#i feel like i have deja vu with these photos because i swear i posted them

[hisdarkconsort]

[angelkurenai]

Imagine Pedro being teased and questioned about how close he is with you, Gal’s adopted sister, and trying his best to hide the fact that you are actually dating.

“So, Gal, I am going to direct this question mostly at you but of course anyone can get to answer. I actually wanted to know your opinion about it.” Conan said, as Gal herself nodded her head with a smile.

“Oh, please, with pleasure.”

“There have been several photos, and I do not mean just from paps or professionals. Even you on your personal instagram posted a few. Which, to say the least, broke the internet as we all saw.”

“Yeah uh truth is my instagram wasn't working for several hours afterwards and I thought it was just me but then I kept asking others and got the same reply from everyone! Turns out, we caused a blackout of sorts.” Gal laughed, admitting to it before looking away in embarrassment while the rest of the cast nodded their heads as if almost giving her a a playful glare, even through the screen of the computer.

“And the reason behind that, who would have thought, a couple photos!” Jimmy nodded his head “Your sister, your adopted sister (Y/n), came to visit you on the set of Wonder Woman 1984. It was, for lack of better words, a historic moment not just for instagram who crashed because of the popularity of the photos but also for comic book fans worldwide. It was the closest we could get to a Marvel and DC crossover.”

“You say that because she was in her costume in some of them yeah?” Gal asked with a bright smile, always loving to talk about her little sister as Conan nodded his head “Yes, it was (Y/n)'s idea and everyone knows it, I can never say no to my little sister. Plus, she was right; we had so much fun fooling around in our costumes! I had more fun than I've ever had on a set of a movie before. And, yes, I almost always enjoy the movies I'm in, but this one- this one was truly something else! We- almost everyone, I think, played along as we acted as our characters and filmed some scenes just for laughs. I really really hope they make it into the bloopers somehow.”

“So you're planning on taking down youtube next, I see. I see.” the host nodded his head with playfully narrowed eyes, seeming all suspicious and making everyone laugh.

“No, no I swear! I don't want to!” she said in between laughter “We all had so much fun and an amazing time on set and in front of the cameras, playing superheroes that it would be incredible for the fans to see! It's- Really, it is kind of an unofficial crossover that should make it to the internet at least!”

“I'll have to-” Patty spoke up “I'll have to give it to Gal, she is right. (Y/n) had this amazing idea and creative at the same time because she had a small plot in her mind and lines and everything concerning the set. We all did a small setup and filmed it and, honestly, it came out to be real good!”

“Patty is no even exaggerating and Gal is certainly right. We had so much fun filming that small crossover, and (Y/n)'s ideas were brilliant! Fans will definitely love it!” Kristen said in addition.

“She truly is an incredibly talented, smart and creative person, besides an absolute darling. So kind to everyone and sweet, we all couldn't get enough of her. And-” Patty raised a finger “I will say it here once more because Gal has heard it before: the fastest we've filmed a scene in this movie. And it was all thanks to how professional she was, it was truly incredible!”

“Well, I can't ever deny it, my little sister is the biggest star there is! Oscars or other awards aside, she proves how great she is on every set on her own!”

“And you are definitely her biggest fan, as we all can clearly tell.” Conan pointed out with a small laugh “Speaking of, I think we do have someone who could only be described as your main rival on that sweet stop of being your sister's number one fan. Someone who hasn't been shy about expressing his admiration about (Y/n) but who has yet to utter a word.” Conan looked back up from his papers and said someone almost felt his heart jump in fear and nervousness, hoping that at least nobody noticed that he was indeed being silent for a reason “Pedro, you're being uncharacteristically quiet about this one, especially for something that caused Instagram to crash within thirty minutes of the photos being uploaded. I'm not- I'm not used to this from you. Come on, talk to me. Say what's on your mind.”

“This is oddly- I'm getting strange deja vu vibes here. Must be cause of that one time I visited a therapist. Long story short, it was only one session for me and about hm at least 25 for him. I heard he's still going to a therapist now.” he shrugged casually, earning laughter from everyone. He chuckled slightly himself, glancing over the screen of his computer while trying his best to keep anything from showing on his face even more so his smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I mean-” he cleared his throat “Ah man, what else can I say? The ladies have spoken, and they've said exactly what- I believe anyone that gets the opportunity to work with (Y/n) or watch her movies would agree she is one of a kind.” he shrugged softly with an adorable smile “Besides, it feels like anything I say is just going to be used against me, so I- I better keep on silently observing. That does seem like it's the safest option here.”

Pedro's laugh was more of a nervous if not awkward one, but he was pretty confident it was just no different to how he would usually laugh away questions he didn't want to answer in interviews. Most celebrities did the same, he wouldn't be the first nor the last, so he didn't expect Conan to insist any further. He didn't want to push his luck, he had been really successful (if not blessed after all these close calls) with all these online interviews to not have everything revealed by accident, so now especially with the current topic, he didn't feel like messing things up. He loved this privacy, he didn't want to lose it not yet, he wanted you and this all to himself for now. And he wanted the story of how you met, of how over that one month and a half on set he felt himself fall in love with you.

And yet... Yet, he was probably a weak man, a man who couldn't help but indulge even if he knew it could probably get him in trouble. You were worth it, though, you were worth all of it and as you were his weakest spot and so indulge he did. He slowly chewed on his lower lip and he so subtly looked over the screen of his computer.

His eyes fell on you, still splayed on his bed, book in one hand and steaming mug on the nightstand – your nightstand on your side of the bed, the thought of which made his heart flutter inside his chest – hair slightly messy, that oversized Mandalorian shirt on, which you'd gotten all excited amongst many many more fandom related toys a couple months ago and couldn't wait for him to see. A shirt which had, inevitably, ended up being taken off you barely ten minutes later starting from him stealing kisses and leading to the two of you making love till the very morning in between endless giggles. The pup you'd gotten – the both of you – not so long ago made a small noise drawing your attention for a short moment as you kept petting him, the both of you too tired to do anything else after an exhausting day of playing. Pedro couldn't complain, although he'd been a part of it he had mostly spent time filming everything even if you hadn't been the one to ask him to, he couldn't help it.

It was something that the both of you decided on and although you hadn't said it out loud, you both knew and at least Pedro hoped, that it was the next step, a very important one, in your relationship besides you moving in with him. To be responsible for another living being together was, if not a test, at least a way to see how well you could cooperate. And, if he could say so himself, you had been doing great so far.

“Good morning, darling. Here for morning kisses? Yes? Come up here.” your giggles were able to warm him more than the sunlight coming through the window “Ooooh someone really loves mommy, don't you?”

And then your words set his entire being alight. Or more specifically that one particular word.

“Well-” he stretched a bit, his arms finding your waist again to bring you closer and cuddle with you “Who doesn't love mommy in this house?” he couldn't help it as his smile turned into a lovestruck grin “Morning, mi amor.”

“Good morning, darling.” you pecked his lips “And don't worry, mommy loves daddy back, enough to make up for the rest of the world.”

As if reading his mind, you chose to look up from your book at him, smiling as you held his gaze for a good few seconds. So much love was evident, even in those few seconds, he could almost feel his own heart burst. Yet another reason for him to control his reactions from showing just how much on high on happiness and love he was. You shook your head, eyes wide as you heard Conan speak again, you playfully mouthed to him “Focus!”

As subtly as possible he tried to clear his throat and taking the mug of coffee that was beside his computer, he took a sip and decided to focus on it as much as he could. Until the subject changed, at least.

“...Wise man. I feel you, so don't worry I'll leave you to it.” if only he knew the big sigh of relief Pedro tried to hold back as Conan continued “It's the tactic I follow 99% of the time when I'm out with my wife, just smile and wave kind of thing. Alright-” he nodded his head in thought “Alright, well, let me ask you all something else. You keep saying in front of the cameras and talking about this small crossover, but I assume she must have been around for longer than that, yes?”

“Yes, yes she was there for at least a month, a month and a half I think. She was on vacation, after being done with filming, and she decided that before heading home that she'd come by and visit us. It was meant to be for a short period of time. She loved the place... the people, perhaps, how could I know for sure?” she shrugged not looking innocent in the least bit, earning a few laughs.

“Anyway-” she cleared her throat “And you see before she knew it, before we all did, one week turned into two turned into three and so on. It-” she chuckled “She was around on set and with us on all those beautiful locations we were in. And while we were all working and walking around with purpose and the need to finish this scene with so much pressure on- on our shoulders and she was just sitting around with a iced coffee or tea on her hand, sunglasses on and phone on the other hand looking she didn't have a single care in the world. It kind of made everyone a little bit jealous to be honest.”

“A little? Cause I sense that there's more than you're letting on, Gal. Come on, spill the tea.”

“Alright more than a little.” she laugh “I mean, it wasn't all the time, of course. Just the first couple days mostly but you can imagine how it was. It seemed like she did it on purpose sometimes.”

“Twistin' the knife even deeper, that's what she's best at. Oh I know!” Conan nodded his head “I'm actually afraid to invite her on the show because I fear how bad she'll roast me. Andy-” he laughed “Andy is the only one who has the most fun during those interviews.”

“I know right? Boy you tell me!” Gal exclaimed “That little shit. I adore her to no end but I really had the hardest of time when she was around. She just had to make comments on everything she could, especially when I was acting. I couldn't stop laughing sometimes, but nobody got mad at her. It was always my fault somehow!”

“I mean she's just so sweet, how could we be mad at her?” Patty added.

“She messed up so many of my scenes!” Gal pretended to be angry but her smile gave it away “But it's true, I couldn't even be mad at her. I don't get to see her that often, because of the work we both do, so I would give anything to have my sister with me like that every other chance I got. Even if I got all the blame for it, there's nothing I wouldn't do for her, you understand.”

“Aw that's- that's incredibly sweet, actually. It's- that's the exact opposite of me and my brother so no I can't really understand to be honest, but alright.” Conan laughed “Well, then, you really got your chance this time, right? You had the opportunity to spend all this time with her. When you were not working of course.”

“I...” Gal trailed off, her smile turning into a mischievous one but the rest of her expression trying to remain innocent, and failing at it because she truly wasn't even trying “Well, I would say yes. And I would agree with you. And I would even ramble about the wonderful two months I spent with my sister... If that had been the case. If I had really seen her for more than a week total, then yeah I would say that.”

“Wha- P-Pardon me?” Conan blinked in surprise “Didn't you j-just say your sister was with you on set for about two months? Or have I been in a parallel universe all this time and I just now came back to our reality?”

“Oh no it's very much our reality but I also did mean what I said. My sister was on set, and I did see her quiet often. But did I spend almost all of my free time with her? Did she spend hers with me? Nope. And that-” again with a far-from-innocent shrug “That is probably the only question I can answer. What she did? Did she have fun?... Who she was with? I wish I knew. What I know is I wasn't the one closest to her on set.”

“So you're telling me, (Y/n) was on set full of people she didn't really know, and you, her sister, barely spent any time with her? I'm gonna assume the rest of you didn't spend more time with her compared to Gal, right?” he asked and got nods from everyone, well, everyone who had their eyes on their screen and therefore looking at Conan, because there was still one that would avoid eye-contact even through the screen “Well, then, who was closest to her on set, if not you?”

“She, well-” Gal paused, smile all too sweet as she added “There could be someone...”

Said someone who couldn't even look up from his mug of coffee, as if it was the most interesting thing in the entire world, and didn't dare say a word for fearing of messing things up; even if his silence spoke volumes as it was. A silence which was... even more intense than before. Even more... real. Probably because it wasn't just in his head, probably because it wasn't just from his part.

Blinking several times, he slowly raised his head to look up from his mug and at the screen of his computer. Only to be met with the eyes of the rest of the group staring at... well, they were staring at the screen of their own computers but for some reason – a reason which he knew all too well – he felt like all eyes were suddenly on him. And they probably were. Because Gal was being nice about it but almost everyone had noticed how much time you had spent with Pedro during those almost two months. You had just met back then so they didn't imply anything back then but now... now they could just as well do so.

“I-” he laughed and he hated how nervous he sounded “Is it time to talk about my character?” he asked almost shyly, nearly praying on the inside that they would say yes and let him change the subject “Well, Max Lord is a guy who-”

“Are you trying to change the subject there, Pedro? One can wonder why.” Conan narrowed his eyes “Come on, don't be shy. Share your opinion here, or maybe your personal experience. Since I am assuming you do have one?”

“Yes, Pedro, why don't you share your opinion with us?” Gal raised an eyebrow, small smirk on her lips “You've been particularly interested in that drink the past couple minutes apparently.”

“I-” Pedro paused, before shaking his head with a laugh “This is going to be a long interview. I can tell.”

[pipedream-darling]

Live a Little

My piece for Day 2 of TGGTVAV Week! @tggtvav-week

Dreams | Historical AU | Side Character (Read on AO3)

This party is giving me a tremendous sense of deja vu. It’s the after-party for this year’s Annual Sportspeople of the Year Awards. Monty and I were both nominated for Best Footballer and for Best Media Personality, whatever that even means. Neither of us won either. I don’t care, not really (The player that did win Best Footballer scored two-thirds as many goals as Monty this season… but again. I don’t care.)

The same old formal wear, the same faces. I feel like I’m always at this bloody party. I’m standing in a corner with Monty, who is frowning down into his alcohol-free cocktail. I give him a consolatory nudge.

“Next year.”

“Hmm?” He looks up at me, then laughs. “Oh god. I don’t care. I’m just wondering who on Earth came up with the idea of a virgin mojito.”

“You could always drink tap water, you know.”

“Thrilling.”

I roll my eyes and he sidles up to me, pressing himself against my chest so that he has to stretch his neck to look up at me.

“Let’s go hooooome.”

“Why do you even bother coming to these events if you get bored after an hour?”

“Because I get to see you all dressed up, mostly.” I laugh and he pouts. “Next time, we stay home, and you put on a tuxedo anyway.”

“That would be a waste. You’d take it off within minutes.”

“That’s the fun of it!”

I smirk and lean down to kiss his forehead. “We won’t stay late. It’s good for me to do the rounds at these things. For the Foundation.”

“I suppose,” he says with a sigh, but he doesn’t move away, just buries his face in my chest.

I smile and stroke his hair, then I look up as someone walks over— my heart sinks. Richard Peele. The only man on Earth who doesn’t manage to look attractive in a tux. I nudge Monty slightly and he stands up straight.

“Incoming,” I mumble as Richard approaches. Monty turns to see him, then swears under his breath.

“Boys!” Richard says, his grin as cocky as ever. His aftershave is overpowering. Not for the first time, I wonder how Monty ever hooked up with him without gagging.

“Richard,” Monty greets him, more politely than he deserves.

“Congratulations on your awards!” He fake gasps, clutching his hands to his chest. “Oh wait! You didn’t get any.”

“Peele…” I raise an eyebrow at him. “You weren’t even nominated.”

He shrugs. He looks drunk. “Wouldn’t have wanted a nomination. Whole thing is shit anyway.”

“Well, we’re agreed there.”

“So, what are you two doing hiding away in a corner? Up to no good? What’s the current favourite, Montague? Coke? Speed? I remember your speed phase fondly. You used to be able to go for—“

“Oh, piss off Richard,” Monty cuts in, trying to look unbothered. But I know he isn’t. “Don’t you have any actual friends to talk to?”

I put my arm around Monty’s waist, protectively, and he leans into me. Richard rolls his eyes.

“Got plenty of friends, thanks. Just wanted to check in on everyone’s favourite couple.”

“Well, now you have.” I say, giving him a pointed look. “See you around.”

He curls his lip at me, stepping closer. He’s taller than Monty, but not taller than me. I have a couple of inches on him, but he’s clearly too wasted to be intimidated by this fact.

“You don’t scare me, Newton. We’re not on the pitch now. You can’t accidentally elbow me in the face this time.”

No, but I can definitely punch you on purpose, I think to myself.

I don’t say anything. He huffs, then turns to Monty. “If you ever get bored of this fairy,” he points to me. “And fancy a go with a real man again, you’ve still got my number.”

Monty blinks at him. “I’ll bear that in mind. Cheers.”

Richard gives him a leery look up and down, before giving me one last glare, then stalking away. I can feel Monty’s shoulders tense up where he’s leaning against me, and I’m not much better myself, so I take a deep breath and try to relax.

“Christ. He’s like a cartoon villain.”

“Was he always that ugly?” Monty looks up at me. “I swear he didn’t used to be that ugly. I categorically do not sleep with ugly people.”

“Maybe your standards just got higher after you met me.” He laughs slightly. But it sounds stilted. I squeeze his waist. “Don’t let him get to you.”

“I’m not.”

I raise my eyebrows at him.

“Okay! I am. Slightly.” He sips his drink, pulling a face. “It’s hard not to be bothered when one of your most shameful regrets can walk and talk and embarrass you at parties.”

“He’s just someone you hooked up with. It’s not that big of a deal.”

He scoffs. “You look like you want to scream every time his name is mentioned.”

“Well… he’s…”

“Rude? Obnoxious? Untalented?”

“He makes you feel bad about yourself. I don’t like it.”

Monty pauses at that, reaching out and squeezing my hand.

“You’re the one he called a fairy.”

“Fairy and proud,” I say with a shrug. Monty laughs.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.” I tug at his hand, pulling him away. “Let’s find you something less disgusting to drink”.

We’re standing at the bar, Monty trying to get the perfect selfie while the bartender makes our drinks. He leans into me, trying to get my face into the photo and I smirk.

“Aren’t people bored of seeing me on your Instagram?”

“Why would anyone ever get bored of seeing this face?” He gently bites my cheek, taking another few photos, then finally brings the phone down to review the results. “God, we’re hot.”

I laugh. “Is that what you’re captioning it?”

He starts typing. “Well, now I am.”

I grin and nudge him, then frown when I spot something on the bar a small distance away. A set of keys. I reach over and grab them.

“Someone left their keys.”

“Mmm,” he replies, still busy making his post. “Hand them in.”

I shrug, about to get the bartender’s attention, when Monty glances up then gasps, grabbing my arm.

“Wait.” He snatches the keys from me. “Look!”

He holds them up in front of my face and I frown. “What?”

He huffs, then points at the car key. It has a very tacky leather tag hanging off it, with a gaudy metal Lamborghini logo.

“These are Peele’s car keys!”

I laugh. “God, he really is drunk. We should probably keep hold of them so he doesn’t try to drive home”

Monty winces slightly, and I immediately feel bad, but then he shakes it off. “Don’t you see what an opportunity this is, Perce?”

I give him a look. “Opportunity?”

“Yes! We have that prick’s car keys!” He looks at them, sighing happily. “His beloved Lamborghini.”

I laugh. “And?”

“And! We could play all sorts of tricks on him. We could break into it. Leave his lights on. Drain his battery.”

“You are truly wild.”

He huffs. “Well, what’s your suggestion?”

“My suggestion was handing them in!”

He rolls his eyes, dumping them on the bar again and returning his attention to his phone. I pick up the keys, turning them over in my hands, and I think back to ten minutes ago, when Richard dragged his eyes over Monty’s body. My Monty’s body. Suddenly the need to piss him off is overwhelming.

Why do I always have to be the sensible one?

“However…” Monty looks up at me, raising an eyebrow. “I have always wanted to drive a Lamborghini.”

* * * *

We manage to sneak out without drawing too much attention (and without spotting Richard), taking the lift to the car park beneath the building.

His car isn’t hard to spot. Bright yellow amongst the sea of silver and white Mercedes and BMWs. We walk over to it and Monty looks unimpressed, leaning down to scrub at a little scuff with his sleeve.

“This car is a midlife crisis.”

I laugh. “He’s 26.”

“Well, it’s definitely compensating for—“

“I don’t want to know,” I cut in, leaning down to look in the windows. “I think it’s gorgeous.”

“Really?” He folds his arms, tilting his head at the car. “It’s no Porsche.”

“I swear you love that car more than you love me.”

“Absolutely not.” He walks over and leans down to where I’m crouching to kiss me on the cheek. “But it’s a close second.”

I smile, then hold up the keys. “So? Shall we?”

He frowns. “You were serious?”

“Why not?”

“Well, for a start… you can’t drive, Perce.”

I scoff, pressing the key unlocking the doors. “I’ve had some lessons. And I haven’t had a seizure in a year. Anyway, it’s an automatic. How hard can it be?”

I start to climb into the driver’s seat and Monty grabs my arm. “Perce!”

“Come on!” I grin at him. “Live a little.”

He furrows his brow, but then lets me go, and I slide into the seat, pulling the door shut behind me. A couple of moments later, Monty opens the passenger door and climbs in, mumbling to himself.

“I’ve lived plenty. This is just stupid.”

I look around the car, taking it in. Monty’s car is gorgeous, but this is next level. Every bell and whistle included. It’s a shame it smells like Richard’s pungent aftershave.

I put the key in the ignition and Monty flinches.

“Are you sure, baby?”

I start the engine, and then I grin at him. It must be contagious, because after a pause, he grins right back at me.

“Go on then,” he says, with a resigned shrug. “Show me what you can do.”

I surprise myself. Driving is… surprisingly easy? And this thing can go fast. The roads are thankfully quiet, and I’m pretty sure I’m speeding, but the adrenaline rush is impossible to deny.

Monty is watching me, laughing at the look on my face as I narrowly avoid hitting another kerb. Okay, maybe driving is sort of hard.

“Jesus, Perce!”

“Oops.”

“I hope you’re enjoying your little crime spree. It might be the last thing we ever do.”

I laugh. “Oh, he’s wankered. We’ll take it back in a minute and he won’t even know it was gone.”

“True. As long as you don’t—“ He gasps as I very barely avoid scraping someone’s wing mirror at the side of the road. “Damage it!”

“I won’t!”

“You know what, I resent that you’ve turned me into the reasonable one tonight, but I think I should probably drive us back. Just in case.”

I pout at him. “Five more minutes? Oh, wait! I have an idea.”

I take a left, so sharply that Monty has to grab onto the car door to keep his balance. He shoots me an annoyed look, but I don’t acknowledge it. I’m trying desperately to remember a certain spot I know of around here, and I think I’m vaguely headed in the right direction.

Monty stops trying to object. I think he’s enjoying this really— watching me cut loose a bit. I glance at him and he bites his lip, giving me that look that usually ends with at least one of our trousers around our ankles. I look back out of the windscreen and grin to myself when I see what I was looking for.

I pull up in a parking spot, braking far too aggressively, and we both jolt forward.

Monty takes a long, deep, relieved breath as I put on the handbrake.

“See? No one died.”

“I’m definitely driving us back.”

I shrug, then motion out of the window. “Do you recognise this?”

“It’s a hill, Perce.”

I frown. “It’s Primrose Hill. Remember? We had a picnic here.”

He pauses, then smiles. “This is where you asked me to move in with you.”

“Yep!”

He looks at me. “Baby, you really are a wonder. Combining a bit of grand theft auto with a romantic trip down memory lane.”

I laugh. “The duality of Newton.”

“This is very sweet.” He reaches out and squeezes my knee, giving me a fond look. “Thank you.”

“I just… I don’t like it when people drag up your past. Like it’s all you are. You’re… this. You’re picnics, and house keys, and romance. You’re all of it.”

He swallows, looking surprised. “Baby…”

“Don’t let anyone ever convince you otherwise, okay? Especially not Richard sodding Peele.”

He nods, and his eyes look a little wet, then he reaches for my hand, holding it up to his lips and kissing my fingers. “Okay.”

We share a smile, then Monty turns away. I stare at him. He takes a while to notice, too busy gazing out of the window. When he finally turns back to me, he starts slightly.

“What?”

“Did you and him ever…?”

He frowns. “I thought we’d already established this, darling.”

“No. I know.” I nod towards the backseat. “In here?”

He turns a little red, then looks away again, which is answer enough.

“Great. Nice.”

Monty huffs, looking at me with a sheepish look on his face. “Only a blowjob or two...”

I roll my eyes, tapping my hands on the steering wheel and staring out at the view in front of us for a few seconds. Then I shrug.

“Then we’ll just have to do more than that. Won’t we?”

He pauses, then frowns. “Eh?”

I lean over the centre console and take his face in my hands, kissing him. After a brief pause, he sighs against my lips and kisses me back harder.

“You really—“ he speaks between kisses, breathless. “Want to?” He stops to nip at my jaw. “Right here?”

I groan. “More than anything.”

“Revenge shag?”

“Revenge shag,” I confirm, starting to pull his shirt out of where it’s tucked into his trousers.

“There’s…” He sighs as I start to kiss his neck. “People could see.”

I bite down slightly and he gasps. “The windows are blacked out.”

“There’s not much room.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

He gasps as I find the lever on his chair, pulling it until he’s practically horizontal, and then I clumsily clamber over onto his lap, my legs either side of his.

He laughs in surprise, putting his hands on my thighs. “What the hell has gotten into you tonight?”

“Nothing.” I grin. “Yet.”

After, I lie on Monty’s chest and I can feel the dopey smile on my face. He’s gently twisting one of my curls around his fingers as we catch our breath.

“That was fantastic,” I say with a sigh. It’s stating the obvious. It’s always bloody fantastic.

He kisses the top of my head. “Obviously.”

I look up at him. “Better than Peele?”

“Peele who?”

I laugh. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I. Never heard of him.”

“Damn right.”

I lean up to kiss him and he gently strokes my cheek, then we both jump when we hear a buzzing sound. Monty grimaces, fumbling around on the seat around us trying to find his phone.

“Who calls people?” He finds it and holds it up. “Ooooofe.”

He grimaces and turns the screen to me. Peele is calling. There’s an eye-roll emoji next to his contact name.

I grimace back at him. “Shit. Why would he be calling you?”

“Perhaps because he pissed us off and then his car disappeared?”

“Should you answer it? Maybe you should answer it.”

He scoffs. “And say what? Oh, your car? Yes, we stole it and just did something filthy on the expensive leather.”

“Well, no. You can lie. I’m pretty sure you’re capable of lying.”

“Ouch! True. But ouch.” He takes a deep breath, then answers. “Richard!”

I hear muffled, angry talking. Monty bites on his lip to stop from laughing, before trying to get a word in between the ranting.

“Richard, I— What do you mean? Which car?” The muffled talking gets louder and Monty grins. “Oh, that car! Well, how did you manage to lose that? Seems pretty irresponsible.”

“Very careless,” I whisper in agreement.

Monty puts a hand over my mouth, still smiling, then suddenly his face falls. “Tracking device?”

My eyes widen. Shit. Shit shit. Of course, there’s a tracking device. This car is top-of-the-range ridiculous.

“Well, that’s good then.” Monty continues, somehow managing to sound calm and collected. “You’ll find it easily. Good luck!” He hangs up. “We need to get out of here. Immediately. He’s waiting for a cab and he knows where the car is”

I scramble off of him as quickly as I can, climbing back into the driver’s seat and looking for my clothes. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Monty does the same, laughing. I shoot him a look.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. Panicking. Naked.”

I find this shirt and throw it at his face. “Twat.”

I find my boxers and pull them on, and Monty picks his own up from where they were discarded in the well of the passenger seat. I suddenly have a thought, and reach out to grab his arm before he can pull them on, too.

“Wait.”

I snatch them from him and he gives me an extremely confused look. I lean over into the back seat and place them on the leather, stretching them out so that they’re nice and displayed.

“A departing gift for our gracious host.”

Monty cackles, throwing his head back. “You’ve completely lost your mind.”

I grin at him. “Is it a problem?”

He pulls me in for a wet, sloppy kiss. “Absolutely not. Now come on.” He pushes me away again and starts pulling on his suit trousers. “We have to clear out of here before—”

There’s a sudden, loud sound, like fabric ripping. We both freeze. I look down and see that the button of Monty’s trousers has caught on the corner of the passenger seat. The leather has torn dramatically, showing the foam underneath. Turns out even the most expensive, luxury cars are no match for Monty’s clumsy streak.

I look up at him. “Before what, love?”

He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Well, this has turned into a very expensive night out.”

“We can afford it.” He opens his eyes, then narrows them at me. “I’m aware that’s not the point.”

“This was your idea, you know. You decided to have a naughty streak, and now we have to buy— No. Actually. You have to buy Richard bloody Peele a new car.”

I scoff. “It’s just a little rip. It’s not like we’ve trashed it.”

And then… I picture it; Richard, hopping in an uber to where his little tracking device is pointing him, furious, that spiteful face all red and flushed. He gets here and Monty and I are long gone, his beloved Lamborghini is… trashed. The windows are smashed. The seats are ripped to shreds. And Monty’s Tom Ford pants are on the backseat.

I smile.

“We should trash it.”

Monty laughs, pulling on his shirt. “I’m cutting you off. No more carnage. We’re going to go home, you’re going to have one of your sad little sleepy teas, then we’re going to bed.”

“Montttyy,” I whine, and he gives me an incredulous look. “It’ll be funnnn!”

“Of course it would be fun! It would also land us in prison.”

“No one would know it was us!”

He points to the underwear on the back seat. “Have you never seen CSI?”

“Since when were you such a spoilsport?”

He stares at me, one eyebrow raised in challenge, then slowly reaches down and tugs at the rip in the seat, making it even wider.

“Oops.”

I grin, turning around in my seat and looking for something to break. I look back forward, spotting the rear view mirror, then I lean up and grab it, yanking at it hard until it snaps off in my hand.

Monty gapes at me.

“Holy shit.”

I grin at him. “Shall we see what else we can break in the next five minutes?”

The answer is quite a lot, apparently. The seats are torn to shreds. The dashboard is cracked. Monty has scraped a key all along the exterior. And I’m currently working on burning holes in the leather seats with the dashboard lighter, still wearing nothing but my underwear.

Suddenly, I hear a very high pitched shriek. I abandon the lighter and scramble out of the car to check on Monty, who was halfway through trying to pull off one of Richard’s wiper blades. He’s now ducked down, hiding behind the bonnet of the car. I quickly join him.

“What?”

“He’s here! I just saw an uber.”

“Shit. How did he get here so quickly? Maybe we were shagging longer than we thought?”

He hisses at me. “Not really relevant right now, Perce. More worried about getting out of here without him seeing us.”

I grimace. “I left my clothes in the car.”

“Then I guess you’re streaking. Come on.”

He quickly glances over the hood of the car, then once he decides the coast is clear, he grabs my hand and pulls me up.

And then we immediately collide with Richard Peele.

He seems to have snuck up from the other direction and well… he doesn’t look terribly happy.

“What—“ He’s so angry, he can barely get his words out. “In the name of fu—“

“Richard!”

God bless Monty for attempting to be charming, even at a time like this.

“Awful news! Someone was trying to damage your car. Me and Percy scared them off.”

“How stupid do you think I am, Montague?”

“I don’t think you want me to answer that.”

Richard hisses through his teeth, stepping closer to Monty, and I decide it’s time to intervene, standing in front of him protectively. .

“Don’t even think about it.”

He curls his lip, looking me up and down. “Why are you naked?” He glances back at the car, then at me again, his face turning white. “Did you two...“

I smirk. “Twice.”

(It’s a lie. But he doesn’t need to know that.)

He looks like he wants to throw up. Then he pulls back his fist— but he’s still tipsy, and his reflexes are slow. So, I take a step back to dodge his punch, before reeling my own fist back to throw one of my own.

It connects with his nose. Hard. Kickboxing is one of my favourite workouts and I’m twice as strong as he is. The result being that his nose starts to bleed instantly and he staggers backwards. Monty yelps behind me.

“Shit!”

He tries to pull at my arm but I ignore him.

“Not bad for a fairy, right Peele?”

“Perce!”

“Monty, it’s fine.”

“No! Percy! The car!”

He pulls my arm even harder and I finally turn around. The car. The fucking car is on fire.

“Jesus! What happened?”

“Not sure, but shall we try and figure it out somewhere further away from the flaming car?”

I let him drag me away and we take off at a sprint. Richard isn’t far behind us, trying to keep up.

“The lighter,” I shout to Monty. “I dropped the lighter on the seat!”

The amount of serious crimes I’ve committed today is becoming difficult to keep track of. Car theft. Reckless driving. Public Indecency. Assault. And now apparently a bit of semi-accidental arson. But are they really crimes if the only victim is Richard Peele?

“Save it for court!” Monty replies.

When I think we’re a safe distance away, I stop, pulling Monty to me. We’re both gasping, out of breath. I hear Richard coughing nearby. He must have inhaled some smoke.

I ignore him, pushing Monty’s hair out of his eyes, then cupping his face in my hands.

“Are you okay?”

He takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”

I grin. “I’m amazing.”

He smiles back, exasperated. “You’re a lunatic is what you are.”

“I love you.”

He shakes his head, then puts his hand behind my neck, pulling me down into a kiss. I lean into it, my hands sliding to his waist and dipping him slightly, making him laugh against my lips.

And then… there’s a loud bang.

I don’t get the chance to glance over at the car before we’re being thrown into the air by the force of the explosion.

* * * *

I wake up with a flinch so huge that the bed shakes. I hear Monty groan next to me.

“Baby, what…?”

Jesus Christ, that was vivid. I can still smell the smoke.

Monty rolls over to face me with a huff. “Perce?”

“Sorry.” I rub my face. “Sorry, I was…”

“Dream?” he asks, mid-yawn.

I pause, then smirk. “Dream.”

He stares at me for a second, then snorts. “Oh god, not the car one again.”

“The car one.” I shuffle over to him, pulling him closer so that our noses are touching. “It was a good one. This time I punched him.”

He gives a sleepy laugh. “This dream almost makes me feel sorry for the man…”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Monty…”

“I mean. Your subconscious is regularly ruining his life! Just because he used to give your boyfriend the occasional hand job after a game…”

“Perhaps the next dream will be the one where I finally murder him.”

He laughs, leaning in to kiss me and placing his hands on my chest. “Your heart is still pounding.”

I blush. “It was fun. There was an explosion.”

He rolls his eyes. “We’re never watching Die Hard before bed again.”

I laugh, rolling on top of him and making him yelp.

[hoodie-at-the-bar]

b side

These aren’t dates, but they’re something. Jensen was a friend of a friend couple, Andy and Kate. Actually the plot thickens in that Andy and Kate are best friends with Ben, the ex-boyfriend. In fact, Jensen looked like a thinner, more attractive version of Ben. I swear it’s not a bitter thing to say. It’s borderline fact.

I had posted on Facebook that I should open a business helping people with their Tinder profile since even simply picking six decent photos seemed to be so hard. That was when Jensen sent me a message.

I was confused. Jensen was married, what was he doing on Tinder? Ah… separation.  He had two kids, but lived in an apartment on his own. I helped him pick some photos and what to write for his Tinder profile. He said he was just dipping his toe and wasn’t ready to date.

Worth keeping, but not ready to be kept. Jensen wrote that in his profile.

I really liked that line - he wrote it, and I said he should keep it in his bio. Jensen and I started talking every day, and every night. It reminded me of John and Hugh. What is it about me, that has guys who are sad about ex-wives just want to talk to me? Is it because I’m open and listening or do I gravitate toward them? It’s not like I had an ad out, or updated my dating filters.

We started talking back in the fall of 2019, but things picked up in the beginning of the year. I even sent him Christmas cookies. He came down to Seattle for my big costume birthday party in February. He packed a bag, hoping I’d have an after party and he’d likely stay over. Unfortunately, I came down with a severe cold, probably flu, and he got drunk enough he stayed with Andy and Kate, 

I saw him once before the birthday party, at Andy’s work anniversary. Ben was there too - Jensen came as I was leaving and we hugged. It was the first time I had seen him since we started our forbidden pen-pal love. He told me later he just wanted to pick me up and spin me around and kiss me. Yes, we got to that level already.

After Andy’s work and my birthday party, I had to tell Kate. It felt wrong. I told her and her sister, Emily, and some friends that I had been messaging with Jensen everyday and I felt sorta guilty about it. Kate’s sister said she thought we had already slept together, and I let out a cackle of a laugh.

They were all for it, just wanted me to heed caution as he was messed up from the marriage and probably not ready to date. Fair enough

A few weeks after the birthday party,. I had tickets to a show and asked Jensen if he wanted to come. Jensen lived over an hour north, so if he did he would have to find a sister, and spend the night. I became that timid virgin in college again, the one who has a panic attack whenever a guy says, “should we go to the bedroom?” I was fine making out with boys on a couch, but with that “bedroom” suggestion, I immediately assumed it meant sex and I wasn’t ready. I still held sex in high regard back in college - though to be honest I lost my virginity when I was 23. Anyway, I digress,

We went to the Paramount Theater to watch Beirut, a European singer with brass instruments. We got drinks at the Carlile room after, Our conversation was very different. It was still good, but something felt off. I realized when I mentioned Ben, who Jensen knew, he didn’t react. I wasn’t sure if he knew of our history because he would be cavalier to say things like, “but he’s a cool guy.” When I found out Jensen did know aspects about  my relationship with Ben, about how Ben had cheated on me and wasn’t awesome afterwards, I was a bit turned off that Jensen remained so neutral. I’m not saying he should flip the table and say he’d want to murder Ben in the name of love, but at least make a face. Or pretend to.

Okay, no problem. Pack a bag. Jensen came over and we hugged, and It was very bizarre. He looked so much like my ex-boyfriend, the guy who haunted me for several years. Same best friends, same height. I shook it off and we went to the show. 

After the show we came back to my house and I got awkward again. We had been flirting, and messaging for months. But I didn’t want to be presumptuous. I showed him the guest room and he immediately said, “oh, I thought we would cuddle?”

“Sure” - do I know how to make a guy feel wanted or what? I’ll throw that onto my list of things to learn,

We did cuddle throughout the night,  He had motioned for us to sleep together and though I had a box of condoms in the bathroom, I didn’t feel like having sex with him. I lied and said I didn't have any protection, or rather, I didn’t have any in the room. I’m a terrible liar, but it was a half lie.

Something just told me that this didn't feel right. I was attracted to him, and enjoyed our conversations, but it was deja vu of Hugh: it felt like an attractive guy filling the void. We went to bed, and the morning was fairly normal.

He  messaged moments later. 

As you can see, I have trouble flirting. I also have trouble taking a compliment. In fact, I have trouble letting a guy know I like him. Humor saves me, while also is my demise. 

But wait, it gets better.

Like I said, making a guy feel wanted was something I needed to learn.  This is the kind of honest text any woman would dream of getting, and I shat all over it. An accidental asshole, with unknown intentions - I didn’t feel top of the class.

Shortly after I took a two week trip to China and Hong Kong was when our messages started tapering off, It may be a coincidence right after we spent the night together was it slowed down, or maybe I grew distance. I was also traveling, and maybe he thought I couldn’t be reached.

Several months later Jensen came to the adult summer camp I threw, and I was completely turned off. He became more and more like the old Ben. As some had called him, “Generic Drunk Guy”, he just came off slightly douchey. He was going around telling everyone about all of his Tinder conquests, offering mushrooms to people.  

He had told me about the other women he was dating before, but when we started talking it didn’t matter. But to tell me he liked me “a lot”, like really liked me - remember that text the day after? Was I had? I felt I dodged a bullet. Then again...there’s a song with interesting lyrics.

“And everyone thinks I dodged a bullet, but I think I shot the gun” - Greg Laswell.

Greg may be onto something. I’m not into the victim mentality - I want accountability. These guys who aren’t awesome, who I’m not into, or who end up not being into me: is it possible that somehow it can be circled back to me? Could I have prevented this? Or are my actions a self fulfilling prophecy? Maybe. Maybe I keep shooting the gun. I don’t think it was the case for Jensen, but my finger prints are all over it.

Hell if I know. I need a break.

-February 28, 2019

Date #1 w/ Jensen Suitors in 2019 YTD: 1 Dates in 2019 YTD: 1

[panticwritten]

Breaking Furnace - Solitary: Chapter four

Chapter 4: Loathing!

Table of contents!

All of my writing!

I went camping this week, so I ended up not getting this post pre-scheduled again. This shouldn’t happen again, next week it’ll be up 7pm sharp on Friday I swear!

(I’ve had to change quite a bit of formatting to post this on tumblr. If you want to read this chapter with its original formatting, you can do so HERE.)

Remember that this is a daydream taking place in the Escape From Furnace universe, so keep that in mind if you haven’t read EFF.

Word count: 3701

Content warnings for this chapter:

Brainwashing

Feel free to message me if I’m missing any.

Chapter five will be up on August 24th at 7pm PST.

If you like what I do here, maybe consider buying me a Ko-fi or checking out my Patreon! I love being able to put so much out for free, but this would be a great way to show support and also see cool new content!

~-S-~

“If I try shoving nectar in him right now, his body won’t be able to handle it,” I hiss, not looking up.

I know just enough about real biology to know that he’s lucky he survived this far. If Cross will leave me alone long enough to actually find where the problem is, I’ll be able to fix it. Nectar would heal him, but at what cost?

Healing was never my job.

“Who // then?”

“If you don’t, he will die.”

Cross continues piling the bags of nectar on the edge of the stretcher. I’m glad, because it keeps him from responding to my glare at the air over my left shoulder.

I back off. He takes over, hooking an IV to each arm and starting a drip. With a scowl, I watch the darkness flow through the tubes into the boy’s veins.

Immediately, the boy tenses, wrists taut against the leather bindings. His eyes open, wild, and he cries out. Then, he falls limp once again, as if he’d never moved. I flick a glance at Cross, surprised to find a pleased grin on his face. He knows that the most we’ll ever get out of this kid is an offering for Father.

Even so, it really isn’t my call. He’s the boss here, it’s his prison, if he wants to pull that kind of authority. I turn away to return to the infirmary. I should make sure the other two are set up before turning in for the night.

“Perry,” Cross calls.

I stop.

I turn, back straight, eyes on the warden. If he’s going to treat me like a subordinate, I may as well give him the full satisfaction. He doesn’t look at me, inspecting another bag of nectar.

“We have a change of plans. Focus on the inmates in solitary for now, other than your routine checks. I have the infirmary handled.”

“Why?”

I raise an eyebrow, but otherwise remain impassive. I almost turn away again, thinking myself dismissed. Before I can move, however, he continues.

“Seeing as you have a personal interest in the progress of 209, you will choose the group’s full punishment.” He finally looks up, triumph in his eyes. “I will give you your team tomorrow.”

“Good.”

It’s disarming to hear the voice agreeing with me, so I think the command over critically. A peace offering? A punishment? For what? I eye him suspiciously, and I notice a speculative gleam cross his eyes.

There’s more to this.

It really isn’t the time to be arguing with him, though. This is what I wanted, after all.

I nod and turn my back on him. “Thank you, Cross.”

“Be careful who you trust.” the voice whispers, barely audible over the clatter of my shoes on the hard floor. I keep my eyes on the doorway to the infirmary. I consider the punishment for the solitary inmates, but am distracted by the voice repeating itself, louder, more insistently.

“What, I shouldn’t trust my own blood?” I ask as I push into the infirmary, much louder than I intended.

A blacksuit standing in the middle of the room looks up quizzically. I pause, feeling caught, but put on a smooth face and keep walking. I catch him shrug in an ‘it’s-obviously-none-of-my-business’ sort of way. I glance into the cots, relieved to find Arnold and Donovan secure, asleep, and hooked up to their IVs.

I might as well check on my new charges before turning in.

I make my way back to Cross’s office to find the folders still spread across his desk. I flip them open, picking out the three remaining inmates. I turn to leave, but pause when the voice chimes in. Instead, I lean against the desk and wait.

“Zee Hatcher. Prisoner number 2013832. Your cell is D24, fourth level. Cellmate Carlton Jones.”

I glance to the left, curious at its wording. I flip through the file to find 210 penned onto the photo. All of the information is accurate, the same as I read earlier today. The voice continues, and I look away.

“Alexander Sawyer. Prisoner number 2013834. Cell number F11, sixth level. Cellmate Carl Donovan.”

Once again, the information is direct from the file. Number 208. I close the file and slide it behind the others, left with an unmarked manila folder. I frown at it. Maybe I shouldn’t open this one again.

“Connor Sawyer.”

A familiar rush of anger boils in my veins, but I wait, expecting more. It doesn’t say anything else. “Is that it?”

“Not yet.”

Whatever that means.

I open the file, and carefully avoid the boy’s name and the disciplinary information to see what else we have about him.

1009999. D2. Dominic Tchaikovsky.

My brows crease, but I shrug it off. It isn’t exactly strange to grab kids off the street. Nothing but a name to hide behind.

I snort and close the file, pushing off of the desk to leave the room.

By the time I reach the solitary cells and I haven’t heard anything more from the strange voice, I decide that it must have gone for now. I’m almost surprised that there isn’t a guard. They seem to be everywhere, but this corridor is empty.

Escape from the hole is impossible. I can’t think of a way one might break out of them from inside. I gaze at the steel hatches in the ground, a strange sense of deja vu tickling the back of my mind. With a shake of my head, I spin a lever with a thought and swing the hatch open.

I look in and rage immediately whisks my breath from my lungs.

Connor.

Sawyer.

♥️♥️♥️C♥️♥️♥️

I nearly lose my footing when I finally get to see Sawyer without the plastic slats of the infirmary between us. Without Cross here to confuse everything. They’re as healthy as any of the other soldiers in the compound.

Well rested.

Full of nectar.

They freeze when they see me in the hole, their eyes growing visibly darker as their gaze bores into me. Anger. Even with our connection cut off, I catch glimpses of orange and red rising from their shoulders.

They settle on a savage sneer. I don’t know if I should play along—try to reason with them—or not.  

“Connor Sawyer,” they say with some struggle. “Prisoner 1009999. You’re a real mystery.”

I ignore their words in favor of brushing the side of their mind.

They stop dead and pinpoint me with an out of character glare before pushing me out so hard I physically stumble back.

Shit.

Fuck.

“S—”

“Shut the hell up, inmate,” they hiss. “You survived here for two years. Now, instead of dying up above, you’ve chosen to hand yourself right over to the warden and I.”

Cross was so confident.

It looks like he has a good reason for it. He has them. With the kind of walls they have up, there’s no getting them back unless they want to.

Their smirk freezes and Virtuoso appears on their hands and knees peering down into my cell. They look harassed.

“I hate to interrupt.” They reach a hand into my cell. “But I have to shut everything down for a little bit.”

I hesitate to take their hand.

“Why?”

They huff, so I humor them. The second our hands touch, something changes. I don’t have to look around to know we’re in the In-Between.

I do, though, on habit. The emptiness is absolute, nothing as far as the eye can see backed by inky black. I look back when they release my hand to find them standing a short distance away and dusting off their knees.

I didn’t know I could come here when I’m awake.

“Follow me. My houseguest wanted to meet you.”

They spin on their heel and strike out into the darkness. With nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, I follow.

Cloying lines of color rise from the floor with every deadened footstep. I watch them lift and dissipate in the near silence. I wonder if I could find my way home from here.

“Oh, there you are.”

I jolt to a stop when an entire scene appears in front of me. A glowing apparition of Sawyer hovers on their back some distance in the air. Two lines, one green and one violet , split the In-Between in two. The violet line sits flat while the green one writhes in time to an indistinct murmur. A soft indigo fog emits from the line as it moves, something different than the usual way the In-Between reacts to sound.

“Get down here,” Virtuoso calls. “This is your one chance to meddle, so make it count.”

The golden figure appears at my side without warning.

“I thought giving me an inch was a slippery slope,” this Sawyer says, peering at me like a predator. They laugh and take a step back into the air. “Good to see you where you can actually hear me.”

I almost ask what they mean, but they flicker into a floating point of light before reappearing and leaning close again. They were the light Virtuoso was arguing with when I first met them. They’re the reason I can even be here right now.

“And it’s certainly causing a lot of trouble,” Virtuoso mutters. “Administrative clearance, my ass.”

“We’ve been stuck in this point in time for weeks,” the copy whispers conspiratorially.

“Why bring me here now?”

“I asked.” They shrug and incline their head toward Virtuoso. “And Virtue here’s kind of freaking out.”

“Don’t call me that,” Virtuoso says without turning around.

The splinter shrugs and drifts up to lay on their back around eye level. They watch me without a word. My skin prickles under their gaze so I hurry to follow Virtuoso turther into the lived in area of the In-Between.

They have several shining screens reminiscent of a sci-fi movie floating in front of them. Most of them carry maps and lines of text. One has a looping clip of Sawyer walking a hallway just next to a capture of them speaking to me in solitary.

“We’ve been lucky so far,” Virtuoso murmurs with their hand tracking an abstract line on a map I can’t make sense of. “I thought I would make the last time memorable.”

If they’re anything like Sawyer, if I don’t say anything they should go on. I watch them trace the map. They make a face after a minute.

They wave their hand and most of the screens disappear along with Sawyer’s voice when the line goes still once again. The one with the lines they were following remains up.

In fact, it balloons so I can see it clearly. It’s a probability map—a huge one.

“Every time that we’ve spoken,” they pause to tap four branches on the screen to make them glow, “has been a risk.”

All of the branches are fairly extensive with different possible paths, but these four make a broken window look linear. The paths branch out and quickly end. Unsustainable, dead.

“Each time I pause to make my changes, I have to make sure you don’t change anything,” they explain. “It wasn’t a problem before. Jess daydreamed half of the first book over the course of three days so I was too busy to do anything out of real-time.”

“But now they’re running out of steam.” I say with a flat voice. “Losing focus. Slowing down.”

They nod.

“I have the time, but now pausing things brings new problems.”

I lean close to the screen to read the different branches. The ones we’ve followed are all labelled ‘contact’ surrounded by several others with the same label. The others have some variation of ‘discovered’ and ‘undiscovered.’

I reach out, surprised when a touch to the first time we spoke outside of the In-Between zooms it in to that point in time. A few of the other paths reach pretty far, and I wonder how they chose between them. How they decided which path to take.

Hang on.

“You’ve been distracting me.” They have the grace to look distraught when I turn to them instead of the map. “So I wouldn’t go wandering off while everything’s paused!”

“It was the safest option. With how often I have to turn everything off to course correct—”

“You could just said, ‘hey, don’t move when everything pauses.’ I can follow directions, you know?” I manage not to raise my voice, but it’s a struggle. “That’s literally what I do.”

“The bad endings where I leave you alone are far worse than the ones I risked when I spoke to you,” they say between gritted teeth. “I’m fixing the mistake I made when I gave you clearance now, anyway.”

What?

“We came to an agreement.”

I spin around to find the splinter of Sawyer hovering in the air and smiling far too wide just a few inches from my face. I shuffle back, but have to stop when the screen tries to phase through my back. The splinter simply follows me, so I might as well not try.

“What kind of agreement?”

“It took both of us to change the settings and allow this to happen.” Virtuoso grabs the splinter by the scruff and tugs them back. The way they settle back to the floor with a huff tells me it’s not the first time this has happened. “They begged me to allow you in the In-Between, I gave permission.”

“Now they’re begging me to let them fix it.” The splinter shrugs. “But I’m so bored, stuck in here.”

“You agreed,” Virtuoso snaps.

“I agreed, that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

“I gave you every chance to change the terms.” Virtuoso turns to the splinter and scowls.

“You vetoed every idea I had!” The splinter lifts its hands in a lazy show of frustration. “I barely had any input by the time I said yes—”

“To what?” I cut in again. I wonder how long they’ve been having these circular arguments around here.

They both look at me as if they forgot I was here.

“You’ll come here whenever V pauses your world,” the splinter explains, lifting their feet into the air. Virtuoso shoves them off course at another shortening of their name. “Keep you from going anywhere and let me see you every once in a while.”

They smile and force me to remember that they really are just another piece of Sawyer.

“And you won’t remember anything once the setting goes into affect,” Virtuoso adds with a glare still pointed at the splinter. “Not until you leave the universe permanently.”

Until I die. Until I have to return to the Cube.

“To make fewer bad endings on the map?” I confirm.

They both nod. I sigh.

The safest option.

“Do you need my permission to change the rules, or whatever?”

“No.” Virtuoso purses their lips.

“We don’t need it,” the splinter says. They crowd close again, and this time I don’t shy away. It sounds like they haven’t actually talked to anyone but Virtuoso in a while. “But I wanted to ask for it first.”

How considerate.

I won’t be able to rely on them stopping things at an opportune moment. I can’t hope for them to tell me things. I’ll be on my own again, but isn’t that how I expected to do this from the beginning?

“Fine,” I say after a moment.

The splinter grins.

“Perfect.”

“Your history doesn’t matter.”

Light shocks my eyes when I reappear in the hole. I blink a few times, and I’m probably lucky that Sawyer isn’t actually looking at me. They look, instead, at a file in their hand.

Damn, I should have asked about them while I could still talk to Virtuoso.

Sawyer flips the file shut and turns away. “Stew in the hole for a month. You’ll welcome what comes next by then, if you still have a mind to see it with.”

The door to the cell falls closed and leaves me in darkness again before I’ve truly recovered from the transition back into normal time. I’m back in the universe, and I’m not leaving again until I have no choice but to leave.

At least, I won’t remember it.

~-S-~

“Is that it?”

I survey the suits assigned to me. Two soldiers, waiting outside of Cross’s office. They seem capable, and two will be more than enough to watch four inmates.

My brother stands beside them, eyes on me. I nod and turn back into the office. The suits remain in place, waiting. Cross follows me, simply oozing triumph. The situation upstairs is taken care of, and all of the escapees are either dead or secure.

“You’re troubled?”

I stop in the middle of the office and turn, watching him settle behind his desk. I don’t answer immediately, and I begin to feel fingers of nectar poking at my thoughts.

“Quit that,” I mutter, shaking my head. Cross shrugs, and I avert my eyes. “I think I know the inmates in solitary. All three of them.”

He doesn’t say anything. He watches me intently from behind steepled fingers. I force myself to look at him directly, even if I can’t quite meet his gaze head on.

“I don’t know how, but they’re all so familiar. They must have been...” I trail off. Cross inclines his head, waiting for me to continue. I shake my head again, and there’s a tangible sense of disappointment from the presence of the voice. “It doesn’t matter. The sooner they’re converted, the better.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

It was a test.

I shouldn’t be surprised. Testing the bounds of loyalty has been his job since the prison opened. It would make me an idiot to believe he wouldn’t push me, too. Still, something about this seems strange.

“You’re right.”

“Is there anything else you aren’t telling me?”

I steel myself, force myself to look at him, and shake my head. Fingers of nectar once again push into my thoughts. I wait for him to find out about the voice, but a fog overtakes both my own thoughts and Cross’s search. Without meaning to, I shove them both out.

For a moment, I stand in shock, still staring at the floor. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t look at him, but that doesn’t keep the ominous weight of the room from growing. It pushes in on me, and I can’t breathe. Something in the back of my mind tells me to run, but I bite it back.

Then it’s gone.

I look up, at the growing anger in his eyes. That really wasn’t supposed to happen. With a sharp inhale, I straighten up.

“There’s nothing that I can’t handle on my own,” I say, subdued. He raises his eyebrows. I have to rally myself before I continue, and I sound much more assured when I do. “Everything’s under control.”

“It is, isn’t it?” He gazes at me, his anger twisting into a surprising delight. Though I don’t expect his geniality, I nod. He chuckles. “Give your soldiers their orders and meet me in the training complex.”

It’s a dismissal, obviously, but I wait a moment before leaving. I watch him turn and walk back to his desk. He reaches for the phone, but pauses and glances at the door. I avert my eyes and head out.

The suits cut off their conversation and straighten up. I turn on my way to solitary, waving them along after me. I start relaying them the general schedule but I’m still distracted—I mean, what the hell just happened?

I shut Cross out when he asked me a direct question.

That should have sent me to a screening room, maybe even a hole of my own. Instead, he actually laughed about it and decided to train with me. It isn’t like him to give special treatment.

If anything, he used to be so much harsher on me than anyone else.

“You should be careful.”

Yes, thank you, please shut the fuck up.

I lose my train of thought and dismiss my soldiers to the hole. They’ll be fine, they’ve been here long enough to know how this works.

“Of course. We can talk about this later.”

Cheeky bastard, I think, almost surprised to find it responding to my thoughts.

I split from the suits at the infirmary, still considering it. I stop in the middle of the room and look up at a low groan from one of the cots. I peer through the curtain to see another of the escapees strapped to the bed, a bag of second-rate nectar feeding into his bloodstream.

“Kevin.”

I thought you were going to leave. I step closer, sliding the curtain closed behind me.

“Sorry.”

I start to sit and a chair appears under me. The boy’s eyes squint tighter shut, then they open. He struggles against the binding, but stops when he sees me. The nectar’s fog clears from his eyes and I can feel relief washing over him.

“Thank god. Get me the hell out of here, Perry.”

I blink at him. He isn’t looking at me anymore, focused on the leather straps around his wrists and ankles. I don’t know much about this particular inmate, other than the fights we’ve seen on the screens. I stand and slip out of the cubicle, returning in seconds with a syringe of Cross’s new nectar.

“Everything will be fine,” I murmur, stopping at the side of his bed.

“Whatchu doing?” I glance up to see him staring in shock. He pulls harder against the bindings, his voice now panicked. “S’no way you really went dark side.”

“We’re both where we belong,” I say with a smile. I inject a tiny amount of the blue nectar into his IV feed. “Haven’t you always wanted to be able to fight back? You’ll be able to, with our help.”

When I look back at him, the nectar has already knocked him out. He won’t remember this when he wakes up. I watch him, brow furrowed. An uneasy feeling tickles the back of my mind.

He thought I was going to let him go.

I shake my head and turn to leave, finding Cross watching me from the door to the deeper tunnels. I catch his grin as he turns away and pushes through the plastic slats. I drop the empty syringe on a tray and follow him.

[c4p3n]

The Art Museum

I wrote this for the Wake County Library writing contest and I was pretty happy with how it came out. We had a really limited word count and it was fun to write with those restrictions. Alas, I was not selected as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in my age group. I guess there's always next year. --- He liked to take his runs at the art museum park. It felt like multitasking, the most popular lie millennials tell themselves. Taking in culture while expelling calories was the antithesis to his day job of trying to convince a computer to do what other people wanted. So he pounded his feet down the paved path winding through sculptures and benches and trash cans.

There is one piece that always shows up in pictures. It's the first one you notice and the first thing you stop noticing after enough visits. He just called them the 3 brown rings. They made for a nice waypoint but he never knew what they meant to the artist, whoever they were.

Today he saw them steaming with morning dew. 2 story rings made of hardened earth, they appeared to be buried just enough to keep them standing. As he trotted up, they seemed as good as any companion in a social media Proof Of Life post. He had been secluded for months and felt the need to show family and friends that he still got out and did things. Healthy things even. He was fine, really. Don't worry.

He leaned his phone against the first ring to the left of the path. With the camera pointed at the other two rings, he started the timer and jogged over to the last ring, passing through the middle one on his way. He turned back to look at the camera and struck a pose he hoped conveyed the opposite of loneliness.

As a flash warned that time was up, an arc of light shot from the phone to the air in the center of the ring. Before he could start wondering if that had really happened, he had to start wondering why a spaceship was hurtling toward him.

When he awoke, what he noticed first were the sounds. A bunch of beeps having an unwinnable argument. These faded to the background, overtaken by what he would soon find out were two voices. Right now one sounded like a barrel full of rocks rolling downhill. The other was a garden hose being dragged across dead leaves in late autumn.

As his eyes adjusted he found himself in a cockpit of sorts. Bigger than one on a plane, because he was lying on a cot folded out from the wall. In addition there were two chairs behind a whole array of blinking lights, the origin of the beeps. Beyond those, a half dome of clear glass that allowed him to see the unending light show of space whizzing by. It was a dizzying, frightening array of purples, blues, pinks and greens, twisting and smearing across the glass. It caused him to notice the two aliens much later than he normally would have.

They were standing a few feet from his cot by the door to the rest of whatever this was. The one facing him noticed he had awoken. With that many eyes, how could they not? His first communication with an alien species was less than impressive.

“Who is this?”

Later, he wouldn’t be sure what he meant to say. The being perked up at the sound and started fiddling with a screen on their wrist. They looked up and responded, the crunching of dead leaves now overlapped with a digitized translation.

“Hello, and please do not move. We are not authorized to give medical assistance, and we are not liable for any injuries you sustained while boarding the ship.”

The other alien turned around and widened their two eyes, then narrowed them again to look at the first alien.

“You have to speak in their language if the computer recognizes it. Those are the rules”

Some rock-like grumbling and wrist fiddling, then:

“There, happy? Now they will know the exact right time to attack us!”

“That has never happened.”

"You don't know that!"

“Please tell me where we are. Anything.” The man had ruled out dreaming when his head started aching from the flashing lights and sounds. He wanted to learn something that would make him feel less than completely powerless over his predicament.

He didn’t.

“You are aboard an Interplanetary Alliance Transit Ship. We...found you on the route of this ship when it slowed to replenish oxygen for our passengers.”

“Other humans are on this ship?”

“Maybe, but doubtful. There are no stops on Earth. But there are passengers who need oxygen to maintain vital functions, and Earth is on the route.”

“We’ll probably use that station for another hundred years, but at the rate you earthlings are going it won’t be the best source of oxygen on the route for much longer.” This was said by the alien who didn’t want to use English.

He started to feel sick from the sheer torrent of new information being thrown at him.

“So who are you two? Conductors?”

“I am ITA Pilot 31420.” They looked expectantly back at the other alien, who was not forthcoming.

“That is ITA Pilot 40119. We are both recent recruits to the Interplanetary Transit Authority.”

Pilot 31420 couldn’t keep the excitement from rising in their voice while mentioning this last part.

“Do you not have names?” Despite the surreal circumstances, he couldn’t pass up a chance to learn what a couple of aliens answered to when called for space supper.

“We are not allowed to give out our names to passengers. It is against the rules.”

40119 let out a gravelly sigh.

“We’ve told the earthling enough. We haven’t figured out what we are going to do with them.”

31420 looked crestfallen as they turned back to 40119.

“Was I the only one reading the handbook those nights we stayed up studying?”

He thought he saw a brief wave of guilt pass across the surly alien’s features.

“It clearly states that we keep any pickups, stowaways, or mistakenly loaded sentient freight onboard until the ship returns to their home planet.”

He briefly wondered into which category they had sorted him. Irrelevant. Focus on the problem.

“Ok so I just stay put until the ship completes a loop then? How long until we come back around to Earth?”

Excitement returned to 31420's face as they started tapping again at their wrist.

“This is one of the newer ships in the fleet, an ITA-XJ4, so it can complete the route in record time. We should be back to Earth in...”

They gave one final decisive tap and looked at the man with a grin. A monotone voice emanated from their wrist.

“Two. Earth. Years.”

At the sound of the third word, his heart bounced off his stomach.

“No. No. No I can’t be here for -“

An insistent klaxon cut through his voice. The two pilots turned to the immense console, then to each other.

"I thought you-" cried both in unison. They raced to the source of the problem on the instrument panel.

"Why didn't you refill our oxygen while I was hauling the earthling onboard?"

"I had to give the passengers a reason why we were stopped so long. I thought you started refilling!"

"What did you tell them?"

"That we were...filling backup oxygen tanks."

"Blix! You can't be serious." The man thought he was learning the name of one pilot when in fact it was a swear word the wrist computer refused to translate. He saw an opportunity and jumped.

"31420, Blix, just calm down and listen. We can go back to Earth, refill on oxygen, and you can drop me off. No one gets in trouble, no one dies, and we all pretend this never happened."

Pilot 40119 was appalled to hear an earthling insult them and and lay out a plan to save them all in the same sentence. The pilots conferred for a moment before turning back to the man. Both their faces had turned quite solemn. The alien who was not Blix held up their wrist computer, the screen turned towards the man. A series of lights issued from the screen, filling his vision. Then blackness.

He awoke on the grass under the arch of a brown ring. His back was wet with dew. It was very late. He rolled on his side and saw several empty beer bottles scattered next to him. He picked one up and read the label. "Earth Beer" it said in a simple font over a photo of Earth taken via satellite, or spaceship. He smiled, knowing he would never tell anyone and wondering if this was all in the handbook.

He walked over to the single ring across the path. Somehow his phone lay right where he left it that morning. He picked it up and the harsh light of the screen hurt his eyes. Deja Vu. It was later than he thought. He swiped up out of habit.

Zero notifications.

[ankyouweek]

Second Time Around

Thank you for making it to the end, if you have!

9 - A New Future (+ Story Notes)

The bed was soft, comfortable, familiar. His body on auto-pilot, Karma stumbled out of the covers, struggling to stay upright and make it to the bathroom. Freshening up, he looked in the mirror. He had a vague memory of something slicing his cheek, but there was no mark. Mustn’t have been too deep.

Not five minutes later, he spat out his water, leaving marks over the faux marble kitchen island.

The sun was high in the sky, catching every speck of dust that covered the apartment, a low rumble, cars well below on the ground, could be heard, and birds chirped, signalling a bountiful spring.

He was home.

He’d fallen asleep in front of their old classroom, beaten and bruised and numb inside and out, having watched Sensei die yet again. There was no mark on his cheek because he’d aged to his real self. No aches or pains, no stumbling over limbs that felt too short, no need to make sure he kept up a mask and tread the line between edgy teen and government official. 

There was no need to think when he woke up because this was his apartment, he could navigate it drunk in the dark, even with a cat curling around his ankles, meowing for a second (sometimes third) dinner. His knee didn’t ache and everything felt right, felt like home and his ears felt hot and his face was wet with tears. Karma didn’t know the result of his actions, didn’t know whether he’d saved the world, was a hero, or had fucked everything up further, but for now, this was enough. 

—

He remembered Karasuma’s message: My wife returned and I have a daughter.

He ignored where Karasuma had lived in his time and went straight back to the place he shared with Irina. A small girl opened the door, perhaps five or six. She blinked up at him and he looked down at her. She was a clone of Irina, no doubt he had the right place. 

He’d always worried that nobody else would remember their past, or perhaps only remember the altered version. He’d neglected to think he wouldn’t necessarily know the changes in the new world. About to ask if he had the right house, or if her parents were home, a shriek interrupted his thoughts. He covered his ears as his stomach took a hit.

“UNCLE KARMA!!”

Both her parents were home (“It’s Saturday after all!”) and he was welcomed in, Irina fussing (“You’ve been missing for a year, Karma!” When he didn’t reply, shocked at seeing her so loud and boisterous when she’d been dead for years, when the version he was more recently familiar with had less lines around the eyes, still enjoyed dressing that little bit more provocatively, she continued, more indignant, “We’ve been worried sick, you little brat!”) and his ‘niece’ demanded piggy back rides and a tea party and he couldn’t very well say no, could he? 

Karasuma looked better than Karma had seen him in years, clearly the man had been eating more than just convenience store food and was actually sleeping now. Irina was busy calling everyone to come over (“He’s really back! Waltzed up like he hadn’t been missing or something! Barely even an apology, so of course it’s him!”) and the little one was glued to the tv, watching some famous idol prance around on a too bright stage.

The house was large, with a small backyard, perfect for relaxing. Irina brought them tea before leaving them be (she’d only called half the class, and of course they wouldn’t just come and leave; she suspected they’d be here for lunch and wouldn’t leave until well after dinner). Karma was already sitting, staring blankly at the tiny garden, a little out of it, not quite sure what to do now he was back, but Karasuma still stood. Once Irina left, he bowed, deeper than Karma had seen anyone bow before.

His golden eyes were wide, processing what the hell was going on. The older man sat next to him, grinning. (Karma had never seen such a face on Karasuma and it kinda creeped him out.) A hand was on his head, ruffling his hair. “You did well, Karma.”

Heat flushed around his neck and tears pricked at his eyes. The full story could wait for later. Karasuma knew and he was happy and Karma was home.

—

The public only knew of an attack on Kunigaoka’s campus. Most assumed some type of student crime, perhaps a bitter E Class student, or a crazed parent annoyed their child only got a 90 instead of a 95 on their last test. The public gossiped, but nothing came of it, and the media ignored it after the hype wore off. The main campus knew nothing, except that those idiot E Class kids had caused problems again. Gakuhou kept quiet, still employed at the school (which ran more in his original direction, the type Sensei endorsed instead of the type that encouraged blood baths and nothing but study). 

Karma had been reported as missing for a year. Most assumed it was the pressure of government work and he’d wandered off to commit suicide. Others assumed a life lived alone was the cause (Karma could count the times he saw his parents post junior high graduation on one hand, and it was well known his love life was practically non-existent, despite the press running stories on such an attractive bachelor with good connections). Others still said that his past as a delinquent had come to collect interest.

Karasuma and the others had all been investigated over his disappearance. Thankfully Karasuma knew what was going on (and was the only one who did - Karma didn’t get it, but apparently once you truly learnt about time travel, or have contact with a different time, as he did through Ritsu’s programme, you could never forget? It sounded like bull but Karma was beyond questioning) and had kept everything as he left it. The electricity and water in his apartment still worked and his cat lived with Hazama. Karma didn’t believe he had much of a chance of convincing it to return home, since the fat thing enjoyed nothing more than curling up with people on the couch, and considering the bookworm Hazama was…

There was a shout as a group tumbled through the door, ignoring Irina’s scolding. The tiny garden felt smaller when it was crammed full of overly excited people. Karasuma rescued the still steaming tea and Karma was hugged and pulled and noogied from all directions. 

“Dude! What’s the story!” Karma could see the ring on Sugino’s finger.

Maehara had tears at the corner of his eyes, but he was laughing. “Honestly, I thought you were past your trouble making days!”

Terasaka and his group came together. Karma was sure he would bruise from how hard Terasaka smacked his arm, but the other man wasn’t good with words, and Karma understood that feeling so much right now. He’d give the other a reprieve, just this time. 

Karasuma had filled him in earlier. Karma’s actions had changed things for the better. No monster wars, no missiles (well, a few, but that was life), no mass panic and fear about losing journalists and loved ones in the interests of scientific advancements and human testing. 

Karasuma was the only one who had interacted with Karma’s timeline, apart from the person who had discovered their discussions, leading to Karasuma’s disgraceful exit from the workforce. After Karasuma had lost his job, that person had gone missing. “Family said he was a good man, no problems. Not sure what happened.” Irina was casual, genuinely curious about her husband’s former coworker, since they’d met a few times. 

Karasuma had gone still, kept his eyes locked on the small traditional rock formation at the back of the garden.

To Karma, Karasuma was always a teacher who had once been a soldier. Now he wondered how much of his wife’s skills he’d picked up. It couldn’t be easy living on Irina’s wage alone, and Karasuma never seemed to be the type to want or enjoy an early retirement. 

Karasuma remembered both worlds, though, like Karma, the memories that were new took a while to come with him. For Karma, there would be no issue, people would assume he was stressed or whatever, amnesia ridden due to his disappearance. Karasuma had had it hard, Irina wondering why he bawled at the sight of her and furious that he had no idea who their daughter was. 

Most of the others only remembered one world. Occasionally they had glimpses of the other world, or flashes like deja vu - “hey, I swear I’ve already done something similar!”, but everyone brushed it off as sleep deprivation or general idiocy. They were few and far between, not frequent enough to be concerned about, not contradictory enough to wonder about their sanity. 

The new version, the world Karma had created, was the one everyone remembered.

It was something he worried about, and it had come true, but it was interesting. He and Kayano had been bitter to each other in that world, he’d always pushed at her, but their relationship now seemed to be like their original one.

“Events are easier to change. Choose option B instead of option A. But bonds are something we build up over a lifetime, they’re much more chemically ingrained in our memories, beliefs and thoughts. I don’t think they’re so easily changed.”

He wasn’t sure how much he could buy into Karasuma’s theory, but considering it was time, and not individuals that had changed, the redhead couldn’t say much against it. So they weren’t the same people he knew, but they weren’t that different either. It would take adjusting to, but he could deal with that. 

In the case of Terasaka’s group, it meant talking to them more than he had previously (he had to admit, some of his fondest memories from the reboot were with this group - after all, most friends wouldn’t help you commit arson). Karma could make an exception for Hazama though (she wore glasses permanently, the damage clear on her eye, thanks to that day, and he’d always feel guilty about it but it could have been so much worse), who shoved her phone at him, the photo application opened to an album called “Kuro Hime”. Fat, black, overbite. That was his baby alright!

People were trying to talk to him, celebrate his return, but he was more interested in the photos. Everything around him had changed. Not enough to be beyond recognition or to feel awkward, but enough that he knew. This fat little creature, with eyes half shut or with the cutest little blep, hadn’t changed. It was still demanding, still fluffy, still his.

The door opened again. “He’s really here?”

Nagisa. Karma turned to look and felt his heart stop. Following the shorter man (Karma may be beyond teasing Nagisa about his feminine appearance, his height was still fair game and Karma grinned, glad it hadn’t changed), was Kayano, clearly rushing from work (seemingly fine, but he was told bikini modelling was impossible and she’d spent a year in hospital, looking like a gladiator, Sugaya, hair covered with paint the colour of vomit, and Okuda.

She beamed, barely kicking off her shoes before she rushed out the back. He smiled back, patting her on the head as she wailed, tears staining his shirt. Takebayashi came not long after and Karma felt a pang in his chest. His family was back together.

This world would take some adjusting to. It was his, yet not his. It was strange, considering he was the one who had shaped it’s very existence. But it wasn’t all bad. He had his cat, his apartment, his family. 

He had a second chance and every opportunity available to him. A chance to right things and start new wonderful things. 

“Did you succeed?”

He nodded, throat tightening as his eyes became clouded with tears. “Yeah. Everything’s good now.”

The world wasn’t perfect. It never would be. Humans are strange creatures that do strange things, so there was no surprise there. The world wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be.

Waiting for them was a good future.

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Thank you again for reading <3

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-Scrivener’s spell check was being weird, resulting in numerous “Karma-kins” instead of kuns and “Ritzs” instead of Ritsus. Mega replaced Megu, and it took me a while to realise I wasn’t writing about Pokemon lol Let me know if I missed any!

-I apologise if its weird. Trying out a new style and missing out a bunch of scenes (we all know what happens and this is sorta? A character study? Thing?) makes it seem a bit jumpy, but I still kinda like it haha. Also Karma is a brat and talks to such few people…

-Turned out more Karmanami than I thought? This was originally meant to be no ships…

-I feel like some parts I got Karma down well, and others… not so much lol

-Also, some things are probably inaccurate. This is in part due to no research/me not caring (time travel lmao), changes that have come about due to Karma’s actions, and me not watching the show for a while. I used the episode synopsis from wikipedia as my base, so manga only things aren’t involved, same for the extracurricular episodes (though I don’t believe Karma was much involved in those anyway). Speaking of which, non-Karma centric things have been ignored. 

-Also, I’m bad at fight scenes, sorry ;.; But like, when the fate of the world/someone’s life is on the line, I’d like to think middle schoolers would use it as a chance to fight all out. Sure, they’re somewhat trained assassins, but they’re kids who are allowed to beat each other up during class time. Personally I imagine the situation to be much more over the top, due to all the emotions behind it and the fact it’s their first time really going at other people. 

-There’s a line in ‘Change’, about Terasaka not being as aligned with E Class as he should be. I don’t know where I was going with this lmao

-The lab in the forest is based off the lab in the live actions.

-The original plan was to reverse the tentacles in Sensei and make him human again. Whoops.

-The ending is basically the same as the canon epilogue with slight differences. 

-This was meant to be 6k (6 chapters accordingly, all with ‘future’ or ‘past’ in the title), 10k if it got too big. Total word count is just under 22k. 

[midnightmemory66]

The 11 Get To Know me Tag

i've been tagged (once again) by my wonderful friend, @eubii

thanks, sista <3

Rules: 1. Always post the rules 2. Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people

1. Do you have any kind of mental illness? nothing that i know of, honestly. my friends probably think otherwise, but no, no metal illnesses :>

2. How did you find tumblr? oh d0000d, i actually have no idea.. i guess i saw tumblr posts someplace like we <3 it and i thought it was interesting so i joined and i have been hooked ever since

3. Pineapple on pizza or not? YES!!! DEFINITELY!!! IF THERE IS ONE USE FOR PINEAPPLES, IT'S TO PUT THEM ON PIZZAS

4. Best place to be? dunno man, wherever i'm comfortable i guess? sometimes it's my bed, sometimes it's outside, it differs really. but i guess if i had to choose one place, it would be my home <3

5. Do you write? i try to, yes, but i'm really bad at it and i don't usually finish anything so yeah, there's that..

6. What makes you happy? oh, that's a good one ^u^

one thing for sure is music. i don't think there's even a word that woukld describe how happy music makes me. probably like solid 45% if my happiness is music. other 45% is my girlfriend, she makes me super duper happy and is just as important for my overall happiness as music. the rest are just things such as friends, books, art (even tho really shitty) and other stuff

7. What was your first fandom? damn, actually not sure at all.. i guess you could say the one direction fandom? if we're talking like "proper" fandoms, that is. but i actually consider my first fandom the supernatural fandom, so that counts as well, hopefully

8. What was the first band you were fan of? man, that might actually be the jonas brothers.. i mean, i basically grew up on disney, so it would make sense

9. Did you ever do something that made you think all of your friends hated you? happens to me all the time, tbh. like.. whether it's saying something wrong or doing something disappointing and such. it sucks, but yeah..

10. What are you afraid of? life

11. Thunderstorms or Sunshine? thunderstorm. even though i love those kinda aesthetic sunny photos, grey, gloomy days with thunders and lightning bolts are my favorite as they represent my life and soul

12. God or the devil? neither? i guess? is that an option? well, it is now

13. TCC (teacher crush community) or TCC (true crime community): What do you think of the relationship between them? whut? i'm sorry i have no idea what that is, and to be quite honest, neither sounds like something i'd be exactly interested in

14. Rain or thunderstorm? both at the same time <3 but i will have to go with rain, if i'm not walking to school at the time, that is :D

15. Love+hate or complete boredom, but without hate? totally love+hate. i can't stand boredom and it wouldn't be fun without hate anyways

16. A war for the right moral or no war but a bad government? as much as i hate wars and shit.. i don't think it's a good idea to have a shitty government. plus, if the war actually did lead to better morals, that would be amazing, so i would take risk

17. Nietzsche or Kant? i only know nietzsche, so i can't really compare, but i do like nietzsche so i'm just gonna say him

18. MBTI or Hogwarts House test? i love, love, LOVE, both, but sadly, hogwarts have to go. the thing is, the hogwarts house test is very limited and doesn't really tell you much about you as a person, whereas mbti tests are divided into much more smaller groups that really tell you things about your own self, some that you wouln't exactly expect yourself to have, but do end up relating to most of the time, and that's the main reason why i'm choosing mbti tests

19. Swearing or puns? generally speaking, i like puns more, but i use swear words more. most of the time because my language is dumb and isn't exactly.. suitable for making puns. PRAISE ENGLISH AMEN

20. Psychopathy or sociopathy? probably sociopathy, since it's way less harmful than psychopathy, for the most part. i do enjoy fictional psychopaths though, for example our lovely teacher, jeffershit <3

21. Family or friends? somehow, i have a bettter relationship with my friends (?) i dunno why, i just feel way more comfortable around them when it comes to really personal stuff and that's one of the main reasons why i'm choosing friends over family

22. Sheriarty or Destiel? DESTIEL!!!!! I'M SORRY ERBI, BUT DESTIEL IS JUST MY THANG

23. What is your biggest obsession right now? (Whether a book, song, character, could be anything really!)

currently, i have to say life is strange is my obsession <3

24. Would you say you’re more lawful or chaotic? (according to moral alignment)

i'm a true neutral ^u^

25. Recommend us one song you love!

oh, calamity! by all time low. that song is literally my most favorite song by them and it means a lot to me

26. How do you feel about “more colour more pride” ? (see:https://morecolormorepride.com/)

well, i guess they meant well, but i share the opinion that lgbtq+ should stand for every single member of this community, no matter their race, and i think that if they really wanted to make everything even, they should have added a color for all the races, not just black and brown color (wow, a white is speaking, could you believe that?) okay, no, let's just keep the original pride flag and no one will get hurt

27. Would you say you’re more dominant or submissive? Generally speaking.

i consider myself a fairly submissive person, though i do not mind taking the dominant role

28. What is that one character quality you look for in others?

the ability to listen when i ramble and help when i need it

29. What is that one character quality that repels you?

rudeness and being mean in general. i can't stand that

30. Which language would you love to learn?

ALL THE LANGUAGES!!! but maybe korean? it's a really interesting language, plus i'd love to understang songs without needing captions xD

31. “I wish I were more…”, fill in the gap!

smart, pretty, skinny, talented, likeable, funny, intelligent, useful, more of a better daughter, you name it

32. “I wish I were less…”

stupid, me, emotional, shitty, useless, ugly, alive (sometimes)

33. Write a short message to whoever comes to your mind, you don’t have to address them, just write what would you want to tell them! :)

hi. i guess you will know who you are, you are actually two people i adress this to. thank you. honestly, thank you so freaking much, for what you do for me. thank you for listening to my rants, making me feel somehow better about myself, assuring me people care about me, that what i feel isn't all bad and hopeless, thank you for that. thank you <3

now it's my turn for to write eleven more q's

here goes

1. if you could go back in time and change one moment in your life, would you?

2. do you like popcorn? if yes, what kind is your favorite?

3. which fictional character would you like to spend a day with?

4. you have been offered a lifetime supply of your favorite thing, whatever it is, but you would have to give up one of your most precious memories. what would you do?

5. are you afraid of the dark?

6. have you ever experienced deja vu? what was your reaction?

7. do you like sarcasm?

8. what personality trait would you change about yourself?

9. is there a song you would just send to hell and destroy it forever?

10. have you ever been caught cheating on a test/exam?

11. are you more like your dad or your mom?

again, thank you erbi for tagging me ;>

and as i certainly don't have eleven people to tag, i will just tag anyone who is interested in joining me on this wonderful journey this tag is <3

i would never forget to tag my lovely mom though, right @ayo-jin ?

[verytamenow]

1-99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ily

1:Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? - I don’t really care. They’re open in the moment.

2:Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? - I don’t spend much time in hotels but in general, no.

3:Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? - I actually sleep on top of the sheets. And on top of my comforter a lot.

4:Have you ever stolen a street sign before? - No. There’s a couple I’ve wanted to.

5:Do you like to use post-it notes? - As much as I love the orgaizational possibilities of office supplies I don’t use them much.

6:Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? - I usually don’t cut them out tbh.

7:Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? - A big bear. 

8:Do you have freckles? - A few here and there but not a ton. Not enough for them to be a noticeable feature.

9:Do you always smile for pictures? - I avoid pictures but usually no. I can’t smile for photos well.

10:What is your biggest pet peeve? - Last thing I noticed as a pet peeve is people who don’t know their order before going through a drive thru. 

11:Do you ever count your steps when you walk? - Sometimes but rarely. It’s not my thing.

12:Have you ever peed in the woods? - No.

13:What about pooped in the woods? - No.

14:Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing? - I don’t dance much even when there is music playing.

15:Do you chew your pens and pencils? - Sometimes.

16:How many people have you slept with this week? - 0.

17:What size is your bed? - Cal King.

18:What is your Song of the week? - I’ve been listening to Just Hold On quite a bit lately.

19:Is it okay for guys to wear pink? - Yes?

20:Do you still watch cartoons? - Not recently but in general, yes.

21:Whats your least favorite movie? - 50 Shades on principle, even if I’ve never seen it.

22:Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? - I live in the middle of the desert so there’s no shortage of places.

23:If you're a girl, bra size? If you're a guy, pants size? - I honestly can not recall off the top of my head.

24:What do you dip a chicken nugget in? - Nothing.

25:What is your favorite food? - Pasta. Right now my favourite meal is Steak and Noodles.

26:What movies could you watch over and over and still love? - Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal, The Alien Series, Harry Potter, Dogma 

27:Last person you kissed/kissed you? - No one.

28:Were you ever a boy/girl scout? - I think at one point I was a brownie for maybe 2 weeks before I thought it was stupid and quit.

29:Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? - No. God no. Don’t want to scar anyone for life.

30:When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? - Not since it was a school writing assignment.

31:Can you change the oil on a car? - Do I know how to? No. Could I work it out via Google? Probably.

32:Ever gotten a speeding ticket? - Shockingly, no.

33:Ever ran out of gas? - No. My car doesn’t go below a 1/4 tank.

34:Favorite kind of sandwich? - Grilled cheese or Chicken and Cheddar with Veggies.

35:Best thing to eat for breakfast? - Breakfast skillet or burrito. But I’m not normally a breakfast person.

36:What is your usual bedtime? - Theoretically 10 but realistically midnight.

37:Are you lazy? - Not sure. My executive function sucks so it’s hard to know what’s that sometimes and what’s me being lazy.

38:When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? - I was a Jedi once when Phantom Menace came out. 

39:What is your Chinese astrological sign? - Monkey.

40:Are you horny? - Not at this exact moment, but it’s been known to happen. Being single sucks sometimes. 

41:Do you have any magazine subscriptions? - No.

42:Which are better legos or lincoln logs? - LEGOS! But lincoln logs are also awesome.

43:Are you stubborn? - Depends on what it’s about. Sometimes I’m stubborn as fuck but I can also be pretty easy going at times. I like making others happy so I’m a bit likely to give in.

44:Who is better...Leno or Letterman? - Haven’t watched either so no clue.

45:Ever watch soap operas? - Not really.

46:Are you afraid of heights? - God yes. It’s gotten worse over the years and I don’t know why.

47:Do you sing in the car? - Yes. Very badly. I can’t carry a tune.

48:Do you sing in the shower? - No but I also don’t live alone so...

49:Do you dance in the car? - Sometimes if I’m really into it and forget people can see me.

50:Ever used a gun? - Answered. Yes.

51:Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? - Not since school photos.

52:Do you think musicals are cheesy? - I haven’t watched many musicals so no idea. 

53:Is Christmas stressful? - I don’t really celebrate it so meh.

54:Ever eat a pierogi? - Yeah, wasn’t bad.

55:Favorite type of fruit pie? - I hate fruit pies.

56:Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? - Singer, Musician, Doctor, Professional Wrestler, Medical Examiner.

57:Do you believe in ghosts? - I don’t not believe in them. I think it’s possible spirits can linger but only for a short while, not for years and years.

58:Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? - Yes, every now and then. Usually me going “wait.....I vaguely recall dreaming about this. Is this an important moment?”

59:Take a vitamin daily? - Nope.

60:Wear slippers? - Nope.

61:Wear a bath robe? - No, but it seems a comfy concept.

62:What do you wear to bed? - White tshirt and pj pants. Sometimes the shirt and boxerbriefs in summer.

63:First concert? - U2 on the Vertigo tour.

64:Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? - Target. Walmart because it’s quick. Kmart if I want to glimpse a post apocalyptic dystopia. 

65:Nike or Adidas? No preference personally but Adias because Karlie.

66:Cheetos Or Fritos? Fritos.

67:Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? Both but sunflower seeds.

68:Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? - No.

69:Ever take dance lessons? - No but I’ve thought about it actually.

70:Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? - Not really. Hopefully something that makes her happy or she at least doesn’t hate.

71:Can you curl your tongue? - Yes.

72:Ever won a spelling bee? - No. My schools never had one.

73:Have you ever cried because you were so happy? - Not in a long while if I have.

74:Own any record albums? - A shelf full. I just bought all of Taylor’s.

75:Own a record player? - Yes, obviously.

76:Regularly burn incense? - No.

77:Ever been in love? - Once.

78:Who would you like to see in concert? - Taylor. Next tour I swear.

79:What was the last concert you saw? - Brooks and Dunn and Reba.

80:Hot tea or cold tea? - Answered. Neither.

81:Tea or coffee? - Also neither.

82:Sugar or snickerdoodles? - I’m not big on sugar cookies but i’ve never had a snickerdoodle so sugar cookies.

83:Can you swim well? - No.

84:Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? - Not for very long.

85:Are you patient? - Not particularly. I can be if I have to.

86:DJ or band, at a wedding? - DJ.

87:Ever won a contest? - No.

88:Ever have plastic surgery? - No.

89:Which are better black or green olives? - Black olives. Green olives are nasty.

90:Can you knit or crochet? - No, I lack the dexterity.

91:Best room for a fireplace? - Living room or bedroom.

92:Do you want to get married? - If I find someone crazy or stupid enough to marry me, sure.

93:If married, how long have you been married? - I’m not and it likely won’t happen anytime soon.

94:Who was your HS crush? - One girl in my geometry class who’s name I forgot. Think it started with a K. Another girl in my chemistry class. And then both my English and Physics teachers.

95:Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? - No. I hate crying and will instead either internally be unhappy and try and hide it with varying success or maybe silently sulk (mature, I know)

96:Do you have kids? - No, thank fuck.

97:Do you want kids? - Not particularly, but the right woman *might* be able to talk me around as long as I don’t have to carry or we adopt past the toddler years. I’d be up to adopt or foster older kids maybe.

98:Whats your favorite color? - Blue at the moment.

99:Do you miss anyone right now? - Yeah and it sucks. I don’t want to.

[starsburnouttoo]

boring tag

because of @kitkatdana​

1. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR CLOSET DOORS OPEN OR CLOSED? I close them, i’m OCD about all the doors in my room.

2. DO YOU TAKE THE SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONER BOTTLES FROM HOTELS? I probably have, honestly don’t remember.

3. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR SHEETS TUCKED IN OR OUT? I have a sheet too big for my bed so its wrapped around kinda weirdly and never comes undone. (life hack?)

4. HAVE YOU STOLEN A STREET SIGN BEFORE? No because what would I do with it? I mean, I’d hang up a stop sign on my bedroom door maybe but that might be too cliche?

5. DO YOU LIKE TO USE POST-IT NOTES? I like to make small notes and I like to write things out in my notebook but post-it notes specifically? nah, not really.

6. DO YOU CUT OUT COUPONS BUT THEN NEVER USE THEM? I take the whole page and just rip out the coupon I end up using.

7. WOULD YOU RATHER BE ATTACKED BY A BIG BEAR OR A SWARM OF BEES? Big bear because it’s only one and I feel like they’d be easier to out run than a whole swarm of bees. Also at least with a bear it’s a quicker death, with a swarm of bees I’m not even sure i’d day. 

8. DO YOU HAVE FRECKLES? Nope, I have a lot of moles/beauty marks though.

9. DO YOU ALWAYS SMILE FOR PICTURES? I do because I don’t want to look back at a photo and regret the facial expression I made -- it happens a lot surprisingly.

10. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? I... don’t know? I don’t like when I get blamed for stuff that isn’t my fault? 

11. DO YOU EVER COUNT YOUR STEPS WHEN YOU WALK? I don’t actually count but I think about how, like, “this room is only about 20 steps from mine.” and that sort of stuff.

12. HAVE YOU PEED IN THE WOODS? No... I don’t go into the woods?

13. HAVE YOU EVER POOPED IN THE WOODS? I literally do not go in the woods and the few times I have gone camping their were restrooms for this stuff.

14. DO YOU EVER DANCE EVEN IF THERES NO MUSIC PLAYING? All the timeeeee I can’t seem to be still, I’ll move from side to side a lot or bob my head or do that shoulder beat thing, ya feel? 

15. DO YOU CHEW YOUR PENS AND PENCILS? So, I chew on those pen caps from those pens that are clear and only have a blue cap? they’re like hard plastic? I feel like they’re in the top 3 most used pens... but I like to chew on those caps specifically, other than that no.

16. HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU SLEPT WITH THIS WEEK? Okay so literally slept with only one but like sex? hehe ;) I’m a virgin.

17. WHAT SIZE IS YOUR BED? twin but that was because I have a bunk bed. i’m buying a queen soon :D

18. WHAT IS YOUR SONG OF THE WEEK? Song of the week... uhm... okay so “Trapdoor” by Twenty One Pilots is really good but also “I Hate U I Love U” by Gnash because mood.

19. IS IT OK FOR GUYS TO WEAR PINK? Yes, honey do what makes you happy. You like the color? wear it. You want to make a point that men can wear pink? do it. You want to support breast cancer? love it. you just couldn’t find another shirt to go with your new jeans? you look so good! I love it, wear the hell out of pink.

20. DO YOU STILL WATCH CARTOONS? Actively? No... I watch a lot of anime from time to time, though... which, ya know, animated cartoons are still animated cartoons. Toe-may-toe toe-mah-toe.

21. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE? Least favorite? err I hate every scary movie to have ever existed but I also can’t find it in me to like anything from harry potter, star trek, star wars, lord of the rings.... those series.

22. WHERE WOULD YOU BURY HIDDEN TREASURE IF YOU HAD SOME? my grandpa owns two mountains... I won’t say where... you never know if I’ll get treasure worth hiding, my guy.

23. WHAT DO YOU DRINK WITH DINNER? tea, literally any kind of tea.

24. WHAT DO YOU DIP A CHICKEN NUGGET IN? Ketchup, ranch, chick-fil-a sauce... yes.

25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Alright so I’m weird and I really love potato salad, like, no joke, but there was potato salad in my dream last night? I like cereal a lot, its so good, but I would die for oatmeal creme pies... devilled eggs...

26. WHAT MOVIES COULD YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND STILL LOVE? Okay any disney movie ever, but to specify I love Beauty and the beast, Mulan, Aladdin, Tangled, Frozen (I only saw it twice so it wasn’t killed for me, I genuinely like the characters), Anastasia.... yeah I like them all.

27. LAST PERSON YOU KISSED/KISSED YOU? Ugh okay so my last kiss was in 8th grade and yall know how those middle school relationships are all mistakes right? So yeah, it was this guy who was the pastors son at my church... his name is josh... he’s in college now... yeah. ew.

28. WERE YOU EVER A BOY/GIRL SCOUT? I went to the first meeting because my brother was going to the boy scouts meeting (he wanted to learn to use a pocket knife and tie cool knots) but the girls just sold cookies and i thought that was lame so... no.

29. WOULD YOU EVER STRIP OR POSE NUDE IN A MAGAZINE? I would strip but completely naked? Nah... do I get like a sheet to cover with or something? 

30. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A LETTER TO SOMEONE ON PAPER? Last week... I write thank you cards a lot (not that I give them out a lot because I feel like people would think I’m weird for thanking them for... like... i dunno... loving a similar band to me and having a nice conversation or something.)

31. CAN YOU CHANGE THE OIL ON A CAR? No but all my brothers can so I don’t need to know... hopefully...

32. EVER GOTTEN A SPEEDING TICKET? nope... because I’m learning to drive still.

33. EVER RAN OUT OF GAS? uh... no. I haven’t learned how to drive in the time span between this question and the last one.

34. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF SANDWICH? I really like subway because of their samiches. i couldn’t say any specifics because I like.... like, all sandwiches.

35. BEST THING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST? okay so breakfast tacos from Dans... oooooor cereal.... ooooooor breakfast tacos in general. oooooor Waffles from Jim’s because they put whipped cream, chocolate chips, chocolate drizzle, etc.

36. WHAT IS YOUR USUAL BEDTIME? my bedtime is 9 but anytime after 6 pm works too... if its later than 10 I’m suicidal.

37. ARE YOU LAZY? If I’m determined to get something done I will do it, just leave me alone and I’ll do it. but if I really just don’t want to do something or don’t care... yes. i’m so so so so lazy.

38. WHEN YOU WERE A KID, WHAT DID YOU DRESS UP AS FOR HALLOWEEN? Okay so one year, and keep in mind this is the most embarrassing costume i remember, I dressed up as a party rocker based on the song party rock anthem... because I was extremely crazy about that song when I was like.... 11.

39. WHAT IS YOUR CHINESE ASTROLOGICAL SIGN? I’m a dragon my guy. but like...  hopefully a water dragon or ice dragon or earth dragon.. i don’t wanna be hot headed.

40. HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SPEAK? English.... and I passed Spanish....

41. DO YOU HAVE ANY MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS? I mean... I have none but my household has a ton and I like to take the Mens Health ones because none of my brothers want them and the cover guys are sooooo hot.

42. WHICH ARE BETTER: LEGOS OR LINCOLN LOGS? Legos by a long shot.

43. ARE YOU STUBBORN? Nah.. I mean if its a morals thing fuck yeah but if its like... “should we go to chick-fil-a” I’d be like “I kinda want chinese” and the someone would say “but I want chicken” so I’d be like “okay”

44. WHO IS BETTER: LENO OR LETTERMAN? Uh... you see.... I like the name Leno better than letterman but i dunno these people?

45. EVER WATCH SOAP OPERAS? No dude... like... if I did it would be more ironically... 

46. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? funny story but one time I thought I would die if I jumped off of the air vent that was outside my house... it’s like 3 feet tall... so yeah... anything above 3 feet scares me I guess. xD

47. DO YOU SING IN THE CAR? does satan’s name resemble santa’s? 

48. DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER? almost alwayyyyyys... if I don;t i’m thinking hard or just in general talking to myself.

49. DO YOU DANCE IN THE CAR? Yes. Especially to the good songs. so... a lot.

50. EVER USED A GUN? Yes and i like pistols but the.... whats it called.... the force after you shoot a big gun that makes you jump back... yeah I don’t like that.

51. LAST TIME YOU GOT A PORTRAIT TAKEN BY A PHOTOGRAPHER? Okay so... no?

52. DO YOU THINK MUSICALS ARE CHEESY? I think that certain musicals are borderline obsessive with songs that just don’t go well for a serious mood... like, they’re too cheesy and annoying to be a good romantic song... but a lot of musicals are really well put together too.

53. IS CHRISTMAS STRESSFUL? Ugh, yes. I have 3 separate families to visit okay? Literally there is over 50 people to shop for and that’s not including friends and I’m unemployed so yes. yes it is. 

54. EVER EAT A PIEROGI? no.. I dunno what that is.

55. FAVORITE TYPE OF FRUIT PIE? pie is so gross but I like the topping of pecan pie.

56. OCCUPATIONS YOU WANTED TO BE WHEN YOU WERE A KID? uhhhh I gotta list. here we go: chef, baker, singer, actress, model, pilot, therapist, vet, successful, talk show host, americas got talent judge (like... i reallllllllllly wanted to be a judge--- still do a looooooot but I have no fame so...)

57. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? nah but I make jokes about them being around a lot.

58. EVER HAVE A DEJA-VU FEELING? ALL THE TIME except its not exactly like a full on minute of deja vu its like a hand motion or a sign I saw on the wall or someone saying something that I swear I’ve heard before.

59. DO YOU TAKE A VITAMIN DAILY? no but I did as a kid, especially when my mom bought the sour gummy ones.

60. DO YOU WEAR SLIPPERS? no but I wear sandals and socks around the house a lot.

61. DO YOU WEAR A BATH ROBE? no but I own, like, 2.

62. WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO BED? a t-shirts with literally anything ranging from jeans to leggings to yoga pants... etc.

63. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCERT? One Direction on September 21st, 2014 in Houston.... the arena was huge... a million girls and I got sick during the last song... whoops.

64. WALMART, TARGET, OR KMART? target....? 

65. NIKE OR ADIDAS? I wear so much nike stuff because its so comfortable but adidas shirts and jackets look hella comfortable.

66. CHEETOS OR FRITOS? cheetos my main dude. I had an on going joke with my little brother once when we were at a concession stand and I couldn’t see what was there and he was tall so he read to me, “cheetos... fritos... doritos... and sunchips” and we died laughing because of all the rhyming. 

67. PEANUTS OR SUNFLOWER SEEDS? I like the taste of sunflower seeds better but they’re so time consuming to open with so little food as a result that peanuts are just easier.

68. EVER HEAR OF THE GROUP TRES BIEN? Nah my guy. How about Three Days Grace? xD

69. EVER TAKE DANCE LESSONS? No but my spanish teacher had us learn a hispanic culture dance for one of our final projects. I had the cumbia.

70. IS THERE A PROFESSION YOU PICTURE YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE DOING? I don’t care as long as they’re enjoying what they do. 

71. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? like... taco? cause yeah?

72. EVER WON A SPELLING BEE? Okay so uhhh no but I went to this education festival thing and they had a spelling bee booth and I spelled the word they gave me wrong but I still won a reallllly nice notebook (as a writer I really do mean that) and it was the first notebook I ever filled up. (it lasted from march 8th, 2016 to November 11th, 2016.)

73. HAVE YOU EVER CRIED BECAUSE YOU WERE SO HAPPY? Uh.... maybe? I dunno?

74. OWN ANY RECORD ALBUMS? No but they sound cool.

75. OWN A RECORD PLAYER? I have literally no idea whats in my garage. I doubt it.

76. DO YOU REGULARLY BURN INCENSE? Yes... I have like 20 in my room and I burn one every few days... or a candle...

77. EVER BEEN IN LOVE? Yeah.... yea...... uhhhh.... yeah. 

78. WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN CONCERT? Twenty One Pilots, again, tbh, gnash, NF, and i’m sure there will be more in the future.

79. WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU SAW? Troye Sivan on October 24th, 2016. 

80. HOT TEA OR COLD TEA? uhhhhh all tea, don’t discriminate. 

81. TEA OR COFFEE? both... but like tea.... is more appealing. 

82. SUGAR COOKIES OR SNICKERDOODLES? sugar cookies all the way.

83. CAN YOU SWIM WELL? i know how to swim.

84. CAN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH WITHOUT HOLDING YOUR NOSE? yeah

85. ARE YOU PATIENT? sometimes. if its something I wanna do then nah... but if its like... waiting for a friend to do something yeah.

86. DJ OR BAND AT A WEDDING? DJ... (I forgot to add this to the job list but I wanted to be a DJ once... and a break dancer once.)

87. EVER WON A CONTEST? I got 2nd place in an 80′s themed costume dance contest...??? I dunno.

88. HAVE YOU EVER HAD PLASTIC SURGERY? yeah but it was to smooth out a few scars.

89. WHICH ARE BETTER: BLACK OR GREEN OLIVES? olives can burn in hell.

90. CAN YOU KNIT OR CROCHET? ahhhhhh I wish no.

91. BEST ROOM FOR A FIREPLACE? any room that gets cold??? 

92. DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED? only if my partner does but me??? yes.... yeah I’d loooooove to be able to call someone my partner for life and just have that assurance that they actually want to be with me...

93. IF MARRIED, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED? never... yet...

94. WHO WAS YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH? she actually might see this somehow so i won’t say the current one but I liked this girl name Olivia all through middle school until 9th grade... so you know? 

95. DO YOU CRY AND THROW A FIT UNTIL YOU GET YOUR OWN WAY? Playfully? dramatically? but never seriously.

96. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? so I have 2, one is named Pikachu and one is named Bruce Banner... or Willis... or Wayne.. whatever you want for Bruce.... they’re small.... and precious... and chihuahuas.

97. DO YOU WANT KIDS? I don’t want to give birth, I want a ton of kids though so... well see?

98. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? I like maroon... and purple... and blue... and black.... silver... white.... yeah.

99. DO YOU MISS ANYONE RIGHT NOW? nah.... not really.

100. WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TAG TO DO THIS VIDEO NEXT? its not even a video but uhhh @sweatersnshades @depressedtopramen @guacnroll @ashlapash579 @sleeping--light @beverlynotcleary @pups-art @stark-nakedness because all of yall are my fave accounts and some of the coolest people I’ve got to see.... yeah :D