#i won’t stop though you’re all getting a lil intro to my asks like i’m writing an email!

[seedlessmuffins]

every time i’m in someone’s asks and i start my ask with hi (name)! i feel like a grandma signing her text messages 😔

[drabbles-mc]

Pretty Boy

Juice Ortiz x OFC (Dakota Lowman)

Combining an Anonymous request and a request from @adela-topaz-caelon:  Juice Ortiz x F!Reader, were the reader is Happy’s daughter and her boyfriend is Juice? and Juice x female reader where they're at the clubhouse or somewhere, just chilling to keep reader safe or something, and you get those cheesy moments of catching an eye, or an absentmindedly kiss that causes flusteredness

Warnings: language, alcohol, Juice being a lil cutie pie

Word Count: 4.6k

A/N: I tweaked each of these requests a little bit, but I hope y’all still enjoy it! I got the Happy’s Daughter request and immediately me and @garbinge started brainstorming OC ideas and we ended up with two daughters for Happy. Clearly we get carried away haha. This is just a fluffy little one-shot and a sort of wamrup/intro to the Lowman Sisters as OCs. We (when I say “we”, I totally mean me and Anj as a unit lmao) have big plans for them in the future and I can’t wait to take y’all along for the ride. In the meantime, enjoy this lil oneshot! xo

SOA Taglist: @masterlistforimagines​ @mijop​ @chibsytelford​ @xladymacbethx​ @i-just-read-stuff​ @kkim120​ @everyhowlmarksthedead​ @toni9​ @unicornucopia-fuckers​ @mayans-sauce​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @punkgoddess-98​ @paintballkid711​ @black-repunzel99​ @jitterbugs927​ @mrsstevenbuchananstark​ (If you want to be added to the list feel free to let me know!)

“Out of all the women in the universe,” Juice spoke up with a shake of his head, “I think the last two that need someone to watch their backs are Happy’s daughters, that’s all.”

Jax shook his head, “Everyone has someone watching their back, no exceptions.”

“Yea but they don’t need—”

He cut Juice off, “Club call, not theirs.”

Both of Happy’s daughters were sitting back, watching the entire interaction play out in front of them. It wasn’t something that they’d never gone through before, but they each knew that there was a more tactful way to go about it without making them feel like they were being saddled with babysitters. His youngest thought it was all bullshit, but she wasn’t willing to put up a fight over it. Her older sister, however, didn’t have the same reservations.

“Fuck this,” she stood up off her barstool, “You don’t get to make that call for me, Teller.”

“Hap said—”

“Well Hap isn’t here,” she rolled her eyes as she swiped her keys off the table, “Tell my old man if he wants someone to babysit me, he can do it himself,” she began walking towards the clubhouse door, “just like the good old days.”

“Diedra,” Jax stepped towards her, wrapping his hand around her forearm.

She immediately twisted her arm out of his grasp and used her other hand to shove him backwards, “Do that again and I’ll bust your fucking nose,” she waited a beat to see if any of them were going to try to stop her again, and when they didn’t, she looked over to her sister, “Call me if any of these assholes give you any trouble, alright?”

She nodded, “Alright.”

The clubhouse door slammed behind her, leaving an awkward silence in its wake. Jax glanced over at Juice, who was trying to look anywhere but at his VP and the young woman still perched at the bar. With a heavy sigh, Jax spoke up, “Don’t go two for two on losing the Lowman Sisters, alright? Hap is gonna wring my fucking neck over Di as it is.”

“He won’t,” she shook her head, chuckling slightly, “You think our dad doesn’t know what you’re dealing with?”

“You think that your dad is really gonna care about that when it comes down to it?” Jax retorted. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to get his tone in order, “Sorry, Kota. It’s not on you. Just, please stay with Juice, alright? Just until we figure all this shit out.”

She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee and trying to pretend that she didn’t get a little bit of sadistic enjoyment out of Jax’s stress over her father and sister, “Sure, I can handle that.”

He didn’t say anything more before also heading out the door, managing to shut it a little quieter than the woman who had walked out before him. It left just Juice and Dakota by themselves in the clubhouse—everyone else either on club business or safely within the walls of their own homes waiting out the impending chaos.

“How pissed is your dad gonna be about your sister?” Juice asked, a smirk starting to curl the edges of his mouth.

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “He’s not going to actually be pissed. He knows how Di gets about lockdown and shit,” she paused, smiling, “But he is going to make Jax feel like shit about it first.”

Juice chuckled, “Perfect.”

There were a few beats of silence before she spoke up again, “So do I get to know why I need a bodyguard or…?”

“H-happy didn’t tell you?”

She shook her head, “No,” with a huff she rolled her eyes, “he never tells me shit. I don’t, I don’t know why Di gets to know everything and I don’t. I don’t get what’s so different.”

“She is older,” Juice couldn’t pretend to understand the dynamics in the Lowman family but it seemed like an easy justification to offer up.

“By like, four years. That doesn’t mean shit.”

Juice laughed, “You sound a little bitter.”

“Bitter is in our blood, Juan,” she laughed as she finished off her coffee.

The use of his real name caught him off-guard. The two of them hadn’t ever really talked much, just little conversations here and there. He didn’t think that she knew his real name at all, let alone felt comfortable enough with him to use it. Despite the bite in her tone for every other word she spoke, there was a softness when she said it.

“Right,” he tried to keep himself focused, “Well, your sister seems like a girl full of answers so maybe you should ask her about it.”

“Glad I’m at least going to be locked down with a comedian,” she shook her head before getting up and tossing her coffee cup in the garbage, “So, what? You just gonna follow me around while I do things? Keep me company while I get a pedicure?”

He laughed, “I don’t think that you should really be out getting pedicures right now.”

“Well, then could you at least take me back to my place?” she laughed, “Di and I came together and she just stormed off with the keys.”

Juice couldn’t help the laughter that slipped past his lips, “Yea, yea I think I can handle that.”

As the two of them walked across the lot towards Juice’s bike, Dakota became very aware of the fact that the two of them hadn’t ever spent any one-on-one time together. They saw each other in passing at the clubhouse, and a couple times he’d worked on her car in the past, but they didn’t really know each other. She knew of him, the same way he probably knew of her. But they didn’t learn anything about each other, from each other.

In the past when she and her sister needed someone to watch their back because of things going on with the club, it would usually just be Happy, because that made the most sense. And realistically, Diedra had been right when she said that she could handle herself perfectly fine. If the two of them were left to their own devices they’d probably be okay, but it wasn’t a chance that the MC was willing to take. On a rare occasion or two Chibs or Tig kept an eye on them, but those men usually kept their distance.

Juice handed her a spare helmet, a lopsided grin on his face, “Where is your place, anyway?”

“Apartment complex just off Main?” she said as she clipped the helmet on, “Gray Street.”

He nodded, “Got it.”

She settled onto the bike behind him with ease, no stranger to the ins and outs of a ride. It caught Juice off-guard for a moment before he remembered who she was. He looked down to see her well-manicured nails interlocked over his stomach and he didn’t know why but it made him smile. She leaned against him a little, waiting for him to peel out of the compound. He checked with her to make sure she was good before taking off.

As he rolled into the parking lot of the complex, Dakota directed him where to go and park. Diedra’s car was nowhere to be seen. And while it had been made abundantly clear that she was in charge of herself, Juice still felt a little responsible for how everything had played out.

“You two live here together, right?” he asked as he put down the kickstand of his bike.

“Yea,” she unclipped her helmet and tousled her hair, “but she’s probably blowing off steam somewhere. Maybe tracking down our dad,” she laughed.

“Was it weird growing up with Happy as a dad?” the question came out before he could stop it, and regret instantly flooded over his features, “Fuck, sorry. I, I know it’s really not my business.”

She chuckled as she dug her keys out of her purse, “You’re fine. Don’t apologize so much.”

“Sor—” he stopped himself, “Right.”

“But in answer to your question,” they slowly made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building, “He…he tried. He does the best he can, you know? I think all our parents do,” she put the key in the lock of her door, “Doesn’t mean that their best is always good enough, but it’s all they can do.”

She was about to step inside when Juice put an arm out in front of her to stop her. She chuckled, nodding for him to go in first and scope the place out, even though it was highly unlikely that anyone ended up there looking for her or her sister.

About a minute later she heard Juice’s voice calling for her to come inside. She laughed as she stepped in, locking the door behind her before tossing her purse off to the side and instantly kicking off her shoes. Juice watched her, and as she sauntered her way into the kitchen he really began to question how the two of them never ended up really speaking to each other. He and Diedra had had a handful of conversations, although they weren’t deep or filled with a lot of pleasantries. But he felt like he had a better idea of who she was, than who her little sister was. She was always kind unless provoked, but she kept to herself a lot of the time.

“Smoothie?” she offered as she pulled a half-full blender out of the fridge.

Juice laughed in surprise. Usually when he was at someone’s house they offered beer, or something stronger. He’d never even been offered water before let alone a smoothie. He shook his head, “I’m good for now, thanks.”

She shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

By the time Diedra came back to the apartment, the sun had long since set. Dakota and Juice were camped out at the counter, both of them laughing hard at whatever story Juice had been telling. They heard the sound of the key in the lock and both of them looked over at the door expectantly. Diedra walked inside, kicking off her boots and tossing her keys immediately. She’d seen Juice’s bike parked outside and wasn’t enthused, and when she could hear their laughter from the hallway, she had the feeling that he wasn’t going to be in a rush to get back to the clubhouse or go home.

She looked about as exhausted and frustrated as she felt. She’d gone and tracked down her father, which did nothing to help the current situation. On top of him being upset about how she was handling the whole protection side of things, he was mad that she had gone out on a manhunt to find him, completely defeating the purpose of having someone keeping her safe.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” she skipped over the pleasantries and got right to the point, “With the two of us here we should be alright.”

“I, uh, I don’t mind,” Juice didn’t know why he found Diedra to be just as intimidating as her father, but he did, “I can hang out a little longer.”

She shrugged, not looking to argue about it, “Suit yourself,” she looked at her sister, “I’m gonna go shower.”

Dakota gave a wordless nod and watched her sister disappear to the other end of the apartment.  She let out a sigh and shook her head—she didn’t know the details of her older sister’s day, but she didn’t have to. Dakota could tell from the moment she walked in that the day hadn’t gone in her favor. She’d try to be there for her if she thought it would get either of them anywhere, but if there was one thing that she’d learned about her sister in all their years growing up together, was that those kinds of things happened on Diedra’s terms, and no one else’s.

“She always this cheery?” Juice asked with tiny smirk, “Or just when I’m around?”

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “It has nothing to do with you, personally. It’s…complicated. Honestly, she’s gotta like you on some level because she hasn’t threatened you yet. But either way,” she reached and rested her hand on his for a moment, “I’m glad you’re here.”

The touch was light and momentary but Juice felt it course through his entire body. He cleared his throat, trying to do anything besides stare at his hands, “Well that’s…that’s nice to hear.”

“And not that I’m trying to rush you out, but for the sake of your own self-esteem,” there was a playful smile on her face, “you might wanna just head out and come back in the morning. She’ll be a little cooled off by then.”

He nodded, “Yea, yea okay,” he hopped up and they both made their way towards the door, “Lock it behind me.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yea, I’ve done this before.”

He stood in the hallway for a moment as Dakota leaned against the doorframe, a smile beginning to tug at the edges of her mouth. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he knew better. He shoved his hands into his pockets to fight the urge.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then?” she asked.

He nodded, “I’ll be here bright and early.”

She laughed, “I’ll have coffee ready, then,” she paused, “Goodnight, Juan.”

He smiled, “Goodnight.”

A little while later, when Dakota was already in bed scrolling on her phone, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She turned on the light and called for her sister to come in. When the door opened, Diedra was standing there wrapped in her towel, clothes draped over her arm as she propped herself against the side of the door.

“You all good?”

Dakota propped herself up on her elbows, nodding, “Yea, yea I’m good. You good?”

She shrugged, “I’ll be alright.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Pfft,” her annoyance wasn’t aimed at her sister, “Nothing to say. Same shit,” there was a beat of silence, “Juice stay here with you all day?”

She nodded, “Yea. I know you don’t like him but he seems swe—”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” she let out a small sigh, “the whole situation is just a fuckin’ mess. Plus you and I are adults—we don’t need fucking babysitters.”

Dakota couldn’t do anything besides nod, “I know. I just, I don’t see the point in fighting it if we’re just gonna lose.”

“You’re only fine with it because they saddled you with the pretty boy,” a knowing smirk crossed Diedra’s face for a moment.

Her little sister laughed, “Certainly doesn’t hurt to have something nice to look at in a pseudo-lockdown.”

“Mhm,” she shook her head, “Just don’t do anything stupid, alright?”

“Never,” she laughed, “Love you.”

“Love you.”

With that she shut the door and made her way off to her own room. Dakota flopped back down onto her pillow with a sigh, trying to get everything in order in her head. All she ever really wanted to do was keep the peace, but it was practically an impossible task at this point so she wondered what the use was in even trying anymore.

True to her word, the next morning there was already a pot of coffee made by the time that Juice got there. Truthfully, she’d just set an alarm specifically for that purpose and then gone right back to bed. That was made evident to him by the fact that she answered the door half-asleep, hair still a bit of a frizzy mess from a night of tossing and turning. She smiled and waved him in but didn’t say much of anything, wordlessly gesturing to the coffee pot to let him know to help himself.

“Not a morning person?” he chuckled.

She shook her head, running her hands down her face, “No, that’s always been Di’s thing. I’m a night owl.”

As if on cue, Diedra came bounding into the apartment, headphones still on and drenched in sweat from her run and workout that morning. She saw Juice standing in the kitchen and offered him a slight nod as she made her way directly to the bathroom to shower. She lightly patted Dakota on the back as she walked by, letting the gesture serve as her greeting for the morning.

“So,” Juice drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter as he watched Dakota pour them each a cup of coffee, “what’s the plan for today?”

She shrugged as she slid it across to him, “You tell me,” she took a sip, “I got some school shit I gotta do, but I can do it here or at the clubhouse if that’s better. I still don’t know what the fuck is going on, so I’m following your lead on this.”

No one had ever said those words in that order to him before. He took a long drink out of his coffee cup to buy himself a few extra seconds to think, “Um, I mean, clubhouse would probably be best. More people around,” his eyes flicked towards the other end of the apartment, “I’m guessing your sister is just gonna…”

“Do whatever she wants to do?” she laughed, nodding, “Sounds about right,” she stretched, taking a deep breath, “Alright. Let me get ready and we can head out.”

“Okay,” he sat down at the counter, “No rush or anything.”

While he was finishing his coffee and waiting for Dakota to get ready, her sister emerged back into the kitchen, no longer in her sweaty workout clothes. She had on a baggy hoodie and a pair of running shorts, hair still down and damp as she opened the fridge to start pulling together her smoothie for the morning.

“Where you two crazy kids off to today?” she asked as she set everything on the counter.

“Just to the clubhouse,” he paused, trying to figure out if she should ask what he was about to ask, “You?”

She glanced back over her shoulder, her expression serious for a moment before she cracked the smallest of smiles, “I’ll be around. Got some shit I gotta handle.”

“Anything I can—”

“All you gotta worry about is my sister and the club, Juice,” her tone was firm, but not mean.

Before he could say anything more, Dakota walked back out into the kitchen. She looked back and forth between her sister and Juice, surprised at the lack of tension in the room. There wasn’t the fear of god in Juice’s eyes the way there had been the night before.

“We’re gonna head out,” she gave Juice a slight nod towards the door before looking back at her sister, “Text me when you get where you’re going?”

She nodded, “Sure thing. Don’t let him wipe out on the bike.”

Dakota laughed as she looked over at Juice, “Well, guess we’re taking the bike.”

Dakota made herself comfortable at one of the tables in the clubhouse. She had her headphones on and her schoolwork spread out across the table in front of her. Between her notebooks and her laptop, there was just enough room for Juice and his computer on the other side of the table. Every now and then she’d look up and catch him staring at her, and she’d offer up a smile before diving back into her work. Juice wanted to ask her about it, wanted just about any reason to listen to her talk, but he stopped himself.

It was late in the afternoon when she finally leaned back in her chair, taking her headphones off with a groan. She ran her hands down her face as she shook her head, trying to get her brain to slow down. Juice looked up at her, chuckling quietly.

“It’s going that well, huh?”

“Go back to school they said. It’ll be good for you they said,” she laughed, rolling her eyes, “Fuck this. I don’t know why I’m paying to suffer.”

Juice couldn’t help but to laugh, “Sorry it’s so rough.”

She shrugged, “It’s fine. I just need to complain about it sometimes,” she smiled at him, “And since you’re the one who is stuck with me, you’re the one who has to hear it. Sorry.”

“You can complain as much as you want,” a smirk tugged at his lips as he drummed his fingers on the table, “I don’t mind.”

That was the routine that they fell into for the next week. Each morning Juice would show up at her apartment, make small-talk with Diedra that got less and less awkward as the days went on, and then they’d head to the clubhouse once Dakota was ready. On the days when Juice was actually working at T-M, Dakota would set herself up at the picnic table outside, or if she was just reading, she would find an empty chair in the garage to sit in so that the two of them would stay close. It wasn’t that they really needed to talk all that much, but the proximity was nice. And, for the time being, they had the cover of the fact that he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.

In the midst of a sea of fleeting touches and soft smiles, neither of them brought themselves to say anything to address all the feelings that were bubbling up. A few times, Juice almost did. There were moments, after he’d park his bike at the clubhouse or her apartment, and she’d leave her arms wrapped around him a little longer than necessary. She’d keep herself flush against his back despite the fact that she didn’t need to anymore, and he’d almost get the nerve to say something to her. But it never quite happened. He’d see her reading, taking notes on something that was way above his paygrade, and every square inch of his brain would scream at him to tell her that she’s beautiful, but the words always got caught in his throat.

“Guess what,” Diedra strode over to the picnic table where her sister was sitting, laptop set up in front of her for class.

She looked up, eyebrows raised, “What’s up?”

“As of,” she looked at the time on her phone, “One hour and twenty-five minutes ago, we are no longer on fake, need-a-babysitter lockdown.”

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “I don’t think that you ever really were.”

“Yea, well,” Diedra laughed as she swiped up her sister’s drink and took a sip of it, “now Dad can’t keep giving me shit about it. So that’s a plus,” there were a few beats of silence, “You gonna break the news to pretty boy over there? Or you gonna let the club do it?”

She smiled, shaking her head, “No news to break. Shit will just go back to business as usual.”

“He’s gonna be real fuckin’ bummed about it, you know.”

She arched one eyebrow, “Why does it feel like you’re encouraging this?”

“He seems less shitty than most the other guys you’ve brought around.”

“We’re not even—”

“I know,” Diedra chuckled, “I know you’re not. But he’s chomping at the fuckin’ bit so I’d say something before he thinks that he’s completely lost his shot.”

Dakota’s nails clacked on the surface of the picnic table as she tapped them, clearly thinking about everything her sister had said to her. Diedra walked away, letting her little sister mull over what she had said.

As the afternoon was drawing to a close, the guys all came out of church into the main expanse of the clubhouse. Everyone was whooping and hollering, and it was clear that whatever the issue it was that had arisen, had been taken care of. Everyone else who was already at the clubhouse joined in on the cheering, despite not knowing all of the details.

Diedra and Dakota were camped out at the bar, each of them smiling and shaking their heads because they knew the antics that were about to ensue. The music immediately got louder and the prospect behind the bar skipped over grabbing glasses and just took out a few entire bottles of liquor to set on the counter for the guys to grab.

After a few minutes of the initial chaos, Dakota felt someone’s hand land on her shoulder. She turned around, expecting to see Juice, but instead came face-to-face with her father. She smiled up at him as she took a sip of her beer.

“Glad everything got sorted.”

He nodded, “For now,” there was a pause as he looked her over, “You’re alright?”

She laughed, “Yea, Dad, I’m alright. I’m not the person at the top of the priority list for anyone who is out to get you. And even if I was,” she nodded towards her sister who was now at the other end of the bar in a heated discussion with Tig about something, “between Di and Juan, no one was getting to me.”

His brows furrowed when he heard her refer to him by his real name, “He didn’t do anything fucking stupid, did he?”

She almost choked on her beer, shaking her head, “No, no he didn’t. Jesus Christ, Dad, cut the kid some slack.”

“Alright,” he nodded, pulling her in and placing a chaste kiss to her forehead, “I love you.”

She chuckled, nodding, “I love you too.”

Happy disappeared into the crowd and it was only a few moments before the stool beside her became occupied. She glanced over, a smile spreading across her face when she saw the person she’d been expecting originally.

“Congrats on, well,” she chuckled, “whatever you guys did.”

Juice smiled, shaking his head, “Just keeping ourselves alive and outta jail for another day. That’s all,” he paused as he took the beer bottle being handed to him by the man on the other side of the bar, “Guess you’ll finally be able to go and get your pedicures now.”

She laughed, “Yea I guess so. The invite is still open if you wanna come with me. It’s quite the experience.”

“Tempting,” he leaned onto the bar, letting his elbows rest on it, “But I think I’m good.”

“You know, even if you don’t want to go and get pedicures with me,” she sipped on her beer, “We could find something else to do that we could both enjoy.”

He looked over at her, a tentative smile on his face, “Yea?”

She shrugged, “Yea. Preferably something not early in the morning. I’d love to go back to sleeping in,” she couldn’t help but to laugh.

“You didn’t have to wake up early, you know.”

“Yea, but, I wanted to. I…I like spending time with you.”

That statement hung in the air for a few seconds before she gently nudged his knee with her own. It snapped him out of whatever train of thought he was trapped in, his eyes searching hers waiting to figure out the next move. She smiled, a quiet laugh passing her lips before she leaned in and kissed him, her hand coming to rest on the back of his head.

Shock went through his body for a moment as he forced himself to realize that it was really happening, that it wasn’t just a dream. His hand lightly gripped onto her thigh as he let himself lean into her. When she pulled her lips off of his, they each laughed, the sound of it soft against the raucous noise of the clubhouse.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Juice forced out through the surprise coursing through his system, “If…if you wanted to do something.”

Dakota laughed, leaning back onto her seat but letting her hand tangle up with his, “Yea, I could do something tomorrow.”

“Afternoon?” he said with a laugh.

“Yea,” she laughed and gave his hand a squeeze, “Tomorrow afternoon is good.”

[meltwonu]

| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 |     [CHAPTER 10]

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, guided masturbation, dirty talk, jun being a wild one, sad?????angst(sorry), mentions of break-ins/theft, yet again this chapter was meant to be shorter but here we are 😭🍒 more plot than anything else but enjoy! and as always, thank you so much for your support and interest in Cherry Bomb!! 😭💕💕💕 have a good weekend and don’t forget my halloween intro post goes up tomorrow as well!! stay hydrated bbys!!💕

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - ?

“Damn.”

Seungcheol sits beside you Friday morning, lips pressed into a firm line when he sees the five-digit number staring back at him from your revenue page. 

“Yeah, it’s---I--I’m…”

The two of you fall into a tense silence as you both stare at the exorbitant amount of money that the videos have made, unsure of what to say or even think.

“Um, I mean, o-obviously you get a cut of the money too, ‘Cheol! You’re half the video so…”

“Yeah, but even so, that’s---that’s an insane amount of money we made off of, what, three videos?”

You nod back slowly, sighing as you rest against the back of the sofa. “I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think… they’d do that well. Like, not saying we suck! We obviously don’t, but just… I didn’t think they’d do that well.”

Seungcheol laughs, leaning back against the cushions as he meets your blushing face. “I could quit my job and just cam with you for this amount of money. I mean, this much off of three videos? Imagine if we were regulars together.”

The thought alone sends your mind into a flurry of various ideas; biting your lip as you lean into Seungcheol’s shoulder.

“Hey, I have an idea for tomorrow’s show but remind me to ask you later!”

hoshi_tiger_xx: still out of town baby?

sleepy_wonu: i feel like you moved and you’re just not ready to tell us lol

Seungcheol smirks reading the comments; eyes flitting over to you from his place on the sofa.

“Moved? I wish! This place is probably waaaay more than my own rent though~” You pause, letting the sound of donations sound off and comments fly past on your laptop screen. “And I’m probably heading home tomorrow so get ready to say bye to this backdrop!” You pout.

therealchan99: can we quickly discuss those videos tho

angelhan: actually yes

Biting your lip, you note that Seungcheol’s eyes are already on you and that you’ve already hit the donation minimum to start your show. “Well…” You start pushing the straps of your bra down, unhooking the back until you can toss the flimsy material off. “What do you guys want to know? You know I kiss and tell~”

dom.cheol: how does he gets you so fuckin wet, baby?

alphagyu97: ur not rly friends are u? Is he ur bf?

alphagyu97: im not pressed either im just curious!!!

universe_WZ: thats what they all say

chwenon: yooo that last vid was fuckin fire tho

tangerine_kwan has donated $50

tangerine_kwan: is he ever gonna join u on cam? think u guys would be good

“Hmm~ Well, let’s start with dom.cheol’s question…” You shoot the camera a sultry smirk as you spread your legs; fingertips already dancing along the lace of your panties. “It’s really not hard~ He’s really good at what he does, y’know? Knows how to talk to me and get my panties wet~”

xcaliburDK: is he good looking

kitty_junjun: probably not as well as me 🤪

gentleman_josh95: stop while u r ahead

Letting out a soft giggle, you watch as Seungcheol rounds the sofa, leaning up against the back of it as he faces you. He keeps his phone in hand, thumb still dancing across the keyboard.

dom.cheol: he has to punish you so often though, baby.

artist8hao: i know, whats gotten into u babygirl? Why r u acting out so much?

“‘Cause I like it when he punishes me~” You lick your lips as you hook your thumbs into your panties, slowly guiding them down your legs. “But I like it when he’s sweet to me too~” Your eyes dance up to Seungcheol, tossing the material his way before speaking.

“Won’t you be sweet to me now?”

alphagyu97: oh shit hes there

universe_WZ: let him fuck your pretty pussy on cam baby

“Aww, I’d love that but he’s still a ‘lil too shy for a live show!” You run your fingertips through your folds, collecting the wetness on them before you bring them to your lips. “But not shy enough to lend your voice, maybe?”

“If that’s what you want, sweetheart.”

Seungcheol makes sure to raise his voice enough so that he’s within earshot of the mic; adrenaline rushing through his veins when he, too, notices the sudden influx of comments and donations at his sudden appearance. “My baby’s been good today though, hasn’t she?” Nodding, you get lost in Seungcheol’s firm stare as the sound of donations and comments fire off in the background.

“Mmhmm~ So why don’t you guide me and show me how a good girl gets rewarded?”

He sets his phone down onto the back of the sofa precariously, both hands in the pockets of his sweats as he watches you. “Normally, good girls get to sit on my cock but we’ll save that for another time, baby. For now, why don’t you get those fingers nice and wet for me? Let them see how good that mouth of yours is.”

therealchan99: those pretty lips that look so good around a cock, just like i thought

sleepy_wonu has donated $100

sleepy_wonu: fuck yeah

You make sure your fingers are properly wet before you drag them down your body, soft sighs on your lips. “Don’t tease me too much though, okay?” Seungcheol grins in return, picking up his phone and sending a quick donation to keep up appearances before he glances your way again.

“Of course. So why don’t you play with that cute ‘lil clit of yours. Bet it’s still nice and sensitive after last night, huh?”

A stuttered moan falls from your lips the second you start rubbing slow circles on your clit; eyes fluttering shut at the memory alone.

xcaliburDK: fuck, all that cum spilling out of her cunt was hot

artist8hao: bet she was nice and full huh? Such a shame she wasted it

Seungcheol chuckles under his breath, “Right? Guess I’ll just have to fuck it deeper into her pussy next time.” You can’t help but clench around emptiness as you pinch your clit between your fingers at his words.

“Ngh, he made me come home with cum trickling down my thighs…” You whimper, “Not that I minded.”

“She begged me to fuck her in the shower too. Wanted me to mark you up real pretty, didn’t you? So that all your viewers could see.”

“Mmhmm…” He watches as you slowly slide your fingers down your folds to your entrance before they slide back up to your clit. “Why don’t you put two fingers in, hmm? Pretend they’re mine while you fuck yourself on them.”

kitty_junjun: aww her fingers are so small compared to yours

gentleman_josh95: bet its not even enough for her anymore huh?

dom.cheol: probably not

You slowly ease in two fingers at once; moaning when you sink them knuckle deep. “O-oh, fuck… Wha--what should I do n-next?”

“Fuck yourself on them, baby. Go however fast or slow you want to. Make yourself cum on your fingers.” He pauses; running a hand through his hair before he shoots you a devilish smirk. “But tell me how badly you wish it were me, ‘cause we both know you do.”

alphagyu97: wheeew lets hear it babygirl

tangerine_kwan: yea baby tell us

“It’s---It’s not the s-same… ‘Cause your fingers are b-bigger than mine…” You whimper, “And--a-ah, and they’re longer too…” Scissoring your fingers, you let out a breathy moan when you start thrusting your fingers faster into yourself.

“I wish it were your fingers, knuckle deep inside my pussy and making me cum. F-fuck, and stretching me open…”

You place your thumb on your clit; rubbing harsh circles on the nub as you chase your high. 

Seungcheol watches with keen eyes, the way your heels dig into the sheets and the way your brows furrow in concentration; licking his lips when he can tell you’re already close to your orgasm.

“Now let’s see that pretty pussy cum, sweetheart.”

You towel your hair off after your shower; shuffling towards the living area as Seungcheol settles into his makeshift bed on the sofa.

“Don’t you want to sleep in the bed with me for once, ‘Cheol?”

His lips press into a lopsided smile, “Are you asking because it’s your last night here?”

“Maybe~”

He lets out a breathy laugh as he reaches for his pillow, gesturing you back towards his bed. “By the way, what was your idea for your show?” You sit cross-legged on the bed just as Seungcheol sets his pillow back against the headboard.

“...How do you feel about maybe filming with me at my place?” He quirks a brow at you just as he settles onto what he deems his side of the bed for the night. “Do tell.” He has a vague idea of where this is heading, but he lets you continue; curiosity eating away at him the longer you hesitate.

“Well, I was thinking… Maybe, and only if you’re okay with it, but… I was thinking maybe you could drive me back to my place? And I know it’s about an hour out from here but I’ll pay gas money! And we can just start heading towards my apartment a little before my show starts. That way you can use toys on me ‘n stuff. And I don’t mind if you spend the night either ‘cause it’ll probably be kinda late when we finish...”

Seungcheol nods; already thinking about the possibilities with the amount of toys you had at your place compared to his. “I mean, yeah, why not? And don’t worry about the gas money, I think we’ve both made enough money this week to last us a while.”

You can only pout in return, laying on your stomach next to Seungcheol who stares up at the ceiling. “Speaking of which… What’re we gonna do now?”

“What do you mean?”

Sighing, you run your fingers through your damp hair. “I mean… What are we going to do about the videos? Are--Are we still going to film together?”

His lips press into a firm line as a million thoughts run through his mind; he’d thought about it a lot himself the past few days since. “I have an idea but I’m not sure how you’re gonna feel about it.”

“Shoot, we’ve got nothin’ to lose I don’t think!”

Seungcheol eases onto his side as he meets your stare, “First of all, I don’t mind filming more videos with you. And to be honest, it’ll probably take me a bit of time before I’m okay with showing my face but I don’t mind being on your live cam shows either, if we can figure out some camera angles. But the thing is… I think if we’re going to be filming together, you need to change your filming schedule.”

Panic runs through you for a second at the idea but you quickly push it aside to hear his suggestion. “How so?”

“Well, right now you’re doing shows on Fridays and Saturdays, every other Monday and every other Wednesday, right? Your next show is Wednesday which is fine but I think if we end up filming videos together regularly, we need to adjust how often you actually cam and how often we post pre-recorded videos. ‘Cause let’s be real, you’d be way too tired if you kept it that frequent. Three live shows a week and filming with me? It’s way too much for you.”

This time, it’s your lips that press into a firm line. But Seungcheol was right. There was no way you could keep your normal schedule on top of filming with him in between. “That… That makes sense. What are we gonna do about, uh, I mean---’cause we don’t really live near each other…” Mumbling, you trail off, hoping that Seungcheol knew the answer.

“Hmm, well, you can keep your Friday shows and then I can swing by on the weekends. We can film a few videos over the weekend, even if they’re just short ones, or even film long ones and then you can just cut them into shorter pieces. So, in theory, you’d only do two live shows a week and one upload of both of us? We can figure out everything else as we go in terms of splitting profits and stuff.”

You nod at his suggestion, feeling better about the idea. “That sounds reasonable! I’ll have to make a notice for my page but hopefully it shouldn’t be too big of a change…”

Seungcheol yawns as he stretches, eyes filled with sleep when he looks at you.

“We don’t have to do anything too soon either. Those videos are still makin’ money so let’s get some sleep!”

You and Seungcheol spend the Saturday afternoon driving around town; even going so far as to drop by the roller rink one last time to say your thanks and goodbye to Jeongguk.

“The two of you are somethin’ else, man. Really. With my whole heart, I just--I love it.” He pretends to wipe a tear off of his face as you and Seungcheol share a look.

“Promise me you’ll think of my offer?”

You nod in return, a soft giggle escaping your lips. “I promise! Seungcheol tells me you stream often yourself so I feel like I can trust you but only if you get my good side too!” This time Jeongguk’s eyes light up with excitement as he reaches for your hands over the concession stand counter.

“Oh my god, if---if I promise to give you half a cut of profits, would you show up on my gaming stream? You don’t even have to be good, just if we collabed, I really think---”

“Okay, ‘Guk, I think that’s enough for now. You can ask her a thousand questions next time.” You pat Jeongguk’s hands as he pouts. “I’ll think about it, okay?” You whisper under your breath; a small smile on his lips as he nods back.

“Don’t be a stranger!”

Seungcheol links his hand with yours as he leads you out of the roller rink and back to his car; eyes flitting to his watch to check the time. “We’ve got time to have dinner and then we probably need to hit the road after.” You nod, “Sounds good! Where are we headin’ for dinner?”

“‘Guk and I went to this diner called ‘Dynamite’ a while back… The food’s alright and I haven’t taken you there yet so we can go there if you’re okay with it?”

“Sounds good!”

Seungcheol pulls into the parking lot of the diner 30 minutes later as the same neon signs greet him back. He parks near the entrance again, noting that it seemed fairly empty this time as well.

“I wonder if the guy is still here…” He mutters as he unbuckles his seatbelt. “What guy?”

The two of you exit his car; jogging up to him as he waits for you. “Just the guy who was our server when I was here with ‘Guk. He seemed familiar and it was weird.”

Seungcheol opens the door for you, letting you in first as the cold AC blasts you.

“Welcome to Dynamite, I’m Jun and I----Oh fuck!” Jun drops the menus in his hand, lips settling into a wide smile as he walks up to you and Seungcheol, tripping on his own feet as he meets you at the door. “I’m a big fan!” He harshly whispers. You blink up at him just before your eyes flit down to his pastel coloured name tag.

Jun.

Jun.

Oh. kitty_junjun.

“O-oh, you’re---you’re kitty_junjun aren’t you?” You whisper back; already noting that he was quite handsome himself.

Fuck, are all my regulars hot?

“That’s me, baby! And oh--you! It’s you! I remember you from last time! You were with that other guy! Are you… y’know. The guy.” Jun wiggles his eyebrows as he steps back and picks up two menus from the counter. Seungcheol mentally grimaces but he nods.

“That’d be me.”

Jun’s eyes light up with enthusiasm as he gestures for the two of you to follow him towards the seating area. “I’m such a huge fan, really! Of Cherry and, well, really both of you now.” He leads you to a booth before he sets the menus down onto the table. “I hope you don’t mind but I volunteer to be your server and the milkshakes are on me tonight!” Finishing with a wink, he leaves the two of you alone as he walks back towards the counter.

“Wow, ‘Cheol when you said small town, you really meant it, huh?” Giggling, you take in Seungcheol’s mildly embarrassed appearance. “Hey, you’re famous!”

Am I famous? He thinks, Or is it just my dick?

“So that’s three people that could clock me in person… I mean, I guess it could be worse.” He mumbles; cheeks flushed pink when he sees Jun walking back towards your table. Jun leans against the booth, nodding as he props a hand on his hip.

“Sorry, I hope I’m not bothering you guys. It’s just, I feel like I’m meeting a celebrity!” He laughs, “I’d ask for your autograph but then I think that’d be a little too weird.”

You can’t help but giggle at his comment, turning slightly to face him better. “Guess you were right when you said you thought you saw me, huh?” He snaps his fingers as the memory comes back to him in an instant.

“You’re right! Fuck, I almost forgot about that. Man, I thought I was having a fever dream.”

Jun stares off to the side before he fixes his gaze onto Seungcheol; eyes wide. “Hey, I never caught your name, I don’t think?” Seungcheol gulps, hoping that Jun doesn’t connect the dots as easily as Jeongguk did.

“It’s Seungcheol.”

“Oh… okay! Well, cool, are you guys ready to order?”

He lets out a breath he doesn’t realize he was holding as you relay your order to Jun; lips falling into a shaky smile as he gives his order to Jun once you were done.

“Okay! I’ll be back in a little bit!” Jun shoots the two of you a smile before he leaves the two of you alone again.

“Well, this is an interesting Saturday if I do say so myself!” Seungcheol can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of him; shaking his head at the way you seem to take it so easily. “I can’t believe you’re so chill about running into people that know you!”

“Like you said, ‘Cheol! It could be worse~” You pause, “This one time I was at the grocery store and this older man came up to me and said he recognized me. I was like, cool, y’know? I know my viewers are all different ages so I don’t judge. But then, two kids came up to him calling him ‘daddy’ and I literally bolted out of that place before his wife could find me!”

The two of you share a laugh before changing the topic; only stopping when Jun comes by with your orders, twenty minutes later.

“Hey, this is kinda random but it’s not so busy right now, so… Did you wanna sit with us and chat?” You offer as your eyes dance between Seungcheol and Jun. The latter’s eyes twinkle with excitement as he sets the last plate down.

“Wait, seriously? I can take my 15 if you’re being serious!” This time, you look to Seungcheol for his opinion, already noticing the way he seems more relaxed.

“Yeah, that’s cool with me.”

Jun all but runs off to tell his manager as you scoot over to give him space when he gets back. “I’m surprised you asked if he wanted to sit with us while we had dinner.”

“Why not? He seems nice! And we’re making friends!” Seungcheol nods in agreement just as he starts eating and just as Jun makes it back to the booth with a milkshake of his own.

You pat the empty spot next to you as he gasps slightly. “I feel like the second luckiest man on earth.”

He slides into the booth next to you, making sure to keep a reasonable distance. “Hey! You’ve got a show tonight so… are you two, y’know…” Seungcheol makes a conscious effort to not choke on his food as he chews slower than he usually would; eyes flitting over to you just as you set your utensils down.

“Um, yeah! We don’t really know what we’re gonna do yet but no spoilers okay~ Nobody knows what he looks like, Junnie!” You pout. Jun can only vibrate in his seat; a pink blush on his cheeks at the sudden nickname.

“Of course! My lips are sealed shut! And well, if you’re ever back in town, I’ll give you guys my employee discount if you swing by!” He grins.

The three of you talk about various topics within Jun’s fifteen minute break, thankfully none that involve camming. Jun pouts when his time is up, a sigh on his lips when he stands. “Damn, well, I guess I’ll see you later then, huh?” He wiggles his eyebrows, chuckling.

“Just wave me over if you guys need anything, okay?”

The rest of dinner goes on without issue and Seungcheol finds himself in a lighter mood than when the two of you first arrived at the diner.

You make sure to leave Jun a big tip, winking at him on your way out.

“Ready to head home after a week?” Seungcheol shoots you  a sad smile as he walks you to the passenger’s side of his car. He opens the door for you and lets you in before shutting it and jogging to the driver’s side.

“I mean, it’s not like we’re not gonna see each other anymore. If anything we’re gonna be seeing each other fairly regularly since you’re gonna come over to film!”

Seungcheol nods as he sets your apartment into his GPS; pulling out of the driveway as he begins the hour drive to your place.

“Yeah, and I mean, we can figure out what schedule works better as we go. Maybe we only need to film every other week or something too, right?”

“Mmhmm! I’ll start drafting a notice for the schedule change tomorrow and then I’ll run it by you before it goes up.”

The hour drive seems to go by quicker than you expect as the two of you spend the time singing along to songs on the radio; judging Seungcheol’s impeccable vocal skill when a rock song comes on.

“Wow, I--I didn’t know you had the vocal cords to do that, ‘Cheol!” He takes his eyes off of the road for a split second to shoot you a cocky grin.

“I’m pretty good at karaoke. We should go next time! Maybe invite all of our new friends.”

You snort in response, slapping his arm as he pulls into a residential part of town. “And if the person working the front desk of the karaoke place knows us?”

“Then we invite them in too!”

A slight blush paints your cheeks when you realize how much Seungcheol seemed to have relaxed in the last few days, if not hours. You knew it was never easy to get used to being recognized in person and there were still a lot of times where even you were flustered in person. 

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” Seungcheol’s concerned voice has you immediately peering through the window; eyebrows furrowed when you see the police cars parked outside of your apartment complex.

“W--wait that’s my--my apartment complex, ‘Cheol pull over!”

He parks the car a little closer to the scene; getting out of the car with you as the dread becomes more and more evident on your face. “Hey, I’m here with you, okay? Maybe it’s just nothing.” He offers; simultaneously knowing that his words were currently going in one ear and out the other.

The two of you walk hand in hand up to the front where you spot your landlord standing with a police officer. You call her name as she turns to you, gesturing for you to come closer.

“Didn’t you get my text message? Or any of my calls from the last 45 minutes?” You shake your head no in response, eyes dancing to Seungcheol who’s expression matches your own. “No--No I--I was out at dinner, I didn’t even hear my phone go off. What’s going on here?”

She sighs, arms crossed in front of her chest as the police officer clears his throat. “Well, Miss, there were a few break-ins tonight here. There’s a lot of broken glass and a lot of missing items. Thankfully nobody was injured but unfortunately we’re going to be running an investigation so it could take some time.”

“I--w--what about m-my apartment?” Your landlord sighs, “I’m sorry, honey, but your apartment was one of them, I---hey!”

You all but drag Seungcheol with you as you start making your way towards the entrance of the complex, panic and adrenaline guiding you as you all but throw the front door open. The sounds of the officer and your landlord shouting your name become fuzzy as you make your way through the halls; side stepping the stray items that were left on the floor. You make it to your hall when you notice a police officer standing at your front door that seems to have almost been ripped from the hinges.

“Miss, you can’t be in here, we’re---”

“This is my apartment, please just let me in!”

The officer standing at your apartment door notes the distress in your voice and sighs, “Show me some ID and I can let you in.” You quickly fish out your ID as he cross-references it with his documents. “Alright, go ahead. Please just don’t touch any of the hard surfaces.”

Your palm feels clammy against Seungcheol’s as you step into your apartment; shaky gasps on your lips when you notice the items strewn about. “O-oh my god…”

Seungcheol squeezes your hand tight, unsure of what to say. This was definitely the last thing he would’ve expected to happen at the end of your one week stay with him.

You can’t help the tears that threaten to spill as you look around your apartment and Seungcheol quickly notes the glassy look in your eyes when you turn to face him. Seungcheol quickly turns to the officer, voice stern. “I’m sorry to ask but can you give us a second alone, please? This is a lot for her to take in.” The officer nods as he steps back into the hallway.

“Baby? Tell me how you’re feeling, sweetheart.”

It only takes a split second before you’re sobbing into Seungcheol’s chest; his arms wrapping tightly around you.

He rubs your back gently, cooing to you softly as you let out your emotions. “Seungcheol, I, hic, wh--what am I--I, hic, g-gonna d-do? I…” You trail off as your mind goes a mile a minute. He’s unsure of how to comfort you, eyes taking in the ransacked room.

“We--we should probably talk to the officer outside? Figure out what’s going on. I--I mean, you’re definitely coming home with me. I’m not leaving you here like this and with nowhere to go.”

You pull away from his chest, tears still streaming down your face when you look up at him. Seungcheol feels his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. God please, I’d do anything to make sure she never cries like this again, he thinks.

“But my--my s-stuff, I--this--”

“I know, baby, I know. Let’s just both be thankful you weren’t here when they broke in, okay? We can replace the material stuff.” He smooths your hair down and wipes your cheeks, leaning down until he’s at eye level with you.

“I promise you, we’ll figure it out, okay? I’m not leaving you until we do.”

Nodding, you let Seungcheol take your hand as he brings you back to the front door where the officer is. “Hello? Excuse me?”

“Yes?”

Seungcheol looks your way before clearing his throat. “We just want to know what happened to my girlfriend’s apartment.” You squeeze his hand, hiding behind him.

“Well, we can’t really know for sure. A few other apartments were broken into. For some, the locks were picked and for others, it seemed like they just used blunt force against the doors until they gave way. Unfortunately, seeing as this is a gated apartment complex, the hallways don’t have any security cameras and we have no idea how the suspects got in past the gate.” The officer pauses for a moment as he lets his words sink in. “Usually with cases like this, a lot of the material goods eventually show up in local pawn shops or even just discarded in near-by trash containers. And judging from the building history, this isn’t the first time these burglars came by. This seems to be the second time. But that’s all we know for now. I suggest you pack some of your things and hang tight in a hotel until we get more info because, unfortunately, your door is ready to fall off of the hinges and we need to get a detective in here to see if there’s any fingerprints on the surfaces.”

“Will there be someone patrolling this place all night? How are we sure they won’t come back?”

“We’ll have an officer posted at all times, young man. I promise you nobody will get back in here.”

The tears stream down your cheeks as you quietly stand behind Seungcheol; lip quivering as Seungcheol thanks the officer for the information before turning to face you again.

“‘Ch--Cheol, what’re w-we, hic, gonna d-do now?” Your voice sounds so small to him as you keep your eyes focused on the floor.

“Has your apartment been broken into before? Be honest with me.” 

“O--once, but--but it w-wasn’t this bad...” He clenches his jaw at your words. How the fuck did this happen before without anyone finding out? “Wait, so this has happened in the past? And you never said anything?” You peer up at him, eyelashes wet with tears. 

“It, hic, they--they didn’t take as much s-stuff that t-time. But--but now I’m, hic, won--wondering if they were just s-scouting...” Seungcheol’s vision goes red; knowing exactly what he wanted to do and say but unsure of the possible outcome.

Fuck, screw it.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do, sweetheart.” He pauses, exhaling deeply before he continues. “We’re gonna pack a bag, take all your important things that you can find. I don’t care if we have to fill up my entire car with your things. And you’re coming home with me. I don’t care if you have to break the lease on this place, but I can’t in good conscience know you’re living here if people are breaking into it like this.” You open your mouth to speak, brows furrowed. “But--”

“No! No buts this time. I--I can have Jeongguk help with moving. I’m sure Seokjin-hyung can take his shift at the roller rink for one day to help us move your things. And we’ll figure things out as we go.”

“The r-rent, I--”

Seungcheol shoots you a small smile as he tilts your head up to meet his soft and warm eyes. “Please, don’t worry about something like that right now. I’m just happy you’re okay. And that you weren’t here alone where I couldn’t help you.”

You nod shakily, hands covering Seungcheol’s as he holds your face in his hands. “Seungcheol, I’m so--so sorry, I--I don’t even k-know where to start, I--this is---it’s all just so much. Really I can just---just get a h-hotel and you can g-go home...” The tears threaten to spill again but Seungcheol quickly tugs you into his inviting arms. 

This was by-far not at all how he expected to end his weekend. And he could only assume you felt the same way.

“I know it’s a lot. But we’re good at figuring things out on the fly, right? You have to trust me on this one. You’ll be okay. We’ll be okay. But for right now, I think you need to hurry and post a notice that there’s no show tonight while I look for your luggage so we can grab some things and get out of here, okay?” 

He releases you from his hold, leaning down to kiss you on the forehead. 

“I’ll fix it, I promise.”

[nonbinary-kaz]

Fuckt Up Lil Bros Intro:

a fic that won't get finished so I'm putting it here

When Wylan was eight, his father had finally gotten fed up with him, and had packed Wylan and his mother into a car and taken them to see a specialist. His mother had argued the whole way there, saying Wylan would learn to read when he felt like it, that the strange outbursts would end eventually. After all, Wylan was a child! Children were unpredictable, at best, she’d said. Stubborn. His father had growled something under his breath, along the lines of Wylan being less stubborn and more of a problem.

Then they had walked away from the specialist hours later, and his father berated his mother, throwing all those words she’d said back in her face. Wylan didn’t quite understand, especially not when his father had slammed the car door shut and called Wylan something that Wylan wouldn’t realise until much later was a disgusting, horrible word. His mother had already known, and she had hissed at him to not say such things.

“He’s our son,” she’d said.

“Not mine,” his father had said. “Not if he’s like this. My genes wouldn’t pass this on.”

“Jan Van Eck,” she snapped.

“Your father was always strange,” he said. “Maybe this is from him.”

“I don’t care who this came from,” she said. “It doesn’t matter. He’s still your son. None of this matters.”

“How can this not matter?” he demanded. “He can’t read, Marya. He’s socially inept, and he will evidently remain so for the rest of his life. He’s not normal. He’s not right.”

And she had murmured something lowly and dangerously, something Wylan couldn’t hear from the back. It had shut his father up, though.

Wylan was both too young to understand and too old not to understand words like “dyslexia” and “autism” and “severe anxiety” and whatnot. Looking back on it, it didn’t matter if he knew what it was or not. All that had mattered was the noticeable change in his father’s behaviour to him.

That had also been when all the therapies started. Physical, to get him over how awkward his body was. Occupational, to stop him from getting upset about “minor things.” Speech, in hopes that it would help the reading. Tutoring, because that should have helped the reading. Drugs, to stop him from being timid all of the time.

He hadn’t needed most of those; the most use they gave was to keep his father hoping that he could someday “get better” until they ultimately proved ineffective to his standards. Granted, the medications would continue to help throughout his life, just not the way Jan Van Eck had thought they would.

If Wylan had to pinpoint where his life had gone to hell, it would be that moment he stepped in the car to go to that specialist.

Though, if he had to pick a second point, it would be months later, when his mother had died. He didn’t get to go to the funeral. That was when things had gotten worse from his father, with his mother no longer around to mitigate, to stick up for Wylan. His father started hiding him then, keeping his contact with the world as minimal as possible. He had his therapies, he had his tutoring, he had whatever nannies his father hired, and he had the occasional parties he couldn’t get away from.

He hated those parties. They were loud, and everyone always bothered him, and the food was gross, and his father always yelled at him later for acting like a fool and disgracing the Van Eck name.

The third hellish point in his life, though, was the moment that “Van Eck” ceased to have meaning at the end of Wylan’s name. He could no longer disgrace the name, if the name no longer signified his ties to Jan Van Eck.

Perhaps he should have been happy. He no longer had those parties, no longer had those therapies and tutors, no longer had his raging father. He was free of it all.

But he wasn’t happy. Mostly, he was just… scared.

Wylan hadn’t even known he had second cousins twice-removed until the day he’d been disowned. Maybe that would have been obvious to most people, but his father had cut ties with most of his family. Wylan was certain the only people Jan Van Eck was legally related to anymore was Alys, his new (and insanely young) wife, and their future child (the reason Wylan was finally let loose).

After a long taxi ride, oh-so graciously paid for by his father thanks to Alys’s bleeding heart, Wylan had enough time to fully terrify himself with catastrophic thoughts of what these “cousins” would be like. Jordan Rietveld and Kasimir Brekker could possibly be worse than his father. Hell, the name of the second one sounded intimidating enough.

Wylan spent a short while wondering why they had separate names if they were full-blooded brothers. He’d asked, but at that point, his father had stopped bothering with him altogether, and had walked away halfway through Wylan’s question.

The cab driver said something, but Wylan had lost himself so deep in thought that he couldn’t catch what the man had said.

“Sorry?”

“Five minutes,” the cab driver grunted.

“Oh. Thank you.”

And Wylan sank into his seat, panic beginning to eat him alive.

Wylan had only three bags with him. Two were packed with the essentials: clothes. Just clothes. Well, and the remnants of this month’s medications. But other than that, it was his sweaters and shirts and jeans and underwear and socks and two pairs of shoes. And that was all. The other case had been filled with things Wylan had snuck with him. Paints and easels and canvases and brushes and pens and charcoals and pencils and his flute. He had no clue if his father would’ve let him take them, so he’d hid them in the suitcase and bolted before his father could inspect anything. Perhaps that had been pointless—Jan Van Eck had stopped looking at him the moment he’d announced Wylan would be disowned.

Two of those three suitcases were dropped unceremoniously on the side of the curb by the driver. Wylan had fortunately grabbed the bag filled with his supplies, so nothing broke when the bags thudded to the grass.

“Thank you,” Wylan said to the driver. “I’d tip if I could.”

The driver just shrugged. “Whatever, kid.”

Then he disappeared back into his cab and drove away. Wylan watched as the taxi turned the corner and disappeared, suddenly feeling his heart thud louder and faster than ever before. Everything felt both too real and too unreal at the same time.

“No panic attacks before noon,” he told himself quietly.

“Wylan?”

Wylan nearly jumped out of his skin, and his heart likewise nearly flew out of his chest. If pain was painless, that would be the feeling of his heartrate returning to the pace it had previously set before as Wylan tried to regain his breath.

He turned towards the voice, suddenly filled with so much anxiety that his stomach hurt.

Two people were just a short stretch down the sidewalk, slowly making their way over.

“Wylan Van Eck?” one of them asked, clearly the owner of the voice that had previously called for him.

“Yes,” Wylan said. He discreetly wiped his palms against his pants, trying to get the sweat off of them. “Hi. Um. Jordan and Kasimir?”

The speaker began laughing, and Wylan suddenly noticed his face. It was painted in large scars and marks, a patchwork masterpiece of pristine porcelain and burnt blemishes. They had no distinct pattern, and clearly did not hurt the man, as he smiled widely through them. Wylan did also note that the half-eyebrow missing did add a bit of intrigue to his face, but otherwise… well, Wylan averted his eyes. He found staring at people’s faces to be unbearably uncomfortable in the first place, but this just made it worse. He knew he shouldn’t look at all, really. Didn’t people always find that rude? But according to his father, Wylan not looking people in the eye was rude, too…

“It’s Kaz,” said the second person, his voice harsher than rock grating rock.

He had no scars on his face—which seemed young and fresh, making him seem hardly older than Wylan, despite the hardened lines of his permanent scowl. Either that, or he already despised Wylan. Neither seemed favourable. Perhaps his taxi-ride fears weren’t totally unfounded.

But what stood out more to Wylan was the cane he leant heavily upon.

Jesus Christ, Wylan thought to himself. No wonder Jan Van Eck had never mentioned being related to them before. If he had hated Wylan…

That was rude to think that, though. He shouldn’t think of how his father thought of things. His father’s view of the world was skewed. At best.

“If you call him Kasimir,” the first guy said, “he might kill you.”

Wylan glanced to the kid—Kaz—and then immediately dropped the gaze to the ground. The scowl had gotten deeper. Kaz did indeed look murderous.

“I’m Jordie,” said the first guy, his smile balancing Kaz’s serial killer glower. He stuck out his hand to Wylan. “Jordie Rietveld.”

“Wylan Van Eck,” Wylan said, shaking the preferred hand.

“We know,” said Kaz. He did not offer his hand for Wylan to shake. Wylan noted the dark leather gloves that covered his hands. Interesting, especially when balanced with Kaz’s otherwise dark and grim attire.

Jordie, on the other hand, wore a white t-shirt and faded jeans, looking like a completely normal person. And the lack of near loathing on his face made him preferrable to Wylan. Even if Kaz wanted to kill him, perhaps Jordie wouldn’t hate him.

Not until he learned how much of a fuck-up Wylan was, anyway.

“So, you’re our cousin,” Jordie said conversationally. His eyes searched Wylan’s face, perhaps trying to find the similarities there.

“Not that we knew it,” Kaz said, his rasping voice filled with an unamused tone. Everything about Kaz screamed “unamused,” really.

Jordie coughed loudly. Kaz glanced over to him, something temporarily erasing the annoyance on his face. But then Jordie send Kaz a meaningful look of some sort, and the look returned to Kaz.

“Sorry,” Jordie said.

“No, it’s okay,” Wylan said quickly. “I didn’t know either.”

“Hm,” Kaz said.

“Anyway,” Jordie said, raising his voice somewhat. It reminded Wylan somewhat of whenever Wylan dared speak in his father’s presence at one of those parties, when his father would speak right over him to draw attention away from Wylan. Hiding his screwed-up son. But Jordie didn’t seem… well, Wylan couldn’t say that for sure. He had just met the man. But he did seem to only be doing it for Wylan’s sake, to keep Kaz’s irritation at bay. Again, Wylan couldn’t tell for sure, though. Only time would tell, he supposed. “I suppose… welcome.”

“Thanks,” Wylan said.

“Shouldn’t ‘welcome’ wait until he has actually seen the apartment?” Kaz asked dryly.

“Right,” Jordie said, frowning and blinking. “Right, yeah, that would…”

He trailed off, staring somewhere off in the distance. Then he shook his head, looking back to Wylan.

“Would you like to come inside?” he asked.

“Sure,” Wylan said, because what the hell else was he supposed to say? Someone different could have perhaps found something far more eloquent to say, but Wylan was not someone different. He was unfortunately just Wylan.

“Great,” Jordie said, smiling once more.

He bent down and grabbed one of Wylan’s clothes bags before Wylan could take them himself. Wylan shouldered his supply bag, ready to grab the last bag, but Kaz had already taken it. Guilt rumbled through Wylan’s chest. They shouldn’t help him. They’d already burdened themselves with taking him in; they shouldn’t add more to that. But Jordie had already begun walking away, towards the apartment complex Wylan now bothered to look at. Kaz was directly behind him, limping even worse than before. Wylan’s guilt likewise compacted.

The apartment complex looked… to be fair to the place, it wasn’t the worst place Wylan had seen. He’d seen way worse on his drive over here. But it was rather bad. The white paint had lost most of its life, living a now grim existence as faded yellow ivory. The windows and their sills looked old. That was the most Wylan could say about them. And the fire escapes everywhere looked rusty and rickety. Wylan wouldn’t trust those with his life. He hoped he’d never have to.

Jordie unlocked a side door to the place, then pushed through. Kaz followed, hands too busy with bag and cane to hold it open for Wylan, who had to rush to make sure he wasn’t locked out.

Inside looked about as dreary as out—old, matted carpet covered the stairs that lead to all of the floors, and decaying plant matter and dirt tracks and bug remnants scattered across the tile landing. The popcorn walls had crumbling and faded paint, much like the outer walls.

“Oh, boy,” Jordie said up front. “Here we go.”

Then he mounted the first stair with a sigh. Wylan frowned, wondering what that was about.

He figured it out after the first flight.

“Inhaler,” Kaz said, almost bored, as Jordie wheezed and coughed, leaning against the wall.

Jordie nodded, shouldering Wylan’s bag so he could root around his pockets. He pulled out a white and blue inhaler, popping the cap off as he began to shake it.

“I can take my bag back,” Wylan said, now feeling another layer of guilt. “You don’t have to carry it.”

Holding his breath as he removed the inhaler nozzle from his lips, Jordie shook his head. Kaz just scowled over his shoulder at Wylan, his cane held horizontally in the same hand that held Wylan’s bag as the other hand clung to the railing.

All of this burden they placed on themselves, only for them to sooner or later realise that they wasted it when he showed them just how useless he was.

They had to go quite slowly after that, but they eventually made it to the correct floor. The Rietveld apartment (Wylan assumed it was under the Rietveld name, anyway; Jordie was the older of the two, and Wylan was now dead certain Kaz was near his age) was the first door off the staircase. Convenient, in a small way. Not convenient that the place had no elevators, but Wylan wasn’t about to ask why they lived here and not a more accessible place. There was a reason why people lived in a place like this: money (or the lack thereof).

“Home, sweet home,” Jordie said, unlocking the door to the apartment.

Wylan’s first thought was: It’s bare.

His second thought was: It’s small.

The living space held a crackling old leather sofa, a brown corduroy reclining chair, a coffee table scattered with dents and mail, and flatscreen TV. The TV was the only thing that looked remotely new; Wylan suspected the rest were either hand-me-downs or thrifted.

Beyond that lay a kitchen, removed from the living room by only an island bar. It had space for a refrigerator, oven and stove, sink, and a small stretch of countertop that was surrounded by cupboards and drawers. If all three of them stood in that room, Wylan figured, it would become quite crowded.

He couldn’t see the rest of the place, but a hall led away from beside the kitchen. That likely held the bedrooms and bathroom, and whatever else could possibly be in this small place.

Jordie dropped Wylan’s bag on the sofa. Kaz set the other beside it, continuing to walk until he disappeared down the hall.

“Don’t mind him,” Jordie said, not once losing his cheer. “He’s always a grump.”

“Oh,” Wylan said, unsure what else to say.

“Anyway, this is it,” Jordie said. He began gesturing around the place. “Living room, kitchen… down the hall’s going to be your bedroom on the left. Me and Kaz’ll sleep together in the other one. Bathroom is last door on the left. Um… yeah. That’s about it.” He turned to Wylan, smiling ruefully. “Yeah. It’s not much, but it’s home.”

“It’s… nice,” Wylan supplied.

Jordie laughed. “You’re funny. No, it’s okay. You don’t have to lie. This place is a shithole.”

Wylan wouldn’t have put it like that, but yes. He’d seen the hole in that one cupboard, the chunk missing from the faux marble island counter, the dents in the wall, the crack in that corner of the ceiling…

“It’s not so bad,” Wylan said, generously.

“It’s cheap,” Jordie said, placing his hands on his hips and surveying the ceiling. Oh. Another crack. “That’s what it is.”

“Oh.”

“So,” Jordie said, looking down at Wylan. “Want to see your new room?”

Wylan shrugged. “Sure.”

This time, he managed to grab both cases of clothes before Jordie could reach them. Wylan’s arms felt like they were being torn off, but at least Jordie wasn’t burdening himself for Wylan. Plus, the short hall was nothing like that staircase.

Jordie led him through the hall, pushing open a door with a hole in a conspicuously shoulder-height place. Wylan eyed that warily until the door had swung fully open.

If the rest of the apartment was barren and small, then this was… Wylan didn’t even know the words.

The walls were popcorn white—as with the rest of the place—but they were studded with holes of previous tenants nails and tacks. Nothing lay on the walls currently other than those holes. There was a bed pressed against the back right corner, taking up most of the space. Half of the bed rested below the window (which seemed to lead to this apartment’s fire escape). Another large portion of the space was taken up by a dresser and desk combination. A small stool went along with it, tucked beneath the desk portion. And in the far corner across from the bed, a shallow cut-out of space denoted a closet.

“Used to be my room,” Jordie said. “But I’m in with Kaz now.”

“Oh…” Was there anything that wouldn’t make Wylan feel like guilt was piled so high atop him that he might sink beneath the ground?

“I assume you don’t have a toothbrush or shampoo or anything?” Jordie asked.

“Um, no,” Wylan said.

Jordie nodded. “Thought not. Well, you can use mine for the time being. Shampoo, anyway. Please don’t use my toothbrush.” Wylan managed a feeble smile as Jordie grinned broadly at him. “Use your finger, or something.”

“I do, um…” Wylan fumbled to find the right words. “I have some medications… I don’t know where—”

“Medicine cabinet’s behind the mirror,” Jordie said quickly. “You might have to rearrange a few things to get your stuff in there, though.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“For what?” Jordie asked.

“Moving your stuff around, I guess.”

Jordie frowned strangely at him. “I toldyou to do it. You don’t have to apologise. Hell, you haven’t even done it yet.”

Wylan pulled his lips into his mouth, biting them together. Jordie studied him for a short while longer, then shook his head to himself. The easy smile returned to Jordie’s face.

“I’ll leave you to unpack, then,” Jordie said. “Oh, and we’ll get you those supplies tomorrow. Or sometime soon.”

Then he disappeared out of the room. The door creaked as it swung most of the way shut behind him. For reasons he couldn’t begin to fathom, that summed up exactly how Wylan felt.

Wylan didn’t have hangers for his clothes, he discovered.

“Oh,” he said to himself. “Okay. Um.”

He refolded the sweater he had just pulled from one of the bags, then shoved it back inside. He zipped the bag back up. With any luck, the clothes wouldn’t get all wrinkled. He highly doubted that this place had an iron.

The dresser, he figured, would likely only need to house his underwear and socks. Those could all get tossed in the same drawer. Thus, he could appoint all the other drawers for his art supplies.

Organising those drawers gave him a good hour of clear headspace. He organised them one way before deciding he didn’t like that, then started over.

When he had nearly finished with the drawers, he stopped, staring at the oil paint tubes in his hand.

Why was he doing this? He had no right to. He shouldn’t be here. He didn’t belong here, for any number of reasons. This wasn’t his place. He couldn’t be a burden on two other people—people who looked like they had enough burdens of their own to bear. Yet, here he was, unloading all of the life he could carry into drawers and closets that weren’t his.

Ungracefully, he dumped the paints back in his bag, followed by all of the other supplies he had just spent forever organising. The only thing he left in the drawers was his canvases. Those shouldn’t get tossed around so much. He only had five; he had to treat them with care. He could spare exactly none of them.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud cough came from somewhere outside of the door. It hit him, moments later, that he had dimly heard coughing in the background for a few minutes now. But that particular cough was unexpected. And quite horrible.

Wylan moved to the door, cracking it open. He saw a dark head of hair outside, bent over as another cough came. Jordie’s head raised, elbow pressed against his mouth as he coughed again.

“Wy—” a cough cut him off for a moment “—lan.”

He shook his head, then dropped his elbow to reach into his pocket and grabbed his inhaler. Wylan looked away as he primed and then used the inhaler. It was awkward, watching him… well. It was just an intrusion, wasn’t it? And rude. Nobody was supposed to stare at anyone different. Not Kaz’s cane and limp, not Jordie’s scars, not this.

“Sorry,” Jordie said a minute later.

Wylan heard the click of something closing, and he looked up to see Jordie capping the inhaler and ramming it in the pocket of his jeans. Jordie had an amiable smile on his face.

“Asthma,” he said, as if the coughing had been merely some bug he’d swatted away.

“I’m sorry,” Wylan said.

Jordie waved a dismissing hand. “Don’t. I get enough of that in my life.”

“Sorry.”

“Well, that’s new.” Jordie’s smile had broken wider, genuine and confused amusement splitting his face. “An apology. For an apology.”

Wylan tried another, “Sorry?”

“Are you kidding? I haven’t had an actual apology in this house in…” He trailed off with another disregarding wave, but Wylan got the point. Kaz didn’t seem to be the relenting and apologetic type. “Anyway. I came to ask…”

Wylan watched him, waiting for the question. Jordie simply frowned. He looked over to the wall for a second.

“What was I going to ask?” he murmured to himself. “Shit.”

Unsure of this new situation, Wylan felt his fingers fumble for the fabric of his shirt’s hem. Jordie kept frowning at the wall, his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip as he concentrated.

“Jordie?” Wylan asked after what seemed like too long.

Jordie’s head snapped back to Wylan, frown deeper for a split second. Then it erased, reverting to an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I can’t remember what I was going to ask.”

Wylan knew that feeling all too well, but something about the way Jordie had zoned out bothered him.

Suddenly, Jordie snapped loudly, his index finger pointing to Wylan. Startled, Wylan drew back somewhat.

“Dinner,” Jordie said, amusement lighting his face once more. “Dinner. I was going to ask about dinner.”

Still uncertain, Wylan merely stared at Jordie.

“What do you like to eat?” Jordie asked. Before Wylan could even begin to think how to answer that, Jordie said, “We don’t do fancy rich people stuff, though. We’re cheap.”

“Oh. I didn’t… I mean, I’m not… you don’t have to worry about that,” Wylan said, words stumbling ungracefully. “You can just… make whatever you want, I guess.”

“Okay, I’ve heard that before, and that never goes over well,” Jordie said. “Nina’s the only person that has ever worked for.”

Wylan did not know who Nina was, but he still felt guilt gnawing at him. He really did not want to make Jordie change whatever meal he had planned.

“Seriously, it’s okay,” Jordie said. “Just tell me so that you don’t starve and then I don’t have the police investigating me.”

Wylan blinked.

“That was a joke,” Jordie said. He waited a second longer, expecting Wylan’s laughter. Wylan managed a grimaced smile. “Okay. No jokes. Um. Fine. Look. This is what we eat on a regular basis. Chinese takeout. Pizza. Uh. Boxed noodles. Frozen vegetables. Any easily-heated meal. Any of that repulsive to you?”

Truth be told, Wylan wasn’t entirely sure. He’d never had boxed noodles before. Or easily-heated meals. He knew he didn’t like most vegetables—they all reeked or had unpleasant textures (broccoli being the worst offender of all)—but maybe frozen made them different?

“No,” Wylan said. Even he could tell he sounded unconvincing.

“Fine,” Jordie said. “We’ll start with pizza. Nobody hates pizza.” He turned and walked away then, grumbling under his breath, “Not even Kaz.”

Wylan slowly closed the door, utterly confused by that entire encounter.

(and this is all I have written lmao sorryyyyyy)

[moldisgoodforyou]

break up songs

a fun lil story in which sophie and the gang drive to michigan for a basketball game. no one asked for this lmao oops to the requests i have in my inbox

wordcount: 2k

“Why do you always sing the breakup songs so loud in the car?”

Sophie paused her Spotify, midway through the chorus of All Too Well (and honestly, how dare he), and raised her eyebrows. “Huh?”

The group was on a three-hour road trip to Ann Arbor for the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry basketball game. Rafe insisted on driving (though not before unscrewing the Ohio State license frame from the car), so Sophie naturally got the passenger seat. James and Colin had been asleep in the backseat for the last hour, Colin slumped adorably onto James’ shoulder, despite both of them insisting on not taking the middle seat, but they slowly woke at the jarring silence in the car.

“You have that playlist, that one with the little broken heart emoji, and that’s your go-to every single time we go on a longer drive. Why?”

When Sophie glanced over at Rafe, she noticed a small pout on his lips and he tapped his fingers on the wheel, impatiently waiting for her response. A small smile curved up on her own lips and she held back a giggle. “They’re just songs, Rafe.”

“Well, it’s kind of a shitty reminder.” He paused, really trying to drive his point home. “Of when you broke up with me.”

“Oh my god.” She rolled her eyes and James and Colin perked up in the backseat, interested to hear the transpiring argument.

“C’mon, Sophie -”

“I did not break up with you -”

“Did so!” Rafe insisted, reaching over to poke at her side.

She grabbed at his hand, pushing it back to his side of the car. “I did not! You offered a break, and I took it, but we never actually broke up.”

“Ooh, Mom and Dad are fighting.” James stage-whispered to Colin, but still loud enough so everyone in the car could hear.

“Eyes on the road, Cameron.” Colin piped up and Rafe simply flipped him off from the front seat, then poked her side again, grinning when she yelped. “Exactly my point, Soph, you broke up with me for two whole weeks. It sucked.”

“It’s true, I’ve never seen him in worse shape.” James interjected helpfully, laughing when Rafe shot him a pointed glare in the rearview mirror. “That’s not true.”

“Is so. Sophie, friend, have you ever seen the Da Vinci Code?” James grinned.

She turned in the front seat, ignoring Rafe’s annoying wandering hands trying to distract her. “No, this fucker won’t let me watch with him.” Once she noticed a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips she quickly pointed a warning finger at him. “Don’t say it.”

“Wasn’t gonna say a thing, darling.” He raised his eyebrows at her in a challenge.

“I hate when you call me that.” She grumbled, turning her attention back to James. “What were you saying?”

Rafe caught his eye in the rearview mirror again, expression impassive. “Don’t tell her or I’m telling standards you broke the mirror in the front hall.”

James dropped his grin, sinking back into his seat with a sullen frown. “That’s low, Cameron.”

“That’s fine. Colin?”

Colin laughed, knowing Rafe had nothing on him - at least, nothing that would incriminate him against their fraternity’s standards council. “The female lead’s name is Sophie and he watched it four times. James had to take the DVD and break it so he wouldn’t watch it anymore.”

Rafe scowled. “Four times is an exaggeration. I watched it twice. Maybe.”

“He’s lying.” Colin told her, matter-of-fact.

“I’m not. Anyway, my point is, I don’t want to hear that damn song about the driving girl and the blonde girl anymore. Put on a happy song.”

“Driver’s License is a fucking masterpiece and I’m sorry you can’t recognize that.” She shot back.

“Sophie.” He warned, swatting her hand away as she went to turn up the radio.

“Fine.” Sophie scrolled through her playlist, eyes narrowing, then beamed as she settled on a song.

Rafe groaned as the opening guitar riff of Go Your Own Way sounded through the speakers.

_____

The rest of the drive consisted of the four arguing over what actually consisted of a breakup song, James insisting Rafe pull over the second they crossed the Michigan border just so he could pee in ‘enemy territory,’ and Rafe paying way too much for parking at the Kappa Alpha Theta house at Michigan. (It was closest to the arena so they could walk, and fine, Sophie allowed a little bit of flirting on his end just so he could convince the girl to let her rivals park in the lot.)

Despite Rafe’s protests, Sophie wore her jersey proudly as they walked to the arena, leaving her jacket in the car while the three boys kept theirs dutifully zipped. She ignored every little glance she got, while Rafe noticed every single one, holding her hand a little tighter each time. They made it into the arena without incident and found company with a small group of Ohio State fans also donning jerseys or other spiritwear. 

As the lights dimmed slightly for the intro video on the jumbotron, Sophie dug into her sports bra and surreptitiously pulled out four small shooters - of tequila, no less. Rafe couldn’t help but beam proudly. “Atta girl.” She laughed and handed them out, then ducked down to take hers quickly. “You’re welcome, boys.” 

The four cheered loudly - Sophie, a little too loudly - as the Ohio State players were announced. Soon after, the Michigan players were announced to the tune of their fight song, and Sophie perked up a little at the mention of Brandon Johns. “Oh, hey, I know him.” 

“You do? I thought you hated everyone that went here.” James asked, cocking his head. 

“Oh, I do.” She nodded in agreement. 

“So how do you know him?” Colin questioned. 

Sophie waited until the ball was tipped to answer the question, a few beats too long of a pause. “...We almost hooked up.” She dropped nonchalantly, with a casual shrug. 

“Sorry, you what?” Rafe demanded, his surprise making him too loud for the surrounding crowd, some of who shot him dirty looks. She laughed and nudged his shoulder. “C’mon, pay attention.” 

“Wait, huh? Did I hear you right?” Colin asked, wearing a matching confused expression with the rest of the boys. 

“Yes, you heard me - pay attention, support the team!” She teased, letting out a whoop when Ohio State scored. They went back to paying attention, although a little barb of jealousy poked Rafe every time Brandon Johns got the ball, and he whistled especially loud every time he was up for a free throw. At halftime, they weren’t doing too hot, and James sighed. “Do you have any more alc in that magic bra of yours?” 

“Sadly, no.” She shook her head and Rafe slung his arm around her shoulders, kissing the crown of her head. “Maybe we should have saved ‘em to drown our sorrows.” 

“It’s only halftime, we’re fine.” Colin reassured them. “Besides, I want to hear your story.” 

“My story?” Sophie quirked her brow and James nodded. “Oh yeah, I forgot, I want to hear about Brandon.”  

“Do we really need the story?” Rafe grumbled, getting all protective. 

She laughed and ignored him, clearly loving the opportunity for attention. “There’s not much of a story. He was in town for the rivalry game last year, the night before the game. I was a little drunk -” 

“A little?” James smirked. 

“Well, okay, maybe more than a little. I didn’t recognize him in the bar when he was flirting, I just noticed he was fucking giant, but didn’t really put two and two together.” She paused, sparing a glance at Rafe as her cheeks turned a little red. “I was about to, um, take him home, but he mentioned he wouldn’t be able to stay that long while we were waiting for the Uber.” 

“Because of the game.” Colin deduced. 

“Yeah, exactly. Then some kid came up to him, asking for a picture, and I realized who he was. So I took the Uber home alone and left him on the sidewalk.” 

“Cold, Soph.” Rafe grinned, pleased the story ended there. He wrapped both arms around her from behind, pulling her to lean against his chest.

“Well I wasn’t going to be a traitor. Also, he’s not the best kisser. The height was kind of awkward, you know?” She shrugged and Colin and James cackled while Rafe put his hand over her mouth. “Okay, stop, I don’t want to hear about you with other guys.”

“Nothing happened, and I’ve sure you have your fair share of stories too.” She pointed out. 

“Not quite.” James mumbled, turning away with a small smirk as Rafe shot him a warning glare. Sophie was about to question it until she felt his arms tighten around her a little more, and decided not to push it. 

“You think he remembers you?” Colin asked, laughing as Rafe yelled even louder as Brandon went up for another free throw, his nose wrinkling when he made the shot anyways. 

“Probably not, he probably hooks up with some girl at every away game.” She shrugged.

“You’re pretty memorable.” Rafe argued, pressing a kiss to her temple, arms still around her waist as she leaned against him. 

“You two are different, Cameron, you pined after her for years.” James pointed out and Rafe rolled his eyes but smiled. “Yeah, well, can you blame me?” 

“Sap.” She accused, elbowing him gently in the stomach. He grinned and ghosted his fingers along her side, making her shiver. “Just for you.” 

“Okay, lovebirds, tone it down until we’re home. Rafe, you’re fucking whipped.” Colin teased. When Sophie laughed, he raised his eyebrows. “You're bad too, the two of you flirt daily like you’re trying to get in each other’s bed for the first time.” 

“Lighten up, Colin, it’s young love. Go get laid and you’ll understand.” James chirped good-naturedly. By the end of the game, they were all hoarse and worn out, disappointed by the close loss. Rafe insisted upon Sophie wearing his jacket on the way out and walk back to cover her jersey, just so she didn’t get any unnecessary comments yelled at her (though he was more worried about her trying to snap back at them than whatever they might say).

“I call shotgun!” James yelled once they got close enough to the car, racing Sophie to the door and elbowing her out of the way. Colin laughed and held out his hand. “Want me to drive?” 

“What, Colin, you don’t want to nap with me in the back?” Sophie teased, sliding into the backseat. Rafe handed over the keys and pulled her into the middle seat so she could lean on him on the way home. “Not on my watch.” It only took twenty minutes and a few chill songs from James’ playlist before she was nodding off, curling into his side. 

Rafe eventually contributed less and less to the conversation up front, trying not to wake Sophie, until he caved and fell asleep with his head resting on hers. Naturally, the boys took several live photos of them for blackmail, especially when Rafe grumbled in his sleep and pulled her closer to him. 

Sophie reluctantly kissed him goodbye and waved to the boys once they dropped her off at home, still half asleep. In the short time it took her to get ready for bed and crawl under the covers, she had received a couple texts from Rafe. 

Rafe: Today was fun 

Rafe: I’m glad you’re friends with my friends 

Rafe: *link to Spotify* 

She had to laugh when she clicked on the link to a custom playlist by him, aptly titled ‘songs you’re allowed to sing in the car with me.’ Only one song from her breakup playlist slipped through, because it was one of Rafe’s favorites - Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. 

[astralaffairs]

voltaire to versace 03 | thomas jefferson TEASER

title: voltaire to versace 03 TEASER

pairing: professor!thomas jefferson x reader

words: a lil over 10k

warnings: sex jokes n references again, dolley simping for james again, but probably more this time, implied sex except dolley’s having it instead of mc, maria and angelica are girlfriends, lafayette is basically everyone’s plug for weed so like,, drug references and alcohol references??

desc: from francis bacon to foucault, descartes to dante, your political philosophy seminar doesn’t promise to be a blowout — and yet, one mysterious stranger and a risqué evening later, your burberry-clad professor gives you the feeling it won’t be quite the snoozefest you’d expected.

tags: @lunariasilver @tinywhim @nyxie75 @wreakhavoconmacroissantdiggs @checkurwindow @katierpblogg @cubedtriangle @lunariasilver @lexylovesfandoms @fanfic-addict-98 @stephyra17 @notebookgirl30 @exorcisms-with-elmo @kmsmedine @itshaileyn @honeyand-roses — let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

"Are you sure I was included in that invite?" Y/N's voice was skeptical as she crossed the green toward Thomas's office. Apparently, Dolley and James had spent their afternoon together, taking a walk through the city. (When Dolley told Y/N that the two-mile loop near the Lincoln Memorial had taken them two hours to walk through, she had a sneaking suspicion walking wasn't all they were doing. Hopefully, they'd at least escaped the watchful eye of our oversized 16th president.)

"Yes, I'm certain you were," Dolley insisted from the other end of the phone's line. "He said it'd be great if I brought you."

"... This sounds suspiciously like a pity invite."

"It isn't a pity invite!" Y/N could hear the indignance in her voice.

"Dolley, why, exactly, would he want me there if it wasn't a pity invite?"

"... Because you're my best friend, and he's decided to make an effort to get to know you better?"

She laughed. "As much as I appreciate this idealized James Madison, I have a feeling it was more to the effect of 'I just saw your roommate and feel obligated to invite her'," Y/N corrected her. "But go to the party without me! Don't let me hold you back from having your fun, alright?"

"Please come? It wouldn't be the same without you." Dolley's voice was high, containing traces of what almost smelled like desperation. "It'll make me much more comfortable to have you along."

Y/N groaned. "So when you and James go make out in the bathroom, I'm supposed to, what, play truth or dare with all the other PhD candidates?"

"Why not?" Dolley's tone was mild, which made Y/N roll her eyes.

"No offense to James's friends, but I'm not sure I want to spend an evening making stunted small talk with them."

"You're such a warm person, though! You'd be quite alright."

"It'd be awkward!"

"Please, Y/N? I'll beg you if that's what it'll take."

She scowled at how soft, forlorn Dolley's voice had become. As far as she was concerned, this was akin to emotional manipulation. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"Yes. I like him so much."

She sighed. "I'm gonna say yes solely because I have somewhere to be and can't deal with this argument anymore. But you owe me."

Y/N could almost picture Dolley’s sappy smile. “Thank you so much, dear. You’re too good to me.”

"Yeah, yeah, what else is new?" Her words elicited a laugh from Dolley, and Y/N continued, “But you know I’d do pretty much whatever you asked if you asked it in that I’m-about-to-cry voice, so I’m not sure this relationship is healthy for me anymore.”

“Oh, of course; I’m truly a parasite,” Dolley sighed. “Taking you in as my roommate, paying for your ramen — how evil of me.”

“I pay half the rent, and ramen costs fifty cents!” Y/N defended, but the words were lighthearted nonetheless. “Next time you give up five perfectly good hours of a Friday night so that I can get laid, we’ll call it even.”

“Don’t make any calls about Friday just yet. You haven’t even seen James’s friends.” Dolley’s voice was just teasing enough to placate Y/N. “I may not be the only one having some fun.”

“Have you even seen James’s friends?” Y/N asked dubiously, and Dolley’s silence told her all there was to know. “That’s what I thought. He’s an econ student, so it’s probably gonna be about eighty percent entitled rich men attending school on family money.”

“Or they could all be just your type,” Dolley reasoned, but by then, any efforts to talk Y/N out of her convictions were futile. “Tall, hot, and older.”

“First off, I don’t have a type, and second, just because you’re dating an ‘older man’,” — The final two words were said mockingly — “doesn’t mean that his older friends aren’t still douches.”

“I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but that is absolutely your type.”

“Based on what?”

“That professor of yours?”

“Dolley!” Y/N scowled, turning down the volume on her call just in case some passing pedestrians were notorious gossips with super-hearing. It was certainly possible. “Can you please stop talking about him like that? Don’t make it a thing,” she murmured, jaw tense.

“Oh, we’re well past that, dear,” Dolley said matter-of-factly, and Y/N could only roll her eyes. “But if you’ve agreed to the party, I won’t push my luck.”

“Smart choice,” she muttered bitterly. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later tonight?”

“Of course.”

With that, she hung up the phone before Dolley could take advantage of her giving mood and start making further outlandish demands, tucking it into her coat pocket as she pushed open the door to Melos Hall. Unfortunately for her, the elevator was broken, and Thomas's office was several flights of stairs above her.

After at least eight long pauses for her to catch her breath, heaving as she leaned against the railing in the stairwell, and three stomach cramps, Y/N knocked on his door. "Anybody home?"

"C'mon in." His voice was soft, muffled through the door, and she opened it to find him all but slumped on his desk, resting his head on his hand as he graded papers he appeared to be rather cross with, and with more of said papers covering the entirety of the desk’s surface (and much of the floor). He glanced up when she entered, and a soft grin split his expression. "Hey, I thought that was you."

"I'm in absolute awe of your pattern-recognition skills, really," she replied, tone dry as she let the door fall shut behind her, and despite the playful smile she wore, Thomas rolled his eyes.

"You actually here for anything, or am I gonna have to kick you out?"

She laughed. "I'm not here to derail your work, I swear." He raised a dubious eyebrow. "I was just stopping by to let you know that, assuming it's still on the table, I'd love the TA position."

"Oh, yeah?" His smile widened almost imperceptibly at her words, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "'M glad to hear it. Could've just shot me an email, though."

She shrugged. "I was headed this way anyway. Figured I may as well stop by."

"I'm not complainin'." She let out a soft huff of laughter at the words, but she could feel heat beginning to creep up the back of her neck. "'S good timing, anyway. Intro to IR just turned in an essay on Kant."

The soft groan she let out only served to amuse him further as she surveyed the wreckage of his office. "That's what all this paper is?" He nodded in confirmation, and she scrunched up her nose. "I'm not sure if I feel worse for the freshmen who had to write them or for you having to read them."

"Well, I should hope it's the freshmen," he said matter-of-factly, sitting back in his chair. The smile he wore was concerningly self-righteous. "'Cause, now, readin' these is your job, too."

Her eyebrows shot up; the dread in her gaze was the furthest thing from contrived. "... Is it too late to rescind my application as a TA?"

He shook his head. "Mm-mm. You're welcome to abandon ship."

She didn't like the satisfaction which grew in his gaze as she weighed her options; they both knew she wasn't considering turning down the position in earnest — that simple fact left Thomas unnecessarily smug. Another beat passed, and she sighed. "You're lucky this is going to look good on my grad school applications."

He laughed. "Sure am. I could use all the help I can get, right now."

"I can see that," she replied, voice laden with amusement at the state of his office.

However, Thomas said nothing more, and she shifted on her feet, uncomfortable with the drawn-out silence. He raised an expectant eyebrow, and it took her a moment to grasp his intention. "Wait... d'you mean, like, right now?"

"Unless you're busy." He shrugged. His gaze was hopeful as she eyed warily the small stack of papers she'd spent the past few minutes trying not to crush under her boot. She sighed.

He grinned when she bent over to pick up the papers that'd floated to her side of the desk. "As depressing as it feels to say, I've got nowhere else to be on this fine Friday night."

"That's the spirit." He winked, and though she rolled her eyes, her amused smile was deep-set. "So, you're gradin' for accuracy and watchin' out for grammar, of course, but the points are really earned for analysis. The paper's on changes in the international system. They’ve gotta connect ‘em back to Kant's maxims."

She let out a low whistle as she took a seat across from him, plucking a red pen from his cup and dropping her bag onto the floor. "That certainly sounds pretentious."

He laughed lightly. "You really tellin' me you didn't have to do anything like this as a freshman?"

"Oh, I wish I could say that, but unfortunately, my professor was apparently every bit the pseudointellectual you are.” She nodded sadly, and Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Hilarious, sweetheart, really." In the dry sarcasm of his tone, the casual pet name didn't seem to register with him, but Y/N couldn't help but notice, and her breath caught. "Here, lemme get you a copy of the rubric. 'S nothin' too complicated; go easy on 'em. Got some STEM majors in the class who're just takin' it for the graduation requirement, so I'm not expectin' much."

She pursed her lips. "Are the essays that bad?"

He deadpanned as he turned back to her, sliding the rubric across the desk. "At least as bad as I'm makin' 'em sound."

Y/N let out a long, dramatic huff, rubbing her temples, and Thomas looked thoroughly entertained at her reaction.

"I'm in for a long few months, aren't I?"

[t-lostinworlds]

Wonder by Shawn Mendes: a review that no one asked for

thoughts overall: it’s an okay album. but, it doesn’t really feel like an album? it’s kinda like a bunch of songs put together where there’s not really a specific direction? you go slow and then suddenly goes upbeat but not in the smoothest way, it’s throws you off sometimes. even in some of the songs you go from piano to heavy drum but it’s not the best transition. it’s all jumpy and you don’t really flow through the album from start to finish. it’s not his best album and dare i say it, a bit of a step back from SM3. Although, some songs are really good and showed actual growth from previous ones sonically which is great. overall score, hmm, prolly a 3/5. not an expert though and this is solely my opinion.

anyway, was typing while listening so track by track with my first impressions under the cut

1. Intro

-> have already heard this of course ahah and i still do love it.

2. Wonder

-> again, a good song and i love love love it but as a single and title track, it’s alright, nothing too deep or groundbreaking. the chorus is very catchy though where i found myself repeating it over and over. verses are good too. missed this guy’s voice lol i’m getting emo sorry.

3. Higher

-> oh this is straight up different, this threw me off the train from wonder lmaao. that drum is whew. the beat is nice, Shawn’s voice is very nice. lyrics are alright though ahah so many repetitions. the random synths or whatever those sounds effects are in the back is very distracting (not the best) and the static screeching too. hmm, the last part is kinda chaotic and i found myself lowering the volume because eek the sound is too sharp. i don’t know how i feel about this song now 😅

4. 24 Hours

-> it’s a nice love song lol. lyrics are very...cliché but not in the best way? so you don’t really feel anything special or that it’s something special for Shawn. unlike when he says “can you meet me down on Adelaide street?” or “what’s really gonna break my heart is i have to tell your little brother.” you know? Fallin All In You is another cliché love song but it’s written so well that you see the picture? The sunrise? With her on his chest? The touch noses feeling your breath you know? this an alright song overall.

5. Teach Me How To Love

-> ooh, okaaay. now this is my jam that old school vibe is whew. ughhh that voice 😩😭 SING IT MENDES UGH. devoted to explore that body of ocean huh...he getting on his knees i’m squealing, my heart. touch you, tease, caress you, and please you—it’s gosh (i think I need a moment). that guitar is very sexy. i already see a music video. this is what i mean when painting pictures with lyrics, it’s very simple lyrics of course but you see and feel the words. the fucking guitar mate i’m—whew. “babe i won’t stop till you feel the rush”—ugh. wait let me just—*clicks back from the start*

6. Call My Friends

-> the verse had me 🥺🥺 and i was vibing but then the beat dropped in the chorus and it’s feels...messy? like it threw me off? there’s so many sharp sounds in some of this songs it’s not pleasing for my ears. It’s a good song.

7. Dream

-> the verse is great and it’s sweet and soft, smooth but then the chorus again with the layered vocals is a bit of a huge change, like the shift from the piano to the suddenly heavy drums and guitar, it throws me off a lil. and with the whole dream dream dream I can’t stop thinking about Shark Boy’s song I’m sorry 😭😭 it’s a good song, nothing much but it’s good.

8. Song For No One

-> hmm, it’s okay. soft, tender with only his voice and just guitar, nothing much with the lyrics. oh gosh what’s this change of beat...why do i hear Christmas bells? there’s so many beat changes and they’re not the smoothest change 😭 it’s meh i guess?

9. Monster

-> i’ve only listened to this 3 times and my opinion is still the same. it’s a good song, nice and smooth beat but Shawn has so little time in it. and when JB comes in, it becomes his songs, and Shawn now seems like feature. which isn’t great since this Shawn’s album. i do like the song.

10. 305

-> the chorus sounds so familiar but I can’t pinpoint what song. it sounds kinda like something of Taylor’s but i don’t know what it is and now i can’t stop raking my brain ugh. anyway, I love the song. it’s such a chill and happy upbeat song which is a nice contrast to the lyrics ‘cause it’s a bit angsty the lyrics haha. i’m vibing, i’m really enjoying it, I love it.

11. Always Been You

-> the verse was so nice, smooth with piano but again with the sudden change in beat in the chorus just why. it’s silence and then a very heavy sudden drum as well so i throws you off by a lot. i didn’t sign up for jump scares gosh ahah. and the song just ends...

12. Piece Of You

-> oooh, okay then, smooth voice, very nice piano, yes ugh sing it mendes—oh my gosh. wHUT? THIS IS HOW YOU CHANGE THE BEAT THE RIGHT WAY WTF. I love this son—DON’T COUNT LIKE THAT MENDES WHAT THE HELL MY HEART 😭 the lyrics though?? whew. it’s really gosh. “I get jealous, but who wouldn’t when you look like you do?” the jealousy is very sexy 😉 “I’m sorry if I get protective. Need these boys to get the message. You know I’m yours, i know you’re mine.” thats hot. replaying it again oop—

13. Look Up At The Stars

-> that first verse I love it 🥺 oh damn, that beat change to something upbeat is really nice too gosh I love it. that pre-chorus beat is so whew, i really like it. this is such a Queen vibe, I just realised. this song is so good gosh i love iittt.

14. Can’t Imagine

-> saw the title and immediately said “I can’t imagine a world without you” when i haven’t even heard the song yet...turns out I was right ha. it’s okay, not much to the lyrics since it’s the same thing over and over. a soft last song, it’s okay.

FINAL THOUGHTS: it has has great, good and meh moments song wise. a lil but if great and more so good but it’s alright. it doesn’t feel like a cohesive album as a whole though, like you don’t get what vibe it is particularly. aside from a theme beat changes from piano to drum, which is a very common thing throughout the album but yeah, that’s about it. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like you’re on the train, and then you’re off, and then you on again. you simply just don’t flow through the songs, it’s a bit all over the place. maybe from the track listing. if they rearranged it then it could’ve been a bit better but yeah, some songs are lackluster. well, that’s on that hahah. you can talk to me about it if you want tho ❤️

[starshine-selfships]

1, 10, 11, and 12 for the ask game ? 😺🙏💟

Hi hi hi!! You're getting long answers to these bc any excuse to talk about this man makes me go crazy stupid 🙌🙌🙌💕

1) What's a Hot Take you have about your f/o?

HE👏IS👏NEURODIVERGENT!! I'm specifically talking adhd, but he checks a lot of boxes for something more ambiguous too. I'm actually rewriting my adhd sh.aiapouf post and I'm gonna put it here too, but the cut time version IS: noticeable hyperfixations/special interests in music and the monarchy, practically no empathy + has difficulty understanding the emotions of others, fast thinking + thinks a LOT, almost weirdly analytical + book smart with little to no interpersonal skills, extreme emotions all over the board, like there's a LOT here and it explains like 80% of why he's Like That 😤

10) How did you feel when you realized "oh of course I had to like That Character"?

Okay I have a lot to say on this one djnfkffk please bear with me as I write a whole novel

✌U_U ✌

Honestly,, , I wasn't happy LMAOOO, around the time I watched the anime for the first time i was actually still pretty into j.jba and unfortunately was really into dio U_U

I was fascinated by pouf as soon as I saw him in the opening, lots of neat ant designs and then this butterfly man?? I need to know everything about him 👀 His intro with the rainbows in the wings, the fairy chimes, the solo violin, all had me like 👁👁 Sir I Am Going To Study You Like The Insect You Are, and then I saw him actually play the violin and was sold lmao. He was funny as far as comic relief went and then? The giant improv ballet breakdown and antagonistic turn drew me in further and then I was invested in a no going back sorta way as soon as he went chibi for the first time, just watching the chaos of the entire scene with this ridiculous huge grin dhjdkxkf every single thing he did was in the extremes and it was like watching a train de-rail in real time, I saw him face down in the dirt at the end of the arc and didn't even feel anything, he was just so WILD

So I finish h.xh not too long after that and texted a friend and was like hmmm. I need to watch j.jba to return to my roots and also to forget that I think I might've accidentally given myself a lil crush on the butterfly man 😳 idk if that return ever happened but I DO remember being frustrated with how pretty he is,, I didn't really wanna shift hyperfixations at the time and also didn't know if it was attraction or gender envy bc. what I would give to simultaneously look so fem and so masc 👁 either way it was a 3 month struggle of "oh no oh my god I wanna kiss a bug so bad?? 😞" and then I caved at midnight in a denny's and was like okay. fine. I'm gay for a bug, I really really like him but *i* don't have to like that 😤

I did, in fact, proceed to like it, enough to make an entire separate blog for him. It was a slow progression of "I mean, I'd share a ballroom dance with him, like a waltz maybe", "hmm okay he's funny but whatever", "oh uh. he uh. I mean he's neat, a lot of people didn't like him but I just think he's an interesting character 😳" and. and then I finally caved and I never stopped talking sjdkfkf though to be fair, I was already talking about him a LOT on my main, I just decided that maybe it would be nice to have a space to just. contain 90% of my poufposting LMAOOO

Final note on this, but I think what really got me is how many characters are in this series and yet I gravitated towards the one no one could stand 😞✌ though to be fair the hatred for him has definitely gone down compared to what I can remember from a few years ago; absolutely does not change the fact that He Is The Way He Is, but I saw the war crimes, malice, potentially treason, and I won't name it but it's by far the most uncomfortable thing to sit through in the arc, I saw ALL of that and still went hmmmm yes I want that one U_U true love huh

11) Do you think it's better to have copious amounts of content for your f/o, even with the risk of finding a lot of ship art, or better to have a lot less?

The art situation with him is strange bc there's a decent enough to be notable amount of art of him captioned with some variation of "I hated him but he had a really cool character design", but it's still content. Surprisingly, I actually don't track the tag for him but take a look at it anyways almost every day and there's maybe one new thing there like once a week, minimal content bc so many people just didn't like him, which is fair!! But also, he was definitely there as a prominent character, I'd just like to see more of him U_U I would put more art here but I'm too conscious of the art ops seeing my bs over here jdkdkfkk

There actually are a handful of ship art drawings of him, which astounds me bc this man wasn't there to make friends, not even with his own siblings :/, but the errant art of him with morel or kite is honestly pretty cute, please just let this man be happy, I love to see him smile 🥺

12) Aren't you tired of being nice? This is an excuse to rant.

He wasn't the worst guard!! All three had reasons for doing what they did and arguably, pouf's motives were the most complex. Yes he did some pretty awful things, but he considered them to be the right thing to do without a doubt in his mind, all his actions were selfish in that they were based off his own feelings, but he did things ultimately for the king, so his actions also had an edge of selflessness to them as well. He was just. so much more than annoying and while his character development wasn't positive, it was still some pretty astounding growth; as an antagonist, he's also fairly plausible 👀 sometimes people just are manipulative, sometimes feelings do get the better of you, pouf just has all those factors amped up to 11 at all times so they're magnified. I have. a lot of thoughts on him, he interests me very much 😞👀🤔👀

[bangtan-madi]

All Of Our Lifetimes — Intro: Crimson Fountain

Pairing — Taehyung x Reader

Tags — boyfriend!Taehyung, husband!Taehyung reincarnation au, lovers to strangers and to lovers again, established relationship, implied soulmate au

Genre — fluff, angst, crime (ish)

Word Count — 2.8k

Summary — Does love ever truly end, or does it simply take another form in a new life? The cycle is like clockwork: your lives end and you’re reborn again. You’ve lived it over and over. Each cycle, one of you loses your memories and is tragically unaware until the other finds and awakens their lover. After all these eons, all these lifetimes, is it possible to find each other again—even when neither of you awakens with your memories? 

Part — 0 / 10

Warnings — murder, death, lots of blood, the intro is pretty much the darkest of the entire series so if you make it through this you should be good

A/N — So I know my WIP List says this series wouldn’t start going up until late April, but I had a spark of inspo way earlier than I thought. I wrote it and loved it, so the intro is going up before the outline is even done! Just to get you a ‘lil taste of what’s to come ;)

— Next

With a grip of steel, Taehyung drags you through the darkened spaces of the museum. Footsteps echo through the adjacent hallways, and your heart pounds irregularly to the beat. Like war-drums announcing the start of a battle, your ears pulse with hot and heavy blood. You should be petrified, you should be a terrified mess, but all your mind focuses on is the carnage lying at the feet of Winged Victory.

She’s dead, you think to yourself. Your breath burns inside your lungs, like thick steam, as you both tear past the dimly lit corridors on your desperate way towards the exit. You talked to the woman ten minutes ago, and now she’s dead.

Taehyung glances over his shoulder, dark brown eyes showing surprising calm and control. The way he pulls you close to him, the way he shelters you as you run for your lives, it’s not out of fear. Or, at least, not entirely. His movements are calculated, precise, and methodical. Even in the chaos, he is in control.

And then it hits you: this isn’t the first time either of you has run for your lives. Pieces of your lifetimes come back, trickling in like raindrops down a window. It's taken you this long to find each other, to win each other over, to get back what time has taken. The last thing you want to do is lose it all over again. 

Taehyung pulls you with him, taking cover behind a wide column. Before you have a chance to ask why you've stopped, Taehyung puts a slender finger to his lips. His mocha eyes shift to you in a warning manner. 

Don’t make a sound. Not one. 

You can see the words both in his gesture and glance. Shutting your mouth, you nod once. 

Your hand tightens around his as another set of footsteps thunders down the hall, breaking into the open space. Though moving quickly, they move with purpose and passion. The man—no, the murderer—you saw standing over the artist's body still searches for you both. 

“I know you’re here, Kim!” A gruff voice with a foreign lilt fills the void. “You aren’t doing yourself any favors by running. I think you know that.”

Your eyes shut tightly as your breath catches in your throat. The murderer’s voice reverberates across the marble floors and granite pillars, hitting your ears like a shockwave. The terrifying truth is that this man’s identity is a mystery, as is why he killed the artist or why he wants to hurt Taehyung. 

You remember the woman's name clearly: Emilia Popescu. She was a friend of Taehyung's. Whatever the reason for her brutal demise, you can’t fathom it. A day that started with the love of your life in a city you now call home has ended with the grisly image of a corpse, one that will forever be burned in your mind.

He killed Emilia. And now he’s coming for you.

Taehyung brings your attention back to him as he peers around the room. His eyes move from one exit to the next. From where you're crouched behind the pillar, there aren’t many options for escape. The rear is the best option, the museum's Van Gogh Hall from where you came; however, running in that direction would put your backs to the murderer, giving him a perfect target. The only other way out is a large doorway to the right. It leads to a long hallway, which connects to the building's emergency exit. Again, going that way might as well be suicide; you’d have to run right in front of the mad-man.

The room is quiet now. Only the hefty footsteps beyond your hiding spot remain. Not even the museum's usual occupants remain; in the wee hours of a Sunday evening, the patrons and employees have long since left. It’s the day before the Vernal Equinox, 1995. The only people supposed to be inside at this hour were Emilia, Taehyung, and you.

Taehyung taps a finger on the back of your hand. When you turn his way, he gestures with a jerk of his chin to the wall behind you. At first, you don’t see what he wants to show you. It’s only when you look closer that you see it. Along the walls are portraits, but it’s not the pictures that your lover is interested in: it’s the glassy surface covering them. If you focus, the glass acts as a reflection, and from here, you can easily make out the man stalking you. 

The murderer moves from one side of the room to the other, avoiding the ferns that line the spherical fountain’s edge. Though his movements are cautious, you doubt that they’re that way because of you and Taehyung. This murderer isn’t someone that fears anything. He did not hesitate to kill Emilia, and he won’t hesitate in doing the same to you. You doubt he’s even a man at all, only a beast playing with his prey, feeding on your terror.

He is a wolf enjoying the hunt.

Your brunet companion leans down to your level, his hand gripping your shoulder. His resolute expression gives you a smidge of hope that you might just survive this night. However, that calm lasts only a second. You whimper softly at the sound of a collision behind. The murderer crashes something into a nearby column. While you're grateful that it wasn’t yours, every noise he makes, even his footsteps, brings you closer to panic. Every sound is like a punch in the stomach. He wants you to know how close he is to killing you both. 

The column takes another hit, and the ceiling overhead trembles. While most of the museum is made of concrete and brick, with some expensive granite and marble thrown in, this particular ceiling is entirely made of glass. It reveals a beautiful night sky, one that might make you stop in wonder on another night. The panels shimmer, coming all to close to shattering. Whatever this man is doing to the column, he’s breaking the structural integrity of the room. Anything more than another hit or two could send you all into a thunderstorm of glass shards.

“I will bury us all, Kim!” the murderer shouts. Another hit, and then another. The glass starts to scream and crack. “You know I will!”

Taehyung's grip on your shoulder tightens, and his lips close in on your ear. His next words, though a whisper, are sure and strong. “When I tell you to run, go for the exit behind us. Don’t look back, sweetheart. Don’t stop until you get to the street. Wait for me there, but stay out of sight.”

“What are you going to do?”

Taehyung's hand moves towards his hip, gripping something metallic and sleek under his coat. His wedding bang glints in the dim light, and you realize he's armed.

“I’m going to make sure he doesn’t follow us,” he replies with a growl. “I’ll lead him away. Do as I say, and we’ll be just fine. I’ll find you.”

Before he leaves, you grip his hand and make him turn back towards you. “And what if you don’t?”

His features stiffen, almost as if his face is made of stone. He pulls the weapon from his pants and holds it skillfully. “Then go to the police. Tell them what happened.” To break the intensity, he flashes a quick, boxy smile. “But don’t worry. I’ll be there."

Your grip on his wrist tightens, and your voice quivers. "I just got you back, Tae. I just found you, after all these years. I—Please, don't make me lose you again."

Taehyung's brown eyes soften, and he leans down to rest his forehead against yours. His dark curls hang in front of his eyes, but you know they're locked only on you. The connection you feel with him goes far beyond words or looks or touches. 

What you have together crosses lifetimes.

"We prepared for this," he murmurs, hot breath dusting your teary cheeks. "We knew this was coming. I don't regret a single moment I spent with you, [Y/n], and I'm sorry I fought you all these months. I should have believed you when you told me what we were. You found me. You saved me. Now let me save you."

"I don't want you to save me," you cry over the sound of the glass shaking above your heads. "I just want you safe—!"

Taehyung shuts you up with a fiery kiss, forcing his mouth against yours with a near brutal intensity. Your hands move through his hair, the force of his lips forcing your back against the column. A tug on your lower lip, a slide of a tongue across the same, a whisper of, "I love you more every lifetime."

It ends far faster than it should, nearly as swiftly as it begins. Taehyung pulls away and shoves you in the direction of the escape while jumping out to shield you. He turns to look over his shoulder, ensuring that your shaky legs are in fact moving.

"Go!”

Before you can protest the terrible idea again, Taehyung turns back towards the murderer and fires multiple rounds. In the reflection of the portraits, you see his attention shift immediately to your husband. Taehyung moves speedily, eyes locked on his target. He continues to fire, forcing the mad-man to take shelter behind the fountain. As he ducks for cover, Taehyung changes out the used cartridge for a full one.

The murderer fires again, and Taehyung dodges the blasts with relative ease. As he rolls out of the line of fire, he lets another set of shots rain towards him. One of them grazes the mad-man's shoulder, but he doesn’t make a sound or expression of pain. He twists out of the way, throwing himself onto the ground to dodge. When he stands again, bullets erupt from his gun. 

Taehyung attempts to run, but as he ducks out of the way, one of the bullets punctures his left shoulder. With an agonizing shriek, his right hand cradles his wound.

With a sudden burst of bravery, you start to move from your hiding place, wanting desperately to help him. When your husband sees you, he thrusts his hand up to stop you. 

“Go!” he mouths. The murderer fires several rounds up into the sky. The glass ceiling shatters, and thousands of tiny shards start to rain. 

When you don’t move immediately, Taehyung screams the word as forcefully as he can: “Run!”

The next ten seconds are a blur, stretched out into what feels like several minutes. Taehyung turns his weapon back to the murderer, but he dodges the first two rounds your husband lets off. His swift feet take him out of the line of fire. As he moves, he charges Taehyung, swinging a handful of glass shards in the Korean's direction. They make an impact, creating several gashes across the exposed skin on Taehyung's face, arms, and hands. 

Flinching in pain, Taehyung fires another pair of rounds as he stumbles back into the fountain. He lands on his hands and knees, crimson blood trickling into the water. 

In the split second between the two shots, the murderer takes aim. One of the bullets lands on the murderer's shoulder, while the other cuts straight into his neck. Blood pours profusely from his wounds, causing him to falter and his armed hand to lower.

You take that opportunity and make a mad dash for your lover. He's injured and vulnerable. If you were to do as he said, to leave him alone to fight off this intruder, he will die. There's not a doubt in your mind. 

As you grab Taehyung's arm and begin pulling him to his feet, your lover's terrified eyes flicker up to yours.

You see the brown irises darken before you hear the shot. Taehyung's gun falls to the ground with a clank, hitting the edge of the fountain before scuttling away. His breath catches, and blood pours from the wound in his chest. 

He tumbles over. You break from your stunned stupor and lunge to catch him. Both of you collapse into the fountain, water soaking your clothing. You cradle him close, arms around his shoulders. He stares up at you, those same brown eyes both wide and terrified. His chest spasms erratically as breath and blood fight to fill his lungs.

Tears burn your eyes as you clutch him closer, pressing your hands over the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. 

“No! No, hold on, Tae!” You start speaking to him in his native tongue, hoping that, somehow, this will be the magic spell that heals him.

Another shot rings through the halls, this one coming mere seconds after the last. The metal tears through your abdomen, causing you to fall on your side beside Taehyung. Your head crashes against the rim of the fountain.

"[Y—Y/n]!" Taehyung chokes, blood pouring from his torso and mouth.

The murderer hesitantly lifts himself off the floor, cradling his injuries with care. Crimson covers his entire body, and from his swaying movements, you can tell he's lost a lot of it. The mask he's worn the entire time is partially falling apart, revealing the heavyset eyes of a hunter. 

He's barely able to stumble forward and point his weapon at the two of you, intending to finish you off.

"Time to die, you unnatural things."

Though fuzzy and confused, you reach for the weapon Taehyung dropped in the scuffle. You aim and pull the trigger with ease, praying to god that at least one of your last three bullets hits a vital region.

One misses. One hits his ribcage. One tears through his hand, blasting the gun to pieces and tearing several of his fingers off. 

The murderer lets out an ear-piercing scream and falls back, trembling legs taking him towards the exit. Sirens blare in the distance. The police are closing in. The last thought you spare him is one of vengeance, of a hopeful capture, of justice served.

The gun falls from your fingers, returning to the water where you retrieved it. You fight against the urge to close your eyes, still dazed from the knock to the head. Turning to the side, you see Taehyung scooting over towards you. His uninjured arm is dragging his body the meter's distance between you.

Reaching out, your hand grasps his. You bring each other closer to the other as blood pours from your wounds and further infuses the water with a garnet hue. Taehyung's fingers are cold and shaky, just as yours are pale. All you can do is loop your fingers around his, making one small connection as the whole world falls apart around you.

Taehyung moves his hand to your head. With a small smile, he brushes your messy, damp hair from your eyes. They close on their own accord, and you lean into his hand. You feel the ghost of death sneaking up on you once again, and from the way Taehyung's breath is slowing and the amount of blood filling the water, you know it won't be long now. It seems like you'd just found each other again, after all these years of him not remembering. It was your curse to find him and make him remember, and now you're going to lose him all over again.

Whatever happens after this, you've found each other again. If that's the only good thing that survives today, you're okay with that.

You bring your forehead against his, the last breaths of this lifetime slipping into your lungs. Forcing your eyes to open once more, you offer a semblance of a smile to the childlike fear you see on your husband's face.

"Come—Come find me," you sputter, voice barely above a whisper. "It’s your turn. In the next one: meet me there."

Taehyung nods once, barely moving his head. The miracle that you prayed for, the one you begged for, never happens. Taehyung chokes on his own blood for another few seconds, and his hands clasp yours tightly. In that moment, there is no way to tell who is more petrified: him or you.

Taehyung opens his mouth slightly, as if trying to say something, but he can’t find the words. A heart-wrenching, soul-crushing moment passes. His chocolate eyes fog over. His chest stops heaving. His slender hand falls from yours.

If you had enough life left in you, you would have whimpered and cried and screamed. Instead, you allow your eyes to close on this life, your final breath escaping with those same words.

A request. An order. A promise.

"Find me." 

[longassr1de]

Best Boy (M)

Pairing: Haechan x fem!reader

Genre: Smut (nc-17!)

Word count: 2,666

Warnings: femdom, spanking, not quite choking but close to it (just once really), oral, a sappy moment, lots of teasing, unprotected sex, cowgirl..kinda, i'm probably forgetting stuff i'm sorry 😔 (i just really wanted to write something and then this drabble practice turned into a monster) oh and also i didn't proofread this yet & yolo wrote it at around 3am so im sorry for this monstrosityㅡ and also y/n is on birth control bc at least take precautions if you're not wrapping it before tapping it kiddos! 🤧

A/N: not to spoil the surprise but technically though it's not stated who it's about until around.. the middle i'd say? but.. it kind of is about a 00 liner so.. if you're uncomfortable with that then please just keep scrolling. thank you. i'm not sure how or why this post happened either but.. here we are yknow? that lil shiet has just been bugging me for awhile now and then a week later this happens im...🥺

A/N ...again: I ended up changing it from mystery member to just being straightforward about it so just.. bear with me until I redo the intro to include more detail. Sorry about that 😰

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"I thought you said you could take it, baby boy?" You look down at your boyfriend who was currently across your lap with a teasing grin, clearly enjoying his predicament.

"I- I-" he tries to interject, helplessly wracking his brain for any sort of rebuttal.

"Did I say you could speak?" The sharp raise of your now arched brow conveys more than your short sentence could have ever delivered. Consequently, you deliver another sharp smack to his bottom, continuing his punishment, which had been brought about by yet another one of his disobedient days. Such a brat, really.

"N-No..." you gently enclose your free hand around his neck, ushering his disobedient behavior back on track once again. "No ma'am!" he whines, cute pout on display as he whines desperately. "I'll be a good boy for you, I swear! Please!"

"Please what, baby boy? Use your words for me," you cooed towards him, almost mockingly.

"Please..." he licks at his bottom lip, jutting his glossing pout on proud display, "please fuck me... use me... anything..." He rasps as you pull him up by the hair to look at you in the eyes, a shaky breath escaping from the depths of his soul as you devour his ethereal presence. How did you ever find someone so beautiful in this realm of reality?

Sending one last spank to his supple bottom, you relish in the way his body both moves towards and away from your palm. "Very well then, my beautiful little brat. On your knees." You've been edging the poor boy for at least an hour now, so really, it's no wonder that he's in position for you before you can even begin counting. "If you behave like a good boy tonight, I might even reward you," your smile angelic, though your eyes are anything but. Deviously, you trace his raging hard-on with the tip of your toes, enjoying the way he shuts his eyes and drops his mouth open at the slimmest glimmer of pleasure he's been allowed. "But if you misbehave again, you're not coming for the next week. Understood?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" he responds, almost in tears at the thought alone, much less after the arduous teasing he's endured tonight. Before anything, you lean down to kiss his supple lips, licking at his mouth with everything you've got, tangling your fingers in the curly tufts of his beautiful silver hair. Pulling away far too soon for either of your liking, you run your thumbs across his jawline and break from your role to ensure safety above all pleasure.

"Safeword?"

"Cloud." A smirk sent his way as he snaps from his daze. "..ma'am! It's still cloud...ma'am," he stutters out, in fear of further punishment.

"Good boy," you reward his quick fix with a kiss to his forehead before reaching behind you for a ribbon, toying with it as you fixate on whether to tie his hands in front of or behind his body tonight. "Heads or tails, baby boy?"

"Uh.." he tilts his head, not unlike a confused puppy. "Heads, ma'am?" an unsure answer rings out in the silence of your eventful night. You nod silently, working to gently but securely tie his hands in front of his body, just enough so that he can't give himself any pleasure.

Your boyfriend eyes you with a sparkle in his eyes, in awe at how effortlessly you complete the task. Truthfully however, the gleam in his doe eyes was moreso because of just how much he loves you, and how grateful he is for how attentive you are to his needs. You were the one who'd asked to let you dom him initially, but from then on it was him who would insist on it becoming more of a regular thing. He simply couldn't get enough of the confidence you exuded in times like these.

You were his drug, and he needed his fix, so what better way that to get his high through this?

Sensing that his mind had drifted elsewhere as he'd stopped squirming and whining, you look back up into his eyes, not expecting your boyfriend to be staring at you so.. lovingly.

"Penny for your thoughts, baby boy?"

"I love you," he just blurts out, chuckling at himself for a moment before you join him.

"Not sure where this is coming from, but I love you too, darling." Another kiss pressed unto his lips, kissing his smile until it parted to kiss you back. The warmth in your chest despite the filth in your recent actions proof enough that you made the right choice. You don't regret one moment from the moment you fell for your best friend, up until this very night. However, the ache between your thighs had yet to be sated, and as much as you wanted to cave, you figured it could wait until the aftercare (noting to give him twice as many cuddles tonight).

Pulling back with a thin line of spit till connecting you both, your grin turns mischievous once again. "But don't think I've forgotten for a second that you're being punished for your behavior tonight. You thought feeling me up at the restaurant was appropriate? In front of all your friends?"

"N-No ma'am! Not at all.. I'm sorry!" his eyes widen at the realization that his punishment was far from over. "I won't do it again!"

"Not sorry enough, I'll say. And if you ever try that again, I'm tying you to the headboard the entire weekend, understood?" Your boyfriend was so desperate he fell for your bluff, instantly straightening his posture to be the epitome of a "good boy".

"I'll do anything, anything at all.. please ma'am, anything but that!" he begs, hoping to get back on your good side, unknowing that your anger had long since subsided.

"Kiss me and make it all better then, baby boy. Apologize like you mean it," your sultry whisper utter sin upon his ears, sitting entirely undressed just inches away from his body that was screaming with desire. You slowly spread your thighs that had been rubbing up against each other, your slick wetness glistening as his throat feels parched at the sight before him. He blinks himself out of yet another daze, unbelieving that the wondrous angel in front of him is also the devil seducing him to ruin. As he gets closer to your heat, his pants become evident on your skin, making goosebumps arise in their wake.

"Don't tease me, baby, it'll only drag our your punishment," you tease, already locking your digits in his hair once again, anticipating the first touch of his tongue. He looks up at you as he makes contact with your nub, watching as your throw you head back, feeling as you grip his hair a little tighter, pull him a little closer. Humming contentedly, he dives right in to work, licking up your folds and sucking harshly at your clit, internally cursing at his useless arms at such a critical time like this. Instead, he decidedly works at your body with his mouth, working such wonders you were sure the other seven in the world suddenly paled in comparison.

"Ah, yes, just like that! Fuck," you cursed under your breath, raggedly breathing out as you bite at your lip, trying and failing to hold your moans in. Instead, you tighten your thighs around his head, fighting to keep your eyes open, only daring to look after he pulls back to catch his own breath, meeting his dangerous gaze with your shocked one.

Somewhere in the mix, you'd forgotten all about maintaining your strict dominance, instead unknowingly giving him some room to wiggle at the reigns, ever the challenging brat that he was and loved to be. He lived for making you make him submit, for every punishment and for every battle. It was so much fun, watching you get all hot in the face, in more ways than one.

"With all due respect ma'am," he shoots you his signature shit-eating grin from down below, clearly worked up by your reactions, even without the use of his hands, "your moans are absolutely gorgeous." He then sucks at your thighs, leaving many a dark bloom in their wake; he's clearly trying to prove a point now, cheeky almost to the point of cocky in the way he licks at your wetness off his lips. "I may even dare to say you're in for the fuck of your life tonight."

And you're just about to give him hell for his sudden brattiness until he goes right back to work, eating you out like a man starved, leaving you unable to come up with anything more coherent than a mutter of "Oh fuck you, Lee Donghyuck!" To which he simply laughs into your folds, sliding his tongue into your wet heat as you miserably yank at his hair, hoping he would somehow go back to behaving (used lightly, as he never truly behaves, save for when his neediness or the stresses of life sent him into subspace).

An intense orgasm builds up in your core and before you can even warn him, your release hits like a ton of bricks, bringing Donghyuck both closer and farther from your body, relishing in your orgasm yet unsure whether the excess of stimulation was something you could currently handle. You had fallen back onto the bed, unmoving for some time it would seem, as you soon hear the shuffling of feet before feeling a shift on the mattress. As best as he can, your boyfriend rests between your legs, attempting to assess your wellbeing.

"I'm fine, Hyuckie, just... that took a hell of a lot out of me," you chuckle, closing your eyes again to avoid the knowing look on his face. He goes to reach for your face, only to realize he can't, as his hands are still bound. Drawing your attention with a soft whine, you follow his gaze, helping to untie him, pressing loving kissed tenderly at his wrists. "Thank you, baby, you did so well for me."

"Can you take one more?" he prods gently, dying to be inside of you, yet not wanting to push your body past its limits.

"Of course, anything for you baby boy. Youu dessrve the bsst orgsmm after that," your words slur a little, still not over the impact on your body. Donghyuck tries to protest as you lay him down and climb over him, hissing as you sit on his length with little to no prep, taking him entirely by surpise. Not that he minded, he was just terrified he wouldn't last long after a night's worth of teasing, on top of getting front row seats to your hell of a release. Little to his knowledge however, that was exactly what you were counting on, ever since your orgasm took so much out of you that you'd begun to feel rather sleepy.

"I give you full permission baby boy. Fuck me." Your statement once again catches him off guard, as he had been a little preoccupied with how tight your velvet walls felt around his weeping cock.

"W-wait wha- aaahh.." And then it clicks. You weren't planning on riding him at all, you simply wanted the illusion of power from being on top, leaving him to do all the work. Donghyuck was no fool, however, and took the opportunity as quickly as he it came. You'd just barely settled against his chest, relishing in the warm feeling of his hands running down your back before feeling him grab at your ass; shutting his eyes as his head was thrown back in pleasure, fucking up into you almost animalistically from sheer need. He felt your blunt nails almost breaking the skin of his shoulders as he bit down on one of your own, pressing kisses in the aftermath of its mark, whimpering the filthiest of curses and singing the sweetest of praises by your ear.

As Donghyuck fervently fought to reach his own release, you felt yourself begin to race him towards your second. So much for punishment, was all you could think, and though the exhaustion on your body was evident, you simply couldn't bring yourself to complain, not when he was making you feel so fucking good.

"I'm so close, I'm gon... I'm.... ahh," he whined, rutting his hips desperately into your own, "please let me cum ma'am... I've been such a good boy for you... please." Surprised didn't even begin to cover your reaction, as you'd assumed all roles had been thrown out the window the second he'd gotten the green light. Nevertheless, your brain was humming with pride as your body thrummed with pleasure.

"Yes you have, you've been so good tonight, I think you deserve to cum. Let go now, give it to me baby boy," you run your hands through his hair, speaking into his forehead as your lower body continues to bounce from the force of his own humping up into you. "Prove that you're all mine," you mouth at his earlobe, moaning into it just to tease him, "fill me up." The final straw snaps upon your words, Donghyuck babbling utter nonsense as he cums, thick, white spurts of his release coating your walls as you finally clench around him, the feeling of his orgasm launching the onset of your own.

He continues to shallowly thrust up into you until neither one of you can take it anymore, squirming and groaning weakly at the overstimulation. You witness the strength leave your boyfriend's body rather dramatically, the way his eyes comically roll back in his head as your bodies slide down the headboard cause a fit of giggles to escape you. Donghyuck half opens his eyes to look at you, making grabby hands for your face as he grows soft inside you now. Carefully, you raise yourself up his body just enough to raise your cheeks in his sweaty palms, enjoying the gentle caress of his calloused fingertips padding across your features.

With a serious of hushed thank yous, he leans forward just enough to shower you with kisses, prompting you to return the gesture. He slips out of you and you make a face as the mixture of your cum slides down your thighs. Thankfully, you'd forseen your laziness and left a towel on your nightstand, and you reach over for it to clean the both of you up. Donghyuck is currently slipping in and out of sleep when you lay beside him, pulling him onto your chest as his arms wrap around your frame. It's times like this when he's asleep, so pure and unadulterated, that you can't help but adore his natural cuteness.

The supple curve of his lips, the gentle curl of his lashes, even his soft groan as he shifts to find a more comfortable position... all of it has you cooing at how delicate he was despite how tough he loves to pretend to be. If only his friends knew just how big of a baby he was around you, you wonder, how interesting would that conversation be.

Deciding to risk it, you simply can't help but place one last kiss to his forehead, softly rubbing at the base of his neck as he stirs, and you go still. Donghyuck simply buries his face into your neck now, pressing even more of his weight into your own, but all you can bring yourself to do is wrap your own around him, rubbing at his back soothingly. "Good night my beautiful boy, you did so well," his sleepy grin tickles the skin near the junction of your shoulder as he mumbles an unintelligible response, and just like that, he's asleep again in no time as you hum softly in reply.

Donghyuck may not always be the best boy, and me may not even a good boy most nights, but he'll always be your favorite boy, and in the end... that's all that really ever mattered.

[sippin-on-red-wine]

No. 6 Collaborations Project: A review!

It’s been a week since this fabulous album has dropped into our hands. Click “Keep reading to hear my thoughts on each track!

Track 1. Beautiful People Khalid ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: You look stunning dear/So don’t ask that question here

Thoughts/Reflection: Ed keeps referring to this song as ‘cozy’ and I completely agree. The vibe is cool. I love the tone of his voice here and I think it meshes really nicely with Khalid’s. The content isn’t super relatable, but I think we can all take something away from this one. It’s a good note on self-awareness and being able to see the reality in things that may look glamorous on the surface. 

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Track 2. South of the Border feat. Camila Cabello, Cardi B ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: So join me in this bed that I’m in/Push up on me and sweat darlin’/So I’m gonna put my time in/Won’t stop until the angels sing

Thoughts/Reflection: This track is literally freaking scorching hot fire. TBH I’m surprised that they led the album with IDC and not this one. It feels like big radio potential to me. Regardless, this song is an absolute BOP - so catchy and so fucking sexy. 

I know Ed’s Spanish leaves something to be desired ☺ But I feel like we can cut him some slack after singing (yet another) song dedicated to going down on a woman. The ginger is forgiven! Five stars for him! And I’m going to have SOTB on repeat all summer (or for the rest of my life).

Oh, I also really like Cardi on this song. IDK if she’s problematic or w/e, I don’t really follow her in the media at all. But her verse is fun. (I think Ed got a lil jungle fever AY) bahahahah

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Track 3. Cross Me feat. Chance the Rapper, PnB Rock ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: Know she gonna slide anytime you bitches talk shit/Keep a lil blade in her fuckin’ lip gloss kit 

Thoughts/Reflection: Love love love LOVE this one. It just makes you want to get up and DANCE the damn thing! I have to laugh a little at the thought of Ed being hard & tough, lol, but it’s a cool concept nonetheless. Like he said in his Charlemagne interview, it’s kind of a love song…. but a different tempo. It’s catchy as all hell and Chance’s verse is fucking cool. 

Full points. 

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Track 4. Take Me Back to London feat. Stormzy ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: Coz you can win BRITS (it don’t stop)/And you can do Glasto (headline slot)

Thoughts/Reflection: Fuck. This song, though. IIt’s the first one that jumped out at me when I did my first full album listen. And I haven’t stopped listening since. The chorus is so syncopated. Stormzy is sick on this track, I love his voice so much. And it just feels like the two of them really play off each other nicely and probably had a blast making this song. 

Also, Ed flexing “Grossed half a billi on the Divide tour/No I’m not kidding what would I lie for” is BDE and I’m personally really here for it.

This song is a banger and you should dance in your kitchen to it while baking pastries. FIve stars for you, Big Mike and Teddy.

(Dear God please let Stormzy guest live in Ipswich)

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Track 5. Best Part of Me feat. YEBBA ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: it’s not a lyric but that part when Ed & YEBBA are harmonizing perfectly in the whoooaaAAaaaA 

Thoughts/Reflection: I love the sound on this song! His voice is so raw and tender here. It reminds me of Plus era, but grown up. I think it may be how delicately he approaches the syllables in his verse and the chorus. YEBBA’s tone is super rich and lovely, and they sound great together.

I’m taking a “star” off here because I don’t love the lyrics. I get that he’s being vulnerable and showing insecurities in verse 1, but then YEBBA follows that up with lamenting about misplacing things and being late for the train? It doesn’t seem to match up with admitting physical/bodily insecurities. Also, it could just be that I hate that Ed thinks of himself this way.

DUDE IS HOT AF

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Track 6. I Don’t Care feat. Justin Bieber ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: I don’t like nobody but you/I hate everyone here

Thoughts/Reflection: Oh god. When did this song come out? I’m trying to think back to my first impressions of it, LOL. It’s bright and poppy and of course it went and stayed #1 all summer (thus far). I remember thinking it was so cool that the melody is super mainstream and upbeat, but the underlying theme is around social anxiety. “Crippled with anxiety/But I’m told I’m where I’m sposed to be” 

I mostly skip this one now that the full album is out, but I think I listened to it for a full 48 hours on repeat when it first dropped. Bieber is problematic and shit, and honestly I don’t think he adds much to the song. I really like Ed’s acoustic version where he does the whole thing solo.

The bridge slaps. Literally. I love that clapping bit behind it. I wish that Ed hadn’t fucked up the lyrics to the bridge in the acoustic version lolololol

Four stars, will bop along for many moons to come

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Track 7. Antisocial feat. Travis Scott ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: So antisocial but I don’t care/Don’t give a damn I’m gonna smoke here/Got a bottle in my hand bring more tho

Thoughts/Reflection: DID YOU SEE HIM GUEST AT TRAVIS’ SHOW LAST NIGHT? This song was already one of my faves but holy shit. In interviews, Ed talks a lot about feeling awkward on stage without a guitar - but it didn’t look like that last night. He was bouncy as all hell, sounded great, looked great. Looked like he was loving the crowd’s energy too.

And the music video? That deserves a post all on it’s own.

This track is pretty short but it’s packed with good stuff. Ed’s intro is really strong here, the chorus is interesting despite the repetition. I physically can’t help but groove along to this tune. I’m sorry. I have no say in the matter

-

Track 8. Remember the Name feat. Eminem, 50 Cent ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: 20 years old is when I came in the game/And now it's eight years on and you remember the name/And if you thought I was good, well, then I'm better today

Thoughts/Reflection: YES. YES. YES.  The song intros with a reference to Ipswich, bitch. I love how Ed makes those connections back to his upbringing.

It’s a little unreal that these three iconic voices/styles can flow so well on a song and still sound so balanced. 

I’ve got this one on repeat too. I’m determined to learn all of the words damnit!!

Five stars for a tune that I would love to see performed live someday.

-

Track 9. Feels feat. Young Thug, J Hus ★★★

Favorite Lyric: See you wigglin’, jigglin/If I have a bite will it taste like cinnamon?

Thoughts/Reflection: This song is fine. I like the feature verses. The song just doesn’t stick out that much for me.

-

Track 10. Put It All on Me feat. Ella Mai ★★★

Favorite Lyric: I try to be strong but I got demons/So can I lean on you?/I need a strong heart and a soft touch

Thoughts/Reflection: Falsetto. Falsetto everywhere. I love that! Ella Mai’s voice is so rich. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot more to say on this one. It’s not a song I’m playing on repeat, but I don’t skip it either.

-

Track 11. Nothing On You feat. Paulo Londra, Dave ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: You and I/Whisky on ice/Maybe later we can turn down all the lights

Thoughts/Reflection: This song is SEXY and cool…. ‘smoke clouds and the scent of perfume’.... the imagery. Man. More falsetto here. Also, please go look up the translation of Paulo Londra’s verse. Thanks. I’m sweating. Is it hot in here? This album is *sexual* 

ALSO THE ‘BRRRP’ AFTER “they keep ringing my phone”  bahahahahah 

-

Track 12. I Don’t Want Your Money feat. H.E.R. ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: I need you here for the good times and the bad times/Yeah the pullin’ out my hair gettin’ mad times/Not just the when I’m in your bed on my back times

Thoughts/Reflection: THIS IS SUCH A GODDAMN TUUUUNEEEEEE!!!!!!! I love this song so much. 10/10 jamming out to this in the car at every opportunity. Finger snappin’ cool r&b vibe. I love the super quick tempo (but not quite rap?) in Ed’s verses. And I always appreciate the little double-meaning-references in Ed’s songs - like ‘diamonds, silver or gold’ means $$$ of course, but also just success in terms of album sales performance.

TBH when I saw the title on Ed’s tracklist reveal, I totally thought this would be a slow mushy love song about how Ed’s lucky to have found someone who wasn’t into him for his money. This was a pleasant surprise!! I love that it’s a little angsty.

Five STARS bitch I love this song and y’all are sleeping on it

-

Track 13. 1000 Nights feat. Meek Mill, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie ★★★★

Favorite Lyric: Birds eye view/Pay my dues/For a two-mile queue

Thoughts/Reflection: i been ON for a thousAND NIGHTSSSSS NEW YORK TO LONDONNN DIFFERENT CITY EVERY DAYAYYY

1000 Nights: a flexy bop and I love it

This song is about the Divide tour which has been going for approximately 572 years. Not that I’m complaining.

But it’s cool (how many times have I said ‘cool’ in this post? don’t answer that). Ed loves touring and that comes out in this song. And Meek’s verse is so fun to rap along to!

Four stars.

-

Track 14. Way To Break My Heart feat. Skrillex ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: I can’t stop thinkin’ bout her/And her lips on mine, so soft/Feelings I don’t know the name of

Thoughts/Reflection: biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch.

This song is NOSTALGIC and I simply adore it. It has that same… “cozy” feel that Beautiful People does. Which is strange, considering it’s a song about heartbreak. But it’s just so. Soft. And warm. 

We’re back to super soft placement of words and such pure tone. 

It’s hauntingly beautiful. And yet uptempo! Bless, Skrillex. I especially love the drums that come in during the chorus, after “you’re still gone, and i’ll say”

PS, the soft sound of mouth smacking at :13. Use headphones.

Some of my favorite Ed songs are ones about heartbreak, and I appreciate that he included one here. About an imaginary heartbreak 👀

Take another five stars from me, bud

- Track 15. BLOW feat. Chris Stapleton, Bruno Mars ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: Hot damn/Pop it like a pistol mama/You got me down on my knees/Baby please?

Thoughts/Reflection: *laughing nervously*

Again, definitely not what I expected out of this track when the titles were all revealed. I LOVED release day on this one. The world collectively lost their shit. I need nothing more in this world than to see this song performed live, especially with a full band and Ed on an electric guitar. 

I’m still not over this loud, full, energetic song full of men bellowing about wanting to, well, fuck.

Bye

(five stars from me and also my 62 year old coworker Jan)

:::OVERALL:::

This album is SO GOOD MATE and I already cannot wait until the next collabs project! Ed blessed us with 15 amazing tracks to tide us over until Subtract comes out. They’re so different from his normal album stuff and I really love to see him try new sounds and get to create/collaborate with artists he admires so much.

it also has me real hot and bothered lmao

Thanks for coming to my tEd talk.

[moonlightreal]

Winx Club season 8/11

In which I enjoy many headcanos.

11 Treasures of Syderia

I do wish I had any Winx friends who could tell me if that last episode was really that cringeworthy or if it’s all in my head, but I’m pretty much an island in this fandom since Una di Noi closed.

But I love this show so much that I have endless hope it’ll get better!  let’s try another episode!

From the intro: “Musa ans Riven seemed to reconnect, but the peace between them won’t last long.”

-_-

Valtor’s asteroid!  A pretty cool wider angle shot so you can see the room has high thin windows and some banners or tapestries hanging up high. Valtor’s got his mark glowing above his throne, twice, and the throne is at the end of a sort of bridge over a typical Chasm of Evil with some typical Lampstands of Evil leading up to it.  Very cool, but very generic other than the mark it could be the throne room of any villain.

Also we never see any other rooms of the asteroid; do Valtor and Obscurum eat or sleep or bathe?  This is another reason my headcanon is that Valtor is really some kind of homunculus, not a human being.  He doesn’t need to eat or sleep, he recharges with only starlight.  But I bet Obscurum has a cozy little lair somewhere on the asteroid that he stuffed with pillows and cute things he steals with his portals.

...what?  This is an episode synopsis not a celebration of headcanon?  Oh, yeah I guess you’re right.

Valtor hollers for his minion.   Obscurum is down to his last chance!  “What is your plan to get rid of the Winx?”

Uh, Valtor, maybe you should do that bit instead of leaving it to your bumbling minion? Just maybe?

Obscurum’s plans: Go undercover as a Winx.  Shrink them.  “Maybe some kind of trap.”

Valtor has been making progressively more evil faces during this.  Now he summons a portal and dumps Obscurum through it.  I’m kinda bored with Valtor’s Expressions of Evil but I love the nice neat gestures as he dumps his poor minion down another hole.  It’s good clean spellcasting, just sayin’.

Obscurum falls into Super Mario and falls down a bunch of levels and gets blasted with some pixelated bombs.

Valtor has a rush of common sense to the head and decides Obscurum may need some time to think of a plan.

Cut to Alfea! Stella is asking for fashion advice but Aisha says she just wears what she wants anyway.  Flora’s on her phone, worried about her disagreement with helia the night before.  Seems they’ve never not been in synch before.  Bloom reassures her that it’s normal to disagree and Stella makes a fashion comparison.  flora’s still worried because she and Helia never have different opinions.  Bloom starts to say that this is actually a bad thing…  When we’re interrupted by Brandon sending a picture of his new hat, which Stella calls a hat-tastrophe.  Heh.  It’s a winter hat that I automatically see as the Jayne Cobb “Cunning, innit?” hat even though Brandon’s is not orange.

Tecna suggests sending an “emogix” which I think must be a Winx emogi library or app or something they have in Italy.  Aisha says talking in person is the only way to go.  Brandon sends a video of him bringing flowers and… falling into a mud puddle?  Stella says even though Brandon isn’t here she knows he’s thinking about her.  Yup, ‘cause he’s texting.

Flora worries that Helia doesn’t know she’s thinking of him and sets out to let him know.

Meanwhile at red Fountain, a school that made more sense back when it was located on the ground, Helia is brooding about how to show Flora his feelings. When in a hedge nearby a magic sparkling rose blooms.  Helia recognizes it as a message from Flora.  Ok, that’s kinda sweet.

Back at Alfea Flora is wearing a cute green and pink dress that reminds me of her season one clothes.  She gets a heart text from Helia and is happy.

Twinkle floats in carrying a magic wand and looking for help setting up party lights. Flora can’t help, she’s going to meet Helia.  But that’s ok; Twinkle, Knut and Kiko can certainly handle the giant pile of fireworks for the party!

I’ll spare you what happens, since you already know.

Twinkle: “Thaaaaaat was starsome!  Can we do it again?”

I… I can’t dislike her.  She should be so annoying, but she isn’t.

Also: a)that was a very plain magic wand, I think the first non-Mythix wand in the series other than Obscurum’s if you can call that a wand.  And b)there was a party literally last night and now you’re having another one?

Flora and Helia rust to meet, and bang into each other.  Flora says “It doesn’t matter if we don’t agree on everything.  I still believe in… us.”

Then we move to a mysterious icy world!  Make that an icy STAR, since here come the staryums!  They seem more interested in playing than sucking up starlight and Obscurum yells and them, calling them ‘useless furballs” to get them into action.  Staryums slurp the core while Obscurum sets a trap for the Winx!

The inhabitants of this star are green lumens with adorable lil bottom-fangs and bone necklaces.  Let’s call them cave-lumens.  They notice things have gone dark, and go to bed.

Obscurum pops in and uses his staff thingy to cast a spell convincing the sleeping cave-lumens that the “rainbow fairies” are baddies.  Apparently there’s a legend that there’s some treasure here on Syderia and the cave-lumens will now believe the Winx are here to steal it.

Back at Alfea Knut, Kiko and Twinkle are helping the Winx set up for a concert when Twinkle’s star detection system alerts them to trouble on Syderia! The winx seem delighted and Twinkle magics them into their space clothes.  And up we go!

Then Twinkle decides to bring Knut and Kiko along and magics them some space clothes too!  They both get skirts, and Knut is in pink while Kiko’s in green.

Headcanon: There are no male lumens, so Twinkle doesn’t get the notion of gender differences.  To her people are people, and people wear skirts!

The Winx fly through space, leaving their rainbow trail, and I guess that’s a thing in their world since Stella says, ‘I hope our rainbow gives the Syderians hope.”  so people on planets can see that the Winx are coming to rescue them?  That’s… I kinda love that idea.

The hypnotized cave-lumens, of course, see them as dangerous!

The winx switch to Cosmix to check out the star core, which Obscurum seems to have left with a little bit of light in it to create the trap.

Cave-lumens attack! The Winx fly away!

Twinkle and her unwilling passengers arrive on Syderia, but a ways from the core. They’ll have to walk.

With the Winx running away, Obscuum and his staryums return to finish off the core. Obscurum hopes the lumens will get rid of the Winx, which seems optimistic of him.  But this plan cannot fail!  Obscurum will definitely get to be king of Lumenia now!

He keeps harping on being king of Lumenia, I wonder if that’s foreshadowing...

Adorable byplay with a staryummy leaving a leftover bit of light.

The core is out, staryums flee, and Obscurum breaks the core and puts up a barrier around the lumen city!  Twinkle, Knut and Kiko arrive too late!

The Winx barricade themselves in a cave to get a little breathing room to figure out why the cave-lumens won’t stop chasing them.  Tecna uses “Cosmix analysis” to figure out that the lumens are “really sure we’re enemies, and we’re here to steal the treasure.”  So it’s a mind reading technological spell?  Cool.  Musa says they don’t even know about the treasure and Tecna guesses, ‘someone must have told them lots of lies about us.”  Stella can guess it’s Obscurum.

Weird moment where Bloom interrupts and everyone is startled.  Maybe that was something different in the Italian?  Or maybe they were just supposed to be concentrating so hard they were startled.

The girls try to fly away but bang into the barrier.  Tec realizes the star is broken and that made this barrier.  Guess it wasn’t Obscurum.

Musa: We’re trapped in a world where the residents want to vaporize us!

And here they come!

The Winx fly down and hide in a cave, and there Twinkle finds them.  She says the weird rhyme the cave-lumens keep repeating is Syderia’s nursery rhyme. So it’s not something Obscurum made up, it’s an actual rhyme about rainbow fairies stealing the treasure.

Knut and Kiko arrive, and here’s the lumens again!  But Knut knows how to handle this, because these are OGRE-lumens!  And the secret is slapstick comedy!  So Knut falls on Kiko a few times, and the ogre-lumens laugh.  The Winx look confused, which makes me want to laugh.

Tec: ‘Do you find this… funny?”

Flora: “Actually no.  But it’s working.”

Bloom has the bright idea to find the treasure and give it to the lumens to win their trust.  Luckily it’s only a few caves away!  The treasure is a mountain of glowing crystal, and Bloom has the idea to juice it up with Cosmix power and basically make it the new star core.  Cool

So they do, and then the lumens come in with Knut and Kiko tied to a stick since they ran out of ways to be entertaining.  Bloom tells the lumens that the winx never wanted to steal their treasure, and the lumens believe it. Yay, we’re friends now!

Meanwhile Obscurum is boasting how he used a silly legend about treasure to turn the lumens against the Winx, and broke the star core.  But Valtor brings up his magic-TV and shows that Syderia is still lit and the Winx are fine.  Obscurum despairs.

Why does Valtor care if the stars go out?  Seems like he should want them to stay lit so he can come back later for more starlight.

Then our villains hear Bloom ask if she can have a shard of the glowing crystal.  The head ogre-lumen is happy to oblige, and Bloom says that Orion can use the crystal to make new star cores!  This is a disaster for Team Baddies!  Obscurum is ready to leap into action, but Valtor says he’ll take care of the Winx this time, and Obscurum can go conquer Lumenia to his heart’s content.

Valtor: “Bloom’s stood in my way too many times now.  I know now, to beat the Winx once and for all, I must start with her.”

Well, that’s one way.

I think this is also the first time all season that Valtor has singled Bloom out in any way, even said her name.  that’s the other reason I think this is a different Valtor.  Season 3’s Valtor had a mystical connection to Bloom that they could both feel, because they both were connected to the Dragonfire.  The Italian website even said Valtor was in love with Bloom!  I don’t know that “love” is the right word for someone doing all the evil stuff Valtor was doing, but “creepy magic-fueled obsession,” yeah.  They had a thing.  This season, they do not have a thing.  It’s Valtor 2.0, people!

[kur0kvmi]

The Menacing Mind of Felix Lombardi- Act 1 (Revised)

“The world isn’t a fun place. Don’t let the crappy movies and comic books about superheroes saving the day fool you. The world we live in isn’t anywhere near as cool or happy as the ones we read about inside the pages of Fantastic Four, or the one we see in the confines of our favorite TV Shows. The world sucks, and we’ve single handedly manufactured so many ways to distract ourselves from that fact that the ones who put more effort into these distractions are the highest praised and most celebrated people on the planet. Artists? What does that even mean anymore? It’s just some pithy catch all  for ‘person who doesn’t want a real job, and wants to play around with writing useless fluff all day’ and-”

    “Will you shut the fuck up already?” Hi I’m the actual main character of this little short story, pardon my language but you have to admit. That jackass wasted a whole paragraph with that bullshit. Oh, where’s my manners, there’s more story to get to:

    “WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP”The hero bellow- just kidding. I said.

Like I said in the last paragraph, this guy is nothing but some sad dropout who’s angry at everything trying to explain to me in his infinite wisdom why art doesn’t mean anything. I apologize again, you’re probably extremely confused. “Why did this story start with a paragraph long intro that turned out to be a pointless diatribe?” “Who’s this guy who keeps stopping the story and speaking directly to me, doesn’t he know he’s a character in a story?” Answers to those questions are A: our wonderful author is stalling for time, and B: I’m not entirely of sound mind, that’s what my therapist, most of my childhood friends and my big brother have told me at least. However before we continue I’m going to use the next paragraph to tell you a bit about who I am.

    My name is Felix Lombardi. My parents were Italian immigrants who ran a bread shop. Two years ago they were murdered in cold blood by the mob. After that my brother Lou mysteriously came into half a million dollars, which he turned into a small fortune with pretty sound investments and now he’s helping pay my way through college. Happy ending, happy story, my life is great, except it would be if this motherfucking social reject wasn’t wasting my time at this gas station telling me how unfair the world is. Speaking of that I still need to respond to him.

    “The world isn’t fair, but that doesn’t make it a bad place. You’re just mad because life hasn’t given you everything you wanted. Try working for a change” I said in a subdued cool manner, much like a teacher in a school full of slow children would if one kid in the class began eating paint.

    “That’s easy for you to say, you’re probably some spoiled brat coasting through life on daddy’s paycheck.” Said the moron, completely oblivious to the fact that I was tacitly ignoring him and going about my business.

    I told him to back off, and I went over to the cashier and paid for the cigarettes and M&Ms I was buying. Took an exit, sat in my car and- You know what? This is getting boring and procedural. So I’m in my car, and I call my brother. He’s a nice guy, used to be a cop for a while, then he got really rich and he’s actually flipped his allegiances and turned into a bit of a crime boss. He’s a smart guy though, so he makes sure not to actively butt heads with any of the other families around, but this isn’t a Mafioso story, no no no, I apologize, this isn’t that exciting of a tale. This is a story about me, my thoughts, and how I relay them to you.

“Sup little bro”

“Hey Lou, did you get my text?”

“I was busy, couldn’t respond, still kinda busy. Something about needing money for that comic convention?” Lou said. He sounded like he was doing something physically taxing.

“You at the Gym?”

“Nope, I’m at work”

“Why do you sound out of breath”

“Information gathering is very tiresome”

Oh he’s beating up a dude for an interrogation.

“Oh you’re beating up a dude for an interrogation”

“What have I told you about talking about the job over the phone”

“Mi Scuso fratello Louis” (I’m sorry brother Louis)

“That’s Don Lombardi to you buster”

“Fat chance wise guy, so when can you send the money for the tickets?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Now if you’ll excuse me I have work to do”

[2 days later]

    My apartment is in the upper east side of Manhattan New York. It’s one of those places that looks like it was ripped straight out of a trendy sitcom that features a bunch of close knit friends getting into wacky hijinks. Fortunately for me though, I hate people, and Louie gives me enough of an Allowance to be able to survive alone and pay rent while being able to go to school. I go to a private Art School, I study Animation and I minor in sequential art, my hobbies include playing video games, posting my thoughts on the internet, watching anime, and reading Japanese firearm magazines. My favorite movie is Kill Bill Vol 1 (whoever tells you Vol 2 is better doesn’t understand film making and should kill themselves), and the kind of girl I’m looking for is one who’ll bully me and make me feel really crappy about myse- wait, sorry got lost in the sauce for a moment, I thought I was filling out a dating profile.

    Living by myself affords me the unparalleled privilege of being able to walk around my apartment in minimal clothing, and since I don’t like people, it’s very uncommon for me to have anybody over. The only people who come over are my 63 year old Landlady Ms Fujinami, and her granddaughter Ami who’s about my age. I know what you’re thinking ‘Oh, here comes the part where Felix talks about how much he likes Ami, since she’s the first female character of appropriate age to be mentioned, of course she’s the love interest’. Sorry to disappoint you fair reader, but it’s not that kind of story. You see, we’re not leaving my head. This is between you and me, I don’t need any bullshit like an “emotional arc” or “narrative depth” in my fucking story, I’m doing good being the person I’ve been all my life.

    So I’m lazing about my apartment like the sterling example of a productive citizen that I am when I get a phone call from Don Lombardi.

    “Felix you there?”

    “I wouldn’t have picked up if I wasn’t. What is it?”

    “Funny. I wonder how many jokes you’ll be making when you’re forced to shack up with a bunch of hideous college students in a prison dorm”

    “Wake up, eat, listen to Lou threaten me with student housing, go to class, come home, repeat”

    “I’m a man of habit what can I say”

    “To what do I owe this call, did you send the ticket money?”

    “I need you to make some friends Felix”

    “I need you to stop caring.”

    “You’re always couped up in the apartment, the only time you see sunlight is when you go out to buy Cigarettes, or when you have class, you don’t even talk to Ami anymore, weren’t you two friends?” I hate it when he gets like this. I don’t know why he cares about my social life. He doesn’t listen to me tell him how to do… whatever it is he does.

    “if you’re worried about my skin don’t bother, that sicilian melanin is doing me just fine” I said, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, puckering. Who said nerds can’t be sexy.

    “Calm down Ricky Martin, this is about more than sunlight. It’s about your life. Mama would cry if she saw what you are on some days” Lou said, in his bro voice.

    “Papa would cry if you knew what you did for a living” I retorted

“Would he cry or would he just break off into sicilian” Lou responded, letting out a chortle.

“PUTO RAGGAZINO” we both shouted, memories of pa and ma rushing, and bringing a silence for a good moment.

“How would I even go about making friends?” I asked, half jokingly.

    “Glad you asked. That’s why I bought you 3 day tickets to that comic book convention.” Lou boasted triumphantly.

    “How do you know I won’t just go there without talking to anybody?” I shot back with a sneer.

    “You know, when you’re in my line of business, you learn to have contingency plans. This is the part of the movie where the villain tells the hero ‘I’m glad you asked’”.

    Just at that moment, I heard three knocks at my door.

    “That should be my contingency plans”

    I  peek through my door lens just to see who’s there.

    Ami, motherfucking Fujinami.

    “The convention is this weekend right?” Lou continued. “Have fun lil bro”

    I hate my brother. I hate this. I hate you.

**End of Act 1**

[kira-the-cat]

Sing Your Heart Out

Oh look, I’m back again with more fanfiction. This time its actually not sad! Kinda. Look, just trust me on this one its not as sad as the other two I did (one of which I scheduled wrong, I thought today was wednesday not tuesday so you’ll see the second fic tomorrow.) In all seriousness, this one is a bit more lighthearted. I’m posting here first to give a buffer between what goes up on my AO3. I’m churning fics out way too fast at this point. In any case, fic under the cut. Enjoy!

"I still don't know how you managed to talk me into going along with this, Gary." Avocato said as he and the rest of the Galaxy One crew headed to a karaoke bar Gary hadn't been able to shut up about for the last few days. With the breach to Final Space closed and Earth becoming moderately populated again they felt they had more than earned an extended break. As the entered the establishment they grabbed an adequate table up near the front stage.

"Come on Avocato, you know you wanna belt out some tunes." Gary said, flagging down a waitress so they could order drinks. "Or do you have stage fright?"

"Are you hearing this Quinn?" The Ventrexian asked the ex-Infinity Guard member.

"I dunno, Avo. Gary has a point. Only someone with stage fright would dread coming here." She said.

"So what does that make you then? You didn't wanna come." Little Cato said with a smirk.

"Oh I know you aren't lecturing me shortstop, you didn't want to come either." She said.

"Guys, guys! Save your vocal cords for the stage!" Gary said. "Let's make this a bit more interesting. Why don't we make a bet. Person that gets the crowd the most excited with their singing won't have to do chores for two months."

"No chores? Count me in!" Little Cato said eagerly. Like a typical teenager he was always looking for an excuse to get out of chores and if he had to sing some rock music to do it then he definitely would.

"Hey if it means that I don't have to wash the ship every weekend I'm down." Avocato said. Karaoke wasn't really his thing but with a voice as deep as his he could easily win this by picking a good R&B song.

"Two months of just relaxing without having to vacuum up KVN's cookie crumbs? Sounds like heaven to me, I'm in." Quinn said with a smirk, determined to win. Unbeknownst to her crewmates, Quinn was a semi-professionally trained singer and had been a choir girl for years before her stint in the Infinity Guard. They didn't stand a chance.

"Then its settled! We'll draw straws to see who will be the first victim." He said, going to grab a handful of straws. The four of them drew one by one with Gary going last. "Alright, so Quinn is first, LC's second, Avocato you're third which leaves the best for last, me."

"You guys are going down." Quinn said, getting up to talk with the DJ. They all performed to varying levels of success. Quinn won the ladies over with her rendition of Broken Clocks by Sza, Little Cato got everyone headbanging with System of a Down's Chop Suey, and Avocato came to make the panties drop with Careless Whisper by Wham. All of them won over the crowd in their own ways and it seemed like there wouldn't be a clear cut winner. Gary was a bit nervous, especially since his song wasn't something flashy like the others. He also had another reason to be nervous but he pushed that aside in favor of his usual cocky facade to conceal things.

"Well you all did your best, but your best is about to be not good enough." He said as he got up from the table to head over to the DJ booth. He took a deep breath as he told the DJ what he wanted to sing, cheeks just a bit red in embarrassment. The DJ raised an eyebrow but he'd gotten weirder requests before and confirmed that he could do that for Gary. He took the mic handed to him and headed up to the stage. He could hear his pulse racing in his ears and part of him thought this was an incredibly bad idea, that he should just go pick a different song. But another, stronger part of him wanted to do it.

He stood in the center of the stage, watching the teleprompter so he wouldn't have to stare out into the crowd and panic. A hush fell over the patrons as the lights dimmed and a spotlight fell on Gary. He brought the mic up to his lips and nodded at the DJ, who started the track. A gentle piano intro started, light yet soulful at the same time before he began.

"If I could begin to be, half of what you think of me. I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love...."

He looked out into the crowd, eyes locking with Avocato's and suddenly, all doubt and anxiety washed away as he sang.

"When I see the way you act, wondering when I'm coming back. I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you. Love like you."

Avocato, as well as Quinn and Little Cato, were completely stunned by not only Gary's song choice, but also the fact that he could actually sing. The emotions Gary was holding onto couldn't be contained any longer and he couldn't stop them from pouring into the song lyrics as he sang.

"I always thought I might be bad now I'm sure that its true. 'Cause I think you're so good, and I'm nothing like you. Look at you go! I just adore you I wish that I knew.....what makes you think I'm so special....."

He didn't even realize when he stood up and walked over to the stage, all he knew was that suddenly he was face to face, eyes locked to his as he continued singing.

"If I could begin to do, something that does right by you. I would do about anything, I would even learn how to love.....When I see the way you look, shaken by how long it took I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like you. Love me, like you."

He finished softly, the piano slowly closing out as the crowd watched in silence. Gary's cheeks burned bright red as Avocato stared at him.

"Did you....did you do that for me?" He asked carefully. Gary simply nodded, mouth dry as he felt all eyes on them. He didn't even have time to react as Avocato pulled him into a kiss, the crowd erupting into cheers as they watched. When he pulled away Gary had the most delightfully dazed look on his face.

"I...take it you liked the song?" He asked, still a bit hesitant despite having just been smooched in a crowded karaoke bar by the man he spent the last three minutes serenading.

"I loved it." He said, kissing him again. After finally getting down off the stage and being bought several rounds of drinks by some very moved patrons in the bar, they headed back home. "I swear, if I knew this was what you were willing to go through just to ask me out I'd have said yes to coming sooner. You coulda just asked without going through such an elaborate set up."

"Yeah but then you wouldn't have heard me blow the minds of everyone in the crowd, win the bet, and get us free drinks." Gary boasted, full of liquid courage and feeling a bit sassy. "Which reminds me, I in fact won the bet. I got the crowd the most pumped and moved which means I don't have to do jack for the next two months."

"Hey wait, that's cheating!" Little Cato declared. "I didn't know the bet was just part of your plan to ask my dad out!"

"And since it was your plan shouldn't that automatically disqualify you from the bet?" Quinn added.

"She's got you there, babe." Avocato chimed in.

"Hey, I'm the captain of this crew! And I say the bet was still valid even though it was all part of my grand and elaborate scheme to get Avocato to go out with me!" He said. "Therefore, I still win because I said so."

"That's not at all how it works. Not even remotely."

"We should see what H.U.E has to say about your idea."

"Tough titty whompahs. And H.U.E has no say in this, I'm the captain after all!" Avocato just chuckled and shook his head, slinging his arm over Gary's shoulders.

"Whatever you say, captain. At least your plan worked." He said, kissing his new boyfriend on the cheek. Gary blushed, rather happy with how this situation turned out. Yeah they were fighting about a dumb bet he definitely, without a doubt won, but it was still a good feeling and he couldn't be happier.

So a bit of an afternote; this started as something for my Forces AU stuff but I couldn’t work the idea in because it felt too rushed for the pairing I’m trying to slow burn. But I didn’t want the idea to go to waste so I figured I’d put out another Final Space fic while the idea was still fresh. The song choices also have some importance as well. I gave Broken Clocks to Quinn because it fit her personality and Sza is bae. Chop Suey fit Lil C’s looks and personality greatly and I just wanted an excuse to have Avocato singing Careless Whisper. I also kept the song choice Love Like You for Gary because the lyrics fit his less boisterous personality and insecurities so well. Plus its one of my favorite songs from Steven Universe.

[braxarchives]

The Four Loko Incident  ― CANON. (current verse)

Max hasn’t been entirely honest with Brady about his feelings towards him. In order to gain the courage to tell him, he concocts a plan. NSFW.

It took Max all of a day after texting his twin about his self-pitying unrequited bullshit to put together a game plan in his head. When he woke up yesterday morning, he didn’t really plan on being in his feelings. But then Brady had to walk by him in one of Max’s t-shirts and smiled at him with his stupid bed-head and Max’s brain malfunctioned. Honestly, though. Maybe it was a long time coming. When Emmie had suggested he just talk to him… the thought was scary. But the alternative was scarier: letting this eat at him for even longer and ruining whatever chill he had left. And once Max had an idea in his head, he had to do it. Sleeping on things for too long wasn��t his strong suit. If he gave himself time to think things through, he’d chicken out. And that just wasn’t him. So naturally he’d thought about it. What was the least painful way to get everything out in the open and not feel the embarrassment of rejection later? And then it came to him: alcohol. “Hey, dude.” He said casually as he closed the door behind him to their apartment, cradling a bagged bottle in his hands. “You have plans tonight? ‘Cause I thought maybe we could hang out. I brought presents. Like — six different kinds of Four Loko.” He grinned and lifted the bag up some as though he could see through it. “Was thinking we could come up with our own drinking game or something.” 

Brady looked up from the TV, where he was currently sprawled out on the couch watching Parks & Rec for probably the 10th time, when he heard Max come in. “Hey,” he replied, just beginning to curiously eye the bag in Max’s hands when he explained it. Brady grinned, pushing himself to sit up. “Four Loko,” he repeated. “You’re ridiculous.” But he couldn’t even act like he wasn’t excited. The idea of a drinking game definitely piqued his interest. “Yeah. Yeah, we can figure somethin’ out.” Brady paused the episode he was currently on so he could adequately focus on the conversation. “You wanna make it a video? We’ll just…try to cut it off before you get too hammered. Don’t want your fans seeing you get too sloppy,” he teased.

Max laughed and walked over to him to set the bag down near the couch, his gaze momentarily drifting to the TV before Brady paused it.  Honestly, it was good he did pause. They’d end up getting distracted before doing anything at all. “If that’s not good enough we’ve got some Jack somewhere around here. But I don’t wanna kill us, we might lose at our own game.” He matched Brady’s tone right back and moved to sit next to him, shuffling the bag on the ground as he did so. “Oh yeah, wouldn’t want to be too on brand. Good thing I have you to protect our squeaky clean image, huh?” For once, he hadn’t even thought of doing a video. He guessed he shouldn’t stop now. Besides, as Brady said, they could cut it off when he got too messy. Nodding with a small hum, he rummaged through the bag to pull out a couple different flavors and set the cans in front of them. “Yeah! You’re a genius, man. ‘Cause I was thinking we could watch some of our old stuff. But make it fun, you know? That way you can take a shot every time I do something dumb, like I know you want to.” He teased. “And I can whenever you roll your eyes and quit. Perfect, right?”  Except for the fact that it wouldn’t be actual shots, but whatever. They made their own rules. “How much time do you need to get ready?”

“Yeah. Save that for another time.” Whatever Max had on him now was likely more than enough. “Which is why this probably won’t be edited for a good two days, to make sure I got a totally clear head to start with.” Brady could only imagine going into it and missing important bits and pieces, ending up with something super messy up on Max’s channel for the world to see. And Brady certainly wasn’t down with that. “Hm, we might have to narrow that down a lil’ bit. Taking a drink every time you do something dumb might kill me in a little under an hour,” he teased as he turned the TV off. “Go get your laptop. Gimme like five minutes.” He headed into his room so he could change his shirt. He usually didn’t exactly care what he looked like in Max’s videos, since he was partial to being entirely authentic or whatever, but he was in an old sleep shirt that really didn’t do much for him. He changed into the first clean henley shirt he found, grabbed his camera and tripod, and returned to the living room to set up. “Let’s say you take a drink every time I make a comment from behind the camera, ‘cause there’s plenty of that. Down the rest of your drink every time I threaten to quit.” Brady set the camera on the tripod and started to set up the frame. “And I take a shot every time you lose your train of thought. Down it whenever you manage to injure yourself.”

“You’re so funny, save it for the video.” Max grinned to himself and stood, waving his roommate away as he did so. “Alright, go make yourself presentable, wouldn’t want to disappoint the Brady fangirls.” He teased, before wandering off to go grab his laptop from his room. He walked by Ratthew’s cage, wiggling his fingers in his direction before grabbing the laptop and power cord from his bed. By the time he came back to the living-room, powered up and pulled up YouTube, Brady was already joining him. He briefly glanced at him, taking note of the outfit change and willing himself not to be that guy who looked a little too long. Yikes, as though this wasn’t already going to be embarrassing enough. Turning back to the screen, he found himself huffing a small laugh as he opened a few different fan-made compilations, pausing each one before they had a chance to play. “Why don’t I just down my drink now and get it over with?” He joked lightly, but wasn’t really joking, as Brady set up the camera. “Sounds good, but we’re gonna end up going through all these cans in like five minutes. I pulled up our greatest hits.” He took two cans of Four Loko, one for him and one for Brady, and popped the top. “’Kay, dude, get your ass over here so we can do our intro. We’ll save the thumbnail for after.”

Brady obviously knew Max was joking about downing his drink right away, but he still replied, “’Cause that’d ruin all the fun.” He finished setting up the camera and pressed record. “Alright, then guess we’re gonna have to break out the jack eventually,” he said simply, going over to join Max where he sat. “I dunno if we’ll manage to pull ourselves together afterward.” He had to take the realistic approach, because he had a feeling a drunken thumbnail would be a hot mess and they’d end up redoing one when they were sober anyway. “But whatever, your channel.” Brady cleared his throat and put on his best ‘on camera’ look, which was far from perfected because he still wasn’t quite used to it. “Sup guys. Uh, welcome back to my channel. My name’s Max,” he placed a hand over his chest, then gestured toward Max, “and this is my super hot cameraman Brady who’s so kindly doing a video with me.” Brady grinned at him briefly before turning away, and then wondered for a moment if the joke about himself being hot would properly land. Not that Brady hadn’t publicly stated before that he and his best bro were equally attractive, but recently it felt just a little bit different to say out loud. And he also knew from experience that Max’s fans liked to take the tiniest little thing and turn it into something much bigger. But Brady wanted all of that to be on his own terms, not up to some randos on the internet. “What’re we doin’ today, real Max?” he asked as he opened the can Max had handed him.

Max sighed, more than a little dramatically, and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean I guess. And hey maybe not, but if we can get a steady pic it’ll be good enough.” The important thing was that Brady would be in it. He was a fan favorite, even if Brady didn’t seem to like the attention like Max did. He never fully understood why. But sometimes he just wished Brady would let people see who he was more. As Brady joined him, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow. Spot on impression. I think I’d introduce you as my super hot but rude as hell camera-man Brady, but you’re honestly close enough.” He leaned back into the couch and gave the camera a little wave. “Hey everybody it’s fake Brady slash real Max. Bringing you more quality content ‘cause we’ve got nothing better to do on a Friday night. So here we’ve got some Four Loko, and on my laptop here I’ve got several fan submitted compilations. And spoiler alert, we might actually end up dying today. ‘Cause we’re going to be playing a drinking game.” He looked away from the camera and grinned over at Brady. “Rules are simple. He takes one sip whenever I lose my train of thought.” He shoots him an annoyed look, although it’s mostly playful. “Which is obviously not that often. And then he’s gonna down it whenever I injure myself. Which might be a little often.” He admitted with a small shrug. “And I’ma sip whenever he comments behind camera. Then full on downing my drink when he threatens to quit on me. Oh, and it totally counts now, too, but if you abuse it I’m disqualifying you. So don’t quit three times in a row. Or I’m gonna get up and pretend to fall like fifteen times.” He tapped him on the arm, careful not to make him slosh, and reached out to grab his own can and pull the first tab on his laptop up. “And on that note. I’m gonna start. “Max & Brady’s worst moments - part 1.” He arched an eyebrow at Brady before he started it. “How many parts do you think there are?”

“Quality content is a loose term.” They both had to admit this was going to get real stupid, real fast. But that was them for you. Brady simply nodded along with Max’s explanation, because there was really nothing to add and maybe he was still a little camera shy. But whatever. All he really had to do was sit there and look pretty and Brady was good at that. “Alright, alright. I won’t quit unless it’s warranted,” he promised. Brady watched curiously as the video started and shrugged. “I dunno, man. Probably too many.” It started with Max’s older videos, clips stitched together with far too much yelling and general idiocy. And, predictably, Brady’s comments in response. He smirked as he looked over at Max after a particularly prominent ‘this might be your dumbest idea yet’ from behind the camera. “Drink up, bro.”

He couldn’t help the genuine smile from crossing his face at their old videos. The camera was way too shaky and their content was just a bunch of yelling and doing the first thing they could think of. But they were kind of his favorites. That was one of the most fun times of his life. “Aw, look at us. We were like 12.” It was more like three years ago, but close enough. At the comment that Max had honestly been expecting, he shook his head and grinned. “Ah – wait for it, though.” He held his hand up in the air, and shortly after he spoke, the on-screen Max tumbled to the ground and completely ate it. He lifted his own can up, and pointed at Brady with his other hand. “You better drink for that bruise I had on my face for like a month. It hurt to smile.” And with that, he lifted his drink to take a small sip. “Chug it, bro, I’m freaking waiting.”

It went like that, as predicted, and four cans between the two of them were gone way too quickly. And so was Brady. “The fuck even is this shit bro?” He studied the can, as it suddenly occurred to him he’d never actually had this shit before and didn’t realize it would hit him this hard. “That was too freakin’ fast to go through two of these at once. That’s like… that’s eight whole Lokos, dude.” Brady couldn’t help the laugh that erupted as soon as he said it, his hand coming up to grab Stevie’s shoulder for support. Once he caught his breath, Brady waved said hand in the air and placed the empty can down on the table. “Okay, okay. I think it’s time we wrap this up.”

Max wasn’t expecting it to go that fast, but maybe he should have stopped to think about it. Or come up with different rules. But it was too late… and he was definitely more tipsy than he’d intended to be. He just wanted to be a little gone, not like… this much. “Uhh it tastes like an alcoholic energy drink. Or somethin’. Like freakin’… party Monster.” He snorted at his own joke, setting his empty can on the table in front of them and slinking back into the couch just as Brady spoke. He and broke out into a laugh so big he could feel it vibrate through his chest. “Shut up, you’re dumb.” Yet he grinned at him and began to sit up, his hand dropping down to Brady’s leg to use the leverage to straighten himself. And even his almost-drunk mind was well aware of their proximity, and he wasn’t really sure if it was the alcohol or a laughing Brady that wasn’t making him think clearly. “Okay…okay. Yeah.” He gave a short laugh and lifted his hand from Brady’s leg, running it over his face as he shook his head. His heart leapt in his chest, because he knew why he was even here to begin with. But they’d been having fun. And now they were drunk and he didn’t know what to do. “Okay guys I think it’s safe to say we’re both losers here. That’s all the sign-off you get. I’m…kinda drunk. A little.” He looked to Brady. “But uh. Not that drunk.” He swallowed, not nearly as humorous as before, but not trying to alarm him by a sudden change in tone. “Hey dude? Can I be honest with you for a second?”

Max was a mess. That was all Brady could think as he watched him give a half-assed outro, just slightly slower than usual. But Brady himself was just as bad, ducking his head and damn near giggling through it. He did manage to look back up at the camera when Max said he was drunk to add, “Same.” And then Max looked at him and of course Brady’s focus shifted. It was a little weird, the sudden (but subtle) shift in the mood of the conversation, but not the kind of weird that made Brady want to run away before things got too serious. Although… maybe that had something to do with the crazy amount of alcoholic energy drink in his system, because he almost knew where this was going before it got there. And that was dumb, since he’d spent all this time pretending not to notice the way Max looked at him sometimes and also acting like it didn’t make a difference to him. He didn’t know when he realized he was attracted to him, but it was long enough ago that Brady had gotten really, really good at pretending. Max was too close to him, one of the most secure constants in his life, and Brady wasn’t gonna let his dumbass fuck that up. But Max was crossing the line so Brady didn’t have to. “Yeah,” was all Brady managed to say through the fog clouding his brain. He wanted to say as long as it’s not stupid, a last-ditch effort to run away from the inevitable. Instead, he swayed a bit in his seat and said, “Anything.”

Max wasn’t sure how Brady would respond to the change in subject, but when he didn’t seem phased, part of him was almost surprised. He didn’t think he’d want to listen right now. But then he agreed and gave him that look again; the one that made him feel like he wasn’t crazy after all. He didn’t always get it from him, but when he did, Stevie couldn’t help how it made him feel. Fucking Brady messing with his head like this when he was already mush-brained. The all-too familiar sensation of longing settled into his gut, and it was then that he gained his resolve. Now or never. He seemed so much closer now, and he had to fight to not lean over to him and go too far. “I didn’t — do this for the freaking video, Brady.” He struggled to make sense, and he ended up leaning in some regardless, tone lowering as though he were telling a secret. Because that’s what this felt like. Max’s shoulders slouched a little from the alcohol, and he shook his head so he could try to think clearly. “I wanna know. I want to know.” His words were spoken slowly as he corrected himself. He wanted to reach out and touch him, and he lifted his hand to do so, before choosing to settle it between them. Even in his state of mind right now he knew this was one hell of a delicate situation. “If I kissed you…” The words were so foreign to say around him, even if he’d thought about it before. But now he couldn’t take them back. His head swam with anxiousness, but he also felt a sense of pride at having done it. So he repeated it, making sure Brady heard him. “If I actually… really kissed you. Would you never talk to me again?”

Brady swallowed, noticing how unbelievably dry his throat was. “I don’t…” He didn’t what? Didn’t want to ruin their friendship by admitting he wanted to sleep with him? Didn’t want to fuck up something to good in his life? Didn’t want to make things awkward between them forever? He recognized that saying any of that was the surest and quickest way to make it happen, because the damage had been done. Max had said his part, had put himself out there and opened up the flood gates and now it was Brady’s turn to decide what to do with it. He was dizzy, mostly because he was drunk but also partly because he was moving, leaning forward with an arm over the back of the couch to steady himself so he could kiss him. He was all too aware of how drunk they both were, especially considering how clumsily his hands found Max’s face, and just… what the fuck. Brady didn’t know what to think, except that he technically hadn’t answered Max’s question. But he was hoping he got the picture.

Max hadn’t exactly expected the night to go like this. He expected Brady to pull away from him; to make up any and every excuse to not be around him. But he wasn’t doing any of that, and suddenly he was hyper-aware of everything. Feeling Brady’s arm slide around the back of the couch urged Max to lean in to close what distance was left between them. The moment his friend finally kissed him was surreal, and he couldn’t really think of much of anything other than how freaking soft his lips were and how nice his hands felt on his face even if they kind of bumped against him. Max’s hands didn’t feel so steady themselves, but he still used one to grab the fabric of that ridiculous Henley of his and tug him in closer. The other raised to cup Brady’s own jaw as he reciprocated the kiss; all caution gone now. He broke apart briefly, eyes shut, and he laughed quietly as he licked his bottom lip. His eyes opened only for his gaze to drop down to Brady’s mouth. “Really like that answer.” He said quietly, but sure as hell wasn’t going to say any more and ruin this. He brought himself closer, knee bumping against Brady’s as he pressed another kiss to his lips, hand cupping his jaw now sliding to the back of his neck to steady him.

Max closed the already very little distance between them even further and Brady suddenly felt a sense of urgency. Like he was reminded that this really was an okay thing to be doing, and fuck if he didn’t really, really want it. He pulled away and dragged his hands down to Max’s shoulders to urge him backwards, simultaneously trying to move on top of him, but he very quickly lost his balance and tumbled right into Max, pushing him much harder than intended onto his back on the couch. “Oops.” Brady couldn’t help but laugh just before pressing another kiss to his lips. Then he planted his hands to push himself back up slightly. He hesitated for a moment, feeling all sorts of dizzy as he looked down at Max, but he bit his lip and touched Max’s shirt, pulling the fabric just a little. “You…” He swallowed. “Tell me to stop if it’s—if you don’t want me to,” he said slowly, the slur in his words surprising even himself for a moment. Even when he could barely see straight, he knew better than to just assume where this was going simply because it was what he wanted. Brady bunched up the fabric in his hands to start to pull it off, knowing Max had an out if he wanted it, no questions asked.

Max was fully ready to lose all control and climb on top of Brady when his shoulders were being pushed backwards. Caught off guard, he hit the couch harder than perhaps he needed to. His head slamming on the cushion and back bouncing from the impact. Unable to help it, Max let out a large laugh, something that was quickly silenced by Brady’s lips on his. He smiled into the kiss, and almost deepened it when his friend broke apart. And the words honest to God made him pause for a second. If he wanted…him to stop. Wow. Really. “You’re. So.” Unbelievable. He let out a laugh of disbelief, although the comment was sweet. Max had wanted this for way too long. “More like if you wanna stop we can.” He murmured, and took a second to slide his hand up Brady’s back. He wasn’t sure what was going on. Max never thought that they’d actually get drunk, or do anything like this. He just wanted to tell him so Brady could once and for all reject him. But now that he wasn’t — he was going to fully embrace that and not question things for once. But if Brady wanted to stop, he’d stop.

Now though? Max was eagerly lifting himself up so they could both pull his shirt over his head. “Don’t wanna stop.” He reached out grab Brady’s shirt and bunched the bottom of the material in his hands, palms sliding up the skin of his torso as he tried to remove the material completely. And then Max was sitting up, despite kind of loving Brady being right on top of him. But he had more pressing business. Maybe a little sloppily, he met Brady’s lips once more and wrapped his arms around his waist, before slowly flipping their positions. Not thinking clearly, he barely processed the fact that they were both sliding off the couch and to the ground, the Four Loko cans scattered around them. But Max barely even paid attention. Now on top of Brady, he lifted himself up with his hands so he could look down at him. Holy crap Brady was really here doing this with him. Something at that moment clicked in him, and he grinned slowly. “Fuck you Brady. I hate your stupid clothes.” Max dipped his head for another slow kiss before dropping his head lower, finally allowing himself to trail kisses from his jawline to his neck as his hands trailed down to his waistline, thumbs stroking against his skin as he took his time. This was really happening.

Brady wanted to make some sort of comment, but not only could his brain not currently form one, he was a little preoccupied at the same time. He tossed Max’s shirt…fuckin’ somewhere, it didn’t matter, and only had a second to take it in before reacting to Max’s hand sliding up under his own. Brady yanked it over his head and it joined Max’s somewhere on the floor. Then Max quite literally dragged him onto the floor and Brady couldn’t even think to remind Max that he was, in fact, dumb. He did manage to roll his eyes, though, but grinned in spite of it and mumbled, “Then get rid of ‘em.” He shivered when Max’s hands paused right above the waistband of his sweats, his lips on his neck and sending Brady’s drunk ass into sensory overload. He groaned before his brain caught up to allow him to swallow the sound, but then… he didn’t give a fuck.

Brady’s hands came down to join Max’s, only to push them out of his way so he could hold onto Max’s hips instead. He gave him a generous tug to pull Max flush against him, pressing his fingers into his skin. If he was gonna be a smartass about not wanting to stop, then Brady wasn’t gonna let him be a tease. Only he wasn’t crazy about lying here on the floor, wedged between the couch and the table. He let out a shaky breath before managing to speak. “C’mon.” He started wiggling out from under Max, pushing him off so he could sit up. “Not on the floor.” He held onto the couch for leverage as he pulled himself to stand, laughing as he struggled to get his balance. God, they really were both a goddamn mess. As if Brady cared. He knew what he was doing. Max’s room was closest, so obviously it was where Brady went. He shut the door behind them even though literally no one was gonna be coming in, then turned and pulled Max by the hand until he could feel his bare skin against his own, bringing their lips together as he led them in the general direction of Max’s bed.

When Brady groaned, practically right in his ear, that did him in. “Want me to?” He drawled out in response and grinned against Brady’s neck, giving a playful nip to the skin before soothing it with his tongue. Max’s fingers dipped under the waistband of Brady’s sweats just slightly, only teasing, when Brady pushed his arms out of the way and pulled his hips forward. A groan broke from the back of Max’s own throat as they were pressed together. He was already half-hard from that stint on the couch, but now there was no hiding it. At that moment, his eyes met Brady’s, and he rolled his hips forward against his without skipping a beat. He wasn’t going to be shy; not when Brady finally wanted this too. Before he had time to do it again, Brady was urging him to stand up. And they both may have stumbled, but Max honestly had a one track mind right now. They made their way to his room, and out of instinct Max pulled the cover loosely over Ratthew’s cage as they walked by. Pretty quickly, Brady had the door shut behind them and was pulling him in by his hand. And then they were pressed together - finally. Max’s hands found either side of Brady’s face, lips urgently moving against his as they made their way over to his bed. He broke apart only to grin at him, sliding his hands down to his chest only to gently push him backwards. This time he didn’t waste any time before he was climbing up on his bed and straddling him, hips pressing down on his as he leaned in for another kiss, letting it linger before trailing open-mouthed kisses down his chest and to his stomach. Max stopped there, letting his nose graze against the spot his lips just brushed over, and glanced up again. “Bein’ in my room isn’t so bad, is it?” He teased, tone rough and still slightly slurred. Still, being careful to watch his reactions, he slid a hand down Brady’s hip and over the front of his sweats, just brushing over him to test the waters. And damn if he didn’t hear his own heart thundering in his ears as he did so.

-------Brady had no idea what time it was when he first woke up the following morning. It was bright as fuck, that was for sure, and he very quickly realized it was because the curtain was wide open. Why hadn’t he closed it like always? He rubbed his eyes as reality slowly started to come back to him. He hadn’t closed it because he had been drunk off his ass, and also because it wasn’t exactly ‘like always’ since this was Max’s room, and he was waking up in Max’s bed next to Max because they’d slept together last night. So, right. There was that. Brady blinked as he stared down at his friend, still fast asleep, lying on his stomach and hugging the pillow under his head. Even through Brady’s hazy memory and one hell of a headache, of course it all came flooding back to him. The way it felt when Max touched him, the feeling of his mouth on him, the hottest fucking look on Max’s face when Brady returned the favor. God. All of it. It was fucking good. He also vaguely remembered a snide remark about the whole ordeal having taken them long enough just before he passed out. But whatever.

He couldn’t wipe the smug smirk off his face as he forced himself to finally look away from Max and drag himself out of the bed, careful not to wake him. He found his pants on the floor and tugged them on before heading out to the living room. He shook his head at the discarded cans (which he’d worry about later, ‘cause whatever, not like anybody was coming over) and then caught sight of his camera. Right, he’d forgotten about the freaking video for Max’s channel. The battery was just about dead since Brady had been a dumbass and left it on all night. He sighed and picked it up to make sure the video was at least still there, and he was met with one over an hour long. Which was definitely unusual for them — they didn’t typically talk for that long. Brady furrowed his brow as he quickly skimmed through the video, and his heart dropped as he discovered that…everything had been recorded. Well, everything right up until going to Max’s room, after which it must have automatically stopped after surpassing the video time limit. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered as onscreen-Brady pushed Max down onto the couch. He weirdly felt like kind of a perv just standing there watching their accidental kind of sex tape, so he turned off the camera and took out the battery to start charging it before heading to the kitchen. He didn’t have the slightest clue how today would pan out, but he did know he just wanted some Lucky Charms at the moment.

Max was hardly coherent when he finally began to stir. It took a moment upon first waking up to truly get his bearings. And as the light harassed his vision, his memories began to come back to him. And his eyes opened, followed by his arm reaching back to the spot beside him. Empty. Oh no. With some difficulty, he sat up and looked at the now empty spot next to him, and dread immediately gathered in the pit of his stomach as he called the previous nights events. Brady kissing him… Him kissing Brady. Then them doing a lot more than that to each other. And he knew Brady wasn’t the type to wanna spoon him or hold his hand or whatever but his mind immediately went to the worst. Groaning as fully sat up and the sunlight hit his eyes, Max stood up and stretched his arms over his head, trying to soothe his stiff muscles before grabbing himself some sweatpants to tug on.

Walking over to the door, he uncovered Ratthew’s cage, smiling softly to himself as he looked up at him and squinted due to the sudden light entering his cage. “Moment of truth, buddy.” Max tapped his fingers to the side of the cage, then ran his other hand through his hair and walked out. He wasn’t sure if he was expecting to see Brady packing his stuff, or what. But he didn’t expect him to be…. eating cereal. And it was the same thing he saw every morning, but the sight still kind of made him smile anyway. “Uh. Morning.” He said cautiously as he walked in and approached the table as casually as he could. Nothing weird so far. It wasn’t until he got there that he noticed the box in front of Brady, and he squinted, fear forgotten momentarily as he reached out to lift up the plastic bag. Just as he expected. Empty. “Are you really eating the last of my Lucky Charms right now, dude?”

Brady looked up when Max entered the kitchen. He thought that when they saw each other, he might feel weird, or awkward, or a multitude of other emotions that would fuck things up between them, but instead Brady just felt… normal. It was the same sight he was used to seeing every day. Same roommate. Same general morning routine. The only thing different was that nothing was hidden anymore, and he’d probably argue that was going to make things easier. “Sup,” he said through a mouthful of cereal. He watched Max as he walked, and it occurred to Brady that literally all he was thinking of now was whatever was going through Max’s head. They’d probably have to really sit down and talk about this sometime soon. Right now was just not that time, especially not when Max wanted to pick a fight about the Lucky Charms. “Dude, they’re not your Lucky Charms,” he shot back. “What did you want me to do, make a new box magically appear? I’ll go get some more today.” If anything could be considered totally normal between them, it was this, without a doubt. Brady finished off the last of the cereal in his bowl and hesitated for a moment, wondering what he should say or if he should say anything at all, and here was that awkwardness he’d been expecting. Or maybe it wasn’t awkward so much as it was…tense. “So. Realized this morning I left my camera on all night.” The worst thing he could say? Perhaps. But he was feeling confident that this could maybe cut some of that tension. Maybe. He didn’t fucking know. “It recorded…for a while.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, peering at Max curiously to see if he’d figure it out on his own.

Maybe he was deflecting, just a little, by pointing out the empty cereal box. But at the same time, he couldn’t resist messing with Brady a little. It was instinct by now to tease him until he rolled his eyes at him, even if he told himself to stop doing that before he got punched one of these days. He still did it anyway though. “Fine. Our lucky charms.” Max shrugged, Brady’s tone not phasing him ‘cause he was honestly used to it. If this were a normal day, he’d grab the spoon when Brady wasn’t looking to take a bite for himself. But it felt kind of out of place after last nights events. Oddly enough, considering he’d just had way more important things of Brady’s in his mouth. He sighed. “It’d be nice if you could. Got any magic powers I should know about?” He couldn’t help his normal grin from taking place at that moment, until Brady went and mentioned the camera. The camera. Of freaking course….God, Max was an idiot. Max took a long, silent moment, as the words really and fully sunk in. And the first question that popped in his head was did Brady watch it? The second coherent thought was the fact that Brady was actually referencing what happened without any trace of panic. And at that realization, Max relaxed. Good sign. He wracked his brain trying to come up with a normal response. But his stupidity bravery was at an all time high. “Hot. You wanna save it just for us or post it up on PornHub?” Max leaned his hands on the counter, honestly bracing himself and shaking his head. “Sorry, sorry. I’m… wow.” He couldn’t help but start laughing a bit. “I never thought you’d want to make a sex tape with me.” He let it hang in the air, and he met Brady’s gaze, not really sure how to respond. He was torn between humor and regret. Maybe he was still drunk from all the Four Loko. “How do you… feel about that?” It was a loaded question, one that wasn’t necessarily about the camera or video.

Brady waited while the gears turned in Max’s head. He could practically see him putting the pieces together about what Brady had just said. And Max had been surprising him quite a bit within the past 24 hours, but his response? Not surprising. It was Max, after all. But Brady still rolled his eyes, because he was Brady. “You’re such an idiot.” Then he shrugged. “It wouldn’t even do well, for the record. S’not all that exciting.” From what he had seen before feeling creepy and also managed to remember. But it was fun to mess with Max. Brady went to the sink to clean up after himself when Max asked him how he felt, and he knew he wasn’t talking about a fucking sex tape or whatever. Except Brady didn’t really know what to say in response. He thought he made it pretty clear how he felt about what was going on last night. He also knew Max, though, and knew that he had a big heart and genuinely wanted to know, and deserved real answers. And while Brady might not have been able to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear (mostly because he still wasn’t entirely sure what that was), he could suck it up and be as honest as possible — and give him a little bit of shit in the process. “I feel like I wanna know why you were holdin’ out on me,” he finally settled on, because again, both honest and amusing. Brady turned and brushed his hands on his pants. “Gonna go get dressed and go to Starbucks. Text me what you want.” He started to head out of the kitchen toward his bedroom, but paused to turn and look at Max again. “Oh — and the battery’s gotta charge a little, but…camera’s on the coffee table, in case you wanna make sure your vid turned out okay.” And then he finally did go. They could truly deal with this later. Right now, they both needed coffee.

Max was honest to God, for the first time in a long time, speechless. Did that asshole just flirt back? He was about to say something when Brady added the bit about the camera. Max honestly wasn’t even thinking about the video right now. His hands laid flat on the counter as he leaned forward further, eyes flickering towards the living-room and the table where the camera sat. Damn. He was really going to have to go through it now and get rid of the embarrassing bits. Max wasn’t sure if Brady was just trying to mess with him or genuinely didn’t want to edit it out himself. “Hey, wait a minu—” But it was fallen on deaf ears as the door was slammed behind him. It took him a second after Brady leaving for a surprised smile filtered over his face. Well. Okay, then. Not exactly all the answers to the universe, but at least Brady was talking to him, and that was enough for him for now. He sighed and looked back in the direction of where they’d filmed last night. He’d mess with the whole camera thing later. But he really was gonna need that coffee Brady was talking about. And maybe a shower and a life. Max ran a hand through his hair and made his way back to his room to grab his phone. Pulling up Brady’s name, he shook his head to himself before sending his text.

“Surprise me, Bradley.”

[fatherdavid]

@maracamilkshake

Nervous laughter. Right so this one kind of got away from me. 

Title: Good Morning

Pairing: Jasper/David a lil but could also be platonic.

Genre: Angst (but not too bad)

Word Count: 3,183

Warnings: Cuss words but dude you watch camp camp so

Summary: above ^

(Did I do the fic intro thing right?)

“Good morning, asshole.”

               “Oh, hey. Good morning Max,” David said absentmindedly. He patted Max on the head. As he did so, his hand seemed to weigh the same as the entire world and when he pulled it away it fell limply at his side. Max might have said something snarky in response, but he noticed the way David’s shoulders drooped and his head hung a little. He had also heard the flatness to his tone of voice. Max watched as his counselor kept walking to nowhere in particular.

               Max shrugged to himself and turned to walk away, but something pulled him back. There was something wrong with David. He rolled his eyes. Why should he care what was wrong with him? It was probably something stupid, like his favorite log getting lost or something. Though Max was telling himself these things, he found he couldn’t get himself to leave to continue doing… whatever he had been doing. He thought back to the night of the bonfire. David wanted to care, and be optimistic, and had succeeded for so long, whatever had managed to knock him out of whack must have been pretty big.

               Max headed after David. He told himself it was because he was curious, but even he didn’t believe that.

               “David?” Max called out in general. He was walking through the middle of the camp and couldn’t see where he had disappeared to. Gwen looked up as he spoke.

               “Max? You’re looking for David?” she asked, disbelieving.

               Max rolled his eyes, “Ugh. Yes. Do you know where he went?”

               Gwen gestured toward a random part of the forest, “I saw him head off over there somewhere.”

               Without another word, Max headed off in the direction she’d indicated. It didn’t take him long to see David’s lanky figure trekking through the woods. He was, after all, moving at the break neck speed of a snail.

               “David!” Max called. When he kept walking, Max called louder, “David! What the Hell, man? Turn around!”

               David stopped walking and did as he was told. He watched as Max caught up to him and then he smiled weakly, “Oh, Max. It’s you. I haven’t seen you in a while, how are things?”

               Max stared at him. “Okay,” he said, “ignoring the fucked up implications of that. David. What’s wrong with you?”

               David sighed and rubbed his temple, “Language. And nothing is wrong with me.”

               “Oh, you’re right, because you’re totally acting like your same Mr. Sunshine McSunFuck self,” Max said sarcastically.

               “Max please.”

               “You could have fooled me, David, really. I thought, actually, that you were maybe a little too cheerful, so that’s why I was checking up on you,” Max continued. “I mean look at you, you’re practically skipping through these trees here you’re so fucking happy to be alive right now.”

               “Alright, what do you want from me?” David asked. He sounded angry.

               Max lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He found himself thinking of the David at the bonfire again. He really didn’t like that David. After a second, he regained his composure. “I want to know what’s wrong.”

               David’s face matched Max’s same one of surprise. He looked off to the side and rubbed his arm, “Remember that story I told you guys about in the car ride in the hospital?”

               Max snickered, “You mean the car ride past the hospital?” He smiled. David didn’t say anything. Max coughed. “Yeah, I remember.”

               “That kid Jasper… Well, it’s the anniversary of his death today. And I don’t know I…” he took a deep, shaky breath, “…I know it was a long time ago, but when this day comes back every year it still gets to me.”

               Max’s mouth was parted slightly. He shook his head, “Woah woah woah… You mean that’s the Jasper?”

               David turned his head sharply and looked at Max again, “What do you mean the Jasper?”

               Max bit his lip, “What did Jasper look like?”

               David’s eyes were starting to water. “I don’t think that matters Max. This isn’t funny.”

               “No David, really, I think I know him. See, Nikki, Neil, and I—,”

               David cut him off, “You know, Max, for a second I thought you really cared about me. For just a second. But, whatever, I guess it’s my fault  for thinking such a thing of you. I should have known you would have just wanted to make some kind of joke about this. Go back to the camp.”

               Max looked crestfallen. He really should have gone about explaining this in a different way, “No, David, I promise—,”

               “Go back to the camp!” David yelled. “And don’t you or any of your friends come looking for me!” He turned and stalked away further into the trees. Max reached out a hand towards him, then stopped. He knew there was no use. David would never believe him. Hell, Max himself hardly even believed it himself. True to what the camper had told him, he turned and ran back to the camp.

-

               “Holy shit, so it is the same guy!” Nikki said excitedly. “This is amazing. We should show David! You know how great that would be? Closure and all of that.”

               “You thought it was the same Jasper?” Max asked.

               “Well, yeah, how many Jaspers do you think wander through this place? I mean, I wasn't sure but I thought maybe.”

               Max laid down on the rickety old bed next to her, “Yeah, wow, I guess I just never made the connection.”

               “I mean I realized they had the same name,” Neil said. He was sitting neatly on the floor, his back against the wall of the cabin, “but I never thought they were the same guy. I mean, you’d think David would have mentioned something like that, or at least sounded upset talking about it.”

               “Ehh, who knows Neil,” Nikki said. She was laying on her back with her head hanging over the edge of the bed, her pigtails flowing onto the floor. “It’s David. He’s always happy about stuff.”

               “Well he isn’t today,” Max said. He grabbed his hair in his hands, “Ohh how could I have done this? I tried to help the guy and all I did was make it worse.”

               “Maybe you should have tried to make it worse, maybe you would have helped him somehow,” Neil suggested.

               “Ooh yeah!” Nikki cheered. “Let’s do it! Let’s ‘make it worse’!”

               “Nikki, no offense, but I don’t really want to do that,” Max said.

               “No, I don’t mean make it worse, I mean ‘make it worse’,” this time, she demonstrated with air quotes, “you know?”

               “Like reverse psychology?” Neil offered.

               “Nah, I was thinking more along the lines of a kidnapping.” Nikki said.

               “I mean, as great as an idea as that is, maybe we could save it for another day. I’m telling you guys, he’s really fucked up right now,” Max said.

               “Man, you guys really are not finding my wavelength right now,” Nikki said. She rolled over onto her stomach. “We gotta kidnap him and take him to Spooky Island, then show him Jasper. Then he’ll see Max was being genuine, for whatever reason, and he’ll get to talk to his buddy again! Easy.”

               “Since when was kidnapping someone easy?” Neil asked.

               But Nikki had already stood up and was putting on her shoes, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

-

               “Are you sure this is going to work?” Neil said uncertainly, standing waist deep in the water.

               “Of course it’s going to work, because I came up with the plan,” Nikki said confidently. “Now, I’ll go find David, he’s probably in there hugging a tree or something. Just paddle out pretty far but not so far that you won’t hear me. When I yell your name, that’s your cue to start drowning, okay?”

               “I don’t see why I have to be here,” Max said. He was laying on his back in the bottom of the canoe they’d brought out with them.

               “Because if David sees you he’ll probably think it’s a trick!” Nikki said, “Now, stay down!”

               Max sighed, “Fine. I’ll catch up on my zzz’s then.” He closed his eyes. He didn’t mind laying down there, really, the canoe was big and he fit pretty well. The only problem was he was angry he couldn’t have come up with something on his own. He shouldn’t have to come up with anything, he realized. A normal person could have just talked to David about it and that would have been enough.

               Neil got in the canoe and started paddling. After a few moments, he said, “Ugh, can’t you at least help me get out there?”

               “Sorry,” Max said, “Nikki might get back sooner than we expect and then the whole mission would be blown.”

               Neil sighed, “Yeah, sure, whatever.” He switched back and forth from rowing on the left to the right, trying to keep it in a straight line, or at least straight enough so that they didn’t go in a circle.

               “What if I actually drown?” Neil said, looking over the edge of the canoe into the water.

               “Well, if you’re actually drowning, just call my name and I’ll know something is wrong and save you,” Max said.

               Neil snorted, “My hero.”

               Max glared up at him from his spot on the floor, “Or, I’ll let you die. Your choice.”

               Neil opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off but a loud, eardrum tearing, “N E I L!” echoing back at them. For a moment, Neil did nothing.

               “Holy shit she’d loud,” he said, amazed. “At this distance that’s… that shouldn’t be possible.”

               “Oh, get off the fucking canoe,” Max said, kicking his ankles.

               “Oh, right!” Neil said. He quickly jumped overboard, knocking the canoe over a considerable amount and letting a bunch of water in. Max groaned.

               “Neil you fucking bastard—,”

               “NEIL!” Nikki screamed again from the beach. “Look, David! There he is! He’s going to drown! You have to swim out there and help him!”

               Max couldn’t see, but he assumed David swam in after them. A surprisingly quick amount of time later, Neil was being thrown over back into the canoe. David hoisted himself effortlessly into the vessel and sat on one of the seats. He helped Neil sit up. The canoe shook dangerously.

               “Are you alright Neil?” David asked. There was at least a little bit of bravado back into his voice, Max noticed.

               “Yeah, I’m good,” Neil said carelessly, if not a little winded.

               “Woo!” Nikki cheered from the water. “Hey, give a girl a hand!”

               David leaned over to pull her into the canoe and Neil leaned the opposite direction to stop it from flipping. Max sat up from his spot in the corner behind David.

               “Well, that did work.”

               David turned around, “Max?! Oh, no. This was just a trick? Are you kidding me?”

               Nikki grabbed his arm, “No! David! It’s not! I mean, it is, but trust us!” She smiled sweetly at him.

               “Yeah, come on David, it’s not like we had anything else to do today,” Neil said.

               “Actually, we had plenty of camp activities planned today. And I’m very upset you guys would fake something so serious for a prank,” David said. He looked around for an oar but Neil and Nikki already had them and were paddling them over to Spooky Island.

               “Oh really? What did you have planned, then? Do tell us,” Max said, grinning slyly.

               “Well we…” David hesitated. “We were going to… No, we did that last week. Or we had… No, that was yesterday.” He stopped. “Alright, fine, but you better not be planning my murder or anything.” David crossed his arms and turned his back to Max, staring empty-eyed as the island got closer.

               They arrived at the island and docked the canoe easily as they had last time. Nikki took the oars out and carried them in front of her. She glared at David as he opened his mouth to say something to her. “Nope! You don’t get to row back! You’re coming with us.”

               David frowned, “Nikki that isn’t necessary. I’m not going to leave you guys here stranded. Imagine what kind of camp counselor I would be.”

               “The best one ever,” Max said sincerely. David ignored him and follow Neil and Nikki into the trees. Max shoulders slumped and he followed behind, a little slower than the other three.

               “Jasper!” Nikki called. “Jasper! It’s us, remember? You can come out.”

               “Yeah Jasper come on! We aren’t going to hurt you!” Neil called.

               “We can’t hurt him, dumbass,” Max retorted.

               “Oh, so you’re admitting ghosts are real, then?” Nikki teased.

               David was walking with his head down and his hands clenched at his sides. He clearly was just trying to humor the kids so that they’d row him home, Max realized. Guilt tugged at his heart. What if they were wrong?

               “Jasper please for the love of all that is nature don’t make us go back into that house to try and find you,” Nikki begged. “I know ghosts can move around pretty far from the place they died so you’re not fooling anyone.”

               They walked on in silence for a few more minutes.

               “Look, Jasper, you jerk, I will march right back into that sex cave if I have to,” Nikki threatened.

               “Okay, okay, as much as I want to make you do that, I won’t,” a sweet young voice said. David stopped walking and looked up. Max stepped up next to him to see that his face was streaked with tears. He flinched, but looking forward, he could see the hazy outline that was the Jasper they’d met before. He sighed with relief. They were right.

               Right?

               David’s face was blank. Max watched him stare at the ghost. Did he not recognize him?

               Nikki and Neil stepped aside to open the path between David and Jasper. David fell to his knees, his hands clasp over his mouth.

               “Jasper,” David said, “It’s been so long… I… I’m so sorry.”

               Jasper stepped up to him and smiled, “Aw, Davey, there’s nothing for you to be sorry for. It’s okay, really.”

               David put his hands on his knees. Fresh tears were falling from him eyes now. “Why are you still here?”                

               Jasper closed his eyes, “My job on this earth isn’t yet done. I still have a final mission I must complete before I can leave this place, to rest forever in peace.”

               David set his face in a determined line, “Well, what is it? Whatever it is, I’m sure we can help you.”

               Jasper smiled sadly at him, “Oh, Davey, I have no idea what it is. That’s why I’ve been wandering. I know whatever it is I must do is within the limits of this island… This place. Whatever it is, it will come to me with time. That’s the thing about being dead, time doesn’t seem to matter as much.”

               “There has to be some-something I can do,” David wiped his face but it didn’t help for long. “Jasper I’m s-so so-sorry.”

               Jasper reached forwards and grabbed David by the wrists. He slid his hands down until he was holding David’s and he squeezed them tightly. “Davey there isn’t, I promise. All you can do is rest easy knowing that one day… somehow… I will get my revenge.” He smiled wickedly.

               “Do you want me to send them over here? I have a few rascals who are pretty good at tricking people to getting to this island,” David offered quietly, looking at their hands in between them.

               “All will happen when it must,” Jasper said softly, “don’t you go worrying yourself over me. Now go and shine your beautiful light on people like you’re so good at, Davey.” He took a step forwards and pressed a kiss onto David’s forehead. David gasped softly and looked up, but by the time he had, the ghost was gone.

-

The ride back to the camp was quiet, and a little strained. No one was uncomfortable, but they were all clearly trying to stop themselves from bombarding David with questions about what had happened with Jasper. Most importantly, at least to Max, was who the kid needed to get revenge on.

The rest of the campers and Gwen were happy to see them back. Gwen even gave David a hug, though a small one, then scolded him for leaving his duties. David just smiled crookedly at her and apologized. Everyone pestered David about where they had all gotten off to. He stammered through a few sentences trying to come up with a plausible excuse.

“We were helping David get firewood,” Max said easily. “He wanted to have a fire tonight. I mean, it’s not going to be epic-gasoline-bonfire level, but it’ll be pretty cool.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” said Gwen, sounding a little like she thought it wasn’t a great idea.

It was a little awkward trying to quickly come up with the firewood they’d supposedly spending all day gathering. Max and Neil brought up a few sticks they found lying on the ground and David used them to get the fire started. Nikki showed up a few minutes later with a bunch of hunks of wood and even full logs. She tossed these down next to the pit and wiped her hands off.

“More where that came from!” She announced. “See, we found a bunch all together, so we started a pile in the woods.” She grinned at everyone and took off back into the trees.

They kept the fire going past the sun setting and the stars coming in. Nikki, David, and a few of the other campers had drug big logs and things over to use as chairs around the fire. After that day, it would be a popular spot for the campers to gather after dark. They would often talk and tell stories. Sometimes advanced magic tricks were done, even better in the uncertain light of the fire. Other nights skits were put on. One was about two princes fighting to the death, and the sound of cardboard swords smacking against each other echoed across the horizon. It was a place where their harsh exteriors seemed to melt away and the campers let themselves just be who they were.

Max sat next to David on the trunk of a long dead tree as the campers talked around them.

“I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you,” David said. “That wasn’t fair.”

“It kind of was,” Max said, laughing, “Do you know me? I’m terrible.”

“Aw, Max. You have good in you, you know that. Look at the extent you and your friends went to get me to that island. I don’t think I know anyone else who would do something like that for me.”

Max crossed his arms, embarrassed. “Yeah well don’t expect it all the time you know.”

David laughed and tussled his hair loosely. Max brightened at his touch and smiled up at him. David smiled back. “Thank you, Max.”