son and got her fired. (source)

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(source) (story by deleted)

[bringmecoffeeandroses]

For the ask : Desus and Carzekiel!!!! :D

Haha, yes, okay!

DESUS:

1. Who likes to sit in the other’s lap?

Out of the two of them, Paul is definitely the lap sitter. It’s almost always meant to comfort or distract Daryl after a shitty day. Though Daryl does get used to it, Paul really enjoys the first few times he does it when Daryl looks up at him like he can’t quite figure out how Paul got there but isn’t about to question it.

2. On a cold day, who likes to snuggle up to the other?

Daryl is a cuddle/snuggle fiend. By that, I mean that there is no situation in which he turns down cuddles and when he instigates it? His excuses are the worst, “It’s cold as fuck, get yer ass over here” and “Ya look like you’re about to keel over, bed now” – basically, it doesn’t have to be cold but Daryl will take advantage and then complain about it later.   

3. Who cooks the food and who does the dishes?

Daryl cooks, Paul does the dishes. It’s a solid system.

4. How would they describe each other to loved ones who haven’t met their partner yet?

Paul (about Daryl): First of all, Daryl’s not nearly as grumpy as he comes off, he just takes a little time to get to know. He’s protective about his family. They’re everything to him. He’s…sweet. Have you ever heard that saying about giving an inch to someone and them taking a mile? He’s the reverse. Give Daryl Dixon an inch and he gives you a mile. And don’t get me started on his arms.

Daryl (about Paul): Paul’s good people, probably the bes’ kind of person. Ain’t met anyone like him before. Goddamn stubborn, the most stubborn asshole I’ve ever met. Put a gun to his head when we firs’ met him - tied him up, left him in the street - and he still chased after us. Never seen him say no to helpin’ anyone, though. Ain’t no one you could ask more of. He could kick your ass, too. It’s somethin’ to watch. Ya know, if you like that hippie ninja shit.                 

5. Who is more likely to kiss their partner on their forehead?

Neither of them are big forehead kissers but Daryl will occasionally give Paul a kiss on the forehead right before Paul falls asleep. Sometimes Paul thinks it’s because he’s too tired to fight off the urge; in actuality, this is just when Daryl is most content and grateful to have Paul beside him.  

6. Who makes a scrapbook of all their memories to give to their partner for a special event? Ex- anniversary, birthday, etc.

I think, even in a modern AU, neither Paul nor Daryl are used to anniversaries/birthdays being celebrated too seriously so “making a big deal about it” and giving into that is something that has to be learned. Still. Maybe Paul, after a few years of certainty that what they have is something to stay, would give it a shot. 

7. Where would they go to get away from everyone else and just be alone?

I’ve seen a few people put Daryl and Paul on the roof of Barrington, which I totally approve. However, I’m the biggest supporter of Daryl and Paul going on semi-regular camping trips because of reasons.

8. Who would want to take cute pictures for Instagram?

Modern AU!Paul would find taking pictures of Daryl for instagram the greatest thing. Like, Daryl’s ridiculous blush when he kisses his cheek and sneaks a picture? Amazing. The tired middle finger he gets when he tries to snap a picture of Daryl in bed? Perfection. Paul Rovia playfully teasing the hell out Daryl? Is. My. Jam.  

9. Who would most likely call their partner, dude, babe and idiot, all in the same sentence?

I can’t see Daryl saying dude. So, Paul.

And, yeah, that sounds about right.

10. How do they let their loved ones know they are dating?

I’m going to guess that some of them figure it out without having to be told. Like, let’s pretend Daryl doesn’t just gradually move in with Paul and become those very platonic non-sexual roomates? Daryl is not a social person so spending all of his free time with Paul attached to his hip is pretty flippin’ obvious. 

11. Who breaks out in a dance when they hear their favorite song and who joins their partner dancing no matter what they are currently doing?

…In what world do you see Daryl Dixon doing either of these things?

If Paul is being a particularly light-hearted idiot and starts dancing out of the blue, Daryl is almost always dragged into it. He bitches and moans before going along with it because Paul is happy and there is an exact number of things he does to make Paul stay that way and that’s one of them.

12. If they each went to go buy an outfit for one another, what would they get?

If forced, Daryl would probably start out trying to buy something practical only to get distracted by a suit on a mannequin, imagining Paul in it. Black, three piece, with pressed slacks and a dark blue tie that he knows’d bring out his eyes. I mean, he’d wince and grumble for weeks over the gouging his wallet took but seeing Paul in that suit? Worth it.

Paul would probably put Daryl in something really comfortable, like a really soft henley or something? Daryl’s usual style is wear-and-tear function clothes, so I could see buying something out of the ordinary and soft for Daryl to enjoy.     

13. Who still blushes when their partner compliments them?

Daryl. He’s terrible with compliments in general, brushes them off a shrug and avoids catching anyone’s gaze, but a particularly good compliment from Paul? His cheeks flame up like no other.

14. What memories do they share together that will stay with them forever?

Talking in bed, whispered conversations they could only have in the dead of night; laughter at the smallest of everyday things; the adrenaline of a mission outside the walls, Daryl’s bike engine rumbling audible over the sound of hooves as Paul follows behind him; gasping into each other’s mouths as they spend the first of many nights  exploring each other’s bodies.   

15. Who would dedicate a song to their partner at a karaoke night? Bonus - what song would it be and why?

Paul singing a karaoke song to Daryl would be the. greatest. thing. And thanks to Tom Payne being an actual angel, I picture a slightly drunk Paul on stage, singing out, “Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. 

CARZEKIEL:

1. Who likes to sit in the other’s lap?

I don’t see Carol doing this too often but thinking about Ezekiel have a brooding moment on his throne only for Carol to join him on his lap? Holy shit, yes, please.

2. On a cold day, who likes to snuggle up to the other?

I mean, both of them are snugglers but Carol feeling comfortable enough to just kind of bury herself in Ezekiel is. my. jam.

3. Who cooks the food and who does the dishes?

I honestly wonder if the Kingdom uses their cafeteria more than most communities do for communal cooking? BECAUSE WE DON’T GET ENOUGH SENSE OF WHAT THE KINGDOM RUNS LIKE AND I HAVE THOUGHTS. I feel like Zeke is the kinda guy that regularly wants to take any responsibility/stress off the people he cares about? Like Carol still cooks and he’ll do the dishes, but Ezekiel regularly makes a nice romantic dinner and does the dishes because he is 10/10 the most extra in the things he does and appreciating the hell out of Carol is what he does.  

4. How would they describe each other to loved ones who haven’t met their partner yet?

Ezekiel (about Carol): She is the enchanting rose among a garden of thorns, a glorious morning after an eternity of night. She is the intoxicating feeling of hope when the world is but a place of mourning. She is fire and heat after the burning sun has long lost it’s warmth-but, sweetheart, I had a speech! 

Carol (about Ezekiel): Oh, he’s charming…but that’s not him, you know. He’ll try and put it on show in front you but that’s who he has to be, who he needs to be for the people around him. He’s so much more underneath…and I’m not sure if he even realizes it.        

5. Who is more likely to kiss their partner on their forehead?

This should happen on the show. Like now. Please. Carol is 100% the forehead kisser. It’s the smallest bit of affection but the first time she does it? Zeke’s face just lights up. He smiles so delightedly, it’s hard not to do it as often as she’d like.

6. Who makes a scrapbook of all their memories to give to their partner for a special event? Ex- anniversary, birthday, etc.

Ezekiel.

Again, the most extra. Ever.

7. Where would they go to get away from everyone else and just be alone?

THIS IS WHERE I’D LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THE KINGDOM.

I…don’t know exactly? I know these two are constantly finding ways to get alone time, given that Zeke is a King and constantly got something going on.

8. Who would want to take cute pictures for Instagram?

Ezekiel. Honestly. I want to see that instagram account. It would be amazing. Not to mention, if we’re AU-ing it up, tons of pictures of Carol and Shiva. Just…TONS.

9. Who would most likely call their partner, dude, babe and idiot, all in the same sentence?

Neither.

10. How do they let their loved ones know they are dating?

Kind of like with Daryl and Paul, I see Carol’s family just figuring it out gradually without her having any kind of secrecy.

However.

I see the potential argument for Kingdom announcements from Ezekiel and this is how Jerry winds up going from person to person to spread this news because “You can’t just have someone shouting like the world’s worst town crier, that’s insane!” becomes “Jerry, my dear friend, I need you to spread a rumor. I know you’ll be very subtle about it.”

11. Who breaks out in a dance when they hear their favorite song and who joins their partner dancing no matter what they are currently doing?

I see Ezekiel persuading Carol in their kitchen and raise you Carol grabbing Ezekiel by the hand and pulling him onto a dance floor.

12. If they each went to go buy an outfit for one another, what would they get?

IDK if it’s what Carol would put him in but have you seen Khary Payton in a suit and tie + jeans at the Season 9 premiere? Because you should. Everyone should. 

I see Ezekiel buying Carol a flowy Chiffon dress, kind of light but still a little conservative with it being longer and a high v-neck. Did I mention that I hate describing clothing? I’m bad at it.

13. Who still blushes when their partner compliments them?

Again, a happy smiley Ezekiel is the best. So, a blushing Ezekiel? Bring it on.

14. What memories do they share together that will stay with them forever?

An extravagant king with a tiger at her door, a pomegranate in his hands and a smile on his lips; sitting by the firelight where all the barriers fall for him; tears falling against her will as she realizes that “feeling real” is an oath they’ve already sworn together; arms tight around each other, foreheads pressed against each other because they are alive and the cannot forget what feeling that is.

15. Who would dedicate a song to their partner at a karaoke night? Bonus - what song would it be and why?

Ezekiel is extra, and do not tell me the guy that was in theater does not give the best performance of “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder. Fight me.

I may ship Carzekiel harder than I thought. Huh.

send me a ship  

[nellpire]

[1206xx] Nell - Paper interview (translation)

Q: Should we start with a lighter topic? What's making you happy recently? All: Performing! Jongwan: It gives us energy, so we love it. We give off energy ourselves but the energy we get from the crowd is much greater. We're dead tired afterwards, but during it's like we don't even know what ‘exhaustion’ means. That's thanks to the crowd's energy. And the foot massage this time was really great, too.

Q: Foot massage? Jongwan: See, some people came to give us foot massages before the gig. Jaewon: We invited them.

Q: Was that an example of your agency taking care of you? Junghoon: We asked for it. Haha.

Q: Do you often get foot massages? Jongwan: I do. Although I went more often back in the day. Sports massages!

Q: Do you not have a skincare routine? All: None at all! Jongwan: I noticed you didn't ask 'Do you have a skincare skincare routine' but 'You don't do skincare?'. Jaewon: One look at our faces and you knew, didn't you. All: Hahahaha.

Q: Four years ago, Jaekyung said "I hope that when the four of us meet again (after our military service) we've gone through a musical and/or mental upgrade". So how was it? Did you come back upgraded? Jongwan: I think everyone except for Jaekyung matured. Jaekyung: I've grown, too. I grew taller (laughter) Jaewon: I don't know if I've matured musically, but maybe as a person. Jongwan: I think we've just gone through a natural process. There's a lot more to consider once you go from your twenties to your thirties. And surprisingly, some things have gotten easier, too. I've realized there are many things I can’t have in my own way. In relationships, for example. When I was younger I used to obsess about my relationships with others but now I just think, 'the people who will come will come, and the people who will go will go'.

Q: How was the reaction to your fifth album in comparison to what you expected? Jaewon: We don't think about that while working, but I do think people have liked it as much as we hoped. Jaekyung: It's interesting. You know, we've shared these songs between the four of us only for several years. It's interesting, showing those songs off to so many people all at once. Now they're songs we can't control anymore. While that's great, it also feels weird. As the albums pile up some things get easier and some things get harder. Jaewon: Nothing gets easier. Things I thought were easy become harder, and the things that were hard stay hard. Jaekyung: That's because things get clearer as we go along. We can tell easier than before what a good sound is, what's useless, and what sounds go into what kind of music. Jongwan: It gets harder the clearer we are on what we want to achieve. When you only have a vague idea of what you want you can go in any direction, but when you have a clear image of how you want it to sound and it doesn't come out that way, it can be very stressful. That's the reason why we took so long to make this album.

Q: (Nell's hands get busy as soon as the food we ordered arrives) Are none of you picky eaters? Jongwan: We eat everything. The show I want to guest on the most is Gourmet Road (laughter)

Q: Do you meet up often even when you're not promoting? Jaekyung: Yes. We're neighborhood fiends (Songpa-gu olympic park area), so we meet often even when we're not working. Not just us, but our whole friend group. Me and Jaewon were elementary-middle-high school classmates, and Jongwan was in our class in middle school. We became friends with Junghoon in high school, but we all grew closer later.

Q: In comparison to your school days, who has become the most sly? Jongwan: Junghoon. Junghoon: It's possible that I was sly back then too. It's just that it took a few years for the guys to get close and see who I really was. They told me I was kind all the time back then (laughter) Jaewon: It took us years to get close to you? Wasn't it like six months or so? Junghoon: The first one or two years were so awkward it stressed me out a lot. It was even worse when our other friends joined. If we go to that neighborhood all elementary, middle and high school friends get together, you see. Now they’re my close friends of ten years as well, but back then I felt very out of place. They'd all talk about their school, so we had no memories to share.

Q: Where did you live at that time? Junghoon: In a nearby neighborhood. It was in Songpa-gu too, but near Gaerong. The others lived in Bangi. They're only two stations apart, but the gap between us turned out huge.

Q: You must have had friends in Gaerong, so why go all the way to Bangi? Jaekyung: He got swept up by our flood. Our friend group was that big. Even the head manager at our agency has become close with our friends. Jongwan: It's a fairly charming neighborhood. Jaekyung: Once you enter, you never leave.

Q: Oh~ Please invite me too sometime. Jongwan: You'll either love it or detest it.

Q: Why would I detest it? Jongwan: We talk a lot of nonsense. Junghoon: Crude nonsense. Jaewon: And we hate pointlessly serious talks. Jaekyung: And anything unfunny. One time a friend tried to make us laugh through something unfunny and we froze him out for five years. All: Hahaha.

Q: What do those friends say about Nell's serious(?) music? Jongwan: We're a group of around fifteen people, and most of our friends used to be musicians. There's another band of four people just like us, too. The guy we froze out for five years was also a musician. By now they all have different jobs, but since we're all musicians at heart we’re very serious when talking about music. Jaewon is only ever serious when music is involved.

Q: Who's the funniest? Jaewon: Everyone's funny. We have different styles. Jongwan is great with jokes strangers would never understand. You'll only understand once you're close with him. Junghoon: It's a double edged sword. Sometimes they're hilarious, but to some people... Jongwan: It's incomprehensible. Jaewon: Junghoon is great at throwing jokes at us out of nowhere. The style to catch us off guard. Junghoon: I bite once and move on. Jaewon: Jaekyung is funny using his expressions and movements. Jaekyung: I have an expression that can make any person in the whole world laugh. Junghoon: I saw it for the first time in our fifth year of elementary school but it still makes me laugh. He told me he'd show me ten different expressions and if I made it to the tenth step without laughing he'd grant me a wish. I grit my teeth and did my best but only made it to step three.

Q: Show me! Junghoon: He'll never show you. Jaekyung: I only show it to men. If you see it, it'll haunt your dreams.

Q: Then, could Jongwan describe his expression through lyrics? Jongwan: It's f****d up! All: Puhahahahaha. Jaewon: Sometimes I think Jaekyung is truly insane. One time we were on the KTX (train) from Busan to Seoul, and we were so bored we decided to compete and see who could hold their breath longer. I was happy that I could hold it for one minute, but Jaekyung put his life on the line and held it until his whole face was dark red. Did you hold it for three minutes? That's when I realized, wow, this idiot is actually insane.

Q: That's a new side of Jaekyung. He seems like he'd have sides to him that the other members never expected. Do you ever feel surprised by one another? Jongwan: It always surprises me to see Jaewon use manners around women. Junghoon: I'm surprised whenever Jaewon says something clever or analytical. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: Jaewon is really a wondrous man, whether there are girls around or not. But sometimes he'll be super polite out of nowhere. Jaewon: I'm a man of manners, I am.

Q: It looks like Jaekyung is good to women. Earlier when he laid out a napkin next to me, I thought 'he's full of manners'. Jaewon: He does have manners. But he can't meet with many women. Jaekyung: Why would you say that? I meet with women often! After midnight. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: He's probably the one who dates the most out of all of us. Junghoon: He's always been the most popular. Jaewon: Free man.

Q: It is because you don't want to be confined, or is it because you haven't met a woman who's willing to be confined? Jaekyung: I like dating. But I think the better it is, the more problems it brings. Plus I tend to be single-minded, which would be a burden for the girl. I think my current situation wouldn’t allow for anything other than a shallow relationship, and I can't stand that. Just going to the movies, just having dinner together, having to talk about earnest things when we're not actually serious -- I hate things like that. Also, when you date you lose a lot of time to think, you know. I find it tiring when people contact me when I'm playing music and I have to stop to tell them what I'm doing and where. Jongwan: That's how we live. I have never let dating get in the way of our music. When my partner asks me, "what is more important to you, music or me?" I always say "Music is more important to me. If you can't deal with that then you can go right now." I’ve fought and broken up a lot because of that (laughter) But no matter what Jaekyung says, he's always really good to his girlfriend when he has one. He becomes sharper. For example, when us guys go drinking together. If Jaekyung is in a relationship, he won't come if there are other women there. Jaekyung: Maybe we fight because I am good to them. I don't think about it much these days. I don't think I'd date right now even if someone approached me. Ah, but Junghoon always told me not to say it like a resolution... Junghoon: No matter what you resolve to do, this is what happens. I heard it from somewhere a long time ago-- was it you, Jongwan? Jongwan: Yeah. I read this book called 'The Monk's message', and it said that the reason why you're more likely to get divorced if you have a child is because you keep thinking you can't get divorced. That determination invites problems. And couples who don't have kids don't think like that.

Q: What kind of girlfriends do you wish your members would meet? Jongwan: A domestic girl for Jaekyung! A woman who takes care of him even more than he takes care of her. And I think Junghoon would fit well with a girl with a good sense of humor. Someone who can make him laugh. Jaewon: Jongwan needs someone who's like a sponge. Someone who's ok with anything! (laughter) Jongwan: Good! I like girls like that! (To their manager) Hey, throw me some sponges. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: But then again, I can't stay with women like that for too long. It's no fun. I say I like kind girls, but if you look at my exes most of them have strong personalities. The style who's charming, but not always easy to get along with. They probably see me in the same way. When we fight, we tear each other apart, and when it's good it's amazing.

Q: As for Jaewon-- All: (silence) Jongwan: This is sad. You won't even ask him since he's married. (laughter)

Q: Haha. Let me change the question. What do you think it the most important thing in a marriage? I'll give you options. One: finances, two: health, three: sexual compatibility, four: other. Jaewon: I think it'd be 'other'. All: No! It's health. Money is is useless if you're sick. Jaewon: (Immediate acceptance): That's true. I'll choose two: health. Haha.

Q: What was the 'other' you thought of? Jaewon: Love of course, love.

Q: If you had a younger sister and she was to get married to a Nell member, who would you pick? Jaewon: Junghoon. Junghoon: (mercilessly) You'll regret that. All: Hahaha. Jaewon: I picked him because I think even if he goes drinking, he'll go home afterwards and not cause trouble. Jaekyung: See, I really love my friends. But I wouldn't want my sister to marry a single one of them. Hahaha. Jongwan: I feel the same. They're great friends, but I'm too aware of their flaws.

Q: I heard Jongwan moved between several different countries growing up. Jongwan: I lived in Bahrain, Canada and Switzerland. We left Korea in my first year of elementary school and returned during my sixth, then left again in my third year of middle school and came back in my third year of high school. I got to know the rest of the members in middle school but we didn't get close until high school. When I got back to Korea, I joined a band. Jaekyung and Jaewon were playing in a different band at the time as well. I got to watch them play by chance and they were very arrogant. (laughter) And that's why I saved them. Jaekyung: I think that's when we were practicing for a festival. We met Jongwan and his team by chance when we left the practice room, and Jongwan said he wanted to watch us play. Jongwan: I had already heard people say Jaekyung was great at the guitar. It made me curious to see, but when I did it was truly tragic. (laughter) Jaekyung: He watched us while leaning his head in his hand and then he just left. He just vanished suddenly. Jongwan: I couldn't take even ten minutes of it. Jaekyung: Jaewon saw it and went "ah, I'm so f*****g annoyed!" He wanted to show his skills and was annoyed that Jongwan sneaked out. It was honestly tragic, but also hilarious. Jongwan: It's even funnier looking back on it now. A bunch of nineteen year olds trying to intimidate each other in that small practice room. It's a funny memory. (laughter)

Q: You described their performance as tragic, so why did you ask them to join your band? Jongwan: They were playing music that didn't suit them. They played well but were wearing clothes that didn't fit. So I asked Jaekyung to play guitar when I made my own team. One week later I asked Jaewon to play the drums, and one or two months later Nell was made when Junghoon joined. You know, if you go drinking with someone you can get to know their mind. Thinking back, we were young but I think we were all cool. All the other bands at the time would only play cover songs at their club gigs, because that was the way to get fans. But we've almost never played covers. All of us thought that was a given. We matched well in that sense. Jaewon: That's when the club scene was being revived and cover bands were very popular. You attracted an audience depending on what you copied. Which is why we weren't popular at all.

Q: You must have had a strong sense of self-respect, sticking to your own songs even though you were unpopular. Jaekyung: It wasn't self-respect. We did it because we found it fun. It’s only wow that all this time has passed that we look back and call it self-respect. Sometimes musicians ask, "do you know the rock bottom of musicianship?". The four of us know it. Jongwan: I think there are very few teams who know rock bottom better than us. We'd play seven times a week, but the combined audience wouldn't even add up to ten people. That's how we performed for almost a year. We stuck with it because it was exciting. Nowadays there are festivals and 500-600 seat clubs, but back then most clubs couldn’t house more than fifty people. Junghoon: If a hundred people arrived we'd be like, "seriously? No way!"

Q: Who were the popular bands back then? Junghoon: Dr. Core 911. And Crying Nut were popular from the get-go. Jaekyung: The sad thing is many decent bands started trying back then but almost none of them are still around. Jongwan: There's Pia. We first saw them in, what, 2000? They're still doing well, but aside from them there's almost no one.

Q: Many bands including Pia are partaking in Top Band 2 right now. It must make you feel all sorts of things. Jongwan: I don't normally watch TV, but I made sure to catch that. It was emotional. There's never been an opportunity to introduce so many bands on public TV before. I wish the charm of band music would be known far and wide. It's just that that one-time interest is dangerous, I've seen many teams who have gotten attention for things other than their music and then been forgotten. That would be extremely hurtful to the band members. I wish bands would get the chance to appeal through their music alone on broadcast.

Q: You must have met a lot of foreign musicians through your band activities. What do they think about the Korean music scene? Junghoon: I'm not sure about the band aspect of it, but I think the mainstream music scene is generally seen in a good light. Our idols' and mainstream singers' skills are much better than they used to be. We've also gotten better at producing. Jongwan: I have a producer friend in Philadelphia, a black friend. We spoke on the phone not too long ago and he said "I hear things are going well for Korea right now". I asked him what he meant, and he said that all these famous American songwriters and producers go to Korea to sign contracts. There's more money going around the Korean music scene than the American these days, so Americans want to come work here. Hearing that made me happy. Before it was always us who had to go abroad (laughter)

Q: Is your dream of advancing into Japan still intact? Jongwan: We're in the midst of consultations about it. We don't want to just dip our toes in and then withdraw. We want to be cautious so there's lot to prepare. And their management system is very different from ours in that it's extremely divided, so we have to discuss those things as well. We also have to consider whether to sing in Korean or English, so we're discussing many different points right now. Junghoon: We're not stubbornly holding onto Japan, exactly. We just want to expand our opportunities to perform. Whether that's in Korea, Japan or otherwise doesn't matter. Jongwan: Right, we want to play somewhere the environment is better suited to our needs. Just like how anyone would like to live in a good house, we want to work with talented staff members and perform where the sound comes out the way we want. I think that's what all musicians want.

Q: You've said that "Slip Away" refers to how "the more you want to hold onto something, the easier it slips away". In a world that changes by the day, what is one thing you wish wouldn't change? Jaekyung: My passion for music. And inspiration. Junghoon: The four of us. I wish our relationship wouldn't change. Jaewon: Me too, the four of us. And our attitude towards music. Jongwan: I wish things that have been around for a long time won't change. People these days have a tendency to dismiss old things as ‘outdated’. Old things have their own charm, and some are valuable simply because they are old, and I think it's a pity to constantly replace those things with something new. I wish they'd stay where they've always been, whether it's buildings, music, art or people.

Q: Should we take some time to let you ask each other questions? Jaewon: What's your least favorite thing to do as Nell? Jongwan: I realized this now: Taking pictures for magazines. Jaekyung: Jumping for photos. Lying down close together (for photos). Phew~ Junghoon: Now that you mention it that's what I hate the most as well. Other than that there's not much. It's not that I don't have things I dislike, but there's nothing so bad that it makes me want to die. Jaekyung: It's all for the band, so.

Q: Does Junghoon have something you want to ask? Junghoon: Other than music, what's something you want to do this year? Jaewon: Study English. We went to New York while preparing this album, and I was ashamed of how bad I was at English. Jaekyung: We were deaf and dumb. I want to study English too, and Japanese. There are many foreign music magazines where you can read experts explaining their know-hows. Jongwan does read them and explain to us, but I get stuck if I look for them myself. So I want to study English so I won't have to be so frustrated.

Q: What does Junghoon himself want to do this year? Junghoon: I don't think we'll have time for anything else than promotions. All: Hahahaha. Jaewon: This is how he attacks out of nowhere.

Q: Is Jaekyung curious about anything? Jaekyung: What are your plans after this interview? Jaewon: I'm going home. Jongwan: I want to go to the Nanji camping grounds. The weather is great for grilling meat and hanging out these days. It's been too long since I last went travelling. I want to go right this moment. What about tomorrow's schedules, you ask? It's fine if I go today and come back tomorrow. (laughter)

Q: Can you tell us about an especially memorable trip you’ve been on? Jongwan: Were we twenty three? The four of us and another friend went to Gangneung. That was university O.T. season so there were lots of students on the other floors of the condo we were staying at. We had lots of fun but we ran out of alcohol at dawn. We wanted to drink more and wondered what to do, so we decided to go the students' floor and try to get some from them. But as it turned out, they'd all drunk themselves to sleep. So we tried to wake them. "Hey, get up!" Jaewon: Since it was their O.T. they didn't know everyone's faces yet, so we pretended to be fellow students. Jongwan: No matter how we shook them they wouldn't wake up. So -- and this is terrible -- we grabbed the nearest bottles and ran away. Jaekyung: We didn't know what exactly what was in them, so we just grabbed some, thinking it looked like alcohol. Jongwan: The thing was, it was actually motion sickness medicine. I thought it was alcohol so I downed it all in one shot, and according to the others I was sleeping on all fours on the floor the next morning. It's hilarious to think about now. (laughter)

Q: Does Jongwan, who went through so much due to motion sickness medicine, have a question? Jongwan: If there was a girl you liked, what would you want to do with her? For Jaewon, it's assuming he didn't get married. Jaekyung: From trivial to big, I want to do everything. Jongwan: What are the big things? Jaekyung: I have to date first to know that. Dating and making music is similar in that sense. Because you never know in which direction to go. Junghoon: Like I said, I don't have time for anything other than band activities. All: Hahaha. Jaewon: I'd want to bring all my friends and girlfriend together and chat over some drinks. I used to do that often when we dated, but now that we're married and have a kid it's difficult to find the time.

Q: What about Jongwan himself? Jongwan: I’d want to play her body (like an instrument). All: Hahahaha. Jongwan: I'm sorry. I've been watching lots of cooking shows recently and they often cook and eat outdoors. I'd like to go somewhere with a beautiful view and eat together. And then play her bod-- haha.

Q: I'm asking this to fit the mood: What are you individual sexual fantasies? Haha. Jongwan: This is Paper, right? Not Maxim? (Maxim: A magazine focused on style for men, the content of which is often sexual.) All: Hahahaha. Jaekyung: I have to get a girlfriend first of all. Jaewon: Well, I have one. (Thinks for a long time) It's two characters, but I don't know if I can say it. Hahahaha. Jaekyung: This is what interviews are~ Jongwan: You have to protect your family! Jaewon: (Uh-oh) Pass.

Q: Hahahaha. What about Jongwan? Jongwan: I've tried it all, so. Huhu. I'm an honest person so I speak up if I want something. These days I often long for the fluttering and romance of the past. You know, the older you get the more open you become about sexual things. I often dream about the kind of relationship in which you're aware of how precious your emotions are. Junghoon: I seriously don't have any sexual fantasies. Just the basics! All: Basics? What even is that? Junghoon: Just sex! There's not much else I want to try. Even when I watch porn, I'm not interested in different positions and stuff. Jongwan: When you say 'basics', you don't mean doing headstands or something, right? All: Puhahahaha!

Q: (The rest of the 19+ talk has been edited out) Okay, okay~ Let's change up the mood. You know, sometimes it's easy to be a bit narcissistic. Jaewon: (Flexing his shoulders and legs like Popeye) Like this? All: Hahahaha. Jaekyung: Now we're stuck in this mood! What are we going to do about this?! Jaewon: I get narcissistic after our concerts when we're all complimenting each other. "You did great tonight", "your singing was on point", things like this. I love that. Jongwan: For me it's when we finish writing a great song. Each song contains several long processes, you know. Writing, arranging, recording, etc. So when a song turns out well, of course I'm happy, and feel like we all did well. Junghoon: For me it's during performances. It’s not that I think I look cool. But when thousands of people come to see us, talented engineers put their all into our sound and the lighting technicians do their best to make us look good, I feel that the work we do is really amazing. Jaekyung: I think Nell itself is joy, that I'm drunk on the fact that I got to do this with my friends for this long. Basically, I think I'm similar to Jongwan. We can keep making music, but of course it doesn't turn out well every time. So when it does, we get drunk on it.

Q: Nell have gone strong for thirteen years without replacing any members. Jaurim, who have been around even longer with their fifteen years, picked the secret to their longevity as 'individual activities'. I'd like to hear Nell's thoughts on individual activities. Jaekyung: For now, we're not sure. Doing Nell right now is overwhelming enough. We’re busy as it is.

Q: I don't think you need to limit activities to music related things. It could be business, too, and-- All: We'd stop each other! Junghoon: We know better than anyone that we have no talent for things like that, you see. Jongwan: Stocks? I taught the others myself. That they shouldn't do it (laughter) As long as we know what we're doing, individual activities would be fine. As long as we know that Nell is the most important thing and it doesn't cause the band any harm, that is. But of course it'll be hard. See, I think passion has a limit. If you give sixty percent to something, you can only give forty to other things, so you have to find your balance. As long as you distribute yourself well, it should be okay.

Q: These are the member's individual weapons, right? Voice, guitar, drums, bass -- if they were living things, what would you want to tell them? Jaekyung: (to the guitar) "Make the right sounds, won't you!" 'Just focus on yourself', something like this? (laughter) Jaewon: (to the drums): "You've been through a lot." Junghoon: (to the bass): "Let's do well, I'll do my best as well." Jongwan: I'd say thank you. To my voice, but to music itself, too. If we didn't get into music we’d have lived very ordinary, perhaps boring lives. Because we're originally fairly shy. We're living satisfying lives thanks to music, so I'm always grateful.

Q: Will we see you in concert at midnight on the 24th of December this year as well? You always used to play at that time before. Jaekyung: We're planning to. Junghoon: Last time was in 2007. Christmas Eve is Jongwan's birthday, too.

Q: Is having your birthday on that day a good or a bad thing? Jongwan: There's not a single advantage to it. I share a birthday with the most famous person in the world, so I can't win. I say "I'm working on my birthday" half joking, half seriously, but to be fair I'm the happiest on stage.

Q: If someday in the future there'll be a movie about Nell, what would you pick as the opening and closing song? Jaekyung: Wow~ I think we'd have to make new music for such an important cause. Jongwan: If we were to pick from the songs we've already made, I'd choose Take Me With from our first album as the opening song. It's the first song we recorded in a proper recording studio. For the closing song, I'd say 12 Seconds from our fourth album, we always play it last at our concerts. At some point it became our final song.

Q: What would be a good title for the movie? Jongwan: The title of our first indie album "Reflection Of". Since it's our story, I think "Reflection of Nell" would be good.

Q: I see you have a lot of affection for your first indie album. Jongwan: It's because there are so many memories attached to it. I lived in Ilsan back then, and all the members camped out at my house for almost a month while we made the album. It's far from perfect but at the end of the day, it’s our beginning.

Q: It's gone out of print and can't be purchased any longer, but do you each have a copy? Jongwan: I don't. I honestly don't own any of our CDs. As soon as we release an album, I start thinking of the next. It could come off as cold, but it's just that I look towards our future music rather than the songs we have already made. That’s what I want to focus on.

Q: Nell's lyrics often revolve around the past, but I suppose your music itself is the opposite. Jongwan: Yes, we don't obsess about the past.

Q: I enjoyed today's interview with you. Jaekyung: It had the four steps of composition (introduction, development, turn and conclusion).

Q: "The basics" played a huge role. All: Hahaha.

Feel free to use, but please credit Nellpire.

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 10/26 NXT 10/28 NXT UK 10/29 Smackdown 10/30

Raw:

Wonder what 19/11 means.

...Arsenic??... What in the-- WHY IS SHE SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

Boy y’all really nailed home how agonizing his suffering was before he died. My head hurts, this show is demented.

My god there are legitimately 2 of these psychopaths now.

wwe production should give Alexa’s voice a reverb effect whenever she says “let him in”

Girl is actually laughing hysterically while Bray ruthlessly murders Rambling Rabbit. Goodbye.

This act works so much better as a duo, Alexa was right in requesting to work with Bray.

kekekek Shayna makes a list of women she wants on her Survivor Series team; Nia snags the list and sees she’s not on it. Whose idea was this tag team? Need to know who I’m sending a fruit basket to.

Appreciate Mandy clarifying that Otis and her are still close, but I don’t understand why wwe separated them.

What is with everyone wearing black??

Lmfao this man really tried giving his rose to Shayna SIR PLZ. He had a better chance giving it to Sonya lesbireal.

Dana actually having a decent speaking segment. Half point.

“I feel like this is a joke. Is this like punk’d? Are we-- are we getting punk’d?” Nia came to entertain tonight.

Why can’t wwe just implement GMs again? Love Adam Pearce but he’s literally just playing the role of GM. Just keep them in the background with the mere purpose of cohesion. Good example: Paige. Bad example: Corbin.

This actually makes sense. You have the tag champs automatically being added, cuz duh, and the tag team who are undefeated since forming and moving to Raw. So have the 5th team member fight for the spot. I don’t hate that at all. At least there’s logic being applied.

I will never not hate Peyton’s theme. Yikes.

WHAT THE FUCK IS NIKKI CROSS’ NEW THEME LMFAO why are we throwing some bland, midwest country rock track with such a slow tempo at her??!? oof rip. Sucks for Nikki that Alexa wanted something more for her career but one could not possibly blame her, so.

ahahahaha I just noticed Nia took Byron’s seat. She’s so fucking funny.

Look if y’all are gonna do the move where someone lifts you over the top rope to set you on the apron, FUCKING JUMP FOR THEM. They’re not supposed to dead lift you.

Nice kick to Nikki by Lana; sloppy vault over the top rope. It’s kay, she isn’t even the worst one in this match lesbihonest.

Lacey gets Nikki in position for a suplex off the top rope, and Peyton - as quick as can be - jumps in to throw Lacey in a German suplex. That was smooth with very minimal set up. Points.

So Lana steals the win by pinning Nikki and the camera pans to all 4 team members looking absolutely shook. I am dying.

Interesting to see them focus on Peyton’s disappointment.

aaaaand rip Lana for the 6th time.

Such a jarring remix of Alexa’s song.

I know y’all are super weird and choose to sexualize/fetishize everything that you don’t understand, but I appreciate Alexa’s new persona. It’s like Firefly Funhouse characters meets Disney themed characters (which is core to Alexa) meets Harley Quinn. It’s a fitting cosplay with fitting demeanors. So if y’all could quit talking about ageplay like a bunch of weirdos, that’d be great.

Alexa and I are the same age and tbh I’m kind of shook on her behalf to see her share these segments and storylines with Randy Orton. Like I was a kid watching his feud with triple h. We were mere preadolescent kids lol. Good for her.

I like that she’s immune to Fiend’s name now that she’s fully embraced him become brainwashed.

Omg she’s just sitting on the turnbuckle laughing at them.

So Fiend is just a looming threat to Orton rn? Just letting Orton know that eventually he’ll have to answer for the fire he started all those years ago? I wasn’t here for Bray’s run back then so I’m kind of trying to piece this all together. Anyway fine segment. I don’t much care about Drew vs Orton but I appreciate Orton selling the intensity of the Fiend. He’s a good worker.

Highlight: Completely split between Nia being hilarious & Alexa being creepy as hell

---

NXT:

Well at least they’re keeping Ember backstage for her promos. That’s an improvement.

True, Dakota as a babyface was awful. Not sorry. Her character consisted of “scared” and “sad”... That’s it.

Big fan of the set for nxt tonight.

It’s so rare to see someone handle Rhea, what a nice dynamic.

These 2 are best friends irl, aren’t they? Enjoyable to watch them go punch for punch back and forth. If nothing else, they’re definitely selling that they’re pretty evenly built.

True though, Rhea does have her athleticism going for her. Rhea’s kicks are a beautiful thing to see. Soccer player ftw.

Really like this match. It’s cool to see the range of different matches Rhea can have. It’s not often you see her in an underdog type of role, and you wouldn’t think she could thrive as one, but it works for her just the same as being a dominant powerhouse. Shouldn’t be surprised though, her vs Charlotte at wm was a banger, and Charlotte was definitely the dominant force in that match.

Commentators said Rhea’s inverted cloverleaf has tapped out “many” superstars in nxt, and I just wanna know who? Cuz I have zero recollection of such.

Good showing for Raquel. Gave zero shits about her prior to this. She’s always just been the Diesel to Dakota’s Shawn Michaels.

GREAT counter by Rhea from the one armed powerbomb into nearly a headscissors takedown.

This match is very well paced.

Oh yes, that’s the type of match that easily could’ve gone longer and left me wanting more, which is a hell of a compliment. I underestimated how good this would be.

Wow they’re having Poppy rob us of Io’s theme song? For shame.

So how does the wheel actually work? Do they really not get a chance to plan out their stip matches? That’s weird. I love it, but it’s weird. Is it rigged? It’s gotta be rigged, right?

Love the black and orange themed ladders.

lmao Candice’s reaction to the bag of body parts. Fantastic.

Did Candice hit Io in the face with a laptop?? Honestly, points.

Lol chalk outlines on the tables. The theme is great.

Oh man, a moonsault straight onto chairs. rip Io’s midsection.

Wicked suplex onto the sitting chair, oof. Looked like Io clipped that.

Meteora into a steel ladder, which then fell on Io. She taking a beating lol.

Commentators mentioning Johnny counter: 3

Kinda cool spot twisting Candice’s ankle in a chair. Of course, it’s not like Candice sold the damaged ankle anyway, so.

Swinging neckbreaker through the tables - a spot that would’ve been great if the commentators had actually sold it and there was a real crowd.

idk who the hell is helping Candice, but I think it’s just fantastic that Shotzi came in to stop them.

“LeRae can’t reach,” as if this match wouldn’t have been over if she would’ve just climbed up one single ring.

Welp Candice is dead now. Fell off the top of the ladder through another ladder. Nasty landing. rip. 

Brutal match, but it still wasn’t better than their first match. At least Candice did work and this wasn’t boring unlike their last takeover match. Points for the damage they caused to their bodies, eesh.

Highlight: Rhea vs Raquel

---

NXT UK:

Oh nice UK added some monitors. Good for them, even if the stream quality is kinda poor.

I like this match up. Dani Luna is an athletic powerhouse, and Valkyrie is an athletic technician. This is more the type of quality match that I’d expect on the MR - minus the storytelling/performance aspect, but that’s okay.

Really appreciate Luna’s strength for how small she seems.

Valkyrie is fun to watch. Her arm drag takedowns and counters are entertaining.

Damn Valkyrie can do a springboard cross body and a pele kick as well? What an intriguing skillset she has.

Holy shit that snap German suplex by Dani was effortlessly CLEAN.

I’m not big on Dani’s look tbh. I feel like she’d be more of a standout if her hair was a different color. I don’t think blue works for her, personally.

An interesting finisher by Valkyrie... I don’t hate it. I’m all for the result, though. Good show of respect between both competitors. Wouldn’t mind watching them again in the future.

Current day has KLR still as champion (#foreverchampion) but I’m guessing they’re really gonna have Piper be the one to inevitably end it. Should be Valkyrie as far as I’m concerned. Even if she’s trash on the mic - not saying she is cuz I have no idea - she’s super entertaining to watch.

Highlight: Dani Luna vs Valkyrie

---

Smackdown:

New year, same old Nattie trying to be the Survivor Series captain.

Billie Kay is entertaining but wbk.

Bianca, ma’am, you JUST started going here. Calm down.

“Bianca nobody really cares, or knows, what EST means, it’s totally irrelevant. I’m the boat.” lmao I genuinely love Nattie, not sorry.

SHE CLAPPED AT HER goodbye. Give me a Bianca vs Nattie match, entertain me plz.

Ah a triple threat? That’s fine I suppose, what the hell.

Why does wwe keep depriving me of Bianca’s entrance? I hate this company.

Billie Kay: *jumps in the ring to catch Bianca in a random pinfall; fails; proceeds to leave the ring once more*

Billie Kay really is a special level of awful, but at least she has character work going for her.

Good cover by Bianca to set up the basement dropkick by Nattie to break up the pin.

Boy Bianca sure did take her time breaking up that sharpshooter. You got both Nattie and Billie Kay screaming and she’s in lala land lmao.

I will genuinely cry if they ever change Bianca’s music, I stg. Good for her btw. Appropriate result.

What’s the purpose of the polaroid camera?

Soo did they basically give Carmella the layout of Sasha’s gimmick while turning Sasha babyface? Is that what’s going on? What rules is Carmella making? What shots is she calling? Why does this girl have champagne? You know who would rock the “fuck y’all I’m rich, look at my Gucci and diamonds” gimmick? The Ice Queen, Charlotte Flair.

What an adorably tiny cross.

Carmella you’re not really known for winning, but alright.

Hate this music btw.

Lol this fucking chair. Okay.

“Long time rivalry renewed” didn’t Asuka and Sasha have a minor feud a mere 5 months ago? That lasted one month?? Is that considered long time now???

Sasha’s makeup is off key ngl. I hate that outfit as well.

Yes, yes she was your best friend and that was really sad, but you’re not saying anything different than you have before. And you’re STILL not likeable. But hey, I’m happy for you all the same, now be as entertaining as Bayley plz.

“The whole world knows that you can win a championship, but even you know that you can’t hang onto one. Unlike me.” pppffffttttt she’s not wrong.

Who do I gotta pay to permanently separate you 2? hiac was great, let’s end the debacle now plz.

“You made me sign that hiac contract under duress,” THANK YOU BAYLEY see someone knows their legal jargon. 

Peep that gnarly bruise on Bayley’s arm. Whew.

She’s so annoying lmao.

“Backstabbing bitches never win,” hi, Sasha? Longest reigning Raw women’s champion, first ever wm main eventer, first ever women’s dual world champion, face of the company, cover of espn and 2k20 Becky Lynch just called; said that is absolutely not true.

Highlight: Bianca, Billie Kay & Natalya backstage segment

---

*Raw shined the brightest this week, but I have to shout out NXT as well for their 2 matches, particularly Rhea vs Raquel.

[realsantanalopez-blog]

Pizza Party

Who: Finn, Brittany, Marley, Mercedes, and Santana

When: Sunday, 14 May 2017

Where: NYC Pizzeria

What: Finn’s first NYC Pizza and (some) cast bonding

Being in New York for the first time was as exciting as Finn had always thought. They were staying at the W Hotel in Times Square, and they didn’t have any events to get to until the next day. So he thought the perfect way to start that off since Rachel was still busy, was with some New York style pizza for dinner. He made his way down to the lobby to wait for the girls to meet him, pulling out his phone so he could find a nearby place. He thought they could walk, and he didn’t feel like they needed an Uber or taxi.

Mercedes got out of the elevator and made her way into the lobby, finding Finn easily. She was excited to be back in NYC, even if she had some mixed emotions about being here with Sam in the vicinity, but she’d deal.  “Hey, you having fun yet?” She teased him as she nudged him softly.  “Who else is coming with us?”

Marley was kind of excited to be back in New York, while she enjoyed LA, she missed living in the City, so it was like a breath of fresh air. Even if the air in New York wasn’t that fresh. She spent some time with her friends, before heading back to the Hotel for pizza. Spotting Finn, and Mercedes, Marley grinned, bouncing up to them. “Hey, guys! Who’s down for pizza?!” Santana hadn’t gotten the best start with Finn, and was still getting to know most of her castmates, so pizza seemed like the perfect solution. Hopefully they’d all get a chance to get to know each other and bond. She made her way to the hotel lobby and walked up to the little group with a smile on her face. “I’m down for pizza,” she replied, catching Marley’s greeting. “I’m always down for pizza, if we’re being honest here.”

Brittany’s current musical obsession blared through her bluetooth headphones as she danced down the hall toward the lobby. She was ready to get her party on in the city that never sleeps. New York was one of her favorite cities and she always had a great time whenever she was there, so she was determined to make this trip one of many fun trips to NYC. When the pizza idea came up, Britt jumped on the chance to hang out with her new TV family, they were going to have to spend time together if they were going to end up like a real family. She was hoping that pizza would lead to a great first night in the city. Once she’d arrived she pulled her headphones out of her ears and waived at the group. “Hey sexy people! I’m starving so this was a good idea. Good job,Finn.”

Finn never actually got a chance to answer Mercedes’ question because everyone had come down shortly after her. So he just let them do the talking for a moment. He was a little surprised to see Santana, but he remember what Mercedes had said about Santana coming around. He was starting to think that maybe Mercedes was right about he which made him feel better. “I’m starving too. I’ve never had New York pizza because I’ve never been to New York before. So, I thought maybe we could walk around and find a pizza place. I have a few that came up on my phone.”

“Sounds good,” she smiled at everyone, making sure she not to leave anyone out. Being around so many gorgeous people was not a bad way to spend an evening, plus pizza only added to the goodness.  “I’m going to do some shopping while I’m here too before I leave, you may not care to tag along on that trip, Groot.  But if any of you ladies are game, just let me know. I am on the hunt for some cute espadrilles.”

“Hey!” Marley said to Brittany, and Santana, before glancing over at Finn. “I cannot believe you have never been to New York before.” She said quietly, sure, she knew that a lot of people haven’t been, but this took her by surprise. “You have to see all you can while we’re here. I kind of want to catch Amelie before it closes too..” She said quietly glancing over at Mercedes. “I am always down for shopping.” “We can probably just start in any direction and end up getting to a pizza place,” she told Finn. “They’re all over.” At the mention of going shopping, her face almost lit up. “I’m in for that shopping trip. I’m always in need for new, cute clothes and shoes.” Santana had planned to go shopping while in New York anyway, so it was good that she’d have at least one other person to go with.

Brittany scrunched her nose up when the mention of shopping came up. She didn't mind watching her hot friends try on clothes, especially if they also let her see them take the clothes off, but shopping wasn't her favorite activity and she really was starving. “Well I guess shopping before food is okay.” A pout fell onto her lips but quickly lifted when a thought came to her. She moved next to Finn and bumped his hip with hers. “It can be a cool way for you to see a little of the city and if they take too long I can kidnap you and you can buy me a pre-pizza snack.”

“Um...I think they meant a different day,” Finn replied before turning to Mercedes. “You didn’t mean shopping right now, right?” He really didn’t want to go shopping. Plus, he had plenty of clothes. He didn’t need more. He’d go if they all really wanted to go, but he didn’t really want to. He only ever liked shopping for things like video games and electronics and stuff.

She giggled softly and shook her head,”Oh no, definitely not going shopping now. I wouldn’t torture you like that.” She smiled at Brittany. “Food will always come before shopping, never doubt that.”  Mercedes looked at Marley and Santana, “Now you two little model body ladies will have more fun with clothes shopping than me probably, I’m more of a shoe fiend.” When most of the clothes in the store don’t fit your body shape, you adjust your attention.  She had learned that over the years. This way she still got to have fun with the girls and not feel left out.

“Yeah, shopping would be another day.” Marley repeated. She had a few things planned while they were in town, but she could fit that in. Glancing over at Mercedes, Marley wrinkled her nose. “Oh please. I'm sure we could find something for you! They have so many options, though shoes are great too!”

Santana smiled over at Brittany when she questioned shopping before pizza. “Don’t worry, B. I think we’re all planning to go straight for the pizza.” Her head turned to look at Mercedes when she heard her talking. “Come on, we’ll definitely be able to find something hot for you in the city. Though I’m always down to join you on a shoe hunt so it’s up to you.” She would have to do some research online beforehand so that she could suggest some good stores for all of them.

“Well that's good because hangry Britt is not a pretty sight, hot, but definitely not pretty.” Brittany shrugged before turning her attention over to Mercedes. “You're model bodied. I'd watch you model and you super sexy body. Bam! Model bodied. If you’re looking to get your model on …” She mouthed the words ‘call me’ as she made a telephone with her right hand wiggled her eyebrows. Brittany smirked for a moment before her stomach started to growl and she looked around at the group pitifully. “Feed me Seymours, feed me”

Finn could only stare at Brittany wide-eyed as she hit on his best friend. As far as he knew, Mercedes wasn’t into other girls, but Brittany was hot. If he was a girl, she’d maybe make him think about it. “We should...probably start walking,” he suggested, leading them away from the front of the hotel and heading left on the block.

Mercedes snapped her fingers and smiled brightly. “Okay then, I see I got a girl squad already, I like this.  Thanks, sometimes I still get a little insecure with this whole public stuff.  Y’all are cool ladies.” She looped one arm through Finn’s and then another through Santana’s. “Alright, let’s go find pizza and look amazing while doing it.”

“Shit, I love you already,” she told Mercedes with a laugh. She was definitely the type of person that Santana saw herself being good friends with. Santana grabbed Brittany’s hand with the one she had free. “Every Britt is hot, not just the hungry one.” It was much more fun to be walking around the city with friends than it would’ve been if she’d stayed alone.

Brittany’s bottom lip jutted outward when Mercedes didn't seem to pay her any attention. She didn't even get a laugh out of her. At least they were closer to getting food. Britt looked down at he hand the hand that enclosed around hers and then up to the person it belonged to and couldn't help but smile. “Damn straight!” She chuckled and kissed Santana on the cheek before raising her free hand in the air. “Onward and Pizza!”

It felt so weird because now it seemed like Santana was hitting on Brittany. Maybe not, but Finn hadn’t really been around girls that did stuff like that. “Um...so anyway, anyone know any fun things to do around New York? I feel completely overwhelmed by like all the choices. I don’t wanna miss anything, but there’s like too much to do in a week.”

Mercedes felt like she had missed something, but everyone seemed to be happy, so maybe it was just in her head. She thought Brittany and Santana looked rather gorgeous together, but she didn’t know their business like that. Granted, Santana and Brittany would upgrade pretty much anyone, they were just that pretty. “I’ve only been here while working, so I didn’t go to a lot of places. They do have lots of clubs, and gorgeous art museums too. And of course Broadway.”

Santana was happy to see that everyone was in a good mood. This trip wasn’t for any fights or awkward situations. “I’d hit Times Square if it’s your first time here. That usually has all of the good, interesting shit to look at. Depends on what you’re into.” She nodded towards a pizza place a little while ahead of them. “There we go. We can probably stop in there.”

“Let’s go to Brooklyn! They have the best places to dance because all the cool kids hang out there.” There was a ton to do in Manhattan for sure but Brittany felt bad for the other Boroughs. People didn't love them as much and it wasn't their fault. She followed Santana’s line of sight and ran ahead toward the food mumbling something about slow pokes.

There were so many sights to see that Finn nearly missed the pizzeria ahead of them. “Yes! Pizza! I feel like a Ninja Turtle…” He picked up his speed a little as his stomach led him in the direction of the food. “I don’t really like museums that much, but I would still go to one with you, ‘Cedes…” he offered. It wasn’t shopping, and pretty much anything beat that.

When Brittany took off towards the pizzeria, she couldn’t help but start laughing.  “She was not joking when she said she was hungry.  Santana is right, definitely soak up Times Square, seeing it at night is like super eye candy with all the lights.”  She had to almost jog to keep up with his faster, longer strides.  “I bet if we looked, they probably have a cool one, with stuff we like. Or a cool comic book place.” She liked doing things with Finn, he was easy going and they always had fun.

“Wait for us, B,” she called out with a laugh as her friend ran ahead. Santana looked over at Finn with a smile at the Ninja Turtle comment. “I get to be Raphael though since I look amazing in red.” Santana sped up her pace a bit so that she could reach the pizza place with the rest of them. “How long have you two known each other? You seem like old friends,” she asked Finn and Mercedes.

Britt turned around and began to walk backward to be sure she didn’t lose anyone in the group. “I hope they have the giant slices as big as your head. Also…” She cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her words, though the others weren’t too far behind. “I love the Ninja Turtles! I’m Donatello because he’s a scientist like I am AND my turtle is named Donatello!.” She was so into what she was saying she forgot to check for people as backwards walked into the pizza parlor. “Oops. I’m sorry. You’re really pretty, Sir. I’m sorry” She called after a man who’d given her a dirty look.

Finn blinked and looked at Santana in surprise. “You know the Ninja Turtles? Out of the two left, that would make me Michelangelo because Mercedes is totally Leonardo…” He grinned at his friend and bumped her with his hip. “We’ve been best friends for like four years…She’s my second favorite lady.”

“You okay, Brittany?” Mercedes asked, seeing the accidental collision.  She raised her eyebrow as the conversation turned to TMNT. “Oh this is...how did I end up as Leo?” She laughed and shook her head. “He is the only guy I will allow to call me his second favorite and not get kicked in the kneecaps,” she teased. “Oh wow, it smells mouthwatering, let’s get our grub on.”

Santana laughed when Finn seemed to be surprised. “I’m not completely oblivious.” It was a fair assumption for him to make though, since she hadn’t seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. When she noticed Brittany and the random man, she practically jumped forward to make sure the stranger didn’t say anything. He would’ve regretted it pretty quickly. “That’s super cute though. Is your first favorite a sister or something?” She headed towards the counter with the rest of them so they could order their slices.

It was moments like those that proved to her they should offer walking collision insurance and even though Brittany had suggested to a number of insurance companies no one had taken her seriously. She shrugged and flashed a smile in Mercedes’ direction. “I’m good. I was just afraid I hurt him with all of my awesome muscles I’ve aquired from being basically the best dancer ever. But looks like he’s fine.” She shrugged and winked at Santana before taking Mercedes’ hand. “What are you getting? Finn said he was treating so you should probably try toppings you’re not sure about, because if you don’t like them then you’re not wasting your own money and you can go back and get more.”

“No, my mom, she raised me all by herself after my dad died right after I was born,” he answered as he walked up to the glass where the pizza was displayed. “This all looks so good.” He was starving. “Yeah, get whatever you want. I don’t mind. I’ll eat the pizza you don’t like.” He was sure he could put it away.

“Hmmm, I usually just get cheese or pepperoni. Should I do something really different, like the artichoke and fennel?” She asked Brittany, squeezing her hand softly. She normally wasn’t one for having people touch her, but the blonde seemed so sweet that she just went along with it.  “What are you going to get?”  She looked over at Finn and Santana talking and she smiled, glad that they seemed to be getting along well.  “Hey Marley, get up here,” she said as she waved her up. Marley grinned over at them, and opened her mouth to respond when she got a text from her mother. Stopping for a moment, she frowned, reading the text message, and pressed her lips together, getting completely lost in the reply when she heard her name called. Closing the phone, she jogged up to catch up with them. “Sorry..” She said, her lips still pressed together. She was sure everything was fine. “Brooklyn Pizza, right?” Santana frowned a bit at Finn’s response. “Sorry… That’s sweet though.” It was always weird when she accidentally brought up a touchy subject; or what could’ve been a touchy subject. She spun her head around to look at Marley as the other girl approached. “Everything okay?” She’d been on the quiet side lately, and as her designated fake older sister, Santana felt pretty protective over her.

Brittany pursed her lips as she contemplated possible toppings. “I think you should definitely get both artichoke and fennel but I’m just going to get cheese and pepperoni. I know what I like.” She smiled and winked before turning toward Marley. She was about to part her lips to say Marley should get something new too but the girl seemed frowny and Brittany’s mirrored in response. She walked over and gave the girl a hug without prompting. “Yes, Brooklyn Pizza. It’ll make you smile again. Pizza makes everyone happy, even if only temporarily.”

Finn stopped paying attention to all of them as he focused on which pizza he wanted to order. “I think I’m getting the Hawaiian. That’s the best kind.” It was his favorite kind of pizza. “Oh, and I want a slice of pepperoni. Then I might come back for something else.” He scratched at his chin and told his order to the guy behind the counter, then told him that he’d be paying for the others as well.

“Could you give us a moment to decide?” Mercedes said to the man at the counter before turning to the other girls. Santana had already asked, so she wasn’t going to do the same, but she was concerned as well.  “If you need to talk, we’re all here to listen, okay?”  She spotted a table in the corner with 5 chairs. “Hey sweetie, could you go guard that table for us?” She asked Finn.

She was taken back for a moment, and forced a smile. “Yeah..” She said quietly, glancing down at her phone for a moment, and biting her lip. She was naturally a wallflower, the only time she really liked attention when she was performing. Still, she hugged Brittany back, and smiled at the blond, before pulling back, and brushing her hair out of her face. “I want bacon and pineapple..” She commented over at Finn, biting her lips. “It’s just family drama. Now that I’m ‘famous’ it’s just…” She wrinkled her brow, thinking of her words. “Causing issues, I guess.” Noticing that Marley was a little uncomfortable with the spotlight, she dropped the subject on her end and made a mental note to ask her later on. Santana turned back to the man helping them behind the counter and gave him a smile. “Can I just get a spinach slice?” She focused on the group while the guy disappeared to pop the first couple in the oven. Hearing Mercedes call Finn sweetie made her raise an eyebrow. “Have you guys ever dated?”

Brittany stepped back giving Marley room but she eye’d the girl for a moment wondering if somehow she could will herself to use the other 90 percent of her brain to read the other woman’s mind so she could figure out what she needed to do to make things better. When she settled on that day not being the day she mastered the full power of her brain she sighed. “Families can be messy.” She gave a small and what she hoped was a slightly comforting smile before walking back over to the counter. “Can I have the cheesiest slice of cheese pizza you have and a pepperoni? Please and thank you.” When she heard the mentioning of dating Brittany turned toward the two people in question with a huge smile on her face. She loved juicy gossip.

“Uh yeah, I can do that. Here.” He handed his bank card over to Mercedes so that she could pay. He wouldn’t have trusted anyone else except her with his card. He walked over to to the empty table with six seats and sat down hoping they didn’t take too long so that nobody took the chairs from the table.

Seeing as she was the only one that hadn’t ordered, she smiled at the gentleman behind the counter. “Thank you for being so patient, could I get a slice of artichoke and fennel, and one with cheese?” That way if she didn’t like the new flavor, she had her go to as well.”  She used Finn’s card to pay for everyone’s food and then she shook her head at Santana. “Finn and me? No, not at all. We’re just really close. We have a good friend in common, and that’s how we met. Sort of, I mean, yeah.” She was thankful for all the melanin in her skin at that moment because she knew her cheeks were probably doing that weird rosey, blush crap that happened when she thought about Evans. And she was not trying to go there. “Hey, first few orders are up, I’ll take Finn’s to him.” She said as she picked up his plate and took it over to him, giving him back his card as well.

Marley was kind of glad they seemed to drop it. She wondered if it came off rude, but she wasn’t going to bring it up right now. Nodding her head, she sighed. “No kidding.” She smiled over at Brittany, and squeezed her hand, before turning her attention back to Mercedes, and Santana. She noticed Mercedes was blushing, and she tilted her head to the side, but kept her mouth shut. Grabbing her pizza, she followed them to the table, and sat down. “Oh I’ve missed New York pizza.”

Santana nodded as Mercedes explained her friendship with Finn. It made sense. “That’s cool though.” She grabbed the next couple of slices that they’d ordered and brought those over to the table before grabbing one of the seats. “Finn, remind me that I owe you… something. I’m not sure what, but I need to make us even again.” Santana smiled over at the only guy in their group.

Brittany grabbed her two slices of pizza and walked over to the table to join everyone. Before she sat down she kissed Finn on the tip of his nose and smiled. “Thanks Finn. Free food is my favorite type of food. You're the best.” Brittany looked around the table making sure no one’s pizza looked more appealing than hers. When she was satisfied she picked up her slice of pepperoni, folded it in half and took a big bite.

“You don’t owe me anything,” he assured Santana. Even if she tried to pay him back he wouldn’t take it. It wasn’t because he wanted her to owe him a favor or anything. He didn’t like that kind of stuff. He was treating everyone to pizza, not just Santana. He took the plate from Mercedes and his ard, then slipped it back into his wallet before eagerly biting into his slice.

After getting her own pizza, Mercedes joined the group.  She smiled when she heard Finn’s response to Santana, she wasn’t surprised by his words, that was just the kind of guy Finn was as a person. He didn’t do things for payback or to hold it over your head, he did it because he wanted to. “I think even Puck would be jealous of you right now, surrounded by a bevvy of hot chicks, and you didn’t have to spit some lame pick-up line.”  She said with a laugh before taking a bite of her pizza.

She wanted to argue with what Finn said, but she let it go for now. She simply made a mental note to get him something in the future. “Though I’m dying to hear your best pick-up lines,” Santana added to what Mercedes had said. Some of them were pretty funny and she felt like Finn was the type of guy to know them, but not really use them. She picked up her slice of pizza, folded it over, and then started to eat along with the rest of them.

Brittany’s ears perked up again at the words ‘pick-up lines’. “Oooo that would be a fun game. Best and worst pick up lines in your repertoire. Let’s play. I’ll go first. Okay so my best pick up line. ‘Hey’” She followed with a wink to the group. “Works every time. Oh and my best worst pick-up line. ‘I’ve lost my teddy bear. Can I sleep with you instead?’ It’s not mine, I plagiarized it, but sometimes it’s more true than a pick-up line.” Brittany shrugged. “Who’s next?”

Finn shrugged and shifted a little. “I don’t really use pickup lines. I didn’t know they were really a thing. I guess…’Hi, I’m Finn Hudson. What’s your name?’ has always worked for me. I don’t get turned down too often.” He glanced at Brittany then Mercedes and grinned a little, his dimples growing more pronounced.

“Now y’all don’t laugh, but I really don’t have any pick-up anything skills,” she said with a slight shrug. “Last date I went on was some meeting arranged by my manager, and that was like...almost a year ago?  I mean, I would just go over and say hi if I thought a guy was interested I guess.  Oh, but I did have a guy try to get my number by saying he thought I was built so fine that only he could truly appreciate all my ass. Yeah, that didn’t work.” She wrinkled her nose slightly as she remembered that encounter.

Marley sat down to eat her pizza, and she listened to the others talk, when they mentioned pick up lines, she smirked slightly to herself, giggling at the lines. “I like that one.” She told Brittany. “My ex used a pick up line.. We were like fourteen, but he asked me if heaven was missing an angel, because it was heaven on earth here.. Or something like that..” She shook her head, it was funny at the time. She laughed, and blushed at the time. “Though yeah. I wouldn’t say that one worked either. Merc.” Santana chuckled a bit at Finn’s lack of a pickup line. “Oh really now?” She wondered if she’d give in to his simple line. Probably. Her eyes grew wide as she heard that line that Mercedes had been told. “Holy shit, no way. Some guys are so fucking ballsy, it’s insane.” It was also pretty entertaining. “Someone once tried using ‘kissing burns five calories a minute, wanna workout?’ on me, but I turned them down. He was kinda gross.”

Laughing, Finn shifted in his seat. “I think that’s a great pickup line. It’s so funny. I feel like if a guy comes up to you and says a pickup line, he’s probably nervous...or he’s Puck. Like I don’t think anyone believes what they say. They’re just trying to...you know, break the ice….maybe make the girl laugh. It’s not easy to walk up to a girl and just ask for her phone number. She could think you’re ugly. She could have a boyfriend. Her boyfriend could be...like standing right there. I’m not saying guys aren’t jerks sometimes, but like sometimes we’re just nervous.”

“Aww, that was adorable,” Mercedes said in reply to Marley’s story. “Cheesy, but adorable for a teenager.”  She took a sip of her water and just shook her head as she listened to Santana. “Why do they think we want to immediately make-out or have sex? I mean, can I get your name before you try and get me out my clothes? And I get being nervous, but that’s why a man should do his research before approaching a woman. Don’t stalk her, but be considerate and just be yourself. If she wants to talk more, she will let you know.”  Not that Finn really needed tips or anything, it was more of a general statement.

“Yeah, like, they should just do something asking for our name. But of course guys jump to sex or something.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really care, since I either chat with them or walk away… But still.” Santana finished her slice of pizza and then grabbed a few napkins to clean up a bit. “You can usually tell when they’re nervous. It’s cute.”

Finn nodded. “That’s why I don’t use them. If I wanna break the ice, I just say hi and introduce myself and then I just make a joke.” He grinned. “I made a joke when I first met Mercedes because she scared me. She’s like crazy talented and...sassy. And when I met her, I’d heard all of this great stuff. I got her to laugh. We’ve been best friends ever since.” He paused and thought about how that hadn’t worked with Santana. “It doesn’t always work with everyone.”

Mercedes snickered as she remembered the first time she had met Finn. “You were nervous? I was the one freaking out. I don’t know about guys, but with girls, if your best friend doesn’t like the person you’re dating, things are not going to go well.  So I was freaking out a bit, and then here is this redwood tree of a man cracking jokes, definitely broke the ice.” She nudged him with her elbow and smiled. “And I am not that sassy...most of the time.”

Santana smiled while she listened to Finn and Mercedes share about when they first met. Their friendship was cute. “Wait, so you guys met when you were dating his friend? And you’re still friends? That’s awesome.” Usually she lost any mutual friends when the relationship, or friends with benefits agreement, was over. It was a little awkward when Finn mentioned his jokes didn’t work with anyone. The two of them had had a rough start.

“Well yeah, of course, just because she’s not dating S-my friend anymore doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to be her friend anymore. We hung out all of the time for like two years straight. I’d miss her way too much,” he said truthfully. “Plus, how often do you meet a girl that likes nerdy stuff, can game, and is really funny? Most girls are annoyed when I wanna go see Marvel movies. Mercedes usually has tickets before I do.”

“Finn is just, he’s such a sweet guy, it was easy to be around him and we always had fun. And yes, me being a nerd didn’t hurt either.  I blame that on my older brother by the way,” she said with a laugh before a face became more somber.  “We didn’t hang out as much for awhile, mostly because I needed time after things went to hell.  I did that whole throw yourself into work after a breakup thing, but he was patient and never made me feel bad about it.”  She finished her pizza, and took a deep breath, noticing Finn had stopped himself from mentioning his friend by name.

“You guys seem like you’d make a really good couple… You’ve really never tried or thought about it before?” The way they talked about each other seemed to be something that she’d never experienced before… without something on the side. Santana looked between the two of them, eyebrow raised. Now she was curious to know about their past, and to find out who Mercedes’ ex was.

Finn shook his head. “No way, it’s not like that. I mean, it’s not that I don’t think Mercedes is hot. She is, but we’re just like I don’t wanna say brother and sister because I just said she was hot, but maybe like...adopted cousins or something.” He’d never even considered it. Plus, even though he knew it would never happen, he’d always hoped that Mercedes would get back with Sam. He knew why it would never happen, didn’t blame Mercedes one bit for not wanting it, but he still hoped.

“Oh no. I mean, Finn is very handsome and sweet, but that would be way too weird.” She said with a soft laugh. “He’s definitely more like extended family. A play cousin. Twice removed.” And as much as she hated to admit, she would never do that to him. “Plus, he has his eyes on someone else, and I’ve gotta make sure she meets the Mercedes lady friend test, when it’s time.” She winked at Finn.

Santana nodded along as they explained it a bit more. “I guess that makes sense. Some people just don’t really click on a physical level or whatever.” For something to do, she leaned back against her seat and ran her fingers through her hair. “So... “ She wasn’t sure what to talk about, and she felt like it was going in a weird direction.

“So...somebody else talk. I feel bad like we took over the whole conversation. Didn’t meant to.” He scratched the back of his neck. “This pizza is awesome, by the way.” He glanced at Marley. “Marley, you used to live here in New York, right? Are you going to do anything special while you’re here?”

Mercedes nodded her head eagerly. “Yes please, someone else talk. Now that y’all know way more about the two of us than you ever wanted to know.” She definitely didn’t want to be a conversation hog. One good thing, Santana and Finn seemed way more friendly to each other than they had been at the movies. Hopefully that would continue, she liked Santana. She liked Brittany and Marley too, which eased her mind so much. Last time she was on a show with a lot of girls, it got really nasty really fast. Competition brought out the ugly in people.

Marley glanced back and forth between the conversation, piping in occasionally as she ate/picked at her pizza. She dazed out for a moment, when Finn mentioned her living here. Smiling at him, she nodded her head. “Yeah, I am going to go see Amelie the musical with some friends, and grabbing drinks.” She said, she kind of missed New York, though LA was great too. She looked over at Marley as the conversation turned to her and the city. “Are you from here? Or did you just move recently for work stuff?” Santana realized that she didn’t actually know too much about her new friends. Maybe she should do some research on their past roles and stuff. “Let me know if Amelie’s amazing. I wanted to go, but I just didn’t have the time and shit.”

Finn was content to stay quiet and let everyone else around him talk. He knew Santana didn’t really like him. So she was probably ready for him to shut up. So he took the opportunity to stuff his face full of delicious pizza.

Mercedes listened as the other girls talked, not wanting to jump in seeing as she had talked forever already.  She occasionally looked over at Finn, biting her lower lip slightly to keep from giggling as he immersed himself in his tasty pizza.

:Oh? No, I moved here when I was seventeen. I was on Broadway.. Well.. off Broadway. I’m originally from Colorado, but I moved here at seventeen.” She felt like that was ages ago, and now look at her. “But I kind of consider New York my home at this point.” Santana smiled as Marley mentioned considering New York her home. “I get that. I actually grew up a bit outside of the city… So it would’ve been cool if we grew up near each other.” She felt weird talking about her actual home considering her current relationship with her parents, but it was all still true.

“I think Rachel’s from here too. I think that’s what she said. I know she lived here before the show. She was actually in a show after we wrapped the pilot. I can’t remember the name right now.” He felt bad. He wished he could’ve seen her in it. He bet she was really good in it.

She thought it was neat how people from all over could meet, and then find out they were from the same state or close by.  “New York City must’ve been a big change from Colorado I imagine?” She asked Marley.

“Really? That is pretty cool. It would have been interesting if we met before.” Picking a piece of bacon, she nodded her head. “Oh it was, I knew I wanted to live in New York City since I was five years old, so it was kind of a natural progress from there, but when I first got here, I was pretty surprise. It’s huge, but I made friends, and it slowly became home, you know?” “Oh yeah, it was something about apples,” she mentioned when Finn brought up the show Rachel was in. “I don’t remember the name either.” Santana waited for Marley to be finished talking about New York before turning to look at the other girl, a slight tilt to her head. “You still upset about earlier?” She noticed that Marley was picking more than eating.

Mercedes had missed out on a lot of information having come after everyone else had met and done table reads and filmed the pilot, so she couldn’t comment on what show they were talking about, but she did pick up on Santana asking Marley about earlier.  She didn’t want to make the girl feel uncomfortable, so she focused her attention on Finn so Marley wouldn’t feel like all eyes were on her.  “So are you two going to find some non-work related time to hang out while you’re here?” She asked him quietly.

“Apples?” Marley asked, trying to figure out what show it was, but hadn’t a clue. Glancing up at Santana, Marley shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just not that hungry.” She admitted, glancing over at Mercedes, and silently thanking her for changing the subject. “You should do some tourist stuff. I always liked doing that when I wanted to kill time, but didn’t know what to do.” Santana accepted Marley’s answer. It was completely understandable. She instead turned her attention back on the current topic. “It’s always fun to just walk around the city and check out the different shops and odd shit you discover. There’s no way you’d get bored since you can’t explore the entire city in just a few days.”

“Um...that’s the plan.” He didn’t want to get too much into what he and Rachel had planned with like Marley, Santana, and Brittany there. “But I’m not going to that many parties. So I have a lot of time to just go out and explore. I really wanna go to the Empire State Building. Oh and I heard there’s a restaurant that makes like all this chocolate stuff. So I’m gonna check that out too.”

“You must know of some really awesome clubs around here,” Mercedes said to Santana. “Not all the frufru ones that are lined with pretty people that just stand around and wait to be seen. Actual dance clubs?” She definitely wanted to hit one of those up if time allowed. “Gotta find a man that can keep up with me on the dance floor.” She was mostly joking about that part.

“Max Brenner is the chocolate bar… Unless you meant a different one?” She smiled over at Finn and then back to Mercedes. “I really like Stage 48 for the dance vibes. Although it might be tough to find a guy that can keep up with you. You’re just the best.” Santana laughed a little bit. “Feeling more Latin dancey, I’d say go to Bembe. It’s pretty lit.”

“See, I really like you, you must stay always,” Mercedes laughed. “I will definitely check them out if I can. Heaven knows I haven’t found one yet, but sometimes looking is part of the fun.” She just loved to dance, and it’s always good to share similar activities with someone you’re interested in. “What are you going to try and do while we’re here?”

Santana laughed at that. “I try my best.” Maybe she’d try to head to one of the clubs before they left too. They were always a good time, and it seemed like they’d be a lot of fun with Mercedes. “I’m not actually sure. Probably just catch up with some old friends and hit up as many old spots as I can. What about you?”

“I’m going to dance. Not just in a club. I have a friend who runs a dance studio and I'm going to teach a class at the butt crack of dawn.” That was actually one of the things Brittany was most excited about surprising some tiny humans and teaching them a few things. “I’m always up for a club or a bar though. Night time in NYC is the best time. So take me with you when you are looking for your dancing man who can keep up with. I promise not to cock block” Brittany beamed before taking another bite of food.

“Clubs aren’t really my thing because I can’t dance...like at all. Mercedes tried to teach me once, and I’m pretty sure that I stepped on her feet like ten times. So I think I should probably not dance,” Finn said with a sheepish grin.

“That would be fun, a ladies night out.” She laughed at the cock block comment. “Girl please, if we’re out on the dance floor guys will be too busy staring.”  She patted Finn’s shoulder.  “Seven, but who’s counting?” She teased. “But you have other awesome qualities, so not being the next Michael Flatley isn’t that big a deal. She did date Sam afterall, and he was strictly a two-step guy, but at least he was on the beat.  “Think we can get the other girls in on the idea?”

“A girls night out sounds perfect,” she agreed. “I’m sure the others will be down to go too. If not, then they’re boring and we don’t want them out with us anyway.” Santana shrugged a shoulder at that. She knew she might not be the best of friends with the entire cast and she’d accepted that. “I’m sure I’d be able to help you though, Finn. I’ve taught some pretty stiff guys at the club.”

“You can come to my class if you want. If you don't mind waking up before the sun does. Is just going to be 7 - 12 year olds and they still probably dance better than you, but we’d all help you and then you’d be Savion Glover’ing it up in no time. But only if you want, if you don't really like dancing that's okay too.” Brittany honestly loved teaching people to dance. Something magical happened when someone could do something that they couldn't do before, and she helped make that happen for people. She was a dance wizard without a wand. She also hated feeling pressured to do or be something she didn't want so even though it would be weird to not want to dance weird was okay too. “Girls night! Ow ow! Everyone should come even the guys.”

He was surprised by Santana and Brittany’s offers, especially Santana's, but he smiled graciously. “Thanks for the offers, but I think like I'm more of a barely move my feet, tiny-dancing kind of guy. And I'm okay with that! Honest engine, I only care about having rhythm when it comes to drumming, and I'm really good at drumming.”

She smiled as she listened to Brittany talk about dancing and teaching the little ones. It was so nice to see someone who truly had a passion for something they loved, and it was clear she had that for dancing. “He is an amazing drummer. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten snatched up by a band yet.”  She didn’t meant to, but she almost giggle-snorted with Santana’s comment. “Girl you messy, but you’re not wrong.”

Santana nodded in Finn’s direction. “That’s totally fine… Though I’m pretty curious as to what tiny dancing actually is.” With that she laughed a little bit. She leaned towards the table a little bit, scrunching up her nose when Mercedes mentioned what she had said. “Hey, I say my shit straight up.” She also was a little curious about Finn’s drumming talent, drummers were pretty hot, but she kept the part to herself.

“Here. I’ll show you,” Finn said easily. He picked up his napkin and wiped at his hands and mouth before he sat back and started moving his shoulders in very small, isolated motions. He added his fingers in, keeping the movements as small as possible like he was listening to the best song ever. He grinned at the girls and then stopped dancing. “That’s how you tiny dance.”

Mercedes respected Santana’s reply and take on things. She imagined it ruffled feathers at times, but that was on the person receiving the end result not the person saying it.  When she saw Finn getting prepared for his trademark moves she just shook her head and grinned. He was an adorable tree, just like Groot.  “It’s even more impressive when music is playing and lights to emphasize the movements.”

Marley glanced back and forth between them, taking a sip of her water, and just enjoying the company. When Finn began dancing, she giggled. “Sorry, I never heard it called tiny dancing.” She smiled, leaning back in her chair. “We did a lot of dancing on stage. Everything had to be in sync, so it was kind of insane, but I did ballet for years, so it kind of prepares you for that.” She bit her lip while she watched Finn demonstrate his dance. “That was truly amazing,” she told him. It oddly fit who he was in a good way. Santana furrowed her eyebrows and looked over at Marley. “What show were you in again?” As her new friend, and co-star, she should probably know that already, but she wasn’t sure.

“Thank you, Santana. Those were some of my best movies,” he bragged with a little chuckle. “See? I’m the best at tiny-dancing. It’s really...my thing besides drumming. I hope I get to drum on the show. I am playing a musician kind of.”

“Speaking of the show, we should probably head back to the hotel and check our schedules for tomorrow’s events.” She frowned slightly. “I don’t want to have my phone blowing up to be ready for something when I thought I could sleep in.” That would ruin most of her day.

Glancing over at Santana, Marley brushed back her hair. “I was on Dear Evan Hansen, when it was off Broadway.” Marley said quietly. “You’re a really good drummer, Finn. I guess it makes up for the dancing.” She teased.  Looking over at Mercedes, she nodded. “Yeah, we probably should.” Santana looked over in Finn’s direction, head tilted slightly. “I need to hear you play the drums some day. Everyone else seems to know how amazing you are.” At the suggestion of heading back, she nodded and started gathering their trash together. “We should. I hope we don’t have anything too early…”

“I don’t have any drums here, but I have some back in California. So maybe you can come hang out, and I’ll play for you. Everyone can come over and just hang.” He didn’t want it to make it sound like he was only inviting Santana over.

Helping gather the remaining trash as well, she smiled as she heard Finn. She liked seeing him social and making friends, especially with Santana. She wasn’t too sure what had caused things to be so at odds before, but they seemed to be getting along well now.  “Same here, this girl needs her beauty rest.” She laughed.

“Sounds like a plan,” she told Finn. Hopefully this meant that they were on the road to an actual friendship. Santana laughed, agreeing with Mercedes. “Me too. I’m not a good morning person.” She helped the group throw out their garbage and then headed for the door, holding it open for the rest of her friends.

Marley grinned, her head nodding as she got up, and grabbed her things. Heading to the door, she looked over at Finn. “That sounds like a plan! I’d love to hear you play!”

Finn followed behind the girls, happy they had plans for when the returned to the other coast. “Santana, are you still having your pilot party?” He hadn’t told her if he was going yet, but he’d decided he’d go when Rachel said she was.

Mercedes walked with the others as they headed back to the hotel, glad that she had taken up Finn’s offer. Brittany was the most adorable woman she had ever met. Marley seemed pretty quiet and reserved, but nice. And Santana was definitely someone she could see herself chilling with during set downtimes. She hadn’t met everyone officially yet, but so far, she was super happy.

Santana walked along with the small group. “Of course I am. I think it’ll be fun for all of us to watch it together.” Plus it was just a good reason to have a good time with some pretty decent people.

Brittany was glad for this pizza outing. She assumed most of the week would be all glam and smiling for cameras and answering work questions, so it was nice that they got to spend some time just being themselves. What placed her hands on Santana's shoulders and bounced on her heels as they walked out. “Alright, now which one of you is buying me ice cream?”

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: A Helping Hand From Beyond (4/?)

Summary: “You know, sometimes the deceased stay with us, waiting until they’re sure we’ve moved on before they can move on themselves. Giving us a helping hand from beyond, as it were.”

When Gloria Rush and Rum Gold meet one cold October morning, they quickly come to the realisation that they share a common goal – to help those they left behind in life to move on and find happiness again. Using what little means available to them, the two lost souls team up to ensure their widows’ future, and find their own peace.

Rumbelle, Rushbelle, Gloria/Nick, and an epic Gold&Gloria bromance.

NB: This fic will contain a lot of discussion of death and what comes after.

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[One] [Two] [Three] [AO3]

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Four

First Intervention

Gloria has a lot of fun with a screwdriver. Gold holds the flashlight.

“Well, this is certainly a new experience for me.”

“You’ve never been on a stakeout before?”

Gold looks at Gloria with a raised eyebrow. “No. Do you make a habit of it?”

“Not a habit, but it’s not the first time I’ve done it.”

They’re sitting in a darkened corridor of the physics building outside Nicholas’s office, waiting for the man himself to leave. It’s almost midnight and the rest of the place is deserted; the cleaning staff are long gone.

“Does your husband ever sleep?” Gold asks incredulously, going over to peer through the glass panel in his office door for the third time.

“Oh, sometimes.” Gloria’s voice is airy, as if this is an entirely normal occurrence. Well, for her it probably is. “But he likes to work through his feelings. I’d take this as a good sign, if I were you.”

It’s been a week since their first meeting, and by proxy Nicholas and Belle’s first meeting. Nothing more has happened, apart from a couple more lectures in which there has been no interaction between the two aside from that of professor and student, and Gloria has decided that it is time to make their move. Hence their position hiding out in the physics department until everyone has gone home. Although, given their current spanner in the works, they may have to wait a lot longer than they were expecting. Gloria hasn’t told Gold the full extent of her plan yet, but she mentioned something about coffee machines and Gold’s quite happy to go along with it since he hasn’t had any better ideas. After that first meeting, things seem to have stagnated so anything to give proceedings a little push in the right direction will be useful.

“He’s working himself into the ground to try and avoid Belle?” Gold hedges. Gloria nods.

“Well, not avoid Belle, per se. More… avoid thinking about her. Avoid thinking about anything, really. It’s always been his way.”

“Hmm.” Gold glances into the room again. “Do you think we ought to do something to get him out of there?”

Gloria gives him an amused smile. “What do you suggest?”

“Well, we’re dead. I suggest haunting him. You know, just open the door, go in, throw some books around.”

Gloria snorts. “Have you ever done that?”

“No,” Gold admits, “but it was very tempting after a while. I mean, when I first…” For some reason he can’t bring himself to say the words. “At first I was too concerned with keeping an eye on Belle, but when she started to get better I started testing the limits, so to speak. I had my fair share of enemies and there were always people who gave Belle the side-eye for having married me. Small town, small minds and all that. I would dearly have loved to have got back at the Mother Superior. Oh, I can see the headlines now. Convent haunted by ghost of malevolent rent collector.”

“You owned a convent?”

Gold shrugs. “It’s a building like any other.”

Gloria gives a shrug of concession and leans back against the wall. She’s sitting comfortably on the floor whilst Gold paces up and down, his footsteps and cane making no sound on the hard linoleum. Suddenly something catches his eye in Nicholas’s office and he rushes over to see.  

“Oh, hang on, I think we have movement.” The professor is standing up and stretching the cricks out of his spine, packing papers away, and Gold neatly sidesteps as the door opens.

“Are we going in?” he asks Gloria.

“No, we’re just here to make sure he goes. Our mission lies in this direction.”

They watch Nicholas lock up and leave the building, and then Gloria guides them through the dim corridors towards the janitor’s closet.

“Why…” Gold throws his hands up in defeat as Gloria fiddles at the lock with a bobby pin. “You know what, I’m just not going to question it.”

“Are you any good with locks?” Gloria asks, holding up the bobby pin without looking up. “We could be here all night.”

Gold smirks, gives her back the bobby pin and takes his picks out of his coat pocket.

“Are you sure you were a landlord and not a master criminal?” Gloria asks shrewdly as he works, deftly unlocking the cupboard door within a few seconds.

“It always pays for someone in my line of work to be able to pick locks,” he replies, swinging the door wide.

“You have no idea how incredibly creepy that made you sound,” Gloria points out.

“When you’ve had your tenants lose their keys, their spare keys, and your master key, you need some way of getting them inside.” He pockets the picks again and gestures to the open closet with a flourish. “I did antique restoration on the side, and you’d be surprised how many old things are locked and the key lost to time.”

“Did you ever find anything interesting?” Gloria asks as she rummages through the shelves, finally coming up triumphant with a screwdriver and a flashlight. Gold decides that it would be wise not to make any comment and just follows her down the corridor.

“Not usually. The odd bit of jewellery. Several grams of fifty year old cocaine.”

“What?!”

“I would never have guessed that the sweet old lady from the manor house on the hill was a coke fiend,” Gold says lightly. That was definitely one of the more interesting items that he’s come into possession of over the years, and he still laments the fact that it had to be handed over to the police. Not the cocaine, the box that it had been locked in. It was really an exquisite piece.

They have since reached Gloria’s destination, and she hands him the flashlight. They’re in the main breakout area of the building, and they are standing next to the coffee machine.

Gold dutifully helps Gloria pull the machine away from the wall and points the flashlight at the back of it. “I’ve refrained from asking so far, but what are you doing?”

Gloria grins at him from the other side of the coffee machine. “Sabotage!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have asked.”

Gloria happily unscrews one of the panels on the back of the coffee machine and pokes about inside. Gold wonders what someone outside could see if they were to look in. Would they really see a flashlight and a screwdriver floating around in mid-air, or would the people holding them become visible? Or would they not see anything at all? For all the time he’s been in this state, Gold has never actually thought too far into the mechanics of it. Possibly because he’s never interfered in life quite like this.

“Nicholas loves his coffee,” Gloria continues, carefully pulling a wire out of the back of the machine.

“You know, that was one thing that I had noticed.”

Gloria looks up at the dry humour in his tone and grins. “Not a coffee drinker yourself then?”

“Tea all the way. You?”

“I prefer coffee to tea, but I’m not as bad as Nicholas. I think he’d get it intravenously if he could. I tried getting him to switch to decaf once, that didn’t go down well. He thought I’d poisoned him.”

“You’re no stranger to subterfuge then,” Gold remarks as she pulls out another wire.

“Nope. Sometimes that’s the best way to get his attention.”

She begins to screw the panel in place again and Gold leans on the wall with the flashlight.

“So, call me slow if you will, but what exactly is breaking the coffee machine going to accomplish?”

“Nicholas really likes the coffee from this machine. I mean, when you drink as much as he does, you can be called a connoisseur. Not that he won’t drink any kind of sludge as long as it’s got caffeine in it when he’s desperate, which is roughly fifty per cent of the time. Through careful observation I know that if this coffee machine is for any reason out of action, then the nearest one of its type is in…”

Gloria pauses.

“Yes?” Gold presses gently.

“I was waiting for a drum roll.”

“Oh.” Gold drums his fingers against the wall. “Sufficient?”

“Thank you. The nearest coffee machine of this type is in the library.”

Gold nods, impressed. “You think of everything.”

“No, I just know Nicholas.”

A noise in an adjoining corridor has Rum switching off the flashlight and plunging them into darkness. They’ve never yet been in a position whereby someone might see them, or rather see what they’re doing if not themselves, and call attention to the strange goings on, and they have no desire to find out what would happen if they do find themselves in that position. Footsteps come closer, and Gold draws in a sharp breath that he really doesn’t need to take any more. It’s funny how the instincts refuse to die even in the afterlife.

A security guard gives a cursory flick of his flashlight around the breakout area, finds nothing amiss, and moves away again. There’s no more leisurely conversation as they finish their task and carefully move the coffee machine back into position, and then it’s a game of cat and mouse as they return to the janitor’s cupboard trying to avoid the security guard. Thankfully, they don’t see him again, but Rum’s nerves are thrumming with tension as he works the lock to cover up any evidence of their break in, with Gloria keeping watch.

“Time to make a break for it,” she observes as they make their way towards the doors and see the guard coming in the opposite direction.

Gold nods his agreement. “As lovely as your husband’s workplace is, I’d rather not be stuck here all night.”

Gloria just raises an eyebrow at his describing the physics department as ‘lovely’.

They slip out of the building after the guard and wander through the darkened campus to the fountain, still bubbling away. It feels strange, Gold thinks, knowing that they have begun to intervene. A part of him is excited and wondering how long it will take to change the status quo, but at the same time, the part of him that clings so desperately to Belle is hoping that this will be a lengthy process so that he can stay with her for longer.

In a way, he’s scared of what comes next, of what he might find in that great hereafter once he’s ready to pass on. He thinks that there must be something there, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. Why would they spend this agonising time waiting to pass over into peace, only for there to be nothing on other side of that veil?

“Penny for them?” Gloria asks softly, looking at him with a curious expression, as if she’s trying to read him.

“Do you ever wonder about what comes next?”

Gloria shakes her head. “I try to avoid that as much as possible.”

“Idle speculation sets you up for disappointment,” Gold agrees.

“No, I just have faith that wherever it is, it’s going to be the right place. It’s not something I can ever hope to properly imagine.”

Gold is not a believer himself, but his aunts had been, and he respects Gloria’s ability to place her trust in something so much bigger than her. He’s always liked to be in control of his life far too much to place any kind of belief in a higher power, but he expects that it must be a comfort to think that there’s someone up there watching out for her. Gold gives a wan smile and stares unseeing at the fountain, and tries not to think about what comes next. Maybe by the time this stage of his afterlife is over, he’ll be proved wrong and forced to eat his words, but if there’s one thing that he remembers from his aunts, it was that God is forgiving and hopefully won’t hold his lack of faith during life against him. He shakes the thought away. His focus for now is making sure that Belle, who is still here and who hopefully has many, many blissful years ahead of her before she has to think about her own passing, is happy.

“People say that you shouldn’t fear something you have no control over,” Gloria says presently.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Gold says.

“It’s bullshit.”

Gold turns to his companion, it’s the first time he’s ever heard her so vehement.

“I was terrified of dying,” she continues. “Even though I knew everything would be all right in the end, for me at least, and I knew that I’d finally be free from all the pain, which I was definitely looking forward to, and even though I put a brave face on it for Nicholas, I was still scared, knowing that it was coming but never knowing quite when.”

Gold isn’t sure how to respond to that.

“I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it’s fine to feel fear even if something’s inevitable. You’ve got no control over what happens next, and it’s fine to find that terrifying.”

It’s not exactly reassuring, but it’s nice to know that he’s not the only one who’s been scared of the unknown.

Nothing more is said as they continue to watch the sun rise over the campus.