#i ditched the venti fic i was writing for this

[raeharmonia]

Alone in my living room

Author's note: hello, im back with a quick drabble. Im having a terrible month and what better way to express my emotions than to write an Amaranthe drabble of it MSKKSMS

I was listening to Sleeping at Last's Space for Sleep album while writing this (i love Sleeping at Last one of my comfort artists fr) Also this was intended to be a Lymaranthe hurt/comfort fic but i ditched the idea lol it just doesn't sit right for me. This might be the reason why the first half is a bit weird sorryy qwq

Word count: 698, semi-proofread Tags: angst, very venty, brief Lyney appearance lol, weird attempt of writing an accurate description of making tea (tried my best), mention of a want to disappear, self-deprecation

The sounds of the bustling city overwhelms Amaranthe's senses, the people's overlapping chatter makes her head feel dizzy. Lately, she felt even more emotionally and physically drained than usual, constant voices of insecurities flooding her mind ever since.

She tried doodling something on her sketchbook in an attempt to comfort her troubled soul but to no avail. Erasing the unfinished lines as soon as it shows signs of failure, leaving Amaranthe to stare at the leftover marks of graphite on her paper with frustration.

Unfortunately, the walk that was supposed to drive those feelings away only drained her even more. The bright rays of the sunlight and the overwhelmingly loud sounds of the streets amplified her stress levels.

Her hand found its way at the nearest streetlight, leaning against the metal pole in an attempt to calm herself down. She needs something that will ground herself back to reality, desperately.

"My lady, are you okay?"

A voice nearby called, it was filled with worry rather than his usual flamboyant tone.

His voice sounds gentle and warm, she thought.

"Oh im alright, Mr. Lyney. Thank you for your concern." Amaranthe managed to force a small smile, its so painful that its chipping away her remaining energy.

But she has no choice, she can't let him know that she's in such a state.

"But your eyes tells me otherwise. The eyes are the window to someone soul is it no—"

"I said im fine! Can you please shut up for once?!"

Lyney's eyes widened at her reaction, shocked to witness Amaranthe's sudden outburst.

Her tone is firm and cold, as cold as a snowstorm. And her sharp gaze lacked it's usual shine, devoid of color and light.

"I- im sorry i didn't mean to... I need to be alone."

The smell of rainbow roses surrounded the living room as she opened the door of her home. Her stress dwindled as she takes in the comforting atmosphere that her home can only provide.

Amaranthe then boiled some hot water for tea and takes out a box of tea bags out of the kitchen cupboard. Once the water finishes boiling, she poured it into a cup and dunked two tea bags in it.

She grabs a couple of brownies from a paper bag that Charlotte left for her 3 days ago and placed them on a small plate. She brings her teacup and plate towards the living and placed them on the coffee table.

After some time, she brings the teacup near to her lips and blew on the her tea before taking a sip. The sweet and sour flavors of the drink soothes her mind quite a bit. She takes a bite of the brownie, the sweet chocolate flavor made a small smile creep up her lips.

The only things that are accompanying her silence are the soft winds of the outdoors and the soft ticks of her clock.

She looked up at the clock to check the time. Its 2pm. Usually at that time she would be drawing, but the fear of failure hesitated her from picking up her art supplies.

As much as she likes the moments of solitude, she cant help but feel a bit lonely. Without the sounds of companionship filling up the room to distract her, negative thoughts and insecurities began clouding her mind.

Do people really like her? Do they really mean whenever they say that she's amazing and talented? Or are they just pretending and lying to her face? People clearly like someone else who also does the same thing as her better and are only spending time with her out of pity.

She's not amazing. Far from that. She'll always besomeone who is boring and make nothing but horrendous art. Why would anyone like someone like her?

Sometimes, she just wants to disappear altogether.

"Liars." she muttered.

A tear fell down from her eye, landing on her tea which caused it to ripple in the cup.

She places her cup on her table as more tears falls down her face.

She lied down against the soft cushions of her sofa and began crying softly.

This was the 4th time she cried this week.

[sky-squido]

For the ask game: Q, X, and, Y?

HI YES THIS ASK IS FROM SEPTEMBER—ANYWAY MOVING ON

Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?

Yeah, actually! I never post anything to Ao3 unless I’m 100% sure I’m going to finish it (even if it takes me literal years). That means both that I’ve never gonna perma-hiatus/abandon a fic if it’s on Ao3 and also that there are a lot of things floating around that I’ve actually put some legwork into that haven’t really gotten anywhere and I doubt I’ll get around to, so they've never really seen the light of day.

i was gonna permadeath hyrule and then i didn’t, details here

i did some light drafting and outlining of a story where the Four Sword splits Sky. it’d have to be long to do it justice and i didn’t wanna commit to that with two active WIPS on Ao3 at the time. i have just finished To Isolate, but i have 30k words of celestial navigation nonsense to now balance with hey four so i doubt i’ll get around to this one

i’ve got 4k words of legend slowly opening up to sky and telling him things and growing much closer and then very belatedly realizing that he knows next to nothing about sky himself. i started it in someone’s discord dms, but it wasn’t really going anywhere that excited me so i dropped it. if people want me to slap what i do have of discarded sketches-but-writing like this one on tumblr, let me know, though i warn you that they’ll all cut off partway through and be deeply unsatisfying

i’ve got 2.5k words of outline for something that’s kind of the same idea i mentioned in bullet 3 but it pulls wind into the mix and instead of being an i-just-dove-in-and-started-writing, it’s a pretty solid outline of something i just didn’t feel like fleshing out. the working fic title was “don’t look at me, i won’t be able to smile for you.”

i have another doc titled “haha lol legend is a punching bag.” this is a very apt title. legend gets nabbed by a baddie, puts up a heck of a fight tryna get away, almost manages, and then gets caught for real, bonked with malice, and unleashed onto his friends because we love to see link v link combat and the old i-know-you’re-in-there-somewhere fight. kind of an extension of that Malice!Legend ficlet i slapped on here a long while ago, but it does way more things. this one’s just an outline.

i’ve got 1k words of legend on koholint talking to marin after realizing the island was fake. had a cool take on marin, but wasn't really the vibe

i have this vague, very fluid concept that’s just “five times legend was helpless and one time he refused to be again.” what those five times are vary every time i try outlining it, but it’s just a lot of legend running into different kinds of The One Problem He Can’t Solve and struggling to cope with not being omnipotent. might actually revisit this one cuz i still like it a lot and i think there were some good ideas in here. my biggest problem with it is the “and one time he refused to be again” because i don’t like the implication that the solution to not being omnipotent is just to Try Harder but “five times legend was helpless and one time he accepted it” just sounds depressing. i’m very open to suggestions on this one!

i’ve got 2k words (written, not an outline) of four coming back to camp one night with red Very Much In Charge so his eyes are very red and then hyrule thinks he’s possessed and draws his sword on him and red freaks out and ditches and the other three have to figure out what’s going on. i didn’t really think it was going anywhere interesting but what really stopped me from continuing was that i started writing four Very Much Like A System and it was cool but then i started researching the neuroscience behind it and psychologist brain went wheeeeeee and now thinking about the fic just makes me want to do research instead of working on it oop

this one venty thing of hyrule just having no energy whatsoever and not wanting to talk to anyone. then he climbs a tree and feels a bit better. that’s literally it, and this one is actually complete, i just didn’t feel like posting it anywhere, though i can plop it here if y’all want.

then i have a silly AU outlined where all of the LU boys are either students or instructors at a flight school (like for airplanes and pilots n stuff). it would have to be really infodumpy though and i’m doing enough of that with my celestial navigation fic. the characters and world are fun but i also didn’t really have a storyline i liked so this hasn’t gone anywhere

there are probably more kicking around but i can’t find them right now

as for discarded scenes and storylines within fics i have actually written, there definitely are some, but i don’t really have any way of keeping track of them. the one i remember most vividly is that there was gonna be a part in to isolate ch.8 where sky overhears legend playing ballad of the wind fish and wind asks him about it and legend says he was hoping this was all some bad dream he could wake up from, but it didn’t really fit in the flow of the narrative we ended up with. there are actually a lot of deleted scenes from chapters 8 onwards because the outline and the actual thing are virtually unrecognizable as being part of the same fic.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer. All of them, obviously, but Wind and Four have been climbing that particular ladder! we need more content of them being deep and interesting and mature together (and wind especially, solo) and what better way to explore that than through strategically deployed angst and suffering!! this bodes well for Hey Four >:3

Y: A character you want to protect. all of them, believe it or not, but right now it’s mostly Legend, shockingly! he’s been my favorite punching bag for a while, but i’ve also noticed myself growing increasingly gentle with what i put him through and how i have him take it lately because these days it's actually way more interesting for me to be kind to him than to bully him

thank you for the ask and i hope you don't miss my reply considering it's been several months sfkghskghsdlfgjsdkl take care!!

[tomaytow]

omg im having brainrot about venti and how do u think he would cuddle windblume? would he be big spoon or small spoon? lmk ur thoughts!

i am so sorry it took me a while to respond bUT OOO

i hope you’re still having a venti brainrot because i’m still having a brainrot abt him (24/7,, check my dms with tala aka tumblr user blooming-cecilia LOL i flood her with venti stuff a lot)

anyway.

cuddling venti hcs, you want? i’ll give it to you. let me just ransack my mind for a bit;

- imagine just laying supine on the bed and venti just. crawls on top of you and buries his head on your chest. venti likes listening to your heartbeat and he also likes it when you stroke or pat his head. go on. run your fingers through his hair. he’ll probably sigh, pleased, and if you stop – he’ll definitely tell you to do it again (do it again! why should you not?) if you’re feeling playful and decide to stop, there are chances he’ll put your hand back to where it belongs.

- imagine sleeping so deeply that nothing ever wakes you. a venti comes to join you for bed, and when he sees you hugging a pillow, he won’t hesitate to replace said pillow with himself. venti will either nuzzle his face on the crook of your neck, or he’ll let your head rest on his chest. hm. he likes smelling your shampoo, by the way, because it makes him feel so much at home.

- ((akshsjbsjsjsjb the idea of venti just content with windblume… it’s so nice…))

- in the idol au, i discussed a similar concept where you try to make venti jealous by cuddling a plushie instead of him. it didn’t end well cuz venti couldn’t take it (archons, he’s just so silly-) and threw it across the room, before glomping you. why is the plushie getting more love than him??? he’s your boyfriend!!

- during the morning, it’s hard to get up because of venti’s hold around your waist. you’ll have to wake him up so he can let go of you. (but bear in mind, though: that venti’s very clingy—an understatement, tbh—and he loves you very much. i think waking him up just made it worse because he’ll hold you tighter. he refuses to let go.) there is no e s c a p e.

- cuddle him and he’ll cuddle you back. it has more passion and vigor it’s overwhelming. he’ll giggle a lot. cuddling is his favorite past times with you.

- you expect me to not think abt needy venti???? wrong. needy venti is for the soul. imagine him just sitting on the couch and has his arms raised. hands closing and opening in a grabby motion. he pouts at you, “windblume. cuddle.”

- he wants your attention, your affections, so it’s not so surprising when you’re on the phone with someone and you feel arms squeezing your waist… and kisses on your cheeks…

- don’t get me started on possessive venti during cuddle sessions cuz even though you both look cute & wholesome on the outside, who’s not to say that venti’s mind is only filled with mine, and only mine… mine always

- the anemo archon ���i’ll be your alternate jacket / hoodie / sweater!” barbatos, then proceeds to BEAR HUG you

- AJAHAJWBDKJDKKDLNDNP i just remembered abt his wings 🥺🥺 venti will definitely wrap his wings around you for more warmth……they’re so soft and comfortable and fluffy

- imagine you just both sitting together and one of his wings guide you close to him

- during rainy days / winter season, cuddles with venti will increase (if venti’s being a lil trickster, he’ll insert his cold hand under your shirt)

- “windblume, i’m cold. i think i deserve some cuddling, don’t you think?”

- personal hc: venti can’t choose which position he likes, but he has a soft spot for digging and hiding his face on your neck… he wants to be in his haven; his paradise; your arms around him, his arms around you. or just you, really. you’re home to him.

- after a long day, venti just drapes all over you. there are no words exchanged but you can understand what’s happening. he’s recharging. praise him, will you? comfort him? give him little kiths… or if you can, sing him songs? (yes. when venti’s upset, he calms down when he just presses himself closer to you)

- venti’s hugs are just the best. there are times where things are hard and it’ll always be resolved with proper communication and really— just a tight hug will suffice.

- when you’re both curled with one another, venti rubs your fingers with his thumb tenderly. hand holding with venti is always nice because you can feel that he really loves you, even in simple gestures.

- look at venti whenever you guys cuddle. yep. the soft gaze. the small smile. ah, yes. he loves you very much.

as for the big spoon and little spoon… venti can be both. he can be the big spoon or the small spoon.

that’s what’s perfect about him.

he doesn’t care.

as long as he’s cuddling you, he’s satisfied.

at first i only thought him as a small spoon because i want to give him the comfort that he deserves uNTIL I REALIZED THAT BIG SPOON VENTI IS GOOD, TOO. i mean. wouldn’t you want to be spooned by the anemo archon???

((tho… i’m in a huge big spoon venti mood rn…….. time to feed myself))

so yeah!!! it depends on the mood.

but you know. venti prefers it more when he sees you.

there’s easy access to the lips—easy access to the eyes. easy access to the face. he loves seeing you.

[wardenparker]

You’re So Vain - Chapter 1

Dieter Bravo x female Reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

Oscar winning star Dieter Bravo’s reputation is suffering after the debacle of “Cliff Beasts 6″ and “Beasts of the Bubble”, so his management team has signed him on to a publicity stunt to find his soulmate and show the world a softer side of the erratic and unpredictable star. The plan quickly go awry, though, when Dieter’s soulmate wants nothing to do with him. 

Rating: Teen. But this blog is *always* 18+ Word Count: 5.7k Warnings: *Blanket warning for chronic illness, cursing, and deceased family members. This is a Dieter fic, folks, so there absolutely will be discussions of drugs, drug use, and addiction.* Enemies to lovers, family hardships. Summary: Dieter meets with his team about their new strategy to fix his image problem, and you battle your best friend about how to respond to it when the campaign goes live.  Notes: Welcome to the Soulmate Sunday Family to our favourite Trash Can Man, Dieter Bravo! This is my first time writing anything enemies to lovers and Keri and I are having a blast with the secondary characters for this series. Hopefully you guys will enjoy it as much as we are!

Dieter slouches down in the stiff conference room seat, unsure why they couldn't spring for something more comfortable. Fuck knows they charge through the nose for their services so chairs that didn't feel like the pew at St. Mary's when he was six and forced to go to every damn Mass because his abuela was convinced that his soul was damned, wasn't beyond unreasonable in his opinion. Hungover and desperately craving a snort of something, his eyes narrow behind his sunglasses. Ridiculous indoors to some, but he needs them against the bright florescent lights in the conference room. "It wasn't a big deal." He huffs defensively, folding his arms over his chest and looks over at the grim faced, horribly dressed suits that represented his team.

"Maybe not to you." Libby, his manager of twenty years, shifts in her seat and holds her hands in her lap like an unhappy schoolmarm. "But Paramount rescinded your last offer and I had to dig my claws into the Ray-Ban reps to keep them from ditching your endorsement contract." The venti, 3-pump, skim milk, no foam, extra hot chai tea latte in front of her is now cold and that makes her madder than she likes. If she didn't appreciate the huge fucking percentage she gets from being Dieter Bravo's representation, maybe she wouldn't be sitting here pissed off and she could have enjoyed her coffee. Right now, the fact that she cares about him as a human is secondary to making sure his career doesn’t tank. "Dee, I don't think you understand how bad a beating the Bravo brand is taking right now."

"The Bravo brand." He curls his lip always hating the way Libby would say that. Like he was a fucking sneaker or some shit. "I don't understand why this is being blown out of proportion. I did coke. I always do coke. It's not like it's a big fucking secret. I was bored and fucking trapped in that goddamn hotel shooting the movie you—" He points his finger at PR manager Phil, a snarky little shit that reminded him of a weasel. "Told me would be a fucking piece of cake. An 'easy payday' as you put it."

"It would have been if Carol Cobb hadn't tried to incite a rebellion." Phil contends, draining the last sip of his own coffee from a travel mug that was definitely half whiskey.

"Here's the thing." Libby sits forward in her chair again, wishing she had just put her plan into motion before talking to Dieter about it, but the rest of the team had overruled her on that. "Just because coke is a thing that you do does not mean that the rest of the world was going to be okay with it. Or that your fans were going to be okay with it. Now, we are going to have to do a rehab stint. No," she frowns again. "Don't roll your eyes at me, I already called Promises and got you your usual room. But we're going to need more than that this time."

"So what are we talking about?" He asks, looking around the table, very unhappy about the idea of going back to that fucking facility. He didn't give a shit how nice it was, it was all bullshit. "Visiting a few hospitals and kissing sick kids? I'm not a Marvel character." He scoffs. "I would look like shit in spandex."

"We have a very unique endorsement lined up for you," Phil tells him, looking around at the rest of his team. They had gone around and around on this idea for a week before making a move towards it and the fact that it landed well with the company in question was like early fucking Christmas for them. "Mate Marks."

"The soulmate app?" Dieter frowns, looking between the people on the opposite side of the table from him in confusion. "Wha— no." He spits out, shaking his head. "No, nope, not going to happen." He tells them quickly and starts digging into his pockets, looking for the acid that he had misplaced. "I'm not pretending to endorse that bullshit."

"You're not going to pretend anything." Libby tells him flatly. "It's all already set up."

"After this meeting I'm going to release the first social media burst." Phil adds firmly. "Dieter Bravo is looking for his soulmate."

His agent - Malcolm - pulls a press release out of the folder in the middle of the table and smacks it down in front of their client. "When people hear about this there are going to be a lot more Dieter Bravo fans in the world."

"We're launching an international search for your soulmate." Libby goes on. "Mate Marks will weed out the obvious phonies and pass the decent possibilities on to us while you're in rehab. I'm sure it won't take long to find them. By the time you get out, we should have a name and address. We'll take a camera crew to their front door, and you will be charm itself."

"I don't need to find my soulmate." He whines, pouting and nearly stamping his feet like a petulant child. He doesn't want to find his soulmate. Is actually terrified of it, if the truth were to be told. Afraid of rejection, not being good enough. Needy and petulant were not traits someone wanted in a soulmate. "I'll build a hospital in a third world country or whatever."

"The wheels are already in motion, Dee." Of that, Libby made sure. She's known him long enough to know that finding his soulmate isn't on top of his list of life goals, and therefore long enough to care what happens to him. He thinks she's a cold bitch in a business suit and sometimes she can be, but Libby Pryce does give a fuck about her clients. Finding his soulmate will be good for him. As frustrating as he can be, Dieter has bright spots. "Ten days in rehab and your soulmate. That's the price of getting your career back on track."

"There's nothing else I can do?" Dieter demands, looking around to the stone-cold faces of the fucking vultures he pays. Desperately wanting to be thrown a bone.

"Well," Phil shrugs his shoulders. "You could always do the full two weeks for once."

Dieter slouches back again, glowering at all of them and kicking at another chair under the table. "Fuck me." He groans, begrudgingly accepting his fate.

"If you're lucky." Libby agrees brightly, satisfied that he isn't going to fight back too much on this little publicity stunt. He can be stubborn as a mule when he wants to be. "This is going to work, Dee. And who knows? Maybe you'll even like them a little."

"I fucking doubt it." He huffs, wondering how quickly this incident will blow over so he can go back to his life.

"Well, since we've had a chance to touch base on all this." Sliding the press release back into its folder, Libby surveys the team at the table with satisfaction. "Let's get you home so you can pack, okay? We'll have a car bring you to Promises and you can look forward to a little rest and relaxation while we get down to the dirty work of finding your soulmate."

“Right.” Dieter rolls his eyes and pushes himself to his feet, finally finding the pill that he had been looking for and pops it to his mouth. “My soulmate.” He murmurs, wondering what kind of person the universe picked out for him.

******

"And the man in the back said, "Everyone attack" and it turned into a ballroom blitz...and the girl in the corner said, "Boy I want to warn you it'll turn into a ballroom blitz...ballroom blitz..." Singing along with your After School playlist as you cook dinner in the empty house is fairly par for the course on a weekday. It's your little ritual, enjoyed as an indulgence after you've gotten home from work and before your best friend - and sister-in-law and housemate - returns from picking up her little girl from daycare after her own long workday. Tonight will be a baked chicken and kid-friendly mashed potatoes and zucchini, all things that you have carefully learned to cook to accommodate your niece's copious dietary restrictions. The sound of the front door brings you out of your revelry and you turn down the volume on the speakers in the kitchen. "Steph?" You call your best friend's name as you thoroughly wash your hands in the sink. "How was work?"

Stephanie grunts, dumping her keys and trying to kick off her shoes while she holds the increasingly heavy child in her arm. “Talk about it later.” She calls out, immediately heading up the stairs to bathe Nora where she had had an accident after refusing to wear her pull ups.

"Got it!" You turn to grab the open bottle of wine from the fridge and a glass out of the cupboard, pouring out a glass for Stephanie and topping off your own. Now you're extra glad you picked up some ice cream at the grocery store when you stopped for dinner ingredients on the way home.

There are days Stephanie Valeria swears she would never have survived the last few years without you. You are her best friend, more than that - you are family. Moving in with her when her husband - your brother, Shawn - had succumb to his battle with long Covid, you were the only reason she was barely afloat. Although most months, the medical bills that come in make her soak in the bath and cry after Nora is asleep. “Come on baby girl.” She watches as her daughter holds onto the bar installed in the bathroom to help her from falling as she starts to strip her down. “After we clean you up, we can go see what Aunt Gigi cooked for dinner, okay?”

"'Kay." Nora looks up at her mom with tearful eyes, understanding just enough in her little mind to know that her mother is sad. "I sorry I got messy, Mommy."

“Don’t you worry about that.” Stephanie crouches down and thumbs away the tears in her daughter’s eyes, reminding herself that the young girl couldn’t help her body sometimes doesn’t let her know her needs. She had just wanted to be like the other kids and she wouldn’t shame her for that. “We’ll get everything fixed up like it didn’t happen, okay?”

"'Kay." She nods her little head seriously, being at an age where she tends to take her mother at her word in all things except when extra dessert or watching a movie past bedtime are concerned.

After a quick bath, Stephanie brings her downstairs and walks into the kitchen. “Say hi Aunt Gigi!”

"Hey, there's my girl!" You kneel down and open your arms for a hug when you hear them behind you, guessing that Nora must have had another accident since she's scrubbed clean and in new clothes. The toddler screeches a happy "Gigi!" and comes straight to you, giggling happily when you swing her up in your arms and set her on your hip. "Did you have a good day at daycare today, sweet girl?"

"Uh huh." She nods and gives you a sweet smile before she rocks forward, nearly catapulting herself out of your arms so she can see what you are cooking. Because it's nearly an everyday occurrence, Stephanie doesn't have a heart attack and walks over to the fridge to start pulling out Nora's evening medications to get them ready to take with dinner. "What's dinner?"

“Herb roasted chicken, zucchini, and Nora’s very favorite mashed potatoes.” You smile gratefully when Nora claps at the announcement. Because of how sick she is, sometimes she’s too nauseous or in too much pain to eat and even smelling food can make her cry at those times. Right now, though, she seems to be okay. “And for dessert there’s pound cake and cherry sauce. So we’re definitely gonna eat all our veggies, right sweet girl?”

She pouts but gives you a begrudging nod. She doesn’t love zucchini, but you make it taste almost yummy. Instead, she zeros in on the important thing. “Cake!” She squeals happily.

“That’s my girl.” Carefully setting her down again, you nudge the second glass of wine you poured toward Steph with a tired smile. “And grown-up juice for Mommy and Gigi.”

“When can I have that?” Nora asks, eyeing the liquid that looks like juice.

“Probably never, sweetie,” Steph tells her honestly. “People with the kind of sickness you have can’t drink grown-up juice even when they’re grown-ups.” The list of dietary restrictions for Nora is far longer than the list of what’s good for her, and struggling to make the same bland ingredients taste good in different ways to her four-year-old has been something she has been grateful for your help on. “Remember the word the doctors taught you? Digestion? Grown-up juice is a no-no for digestion.”

“This is bullshit.” Nora huffs under her breath, using her mother’s favorite saying when she isn’t happy with something.

“Nora Skye.” Steph’s eyes narrow at her daughter in that way that looks intimidating, but you can tell she’s trying not to laugh. “What did you just say?”

In the way that young children will do, push boundaries, Nora narrows her eyes back at her mother. “This is bullshit.” She repeats a little louder.

“Alright.” Steph shrugs, crossing her arms at her daughter matter-of-factly. “Little girls who curse don’t get dessert, so I guess no cake for you tonight.”

Nora scrunches her face up in a combination of horror and bewilderment. “You say it.” She accuses plaintively, like that is a good reason that she should be allowed. “All the time, when you look at the ‘fuckin’ bills.”

“That’s three times, Nora Skye.” Steph knows that her daughter knows curse words are bad words, but since she’s self-aware enough to realize that the girl probably wouldn’t be hearing these things if not for her, she just sighs. “No dessert for three days, end of discussion. You know that bad words are for big girls.”

“Not hungry anyway.” The younger girl huffs under her breath, wiggling to get down from your arms with the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

You sigh, leaning back against the stove with a drawn face as Nora runs off to her room as fast as her little legs will carry her. There truly are days when you just don’t know what to say in situations with your niece and being a bystander in this particular moment makes you feel like you’re a shit aunt on top of everything else. “This is why I teach high school.” You murmur softly, shaking your head.

Stephanie scrubs her hand down her face with an exhausted sigh. “Maybe I’m being too hard on her.” She murmurs after a moment. “She’s four, she’s not a teenager.”

“Maybe we just save the swearing until we know she’s gone to bed? She’s getting it from both of us, and the last thing you need is to get a call from her kindergarten teacher next year when she’s moved on to compound swears.” Although the image of a five-year-old saying motherfucker does amuse you more than it should. “How was work?”

Another heavy sigh, and Stephanie pulls the wine glass towards her as if all the answers to her problems can be found in the bottom of the glass. She gulps down a large sip and looks over at you with only a slight amount of panic in her eyes. “They have to cut my hours.” She tells you, biting her lip and taking another large sip of her wine.

“No…” That means your extremely tight budget is about to get tighter, and the stress level in the house is about to go up again. A house that you can’t really afford anymore and a stress level that is already three stories past the roof. “I’m so sorry, honey. Did they give you a reason?”

Her lip trembles as she tries to fight back tears, feeling hopeless once again. “Not enough hours for everyone and I call out a lot.” She closes her eyes, desperately wishing she were stronger, feeling like such a failure in life. “I miss Shawn.” She whispers.

"Steph..." Without hesitation, you set your glass back down on the counter and wrap your friend up in your arms, gently swaying from side to side just like it's Nora against your chest and not her mother. "I miss him, too, honey. Every day." Your brother was always an emotional rock. He had a killer job that he could do from home for half the week, and he had the practical know-how to get things done around the house without having to call a repairman ninety percent of the time.

Shawn and Steph were perfect compliments - a doer and a dreamer who combined forces to make things always feel possible even when they were far-fetched. And Covid had reduced him to a shell of himself before it took him completely. "I'll see if I can find something better than waiting tables for summer work this year. We'll get through it, I promise." Even if you have to take two summer jobs, or god forbid three, you'll do whatever it takes to bring in more money. The school year only has a week left and then you can be working on lesson plans and paperwork any old time of day. You will find a way to help.

"I can't ask you to do that." Steph practically sobs, feeling guilty that she can't do this by herself. The life insurance was quickly eaten up by the medical bills but still didn't put a dent in them, and their savings had dwindled down to nothing while he was battling the virus. "I— I don't know what to do." She confesses softly. "I started looking for another job, but I'm scared to leave. Not have health insurance for Nora - shitty as it is."

"You're not asking me, honey, I'm offering." You just hug her tighter, grabbing a paper towel off the roll on the kitchen counter with one hand and slipping it to her to let her keep crying. "We're family. We take care of each other. End of story."

"I shouldn't have to." She takes the paper towel and wipes her eyes. "I should be able to do this on my own. Shawn trusted me to take care of Nora and myself and I'm - I'm failing."

"Of course Shawn trusts that you'll take care of Nora." The instinct to hold her tighter would probably smother her so you run your thumb soothingly over the peak of her shoulder. "But that also means knowing when to ask for help, Stephy. You're not a failure if you can't do it alone, you're just human." Having moved into the house while your brother was sick, you saw firsthand the way that Steph would look at things as her burden and her burden alone until you just stood in the middle of the mess and forced her to accept your help. "And honey...it's not your fault that Nora is sick. That came from Shawn's and my side of the family, so literally none of this is your fault in any way. We're going to get through this as a family."

"I –" She gives another great, heaving sigh and her shoulders sag under the weight of everything that she is feeling. "Enough with me bringing down the mood." She pulls back and shakes her head as if to shake of the negative feelings. There wasn't a whole hell of a lot that she could do right now anyway.

"Go check on your little sailor and I'll put dinner on the table." You offer, wiping the remnants of tear tracks from her cheeks. "After dinner we can break out Woody, Buzz, and Jessie and watch Toy Story 2?" Nora's current film addiction happened to be a little retro but she's in love with it and it will make it that much better when the Lightyear movie comes out soon.

Steph chuckles and shakes her head. "God save me." She murmurs, reaching out and taking your hand to squeeze gently. "Thank you." She whispers softly.

“Anything for my favorite sister.” You shoot her a wink and a grin as she heads toward the stairs, then start pulling out plates and utensils to set the table. Tomorrow, you decide, you’ll start applying for extra summer work. Whatever it takes.

Stephanie takes the stairs slowly, walking past family photos, Shawn holding Nora with a giant, beaming smile on his face. Running in the yard and chasing after the curly haired girl, both of them laughing and Nora seemingly carefree. Her issues hadn't made themselves known yet, leaving 2020 to dump all the nightmares onto her family in one swoop. Coming up on her daughter's door, she hears the soft hiccups, indicating that she had been crying. Understanding the feeling completely, she knocks so she doesn't startle her and pushes the door open. "Hey sweetheart." She calls softly, seeing her sitting on her little bed and holding her doll in her arms, the last one that her father had given her. Again, making another pang of guilt flood Stephanie. "Are you ready to talk?"

“I’m s-sorry I said bad words, Mommy.” Nora hiccups, kicking her little socked feet on the edge of her bed and looking down at the doll in her lap. While she knows she did something wrong she doesn’t really understand what’s so bad about some silly words. But it still made her mother upset.

"I know." Softening, she walks over and sits down on the bed, wrapping her arm around her daughter and pressing a kiss to her braided hair. "I know we've talked about bad words before, but I know that it's not fair that I say them when I'm frustrated." It’s true, she had gotten bad about hissing the curses under her breath and obviously Nora was picking up that habit. "How about we both promise really hard not to say them, okay?"

“Does Auntie Gigi get to say them?” She asks, sniffling into her mother’s embrace but trying hard to understand the rules.

"Aunt Gigi is going to try hard not to say them too." Steph promises, smiling at how much she loves her Aunt Gigi and wants to be like her. Thank god for you and that silly, sweet nickname you had come up with. Her own mom wanted to be called Gigi. Had cooed and clapped when her only child had announced she was pregnant with her first child. Only to be taken from this earth before she ever got to meet Nora. Six months pregnant and just really starting to show beyond the 'have you gained weight?' comments, you had saved Steph's sanity at the funeral, blurting out that you were going to do double duty. You were going to be Nora's aunt and her Gigi, thus Aunt Gigi was born.

“No more bad words at all.” Nora seems to at least be able to get behind a family effort and she nods in her mother’s arms. “I sorry,” she repeats sadly, not liking when her mom or Gigi is upset.

"It's okay baby." Another kiss to her head, a soft, soothing hand that strokes her gently. "I think I was a little too harsh on your punishment." Stephanie has such a hard time taking away desserts from Nora, especially ones that she can eat, during times when she can eat. "How about instead no dessert, we go to bed thirty minutes early tonight?" She offers. "Ten minutes for every bad word?" It's fair, and still reinforces that there are consequences for bad behavior.

“‘Kay.” Though the prospect of still being punished doesn’t sound like fun, Nora perks up at getting cake back. However, one very important question still remains. “Do I still get to have a bedtime story?”

Stephanie laughs, the first bright spot in her rough afternoon and she grins down at her daughter. "You still get a bedtime story." She assures her, always wanting to reinforce that love of reading and storytelling. "Let's go downstairs and eat, huh? Aunt Gigi might think that we don't like her cooking anymore."

“But we doooooo!” Nora jumps down from her bed and thunders downstairs with the resilience that only little kids seem to have.

Stephanie takes just a second, chuckling and shaking her head before she follows after her daughter.

******

The bottle of wine comes out again after Nora has gone to bed, and you and Steph are sitting in the backyard with your glasses of grown-up juice swapping TikToks or telling stories from the day. Since your seniors have already graduated it’s coming up on final exam time for the rest of your students, which puts you in an interesting spot as an art teacher. Instead of proctoring tests you’re observing presentations, and that means you’ve had some absolute doozies in terms of bullshit that the kids have tried to get away with. Not being particularly artistically talented is one thing, but claiming that your final project was influenced by the great Renaissance painter Kurt Cobain definitely qualified as zero effort.

Steph leans back, looking up at the sky and smiles. She might be drowning in debt and sometimes hanging on by the edges of her fingernails, but she loved this house. Purchased with Shawn, she had conceived Nora in house, brought her home from the hospital and even, devastatingly, lost her soulmate here. This space holding so many memories for her the back yard that she and Shawn had renovated as soon as the keys were in their hands. The plans for a pool never happened but Nora enjoyed the kiddie pools when she got them.

“I just want to watch dumb TikTok dances, why must I watch ads?” You bemoan, having accidentally closed the app while flipping between videos. Now, on the reopen, you’re ready to swipe the ad away immediately when you see that it’s for Mate Marks. There is nothing that the soulmate matching app could possibly offer you, and you self-consciously tug at the long sleeves of your shirt that you wear despite the summer night’s warmth. The less you look at your shared marks, the better for your sanity. It’s in that split second, though, that the audio on the ad erupts. A classic rock-style instrumental track plays over a clip of him. Dieter Bravo hugging fans and waving in a collage of promotional video moments all cherry-picked to make him look his ‘best’ and seem less like the selfish asshole the whole world knows him to be. “Finding my soulmate would mean the world to me.” The audio says, in a way that makes you wonder if it’s just spliced together from interview sound bytes. “I’m hoping they’re out there somewhere, ready with an open mind and an open heart.” You shudder, nearly throwing your phone across the backyard in an effort to shut the damn app quickly, but it’s too late. Steph’s head has already perked up. “Fudge. No.” You tell her immediately, strained with the effort of not immediately letting loose every swear you’ve ever heard in your life. “NO.”

"He's looking for you." Steph rocks forward violently and snatches your phone out of your hand so she can watch the ad. "Oh my God, he's looking for you!" She squeals, looking up at you and grinning. "Come on! You aren't the least bit curious?"

“No.” You repeat rather violently, picking at your long sleeves again. “I have absolutely no desire to be a publicity stunt because I’m sure that’s all that that is.” Any and all mention of your soulmate is considered strictly off limits in your house - even Shawn had abided by that rule despite your older brother loving to tease you - ever since his marks started showing up on you as a preteen to the usual curiosity had been frustration for you. “I’m sure somebody else has gotten his tattoos by now. Let him find them.”

"You still aren't over that?" Stephanie huffs and rolls her eyes, reaching for your arm and shoving up your sleeve to reveal the large black triangle. "It was years ago and it didn't even happen to you. You know, he might have changed? He was just starting out, fame and all that bullsh-oney" She cuts off the curse. "Bologna. Like it or not, you are Dieter Bravo's soulmate."

“I do not like it.” Snatching your arm back, you pull your sleeve back into place with a grimace. “I’m perfectly happy in my life and I don’t need it interrupted by some self-important butthead,” the word does not even begin to describe what you know of the man.

"It could just be his public persona?" Steph doubts it, but there is always that chance. Act obnoxious in front of the cameras either for attention or to keep them from looking too hard at him.

"After this long?" You have no doubt that it could have started that way, but after a few decades it's more than likely just who he is. "Would you really want him around Nora? All the drugs and the completely reckless behaviour? That's not the kind of person who would be a good influence over her."

"I think that he can't be all bad." Stephanie tells you. "Honestly, I've watched all his movies, he's a good actor. A great actor actually." She shrugs when you give her a shocked look. "What? I stream them when I'm in my room since you want to pretend he doesn't exist. I never stopped being a fan, even if I was disappointed."

"Steph, the man looked you straight in the face when you asked for his autograph and walked away." The incident may be ten years past, but it had cemented your poor opinion of the universe's choice for you and you had sworn the day it happened never to give Dieter Bravo the time of day ever again. Since then you have not watched a single minute of film or read any interviews with him, and you certainly do your best to never think of him. "The only reason I give soulmates any credence whatsoever after the train wreck of a match I'm stuck with is because you and Shawn were soulmates."

"And?" Stephanie had been completely crushed at the time and slightly embarrassed but she also realizes that she was perhaps in the wrong for how she had ambushed him. "He is just as entitled to bad days or just saying no as any of us are." She reminds you. "He didn't owe me an answer. Would it have been polite? Yeah, but I also didn't have to walk up asking him for anything."

"I don't understand how you can be so forgiving." You shake your head, finally taking back your phone and closing the app to shove it into your pants pocket. "I hope the closest we ever get to that man is three feet on a sidewalk ten years ago."

“I don’t think you should just ignore your soulmate.” Stephanie murmurs quietly, rubbing the hand where her own soulmate mark, some dumb little tattoo that Shawn had gotten, a little star, had disappeared when he died. She had only gotten it replaced, duplicated on her skin, just after last Christmas. The money was a gift from her parents in Shawn’s memory.

"Well, I'm not entering some stupid contest." That isn't up for debate. Not even for a second. "If he wants to do a Prince Charming tour of southern California and show up on every single doorstep with a shoe and a sob story, maybe I'll actually look him in the eye and say 'no' to his face."

"Would you really?" She huffs out a laugh and shakes her head. "I honestly think you enjoy disliking your soulmate."

Grumbling slightly in indignation, you drain the rest of the wine in your glass in one go and pour a whole new one. "If your soulmate was Dieter fudging Bravo, you'd dislike it, too."

"I don't know." Steph shoots you a grin. "He is kind of hot. In that messy kind of way. Plus, I've heard he's great in bed."

"Oh gross." The gagging noise you make is animated just like the way you shudder in your seat. "Forty-something is too old to be relying on the messy-artists-are-sexy trope. And I want to know how much those girls were paid to sing his praises." Many - many - years ago the two of you had swooned over a younger Dieter Bravo in fan magazines, but those years are far behind you.

She smirks over her wine glass and hums. "It wasn't a girl that was spilling the tea." She doesn't completely believe your stance on your soulmate. You protest too much for it to be true loathing. Always wondering if you were scared of 'Dieter - fucking - Bravo' being your soulmate. Afraid that you wouldn't be enough for the eccentric star.

"Whoever they were, I'm sure they were compensated amply for their positive statement." You slump in your seat, arms crossed while you sip your wine with a scowl. "There is nothing he or I could possibly do for each other to make each other happy. End of story. So I have no interest." It's what you've told yourself for ten years and you'll be damned if you're going to let that philosophy go by the wayside now. Not when you have a career you've worked for and your family to help take care of. You wouldn't let God themselves get in the way of that.

"Whatever you say. " She's learned over the nearly twenty years as your best friend, that sometimes the easiest thing was to let something drop. You had a tendency to dig your heels in and held a grudge like no other. "I'm sure that he will be wrapped around some young starlet soon enough."

"Which is a whole other reason to pay this Mate Marks publicity stunt absolutely no mind." The decision is made in your mind, and that is that. You've gone your entire life with only your closest friends and family knowing the truth about your soulmate. There is no need for anyone else to ever know.

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @katheriner1999 @littlemousedroid @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @hardc0rehaylz @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42

YSV: @tortor-mcgee @hnt-escape

My Masterlist!

[your-1up-girl]

When you remember their Starbucks order: 1A girls Edition

Okie dokie so the sweet @tryingmyves let me do a version of her Starbucks series on her blog but with the 1A girls. I hope you like it Ves and thank you again for giving me permission to write this.

No warnings (other than it bearly being proofread) for this one and a gender nutural reader. Also, I'm trying something new for this, instead of saying Y/N, I'm using Y/C (as in your character), just to see how I like that. anyways, please enjoy.

Characters: Tsuyu Asui, Ochaco Uraraka (I will write for the other girls don't worry)

Tsuyu Asui

Okay, I have never done headcanons like this before soooooooooooo……yeah just be kind please? Also these are headcanons (using that word loosely) but I couldn’t help but turn it into a small fic.

Anyways, we know Tsu can’t handle the cold weather but I like to think that she enjoys cold drinks, especially during the summer

She isn’t much of a coffee drinker nor a tea drinker but she does like fruity drinks

So, her favorite cold thing to drink is a grande Iced Guava Passion Fruit with light ice. While she likes a Venti (she gets the larger size when it’s cold) Vanilla Crème Steamer as her hot drink

You noticed that when you went out with everyone on the bi-weekly Class 1A groceries run, she would get one or the other depending on the season.

You, being the loving significant other that you were, took this to memory and even if you didn’t go out on very many “Coffee Shop dates” together, you still kept the drinks in the back of your mind.

One afternoon when people were staying in the common room, the weather was bad with rain and it was surprisingly cold that day

So, everyone was vibing to the rain against the window, the soft sounds of Lo-fi that Jiro set up with her portable speaker, and the game that played on TV

Well, everyone except Tsu

She was currently struggling to stay awake as she glanced at the video game that flashed on screen. Wrapped in the fuzzy socks, plush blanket, and hoodie you got her

Anyone would have thought she was just sleepy; it was getting late and she’d been working hard all week but you knew that wasn’t the case this time

Her quirk makes it so she gets tired when it's too cold

So she tries to combat it at times like these so if this was a fight and she was battleing in the colder weather she would stay awake. But clearly she was losing.

The way Tsu’s head would gradually lower and closer to Kirashima’s arm. But when her temple just barely pressed against him, she would shoot back up again eyes wide, only for it to happen again. You watched this for a solid minute while trying to explain the point of the game to Todoroki. All you wanted to do was go over there and cuddle up next to her to maybe provide a bit of body heat. But she would always deny you.

“I need to be able to warm myself Y/N. It’s very sweet of you to help me but, I think I can do this if I just focus.”

And it seemed that Tsu was getting the hang of staying awake during the cold because she was able to focus on the screen and talk to Kirishima. Your focus returned to Todoroki after that and he had a plethora of questions that you happily answered with a few laughs in between.

That’s when you saw from the corner of your eye, a flash of green drop followed by a soft “oof”. Tsuyu had fallen asleep against Kirishima. A sigh escaped as you dug through your pockets. Finding a few dollars, you got up and shook your girlfriend awake.

“Hey. Hey, Tsu.” A small hum left her lips as she groggily looked up at you.

“Oh, I guess it’s colder than I thought ribbit.”

You and Kirishima both laughed, “Don’t worry about it sweetie you’ll get it. I just woke you up to let you know I’m heading out for a minute.”

“What?” That woke her up but not enough to get the sleep out of her eyes. “Then let me go with you.”

“No, no. It’s okay. It’s raining pretty bad out there and I’d hate for you to get worse.” You put a kiss on her forehead and she gave a content smile as you looked at Kirishima. “Try to make sure she doesn’t fall asleep again, yeah?”

With a signature shark-tooth grin, he gave you a thumbs up, “You can count on me boss.”

You left after sending Aizawa a quick text letting him know you would be out and grabbed your raincoat, boots to brace the elements. Luckily, the Starbucks wasn’t too busy. But, it was busier than usual considering that it is practically raining buckets outside. After ordering the steamer and leaving a tip for the barista, you nearly ran back to the dorms (just for good measure you ordered it extra hot so it would be good for Tsu).

Upon entering the dorms, the class was still scattered about the common room and Tsu was making light conversation with Kirishima. You ditched your coat and boots for your slippers and walked over to your froggy girlfriend and handed her the drink.

“Oh, Y/C, did you go out to get this just for me?”

“Yup, venti Vanilla Crème steamer. I also got it extra hot so that it wouldn’t get cold when I got here.”

Tsu took the cup with slightly shocked eyes but after the first sip, a content smile found its way to her lips. “I didn’t expect you to remember my drink. I didn’t think you even knew what I ordered, ribbit.”

You laughed softly, “We’ve been dating for a year now, I noticed that you get this one when it’s cold and the guava drink when it’s hot.” Said in a proud matter-of-fact tone you couldn’t help but smile at the blush that came across her cheeks.

“Aww Tsu, you’re blushing.” Kirishima teased. You carefully undid the blanket that she had wrapped herself in and got comfortable with her as she sat between your legs.

“Thank you for the drink Y/C; it makes me happy that you noticed things like that.”

You kissed her shoulder, “Anything for you Tsu.” Kirishima put an arm around your shoulder to offer more warmth and you all set your attention back to the screen; giving playful teases to Sero couldn’t find his way.

[doyouremem8erme]

this fic for the commentary because i relate to it a whole bunch!!

cw for discussion of irl bullying. also, marcy harm in the fic.

so ok! the night before i wrote that fic (i actually wrote it at the same time as this one but didnt publish the one you asked abt until much more recently; even that other fic was posted a decent time after i wrote it) i had just sat down and had a conversation with a friend from middle school whose instagram i'd just found.

(this bit gets a bit venty so skip if you want)

they and i were in a small friend group in middle school that group were some of my only friends! however i had lied to them to fit in with the group (im not comfortable sharing what) and eventually was like. ok i dont care if you ditch me and leave me to be bullied by the people at this school who hate me (i was genuinely concerned that some of them might actually kill me based on the seriousness of many of their threats.) i cant lie anymore. and i told them the truth one day at lunch and tried to cling to our friendship but they backed away. basically it sucked!!

anyways one of those friends eventually started talking to me again but the other completely ignored me. i wont get into the rest of that drama actually bc its even more completely irrelevant! so the better friend is the one who i ended up talking to on instagram late one night last year. and they were basically like. yeah that other guy sucks he's messed with a ton of other people like this. he wasnt worth it.

that conversation was rlly important bc it let me realize a lot of things. namely, the reason im so drawn to marcy as a character. i see a ton of myself in her.

the fic you asked about is basically me trying to project the day those friends ditched me. trying to handle those emotions that were coming back all of a sudden from that day.

this? this is pure projection.

and this is in large part, me trying to come to terms with my own mistakes from when i was a kid. sure it's hyperbole, but things get more extreme when translated like this if i want venting to work.

after a last passage of venting lmao, we get back into the more fictional bits. "the bitter wind" is ofc a generic phrase but i was lowkey thinking abt "emmylou" by first aid kit while writing that line.

girls when italicized ohs

me: (is mildly sad) hmmmm. *harms marcy*

it's clear what of this was written after i got what i needed to vent about out. the reason this took over 6 months to get published was that i only wrote a short bit of such intensely personal writing before i switched over to the other fic i used to vent about the same topic. i just tacked on the last few generic, fictional, canon-compliant marcangst stuff in time for the true colors anniversary.

hi basil if you relate to this fic "a whole bunch" i might recommend you a pinch of therapy (<- went to therapy for years following the events that led to me writing this)

[dayables]

TW: Kinda venty.

That Hinako analysis thing, that was tiring and its 1.1k and now I never want to touch my island existance fic but im still stuck on day 11 because i really do not want to write Shin casually starving with Reko so instead i posted that monster becuase Hinako has slowly become a comfort character and i hate that.

Like god rest my heart. She’s probably gonna wind up dead in a ditch and i have chosen to get attTCHED. 

Anyways, no i will not write the island fic. I will now go write vent fics that keep me up till 1am and neglect anything else. 

Thank you

[sarahreeese]

Reesker Artist!AU

Since I’m never going to write all my ideas and I am behind on 3 stories already; I’m doing lunch hour bullet list fics. Might consider taking requests for these in the future if I can offer any consistency.

Sarah is a painter in Chicago who is up and coming, but definitely is still a barista at a local coffee shop

She has almost all the pieces ready for her new exhibition except for one large one

There’s no plan for it, other than the she wants it to be a portrait

Ava comes into the coffee shop, almost every night to buy coffee

And by every night, it’s every night 3 minutes before closing, but at least it’s just a venti black coffee

Sarah might have grown a backbone and told her to come in earlier if she wasn’t very gay and Ava wasn’t very pretty

It starts as friendly banter and mild flirting and then they start talking one night when Ava comes in as she’s closing up

Ava regularly pulls all nighters at law firm she works at to try and steal the position away from the son of one of the partners

Hence the constant minutes before closing coffees

She acts as a sounding board in the beginning, wondering if Connor Rhodes is truly as stupid as she makes him out to be

She also bounces ideas off of her, ‘I could make him fall in love with me, convince him to quit and then just ditch him after. It’s fool proof’

Then Ava starts asking questions about her, and Sarah dodges them for a bit until her coworker shouts out she’s a painter

The next day Ava has stalked instagram for her page and has unabashedly liked every post she’s ever made

She finds out about the exhibition and wants to go

Sarah says she’s still missing pieces and as she’s about to ask her if she’d mind posing when Ava asks if she’d paint her

‘I mean if you want to. Maybe I don’t have the right face’

‘Your face would be perfect’

‘It’s a date’

Then internal gay questioning of like is it a daAaAte or like a meeting 

Ava comes to her apartment and Sarah positions her to pose and she gives her that look and thank god she figured out it was a date

Insert too long of looks and a hand guiding her chin for too long, tucking her hair behind her ear for the shot

She sketches her out, and then takes a picture to capture the lighting so she can paint later.

Ava volunteers to come back and do it live if she needs to ‘It’s no big deal’ ‘the lighting won’t be same’

Sarah offers to take her out for dinner to make it up to her

And that’s all I had time to come up with.