#i dunno if this was an intentional part of the song or if im just a fag

[pilotduty]

does anyone ever listen to kiss goodnight idkhow and think wow this song swings both ways or am i reaching

like this lyric specifically is the only one thats gendered. but it also isnt gendered at all.

because "i know that girls like you" can either refer to someone who is often sought after by girls, or it can refer to someone who is a girl. i know that girls who are like you do not come with guarantees vs i know that girls are into you but those other girls don't come with guarantees. does this make any sense or should i deactivate my account

[peggyrose19]

Hold Me While You Wait

Welcome to part 2 of me writing St. Tweedle instead of sleeping! What can I say, they’re fun. So here’s Remus finding out about the two of them. ( if you know the song from the title you get a gold star) also in case you weren’t aware i don’t know how actual conversations work.

characters by @lumosinlove

@im-oknutzy-trash, @wonder-womans-ex

Luke found himself fiddling as he waited in his room. He didn’t normally get so antsy, could usually keep a relatively calm exterior. But in his room, hidden from curious eyes, his walls dropped, letting his nerves peek through. His expression, staring back at him from the mirror he stood in front of, was stony and pale.

“Relax,” a familiar voice said. Luke didn’t even flinch, so familiar by now with Saint’s random appearances. 

“How am I supposed to relax?” he asked exasperatedly, moving on from the buttons of his jacket to his cuffs. He didn’t look at Saint, but could hear him moving, could imagine his lithe body sliding through the window, blond hair catching the last strains of golden sunlight. He could picture the smirk too, as Saint came up behind him, close enough to touch. 

“It’s just Remus,” Saint murmured softly, surveying Luke in the full-length mirror they stood before. Luke watched his face in the glass. “We hang out with him all the time. And besides,” he added, “you look good. No need to fix what isn’t broken.”

Luke turned to face Saint, mere breaths separating them. “When did you become all philosophical?”

There was a softer side to Saint, Luke had discovered over the past few months. One that only came out when they were alone, as if Saint was afraid of anyone else knowing that he did actually have a heart. And he cared a lot more than he ever let on. That was the thing about Saint. He always held things inside. He was this wild swirling storm of emotions, warring with each other constantly and held at bay by an icy wall of sharp wit and easy sarcasm. Luke liked to tell himself that it was him who brought Saint’s walls down, let him show that delicate interior beneath. 

“It’s all your fault,” Saint replied then, and Luke smiled. “You’re a bad influence on me, Tweedle, what can I say?”

Luke smiled, and leaned forward to kiss Saint gently. He too was softer with Saint than anybody else, letting him see the caring parts of himself. There was something about Saint that felt safe, felt like home. 

“Tell me it will all be okay.”

Saint’s expression flickered. “Well, I can’t tell you that, Tweedle,” he replied, not unkindly. “I can’t control it, can I? And I mean, he’s your friend, is he not? You should know better than to ask me, what do I know of Remus Lupin? That he’s mad? That he’s in love with Sirius? That’s about all I can give you, babe.”

Luke knew that wasn’t true—from the gleam in Saint’s eyes he did too—but he also knew that wasn’t Saint’s intention. Saint had never been the type of person to respond with logic. His intention was always to make Luke smile, to distract him. And most of the time it worked. Saint had an uncanny ability to pull your focus away, make you think of something else entirely different in a mere sentence or two. In this case, he was once again successful. 

“Wait, Remus is in love with Sirius?” he asked.

Saint shrugged. “I dunno. He certainly stares at him enough though. It’s like they both have hearts for eyes these days, I swear.”

Luke just blinked. “Since when have they been together?” Saint shrugged again. Luke spluttered. 

“Have you not noticed?” Saint asked amusedly. “Jesus Christ, he’s your best friend is he not? Must I do everything?” Luke stifled a laugh at Saint’s dramatics. 

He had noticed Remus acting differently lately if he was honest, cagey and inconsistent, disappearing randomly throughout the day and reappearing with flushed cheeks or the occasional bruise. The more he thought about it, the more it all began to make sense. How Sirius never seemed to be around when Remus was missing. The way they always seemed to end up beside each other when they all hung out together. The sudden—or maybe not so sudden—lack of animosity between the two. He just wondered how the hell Saint had noticed before him. 

Luke was pulled from his thoughts by the light brush of Saint’s lips against his own. He smiled into the kiss, let Saint push him back until he hit the wall, let his hands slip under the edge of Saint’s t-shirt. Saint always kissed like a burning fire. Pushing and taking, meeting Luke step for step. It had always been that way, ever since that very first kiss right here in this room, the two of them pushing and pulling, taking and giving what the other put down. 

A knock at the door startled them apart. Standing in the doorway was Remus, staring at them with wide eyes. Luke felt like his heart had stopped. 

“Remus.” 

“Um. Hi.” 

Remus stood there awkwardly, not moving. He looked truly surprised, Luke noted as he studied his face and desperately tried to control his own pounding heart. As his breathing began to slow, he noticed Saint had stepped nearly to the other side of the room, seemingly trying to put as much space between them as he possibly could. Luke tried not to feel offended by it; it’s not like they could pretend they weren’t just making out thirty seconds ago. 

“What’re you doing here?” 

“I was coming to get you. We were supposed to leave five minutes ago? The party, remember?”

“I remember,” Luke replied faintly, still grappling with the sudden change. 

Luke had known Remus would find out eventually, had known he really should have told him back when it first started. Remus was his best friend after all, they trusted each other with almost everything. Almost. Some things gave him pause though, not because of Remus but because of himself. It was hard to trust someone completely, was something Luke had learned when his father had been arrested. You never truly knew everything about a person. 

“So…” Remus started awkwardly. “Are you two like, together or…?” 

“Um,” coughed Luke. “Something like that.” 

Saint stayed eerily quiet. Luke glanced over at him quickly, finding his face stony and pale. It was uncharacteristic of him, and a bit disconcerting to see that vibrant color drained from his face. 

“Oh well, uh. Good for you, I guess.” 

“Could you give us a minute?” Luke asked, gaze flitting back to Saint. Remus watched him warily for a second but he nodded and left, shutting the door quietly behind him. Luke had the fleeting thought that he was only going to listen through the wall, but he pushed it from his mind. Remus wasn’t like that.

Luke turned to Saint, stepping cautiously toward him the way one might approach a spooked horse. “You alright?” he asked softly. 

Saint’s gaze snapped to his, icy cold for only a single moment. Then his face crumbled. He said nothing, simply stepped closer to Luke and pulled him in, wrapping him in a tight embrace. Luke’s eyes slipped shut and he felt Saint lean into him. He took the weight silently, nuzzling against Saint’s neck and breathing in the familiar smell of sea salt and fresh air.

 He didn’t pull back until Saint did, cradling his face in gentle hands and looking into those lost hazel eyes. 

“It’s just Remus, remember?”

Saint sniffled. “Damn you Tweedle.” 

Luke smiled. “Come on.” He held out his hand and, surprisingly, Saint took it. They headed for the door and, when Luke opened it, Remus was waiting on the other side.

“I’m sorry,” Luke blurted out then, surprising even himself. If possible, Remus’ eyes grew wider.

“What are you sorry for?” 

“Not telling you.” 

Remus sighed. “It’s… I mean, do I wish you would have told me? Yeah. Am I gonna make you tell me everything? No. Besides, I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I did.” He swallowed hard. “There’s something you should know.”

“About you and Sirius, I know,” Luke interrupted, wanting to stop the terrified look on his friend’s face. It seemed that fear didn’t go away, even with those you were closest to. 

“You know?” 

“Yeah. Well. Saint told me. I wouldn’t have figured it out.”

Remus’ gaze shifted to Saint, who just smirked and shrugged as if to say ‘what can I say, you aren’t subtle’. At least, that’s what Luke got out of it. 

“Oh. Well uh… guess that makes this night a bit easier then.” 

“Guess it does.”

Saint sighed long-sufferingly, that indifferent mask fixed back on. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, let’s go.” 

Luke couldn’t help a small smile, but it hurt his heart that Saint felt the need to pretend around everyone, even their friends. It was true that Remus was more his friend than Saint’s, but they had gotten closer over the past few months. On occasion, Saint had even been polite. But Luke should have known that wouldn’t be enough. Saint didn’t trust people, didn’t open up to them. He still found it miraculous Saint ever opened up to him. 

“Luke, you coming?” Remus asked, and Luke glanced up to see both him and Saint standing at the top of the stairs waiting for him. 

“Yeah.” 

Luke grabbed Saint’s hand again as they headed down the stairs towards the front door, squeezing gently. Saint glanced at him curiously, once. But he didn’t say anything, and he didn’t pull away. 

When they reached the first floor, Remus headed outside without a second thought, but Luke paused, pulling Saint towards him.

“Hey,” he whispered, Saint falling against him. Their lips met, just a brush of a kiss, before Luke pulled back again to look at Saint fully. “Are you okay? Truthfully.”

Saint smiled Luke’s favorite smile. “I’m fine.”

“Good.”

With another gentle kiss, Luke let Saint go and followed him outside into the cool night air to where Remus was waiting.

[antiloreolympus]

9 Anti LO Asks

1. anyone else notice echo is colored similar to hades too? so hades has the hots for a tiny hot pink variant of his mom, and hera (apparently) wants to sleep around with a female version of hades? rachel you know there are other colors, right? tell me you know that

2. hi, im someone who dated someone who was extremely hateful but considered me one of the "good ones" of my race: hera doing that with echo is extremely dehumanizing and, seeing as nymphs are a different race in LO, really racist! i understand there's no actually IRL races involved in LO, but the fantasy racism allegory is still there, and they all look bad! very, very bad! why am i not surprised the well off white lady would have unintentionally bad race takes in her comic! big yikes!

3. server x royal and boss x worker is VERY popular on webtoons in general, but at the very least the majority of them are all 21+ characters with emphasis on them being, well, adults. LO stands out because hades is depicted so much like an old man even by WT standards (40s according to RS) and persephone is ... not, she in canon is stuck at 19, so she's more akin to a high school MC than the MCs from adult/sex-filled romance comics that LO tries to be. It's kinda creepy for that fact, tbh.

4. with recent anons i have to say again that it's unlikely RS puts any of the harmful shit into her work with any ill intent. she's just ignorant and also doesn't think. except maybe that classism because it's so blatant that it's hard to believe RS really doesn't notice it??? is she ever going to bring it up??

5. thats what i dont get about the stans. they've been flooding every single mythology and pagan tag for years now where they shouldnt be, they've harassed and threatened pagans and greeks for not bowing to LO and RS's "genius", they've tried to tamper with actual wikipedia pages, and have doxxed and sent death/r*pe threats to critics and fans alike, but they act like tumblr having a broken tag system is our fault and we must accommodate them? these are grown adults acting like entitled children.

6. i dunno if anyone remembers the "Our company's Women of Color" meme that was just a bunch of white women in rainbow-colored shirts, but ... lore olympus. that's lore olympus. i havent seen that meme since 2015 but its LO to a fault. rachel thinks women of color means purple and pink.

7. wait is rs going to make hera x echo a canon thing? didnt hera torture and basically magic murder echo in myth? how is that a healthy relationship? then again this whole comic is about romanticizing a r*pist and his kidnapping and forced marriage of his victim into a "love story", so i guess its not shocking rachel has some bad takes on "improved" pairings for her girlboss, karen version of hera.

8. As a response to your most recent anon, as a Greek myself, the story is just the same old boring cliche of romanticizing a part of our mythology, same as Percy Jackson or Song of Achilles (another cheap attempt of making profit out of a culture that doesn't belong to them, but eh)...Our mythology has been SO overused and 'defiled' that honestly, it is mostly makes me indifferent than it makes me displeased..Not only Americans but also Europeans have been leeching off of our cultural history for EONS and no matter what we do, they will continue to do so...my word of advice to anyone thinking they are offending Greece or smthng by enjoying these pieces of media is that it is okay if you like them, some of us like them too, some of us don't, it happens..just remember that whatever you read is most certainly a retelling and that the actual material is much less 'enjoyable'

9. So I dropped Lore Olympus a while back...I liked it at first, considering it just a simple piece of media to consume but some people criticizing it had some really good points...so after some consideration I stopped reading it..but lemme just say, the death threats and blatant hate ain't it..it is entirely possible to like a story AND being able to see the flaws in it...all the antis sending death threats to fan content creators and calling fans "apologists" was too extreme...everyone is allowed to have their own opinion on the media they choose to consume and sending hate to one another is a completely pointless notion🤷

[kaitosimp]

AHWHAUDHDNA i have more song ideas that i shall enlighten you with

more the crane wives bc i love them... tongues and teeth reminds me of oumota a LOT, “when you come in quick to steal a kiss, my teeth will only cut your lips” referring to how kokichi has distanced himself from everyone on purpose but kaito still wants him,,, the line “i am not a vessel for your good intents” reminds me of their hero/villain dynamic and how kokichi dislikes his heroic attitude, but now that i’m listening to it again it can also sound like kaimaki??

love like you from su reminds me of saimota, especially “i always thought i might be bad, now i’m sure that it’s true/cause i think you’re so good, and i’m nothing like you” referring to how shuichi admires kaito a lot and wants to be like him because being with kaito gives him strength :,)

sweet hibiscus tea by penelope scott reminds me of shuichi SO MUCH... “and i am not your protagonist, i’m not even my own” hit me like a freight train, kinda referring to his reaction to tsumugi telling him that team danganronpa “created” him, but this is a pretty popular shuichi pick so i’m not surprised if you’ve heard it

burning pile gives me kokichi vibes... “throw my troubles at the world again/it goes, all my troubles on a burning pile” referring to how kokichi decides to completely abandon his true self in order for his mastermind plot to work and so he could sacrifice himself to end the killing game

life letters also gives oumota vibes,,, i prefer to listen to the no glitch version but the song is also just so pretty... (keep in mind i don’t actually speak russian so i have to rely on translations 😭) “the average person can tell up to two hundred thousand lies a day/and now i lie, and you will leave me here” GAHDHSHAGD,,, give it a listen it’s awesome

Heck yeah lets go!! 🌚💜💜💜 I only know love like you from a prev ask so like always, im excited to listen to the rest of these 😂

I did not expect my wig to fly the second the lyrics to tongues and teeth began but I was wrong, literally starting off with the "ive grown a mouth so sharp and cruel its all that i can give you" immediately made me think of all the cruel and mean shit Kokichi says to keep the others away, specifically Kaito in this case 👁👄👁 I agree 100% with the 'to steal a kiss' line you mentioned, its rlly how Kokichi kept everyone as far away as he could but Kaito didn't give a fuck 👀 *slaps table* AGAIN, I AGREE WITH THE NEXT LINE "i know you mean well but i am not a vessel for your good intents" IT RLLY REMINDS ME OF KAITO'S HEROIC NATURE AND HIS NEED TO HELP EVERYONE AND KOKICHI HATES THAT- the next part about breaking all the pretty things but the person being fine with that and fine with being theirs is Kokichi being damn well aware he could only just end up hurting Kaito but he knows doesnt care 😔✋🏽 GOD THE REST OF THE SONG IS JUST KOKICHI TRYING TO CONVINCE KAITO AND PROBS HIMSELF THAT IT WONT LAST AND THAT ITS NOT PERMANENT AND THAT ITS NOT LOVE AND HE TRIES TO WARN KAITO BUT KAITO DOESN'T C A R E, AND YEAH I SEE THE UNDERTONES OF KAIMAKI IN THERE TOO

Love like you makes me feel so nice and s o f t, man 😭😭😭😭 Back when i first heard it i thought of it in Kaito's perspective @ Shuichi cause of how he admires Shuichi and his skills and thinks so highly of him even if he doesnt show it but now I also think of it like you said in Shuichi's perspective @ Kaito with how much he also admires him and his charisma and strength and he loves him so much and he doesn't understand how Kaito could think highly of someone like him and just??? Man, I'm in mY FEELS 😭😭😭

I haven't heard the sweet hibiscus tea song before actually! You should know i only came to find out about the existence of the v3 (and the 2nd game) characters back in september and i never interacted with the fandom at all till i made this blog so i never knew it was a popular pick for Shuichi 😂 But you were right, it rlly did remind me of Shuichi! Aside from the obvious bit with the protag which absolutely refers to that last trial where the truth is revealed, it also made me think of Shuichi's self doubt and anxiety and insecurities regarding his usefulness aND IT ALSO REMINDED ME OF AFTER KAEDE DIED AND HOW FED UP HE IS WITH THE KILLING GAME

Can I just say, burning pile made me want to burn something so bad 💀😂 I agree tho! I dunno how to explain but I got Kokichi vibes too, when it said the stuff with "all my troubles on a burning pile all lit up and i start to smile" made me think of him thinking up his plan and him pretending to be enjoying all the shit he has to do (by smiling and pretending to be happy) and "if i catch fire then i'll take my turn to burn and burn and burn" made me think of him planning out the fact that he might die due to his behavior/actions/etc and he'll be ready to "burn" (die) :,)))

I don't know russian either so I had to also rely on translations for life letters, i hadn't realized before but im 99% sure ive heard this in edits before 😂 RIGHT OFF WITH THE TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND LIES AND I WILL LIE AND YOU WILL LEAVE ME BITS I GOT HIT WITH OUMOTA VIBES, THE LEAVING PART MADE ME THINK OF KAITO HAVING TO LEAVE KOKICHI ALONE ON THE PRESS 😭😭😭😭✋🏽 STOP- ITS MAKING ME THINK OF THEM SHARING ONE LAST MOMENT AND ONE LAST KISS BEFORE KOKICHI DIES AND WHEN IT SAYS THEY ONLY HAVE ONE HOUR, CHANGE IT TO KAITO AND KOKICHI ONLY HAVING A FEW MINUTES BEFORE THE PRESS HAS TO COME DOWN BUT ONE OF THEM RLLY WANTS TO SAY GOODBYE PROPERLY SO THEY JUST SPEND A LIL MINUTE THERE TOGETHER, FUCKING HELP

ASDFGHJKL IM SORRY FOR THIS LONG ASS POST, I ALWAYS GET CARRIED AWAY WRITING 💀💀💀

[talkfastromance4]

Crushed&Caffeinated-- Ashton Irwin

Not requested. Had a shit day. Had too much coffee and this happened. Ashton brings out the angst in me. This turned out longer than I expected, I was just letting off some steam but tell me what you think.

P.S I know the basis of this concept is weird but this was my day today soo...yeah

Word Count: 1558

Masterlist

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. *copyright is listed below*

• • • •

Horrible days just seem to be a norm for you lately. You’d made multiple errors at work, and felt the cold, hard stares from a co-worker because of the mess you’d made. It’s not like you didn’t fix it, but you still felt the guilt eat away at you. And when the guilt eats away at you, it doesn’t leave any room for you to eat actual food for sustenance.

You blamed your bad misfortune on the fact that it’s a Monday, that your period is coming soon, that there was just a full moon and has left you all out of whack. The more you thought about it, the more it made your stomach turn so you just poured yourself another cup of coffee. 

Coffee became the main meal for you for the rest of the day. Not only were you worked up about the error you made at work, but now your body was buzzing with caffeine. It made your mind race a thousand miles a minute, it left you fuzzy. 

By the time you came home--expectant of cuddles from your boyfriend and maybe a hot bubble bath with Ashton massaging your shoulders--your whole body was buzzing. Your hands had a slight shake to them as you unlocked the door, excited to see him on the other side. You came home at the same time every day and at that same time he’d be waiting for you. It always made you smile because it reminded you of a puppy, and the way he looked at you made your stomach flip in an entirely different way. 

When you opened the door, Ashton isn’t there. With shoulders slumping you continue your way in, calling for him as if he just forgot the time but the house is empty, much like your stomach. With a racing heart, you head to the kitchen and start the coffee machine. Caffeine has been your only friend today; it’s kept you going even when you wanted to stop.

By the time he gets home, your first cup almost gone, Ashton shuffles in through the door, his voice loud and excited but it only hurts your ears. You swallow down the last of your coffee and the trembling in your hands stop.

“Hey angel, sorry I’m late. I picked up some food and it took longer than usual,” he smiles setting a brown paper bag onto the counter.

The smell of teriyaki and fried rice fills your nostrils. On a normal day it would have made your mouth water, but today is not a normal day and it made your stomach reel instead.

“Not hungry,” you mutter and move to the coffee pot to pour another cup. It’s as if your brain is on a racetrack, it’s moving in a constant circle, faster and faster. You’re more than buzzing, you’re. . . a humming and whirring machine about to overheat and explode. You’re a ticking time bomb and Ashton knows it.

“How many cups have you had today?” he asks gently, his fingers moving to grab the mug from you. You swat him away.

“Dunno, lost count in the afternoon.”

“Have you eaten?” he asks as you open the sugar packet. He notices the way your fingers are shaking as you pour it in your cup.

“Not much,” you mumble.

“Y/N,” he stresses your name, he uses the tone that would normally make your thighs quiver. His large hand covers yours, stopping your motions of pouring the sugar in. “Look at me.”

“No.”

“Y/N,” he stresses again, using his other hand to grab hold of your jaw. You fight him for a moment but he’s too strong and he forces you to look at him, but you avert your gaze. He grunts in agitation and shakes your head just roughly enough so you’re forced to look into his hazel eyes. “Your pupils are huge, you haven’t eaten anything, have you?”

Your answer is by looking down in shame, but your heart is hammering against your chest, the racetrack in your head is getting louder and louder and you need to quiet the buzz. He knows you use caffeine as a scapegoat, as if it would chase away the feeling you were trying to run away from.

“What happened?” he asks, he loosens his hold on your jaw and the steam from your coffee is making your palm sweat. His hand still covering yours over the mug.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

He sighs heavily, hazel eyes searching yours. “Okay. C’mon.”

He releases his holds on you and starts to walk away. You use this as your chance to finish stirring in your creamer and then you’re flung over Ashton’s shoulders. His hands are strong on the backs of your thighs and you’re smacking his butt and back with your fists, demanding to be put down.

He only sets you down when you’re in his music room and you’re right next to his drum kit. He hands you his sticks. You look at the small pieces of wood in your hands then back up at him.

“What do you want me to do?”

“You don’t want to talk about it, so let it out this way. I’m getting you a gallon of water and some rice because you need to get out of this buzz.”

Then he’s left the room and you fall onto his stool. Your fingers squeeze the drumsticks as you stare at his instrument, he never lets anyone play them. Even for you it’s rare, but when you do it’s only when he’s trying to teach you to play.

The way he plays makes it look like a dance. How his movements are so controlled yet so freeing blows your mind. You love how passionate he is, the passion evident in his face and the force he hits the song in, it’s mesmerizing.

“I’m not hearing anything,” he says, pulling you quickly from your thoughts. He strides over to you, grabs your hands, and makes you hit random drums. “Go! Hit! Let out whatever it is I know you’re bottling up.”

And just like that, it’s as if his own shouts finally flipped the switch that you shut off hours before. You grip the drumsticks a bit harder and pound away. You’re sure you aren’t hitting with a rhythm but the louder it gets and the harder you hit, you feel it in your bones. The horrible day is rippling out of you, you’re hitting it with force and intent and to stop the constant buzzing in your head.

Ashton is egging you on, he even smacks the cymbals a few times as you let loose. Hot tears sting your eyes, when it blurs your vision and you can’t see what you’re hitting anymore, that’s when you stop. Chest heaving, tears falling, you let the sticks clatter to the floor and Ashton wraps you in his arms letting you cry the rest of your anger out.

“Can you drink some of this for me?” he asks kissing the top of your head.

You jerk your head away from his chest to see him holding up one of his large water bottles. You can see the condensation on the plastic, ice cold water will feel good. With a shaking hand, you guide the bottle to your mouth and suck on the straw. In response to the freshness of the cold water, your eyes close as you feel the liquid travel through your body. It’s cooling you from the inside out, you can practically feel it flush out your system.

“Okay, okay, not too much. I don’t want you to get sick,” he pulls the bottle away and some water slips over your chin. He’s quick to wipe it away with his thumb. He kisses your head again, and then once more. “Eat some rice with me.”

After you shared a carton of rice with him, he gave you some more water then rubbed your back. He cradles your cheeks in his hands inspecting your eyes again.

“There you are,” he smiles lightly, “how about we take a cool shower and finish the food?”

“Okay,” you whisper. He gives you a featherlight kiss, but his love holds so much more weight in it.

“Okay,” he smiles. He helps you up leading you into the master bathroom.

You snatch up the clothes you both sleep in setting them on the sink. He undresses you carefully, making sure to hold your hand as you step under the lukewarm water. It washes away your stress and worry, and just when you feel like you’re about to crumble again, Ashton’s strong arms are around you.

“Thank you,” you tell him kissing the center of his chest. You get a small taste of him from the water on your lips, so you kiss him a few more times.

“One of these days your caffeine high is going to make you run away from me.”

You tilt your head up, the water falling along your face as you look at him. His face is smooth, but his eyes are filled with worry, his dimple shadowed in his frown.

“That will never happen,” you shake your head stretching up on your toes to get a proper taste of his lips.

His kisses are sweeter than any cup of coffee.

• • • •

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[sanstropfremir]

hi!! hehe i wanted to share my two cents about today's performances and since idk when you'll post your review i'm just sending this now before i forget what i had to say. feel free to only reply to it later though. idk the order since i didnt see the episode but two things are on my mind right now, which are:

1- that weird projection/lighting part during the dance break on the boyz' stage, which made that section so so so confusing to watch when it came to their dancing. plus i only saw the snake monster thingy showing up in the projection on my third watch so only then it made a little bit of sense but still not very clear about the choreography.

2- sf9 was doing really great until those edm dance break moments.... sigh. im curious to what are you thoughts on that stage as a whole because i do think they deserved number one for it... but then again,, the damn edm remix... double sigh

hello!! sorry i was delayed on the review, i try to be quick about it but there was a lot to talk about for these ones so it took longer and THEN tumblr decided to be dumb as fuck and give me technical difficulties but!! it is published now!! but also yes please feel free to send in your opinions before my review is out, god knows my memory is the worst and i forget stuff all the time if i don't write it down. also feel free to come back with more thoughts too!

i talk about that section of tbz's stage in my review as one of the more interesting moments for me because it's something i do a lot of work with personally and im very familiar with, so i recognized what it was and what was going on right away. but i totally understand how it can be visually confusing for people who've never seen the technique before. do i think it was as successful as it could have been? nope. because of the movement in the projection itself and the fact that they're dancing there's a lot going on, and if you want to pay attention you're pretty sol. honestly i had kind of clocked out watching the choreo because there's wasn't a whole lot that differentiated it from the original in my brain, so having a visual effect that i liked and recognized was a welcome reprieve.

yea i agree i really dislike the edm break. taemin does have a lot of edm and weird electronic shit that happens in his music but i dont think there's any songs that have that aggressive of a changeup without any warning. they quite literally stopped move to play a different song, and then started it again. i'm not entirely sure if my thoughts on the stage in my review are that clear, but a thing i didn't mention was that i don't think move works very well as a group song. i think they did the best you can with it, but because sexuality and the perception of sexuality is so specifically personal i think if you actually dig into the weeds on if they actually measured up to the intent of the choreo and the idea behind it.....i dunno. it feels more like sf9 only grazed at the surface. move is born from taemin's extended conflict with the public's perception of his gender presentation and a very important element of it IS that feminine half. i don't think it's wrong to interpret it as showing more diversity in male sexuality, but the really deep understanding and power comes from knowing and accepting that middle ground. obviously i don't know anything about the history of sf9 but it doesn't read to me that any of the members have had that particular experience of othering. taeyang came the closest to pulling it off but i think that's more because the expensive cunt look is a choice, more than anything else.

[myukulelegentlyweeps]

Nowhere Man - Part IV

Pairing : George Harrison x female reader

Summary : George was sick of the Let It Be sessions, took the day off and met (Y/n), waitress and amateur musician, who happened to be performing the song Nowhere Man at the exact time when he felt like one. 

Previous chapters : Part I, Part I bis, Part II, Part III

In this chapter : Geo cuddles his girlfriend (a.k.a you)

Tag list : @givemequeen

Word count : 1.3k

A/n : The long awaited Part 4! So basically this is pure fluff and I really enjoyed writing (Y/n)/George dialogue, but you could consider it a “filler-transition” chapter...I strongly advise you read it anyway :)

Warnings : Descriptions of a healthy, happy relationship in its honeymoon phase

February 1969. You and George had been dating for two months now, and it was heaven.  Every conversation was full of meaning, every touch filled with intention, and every kiss made you feel like you were the most important person in the world in his eyes. You would not have imagined it beforehand, considering his laid back public persona, but the man was clingy : especially now that the Let it Be sessions had ended, he called you at the most random times asking to see you - he even rang you at work occasionally, which your boss found less amusing than you did.

You told each other everything, to the point where you seemed like the oldest of friends to the outside eye. Come to think of it, this relationship was different to your previous ones, since you actually felt completely at ease with George. There was no need to impress the other person and keep them interested in you, as you both loved and admired each other as equals. Silence was as comfortable as conversation : if either of you was too tired or not in the mood to talk, you would find the nearest couch and simply exist in each other’s arms, listening to each other breathe.

So you found yourself here. It was Saturday afternoon. You and George were spooning on the couch of his living room; he had picked you up the previous day at the end of your shift and you had driven to Kinfauns to spend the week-end together. His arms were wrapped around your waist and his hands rested on the naked skin underneath your white button-up shirt. His fingers were slightly cold, but he made up for it in body heat : with your back pressed against his chest, you had your eyes closed and a small smile painted on your face. You could have stayed there all day.

“If you could be anything in the world instead of a human, what would you be?”, he asked you out of the blue. It was not completely unexpected : you two had a sort of running competition for who could come up with the most ridiculous open-ended question - this might have been the best one yet. You shifted your position to face him. “It’s a good question, I’ll give you that”, you admitted. He flashed you a toothy ‘I know, right?’ grin, but you were not finished: “But how would it work? Like, do you mean if I could turn into that something right now, and know that I’ve been a human beforehand? Would I still have my (y/n) conscience while I live in this new body? And would I be able to transform back into a human again at some point?” “Always the smart one aren’t you, with your follow-up questions”, he teased, a slight smirk appearing on the corner of his mouth. You chuckled in disbelief : “But that’s the entire point, isn’t it?” “Dunno, it seemed like a pretty straightforward question to me before you started takin’ it apart.”, he shrugged, making you sigh in defeat. “Right. You answer it, then”, you stuck out your tongue and went back to your original  little spoon position.

You expected him to have an answer prepared, instead you were met with only silence as he buried his nose in the back of your neck, making you squirm. “That - tickles -”, you complained breathlessly, but he only tightened his grip around you. Slowly, the initial tickles morphed into a warm tingling sensation moving down your spine, and you settled into the hug in pleasant defeat. “Your hair smells great. I wish they made nice shampoo like that for men.” You shook your head at the remark : “Is that what you would be, then? A bottle of orange blossom shampoo?” Considering your suggestion, he cocked an eyebrow. “Well, no, because bottles run out. It’d be a very short and uneventful life, seeing only someone’s bathroom…Although I wouldn’t mind it if it were yours”, you could almost hear him wink at you. “George, you see me naked all the time. No need to find strategies get into my bathroom, we’re not in middle school.”

After a few minutes of more cuddling, he broke the silence again. “It’d be nice to be a tree.” “Hm?” “Think about it. I’d live a quiet life, constantly surrounded by nature, watchin’ it change with the seasons…Have all sorts of birds make their nests on my branches…” You nodded slowly, trying to picture his words in your mind. Life as a tree. It did sound pleasant. Growing slowly ; never fazed by the elements, being able to enjoy the rain and wind. Grounded by your roots, though still able to touch the sky with your crown…“But you like travelling,” you pointed out. “Could you really enjoy staying put in one same spot for hundreds of years?”

“There’s other ways to travel. That’s what meditation’s all about. Without going out of your door, you can know all things on earth,” he explained, brushing a stray hair strand out of your face. You  instantly recognised a line from The Inner Light, the song on the B side of Lady Madonna. “Quoting your own songs, are you now?”, you mocked jokingly, making him chuckle. “Didn’t know you knew that one.” “I was a Beatles fan before I was your girl, remember?” “Oh yeah?”, he smiled, acting all fake-surprised despite it being very old news. “Who was your favourite?”

You did not reply right away. Not that you didn’t know the answer, which was George, through and through : something about his voice had always pulled you to him, and there was a magnetism to being “the quiet one”. Even before you had met him, Mary (the bigger Beatlemaniac out of the two of you) used to tell you you were a “George kind of girl” all the time, referring either to your moderate shyness, your spirituality or your constant snacking. But you did not want to give him that much satisfaction quite yet.

“Paul.”, you finally decided, managing to keep a perfectly straight face through the lie. “Really?”, his smile only widened. You could tell he didn’t completely believe you, but at least you had installed a tinge of doubt. “Funny, I’d pegged ye more as the John type.”, he teased. “John? Never. I do love his songs, but he seems like the most likely to grab a girl’s arse without her consent.” “Well, you’re not wrong…Ringo?” “He’s the sweetest. Love him to bits.” “And rightfully so.”, he agreed.  

George went silent, as he often did when the mention of something or someone became a train of thought. Ringo had been the easiest to work with at the studio during the recording of Let it Be - being his good old laid back self, occasionally trying to diffuse the tension, not getting on anyone’s nerves. Had someone asked George about his favourite Beatle at that time, he would have definitely gone with Ringo. Of course it did not mean he disliked John or Paul, as he tried to separate his friendship with them from the recent developments of the band dynamic… They had known each other for ten years, it would not just crumble to the ground the moment someone was being petty. John was still his mate, Paul was still his mate. “But you said Paul was your favourite. What’s it you like so much about ‘im, then?”, he asked as he shook his head back to reality.

“That it would push your buttons the most. Of course you’re my favourite, dummy.”, you brought your lips onto his, pulling him into a sweet kiss.

“I figured. Since you’re dating me and all that.”, he gave you a toothy grin once you had pulled away. “So you don’t like Paul then?” “Never said that. He seems nice enough, and his songs are beautiful. But he’s too attractive, I don’t trust him.” He couldn’t help but laugh at your straightforwardness.

“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t hate him, because I was thinking, it’s about time I introduce you to me mates.”

[fivefootab1tch]

allllllrighty~ here’s my tHING~<3 i recognize that i talk pretty fast (and i was also trying to be hushhush so i probably didn’t come out as clear as i wanted to) so i’m including a script under the cut~

Tagged by @momtaku, @laffitine, & @dirtylevi ~ ♡ //thank y'all smmmmm// Tagging @shuuhuu @madcapraccoon @matcha-castella @starry-raven​ & everyone else on here who needs an excuse to do it and wants to. i’ll share the love and peer pressure asdkjfnak

'Aight, so here's my stab at Mamataku's SnK Voice Meme 4.0! I wrote a script to try and keep myself on track, but... the fuck if I ever know how to play right, so here we go~

State your name and username. 『sal, fivefootab-i-tch』 Is there a story behind your user name that you’d like to share? 『it's from an o.g. fandom video called "More Sassy Levi (Ezekieru Outtakes)". this was way before i was more or less tumblr savvy and i've gone through variations of it before settling on this one to mimic Ezekieru's pronunciation of BITCH. i'd wanna have a completely hyphenless version of this url to make my presence easier for the tumblr system to SWALLOW, kkkk but it's taken. the version of it with a 1 instead of the i isn't though... so maybe i'll switch to that one, i dunno. what's a brand?』 Where are you from? 『i'm from the states, southern california, bordertown asscrack of the U.S. you might get that lazy, high as balls, surfer feel from my voice since i've been here all my life』 How long have you been a fan of the series? 『i'm about two years late from the anime release, and i only know this because i immediately started writing fanfiction after binging the series in summer 2015. so... coming on 4 years? damn.』 What is your favorite and least favorite Arc? 『my favorite arc is the uprising arc, a pretty popular opinion, for a lot of reasons: the sudden turn of events, levi's collarbones, levi as a kid, KENNY, the characters all having their own unique identity crisis as their morals are suddenly taking turns, historia reclaiming her identity... (which was something that hits a little too close to home for comfort, but what's a good series that doesn't rip your personal feelings to shreds?)』 『i'm not a big fan of the marley side of things, another pretty popular opinion. for me, suddenly switching to a new cast of characters and setting after so much was accomplished in the uprising arc and return to shiganshina felt like betrayal. i mean... they get to the basement, which was the whole ass goal of the entire series up to that point, then we suddenly screech to a halt to tell someone elses' story. i can understand it... theoretically? i guess? bbut the whole time i was still like "wait a minute, what happened with the main cast?" bits and pieces of it have grown on me since, but i still have a ways to go to invest myself. politically, i just realized... marley really grinds my gears. why did i have to realize this? i'm shook. i can't believe this. i'll process it later.』 Do you have a favorite moment in the story thus far? 『eren screaming "the world outside the walls is my birthright" for... reasons. historia reclaiming her identity for... reasons... i've found myself hyperinvested in this series for immensely personal reasons i hope to eventually see through in my own life. i wanna be free, too. i also liked the moment in the uprising arc when levi thanked armin for saving jean. it was rough, but something he needed to hear. also any moment levi praises people. it's really cute.』 If you could resurrect one dead character who would it be and why? 『kuchel, because not only does levi deserve his mother but i would've loved to see more of her and how she raised levi into the compassionate kind of guy he is now. that side of him survived the tough love kenny put him through, so she must've breathed hella life into her kid and that's something i'd love to have seen more of』 Who is your favorite character and why? 『levi, for a lot of obvious as well as not so obvious reasons.』 『obvious reasons: he's pretty fucking cute. his sass and one liners are hilarious. his sense of humor's a clusterfuck of bad shit jokes and dark takes the people around him don't understand half the time and that's pretty funny in itself. he's o.p. as hell but the way the story makes it not matter when it comes down to it (because the universe is just THAT fucked up) is really something. he's in a league of his own but the depth of his characterization and development shows that's only a small part of who he is. the story demands so much more of him and the ways he rises (and sometimes falls) to the occasion makes me really like him. he's showcased as Humanity's Strongest but he's still human and flawed as fuck.』 『not so obvious reasons: he says fuck gender roles. he's short and makes the trans guy side of me feel pretty good. that particular character trait isn't just a gag for me. he started from the bottom now he's here. he always sides with the powerless, the helpless. he (to his own personal moral code) uses the strength he has for good as opposed to using it to keep people below him, something he could very well do if he uncritically internalized everything kenny spoonfed him, and wanted to. he doesn't sit on a moral high horse. he's open minded and accepting of letting people decide things for themselves. he's humble. if he doesn't understand something, he'll look to other people and he does all that while remaining confident and assertive in his own abilities. he doesn't hold himself above doing the dirty work if he feels he's best suited to do it. he genuinely cares about people and does his best to talk them through their issues when they need it, even if he's clumsy while doing it. it's really inspirational and personally validating .』 Any OTPs? 『erejean hits me a certain way. they're everything "boys will be boys" is SUPPOSED to mean, and i still can't get over jean calling eren cool. they're just so funny and i love their dynamic. hange and petra hits too for a reason i don't really understand yet. i don't get super invested in pairings, but i do like seeing character dynamics being explored in different lights and stuff. **** i bonded with my partner over roleplaying an au ereri thread, so that pairing's pretty special too. i didn't ship it at first, but being open to it has led me to getting to know this amazing person, so... yeah.』 You are able to transport to the SnK Universe for a day. How do you spend it? 『helping out. i don't know what i'd be able to contribute, but i'd want to be doing something to make the lives of the main cast easier. they have it really hard, and so many times i wanted to be able to do something for them. so i write my original characters into fanfiction. on the other hand, if it's a world where i'm independent and free to live whatever life i wanna live, i'd wanna go absolutely apeshit first. see everything there is to see and live all the life there is to live. ****perform a strip tease at a scout party and have the officers stick bills into my boobs.**** THEN commit myself to some sort of social or military work for the scouting legion. ****be their comfort... if yaknoe what i mean. it's good honest work~♡****』 Eren Jaeger did nothing wrong or Eren Jaeger did everything wrong? 『eren jaeger is what eren jaeger does. i can't vouch for whether or not he's right or wrong because there's no way i can really put myself in the situation he's in. mass genocide is very wrong, without a doubt, but something tells me there's something else going on and his real intentions are more complicated. a pivotal point in the series for him was his tribunal, where levi played the role of the arrogant wank to save his life and beat his ass before the whole military court. i think there's something similar going on here. he could be playing a role too, but it still stands that i have no idea. i'm not so invested in condemning or glorifying him, because the things i enjoy about his character aren't really going to be influenced.』 What is your favorite song in the series? Feel free to sing an extract 『i love them all. hiroyuki sawano makes such amazing soundtracks and all the vocals are powerful and chilling as fuckall hell. some favorites i do have are red swan, Vogel im Käfig, Bauklötze, call your name, it's answer song call of silence, youseeBIGGIRL, the spanish version of so ist es immer. so uh... even though i'm not very good at it, i do really love singing, so... i'm gonna try and sing some for y'all. i know a lot more english, japanese, and spanish than i do german so... i'm sorry!』 ****『Like the scarlet night veiling the dark You can hide your fear Can lie, my dear Kono mama yume wo mite Chi darake no tsubasa Hirogete』**** 『Las sillas ya juntas están Charlamos toda la noche  Este lugar no esta nada mal  Y creo que nos llevamos bien ****Solo estamos nosotros  Siempre es nuestra luz  Cantando y bebiendo, puedes estar tu Bajo el cielo azul  Siempre estamos asi  Y largas son las noches aqui』 『Ist das der Zerstörer oder der Schöpfer?』**** 『one of these days, when i feel more bearable to listen to, i'll... try and do some full ass covers, if y'all would be down for that ♡』 Bonus: What would Erwin do? 『about... what? everything going down now? i dunno. all i can offer is a dream daddy reference. he's chilling in Margaritaville somewhere... 』 Say the following: Wall Maria, Jean Kirschstein, Reiner Braun, Ymir, Theo Magath, Onyankopon, Kiyomi Azumabito, Hajime Isayama, Shiganshina Trio, Shingeki no Kyojin, Shinzou wo Sasageyo

[agentdagonet]

so this may be asking too much but… Headset Romance: The love story of two people who have never met. With Agent!Harry and Handler!Eggsy

Okay so I know that this is several thousand years late, but I hope that it was at least a little worth the wait?

Headset Romance

‘You’re a bloody peacock and that’s somethin’ I’ve learned from experience, Galahad. The fuck did you say that for? He’s def gonna remember your sorry arse now.’

'I found his company degrading- I can get the drive without playing nice with an adulterer.’

'If you say so, guv- but if this comes back to bite your arse I expect the whole song an’ dance. An’ a stiff drink.’

'And how will I deliver these things to you, oh faceless one?’

'You’re a fuckin’ secret agent, I’m pretty sure you can figure out a private youtube link and how to pay a drink forward. Or just do the performance for Merlin- he’ll make sure I get to see it.’

'Alternatively, you and I could simply go out after a job well done like normal people do after work.’

'We ain’t normal people, guv- on your left, yeah good- and I’m plenty satisfied with this arrangement.’

'You could be further satisfied.’

'Did you really jus’ try an’ pull that one on me? Next you’ll be saying somethin’ about the many benefits of physical interaction. Upstairs, third door on the right.’

'Well it’s not as if I haven’t suggested such things before. Got it.’

'Good, can’t go back the way you came but there’s another stairwell down the way- go up a floor and go down elsewhere. Minimal interaction means you can’ just punch your way outta this one.’

'Fists are so uncivilised-’

'Or any of your gadgets, neither. Jus’ get home safe and drop that drive at HQ.’

'Fine. In repayment for you taking away all of my fun, I’ll be sure to send you the most awful thing I can find in-’

'Oh there you are’

'Shit.’

'Lemme guess, it’s the prick you insulted earlier. An’ he ain’t too happy.’ There’s no response, but the view from the feed is answer enough. 'Knock 'im out and get the fuck outta there. This cover’s a bust now, anyway so it don’t matter how just get it done.’ Galahad doesn’t acknowledge him, though he does knock the target’s lights out as quietly as possible before making his way quickly but calmly from the event. Small favours.

'So I’m expectin’ that song an’ dance before you’re sent off on your next mission.’

'Is now really the time to rub it in my face?’

'Are you dyin’?’

'No.’

'Bein’ pursued?’

'No.’

'Injured in literally any way?’

'Well, my knuckles ache a bit.’

'That don’t count. An’ my point is that now is the perfect time to rub your mistakes in your face like a pup who’s pissed on a rug. I dunno how you survived twenty-somethin’ years without me.’

'Merlin had hair to pull out. And I resent that statement.’

'Y'mean you represent that statement. An’ I’m buying that man a cake. “Congratulations on Surviving Galahad” has a nice ring to it.’

'In what way do I represent a pup? I’m perfectly grown, thank you.’

'Oh I know you are; you’re a big boy, ain’t ya? But you listen to very few people, an’ even then do things your own way, and then you strut your way home expecting a bone and a belly rub for a job well done.’

'I’m hanging up now- obviously made it to the extraction point; I’ll debrief upon arrival.’

'Oh don’t take it personal, Galahad- you know you’re my favourite.’ The silence on the other line was answer enough. Eggsy closed the feed and smiled to himself, happy with the successful mission. He’d only been Galahad’s main handler for a couple years, but it was easily the most fulfilling job he’d ever had. Percival took him too seriously, Bors was a bit obsessed with explosions, and Lancelot was far more pun than professionalism.

It also wasn’t a bad thing that Galahad was incredibly witty. And fit. And so out of his league it wasn’t even funny. One glance in the mirror when he forgot (He assumed he forgot; no need to make assumptions and make things worse than they were) that the feed was running and Eggsy was completely gone for him. Lust at first sight, when he’d already been enamoured with his dry wit, made Harry’s inexplicable interest in him the worst temptation.

But he didn’t know much of anything about Eggsy besides his sarcasm. Well, that wasn’t quite true either, Eggsy mused as he wrote up his end of the mission report. Eggsy’d spoken about his sister, and his mum, and about the Prick with a capital P he’d managed to get rid of when Merlin had hired him. He’d talked about loads of shit. Just nothing he thought was worth the kind of fuss Galahad made of him- Galahad, who had never even met him, and probably just had a thing for a bit of rough.

Not that that was a bad thing- but Eggsy knew he’d want more than a tumble with him and he just didn’t think that was possible.

'Eggsy, I have something for you.’ Merlin spoke from the doorjamb, ever-present clipboard in his hand and a smirk on his face. There’s a ping from his monitor, and Eggsy opens a file under the watchful eye of Merlin labelled 'He Told Me So.' 

It’s a simple video, a sheepish smile on Harry’s face as he sits in the Kingsman plane, doing these silly little waves with his hands while he sings 'you told me so’ in varying pitches at a whisper. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want the pilot (a mate of Eggsy’s named Ryan, not that Harry knows that) to hear him and turn around, he’s flushed from his neck to the tips of his ears. It’s actually adorable.

'I don’t know how you get him to do these things, lad.’ Merlin’s chuckling behind him, eyes bright behind his specs. ‘I can barely get him to show up on time.’

‘What c’n I say, I’ve got the magic touch.’

‘If I didn’t know better I’d accuse you of having siren’s blood- he’d do just about anything you asked of him.’ Merlin nods his head at the screen, where Harry is paused mid-song. ‘This being the least of it. He’s also instructed me, in this e-mail, to tell you that your drink will be waiting for you at the pub down the street once he’s back on home soil. And not to sound terribly cliched, but  am not an owl so stop using me to send messages back and forth. Give him an e-mail or something if you refuse to give him your number.’ He grumbled a bit (sounds suspiciously like you oblivious bastards) before wandering off.

Eggsy finishes his report with a smile, and places an order at the bakery he knows Merlin prefers.

Harry got off the plane at HQ early the next morning, sun barely over the horizon, and immediately went to debrief with Arthur. Merlin would be sure to meet him there, the way he always did, and then Harry would get to go home and sleep in his own bed. Sounded like heaven.

‘Now, Galahad, it seems like the mission went off without issue?’

‘For the most part, yes.’

‘The most part?’

‘I’m afraid that alias is unusable now- I accidentally compromised the mission but managed to work around it to fulfill the objective.’

‘Excuse me, gentleman- dropping off some reports for Arthur.’ A young man came through, dropping a thick stack of files on Arthur’s desk with a nod. Nothing in particular stood out about him, accent as upper-class as most everyone at Kingsman (with the one notable exception that Harry could never track down) and his clothes, though casual, were obviously of high quality. He was probably one of Merlin’s minions.

‘Ah, Lunete, thank you.’

‘Sir.’ In lieu of goodbye, he nodded at them (and exchanged a wry smile with Merlin, confirming his suspicion) before leaving the Dining Room.

‘Now, to get back to things- there was no “accidentally” involved in your alias being compromised.’ Merlin turned a severe glare in his direction before turning back to Arthur. ‘I reviewed the footage personally, and he brought attention to himself by insulting the target. Claims he found his company degrading, and could accomplish the task without following the instructions of his handler. In the end he forcefully knocked the target unconscious because too much time had elapsed to use the amnesia darts.

‘Well, as he did achieve the objective, we can at least attest to his being correct on part of that- though you did lose us a useful alias and years of work.’ Arthur turned to Harry, who looked sheepish for a moment, intent on opening his mouth to defend himself, but Merlin redirected his attention once again.

‘Yes sir, he did- but I’d like to bring something to your attention; glasses, please.’ They looked up at the hidden screen, which was now displaying the details of his alias’ file. ‘This is the file for Atticus Grey as it was originally constructed.’ He typed something onto his clipboard, ‘this is what is associated with that person.’

‘Well, this is convenient.’ Arthur muttered to himself, saying what Harry had been thinking. By some kind of divine intervention, it seemed that all of the people he’d made connections with through Atticus were either in custody or dead. The former of which was adding to the latter every year.

‘So, even though he did in fact ruin this alias, it’s not an altogether unsalvageable situation. Honestly, we probably would have scrapped this alias within the next couple of missions anyway.

‘However, with this alias being scrapped a bit prematurely, my team will need a few days to make the new alias as airtight as possible. With most agents off on missions we’re prioritising handling over our background work- when Percival and Lancelot return we should be ready for wherever you wish to send Galahad next.’

‘Forcing our Galahad into some down time, are we?’

‘No idea what you’re talking about, sir, it’s just procedure.’ There’s a glint in Merlin’s eye that says otherwise, but nothing he says will change their minds. This wasn’t the first time they’d pulled such tricks, merely the most recent. Arthur dismissed Merlin with a smile, and he and Harry finished their tea with non-work related chatter.

‘I have some errands- a few days home shouldn’t be too tedious.’

He was wrong. Harry Hart was many things and now he would be adding wrong to the list. A few days on home soil with no clear objective or clear end in sight was tortuous. He’d taken to pestering Merlin for updates every few hours, which had resulted in him being locked out of his office and the direct link from his glasses being shut off. 

‘Any reason in particular there’s a picture of Merlin’s face taped to that punching bag?’ The voice comes from behind him, bemused and unfamiliar, and Harry turns to find the minion from before. Shit.

‘Needed to let off some steam- Merlin’s decided to force some down time upon me, but I have nothing to do.’

‘That so? Still doesn’t explain why you’re punching his face like that.’

‘Sure it does- he’s insufferable and I can’t take it out on him in person.’

‘Isn’t there anything else you can do to pass your time?’

‘I’ve already finished all of my reports- and I’m doing the only other thing I can here at the gym.’

‘You could go for a swim- or the obstacle course! That one’s always fun. Or family to visit, or something?’

‘Been there, done that; and the obstacle course is only fun the first few times. Doing it on repeat for days takes it away. And no, they all died years ago. Just me and Kingsman.’

‘You need to get out more. Come with me.’ Lunete had one shoulder propped against the doorjamb, hands in his pockets, and a smirk on his face like he’s got a fabulous joke but won’t share it.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Well I was going to head home and hang out with my mother and sister, but you need a night out. Come on, then.’

‘I barely know you.’

‘First off, we both work at Kingsman, so how dangerous can I be to you; and second your file’s public to those of us in the Lake, so I know all about you- you could come out and even the score?’

‘I think you’re just trying to keep me from beating Merlin the next time he emerges from his cave.’

‘Eh, that’s just a pleasant bonus.’

Eggsy ended up bringing Harry to the first pub he saw between the mews and Kingsman- in the opposite direction from the one Harry’d left his “you told me so” drink at. It wouldn’t do to be recognised since he was doing some serious posh-acting; he didn’t want the jig to be up too soon. 

On the one hand, it was annoying as fuck to act like someone he wasn’t for longer than he absolutely had to. Arthur and his cronies were bad enough on site let alone out in public. On the other, though, it was probably the closest he’d get to actual spy work even if it was all for his own benefit.

But, even as they sat across from one another at a booth and talked aimlessly about nothing, Eggsy could see Harry relaxing despite himself. He’d talk about some mishap in R&D and Harry would laugh until he was wiping at his eyes; and Harry would tell some story about his dog (the fuck kind of name was Mr. Pickle, anyway?) which would prompt him to talk about JB, and inevitably end up in giggles.

Eggsy relished the opportunity to see what Harry was like outside of a mission, and what he acted like with someone he wasn’t strangely obsessed with. Now that he thought about it, Harry probably saw him as a mystery he wanted to solve. He wouldn’t be interested once the mystique was gone, no matter what he said to the contrary.

Even more motivation to make this mask believable. No way for Harry to connect the two.

Harry, on the other hand, was enchanted with the surprisingly eloquent man. He lamented not having met him before, but resolved to get to know him better now. Merlin certainly wouldn’t begrudge him a friendship with one of his minions, would he?

—

‘Lunete! Package for you.’

‘Another one?’

It had been a few months since Eggsy’d taken Harry out to that pub in the guise of Lunete- and for some odd reason Harry had decided that the best way to cultivate a friendship with him was through obnoxious souvenirs. The kind of things Eggsy thought of when Harry threatened to gift him with “the most awful thing” he could find in wherever the fuck he was for a mission. Eggsy wondered if these were Harry’s idea of good souvenirs and, if so, allowed himself a shudder at the possibilities “the most awful thing” suggested.

Today’s mystery package wasn’t very large- which eliminated another taxidermied animal- and it wasn’t very heavy- which eliminated a new creepy looking statue.

If Eggsy hadn’t already known Harry outside of Lunete he’d have run for the hills after the first package. There’s eccentric and then there’s eccentric and while the former was interesting the latter was incredibly creepy. As it was Eggsy worried about his sanity, though he probably shouldn’t, as most of the Knights had something incredibly strange they loved. Gawaine had a collection of cat statues, Bors kept bits of rubble, and Percival collected local animal teeth. He’d resolved to never ask where he got them, no matter how elegant they looked once he’d polished them.

The sight of them with bits of gum still attached made an impression, to say the least.

Steeling himself, Eggsy cut the tape and pulled open the flaps before he could talk himself out of it, one eye closed while the other squinted into the box.

There was a note.

Lunete, I saw this while in Switzerland  and was captivated before remembering that I had no one to gift such a thing. But I remembered that you mentioned a sister all that time ago, and picked it up anyway. I’ve no idea how old she is (for all your chatter you’re surprisingly difficult to get information from) but if nothing else you can give it to your mother or something.

Reaching blindly into the packing chips he grasped the first solid object he came into contact with. It was box-like, cool to the touch, and thus far made no noise which eliminated several possibilities- and pulling it out Eggsy gasped.

It was elegant, carved in cherry wood and smooth as silk; the designs were all floral, likely roses or carnations or something. It wasn’t the kind of thing Eggsy would have picked up on a whim, but the kind of timeless beauty he could see being passed down or inherited. Opening the lid, Eggsy was a bit startled to be greeted with music- who made music boxes this gorgeous? The tune was familiar, if a bit sped up, but he couldn’t resist humming along.

And then, giggling to himself, he penned a response.

Well, Galahad, I certainly have no use for something as pretty as this myself, and Daisy’s a bit young for it, but my mother will love it. Thank you for the rarity that is a gift that doesn’t haunt my (or the rest of us Minions’) nightmares. Seriously. They’re haunting. But I’ll certainly be that someone who’ll watch over you.

Gershwin? Really? Could have at least been a typical Mozart or something but you had to go and get something classy and unexpected.

—

Eggsy certainly hadn’t expected his bit of fun to bite him in the arse quite so immediately. Harry’s flirting hadn’t lessened any over the coms, but now it was accompanied by humming. Incessant humming that matched the music box that now lay atop his mother’s dresser.

'Fuuuuuuck.’

'I’m not your agony aunt, Eggsy, take your self-created issues elsewhere.’

'But he’s gonna figure it out, Merls!’

'Again, not my problem. Get back to R&D or research Galahad’s next assignment, I don’t care, but get out of my hair.’

'But you don’t have any-’

'Finish that sentence and I’ll delight in telling him myself. I’ll make a power point with all the evidence, and finish with your address so he can-’

'Alright, alright. Fine. I’ll just go curl up and die at my desk. An’ you’ll have to break the news to Daisy.’

'Far be it for me to interrupt your plans for spontaneous expiration.’

—

'So, Eggsy,’

’Don’ even start, Galahad. Up the stairs and to your right- the painting of some posh knobhead with blue boots is hollow.’

'You don’t even know what I was going to say!’

'Half the shit from your mouth during these missions is either you tryin’ to talk me out of the plans I make to keep your sorry arse alive, or flirtin’ with me despite the fact that we’ve never actually met in person. As you ain’t fightin’ the plan, I assume your next words were gonna be some persuasive argument about the pleasures of the flesh. Again.’ He let a little of his irritation slip through, though mostly he was just nervous about Harry connecting him and Lunete. He knew it would happen eventually, but fuck it didn’t need to be now. 

’… Got the file.’ Harry said reluctantly, almost a sigh, and for a moment Eggsy wondered if he’d somehow gone too far despite not changing his reactions to his flirting in the first place. 'On my way to extraction.’ The playful edge that had come to be the highlight of these missions was missing. A Galahad subdued and not in the I-made-a-mistake-and-got-briefly-captured-again way.

It left Eggsy feeling off-kilter. And incredibly worried.

'Job well done, Galahad. Debrief at 1000.’ Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything after all.

—

'Dare I ask what happened to put this kicked puppy look on your face, Harry?’

'I’ve been ridiculous and making unwanted advances on a man I have never seen.’

'You’re always ridiculous.’

'I’ve never even met the man and his voice is the brightest part of my missions.’

'As I’ve already said once of late I am not an agony aunt and I have no desire or true advice to give you. Outside of, oh, I don’t know, perhaps asking to meet in person?’

'He shoots down my advances-’

'Likely because that’s what they are? Advances, obviously geared toward a goal that doesn’t happen to stop at friendship or likely involve it at all.’ Merlin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, 'Why do you care so much, anyway?’

'Eggsy’s never treated me like a superior officer. He’s never acted like he was beneath me for being behind the coms instead of in the field. He’s honest and rude and makes me laugh and somehow I’ve fallen for him despite not knowing the shape of his face or the colour of his eyes- the timbre of his laugh is enough.’

'I was expecting something more like “he’s a shit like me and I don’t want to ruin our working relationship” but leave it to you, Hart, to make it about feelings. What kind of spy are you?’

'A good one, I hope, to have made it this far into my lifespan.’

'Only by the grace of excellent handling.’

'Ah, the great Merlin, so humble.’

'I was referring to Eggsy- you caused me to lose the last of my hair, I have no patience for your showmanship, and your unparalleled ability to destroy my tech means that I tolerate you at best when I’m handling you.’ And there it was, the shame, at reducing a brilliant handler to a seductive voice through no actions but his own.

'I don’t want to lose him.’ It’s whispered, eyes staring at a spot on the wall and completely missing the pitying look Merlin throws his way.

'Then be honest, you great pillock, and talk to him. Not your weird proposition shit, either- I have to go through your mission footage and some of that… You’re not going to get anywhere with some bad pickup lines and innuendo.’ Merlin pushes his glasses up his face and turned away, tapping at his clipboard, 'And that’s all I have for you today. Please vacate the premises or I shall be forced to do something terrible to another one of your fetishistic loo butterflies.’

'Fine, fine, I’m goi- wait, what do you mean another?!’

—

‘Eggsy.’ He’s holed up in a supply closet, as cliche as one can be, but he will be there for an undetermined amount of time and he is just absolutely done with the stilted, awkward, handling of this mission. 

‘Dare I ask, Galahad?’

‘I just wanted to thank you for putting up with me.’ He tries to press as much sincerity into the phrase as he can, hoping beyond hope that he can somehow repair what he hadn’t realised he was breaking. ‘I know that I can be a bit much, but I don’t want you to think that I’m this way with the rest of the Lake. I simply have no idea of how to keep your attention.’

‘It is literally my job, Galahad, to keep my attention focused on ou ad get your arse home safely.’ Eggsy was confused, and maybe a little hopeful. He’d felt bereft without Harry’s incessant nattering, but hadn’t known how to fix it- maybe this was it.

‘I was rather hoping to keep your attention while off-mission, as well.’ Eggsy nearly groaned, but took a moment to think on the situation. Harry wasn’t being actively flirty, the tone was all wrong; if Eggsy didn’t know any better he’d say that the great Harry Hart sounded nervous. 

‘With more soul-damaging relics from your missions like the ones you send Lunete?’ 

‘No- well, correction, not only with carefully-chosen pieces. I-’ Harry paused, and Eggsy realised that this was, indeed, an honest conversation that Harry was trying to have with him. ‘I would like for us to meet. Formally, face-to-face, give myself a visual to go with the auditory man who has consumed my attentions for quite some time. I understand that there is no reason for you to believe me, given my previous actions, but I’ll readily admit to having had no other idea of how to express my interest. Merlin can tell you that outside of a mission I’ve never been particularly graceful or smooth when it came to potential romantic partners.

‘I find that I’ve become enchanted with the idea of you, and would greatly appreciate the opportunity to discover if my fantasies even touch upon the reality of you as a person.’

Eggsy literally had no idea of how to progress from here. Despite his own infatuations with the man, he’d dismissed Harry’s words as empty and with this revelation had no idea of how to progress. Forget the conundrum of Eggsy and Lunete being the same person- this was a problem now, and Merlin had probably known all along and that fucker hadn’t even tried to warn him.

          'We’ll see Galahad,’ Eggsy fought to keep his voice playful, to not give away his scrambling for a proper answer, 'you’ve got to get your way out of this shit first. An’ maybe, maybe, we’ll see about gettin’ a drink or something.’ And now Eggsy was back to cursing his mouth for running ahead of his brain and making promises he probably couldn’t keep.

Harry continued to pretend that the pounding of his heart was due to his circumstances in the mission and not due to the tantalising possibility of meeting Eggsy proper at long last.

—

Of course, Harry had managed the near impossible and completed the mission both on time and without any grievous injury to himself. Or to his target, which was a positive as he’d been tasked with surveillance and strictly told not to engage which are rules the man usually took as a challenge.

Merlin googled at the record when it was brought to him, and Eggsy took a seat across from the man as he reviewed the contents.

‘He didn’t make an uncouth comment and get chased from the grounds?’ The again went unsaid.

‘No.’

‘And he didn’t continue to press you about going out after you gave him a solid maybe?’ Merlin sounded as incredulous as Eggsy felt.

‘Nope.’ Eggsy was in more than a fair bit of shock. On the one hand, Harry had achieved the objective while Eggsy had been in his ear. So that was a point for both of them, for Eggsy’s success as Handler and Harry’s as Knight; but the hows of it. Harry had done all of it because Eggsy had said they might get to meet if Harry did what needed to be done. The mere idea of getting to meet had given Harry enough cause to have achieved a nearly impossible feat for him.

‘I’m no’ one to butt into personal business-’

‘I fuckin’ know that, Merlin- you practically set this shit up by keepin’ to yourself.’ Eggsy grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping in the chair.

‘But perhaps, lad, Harry’s more than a bit serious about this.’ Merlin continued as if uninterrupted, and Eggsy looked away.

‘D’you really think so?’

‘The only way you’re going to know is if you actually talk to him and stop with this weird double life you’ve made for yourself and no,’ Merlin wagged a finger angrily, ‘I am not going to help you fix this shit. You dug this hole, make your own way out of it.

‘I certainly hope that you continue to inspire this out of him and he doesn’t corrupt you instead.’

Eggsy stayed in that chair long after Merlin had returned to his own tasks, wondering just what he was going to do. He had two obvious options: he could meet Harry in person and come clean- or he could really chav it up and hope Harry wouldn’t be able to see Lunete in Eggsy.

But, to be honest, Eggsy was getting real tired of having to keep track of who he had to be at any given moment. What Lunete knew versus what Eggsy knew and where they could overlap believably with them both being in the Lake. It was getting exhausting, and even with the possibility of losing Harry entirely through this fiasco, Eggsy was just. So. Tired. And maybe that wasn’t the best reason to stop leading a double life but it was the one he had.

          So, there, that was one decision made- a pretty big one, too. Now he just had to hold himself to it. 

But that didn’t mean he had to make it easy for the man; maybe he could get one last bit of fun from this fiasco.

–

Harry’s office at headquarters was very secure. Merlin never let anyone in or out without his say so, even when the door was unlocked he’d lock it just as someone was reaching for the handle just to be a shit.

So the box on his desk was a terrifying surprise. First because he’d had no idea that anyone had been in his office- but mostly because of the contents. The outside was so unassuming that Harry had reached in without a second thought and immediately regretted the action. 

‘What the fuck is this shit?’

‘It happens to be a gift, you idiot, if you’d bothered to read the card prior to sticking your hand inside?’ Melin chimed in from the glasses, and Harry flipped him off smoothly with one hand as the other shut the glasses down. So what if he was right, it was the principle of the thing.

Harry pulled out the thing that had stabbed his finger, and was greeted with the most obnoxiously American thing he had ever seen. Intricately carved, it would be a work or artistry if it weren’t for the obnoxious colouring. A bald eagle sitting on a branch, a snake in its grasp, with everything but the bird in natural colours- the eagle was painted as the Americal Flag. It was the end of a wing that had stabbed him, curled upward in a parody of landing from flight. It was atrocious. 

‘What. the fuck. Is this shit?’ Harry warily stuck his arm back into the box of packing chips, feeling about for any additional hidden monstrosity, but came up empty. ‘No note?’ Harry began to turn the box about, half tempted to “accidentally” knock the statue from his desk- but he knew that if it had ended up here then the sender would discover the untimely demise. And, heaven forbid, send a replacement. On the end that had been facing his chair there was a small note, taped and half falling off the side of the cardboard. 

Let’s play hide and seek, Galahad. You’re it. -Eggsy

Harry pulled the note and examined the writing closely. The ink was partially bled through in some spots, as if he’d hesitated while writing it, and it looked to have been written by one of the Kingsman issued pens- not the ones with the poison, but the ones used for official paperwork, with the combustible ink. Just in case, you see, someone ever managed to get their hands on confidential paperwork. Which eliminated a great many people, as the only people to use them casually were the Minions, who used them for everything by default.

As if sparked by this train of thought, the ink began to eat through the paper. Well, that route of examination was out. Eggsy had mentioned more than once the trinkets Harry would send to Lunete, so it was entirely possible that this gift was poking fun at his habit of choosing memorable items for the man, but to that end it also firmly pointed Harry to a particular collective of Minions: Merlin’s favourites. Unfortunately, codenames meant very little overall within the walls of the place- but real names were rare. It was far more difficult to ask after Richard than Bors, for example, because much like in faerie courts real names held power and were rarely shared.

So asking for Eggsy would get him nowhere, unless he was asking Merlin directly, but the man had been of no help thus far and would likely continue on that trend for a while yet. So he was on his own to solve this mystery. Which meant he had to rely upon his already collected knowledge far more than present clues.

Eggsy was a man with a simple- no, humble- past, who had come to Kingsman from the Army where Merlin had spotted him causing some trouble. Eggsy’d been confronted by his SO and had been quite contrite to admit that he’d been messing with the tech because he was bored and had lost his sense of purpose when those around him didn’t seem to care about the why as much as the when. He’d had a note put into his file, and Merlin had snatched him up immediately. Harry was still unsure of why Merlin had been watching the man in the first place, as there were so many people potential to sort through at any time and only a finite number of places to put them. Harry figured it was like applying to an Ivy League school you didn’t know was considering you. Incredibly selective- so what had pulled Merlin’s attention to him?

But that wasn’t the concern at the moment. With what he knew about Eggsy, could he find him on the grounds? What did he care about, what did he mention liking about Kingsman, where would he have the highest likelihood of spotting the man in time to win this game. Harry wasn’t even entirely sure what he was competing for- but he was a vain man and desired victory for the sake of it just as much as any prize.

Harry had never bothered to learn the things a Handler would- but he could strategise if he could only decide what direction to go in. Top to bottom? One end to the other? From the centre outwards, or vice versa? Simplest would be top to bottom, as the roof provided a finite amount of space he could go- so to the roof it was. He wasn’t so desperate as to climb the sides of the building, and opted instead to take the service stairs to the top level and find a window that overlooked a bit of the roof and meander is way from there.

Which actually ended up being surprisingly difficult, but once he had found an acceptable exit he also stumbled upon another note taped to it.

Let’s play a game, mate- well, another one, waiting in one spot is just so boring y’know? I’m hanging out with the rest of the Minions til ‘bout 3 where you left me my drink way back when. Find me. That little shit had been here, how long ago was anyone’s guess, and instead of following through on whatever his original plot had been had changed the rules. As if Harry had known what they were in the first place, but the point remained that he’d changed the rules without warning or explanation.

But wasn’t that just like Eggsy, to at one moment follow plans to the letter and the next follow Harry’s lead on a whim? The fact that they were always successful could more likely be attributed to luck than any actual skill, but Harry was willing to take what the universe deigned to gift him. So he huffed a laugh and made his way back to his office, checking himself idly in the window as he removed his tie and popped a button or two. Going around to a pub while dressed to the nines, while safe in a Kingsman suit, was making himself a spectacle and if he intended to actually find Eggsy he needed to be able to blend in- at least a little. He removed his glasses, and mussed his hair just enough that it looked purposefully dishevelled as opposed to perfectly organised.

Harry made his way down to the pub, one he frequented and thus was able to pull favours with, and nodded at the barman who smoothly slid his pint down the bartop to his waiting hand as he sat at his regular spot at the bar. No words having to be exchanged, which freed him up to idly glance about the room. There were some outside seats but it was easier to hide in a crowd, and easier still to disappear with staff constantly moving about, if you knew when and how to do so. Which was usually a skill Knights honed and Minions of the Lake dismissed as unnecessary. The likelihood of their being spotted, let alone pursued, was miniscule- so why waste the energy that could be dedicated to other things instead?

There was a group of younger people in the corner booth, only a half dozen or so, about half wearing very familiar glasses. Now to spot his target proper. There was a young woman leaning intimately into the side of one of the men without glasses, with dark brown hair and pale eyes. That was Agravaine and Blanchefleur, then, as they were the topic of many Knights who were critical of relationships from within. And, honestly, how did they expect to achieve any sense of intimacy with someone outside of Kingsman, anyway? But that eliminated two suspects. There was his regular pilot, Houdain, with whom he’d shared many idle conversations of the last couple years. His accent was similar to Eggsy’s, but not so much so that he could ever have confused one for the other.

Three down, three to go.

There was another young woman with short cropped red hair, sans glasses but obviously sporting a pair of Kingsman brogues, bent nearly in double as she laughed- inelegantly snorting. She slapped the glasses off the man sat across from her in her antics, simply by waving her arms about, and Harry was grateful to know that she was not a Knight. If she were in this collective she obviously had immense amounts of talent behind the scenes, but something like that could make or break a mission. Which was entirely off topic, but Harry’s head was running in a million directions as he caught sight of the last two members of the table.

One was a driver that he knew quite well, Ither, who had always been up for a joyride while escaping their pursuants. The other was Lunete.

So Eggsy had lied, then. He wasn’t here after all. He turned back to his drink as a way to distract himself, observing the condensation run down the glass, and pretended that disappointment was not a bitter pill to swallow.

 Except, suddenly, he heard a very distinct ‘you’re fucking jokin’, bruv!’ he knew without a doubt that Eggsy was in that group. His head snapped up just in time to see Lunete slap Houdain playfully on the shoulder, the latter covering his mouth with one hand while shaking with laughter.

‘Swear down, Eggs, I couldn’ make that shit up if I tried.’

‘The fuck was Lancelot thinkin’, tryin’ to make a jump like that in that outfit? She gave someone a lucky view, then?’ Ither looked as if Christmas had come early, a very Grinch-like smirk on his face at the thought, but Houdain shook his head.

‘The street was clear, luck with her, so she didn’t flash no one- but lots o’ people complained about the thumpin’ from the roof, next day.’ Lunete shook his head as Houdain finished, but Harry’s mind had stopped a bit before.

Eggs. Eggsy. Harry ran the facts over in his mind as he took another idle gulp of his Guinness; Eggsy spoke often of Lunete’s gifts, he obviously knew Harry quite well after all the time of being in his ear, was well-liked and trusted by Merlin (who else would he trust his oldest friends’ safety to, if not someone he trusted?), and suddenly he couldn’t unlink the two. Lunete was Eggsy.

Lunete was Eggsy.

Lunete was Eggsy and he’d already had a drink with the man and he’d never let it on. He’d not even hinted that he’d been hiding anything; to hide such a thing from a Knight was impressive in and of itself. He’d been sure to keep their interactions regular, had never hinted at- well, hinted at what, exactly? Had Eggsy thought anything of their pint, that day, and what of the gifts? Why had he hidden himself so thoroughly within the walls of Kingsman that it took a ducking scavenger hunt for Harry to figure it out? It was not as if Kingsan was particularly judgemental- well, no, that was a lie. Arthur was a prick.

Ah. Prejudice based around the way one walks. And talks. The things that are the quickest to reveal oneself as “other” in a collective of men from money. Arthur was quick to anger and quicker to insult, if only ever backhandedly, so the ability to blend in was imperative- he guessed- to Eggsy being able to do as he needed. Drivers and Pilots were often silent until prompted and prodded into speaking- a Handler was easily identified and exposed by voice. To affect an accent in the presence of those who would look down on you for being different was entirely understandable.

But had Eggsy truly thought that Harry would judge him in that way? Had he not been clear with his affections through the coms? Short of screaming it from the rooftops he’d done all he could to show Eggsy that he thought the world of him. But… but perhaps that was what had kept him away. If someone is showy, you never take their actions or words at face value. Never. It’s survival one-oh-one, and Harry kicks himself for not connecting the dots sooner.

Every bit of tension in his body began to loosen as Eggsy turned around, just enough for Harry to admire the cut of his jaw and the upturn of his lip as he winked.  At him. That cheeky arsehole. Harry didn’t hear the particulars, but Eggsy was excusing himself from the group with a smile and making his way toward Harry- and what was Harry going to say when he finally got there?

‘Hey, Harry.’ Eggsy slid into the seat beside him and nudged one shoulder with his own, sloshing what little was left in Harry’s glass. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’

‘You led me here, and yet you’re the one claiming to be surprised?’

‘Weren’t sure you was gonna find that window, guv, but you managed that shit in record time you did.’

‘So you set me up to fail?’ Harry finished his drink before he turned and lifted a brow, and Eggsy had the gall to laugh.

‘Nah, I set you a challenge and you met it. Exceeded expectations and all that shit. So, now, I’m an open book- what d’you want to know?’ He lifted a hand to the barkeep and accepted to proffered drinks with a grin.

‘Why?’

‘Why’d I leave you messages?’

‘Why this double life in the first place? What’s the truth here, Eggsy?’ Harry looked away, tips of his ears pink, and Eggsy paused for a moment before speaking.

‘I was scared- terrified, even- of you connectin’ Lunete an’ Eggsy. You’re a posh man, you got class out your arse and you’re fit and funny and I knew you were leagues away from me in life. You’d flirt with Eggsy, but Lunete was a mystery an’ you treated him like any other bloke while at the pub an’ then started sendin’ gifts and shit.’ Eggsy ran a hand through his hair and looked ruefully at Harry, ‘You was thoughtful and flirty and it made me fall more for you that I had already.’

‘That doesn’t explain-’

‘Gettin’ there, Harry. Promise. When I started at Kingsman, I’d barely walked in and Arthur looked down his nose at me and sneered that he didn’ want to see my face again. I thought I’d been dismissed b’fore I could start, but Merlin drew me aside. Tol’ me to ignore Arthur an’ that he was my boss an’ til he said leave I weren’t to so much as think about the door. But,’ Eggsy shook his head, ‘he gave me the name Lunete, an’ said to make it someone Arthur wouldn’ look twice at.’

‘So you made yourself unremarkable.’ Harry concurred, and tipped his glass in his direction, but Eggsy shrugged.

‘I made myself what he was lookin’ for. Growin’ up at the Estates, after dad died, you learn how to read people an’ make yourself what you gotta be to get by, Jamal and Ryan know all the same shit I do- they just don’t gotta use it as often. But,’ Eggsy grinned, ‘to explain the rest of this shit you get a bit of a story.

‘See, you an’ I’ve met before all this shit. Merlin and I had a bit of a laugh about it once I’d settled in. Y’see, once upon a time,’ Eggsy reached into his collar and began to pull on a chain, ‘you came by my place an’ left this with me for safe keeping.’ He opened his palm, and Harry forgot to breathe.

‘Oh my god. Eggsy.’ Harry breathed, in disbelief at having forgotten the child. It was a memorable name, and yet Harry hadn’t recognised it when they’d crossed paths again. ‘Eggcy Unwin- you’re Lee’s boy.’ 

‘Yeah, an’ that’s the other thing- I didn’ know if you’d still fancy me, flirty and shit, once you knew that. Still don’t know, actually, but I got tired of pretendin’ at you. The way I figure, this shit goes one of two ways, yeah? Either we get on as mates an’ we move on, or this shit’s blown us to bits and we never speak again.’ Eggsy spoke as if either option was acceptable, but Harry could see the tension in his jaw and fondly thought of him as an idiot. As if there were only ever two choices when it came to life.

‘You’ve left something out, Eggsy.’ Harry spoke blandly, allowing himself a small smirk around the lip of his glass, before setting it down and facing Eggsy fully. He waited for Eggsy to look at him and not the tabletop, but he seemed to be doing everything in his power not to do so.

‘Oh?’ Eggsy didn’t dare look at Harry- he didn’t want a fatherly pat on the shoulder, or apologies for how his life’d turnt out- but when Harry’s hand landed heavily on the wrist clutching his glass his head snapped up.

Harry’s eyes flicked to his lips so quickly Eggsy swore he’d imagined it before there were lips against his own. Insistent yet chaste, Harry pulled Eggsy to him by framing his face with both hands. His fingertips cradling his jaw with what Eggsy could only describe as reverement. His eyes slipped closed, and just as Harry began to pull his hands away Eggsy made a soft noise of protest before leaning inward and pressing his insistently back. One hand held him steady on the countertop as the other wound itself into Harry’s hair as they began to lose time.

They broke apart to jeering from the other Minions, ‘get it, Eggs!’ and the two flipped the group off with a united two finger salute before dissolving into giggles.

‘Do they even recognise me?’ Harry breathed into Eggsy’s ear, and he shook his head in reply. ‘Well, they’re quite enthusiastic about your “getting it” from a man they don’t know.’

‘Like to hope they trust my judgement.’ Eggsy laughed, feeling high from the realisation that his antics hadn’t cost him a chance with the man before him. He pulled back, allowing himself to do a full once-over of Harry’s look- he looked gorgeous like this, ever so slightly undone, and Eggsy hadn’t let himself really realise it before that moment.

‘There’s never only two options, Eggsy. You know that as well as anyone.’ Harry smiled softly, running his thumb along his cheekbone.

‘Yeah, well, forgive me for puttin’ this option from my head after havin’ lied to you for so long. An’ forget the fact that  I’m nowhere near your league.’

‘We’re spies, Eggsy- lying is easy as breathing and takes half the thought of the truth. Not saying that I’m not a bit frustrated- but that’s more at my inability to be observant than your Parent Trap-ing me. And,’ Harry firmed the grip upon his face, ‘if I hear you dismiss yourself so easily again you’ll soon regret it. I love you, and if you find your own judgements are faulty then trust my own.’

‘You love me?’ Eggsy breathed, eyes wide like a child seeing art for the first time, and Harry allowed himself to drink his fill of the image before replying.

‘Well, I love what I know of you- both what you told me as Lunete and what I’ve come to know through our missions- and I look forward to loving the rest of you.’

‘Might take a while.’

‘Well, we have a while.’ The two pulled enough apart to finish their drinks, a pair of hands clasped between them as if to separate would break the spell.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Moze Trailer! im so late oh god

tl;dr: again, like the Zane trailer, not much we haven’t seen before. some very beautiful looks at Promethea/Eden-6 and some shots of Pandora, but nothing significant lore-wise. im about to start Amara’s in a hot second so i'm at least not behind when Fl4k’s is dropped tomorrow later today and im screaming over their voice. oh also, there’s a hint at Moze having some sort of relationship with 2 dudes as she’s keeping a polaroid of them in her cockpit. dunno if dads/brothers/squadmates but they’re definitely there. they look to be playfully pushing her helmet over her face. i could be wrong, it’s kinda small.

i really like Promethea’s ‘night’ sky. the asteroid belt is really gorgeous

“Darziran (sp?) Bay” is by the Meridian Seaport im assuming? unless this is an inaccurate video..? sorta using a familiar area to keep us engaged?

im having flashbacks to So Happy Together. probably not the greatest time to get that song stuck in my head considering 66.67% of these pilots are gonna die. it’s not repeating because a part of moze’s soul died that day.

i do find it interesting vladof is fighting Maliwan. Add Maliwan onto Tediore and Dahl and damn Vladof no wonder you need the Iron Bear mechs you’re basically fighting on every front

idk why im just digging this turret’s design

anyone know what’s up with these doubled lights shots? we saw a lot of them in So Happy Together. y’all think they’re supposed to mean something? We’re just seeing from the view of the turret here so... i can’t imagine it does. also, let’s add Atlas to the possible list of corporations Vladof is fighting.

some pictures on the inside of Moze’s mech

the one on the right is IB, the one on the left I think is Moze when she is younger getting her helmet squished on her head. Which means those 2 dudes are possibly her dads? brothers? im not sure.

okay yeah Vladof and Atlas are against each other as well

god DAMN Vladof is just on a warpath

so idk if it was Moze specifically who shot that turret, but the camera did seem mighty focused on that mech while she was narrating

and considering the reason the turret collapses the building is because it malfunctions after being shot...

... do you think Moze blames herself for her squad’s death at all? i know she says it was a death trap, but... they were easily wiping the floor with those Maliwan soldiers. the only reason they appeared to have any trouble at all was because they went to the Promethea school of running away from things (eyyy).

also anyone else notice Moze’s trailer (not including end credits) is significantly longer than the other VHs so far? Her’s is 2 min 8 seconds, Zane’s is 1 min 6 seconds and Amara’s is 1 min 29 seconds. i wonder if Fl4k’s will be longer... I know Moze is gearbox’s baby, so I’m not surprised, but damn i didn’t realize just how much more content she received. Her trailer is also the only one with new info relating to backstory tied to it.

sorry i know this is an emotional moment and all, but where did this pilot go? moze said the rest of her squad was wiped out, so logically we should see a body

man it’d be fucked up if they got out and tried to crawl away before it exploded only to succumb to their wounds.

moze climbs out of iron bear from the back. i guess its big round front probably isn’t great for getting a foothold. tho i have to wonder how she climbed around the big cover in her way

~bubbly gum~ i hope she has an emote to blow bubbles or smth. altho do we know if there will be character specific emotes? also her dog tags are clipping through her chest

the embodiment of the =/ emoji

“all my friends are dead”

i like this shot. like that one art piece beverii did of my neighbor totoro except it was ‘my action skill, iron bear’. here’s a link to the tweet because you need to see it if you haven’t already

a ratch? on my good pandora??

also a new area to add to my collection of pandora shots of satellite dishes

i wish i was kidding

soon.

don’t worry, though, i also have a sub folder for every area on pandora with giant skeletons

they can share.

anyway

iron bear *probably* doesn’t have an AI but it definitely is acting remotely. it’s interesting, i know it’s able to function as a turret for a few seconds after the duration runs out then run into enemies and detonate, but it’s still cool to see it knows to specifically apply fire to the fire pit and not, like, moze, who is 2 feet away.

if anything it’s a dumb ai 🤔

i expect that Moze’s reaction to the burgers on promethea being made out of ratch meat won’t be such a big deal, then? because Zane and Amara were both pretty skeeved by it.

her eyes are glowing in this shot lol

Moze is Siren confirmed

this is interesting to me

looks like one of the indoor CoV areas

here maybe??

i find it interesting Maliwan is on Pandora here as well, like, this isn’t the CoV attacking Moze for hanging out in this base, and this shows Maliwan isn’t just on pandora in the drug-trippin trailer (because that can be excused)

seriously, Maliwan joining the cult or displacing them as the big bad is becoming more likely every day. personally, i’d love to hear Katagawa beg for us to save him.

moze fuckin gets around. im surprised she went to pandora, left, and then, apparently, came back for bl3. i hope her fast travel data saved.

also also

what are yOUUUUU are you another broken-down ship?? i wanna explore this so bad- it’s glowing and i LOVE when things glow

moze is mirrored in this scene. someone on reddit pointed out it was probably because they didn’t want her shoulder pad clipping through the ground. probably didn’t have time to make her take it off lol

i fuckin love these dudes

saurians? fucking AMAZING i love them 100%

this just in, moze sleeps like the dead. she looks so fuckin tired lol

immediately rolls back over onto casings

outstanding move

also we’ve had errors in every character trailer so far. are we supposed to be taking note or are they unintentional? hmmmmm

this is so fucking cool looking. i love that the gas giant has its own little moon up there.

elpis still not looking exploding-y. good for her.

has moze even fought 1 single bandit in this entire trailer? hmmmmmmm...

they’re even taking over the bandit technicals! this is a... hostile... takeover... god damn it

a better look at that picture! idk this looks like a fairly younger moze to me, but it could just be the pic quality and it’s some other person. maybe they were part of her squad. 

ok this is gonna sound really weird, but the teeth don’t look like they’re in the borderlands style and it’s freakin me out. is that intentional? to make it not look like she has huge gaps in her teeth? hmmmmm

this fucking transition lol

she smile

alright im gonna yeet this into the void and then go do Amara’s so I’m not behind when Fl4k’s drops tomorrow

[tumblunni]

OKAY OFFICIALLY EPISODE 10 IS WHEN THEY START USING THE GOOD THEME SONG

This is one of the few times ive ever hated the japanese accurate song and really loved the dub change?? Plus thats the one they use for the games themselves so im kinda nostalgic for it i guess. (As nostalgic as you can be for a game you only started playing a few months ago, lol)

I dunno why but i just dislike almost all of the japanese vocal songs, even though the rest of the soundtrack is damn awesome. I just think its cos they suffer from "everything syndrome", so to speak. Gera gera po is catchy at..yknow..the gera gera po part, but then it keeps flying off into different genres that dont have any connection whatsoever lyricially. Like suddenly its rap and then a soulful depressing ballad and then we FINALLY get back to gera gera goddamn po, but the vibe is totally dead now. At least the game theme sticks to one consistant chorus!

Oh and this episode was actuallly pretty decent too! Buhu is one of the cutest yokai and im glad her episode went by without any really horrible moments of trash awfuls. Also nice that she was portrayed sympathetically and also super soft and cute and good ans great. I would hug her forever even if she brings bad luck!! Im so sad for her being unable to control her bad luck even on herself! Poor bean!

And shogunyan's episode was cute! "Super legendary cake cutting sharing friendship splitterrrrr!" Tho it was confusing whether he's actually jibanyan in cosplay or like jibanyan possesses his bloodline or something and he appears like an alternate personality? In the manga he was actually a ghost type yokai that had to possess bodies in order to use his sword, which was confusing cos apparantly he used to be a non ghost and also they say he's like a 'real ghost' as opppsed to whisper?? Can yokai double die??

Also im starting to get kinda sad at poor komasan's episodes! He keeps trying to be the cool big bro who knows how everything works in the human world but then his lil bro keeps being better at everything on his first try and he has to hide that he lied about knowing how it works and just NOOOO im feeling so much second hand embarassment!! Please give him an episode where he finally succeeds at something!!

...okay wtf lol, apparantly theyre having an episode advertising Yokai Watch 2 within the universe,via a proxy of some identical game with a slightly different name. "Yolo Watch 2", holy shit. Also aww Spenp is another one of my fave designs! It was fun watching all the ridiculously stupid inventions everyone was wasting their money on, and i like that they made the bizarre yet genius choice to make Spenp talk like a baby boomer and ramble about everyone being a communist and "trickle down economics works!" Holy shitttttt

Randomly i really like the designs of a lot of the background characters! I wanna rewatch all these episodes when i get my pc sorted out, so i can take some screenies of the cute outfits!! Also i like how nate wears slightly different outfits sometimes too, tho he only seems to have like.. Two. And the second one is just the first but with a jacket and the shirt is orange now. Its funny how katie seems to have more outfits EVEN MORE EVIDENCE SHE'D BE BETTER AS THE PROTAGONIST YO! Also i like how her winter jacket has the same colours as dr maddiman for no apparant reason. Now i wanna see him wearing it, lol!

Also i liked that the solution to the Noway episode was to use reverse psychology. Hooray for nate having a moment of strategicness for once! Seriously he's such a selfish lazy asshole protagonist in some episodes and then in others he's like saintlike nice or super smart or whatever. It doesnt seem like intentional character development cos it never sticks in the next episode...

OMG much as i hate manjimutt episodes where he's an asshole pervert, sometimes his jokes are really funny. The universal studios logo but with manjimutt?? And when his entire episode was a spoof of one of those Deep Powerful Artisan Painter Man Lives In The Mountains And Makes TRUE ART type movies except all he made was pottery shaped like boobs and asses. That was the only time him being a horrible person was legitimately funny! Also i like the two random policemen who can see yokai but treat it like a super mundane thing. "Yeah that human faced dog is causing trouble again, stick him in the paddy wagon"

[laurens-lil-fics]

can i request a cool werewolf!au where peter quill is a werewolf who falls in love with the reader, who moves to a small and risqué looking town?

zayum, absolutely you may! (this turned out way longer than it was supposed to rip me)

Part 2

To say the bar (Y/n)’s cousin dragged her to was a little worse for wear was an understatement. Like everything else in this town the walls were worn and the lights were dim; the only difference was this place smelt of sweat and beer rather than mold and mothballs like everywhere else.

(Y/n) looked down at herself; she was proud she’d taken her cousin’s advice to wear jeans and a t-shirt rather than anything “flashy.” Otherwise she would have been way overdressed.

Betty impatiently nudged (Y/n) out of the doorway and happily greeted the bartender, ushering the older woman towards a booth at the corner of the bar.

“Wellll, what do you think?” Betty asked, glancing at her company expectantly.

“You were right about the smell…” (Y/n) murmured, shrugging off her jacket and shifting in the worn leather booth.

Betty only rolled her eyes, pinching (Y/n)’s elbow as she shook her head. “Don’t be so uppity,” she sighed, scooting out of the booth. “Im gonna get you a beer so you can get that stick outta your ass, then we’re gonna have some fun. Okay?”

Before (Y/n) could defend herself Betty strolled towards the bar.

(Y/n) sighed and slowly shook her head. She glanced around the bar, suddenly noticing all people who were once drinking, laughing and minding themselves were now very intently watching her.

Her eyes landed on two men, one had been staring her down while the other chatted away and seemed to be laughing at his own joke. The brunette lightly smacked the dirty blonde’s shoulder, nodding towards (Y/n) who hadn’t stopped staring at them.

He gave the other a confused look before glancing at (Y/n). For a moment their eyes locked. Something about his presence out of all the others felt warmer, maybe it was the laid back aura he had about him.

The wink he sent her made her realize she had been staring and she quickly looked away, opting to check the time on her phone rather than prolong the awkward interaction.

A minute or two passed and the feeling of being watched didn’t leave (Y/n) for a moment. She didn’t dare look up from her phone until someone slid into the seat across from her.

“Geeze, Betty, you had to pick the place where the dudes look at us like we’re meat-”

“Hey.”

That definitely was’t Betty.

(Y/n) slowly looked up from her phone, freezing when she saw it was the blonde from the bar. “Sorry… I thought you were someone else.” she mumbled, setting her phone down.

The stranger smiled at her and shrugged. “You don’t have to apologize. If anything I should be.” he replied, taking a sip of his beer.

“For… For what?” she asked, straightening up in her chair.

“For everyone else. No one really knows how to act around here when a beautiful lady shows up. Especially one from the city.” he smiled.

(Y/n) felt heat rise to her cheeks, whether it was from his compliment or not she couldn’t tell. “Is it that obvious I’m from the city?”

He snickered and nodded, finishing off his beer. “Yeah, I dunno what it is but something about you just screams ‘city girl.’ What brings you out here?”

(Y/n) chuckled softly, shrugging her shoulders. “My mom runs a diner out here and she needs some extra hands…”

“Waait a sec… Does your mom run the Lakeside Diner?” he asked, his smile growing wider as she nodded. “I thought you looked familiar, you’re (M/n)’s girl, huh? You look just like her!”

(Y/n) smiled slightly, giggling as he cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his  seat. “Crap, I promise I’m not a creep or anything. My friend’s and I just frequent there.”

“It’s alright, I get it.” (Y/n) said, feeling more at ease in the conversation. “I’m (Y/n)…”

“Name’s Peter Quill-” He was cut off by two bottles clanking onto the table and a rather smug looking Betty standing over him.

“Making friends?” she asked, glancing between the two.

Peter smiled sheepishly and moved out of the booth. “Sorry about that, stole your seat…” He turned back to (Y/n), motioning towards her with his empty bottle. “Hope to see you around, (Y/n).”

Betty smirked and sat in the booth, sliding one of the bottles towards her cousin who only narrowed her eyes at her. “Getting a little cozy with Quill, huh?”

“I was until you interrupted us.” (Y/n) sighed, taking a long drink from her beer.

“Well he runs that auto shop down the road from the Lakeside, so you’ll be able to see him plenty.” she said, watching Peter as he returned to his original spot at the bar.

“Im not here for that, Betty. I’m here for family.” (Y/n) said, unable to stop herself from stealing a glance at Peter as well.

The bottle suddenly thrust in her face brought back her attention. “To family…” Betty declared, smiling when (Y/n) clinked their bottles together.

“To family.” (Y/n) repeated.

The rest of the night went on slow. The cousins took their time drinking, talking and laughing about their time growing up together. Soon enough Betty was practically falling all over herself, and almost fell at the bar when she attempted to pay for the two.

(Y/n) quickly helped her cousin up onto a barstool and attempted to hold her steady while she waited for her change from the bartender. Betty leaned her head against (Y/n)’s shoulder, mumbling against her neck as (Y/n) attempted to walk her outside.

Betty slumped against the brick wall of the bar while (Y/n) tried calling a cab. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone breathing onto the back of her neck. She swiftly turned and shrieked when she saw one of the men from the bar standing behind her.

The two stood in silence, (Y/n) clutched her purse and held it close to her chest, ready to use it as a weapon if need be.

“Do you two need a ride?” the stranger asked, nodding at his pick up truck.

(Y/n) instantly felt sick to her stomach and shook her head, stepping closer to Betty. “No… no we’re just waiting for our cab, thanks.”

“You sure? Can’t really trust cabbies out here… some psycho could just pick y'all up and drive off into the night.”

“Look, my cousin’s not feeling too god. I’d hate it if she puked in your truck.” (Y/n) tried to reason, only for him to take a step closer and grip her arm.

“We can go get her some help then. You and I can go find someone, we’ll be right back in a second-”

“The lady said she called a cab, Jason.” a familiar voice cut in.

The two turned to see Peter strutting towards them. He shoved ‘Jason’ away and wrapped his arm around (Y/n) pulling her against his chest. The men stared each other down silently, leaving (Y/n) trying to process the situation as she unconsciously gripped Peter’s tight, grey shirt.

“…You have a good night. I’ll see y'all around.” Jason said, turning and going to his truck then driving off.

(Y/n) sighed in relief and looked up at Peter. He stared the truck down as it rounded the corner and drove out of sight before looking down at (Y/n) and giving her a soft smile.

“Thank you… really. I don’t even wanna think about what would’ve happened if you didn’t show up.”

Peter let go of her and motioned to Betty, pulling his keys from his back pocket. “Look if y'all need a ride I can take you wherever you gotta go. You don’t have to say yes, but I don’t wanna leave y'all out here alone.”

(Y/n) gave him a small smile and nodded at him. “Please…”

About 2 weeks later Peter had convinced (Y/n) to go out on a date with him. Not that (Y/n) wasn’t totally uninterested, but she was weary about entering the dating scene so early after moving.

He showed up at her door wearing a pair of deliciously tight jeans and a button up, a bouquet of lilies in hand. (Y/n) had decided on a little (f/c) dress, nothing too revealing but still enough to have him staring at her through the corner of his eyes.

“So where are you taking me, Peter?” she asked, causing him to snap out of the daze the soft skin of her thighs had him in.

“Well in the next town over there’s a little dance hall I like to frequent.” He smiled, tapping his thumb against his steering wheel. “If you need to learn how to dance I can teach you a few things-”

“Excuse me, I know how to dance.” (Y/n) giggled, crossing her arms and glaring at him playfully.

“Excuuuse me, little miss, twerking doesn’t count, city girl.” he teased, smiling wider as she laughed and gently pushed his arm.

The hall wasn’t at all what (Y/n) expected. She thought it would be super country with people in cowboy boots and cowboy hats. The music was kind of old, along with the patrons. You wouldn’t expect a could of 30 something year olds to be in this crowd.

Peter led her to an empty spot at the bar, smiling at the way she clung to his arm as he maneuvered them through the crowd.

“Is there a reason we’re partying with a bunch of 50 year olds tonight?” (Y/n) shouted above the music.

“My mom loved music like this, it’s kinda stuck with me since I was a kid. I promise everyone here’s cool though!” he shouted back, helping her into the raised seat at the bar before sitting across from her.

After a couple of drinks and a couple of songs (Y/n) didn’t know, she felt about ready to embarrass herself. Once something familiar came on, she interrupted Peter in the middle of their conversation and dragged him towards the dance floor.

“Alright, city girl finally ready to show me her moves?” Peter snickered, watching (Y/n) stop in the middle of the crowd.

“One dance, and if I end up totally embarrassing myself I’ll retreat back to the bar. Deal?”

Despite her reservations (Y/n) found herself moving in sync with her dance partner. She was having the time of her life, all while Abba blared in the background.

Peter slowly smiled and attempted pulling her back to the bar, only for her to continue dancing to the next song. “Not bad, city girl. Haven’t had enough?”

“No way!” she laughed, pulling him closer. “I’m just getting started!”

Peter smiled wider and spun her, laughing as she lost her footing and fell into him. 

Peter chuckled softly and took the familiar route to his work, parking in the garage and helping her out of the passenger seat. The two walked town the street, stopping in front of the dark Lakeside Diner. It was late, probably 2 in the morning. The moon had risen high in the sky, (Y/n) didn’t notice the way Peter twitched at the sight of it.

(Y/n) fished through her purse and pulled out the keys to the door, unlocking it and stepping inside. Peter followed her in and rested his hands on her hips as she lead him into the kitchen.

“What are we doing here? You’re not gonna get in trouble?” he asked, smiling as she flicked on the light.

“I wanna make you something special. Something not on the menu… can you make us some french fries?” she asked, rooting through the fridge and pulling out a slice of chocolate cake.

Peter smiled sheepishly and leaned against the counter, watching her set two potatoes and a peeler and knife beside him. “Im not much of a cook but I can try.”

(Y/n) giggled and shook her head at him. She tossed an apron at him and turned on the frier. “All you have to do is chop up the potatoes and toss them in here. Just don’t set the kitchen on fire.”

Peter smiled and began peeling the potatoes, watching her walk around the kitchen, pulling together different ingredients.

“My dad used to make this for me all the time when I was a kid, my mom hated it.” (Y/n) sighed to herself, setting a blender on the counter beside Peter. “She was always worried about me eating right.”

She dumped the slice of cake into the blender along with two scoops of ice-cream and some ice.

“I don’t really see your dad as much around here, he seems cool though.” Peter shouted over the blender as (Y/n) turned it on.

For a moment her smile faltered and Peter looked down at the frier, unsure of how to read her reaction.

“He is… Im actually in town cuz he’s sick… My mom needed an extra hand since he’s stuck at home so…” she trailed off. She shut off the blender and poured the thick contents into a glass.

“Shit I’m sorry-”

“No, no it’s okay. He’s been getting better.” (Y/n) reassured him, setting down a basket for the fries.

“So… does that mean you’re gonna be moving back to the city soon?” he asked. He was trying his best to hide his disappointment but he never really was good at masking his feelings.

“I dunno…” she sighed, picking up the glass and the basket and leading him to the dining area.

He followed after her and hopped into the booth she set their snacks down at. Peter kept his eyes on her as she reached behind the small bar, pulling out a candle and a small lighter.

“I feel like there’d be some people sad to see me go…” she trailed off, lighting the candle.

Peter looked up at her and slowly reached for her free hand, brushing his fingers against hers and drawing her eyes towards his.

“I can think of a few…” he smiled, feeling her fingers interlock with his.

(Y/n) slowly smiled at him, allowing him to pull her to his side of the booth and into his lap. She felt her heart jump into her throat from the closeness of his body.

Peter cupped her cheek with his free hand and pulled her closer. “I only just got you, city girl… You can’t leave me so soon…” he mumbled against her lips before finally kissing her.

(Y/n) moaned against his lips and arched into him. The warmth of his body seemed to melt through his clothes and seep into her skin, intensifying the longer they kissed. 

One of his canines nicked her lip, causing her to gasp into the kiss as she tasted her blood. Peter quickly pulled back and looked her over, feeling relief wash over him when he saw it was just a small scratch.

“Sorry about that… sometimes I get carried away…” he mumbled, gently kissing the corner of her lips. (Y/n) hadn’t realized how sharp his canines were despite how many times she had seen him smile.

She smiled despite herself and playfully flicked her tongue against his lips before jumping out of his lap and returning to the other side of the booth. Peter growled softly and bit his lip, eyeing her up and down hungrily.

(Y/n) giggled and looked up at the glass windows of the diner, freezing in place for a moment. She could swear she saw a pair of eyes watching her from the dark. The candle flickered, and the eyes flashed away as her vision adjusted to the light.

Noticing her uneasiness, Peter turned to the window and followed her gaze. Of course (Y/n) couldn’t see him from this distance, but Peter did. A familiar face was watching them from the street, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Did you see it too… or am I just drunk?” (Y/n) slowly asked. The fear in her voice made anger rise from the pit of Peter’s stomach. He turned back to her and gave her a slightly smile, reaching forward and taking a sip of the concoction she had been working on earlier.

“I didn’t see anything… I can take you home after this.” Peter assured her, starting to dig into the fries. “Im gonna be kinda busy this week, you don’t work any night shifts do you?”

His question threw her off for a moment, but she soon recovered and plucked a fry from his finger. “No, I never work the night shifts. Why?”

Peter shrugged and sipped the shake once again, liking his lips before sliding the glass her way. “I just don’t want you to be walking home alone, is all.”

(Y/n) could swear she could see a tinted glow in his eyes. Kinda like the ones outside.

Unfortunately (Y/n) did have to work a night shift that week. Her mom had to drive a couple towns over to pick up some pills for her dad, leaving (Y/n) to work a double at the diner.

Clicking the lock on the front door and giving the diner a once-over, (Y/n) sighed to herself and began walking to her apartment. It was only 2 blocks away, it wouldn’t be too bad of a walk. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.

The full moon lit her route home, it filled her with a small sense of security as she continued speed walking down the road. The part she always dreaded of her walk, the bridge over the creek, was now in view.

She could always feel something watching her from that bridge, she just never knew if it was someone actually there or her paranoia getting the better of her.

(Y/n) mumbled one of the old songs Peter had played on their date to herself, feeling herself relax at the melody. Before she knew it she had crossed the bridge.

She sighed in relief and continued on her way home, tightening her jacket around herself as the wind began to pick up.

“Need a ride home…”

(Y/n) froze in place as the wind seemed to whisper in her ear. She slowly turned to the trees and gripped her purse, feeling around for the tiny bottle of pepper spray she knew she had packed that morning.

You’re hearing things… you’re going crazy and you’re hearing things. She sighed shakily and turned back to the road, walking faster to her apartment.

A sudden howl sent a chill up her spine and she picked up the pace, now jogging down the road. “You shouldn’t be all alone, little girl…”

(Y/n) gripped the spray tighter and now began sprinting through the streets, hoping she could outrun whatever was following her.

She heard the paws smacking against the pavement before she hit the ground hard. The spray flew out of her grip and she screamed, turning onto her back to face her attacker.

A large, feral wolf stood above her, staring her down like she was its last meal.

(Y/n) recognized its eyes, the eyes that had been watching her from outside the dinner the other night. She began sobbing from under the beast and tried crawling away before it bit into her jacket and began dragging her into the woods.

(Y/n) didn’t know what to do, her purse along with her phone were being left behind in the street. Her pepper spray was long gone, not that it would help in this situation.

She sobbed harder and tried fighting against the beast, stopping once it pinned her against a tree. Its monstrous canines inched closer to her throat, before (Y/n) knew it, she was screaming as loud as she could.

She didn’t know why she had screamed for him, she knew he probably wouldn’t hear her, but she had to try.

“PETER!!!”

The wolf snarled at her and lunged to take chunk out of her flesh. But suddenly a flash of light fur flew by, tackling the other wolf and leaving (Y/n) pressed agains the tree.

She watched in horror as the wolves fought for dominance. The last thing she remembered was the new wolf sinking it’s teeth into the other’s throat and ripping the meat away.

Next thing she knew, (Y/n) was running back to the road, her lungs burning as she sobbed uncontrollably all the way to her apartment. She dropped to her knees at her welcome mat and quickly pulled the spare key from underneath it.

The last thing she heard was a deep, loud howl from the woods before she slammed her door shut and fell to the floor.

The next morning (Y/n) woke up to the sound of her tv blaring the morning news broadcast. She barely remembered turning on the tv last night, hell she couldn’t remember getting into bed. Maybe it was all just some fucked up dream…

The next headline quickly put that theory to bed as the image of that couch from the bar flashed onto the screen.

“Breaking news this morning, police just located the both of Jason Reeves in the forest this morning. It looks like some sort of animal attack, making it the third mysterious attack in the past two months…”

(Y/n) couldn’t believe they were showing the mangled mess on television. It made her wanna throw up. The churning in her stomach only got worse when she realized she recognized the part of the forest he was in.

The knocking at her door almost made her fall out of her bed, and she quickly went to see who it was.

Opening the door she saw Peter, slumped onto the floor his his head hung and a blanket draping his body. (Y/n) dropped to her knees, moving to help him up until she noticed 1. that he was naked, 2. he was holding the purse she had lost last night and… 3. that his perfect body was coated with dried blood.

She slowly stood back on her feet and began backing away from him. Peter looked up at her, trying to wipe the blood from his lips as he gave her a sheepish smile. “Theres uh… there’s something I gotta tell ya, city girl…”

[ghostpaladin]

today on something nobody asked for heres my thoughts on no children by tmg

i know its like..supposedly a breakup song, and its all the themes of hating someone as much as you hate yourself, and i feel the latter part, and ive found myself like..interpreting it as talking about an other half, a metaphorical mask, hating the person people want you to be and hating yourself for not being them. i dont really think thats what thw song was written for but man. thats what i get from it

music and meaning feels subjective, theres always the intent of the artist but then theres the way fans interpret it, compare it to their own lives to make it personal. its both sad and cool, i dunno.

similar to how i interpret me and my husband. i know this isnt what the song was probably written for, but i always imagine the husband as just an assimilation of mental health issues, depression specifically. being sad can be so comforting sometimes, because at least when youre sad you know youre sad. and when youre happy you just worry about being sad again. when youre sad you know you dont have to worry about it, so you want to go back to it. thats my experience anyways

anyways im done rambling abt music - i had a parfait this morning it was good

[sorcieresque]

naisy gossip from the past couple of days on: ai’s shapeshifting and the legitimacy thereof, the shape of daisy’s head, trans troubles, daisy being offended by her implied sluttiness, a detour to dick jokes,  a detour from dick jokes to feelings jamming, a detour about ines’s annoyingness factor, lesbian island and clea

nickatnightwalker brief interjection: you doing okay with tweedle drunk and tweedle drunker over there?

sorcieresque Are you.

nickatnightwalker well, ive been completely cured of the siren charm probably forever

sorcieresque Good. He's not that cute either way. Tyler's a mess. It's embarrassing.

nickatnightwalker it's amazing how fast my interest in either of them dropped.  like watching a rock plummet off the empire state building and then kill some passers by

nickatnightwalker anyway me and damian are going for a walk until their blood alcohol levels drop below .6. wanna come

sorcieresque I take a low res picture, fry it, and caption the rock in comic sans: My interest, the passers-by Tyler's chances of getting laid, the empire state building is captioned God. I'm not going to third wheel you. I’ll have you know I have better social skills than that.

nickatnightwalker this is an escape run daise take it or leave it

sorcieresque Fine. This doppelganger fiasco is getting boring either way.

nickatnightwalker shes not real good is she

sorcieresque No. Having a 3D mirror was fun for all about twenty minutes, which makes for better bragging rights than most people have ever had. She should be proud.

nickatnightwalker now do you get what i mean about your head being weird shaped

sorcieresque Fuck you. My head is perfectly round.

nickatnightwalker round ish

sorcieresque Your face is round-ish.

nickatnightwalker no it's not my jawline is the only good thing my dad ever gave me and you cant erase that fact

sorcieresque I could if I wanted to. Take back that my head is weird-shaped.

nickatnightwalker you cant change my face

sorcieresque I can and I shall.

nickatnightwalker cant and shant

sorcieresque Take it back.

nickatnightwalker you must have seen it though

sorcieresque I was too busy being mesmerized by the acute angles of my cheekbones.

nickatnightwalker huh you really missed an opportunity there then

sorcieresque Let a shapeshifter pour themselves into an unholy you-shaped mold and then you shall throw stones.

nickatnightwalker absolutely not hey do you think ai could even turn into me she doesnt really know what i look like

sorcieresque What do you mean.

nickatnightwalker i mean it's not like ive stripped and tap danced through the quad shes gonna get shit wrong

sorcieresque Right. I assumed that was left to her vague interpretation. It's not like she knows what the hot goods look like beneath my skirts.

nickatnightwalker kind of unsettling maybe everythings just barbie and ken under there when she turns into us

sorcieresque On a scale of one to very, how rude would it be to ask her to take her clothes off.

nickatnightwalker for you i think she would happily

sorcieresque I know. It's charming. My intentions are only pure and scientific.

nickatnightwalker that part she might not love

sorcieresque That sounds like a her-problem.

nickatnightwalker itll be a you problem if she says no

sorcieresque What if she knows how to mold us to a T.

nickatnightwalker how could she possibly

sorcieresque Magic? (Finger waving, etc.)

nickatnightwalker no, she has to know what somethign looks like to be it theres no way shes gotta just be vague nothing underneath

sorcieresque Then what's the big deal. Don't be a pussy.

nickatnightwalker well excuse me for being reluctant if the odds arent 100% against her finding out ive GOT one

sorcieresque What, did you forget you're not the only one in the world? She didn't seem to know about me.

nickatnightwalker theres a lot less to guess on with you daise

nickatnightwalker no offense but im pretty sure everyone heres seen you shirtless or close enough to to make a good approximately of nearly everything going on up there

nickatnightwalker and most of us have seen your ass too

sorcieresque That's an exaggeration, but you're welcome. There is not "less" going on with me, just different issues in the downstairs department.

nickatnightwalker no, not less, just less that people dont know about it's the public semi-nudity daise

sorcieresque You make it sound a lot worse than it is.

sorcieresque You'd think after all these years you wouldn't be so scandalized of my alleged indecency.

nickatnightwalker oh no im not but everyone else isnt hardened to it yet

sorcieresque Haha. Hardened.

nickatnightwalker i dont get it can you explain?

sorcieresque Penis Havers + Sight of Skin = Profit.

nickatnightwalker hm. yknow ive always managed it without the sight of skin part?

sorcieresque Ooh, Mr. Nick, ooh.

sorcieresque The mere sight of your melaninless face sends every phallus in a two mile radius from solid to mega solid.

nickatnightwalker you joke and yet

sorcieresque Deepthroating a banana is cheating.

nickatnightwalker no it is NOT besides thats just how i eat them

sorcieresque Perhaps you and Ines are much more similar than you'd like to believe.

nickatnightwalker please, as if she could eat a banana like i can

sorcieresque She can unhinge her jaw, Nick.

nickatnightwalker you got me there but that really seems like a sacrifice in terms of pressure and suction

sorcieresque I suddenly don't care about this.

nickatnightwalker some principles are universal daisy

sorcieresque I hardly see how unhinging your jaw would aid one outside of pleasing the mighty sword of Venus, oh Great Kahuna of Oral Sex.

nickatnightwalker itd kinda be win some lose some just because youd get greater range of motion but lose a lot of use of your lips

sorcieresque Not that this conversation isn't dripping mystery and pulsing with excitement, but are you okay.

nickatnightwalker what oh yeah he just asked if i like being human

nickatnightwalker like...idk man do i like that ive been consigned to a particularly fragile and ill-fitting meat suit? sure i guess, since the alternative was not existing at all shout out to my dads poor planning aaaaaaaay

sorcieresque Aaaay! Asking you that must count as a micro-aggression around here.

nickatnightwalker oh fuck if i know everything is a micro-aggression around here asking somebody their favorite food is a micro-aggression around here "hey whats your favorite color" "do you not know how PERSONAL colors are to me once a color murdered my entire family and now im forced to brood silently yet threateningly whenever i see it"

sorcieresque Does he like *not* being human? Respond in 2000-5000 words MLA format on your desk by tomorrow.

nickatnightwalker as a matter of fact thats exactly what i just told him

sorcieresque Twinsies.

nickatnightwalker i bet we could start telling people that tomorrow and theyd swallow it hook line and sinker

sorcieresque On that note, has Damian grown out of his sisterwife kink yet?

nickatnightwalker while i dont know what his personal feelings are on it knocking that joke out of the repertoire was part of the motherfucking bargain in exchange for letting him talk to me after hurricane daniel

sorcieresque You've always been good at haggling.

nickatnightwalker thank you you know i really, really debated putting an allowance in there for a while?

sorcieresque Ha! Perhaps not quite so good, then.

nickatnightwalker that was a trade off for my own self respect daisy

sorcieresque I suppose some of you /humans/ have that.

nickatnightwalker oh god dont even go there or i'll vanish your hair too

sorcieresque Someone's touchy.

nickatnightwalker shes just about as annoying as an asscrack full of sand

sorcieresque An asscrack full of sand and sticky hands from a rapidly melting Popsicle?

nickatnightwalker with sand glued onto your arms and legs with too-thick sunscreen scratching gently but persistently at your sunburn

sorcieresque And your sunglasses are smudged.

nickatnightwalker and your towel is too sandy to clean them on

sorcieresque And there's Sandflies.

nickatnightwalker when you shower youre gonna find dried seaweed down your bathing suit thats been there for hours

sorcieresque Like lovingly cradling Satan against your crotch. Anyway.

nickatnightwalker anyway shes real fuckin annoying

sorcieresque She's not so bad. I would have stopped around the sunglasses.

nickatnightwalker you havent seen her raging superiority complex up close and personal

sorcieresque I've seen her raging Mine Song complex.

nickatnightwalker that is one can of lesbian worms i am not gonna go anywhere the fuck near

nickatnightwalker im gonna just stay over here in my lane and not get in anywhere near anything the amazon warriors have claimed, up to and including the entire proteus dorm

sorcieresque What about /my/ problems, Nick.

nickatnightwalker cleas gotta come out, im not goin in

nickatnightwalker i dunno if you wanna take on the sapphic equivalent of the mongol horde  that's your bad choice not mine

sorcieresque Well mark my death as "mysterious" on my Wikipedia page and call me sexy Genghis Khan, I'm ready.

nickatnightwalker is there anything really worth conquering over there anyway

sorcieresque Yes.

nickatnightwalker name names bitch!

sorcieresque What is this, a middle school sleepover?

nickatnightwalker yep

nickatnightwalker ive got the popcorn in the microwave now spill

sorcieresque You're subscribed to the Daily Daisy, I was under the impression that you would have an idea. Unless it's tagged Nick don't look, in which case you do not, because we respect each other's privacy.

nickatnightwalker of course i dont but i have YET to see a name drop

sorcieresque Are you asking me if there is a lucky military strategist I would particularly like to conquer?

nickatnightwalker yes imagine some clapping emojisfor me

sorcieresque You're very insistent.

nickatnightwalker well yeah

nickatnightwalker course i wanna hear whats up

sorcieresque Oh.

sorcieresque Well, no single tactician has caught my eye just yet, but I find some of the army members, how do you say, cute. Ines among them.

sorcieresque You love to joke about it, but I don't actually find Tyler's game plans all that exciting. Val's too annoying and Gabriela too dumb to strive beyond eye candy. I've caught glimpses of Clea, you know.

nickatnightwalker thats vague and intriguing keep going

sorcieresque That's all there is to say.

sorcieresque Sometimes they are there, and then they are back to being a walking kaleidoscope on steroids. I think they're cute.

nickatnightwalker they sent me a picture of them before yknow, before why can you see them?

sorcieresque I don't know. And oh. How very juicy of them.

nickatnightwalker dyou want it

sorcieresque Absolutely I do.

nickatnightwalker [it's an incredibly middle-school mirror selfie]

sorcieresque I see. Thank you for your candor.

nickatnightwalker youre welcome you and clea all straightened out? after what they said and everything i know they apologized but still

sorcieresque I made them clamber up the vine and hang from my window. It was very romantic.

nickatnightwalker oh thats so smooth im impressed of you i mean since you told them what to do

sorcieresque And isn't that a most excellent quality in a person.

nickatnightwalker obedience? generally speaking a better quality in a housepet than a person but cleas got other perks

sorcieresque Yes? And what would those be.

nickatnightwalker a fourth dimension australian accent

sorcieresque The compulsive chivalry grew on me.

nickatnightwalker it really is compulsive i swear they keep trying to stop

sorcieresque Interesting.

sorcieresque I could've sworn that was supposed to be their shtick.

nickatnightwalker i thought their shtick was quirky 90s friend

sorcieresque They contain multitudes. That's why they look like that.

nickatnightwalker well shit youre not wrong there i feel threatened by their only-sane-man and rational-human motifs though that's really kinda my thing

sorcieresque Your shtick is far more interesting than being a "rational" person.

nickatnightwalker thank you i do try to work that in though at least sometimes

sorcieresque Do you think it brings an eclectic factor to the jittery je ne sais quoi of your attractiveness?

nickatnightwalker absolutely i do i think it emphasizes that my jitteriness is not unfounded

sorcieresque Wow, you're even internally consistent.

nickatnightwalker oh yeah definitely what you see is what you get with me

sorcieresque Whatever happened to the mystery!

nickatnightwalker new school new me

sorcieresque Your transparency of character disgusts me.

nickatnightwalker oh man daise it disgusts me too

[comicteaparty]

April 25th-May 1st, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble  chat that occurred from April 25th, 2020 to May 1st, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your warm-up routine before you write or draw something related to your story?

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Honestly? I don’t have a formal warm-up, but I definitely like to have my fingers all warmed-up and ready for lots of typing! I really need to get in the mindspace for the particular image/idea being portrayed, though.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

1) Seek out music that matches the energy of the page, 2) Draw some circles/spirals/hatchmarks to loosen up, 3) Pick the easiest thing on the page and finish it first to build momentum, 4) Repeat Ad Infinitum

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

-listen to music from my playlist -read some fanfics -watch YouTube videos from my subscription -get some tea -stretch/workout -wear my comfiest clothes

CalimonGraal(Fenauriverse)

i'm also another one that listens to music before doing story stuff. (sometimes either is a favorite song/song i'm obsessed with atm or one that matches the current scene)

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I usually reread my comic so far and listen to some music I associate with it to get me in the mindset and excited for it

eli [a winged tale]

I have a warm up character to go to! Usually I try for some gestures before getting right back to the panels. It gets the rustiness out of the way for me!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ooh I love your warm ups, Eli!

eli [a winged tale]

Thank you! It’s easier for me to get into a routine when I have something fun to draw first (with zero expectations)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't always need a warm up, but doing panel borders for HoK makes for an excellent warm up. It gets my brain switch gears to comic mode. Music is great, but I only turn it on for important moments (or illustrations outside of comic). There are certain moods that... recur in important moments in my story, and I have playlists for those. e.g. 'sad emotional intimacy'

eli [a winged tale]

I love how music influences our work! I would love to hear all your playlists if you have them easy to share

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

ooooh @eli [a winged tale] i like the motion in your warmups! They're very fluid and nice to look at @keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Keii, I agree with separating playlists for moods! I usually just group them all in my favourites and mentally search for them

DanitheCarutor

Gosh I'm one of the most boring people. Lol I don't have a routine, I don't need one since I'm always in comic mode. Like, all I ever draw is comic pages. I don't have a script or anything that requires writing, so no need for a warm-up for that. I just jump right into it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sounds like you live on the edge which is the opposite of boring 8)

eli [a winged tale]

^

DanitheCarutor

I dunno, it would be cool to do warm-up drawing. That would sure help for gesture/color/anatomy practice. I just don't have the time, a page takes about 4 days to finish without outside distractions, so I have to get to work right away.

eli [a winged tale]

If you can jump right in, that’s great! For me otherwise I just stare at the inks and wish it would colour itself

DanitheCarutor

Ffff I'm like that with dynamic shots where the perspective points are off the page, and I have to tape scrap paper to it, and sometimes my ruler isn't long enough. Working in a traditional medium can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. Lol

This panel is a good example.

Top view perspective lines went way off the page, I hate it.

Anyways, that's my complaint for the day.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

When I draw warm ups. This was of my 'for practice' comic art. I wanted to practice the vertical scroll storytelling. A lady gets her purse string cut, and the thief runs off. Whenever I want to figure out action scenes, I do little character interactions. It helps me learn more about certain character behavior(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Nice! Practice comics are great!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yeah it's really good too!

it's also a great way to possibly have new stories/series

kinda like.....brainstorming, but applied

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Thank you Eli, Shadow. I try to combine my knowledge of storyboarding, since vertical scroll sequences, are similar to that in some regards.(edited)

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

I.... Don't do warm up. I just... Start drawing(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

dang Holmea you living the risky life

that's brave

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

I am pretty sure of my skill. Should I warm up?? Could be super to start warm ups! I check my mail, find out how we are doing online with our comic and just begin to draw. I guess since I have done it professionally as a 2d animator, and there is not really time to warm up, that I have learned to just start

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I do warm ups for everything! though what I define as warmups depend on each creator. For me, it begins with stretches and sketching, ill doodle things i need to get out of my head so i'm not distracted by those ideas- they usually involve studies, certain character interactions, or thumbing out pieces I want to tackle later! I may sure to draw everyday to flex that too, so its also important to be able to relax those creative muscles with some pre-work!

also! my warm ups vary with what medium i work in. if Im working in watercolours, i practice fine pencil work and get my lines as loose as possible. when it's comic (so mainly inking) i do what I described above with character studies and what not

kayotics

I’m really bad at remembering to do warm ups. I should.... actually do them more, but the time I have dedicated to drawing is usually pretty limited

Deo101 [Millennium]

Because I usually finish off whatever I had been working on the day before, warmups for me are kind of the process of starting a new piece. All the sketching and thumbing to get my next idea out work pretty well for warming me up, and then I feel ready to go by the time I'm needing to do things like lines. I also get music going that fits the mood of what I'm working on, like lots of people seem to do! I also need to remember to do stretches more :/ And I usually get myself some kind of drink, tea or something, to keep me company while I work ;)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Sounds like you are pretty busy, Kayotic. Yeah warm ups can be a good practice before diving into a big illustration

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Weirdly I don't think I've ever done warmups for illustrations. Only comic work!

Probably because illustrations, I just do them whenever I feel like it, so my brain is already ready (i.e. I don't start if my brain isn't ready)

whereas comic... I can't just wait for my brain to get ready. I need to keep updating it.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Pro-tip: if you decide to not do anything and procrastinate, you don't have to warm-up!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

hmm, can't say i've really tried warming up for art before, but i've heard it can really help! What are you guys' art warm up routines?

Deo101 [Millennium]

For me it's just kinda mindless sketching til I hit what it is I wanna be doing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Make panel borders (not really a routine though, at least I don't think it is)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

When I do watercolor, I usually don't do warm ups unless I'm planning from thumb-> sketch ->color thumbs and figuring out local colors for watercolor then doing my watercolor flats from there

Deo101 [Millennium]

Instead of staring at a blank screen and waiting, making little circles or scribbles or drawing like. Some arms or something til, eventually, my brain thinks we're working and then it's like "ah yes! Here we go!"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

but digitalllyyyyy I shoullddddddddd

my brain when looking at my comic: "aight time to do the thingy lmao"

Deo101 [Millennium]

If I've already got a sketch waiting to go I can jump right in though

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

idk, I should but my time is usually limited so I haven't done a warm up in a while lmao.

now I have the time, I probably would

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ohh i see

like some quick sketches

i see how that can help- whenever i'm figure drawing or drawing people in a cafe or something my later ones are always better

how is making panel borders a warm up? don't you have to do that anyways?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Lines with intent! Doesn't matter what the purpose is, same kinda thing as drawing a bunch of straight lines in a row or practicing ellipses a bit

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's something I can do with my brain turned off. While I do it, it wakes up the comic-making part of my brain

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh ye

Deo101 [Millennium]

Which I'd encourage doing things like drawing a ton of ellipses or straight lines, it gets your hand into the groove so you can draw stuff right the first time

Do I do it often? No But I do encourage it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ah i see keii

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

So for me, the panel borders can function like a warmup without being a "ritual." Kinda like if you're... say... hiking, walking from your parking spot to the trailhead can be a warmup even if it's not a ritual and is necessary anyway

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooo that's an interesting way of putting it

... man I really should consider warm ups often. I have been touching my sketchbook less and less so lmao

I do find making small thumbs and coloring them in relaxing for me, not sure that count as a warm up but its something I like doing when planning out watercolor illustrations lol

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Relaxing/chilling/ "reward after a long day" arting is also an interesting topic, though not 100% suitable for this week's question...

I find it interesting how a lot of people seem to like, make cute ship doodles, whereas I uhhh

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lineart is the easiest for me to do though. I don't have to think much about it

maybe i should like line a page as warm up?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'll drop some examples in art share in a bit

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ooh please do(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That sounds like a good idea! Worth trying

Feather J. Fern

I actually read in a artist self care comic "Draw Stronger: Self Care of Artist" that you are supposed to stretch and stuff before you art so your body is warmed up for long periods of sitting. Things i draw before getting into main art, the one line challenge where you draw something using one line, gesture drawing warm ups, and always becuase it's something I recently been doing, is drawing a thumbs up on a page that I can erase later or keep in a sketchbook as in like "Good job "(edited)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don't have a warm-up routine before I sit down and draw / write comics. Besides making a cup of coffee before I dive right in. (edited)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I don't follow rules

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

i don't really have any warm up routines. it helps that 3d art is less physically demanding than drawing. during/after my work, i try to look away from the screen and relax my eyes every so often, but i can't think of anything i specifically do before working.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Another dive-right-inner here. I mean, I do loose pencil sketches before putting down lineart, but it's not like a separate warmup drawing before the real one, it's just the start of the real one.

If my brain isn't in "comics mode" and I need to get a page done...I find a nice secluded spot, sit down with the blank sketchbook, and stare at the empty paper until ideas start clicking into place. Unrelated sketches would be a distraction at that point -- same as checking twitter, just one more excuse for my brain to focus on something other than the page.

Used to do the seclusion in local restaurants( whether it's a nice place or just a plastic fast-food table), but obviously that hasn't been an option for a while :/

varethane

My warmup is working eight hours at an unrelated job l-lol

eli [a winged tale]

Haha aw that’s a mood

Miranda

Oh boy do I feel that

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

oh that got real

[jolienjoyswriting]

Count Arturo Moretti

"Count Arturo Moretti," an Essence of Ragnarok story.

It's been a while since I've written one of these little, self-contained "micro-stories."  (Well, "micro" by my terms.)  But, sometimes?  All a story needs is about one chapter.

Word count: 5,349 – Character count: 29,945 Originally written: November 27th, 2018

Jessica's acting weird… and, small wonder why.  She was expecting company!

[ ↶ Prev. Story | Next Story ↷ ]

    “You don’t have to walk me to my car, Jessie…  I’m fine.  Really!”     “Maybe, but I wanna!”

    It was the middle of a winter night as two figures left the radiant glow of Mindy’s 24/7 Gym.  One figure, a male fox in his late 20s, slowly walked toward the parking lot of the complex, bundled up in a long, black coat with matching scarf and newsboy cap.  The other, a slender bat-girl, didn’t seem as bothered by the weather, considering her outfit consisted of shorts and a tank top.

    “I mean, I appreciate it…” the fox said, glancing to his companion, “but, you don’t normally bother, so…”     “Well, I don’t normally suck you off fer so long, either!”     A heavy blush burned under the man’s fur.  He was quick to shuffle under his collar and scarf, then, much to the amusement to his friend.     “That… reminds me.  You’ve been asking squirrelly all night, Jess…”     “Ya mean ‘catty?’  Or… ‘batty?’”     She flashed a grin his way… but, he didn’t react.     “What I mean is… something seems different about you, tonight.”     He gestured her way as they walked side-by-side.     “Are you alright?”     “What?  Me?”  Jessica gave a mighty laugh before telling him, “I’m jus’ dandy, hun!  ‘specially what with you givin’ me a li’l somethin’-somethin’ in th’ steam room…”     The fox narrowed his eyes.  “Is… everything an innuendo with you, Jess?”     “Only with you, Josey!”     She grinned before bumping her hip against his.  He stumbled a little… then, he gave a sigh and shook his head..

    “I’ll see you next week, Jess.”     Soon enough, the two had arrived at Joseph’s little, green car.  As the fox was reached into his pocket for his keys, though… he felt Jessie lean in and give him a hug.     “You’re… being really sweet, tonight…” was his comment as she leaned back.     “Get that way after one’a our secret rendezvous,” was Jessica’s sing-song reply.  When she noticed her companion blush, again, she leaned in and ruffled his bangs. “You so cute!”     “And, you’re a bigger flirt than even I used to be.”     “Maybe I am, maybe I ain’t.  Maybe… I’m jus’ bein’ nice so’s you’ll keep lettin’ me nosh on ya neck!”     Joseph gave a startled squeak as the girl suddenly buried her nose under his scarf in an affectionate nuzzle.     “P-personal space, Jess!  Work conduct!  S-something!”     She chuckled, leaning back.  “Made’ja drop yer keys, hun.”     “Yeah, I noticed.”     He was about to lean down to get them when she stopped him.     “I’ll get ‘em.”     The fox shrugged.  Since she was the one who startled him, he figured it was only fair.  And so, Jessie bent down and picked up the car keys.  As she straightened up, though…     “U-u-uh… J-Jessie…?”

    The tone of Joseph’s voice had dramatically shifted.  He sounded nervous… and, for good reason.  Jessica knew that, in the two seconds she’d spent looking at the blacktop of the parking lot… something had happened – something that, admittedly… she’d been expecting to happen for months.  And, as she slowly righted herself… her mismatched eyes turned upward and toward a new figure which had appeared on the roof of the nearby compact car.

    Joseph’s golden eyes stared, fixed and frozen, on a set of orange eyes which seemed to glow in the darkness… which were attached to a hunched figure, atop his car; a dark, brooding sort of shadow-man – one that he absolutely did not recognize.  From what he could tell, the figure seemed to be made of sharp, almost-jagged points which vaguely formed a somewhat being-like shape.  It was hard to tell if the figure had any other defining features, though.  Joseph was too far lost in those frighteningly-captivating, orange eyes to look…

    “Knock it off, Ro.”     Suddenly, the fox found that he was able to blink.  Not only that, but he was able to look away.  However, he still didn’t seem willing…  He’d just watched a very confusing event.     From his perspective, the glowing eyes had become dim and the surrounding area slowly regained its light.  He then noticed that the figure atop his car seemed far less intimidating… but, no less shadowy, thanks to the lights in the parking lot.  He could tell, however, that the figure seemed to be draped in some sort of cloth…  A cloak?  A cowl?  He wasn’t sure.  He also took note of the figure’s long, pointy ears and well-groomed hair, which was as black as the cloth they wore.  The last thing he noticed was unrelated…  Jessica’s had her hand drawn and ready to thump the perched figure… for a second time.

    The figure seemed to be looking at Jessica as raised her hand more assertively.  A second later, the figure hopped off of the car and shot a glare Joseph’s way.     “I– what-are-you-lookin’-at-me-for…?” he nervously asked before he could stop himself.     A hiss – came from the odd figure.  Then, it took off like a shot and practically vanished from sight!

    “Jessie…?  What… in the Void… was that thing?”     Jessica didn’t respond… which prompted Joseph to turn her way.     “I said– er… Jessie?”     He gave a blink, then.  The bat-girl had put her hands over her face and seemed to be groaning to herself.     “Jessie…?  Are you–”     “Get in the car.”     “But–”     He blinked a second time, watching the agile girl slide over the hood of his vehicle and spin around to the passenger-side door.     “Jus’… get in.  A’ight?”

    Three minutes passed after the two got themselves situated in Joseph’s car.  He’d turned on the engine and turned on the heat, but had no intention of going anywhere with Jessica.  After all, she was still on-the-clock, as far as he knew!  Fortunately… she didn’t seem like she wanted to go anywhere, either.  However, the fox couldn’t help but notice how his companion was staring out her door’s window… seemingly, in the direction that the figure had zipped toward.     “Jessie…?” he quietly asked as he undid his scarf.  “Do you… know that thing?”     “That ‘thing…’ is what made me what I am, Joe.”     “What?”     The bat-girl gave a loud growl and sharply shook her head.     “I knew ‘e was ‘ere…  I knew ‘e’d do this.  ‘e always does this!”     “What?” Joseph repeated while raising an eyebrow.  “Who?  What did he do?”     “Count Arturo Moretti…” she quietly whispered.  “Last of the Moretti clan of vampires…”

    The fox rubbed the back of his head.  “I’ve… never heard of him?”     “Ya wouldn’t’ve.”  His companion sighed before adding, “Ro keeps to ‘imself.”     “Oh.  I see…”     There was a heavy pause between the two before Joseph came to a sudden realization.     “W-wait…  That thing– sorry, that guy was the one who turned you into a vampire…?”     “Yes… ‘n, no.”     “I don’t follow.”     “I hadn’t led ya nowhere.  Yet.  But…”     Jessica sighed… then, she turned toward Joseph with a soft smile.     “If yer willin’ t’ follow, I’ll lead ya on my li’l tale of how I came t’ be this way.”     “S-sure…”     The bat quietly chuckled, closing her eyes…  She was acting uncharacteristically somber… which, to Joseph, was a huge red flag.  Jessica never acted like that.  Whatever had happened to her must have been something she didn’t like talking about, he figured…

    “So.”     He blinked as Jessica opened her eyes and looked right at him.     “I was comin’ home one day…  I’d jus’ finished my shift at th’ gym, yeah?  It was, like, four-in-th’-mornin’… I was tired… cranky… kinda pissed ‘cause I had a dumb-ass student what wouldn’t follow d’rections and I was on my period.  Bad times.  So, after that, I jus’ wanted t’ go inside ‘n die fer a few hours.  Ya know?  But, as I got to m’ keys, all-of-a-sudden… I heard a big ol’ crash come from th’ alleyway near my pad!”     Joseph quietly nodded, intently listening to his friend tell her story.     “I thought ‘bout jus’ leavin’ things be…  Could’a been anything!  But, when I heard, like, a pained moan come from th’ alley, I d’cided t’ look.  That’s when I saw ‘im.”     “You saw… the hissy shadow-man?”     “Yup!”  She grinned before saying, “‘e was collapsed in th’ alley, lookin’ like a fancy-pants in ‘is cowl ‘n dressy threads.  But, ‘e also looked hurt.  So, against my better judgment… I walked over ‘n helped ‘im up.  That’s when ‘e made th’ biggest mistake of ‘is life.”     “He bit you…?” Joseph quietly asked.     “Not yet!” was her quick reply.  “‘e did somethin’ else, first!”     “What’d he do?”     “He looked me square in th’ eye.  And… I dunno.  Put me t’ sleep, I guess?”

    “So… then, he bit you?”     “Oh, yeah.  ‘e bit me but good!” she laughed… making Joseph raise a brow.     “Wh… why’s that so funny?”     “‘cause, when ‘e bit me… it snapped me right back outta my daze!  An’, when I realized ‘e’d bit me… I got real hostile!  I was still pissed from b’fore an’–”     “Wait, I remember this part.”     “Hah?”  Jessica tilted her head.  “Wha’chu talkin’ ‘bout, Joe?”     “I just remembered… the first night you fed on me, you told me about this.”  He hummed before saying, “He hypnotized you, then he bit you, and you woke up and bit him, back.  And, when you swap blood with a vampire, like that… then, you end up becoming a vampire.  Right?”     “Er… yeah.  Heh!  Dick!”  She chuckled a little before giving him a thump on the arm.  “Why didn’cha tell me I told’ja this, a’ready?”     “Like I said…” he said as he rubbed his arm, “I kinda forgot.”

    “Well, anyway… after that happened, Arturo yanked ‘imself away from me ‘n I spit out th’ blood I drew.  But, as ya know… t’was too late.  Even jus’ swallowin’ the itty-bitty-bit I did made me kind’a… part’a ‘is clan!  But!  I bet I didn’t tell ya what ‘appened, next!”     “There was a ‘next?’” the fox curiously asked.  When his friend gave a sharp nod and a bright grin, he settled in for the next part of the story.

    “So, there we was… my back to th’ alley wall ‘n Ro layin’ there, givin’ me th’ most befuddled look.  So, ‘e says t’ me… ‘No one’s… ever done that, before.  How did you–’ but, ‘fore ‘e could finish, I kicked ‘im in th’ nads ‘n ran inta my apartment!  Not– not outta fear,” she quickly added.  “Jus’, I didn’ wanna deal with that creepazoid, no more.  I mean… I went t’ help ‘im an’ th’ dude bit me!  What th’ fuck!     “Anyhoo… I go inside my apartment ‘n head to th’ bathroom.  After such a long ‘n weird day, I needed a shower.  So, I take a shower, makin’ sure t’ clean my neck super-good – dude might’a had rabies ‘r somethin’!  Then, I walk out ‘n guess what?”     “What?” Joseph excitedly asked.  He was really getting into the story…     “Dude’s waitin’ fer me at th’ door t’ my livin’ room!”     “What?” he repeated.  “H-how?  What did you do…?”     “I did what any rational, sane person would… an’, I threw th’ nearest heavy thing I could at ‘im!  Unfortunately, ’e was expectin’ it ‘n dodged!  So… I threw another thing!  Then, another!  All-th’-while, ‘e’s bobbin’ ‘n weavin’ closer-’n-closer!  When ‘e finally got within’ strikin’ distance, though?  I took a swing!  Bad idea.  ‘e grabbed my arm ‘n spun me ‘round!  Next thing I knew… ‘e ‘ad me pinned t’ my own bed.  Wet.  Naked.  Vulnerable.”

    By the time Jessica got to that part of her story, Joseph was wringing his hands together.  He seemed extremely invested in the story!  And, why not?  She had to admit, to herself… telling the tale back, even knowing how it ended, it really did make for a cool story.  But, she knew that the fox had a… different… sort of interest in what she was saying… and, that gave her an idea.     “As I looked up inta those cold, orange eyes’a his… I felt genuine terror overtake me fer th’ first time,” she said in a soft, almost nervous way.  When Joseph leaned in, she kept going.

    “‘What do you want from me?!’ I shouted in a mix’a panic and nerviness!  That man… ‘e jus’ laughed ‘n grinned, showin’ off those fangs o’ his…  ‘No one has ever broken free of my spell,’ ‘e said.  ‘You’re the first… and, you’ll be the last.’  So, with me layin’ there defenseless… th’ vampire leaned in…  Slowly, ’e wrapped ’is mouth ’round my throat… an’, as I lay there, too panicked t’ even scream… I felt ’im begin t’ drain me of life.”     The fox gave a hard swallow.  He clearly hadn’t expected the story to turn so dark…     “S-so… what happened next?” he skittishly asked.     “Jessica U. Ingmann… died.  Naked… and, alone.  Taken by th’ vampire’s kiss.”

    For a moment, Joseph stared as his companion, his breath still and body motionless.  The color had left his face and his ears had fallen back.  He couldn’t believe what he’d heard.  Literally!  It wasn’t until a few moments after the girl had spoken, though, that he realized…     “H-hey… wait.  You’re not dead, though.”     He winced, then, as Jessica poked him on the nose.  And, as he rubbed where she’d poked, he noticed the wide grin on his friend’s face…  She was chuckling.

    “You… you ass!” he said with a laugh of his own.     “Priceless!” she said, practically breaking into a fit of giggles!  “Ya should’a seen th’ look on yer face, Josey!”     “Yeah, well…”  He shook his head, offering a smile.  “It was a very convincing story.”     “Ah, go on!”  She smirked.  “You knew I was jerkin’ yer chain, hun!”     “No, really!  Up until you said you died, I really believed you!”     “Well… I’ll tell ya this much.”  Jessica gave a wink, saying, “Some of it’s true.”     The fox shuffled and perked with interest.  “Oh, yeah?”     “Yup!  So, leave us rewind a li’l, ‘ere…

    “I’d jus’ come outta th’ shower ‘n Ro was standin’ in th’ doorway.  That really did ‘appen!” she firmly added, knowing Joseph was going to question her.  “I threw stuff at ‘im ‘n ‘e dodged, too!  An’, well… yeah, I swung, missed, ‘n ‘e did pin me to th’ bed.  But, even when that ‘appened… I stood my ground!  Er, so-t’-speak.     “I looked th’ asshole right ‘n th’ eye ‘n said, ‘Get th’ fuck off’a me, perv!’  But, ah… ‘e wasn’t impressed.  So, I struggled ‘n strained ‘n shit.  I’m sure if I’d be afraid, I would’a thought ‘e was gonna either eat me, rape me, ‘r both.  But I was just pissed!’

    “Anyway… after I stopped strugglin’ some ten minutes later, ‘e jus’ leaned in, looked me in th’ eye, ‘n ‘e said… ‘No one has ever broken free of my spell’ – jus’ like I said, earlier.  Then ‘e goes, ‘How did you do it?  I must know.’  So, I says… ‘Eat a dick!’  ‘Charming…’ was ‘is response.  Then… ‘e does somethin’ I wasn’t expectin’.”     “What’d he do?” the fox asked, his tail wagging in anticipation.     “‘e gave me a towel.”     “W… what?”     “Yeah!” Jessica exclaimed with a laugh.  “I’m right there with ya!  ‘e jus’ let me go, stood up, gave me a towel, ‘n left!”     “That… sounds even less likely than the other story you told me.”     “Strange-but-true!”  She smiled his way.  “An’, it gets even weirder, believe-it-or-not!

    “So, ‘e leaves me ‘n I get dressed.  Then, after a minute ‘r two, I smell somethin’ funny… so, I head into th’ livin’ room.  Guess what?”     “What?”     “Ro’s there.  With tea!”     Joseph blinked… then he furrowed his brow.  “You’re making this up.”     “Nope!  ‘e made tea!  ‘n, once I saw ‘im there… I asked ‘im, in my usual, dipl’matic way… ‘Th’ fuck you still doin’ here, perv?!’  ‘e jus’ kind’a chuckled… then, ‘e waved me over.  I was so stunned by how unphased ‘e was being that, well… I did walk over ‘n sit.  I even took ‘is tea.

    “So, come t’ find out, Ro had no intention’a actually bitin’ me.  But, when I got close ‘n ‘e smelled my sweaty self from work, ‘e got hungry?  ‘e apologized fer it, too.  Might surprise ya t’ know I jus’ sat there, suspiciously eyein’ ‘im, but listenin’,” she added with a smirk.     “Anyhoo…  Ro’d gotten lost in town.  ‘e usually keeps t’ ‘imself, as I said, but ‘e came in, got lost, ‘n ended up hidin’ out fer Trinity-knows ‘ow long.  ‘e was goin’ through withdrawal when I found ‘im, which is why ‘e slipped up ‘n bit me.  Like I said, ‘e apologized fer it… ‘n, I believed ‘im.  What I didn’t believe was that ‘e was what ‘e said ‘e was – a vampire!     “‘Vampires aren’t real!’ I told ‘im.  ‘Yer jus’ some bitey nutcase!’  But, no…  ‘e insisted ‘e was a vampire.  So, I said, ‘Prove it!’  So, ‘e did!”     “Er… how?” the curious fox asked.     “‘e cut ‘is arm open.”     “That– what?!”     “That’s what I said!” the bat-girl laughed.  “But, ‘e kept ‘is blood off th’ carpet ‘n furniture… then, not a minute later, ‘e stopped bleedin’.  It wasn’t a li’l sissy cut, either.  Th’ dude ripped ‘is arm open!  But, yeah… a minute later, all that was left was a bit’a dried blood ‘n a scar.

    “I still didn’ believe ‘im… told ‘im ‘e was jus’ a fast healer.  So… ‘e walked over ‘n lifted my chair with me in it!  Told ‘im ‘I could do that, too!’  Then, I told ‘im t’ look in a mirror.  ‘e told me that ‘no reflection thing’ was just a myth, but told me that ‘e could hold his breath ‘indefinitely…’ so, I ‘ad ‘im do that.  Kind’a wish I hadn’t.  All ‘e did was stare at me… all creepy-like… fer a good seven minutes… not movin’… not breathin’…”     Jessica shuddered… then, she sighed.     “At that point, I caved.  ‘Let’s say I believe ya,’ I said.  ‘What’s that mean fer me?’”     “You mean, you asked him the same thing I asked you, when you nibbled on me?”     She gave a nod.  “I asked ‘im if I was a vampire, too.  An’, ya know what ‘e said?”     “No, what?”     “‘e said, ‘Not yet.  However… I would like to convert you, if you are interested.’”     “Were you interested?”     “Fuck, no!” Jessica scoffed.  “That’s what I told ‘im, too!  So, ‘e says… ‘I cannot make this decision for you.  But, should you change your mind, I would be most happy to assist you.  You are a most-interesting woman… and, I would be most happy to share my life, and my clan, with one such as you.’”     Joseph tilted his head, then.  “He really said that…?”     “Mm-hmm!  So, I come back with… ‘Are… you comin’ on to me?’”     “Of course, you do…”  The fox rolled his eyes and gave a chuckle.

    “‘I would never be so crass and indirect with my emotions,’ ‘e tells me.  ‘Particularly, to a woman such as you, who is a rare blossom, choking within a garden of common weeds.’  ‘Oh, my gods… you are comin’ on to me!’ is what I said, back.  I mean, what was I s’posed t’ do?  ‘e was pourin’ on th’ charm…  But, ‘e jus’ smiles at me b’fore takin’ a sip of ‘is tea.     “‘I should like to thank you for your time and your assistance, my lady…’  ‘Ingmann,’ I tells ‘im.  ‘Jessica U. Ingmann.’  ‘My Lady Ingmann…  A lovely name for a lovely woman.’”     “Wow…”  Joseph rubbed his cheek, commenting, “This vampire really liked you, huh?”     “Guess I impressed ‘im, ‘r somethin’…” Jessica chuckled.  “Anyhoo… t’ make a long story short, I eventually get ‘im t’ leave… but, only fer a bit.”

    “‘For a bit?’” the fox repeated.  When his friend gave a nod, he asked, “What do you mean, ‘for a bit?’”     “‘e pops up, every now ‘n then.  Like, this one time, I d’cided t’ take a boat through th’ river what runs through central Muramasa.  As I go under a bridge, lo-‘n-behold, dude shows up, hops in, ‘n tries t’ chat me up!”     “Wh– what?”  Joseph leaned back, looking confused.  “Was he waiting for you?”     “I asked ‘im that…” his friend responded, shaking her head.  “So, ‘e chats me up, asks me ‘ow I’ve been, shit like that.  Then, after I tell ‘im t’ piss off, ‘e hops back under th’ bridge, ‘n… well… vanishes.  Prob’ly not fer-real, but ya know!  Then, this other time, I found ‘im hidin’ outside my bedroom window!  I was changing!  Opened th’ window, told ‘im, ‘Ain’t no one see me naked without buyin’ me dinner, first!’ then I socked ‘im ‘n th’ face ‘n closed th’ curtains.

    “I tell ya, Joe… ‘e’s always everywhere I go,” the bat-girl continued with a sigh.  “Hangin’ on lamp posts… stalkin’ from rooftops… sneakin’ ‘round ‘n watchin’ me…  Dude’s a real creeper.  Ain’t that right, Arturo?!”     Joseph jolted in his seat as Jessica suddenly hammered on the roof of the car.  His ears perked, then, as he heard the sound of something shuffling around above him.  When he noticed that same something zip away into the distance, just like before, he gave Jessica a worried look.     “I wish ‘e wasn’t like this…  ‘e’s… actually kind’a sweet, in private,” the woman admitted.  “But, when I’m ‘round other people… ‘e just creeps ‘round.  I– what’re ya doin’?”     The fox had opened his door and stepped out… which caused Jessica to do the same.     “Hey!” he called, after a second.  “You can come join us, if you want!  I don’t bite!”     “Good one,” his companion said with a chuckle, making him flustered.  “But, ‘e doesn’t trust easy, man!  ‘e won’t even lemme come home with ‘im, when I ask, even though ‘e’s been tailin’ me fer, like… five years?  Six?  I forget…”     “Wait.”  Joseph blinked.  “You want him to drag you home…?”     “Eh, could be fun!”  The bat smiled from the other side of the car.  “Honestly, I’d like t’ learn more ‘bout ‘im!  I mean, fer a stalker… he ain’t so bad.  Wish ‘e’d stop watchin’ me change ‘n bathe, though… or, at least, ask if ‘e could watch, first.  Hah!”     “I– huh…”  Joseph rubbed the back of his head.  “You’re weird, Jess.”     “Says th’ fox what got a hard-on, thinkin’ ‘bout me getting raped by a vampire!”     “That– I–”  He stammered before finally sputtering a “N-no?!”     “Ya can’t hide nothin’ from me, Josey!  S’why I like you so much…”     She brightly smiled as she walked over to the fox and gave him another hug.     “Yer so honest, even when ya ain’t tryin’.  It’s sweet.”

    After the two shared an awkward hug, Jessica stepped away and decided to bid Joseph farewell.  He gave a nod and a wave, watching her walk back toward the gym.  When he stepped back inside of his car, though… he just sighed, letting his ears fall.     “I know you’re here…  It’s okay.  Come on in, if you want.  At least, let me know you’re around.  Hate to think I’m just talking to myself…”     For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.  But, just as Joseph put his car into gear to leave… the passenger-side door opened.  And… in came a somewhat-familiar figure.

    “Hey, there,” the fox greeted.  “My name is Joseph.  You’re Count Arturo Moretti, right?”     The figure – a somewhat-imposing creature, draped in black and seemingly covered in shadows at-all-times – stiffly sat nearby.  He didn’t seem all that anxious to reply, despite climbing in the car and settling in.     “Well… it’s nice to meet you.  Um, mind if I get a better look at you?  I’m kind of curi–”     As Joseph reached for the overhead light of his car, however… the figure reached out and grabbed him by the wrist.     “I would strongly prefer that you not,” he said in a masculine voice.     “A-ah… you’re, uh… you’re hurting me.”     “Stay away from Lady Ingmann.”     “I… I beg your pard–”

    Joseph jerked back against his door.  The dark figure, who still held his wrist, was staring at him with orange eyes that seemed to mask the surrounding area in shadows… just like before.     “N… n-no, not again…” he whimpered.  “I just wanted… to chat…”     “Stay away from Lady Ingmann…”     As the voice called for a second time, the words seemed to echo and ring in Joseph’s head.  The vampire was definitely trying to persuade him, but…     “I… can’t do that…”     “Stay.  Away.  From Lady Ingmann,” the figure firmly stated, practically crushing the fox’s wrist and sounding especially threatening.     “I… c-can’t, though…!”  Joseph took a deep breath and swallowed before saying, “Sh-she’s… my boxing instructor… my friend…”     “Explain the nature of your… ‘friendship.’”     “I… I…”     “Now.”     “W-we’re friends!  B-but, I think she’s sexy, okay?!” the fox suddenly blurted out.  “Jessica Ingmann is sexy, beautiful, and awesome!  I… I love her…  She’s so amazing…”     “Stay.  Away.  Fro–”     “But…”     The figure went silent.  Joseph wasn’t done.     “But… w-we’re just friends…  Close friends.”     “Explain.  Immediately.”     “Sh-she knows I’m in a relationship… a-and, open-or-not, she’s… she’s not interested.”     “She’s…”  There was a pause, then.  “You’re certain?”     “We… we had a conversation about this, once…” the fox said with some difficulty.  “She’s… she’s looking for f-fun… a-and… she might w-want a relationship… b-but… not one where she has to share…  S-so… she’s… she’s looking elsewhere…  I hope she finds someone special…”

    Suddenly, Joseph took a sharp breath.  He shook his head, cleared his eyes, and did his best to re-focus.  When he did… he noticed that the figure had let him go.  He also noticed… that the figure that was sitting beside him… suddenly looked normal, in the dim light.     “C… Count Moretti?” he cautiously called to the bat-man with gray fur.  “Are you–”     “‘Someone special?’”  He paused before saying, “I can give her the world…”     “Wh-what…?”     “I can give her time unending.  I can give her excitement.  I can give her passion.  I can give her… everything.  I would give her everything.  Yet, she spurns my offers… my love.  Why?”     “I… um…”     Joseph’s ears fell back.  Arturo was looking right at him, then, with perfectly normal orange eyes… and, an expression of regret.

    “Am I not worthy of her love?” the count half-asked to Joseph and half-asked to himself.  “Do I displease her, in some way?  Does she not have desires?  Can I not fulfill those desires, somehow?  Why does she continue to evade me, so…?”     “You… really do love her, don’t you?”     “It is rare that one can overcome my persuasion.  This fascinates me.  But, watching her from afar… I felt my heart beat anew.  Feelings, long forgotten, return to me… yet… her actions remind me of what the mortal world has to offer.”     He looked to one side… then, he spat with some hostility…     “Disappointment.  Heartbreak.  Betrayal.  Despite this, I continue to pine over her, like a desperate schoolboy idly hoping for the object of his desire to take notice of his feelings.  She knows how I feel… yet, she does not return those feelings.  What can be done?  Why has my eternal life taken this cursed turn?”     “Well…” Joseph began to offer, “you could… I dunno… chill out with the theatrics?”     “I beg your pardon?”     The fox winced…  Although the count had spoken calmly enough, when he looked over, there was an odd air of hostility surrounding him that made Joseph nervous.  It wasn’t every day that he had the lord of a vampire clan in his car, after all…

    “W-what I mean, Count Moretti, is just… have you… ever considered, ya know… walking up to her like you would, anyone else?”     “I do not understand.  Explain.  Please,” Count Moretti added in a polite tone.     “Well…”  Joseph rubbed the back of his head.  “Why not just… ask her out on a date?”     “Formalities such as… ‘dating…’ are of little consequence, in the grand scheme of things, and do little more than delay the inevitable. Further, I have no interest in the world or mortals, nor do they take interest in mine.”     “And, yet… you fell in love with a mortal woman.”     “Do not test me, boy.”     The fox winced.  The count’s appearance had darkened and his eyes glowed, again.     “A woman such as Lady Ingmann is a rarity among mortals,” he said as he calmed back down.  “She deserves better than to be exposed to the contemptible actions of her kinsfolk.  She deserves to be showered in gold… given the most exquisite of flowers… placed upon a pedestal and pulled away from those who cannot comprehend her beauty and grace.”     “Well, she is pretty… and, she’s definitely patient, considering she puts up with me…”     Another glare his way made Joseph decide to change the topic.

    “You’re doing everything right, um… ‘my lord?’” he cautiously said.  When the vampire settled down, again, Joseph relaxed and continued to say, “Girls do like being admired and put on a pedestal, and all that.  But, like… well, Jessie is a pretty social girl.  She likes being around other people and she likes it when her friends become friends, and–”     “We are not friends, you and I.”     The fox gave a blink.  “U-uh… anyway… you’re within your right to think and do like you like… but, Count Moretti?  I think Jessie would prefer it if you just… acted ‘normal?’”     “Explain,” the count sharply demanded.     “W-well… have you considered, um… not stalking her?”     “I do not stalk Lady Ingmann!” the count roared.  “Lady Ingmann… she is special, to me.  That is why I admire her from afar or occasionally join her side… when it is safe to do so.  What I stalk are those beyond redemption… and, even so, I do everything within my power to ensure their comfort, before I decide to feed… or, strike.  Unless… they have significantly annoyed me.”     “Okay, but… have you considered just… I dunno… walking up to her, instead of just appearing?  And, ya know… say, ‘Hello!  How are you?’  That sort of thing?”     “Are you accusing me of not considering my lady’s wellbeing…?  I ask Lady Ingmann if she has been well in every one of our rendezvous!”     “Like, popping out from under bridges, watching her undress, etcetera, etcetera…?”

    The fox had spoken under his breath… but, clearly, he underestimated the Count Moretti’s hearing.  Shortly, the count’s eyes had narrowed… then Joseph felt himself lose sight and become focused on those burning, orange spheres that glowed in the darkness, again…     “I fail to see what, about you, Lady Ingmann finds interesting,” the vampire said.  “You are an impertinent youth who clearly does not know his place.”     The thought of spitting something nasty at the count crossed Joseph’s mind… but, despite his best effort… he couldn’t overcome the vampire’s compulsion.     “You are the reason I have detached from humanity,” he continued.  “You are the reason I wish to take Lady Ingmann away from this place.  You… are excrement.”     With that, the count released his mental hold on Joseph and let him catch his breath.

    “Wh-what’s your damn problem?!” was the first and only thing the fox managed to say before he felt the count grab him by the throat.     “You are my ‘problem!’”  He narrowed his eyes, letting Joseph see the anger on his true face.  “This level of disrespect…  It is intolerable!  Were it not for the fact that Lady Ingmann is fond of you, I would end your miserable existence this night!  Do… not… test me!”     A second later, Joseph found his head colliding with the window of his door.  The count opened the opposite door and stepped out, leaving the fox to gasp and stare.

    “This conversation serves no further purpose,” the count said in a cold tone.  “I have learned all I care to, this night.  Knowing what I do, I will allow you to continue associating with Lady Ingmann unless conditions change.  Pray to whatever gods you worship… that they do not.”     With that warning spoken, the count made a mighty leap up, his cloak audibly whipping as he hopped onto a lamppost.  As Joseph rubbed his throat and saw the irritated vampire leap from-post-to-post before disappearing into the darkness, only one thought entered his mind…

    “Well… shit.”