#i don’t have a great relationship w my parents (i’ve been no contact w them for years now)

[overheaven]

it’s rly cool that Snoopy is on trend cause one little fun fact is my dad is a hardcore Peanuts fan and i grew up literally surrounded by Peanuts collectibles. like in glass cases & everything, a lot of it was older than me (i’m 31 now). it’s rly nostalgic and heartwarming to see Snoopy everywhere!

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

hiii i’m thinking you do 1/4/25 with rafe!!

maybe rafe and y/n broke up but rafe really didn’t have a say bc the reader broke up with bc he was toxic and or bc of drugs and he rlly misses her and constantly try’s to get her back, and then maybe the story can end in soft smut.?

if you don’t choose to do that it’s ok!! ❤️❤️

 ‘’I don’t care we broke up, I still love you.’’ + ‘’Tell me this love is worth the fight.’’ + ‘’Don’t push me away.’’

I sort of forgot about the smut part, I'm sorry anon

—

Spring was coming up, so you were helping your parents getting the country club ready for the new golfing season.

You spend the whole afternoon at the golf shop and the adjacent stock room, tidying the rental equipment and ensuring nothing was missing or broken. The person who put everything away last fall did a terrible job and now you were the one fixing their job.

After sundown, there was a knock on the glass door of the golf shop. You turned around, expecting your dad, but instead your gaze fell on a pair of blue eyes you hadn’t seen in a long time. Your throat went dry, unable to look away from him as he walked in.

‘’W-what are you doing here?’’

Your question could come off as rude, but you were genuinely confused to see him at the country club. His whereabouts of the past months were unknown to you, but you knew he had left the island since he didn’t attend Ward’s birthday dinner event or the annual golf tournament.

‘’I'm visiting for Wheezie's birthday.’’

Visiting. That confirmed he had moved out.

‘’How are you doing?’’ you asked. He looked more posed and clear-headed than the last time you saw him.

A soft smile curled on his face. ‘’Better than I ever was.’’ His smile fell and he pulled his eyebrows together while biting his lip. ‘’I…I’ve been to rehab in Charleston. I haven't touched any drugs in six months.’’

The last time you and Rafe spoke was about his addiction. That conversation — and the bag of cocaine you found in his jacket — had been the final nail to the coffin for your relationship. Addiction changes a person and cocaine had turned Rafe into a completely man; the person you called your boyfriend was no longer the man you fell for. You put up with it for a while, knowing the real Rafe was underneath, but the mood swings, the irritability, the constant lying and the violent behaviors had led to your and Rafe's end.

Now, he was standing before you, sober.

‘’That’s great, Rafe,’’ you said, proud of him. Recovering from addiction must not be easy.

‘’Yeah.’’ He fidgeted with the sleeve of his gray zip up, seeming a bit nervous. ‘’I'm seeing a therapist now. She's good.’’

‘’That’s great.’’

‘’It's strange to be home. To see all that I left behind, all that I ruined.’’ His eyes shifted to you. ‘’In rehab, we’re encouraged to apologize to the ones we hurt during our addiction. My mind would always go to you.’’ He stepped forward, closer to you, and took your hands in his. ‘’I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.’’

You glanced down at your hands together. You missed the physical contact.

‘’I need to stop trying to please my dad and go live my life. So, here I am, trying to gain back what I’ve sabotaged.’’ He brought your intertwined hands up to his mouth and kissed them. ‘’Give me — us — a second chance.’’

‘’I don’t know, Rafe…’’ You stepped away, but Rafe didn’t let you.

‘’Don’t push me away. I get why you did it the last time and it was a valid reason, but what drove us apart is no longer part of my life.’’

It would be so easy to fold and give him a second chance, but you had given Rafe so many second chances that you weren’t sure if you wanted to take the risk again. He was sober now, but a lot of addicts fall back into their old demons.

‘’I don’t care we broke up, I still love you. And I know you do too. If you didn’t, you would’ve told me to go away when I showed up at the door.’’

You sighed, torn between listening to your heart or protecting yourself from another possible-coming wave of pain. ‘’Of course I still love you, but—’’ 

 ‘’Then give us a second chance. Tell me this love is worth the fight.’’

—

OBX taglist: @moralina @eudximoniakr @toylewestinnyc @rottenstyx  @sweeterheartxamerica  @jordierama @viridwityy @izzy-laufeyson @kenzi-woycehoski @lilaconner @Katsukis1Wife  @hawkegfs @mommyruuetrue  @acornacreacure

All and more taglist: @spiokybirdstarfish @kenqki @liidiaaag @hawkegfs  @gillybear17  @areaderinlove @acornacreacure @black-rose-29 @fudge13

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference! 

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀 

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked. 

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~ 

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :) 

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore 

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC 

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right? 

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty! 

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe? 

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in? 

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more! 

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5���8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch? 

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that. 

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :) 

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else 

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂). 

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha 

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu 

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3 

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4? 

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol 

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc. 

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before! 

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that? 

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever? 

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :> 

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game? 

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1. 

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you? 

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing? 

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc? 

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments? 

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress? 

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.

[clarawatson]

It Only Takes A Taste (2)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [Fem]!Reader (GN pronouns, fem coded) Summary: it’s your second time meeting Aaron. He’s still flustered and precious but he (might) manage to give you his number. W/C: 2113 Warnings: none yet! A/N: i haven’t got chapter names yet, just accept they’re all called ‘it only takes a taste’ haha. AO3 tags: @willowrose99 @genevievedarcygranger @maryosprinkle @kleff03 (if you want to get added, lmk!!) Where am I in this series? 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

The next time you meet him, it’s 2am. Rita’s three weeks off her due date. She’s been staying at Joe’s place, with his wife, because the heating’s gone out in her apartment and her super is a foul man. If you were inclined to murder, he’d be first on your list. Right now she’s out the back, trying to wipe chocolate sauce off her uniform. The baby’s been kicking for hours and knocks things around the counter sometimes. At least it isn’t throwing her ribs out this time. 

There’s a couple of teens drinking milkshakes in the window, they’ve snuck out after bedtime and they’re giggling to each other about how bad they are. You’ve seen their parents drive by twice (they’re regulars after school) but no one’s come in yet.

The agent drives by, and then does a u-turn and comes back. It was literally a double take, no matter how you look at it. You clearly saw him slow down and try to look in the window as he tried (desperately tried) to stay on the main road. And then he’d turned around and come back. 

He’s even prettier dry than he was wet. (Your mind spirals to where that could have gone, which is not something you expected from a 2am shift). He’s loosened his tie and his hair is falling free of the gel. He looks less tired, and yet more tired. A different kind of tired. This one would be fixed by a good night’s sleep.

“Hi,” he says with a little quirk in his lip that could be him fighting off a smile.

“Hi,” you return with a full smile. He sits in front of you and steeples his fingers under his chin.

“I’m Aaron.”

A fortnight you’ve been wondering his name and he just swans in and hands it to you on a silver platter. Bless him and his beautiful brown eyes.

“Y/n,” you introduce. “And what can I get for you tonight, Aaron?”

“Maybe not a coffee.” He doesn’t break eye contact with you. He has such a cheeky smile you almost want to reach over and wipe it off his lips. “A hot chocolate would do. I’ve got to sleep enough to take my kid to school.”

“Have here?” Your hands hover over the in-cups and the out-cups. He taps his finger against his chin.

“In.” He folds his hands and you notice he’s not wearing a wedding ring. Kid, no wedding ring, weird hours. Could be a score, could be a serial killer. Could be both! No. Not both. There will be no fraternising with serial killers. Not if you respect your life. 

Would it be weird to ask him where he works? If he works for one of the alphabet soups, will it get you in trouble? Maybe. People don’t like you poking around when sensitive information could be involved. You still ask anyway while the coffee machine has it’s little dummy spit at having to work at two in the morning.

“Quantico,” he says. He probably saw you trying to figure out how to ask. And that’s really all he can say. Maybe. He waggles his eyebrows just a little and you think he’s maybe a little too cheeky for this early in the morning. If Rita was working she’d be swooning all over him. 

“That’s very prestigious, but, sir, I don’t think you have the security clearance to be in this diner if you only work at Quantico. We deal with Area 51.”

“Long commute,” he teases.

You raise an eyebrow. “That’s what the uneducated think. I can break a few rules as long as you don’t start asking questions. No asking about where they keep the aliens, okay?”

“Never.” He wraps his hands around the mug as you push it to him, absorbing it’s warmth. 

“Did your son like the cookie?” you ask. Is it weird to remember he has a son after one interaction? Or the cookie? But he smiles. It’s okay. 

“He’s actually in love with it. He’s not stopped talking about it. I think my sister-in-law might kill me.”

“Joe’s magic in the kitchen. I’ll save a couple of cookies if you know when you’ll be in next?”

Is that too forward? Maybe. He pulls out a little day book and places it before him.

“Is Thursday too soon?”

“No,” you say, shaking your head. You make a note to tell Joe you’re working on Thursday. “Sounds like a good day to collect a cookie.”

“If someone could cut this monster out of me, that would be GREAT!” Rita yells in the kitchen. Her voice is still far too loud out here. Aaron finally drops his gaze from yours, grinning into his hot chocolate.

“Shit, babes, I’m serious. I’ll got for a pocket knife at this point. I’m hot, and it’s not hot, I have to piss every four minutes, I can’t even sit in a car properly and taking the MET is stupid because I still have to pee!” She stops up short, seeing Aaron, and blinks as if she could erase her last comment. “Hi, sorry, you’re rain boy.”

“I prefer Raymond.”

There’s a beat where you try to figure out what the fuck he’s talking about. The cheeky demeanor falls from his face.

“Rain Man! Tom Cruise! Smile." Aaron has no option but to smile at Rita. Too late you realise she's checking the alignment of his teeth to actually equate him to Tom Cruise. "Raymond, for sure. Shit, that’s funny,” Rita laughs, groans, and turns on her heel out the back. She needed to pee again. Aaron smiles just a little.

“Want some pie?” you offer. There’s still a bit left. Joe won’t be in for another hour or so, but there’s some in the oven to take out just before three. Aaron nods.

“Yeah, please.” He puts too much money in the tip jar again. Hands you the exact money for the pie. Had he looked at the menu online? Maybe he had. You take a slice out for him, then a slice for yourself. No harm in that. The whipped cream goes on his like a mountain. You put a bit beside your own pie slice, but Aaron’s grinning. 

He looks like he may do something childish. He doesn't, though, as you join him in pie eating. The teenagers start giggling about something they're watching on their phone. 

Rita comes back looking more tired than usual. Her whole body looks tired as she gets her purse and rubs her belly.

"Say bye to Rita," she says without much playful effort.

"Bye Rita," you return and kiss her cheek as she lifts it to you.

"And to Baby." 

"Bye Baby, be good for Mom." 

Rita snorts. Joe gives you a list of things to do while he's taking Rita home. Apparently Lola's coming in to replace Rita, but that's only going to be proven by Lola actually turning up. Aaron raises his hand around his fork and waves. Rita waves back and waddles out the back.

"Is she okay?" you ask Joe, and he nods. He waves goodbye to Aaron, even though he hasn't introduced himself yet. Aaron waves too. 

"That's a lot to worry about," Aaron says. You shrug and reach over the counter to Aaron's plate, taking some of his cream. He laughs and puts his arm around it to protect it.

"They're family. Less worrying, more caring." 

He nods as if he understands. "Might use that sometime."

"You're welcome to." 

He gives you a smile that only uses half his face. Gosh, he's cute. But it’s nothing more than fleeting night time visits, right? Okay, maybe not, he clearly turned his car around because he saw you working. You catch him staring at your left hand, studying it intently. No one wore rings at the diner, just because everything got stuck underneath them and there was nothing worse than having a maple syrup adorned wedding ring.

“There’s no one,” you tell him, which flusters him entirely. He smiles and looks down at his pie, blush creeping over his face. “Weird hours in a place like this? Hardly a brilliant base to build a relationship on.” 

“Yeah.” He might want to say more, but he’s smiling at you again. “Weird hours, strange place, know that story.”

“Sucks, hey?”

“Oh yeah.” 

The teens from the window go home when they’ve finished their milkshake. You tell them to get home safe and pray their parents don’t come in asking where they went. Aaron scraps his plate, scooping up the cream and pie soupy mess. 

“I have to go,” Aaron sighs. He runs his hand through his hair and his fingers get stuck in the left-over-gelly-mess. You smother a giggle as he rolls his eyes and pulls his hand out with tiny little crack-crack-crack’s. It sounds painful.

“I’m going to shower and get this shit out of my hair.”

“It’ll look nice without it in.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.”

He blushes, returning to the man you’d met coming out of the rain. 

“Well I’ll remember that for next time.” 

Your heart jumps. Next time! There’ll be a next! Time!

“Listen, hey, um,” Aaron says as he stuffs a couple of bills into the tip jar. “Here--” he stops again, then shakes his head like he’s giving himself a vote of confidence. “This is…” he stops again and licks his lips, then pulls out a business card from his suit pocket. He scratches his number onto the blank back, and then Aaron at the top. “My number,” he managed to finish.

“Thanks,” you respond before wanting to smack your head onto the counter. Thanks?!?! There are a hundred better things to say. “W-when do you want me?” When do you want me??? “To be here, on Thursday, for the cookies.”

Aaron’s gone red. Your face is hot. This is a disaster. There’s no fixing this disaster. There’s no fixing it at all. But Aaron smiles all the same.

“U-uh. I’ll text you?” he looks so flustered. 

“You haven’t got my number,” you giggle, because he hasn’t. You’ve got his. He looks like a tomato as he blushes even more. “How about I text you my number, and you tell me when you’re free, and I’ll make sure there’s three cookies set aside for you that no one else buys.”

“Three?”

“You, your son, your sister-in-law.”

“I could really use you at work,” he laughs and… sits back down. Four seconds ago he was in such a rush to leave, and now he’s looking at you like you’re his whole world. He’s so precious, you wish you could just put him in a jar and protect all that goodness from the evils of the world. Surely he couldn’t have met too many of them just yet? He’s still got a smile that could brighten up the night sky, people who’ve seen all the hurt and pain in the world can’t smile like that.

“I don’t think I’m clever enough to get into Quantico. Unless they like people serving them coffees,” you smile gently and he tilts his head while looking at you. A curious puppy. You want to lean over and squish his cheeks for thinking you could be anything more than a server at a roadside diner.

“You’d brighten the place up.”

“You brighten my place up.” Corny, highschool grade flirting. He smiles all the same. Can he smile any more than that? Probably not, he might combust and become a star. “You know you don’t have to keep putting money into the tip jar, right? Not the amount you do. Most people just put in their change.”

He looks at the tip jar. “It’s for Rita’s hospital bills, right? It’s why she won’t look at it, because she’s embarrassed, but also why you and Joe count every bill that goes in it.”

“Alright, Sherlock Holmes.”

“It says on the jar,” he jokes, and points to the permanent marker that’s bled through the otherside of the tip jar. You laugh. Aaron laughs.

“I do have to go.”

“Go,” you laugh. “I’ll text you when I’m off my shift.”

He nods, looking a little sad to go, but also a little excited. He must really love his son.

“I’ll see you on Thursday, Y/n.”

“I’ll see you on Thursday, Aaron,” you return and watch him leave. Shit, he’s even cuter leaving. He even waves from his car before he drives off. You’re close to squealing when the bikie gang pull up, flooding the carpark, then all come in ready for their coffee. At least Aaron’s hot chocolate warmed up the machine for them.

[doyumacy]

FALLOUT |LH| ONE

*gif not mine

TWO

SUMMARY: You, at such young age made your way in business becoming a successful one. With that a lot of jealousy and rivalry came. Your mother finally convinces you to hire a team of security just in case someone tried to hurt you. And that’s when Donghyuck becomes your personal bodyguard, following you everywhere you go. You don’t mind at all since you find him very entertaining and nice. What you don’t know is that he’s the one that has been hired to keep you close and kill you.

PAIRING: reader x bodyguard!donghyuck

WARNINGS: mentions of jaemin and taeyong. swearing, blood (i’ll let you know when there are parts with blood mentions), smut, violence, angst

WORD COUNT: 2,8K

7 am. Wake up, take a shower, have breakfast and rush to the office. That was your daily routine and you were used to it. But no that morning. You were getting ready to go to your interview with the TIME Magazine. They were working on an article that would be called “Women Under 30 Are Leading the Pack in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.”

4 years ago, you’d wake up around 9, get ready to go to class and have lunch with your friends, but how does time change, right? Now you were a CEO of your own company with no time for your friends or even yourself. It’s not like you hated it, you liked being a CEO and being recognised by your hard work. It made you proud and wanted to show people that if you really want something and if you work hard for it, you’ll get it.

At the main entrance, you were greeted by the staff and one of them guided you to the room where they interviewed you and took some pictures of you.

That wasn’t your first interview, but you couldn’t feel nervous because you wanted to say the right words to encourage other people.

...

“Lia, I will be back in ten minutes. Can you sort this papers out on my desk?“

“Okay, Boss.”

It was a beautiful sunny day and the office was busy as usual. You were reading the contract at the table trying to get some order into them when the door opened. Nobody just walked into your office without knocking, so of course it had to be…

“Hi mom...” you greeted her.

“Hi sweetheart,” she smirked at you. “How are you?”

“I’m great,” you nodded and placed the papers on the table, “what brings you here, mom?”

“I can’t visit my beautiful daughter?” She put her right hand on her chest.

You giggled. “Of course you can, but I’d love you to call me first.”

You stood and walked towards her, hugging her. “You want some coffee? Water?”

“I’m fine, darling. I just had brunch with a friend,” she smiled and sat in one of the chairs in front of your desk. “Speaking of which, she told me something that got me really upset at you.”

“Why?” You frowned and sat in front of her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re getting death threats, (Y/N)?” She looked at you.

You sighed. “Because they don’t matter. You know I don’t pay attention to that. It’s pointless.”

“We’re not talking about hate comments, (Y/N). Someone is threatening you with killing you.”

“Mom, you don’t have to w-“

“Of course I can, and I will. That’s why I contacted an old friend who used to be the Prime Minister’s bodyguard. He’s gonna meet you tomorrow,” she informed you.

“Tomorrow I can’t, I have a meeting.”

“Then you better make some space or you’ll be seeing me here everyday,” your mom smiled. “This is serious. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. You’re my baby.”

“I can take care of myself, mom. Please, I don’t want a full team of bodyguards,” you sighed.

“You will only have 2 and you won’t even notice they’re there,” she said and placed a hand on yours. “Please.”

You stared at her for a couple of seconds and then sighed, nodding. “Okay, fine. But it’s temporary.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Later that day, after going home you went to the supermarket to get some groceries and went home. You loved cooking, but you weren’t exactly the tidiest when it came to prepare your delicious meals.

After you ate, you checked your email and realised that your mom’s friend had sent you a file with the two people that would be working with you. Somehow you expected an army of people and that annoyed you, but you thought you could with two people. You didn’t even bother to check the profiles since you knew what their work would be.

You closed your laptop and went to your bedroom. Sometimes you thought your life was boring because you barely talked to someone else. Your last relationship didn’t end well and you were still a little bit hesitant to know someone else. Or scared.

And friends? You didn’t have many, but Lena, Taeyong and Jaemin were always there for you. And so were you.

You knew Lena since you were a toddler, your mother was good friends with her parents and you two got along very well. You met Taeyong in high school when you were trying to find the science room and since he was a senior, he helped you. Everyone used to think Taeyong and you dated, but in fact, you never loved Taeyong that way. You saw him as your older brother and he as his younger sister. And last but not least, you met Jaemin through Taeyong.

At first both of you didn’t get along well since he was all an extrovert and didn’t quite understand you were a little introverted, but he with time understood and stopped forcing you. Then you became the crackheads of the group, always laughing and going out and sometimes getting drunk.

You loved college days.

And love? You met Jaehyun during your first year of college, he was in your economics class and you couldn’t help yourself falling for him. He was charming, funny and so handsome.

Jaehyun was your first everything: your first love, your first boyfriend, your first kiss and the first guy that broke your heart.

You two dated for almost 2 years, but ended when he told you he didn’t love you anymore and didn’t want to hurt you and left.

Months after that, you took the opportunity to go as an exchange student to Japan where you met Yuta. You were never a thing, but both of you had feelings for each other but never went official since you would stay there only for 6 months.

You came back to Korea and graduated, and had no time for love since you were too busy starting your business. But Yuta would come on business trips to Korea sometimes and meet you.

But the last time you saw him was a year ago.

The next morning, a tall man showed up to your office holding a black folder. Everything about him was intimidating and you knew he was your mom’s friend.

“Good morning, Miss (Y/L/N). I’m Kim Hyunwoo,” he extended his hand.

“Hi,” you greeted and you shook hands with him. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you. Please sit.”

“Thanks,” he said and sat in one of the black chairs in front of your desk. “I sent you an email yesterday, did you read it?”

“I saw it, but didn’t read it. Sorry,” you apologised.

“It’s okay, that's why I brought this,” he placed the black folder on the desk and tossed it to you. “These are the files of the people that will be working with you.”

“Why is it important to check them out? I mean, they’ll be around me 24/7.”

“Because I want you to know their abilities and their tasks.”

You sighed and grabbed the folder opening it. You saw the first man around his 30’s, no emotions showed in his face. Kang Sungho. According to his file he was specialised in driving and trained in evasive driving techniques, such as executing short-radius turns to change the direction of the vehicle, high-speed cornering, and so on.

You passed the next page and saw a picture of a man with tanned golden skin, brown hair and dark eyes. He looked intimidating. He was trained in pretty much everything, from every type of knife to every type of gun.

Impressive.

Suddenly, the door from your office opened and the air left your lungs momentarily when his eyes met yours, dark and calculating. You expected him to offer you a polite smile as most people do, but his face remained in a stern mask. You somehow prayed he wouldn’t be your bodyguard because the less thing you needed was a distraction.

“Miss (Y/L/N),” the voice of your Hyunwoo forced you to switch your gaze to him and you shoot him a questioning look. “This is Lee Donghyuck” the boy nodded slightly in your direction at the mention of his name, “he’s your new personal bodyguard.”

You couldn't help but let your eyebrows raise comically. The world somehow hated you.

“You would not even know I’m here, Miss,” Donghyuck said.

You nodded.

*

Donghyuck awoke to the steady patter of rain upon his window, droplets yet to scatter the nascent rays of the rising sun. He realised he had awoken up ten minutes before his set alarm, which made him grumble.

He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, took a cold shower and after that, Donghyuck put on a black pants and before putting the white shirt, he put on a bulletproof vest making him look thicker and then continued with a white interior t-shirt, a white shirt, put on his tie adjusting it and lastly, he slipped on the black jacket.

Donghyuck gave himself a quick look in the mirror and sighed. He placed his hands on the countertop and asked how did he end in that position?

Yes, he was an assassin.

No, he didn't kill women.

But the money he was offered to do so was such a big amount that was almost repulsive. And he needed the money.

Donghyuck had never pretended to be someone else before, he just showed up and took down his task and then left. Now he was stuck with some random woman and follow her until she was in love with him and kill her in the worst way.

What was with people these days? He didn't want to know.

Jeno was already awake and had made breakfast, “you gotta eat well today in case you die protecting your boss,“ he  joked and sat down in front of him.

Donghyuck and Jeno had known each other for many years and were roommates. There was kindness in his smile, a good man. He knew what ‘Haechan’ did for a living, but decided to ignore it since he rather thought his friend was also a good man.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “I cant believe I'm doing this.”

“You can't still say no, you know?” Jeno looked at him.

“I know, but I need the money,” Donghyuck said and had a sip of coffee, “I will retire after this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don't wanna do this anymore,” Donghyuck shrugged.

“Well, then get the job done and get those millions,” Jeno said and then shook his head, “that sounded awful. Ignore it.”

Donghyuck laughed. “Are you sure you don't wanna work with me?”

“One hundred percent.”

…

A perfectly collected black-haired woman, dressed in a skirt under her white knee and a pale pink blouse appeared in the room. "Good morning, you must be Lee Donghyuck, right?" She asked kindly.

"Yes," Donghyuck replied, "Hello, you are....?"

"I'm Yun Somin, Kim Hyunwoo personal assistant," she smiled nicely. “You’re the new bodyguard we hired a few days ago.”

"Nice to meet you,” Donghyuck expressed.

“Please, come with me so I can give you  your equipment,“ Somin said.

Donghyuck followed her to a room that was an office painted beige and champagne, and it had only one wall-sized window, which faced the buildings. On the dark brown desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books was behind the dark brown desk.

Somin opened a desk drawer and pulled out a black box that contained a small stainless steel knife, a Beretta Px4 Storm and finally a earphone for a walkie-talkie.

Donghyuck put the earphone on his ear and the walkie-talkie on the waist band. He put the gun away by placing it on the waist band as well and the knife inside the inner jacket pocket.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N)’s codename is Sunflower. Whenever you’re public, that’s the name you’ll use,“ Somin informed.

Donghyuck nodded, “Sunflower. Got it.“

Somin opened the door for him and let him in. You were if anything was better looking than Donghyuck expected. Your face told of a leaned body beneath your wintry garb and your expression was serious but not unkind.

You were hot.

Fuck. Donghyuck thought. He was so screwed.

“You would not even know I’m here, Miss,” Donghyuck said.

You nodded and cleared your throat.  “Well, let's keep going. We have a long day coming,“You said, walking to the door.

Donghyuck walked behind you and raised his arm above his mouth and spoke into the mic, “Sunflower's going out.“

…

You were the smile, or at least that was what Donghyuck thought of you. Everything about you was a soft and understated joy as you greeted each person at every event. You really cared about the people and their interest and could see in your eyes your uprightness. People loved you and Donghyuck didn't quite understand why someone wanted you dead. Your kindness couldnt be the reason, could it?

“So, Donghyuck, what do you think?”

He turned back to Sungho. “She's different from every shark out there. Yeah, I’ll bet they’re lining up to off her.”

“Well, someone’s been sending some pretty disturbing emails. The NIS can’t pin the guy down.”

“They’ll find them.“ Donghyuck addressed.

The eventful day was over. You all spent the day going to different meetings with several people. You were exhausted but you were happy to see your friend Taeyong, after not seeing him for almost two months.

The black car stopped at a red light and you took the opportunity to take out your phone and reply to some text messages. You realised Donghyuck was looking at you and Donghyuck quickly looked straight ahead. “So, Donghyuck? You have been doing this for so long?”

“Not really, ma’am,“ he responded.

You considered him. He didn’t look like his concept of a bodyguard, big and beefy. He wasn't that tall. Slimy built, with a very attractive face, enigmatic yet intelligent dark eyes and dark hair. “And what did you do before?”

“I… used to train some people at a boxing gym,“ Donghycuk lied.

“Cool,” you smiled. “Maybe you could show me some movements.”

You quickly regretted saying that because of how red your cheeks got. Donghyuck smirked without looking at you.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Donghyuck got out of the car and opened the door for you and you entered the restaurant with him following you.

"Sunflower's in," He spoke into the mic.

A young woman, with loose hair dressed all in black, took you to the restaurant's private lounge, where Taeyong was already waiting for you.

You hugged your friend and smiled, "The Bahamas suited you."

"Thank you, Woman-Under-30-Leading-the-Pack-in-Entrepreneurship-and-Innovation" Taeyong beamed and looked at Donghyuck, who stood with his back to you right at the glass door, "who is he?"

You looked at Donghyuck  and spoke as you sat down, "It's my personal bodyguard."

“Why do you have a personal bodyguard? Did something happen? ” He asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, everything’s fine," you calmed him down and grabbed the menu, opening it.

He sat in front of you and still looked worried, “how do you want me to be calm? Something is going on and you don't want to tell me. "

You smirked a little and shook your head, "really, Taeyong, everything is under control. There’s nothing to be concerned about.“

Taeyong sighed and nodded, "Okay, I will believe in your words."

You smiled satisfied and began to read the menu. Taeyong did the same. Jaemin stood in front of the door of the restaurant's private lounge but Donghyuck prevented him from entering.

"Identify," Donghyuck demanded, looking at him.

"Na Jaemin, owner and chef of this restaurant," he replied, frowning, "who are you?"

Before Donghyuck responded, you opened the door and looked at Jaemin, “I'm sorry, he's my new bodyguard. Lee Donghyuck, all right, he will have dinner with us too. "

Donghyuck nodded, “understood. Enjoy your meal, guys. "

“Thank you,“ Taeyong  responded as Donghyuck closed the door.

“I can't believe the two most influential people of Korea are here in my restaurant,“ Jaemin joked as he sat.

You chuckled, “let’s see if it’s as good as people say.“

…

Softly splashing water droplets hit the car windows as Sungho drove onwards. You watched the raindrops race down to the windows. You had been with Taeyong and Jaemin for almost three hours, and now you were on your way to your house.

"Sorry for staying there for a long time, you haven't even eaten," you  apologised.

“It’s fine, ma’am. It's our job,“ Donghyuck replied.

“You can call me (Y/N). We’re almost the same age,“ You said

“Even so, you’re my boss. It’s not right,“ he responded.

You chuckled and looked at him in the rearview mirror, "Well, then as your boss, I order it to you."

Donghyuck smiled and you noticed it, “I'll try it.“

[alicemitch09writes]

lame

08.

where do we go from here

“Dorms, huh?”

“Yes,” nodded the green-haired boy, staring at his drink – affogato that you prepared. “it’s to ensure the safety of the students tenfold, considering the recent events.”

Nodding, eyes watched the scars on Izuku’s gentle hands – from when he was trying to figure out his quirk, trailing up to the burn he keeps hidden on his left arm – one caused by someone.

“I can imagine Auntie Inko wasn’t overboard with the idea?”

Izuku shifted in his seat, fingers stirring the straw of his drink. “She wanted me to transfer, because of how much I’ve been through…”

“I can’t blame her,” you nod again – there was USJ, and then there was this. “then again, it was something you couldn’t control and not really the school’s fault.”

“It’s what I told her, but she was adamant on keeping me safe. She’s a mom, after all.” That made you smile, Auntie Inko was really protective of Izuku ever since Uncle Hisashi worked abroad.

“A-Also, A-All Might convinced her,”

(E/c) eyes widened. “W-Wow…”

The All Might was at Izuku’s? Informing Auntie Inko of the dorm system and convincing her to have his apprentice stay at UA?

Izuku must be that special for the Symbol of Peace, his biggest idol, to keep him in UA.

“That’s amazing, Izuku.” Scoffing, you broke into an easy grin. “Isn’t that great, you get to stay in UA, got convinced to stay by the All Might, and you still have a chance to live his legacy.”

“(N-Nickname)!” With your praises, red flushes his cheeks and his arms flounder in the air, much to your amusement, before they ended up wrapped around his head protectively.

Everything changing again, huh?

With the dorms, students of UA will be granted and ensured of their safety as they’ll be living within the school’s premise. Really, they were doing so much just to give their students, future heroes, the very best that they deserve.

Still, it would be kind of lonely to have Izuku away.

Carmine eyes suddenly crossed your mind. The soft look on his face. The smell of burnt sugar. His warm rough hands.

“Neh, Izuku,” arms stretched out, head dropping down, your voice was quiet. “how is he?”

Drink long gone, he swallowed the sweet concoction down his throat, relishing in its sweetness and bitterness. He studied you for a bit, noting the glint in your eyes, how it was much different from before whenever Kacchan brought up.

Tapping his fingers, he carefully shared. “For starters, he’s safe. But somehow, he’s the same as ever.” Fingers twitched slightly at that, curling in slowly. “That much I can tell.” Brows furrowing slightly, especially when you recalled the relief in those carmine eyes, with something else.

The League of Villains.

They kidnapped Bakugou because he was top of their class, an easy target to play with considering his rather volatile streak that might bode well with villains.

“League of Villains,” you try, testing the weight of the villain group in your mouth. Izuku fell silent.

You didn’t like it. It felt dangerous, bitter, terrifying-

“I-It’s about your parents…”

Releasing a shuddering breath, you slumped into the table, forcing the numbing thoughts away. That is until a hand wrapped over yours, giving a gentle squeeze. You squeezed back, as thanks.

“(Nickname),” at the call of your name, you look up, meeting gentle green – brighter than emeralds, opals, more soothing that viridian or moss. “when you get the chance, talk to Kacchan. Okay?”

Carmine eyes crossed your mind again, the shocked expression turning gentle. Burnt sugar filling your senses. The fluttering beating of his heart.

“Little did you know, I’ve already had one.”

He hummed. “Yes, but you know what I’m talking about.” He says kindly, almost teasingly. You rolled your eyes at that.

“By the way,” recovering, you sat up, hands still in his. “you’re currently working on your ultimate move, right?” he nods “Well, need some help with that?”

Puzzled, it took about a few seconds until the questions sank. “Y-You don’t mean…!?”

Giggling, toothily grinning at your best friend, your eyes flashed yellow. “I might not look like much, but at least I can give a few pointers and wisdom. Also, I hope you’re okay with extra hours- “

“Of course! I’ll be in your care, (Nickname)!” he replies almost immediately, face filled with so much excitement to finally see you use your quirk at its full potential.

Mentally thinking of the days you’re not working, but hey, this was all for a good cause. “Looking forward to it, Izuku~”

Taking a break from work, you felt your phone vibrate, seeing a text from Izuku. 

To: (Nickname)

From: Izuku

[image.txt]

I PASSED MY PROVISIONAL LICENSE!!!!!!!!!!!

You couldn’t help the smile breaking on your lips, threatening to split your face in half from sheer joy and pride for your best friend. He did it!

All those days mastering his Shoot Style while dealing with your rather whimsical and unpredictable fighting really paid off!

  From: (Nickname)

To: Izuku

Congrats, you!

I’m so fcking proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Let’s celebrate, okay? Just drop by the café!

You were tempted to ask if Bakugou had passed as well, debating even to give him a text. Fingers tapped lighting through your contacts, scrolling to find his name, staring. Just staring.

Shaking hands fisting against his shirt, nose buried between his shoulder blades, taking in his scent- You locked your phone, exhaling through your nose as you closed your eyes.

“You’re being unfair to him, (Nickname).”

Just then an unknown number called you.

It had been All Might.

All Might.

The Symbol of Peace.

He had called you, urging you to come to the UA campus at the dead of night for something he wouldn’t enclose over the phone. The hero had managed to work things out for your entry into the premise, albeit, discreetly, since it’s past working hours after all.

“So, you’re Young Midoriya’s good friend, yes?” the said hero was tall, so freaking tall! Even in his skeletal form, he loomed over you like a skyscraper, and his voice was commanding, firm, yet kind.

Remembering he had asked you a question, you fumbled for a reply. “A-Ah, yes sir!” Still, to be in his presence was something. Now you understood why Izuku fanboys hard – there were so many emotions to contain!

“I’ve heard a great deal about you, Young Midoriya speaks very highly of you.” That made you duck your head, a fond smile on your lips. “It’s clear that it is a bond forged greatly through careful means.”

“That, it is.” It was a rather poetic way of putting it, but yeah.

“With that being said, I’m sure you’re also acquainted with Young Bakugou, right?”

You nearly tripped on your own footing, halting at that, glancing up in question. “Y-Yes…” Carmine eyes, the smell of burnt sugar, warm calloused hands, suddenly filled your senses.

“In the short time that I’ve known them, I’ve also come to an understanding that the boys have a rather complicated relationship,” you gulp, for some reason. “they’re both on equal footing, yet it’s not very evident to both of them. They balance each other out perfectly.” He’s not wrong, you thought, hands curling and uncurling into fists.

“W-What are you trying to say?”

Turning to you, you realized that you reached some sort of building – it was huge, almost spanning the size of USJ! maybe it was a training ground? – the hero’s gaze wasn’t one of All Might’s, his gaze was soft, weary, understanding, guilt, and, dare you say, hopeful?

“Those boys have the makings to be a great hero, are each other’s greatest rivals yet they can be each other’s greatest ally if only pushed right.”

That was an idea you would never have thought of, but one you refused to acknowledge.

Before you could ask, suddenly, your senses went on full blast – (e/c) eyes turning yellow.

Heavy blasts from afar. Devastation followed. Heavy breathing. The smell of fire- no, angered explosions. Fully mapping out the vicinity, you found two presence were at the heart of it all. These heartbeats. Izuku? Bakugou?

“As expected, your senses indeed sharpen at night.”

Confused, angered, you turned to him, yellow eyes glinting in the moonlight. “WHY DID YOU BRING ME HERE!?” Their breathing, it was erratic, labored, abnormal, what was happening!?

He could only stare, expression betraying nothing. “I think I need to give the young boys some time to talk before I do it myself.”

“And what am I, some spectator?”

“I’m sure there’re things you would want to say to them as well, Young Yuroichi.”

Was what he said, but walking into the battlefield, having watched two of your childhood friends going out on each other, talking with their fists, kicks, and quirks, leaving bruised and battered, you could only feel one thing – numb.

With the fight over, your two childhood friends sat back on the asphalt ground, weary and exhausted out – physically and emotionally.

“Who else knows?” asked the ash blond, head hanging low with both arms propped against his knees.

“Recovery Girl, the principal, and…”

Apparently, that was your cue to make your presence known.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, the two boys raised their heads, eyes widening at the sight of you, in their campus, dead at night, eyes still in its dangerous yellow.

“A-ARE YOU TWO FUCKING KIDDING ME!?

They flinched at the volume of your voice, as though you bellowed it with all the air in your lungs, coming out from the shadows after All Might’s speech, knowing that it wasn’t your place to be there, but after hearing Bakugou’s voice – that was pathetic of him, even the hero hadn’t expected that.

“Y-Young Yoruichi-“

“Don’t,” the hero flinched at your voice, pinning him with your stare “get me started you skeletal excuse of a hero!” you say to him angrily, bitingly, forgetting that this man was the Symbol of Peace, the greatest hero of this generation, the hero who could easily do away with you, and the greatest hero to your two asshole of childhood friends.

“(N-Nickname)…”

Giving him a warning look, deadlier under the moonlight with your yellow eyes shining, Izuku knew better than to gulp and avoid your gaze. You then turned the same look to Bakugou, whose shoulders sagged underneath your gaze, a sense of defeat washing over him. He’s already bad in your book, he might’ve worsened it in this situation.

He was walking on thin ice, treading on it really should he wish to fix it.

“A-Ah, K-Kacchan just wanted to talk s’all, (Nickname)! B-but it ended up…um, uh…” words were failing him, especially when you are at the receiving end. Unamused. Unfazed. Unrelenting. Angered. Not even All Might could help out, too scared to deal with an angry teenager. “…uh…i-it ended with our fists….?”

Izuku had been quick to his defense, much to the surprise and annoyance of the blond. But you weren’t having it.

“Stop making excuses for him, Izuku. You’re better than that.” The green-haired boy flinched, hands dropping in defeat. “He should well know to defend himself instead of beating himself down for it, which is a far cry from that proud pompous asshole we’re both familiar with.” The ash blond’s fingers twitched at your words.

Taking a deep breath, you exhaled slowly out your nose. “You two haven’t had a proper talk since and you thought of doing it now with your fucking fists and kicks? What’re you, animals!?”

Having watched their fight and taking into account the months they’ve been in UA, seeing their performance during the Sports Festival, and hearing accounts of progress from Izuku, Aizawa-san, and the Bakugous, the two clearly have changed.

After all this time, you still felt so far from the two.

After all this time, it pained you still to see a drift between your best friends.

After all this time, just seeing finally talk to each other – in the shittiest way of their own version, it was all you ever wanted.

After all this time, the only thing you wanted was for them to finally see eye-to-eye.

After all this time, you just wanted the two to be friends again.

Weakly you fell to your knees, arms reaching for both and bringing them to a hug. The two boys were stunned, to say the least.

“I’m so glad.” Tears began to spill, your hold tightening. “I was worried about you two so much, you know. You two are selfish, stubborn, and terribly reckless in your own ways, but you two are the strongest persons I know.”

Izuku can be so out of reach sometimes, especially when he’s trying to embody himself as the current One for All user.

Bakugou had always been so far from your reach, but it pains you to know that he had been feeling shitty because he didn’t know just how to deal with his emotions.

It made you feel like the worst friend.

“You have to be more honest with how you’re feeling,”

You say you wanted to support Izuku? Part of the deal was respecting his wishes when it came to a certain ash blond he’s admired next to All Might, the person who was the embodiment of victory for him, someone he’d like to catch up with.

But you let confusing emotions – like a stupid crush and hate, cloud over your judgments.

“I’m sorry if I won’t be able to understand if I’ll have to beat it outta you guys, i-if…” hiccupping, your hold slackened momentarily, before tightening. “I’m sorry if I’m such a horrible friend. I’ll try to do more, be better for you guys. So please, don’t ever forget that…okay?”

“(Nickname)…”

A tentative hand reached out, hesitant as it patted your back. Seeing as you didn’t flinch away, the hand awkwardly rubbed comforting circles as you cried harder.

Seeing this, the green-haired teen smiled, relishing in your hug, the pain from Kacchan’s attacks, and the wisdom from his mentor.

“Okay.”

All Might could only watch three youngsters settling amongst themselves, as all friends should.

“Okay, (Name).”

masterlist • nine

[captainenjolras]

Prompt:

Chabouillet getting really protective of Javert when he and Valjean started dating. Like maybe interrogating Valjean and such

Also love your fics they're so darn cute

Aww, thank you! I’ve been waiting to write something involving Javert and Chabouillet’s relationship!

Valjean meeting Chabouillet would either go down great or like the dinner scene from Shrek 2

⚠️TW: mentions of abuse, drunkness and suic*de⚠️

Fight Fire With Fire

It’s not that he wasn’t happy for him, he was just…less than thrilled.

Chabouillet had known Javert for years; since the boy was fifteen. He had found him running in the streets. Since that day, he’d taken him under his wing; he was the one who had given him shelter from a less than terrible home life, the one who had suggested making him a guard at the age of 17, the one who always looked out for him no matter where he was stationed.

He was also the one who had to listen to the boy’s rants about Madeline.

Never had he seen Javert so…distracted. So ditzy. Usually, he was a stern and hard working man; but upon being in Madeline’s presence, he was an absolute dork. He was the one who watched as the young Inspector fumbled over files hours after the interactions; and after the truth was revealed about the Mayor, he was the one who allowed a very drunk, upset and tearful Javert sleep in his spare room.

Maybe that’s why he was so tense about this situation; the whole Madeline incident had felt like a punch to the gut for Javert. Sure, Chabouillet was disappointed as well, but what made him more conflicted was the younger’s emotional distress over the whole thing.

But the past was in the past, and all that mattered was the present. Right?

“Le patron!”

“Javert, mon garçon!”

The Inspector came bounding at Chabouillet, wrapping him in a tight hug. Well! This was new! Once they broke apart, the Chief laid his eyes upon the other man. Valjean.

The man had a shy smile on his face as the oldest of the three surveyed him. He was quite tall, very muscular, had a head of curly hair and neat facial hair, was dressed quite well…

“Hello, Monsieur Chabouillet,” greeted Valjean, hand extended as if to shake the oldest’s own. Chabouillet simply nodded instead.

“Monsieur Valjean.”

The eye contact they held was less than comfortable for both parties, although Javert didn’t seem to notice. He stood in between them both, teeth bared in a wide smile. The height and size difference of the couple was as if a cat had just dragged home a bear.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence for the older two, Chabouillet eventually spoke up.

“Well, come inside!”

Valjean followed gingerly behind Javert, who entered the house as if it was his own. Jean remembered that in a way, it was. The man had practically adopted the Inspector. Did that mean this was their equivalent to “meeting the parents?”

That was exactly what this was going to be, wasn’t it?

“Make yourselves at home,” spoke Chabouillet, acknowledging the coat rack by the door.

——————————————————————————

The entire night, Chabouillet studied Javert and Valjean’s interactions. The two acted like lovesick teenagers, although he did notice Valjean eyeing him mistrustfully. He returned the favor. At one point, Jean had wrapped his arm around Javert’s waist. That was Chabouillet’s breaking point.

“Javert,” he interrupted, “I’m very sorry to ask you this right now, but there’s a case file upstairs that I forgot to give to you yesterday! Would you mind just going over it?”

For once, Javert seemed annoyed at having to work. What on earth? However, he agreed and went up to the study room. Once he was a good distance away, Chabouillet turned to Valjean. He looked him up and down, lips pressed in a thin line.

“Nice to finally me-“

“Talk to me, Jean.”

Chabouillet beckoned Valjean to follow him to the dining room. Once they were seated, he spoke again.

“What are your intentions?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What are your…intentions…with Javert?”

Oh, he could tell so much jokes right now.

He chose not to.

“If I have the correct understanding, then my intentions are to make him happy.”

Once again, Chabouillet stared deep into his soul. Well, this was terrifying.

“What do you do for a living, Jean?”

“W-well my good friend owns a shop that I co-own.”

“…How often do you see Javert?”

“We live together, Monsieur.”

“Well what do you two do on your spare time?”

“All sorts of things; we go on walks, read together, garden, watch TV- stuff we did before we were together! We just…do it together now.”

“And what about dates?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Where do you take him on dates?”

“I mean, usually we prefer to stay home; but otherwise we go out for dinner or stargazing- we actually went to this planetarium last week with a huge star dome-“

“Do you listen to him?”

“…I’m not sure I quite understand that-“

“Do you listen to him; does he talk to you? About work? Problems? Feelings?”

“Oh! Yes, actually!”

“Yes to what?”

“Er, all of the above?”

Valjean laughed nervously, face redder than the table cloth he tapped at anxiously.

“…Back to my original question,” grumbled Chabouillet, sitting up straighter than he already was, “what are your intentions with Javert?”

“I-I thought I answered that-“

“Not in the way I wanted you to. What are your plans for the future involving your…relationship; is this some sort of fling? Just casual dating? Serious? What, what is it?”

“I mean, I’d say it’s pretty serious.”

“You’d say it’s pretty serious…do you plan on marrying him?”

At that, Valjean began to choke on nothing. His eyes went wide and jaw dropped.

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Do you plan on marrying him, boy.”

“…I don’t know how you want me to answer that-“

“The way you would if anyone else asked!”

“Yes!”

The moment he said those words, Jean slammed his hand over his mouth. Both men peaked out of the room, hoping that Javert wasn’t anywhere near. Thankfully, he wasn’t.

“Yes,” whispered Jean, eyes refusing to meet the Chiefs, “I…I do plan on marrying him…if he wants to, that is.”

“What is that supposed to mean? You’ve never spoken about marriage?!”

“No, no we have- it’s just- we’ll I haven’t quite asked him yet. You know…asked him.”

Oh? Oh. Oooh, ok. He understood now.

Well now he had more of a right to threaten him over screwing this up.

“…I don’t know you, Jean. How am I supposed to know that you’re the right match for Javert?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean- I just met the real you, not Madeline. Do you have any clue how much that whole stunt upset Javert? He loved you. Not just- not admiration love, he loved you; and then you go and pull that- god, I was so mad! If I could’ve gone out and found you myself I would have- and don’t think I won’t do the same now if you ever hurt him!”

“I don’t know how much clearer I could have made it,” started the younger, eyebrows furrowed in frustration, “but I don’t plan on hurting him or letting anyone hurt else hurt him. I…understand you’re skeptic of me, but please…he means the world to me.”

“And how do I know you’re not lying to me? Was it you that saved him from his abusive household? Was it you who took him in, put a roof over his head and clothes on his back? Was it me or you who made him hysterical sob after lying about who they really were?”

“Was it you or me who risked their freedom to make sure he was safe,” growled Valjean, standing now. “Is it your shoulder or my shoulder that he cries into every time he’s had enough? Was it you that sobbed for days because maybe, just maybe, you loved him back to; but you could never tell him! Was it you or me that pulled him out of the damn Seine in the middle of the fucking night-“

“Enough!”

Chabouillet slammed his palm to the table. Valjean, who had just been fuming, was now sitting down again, fear in his eyes.

“Enough, please…I can’t- don’t bring that up.”

The older of the two quietly sunk back down to his seat, mind racing. Perhaps they both went to far.

“…How does he like his coffee?”

Oh…that’s not what Valjean was expecting.

“…With so much sugar it’s a little scary.”

At that, both of them couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Once it died down, Chabouillet looked over at him.

“When he found out you were in the city, he wasn’t very happy. I’ll admit, I thought he was overreacting a bit. Then…after the protests…I don’t know, something seemed to change. When I heard it was you that saved him, I nearly didn’t believe it.”

A tear had fallen down his cheek, but the Chief didn’t seem to care.

“…Thank you,” he started again, “for saving him. He’s…like a son to me.”

“…I can tell from the way you care about him…Please, Monsieur, I apologize if my behavior was a bit rash; my only intentions with Javert are to make him happy. I hope you’d let me.”

Chabouillet went to open his mouth, but just as he did, Javert strutted into the room.

“One of your leads has been dead for years, Le patron. Are you sure she was the person in suspect?”

He really had no clue of the entire conversation that just went down.

——————————————————————————

The rest of the night went smoothly; the three of them swapped stories and debates over dinner. Around 9:00, Javert suggested they should head home.

As they were leaving, Chabouillet pulled Valjean aside.

“Monsieur,” started the younger, “I’d like to thank you-“

“It’s- it’s quite alright…You have my permission. And…my blessing.”

It took a moment for Jean to register what he was saying, but once it did, he wrapped the man in a tight embrace.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you- I shouldn’t be hugging you, should I?”

He pulled away, the same anxious smile on his face that was there moments ago.

“It’s…alright. Maybe not- I’d prefer to see how things play out in the future.”

“Understandable.”

“Valjean?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for making him happy…truly happy.”

“…Thank you for making him the man he is today.”

For once, they both shared a less than awkward smile.

“Treat him well.”

“I will.”

Valjean turned to leave, only for Chabouillet to turn him around once again.

“Just know, that if you ever, and I mean EVER, hurt him, I won’t hesitate to find you and make your life a living nightmare.”

“…There’s the Chabouillet I know. Don’t worry, that won’t be necessary.”

“It’s a warning.”

“That won’t need to be enforced.”

“Valjean-“

“I know, I know; you’re just making sure I understand. I do, believe me. I have absolutely no plan on hurting him, or letting anything hurt him for that matter.”

“…Good man. Go, he’s probably wondering where you are.”

“Probably- thank you for dinner, Monsieur.”

“Anytime. Farewell, Valjean.”

“Farewell, Monsieur.”

Chabouillet watched as Jean made his way to the car, kissing Javert on the cheek once he was inside. He made sure they drove off safely before closing the door and turning in for the night.

——————————————————————————

It was good to know that the Chief didn’t think him unfit for Javert, although that was the last thought he had at the moment. Looking down, Valjean couldn’t help but smile at the sleeping man he held in his arms. Javert wore one of Jean’s own t-shirts, and had his cheek smudged against the older’s chest. God, he was beautiful.

Jean glanced over at the ring he held in the hand that wasn’t cradling Javert’s back. Soon, he hoped.

Soon.

[darling-dummy-blogs]

A Dummy's Heartbreak- Victor Li (PT 1)

Summary: Cassie and Victor broke up 4 months ago and haven't spoken to or seen each other since they went their separate ways. The day of their anniversary comes around and after realizing the importance of the day, Cassandra is hit with intense and conflicting emotions. She ends up irrationally calling Victor and admits...

Paring: Victor Li x Cassie (OC)

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Mentions of break-up and alcohol use.

Fandom: Mr. Love Queen's Choice

Word Count: 2.3K

Notes:

Backstory; After Cassie and Victor broke up, Cassie left Loveland City and moved back to her hometown, she found a job at a production company and lives in her (now deceased) parent’s house with her aunt (who took over as the head of the house to care for Cassie’s younger siblings after their parent's death ( and yes she has siblings))

This part will be Cassie’s POV (1st Person View)

Here it is! The first part! So Sorry for the delay! I appreciate in all the support everyone has given me to write this piece and I'm feeling even more encouraged to write more again! Enjoy the angsty ride my lovelies! <3

Today was just not my day.

As it usually isn’t. The week was barely starting and I already felt as though the weekend needed to arrive quicker. Although...To be fair, everything has been a mess ever since he walked out of my life...

To start off, I missed my alarm this morning. What a great way to start the day...

I quickly rushed to get ready and ran straight to work, feeling frantic and anxious for being late. Only to see that work had begun to pile up on my desk. Just by looking at the huge pile of papers, I already felt drained.

“Looks like I might be working late tonight…” I muttered to myself and held back a resigned sigh and frowned.

“Cassie! How come you were late? Everything okay?” A voice, filled with concern suddenly spoke out, making me snap out of my thoughts to find where the voice came from, only to look at one of my co-workers, Lillian, who just so happened to also be a close friend of mine.

Me and Lillian were friends in high school, we had connected and bonded pretty well, she was like a sister to me. However after we graduated, we sadly lost contact.

I didn’t think I’d get to see her again, however when I started working for this production company just a few months back, I found out that she worked here too. We instantly connected again. It felt as though we never lost contact.

I gave her a small exasperated smile as I shook my head dismissively, sitting down at my desk which was across from hers.

“Ah.. everything is fine, I just slept through my alarm this morning. That’s all, no need to worry about me.”

“No need? You know, I always worry about you silly.” She frowned, she held two steaming cups of coffee in her hands, setting one down on my desk for me.

I let out a breath of relief giving her a small nod, as thanks for the coffee. I didn’t have time to stop for breakfast or get some coffee. I let out a small laugh. “You sound just like my mother. I’m okay, there isn’t anything to worry about.” I gazed at her, taking a sip of the coffee she gave me.

She rolled her eyes, a small smile replaced her frown, “I might as well be your mother, because you gave me a scare!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m sorry.” I gave her a sweet smile and pleading eyes. “Forgive me?”

“...Fineeee, you’re forgiven. Just don’t do it again!” She huffed, lightly ruffling my hair. I nodded with a grin, “You got it. It won’t happen again. Come on, let's start work before the boss scolds us for slacking. Wouldn’t want to set her off now would we?”

I giggled out as I mustered up my courage and got to work immediately, Lillian did the same, her face now filled with less concern and more happiness.

This is where my day suddenly takes a turn for the worse…

I tried my hardest to get through the heavy workload throughout the seemingly long day, however my mind kept slipping up and I gradually kept making mistakes over and over again. Now the day was almost over and yet I still had piles of paperwork to sort through.

I let out a huff as I stared down at my work, feeling frustrated.

Lillian looked up from her seat, seeing my frustrated gaze. She spoke out to me in a gentle tone. “Cass? You okay?”

I looked up at her, after a moment, running my fingers through my hair as I nodded slowly after a moment of silence. “Y-Yeah.. I’m just.. frustrated that I’m noticing more errors… I don’t understand why I’m like this today… I’m not usually like this…” I let out a heavy sigh as I rested my head on the desk, shutting my eyes.

What could it be…? Why am I feeling so weird today...?

“Is something on your mind, maybe?” She stood up from her desk, walking over to mine, leaning against it as she gently stroked my hair, knowing that it was something to help soothe me whenever I felt down and anxious.

“I… I honestly don’t know….” I muttered quietly, I then looked up, resting my chin on the desk, my eyes trailed across the clutter of stuff around me, frowning as I tried to figure out what was truly bugging me. My eyes then land on the calendar.

I eyed the month. June…

“Lillian…” I suddenly croaked out, my voice coming out as a mere whisper. “What is today’s date?”

“June 1st … Why do you ask?” She spoke clearly, confusion evident in her voice.

Crap… How could I forget about this day….

A sudden wave of sadness hit me, and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, I blinked them back as I looked away, sniffling.

Lillian immediately noticed something was wrong and grew concerned once again. “Cassandra… What's wrong?”

I took a moment, shutting my eyes tightly, wiping at the oncoming tears. It’s only been 4 months but it still hurts… I let out a shaky breath, clearing my throat as I gazed at her. “Today is… mine and my ex’s three year anniversary today. We broke up four months ago… It still hurts… I-I’m sorry…”

My voice became hoarse as I tried holding back sobs. Lillian frowned as she then pulled me into a warm embrace, she rubbed my back, she then spoke out. “I am so sorry to hear that… I never knew you were even in a relationship before… why didn’t you tell me about that?”

I sniffled, hugging her back after a moment I spoke out again. “The pain was still too fresh… It was hard to talk about him with anyone.” I let out a small sob before continuing.

“W-When… When I came back home, it was just days after the break up. I moved back into my parent’s house and into my old room… and it was harder because I brought my ex back to my home nearly every holiday and special occasion… We made memories there with my family… It hurt so much…”

My voice became a whisper, she listened silently as I rambled on. “And what makes this worse is, I still love him. I miss him so much… But since the day we broke up, I have not spoken to or seen him in four months…”

I shut my eyes, sobbing quietly against her, hiding my face from her view. I couldn’t bear to look up and see her sad expression, it would only add more fuel to my sadness.

“H-he meant the world to me… I thought I would be with him f-forever… It h-hurts so much...” My voice trailed off, all the repressed emotions I’ve tried holding back all those months ago came rushing out in quiet sobs and rivers of tears.

Lillian continuously stroked my back, before speaking gently. “I know it hurts, it will hurt for awhile and that’s okay. You need your time to heal…” After a pause she added.

“Why don’t you head home? You look like you could use the rest and working right now isn’t what is best for you. I can cover the rest of your work and I’ll tell the boss to hold on the workload for you, okay?”

I tried to compose myself. Shaking my head, stubbornly. As much as she was right, I needed to do something today, anything to keep my mind from wandering back to him and this day. “N-no… No I can’t ask that of you…”

“But I want to. You clearly need the day off to cope. Throwing yourself into work isn’t going to help you Cassie.” She looked down at me with a serious expression.

Hah… at that moment, she reminded me of him. That was something he often told me when he felt as though I was overworking myself. At times, I did.

But only because I wanted to make him proud…

I wiped at my tears, giving her a small smile, as I gave in. “Alright…” I spoke in a soft tone, my voice barely coming out due to all the crying I just did.

She released me from her hold as I gathered up my belongings, gazing at her once again with a bittersweet smile. “Thanks Lillian, I owe you one. I’ll see you later.” After waving my goodbyes to her as I left the office with my head hung low.

Not wanting others to see my depressed state, I quietly yet quickly made my way back home, thankful that the office was just a good twenty minute walk from my home grabbing my keys from my bag. I walked in.

The house was quiet, which was a good thing. It meant my aunt wasn’t home. Although I had already known that she wouldn’t be home.

I moved in with my aunt four months ago when I returned after leaving Loveland. I was grateful that my aunt took over the house after my parent’s passing. She took care of my younger siblings when I couldn’t. I was forever grateful that she was so accepting of me coming home.

If it wasn’t for her… I wouldn’t have a place to live.

However, I knew she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow; She was out of town on business and left the house to me for a few days. I let out a breath as I dropped my belongings on the table, dragging my feet into the living room, plopping down onto the soft cushion of the couch, staring mindlessly at the ceiling. Unsure of what to do to occupy my time.

The more I stared up at the ceiling in silence, the more I got trapped in my thoughts. He began to fill my head once again. I shut my eyes, feeling the build up of my tears once again. No. Not again.

“Why can’t I stop thinking about him?!” I spoke out loud, my voice echoing throughout the large room, I was beginning to grow frustrated rather than sad at this point.

I lightly tugged on my hair, as I tried to compose my emotions which were only drastically changing with every thought and memory I made with Victor. As if that wasn’t enough, images began to flash within my mind.

His soft smile…

His loving gaze…

Hearing his gorgeous laugh and the way he’d affectionately call me a “dummy” every time I did something silly or stupid. Oh how I wish I could hear him call me a dummy one more time...

I really am just a dummy… A dummy still hopelessly in love with him

I didn’t even realize the tears that began flowing down my face once again.

Goddamn you, Victor Li. Why did you make me fall so hopelessly in love with you?!

Peeling myself off of the couch, I made my way over to the kitchen, the only way to drown my sorrows and feelings for him was with alcohol. I didn’t even care if it was too early in the week for this.

I need to get him out of my head.

I sniffled as I pulled out a wine glass and a large bottle of red wine. I then made my way back to the living room, sitting myself down once again, filling my cup to the brim of the glass before turning on the tv. I needed distractions. Maybe playing a movie will help.

After scrolling through what seemed like countless channels, I settled on a random movie. It wasn’t like I was going to pay much attention to it. I’m too busy crying my eyes out. I took large sips of wine, my eyes still blurred with tears.

No matter how much I drank, he still was on my mind. Even the alcohol didn’t seem to help me in my time of need. I downed what seemed like my fourth or fifth glass. I didn’t bother to keep track. Setting down the now empty glass on the table, I laid down, curling up on the couch, my head suddenly spinning. I let out a small groan.

Perhaps having too much wine after crying so much probably wasn’t a good idea… I rubbed at my eyes, drying up my tears. After a moment of regaining my eyesight, my eyes gazed over to my phone, laying flat on the table beside the glass.

...Should I call him…?

No… No I shouldn’t. We haven’t spoken since we split. It would just be weird to suddenly contact him out of the blue after everything that happened between us.

As much as I knew my mind was trying to be rational and reasonable about the situation. I couldn’t stop my hand from grabbing my phone, scrolling through my contacts and finding his contact. I took a shuddering breath before pressing the call button.

My heart anxiously churned within my chest, as I sat up properly, chewing on my fingernails while the phone rang… and rang.

It kept ringing. I began to think that maybe he would not answer. He probably blocked my number or something… Yet, on the last ring, he picked up.

There was a moment of silence before a quiet voice could be heard on the other end.

“Hello…?”

My heart skipped a beat, I swallowed as I tried to muster up the words to speak. What am I doing?! Why did I think this was a good idea!? Gosh, I really am an idiot…

I scolded myself mentally, as I shakily spoke out. “H-hey… Hey Victor.” I took a pause, before adding. “I-It’s been awhile…”

“It has… Why did you suddenly call me, Cassie…?” His voice came out soft but it also had a hint of sadness to it. Was that just my imagination..? Is he still hurting too?

“I-....” I swallowed, tears filling up my eyes. “I just….” My voice wavered. In order to feel better, I needed to tell him.

“I Miss You. I Miss Us..."

--

Author's Note: Part 2 will be out hopefully by the end of today if not Thursday morning! It will be in Victor's POV and will include more detail about why they broke up! Thanks for Reading <3

[cherripeach]

Chapter 7

Little Match Maker

Summary: Your life motto is “I have the power of god and anime on my side, don’t mess with me,” and you stand by that with your life. No human, magician, or random creature could ever stop your firm belief in it.

However, getting transported to this world that seemed to turn your already bad luck worse was not what you wanted to be in your life story, but you made the most of it. Making friends, enemies, and disasters, you were in your prime in this world, and so you decided to help as many people as you could flourish, at least what you believed to be.

Prologue 14-18: i have the power of god and anime on my side

Chapter Summary: So a normal anime battle, right?

Warnings: Curse words, kinda jokes about death

Words: 3.4k

Relationships: developing but future twstxreader

Walking through the mirror portal was like walking through a fever dream on drugs: directions weren’t a thing and every color was being blasted through your eyelids into your eyes and once you opened them because the colors calmed down, you think you saw a talking cat who smiled and waved at you in there.

All three of you with Grim on your hip stumbled out of the portal to this new forest area.

Problem with the forest was nothing was moving. No noises from birds. No wind blowing the trees. No crunch of the leaves on the ground by any animals. No footsteps. Nothing.

Your eyes surveyed the land and only found the forest deserted. Even the little cabin in front of you did not look like it had been touched in years. There were holes in the roof and cobwebs all over the house. And there were no lights on in the entire house.

You and the color duo had the same thought and locked eye contact with a cringe on each of your faces, absolutely not ready for anything.

So you began your journey with Red in front of you and Blue behind.

Blue looked around the forest, and then looked back to you and Grim, “So this is Dwarf’s Mine...It used to be prosperous, thanks to magic crystal mining but…”

Grim spoke up, “Uuuuhh.. Feels like something could jump out…” and slipped further into your arms.

You held on a little tighter to your cat and voiced your opinion, “Feels like someone died or something... “ You paused and decided to get this moment over with, “What are your names again? Like full name…”

Red just rolled his eyes and turned to face you, “Are you actually kidding me? You're such a dumbass…” He rolled his eyes and faced forward and continued to move forward to only mutter, “Ace Trappola, loser.”

Deuce pulled up by your side and sympathized with your struggles, “It’s okay. I’m Deuce Spade,” and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, “I’m not really good with names either, and I have to ask all the time.” A small smile appeared on his face.

Ace grabbed back your attention while announcing his founding of the house you already knew about, “Oh, there's a house back there. Let's go ask them about the mine”a

You were not for this, “You sure that house isn’t haunted. I’m not okay with going into a haunted house and dying with people I’ve barely met.”

Ace was not in the mood and twisted his head to stick out his tongue at you, “Shut it, dumbass.”

You four finally got to the door of the cottage or cabin, and you realized that the cottages looked a lot like the Dwarf’s House in Snow White which you really should have put together when Deuce called the area the ‘Dwarf’s Mine.’

Once all three of you stopped at the door, Ace, the genius he is, decided to knock on the door as if anyone would answer. He even called out to those inside, “Good evening..” until he realized that no one was home, “I guess it’s abandoned …” Then, his next great idea was going inside which totally is not a crime of breaking in and entering, “It’s a mess in here.”

Grim jumped out of your arms to get into the cottage and began his exploration which landed him right in a spider web where he spit out pieces onto the floor,“ Puwah! I got a spider web in my face.. Peh! Peh!”

Ace moved over to the table, “Aren't the tables and chairs on the small side? Are they for kids? One, two... There's seven! So many!”

“I don’t know about you, but I think that dwarfs might have lived here,” You had to make a sarcastic remark at his lack of judgement.

But of course none of them heard you or acknowledged you until a light bulb flashed over Deuce’s head while he brought up something similar to you,“This was probably a lively home when Dwarfs' Mine flourished.”

Your face fell while you could only shake your head at the audacity (of this bitch), look away from him, and mutter, “Well, no shit, sherlock.”

Ace brought your attention back to the task at hand, “They did what they had to. After all, magic crystals are found inside coal. For now, let's go check it out.“

And so all three of you ventured out of the cottage into the forest. Heading through the forest, you discovered something when looking at the sky: The Neverland Star was in the sky. You had to ponder for a minute if what if you actually were in a world where all things that happened in Disney Movies existed. You pushed that aside the moment you thought of it and laughed because ‘Naw, there’s no way that could happen and certainly not to you. You weren’t some Y/N from a fanfic where their parents sold them to Harry Styles.’

The more you followed the terrible forest path the less the path could be seen; years of no use made the path basically nonexistent. But the mine was the worst: broken pieces of wood and metal were thrown about like it something happened when it was closed, grass was growing from the train tracks, and not a single forest creature was in sight.

Grim studied the vibe for a minute and freaked out, “W-we're gonna go in that pitch black cave!?” He could only cling back onto your cloak for protection as if you could protect even yourself.

“Scared? Lame.” Ace rolled his eyes and emerged first from the four of you in horror at the mine.

Grim threw your cloak back in your direction and crossed his arms, “Naaanh!? I'm not s-scared at all! I'm taking the lead! You guys, follow me!“ Grim pranced to get in front of the three of you and entered the mine.

Everything was going well until two ghosts emerged from within the mine, creating chaos from the four of you.

The ghost’s could only reply to your chaos with, “Heeee hee hee! Our first visitor in ten years!” from one and, “Make yourselves at home. For eternity!” from another.

And all three of you raced away from the ghosts.

Ace could not help but panic, “This place is haunted with ghosts, too!”

Deuce tried to handle the situation, “We don't have time to deal with them one by one. Let's go!”

But Ace is Ace, “Don't think you can just order me around. If you hadn't done something so idiotic, we wouldn't be in this mess.“

“You wanna talk about who started it? It's cause you wouldn't clean!”

“It started when that furball burned the Queen of Hearts' statue!"

Grim tried to save his dignity, “Ffgna! That's what you get for making a fool outta me!”

Deuce set the objective again to the two idiots, “All of you! Do you understand our situation right now? We're all expelled if we don't get back with a magic crystal by tomorrow morning!”

You just couldn’t stand the arguing of these boys. They were worse than children arguing over a favorite toy.

Ace flicked his hand at Deuce and voiced his attitude, “So stop patronizing me. It's really ticking me off.”

“Will you all just shut up and run? Is it that hard to comprehend in your tiny brains that this is a situation where we could all I don't know..d i e? Either get your asses out of here and follow me or I’ll leave you in here.” You grabbed Grim and put him back on your hip.

“...on’t….ive….wo....” A ghastly voice spoke from far in front of your group.

Everyone jumped.

Ace peered around the cave only stopping to lock his frantic gaze onto yours, “W-who said that...”

“St...one....sssss.....mine..” The voice murmured.

“I think it's... getting closer…” Deuce whispered-yelled at you.

“Stone.... IS MIIIIIIIIIIINNNEEEE!!” A creature with a broken glass head with tar or a substance like gasoline leaking out of the broken area. The creature had a red coat with a belt and a brown hat on top of its broken glass head.

All three of you jumped with wide eyes and open mouths and screeched, “I-It's heeeeeeeeeeeree!!!!”

You with Grim in your arms, Deuce, and Ace all scrambled to get out of the cave with the monster, pushing and shoving the others to get out of the way and get through. You ended up tripping on a rock

A new section of the cave came into view while the monster was still chasing after your group. And even after you three sprinted through the cave, you did not stop until the monster’s footsteps could not be heard from behind you.

You three came to a halt and you let Grim stand up in order for you to place your hands on your knees so that you could take a break and breathe after the run you just had. The other two boys followed your same form and let out large puffs of air.

Deuce stood back up while still exhaling air, “What the heck is that thing?!”

Grim clutched your cloak as he hid under it this time, “Ffgnaaaaaaa!!” He almost pulled your pants down, “Crowley didn't say anything about that!! Let's get outta here!” He tugged your cloak in the opposite direction of the cave.

Ace fixed himself and thought out loud, “It’s so nasty,” but he placed his hand on his chin and finished with, “But didn't it mention a 'stone'!?” He did peace signs and moved his fingers up and down to signify he was quoting the beast.

Grim’s mouth flew open wide while he voiced his opinion of the monster with a solid, “Eehh??”

He was lost in his confusion until the monster appeared behind him again, “St....one, won't....give...!” The monster seemed pretty strung up about this stone which made you pause for a minute and think. Why is this monster here in the first place? And why does this monster need this stone? Is it like its source of magic like the chandelier or something?

Deuce had a cry of “Eureka!” by proclaiming about the magic crystals, “So there really are magic crystals left!”

Grim’s response was plain, “N-n-n-n-n-nope! Nope! I'm a genius, but I can't beat that thing!” He was still clutching onto your cloak while pointing at the monster.

Deuce curled his fist up, “But we'll be expelled without it.. I'm going!” and he threw it up in the air.

Ace’s wide eyes locked with yours, “You’ve gotta be kidding!?”

“Well, if we are gonna do this and get this stone, we gotta do this right.” You threw your hands on your hips and your lips twitched up.

Deuce now had both of his hands in fists while proclaiming, “I cannot, under any circumstances, be expelled!”

The monster was not hearing any of it, “Leave! Leave!! Leeeeeaave!!!”

And so the three and the monsters began to fight. Grim had to jump out of his hiding spot, and he would spit fire at the monster every couple of steps that the monster was taking. Ace and Deuce kept hitting the monster with common attacks that they knew. But you realized something sooner than they did.

So you yelled at them, “Idiots, nothing is working. Get your butts out of here if you want to live!”

They, of course, would not listen to you and continued to fire their attacks at the monster, and even when Grim noticed the attacks weren’t working and informed the others with a “I-It's not working at all!” they still continued to fight.

It was only when you found a sparkly light at the end of the tunnel did your scream of “Dudes, there is a crystal thing here!” spurred them to listen to you.

Ace turned and found the crystal just as you did, “Behind that thing! At the end of the tunnel, something...”

Deuce nodded, “That light, is it a magic crystal!?”

And once the monster hollered at the group of you again about how he “WON’T GIVE” your group the crystal, you made the assumption that there was at least one crystal left.

Grim turned back to you and called for the others to get out of the mine as soon as possible because there was no way they were gonna win now.

You grabbed Grim once he made grabby hands at you and started to dash down the mine in the opposite direction of the creature.

You three ended up making it back to the little cottage before you stopped.

Grim panted even though he was on your hip the entire time, “Is this far enough?”

Ace was still stupefied, “Ooooww.. What in the world was that? No one said anything about that!”

Deuce was also lost in confusion, “It didn't seem like any old ghost.”

Ace sighed in defeat, “Let's give up and go home. I'd rather get expelled than fight that thing.”

Deuce looked incredulously at Ace, “Wha!? Don't screw with me! I'd rather die than face expulsion! There's a magic crystal in front of us and you wanna go home!” Deuce gripped Ace’s collar and pulled the boy in front of his face.

Ace scoffed, “Ha. You talk big for someone worse at magic than me. Go alone if you want. I'm done.” Ace pushed Deuce’s hands off of him and started walking away from the direction of the mine.

Deuce snapped, “Oooh, that right? Then stay right there cowering like a spineless coward!”

Ace’s face swiveled around, “Huuuuh?? Coward?? Who exactly are you talking about?”

Grim’s hands tigented around your shirt, “U-uuuh... Deuce. Did you switch up your character?” His head tilted to the side.

Deuce coughed, “Huh! A-ahem! My bad. I lost my composure a bit.”

You decided that if any time is good, now is the perfect time for your opinion, “Okay dudes, let’s use what we have. We know that magic can help us in this situation, but being a dumbass won’t. All three of you need to actually use your brains and remember that you don’t have to do this alone.” You placed your hand on your chin, “If one magic alone does not work with our level, maybe magic combined could work. There is always the power of friendship if we really need it.”

Ace’s eyes narrowed in either disgust or confusion, “Well, yeah we can only do small stuff that we are good at. That’s why we have schools for magic, so that we can practice a lot to use magic just as it comes to mind. You’ll screw up if you lose your cool.”

Your eyes sparkled, “So what you are saying is I’m right and that we do need to work together as you are all inexperienced magicians that can barely do anything!” This was just what you needed.

Ace continued and ignored you, “Shut up. Stuff you're good at, you can go off instinct.”

Deuce voiced his decisions, “At any rate, I'm going in there. I'll figure out how to beat that thing and come back with a magic crystal.”

Ace rolled his eyes at Deuce, “However, judging by the chandelier incident, you're a complete idiot. You couldn't land a single hit earlier, but now you'll 'figure it out'? It's going to end the same.”

Deuce’s eyes narrowed at Ace, “Come again!? You think…”

Grim tugged on your cloak to get your attention, “Here they go again. Can you stop it?”

A sigh came out of your mouth to launch you into your rant, “Will both of you put your dicks away and calm down? For Pete’s Sake, I really thought your brains would be bigger than your dick, but now I’m just assuming that your brain is nonexistent…” Your hand ran through your hair, “Please, I beg for you to listen to me for one second. Get your head out of your ass and realize that you, all of you, need to work together as a team and think with your heads to defeat this monster. Capiche?” You closed your eyes and smiled as wide as you could.

Both of the students looked at you like you just told them that the world would end, and ended up yelping after their eyes met yours.

Grim covered his ears with his paws, “Waah. Why are you shouting all of the sudden?”

You opened your eyes and obtained a resting bitch face, “Either you suck it up and realize that you can’t do anything alone or you can go try again and maybe you’ll have a good short death.” Your smile appeared back on your face.

Deuce deflated, “Guuhh... B-but... What exactly should we do?”

“We have to have a plan for this to work,” You knew you had to put your head together.

Ace still had disgust in his eyes, “Strategy? You mean get along and work together. Ha! That's cold. You have no problem saying lame things with a serious face, huh.”

Deuce bobbed his head, “Disagreed. No way I'm working with this loser.”

Grim shook his head, “But... I feel like it's way lamer to get expelled on the first day of school.”

Ace stuttered, “U-uh, that’s…”

Deuce stared at his shoes.

“So, are you finally gonna listen to me?” You smiled and ran your hand through your hair.

Ace groaned, “....haaaahh.. Fine! We just have to get it done, right! So, what's your plan?”

And all three of you then had a discussion about what you were going to do to defeat the monster. Neither of the males had any ideas, so it depended all on your ideas. Later, you three ended up at the opening of the mine with confident looks on your faces, empty stomachs, and worn out bodies.

Grim, shaking next to you and gripping the end of your cloak, gazed up into your eyes, “You... really think it'll go as planned? I'm sca... no, just nervous.”

“Hey, Grim,” You pet the top of his head right next to his ears, “Nothing bad will happen to us. You just have to believe in yourself and everyone else.”

Ace slapped you back, “Haha, you're too stiff. Just go with the flow. Let's get this over with!”

All three of you strutted into the mine as if you knew what you were doing, but you didn’t.

Grim jumped in front of you and waved his arms all around, “Hey, beasty! O-o-o-over here!”

The monster ended up sprinting at you which makes sense because before it ran at you, you cupped your mouth and yelled, “Hey, whore, bet you never passed elementary school!” And then stuck out your tongue at the monster.

Grim sprung up and went in the opposite direction you did screaming, “Gah! It’s coming!”

While you tried to doge the monster, the monster growled, “Grrr!There... thief... too. Won't give... Mine... Mine!!”

The monster’s growls and shrieks soon turned into wails and cries. You paused your run to observe the monster who was in the middle of fighting Ace and Deuce because Ace decided to punch the monster in the monster’s face of glass. (Grim ended up cheering at Ace’s punch) This monster you had now learned was not mad at you but was probably attached to the mine and especially to the crystal with how the monster’s screams turned to cries.

(‘Great character analysis!’ You thought while patting yourself on the back.)

You surveyed the outfit of the monster once more, and you learned that it was much more familiar than you thought.

A light bulb went off in your head because the outfit looks like one of the seven dwarfs outfits, and, of course, now when you need it you forgot what they all look like.

You had to get everyone’s attention, especially the monster’s, “Hey hey hey! I’m gonna steal the crystal if you don’t run after me!”

The monster stomped after you out of the mine and into a big meadow roaring, “Go away! Go away!!!”

And with a wave of your hand, the three magicians in your group did a grand attack. All of them were yelling their movies like basic anime heroes.

(‘Am I in an anime?’ flew through your mind for a second, but your slowly pushed it down)

You knew that this was your only chance because the monster was stuck in all of their attack, “I���ll go get it, don’t worry!”

The three of them high fified and talked a little bit about how just amazing their combined attack was. You were spirinting into the mine, tripping on some of the rocks and slipping on a puddle of muck from the monster. The crystal slowly came into view and you went in that direction.

Large, booming footsteps were heard from behind you causing you to circle around to the noise and find not only the monster racing toward you but your idiotic boys following after it.

Ace hollered at you, “Watch Out!”

The monster even though the boys were still attacking it ignored everything and sprinted straight for you and the crystal.

You had to jam your hands into the rocks surrounding the crystal and pull as hard as you can which honestly was not a lot. Your hands were soon donned with scraps and cuts from the rocks surrounding it, and finally after using a piece of metal from the train tracks behind you, you got out the crystal with the monster not on your ass but almost.

When the monster locked sight onto the crystal in your hand, a sickening screech flew through the air, “Hands ooooofffffffff!!”

Deuce, Ace, and Grim all began panicking and trying to find out what to do by actually asking each other.

However, your biggest priority was to get out of the monster’s range, so you had to do something that could get you killed possibly.

(At least unless you wanted to go deeper into the mine which honestly was a worse idea than facing the monster in front of you).

The monster could almost reach out and grab you now so you performed your amazing save: you kneeled to the ground as the monster was still running at you causing the monster to trip and fly right over you into a wall of rocks. Since the monster was now a little caught up, you stood up and rushed to get the boys who you pulled by their sleeves as they were still arguing and forced them to follow you out of the mine once and for all.

Grim surveyed your hand and ordered the others, “We got the magic crystal! Let’s skedaddle!”

Ace looked back at the monster, sighed, then turned to Grim, and shouted, “Roger!”

The monster ended up gaining focus quicker than you expected because it appeared right behind you as the exit to the cave came in sight.

Ace incredulously gazed at the monster, “You're kidding!? It knocked off all that stuff and came after us!”

Deuce cursed and then remarks, “Shoot, it’s gonna catch up to us!”

You noticed that the monster did not stop even when all of you were close to the cottage in the woods, and you knew that it was because the monster is dead set on getting the crystal out of your hands, “There’s no way it’s gonna let us go. Either we end this now or die trying, so let’s go.” You halted your run and faced the monster with your fists in the air.

Ace sighed, “Aaah, fine! Let's finish it! Don't let me down, Mr. Serious!”

Deuce's eyes flicked to yours and then Ace, “You too.”

Grim jumped in front of you, “I’ll show off my true power!”

All three of them ended up using their magic together to defeat the monster, and even though they all came out of the battle close to dead they still cheered and celebrated with each other with shouts and highfives.

A breath of relief passed your lips, “Now this is when you confess your love for each other?” You locked eyes with first Ace and Deuce.

“Knock it off!” Ace and Deuce yelped at you.

It seemed they have become so much in sync that they are even imitating each other.

Deuce continued with red cheeks, “...Ah. N-no. This is nothing like that!”

Ace added, rubbing the back of his neck, “Y-yeah, yeah! Could you stop saying weird things?”

Grim puffed out his chest and bloated, “W-we won, thanks to my genius!...It's not because we pooled our strength!”

You turned to Ace and shook your head causing Ace to run his hand through his hair and frown, “...I guess making excuses is pretty lame. I hate to admit it but we won thanks to your plan.”

Deuce slowly nodded, “... True. We got the magic crystal because you gave us level headed instructions. We can prevent our expulsion this way. ... I'm so relieved.”

You smiled at the two, “Everyone did their part, and now we can finally relax.”

Ace finished it off, “Yeah, yeah. We're all relieved. And seriously worn-out and battered. Let's go home.”

Grim pulled your coat and remarked how starving he was, but all you could think about was a change of clothes and a bath, so him eating a black crystal or whatever did not really bother you, not even when the other two boys were yelling at him not to.

Deuce let out a cheer of excitement and a breath of plain exhaustion, “Switching gears, let's get this magic crystal to the headmaster!”

Everything was finally going your way. For now.

~~~

It be very cute how my laptop now does not work

[betelgeusessonajblog]

Carlos’ Story

So I’m not doing the “FULL LIFE.” of Carlos but from when he was about 17-30ish. Carlos’ Childhood was pretty much normal. Loving parents, did well in school, had some bullies here and there but nothing awful. Anyways Enjoy

A young 17 year old Carlos sits with four of his friends, watching TV. It was the weekend for them and they were trying to find something fun to do.

One of the monsters sighs, he was a grey monster with a pair of horns on his head and was on a bit on the chubby side, turns to his friends and says “Alright fuck this I’m bored, TV sucks ass. You guys up for doing Truth or Dare?”

The others looked at Each other before shrugging “Couldn’t hurt.” was the general consensuses. It beat sitting around being bored all day.

So they all went upstairs to the grey monster’s bedroom, Carlos folds his arms a little “I think we should agree on one thing: Nothing extreme that could get us in hospital or in trouble, Sammy.”

The grey monster, Sammy, nodded in agreement “Sounds good to me. Last thing I need is my parents biting my head off.”

“Doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose of Truth or Dare?” Another monster asked, this one was a monster that had tentacles for legs and spikes on his head.

“Dan, don’t you remember the fucking BITCH fit my mom had when she saw those broken boards when we broke them for fun? they weren’t even being used for anything, just sitting around.”  Sammy said as he shook his head.

“Didn’t one of those boards also fly up and smack you in the junk?” Carlos asked as Sammy winced

“Yeah....Alright so her anger wasn’t unwarranted....” Sammy said before muttering under his breath “washopingyouguyswouldn’trememberthat.”

The others chuckled before they sat on the floor and began playing Truth or Dare. Some of the dares were dumb like letting the darer to send a nonsense text to a random contact in their phone or do laps around the house backwards which usually ended up with someone falling flat on their ass. 

They knew if they do anything stupid they would end up in MASSIVE trouble so they had to keep it as tame as possible. They didn’t care though, they were joking around and having fun, laughing like idiots.

At one point on one of Carlos’ turn, Sammy asked him ‘Truth or Dare’ and up until now, he had been trying to avoid dares as much as possible so deciding to try something different Carlos answered “Alright...Dare me.”

Sammy folds his arms as he thought for a few moments before smirking “Alright....I dare you to...Kiss Mike.”

Mike, whom was drinking his soda, did a spit take hearing that and began coughing “Wh-What?!” they exclaimed in unison

“You heard me. I dare you and, Mike to kiss.” Sammy smirked as he leans backwards, Dan snickers a little at their reaction.

Mike looks at Carlos, both of them sighed heavily, they were reluctant to do it but decided “Fine, can’t ruin the fun.”

Mike moved closer to Carlos and they both took a moment before sharing a brief kiss on the lips before Mike quickly pulled away, wiping his mouth “Ugh why’d you dare that?”

Sammy chuckled “Cause it’s funny seeing you guys freak.”

Carlos was silent for a few moments before looking at the time “Alright, I gotta head off. Mom and, Dad’ll kill me if I’m out too late.”

“Aw you aren’t staying longer? Was Mike that bad of a kisser~?” Sammy snickered.

Carlos shook his head “Goodbye, you dorks.” he said before heading back to his house and greeted his mom and, dad. They told him they would order dinner tonight so Carlos smiled before heading upstairs.

He grabbed a quick shower before changing into his pyjamas then sat down on the bed. He sighs a little as he begins to think over that...kiss It felt...oddly nice...he lays down and begins thinking it over.

The last few weeks he’d found himself checking out his classmates or staring at an actor in a movie he was watching. He blushes lightly as he starts to realise he was interested in guys. This was the first time he had ever thought about it but....yeah he couldn’t deny it, he liked guys.

Over the next few days, Carlos had kept quiet to himself thinking if he should come out to anyone or not. When in class, he’d occasionally glance at another guy.

One evening, Carlos was browsing the web, looking at websites for advice about this kinda thing. He’d got his homework done for the night so he had time to kill. 

There were some horror stories about someone being disowned for coming out to his family so that started to freak him out, what if his parents reacted the same way? What if they disowned him and kicked him out? No...they wouldn’t do that...would they? They loved him....right?

Soon his Mom came to the bottom of the stairs and called up to him that the dinner they had ordered had arrived.

He got out of his seat then headed downstairs and sat at the table then began to eat his dinner. 

He was silent as he ate which his parents noticed, Carlos’ dad looked at his wife then to Carlos “Carlos? are you alright, son?” he asked, concerned that something happened to him.

Carlos paused for a few moments before putting his fork down “...I um...” he sighs heavily “I...I realised something about myself recently...”

HIs parents looked confused before Carlos continued “...Over the last few weeks....I started....checking out other guys....and I’ve realised I...I really like them...w-we were playing Truth or Dare the other day and I was dared to kiss Mike and we did and...it...the kiss felt nice...I’m not into him in that romantically but I honestly...I liked how it felt....” 

Neither of them said anything until Carlos was finished speaking to which his mom said “Oh honey we love you no matter what.”

His dad nodded in agreement “Yeah, son. We’ve always told you that we’d love you no matter what. You’re still our son, you’re still Carlos.” they were both smiling, all that worrying....for nothing.

Carlos couldn’t help but begin to cry, feeling relieved that he’d came out to his parents, that he was able to talk to them. His parents got up and gave Carlos a long hug, this was more than enough to reassure his mind that it was real, he was accepted.

The following year after graduating from high school, Carlos came out to Sammy, Mike and, Dan. They said they were cool with him, he was still the same ‘dork’ they’d always known.

Carlos had decided to attend the local community college with Sammy whilst Mike and, Dan had gone to different ones. The first day at college was uneventful and rather boring. 

Carlos and, Sammy got the full tour of their campus and had managed to get their ID’s sorted out and their dorm room keys. They weren’t in the same dorm but were neighbours which they were both happy about, long as they could still hang out.

Carlos checked his dorm key number then the door before he unlocked it then walked inside. On the bed, reading a book, was a dog-like monster had two small horns on his head, he had a pretty muscular body from what Carlos could see.

The dog-like monster looked up from his book,  his eyes were a light blue colour, He smiled a little “oh hey, you my roomie?” he asked

Carlos nodded “Yep, I am.” he walks over with a smile as he put his bag down on the free bed “I’m Carlos Garcia.” he said as he held his hand out to shake the dog-like monster’s hand.

He smiles before shaking Carlos’ hand “I’m Oliver Sanders. You can call me Ollie. It’s nice to meet you, Carlos.”

“Likewise.” Carlos said with a smile as he sat down. The two began to chat, and get to know each other. They laughed about how long the tour took, bonded over video games they’d played or movies they’d seen.

Over the next few months Carlos and, Ollie had began hanging out a lot. Playing games in their down time when not studying, they'd watch movies together. Slowly but surely Carlos started to fall for Ollie, the two of them were enjoying each other’s company but, Carlos didn’t say anything at first.

One evening whilst the two were watching a movie, Ollie snuggled into Carlos which caused the lizard to blush heavily. He slowly wraps an arm around Ollie whom smiled a little before looking up “Finally making a move, huh?” he asked 

Carlos looked down “Wh-What...?” he blushed deeper before Ollie snickered then sat up “Carlos....for the last month  I’ve had feelings for you....”

"Y-You do...?” Carlos asked as Ollie nodded smiling “...I...I like you too...a lot....”

Ollie smiles before leaning in a little, Carlos did the same. And soon the two were kissing each other deeply and passionately, they moaned softly as they made out before eventually pulling away.

Ollie smirked a little “God you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

Carlos panted a little as he pressed his forehead against Ollie’s “I’ve...never kissed anyone like that....”

“Yeah...? Well I’m so happy we got to do that, handsome.” Ollie said still smiling.

The two spent the remainder of the night, talking about when they realised they were into guys. Carlos told Ollie about the dare and how he was panicked. Ollie told Carlos about how he and his best friend made out when they were seventeen but nothing ever came from it, relationship wise. It was just two friends experimenting. 

Ollie admitted that he had never came out to his family, he was too afraid to do so. Carlos understood and told him he’d support him no matter what.

Eventually summer came so Carlos and, Ollie decided to hangout together at Ollie’s home a lot. Luckily for them they were only half an hour away from each other so when they got home for the summer, things went well at first.

They met each others friends and everyone ended up getting along together rather well and hung out constantly. They’d chill out at the arcades or go see a movie. Things were going great.

That is until Ollie decided to come out to his family, he knew that he and Carlos’ relationship couldn’t remain hidden forever. Especially considering they could be seen by Ollie’s older brothers.

This...didn’t go well for poor Ollie, unfortunately. His family were instantly furious hearing their son was “a faggot.” called him all kinds of names not just faggot but all sorts of nasty things. He was ultimately kicked out of his house and ended up spending the night at Carlos’ place

Carlos spent the night holding Ollie, kissing him and telling him that they weren’t worthy of having him in their life.

A few days passed and, Carlos got some of his and, Ollie’s friends together and told them what happened. They decided they’d pull together what money they had to get Ollie an apartment for a while.

Ollie was absolutely touched by their gesture and so grateful for his friends and, boyfriend. They had got him some furniture and, Carlos’ parents chipped in a little so Ollie would have some groceries.

Ollie and, Carlos sat together on the couch that night, Ollie was laying with his head on Carlos’ lap, the lizard was stroking his boyfriend’s head gently.

“You....you’re an incredible boyfriend, Carlos..” Ollie said as he teared up again “S-Sorry I just can’t believe you’d do that for me.”

Carlos kisses Ollie’s forehead gently “Of course I would, Oll...you mean the world to me....”

"....I...I love you, Carlos...” Ollie said as he took Carlos’ hand “I mean that....”

Carlos smiled a little before kissing Ollie on the lips “I love you too, honey....”

That night, the two had sex together for the first time. Up until that point, they were both too nervous to do it but this time, it felt right. Showing how much they loved each other. It was gentle but passionate.

A couple days later, Ollie got himself a job at a retail place. He couldn’t rely on everyone else paying for his apartment for ever. The job wasn’t the best but to Ollie, it was better than nothing

A few weeks pass, Carlos had walked Oliver to work due to him having to do some errands for his mom and Dad. So when they got to the front door, Carlos gave Ollie a small kiss on the lips before Carlos walked off to do what he needed to do.

As soon as Ollie walked in, his boss began to yell at him for ‘indecent display’  with Carlos. Calling them vile, sinners and that they should be ashamed of themselves and soon the boss fired Ollie, despite Ollie trying to defend himself.

Things unfortunately spiralled out of control for Ollie rather quickly after that. Despite trying his hardest to get a job, he failed to find one that would either give him decent pay or one that was hiring.

Eventually, Ollie lost his apartment and ended up being homeless. Some nights he’d sleep at a homeless shelter. So when he hung out with his friends and, Carlos he would act as though everything was okay.

When he’d stay at Carlos’ home for the night, Ollie would use Carlos’ bathroom to shower and wash his fur. Carlos didn’t think anything was wrong cause Ollie kept acting like his usual, happy go lucky self.

That is until Carlos found out about Ollie being fired which lead to them having their first ever fight. Ollie still never admitted to his friends or Carlos that he was homeless, just that he lost his job because his boss was a douche.

They started fighting more often when their friends found out about Ollie losing his job due to his sexuality. Eventually they smoothed things out and apologised to each other.

One night, two months after losing his job and ending up homeless, Ollie was sat with Carlos eating dinner together in Carlos when Ollie looked at his partner “So um...I’ve been thinking......maybe we should...move in together?”

Carlos, whom was in the middle of drinking a soda, began coughing and sputtering “W-What??”

“I said, I think we should move in together.” Ollie repeated himself, a serious look on his face.

Carlos coughed a couple times “A...Are we ready for that??” he asked after he stopped coughing

“What? are you saying you don’t want to move in with me??” Ollie asked, feeling upset at the thought of not living with his boyfriend.

“H-Hon we’ve only been together a few months. W-We’re still in college. S-Shouldn’t we think about that after we graduate?”

Ollie didn’t say anything, he was hoping Carlos would jump at the chance to move in together...they loved each other so much, right? He sighed but nodded a little “Y-Yeah I’m sorry hon.” he got up and grabbed his coat “I’m gonna head home for the night.”

“You don’t wanna stay over?” Carlos asked to which Ollie shook his head

“Nah...I’m...I’m gonna try and get an early night then see if I can find a job. Gotta keep at it. I’m okay, hon.” he smiled before heading out the door. Carlos walked to the door “...I love you, Ollie....”

Ollie turned his head to Carlos and gave, what looked like, a genuine smile “I love you too, Carlos.”

After that night, no one saw Ollie for a few days. Carlos began to get more and, more worried. He tried Ollie’s apartment at first but quickly found out his boyfriend had been lying to him for a while about still living there when a new tenant opened the door.

Carlos called Sammy and their friends to help him find Ollie which everyone agreed to. They spent the next two days trying to hunt him down, checking all of Ollie’s favourite spots.

There was one last spot that Carlos hadn’t checked, it was a spot that Ollie had told him about that he used to hide out in when Ollie was a kid.

Carlos decided to check out that area, he looked around remembering the small details Ollie told him. Eventually Carlos gets to where Ollie told him about where he would hide.

Upon arriving there....Carlos saw Ollie hanging on a tree, a noose tied around his neck...lifeless. He dropped to his knees and begins sobbing uncontrollably, he had lost his partner in a matter of seconds. 

He spots a note attached to Ollie’s body so Carlos shakily stands up and and takes the note off Ollie’s torso then begins to read the note

‘My dearest Carlos...I’m so sorry for not telling you sooner but I’ve been dealing with depression for quite some time now. I hadn’t told you this but I had lost not only my job, but I also lost my home. That’s why I asked you about moving in together. But please understand that this was NOT your fault, not at all. I just...I can’t handle this any more. So...I decided to end my life. I will never stop loving you, Carlos. I will always be watching over you. You were the greatest part of my life for the last few months or so. I’m so glad that I got to spend time with you. I love you always....Ollie.”

Carlos wailed and sobbed uncontrollably, he felt so guilty over losing his partner. He begins going over everything in his head, thinking had he just noticed sooner, maybe he could’ve helped Ollie.

Those next few weeks were the darkest of Carlos’ life, he found himself fighting depression, There was a small funeral for Oliver that Carlos’ family raised money for. They loved Ollie as if he were their own so this was the least they could do.

Carlos went there and was very...numb during the funeral....but eventually broke down watching Ollie’s coffin being lowered into the ground. His parents hugged Carlos tightly, this was something they never wanted their son to go through.

Many years later, Carlos had been in therapy for a year after Ollie’s death and it was still something that haunted him every now and then. Things had changed quite significantly since then.

During his time in college, Carlos decided to get a job to after everything that had happened, he wanted to be independent from his parents and not rely on them for money any more.

So he found himself working in a strip club as a waiter until three years later at 21, he was asked to cover a co-worker’s shift due to them being sick.. He was reluctant to do so due not feeling confident in his ability to dance but he agreed to do it, thinking it’d help him.

And so, Carlos found his passion for dancing after his performance was well received.

One night lead to Carlos’ life changing in the best way ever. Whilst heading home from work, a young lizard attempted to pick his pocket and Carlos caught him in the act and chased him to an alleyway.

When he caught the young lizard, he paused and took note of the lizard’s appearance....he was homeless....just like Ollie was. After introducing themselves to each other and hearing AJ’s story, Carlos decided to take him in. 

He didn’t want someone living on the streets, not if he could do something about it...maybe this was his attempt at helping the guilt he still felt to this day over Ollie’s death.

[mc-lukanette]

Grade for Each Other (Part 8)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

Luka’d never had any sort of "fancy dinner experience," so seeing Tom and Sabine run around excitedly to prepare one was very new to him. His mother wasn't the type to follow any sort of schedule or pattern, which inevitably rubbed off on him and Juleka (for better or worse). Eating was something they just did, not something they planned for, often leading to any of them grabbing anything at any time so long as they were hungry.

It made him feel weirdly spoiled to have anything close to a "normal" family dinner. Having Marinette be part of the equation didn't help him feel otherwise, nor the way Tom and Sabine stared at him from across the table like they were his biggest fans.

He'd barely taken his first bite before Tom dropped his forearm casually onto the table and asked, "So, Luka, how's having our daughter in your class?"

"Papa!" Marinette rushed to scold him, mouth half-full as she pouted at Tom from across the table.

Luka chuckled, swallowing his bite of food before answering. He'd honestly expected something like this; after all, he was a boy spending a lot of one-on-one time with a girl, so suspicion - or excitement apparently, in Tom's case - was to be expected.

"It's alright," he assured Marinette. She gave him a confused look, but he merely turned his focus to Tom. "Marinette sits next to me in class. It's great."

"She sits next to you?" Sabine inquired, seemingly intrigued.

Marinette piped up, "Luka's a very good student and he doesn't get into trouble. The teacher thought it'd be best if I sit next to someone like him, and he was right."

She almost looked proud of that and Luka hid his smile behind his hand.

Tom picked up one of the rolls off to the side, offering it to Luka as he asked, "And you're in a band? You were here before Marinette skipped grades, weren't you?"

Luka nodded, taking the roll gratefully. "I play guitar for Kitty Section."

"He's really talented, Papa," Marinette cut in tersely. "He's going places, even if the rest of the band decides to quit."

Tom let out a laugh, waving at her dismissively. "I know, I know. We trust you."

Luka looked back and forth between the two, needing a moment to understand exactly what had just transpired. He'd spent so much of his life around his music-enthused mother that it hadn't occurred to him that people would question the life of a musician.

...Well, not to mention that Tom's wording made it seem largely like Luka himself was already dating Marinette, which had briefly thrown him off. Actually, Marinette's wording kind of implied that too and—

Luka nearly shoved the roll into his mouth to force himself not to think about it, only to then be blindsided by how good the bread was. He let out a pleased hum and Tom and Sabine's grins assured him that they got the message.

Sabine took a bite of her food, looking Luka up and down before asking, "You're passionate, right?"

"Yes, very," Luka assured. A moment then passed, with him trying not to let the realization show on his face that Sabine had meant music and not his relationship with Marinette when he'd been thinking about the latter just a few seconds ago.

At least his answer would've been the same regardless.

"See? That's the kind of spirit we like!" Tom exclaimed, throwing his hands up. When they enthusiastically slammed back down on the table, Luka saw his plate shake from the force. "Us Dupain and Chengs are all passionate about what we do! Why, the very start of our bakery was built on it, and—"

Luka welcomed the change in topic, nodding along as Tom rambled. It was clear who Marinette had gotten it from and Luka liked seeing how strongly people felt about the things they enjoyed. He supposed it was because the people he grew up with felt strongly about things in general, even if Juleka felt those things more internally.

The rest of dinner was spent in idle conversation, Luka answering the occasional probing question from either of Marinette's parents. He had nothing to hide and felt it important for them to know and trust him regardless of how close he was to Marinette. He'd already expected the food itself to be beyond what he was used to, given that he was dealing with bakers, but he was more thankful that the atmosphere they gave off - as weirdly overwhelming as it was - didn't make him feel judged or unwelcome.

All four of them were in the middle of cleaning up the plates, glasses, and cutlery when a sudden crack of thunder startled them. Luka glanced over at the window, seeing the raindrops that had gone unnoticed until now. He was surprised that such a storm would—

...Oh. He hadn't thought that his mother had meant it literally when she was talking about a storm. Or—maybe she didn't and it was just coincidence?

He was jarred out of his thoughts as Sabine took everything in his hands, stacking it on top of what she was already carrying. She frowned at the window, observing, "That would be dreadful to walk home in."

Luka managed a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. I’ve done it before, and rain isn't—"

"You can't do that!" Tom protested. "You're going to make these two meddlers feel guilty if you go running out in the middle of a storm!"

Huh. So they were at least admitting to their meddling.

Sabine sighed, turning away to head to the sink. "We're sorry about this, Luka. Will you stay for the night?"

"Maman," Marinette interrupted, passing over the dishes she was carrying to Tom, "please don't pressure Luka into staying if he doesn't want to."

"We wouldn't want to pressure him into anything!" Tom insisted.

Marinette gave him a flat look and vaguely gestured to the plates. He proceeded to ignore her.

"We're worried about him catching a cold out there! Who will sit next to you in class if he's not there?" he asked with dramatic flair.

"Papa—!" Marinette cut herself off with a huff, apparently resigning herself on the matter.

Luka chuckled. "I'd love to stay. It wouldn't be any trouble?"

"Not at all!" Sabine replied. "You'll just need a place to sleep!"

Once she'd gotten everything into the sink, she turned to Tom with an urgent look, the two seeming to communicate wordlessly before racing off together. Marinette must've noticed Luka’s confusion at it, what with how she abruptly explained, "We have spare pillows and blankets for stuff like this. They're probably going to get them."

Then, with a sigh, she added, "I really am sorry about them."

"It just means that they like me," he replied, "so I'm happy."

"Really? Wait—" She squinted. "Did you think you'd say something that'd make them not like you?"

He shook his head, though amused at how shocked she seemed by the concept. "They're really open, like my mom is, and they trust you and who you pick out for friends, right?"

"Yeah. Well, a lot more now, especially." She paused, thoughtful. "Are you really okay with staying? I-I know you have your hood that could’ve protected you in the rain."

"Why would I mind being here with you?" he asked in reply, enjoying the way her cheeks tinted pink. "And I wouldn't want your parents to feel bad. They were the ones who asked me to stay for dinner in the first place."

The talk of family reminded him of Juleka. Pulling his phone out, he went straight for his contacts so he could text her to let her know that he wouldn't be coming home that day, remaining short on the details as she probably didn't want to hear anything extensive about Marinette at the moment.

Just as he'd slipped his phone back into his pocket, Tom and Sabine came barreling through the door like a pair of superheroes, arms full of pillows and blankets. Had Luka not been so skilled with sounds, he might've mistaken the slamming of the door for another crack of thunder.

"Marinette!" Tom shouted urgently. "The couch!"

Marinette jerked up, pointing to herself. "Wha—the couch? ...Oh!"

Luka had to step back as she rushed past him, the family of three seeming to be in sync as they began sorting various blankets and pillows onto the couch. He almost felt overwhelmed trying to watch all of their movements; Tom was unfolding and laying out the blankets, Sabine was efficiently fluffing out the pillows, and Marinette apparently had a problem with the appearance, insisting that one color had to go above the other and that any level of comfort worked better that way anyway.

"Luka," Sabine called out, stopping mid-fluff to glance up at him, "how do you like to sleep?"

He blinked at her cluelessly, having never thought of alternative sleeping positions in his life.

Seeing that she wasn’t getting an answer, Sabine turned her gaze to Marinette instead. "He said he plays guitar, right?"

Marinette nodded.

"...Back support then," Sabine concluded, Luka feeling somewhat called out as she adjusted the pillows accordingly.

He was left awkwardly standing there, simply observing as the three finished what they'd defined as "the perfect bed." He couldn't lie, it did look really perfect, and now he was left feeling spoiled again.

"Alright!" Marinette shouted the second they were done, making gestures at her parents. "Now, both of you, shoo!"

Even though it wasn't late enough to exactly sleep, the two relented, probably still feeling bad about making Luka stay longer even if they couldn't have known about the weather. They both gave Marinette a simultaneous cheek kiss on opposite sides of her face, then patted Luka on the back on their way out.

It was strange how they'd patted him with the exact same pressure despite their height difference. Luka supposed that they were just that in sync.

When he looked back at Marinette, she was still making tiny adjustments to his bed, her inner organizer somehow not satisfied until everything was perfectly aligned. He approached and admired her, particularly how adorable her focused face was. Though he knew it'd be pointless to try and tell her, he nonetheless insisted, "You don't have to go through all this effort for me."

"What if I want to?" she challenged with a smile, not looking at him due to being preoccupied with the bed.

He feigned a sigh. "Then I guess I have no choice but to take it."

She hummed smugly, in the process of smoothing out the blankets as she asked, "So, Luka, what do you want for breakfast in the morning?"

He wasn’t expecting the question. "What?"

"I'm sure Maman's going to ask me about it, or she'll just ask you if I tell her that I don't know," she explained. "What do you like?"

"Oh, I’m not picky," he assured, "and I don't need anything anyway. I don't usually have breakfast."

Marinette stopped mid-smoothing, her head darting up and staring at nothing. Finally, she made eye contact, even gaping at him. "You don't? B-but it's important!"

He grew apologetic under the intensity of her gaze, resorting to looking at the wall. "I used to make it for Jule when we were younger, but we stopped once she started feeling like I was playing too many of her notes for her." He shrugged, showing that he wasn't bothered by Juleka’s choice. "Besides, I like taking my time walking to school."

"...Oh."

Her tone worried him. He looked back, confirming that she seemed discouraged. "Marinette—"

"That's okay!" she cut in, standing and holding her hands up. She clearly realized that she'd been showing too much emotion and he’d caught onto it. "I'm just so used to it here but it's fine if that's not what you're used to! I know my parents can be a lot and I don't really help and I wasn't thinking of you at all—"

He reached up, grabbing her hands and gently saying, "Marinette, stop."

She halted mid-sentence, her mouth still hanging open as she stared at him.

"It's... you're right, it is a lot, but not in a way that's distorting my sound," he corrected.

She tilted her head in response, not understanding what he meant.

He struggled to find the words. "Things are so much different on the Liberty. We all love each other but I'm the most physical one there. My mom's okay with whatever we want to do and Jule doesn't think of me as someone to worry about - neither do my friends - so I'm not used to people checking on me."

"Y-you mean fretting over you," Marinette gently cut in with a pout.

He squeezed her hands. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"But..." She sighed, staring at the floor. "s-still, you shouldn't have to worry about what I said. I was just... fantasizing about having breakfast with you without thinking about what you'd want. I know that your lifestyle doesn't match up with mine."

He smiled softly, bending over to be more level with her. "If it's you, I'd like to get used to it."

She looked at him questioningly, but he could see the glimmer of hope in her eyes now.

"It's how you show that you care, and I want to get used to being fretted over, especially if it's you doing it."

Her brows rose in surprise. She looked away sheepishly, but he gave her however much time she needed to respond, noting that she wasn't feeling anything negative.

"...How—" She peeked up at him, though not turning her head fully to face him. "How about a compromise?"

"Hm?"

"I can make something for you—for us?" She pulled her hands out of his just so she could grab his hands in return, rotating them so his palms were facing upwards. "Something portable? And then we can walk to school together and eat at the same time. We can still take our time but you get to eat too."

He considered telling her that the Liberty was farther away than the bakery from their school, but he imagined that she already knew that. Plus, his heart was focused on something else.

"You'd make breakfast for me?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "I can't let my parents outdo me all the time!"

He tried to contain it, but the laughter was too hard to hold in. He hunched over in his giggling fit, only glancing up at her to ensure that she wasn't taking it the wrong way.

Thankfully, she was smiling at him, thoroughly amused.

Even after he'd managed to compose himself, the warm, bubbly feeling wouldn't leave him. "You're an extraordinary girl, Marinette."

Her smile widened. She pulled his hands to her chest, clasping them in her own. "Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody?"

His gaze softened, his heart skipping a beat that she'd remembered what he’d said so exactly. "The song that's been stuck in my head since the day that we met."

The blush that had started small bloomed further to that happy red color he loved so dearly. She took a breath, dropping his hands and fiddling with the corners of her jacket.

"And...if the breakfast thing works out," she began, "if you wouldn't mind stopping by the bakery on your way to school—"

"I wouldn't," he immediately reassured.

"—then we could do it all the time?" she asked hopefully. "Walking to school together and eating breakfast?"

He chuckled. "You call it a compromise, Marinette, but I just feel spoiled right now."

She stared at the floor, shrugging shyly. "B-but it's still even at least?"

He let out a confused hum, sure that she heard it by the way her gaze flicked up to him.

She raised her head back up, actually daring to wink at him. "Because I feel spoiled with you too!"

He opened his mouth to respond, but his words left him. It apparently wouldn't have mattered if he’d had anything to say anyway, as Marinette suddenly got even redder than before.

"A-AH, ANYWAY, I need to get ready for bed, it's late!"

It was absolutely not late, but Luka didn't stop her from rushing past him to head up the stairs. He knew very well that they were both probably feeling too much to have a proper conversation.

After she'd shut the trapdoor, he could vaguely hear her shouting - panicked but happy - to her kwami about how she "couldn't believe she just did that."

As for himself, he was already taking off his hoodie and jacket combo, the room spontaneously feeling too warm. He threw it to the side of the couch that was devoid of blankets, then sunk down onto his bed.

That was definitely flirting; it was the most blatant she'd ever flirted with him. Her wink wasn't even perfect but—

He buried his face in his hands, feeling the heat of his own blush against his palms. He needed to rethink his approach with her before she caught him off-guard again.

Not that he technically minded, but still.

[Part 9] [Part 10]

[440mxs-wife]

Mail Order Bride, Part 3: Settling In

Pairing: Sheriff!McCoy x Paige Stone (OFC). Other characters: Deputy!Jim Kirk, Eleanora McCoy (mother) and Donna McCoy (sister) Pastor!Spock

Word Count: 3447

Warnings: As the title implies, mail-order bride arrangement, parent’s illness, outlaws, overprotective sister, Wild West-level violence but some fluff as well. Each chapter will have individual warnings as needed.

A/N: This is set around the 1930′s in the Western U.S. I will endeavor to remain as true to the historical timeline as I can. There may be some....bending of history to fit the narrative, but nothing major. This is, after all, a work of fiction. :) Enjoy and please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Donna cleared her throat and stepped out onto the front porch. "Miss Stone? I would like to properly introduce myself. My name is Donna, and I'm your stubborn jackass fiancé's sister," she declared. Donna stuck her hand out for Paige to shake, a smile twitching at her lips.

Paige caught the humor and shook Donna's hand with a wry grin. "Pleased to meet you, Donna. While I may not yet share your description of your brother's character, I hope that we can still be friends," she replied.

Behind them, Leonard groaned as he took his place at Paige's side. "Oh. Great. The two of you don't need to be cookin' up no mischief, now. 'Specially you, Mrs. Soon-to-Be-McCoy," he retorted, playfully shaking his finger at Paige. He put his arms around his fiancée to pull her into his side. Before he could stop himself, he pressed a kiss to her temple. She closed her eyes and smiled, a hum of contentment left her lips as she wrapped her arms around his midsection.

"Speaking of cookin', I should get something going in the kitchen for dinner," Paige remarked. She caught Leonard's gaze and winked before she left his side to head into the house. He nearly groaned aloud at the loss of contact, then followed her to the kitchen.

With what she found in the cupboards, Paige was able to pull together a quick meal for herself, Leonard, Eleanora, Donna and Deputy Kirk. After dinner, Paige discussed wedding details with her future in-laws, while her fiancé and his best friend/co-worker relaxed on the porch. As the sun dipped below the horizon, Eleanora and Donna made their departure, escorted home by Deputy Kirk.

Alone in the kitchen, Leonard watched as Paige bustled about with the cleanup. She seemed to have things well under control, but he felt like he should step in and help. It wasn't his intention for her to be his housekeeper, waiting on him hand and foot. He wanted this to be more of a partnership between them. He thought it best to have the discussion about this right away, so there were no misunderstandings between them.

"Can I help you with anything, darlin'?" Leonard asked.

Paige smiled as she washed and rinsed the dishes. "Oh, I'm all right, Leonard. I'm used to doing things by myself when I'm in the kitchen. But thank you. If you want, you can keep me company," she suggested.

Leonard reached in and lifted her hands from the dishwater, then carefully dried them on a towel for her. "I can see you're quite the capable woman, Paige, but I don't mind helping you. I'd like us to work together; you're not a woman 'serving' her man. That's not what I want for us, and I hope you want more than that," he replied, his eyebrow raised.

Paige stopped and considered Leonard's words about their relationship. "I haven't exactly thought about what I want from a husband or marriage in general. Never really been asked, either. I like the idea of a partnership, where we look out for each other, if that's what you mean. Now that I think about it, I've been taking care of others by myself for so long. I hope you can be patient with me, as I may slip into old habits," she chuckled. "But I'm willing to try."

Leonard grinned. "That's all I ask, sweetheart. I'm sure we'll have more conversations about this as we go. I'm looking forward to that, 'cause I'd sure like to hear your thoughts," he remarked. On any subject, he thought. Anything to hear the sound of your voice, sweetheart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the evening chores were done, Leonard took Paige on a tour of the rest of the house, showing her the two bedrooms and the bathroom. They decided that until they were officially married, it was only proper for Paige to sleep in the guest room. The trunk full of her belongings had been brought to the guest room, for which she was grateful.

Paige searched through her belongings for her nightgown, which she thought was on the top layer of her trunk. To get to her clothing, she first had to sift through her books. She decided to stack them on top of the desk until she could find room on a bookshelf somewhere in the house. Once she found her nightgown, she folded it neatly and placed it on top of the bed.

In the process, Paige found the one framed picture of her family she was able to fit into her trunk when she left home. The picture showed her with her parents and siblings, standing in front of their house in Columbus, Ohio. She ran her fingers lovingly over the glass, as if she could erase the miles between them with a simple touch.

"Settlin' in okay, darlin'?" Leonard's voice broke in from the doorway.

Paige audibly gasped and clutched the picture frame to her chest to keep from dropping it. When she had recovered her composure, she placed the photograph on the desk next to her books. Her hands were still slightly shaking when she turned to face her fiancé again. "Ev-everything's fine, Leonard," she replied.

He reached out his hands to show he intended no harm. "I-I'm sorry, sweetheart. I sure didn't mean to scare ya. May I come in?" he asked.

"Of course, it's your house," Paige remarked.

"Our house, darlin'. Our house," he gently reminded her. Leonard walked over to the desk and examined the picture. "Beautiful picture. Will you tell me who's who in here?" he inquired.

Paige started by naming her parents, then each sibling with his or her age. She and Leonard sat on the bed while she shared memories of her family. At one point, Paige's emotions got the best of her, and a few tears rolled down her face. Leonard reached over and brushed them away before placing his hand on hers in an effort to console her.

"I just....miss them, is all. B-but that's not to say you haven't made me feel welcome," she hastily added. "I promise, I will be the best wife I can be for you, Leonard," Paige vowed.

Leonard's hand still covered Paige's, and he gave it a squeeze. "I know you will, sugar," he softly assured her. "And it's perfectly normal to miss your family. You've been through a lot in a very short amount of time. It's only natural that your pretty heart would have something to say about that," Leonard affirmed. "Heck, I'd be worried if you didn't have feelings about it all," he chuckled.

"I suppose. Thank you, Leonard. You've been most kind to me from the moment we first met. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and being your wife," Paige replied softly, then yawned.

"You're gettin' sleepy, so on that note, I should let you get ready for bed," Leonard remarked. He rose from his position on the bed and walked to the door. Before he left, he stopped in front of Paige, hooked his finger under her chin and tilted it up to admire her lovely face. "I'm just down the hall if you need anything. Goodnight, darlin'. Sweet dreams," he whispered, then placed a lingering kiss to her forehead. A last graze of his knuckles on her cheek, after which he closed her door behind him and returned to his room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the door closed, Paige changed into her nightgown and climbed beneath the blankets. Earlier, she had exchanged the existing quilt for one of her own from home that her mother had made for her. To Paige, its scent was comforting to her now, even though she realized that it would fade with time.

Once in bed, Paige lay staring at the ceiling, recalling the events of the day that had completely altered the course of her life. Since she stepped off the train, she found out her original fiancé, Jed Matthews, had been killed over a card game. Then, she was nearly accosted at the station by his second-in-command, Zeke Wilson. After that, the handsome Sheriff McCoy saved her and offered to take over the marriage contract. She was invited into his home, had met his family and was now getting to sleep in a soft bed instead of sitting upright in a seat from a train car.

And in less than a week, I'll be Mrs. Leonard H McCoy, she thought. The idea brought her more comfort than she'd felt when she learned she was promised to be Mrs. Jed Matthews. Or potentially Mrs. Zeke Wilson after Jed was killed. Paige involuntarily shuddered at that notion.

With Leonard, she felt like an equal, a partner, instead of someone to do all of the so-called "woman's work" while he was away. When he asked her about what she thought their marriage should look like, Paige could tell that Leonard truly valued her opinion. Since the moment they'd met, Leonard had treated her with such care and kindness. Paige was determined to return the favor as often as possible by being the best wife she could be.

One factor that was growing more difficult to ignore was her budding physical attraction to Leonard. His warm, hazel eyes and easy smile were definitely a distraction when combined with his broad shoulders and strong, capable arms. And Paige reveled in his touch, whether by his lips pressed against her forehead or his fingers tucking her hair behind her ear. She couldn't wait to find out what it would feel like when their lips finally met for that first kiss.

The one conversation she wished she'd had time to have with her mother was about the wedding night activities. Paige knew a little of what would be expected of her by her new husband, from what she'd read in books. She had no close friends to whom she could turn and ask questions. Given what she knew of Leonard so far, she decided to gather more information about him, then perhaps try and talk to him about it. With that settled in her mind, her eyes found it difficult to stay open, and eventually, Paige drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Down the hall in his own room, Leonard was also having trouble getting to sleep right away. The day had certainly held its surprises for him. First, there was a murder in the saloon, with the victim scheduled to meet his mail-order bride at the train station. Then, Leonard offered to honor the contract to protect the young lady and fulfill the obligation to her family. Now, just a few doors down the hall, his fiancée was hopefully sleeping peacefully in her new home.

In less than a week, I'll be married again, Leonard thought. This time, though, it'll be different, because Paige is different. Comparing Paige to Jocelyn was like comparing apples to horses. The two items had nothing in common, and neither did Paige and Jocelyn.

With Paige, Leonard knew he'd have a smart, kind and beautiful woman. Jocelyn was intelligent, but was somewhat of a calculating woman. And although Jocelyn was considered an attractive woman, her beauty was mostly on the surface. Leonard was of the opinion that Paige's beauty radiated from within.

Eventually, Leonard's mind drifted towards the subject of children, something he'd never had the chance to explore with Jocelyn. With the way the marriage had ended, he was grateful that children had been kept out of it. Again, Paige won his heart in this category, without question. Her natural caretaker instincts convinced Leonard that she would make an amazing mother.

His growing physical attraction to her could not be ignored either, even only knowing each other for such a short time. He had become accustomed to her touch and the feel of her body against his. Whenever she left his side, it took all of his self-control not to let it outwardly show how much he missed her closeness. Leonard wondered if his touch and other demonstrations of his burgeoning attraction affected Paige as much as each caress from her affected him.

Leonard also surmised that his prospective bride may not have had much experience with courting or relationships in general. For this reason, he realized that their wedding night may be less traditional regarding the consummation of the marriage.

It was important to him not to pressure Paige, to be patient until his emotional and physical desires were aligned with hers. Leonard vowed he would let her set the pace, and would wait until Paige was ready to move forward in that area. But heaven forgive him if he hoped he wouldn't have to wait for too long before he could be one with his wife in that way.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The days leading up to the wedding were busy in the McCoy household. While the sheriff tended to matters in town, Paige was occupied by Donna and Eleanora with wedding details. The ceremony would be held in the small country church just outside of town. The clergyman, Pastor Spock, would officiate. The reception would take place out in the churchyard, with a potluck luncheon provided by the church elders' wives.

Despite being caught up in planning the wedding, Paige managed to get dinner on the table each night. She had everything timed perfectly, just in time for Leonard to hang his hat and jacket, then sit down to the table for the meal. Afterwards, Paige and Leonard worked together on the clean-up, where one would wash and one would dry.

Sometimes, dishes were forgotten as Leonard drew Paige into his arms and slowly waltzed with her in the kitchen. Those times were his favorite, because he could hold Paige close to his body and breathe in her sweet, floral fragrance. She would keep her ear pressed to his chest to hear his beating heart.

A couple of days before the wedding, Paige and Leonard were having one of their evening dances after dinner. On impulse, Leonard gently twirled his fiancée out away from him, and when she came back in, her back was pressed against Leonard's chest. A blush crept up Paige's cheeks and a soft giggle escaped her lips at his boldness.

Leonard pressed his nose to her collarbone and inhaled, taking in the scent of flowers on Paige's soft skin. "Mmm, sugar, I sure love the smell of this perfume you're wearin'," he murmured.

"Really?" Paige whispered. "It was a gift from my grandmother a few years ago," she explained. "I only wear it on special occasions, so it lasts longer."

"So....you're telling me that 'Thursday' is a special occasion?" Leonard smirked as he spun her away from him, only to pull her close again.

"It is when I'm with you, Leonard," she replied boldly, now facing him.

Leonard's hand cradled the back of Paige's head, while the back of his other hand caressed her cheek. "Oh darlin', you have no idea what you do to me," he remarked softly.

"Whatever it is, I think it's happening to me, too," Paige breathed. "Leonard, I know we're going to be married soon, but I was wondering--"

"Can I kiss you?" he blurted out.

"Yes please," Paige whispered. Leonard wasted no time in leaning towards her, while at the same time tugging her closer for their lips to brush against each other. While it was a good first try, Leonard decided he wanted another chance.

He watched as Paige's tongue darted out to wet her lips, so he surged forward and firmly meshed his lips to hers. This time, Leonard was determined to not break the kiss until one or both of them needed oxygen. Their mouths moved together, pushing and pulling, the pressure and speed constantly changing as they explored each other.

A soft moan escaped Paige's lips as she sighed into the kiss. Her hands slid up Leonard's chest and continued until they were cradling either side of his neck. Her thumbs gently brushed along his jawline, which elicited a groan of appreciation from her future husband.

When the kiss broke, Leonard and Paige were left trying to catch their breath. Their eyes locked on one another, then a nervous giggle emanated from Paige and Leonard gave her a wry grin. "You are somethin' else, sweetheart," he chuckled, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"That was amazing, Leonard," Paige replied. "I've been kissed once or twice before, but nothing ever felt like it did when you kissed me just now," she shared.

"And just think, after we're married," he began, then leaned closer. "We can do that any. old. time. we. want," he remarked, pecking her lips to punctuate each word. He curled his arms around Paige's body to pull her closer to his own and rested his cheek against her temple. They gently swayed back and forth, dancing in place as she laid her head on his chest.

"Mmm, too bad we can't get married tomorrow," Paige murmured. "I wouldn't mind a few more of those kisses," she pouted.

Leonard's chest rumbled with laughter at her response. "Soon enough, darlin'. But I think I can manage one or two more for you," he added, gazing deep into Paige's honey-and-green orbs.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The day of the ceremony was perfect, without a cloud in the sky. A light breeze ruffled through the tall prairie grasses, which kept the outside temperature comfortable. Birds chirped their happy songs back and forth, as if to send their blessing for Leonard and Paige's marriage.

Leonard was resplendent in his three-piece suit, charcoal gray, with a herringbone pattern on the jacket and vest. Around the collar of his button-down heather gray shirt was a black silk scarf, tied in a bow for his tie. His black felt cowboy hat completed his wedding day attire.

There hadn't been much time or money available to shop for a wedding dress, so Paige brought her best dress with her. It was a white lace sheath dress, with short butterfly sleeves, a V-neck in the front and a low V-back. Whenever she'd had an opportunity, she had embroidered pale blue rosettes throughout the fabric. The bottom hem rested just above her ankles, and her feet were covered by her best pair of boots.

Before Paige left home, her mother had made sure to give her a pair of long white gloves. Paige remembered that as one of Mama's "better days". It was one when she wasn't in as much pain due to her illness. Mama was more aware of her surroundings, and could better participate in conversation.

As Paige thought back to that day, she was a little heartbroken that her mama wasn't with her in person to witness this important day. Somehow, Paige thought Mama would've liked Leonard, had they been able to meet in person. However, Paige took comfort in the thought that Mama was thinking about her as she got ready to walk down the aisle.

The ceremony itself was brief, with Leonard and Paige both promising to love, honor, cherish and remain faithful to one another. They affirmed these vows to each other and pledged to uphold them in both triumph and adversity, till death parted them. Rings were also exchanged, simple bands of gold, engraved on the inside with their initials and wedding date.

Pastor Spock pronounced them husband and wife, with Eleanora and Donna dabbing at their tears of happiness. Then, the words Leonard and Paige were looking forward to the most were spoken. "You may now kiss your bride," announced Pastor Spock.

Leonard gazed lovingly at his new wife and gave her a soft smile. "Ready, darlin'?" he whispered. No sooner had Paige nodded her assent that she felt her new husband's soft lips connecting with hers. She was surprised to find that this kiss felt different than the ones they had shared only days ago. All of their hopes, dreams and promises for the future were poured into this, their first kiss as a married couple.

At the reception, the new Mr. and Mrs. McCoy enjoyed the potluck feast that had been put together by the church elders' wives. Many of the churchgoers stopped to offer their congratulations to the newlyweds. Later, Leonard and Paige cut the cake together, and even managed to feed each other the first bite without making too much of a mess.

After sharing their first dance and the many others that followed, it was time for the married couple to depart. Deputy Kirk played the role of chauffeur and drove the sheriff and his bride back to the McCoy homestead to spend the wedding night. A quick salute passed between the men, then Deputy Kirk returned to his home.

Leonard opened the door to their marital home, and without warning, he scooped Paige up in his arms. Paige emitted a squeak of surprise at the action and instinctively wrapped her arms around Leonard's neck. "Welcome home, Mrs. McCoy," he remarked. Paige responded by placing a lingering kiss on her husband's lips, just as he carried her over the threshold.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tags:

@marvelouslytrekking @writercole​ @spacedancer1701​ @anna-phora​ @hlabounty96​ @darkestfireee​

[zoinkshaggy]

BASIC QUESTIONS

First name? “Sha– uh, Norville.”

Surname? “Rogers.”

Middle names? “Matthew.”

Nicknames? “Shaggy.”

Date of birth? “November 4th, 1995.”

Age? “Twenty five.”

PHYSICAL / APPEARANCE

Height? “6′0.”

Weight? “150-ish.”

Build? “Uh, long.”

Hair color? “Brown.”

Hair style? “I had dreads for awhile, but now I keep my hair short. Not short. Medium length, I guess.”

Eye color? “Also brown.”

Eye Shape? “Like, normal?”

Glasses or contact lenses? “Neither.”

Distinguishing facial features? “I’d say probably my smile.”

Which facial feature is most prominent? “Smile.”

Which bodily feature is most prominent? “My legs and arms, ‘cause they’re, like, twenty feet long.”

Other distinguishing features? “That’s it.”

Skin? “Oilier than I’d like.”

Hands? “Callused.”

Make up? “I don’t wear any.”

Scars? “Nothing important.”

Birthmarks? “Nah.”

Tattoos? “No! Needles? No thank you!”

Physical handicaps? “None.”

Type of clothes? “I really like sweaters. Sweaters will always be my favorite. They feel safe. It’s a little too hot for that here, though.”

How do you wear your clothes? “How they come.”

What are your feet like? “Kind of big, I guess. Two left feet, that’s what my mom said ‘cause I’m such a klutz. Uh, I should buy some more socks and shoes. Some of my socks have toe holes and my shoes are kind of coming apart.”

Race / Ethnicity? “I don’t have my birth parents around to ask, but I know I’m Spanish.” 

Mannerisms? “I have a habit of, like, playing with my necklace or hair or bracelet — my hands don’t always like being still.”

Are you in good health? “It’s alright, I think.”

Do you have any disabilities? “No.”

PERSONALITY

What words or phrases do you overuse? “Like. I use it, like, a lot.”

Do you have a catchphrase? “Zoinks.”

Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? “I definitely think I’m more optimistic, but I have my moments.”

Are you introverted or extroverted? “Introverted.”

Do you ever put on airs? “I… don’t know what that means.”

What bad habits do you have? “Overeating, not eating healthy. Sleeping in too late. Chewing my nails, only sometimes.”

What makes you laugh out loud? “Usually myself.”

How do you display affection? “My idea of affection is kind of, just, hanging around someone. Hugs can be nice too.”

Mental handicaps? “My anxiety.”

How do you want to be seen by others? “A person they came come to and trust.”

How do you see themselves? “Better than I used to be.”

How are you seen by others? “Probably… nervous.”

Strongest character trait? “My loyalty.”

Weakest character trait? “Getting stuck in my head.”

How competitive are you? “Not at all.”

Do you make snap judgements or take time to consider? “Like, I take too much time to consider.”

How do you react to praise? “I don’t know what to say. I guess I get kind of flustered, you know?”

How do you react to criticism? “Just kind of shrug it off.”

What is your greatest fear? “Ghosts, spiders, heights, bees, guns... losing Scooby.”

What are your biggest secrets? “I don’t really keep secrets.”

What is your philosophy of life? “We’re all just here for a little while, so we should make it easier on each other.”

When was the last time you cried? “It’s been a few months, actually.”

What haunts you? “Zoinks. Hopefully not any ghosts.”

What are your political views? “I don’t pay enough attention to politics to have any views, really. I’ll vote for whoever Velma votes for. She knows what she’s talking about.”

What will you stand up for? “I will always stand up for my friends.”

Who do you quote? “Usually if I’m quoting someone, I don’t even know who I’m quoting.”

Are you indoorsy or outdoorsy? “Indoors. I like walking Scoob and everything, but, like, there’s too many bugs outside.”

What is your sinful little habit? “Putting mustard on ice cream.”

What sense do you most rely on? “Taste. But also hearing.”

How do you treat people better than you? “The same.”

How do you treat people worse than you? “The same.”

What quality do you most value in a friend? “Kindness.”

What do you consider an overrated virtue? “I wanna say courage. Biased opinion.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? “I’d stop worrying about everything.”

What is your obsession? “Good food.”

What are your pet peeves? “When people are mean for no reason.”

What are your idiosyncrasies? “Gotta make sure I turn all the lights off before I leave.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Is your family big or small? Who does it consist of? “I guess it’s kind of small. I have my dad, my mom and my sister, Maggie. I haven’t seen my real parents since I was a kid.”

What is your perception of family? “I don’t think family has anything to do with blood, it’s how people treat you.”

Do you have siblings? Older or younger? “Maggie, she’s younger.”

Describe your best friend. “I’ve known her since, well... it feels like forever, but it’s only been, like, a decade and a half. She’s the best person I know. She’s so smart and funny, and she’s beautiful. She has a beautiful soul and... just... everything about her is beautiful. She makes me feel safe, it doesn’t matter what’s going on or how much my mind is racing, if I know she’s there it just feels like everything’s gonna be okay.”

Ideal best friend? “I’ve already got ‘em all.”

Describe your other friends. “They’re great. They’re all unique in their own ways, you know? Freddy’s headstrong and he’s the coolest guy you’ll meet, Daph is such a warm energy and she’s a great conversationalist, Buzz is genuine and he’s loyal. I know everyone thinks so, but I really do have the best friends.”

Describe your acquaintances. “I guess that would be the people I work with. Like, they’re okay.”

Do you have any pets? “Yeah, I have Scoob, but he’s more like my brother or something at this point.”

Who are your natural allies? “Probably the Mystery Inc gang.”

Who are your surprising allies? “I guess it’s surprising I’d fit in with them, huh?”

PAST AND FUTURE

What were you like as a baby? As a child? “I was happy. I can’t remember much from being that young, but I know I was traveling with my parents, I remember I felt like the world was so big and exciting. I felt so loved. I guess I kind of lost that feeling when I was adopted, suddenly the exciting stuff was just, like, scary. I was an anxious wreck as a child, that’s all, honestly.”

Did you grow up rich or poor? “The Rogers family is well off. I wouldn’t say rich, but, like, well off.”

Did you grow up nurtured or neglected? “I don’t wanna say they neglected me. I did feel that way a lot, but some of it was... me, I guess, myself worrying. Yeah.”

What is the most offensive thing you ever said? “I hope nothing.”

What is your greatest achievement? “Is it sad to say everything I’ve done in this last year? For awhile it felt like I was just getting by, but right now, I feel like I’m really living. I got a job, like, it’s not much but it’s a job, I’m doing better in school, I’ve got Velma now, really got her...”

What was your first kiss like? “It was with my favorite person. Kind of later than most people’s, I guess, but worth waiting for.”

What is the worst thing you did to someone you loved? “Come into my mom’s life, probably.”

What are your ambitions? “I’ve been thinking I might wanna go to culinary school.”

What advice would you give your younger self? “I would just tell him that nothing is wrong with him, it’s okay to go your own pace and, like, it’s all gonna be okay, little guy.”

What smells remind you of your childhood? “Corn dogs and pizza. Apple pie. Playground mulch. Hair spray and perfume. Dirt.”

What was your childhood ambition? “I just remember wanting to stop being so scared.”

What is your best childhood memory? “It’s so old it’s blurry, but I remember one of my birthdays, I guess it was my last before I was adopted. We were traveling, my parents were happy, I was happy. It was the last time everything felt okay for awhile.”

What is your worst childhood memory? “There’s a few. Most of them involved panic attacks alone in my bedroom.”

Did you have an imaginary childhood friend? “Not that I remember.”

When was the last time you were crushed with disappointment? “Sometime before I moved to Elias.”

What past act are you most ashamed of? “I’m ashamed that I let myself get separated from my parents, that I couldn’t figure out how to get in touch with them. Maybe shame isn’t the right word. I just wish I knew how my mom and dad were doing, my other mom and dad.”

What past act are you most proud of? “Taking whatever the first step was to stepping out of my shell.”

Has anyone ever saved their life? “I feel like Scooby Doo saved my life.”

Strongest childhood memory? “Another birthday. My first one with the Rogers family. I ended up crying in the bathroom. I was so confused and overwhelmed, I felt like the only person in the world. I just wanted to go home. I don’t think that feeling will ever leave me.”

LOVE

Do you believe in love at first sight? “Yes.”

Are you in a relationship? “I’m with Velma.”

How do you behave in a relationship? “I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’m just trying to make her happy.”

When did you last have sex? “I-- uh... that’s personal.”

What sort of sex do you have? “Like, w-why are you asking that?”

Have you ever been in love? “I am right now.”

Have you ever had your heart broken? “Yeah, but it wasn’t in a relationship.”

CONFLICT

How do you respond to a threat? “Run.”

Are you most likely to fight with your fists or your tongue? “Like, neither.”

What is your kryptonite? “All you can eat buffets.”

If you could only save one thing from your burning house, what would it be? “I assume Scooby and Velma don’t count, so I guess I’d probably grab my favorite shirt or something.”

How do you perceive strangers? “Scary.”

What do you love to hate? “I don’t hate anything... except maybe lima beans... and there is no love there, like, at all.”

What are your phobias? “There’s a lot of ‘em.”

What is your choice of weapon? “I’m more of a hider. If I had to use something, I’d probably grab whatever was blunt and close to me.”

What living person do you most despise? “I don’t despise anyone.”

Have you ever been bullied or teased? “Yeah.”

Where do you go when you’re angry? “I don’t get angry. When I’m sad, I just go home.”

Who are your enemies and why? “The bad guys the gang and I try to stop... because we’re trying to stop them...”

WORK, EDUCATION AND HOBBIES

What is your current job? “Right now I flip burgers.”

What do you think about your current job? “It’s not too bad. It pays the bills for now. Maybe one day I can get a real cooking job.”

What are some of your past jobs? “This is my first job.”

What are your hobbies? “Just chilling, mostly. Smoking, eating.”

Educational background? “I’m in college.”

Intelligence level? “I’m not the smartest guy you’ll meet, but I’m trying.”

Do you have any specialist training? “No.”

Do you have a natural talent for something? “I don’t know if it’s a talent, but I have a lot of knowledge on the supernatural. Weeding out what’s real and what’s not, though, that’s the hard part.”

Do you play a sport? Are you any good? “No, I’ve never been good at sports... I hated gym class.”

What is their socioeconomic status? “I recycle, but I should do more.”

FAVORITES

What is your favorite animal? “Dogs.”

Which animal do you dislike the most? “Anything that bites or stings.”

What place would you most like to visit? “I think Antarctica would be pretty cool. Ha, ba-dum-tss.”

What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? “I remember Topanga Canyon being so pretty...”

What is your favorite song? “Two Princes, Spin Doctors.”

Music, art, reading preferred? “Music.”

What is your favorite color? “Green.”

What is their password? “Scoobydoobydoo420 --- like, wait, why are you asking?”

Favorite food? “Like, that’s too hard!”

What is your favorite work of art? “Uh... Mona Lisa?”

Who is your favorite artist? “I don’t know artists that well.”

What is your favorite day of the week? “With my work schedule, it doesn’t really matter.”

POSSESSIONS

What is in your fridge? “What isn’t in my fridge? Let’s see, right now I know there’s barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, honey mustard, honey, shredded cheddar cheese, American cheese slices, a wheel of Gouda, ketchup, ranch, spicy barbeque, sour cream, strawberry and grape jelly, apple jam, butter, margarine, milk, chocolate milk, Almond milk, strawberry syrup, cherries, a half eaten Philly Cheesesteak, ham, turkey, black forest ham, broccoli, Reeses cups, water bottles, apple juice, leftover brown rice, at least one eggplant, eggs, one slice of buffalo chicken pizza, cabbage, few different Lunchables, green peppers, one red pepper, mild salsa, medium salsa, a microwaveable Calzone, strawberries, raspberries, cream cheese, a bowl of chili and... actually, I think that’s it. Don’t get me started on the freezer.”

What is on your bedside table? “My phone and an old water bottle, probably.”

What is in your car? “I don’t have a car.”

What is in your bin? “Candy wrappers, empty Chinese takeout boxes, probably some junk mail.”

What is in your purse or wallet? “My ID, debit card, a little bit of cash, Scoob’s service dog certificate, a picture of Velma.”

What is in your pockets? “Scooby snacks.”

What is your most treasured possession? “I’m not attached to any specific items, really, just people.”

SPIRITUALITY

Who or what is your guardian angel? “I don’t know, I’d just like to think I have one.”

Do you believe in the afterlife? “I’m not sure. When I think about it, I get a little freaked out.”

What are your religious views? “Uh, I- I don’t know.”

What do you think heaven is? “I think it would be this safe place on the clouds where everyone you love is waiting.”

What do you think hell is? “Bad.”

Are you superstitious? “I guess, yeah.”

What would you like to be reincarnated as? “I guess being a dog would be pretty fun... anything like that. I don’t think I’d wanna be a human again. It’s too much.”

How would you like to die? “Not... painfully...”

What is your spirit animal? “A sloth.”

What is your zodiac sign? “Scorpio.”

VALUES

What do you think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? “Breaking them down. Making them feel like they’re not important, they don’t matter, they have to change who they are to be loved.”

What is your view of ‘freedom’? “Having the chance to choose.”

When did you last lie? “Like, I don’t want to lie, but this guy at work asked me if I liked his new sunglasses, and I didn’t want to be rude and they were pretty expensive, so I said yeah, but... I really didn’t like them.”

What’s your view of lying? “I hate doing it, I don’t want to be lied to.”

When did you last make a promise? “Last week.”

Did you keep or break their last promise? “I keep my promises.”

DAILY LIFE

What are their eating habits? “Whatever I want when I want it.”

Do you have any allergies? “Not that I know of, but I bet I’m allergic to bees, I feel like if I got stung I’d die, so I try to avoid them.”

Describe your home. “It’s just a small apartment. It feels like home when Velma’s there, though.”

Are you a minimalist or a clutter hoarder? “Can I be both? I’m trying to do better about clutter, it’s usually just clothes and trash, I don’t have many belongings.”

What do you do first thing on a weekday morning? “Kiss Velma on the head. Get ready for work. If I’m off, I’ll cuddle a little longer, then we’ll have breakfast.

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon? “Take my shoes off, sit on the couch and watch some TV.”

What do you do on a Friday night? “Whatever Velma wants to do.”

What is your soft drink of choice? “Dr. Pepper.”

What is your alcoholic drink of choice? “I don’t drink much. Mike’s Lemonade is enough for me, and it tastes good.”

MISCELLANEOUS

What or who would you dress up as for Halloween? “I like dressing up as ghosts with Scoob. I think I was the Hamburglar last year. Maybe me, Scooby and and Velma can all do matching costumes this Halloween.”

Are you comfortable with technology? “I guess.”

If you could save one person, who would it be? “Velma.”

If you could call one person for help, who would it be? “Depends on the situation. Freddy, Daph or Velma.”

What is your greatest extravagance? “Food...”

What is your greatest regret? “I don’t think I have any.”

What is your perception of redemption? “Noticing that you need to do better, then striving to do it.”

What would you do if you won the lottery? “I’d pay off any bills my friends have. Put some funding into the Mystery Inc. I guess I’d save the rest.”

What is your favorite fairytale? “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

What fairytale do you hate? “Like, Little Red Riding Hood makes me feel... weird...”

Do you believe in happy endings? “Yes.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness? “Being comfortable in your own skin and surrounding yourself with people that are good for you.”

What would you ask a fortune teller? “I’d ask how my birth parents are doing.”

If you could travel through time, where would you go? “I’d go back and spend another day with them.”

What sport do you excel at? “None, no sports.”

What sport do you suck at? “All of them. Especially baseball.”

If you could have a superpower, what would you choose? “I’d like to be able to turn invisible. Not to spy on people. Just to hide when everything got too overwhelming.”

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

hello!! i hope it’s okay for this ask bc i’ve been feeling so conflicted and i just needed to let this out 😭 for almost a year now i’ve been debating whether i’m aromantic or whether i’m just going through a ‘phase’. i don’t really remember when i first heard/saw the term ‘aromantic’ but it’s been stuck w me ever since. even before i came across the term, i wondered if i was normal or not. in my religion and culture, it’s a good thing to get married, a blessing almost. but now, age 16, looking into the future i find that i want to be alone. i don’t see marriage or relationships as a blessing, i see them more of a burden or more like something i have to do, like a job. i get uncomfortable when my parents bring up the topic of marriage, and say ‘omg i can’t wait to see you get married and have children’ and i’m standing there like 🧍🏾‍♀️. i can’t even imagine myself in relationships, either with a fictional character with an oc i’ve imagined or just a faceless person in the future. everytime i try to progress my imagination to ‘ok let’s see how this goes in a romantic relationship’ my mind goes blank and the furthest i can go to is just friends with benefits .... i also hate when in a film or book when someone goes ‘i don’t wanna date/get married and goes ahead and does that, although i do enjoy reading romance bc it’s something that i’ll never understand in real life . this may sound weird but i don’t talk to boys (i know i’m not into girls) , which i think blurs the line of whether i’m uninterested in romance or whether i haven’t come across it. i’m completely fine not being in a relationship or talking to boys. i don’t get crushes, like i don’t understand when people develop a crush on someone and do the most absurd things for someone they just observe from afar. often, when i get asked, ‘who’s your crush’ or ‘who are you interested in’, my mind goes blank and i think ‘is this really something we should be talking about bc i see this as irrelevant’ or when i say ‘i’m not interested in getting married’ or ‘i don’t have a crush, i don’t see the point’ and my friends go, ‘it’s a phase you’ll get over it’ but like will i?? i think i had a crush, like 5-6 years back, but like i never talked to him or my heart used to race when little contact was made. looking back on it now i believe it was more admiration instead of a crush, but ever since then i haven’t rlly had a crush on anyone. i’ve been really conflicted on this and i don’t know what to label myself 😭

Yeah, there’s a lot of things in here that can definitely be signs of being aro, and a few things I found fairly relatable myself (like relationships/marriage feeling like a chore/obligation). Especially just not being romantically interested in other people and not being interested in a romantic relationship for yourself is a very common reason why people choose to identify as aromantic. 

Liking romance in fiction is common for aro people, so don’t feel like that means you can’t ID as aro or look into being aro. 

Also it is definitley easy to mistake other things like admiration for crushes if you’ve never had a crush before. Because there’s nothing to compare those feelings to, and we’re told so strongly that crushes are things we’re definitely going to experience, and it’s common to start watching for those feelings. So yeah it’s entirely possible that was just admiration. It’s also possible it was a crush, and some aro people will have a random experience in their past of having a crush or something like a crush, and it either won’t happen again or it will happen very rarely. But you can still ID as aro, because some aros just experience romantic attraction very rarely. 

I would definitely encourage looking into aromanticism. And what you may find the most useful is finding aros talking about their experiences with being aro, and just in general checking out aro spaces, and aro stories and that’s usually the most helpful thing for determining if a label is right for you. 

Arocalypse is a great resource for this and it’s just a forum for aromantics. 

Carnival of aros is another, people write posts based on a theme, and it’s a good way to find aros talking about their experiences and sharing personal stories around being aro. 

Anything works honestly, you don’t have to use these, but they may be useful. Especially if you don’t know where to start looking. 

The other thing is everyone has different things that work for them when it comes to questioning. Some people like to hold off using a label until they’re sure, some people like to try them on for size and see how they feel (and you can do this even if you’re not sure. And it can be a good way of seeing how it fits.) You can also identify as questioning. And you are absolutely welcome in aro spaces when still questioning, and still not sure if it’s the right label for you or not.

All the best, Anon! And good luck!

[honeyymistt]

hey honeyy! i just wanted to rant for a hot minute simply bc idk how to handle this situation; i'm 20, and will move out soon to go to uni (in october, presumably) and my parents will pay for rent and food, which is v nice of them. but despite their reassurances that they'll pay for it, they are so passive aggressive, especially my mom. she just straight up told me today that "enough is enough" and basically said i need to move out asap bc i'm such a burden on them financially + i'm so spoiled and dumb and don't know how to real world works and she does (which ugh,, not to brag but they're loaded and i feel so heartbroken bc as a child they would spoil us rotten), but now she just wants to kick me out. i know at 20, i'm long overdue for moving out — and i will, soon, in like 2 months — yet my mom acts as if she couldn't wait for me to leave (which, okay, fair. same tbh) but idk what she wants me to do about it rn?? like i'm looking for jobs & am in the process of applying to different jobs, but that's somehow a time consuming process. it's just v stressful bc i feel betrayed, bc they always told me i should focus on school instead of getting a job, and it's my fault for not thinking for myself, but now i have no money saved up and i'll probably work a minimum wage job for the rest of the year every month (and the next years, like my whole uni time which is a-okay, it just stresses me out a bit). i think you're younger than me, so maybe this is very out of line for me to complain to you about?? feel free to just delete this ask, but i wanted to ask if you have any advice on how to deal with "loveless" parents and a dysfunctional family, where respect is requested but you as 'their child' are not brought the same respect bc you're 20 and still living at home. it's sooo funny bc i'm so gullible; my mom used to tell me the exact opposite for years — ‘no, it's fine that you're still living at home with 19’ and now she holds it against me bc she moved out at 17. my dad is also v mentally unstable, he has anger issues and never sees that he behaved wrongly, basically gaslighting me into believing it's all my fault for everything's that happening to me when something goes wrong. idk how to deal w/ this, everyone in this household is toxic and i feel trapped, despite my plans to hustle on the side and earn my own money. i'm stupid for feeling betrayed, but that's how it feels like. i think my mom stopped loving me a long time ago, like until i was 11 she loved me, but then i grew up and developed my own opinions, character etc. i just hate her so much. same with my dad. i hate relying on them for rent though and idk what to do (😭ik, this is a very, very privileged standpoint but idk how to handle all this hate; it's been getting worse these past weeks) — sorry for the lang rant!! 😭✋ hope your life is going great, though <3 -💌

hiii 💌-anon!!! im happy to hear from you :) i’m sorry to hear you are having a hard time 🥺 i'm sending you a virtual hug. i hope it cheers you up! <3

it makes me sad to read that you think that you're long overdue for moving out because you really aren't!! where i live, a lot of people are living at home until they graduate from university (possibly because it is very expensive to live where i live and no 20 year old is able to afford it🥴) but anyways, i actually don't think you're long overdue for moving out. i know that there a bunch of YouTube videos titled "MOVING INTO MY DREAM APARTMENT AT 19!" and yes, it's such a milestone but it's also so unrealistic. YouTube and being an "influencer" in general, pays really really well. not a lot of people are able to do what is "normal" to them. you are right on track! don't worry :)

reading about your parents really made me upset because you don't deserve to be talked to like that at all. a good parent takes care of their kid because they love them. they don't guilt trip them and tell them that they are a financial burden or that they're excited for them to move out. like your mom offers to pay for your rent and food but then tells you that you're a financial burden ?? like ma'am, where is the logic in that 😐 i'm sorry that she makes you feel unloved,, you don't deserve that at all :( i hate that you feel like once you developed your own opinions and character, she started to dislike you. that's what makes you wonderful!! you're a beautiful person, inside and out. don't let her opinions and actions tell you otherwise.

as for not knowing how the real world works, literally same. to be completely honest, i'm probably worse than you 😭 . i think i wrote this in one of my posts about my insecurities but basically i wrote that i don't know anything beyond school. i feel like i've been working so hard on being the "perfect student" that i'm so book smart but when it comes to very basic life skills, i feel like i'm lacking. i feel like i'm unprepared. whenever i tell this to my mom, she tells me that it's okay and that it's her job to take care of me and provide for me. one time she said "you have a whole life ahead of you to learn about taxes and cleaning and bills and finances and cooking. just enjoy the time right now. enjoy your life where it is. you're going to learn all of these skills eventually. the best way to learn them is just to experience life and make mistakes." so listen to my mom and try not to worry!! no one is born knowing how the real world works. you're going to be okay!

i think when it comes to dealing with loveless parents, you make up for it through your other relationships. one of my friends doesn't have the best relationship with her parents and whenever i ask her about it she says, "it's sad that i don't have the love that most people get from their parents but i get so much love from you, my other friends, my boyfriend, my cousins, etc. i know that there are people who care for me. these people are my family." maybe you and your family just need time apart. maybe your absence will make them realize that they didn't really treat you all that well. or maybe you'll realize that you deserve a lot better and that you don't want to be in contact with people who make you feel badly about yourself. time apart will give you time to come to terms with what you need! 🤍 if i were you, i'd get really excited for moving out in october because you're going to be removing yourself from this environment. you won't have to deal with feeling like a burden or dealing with your parents being cold towards you. you're moving out!! this is exciting!!! i'm excited for you!! everything will align and fall perfectly into place, i just know it.

i'll be by your side every step of the way - packing, moving out, moving in, unpacking, and we'll experience the harsh reality of the real world together :) i'm right by your side 🥺🌟🍯🤍

[marvella15]

Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 7: Shall We Dance

• Something I didn’t consciously realize about this film until reading Hannah Hyam’s book is that Astaire and Rogers don’t dance together until nearly an hour in. That hasn’t happened since Gay Divorcee. What was anyone thinking??

• Shall We Dance suffers from a lot of extra crap that it didn’t need, such as extraneous characters, far too many interruptions in the Astaire and Rogers relationship, and a bunch of weirdness like life-sized dolls, life-like masks, and backbending ballerinas. The film also has a lot of wasted potential, including a great score and songs by George and Ira Gershwin. 

The Gershwins were already well acquainted with Astaire and Rogers. The duo had first met when she was starring in the brothers’ show, Girl Crazy, and Astaire was brought in to help with choreography. Rogers was close friends with George and even dated him. Astaire had known the brothers prior, having starred in a few of their shows with his sister, Adele. 

• Our characters/actors: Peter “Petrov” Peters (Fred Astaire), Linda Keene (Ginger Rogers), Jeffrey Baird (Edward Everett Horton), Arthur Miller (Jerome Cowan)

• Around the time I was first really into classic Hollywood films, including these ones, my family and I adopted a new dog. I annoyed my parents to no end by suggesting we name him Peter P. Peters. Don’t know why I latched onto that name but I did. 

• Even in the massive portrait of Petrov, you can see Astaire has his fingers curled in rather than fully extended.

• Astaire’s ballet attire lets us once again see just how skinny he is. 

• Always loved how Peter does a little tap at the rhythmic sound of his name and birthplace: Pete Peters, Philadelphia PA.

• Rogers’ cardigan with all of its baubles is truly awful looking. It will only be out done by a terrible floral dress she wears later. 

• I do however like that she shoves her handsy stage partner into a fountain. Why are men constantly the worst?

• “And why must there always be a kiss at the second-act curtain?” is YET ANOTHER example of these films trolling us. Not once up until this point has any act of an Astaire/Rogers outing included a kiss between them. 

• Linda’s disinterest in even meeting Petrov is based on the assumption that he’s a “simpering toe dancer.” While that’s incorrect, she’s not wrong that he is indeed another man who has seen a picture of her and wants to tell her he can’t live without her. So she gets partial credit. 

• If Peter wasn’t totally smitten before, Linda’s jab, “It’s just a game little American boys play” gets him. 

• As a mixed race number, “Slap That Bass” is incredibly unusual for the era. Astaire was a great admirer of African-American dancers and was strongly influenced by Bill Robinson and John W. Bubbles. I love the blend of all of the voices in this song. 

• The dance portion of “Slap That Bass” gives Astaire a chance to show off more of his innovative mind and choreography. He dances in time with the sounds of the ship’s engine and compels the camera to follow him across and up the vast set. The dance is also special in that we have behind the scenes footage of Astaire rehearsing, thanks to a home video shot by George Gershwin. 

• Peter making Jeffrey believe the boat is rocking may seem a bit unbelievable but having been on a large ship myself, sometimes you don’t realize it’s rocking until you see other passengers weaving or a giant chandelier swaying. 

• I usually skip most if not all of Jeffrey and Arthur’s scenes together. They slow down this film soooo much.

• Like in all of their films, songs are sometimes heard in the background before the actual musical number they appear in. But because this film is scored by the Gershwins, there’s an array of shorter pieces of music that are all their own, such as the whimsical score heard while Rogers and then Rogers with Astaire are walking her dog.

• The dog Peter borrows to give himself an excuse to talk to Linda hits his bark cue perfectly and looks extremely happy about it. 

• I would love to know what exactly Astaire and Rogers are talking about while walking her dog. Maybe they were given lines that were then not recorded or maybe it’s improv. But it seems very natural. 

Rogers did say that Astaire was a wonderful conversationalist and was adept at talking while dancing, something she noted most men couldn’t manage. 

• Wow do I love it when Rogers gets to be extra sassy

Peter: “Isn’t it wonderful being here tonight like this? Still on the same boat together.”

Linda: “Oh, I seldom change boats in mid-ocean.”

• “Beginner’s Luck” is such a charming, fast song that Astaire delivers wonderfully. He hardly seems to take a breath. 

A jazzed up version of “Beginner’s Luck” is the song Peter tried to dance to in Paris but the record kept getting stuck. 

• Something this movie fails at is letting Linda and Peter’s relationship continue to progress before throwing more obstacles in their way. We know from the gossip of the ship’s staff that they have been spending a lot of time together. When we see them, they are having a relaxing evening that’s incredibly domestic: sitting side by side on the deck while she knits and he smokes. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see more of this part of their relationship? 

• Why on earth did Peter think sending Jeffrey to fix the false baby rumors was the right decision? Jeffrey can’t handle a single thing. 

• Infuriated at the rumors that she’s married to Peter and pregnant with their baby, Linda tries to call him. “Operator! Get me Mr. Petrov. What? Don’t you dare congratulate me!”

• The theme of this movie is supposed to be the blend of dancing and music styles. Peter’s ballet and Linda’s jazz styles are one example, George Gershwin’s varied score, which switches from jazz to waltz to foxtrot to classical, etc, is another. But it’s a fairly weak concept that doesn’t quite land and reportedly, neither Astaire or Ira Gershwin was wild about it. 

• I love the new version of “Slap That Bass” that plays as Peter and Jeffrey enter the rooftop club. 

• When Rogers sings “They All Laughed,” she is singing to an off-screen Cary Grant, her friend and sometimes date who was visiting the set at the time. 

She is also wearing a dress with a horrible pattern. It’s supposed to be floral but it always makes me think of amoebas. Maybe it looked better in color?

• Astaire clearly has fun during the part where Peter hams it up a bit with his ballet next to Linda’s tapping. 

• In some ways, “They All Laughed” is reminiscent of “Isn’t it a Lovely Day.” They’re testing each other, trading glancing as they see whether the other can keep up with the increasingly complex steps. Until now, Linda didn’t know Peter could dance this way so her surprise and amusement unfolds slowly as the routine progresses. But he has been grinning since the start because he’s hoping to win her back through this dance.

• This is another duet where it takes a long time before they touch. The first physical contact is just her executing a series of spins with the help of his fingers. And it’s during this part that Rogers finally breaks into a wide smile.  

• When he spins her up onto the piano the first time, she happily waits for him to retrieve her. And when he spins her into a seated position and upright again a few times don’t miss how he looks at her with a wry, slightly mischievous smile. 

• The Linda doll is so creepy and not lifelike. Who was fooled by this?

Also, Arthur is terrible. Jeffrey is terrible too but he’s an idiot so I’m more willing to let it slide. 

• Peter walking out of Linda’s bedroom in the morning in his robe right in front of her fiancé while she is in her negligee is pretty funny. 

• Peter and Linda’s nice day out is just further proof that this movie should’ve spent more time on the two of them together rather than breaking them up every few minutes. 

• “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” is a fun song, though Astaire gets most of the good words imo. However, Rogers does do an extra affectation to some of her lyrics and that makes them funnier. 

At one point when she’s singing, he turns to her and for just a moment his face goes soft in that way it does sometimes when he looks at her. 

• Some film historians have labeled this dance as not that great when compared to other Astaire and Rogers numbers. But I’ve always found it very enjoyable and innovative. While Gene Kelly probably takes the gold medal for dancing on skates in It’s Always Fair Weather, Astaire and Rogers did it first, did it well, and deserve some extra credit for a duet on skates rather than a solo. 

Rogers also deserves some extra credit since the idea to dance on skates was supposedly hers. And probably deserves even more credit for doing this dance on skates while also in heels. 

• For some reason I really enjoy that they perform this number in their hats and street clothes. It’s so informal and feels like something you do on a fun date. 

• Throughout this dance, Peter continues to be the playful one, as he’s been in their interactions in the film, and Linda is the more serious one who needs to be coaxed into having fun. Maybe this is why Astaire frequently glances at her and even spends long seconds watching her at different parts as they move into the next series of steps. Rogers is more reserved in her expressions but whenever they are face to face, she appears happiest. 

A few times she looks triumphant, leading me to wonder if they or she had finally nailed a section that was giving them or her trouble. 

• Can’t say for certain but I swear she almost falls when they do the backwards steps. She just baaaarely snags his hand in time. 

They had to film this dance something like 150 times so I imagine there was more than one time where at least one of them did indeed fall. 

• The circular dance they do leading up to the end is based on a dance Astaire and his sister made famous in their time on the stage. 

• Apparently the grassy bank they tumble onto wasn’t padded so those fake grimaces of pain aren’t that fake. Their exchange after the tumble feels very much like married banter to me:

Peter: “Yes, it was my idea.”

Linda: “Have you any more of them?”

Peter, exaggerating: “No.”

• They’re such a good match:

Linda: “Peter, you’ve got to marry me.”

Peter: “Why, Linda, this is so sudden.”

• Oh 1930s Hays Code humor. The cop who overhears their conversation thinks she’s pregnant and pressuring the father of the baby into marrying her. Hurr hurr hurr.

• Heh:

Linda: “I beg your pardon but what are grounds for divorce in this state?”

Clerk: “Marriage.”

• It will never make sense to me that a dance was not planned in this film for “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” It’s a truly lovely song. I know Astaire and Rogers will dance to it more than ten years later in The Barkleys of Broadway but it’s just not the same. 

It’s also a good reminder in the film that Peter has legitimate feelings for Linda and she does for him but they’re far more conflicted. Though he must sense he’s hooked her in a bit since he becomes very aloof once they return to the hotel in the stupid hope of making her want him more? Idk, men are dumb. 

• “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” carries special poignancy because it became a form of consolation to Ira Gershwin after his brother suddenly died two months after this film was released. 

• Oh Linda’s face when she walks in to see Peter with the loathsome Lady Tarrington is so sad and crestfallen. Ever thought you and your crush were finally on the same page only to find them canoodling with someone else? 

Although, she could’ve knocked first instead of just walking straight into his room…

• The ballet portion of the finale is weird and unappealing in every way. Harriet Hoctor was known for the backbend dance she does in this film. Maybe it was something spectacular in 1937?? but it doesn’t hold up. 

One thing I’ll say about Astaire’s duet with Hoctor, it’s a great chance to see him in a romantic duet with someone other than Rogers and notice how different he acts. No secret smile, no lingering looks, no whispered words, no soft expressions. 

• “Shall We Dance” is another upbeat song that deserves more than being featured in the remaining few minutes of the film. Their dance is far too short but wonderful all the same. Her delight when he finds her always makes me smile. She also executes some impressive full length lunges that I couldn’t do at this moment much less in a dress and heels in the middle of a dance number. 

For a few seconds, his fingers press into the exposed dip of her spine in yet another example of Victorian hotness. 

• And so we finish film number 7. Shall We Dance underperformed at the box office and wasn’t a critical darling. Everyone, the actors included, started to feel the magic was coming to an end. Coming up next is a film I pretty much never rewatch: Carefree.