#i ended up giving half my prize to the guy i helped up cuz like i did not mean to walk into the middle of this immediately after logging in

[theaxrat]

I accidentally walked into a game of hide and seek on Balmung, helped someone without flying reach the person hiding, and won 500k without meaning to lol

[fullyellowsun]

Subtle | 11

"Christmas Spirit"

I do not own the gif, credit to the owner.

This is my first series so please cut me some slack but also I welcome constructive criticisms! This is in Korean so for those of you who can read Korean and English, go ahead! I will post a full English version link to the Wattpad story in the masterlist!

Pairing: baekhyun x dayeon (reader), sehun x suah, suho x bora, chanyeol x sunny, kai x yoona

Genre: kpop group collaboration!AU

Word Count: 1303 words

Description: Today is the day where they start the process of creating the album book by taking photos! Oh, and it’s Suah’s birthday…

Disclaimer: I have no idea how any of this works. I’m just going off of the little info I DO know so please bear with me as I try to fill the chapters with what I think (or what I just make up) on how to make an album and the other kpop things.

Masterlist

"Cuz we have the Christmas Spirit! 우리는 너와 공유하고 싶다. 우리의 Christmas spirit을 받아들이겠어?"

"안녕하세요! Welcome to our VLIVE! This is our VLIVE for new album 'Christmas Spirit'!" 준면 starts as the directors give us the signal that the cameras are rolling.

"네, how about we introduce ourselves?" Bora says, right next to Suho. Yup. Our first VLIVE's as couples and each of us were sitting next to each other while 종대, 경수, and 민석 sit on the floor. There we 2 couches and 1 large armchair so Bora, 준면, 종인 and Yoona were sitting on the first couch, 선희 (Sunny's real name, Seonhui), Chanyeol, Suah, and Sehun were on the other couch and I was sitting on the large armchair while Dayeon sat on the armrest. This is the first time I saw her in like natural yet not too natural makeup. It was either really natural or really drastic. This was in the middle and th artists did well making her eyes look bigger, even though they were already big, and just making each of her features cohesive. Her outfit went really well with the makeup as well. An oversized knit sweater that I recognized as mine with mom jeans and a cute light up reindeer headband. Her hair, perfectly curled, sat on her shoulders nicely and overall, she looked like the star of the show.

"Ah, 네, I guess I'll start. 안녕하세요, 엑소 리다 수호 입니다." He bows formally. I was so close to yawning. This was as boring as we first met.

"안녕하세요." I snap out of it when I hear her voice. Oh, it's me next. "버불검의 다연 입니다." She bows.

"아 네, 안녕 에리들!" I wave at the camera. "백���이 왔어!" I say dramatically. The others laugh and Dayeon slightly giggles.

"아, now that we've all introduced ourselves, why don't we start right away." 준면 starts again.

"Over here, we have some questions that the fans asked and we are here to answer them and maybe even share some Christmas spirit." Bora says pointing to the little coffee table in front of us with a acrylic bin decorated with santa hat and christmas light stickers. Each paper was a different color and were folded to resemble a santa hat.

"Good one 언니." Suah says.

"종대야 아니, 첸씨, would you like to pick one of these hats?" He pushes the bin towards 종대, who was across from him. He choose the green paper.

"Who had the most Christmas Spirit during the album process? By the way, 사랑해 오빠들이 그리고 언니들!" 종대 reads.

"Ahh..." 경수 starts. "I think 다연씨 had the most Christmas Spirit." He stops there. I laugh.

"왜요? Please explain." I say.

"Oh, well, she always wanted to help and was super bright and cheery but is still super kind and not annoying." He says.

"오, 감사합니다 but I'm always like that. That's not just Christmas Spirit. It's Dayeon Spirit." She says.

"Just accept the compliment." Yoona says tiredly. "Let's move on, shall we? 카이씨, do you want to pick one?"

"Sure." He reaches over to grab a paper. He grabs a purple one. We continue with questions and start to play some games.

"Our first game is a test." Minseok 형 explains.

"Ahhhh, we're not in school! 시험을 받는거 싫어요!" I whine slightly flailing my arms and legs like a child.

"This will be a more fun test," Minseok 형 continues calmly, ignoring me, "In your 'couples', you will take a test to see how well you guys know each other. Whichever gets the highest score wins 3 points, 2nd place, 2 points, 3rd place, 1 point. 알겠어요 여러분?" We nod. One of the staff members passes 형 a stack of clipboards and he hands each of us a clipboard. "Guys, spread out, we don't want anyone to cheat, do we?" As we spread out, I look at the form, it was the typical questions, favorite color, animal, things like that. Aish... I never asked her those, I should've asked. After 15, everyone was about done with their quizzes and returned back to their seats.

"Ahhh, now that we have finished the tests, let us now look at the answers. With your partner, check your answers and let us know your scores." The camera starts going around, filming the couples as they compare their answers. Dayeon got almost all my answers right, turns out she did a background check on everyone in EXO and now has random facts in her head from the weird websites she looked at. Me, on the the other hand, only got half right. Better than none I guess. We got about 85% average. Lucky for us, that was pretty high. Sehun and Suah got 60%. Junmyeon and Bora got 50%. Chanyeol and Sunny got 45%. Jongin and Yoona got 25%.

"Great start for this live right? Good thing you did a background check on all of us. Did you think we were gangsters or something? Why did you do a background check?" I tease Dayeon. She blushes and hides her face with the clipboard.

"I like knowing stuff..."

"Congratulations on your 3 points, dream team." Chanyeol gives us a thumbs-up. We played charades next, which was hilarious by the way, and of course, the dancers won. Don't worry though, we got second. 5 points... we're still in the lead.

"Lastly, the game we all have been waiting for, the 빼빼로 게임! 여러분, 이 게임이 아시죠? Since we do, let's just start." Kyungsoo starts.

"Dream team, you want to go first, or last?" I look over to Dayeon.

"Let's get this over with, we'll go first." Ouch, that hurt.

"You want to get this over with? Am I that boring?" I tease. We were passed a 빼빼로 stick. I bit on one end, she did the other. "도전!" I say with the stick in my mouth. We bite until our lips are touching but not fully. I let go and let the stick fall into my hand.

"와... 되게 짧아..." Dayeon whispers.

"How are we supposed to beat THAT?!" Sehun says.

"I have no idea... just lose?" Suah says.

"Yeah, we already lost." They shake their heads. The others have a hard time getting close to our 1 cm stick. Junmyeon 형 and Bora just kissed, they ate the whole stick. Smh...

"I guess the winners are Baekhyunnie and Dayeonnie." Bora says, slightly dazed from the kiss.

"8 points, not bad... we're in first place right?" I ask.

"Yeah, you never told us what the prize was." Dayeon follows.

"Oh, 맞다. That was the last game and the prize, I don't know but it's this box soo... here you go." Jongdae says. He hands us a wrapped present from under the tree.

"열어." I hand the box to Dayeon. She rips it open, her eyes lighting up at what was in the box.

"오빠, 오빠!" she pats my shoulder in excitement. "한우이야! 이거 봐!" I look inside the box and a smile immediately appears on my face.

"Why didn't you tell us the prize earlier?! We would tried harder!" Junmyeon complains.

"So you didn't try your hardest?"

"No, we did, but we would've tried harder."

"아무튼, we got 한우 and you didn't, haha..." I taunt.

"Okay, since 다연 and 백현이 won, you guys will sing your duet song in our new album, "Christmas Spirit"!" They pass us a microphone as the melody starts to play. 다연 starts singing the verse solo and then I start harmonizing. As we finish the song, I hear the others clap.

Masterlist

[bionicdragonguardian1]

Ranma 2/4

Part  Two: Chapter 13 - 25

Unless someone comes up with a better name I’m sticking with this one

HOW tf is the principal crazier than before?!

Yup, spreading out the Kuno-Principal thing

Is Sasuke seriously an anime-only?!?

Like I said Ryoga needs to chill a little first

Main reason I don’t like Ukyo That scene where she blatantly states she’s fine with turning Ranma into something he’s not rather than helping him

(Ignoring the near constant amount of undermining his abilities)

“I’m gonna cheer him up” as she holds a sword! Why?!

 Ranma you dummy, hug Akane!

I hate this demon/ghost cat

Shampoo, you manipulative bitch

Akane learns to swim like a normal person

The lifeguard in me can’t do it

 The principal is background shenanigans

Totally forgot about the kid who wants to play video games and is “weak” bc of it

Definitely need to find a different reason tho

 Lazy little shits are a pain

Also his mom is crap

 Akane… why you be dumb?

 Weird Happosai is Santa plot…

What is with the Excalibur meets lucky 1000 meets fairy godmother?

Good news is, with what I’ve done to Kuno’s understanding of Ranma’s curse Ranma knows Kuno wouldn’t give him that wish and calls it quits sooner

Someone just needs to explain Ranma’s really confusing sense of morality to me

 Cuz it’s either on 110% or it’s nonexistent, now normally nonexistent is for Kuno but still

 Look Ranma’s got ego problems but he ain’t stupid

No betting the Tendo Dojo at five!

 On what planet is that a legal document?!?

Some1 tell me why Shampoo using Ranma as a stop ramp bugs me so bad

That mo when you can’t remember if the Hot Spring Challenge is when Ukyo met Shampoo in the anime…

I don’t think so…

Akane you made me need to google a word

That like never happens Ranma you idiot

So close but so far

So much more logic, thanks

I mean more insanity, but it explains why Ranma swapped clothes

Finally! Ranma apologizes

Jesus Christ someone would think I won the goddamn lotto with how loud I cheered when this happened

600% approve of this over what happened in the anime

Oof poor Ranma

Hahahaha in your face Shampoo, but I also think I know why Ranma chose it

Poor Ryoga

I KNEW this guy was coming I still hate it

YEET you can’t PAY ME to  do this arc

Look, is it the fact that I had etiquette and dance classes as a child and everyone assumed this is what it was like? Probably.

It wasn’t so I won’t.

Any1 else notice how Nabiki is one of the few ppl that uses she/her when Ranma is in his cursed form no matter what?

Why does this bug me?

Akane, stop beating Ranma up, honestly

This is closer to abuse rather than teasing

*sighs*

 Gotta work that out of the narrative, intentional or not

Every1 sayin she’s violent isn’t helping

Like I said really fucking morally GREY Nabiki

How grey can you go before you get black? 

 Let’s find out together

Can everyone PLEASE stop treating Ranma like an object?!

 I literally can’t tell if Nabiki is fucking Aro or not…

STRESS

Why is this so hard?!

I hate seeing Akane cry

I know she’s playing Ranma like a kazoo, but the point still stands

WHY ARE YOU TWO SO DUMB?!

Nope, nevermind it’s just Ranma that’s a fuckin idiot I blame Genma

No, I’m not kidding

*sighs* I don’t condone Nabiki doing this in any way just for the record THAT’S not an apology Ranma!

This mess is totally your fault Nabiki

STRESS

am I intentionally pointing out where this work of fiction is stressing me out since I’m now online schooling and suffering for it? Yes, fuck off.

 Actually, don’t.

But Fuck Covid19

Aww his hat’s back!

Why do I love his hat so much?

No, seriously Akane’s so cute!

Oooww tree

y’know the sec she realized what Ranma was doing Nabiki should’ve TOLD him!

Congrats Ranma ya got the wrong sis- I mean the right- but wrong- dammit y’know what I mean

Some1 give me a logical explanation for why Ranma goes on a date with a panda doodle, PLEASE

I do appreciate the epic battle background fight for the anime

Further proof that Happosai sucks

Manga name’s somehow less believable I think it’s the use of “snowman” rather than “yeti”

Did Soun just find out that Pchan is Ryoga, and say nothing?

Ooo, Imma commit arson

Remember when I said obey Physics and Medical, I meant it

Arson is wrong and I know this but “transgender bitch” crosses the line

I will do it

Shampoo is a fucking yandere psycho

Just sayin “we’ll see who can get him first” 

honestly, any other group and I’d be annoyed, but these four can’t work together for shit I

’m still pissed at Taro, but he can kill Happosai, please

I can’t tell if Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga are being purposefully obtuse or not

I just reread their names I know the answer to at least two of them

Idk how I feel about Kuno-amnesia we’ll see

yep, Kuno gives me the creeps w or w/out his memories

kinda wish this was anime

jesus christ, poor Ranma

press f to pay respects for Ranma’s stomach

InstaRegret

 Also Ukyo’s assumption that some1 can make Ranma doing anythin he doesn’t want to is crap

Like HELLO! Wake up moron!

Nabiki, I mean this in the nicest way possible, shut the fuck up

You’re making it worse

Also TALK to each other you ding dongs!

OH RIGHT! I almost forgot about the biggest fucking insult that Ukyo said of her own freewill!

It also proves that she doesn’t know Ranma as a person AT ALL!

It’s not a pick one or the other kind of thing

The fact that she thinks Ranma would accept that is insulting

The fact that she thinks that is insulting and makes me hate the patriarchy

Again, treating him like a prize than a person

*tries not scream, sighs*

Nabiki, you’re the cause of at least 30% of the stress I get from this

You having feelings ain’t the fucking problem here Ukyo, you not acknowledging Ranma’s is

 I hate fake criers, anyone who does this I hate you

Always let others in on your plans, kids

When’s every1 gonna realize Ranma’s “wishy-washy” cuz no one’s ever committed to HIM before?

This episode confused me, I’m prepared to be MORE confused

Less confused, I’m surprised

 Gonsunkugi, you creep

There is SO much wrong with this

*shudders*

WHAT?!

Y’know I didn’t think Gosunkugi could surprise me, I was wrong

Happosai still sucks unfortunately for all of us he’s now weird on top of it

I love how much Ranma needs to be kicked in the teeth to get any character development out of him

Ryoga is my #1 choice for it, always

Ranma… why are you like this?

Genma, emotional range of a goddamn wall

I am jealous of Ranma’s brain

I could be SO mean with the Shishihokodan

Also, are they implying that Ryoga has depression?

Gimme Ranma’s brain

I won’t ask for his confidence cuz that’s impossible but I want his brain

In Akane’s defense, given what she knows she couldn’t’ve known how badly that would affect Ryoga

 I ain’t gonna say “leave Shampoo” cuz that’s cruel

I like the “turn into a Cat” rather than the “Can’t Cross” & the use of New Year’s rather than random but this still brings around the fact that she doesn’t LISTEN to him

Mousse you’re NOT helping in fact you’re actively making it worse did you miss when he said blatantly “I don’t wanna”

oh, sure, NOW you’re ok with it

ugh Mousse, you have a brain, I’ve SEEN you use it. Do so now.

This entire episode weirded me out

IDK if it’s the age-dff or the fact that he was makin it up and somehow everyone thought this was okay … 

I won’t YEET it but MASSIVELY change

heheheh

Light bulb

NOPE I’m keeping this surprise to myself

it was a rather sweet end tho

Oh, this episode is a mess and a half, honestly

Also Nabiki, congrats you’ve literally enabled a stalker S

o many laws are broken here

okay, so Kodachi not being in on Ranma’s secret after so long makes sense purely because she doesn’t go to their school

however, with what i’ve done to make Kuno marginally less dumb it makes a little bit less sense…

I literally hate Kuno with what I’ve done to his logic of Ranma’s transformation, but that’s the point Kodachi… how do I handle you… oh, duh!

Ok, so Kodachi is now also terrible

 I’m trying to figure out where this is in the plot since there is ZERO

Ok, there’s a LINE, Nabiki

This one would be touching, if it didn’t end the way it does

TALK gentlemen! 

It won’t kill you

Fuck a parent that says they’re not your parent for no reason, EVER

I am going to make this hurt

 Also gonna take out Genma’s fail at stealth

 Remember I said Akane’s going to learn to cook

heheheh

sorry, I just love this idea

Oh this is SO against the rules it’s not even funny

 tiny adjustment so they actually have quasi-competent referees

Crazy wants crazy?I won’t stop ‘em

I reiterate: CHEATING!

I am aware that the “ending” apparently sets them back to the start in terms of their relationship but I swear to God if they pretend shit like this didn’t happen I will scream

 Someone ships something other than Akane x Ranma PLEASE explain why/how

don’t ship bash but I would insight when you explain 

STICK TO CANON

please trust me, I’m a multi/poly/crack shipper

(for frame of reference to a bnha I ship DabiHawks)

I understand the appeal of Fanon

however, I would like to stick to Canon here

so no Fanon

Canon Only

Fully love that high kick

Genma shows Ranma’s secret here, but they already know… so… I shall find out

Ooo, you’re not getting out of this Ranma

Do you know how tempting it is for Akane to at least tell Ranma she’s a girl- oh wait gendered sports… right…

Ranma… 

if you didn’t realize it was Akane when she hit you for calling her klutzy I can’t help you

I want to commit arson at some of the comments…

but can confirm that these are HS boys

 Doesn’t mean I gotta like it

I was wondering how long I was going to have to wait before tearing into Nodoka

FINALLY

Took me WAY too long to remember that Nodoka calling Ranko tomboyish is due to how he speaks in Japanese

I’ll need to figure that out since… English

Can I explode on Genma’s choice to take Ranma at TWO?!

Can I further explode on both of them for making a TWO YEAR OLD “sign” a Seppuku Pledge?!

I hate both of them, honest

ALSO communication! 

Genma! Just fucking TELL HIM!

Making her transphobic is SO tempting

I don’t mean in a “i hate you” way I mean in a “I sheltered my whole life” way

 It’s still bad, and painful, but she can easily learn from that

Or be worse, this could go 2 ways

I feel so bad for Akane for this entire conversation

Also poor Ranma like ouch… 

 Awkward

I’m going to make this hurt something fierce

Slight change since I’m hoping Ranma isn’t as “peak fight or flight” by this point

Genma don’t be an asshole for FIVE MINUTES

Please, that’s all I want

If she doesn’t learn the truth before the end I will make a bad decision

Really, I will

Don’t kill Genma, you can’t

 Akane, don’t say like you wouldn’t… honestly

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, honestly, just look the other way Ranma

*sigh* 

Ranma…

See, this kind of crap here is why I really don’t like Cologne

any other day Akane’d be right

oof, that means he self aware that girls flock to him

I’m quite frustrated by that if I’m honest

Ranma is clueless about all the wrong things

I love him but God I wanna punch him sometimes

Why is there a swing from the ceiling?!

I had a jolt from the way they set that panel up, thanks

Are you trying to kill me?!

Thank you Cologne, now fuck off

Oh thank God, at least he learned

This is nonanime stuff so I have no clue what’s happening but anything to make Happosai miserable

I’m enjoying this immensely

 ugh, “think of it as a compliment” ghost

Eat me

 okay, yeah, as much as I want him dead, that’s worse

I’m glad he’s not a one-and-done character

I will forever ONLY call him Taro when it is NonDialogue

Wait Saffron as in big-bad Saffron?

I literally only know pieces of the end so I’m just pulling from what I know

Lol, wait… was that soldier Anime only too?

I almost liked you there for a sec Taro

Now I’m pissed again

bravo

Oh, YIKES

… if Ranma falls into the Spring of Drowned Twins would he split?

 I’m not going to DO IT, obviously!

I’m just curious okay… 

that answers that… and kills anyone other than Ranma’s plan to turn back to normal I hope everyone is aware of that

oof

Since when is there a castle on an island in Japan

tis just a scratch, I’ll admit that was funny

Ranma… your stomach gets you in so many problems

ok, that was wholesome

I approve

Okay, so my understanding is that Mrs. Tendo got sick, so I can understand the reactions to Kasumi

BUT I still find it odd because… well… anyone in my house gets sick and you mostly can’t even tell I mean, minus a worse attitude and a mask, other than that though, nope we keep ‘er movin’

 I’m moving this section sooner EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!

I like her mom’s cookbook tho

I could make a Ranma x Ryoga joke here, but I won’t

I also won’t make a Ranma x Ryoga joke chapter cuz I’m nice like that

Actually I might have no choice

I’m FINE just dying

 Help

my multishipper heart is dying here

 I love this

InstaRegret for THREE people

If nothing else, I’m impressed

(well three once Ranma’s back to normal)

I need help

Fangirling/Fanboying/Fanpeopling is dangerous folks, remember that

Poor Ryoga

Though I too feel that right now like where do I look because everything coming in at mach 6

I’m changing that one scene tho cuz I can’t justify the aftermath without it

This… is… weird to say the least

I feel like I should just expect anything with Gosunkugi remotely involved to be weird at this point

okay, not as weird as I expected

glad it was short tho

I think I am officially out of anime terf

YAY, new content!

This is why I ask about any ship that isn’t Ranma x Akane

Also, names?

That- that- that can’t... 

I DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW THAT!

EWWW

gross

WHY?!?!!

also, biology, that’s not how that works!!

You two ARE idiots

Ryoga you die I’ll kill you

Well… that hurt to see so quick…

Ranma, get up!

I officially hate this Herb guy

ok, so if you put HOT water in the ladle do you stay that way forever?

Alright! Way to go Ryoga!

I need to stop shipping Rivals it’s bad for my health

fucking eat it you dick!

 Poor Akane

nevermind, Ranma you idiot

awwwww

ok, so that whole no more Anime-content… I was wrong, and I admit that, but still

I’m just thinking of my bff when they realize she’s an adult cuz, yeah, she’s like that too

 except like physically an adult unlike tiny-Hinako

 oh MY GOD Ukyo you’re driving me up the goddamn wall I swear!

THANK YOU AKANE!

 “You’re all Ranma’s fiancées” when only one of them actually is 

GIANT SIGH OF ANNOYANCE

Ranma, learn to communicate, PLEASE!

Okay… so is this where they figured it out or are some ppl still in the dark?

TIMELINE!!

Honestly, mood Ranma, mood

This entire plot line confuses me if I’m being totally honest

I mean I live for the Akane focus, but there are so many better ways to do this

[benhardyisdaddy]

Love Of My Life - Part 8

MASTERLIST 

(hope u all like this chapter, im excited for the next one cuz FLUFF UPON FLUFF okay bye <3)

Word Count: 2,166

“I think this is for you.”

Roger reaches forward and holds to envelope out for you to take, but you don’t. You’re frozen where you stand as you stare at the delicate white object in his hand. You want to reach out and open it so you can have another piece of John with you, but you were scared. Scared of what the note would say. Scared of what the ‘directions’ will say. Scared that this will be the last piece of him you will ever get. You stare at the envelope and don’t move. Roger waits for you to take it, but it never comes. He slowly lowers his arm and watches you confused. You continue to stare at his hand as he walks close to you.

“Don’t you wanna open it?” he asks, curious.

You barely shake your head as you sniffle back tears that threatened to spill. You tense your jaw as Roger steps even closer.

“I’m scared.” you barely whisper to him.

He pauses and watches you for a moment, before gently grabbing your hand and placing the envelope into it. His hand continues to hold yours as he speaks.

“Everything that’s happening right now isn’t normal. The way you’re reacting to it is.”

You stare down at Roger’s large hand that’s overs yours. It’s the first time since John that you felt actually comforted. Your shoulders slightly release the tension they were holding. Roger continues to watch you, but knows that you won’t budge at opening the envelope.

“Do you want me to read it this time?” he asks.

You quickly look up to him and nod fast. He smiles down to you as he takes the note from you hand, still watching you. You look away and rub the back of your neck as you walk to the couch and plop down on it. Roger follows and sits next to you. He looks at the envelope for a moment and then to you. He smiles and begins to slowly tear open the envelope from the very top. When he’s finished, he takes in a deep breath and slides out the folded up piece of paper. You feel yourself hold your breath as he unfolds it. Tiny black words appear and you smile to yourself, knowing John wrote this just for you.

“Ready?” he asks.

You nod your head and give him a genuine smile, causing him to give one back. Roger clears his throat, looks to you, back to the page and begins reading.

Hello, Roger.

I know my wife like the back of my hand, so I know that she wouldn’t be able to open this letter. I also know that you would offer to read it for her. I guess I know you as well. Doesn’t surprise me any, we are best friends. More like brothers. Any time I needed help or advice, you were my go to guy. Nobody else, just you. And I thank you for that. Sincerely. I also thank you for being by my girl’s side through all of this. I so desperately wish it could be me there to comfort her, but I know you’re doing an amazing job. Which is why I also know that you’ll help her with the next part of this letter.

Hello, love. I’m sorry if you couldn’t sleep well last night because of me. I know you were tossing and turning, anxiously waiting for this letter. Well here it is. And like I said, you have to promise to complete every direction on here, okay? For me? It will help you so much. Look at it like a scavenger hunt. You go to every place I tell you to go to, you find a letter from me with another location you need to go to. There’s a prize at the end of this, so don’t give up on me. Please trust me, okay? And please open your heart back up, my dear. Don’t close it off because of me. If love comes knocking, answer. Don’t turn them away. Please? I can’t imagine you avoiding love all because of me. You deserve someone who looks at you the way I did every time I saw you. So please, don’t lock up your heart just yet.

I can already hear you all telling me to shush and to get on with it. So here we go. Y/n, love, we never got to go up in that hot air balloon like you dreamed of. It’s two cities over in a small town. I have everything planned. Don’t worry. Everything’s already paid for. This is all for you, love. And Roger, you are to accompany her. Don’t worry, I have my best friend covered as well. Just please take care of her and for everything good in this world, don’t let her drive. You’ll make it to the city in a week if she drives. Sorry, babe. It’s true. You need to leave for the city as soon as you finish reading this. Your hotel is already booked and waiting for you. I’ll leave the addresses and times on the back of this page for you. Please have fun and remember me while doing so. I wish I could be there with you and I’m so sorry I’m not. I love you beyond words. You better get to packing!

Yours Forever,

John

P.S. You’re the love of my life

Roger lowers the letter and looks over to you. Tears were spilling down your cheeks as you were deep in your own thoughts. He watches you for a moment, before speaking.

“Y/n?” he asks.

You look over to him fast and shrug as you shake your head.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I was supposed to go on the hot air balloon with him. Why would he make me do that without him?”

You run your hands through your hair and exhale. You close your eyes as Roger scoots closer to you.

“Hey,” he whispers. “He’s obviously wanting you to live your life still, ya know? He wants to fulfill his promises to you. He promised a hot air balloon ride, he’s giving you a damn hot air balloon ride!” he half shouts, smiling.

You look up to him fast and laugh. It felt good to laugh. Roger watches you and smiles. He reaches the letter forward to you and places it back in your hand, running his thumb over yours.

“We should probably start packing.” he says softly.

***

It had took you another fifteen minutes before you finally decided to go. John had asked you to go and you couldn’t tell him no. Roger cheered as you dug your suitcase from your closet and began filling it with clothes and personal items. You weren’t sure what all you would need, but you decide to fill it to the very top with different articles of clothing. Dresses, sweaters, pants, shorts, etc. You continued getting around when Roger left to go back to his home and pack up as well. You zip up your luggage and take in a deep breath. You walk around and grab a towel from your hall closet. You walk into your bathroom and turn the shower on, allowing the hot water to fog up the room. You quickly undress and turn to look in the mirror. It was beginning to fog up, but you could still see yourself. You look so tired and worn out. The bags under your eyes didn’t help any at all. You needed a good scrub and you would feel better… Maybe.

You allow the hot water to cascade over your sore muscles. You don’t realize that crying makes you tense up every upper body muscle you have. Your shoulders were practically screaming at you. You sigh from the amazing feeling and begin washing your hair. You neglected your self care and could tell. You took your time in the shower and didn’t care what Roger had to say if you took too long. You needed this. You aren’t sure how exactly long you are in the shower for, but once you’re scrubbed clean from head to toe, you decide your done. You turn the water off and begin drying off with your towel. You flip your head over and run it through your now damp hair. You wrap the towel around your body and look around the bathroom for your clothes.

“Shit.” you whisper, realizing you left your clean ones in your bedroom.

You walk to the door and open it up without thinking. You hold your towel closed with one hand as you stride over to your bed, where your clothes are. Just as you’re about to grab them, your bedroom door is opened and in walks Roger. You both freeze and look at each other. Roger looks you up and down and it finally hits him that you’re in nothing but a towel. You gasp as you hold the towel even closer to yourself.

“Shit! I’m so sorry, y/n! I’m so sorr-”

Roger clamps his hand over his eyes as his face goes red. He keeps apologizing over and over again as he turns around to face the door. He can’t see where he’s going as he attempts to walk out.

“Roger, it’s okay! Just be carefu-”

SMACK

Roger had ran into the wall and stumbled back. You cover your mouth to hide a giggle. Roger stumbles forward and into the wall once more. It’s total chaos watching the blonde man try to blindly make his way out of your room in a hurry. He then reaches his arm out and finds the exit. He shuts the door behind him.

“I’m sorry again!” he shouts out.

***

Everything was packed and ready to go in Roger’s car. He had made sure to call your grandma and let her know everything that was happening. When the time came for you to get in the car and begin driving, you couldn't do it. You had about two more mental breakdowns, but Roger helped you get through them.

“It’s okay,” he’d whisper. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.”

That helped you so much. You took in a deep breath and held John’s letters close to you. Roger opened the car door for you and helped you inside. He slipped into the drivers side and started the car. You both begin driving as you stare out the window. This was all really happening. You were going on an adventure John set up for you. You were just mostly excited about getting another letter from him. Roger keeps glancing over at you to make sure you’re okay.

“You alright?” he asks.

You look to him and smile.

“Yeah. Just nervous, but I’m glad you’re with me.”

Roger’s heart fluttered. He smiles to you and looks back to the road, the grin plastered to his face. You both were on your way to a different city and to ride a hot air balloon, all because John never forgot. He never forgot about anything you love. He never forgot about the plans he had made with you years go. And he most certainly would never forget about you.

***

The car ride was several hours long to get to two cities over. Roger made sure to continuously ask if you were okay and comfortable. You made sure to continuously tell him yes. The radio had been playing the whole car ride, but that didn’t stop you and Roger from making small talk the whole way there. During a conversation about ‘why drums were the most important instrument’, a song began playing on a radio station you had on.

Love of my life, you've hurt me

You've broken my heart and now you leave me

You felt a lump in your throat the second the song reached your ears. Roger looks over to you immediately to watch your reaction. When he saw you stare at the radio frozen and your face turning white, he reached forward and shut it off completely, leaving the two of you in nothing but silence. You continued to stare at the radio, not knowing what to do. Of course that song had to come on at that moment. Roger looks back over to you and leans over to place his hand over yours, making you look up at him with watery eyes.

“He wanted you to do this.” he reassures you. “He had this planned just for you. He wanted this.”

You watch him and your heart feels as if it breaks all over again. This whole trip should have been with John. He should be in the driver's seat with his hand over yours. As much as you wanted John here with you, Roger did help. You force a smile to him and squeeze his hand. You look back out the window and sit in silence the rest of the way with Roger’s hand still in yours.

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[fourangers]

Some bad porn can turn out to be good (2/3)

Summary: “Why are you watching porn on broad daylight and…is this…is this a blond guy fucking a japanese man?”

Who would have thought that porn watching could have such enlightening results. NaruSasu, blow job, anal sex, mutual pining without angst, Comedy, Romance, AU working in an advertisement agency. Some InoSaku.

AO3 link | ffnet link

Chapter 1

AN: We might probably get bunch of technical terms inside advertisement agencies since I’m taking advantage that I work in this field ayyy. It won’t take too long. Why did I write an AU related to my work? Errrr…'cuz I'm too lazy to research a job I'm not familiar with? Hohoho . This chapter there’s blow job.

⏤.⏤ 

“We’re going to enter a competition.”

Everyone managed to keep a poker face, even though they were groaning inside.

The CEO of the agency continued his speech. "It's going to be tough, but I swear if we win it's going to be very worthwhile. The client wants to make an annual campaign, aiming to boost the sales by giving prizes to their clients.”

“So it's the usual being part of a club, earning points that converts to goodies thing.” Sasuke muttered.

“Yes…but they also want to use this opportunity to expand their sales to other states. South and South-west is already guaranteed that most grocery stores have their products, so they want to concentrate on Center states, North and North-east. That means they are willing to spend about 1 billion to any ad agency that will get this case. The presentation is scheduled on the next month, where we need to showcase the whole yearly strategy, alongside the Key Visuals within each season and a spreadsheet about budget planning.”

This time all the workers grimaced in varying degrees of expression.

Shikamaru raised his hand in question. “So is the whole agency going to concentrate in developing this whole campaign on those following weeks?”

The managers in each sector glanced at each other before the Creative Director explained. “We will, but not entirely. We’ll organize planning, brainstorming fitting with producer analysts. Meanwhile, our art directors will be focusing delivering the daily jobs with our steady clients. When it’s your time to design everything, we already talked with our account managers who will ask for a longer deadline for more meaningless things, other jobs we will hire some freelancers to take care of it. Of course, there’ll be some that will require your direct attention and/or need to be sent daily like social media posts. There will be some days you’ll work overtime.”

The CEO hurried to add. “But we’ll pay the dinner, taxis and everything, and you guys can ask for some days off after that. You’ll have to negotiate with your respective leaders. Like I’ve said, I promise all that this is worth it, if we secure this campaign we won’t have any financial issue this whole year. If we win, I vouch that by the end of the year I’ll pay everyone a trip to Las Vegas all-included for a week.”

That caught everyone’s attention, with good bunch of people clapped and some hoot called.

Encouraged by his workers’ cheers, the CEO continued. “Also, on that day when they announce that we won, we’ll just drop the pen. No more work that day, everyone can go home and relax or join us to celebrate in a bar. So is everybody in?” Most enthusiastic employees and younger people shouted with excitement. “Good! So let’s get this started! Your management will explain more with details ok?”

“Alright.” Their Creative Director mumbled once all the team were in a room. “We’re still in the process to properly accommodate this whole mess honestly, so I have some bad news. Every art director needs to deliver the primary main Key Visual by the end of this week.” Naruto groaned, with other mumbled protests and grunts coming from his fellow coworkers. “And I’m going to keep things exciting here. This time I’m going to sort with a new AD/copywriter/planner team, to make the ideas fresher. First copywriters come forth and write your name here and put in the box, where I’ll select randomly with which planner you’ll be paired with. Then ADs will do the same and we’ll form the trio.”

This situation was all kinds of boring; Sasuke thought to himself, but his heart skipped a beat once he glimpsed blue eyes standing out of the crowd while he folded his piece of paper. His streak of good luck couldn’t possibly stretch this far, right, he’d be probably asking for too much at this point of the story.

“Last team will be…Sakura as planner, Sasuke as the copywriter and Naruto as the AD.”

Thank God in Heaven.

“HmmmMmmmmmMMmmm, well well well.” Sakura approached Sasuke, beaming widely as they both watched the blond man from afar. “I guess it’s about time you should restock your lube and some condoms, right?”

“Sakura.” Sasuke warned her, when Naruto noticed them and waved his hand, they waved back.

“What? ‘M just sayin’, you know, just sayin’...” 

“Sakura, your weak attempts of gangster lingo is appalling, I advise you to keep your opinions to yourself and do not try to make any innuendos regarding me and Naruto. Knowing that dumbass, I’m pretty sure it’s going to backfire.”

“Hmm…okay, point taken.” She agreed begrudgingly, while they walked to pick the briefing. Naruto was already reading the content, and curled his lips upwards.

“Hey guys! It’s been a while since I worked with y’all right? I’m sure it’s gonna be great.”

Sakura nodded and smiled back. “So…what kind of KV you need to create now? Hopefully nothing too crazy.”

“Yeah, it’s not that bad.” Naruto sighed. “We have to create the main one that provides enough visual explanation about the campaign but since it’s annual, there’ll be secondary thematic KVs like Christmas, Black Friday, Easter and so on. So it has to have enough personality, but not that much so it’s customizable. That’s the whole trick.”

Sakura grimaced. “That sounds tough.”

“Right, by the way, now that I just heard Naruto…” The creative director chimed in. “No one is going to get extra brownie points if your KV is chosen, you’ll all send to me and people will vote solely according to their preferences, they won’t know who designed it.”

Naruto turned around, throwing a significant glance. “We’re gonna win this, obviously.”

Sasuke snorted. “Obviously.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Alright, the first KV is up to you two, meanwhile I’ll do some research about the client and this campaign, and share through e-mail.”

“Alright cool, thanks for the help.” Naruto grinned. “I mean, ignoring all the chaos we’ll face in the next few weeks, I’m excited to be working with you guys! We won pretty cool competitions together right.”

Sasuke was excited too, but for entirely different reasons. He noticed Sakura staring towards him with a knowing smile. 

She said. “I’m looking forward to work with you too. Well, I got to go now.” She patted Sasuke’s back, messing with Naruto’s hair before she went away.

“Maybe we should re-read the briefing, see if there’s any info that will help us out.” Sasuke slid smoothly next to Naruto till their shoulders touched, vision focused on the piece of paper the blond man was holding, getting so close Sasuke could feel the steady breathing on his face.

Sasuke focused his gaze back to Naruto, noticing the raised eyebrows. Naruto muttered. “Ok sure, let me read it outloud for you. And then, I guess I’ll search for some references for inspiration then.”

Sasuke had less than half his mind to really listening with whatever Naruto was reciting, his entire attention aimed to see if the art director recoiled or showed any discomfort towards his close proximity. He actually appeared to be further relaxed instead, and this undoubtedly counted as a positive sign. Sasuke had been growing even closer to him in those latest days, but no matter how much he tried to imply he wanted to be included in Naruto’s possible dating pool, that dumbass was oblivious to it all. 

He’s going to use this rare chance to make his point across, since his subtle signals went unnoticed. 

Soon they finished brainstorming, Naruto groaned as they went back to their station. “Man, I just hope we won’t overwork too much. And if we win this account, I hope that the client is easier to swallow than most.”

Sasuke smirked. “All clients are hard to swallow. Just some gives you a different first impression once they were gliding through your throat.”

Naruto halted on his steps stupefied and retorted. “I can’t believe that an uptight asshole like you is spouting a dirty innuendo at any time you can get nowadays.”

“I see no problem doing so, now that we share a common interest.” He said in a monotone voice.

Naruto studied Sasuke for a while, before he shook his head and snorted. “You’re one of a kind, man.”

⏤.⏤.⏤ 

“Well! Now that we received all the material, as well as the chosen KV, let’s get started with our own work.”

“I guess…”

“Hn.”

“I’m excited to see all our ideas come together and trade some back and forth.”

“Hm…”

“Yeah…”

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued. “...anyways, I made a rough sketch about our part of the project, but it's nice having this brainstorm so we can come up with cool ideas so I can refine my planning.”

Naruto whined. “...man, I'm not looking forward opening Shika's psd file. He doesn't name his layers, doesn't organize into folders and for some crazy reason he knows how to find it himself. Honestly it's easier to find a needle in a haystack than navigate through his KV.”

“I still can't believe that he won this round. I mean, it's visually appealing for sure, but ours were good too.” Sasuke muttered. “Well, Temari is this client’s account manager so it's quite understandable. That man can create wonders for his girlfriend.”

“Yeah…bet that she promised one night of kinky sex and Shika is ready to move mountains for her. For a lazy guy like him, that's pretty impressive.”

“Agreed.”

Sakura stared in deadpan and sighed. “Alright boys, will you quit being such sore losers and focus on the job for a second?”

Naruto threw his head to the back with a sigh and Sasuke sniffed imperiously.

“Alright, since we’re responsible with the summer campaign part, I already searched some marketing activations done on beaches, as well as some we could do on music festivals.” She said.

“I already have some sketches in mind to the KV, but roughly it’ll be a lot of orange and blue colors. They are always a good contrast.”

“Noted, I’ll write some slogans with this in mind.” Sasuke said. “Oh, by the way, have you heard from Temari that they are asking around if a celebrity is interested to endorse our campaign?”

“Yeah, she told me that!” Naruto exclaimed. “At least they are going to hire some celebrity to substitute the guy in Shika’s KV, and I’m so glad ‘cuz that guy was like...super fucking pale.”

Sasuke opened the aforementioned picture on his laptop and mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. “He doesn’t look that bad.”

Naruto craned his neck closer to him, switching between looking at Sasuke and the man in the KV and widened a mischievous grin. “Yeah, you’re right…he appeared that he actually saw the sun at least once in his life…unlike you.”

“Excuse me. I assure you that I fit in the criteria just as well as he would.” He rebutted, lifting his chin.

“What?!” Naruto guffawed. “You look like you never went to the beach once!”

“I do have indeed, I just take good care of my skin. Aesthetically speaking, I could be an excellent choice to represent this campaign.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “You’re so fucking full of yourself. Yeah yeah yeah, we all know you’re a pretty boy, what else is new.”

“That while I may be a good choice, I’m sure you, instead, is on the other side of spectrum.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat⏤!!” Naruto protested. “I’m the perfect embodiment of summer, you asshole!”

“You sure? I mean, you always wear baggy clothes.” Sasuke smirked. “Maybe it’s to hide some beer belly under your t-shirt.”

The blond man abruptly stood up from his seat and yanked his t-shirt upward to show his lean, sun-kissed stomach. Sasuke managed to mask his total interest by resting his chin on his palm with a languid raise of an eyebrow. “See?! Feast your eyes with my sexy self!”

“I’m supposed to be amazed by this? I mean…I think I can see some belly fat over there.”

“That’s my six pack, that’s what I have you bastard! My abdomen is 100% sturdy muscle. You can touch it if you want.” 

Don’t mind if I do. “Since you insist.” Sasuke uttered in the most bored tone he could muster. Licking his lips, he raised his hand, feeling the silky warmth once he brushed over the tanned skin. He noticed how it twitched under his fingertips, giving a rush of excitement through his veins. “I’m not entirely convinced, it feels pudgy to be true.”

“Pudg⏤you’re not doing it right, you should touch here, bastard.” Naruto grabbed his wrist to let his hand have full contact on the taut stomach, sinewy muscles and all. “See?”

“Ah...yes. I guess I do. Maybe.” Sasuke kept the airy voice, even if he was sliding down to each bump of Naruto’s abs, fingers skimming through the belly button. “I guess you did prove me wrong.”

“I did, right? Told you I was right.” Naruto grinned, puffing his chest.

“Hm.” His thumb caressed languidly his belly, graphite eyes zeroed onto blue ones. Naruto’s victorious beam faltered noticing Sasuke’s heated gaze, staring back with a little bit of hesitancy.

Sakura was torn between being amused and exasperated while she observed the unfolding situation. Dear Lord, it was almost like they had forgotten she’s in the room, wasn’t it? No wait, they probably were aware of her presence, since Sasuke had the look that he’d tear Naruto’s t-shirt apart if only she wasn’t there right now. She cleared her throat.

“Alright Naruto, now that you had your fun letting Sasuke grope all over your body, can we go back to the brainstorm we were having?”

Jumping startled, Naruto dropped his t-shirt in an instant looking exactly like a deer caught in the headlights. Sasuke however, glared at her for the unwanted interruption. Sakura smiled. They just make it so easy for her to tease. 

Soon they focused on the task at hand, right on time when Naruto’s stomach started growling in protest.

“I guess that’s it for now, my boys. Ino and I are thinking about going to a restaurant close by. You want to tag along?” 

“Thanks for the invite, but I brought my lunch box.” 

“Hm, yeah! Me too, sorry ‘bout that Sakura. Next time for sure.” 

“Sure Naruto! Next time.” Sakura threw a side glance towards Sasuke, a lopsided grin broadening on her lips. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. 

“Please don’t tell me you’re eating Ramen Cup again.” Sasuke grumbled, while they were walking to the cafeteria.

“My dad actually nagged me about it, so I’m eating something else this time.” Naruto sighed. “Wow, I guess everyone already ate their lunch, this place is so empty.” 

“This is not a bad thing, we won’t have to wait in line to heat the food in the microwave.”

Naruto perked up. “You’re right! We’ll be able to eat calmly and slowly.”

“Sure, and if we have enough free time, we could watch some porn together.”

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned. “Yeah, doesn’t sound bad, we can even do some good ol’ hand jobs to each other while we watch, what do you think?”

“Not a bad idea, where do I sign up?” 

Naruto swallowed dryly, shifting his gaze sideways to hide Sasuke’s piercing eyes. Rubbing the back of his neck, he chuckled. “You know, sometimes I really don’t get if you’re joking or talking seriously.”

Sasuke let his hand glide through the tanned arm. “Take off your pants and we’ll see.”

Naruto slacked his mouth, staring flabbergasted. “Yeah sure, let’s just skip lunch and do it right now.” When he witnessed the eager face Sasuke was making, he scoffed. “I’m kidding, you crazy bastard. C’mon, let’s get to eat ‘cuz I’m really fucking hungy I could eat a whole cow.”

Frowning, Sasuke obeyed nevertheless.

⏤.⏤.⏤.⏤

The drumming on fingers on the table followed the constant buzz of the coffee machine, stopping once it was done. He picked his mug, inhaling the nice fragrance and sighing while he went to his seat. Sipping in long, paused gulps, he observed blue eyes focused on the task at hand. His hand rested on Naruto’s thigh, but the latter didn’t show any significant reaction, either he was too busy to notice or he didn’t mind such close touch.

Sasuke inclined his whole body towards Naruto, his mouth settling inches from his ear. “Need any help?”

Naruto stiffened for a second, before dropping his shoulders. “Hm, yeah, actually…if it’s not too much, can you change your text with shorter words? So it’ll be easier to organize the blocks of text and make it more aesthetically pleasing.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but nodded nevertheless. Throughout this entire week where they were all huddled together, he made sure he used the most blatant flirting in his arsenal but even if Naruto recognized it (which is somewhat a showcase of evolution), he appeared to rebuff most of them. 

Sitting on the table in front of them, Sakura typed non-stop, occasionally peeking on their interaction. This was so much more entertaining than those sugary drama series she and Ino would binge watch at night. If it depended on Sasuke, he would sit on Naruto’s lap and ride him all week, and he was very determined to reach this goal. She’d pity him if this appeared to be a lost cause, but she definitely noticed Naruto seldom glancing Sasuke’s back when he thought no one would see, eyes locked with a ferocious hunger adorning on his face, before returning to hide behind the monitor in haste.

Yep. Very entertaining.

However, this was probably the 4th or 5th night (or maybe more, they lost count) they stayed extra hours working on this project and their brains were already screaming for help. Sakura was yawning non-stop, Naruto was rubbing his eyes while he was erasing some background with his tablet, and even if Sasuke was the most resilient of the trio, he realized that he was rewriting his texts more than the usual.

“Naruto⏤” Sakura called, the blond AD grunted in response. “I’m done writing the marketing strategies. How much have you done so you can send me some layouts?”

Naruto dropped the pen, scratching his head. “Honestly, I think I’m going to take a while. I’m staring at the same shit for about an hour, and there’s still tons of other things to do on the list. I’m gonna wash my face, chug more coffee till I’m awake enough to do anything.”

“Alright, that does sound pretty ominous. I guess⏤” She stretched her arms and yawned. “I’m exhausted and I don’t think I’ll be much of a help staying any longer. Do you mind if I go home now?”

Both young men shook their heads and Naruto added. “Sure, you look pretty tired.”

“I’ll arrive early tomorrow to put everything you’ll do tonight. Just remember to put on the server before you go. And once you’re done, you two better rest well ok. I’ll talk to our boss that you were up all night and you’ll arrive late tomorrow.” She picked her purse and smiled. “Well, I’m out. You boys better behave!” She said as she threw a significant glance towards Sasuke, and went on her way.

Naruto was still had his hands busy adjusting the picture, so he muttered. “So. You’re almost done too?”

“Yes, I already send you the e-mail. But I’m going to stay until you’ve finished.”

“Oh cool, great. Actually, I’m happy you’re staying the night.” Sasuke widened his eyes, though Naruto grinned playfully. “In case I need your help to tweak other things.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Well, I have to be here in case I need to fix your screw ups.”

“You never waste an opportunity to be a bastard, do you.”

“Well, you like it. Anyways…” Sasuke sat on a chair next to the blond man, their legs bumping to each other. “Let’s check if the new text helps you out.”

“Hm.” Naruto opened the document and began changing each layout, seemingly unbothered by the close proximity. After a while, the blond man could feel eyes practically boring holes through his gaze, and he shifted around his seat. "Jesus man, do you ever blink?!" 

"I'm bored." Was his nonplussed answer. 

"Then go check your facebook, instagram, whatever."

"Not interested." Sasuke recited with the same droned tone. 

"Check the news, go piss off some Trump supporters on the comments session." 

"I've already exhausted all the latest feed."

"Well then…" Naruto shrugged. "You tried Buzzfeed?" 

Sasuke gave him a look.

"What?" 

Sasuke sighed, picking up his notebook. "Alright, I better let you concentrate on your task or we will work till sunrise." He smirked. "I could take a page of your book and watch porn." 

Naruto laughed. “Please don’t.”

“...why?”

Because I’ll get hard if I see you jerking off. “Because reasons.” Naruto muttered.

“How eloquent.” Sasuke snorted. “Is the sight of a man masturbating such a turn off to you?”

“What? You know I like guys, why are you even asking this question?”

Just making sure. “So your problem surrounds exclusively to me then.”

Naruto almost bit his tongue, coughing. “No⏤no, no no no. I mean⏤” He coughed again, making an incredulous face. “Whaaaaat⏤noooo, where did you get this idea??”

Sasuke widened his smirk. “You didn’t give me valid explanations, so I have to make some assumptions on my own.”

“Yeah yeah well, you’re wrong, it’s really not what you’re thinking, you arrogant bastard.” Naruto grumbled.

“Hm. So you’re not even a little bit interested seeing then?”

Tilting his head to one side, Naruto said. “Seeing what?”

Sasuke didn’t answer his query, opting to type a very recognizable gay porn website, while he widened his legs. 

Naruto’s jaw dropped. “No, hey. Don’t do that⏤we gotta, I gotta concentrate ya know.” 

Smirking, Sasuke noted the slight panic in his voice. “So I do distract you.”

“Anyone would be distracted with porn nearby, that has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh? So you wouldn’t mind if I do this…” Sasuke adjusted on his seat, fingers sliding his shirt upwards.

Swallowing dryly, Naruto still managed to roll his eyes. “No, you look ridiculous and I really need to finish designing those pieces.”

Sasuke ignored him, clicking some random video and skipped directly to the good part. Naruto jumped from his seat when he heard a long moan, and threw a dirty glare despite receiving a nonchalant response in return. 

“Really? Really?” Naruto groaned, placing his headphones on his ears and putting the loudest music possible. “Some people are actually trying to work over here, ya know!”

Sasuke picked his laptop, tilting it so the screen wouldn’t be facing the blond man. In this brief period of silence, he concentrated in moving an object in Photoshop, till he caught some movement on the corner of his eye. The dark blue shirt was yanked up, completely exposing Sasuke’s lean stomach. He reached the button of pants, opening and dragged the zipper down in an unhurried pace. Naruto drank on the sight of the dark grey boxers, noting all the shadows and bumps beneath it, revealing what was definitely a rather impressive size. Pale fingers glided over the smooth fabric, and Naruto just couldn’t tear this image away from his eyes. He licked his parched lips when Sasuke kept palming on his boxers, though it took to a sudden halt. Naruto almost bemoaned outloud until he realized that Sasuke was staring back at him with quirked lips.

Sasuke flicked one side of Naruto’s headphones, whispering. “Enjoying the show?”

Scowling, he hunched his shoulders. “Do you enjoy being such a exhibitionist bastard?”

“In most occasions, no, not really.” Putting his arm around Naruto’s chair, Sasuke closed in. “Only to few selected people I’m interested in.”

Sasuke studied how blue eyes widened vividly, mouth slack though they didn’t break the gaze trained to each other. Naruto appeared to fall in realization, hastily turning his head to look on his monitor. Sasuke’s fingers reached to the tips of blond hair, tucking it behind the ear before he cupped the tanned cheek, succeeding to let Naruto’s vision trail back towards him. He was getting so close, he could feel the heat emanating from the bronzed skin. When blue eyes were half-lidded, with heartbeats racing, he also shut his own eyes.

Naruto let out a very wide, epic and loud yawn.

“Oh shit. I’m so sorry. I⏤” Naruto yawned again. “I’m so fucking tired man, I swear. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Since the whole mood had evaporated to thin air, Sasuke released his face at once, going back to his seat and zipped his pants. “It’s okay. It’s already over 10 after all.”

“Yeah, I’m beyond exhausted. There’s not a lot of things left to do though, it won’t take too much of our time.”

“Fine.” Sasuke grumbled, in his usual monotone voice. “I’ll stop bothering you then.”

Naruto scratched his head, unable to come up with anything to disperse the dark cloud looming on Sasuke’s head. He returned to his task, a quiet air settle between them with the occasional help coming from the brunet copywriter. 

“Alright, finally! It’s the last layout I’m doing today.” Naruto stretched his arms, groaning. “I still need to put all the images in the system, it’s going to take a while.”

Sasuke picked his smartphone, standing up. “I’m going downstairs for a quick smoke then, before it’s all done.”

“Yeah sure! Thanks a lot Sasuke.” Naruto beamed, with an acknowledging nod in return. Once the dark-haired man was out of his sight, he released a loud sigh. Thank God for his baggy pants.

Okay, now he gotta go to the bathroom fast. Sasuke usually spent long minutes for his cigarette break, so he better seize this opportunity well.

⏤.⏤ 

Sasuke inhaled a puff a smoke, glaring at the fallen ashes. Tonight all signs pointed out that he didn’t have any possible chance being involved with Naruto. Maybe it’s time for him to start giving up, even in the most blatant flirting that dumbass just yawned back at him.

Growling, his foot crushed the half-used cigarette to the ground, his bad mood escalating. He hated the idea of having to step down, but he also didn��t want to push his feelings if Naruto was uncomfortable. 

This sucked. Sasuke sighed, walking back to the entrance. He couldn’t wait for this night to be over so he could just go back to his apartment and drink his sorrows away, or something like that. Anything to forget the twisting pain wrenching his heart.

However, once he was back to the ad agency, he noticed that Naruto wasn’t on his seat. He shrugged, walking towards the bathroom. Maybe he’d see the blond man drinking the twelfth cup of coffee in a row, rocking his body back and forth, he’d probably fall asleep while standing. The thought of this made him chuckle a little.

The kitchen was also empty. Sasuke resumed his steps towards the bathroom until he froze on the spot.

He heard a moan.

The pitch of the moan was very recognizable as well. And considering they were the only people left in this entire building and the voice was so deliciously familiar, Sasuke remained standing still, listening to the pleased grunts as it grew in cadence. He almost wanted to scream in frustration. This idiot just couldn't wait for a more appropriate time to do his business, could he? Now Sasuke was sure those moans will plague his dreams for the next few months for sure.

"Ah…" Naruto groaned in a way that shot straight to his groin. Sasuke bumped his head on the door, this dumbass was driving him insane. He better go away. “Ahnnngh⏤” Right fucking now. “Ah⏤Sa…”

“Sasuke…”

He did a double-take, shaking his head. He’s hallucinating, he must be. He probably had been wanting Naruto for so long that he’s hearing the craziest things. 

“Ah yes⏤!” His echo brought shivers down Sasuke’s spine, chanting once again. “Sasuke⏤”  

He barely registered himself banging the door open, brain gone haywire as he strode in fast steps to the half open stall. He heard Naruto’s panicked grunt, trying to close the door stall but he was faster, prying it open with a wicked smirk.

“Why, hello there. What do we have here?” Sasuke murmured, noting the flushed face, chest heaving heavily and even if the blond man was trying his hardest to cover it, he saw the thick cock jutting out of the denim pants. Sasuke licked his lips.

“Sasuke!! The fuck, you can’t⏤” Naruto still attempted to shut the door but Sasuke used his whole elbow to keep it open, quirking that infuriating sexy smirk of his. “You can’t just barge in like that! Get out!” 

“Trust me, usually I wouldn’t bother myself snooping over anyone’s private moments but you called my name. And naturally, I just responded to such call.”

Sasuke saw Naruto clenching his jaw, though didn’t come up with any word of denial. His hard-on was still nestling in the midst of blond curls, so he succumbed the desire to touch it, tip of fingers flickering on the slit and earning a moan from Naruto.

“It looks like you’re in need of my help too.” He gradually let his hand wrap around Naruto’s cock, but only let it graze over it. “In any case you’re interested.”

Naruto hissed when Sasuke gripped his cock tightly, before releasing it at once. Sasuke was gradually lowering himself, with one knee to the ground. He kept teasing him with fluttering touches, brushing through the length and crumbling any remaining resistance. He wanted Sasuke for so long…and why is this bastard so irresistible?

“Well?” Sasuke caressed his inner thighs. “I won’t know if you won’t tell me anything dumbass.” He let out a hot puff of air over the sensitive head. “Naruto?”

Unsatisfied from the lack of response, Sasuke stood up. Sturdy hands seized his hair all of a sudden, growling close to his ear. “You better get there before I fucking lose my mind.”

Smirking undaunted, he continued to widen the distance despite seeing the incredulous blue eyes. He felt a grip on his nape, pushing him down even if he exerted some strength against it. His mouth was practically touching the head of Naruto’s cock, so he licked the beaded pre-cum, revelling the lustful gaze. The hand clenched around his hair when he sucked the sensitive glan, thrusting inside his mouth a few times before he glided it in. 

Naruto tossed his head to the back, moaning. With one hand encasing the base, Sasuke’s tongue curled around the joint between the head and the shaft, slurping and encasing with his lips. How sexually gratifying this felt, with each suckle and light bite, Naruto would groan, hiss and curse loudly, crying out in dark pleasure. Their eyes locked together, Sasuke would swallow the cock, staring how those cerulean hue darkened in hunger. That hand was still holding his head in place, tightening in a vice grip and made him moan with his mouth stuffed around that hot flesh.

Without a sign of warning, Naruto shoved till his cock went deep through Sasuke’s throat. Sasuke didn’t deter him, just threw a defiant glance back. With his hand clutching the black strands of hair, he thrust his cock in Sasuke’s mouth over and over, the grip on his scalp with the salty flavor of skin blended in this spicy mixture of pain and pleasure. 

His senses were already being overwhelmed by a musky scent, signalizing that Naruto was getting close. He released the cock from his mouth, stroking till one spurt of cum reached his face, bursting and flowing on his hand. Naruto was still heaving heavily, so Sasuke cleaned the best he could, tucking the flacid dick back to the orange boxers. He patted the tanned cheek, whispering close to the ear. “You want to continue somewhere else? My apartment is pretty close by.”

These sentences were enough to sober Naruto up, as he stared back with uncertainty and longing, before his eyebrows knitted in blazing determination. Feeling a little rattled about this sudden shift of emotions, Sasuke opened his mouth to question until arms enveloped around him, lips silencing him with a kiss.

Whatever was inside his mind just evaporated as Sasuke responded immediately, lips gliding and matching in a wet lock, his own hands reaching to hold Naruto’s waist. Soon his tongue slipped in, drinking the pleasurable grunt, consuming him, pulling him even closer. Sasuke inhaled sharply when their mouths parted for a second, coming together in increased intensity while Naruto embraced him tenderly, almost possessively. 

Both men paused to catch their breaths, staring longingly to each other. Sasuke was acutely aware of warm fingers caressing his back, while his own hands wound up brushing Naruto’s cheeks. Blue eyes crinkled soft and open, approaching in an almost lethargic way, with his nose nuzzling his cheek till full lips reached his mouth.

Naruto was kissing him harder, unyielding, akin to some unnamed desperation that Sasuke returned in kind. His hands instinctively reached to Naruto’s t-shirt, craving to yank it out, but the blond man seized his wrists and pushed it down. Growling, Sasuke thrust his pelvis, however Naruto just remained liplocked, not touching anywhere that would provoke any sort arousal.

Naruto backed away, his eyes still brimming with affection while he combed the dark hair. He didn’t resist the yearning to brush those beguiling lips, capturing once again to a swift kiss. He released with a loud sigh, shaking his head. But Sasuke held his chin with his fingers to catch his attention, closing in with his teeth lightly sinking on the lower lip. Naruto yielded for a while, though his hands were already placing in between their bodies, slowly pushing away.

At that moment, nothing in the world mattered for Sasuke aside Naruto. He was ready to rip his heart off if necessary to keep him by his side, but Naruto uttered out:

“I think…we should really call our uber.”

 That declaration was so out of left field that broke Sasuke’s line of thought. He muttered. “What?”

Naruto nodded. “Uber. We gotta call an uber. We’re pretty tired tonight right? We should go.”

Graphite eyes blinked, not quite catching the whole situation. He managed to murmur, his lips trying to reach Naruto’s but the latter deflected away. “We can go to my apartment, it’s close…”

“Yeah, um…” Naruto gently nudged Sasuke body off his lap, standing up. “I’m just⏤so fucking exhausted, I swear.”

“Naruto.” Sasuke clasped his arm. “But what about⏤”  

“I know. “ He rubbed his eyelids. “I’m sorry, we’ll talk later. Okay? I’m sorry.” Naruto pleaded, gulping dryly. “I’m so sorry. I⏤” Sighing, he exited the bathroom with a thunderous noise from the door.

Sasuke took too long seconds to really absorb what happened, running in search of Naruto. Too late, he already exited the building.

What the hell just happened? 

--.--

AN: Ayyyy what's this sudden angst? It's probably my fault lmao. Anyways...Hmm…while I was writing the beginning of this fic, I actually thought to myself if I didn’t embellish like it’s a cool place to work and it had so much cool prizes and recognition. So before anyone is changing their mind over their careers, let me tell you something: Most of the time, it’s a lie. And most ad agencies (at least here in Brazil) sucks. It’s changing pretty slowly, but it still sucks. You work overtime most of the time, recognition is mostly “I’ll pay for tonight’s beer” but no salary raise or bonus. There’s backstabbing involved too. Oh, and at least where I used to work, they won’t pay for those overtimes hours and even though they claim “you can rest another day”, it’s really complicated to negotiate the “I want to rest on x day”. The Las Vegas trip thing is real, but it’s something out of the norm, sadly. Also, the ad agency that gave such trip though, makes their employees work, like, twice the time. Anyways, like any job, it has its merits and its downfalls.

[chokefriends]

Hall Pass

ZoSan modern AU fragment with cute boyfriend banter and light bondage. It's just 3+ kinds of trash, porny, giddy and fluffy, I cant stand myself 

Explicit, no warnings.

Read below or on AO3, I’m Ossicle!

Sanji blew through Zoro's front door swinging his keys on one finger, wearing a bloody oxford and a slightly frantic look.

“Mossman, I need a lemon zester and one hell of a hall pass.”

Zoro paused mid-crunch, hanging by the knees in the kitchen doorway, and took out one blaring ear bud. “...Whose ass??”

“Idiot. Move.”

Zoro crunched up so Sanji could get by underneath him. He checked his watch. Weird… the workaholic never left his shop before eight if he could help it. Sanji ran this artisanal butcher shop / charcuterie / whatever, the hipster kind with twelve different ground meat mixtures on ‘tap’ and all these tatted-up, lumberjack-looking shop boys manfully wrangling sausage links in the shopfront. Hence the blood-spattered shirt—chronic nosebleeds.

Zoro twisted around to watch the blond ransack his kitchen drawers, apparently for some ass-related thing.

“Turkey baster somewhere in there, if that's—”

Sanji stopped and shot him a look. “What? No. I'm looking for a lemon zester. And a hall pass… which, let me just say, I VERY fucking deserve after this hell week…”

Zoro plugged the earbud back in and resumed his upside down workout routine. Sanji was just getting himself into one of his rambling Sanji States. Probably just work-related; probably not requiring Zoro's input… He crunched and counted until, a few reps later, a blue eye was suddenly glaring in front of his face.

Sanji tugged an ear bud out of Zoro’s head.

“Lemon zester.”

Zoro dangled, and thought carefully. “The vibrating thing?”

“NO, you houseplant. The thing that's like a cheese grater but with little bitty teeth.”

“...and whose ass is this for?”

Sanji threw the earbud down and went back to tearing apart the kitchen.

Zoro swung down from the door-mounted bar and left him to it. He took a quick shower, and settled in the sectional couch with his sweatpants on and a pile of physio grading next to him. This class he was TAing for was fuckin brutal, tests every week and three exams, all graded by a small team of grad students who were rumored to be robots but were actually masochists. Just constant work; Zoro loved it.

Sanji finally found what he was after and slid over the top of the couch to join the stoic gradbot. He held his prize and looked at Zoro, eyebrows raised expectantly. This usually meant that he thought Zoro was being too stoic and should say something.

“...Bitty cheese grater,” Zoro commented.

“It’s a lemon zester.”

“For what.”

“Getting laid,” Sanji stated matter-of-factly.

Well. It wasn't the weirdest come-on the erratic gourmand had ever tried.

“Okay.” Zoro pulled the pert ass into his lap and went for it.

“Heyhey, hold it, hooold it, that’s not what I came here to… or actually… yeah, hm…” Sanji trailed off as strong hands grabbed at him greedily. His belt buckle clunked to the floor.

“Heh. Lemon zester…” Zoro shook his head. “You don’t have to stash all your weird kitchen stuff here just for an excuse to come over anymore. You know that right, Cook?”

“I know! Just… habit…”

“Mhm.” Zoro focused on the deepening arch of the back in front of him. He pulled the shirttails free and let his hands wander up underneath.

Sanji cleared his throat and tried to focus. “I was tryna ask for a thing, though. Uh…”

“Yeah? Something in particular?”

“Oh yeah, hall pass.”

Zoro paused for a second in case Sanji felt like making this easy and just saying what the hell that was. But the guy was either being coy or was getting distracted by the hand in his pants.

“That a position?” Zoro prompted.

“Hm? No, it's… do you seriously not know what a hall pass is?” Sanji looked over his shoulder.

“Well, sorry if I don't know all the gay lingo like some scene queens—”

He could just feel the force of Sanji's eyeroll. “It's not even! It's such a straight boy thing, you've definitely heard it, bro-y scene like yours. Like ‘bruuuh, Vegas bruh, got a hall pass from the ol ball and chain,’ ugh.”

Zoro frowned. “Great. So am I the bro or the ball and chain.”

Sanji clambered around to face him instead. “Oh my god don't be ugh about it. I'm just observing how your muscle nerd crowd is a whole thing. Don't get off-topic.”

“Well you're the one calling people bros, so—”

“Well you're the one going to grad school for gym, so.”

Sanji crossed his arms. He was doing his pout thing, as though Zoro was the one being difficult. And he was still all disheveled and covered in blood… A familiar tic went through Zoro's eye at the exact same time as that other tic went through his dick.

“Other way. Face the other fuckin way.” Zoro turned the blond away from him and got back to work on his pants.

“Nope, you're dealing with this FACE.” Sanji stubbornly resisted.

They ended up on the floor really quickly, as usual, Sanji trying to mush his face against Zoro’s, and the latter trying to pin him facedown. It did kinda seriously irritate Zoro that his superior crunch power didn’t seem to count for anything against the noodle-boned butcher. The guy knew it, too, and liked to aggravate his sparring partner with non-standard moves.

“If I give you a forehead-hickey, I win,” the clinging blond declared.

“NO.”

“C’mere, sexy forehead.”

“NO.”

It fuckin paid off once Zoro did get him under control, though. The satisfaction was nigh euphoric. This time Zoro got the butcher’s hands behind his back and a knee in his spine, and Sanji gave up his squirming with a laugh. He hmmed against the rug and allowed his hands to be secured with the ever-ready bandana. He was hard and eager when Zoro turned him back over and settled heavily overtop of him, smothering him with a deep kiss.

“It’s been a second,” Sanji breathed when Zoro let up.

“Yeah. I’ll go slow.”

“Mm. Kay but how about not slow.”

“Heh…”

Zoro went ahead and ignored that request. He liked to draw out the lead-in once he’d gotten to this point, to get back at the guy for all his ridiculous shit, but also because Sanji just got more and more fuckable the more desperate and disheveled he got.

Sanji blew his long curtain of blond hair out of his eyes and glared down at the too-slow proceedings between his knees. “Put the fucking dick in your mouth, fucking put. The fucking dick. In your fucking… ah!… fuck, ah…”

That was the third finger, and Zoro let himself grin a little. He watched the long limbs tense and un-tense as he eased his hand in and out. He gave the needy dick another swift, brief massage with his tongue, and stifled a laugh when Sanji kicked him.

“You want me to fucking beg??”

“Yeah, I’m a fan of that,” Zoro nodded his encouragement.

“DICK IN YOUR MOUTH.”

“That’s not begging…”

“DICK,” Sanji insisted.

Zoro laughed and came up to kiss the irate butcher. “...Dick??”

“Dick.”

With his slight smile widening into a full-on grin, Zoro got up so he was straddling Sanji’s shoulders. The blue eye widened, “Not THAT di—hhhhnnnck”

“Hm what?”

Sanji gave a deeply sarcastic roll of his eyes. He couldn’t say much else, though.

Zoro eased in deeper, feeling himself gradually hardening in the wet mouth with its quick tongue.

“C’mon, get me hard.” He pulled back a little so Sanji could swallow and adjust his head, then pushed in deep enough to nudge the back of his throat. “C’mon. You want me to fuck your throat? Suck.”

A cocky eyebrow challenged him to do just that, and Zoro obliged. He watched the smooth lips strain around his cock and the blue eyes start to water. Zoro fit a hand around the back of his neck and angled it way up, so he could hold him still and fuck down into his face. Sanji started making those urgent sounds he was after, and he felt himself edging already… fuck.

“Mm! Mmmm!!… ah!” Sanji’s eyes were screwed shut and his mouth wide open, gasping air, as Zoro pulled out of his mouth and hurried to get a condom on and lube himself up.

“Face or floor?”

“Face, cuz deal with it,” Sanji determined, stubborn streak still fully intact despite his flustered flush.

“Fair.” Zoro left him on his back.

He parted the well-toned thighs and braced a hand on each one, pressing Sanji's legs so wide apart they were touching the floor. God, this body was just made to be fucked, it was so smooth and yielding. Zoro’s dick found the tight hole, and it opened up around him just as smoothly.

“Fuck,” he groaned, steadying himself, “I can’t believe how flexible you are. I could do anything to you…”

Sanji made a little scoffing noise between heavy breaths. “Think you could you shut up and fuck me, though?”

Zoro leaned into him suddenly and heavily, without answering. That got a harsh intake of breath, but it wasn’t yet the desperate gasping he was going for. He canted his hips and dragged out frustratingly slow. He really wanted to let go and just… fucking pound the hell out of the trim, pliable body. Just as much as Sanji wanted him to do it. But he was the disciplined one, here, and also, holding out on the other was a pleasure in itself.

He slid into that perfect heat over and over, deliberate and deep, until the blond’s voice got that wild edge to it. He was as vocal when he was being fucked as the rest of the time, and it got to Zoro just as much. In a good way—Zoro usually prided himself on being all quietly composed during sex, but Sanji had this way of completely letting himself go, and taking the other with him.

“Zoro, Z-zoro ah! Ahh!”

“Shit… ah, fuck, Cook…” Zoro gathered up both legs and hooked them over his shoulder, so he could fold Sanji almost in half and sink straight down into him. Their faces were close together, they were breathing each other’s air, hardly even hearing what was being gasped out between breaths. Sanji was saying something like “Want you, want you, want you,” and Zoro was probably just saying “Cook” and “fuck,” but even he wasn’t sure.

“I’m gonna come,” Zoro gasped out finally.

“Fuckin cmon then, ah…”

It felt like he could just come and come like this. Everything was so tight and hot, Sanji was kissing him and he was getting lightheaded. Zoro waited until his ears stopped ringing and his blood pressure went down a little. He opened his eyes to Sanji’s flushed face, still glassy-eyed with need. He loosened the bandana and shuffled down to put that dick in his mouth, as requested.

“Yes… fuck…” Sanji twisted out of the ties and crossed his arms under his head, shuffling until he was comfortable.

They’d been fucking for a few months now, more and more regularly, and Zoro pretty much knew how to get him off any time. It was better to make him wait a little, though. Winding the guy up so tight like this, he'd go over the edge like a ton of bricks. Zoro swallowed him down smoothly and then pulled back off until he was massaging the head with his tongue, sucking hard. He jammed two fingers into his ass at the same time, hard and even, like Sanji wanted when he was close. And he was so, so close right now… He’d hooked both legs over Zoro’s shoulders and was hanging on, tensed and swearing.

He came and was wordless for a full minute while Zoro worked every last drop out of him with the same steady insistence.

“...Unnh… hh…”

Zoro grinned to himself a little as he caught it all in his mouth. Catching Sanji’s eye, he licked stray drops from his fingers and swallowed it all with deliberate relish.

“Fuck… that’s hot,” Sanji commented, letting out a spent laugh and flexing the feeling back into his toes.

“Mm…” Zoro sighed and sat up to consider his own state. His dick was half-hard again, come leaking down inside the condom. He watched Sanji lying back and trying to recover his head, still all hazy and addled with pleasure. So fucking fuckable.

He pulled the blond over by the arm and nipped his ear.

“Ah!”

“Can I do it hard?”

“I dunno. Can you?” Sanji needled him. “Ow.”

Zoro gave a soothing suck at the chomped ear. “I dunno, can I?”

“Haha… mmm. Floor?”

“Yeah…” Zoro moved on to sucking at his neck urgently, massaging what was now a fully hard erection.

Sanji laughed at him. He turned over facing the floor and braced on his forearms while Zoro fit a new condom on. “I should make you beg instead. Shitty dog, practically humping my leg.”

He quieted for a moment as Zoro pushed him flat and ground into him in one insistent push.

Sanji steadied himself and chuckled, “Ahh… haha. Here, boy. Now sit—mff!”

Lying atop of him like this, Zoro had his hands free, so he clamped one over Sanji’s mouth.

“Shhh… stay. Good boy.”

Sanji huffed an outraged sigh through his nose at the order. But by the way he moaned into Zoro's hand and arched his back into Zoro's driving thrusts, he was probably gonna come again soon.

“Why do you always wanna cuddle on the floor?” Sanji teased him, afterward. “There’s pillows right up there. I got them for a reason.”

“Just stay still a second,” Zoro mumbled from somewhere between Sanji's shoulder blades, thick arms wrapped around the narrow waist.

“I wanna smoke.” Sanji was already fidgeting and trying to get up.

Zoro tightened his arms so he was stuck.

“Why the floor, is all I'm saying,” Sanji objected.

“Well you're the one who likes to fuck on the floor, so.”

“Well you're the one who flips furniture when they get too into it, so.”

Zoro grinned to himself. “Yeah… You make yourself hell to wrangle, to be fair.” He shifted up a little so he could hook his chin over Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji laughed. “You like it.”

“Mm. I like fucking you into the ground, yeah.”

“Ah...” Sanji shifted and exhaled sharply at the lips on his neck. “You angling for another round? That why we're still down here in the fuck zone?”

“Nah, just comfortable.” Zoro let up his hold a little, so Sanji could turn in his arms and settle in facing him. “Hey, so what's this ass thing you want?”

“Hall. Pass.” Sanji sighed, and then swallowed. He was suddenly tense in Zoro's arms. “Uh. So first of all, the lemon zester. I need it to lend to this… individual? So I have an excuse to go over and say heyy? Cuz earlier he was kinda like, heyyyy, lookin for a lemon zester. And this is NOT how I normally do things, okay. I'm pretty much the king of cling. But this guy is Christian Slater-level exceptional, and it'll be just once because honestly I'm getting a Christian-Slater-in-Heathers vibe more than anything and that is a sometimes-food…”

Zoro listened for a while, then counted to ten once he'd gotten lost, and tried to get back into the conversation. “...what?”

Sanji frowned. “What part is unclear.”

“The… hall pass.”

“Jesus Christ,” Sanji muttered to the ceiling.

“No, literally just use words that go together.”

“I have been! I've been so patient and thorough!”

Zoro reached for his sweatpants, lying on Sanji's other side. “I'll just fucking Google it. Gimme my phone.”

“N-no wait. Uh!” Sanji extended a long leg and kicked the pants across the room.

“...This is getting weird,” Zoro growled, getting up. “Did you not eat all day again? You know it's real ironic how often you forget to feed yourself.”

“I did forget but that's not the issue here!”

“Let go of my leg.”

“No!”

Zoro sighed at the weirdo hugging his ankle. “Okay. What's a hall pass.”

“It's when you ask your otherwise committed, exclusive partner for a one-time go-ahead to bang someone else because Christian Slater wants to get in your pants and it's a fucking sin to pass that up!”

Zoro sat down heavily on the couch. Sanji slowly came to sit next to him, legs folded and hands in lap.

“One-time,” Sanji insisted. “Christian Slater.”

“...actual Christian Slater?”

“Oh, uh, no, I just mean he's really hot and kinda weird.”

Zoro rubbed his head, his mind grappling with several, very urgent aspects of this matter. There was one part that really stuck out, though.

“So you'd say we're… exclusive? And stuff?” Zoro wondered, a little wild-eyed.

Sanji frowned. “Aren't we? Wait, are you—”

“Nono, I'm not seeing anyone else. I just mean like, we're… in a committed thing? You'd say?”

“Oh. Yeah,” Sanji confirmed, just realizing that he'd maybe skipped several steps in this whole talk. “Yeah, like, dating.”

“Oh, okay.”

Sanji was getting flustered again. “I mean, I guess I don't know if you wanna be… that way. We don't have to. It's so status quo, right? Ugh, haha, very not radical haha…”

“Nono, it's good. That's good.”

Zoro wasn't sure what else to say, and Sanji was looking at him expectantly, so he gave him a little peck.

Sanji seemed to accept this. “Okay good. Good talk. Um. So… all of it is good?”

“All of what.”

“Can I… the hall pass?”

Zoro frowned and thought. “Oh that. I don't know. I need to think some more.”

Sanji shuffled a little and Zoro realized he was stealing a look at the clock. “How much more.”

“Well more than a few fucking minutes!”

“Hour?”

“You're planning to go right now??”

“I was… Um.” Blue eyes wandered around the room. “Or not. If that's weird.”

“You’re weird. You're always so weird.” Zoro grumbled, trapping him in another bear hug and toppling them both to the couch. Sanji huffed but Zoro held on, an unfamiliar feeling making him stubborn.

Sanji waited til the count of ten, then went about disentangling himself from the other, anxious for a smoke.

“Let go of my leg,” Sanji complained.

“No.”

“Are you getting clingy?”

“No…”

He laughed. “Monosyllabic Marimo.”

Zoro wasn't budging on the time-to-think issue, so Sanji had to message whoever it was to postpone the lemon zester handoff. He'd already delegated things at the shop, so he actually had a rare evening free. He made snacks, and Zoro dragged the duvet over to the couch.

“So Christian Slater is a psychopath,” Zoro offered his thoughts on the nonsense movie they were watching, “But also, the Heathers seem like a high school Resident Evil situation. I'd purge with fire too.”

“Um, Christian Slater is a misunderstood super sweetheart with a minor murder problem,” Sanji objected. “And the Heathers are fabulous beyond reproach.”

“Her scrunchie matches her lipstick,” Zoro complained.

“That’s how you know she's a powerbitch.”

“I could tell from the shoulder pads.”

They watched Christian Slater shoot some more frat boys.

“Okay, not terrible,” Zoro approved by the end. “But I'm not convinced that Christian Slater should be allowed to fuck anyone, let alone MY otherwise exclusive, committed… thing.”

“You can say boyfriend,” Sanji offered.

“... 'Boyfriend,’” Zoro tried the word out, and immediately felt that stubbornness spike again. “Hmph.”

“Well this actual guy’s not a psycho killer, okay? He just… likes to give the impression that he is?”

“You're not selling this super well,” Zoro informed him.

Sanji considered the matter. “Well, what if you met the guy and saw that he was okay? You might already know him, actually, we have friends in common.”

“I doubt that,” Zoro grouched. “Who is it then.”

“Okay so you know your stupid orc-looking friend with the hair?”

Zoro spat out his cucumber water. “KIDD is Christian Slater??”

“Oh my god NO. It's his boy-thing, not him. As if I'd let that get its dick in me, plllease. He literally clanks when he walks.”

“He’d just be getting his dick in you by proxy,” Zoro put on his own pout face. “And I didn't know he had a boy-thing.”

“Yeah, apparently Christian Slater is into orc ass…”

Something occurred to Zoro. “This guy's a top?”

Sanji thought. “I guess…? He made it pretty clear how he'd like to do me in particular, so I assume—”

“Whoooaa, what if Kidd's a bottom,” Zoro interrupted.

“Hah. I doubt it. He’s always talking like he's the one getting his dick in everyone and everything… Christian Slater’s probably vers.”

“Nope, Kidd's a pillow-biter, it's settled,” Zoro settled back smugly. “And I can leg-press more than him.”

He got a pillow thrown at his smug green head by an exasperated boyfriend. “Yeah, yeah, you're supreme dick, dumbass. Biggest, sweatiest package around. Fucking typical top...”

“Damn right,” Zoro caught the next pillow. “Well I'm feeling rosier about this whole hall pass thing.”

Sanji paused with a cushion in hand and raised a flawless eyebrow. “Really? I literally just had to talk up your little guy?”

“Yeah, heh. Just make sure Christian Slater knows how monster this meat be.” Zoro patted his junk.

“I’ll bring it to his attention,” Sanji shook his head. But then he laughed and put his head on Zoro's lap. “Boyfriend,” he murmured.

“Boyfriend,” Zoro affirmed.

[nothing-but-kpop-dreams]

Game Over (1/?)

Author’s note: This is a collab with @starlighttaek8. This is the the first time i ever did anything VIXX  and it was really fun writing it, especially being able to write with @starlighttaek8 We hope that you all like it. Posts are going to alternate between this blog and her blog.

Genre: Angst/fluff (Leo x reader)

Summary: Your dream of being a professional dancer was now a reality. All the more worthwhile was the fact that you were a back up dancer for your best friend’s kpop group. So everything was perfect right? Wrong! Your emotions take a hit after forming a crush on a particular someone.

ALL PARTS

The music was blasting.

It was just you in this beautiful practice room.

It was your first time being inside Jellyfish Entertainment and you had made sure to be extra early for your first day. You loved it so far. The building was so nice and clean and the dance room was perfect. It was all more than you could have ever dreamed of. Even the security guard was nice enough to escort you to the room to make sure you wouldn't get lost.

Being the only person in the room however, you thought it would only be proper to get a bit of your warm up in before your fellow dancers showed up.

Twist.

Arm down.

Leg out.

Down

Turn up and slide.

Jump and-

Suddenly the door opened, a figure appearing in the reflection of the mirrored wall. 

"Oh sorry we thought- wait! Y/N?!?" the sound of that voice was all too familiar for you.

You looked back at the boy in the reflection. "Hyuk?!?"

It was him. You almost couldn’t believe it. It was really him! Your wonderful stupid childhood best friend. It had been years since you had last seen him in person but now he was standing  just a few feet away.

Without a second thought the two of you ran to each other, engulfing one another in the biggest hug.

"What are you doing here?!?" He asked still holding you tight.

"What do think? I'm here as a backup dancer!"

"Since when?!?"

"Since ten minutes ago!”

He broke the hug only so he could look you in the eye "Really?!? This is great! This is awesome! Why didn't you tell me!" He whined with a playful shove.

"Because someone got a little too famous and became untouchable a few years ago!"

You attempted to shove him back... But that didn't play out too well. He was no longer the scrawny little “Hyukkie” you used to know. Your little push did nothing to him.

"Darn it! You are too big for me to push around now! Look at you, you're practically a giraffe!"

"You're just jealous cuz you haven't grown at all since I last saw you!" He teased, sticking his tongue at you.

"yoU’rE JuSt jeAlOus cUZ yoU’rE ShorT! Whatever! I will have you know that I am slightly above average!"

"Uh, that's still short!"

"Ahem, excuse me! Would either one of you, preferably Hyuk, like to update the rest of us on this little reunion?" One of the five boys standing by the door asked.

You were so excited about seeing Hyuk that you hadn't realized the rest of VIXX was in the room staring at the two of you.

"Oh yeah! Guys, this is Y/n! She’s a childhood friend of mine!" Hyuk said proudly.

Before you knew it, he grabbed your hand and dragged you over to the rest of the guys.

"We met back in elementary and we were best friends for years! Y/n, I am sure you know the rest of the guys, right? Cuz, like, if you were actually my best friend you would be a fan of VIXX and know us all."

You only threw him a quick side glare. "Of course I'm a fan of you guys! And yes I know all of your names." You said pleasantly as you turned to everyone else. "It's nice to actually meet you all." You said as you bowed.

“Prove it.” Hyuk suddenly challenged.

“Prove what?”

“That you know everyone!”

“Challenge accepted!” You exclaimed and began to point to each member.

“You are N aka Cha Hakyeon, you are Ravi aka Kim Wonshik, and you are Lee Hongbin, and Ken aka Lee Jaehwan, and last but not least, Leo aka Jung Taekwoon!” You finish proudly, giving Hyuk a nudge.

“Is that good enough? Or do I need to go into birthdays and blood types? What's my prize?”

“You won! And your prize is continuing our friendship!” Hyuk exclaimed as he wrapped you in a hug again.

“Hyukkie! You're gonna kill me one of these days with these anaconda hugs of yours.” You relent.

“I haven't seen you in five years! That's five years of hugs that I need! And five years that you need to tell me about! Oh!!! You should come to dinner tonight! Is that alright N-Hyung? Can Y/N come? Please?”

“That should be fine but we came here so we can practice our new dances. So we should start soon.”

“Awesome!” Hyuk was nothing but smile. “I can’t wait to see you dance, tell me you actually got better? He laughed some more.

“I’ve seen you all live, Trust me Hyukkie, I’m better than you now!” you spat back just as the rest of the back up dancers arrived and the practice was going to begin.

-----------

“Hyukkie, are you sure I can still go? Like I said it’s fine, you guys enjoy the rest of the dinner.” you said into the phone.

“No! I really want you to get to know the rest of the guys!” he whined

“Fine, Fine, but what do I have to say again?”

“Table for Hakyeon.”

“Alright, see you all in a bit.” you said before you hung up.

You were speed walking down the sidewalk to the restaurant Hyuk said they were at. Originally you were supposed to walk with them, but you and the other backup dancers went to practice with Gugudan and that practice was longer than expected.

Now here you were, getting at the restaurant probably half an hour after they ordered their food. Following Hyuk’s orders, you went up to the hostess and politely asked for a table under the name Hakyeon, then you followed her to the back of the restaurant near the kitchen where she opened a small room for you.

There were six boys all sitting comfortably, one with the biggest smile on his face.

“Finally!! You made it!” Hyuk practically shouted as he tackled your tired body with a hug.

Before you knew it he was dragging you to the spot between himself and Ken and loading your empty plate with some of the food that was still left on the tables.

“I am so sorry I am late you guys.” you said with a bow.

“Don’t worry about it.” N began “We know how practices are! Eat, you must be hungry.”

As you were eating, the conversation lulled into slurping noodles and cooking meat. Suddenly, Ravi, who has continuously stolen glances at you all evening broke the silence. "...Say, Y/N, do you have a boyfriend? I can't help but notice you're awfully pretty."

Hyuk threw a warning glance at his hyung, but you answer anyways.

Heat rushed to your cheeks in heartbeat. "Uh- No, no boyfriend. I'm usually too busy to date. I'm sure you understand being in a band and all so I'll leave it at that."

You quickly took another bite of the noodles, hoping to avoid further conversations about dating. You had nothing against it really. It's just that you've never had a boyfriend, so conversations about dating usually became awkward.

When you finished, Hyuk who had been glaring at Ravi since he asked, said:

"Hyung, back off. She's my friend. You're not allowed to date her."

“Woah, woah, woah! Who said anything about dating Y/N? I was just stating a fact. Is there something wrong with pointing out how pretty she is? Taekwoon-Hyung, you think Y/N is pretty also right?” Ravi was really trying to get the attention off him, but his tactic only resulted in a glare from Leo.

“Y/N is off limits!” Hyuk emphasized some more.

“Oh why, does little Hyukkie like Y/N and he wants her all for himself?!?” Ken teased.

“Ewwwwwww no!” Both you and Hyuk gagged “That's disgusting!” again you both said in unison.

“You even say the same things! There must be some feelings here!” Hakyeon laughed.

“Y/N is like my sister!” Hyuk explained. “And I don't want any of you getting your grubby hands on her.”

“But what if I want them to~” you said only to make Hyuk mad.

Your comment got a roar from the other boys who mostly laughed at Hyuk’s expression of disgust. Even Leo chuckled a bit.

“Y/N if you only knew these guys like I know them, you wouldn't want to touch them with a ten foot pole.”

“That's because you're a guy Hyukkie.” You snicker.

“Well.. Still! If anyone is going to date Y/N.. It's not gonna be Ravi-Hyung.” Hyuk stayed with his original thought.

This comment from Hyuk made everyone else at the table burst into laughter at Wonshik's expense.

“Your just jealous cuz I'm the best looking one here!” Ravi said under his breath, a comment that got the other five boys shoving him back and forth

“Says who?!?”

“You wish!”

“Dude, you ugly”

“Get a mirror!”

You only watched them as you ate. It was entertaining really, a dinner and a show.

“Now that that's taken care of,” N began after the beat down on Ravi, “Y/N, tell us about yourself. We'd like to get to know you more considering how close you used to be with Hyuk.”

“We mostly want to hear the embarrassing stories.” Hongbin peeped.

“No they don't!” Hyuk almost shouted. “... But update me! What is new since we last saw each other?”

You did so, letting everyone know how and why you became a dancer, letting them know all your other hobbies and interests and even throwing in an embarrassing pre-teen Hyuk story now and then.

For the most part everyone seemed to like you… Expect for Leo. He kinda just sat at the end of the table staring over at you and everyone. He didn't talk much, didn't laugh. He actually seemed a bit annoyed by you.

When it came time to goodbyes, everyone bid you a warm farewell , N and Ken even gave you a goodbye hug after Hyuk did so. But again, Leo didn't seem to care for you as he barely waved when he walked off with the rest of the members.

-Admin Boat and @starlighttaek8

[marlynnofmany]

Bryan was skeptical of this “karma” business. Everyone knew that high schools were ruled by the hottest, the athletic stars, and those who made the others live in fear. Not by who was nicest; what namby-pamby garbage was this?

He scoffed at the pamphlet his parents brought home, and laughed in their faces when they suggested that he try to be kind at his new school. He’d be top of the heap in no time, and it wouldn’t be by holding doors open or sharing his dessert.

The new-student orientation was brief, and Bryan made a point of not paying attention. Soon enough he was introduced to his first class: “Hi, I’m Bryan, I like music and whatever.” He took an empty chair, and while the teacher started talking about some detail of magical history, he made plans.

Lunch was weird. All the other kids went out of their way to treat him like a celebrity. Bryan got to skip the line, get an extra helping of pizza, and sit at any table that would have him. It was bizarre, staring out at a room full of strangers insisting that no really, there was plenty of space by them; would he like a seat?

It was completely throwing off his radar for who the popular kids were. Irritating. But, he told himself, it was only his due as the inevitable top dog. He picked a table with some muscular guys and makeup-laden girls. Probably the sports MVPs and their girlfriends.

They wanted to know all about him. It was eerie. And they answered his questions, including the one about the karma system.

Oh yes, it was real, and the scoreboard was in the main quad. Did he want to see it after he was done eating?

Yes he did. Bryan gulped down his pizza and let somebody else throw away the plate. This he had to see.

The scoreboard turned out to be a giant thing, up on a wall where everyone could see the numbers change constantly.

“Why is my name in gray?” Bryan asked, pointing to a separate section at the top. “With no number?”

“New kids get a grace period to get used to the system,” said the beefiest athlete. “So you can make a grand entrance high up in the rankings. Good for morale.” He went on to describe the weekly drawing, and the prizes for the top spot, including the end-of-year prize for the do-gooder who had been at the top the most.

Bryan listened with half an ear. He was busy planning how to speedrun his way to the top.

He observed for the rest of that week, sneering internally at all the saccharine everywhere. Then on Monday he came prepared.

In his first class, he swiped a pencil so he could graciously lend his own, then he “found” the missing pencil on the floor later.

He arrived early to his second class, early enough to get a seat by the door and help the first person to trip over the heavy book he’d left on the floor. He made sure to pretend that he cared if they were hurt or not.

He was early to his third class too, so he could rub cat hair all over the chair that the allergic girl always sat in. When she sneezed, he was ready with a pack of tissues to give her.

She thanked him, and used half of the pack. Bryan smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

Or so he thought, until he saw the scoreboard.

“Negative points?” Bryan exclaimed. “What the hell is this?” His name wasn’t gray, but it also wasn’t at the top anymore. It was at the very bottom, with his latest karma action listed as “deliberate dishonesty.”

A kid with a backpack stuffed with too many books stopped to answer him. “They’ll know if you’re trying to game the system.”

“What?” Bryan asked. “How??”

“By watching,” the boy said. “Cuz they’re Watchers.”

“What?”

“Come on; I’ll see if the teachers will let you look in the portal.” He waved for Bryan to follow him towards the office.

“…What?” Bryan said again. But he followed.

There were no teachers in the teacher’s lounge at the moment, just one older student with the look of a supreme kiss-up.

“Can he see the Watchers?” Backpack Kid asked. “Just real quick? He’s got negative karma, and doesn’t quite get it.”

“Okay, but really quick, all right?” Teacher’s Pet said, ushering them both into the room. He led the way to a golden frame on the far wall that looked like it belonged in a Magic Mirrors Of The World collection. Where a mirror should have sat was utter blackness.

Then the Teacher’s Pet placed his hand on the center, and looked like he was thinking really hard. Light spread from his hand, and he stepped away.

Dozens of faces stared back.

Bryan flinched. “Ah! What the—”

“These are the Watchers,” the Teacher’s Pet told him. “A small number of them, anyway. They’re all throughout the school in massive numbers, and they see everything.”

“What are they?” Bryan asked, taking in the large eyes, unnaturally smooth skin, and the intent expressions.

“Magical constructs. Spirits. This is what they were made for: observing everyone on campus, and tallying the scores.”

Backpack Kid spoke up. “And gossiping with the teachers. They do that too.”

“So…” Bryan said, mind reeling, “They see everything?”

“Yup!” the Teacher’s Pet said. “And if you’ve got negative karma, then it sounds like they saw a few things you didn’t want them to, huh?”

Bryan didn’t answer. His mind was a whirl of abandoned plans, with nothing lining up to replace them.

“It seems to me,” the kid said with unnecessary smugness, “That you’ve got a choice to make. Learn to be nice like the rest of us, or dig yourself in deeper. I’m sure anyone here can give you pointers.”

Bryan couldn’t tear his eyes from the Watchers, every one of whom had manifested a notepad, pencil, and wide grin. They waited.

Bryan groaned. He hoped that no one from his old school ever saw him here, since he was about to start embarrassing himself on a daily basis.

Your school’s hierarchy is based on “Karma”, the more acts of kindness you do, the higher your karma becomes.

[parachutingkitten]

Universal Studios - Thoughts from an average visitor

Hi! I am a seventeen-year-old girl who went to go visit Universal Studios Orlando with her family for four days. It was pretty dang cool! Here are some of my thoughts in greater detail. I’ll be talking about some noteworthy rides/things I feel are worth mentioning, and that I... care about. So here we go!

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls

(Don’t mind me embracing my Slytherin alter ego)

Your basic log ride gets an upgrade! I didn’t know a thing about Dudley Do-Right, but it’s not exactly hard to catch on. It’s your basic hero, villain, and damsel (and horse) set up. The story is pretty basic, and the log ride makes it pretty easy to follow. The theming on the ride is done quite nicely, and the ride is long enough to give you enough giddy thrill. The end drop gets you sufficiently wet without being soaked (see pic for reference). Probably the best log ride I’ve been on!

Jurassic Park River Adventure

Yet another water ride! This one has just the right balance of fun and thrills. It’s your classic Jurassic Park, planned dino adventure, something goes wrong, dino escaped, almost get eaten by a T-Rex, plot line. This ride is dripping in ATMOSPHERE, and that gets you a lot of points in my book. But, if you want even more ATMOSPHERE, ride this one at night. Instead of going from a fun dinosaur adventure to a scary dinosaur adventure, it goes from a sort of romantic river cruise to a terrifying escape scenario! The animatronics hold up for the most part, especially where it matters (in the scary parts). The T-Rex at the end, especially when you sit in the back, is terrifying. I really like this one.

The Hulk

This one takes the prize for best thrills. It’s just a straight rollercoaster. Not much ATMOSPHERE to this one, but enough to let it slide. The amount of times this ride takes you upside down and makes your head spin is amazing. I had a cramp getting off of this one because I was clenching my guts so hard! It also takes you through a mist tunnel, and that’s pretty cool, so... you know. This one was my little brother’s favorite. He’s twelve, so he’s into the hardcore rollercoaster stuff, so this makes sense. Ride in the back if you can, the opening is a lot better that way :)

Skull Island - Reign of Kong

So... let’s talk about the main problem plaguing Universal Studios... 4D rides. Having a couple is okay, and they’re not inherently bad, but when the majority of the rides at your park are 4D... it kinda feels like cheating. Like, it’s not really a ride, if you don’t move locations... is it? They all feel the same. Like, what’s the difference between the Despicable Me Minion ride, and the Jimmy Fallon race through New York? The goofy person on screen. That’s pretty much it. I won’t be talking about a lot of these, cuz most of them are fine. Not good, not technically bad, just sort of slightly enjoyable. Glad-I-did-them-once sort of things. Kong is by no means the worst offender of this. That distinction goes to Transformers, which gave me a headache. Anyway, Kong is actually on the better side of these rides. It loads you onto a bus, and takes you outside of this huge temple structure, and incorporates some animatronics. It’s genuinely exciting and fun, and it has several things that make it stand out as its own thing. The line is really cool and ATMOSPHERIC, so that doesn’t hurt. The tour buses also are different from each other. There are two different ‘bus drivers’ you can get who each have a different take on the journey you go on, so that was kinda cool! Also... it has the end all be all of animatronics. At the end, there is a HUGE Kong animatronic that you just sit and look at and watch, and it really is something to see. Even if you can’t get past the fact that it’s an animatronic, you can’t help but marvel at how big and detailed, and fluid it is! It’s really cool!

E.T.

Okay... so... what is this ride? Like... there are some good ideas. Like, we ride flying bikes, sweet! That’s cool! E.T. actually says your name at the end! That’s awesome! Steven Speilberg is there... What? Like.. he’s in universe. How strange is that? The first half of the ride is pretty cool, and ATMOSPERIC, and then... you get to E.T.’s planet, and everything goes off the rails, and they kinda told you to look out for E.T.’s friends at the beginning, but like... what were we supposed to do? And I get that the world is dying, but why all the noise?! I swear I almost went deaf! It’s so rushed at that point, you’re just like “what the heCK IS HAPPENING?!!!?!” and then the ride is over and you’re left with this feeling of... well that was kinda cool, but I also kinda hated it. Worth a ride just to experience what... it is. It’s super dated, and probably needs to be torn down along with the section of the park it’s in, and replaced with something better. But hey! For now, go and check it out for a weird trip through... I don’t even know what.

Poseidon’s Fury

This isn’t a ride, but a show, but I wanted to shout it out because, even though it is REALLY dated, it’s still really cool! If I worked anywhere, this is where I would work. Not only do I get to be a goofy archeologist, I get to basically pull a Moses, and part the red sea, and walk through a tunnel of water as a huge mass of people follows behind me. There is a lot of good humor in this show, and a lot of cool technical reveals in this show, the last one is especially mind-blowing! Anyway, it’s corny and fun, and I love it. My only complaint is that you have to stand the whole time! Seriously, just add some benches in there, and the whole audience will be a lot happier!

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium And Savory Feast Kitchen

This is a restaurant in between the two parks that I really enjoyed because it’s just so... unique. It’s a steampunk style restaurant with a fictional eccentric owner who came back from her adventures across the world, only to find her family had gone looking for her ‘wherever chocolate can be found’ cuz they know she really likes chocolate, so she built the emporium to make the best chocolate in the world, so that they could find her again... I wish I was making this up. It takes itself so seriously, and I love it! They have characters walking around, Toothsome, and some weird robot guy.

They play all this electro swing music (one of my personal favorite genres) and all the food has a puny name! It’s really fun! And the food is AMAZING!

Like the actual real food, and then... the desserts. When they tell you the sundays are as big as your head, they are. All the shakes he had were really good! Highly recommend!

Okay, so... that is a lot. I will have a separate post about the elephant in the room I haven’t touched yet... Harry Potter. And then I’ll also have a separate post for my top three rides, cuz I have a lot to say about those. And then... one for the biggest disappointment of the whole trip, cuz I have some serious venting to do about that one. Anyway, thanks for reading!

[iheartarrow]

Random Arrow thoughts

Ok, I'm freaking out a little bit... Someone, pinch me... IS THIS REAL?! This episode of Arrow came straight out of fanfiction. It is too good to be true... yet it is... true... I am overwhelmed and befuddled and feel like a lost puppy right now. Because in this season (especially in 6x03 and6x04), Arrow is apparently, granting wishes and many fantasies of mine have become canon.  No one has ever preparedme for this, this is why I'm freaking out, cuz what's next?!...

I know that the other shoe is gonna drop soon enough, and this bliss cannot last forever, that's just the way TVland works, and also, it's Arrow, our heroes can never be absolutely happy for too long, there has to be conflict to further the story along. And the formula is simple - the happier it is in the beginning, the worse it's gonna be later (before it gets better again). So I do know I have to prepare myself for the shit that's about to hit Olicity in a few episodes, probably after the crossover.

Anyhow, going back to 6x04, here are some of my thoughts during this episode..

- It should have been named "Let's get it on..." instead, LOL. How many times did they try to have desert and were interrupted?! Blue balls won't look good on Oliver, Arrow, have mercy!

- The episode opened with a "date", or more like a hookup, BS style. I gotta say, I liked the wig. Blonde Laurel looks like a bitch, brunette Laurel looks wickedly nefarious. I liked that, but why did she need a wig at all, this puzzled me? Or does she think, she looks more attractive to men with dark hair?! What was the purpose of that wig? Not to be recognized?! Well, then she kills people left and right with blond hair, so that's not it, right?!... Oh, I get it... KC wore the wig for the element of surprise, so the fanboys would guess her by her back and pee their pants happy that their beloved BS is back (or should I say, KC is back, cuz their fascination with her, that I will never understand, has become like a cult following). Anyways, this is done for one purpose alone. BS always likes to make a scene with her entrance (yes, she's a bit of an attention whore, didn't you know?!), this time they figured a wig will do the job for her as a "surprise" element. Whatever...

Arrow is already being redundant with BS, considering she's not even close to being the main villain, has no agency of her own and is just another mercenary for hire. As the guys from Slander Ent. pointed out, she's a glorified lackey. Arrow hyped KC's return to Arrow as a villain, so much, but the pay off doesn't match the hype so far. BS's storyline resembles that of LL already. Either give her some interesting storyline, or get rid of her like you did with Laurel. I liked BS at first, but the more I watch her (and as often as I watch her), the more she starts to suck, because there's no moving forward with her story, she becomes a stale character, just like LL had become, before they had to kill her off. Though, in this episode she didn't suck that much, and her fighting improved (though it was Katie's double who gets the credit, the fight scenes were so darkened out, so you cannot tell the double and the actual actor apart, but it was still too obvious Arrow, you cannot fool me). I feel like I have to make my peace with BS the way she is and not expect her to progress. She's here as an eye candy for the fanboys, a consolation prize anyways. But as she still is a  small part of Arrow's overall story, I would expect the show to have learnt their mistakes with Laurel (and KC) from the first time around, and not repeat them with BS.

- Oliver and Felicity's date... I think now I know why Felicity calls BS "evil Laurel", because of her timing.  Girl, couldn't you murder that poor sap some other time? William picked out the tie and wanted to go to dinner with Felicity, too... Awww, that's so adorable. And yep, the  mini-Oliver totally has a crush on his father's girl. I love the relationship Arrow is building between the three  of them! Oliver remembering that it's been three years since they had their first date... Squeee!!! "Don't jinx it!" LOL.

You know, I like that Oliver is still a bit nervous on their date. It's a good kind of nervous. He talks about not  having been ready for their relationship then, not like he is now. This tells me that he knows, and knew back then  too, that this is it, Felicity is "it" - the love of his life. So yeah, he is nervous in a "anticipating something  wonderful in your life"-kind of way. Plus, that gorgeous woman is in front of him being all adorable and super  sexy. But the status of their relationship is still unconfirmed. He looks at her for answer when the lady asks if  they are back together. And Felicity got "the hint", called herself the mayor's girlfriend. It's for us to hear and  for the Olicity haters. They are back together, so stop asking the stupid question, m'kay?! Get over it! There's also calmness to Oliver that I love. He's matured, more grounded. I cannot believe how much he's grown as a  person. Adrian Chase was one heck of a therapist, LOL.

That nice lady was us, for sure. While she was fangirling over Olicity, I thought it would be funny if the news  came out that Mayor Handsome and Miss Felicity Smoak are back together, with a poll attached to it, vote yes or no.  LOL Star City ships Olicity. Also, why isn't there a man patting Oliver's shoulder and whispering "Good job on  getting your girl back, son!"?!

- Oliver understanding how it was for Felicity when he had to bail on her and was "dangling maybies"... Now you  know Oliver. It sucked! And I think he felt kind of alone and bored and useless, while his woman was neck deep in  Arrow business and he just had to let her go, do her stuff. I think that is what got to Oliver the most - not being  able to be a part of the thing that brought them together in the first place. That's how they met, how they've  gotten closer and fell in love - because of Arrow business. And Oliver not only renounced that part of himself, he  also renounced the part that allowed them to connect and was the major part of their relationship, it's basis. In  S4 we saw how Felicity was struggling to live a "normal" life without Arrow business. She missed that part of her  life, that's why they returned to Star City and stayed. Now it's Oliver's turn to be sidelined. He liked living in  Ivy Town (on the surface), but after last year's crossover, Oliver realized that his life could be happy without  being the Green Arrow, but it will never be full. This season he had to give up the hood again. Except now it's not  because he wanted to, it was a sacrifice for the sake of his son. 6x04 showed how much Oliver actually misses being  the GA, the action and being usefull, already!

Now, putting a mask on and chasing Felicity in the club, or helping Slade-cockblocker-Wilson... how is it different  than being an active member of the team?! I don't get the logic of this. If you're out, you're out, Oliver. No  exceptions. He could as well get killed on the mission with Slade, then little William will be the one saying "told  you so!". Agrhhh...

- Those kisses... I love those smooches. Felicity, please kiss Oliver more like that! It's super adorable!

- I don't trust Alena. At all. Even after she was shot and was all cozy and friendly with Felicity, I still don't  trust the girl. Look, she is responsible for an Argus agent being horribly murdered. And her reaction to that death  was telling not nice things about the kind of person she is... Plus, she represents Felicity's past life, a rather  dark past. I don't want a constant reminder of that on the show, in small doses Alena is ok, but not as a permanent  fixture. Plus, this whole "breaking internet" thing was a set up by Cayden James, so it's obvious that either he  gave Alena that shiner and told her to get Felicity involved, or he knew that if Alena smells trouble, she'd go to  Felicity for help. And either way, she's a pawn in his game. I feel like if Alena isn't working for Cayden, and she  actually is clean, she's still a redundant character, because she doesn't bring to the show any new skill or  ability that isn't already an atribute of another character. So why keep her then?! "I thought you wanted to change the world, and look where you ended up..." I loved this burn! Why did Felicity  apologize for telling the truth?! Also, this line reminded me of when paralyzed Felicity was hallucinating Goth  Felicity. Goth Felicity said the exact same thing to her "you wanted to change the world, look where it got you..."  This Alena character reminds me of that Goth Felicity, but not in a good way. I really hope she won't drag Felicity  back to old hacktivist habits.

- Why doesn't KC wear her hair up in a ponytail more?! It actually looked nice, certainly nicer than her usual hair  down over one shoulder. She calls herself "Dinah", so why does the team insist on calling her "evil Laurel"?! Call  her evil Dinah then, she's here as a counterpart of the new BC anyhow, not of dead Laurel. This show has too many  Dinahs with same abilities, it's ridiculous, Arrow!

- Felicity spent more than half of the episode in that gorgeous red dress. She looked so out of place in it in that  club, and I loved it. It was very funny.

- Felicity should have asked for a backup while going to the club. Or at least telling her team where she's at. It  was irresponsible. And later at Helix, almost got herself and Alena killed. Granted, she couldn't have known that  it would be so dangerous, but still, she's going after someone who plans on killing hundreds of millions of ppl,  gotta think smarter, girl. I get why she would feel guilty. Not only she let out Cayden James, but after Havenrock,  if CJ manages to kill so many people, she would feel that it's on her, too.

- I loved Oliver's pep talk. Last episode it was with Diggle, now with Felicity. They both helped Oliver to become  the GA. And all that effort is now for nothing, eh Oliver?! Where the hell did Felicity get the idea that Oliver  was doing it all by himself?! He never did, well... he tried, but he never succeeded. He was killing ppl, until you  and John set him straight (and Tommy's death, too), he was a crappy brother most of the time, super crappy CEO,  failed as a boyfriend and a fiance, etc... So let's not pretend that Oliver wasn't a screw up just cuz he got his  act together this season, okay Arrow?!

- Helix Dynamics... Nope, not liking it. I got an immediate recall of Fringe's Massive Dynamics,tbh. Plus the name  Helix is rooted in Felicity's old life. Also, the name sounds rather ominous, like Kord Industries, where they make  all kinds of dangerous stuff that bad guys later steal. I hope Felicity will rename the company, it doesn't roll  off the tongue right.

- Michael freaking Emerson is amazing!!! I certainly got an evil Finch vibe from Cayden James. God, he's a cold  motherfucker. I do not believe that he "changed" because of Argus keeping him locked in a shipping container. Argus  locked him up for a reason, I wanna know what that reason is. He must have done something very very bad to earn  such treatment. Lyla isn't Amanda Waller. I would love for papa Smoak to come back and have a hack off paired with  Felicity vs CJ. It would be awesome. Also, I had an idea that Felicity will probably go to jail for hacking the  vault's firewall (and probably, other crimes too), and Noah might take the fall and go to jail instead of her. It's  the only way I see to redeem an absentee father like Noah.

Or Felicity will have to hide and lead a reclusive life until she figures out a way to clear her name with the FBI.  Or she's gonna be recruited by the FBI. Either way, it would be interesting storyline and I wonder how it will  affect her relationship with Oliver. I have a feeling Arrow might do something similar to what Smallville did with  Chloe's character - her leaving the team and just disappearing. Felicity might be forced to do the same. And it  won't be Arrow breaking Olicity up, just separating them for a while. Cuz it's Arrow and they can't let Olicity be  happy on the background all the time...

If we are correct, then Olicity is gonna get married in the LOT crossover episode. If so, then won't marital  privilege kick in then?! Oliver cannot testify against his wife, nor she against him...

- I really hate it when a side character is pointing out an obvious thing that all the fans have figured out long  ago, yet the main character haven't got a clue about... I'm talking about Alena pointing out that Felicity should  use her chip as an idea for helping people and get her company started. We've been cultivating this idea for 1.5  years, come on, Felicity...

- WTF is Arclight?! Damien's dome was called an Arc, right?! Maybe CJ was working for DD back then when the Arc was  being built, and that's why Argus locked him up?! "Arclight" does sound like a cult thing, LOL. And Darkh's zombie  population did look like cult followers...

- Loved all the grunting while Oliver dropped on the couch with hands full of Felicity!!! And the ass grabbing, and  her hand sliding to his front... This new time slot is paying off bit by bit. Slade cockblocking them was not cool,  Arrow!

- Did anyone else have a thought that Diggle's drugs might be provided by Cayden as well? He set up a trap for  Felicity in today's episode, Diggle will probably become addicted to that drug, and will be off the team as well.  Could be, Cayden will be picking all the team members one by one?

- The only thing, missing from this episode, was the repeat of the glorious line "It feels really good having you  inside me...". It was such a right episode with a perfectly set up circumstances to bring that line back. Arrow,  how could you miss this opportunity to remind us of such perfect comedic Olicity moment?

- Loved Oliver on the comms. He looked absolutely out of place behind Felicity's computers, but that was the point,  and I loved it. The learning curve and the funny Oliver, loved every second of that scene.

This was a very good, solid episode. The reversal worked perfectly. One of my favorites of all Arrow episodes!!  This season is gonna be so AWESOME!!!

@almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @tdgal1 @taurusclh @geneshaven @eilowyn1 @felicitys @nalla-madness @coal000

[goldenscript]

morning glory.

park jimin | 4,140 words | hockey au / fluff ↳ mornings have always been the bane of your existence until a hockey player by the name of park jimin is involved.

author’s note: welp, this came out longer than i thought... lol. also, bless bts’s “as i told you” cover for inspiring this <3 (you can watch the performance here!)

It goes without saying that waking you up in the morning is like asking for a death wish. You actually enjoy sleeping until noon and waking to see sunlight streaming past your curtains. It’s your own therapy after a long, gruelling weekday of waking up early, studying, and working at as a campus barista, so you refuse to let anyone disturb your weekends. Especially not when your only responsibility on those two days are working from 6 PM to closing. The very act of waking you before 11:30 AM is a downright sin that you would never subject yourself to, ever, and yet—

You’re awake on a Saturday at 7:30 AM. Because to every cloud in which you are never to be woken before a reasonable time is a silver lining that comes in the form of a man named Kim Taehyung. You see, being awake before the sun’s rays hang from high in the sky is a result of your godforsaken family friend asking—well, more like begging—you for a favor that had you known would entail the involvement of the school’s prized dual-playing center forward and right wing defenseman, none other than Park Jimin, would have you rejecting any offers of free milk teas and hot pot for the rest of winter quarter. 

Though as much as you curse at the brunet for tricking you into this ordeal, you can’t say you’re complaining too much. Despite the niggle of a doubt that doing this may screw over your small infatuation with him further, you’ve actually come to enjoy said mornings with the blond. The first of them began bumpily but that can only be expected when Taehyung had to drag you to the ice rink where he regrettably told you that there was indeed no more coffee in the nearby vending machine and a rather snippy Jimin got you on you both for arriving late; but, despite this inconvenience, you managed to film Jimin with little to no trouble as promised and he even rewarded you with some much needed caffeine afterwards. It wasn’t long before this first practice recording melded into the second to the third to even the fourth, where each interaction became increasingly more and more comfortable than the last.

Between the flirty repertoire to even the witty banters that ensued, you began to grow comfortable with the ever-so-popular, Park Jimin. You learned that he was from a beach town where many of its people cared for one another, never ceasing to wane in their united front. You learned how he came to love hockey, thanks to his father and a game that played on his television screen at seven in the morning when he was eight. You learned that over all else that he was the type of person who worked hard for what he wanted and it showed, not only in his athletic performance but his academic one as well. Most of all, you learned that he was indeed a morning person, and because of his early wakings as a child, he can only celebrate this discovery by continuing this tradition every morning.

You don’t like it, but you certainly can’t demote its importance. In fact, you can’t help but admire him for all of it, for his hardworking ethics, for his charming demeanor, and for his attentive nature, because since that day you replaced Taehyung as Jimin’s recorder and proved that you could do the task well, he’s been nothing but sweet to you. From the cheeky smiles he’ll throw over his shoulder to his habit to lend you an extra sweater to the way he once let you onto the ice and he was right by your side the entire time.

Since your time as his recorder, you can’t help but admit that the small infatuation you had for him as bloomed tenfold with each Saturday you’ve spent with him making it grow even more than you thought possible. It’s alarming to say the least, but of course you show no signs of it affecting you too much.

On this particular day, you come to the rink just a little bit earlier than usual. It’s only your fifth time recording for him, but it’s the day before his big game and he practically begged you. And you do so with little protest; after all, this game means the world to him, because one game just isn’t ‘one game’ to him. As you stated before, Park Jimin was a big baller, an all or nothing type of person.

So, with a resounding sweep across the scratched surface, a sharp thwack! can be heard echoing throughout the empty ice rink. This very man with tufts of blond hair slick against his forehead graces across the ice to retrieve the puck from the clutches of the well-weathered netting. Though he is on the ice in a pair of compressed shorts and white long-sleeve sweater, you can see the material of his sweater cling to his chest. You zoom out of his form as he turns toward you, effectively ending this practice video.

Once he returns to you in the box, removing his skates, you begin to scold him, “You’re not even playing, and you look like you just played a shit ton of scrimmages.”

“Actually,” Jimin says in a matter-of-factly tone, “that’s an all-day scrimmage.”

You roll your eyes at him, shoving the Hydro Flask to him with a grumble, “Same difference.”

“Well—”

“—Okay, okay boy genius,” you sigh, shaking your head. “Go dry yourself off before you catch a cold or somethin’.”

Taking the water bottle from him, you hand him a towel from the adjacent bench and watch as he dries the top of his head. “Y’know,” he says with a smile curving on his lips, “you probably wouldn’t get worked about me getting sick so much if you stopped stealing my clothes.”

“It’s one hoodie, you’ll live,” you huff, allowing one of the long sleeves to go over your hand and effectively hit his arm a harmless smack. “Plus, you said I could use it. Still beyond me that you don’t get cold being in this freezer.”

“Not if you’re gonna use it as a weapon!” he scoffs, grabbing onto the loose sleeve. “I may need to ask for it back.”

You pout, “After everything I’ve done for you!—”

“—All you’ve done it wake up early, Y/N.” he deadpans, giving the sleeve shake. You unwisely decide to use the other sleeve as a weapon, but the same result occurs and you’re trapped within the oversized confines of the soft cotton material. His half-moon eyes meet yours and you swear you hear your own heart skip a beat. And, fuck, did your breath just hitch? You try not to bring notice to it by meeting his eyes with half-narrowed ones. 

“For the record, Jimin, waking up early is a cruel hell.” you shake your head, trying to pry yourself from his grasp. “It’s still a miracle that Taehyung convinced me to do it for you.”

Jimin’s lips are pulled together as he tries to suppress his own giggles at your meager attempts, tilting his head to the side to ask, “It’s ‘cuz you love me huh?”

Your nose merely scrunches in response before you quip, “Do you have a concussion or is your head just getting bigger from your ego?”

He laughs, sending more stutters to your poor heart. “I’ll just take that as a yes.”

You scoff with your own smile, “In what world was that jab against your ego an ‘I love you’?”

“Because it’s coming from you,” he replies, shrugging off your inquisitive look. Still he maintains his hold on you. Funny how it’s almost akin to a physical representation of what he’s doing to your heart. Even as you struggle from him, just for the sake of your own burning cheeks, he still manages to keep you in place. His visage seemingly even a little closer than you last remembered. Or is your brain playing a cruel joke on you?

You almost want to deny it, especially when you’re certain that your heart wants to have any excuse to be beside this golden boy but you feel his breath fan across your chilled cheeks. The mint radiates off him in waves even with the dried sweat on the side of his face.

When you feel his warm breath significantly closer against your cheeks, you recoil back with cheeks flushed than ever. “What are you doing?!”

He laughs again, scooting forward as he replies, “Your cheeks looked cold! I was warming them.”

This time you don’t move away though your screaming appendage is telling you to do so. He’s practically a hair’s breadth away, moving his grip on your sleeves to cover your poor reddened cheeks. He frowns at the sight, “Jeez. I might need to bring two extra sweaters if you’re gonna get this cold.”

“Wha—”

“Free of charge, of course,” he says, keeping his unsurprisingly warm palms over your visage alongside the sleeves. The way this guy managed to maintain heat even in this arctic environment was a skill you wished he could bestow upon you. Not that you minded this treatment very much.

You can barely contain yourself the longer he seems to stay there watching you warm up. With Jimin, there’s always been a lack of personal space. He’s understanding when you tell him, but since you two breached comfortability after the second week, it’s almost impossible for him not to be this way. You just can’t help but kind of hope there’s more to the lingering touches and the thoughtful gestures—okay, really hope there’s more to it than just him being him, though you’d be damned to bring up any of this to Taehyung.

Jimin then says, “Hey,” You look up just as he asks, “are you busy tomorrow night?”

He’s still close as ever, and it’s almost hard to think under that kind of pressure when a part of you just wants to press his lips to yours. Regardless, you try to rack your brain even as you almost immediately know the answer. It’s a Sunday, after all. But you decide not to answer the question completely, “I might have work… why—”

Is he going to ask me to come to his game? I mean… I’m going already.

“—oh, nevermind,” he says with pink cheeks, gently releasing your sleeves. “So, um,” he coughs, “did I do alright?”

Oh. Nevermind. You let out a breath of relief, hoping it just came off as an exasperated sigh . That’d ruin the surprise.

You pretend to give him a funny look at the sudden change in topic, adjusting the sleeves back to your wrists before showing him the video.

In your own flushed embarrassment, it seems you overlooked his own flushed cheeks and pounding heart. But that only comes as a relief to Jimin.

By the end of the practice, the two of you wind up parting ways after a cup of coffee and a few pastries from the bakery. It was becoming a tradition to going together, and the more and more time you two got to spend together, the more he was beginning to feel the effects of a mere infatuation bloom into actual feelings. From the small anecdotes about how your love life has been nothing but failed experiences after failed experiences to how much you adored the Harry Potter books so much you’ve read them at least four or five times since you purchased them at the age of nine.

He enjoys the fact that you’re so kind and hardworking, even more so at your timeliness to his Saturday practices. He loves how cold you get from the frost on the other side of the glass and from the outside world, seeing you bundled up when you enter and bundle even more after he’s lent you his oversized black sweatshirt. In truth, he finds you so fascinating and so beautiful, it’s almost sad that he never tried to get to know you sooner. And considering he’s best friends with your family friend, it seems like your paths would’ve crossed sooner (or perhaps that’s him wishing you two had).

He can’t help but throw himself onto his bed after discarding of his practice clothes into his hamper, his backpack a little lighter because he didn’t have to lug that extra weight with him. Just knowing that you have it is enough to make him smile at the loss of one of his favorite sweaters—

“—Dude, you are so whipped.” Taehyung says, plopping down his own backpack and laying on his bed.

Jimin retorts, throwing a pillow, “You hush. Am not.”

His best friend grins, catching it before placing it on his bed. “Are too. You’re practically grinning from ear to ear right now, and I know for a fact that there isn’t a hockey game playing today so there’s only reason why you’re smiling that big.”

He then groans in response, laying flat on his back before craning his head to the brunet, “She’s not coming tomorrow.”

Taehyung’s brows scrunch together as he asks, “How do you know that?”   

“She said she was working tomorrow night.”

“Did she say that word for word?”

Does he know something?

Jimin sits up and looks at the engineering major with narrowed eyes, “Why?”

Despite how nonchalant he tries to look with a simple shrug, Jimin sees the slight panic flash across his eyes. “Well…” he pauses for a second, “It’s important to know what she says verbatim. Leaves chance that she might show up if she said might or maybe or somethin’.”

The hockey player considers this, knowing that you were the type to do things you set your mind on. From working during the school week to pursuing an English major despite the doubt from your family members to waking up early to help him out despite how much you valued that time to sleep in and relax. Of course, the last thing was a result of Taehyung needing mornings to help tutor Jungkook in physics but still you made it work in your schedule because you hated not keeping your word.

So, Jimin took that moment to nod, “Alright. Yeah. You’re right.” He takes a deep breath before admitting, “I just… don’t want to have that expectation that she’ll show and then she doesn’t, y’know?” 

“Don’t worry about it so much! Have a little faith, why dontcha?”

Jimin can’t help but laugh, shaking his head as he says, “Ever the optimistic, aren’t you?”

Without another word, his younger friend merely tosses his pillow back to him, “Of course! Now stop brooding and help me study for this midterm. You owe me~”

And it’s true. Taehyung has played a detrimental part in bringing you and Jimin together. The moment Jimin actually voiced how cute you were, the brunet took it upon himself to set up this a little arrangement. Always sending winks and knowing grins between the two of them whenever he could because this was something pretty new for Jimin.

Having feelings for someone else, even as an infatuation was something new. All Jimin has really ever focused on since his entrance into the university was hockey and school, because juggling a sport and a degree in business was important, and to have a relationship meant adding another priority onto his rather packed list. Yet with you, there was no hassle, just ease. He didn’t need to think so much about his feelings for you when you started filming his practices, rather you slipped your way in like an opposing defense man catching him off guard. He couldn’t find it in himself to fight you off, not the same way as he had with Jooheon last season, but he let himself slip and he hasn’t regretted it since.

By the time tomorrow comes, Taehyung is more than well-equipped to take on his midterm on Monday and Jimin is up bright and early for his well-awaited first game. His own nerves have shaken him to the point where the jitters can’t stop permeating across his limbs. Even his simple walk to breakfast in the kitchen has a spring in his step, and there’s little he can do to help it.

His routine is a normal one where he does nothing else but take careful bites of the Cheerios. Something light to keep everything down. He even goes for a cup of coffee at the downstairs café, smiling to himself because he’s begun to associate all things caffeinated with you. The smell of roasted coffee grounds and the softness of the shop sends his heart in stutters.

His smile can hardly be contained when he receives a text from you. A simple one that says:

[7:34 AM] y/n <3: good luck today, super star!

He replies:

[7:35 AM] me: you coming today?

But he can only feel his heart sink a little when you respond:

[7:35 AM] y/n <3: can’t. Got work :( kick ass for me alright?

You look over at Taehyung as he rests himself upon the counter, waiting for his caramel macchiato. His knowing smile makes you want to roll your eyes, but he shoves over your iced coffee as the two of you make your way out of your shop. Namjoon, your manager waves you off with a wink. Courtesy of Taehyung’s big mouth about the events that are supposed to transpire today.

Of course, you felt bad for telling Jimin you wouldn’t be able to come to his game. It was almost too cruel from the way he responded with a simple, “Oh. Alright, thanks! Wish you were coming.” All of which was tied together with a small little frowny face that made you frown in return. But before you can mull on it further, your own thoughts encircling you in a shroud of doubt that maybe surprising him was a mistake—after all, the only significance you held in his life was his practice recorder—Taehyung wraps an arm around your shoulders and informs you that there is a good thirty minutes until Jimin is playing and you can quote, “There’s no way in hell we’re missing it.”

And so, you allow your giant of a friend who used to be your height until high school came around, guide you to the familiar rink where a mass of people seemed to be entering in their own garbled excitement to see people ram into each other for a small, plastic puck. The next half-hour passes with ease and it isn’t long until you’re inside. The line itself was quite long so by the time you and Taehyung find decent seats, Jimin’s on the ice, facing off against a school from the next city over. It’s like second nature to him as he eases across the scratched ice, going between the opposing team’s defense to score.

When the puck flies past the goalie, you find yourself screaming next to Taehyung and the rest of the supporting crowd. You feel your own endorphins releasing as if you can feel the excitement of others, and suddenly your chest is on fire as you catch Jimin’s eye because in your own daze, your hearing had forgone Taehyung’s screaming of the hockey player’s name.

The moment you meet Jimin’s eyes feels like magic—as if in slow motion, they seem to form those glorious half-moons, meeting yours to remind you of how much you wanted to come see him. It feels like he may feel the same; the way he meets your gaze and sweeps over you in that split second. And despite the brevity of the contact, you can still see the way he lights up, practically feel it. You’re certain that he’s shining more than ever now that he’s seen you and Taehyung, and you almost want to brush it off as nothing but an elbow to your side suggests other things.

He beams at you, obviously overlooking your glare, “Look! Did you see that? He’s freakin’ elated that you’re here!”

You want to scoff, but you hear another roar of cheers as Jimin rams into the center to keep them from scoring. Instead of answering your family friend, you opt to cheer for the boy on the ice. He continues to shoot and score, some of which were assisted by his teammates Jungkook and Seokjin, and it isn’t long until they’ve won and the crowd’s gone even more wild. 

Taehyung ushers you toward the front, now at the entrance of the rink as you find yourself face to face with the gloriously sweat drenched boy which was apparently his first thought over celebrating with the rest of his teammates. But you hardly have time to acknowledge them when you see that his smile is wider than it’s ever been as he practically hollers, “You made it!!!”

“Ye—”

But you barely manage a word as he wraps his arms around you lifting you from your spot. You can barely even hear the roar of cheers from his teammates or even your own shrieks at the sudden contact but you deny the way you smiling broadly at him. With your hands at his shoulders, he sets you back down and perhaps it’s the adrenaline pumping through both of you or the way he’s looked between your eyes and lingered on your lips longer than normal but you firmly grip his jersey and pull him over to meet your lips.

You love it. You love the way the taste of cherry Gatorade and mint intermingle on your lips, the way he seems to pull you in closer, and even the way he pulls away to his forehead to yours and says, “Holy fuck…” in a low, guttural sound. He blinks for a second to ask, “Was that okay?”

With a grin, you manage a nod and a whisper, “Congrats, super star. It was perfect.”

“You told me you couldn’t make it,” he then says, pulling away to raise a brow at you though his hands remain firmly planted at your hips.

You shrug your shoulders and reply sheepishly, “Surprise?”

He throws his head back and laughs, a sound akin to bells or chimes (whatever is the most beautiful, really) before nodding. “Consider me surprised then.”

“Why? ‘Cuz I’m just that breathtaking?” you say with an ever-growing smile. Your heart is swelling to the size of the moon, and seeing his half-moon eyes is making it even larger.

He nods once again, unable to fight back his own elation as he responds, “Damn right you are. Hell, you’re even up before noon. What a miracle.” After a moment, taken from his need to laugh from the small pout you’ve just given him, he says, “How about I hit the showers and afterwards I take you out?”

“Like on a date?” You blink, heart now thudding louder more than ever. Holy shit...

He nods simply, “Can I...?”

“Of cour—”

“—Of course you can,” Taehyung quips to your left, his boxy grin is more prominent than ever. “Have her home at a reasonable time,” he says with feigned sternness though that soon passes as he pats you two on your shoulders, “and you two are very much welcome.”

Before you or Jimin can get a word in, he’s already disappearing past the double doors and waving you two off. And from the looks of the ice, the next game should be beginning soon so you look to Jimin and formally say, “Well, to answer your question: yes.”

“Great,” he says, pressing a kissing to your nose, “How does boba and hotpot sound?”

“Absolutely wonderful.”

—

It isn’t long until he’s out of the showers and dressed warmly for the outside weather, you glance down at your watch and note that it’s barely breaking eleven. Looking up to see Jimin smiling at you, he even offers you a hand that soon interlaces with your fingers. Whether Taehyung set you two up fully knowing both of your feelings or not seems to be a topic you two decide to discuss later. It goes without saying but you can’t help but thank him for that and for showing you just how nice mornings can be.

The chill air hit your cheeks but the warmth at your side makes you feel contentment. He’s chatting about the best things on the restaurant menu, and when he looks at you, you feel yourself even more grateful for the cold because you’re not sure how much teasing you’ll get from the blond-haired man at your side. (Albeit a small part of you can’t wait to hear it come from him.)

And ultimately, though you’d hate to admit it to Taehyung or even Jimin himself, waking up early isn’t so bad after all.

[blissfullylostinarabbithole]

Outsider Pt. 6

Pairing: Step Dad Tony Stark x Teen Reader

Word Count: 2k

Summary: You see first hand how your life is changing, and Bucky decides to take you out.

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After a few hours of buying things you didn’t even like, for school, for photos, for whatever event Tony might need you to look nice for, you were finally allowed to go to shops that had things you would actually wear.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go somewhere else for lunch? There are so many fantastic restaurants and you want to eat at a food court?”

You gestured to the shops across the street. “Look! Four stores with regular clothes, a music shop, and two book stores. Why leave? Besides, I just want a smoothie.” A soft tittering from the person behind you made you aware you had been speaking a bit too loud. You offered him a small, embarrassed smile before your mom started talking again.

“Ok, fine,” she put her hands up in surrender.

Halfway through your meal, you noticed a familiar face with a phone aimed in your direction.

“What’s security supposed to do?” you asked.

Your mom slowly put her sandwich down and gave a quick glance around the area. “They’re supposed to keep an eye out for suspicious looking people, and make sure no one gets too close. Why?”

“Cuz there’s a lady that’s been following us. This is the third time I see her.”

“Ok,” she nodded as she pulled her own phone out. “Describe her.”

“Average height and weight, about mid 40s. Shoulder length brown hair, like walnut colored I guess… She’s wearing tan dress pants and a dark gray jacket thing with lots of buttons.”

She didn’t pause in her texting. “A pea coat?”

“I don’t fucking know,” you huffed. “It looks kinda like a military jacket with the two columns of buttons.”

“That’s a pea coat, sweetie.”

“Why the hell’s she wearing that? It’s almost July.”

“What’s she doing?”

“I dunno, taking pictures or video or something. The back of her phone’s facing us.”

Not long after, three men in suits approached the woman. After some exchanged words, she opened her coat, probably to show if she had anything concealed beneath it. When they left her alone, your mom’s phone went off and she read her message.

“Clear. She’s just a gossip columnist taking pictures.”

“Wonderful. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not stuffing my face,” you grumbled as you stood to throw your cup away.

“I know it’s weird, but you just have to pretend they’re not there. After you confirm they’re harmless, of course,” she stressed. “I’m proud of you. Watching your surroundings is more important now.”

“Rig- oof!” you had bumped into someone as you backed away from the table. “Sorry, excuse me.”

The same man from the line shot you a wide grin. “Don’t worry about it, man,” he dismissed with a giggle.

“I spoke too soon,” your mom teased, earning an eyeroll from you.

As you continued your shopping, you couldn’t help but look at the people around you. All the people watching you and some even snapping pictures. As far as you were concerned, no one should have known who you were. You flew in, got in a fancy car, and went straight to the tower. Who would have seen you? Then it hit you. You still had no idea how your mom came to marry Tony. For all you knew, she could have already been on the cover of every tabloid in the country.

Seein you were beginning to get agitated, your mom began to rub your shoulders in an attempt to comfort you.

“Tony says the trick is to pretend you don’t care,” she whispered. “Don’t give them anything to hold over you.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Can I ask you a stupid question?” Bucky murmured from beside you.

“Sure.”

“What do the words next to peoples’ names mean?” He pointed at the bolded words in brackets before the players names.

“That’s their clan name. If you like the people you play with, or if you have friends that play, you can make a clan. Not only does it ensure you get on the same team, but you can also participate in clan only events and get exclusive weapons, upgrades, skins, all sorts of stuff.”

“Oh.”

“You get ranked on a leaderboard, too, and the higher your rank, the better the prizes you get.”

“You’re not in a clan,” he stated.

“Neither are you,” you shot back a little defensively.

“I didn’t know what it was,” he justified. For a little while, all you could hear were the buttons of your controllers being pressed. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“You wanna be in a clan with me?”

Briefly looking away from the screen, you noticed his ears had turned pink. Realizing he’d never been comfortable enough to ask anyone regarding clan names, and given how long he’d been playing the game, you couldn’t help but feel grateful that he’d been able to ask you.

“Yeah,” you agreed. “What do you wanna call it?”

After going back and forth with what seemed like hundreds of suggestions, you finally decided on ‘Outsiders’ and began to build your kill count as a clan.

Going at it for hours, neither having stopped to join the others for dinner, your stomach started growling. Bucky snickered, only to be silenced by his own stomach calling out as if in response to yours. You both went to the kitchen to look for something, finding nothing satisfactory.

Bucky knocked softly on the counter, briefly lost in thought. “You wanna go to Brooklyn?” he asked suddenly.

You raised a quizzical brow. “What, like, now?”

“Yeah. There’s a 24 hour diner there that has the best food.”

“Alright,” you shrugged, hopping of the counter. “Let’s go.”

“Hang on, I gotta go wake Steve.”

“Why?”

Bucky looked away, awkwardly scratching his chin. “I’m technically not supposed to be out long without him. Tony insists some people are still uneasy about me bein’ on the team…”

“Oh,” you joined him in the elevator, not knowing how to respond to that. “Will he mind?”

“Not if you play along,” he smirked.

“What are you going to do?” you followed him to a door you assumed was Steve’s and watched him knock.

“Coming,” a groggy voice came from inside. The door opened, and Steve had to blink a few times to register who was calling at such a late hour. “What’s wrong, guys?” he yawned.

“Nothin’. We were wonderin’ if you’d come with us to get some burgers...in Brooklyn.”

Steve sighed and leaned his head against the door frame. “Can’t it wait til tomorrow?”

“It could, but we haven’t eaten and there’s nothing in the kitchen.” Steve opened his mouth to speak, but Bucky cut him off. “And before you tell me we shoulda eaten with everyone, remember that some people have lost another’s trust. It’s hard to be around someone who’s always lyin’ to ya, ya know.”

Steve’s eyes flickered to you and nodded, saying he’d be out in a minute before retreating back into his room. Bucky looked over, giving you a pleased smile when the door closed.

“You’re terrible,” you mouthed, unable to help your own smile.

“You’ll thank me when you taste the food,” he whispered as he led you back to the elevator to wait for Steve.

Steve wanted you to ask Tony or your mom if you could even leave the tower first, to which you replied that Tony’s not been given parental privileges and your mother was fast asleep. In the end, you compromised by having FRIDAY notify her if she were to wake before you returned.

Down in the garage, you followed Steve toward the cars until Bucky tugged your arm, leading you toward the motorcycles.

“Stevie, c’mon!” he called, half pleading. “I need to feel the wind on my face.”

Steve turned, sighing in defeat as you excitedly put on the helmet you were given. To your surprise, he didn’t argue, and hopped on his own bike as you climbed on behind Bucky.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The ride was exhilarating, and far too short for your taste. Bucky and Steve chuckled at your soft whine when the engines died and you had to get off. When you left the tower, you were thinking of only getting something small, but the trip had you in the best mood you’d been in since your mom returned from her trip, and you were actually feeling good enough to eat something substantial.

As you walked in, a stack of newspapers and magazines caught your eye as you saw yourself on the cover of some tabloid. You groaned internally, seeing someone, probably the woman in the coat, had snapped a photo when you bumped into the giggling man on your way to the garbage can. You hadn’t really paid much attention to him then, his red hair and a too big smile catching you off guard.

Following the guys to the large corner booth, you took a seat and began to peruse the menu. The server came and you placed your order, eyes growing wider as list of food the other two were ordering grew longer.

Conversation flowed easily, with Bucky telling you what he could remember of their days in the 40s, while Steve filled in the blanks. They asked about the ‘boyfriend’ you left behind, and laughed when you explained the joke to them. When the food arrived, enough to cover the whole table, they insisted you take some of everything and watched as every bite you took elicited sounds of pleasure. Bucky had promised the food would be incredible, and he didn’t disappoint.

When the food was gone, you excused yourself to the restroom and washed your hands, finding them ready to leave when you returned. You put on the helmet and mounted the bike before taking off. Almost immediately, you noticed you were going the wrong way.

“Hey guys?” you shouted at a stop light. “This isn’t the way we came from.”

“We’re not going back to the tower, yet,” Steve replied. “We’ve still got one more stop.”

Perking up, your smile grew as the minutes ticked by and a familiar smell became stronger. They were taking you to a beach. The bike had barely stopped, and you leapt off before the engine was cut off. You made a run for the water, tossing your shoes and socks off on the way, desperate to feel the sand under your feet again. When you reached the shore, you rolled the legs of your bottoms up so they wouldn’t get wet, and waded in until you were knee deep.

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and allowed your other senses to take over. It smelled different, and the crashing wasn’t as loud, but it still sent a wave of comfort washing over you.

“Hey, you ok?” Bucky’s soft voice rang from beside you.

“I am now,” you smiled, gazing out as far as you could in the dark. You turned to look for Steve, who was making his way over as well.

The three of you stood in companionable silence, content smiles on your faces. You were glad to have some semblance of familiarity, while Steve embraced the rare moment he could feel at peace. Bucky was just happy he could do something good for someone. He didn’t think it was much, but the look on your face told him it meant more to you than he could have imagined.

The moment was over, though, when a large wave crashed into you, knocking you off your feet and soaking the others. You got up, coughing out the remainder of the salt water you managed not to swallow.

“Y/N, your boyfriend’s kind of a jerk,” Steve commented, taking your hand and pulling you back to them.

“Yeah, Doll, I think he might be mad at you.”

You dropped to you knees, unable to contain yourself as you burst out in a fit of giggles. The others joined you, and soon you were overtaken by deep belly laughs. Now that you were all wet, you splashed around and tried to knock each other down. When you tired, Steve had you hop on his back and carried you to where you parked, while Bucky brought everyone’s footwear.

At the tower, they walked you to your room, where you thanked them once again for the amazing night. You wanted to go to bed, but the ride back left you chilled to the bone due to your wet clothes, and needed to take a warm shower if you didn’t want to risk getting sick. When you were finally able to settle in, you drifted off peacefully for the first time since this nightmare began.

~ ~ TAG LISTS ~ ~

Permanent -  @melconnor2007 @ria132love @psychicwitchphilosopher @sireennotsiren  @silence–in–the–library  @thefridgeismybestie​

Avengers - @majd943

Outsider -  @abbybills22 @whovianayesha @alicethecactus

[shellalana]

Pretend Gun

((writing prompt from @witterprompts))

“We’re gonna introduce you to some fun. You look like you’ve been lacking.” Reyna would have expected such words from one of the younger members of her team, someone who knew how to have stupid fun without any rules attached. But to hear it in that low, gruff tone of the resident clone was… intriguing. And maybe a little scary. After all, his idea of fun involved adding as many tally marks to his body count as possible in hopes of outdoing his record the previous day. Reyna could see how that was fun to him, but she preferred saving more lives than snuffing them out. “And what fun could you possibly show me that I haven’t seen already?” “You’d be surprised, boss.” “Uh huh.” Reyna leaned over the back of her chair, glowering at him in disbelief. She had things to do, meetings to go to (or avoid), and plenty of other tasks that needed doing that couldn’t be entrusted to other people. “And what exactly do I look like if you think I’m lacking fun?” “Uptight.” “Is that your nice way of saying ‘bitchy’?” Whiskey Foxtrot smirked in response as he leaned against her doorframe, his posture challenging her to deny his suggestion. She knew more than most that she hadn’t cut loose in a long time, that she was wound up so tight, not even an intense mission could bring her back down. She’d break at this rate, and that was the last thing she wanted, not when everything was going so smoothly. Reyna sighed and tossed her pen onto her notes with a casual roll of her eyes. She snagged her jacket in passing on the way to the door, her hip bumping against his. “Fine. But if this gets boring, I’m outta there.” Not that she’d ever known the clone to be boring, but some of his extracurricular activities were... not really to her taste. For once, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. “Then you don’t know me very well,” he quipped, the door sliding closed behind her as he led the way, his shoulders squared back and his back a lot straighter. This was going to be fun as hell. “… a cooking class.” Reyna stared down at the apron being tied around her waist, her lip curled. Why had she let him talk her into this? “Helps me relax.” The clone already had a knife in hand, a single egg spinning on the flat of the blade as he beamed with pride. “Cuz you know what the hell you’re doing. Setting things on fire is not my idea of relaxing.” Reyna leaned away from the flames that sprung up from the frying pan, and attempted to kill them with the flat of her spatula. “Could’ve fooled me with those explosives you used last week.” A flick of the wrist sent the egg into the air, and it landed gently on the other side of the knife, still spinning. “I hardly think blowing up an LLC machine shop can be compared to making a cake.” Nope, throwing flour on it was only making it worse. And he just stood there, chuckling to himself. “It’s a souffle, actually.” “Oh my god…” Her words were smothered by the hand that dragged itself down her face, the other reaching for the nearest cup of liquid to put out the grease fire. It would be a saving grace if the floor could swallow her up any second now.

“So that was a bust…” Long thick claws picked pieces of egg shell out of her hair, while Reyna dusted the flour off her jacket. “A bust?! You call getting kicked out ‘a bust’?!” The chef had had enough of her lack of culinary skills, having set almost everything on her kitchentop on fire. Including the sugar. A dull headache was growing behind her eyes, and she knew she’d snap at him eventually if things didn’t get better soon. “I didn’t think you’d be that bad.” He flicked another piece of shell away as her small leather fist connected with his boob in response. “Ugh, fine, we’ll go back home. And I thought Shayne was moody.” He caught the second punch easily, knowing that it was coming. She was becoming predictable like that, her reactions to his verbal jabs. She was becoming comfortable with him... Perfect.

As they rounded the corner away from the main street, Reyna lost the air from her lungs as she collided against the splintering wood that boarded up the windows. No one had been in these buildings for a long time - the street was literally abandoned - but she had a project in the works to get it back up and running again. Some kind of rebranding and reimaging to make the place look more welcome. That’s what she’d been working on before he whisked her off to this... disaster of an evening. They’d been through this kind of song and dance before, finding inappropriate times and places to “let their hair down.” She would have welcomed it, their usual way of venting frustrations and stress. She half-expected the claws digging into her jacket to remove the leather and the shirt beneath, but her bated breath was for naught, not with the unwelcoming look she saw in his eye. “What’re you doing?” Her teeth still ached from being rattled around, but she couldn’t help the natural smirk her lips always seemed to fall into. “Finally get the Valkyrie alone, with no around to help, and her defences lowered? What do you think?” She felt him ease the weight of her pistol out of its holster, and narrowed her eyes against the reflected glare from the overhead street lights against the metal. “Ha ha. That’s not funny.” “Never said I was joking.” The metal was cold against her chin, and she felt her heart stop in her chest. She braced against his push, the barrel digging into her skin, in order to meet his gaze. This didn’t make any sense. He had to be pulling her leg. Tick. Everything stopped in that second. No time to catch her breath, no time to think. He could pull the trigger easily and end it all. Then her mind went into overdrive as she dug herself out of the quicksand of panic. With his hand occupied by the pistol, that left her shoulder free, and she drove the knuckles of two fingers into his eye. The attack came from an awkward angle, and ended up grazing than delivering the blow she wanted. Still, it was enough pain for him to take a step back, for him to lose just that much more of his grip on her, enough for her thumb to find the soft spot between his ulna and radius and wrest his wrist away from her. She didn’t think about the moisture on her knuckles and how wet the punch had sounded. She didn’t think about the fact that he still had her gun, or that he was a whole foot and a half taller than her. She didn’t think about why he was doing this, and now of all times. What she did think about was the best part of his ribs to swing the toe of her boot into: too low and it would be tense muscle; too high, and he could easily block it with his forearm. His knees were already well-protected with his spiked guards So she went for his crotch. Only he blocked that easily too, with the mass of his upper leg. “You’re getting too predictable, boss. Guy bigger than you, you without a gun or your friends to help you... you should be better than th-” The clone didn’t get to finish as she bullrushed him, her arms wrapped around his middle as she dug her heels in. He had to commend her, he was definitely taken by surprise, but that wasn’t reason for him to go easy on her. A bladed elbow came down right on the middle of her back and stole her air a second time, but her grip didn’t relent. She was small, stubborn as hell, and would fight with her last breath if she had to. “I am!” A leg hooked around the back of his knee and pulled him off balance, sending him sprawling backwards to the muddied, filthy street. He landed with a grunt, and her on top of him with that shock of red hair smooshed and flattened against his chest. Recovery on his part was a no-go; her boot heel collided with his throat as she flipped herself over onto him, the other delivering a kick to the side of his helmet. He felt his vision spin, unaware that she’d wrenched the pistol from his hand and was currently pressing it to his cheekbone. “Heh... feel better...?” The tingling pain that ran down his neck couldn’t mean anything good, but at least he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do. Her shoulders heaved in her desperate need for air, and her look... he was definitely going to pay for being a dumbass. Click. They both blinked in surprise at the sound. Reyna was sure her gun had been loaded, while Whiskey had never considered she’d ever pull the trigger on him. He’d make a note of that for next time... if he were stupid enough to try this kind of shit again. With a grin, he presented the bullets in the palm of his hand, the metal sparkling like some kind of unclaimed prize. “Too slow, boss.” “Too slow this.” Reyna flipped the gun around and pistol-whipped him across the cheek. It wasn’t hard enough to render him unconsciousness, but it did make her feel better. Just an ounce. “You pull that kind of s**t again, I’ll cram that helmet so far down your f**king throat...” She propped herself up on shaky legs as she jammed her pistol back into her holster, not bothering to retrieve her ammo from his hand. She could feel her heart still dancing in her throat, her subconscious poring over all the other ways this scenario could have gone. None of them made her feel any better about this. Her casual attitude around him, her slack in detail and protecting herself, being too predictable in her movements... “Look forward to it... long as I get dessert after...” Whiskey gave in to gravity and let his head rest against the pavement. It felt too heavy, and he knew that if he got up, she’d kick him right back down again. “Don’t I at least get a thank you?” A dumb question, he knew, because the next sounds he heard were her footsteps growing quieter as she headed back to the ship. The make-up sex was going to be great.

[thisiswhatwereupagainst]

616 Donald Pierce Part Two: The Reavers

Hey guys! Welcome to Part Two in the complete comics history of Donald Pierce! If you missed it, here is PART ONE and the accompanying IMAGE POST for it! Now, where did we leave off? Ok, so Pierce busts out of Shaw's private prison, and he heads where all criminals go, to Australia! ….can I make that joke, am I gonna piss off Australians, or??? Anyway, little-known fact, he did not MAKES the Reavers. The Reavers were already a criminal gang when he got there. He just took over them and added his buddies Macon, Cole, and Reese to their number. I'm not entirely clear if they were already cyborgs when he took over them, or if he enhanced them afterwards. Due to Lady Deathstrike's own...modified nature...and her hatred for Wolverine, she also joins up with them. And Pierce is VERY interested in her. He talks about how he likes her and how sophisticated and complex her mechanical parts are, and says that he finds her “irresistibly fascinating as both woman and machine.” He calls her “milady” so you know he’s a douche, but then, we already knew that) Also, there is smooching.

The Reavers are an...interesting bunch, particularly Pretty Boy. http://thisiswhatwereupagainst.tumblr.com/post/155814768208/much-like-the-shadow-king-the-reaver-cyborg-known Seriously, what in the HELL? Bonebreaker is half tank, okay.  Skullbuster is a Red Skull rip-off with giant guns, okay. And Pretty Boy's power is...RAPE?! Are the Reavers like this in the movie? Seriously, please tell me they did NOT put Pretty Boy in the movies!

Anyway, they attack Wolverine in Australia (where the X-Men were hanging out in secret at this time) and not only manage to overtake him, they stake him up on an X-shape crucifix. Damn! Pierce tortures and taunts him, but Wolvie refuses to scream. A massive storm hits, so the Reavers go inside. Guys, no! This was the time period in comics when his healing factor had limits! You could have killed him! Sorry, it's not that I want Logan dead, just...leaving the bound hero alive and alone and just assuming he won't get away is SUCH A CLCHE VILLAIN ERROR! And of course, Jubilee showed up to help Wolvie escape. Jubilee was not an X-Men at this time, she was a kid who had secretly been hiding in their base, and this was the first meeting between her and Logan. That's right, Donald Pierce was a part of bringing this iconic duo together! Donald Pierce sends cyborg dingos after them (YES CYBORG DINGOS get it cuz they're in Australia!) but Wolvie scraps 'em while Jubilee fires her powers at a wall so it falls on Pierce and buries him! That's the end of that adventure! When we next see the Reavers, Cole, Macon, and Reese (remember, those Hellfire guys? They joined the Reavers with Pierce!) are pissy they have the clean water out of the Reavers base (I love seeing slice-of-life stuff like that; even bad guys have to clean house!) but are happy they're not getting 'retoole' like the others. Like, say, Pierce knocking Pretty Boy's head off when he taunts him and grafting it on to an ugly robotic body. Since decapitation ends up being something that happens to Pierce more than once, it's kind of ironic to me he does this to someone else. And frankly, I'm glad it was Pretty Boy -shudders-  Anyway, after this little...tiff...they attack Moira MacTaggert and the mutants who are living with her on Muir Island, as Pierce believed Wolverine had retreated there. To be honest, I kinda wonder why Pierce cares so much about Wolverine? I get why Cole, Macon, and Reese do, because Logan fucked them up in particular, but I don't know why Pierce has a special grudge against him over the other X-Men.  But, considering that those three henchmen AND Lady Deathstrike all have special grudges against Logan, and that's WHY they're working for Pierce, to get at Logan, maybe it's not that Pierce gives a shit about Wolverine but that he knows his minions do so he's making sure to keep them happy by going after him...and that's fine with him because he's happy to kill any mutant, especially an X-man. Anyway, it failed, but Pierce did kill the superhero Stonewall and Pretty Boy killed the mutant Sunder, so they did strike some blows to the Muir Island bunch...if only to characters I'm pretty sure no one remembers or cares about. :/ Pierce approached a woman, Cylla Markham, a pilot who ha recently suffered terrible injuries when her plane was shot down, and offered her the opportunity to become a cyborg if she served him. She agreed, but while she was still in the works, so to speak, the Reavers came into conflict with the Punisher. Long story short, the Punisher seriously fucked them up, and they had to flee, much to Pierce's displeasure. They also attacked Emma Frost's company, and had a surprise visit from Rogue and Ms. Marvel.   Elsie Dee and Albert were created by Pierce during this time too. They're androids, and you can read about them here: https://uncannyxmen.net/characters/albert-elsie-dee  Anyway, that's about it for Pierce in the 1980s. Then the 1990s rolled around. Now, with the 1990s came a squad of new writers, and several of them worked on issues concerning a squad of villains called the Upstarts. The Upstarts were a group of young new villains, and their purpose was basically the wipe out the old ones. So we had Shinobi Shaw killing Sebastian Shaw, Fabian Cortez killing Magneto, Trevor Fitzroy putting Emma Frost in a coma...the idea was that these kids were clearing the way for a new generation with new baddies. But, fans still wanted their old favorites, so none of this lasted---Sebastian and Magneto came back to life and killed their killers, Emma woke up from her coma and joined the good guys, etc.---but they did get Donald Pierce amongst their casualities. And in a REALLY hilarious way. Basically, the Reavers are sitting around drinking (because I guess cyborgs can do that?) and all of a sudden HOLY SHIT SENTINELS! And Sentinels are just supposed to go after mutants, but these Sentinels belong to Trevor Fitzroy of the Upstarts, who has reprogrammed them to kill the Upstarts targets. So they take out the Reavers, but Pierce manages to get away (his cowardly tendencies get mentioned by someone, but, uh, I don't think you have to be a coward to want to run from GIANT DEATH MACHINES) and he gets the teleporting mutant Gateway to send him to the Hellfire Club. Pierce tells him to send him to the person responsible for the Sentinels, and I think he thought they were responsible, which is an understandable guess since Shaw built Sentinels for profit. But Gateway decides to be a dick (probably because it's Pierce) and SENDS THE SENTINELS AFTER HIM AHAHAHAHA! Anyway, one of the Sentinels blasts Pierce to bits, and then they start on the other mutants who are there---Emma Frost, her Hellions, and the X-Men. Fitzroy is there too, and personally kills the Hellions, while Emma Frost is knocked into a coma. Then, wanting to brag to his fellow Upstart Shinobi Shaw, Fitzroy breaks into the guy's room in the middle of the night holding his prizes---the unconscious Emma and THE HEAD OF DONALD PIERCE AND HE TOSSES PIERCE'S HEAD INTO SHINOBI'S BED SHINOBI COMPLAINS ABOUT MOTOR OIL GETTING ON “MY VERY EXPENSIVE SILK SHEETS!” And after that, it's just...never explained what happens to Pierce's head from there. The X-Men recover Emma, but I guess Pierce's head just gets left in Shinobi's room indefinitely as like a REALLY ugly piece of home décor! And guys, if you know anything about Shinobi Shaw, you know Pierce SAW things there, man. I almost feel sorry for the guy! Next time: Pierce’s adventures in the 90s! In the meantime, check out this IMAGE POST!

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

In November of last year, we launched Owlboy to some insane reviews, and having just crossed 100.000 sales, we've started to pick up our promotion efforts around the world! Starting with a journey across the States!

And phew, that was SOME journey! We showed off Owlboy at DICE, GDC and SXSW, where it won the Gamer's Voice Award! Using our merch-girl's tiny Kia Sportage, we've been on the road for 2 months!

BUT, WHY are we spending this much time on the road? Why would any dev spend their precious time doing promo-tours, in this age of connectivity? Promoting your game is as easy as posting about it on Twitter right?

In this post, I'm going to touch on why we've become addicted to travel, how it has impacted Owlboy's development, and try and figure out if it's been a worthy investment on our part. I'll share numbers, costs and tips on how to fund your travel.

Let's go back to the beginning. One major reason why we started journeying across the sea was simple - Back home, NOBODY cared about our game. We first started showing Owlboy around in 2008 (even before I joined the team in 2009).

American press picked up on it immediately, while in Norway - the game would remain unknown until our debut in Norwegian newspapers back in 2011. We immediately realized Owlboy's international potential once it got nominated for the IGF in San Francisco. We've been traveling to San Francisco annually since then.

Having convention goers, developers and press show genuine interest in the game made us believe in ourselves. Not only were we able to promote it, but we felt like people were listening to us, seemingly understanding what our game and team was all about. I immidiatly set out to discover more venues!

Since getting nominated to IGF, I've been actively seeking out conferences to attend. Below is a list of some of the events and festivals where we displayed Owlboy:

GDC (San Francisco, nominated for IGF 2010, annually attendance ever since)

Fantastic Fest (Austin, Texas, 2011)

PAX 10 (Pax Prime 2013, Seattle)

PAX Rising (Pax Prime 2016, Seattle)

SXSW (2013, Austin Texas)

SXSW Indie Corner (2017, Owlboy won the Gamer's Voice Award)

E3 (Los Angeles, 2012)

Minecon (Indie Area, London, 2013)

SpillExpo (Lillestrom, Norway, annually since 2013)

Raptus (Comic Festival, Norway, Bergen)

Nordic Game (Malmo, annually since 2011, Sweden)

Giga Con (2014, Stand Indie)

Norwegian Game Awards (Owlboy won GOTY, Award Ceremony)

SpillPrisen (Owlboy won 3 prizes, Award Ceremony)

Gullstikka (Savant - Ascent won GOTY, Award Ceremony)

(Recently I discovered PromoterApp, a calendar for any important deadlines or events that might interest budding developers!)

I got so addicted to showing our games off, I started arranging my own indie booth in Norway to help spread some love for our neighboring devs, and give them the same shots we had. We called it Stand Indie.

Stand Indie at SpillExpo 2012. It became a major success, and indies has been a part of SpillExpo ever since.

Later years, I've been too busy with development to help out, but now that Owlboy is released, I aim to get back in the game, starting with a roadtrip through Norway!

But none of our travel had been possible without friends. Meeting new developers, and talking to them or adding them on social media helps you stay in the loop for whenever new events are happening. I would have missed half the events we ended up going to, hadn't it been for reminders from fellow devs.

Below is a list of dev groups I recommend following (I'll keep this list updated as I find more):

It's hard to tell what we've gained from traveling around - especially in the form of exposure and sales. One thing I know however, it's helped boost our working morale something fierce! There's something about seeing players experience your game first-hand, and getting real-life feedback.

Each time we've come home from manning a booth, we've returned with notebooks full of useful tidbits. Heck, we added an entire new dungeon based on feedback from IGF players, whom had struggled with the controls.

Travel is never cheap, but we've found ways to help us save some coin. For GDC, we've always made sure to book hotels in the neighboring town of Oakland, and commute to San Francisco.

One other great tip is to get your trip funded. Whenever we went to GDC forexample, we've always tried to be part of a presentation or panel, so that our lodgings got taken care of. It also helps to be prepped way ahead of schedule. Start looking for events today, and you're bound to find some that'll fit in your schedule.

Simon's talk at GDC - The Motivational Power Of Inspiration.

My own country, Norway, also has a brilliant travel fund for students and industry professionals, to which I always apply. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities that present themselves, and never think: "No way we'll get nominated/funded/selected".

I think most countries has some kind of funding instances. I'm more than happy to create a list of funds in different countries so feel free to tweet them at me.

Now let's look at real costs for a moment. A typical journey costs us about:

Flight $500 per person, one way $1.000 Total. Food $50 x 7 days per person $350 Total. Hotel $50 x 7 days per person $350 Total. Transport $25 x 7 per person $175 Total.

A one week journey would cost us a total of $1.875 per person.

We're usually at least 3 folks traveling, so it adds up pretty quickly! Luckily(???), as unemployed indie developers with no paychecks, we've had few other regular expenses other than food.

Let's try and find out what our expenses has gained us, both short-term and in the long run. Below are examples of what we've gained from our travels:

A foothold in the US, and direct contact with press, publishers and developers.

Face to face interviews (GameReactor, Eurogamer, etc.)

Invitations to parties where we can connect with like-minded people.

Nominations for awards, invitations to shows, business deals.

Direct contact with fans.

A venue to sell our game/merch, arrange give-aways/competitions.

Seeing new places, gain inspiration, come up with new ideas!

Looking at this list, it might seem like we didn't gained much compared to the costs, BUT, we aim to stay in this industry for a long, long time. Gaining fans, contacts and friends are great, as they'll follow the development of future titles (or even read your long-ass blog posts).

While it's impossible for me to convert travel into sales, the long term gains are extremely valuable.

Press is one thing. Since I'm a developer, and because we're a small team, talking to press feels way more rewarding than directing them to a publisher, or a marketing guy. I know the backstory and all the dirty details on the game. Whenever you talk to 'D-Pad Studio', you are talking to the guys who created the game. This way, it'll be way easier for us to spread info on our coming projects!

While parties are a great way to connect with new people, I always prefer talking to people one-on-one, that's just the way I'm built (maybe it's a Norwegian thing?). But parties are great for meeting people you might like to talk to later. When out traveling, always carry some business cards, or even printed codes for your game - anything that clearly states which game you're working on.

BUT, my absolute top recommendation for traveling is that your brain gets a chance to disconnect from "working". I've never been able to sit on my computer and "work" on coming up with new ideas. Our greatest new ideas has come from just loitering around an airport, or sitting on a train. New ideas usually spring outta nowhere, but I find that during travel is when my creativity runs on it's own.

When I started working with games, I had no idea I was gonna travel the world. I was picturing a nine-to-five job on a computer. Travel has become part of how we maintain our business, morale, and creativity!

Our latest booth marked the first time we've displayed Owlboy post-launch! We jumped at the opportunity to try our luck as sales-men! Not only did we manage to sell t-shirts and buttons, but more than a few expo-goers were eager to purchase the game!

As an added incentive, I made sure the game was on a 25% discount on all digital stores for the occasion. It worked like a charm!

Roughly calculated, I think we earned back what we spent on travel, and it prompted us to come up with new ideas for our next booth! It makes a huge difference to finally be able to talk about Owlboy in past-tense.

This is the first booth where I've heard Simon utter the words "Wow, this is actually starting to look rather professional".

A few tips we've picked up from manning our own booths:

It's always a good idea to display the logo of your game very visibly. We got comments from expo-goers who'd spotted our booth from the other side of the convention hall! Posters are cheap to print at any FedEx Office with access to copy machines.

Business cards are a given, but also make sure to display them properly, and even print your game-art on there. People are more prone to recognize your game logo, than your company.

Also, hire a guy who KNOWS how to sell. your. game! Often, I find myself hard pressed to try and sell Owlboy, cuz, well, we're the architects behind it. As devs, we are inherently awful at selling our own product, because we tend to point out all the flaws in our work.

We've been lucky enough to be graced with a friend who does sales for a living. Here's to you Noah!

While we're far from experts, we've spent nearly 10 years of travel and attending conventions. We've seen the effects of displaying our work, and doing presentations, interviews and greeting fans with our development woe stories has sort of become second nature by this point.

Sitting on my computer and knowing we'll soon be on the road again, fills me with glee. We get to see the reaction of our players first-hand. We get words of praise, or constructive critique (funny how criticism feels more grounded once it's face-to-face).

Our games have been shaped by the reactions of the people playing them, and is another reason why we decided to spend all this extra time in developing Owlboy. Soon, I will touch on ALL the changes it went through.

For now, we hope to see you on our travels!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Konnestra who helped me touch up my blog with her illustrations. For travel tips, or if you want us to visit your fave convention - get in touch!  ~ Jo

[chokefriends]

Pit-town Strays Ch.1

Kidlaw softness and redneck shenanigans in a northern mining town. Everything's fucked but whatever.

Rated T, no warnings, or just general warnings for setting-specific social ills and violence (racist cops, shitty parents, etc). Someone ordered wholesome kidlaw family feels? well HERE.

[Ch. 1] - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - Ch. 5

Read on Ao3 too, I’m Ossicle

“What the hell are you going to Pit-town for?” Bellamy chewed at Law with his mouth open, a smarmy sneer on his pasty face.

“None of your business.” Law scowled, turning his eyes away from his brother’s ground-up breakfast. He shoved a random pile of coursework into his backpack.

“Well I know what kids like you go up there to do. Everybody knows.” Bellamy drawled on, like he knew shit about anything besides scamming beer and shooting bottles at the quarry.

“Don’t make assumptions, idiot. I’m just babysitting.”

“Why?”

“It’s called a job? You should try it,” Law suggested primly. “Feet.”

Bellamy lifted his feet off Law’s pile of textbooks. “Why, though? You got that big scholarship, I seen the letter when it came in.”

Law frowned at him. “How did you…”

“Well it was just there, so I read it. Why don’t you move out, if you got all that money? You hate it here so much.”

Law waved this matter aside. “I owe that money to someone. Give me the volvo keys.”

Bellamy didn’t move his stupid stumpy self from the ancient recliner—prized spot in the basement space the three brothers shared. “No, I need it, I’m meeting up with some guys later to go down to the quarry. Dad said I could.”

“Bellamy, I need it to get to town. Just gimme the keys.”

“Well I need it to pick up little ladies! You can hitch, right?”

Law didn’t bother arguing. He sighed through his nose and slid his feet into his severely ratty sneakers before heading out into the yard.

“Don't tell Dad where I am or I'll tell him about your girlfriend!” Law called on his way out.

“Obviously,” Bellamy muttered.

The ancient volvo wasn’t feeling cooperative today, or Law was having a lapse or something because he couldn’t fucking hotwire it. He slammed his fist on the dash and took out his phone. It was an oddly summery fall day—not too cold to walk or bike—but his shoes were getting thin in the soles, and Law didn't like asking his dad for little stuff like that. Didn't wanna be such a burden all the time.

He scrolled through his messages and sent a couple off to see about a ride. But Robin (who'd suggested the job) was teaching, and Baby (sweet, bitter Baby) was already in the sauce.

BB: i cn still come tho? you real stuck?? big bro awwwww im sry

You: Nono dont go driving if youre partying it up, Ill hitch a ride I guess

BB: Where?

You: Just into town

BB: Where in town??????

You: The Pit.

You: or whatever.

BB: LAWWW NOOOOOOOOooo jus kidding lol no judgement here

BB: id sell it on weekends too if i were pretty liek U

You: I’m not selling my ass!!!

BB: Lol

BB: sure

BB: why else ndn boi hangs w miner trash? Shady.

You: Lots of reasons, including a babysitting job. Don’t make assumptions.

BB: “babysitting”” “””job”””’

You: Yes.

BB: God ur sheltered

BB: shltered bebe in u nice rich house

BB: don get picked up there, pit-town piggies love ndn bebes

Law pocketed his phone with an eyeroll and started walking down toward the highway.

Once he’d found a ride and gotten dropped off, it was a twenty minute walk from the highway to the Pit. Law ended up climbing over the bare, rocky hill behind the truck stop, cuz his phone’s map had the place all wrong. On top of the hill, he could see the Pit in all its glory laid out before him.

Pit-town was the weird little enclave where the town’s mine workers were housed, in tar paper houses as outdated as the mine itself. The tangled machinery of the refinery loomed just beyond the houses, and above all that, the smokestacks. White smoke drifted from their peaks, as high above him as the clouds. Nothing except low bush berries grew around here—it was like an outpost on the moon.

Law went down into the village. Men with tattooed arms watched him from pickup trucks, and women smoking in lawn chairs whispered. Half-feral dogs barked and circled.

“Ya lost, hun?” one busty woman called from her front step as he passed, and her friends chuckled.

“No…” he mumbled back, and hurried on as they all laughed.

He was flustered and out of breath by the time he got to the address, on the other fucking side of the whole village. The house was like the rest: a single-storey bungalow on a small plot of land with a car port full of dead appliances. There was a little pink bike lying on the front step, and a short dog chain attached to a pole in the middle of the bare yard. A deep trail had been trod in a circle around the pole but there was no dog in sight. Law went up and knocked lightly.

He stood there for a few minutes, feeling the neighborhood eyes on his back, before trying again. He knocked a little louder. “Hey, um. Hello?”

A harsh voice called, “YEAH IT’S OPEN.”

Law tried the door. “No it’s not?” he called back.

“YEAH IT IS JUST KICK IT AND TURN THE THING AT THE SAME TIME.”

“...No, definitely not open,” Law assured him after trying every kick-turn combination.

“AH FUCK.”

“Yeah.”

“OKAY, CAN YOU JUST BREAK IN?”

“...What??” Law was almost offended.

“I’M DOING A THING, CAN’T GET THE DOOR RIGHT NOW, JUST TRY SOMETHING.”

Obviously Law could break into stuff, because his shitty little brothers thought it was hilarious to lock him out of the house all the time. And because their father thought it was prudent to keep things like Law’s ID in a secure location. Law didn’t think that skill set was a great way to start this ‘job’ thing, though… He looked around at the prying eyes across the street and they flitted back behind their blinds. He sighed.

The lock was just one of the doorknob ones, and the jamb didn’t have a guard on it so it was easy to get a credit card in there. The door swung open and Law stepped into a cluttered hallway.

“In here!” the big voice called from down the hall.

“I here!” a little voice added.

Law navigated his way carefully, stepping over baskets of laundry, unreturned empties, and sealed up moving boxes. Something obnoxious was playing on tinny speakers in another room. He rounded the corner into a sweltering little kitchen that seemed like the only clear spot in the house.

There was a very tall redhead with a face full of piercings sitting at the kitchen table in his boxers, and a much smaller redhead in a frilly blue bathing suit beside him. They were painting their toenails black, with their feet up on the table.

The bigger redhead seemed really shocked to see Law. He almost toppled backward on his chair. “H-hi! Uh! You’re Native.”

Law blinked. “Yeah. Um. You’re naked.”

“I’m Nami!” announced the little girl.

The guy was pretty much naked, by Law’s standards. Also kind of jacked… Law could feel his face heating up and was glad that it didn’t really show on him. The man sitting there in his boxers was pale as a fucking ghost, though, and so his sudden flush was super obvious. He rushed to recover from that intro.

“I don’t mean like, ‘oh, you’re Native.’ Well, obviously you are, heh, but I don’t mind or anything!"

“Yeah, uh.” Law nodded helpfully. “I don’t mind either, that you’re… naked.”

“Kidd is a naked...” Nami sang to herself.

“I'm not even,” Kidd protested. “I'm just hot as hell. Aren't you hot?”

“Am I??” Law was completely lost.

“Not—! I mean, yeah, but you're in a hoodie? Aren't you sweltering?” Kidd clarified.

“Oooh. No, not really. I like to keep covered up,” Law explained, picking at a fraying sleeve. He supposed it was weird to be wearing jeans and a hoodie in this weather, but no weirder than wearing Crocs in public, like people here seemed into doing.

Kidd was distracted by Nami painting patterns on her feet with the nail polish. “Fuck, Nami, stop, we just paint the nails. It’s messy, see? MESSY.” He took the tiny girl and sat her on the counter instead, then went about cleaning up the table. “Sorry about the door. Can’t go anywhere with wet toenails, it smears like hell.”

Law nodded harder and went to help him. “It’s cool, I know how to break into stuff. I mean I don’t usually! But your door was easy. Not that I’ll do it again!”

“Not a problem… uh, Kidd. I’m Kidd. Hi.” The guy finally got his head together and extended a hand. His fingernails were painted black too. He had a really firm grip.

“Law,” Law replied in relief.

“And this is my sister Nami,” Kidd jabbed a thumb at the toddler perched precariously on the counter. “She’s a fucking psychopath.”

Nami ignored them, sticking towels into the toaster instead.

“You have a dog too? I saw the chain outside.” Law wondered.

“No, Dad took the dog with him. And the fuckin car…”

“Your parents are both working?” Law asked, and immediately regretted it. God, he really was sheltered.

Kidd blushed again and started stacking dishes.

Law rushed to clarify. “Or, ‘parent'? I only got one too—a dad. I'm adopted though, and my birth parents are both passed, so.”

Kidd was wiping off each dish absently under the running water, not really cleaning anything. “We got a dad and mom, they’re just… not around right now. So it’s just us! Which is better, believe me.” He growled the last bit under his breath.

“Oh, got it.”

“Anyway. I didn't wanna ask someone to come all the way here to watch Nami, but that bitch down the street won’t take her anymore because of lice or property damage or something, and I got an interview today. I’ll prolly find another illegal daycare somewhere around here if I do get this job, though, heh.”

“Yeah don’t worry about it.” Law tried not to seem squeamish at the mention of lice.

“If they do take me I’ll be starting right away, so I might be out til pretty late,” Kidd warned him. “I’ll pay you for however long you’re here for though.”

“Sounds good. You gonna work at the mine?”

This seemed like another sensitive issue. Kidd looked away and muttered, “No… you gotta be 21, and take all these courses and stuff. And anyway, like HELL will I end up in the fuckin pit,” he finished with unexpected heat.

Law was saved from having to come up with a response by Nami blowing up the toaster outlet. The kitchen appliances all blinked out.

“FUCK! Again…” Kidd rushed to pick her up and sit her back on the table as a loud dryer beep sounded from the bathroom. “And fuck, there’s my pants. Listen, can you grab a fuse from the drawer there and stick it in? I actually REALLY gotta go, like right now.”

“Yeah of course!” Law watched the strange redhead duck through the kitchen door and pick his way down the obstacle course hall to another door.

He pulled his eyes away from the muscled back and onto the little girl, who was… eating nail polish.

“You!” Law scolded her, and put her in a chair. He grabbed the few towels that weren’t burnt, and tied her to the aluminum frame. “Okay, eat cheez-its while I fix this.”

Law had got the new fuse screwed into the panel and the nail polish off Nami’s face by the time Kidd came back, dressed in clothes that didn’t seem like interview clothes to Law: heavy duck pants and steel-toed boots. He grabbed a duffel bag that was sitting on a box stack, shouldered it and then stood looking at Law.

“Uh,” Kidd was blushing again. It was kind of amazing to see this tough blacklung brat acting so unsure. “If I come back really late maybe I could bring something? To eat? And we could eat it here?”

“Yeah, that'd be good.” Law shrugged like he didn't mind either way.

“KFC?” Kidd suggested.

“Oh I don't like breaded stuff. Fries are good, though.”

“Chinese?”

“I'm trying not to eat MSG actually…”

Kidd tried to think. “So what do you eat?”

“Mostly sushi.”

“I didn't know there was any sushi places in this shit town,” Kidd admitted.

“At the college there's one. Uh, but whatever you bring is fine, don't worry about it!” Law reassured him.

“Okay. Well, see ya.” Kidd made his way outside, yelling at some hovering dogs to git!, then started swearing. “Aw fuck, Nami's FUCKING bike…”

“You trip on it?” Law poked his head outside.

“No,” Kidd was looking at an empty front walk. “Fuckin kids took off with it again. I'll just go punch their dad in the throat later, not a big deal.”

“Holy,” Law commented mildly.

He watched Kidd pull a frankenstein-ian motorcycle out of a side door and roar away on it. Then he looked around to see if anyone had caught him looking. He was just sending a good glare at the prying eyes across the street when he remembered that he was babysitting. He returned to the kitchen where Nami was sitting once again on top of the table, drawing circles in a nail polish puddle with one finger.

“Your brother is an entire entrée,” Law informed her.

She didn't reply, intent on her craft. But she objected when he tried to pick her up. “Nooo!”

“No?” he put her down.

She glared at him, a tiny girl of no more than four, ginger hair in little pigtails and her frilly blue bathing suit spotted with nail polish.

“I'm Law,” he sat down so he was at her level, and introduced himself. “Lawww.”

“Law...” She appraised him solemnly for another moment and then seemed to deem him acceptable. “I’m being a witch,” she confided in a whisper.

“A witch?”

“Yah.”

Law sat back in the chair with a laugh. “My girl! Let's talk!”

Law had the kitchen scrubbed to his own exacting standards in short order, having secured Nami firmly to a chair (with duct tape and towels this time).

She was starting to nod into her cheezits by the time he'd finished, and Law figured it was nap time. He went to review the rooms along the hallway, looking for a baby room. He couldn't figure out the logic of the place, though. There was a largeish bedroom, which seemed to be the source of the stale smoke smell, mostly taken up by a tacky king bed and Seinfeld DVDs. It clearly hadn't been used in forever. He closed that door. Then there was a smaller room that might've once been a child's room, decorated with glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and complex Lego structures piled in one corner. It was stacked floor to ceiling with file boxes and covered in dust too. Another small room seemed to be Kidd's hideout, though the bed was just a box spring covered in laundry and books. There was a guitar and practice amp, and a desk piled with half-dissected old laptops. Law resisted the urge to snoop, and closed the door.

He went back down to the other end of the hall, past the front door, where the narrow corridor opened into a small living room space. A couch and a single mattress were neatly made up into beds, in front of a large TV that seemed like the only new thing in the house.

“I want a Kidd nap.” Nami had somehow gotten out of the duct tape high chair and was at Law's side, rubbing her eyes.

“Okay? In the big bed?”

“You're silly,” she accused. She went to lie down on the couch, pulling a fuzzy blanket over herself.

Law went to sit next to her. He gestured down at the mattress on the floor, with its orange and blue comforter and many fuzzy cushions. “Is that your bed? Don't you wanna nap there?”

“No,” she explained patiently, eyes already closed.

“Right, obviously.”

He watched her shuffle and sigh her way to sleep.

“I could've had a sister,” he murmured, partly to her and partly to himself. “I mean, I do have a biological sister, but I didn't grow up with her. I think it would've been nice, though…”

Nami was already asleep when he looked over again. Easy! Law totally had this babysitting thing in hand. He pulled his stats assignment out of his bag, and got down to the real work.

Nami turned out to be a pretty chill baby, as well as being an utter terror. She mostly ignored Law, preferring to go about her little play tasks uninterrupted, with the TV playing in the background. “Being a witch,” she explained whenever Law asked what she was doing.

“Keep it up,” he encouraged her, turning back to his own work.

He quickly learned, though, to keep an ear out for silence, because she was probably blowing shit up. Law found her building a fire in the oven, then making what he was pretty sure was mustard gas in the toilet.

“How’d you do that??” He took the bleach from her and she threw a mild fit before toddling off to the next game.

By the time Kidd returned, Law was just sitting in a kitchen chair with his stats assignment disregarded in front of him, watching the four-year-old expertly jimmy the makeshift lock he'd put on the knife drawer.

“More twist on the lever,” an amused Law recommended.

“So this one's being a psychopath huh,” Kidd entered and threw his duffel bag on the table.

Law corrected him.“Um, she's a witch and a prodigy? She made several deadly potions with cleaning supplies today."

“Oh jesus now there's two of you.”

“One more and we got a coven.”

“Great. Nami, it's like 11, why ain't your ass in bed?” Kidd growled at his sister, who ignored him.

“She went down for a couple hours, but kept getting up when she heard a car go by. And I couldn't get any pajamas on her,” Law reported.

“Yeah she won't take the bathing suit off unless I bribe her. She's big into being a ‘mermaid’ this month, on top of being a witch.”

Nami had gotten the knife drawer open and was feeling around in it with one chubby hand.

Kidd scooped her up. “No knives.”

“A knife!!!”

Law shook his head and smiled. Child after his own heart. “What's she want a knife for?”

“She's been trying to slash my tires lately, so probably that. It's usually pretty funny to watch, but yeah, not at bedtime. Eh, Nami?”

“I WAN A KNIFE! A KNIFE A KNIFE A—”

Nami stopped and stared at the chocolate coin Kidd was holding up. She grabbed it and wiggled out of his arms. They followed her to the living room where she was stashing her prize under the couch.

“Holy, she's got a hoard,” Law gave a low whistle at the cache of foil coins and random shiny things.

“Yeah I think she's more dragon than mermaid,” Kidd commented.

Nami lay down in her floor bed, where she could see the glittering pile.

“I got food, if you wanna…?” Kidd nodded back toward the kitchen.

“Is she good here?”

“Yeah she pretty much puts herself to sleep, just leave WrestleMania on for her. She likes the noise.”

They went back to the kitchen, and Kidd turned on a thing Law had thought was a smashed toaster oven reconstructed with safety pins, but which turned out to be a radio. Kidd gestured to a bag on the table, and Law unpacked it while the redhead fiddled with the receiver. It mostly seemed to be picking up country music and static.

“Can almost get that alt rock station with this thing,” he muttered, “probably just needs another coat hanger.”

“You went and got sushi??” Law pulled out several little plastic containers.

Kidd’s back was to him but Law could see his neck and ears going red. He kept fiddling with the dials. “Yeah, whatever.”

“From all the way at the college?”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“...I think that radio is using you as an antenna,” Law observed, changing the topic.

Kidd snorted and let go of the screwdriver-dial, and the radio went to mostly static. “Faboo. Maybe it wants a piercing too.”

His face had returned to a normal color under all that metal, and he joined Law at the table. Law offered him the dragon roll and took the sashimi plate.

The chopsticks were an obstacle.

“Do you stab it?” Kidd glared at the sushi and the two little sticks.

“No, look at my hand: hold one like a pencil, and the other one loosely—”

“I stab it.”

“Don’t stab it, hey, you’ll ruin the integrity of the roll shape!”

“Hm,” Kidd chewed his mangled piece. “Tastes like salad.”

“Here.” Law scooted over a chair. He took the chopsticks out of Kidd’s fist and rearranged them. Kidd’s hands were large and rough to the touch, and the scent of sweat and gas clung to his clothes. The sudden impression of body heat and machinery smacked Law right in the back of the brain.

“I’m gonna say this is finger food,” Kidd decided.

“Yeah,” Law agreed automatically.

“Yeah, fuck this. Want a beer?”

Law hated beer. “Yeah. I mean, whatever.”

Law sat and nursed the beer with determination, trying to pay attention to Kidd's animated take on government surveillance vans and Nicolas Cage. His brain was getting fuzzy really fast, though. He was such a fuckin lightweight.

“He’s not an actual human person, is all I’m saying. You seen his face tryna do face stuff?” Kidd argued, crunching his second beer can and tossing it in the bin across the room. "Nother beer? Hey, you’re not even done that one.”

“Tastes like bread,” Law noted distractedly.

“I guess. You don’t like Bud?”

“I liked the first movie,” Law hiccuped.

Kidd laughed like a fucking hooligan, and Law had to laugh too. Normally loud laughs grated on Law's ears, but he decided he liked this one. It wasn't mocking or cold; just big.

Kidd shook his head with a final chuckle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Me too. Sooo uh, what you studying at the college?”

“General science right now, thinking I'll go into the pre-med stream,” Law answered right away. “Or maybe something more research, less clinical… uh. Or you know, like. Whatever.”

Kidd actually seemed interested. “Yeah that sounds awesome. I always wanted to go into engineering, but pure research would be cool… You um. Doing some math, there?” He looked over at Law's assignment, abandoned on the table.

“Stats. The bane of my existence. Don't stare at it too long, it'll put the bleed on your brain.”

“...you're stuck, huh?” Kidd glanced over again.

“No.” Law sniffed. “I'm considering it from many angles.”

“Okay, man.”

“Oh, like you know anything about sample sizes and shit.”

Kidd shrugged, but the line in his forehead deepened. He cracked another tallboy.

Law gripped his own beer can in the uncomfortable silence that followed, and then downed the rest all at once.

“Nother,” he wiped his mouth and Kidd raised an eyebrow but passed him a fresh one.

“Git it in ya.”

“Mhm.” Law took a deep swig and almost fucking barfed. “Sooo… you make that bike yourself huh?”

“...yeah,” Kidd's face lost the put-out look and split into a grin. “Or whatever, I just added some stuff and changed other stuff… actually, it's…”

That got another good long ramble out of the redhead, full of startling laughter and crass parallels with female body parts. Law wondered idly if Kidd was actually familiar with any female body parts, or whether this was just how people in Pit-town talked.

“Hm?” Law sat up straight, realizing that Kidd had asked him something. His brain was definitely all swimmy now.

“Or I can give you a lift back now. It's a long way to the Rez.”

“I'm not from the Rez, I live down the highway. I can just hitch my way back, it's not a big deal." Law looked at his phone—after midnight.

Kidd was giving Law a look, like he wanted to say something about that, but then grunted and downed his beer instead. “Here, for today,” he said, taking an envelope out of his pocket and pushing a few folded bills into Law's hand.

“Thanks.”

“If you're free tomorrow I'll be working again at noon. And like I said, you can stay here tonight if the trip out is—”

“Oh!” Law felt his face heating up again. “No, I gotta get home. My dad's gonna kill me as it is. I'll come back tomorrow, though, okay?”

“Okay! Or, whatever, good.”

“Yeah.” Law stood and started stuffing things back into his backpack. “Okay see ya tomorrow.”

Kidd gave him a flippant salute and cracked another beer.

Pulling on his sneakers at the door, Law felt a little tug at his pant leg.

“Law, you are going to go?” Nami worried.

“Yup, gotta go home.”

“Law, you won't be here if you go,” she started snuffling.

Law picked her up and put her back in her bed. “I'll come back tomorrow. Okay?”

“No.” She hid under the blanket and kept snuffling.

He hesitated. “I have to go.”

“She’ll get over it in a minute,” Kidd told him from the doorway, leaning backlit against the frame with crossed arms. “It's better not to draw it out.”

Law looked at the little lump among the cushions and shrugged. He stood to go.

The redhead chewed at his tongue piercing and watched him. “Okay, I don't wanna be weird about this, but like. It's the Pit. And you're... You know?”

Law wasn't getting it. “I'm...?”

“C'mon, you stick out. And it's really late, and it's just past check day, and… it'd really just be faster if I gave you a ride.”

Oh, fucking chivalry or whatever.

“So I'll put my hood up,” Law dismissed this.

“It’s the Pit, though,” Kidd said again.

“... See you tomorrow.” Law left without drawing it out any further.

Law got halfway through the village before someone pulled up next to him, apparently to offer him further unwanted courtesies.

“Looking for a place to stay?” the man offered.

“Just heading home,” Law deflected.

This didn't seem to be the answer the guy wanted, and he followed Law in his pickup at very close range, until they got to the village limits and the end of the street lights. Law gripped his phone in his pocket. He heard the truck door slam just as he went to detour off the road between two houses.

Law tried not to back away as the guy advanced. “I'll call the police.”

“I am the police,” the man pointed to the badge on his belt.

"Shit..."

"And you're trespassing."

Law held onto his phone, a harsh roaring steadily growing in his ears. The smart thing would be to play dumb and helpless so he wouldn't fucking get shot, and just hope someone came by… but the man went to grab him and he panicked just as the roar peaked. Law snapped the fist holding his phone into the man's temple, and it made a loud crunch. A couple more frantic strikes sent the pig down in a confused pile of limbs.

Well he'd fucking done it now. Maybe he could run before—

“Oohhh shit, haha,” someone commented.

Law glared over at Kidd, who was sitting there on his noisy rat bike, peering at the man on the ground.

“Hi?” Law crossed his arms.

Kidd scratched his neck. “Saw him drive past after you left, and figured… yeah. I was just gonna come and like, bam! Do a drive-by with a crowbar. But that Rocky shit was actually way cooler, haha. Is that a brass knuckles phone ring?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah…” Kidd considered the lump on the ground. “Kay, well. Can I drive you home now?”

“...” Law really, stubbornly wanted to refuse.

“Just so you can see how Marlene here rides,” Kidd patted the motorcycle. “Did I tell you I built her?”

Law's tension cracked and an incredulous laugh bubbled out. “Yeah. You told me. She's a beauty.” Kidd passed him the helmet and Law slid into place behind him.

“She’s a rubber-tit, chain-smoking old blacklung biddy, fuck yeah she's a beauty. You can ride her all day and night, she don't get tired.”

Law had been wondering how he'd get all the way home like this without popping a boner, but that mental image cleared it up.

“Uh,” Law gave the unconscious cop a guilty glance, “should we get this guy somewhere…?”

“Oh, I'll just call his wife to come get him, I guess,” Kidd snorted at the pathetic pile and took out his phone.

“You know him?”

“Everyone knows everyone here… hold on a sec. Hey, Mrs. Kyle? Yeah I just seen Kevin going off tryna fight that goose again.”

“Fuckin what??” Law snickered.

“Yeah, Cobb Road. Looked like he'd taken a good one on the head already. I dunno who taught that thing to make a fist. Yeah, anyway. Yeah, bye.” Kidd hung up, nodding to himself like that was it.

“No one's gonna believe that shit,” Law objected.

“Oh the goose? That's real, the thing's a monster. I think they should just shoot it but there's a pool on who'll defeat it in hand-to-hand combat.”

“...okay. Sure.”

“It's the Pit,” Kidd explained again.

Kidd tied a bandana onto his face as a windguard, and they pulled out of the village and onto the highway. It was fall but the air was warm and smelled like tar. Law held onto Kidd's waist and directed him by patting his arm and pointing. The smokestacks receded behind them, though the tar smell lingered on through the treeless landscape. Eventually Law signaled for them to stop.

Kidd pulled off the highway and stopped just under the lone streetlight at the turnoff. He looked around. “This is just a carpool lot. I might as well take you all the way home, right?”

“Nah, my Dad's already gonna be pissed that I'm out this late. If I ride up on a bike smelling like booze… yeah.” Law passed him the helmet and dismounted. “It's not far from here, I'm good now.”

Kidd was still processing the first part. “Aren't you in uni? You still have a curfew?”

Law shrugged. “He's strict. He just worries. Though, yeah, he's nowhere near as protective about my fuckin brothers so—”

At that exact moment Law's brain registered the whine of a familiar car, and he had to grip his bag to keep from bolting. He relaxed slightly when he saw it was just the Volvo.

“Hey Lawnboy,” Bellamy chuckled, leaning an elbow out the window.

“Hiii Law,” a gawky, sharp-eyed girl chirped from the passenger seat.

“Monet, my dream girl,” Law flirted mildly, leaning on the door frame. Monet giggled and Bellamy scowled.

“That your ~boyfriend~?” the blond troll mocked, jabbing a thumb at Kidd, who tensed and sneered.

“Yeah,” Law shot back.

There was a pause.

“Really???” Monet scrambled to get a good look at them both. Bellamy's face went slack with shock.

Kidd stuffed his head into the safety of his helmet.

“What're you doing?” Law questioned the helmeted Kidd.

“He's shy!” Monet squealed. “Ahhhh you guys are perfect!”

“Are you blushing?” Law tried to flip up the mirrored visor and Kidd held on stubbornly, shaking his head.

“Law, bring him to Hawk's place with us, I'll make youse guys’ drinks!! I got sourpuss and peach schnapps!”

“They're not coming to Hawk's,” Bellamy told her sullenly.

“Shut up Bellamy. Law, you guys coming?”

Law demurred. “Gotta work tomorrow, Monet-fique. Nother time.”

“Aw.”

“See you at home, Bellyache,” Law dismissed his pouting brother, who scowled.

“‘Babysitting’, huh. I'm telling Dad you're hoeing it up in the Pit,” Bellamy threatened.

Monet punched him in the shoulder. “Oh my god Bellamy no you're not. Later, Law! Byyye, strong silent boyfriend!”

Bellamy took his cue and screeched away.

Law turned back to Kidd, who was still hiding under his helmet. “Sorry. That was my brother. It just seemed like the best way to get him to leave.”

Kidd gave a slight shrug.

“So. See you tomorrow?” Law shouldered his bag.

Kidd nodded.

“Thanks for the ride. And for dinner and stuff…”

“Yeah it's whatever,” came Kidd's muffled voice.

“Oh yeah I mean, whatever.” Law started off down the road.

“Uh…! Thank you too, for… coming...” Kidd called after him a few steps later.

Law stopped and looked back awkwardly.

“...And for being chill about Nami's issues, and the house, and dealing with that creeping fucker… You don't have to come back after that crap. And if all this is gonna get you in trouble with your dad anyway,” Kidd offered in a nervous jumble, as Law wandered back over and stood there, feeling suddenly sad.

Law had had his share of sweet goodbye kisses under this streetlight, when he'd been a little younger and a little less worried about everything. He kinda really wanted another like that right now… But Kidd was holding onto the helmet on his head like a life preserver. And a kiss seemed like such a shallow, wrong-headed kind of assurance to offer against all ‘that crap.’

Law leaned in, and bonked his forehead lightly against the glossy helmet instead.

“Well, pick me up tomorrow, at the highway. So I don't gotta risk crossing the goose,” Law shrugged too, like it really was all just whatever.

He couldn't see Kidd's face but he could see his heaviness lift.

“You got it, Cap.”

The scruffy redhead leaned into his bike and the road, and became a fading engine roar in the dark. Law walked home slowly.