#i spent like 8 hours in the kitchen making it yesterday and there’s literally nothing left

[honeyed-cherries]

hngghhhh thinking of. iuhhhhh,,, chikken 😵‍💫

[bigteefsmallbrain]

SOULMATE AU HEADCANONS

So, Soulmate AU where when you talk out loud to yourself, your soulmate can hear you and vice versa, but actively trying to have a conversation with them doesn't work. I'm here, it's 8:43 in the afternoon as opposed to 3:29 AM when I first came up with this.

SOULMATE AU HEADCANONS FOR: Shoto Todoroki, Rin Okumura, and Sakura Haruno

Shoto Todoroki

Aha, good luck finding out you have a soulmate in the first place with this one

He literally does not speak out loud to himself

Not at first that is

He also is clueless about soulmates, like, as soon as he hears your voice he’s google searching “Why is there a voice in my head talking about how their family is disrespecting Ramen?”

When he does realize that it’s his soulmate, he won’t actively pursue speaking to himself or finding you

Actively being the key word here

He wants to believe he doesn’t care and that his soulmate, whoever they are, will just get in his way

But that doesn’t stop him from focusing solely on you when you talk

Or trying to reply to you sometimes

And it certainly doesn’t stop him from subconsciously starting to speak to himself

Which, by the way, scared the piss out of you the first time

You didn’t even know you had a soulmate till that point

so hearing a male voice in your head go “I can’t believe they only serve hot soba here”

Would understandably frighten you

He doesn’t even realize it at first until his father gets pissed at him for mumbling

And he’s just like “oh” and immediately stops, as soon as he realizes from then on

Like you’ll be going about your day, hear him start to speak, then cut himself off

Which is disappointing

His sudden radio silence changes drastically after his fight with Midoriya

Like after getting knocked out by Bakugo and being put into the infirmary, he decides to check over himself while mumbling or if Recovery Girl lists his injuries for him, he’ll repeat them under his breath

Which, scares you obviously, but you’re also glad he’s not dead or something

He starts rating cold soba that he has or has had in the past

Reviewing his day

Talking about Midoriya

Which worries you, does he have a crush? Are they just good friends? Is this ‘Midoriya’ going to steal your soulmate

I stg, Midoriya has become a love rival and the poor boy has no idea

You’re stalking him on the internet trying to find anything you can on him to make sure you can outdo anything he does

He can knit? Oh look, professional lessons and equipment

He does Yoga? Aha, you have never been more flexible in your life

Anything he’s done? You are now doing it better than he ever could

Todoroki doesn’t have this same fear, his parents weren’t soulmates, and he fully trusts you, you’re made for each other, literally

When you finally meet, it’s so unexpected, and he blue screens

Here? Now? Who? What’s yesterday?

He’s not functioning

Todoroki.exe has crashed

Person too pretty

You’re not any better though

Honestly, have you seen this man? He’s model material

Worth millions

You both stare at each other for a good while before Midoriya comes and breaks the silence

And Todoroki makes the mistake of going “Oh, hey Midoriya” and paying attention to him

The fire has been lit, RIP Midoriya Izuku, an innocent man

Rin Okumura

You have a collection of recipes

He talks A LOT when cooking, like, he’s a walking cookbook, going through each step and ingredient

Even for recipes of his own creation

Which he never writes down and frequently forgets

So when you meet, he’s convinced he died and went to heaven

All his beautifully crafted recipes and instructions, he may cry when you show them to him

He also reads out loud to himself, so prepare for that

All the Manga, any book he may read, some new recipe he found on the internet

He reads it out, and sometimes does different voices for other characters

Which is great and all, but since he’s a dropout, it’s literally at all the worst times

Doing a math quiz? He’s crying while reading a romance manga

Trying to study? Good luck with that, he’s dramatically reenacting a action manga panel

He watches Hell's Kitchen and other cooking shows

And RAMBLES

He’s talking about how this technique would be better

Or how he should try recreating that dish later

Critiquing how something turned out

Making a dish along with the show

Now, for him, every time he hears your voice, he freezes

Like, physically freezes

No thoughts, head empty, only soulmate

He will not respond until you’re done talking to yourself

And he commits whatever you say to memory

If you talk about a certain food, he is IMMEDIATELY in the kitchen either A) Learning the recipe for it, or B) Making sure he can still cook it

I can, nearly guarantee, that this man will invite you to his home for breakfast/lunch/dinner when you meet, and cook literally everything you’ve ever mentioned

And continue to cook for you after that

Like, he goes from “I wish to eliminate my birth father” to “The way of the house husband, Okumura style”

When you both meet, he pounces on you

No, I mean literally

He leaps on top of you

No hesitation

As soon as he hears your voice

It’s a immediate cuddle session on the floor

Or if you manage to stay upright, he’s clinging to you like a koala

No, you can’t escape or avoid

And if you DO stay upright, he will continue to lunge at you every time he is within jumping distance

Sakura Haruno

Yes, she may be seen as annoying or useless, but I like her, so I’m going to self indulge, and you can’t stop me

That doesn’t mean I'm gonna sugar coat this though

THIS GIRL GOES THROUGH ALL FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF IN THREE HOURS, AND MOST OF IT IS CRYING

She has spent who knows how long pursuing a toxic, probably Naruto-sexual, duck lookin emo DISASTER only to find out he’s NOT her soulmate?

“I went on this diet, and for what? Nothing”

“I bet it’s wrong, it has to be, right? Sasuke can’t NOT be my soulmate, RIGHT!?”

Yeah, she’s in a sad/denial state for about a week after that

And even after, she’s still salty

It’s not until Sasuke leaves, telling Sakura to go pursue HER soulmate instead of some stupid skin deep crush that she really begins to get OVER him and get INTO you

Except you’ve had enough of her Sasuke BS, so she not only needs to let go of her long time crush, but also make it up to her soulmate

The first time she says something about getting over Sasuke and wanting to be with her soulmate, you laugh, and she hears because you DON’T want to talk to her

“Does she really think one sentence is going to fix years of heartbreak?”

Now, when you put it like that, she cringes, and realizes that there's a lot of damage she caused

Honestly, when you two meet, you don’t recognize each other immediately, due to the fact that you don’t speak to her often or care to remember her voice

You probably found her with her head in her hands, probably eating away her woes at Ichirakus

You slide in, very smoothly, might I add, and ask what’s wrong while ordering yourself a bowl

She tells you the surface, that a friend ran from the village, which is true, but not what she’s sad about

You give her advice, chit chat a bit longer, getting to know each other, before paying for both her and your bowl and heading off

Never gave any names, just friendly conversation

You run into each other more frequently, growing closer with each talk, finally knowing each others names

Never mentioning meeting each other when talking to yourselves though

Eventually, using your advice when Sakura mentioned her soulmate was mad at her, you grew to forgive your soulmate

The two of you got such Deja Vu because of it too, since you were talking to each other and listening to the other ramble to themselves

Till one day, one of you mention the others name

And the other is like, “Oh my gosh [Y/N or Sakura] is my soulmate”

And then you both know

And the next time you see each other it’s a bit awkward, until Sakura says “So uh, I used your advice”

And you burst out laughing, conversation flowing as it would from there

You do hold a vendetta against Sasuke though, and after getting to know Sakura, it just gets 10 times worse

Like you’re ready to knock his teeth in if you ever see him

The pure, unadulterated rage you hold for him grows with every hate crime against Sakura he makes

Like, she tries to help him, now platonically, and he tries to kill her

There is no end to your rage

Everyone knows not to mention his name around you now

White boy better run and run fast if y’all ever meet

Yes, I do simp for pink haired characters, what are you gonna do about it?

If you’d like to see more headcanons, be that for this AU, or something else, feel free to submit an ask or comment! I hope you enjoyed these little headcanons!

[miekasa]

and i found them! the actual ac unit snippet was hiding with the last one, so i thought i’d just drop them both here 😅 your appreciation means the world to me 🌼

💉the broken ac unit snippet [not the previous choppy summary, but the actual snippet that was hiding with erwintholomew’s]

it’s summer—dry heat, humidity, and warm winds all around. oc has been working in the outdoor makeshift hospital for her month’s rotation shift. tents of covid cases have been overflowing. it’s patient after patient, and she’s in PPE—full-on hazmat suit for 8 hours (sometimes more). food and water breaks between shifts aren’t feasible because they’re saving suits, bathroom breaks are timed before or after she suits up. it was literally hell.

levi’s been noticing his roomie coming home even more exhausted than usual. sometimes, she just goes to the kitchen and drinks down two glasses of water before heading for a nap. he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. she looked like she’s lost a bit of weight. she was always a little paler and seemed to be wilted these days. he’s been trying to quietly shoulder a bit more of her chores, but he’s also pretty amazed at how she manages to keep up.

it was on a saturday afternoon when he found out. he had work and errands to run and some packages to send to his mom. he knocks on his roomie’s door to ask if she wanted him to do anything for her. he’s willing to do her groceries or make her dinner if it meant seeing her eat something other than instant ramen or a peanut butter sandwich. her muffled voice bids him to come in.

oc: oh heya

she gives him a tired wave. she’s sitting on her bed, reading something on her tablet. the first thing levi notices is that it’s way too fucking hot. her room is neat with a bit of a mess, a few notebooks strewn around her bed and a shirt hanging on the study chair, but obviously clean. the fan she has turned on was doing nothing to alleviate the heat though.

levi: you know you can turn your ac up in this heat right?

oc gives a tired chuckle at that.

oc: it’s been broken for a few weeks, but don’t worry! i already got a new one

levi is pretty speechless, considering that the heat wave has only been getting worse for the past month. she points to the unopened giant box crowding the space by her work desk.

oc: work’s just been exhausti—busy lately, but i’ll get around to it. i just need to switch them out and take the old one to recycling downstairs.

levi honestly doesn’t have anything to say to that because what the hell—

oc: did you need something?

he snaps out of it.

levi: i’m—i’m going out for errands. want me to get you anything?

oc: oh, are you passing by the pharmacy?

he wasn’t planning on it, but levi nods.

oc: yeah hang on, lemme just write the prescription for my pills. thank you!

levi shuts her door and speedwalks to his room. he knows he’s being irrational, and he knows that it isn’t his fault but fuck, she’s been living like that for weeks on top of all her work. he turns up his ac unit, rolls down his blinds, and fluffs the pillows on his bed before pulling the covers down. he knows that he could offer the suggestion of sleeping on the couch in their living room (they had an ac unit there after all), but no. she deserves better than that.

when levi walks back to her room, oc’s head peeps out of the door.

oc: here, i just need three boxes and i can cashapp you the payment.

levi grunts, taking the prescription and folding it into his pocket.

levi: come with me.

oc is pretty taken aback at his gruff tone, and she wonders what’s gotten him in a twist. she’s on the verge of passing out because work has been brutal and she has a golden weekend, so she was planning to catch up on a lot of rest. she follows quietly, wanting to quickly resolve whatever this was. her roomie’s always been a little...weird. it gets weirder when she realizes that he’s leading her to his room. cold air hits her when he opens the door and ushers her in, and she feels reborn.

levi: you can rest here for now

oc’s eyes widen at that. they’ve been roomies for over a year now, and respecting personal spaces has always been a huge factor contributing to their civil harmony as roommates.

oc: levi, it’s fine! i can’t, really! i don’t want to intrude, and besides, it’s fine, i—i’ve been alright anywa—

she’s cut off when he starts nudging (pushing) her towards the bed.

levi: seriously, i’ll be out the whole afternoon.

her but’s and what-if’s and i’m-fine’s fall on deaf ears. her roomie maneuvers her expertly and practically trips her to make her fall onto the bed. when her back hits the soft mattress, she feels a wave of fatigue hit. then he’s guiding her head towards the pillows while she mumbles about feeling like she’s overstepping, but levi’s room was cold and comfortable. the bed was a cloud, cool and soft and dragging her further into sleep. she feels the covers pulled up around her shoulders, and darkness claims her.

levi leaves quietly after shutting down the fan in her room. his afternoon is spent running some on-the-ground tasks for projects for work and personal errands. he does take an impromptu trip to the old deli near their place to buy some cuts of beef and a cheap bottle of red wine for a stew. he wonders if he’s breaching boundaries, but he makes an impulsive decision for once. he’ll drag her to dinner if he has to, she looks like she hasn’t had a decent meal in days. when he gets home, it’s late afternoon, but the sun was still up in all its scorching heat. he disinfects the goods thoroughly before heading for a shower himself. oc is still sleeping soundly when he checks in on her [levi thoughts: good, she really fucking needs it]. he goes into her room and replaces her broken ac unit, easily installing the new one and padding up the sides tightly. he brings the old one down before sweeping up the dust in her room that has settled from his handiwork. he turns it on to test it, and her room cools in minutes. satisfied, he leaves the ac unit on and starts dinner.

oc comes to slowly, mind still clouded and heavy from sleep. everything around her is blurry and she’s engulfed in softness smelling of black tea and spearmint. the realization of where she is hits like a freight train and this wakes her right up. the time on the clock by the bed says it’s almost half-past seven, and oc panics. she’s overstepped, her roomie’s gonna be pissed, and oh god, she didn’t mean to take that long of a nap. she practically runs out of his room. levi is setting two places at their table when she dashes in. a pot of stew was simmering on the stove. he looks up and just points to her meds.

levi: it’s already been disinfected.

oc opens her mouth for what was going to be a long apology when levi interrupts her before she even begins.

levi: i also installed your new ac unit. the broken one’s already at recycling.

oc’s eyes widen and she can feel tears welling up because it’s been weeks of exhaustion and uncomfortable hot nights and she’s been trying to find enough strength to do that and—

levi goes tomato-red when his roomie launches herself at him and wraps her arms around his shoulders tightly. he can hear her voice quivering, tone hovering on about-to-blubber-and-cry, repeatedly thanking him and apologizing for overstepping and he kind of just stands there for a moment. he pats her back awkwardly, wondering how to respond to her and decides to keep quiet and let her break the hug first. she might actually cry if he pushes her away.

oc lets him go gently, a little embarrassed at her outburst but she gives him a small smile and mutters a soft “sorry.”

levi: cut the apologies, brat. i offered. it’d be inhumane to let you sleep in that heat.

oc is about to argue when he fixes her with a glare that makes her sigh. she presses her palms into her cheeks in resignation.

levi: come on, i made dinner. you really need to eat something other than synthetic garbage and peanut butter.

oc sniffles and giggles. levi sets the food down and takes a seat beside her. he freezes when she grasps his hand.

oc: really, levi, thank you

levi shrugs (absolutely melting at her smile). he doles out servings of stew and rice, and they have a quiet dinner.

💉erwin’s own private gym in his penthouse snippet [in which erwin’s not even in this snippet, but he and his gym are catalysts of sorts]

it’s a rare occurrence that oc wakes before noon on her days off. so when she bumbles into the kitchen at 7am, craving for some tea and the little tiramisu her patient from work gave her, she bumps into levi. levi—also fresh out bed and only clad in boxer shorts. plaid dark pink ones that did wonders for his ass.

oc, completely forgetting that she’s in an oversized shirt that goes past her shorts and that her hair is a mess, stops mid-stride. her jaw drops. levi is built. not to any extreme body-builder kind to any extent. but he was fit and holy fuck his back alone was oh wow. yeah, she’s awake. levi turns at the sound of footsteps and has to suppress his smirk because oc’s appraisal was very very distracting, affirming, and ego-boosting. he thinks his roomie doesn’t even realize she is gawking [levi thoughts: she looks way too fucking cute and soft for someone half dead from a toxic shift yesterday and he wants to run his hands through her hair and knead the knots out of her shoulders and feel those legs—].

he truly has to hold in his laughter when oc literally goes “what the fuck” while waving around her hands gesturing to his abs and pecs. oc squints in the midst of her appraisal.

oc: how do you maintain all that in a pandemic??

levi sets down another mug and pours out more tea while explaining that erwin, who lives in the penthouse suite of the complex, has his own home gym. levi, hange, and moblit have exclusive access to it because they’re friends, they live in the same complex, they all work from home plus they clean up and help him maintain it.

levi: it’s a lot safer than public gyms.

oc is still chewing on this information while now blatantly staring at his thighs.

levi: i’m pretty sure erwin will let you use it too if you’re looking for someplace to work out. i can ask him if you want.

he adds some milk to her tea before walking over to oc and handing her a steaming mug of chai. he does this on purpose just to get a reaction out of her because he is absolutely basking in this. she is usually very composed and almost nothing fazes her, and he thinks he’s never seen her flush this deep. oc snaps out of it as she thanks him for the tea. she just nods, her eyes a little glazed over and unfocused.

oc: oh, th—that’s nice. i’ll think about it.

she primly grabs her tiramisu and walks back to her room, leaving levi smirking in their kitchen. she has thoughts that need processing.

oc thoughts: erwin happens to be filthy rich and roomie-free and can afford a penthouse. he dedicated a room in his penthouse to a fully-equipped gym. this is some really good chai. she pretty much stared at her roomie, with his knowledge, very disrespectfully at seven in the morning. her roommate is hot. pretty. cute. sexy. his voice—how has she never noticed? arms? abs? those thighs?? all of the above??? anyway, that v down his hips, his chest—yeah, her vibrator’s batteries die that night, and she’ll have to remember to get new ones after work. this is very for her, very bad indeed.

this was the h-word snippet 🥵 LMAO i had to give oc a little something because this isn’t one-sided after all 😌

SDKJSGHLF;DS ANON YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR MIND YOU’RE A LITTLE GENIUS YOU KNOW THAT!!! INCREDIBLE!!

when levi walks back to her room, oc’s head peeps out of the door.

oc: here, i just need three boxes and i can cashapp you the payment.

levi grunts, taking the prescription and folding it into his pocket.

levi: come with me.

THIS PART!! IS SO LEVI!! I’M OBSESSED!! I’m obsessed with the whole concept of him just... affectionately forcing her to nap in his room because it’s the least he can do to help ease her pain, and show that he cares; but this right here!! The way he had no intentions of going to the pharmacy, but is going to help her out anyway!! Begrudgingly taking the perscription, and immediately changing the subject away from the topic of her paying him back!! So good!! (And why do I get the feeling that he never accepted her cashapp lmaooo). 

oc is about to argue when he fixes her with a glare that makes her sigh. she presses her palms into her cheeks in resignation.

levi: come on, i made dinner. you really need to eat something other than synthetic garbage and peanut butter.

oc sniffles and giggles. levi sets the food down and takes a seat beside her. he freezes when she grasps his hand.

oc: really, levi, thank you

levi shrugs (absolutely melting at her smile).

ALSO HERE!! I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know but the casual insulting her dinners lmaoo only to help her out; it’s the showing affection without outright saying it’s affection that’s so GOOD!! I’M OBSESSED!!

AND THE WHOLE GYM SEQUENCE!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! LOVE LEVI BEING JUST A LITTLE COCKY!! GOOD FOR HIM!! HE’S ATTRACTIVE!! HE SHOULD KNOW IT!! PLS but oc being just a little shameless and telling him how good he looks and just staring without feeling guilty LMFAOO GOOD FOR HER TOO!! GOOD FOR THEM!!

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story: Chapter 2, deadly life (Part 4)

Note of the author: I underestimated the length of this, this chapter is going to be the end of meeeEEEEE-

Chapter 2: The wolf and the lamb - Daily life

The tailor slowly lifted her head.

“... Excuse me?” she turned to Kirumi.

She lowered her head. “As I said, I do not see any reason why you would kill Kaede, seeing how close you two were, but you had my motive video, didn’t you?”

“I saw your name on the tablet and turned it off, then brought it to the others like everyone else in this godforsaken room.” Maki sounded really mad, tears in the corner of her eyes.

Ryoma sighed. “Kirumi, for someone backed into a corner, using Maki as a scapegoat is a low blow coming from you.”

She tightened the grip on her podium. “As I said, I highly doubt Maki would do such a thing, but we cannot ignore the possibility.”

“SHUT UP!!”

Maki yelled, her voice cracking. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! If I even tried to kill anyone to get out of here with someone, that would have been with Kaede and no one else!!”

Kirumi held onto her podium. “I know I didn’t do it, I said it’s between Keebo, Ryoma and you, since you three knew about my talent.”

“I didn’t!!” Maki shouted. “I didn’t and I learned at the same time as everyone else!”

Rantaro tried to calm the two. “Hold on, let’s just calmly talk through this, we’ll know whether Kirumi and Maki are lying or not.”

Tsumugi nodded. “Agreed. We’ve lost enough time talking about useless nonsense. We’ll know who’s lying when we get to the alibis.”

Maki glared at Tsumugi for a few seconds, then took a deep breath. “I took a walk with Kaede around 8 PM and we went to our respective rooms at 8:30 PM, and I didn’t leave my room after that.”

Shuichi turned to the ‘maid’. “Kirumi said she was in her lab from 9 PM to 10 PM.”

Keebo looked at Ryoma. “And Ryoma and I were in the warehouse from 9 PM to 11 PM, then my battery was almost out so we went back to the dorms.”

Miu weakly raised her hand. “I... I couldn’t sleep well and I heard some noise outside my room around 11 PM... I didn’t check who it was but I can say that from 11 PM to 12 AM no one left or entered the dormitory, if that helps.”

Tsumugi placed one hand on her podium. “So Ryoma and Keebo are clean, which leaves us Kirumi and Maki.”

Angie tapped a finger on her chin. “Which also means the killer did everything before 11 PM!”

“Although there is something I don’t understand.” Ryoma crossed his arms. “Doesn’t the method of elimination look strange to you guys?”

Rantaro replied. “Now that you mention it, Miu poisoned the glasses back then, not the entire bowl... Do you think the culprit thought we would all assume Miu would be lying when she said she poisoned the glasses and not the bowl?”

The smaller man shook his head. “Not what I was thinking about but that’s definitely a possibility.”

Shuichi thought about it, then realized. “You don’t mean-”

“Exactly.” Ryoma said.

“Anyone here could have been the victim. It didn’t matter whether it was Kaede or someone else.”

“Wait... The culprit didn’t even care about who the victim was? Does that mean they don’t have an accomplice?” Kaito asked.

“We’re getting closer to the truth~” Angie commented.

“But Maki said if she wanted to escape it would be with Kaede! That means the culprit is Kirumi, right?” Himiko jumped in.

“Hold on a second-” the mercenary tried to defend herself.

“Not that I’m trying to defend Kirumi, but I don’t think we can completely rule out the ‘they had an accomplice’ possibility.” Tsumugi interfered.

“What do you mean?” Shuichi asked.

“While ‘the culprit didn’t care about who died because they had no accomplice’ is definitely a plausible theory, I think we can also keep in mind someone could have been indirectly included in the plan.”

“You mean the culprit told someone they were going to poison the drink so the other person made sure they didn’t drink it?” Rantaro suggested.

“But in both cases, there was never a matter of an accomplice being used a scapegoat so the blackened would win to begin with, right?” Angie asked.

Kiyo continued. “And there is a high chance the two were part of the same group when watching the videos, if your theory is correct.”

Himiko pouted. “But we know the accomplice didn’t do anything directly!”

“That can still help us understand the culprit’s motive.” Rantaro gained the attention of everyone. “Kirumi’s group was formed of Ryoma, Keebo and herself. I know Ryoma has nothing to gain from escaping just like me and while this is only a gut feeling, I don’t think Keebo would do it due to... His nature, no offense.”

“None taken.” the robot replied.

“And my group had Maki, Kaede, Angie and myself. And we know Maki’s choice of accomplice would have been Kaede herself.” Tsumugi added.

“I can confirm this...” Shuichi muttered.

Kaito frowned. “What are we even questioning at this point? If Maki decided to kill someone to escape with Kaede she would have told her! Kirumi is the only choice we have!”

Kirumi’s annoyance was clearly visible at this point. “I also have nothing to gain from escaping. My life wasn’t exactly wonderful before the game.”

Keebo winced. “I can confirm this as well...”

“But if we focus on who has a motive and who hasn’t we’re getting nowhere! She could have done it just for survival!” Miu yelled.

As everyone was debating, Shuichi noticed Kiyo suddenly lifting his head.

“Can we be sure Maki would have told Kaede about her supposed plan, though?” he said.

“What?” Maki turned to the therapist.

“I think we all remember when Kaede broke her tablet in front of all of us. She said she wasn’t going to let a motive be the end of her.” he added, visibly nervous. 

Shuichi was starting to panic. “Hold on! Even if Kaede wasn’t going to go along with Maki’s potential plan to escape, that gives no reason for Maki to kill her!”

“I’m saying Kaede’s death could have been an accident.”

Everyone turned to Kiyo.

“Are you saying I killed someone on accident, and Kaede of all people??” Maki exclaimed.

“Trust me, I want to be wrong, but this is definitely a possibility, considering how Kaede acted after watching the videos.” he explained.

“So either Kirumi killed Kaede with no accomplice at all or Maki killed Kaede when her intent was to kill someone else...” Rantaro continued.

The class continued to debate on which theory was more plausible until-

“Puhuhuh... Am I hearing a split opinion?” Monokuma chuckled.

“Not this shit again...” Kaito groaned.

Rantaro sighed. “We don’t have a choice do we?”

“Nope!” the bear exclaimed as he played with the key.

The podiums started floating and separated into two sides. Shuichi also noticed the portraits of Kaede and Gonta on the right and Tenko’s portrait on the left.

Who is the culprit?

On the left, Kirumi, Keebo, Kokichi, Tsumugi, Ryoma and Kiyo. The culprit is Maki!

On the right, Maki, Shuichi, Himiko, Miu, Kaito, Rantaro and Angie. The culprit is Kirumi!

Scrum debate, start!

Kiyo: Maki killing Kaede on accident is definitely a possibility.

Himiko: Even if Kaede wasn’t part of the plan, Maki could have still told Kaede not to drink the beverage and prevent an accident !

Keebo: Maki’s alibi is way too vague to be ignored...

Miu: Kirumi was literally in her lab during a full hour, her alibi is way more suspicious!

Kirumi: I only checked if poisons were missing this morning, there is a possibility she could have retrieved it two days ago.

Kaito: You spent a huge amount of time in your lab and you say you didn’t know the poison was missing?

Kokichi: But if Kirumi says the truth, Maki wouldn’t have to take long to just go in the kitchen and poison the drink...

Angie: Kirumi knew the truth of the missing poison from the beginning, is trusting her really a good idea?

Ryoma: If both of them knew about the drink, both of them could have done the deed.

Maki: Kirumi literally prepared the drink with Miu, she knew about the best method to sabotage it!

Tsumugi: It doesn’t take a genius to read the etiquette on the bottle.

Rantaro: Yet it would have taken an immense amount of time for Maki to find the right bottle in Kirumi’s lab.

Kirumi: I am telling you the truth, I am not the killer!

Shuichi: Both of you could be the killer, we just need to think back about the remaining clues!

The podiums went back to normal.

“But what clues are we missing?!” Miu exclaimed. “They both have their alibis, which are more or less flawed!”

Angie crossed her hands, elbows on the podium. “And both could be lying, even though my doubts are on Kirumi~”

Shuichi lowered his head. Think, think think!-

He suddenly froze.

...

No one knew about Kaede going to the library yesterday, at night.

No one knew that she was stressed and needed to write in her notebook to relax.

Kaede wasn’t even feeling down after destroying her tablet this morning, she had a newborn confidence to help her get through this.

The only reason she could have felt nervous was if someone warned her about something.

Only one person could have warned her about something coming.

That ‘something’ being a murder.

“...”

.

.

“...-i...”

.

.

“Shuichi...”

.

.

“SHUICHI!!!”

The young boy was startled by Rantaro, who had woken him up from his state.

“Did you find something? You look unusually pale.” the medic asked.

Shuichi opened his mouth, shaking. “I...”

"I know who the culprit is.”

Tsumugi fiddled with a hair strand. “Did you remember a major clue?”

He nodded.

"Maki... You...”

“I didn’t do it!” she cried. “I didn’t kill Kaede, I swear!”

“But everything falls into place! Please, even though you didn’t do it on purpose we need to know the truth!”

“There is no way I would kill Kaede, I only briefly talked to her last night and then I went to my room!”

“It’s that meeting that pushed Kaede to go out, whether you intended it or not!”

Shuichi remembered what Kirumi said only a few days ago.

“If another class trial occurs, perhaps the culprit won’t be as merciful as Tenko. Perhaps cornering them would be necessary, and being passive would lead to nothing.”

Shuichi had to make Maki and everyone else understand. He had to, for everyone’s sake.

<HowdoIwriteArgumentArmaments.txt>

“This is clearly wrong!”

                              “I didn’t ask her anything of the sort!”

     “Everything you

                                           say is just

                                                                         about suspicions!”

                                                     “I would have never thought about doing this...”

                               “I knew Kaede more than anyone else!”

                       “She was my everything!”

“I would have told her 

                                                                   if I even planned

                                              on doing anything!”

                   “I can’t let you accuse me of being responsible for her death!”

“Kaede wouldn’t have wanted me to commit murder!”

                 “It’s just natural

                                                   I would think about her

                                                                                                 before acting!”

                                 “I can’t believe any of you... “

“This is purely wrong!”

                             “And how would you know how Kaede felt??”

                              Night         time          brief          meeting

“Maki... Kaede was confident this morning and suddenly felt nervous before going to the library... You said something to her, right?”

“Besides, I can confirm her being nervous, since I came across her when I left the library.” Tsumugi added.

“I am not the culprit! You- You have to believe me!” she yelled, tears flowing from her eyes.

Rantaro looked away from Maki. “Let’s just... Go through this one more time, shall we?”

Shuichi nodded.

Everything started the day we got the motive videos. The culprit and Kirumi had each other’s videos. The culprit watched Kirumi’s motive video until the very end, learning her real talent as the ultimate mercenary.

However when they came to the dining hall, they followed the group and said they didn’t watch it.

We established the groups and the culprit made sure they weren’t with Kirumi, and eventually officially learn about her talent.

The Miu incident came, where Miu tried to kill us with homemade poison made with chemicals from her lab. This was mostly out of instinct, because she had watched her own video.

The killer somehow learned about the incident, and tried to use it at their advantage.

The culprit had enough time that night to go through Kirumi’s lab to search for a poison that would allow them to use Miu as a scapegoat, most likely an odorless poison not to raise any suspicions for the potential victim.

The next day came the accomplice motive and the motive videos being watched by groups. This was the perfect opportunity for the culprit to strike, since they had someone to protect.

Kaede, however, was not willing to let the motive video influence her or make her try to do anything, even though she wanted to escape.

The culprit panicked, they had the perfect plan but an accomplice most likely unwilling to cooperate, so they had to stay silent about the plan not to mess things up.

Around 8 PM, Kaede and the culprit talked to each other, the former not knowing about the latter’s plan. The culprit warned Kaede about someone potentially doing something, so they had to be careful and stay in their room.

After pretending to go back to their room, the culprit left again to use the poison they had kept. Just poisoning the beverage, and leave. The victim would potentially be dead by the next day. The culprit just tried to make sure Kaede didn’t leave her room.

However their attempt to make her stay in her room backfired, and Kaede, as an attempt to relax, went to the library to write for a bit without thinking twice.

Around 12 AM, she must have felt thirsty and went to the kitchen to get something to drink, and saw the beverage. She took a glass and returned to the library.

Just one sip was enough to kill her. She died without knowing who sabotaged the drink.

The next day, we all found her dead body, and that’s when the culprit realized their mistake.

And the culprit...

Is none other than you... Maki Harukawa, the ultimate tailor.

...

“Please Maki... It’s over...” Shuichi pleaded.

“I... I... I didn’t...”

“You still won’t admit it, huh?” Tsumugi muttered. “It’s fine. We have our culprit. Monokuma, we’re ready to vote.”

“No, wait!!-” Maki yelled, turning to the bear.

“Aaaaaaalrighty then! My favorite moment, it’s voting time!”

“Please! I-I’m not the culprit! Y-You have to believe me!” the tailor begged, tears streaming down her face, her eyes red from the crying.

The faces of everyone appeared on the screens of the podiums. Shuichi felt a tear in the corner of his eye. He didn’t want this. But he had to.

He closed his eyes and pressed on Maki’s icon.

...

“Now then, it seems the voting has finished. Let’s see the result.” Monokuma declared.

The giant screen turned on and everyone’s icons appeared.

12 votes for Maki Harukawa and 1 vote for Kirumi Tojo.

A picture of Maki appeared on the right, indicating the majority vote.

She was shaking, unable to say a word.

“Who’ll be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one!?” Monokuma continued his usual speech.

VERDICT

The wheel turned for a few seconds before slowing down... And landing on Maki.

The coin machine on the screen made its distinct jingle, and coins rolling out of it.

Maki froze at the sight. Fists clenched, shaking.

“Oh my! You all voted correctly! What an unexpected and unpredictable outcome!”

Shuichi glanced at Maki. He had never seen her so horrified.

“The blackened who killed Kaede Akamatsu is Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate tailor!”

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Runaway Chapter 8

Vlad Masters x reader

Word Count: 1768

Summary: FLASHBACK TIME. AKA, how we got here

Note: This is edited a lot less, so I apologize if there are errors.

A short while later, the Fentons stood watching a wall-sized screen while Vlad operated the device and Plasmius stood inside the tube with a few probes on his head.

“Now watch the screen because I am going to show you the important parts of our early relationship so you will finally stop thinking I kidnapped her or something. It’ll be a composition from both of our points of view since we’ve been developing it together.”

With that statement from Vlad,  the screen started playing like it was a movie, showing Vlad’s self from a few years before walking down the street. His face looked like he was bothered by something as he entered a coffee shop. Imagine the Fentons’ surprise when they saw their daughter working the counter.

When she saw the depressed-looking man at the counter, a concerned look formed on Y/N’s face. She hurried to write something on the man’s cup before handing it over to him.

The ‘camera’ once again followed Vlad as he left the shop. It wasn’t until he reached his office that he saw the note on the cup near his name. “Sorry about whatever’s bothering you. I'm here if you need to talk.” A little smile formed on his face.

From his thoughts the audience of two could tell that he’d gotten a few notes from Y/N before. Meaning she’d instigated their relationship. Which was the opposite of what Jack expected. That was when Vlad’s thoughts tipped into the territory of asking this girl out for lunch and all of the insecurities that went along with that.

The next day, Y/N was just clocking out when Vlad entered the shop. “Hey!” she greeted happily as she stepped out from behind the counter.

“Hello yourself,” was his warm reply. “Thank you for your note yesterday, Y/N. It really helped.”

Pink tinted the tips of her ears. “You’re welcome, Vlad.”

“I do hope it’s not too forward of me, but would you go to lunch with me sometime?” His heart lurched at the beaming grin that spread across her face.

“I thought you’d never ask.” The image paused.

“That led to our first date,” present Vlad explained. “As you can see, we were both fully consenting to the whole thing. It was all rather domestic, actually.”

“What’s next?” Jack asked. After all he’d missed in his daughter’s life, this was proving to be quite enlightening.

“The next was when I told her about what I went through to get where I am now. Hospital and all. We’d been dating for a year.”

Tears fell down Vlad’s face as he remembered all those years he spent seething in his own hatred and fear of how he would pay his hospital bills with no income or family to help. All that stress was still so vivid even later after he had so much. “We’d been doing an experiment. I-I tried to tell Jack that something wasn’t right . . . I was caught in the blast. I was in that hospital for so long.”

Concern was etched into Y/N’s features while her hand went to his cheek; her thumb wiped away some of his tears. Both of her arms slid around his neck so she could pull him down into a tight hug. Her fingers combed gently through his hair since it was out of its ponytail for once.

“I was alone for so long,” Vlad whispered the admission.

“Well, you’re not anymore. I’m here to stay,” Y/N murmured.

Maddie gasped at Past Vlad’s little head shake. It’d never occurred to her that she and Jack hadn’t visited their friend after the accident they had caused.

Y/N leaned back to kiss his lips. “I’m sorry.” Another kiss. “I’m so sorry.” Inside, guilt was eating away at her since her own parents were the ones that put him through so much suffering.

“How about the first time we kissed?”

They were at a gala for Vlad’s company a few weeks into their relationship. Y/N had finally managed to get Vlad alone out on one of the balconies after an hour of trying to rescue him from the various press demanding conversations. The sounds of the party were behind them, only slightly muffled by the glass doors. A smile pulled at her lips at the sight of Vlad looking relieved to be able to breath without fans, employees, or press breathing down his neck.

On impulse, she stood on her toes to kiss him. At his lack of response, Y/N nervously retreated. “Should I not have . . . ?”

Vlad swallowed thickly, lacing their fingers together to keep her from moving farther away. “If it were any other time . . . I would happily return your affections. The problem is,” his grey eyes met her e/c ones, “if I kissed you now, I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”

Heat instantly flared in her face at what she was about to say. “Maybe I don’t want you to stop.”

“As tempting as that is, it would be highly improper for me to disappear from a party that I am hosting.”

She pouted. “Well that’s just no fun.”

“Perhaps,” Vlad trusted himself to brush his lips to her jaw, “we can make good on that offer after everyone leaves if you’re still up for it?”

A wicked smirk formed on her face. “Oh, I like that plan a lot.”

“Or maybe this?”

The Vlad on the screen was talking to his secretary while getting dressed for his date that evening. For their six month marker, they’d decided to go to a rather nice restaurant. “While I am gone, tell Eric to check with Research about that new PDA. I haven’t heard anything on it in almost two weeks.”

“Yes, Mr. Masters,” Sally nodded. “Sir, can I ask a personal question?”

“Of course, but I reserve the right to not answer it.”

“Fair enough. I haven’t seen you like this since, well, ever. Is it this woman that’s making you so happy?”

Vlad raised an eyebrow. “Well that is quite forward, but the answer is yes. She is . . . something I thought I’d never find, to be honest.”

Sally had a growing smile on her face. “By God . . . You love her don’t you?”

That made his heart beat faster. Y/N had been saying it for months, but every time Vlad was unable to repeat the words to her. Yet she was the one that made his heart race like no other. Not even Maddie back before the accident had challenged him as much while also making him feel like he was home no matter where they were. Even now he found himself smiling at the mere memory of her touch. 

“I suppose I do.”

Sally was all-out grinning by that point. “Good. I’m happy for you, Mr. Masters. You’d best get to your date before you’re late, now.”

“I thought I was the boss here?” Vlad teased.

“Go!”

“Or perhaps when I proposed to her will convince you that I didn’t force her into this relationship?”

“V-man, I think we’ve seen enough.”

“No, Jack, you haven’t, because I can still see the accusation written all over your goddamn face. Now sit and watch.”

Two years. They’d happily been together for two years as of that morning. Vlad smiled to himself as he looked next to him on the bed at his girlfriend sleeping there in one of his t-shirts. He resolved to ask her to marry him that day even though he hadn’t found a ring he liked for her just yet. Knowing her, that wouldn’t matter anyway.

Vlad carefully extracted himself from the bed to go make breakfast. He didn’t bother to get dressed; he just went down in pajama pants with no shirt.

Y/N stirred as soon as the door clicked shut behind him. She was rather groggy while getting up and following him out to the kitchen, meaning it took a lot longer than usual. The fog of sleep had lifted during the time it took her downstairs, however, so she fully enjoyed the sight of her boyfriend’s muscles flexing as he cooked.

“Mornin’, sexy,” she greeted as she poured herself some coffee.

“You’re supposed to still be asleep so I can bring you breakfast in bed,” he commented.

“Yeah, but my pillow abandoned me.”

That’s when he turned to look at her and froze at the sight before him. Seeing her there in just his shirt sealed it for him. Vlad reached behind him to shut off the stove as he spoke, “Well in that case take my hand.” He offered his free one to her.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously, putting her steaming mug on the table.

Vlad chuckled, knowing she was half expecting him to put her on the table and fuck her right there. “I’m trying to ask you to marry me, so take my damn hand!” he laughed.

Blue eyes widened dramatically at both the words and at Vlad’s look of genuine happiness. Aside from shock, only one thought was rattling around in her skull and she voiced it. “Why me?”

“Because you saw me when I was invisible,” he shrugged as if it was obvious. “Sometimes literally, but you’re the only one to ever just care about me rather than my money or fame. Because I love you. I don’t have a ring yet, but I’m working on fixing that. So will you--”

“Yes! Of course I will, you goddamn idiot!” she interrupted. Y/N tackled him by hopping up to wrap her legs around his waist, knowing he’d catch her.

“Now just what are you doing?” he asked with a chuckle as his hands moved under her as to support her weight.

“You are gonna put me on that table and fuck me on it until I’m screaming your name and we both collapse.”

“And that’s enough of that memory!” Vlad coughed awkwardly as he cut off the program. “I’d forgotten that that morning ended like that.” Another cough coupled with him scratching at his newly-short hair. “Anyway, I hope that all of that will convince you that what we have is real. Not an illusion or her wanting my money or whatever the two of you think is going on between us.”

“Fine,” Jack finally admitted, “there’s nothing wrong with you two being together other than your age. That doesn’t mean the ghosts aren’t possessing you.”

Y/N entered the room and therefore halted whatever Vlad had been about to say. “Fight that fight another time, Vladimir. I figured out how to reverse it, so they need to get the fuck out now.”

Vlad’s ensuing grin was positively evil. “You heard the lady. Leave.”

--

Note: And that’s literally all she wrote. As usual, I might come back and write some more if anybody wants it (or if I feel like it), but as of 11/4/2019 that’s it.

[let-it-raines]

Betting on the Bullseye (19/?)

Summary: Emma Swan loses a bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush to be her date to her office’s annual fundraising gala. Killian Jones is that celebrity crush. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost. What she doesn’t expect is for him to say yes.

Rating: Mature

A/N: Sometimes I look at the summary of this story and am just kind of like...that is not at all what this story is about anymore. But hey, it’s what the original prompt was about, so it works! Anyways, happy Tuesday! I hope you all have a great week!

AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19

Tag list: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @wellhellotragic​ @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @artistic-writer @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @galaxyzxstark @lifeinahole27 @andiirivera @ultimiflos @hollyethecurious @thejollyroger-writer @superchocovian @cs-forlife @qualitycoffeethings @jonirobinson64 @notoriouscs

“What’s the weather going to be like today?”

“Look it up on your phone.”

“I am shaving my legs right now. Don’t exactly have access to my phone.”

She keeps running her razor over her calf, trying to make sure she’s not going to end up with a nasty cut that’ll just get irritated by the salt water, when Killian pops his head in the shower, a giant smile covering his entire face while his eyes trace up and down her body. It makes a quick shiver run down her spine until she remembers that she’s still got to shave her entire left leg. He is not stopping her from getting this done.

“What are you doing?”

“Choosing to look at you while I’m talking instead of yelling over the spray of the water.” “I think you are just choosing to look at me because I’m naked.”

He winks, running his tongue over his bottom lip in what has to be the most exaggerated motion she’s ever seen. “Exactly.”

“I’m literally going to be wearing as little as possible all day long. I think you’ll get your viewing of skin without a problem.” “Yes, but in front of my family. I can’t ravish you there.” “And you’re not going to ravish me now.” She waves her razor in his face, and he backs up a bit, laughing at her silent threat. He totally shouldn’t be laughing at her silent threat. It wasn’t even really a threat. She just wants to have smooth legs. He should want her to have smooth legs too. It feels better that way even if it’s so damn annoying to shave.

“Got it, got it,” he sighs, resting his hip against the wet stone. “I was just going to tell you that it’s going to be seventy-five today with a nice breeze. There are maybe going to be a few clouds, but it’ll mostly be a sunny day.” “Thank you, Al Roker.” She leans forward and pats his cheek before quickly kissing him. “Now let me shave in peace, and I’ll let you help pick out which bikini I wear today.”

“You are a kind woman who I very much love.” He waggles his brows, moving them across his forehead before he grabs onto her wrist and kisses her tattoo in the way that she’s grown so fond of over the past few months. It always makes her stomach do some kind of weird twist before everything rights itself. Then he’s ducking his head away and closing the shower door behind him.

“Weirdo,” she mumbles under her breath while continuing to shave. Smooth legs. She’s going to have smooth legs for today.

Along with her invention for drying hair without getting overheated, she’s also got to figure out something for hair removal. She knows there’s shaving, waxing, and laser hair removal or whatever, but there’s just got to be something less time consuming, less painful, and less expensive.

Obviously, her plan needs a lot of work.  

After she finally finishes shaving and rinsing her conditioner out of her hair, she turns the water off and gets out of the shower, patting herself down with the towel she had hanging over the door. She felt like death all day yesterday, the drinks at Killian’s premiere hitting her a little harder than she thought they would, but she feels fine today. Good, even. Okay, she’s really excited to get to spend the day out on the ocean with Killian and his family.

Six months ago, that thought would have terrified her, but now, she honestly can’t think of a better way to spend the day. She’s really grown to like getting to go out on the Jolly (even if she does still think that Killian is absolutely ridiculous in naming his boat that) and letting the salt water of the ocean get in her eyes no matter what she does to shield herself from it. Seriously, her sunglasses do nothing for her out there.

She loves it.

Her suitcase is open on the floor of the bathroom, having never moved from when she dragged it upstairs on Friday, and at the top of all of her clothes is the bright coral bikini that Ruby made her pack. It’s pretty much nothing, and it figures that Killian would pick it out. She should have just known. He’s a man after all. And she did tell him he could pick it out.

She’s totally going to get him to wear the blue trunks he has the hug his thighs and ass really tightly when they get wet.

What’s fair is fair after all.

“Babe,” she calls out after she’s changed, throwing on her jean shorts and tank top and braiding her hair while it dries. He doesn’t call back, so she leaves the bathroom, calling for him until she figures that he’s downstairs and can’t hear her. “KJ,” she says as she bounds down the stairs and runs into the kitchen, hearing his speaker playing music and following it, “if I have to wear the skimpy orange one than you have to wear the blue ones. It shows off your ass, and I – oh.”

Standing in the kitchen is Killian’s entire family, all of them staring at her with different amused expressions littering their faces. She definitely should just never assume that she and Killian are home alone. Like, ever. She just said something about his ass. In front of his family.

At least she’s wearing clothes and not showing off her actual ass. That’s already happened once. She at least had a Christmas sweater on…that might have made it worse. That definitely made it worse.

“Oh my God, you’re Emma,” Anna calls out, practically scrambling off of her stool until she’s attacked with a hug by Anna, her arms so tight around her that she can’t breathe for a second. Seriously. She can’t breathe. “I’m so excited to meet you.”

“I’m excited to meet you too,” she laughs, looking over Anna’s shoulder to see Killian shrugging from where he’s standing next to the fridge, a cooler on the counter next to him. “I kind of thought it was never going to happen.”

“I know,” Anna squeals, releasing Emma from her hug only to place her hands on Emma’s shoulder where she intently stares at her. Like, really stares. It’s kind of weird and a little bit intense. “You’re just as pretty in person as you are in the pictures.”

“Um thanks?” she laughs, feeling the blush rise on her cheeks. “You are too.”

“Oi, Anna,” Liam calls out while he slathers Aiden down in what she assumed is his sunscreen, “leave the girl alone. I know for a fact that she doesn’t like to be ambushed in this kitchen.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Killian teases, winking at her from across the room. He’s right. She doesn’t mind when it’s him. It’s the other people that she doesn’t like. Well, she likes them, but she doesn’t like them scaring the shit out of her in the kitchen. “Just yesterday – ”

“Nope,” Kris starts, holding his hand up. “I love you all, but I am not listening to this. I’m Kris, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She gives him a small wave before walking across the room, hugging Elsa and squeezing Aiden’s hand along the way, until she’s standing next to Killian and pressing up on her toes so she can whisper in his ear. “Why didn’t you tell me your family was here?”

“They’re early,” he sighs, his breath hot against her skin, and it doesn’t help with how keyed up she is despite telling Killian no to sex earlier. She was serious about wanting to get her legs shaved. “Because I’d really like to hear all about how you think my arse looks in the blue trunks, and I’d like to see you in the coral bikini.”

“You should have left them outside then.”

“Liam has a key.”

She rolls her eyes. “Good point.” She falls back on her feet and turns to everyone else. “So you guys ready to go?”

-/-

“Hot damn,” Elsa whistles as Emma takes her shirt off once Killian has the boat settled out on the water at a nice resting place. “You have me reconsidering my theory that I really don’t need to be working out.”

“Oh God,” she groans, crossing her arms over her chest to try to make herself smaller. She’s proud of her body and knows Elsa’s just being nice, but it doesn’t mean she’s the biggest fan of everyone looking at her. And everyone is definitely looking at her. Can’t a large bird fly by or something to distract everyone? Maybe a shark swimming by would be good too. “You look great. Seriously. I have a very small social life and a boyfriend who lives nowhere near me. It’s either eat or go to the gym.”

“I like to go to the gym so that I can eat,” Anna adds in as she grabs a beer out of the cooler. “I bake far too much not to, and I’m on my feet most of the time so it helps. But yeah, Elsa is right. Hot damn.” She shakes her head back and forth, bringing her bottom lip between her teeth and pulling her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. She doesn’t even know what to say back to that, but as she’s learned in the past hour, Anna will fill in any awkward gaps. “How does the long-distance thing work? I mean, I’m pretty sure Kris and I have never spent more than a week apart, and you guys basically spend…all of your time apart.”

“Anna,” Elsa sighs, shooting her a sympathetic glance, “I’m sure Emma and Killian don’t really want to talk about that.”

She doesn’t. It’s really damn hard, and all she wants to do today is enjoy being here. She wants to enjoy today and the way the sun is beating down on her skin while she gets a tan drinking beer and spending the day with Killian. She can’t think about what it’s like having to go home because it hurts too damn much sometimes.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m just curious.” “You’re curious about a lot of things, babe,” Kris adds in, “which is great. It’s what makes you so wonderful and one of the reasons why I love you.”

“You’re sweet.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Killian begins, moving out of the shielded area where he’s been doing whatever technical thing he does when they’re anchored. She’s not really sure. She hasn’t gotten the chance to actually learn a lot about boating. “Why is it that I am mercilessly teased when I so much as tell Emma that she looks nice today, but you all can be cheesy as hell?”

“Because you’re the youngest,” nearly every person on the boat yells in one way or another.

“And I will get gray hair after every single one of you,” he huffs, plopping down on the seat next to her so that his shorts pull up his thighs as his muscles flex. “Bloody arseholes.”

“Poor baby,” she mock sighs, not even able to hide the smile that’s tugging on her lips as she runs her hands through his hair. “Are the big kids on the playground teasing you?”

He rolls his eyes, before he’s pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes leaning over her and grabbing her water bottle before he takes a sip. “I am going to kick you all off of this damn boat except for the sleeping baby down below.”

“How are you going to do that little  brother? I think you’ll probably be the first person in the water.”

“Shove off.”

“Play nice,” she laughs, realizing that there’s actually some tension in Killian’s jaw and that he’s holding onto her knee a little too tightly. She’s not sure when exactly he actually got frustrated, but he is. “You okay, KJ?”

“Yeah,” he sighs, even as she sees his jaw tick again, the set as straight as she’s ever seen, “I’m fine, sweetheart.”

She studies him for a minute, wishing that he didn’t have his sunglasses on at this exact moment so she could see the blue in his eyes. They’d probably look really nice with the ocean all around them. “Okay, so I was thinking…” she begins to distract him, wrapping her arm around his waist and sliding her hand under the hem of the button down he still hasn’t taken off. He has rolled the sleeves up, which is hotter than it has any right to be, but he hasn’t taken it off. “I was thinking that we play some music, eat our lunch, and then we get into the water. But, like, just for a little while because I’m still not entirely convinced that I’m not going to get a limb eaten by a shark.”

“That is not going to happen.”

“It could. You never know. I could also get stung by a jellyfish, attacked by a dolphin, and I hear whales aren’t necessarily friendly. Then again, we are invading their home, and I feel like maybe we deserve it.”

“So when Liam is having to pee on your leg because you’ve been stung by a jellyfish, you want me to tell you that you deserved it?”

“Why the bloody hell am I the one peeing on her leg?” Liam laughs, his cheeks already tinted in red from the sun. “I mean, no offense, love, I just feel like we don’t have the type of relationship where I can pee on your leg and we come back from that.”

“This is true. It’s going to have to be you, babe. Or Elsa and Anna.”

“Wait. You just met Anna today. That’s not a great first impression. Also, what makes you think we can come back from that, Swan?”

“I’d do it,” Anna adds in.

“Me too.”

“Women aren’t hung up on quite the same things as you guys are,” Elsa sighs, standing up from her seat and stretching her arms. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

“I’m honestly just offended that my own boyfriend won’t pee on my leg to help my jellyfish sting.”

“Oh my God,” Killian groans, reaching up and running his hand through his hair, “this has gotten ridiculous. Darling, if I need to pee on your leg, I will.”

She pats his stomach. “That’s all I ask.”

The day passes slowly, nearly everything happening leisurely. Anna talks more than anyone she’s ever met, and it’s so damn entertaining that she absolutely hates that she hasn’t gotten to know her before. The water stays calm, and no one else seems to pass them, so Killian lets the music play loudly after Liam gets Aiden from below deck. They have him in the smallest of life jackets, the name Jones monogrammed against the back, and for a brief moment, she has this want deep in her belly for her to have something like that one day too. She doesn’t let it last long, though. She can’t. It’s a little too overwhelming for her today, and she wants the lightness of the day to continue.

While everyone else moves around, the bow becoming a bit too small for them, she leans back on the cushions, letting the sun lull her into a sense of comfort, making her sleepy while Killian stretches out on his stomach beside her, head rested on his forearms. She twists over onto her stomach as well, ignoring the moment that her skin hits metal, until she can run her fingers over Killian’s back, tracing the muscles there without bothering to look. She’s got the ocean stretched out in front of her. She can look at Killian’s back anytime.

She knows the dips and curves of it well enough anyhow.

“Have you applied lotion recently?”

Killian twists his head to the side and opens his uncovered eyes, the blue somehow even better than the blue of the ocean. Something seems genetically unfair there, but she’s not going to complain when she gets to benefit from it. “About an hour ago. You?”

“Same. Just don’t want you getting a sunburn or cancer or something.”

“Thanks, love.” He leans forward and quickly slants his lips over hers before moving to rest his hands on his forearms again. “What’s everyone else doing?”

“I believe they’re all eating in the shade.”

“You’re not even looking. How do you know that?”

“Wait for it,” she laughs, digging her nail into his back until he lets out a guttural groan that shoots straight to her core.

“I’m waiting to get to take you back home. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to be waiting for.”

“Jones,” Anna shrieks, immediately running over to them until she’s standing above them with an empty bag, “where the hell are my salt and vinegar chips?”

“Emma ate them all yesterday.”

“Hey,” she gasps, slapping his back, “why are you going to just sell me out like that?”

“Because you were about to do the same to me.”

“I was not.”

“You so were.”

“Who cares? I just want the chips,” Anna whines, plopping down next to them. “There’s only crumbs in here.”

“I’ll send you, like, a million bags of chips when we get back,” she promises Anna, kissing in between Killian’s shoulder blades before they both sit up. “I may have eaten them all when I was hungover yesterday.”

“You’re lucky I like you. I don’t play about my chips.”

“You could always just throw her to the sharks if you’re really mad at her,” Killian teases, and she immediately reaches over to slap his back again. Maybe she shouldn’t be so playfully violent…that’s probably not the best trait. But he also just said Anna could sacrifice her to, you know, die. “Bloody hell, you know I don’t mean that.”

“Yeah, he’d be lost without you, lass,” Liam shouts from across the boat, and she can feel her entire stomach rumble with laughter as all of Killian’s family begins to tease him.

He huffs behind her until his chin rests on her shoulder, nuzzling into her skin, his scruff prickling against her until gooseflesh rises over her arms and her legs. She leans back into his touch while his arms wrap around her waist, fingers splaying across her bare stomach.

It feels damn good.

“I love you, KJ,” she whispers, kissing his cheek when she can practically feel his irritation as his family continues to talk.

“I love you too, darling,” he says softly before yelling out, “and I hate all of you except for Aiden and possibly Kris. I don’t know. It depends on the hour.”

-/-

“Oooh, I love this song,” she gasps as she turns the radio’s volume up and lets the sounds of Hozier’s voice fill Killian’s car while he drives them back to his house.

She’s exhausted, the sun having drained out all of the energy out of her as they day stretched out into night, but she’s getting little bursts of energy as she scrolls through her phone. She didn’t have any signal all day, so she’s catching up on everything she missed online before she gets into the massive amount of texts that are still popping in. Ruby must be drunk texting. It happens all the time, and then she gets strings of every thought that Ruby has ever had. Usually there’s some interesting things in there, but it can wait for right now.

When Killian pulls into the garage, she leaves her phone in her bag, letting it fall with all of her junk, as she helps him carry the cooler inside. It’s still got a bunch of drinks inside, so it’s heavy as hell and her arms are feeling weak by the time they get it into kitchen. She really is tired.

“You’ve burned on your cheeks, love,” Killian sighs, walking over to her and swiping his thumbs across her cheeks, his thumbs rough against the skin. “I can also see more freckles.”

“Really? Because I applied lotion about ten different times. I felt like that was all I did.”

“It’s because you’re so fair.”

“Ugh, I know. I’ve known that my entire life.” She leans her cheek into, letting her eyes flutter closed. “I’m going to go shower. You want to join me?”

“Why is that even a question?”

“It was rhetorical.”

She’s in no way a fan of shower sex. There are too many accidents that can happen even with Killian’s stone shower, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy getting to take a relaxing shower that’s full of teasing with Killian as she arranges suds over his beard much to his annoyance. Maybe she really is deliriously tired or maybe it was just a good day. She doesn’t know and she doesn’t care as she stumbles out of the shower with Killian until they fall into bed and absolutely defeat the purpose of them getting clean.

It’s totally worth it as Killian’s lips move over her nipples, teasing her and making her skin tingle in a way that the sun never could, and it’s even more worth it as he continues to move against her, working her up while working his way down her body.

Yeah, definitely worth it.

Afterward, when she’s sated and there’s a pink on her cheeks that has nothing to do with her sunburn, she crawls out of bed, much to Killian’s protest as his hand reaches for her, fingers grazing the skin of her inner thigh. She’s kind of cold, the air conditioning in his house not helping the chill that’s coming from her skin, she so she pulls on some leggings and a t-shirt before brushing through her tangled, still damp hair. It’s an absolute mess, and she really can’t leave it like this or she’ll have to shave her head.

That would be tragic.

“Babe?” she calls out, twisting a towel around her hair to dry it.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know where I left my phone?” She walks back into the bedroom where Killian’s stripping the comforter and sheets off. They’re honestly probably damp, and she’s glad that he’s doing that.

“I don’t. Hell, I don’t even know where my phone is.”

She groans, pulling her towel away from her hair and tossing it into his laundry pile. “I’m going to go downstairs and check through my bag for it. I’ll look for yours too while you put those in the dryer.”

He nods as she walks away, quickly running down the stairs and searching through the living room for her bag only to find nothing. She goes through the entryway and the kitchen before she decides to check Killian’s car. Sure enough, it’s sitting on the floorboard with Killian’s sitting on the center console, and she grabs them both before heading inside and settling down onto the couch in the living room.

She’s got notifications filling her screen behind the time telling her that it’s far past midnight. Where the hell did today go?

Ruby: Sunday fun day.

Ruby: Seriously. I’ve had a lot of mimosas. By myself because Marg is boring and pregnant and David is not drinking in solidarity.

Ruby: It’s times like these when I miss you. And when I realize I need more friends.

Ruby: OMG. We have to try the new bakery down the street from the office. I meant to tell you earlier, but I forgot.

David: Can you return my call?

“What call?” she mumbles to herself only to continue to scroll through the messages, thankful that she’s sitting down for what she reads next.

David: Ems, Mary Margaret is in labor.

David: We’re waiting at the hospital right now.

Ruby: Holy shit, Marg is having Brody right now.

Ruby: She’s freaking out because she’s early. I’m freaking out because I’ve had far too much to drink today.

David: Everything is fine. I don’t know why you’re not near your phone, but don’t freak out when you get these messages, okay? MM and the baby are fine.

If her heart could beat out of her chest with her still alive, that’s exactly what would be happening right now. She can’t breathe. There’s something lodged in her throat that’s stopping her from breathing. Mary Margaret can’t be having her baby. That’s not supposed to happen for three more weeks. That’s why she let herself come out here for four days and why Killian was going to come to her the next few weekends. She is supposed to be at the hospital with Mary Margaret. They had a whole plan. She was supposed to be with them. She was going to watch Leo.

Oh shit. Who’s watching Leo? Ruby’s drunk. Ruby can’t watch Leo.

Quickly, she presses David’s contact name and listens to the rings, just waiting for him to answer. “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. You have to pick up the phone.”

“Hello?”

“David, oh my God. What’s happening? Is Mary Margaret okay? Is the baby okay? Are you okay? Is someone watching Leo? Oh shit, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I missed your calls and your texts and oh my God.”

“Emma, breathe,” David calmly says into the phone, which only really makes her breathe more heavily. “Everything is fine. The doctors say Mary Margaret and Brody are both fine, that he’ll be okay when he’s born from what they can tell. She’s not too early or anything. She’s barely early at all. And Leo is at home with a sitter.”

“I was supposed to be his sitter. I was supposed to be with him.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known she’d be early.” “But I should be there.” She gets up from the couch, already walking upstairs planning on packing her bags to go home. “I’m going to go back my bag right now and change my flight. How long until she delivers do you think?”

“Emma, that’s ridiculous. You can’t get a flight out of there right now. It’s nearly three in the morning here.”

“I’ve got to go,” she tells him, hanging up the phone as her mind runs all over the place as she tries to calculate how long it’ll take to get there. There shouldn’t be any traffic, but she needs a flight. How much is it going to cost her to change to another flight?

In the back of her mind, she knows that she’s being crazy, that it doesn’t matter if she leaves right now or in the morning because there’s no way in hell that she’s going to make it in time for Brody to be born or to watch Leo when they’re already at the hospital. But she’s supposed to be there. This is her family, whether it’s blood or not, and she’s supposed to be there for the big things like this. She starts throwing all of her clothes back into her suitcase, not caring that they’ll get wrinkled, and is zipping up her bag when she hears Killian’s voice.

“Swan, what are you doing?”

She looks up at him as she zips her suitcase. She looks at the way that he’s got his arms crossed over his chest, his muscles bulging a bit with the position, and she looks at the way that his sweatpants hang low on his hips, giving her a glimpse of the trail of hair and the v-shaped muscles that she’s grown so fond of. No, that she loves. She loves him and the way that his eyes are always so beautiful, loves the way that his hair flops over his forehead no matter how he styles it, and she loves the way that he’s always got a smile on his face when he’s looking at her. She loves how he makes her laugh, how he listens to her ramble about the stupidest things, and how he listens, actually listens, to her when she’s telling him something she’s not truly comfortable sharing.

She loves him.

But right now she is absolutely furious at him.

No, right now she’s furious with herself.

She has no idea who she’s furious with.

“I’m going home,” she mumbles, standing from the ground and slipping sandals onto her feet.

“I’m sorry. You’re what now?”

“I’m going home. I have to go home.”

“Emma,” he cautions, coming over to her and placing his hands on her shoulder, squeezing enough that she stops and can see the confusion in his eyes, the uneasiness in his smile, “what are you talking about? Your flight is at noon tomorrow. It’s midnight. We have hours left.”

“I need to go. Mary Margaret is having her baby, and I’m supposed to be there.”

“She’ll understand if you’re not.”

“No,” she groans, backing away from his touch while her mind begins to spiral. She needs it to stop, but she can’t. She can’t make it stop no matter how hard she tries. She’s trying. She really is. “I need to go. I cannot miss this. That is my family, and I’ve missed so much lately. I’ve missed all of these major moments, not to mention all of the little ones, and I need to go home. I don’t need to fucking be here.”

She can feel Killian’s eyes on her, but she has to look away. She can’t look at him, can’t look at the blue or the way that his lips aren’t pressed into a smile. “Darling, there aren’t going to be any flights. It’s late.”

“I still have to go home.”

“Swan, your flight is tomorrow. You’ll be there tomorrow.”

“At, like, midnight. I’ll be home at midnight. I’m going to miss everything.” “You’ll be there after he’s born, after they’ve had time with him.”

“You don’t get it,” she cries, wiping down the tears that are falling on her cheeks while she makes a feeble attempt to regulate her breathing. She stopped breathing, didn’t she? How did she stop breathing? “I’m missing it, Killian. My best friend having a baby, and nothing will change whether I’m there or not, but it’s not just this. It’s everything. If we keep doing this, how much of my life am I going to miss? How much are you going to miss because we’re always on a damn plane or all the way across the country?”

“Emma – ” he cautions, stepping closer to her only for her to back away, to take a step back for every step that he takes forward.

One step forward. Two steps back.

“No, I’m right. We haven’t talked about it, but I’m right.”

“So what do you want?” Killian sighs, an edge of anger seeping into his voice that she hears over the pounding in her head and the thump of her heart against her ribcage.

“I want to go home.”

“That’s not exactly an option right now. So why don’t we just go downstairs and watch TV? You’ll get on your plane in the morning, and you’ll be there as fast as you can.”

“I can’t do this,” she sighs, feeling her breath even out as her chest stops heaving and her face cools down. Her entire body cools down really, the frantic episode that she just went through stopping while she stares down Killian and stares down what her entire future is going to look like. “I can’t do this.” “What can’t you do?”

“This,” she says calmly, pointing between the two of them. “I can’t live with this actual, physical distance between us. I can’t…oh God,” she sobs, covering her mouth with her hands while tears well in her eyes again, everything that she’s been holding down for months  coming to the surface. “I can’t do this.”

“Emma,” he pleads, and she has to ignore the brokenness in his voice. “Love, no, don’t go down that road. We’re fine. Please don’t do this.”

[artificialqueens]

Character development 5 (Branjie) -dexx-ss

a/n: Hi! Hello! How are ya? So this is literally the 3 version of this chapter. I had so many ideas but couldn’t really write them down. And literally took me a month to do this but if I don’t like it I can’t post it XD But I hope you still enjoy this little mess that I have created -xx

VANESSA

A’keria Silky and Vanessa are a group that completes each other. Their friendship started interestingly. Vanessa being blackout drunk because her boyfriend left her and two strangers rushed to help her. They took care of V and listened to her tell her life story. When she finally sobered up a little she decided to ask the two strangers how long have they been together. But that was just met with laughs “Girl, I have no clue who she is” the bigger girl said, “We just both saw you drunk as hell leaving your insides on the streets and thought you needed help.”. It was an interesting night but the next morning they decided to go shopping together and that was the start of a beautiful friendship. And now they know everything about each other. And Lying to her two best friends was not what Vanessa was expecting to ever do.

Vanessa opened her eyes because sunlight was already escaping through her curtains. She slowly rolled over so she could catch the sun rays on her face. Vanessa closed her eyes going through last nights events. For a moment it felt like yesterday was a dream.

After Brooke and she got out of the alley to meet with their friends they went drinking together. All five of them. They celebrated Brooke and Vanessa. They also drank A LOT. So in the morning, Vanessa was kinda surprised to be in her own bed and not Brookes.

Vanessa is never the person to wake up early on weekends or make herself actual breakfast(as in breakfast that isn’t cereal). But today she got up without looking at the clock and seeing it’s only 8 am. Vanessa was so high on happiness that it felt like she was floating on air when Vanessa walked towards the kitchen. She made herself some coffee and started making breakfast. Fucking breakfast. For a moment she debated what to make. Should she make scrambled eggs? But that’s just boring. So V settled on eggs and avocado toast.  Kinda basic but you know give the girl a break. She carelessly gathered all the stuff and started making food(failing miserably) without even realizing that Silky was sitting on the couch looking at her every move. It wasn’t until Vanessa started humming and smiling to herself when Silky made herself seen.

“Bitch,” she yelled making Vanessa almost spill coffee everywhere.  “Jesus fuck, Silk,” Vanessa yelled back “you almost gave me a fucking heart attack!”, “But I didn’t tho,” Silky laughed “Why are you making breakfast?”. Vanessa didn’t say anything. She quietly but her toast, avocado, and eggs on a plate. She took her coffee and went to sit next to Silky. “You want?” she asked with a smile offering her plate to Silky. Silky raised a questioning eyebrow but still took one of the avocado toasts. “Who you sleeping with?”, “I’m no…”, “Sure you are not, you just for no reason start acting like Snow White,” Vanessa just rolled her eyes and made herself more comfortable on the couch. “Brooke,” she said making Silky choke on her toast. Silky but down the remaining toast. Looked at Vanessa. Just looked at her not saying anything. Silky grabbed her phone still staring into Vanessa’s eyes while calling someone. “What is hap-”, “Shush”. Then someone picked up “Whatcha want, big Silk?” said familiar voice. A’kerias voice. “I owe you 20 pucks,” Silky said still staring into Vanessa’s eyes.

BROOKE

Brooke woke up also happy but with a hell of a headache.  After skipping through everything she felt the panic rise in her chest. Brooke had never been in a relationship and she always thought she would never be in one yet she is in one now. She got up quickly to go make herself some coffee.  She felt panic slowly creeping up from the hidden places in her mind. Since she started her thing with Vanessa those panic and anxiety attacks were never there. But for some reason, Brooke felt it again. She took her cup of coffee and made her way to the living room. She saw somebody passed out on the couch.

Nina and Plastique often after drinking spent the night at Brooke’s but they always shared the small couch bed in Brookes office room. So Vanessa was her second thought but wouldn’t she pass out on her bed? To be honest Brooke wasn’t even sure how she got home and she was too afraid to ask anyone too. Brooke sat on the floor in front of the couch and turned on the TV. The lump on the couch behind her shifted. “Oh god, turn this thing off my fucking head,”, “Nina?” Brooke said surprisingly turning off the Tv and turning herself so she could look at the other woman. “Yeah?” Nina sat up grabbing her head with both hands. “Why aren’t you-” before Brooke could finish they heard the office room door opening. Nina quickly got off the couch and sat next to Brooke on the floor, shushing her.

They heard two people sneaking to the door. It was Palsique and Vanessa’s friend- Ariel it was. At the door, they hugged goodbye and promised to text each other. Luckily they didn’t spot Nina and Brooke on the floor. But as soon as the door closed both girls burst into laughter scaring poor Plastique. “You little slut,” Brooke said in between laughing. Plastique just rolled her eyes and went back to the room saying she is gonna sleep a little more cause she didn’t get much sleep last night leaving Nina and Brooke dying with laughter on the floor.

When they finally calmed down Nina placed a hand on B’s shoulder “You okay?”. Brooke looked a little shocked for the question because well yeah she was more than okay. She had as beautiful Latina as her girlfriend. But no she wasn’t because she had a GIRLFRIEND. Shit. fuck. Error. Brooke looked at Nina “Yes and no,” she quietly said “I mean I care for Vanessa truly but like a girlfriend. A girlfriend, Nina. I have never had one. What do you do with it? How often do you have to feed it or take out on walks and- why are you laughing?”, “Okay, first of all, you are talking about Vanessa like she is some sort of animal. She is a grown woman she can take care of herself. Second of all, you need to chill. Otherwise, you are going to overthink this and it’s just not worth it.”. Brooke nodded Nina always knew had to calm her down. But she also was right. If Brooke doesn’t calm down she is going to mess everything up before it all has even started. “Thanks, Nina,” Brooke said with a soft smile. “No worries, boo.” Nina smiled and got up from the floor and so did Brooke. Brooke told Nina to get whatever she wants from the kitchen and went into her bedroom to get her phone. When Brooke looked at it there were quite a few texts from Vanessa.

‘Morning, boo. Hope your head okay <3’

‘Anyways… whatcha doing tonight’

‘I think you should meet Silky’

‘If you want to’

‘I get it if ya don’t it’s okay

‘Anyways let me know’

‘Or don’t’

‘No actually do so like I know’

VANESSA

“So what did your woman say?” Silky asked when Vanessa came out of her bedroom with her phone in her hand. “I texted her,” Vanessa said, “she hasn’t answered yet.”. “You text- Who are you and what have you done with Vanjie, texting over calling that’s new,” Silky said making Vanessa roll her eyes.

Vanessa really wanted Brooke to meet her friends but she knew how protective Silk and A’keria were about her. So Vanessa had a plan if Brooke said yes. She is going to make everybody drink. And by drink, she means to get so hammered that everybody ends up hugging the toilet. Because everybody gets along when they are drunk. Then she will have a few topics ready that everyone has in common so they can talk about them instead of Vanessa.

Dancing is number one. All of them have some kind of connection to dancing. Brooke owns a dance studio. A’keria had dance training when she was little. V and Silky both did hip hop when they were teens. So everybody can share memories and such.

Love for traveling. It’s just a kinda obvious topic because everybody loves to travel. It’s also a good conversation holder because everybody has stories about traveling.

Books. What did V know about books? Well nothing, but she knew that Brooke loved to read and so did her friends. But she didn’t have to worry about it she would just smile and nod.

Hair. Well, they all have hair so they can talk about that. And there isn’t really anything else.

Vanessa’s phone vibrating took her out of her thoughts. “Silky you better be on your best behavior tonight,” Vanessa said with a huge smile when Brooke agreed to meet Silky and A’keria.

The hours went by fast. Vanessa cooked some pasta while Silky went to get the wine. V was so nervous that she was running around the apartment like a headless chicken. Cleaning. Cooking. Drinking. Then more cleaning. And she almost burned the pasta.

How Brooke got along with her best friends mattered the world to Vanessa. Cause Silky and A’keria kinda were Vanessa’s world.  So this had to go perfectly.

Vanessa didn’t even realize when the doorbell rang. When it happened the second time that’s when she realized that Silky is still getting the wine and that it must be Brooke.

“Hi baby,” Vanessa said opening the door to a pretty blonde. Brooke looked absolutely stunning wearing a golden dress that looked like it was made only for her to wear. “Hi,” Brooke said softly meeting Vanessa for a kiss. Vanjie could tell she was nervous. “Silky is still out so come in,” Vanessa said gesturing with her hand for Brooke to step inside quickly making her way back to the kitchen  “make yourself at home.”.

When Vanessa walked back to the livingroom Brooke was sitting on the couch scrolling on her phone. She offered Brooke a glass of wine. “You look nervous,” Vanessa said with a smile. “So do you,” Brooke said with a smirk. Vanessa opened her mouth to say something but the front door busted open. Silky and A’keria both standing in the doorway. “So where’s the blonde bitch,” Silky yelled not realizing that Brooke was sitting right there. Vanessa quickly looked at Brooke and mouthed sorry her way. Luckily Brooke just laughed and went to introduce herself. The sight of Brooke, Silky and A'keria chatting away made Vanessa’s heart happy. There was no other way to explain it. It just felt right.

The night was going perfectly fine. Although Vanessa had used almost all the chat topics except the last one. But because everyone was slightly wine drunk and the conversation just kept going she was pretty confident that she doesn’t have to use it.

“So Brooke what’s your deal,” Akira said. Vanjie immediately recognized that tone. It was the “best friend talk” voice. It was the same thing as a big brother talk or whatever. Since A'keria and Silky realized how easy it is to break Vanessa’s heart they started doing those talks to Vanessa’s dates. Firstly asking what are their plans now and in the future and then after all that asking where they’d place Vanessa in their future. And it isn’t like Vanessa doesn’t want to know but it’s more like she wants to protect herself from the fact that usually, the other people haven’t thought about that. And also this time A’kerias voice seemed a little threatening.  “HAIR,” Vanessa suddenly yelled and everybody looked at her “How did you get your hair like that, A’keria?”. A’keria raised a questioning eyebrow “In a ponytail?”. Vanessa rolled her eyes “No it’s such a pretty color right now like how did you do that?”. A’keria started telling her hairdresser stories. And Vanessa calmed down for a little because those were always long.

BROOKE

While Brooke was trying to figure out what she should wear her thoughts immediately shifted to what can go wrong with the night. What if Vanessa friend hate her? Brooke knows how important Vanessa’s best friends are to her and she can’t help but think what would V do if they do not like her. “Calm down Brooke,” she says to herself rubbing her face. It’s not like she is meeting Vanessa’s family. Oh, GOD. One day maybe she has to do that too. What if she does not go. She just changes her phone number and moves elsewhere. Okay, maybe that’s too extreme.  Brooke could never do that to Vanessa.

At Vanessa’s door before ringing the doorbell Brooke also thought about turning around and walking away. Her anxiety getting the best of her. But something just didn’t let her. So she rang the bell. Nothing. For a moment Brooke was scared that she was at the wrong door. She had been to Vanessa’s place many times tho. But inside she did hear someone walking around and swearing. Realizing it was probably Vanessa she just smiled and rang the bell again. a few seconds later the door opens. It’s Vanessa. Nope. It’s her girlfriend Vanessa.

Brooke sat on the couch while Vanessa still shuffled around. She offered Brooke a class of wine telling that she looks nervous. What she wanted to say was: Of course, I look nervous. Jesus! Thanks for pointing out the obvious. I just wasn’t crazily texting Nina asking is it too late to tap out. But she just settled on “So do you,”. And then the door busted open. Well, that’s a great start by them calling her a bitch. But Brooke really wasn’t surprised by it and just laughed making her way to introduce herself.

The night was going quite well in Brookes opinion. And then A’keria asks “So, Brooke, what’s your deal,”. That question confused Brooke. What does she mean by that? Does she wanna know about her future plans in life? But the done seemed kinda threatening. So maybe she wants to know about her and Vanessa. But before she can think about it any longer the topic has been changed and they are suddenly talking about hair. But Brooke couldn’t really focus because now all that was playing in her head was A’kerias question.

The rest of the evening went by also quite nicely. At some point, they ate. And Brooke got a feeling that A’keria doesn’t really like her. From time to times she caught A’keria staring at her looking like she was trying to kill Brooke with her eyes.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom, be right back,” Vanjie said at some point. Silky also went away, well to the kitchen to get more wine. So it was just A’keria and Brooke now.

“So, Miss Brooke Lynn,” A’keria said with a smirk on her face “does the name Kameron ring any bells?”. Brooke’s eyes widened. She can’t mean that Kameron. How does she know about her? No. There is no way. “Kameron who?” Brooke asked trying her best to stay calm. “Michaels,” A’keria said casually taking a sip of her drink. Brooke felt her face go white. Her throat was dry. “Oh, shit,” was the only thing that Brooke could say.

[wolfie-dragon-rider]

Bursts of Light, Day 23: Arguing

Hey everyone, I'm back with another drabble. This one takes place during the first half of their honeymoon! Next day's drabble, Making Up Afterwards, will be a sequel/conclusion to this one, so don't worry: They'll realize how dumb they're being and figure out how to live together.

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

Day 1

Astrid woke up at dawn as usual, though she instantly felt on alert. The blanket she was lying under had a different texture, and a sunbeam hit her face at a different angle than it normally did. She kept her eyes closed, groaning softly at the ache in her thighs when she shifted. What was going on? Her brain was too sluggish for this.

All of a sudden something moved behind her, and then something cold and rough touched the back of her leg. Her naked leg. She yelped loudly, jumping away from the freezing thing behind her. Cold air all over her body told her she was naked, and she instinctively grabbed the blankets and wrapped them around herself.

"Astrid? What's wrong?" Hiccup's voice mumbled, and it was only then that Astrid realized that he was in the bed with her.

Just as naked as she was, everything on display now that she snatched the blanket.

Everything came flooding back. They got married yesterday. They moved into their own house, made love, and this was the first day of their new life together.

"'Strid? Are you hurt?" Hiccup asked again, clearly still sleepy.

"No, no, it's… sorry, I'm not used to waking up with someone else. I panicked. But it's okay now," she told him, pressing herself against him and pulling the blanket back over them. "Your feet- Uh, foot, is freezing cold, by the way."

He chuckled awkwardly, and memories of last night came flooding back. That explained the soreness. But it was a good soreness. Like the ache she got when she did a new training exercise.

"I guess we'll have to warm up then," he mumbled, pulling her a little closer to him (oh gods, he was cold everywhere!). She turned her head to see his smirk. Huh, that's a different attitude from last night. But not an entirely unwelcome one, despite the fading soreness. She'd had worse pains.

"Oh, getting cocky, eh? Ready for more?" she asked, climbing on top of him. She was about to kiss him when her leg brushed his foot again.

"Okay, seriously though, I really hope that foot won't always be this cold," Astrid said, before they stopped talking for a while.

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

Day 3

"Astrid, where is my whetstone? I put it on the workbench yesterday but now it's gone!" Hiccup shouted, blindly digging through the pile of scrap metal and chips of wood that was stacked in his workshop.

"I don't know! You probably misplaced it! You know, it's been two days and the place is already a mess!" she shouted back as he dropped a sheet of metal he had been looking under. It clanged loudly as it hit his prosthetic, echoing through the house with an angry chime.

"Kicking it won't help!" Astrid said, entering behind him. Her words made him want to actually kick something.

"I didn't- It fell, okay. And it's not a mess. I have a system. A system that you interfere with," he said, breathing heavily in an attempt to keep his temper.

"Oh really, I always figured the system was that you just put stuff on the pile closest to you. And then when you inevitably forget which pile you put what in, you ask me to find it for you," she said in a teasing tone, but it stung all the same.

"It's not like that! You never pay attention-" he forced himself to stop there. Finishing that accusation would lead to nothing good.

"Look, it's right here, in between these very precariously stacked piles of jagged metal. Real safe there, Hiccup," Astrid said, pushing him aside to take something from the bench.

"Says the girl who nearly threw an axe into my head this morning," he muttered, remembering the terror he had felt at the cold iron grazing his cheek when he walked outside to get some water.

"Oh, come on, you know the backyard is my place, I train there, even when we're cooped up in this house!" she said, slamming the whetstone into his open hand. He flinched, nearly dropping the small tool.

"Well, this room is my place, so how about you stop complaining about my stuff in here, and I stop talking about your axe throwing out there!" Hiccup shouted, turning away from her. Some part of him wanted out, wanted to run as far away from this stupid argument as possible. But isn't this what married life is supposed to be? Always being together, happy in the same space all the time?

"Fine! But don't call me next time you lose something," Astrid shouted, leaving the room.

"And I won't fix your axe when you hit the rocks again!" he shouted back. The only response he got was the door slamming hard, shaking in its hinges. He felt like a complete idiot. But surely this was over, they established their boundaries for some personal space, and now they could move on.

Just 24 days to go until the Honeymoon was over.

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

Day 8

Astrid flinched, dropping the soap she was holding when the loud crack of shattering earthenware rang through the room. She turned around to see shards all over the floor of what had been her mug just two seconds ago.

"Hiccup!" she shouted, taking the soap again and putting it away as he stood there sheepishly, surrounded by the broken shards.

"Sorry! I didn't know it was there! The counter was empty a minute ago so I wanted to put my plate away!" he said defensively, not moving to clean it up. His dirty plate sat on the counter where the mug had been, and for second she got the ridiculous urge to smash it as revenge.

"Yeah, I put it there to wash it. Like I was gonna wash your dirty dishes," she snarked instead.

"Hey, you have a dirty plate too, it's not just my mess," he said, still not doing anything about the shards on the floor.

"Funny since I always seem to be the one to do the dishes. You just put them on the counter and expect them to magically clean themselves!"

Astrid didn't know what it was about this honeymoon that made her just so… annoyed at everything Hiccup did. Things that had been endearing or cute while they were just dating, like how he never dared to get in her way, or his bumbling when he broke something, were now infuriating.

Maybe it was the fact that they had gone so suddenly from living separately with their families to being forced to be in the same house together for literally an entire month. Before Astrid had been able to get away and cool off if he did something annoying, and she didn't have to endure the stupid habits he had that she never noticed.

Like how he kept making this ticking sound with his tongue, or would roll over constantly in his sleep, or barely offered to help her with housework.

It was so confusing. Astrid still loved him so much, still wanted him so much. Despite their fights they could barely keep their hands off each other, taking advantage of every flat surface in the house.

Sometimes it was like everything Hiccup did either infuriated her or turned her on. It was a confusing whirlwind of emotions that she just hadn't expected three years into their relationship.

"I don't do the dishes because the last time I tried, you complained I missed spots I couldn't see!" Hiccup shouted, and she was brought back to their current argument.

"Fine, just go and… do your thing. I'll clean your mess. Again," she sighed, grabbing some big shards and throwing them in the trash. For a second Hiccup looked really sad and guilty, and she thought he was going to say something, but then the moment passed. He turned and left the kitchen, slamming the door to his workshop with a loud bang.

She knew it wouldn't last, that in a few hours they'd be all over each other again and declaring their love amidst heavy sighs and deep moans, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about these fights. What if they'd get worse?

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

Day 13

"Hiccup, come to bed!" Astrid shouted as he sketched his newest invention: a sewing machine that could do the work of 8 spinsters.

"Just a minute," he mumbled, ignoring her long groan.

"That's what you said an hour ago! That's it, I'm going to bed now. You better not wake me when you finally get tired."

"That's the first time you complain about my inventing at night," he chuckled. There was a short silence that suddenly ended with a smack when Astrid threw a pillow at him.

"Because back then we didn't get to sleep together dammit! Gods, I thought it was the men always trying to get their women into their bed, not the other way around!" she shouted, and Hiccup wasn't entirely sure if she was actually angry or just joking. Either way, the remark stung, and he couldn't help stinging back.

"At least this way I'm not freezing you with my cold feet."

He almost instantly regretted the words, but Astrid's growl only made him want to dig in further.

"Fine, have it your way. I'm going to sleep now and if you wake me later, I swear to Thor…" she muttered, grabbing the pillow from where it had bounced off to and getting in bed with a loud huff.

"Good night," he said, more sarcastic than really necessary.

"...G'night" eventually came from the bed, very softly like she didn't really want him to hear it. It made him feel guilty. Still, this machine he was sketching required his focus, so he refused to listen to Astrid's breathing slowly turning to snoring.

Even when her snores quieted Hiccup had a hard time focusing on the invention. His thoughts kept turning back to the past two weeks they lived together. Before he hadn't expected it to change their lives much. They already spent a lot of their waking hours together; marrying just added their non-waking hours. And yet something had shifted, and he wasn't sure what it was.

Maybe the source of his frustrations and snarkiness wasn't really her, maybe it was just being stuck in this house for the honeymoon. He missed Toothless, and their morning flights. But no, the council had decided that the honeymoon isolation included their dragons. So he didn't get to fly, didn't get to play with his best friend.

And yet it wasn't just that either. Astrid could be so overbearing, so imposing, and that gigantic presence was hard when they were stuck inside such a tiny house. He felt like he was suffocating at times, like he couldn't even breathe without her noticing something that would lead to a fight.

Maybe that was why he was still awake now, long after she had gone to sleep. He felt free somehow. Alone.

Could there be such a thing as 'too much Astrid' in his life? Just two weeks ago he'd have said no. Now he wasn't sure. His thoughts kept going in circles, veering between annoyance at some of the things she had said and guilt over what he had shouted back.

It was only when he crawled into bed behind her hours later, as gently as he could to avoid disturbing her, that he whispered "I love you, and I'm sorry," in her sleeping ear.

[outerspaceisbetterthannothing]

Blame [Surgeon!Calum AU] Ch.3

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

Summary: What do you do if the only person you feel the connection to is the person you blamed for your sibling’s death?

A/N: This thing came up from my headass asks to wonderful Summer about neonatal surgeon!Calum au, which you can see here and here and here to understand the concept. I didn’t plan to do it at all, but the idea stuck in my mind and with support and encouragement from Summer, I came up with that. This is my first time publishing anything on Tumblr, so the feedback is extremely appreciated. Enjoy

Warnings: much less angst (I promised it’ll get better very soon), couple curse words, lack of proofreading

Chapter 3

The morning was gloomy just like Anna’s mood. She yawned again and switched off the stove, her fried eggs almost ready. She grimaced, moving them to the plate and sitting at the table. She didn’t like fried eggs, but that was basically the last piece of food in her fridge.

She remembered yesterday’s wish to cook something for dinner. Like there was anything to actually cook.

She added grocery shopping to the to-do list she was currently making up in her head and winced at too bitter taste of coffee. She ran out of milk… when exactly? Last week?

Anna wasn’t typically so bad at housekeeping. But last week’s events really messed with her routine. If things had gone differently, she wouldn’t have sat here having breakfast out of the last two eggs from her fridge. She would have been staying at Staten Island with her parents, helping around the house. She’d planned to be back to her flat the very morning of her first classes and purposefully emptied her fridge not really wishing to deal with spoilt leftovers. Now she had to adapt to new circumstances.

She finished her eggs and gave it another thought. It was Thursday morning. She was about to leave to her parents’ the next afternoon and stay at their house for as long as possible. Was it reasonable to go grocery shopping now? Or better fall back into the sinful habit of takeaways?

The very moment she was tossing between those two options, her phone vibrated shortly.

Anna took a deep breath and checked her messages. It was Ally. Anna felt her heart slowing down. Of course it was just Allie and not him.

“Jo’s cooking lasagna tonight, so I thought about grabbing some Thai food. What do u say? Noodles and wine?”

Anna couldn’t help smirking to that. Jo had an Italian Grandma, who she’d never seen in her life. Grandma Falsetti died pretty young, couple years before Jo’s Mom and Dad even met. Nevertheless Jo felt some deep connection to her late Grandma Falsetti. This connection came out in a peculiar idea that Jo had a secret talent to cook true Italian lasagna. How and when that idea settled in Jo’s eccentric mind girls had no idea. But every now and then Jo tried to prove her secret and probably yet sleeping cooking talent. She bought everything the little Italian grocery shop nearby could offer and started another crusade towards her dream dish. It would have been probably an easier task if she’d ever looked up any lasagna recipes. But Jo didn’t believe in online cookbooks and instead had an absolute faith in her spiritual connection to Grandma Falsetti. Allie and Anna never questioned that connection. They learned after the first lasagna dinner that Jo was her own fiercest critic, and every result of her desperate attempts to wake up her Italian roots was eventually thrown away. And every lasagna dinner was easily turned into a pizza dinner. Or Chinese dinner. Today it was Thai. Anna particularly adored lasagna dinners for their optimistic spirit. Jo, being a crazy passionate optimist, was never taken down by her failures in the kitchen and kept repeating that every experience was an experience. At least now she knew several wrong ways to cook lasagna, which only brought her closer to the right one.

Today’s invitation, being welcoming and well-timed on its own, also solved her grocery shopping dilemma.

Annabelle typed back “Sure! Will be there by 8. Wine’s on me” and wanted to switch off the phone but halted, her gaze settled at the contact name of the next dialogue. Her heartbeat picked up its pace again. She opened the tab, scrolled up to the very beginning and started rereading their messages. As if she hadn’t already learned them by heart.

She remember last night’s hesitation and sudden urge to text him. Still hadn’t quite understood what made her do it. And of course the first ever idea of what to type was exactly as silly as all her words said or sent to him so far.

23.46 “What would’ve happened if I’d taken a coffee?”

Even several hours later she still blushed rereading that. Why couldn’t she have started with simple “Hi” or “It’s Anna, sorry to bother”? Why her subconscious was making her look ridiculous?

23.47 “There would’ve been one coffee less on the table in the on-call room”

The speed and simplicity of his answer was calming and exciting at the same time. He stated that just like they were continuing a conversation they’d paused a minute ago and not fifteen hours. It made her almost dizzy. To the point of completely losing her mind judging by her next questions.

23.48 “That easy?”

23.49 “That easy”

23.49 “And nothing more?”

23.50 “And nothing more”

Anna dropped her phone on the table and hid her face in her hands, groaning quietly. Such a dumbass…

She recalled staring at his short unimaginative responses last night for couple minutes. After which she’d remembered about good manners.

23.54 “Sorry for the late night messages”

“Especially so stupid ones,” she thought now.

23.55 “I’ve at least 8 more hours on a shift so not so late night for me”

23.55 “Oh, ok”

The sounds, that were Anna’s reaction to that fine piece of epistolary genre, were hardly human.

23.56 “Working tmrrw too?”

23.57 “No, days off till Sat. Y?”

Anna’s hands started shaking again, almost like last night when she was typing her next message, praying at the same time for an alien invasion which would instantly block all the mobile connection and stop her from finishing her question. Whatever impediment this insane world could offer would actually do, she’d thought, cause she wasn’t able to stop her fingers from typing and feared to death to actually ask him what she was about to ask.

23.59 “Could we maybe meet up? For a coffee or sth? I really need to talk to you”

She still couldn’t believe she wrote about coffee. But as usual realisation came after she pressed send. She’d sat on her bed after that biting her fingers nervously and looking at three little dots showing on his side of the screen.

00.00 “Sure. Fri noon ok?”

Annabelle hadn’t noticed she’d hold her breath till she got that text. She’d gasped for air and almost jumped on her bed.

00.01 “Yeah, totaly”

00.02 “Let’s hold on to that, but i’ll confirm tomorrow evening in case they call me in overnight”

00.02 “Yeah, cool”

00.03 “Goodnight then”

Anna exhaled loudly rereading that last message from him for a thousandth time at least.

Why that simple sign of politeness was raising such sensation in her? Why did she see something more than just politeness behind those two words? And why everything about that man was so damn intense?

***

“It’s all about the right mood,” Jo repeated for the third time, putting her future masterpiece in the oven.

“Whose mood exactly?” mocked her Allie. Jo continued staring into the oven through the thick glass and didn't pay much attention to her friend’s words.

“Yeah, Jo, whose mood?” joined Anna, “A cook’s?”

“Or maybe guest’s?”

“No, no, no, I know! It’s all about the lasagna’s mood!” Anna started giggling, mostly because of her fair share of wine, consumed while Jo was cooking.

Jo smirked, standing up. “You are absolute bitches today, ladies! Congratulations!”

Anna and Allie raised glasses in a joky toast from the opposite side of a kitchen island.

“So, how are your parents?” Allie asked in much more serious tone.

Anna put her glass down and shrugged silently. Jo sent Allie disapproval look.

“You’ve seen my Mom in the hospital. She tries to act normal. But of course it’s hard. It’s hard for everyone,” finally said Anna. “I don’t even know what is worse, the way she acts now, or if she spent all her time alone and crying and mourning.”

“Of course second option is worse, darling,” said Jo softly.

“But shouldn’t you like… go through it. You know, anger, depression, all that stuff. I feel like she’s stuck in her denial phase. What if she’s actually harming herself that way?”

Jo was obviously lost for words. Allie sighed deeply and noted, “Everybody copes their own way. Knowing Jennifer, it’s quite understandable that she doesn’t want other people to see her grief. She’s exactly that type of woman who’d cry for three days and then stand up and go on with her life. She was never the one to dwell.”

Anna nodded, took another sip of her wine. “I get it. And you right. It’s just. I don’t know, I feel like I miss on something. The way they react… We did have time to prepare to any outcome, knowing about Grayson’s heart condition for some time. But… I sometimes feel like they overcame it in like couple hours. I know they actually didn’t, they do grieve. But the fact that they don’t really show it leaves me confused. Because I don’t understand anything. What should I do? Should I cry? Should I be angry? Should I let go and act it like there were no baby at all? I cried with my Mom the very first day, I had my gush of anger. But now…” she shook her head. “I’m literally at a loss. And my emotions are at a verge. One moment I’m completely alright, the next I’m sobbing in the middle of a parking lot. I mean, what is wrong with me?”

“Hey, nothing is wrong with you,” reassured her Jo, while Allie simply hugged Anna and stayed like that. “There is no instruction that will tell you how you should feel. Because there’s no should, Belle. You just feel, the way you do. And if it means crying in the middle of the fucking parking lot, then fine!”

Anna snorted to that, feeling tears in her eyes. “I just feel like a freak.”

“You’re not. You are hurting. It’ll take time. Just give it some time,” almost whispered Allie.

“Guess, you’re right.”

Anna took another sip of her wine and went faster, like she just remembered it. “About Saturday, there’ll be no funeral. Mom wanted cremation. So it’ll be just a little memorial-ish stuff at our house, nothing official at all. Only family and closest friends. Will you come anyway?’

“Of course, darling,” confirmed Allie. “Noon?”

“Yeah.”

They kept silence for some time, drinking and not looking at each other. Then Jo, visibly hesitating, decided to ask. “Belle, is Bryan going to come?”

Allie rolled her eyes to that question and Anna snorted.

“Yes, Jo, I’m sorry to upset you, but Bryan is going to be there. We messaged yesterday and he confirmed, that he won’t leave for school till Monday.”

“Messaged?” Jo asked in slight confusion. “You didn't talk to him?”

Anna shrugged nonchalantly, than added. “Wasn't feeling like talking.” And set her gaze at the wine glass she was twisting in her fingers.

Jo looked at Allie, who shook her head asking Jo to drop the topic. Jo widened her eyes in fake innocence when Anna sighed and gave in. “Say it,” she stated firmly.

“What?” Jo decided to continue acting innocent.

“Whatever you wanted to say. Just say it.”

“I just-” Jo hesitated for a moment, which made Anna look up at her friend in mild surprise. If there was one thing Jo could never be accused of it was hesitation. “Don't you think it's rather odd, Belle? He’s your boyfriend of more than three years and you wasn't feeling like talking to him in the probably darkest moment of you life.”

Anna frowned and looked at Allie. “Do you think it's odd too?”

Allie shook her head finishing her wine. “Can you please keep me out of this conversation?” she said, when realised that her friends’ gazes didn't move from her.

“No?” Anna raised her eyebrows.

Allie rolled her eyes at Jo and looked at her empty glass. “Well, I guess, it is a little odd. I guess if I was in the relationship I would want the guy to take care of me in such moment,” she shrugged. “But everybody's different. And if you feel like being alone, it seems totally fine to me,” she concluded, stressing her last words and looking at Jo again.

“Well, I'm sorry for being so hard-heartedly honest, but it doesn't really seems fine to me,” stated Jo.

A loud sound struck in the settled silence. Anna looked back at the couch where she left her phone. “To tell the truth, Jo, Bryan is definitely the last of my problems right now.”

She stood up and stepped to the couch to check the message. She was intended to keep her face emotionless not to give much away (mostly because there was literally nothing to give away), but she couldn't help her smile when she saw the contact name.

“Still up for that coffee?”

Her fingers started typing before she even thought about her reply. She waited a moment till he sent her an address of a little coffee shop next to the NY public library, switched her screen off, went back to the kitchen island and realised that girls’ gazes were on her all that time.

“What?” she played dumb under Jo’s questioning look.

“Who was that?” Jo obviously had a hard time trying to suppress her curiosity. Anna looked at her, then at Allie, who as usual wasn't giving much away, but was definitely interested too.

“That was…” Anna stumbled. How would she explain all of it?

“Don't say that was nobody!” exclaimed Jo. “I swear, Belle, if you say it was nobody, I'll steal you phone and look.”

Anna was taken aback. “Hey, chill, would you? Why does it even matter?”

“Because you smiled,” quietly said Allie and Anna felt almost betrayed.

“And not just smiled! You smiled your special little smile,” continued Jo as she started to slightly bounce on her tiptoes impatiently.

“Special smile? I don't have any special smiles, what are you even talking about?”

“You do,” noted Allie matter of factly.

“See? Thank you, Allie! Now spill the beans!”

“There's nothing to spill. It was Dr. Hood.” She took a bottle and poured herself more wine, but mostly just to occupy herself with something cause she suddenly felt awkward.

“Dr. Hood?” Jo repeated in disbelief and Allie almost choked on her wine. “Is it that hot doctor we saw staring at you at the hospital?”

“Well, yes,” Anna confirmed, still not risking to look at her friends.

Jo shrieked and spinned throwing her arms up in the air. “I knew it!” she yelled looking at Anna with excitement. “I knew there was something between the two of you!”

“There’s literally nothing between us, I swear,” Anna said holding her hands up in calming gesture.

“Wait, first things first! How did it even happen that you text?” bursted Allie being as excited as Jo, to Anna’s utter bewilderment.

“Well, he gave us his card, you know, just in case, when Mom only got to the hospital,” Anna explained.

Jo gave a whistle. “So it was you who texted first? I can say that I've never been so proud of you, my little Belle!”

Anna sighed and hid her head in her hands. “It’s absolutely not like that, Jo!” she groaned. “Can you not, please?”

“Then just tell us!” begged Jo.

“I shouted at him, okay?” Anna confessed, still hiding her face. Then she took a deep breath, took her hand off of her face and met two shocked stares. “The gush of anger I had,” she started explaining. “It was the very night Grayson died. I'd been hiding in the hospital corridors for some time, needed some privacy to bail my eyes out, you know. And then I decided to come back to my Mom's room and I saw him in a hall. And… it was really awful. I blamed him for everything, said he hadn't saved my brother, that it was his fault. Then started crying again. An absolute mess.”

Anna shook her head on the unwanted memory.

“What did he do?” Allie asked softly.

“Nothing much. He held me the whole time I was crying, ‘s all.”

The room was silent for some time.

“So why did you text him?” finally asked Jo.

Anna looked up at her. “I asked him to meet me. I need to apologize properly for what a horrible person I was to him.”

“Anna,” Allie gasped putting her hand on Anna’s back and stroking her soothingly. “You aren't a horrible person. You were devastated by your loss. What you did is more than understandable.”

Anna chuckled bitterly. “It wasn't actually the only shit thing I did.”

“What?”

“The day you came to visit my Mom, I was sitting on the bench in front of the hospital that morning. I was sitting there every morning before entering, actually. Needed a moment to myself, you know. So he sat next to me and offered coffee he’d bought for me. And I just shoved him off like a total bitch. And he just tried to be friendly.”

“Belle, I'm sure he understands,” tried to reassure her Jo.

“Of course, he does,” Annabelle agreed. “But that's not the point at all. The way I acted, that's not me. I'm not that person and I need him to know it. I can't explain, but I just can't leave it like that. I owe him an apology no matter what reasons I had.”

“When are you meeting?” Jo asked a moment later.

“Tomorrow noon,” she answered as Jo’s oven alarm went off.

Jo bounced again in anticipation and picked potholders. “Finally!” she breathed out, opening the oven.

They understood something was wrong as soon as Jo started cutting it in portions. The dish was basically breaking under her knife with loud crunching. Allie and Anna looked at each other too scared to say a word. Jo groaned, mumbled something about “the fucking fuck” and threw another result of her cooking into her trash bin. Then she looked up at girls and asked, looking tired and pissed, “So, what did you bring today?”

“Thai,” confessed Allie with shy smile. “But we need to heat it up.”

“Well, you know how to use my microwave,” Jo shrugged waving to Anna. “Belle, give me that damn bottle, will you? I need to drink up that disaster.”

Annabelle giggled, handing Jo wine and smiling at the visibly lightening mood. She couldn't help but thought that no matter what was happening in her life, lasagna dinners would always be there to save her from all the troubles. And at that moment she couldn't be more grateful for that.

***

“Are you sure you wanna go today?” her dad asked for at least fourth time. “Traffic’s gonna be awful.”

Anna smiled. “Dad, it's New York, traffic’s gonna be awful no matter when I decide to come.”

He chuckled lightly. “Okay, sweetheart. You gonna stay for the whole weekend?”

“No, actually I was about to stay till Tuesday. I've got first class in the afternoon so I could leave in the morning.”

“You sure?”

“Well, yeah. As long as you okay with me bothering you for so long,” she joked.

“Don't be silly.” Annabelle could see her Dad’s frown right now and smiled wider. “I just thought as it’s your last weekend before school starts you’d want…”

Anna didn't let him finish. “There’s no other place I’d rather be right now, Dad.”

“Sure thing, Anna.”

“I'll text you when I set off, ‘kay? Don't start dinner without me!”

“Can't promise you anything, sweetheart. Your Mom’s cooking curry tonight so…”

“I won't speak to you ever again if you start without me!” she threatened, giggling.

“I'm just saying I wouldn't waste much time for packing if I were you,” Mark teased again.

“I’m leaving right now,” Anna heard her father chuckle again and the sound made her heart shrink. Or maybe it was the sight of a tall man in black shirt and black jeans waiting for her outside of a quite busy coffee shop. Anna felt her hands starting to shake. “Dad, I have to go, but I'll text you later.”

“Okay, darling. I love you.”

“Love you too. See you tonight,” Anna mumbled and finished her call.

That very moment he saw her and put his phone he was scrolling through while waiting in the pocket of his jeans.

Anna felt her heart setting off in a running pace. Say Hi or Hello? Smile or better not? What was more appropriate in conversation with a man she’d accused of the most horrible things?

“I thought of buying us coffee, but realised you’ve never actually told me,” he said with a ghost of a smile on his lips, saving her from struggling with her first words.

“Never told you what?” Anna felt lost at this.

“What coffee you prefer,” he explained and let smile touch his face finally.

Anna widened her eyes half because of the fact that she didn't understand that herself, half because he wanted to buy her coffee even after she shoved him off the last time he did. “Er, cappuccino would be fine, but you don't have to buy me coffee,” she shook her head frowning a little.

He shrugged and stepped into the coffee shop without sparing her another word. Anna followed him just to see the barista noticing him and raising an eyebrow in a silent question.

“I was right,” told him Dr. Hood leaving Anna even more at a loss.

The barista guy smirked and handed him two coffee cups, giving Anna an examining look.

Dr. Hood turned back to Anna and gestured her to go back to the street.

“There are tables in the park across the street,” he showed her. “We can sit there and talk. And here's your cappuccino,” he handed her a cup and stepped towards the said park.

“So you did buy me coffee,” she concluded looking at his back and following him suit.

He shrugged and Anna thought she heard him snort. “It was a lucky shot. You just seemed like a cappuccino type,” he said and looked at her as they entered the park.

“A cappuccino type,” Anna murmured to herself having close to no clue what he was actually talking about. What was a cappuccino type after all?

“Well thanks for the coffee,” she said as they settled at a table next to a big tree and as far away from the walking paths as possible. She noted his lips twitch a little. “And thank you for not commenting on it further,” she sighed, looking away from him.

“Any time,” he answered, took a sip of his coffee and asked, “How have you been?”

Anna shrugged. What could she answer to that? Was she alright? She wasn’t even sure what alright was anymore. She looked back at him, taking slightly aback by the unexpected seriousness in his eyes. She shrugged again and saw his nod of understanding. He wasn’t looking at her with sympathy or pity, wasn’t judgemental or embarrassed by the pain behind that shrug. He just understood. And surprisingly it was exactly what she needed right now.

“So why did you wanna see me?” he asked after another minute of sitting there in silence.

Anna felt tears coming up to her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him, not again. She gathered all the courage she had left in her and breathed out, “Dr. Hood, I-”

“It’s Calum,” he interrupted her with a shy smile.

Anna looked up at him again. “Um, what?”

“My name is Calum,” he repeated, his smile widening. “We’re no longer in doctor-patient relationship. Truth to be told we’ve never actually were. But anyway, call me Calum, please. Dr. Hood still has me a little uncomfortable,” he admitted.

“Oh, okay,” Annabelle mumbled, cursing herself again for the stupid childish answers. “Well, Calum, I just wanted to apologize,” she stated, looking at her hands, started picking on her nail polish out of nervousness. “For the night it all happened and for the Wednesday morning too. I had no right to blame you for what happened, I know you’ve done everything that was possible. And I’m sorry I was a total bitch to you when you just tried to be friendly. And-”

“Hey, don’t,” he stopped her again and suddenly Anna felt his right hand gripping on hers. His hand was hot and soft and so big, with three letters tattooed between his thumb and index finger. He waited till she looked back at him and said softly, “You don’t have to apologize. I totally understand.”

Anna shook her head and leaned back on her chair, her hands are still in his grip. She noticed with her side sight a little girl in pretty pink dress running excitedly around a woman several meters behind Calum and felt tears coming up again. “It doesn’t matter if I had a reason or not. I’m thankful you understand, but I still had no right to act like I did towards you. And I’m so sorry that I did. And I really hope you could forgive me, cause honestly words cannot even start to explain how grateful I am for everything you did.”

Calum smiled again and started with, “Anna, you-” but this time he was interrupted.

Two tiny hands gripped on his left arm and a chubby cheek pressed to his tattooed biceps. Calum turned his look to the little intruder. Annabelle freed her hands from his grip and looked at a little girl in confusion. Pretty pink dress with a flowery print told her it was the same girl she noticed couple minutes ago. The girl was about three, had pretty curls the color of milk chocolate and big blue eyes, which were fixed on Calum’s still slightly surprised face.

“And who is that here?” he chuckled, big smile on his face.

“It’s just me, doctah Cawum,” she replied and giggled, not looking anywhere but at him. “I made a wish I meet you today,” she revealed shyly and giggled again.

“Seems like a real magic to me,” Calum chuckled again, standing up from his chair and bending down to the girl. “Now, I guess I deserve my hug.”

The girl laughed happily, as he lifted her up and spinned couple of times, squeezing her in his massive arms. They stopped and the girl pulled back a little, settling comfortable on his hip. That was exactly when a woman the girl was with came up to them, she looked a little embarrassed and angry.

“Aubrie, how many times do I need to tell you not to run away from me?” she nagged little girl in a rather soft voice.

“But I saw doctah Cawum!” Aubrie stated, like it was totally indulging. The woman snorted, looking at the man holding her little daughter. “Of course you did,” she sighed. “Hello, Calum! And I’m sorry we interrupted you,” she looked apologetically at Anna.

Calum hugged her with his free arm with no hesitation. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m always glad to see you. This is Anna, by the way,” he looked back at Annabelle. Anna smiled at the woman. “And these are Laura and my favourite patient Princess Aubrie,” he introduced them, bouncing Aubrie on his hip.

“I’m not a patient, I’m your friend!” exclaimed Aubrie and hid her face in his neck.

“Oh, I’m so silly! I’m sorry, princess, of course you’re my friend!” he agreed easily and moved his gaze to Laura. “You were at the hospital? How is our little girl?”

“Yeah, we were at the usual checking. Dr. Irwin said she’s absolutely okay. Even approved on dancing classes,” she smiled, stroking Aubries curls.

“Will you come to my concert when I be dancin’ pwincess?” Aubrie asked, pulling away and looking at Calum with eyes full of adoration.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he promised, hugging her again.

“Okay, angel, we have to go,” her mother sighed. “Hug doctor Calum goodbye and let’s go.”

“No, Mama,” whined Aubrie and clung on Calum’s neck with both hands, making him laugh quietly.

“Remember you wanted to buy those beautiful cups for your garden party? If we go now we’ll probably have enough time to do it today,” traded Laura with a mischievous grin.

Her trick obviously worked, as Aubrie let go off Calum’s neck with a sad expression on her face.

“Will you come to my garden party?” she asked him, before letting him put her down.

“Well, if your Mom and Dad are okay with that,” he hold back for a moment.

“Come on, Calum, you know, you are always a welcome guest in our house,” smiled Laura at him.

“I will most definitely come,” Calum promised to the little girl in his arms. “When is it going to be?”

“Next Saturday, at around three,” said Laura, as Aubrie struggled with answering, probably not very good with days and time yet.

“Then I’ll see you there, right, princess?” Calum asked Aubrie, and she nodded excitedly, glowing with happiness.

He hugged Aubrie one more time, they said their goodbyes with Laura, who shared one more smile with Anna, and with that they left.

Calum stood there for a moment more, looking after them, and then sat back down on his chair, shy smile still on his lips.

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled, looking at Anna.

“That’s okay,” she smiled back, even though her heart was aching from the sight of a happy little kid. “Did you treat her?”

Callum hummed admittedly.

“Tell me about it,” Anna asked.

Calum frowned, her request took him by surprise.

“Well, Aubrie was one of my first patients after I started operating after couple of years of residency. She was born premature and had a heart condition.”

“Like my brother?”

“Not exactly,” he shook his head, his stare not leaving Anna’s face for a moment. “There was a little problem with her cardiac valve, it’s rather easier than what your brother had. She was operated on the third day after her birth and spent almost four weeks after that in an NICU. She needs regular check ups now. Although her chances of living a healthy life without any other operations are very high.”

“You aren’t the one who checks up on her?” Anna asked, slightly confused.

“No, my job is finished after the first month of their life,” Calum explained. “Then we pass our little patients on to pediatrics. But I do like to follow their progress,” he finished quietly.

Anna nodded, not really knowing what to say to that.

“Why’d you ask?”

She looked straight at Calum and felt a lonely tear fall down her cheek.

“I don’t really know,” she said, wiping a tear with her hand and smiling apologetically. “Just needed some good story, I guess.”

“Hey,” Calum stretched his arm forward and grabbed her hand again, making her shake a little. “There’ll be plenty of them in your life. Just give them some time.”

She smiled back at him and sniffed. She squeezed his hand in silent thank you and offered, “Do you, maybe, wanna walk a little? Of course, if you’re not-”

“I’m not,” he smirked, standing and pulling her up by her hand, “whatever you wanted to say next.”

Anna let him snake his arm around her shoulders and lead up the street. She was dazed by his easiness and by the way her heart felt lighter. She couldn’t even try to explain all the things she felt, too overwhelmed by his presence. But she was absolutely positive about one thing. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with his arm around her shoulders.

Taglist: @dancingonanemptywallet @5saucewho

[dr-nero-is-god]

all of the evil asks (but only if you have the time!!) for wing because he's my favorite son

Good news, nonnie! I am recovering from a twenty-one hour journey yesterday, which leaves me too dead to do adulting but just awake enough to dedicate 46 acres of my mind to Wing Fanchu. (And really, which is the more wholesome task, anyway?)

1. What does their bedroom look like?

I’ll do his pre-H.I.V.E. bedroom, since we’re all familiar with the cells. Tan walls, a large window with a dark pull-down shade, and a large, low bed with a white comforter. Some posters of tricky martial arts positions. A neatly-rolled yoga mat in the corner, and space on the floor to use it.

2. Do they have any daily rituals?

Meditation, for 15-30 minutes every morning, assuming Otto has not set a new harebrained scheme in motion.

3. Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?

Wing certainly would, even if he didn’t have to. Martial arts, running, swimming, pull-ups, all those things. Probably every day. Maybe many times a day. Can you get paid to be strong?

4. What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?

Wait patiently, acting as though he wasn’t hungry at all.

5. Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

Very neat, but some of that comes from being someone who doesn’t take much stock in an excess of personal possessions. That said, Wing is very good about grooming his long hair, and keeping his notebooks in order, and so on. He makes his bed every morning, too, cuz his mama raised him right.

6. Eating habits and sample daily menu

Generally lots of vegetables—he enjoys treats but isn’t swayed by food just because it looks fancy. That said, he isn’t a picky eater, either. Whatever is on the lunch menu, he doesn’t mind.

Breakfast: raisin bran and yogurt, or avocado toast

Mid-morning snack: crushed nuts and dried fruit

Lunch: veggie wrap (i.e. tortilla with hummus, bell peppers, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, and cheese)

Mid-afternoon snack: peanut butter and celery

Dinner: Roasted mushrooms, onions, and broccoli with rice and a tofu burger

7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

Wing isn’t really a time-waster. If he has a few extra moments, he might meditate or sleep. When he can’t focus, he tends to get up and do something else and try again later.

8. Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

As a disciplined person, Wing doesn’t give much thought to indulgence, but he is generally good about restarting his routines after breaking them. Biggest example would be taking a day off from his workout routine.

9. Makeup?

“I am pleased you admire my high cheekbones, Shelby, but I see no reason to do something so frivolous as contour them.”

11. Intellectual pursuits?

Wing occasionally might read a book on strategy or martial arts, but he prefers the practical application in the gym.

12. Favorite book genre?

Non-fiction. He has little to no use for fantasies and make-believe.

13. Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

Pansexual. Generally accepting of queer identities, but also considers them to be a very private matter and so can feel uncomfortable when people bring it up.

14. Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)

Allergy to strawberries and a bad knee from an accident that will probably need to be replaced later.

15. Biggest and smallest short term goal?

Biggest: get out of H.I.V.E. alive

Smallest: beat Shelby at literally any competition

16. Biggest and smallest long term goal?

Biggest: keep one (1) otto malpense from getting beaten up, burned, assaulted, kidnapped, brainwashed, bullied, bruised, cut, crushed, killed, maimed, and/or otherwise damaged

Smallest: visit his mom’s grave annually

17. Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

Simple, non-dramatic garb. I have always imagined that Wing would be his best self in business casual sweaters. He is also very particular about the shoes that he wears, but I don’t know enough about shoes to comment.

18. Favorite beverage?

Water.

19. What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

He doesn’t.

20. Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?

Nothing much worse than the common cold, but he still has fond memories of his mom stopping in to check on him and give him soup, and his dad checking in on him before bed.

21. Turn-ons? Turn-offs?

Turn-ons: Sarcasm, which makes living with Otto and Shelby nigh unbearable.

Turn-offs: people who use the word “like” as a filler too much.

22. Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

He would set them neatly to the side and then put his head down and take on his chainsaw persona.

23. How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life?

Wing is very neat, but not entirely organized. In particular, he isn’t always good at keeping track of assignments for school, so he has gotten marked down a few times for not paying attention to dates and times, much to his disappointment.

24. Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?

Wing has a modest success with almost all of his classes, but he is really good at strategy. If pressed, he could be a one-man armada. (That said, it isn’t like he considers intellectual things like math his beloved.)

25. How do they see themselves 5 years from today?

I don’t think Wing knows, but he would certainly hope to be partnering with one of his friends from school. If not, perhaps finding his place after going through his mother’s belongings.

26. Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t work out?

No, in part because H.I.V.E. doesn’t exactly cater to someone with his particular ethical framework. Wing wouldn’t want to exploit people for money, fame, or love, but he would find it just as tasteless to contract with a government to expose these deeds. Wing would feel most satisfied in a career where he has a personal connection—for example, running security in Laura’s tech company, or working as Otto’s personal bodyguard. Until Wing can get some life experience away from the island, he won’t have a clear idea of where he belongs.

27. What is their biggest regret?

Losing Otto to H.O.P.E. and allowing him to be brainwashed and taken advantage of in the worst of ways.

28. Who do they see as their best friend? Their worst enemy?

Best friend is Otto, obviously. Though their friendship was kind of manufactured by their close proximity, Wing finds Otto to be inspiring, trustworthy, and relatable.

Wing disdains all people he considers dishonorable, but he particularly loathes people who abuse their authority, like Dekker.

29. Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (e.g. The house is on fire! What do they do?)

Action! If there are people and pets involved, then he saves them! If there is critical information that is needed, he makes that a second priority! He gets people to safety, calls for help, and continues to risk life and limb to make sure the people he cares about are okay.

30. Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies)

Well. It can be hard to tell, at first—Wing isn’t an entirely expressive guy. But, unsurprisingly, his pain has to come out in other ways. Lashing out, making rash decisions, losing motivation… all of these things are his way of not-coping with disaster because he struggles to express his emotions in a healthy way. (Many thanks to his dad for making him respond this way.)

31. Most prized possession?

His mom’s yin/yang necklace, although that is a gimme.

32. Thoughts on material possessions in general?

Not particularly concerned. Though Wing is not immune from sentiment, as in the case of his mom’s necklace, Wing’s strongest responses are for people and situations, not lifeless objects. It isn’t true to say that you could just pick Wing up and drop him anywhere, because of the social loss, but you could certainly burn his house down and he would be able to move on.

33. Concept of home and family?

Wing makes very deep bonds with the people who are emotionally open with him and who he spends a lot of time working and playing with. His mother (and father, to some extent) gave him that familial care when he was very young, but after Xiu Mei’s death and Cypher’s withdrawal from his home life, Lao became that staple of home love, a bond made strong by commitment and involvement. The same occurred when Wing came to H.I.V.E., and found a small home group in Otto, Laura, Shelby, Franz, and Nigel, who formed reciprocal relationships and made him feel like he belonged through the time they spent together.

34. Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?)

Super private. He doesn’t mind sharing personal things with his nosy friends, but the rest of the school? If he had his way they wouldn’t know his eye color, much less the status of his feelings or relationships.

35. What activities do they enjoy, but consider to be a waste of time?

Puzzles, parkour, and frisbee.

36. What makes them feel guilty?

The times he has let down his friends, either by wrong action or inaction. Not taking care of himself. Lying by omission about his thoughts and feelings that he is not confident enough to share with people he respects. Leaving behind Lao, who might not know where he is.

37. Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making?

Analytical, but with emotional motivations. Wing will bide his time bemoaning the loss of his best pal, very emotional and sad, and then assess the situation and jump into a helicopter when the time is right to save that pasty best friend’s ass.

38. Would they consider themselves a Type A or Type B personality?

Type B, which is not a usual thing for Alphas, let me tell you.

39. What recharges them when they’re feeling drained?

Sleep, meditation, working out, snuggling, listening to his friends have brilliant ideas (but only if he has been drained by hard and/or boring intellectual work), sleep.

40. Would you say that they have a superiority-complex? Inferiority-complex? Neither?

Maybe a slight inferiority complex that doesn’t show. In the wake of Xiu Mei’s death, Cypher made his son feel completely unimportant. Lao did the important work of rebuilding Wing’s self-esteem, but that sense of abandonment and unimportance can return in dark moments.

41. How misanthropic are they?

Not very. True facts, Wing could probably work for Greenpeace or a humanitarian aid society after school and feel very fulfilled defending ordinary people from corrupt militias and other dangerous things.

(Side note, Laura and Nigel would be my other contenders for humanitarian/charitable work, but Laura needs a greater intellectual challenge and Nigel would probably get overwhelmed and get back into evil botany.)

42. Hobbies?

Martial arts, sand art, yoga

43. How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education?

Wing received the best education his parents could get him as a young boy, but after his mother’s death he didn’t feel involved or interested, and his only interest became the passion for martial arts that he received from his mentor Lao. He quite admires self-education when it is done well, because it demonstrates high motivation and a deep passion for a subject of study.

44. Religion?

None, but he respects those who have one.

45. Superstitions or views on the occult?

Nothing major, but he does sometimes get the impression that his mother might be looking out for him, or reappearing in his life in small ways. Maybe in the way a flower blooms, maybe in hearing a familiar laugh. Or just good things happening.

46. Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?

Usually deeds, because it is easier for Wing to step up to the plate and help his friends in whatever way they need to be helped without their asking. But nor is Wing embarrassed to admit it when he cares about people, and when he says those things, he means them.

47. If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal?

Brilliant smile. Someone he can enjoy a little competition with, but always in a friendly way. Someone who balances his quiet nature and composure with eagerness and ambition. Soft. Enjoys snuggling. Someone he can be honest with, but also someone he doesn’t completely understand. Someone who makes him laugh. Someone who makes an effort to understand him, even when it is hard. Hard worker. Talented. Smart. Someone who doesn’t allow him to take himself seriously. Someone who meshes with his friends, or bare minimum won’t take those friends away from him.

48. How do they express love?

In the dramatic ways, like risking his life. Also in mundane ways, like kissing on top of the head, or running errands on a busy day, or making sure that the beloved who fell asleep doing homework gets all the way into bed with a warm blanket.

49. If this person were to get into a fist fight, what is their fighting style like?

… at this point, I am going to defer to the master and tell you to just re-read the books. Like damn what do you want me to SAY.

50. Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not?

No, but he would prefer not to. He doesn’t lose sleep over the inevitable, though.

[maggotmouth]

      rises from the dead like mushu hullo it’s nora ( gmt, she/her) n i’m sorry didnt do my intro yesterday, i woke up in a bath, happy new year. anyway bridget is a mess, the angsty socialist leftie liberal who gets fucked at the pub and goes off on one about immigration or the welfare state or the pay gap. very talkative n bubbly, carefree but also.... cares too much. always in docs but only the vegan ones. usually in a beret with an anarchist symbol painted on it. wears a long green trench coat covered in badges for alt punk rock bands or a red denim jacket that she hacked into a crop jacket with a pair of kitchen scissors. film nerd. got in on a partially subsidised scholarship and works in a bar and a fast food place to pay for her accomodation. 

heres a pinboard. everythin else is below this cut, like this post n i’ll smash that im button for plots x

it might be HER SOPHOMORE year but I still think BRIDGET MATUSIAK looks exactly like MARGARET QUALLEY and sometimes I think the FEMALE is actually them. Of course I’m wrong, as they’re TWENTY and studying FILM while living in FIDELIS here at Lockwood. The ARIES can be rather CANDID and GARRULOUS, but also kind of FICKLE and ERRATIC. Their most played song on Spotify was NOBODY REALLY CARES IF YOU DON’T GO TO THE PARTY by COURTNEY BARNETT, so I think that says a lot.

bridget n her mum alice were more like sisters growing up, probably because of the closeness in age. alice should’ve known that you couldn’t have a thirteen-year-old-daughter at 27 without everyone knowing you’d been one of those girls who gave it away fast as a hot potato, and maybe bridget should have known that she’d inherit more than her mother’s wide eyes, that things had a way of circling back, that at fourteen she too would lose it on the floor of a swimming pool changing room, soggy back, poka-dot nylon pulled down to her ankles.

her parents met in high school. her mother alice was a roman catholic – uneducated in matters of safe sex, mother mary around her neck, bras hanging over wooden crucifixes – and willing to give it to the first boy who seemed interested enough, gift-wrapped or not.

i say they met in high school, bridget’s dad wasn’t actually in school, they met at the high school. he was the father to a girl down the road. alice knew nothing of the girl besides her name and the few encounters in the corridors facing a stoney stare that screamed homewrecker. it only happened once, but once was enough. soon the pitter patter of tiny feet sounded along the hall of the home for wayward women, alice’s parents having thrown her out as soon as they knew a child was growing in her womb.

gilly (referred to as junior) was born two years later, the son of a mechanic and handyman named gilbert “gilly” senior, who - while a slow-witted man – was likable enough. alice, gilly bridget & junior lived in a colorado trailer park and whenever she wasn’t at school bridget would be in gilly’s workshop doin her homework surrounded by parts of exhausts.  was raised in a workshop basically.

like her mother, bridget fell pregnant barely out of her gingham print dresses, hair in two plaits down her back, teddies still lining her bed. unlike her mum, she was not box-shipped out to a home for fallen women but rather booked into a clinic, given a pill, just like taking your vitamins.

her mother flaked out when bridget was around fifteen and junior was twelve, leaving gil to adopt the two as legal guardian and raise them in the forge. she’s lived with gilly ever since. they’re not sure where their mother went. some say she rededicated herself as a virgin and joined the convent in penance for her sins. some say she works in a las vegas strip club and sells pills to minors.

used to do sponsored silences and hunger strikes for kids in third world countries. was that kid in school who was always raising money something. i mean its kinda cute but also she just wanted the acclaim and attention so.... and most of the time it didn’t even make it to the disadvantaged kids she was raising it for cos her mom needed rent money or to buy the kids new shoes n they could barely afford much themselves

she’s a strident feminist, an activist for human rights and animal rights, a vocal vegetarian and an all-round soapbox sadie. catch her in the quad shouting about human rights through a megaphone.

aesthetic: cuffed jeans, thrifted or stolen. white converse, more grey tbh through years of wear. crop tops and plaid shirts tied round her waist. a long green trench coat with loads of badge pins for alt-rock bands and independent films. red denim jacket, also covered in badges n pins. smudged mascara. glitter smeared over cheekbones from the previous night. cigarette smoke shrouding you like a veil, the red string of a thong peaking out purposely from jeans, roller blades, cut knees, not eating your greens, smiling with a mouthful of blood, and piercing your own ears with a safety pin when your dad wouldn’t take you, kate moss posters lining the walls of a teenage bedroom, thumb holes poked through the cuffs of your sleeves, feet pounding the earth until your soles bleed crimson, sleeping in a cherry lip balm and scrunchies to keep the wild locks from your eyes.

an aspiring screenwriter. she has a very image-based view of memory and experience. always doing a screenplay or shooting film. her style has a lot of catholic iconography (think virgin suicides styler or baz luhrmann’s romeo + juliet if it was done on a super 8 camera) bcos catholicism is one of the few things she remembers about her mother. she’s never actually tried to find her mum / find out about her, jst…. occasionally channels that energy into her work.

hypersexual and kinda manic-depressive (though not diagnosed) probs bcos her upbringing was a bit unstable, she started life in a house that was literally designed to rehabilitate “fallen women” and she was a looked after child for a while when the adoption papers were still going through… struggles a lot with feeling unwanted, especially since her grandparesnts refuse to acknowledge her existence cos she was born outside of marriage….. so she craves feeling wanted,, like despite being a real women’s rights activist ad hating objectification, at the same time to bridge there’s nothing better than someone sizing you up with hunger in their eyes

she’s queer, but i guess she favours women, and is incredibly vocal in her support of the lgbt+ movement. often at ralleys. has done a face-sitting protest. really is that bitch

there’s a degree of anger for anger’s sake in bridget. she likes passionate, angry music – particularly garage rock, punk and riot grrrl. she loves the slits and skinny girl diet. viv albertine inspired her to take up bass guitar.

working two jobs to pay for uni currently !! works at the bowling alley polishing the shpes and fixing the bowling lanes, and also is a burger flipper at mcdonalds. a lot of her time is spent in the record store, plugged into a set of headphones, head-banging in the corner to a scratched record. music, for birdie, is a form of escapism. that and dropping acid in parking lots lmao.

massive film buff. is majoring in film at uni also spends a lot of time at the movie theatre n probably has like a season ticket. is one of those pretentious film nerds who’s like “what do u think of goddard’s work?” but also just really into shitty horror movies

she spends her evenings in downtown bars willing away her boredom, trying to find something that’ll jerk her out of apathetic lethargy. she toys with the idea of becoming a stripper — it certainly pays better than fixing bowling lanes — but she lacks the energy to dance for several hours a night.

she loves b movies and slasher flicks. at parties, she’ll occasionally try to make a horror of her own, on a super 8 camera in someone’s basement, very paranormal activity, but she’ll inevitably get bored, or too drunk and give up, like she does with most things in her life. she lacks drive and motivation. she’s bright but there’s no hunger in her.

writes shitty poems on the back of napkins and quotes dead philosophers she’s never read. romanticises herself a lot. like will be standing there in a ripped t-shirt and her undies smoking a cig like “hmmm… i bet someone is falling in love with me right now”

is vegetarian for environmental reasons but snorts coke at parties ?? sis, it don’t add up

loves dirt. ate a worm once because someone dared her too. shamelessly disgusting.

she’s slightly obsessed with true crime, up late watching documentaries on the manson family murders.

she’s fickle and enigmatic. one moment she could be your best friend, the next, she’ll behave like a total stranger. bridget’s unpredictable because she’s still unsure of her own identity, frequently flitting between different characters, like snake skins, before she grows bored of being bubbly and eager and becomes spiteful again. her core personality traits are probably forthright, impulsive, restless, thrill-seeking, selfish, melancholic.

an awful person, really

feel free to im me if u wanna plot, here are some plot ideas i stole, or, like this post and i’ll hit u with a message!

[mrsronan]

Last Thursday (March 7) I got to speak to a large Women’s Bible Study in San Francisco. I attended the study for three years and have quite a few friends still involved. Here’s what I said. (Health update and other details below the speech.) Also, it won't hurt my feelings at all if you skip the speech and just read the health update. :)

_________________________________________

I’m thankful I get to be here with you ladies this morning. You are always such a blessing. Malene and Karen invited me to give an update on how I’m doing. Most of you know me, but let me introduce myself to those of you I’m not yet acquainted with. My husband and I grew up in Cincinnati Ohio, I’ve served as a missionary to Haiti and spent two years teaching in China. My husband and I believed God called us to San Francisco so we moved here four months after we got married in 2006. When we got here everything that could go wrong went wrong, including losing our housing on the same day I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant. That surprise pregnancy led me to seek help at Alpha Pregnancy Center, the pregnancy ended in miscarriage but I never forgot that Alpha was ready to walk with me and find solutions to all of my concerns. Later I went back to Alpha, but as a staff member and I eventually became the director. I spent almost a decade running that ministry until I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and had to resign.  I’ve been going through chemo and radiation treatments since July 2016.  

Before I give you an update on my health I want to tell you a story that will explain my perspective on this challenge.*  

The day I arrived at my new home in Haiti where I would live for a year, I walked into a house that had been robbed. Everything was gone- furniture, curtains, dishes, everything except the kitchen sink. I had met my roommate for the year one day earlier, Shelley lived in the house the year before and knew our neighbors well. She assured me that since we were back and our neighbors loved her, the house would now be safe and nothing more would be stolen. I didn’t believe her. We had just a couple hours to drop our things off before needing to leave for a meeting at the school where we’d be teaching. On my way out the door for the meeting, I silently prayed, “Lord, if our house gets robbed tonight, please don’t let them take my radio, my guitar, or the vase from Morocco Kellie gave me.”

When we got home that night, our house had been ravished. Clothes were strewn everywhere, Shelley’s nice camera— gone. The sheets off our other roommate’s bed— gone. I made it to my room in the back of the house and did a quick scan of my bedroom: my radio was there, check; my guitar was there, check; my vase— gone! What!? Didn’t God hear my prayer? Why would the thieves want my vase anyway? It was just a small memento that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone but me. My heart sank. I felt robbed. But just as quickly as my heart sank, the Holy Spirit began to speak: “Chastidy, I didn’t bring you here this year to look at that vase. I am the same whether or not that vase is on top of your dresser. I haven’t changed and I am worthy of your praise with or without that vase.” My heart responded, “Oh, check. Yes, Lord, I trust you. I’ll praise you. Thanks for being the same and being good no matter what I’ve lost.” A moment later, a fellow teacher who had come to help walked in the door and said, “I found this on the street, does this belong to you?” and held up my vase.

That small momentary loss and the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart taught me how to get through larger losses that aren’t temporary. When my mom was murdered, when I had multiple miscarriages, when my marriage has been difficult, and many other times of loss I’ve gone back to that moment and remembered God is the same no matter what I might be losing. 

To be honest, the months since November have been filled with loss.  

My grandfather died because of lung cancer. 

Five of my other friends have died as well (three cancer related deaths).

My landlord promised me a bigger apartment and even gave me the keys then changed her mind and took the keys back. 

The clinical trial I’ve been on has stopped shrinking my tumors. (More on this below) 

But amidst these tragedies there have been some triumphs. 

I was given the Gianna Molla award and spoke to 50,000 people. 

My daughter turned 3 and sweetly told me I set up her party so nice and perfect. 

I turned 40 even though some medical professionals never thought I’d live this long. My husband, family, and friends threw me two surprise birthday parties. 

So I find myself responding to all of this in a few ways

Crying out to God in mourning and in thanksgiving. 

Praying for others as well as myself. 

Singing Amazing Grace and really meaning every word of all 7 verses.

Returning to scripture and asking God to keep His word as the foundation of my heart.

Some of the verses that I’m returning to over and over have become anthems for me that I go to daily to set my heart and mind in the right place.  

Hebrews 13.8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Reminding me that with or without cancer, God is still worthy of praise. For me, all these efforts to get treatment and extend my life are primarily for my three year old little girl. I don’t want her to have the pain of growing up with out her mom. But, this verse reminds me that God is the same and worthy of our praise even if she does grow up with out a mom.

I also go back to the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego from Daniel 3. 

You probably remember the story well. Everyone in their town was  told to bow down and worship a false god. The punishment for refusing was to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Everyone worshipped the gold statue, but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego refused to follow suit. Some people told the king and he was furious. 

Here’s how the Message version of the Bible tells the rest of the story:

The king questioned them and gave them a second chance to obey.

16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

19-23 Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

24 Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?”

“That’s right, O king,” they said.

25 “But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!”

Some people say that is Jesus; I love that even though they were in a literal fire, they weren’t in it alone.  They had to go through the fire, but Jesus went through it with them.

26 Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most High God, come out here!”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

27 Everyone gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them! 

Next the king praises God. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego’s fiery challenge 

Gives the king a fiery passion to praise God.

28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

29 “Therefore I issue this decree: no one should speak against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. No other god can pull off a rescue like this.”

Friends, I’m in a battle where I can say— Only God can pull off the kind of rescue I need. 

But, I’d bet half my bank account most of you have felt that too.  Maybe you’ve had severe health issues,  maybe you’ve needed the courage to leave an abusive relationship,  maybe you’ve had the sorrow of losing a child,  maybe you’ve been plagued with overwhelming anxiety… 

I’m guessing that everyone of you have had a time when you thought, “only God can rescue me from this.” 

I look back at all those trials I mentioned earlier and see, yes, He jumped into the fire with me on all of them and pulled me out and actually it made me stronger than before.  So, right now, in this fire of cancer, I’m looking to the God who has rescued me time and time again and saying “I know you are able to rescue me, and I believe you will, but even if you don’t I will still praise you.”

The final scripture I return to as an anthem I’ve read with you before. Psalm 118. 

I’d like to share some of it with you again today

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

2 Let Israel say:

    “His love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say:

“His love endures forever.”

4  Let those who fear the Lord say:

    “His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

    he brought me into a spacious place.

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

    What can mere mortals do to me?

7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

 …

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in humans.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in princes.

I’m saying it’s better to trust in the Lord 

than medicine or doctors

13 I was pushed back and about to fall,

    but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];

    he has become my salvation.

15 Shouts of joy and victory

    resound in the tents of the righteous:

17 I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

    you have become my salvation.

27 The Lord is God,

    and he has made his light shine on us.

…

28 You are my God, and I will praise you;

    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

 Verse 17 is something I’ve especially clung to. 

At first I thought, I will live and not die so that when I am healed from cancer I can tell the miraculous story of how God healed me and what seemed impossible with man is possible with God. And, that is still what I’m counting on. 

But, I’ve begun to think I’m alive today. I can tell what God has done today. I can tell you today that He has been with me in the trenches of every fire I’ve had to walk through, and he has used them all for the good of many lives and souls. 

And, when I return to scripture it allows me to fix my thoughts on Jesus. He endured the cross scorning its shame for the joy that was set before him. And remembering that He did that, and being bought with his blood gives me the strength to be content in a small apartment, to endure the disease of cancer, and to get through the other pains that come with life in a fallen world but doing so with joy because of the promise of a glorious eternity. 

Two nights ago, as I was putting my daughter to bed we were singing “what can wash a way my sins” and she stopped me mid song and said, “Mommy mommy, the blood of Jesus, it can heal everything. Even if you die it can heal you.” 

If I could leave you with any thought this morning it would be that. The blood of Jesus can heal anything you have going on in your life. Remember He never changes even when our circumstances do, lay your burdens at the foot of His cross, and let His blood bringing healing to your life.  

_________________________________________

HEALTH UPDATE

So, what does it mean for me that the clinical trial isn’t shrinking my tumors? To catch some of you up to speed on what I’ve done before I answer that, I’ve already done 3 kinds of chemo and radiation. The clinical trial I’ve been in is my fourth form of treatment. There are no other FDA approved treatments that have been effective at treating my kind of cancer. I have a biopsy scheduled for Thursday. The results of the biopsy will show if the immunotherapy trial I’ve been on has changed the genetic make up of my tumors. If it has I can continue on the trial. If it hasn’t then I’ll need to start searching for other clinical trials or treatments at different hospitals and clinics. My oncologist thinks I’ll have to begin a search for other clinical trials. She is willing to help me. My family might have to move in order for me to continue to have effective treatment options. I’m really hoping that I won’t have to move, but if we do have to move there’s a promising clinical trial in Cleveland that I’m looking into which would get me closer to my family and I’d be thankful for that. Yet, I am willing to go wherever I need to get treatments. I’ll try to write a short update after I get my biopsy results. 

Separately I had a chalazion in my eye. It has healed. 

OTHER UPDATES

I’m still a super Warriors fan and even though they’ve had a few embarrassing losses recently they are still number 1 in the western conference and still the favorites to be champions this year. 

I lead prayer in the SF Prayer Room every Wednesday night from 6-9 pm.  I’d love it if you join me some time. 

My landlord offered to let us move to a bigger apartment and even gave us the keys. She later changed her mind and took the keys back. I was absolutely heartbroken and cried for days. Now, I’m wondering if God kept us from moving because we might have to move so I can get treatment elsewhere. 

We were gifted tickets to see Hamilton and loved it! It left me wanting to live in a way that gives others freedom. 

My husband, family, and friends threw me TWO surprise birthday parties. I’ve lived to be 40 and I’m pretty thankful about that. 

I threw a small birthday party for Catica. The week after her party she snuggled up on my lap and we had this conversation,  C: Mama, you did such a good job. Me: A good job on what, Baby? C: My party. You set everything up so nice and perfect.  My heart melted.  

PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for miraculous results to this biopsy and miraculous healing. God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. 

_________________________________________

*I know I’ve already told this story on my blog before but I love to share it whenever I can as it keeps my perspective in check. 

[hymn2000]

Hope I’ve Got Something To Lose - MCU AU fanfic - C15

Story overview: Peter has an accident, and Tony makes a drastic decision. In the midst of everything, a face from the past reappears - but Peter isn’t too sure about reconnecting after everything that’s happened.

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  10  11 12 13 14

Part of my irondad and spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: injury, hospital stuff, hurt/comfort, mental health stuff, family stuff, corporal punishment, friendship

You can also find me on AO3

Chapter 15 - Leave On Amber

-

Peter slept well, and didn’t feel too bad about being shaken awake in the early hours of the morning. He set about getting ready while Loki went to wake the girls up.

“Morning” Loki said, turning the big light on.

Both girls woke abruptly, whining and pulling the covers over their faces.

“Come on, get up, get ready. There’s no time for lie ins” Loki said, giving the quilts a tug so they were forced to face the light. “Get dressed”

“Oh Loki, I’m too tired” Flo whined.

“You’re just going to have to get on with it, darling” Loki gave her a quick hug, and laughed a little as she yawned. “Coffee?”

“Yes please” 

“Come through to the kitchen when you’re ready. We’ll get the kettle boiled”

Liz waited until Loki had left before addressing Flo.

“Early mornings suck”

“Yes, they do” Flo said, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t generally drink coffee, but I think I need it today”

“Me too... He will let me, won’t he?”

“Who? Loki?”

Liz nodded.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he likes me”

“He’s not going to deny you coffee or anything though, even if he didn’t” Flo said, giggling a little. “Do you like him?”

Liz paused for a moment. “I’m not sure. I think I’m a bit scared of him”

“You’ll get used to him. He’s just a big softy really. You’ll see”

-

Peter was cuddled up under Tony’s arm in the kitchen, looking at Tony’s tablet with him. Loki was busy with the kettle, but looked up when Liz and Flo came into the kitchen.

“Morning, girls” Tony said, closing his tablet and hugging Peter properly. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, thank you” Liz said, going over to them while Flo talked to Loki. “It’s a lovely room”

“I’m glad you think so. Get yourself something to eat. It’s better not to go about everything on an empty stomach” 

“Dad’s doing drinks” Peter said. “I’ve put some toast in, if you want some”

“Sure” 

Peter wriggled away from Tony and gave Liz a hug.

“How are you doing? Tired?”

Liz smiled, and nodded. “Incredibly”

“I’ve done this journey before. We can always sleep in the car and on the plane. The jets real comfy” Peter said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

“Peter, sweetheart?” Loki said. “What are you having to drink? Are you after a coffee?”

“Yeah, can I have a cappuccino please?” Peter asked, pulling away from Liz.

“Of course, darling... Liz?”

“Hm? Oh. The same, please”

Flo caught her eye and gave her a smile. 

“What are you two smiling at?” Peter asked, getting the plates out for the toast. 

“Oh, nothing” Flo said vaguely. “It’s just girls stuff”

-

Tony grabbed Peter by the shoulders

“Flippin’ heck, it’s like herding sheep!” he said. “Get down to the car. Your friends are already down there. Let me and your dad sort everything up here. Now, have you got everything?”

Peter nodded. “I think so. You always pick up anything I forget, anyway”

“Ok, good. Down you go, then” he gave him a little push in the direction of the garage door. “There’s a good boy”

-

A temporary lull in energy helped the journey to the airport run smoothly. Luckily it wasn’t a very long journey now they could use the main airport. The teens sat quietly in the back of the car, scrolling through Instagram on Liz’s phone, as she was the one sat in the middle. 

Once they reached the airport, they suddenly felt much more awake, partly due to the sharp night wind. The girls were suddenly hit with excitement, which Peter felt helped his own feelings. It felt very different, being with friends. He found he could barely pay attention to either parent, even when Tony got a little bit irate.

It was wonderfully familiar being back on the jet. Peter set about finding everything he usually had on the jet: blankets and books and videos and pillows - everything he needed to feel comfortable.

“Ok, this jet is amazing” Liz said, sitting down cross-legged beside Peter. “I know it’s mad, but I 100% imagined we’d be going on a passenger jet, not a private one”

“It’s cool having a whole plane to ourselves, isn’t it?” Flo said.

“It’s way more comfortable this way, trust me” Peter said. “You know, it’s a really long flight. I think it’s like, nine hours? It’s longer cos we’re going to a more central airport. And then it’ll probably be a few more hours in the car at the end”

“Do you know where abouts we’re going yet?” Liz asked.

Peter shook his head. “I think I’d rather find out via road signs at the other end. Sometimes the surprise factor is a good thing, yknow?”

“It’s somewhere by the sea, that’s all we need to know” Flo said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been to England before”

“Me neither. But you have?” Liz said to Peter.

“Yeah. You know that first summer I spent at the Stark’s? We went then. We were gonna go with May at one point too, but... Well, we never quite got round to it. We went again after they adopted me, though. We kinda went on a little Euro-tour”

“Where did you go?”

“Well, England, of course. And Scotland. And we went to Portugal and France and Belgium. And we spent a night in Luxembourg. We went to Germany, and technically we went to Switzerland, because there’s this bit in the Black Forest where you can literally just walk right over the border. I don’t know what part of Switzerland it was, and we didn’t really know how far it would be to get to the town or whatever. So we just messed about at this playground for half an hour and then walked back to Germany”

“That’s so weird, but kinda cool too. I’m guessing it was a long holiday?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty long. I forget exactly how long, though. I’ve got a whole bunch of photos - Flo’s seen them. Maybe I can show you some time?”

“Yeah, that’d be cool”

“Kids” Tony interrupted. “You need to grab a chair and strap yourselves in: we’ll be setting off soon”

“How long is it going to take in the car at the other end?” Liz asked as they sat down and put their belts on.

“Ehhh” Tony said vaguely. “Maybe about three hours? We might arrive when it’s still almost light, if we’re lucky”

“Is that part of the reason why we’re leaving so ridiculously early?”

“Absolutely. It’s what, nearly four now? So we should land around 1pm our time, which is...”

“6pm their time” Loki supplied.

“Right” Tony nodded. “So, theoretically, we’ll get to our base by around 9pm. You’ll be straight to bed when we get there, I reckon”

“What about food?” Peter said.

“We’ve got stuff on here” Tony said. “We’ll probably just grab a takeaway or something when we land”

“I think we’ll sleep well tonight” Flo said.

“Try to sleep on the plane as well, if you can” Tony said. “I know you naughty lot were up until way after you’d been sent to bed. I can’t imagine any of you are well rested”

“Well, perhaps not” Liz admitted.

There was a dull sound, and they looked up to see the seat belt sign illuminated.

“Tighten your belts, kids” Tony said. “We’re off”

-

Once they were properly airborne and the seat belt light had switched off, Peter and the girls set up camp on the floor with plenty of cushions and blankets. Peter found the lovely tin Moomin mugs and turned the kettle on.

“Not for us, thanks, sweetheart” Tony said, when Peter offered him and Loki a drink. “We’re gonna get some shut-eye”

“Ok, we’ll try to keep the noise down” 

“Thanks sweetheart” Tony said. 

Tony flopped on the sofa, and Loki curled up beside him. Flo looked over at them.

“Loki? Are you ok?” she asked. “You’re very quiet”

“I’m fine, sweetheart” Loki said, closing his eyes.

Tony held him close. “Don’t you worry about us, pet”

Liz took Flo’s hand, and Flo turned to look at her. She smiled slightly and squeezed her hand back. Peter handed them both a mug, and sat down with them.

“They always sleep on the plane” he said. 

“What if we wake them up?” Liz said, glancing over at them. 

“We won’t. Not if we stay quiet” 

-

The first hour went by smoothly enough, but then, after having had such little sleep during the night, the teens were all overcome with fatigue.

“Do you two mind if I go to sleep?” Peter asked, timidly. “I’m kinda finding it hard to stay awake just now”

“Me too” Flo said. “Liz?”

Liz nodded. “I’m tired too. Maybe we should’ve gone to sleep when we were told to yesterday”

Peter nodded. “Maybe... We should definitely sleep now though. I’m absolutely knackered” 

Peter looked over at his parents. Ordinarily, he’d go and cuddle up with them, but somehow he didn’t think he should this time, not while Flo and Liz were there. He felt them watching him, and slowly turned back to them.

“Are you ok?” Liz asked.

Peter nodded slowly. “Just tired”

He rearranged the pillows and blankets, making a big nest on the floor for them. Liz and Peter lay close together, facing each other, while Flo cuddled up close behind Peter, spooning him. They were good, and instead of continuing to talk, settled down quickly and very soon fell fast asleep.

-

Peter woke up on Flo’s chest, with Liz’s hand in his. He stirred, and the movement seemed to wake both girls from their slumber. Liz sat up, rubbing her eyes and feeling very glad she hadn’t bothered with make up that morning. Peter sat up so that Flo could too. They exchanged slight smiles, but were quiet for a few moments, adjusting back to reality. 

“How long have we got left to go?” Liz asked.

“I don’t know... How long have we been asleep?”

Flo looked at her phone. “Four hours, ish. So I think there’s still about four hours to go, and that’s just the flight”

“Peter?” Tony said.

Peter looked over at him. “Hm?”

“I think you’d better try to eat something”

“Oh... Ok. Do you want anything?”

“We’ve already eaten, sweetie” Loki said, turning the page of his book. 

Tony nodded. “Yeah, you just sort something for you and your friends, darling. There’s plenty in the cupboards”

“I don’t think I’m very hungry”

“Try to eat anyway, pet”

Peter shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to risk upsetting his parents, or his friends seeing him get all funny about something as simple as a snack - but he didn’t want to eat either. He couldn’t think of anything he could stomach.

Liz saw the look on his face, and took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I really fancy cheese on toast. What about you?”

Peter looked at her for a moment, and smiled. “Sounds good...”

-

Peter felt a bit more awake once he’d had something to eat, and a little calmer too. He curled up beside Loki on the sofa. Loki put his book down and hugged Peter close.

“Hello, sweetie” he said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m ok. You?”

“Tired” Loki said. “Very tired. But ok. I’m looking forward to the sea air”

“We won’t really get any today, will we?”

“Well. We’ll be out in the air for a little bit, even just getting out of the car. You’ll feel the difference. We’ll get plenty of sea air over the next few days anyway”

“Do you really think it’ll help?”

“Of course” Loki gave him a squeeze. “And even if it doesn’t, at least you will have gotten a holiday out of it”

-

The next few hours seemed to fly by remarkably fast. Perhaps it was the film, or perhaps it was having his friends there. Whichever it was, it was a bit of a surprise when Tony put a hand on his shoulder and brought the lit seat belt sign to his attention.

“Already?” he said dumbly.

“Yes, already” Tony said. “Time to get buckled up, pet: we’ll be landing soon”

-

“Six o’ clock, as predicted” Tony said, piling everyone into the hire car.

“How long did you say it’d take to get to where we’re staying?” Liz asked.

“Hold on a minute, I’ll check the Sat-Nav” Tony said, fiddling with the screen. 

“Are we getting something to eat on the way?” Flo asked.

“Depends how hungry everyone is” Tony said. “Ah, there we are: two hours, fifty-two minutes, on the fastest route. So yeah, probably more like three, maybe a little bit more”

“I hate this bit” Peter grumbled, putting his scrunched up hoodie against the window and resting his head on it.

“You’ll live, chick” Loki said. “Just look out of the window and enjoy the view”

-

Peter certainly didn’t feel like he’d live. He was ok for maybe the first half hour, and then he started to feel very restless and uncomfortable, and upset. He knew his distress was obvious, and that alone annoyed him, and made him feel even more tragic.

Loki put a hand on Tony’s wrist. Tony glanced at him, and gave him a slight, understanding smile.

“Would you girls be opposed to a McDonald’s?” he asked. “I think I can see the golden arches”

Liz and Flo looked at each other. “Sounds good to me!”

-

The strange, almost-tradition of McDonald’s in the car after a flight was a bit of a comfort, but Peter couldn’t seem to calm his nerves. He took the first opportunity to get out of the car, leaning against the bodywork and breathing deeply. Loki got out to join him. The girls almost did too, but Tony stopped them. 

“Hey” Loki said, taking Peter’s face in his hands. “What’s going on?”

“...I don’t know. I don’t feel so good”

“Do you need to walk away?”

Peter stopped for a moment, and then nodded. 

“I thought as much”

Loki put an arm round his shoulders and took him over to a bench by the road, out of sight of the car. They sat quietly together while Peter breathed in the cool evening air and gradually started to feel a bit better. 

“So” Loki said eventually. “Do you know what’s making you feel like this?”

Peter shook his head. “No, not really. I was ok until we landed”

“I think you’re probably just nervous. I think change surprises you, even when you’re expecting it. I don’t think having your friends here is helping either - although I’m sure it’ll be good for you once you’ve got over this little blip”

“...I am feeling better now, mostly... How am I gonna explain this to them?”

“They don’t know what’s going on, and they need only know what you want them to”

Peter looked up at him. “I think we should go back now, before our food gets cold”

Liz and Flo looked at him worriedly when he got back into the car.

“Are you ok?”

Peter took a deep breath, and smiled at them. “Yep, I’m fine. Travel sickness is a killer sometimes”

Miraculously, they believed him.

-

Liz was the first to fall asleep, and Flo followed not long after. Peter stayed awake, listening to his parents talking until Loki gradually went quiet and dropped off too. Then it was just two left awake. Tony reached back and gave Peter’s hand a quick squeeze, but he didn’t say anything. Peter rested his head against Flo’s and looked out of the window, watching the flash of the passing street lights, listening to the hum of the engine, and trying to work out if what he was feeling was fear or relief.

-

Peter jumped a little when the car stopped. He hadn’t realise he’d dropped off. The others were all awake by now, and the girls smiled sleepily at him.

“We’re here, kids” Tony said. 

“What time is it?” Flo asked.

“Not quite ten” Tony said. “Come on: let’s get all the bags in and see if we can’t sort a few bits and bobs out before we turn in”

-

Peter and Liz wanted to rush off and explore the house straight away, but Loki collared them both and made them stay put. 

“But-!”

“But nothing” Loki said. “Your father’s already assigned rooms, so wait and do as you’re told”

“Is this because of what happened at that party? Because-”

“Peter, don’t try your luck”

Peter pouted. “I just think-”

“You’re not fighting already, are you?” Tony interrupted, shutting the front door behind himself and locking it. “Alright, Lolly, stick the kettle on, would you, darling? Kids, with me”

Loki went off and the teens followed Tony obediently. 

“There’s gonna be a bit of room sharing” Tony said, taking them upstairs. 

“That’s fine” Liz said. “We’re all friends here”

Tony smiled slightly, pushing open one door. “Here you are, girls”

They turned the light on, and found themselves in a cute twin room, with nautical cushions on the beds, an old metal fireplace, and a big wardrobe and dressing table with chairs.

“Oh wow, this is so cute!” Flo said, admiring the carvings on the mantelpiece. 

“I’ve gotta admit, it’s bigger than I expected” Liz said. “Flo, do you mind me having the bed nearest the door?”

“No, that’s fine” Flo smiled.

“Hold on, what about me?” Peter said, biting his lip.

“Don’t chew on yourself like that” Tony said, tapping him on the mouth with his knuckles. “There’s another room for you”

“But-”

“You need your own space” Tony said, firmly. “Girls, grab your cases and bring them up, get settled a bit. We’ll check in on you soon”

-

“Why didn’t you ask me about this?” Peter said once the girls were out of earshot. “I’d prefer to share a room”

“You need your own space. Besides, the girls probably need to be all-girls-together, y’know?” 

Peter didn’t look convinced - and he certainly didn’t look happy. Tony put an arm round his shoulders and pushed open another door. This was a little single room.

“Dad-”

“Wrong one” Tony closed the door again and opened another one. “Ah, here you are” 

“Dad?”

Tony gave him a little push into the room. “Same thing, kiddo. Go and get your cases and get yourself settled”

-

Peter went and got his bags. He paused in the hallway. He could see his parents in the kitchen, looking perfectly contented, kissing each other slowly and deeply. Peter scowled, throwing his shoulder bag over his shoulder. There was something so annoying about being the only person in the house feeling unsure and uncomfortable about everything. 

He went back to his room and unpacked a few essentials, but then shoved the near-full cases to the side of the room and flopped on the double bed. The room looked like it was spinning above him. He shivered. Everything felt cold and a little unreal. He wanted to be back in his own bed at home, listening to the distant sound of the radio. He felt like he was one kind comment from bursting into tears.

-

Loki knocked on the door to the twin room and pushed it open. He couldn’t help laughing at the look on the girls faces.

“You look like two deer caught in headlights!” he said. “What exactly are you two up to?”

“Nothing, Loki, honest!” Flo said. 

Loki didn’t look like he believed her, but he didn’t say. He chose not to push it, and set two mugs down on the little table at the end of Liz’s bed. 

“I’ll leave you to it - whatever ‘it’ is”

-

Loki went to the double room. Peter was sat on the bed, looking at his phone, and looking very glum indeed.

“Oh dear” Loki said, standing in front of him. “What’s the matter?”

Peter shrugged.

“Come on now, you can talk to me”

“...I just... I feel so bloody emotional..!” Peter choked, a single tear dripping down his cheek.

“Oh sweetheart” Loki sighed, setting the mug he held down on the bedside table and sitting beside Peter.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me-!”

“Maybe you’re just tired” Loki said, pulling him onto his lap and hugging him tight. “Or maybe you’re just having one of those days”

“I should be happy though, right? Anyone else in my position would. I’m on holiday, and I’ve got my friends here. So why do I have to feel so sad and rubbish?”

“That’s just the way it is, sometimes. For lack of another example, just think back a bit to how I was in the week before the wedding. I wasn’t exactly singing from the rooftops now, was I?”

Peter shook his head, knuckling his eyes. 

“Sometimes you don’t feel the good emotions at the right time. But they’ll come”

“I’m tired...”

“You’ll feel better in the morning, when you’ve had a good sleep and refreshed yourself” he peered at the boy. “There’s something else going on here. What is it?”

Peter shifted uncomfortably. “...I just feel a bit lonely”

“No one is saying you have to coop yourself up in here” Loki said, reaching for the mug of tea and putting it in Peter’s hand. “Take a minute to compose yourself, and then go and join for friends for a bit before bed”

“I don’t know. Dad said-”

“Peter, it wasn’t a suggestion”

Peter looked up at him, and he smiled. 

“Yes, dad”

-

Joining the girls had been a good idea. They had their drinks and they talked and they laughed, and Peter started feeling better - almost back to his usual self. Just before midnight, there was a knock on the door, and Tony came into the room.

“Ok kids, you need to be going to bed now” he said. “It’s been a long day. Go and brush your teeth and get ready for bed”

Flo and Liz nodded.

“Yes, Mr Stark”

“Good girls. Peter, come on darling: say goodnight to your friends”

Peter did as he was told, hugging both girls tight before letting Tony guide him back to his room. 

“Do you need a wee before you go to bed?”

“Dad! I’m not five!”

“Well, do you?”

Peter shook his head. “No”

“Ok, good. Well, you’ve got a sink in here, so you can just get yourself sorted in here. I’ll come and check on you in a little while, ok, chick?”

Peter nodded. “Ok” 

Tony shut the door behind him. Peter did his teeth and washed his face and got into his pyjamas. He crawled into bed and tucked his Peter Rabbit toy under his arm. He lay back against the pillows, looking up at the artex ceiling and listening to Liz and Flo laughing together. It was nice to hear, even though he wasn’t a part of it. He felt ok now. Maybe Loki was right: he’d feel better in the morning.

*

[canaryatlaw]

mmmm okay I’m tired so let’s get going here. today was fine, I’m kinda in a funk right now and I’m not entirely sure why but oh well. Alarm went off at 7, got out of bed and got ready. when I checked the weather app it said there was gonna be a windchill of 29 and I ain’t about that shit, so I had a sweater on as like my main shirt, then my suit jacket, then my hoodie, then my normal jacket. in hindsight, I probably should’ve known this was overkill, but I’d always rather be overprepared than underprepared. so I ended up overheating like halfway to the train and ended up taking my jacket off but oh well. train ride in was fine, I texted one of the lawyers to ask about shadowing them and I didn’t realize they didn’t have a case up till 9:30, and I was already running early because I wanted to drop my lunch off at the office so I didn’t have to lug it through court with me all day, so I had some time to kill when I got to court at like 8:45. so I went to the starbucks under the courthouse and chilled there for a while until it was time to head upstairs. unsurprisingly I beat the lawyer there, and proceeded to check the line numbers of the cases in the different rooms to make sure we could get to each one in time, things ended up working out pretty well, one of the judges was out so we literally just talked to OPC and came up with an order to enter, so that was easy enough. we did the 10:30 and then we were done with court. I was originally scheduled to shadow her on an arbitration later that day but she informed me that it was cancelled, which meant I got to stay in the office all day and work on that giant project I’ve just been given, which is of course *such* a joy to me. So I went back to the office and got to work. I had been handling the oldest cases first so most of their files were empty, but as I got to the more recent ones there was a lot more in their files (one thing I will say I appreciate is that their files are digitized, as opposed to OPG where someone would hand me a file that’s *literally* busting at the seams and ask me to find one specific piece of paper in it when there’s a solid 3,000 pages in there (yeah, being a law clerk sucks sometimes). so it was a lot of clicking through different documents to find different pieces of information. it was relieving to find out that for a lot of the cases the info just isn't there, so I don’t have to get stressed out about not finding it, so it really wasn’t as bad as I expected, so that was good. I basically did that the rest of the day, I didn’t take a lunch since I brought my leftovers from home and ate them at my desk. Towards the end of the day the lawyer I was with yesterday that I like a lot stopped by our office and I asked her if she got the deposition notes from me yesterday and she proceeded to tell me they were excellent, which of course made me happy, and then told me she was gonna take me to a trial with her in like January so that also made me happy of course. At like 4:45 I got a text reminding me I had to do the folders today, which is literally just taking a stack of folders of the cases that are up tomorrow and separating them into piles for each attorney that was handling the cases. More menial labor, but honestly at this point it doesn’t even phase me in the least because I’ve done all the crappy law clerk jobs, I’ve separated papers, I’ve folded letters into envelopes, I’ve copied things, I’ve spent hours going through thousands of pieces of paper to find one specific one for nothing but a “thanks” but that’s how it is when you’re starting at the bottom and I get that, and it’s why I try my hardest to do the best I can at even the shittiest of tasks, whether it’s taking deposition notes or separating folders. So I got that done and then there was some confusion over a supposedly missing folder but it was soon resolved. As I was about to leave I got a message from Jess saying she might make it home for our shows tonight which we weren’t sure was going to happen because she had to go to Michigan today to see her brother and pretend to be his parent, so we didn’t know if she’d be back in time. I headed home, all that good commute stuff, got kinda frazzled when I got home because kitty managed to knock the lid off the trash that was already kinda overflowing and kicked some stuff around the kitchen which was kind of a mess, so I had to clean that up and take the trash out, then start on making the fried rice I was gonna do for dinner. This recipe I had insisted that in order to get the best fried rice you have to use leftover rice (like rice that was cooked and has since cooled and sat in the fridge for a few hours) so when I was making rice for the korean bbq bowls yesterday I made extra rice for this purpose, but didn’t end up making enough so the ratios got kinda messed up, but I managed to find my garlic crusher so that helped lol. It was fairly easy to make, so that was good. I was ready to start the shows at 7 but Jess was just running over, so I paused it and then started it when she got there like 5 minutes later. The Gifted first, I can’t say I was all that enthralled with tonight’s episode, just wasn’t very interesting to me for some reason, and I had kind of a hard time following the plot other than the mom was pretty much engaging in active torture and Lauren was trying to get through to Andy and that was NOT working, but I didn’t really have any idea what Lorna or the rest of them were doing. so I was kinda meh on that. Then Black Lightning, which is always great and nails what they’re going for. I laughed my ass off when Jennifer pushed Khalil off the roof because like yes girl you tell him, and the whole plot with the metagene triggering brutal honesty from people was actually really interesting and I hope they keep going down that kind of road with all of this. I didn’t like that Jefferson and Anissa were kind of fighting of course, but I hope they can sort that out going forward being that they definitely work better as a team. After that we went back and watched The Flash (since it airs at the same time as The Gifted and we obviously can’t watch both at once). Pretty good episode, I love Nora West-Allen she’s kind of great (and not just because her name is Nora, but I mean the fact that there are now gonna be four Nora’s in the Arrowverse makes me happy) and it kinda cracks me up that Jessica Parker Kennedy is 34 and calling 28 year old Grant Gustin “dad” lol and I just think of her as older because she was playing a “kid” on Smallville an entire ten years ago. but yeah I liked their whole dynamic this episode and I have so many questions about that final fight and everything that happened during it. Not gonna lie, at the end when they were like “the breathing sounds like an insect” and I obviously know their villain of the season is Cicada but I couldn’t help being like “IT’S MOTHMAN” just for my own amusement lol. but yeah, enjoyable episode, season 5 is off to a good start, they managed to make Ralph at least 60% less annoying which is definitely a victory, and they’re doing a good job incorporating the side plots into the bigger story. And yeah, after that Jess headed home and I started getting ready for bed and then wasted time doing nothing and a bunch of things all at once and now it’s 12:40 am and I have to be up at 7 so I’m gonna end this here. Goodnight my loves. Happy hump day.

[strippersrevenge]

Derrek POV:

It had been 72 hours to the minute since he had spoken or seen Camren. The day he got home and she had disappeared was not okay for him. He kept replaying over in his head that morning to try and figure out what he had missed.

- 72 hours ago - 

He spent his morning watching Camren fiddle through the morning like she was waiting on something. He waited for her to tell him and when she didn’t it pissed him off to no end. 

“Camren, how is a grown man supposed to get through his day with just cereal?!” he asked her making sure to put enough bass in his voice to get her attention, or at least he though would.

“Yea Derrek.” was all she replied pissing him off more.

Leaning back in his chair and folding his arms he sighed.

“Look Camren the shit over with! Get the fuck out ya feelings! I said we can have another baby later on. You acting childish at this point!” he said hoping it would get her to start acting right like it usually did, but today was just full of surprises for him.

“Derrek aren’t you the nigga sitting here with your damn arms folded like a child complaining about cereal that you didn’t pour for yourself might i add.” she said snapping on him in an unemotional and monotone voice. 

Staring at her sitting next to him, not even looking at him as they talked he felt for the first time in a minute a little confused. She never talked to him like that and he didn’t know how to handle it. 

“Camren, you getting real flippant at the mouth don’t you think?” he asked making sure she knew he wasn’t pleased, but yet again was a pointless endeavor. 

As she finally looked him in the face he can see nothing, but blankness and contempt in her eyes.

“Derrek if you have a problem with your food then make it yourself for now on. Or better yet ask ya mama to fix your grown ass some formula since she think she the head of this house.”

“Oh Camren, I don’t put my hands on your but you bout to make me start.”

“Whate.....” she started before he interrupted her.

“DON’T ever talk about my mother like you lost your fuckin mind. Don’t talk to me like you’ve lost your mind!” he said as he realized she still hadn’t put her ring back on since the day before the procedure.

“And its been 8 days since you took your ring off so I suggest you put it back on.”

Seeing her roll her eyes and turn away from him she mumbled, “You wanna see the ring so fuckin much then you wear it.”

Hopping out his seat and letting it hit the wall for extra dramatics, which didn’t even get him a jump from her, he almost started to see red.

Pacing behind her he tried to think of a why she seemed to treat him differently, he needed to get her ass in order.

“Camren your ass being real SELFISH,” he screamed making sure to put bass in the word that he knew always made her feel like shit, or at least used to.

“Derrek why the fuck you yelling this early in the morning? And if your not gonna eat your food then just go to work already.”

He was livid! Was she dismissing him?! He didn’t know what to do, she wasn’t even the Camren he was use to, was that abortion really that fuckin serious! He was honestly getting sick of her shit this past week.

“You know what I do need to get to work, but before I get home you need to clean this fuckin house up cause you been slipping, you need to put some groceries in this house cause we running out, go get your hair and nails did because you literally been sitting around here looking you don’t give af, and then have dinner done and ready for once when I get home.”

Hearing her suck her teeth and groan he tried to contain himself.

“And while your fuckin at it, come meet me for lunch, wear something blue or black to match this shirt, and you better glue that ring back to your fuckin finger!” he said turning to leave for work before he pissed hisself off more from basically talking to a snappy brick wall. 

“Good bye Derrek.” was all he heard before he slammed the door and left for work. 

Getting to his office he couldn’t get Camren out his head so he decided to call her, when it went straight to voicemail after all three phone call he was pissed.

“The fuck is her problem?!” he grumbled. 

Calling his mother, he tells her to go to their house and tell that bitch to call him or charge her phone, before trying to get back to work.

A couple hours and a lunch break later his mother called him to tell him that she was no where in the house and nothing looked out of place besides the uneaten food on the table and Camren phone powered off on the kitchen table. No one had seen her coming or going, not even the doorman. Trying to play off his shock, he told his mother he forgot he told her to meet him for lunch and her dumb ass must have forgot to charge her phone so she left it.

After listening to his mother talk about Camren like a dog he got off the phone with her promising to hit her up later and hangs up pissed.

“Where the fuck is she?!” 

After getting off work and not hearing from her all day he finally gets home and the silence gets to him immediately. 

After tearing the house upside down he found her phone fully charged and powered off on the table, her engagement ring on the night stand, and her old suitcase she refused to replace from her aunt missing. 

He almost started to panic when he remembered that she had no money and no other place to go and eventually she would come back tomorrow when she realized her life wasn’t shit without him. 

Or so he thought.

- Present Day - 

He had took the day off hoping to be home when she got home yesterday, but she was still gone and still hadn't contacted him. Their house was starting to look like shit and he hadn’t had a proper meal and his clothes and outfits have been looking like shit lately. 

He made the decision to start to look for her cause he be damned if he looking and living like shit without her, but he didn’t know how she was doing. She needed him! So he was gonna make sure she found her way back home. 

[noheroes-allowed]

week 2

day 8: it feels good to be productive even though I really didn’t do much, had an hour phone call with my professor to go over my essay and he went into too much detail lmao and I really wanted it to end starting halfway through, watched hp 2&3 with my bro, spent two hours on refactored, am wearing a new sweater and socks I haven’t worn before and it’s nice, they’re moving forward with my background check so summer isn’t cancelled still as of now! hallelujah

day 9: jeremy released a new song, watched both hp 7’s today, watched wheel of fortune, sent refactored emails, played piano, forgot for like two minutes what day it was and thought it was wednesday, got a call from my recruiter and she told me they’re having a meeting tomorrow to decide what to do about the program eeeeeep, wore a new sweater today with my cat socks, kristina said she’d give me a list of questions but they never came so now keith is winging it tomorrow, texted keith if he was busy and if we could call later and then we did and I was less nervous this time about asking even though he never got back to me on what movie they ended up watching if they ever ended up watching which I don’t think they did and he just needed to get off the phone but it’s ok bc he was honest this time (update: he actually watched jerry maguire with his mom and that comforts me)

day 10: idk why but I can’t figure out how to make oatmeal at home? the two times I’ve done it now including today is not as good as when I made it in my apt kitchen, played piano and uke, asked my bro what day it was bc I’m starting to lose track of time :(, worked on refactored but didn’t work on my slides yet and was highly unproductive, potato salad at dinner, need to get a drug test lol, keith called me and it was work related but I like hearing his voice in any capacity, called Cat and got wrapped up in myers briggs again lmao, looked up my compatibility again and it said I’d have difficulties with jenny’s type lmao which is also jaja’s type, oh and I saw a real cat in this catastrophe! she let me pet her and everything. plus she looked like my aunt’s cat and it was very lovely after my run 

day 11: my mother woke me up this morning to drive her but it was unnecessarily early bc I didn’t even have to pick her up more than an hour later, finally left my neighborhood even though it was only for like 10 min it was still nice to fucking get out, my oatmeal this morning was actually good finally, spent like three hours curating a playlist oops, there’s like nothing in the fridge and it upsets me bc I want an actual meal but I’ve literally just been eating rice and bread for lunch this past week and it’s not working, played piano and uke, my supervisor emailed me and said they’re gonna pay for the past few days even though we haven’t been working! but I’m locked out of the time period so idk, saw the kitty again, texting :), filed my taxes which is the only thing I’ve really accomplished today but does that even count as being productive? lol I don't think so. also I haven’t done any school work in literally 16 days holy fuck I really need to get my shit together. but also I feel like I’m finally adjusting to this mess and trying to enjoy the moments I can

day 12: had a zoom meeting with my supervisor and I think I might pick up extra hours, peed in a cup, my mom finally bought groceries and there’s so much more fruit in the house and carrots! I can finally eat my hummus again, started watching the tv shows I keep up with again meaning I’m finally adjusting I think and not obsessing over the news like I did the first week, played piano, worked on refactored slides but it’s taking a lot longer than I expected bc I am procrastinating but also my kids did not do a good enough job and I have to pick up their slack, organized my google calendar so hopefully now I will finally stick to a schedule, my mom finally made a good dinner with our new groceries, got a free book yesterday bc there was a table giving them away and they were all suspense themed which isn’t typically what I read but we’ll see if I like the one I picked out, was gonna go to bed early but ended up watching harry styles tiny desk concert oops

day 13: watch svu today, practiced uke a really long time and I think I’m finally confident with two songs lmao. it’s taken me a really long time to learn them but I’m excited to try party favor next, rescheduled Iceland officially, I’m enjoying maggie rogers tunes, worked on refactored slides for fucking hours and still haven’t finished, called Cat, my mom is paranoid

day 14: I slept so fucking well this morning. it was so bizarre and I hadn’t slept this well in like more than a month and it may have been bc of a stupid reason, practiced uke, FINISHED THE FUCKING SLIDES, I sent this nytimes article to my environmental econ prof from last sem like three days ago bc it was talking about vsl and he got back to me today! cool, I think I may be going a little crazy ahahahahahha I need social interaction and segc is holding an update meeting tomorrow so I guess I’m looking forward to that, still have not worked on my essay and I probably won’t be tomorrow bc I gotta do cti work ugh. this essay just does not want to be written