#i love when dan does that pose

[milkloafy]

wait..... this is hella cute!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3 if ur free to do reqs could you do hsr boys summer headcanons? im not sure if theyre open so it's fine if u dont thx!!! 🩷🩷

SUMMER SUN; SUMMER FUN — AVENTURINE, DAN HENG, JING YUAN

⋆｡˚ ❀ a/n: ty anon for the request!! :> yes they are open so request awayyy ! i love summer sm best season fr so this was such a fun vibe to write :3 i hope u enjoy! i wasn’t sure which hsr guys u wanted so i just picked my current favs AHDKSLDK 

���𝜚 — AVENTURINE

aventurine would love going to the beach with you 

building sand castles, picking seashells, jumping over the shallow waves along the shore

it all feels fun and refreshing to him. something he did not have the luxury to feel when he was younger

at your encouragement, he signs the two of you up for surf lessons one day

aventurine is…not a natural 

you’re both falling off the boards and needing the instructor to come and fish you out of the waves

after a few too many close calls, aventurine decides he never wants to go surfing again 

when the sun sets and golden hour hits, you take one million photos of aventurine, at minimum 

he models and poses for you, enjoying your excitement whenever you get a good shot 

once you’d had your fill, aventurine sneaks a few photos of you as well

he shows you his favorite beach pic of you with a smile

“you’re prettier than the sunset” 

aventurine ends the day off by buying ice cream for the two of you as you head home <3 

𝜗𝜚 — DAN HENG

while dan heng likes the warmth, he is not a fan of the summer heat

he prefers staying indoors during the summer, at the library or in museum with minimal walking around outside during the day

however, he does like sitting underneath the shade of a tree and reading a book 

some days, he’ll set up a hammock between two trees and ask you to join him 

when the heat cools down and the darkness graces the earth, dan heng likes to walk around and go stargazing 

the temperature is perfect at night—not too hot but also not cold enough to need anything other than a long sleeve shirt or a light jacket

dan heng has read about all the constellations you can see in the summer 

he’s disappointed there’s too much light pollution in most places, but for the stars he can see, he points it out to you and explains the story behind it

what constellation it’s part of, what planet is next to it, is that a space vehicle or a cosmo? 

he would definitely go on one of those websites that sell you a star lmao and “buy” one for you

even though he’s aware it’s a scam, he know you’d find it cute. dan heng shows you the certificate of your new star ownership and the two of you look for the coordinates in the night sky together <3

“you deserve the universe, but for now i got you a star”

𝜗𝜚 — JING YUAN

jing yuan thinks going to an amusement park is the peak summertime activity 

doesn’t matter if you are sweating buckets waiting in the long lines surround by body heat. jing yuan comes prepared. he has a hat, a battery-powered fan with a built-in mist spray, and water bottles with ice 

of course, he shares all that with you once you get tired of using your foldable fan

jing yuan is an amusement park snack afficionado. a salty pretzel? yes. a sweet treat? yes. a whole ass turkey leg? also yes. 

you are never hungry during your outing since jing yuan has you covered 

when you want photos taken of you, you show jing yuan exactly how you want it—angle and zoom and everything

yet when he takes the photo, it comes out off

crooked. blurry. you’re half cut off…

the only good photo he took of you is one where you weren’t prepared and have a horrendously silly look on your face 

“jing yuan… delete that right now.” 

“why? i believe it is called a ‘candid’ by the young folks. very popular.” 

you may not have come out with good photos of yourself, but at least you and jing yuan had fun and will treasure these memories forever. no matter how bad the photo to capture it is. 

[yurinaa-world]

Could I request Blade, Welt, and Dan Heng with a who likes drawing and painting them?

"𝓓𝓻𝓪𝔀 𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼"

💫𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Blade, Welt, & Dan Heng x Gender-Neutral reader

💫𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with a reader who likes drawing and painting them

💫𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Fluff, & Spelling mistakes

💫𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒 "𝑀𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓃 𝐻𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈"

“Could you at least try to smile?”

Your 10th critique about him. You loved drawing him all the time and now you’ve made him into your subject to draw. But you don’t seem happy at all, squinting at him, in hopes that he listens.

“I’m not smiling.” He groans, refusing your demand—honestly, in your eyes, a smile might fix the only atrocious pose he does all the time—arms crossed, while accompanied by a blank-looking face. “Come on! You would look perfect with a smile on your face!” You rebuked. You didn’t bring out all your best supplies just for a basic sketch of him you do all the time! This has to be perfect!

“Hmph.” 

That meant no…

Then you’ll play dirty yourself. 

“I thought you loved me!!” You began to fake cry and looked away to make him feel bad. “If you loved me enough, you would at least smile for me. I’m only painting the man I love dearly out of my free will and time.” Every word you spoke made him out to be a terrible person, and until your last breath, he did not hear the end of it.

“Fine…” 

He had enough of your anger directed towards him, as he sighed, the ends of his lips shakily spreading wide and revealing an ugly and awkward-looking smile—which makes him look like you’ve got him at gunpoint— “Uh, forget I said that, you don’t have to smile,” those words alone leave him instantly frowning and glaring at you.

“I was just joking earlier!”

💫𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓎𝒶𝓃𝑔 "𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈"

“Are you going to line those sketches?”

You jump the second you hear his voice from behind you, a bit flustered, closing it and pressing your sketchbook right against your chest to hide the drawings of him, though it’s clear he’s already seen it. “Well…Well, I'm not sure yet.” you sputtered, watching him sit beside you while you were embarrassed by the fact he saw your sketches of him.

“Could I see them? Your sketches look beautiful from a distance, you want me to see them, that is.” 

“Uh…” Gazing back at his hopeful eyes while he awaited your answers. It wouldn't be harmful to show him, since already seen everything.

“Uh, sure, they aren’t that good though.” 

Shakily handing him your sketchbook in his, his hands flipping through the pages while looking at every one of your drawings with a distinct eye. It feels like an inspector is looking through them (if you’re being truthful). Watching his expression every time he flipped through a page; nervousness pools its way into your stomach.

“These are incredible, you’ve left me speechless.” Even the way you drew him; made him look far better than he does in person. The way you draw, each pencil stroke having its place when during a messy sketch, your hands are truly gifts.

💫𝒟𝒶𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓃𝑔 "𝐼𝓂𝒷𝒾𝒷𝒾𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝐿𝓊𝓃𝒶𝑒"

He could feel the tips of his ears go red as he awkwardly posed for your painting. Your detailed gaze looked at him; it felt like you were looking through him. You could even get up to capture a certain detail on his clothes.

Please don't notice. Please don't notice. Please don't notice.

He keeps repeating that phrase in his head. Your fine eyes looking up at him make him freeze even more. You make him feel so see-through as if you were trying to unravel his deepest secrets.

“Dan Heng, inch your head up a little.” you move away from your canvas to look at him, signalling with the tip of your paintbrush in your hands, yet you frown at him when he inches his head a bit too high up, which makes him freeze up—unsure where to move his head.

“A little down,” 

“No, no, that too downwards,”

“Now you're too high again, wait a second.” You sigh, putting down your paintbrush and pallet somewhere off the side, before quickly reaching to his side, gently cupping his chin, and lifting it to your desired height and position. He could feel his sweat dripping down his forehead as you quickly fixed his appearance once again; maybe his ears might go red with the close proximity you have with him.

“There you’re perfect now, Do not keep that position for me please.”

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[timesomewhere]

in honour of the West End's next to normal closing today I've finally proof-read my 'things I noticed/general thoughts' post that's been sitting in my drafts since I saw it earlier this month. it's very long I'm very sorry.

Act One:

it was really fun watching this show in September given that there's two references to it in the first song

I adore the monologue about the pills that Dr. Fine gives during 'Who's Crazy'. it's rhythmic and funny yet also unnerving. It's such a quick and impactful way to summarise what Diana has been through for the past 16 years

Gabe does a 'one of your French girls' pose on the kitchen counter under the cabinets during 'My Psychopharmacologist and I'

Jamie Parker made direct eye contact with me during the last part of 'Who's Crazy' and it was one of the most intense experiences of my life

I might just be dense but I don't get the point of the neon sign that says 'Fine' which drops down during the Dr. Fine scene. Initially I thought that then one would drop down saying 'Madden' during his scenes to help people differentiate between the doctors but then it didn't so it just feels like a weird extra prop

speaking of random props, shout out to the iPad on the table in the opening scene which Gabe pretty much instantly takes away after telling Diana that she shouldn't obsess over tragic news stories and is then never seen again as far as I remember

Dan in the flashback scene being such an optimist about Diana's pregnancy and the future they're gonna have together... soul-crushing

Caissie Levy's 'I Miss The Mountains.' Holy Shit.

I love how Diana and Gabe are the only characters who sing on/stand on the table. it's as though it's this extra dimension of the house that only they have access to and it's a really neat and subtle way to show that they relate to each other in ways other characters don't

'It's Gonna Be Good' is so underrated. Jamie Parker's somewhat genuine optimism becoming optimism-through-gritted-teeth is incredibly acted

The way Jamie delivers the first line of 'He's Not Here' is devastating. the heaviness of that moment as you feel the audience around you realising what's just happened is something I'll remember forever

Gabe body-blocking Dan from Diana during 'I Am the One' is such good staging. People talk about how Jack Wolfe plays Gabe with a lot of layers and a lot of simultaneous contradiction and this song is one of the best examples of that. how Jack manages to project a character who is goading his father and protecting his mother at the same time is beyond me

also Jack has maybe half-an-inch on Jamie which obviously isn't something the actors control but it does makes Gabe seem just that bit more threatening when he's getting in Dan's face

for the first part of Superboy and the Invisible Girl when it's just Natalie singing, Gabe is actively laughing. He's totally unperturbed by her efforts to make herself seen to her mother. it's only when Diana replies, particularly when she says "you're our little pride and joy, our perfect plan" that you see his face drop and you see him trying to figure out a way to stop her from getting Diana's attention which then results in him kicking her off the melody in her own song

"I'll hurt you" being directed at Dan and "I'll heal you" being directed at Diana as Gabe gently touches her face gets me so bad. but the most painful part of 'I'm Alive' for me is when Gabe looks at Dan as he says "I'm the perfect stranger who knows you too well." that's the first time you realise that perhaps Gabe doesn't just impact Diana, and there's something much larger at play

Caissie and Jack W's voices harmonising on 'Catch Me I'm Falling' was one of my favourite parts of the whole show. Their voices are so magical together and their mother/son chemistry is incredible

The 'I Dreamed A Dance' into 'There's a World' sequence is one of the most tragically beautiful things I've ever witnessed. I went into the show knowing what Gabe was trying to achieve during 'There's A World' and yet Jack's voice is so beautifully haunting you totally forget you're supposed to root against Gabe in that moment

Jamie Parker's 'I've Been' is some of the best acting through song out there. Interestingly my friend and I had very different interpretation's of what Gabe's horrified reaction to the blood meant. I viewed it as him being upset about what he convinced Diana to do - he doesn't like seeing her hurt. Whereas my friend saw it as him being angry at himself that she didn't manage to follow through, meaning that he has failed to regain control over her life

'I'm no sociopath, I'm no Sylvia Plath. I ain't no Frances Farmer kind of find for you' is one of the best musical theatre lyrics of all time. I genuinely don't know why I Miss The Mountains is the 'big song' known from N2N over 'Didn't I See This Movie?', it's just so good

Natalie's 'She trusts you!' line is heartbreaking, I was basically watching that entire scene through my fingers because of how high the emotion was

Act Two:

'Pfizer's woman of the year' will in fact be peak comedy every time. Eleanor's delivery is *chef's kiss*

Gabe having just one line in 'Wish I Were Here', and that line being 'Wish I were here.' Yeah. I feel very normal about that.

Natalie's line of "Can I hide my stupid hunger, fake some confidence and cheer?" being pretty much exactly what Gabe has done throughout the entirety of act 1

"And you're not a scary rockstar anymore" got one of the biggest laughs at both of the shows I went to

Dan's desperation during 'Better Than Before.' He is simultaneously trying to cajole Diana into remembering and get Natalie to be more positive. This one song really highlights how he's being pulled in a million different directions while trying to hold it all together and Jamie portrays that so well

Aftershocks. Wow. The way the last word of each line echoes throughout the theatre is great sound design. I've been in exam halls louder than the audience during that song. Holding a room that captive as a silhouette is quite the feat Jack Wolfe you will always be famous

"I don't know where the fucking pieces go" as Diana pushes things off the table as if there's a real jigsaw there that she's rage quitting and choosing to give up on is such a nice detail

"Have you talked of your depression, your delusions and your son?" The gasp in the theatre both times was sickening

the response of "good' in reply to "name?" when technically that was part of his name as they are the "Goodmans". I don't really have a point here I just think it's neat

The 'It's Gonna Be Good" reprise was one of my favourite Dan/Diana moments. Caissie and Jamie are really pushing each other to their emotional limits and they handle it so well

The first "Why stay?" is so fragile as Diana sits against the kitchen island. Also interesting given that Dan and Gabe will also sit against there later when they are at their lowest point in the story. The idea of the characters crawling to the 'centre/heart' of the home when they are at their weakest

"This is one old game that I can play so well" is the line that has stuck the most with me throughout the show. Jack's delivery of it while striding across the kitchen table - seemingly totally invincible - is crazy.

how Caissie manages to deliver "you shrugged and said that no one really knows" with humour and desperation at the same time is amazing

When Gabe and Diana stand on the table and if they let go of one another they'll fall. yeahhhhh.....

Gabe's realisation that Diana isn't going to give up on getting better. Totally collapsing in on himself and beginning to cry. How you manage to feel bad for him after all the destruction he's caused is wild

Diana's "maybe I'm tired of the game" relating back to Gabe's "this is one old game that I can play so well"

the lyrics in 'Hey #3' clearly reflecting things Diana has done, Henry cutting Natalie off at "bleeding in the bathtub"

"I am the one who'll heal you" being said to Dan not Diana this time

"Why didn't you go with her?" is the most devastating line in the whole musical I said what I said. Jamie's delivery of it is heart wrenching

the drums and bass kicking in for the loud part of I Am The One as Gabe becomes desperate to be seen once again

Jack and Jamie's acting in this moment is so intense. there's a moment where it's genuinely feels as though only one of them can make it out of the interaction alive

Jack's emphasis on the word 'loved' in the line "I am the one who loved you" nearly killed me on the spot. how somebody can deliver a line so desperately while remaining pitch perfect is unfair

Natalie coming in to kiss Dan's head at the start of 'Light' like Gabe kisses Diana's in the first scene. I'm such a sucker for a gut punching

the "And are they real?" line about Diana's parent's from Henry gets such a loud reaction from the audience. Some people laugh immediately, some people clearly get shocked out of their sobs. so good

In conclusion, this is my favourite musical of all time and I'm going to be so annoying waiting for the pro-shot to come out

[tarotphil]

titronto recap!! spoilers below the cut !!

before I get into I just want send the biggest good vibes to all of the Americans out there, and also everyone else feeling really discouraged about the election. ily, take care of yourselves <3

- we all did the hot to go dance together during the pre show playlist

- everyone dressed so to theme it was so crazy seeing the streets of toronto filled up with phannies it was lovely

- dan started the show by saying he was glad they were in Canada instead of America that night :,))

- phil said he was gonna be extra annoying bc he had 3 birthday cake flavoured timbits before the show

- someone threw a trans flag down from a balcony at one point it was so good

- phil accidentally slipped up and called us “phersons” at one point and they both laughed about it. we are phersons thank you 🫶

- our random talking point was “moose” but the boys weren’t sure if we actually said “goose” so the topic was “meese”

- lawyer dan wrote erotica about tim bits. at some point whoever was typing backstage changed that answer to “phim phits”

- when giving the traits of real Phil, the audience was obviously made up of Phillies and we were just clapping for him until the card that said “loves capitalism” and then it went a little silent and people started doing this 👎👎 and dan was like. “we got him boys. we got him”

- we ended up killing real dan and linguist phil

- dan verbally called out someone videoing or taking photos with their phone fhsj

- idk if he does this every show but dan said “I’m just a girl’ at one point and me and my friend went crazy

- while they were boxing and doing their trash talk and dan was like “scared?” And phil said “just scared of my life without you after I kill you” Iris and I were both like. 🫢🫢 so what do you mean by that

- stage manager cleaning up the boxing while they monologue. hey 🫶🫶 you are my hero 🫶🫶

general thoughts!!! phil is so beautiful. He is so so beautiful. every time he looked up at us me and Iris felt a little faint. dan and is also gorgeous oh my god. he’s also so kinetic and he moves around doing weird poses the whole time

their chemistry is so good!! like the comedic timing and the way they play off each other. all of it sounded very natural, I couldn’t really tell what was improv or scripted for a lot of the show

when sister daniel came out iris and i lost capability to speak. like wdym. she is so beautiful in person

@aterribleinfluence + Hayley @sisterdaniels @kettle-on it was so so nice meeting you!! and it was great handing bracelets out to people that was so cute. mwah mwah mwah

[dailycass-cain]

My 10 Favorite Batgirls covers

You know something we never talk about much is some of the stunning covers Batgirls had (would you believe the series had over seventy-two different covers for a nineteen-issue run + Annual).

That's-- A LOT.

What happens when you get regular and virgin #1 covers that were available in other shops. Now these are my own preferences. I mean, to say the least, Batgirls covers never missed really. These are just my favs.

So are ten of my favorites plus a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention #1:

Batgirls #16 International Women's Day Variant by Lynne Yoshi. I just love the way everyone is framed in this with Babs being "the Batgirl" but in a past B&W motif while Cass/Steph are the present Batgirls being juxtaposed in color.

Honorable Mention #2:

Batgirls #12 90s variant by Paulina Ganucheau. I love the homage here the splashy page homage with a nice role reversal with Cass subbing for Tim here. My favorite Steph-centric cover.

#10

Batgirls #13 1:25 variant by Rian Gonzales. Her final one for the series, and man did she go out with a banger. Love the Powerpuff Girls homage with most of the supporting cast (Kyle, Maps, and Alyssa) with random Kon and Kate appearances.

#9

Batgirls #3 variant by Kim Jacinto. Jacinto would do a few variants for the series too, and this is my favorite one of them. Love that each had a fluidity with them but that up-close claw of Cass coming at ya is why this one is my favorite of Jacinto's Batgirls covers.

#8

Batgirls #1 the Glass Cabinet Hobbies variant by Dan Mora. This is one of those "store" exclusive variants, and probably my favorite Batgirls cover Mora did on the series.

I love the poses Cass/Steph have here, along with Bab's silhouette. I just LOVE the yellow dips down and to the right even making a rather striking cover. If anything negative I wish Babs was bigger and Dick was taken out of this cover altogether. Still love Bruce on the right though.

#7

#7 Batgirls #1 (though I forget which store had this exclusive) variant by Babs Tarr. If there's one thing I do enjoy about Burnside Batgirl it is the way Tarr drew Steph in it. Just captured that fun attitude perfectly. Also, love the first "official" drawing of her Cass.

I also love the homage to a famous Batman cover but the personalities of each Batgirl stand out in this one. Plus the pink just makes this one stand out and be so striking.

#6

Batgirls #14 variant 1:25 cover by Dan Hipp. Again, the pink is a nice striking contrast but Hipp one-ups it with the little details sprinkled throughout this cover. The easter eggs sprinkled in are PERFECTION here. Probably the best "layered" cover with so much behind it.

#5

#5 Batgirls #18 AAPI variant cover by Crystal Kung. The second of the two AAPI covers Cass got in the series, I love the colors in this one along with the pose Kung gives Cass here. There's that gremlin nature of Cass I love here.

Along with just the wash the background gets further back. I also love the secondary color Kung gives Cass's cape to make it stand out more.

#4

#4 Batgirls #17 cover by Jorge Corona. My favorite cover of the series with all three Batgirls in them. I love how Corona gets the personalities of the three in here while also the starry background along with the Clocktower. Sooo good.

#3

Batgirls #6 1:25 variant by Rian Gonzales. My favorite Gonzales cover of the series. I love the watercolors Gonzales does the most here. Just the wash of Gotham City in the background with Cass/Steph lying in the pool. Also Haley on the little batmobile float. SOOOOOOO CUTE!!!

#2

Batgirls #14 cover by Jorge Corona. The best issue of the entire series and the peak for me of Corona as well with his covers.

Just the somber mood of the cover sets the tone alone. I also LOVE the way Corona has Cass and Steph's capes here. The way each pop sells it all.

So if that's my #2, what can be my #1?

Well... something that just uplifts me anytime I look at it. Something you'd probably not truly expect.

#1

Batgirls #6 AAPI Heritage Month variant by Audrey Mok. There's just something every time that I look at this cover that fills me with a warm glee.

I adore Mok's use of Cass here and the way the traffic around her lights a part of her up. I adore the pose as well that mid-grapple swing too.

I love the "mini story" this one tells too. Just everything about this cover is perfection to me.

So there are my favorite Batgirls covers. This was tough! 😅What are your favorite Batgirls covers? Please share and comment on which ones are yours, or if you share the same as I do!

[phanfictioncatalogue]

are there any post-BIG coming out as a couple fics? :)

I thought we had a post-BIG masterlist, but we don’t, so I’ll get started on that. But specifically post BIG coming out as a couple, here’s a few :)

from the starting line (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Dan and Phil visit Dan’s family for the first time in a post-coming out universe.

I Want to Hold Your Hand (ao3) - CaibrynM

Summary: A minor incident/misunderstanding while traveling to IOM for Christmas leads Dan to reflect on boundaries and comfort levels in the post coming out universe.

hey, brother (ao3) - lestered (clonetrobed)

Summary: It’s time for Phil to reintroduce himself to Dan’s family in the proper context, but there’s one member that he’s not entirely confident about connecting with.

i'm ready now (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” -Billy, age 4 (2 of 2)

meet the howells (ao3) - toffeelemon

Summary: After a decade of going home alone, Dan finally brings Phil along to see his family. As his boyfriend.

(set after the awkward email, before the video)

Nana (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: “The thing is, coming out to his family proved to be the easy part. It’s what followed that’s been difficult, more emotionally draining, more vulnerable. It’s like the invisible wall that’s been between them now has physical form. It has a name now.“

Safe Place (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: The Isle of Man is warm and unseasonably sunny, or maybe it’s just Kath. Maybe her maternal glow just radiates off this little island.

Strike a Pose (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: Walking a red carpet in a post coming out world

words that water flowers (ao3) - neopold

Summary: He would call his nan and ask, like he usually does when life asks unanswerable questions. But she would most likely refer to a bible verse, and he’s not sure he’s up to listening to a book constantly trying to invalidate his existence.

-Rae

[harley-sunday]

Feels Like Home [05]

Summary: When an unexpected three-week break between Monza and Singapore finds Daniel back on his farm in Perth he’s desperate to use this time to clear his mind, figure out his future in Formula One, and find his way back. He didn’t expect a new neighbour, a sassy two-year old, and three alpacas would make him realise that sometimes, what you’re looking for is right in front of you.

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader (unnamed OFC)

Warnings: Language

Word count: 6.2k (I regret nothing)

AN: First of all, thank you for all the love on the last four chapters, it warms my cold dead heart to see your comments and reblogs and just- Thank you ♥ This next chapter is a little special to me because this is ultimately where the story started. I wrote this first (which is so unlike me because I never write out of order) and only started working on the rest of the story after. I really hope you like it as much as I do :)

Masterlist

“I’m setting the timer for fifteen minutes, ok?” 

It’s a rhetorical question from Michael and so Daniel doesn’t answer but instead closes his eyes, drops his shoulders, and straightens his back. His wrists are resting on top of his knees as he sits in a cobbler’s pose on a yoga mat in the middle of his home gym. He tries to clear his head, tries to focus on his breathing and the meditation exercise Michael wants him to do but he’s too distracted by the late winter storm that’s raging outside and he ends up counting the seconds between the thunderclaps instead. Who knows, he thinks, maybe that counts as meditation too.

It must, at some point, because when his phone starts ringing he startles, eyes flying open and his heart somewhere high in his throat. He lets out a high-pitched, “Jeepers,” he isn’t necessarily proud of before he blindly reaches behind him in search of his phone.

“Dan,” Michael says beratingly, still in his cobbler’s pose, eyes closed, back ramrod straight, as poised as ever. “You have a ‘do not disturb’ option on there, mate. Use it next time, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel replies absentmindedly, finally getting a hold of his phone. He can’t help but smile when he sees who’s calling and so he answers with an eager, “Hey,”

“Daniel, hi-”

For a moment he thinks she’s calling him to talk about what happened last night because God knows he would like a do-over so he could have kissed her but she sounds- Upset and so he’s on edge immediately, stretching out his legs so he can get up quickly if he has to. He has a feeling he might. 

“I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know who else to call and-”

“Hey, no,” he interrupts her, his voice more soothing now because he wants her to know he’s there for her no matter how bad it is, all the while hoping that whatever it is has nothing to do with Ellie. Or Oscar. “What’s going on?”

She lets out a heavy sigh and he can just about see her bite her lip the way he’s noticed she does whenever she’s upset, “A tree fell down over at Eagle’s Nest and it wrecked a good five metres of fence.” She lets out a shaky breath and it’s then he can hear the wind and the rain on her end of the line, “I’m trying to keep the girls inside the paddock but with the storm-”

“They’re scared,” he offers, knowing how nervous the herd is on any given calm day so he can only imagine how stressed they must be now. He hears Homer bark on the other end of the line then and he’s never been more relieved to know she’s at least got the dog with her.

“Yeah,” she says, her voice a little shaky and he hates how desperate she sounds. “I need to get the fence fixed but I can’t get them inside the shed and-”

“Say no more.” Daniel gets up and taps Michael's shoulder to get him to join him, “We’re on our way.” 

Michael eyes him suspiciously but does as he’s told when Daniel shakes his head to let him know now’s not the time to ask questions.

“Where are you?”

“You know that little creek that passes through Eagle’s Nest on the south border?”

Not even a week ago he would have had no idea what she’s talking about, would probably have gotten lost trying to find her, but now he knows exactly where she is, “Near that old gum tree?”

“Yeah.” 

“Ok. Just-” He hesitates, not in the least because Michael is staring at him like he’s suddenly grown three heads and so he turns his back to his best friend and lowers his voice, “You got this, ok? Stay with the girls, they trust you, right?” He waits until she hums in reply before he continues, “I know it’s scary but we’ll be there soon, ok? I’m not letting anything happen to you or the girls.” 

“Ok,” she whispers and his heart, oh his heart.

“Ok.” He motions for Michael to follow him downstairs. “I’m on my way.” He’s about to hang up when he hears her call his name and so he puts the phone back to his ear, “Yeah?”

“You should-” She clears her throat, “Can you check on Granddad and Ellie first? I’ve been here for a long time already and-”

“Yep. I’ll stop there on the way over, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Babe-” the term of endearment slips out almost effortlessly and he hopes he’s allowed to use it- “you got this. Homer’s with you. You got this.” It’s then he walks into the kitchen and sees Blake look up at him from where he’s working on his laptop at the kitchen table. Daniel shakes his head to the question he knows Blake was going to ask and he can see Blake shift his focus to Michael, looking at him for answers but Michael just shrugs and Daniel knows he has some explaining to do. Not now though. Now, he tells her, “I’m going to hang up now, ok? We’re on our way.” 

“Ok.” 

“Ok, I’ll see you soon.” He ends the call and pockets his phone and before Michael or Blake have the chance to say anything he rattles off a list of things they need, “B, I’m gonna need you to put on some of my boots and a rain jacket, get the truck and see if the chainsaw’s still in the back. If not, it should be in the garage. Make sure to grab a can of diesel as well and then meet us back here.” He turns towards Michael next, “Mikey, I need you to gather some dry clothes, sweats, jumpers, take whatever you need from the merch samples in my office and then get dressed as well. We’re going to be outside for a while and it’s shit weather, so both of you dress warm, ok?”

Blake and Michael look at him as if they’re still trying to process what is happening but then Daniel spurs them on by clapping his hands a few times and watches them do as they’re told without asking any questions and Daniel’s not sure he’s ever loved his best friends more than right at this exact moment. 

It takes them no more than five minutes to get everything they need and then they’re off, Daniel quietly cursing because the bad weather makes him drive slower than he’d like but he knows it’s better to be safe than sorry right now. 

“Where-” Blake starts from the backseat but then lets the question die down, as if he knows he won’t get a straight answer anyway. 

Daniel looks at him through the rearview mirror, “I’ll explain everything later, ok? I just-” He looks at Michael then, “It’s a long story.” 

Michael nods and pats his knee, “It’s ok, mate. Just tell us what to do when we get there.”

Daniel nods and tries to at least explain where they’re going but the words seem stuck in his throat and so he focuses on the road instead, the rain hitting the car and the frantic squeaking of the windshield wipers the only sound until he puts his blinker on and turns into his neighbour’s driveway. 

Next to him he hears Michael let out a quiet, “Ah. Ok.” 

Daniel doesn’t say anything because all of a sudden he feels nervous, something tightening in his stomach as he pulls up to the house. “I’m gonna check up on Oscar real quick, ok? Stay here.” 

“We’re not helping Oscar?” Michael asks, a little surprised.

Daniel shakes his head but doesn’t say anything and he can feel both Michael and Blake stare at him as he unbuckles his seatbelt, puts on his hood, and steps outside, but once again he decides not to waste any time. He’ll explain later. They’ll understand. 

The rain is relentless, pelting down on him and making his face tingle and so he jogs towards the front porch, letting out a relieved breath when he’s out of the rain. He tries to shake off as much water as he can before he pushes his hood down and kicks his boots off. He knocks three times, hoping Oscar can hear him over the howling wind so he doesn’t scare the old man, and then opens the door and steps inside, shrugging off his raincoat and leaving it on one of the hooks on the wall. 

He finds Oscar where he expected him to, in the living room, except there are no old reruns of the Price Is Right playing in the background this time, and Daniel tries to smile so as to not upset the old man, “Hi mate, how’s it going?”

Oscar looks up at the sound of his voice and Daniel can see his eyes light up, “Danny, thank God.”

“Did she call you too?”

Oscar nods.

“Ok. Good. I got two of my mates in the car and we’re heading over there right now, but she wanted me to check up on you and Ellie first though, so here I am.” 

“Ellie’s been awake for a while,” Oscar says, sounding incredibly guilty. “I think she only slept for thirty minutes before the thunder woke her up. I’ve been trying to get up to get her but-”

“Hey,” Daniel puts his hand on the old man’s arm, “it’s ok. Ellie will be fine. I’ll go get her, ok?”

Oscar nods again, “Thanks, Danny.”

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Daniel says as he stands up. He hurries up the stairs and all but runs to Ellie’s room, relief washing over him when he finds the little girl sitting upright in her cot, quietly babbling to herself as she hugs a stuffed koala close to her chest. Daniel moves slowly so as not to startle her, “Hi Ellie.” 

The moment Ellie sees him she starts to smile, holding out her arms to him, her voice still a little raspy, “Danny.” 

Something tugs on his heart then, not only because she remembers him but also because she seems genuinely happy to see him, and he’s not sure if it’s love just yet but it comes awfully close. “Hi sweetheart,” he says as he reaches into her cot and picks her up. “Hey sleepyhead.” 

She looks at him intently, little brows furrowed in an adorable way, and then looks past him as if she’s searching for something. He guesses she is when she says, “Where momma?”

“Momma’s outside,” he tells her with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. He can see her bottom lip start to tremble and so he quickly adds, “She asked me to come check up on you and Pop-Pop before I go to see her. A tree fell down so she needs some help.” It feels important to add, “But as soon as we’re done we’ll come right back, ok? I know momma misses you too.”  

Ellie seems to think about that for a second but then she settles into him without hesitation, head resting on his shoulder as she lets out a content sigh and he swears he feels his heart grow at least three sizes. 

“Let’s get you downstairs, huh? Go see Pop-Pop,” he whispers before he presses a kiss to the top of her head. When he turns around he sees the changing table and he knows from when his sister’s kids were smaller that he should probably check if her diaper is full but he’s not sure he’s allowed yet and so instead he grabs what he thinks is the diaper bag and takes it downstairs with him. 

“She was very much awake,” Daniel says as he makes his way back into the living room and drops the bag next to where Oscar is sitting. He bows down so he can hand Ellie over but the little girl clings to him even more and shakes her head, “With you.” 

“You gotta stay here for a little while, sweetheart,” Daniel explains but Ellie doesn’t seem to want to let go and looks away. Daniel looks at Oscar for help but knows there’s not much he can do either and so he stands back up and tries again, “I have to go help momma, bub.” 

“No.”

Daniel has to suppress a smile, admiring the little girl’s stubbornness that she’s definitely gotten from her mom. 

“Come with,” Ellie whispers.

He knows he doesn’t really have time to try and convince the girl to stay here, plus he’s got Blake and Michael with him so surely one of them could watch Ellie while they fix the fence. Daniel looks at Oscar and shrugs apologetically, “Is it ok if I take her? Might be easier that way.” 

Oscar nods and leans over so he can grab what seems to be Ellie’s clothes from the couch next to him, understanding the urgency, “Put these on. Take the bag. Her rain suit is in the mudroom. Boots too.”

“Mint,” Daniel says with a smile as he takes the clothes from him. “Come on, bub. Let’s get you dressed.”

Somehow he remembers to warm up a bottle of milk for her before he stuffs a banana in his pocket and hauls ass to his car. He doesn’t have a car seat and so, when he opens the passenger’s door a few minutes later, he hands Ellie to a very bewildered looking Michael instead, “Say hi to your uncle Michael, El.” 

“Mate, what?” 

Daniel doesn’t answer, gives the little girl her bottle and closes the door because he knows they’ve been here far too long already and he really, really wants to make sure she’s ok. When he slides into his own seat he takes his hood off and grins at Michael, who's still looking confused as fuck but now with a toddler in his lap, “Not mine. Promise.”

“Ok,” Michael draws out, pulling the zipper of Ellie’s rain suit down a little so it doesn’t dig into her skin. “Whatever you say, mate.” 

From the backseat Blake lets out a cackle, “You’ve got some serious explaining to do, mate. This is all confusing as f-”

“Oi!” Daniel reaches back and flicks Blake’s forehead, “Watch your language, will ya.”

This time it’s Michael who laughs, “I don’t even know what is happening right now but-”

“Just-” Daniel starts the car and heads past the sheds and onto Coopers Lane, knowing it will get them to Eagle’s Nest quickest. “Later, ok? I promise.” He pulls the banana out of his pocket and puts it on the dashboard, “Give her this once she’s finished her bottle, will ya?”

“Uhu,” Michael says as he tightens his grip on Ellie who is quietly singing her made up ‘Danny Banana’ song to herself and seems to be perfectly happy to be here. He doesn’t say anything else and Daniel is thankful that both Michael and Blake seem to understand the urgency of him wanting to get wherever it is they’re going, instead of wasting time answering their questions.

It takes them about ten minutes to reach the creek and he spots her red ute easily enough, parked haphazardly in front of the fallen tree. He pulls up behind it and tells Michael and Blake to stay put while he checks out what’s going on before he looks at Ellie and says, “I’m going to go find momma, ok. You stay here with uncle Michael and uncle Blake?”

The girl nods enthusiastically and above her Michael absolutely beams, “She likes me.” 

“Yeah, she does.” Daniel smiles and gently squeezes Ellie’s cheek, “I’ll be right back, ok?” He doesn’t wait for an answer and jumps out of the car, trying to see if he can see where she’s at. It’s still raining and so he holds his hand over his eyes, squinting as he lets his eyes roam along the fence line until he sees something bright yellow a little further down. He wants to rush towards her but he knows it’ll scare the animals and so instead he starts quietly talking so they know there’s someone coming. 

When he’s only a few metres away from where they’re standing he stops because for now the situation seems under control and he’s not sure it’ll stay that way if he comes any closer. He raises his voice so they can hear him, “Hello ladies.” The dog lets out a whine and so he quickly adds, “And Homer.”   

“Oh, thank God,” she whispers and he can see the relief wash over her. The three alpacas she’s trying to keep from escaping are absolutely drenched but are at least staying in their spot and don’t seem to be planning going anywhere else just yet. 

He gives her a small smile, “Sorry it took us so long, we-”

“Us?” 

“Yeah, uh-” he scrunches his nose, “Michael and Blake were over at my place so- They’re here to help.”

She nods but doesn’t say anything else and he figures she’s probably exhausted and cold and he wants nothing more than to tell her to take Ellie and head back to the house, that he’ll take care of it with Michael and Blake but he knows they’re nothing without her knowledge and so he offers the next best thing, “What do you need us to do?” 

She takes a deep breath and nods towards the pack, “If we can get them into the shed? That way we don’t have to worry about them escaping.” When he nods she continues, “There’s rope in my car, take that, and also- Grab a bucket and put two or three scoops of the grain pellets in there, it’s all in the trunk. Might be easier to lure them that way.” 

“Ok.” 

“I only need you here, Daniel,” she adds then with a hesitant smile. “The girls know and trust you but if we bring two other people in-”

“They might get spooked.” Daniel nods, trying to act cool even though the way she just told him she only needs him makes him feel all sorts of things, and so he does what he does best and acts goofy, pointing his fingers at her and clicking his tongue, “Gotcha.” It makes him feel like an idiot.

If she feels the same way she at least is graceful enough not to cringe at his antics. “They can help after,” she says and he knows it’s because she feels guilty. “With the fence?”

“Don’t worry about them,” he’s quick to reassure her as he waves to where his car is. “They’re watching Ellie, so I’m sure they’re on their third rendition of ‘The Wheels of the Bus’ anyway.” 

“Ellie?” She narrows her eyes at him and for a moment he’s worried he’s fucked up but then she nods, “I guess it’s probably better you didn’t leave her with granddad. Who knows how long this is gonna take.” 

“I’ll go get everything we need,” he says. He throws her a wink then, “‘I’ll be right back.” 

***

The feed proves to be a lifesaver and you’re able to lure the pack to the shed within seconds. 

“It’s ok,” you tell the girls, who are huddled together in the far corner. “You just stay here for a while, ok? We’ll go fix the fence and then I’ll be back to check up on you later.” You tell Dan to step outside before you follow after him and quietly close the door. You can’t help the relieved sigh that escapes you once you let yourself lean against the shed, shielded from the rain by the overhanging roof, “Holy shit, I’m glad that’s over.”

“Come here,” Daniel says and holds out his arms to you, pulling you close when you step into his embrace, and presses a long hard kiss to your temple. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

You shrug but wrap your arms around him a little tighter anyway. It's the first time he's holding you like this and it feels- Nice. Part of you wants to stay here, wrapped up in his arms with his chin resting on the top of your head and your cheek against his chest, but, “We should probably go fix that fence, huh?”

Daniel smiles then, “Wanna go say hi to Ellie first?” 

You nod and Daniel lets go of you, taking your hand instead, and leads you back to his car. You can hear Ellie’s high pitched giggle coming from inside and can’t help but smile when you see one of Daniel’s friends, Blake he tells you, make silly faces at your daughter who’s sitting in what then must be Michael’s lap. 

Daniel knocks on the hood to let his friends know you’re back and seconds later two grown men and a toddler tumble out of his truck and you make a conscious effort to remember this moment forever because it’s too precious not too.

Ellie wriggles in Michael’s arms and when he puts her down she rushes over, “Momma!”

“Hi baby,” you pick up your little girl and pepper her face with kisses. “Momma’s missed you.” You look at Daniel’s friends then, “Thank you, guys.”

“No worries,” Michael tells you. “That’s easily the happiest, most easy-going kid I’ve ever seen.” Next to him Blake nods in agreement.

“Just like her mom,” Daniel adds with a wink before he introduces you to his friends.

Blake and Michael share a look but don’t say anything and you doubt Daniel has even seen it, too busy blowing a raspberry at Ellie, but before you have a chance to ask if they even knew of your existence Michael looks at you and nods towards the paddock, “What can we do to help?”

“I think we need to start by cutting down that tree,” you tell them as you point over your shoulder. “It looks like only a few branches hit the fence so if we take those now I can do the rest later this week.” Daniel starts to protest but you shake your head, “That’s for another day, Daniel. I can always ask George Yanos to come help out. I just really want to get that fence back up as soon as possible so we can all go home and warm up.” You look at Blake and Michael then, “You two are staying for dinner, by the way.”

“We haven’t even done anything yet,” Blake protests.

“Oh,” you reply with a wicked grin, “just you wait.” You turn to Daniel, “Can you head back to the farm and get the chainsaw? It’s in the shed next to the chicken coop.”

Daniel grins wickedly and nods towards his truck, “I already brought mine.”

“Ok. Perfect.” You look back at Michael and Blake, “Blake, could you help Daniel with the tree? If you cut the branches off first you should be able to cut down the trunk a lot easier after. It doesn’t have to be pretty and you can just leave it where it is, as long as the fence is cleared.”

Daniel nods and Blake salutes you with a grin, “Yes ma’am.”

“Michael? Would you mind taking care of Ellie? I’ll get started on the fence but I can’t really watch her at the same time and-”

“Of course,” Michael says with a wide smile. He squats and holds out his hands to Ellie who walks over to him without hesitating.

You look up at the sky then, a little relieved to see some lighter patches in between the clouds, “The rain should die down a little over the next hour or so, but I don’t really want to wait on that so I think we might as well get going now.”

Without having to say anything else the guys spur into action and you press a quick kiss to Ellie’s cheek, “Let’s get to work, huh bub?”

***

It takes them almost thirty minutes to cut all the branches off but at least by then the rain has changed to a light drizzle and the wind has dropped considerably. 

“So,” Blake starts all of a sudden, after he’s picked up a piece of the branch they’ve cut up earlier so he can drag it away from the fence, “how long has this been going on, mate?”

“Blake,” Daniel warns him, not wanting her to overhear his dumbass best friend making smart remarks. 

“What?” Blake feigns surprise but grins, “Seriously mate, what is going here? Is this why you wanted me to clear your schedule? So you could hook up with your neighbour?” 

Daniel picks up a branch as well and joins Blake to where they’ve started a pile of sorts, a little further into the paddock, “I’m-” he starts, not sure what he’s going to say because he doesn’t even know. He glances over his shoulder to where she’s repairing the fence then, Michael standing next to her with Ellie on his shoulders, and when she looks up and catches his gaze, and his entire body heats up because she smiles at him, he knows he’s officially done for and so he tells Blake the truth, “I really like her, mate.”  

“Dan-”

“I know,” Daniel says, holding up his hands in defence, knowing exactly what it is his best friend is implying. “I know, ok?”

Blake lets out a sigh as he pushes his glasses up and pinches the bridge of his nose, “It’s just- We can make this work after the season, ok? Not now.”

Daniel scoffs, “I said I like her, mate. Not that I’m thinking of proposing to her next week.”

“No, I know but-” Blake shrugs, pushing his glasses back down. “If this comes out before we’ve finalised the Red Bull deal we’ll have a hard time telling everyone they had nothing to do with each other.”

Daniel doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at his best friend and for the briefest of moments he hates that Blake is also his manager and always has to think five steps ahead and can never just be happy for him. 

He knows the PR-game is always a tricky one, even more so whenever he dates someone he actually likes, but it’s not like they run a risk here. There’s no paparazzi around, no Kym Illman to try and sneak pictures of drivers’ wives and girlfriends without asking, and, except for dinner on Friday, they haven’t been anywhere public yet. Besides, he doesn’t even know if what they have qualifies as a relationship. Yes he likes her, very much, and yes, he wants to spend more time with her, but he’s known her for a grand total of ten days. In the end that’s what he tells Blake, “I’ve only just met her, B. Let’s take it easy, ok?”

“Ok,” Blake agrees with a curt nod that Daniel feels is more to please him than it is because Blake agrees with him. “Let me know if anything changes, ok?”

“Yep.”

Blake looks over to where Michael is standing then, a mischievous grin on his face, “Is there any way you’ll let me mess with Talzo a little longer? Tell him she’s your cousin or something? Make him freak out a little?”

Daniel lets out a honking laugh and pushes Blake back towards the fallen tree, “You’re the worst.” 

“Yeah, but will you let me?”

“No.” Daniel shakes his head, “Not this time, mate.”

“Oh God,” Blake mutters then, flicking Daniel’s forehead, “you really like her.” 

“I really do,” Daniel agrees easily enough.

It takes another hour but then the tree is cut up into what seem to be at least a hundred pieces and the fence is repaired and looking as good as new and so Daniel beams at his best friends, “Thanks guys. That was-”

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” both Blake and Michael say at the same time with an almost identical shrug.

Daniel throws his arm around her shoulders then and presses a kiss to her temple, “Ready to head back? Oscar must be getting worried what’s taking us so long.”

“Yeah,” she says as she leans into him. “I think we all deserve a warm shower and a cold beer.” 

“Come on,” he says as he nods towards her truck, “I’ll drive.”

She takes Ellie from Michael and walks to the passenger’s seat, where he’s holding the door open for her. Once she’s seated, Ellie in her lap because it’s too much hassle to put her in the car seat, he closes the door and rounds the car to the driver’s side. 

It’s a bumpy ride back to the farm, lots of fallen branches he hadn't noticed before littering Coopers Lane and so it takes them a good ten minutes to reach the house, both of them letting out a sigh of relief when he turns the engine off. Daniel turns in his seat and teases Ellie’s hair, “You’re a superstar, Miss Ellie.” He looks up at her then, “Just like your momma.” 

“Thank you,” she says with a warm smile.

***

The warm water runs out when Blake is taking his shower and you can hear him curse all the way in the kitchen, drawing laughs from you and Michael, both of you already showered and changed into warm clothes already, working on putting some dinner together. Daniel’s in the living room, chatting to Granddad while he waits his turn for the shower, even though you’re afraid he’s going to have to wait a little longer now that the boiler has to fill itself up again first. Ellie’s in the kitchen with you, sitting in her high chair and watching your every move intently as she munches on a breadstick. 

“So,” you start, drawing out the word as you turn towards Michael who’s on your left, cutting up some toast to go with the vegetable soup that’s almost ready, “Daniel tells me you guys work out every day from nine to twelve. Is that true?”

Michael nods, “Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“I know it sounds like a lot but we also include yoga and meditation and-”

‘Oh, ok.”

Michael throws you a cheeky smile then, “If you want to you could join us tomo-”

“Hahaha,” you reply with a fake laugh. “No.” 

“No?”

“No.” 

“Bummer,” he shoots back with a grin. “Might have been nice for Dan to have someone to show off to. It would definitely help with the whining.” 

You can’t help but laugh but before you can say anything a rather bewildered looking Blake walks into the kitchen, his hair sticking up in every direction and a red colour on his cheeks that you know isn’t because he’s nice and toasty. “Here,” you tell him as you hand him a cup of coffee, “this should warm you up.” 

He lets out a ragged breath, “Turns out cold water is really cold. Jeepers.” 

“I’m so sorry,” you say, putting your hand on his arm. “I could make you a hot water bottle if you want? Help you warm up a little?”

“Nah, that’s ok. I’ll just sit here for a while,” he replies, nodding to a chair next to the wood stove that’s been burning ever since you got back. 

“I’ll go see what Daniel and Granddad are up to,” you tell Blake and Michael, “I think the soup’s almost ready and the lasagne should be done soon too, so-”

“I’ll set the table,” Michael offers. He points at the kitchen cabinets, “Is it ok if I just open them and see what I can find?”

“I’m not hiding any secrets in my kitchen cabinets, Michael,” you shoot back with a laugh. “Have at it.” You find Granddad and Daniel gossiping about Mrs Mackenzie's supposed date with Mr Maxwell last week and so you gently flick Daniel’s shoulder, “Oi, you two. It sounds like Soap Opera’s Digest in here.” 

“This is important information, ok,” Daniel shoots back with a grin as he looks up at you. “The last I heard Mrs Mackenzie was still dating Kevin Holmes from down the road, so-”

“That ended months ago,” Granddad adds, leaning closer to Daniel. “Apparently he ran off with Mrs Clement.”

“The dentist’s wife?” Daniel seems shocked, “Did their divorce go through already? That’s quick.” 

Granddad shakes his head, looking awfully pleased with himself, “It didn’t.”

Daniel gasps, clutching his chain necklace for full effect, “No!”

“Yes,” Granddad nods. “I think old Kevin will have to find himself another dentist.”

“While this has all been very entertaining,” you interrupt with a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, to keep him from saying anything else, “I came to tell you that dinner’s almost ready.” You look at Daniel, “We can wait if you want to take a shower first, I think the boiler should be full in another fifteen minutes or so.”

“Nah,” Daniel shakes his head, “I’ll shower after. It’s fine. I’m not that cold anymore anyway.”

“Alright, let’s go eat then.” 

Dinner is- It’s fun. Granddad’s sitting at the head of the table, with you, Ellie and Daniel on one side and Blake and Michael on the other. Blake and Granddad are discussing the Manchester United game from last week while Michael keeps making faces at Ellie, who’s giggles fill the kitchen at steady intervals, while Daniel keeps feeding her pieces of his lasagne. 

By the time everyone’s plates are empty, Ellie’s giggles have turned to yawns and so you get up and pick her up out of her high chair, “I’ll go put this one to bed, it’s been a long day for her.”

Ellie’s not too tired to insist on saying goodnight to everyone and so she gets passed from Granddad to Blake to Michael to Daniel for a goodnight hug before she’s returned into your arms and Michael tells you they’ll take care of the dishes in the meantime.

“Come on, bub,” you tell her as you head upstairs. “Let’s go see if Mr Koala’s waiting for you.”

Ellie’s asleep before you even make it to her bedroom and you figure there’s no harm done in skipping brushing her teeth for once, instead gently lying her down in her cot, pressing a kiss to her forehead before you quietly whisper, “Goodnight my sweet girl. Momma loves you very much.” 

When you get back downstairs the kitchen is spotless and you can see Blake drying the last of the dishes while Michael wipes the counter clean and then Daniel steps into view, “We’ll check up on the girls before we head home, ok?”

You start to protest, “Daniel-” 

“Nope,” he counters with a smile “You stay here. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

You smile at him, “Yep.” 

Daniel waits until Blake and Michael have said their goodbyes and made it past him to the mud room before he takes a step forward and presses a soft kiss to your cheek, "I'll text you the address when I get home, ok?"

"You do that," you tell him, your voice barely above a whisper because God, you really want to kiss him.

***

“Watch out for that brown one,” Daniel tells Michael with a nod towards Betsy, “she bites.”

“Good to know, mate.” 

Daniel chuckles, “The white one is alright, you can pet her if you want.”

“Yeah, nah, I’m good,” Michael shoots back with a grin, focusing instead of filling the feeder with the bucket of grains Daniel handed him earlier. He clears his throat then, “So tell me again how we ended up here? Offering to check up on some spooked Alpacas? You playing house with Oscar’s granddaughter wasn’t exactly on my bingo card for this year, mate.”

Daniel laughs, “Wasn’t on mine either to be honest, but-”

“But?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel offers with a shrug. “I like it.” He corrects himself then, “I like her. A lot. So-”

“Daniel,” Michael starts, hesitating a little then, which tells Daniel his best friend is going to say something serious and maybe important. “You know I’ve always got your best interest at heart, right?” Michael waits for Daniel to nod before he takes a deep breath and continues, “You’ve got a lot going on right now and I don’t know if this is-” He holds up his hand when Daniel wants to interrupt, “I’m worried it’s going to cloud your judgement, ok? I can tell you like her very much and I haven’t seen you this settled-” he air-quotes the word, “-in a long time but you’ve only known her for what? A week-and-a-half? You’ve been in this sport for much longer than that, don’t-”

“I won’t,” Daniel says, trying his hardest to keep his voice neutral and not make it sound like he’s defending himself. He knows Michael’s right, of course he does. After all, he came to the same conclusion earlier today. Yes, he likes her, and yes, he would like to see where this goes, but he also knows it wouldn’t be fair to her or himself to take that into consideration when it comes to his future in Formula One. He looks up at Michael then, “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, right? 

“Maybe you should talk to her before you leave,” Michael offers with a kind smile. “Just to see where you both stand and to make sure you go into this with the same expectations, you know?”

“Yeah,” Daniel rubs his face. “Yeah, I should.” 

Blake walks into the shed then, soaking wet and looking as miserable as ever, “So I checked the fence-.”

“Uhu,”

“-and it’s still standing.” Blake deadpans with a blank stare.

Daniel chuckles, “Thanks, mate. Let’s go home, eh?”

[teaberrii]

Chapter 13: Cat and Mouse

You've been Cupid for as long as you can remember. You've brought countless soulmates together, yet you've never found love.

When you're assigned to bring two childhood friends back together, it should be simple until you unexpectedly catch feelings for the mysterious and cold Ph.D. student, Dan Heng, the man with a soulmate… the man with answers to your past.

Dan Heng/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

Jing Yuan isn’t expecting to meet you here out of all places.

He'd been gathering information about you as the conversation with Luocha can only take him so far. The more Jing Yuan found, the more curious he became. What’s a god doing posing as a chemistry student at Xianzhou University? Why are you suddenly researching The Withering now if you have something to do with it? How could you have escaped his radar all this time?

Your photo sparked something when he saw it for the first time.

There’s something familiar about you that he can’t put his finger on, but he knows he’s never seen you before. If he did, he would remember you. There’s an innocence about you that’s different from the vixens Jing Yuan has always been with.

Now, seeing you in person, the familiarity has grown stronger, and it’s eating away at him. He needs to know why, and Jing Yuan is a man who always gets his answers, whatever the cost.

As Jing Yuan walks towards you and Dan Heng, the great white shark encircles the area. “How do you know who I am, sweetheart?” The nickname almost makes you cringe, but your poker face doesn’t falter. “I think I’d remember a pretty face such as yourself. Or…” His predatory gaze land on Dan Heng. “Has the goody-two-shoes been gossiping about me?”

Did you forget? You’re my evil, soul-sucking, fake ex-fianceé who I want to rip apart and feed to the sharks. That’s what you want to say, but is that a little too intense for a first meeting in this time period? Yeah, probably. So, you opt for something more… subtle. Yet, it might give you some valuable information.

“We've met." Dan Heng looks back at you. Clearly, he's not expecting your answer either. "It's a given you don't remember me. Your reputation precedes you."

Jing Yuan narrows his eyes. So, you have met before. Sometime. Somewhere. But it doesn't look like you're going to tell him when or where. Jing Yuan has decided not to call you out as a god. It's obvious you aren't fond of him, not that he expected it, but he definitely isn't expecting the sassiness. He doesn't need to spark a train of thought that leads to you suspecting he's in cahoots with Luocha. At first, Jing Yuan plans to get close to you, but seeing as you somehow know him and whether that's because of Dan Heng or not, it's time for Plan B.

Jing Yuan stops a short distance away from you and Dan Heng. “Regardless if we’ve met in the past or not, it’s fate that brought us back together, is it not? So, let’s put the past behind us and start anew.”

Why is Jing Yuan so interested in you? He shouldn’t know who you are. Does he? Dan Heng glances at you; there’s also something odd about you. Your body language makes it very clear you don’t want him around. Dan Heng isn’t too surprised as you already know about Jing Yuan. But it somehow feels… personal.

“I'd rather not.”

Are you trying to test him? Probably. Is Jing Yuan going to take it? Definitely not. But he’s a man of class. At least that’s what he thinks.

“But I want to.” Jing Yuan steps toward you, but Dan Heng prevents him from getting any closer. Jing Yuan shoots him an unamused look. “I’m not going to hurt your pretty little girlfriend. Trust me.”

You know Jing Yuan as a master liar. If he's anything like his past self, you'd rather die than become his puppet again. This time... you will win.

“Let me be candid,” Jing Yuan says, looking back at you. “This is the first time I need to know where I’ve met someone before. I can't fathom why you think so badly of me." He leans closer to you much to Dan Heng’s very obvious dismay. “So, why don't you enlighten me over a coffee date, Princess?" Jing Yuan looks at Dan Heng out of the corner of his eye. “The boyfriend can tag along as a plus one.”

“Pass.”

Dan Heng almost smiles at the blunt, cold way you rejected Jing Yuan's invitation. He takes your hand and says, “Let’s go.”

You and Dan Heng are about halfway across the room until Jing Yuan says, “You still haven’t given me an answer, Dan Heng.” You feel his grip tighten around your hand. “If you leave with her, I’ll take your answer as a no.”

Dan Heng doesn’t turn around and continues walking. Jing Yuan sighs and looks up at the great white shark that's staring at him. When Jing Yuan got close to you, he saw you weren’t wearing the pendant he and Luocha were looking for.

“What's so special about a locket?” Jing Yuan asked, leaning back. One leg is crossed over the other as he stared at his companion from across the table.

“There should be only one in existence,” Luocha answered, and Jing Yuan raised a brow. “It was an artifact that belonged to my great-grandfather.”

“Ah, yes. The one who lost his mind.”

“The locket was passed down for generations until it went missing, and I haven’t seen it for many years. And now it reappeared around the neck of a woman who’s a god and someone who has something to do with The Withering.”

“Then, perhaps it never belonged to your grandfather. Perhaps it belonged to her. And… perhaps the locket also has something to do with the disease.” Jing Yuan had his hands together on his knees. “How did your great-grandfather get that locket in the first place? Did he make it?”

“No. He found it.”

Jing Yuan vaguely knew about Luocha’s great-grandfather and his descent into mental hell. Jing Yuan never knew the reason why behind the man's suffering… until now. Luocha's great-grandfather had found a locket during his earlier years as an archaeologist. Despite being warned not to take things that didn’t belong to him, he’d secretly kept the locket, thinking that he could make money from it as it was made of real gold.

“It was by accident that he found out it was imbued with magical properties.”

Jing Yuan’s eyes almost widened. “Magical properties?” he repeated as if unable to believe what his friend had just said. “Are you aware of what you just said?”

Luocha poured himself another drink. “Very much so.” He picked up his filled glass and slightly raised it. But when Jing Yuan didn't pick up his intentions, Luocha put his glass down. "Come now, Jing Yuan. It’s not like you to be so serious.”

“Get to the point,” Jing Yuan said flatly.

Luocha sighed but continued the story. “He was curious about what was inside. Yet, he couldn’t open it. He tried everything, but what was strange was that despite the efforts, the pendant remained undamaged. So, he tried burning it. What do you think happened next?”

Jing Yuan poured himself a drink. “Was the locket the cause of his mental anguish?”

It was. And by the time Luocha’s great-grandfather wanted to expose the locket to the world, it went missing.

“Well, I’m sure the man is rolling in his grave now that it reappeared around a god’s neck.” Jing Yuan put his empty glass down. “I wouldn't be surprised if magic exists.” He began spinning the large, metal ring on his finger. “The Withering is a prime example. But, now that the locket is in the possession of a woman who has something to do with this god-forsaken disease, can we assume that she and the locket hold the answers we need?”

The men held up their glasses and clinked them together. “A woman who started the curse and a possible... cure in the form of a locket. How interesting.”

“But we cannot act so rashly.” Jing Yuan took a long sip of his drink. “Even if we get the locket back, I doubt we can open it.”

“Does this mean you want to wait? Wait until they get it open?”

“The locket found her for a reason.” Jing Yuan’s gaze turned predatory. “I believe she is the key.”

Why aren’t you wearing the pendant? Does this mean it’s not in your possession anymore? Jing Yuan exhales sharply. He never thought warming up to you would be a walk in the park. You know Dan Heng who has his suspicions about him. Then, there’s Lan. God knows what he’s up to. Still, he never expected you to be this unwelcoming.

Jing Yuan had taken Dan Heng’s lack of response as a decline to his invitation to work together. Fine. Jing Yuan isn’t the type to beg, and he isn’t going to start now. Men or Women. People come to him for favours. You and Dan Heng will be no different. You, however, are under the suspicion of starting The Withering, and until Jing Yuan figures out the truth, he is not going to let you go.

Somewhere in the aquarium, Dan Heng is still holding your hand but you haven’t the slightest idea of where he’s taking you. He hasn’t spoken a word nor has he looked back. Is something wrong? Did Jing Yuan get under his skin? Because he sure as hell—

“Do you know him?” Dan Heng has stopped but he still hasn’t turned around.

“Jing Yuan? I—”

“Personally. Do you know him… personally?”

The question takes you off guard. But before you can say anything, Dan Heng turns around, half of his face hidden in shadow due to the lighting.

“He’s a person from my past,” you say, sounding a little defeated. “I had a dream about him yesterday night… I was once engaged to him.” For once, Dan Heng’s surprise is clear. He’s stunned at the revelation, and you don’t blame him. “But we never got married. At least, I don’t think we did.” After telling him about your dream, your voice drops. “I don’t know what happened after that night with Young.” Then, you look down. “Young was executed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jing Yuan was behind it.”

Dan Heng puts his hand around your head and pulls you close. You take comfort in hearing his heartbeat as you hug him. Dan Heng can’t tell if Jing Yuan remembers you or not. He narrows his eyes as he recalls the way Jing Yuan flirted with you. Does that mean he remembers you? Or does it have nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the present? Everyone is starting on a clean slate. Putting his jealousy aside, Dan Heng takes a small breath to think more rationally.

Does Jing Yuan know you have something to do with The Withering? But, that's not possible. Unless someone told him about you.

As if reading his mind, you say, “Luocha, Caelus’s new doctor… he was my brother. And I think he was working with Jing Yuan.” Dan Heng slowly lets you go; when he looks down at you, he can see the gears turning in your head. “I don’t have proof, but…”

“He was your brother,” Dan Heng says. “He should’ve been on your side.”

You sigh. “My thoughts exactly. Maybe Jing Yuan promised him something or gave him something in return."

“Regardless, we should be careful of both of them.” You nod. “And…” Dan Heng exhales sharply and says coldly, “We’re not working with Jing Yuan.”

You have no complaints. But, thinking rationally, while Jing Yuan is a douchebag, everyone is still after the same goal. Who started The Withering? Why? And… how do we get rid of it? You’re sure Dan Heng knows this, too.

Dan Heng looks towards the tank. His hand finds yours and gives it a tight squeeze. “Did you ever have feelings for him?” He isn't looking at you when he asks the question. But as if feeling your stare at him, he slowly meets your eyes.

“I thought I did,” you answer honestly. “I vaguely remember moments when he would keep me company. But he probably had ulterior motives even back then.”

So, you were fond of Jing Yuan once upon a time. It just happened he turned out to be a conniving bastard. Still, it makes Dan Heng wonder… if Jing Yuan wasn’t, would you have realized your feelings for Young?

At Dan Heng’s silence, you gently poke his cheek. “Hey, what are you thinking about?” Then, after a small chuckle. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“I am.”

Your eyes slightly widen, clearly not expecting the confession. Dan Heng wonders if Jing Yuan loved you but ruined it for himself. He knows it’s pointless and ridiculous to make assumptions now as you obviously have more important things to worry about. But in this time period, it’s a chance to start over.

Dan Heng puts a hand on your cheek and slightly leans in. Your face turns a slight pink which almost makes him smile.

“No matter where we are,” he says softly, “I won’t let him have you.”

His lips are inches from yours, and you see nothing but warmth when you look into his eyes. You blink once, and Dan Heng’s soft lips are on yours. Then, your lips part, allowing his tongue to meet yours in a dance that sends a wildfire of raging flames throughout your body. Dan Heng’s hand grazes the delicate line of your jaw, strands of your hair whispering against his fingers as he kisses you with an unparalleled urgency.

You taste like everything he thought you would... and more. Like berries bathed in the sun on a warm summer day. Dan Heng has never wanted anyone like this. Ever. The more he kisses you, the bigger his craving and the less he wants to stop. 

If he is the moon, you are his sun, the one he longs to see, to touch, and to love.

You pull him closer as the world around you melts away. It’s your first time kissing Dan Heng, yet he knows exactly where and how to draw those quiet, breaths from your sweet lips that leave you fighting for more. He already has you mapped out; his fingers tease your curves as your skin burns with a desire that you want him to satisfy.

You’re rudely drawn back to reality when the kiss stops, leaving you at a literal loss for words. Your hearts are beating wildly as you look at each other, the fire evident in your eyes. You see his eyes land on your lips again, and you two lean in for another kiss. His hot mouth is on yours again, his tongue teasing your bottom lip before pulling away.

“Never thought you’d be such a tease,” you say breathlessly.

His lips curve into a small, sexy smirk.

You have to stop yourself from grabbing him in for another kiss as you hear rushed footsteps and children laughing and screaming. Dan Heng steps away from you, and you turn to see a large sea turtle swim by just as a few families enter the room.

You take his hand, having made up your mind. That kiss has answered all of your questions. You don’t want this man. You need him. And you’d be damned if you were to let him go. A god and a human? It’s never happened, not that you’re aware. But there’s a first for everything. You’ve played the role of fate for many people, bringing them together to find their happiness. But now it’s your turn. It’s time to find your happiness.

Dan Heng turns to you as he holds your hand. He can see the answer in your eyes but also something else: the beginning of so much more.

◆◆◆

Pom never thought he’d be hunched over at a desk reading about history. But here he is. Sitting in a public library with piles of books beside him. For the past couple of hours, he’s been trying to find out anything about the locket, magic, and… shapeshifters.

Pom was not supposed to exist. He was but a character in fairytales people told their children before bed. A mysterious shapeshifter who was a guardian of the woods. No one knew where the story came from as it was a tale passed from generation to generation. But most importantly, no one knew someone like Pom actually existed.

Occasionally, he ventured to the North, South, and even the Middle Kingdom in different forms. He was amused by the rivalry between humans and those that called themselves the human dragons, wondering who would get the last laugh. He wasn’t prepared to get tangled in their affairs.

Pom was sitting in his small cabin situated deep in the woods. It was where the fog was thick and surrounded by wetlands that would be impossible to traverse unless one had magic. Suddenly, he sensed a presence, and he immediately shut the book he was reading and stood. With a snap of his fingers, he teleported outside and to his alarm, he saw the silhouette of a figure in the fog walking effortlessly on the surface of the wetland. That was impossible; this person knew magic. Advanced magic.

When the figure finally came into view, Pom crossed his arms.

“The heir to the Middle Kingdom… What brings you here?”

Pom closes another book. While there’s a bunch of information about magic and shapeshifters in general, there’s nothing to tie them to the past or to Pom. But there must be a reason why he dreamt of being a shapeshifter and meeting Young.

There's a connection. Pom can feel it in his veins.

He's finally getting answers to his past, and his hunch has always been right. If Pom met Young, it's likely he also met you. How? When? In what form? For the first time in a long time, Pom feels like he's finally getting somewhere. And he'll see it to the end.

When he looks up, he’s surprised to see a familiar face. Luocha is walking towards him, eyes on an open book in his hands. Pom is about to get his attention, but before Luocha walks past the table, as if sensing someone’s looking at him, he turns and makes eye contact with Pom.

“Hiya.” Pom looks at the empty seat in front of him. 

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Pom.” Luocha closes his book and sits across from him. He notices the many books about magic mythological creatures. “Are you interested in magic? If you are, we have something in common.”

“Really? I… never expected you to be curious about these types of things.”

Luocha scans the page. “Do you believe in magic?”

With the existence of gods and Pom's discovery that he used to be a shapeshifter, it would be almost criminal if magic didn't exist.

“Because I do.”

“You do?” Pom asks, surprised. "I wasn't expecting that."

“There’s a locket that I’m looking for.” Luocha closes the book and looks Pom in the eyes. “It looks exactly like the one your friend was wearing that day at the hospital.”

“Cupid's locket?” Pom takes it out of his breast pocket.

Luocha’s eyes slightly widen. “Yes. That’s the one. Mind if I see it?” Pom moves to give it to him, but Luocha catches his slight hesitation to which he asks, “Is something wrong?“

“Ah… well… It’s not exactly mine.”

Luocha chuckles. “I won’t run away with it.”

“Right. Of course not!”

After the locket is in his hand, Luocha carefully examines it.

“It can’t be opened,” Pom says. “At least, we haven’t figured out how.”

Still looking at the locket, Luocha asks, “Have you tried destroying it?”

“That’s… going a bit overboard.”

Luocha looks at Pom. “The locket I’m looking for can’t be destroyed.” Pom raises a brow. “That’s how I know it’s not an object of this world. It's why I believe in magic."

“How did you lose it?”

“It belonged to my great-grandfather. He was the one who found it and it was passed through my family for generations.”

“Um… how did he find it?”

“He was an archaeologist and found it on a dig.”

Pom looks at the pendant. “Maybe this one just happens to look like the one your great-grandfather had.”

“Perhaps… but the one he owned couldn’t be opened either.”

Pom immediately looks at him. “Really?”

“So, I’m curious how your friend… Cupid, was it? How she got ahold of it.”

Should Pom tell the truth? It's crazy enough that someone as rational and scientific like Luocha believes in something like magic. Perhaps telling him will get you and Pom a step closer to opening it. Before Pom can say anything, a gust of wind blows one of the books open. After the wind calms down, Pom is about to close the book when he sees the page the book flipped to. 

Fire. Destruction. Black magic.

The words stood out to him as if they are bolded. While Pom wants to believe it's just a coincidence, his gut is telling him a different story. It's as if it's a warning.

"It was a gift," Pom finally says.

Pom almost starts sweating at the way Luocha is looking at him. It's as if he's examining him under a microscope. Then, Luocha goes back to examining the locket.

“Would you mind doing an experiment with me?”

“An… experiment?”

Luocha smiles. “As I said, the locket I’m looking for can’t be opened or destroyed. Should we test to see if it's really the same locket?”

Something tells Pom that Luocha already knows the answer.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to try to destroy it.”

“Of course not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to force it open.”

Again, Pom doesn’t know what it is, but he doesn’t have a good feeling about this. How is going to politely decline without sounding too suspicious? As he racks his brain for excuses, his phone buzzes, startling him. He quickly looks at the message on the screen and picks it up when he sees your name.

Cupid: Forgot to mention it earlier today… but we can’t trust Luocha.

Wow. Great timing.

“Is something wrong?”

Pom quickly looks up and sees Luocha staring at him. "No! Everything's fine." 

Another message comes in.

Cupid: He might be working with Jing Yuan. I'll tell you more when I get back.

Pom's breath gets caught in his throat, knowing he doesn't have the time. Looks like it's time to bring out the big guns.

You and Dan Heng have just left the aquarium when you see Pom's message: SOS

Chapter 14

End notes: Will this turn into a possible love triangle...? HMMM...

Tag list: @suoshiii @lordbugs @seirenspinel @lxry-chxn @tanspostsblog @theprinceofkhaos @nqctre @lunavixia @akwardbiscuit @kplatzman @sunsethw4 @hiqhkey

[xieni-logs]

Ooooh how about the whole Astral Express fam but both Caelus and Stelle + Y/N at an amusement park? Like who would be grabbing onto who for dear life on rollercoasters, who enjoys the spinny and 100 mph rides and then all of them on those water raft rides or just some ride with enough room for them all?

THE ASTRAL EXPRESS: AMUSEMENT PARKS

a/n: i hope i did your request right. i havent been to an amusement park in years so im honestly just assuming these rides all exist inside one park. i did think of writing for pompom but wondered if pompom can even leave the express. i enjoyed writing this, thank you! (ˊᗜˋ)/

March 100% enjoys thrill rides and ferris wheels. she acts like the ride is scary when she's in line but has no fear taking out her camera right before the roller coaster is about to drop. does her little peace sign pose and takes a picture as the people around are yelling and someone passed out. she'll even go on a ride multiple times just for a good picture. forces everyone to go with her at least once. if you say yes easily, great: you're going on the drop tower for the third time in two hours with March now! Welt holding his poor back, Himeko is a little dizzy, Dan Heng is sweating and feeling nauseous, Stelle and Caelus are both saying they're perfectly fine but their legs are shaking like crazy, March is completely unaffected though! she's running to the next ride and telling everyone to hurry up as if she didn't just make Caelus throw up inside a little. if you're unaffected like she is, pray for your legs because you'll be standing in line for hours going on the same ride again and again.

Caelus enjoys the bumper cars and bumper boats the most. there’s something therapeutic about purposefully crashing into people, according to him. he targets people but denies it. has nearly flipped another bumper boat open and was forced to apologize to the whoever was on that bumper boat by welt later. don't be surprised if Caelus begins targeting you for no reason, he does it for everyone!

Stelle loves the haunted houses and test of strength games. nothing better than going through it all trying to prove who's better. March happily goes along with her, Caelus will too, and Dan Heng will be dragged along whether he likes it or not! Himeko and Welt wait outside, still recovering from the rides March dragged them on. most of the time, you'll walk through the haunted house no problem. the most you'll get is a sharp gasp from Caelus and Stelle or an "EEP!" from March, and nothing from Dan Heng. but if it's one of those creepier haunted houses, well... you'll walk out, all of you holding onto somewhere on Dan Heng.

Dan Heng probably enjoys the lazy river the most. thats saying a lot since he doesn't exactly like nor dislike any rides at the amusement park. this is an activity the entire astral express will partake in! as much as thrills and fun rides and attractions are appealing, you can't beat a moment of relaxation in a chaotic day. Caelus and March have fallen asleep while floating down the lazy river while everyone else sits in comfortable silence.

Welt doesn't have a preference on rides and attraction. he's an everything type of guy! will try everything at least once, mostly because you and the others ask him. feeling too nervous to go on a ride but you still want to? ask him to tag along. don't want to line up for the overpriced amusement park food alone? he'll come with you. he's like a personal plus-one for everyone on the astral express crew!

Himeko enjoys the ferris wheels. something about being at the very top of the ferris wheel, overseeing the world from a different angle that is so, so nice. March likes the ferris wheel too! she and Himeko will take pictures in the ferris wheel. the entire crew is likely split into two cabins; one having Himeko, March, Caelus and you, and the other has Dan Heng, Stelle, and Welt. of course, Himeko doesn't stay on the ferris wheel the entire time, she can be seen going through gift shops and all that; a souvenir to commemorate this occasion.

[lesbiandanhowell]

everyone's favourite format is back!

Sam reacts to: THE HONEYMOON - Dan and Phil play The Sims 4: Season 2 #7

- Hint in the shirt? Japan honeymoon? (I was right)

- Them only censoring the credit card info like, are they aware that people are very good at uncensoring stuff. I am genuinely slightly concerned they are about to get their credit card info stolen, but let's hope the audience is not that messed up.

- The audio is SO FUCKED UP WHAT. I am horrible at sound in any sense but even I can hear that the audio in this one is messed up so badly.

- JAPAN HONEYMOON IS REAL LIKE GUYS THIS IS ACTUALLY A REAL THING NOW.

- I love that they have started just cutting out dan ranting at Phil, PJ was a trendsetter with doing that in his video, but also over the Zen garden, really?

- "this is married life" HOW WOULD YOU KNOW DAN HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT MARRIED LIFE IS LIKE I AM ENDING IT ALL

- Phil just giggling at Dan doing a bad rap, at first he was so what the fuck and eventually he just sat there looking pretty and giggling (very school girl of him).

- DAN SAID HUBBY I AM SEVERELY UNWELL. He can not just use this to refer to two canonically married characters when he ahs called Phil this before, I am not stable enough for this.

- I love the Japan lore about them being horrible at hiking and fighting because they got exhausted, because it fits them so well. Also I 100% know which cat anime they were referring too haha

- Guys I pose the same way as Phil does, with my hand under my face. Why am I so Phil coded?!

- "My dad painted our bamboo forest trip" what if I end it

- Why do I lose my mind when they look at each other? They do so much more wtf stuff but them looking at each other sends me off the deep end every time somehow.

- "our garden" STOP WHY DO I WANT TO SOB (Also I am with Dan, moss garden is a good idea do it!)

- Dan having grown out of being a Kanye fan is the biggest growth he has been through ngl.

- I can not even imagine them being at a bar but them having their tallness on their side, ,meanwhile it's a whole body workout for me to get a bartenders attention.

- Phil has one specific laugh he uses only for stories Dan tells.

- OH MY GOD MOVIE THEMED COCKTAILS. Ofc Dan would go for a Shrek one and the selfie? Peak

- So Dab is Dan (piano) and Evan is Phil (bad singing) I am just noting this here.

- Can they stop looking at each other?! Tt upsets me

- I feel like I just learned too much about them by Dan saying "it's one of those nights", like truly WHAT WAS THE REASON TO SAY THIS SO ELABORATELY

- they are watching way too intently when Dab and Evan woohoo like it made me uncomfortable how they just, sat there watching LMAO

[freckliedan]

I’ve seen a few people in recent times being all like “don’t assume dnp to be anything but best friends unless they say it outright they’re a couple you’re making them uncomfortable” or whatever and I can’t help but think… switch out one of them for a girl. If this were a het pair we were looking at I bet these people wouldn’t hesitate to think differently.

Take all the 2009 tweets/dailybooths, the vday vid, the living together for years, going on vacations together, having all the traditions & jokes they have. All the times Dan goes to see Phil’s family. The fact they’ve never been around another human enough for anyone to assume they have a different partner (who they’d never have time for anyway when dnp literally make a big deal of how much time they spend together) Dan literally confirming their relationship was more than romantic (at least at some point) in his coming out video. The double dates they go on with other confirmed couples. How casually they’re talked about as a pair by other people/YouTubers. Slip ups confirming ‘the bed’ ‘the bedroom’ ‘don’t worry guys only I saw Phil’s butt in the mirror not the people on my zoom call” it being known they stayed in a place with 2 bedrooms with another couple in Australia. Posing for naked photos together. One being a literal biological uncle and the other one literally being referred to as a uncle too by the baby’s mother.

The genuine love and affection they have for each other. The way they can’t shut up about the other. Being each others biggest fans. The way they have talked hypothetically about getting a pet together (and had a bloody fish) and the main kicker…. Literally been thinking and designing a FOREVER HOME together since 2017 and now live in it. Together. 😱

If this was a girl & boy no one would think different but bc it’s 2 men people be like… we’ll actually they never said it explicitly so blah blah blah. What a weird heteronormative world some still live in

genuinely yeah. a huge part of it is just straight up homophobia, but i think the average person who doesn't really pay attention to them/is completely unfamiliar with them DOES actually look at all that and take away the idea that they're a couple at this point in time.

i think an aspect of it with people who are the most vehemently "they're just friends" is like. a lot of the time that's coming from people who did follow them at some point in time, who were involved with the fandom—and who now are acting from a place of shame and unfettered cringe over their past actions & making that everyone else's problem.

sometimes it is really funny to me when people Just Don't Get It though like... dan and phil aren't FOR them. it's not about people who don't get it and that's not the audience dan and phil are prioritizing. and i'm utterly fucking delighted for them that they've pulled off this level of ambiguity for so long even after coming out.

[rhondafromhr]

I have Stephanie brainrot today so here’s a snippet from the social media au that I started writing instead of doing all the packing and move out cleaning stuff I need to do by the end of the week. I call it: “The Fakers in LA”

Stephanie may never have gotten the hell out of Hatchetfield, were it not for a cheap USB microphone that she purchased with cash at the only electronics store in town, a decade old laptop that her father refused to replace and a singular, highly controversial question: is Peanuts the pocket squirrel overrated? The second she posed it and put it out to the public, she knew the townspeople were going to be out for blood. That was the point. See, she’d lived seventeen years being told exactly what to do and how to do it, constantly hounded about the company she kept and her grades and extracurriculars and any time she even got in a little bit of trouble at school. Her entire goddamn life perpetually revolved around the next election and how her actions could reflect poorly on her father and hurt his chances. He wasn’t going to tell her what to do anymore, she decided, and she wasn’t going to bend over backwards to protect his precious public image. In fact, she was going to do the worst thing imaginable to it. She was going to start a podcast. She was already trading crypto and chugging lukewarm PBR at parties, anyway. Why not become even more of a dudebro?

When she uploaded her hour of rambling about how she thinks people just say they love Peanuts the pocket squirrel because everybody else does and they don’t have the critical thinking skills to form their own opinions (and also that the problematic dog, who was, at that point, embroiled in controversy for chasing the squirrel up a tree and leaving her trembling in fear for hours, wasn’t as bad as people were making him out to be), she learned the golden rule of content creation, which has guided her career since and gotten her everything that she has. If something pisses people off, they’ll engage with it. Deep down, they know the inner peace they could find if they just left it alone and looked for something they do like, but they’ll engage with it anyway. Humans are self-destructive like that. They’ll hate watch it, they’ll leave angry comments, other people will leave angry comments in response to their angry comments and claim that they’re overreacting, making them respond angrily again and continuing the cycle until they both find something else to be pissed about and start over. Sometimes the debate even rages on in commentary videos, bringing even more attention to the original video. In short, controversy guarantees engagement and engagement pleases the almighty algorithm, attracts more views and keeps the fat paychecks coming.

The people of Hatchetfield loved that damn squirrel - still do, although she’s since passed on. Stephanie didn’t travel home for the funeral, but on her bi-annual obligatory phone call to her father, he told her that he declared a day of mourning and they closed off every major road for the procession. There’s a viral clip of Dan Reynolds and Donna Daggit breaking down on camera and sobbing in each other’s arms as they reported the news, which broke containment and became a fluff piece for several major news networks, bringing rare national attention to the tiny town. By then, Lauter is Hotter had taken off and Stephanie had moved somewhere that big news networks care about all the time, not just when newscasters cry over the loss of a celebrity squirrel.

Really, her move to LA would never have been possible without Peanuts or her hometown’s unexplainable, rabid obsession with that squirrel. Even if she didn’t travel home to pay her respects (it’d take a hell of a lot to get her to set foot in Hatchetfield again), Stephanie figures she owes Peanuts some sort of sendoff. Raising a glass to her extraordinary life and legacy at this trendy, viral rooftop bar where the gimmick is that all the drinks are glittery is as good as any.

It’s a huge, sprawling space, surrounded by a glass railing. The seating is exclusively wooden picnic tables and on top of each one sits a mason jar centerpiece, complete with a little twine ribbon around the opening and some fresh “wildflowers” that probably actually came from a florist that charges several hundred dollars per bouquet. Rows of string lights hang above them, casting a warm, yellow glow. Stephanie guesses they were going for a rustic farmhouse sort of vibe, but the wood that makes up the tables is perfectly shiny and smooth, not a splinter or a profane carving in sight and the servers are walking around in perfectly pressed suits. It clashes with the decor, as do the sparkly drinks. Stephanie’s no interior decorator, but wouldn’t a pink, girly, Barbie-esque theme have been way more cohesive?

The cocktails taste downright disgusting, in her opinion, but they’ll make for some great Instagram pictures and once she’s a few drinks deep, she starts to get a nice buzz going and isn’t as concerned with the taste. Sparkly pink vodka is just as effective for getting drunk as the regular stuff, even if the additional sugar and whatever other crap is in there to make it look like that promises a gnarly hangover. She’ll just make sure to chug some Liquid IV before she goes to bed tonight.

She throws back the twenty-five dollar affronts to the craft of mixology in part to tolerate her present company. As much as she’d prefer to drink alone, she brought along one of her shithead industry friends and his bitchy cameraman. Much like her, controversy is his bread and butter, but he pisses people off in person and online with his stupid ass pranks rather than hiding behind the camera and microphone with inflammatory guests and topics like Steph does. There’s a surprisingly large overlap between the people who unironically like Lauter is Hotter and Max’s fans, so they get pretty good engagement whenever they post together. Their public friendship has done both of their channels a lot of good and every once in a while, she does enjoy his company. He can be funny. Just nowhere near as often as he thinks.

She doesn’t believe in fate, but sometimes she wonders if that’s what brought them together. Nobody ever makes it out of Hatchetfield, so what were the odds that they both did and they both ended up here, in the same line of work, no less? What’s really wild is that Richie did, too. And that she never crossed paths with either of them the entire time she lived there, Max because he was busy terrorizing every nerd, dweeb and loser at Sycamore and Richie because he fit into all three of those categories, so even though he went to Hatchetfield High, he flew under Steph’s radar. They probably talked at some point. If they did, Stephanie doesn’t remember.

Max may have learned over time not to reflexively yell, “Fuck Clivesdale!” or refer to soda as pop, just as Steph did, but some old regional habits die hard and a single, stoic tear rolls down his face when Stephanie semi-seriously makes her toast to Peanuts. In fairness, he’s also a few drinks deep. He hastily wipes it away with the back of his hand, before anybody can see or, God forbid, snap a picture. Richie rolls his eyes. He briefly meets Steph’s and she can see the flicker of exasperation in them, but there’s a fondness there, too. He sets down his glass of ginger ale and pat’s Max’s hand. He’s not much of a drinker; he’ll tell anyone who will listen that he takes his craft of filmmaking seriously because somebody has to and he has to keep his mind sharp. It’s a little obnoxious, but Steph will gladly accept the de facto designated driver. She can afford Lyfts and Ubers just fine, but some semblance of her small town paranoia has stuck with her and she’s not crazy about getting in the car with a complete stranger, even if they have maintained a five star rating and passed a background check.

“It’s so hard to believe,” Max says with a sniffle. “First Betty White, now Peanuts? Give a guy a break.”

“Fuck, Max, don’t remind me that Betty White’s dead! Now I need, like, two more drinks to forget, minimum!” She’ll have to remember to at least film a brief Instagram reel with him later so this counts as collaborating on a video and she can write this bar tab off as a business expense. Being a podcaster fucking rules.

[beesmygod]

Bloodborne question from someone who'll probably never play it because it seem 2 hard and 2 stressful- what *is* the Hunter's Dream? Like a literal dream? Does the non-umbilical cord endings have you like wake up? Is the game's settimg real? I half-remember that one Dan Olson video and I'm confused and you like explaining things so I'm not looking it up so you can have a oppurtunity to give lore out.

hee hee hoo hoo!!! you are who these posts are for!!! i would love to try to explain this to you i truly do love doing this. so my answer is: i have no idea.

the dream is definitely a physical place that exists, even if it exists outside of yharnam's physical reality. items that should exist there can be misplaced in yharnam and returned (like the rune tool or the blood gem tool). hunters who are not blood drunk and have not been severed from the dream by gerhman can come and go as they please using the resurrection magic of bells seen throughout the game. note the bells on the lamp you use to get there.

the doll notes that hunters used to visit the dream in droves during hunts long ago, but now those hunters who did chose to sever themselves before they fell to madness or because the hunt was over (it wasnt) are marked with the gravestones peppered throughout the area. if you choose to sever yourself from the dream at the end of your run, then a new tombstone appears representing you in the new game, so its mutable and not static. the flowers in the garden begin to glow after the reveal of the blood moon, so there is some connection to the main world and its progression; it isnt completely isolated and cut off from yharnam.

i think some people mistake the "yharnam sunrise" ending being like "oh it was all a dream" ending when it's not. you are severed from the dream, dawn is breaking, the hunt is over....but we know it happens again. the moon moves in cycles, the last time it turned red they burned old yharnam to the ground, and this time the entire town lost its mind and body. the situation you are in during the "yharnam sunrise" ending is now you are like djura and eileen: you no longer dream, but the hunt will return. worse than it was before.

interesting side note: gehrman severs you from the dream using his burial blade, which is one of two weapons in the same made from siderite which is "said to have fallen from the heavens". the other weapon is eileen's blades of mercy which she utilizes in her position of the hunter of blood drunk hunters. gerhman's blade cuts you off from the dream and eileen's intention is to kill hunters permanently that pose a threat to others. your access to the dream can be removed by being killed with space rock. weird. neat.

curiously i have no idea where the hunter's dream is located. this is only notable because the other nightmares are completely connected to one another. if you look up from the nightmare frontier you can see the castle in the nightmare of mensis. and vis versa looking down.

this lance macdonald tweet datamined what you see when you look down from the nightmare frontier: ship masts from the orphan of kos fight.

and the hunter's nightmare is stacked on top of itself. you can find parts of it where the ocean above is dripping down into the rest of the map lol. plus the infamous part where a snail lady from the map above falls 3000000 feet and nearly smooshes you.

but the hunter's dream is AWOL and surrounded by weird spires that don't look like ship masts or anything really. it's possible it is at the very tip top.

dreams appear to be born through some process involving an umbilical cord and/or the loss of a great one infant, a host, and the sheer power of obsessive madness. when the great one or the host dies, the dream persists regardless. how odd. very mysterious.

[deltastra]

My Thoughts on Tower of God Season 2 Episode 5

Time for a new arc! And this episode we get to meet "the other team"!

WEBTOON SPOILERS WAS TEASED BUT NOT OUTRIGHT STATED

Rating: 8/10

Summary: Tower of God is certainly at its best when they focus on the characters. The tone was well done and I loved how they adapted that ending speech by Khun. Music went hard as well!

Hm. I think this is anime original? I like how they showed it from Khun's POV while also typign up the loose ends over Bam and Endorsi's relationship in the anime. Season 1 skipped a lot of scenes where it insinuated that she was developing feelings for him. This scene feels a bit shoehorned in but I understand why they did it. They plan on following the webtoon properly this time so they need to show that she had crush on him.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH KARAKA MENTIONED!!!!

His running looks a little goofy ngl. Music slayed tho

Okay, compared to the other first person POVs we have gotten, this one actually looks like he's going fast.

Oooo they drew this beautifully!

I still love how quickly Edin Dan accepted that this is his life now. He didn't throw a fit over being outsmarted, just frustrated that he fell for it. I always liked the guy even if he didn't get too much screentime.

Holy shit Rachel looks really good in this artstyle. I'm glad they kept the snake-like eyes on her!! And her VA kills it as always

Love the knife behind her symbolism. But I also love how Khun's face can clearly be seen as "Do you seriously think I'm falling for this?" if you already know the outcome!

HES HEREEEEEE. Come back to the webtoon, child!!!!

HOLY SHIT HER VA MAN. THAT TONE SWITCH WAS PERFECT. We're in for a treat when we get more scenes with her being manipulative because damn!

I love how he says it in a noble way but his eyes show he is doing this for revenge. Bam may be named after the night, but he was his light.

BAHAHAHAH THE YAMCHA POSE

I get that this wasn't an important fight so they didn't go all out with the animation and kept things simple. So I won't complain. I do like the lighting though!

HELP I STILL LOVE HOW HE BOUGHT THE NUMBER 1 T-SHIRT FOR HIMSELF AND NUMBER 2 FOR RAN. Little details like this really help in understanding the characters more. Norvick is so silly!

Okay, so when I first read the webtoon, I genuinely thought that the light was the Sun. But then I thought it was Rachel's lighthouse. But now I have no idea. I guess SIU just wanted there to be some cool imagery to snap Khun's amusement to his more sinister side.

And the way they narrow the screen?! Very good in setting up tension.

I love everything about this. Portraying Khun's inner monologue this way with his voice sounding a bit distorted along with shaky text is so good!!! Khun isn't just some sneaky guy, he is sinister when he wants to be and this is a perfect way of showing it in the anime!

Gosh, and the way the screen glitches out and his voice gets even MORE distorted is just amazing. A good way of showing that although he his explaining his plan to his team in a calm and rational manner, inside, he is SEETHING over explaining to his team why he hates Rachel.

The way Khun's eyes glow in the dark paired with Rachel's laugh thinking she won?? LIKE DAMN GO OFF. I LOVE THIS.

Hehe Team Sweet & Sour domestic life I love this. Feels awkward to have this right after such a serious scene but I guess they wanted it to end with Viole and FUG instead since the ED song showcases scenes with Viole or Wangnan for every episode

QUEEN HWARYUN IS HERE AND HER "yaho! :D" WAS SO CUTE. NEXT EP WE WILL GET FUG LEZGO.

Okay this was a really good episode, they absolutely nailed the Khun and Rachel scenes and the style they chose to go with for Khun's speech was such a good decision. It's clear that the studio definitely does best when the scenes involve talking because they show the tension really well. Kevin Penkin went off in this episode too I love it!

I do hope the animation improves more before THAT episode and that now they won't be skipping important plot points. Hopefully the characters will look less stiff too!

Can't wait for next episode!

[kimmiessimmies]

Sweet Beginnings Tag

This tag is all about looking at your past. All you need to do is to find one of the first screenshots you ever took (preferably also published), and post it beside the recent one! And tell everybody when you took that first picture! Oh, and don’t forget to tag your posts! #sweet beginnings tag.

Thank you @hancyan, @greenplumbboblover, @nocturnalazure and @eljeebee for tagging me in this.

I have to be honest though, seeing this Sweet Beginnings Tag going round has been bringing out my insecurities. I see people posting their 2010's stuff saying "Eww!", "Cringe!", "OMG, look at this puddingface!", "The lighting is horrible!" and "What was I thinking with that camera angle?!" Meanwhile I'm sitting here looking at these pictures they deem to be such an embarrassment and all I think is "Umm, that's better than what I currently do... So if that's all so disgusting, what does that say about (your opinion on) my stuff?"

But I will play! I love looking back! I know what everyone is expecting is a huge difference between a Sim created in the 2010s and one created now, but guess what, peeps; the Sims that were the centre of my Sim-universe back then are the same ones still going strong today. I stick with my babies foreverrrrr. I also will not say, "Oh, look what an embarrassment I was back then." What I will say, though, is there was a time when I didn't know turning off headline effects was an option. See for yourself:

September 2012

This is The Prom of 03, one of the first (non-)story posts. We see Dan and James, still the best cousin-friends ever, talking after James had just publicly broken up with Jill.

At that point, I posted to my WordPress blog and to The Sims Daily (I know I keep commenting this on everyone's posts, but I soooo miss the awesome atmosphere of the forums and to my darlings from the TSD days: I MISS YOU! I MISS US!).

However, aside from the picture above, I also managed to shoot the picture below by NOT posing anyone and just clicking at the right time. For the early days, that's quite the skill, I think! Especially when you realise I also didn't know how to use the tab camera mode yet.

September 2012

This is Ellie's mum Annabel meeting teacher Eva on Ellie's very first day of school. With Ellie standing by. Just using in-game interactions (not even Animator).

In April 2013, I came to Tumblr. At first, I mainly reblogged posts by my Daily friends and posted pictures of Honeycomb Valley and interiors. I feel tempted to reblog one of those full posts now. Should I?

After a few months, I started posting links to my (non-)stories on my blog, accompanied by some pictures to get a taste of the story and hopefully lure people to my WordPress blog. Funnily enough, one of those first pictures is my darling Sadie singing, which is the same thing I photographed today! :)

June 2013

Fun fact: This is the karaoke performance which landed Sadie her place as The Hot Wings female lead! Oh, how this moment would end up changing her life... Neither her nor me knew just how much by that point. Makes me all nostalgic to see her like this again.

By this point, I did know how to turn off headline effects and how to work the camera in tab mode, which already made a difference.

Unto the current stuff. Well, my absolute proudest pictures are these:

August 2023

Particularly because of the emotions they portray. Which were so on point for the story they were telling. Aww, my Joshua <3.

A lot of the credit for these goes to the pose creators though. In particularly @danjaley for her railing poses.

I will also share Singing Sadie again, even though I've shared this picture two times already, but I figured it would be fun to see in this post to compare her (and me) to the picture above.

October 2023

I do think I've grown over the years. No, I know I did. And I know even my current stuff isn't as shiny and polished and perfect as a lot of other stuff out there, but these are my babies and I love them just the way they are. :)

Tagging @simsaralove, @ice-creamforbreakfast, @wasset-aseskara, @missy-hissy, @danjaley. But feel free to ignore if you've already done this or simply don't feel like it.

[duskwoodgirl4life]

I want to say thank you to @digital-corruption for giving me the awesome clown idea for this Halloween Oneshot.

I was busy getting ready for Jessy's yearly Halloween party. I had spent months trying to decide what to go as. In the end I chose to go as catwoman Jessy and Cleo helped me with the costume making sure it was perfect for the party. I stand In front of the mirror adjusting my costume when my mind drifts back to the last time I saw Jake. It has been 6 months since I last saw him. 6 long months had passed me by. I hadn't heard a word from him in months. He told me the last time I saw him he was in the process of clearing his name and that he would no longer be wanted by the government. I get snapped out of my thoughts as my phone buzzes picking my phone up. I see that Lilly texted me.

Lilly: hey, me and Dan will be at your place in 10 minutes to pick you up

MC: hey, okay I'm almost ready see you in 10

I put my phone down and finished getting ready putting my eye mask on. I am all set to go, I see lights outside and see Dan parking his car on the driveway. I grab my purse and jacket and go outside to greet Dan and lilly. "Damn MC you look amazing in that outfit" I smile and hug Lilly and Dan. "Thanks Lilly, you look amazing yourself, and Dan, check you out dressed as James Bond." I can't help but laugh when Dan does his James Bond pose. All 3 of us walk to Jessy's as she doesn't live too far away. A part of me does want to enjoy myself tonight but I can't help but think about Jake. I hope wherever he is and whatever he's doing that he's safe. I can't handle the thought that he might be in danger.

We finally reach Jessy's apartment. She has spiderwebs on the outside of her front door and skeletons hanging from the door. Before I can knock on the door Jessy opens it up and wraps her arms around me. "I thought I could hear voices out here, MC you look amazing you look so smart Dan and lily you look cool dressed as a nurse" Jessy moves to one side and lets us in her apartment is decorated from top to bottom. "This is my favorite time of the year. I love the spooky season, I love what you have done with the decorations Jessy" the party soon gets underway everyone is having an amazing time. The laughter is echoing around the room and the drinks are flowing.

Everyone at the party is all dressed up. Thomas and Hannah have come as Morticia and Gomez. Jessy is dressed up as Regan from the exorcist Jessy is as always been a true horror queen. Richy has come dressed as a mummy and Cleo has come as a tiffiney from the bride of Chucky. Everyone looks amazing. You could see all the effort they had put into making their costumes look the part. There was just one person missing in all this Jake.

I stand by the window looking out at the parents with their children trick or treating everyone to have such a wonderful time. The leaves lightly blowing along the streets as I look out into the night I see a figure in the distance. I can see it starting to get closer as they come into view. I am able to see that it's someone dressed up as pennywise. There is something odd about them; they only appear to be wearing a mask and not the full costume. I think no more of it and come away from the window and grab myself another drink. Jessy walks over to me and sits down putting her arm around my shoulder. "He will be okay you know, and I'm sure he will be with you soon" I didn't need to explain to Jessy she knew how much I love and care for Jake.

Something was a little different with her. She kept smiling and winking at me, "how much have you had to drink?" Jessy just chuckles at me and pat's my shoulder. "I'm just in a good mood is all MC, when you're ready come and join the rest of us" I don't even know how much time passed I just sat looking out of the window. Watching the streets clear as everyone makes their way back home just as I was about to look away I see the figure in the clown's mask again. Whoever is out there is just standing and looking up at the apartment. I decide to go find out who it is but before I can the figure disappeared out of sight.

Every now and then I kept seeing the figure appear and then disappear as if they were trying to decide what it was they wanted to do but couldn't make their minds up.

As the party starts to wind down I help Jessy to bed. She's drunk more than she wanted. I place her down on her bed and cover her up and close the door behind me. I decided to clear up by putting everything into bin bags and taking them to the dust shoot. When I walk back to the apartment I notice someone walking into Jessy's apartment. Everything inside me just stops. I feel like I am frozen to the spot. Somehow I manage to make my legs move and walk into the apartment I see the figure standing by the window. I muster up all my courage and confront the person. "What are you doing here? If you don't leave I will call the police" the figure slowly turns around and stands there looking at me my whole body starts to shake as he starts to take off his mask.

My eyes widen as I see black hair spil out of the mask, bright oxen blue eyes looking back at me. My mouth fell open and my eyes widened. I couldn't believe what I was seeing right in front of me. There was standing the man I had longed so much to see. "Hello MC" a smile spread across my face tears of joy fell from my eyes. "Jake, you're really here? Does this mean?" Jake smiles back at me with so much love and happiness in his eyes. "Yes MC I'm free no more running away no more hiding. No more being away from the woman that I love so much" I walk over to Jake and wrap my arms around him. I can feel his arms holding onto me. The scent of his colon invading my nostrils, the smile on my face only gets bigger and bigger.

Everything about this night started out just getting through the night, now it's turned into the best night of my life. One that I will never ever forget. I have my soulmate and best friend. "I'm sorry I scared you MC, that was not my intention, I've been wanting to come and see you all night" I can't help but smile at Jake's shyness. "It's okay Jake, I'm just glad you are here with me in my arms I've missed you so much" Jake places a soft kiss on the end of my nose. "I love you MC" my whole face just lights up at Jake's words. "I love you to MC"