#i didn’t even know treasure island could be a musical | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

queen-of-deans-booty · 9 months ago

Text

Worth The Wait: Part One

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~900

Warnings: fluff

Request by anon: Hey so every one know that Jensen like Batman, so i have this ideas where the reader is Jensen wife and popular actress who is casted to play Cat woman with Robert Pattinson or other one and the reader never tell Jensen because she want to be a surprise or something like that and she bring him to the premiere where was the Batmobile and him was just fanboy? Fluffy between Jensen and reader

Summary: You've been working on a movie you know Jensen will love to see, so you've managed to keep it from him until the world premiere. Now it's your chance to unveil the surprise.

Square Filled: hereditary for @spnonewordbingo (deleted bingo)

Author’s Note: we're all gonna pretend that the movie Batman v Superman had Catwoman in it. okay? okay.

This all started when your great-grandmother got scouted to be in short films in the early 1900s. Actresses weren't a big thing back then but someone took one look at her and knew she was meant to be on the big screen, whatever that meant back then. She was known all throughout the state as a big-time actress even though all the things she was in were silent films. She had a great facial profile that really embodied everything she was thinking and feeling. She started young but that’s what people did back then. They started their professions at a young age.

When your grandmother was born in 1934, your great-grandmother was already moving on to bigger and better things. She starred in the movie It Happened One Night, The Thin Man, and MGM’s musical/romance adaptation of Cat and the Fiddle. Those were just to name a few. Your grandmother saw what she was doing and wanted to follow in her footsteps, doing everything she could do be in television, the big screen, and in theater.

She got her big break when she got cast in Treasure Island and Fantasia with Disney. She got acting gig after acting gig until she had your mother in 1954. She took a few years off to be with her family but got right back into it. Your mother had a knack for theater and did her time on Broadway more than she did in film. She starred in musicals like Applause, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie, Sweeny Todd, and Grease.

She had you in 1989, and you started singing and acting at a very young age. You got into commercials and TV shows from the get-go. Probably because you come from a line of Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winners. You tried not to let your line of succession lead you to getting good parts, but you’ve managed to get a small role in Jurrasic Park as a child, and into much bigger roles in Charlie’s Angels, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Saw I, Avatar, The Hunger Games, and many more.

You worked your ass off to be where you are today, and you’re actually working on putting your own album out because you’re striving to be the first EGOT winner in your family. You’ve gotten one Tony Award, too-many-to-count Oscars, and two Emmy awards.

To think you were the shy theater kid who only sang in front of people if you were starring in a play at school. After graduation, you got into a good acting school even though you didn’t really need it, but you still welcomed the challenge they put you through, even starring in most of the plays there. Now you’re a thirty-five-year-old woman with awards like no other, a husband who is just incredible, and an amazing career that is nowhere close to being done.

Your husband is also an actor, a big one for Supernatural. He’s been nothing short of amazing and you’re so proud of him and his work. It sucked at the beginning of his career since you two barely saw each other but the longer you did this, the more you settled into your own groove. You got to take the time off to be with each other a lot more.

You get to go to conventions with him and he gets to go to movie premieres with you. There is nothing you’d trade for this little life of yours. Speaking of movie premiers, you just got done filming your movie Batman vs Superman where you played Catwoman, but you refused to tell your husband anything about it. He is a big Batman fan, and if you were to surprise him with a Batman premier, he’d go feral. Jensen respected you enough to not go snooping when he knew you wanted this to be a surprise, and his friends respected you enough to not tell him about it.

Jenson has been bouncing in his seat since he entered the limo, and you’ve been watching with a wide smile on your face. When the limo gets to the red carpet, Jensen gasps at seeing everything Batman.

“Surprise! I’m Catwoman!”

“You got to be in a room with Batman?”

You two leave the Limo and smile at the cameras flashing in your face. Jensen doesn’t care if he looks like a little kid, he is going to be excited over anything Batman (even though you’re a tad more of a Marvel girl than DC). You’re trying to get in on one of their projects so fingers crossed! There is a section before the red carpet where people can take pictures with a real-life prop of the Batmobile.

Jensen loses his shit and rushes over with a giant smile on his face. You don’t care if a million people are watching or if it’s just you two, but you’ll always love the way he gets excited over things. He gets his picture taken with the Batmobile alone and then with you, and you pull him off to the side with a smile on your face.

“Is this a good surprise? Was it worth the wait?”

“So worth the wait. This is amazing.” Jensen leans in to kiss you but stops with a gasp. “Is that Michael Keaton?”

Jensen’s favorite Batman is Michael Keaton.

“Yeah, he showed up on set a few times. He’s a nice guy!”

“I’m nervous. Should I go up to him?”

“Yeah. He won’t bite,” you chuckle.

You escort Jensen over to Michael who is more than happy to talk to your husband. He hasn’t been this happy and excited in a while, and you’re glad to be part of it.

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

#jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles fic #jensen ackles fanfiction #jensen ackles fanfic #jensen ackles fluff #jensen ackles fiction #jensen ackles fan fiction #jensen ackles fan fic #supernatural #supernatural fic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #supernatural fluff #spn #spn fic #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn fluff

124 notes · View notes

mickemz01 · 6 months ago

Text

@hadeswritesthings

OH okay ummmm!!! This is going in its own post because it CANNOT stay in the comment section forever. Oh god, Epic the Musical is so good, how could you make me choose.

Ruthlessness from the Underworld Saga was my favorite for so long, not only because of the sound, but the lyrics themselves. I actually got into Epic because I was sent lyrics to this song!!! “Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” paired with “The line between naivety and hopefulness is almost invisible” are SO interesting to me. Coming off of a media where the MC has adopted that same mindset does things to you. Obviously, not giving two shits about your actions DOES make it easier to take lives! And that is vital to Odysseus’ arc where he must become the monster in order to make it home. But following Odysseus’ ‘apology’, we get the line “The line between naivety and hopefulness is almost invisible” and I think this line is slept on so badly. Poseidon’s saying that there’s hardly any a line between being naive to think that Odysseus’ actions have no consequences, and being hopeful that his actions will not have any consequences. Which, I’d say, is so correct. It’s also Poseidon calling Odysseus out for being an itty bitty tiny baby kitten of a monster whose eyes haven’t even opened yet.

God, do you wanna know where this is seen again? Different Beasts, where Odysseus gives the sirens what I like to describe as Poseidon treatment, where instead of just killing the sirens, Odysseus leaves them to drown. But Different Beasts is not actually one of my favorites, so I’ll go into the next, which is Scylla.

Scylla is SUUUCH an underrated song, and I believe it’s because the lines and their meaning + intent fly over so many people’s radars. I’m absolutely referencing the line where Eurylochus admits to opening the wind bag.

Just. Eurylochus isn’t apologizing for opening the wind bag. It is absolutely a part of it, but Eurylochus admitting he opened the wind bag was not actually the point of the apology.

Eurylochus was apologizing for doubting the leadership of Odysseus. This, of course, goes back to the Ocean Saga, that one little line, “Everything’s changed since Polities,” where Odysseus’ pattern of acting out, or at least differently, can be traced back to.

Reading the Odyssey, there’s a line that tells the readers that Odysseus always shares his treasure. I unfortunately didn’t mark the exact line, so feel free to call me a liar for this paragraph, but I can back it up with Epic the Musical.

Before Odysseus gives up his name, location, age, credit card number, and social security number to Polyphemus, Athena warns him that what he’s about to do would not be a good idea! Athena interjecting during Remember Them is wonderful evidence that Odysseus is going against his normal actions, and acting out. It can be inferred that he’s never done something as severe as this, in 10 years of war.

And in Keep Your Friends Close, Odysseus descending from Aeolus’ island with a bag of presumed treasure and not sharing it, is not like him. Keeping a bag of treasure for his own greed while actively lying (“lying”) to his men about the dangers they’d face if they were to open it? Wow! He’s sure acting out! What was the last time Odysseus acted out? When he gave his name to Polyphemus, after the death of Polities.

Is there a pattern?

And so, the wind bag is opened, because obviously Odysseus is keeping secrets for his own greedy gain, while fibbing about the dangers of the bag.

And then we get to Scylla.

Because Odysseus was not lying about the contents in the bag, and Eurylochus finally gets a chance, over calm waters, to apologize for thinking Odysseus would ever do so.

Eurylochus apologizes for assuming that Odysseus would ever intentionally lie, or not tell the complete truth, when it came to the crew’s safety.

You’ll never guess what Odysseus does next!!!!

He withholds the truth about his intentions and what that means for the crew’s safety!!!!!

He does EXACTLY what Eurylochus had JUST apologized for accusing him of doing!!!!

And then we have Mutiny.

@hadeswritesthings Pleaaaase let me know your favorites, too!! I'd love to hear them.

#mickemzreply #jorge rivera herrans #epic the musical #epic the musical thunder saga #epic the musical ocean saga #epic the musical troy saga

24 notes · View notes

lichfucker · 4 months ago

Note

The idea for me Max to be the “wife” in treasure island only works if they remain miserable and constantly wanting different people but also…the familiar company keeps them going. They will outlive everyone but they’ll stop wanting too. They both made the choices that lead them here and now they can only stare at each other knowing it didn’t have to end this way.

Like I don’t know if it’s mean, but sometimes I think it cheapens the tragedy if like…Max ends her life happy. Like if anything, she needs her Jim Hawkins to be a clear sign of change but she can’t do it. And in the end, her and silver are still stuck clawing at surviving.

I know this fandom isn’t a musical one. But Max and Silver reminded me a lot of the songs in “Lempicka” especially “Here it Comes” and “In the Blasted California Sun.”

oh for sure. that situation on nassau we leave max in is NOT a stable one, not by any means, and it's only a few years after the end of the series that jack gets executed and anne disappears. I imagine that that's probably when max finally pulls the plug and flees to bristol.

I don't know if I'd say the tragedy is cheapened by max having that smug power shot overlooking the tavern. I think the tragedy is complicated by it. a pyrrhic victory, of sorts. yes, she got the thing she claimed to have wanted-- the image of a little girl in the muck peering through the window at the safety and warmth afforded to people Not Like Her-- but look at all that had to be destroyed to achieve it. how long can it possibly last? even with the reinforced backing of colonial rule, not nearly so ephemeral as some independent pirate haven, this place is still just sand. it still cannot love her back. other people have articulated this point better than I can right now.

also when I said I like writing madi in bristol because I like tragedy and misery, that's not to say I think everyone would be fine and happy if max were there instead lmao. I just mean that the dynamic of two people who thought they loved each other once trying and failing to make a life in circumstances neither of them could ever have wanted is particularly compelling to me. like. for a few months in her mid-20s madi had Everything. she had a vision of the future that would see the world changed and her people freed; she had authority over a community who not just respected her but revered her; she had the good love of a good man. and ALL of that got eviscerated in an instant by that very same man, and now for the rest of her life if she wants to have a life at all she must be anchored to that man as she knows him less and less; is forced to leave her home and travel across an ocean where she scrapes a living servicing englishmen; will die long before the end of the transatlantic slave trade. how can she ever move on from silver's betrayal? how can she ever get over it? silver isn't over it. silver stays fixated on it for the rest of his life, too. silver names his parrot captain flint. silver goes back to skeleton island to find that fucking cache and when he finally gets his share he disappears just like he always dreamed of doing-- one big prize, and with it freedom-- and where does that leave madi? alone, in fucking bristol, running the spyglass, playing barmaid to white english sailors until she dies. and this, according to silver, is better than her having died in the war? what if her death had meant their victory? he still wants her to believe that THIS is preferable to that? that HE finds this preferable? still? does he even bother pretending he still loves her? does she believe he ever did anymore? did he ever tell her a single thing that's true? she cleans spilled beer off the floor. her father died a king. this is not what she wanted.

#I'm a big musical theatre person but I am NOT familiar with lempicka so I'm big 👀👀👀 at these song recs #long post #anonymous #bluh bluh #black sails #max #madi scott #treasure island

18 notes · View notes

project1939 · 6 months ago

Text

200 Films of 1952

Film number 196: Blackbeard the Pirate

Release date: December 24th, 1952

Studio: RKO

Genre: adventure

Director: Raoul Walsh

Producer: Edmund Grainger

Actors: Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, Torin Thatcher

Plot Summary: In the late 17th century, a Lieutenant in the British Navy sets out to prove that Sir Henry Morgan, a Jamaican government official, is engaging in piracy. In the process, he winds up on the ship of the infamous Blackbeard.

My Rating (out of five stars): **¾

I’m not entirely sure why, but something about this film just didn’t click for me. I’m getting a little sick of seafaring/pirate movies, though, to be honest. That could certainly color my opinion! Blackbeard was played memorably, but the rest of the characters kind of fell flat. (minor spoilers)

The Good:

Robert Newton as Blackbeard. Yes, he sometimes chewed the scenery a bit, but he made Blackbeard a strong villain, lacking any kind of sympathetic romanticization. I much prefer that to turning him into some kind of anti-hero.

Linda Darnell. She looked jaw droppingly gorgeous, and it’s hard to take your eyes off of her. Thank god she got to be in a better movie in 1952 than the low budget mess Island of Desire! (film number 18)

William Bendix as Ben, Blackbeard’s sidekick. He is such a good character actor with so much screen presence. Even in a fairly small role, he stands out.

There were certainly some interesting adventures that are pirate movie staples- I liked the treasure plot, some of the sword fighting scenes, the escape plans, etc.

The death of Blackbeard was pretty damn unforgettable.

The Bad:

The romance side plot bombed, as most romance side plots in adventure movies do. The worst part was the fact that Darnell and Keith Andes had about as much chemistry as a wet match.

I didn’t really like Keith Andes- I don’t know if it was him or the role, but he came across as pretty bland. He looked good shirtless, though!

Darnell’s character, Edwina. She thankfully had more strength and guile than a typical damsel in distress, but barely.

The music in these kinds of movies is usually sweeping and epic, but even within that genre the score here was too heavy-handed. It became annoyingly distracting at times.

The adventures started bleeding together in an amorphous way that got kind of tedious after awhile.

For a film directed by a prominent director like Raoul Walsh, it was surprisingly ho-hum visually.

The budget, while not small, was clearly not a lavish one either. In the scenes aboard the ship, the sets were super obvious, and the models used for the long shots of the ships weren’t much better. It really compromised any feeling of being at sea.

Why did no one else talk like Blackbeard? He had that strong “Argh!” type of pirate accent, but no one else on his ship or in his crew did. Would his speaking really have been that different from theirs? I know, I know, this is just a pirate movie.

#1952 movies #100 films of 1952 #200 films of 1952 #linda darnell #200 films of 1952 film 196

2 notes · View notes

chromaherder · 2 years ago

Text

Working in animation for the past 8 years has been awesome and a good time to level up my drawing skills, though it’s becoming harder to care working on big corporate projects. Burnout has been real since last summer and I’ve been torn over my life in the entertainment industry. I love the few friends I made, and I’ve grown so much thanks to them. The general art landscape though, I can’t help but think it constantly gets caught up on the most insignificant things. And I’m not saying I’m above it at all! Gods know I’ve toiled over making something good enough to be recognized by my peers. Not my proudest moment, but I think we can relate to wanting to be accepted in a community we want to be part of. Not to mention the current trajectory of AI art (it’s been talked to death, I know) and the hyper capitalization of the arts feels incredibly disingenuous. I’m all for new tools. AIs are incredibly powerful and a feat of computer science! But when it comes to people using such tools to cut corners and making more money at the expense of others, well...

Anyhow, in the past few years most animation projects revolve around hashing out a new take over an existing IP, or making something lukewarm with little substance. People running these things come from no understanding of the medium at all, thinking they’ll be the next hit, because animation is easy and a sure way to make money if you can appeal to the broadest of audiences. I took a break last week, where I experienced the natural beauty of the pacific islands. The diversity there was unbelievable. I first moved to Canada to study animation, and didn’t know much besides “Igloos and maple syrup”. Ever since, though, I’ve been blown away by the seeing the last pillar of wilderness that is the PNW, still standing. Albeit, it’s now much quieter than even just a century ago, from what I heard some First Nation elders say. During that break I felt wonder, anger and sorrow for our disappearing habitats coalescing and harden. Sorrow not just for animals and flora, but for Humans too. The Anthropocene+capitalism combo isn’t just deadly for our non-human brethren. We live day in day out, for most of their lives having access to our own natural habitats denied. Through centuries of anthropocentrism and colonialism, we’ve lost our understanding of our place in the grand scheme of things. And of course, wilderness has become a past-time of the rich. Anyways, that is just to say that I might have a shot at going back to school this fall to study natural resource conservation. Hopefully that’ll feel more meaningful than working 8 hours a day designing for shallow entertainment. I still love making art though! Storytelling and drawing and painting and music are some of the best things humans can do, and I don’t think I could ever give that up. Taking a sidestep might just be what’s needed to keep treasuring that, though.

#if you made it to the tags thanks for reading!#i don't want to make it sound like i hate art #idont think i could live without but sometimes things happen and you're left questioning #chroma speaks

18 notes · View notes

kamron-yuengling · 2 years ago

Text

TW: mentions of suicide

David Bowie and The Lion King

I’m not really a fan of either I never have been

But I know you loved them

I’ve got a half finished painting of the stairs from The Labyrinth sitting in my closet I tried to finish it

I did

But you know me

I can never finish anything.

I want to rewatch that movie

because I honestly can’t remember it being that great

But I just can’t.

I want to know why you loved it.

Especially David Bowie.

David Bowie and The Lion King

The Lion King

Specifically Simba

You had a tattoo of him on your chest,

though I can’t really remember what side

I thought it was amazing;

A tattoo seemed so badass but it was of a kids’ movie which I always thought was funny We got into an argument over Lion King 1 1⁄2

I thought it was hysterical but you insisted it was too immature

and nothing could beat the original

I don’t remember what you thought about the CGI remake.

Bowie and The Lion King

What else?

“Where’s my hat?”

Do you remember that game?

You made my Littlest Pet Shop walrus wander around my bedroom floor in an eternal search for his hat

We played his daughters who were seals for some reason (?)

We tried and tried and tried but the closest we got to his hat was a toy rowboat

The furthest we got was my dresser

“Is this my hat?”

Bowie and The Lion King and Mr. Walrus (who I did try and find to let you see him one last time but man the closest I got were those fucking seals)

What else did I know about you?

You were a writer

Never saw your book published but hey that’s okay

Your friend, Kat, is trying now

I think it was about vampires? A vampire romance?

I’m not sure

I’m not sure I could read it even if I got the chance

I mean

I don’t think I can enjoy it.

It might be really good but if I can’t stop thinking about the hand holding the pen behind the words

Actually it’s probably not a pen

This isn’t the 80s

I tried to write a book

I always wanted to be like you

With your short hair, tattoos, and kissing girls

You got me a binder with the Hogwarts crest on it one Christmas

And I’ll be damned if I didn’t tear every page from my notebook to stick it in that binder I remember wanting to show you it

To have you read it

That was until I was 80 pages in and realized I’m no good at writing

Well I’m still writing

Not a full novel

That’d be pretty rude of me to publish a book when you weren’t around long enough to, wouldn’t it?

But short stories

RPG campaigns

This.

Bowie and The Lion King and Mr. Walrus and books

What else?

Your hair

Heh

You know it was always my goal to do what you did? Wait until it was super long

Then chop it all off and donate it

That’s still my plan

Hasn’t changed

Might not shave my head like you did though

I remember you showing up to our elementary school production of Treasure Island with your head shaved

Mema was so annoyed by it

But I didn’t mind

I thought you looked so cool

And I thought, “When I’m that age I’m going to shave my head, pierce my nose, get a million tattoos, and be a writer”

I don’t want that anymore But I still think you’re cool

Bowie and The Lion King and Mr. Walrus and books and hair

Cats

You liked cats

Not the musical (at least I hope, I don’t actually know)

But cats

We used to call you a “crazy cat lady” but now we all know you weren’t a lady but the statement still stands

You were obsessed. Nobody needs that many cats.

Bowie and The Lion King and Mr. Walrus and books and hair and cats

What else did I know about you

Your pronouns

Your sexuality

You liked Avatar the Last Airbender Star Wars

Dragons

Disney

Rent and other musicals Harry Potter

And Lord of The Rings

I don’t know what else

I think you liked mugs and Percy Jackson and stuffed animals but I genuinely can’t remember

I wonder if you liked Stranger Things or the Owl House or other shows I like

Or jewelry

Or if we had anything in common at all

I always thought

Hey, if he wants to talk to me he will And you would’ve

And that’s okay

It’s not

But it is

I always thought

When I’m older

We’ll talk

He’ll get better and we’ll talk and you know what?

We did

We had like 3 hours together

After not talking for like 8 goddamn years

I’m not naive enough to blame myself

I know I couldn’t have changed anything

I wish I could’ve but it would be pointless to list everything I could’ve done differently to make you not want to do that

You’re good

And at the end of the day it’s your choice

I can be mad at you or the world for putting you in that place but it’s not going to change the fact that if you wanted to be alive

You would be.

It sucks

It does

But no matter what you did or didn’t do

I still love you

and I still think you’re cool as hell

I just wish I knew more about you than

David Bowie and The Lion King

#poetry #vent poetry #suicide awareness #wrote this during my cousin’s funeral so sorry if it’s incoherent

2 notes · View notes

grierswarehouse · 1 year ago

Text

As we round out the end of this month, it’s time to do a check-in for my top artists. To conclude, I’m referring to my Spotify - On Repeat Mix and will rank them from there.

First on the list is Cleo Sol. Fans would know that she blessed us with two albums this year, Heaven and Gold with only 14 days elapsing between releases. With Heaven being the first release, we can start there. After running it back for a few revolutions, I didn’t dislike it… but I also didn’t LOVE it the way I did he Sophomore release in 2021 entitled ‘Mother.’ If you haven’t heard that one, you should definitely check it out after reading this. It’s the perfect example of an album that sprinkled itself throughout your shuffle, and by the time you realized it, the entire album was saved. Mother, to me is very much a no skip album and I can confidently say that it’s in my top 10 albums of all time.

Getting back into it though. Frequent readers will come to realize that I describe things the mesh very well as cake or lasagna. This song is a slice of cake. The vocals over the keys with the drum in the back, a very well produced song. I like how raw it sounds as well. Infrequently, Cleo will post clips of her sitting on a very comfortable couch, holding a mic singing. I can hear that with this song. Aligned with the band Sault that she’s in, they often preserve the raw sound of them recording these songs in very intimate settings and being able to hear that, if feel, invites the listener into the room.

To keep from getting fixated on Cleo, I’ll just list my favs from Gold, but rest assured that I adore this album more than Heaven. Not sure if I’d appreciate it over Mother but I’d entertain the debate/discussion. I can be influenced.

Following up with another of my fav artists rn, Leon Thomas. (I’m sounding more and more like that Spotify DJ with these entries. At the time of my typing this, I’m going to see Leon Thomas perform later today. Stay tuned. I may create an entry about the performance in itself. Electric Dusk is a very good album. I could be blinded by my fandom from Crash & Burn & Breaking Point but I think Leon did a very good job with this. I just hope he gets a proper Marketing team for his tour. I don’t have high hopes that he will tour this album the way I want him to but we will see.

Now, I can’t stand being a member of the mainstream but Tyla but her foot and alll 5 toes into this song. It’s a vibe! How could you not wanna move a lil after hearing this. It’s a feel good song. To expound on my growing appreciation for her, check this other song by her out. As a preface, give it some timeeeeeee and I you might hit a lil step on this one too. Just wait for the beat to topple as it doesn’t really drop in the manner we’re used to.

And since we’re on the island vibes, I might as well throw this one in here.

I don’t think this woman can make a bad song or make anyone upset even if she tried.

Slowing the vibe down with this one. If you work in an environment where you need to focus but can listen to music, check this album out. ‘Black Classical Music’ by Yussef Dayes. Rust, and Woman’s Touch are my two other recommendations from this album but if your interest is peaked, give it a spin and come back to this post to let me know what you’re thinking.

That’s all folks! Let me know who you’ve been rocking with and you thoughts on what I’ve transcribed here.

#Spotify

0 notes

quitethepirategal · 1 year ago

Text

Plotted Starter ~ { @x-knighthood }

A ginger headed boy sat patiently by the side of the withered Queen. She lay in bed on fine pillows and moon-white hair and felt at peace in the comfort of her pink and hearth lit bedroom. Her beauty had ripened with the gift of old age, but her health was failing faster everyday. Her whole family knew her time was short. She saw him eyeing her medicines; pretty and delicate glasses of potions next to her half eaten plate of chocolate chip pancakes. No grandmother wants to burden their children with worry, but time will move with or without you, you see. She smiled at her sun-crested grandchild, hazel eyed but with the regal face of her son in law, and treasured the opportunity to soothe the ache her illness was so apparently causing him and the rest of her family.

“ Ya know what I think, little prince? ”

He answered ‘ What do you think? ’ with both his mouth and his hands, though all the deaf queen heard was quiet static. His was a warm voice in her head.

“ I think th’ time is right fer another story.. ‘Ave I ever told ye the tale of how your grandpa an’ I fell in love? ”

~ ~ ~

Once upon a time, in a world on the other side of the universe, there was a island full of pirates called Libertalia. It was January 31st, New Years Eve, and every buccaneer, landlubber, seaman, scav, and knave on the island was making merry, and drinking, and rushing about to have their last minute fortunes told. The air was clear, cold and sharp. A frigid breeze sliced through the jovial laughter and crack of fireworks and scattered the happy sounds over the sea. The last of the tiny snowflakes fell at a peaceful slowness that juxtaposed the busy streets and docks, and thin ice clung to the mild waters like spiderwebs or glass lace. Red Jessica used to love this holiday... now it made her nauseous. New beginnings, new fortune, old music, and old friends. The disgraced ex-captain had none of those things anymore. Stone faced she walked with a sack of sand over her broad shoulders. Only she carried on with total disregard for the collective anticipation for the midnight countdown. She ignored the sneers and stares from the revelers who crossed her path, as she did every day for the last month, and cut through alleys and back roads to avoid everyone to the best of her ability. Her new deafness muddled any laughter or music into an obnoxious fog of watery noise, and getting home out of the din and the cold was her only priority for the night. Or at least, it was.... Because after walking uphill for some time, up high on the island’s slope where the town became farm and field, there was a tucked away alley shielding one poor, sorrowful soul from the rest of the world. The sounds of celebration were as faint and far away as the people and the party fires and the festivals. Only the silver full moon could see the tiny man trembling in the dark before Jessica rounded the corner. She almost didn't see him at all, and gods know she couldn’t hear him, were it not for the dramatic heaving of his chest. The frightened posture of a man hiding and out of breath caught her eye, or was he shivering? He didn’t seem to notice her until she was walking right next to him... but one look at his face made her slow to a stop. His cheek had been slashed and his nose bloodied; both his blood and his cape curdled into a maroon by the moonlight. His hands burned with a painful looking pink as they weakly pulled the cape to his chest, and his eyes, terrified and panicked slid open and shut like one fighting sleep. He was missing both shoes and a sock and his feet seemed to be in even more pain than his ice pricked hands. His movement was slow, his lips trembled, he’d clearly been crying- gods he couldn’t be much older than twenty.. This poor soul was attacked, robbed, and either barely got away with his life or was left for dead. Jessica’s stomach turned and her brow furrowed with pity. As delirious and in dire need of aid as he was, there was a solid chance he’d die tonight. Jess tried to walk away or take her eyes off his helpless face, but it was hard. He tried to say something and slowly reached up to tug her coat. Her heart ached for him but she chided herself for her softness, for her weakness, and carefully pulled his freezing hand away.

“.....sorry kid.” She groaned, but those words reeked of insensitivity as soon as she forced them out of her mouth. She was really doing this? She was really just going to leave him there? She knew damn well there was something she could do, that there were many things she could do to help or even save the poor bastard.

...but had she really grown so bitter that she wouldn’t?

#i literally couldn't resist the kings quest story telling format #enjoy these gut punches #x; ADVENTURES { rp }#v; THE RECLUSE IN RECOVERY { midlife }#xknighthood

1 note · View note

writernopal · 2 years ago

Note

Absolutely! I have this REALLY long doc covering what it is, how it came to be, etc, which is very info dump-y that I won't post here because it's just way too much. Maybe I'll post it if anyone is interested in reading it. So I'll use excerpts from AASOAF 1 & 2 to help! Putting this under a cut bc apparently, it turned out long anyway T_T

Where it came from:

After all, who wouldn’t swoon at the tale of Axeses The Second, who braved the mighty dragon, Cirit, to rescue his gentle lizard priestess, Mother Mazvah? Once she was freed, she became not only a style icon, but became known for being a giver of elegant parties and a master financier. Somehow the Kingdom made money when she threw parties, and because of that, she was able to be a very generous benefactor of many orphanages all throughout the territories under their rule. She was so well loved by the people of the Pale Kingdom, that they instituted a week-long celebration of Solas, her favorite holiday, to be filled with only festivals and merriment.

How it is celebrated:

Nightly masquerades filled with games, dancing, music, fireworks, food, and lots of booze!

How it concludes:

Weaving a cord with someone was no small thing; in fact, some didn’t participate in the weaving ceremony at all, despite it being the way that Solas Week should be concluded. The tradition stemmed from Mother Mazvah gifting a handwoven charm to her beloved Axeses on the day of Solas itself. It was braided using only the finest of silk ribbons and made to be several feet long so he could wear it around his shoulders whenever he rode into battle. He adored the gesture and the cord so much that instead of weaving a new one to give her, he proposed that they should simply add to the one she’d made. So, each year the two added to it on Solas Day, and by the time they passed, the cord had grown to be well over one hundred feet long. It was used to bind their coffins together when they were interred, so they could remain with one another even in their eternal rest, becoming the physical manifestation of their bond. The practice was immediately adopted across all of Oepus, not just for the embodiment of romantic love but for other types of bonds too. However, because cords were representative of bonds, they must always be weaved in pairs, or else they would bind nothing. Between friends, a cord could mean strength and happiness for a more prosperous friendship. Between family members, it could represent care and kindness as a reminder always to treasure one another.

And one final tidbit!

And between lovers like Axtapor and I…needless to say, it was special, monumental even, because, in many parts of Oepus, including my home island of Naren, it was the way that couples announced their intentions of marriage. Did he know that?

Happy WBW! What kind of things do people do for entertainment? :D

Kraken!! Happy WBW!

Oh man, the peoples of Oepus know how to have a good time! They do all sorts of things, but here is a list to make it a little easier to read.

Visit an alehouse, smoking den, and in some areas, wineries

Go dancing at taverns and inns (there is a whole underground scene that a certain minor but not so minor character in AASOAF 1 is privy to!)

Go out to eat at a nice restaurant or go for a cozy meal at a local mom-and-pop type place (note, if you go to a fancy restaurant, don't take Axtapor with you, he might disembowel the waiter)

Go see a play, opera, or other stage-type production. This includes the circus and puppet shows! (take Mariel for this one, she's never been to play before, but she's always wanted to go 🥺)

Participate in the many festivals celebrated all around Oepus (the biggest is Solas Week, a celebration of bonds between all people)

Go on hikes, camping, and hunting (definitely take Axtapor along for this one!)

Go swimming in rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans (avoid the lakes that you might find in the Holtep Empire, they'll burn you alive)

Visit libraries, curiosity shops, and even fortune tellers! (Wilkes is your man for this one, he knows where to find the rarest and most coveted books!)

And if you prefer something a little less surface level, there are brothels, fighting dens and pits, illegal chariot racing (chariots are considered weapons of war, hence illegal for civilian use), and bloodsport of other kinds (Fay is your best guide here, but be sure to hold on to your stomach!)

#dropping lore like a RAT #i tried not to make this long #it didn't work lol #solas week #axtapor #mariel #aasoaf lore #aasoaf #also he'd absolutely hike with your dad lol

20 notes · View notes

dianaburnwood · 2 years ago

Text

Ambrose Island: First Impressions

It’s time for another first impressions post! Spoilers ahoy, matey

Ok so I am so glad I was not spoiled for the Ambrose Island Bitch Slap Competition 2022 because what the HELLLLL that was incredible

I’m really curious if the devs had hoped to do arm-wrestling here cos it looks like that kind of set-up and I thought that’s what it WAS when I approached, but honestly the slap competition is hilarious and they probs were able to reuse the anim from Diana getting the slap in Mendoza

What do you mean I look suspicious, this is my everyday tactical guerrilla wetsuit

Also, when you start at the bar I swear my man is trashed? he keeps swaying lmao

Heading up to the ruins when I saw WHOMS”T I stg

47 has got to be this man’s nightmare at this point

And of course BESTIE showed up lmao the derision in Grey’s voice like bro I swear ok I don’t really know this dude that well

47 was so nice to him tho?? Even asking him if he needed help. Babe it’s time for you to collect those Interpol cheques

It was nice to have Grey as mission support again but by GOD did I miss my sexy handler

Love the new music for this map, so cool they didn’t reuse stuff. Also, the really soft music when you’re in the jungle is GORGEOUS, I want to find it

The man really can do anything

This little fishing anim has me positive 47 can go fishing on his lake in Freelancer

Ok so WHAT is playing on the radio in Akka’s hut?? It sounded like four, two, seven... then I was like, 47?? I was expecting to get something for filling all the holes or collecting all the leaflets, but no??? I figured something with the braziers too and could not figure out how to dig, Google had to help me put those two together lol

Anyone figure out what to do with the gold idol yet?

Really liked this little side questy bit of bringing the dude stuff and he makes me poison. I feel like this is teasing the kind of stuff that might happen in Freelancer?

Also, make your own bombs! Nice to see the workbench from Romania is getting another go.

I think the only thing I didn’t like was that the map was hard to navigate. There wasn’t much making the areas distinct enough imo. By my most recent playthrough I could get around easily enough. Also, the easiest SASO I think ever maybe??? But the challenges were pretty cool overall.

Sadly my game kept crashing every time I dug up the sabre for the pirate challenge, so I had to bring my own pirate outfit and sabre from home.

Also thought it was strange that there were no mission stories/opportunities, because some challenges were set up as if they were e.g. A Kill to Treasure and Another For Good Measure. But it was fun to figure stuff out myself.

HITMAN 3 in HITMAN 3 cos why the hell not lol

Overall this mission lifted out of the narrative easily, so I can see why it wasn’t needed for main game. Giving everyone something to do between Vermont and Isle of Sgail made a lot of sense, so glad they placed it there. Was hoping for more juicy lore, but honestly obsessed with Diana saying “good morning, 47” when he walks in so obviously Diana and Grey were up early making revolutionary plans together while 47 was still in bed.

#hitman 3 year 2 #ambrose island #first impressions

28 notes · View notes

poguestvff · 3 years ago

Text

SERENE — John B. Routledge

in which John B knows that within the storm, there, eventually, comes the calm. He is to the storm as the love of his life is to the calm.

taglist | masterlist | 1.1k words

warning(s) : SEASON TWO SPOILERS !!! but very fluffy <33

John Booker Routledge couldn't help but stare at his girlfriend. She remained only a mere few feet away from him, arms swinging around her as she danced carelessly with Kiara in front of her. Music wasn't playing, nothing but the sound of a cackling fire and the crashing waves: He watched as she'd occasionally look over towards him, the glint of the fire within her eyes and a kind smile etched upon her face, the same face he believed to be sculpted by the gods. The smile that resided on his face everytime they'd make eye contact had been more sincere than any one he'd given ever before.

She was the love of his life, that part he was sure about. He didn’t need all those buzzfeed ‘Am I In Love’ quizzes he took when he was eleven to know that. She'd stuck by his side through more than she needed to, more than he'd ever expected her to. More than he’d ever expected any one to. Through his fathers death, through a treasure hunt for gold that left them empty handed, now sat on an island in the middle of nowhere, and somehow, not even the thought of leaving him had occurred to her. There were so many more reasons he could name as to how absolutely enamored he was with his girlfriend but he knew it would take ages for him to get them all out.

He didn't want to think about what awaits for him when he was inevitably going to have to go back to Outer Banks; And even if he did, he knew he only needed one thing there with him when they docked. "Y/n." He called, the girl looking at him almost abruptly. He ushered her over to him, seeing that he thought Kie and Sarah could dance without his girl. She took a moment, excusing herself from her friends to rush towards the bushy haired boy who had called upon her.

As she stood before him, staring down, all he could look at her with was so much admiration. His hands moved to rest at her hips, thumbs rubbing back and forth on the skin residing just above the drying shorts she wore. A short and airy laugh left her lips, her own hands placing themselves on his cheeks. "You okay?" She asked, her voice small under the conversation of Cleo and Pope near them and JJ yelling as he went to chase after Kie and Sarah, care free.

For a moment, he had to think about the question. Within the past few weeks, he'd been asked it so many times but no one asked more than Y/n, herself. She was always there, in every memory, every thought, every play in their book that they called life, she was there. Not a time he couldn't remember when she wasn't. And for a mere second, all the memories of these past few weeks flooding back into his mind, he couldve answered with no. He could've said no, he wasn't okay because he was previously wanted by the government. He could've said no, he wasn't okay because only a few hours previous, they'd been shot at by Rafe Cameron. He could've said no, he wasn't okay because he'd almost lost his y/n to a bullet wound. Even after everything they'd been through, and one misfire almost ended everything.

But then she pulled lightly at the hair at the nape of his neck, bringing him back to earth, back to the now. The hand that hadn't gently tangled itself in his messy curls now was pinching his chin, tilting his eyes upward for eye contact. Y/n stared at him, her eyes darting back and forth between his eyes as if searching for something. Searching for some sort of pathway into his mind, to see what he was thinking. To see why he'd become so dazed within a matter of seconds.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, realizing that whatever happened a month ago, a week ago, an hour ago. It mattered, sure, he knew he couldn’t set it aside and exactly forget it but it didn't matter right now because right now he was okay. His friends were okay. Y/n was okay. And that was all that mattered. So, he finally answered her question. "I'm great, actually." He told her, breaking out in a bright smile as she looked at him, almost confused. "No, baby, i promise. Everything's perfect."

She went to speak, lips parting but words were unable to make their way out. Seeing her stunned figure, John B took the moment to tug her into his lap as she clumsily fell into him. She yelped, turning it into a laugh as she adjusted herself more comfortably. His hands linked themselves behind her back as she rested her arms around his neck. "Everything's perfect, huh?" She asked, crinkling one side of her nose.

He hummed, sounding content as he moved to place his forehead against hers. “Yup.” he said, popping the p as the two stared at one another for a small second. They hadn’t noticed that Cleo and Pope had moved to join the other three until they heard the collective screams that echoed in the empty air that surrounded them. They truly were in their own world, a world John B felt he could live in forever. One, in which, only held love and adoration between the two of them. One that felt like they were isolated from the rest of the world, where in each of their eyes not a single thing matter other than the opposing person.

Y/n went to look over her shoulder towards them but John B gripped her chin lightly, keeping her vision on him. The glossed gaze John B held moments previously had returned though Y/n had learned her lesson this time, allowing him to debrief his own thoughts. “You know I love you, right?” He asked after a few seconds. Her head cocked slightly to the side before releasing a soft laugh.

“I kinda figured.” She joked. “I mean, how many guys do you know that would become a felon and somehow still make time for their girlfriend?”

He pursed his lips, looking towards the sky in fake thought. “Actually, i’m pretty sure Anthony who lives a block away was able to manage with his girlfriend when he got out.” He said, going along with their similar antics as they shared a laugh. “No, no, i’m serious. You know i love you, yes?”

“Yes. And I love you, my lovely boyfriend.” She replied, her voice as calm as the ocean waves behind them. It was comforting, quite possibly the only thing reminding him of what he’d been fighting so hard to return to within the days of being in jail and several other times when he’d seperated from her. She’d only ever set him up for comfort since forever. It hadn’t changed now even as they sat near a fire within a piece of land to which they couldn’t even attempt to place on a map. “So freaking much.” She added in, her voice falling short but still with everlasting emotion of love. She quickly pulled his face towards hers, a short but intimate kiss shared between the two of them.

“Hey, lovebirds!” JJ yelled, causing them to pull apart as they looked towards them. “Stop being sappy and come join us.”

“One second!” Y/n yelled back before putting her attention back to John B, hands falling down his shoulders to rest against his chest. “Can’t even get one moment together without them.”

“Gotta get used to it, my love.” He told her, kissing the edge of her nose. Y/n’s name was called once again by Kie as she rolled her eyes, getting up from John B’s lap, the boy soon following as he stood to his feet. She quickly raised to her toes, pressing a small kiss to the corner of his mouth before taking off after their friends.

As John B watched his girlfriend run off in the direction of his other friends, watching her collide with Sarah in a hug, tossing her head back in a laugh, he knew everything was going to be okay. Even if it wasn’t, even if no one knew of their whereabouts, even if they were nearly stranded in the middle of nowhere, he would be able to ignore it. Be able to pretend everything was okay. He just had to make sure Y/n didn’t disappear on him and he thought he could be content for a while.

#john b x reader #outer banks x reader #outer banks #outer banks imagine #john b routledge #obx imagine #obx #jj maybank #john b routledge imagine #john b routledge x reader #john b fluff

243 notes · View notes

jjmaybud · 3 years ago

Text

bring her home to dad | rafe cameron

summary: BJ’s every parent’s nightmare and rafe brings her home to ward.

pairing(s): rafe cameron x fem!oc, platonic!sarah cameron x fem!oc, platonic!wheezie cameron x fem!oc.

word count: 5.17k

warnings: swearing, mentions of alcohol, fluff, angst, ward cameron.

author’s note: i’ve had this idea for a while and it was originally going to be a reader, but i have a lot of ideas for this oc and rafe that may or may not be a coherent story. i don’t know, we’ll see where it goes. this is an au where there isn’t any treasure hunt but like rafe still does coke and dropped out of college and sarah and john b end up dating. no season 2 spoilers! Also, the house they use in the show for Tanneyhill (it’s real name is Lowndes Grove) is actually so beautiful omg you can rent it for weddings!

BJ Bentley was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s truck on her way to his house for the first time. Though she’d been in a relationship with Rafe Cameron for the past few months, she understood the reservation he had to take her to meet his father. The dark tattoos all along her sun kissed skin and the style of her clothes definitely scared every one of her partner’s parents. It was especially worse when their parents were hard on them, and they tried everything to live up to their expectations. There were times when someone she was interested in brought her home just to scare their parents when they weren’t interested in her as well. It wasn’t like that with Rafe. For one, he was completely freaking out in the driver’s seat next to her as he drove to his house. And two, he told her from the beginning that he had to be in love with her to bring her home to Ward Cameron.

Well, he was in love with her. And she loved him, too. That’s why she was completely calm in the passenger seat as she waited patiently to pull up to the historic house. Rafe’s fingers tapped against the steering wheel as he was hyper aware of the world around him. Quick hits on the brake and too sharp of turns were a clear indication of his nervousness. BJ reached across the center console to take hold of his right hand. He gave it up to her with little hesitation, and she intertwined their fingers while bringing the back of his hand to her lips. The soft kiss released a bit of tension in his shoulders.

“We don’t have to do this today,” she said against his hand. He immediately shook his head at the idea.

He said, “No, I already told him you were coming today. He’s got Rose making her special meatloaf for the occasion.”

BJ placed their hands down on the console and smiled.

“I love meatloaf.”

He nodded, his mind still somewhere else, and stated, “I know. I told her.”

Rafe stopped the truck at a stop sign. With no one behind them, BJ reached her free hand up to his cheek and turned his head towards her, forcing him to meet her eyes. She smiled softly when he leaned into the palm of her hand.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise. I’ve dealt with plenty of parental disappointment. He might be a little harder on you, but he’ll let it go eventually.”

He smiled and kissed the palm of her hand before turning back to the road. As he pulled forward from the stop sign, she placed her outreached hand on his forearm to run her fingers up and down the prominent vein.

He said, “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

BJ’s hand stilled at his words, and she stared at the side of his face as she tried to think of any other reason he’d be so nervous.

“I don’t want him to scare you off,” he added as he avoided meeting her eye.

Her lip jutted out as she cooed, “Aw, Honey Bunch,” his eyes rolled and lip turned up at the pet name, “you don’t have to worry about him scaring me off. You’ve had plenty of chances to do that.”

Rafe laughed mockingly and reached over to squeeze her thigh. She laughed loudly as she tried to pull his hand off of her. When she managed to wrench his hand away from her, she reached over and poked his side which only resulted in his hand gripping her thigh again.

“Rafe Cameron,” she said in a firm tone, making him laugh. “If you don’t stop, I will knock you the fuck out.”

He didn’t stop. It took him almost side swiping someone’s car for him to let go of her and return his hand to the steering wheel.

“That’s what I thought,” BJ quipped but screeched and lifted her leg away from him as he pretended to reach for her thigh again.

The rest of the ride was silent aside from the music playing from the radio. Eventually, the sound of the turn signal interrupted the melodies of the song as they waited for the car in the other lane to pass to turn left into Tanneyhill. Trees blocked the view of the house from the gate, but she could see peaks of a white house with many windows. As they drove up the driveway and passed the trees, she could see the beautiful house in it’s full glory. The house itself was beautiful on it’s own, but the surrounding view made it stunning. She could see the expanse of the water over to the left while an expansive yard of trees veered to the right.

“Home sweet home,” Rafe muttered as he pulled into a parking spot next to someone’s car. He turned the engine off and unbuckled his seat belt but didn’t make a move to get out. BJ unbuckled her own seat belt and waited. She watched as he took a couple of deep breaths before turning to meet her eye. Her lips turned up in an encouraging smile. She leaned forward over the console enticing him to do the same. Their lips met in a soft peck and met a few times more before pulling away for good.

The couple got out of the truck at the same time and met at the back. BJ let Rafe stair up at the house before reaching her hand out for him to hold. He huffed a heavy sigh before taking her hand in his. On their way to the front door, BJ stopped walking. If he didn’t have her hand in his, he probably would have kept going. He stopped, their hands extended, and watched her eyes widen.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Her eyes moved from the house to him, and she said, “I’m going to meet Wheezie!”

Rafe released a relieved sigh as he let his head fall back with his eyes closed. The hat on his head nearly fell off as it’s bill hit the back of his neck. BJ laughed as she stepped closer to her.

“Don’t do that to me,” Rafe mumbled as he let her pull him along. When they got closer to his front door, he took the lead. He led her past the front room and into the main part of the house. They took a few turns before reaching a decent sized kitchen. As an old house meant to be preserved, it lacked the open floor plan most modern day houses choose to do. While some rooms were spacious, it felt very choppy as they moved through the house. Even the kitchen was cut off from the dining area. The only person in the kitchen was a blonde woman who was definitely not Sarah Cameron or Wheezie.

“Oh, hello!” The woman greeted as she worked on cleaning off the counters. She stopped at the sight of them and tossed the washcloth into the sink. Her eyes widened once she got a better look at the girl standing next to Rafe, but BJ took it in stride as she let go of Rafe’s hand to go shake hers.

Rafe spoke up from behind BJ, “Rose, this is BJ. BJ, this is my stepmom, Rose.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Rose. I heard you’re making meatloaf! It already smells amazing,” BJ stated as she shook the woman’s hand. She watched Rose take in the tattoos on the back of her hand and the chain hanging on one side of her skirt, but she pretended not to notice as Rose fixed a genuine smile on her face.

“It’s nice to meet you, too! Rafe mentioned meatloaf was your favorite, so Ward asked me to make my special recipe.”

“Is there anything Rafe and I can do to help?” BJ offered. Rafe started to speak from behind her, but Rose beat him to it.

“Actually, the table still needs to be set, if you don’t mind?”

BJ shook her head and said, “Not at all.” She turned around to Rafe. “You know how to set the table, right?”

Rafe huffed and nodded his head. He turned to the left and led her into the dining room where a long, rectangular table that seats eight people took up one side of the room and a smaller, circular table that seats four people took up the other. He stepped over to the china cabinet and opened both of the doors.

“I can start with the glasses while you get the plates?” Rafe suggested as he looked at her. She nodded and walked over to him. He pointed at a specific set of plates before grabbing the glasses on the higher shelf. A place mat was already placed in front of each seat that was to be used. BJ started on one side as Rafe started on the other. They met at the head of the table, and BJ stared up at Rafe as he refused to move out of the way.

She wasn’t much shorter than him normally, but she was almost nose to nose to him with her boots on. The amused smile on his lips and the quirk of his eyebrow tempted her to do something about him being in her way. With a playful tint in the corner of her eye, she stood on the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his lips. His hand found her hip as their kiss lasted longer than necessary. When she pulled away and fell back flat on her feet, Rafe hummed and nodded his head. He patted her hip and stepped out of her way.

“You may pass,” he said, making BJ laugh. The rest of her task went without fail before the two of them placed the silverware out: BJ was in charge of the spoons while Rafe put out the forks and knives. The sound of a man’s voice interrupted the peaceful silence that laid over the air.

“Alright, I got the ice and another bottle just in case. I saw Rafe’s truck outside. Have you already met her?” The man stated as the couple saw him approach the island that Rose was standing next to.

Rose nodded, walked towards her husband, and said, “Yes, I did. They’re setting the table now.”

Ward tried to turn to look at where they were standing, but Rose grabbed the front of his blazer and pretended to fix it while she whispered to him. BJ puffed out a silent laugh as she looked at Rafe.

She whispered, “Very subtle.”

Rafe only had the energy to chuckle once as he watched the two in the kitchen. BJ studied the couple and watched Ward’s facial expressions to gauge his reaction. She noticed the exact moment Rose told him about her...appearance. His head tilted towards his wife in a quick motion to look in her eyes. Rose scolded him swiftly, and Ward fixed his face into a stoic expression. BJ could feel her boyfriend tense from beside her as she watched Ward look to the ground and nod at whatever his wife said.

BJ took the lead, grabbed Rafe’s hand, and pulled him into the kitchen. Rafe tugged on her hand to keep her from intruding on his dad and stepmom’s conversation, but BJ went through this too many times to know it was easier to rip the bandage off right away.

“Hi, you must be Ward! I’m BJ Bentley,” she introduced herself, extending her hand once again. Though he was warned, Rafe’s father appeared to still be surprised at the sight of her. He took it in stride regardless. His eyebrows shot up in delight and a charming smile crossed his face as he reached his own hand out.

Ward greeted, “Ah, nice to meet you, BJ. I have to say I was surprised to hear Rafe had a girlfriend, let alone that he was bringing her home to meet us.”

“Dad,” Rafe said as Rose called her husband’s name in warning.

“Honestly, I was surprised, too,” BJ confessed. “Didn’t think Rafe was the girlfriend type.”

The timer on the oven went off to interrupt the tense conversation. Rose hurried around the island to pull the door open. She used a cooking thermometer to check the temperature inside the meatloaf.

“It’s done. Rafe, can you go upstairs to get your sisters?” Rose asked.

Rafe made sure BJ was okay before reluctantly heading out of the kitchen to the stairs she’d seen on the way inside. She watched him until he disappeared out of the room and turned back to his parents. The brunette tucked her hair behind her ear as she caught Ward staring at the tattoos on her thighs sticking out under her skirt with a disapproving purse of his lips. She turned to Rose, the safer of the two, and offered her help.

“I can take the potatoes to the table if you’d like,” BJ offered as Rose sliced into the meatloaf and placed it onto a large plate. The potatoes were on a similar plate cut into chunks and seasoned so well that BJ’s stomach grumbled at the smell.

Rose smiled and said, “That would be great. Thank you.”

BJ returned the smile and grabbed the plate. Once she reached the table, she placed the potatoes in the center with enough room for the meatloaf. Ward followed her into the room and motioned to the side of the table with only two seats set.

“Rafe sits on this side next to me. Feel free to sit next to him,” Ward said. BJ nodded and stepped around Ward; she noticed then they were about the same height. Since Ward hadn’t pulled his chair out, BJ thought it best to wait to be seated. Her mouth didn’t agree to the plan.

“Your home is very beautiful. It has a lot of history behind it, right?” She inquired as Rose brought in the meatloaf before returning to the kitchen, probably for the drinks.

Ward’s head tilted in interest as he answered, “That’s right. People don’t usually know that.”

“I did a paper on Denmark Tanney in college. As you must know, he was the only person to survive the wreck of the Royal Merchant.”

A light lit up behind Ward’s eyes at the mention of the Royal Merchant. She mentioned offhandedly one day while hanging out with Rafe that she did a paper on the man who built his house after he told her he lived in Tanneyhill. He told her how much his dad loved the house and its history, so she knew she could use that to get on Ward’s good side. She wasn’t worried about whether the Cameron’s liked her, especially not Ward, but she wanted there to be mutual respect between them. From what Rafe has said about his father, she knew she would never like him. But as Rafe’s father, she had a level of respect for him that she wanted to be returned. No matter how the man treated him, Rafe loved Ward and looked up to him. She had to respect that.

“Of course,” Ward replied, his words more genuine than the other times he’s spoken. “It’s what drew me to the house in the first place. Tell me did your research take you to the information about the gold he was able to get off of the Royal Merchant?”

Rose brought in a pitcher of iced tea as well as a cup of scotch on the rocks for Ward. She started to pour a glass of tea for herself as she listened to their conversation.

“Yes, and no one has ever been able to find it. He had letters to his son that a lot of people have picked apart trying to find out where he hid it, but no one’s figured it out.”

“Ugh, dad, please tell me you haven’t bored BJ with your stories about the Royal Merchant,” Sarah Cameron stated as she came into the kitchen. She sent BJ a smile and a wink as she walked to her seat, leaving the middle one between her and Rose empty. Rafe followed in shortly after.

Ward laughed as he shook his head. “Of course not, Sarah. BJ brought it up.”

Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise and put her hands up in surrender. Rafe came to stand next to his girlfriend. Ward and Rose looked at him expectantly.

“Wheezie’s on her way down,” he stated before reaching over to pull out BJ’s seat. She smiled at the gesture as she stepped out of the way.

“Wow, Rafe has manners?” Sarah asked, sarcasm dripping from her words as she sat down. Rafe glared at his sister as BJ stepped in front of the seat. He pushed in her seat as she sat down. She mumbled her gratitude as he sat down next to her. Rose and Ward sat down after the kids, and Rafe took it upon himself to pour himself a glass of iced tea. He offered the pitcher to BJ, and she took it graciously.

The sound of loud steps interrupted the short silence, and a young, teenage girl wearing a bright pink tutu and a sequined, long sleeve shirt. BJ’s eyes widened in surprise, and she turned to Rafe as she pressed her lips together to contain her laugh. Rafe placed his elbow on the table and covered his mouth to hide his smile. From what Rafe told her about his youngest sister, the tutu was out of character for her.

Sarah gasped and said, “Love the tutu, Wheeze.”

“Wheezie, what are you wearing?” Rose asked as the girl sat down next to her. BJ turned back to watch the scene unfold in front of her. Wheezie smiled at her before turning to her stepmom.

Wheezie said with a shrug, “Wanted to try something new.”

“Wheezie, we have a guest. Go upstairs and change,” Ward demanded as he tilted his head back to stare at her down his nose.

“I think Wheezie has a right to dress however she wants,” Rafe said, finally lowering his hand away from his face.

Sarah added, “Yeah, dad, we should let her express herself.”

BJ could see what her boyfriend and his sisters were doing. Wheezie was dressed in an out-of-character outfit to make her brother’s girlfriend feel comfortable wearing the clothes that the older generation deemed unacceptable. Rafe and Sarah were helping coax their parents into understanding why she wore the clothes she did. It warmed her heart to see it. Wheezie didn’t know who she was, they’d never met before, but she was doing this because she loved her brother. Sarah and BJ had known of each other before she started dating Rafe because they went to the same parties.

“Also,” BJ spoke up, “I really don’t mind. I think you rock the tutu, Wheezie, and those sequins really bring out your eyes.”

“Thank you, BJ,” Wheezie said before she turned to her father expectantly. Everyone turned to him to see his reaction. Ward Cameron sighed as he stared at his younger daughter.

“Fine.”

***

“So, BJ, what are you studying in college?” Ward asked as he sipped on his second glass of scotch. The men finished their plates as well as Sarah while the rest of them were still working on finishing their potatoes and little bit of meatloaf. BJ complimented Rose on her recipe after the first bite once she tasted the burst of flavor on her tongue. She talked to Wheezie about a new movie that was coming out. Apparently it was a part of a series that the young girl really liked, so she told BJ the synopsis of the first movie and invited her to come over to watch the first two movies together. Most of dinner was Rose and Ward alternating asking BJ questions about herself or Sarah telling everyone what she’d been up to for the day and what she was planning to do in the next couple.

BJ took her time swallowing the potato she’d been chewing and answered, “Actually, I finished college last year.”

Ward and Rose’s attention perked at the sound of that.

Rose asked, “I thought you said you were the same age as Rafe?”

“She is,” Rafe answered. “She finished her Bachelor’s degree in business, right?”

He looked to her for confirmation. She nodded.

“I started taking a lot of my general education credits my junior year of high school and took more business centered classes in the summer,” BJ said, turning to Ward and Rose. “By the time I graduated high school, I was a junior in college.”

Ward appeared to be impressed with what he was hearing and asked, “So, are you working now or have you decided to do something else?”

“I am. I work with my mother in her real estate investment business. I’ve always been around the office, even interned there the summer after high school graduation, and that’s how I knew I wanted to have a career in business.”

“I have to admit that’s pretty impressive,” Ward said and stared at his son. “I wish Rafe had as much drive as you do.”

BJ looked to Rafe to see him stare into the bottom of his glass that only had chunks of ice at the bottom. She could tell by the pout of his lips and his slouched shoulders that the comment hit a little too hard. Without allowing the others to notice, she reached under the table to place her hand over his on his lap.

“Rafe has plenty of drive,” BJ defended. “He’s just got to figure out where he wants to put that energy. Calculated energy is better than wasted energy.”

Ward only hummed in response. She finished her plate without any interruption. Rafe and Sarah grabbed everyone’s empty dishes. BJ helped Rafe stack all of the plates before Ward asked Wheezie to show their guest around the house.

“Yeah, BJ, I’ll show you Rafe’s room first since you’ll probably spend a lot of time there,” Wheezie said as she pushed her chair out to stand up.

Rafe stepped back into the room and scolded her, “Wheeze. Shut. Up.”

BJ laughed and stood up to follow after Wheezie. She patted Rafe’s shoulder as she passed him. Wheezie talked the entire time as she showed the older girl every room in the house. Most of the stories included embarrassing stories about Rafe.

“The rug right here?” Wheezie pointed out as they stood in the hall leading to the stair and outside of Rafe’s room. “Rafe tripped over it running out of his room and almost busted his chin going down the stairs. Luckily he stopped at the turn or he would’ve broken his arm.”

BJ shook her head and asked, “When was this?”

“Last week.”

The two giggled at the news, and Wheezie took her up another set of stairs. BJ followed her into a room that was clearly hers. It was a typical young teenager room with a few posters and brighter, mismatched colors.

“The tour is now over, please don’t forget to tip your guide and remember to visit again,” Wheezie said in a highly comical, animated voice. She worked on taking off the tutu as BJ looked around the room. It wasn’t a big room, but it was large enough to hold everything her heart desired.

“Is she your favorite artist?” BJ asked, pointing to a small poster of Taylor Swift next to some, what BJ could assume were, lyrics.

“Of course, she’s a lyrical genius,” Wheezie said, and BJ could tell how much the girl looked up to the artist by her voice. “Who’s your favorite artist?”

A sheepish smile was brought to her lips and turned to Wheezie. The youngest Cameron was sitting on her bed against her pillows, and BJ went to sit on the edge near her.

BJ said, “So, this may come as a shock, but I love Whitney Houston.”

Wheezie’s head tilted forward in surprise as her eyes widened. BJ laughed. The former girl looked down at BJ’s clothes and tattoos before looking back up to her with narrowed eyes.

“There’s no way. You definitely listen to classic rock like Nirvana,” Wheezie said.

“Okay, Nirvana is definitely not classic rock. Whoever told you that lied to you. And yes, despite my looks, Whitney Houston just hits the spot.”

Wheezie laughed and said, “I can’t wait to tell Rafe.”

“Hah,” BJ mocked and hit the girl lightly on the leg, “he already knows.” She hopped off the bed and headed for the door. “I’m going to go find him. I just take the stairs all the way down right?”

The only response she received was a nod before leaving the room. BJ could hear slightly raised voices drifting up the stairs as she started down them. She could hear Rafe’s voice but couldn’t make out any of his words.

Then, clear as day, she heard Ward’s voice, “I don’t care, Rafe! Think about what people will say when they see you with her. What they will say about our family.”

“You didn’t say this to Sarah when she brought John B home,” Rafe countered.

“John B doesn’t dress like she does and doesn’t have tattoos up and down his arms! I don’t care if you love her, you-”

Suddenly, it was quiet as BJ stepped on a particularly creaky stair. Not that she was quiet on her way down, but they didn’t hear her over their yelling. As she came down, she saw Rafe, Ward, and Rose through the doorway into the kitchen standing in awkward silence as they waited for her.

“Please, don’t stop on my account,” BJ said as she walked towards the three of them.

Rafe started to talk, “BJ, I’m sorry-”

BJ held up a hand to stop him.

“You don’t have to apologise, Rafe. It’s not the first time I’ve walked in on an awkward conversation with my boyfriend’s parents. I just hoped your father had enough respect to talk to me about it.”

She smiled a sickeningly sweet smile as she met Ward’s eyes. Rafe said her name and offered for them to leave.

“And I wish my son had enough respect not to bring you home,” Ward said as he took a long drink of his scotch.

BJ’s smile didn’t falter at his words as Rose sharply said his name.

“You know, Ward, a person can always change their clothes,” BJ informed the older man and motioned to her own clothes. “Hell, on a normal day, I don’t typically wear this. I only wore it now so you could see the ‘worst’ of it and learn to get over it. I understand your reservations on tattoos. It’s not everyone’s preference. I, for one,” BJ stepped over to Rafe and motioned to his bare arm, “love the blank canvas that is your son.” Rafe muttered an “oh, my god” at her words. “But you should never judge someone’s character for what they decide to do with their bodies. It’s their actions you have to pay attention to.

“Your actions, specifically, have told me that you are a very insecure man who tries to keep the image of his perfect family intact to hide the fact that he feels like an imposter in the life he’s created for himself.” Ward stood up straighter and set his glass down forcefully. Rose put her hand on his chest to stop him from taking a step towards BJ. “The only reason I’m saying this to you is because, although I do not like you one bit, I have respect for you. I know who you are, Ward Cameron. Started on the other side of Outer Banks and, through hard work and sacrifice, you made it to Figure Eight. You raised a beautiful family despite hardly being there for them emotionally. Anyone can respect someone who has managed to do that for themselves.”

Ward scoffed and interrupted BJ’s tangent, “I let you into my home, and you decide to speak to me like this in the name of respect? My actions have told you all of this about my character? Through one dinner?”

BJ shrugged and simply said, “I minored in psychology. And I’m sorry if you find what I’ve said to be disrespectful. I found you talking about me without me present to be disrespectful. I love your son whether you like me or not and as long as he still feels the same way, we’ll have to treat each other with mutual respect.”

Rafe’s hand slipped into hers. Through their interlaced fingers BJ felt his grip tighten as he stood up to his father. With her other hand, she reached out for a handshake. Ward stared down at her hand for a moment before looking at Rafe. Another squeeze on her hand. Ward and BJ locked eyes. He sighed and reached out his hand. A firm handshake, and the two were on their way with Rafe saying over his shoulder he might be back later.

Her boyfriend practically dragged her out of the house and to his truck. The sun was already set, so the lights around the house were the only thing to light their way to Rafe’s truck. The overhead lights inside turned on and off as they got in. The dash light lit up Rafe’s features as he turned the ignition over to start the engine. BJ watched as he sighed heavily and fell back against his seat, and she reached over to grab his hand again.

“I almost shit myself when you called him insecure,” Rafe confessed, making her laugh out loud. “I thought he was going to kill us both.”

BJ leaned over the console and said, “But he didn’t.”

He opened his eyes and turned his head without lifting it to look at her. Pieces of his hair fell onto his forehead, and she smiled at him as she studied his face. A sweat had broken out on his face and neck, but it was slowly drying in the cool air of the truck’s air conditioning.

“No, he didn’t.” BJ watched his soft lips as he spoke.

“Now, the worst is over.”

He nodded. “It is.”

BJ’s free hand reached up to the back of Rafe’s head and pulled his face towards hers. Rafe didn’t put up any fight as he leaned into the kiss. She pulled away with a sigh, and the boy moved so he could comfortably lean against the console as she played with the hairs at the back of his head.

“Wheezie’s cool,” BJ admitted. “She told me a lot of embarrassing stories about you.” Rafe rolled his eyes. “Something about you and a rug followed by a small tumble down the stairs.”

Rafe shook his head and said, “I have just as many embarrassing stories of her.”

BJ smiled.

“I can’t wait to hear them.”

176 notes · View notes

ramblinseahorsey · 5 years ago

Text

There’s so many people out there trying to give Greg’s parents the benefit of the doubt, saying they meant the best for him, or that Greg just didn’t do a good enough job explaining to them he was unhappy. That Greg and Steven just need to talk to them, to reach out to them, and hope is a great thing.

But I knew the second I saw this shot that they didn’t love him. They didn’t answer his letters. Never. Didn’t even read them. Don’t try and tell me Greg didn’t try. Don’t tell me he didn’t reach out.

Greg didn’t just say they just discouraged music or pushed him to do sports, this isn’t a Barbara kind of miscommunication. He clearly said they forced him to do sports and music was off limits. He tried. From the looks of it, he tried many years after he left too.

Don’t try and tell me that parents that saw their kid constantly frowning or looking like they were gonna cry in their photos and did nothing about it loved their kid.

The only picture we see Greg look happy in was his school photo. Not the one they liked enough to frame. It is possible there are happy pictures around here with him and his parents we just didn’t see, but I wouldn’t place any bets on it.

The only mistake Greg made in Mr. Universe was not being more tactful with how he explained all of this to Steven.

Greg never specified the lack of love, and therefore Steven just didn’t get it. He saw all these pictures and trophies and baby items and thought, that’s love, right? He doesn’t understand or know about the parents who obsess over nick knacks, doesn’t get that these weren’t treasured memories to them, they were collectibles. Anybody who’d still keep the letters, but not open them, was clearly after the status of being parents, not the actual time with their kid. They kept in view things from a time he was obedient. But all Steven sees is the image of a pretty, normal family house, the image Greg’s parents were more obsessed with maintaining than communications with their actual kid.

They wanted him in their life at first, sure, but only back when they still thought there was hope that he’s end up just like them. Back when he would still go to the island, back when he couldn’t fight his hair getting cut, back when they thought he could be the cookie cutter clone of them that looked neat in family photos and would prevent them from having to explain to people what he did for a living or why he wasn’t going on vacation for them, yet again, using him as a part of their image, not their son.

Greg wouldn’t have called all of that junk, when he’s been shown to love collecting and having random junk, failed to emotionally connect or get nostalgic about a single item there, if there had been any love or bonding attached to any of them.

Greg is a loving, loving, forgiving man. If there had been any good memories in that house,

he wouldn’t have constantly looked miserable in it except when he was talking about when he escaped it.

Greg, unknowingly, and only trying to help, bless his heart, made a huge mistake with a single sentence.

“Trust me, your better off than I was!” OUch.

He pushed Steven away the second he made a comparison between their lives. You just can’t play the comparison game with people who were traumatized.

Was he right that Steven got to grow up with love Greg didn’t? Well, yes, but Steven doesn’t realize that. All he hears is the man who grew up in a nice, warm, not corrupted gem attacked house, with a nice, normal, not training just in case someone was on their way to murder you education, in a calm, relaxed, not born a war criminal childhood. And complaining about it!

Of course he got mad!! Even if Greg had specified he wasn’t loved, how could he dare use the word better to describe Steven’s life? Greg meant nothing bad by it, but as far as Steven was concerned, Greg was telling him he had a wonderful childhood, a wonderful future ahead of him, “just like mom” did.

Greg couldn’t have just brought up a half alien baby wanted dead in a normal community, training with the gems, unstable parents or not, was necessary for his survival. But in the heat of the moment, Steven doesn’t think of that, the way he talks in this scene, he really thinks he could’ve had that, that a normal childhood could’ve “fixed” him, and that his dad’s choice was the only thing that stopped him from having that.

And between that and the crash, that was the trigger needed for Steven to push his dad away. The guilt for yet another person he thinks he’s a danger to, and the huge feelings of jealousy he was too ashamed yet still too angry to voice over his dad getting to grow up human. Steven saw his yearbook pictures and nearly got choked up saying the words “more human” pausing with a frown he quickly gets rid of, yearning to be the human in Greg’s pictures.

So many out here are trying to take sides, either saying Greg was wrong and Steven was right, or Greg was right and Steven was wrong, but in the end both are true. Both had the right to be unhappy with what they were given, and both should have done a better job trying to understand and listen to the others plight.

While Greg should have worded things much, much more tactfully, and definitely, even if accidentally, hurt his kid with his words, he meant no more harm than any of the other people who’ve tried to cheer him up, and was right about all he said.

Yet you can’t get mad at Steven either, because as far as he’s concerned, all he learned today is that his dad had it so much easier, less terrifying, and found an identity in a way that Steven couldn’t relate to, couldn’t use.

That his dad can’t help him anymore.

Edit: I’m not saying redemption is impossible for his parents,(Steven Universe is all about second chances), I’m saying that I can’t see it happening. If you wanna be technical about it, anyone can be redeemed. But that’s the point isn’t it? Anyone can change, but they have to want to. The only person I could see being less likely to want to change is Marty.

While possibilities are endless, the people who can not love their own child while raising them don’t tend to be the kinds of people to have a turnaround. Not saying it hasn’t happened before, just that it’s so very, very rare.

These two made it very clear they didn’t want to, that they don’t want to. It would be different If the letters were opened. For a redemption/family reunion to work with these two, they’d have to make the first step. Perhaps they’d get wind of Steven’s existence, and in a change of heart that came in old age, they’d get motivated to try getting back in touch even though they thought at this point it was too late. Perhaps we’d get a shot of opened letters falling down not neat and tidy on the dresser.

For it to work for me, Greg would have to receive a letter.

But i’m not holding my breath.

10K notes · View notes

tobi-momo · 4 years ago

Text

You Belong With Me

“What was she so mad about?” Your voice bleeds through his phone as he scribbles on his homework with his number two pencil, sighing at your question. He looks up briefly to his window to see you at your desk across your two properties’ filing the papers for your math class, organizing your work. Your phone is sandwiched between your shoulder and your ear, your eyes narrowed as you focus on what assignments are what.

“Kei?”

He shakes his head as his mind snaps out of the daze, his golden eyes flicking down to his work. “Uh,” he sighs as he re-grips his pencil, “I teased her a little bit and she got mad,” he finished. You chuckled before covering your mouth with your hand, finally looking up at the man through your clear panes.

“You’re kidding,” you giggle, a smile leading onto Kei’s face while he listens to your voice, although refusing to look up at your face, he shakes his head in a joking dismissal.

“No, I’m not. But we are never mentioning it again.”

“Oh, good luck getting me to keep quiet!” You shout as your back straightens against your desk chair, a smug look playing on your face once the blond male looks up at you.

He stands up, a reciprocating smirk laying on his lips before he says, “You will,” before he takes his phone away from his ear, pressing the “hang up” button and raising his arm to close the drapes. You laugh with satisfaction while you exit his contact, turning on some music and tossing your phone on your bed before cleaning up your area and strumming your fingers like an imaginary guitar.

He opened his curtains expecting to see you sulking while doing your work, only to see you dance like an idiot while you blast your music, your pencils acting as a microphone as you perform your concert in front of your stuffed animals. He could hear the music from across the yard, him identifying it as your shared playlist that you two made a couple years back, the duration over fifteen hours as about three-hundred songs reside. An accidental chuckle escaped him as his eyes rested on your jumping figure for just a couple seconds. It was for entertainment. Yeah. That’s it.

~.~.~.~

Sticking your fabric marker on the construction paper, you write out your message to Kei.

“I love you”. It was a message that would tell him that he deserves the best and nothing less. It was something that you treasured and wanted to share that value with him. Something that told him that he belonged with you.

You hoped that one day you’d be able to give it to him, to tell him how you really feel, to show that you can do a better job than her, but you never got the chance. Carrying the folded slip in your pocket, ready to pull out, his phone rings. As you sit on the bench on the side of the road, you wonder how long it had been since you had seen him really smile. You had made him smile a lot before, even if he doesn’t smile a lot genuinely, there are some times where real happiness seeps through his facade. You like it when that happens, always have. You noticed how much his happiness had reduced over the course of these last few months, though.

He answers the phone very monotone, very uninterested. He sounded obligated while he spoke to his girlfriend, sighing sharply once he hung up.

“What was that about?”

“Just drama. Kind of sick of it at this point.” He sticks his phone in his pocket, looking over to your concerned expression. “It’s nothing to worry about,” he says while rolling his eyes, placing a soft hand on your head and letting it rest. His hand retracted quickly when the sound of his name rings through his ears, his head whipping towards his girlfriend's figure. He readjusts his glasses, sitting straight up and swinging the strap of his school bag over his shoulder before he gets up and sluggishly walks across the street, meeting up with the one he was set to have a date with later. He subtly waved to you prior to turning his head away and continuing his stroll with his date hanging on his arm. You ignore the glare served your way when you wave back to him, forgetting the multiple reasons of why you wanted him away from her so he can enjoy his date. Hopefully.

~.~.~.~

As you stand on the bleachers of Kei’s game, you watch him stride over the court and jump to block the ball, a playful smirk residing on his lips as he sends the ball to the other side. You clap for him, shouting praises his way in hopes he might hear you over everyone else. Especially her. The screaming and unnecessary noise making your ears bleed a bit. You didn’t mean to be irritated by it, but the pulse on your forehead and the grit of your teeth made it painfully obvious you didn’t really like her.

When the end of the game hit, you were overloaded with joy at Kei’s victory. You hurriedly make your way over to him before gripping him tightly in a hug, not caring about the sweat that drips off his body. You could feel his arms flex as he raised his arms to hesitantly reciprocate your actions until his arms completely dropped, his body stiff.

“What the hell?” He muttered under his breath as he firmly moved you aside to walk away. Following after him, you let your head peek out from the side of his back, watching it all occur in front of you. “What’s this?”

“What? Nothing, Kei,” she mewls, setting her hands on her boyfriend’s shirt as if she thought he was silly.

“Yeah, we were just, uh, talkin’.” The man before her fibs.

“Not according to what I just saw,” Kei accuses the two with a furrowed brow, fed up. You come out from behind him, glaring at his girlfriend in hate. This was it.

“Don’t worry about it, man,” the man dismisses, turning to keep the conversation with her going.

Stepping forward, you place an arm in front of Kei, stopping his movements as you eye his girlfriend. “Tell me you were not just flirting with this man and we’ll leave.”

“I wasn-”

“Don't,” you pause, taking a deep breath as you watch her take a step back, “don’t lie to me, or you will regret it,” you threaten, a sharp glint in your eye telling her that you are oh so serious about this. Behind you, Kei watches as you make his girlfriend stammer on her words, a subconscious smile leaking on his face.

She stomps away with anger, the man beside her moving away as well, scoffing.

~.~.~.~

He didn’t say much on the way home; you trailed behind him as he walked away in part anger and denial. You didn’t really know what to say. Should you go back and find the girl and beat some sense into her? Should you give some words of the wise to Kei? Would he even take it?

As you watch him slow down to match your pace, you grow confused. You were headed to your place, so why was he suddenly following? “Kei?” He hums in response, his head hanging low. “Would you like to stay at my place? I can make coffee and we can stay up shit-talking our least favorite people,” you giggle and softly bump into his side, a stifled chuckle escaping him.

“Whatever,” he mumbles with an obvious smile as he continues to walk with you. When you quietly shut the door and take your shoes off, you softly tread to the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine- the man that you took home followed, his arm planting on the marble counter as his eyes trail over your moving figure.

As you sit on the stool next to him beside your kitchen island, you converse about the drama he’s been scooped in, him rolling his eyes twice a minute and his irritation level going off the charts as he recalls the events. He hated it, you could tell. He made it pretty obvious he wasn’t happy about it, too.

“Are you still going to the dance with her tomorrow then?” You speak curiously, twirling your fingers around each other while staring blankly into the marble as you awkwardly sit there, awaiting an answer.

It takes him a second to respond, a long sigh and a deep thought coming into play in his mind once he looks over to your spaced expression. Does he really want to go? Did he want to go with her, or with someone else- you? “Probably.”

Oh. “Are you sure you wanna do that? After what happened today?”

“Why not. Nothing better to do,” he justifies, shrugging. Yeah, you probably should have seen that coming.

The note that resided in your pocket seemed to crumple a little bit when you came to terms with the fact that he may never notice you the way you wanted him to.

~.~.~.~

“Are you going?” Kei asks over his phone as he takes his suit out of his closet.

“Ah, no,” you breathe out as guilt pools in your stomach, your elbow balancing sitting on your desk while dozing off into something that is not mathematical equations.

“Oh,” is all he says before telling you he needed to get ready, giving his goodbye.

After the call ends, you see the light fading away from his room as he closes the drapes, giving you a sign to start working again. You wondered what would happen if you possibly showed up. You originally were going to go, but the date that canceled soon beforehand gave your mind a gentle squeeze, telling you that the dance wasn’t for you. Still, the tiniest urge told you to make an appearance. You groan in waver, giving in.

~.~.~.~

You felt good. You felt really good. Wearing your planned outfit to this dance, you make your way inside carefully, minding the crowd. You catch the eye of the one girl that you held a grudge against, watching her grope another man on the dance floor. You roll your eyes in disgust as you move your head around to find a tall blond in the crowd. He leaned against the wall across from you his arms crossed while his dilated pupils trace the light that bounces off the floor.

“Hey,” you greet him, his attention whipping to you as he raises his head.

“Hi,” he reluctantly answers you while standing straight up, a relieved smirk leading onto his lips. “I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I didn’t want to put my outfit to waste,” you smile, spreading your arms to show your attire.

“Yeah, well you came at perfect timing,” he points towards his girlfriend which you identified earlier, although he seemed like he didn’t care all that much.

Gripping the folded paper in your pocket, you slip it out with two fingers confidently. “I have something to tell you,” you admit, your eyes staying centered on his black suit.

“Go on,” he eggs, hands staying at the side of his body while he watches you fluster yourself. It takes you less than a second to shove the note in his stomach and turn around, your face turning hotter and hotter every moment. Your hands lay against your cheeks as your nerves rattle beneath your skin, your ears tingling when you hear a sweet chuckle glide against his lips. “You should have told me a long time ago, Y/n. I wouldn’t have to deal with,” his eyebrows turn up as his head tips towards the dancing figure just a couple of feet away from you guys, “...that.”

You turn around slowly, disbelief covering your face when you look at his smug expression. “Are you kidding me? You’re telling me this,” you gesture at the both of you with your pointer finger, “could have been something a long time ago?”

He sucks in through his teeth, taking a grip on your arm and pulling you with him as he walks through the crowd to the middle of the room. “Yep. Guess you missed out.”

“Says you,” you roll your eyes with attitude as you pick up your pace and place your hand in his.

He knew he belonged with you, he was just wondering when you would admit that.

aaa here it is! three days of work! sry i havent been posting lately ive been working <3 (reupload bc tumblrs a little bitch)

REQUESTS: OPEN

reblogs are VERY appreciated!

350 notes · View notes