#i wish i could just… send someone to people and be like oh hey irene feels a little unwanted and unloved yk

[cottoncandywhispers]

i want to be honest with how i feel but i don’t know how i i feel BUT also i feel like i’m making mistakes and being a burden all the time

[johnsamericano]

𝓓𝓪𝔂 16:

ℓєє נєиσ

23 days of NCT masterlist.

taglist: @notbeforelong @whathamelon @mrcarbonatedmilk @curieouscapt @unknown5tar @gjheaaa @ajhdr @silent-potato

warnings: oral (male receiving), jealous Jeno, mentions of drunk sex, Jeno in those tight pants skaters wear 😭

“Watcha looking at?”

Jeno jolted, his eyes abandoning the pair of skaters practicing in the ice-rink. Just as he stopped watching, he heard a loud thud. You were laying down on your back, your partner sprinting towards your giggly figure.

“Are you alright?” He helped you up, his hand holding your waist naturally. “Stop laughing, you could’ve gotten yourself hurt.”

“I’ve fallen so many times that it doesn’t even hurt anymore, Jaems.” Jeno’s blood boiled at the name. You wouldn’t even call him by his name, while your partner had the privilege of having his very own nickname. “Let’s practice the death spiral.”

Jeno’s partner looked at him with curiosity, she’d never seen that look in his face before.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning on switching partners.” Jeno shook his head, tearing his gaze off You to finish tying his skates.

“Never, I was just studying our competition.” Right after finishing his task, he extended his hand towards his friend. “We need to practice hard, we’re only a few days away from the competition.”

You didn’t even spare him a glance as they entered the rink, too focused on finding the perfect way to hold Jaemin’s hand.

“Okay, we’ve got this.” You high fived him, getting in position to start your routine all over again. “Hey, Lee! Quit staring at us.” Apparently, you had taken notice of his gaze.

“I wasn’t!” The slight blush in his cheeks said otherwise. “Ignore them, Irene.”

As much as Jeno considered training with you in the same rink a blessing, you seemed to despise him. Maybe it was because of that time he called you untalented when he was a teen, or maybe it was because of that time he left the morning after having drunk sex with you, but who knows.

Nationals were held a couple of days later. Thankfully, you didn’t have to travel anywhere this year.

You cheerfully greeted all of the people you’d met during the past competitions, wishing them luck as Jaemin called you out to get ready.

You dressed in the beautiful black dress with small diamonds around your sleeves, Jaemin wearing a matching outfit, the tight shirt making his chest and shoulders look broader. You were both provided with a thick coat to cover you from the ice rink’s cold.

“You ready?” You went out of the dressing rooms, holding his hand tightly.

“We’re gonna do amazing.”

As you waited for another pair to finish their routine, a handsome Lee Jeno approached you.

“Ready to lose?” You scoffed, looking at him in disbelief. “What? There’s no way you’re gonna win against us.”

“May I remind you who won a golden medal last year?” Now it was his turn to scoff, both of your partners looking at the scene unfolding with curiosity.

“Wanna bet?” His face inched closer to your own, breath fanning against your slightly flushed cheeks.

“Deal. If I win, you’ll have to treat me and Jaems dinner.” That damn nickname again.

“Fine, but if I win, you’ll call me Jeno from now on.” It wasn't the deal he'd originally thought of, but the sudden mention of your partner made his blood boil with resentment.

You stared at him, squinting your eyes.

“Fine.” You finally replied as your name was being called through the speakers. “Break a leg.”

You threw your coat at him before entering the ice with Jaemin holding your hand, the crowd cheering loudly for the country's favorite pair. You skated around, warming up your legs as you waited for your music to get started. You stopped at the middle of the rink, placing your hand behind the nape of Jaemin’s neck to start your routine.

The melancholic sound of violins filled the place, your legs moving backward as you started your well-practiced routine.

Jeno watched everything from outside as Jaemin lifted you between his arms, holding your waist tightly as you looked at each other with passion, almost as if thousands of people weren't surrounding you, as if you were the only ones in the room.

Jaemin threw you in the air, your body rotating a few times before you landed in his arms again.

Your routine was filled with emotions, each movement expertly performed, the crowd bursting into cheers as the end of your song approached. You both nailed a triple axel, perfectly synchronized. Jaemin grabbed a hold of your hand, your back slowly bending as he spun your body around, forming the infamous death spiral. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as Jaemin carried you once again, arm between your thighs as he gave a final spin to end your performance. You smiled at each other, proud of your nearly excellent performance.

You skated out of the rink, grabbing a few flowers the crowd had thrown at you. Your trainers waited for you, seating in a bench where you'd receive your final score.

Jeno’s piercing gaze could easily be disguised as a normal competitor's jealousy, but deep down, he knew that wasn't it. He wanted to be the one by your side, he wanted to hold your hand just like Jaemin did. He wanted you to smile at him the way you did with your partner.

As expected, Jeno lost the bet. He was frustrated, to say the least, not only because he didn't get the highest score, but because every single reporter that interviewed the golden medal winners would ask about their relationship.

‘They’re not together.’ Jeno wanted to tell them, but he knew you could handle the situation yourself, telling the reporters you were only friends.

“Just ask her out already.” Irene sat down on a bench beside him, the silver medal hanging from her neck.

“What?”

“Jeno, everyone knows you're head over heels for her. You're not exactly discreet.”

“I really don't want to think about that now.” Irene hummed, staring at Jeno while he closed his eyes, attempting to ease his turbulent mind.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of steps coming his way that he opened them again, his orbs going wide at the sight of you.

“You did amazing today.” Well, that was unexpected.

“Are you mocking me?”

“What? No!” You were suddenly regretted trying to lift his spirits. “Your routine was amazing, Jeno.”

You called him by his name. A small laugh couldn't be helped as his face turned bright red.

“Come, I have a consolation prize for you.” You extended your hand his way, your pretty fingers making a ‘come here’ motion.

“Why are you suddenly being nice to me?” He hesitantly took your hand, letting you drag him all the way to the dressing rooms, away from the curious eyes of reporters.

You didn't answer his question, instead, locking the door behind you. He gave you a puzzled look, his thick eyebrows joining in a small frown.

“I heard you talking to Irene.” You shyly confessed, playing with the hem of your black skirt. “How old are you? 10? Why didn't you just tell me instead of acting like an ass?”

“Okay, first, I acted like an ass once, and I was twelve, what were you even expecting?” He took a step closer to you, hands almost over your waist. “And second, I thought you hated me, why would I confess to someone who clearly doesn't like me?”

“Why would you assume I hate you?”

“You don't?”

“I mean, I don't even know you that well. We've trained together for years but we've barely spoken, except for that time we slept together after drinking.” The distance between your bodies was now null, chests pressing against each other. “But I would've definitely accepted if you’d asked me out. I kinda like that bad boy vibe you give.”

A smile creeped up his lips, hands settling right above the curve of your ass.

“You said you had a consolation prize for me.” You cocked an eyebrow, noticing how the atmosphere had changed in less than a second.

“Oh, really?” Your hands teased the back of his thighs, slightly tugging at the flexible material of his pants.

“Lately I’ve been having trouble remembering that night we shared a year ago, mind helping me freshen up my memory?”

“Well maybe if you hadn’t left the morning after, you wouldn’t have to be reminded, cause it would be a daily thing.” There was a pinch of resentment in your voice as you pulled his pants down, sinking into your knees to caress his growing bulge.

“Don’t tease.” He warned, grabbing a hold of your hair and slightly pulling it back. “I was scared...” he resumed your previous conversation. “Irene and I don’t have the best chemistry, unlike you and that friend of yours, so I feared not being able to skate with her anymore, I didn’t want to lose that small spark that makes us worthy of a medal, even if it’s just silver.”

“But still, you didn’t have to leave me hungover and confused in a hotel room. That was mean.” Jeno chuckled, breath hitching as you pulled out his length from the black boxers.

“I promise to make it up to you...shit.” He groaned as you flattened your tongue against his tip, the pressure driving him insane.

“You better.” You fitted as much as you could inside your mouth, massaging the rest of it with your hands as you bobbed your head.

Jeno could feel himself growing harder inside your wet cavern, length twitching at the feeling of your tongue swirling around it.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” Slowly, his hips started moving back and forth, matching the pace of your head which was now controlled by his hand. “That’s it, I’m close.” His low grunts and moans had your core aching, clenching around nothing in an attempt to relive it. “Just a couple more hours and I’ll take you back to my apartment. I can’t wait to have that pretty cunt around me.” You whimpered, sending vibrations down his cock and causing his cum to spill inside your mouth. The salty liquid painted the back of your throat, involuntarily making you swallow it. “Come on, the reporters must be waiting for you.” With both hands below your elbows, he helped you up, pulling his pants back up before leaving the room with you following closely.

“There You are!” Jaemin spotted you, Jeno immediately running away to avoid rising any suspicions. “What were you doing in that dressing room with our enemy?” He dramatically gasped. “Am I being replaced? Hold me, I might faint.”

“Stop it, you drama queen. We were just...talking.”

“Mhm.” He grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers and shooting a glance at Jeno. His deep frown made Jaemin smile. “Oh, and y/n?” You looked at him. “Wipe that drool off your chin, darling.”

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 15

WARNING: Mature scenes ahead!!! ;)

A/N: Future u, i hope ur ok

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The moonlight glimmered among the stars in the now pitch-black skies, fighting off against the bright lights hanging from above the tent. Bucky's digression to topics regarding his real family (or lack thereof, I think) never wore off, clearly avoiding talking about, dare you say, "the real stuff." But the classic "favorites" section of a date was indeed a delight. You had already covered favorite films (his was The Truman Show, while yours was Forrest Gump; but you also talked about other films that you both shared a liking to — Pulp Fiction, Me, Myself & Irene, Dead Poets Society, The Godfather, the Harry Potter series, Inception, and of course, any films that star the legendary Tom Hanks), favorite music to listen to (you both loved vintage rock and roll), and so much more favorites and would you rather and what ifs and if you weres. But you mostly talked about films — an in-depth discourse on their themes, writing, and cinematography (things you never thought you'd be able to talk about with anyone).

"Have you ever thought about shooting films?" Bucky asked.

You were now lying down on the blanket-covered ground, bodies upside down-like: your forehead aligned with his chin, and his chin aligned with your forehead, as if characters from The Fault In Our Stars.

"I did." You replied. "But I wanted to focus more on photography."

"Why?"

You turned your head, your breath fanning the side of his face. "There's something about the stillness of moving things, of people around me, beautiful people that strikes me as fascinating."

He hummed, closing his eyes. He was saying something, about how art, in all kinds of medium, connected people from all walks of life, how the beauty of it all can be different to each, and how he wished he could make one of his own: to give life to a canvas, to freeze a moment in time, to put his thoughts in pen and paper, and to embody a character different from his. At some point, you could feel him peeling down all his layers but then he stopped talking.

You respected the silence between you and took your sweet time studying his face. The wrinkles on his forehead looked like ridges of sand, ridges people would like to walk on for days, ridges that held untold stories of — perhaps — heartache, failure, and pain. His closed eyelids looked like a sleeping moon, gleaming. Almost touching his cheeks were his long, curved eyelashes. Then, my eyes trailed down to his nose, dotted with freckles, his nostrils releasing small puffs of air; then down to his mouth, slightly agape, and then down to the stubbles on the sides of his face. There was a small scar, almost concealed by where his beard started to grow.

You turned your body sideways, tracing the scar with your finger.

Bucky's body tensed under your touch.

"What happened to this fella?" You whispered, tracing the small scar.

He soon let himself relax, opening his eyes. "Car accident." He replied. "But I don't remember much of it. I don't know where it happened, or how it happened or if I hit something or worse, someone. But Tony told me he took care of everything. I haven't been behind the wheel since then. I fear history will repeat itself."

Then, you remembered all the times you've been in a vehicle with Bucky. Not once was he driving. "How old were you?"

"Nineteen? Twenty? I really don't know." He sighed, closing his eyes once again. It was the first time Bucky told you something so real — a fear, something personal, something close to home. "Hey, y/n?"

"Yes, Bucky?"

"Can you kiss it and make it feel better?"

You giggled, poking the scar. "You've got to be kidding me."

He pouted, his eyes still closed. "Please?"

You sighed, feigning exasperation. "Fine." You planted a soft kiss on the scar, your lower lip catching the rough edges of his beard.

"I'm still not feeling better."

"Oh Bucky, you are such a child." You laughed, giving it another kiss, and then another, and then another and then another, until rough edges turned into the soft textures of his lips. With lips entangled in an unusual position, you brought myself onto your knees, and positioned yourself on top of him — knees on each side of his hips, crotch pressed against his, hands on his jaws, lips on his lips, tongue inside of his mouth.

His hands found your neck, then up your jaws, cupping your face and pulling it closer to his. He then started to rake the roots of your hair, tugging it lightly, making a moan escape your lips. You felt one corner of his mouth turn a bit upward at the sound. He tugged your hair tighter and harder until your lips left his with your head pulled backwards, leaving your bare neck exposed.

Without any hesitation, his mouth moved onto neck. Gratified by the series of moans coming out of your mouth, he sucked deeper into your skin, biting every inch of your neck, making sure to leave damn marks. On impulse, you moved your hips against his, grinding his clothed crotch. Bucky groaned against your skin, his hot breath fanning your neck. You could feel your own wetness in between your thighs as you moved your hips more, Bucky's bulge growing under you getting bigger and bigger. The sensation left you breathless.

And you needed more.

You broke away from his grasp, returning the favor. You kissed him on the lips and moved your way towards his earlobes in which Bucky very much liked; so much that he thrusted his hips upwards, slamming loud onto yours.

"Oh, fuck." You moaned, moving your way towards his neck.

Bucky's hands immediately flew under your shirt. His cold hands making contact with your skin, sending you shivers.

"Wait." He said, pulling away from you. "Is this okay? Are you okay with this?"

You giggled and nodded, kissing him on the mouth to give him permission.

He cut the kiss short. "I'm sorry, but we live in a litigious society so I'm gonna need a verbal reply from you, especially that you're years younger than me."

You chuckled. "Yes, Mr. Barnes. You have my full consent."

He smirked. "Keep calling me that and I'll give you my full consent."

"Shut up already, Mr. Barnes."

He lifted the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head, revealing a cotton white bra.

You bit your lip. "If you'd told me about the date, I would've worn a much better one."

"I don't mind." He breathed, sitting up. "I like white on you." He traced the lining of the bra with his finger, together with his eyes. He licked his lower lip before planting a kiss between your breasts. "So pure. Innocent."

"Innocent is not the word to describe me." You smirked. "Remember what I told you before?"

"Hmm, I seem to have forgotten." He teased. "What was it again?"

"I'm a devil on the sheets, Bucky."

"Then show it to me, doll." He purred.

As soon as those words left his mouth, all the worries and fear you talked about with Nat all washed away. And like always, she was again, right.

It was exactly like riding a bicycle.

And you were ready to be in control, in control of a man your senior, and to unleash something inside you you've never seen in quite a while.

You grabbed Bucky's face and kissed him on the mouth while pulling his shirt over his head. Every inch of his naked sculpted upper body glistened under the lights, like dewy grass under the sun.

You kissed his collarbones, shoulders, and chest. Before you could even move on to his tummy, a strong force came, flipping your body, your back hitting the blanket-covered ground.

"But not before I show it to you first." He growled, reaching something from above. He closed the front of the tent, pulling something from above. Within a second, the lights above went dim. The only light you now had was the moonlight.

You liked it this way. Darkness made you feel safe — but it was the kind of darkness with a sliver of light and Bucky was it. The inside of the tent grew hotter, making your body sweat, or perhaps it was just the sexual heat between you and Bucky as Bucky removed your pants, as well as his, leaving you in just your undergarments.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, pressing up against him, making him feel that you were already dripping for him, that you wanted him.

He moaned inside your mouth as you grinded against each other. His teeth pulled your bra down. With your bare chest exposed, you usually had the instinct to cover them up because they were small for people's taste but you didn't do that with Bucky. He admired them with his eyes, and admired them more with his lips wrapped around your nipples, pulling each of them softly. He then left fluttered kisses on your breasts before moving down to your belly, kissing every curve, every wave fold there ever was, and every stretch mark he came across upon.

His mouth stopped right on the folds of your lower belly, his fingers making their way on your wet cotton panties. His lips went back to yours while his fingers were circling all around you, clothed, making you wetter each second. Then, he slipped your panties aside, taking no time at all in inserting a finger inside.

A moan escaped your lips, opening your mouth more, giving access to Bucky's tongue. With another finger slipping inside, you bit Bucky's lower lip, pulled it away from him. He watched you gasp for air, listened to each moan, and felt you deep inside as he continued to thrust his fingers in you.

"You're quite tight, doll." He said. "I'm going for another to ease you up, okay?"

You nodded then whimpered as soon as a third finger made its way inside. Because you were, in his own words, quite tight, Bucky had a bit of a difficult time moving inside. He pulled away after a few moments, giving you time to catch your breath. He folded your knees, and held your legs in place using his veiny hands. He left a trail of soft kisses on your inner thighs, his teeth grazing on your skin every once in a while. You watched him inched forward, nearing your core. You watched him take delight in each mark he imprinted.

He hooked his thumbs on your panties and slowly slid them down your legs. On his knees, he ravished your body with his eyes, then your face. He leaned down, kissing you

"Beautiful." He mumbled in the kiss.

He soon devoured your pussy, his tongue moving up and down your folds, his upper lip nibbling your clit. You closed your yes, threw your head back and raked his hair with your fingers, guiding his mouth deeper. With his mouth still exploring every bit of you, he inserted two fingers inside. You whimpered at the sensation of both his tongue flicking your clit, and his fingers fucking you.

You moaned louder, arching your back, rolling your eyes at the back of your head. You badly wanted to see him, to watch him greedily eat you but his mouth and fingers felt so good that you couldn't even keep your eyes open. The more you tried to, the faster his mouth and fingers moved. It made your legs tremble under his touch, your thighs pressing closer and closer to his ears, which he didn't like as he kept spreading your legs wider with his other hand.

"Bu-Bucky, please." You gasped. "I'm gonna cum."

"No. Not yet."

With that, he released his mouth and fingers, leaving you suspended in ecstasy. You opened your eyes, seeing Bucky on top of you, his face studying you. Then, he brought his fingers — the same ones that were just inside you — to his mouth, licking them. Now, you really did wish you could've kept your eyes open the whole time.

"You taste good, doll." He said, giving you his fingers.

You opened your mouth and reached for his fingers, sliding up and down, the taste of you sitting on your tongue. You could feel Bucky weaken above you as you continued to suck his fingers. Your right hand moved to his boxers, stroking his clothed hard-on. His eyelids quivered for a moment, losing touch of his dominance. You kissed his fingers one last time and flipped him over, not wasting any damn time taking his boxers off.

He sprung up in front of you. He was big (the biggest you've encountered), and was throbbing under your touch. He was hot, and a little bit wet. You looked at him while you pumped him slowly, then kissed him, returning the pleasure. A breath escaped his mouth as your pace went faster, and faster. His body became weaker under you, his lips agape, surrendering to submission, to your dominance.

Bucky felt so fragile underneath you, not being able to regain the control he once had. He wanted this. He wanted you to show him how much of a devil you were.

You pulled away from his mouth and moved lower on his body, his large, throbbing dick between your eyes. You kissed the top, making his legs quiver. You soon took him in — all of him, which made Bucky grab your head, pull your hair, and guide you all the way. You looked at him as you worked him all the way up, then down, then up and down: his mouth was kept open, a series of moans coming out, and at the same time, gasping for air; instead of eyes closed, his eyes were wide open, looking at the unlit lights above him.

Usually, giving head to people wasn't at all satisfying to you. What would it give you, anyway? It was either forced, or just because they told you to suck them. But with Bucky, you didn't even hesitate on doing so. It wasn't an itch you were trying to scratch away. It was on impulse, an instinct, a desire you wanted. And seeing Bucky in this state gave you so much pleasure.

So much.

Bucky let out the loudest moan, sitting up straight, his chest heaving, trying to catch his breath.

"I need you." He rasped. "Now."

You nodded, satisfied with what you received on his end. You straddled him, grinded on his bare dick, and glazed it with your wetness. He groaned, guiding your hips with his one hand, the other on the ground, keeping himself straight up.

"Don't worry. I'm on the pill." you whispered.

"I thought it's been over a year since you — "

"It's for acne, dumbass." You chuckled. "You can cum inside me if you want. You have my full consent."

"Good."

You held onto his broad shoulders as you lowered myself onto him and within a second, you felt his tip inside.

You bit your lip as you inched yourself lower. With his whole inside you, you leaned your forehead on his shoulder, and let out a small whimper.

"Are you okay?" He whispered in your ear. You nodded and placed a kiss on his neck, reassuring him.

You moved your body up and down, biting your lip to keep small cries from coming out, but soon enough, you were taking in pleasure within pain until all there was was pleasure.

Sweet, sweet pleasure.

You bounced on top of him faster, — god, he felt so big and so good in you — skin slapping on skin, echoing against the thin sheets, with his lips on yours, then on your neck, then on your breasts; his hands on your jaw, on your neck, your breasts (sometimes, together with his lips), on the small of your back, on your hips, then on your ass.

"Oh god, you feel so fucking good." Bucky said, kissing your skin as you kept on bouncing on top of him. "But it's my turn, babydoll."

You moaned at the nickname, making your body frail to move and then the next thing you knew, you were flipped over, with Bucky on his knees, thrusting faster, then deeper as he inched forward, your chests pressed together. Your fingers clawed on his back, his hot breath on your neck, your breath on his ear where he could hear you moaning his name.

"That's right." He whispered, kissing your neck. "Say my name."

You wrapped your legs around his waist (a kind of intimacy you had never done before), and with it, pulled him closer, deeper, giving you an astounding pleasure, making your whole body tremble under him, getting you higher and higher on staggering ecstasy, and sending you over your edge.

You cried out his name one last time, feeling your white juices come on his dick, mixed with his inside you.

"My god," he whispered, "I think I could never get enough of you."

"You just read my mind, Mr. Barnes."

"Hey, I feel a whole lot better now." He winked.

You chuckled.

You caught each others' breaths, kissing one last time before he removed himself from you, and laid down beside you where he wrapped his arms and legs around you, your head on his chest. You weren't the one to cuddle but at that moment, your body, frail and vulnerable, gave in. You didn't want to fight it, anyway. You were both surrounded with each others' pool of sweat but it didn't matter.

You were bathing in bliss.

In this bliss he had given you.

"You're not gonna kick me out the next morning, are you?" You asked, half-joking, scared that you'd be in the same position as that of the woman from before.

"No, doll." He replied, "you have my word," then kissed your forehead.

Bucky pulled you closer, his chin on top of your head. You listened to his heartbeat slow down every five seconds, giving you a rhythm you soon fell asleep to.

[13dead-ends]

Chapter 7 - Halloween

Chapter 7 of Blood Bound

Henry Cavill x Named OC

Summary: Nina has a lot to think about since her birthday and there’s a company Halloween party coming up.

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: lots of kissing (YAY), mention wooden stakes, alcohol

A/N: So sorry this took me forever, but it’s here and just in time for Halloween! I’m pretty sure this was edited at some point but there still might be hiccups. (Also this is the outfit Nina’s costume is based on) @hellcaster901​ thanks for reading all my stuff first Ilysm. I hope you like it!

Henry walked me up to my door. He took me home, since he had to leave early tomorrow morning. I didn’t want to leave, though. “Nice ruse by the way.” I chuckled. “Luring me with your dog.”

“I knew it would work.” He nudged me. My doorway came closer and closer and we were in front of it way sooner than I would’ve liked. We stood in front of it face to face.

“Thank you so much for dinner.” I smiled up at him. “It was really nice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I wish I could’ve done more for your birthday though.” I shook my head.

“No this was perfect. Seriously.” I stood on my tip toes to give him a big hug. He hugged me back so tightly, I almost couldn’t breath. As I pulled back, I looked at him. His hands were holding my waist so I couldn’t step back. His blue eyes were filled with something I didn’t recognize. I blinked and he was looking at my lips. My chest brushed against his as he looked back up. Something like electricity ran through me and I pushed myself up on my toes and kissed him. He only paused for a moment and then he pulled me in, his grip on my waist tighter. I held his cheeks in my hands and felt a little stubble. Henry leaned in more and I ran my fingers through his hair. I was tingling all over and goosebumps rose on my skin. I smiled into him, but he pulled away, my chin following him for a second.  He stared at me for a second and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

“I love it when you blush.” He whispered; I hadn’t even noticed how hot my cheeks had gotten. I giggled and let my feet drop to the ground again. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” My voice wouldn’t raise louder than a whisper.

“Goodnight, Nina.” Henry kissed my forehead. “And happy birthday.” He walked away and I went inside. I shut the door and a giant grin spread on my face. I listened for the elevator, part of me wanting to go back out there and drag him back. I still felt the pressure of his lips on mine. My heart was racing a mile a minute as I walked to my bedroom to squeal into my pillow. I flipped over and grabbed my phone, dialing Irene’s number to FaceTime.

“Nina, isn’t it late there?”

“Irene! I have to tell you something.” She furrowed her brows.

“What?”

“I kissed Henry.”

“YOU WHAT?” She screeched. I laughed out loud. “Tell me everything right now.”

“Well first, he surprised me for my birthday. He cooked me dinner!” She sighed.

“Oh, that’s so cute. So romantic.” I grinned, feeling like a teenager.

“And it was great except when my mom called.” She shook her head, eyes big.

“Wait what? If that bitch said something- “

“I think she just wanted to say happy birthday.” I rubbed my temple. “So, it wasn’t bad at first.”

“Just out of the blue calls you? Did she last year?”

“Nope. I don’t know why.” I huffed. “She just shut me down as soon as I brought up my job.” Irene rolled her eyes.

“Fuck her, anyways, get to the kiss!” I laughed. “Seriously do you want to talk about it?” I shook my head.

“It wasn’t anything different from what I used to. Besides I had someone to cheer me up.” She giggled. “So, we ate and talked, and it was just amazing, and you know he’s a bigger dork than I thought. He told me- “

“Not that I don’t care about the dinner, but I really need to hear about you kissing Henry fucking Cavill.” I laughed.

“Alright fine!” I took a breath. “He took me home and walked me to my door.” She moved the phone closer to her face. “He hugged me, and I just kissed him!”

“You did?” I rolled my eyes.

“Yes! Is that so hard to believe?” Irene shrugged. “Anyway, afterwards he told me he likes when I blush and then he had to go.” I sighed like a middle school girl. “Irene, I haven’t been this excited about a guy since college.” She laughed.

“Haha remember when you tried to date that film student?”

“Oh, shut up.” We talked all night. I think I fell asleep on the phone. I woke up around ten the next day. Despite it being fall, the sun shone in my window and brightened my room. I inhaled a deep breath in and smiled. I did my normal routine with more pep than usual, I had nothing planned today, but my cheerful mood made me want to get up and do something. I should work on my article since I had all this energy. I got my laptop and set up on my kitchen island.

Hours later and I was nodding my head to the music playing in my speaker and typing sentence after sentence. I was in a groove and it was always the best time to write. Though when I wrote real accounts from donors I had interviewed over DMs and phone calls it damped the mood. People were scared. People just like me. A poor college freshman wouldn’t even talk to me even though I promised she’d remain anonymous. She was terrified of someone finding her out. I shook my head as I typed an interview with a donor from my own company.

Of course, I was scared. I’m still scared. I feel like I’m next or something.

I shuddered knowing the feeling all too well. I felt like I was just waiting for Positive to get hit of something. I sighed and continued to write, copying things from my research. I don’t know how long it had been, but soon I was sending in my draft to my editor. It was in her hands for a while at least. I leaned back, shutting my laptop down, then my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Nina? Hey are you busy?” It was Penny.

“No, I’m not. What’s up?” I sat up again, wondering why she was calling me.

“Well, you see, Henry had a hard day on set today.” I furrowed my brows. “Lots more retakes than expected and he’s a bit…” we hadn’t fed last night, or the time I saw him before that. I stood.

“Is he okay? I can come down there.” I went to my room to change into warmer clothes.

“He’s sleeping now, but would it be okay if I come get you? I’m worried about him.” I chewed on my cheek.

“Of course. I’ll be ready when you get here.”

 It was dark in Henry’s trailer, curtains shut and barely any light shone inside. I stepped in as quietly as I can, but he’d wake up anyways. I shut the door and set my bag down. He wasn’t on the couch, so I went to the door to the bedroom, opening it a little.

“Henry?” I whispered. He was a lump on the bed, not moving at all.

“Nina? What are you doing here?” He sounded tired. I’ve never really seen him get this way.

“Penny came and got me.” I sat down next to his legs, his eyes were still closed and without my brain telling them to, my fingers brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Why didn’t you feed last night?” I kept my hand in his hair when he smiled a little.

“It was your birthday.” He just mumbled.

“I know, but now look at you.” I sighed. “Come on, take some blood and then you can finish your nap.” His eyes opened and they were duller than normal.

“Do you want to stay with me after?”

“Sure,” I smiled at him. He sat up and took my wrist, quicker and tighter than before.

“You’ve eaten enough today?” I nodded but he was already pulling my wrist up to his mouth. He didn’t ease into it this time and I sucked in air as he pierced my skin. I relaxed at the familiar feeling. My body got hot and I gripped the blankets. I chewed on my lip to hold in any noises I could make. He took more than usual, and I felt fuzzy and tingly all of a sudden. Then as his fangs left my skin, he trailed kissed up my arm, making me giggle.

“You’re so warm.” He mumbled as he got up to my shoulder. “You were warm last night when I dropped you off too.” My cheeks were hot as his lip met my bare neck. “I liked kissing you.”

“Henry,” it sounded breathless and before I could get another word out, he kissed my lips. My eyes shut and I let my hands wrap around his shoulders. His lips were just as delicious as last night, this time with a taste of my blood on them. He grabbed my waist and leaned back, taking me with him. I couldn’t breath as he straddled my legs over his stomach, my hair curtained over our faces. He kissed me again and I put my hands on his hard chest. This was better than any dream, but the extra blood he took was making me sleepy and I knew he’d still need time to rest. He wasn’t showing any sign of stopping and I really didn’t want to, but I pulled back a little. Our lips barely apart. “Henry, you need to rest.” He held my face in both of his hands and pulled me back for one more kiss and then pulled away. I looked at him with a small smile. It was nice to know that this affected him like it affect me. My cheeks were still flushed so I pressed my face into his neck. He looped his arms around my back and forced me to lay on top of him completely.

“Thank you for coming.” He sighed.

“Of course, just don’t wait so long in between.” I mumbled. It was quiet and I almost fell asleep like that, but he moved us, so I was laying beside him on the bed, I pushed my legs under the blankets, and he pulled me to his chest.

“I won’t.” He sighed and held me tight. I relaxed and let my eyes shut. I don’t know how long we were asleep when I woke up, still feeling the effects of blood loss so it can’t be that long, but Henry was mumbling incoherently. I sat up on my elbows, and watched as his brow scrunched and relaxed, then again. Was he having a nightmare? Do vampires even dream? I reached out to wake him, but he stopped suddenly, relaxing into a deeper sleep. I waited for him to start getting restless, but he didn’t so I just scooter closer to him, throwing and arm over his waist.

 “Wake up dear,” I open my eyes and Henry was smiling over me. “How did you sleep?” He trailed his fingers over my cheek.

“Good.” I smiled, stretching my arms. Henry had a hand over my stomach, his pinky right where my shirt had moved up to expose skin. “What about you?” I asked, thinking about his dream or whatever that was.

“Great, really great.” He shifted so we could sit up. I was surprised by the answer, but glad. Maybe he forgot his dreams. “It’s time to get you home.”

“What time is it?” I rubbed my eyes and tried running a hand through my messy hair.

“It’s almost five.” He brushed some hair back as it fell into my face again and sighed. “I didn’t mean to make you so sleepy.”

“It’s okay, it was nice to nap with you.” He chuckled, giving me a side hug.

“You too.” He helped me out of bed and kept my hand in his as we walked back out. “I’ll take you home.”

“Do you have any more filming?” He got my bag and I took it slinging it over my shoulder.

“No, I’m going home for the night. I’m still pretty worn out.” I frowned. “Don’t worry, I’ll sleep it off tonight. That’s why I’m not taking you home with me.” My stomach filled with butterflies.

“Why? You think we’d be up all night?” I cocked an eyebrow and he smirked at me.

“Careful, love.” He left it at that and opened the trailer door. I chewed on my lip and followed him out. He took my hand again as I stepped down and we walked to his car. We drove to my place, his hand on my thigh and I leaned towards him instead of towards the window. When we walked to my door, we said goodbye, but when I waited for a kiss Henry started to walk away. I almost accepted it, but instead I cleared my throat. He stopped and turned around, cute smirk on his face. “What?” He slowly stepped back towards me and I shrugged, pout on my lips.

“I don’t know, I just thought-“He laughed.

“Don’t be shy, now. Say it.” I looked down as he stood in front of me.

“I wanted a kiss goodbye.” He lifted my chin up as I said, and he kissed my lips. It was softer this time and I grabbed his wrist, wanting more.

“There.” He smiled against my lips. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay.” He walked away and I opened my door in a warm haze. I felt light and fluttery. Like I was about to lift of the earth like a leaf off a tree. I floated to my couch and flopped on to it. I sighed and checked it. It was from my editor.

Nina,

The article so far is amazing. I want to call you as soon as possible to work out some kinks. With all the riots going on this is really going to shed some light on the situation. It got me thinking about doing a weekly segment about the donor life with you. I know you’re one of our freelancers, but I really think it would be a good opportunity for the both of us.

Email me back during my office hours!

I smiled. That sounded like a fantastic idea. It also gave me a chance to write about something more lighthearted than all these riots. It was nice to know she liked my work enough to ask. Maybe I should interview Abbey and James for an article. I could even do a series of interviews with different donors. I grinned; I hadn’t felt this inspired in a while. One date with Henry and I��m-

Wait a second.

Did he ever say it was a date? It was dinner and he took me home, and he kissed me goodnight. That ticks all the boxes. Except the one where he told me it was a date. I dropped my phone on my stomach and stared at the ceiling. It had to be a date. This is just my brain’s stupid need for verbal confirmation. He never said anything today either. I huffed.

“For fuck’s sake.” I muttered, pressing the heels of my hands in my eyes. My brain was turning over the conversations we had in the last 24 hours. No dates were mentioned. There was a lot more kissing than usual, at least if it wasn’t a date, I had that. It had to be a date, right?

I groaned and sat up. Id make something to eat, watch a show until I fall asleep. I’d worry about it tomorrow. I was aggressively stabbing pasta as a crime documentary played on my TV in half an hour and I still hadn’t stopped thinking about Henry. I almost felt mad at my anxiety. It wouldn’t shut up. I don’t think I’d get any sleep tonight.

 I tossed and turned all night. It was next to impossible to fall asleep and even if I did, I got a an hour in at the most and that wasn’t even worth it. I woke up feeling groggy and tired. Even a small headache in my temples pulsed when I thought about Henry too much. I did text him a good morning though, which he hasn’t replied to. I rolled my eyes and ignored my twitching fingers instead of checking my phone again. I emailed my editor back and we chatted back and forth brainstorming some ideas for the article. It was exciting and kept my mind off my predicament, but as soon as she logged off, I was back to worrying. I drummed my fingers on my closed laptop as I stared at the wall in front of me. I decided to call Abbey to see if she wanted to hang out. She’d keep my mind off it. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

“Nina, hi! What’s up?”

“Hey, Abbey! Are you busy today?”

“I was going to look for a Halloween costume for the company party, actually.” I furrowed my brows.

“The company has a Halloween party?” I hadn’t heard about any party. If there was a party, I’d need a costume too.

“Yeah? Don’t you check your emails?” She laughed. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Yes, I’d love too!” Thank god. That’ll keep my occupied. She told me what time to be ready and I hung up and started getting my things together. Soon enough I was at a Halloween store staring at a slutty nurse costume.

“Please don’t be that.” Abbey laughed and I dropped the costume back on the rack.

“I won’t,” We moved onto the next isle. She had caught me up on all her shenanigans. She had picked up another client. How she handled more than one, I had no idea. It was quiet now; I’m waiting for her to ask-

“How’s Henry?” She didn’t look up at me, just looked over a Maleficent costume. My brain on the other hand was searching for an answer.

“He’s good. Still filming so I don’t see him quite as much.” He replied to my text from earlier, but that was it for today.

“That’s the issue with actors, but I’m sure Henry treats you really well.” I nodded.

“He does.” I picked up a witch hat, maybe I could just be a witch this year. “Abbey have you dated a client before?” She turned around; perfect brown raised.

“Once, why? Are you trying to date Henry?” She nudged me and my cheeks flared up.

“I don’t know.” Yes. “I just don’t know what to do, I guess.”

“Well, what happened? You have to give me something else.”

“He made me dinner for my birthday.” She smiled. “And we’ve been kissing.”

“Kissing?” She laughed.

“A little.”

“I fucking knew you couldn’t resist. Tell me everything.” I explained the night to her, and she ate it up. “That sounds amazing! He sounds amazing. What’s the issue?”

“He never said it was a date or anything. We’ve just kissed, been a little flirtier.” I shrugged and she sighed.

“I would just ask him if you’re not sure, but I’m pretty sure he’s trying to woo you.” She linked her arm with mine. “Don’t worry about it until you see him next. You both should take a second to figure out what kissing means for you both.” I nodded. “Come on, I’m not finding anything here.” We went to another store Abbey knew of and she found a cute fairy costume that she looked adorable in. I still didn’t think of anything, so we had lunch and we went home.

At home I was back to turning conversations over in my head and trying not to worry that Henry still hadn’t texted me. I rolled my eyes just worry when you see him next. Just like Abbey said. This was a problem for future Nina, present Nina still needs to think of a costume. I went to my TV and decided to flip through channels. Maybe I could get ideas there. I caught the end of one of the Harry Potter movies and thought of the witch idea again. Maybe a specific witch like Hermione or Bellatrix even. I huffed as the credits rolled. I went back to channel surfing until I saw that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on. I immediately put it on. One of my all-time favorite shows. As the familiar characters appeared on the TV, I got an idea.

The next time I saw Henry it was early one morning a few days later. Penny had taken me to the studio again, it was a big day for shooting, and he wanted to be sure he won’t end up like last time. As we got to the trailer, I felt all the anxiety bubble up again and I almost didn’t want to go in. It was going to be quick. Penny was waiting for me since Henry would have to go straight to makeup afterwards. I took a deep breath as I opened the door. He was standing in the middle of the floor, holding a script.

“Hi,” I smiled at him as he looked over at me.

“Hey, Nina.” His brow was furrowed as he looked at his script. “Good morning, sorry it’s so early by the way.” He looked up at me for a second, giving me a smile.

“It’s fine. How’s it going?” I went over to the couch to sit down and chewed on my lip.

“Okay, I’ve been having trouble with my lines.” I sighed, wishing he’d look away from the script again.

“I’m sorry, that’s never good.” Part of me wanted to run away from the anxiety, another wanted to smooth the crease in his forehead.

“It’s okay.” He set the papers down and came over to me. “How are you?” I shrugged.

“Good, my new articles doing well.” He sat next to me. Picking up my hand. I wish I could stay with him, that we weren’t doing this so quick today.

“I’m not surprised. It’s really good writing.”

“Thanks, I’m glad people are liking it.” He held my wrist up and I held my breath. He drank and I still felt all the same feelings, but they were dampened by my anxious mood and how distracted Henry seemed.

“Thank you, dear.” He kissed the back of my hand and I remembered how he kissed up my arm last time I was in here.

“You’re welcome.” We stood and he led me back out.

“I hate kicking you out so fast.” He opened the door.

“It’s okay, I have to finish my costume today.” I shrugged, but didn’t look at him, as I stepped out

“Oh? What are you going be?”

“You’ll see, at the company party.” He shook his head.

“Alright, I’ll see you then?” I nodded.

“See you Henry.” As the trailer door shut my fists clenched and I tried to avoid thinking about the awkwardness of that. God, he was probably having a normal day until I came and made it weird. I scratched my head as I sat next to Penny.

“You okay?” Penny titled her head at me.

“Yeah, just tired.” She didn’t press the issue as we went back to the car. She filled the silence with a little rant about a Love Island contestant. She had been trying to convince me to watch it for a while now. When I got home, I texted Abbey to come over. She had the perfect white heels for my costume. After that I’d have the entire outfit. I had hyper-fixated on the Buffy ensemble to keep my mind off the anxiety over Henry. Not that it really worked.

I opened my door and saw the long white dress hanging over by the window. I was going be Buffy before her first fight with The Master. I’d have to rewatch that episode sometime. I had the perfect leather jacket to wear over it, and a wooden stake I got at a Halloween store. I smiled and went to my room. A little while later Abbey was walking in my door and running toward the dress.

“Oh my god, the heels are going to be perfect with this. Remind me who Buffy is again?” She felt the fabric in her fingers as I shut my door.

“She’s a vampire slayer. She has superpowers and is destined to protect the world from evil.” She chuckled.

“I’m going to have to watch this show.” She set her bag down and pulled out the white heels, with a rounded toe and modestly high heel.

“It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever watched.” I went over to her and grabbed the shoes. “Thank you for letting me borrow these.”

“Of course, as long as you hold up your end of the deal.” I had told her that the heels were the only thing I needed, and she wanted to see the whole outfit together when she came here.

“I will, pass me the dress.” She clapped her hands and then gave me the dress. I changed quickly in my room. “Abbey come zip me up.” She came in and gasped.

“Nina! You look so pretty!” I rolled my eyes.

“You haven’t even seen the front.” She came zipped the back closed and I turned around.

“No, you’re still pretty.” I sat on the bed and put on the heels. It gave me just enough height to pick the dress up off the ground. I threw on the jacket and Abbey squealed. “I love it! You look so good!”

“Thanks.” I picked up the stake of my bed. “You don’t think it’s too much to come to the party as a vampire slayer?” She laughed, adjusting the jacket for me.

“No, I’m pretty sure there were two Dracula’s last year and one of them was an actual vampire.” I burst out laughing.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. I think people will love it. Plus, you’ll probably be the only one who’s dressed like Buffy.” I went over to the mirror and looked at myself. It was really close to the original. People who’ve seen the show will definitely recognize it. “Do you think those stakes work?” We laughed at each other.

 I stepped onto the concrete after James. He was dressed as the devil, which for him meant a blood red suit and little horns glued to his forehead. He looked amazing. Abbey was in front of him, flowery skirt flowing behind her, wings shimmering on her back. I adjusted my jacket and followed them to the same hotel the previous party was at. This time it was covered in skeletons and spiderwebs. Very spooky and not as elegant as before. I grinned as I followed my friends to the ballroom. Inside it was open, just a bar and a dance floor.

“This is more of a rave kind of party.” Abbey linked our arms, a little of her glitter getting on me. “You can get way drunker at the Halloween party than anniversary dinners.” I laughed.

“If you say so, but you may have to take the pointy piece of wood from me after a few drinks.” They both laughed.

“Come on were starting with shots.” James grabbed my wrist and pulled us along. We went so fast I couldn’t search the crowd for those blue eyes. The bar was decorated like a witch’s kitchen, bubbling cauldrons and spiders hiding in corners. James picked out some green Halloween themed shot and we all drank. It was sweet as it hit my tongue. “Abbey you look too innocent to be drinking.” I laughed and Abbey adjusted her flower crown.

“Well you know I’m not, Nina’s the one in all white.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m a character in a show. I didn’t have a choice in the color.” I nudged her. “Besides we all look great either way.”

“Speaking of, let’s take some pictures.” Abbey pulled us over to one of the little decorated walls. She caught one of her friends, dressed as Cinderella, to take some for us. As we tried different poses, I felt someone watching. As James and Abbey planned a new position I looked around, seeing Henry leaning on the bar watching us. He was just in a rugby jersey and jeans. Effortlessly handsome somehow.

“Nina, pretend to stab James with your stake.” I chuckled but did as they said and then finally, they were satisfied with the photos. I made sure they sent them to me and excused myself to go to Henry.

“So, you just show up with one of my only weaknesses?” I stood in front of him with the piece of wood at my side.

“I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s kind of her signature weapon.” I held it up. “Why? You scared I’m gonna use it?” He smirked at me, with one eyebrow raised.

“Should I be?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, tapping his chest with the blunt end of the stake. “What are you supposed to be?” I leaned back crossing my arms.

“A rugby player!” He pointed to the jersey. “I didn’t have a lot of time to find a proper costume.” I laughed

“It’s okay, you get to dress up for a living anyways.” He shrugged.

“Would you like a drink?” I nodded. As the bartender handed us our drinks Abbey called us over. We went to a tall table where my friends and few others stood.

“Henry, this is Abbey and James.” I introduced them.

“Yes, I saw you both at the anniversary dinner.” Henry shook James hand, and then Abbeys. “You both look great.” He smiled, and Abbey looked like she was going to faint.

“Thank you!” James nudged her and I giggled.

“Yes, thank you!” Abbey snapped out of her. I sipped my drink, feeling warmer already. “Nina,” Abbey pulled over a blonde girl dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. “This is my friend…” We got some introductions out of the way and soon we were listening to James tell a story about last years party. I was invested until I caught a flash of red hair coming through the doors. I gritted my teeth. I knew Henry and I were on the same page when it came to her, but she would always rub me the wrong way now. Maybe after her last attempt at getting him as a client would put her off for tonight.

“So here I am, dressed as a Ken doll in the middle of the hotel hallway-“Lila unfortunately walked up to the table, and just happened to take the spot on the other side of Henry. She was dressed as Ariel, the scene at the end with her light purple dress. She really took advantage of the red hair.

“Okay, we have the devil, a fairy,” she listed off costumes and I knew what was coming. “A very handsome rugby player, and- “

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Abbey and Henry both said. I couldn’t help but smile, squeezing Abbeys arm under the table.

“Oh, never heard of her.” I didn’t hold back the eye roll. James finished his story, making us laugh even more. “So, Henry I heard you’re filming again.” She turned to him and touched his arm. I groaned internally. She had heard that from me.

“Yeah, I am. It’s been good to get back to work.” I felt my phone buzz as they continue their conversation. It was a text from Abbey.

I’ll tell her to fuck off. Just say the word.

No, it’s fine.

I chewed on my lip as Henry told a story about Kal, making everyone laugh. Lilas was the loudest. A little obnoxious too. “He’s just so big and has no idea.”

“Every time I see him, he almost knocks me over.” I added and Abbey and James chuckle, and unsurprisingly Lila didn’t.

“Kal loves you too much to hold back.” Henry stepped closer to me and away from her.

“It’s good you have him to keep you company.” Lila tried moving the focus off me, but Henry had other plans.

“Nina comes and visits me a lot too.” Henry grabbed my waist and pulled me to his side. Lilas lips dropped out of the smirk. “It’s nice filming so close by.”

“I’m sure it is.” Lila smiled again but it was forced.

“I got to repay her with dinner the other night as well.” He squeezed me even tighter.

“Yeah, he surprised me for my birthday. It was really sweet.” I hugged his waist.

“Well aren’t you two adorable.” She covered it well, but there was a sneer in there. I felt a little pride as Henry rubbed my back.

“Nina, come on we’re dancing.” Abbey interrupted.

“Henry?” I grabbed his wrist as Abbey started pulling me away. He sighed but let me pull him with me. We made it to the middle of the floor with everyone. It had gotten crowded as we spoke. When we found a spot open enough for all of us, Henry grabbed my waist and pulled my back to his chest.

“I’m not much of a dancer.” He said in my ear over the music. He wrapped his arms over me and I swayed us to the beat a little. “I just didn’t want to be alone with the Little Mermaid.”

“More like sea witch.” James rolled his eyes. “But as long as your all over each other she’ll back off.” James winked at us and then pulled me over to dance with him. We danced for a few songs and then Abbey decided it was time for more shots. I was getting a little buzz now and I wanted to dance with Henry some more.

“Nina,” His voice sent tingles down my spine. “I’ll be right back okay. Go dance, I’ll find you soon.” He kissed my cheek as he walked from the bar.

“Nina, Nina, Nina.” James clicked his tongue when Henry was out of sight. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

“James they’re making out like teenagers when they’re alone.” Abbey, now a tipsy fairy, jumped up and down.

“Wait you know this? Why haven’t you told me?” James held his chest and I laughed.

“I haven’t even seen you since it happened, and both of you shut up, he might still hear you.” They both shook their heads.

“I don’t even care if he hears. That is one fine specimen of the male species.” James leaned back on the bar. My neck and cheeks felt hot. “You’re telling me every detail.”

“Fine I will, but just not now.” He huffed but nodded. We went back out to dance and I got another drink. I knew I was getting tipsy as I started dancing with more feeling. Abbey and I danced together, laughing at our ridiculous moves. I felt those same pair of eyes watching again and I turned around, finding Henry leaning against our table, watching from afar again. I moved my hips a little more smirking at him. Feeling more confident than normal.  Henry didn’t come back to dance, but his eyes stayed on me.

“Girl, you are most definitely getting railed tonight if you want.” Abbey whispered in my ear and I almost choked on air. Instead we burst out laughing, our drunk giggles mixing with the music.

“Shut up, Abbey.” She bumped our hips together.

“Ugh stop being so modest. You know you want to.” I was laughing again, but I wanted to strangle her.

“I never said I didn’t, but-“James and Abbey screamed with smiles on their faces. “You guys are acting like you’re sixteen.”

“Uh, you can’t hold me responsible for how I act after shots.” James said and pulled be over to him to dance. They finally gave me a chance to pull away, my feet throbbing. The heels were killing me. I went straight to Henry, tripping a little, but he caught me, keeping his hands on my waist.

“Hi,” I smiled up at him.

“Hi,” He smiled back. “Looks like You’re having fun.”

“Yeah, are you?” I poked his chest and let my hand rest flat on it.

“Yes, I am.”

“I can feel you staring from over there.” I leaned in closer, my jacket brushing against him.

“Can you?” He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re something else in this dress.” He squeezed my waist, and it felt like electricity was coming from his hands. “I could just- “

“Nina, there you are.” Abbeys voice came from behind me. I rolled my eyes for only Henry to see and he smirked, turning me around to face my friend. “Come to the bathroom with me, please?” She grabbed my hand and I let her pull me away from Henry.

“Oh my god, Henry has googly eyes for you.” Abbey and I both were in a stall, the only two girls in here for now.

“I’m the one with googly eyes. He didn’t even try and I’m drooling.” She snorted.

“He does look good in that jersey.” We heard the door open and we held back giggles to try and keep quiet. We went back out and checked our makeup in the mirrors. “Do I need more glitter?” Abbey touched her glittery cheek.

“No, you definitely don’t.” I laughed.

“Are you going home with Henry?” She turned to me as I fixed a piece of hair. I swallowed, the thought making me nervous.

“I don’t know. I’m too tipsy to think that far a head.” She nodded.

“Yeah true, but it’s totally obvious he wants you to go home with him.”

“God, he just makes me so nervous.” I shook my hands. “It’s so embarrassing! He’s so hot he’s hurting my feelings.” Abbey burst out laughing as the other girl in here came out. She gave us a weird look as we laughed together. We finally came back out and I almost bee lined for Henry. He was chatting with James at the table.

“You bitches left me.” James crossed his arms. “Come back and dance!” Abbey nodded smiling, but I leaned into Henry’s side.

“I need a break you guys go.” They sighed but didn’t push it. When they were gone, I turned to face Henry completely. “What were you saying before? You could just what?” I smirked.

“What has gotten into you?” Henry raised an eyebrow at me.

“Shots.” I giggled. “And being Buffy really gives me confidence.” He chuckled.

“Have you always liked the show?”

“Yeah, my grandma loved it and we’d watch together.” I grinned. “It’s feminist and bad ass and so 90s.” I rambled. “I think everyone should watch it.”

“I’ll have to watch it sometime.”

“Please do! And tell me what you think.” He nodded, smiling at me. “How do you play rugby?” I tugged on his jersey.

“Well, that’s a long answer.” I laughed and he tried to explain the basics, but it was more complicated than I thought.

“Okay, I’m not going to lie. I don’t think I processed any of that properly.” He shook his head.

“Maybe one of these days we can watch a game together.” I nodded.

“Sure!” Henry decided to get more drinks, leaving me at the table. I rested my elbows on it and my chin on my hands. I was debating taking my heels off when James and Abbey came back.

“Hey, how’s dancing?” I smiled at them.

“Fun, except James stepped on my toe.” Abbey’s cheeks were pink. I laughed as they teased each other. “Where’s Henry?”

“Getting drinks.”

“Oh fuck,” James looked passed me, over my shoulder. “Does that bitch not know when to stop?” I turned around and saw Henry standing at the bar, Lila standing next to him. I turned to face my friends; my lips pressed together.

“She’s infuriating.” My eyes went into the back of my head. “Do stakes kill mermaids too?” I stared at the abandoned wood on the table. I looked over my shoulder again just in time to see her rub his back. He stepped away, but that was it. “I’ll be right back.” James and Abbey were cheering for me as I walked over there, heels clicking. She picked the wrong night to act like this. I was drunk and jealous. When I reached them, the bartender was setting drinks down in front of Henry.

“Lila, I appreciate the offer, but I’m- speak of the devil.” Without looking Henry pulled me the rest of the way to him. “I’m Nina’s client and I’m not looking for more than one donor.”

“Besides Lila, you could probably have any client here.” I smiled at her as Henry slotted me in between them. “Don’t make it so hard on yourself going for someone who already has a donor.” I grabbed my drink and Henry grabbed his. “See you around.” I grabbed Henry’s hand and pulled him away from the bar.

“What happened to my timid Nina?” Henry teased. “Jealously changed you.”

“Shut up.” He laughed out loud at me as we walked. “I just don’t like her.”

“Neither do I.” I grinned at that, but before I could take him back to the table, he pulled me back, turning me around into his chest. “In fact, I don’t want to be in the same room as her.” I furrowed my brows. “Let’s leave.” My breath hitched in my throat as I stared at him.

~~~

Taglist:

@xxxkatxo​ @omgkatinka​ @thereisa8ella​ @lamthetwickster​ @thatgirly81​ @vikingsbifrost​

[heartofether]

Episode 1 - Pilot TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Please state your message.

[THEME MUSIC AND INTRODUCTION PLAYS.]

VAL

Three-Eyed Frog Presents: The Heart of Ether.

[THEME CONTINUES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. IRENE’S CAR, EARLY EVENING.]

[THE SOUND OF A CAR DRIVING IN THE BACKGROUND.]

IRENE

Welcome to Daughtler, Washington.

I thought it might be nice to have some company, so, hope you don’t mind. I guess I didn’t want to be alone when I started a new chapter of my life in a town where I know nothing and no one.

It’s not all fearful. I mean, of course I’m scared. I have no idea how this new job is going to go, or if the people in this town are even going to like me.  Damn, what if they’re all homophobic bigots? That would suck. Not that I plan on dating or anything. No. 

I’m getting off track. Yes, I’m scared, but I think I’m also excited. I’m excited to have my own house—well, I’m renting it, and it’s old as hell, but it’s still a step-up from a college dorm. I’m excited to decorate my room and my office. Oh yeah, I get to have an office at my work. I think I’m going to do that thing where I frame my Bachelor’s and hang it right above my head. That way, everyone knows that Irene Gray spent four years and a lot of money to sit in that desk chair and stare at trees all day.

Wish you were here. [THEN, SINCERE] Of course I do. 

[SILENCE FOR A MOMENT.]

IRENE It’s a nice town. It definitely has that small town vibe you would expect, but it seems lively nonetheless. It’s early evening, and there’s still people walking around. They seem happy. That gives me hope.

There’s a candy store. A modern-looking restaurant. A big bookstore. [CHUCKLES] Seriously? A DVD rental store? Dude, I didn’t even know those still existed. I’ve never been in one. Goes to show the retro atmosphere of this town I guess. [SCOFFS] As if DVDs are that old. 

I think I’m getting close to where my neighborhood is, though. I’m out of what seemed to be the downtown shopping area? There’s a Fry’s, of course. Corporations reach into even the most niche of rustic towns in late-stage capitalism. 

[SHE PAUSES.]

IRENE

Shit, am I already lost?

I don’t know if I mentioned this, but this town didn’t show up on the map. Kinda spooky, but it could just be a mistake? People knew the name when I brought it up, and obviously I got a job here, so it’s definitely not a ghost town. It seems to be fairly populated, actually. I haven’t tried using navigation yet, but my new boss sent me a map of the town. It’s just a matter of…

[THERE’S PAPER RUSTLING.]

IRENE

Oh! Okay, there’s Lemongrass Park, I think. I know where I am now.

Turn here, and then…?

This should be it. [SHE SIGHS] Home sweet home. 

[THE CAR COMES TO A STOP. IRENE TAKES THE KEYS OUT OF THE IGNITION.]

IRENE

Thankfully, Dad came down with the movers before I was able to, so it should be set up aside from the boxes in my car. He said the place was…cute. [MUTTERS] Whatever he means by that. 

I should turn this off. I’ve got stuff to bring in, and then I have to sort through whatever the movers brought. I’ll, uh, talk to you later? Yeah.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

[TIME JUMP: TWO DAYS LATER.]

[ANOTHER PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. IRENE’S LIVING ROOM.]

IRENE

Hey. Sorry, I didn’t pick up where I left off the other day. Honestly, I said I was going to unpack, but after bringing some boxes inside and having an Uncrustable for dinner, I was exhausted. I just made the bed and passed out. Don’t worry, I won’t be eating like a uni student anymore. [PROUD] I actually went and got groceries today, so I will be making a proper dinner to celebrate a successful first day at work. 

Yeah, I really haven’t had a chance to rest yet. Yesterday was spent unpacking and setting up the house, and today was my first day. It’s been nice, though. Being busy means I don’t have to think. 

My boss, Caroline “Please, Call Me Carol” Roberts, was really sweet. She’s not that old, maybe in her late 30’s, but her face seemed aged with the weight of…I don’t know. Stress? Trauma? Her eyes make it look like she’s seen lots happen, I guess.

She also has the stereotypical southern accent, you know the one. According to her, she grew up in West Virginia before coming down to Washington for work. She even said she lived in Point Pleasant for about a year, which is wild. Imagine living in a town that is essentially just a shrine to some insect-themed cryptid. Maybe Daughtler has a local cryptid I don’t know about. That would be cool. Haven’t seen any big monstrous statues yet, but, there’s still parts of town I haven’t explored. I’ll have to look it up.

Carol seems cool, though. She definitely knows what she’s doing, which is the most important part.

Another one of my co-workers, Aden, actually said he’d bring in homemade croissants tomorrow. He said he would have brought them in today if he had known I was starting, something he profusely apologized for, but he then said that hopefully the gesture still counts. I’m looking forward to it. He’s a bit closer to my age, and from what I can tell from his office decor, really likes cats. I think you would get along with him. 

You would like my house, too, I think. I’m sitting in the living room right now. It’s definitely aged, like I said, but the floral wallpaper is nice. Grandma-like, but nice. It’s almost like a cottage, with chipped white paint and bright green windowsills. Like something out of a fairytale.

It could be worse. Yeah, the floorboards creak, and it’s a bit dirty, but the electricity and A/C work just fine. That’s all I care about for now. I haven’t been in the attic yet. Maybe when I have some downtime. 

[SHE PAUSES FOR A MOMENT.]

IRENE

[TONE SHIFTS TO PAINFULLY REMINISCIENT, ALMOST BITTERSWEET]  I’ve thought about how you would act in this town. Which stores you would frequent. What tree in Lemongrass Park you would sit under when you want to read.

I drove past the elementary school today during pickup, and saw one of the teachers—this old woman—waving at students as they left. I thought about if that was you. You would send your students off for the day, and then come home to our little house. We would make dinner while music played from the old radio the landlord left. We’d have cats, and there would be a garden in the backyard. Every night, after dinner, we would fall asleep together to the sound of crickets outside our bedroom window.

[SHE CLEARS HER THROAT.] I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but I can’t help it. It’s an instinct for me at this point. Wherever I go, I think about if you were there with me.

[A BITTERSWEET LAUGH.] I thought time would heal all wounds, but sometimes, Rose? It feels like I miss you more and more each day. I mean, look at me. It’s been four years, I’ve graduated college, and yet I’m still recording messages for someone I knew in high school.

[QUIET] Maybe I should stop these. The audio recordings. [ALMOST ANGRY] They helped a lot at first, but now? They’re just starting to feel like more of a diary. If that’s all I need, then hell, I can go buy a notebook and start a diary.

If I ever want to fully move on, I don’t think I can keep speaking to you. Work seems like it’s going to keep me occupied, anyways. If I do decide to stop doing these, then I’ll at least do a—

[A SUDDEN PAUSE AS SHE SEES SOMETHING.]

IRENE

What the hell? Sorry, I just—I’m looking around, and—

[EERIE MUSIC BEGINS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND. THERE ARE FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE CREEKY WOODEN FLOOR AS IRENE WALKS OVER TO WHAT SHE SEES.]

IRENE

[DISGUSTED] What is that? It looks like, mold? No, it’s yellow, I think, and it’s seeped into the corner, both in the floorboards and up the wall. It’s not a lot, but it reeks. How did I not notice this before? Dad never mentioned anything about a mold or mildew problem, and he came to spot the house before I did.

Makes me think of rotten meat, or puss, but it’s not even liquid. It looks dry. Not that I’m going to touch it to find out.

You know what?

[EERIE MUSIC ENDS. THERE IS THE SOUND OF A CHAIR BEING DRAGGED ACROSS THE FLOOR TO COVER THE MOLD.]

IRENE

[UNUSUALLY UPBEAT] I’ll just ignore it for now. If it keeps spreading, then, well, that’s a problem I can deal with later.

Right, I should go make dinner. I know I said before that I like being busy because I don’t like to think, but now I do have some stuff to think about. [HESITATES] I’ll talk to you soon. Maybe.

Goodbye, Rose.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Today’s quote is: “I try to make sense of things. Which is why, I guess, I believe in destiny. There must be a reason that I am as I am. There must be.”

Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man, 1999.

[THEME MUSIC AND CREDITS PLAY.]

[afictionaladventure16]

The Pen Pal Project (Chris Evans x Latina!OC)

Masterlist

Previously on The Pen Pal Project...

Warnings: If Steve Rogers read this he would say “language” a couple of times. 

Word Count: Good question. 

Chapter 4

Letter #4

November 3rd, 2017

Julie’s POV

“I swear to God, Holland if you even take one more step,” Julie warned the young boy, as he looked at her terrified yet he was mourning, Julie couldn’t understand what was happening as the scenery changed in front of Julie. 

Men in uniform stood in a line, seven of them as they held rifles, standing still. Holland was among one of them as he mouthed you, “I’m sorry,” as Julie noticed the casket in front of Julie. She slowly walked up to the casket, feeling all eyes on her. 

Julie wasn’t prepared for what laid inside, Julie only glanced at the body for a split second before the scenery changed once more. 

“Come on, Julie,” Julie’s older brother whispered, as his 12-year-old form stood against Julie’s bed. Julie could see her 9-year-old self, hiding under the covers, “you have to get out of bed sometime.” 

“go away, John!” 9-year-old Julie yelled. 

John sighed as he stood there, “dad is looking for someone to help you, maybe you can talk to them as to why you’re sad.” No response. Julie knew this was a memory, “come on, Julie,” the voiced sounded like an echo as she looked around, as the scene in front of her slowly began to vanish. 

Julie tossed and turned in her sleep, “John!” she yelled as she woke up in a panic. She looked at the time, it was only 4 in the morning, she grabbed her phone and began to text her brother John. Knowing very well he was at work in Afghanistan, Love you, bro, <3

He probably didn’t need the reminder but she just needed to let him know. It wasn’t long after that he texted back, I love you too, Sis <3 see you in a month. 

Julie sighed in relief, that’s all she needed to remember, he’ll be home in a month. She couldn’t help but count down the days, there were times where she was terrified anytime her brother's friend Holland had messaged her, she feared what the message had held. But it was always just Holland trying to have a small talk with the girl.

A month,  Julie thought, and he’ll be safe in the States for a few weeks. She didn’t want to think about the constant fear that came afterward. Julie decided to attempt to get some more sleep. 

“Good morning!” Irene greeted as Julie walked into the small kitchen, “whoa, you look like shit.” 

Julie glared at her roommate, “thanks,” she said with a small eye-roll. She groaned at the sound of her phone ringing, “it’s too early!” She said as she looked at the contact name. “What?” She said with a harsh tone in her voice. 

“Well, isn’t that a way to greet someone,” she knew that voice all too well, it annoyed her. 

“What do you want, Omar? I thought I told you to delete my number.” Julie looked over at Irene whose eyes widen at the name, mouthing, ‘Hang up!’ Julie shook her head but placed the phone call on speaker.

“I want to see if you wanted to go out for lunch, maybe talk?” Irene looked at Julie and shook her head vigirously. 

“Omar, we talked and I told you how I felt. I don’t think we should-” 

“I know,” he whispered, “and I meant what I said, I am truly sorry for treating you like shit.” Irene was scrambling to write something on a napkin. Quickly showing it to Julie, ‘He’s guilt tripping you!’ 

Julie knew that Irene was right, “I know,” Julie began to say, “but we gave us a try and I think it’ll be best if we both just move on.” Omar stayed silent, way too silent, “I’m sorry, Omar.” 

“No, it’s okay, you’re right,” Julie could hear him sigh, “I wish you the best, Julie.” With that he hung up. 

“Oooo, he is one sly moth-” 

“Irene,” Julie glared at her, “at least he apologized, and he sounded sincere.” 

Irene rolled her eyes, “you’re too vulnerable,” Julie hated when she called her that, mostly because Julie knew it was a true and she tried really hard not to be. “I’m telling you this for your own good, Jules, you did the right thing ended things with him...” Irene sighed as she looked at her friend, it hurt her to see how vulnerable her friend can be sometimes. It always led Julie to heartbreak. 

Julie’s phone rang again, Irene rolled her eyes and answered it, “take a hint, Omar!” Irene yelled. 

“Umm, I’m sorry, is this Julie Zuniga?”

 Irene’s eyes widen at the unfamiliar voice on the other line, “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, yeah just... she’s right here!” Irene handed the phone to Julie who was laughing her ass off at her friends' embarrassment. “Remind me to never pick up your phone again,” Irene said as she walked away. 

“Hello?” Julie said as her laughter died down. 

“Hi, is this Julie Zuniga?” 

“This is she,” she said with a smile. 

“It’s Becca, from Dr. Holts office, just wanted to inform you that your letter is here.” 

“Already? That’s pretty quick,” Julie said as she poured herself some cereal. 

“Yeah, well, the Doctors made sure to have these letters delivered through priority mail. Anyways, should I be expecting you to pick up the letter today?” 

Priority mail? Julie thought it was smart, not to keep the patients waiting for their letters, “Yeah, I’ll be there in about an hour.” Julie thanked Becca and then hang up the phone. 

Irene walked back into the kitchen, “that was embarrassing,” she stated as she began to pour herself some cereal as well. 

“Hilarious too,” Julie said with a smile, “anyway, I have to go pick up my letter later and then I’m going to run some errands.” 

“Are you gonna stop by the store?” Irene said with a full mouth causing Julie to look at her in disgust, “what?” Irene asked. 

Julie shook her head, “nothing,” Julie cleared her throat, “yeah I’m stopping by the store, so make sure everything you need is on the list.” 

Irene giggled and ran over to the fridge where the grocery shopping list was posted, “Pop-tarts,” Irene wrote it down as she then  looked over at Julie, “Strawberry and smores please!” 

“Write it down or else I’ll forget!” 

Irene rolled her eyes as she wrote down the flavors. “Alright!” Irene sat back down and quickly finished her cereal, “I have to get going before I’m late again.” 

“Sometimes I wonder how you still have that job.”

“Because they know they will suffer without me!” Irene said as she grabbed her purse, “see you tonight!” 

Julie gave her friend a nod as she watched her walk out of the apartment. Julie sighed to herself as she listened in to the silent apartment, the distant voices of her neighbors arguing. The small chirps of the birds outside.  

Julie thought back to her dream she had last night, wondering what her brother was doing at the moment. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Julie washed her dish and set out for her adventure for the day. 

Her first stop was her therapist's office, Julie began to find herself anxious to read these letters, to send out another one. She kept wondering what Chris looked like. She imagined a man that wasn’t too scrawny, maybe some facial hair, she couldn’t help but think that he lived in his moms' basement but then he probably didn’t. 

“Hey, Becca!” Julie greeted the receptionist, “sorry about my roommate earlier.” 

Becca chuckled, “it’s fine,” Becca grabbed the envelope and handed it to Julie. Julie couldn’t help but grin at the envelope, “so, how is it going so far?” Becca was curious. She found the project to be exciting, hoping that maybe she could do it too. 

“Pretty good,” Julie said with a smile, “it’s all so mysterious and exciting...” 

Becca gave her a nod, “Well, you already know the drill.” 

Julie informed her that she did, she waved goodbye to Becca as she walked out of the building. Julie got into her car, debating to read it right then and there or to wait. Suddenly her phone rang before she could even make a decision. Julie quickly answered it, “Hello?” 

“Hey, sis,” Julie smiled with glee at the sound of the voice on the other line, “how are you doing this fine... what is it, morning?” 

Julie chuckled, “yeah, it’s morning here in sunny L.A.” 

John groaned, “you see that’s what sucks, I am stuck here in the desert of Afghanistan and I have to go home to another desert!” 

“Hey, we’ve been getting some rain... it’s not much but it sure is causing people to freak out.” 

John laughed, “oh gosh, I can just imagine the locals now, ‘oh no! there’s water falling from the sky!’” Julie laughed at his silly scenario, “Man, I miss L.A. I can’t wait to go home.” 

“I know,” Julie sighed as she fiddled with the envelope in her hand, “I can’t either.” They stayed silent for a few seconds, she wanted to tell him about how her sessions had been going. She wanted to tell him about the project and tell him everything she knew about this stranger named Chris, she wanted to know his opinion on everything. Maybe he thought it was a dumb idea but knowing her brother he probably had a funny dumb reason as to why it was a dumb idea. He probably had some scenario to go along with it. 

But Julie knew that his time was limited, she knew it won’t long before his Staff Seragnet was yelling lights out like a parent was yelling for their kid to go to bed on a school night. So she’ll just enjoy the small talk they have. “Rob is coming into town too,” Rob was Johns half brother, although he didn’t have any relation to Julie, Rob was still a brother to her. But he was way older than the both of them so they weren’t as close. 

“So I’ve heard,” John cleared his throat, “I wanted to talk to you about mom.” 

“No,” She stated right away, “don’t ruin the moment.” John couldn’t help but chuckle at their inside joke, “we’ll talk about it when you get here.” 

“Alright,” John said quietly, “I miss you, sis...” he sighed, not knowing what to say, all he wanted to do was apologize once again, “I’m sorry.” 

“Stop saying sorry,” Julie rolled her eyes, “look all you have to do is make sure you get home for Christmas.” 

“I’m gonna miss your birthday again,” It broke his heart that he hasn’t spent his sisters birthday with her, last time he did she was sixteen. 

“Don’t worry about it. You have important things to do.” 

John chuckled, “Well, it isn’t gonna stop me from celebrating your birthday as soon as I get there,” Julie could hear distant yelling, “Ugh, I have to go now, Jules, I’ll talk to you soon, alright?” 

“Alright,” they stayed silent for a few more seconds, enjoying each others presence. Julie adored her older brother, mostly because he was always there for her when they were younger, “I love you.” 

“I know,” She could sense her brother smirking at that comment. 

“Whatever, Solo,” Julie rolled her eyes as she said her goodbyes to her brother. 

Julie then looked over to the envelope that laid on her lap as she tossed her phone to the passenger seat. “I can’t wait,” Julie said to her self as grabbed the envelope and began opening it. 

Dear Julie,

I feel the same thing, maybe one day you’ll get a letter that says, “Sup, dude,” and by reading your letter I see that you have lots of random thoughts. Is that normal? Yes, you did roast me, but I have to say, Julie is kind of a basic name too. We’ll keep this mystery alive.

Also, want to hear about these adventures with your customers, I am curious. Like who is your favorite customer? You are living an interesting life, Jules. Can I call you that? Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get that nickname?

Smart choice. Etta James, huh? Now every time I’m going to write back I am going to have some Etta James song, probably ‘At Last,’ stuck in my head and I am going to wonder when my nonexistent hypothetical, husband, from the fifties, is going to come back from the war. He should’ve been back by now. The war ended what felt like ages ago.

Yes, Thirty-seven, I know, ancient. And no, I am not some ax murderer and no, I am not just saying that to get myself off the hook. You do say, ‘I know’ a lot. A career in the arts means a career in the arts. I’m just kidding. I’m a small actor and before you start asking, no, I am not a porn artist. I don’t think I have what it takes to be one.

Same here, I guess that’s another thing we have in common. Although I don’t deal with depression much, my biggest thing is anxiety. But I am still here for you. Even with your depression. I want you to know you can write to me about ANYTHING. Even the smallest things.

“Well, it’d be kind of awkward to write about my ex’s dick,” Julie laughed to herself, “I need to stop being mean.” 

That means a lot. I am a big dog lover, hey, another thing we have in common. Wow, maybe you’re my long-lost little cousin? Any relations to Lisa Capuano? Family in Boston? I had a dog named, East, before Dodger. Considered East as the love of my life. It’s upsetting to see our beloved pets grow old but it’s heartwarming to know that we gave them all the love and affection we could for their entire lives. That they had a wonderful life. Keep that in mind. Dodger is about four years old. Before you start thinking I’m an LA Dodgers fan, I’m not. Red Sox all the way.

Although, I am a die-hard Disney fan. I loved the movie Oliver and Company as a kid, my favorite character was Dodger and that’s pretty much it. You a Disney fan? If not, then I am going to have to consider getting reassigned to someone else. Preferably a Disney/Star Wars fan/dog lover.

Three siblings. Two older Sisters, Carly and Shanna; and one younger brother, Scott. What about you?

Good thinking.

Toodles.

P.S. There, happy now? This better be lit. ; )

P.P.S. Tell me about your parent’s divorce. It’s probably a touchy subject for you but we have to start somewhere right?

Julie let out a heavy sigh at the question at the end, tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of her past. She grabbed the notebook she had left in her car and the pen she always carries in her purse and began writing. Might as well, she thought, since I’m still here. 

[blog-in-a-corner]

TSOTBL - Plight

YALL IM SO SORRY THIS IS COMING OUT LATE SJFHFNJ

Kim couldn't stop thinking about the cave system behind the library. It was so very intriguing, she could explore it all day. Unfortunately she couldn't, as Lucinda and Aaron didn't let anyone go inside, for everyone's safety of course.

“Hmph it's not fair, that cave is so cool and I can't even explore it….” Kim moped, body flopped over the couch. “Aww c'mon Kim, there's still the library...!” Garroth reminded, trying to lighten her up. “True, true, but still…” Kim mumbled, bummed out. “Maybe when we're done with the lodge, we can go somewhere you'd like.” Garroth suggested. “I just wanna go back home. To my rock collection, my tamagotchis, and my two frogs, Peanut and Tater Tot…” “Don't worry Kim, we'll all be home soon.” “Yeah... what are you gonna do right now anyway?” “I think I'm going to go and read my book right now.” “Again? I mean, I understand how addicting a good book can be, but you've been spending hours in your room reading for the past few days now. Sometimes it feels like I don't see you unless we all eat, or have to clean.” “Stop nagging me about it geez! There's nothing to do here, so what if I spend most of my time reading a book? It’s just something I really like, why is that such a problem?!” Garroth snapped at Kim, defending himself. “Hey I was just saying! Geez, I….I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm sorry…” Kim trailed off, feeling bad. “Ahh erm, no I'm sorry. I'm just used to people.…point is I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snapped at you that way, it was uncalled for.” “Ah it's all fine, maybe I'll give that book of yours a read! Judging by how much you like it I'm sure it must be good!” “Oh, um, sure… I'll let you give it a read….I guess...but I'll give it to you when I'm done with it because you read faster than I do!” “Oh yeah true. Well I guess I'll see ya later then?” “Yeah sure.” Garroth said, walking to the stairs. “Well, I guess it's just you and me couch.” Kim said to herself, slowly dozing off on the couch, as everyone else were in their own rooms.

Aphmau was by herself in her room, lying down on her bed, contemplating and reminiscing.

“Urghh Kim's not happy with me...she probably thinks I didn't talk to Zane about the whole being mean thing. I can't just put Zane's feeling aside, and the Ro'meave family drama is not a can of worms I want to keep opening, but just….argh why do I have to be caught between this crap!” Aphmau sighed to herself, smacking a pillow on her face. “Then there's this whole Aaron thing! Are we broken up, are we not, do I still want him, does he still want me, ugh! It's all so frustrating! The only person I don't have any troubles with right now is Lucinda, and that's because Lucinda is the best at avoiding drama….even when it came to breaking up with Ivan, as ugly as the situation became she handled it better than I would have…”

Aphmau stared at the ceiling of her room, it was cracked, with some of the wood from under showing out. The years of the lodge were so very visible from just the wood alone.

“Drama, drama, drama...this is highschool crap. Why can't I just be friends with everybody instead of deal with all of this family drama and romance problems...I wish I could give up sometimes, but what kind of friend would that make me? To just give up when things get hard? Not a very good friend to say the least….” Aphmau thought to herself, sighing audibly. “What kind of friend am I being by letting all this drama slip through my fingers? I should just straighten up and handle this like an adult! Because guess what I am one! But...I don't know, Aaron wanted to get away from all the drama and I don't want to make things worse by accidentally creating tension between everybody, it's already enough that I'm here….ughhhh why Irene why!”

She slumped to her side and grabbed her phone. She began to look through her photos.

“Gosh, despite everything that happened way back in highschool, I still miss the days where I could just hang out. Whether it was spending hours playing video games with Garroth and Laurance while snacking on junk food, or binge-watching anime with Katelyn and Kawaii~chan. Now here I am with all of...this I guess. I shouldn't be so negative though, I had good times then, even when the whole Jury thing happened...if I had good times then, then I can have good times now! I just have to stay positive.” She sighed, in a sense of relief. “Now let's just...take a lil’ breather to not think about all this crap.” Aphmau muttered, as she flopped over on the bed.

Lucinda was fiddling with her wand, alone in her room, casting spells.

“Praefexero.” Lucinda muttered, waving her wand around the room. Magic twirled around the room, in various shapes and colors, it faded almost as soon as it came.

“Nothing...let me try one more time. Praefexero…!” once again magic made its way around the room, but it faded as it did before. “Nothing? Dammit Praefexero!” Lucinda shouted in frustration, this time the spell poofed into a cloud of smoke unlike the previous times. “Calm down Lucinda, calm down, getting frustrated just makes things worse…” She coughed, clearing the smoke with her hands. “I know there's something about this place there's gotta be! But I'm not getting any readings! This place isn't normal, that much I can guarantee!” She grumbled, putting her wand away. “Stupid magic, what good is being a prodigy if I can't even detect what the hell is wrong with this place...Kim's acting weird, the cave was full of all sorts of bad energy, Garroth's acting kinda off too but I don't know if it's anything serious or if he's just being dumb again, I haven't been able to sleep at all these past few days and just! Ughhhh!” Lucinda smacked her head against the wall, groaning in frustration. “I just want to go to sleep….or have some kind of shut eye at the very least…guess I'll have to just bear with it.” Lucinda looked down at her wand, it was a really simple wand. “I almost regret bringing this wand, I wish I didn't leave my better wand at home. Then again I didn't anticipate this shit to happen at all, I wasn't about to bring an incredibly expensive wand to some run down shit hole.” Lucinda sighed, slumping down on her bed.

________________________________________

Zane was walking down the stairs, heading to kitchen.

“Man I can't wait until I'm able to leave this stupid lodge.” Zane muttered to himself. “I've just about had it with all of this cleaning crap. Why couldn't they send professionals out here. Cheapskates.”

As Zane walked by he noticed Kim, fast asleep on the couch.

“Hmm only if I had a marker would I scribble on her face. But Aph would probably scold me.” Zane thought aloud, turning his attention back to the kitchen. “Guess I'll make myself a cup of coffee while I'm down here.”

Zane went over to the kitchen and set some water to heat.

“Huh? Where the hell did my coffee cup go? I put it in the cabinet...so help me if one of these neanderthals is using my coffee cup-” “Looking for this?” A voice said from behind him. “GAH WHAT THE-Kim?!” Zane yelled, spooked by Kim's sudden appearance. “What are you doing standing behind me-and why do you have my coffee cup?!” “I just found it.” Kim said rather blatantly, holding the coffee cup out in front of herself. “You better have not used it or I swear I'll-” “So how's Garroth?” Kim interrupted Zane bluntly, putting the coffee cup down, not seeming to care about Zane's coffee cup dilemma. “Wh-What? How the hell would I know?” Zane snapped. “You're his brother. I thought he was acting a bit...strange lately, and I'd figured you'd know why. “So what? That's just Garroth acting fucking stupid as per usual. Trust me the guy is fine. He couldn't be helped to feel anything else than an irritating happiness even if his life depended on it.” “Hm...that's what..I thought you would say.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” “No one….would be able to tell if you died, your blood runs cold all the time….” “Tch, you think I care?” “No. I...do not…” Kim replied, walking over to the sink in the kitchen. “Yet neither do I.” She said, grabbing a knife from the rack. “You really don't...know a person..until their dead. From there on out...you can learn everything about them. Though….being dead...is very...very unpleasant... especially if you just couldn't pass on…” “Yeahh...I, uh, guess so…” Zane said, weirded out by Kim's behavior. “Is... saving someone's life worth it? Or...is it meaningless to save someone who's fated to die regardless?” Kim asked, looking to Zane. “What a stupid question to ask, of course saving another person's life is worth it, there's nothing more valuable than allowing someone to live a longer life, so that none of their friends and family, would have to mourn them.” Zane replied, annoyed at the question. “So why...do you...provoke evil and bad karma?” Kim asked looking Zane dead in the eye. “What..?” “You…really don't get it do you?….” “Kim, what the hell are you saying?”

Kim coughed and shook her head, she then stretched lightly and yawned.

“Oh hey the water is ready.” Kim pointed at the bubbling water. “Uh are going to explain to me what the hell you just said?” Zane hissed. “I just said the water was ready take a chill pill geez.” “What-no! What you said before that!” “I didn't say anything before that I just woke up...well not just this moment. You know when you wake up and feel hazy for a while?” “That doesn't...yeah okay. Never-fucking-mind.” Zane told Kim, leaving the kitchen. “Geez what's his problem?” Kim mumbled, as he walked out of the room. “Gosh these blackouts are getting worse and worse, I don't even remember how I got here! Well….at least I can make myself some coffee.” Kim sighed, worried about her current predicament. “We'll be gone soon, then I'll be able to get myself checked out... hopefully.”

________________________________________

Garroth stood at the entrance to the cave, he gazed upon the structure.

“So this...this is it…” He muttered, picking up a stone that resembled the one he had given Kim the other day from the floor. “It...it only takes one…”

[paladin-andric]

An Enemy Within

A sequel to Darkest Hour! A short story set in an alternate, grim future where the human race was nearly annihilated, the last known holdout being a small colony in a bunker deep underground. In this, we learn of the surprising fate of one of the previous characters, and more about the survivors! This bunker-colony is pretty heavily influenced by XCOM. Speaking of which...mood music!

“So that’s the plan.”

The group of officers leaned over a round table of metal, staring up at the mystifying scene above them. Floating above the table, a holographic globe of the planet sat silently, ever so slowly spinning.

They were in the command room, the heart of strategic operations in the resistance. Though humanity was relegated to a small group of survivors in this underground bunker, that didn’t leave them helpless.

The best and brightest they had to offer had invented so many useful things, both on their own and using the stolen technology from the monsters above.

The bastion of humans were extremely militarized, acting more like a special forces division rather than a colony. That was born of necessity, though.

With such low numbers, they needed as many people able to handle themselves as possible.

It had been hundreds of years since the vile sorcerer succeeded in his plot. He poisoned the very air of the world, and all who were exposed turned into hideous abominations, utterly obedient towards the dark sorcerer, who now ruled the world in an iron grip.

Those scant few who managed to seal themselves away waited. They hid and hid for generations, until technology allowed them to seal themselves in suits that could keep them safe from the elements above. Now, they carried out a guerilla campaign against the sorcerer, determined to send him and all his mindless slaves to hell.

In the most recent operation, the survivors investigated a tip of a possible other bastion of survivors, still untouched by the infectious air on the surface. On their way however, they were ambushed by the sorcerer’s minions, and none survived.

Well, except for...him.

He stood with the officers, observing the hologlobe along with them, nodding along and acting as if nothing was wrong.

The fact that he WAS one of those monsters, however, made the scene very unsettling for Albert.

The “man” was a biped with two arms, but that was where the similarities ended. He was covered head to toe in black scales, towered above the others, looked wide enough to stop a car in its tracks, had monstrous, clawed hands and feet, a long tail, and bore a terrifying reptilian visage.

He looked like any other one of those horrible beasts up above...and yet here he was, standing in the beating heart of the last holdout of the human race, somehow not being gunned down right where he stood.

Ah, but that was because he was still sane.

That’s what they had told everyone when he returned, his suit in tatters, clutching his head and groaning quietly, before he was tied down and dragged off into the medical ward, and everyone else was ushered back to their posts.

It had been over a week since that day. Apparently, he was all good now...but was he really?

As the officers all disbanded and walked off to wherever it was they were headed, the monster remained behind, still staring up at the hologlobe. The young soldier approached, causing the beast to turn its inhuman eyes toward him.

Albert felt his heart thud against his chest, half expecting the thing to surge forward and tear his heart out in one swift motion.

But he WASN’T an “it”, and he didn’t do anything of the sort.

“Ah, Albert.” the voice was unlike any the man had ever heard, deep, warbling and distorted...almost as if a demon was standing before the human, speaking to him.

It threw him for quite a loop, and he was certain he failed to hide his fear, but Albert nodded. “Err, Captain Fields, sir.”

“Please. Jacob will do.”

He couldn’t discern the look on the creature’s face. Of course he couldn’t. He could read humans, not...these things!

“Uhh...alright, Jacob.”

The reptilian beast drummed his claws against the metal table in a steady rhythm. “Is there any reason you’re here? I don’t dare imagine you came to see my good looks.” Jacob followed that up with a short, shallow laugh.

“No sir. I just, well…” he hesitated. It was a stupid question, and he was an idiot for bothering with it, but he went ahead anyway.

The soldier cleared his throat. “I was just wondering…” he leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper. “...what’s it like?”

“What do you THINK it’s like?!” Jacob countered. Even though his visage was utterly alien to him, Albert could tell from the way his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed that he was angry.

The soldier didn’t have any reply. He couldn’t think of anything to say at all.

The monstrous thing sighed and shook his head. “It’s horrible. I keep thinking this is some nightmare I’m gonna wake up from, but every morning I open my eyes, and every morning I’m still THIS,” he said, sweeping his clawed hands over himself.

Albert could almost swear the lizard-thing looked crushed as he finished. “This is hell.”

The soldier struggled to find words. “T-that’s...shit, man.”

The creature turned back to the table and resumed leaning, head lowered. He nodded. “Yeah. It is.”

The once-human’s words were nearly inaudible, he spoke them so quietly

Albert felt a pit in his gut. He really didn’t know what he was expecting, but...this was difficult to stomach. Despite how monstrous and terrifying the creature next to him looked, he could only imagine the man he once knew, looking crushed and forlorn as he stewed over his fate.

There was a lengthy period where both men stood in silence, leaning over the table and staring down at nothing in particular. After a while longer, Albert finally found his voice again.

“I was wondering something.”

“Mhm?”

“Well...from what I’ve always been told...there’s no coming back from this. Once you turn...you’re a monster, a mindless animal, a killer. No one’s ever...turned...and come back.” The soldier finally looked up and over at Jacob. “How did you do it?”

The reptilian tapped his claws against the table once more. “I’ve told this story a million times before.”

“Shit, man, I’m sorry-”

“No, no,” Jacob said sadly, “It’s...it’s fine.”

With a deep breath, the former human repeated what he’d told all the doctors and officers before.

“We got ambushed...I took a shot and went down. I lost consciousness. Dunno how long went by, but by the time I woke up, the things were gone...and everyone else was dead. I-I realized my suit got torn open from the hit, and I started hobbling back. My mask ran out of reserve air, and so I started breathing in the surface air...by the time I got back...I was already one of them.”

Albert grimaced. “Oh God…”

“I heard voices, screaming, had these urges. It was...I guess it’s the same stuff everyone else feels when they turn...but thank God, I was already back here. Nearly got plugged full of holes, but I surrendered and by some miracle, they took me in instead of shooting me.”

“Voices? Urges?”

“The dark one’s corruption,” Jacob answered, “Doctors said the infection shatters your mind, and rebuilds you into a beast that answers only to him. I couldn’t have resisted much longer. If we were any further away when that happened...they’d know our location by now. If I hadn’t blown my brains out before the infection broke me, anyway.”

“Lord in heaven…”

The beast nodded. “I still hear them, you know. They’re quieter now, but I still hear the voices. Still have those insane thoughts. Still feel those...urges.”

Jacob noticed that those words had caused Albert to take a step back, eying him fearfully. He held a hand out and shook his head. “T-there’s nothing to worry about! They’re just...little thoughts now. It’s easy to suppress.”

“I-I just…”

“If I was a threat, would the doctors have let me go?”

The soldier shrugged. “I guess not…”

“Albert, look. I know it’s...hard to believe, but…”

“...you’re still you,” the soldier finished.

The way the lizard winced was quite extreme. “W-well...not exactly.”

Albert’s stomach churned, dread settling over him again. “B-but I thought you…”

Jacob shook his head. “I told you, they’re still there. Faint, but there...and the only reason I haven’t become...feral yet…”

The reptilian dug into a pouch on his belt, pulling out an orange, transparent bottle with a white cap.

“...are these.”

Jacob raised a brow. “Pills?”

“Meds, yeah. They’re used to help people with schizophrenia.”

Albert was more confused than scared now, and Jacob could tell. The lizard shrugged, the pills inside the bottle loudly shaking as he did so. “Docs figured since this infection causes so many of the same symptoms, they might as well try it...and it seems like it’s actually working.”

“Shit, man. You lucked out.”

“You can say that again,” the beast agreed, tucking the bottle away in his pouch again, “Still, it’s not perfect.”

“What do you mean? Seems as good as it could be.”

“I mean, it is, kinda...but still. The boys in the lab can only make these so quickly, and uhh, can only grow the ingredients so quickly. Plus...it’s not like I have a cold. I’m not just taking these and waiting for it to go away. It’s not a cure, Albert...it’s a treatment. Plus, if anyone else gets infected like this, and they can’t make enough meds for us in time...”

“...we’re in deep trouble,” Albert finished knowingly. Jacob nodded.

“That’s right.”

The soldier sighed. “Well, at least you’re okay for now. Glad you’re back.”

“Thanks, I am too. I just wish Irene…”

“I know,” Albert answered with a deep frown, “We were friends, too.”

Jacob looked down, that same pained expression from before clearly visible. Albert crossed his arms.

“Hey, if you ever need someone to talk to...I’ll be all ears, alright?”

The transformed beast’s frown slowly turned into a grin, which was rather terrifying on his serpentine visage. “Thanks. That’s...nice to hear. I’ll have to take you up on that. It’s been pretty lonely in the medical wards.”

“I can’t imagine. Sitting in a bed alone all day…”

“Yeah, it really sucked. Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With that, the pair smiled and nodded at one another before the soldier turned and began to walk away.

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Jacob called out.

“Albert!”

The soldier quickly stopped and looked back. “Yeah?”

Jacob approached, appearing...conflicted? Albert was still getting a handle on how the former human’s face worked.

The serpent put a hand on the man’s shoulder, claws hanging over and onto his back. “Listen. I’d rather die than let anyone here get hurt.”

The soldier’s face warped into one of confusion. “Err...yeah?”

“Look. If what I said comes true...if they run out of meds...if I lose it...if I stop being me…” the lizard furrowed his nonexistent brows and gave the man serious look. “Promise me you’ll take care of it. Don’t hesitate. Alright?”

Albert swallowed hard, unwanted thoughts running through his head of his friend going berserk and tearing him in half. “Ah hell Jacob...I can’t make a promise like that.”

The reptilian appeared distressed by that response. “Albert...please…”

“I’m just saying...I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

“But if it happens-”

“It WON’T happen,” Albert said firmly, his own expression now one of serious resolve, “You’ll make it though this, alright?”

The beast’s face softened as he stared back at his friend, hand still on his shoulder.

“...you’re a good man. Fine. If you can’t promise to put me down, and I can’t promise not to lose it...let’s both just try our best, alright?”

“Deal.”

The large creature slowly stepped back, wearing what appeared to be a smile. “Thanks, Albert. Thank you. Take care of yourself.”

“You, too.”

Tag list: @thereisnothingwrongwithbeingmad, @lady-redshield-writes, @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword, @sheralynnramsey, @tawnywrites, @writer-on-time, @oceanwriter, @zwergis-spilledink, @fluffpiggy, @elliewritesfantasy, @homesteadhorner,  @laurenwastestimewriting, @elaynab-writing, @the-ichor-of-ruination, @candy687, @fierywords, @shewrites-sometimes

[majorkirastan]

1 to 30. if your answer isnt clown.wmv you are a certified bonafide cuck

thats nice but im going to give actual replies.  know that in my heart the answer is clown.wmv

1: A song you like with a color in the title

im going with rainbow connections by garfunkel and oates because rainbow is basically just a bunch of colors

2: A song you like with a number in the title

music jail, pt. 1 & 2 by they might be giants (does this count as one song.  i think so,)

3: A song that reminds you of summertime

wonderland by caravan palace because it slaps smh!

4: A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

black parade by mcr.  why?  reminds me of middle school me and i ABSOLUTELY want to forget her bitch ass

5: A song that needs to be played LOUD

immortals by fob ngl it slaps

6: A song that makes you want to dance

birdhouse in your soul by they might be giants.  it, also, slaps albeit in a different manner

7: A song to drive to

call them brothers by regina spektor simply bc i like the song.  i cant drive

8: A song about drugs or alcohol

gasoline by halsey.  we r all basic on main tonight

9: A song that makes you happy

i cant decide by the scissor sisters even tho its uhh kinda wack

10: A song that makes you sad

most of my music ngl but lets go with under my skin by jukebox the ghost

11: A song that you never get tired of

again, most of my music ngl.  but uhh go get your gun by the dear hunter

12: A song from your preteen years

literally the entire black parade album do Not do this to me i still have all the words memorized

13: One of your favorite 80’s songs

dont lets start by tmbg.  i had to fucking look up when all my music came out because i dont know fuck about shit but dont lets start dropped in the 80s suck my ass

14: A song that you would love played at your wedding

cant help falling in love bitch its a classic!!!! but specifically the jena irene version because listen its good

15: A song that is a cover by another artist

i know approximately one cover and it was my answer to the last question please dont hurt me

16: One of your favorite classical songs

beethovens 5th fucking slaps and if you think it doesnt go hard im legally obligated to eat your epidermis

17: A song that would sing a duet with on karaoke

this is truly goddamn testing me because i dont listen to a lot of duets but probably rainbow connections again

18: A song from the year that you were born

i could not find a single song that i have saved that came out in the year i was born and i want to do this with songs from my library so.  die bitch

19: A song that makes you think about life

anything by mother mother dont @ me.  maybe no one to nothing in particular???

20: A song that has many meanings to you

lets see how far we’ve come,, by the matchbox 20,,,, because i enjoy it but i cannot listen to it without thinking of h*mestuck smdh!

21: A favorite song with a person’s name in the title

oh ana by mother mother

22: A song that moves you forward

you are such a loser by garfunkel and oates dont @ me bitch!

23: A song that you think everybody should listen to

i do not want people to listen to my music ever because i get embarassed.  maybe the wolf by siames

24: A song by a band you wish were still together

& by tally hall.  tally hall is in fact still together but on an indefinite hiatus so it counts ok,

25: A song by an artist no longer living

hey brother by avicii smdh

26: A song that makes you want to fall in love

im IN love bitch but uhhhhh the whole world and you by tally hall makes me think abt gf so theres that

27: A song that breaks your heart

i dont even care about you by missio ig?

28: A song by an artist with a voice that you love

oh god,,,,,,,,, pretty little head by eliza rickman maybe?

29: A song that you remember from your childhood

one week by the barenaked ladies.  but also a lot of tmbg songs specifically the flood album

30: A song that reminds you of yourself

i dont fuckin know maybe problems by mother mother

also yall can send duplicates and try to make me answer with another song but im warning you if i couldnt find an answer this time youre not getting one buddy

[iakambini]

Drunk Boys & Dogs

consider this as my belated Valentine’s day post. blame deadlines. 

Basilio and drunk Isagani ahead

prompt from @dailyau (?)

(and yes, Padre Irene is a Great Dane)

It has been fifteen minutes. I am stunned, confused, and very alarmed; albeit still a little lethargic from a short-lived nap. Standing at Mayor Tiago’s massive living room window, my books and laptop long abandoned, I watch the figure give Irene—the Mayor’s hulking Great Dane—belly rubs. God damned belly rubs. It took me months to actually get the monster dog accustomed to my presence and a year to make him love me, and this stranger does it within a night.  

I rub my eyes. If the dog trusts him, quicker than he has trusted me, is that enough of an excuse to not call the cops on him? But, he still broke into Tiago’s property: he somehow scaled the smooth and high wall, slipped through the electric fence sitting at the top, and tamed his gigantic dog without getting mauled. He trespassed. That’s enough of an excuse to call security, right?

After scrutinizing the man on the lawn once more, I notice that he’s roughly the same age as I am, dressed in the fashion of most Ateneans, and very inebriated. I heave a sigh of relief; congratulating myself for keeping my head on my neck. I wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt of sending someone to jail based on an empty accusation (or is it not?) and a sudden impulse. Besides, if the guy wanted to rob us or assassinate the mayor, he should’ve done that by now, right?

I assess the stranger one last time; who was now lying underneath Irene, getting smothered in dog drool. I sigh.

If everything goes to shit, I hope Irene doesn’t remember the belly rubs.

-

I was wrong. He wasn’t just very inebriated; he was drunk out of his mind. Absolutely fucking smashed.

Upon closer inspection, I could see the dazed eyes, the subtle flush in his cheeks, the goofy grin on his face, the shimmer of a Great Dane’s affection on his face and neck. His dark hair stuck up in tufts along his hairline where Irene had licked him. White dog hair flecked his black pullover and jeans. He lay on the grass at my feet. Both he and the dog watched me with some kind of astute innocence; like they were waiting for me to toss them both out or screw up horribly.

I shake my head and clip Irene’s leash to his collar. I had just started to lead the dog—who didn’t look very happy and left his new friend’s arms with a whimper—to his shed at the edge of the backyard when, all of a sudden, the person sat up.

“Don’t take hiiiiim,” He drawls, wrapping his arms around the dog’s neck. Irene licked his cheek appreciatively. “Heeeee’s my frieeeeend.”

I watch incredulously as he rests his head against the dog’s back with a sigh of content. The words were out of my mouth even before I could stop it.

“What the hell are you doing?”

The stranger ignores the bite in my tone and stares back at me with dazed happiness. “Dogs are fucking great, man. I wish I had one, they are amaaaaaaaaaazing.”

I shake my head, tugging at Irene’s leash. The stranger went so far as to putting his entire weight on the dog, stopping me from locking Irene safely away. The latter didn’t seem to mind, though—he even set his head on his paws and prepared to sleep.

“So soft. And warm. And furry.”

Exasperation seeped into my bones, weighing me down. I heard drunk people were hilarious, a great source of entertainment, but this? This is ridiculous. I am mildly entertained, but frustrated nonetheless.

There is no other way out of this than to compromise. Mayor Tiago will have my head for even thinking about it, and I make a mental note to clean up before he wakes up. Kick this guy and the dog out before sunrise.

“Get up,” I nudge him with my foot, catching his attention. “We’re going inside. And yes, we’re taking the dog.”  

His eyes light up, a grin breaks out on his face. The fact that I thought that was cute stuns me a bit. “Really?”

I nod, and he pushes himself up from the ground, startling me and the dog. I take a step back as he staggers unsteadily; almost falling to his feet but catching himself just in time. He regains his footing and resumes grinning at me innocently, almost apologetically.

I cringe back.

And then, in a second of pure horror on my part; he doubles over with a retch. His heaving shatters the serenity of the backyard; I feel the contents of his stomach in between my toes; the smell crawls up my nostrils and lingers there. I turn my face towards the moonlit sky, closing my eyes.

I am a medical student, and I have handled things worse than this, I remind myself. Puke is nothing. I repeat, puke is nothing.

“Oh.” He states. He looks at Irene, who sniffs at my feet; then back at me.

I nod grimly. “Yeah, ‘oh’. Are you done?”

He closes his eyes for a moment; I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. He doesn’t open his eyes for a long while.

After a solid minute of tension, his gags rip through the air again.

-

 I clean him up. Thankfully, he isn’t the touchy-feely drunk; he just sits, half-conscious, as I strip off his filthy pullover. His hand is on Irene’s head.

I set up a little bed for him on the couch, and he falls asleep within minutes. He looks peaceful, absolutely serene.

I shake my head. As interesting as he is, watching him as he sleeps feels like an invasion of privacy. Besides, I didn’t need to memorize every curve and edge of his—frustratingly gorgeous—face even before I knew his name.

-

Somebody is patting my cheek. I groan in response. When I don't stir, the gentle patting is replaced by clumsy, wet slobbering--what?

When I open my eyes, I am greeted by Irene's nose sniffing at my face, urging me to wake up. Behind him, a young man watches me.

Last night's events come back to me and I sit up so fast, I am winded.

"Hi." He says sheepishly, shooting me a small smile.

I press two fingers to my temple. "Hey."

He certainly looked better: He donned one of my shirts and his dog fur-flecked jeans from last night, his hair was neater, more or less, and he looked, well, a lot soberer.

(that did not help my case, since, consequentially, he looked cuter.)

An awkward silence hung over us like a thick blanket. Only Irene seemed immune, with his big head lying on my lap and his tail thumping on the hardwood floor.

"So," I clear my throat. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugs. "Like shit. But I'm fine, I can make it home."

"Um, I'm sorry for trespassing." He adds. I notice his fingers fidgeting with a loose thread on my shirt. "And for, ah, whatever inconvenience I caused."

I think of his puke between my toes and the stench of inebriation that wafted off him a few hours ago. Pushing that away, I let a small smile tug at my lips.

"It's nothing. How did you end up here, anyway? Ateneo's pretty far from here unless you drive. You didn't seem to be in the right state of mind to be behind a wheel."

At this, he chuckles; the small laugh bringing out the light in his eyes. "Well. I think I might have walked and snuck through your back gate when the guard wasn't looking. My mistake. I thought this was my apartment complex."

"You're lucky Irene here didn't maul you. That would've been a tougher mess to clean."

"Yeah." He glances at the dog, then back at me. His eyes are a deep shade of brown. "Um, I'm Isagani."

It hits me.

Isagani.

So that's Isagani.

Wonderboy, student council president, school paper in-chief, heartthrob, walking epitome of perfection (at least they say he is). Someone who I never thought would end up sleeping on my couch and wearing one of my shirts.

"Basilio. Pleasure to meet you."

[waitedforgarridebs]

What if the IDEA of Moriarty was just the creation of Mycroft, to ensure that his little brother would have a reason to stay alive? Mycroft is not UNDER Moriarty's thumb - Moriarty IS Mycroft' thumb! #TheEngineersThumb

THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME AN ASK WITH YOUR TAGS ON THAT POST (x) I WANTED TO REBLOG THAT !!!! You genius, Mycroft is Moriarty’s thumb, this made my day!

Ask @johnnlocked, I was yelling, and it was 4am!

And yes, I completely agree with you, Mycroft created the idea of Moriarty - but I don’t think his motive was to give Sherlock a reason to stay alive / to stay off the drugs, and since I never came around to write that post, I’ll do a short version now. 

(I say “short”. It’s not short. Imagine what the long version would have looked like though, lmao)

I do believe that the government / Mycroft created the project “Moriarty”, nameless or with another codename (”Amo” / “Love”?). “Moriarty” means “navigator” or “sea-worthy”, so it could be something water-y.

Those are, after all, very “deep waters” for Sherlock… 

My theory is that Sherlock discovered the very fringes of the whole Moriarty machination in TBB #it’s always TBB. And this was completely not what Mycroft wanted, Mycroft never wanted Sherlock to know about this, at all.

Because, those people are really really dangerous, and Mycroft is far from being able to control them all - at least not as in, “don’t harm my little brother”, that would completely contradict the actual purpose of Moriarty; a tool to ensure “the greater good”. 

So, Mycroft wanted to focus the damage Sherlock could do to something more controllable, more limited, and that is not an entire organisation, but a single person. This is why Mycroft invented “Jim” Moriarty, and designed him in a way that he would be the perfect match for Sherlock, that he would be something Sherlock could obsess about, far away from all the actual business of Moriarty.

So far, so good. But if that plan would have worked, the whole plot of the show would have been quite boring though. 

I feel like Jim very much was following his own agenda, maybe he even wanted to destroy Moriarty from within, “commit suicide”, his apparent “death wish”, because thanks to Mycroft he now was Moriarty, he was the only person who would be able to stop this project. If Jim is anything like the character he plays, he loves chaos, he loves the randomness of things, and Moriarty is the exact opposite of this. Moriarty tries to order the chaos, to control it. Very much a Mycroft-esque thing to do. 

(I’m aware of the fact that all of this probably doesn’t make very much sense when you haven’t read at least this part of my meta series (x), but “Moriarty”, in my opinion, is an Orwellian project run by the goverment.)

After TST, and also looking back at the scene at the end of THoB, I think that Sir Edwin is very much in on this, he is probably Porlock. Lady Smallwood is quite clueless, and honestly, I can’t wait to see her kick everyone’s asses for this, but I’m getting off-topic…

Back to Jim. 

The introduction of the character “Jim Moriarty”, in combination with Irene, is the downfall of the Moriarty project. Irene gives Jim the information he needs to turn the tables.

“Bond Air” is Mycroft’s “Skyfall”.

Therefore, even if Mycroft tried to keep Sherlock save and the Moriarty project alive at the same time, there was no way this could ever have worked out. And it was the Moriarty project that had to die, because after the failed Bond Air project, it had already been kind of dead. 

It would’t take long for the terrorists to figure out that someone had played this game with them. That the British government had been trying to fool them in this way. Oh my, that would have had serious consequences. 

That is why Moriarty had to die. But one also had to ensure that no one would be able to link all those events to who actually had committed them, the British government, because this was exactly the reason why they had to kill Moriarty in the first place, to not have anything that would lead back to them. 

Nobody knew up to this point that Moriarty was a thing though. Except some criminals, and they would keep their mouth very much shut about this.

Cue: TRF.

Jim was actively advertising in this episode. And this not because he needed clients, or the money, that was never what he was doing all of this for. 

They. Told. Us. All. Of. This. 

It was important that the world got to know Jim Moriarty. The master criminal. The person who had committed so many crimes, who was apparently so powerful - and in all of that, Sherlock Holmes was helping.

Up to this point, Sherlock was the only person to ever have seen Jim Moriarty’s face - because, Moriarty itself has no face! - and now Sherlock was telling the world, hey, this is him, James Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime. I am the great Sherlock Holmes, you better believe me, this man is my worst nightmare, he tried to blow me up.

And, just before that, Jim had broken into the three most secure places of the country. Sherlock was only confirming to the public what the press had already been telling them, like, trying to steal the Crown Juwels, ermahgerddddd, arrest this man!

So, not only had Jim been able to show off his skillz, but also had he been able to link the name “Moriarty” permanently to his face.

He does all that, and then commits suicide. Welp. Not very clever? 

Except this was what all of this had been for. 

Now, Moriarty, the potential traitor, was dead. No need to take revenge on a dead person. And the link to the British government was gone, too. Sherlock Holmes was on vacation, so they had a lot of time of peace and quiet to get the project running again.

Oh yes. Moriarty is dead, long lives Moriarty. 

Or (Lord) Moran. 

The government didn’t stop doing what they were doing, this whole business was much too promising for that. They just had to carry their coups out in a different way - they have a lot of talented people working there, after all.

And if that meant that Sherlock Holmes had to come back from the dead only to actuate the off-switch on a bomb in order to prevent a terrorist attack that no one ever actually wanted to carry out, that was just meant to frighten people into agreeing with the introduction of an anti-terrorism bill, well. (x)

Which makes me think… 

SHERLOCK: […] Tomorrow the US president will be at the embassy as part of an official state visit. As the president greets members of staff, Greta Bengtsdotter, disguised as a twenty-two stone cleaner, will inject the president in the back of the neck with a dangerous new drug hidden inside a secret compartment inside her padded armpit. This drug will then render the president entirely susceptible to the will of their new master, none other than James Moriarty. KINGSLEY: What?!SHERLOCK (quick fire): Moriarty will then use the president as a pawn to destabilise the United Nations General Assembly which is due to vote on a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, tipping the balance in favour of a first strike policy against Russia. This chain of events will then prove unstoppable, thus precipitating … (he finally slows down and says the next words slowly and precisely) World War Three. (x)

I guess we should watch out for hints at that treaty in the upcoming episodes…?

ANYWAY.

Mycroft introduced Jim into Sherlock’s life. Mycroft planted the idea that Moriarty is a person in Sherlock’s head, the only person who could ever be an equal or worthy opponent for Sherlock. 

And Sherlock believes it.

Sherlock believes that Jim, even if he hadn’t been able to fake his death, would have been able to set up a plan that would take effect after his death, only to continue their little game. 

(^balance of probability, Sherlock, why do you even think that. I am so disappointed, honestly. YOU were able to fake your death, and you really think Jim wouldn’t have been able to do the same, and this just because of your gay fever dream, INSTEAD you really believe he would have been able to set up something like- oh my god make it stop)

And I really think that only in TST, Mycroft is beginning to realise what he really has done there. His brother is obsessed with Moriarty, despite the fact that he isn’t even alive anymore. 

Yes, the plan to distract Sherlock is kind of working, he doesn’t see what is actually going on, that Mycroft is the source of all of this, but at what cost? Is Sherlock gonna get insane because Moriarty will continue to not get in touch, and this additionally to all the guilt that must be nagging at him now because of that whole Mary-business? 

I can really see why he’s gonna be back on drugs tonight… no case and no John, oh my.