#i found two cool calendars today that did have this kind of stuff...but like

[screamingwiththewolves]

I really like the idea of an advent calendar...but like every one I happen across, sucks. Like I don't want an advent calendar full of little figurines that I have no space for. I want an advent calendar of stickers, recipes, maybe a necklace, a coloring page perhaps, things I can use. I do not want, nor need, nor have the space for 13 tiny funko pop wannabes XD

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s stepkid

Tony Stark x Potts!child!reader

warnings: alcohol mention

a/n: i rushed these so bad i just wanted to post dhhshsnsna

prompt: y/n is pepper’s kiddo!

it was just you and your mom for a long time

pepper and y/n potts

she couldn’t keep up with you sometimes, too busy dealing with the manchild that was mister anthony edward stark

speaking of—

“uh, who’s this?” -tony, pointing at you

“mr. stark, i am so sorry, the school closed because some kid set fire to the science lab and i didn’t have time to find a sitter—”

“no, it’s fine, no need to apologize. hey, kid, you wanna sit in the boss’s chair? i’ll let you run the company for the day!” *cue you nodding* “sweet, would you mind that, ms. potts?”

“oh? no, not at all” *mouthing* “thank you”

“so, uh, what’s your name? no, don’t tell me: ketchup.”

*giggling* “y/n”

“no way! that was my second guess!”

tony wasn’t used to being around kids

he had no idea that he was actually kind of good around them

despite a few minor hiccups

“you sit in my chair and im gonna spin you around, sound like fun?”

he spun you around WAY too fast and you were diiiiizzy, also you fell off the chair

“don’t tell your mom that we did that. she may be my assistant, but she scares the shit out of me. also, don’t say ‘shit’”

dude he just thought you were a cool kid!!!

“hey, you know, ms. potts, you dont really need to hire a babysitter anymore. y/n’s doing just fine hanging out here”

“how am i not surprised you befriended an actual child?”

she still took him up on his offer, you seemed pretty happy

when your mom worked late, you passed out in tonys office

tony and you had your own little secrets (like falling off the spinning chair), tony showed you around stark tower, and you practically lived there

“i got you a happy meal from mcdonalds!” -tony every day after your school

in all honesty, you weren’t the “popular” kid at school...not even close

but tony made up for it

“y/n! i found this old racecar toy in a box of old stuff, you wanna hold onto it for me?”

you kind of grew up in stark tower tbh? it was pretty cool

and as you grew up, you started to notice more

“mr. tony, do you have a crush on my mom?”

“do i what? no, no, i do—who the hell am i kidding? you caught me”

“called it!”

after that you did everything to try and get them together

when your mom was talking to tony, you would stand behind her and wiggle your eyebrows and just taunt tony endlessly

no! tony cannot remember your mom’s birthday for the life of him! you are his calendar now

“dude, why dont you just ask JARVIS to remind you?”

“i may be a genius, but that doesn’t mean i have common sense”

“wise words, sir” -JARVIS

when tony disappeared for 3 months you were so sad???? like you were not okay at all

no

and when he came back, he literally exited the plane saying “WHERE’S ‘T-POTT??’”

(your wonderful nickname. ‘t’ for ‘tony jr.’ and ‘pott’ for ‘potts’)

“my mom missed you”

“oh, i bet she did”

“you turned my child into you, tony. i will never forgive you for this”

“well, at least y/n was here to fill in for me, huh?”

tony wanted to show you the arc reactor but he was actually afraid of scarring you lmfaoooo

but he did let you in on the iron man secret (he knew you wouldn’t snitch)

and just to make sure:

“if you dont tell anyone, i’ll buy you a car when you turn 16”

“man, that’s like, forever away”

“good, maybe you’ll forget by then”

ur mom kinda maybe sorta found out abt iron man :/ she told you that tony was a bad influence

“mom! no, tony’s cool! he’s like a superhero”

“no, sweetie, he’s a rich guy with issues. we’re leaving”

that didn’t last long

not long at all

and soon they FINALLY got together

“jeez, i thought you two would never stop pining after each other”

“couldnt have done it without my wingman” -tony *fistbump*

“as thanks can i have my own iron man suit?”

“yes.” *pepper glaring at him* “no.”

sooner or later your mom and you moved into tony’s house and you got a really big room!!!!

it was completely decked out

king sized bed, flatscreen tv, mini-fridge, microwave, computer, your own bathroom with a smaller tv, a poster of tony??? (you vandalized it and put it in his workshop), and more!!!

okay you were spoiled

“do you like it here? are you sure i made the right choice?” -pepper

“are you kidding, mom? this is awesome! plus, you’re happy, i’m happy, tony’s happy, i think JARVIS is even happy!”

“i am, mx. potts. simply ecstatic” -JARVIS

pepper was really happy!! it was a pretty cool family

you started giving your school tony’s number if you ever got in trouble, you knew he’d cover for you

“mr. potts, is it?”

“sure”

“your child, y/n, punched another student in the face today. we’re very disappointed in their behavior”

“why’d they punch the kid?”

“well, the other student punched y/n first”

“HAH! thank you for wasting my time. send y/n back to class and call me back if something important comes up”

he literally gave you a high five when you got home

“i gave him a black eye!”

“i couldn’t be more proud. i mean, i dont condone violence, but self defense is a whole other story”

a little help in the workshop, tony asks you to hold the flashlight

“why don’t you get one of your robots to hold this for you?”

“are you kidding me, you’re complaining? we’re having stepdad/stepkid bonding time! and dum-e can’t do anything right, i dont trust him”

youve had a few theme park trips as a family ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also tony has 100% told you to wait in the car and then left you alone for 2+ hours

“i’m not like a regular dad, im a step-dad. want some beer? you can have a little sip. i’d rather you do it in the house”

your mother actually does love how he actually cares about you!

“y/n is 12% my responsibility” -tony

“tony, you are impossible” -pepper

no avengering for you! pepper said no!!!!!!

disappointed but not surprised

iron man 3: y/n potts is put through the wringer

Text Message to Mr. Tony: bro you better come get your girl, me and happy are watching this other guy flirting with her. he’s showing her pics of his ‘big brain’

Mr. Tony: HE WHAT

Text Message to Mr. Tony: Tony he looks creepy i don’t want him to be my new stepdad do something!!!

anyways ur house kinda blew up and ur mom and you kinda got kidnapped and u were right abt that guy being creepy and thankfully no experiments were done on you but like your mom kinda almost died and her and tony were fine!!! all good in the end

you met mr. col. james rhodes that day

“aw, you’re the kid ive heard so much about” -rhodey

“you mean the coolest kid in the world?check.”

“you cant tell me you aren’t tony’s biological child, good god”

you got to meet the avengers later on too! (you’d already met natasha tho, only briefly)

“i know it can be a little overwhelming, right? meeting all these heros, legends even—” -rhodey

“oh, my god, is that thor? thor!!” -you, leaving rhodey in the dust

literally why does pepper trust you around tony something always goes wrong there were literally robots attacking, you were only at avengers tower bc your mom was busy with the company and she thought you’d be safe with the avengers. the AVENGERS.

“please dont tell your mom that i created a bad robot that tried to kill us. the robot will be the least of our problems” -tony

he made happy pick you up and you had to miss out on FUN and it sucked a lot

“it’s okay, y/n! i’m fun, too!” -happy

then your mom and tony took a break and your life got mega-boring for a while, but they weren’t separated for that long. you try not to think about it. it was brutal

Mr. Tony: Does she miss me?

New Message to Mr. Tony: I think so. Either that or she’s crying and drinking wine in the dark for no reason.

Mr. Tony: Damn it, now I feel bad. I miss her a lot. Oh, also, the Avengers say ‘hi,’ I’m in Germany with some bad news, I’ll explain later if you don’t see it on TV first, and I found you the perfect friend! His name is Peter and I think you’d like the school he goes to, it’s in Midtown. Smart kid school.

New Message to Mr. Tony: I’ll look into it, thanks. Also, I don’t like how those all connect. Please update me asap

watching the news to see several avengers arrested, cap on the run, and more!

“maybe it was good i didn’t fall in with the avengers”

tony and pepper finally got back together and you actually transferred to midtown high! peter and his friend group accepted you quickly, it was great. you and flash unfortunately had the most in common

you’d literally text happy right next to peter and he’d immediately reply to you. it hurt peter’s feelings

Momma: Sweetie! I’m working in the office late, leftovers are in the fridge, hope you have a wonderful day at school! 💕

👉👈the vulture tried to kill you for being tony’s stepkid, tony made peter promise to protect you

“y/n, you gotta stay out of harm’s way. mr. stark gave me an actual mission and it’s terrifying, i have to make sure you stay safe”

legit why the fuck was this old man tryna kill you bro grow up

anyyyywayssss your mom and tony got engaged!!

“wow, i thought the day would never come!!” -you

ppl told you tony isnt your stepdad bc ur mom and him werent married but who tf asked

why is the earth always in fucking danger

you and peter were just vibing on the field trip bus and all the sudden: space donut

“go! i’ll cover for you...FRIDAY, call tony”

“...hi there, little one”

“what the fuck”

“oh, so you see the aliens, too? well, at least im not crazy”

tony stark has left the atmosphere

you and your mom were kinda......not chillin tho

she and you didn’t sleep for a few nights, then ppl just straight up disappeared

plot twist: you survived the snap and your family was lucky to be alive, you even got a little sister who became a big handful!

only bad thing was all your friends dusted and you were pretty lonely

but watching morgan grow up kept you busy

“ahhh, shes so big!”

happy times in bad times

bad times!!!!! bc after five years thanos came back as thanos from like ten years ago. outdated thanos. obsolete thanos.

but you made your first and only appearance in the suit tony actually designed for you many years ago

you should have just stayed home tho bc that fight didnt pass the vibe check

“please dont tell me he...no, no, no, no, no”

you and your mom latched onto each other in tears, tony was one of the best people in your life, he made you and your mom two of the happiest people on earth

best stepdad a kid could ever ask for

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedgiantfavs // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm // @ofthedewthesunlight //

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 3

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: Interview Round 1 and our first encounter

Previous chapter here

----------------------------- You bartended through the weekend without incident. You had honestly kind of forgotten about your strange encounter with Mr. Rude Dimples as you geared up for another work week. You arrived at your office job early Monday morning and headed to the breakroom. You loaded up on coffee and some fruit someone had sat out and went to your desk. At exactly 8 am you opened up your emails. You scanned through the work correspondence answering a few quick questions and queuing up some to answer after you checked on a few things. You then opened up your personal email and almost fell out of your chair when you saw **Google Calendar invitation: Job Interview. Very Personal Assistant. BTS Corporate Accept/Decline**

You opened it and lo and behold there was an invitation to a job interview this Thursday at Grindhouse Coffee Shop. You shook your head, so maybe it was a real job. Maybe. You were relieved to see the interview was in such a public location. You went into your work calendar and marked yourself out of office for an hour and half. You never took any time off so it wouldn’t be a problem. How does one prepare for a job interview for a personal assistant? You wondered. 

You opened an incognito window and started researching job interview questions and also looked into what exactly BTS Corporate was. It was a media company who seemed to dabble in everything from modeling to music. You recognized two of the models immediately, JK and V. They were both well known in the modeling world and graced the covers of many magazines. Ok so this was a legit company. Cool. Cool.  Oh my God, you thought. What if the position was to be an assistant to a model who was as hot as those two? You remained calm. You had bartended and been around hot dudes before. It would be fine. You would be fine. You kept the incognito window open as you returned to your actual job and continued to email and message colleagues about your projects. You also skimmed through BTS Corporate’s website to learn more about the company and spy on some of the other models and talent who they employed. 

The rest of the day went by without incident and you were excited for two reasons: one, you had a job interview at a place that paid more than your two of your current jobs combined, and you had Monday night off from bartending. You headed home, looking forward to spending time with your family.  

You rarely got to see your brother, who was in his second year of high school, and your sister, who was finishing up elementary school. You walked into the apartment, slipping off your shoes and work bag. 

“Hey everyone!” You yelled and headed into the living room.  Your sister and niece were doing their homework on the coffee table side by side. “Hey girls. How was school today?”

You got some noncommittal “goods” out of them and left them to their schoolwork. Your brother would be at cram school for another two hours. You walked into the kitchen where your aunt was preparing some food.

“Hello Aunt Vi,” you said, scooting around her towards the refrigerator to make yourself useful. “How can I help?”

“Hello [y/n]. If you could get the rice cooker ready and prepare the chicken that would be great.”

“You got it,” you responded, dutifully beginning the tasks you were assigned. You loved your Aunt Vi and were so grateful she was able to take the three of you in. The apartment was cramped and she did her best to make sure you all never felt like you were imposing. But, it was hard not to feel that way given the circumstances. You found your mind wandering back to the job interview. With that much money you could easily afford to either pay for a larger apartment for all of them, or pay for your brother to live at the school’s dormitory. You tried not to let yourself get too excited about it, you still weren't sure if it was a real job. And you had already had more disappointments in the past 5 years than you could deal with. You tried to keep it from making you pessimistic, but it definitely made you wary of most situations. Especially ones that seemed too good to be true. 

“Suho called this afternoon,” she said quietly while chopping green onion. 

You involuntarily flinched. “Oh? I’m sorry. I didn’t give him this number.”

“I know I know. He asked for you and wanted to talk to your sister.” She paused, “I told him to go to hell.” 

It was always weird for you to hear your very proper aunt curse, but when it came to Suho, there was no escaping the rage she felt. And rightfully so.

You nodded your head. “Good. I’ll see about getting our number changed again.” You said, feeling like it was your responsibility. 

She didn’t say anything in response and the two of you continued to make dinner together silently. 

--------------------------

The rest of the week flew by. Office job, bartend, check on your siblings’ homework, check your bank account, pay your aunt, skillfully balance every cent in your checking account, sleep, caffeinate, repeat.  Before you knew it, Thursday afternoon had arrived. 

You walked into the coffeeshop. Grindhouse Coffee was across the city, near Club Tokki, so you had to watch your time carefully. You immediately noticed a large concentration of very attractive women with perfect faces and perfect tits. Damn. Were they here for the  same position?

“Tokki,” you heard a voice call towards you. You turned and saw Mr. Rude Dimples walking towards you with a tablet in hand. Oh God, you had a nickname? “Rich Asshole.” you waved, smiling “It’s nice to see you again.”

He guffawed, clearly not expecting that. “I am conducting your job interview Tokki,” he loosened his neck tie. “You should watch your mouth.”

You raised your eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure my mouth is what landed me this interview since it clearly wasn’t my good looks” you gestured to the space around you. “And it’s ‘[y/n]’ not Tokki.”

He swiped his tablet. “Got you all checked in. I’ll let you know when it’s your turn.” He shook his head as he walked away. 

Yoongi sulked at a booth in the cafe, his delicate lips pressed firmly into a pout. He refused to take part in the interviews or look at the resumes, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. So far he was unimpressed. It was like walking around work: a bunch of models who all looked the same. Who the hell would believe he would marry one of these women? He sighed. You shouldn’t judge someone based on their looks, he reminded himself. He kept one earbud in, lazily eavesdropping on the people in the cafe. A group of three women were sitting in the next booth over. 

“I wonder what kind of job this is. It sounds like an escort service but like also a secretary.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I wonder if it’s for one of the models.”

They continued to prattle on about the job, how Namjoon has approached them, and stuff like that. Yoongi scanned his phone and looked over, Namjoon was interviewing one of the girls right now. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking out over the cafe again. Maybe he would grab a coffee. He pulled out his other earbud and got up to order his usual iced Americano. 

“I totally think that’s what it is. What kind of loser has to pay for someone to date him?”

“Yeah. And it’s definitely not that guy,” she gestured over to Namjoon. “He’s hot. This guy is probably hella ugly. Like rich and ugly. Which I guess I could get over for the price tag.” The girls all laughed.

Yoongi felt his face grow red. That’s what all these women thought about him. Some rich loser idiot desperate for their attention and willing to sell themselves off for his and BigHit’s attention. He didn’t even want this. He didn’t need this shit. He headed towards the door. Fuck this place. Fuck these girls. Fuck Namjoon.

You looked up from your seat by the door to see a man around your age walking over quickly and pushing the door open hard. You shrugged, he must have realized he was late or something. You looked back to where he had been sitting and saw he had left his earbuds sitting on the table. You got up and walked over and saw that he had actually left his very expensive earbuds. Shit. You could probably catch him if you tried. You picked them up and headed for the door.

“Where are you going Tokki?” You heard Namjoon say as he got up from the interview table, clearly done with his latest interview.

“I’ll be right back.” You yelled, “Probably!” You amended. You had been spending the past fifteen minutes talking  yourself out of the interview. You knew your office skills were mediocre, your mouth got you into trouble all the time, and you were so not as pretty as every other girl in there. 

You peered out onto the sidewalk looking for the black hat and black outfit. Damn it. Wait. Across the street. You waited for the traffic signal to change and then ran across the street. By the time the signal had changed he was far ahead of you. “Hey!! Hey you!” You yelled, ever so inelegantly across the sea of people. There was no way he was going to hear you from where you were. His head was down and he was definitely in the zone. But, you were running and he was walking so you finally caught up with him by the next block. “Hey, you,” you pulled gently on the back of his jacket. “You…”

Yoongi turned to see what was happening. He had heard a woman yelling but assumed she would have been talking to someone else. He saw a girl around his same age and height standing there, panting slightly like she had just exercised. He was still upset from the whole cafe incident, leaving him short tempered and just wanting to get somewhere private. “What?” He asked tersely.

You stood eye to eye with him. This guy was good looking. And kind of rude. Oh well, you thought he had been in a hurry when you started chasing him.  “Here,” you held the earbuds out in their case. “You left these on the table.” 

He looked at you for an extra second, suspicion in his eyes. “Thanks.” He took them from you and relaxed slightly. “At Grindhouse?”

“Yeah.” You fan your face. Running in office clothing sucked.  Ok. Well your business here was concluded. You stood there for another few awkward seconds. 

Yoongi looked at the girl who was standing in front of him. He hadn’t seen her in the cafe, and he couldn’t believe she had run the few blocks to return the headphones. He tried to think of something to say. Small talk was not his strong suit. “Do you work near here?”

You huffed and puffed a little, still recovering from your unexpected jog. “No. I work across town.” You thought for a second.  “Well during the day anyways. I do actually work near here at night though at Club Tokki.”

Yoongi put the earbuds in his bag. “What brings you to this side of town then? The coffee’s not that good.” He deadpanned.

You shrugged, “Eh, I’m supposed to have a job interview. I don’t know though. It seems shady and that place was populated with models who I think are also going for it. I think I’ll just get some of that coffee that you don’t recommend and head back to my day job.”

Yoongi stood there putting the pieces together. You were there for that interview. Normal-looking you who apparently already worked two jobs. He sighed, feeling like a creep for knowing more about the job than you did and knowing that it would be working with him. He rubbed along his jawline with his hand, “I don’t know. I think you should go for it. Maybe you’ll stand out.”

You laughed, “Because I’m ugly and sweaty?” You teased, you knew you were normal looking and could be pretty if you did your hair and make-up. 

You thought you saw the tiniest hint of a smile as he replied, “Yes. Take your ugly face back there and apply for the interview and do better than those models.”

You rolled your eyes, “That was the shittiest pep talk I have ever had in my life but ok. I’ll march back in there sweating like a pig and do my best.”

“I wish you luck. Thanks again for the earbuds.” He said, giving you a polite wave as he turned and started to walk back to BigHit’s headquarters.

You laughed a little bit and decided, what the hell, you might as well go for it. You returned to Grindhouse, to the seeming annoyance of Rude Dimples. 

“Finally Tokki, I was getting ready to give your time slot to the fucking barista.” He gestured to the table.

“Oh my God, you are so immature. How are you the one in charge of this interview?” You asked as you took a seat in the chair.

“I’m the boss of the company Tokki, if you don’t like it you might want to leave now.”

“One: From my research, as President and CEO, Hitman Bang is the boss of the company. You’re the CIO. Two: I’m guessing this isn’t an interview to be your assistant or I definitely wouldn’t be here. Three: it's [y/n]. So let’s get to the part where you ask me questions and I answer.”

Namjoon sat there for a minute, opening and shutting his mouth a few times in shock. He spread his hands out along the table. “Huh. I’ll give you that you actually did research on the company. Well done. Let’s begin.” NEXT CHAPTER

[rmtndew]

Begin Again

Summary: Walter Marshall is a dedicated homicide detective doing his best to balance his work life with being a single father to a teenage girl. Fiona Sparks is a woman doing her best to take care of everyone and everything around her, except for herself. Neither has had the best luck with relationships, but once they meet, they’re willing to give it another shot, this time with each other. (It’s basically just romantic fluff) 

Pairing: Marshall and OFC.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Mentions of death, cancer.

A/N - This is a sequel to ‘All I’ve Ever Known’. I started writing this because I needed an escape for some personal stuff going on and my coping mechanism included giving Marshall all the love that man needed, and imagining him being the softest boyfriend to me, then passing those details on to Fiona (my OFC).

I also made a Spotify playlist for this story, if anyone is interested - Begin Again Playlist 

 Tag list - @hollydaisy23, @alyxkbrl, @onlyhenrys, @omgkatinka, @speakerforthedead0​, @gearhead66,  @thethirstyarchive, @oddsnendsfanfics, @littlerinoa, @agniavateira, @aaescritora, @justaboringadult, @beenthroughalot, @seriouslygoodlookinggents,  @xxxkatxo

If you want to be added/removed from the tag list, let me know!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

The last Wednesday in October was a gray, misty, windy day. It was cold, the kind you felt more in your bones than anywhere else, with the sky occasionally spitting out sleet. I spent the entire twenty-minute drive to my job at Waverly Catering clutching the steering wheel so tightly that my hands were cramping by the time I arrived from white-knuckling it the whole way there. Usually, I would get to work early enough to enjoy the silence and finish off my coffee before officially starting my workday. That day, however, I spent the very little extra time I had trying to get my hands to stop hurting, then chugged down my coffee that had cooled dramatically to a gross lukewarm temperature. 

Before going in, I checked my phone. I always kept it on silent while I drove. My mom had a tendency to text me, make a dozen spelling mistakes because of auto-correct, then correct them one by one, leaving me with about thirteen separate texts to read. It didn’t use to bother me, I thought it was charming and very distinctly Mom. But when she’d gotten sick at the beginning of the year, every text she sent that I couldn’t read immediately made me panic, worrying that something terrible had happened to her, even when I’d just seen her at home a few minutes before. So for my sanity - and hers - I started putting my phone on silent until I got to work, or wherever else I was going. It was a habit I’d kept even after she’d gone into remission because her cancer may have been gone, but my anxiety over her wasn’t. 

That morning when I checked my phone, I saw that I had two texts, but they weren’t from Mom. 

Marshall:  Good morning, Fi. I hope that I get to see you today. I’ll be chained to  my desk with paperwork for a while. This is the first time I’ve not dreaded it. You’re my silver lining.

That was cheesy. I’m sorry. I’m bad at this.

And just like that, all of my stress melted away. The weather didn’t matter, my disappointing coffee didn’t matter, even the cramping in my hands didn’t matter. All that did matter was that Walter Marshall thought of me as his silver lining. Yes it was early days, yes we’d barely known each other a month, yes we’d only gone on two dates, but he made me happier than I’d been in a long time. I felt like I’d been holding my breath for two years, starting when my dad had died in a car crash, followed by my boyfriend Ezra breaking up with me, then losing my job as an interior designer, and capping off with my mom’s cancer diagnoses. Then Walter came along and it was like I could finally breathe again. 

Me:  Please don’t apologize. You have no idea how much I needed to read that this morning. Feel free to be as  cheesy as you want. And I hope I get to see you today, too, even if it  means you’re chained to your desk.

Marshall:  If I don’t see you for some reason,  can I call you tonight? I miss your  voice and you make me want to get better at this talking thing. 

I could feel myself blushing. Even over the phone he made me feel like a teenager with a crush. I had no idea that anyone could make me feel that way as an adult, but he did every time he texted me. 

Me:  Of course you can. Even if we do see  each other, you can still call, if you want? Practice makes perfect, and all that.

Marshall: I’d like that. Talk to you soon.

I sat back in my seat with a sigh as I looked out at the sleet falling from the gray sky, spattering my windshield, blurring out the image of the trees in the park across from me blowing and bending in the wind. 

It was going to be a good day. 

“You look...dare I say it? Happy?” Darcy said as I walked into her office.

I smiled. “You may dare to say it because yes, I am quite happy.”

“And what brings you to such an extreme emotion so early on such a disgusting day?”

I went to her desk and sat in the chair opposite her. “Well, for one, I know that you’re about to do me a big favor that I will forever be grateful for.”

“Fiona Sparks asking for a favor? I’ll mark the day in my calendar,” she joked. “What kind of favor do you need?”

“I need a copy of the peanut butter cookie recipe.”

“For what purpose?” 

“See, that’s where the happiness part comes into play and you, being one of my dearest friends, would love to see me happy.” 

“I would but I’m unsure how a cookie recipe is going to do that.”

“It’s not for me,” I said, smiling wide. “I met this guy -” 

“What? Who?” she asked enthusiastically, her eyes wide with excitement.

“His name is Walter Marshall. He’s our detective who never changes his lunch order.”

“You’re dating one of the homicide detectives? You can feel free to thank me later for giving you that order, by the way. But right now I want details: How long have you been dating and why am I just now finding out about it?”

“We’re not technically dating. I met him a few weeks ago for the first time and we went on two dates last week.” 

“You haven’t dated anyone in over two years, and then you go on two dates in one week?”

“Well, the first was just a coffee date. Saturday we tried having a proper one.” 

“Tried?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. 

“He wanted to take me to dinner, so we went to an Italian place, but before we could order, his daughter called. She was supposed to be at a Halloween party, but some of her friends had lied to her, I guess, and it ended up being a basement party with slightly older boys and she felt uncomfortable, so we went and picked her up. Then we all went for pizza together.”

“He has a daughter, which is some heavy baggage to begin with, but you met her on your second date? That’s a lot, Fiona.” 

“I know it seems like it, but it’s really not. She’s a good kid. And he’s an amazing father, which, oddly, just makes him more attractive,” I said. “But that’s not the point. The point is that his daughter was, understandably, a little iffy about me being with him when he picked her up until she found out that I’m the one who brings the cookies. She apparently loves them and I told her that I might be able to get her a copy of the recipe and that seemed to pave the way for her not hating me instantly. And she’s thirteen, so that’s a pretty big deal.”

“I have so many questions right now but I can’t sort them all out so I’m going to be annoying you with them all day, just be prepared for that. All I want to know right now is if you want the recipe laminated or not?” 

I let out a relieved breath. “Yes, please, if you don’t mind. And thank you so much, Darcy. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I do know. You never ask for anything, even simple things, so the fact that you’re willing to ask me for a favor means this is a pretty big deal,” she said. “He must be a good guy.”

I nodded. “He really is.” 

I arrived at the police station that morning a little before eleven. I’d left the shop early, worried the weather might get bad again and didn’t want to be late for my delivery. Thankfully the sleeting had stopped, allowing me to get there a few minutes early. A few minutes that I used up trying to pull my dolly through the parking lot. The lot had been salted, which was good in that at least it wasn’t icy, but the wheels on my dolly didn’t seem to like the brine mixture. They kept locking up on me. Between that and having to fight against the roaring wind, it took me an embarrassingly long time to reach the station door. Before I could push it open, someone opened it from the inside for me. I looked up, expecting to see Officer Bates. He was the security officer that was posted downstairs and always went through the containers full of lunches that I brought to the homicide unit every week. Instead, I saw Marshall.

“Hello,” he said with a smile. 

I immediately felt like giggling. The last time I’d seen him, we’d kissed. And seeing him right then, seeing his beautiful, handsome face, I wanted so badly to kiss him again. Instead, I felt myself grow shy as I blushed so fiercely that my cheeks stung with the new heat that rushed to them. 

“Hi,” I said. He pulled the door open all the way, then stepped back, allowing me to walk in. My stomach fluttered as I looked back at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He closed the door behind me. “May I help you with your cart?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Would you let me help you take it back to your car when you leave, at least?”

I fought every instinct inside of me that insisted I say no. Darcy was right: I hated asking for even simple things. I never wanted to burden anyone. But since I’d met Marshall, I’d learned that his way of showing interest or affection was to do things for me. But he always asked first, wanting my permission. It challenged me, but in a good way. I didn’t need to always go it alone if I didn’t have to. 

“Um, yeah, I’d appreciate that. Thank you,” I said. “The wheels didn’t seem to agree with the salted parking lot. You could probably pull it a lot easier than me.” 

Marshall stayed with me as Officer Bates went through the containers I’d brought in. He wasn’t close enough to make anyone passing by question it, but it was close enough that my hand hanging at my side could feel the heat coming from his hand and forearm, that was visible from the blue henley that was pushed up to his elbows in a way that I found incredibly attractive. My fingers itched to seek out his, but I fought it. Keeping them obediently beside me. Once Officer Bates was done and gave me the all clear to take the food up, Walter walked me to the elevator and pressed the button to call it down. Then he held the door back, letting me in first before following me. After the door slid closed, he fell back half a step, putting him right beside me. His hand bumped mine, his fingers snaking through, gently holding mine. I smiled, knowing I wasn’t the only one itching for contact. 

I turned without a thought and placed a kiss on his shoulder. Then I paused, a moment of panic rising in me that maybe we weren’t at that level yet. But before I could move or feel too worried, he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

“I keep thinking about Saturday,” he whispered. 

“Me, too,” I said. I looked up at him. “It was...pretty amazing.”

He smiled. I could see his sharp canine teeth. They were oddly charming. “Yes, it was.” He laced his fingers with mine more securely, properly holding it. “I know I mentioned calling you tonight, but I hoped that we might have dinner again instead. If you’re not busy?”

“I’m exceptionally not busy tonight.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning his head back to face the elevator door. “I won’t be able to finish all my paperwork today, there’s too much and it keeps multiplying like rabbits, so since I have to do it tomorrow anyway, I’m going to knock off here around five. Could I pick you up after that? Around five-thirty, perhaps?” 

I nodded, smiling. “That sounds great.”

The elevator dinged as we reached the homicide unit floor. He gave my hand a couple of gentle squeezes before letting it go as the door slid open. He stepped out, then held the door for me like he had before, letting me pull my cart out. He walked with me almost all the way to the break room before a shorter man with glasses stopped him. 

“Lieutenant Marshall, can I speak with you in your office for a moment?” he asked. 

“Of course.” Walter touched my shoulder. “Excuse me,” he said to me quietly before leaving for his office. 

I continued on and was met by most of the detectives waiting for me. Like usual, they didn’t talk to me much, just thanking me for the food before taking their box and going. I took my time, hoping that by the time that I was done, the man speaking with Walter would be gone before I brought him his lunch. When I was done, I packed up my cart before taking Marshall’s boxed lunch and walked down the hall, finding the door to his office open. I could hear him talking still and wasn’t sure what to do. I’d made a deal with him a few weeks back to always bring his lunch to his office whenever I delivered - the first time was because a uniformed officer looked like he was going to swipe it, after that, it was to thank him for rescuing me from a pushy creep while I was with my ‘friends’. We’d never discussed if I should interrupt while he was working. I chewed my lip, debating what to do for several seconds before deciding to just take a chance and knock on the door frame. The worst case scenario was that I looked like a very dedicated delivery woman making sure that all of my orders reached their proper owners. 

“Yep. Come in,” Walter called out in response to my knocking.

I entered his office only far enough to be seen and not a step further. I didn’t know if Marshall wanted people to know about us, so I was prepared to make a quick exit if I needed to. “I have a delivery for Detective Marshall,” I said. 

He looked at me and smiled, then waved me in further. “Harper, this is Fiona Sparks. Fiona, this is Commissioner Harper.”

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you, sir,” I said. 

“You, too.” He looked at me over the top of his glasses. “You don’t happen to be related to Rodger Sparks, by any chance?” 

I felt speechless for a moment. I hadn’t heard anyone other than Mom say Dad’s name in months. Finally, I forced myself to nod. “Yes. He was my dad. How - how did you know?” 

“We went to college together. You’re the spitting image of him,” he said. “I was sorry to hear about him passing away. I lost my wife around two years ago as well. A brain aneurysm.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t get any easier.” 

“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed.

He looked at me for a moment longer, then back to Marshall, who was standing patiently with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked back at me briefly before taking the folder he was holding and tapped it against Marshall’s shoulder. “You know what? This can wait until tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll bring it by in the morning.” He left Walter and stopped beside me before leaving the office. “I’m very sorry about your father. Rodger was a horrible sport when he lost at cards, but other than that, he was a great guy. And probably the smartest man I ever met.”

I smiled slightly. “He was a horrible sport at cards.” 

He smiled back. “The worst.” He gave me a wink. “It was a pleasure seeing you.” 

“You, too.”

When he left, he closed the door behind him. I looked at Marshall as he walked towards me. “Did I interrupt something important?” I asked. 

“No. He was just asking about a cold case.”

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to come in since he was here. Next time, if you’re talking to someone, would you rather I left your lunch in the break room?”

He stopped in front of me. He was so close. He smelled like coffee and Old Spice. I swallowed thickly, trying to meet his gaze as he looked down at me. He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “No. I’d still like you to bring it to me, please. If that’s alright?” 

“Yeah, of course. I just don’t want to get in the way of your job.”

“You won’t,” he said. “But I’ve let my job get in the way of other things for too long, so maybe it’s time someone got in the way of it for a bit.” 

“You have an important job, though. If you were a boat salesman, I might feel a little differently about disrupting your work.” 

His smile grew as he tilted his head at me. “A boat salesman?” 

“I mean a job where it wouldn’t really matter all that much if you were distracted every once in a while. If someone doesn’t sell a boat, it’s not that big of a deal. But if you don’t solve a murder case...that has very real repercussions. I wouldn’t want to be a reason for something slipping by in a case.” 

He put his hand on my cheek, directing my eyes back to his. “That won’t happen,” he said. “I take my job seriously. That’s never been a problem for me. My problem has always been figuring out how to balance it with the rest of my life, which I never could, and I neglected a lot of people because of it. Especially Faye.” He shook his head. “I’m still not good at it. But I had a case back in the winter that...put Faye’s safety in jeopardy, among other things, and it made me realize that I need to put more of an effort in my life outside of this job. Despite how hard that is for me.” He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “You motivate me to slow down a bit. And that’s a good thing.”

I took my free hand and placed it over his, then turned my face slightly and placed a kiss on the inside of his wrist. “I would be happy to slow down with you,” I whispered. 

Marshall had a smile that somehow showed in his eyes more than his mouth, and that’s how he was looking at me right then. “I’d like that.” 

A knock on the door startled me. I took a step back, his hand falling from my cheek. He then ran it over his face, almost like he was trying to scrub the irritation of being interrupted off it. Then he folded his arms across his chest before calling out for whoever it was to come in.

The door opened and a man stepped up to the doorway. He was wearing plain clothes like Walter, so I assumed he was a detective, too. He all but ignored me as he and Walter spoke. Half of what they said was in a jargon I didn’t understand, so I just stood there, head down, waiting. After a few minutes, the guy left, only halfway closing the door as he did. When Marshall finally turned back to me, I could see that he was frustrated. I knew he wouldn’t admit it, but me being at his work right then was only going to cause more irritation with every interruption we had. 

“As much as I hate it, I should probably get back to the shop. We have a big order going out tomorrow, so there’s quite a lot to do today to prepare for it,” I said. “Plus, I have a date with a very handsome detective tonight that I want to get ready for.”

The frustration on his face seemed to melt away as he looked at me with a smirk. “Is it anyone I know?”

“Possibly. He does work in your unit.” 

“Is that so?” he asked. I nodded. “Well, if I see him around, I might have to have a talk with him.”

“And what would you say?” 

“I’d tell him that he better be good to you because you deserve to be treated well.” 

My stomach fluttered. “You can rest assured that he treats me very well. Better than any man ever has.”

“All those other men were idiots.”

I smiled. “Maybe so.” 

He shook his head. “Definitely so.” He reached out and took his lunch from my hand, then turned and placed it on a filing cabinet behind him. “Will you let me help you to your car now?” 

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

He put on his coat and followed me to the break room. He pulled my dolly for me, moving it like it was as light as a child’s toy. Even when we made it to the parking lot, he didn’t seem to have any issue with the wheels fighting against him. Then he picked it up and placed it in my trunk with ease, despite how I very often fought to get it back in. I thought about telling him that he was welcome to help me anytime he wanted, but I was afraid it wouldn’t come across as a joke and he would feel obligated to actually help. 

“Thank you. You made my morning a lot easier,” I said after I closed the trunk. I looked at him. “I guess I’ll see you around five-thirty?”

He nodded. “I’ll call you when I leave here, but yeah, I should be there by then,” he said. “And I promise it’ll only be the two of us and no cheap pizza.” 

“To be honest, I quite liked the pizza. It didn’t taste cheap. And I really, truly didn’t mind Faye joining us, but it'll be nice to have dinner with just you tonight,” I said. “But that reminds me - I put a copy of our cookie recipe for Faye in your lunch box.” 

He smiled. “Thank you. She’ll be very excited about that.”

“You’re welcome. And let her know if she has any issues with it, she can call or text me.” 

The crease between his eyebrows appeared as he looked at me thoughtfully. “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah. I’ve made them enough times over the last year and a half to make every mistake you can with them. If she has a problem, I can probably diagnose it over the phone.” 

“You don’t mind her having your number?”

I felt my facial expressions mirroring his, but from confusion. “Of course I don’t mind. As long as you’re okay with it,” I said. “Unless you think your ex-wife would mind? I don’t want to step on her toes or anything.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think Angie would mind for that purpose, and I don’t have a problem with it. But I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“I don’t but I’ll leave it up to you. If you’d feel more comfortable being the middleman you can always call me for her.” I gave him a big smile. “And I can help you practice the whole talking thing. Then it’s a two birds with one stone kind of deal.” 

He smiled back, nodding his head. “And if she doesn’t need help?” 

“You can still call.” I shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have to have a reason for calling. If I’m not at work, I’m usually pretty free. I may be cooking, or watching ‘The Golden Girls’ with Mom, but that’s about it,” I said. “I’m afraid you’re courting quite a socially boring person.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure if you’ve caught on, but I’m not exactly a sociable person, either,” he said. “So perhaps we make a good fit for each other.”

“Perhaps so,” I agreed. “We can be selectively social together.” 

“Sounds good to me.” 

I let out a sigh and watched my breath turn to steam in front of me. “I better let you get back to your paperwork and I need to go help Darcy at the store. We have over fifty loaves of bread to bake before the end of the day, so depending on when I get home, you may have to deal with your date smelling like freshly baked bread.” 

He squinted slightly. “I’m not really opposed to that,” he joked with a smile that showed off the sharp ends of his canine teeth. 

I laughed. “Good to know.” 

He gave me a short hug, kissing my cheek as he pulled back. “I’ll see you this evening.” 

“I’m looking forward to it.

[moonlit-manifesto]

[2/2/2021 - ALIVE Twitter] Setsubun Day

Context: Setsubun is the holiday on the last day of winter on the traditional Japanese calendar. Part of the celebrations include throwing dried beans to ward off evil spirits. Check out the beginning of the story on the official Tsukiuta twitter (@tsukiuta1). Brief recap is below!

Recap: Tsukiuta has a "Setsubun Support Committee" (made up of Yoru, Koi, and Kakeru, I believe) that come up with the Setsubun activity. This year, Shun created magic beans that makes a person reveal an embarrassing secret when they get hit with one. Each person gets up to 10 magic beans to throw, and they need to yell "soy-ya" when they throw it. The beans are supposed to be "eco-friendly" so they'll disappear a while after being thrown. They used Shun's magic to connect the Tsukiuta dorm to other Tsukipro groups' dorms so they can throw beans at other members!

---------

Sora: "This year's Setsubun is really exciting!"

Morihito: "It is Setsubun, after all. Every year, the Tsukipro main office has an event where if you manage to hit the company president with beans you get an extra vacation day. And our senpais in the other groups' run around doing stuff too."

Kensuke: "They're amazing."

Koki: "I want to learn how to dodge and escape as well as the company president can."

Soushi: "He's like James Bond."

#Setsubun #Setsubun support committee

---------

Hajime: "Sora."

Sora: "Hajime-san! How did you-"

Hajime: "Soy-ya!"

Sora: "When Hajime-san and Shun-san were talking at the leaders meeting, I was entranced by them! Gyahhh---!!!"

Hajime: "...Thanks, I guess? I want to hear the full story now (chuckle)."

Nozomu: "That's embarrassing."

Hajime: "I'm a bit embarrassed too now."

---------

Shun: "Why thank you, Sora. Actually, this and that and such and such..." [Shun's just rambling]

***

Nozomu: "Sou-senpai!!! Soy-ya!!!"

Soushi: "Not so fast. Soy-ya!"

*throws*

Nozomu: "Ah- At the photo shoot the other day, I forgot the white pants were for the costume, and I wore red pants by mistake and had to get the stylist to go out and buy pants for me... AAAAHH!"

Soushi: "You..."

---------

Soushi: "I'm surprised you wear red pants almost every day."

Nozomu: "Why can't I!? Red pants are flashy and stylish!"

Arata: "I feel that, Nozomun."

Soushi: "!?"

Arata: "Soy-ya!"

*throws*

Soushi: "One time I was so sleepy I left the house without putting on pants... Almost. I almost left."

Sora: "Yikes..."

---------

Ryota: "I'm not particularly interested in learning other people's secrets."

Kensuke: "Soy-ya!"

*throws*

Ryota: "I say that, but I'm actually really invested in what they have to say... Kennnnn~~~???" [uh-oh angry Ryota has appeared lol]

Mamoru: "Ryou-kun, hahaha~"

Ryota: "Well, it's kind of interesting, right!"

Kensuke: "What a 360° lol."

---------

Ryota: "Hey, you two need to spill a secret, too - soy-ya!!"

*throws*

Mamoru: "Aaahh!? When I listened to Sora-kun and Koki-kun's duet I thought, 'Wow!! What a great song! As expected of Sora-kun!! But I didn't know Kou-kun like this... I'm jealous!! I won't lose! I'm gonna give it my all!'"

---------

Koki: "Even I didn't know I could sing a song like that (chuckle). It's only natural Mamoru wouldn't know either."

Mamoru: "We're discovering new sides of everyone... That's the beauty of the Neo X Lied series. What I felt from the first X Lied series was already amazing... I was a bit awestruck. Wow, there's still so much that's possible!"

---------

Mamoru: "Speaking of which, everyone show your hidden sides! Soy-ya!!"

*throws*

Kensuke: "It's tough following up everyone else's juicy secrets... The oranges this winter are so delicious, I've been eating at least three a day... Arghh! I talked about oranges!!!"

Haru: "I like them~"

Koi: "I like them too, Ken-chan!!"

----------

Ren: "... (sneaks)"

Nozomu: "I found you, Ren! Soy-ya!"

Ren: "Eek!"

*hides*

*Nozomu throws the bean*

Soushi: "Ouch. Ordering takoyaki from Uber Eats and drinking cans of shuhai is the best... Heyyyyy, don't use me as a human shield."

Sora & Nozomu: "What an old man! Old man!!"

Morihito: "Make sure not to drink too much (chuckles)."

---------

Soushi: "We should drink together some time then. Soy-ya!"

*throws*

Morihito: "Haven't you all heard enough secrets by now!? ...I bought a cake to share with everyone, but I ended up eating the whole thing by myself. I messed up, I messed up."

Sora: "Mori-kun, hahaha. Make sure to invite me to your takoyaki party, you guys!!"

---------

Shun: "Ren~? Soy-ya♪"

Ren: "Wah-"

*throws*

Ren: "I thought this jacket Ryota-san was wearing was really cool, so when it was on a hanger in the green room I tried my hardest to get a look at the tag without touching it at all! Aaaaahh!"

Ryota: "If you had asked, I would've just told you (haha)."

---------

Ryota: "Next up is..."

Koki: "Me, right? Okay, come at me!"

Sora: "A-Amazing, Kou-kun...! You're really getting into it!!"

Soushi: "I don't think his secret will be anything too dark (compared to mine from today)."

Kensuke: "Yeah, I would've preferred to reveal something cooler (than oranges)."

---------

Mamoru: "Ummm, I'm sorry in advance... Soy-ya!"

*throws*

Koki: "Until I was 10 years old, I was seriously worried that all the leftovers beans you didn't pick up from Setsubun would sprout and grow into a huge plant like from Jack and the Beanstalk that would break through the ceiling (chuckles)."

Everyone: "Soy-ya... (How precious)"

---------

Shun: "Huh? You think that story is make-believe? Actually, my magic beans sprout into giant trees that reach the heavens, you know."

Everyone: "What???????" [they were so shocked they said this in English lol]

Rui: "Don't worry, they'll disappear this time."

Iku: "Y-Yeah, that's right!"

Kakeru: "Okay then! Don't forget to pick all the beans up!! Adieu!!!"

---------

Soushi: "Ah~ ...For now, we should pick the beans up in case they don't disappear."

Everyone: "Soy-ya..."

(@aliveinfo1)

[just-anka]

I realised I haven’t really regularly posted here since like... I don’t even know, September? It’s been a while, anyway. A lot happened, and I now feel like actually writing a post for the first time in a while, so here goes haha. The first bullet point is entirely work waffle so feel free to skip. Apologies in advance for the fact that this post will probably reach novel length by the time I’m done. 

• I took a week off in late September before Ben started his new job so we could go to the mountains for a bit, and it was a much-needed little break from work. And pretty much right after I got back, work got completely mental - nothing bad as such, just one thing after the other, loads of deadlines, so many important things. First I was finishing up data for a paper (first authorship was being debated which is partially why I threw myself into the job so much, but it looks like it’ll be the PhD student before me’s now, which is how it should be tbh, it’s much more hers than it is mine), then the date for my first committee meeting was set and I suddenly had only two weeks to prepare (did not think it was going to be that short notice, whoops, had a very stressful two weeks but all went well - for us, this meeting means presenting our research plan and preliminary data to a committee of four professors so they can give you input, it’s not suuuper formal but still pretty stressful), then I had to write the report for that (I love writing so that one was okay), then there was suddenly a lot to do for a really important cooperation with a company (big money responsibility which stressed me the fuck out), and then, just as I thought I was pretty much done for the year, I realised I needed my lab book up to date for my end of year meeting with my PI (which wouldn’t be such a big deal, except I didn’t have a lab book at the time. Never got around to starting one. So nine months of lab book were written within another very stressful week). Whew. Even writing this out makes me feel like that was a lot haha. 

• After the end of year discussion, I really was done for the year - I officially worked until the 23rd but there was not that much actual work happening, and with the pressure off after months, I properly crashed for a few days. Ben left for England on the weekend after to see his family for christmas etc, and I spent most of that weekend sleeping and doing very little. It was needed. Then my mum came to visit me for the holidays and we had four really lovely days together, also involving a lot of chilling (the only actual thing we did was that magical winter hike that I posted some pictures of the other day). 

• And now I’m skiing! I was planning to go to England as well for NYE to see Ben’s family, but with the corona situation escalating again lately I decided it was too risky for just a few days. So I made a last-minute plan to go skiing by myself instead, because all that involves is a 2 hour train journey. I’m actually staying in a hotel too, which I’ve never done by myself before, I’m usually a dorm in a hostel type of person, but well. Covid has changed a lot of things :D trying to stay safe and away from people, which is of course not entirely possible in a ski resort, but it’s going okay. The skiing itself is great, it’s really nice having some time to go at my own pace and a few days in a row. Today was day 4 and I’ve really found my groove again (more on that later). There’s not much snow though so not many off-pisteing opportunities :/ I’m staying until Monday and then it’s back to work on Wednesday. 

• Speaking of skiing, we’ve got season passes this year, my first season and Ben’s second. We’ve just been doing on the weekends so far - since the 21st of November I just realised while looking back in my calendar! That’s one hell of an early season start haha. We did just one day three weekends and then one full weekend right before Ben left. The first few days were bloody hard. For context, I learned to ski before I learned to walk and loved it as a child, then stopped for a few years because I felt like I wasn’t progressing anymore and was getting bored with it, basically. Then last January I went to France with Ben and his skiing friends and got introduced to freeriding and the idea of ski touring, and now I’m back to loving it haha. I’d ideally like to not have to resort ski anymore at one point (meaning touring) because I know it’s terrible from an environmental standpoint but... idk. It’s currently my only option, and I love it a lot, so I guess it feels okay? Anyway, since I learned to ski so early, it’s the one sport that I’ve always been pretty good at and like, never get scared, at least not on piste. Until this year. The first three individual days were just all kind of horrible, the conditions weren’t ideal with very hard surface and tons of ice and pretty busy slopes, and only steep terrain open as well (Engelberg, our “home” resort - we have a season pass that encompasses a bunch of resorts so we’re not limited to one - is literally dead flat beginner’s slopes, which weren’t open in the beginning, or red runs that should be black and black lol). Pairing loads of ice with my old skis which barely have an edge anymore was... not ideal. I was so scared constantly and it made me like I lost all my ability etc etc. But yeah, turns out I just needed a few days and some easier conditions to get back into it, and now ice and steep stuff and everything is fine again. Who would’ve thought. (a sensible person, probably). 

• But then, the full weekend we skied in December was awesome! Saturday already felt much better and then it snowed a bunch over night and Sunday we spent all day powder skiing, basically. I learned SO much and just had an absolute ball! Definitely one of the best days skiing I’ve had, and one of the best days recently in general. 

• Plus that whole weekend was just lovely, car camping in a campsite full of huge campervans was pretty fun :D I love the looks we get when people see the car and clearly wonder where we sleep. And we’ve got our setup perfected for winter now so both the nights were toasty. Friday night we had dinner in “bed” watching a movie, and Saturday night we sat in the little kitchen (the campsite has it open for everyone, but everyone else there has a camper, so it doesn’t seem to be used much) drinking tea and playing cards and ahh. Camping in the mountains. My ideal life eh? (though the weekend before this wonderful one, we got snowed in because it dumped over a metre over night completely unexpectedly and that was stressful as hell, but I think that’s a story for another day, if ever, I’m kind of trying to forget that day :’D) 

• Yesterday I also finally took the plunge and ordered new skis. Been debating for ages which ones to get but I’ve finally decided and I’m now very excited! 

• Ok this post so far reads as “work and skiing” which is pretty much what November and December were and probably what January is going to be too haha. Ben and I want to ski another week together end of January as well, and there’s some big exciting work things coming up as well. 

• Even though I have to admit, now that I’m on a break, I’ve spent a lot of time dreading work and questioning my career choices and all of that lark... sigh. I love my job most of the time, but I kind of hate having a job? If that makes sense? Sometimes (okay a lot of the time) I just wish I had more time for other things that I care about. But I also now I’m lucky to have that job, especially this year, and lucky to have a job I don’t hate, and get to do a lot of fun stuff on the side, even if it often means little sleep and downtime. 

• Speaking of things I care about, I was on a proper roll with writing for a few days before and after Christmas. It’s ebbed off again a bit, but it was still pretty cool, and my totally-useless-all-cheese-project is now 33,000+ words long and like, half-way there story wise. Had a lot of fun with that. 

• Lastly, Ben is still in England, and he’s coming back next Sunday, and I can’t wait! I miss him so much when we’re not together it’s actually silly. Although it’s less stressful this time than the last few times because... we live together, his work just offered him an unlimited contract from January, and I’m stuck here for another 2-3 years, so it looks like we’ll actually get to be in the same place for now. Which is all I wished for last year, and I’m so damn grateful - that stability really is the best thing 2020 has brought for me. And, as he said, even though we were apart for the start of the new year, it will hopefully bring more time together than any previous year ♡

• Okay I think this is long enough now, if you actually made it until here you’re a hero and I will try and post a bit more regularly again now to avoid this size of mind dump :’D I hope you all got into the new year alright, it feels very strange to me that it’s 2021 because I actually slept through midnight on new year’s for the first time since I was tiny haha but I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way! 

[iamtheblondestblonde]

Slides and Serendipity

Part Eight (4.5k)

Masterlist

AN: Lots of stuff happening. Also I wrote most of this after emptying an entire bottle of cider by myself so I take no responsibility for any mistakes (yes I sunk that low)

Warnings: probably swearing (idek anymore), alcohol?

“I’m in trouble Lisa, he’s definitely trouble”, I said to my best friend as I stood in my closet, phone pressed to my ear. Ever since the party my thoughts had been running wild and I had come to the realization that I couldn’t handle being just friends with benefits with Tyler. Right now it was more like friends with one-sided feelings.

“Yeah I saw that coming from a mile away. What changed?”

I told her how I’d been the last one to leave Tyler’s house at the party last week. After dancing around with Roope and Jamie I’d sat outside for a while to cool off, Tyler joining me on the sofa not long after. He’d started pestering me for juicy details of my threesome, but Lisa and I had promised each other to not tell any specifics. As soon as he realized that I wouldn’t tell him who it was with he gave up on the topic, switching to something less intrusive instead.

We’d spent the rest of the night there, only leaving once to grab more blankets as the temperature dropped. With my legs tucked underneath me and his arm around my body, apparently I’d looked like I was cold, we’d spent hours talking and trying to see the stars dimmed by the city lights. As the time had passed I’d found myself snuggling closer and closer but at one point I practically couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

He tried to convince me to stay, but with my house only being a five minute walk away there was no logical reason to accept his offer, even if I really wanted to. The dogs had all found comfortable spots on his couch to sleep and the sight was so domestic that it almost broke my heart to wake Yogi up so we could leave.

Tyler had insisted on walking me home again and as I hugged him goodbye I knew that I was in some deep shit. It wasn’t like I’d actively tried to avoid falling for anyone up to this point, I’d just had a more it’ll happen when it happens approach, meaning I didn’t particularly look for anyone either.

In hindsight I should have seen it coming with the amount of time we spent with each other and the way he reminded me of the one guy I’d ever had feelings for but yet it still took me by surprise.

He’d texted me a couple of times while being away and saying that I wasn’t looking forward to his snapchats would be a lie.

“So what are you going to do now?”, Lisa asked after listening to me telling her about what happened. I had thought about this a lot, especially since Tyler had asked me to come over for a bit before his first game of the pre season tonight. I wanted to go and watch in person but Mia wasn’t free tonight and I didn’t want to go by myself, so I promised I’d cheer on him from the confines of my couch.

Mia, Jason and I had finished working on our first day together an hour ago and I had just stepped out of the shower when Lisa had finally returned my calls.

“I don’t really have a choice, either it’s just friends or something more and I’m pretty sure that that isn’t what he is looking for right now.” I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by admitting anything to him prematurely so my only option was to wait for him to take the first step.

“You don’t know that.”

“Well no but I don’t know, seems highly unlikely.”

I put her on speaker as I put on some yoga pants and a loose shirt and when I looked at my screen I saw that I had a message from Tyler.

Ty: I’m cooking do you want some?

Me: Depends on what you’re cooking because I’m not in the mood for food poisoning

Ty: Funny as always..

Ty: Pasta, salmon and some salad I think even I can handle that

I hadn’t eaten lunch yet either, so I called for Yogi and then told Lisa that I had to hang up now.

“Go get your man.”

“Fuck off Lisa.”

The weather was nice today so it came as no surprise that Gerry was enjoying the pool, Marshall and Cash still wet from having taken a dip themselves sometime before we arrived. Yogi was more than happy to join the action and I already dreaded having to brush out the tangles in his fur tonight.

The food actually smelled really good and this time I let Tyler tell me what to do, as I didn’t want to mess with any pre-game superstitions. He did let me make some adjustments to the pasta sauce though. We took our meals outside so we could properly enjoy the sunshine, something I knew we both liked to do.

I tried to act normal and I was pretty sure that I was doing a great job or at least Tyler didn’t let it on if he picked up on something being off.

It was crazy, ever since my realization my feelings had snowballed and now I found myself overthinking every little action, trying to figure out what was going on in his head while also being confused of the mess that was my thoughts.

Afterwards we settled in the media room to watch some kind of animal documentary that Jamie had recommended, but we ended up mostly just talking and laughing until it was time for his nap and for me to go home again. Time always seemed to fly with him.

“I won’t wish you good luck because you’re definitely too good for that. Have fun tonight Ty, I’ll be watching closely.”

“Thanks, I’ll try my best to put one in the net for you.”

I hugged him closely and he pressed a kiss to my temple, making my thoughts go crazy. Perhaps him leaving for over a week on a roadtrip after the game would give me some much needed distance.

He didn’t put one in the net for me that night and I felt bad for him because of the loss, even if it was still only a pre season game. The team had been doing well after that, winning the following two games but Tyler hadn’t been on the ice for those.

Mia had asked me to go out with her because Elias would be staying with her grandparents for the weekend and without having any say in it I found myself in a crowded country bar on a Saturday evening. I’d even donned some boots that Mia had dug up from somewhere but I drew the line at the jeans shorts and a flannel, opting for long skinny jeans and a normal shirt instead. The boots were cute but I was nowhere near a country girl so the full get-up would only feel phony.

Mia taught me some dance moves and I even tried riding the bull-thingy, unsurprisingly not lasting very long. It did make me thirsty though so I made my way over to the bar, which offered a broad selection of beers to my delight.

“I could give you some lessons if you want me to”, I heard a voice next to me. I turned to my left and recognized the guy who had sat on the bull before me. While the time he lasted on the damn thing was impressive in itself, I’d been more captivated by his looks.

He had given me a ‘The Longest Ride’ vibe from the moment I laid eyes on him, a dark haired version of Scott Eastwood. For a second I contemplated shooting him down, but he gave off genuinely nice guy vibes with his bright smile and I could really use the distraction right now.

“How about we start with a drink instead?”, I asked, giving him my best smile. He chuckled but waved over the bartender nevertheless, ordering a round of shots and beer after taking a look at the bottle that I had in my hand.

His name was Mark and he had to lean down to hear me because he was so tall. This made me miss my heels but I also kind of liked the way he had to get close to me during our conversation at the bar.

“I’m actually here with a friend though and I don’t want to abandon her.”

“No need for that, why don’t you just bring her over to our booth over there?” He pointed over to a small group of guys that could have made up the cover of a cowboy calendar. Mia would be more than happy to spend some time with them.

She didn’t mind at all, of course, only telling me that this reminded her of our days in college when we didn’t have to spend any money at all and still stumbled out of the club drunk.

Hours later I was still dancing with Mark but what had started innocently was not so innocent by now. He had taken off his flannel long ago and his cowboy hat was now firmly planted on my hair while got to enjoy his tan skin and muscular built, results of hard work on his horse ranch.

I hadn’t gotten laid in almost two months and all the confusion from the situation with Tyler made me want to go further than I usually did with random strangers. It also helped that he could be the lead actor in any country romance movie. Mia seemed to really get along with one of his friends who promised to take good care of her and gave me his address so I could hunt him down if needed. Let’s just say it wasn’t like she minded me disappearing either.

It wasn’t until the next morning, after seeing Mark out, that I realized that I had forgotten to check on Tyler’s game, his messages from last night still unopened and portraying the frustration he felt after playing and having to watch Minnesota put six in the net.

Tonight I would finally get to watch Tyler play. I had to miss the game on Thursday because I had to attend some meetings for Bumble in Austin yesterday but now it was finally time.

After a brutal workout at the gym I’d gone over to his house in the morning to make breakfast after his morning skate, something that had somehow turned into our weekend routine.

It was the last game of the pre season and against Denver out of all teams. Mara had texted me earlier to tell me that while she was still rooting for the Avs, she wouldn’t be mad if they lost tonight, which was a compliment in itself.

Mia had arranged for a sitter so she could come to the game with me and I insisted on going over to AAC early so we could watch the warmups, wanting her to get the full experience for her very first ice hockey game. I didn’t have a Stars jersey but I did own a hoodie in victory green. Tyler had offered to hook me up with some merch but I declined because I honestly couldn’t handle wearing his jersey right now.

Mark had been an alright distraction but as soon as I saw Tyler again after the trip I was reminded of the mixed feelings that I was desperately trying to get in order.

The sex with Mark had been fun, although not mindblowing, and under different circumstances I probably would have hooked up with him again but I needed to get my shit together first. While throwing myself under someone else to get over whatever this thing with Tyler was sounded very appealing, I knew that it would only distract me for so long.

Mia honked from my driveway, ripping me out of my thoughts and I checked Yogi’s food and water again before grabbing my things and making my way out of the door. Following Emily’s recommendation I had installed a doggy door that would only open when a chip in his collar got close, meaning he was free to roam the backyard as he wished while still not enabling any instrusions. It was kind of ugly but I’d figure out a way to make it look good. This way he would be fine on his own for the next couple of hours at least.

I could tell that Mia was excited, her choice of music only pumping her up even more. I was really looking forward to this as well. My last hockey game had been during the playoffs in Denver and while watching the games on TV so far was fine, nothing beat watching them live.

We were early enough to still snatch a spot up at the glass for warmups next to a family, something I’d never experienced either. Whenever I’d go with the girls one of us had always taken longer than planned so by the time we’d make it to the arena we could only watch from our seats.

Mia and I had seen each other almost every day of the week so far, but yet we still found things to talk about until the guys finally stepped onto the ice. After passing some pucks Tyler skated a lap around the rink, stopping in front of us when he finally spotted me.

“Look who finally made it”, he teased and I was tempted to flip him off but I was also very aware of the many eyes watching our every move so I only stuck my tongue out at him.

“Yeah and you better win tonight or I’m not coming again.” I was kidding of course.

“I guess I have no choice then.”

“I know you’ll do great. Go ahead and crush them”, I said and he looked like he wanted to say something, but then stopped himself, which of course only made me curious. It was times like this where I was almost convinced that perhaps he liked me back as well but I knew how unlikely that was. I might not be a professional athlete but I did understand the perks of not settling down as well.

He was called over for some drills, effectively breaking the look we shared right now and he shot a quick smile at me before tapping his stick to the glass and then skating off.

“Just friends my ass”, Mia whispered in my ear and I elbowed her in turn. I was surprised that she’d picked up on the weird tension between Tyler and I. We’d talked about him a couple of times during the week, especially as we’d made plans for the game tonight, but I hadn’t told anyone but Lisa about my current dilemma. She sensed I wasn’t in the mood to elaborate though and quickly let it go after that, which I was really thankful for.

After the warmups we decided to grab some food and drinks before finally settling in our seats. Katie had asked us to join her and the others up in the box but I declined, wanting to spend some one on one time with an old friend during the game. Besides I’d be up there during opening night soon enough.

The game wasn’t off to a very good start and while the first period was action packed on both sides, it left the Stars trailing behind by two goals. Mia was a bit confused at first but I gave her a quick crash course and soon enough she picked up on the mood in the arena, following the lead of the other fans on when to cheer and when to boo.

I used intermission to wait in the ridiculously long line for the restrooms and to check my phone, Mara flooding the group chat with messages that were practically a play by play of the game. I shot a quick text to Tyler, even if I knew that he probably wouldn’t get a look at his phone until after the game.

It was different to watch a game when you actually knew the players on the ice. I probably hadn’t been this on the edge of my seat during any sporting event since the soccer world cup finals in 2014.

After Tyler finally scored my screaming could probably be heard by Mara all the way in Denver. Mia and I were hugging each other, way too excited for the Avs still being in the lead.

Colorado scored again in the third and at this point I was already considering my options on how to cheer Tyler up. Mentally I was already going through my cute animals folder to pick out the cutest puppies to show Tyler afterwards, something that always made me feel better.

With less than four minutes left the Stars scored and Tyler had the assist so it was back to screaming and jumping for Mia and I. By the time Jamie scored to even out the score we were practically wrapped around each other, hoping for one last goal.

It didn’t happen and overtime wasn’t any better, not for lack of trying though.

“Your first time watching a hockey game and you get to watch a shootout you lucky bitch.”

“I’m just glad because this time it will be easy to follow the puck, the stupid thing moves so fast that I lose it every few seconds.”

At this point we couldn’t even stay seated if we wanted to, not that we did, because everyone else was on their feet to see what would happen. Shootouts were always brutal and not for the first time that night I was glad that I’d put on some lipstick because otherwise my lips would probably bleed from constantly biting them. Life hack by the way.

With the sound of the final buzzer I was pulled into the arms of the middle aged man to my left that I had never seen before, but I didn’t mind because I was so happy that the Stars had won. For this being only a pre season game things surely had escalated quickly.

Mia was still buzzing by the time we made our way out of the arena, enthusiastically recounting her favorite moments of the game. She would probably never watch games on TV but I knew from experience that it was hard not to fall for hockey when you got to watch games live. Perhaps I could take her again sometime, I had a feeling that she’d like glass seats even better.

The amount of fans trying to leave at the same time had slowed us down quite a bit so we were still at the parking garage when I felt my phone buzz with a call.

“Hey Ty what’s up?”

“Sorry I just got out of the shower or I would have called sooner but I wanted to ask if you want to come out with us tonight. You should bring your friend too, we’re celebrating the end of a good pre season.”

I really tried not to think of him dripping wet from his shower but it still took me a couple of seconds to relay his invitation to Mia.

“Sorry I can’t, the sitter can’t stay over that late but you should definitely go out with them.” I didn’t want to abandon Mia in the parking lot like this, but she practically forced me to say yes and not soon after I was led through the arena by a security guard that Tyler had sent.

There was a group already waiting outside the locker rooms when I arrived, some of the guys greeting me enthusiastically. Roope even went as far as to lift me up so he could spin me around, saying that I was their good luck charm. I didn’t spot Tyler yet but I did see some of the girls so I made my way over to them. Some people must have already left, especially the players with kids, but the group was still big due to some of the rookies coming along as well.

I was just talking to Katie and Dominika about the game when I felt strong arms wrap around me from behind. By now I was very familiar with Tyler’s scent so I didn’t even hesitate before reaching up to put my hands on his forearms, tilting my head so I could smile up at him.

“We won so that means you can never miss a home game again”, he said and I laughed, not quite remembering that part of the agreement but also not willing to protest either.

The group must have finally been complete because now everyone was walking towards the exit, making a lot of noise and drawing looks from the few remaining employees.

I’d gotten my fair share of VIP treatment, money does solve a lot of problems after all, but yet I never really got used to the judging looks of people when security guards usher you through. The bouncers didn’t even question the presence of the rookies, even though some of them were definitely still underage, yet another bonus. It was the same club I’d been to with the girls a couple of weeks ago but up in the lounge everything was much more relaxed and the tables were actually clean.

“First round of shots is on me as a thank you for being so nice to me ever since I met all of you”, I called out before handing the waitress my credit card, loud cheering erupting from the rest of the group.

“Ooof our sugar mama, look at that shiny black”, Katie whooped and I just winked at her, receiving a kiss on the cheek in return. Meeting Tyler had been great in itself, but the friends I had made through him were a close second. I’d endure an eternity of unrequited feelings if it meant getting to keep everyone else in my life.

Several rounds of shots later I was out of breath from all the dancing, choosing to take a break in the lounge once again. Our group was split up by now, some lingering up here and others still tearing up the dance floor. I’d done my fair share of dancing as well, jumping around with the boys and pulling out the sexy moves with the girls. Hockey players definitely came in clutch for that part, as not a single guy came up to bother us, too scared of the human fridges that always kept a watchful eyes on us.

I’d danced with Tyler the most, his slight lack of rhythm being a great excuse to make him wrap his arms around me so I could ‘guide’ him. Perhaps I was a masochist after all.

I could spot Esa and Anna having a dance off with Klinger and Fanny from my spot against the railing and I watched them for a while before looking around some more.

Tyler was standing close to the bar, currently talking to one of his friends that had arrived some time after us. Tonight had been the first night where I could see his NHL fame in full action and it was both mesmerizing and terrifying to watch.

At all the other parties he’d known the other guests to some capacity at least so it wasn’t as bad, but tonight I got to watch girls literally throw themselves at him. Yes literally, I’d watched one of them ‘accidentally’ trip so he had to prevent her from falling not long ago. Some waited until I left his side, some just straight up didn’t care, interrupting our conversations or dancing without any regard for me. To my surprise I’d seen him turn down every single one of them so far but it was like a Roman battle formation, others always stepped up to close the gap. They were hot, there was no doubt about that and if I’d swing that way I’d definitely pick up some of them myself.

“I’m surprised Tyler let you out of his reach.” Roope’s voice ripped me out of my people watching trance and I looked up to him in question.

“I just overheard some of the rookies talking about how you’re fair game because they think that he hasn’t locked you down yet. I kinda want one of them to make a move so I can watch him put them in their place, he knows what’s going on.”

“You’re being mean. You were a rookie not so long ago.”

“Yeah and I had to deal with lots of shit so now it’s my turn.” I only shook my head at his ridiculousness, not really wanting to respond to his statement. Technically they were right and no matter how much I tried to convince myself of the opposite, that definitely stung a little bit.

“I’m being a good friend right now so I’m telling you that there’s this girl who’s been looking at you all evening and she looks like she’s nice. You could even braid each other’s hair,” I deflected, pointing towards the girl in question. Roope shoved me before flipping me off but his smile said that he’d go down to talk to her either way.

I chugged down the last few sips of my beer, quickly making my way back downstairs before any of the rookies could act out on their stupid idea. I doubted that Tyler would actually lash out at them if they did but I also didn’t want to tempt fate. Tyler waved me over as soon as he saw me walking down the stairs and I slowly made my way towards him, the writhing sweaty bodies and my height, or lack thereof, not helping at all.

I wasn’t even surprised anymore when he pulled me towards him as soon as I finally made it. Despite his bad boy looks I knew by now that he was a big teddy bear who loved to cuddle, the alcohol only making it worse. Or better, because he gave amazing hugs. He’d introduced me to his friend a while ago and I seamlessly slipped into their conversation until Tyler took me by surprise when he asked me if I was ready to leave yet. A closer look made it clear how exhausted he really was, his tired eyes not something I’d noticed up until this point.

“I honestly would’ve just gone straight home after the game but the others practically forced me to invite you along so I had no other choice because I wanted to spend some time with you”, he said once we had made ourselves comfortable in the backseat of the uber.

My heart was doing somersaults of course but my brain told me that it couldn’t keep up reminding me for much longer that there was no way he actually liked me back. I’d never been on this side of feelings and I definitely wasn’t handling it well. 

[beautifultypewriter]

Shelter Dog ~ Alfie Solomons

Requested: No

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,631

Pairing: Alfie Solomons x reader

Summary: It’s a modern AU! Reader runs the only animal shelter in town and Alfie happens to be in the market for a dog.

A/N: This is not an entirely accurate depiction of animal shelters as I’ve rushed the adoption process for the sake of the story.

The bell over the door dings as you step into the shelter, slipping the keys back into your jeans pocket. You’re greeted by the barking of the twelve dogs that were currently in your care. After setting your stuff down behind the front counter, you moved to the back hall where all the dogs were staying. The barking got louder when you opened the door and you were quick to grab the water pitcher, moving quickly to the end of the hall to start refilling the water bowls. The first cage you opened was inhabited by a young Labrador, who was more than happy to see you. As you bent down to fill his water bowl, he took the opportunity to jump all over you and attempt to lick your face. With a laugh, you pushed him back, “Good morning to you too, Lucky.” Lucky barked his own greeting and you laughed, “I’ll be back with your breakfast just as soon as I get everyone else their water.” Lucky’s tail moved quickly back and forth, hitting your leg with more force than you really thought it should be capable of. He followed you as you backed out of the kennel, scratching his head up until you closed the door. Your attention turned to the kennel across the way, where a large Bullmastiff was laying on his blanket. Pulling open the door, you smiled, “Good morning, Cyril.” The dog in question wagged his tail as he watched you move into his space. He stood slowly as you filled his water bowl and ambled over to you, sniffing your face. You laughed and scratched behind his ears, causing him to sit down and lean into your touch. Standing up, you kissed Cyril’s head and moved back towards the door. Cyril had been here the longest and as each new day came and went, you grew more worried about him. He wasn’t a young dog and he wasn’t as energetic as the others, so you feared that he wouldn’t be adopted. It was a fear that plagued your mind constantly. Cyril was a good dog and he deserved a good home. You would take him home yourself, but your landlord didn’t allow any pets, let alone a huge Bullmastiff.

 After filling the water and food bowls, letting the dogs into the yard so they could run and play, and cleaning the cages, you found yourself back at the front counter, doing paperwork and eating your lunch. No one had been in today, but it was technically still early, and most people were at work still. Hopefully someone would be in later. Just as the thought crossed your mind, the bell above the door dinged. You looked up, mid-bite, and watched a man move slowly into the lobby of the shelter. He leaned heavily on his cane as he came to stand at the counter, and you looked over him quickly. He had on black jeans and a loose white button-up. As your eyes continued to move up, they landed on the man’s face and you were surprised to see that he couldn’t have been much older than your 30 years. He gave you a small smile, “I’m looking to adopt a dog.” You nodded, rushing to finish chewing your sandwich and the man chuckled, “Sorry, didn’t mean to disrupt your lunch.”

 Finally swallowing, you waved him off, “You’re fine. Do you know what kind of dog you’re looking for? A specific breed? Or temperament?”

 He nodded, “I need something with a calmer nature.” He motioned to himself, “I’m not really prepared for something with a lot of energy that’s going to jump up or want to play rough. I’m looking for a relaxed dog to sit with my while I work.” A smile had formed on you face as he was speaking.

 Stepping around the counter, you motioned for him to follow, “A cool companion. I think I can help you out with that.” You pushed open the door, once again being greeted by the happy barking of the dogs. As you led him down the hall, you turned back, “I’m Y/N, by the way.” You held your hand out and he took it, shaking it quickly.

 “Alfie.”

 Stopping in front of the last kennel in the hall, you turned to the man next to you, “Alfie, I would like you to meet Cyril.” You pushed open the door and stepped into the space, Alfie following you. Cyril was on his blanket again, but his head lifted when he heard your voice. He got up slowly and made his way over to the pair of you. He nuzzled your hand and you gladly scratched his head. Motioning to the dog, you smiled, “Cyril is a Bullmastiff. He’s the oldest dog here, but he’s no senior citizen.” You laughed and Alfie smiled as he leaned down to let Cyril sniff his hand before patting his head. You watched with hopefulness in your eyes, “He’s very relaxed, a very good companion as he enjoys sitting by your feet and getting belly rubs.”

 Alfie laughed, “He looks like a good dog.”

 You smiled, “He’s the best dog.” Reaching out into the hall, you grabbed the leash that hung outside Cyril’s kennel and attached it to his collar. Handing the leash over to Alfie, you pushed the door open again, “Why don’t you take some time with Cyril out in the yard? See how you two work together and if his personality is one that you can get along with.” Alfie took the leash and followed you out to the backyard. You left the pair of them alone to bond as you went to make your rounds with the other dogs.

 It was nearly an hour later when Alife and Cyril walked back in. You smiled at the pair of them from behind the desk, hoping that the papers you had prepared would be put into use. You had watched some of the interactions between the man and dog and things seemed to be going really well. Alfie was gentle with Cyril and seemed to really like him. As you looked at them now, Cyril was wagging his tail and sitting close to Alfie’s feet, a sign that he really liked the man. You leaned forward, your arms resting on the counter, “So how did it go?”

 Alfie looked down at Cyril then back to you, “It went really well. I’d like to take Cyril home actually.”

 Your smile turned into a huge grin, “That’s great.” You motioned Alfie forward as you took out the stack of paperwork.

 After going through all of Cyril’s records with Alfie and explaining his diet and activity levels and having Alfie fill out all of his information, the pair was ready to leave. Taking the last piece of paper, you straightened everything out, “Well that’s everything. Let me get his blanket and a bag of food. You went back to the kennels to grab Cyril’s favorite blanket and a small bag of food and two bowls. Grabbing a tote bag, you walked back to the front and loaded everything up and put the bag on the counter, “Okay, so here’s some food to get you started. You can find the exact same kind at Roger’s on Bayham Street; that’s where I get it from.” You pointed to the bag, “I also put bowls in case you didn’t have any and his favorite blanket.”

 Alfie nodded, “Thank you.”

 Grabbing a few papers, you waved him off, “Of course. Here’s everything we talked about and his medical records. The vet on Arlington, Dr. Ross, has copies of everything. He’s been seeing Cyril since he came into my care two years ago, so he knows him well.” You grabbed one of your business cards, “And this is my card; it has the number for the shelter and also my personal number. If you any questions or concerns at all then please don’t hesitate to call. My priority is Cyril and I want to make sure everything is going well with him.” Alfie nodded again as he took the bag and all the papers from you. Moving over to your desk calendar, you grabbed a pencil, “Okay, so I’ll see you next week, is Tuesday at this time good?” You looked up at the man whose eyes had widened considerably.

 He coughed, “Next Tuesday?” You nodded. He looked around before his eyes settled on you again, “I’m a bit caught off guard. I didn’t think you’d be interested. I thought…”

 You suppressed your chuckle, “Alfie.”

 He stopped rambling and looked at you, “Yeah?”

 “I meant for the home visit. I need to come by your place to make sure that Cyril is being taken care of and that you two are meshing well together. If there’s any issues at all then I can bring him back to the shelter, although I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

 Alfie’s neck had a red hue as he turned away from you, “Oh of course that’s what you…” He coughed, leaning onto his cane, a frown playing at his lips. Truthfully you had found Alfie very attractive, but figured he wouldn’t be interested.

 You smiled at him, “And if you’re interested, after the home visit, we could go for a coffee or something?”

 His head snapped up, “Yeah?” You nodded and he smiled, “Yeah, that’d be great.”

 You beamed at him, “Great.” Alfie nodded and mumbled his goodbye as he moved towards the door. You waved to Cyril, “Bye, buddy. I’ll see you next Tuesday okay?” Cyril huffed his answer to you, and you laughed. You were going to miss the big guy, but if you were lucky, you’d get to see him and his new owner quite often.

[shireness-says]

You’re Always 16 Hours Ahead

Summary: Killian Jones never expected to hit it big, but the opportunity of a lifetime pulls him away from home and the woman he pines for. Can a friendship that just might be more survive a concert world tour?

(With wide eyes and faith

That life could never pull us apart if we were ok

But distance kills the best of intentions…)

(~2.6K. Rated T for language. Also on AO3)

~~~~~

A/N: I’m so excited to share my contribution to the @csconcertseries! This is an idea I’ve had for a long time, and I’m excited to finally bring it to life. This is inspired by “Jet Lag” by Frank Turner, and also includes references to “Polaroid Picture,” “Get Better,” and “Plain Sailing Weather.” I’ve definitely been blasting his stuff all month long and dragging other people with me (looking at you, @thejollyroger-writer). Super thanks, as always, to @snidgetsafan for her beta talents. 

Without further ado: Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

~~~~~

POP PRINCESS ANNOUNCES WORLD TOUR

Great news, Fairy Fans: Wildly popular pop music star Tink is planning a world tour. The international exhibition will be undertaken to promote her latest album, “Neverland No More”. Tink will be joined on her tour by recent up-and-comer Killian Jones, who will serve as her opening act. Jones has captured the world’s ear with his recent hit single, “Green Eyes,” which continues to climb the pop charts. A full schedule of planned concerts can be found at…

  September 17th

Dear Emma,

I know it’s only been a few days, but I already miss you and Henry. Los Angeles is loud, and congested, and so much unlike Storybrooke that it scares me a little. But when that happens, I try to remember our bench on the docks, and it helps ground me. I’ve got a picture of us out there taped to the inside of my guitar case, just as a reminder that even if everything changes, I’ve always got something to come home to.

You didn’t think I was kidding when I said I’d write, did you? Mark my words, I intend to write you from every stop. To hell with blocking or setup or rehearsals or whatever, I’ll be sitting on an amp backstage writing you.

You must tell me everything, Swan - don’t you dare get skimpy with the details in your next email! I know it’s been less than a week, but I’m sure there’s something from the gossip mill. Has Liam secured a new Friday act yet? I’m sure he won’t find anyone nearly as talented (or handsome!) as yours truly, but I can’t imagine he and Robin are leaving that slot open in my honor. Tell me, how much do you think he’ll groan if I send back a signed world tour poster?

I’ve got to go - something about the lights. Such is the life of a rock star, isn’t it?

Your own personal celebrity (and best friend),

-Killian

September 19th

Liam - 

Brother, you’ve got to stop calling every few hours. I know you’re bored and your life is empty without me, but this is getting ridiculous. Half the road crew thinks you’re my father. Do you intend to run up your phone bill when the tour crosses the ocean? I love you, but please don’t go broke on my behalf. Now is the time to wean yourself off me.

All teasing aside, I do appreciate the calls, not to mention everything else. If you hadn’t insisted on making those demo tapes and forcing me to Boston and any venue or bar that would take me, I wouldn’t be here today. 

You’d have been so proud to see me - I must have been sweating gallons, but I got up on stage in front of that massive crowd and I did it, sang my pieces. The noise of all those people practically shakes your bones, Liam - and that wasn’t even half the noise that Tink elicited! I don’t know how she does it. I suppose I’ll find out, though, won’t I? After all, this is my big break, as long as I don’t screw it up too badly. 

I’m sure I’ll talk to you later - in the meantime, say hello to the lads for me.

-Killian.

P.S. Keep an eye on Emma and Henry for me, would you? I know you’ve already promised, but I worry. I owe you one, brother.

  October 2nd

Emma - 

Hello from Seattle! It is just as rainy as promised, and I’ve lost count of the coffee shops. Part of that might be the Starbucks, though. I swear, they’re like a plague, popping up all over the place. 

The tour is still going well. I might even get used to this tour bus life! I miss you all, of course - my love especially to Henry - but it’s exhilarating, getting up on stage every night in front of so many people. The crowds are huge, Swan, larger than I ever could have imagined. I know they’re mostly here for Tink, but there’s always applause and a handful of people singing along to my songs, and it’s the best kind of adrenaline. Leaves me with an itch in my fingers and a new song stuck in my head. I’ll work it out later. 

I’m so happy to hear that Henry is doing so well in kindergarten; he’s always been a little social butterfly. I’ll bet that he makes tons of friends; I’m glad he loves it so far. I’ll call soon, I promise. 

Yours, 

-Killian

  October 20th

Swan - 

Happy Birthday, darling! Technically, I’m mailing this a few days early, but I hope it’ll reach you just in time. I’m sorry to be missing the festivities this year - just know that I’ll be thinking of you all day, wishing I was there to celebrate with you. Keep an eye out for a package or two - and before you even try to protest that I don’t need to, they’re just little things, love. Stuff that made me think of you. Tokens of my affection, if you will. It’s your birthday, anyways - live a little! Let us spoil you for once.

Texas is… less than impressive. Large? Yes, in a way that feels almost performative. It’s missing some kind of charm, at least to me. Then again, I’ve never been much for cowboy hats; maybe that’s the real problem, here. Regardless, I’d gladly take the northeast fall colors any day. 

Make a good wish, alright? I hope the year to come is as wonderful as you are.

Yours,

-Killian

  November 26th

Dear Henry - 

Happy Thanksgiving! Did you have a good holiday? Did Granny make enough macaroni and cheese for you to eat your fill? I know that’s your favorite.

Thank you for watching the parade! I was really excited to be in it too. Sadly, the powers that be wouldn’t let me take home the Snoopy balloon for you, but I did manage to get a couple of handfuls of confetti for you. It should be inside this envelope. You would have loved it, Henry - the confetti was flying everywhere and I saw so many really cool floats up close and personal. We’ll maybe have to go together in a couple of years, aye? We’ll ask your mum.

Draw lots and lots of turkeys for me, little mate - I know you’re really good at that. And give your mum and Liam a great big hug for me!

Love,

-Killian

  CELEBRITY FILE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH EVERYONE’S NEW FAVORITE HEARTTHROB - KILLIAN JONES

… In researching this piece, I heard over and over about how personal Jones’ lyrics were, how well they captured every feeling and variation of being in love. Every fan out there seems to feel like his words are written just for them, like a window into their soul. So when I finally met with the man himself, I couldn’t help but ask: Was there anyone who inspired such lyrical devotion? Some woman - or man! - in his own life who inspired such moving words?

“You know, the thing I’ve always liked in listening to music on my own is being able to recognize a little bit of myself in someone else’s words,” Jones told me in response to the question. “It always made me feel a little less alone - a little more connected to other people, I guess, to hear that they experienced or saw things the same way I do. It’s very rewarding to hear that people feel the same way about my music. I’m of the opinion that music should be a universal experience, and when I write, I write words that I hope other people can see a bit of themselves in.”

Something about that blush and the nervous scratch behind his ear that fans know so well tells me he’s holding out on us…

  December 11th

Dearest Swan - 

The holidays have crept right up on us, haven’t they? Do us both the favor of imagining me singing that sickly-sweet “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” nonsense, because it’s true. December 20th. Mark your calendar, and don’t blame me if I fall asleep on the car ride home from the airport. It’s all this travel, you see - takes it right out of you. You can’t blame a man for that, love.

(Also, please ignore that I’ll be flying in from Chicago. I still plan to claim jet lag. That one hour difference, love, it’s a real killer.)

Is there anything in particular that Henry especially wants this year? I’ve done my best to pick up things for you and Liam and everyone else, but I know the lad’s tastes change practically hour to hour, and he’s probably got a whole list stashed somewhere. I want to get him something he’ll really like instead of just wandering through the toy store in a panic, if at all possible.

Counting the hours until I see you again,

-Killian

  January 8th

Emma - 

I don’t even know where to start. How can I properly apologize for what happened at New Year’s? I struggle, because I can’t truthfully say that I regret it. I don’t think I’ve made it a secret all these years that I’m helplessly enthralled by you and everything you are. There are words - big words, three words - that rattle around in my heart every day, but I know you’re not willing to hear them yet. I’ll be here, love, whenever you’re ready.

I know you’re scared, Emma, but I’m begging you - just talk to me. We can forget all about this, if that’s what you want, but you’ve got to talk to me. Every day I don’t hear from you is just a little bit harder. I’ll follow your lead, whatever you say.

You’ll always be my best friend, Swan - no matter what else happens.

-Killian

  January 20th

I kissed her, Liam.

I’m sorry; that’s not much of a way to start a letter is it? How are you? Everything going well? 

But I’m sorry, I’ve got to talk about this and get it off my chest. Because I kissed her, Liam. Emma. I kissed Emma. And then it kind of… all went to shit. I guess that’s just like me, isn’t it? Give me one fine day of plain sailing weather, and I can turn it to stormy seas.

And I know where she’s coming from, really - I know better than almost anyone about how she’s been left behind too many times. As much as it hurts to have this sudden radio silence, I know she’s just trying to protect herself. But I love her, Liam. I’ve loved her forever. This isn’t just “distance makes the heart grow fonder,” or something stupid like that. I should have acted a long time ago. I should have done a thousand different things, but here we are.

If you have any ideas of how to fix this, please, let me know. I hope you’re having a happier new year than I so far.

-Killian

  February 2nd

Dear Emma - 

I can’t tell you how good it was to hear from you the other day. You may think that there’s nothing interesting about all the goings-on in the bar, but that particular kind of nothing is soothing. It’s like a little piece of home in every email. Besides, I know that the bar is never quite as boring as we always joked. And I’d welcome any word from you anyways, after how much I’ve missed you.

We’re in Paris right now. It’s gorgeous, truly - I’ll have to bring you and the lad back sometime. I know you’d call me a nerd, but I’ve been hitting museums - the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the Rodin museum, etc. I made sure to do the Eiffel Tower too, just for you, even though the crowds were utterly terrible. Stuffed my face with pastries too, all on your behalf.

(Okay, you caught me, Swan - the pastries are for me too. The croissants, Swan! The bread! I surely won’t fit in my trousers if we’re here any longer, but I can’t regret it. I swear, I’d ship some back to you if I thought they’d survive the trip.)

We’ll have to schedule time for a call home soon - I find myself so often longing for your voice. I love your emails, but there’s something to a phone call that can’t be replaced. 

Yours,

-Killian

  March 11th

Dear Henry - 

Thank you for sending me that drawing! I love it. It’s taped to the inside of my guitar case now, where I can look at it every day. I especially like the yellow you used for your mum’s hair. You’ll have to thank her for scanning that for us on my behalf. That’s good form, you know.

I’m in Amsterdam right now. Your mum or Liam can show you where that is on a map; it’s in Western Europe. I went someplace I think you’d love today; it’s called Madurodam. It’s this entire miniature city, with little airplanes and zoo animals and everything. I had a lot of fun exploring it, and I think you would too.

A graduation, you say? From kindergarten? I wouldn’t miss it for the world, lad. I’ll be home, no matter what.

I miss you, Henry, and your mother too. It always brightens my day to see an email from you.

Sealed with a great big hug,

-Killian

  April 21st

Emma - 

London is rainy and cold. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything different, but here I am, surprised all the same. It’s hard to convince myself to go do any of the tourist-y things when the weather is like this, so I’m stuck inside, writing to you. Not that that’s ever a hardship...

You’d hardly recognize me with this get-up I’ve found myself in for the show tonight - the heavy eyeliner especially. Gone are the days of some beat-up tee - though I think you might like the vest. Getting dressed feels like slipping into some other persona. I worry a lot of the time about whether I’ve changed beyond recognition, or if I’m still the same person you know. That’s the man I want to be, you know - someone you can be proud of, but somehow still that same poor bastard in the bar, just trying to write words that mean something. I hope I am. But you know how it goes - distance kills the best of intentions. 

I miss you terribly, Swan, and Henry too. Hell, even Liam. These letters are all that ground me some days, I fear. On the loneliest nights, I reread your emails and imagine you’re talking to me instead. It’s always just a too-brief daydream, unfortunately.

I’ve grown rather maudlin, haven’t I? That won’t do at all. I blame it on the rain. Here’s a happier note for us both: I’ll be home late next month. Perhaps I’ll have to make one of those paper chains Henry’s so fond of; if I do, I’ll include a picture with my next letter. 

Counting the days. Until then - 

Love, Killian

  May 17th

My Swan - 

By the time you get this, I’ll be home with you and the lad again, and hopefully have already told you in person everything I want to say now:

I love you, Emma. Every word of every song is for you. I’ve loved you from the first moment I laid eyes on you, and no time or distance or groupie is ever going to change that. I’m yours, love, body and soul. And I have faith that life can never tear us apart as long as that’s true.

I’m coming home, love. And my home is you.

Yours (in every sense),

-Killian

  BREAKING NEWS: KILLIAN JONES’ SECRET LOVER?

Bad news for all the fangirls and Killy-Tink shippers out there: Bad boy popstar Killian Jones appears to be off the market. The singer, 27, was spotted locking lips with an unidentified blonde at the Storybrooke Memorial Gardens, just outside of Boston, where Jones calls home. Sources have long speculated that Jones has a secret girlfriend back home, and this just might be confirmation. Check back as this story continues to develop. StarWatchOnline remains YOUR #1 celebrity news site… 

~~~~~

Tagging: @snowbellewells, @profdanglaisstuff, @kmomof4, @winterbaby89, @teamhook, @ohmightydevviepuu, @optomisticgirl, @spartanguard, @thisonesatellite, @let-it-raines, @scientificapricot, @searchingwardrobes

[makemadej]

So today two of my worlds collided in the best way: Ryan and Shane were guests on one of my favorite podcasts. I was totally blindsided by this since there was no promo for it whatsoever (who knows why, maybe they forgot when the release date was, maybe they’ve been taken captive by skeletons, maybe they’re just terrible at promoting themselves), and it killed me that I couldn't listen to the whole thing until after work. It's over two hours long and podcasts aren't everyone's cup of tea, so I'm capturing the ghoul boy highlights here for anyone who wants them.

Wine and Crime is a weekly podcast hosted by three ladies who are feminist as fuck and pair a different crime with a different wine each episode. This time, the theme was Pandora's Box crimes, aka "crimes that were only supposed to be minimal but ended up being a shitshow." Inevitably, they paired it with boxed wine.

Enter the ghoul boys.

Ryan, on Franzia: I do enjoy slappin' a bag Shane: I've seen Ryan slap some bags in my day. [...] Ryan: Shane has to tell me to stop slapping the bag sometimes Ryan: I used to do this thing in college called Tour de Franzia. It was like a drinking game, but it was an obstacle course, and at every checkpoint you had to slap the bag. [beat] I made great decisions in college.

Ryan: You say "nice stream" to the sound of liquid being poured into something, it maybe is not the best...it may not communicate well over audio. Shane: Hey, nice stream Ryan: Nice stream. That's what I say every time I go up to a urinal. To any guy. Tap him on the shoulder. Shane: Men in public bathrooms, we all compliment each other's streams. Ryan: Yeah. It's best if you whisper it. At close proximity. I get really close so he can smell the Popeye's on my breath that I just got at the terminal and I whisper "nice stream."

Ryan: We're drinking the 14% Four Lokos seltzer over here [borderline unintelligible banter about playing Edward Four Lokos hands]

Ryan, on the description of himself on a "which BFU guy are you" quiz: That sounds like the description of a golden retriever.

Shane: I know there's one quiz that was popular where the description [of me] was entirely wrong.

Ryan, increasingly high pitched: A fan sent you all these goat parts?

[What is your favorite wine varietal?] Ryan: Hmmmmmm... [Do you know what a varietal is?] Shane, with gusto: No!

Ryan: Wine to me is just wine at this point. I'm not that far on my wine journey. I was a beer guy that's transitioning over into wine. Shane: Well, it sounds like you're not doing a very good job. Ryan: You know what, I said I am LEARNING, Shane. So why don't you get off your high horse and tell them what kind of wine you like? Shane: I don't even know! Ryan: Mr. "I don't know what a wine varietal is" Shane: Yeah. But I don't call myself a wine guy Ryan: I never said I was a wine guy! I said I was-- Shane: You were like, "Oh, have you see that Netflix documentary, Sommelier?" Ryan: First off, I didn't say it like Elmo from Sesame Street, but I also said I was transitioning!

Shane: I like some red wines and some white wines Ryan, imitating him: I like the stuff with the alcohol in it...and sometimes it has bubbles and makes my tummy feel good and uhhhh, yeah Shane: Yeah, I don't really know... Ryan: Sick answer Shane: There's a kind my girlfriend always gets that's really good but I don't...I can't remember the name of it Ryan: That's a long name. That's actually a good name for a wine! The Kind My Girlfriend Gets, ever had it? They sell it at Trader Joe's. Shane: I'm not even trying to do like a...*weird cowboy voice* "I'm a man, so I don't drink wine. Only my girlfriend does." I like wine, I've just...I've never been good at wine. And wine makes me real sleepy, so I almost never have it. Ryan: That's why I don't drink red wine...and it also makes me look like I've been chewing on mud clots or something.

[What is one "unsolved" case that you're pretty sure you've solved?] Ryan: What was that one where I was like, I think I've pretty much solved this one? The Black Dahlia I'm pretty sure was George Hodel. I'm almost positive of it. Shane: Wasn't there like a missing child one that we thought we had sorta gotten? Bobby Dunbar Ryan: Bobby Dunbar. I think we had solved that one. Uh... Shane: We can never concretely say that we've solved it. Ryan: No, we can't legally, but I'm pretty sure D.B. Cooper's bones are an ornament in some pine tree out there in the Pacific Northwest [...] Shane: The case is pretty closed on Amelia Earhart, too. Ryan: I don't think so. Shane: Yeah, she got eaten by crabs. Ryan: I think it's closed in your mind. That's what you'd like to have happened. Shane: That's what happened. Ryan: Giant, man-eating crabs. It's amazing that those exist. I saw one dragging a coconut. Not hard to imagine that coconut being a head. Shane: Yeah. Of an aviatrix. Ryan: Of an aviatrix, yeah. The most famous aviatrix of all time!

Ryan: Fun fact, shaking my bones is what I call dancing.

Shane: I'll say that Ryan is 100% that bitch. Ryan: I'd say 0% actually. Shane: See, that's what makes you that bitch. Ryan, cracking up: What about you, Shane? Shane: Mm. 45.

Ryan: I don't know if people would like me walking into a room trumpeting "I'm 100% that bitch!" every time I walk in a room. I think there's nuance to it. You can't always be 100% that bitch. [...] Or if I'm trying to make an omelet and I can't make the flip...not 100% that bitch in that moment. I'll tell you, it's the bane of my existence Shane: You can't make an omelet? Ryan: It's impossible! Shane: It's not. Ryan: It's really hard! I don't think I have the proper pan. Shane: It sounds like you don't. Do you have a good spatula? Ryan: Maybe, I dunno... Shane: WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAYBE? DO YOU HAVE A GOOD SPATULA OR NOT? It’s a yes or no question! Ryan: I think it might be, I don't know! I have no idea where it came from, I got it from my mom. Maybe she bought it from Sur la Table? Shane: I was gonna say, go to *French accent* Sur la Table, get a little free espresso... [degenerates into arguing about French pronunciation]

Shane on working at Abercrombie: I was in the stock room, they didn't let me up front. Not my beat. [...] Me and my friends...would just hang out in the back and listen to music and eat cookie dough. And they'd be like "we need you to fold this box of girly shirts" and we'd be like "ah, okay!" and then we'd just take the box and be like "this is too many shirts." And we'd just throw it...this was the area like a loft area where you couldn't see anything. We'd just throw the boxes so we wouldn't have to fold the shirts. They're probably still there. Ryan: Sounds like you were a great employee.

Shane: I started as Buzzfeed as an intern. Ryan had started a month or two before me. So we came up in the same intern class together.

Ryan: I did grip and electric work for two years, which is basically like lifting heavy gear essentially on set and I realized I didn't want to do that for ten years before I even had the chance to sniff a camera.

Ryan: I filmed powerpoints for doctors...I did feel like a prisoner at times when I was there, listening to a doctor from USC's Keck medical school talk about irritable bowel syndrome for two straight hours...I was a couple days away from joining the union...That was concurrent with the irritable bowel syndrome filmings.

Ryan: I chose the internship at Buzzfeed not knowing what it was, met the Shaniac over here, and then, um...we went through that program, which was kind of like the Hunger Games. We saw all of our fellow interns die. [...] We worked our way up, I eventually made Unsolved.I made unsolved actually with a different host, Brent Bennett. He left the show because he didn't like...I believe the quote was "I don't like these stories anymore." Shane: *dies laughing* Ryan: And I turned to my right and was like, "hey Shane, wanna do this instead?" and he was like "sure" and that's that. And from then on I guess we never looked back.

[Shane, how do you feel about being the second choice?] Shane: I'm fine with it. Really, there was so little fanfare to him asking me. Ryan: No ceremony at all. Shane: 'Cause we were just making stuff left and right at that point and series were not really an established thing at Buzzfeed [...] Even when Ryan had asked me "hey, would you like to be in this?" uh...I was like "yeah, lemme..." Ryan says I checked my calendar. Ryan: Yeah, Shane looked over at his google calendar, saw that next week was open, and was like "yeah, looks like I've got some time" and I was like "sweet, lock it in" and he was like "cool." And then we both put our headphones back on 'cause we sat next to each other at a desk and worked on other things and that was that.

[What is some of the silliest feedback you've gotten about your show?] Ryan: Luckily the fan base is pretty nice. There's plenty of fun, positive comments out there, however, this is one that tickled me the most. A guy somehow found my personal email address and emailed me to let me know. He's like "hey man, love the videos, excellent content to get stoned to. Keep it up, cheers!" I don't know who this man was.

Shane: I do have some hope that Bigfoot is real. A little unlikely. The other one I always root for is Champ in Lake Champlain. Ryan: I don't know why you have such an obsession with Champ. [...] Shane: Champ...there seems to be something fishy going on there. There's something going on in that lake. Ryan: Good pun Shane: Not even. There's something going on there and I've seen that lake and I've looked out at that lake and I've felt something inside me just looking out at it. Ryan: You sure it wasn't just IBS? Shane: We've established that you're the one with IBS Ryan: I'm not the one with IBS! Shane: You joined the union! Ryan: You were the one who almost pooed your pants on an investigation Shane: That's a different story! Ryan: You ate two hot dogs that were served at the baggage claim in Philadelphia Shane: We. Were. Hungry.

Ryan on Dyatlov Pass: I'm gonna double down here. I think it was a yeti. Or, not a yeti. I think it was an abdominal snowman. Shane: Abominable. 

[borderline unintelligible banter about an incredibly ripped yeti doing crunches]

Shane: I'm very content with the mysteries of the universe never being uncovered. It's fine. Ryan: It's frustrating. Shane: You're gonna go to the grave not knowing so many things, so you might as well just give up on them. Ryan: Such a nihilistic way to look at everything.

Shane: If you know anyone who's traveling and they're your enemy, you just call the FBI and say "oh, they're up to no good up there." Ryan: If Shane was flying somewhere I could just say "yeah, I think he's dangerous. I know him. He's the guy who couldn't fit a hat on his big head."

[interlude where they decide to name an anonymous suspect Shane Ryanson]

Shane: It would be funny if this was like the highest escalation of a prank war between two friends Ryan: That'd be a hilarious prank, getting someone thrown into federal prison. Super funny. Gotcha!

Shane: If you're the kind of person who is likely to call in a threat to the FBI solely as a way to get a dig in at your friend, that probably stays with you for life. That's pretty hard-coded into who you are. Ryan: That's true. Especially when you look like an out of work Batman villain [...] If this dude walked into a 7-11, I would drop my Slurpee immediately and run to my car. He's a scary man. I'm out. Slurpee's on the floor.

Shane: I'll tell you this in defense of dolphins, they do have funny little smiles.

Shane, on breaking into Sea World: That seems like an extremely Australian thing to do.

Shane, googling fairy penguins: Yes, it's a wonderful little penguin! He's so small! Ryan: This is great, this is like a dark gritty reboot of Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Shane: Just...to meet someone, get along so well that you each drink a half a liter of vodka together and then go swimming with dolphins and blast some sharks with a fire extinguisher Ryan: ...and then decide, let's top off the night by bringing home a fuzzy little friend Shane: I mean, by that point you've got a winning streak going. You're like, "yeah, we didn't get eaten by sharks! we did swim with the dolphins! Of course we'll steal a penguin!”

Ryan: I bet the penguin actually helped the hangover, to be fair. If I was hungover, I normally just see my blinds shuttered in my room, my shoes are somewhere in the house, but if I found a penguin I'd be like "okay, maybe this isn't so bad." Shane: A rehabilitation penguin. He just hopes on your bed in the morning. Ryan: Just starts smacking me in the face with his little fins. It's great, I love it.

Shane: I think she shouldn't have killed her husband. Have a little faith in his worm farm.

[mrsbhandari]

Artsy as Fuck - Graphite

A/N: Hello!! its been a whole ass brick since I updated this but ive been writing a lot of anime shit and just couldn’t think of anything for this but then I got an idea!! so yeah I hope you like it!!

Word Count: 

Warnings: language, NSFW for the first few paragraphs but after that its kind of angsty?? a lil bit. idk how to write angst so idk if it even counts lmao

Summary: Colt and Roze refuse to confront feelings that arose after their...eventful morning. 

Tag list: 1530

@omgjasminesimone, @edgiestwinter, @bucketofsoup, @donutsgirl36, @desireepow-1986, @lovehugsandcandy, @troublemakerinspace, @client-327

Masterlist

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The steam of the shower was only adding to the clouding of his mind as his hands ran down Roze’s sides, making her shiver despite the heat of the water. 

“To be clear--oh--This means nothing,” she said, moaning as his lips attached to her neck and added to the hickeys there. Colt felt a twinge of sadness, but he didn’t know about what. She moved her hands up to his shoulders and he forgot completely.

“Mhmm.”

“Seriously, Colt, this is just to...relieve tension.”

“Mhmm.”

“Colt, pay atten--oh, yes.” Colt cut her off with a swift bite to the junction of her shoulder and her neck as well as a finger brushing her entrance, sufficiently lubricated from a combination of her own slick and the water. He easily slid two fingers into her, letting a gasp reverberate in the shower as he pressed against her sweet spot. Instantly, her grip tightened on his biceps, tough beneath her touch. Nails embedded themselves into his skin, sure to leave crescent bruises visible when he posed for her class in 20 minutes. 

Remembering his job, Colt quickened his fingers, relishing Roze’s loud gasps against his shoulder as they pressed their chests together. This may just be for ‘tension relieving,’ but damn was it good. Her orgasm hit her and his arm snaked around her waist, holding her up and against him while she moaned in his ear. She rode out her orgasm for a few more seconds before weakly grabbing his wrist and pulling his fingers out, catching her breath as the water cascaded down her back. Pulling away, she rested her hands on Colt’s shoulders, partially to hold herself up and partially to watch him as he raised his fingers to his lips, cleaning them with a long tongue while keeping eye contact with her.

“Delicious.”

“You’re so annoying,” she breathed out, cool facade broken by hitched breaths.

“At least I’m good at fucking, though, right?”

Her mouth barely quirked to a smile before falling back into her neutral pout. She stepped out of the shower without a word. 

“Right?!”

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It was not the right time to wear a tank top, yet it was all she had. She had thought about asking Colt to borrow one of his shirts, but that seemed too...intimate. For their situation. That’s what she told herself. Secretly, Roze cursed the hot LA weather as well as her expectation that she wasn’t going to do anything with Colt when she met up with him at the garage. 

In all honesty, she knew that sex with Colt was a game-changer--especially sex that good. With sex, there were so many emotions swirling around, ripe for the taking, that it seemed impossible not to fall for him. That stupid smile when he caught her staring, the way his eyes roll back when he came, the dark look in his eye when she got too lippy with him; they all added up to extend the emotions of that heavenly hour into a full-blown relationship, which is not what she needed. Especially with Colt. He agreed. It had been ten minutes since they left the garage, yet she was already thinking about the possibility of next time with him. Internally, she cursed herself again for saying that it meant nothing. But he agreed. 

She ignored the pang of disappointment that found its way into her heart despite her best efforts to separate her feelings from this little...predicament she found herself in. How am I supposed to fake date a person I keep feeling things for? Especially when he’s only using me to avoid a girl.

Said girl walked into the studio, giving Roze and her mosaic of bruises a major side-eye and eye roll. Ingrid’s eyes traveled to Colt, knowing that he should have marks as well, and scoffed at the deep red of the scratches along his shoulders, revealed by his wife beater and clean overalls that were folded over at the waist, much like how it was at the garage. Ingrid couldn’t deny that he looked like he should be June’s picture in a calendar, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of knowing she thought that. 

“Did you have to wear that here?” Roze playfully tugged on one of the sleeves tied around his waist. He was leaning over her easel, looking down at her from where his chin was resting on the wood. 

“Professor told me to wear something and layer it. I’m a mechanic, not a designer.” In reality, the comment about his clothes did hurt him a little, even if it wasn’t meant seriously. He didn’t look as stylish as most of the people in the class, and he definitely didn’t look cool or rich enough to be Roze’s boyfriend. She always looked fresh from an expensive magazine to him; he thought he looked like the search results for ‘mechanic’ at the Spirit Halloween website. He smiled a little at the thought and decided it was a problem to confront another day.

“Well, Kaneko, right now you’re a model.” Roze calling him by his last name only made the memories from an hour ago, already fresh, rush back into his mind. She sent him a smirk that let him know she knew what she made him think about. Their conversation was cut short by more students arriving for the class, prompting Colt to step up on the podium and strike a pose for the class, making sure to drape his clothing in a way they could draw to show the clothing. He felt a little bit more confident in himself with his girlfriend calling him a model, but he tried to keep his face neutral. 

He stood for hours on the podium, but he certainly couldn’t complain as he was standing directly in front of Roze who, in between actually drawing him, spent more of the time making silly faces to get him to laugh and break his resolve. His girlfriend was so cute. 

Except she’s not. The thought hit him like a bag of bricks. This is temporary. You fucked and she said it didn’t mean anything. And why should it? She’s a cool art student, going places. You’re stuck here with no direction. Better to get that through your head now rather than later. This is all fake. His face turned pensive as he stood there, ignoring her cross-eyes in her most recent attempt to make him break. She’s probably just acting to make this whole thing more believable, he reasoned, pushing all thoughts of a real relationship out of his head. Suddenly, all he wanted was for the class to be over. 

His wish was soon granted by the professor clapping his hands together and announcing the class’ end. Before he could leave, Roze gathered her stuff and approached him, wary of the watchful eye Ingrid was casting over them to catch any slip-ups that would indicate any reason to believe that something was amiss.

“Wanna go to lunch? My pick today.” She sent him a sweet smile that he couldn’t help but melt at the sight of. Fuck. Don’t think it means anything. He gave a curt nod and a tight smile in response, ignoring the concern that clouded her eyes. This means nothing.

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“I’ll pay.” Colt’s eyes flitted to hers across the fancy table as she handed a stack of bills to the waiter, telling him to keep the change as a tip. Colt didn’t want to say that he felt emasculated by Roze paying, because he was perfectly fine with that aspect of it. He did, however, feel poor. Here he was in this nice restaurant (cloth napkins and a mini chandelier for every table? Bougie.) in overalls, trying to brush off the pitying looks that kept getting sent Roze’s way as she sat with him and paid for him with cash. 

They must think it’s a gender-bent Pretty Woman situation. The demons in his head laughed at him, boiling his blood and stirring the pot of deprecating thoughts swirling around his mind. I’m not a charity case. Roze seemed to notice his sudden change in attitude but decided to say nothing about it. 

“How was your risotto?”

“Good.”

“And your chicken?”

“Fine. Little dry.”

“Oh, mine tasted great.”

“Congrats.”

“Ok, fuckwad.” She slammed her cutlery down on her plate and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table to carry her head on her interlocked fingers. “What’s with you?”

He feigned disinterest. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You were fine this morning and through class, but then you just...shut down.”

“I don’t know why you would care. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.” Colt didn’t know what the fuck he was saying. 

“Are you always this angsty?” The comment surprised him and he looked over to find Roze with her head cocked and an amused shine in her eyes. The sight made one part of him sweat and the other scoff. 

“Why did you bring me here, Roze?”

“I like it here,” she answered without missing a beat. 

“Why?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I want to know.”

[hadererer]

Anon requested: Angsty Reddie where Eddie yells at Richie and Richie goes :( (maybe based of like art is dead by Bo Burnham especially the attention attractor part )

Summary: Richie takes the jokes a little too far at the wrong place and wrong time, and Eddie needs space 

Rating: T (language) 

Eddie huffed, closing their apartment door behind them. Their little puppy, a Pomeranian named Olive that Eddie had fallen in love with at the animal shelter, rushed to greet them. Even though she wasn’t technically a puppy anymore, Richie and Eddie still saw her as their little puppy. 

“Easy, baby girl,” Richie tried to calm her jumping as Eddie stormed into the kitchen. Richie bent down to pet and rub her belly for a quick second before jumping back up and following Eddie, unclipping his tie and setting on the table along the way. 

They had just returned from Eddie’s senior thesis presentation fair for his Nursing degree, and something was very wrong. Richie thought the night went well, each time Eddie gave his presentation in front of his tri-fold poster board, looking like an absolute smarty-pants and adorable at the same because he just had that range, Richie could help but smile at him, thinking about how lucky he was to have him. He was starting to believe Eddie thought to opposite, though. 

Eddie was standing at their sink, drinking a glass of water. His eyes stared, unfocused out the window, deep in thought. 

As much as Richie wanted to step up behind Eddie and wrap his arms around him, he could tell that Eddie was seething. Richie found himself at a loss for words, for once. He had thought the night was going great! Eddie’s presentation went really well, all of his professors told him so, and it seemed like everyone was having a great time. 

But the whole way home Eddie had refused to talk to him. He ignored all of Richie’s jokes and teasing, even the ones Richie knew Eddie loved. When he tried to ask him about it, Eddie only sent him a withering look and still didn’t respond. 

This was dangerous territory. Richie knew it. Eddie knew it. Even Olive seemed to sense that something was going on between her parents. 

“Eds, please talk to me. We can work it out, whatever it is. We always do.” 

May-day, May-day. Wrong thing to say. Eddie’s face flushed a deep red. He placed the now empty glass in his hand onto the counter with a controlled anger. After a second, he turned to look at Richie, crossing his arms as he stared him down. Even though Eddie was at least a few inches shorter than Richie (“I’m average fucking height you asshole” he would say whenever Richie playfully teased him about it). 

“Like we always do? Hm? How do we always work shit out exactly, Richie?” Eddie’s voice was deadly calm, with a hint of the storm that was brewing below it creeping in. His eyes were fierce and balmy. Usually those eyes meant that they would be locking Olive out of their room later. But not today. Nope. Those eyes held a different intent this time. “You make jokes or say stupid shit, and we move on, pretending that nothing happened. Pretending like everything’s fucking fine when it’s so not.” 

“Eddie, what--” 

“Nope. Let me finish,” Eddie interjected, voice no longer sounding tight with repressed anger. Oh no, that anger was fully expressed now. “You knew how important tonight was to me. You knew for months. You knew that tonight was my night. My night to show off my senior thesis project. The thing I’ve been working on all semester. Tonight was my fucking chance to network with other nurses and graduate program officials, hopefully help me get a job for when we graduate in two fucking weeks. But instead you made it about you.” 

Wait, what? Richie wasn’t trying to make it about himself. Of course he wouldn’t! I mean, yeah, he was making jokes and teasing Eddie a little, but that was only to help Eddie relax! He thought he liked when Richie did things like that. 

“I wasn’t trying making it about myself! I was just trying to make you relax and laugh every once in a while, Spaghetti!” 

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief before furrowing, again. He hand was raised with his palm open, in a ‘What are you even saying?’ fashion. 

“Are you fucking serious right now?! Not the time, Rich! Not the place!” Eddie spat out before brusquely moving past Richie to head to their bedroom. Richie followed, still trying to wrap his mind around what Eddie had said, with Olive fast on his heels. Even though she could sense the tension, she still seemed to want to be with them. 

In their room, Eddie was taking off his suit when Richie walked in. Even in his anger, he still took care in hanging his suit up to take to the cleaners tomorrow. 

“Eddie, please, come on. You know I would never do anything to upset you.” Richie pleaded. 

Pulling on a pair of sweats and shoes, Eddie began packing a bag. 

Wait--what? No! Richie’s heart beat felt like it was faltering and his face twisted into shocked hurt. 

Eddie turn to him, sighing at the distressed look on Richie’s face. He seemed to deflate a little, eyes softening a little. “I’ll be back tomorrow. I just want a little space, right now.” He stalked into the bathroom for his toiletry stuff. Richie just stood there, staring at the bag, hurt but feeling a little better knowing that Eddie was still coming back, at least. 

“Eds, come one, we can talk this out--” 

“Not right now, Rich,” and damn did he sound exhausted, “I’m going to stay at Stan and Bill’s tonight. I just need some time to cool down and think.” 

After grabbing a few more things and stuffing them into the small messenger bag, Eddie made his way out ad Richie tried to reason with him the whole time. Soon, Eddie had left and Richie was alone. Well, not totally alone, he remembered as Olive pawed at his leg.  

Richie couldn’t believe what the literal fuck had just happened. 

Of course Richie knew how important that night was. They had it marked on their calendar in the kitchen for months. 

His thesis project was fantastic and everyone could see that. Eddie had just looked so nervous and scared and, God, Richie hated seeing him like that. He thought he was doing the right thing. He just wanted Eddie to feel better and more comfortable. Relax. Chill. 

But apparently that wasn’t how it was received. Eddie thought Richie was just trying to make everyone pay attention to him, not Eddie’s project. Eddie thought that all the jokes and teasing were because Eddie thought that Richie saw his project as unimportant. Which was so wrong. 

Richie tossed himself face first down onto the couch, burrowing his face into one of the pillows. He felt Olive jumped onto his back, walk around a little before laying down. 

He took a deep breath. Was he an attention hog, though? He liked talking and joking with people and maybe sometimes that did mean that he liked having attention. He liked being funny and making people laugh. He didn’t really think that would be a negative thing, until tonight. 

And the truth was that the more Richie thought of it, he could kind of see where Eddie was coming from. It probably seemed like he was trying to take some of the spotlight from Eddie, even though he didn’t mean, too. He honestly just wanted to help Eddie loosen up a bit.

---

The next morning Richie was awake bright and early. His neck felt a little stiff from sleeping on the couch, but he also didn’t want to sleep in their bed without Eddie. 

Warm morning light peeked through the curtains as Richie fed Olive before taking her on her morning walk. He wasn’t sure when Eddie would be back, but he wanted to make sure he was there when he got back, eager to talk to him. So, that meant waking up much earlier than he normally would on a Saturday morning to walk Olive. 

Of course, when they returned, Olive whining as she rushed through their front door, Eddie was sitting on the couch, as if waiting for Richie, bag no where to be seen. Eddie reach down to pick up Olive and place her on his lap, not meeting Richie’s eye as he idly began to pet her. 

Richie’s steps faltered before he gained his footing again. He placer Olive’s leash on the hook by the door, before walking over to sit with Eddie. He idly scratched Olive behind her ears, waiting for Eddie to start, like he could tell that he wanted to. 

“I get that you probably didn’t mean to last night, but you acted like my project was nothing. You kept bringing everyone’s attention to yourself. Making jokes about this person’s hair or that person’s outfit. As if everything I worked all the semester for, that was right there, didn’t even matter.” Every word sounded like it was rehearsed. As if Eddie was going through this in his head. 

Richie reached out to put his hand on Eddie’s knee, but Eddie shifted away. Richie felt the fear that he had felt last night creep back up again. 

“Eddie, listen, I never wanted to draw attention away from you or your work. IT’s just--you just seemed so tense! And scared! And I just didn’t want you to be feel that way because you were doing so good and your project was so good...” 

Eddie nodded, “yeah, yeah, I realized that.” 

And wow did that feel good to hear Eddie say. He just needed Eddie to know that Richie would never purposefully do anything to hurt him. He loved him. 

Eddie finally looked Richie in the eye, face stony but also looking vulnerable underneath all the hard lines. 

“I know you didn’t mean to, I know that, but it still felt awful feeling like second-best at during my presentation.”

And Richie understood that. After thinking about it last night, yeah, he probably would have been angry at himself, too. 

Richie reached out to grab Eddie’s hands and this time Eddie let him. 

“I promise I’ll try my best not to do it again, Eds, seriously, I never wanted to hurt you. I love you, you know that.”

Eddie smiled at him, making Richie’s chest warm. “I know, and I love you, too. And I’m sorry for leaving last night like that, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just needed to be alone to think.” Eddie squeezed Richie’s hands and scooted closer to him. 

Richie smiled, “yeah, I could tell,” he kissed Eddie’s hands, “I know that you like space when you’re mad, just like when we were younger and you slept in the guest room during a sleepover because I spilled soda on your new comic.” 

This made Eddie huff and roll his eyes before laughing. “Ugh, you asshole, I was so mad about that! Do you have any idea how hard it was to find?!” 

And that’s how Richie knew everything would be okay. 

[mamaskillerqueen]

Maybe In Another Life - Pt 2 | Roger Taylor x Fem!Reader

A/N: I’m so mad because I had this all set to go and then Tumblr was like “Nah, mate. No go.” Anyways, this is the second part of the angst series. Weeeo. Not sure how I feel about this part but the last part is my favourite for sure. So, have fun! Warnings: Sadness. I mean, what else do you expect from me. (Probably other things...) Word Count: 1,834

The doorbell rang, Y/N was busy at work with dinner so Roger placed his glass of wine on the counter gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and then made his way to the door. He figured it would be one of the guys dropping by anyways. They were hard at work on their next album and no day off was an actual day off. When he swung the door open though, he wished it had been one of the guys. He was pretty sure he was going to throw up. "Hello Roger," The woman on the other side of the door greeted him, her one hand coming to rest on her very pregnant belly.  A calendar ran through his head at that moment, counting following suit. He was definitely going to throw up. "Rog, who is it?"

When Y/N rounded the corner his heart nearly stopped. They had just barely moved past their argument and here was the exact woman he had promised to never see again. His eyes met hers, a silent plea to believe he didn't know about this. "I'm Ala," The woman standing on the doorstep said, gesturing to her belly she added, "This is Roger's baby." The rest of what happened kind of went in a blur. Y/N allowed the woman to step inside their house, not wanting whatever interaction happened to be on display for the public. Roger followed behind both women, nervously chewing on the skin around his nails. They all sat down at the kitchen table, Roger as far away from the woman he'd gotten pregnant as possible. Y/N was adamant about finding out what exactly Ala wanted from them, and then sending her on her way. There was no part of his wife that wanted to deal with this for longer than a few moments. The sight of this woman carrying his child did something to him though.  His wife was unable to have children, it was something they had talked about long before they ever got married. Roger was sure he was okay with that, and if they ever changed their mind they could just adopt. He had promised her that he wasn't exactly interested in having children while the band was touring anyways. If he had a child, he wanted to be in its life, and not just a few months at a time.  Now though, he was here with a child on the way, and he felt as though he needed to take care of it. He needed to be in its life, and not just as a check every month. Whatever the child was, he needed to be known as it's father. He couldn't turn her or the child away. Even if it broke his promise, though he wasn't exactly thinking about that as he offered their guest room to Ala for the night. "She is carrying my child," He insisted, trying to make her understand. She had to understand. "I have to take care of her. Of the child." Roger and Y/N had retreated to their room over an hour ago. She had done her best at whisper yelling, expressing just how angry she was that the woman he had cheated on her with was just down the hall. He could see it in her face that she felt betrayed, and he wanted so desperately to erase that look, but he couldn't. "She'll only stay until the child is born, love. By then I'll have found her a more permanent place to live..." His voice trailed off, wondering just how to bring up the idea he'd had hours ago. "Or, we could bring her in full time? There are a ton of people who have two wives. They make it work. It could be our new normal." There was nothing but quiet resign after that. She was done listening, done talking. He just hoped she wasn't done with everything else. With a curt nod of her head she turned on her heel and walked away from him, moving to their bed and shifting herself under the covers without so much as a goodnight. He followed in behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to his chest. She didn't fight it, but she didn't sink back into him like she normally would. Assuming she'd have cooled down by the morning he placed a kiss to her head, whispered an "I love you", and then settled into a rather peaceful sleep. Sleep was impossible for her though. How could she sleep after such a conversation? The hours ticked by and slowly but surely the sun began to rise above the horizon. Roger's alarm went off, rousing the man from his slumber. As discreetly as she could, she rolled over and pretended the alarm hadn't woken her... as if she'd been asleep all a long.  Today would be a long day. It was a day she wished would never come but unfortunately it was here. After her husband rose from bed and left for the day, she allowed the reality to set in. That would be the last night she ever spent in bed with him. Today, she was leaving but before her packing began she would allow herself one moment to wallow in the heartbreak that was cracking her chest. She was thankful that Ala was long gone before she ever left her bedroom. The moment of wallow turned to almost half an hour of tears. It was hard to allow your marriage to fall apart, but it was even worse when you knew that in some way, this was entirely your own fault. Perhaps if she was actually able to give him a family this wouldn't have happened. As soon as she stepped out of their previously shared bedroom though, she shook those feelings off. Her things in their bedroom had already been packed into only a few boxes. The rest of the house was stuff they had bought together mostly, stuff she could replace later. So the packing up of the other rooms only took her a few moments. Her plan was to be done and gone before Roger ever even got home. Plans never quite work out the way you want them to though. The front door swung open and her heart nearly stopped. She wasn't sure that she could face him like this. She was leaving before he got there because she was a weak coward. He would beg her not to go, and she would stay. No. She would not stay. She had to go. The dark brown curly hair that popped around the corner to the kitchen was a great relief. Brian offered only a sigh, sadness clear on his face but also acceptance. He wasn't going to try and stop her.  "You're going then?" He asked softly. "Of course, I'm going." He offered her a nod of his head in understanding before stepping forward and wrapping her in a tight hug. They had always been close friends, sharing a best friend could do that to you. When she stepped back she grabbed the very few things she had thrown together, stacking the boxes on top of each other and making her way towards the car. Brian had grabbed what she couldn't and placed them in the boot. "Goodbye, Y/N." "Goodbye, Brian." With that she climbed into the drivers seat, put the car in gear, and made her way down the street. She had a friend she'd be staying with for a short while until she could find a place of her own. It was at the stop sign at the end of the road from her old home that there was a knock on the window, preventing her from going any further. "I don't want you to go," Roger panted breathlessly, still trying to recover from the sprint it had taken to get to her.  "You make a fool of me, keeping her here... I have to go." She told him through the window she had rolled down to be able to talk to him. He knew she was right, knew that she had to go. It had always been one of the things he loved the most about her. She loved herself, she respected herself, and that came above everything else. That included her love for him. He always wondered what that kind of self-love was like. Still, it hurt to lose her, hurt to watch her go knowing that he'd never have her back. The love he had for her would never die, that much he knew as well. He hoped that she still felt the same. When he walked back into the house he used to share with the love of his life, he was greeted by the woman who helped him ruin it all. There was a look of smug victory on her face, and he wanted nothing more than to wipe it off her face and kick her out. He couldn't quite bring himself to do it though. If he did, he lost Y/N for nothing. A few months later, he held his son in his arms as he grabbed the mail from the box. There was a large yellow envelope there and nothing else. Without even opening it he knew exactly what it was. He dropped it on the table and left it there while he put the baby down for a nap. It was in the peaceful quiet he almost never got anymore, that he decided to face the documents. The divorce papers were exactly what he was expecting. What he hadn't been prepared for was her wedding and engagement rings to be in the bottom of the envelope as well. It had been months, he thought he had moved past the pain but as he stared at her rings in his hand he knew that pain would probably never leave him. Fighting the tears in his eyes he signed the paperwork on the spot beside her name and placed the papers back in the return envelope. As the front door opened he quickly stuffed her rings in his pocket and wiped at his eyes. His new fiance would jump at any chance to make a dig about his now ex-wife, and so he did his best to act as if nothing was wrong. He had grown to hate her. Ala was a horrible human being, but she was a decent mother, and so once the paper work had been completed, and he was notified that he was no longer a married man, he changed that. If he was honest with himself, he felt as though it was what he deserved. He lost the love of his life by being a complete idiot, and so he had to live his life in a certain sense of misery. All he hoped was that Y/N had found happiness again. Even if it was without him. It was what she deserved.

[brujeria-histeria]

Deadly Dreams

a Hacy fic, warning this is a bit long.

Harry tiredly shuffled to his bed in his condo, he was extremely exhausted from today’s demon hunting and his powers were seriously depleted due to the elaborate plan Mel came up with to defeat a siphoning demon who smoked away. He also needed to regain focus before he did something embarrassing like orb 1000s of miles away again, he was barely retaining a grip on his orbing.

Ironically the cause of him being unfocused is one of the people he was supposed to be focused on. Macy Vaughn, his charge. It had been 7 months exactly since they removed the source from her body. She still had demon in her, but it seemed to have not made her act erratic as much as it did. Harry suspected since her powers had become unbound her pent up demonic side became unbound too and unlike dear Maggie’s former beau, Parker, she didn’t have years to control it enough so that she did have her evil attitude moments, which Harry would never admit he found it, in the kids terms these days, super hot. 

Harry really hated the fact that once again his romantic soul found another object of affection to pine after. He really hated that it was his own charge, which is worse than before when it was just his charge’s older sister. 

Harry forced himself to get out of bed and take a hot relaxing shower to get his mind off things. The hot steaming water hit his muscles and he sighed in content, he was fine until about 10 minutes into his shower a curly haired beauty popped into his imagination. Harry snapped his eyes open as he felt warm, not from the water and tried to focus on other things. Yuck like the Harbinger’s gross face or that film douchebag’s extra dudebro speech. Hm, he really needed to stop picking up the girl’s Lingo. 

He finished up his shower and went to his kitchen to have a relaxing cup of tea before bed, he received a special breakfast request and goodnight text from Maggie in the group chat she made for them the “Vera-Vaughn-Vera Sisters+Brother” chat. The other sisters responded to Maggie and Mel told him to make sure he rested up and don’t mind Maggie, who responded with puppy dog eyes emoji. Harry texted back he’s up no matter what and he’d be happy to make something new for Maggie. Harry trotted of to bed and fell asleep. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Earth to Harry! Hello, you in there?” Mel was waving her hand in front of his face when he snapped his eyes open. He didn’t remember getting out of bed. 

“I, uh, I’m sorry.” he stuttered. 

“What are you sorry for? You were standing there with your eyes closed for like a minute and didn’t respond. I thought you kicked the bucket.. again. Macy would have a fit if you did.” Mel said helping herself to coffee. 

“Macy? ah uh, no. um. Sorry It was a whitelighter thing, I felt one... die.” He lied. 

“Aw Harry I’m sorry, I forgot you guys can feel that stuff.” 

“Yes, well it happens.” Harry was very confused at the moment, and trying to act normal. Mel said her goodbye grabbing her breakfast sandwich, which he must have made, on the way out. 30 seconds later Maggie skipped down into breakfast. “Harry, aw you made those breaded eggplant breakfast sandwiches I asked for, aw you’re the best big brother ever.” 

Now Harry knows they have fatherish brother and sister bond going but he only remembers her calling him her honorary sister once and brother on the group chat title. Before he could ask, in walked in Macy. 

“Hurry up and eat your breakfast Maggie, I don’t want to be late dropping you off.” Macy said walking towards Harry. Maggie said a muffled ok through her munching.

“Hey you, Macy.” Said getting closer to Harry. 

“Macy, hi-”

She kissed him, it was a peck on the lips. Harry stared, while she smiled at him and then he pulled her back to him and kissed her longer and with more passion. 

“EW! In front of my sandwich?!! Get a room!” Maggie shrieked. Harry broke off his kiss from the eldest sister. He expected Maggie to say “when did you two get together?” or “harry stop perving on my sister” or something, but instead through Maggie’s facial expression of disgust she seemed familiar with it. 

Macy on the other hand, laughed. “Jeez Harry, our weekly date night isn’t until 8 hours from now.” Harry stared at her, and smiled. “Um, I just missed you.” 

“Ok.” she said grinning at him, he was being so weird. “Come on Mags. lets go.” Maggie was still protesting how gross their frenching was when the girls left. Harry needed to check his phone. The date and year looked correct, he looked the same. Then why was Macy suddenly his girlfriend? Harry felt giddy and confused now. And a date later, oh brother. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry was on autopilot the whole day, everything was the same except apparently he and Macy were a couple and he was guessing by his shared calendar they have been dating for 3 and 1/2 months. He needed to figure out though what this date tonight was going to be. He decided to track down Maggie, as she would know everything about it because her and Macy talked relationships almost every day.

“Maggie?” he said as he orbed into her study corner in the library. “Harry!” she whisper yelled. “Oh you scared me? What’s up, is there a demon.” 

“No, I need some advice. We can’t talk in here. I’ll buy you a salad.” he hurried. 

“Cool. Deal.” 

After Maggie got her cranberry walnut feta salad and dug in, Harry decided it was time to play 21 questions, without raising suspicion. 

“So what’s up Harry?” 

“I, erm, need advice for my date tonight with Macy.” he started with. 

“Hm, you don’t really ask me for advice with Macy a lot.”

“Well don’t tell your sister but I’ve been so busy I am blanking on tonight’s date details.”

“Ah yeah, your classes and all.” she tapped her salad bowl while thinking. 

“Well Macy said it’s at Algino’s Fine Italian Dining, so make sure you get a table in the back near the fireplace. My friend works there as a hostess, just call and let her know an hour before you get there that Maggie is sending you. Hm, I sound so cool, I have connections.” she mused. 

Harry grinned a little, that was easy, he knows when and where, he just doesn’t know what he’s going to talk about, surely if they’ve been dating for 3 1/2 months they know each other pretty well past “what’s your favorite color” questions. 

“Hm, is there anything new going on with Macy that she may have told you that I don’t know?” Maggie gave him a quizzical look. “I, erm, mean just because I don’t want the date to be boring, I want to talk to her about something new, maybe something she thought I wouldn’t think about.” 

“Uhh, well, there is the fact that she was asked about assisting the forensics force for the police, but she doesn’t know because while she liked Niko she’s not really fond of the police, you know because of police brutality.” 

“Understandable.” he nodded. 

“Maybe you could give her advice and comfort her about it? I’m pretty sure said she’d bring up to you tonight. Oh shoot.... I probably shouldn’t have told you that.” she slumped. 

“No no, it’s fine dear Maggie.” Harry needed something current to know to looked like he knew what was going on. 

“Oh and make sure you compliment her tons she mentioned you guys were going to the next step tonight, which is gross to think about but she needs extra reassurance since, you know her first kind broke up with her then died on her soon afterwards.” Maggie mumbled the last bit. 

Harry stared wide eyed, if “The next step” meant what he thought it meant.. he was in a lot of trouble. He couldn’t have “next step” comfortably when he doesn’t even know what’s going on. 

“Oh my....” he was starting to sweat.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are guys sure this dress is ok?”

“You look AMAZING, Macy, ok? Harry will have to restrain himself from worshipping at your feet tonight.” Maggie squealed. 

Mel rolled her eyes. “You look really gorgeous Macy. Harry is very lucky, mostly because I decided to let him date my sister without interrogating him every date night.”

“Thanks Mel, thanks Maggie.” Macy smoothed out her dress nervously again. It was a maroon color bodycon, with a deep v cut neckline, that showed off cleavage and hugged her “bootylicious butt”, as maggie described, and it ended above her knees with a slit on one side. She wore heels to match it and had her hair set in a more wavy curl pattern with her makeup to match too.

She was nervous, tonight she would try to sleep with Harry for the first time, she hadn’t slept with anyone since, well... She wondered if he was nervous too. He admitted after their first date he struggled not to become a clumsy mess. 

She smiled at the memory of their first date. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry was nervous, he needed to figure out was was going on, he finished getting ready for his date early just to have time to consult the book of shadows. He had just gotten to the page on siphoning demons and what he thinks might help him when he heard Maggie calling out.

“Harrryyy, your date is coming down to seee youuuu!” He quickly orbed downstairs to await Macy’s descent down the staircase, and gods she was stunning.

If a Siphoning demon was to blame, it was doing a really good job. “Oh my//” he breathed. 

“Ready to go?” Macy asked when she made it to the bottom.

“Uh, uh yes, I hope you like dinner tonight.”

“I’m sure I will.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So far dinner was fine, for her at least. Harry couldn’t taste anything of his food, he also noticed he didn’t drink or eat all day, in fact he wasn’t even hungry and couldn’t really smell the food at all. He tried to pay attention to Macy though, even if something was wrong he wanted to savor this part at least, he wanted to have this moment. When he figures out what’s going on he doesn’t know if there’s a romantic future for him and Macy. 

“So yeah, you know I don’t know on one hand I’d be helping solve crimes and could really help some innocent people stay out of jail, but I don’t want to work with an institution like the american police force, ya know?”

“Yes, Macy love, I completely understand your feelings, I feel the same way and I’ll support you no matter what.” 

“Oh Harry!” Macy swooned. “I’m so glad you’re my boyfriend, you never make me feel bad or crazy.” 

“Of course, love.” The couple finished up their date and Macy insisted that they talk a walk in the park. He gave her his blazer for the cool night breeze and she held his hand and cuddle up close. She stopped them under a willow tree and turned to face him. 

“Harry, I’ve been so happy with you. You take such good care of me and my sisters, you’re such a good role model for Maggie, always there for her when me or Mel can’t be and you even managed to make Mel love you.” she gazed at him. 

“I know it sounds corny, but I hope tonight is special for both of us.” Harry was blushing a deep red when Macy closed the gap and kissed him deeply, and that, he could taste and feel. He doesn’t remember how long they stood there kissing, but Macy broke away with bedroom eyes. “Can you orb us to your condo?” he did as she asked and they continued with their heavy make out session. He walked her to the bedroom as they both fumbled with shoes, and clothes. 

He was really enjoying every feeling shivering through his body. He hitched her legs and picked her up, holding her up before plopping her on the bed. He followed her down and they were getting so hot, he leaned up to unbutton his shirt and looked down at her and stopped. 

“Harry what’s wrong?” Macy asked. 

“This isn’t right.” he pulled away. 

“What do you mean? I’m not a virgin Harry.”

“No, this is a dream. this is, what’s going on, it’s a dream.”

“Harry I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered.” 

“You’re a dream, this is all an induced dream.” He kept talking to himself. “That’s why I didn’t eat, that’s why I couldn’t taste anything at the restaurant, I didn’t have a drop of tea.” 

“Harry what the hell are you talking about.” Dream Macy was starting to get aggressive with him and pulled at his body to come back.

“Siphoning Demons don’t eat human food at all, they can recreate everything for a simulation except properly simulate the taste and smell of food, and they forget their target needs to also eat. They forget we have hunger. They give their target their desires and drain the life force from them” He pulled back away. “I’m sorry, I really did enjoy this, but you’re not real.” 

“No!” a voice called, he didn’t know if it was from Dream Macy or not, but he needed to wake himself up and recite the only spell he knew he could. “Excitare, attendere, daemonium relinquam meam. Potestatem Ego habeo!” 

The world went black and he felt his body regain strength as he stirred awake to a puff of black smoke and a curled up half  dead demon on his bed. He jumped away in disgust  and shot a light beam at its weakened body as its body turned to ash. 

Later in the morning he was at the girl’s home making breakfast as requested by Maggie, happy everything was normal but he felt a bit sad when Macy walked in and didn’t run to him to give him a good morning kiss. 

“You ok Har?” Macy stayed behind after breakfast because she noticed her whitelighter kept looking at her with a sad and awkward expression.

“I’m- I’ll be fine. I’m just tired, I had a very odd dream.” he confessed. 

“I feel you, I had a dream I went on a date with some mystery guy last night and he vanquished some dream eating demon. Hm maybe dream guy was a witch.” she laughed. 

Harry stared. 

“Don’t be jealous Harry, you know I only want to kick demon ass with you. You’re my real life hero.”  she winked at him and left for work.

Harry decided he was going to go for the real thing, then and there. Dream Demons be damned.

[luckyspike]

more GO fanfic because i can’t decide which colors of yarn to use for my next project

Crowley made it a point to visit Adam semi-regularly, about monthly, after the Nah-pocalypse. He justified it to himself by telling himself it was because he was making sure the kid kept his Hellish instincts in check, but that wasn’t really it, not if he really was honest with himself*.

-

* Which he rarely was.

-

Deep down, it was mostly because he actually liked the kid. And, well, there was a part of him that felt bad for him. Crowley had sprung into existence right at the Beginning, with a vague idea of identity but no real idea of what the Heaven was going on. But he’d been given orders - they all had - and he followed them for the most part. Until, well, until he hadn’t. Because, he had reflected, he really didn’t know what was going on, what was at stake, until it became abundantly obvious that just because you don’t know what’s going on doesn’t mean you ad-lib your way through until things seem alright**.

He couldn’t imagine being dropped into that suddenly, at the age of 11, so young and new and without any real concrete identity. Poor Adam. The kid had learned his true nature, learned the whole truth about Heaven and Hell and the Universe, about destiny and the Ineffable Plan, all in the space of 1 afternoon, and then rebuked all of it. Cast it aside. 

Crowley felt, deep down somewhere, maybe where his soul had been once, that that wasn’t really fair. And that maybe, with enough gentle guidance and someone with ... if not a better idea of what on Earth was going on then at least experience making it up as you go, that he could help Adam avoid some nastier mistakes.

So he kept up with the kid. Once every month, give or take. They met at Anathema’s cottage, because while Adam’s inherent spiritual Teflon was probably enough to keep people from asking questions about the tall man in the sunglasses who visited on occasion, the safe ruse of visiting Newton and Anathema was less fraught with potential disaster. Nobody every really noticed the classic Bentley that was always parked outside.

“How old are you?” Adam asked one time. It was around his birthday, and it was clearly on his mind. “Like, really?”

Crowley hedged. “Uh, well. It’s - well, it’s tricky.” He glanced to Anathema and then back to Adam. Shrugged. “Hard to measure the bit before time got invented.”

“Huh.” Adam considered that. “Like, a long time before?” He nodded when the demon spread his hands, the universal gesture of ‘I don’t know’. “So you’re like the oldest person I know.”

Anathema chimed in. “Unless Aziraphale is -”

“Oh, right, Aziraphale!” Adam put his head to the side while he thought, and then sipped his lemonade. “Who came first, you or him?”

“I honestly don’t know, Adam,” Crowley admitted, staring into his coffee with an expression of consternation. “It was all muddled up in the beginning. Without time everything sort of - there wasn’t a first or a last or, you know, any kind of like, ah, linear measurement of whatever.” He saw Adam’s expression of confusion, and then shrugged. “Listen, the Beginning was really weird, there was a lot going on and then there was a lot of other things going on which were fairly, ah, hectic.” He stopped short of the Fall. Adam hadn’t asked about the Fall, and frankly wanted very little information about Hell. Crowley was more than happy to oblige. 

“So how long have you known Aziraphale then?”

“About 6000 years.”

Anathema sat down next to Adam, and slid a half sandwich over to the kid on a plate. “And you really actually met in the Garden of Eden?”

“Well, technically on the wall around it, yeah.”

“Cool.” They had talked about Eden before, fairly early on. Adam had, gradually, been working his way through history by means of the memories of AJ Crowley. Crowley had found through the process that he didn’t really mind, actually, and honestly there was something gratifying about being told by a pre-teen that you’re pretty cool. 

“Do you remember the date?” Anathema asked, startling Crowley enough to make him look up from his coffee, now cold. She was sipping her own drink, watching the demon over the rim of the cup. 

“I - yeah. It was the seventh day, so on the calendar now it would be October 28.”

“So,” she said innocently, “your anniversary is in October. The 28th.” She pulled out her phone and - Crowley could only assume - put the date on her calendar. “I’ll send a card.” She raised an eyebrow and Adam watched, smirking, around a mouthful of sandwich. It was a game the two of them played, and Crowley had long since stopped groaning when it started. “Any plans?”

“It’s not really our anniversary. We don’t ah - well, there’s not really an anniversary so to speak that we, er.”

“My parents go out for dinner on their anniversary, and then maybe the movies or a play. Last year they rented a hotel room in London and made a whole weekend of it,” Adam contributed, once he’d finished his bite of sandwich. “I stayed with Brian.”

“Right, well -”

“You should go to America!” Adam continued, while Anathema covered her mouth with her hand. “See like, Mount Rushmore or like the Grand Canyon or whatever. People do that on their anniversary.”

“Why would they look at giant carved presidents on an anniversary?” Crowley asked, momentarily distracted. 

“Who knows.” Adam shrugged. “Oh, or what about like, China, with the Great Wall, or Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, or what about a safari in Africa?”

“Been there, can’t swim, was around when the animals were Created,” Crowley responded to each in turn.

Anathema opened her mouth to say something - likely ask a question, she was always looking for information on some lost civilization or another, it was an interest of hers - but Adam continued with his suggestions. “Niagra Falls then. Or Everest. Or Japan?”

“Yeah, all very nice, but like I said we don’t really do anniversaries -”

“But you remember the date,” Anathema cut in.

“Well I mean it was fairly significant for other reasons -”

Adam scoffed. “So was my parents anniversary. They got married on the same day as all kinds of weird stuff in America happened, but they still celebrate theirs.”

Crowley tried to think of a way to explain to a soon-to-be-thirteen-year-old that after 6000 years, a single date on a calendar wasn’t necessarily as important. After all, which dates would you mark? The meeting date, the day they agreed on the Arrangement, the day Crowley saved Aziraphale from the French Revolution, the day Crowley saved Aziraphale from Nazis, the day -

He stopped that train of thought so abruptly Anathema and Adam might have heard the brakes. There was a trend there, and Crowley wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“We just never have,” he said lamely, at length. Adam shrugged, and finished his sandwich, and Crowley breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that shrug. That was the ‘fine, whatever’ shrug. The shrug that meant, thank Whoever, that Adam was bored with that line of questioning, and would shortly begin another which would be, Crowley reasoned, vastly preferable to this one.

“Something to bear in mind,” Anathema said, though, before Adam could muster up another question. “Might be sweet.”

“I’m a demon, I don’t do ‘sweet’,” Crowley pointed out.

Adam took a gulp of his drink, and asked, “So what was King Arthur like?” and Crowley jumped on it like a drowning man on a raft, rambling on about round tables and wizards and prats in armor looking for Black Knights in a stupid bog somewhere in the middle of bloody nowhere, all the while trying very hard to not think any more about October 28.

Which did come.

Eventually.

Time has a way of doing that. Crowley still wasn’t sure how he felt about the invention of it.

He showed up to the bookshop on the 28th, just prior to closing or, more accurately, exactly at closing, since customarily Aziraphale generally decided to close whenever Crowley showed up. He waited for the angel to shoo the last stragglers out of the shop, pull the shades, and lock the doors. He poured himself some wine while he waited, and considered the calendar on the wall by the desk***. He was midway through the first planned glass of wine that evening when Aziraphale finally joined him, flopping into a chair and grabbing the already-poured glass Crowley had set out for him.

“Got a letter from Miss Device, today,” Aziraphale said without preamble. Crowley’s blood ran cold^. He held up an envelope, and paused at Crowley’s expression. “Are you alright?” The demon managed a nod. “Oh, you looked - anyway. Just a note, you know how she writes. So nice of her to keep in touch.”

“Yeah, really nice.”

“Oh! And she enclosed these.” From the envelope, he produced two tickets - tickets, Crowley realized, distantly, while the high-pitched whine of panic rang in his ears. She’d sent a card, she said she would, and he’d done nothing, as usual, and - “She said she bought them for her and Newton to spend a night in London, but he’s having car trouble again. I suppose she thought we might get some use out of them.”

“Oh? Oh. That’s alright then.” Crowley took a draught of wine and sank lower onto the sofa, relief emanating from every atom of his being. “What for?”

“Royal Shakespeare Company - they’re doing ‘As You Like It.’” He smiled, and Crowley raised an eyebrow, the better to keep his own smile at bay. “You always said you liked the funny ones.” He took a sip of his wine. “You don’t have plans tonight, do you?”

“Who me? Nah, never.” Crowley paused, and swirled his wine in his glass. “Tell you what - what do you say about, oh, I dunno, having dinner first, maybe the Ritz? Make a night out of it.” There was a silence, which Crowley generally was not in favor of, but it was comfortable, and filled with the soft warmth of the bookshop’s ambient noise and the bustling street outside. Aziraphale smiled, and took a sip of wine. “Sounds delightful, Crowley. But a bit convenient. There wouldn’t be any reason for this spontaneous evening, would there?”

Crowley did not panic. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even break a sweat, just took a sip himself and answered, “It wouldn’t be spontaneous by definition then, would it?”

“No, I suppose not,” Aziraphale said, although he was grinning like anything. “Well, it’s a nice night for a little spontaneity. I’ll finish by drink, and then get my coat. Shall we walk?”

“We’ve got time.”

Aziraphale smiled and this time around, Crowley didn’t fight the urge to smile back.

-

** Although they still had, after a fashion. 

*** It was from 1994, not that anybody cared.

^ Colder, anyway.

[blurry-fics]

Chapter Twenty

Pairing: Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1738

Author’s Note: I really don’t have all that much to say today aside from, as always, thank you for all the continued support on this series! I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

“Hello!” you called as you walked through the front door.

“I’m in the office!” August called back.

You set your camera equipment by the door and headed for August’s office. They were sitting in front of their computer, typing out something on an Excel spreadsheet. A few seconds of looking at all the numbers and symbols was enough for you to lose interest.

“How was your shoot?” August asked, spinning around in their chair to face you.

You shrugged, “Normal, I guess. The family was happy to see me again.”

Now that you were back in California, you had been able to pick up quite a few of your old clients. It was nice to reconnect with people you hadn’t seen in months, but the photography itself didn’t have the same appeal as it had before you left for Ohio.

“How does it feel to be back?”

“Good,” you smiled, hoping that it was convincing. “It’s nice knowing where everything is again.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. There were things that you liked about being back home again: being able to see your family whenever you liked, hitting up your favorite local restaurants, and being able to sleep in a real bed every night. Yet, you still found yourself missing the late nights on the bus and all the antics you got dragged into before shows.

“I’m glad to hear that. I’d love to talk more, but my boss has been on me about getting this spreadsheet done.”

“I’ll leave you to it.”

It was getting close to dinnertime, but you didn’t want to walk back into August’s office and bother them again. Instead, you decided to lay down on the couch and scroll through social media for awhile to kill some time. A couple of pictures from the last leg of the tour popped up on your phone. You had to admit, the new photographer was doing a great job.

There were photos that you needed to be editing, but you pushed them to the back of your mind. It had been quite some time since you had to deal with tight deadlines and hours of photo editing, but you still seemed to get antsy if you weren’t constantly working. You had done three back to back photoshoots today and you deserved a break from working for a little while.

“Ok, I think I got enough work done for now,” August announced as they walked into the living room. “Do you want to make some dinner?”

“Let’s do it,” you answered.

“So, tell me more about Ohio,” August said as they pulled out various ingredients.

You scoffed, “What is there to tell? The few weeks that I actually spent there were some of the worst of my life.”

“Matthew really made life terrible, didn’t he?”

“The worst. Who knows where I would be right now if I hadn’t run into Josh at the grocery store.”

“Yeah, because that worked out so well,” August laughed.

“Hey! It was good for awhile. Then feelings and expectations just came in and screwed everything up.”

“Why didn’t you just come home after the breakup with Matthew? You know that I totally would have let you stay here.”

You stood up and began to help August chop up some fruit, “I was just trying to prove a point, I guess. After we broke up, I didn’t want it to seem like I was running back home. It was dumb, but it opened up a lot of doors for me.”

“You mean like photographing for the band?”

“Exactly. I had never even considered doing concert photography before, but once I started touring I realized that I loved it way more than what I’m doing here.”

“Have you considered finding another band to tour with? It seems like you really love traveling and doing all that. Plus, it would be a good way to keep you distracted.”

“I could, but if I’m being honest, August, I just don’t think I’ll like it as much. Concert photography is great, I love it, but Tyler and Josh and the rest of the crew is really what made it for me. If I start touring again, I know that I’ll just compare it to the experience that I had with them.”

“I understand. Hopefully you find something here that you love just as much.”

“No kidding, plus I need to start looking for places to live. Maybe I’ll actually get to have a place to myself for the first time in my life,” you laughed.

“I work with a guy whose friend sells houses and stuff, maybe he could hook you up.”

“That would be fantastic. Matt was always the one that handled real estate stuff, so I’ll need all the help that I can get.”

“Have you decided where you want to move?”

“I’ll probably stay in the area. I know where everything is and I don’t want to have to make long commutes all the time because I have clients here, you know?”

“I was hoping you would say that,” August smiled. “You moved to Ohio once, and I’m not ready for you to move away again.”

You leaned over and pulled August into a side hug, “Trust me, I’m not leaving again any time soon.”

The two of you continued to talk about life as you made dinner. August did most of the work, although you pitched in whenever possible. Once it was ready, you both shuffled into the living room and made yourself comfortable. It had become a ritual for you two to watch TV together while you ate dinner, no matter how busy you both were.

“This is really good, August!” you said as you took a bite of your food.

“Shh! The show is starting,” they said, gesturing at the TV with their fork.

You giggled and shook your head. Leave it to August to get mad at your for complimenting them.

You woke up to a pillow being thrown directly at your head. In seconds, you were sitting up straight and looking around the room. August was standing at one end of the couch, arms crossed tight across their chest.

“Great, you’re up. Now answer your damn phone.”

You hadn’t even realized your phone was ringing. August stomped back off to their office and you reached for your phone on the coffee table where it was sitting among your dirty dishes from dinner. The last thing you had remembered was laying down after finishing your food. You hadn’t felt that tired, but apparently your body had other ideas.

Your phone started to vibrate again, reminding you that you needed to answer it. If you didn’t, August would probably come out and yell at you again. That was not something you wanted to deal with at the moment, especially with your groggy post-nap state.

“Hello?” you answered, not even bothering to check who was calling. Your voice sounded hoarse and quiet, so you cleared your throat and repeated yourself.

“Y/N/N!” You recognized Tyler’s voice immediately. Just hearing him caused you to smile. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to answer. I don’t normally call twice, but this is kind of a time sensitive subject.”

You and Tyler had been surprisingly good about staying in touch. He would call you a couple times a week whenever he had the time just to catch up. It was nice to know that even when you weren’t on tour, Tyler still cared about you. Josh, on the other hand, hadn’t said anything to you since you told him that you were leaving.

“Sorry, I was taking a nap. Then my roommate came in and threw a pillow at my face because my phone ringing was bothering them.”

“My bad. I didn’t mean to be the indirect cause of you getting hit in the face with a pillow.”

“It’s fine, you didn't know. Anyway, what is this time sensitive subject?”

“Right, so as you may have seen we’re playing a show in California in a couple weeks.”

“Yeah, I saw that,” you sighed. You didn’t like where this was going.

“I was thinking you might want to come to the show? I could hook you up with a backstage pass and you could come hang for a bit before and after the show. Plus, you’d have one of the best seats in the house! Right next to the stage.”

“I don’t know, Ty. I’m still dealing with the whole Josh situation and being backstage just seems like the perfect setting for conflict.”

“Please, Y/N/N. I want to see you and that’s the only opportunity I’m going to have. You know how it is.”

“I do, and I want to see you too. It’s just that I’ve been making a lot of good progress these last few weeks and I don’t want to drag myself back to square one because of an uncomfortable situation.”

“Ok, hear me out. What if I get you an actual seat for the show and then you just come hang out afterwards? That gives us plenty of time to be together and you won’t be as likely to run into Josh.”

You tapped your fingers against your leg as you considered Tyler’s offer. Going to the show would mean the absolute world to him and you had to admit, seeing a show from a fan’s perspective would be a cool opportunity.

“What’s the date?”

Tyler told you the date of the show and you double checked your calendar just to make sure that you didn’t have any photoshoots booked.

“Alright, Ty, I’ll come to the show.”

“Perfect, I’m getting a ticket secured for you right now. Pre-sale starts tomorrow and I want to make sure you get the best seat.”

“And where exactly is this ‘best seat’ you speak of?”

“First row on the piano side, how does that sound?”

“Sounds great.”

“I’ll get that ticket sent to you as soon as possible. And as much as I would love to talk more, Josh and I have early rehearsals tomorrow and I’m already up way later than I should be.”

“Get some rest, Ty, and I’ll see you at the show.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Goodnight.”

You ended the call and set your phone down on your legs. Hopefully going to the show wouldn’t be a huge mistake.

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