#if i see ONE comment asking where bicycle is I will make a list of the WORST songs of 2021

[mochinek0]

Handy

Lila glared at Marinette as she complained to Alya about something boring; she was sure of it. She could see the frustration radiating off the baker's daughter. Marinette put her head in her hands from something Alya voiced. The daughter of the bakers lifted her hand and shook them in front of her, as she continued to complain.

'How dare she!'

"Are you mocking me?" Lila questioned, walking up towards them.

"Huh?" Marinette asked, confused, turning to Lila.

"You were doing this" the Italian girl lifted her hands, towards her and shook them, "when you talk."

Marinette giggled, "Really? I never noticed."

"You totally do." Alya commented and then winced, "Mostly when you get frustrated and trying to get your point across."

"Marinette, it's really insensitive of you to make fun of me and my heritage." Lila whined.

"What are you-" Mari began.

"It's an Italian thing." the model explained.

Marinette shrugged, "I probably get it from my Nona then."

"Your what?" Lila demanded.

"My Nona." Marinette repeated.

"You're not Italian!" Lila shouted.

Adrien quickly situated himself besides Marinette, "Technically, she's a quarter Italian. We've all met her Nona at her birthday, last year. You'd like her a lot, Lila. You have so many things in common."

Marinette smiled, "My Nona travels all year long. She goes to exotic places and lives with the natives. Usually, she sends me gifts from her travels."

"When is she coming back?" Adrien questioned.

"She's been coming back for my birthdays, now. Last time, she thought I was still three years old and wasn't sure how to deal with me being grown up. Most of the time we just talk on the phone." Mari answered.

"This one time, I went to the Sahara Desert and-"began Lila.

"That's nice, Lila." Adrien interrupted, "Marinette, where did your Nona go this time?"

Marinette chewed her lower lip for a moment, "I think the Amazon. She likes to go there a lot. Surprising, really; she usually has her bike with her."

"I've been to the Amazon Jungle." Lila smiled, "There's plenty of room for bicycles."

"Bike as in motorcycle." Adrien stated, making the liar falter and then turned back to Marinette, "I've seen you on your Nona's. Do you know how to ride a motor-"

"I do!" Lila chimed in.

"No one asked you!" Adrien declared, "I'm trying to talk to Marinette, but you keep interrupting us! This is an A and B conversation. C your way out of it!"

Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her out of the classroom. Before Lila could complain, the class began to cheer.

"It was so great of you to pretend to be jealous!"

"You actually made Adrien take Marinette somewhere alone!"

"I never thought you would annoy him in the best way possible!"

"We should have kept them apart sooner!"

"Yeah!"

"Who knew Adrien was the jealous type."

"Great thinking, Lila."

Lila could only smile, as everyone praised her. Meanwhile, she was screaming internally. She had come out looking like a person who was helping Adrien and Marinette get together. That was the last thing she wanted to happen!

TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

[nie7027]

{{I've had this draft saved literally since April 18th 2019 but I didn't post it back then because I wanted to finish the super5 headcanons first... which i of course havent done.

But I think it's finally time I post it.

I reread it recently and I don't think it's as spoilery of other wips as I had initially and thought and its related to the other stuff I'm gonna post soon so why not use it as a preview for it?

Anyway it finally is here. I hope you enjoy this tiny list of headcanons}}

Mob psychobook headcanons

These could actually apply to any social red but Psychobook is the one i know besides Tumblr (and no, none of them have tumblr...maybe just Seri)

Teru's

Teru's used to be the typical popular kid psychobook where used to he the typical popular kid psychobook where he posted pics of the parties he went("Crazy night guys, thanks for inviting me!), his soccer matches ("Another victory for Vinegars soccer team. You are welcome~") and trainings(even some from his personal training when it didnt end that bad), the food he ate at the new trendy coffe he went and the obligatory selfie every couple of days that will make his notifications blow up everytime with likes and comments

Now he sometimes still does those but he posts mostly pics of nice sights he finds on his bicycle routes, pics of him hanging with his friends/new family or the lastest fuck up Reigen did

He, Shou and Tome are invested in a meme competition. Whoever makes Mob laugh the loudest wins. Sadly they have to be with him so he can see them.

Rarely Terus posts a pic of him & Mob (or Mob alone) with the emoji equivalent of a gay keysmash and when he does it drives crazy the whole alumnae of Vinegar middle school, everybody wondering who is that bland looking guy and what Teru meant by that.

Mob's

Mob's used to be empty but now it's filled with pics Tome posts of their karaoke outings, pics where the body improvement club tag him and Terus, shous and tomes memes

But he rarely uses it and doesnt get to see them. Still he likes the milk memes teru found (do those even exist?)

Thats why he doesnt know he has basically become the body improvements star. Captain musashi and the others tend to photos of him with inspirational quotes (warrio male kind of) in the club page to attract new reclutees

After terus mysterious post a swarm of Vinegar students tried to add him as friend

But Mob thinks they are internet weirdos and ignores their invitation

It's actually Dimple who uses it more

Ritsu's

Ritsus used to be th pristine psychobook profile proper of a student council member. He had added the majority of the school and he made posts of the schools next event, resolutions the council had reached after their last session or answered any question any student could have but was to shy to personally ask.

His most personal post where the seldom book quotes he posted from the lastest book he read and liked.

Everything changed with Shou

The students didnt know who he was but suddenly this random kid started to tag Ritsu in even more random posts(most of them hamster related...Ritsu liked all of them?) and post pics of him AND RITSU doing the weirdest things you could imagine

Theres a pic of Ritsu with the most ridiculous susprised face(thats the most expressive people have seen him?? Whats going on?) in front of a microwave in flames. The fact shou edited it with a caption saying "And he didnt believe me eggs could explode" didnt help

Theres another of them hangin at the tallest part of the city (people dont undertsmad how is that even possible? You cant even acces that area)

And theres even a blurry pic that looks like they are running away from a police car

Shinji, who knows whats Ritsu is truly capable of, likes each of those pics

Everybody in Salt middle school is confused. But the only thing they get is Ritsus "Sorry" to Kamuro when the council president makes a blank comment in the infamous police pic.

They quickly recognize Shou as the kid that sometimes flies(yeah FLIES) besides Ritsus classroom or sneaks in the school

Shou's

The only reason Shou made a psychobook profile was to keep in contact with the espers that helped him during the domination arc

But he quickly realizes how useful it is to annoy Ritsu when he is bored

Besides the memes and Ritsu pics, his psychobook is full of interesting facts of different animals and reblogs of drawings from artist he follows and tutorials

As Mob he was invaded by a swarm of vinegar students once he appears in one of Terus pics. He accepts all of them the same way he accepted Ritsus classmates. It ends well for him because that way his drawing are seen by many peoplea and he receives lots of likes.

It takes a while but he finally unblocks Seri one day. Seri likes each and every thing he posts and makes encouraging comments on his drawings.

Serizawa's

Seri had a profile during his isolation days where he added many "friends" (random internet weirdos) with whom he talked about the things he liked and the media he consumed

Once he rejoins society with the Spirits and such cre he makes a new personal profile

He only has his family, the spirits and such crew, his school friends and the super5 added but thats all he needs

He follows many cooking and baking pages and once he learns to cook he saves the recipes he wants to try

He doesnt know if he cried more the day Shou unblocked him or they day Teru put him as his dad.

Minegishis

Minegishi only has the super5, Mob Ritsu, Tome and his coworkers added as friends

He follows many pages about plants and how to take care of them and pages that post downloadable audiobooks for Shimazaki

He rarely posts but he likes all the posts where he is tagged.

His elder coworkers tag him in lovely pictures of flowers with inspirational quotes. He likes those too.

The other super5 make fun of him for this but they secretly like them, especially those that talk about being a good person.

He follows many trolling pages too but never reblogs them. He doesnt want the other to know where he gets some of his humor sense.

Hatori

Hatori follows mostly memes pages, specially those about programming because he can "relate"

He say he understands them. (He doesnt)

He almost fell for the "delete system32 to make you computer faster" joke but his coworkers stopped him. He passed it as him messing around

Shibata's

Shibata follows personal trainers and healthy foods pages

He and Seri swap recipes they find and think the other might like

He saves exercises routines and tries to convince the other super 5 to try them with him.

Specially Hatori, he needs them.

He is only succesful when he finds those routines based on fictional characthers

It doesnt last much

He follows the body improvement club page. He actually sends some of the quotes that end up in some of the Mobs pics.

Shimazaki's

Shimazaki doesnt have a psychobook per se

It's a bot that hatori made to post "uwu" ":3" or "nyas~" every once in a while

The profile pic is the photo they took of Shimazaki wearing the prank glasses

Sometimes the other super5 post photos of their hang outs

"Its our register of Shimazakis progress!" says Hatori

Sometimes it receives messages from internet weirdos and most of them go along the lines of "Weren't you the guy that kidnapped the prime minister?".

The others are horny texts.

They delete all of them.

Tome's

Tomes psychobook can be considered the normalest of the spirits and such crew.

Even though half of her posts are cospirational thories and supposedly aliens sightings

Apart from that she has the normal amount of friends ("Seriously guys, why do you have every random you find added?") and posts a regular amount of pics of her hangouts

Besides the memes. Teru and she share LGBTQ content they find interesting

Seri somehow is the first to know about the lastest news of the videogames they follow and tags her on them

She edits Terus posts of Reigen fuck ups and turns them into memes. The super5, Ritsu and Dimble(using Mobs profile) always like them.

Its on psychobook where she organizes the telepathy club next reunion

She has been nagging Mob and Take to use their psychobooks more so they can see in time what they are planning to do

Takenaka's

Take has enough with the whole wind reading thing. Good luck trying to convince him to make a psychobook profile.

Reigen's

Since his birthday during the separation arc Reigen decided to completeley get away from his psychobook seeing as how little those persons cared for him

But he forgets to delete the app

So one day his phone cant stop blaring with notifications and when Reigen picks it up to see what the hell was going on

He had messages and messages of exfriends congratulating him for his son and saying things like "Wow Reigen, you had it very closeted" "we didnt know you were so private" "who is the lucky mother?"

Teru had put him as his dad

Reigen was having an existencial crisis and needed some comfort so he started searching Seri

Only to find him crying because Teru did the same to him

They ended togeyher as a crying mess sprawled over the couch. Only Dimple got to see them like that

So writing my fanfic "Sunflower" made me think of these headcanons but i couldnt post them then because i hadnt finished the super5 headcanons and didnt want to spoil some things. As you can see this finally shows what Ive been saying of "College funds", "Sunflower" and the "super5 headcanons" taking place in the same universe.

Really, i wrote down a timeline of how these things overlap and can tell you what the s&s crew were doing while shimazaki was fucking around or what the super5 were doing while the crew celebrated terus birthdays.

[amberjane9]

The album art from Maggie's shop

Presented entirely without comment. Do with these what you will.

Oslo Revival

Come On Over to Our Third Floor Apartment

We’re Having a Party

Just For You

Four In A Bed

Have This Drink

It Doesn’t Taste Weird

We’ll Take Care Of You

We Love You

You’re One Of Us Now

Together Forever

Disguises

Carol and her hat

The bicycle

Memories of a windchime

Lunch

Who am i today

Make me cry

Peggy asked for her jumper back

It’s raining in my kitchen

You cast a spell on my wife

Running into danger

Transcending the patriarchy

Plumbing

A dozen eggs (too many)

Someone New in the Bedroom

Better Together

No track listings

Kubasulu

Great White Lies

Fishy Business

Fluent in Shark-asm

Vanish into Fin-air

Gettin’ Chummy

You’re Gill-ty

No-fin Left to Lose

I Chews You

Sweating in the City

No track listing

Rat Kieth

Look at This Mountain

The Mountain I climbed

Assorted Wailing Cries of Peril

I Ate Some Berries (Shouldn’t Have Done That)

What Happens on the Mountain Stays on the Mountain

I See It in My Dreams

Soiled Leaves and Soft Bark

Don’t Touch the Mushrooms

Huddle for Warmth

My Map Blew Away

This Is My Home Now

Finally Rescued

A Dog in God’s Hot Car

Chem Trails

Raga Kobot

Earth, Swallow Me Whole

Why Can’t I Just Stay In Bed?

Sighing Loudly

No One’s Going to Lunch

I’m Hungry But I Don’t WAnt to Eat Alone

I Wonder What’s On the Menu Today

Probably Something Mediocre

I’m Tired

It’s Friday

I Wish It Would End

Just Sounds 2.0

Falling Coin

Stubbed Toe

Oops!

Rice in a Bowl

Spoon Clang 

Gagging

Crinkled Paper

Bad Alphabet

Winded

Deaf Dust

Change the Lightbulb

Cartwheels in Mexico

This cinnamon candle

Hold me

Let go

Who wait’s for us?

Awesome

The basement’s pretty dark

Broken Bulb

Stairway to your Mum’s house.

Snapshots From the Moon

Randa Ransom

Doin’ It in the Dust

Hard on the Rocks

Ridin’ The Horizon

Tall Drink of Water

Wear My Hat

Call My Name

Let Me Use A Saddle

Just Us in the Dust

I’m Lost and I Don’t Speak the Language

Lost in Tokyo

WHat’s that shop selling?

Sex Dolls (Self-Assembly)

Where’s the bathroom?

This Toilet is Singing

More Sex Dolls

There’s a Cafe for Cats

I Want to Go Home

What’s Home in Japanese?

Take Me Anywhere Taxi Man

The Answer May Surprise You

Georgina O’Georgia

Gorgeous in Georgia

Oh George, you’re gorgeous

It’s Georgia with a G!

Get your hands off my hair

Yes, that’s my real name

Spur Of The Moment

The Walking Shambles

Long Strides

Moira Walbrook

Getting Darker Seeing the Light, Vol. 4

Au Revoir Fingers

Red Eye Smiles

Stupid Teeth

Lateral Incisor

Rosanna Koson

Skinny Dipping

Sheila Sims

International Tour Live Recording, London 2015

Kobie Conroy

A Single Malt and a Good Woman

Alexandru Wainright

Flying Birds and Chem Trails

Izabelle McLaughlin

Singing in my Sleep

Allison Hut

Symphony No. 4 - Soprano, Recorded Performance with the Silver City Players

Milli LeBlanc

Set me on fire

Antoine Balynska

It’s Been a Long Night

I can’t wait to take my shoes off

Slip into the bath

Read a good book

Have a watery nap

Grab my jammies

Curl up in bed

Press my head into the pillow

Fall asleep forever

The Silver City Players

Climbing the mountain of God

My first-born is yours, O Lord

Prayers for supper

Fishing Rodney

Small Pond

CT Bazz

Locking up and looking down

No track listing

Dank Balaclava

No track listing

Moshe Redman

Up close and personal

Michelle Kolov

Layers

Hamid Moon

Sea Songs

One day I started floating

Got lost in the waves

Didn’t bring a paddle

Been here for three weeks

Can’t see land

There’s little hope left

Rehan Yu

Neon Dreams 2.0

Late night madness

Last orders

Stumbling

The night tube

Falling asleep

Waking up in Vauxhall

The night tube (remix)

Giving up at Wood Green

Walking alone

I dropped my phone

Shitty kebab

Restless sleep in a bush

[galactic-senator-amidala]

hello! mun speaking :D

"i am not afraid to use unorthodox means to prove my point"

before we get started, there’s some things that are going to be pointed out here (plz read they are very important):

if you’d like to ask padme or the mun anything, use my ask box! it is open for those specific reasons! just make sure to clarify if you are asking padme or mun

if youd like to rp but dont know if ill say yes, just dm me! they are open for those reasons lol

im pretty much cool with everything as long as it doesnt involve any nsfw stuff (gore & stuff is fine, im referring to smut)

my time schedule is wack so there will be days where i am radio silent. please dont think i am ignoring you, im probs just so busy i dropped dead (id recommend priv msging me to be safe)

my main blog is @flowered-bicycles so if youd like to see how i am like out of rp, go there lol

mun goes by soka but will usually be referred to as “amidala’s (or padme’s) mun. mun also uses she/her

as hard as i will try to be like padme’s canon self, i might end up throwing a bit of myself in the rp as well. if something seems ooc, please let me know but dont be harsh about it

parentheses or // are used when mun is speaking

roleplay is either used in 3rd person or 1st person. if you have a preference you’d like me to use, dont be shy and let me know

extra and disclaimer! - this is strictly an rp blog (yes i may act and speak and react like padme, but i am no way actually her. i am in no way affiliated with star wars! (unless you count being a fan as affiliated) so this is completely fanmade! feel free (much encouraged) to like, reblog, or send/asks and make comments! the ask box has anon on as well, so if you are too shy to use your user, anon is on just for you! if you wish, giving an emoji for me to recognize you by would be greatly appreciated! you can leave comments and ill try to reply to them. i dont think my submissions are open, but if youd like to submit something then ill open them!

BLOG RULES

you may use “potty mouth” when rping in character, but please keep it pretty strictly to star wars cursing (kriff, kark, etc)

padme is straight and will be canonically shipped with anakin (cuz they are married, duhh) but if you wish to do a “non-canonical”/au where padme is shipped with your character (or is not straight), please dm me and we will work it out

keep this a SFW blog! (which means no smut!! violence / gore are accepted tho so be warned)

keep the asks respectful please

uncomfortable topics will be blatantly ignored

dont godmod.

have fun!

about padme

galactic senator

canonically married to anakin skywalker

unofficially became ahsoka’s aunt

isn't afraid to use aggressive negotiations

will sweet talk you to get what she wants

friends & foes

canon

anakin skywalker - open slot

ahsoka tano - open slot

satine kryze - @arandomnerdsrp358

obi-wan kenobi - open slot

oc

(name of character) - user

PROMPT LIST! (and quotes)

here is a list of prompts that will help structure an rp (if you want to make a structured rp) or help get the rp flowing/started:

extra!: prompts and quotes can be requested together! for ex. : “can i request prompt a. with quote 6?” (or vice versa)

quotes:

1. “why did you do it? tell me”

2. “you know im always here for you, right?”

3. “let me take care of you”

4. “i thought id never see you again…”

5. “we need to get you to a hospital!”

6. “blood? why are you bleeding!?”

7. “sleep at my place tonight”

8. “you know you are my one and only”

9. “im in love with you, idiot (or di’kut)

10. “sh, stop fussing. let me braid your hair”

11. “if you steal the blankets, im going to put my cold feet on you.”

prompts:

a. it’s a mission and we got separated from the group. we are on an unknown planet and dont have any signal to comm the rest of the group. we have to try to make our way back to the ship with only each other and the things we have with us.

b. no one knows when it started, but suddenly people have started receiving red ribbons tied to their pinky and the red trails off to their soulmate. not everyone has a soulmate but we are some of the lucky few who have one. follow the roleplay as we go on a journey to follow the trail and meet eachother, and then live life together as soulmates.

c. a diplomatic mission gone wrong when a terrible virus breaks out in the planet. with the ship pulled to pieces and we are stranded on the planet, how will we survive and rebuild the ship to get off world and warn the other planets?

d. it’s a diplomatic mission to bring a planet to the side of the republic, but something goes wrong. dooku has brought his army to stop the planet from joining the republic and we get caught in the crossfire! negotiations are made and dooku has proposed a challenge for us to complete. if successfully completed, the planet may host a republic base. if lost, the planet goes to the separatists.

!! accepting additional quotes / prompts !!

[sophia-sol]

This is a meme going around on dreamwidth! I’m crossposting my answers here for people who may be interested and don’t go on dreamwidth. but if you want to participate, you’ll have to go to dreamwidth :)

Rules: If you'd like your own questions, let me know in the comments! I'll ask the first five commenters five questions each. Answer them in your own journal, offer to give the first five commenters their own sets of questions, and let the cycle continue! (Meme originally from ursula.) I got the following questions from chestnut_pod! 1. What are the birds that signify the seasons for you? I've finally gone through an entire year of seasons of being a birder, so I can make a stab at answering this question! This might change in future years as I become more intimately familiar with the local bird populations, but here's what I currently have. I have long associated the fall to early winter season with crows. In this season, crows gather in enormous flocks to roost together for nights, and this can be hundreds or even thousands of birds all together! I love watching them flocking as evening comes on. Late winter is cardinal season to me - this is when male cardinals will regularly perch on a high branch and sing loudly to proclaim their territory. On my bicycle commute to work last winter I got to be very familiar with the specific territories belonging to different cardinals, and where I could expect to see and hear them! Spring is the season of the proliferation of migrating birds in fresh breeding plumage who are all singing their distinctive songs, so it's less a season of a specific bird and more a season of "holy shit so many birds to pay attention to, where do I turn first." Summer is harder for me to answer, since for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to do much in the way of birding this summer, and it doesn't have an obvious answer. Maybe next summer I'll have an answer though! 2. Of all the book formats to ever be, which is your favourite format of book, and why? There are many wonderful things about many formats books have had over the years/centuries/millennia, mostly the fun aesthetics! But mass market paperbacks are just so very practical that I have to go with that. Lightweight, easy to carry around, comfortable to hold one-handed when reading, a consistent small size to make it easy to shelve lots of them without taking up too much space, they're basically the perfect format. (okay yes ebooks are even more small and convenient, and I value them for certain circumstances, but I really like a physical, tangible book whenever possible.) 3. What do you enjoy about voting in the Hugos? What does it add to your experience as a reader and fan? ...that's a great question. Um. I think paying attention to the Hugos more generally allows me to be in touch with the current zeitgeist of the sff world, especially when I pay attention to more than just the novel category. Which is interesting to do because it allows me to see to what degree I am or am not in a bubble of my own making with respect to the works and creators that get talked about! And introduces me to things that may not have previously ended up on my radar but that have value. In terms of actually participating in the nominating and the voting, though, I suppose it's partly that having a Goal and a Deadline means I actually engage with the things I'm learning about the current zeitgeist and the other corners of sffdom, instead of just being like, "I'm sure I'll get round to this eventually" and then never quite prioritizing it. Partly, too, it allows me to participate in conversations with fellow sff fans, because there's more likelihood we're reading and having reactions to the same works at the same time. (hi, cahn!) And partly I just really, really like creating ordered lists and completing surveys. Officially submitting my opinion about the quality of a book or story or what-have-you to an organizational body is weirdly satisfying to me! Also then it allows me to get personally mad when the hugo voters make objectively incorrect decisions about what to award :P because at least I did my part! 4. If you had to choose a Memory Called Empire Teixcalaanli name, what would it be? Ooh I love that! I seem to recall it being against the norms for the noun part to be a living being so I can't go too directly birdy. I suppose the question is whether I want a noun that signifies a more abstract value, or a noun that is straightforwardly a thing I like.  The number would definitely be Six though. Perhaps I'd be Six Binocular. Or Six Rectrix? idk!!! a hard choice! If anyone has suggestions of nouns I should consider, please let me know! 5. What's the meal you make when you have absolutely no energy left but want something tasty? Ramen, with an egg and some frozen spinach tossed in, and the soup base replaced with something tastier (a better quality chicken bouillon, plus rice vinegar and soy sauce and sriracha). Or, cheese on toast, put in the toaster oven to broil the cheese, eaten with pickles or salsa. Or, boil some frozen dumplings and mix up a quick dipping sauce for them. But most of the time I have already done a bunch of batch cooking on the weekend, so I don't need to make things throughout the week - I just pull out a container of already-prepared food and microwave it, which is truly peak no-energy-required.

[scortchedtoast]

1. After School- Weekly (will they retain their previous 2020 spot at the top of the list its looking promising.)

2. Abittipsey- Youha (Youha is very underrated so everyone go listen, her debut Island was a bop last year so I knew to keep an eye on her and she delivered yet again)

3. Ring Ring- RocketPunch (RocketPunch rarely miss so no suprise they are up here.)

4. Love so sweet- Cherry Bullet (Cherry Bullet and I have a checkered pass as I stopped following after fnc kicked by girl Kokoro out for no reason BUT this was a bop)

5. Chi Ma Ba Ram- Brave Girls (What can I say the girls are back and they're gonna be summer queens, who are they? BRAVE GIRLS! Just an iconic summer bop but what else would we expect from Brave Girls)

6. Asap- Stayc (it grew on me the song at first sounded like an ad or something but it so fun now)

7. Unnatural- WJSN (WJSN always come prepared and this was the usual bop for them.)

8. Alcohol-Free- Twice (now this will be controversial since a lot of tastless people don't like alcohol free. But this was a good song it was fun and summery and i just love twice ok)

9. Gone- Rosé (don't know if this should count cause its not technically the title track but I'm including it.)

10. Beautiful Beautiful- Onf (GASP a bg, Forgive me y'all, my friend made me listen cause onf is their favorite group and cant lie it was good)

11. Easy- WJSN the Black (A repeat on the list well kind of, I really like the WJSN subunits and their different concepts and easy was a fun sexy song, I lowkey like Kiss your lips better but thats a bside)

12. Like It Hot (I was getting worried for GWSN and glad they came back the song is different than their usual style but still a good song. I dont know if their company is broke and cant buy vie- I mean ads anymore but the difference in views from Bazooka to Like it hot makes me sad 😞)

13. Rain on me- Majors (my poor flops, the song is good some people think its mixed weird but it doesnt bother me, give them a listen for my poor meow meow Bian)

14. Dun Dun Dance- Redacted (😐 no comment 😶)

15. Odd Eye- Dreamcatcher (A good start to the year and with a classic Dreamcatcher sound. Was so nice to see Handong back with the girls)

[lululawrence]

Polyamory Fic Rec

I thought I’d made one already, but apparently I hadn’t. So, since @twopoppies had an anon looking for more, I figured I’d go ahead and make a rec list now. This is not exhaustive, but it’s a start! 

Please remember to leave the authors kudos and nice comments to show appreciation for their work.

I Should've Known by @nikogda (Liam/Louis/Harry, 11k)

It started out with little things here and there. A light that needed replacing. The belt in the vacuum. Small things, and eventually they took advantage of it.

Louis decided they needed another, larger repair whilst talking with his alpha neighbour, Liam. Liam had said he would do it for Louis and his partner, Harry.

And, well, it sort of went a little off track from there. What was an innocent thing at first, was now the two omegas’ way of catching the sweet deep scent of their alpha neighbour one whom they both mutually crushed.

Or: the one where alpha Liam moves in next door to bonded omegas Louis and Harry. All three go on their own journeys but in the end find that maybe, in the end, it really was always each other.

And That Was That by @lightwoodsmagic​ (Zayn/Liam/Harry/Louis, 23k)

“Okay. When Zayn and I were working on the set yesterday, Liam dropped by and mentioned he had a date. I asked Zayn about it, and he said that they’re ah - poly?”

Harry blinked.

“Oh yeah, I knew that. Li mentioned it when we were playing tennis once.” He ran his hand through Louis’ hair, smiling softly when he nuzzled into the touch.

“Is that what’s making you act strange? Because it seems like something that works for them, and I —.”

“Zayn has feelings for me.” A deep breath, and then blue eyes locked on green. “He said he needs distance because he has to get over them.”

Harry hadn’t realised his hand had fallen from Louis’ face until his fingers were being tangled and gripped tightly.

Or, Zayn and Liam have been polyamorous for years, but Harry and Louis are monogamous. When Zayn meets Louis and starts to fall for him, it opens them all up for something they've never experienced before.

That Don't Define Who You Are by lululawrence (Nick/Harry/Louis, 7k)

“Shit,” Harry muttered, rushing towards the man. “Are you alright?”

The man clearly tried to muffle his scream. “No, I’m really not. I’m afraid you’ll need to call 999.”

When Harry reached the man, he saw the man’s leg had gotten caught by pieces of the bike that had come apart beneath him. Without thinking, Harry leaned down and lapped where the blood was flowing quickly until it slowed.

“I’m so sorry, I just didn’t want you to pass out whilst I was on the phone.”

“God, no, don’t apologise,” the man said. “My mum’s a licking omega, see. Quite soothing.”

Harry blushed. “Yeah. Let me see about an ambulance for you.”

Or the one where Harry is a licking omega with a broken bond who helps heal a fairly hapless beta with a folding bicycle. When Harry also meets the beta's alpha, things start to get... interesting.

Its Mutual We (All) Discussed It by @nikogda (Zayn/Harry/Louis, 29k)

“Well you go to the agency, Alpha Donor Services and fill some forms out, whoever is doing the deed gets tested and such. And then they match you based on the papers with a few Alphas. You read the information on them and pick a few, they make sure they’re still willing and tell them about you. Eventually you guys will meet in public, do that a few times until you’re comfortable.” Niall scratched his arm lightly, and glances over at Harry, “The point of the service is to help a family, mostly an omega one, who can’t have children of their own. An Alpha will help an Omega get pregnant.”

“I feel like this is a lot.” Harry mumbles, setting his mug down.

“It is. Or well it was but it was worth it, H. I mean, I would do this again. We already talked about it.”

“Really?”

Or: Two omegas in a committed relationship are ready to start a family. In the process, their alpha donor becomes part of the family too. Every part of their relationship may be unconventional but all of them have never been happier

old haunts are for forgotten ghosts by fortymaliks (Nick/Harry/Louis, 8k)

“It’s the three of us, now,” Harry says, finally.

Louis blinks.

“Like,” Harry rushes to clarify, “you, and me, and Nick.”

Louis wakes up with amnesia, and learns that he's missing two whole years of his life. Two whole years, and some interesting developments...

Orion's Belt by @londonfoginacup (Nick/Harry/Louis, 24k)

Louis and Nick have been in a happy committed relationship for two years, their matching soulmarks on display for the world to see. It’s been them against the world, the alpha/beta singer and radio DJ power duo.

All that changes on February 1st, when they wake up to a third matching soulmark.

As they say, the course of true love never did run smooth.

You're a Rabbit, Louis Series by @magicalrocketships (Nick/Harry/Louis, 16k)

"Maybe Louis turned into a rabbit," Nick suggests. They both laugh. Louis doesn't. Harry is an idiot and Nick is an even bigger one.

Louis stomps past both of them on four tiny, furry, baby rabbit paws, and into Nick's flat. "I hate you both," he says. He sits on the rug by the TV. "And you can stop following me around too," he says to Pig, who sits down next to him on the rug.

"But seriously," Harry says, from the door. "Where's Louis?"

Louis thumps his back leg on the floor. "I'm here, you idiot."

"I'm not really suggesting this could be true," Nick says carefully, "but are we sure he isn't a tiny baby rabbit?"

The "A" in "Normal" by Yesitstyles (Nick/Harry/Louis, 28k)

Louis eats chips, argues with his best friend Nick about the validity of various sexualities, and falls for a second crush. Harry tries to spell the word "normal".

Loving You's the Antidote by lululawrence (Nick/Harry/Louis, 11k)

Nick and Harry had never been an obvious match. When eighteen-year-old Harry, newly presented as an omega, came home freshly bonded to Nick, a man nine years his elder and a beta no less, Anne had been more than skeptical and Eileen had shared some harsh words of her own. That didn’t deter them, though, and their families soon realised there really was something special about the bondmates that allowed them to work together almost seamlessly.

It was only a few months later that Harry started getting sick.

Or the one where Harry and Nick have been able to keep Harry's disorder at bay over the course of their relationship, but when they move to London and away from their support system, they find themselves in desperate need of help.

Come Out and Play by @dinosaursmate (Combination of OT5 pairings, 30k)

“I have this… fantasy.” Louis smiled self-consciously. “Well, I- I’ve been thinking about it recently, you know?”

Harry smiled softly. “Say it, Lou.”

“I have this fantasy,” he repeated. “Of… all five of us.”

“All five of us,” Harry exclaimed. “Gosh.”

Louis buried his face into Harry’s armpit, and Harry giggled softly. --- Harry and Louis discover a new kink in their relationship, and it brings all the boys closer than they could have ever imagined.

Trinity's Fate by Anonymous (Nick/Harry/Louis, 43k)

When a person is sixteen years old, he or she finds out if they are a dom or a sub. Later when they turn eighteen, the name of their soulmate(s) appear somewhere on their body.

Louis Tomlinson, a sub, fears getting a dom more than anything.

When his eighteenth birthday approaches and the names Nicholas Grimshaw and Harry Styles, a well known dom couple who are DJs for BBC Radio 1, appear on his arms, Louis panics.

Let me be your good night by Conscious_ramblings (Nick/Greg/Harry/Louis, 8k)

The one where Harry and Louis are in love, they end up at a party with some friends, and end up discovering things about themselves, and their friends that could change everything.

The thing was, Harry and Louis weren’t poly. They’d never even played with others together, despite having talked about it quite a lot in the heat of arousal. When they had been at torture garden and antichrist they had flirted with the idea. Harry had even kissed a friend of theirs once to rile Louis up, which had lead to a great session on the Saint Andrew’s cross. Louis loved to watch Harry flirt, loved the way jealousy turned him on and riled him up, loved how pliant and submissive Harry could be when Louis claimed him after. But they definitely weren’t poly, and Louis wasn’t quite sure what that meant for this evening. Everyone else attending the party was, and Louis’ green-eyed-monster had been feeding off that fact for most of the bus ride here. Now he was confronted by a really hot man playing with his boyfriend’s hair like it was no big deal, and he didn’t know quite what to do.

Perfect Sky by @polkadotlou (Nick/Harry/Louis, 40k)

Sub pairs are a rare thing, not only because of the jealousy that can brew between submissives if a Dom isn't attentive to each.

A sub pair has to be balanced.

Harry and Louis have always fit each other without trying. With them, it's easy.

But sub pairs can't just go out in the world and live on their own.

Alternatively, Louis always knew that a Dom was going to come into his and Harry’s lives – he only wishes Nick picked him too.

The Only Thing That Keeps Me Grounded by lululawrence (Nick/Harry/Louis, 28k)

“Shit, I definitely missed the last train.”

“Oh no,” Louis lamented. “I’d offer a ride, but I’m part of a carpool and we’re full already. I’m so sorry.”

“Really, it’s fine.” Then, what Louis said sank in. “Wait, I thought you were here alone?”

“Oh, I am. I’m the only one dancing here tonight. The others were working. In fact, here’s Nick now.”

It felt like slow motion as a tall, lanky man with incredible hair came walking over towards Louis. He smiled before pulling Louis into him and giving him a quick kiss.

“Nick, this is my new friend Harry. He just moved to the area and he’s amazing at swing. Harry, this is my husband, Nick.”

Fuck.

Or the one where Harry moves to Washington DC to be a nanny and never expects that his past struggles with love will be brought to a head. He definitely never expects the solution to it all will be the man of his dreams that just so happens to be married to the other man of his dreams.

Tell Me It’s The Strongest Shape by @louandhazaf (Nick/Elgar/Louis, 73k)

Nick and Elgar have it all. They’re famous, successful, and engaged to be married—and sometimes they play with others.

When uni student Louis gets street cast by Elgar for a GQ photoshoot, he's drawn into Nick and Elgar’s complicated relationship.

They've always invited mates into their bed. It doesn’t ever mean anything. Until… it does.

it hurts, but it's worth it by words_unravel (Liam/Harry/Louis, 14k)

Liam finds the shots of the three of them, rolling around and laughing, a week or so later during a late night. After a moment's pause, she saves one of the photos, giving it some inane, boring name. She shuts down her computer after that and goes to bed.

It takes a long time before she falls asleep.

[ktarsims]

After stowing the bicycle, Candace took a few steps to the door of the house right next to hers, and knocked on the door. A cheerful looking girl with a smile already on her face opened it a few moments later, “Oh hello! It’s my beautiful new neighbor! I saw you move in yesterday. Won’t you come in?” Candace walked in to a shabby chic little house where the furnishings seemed oddly in sync with the individual that was living here. She was pleased to instantly receive a compliment without having even asked for one, so after looking around for a moment, she commented, “It’s fascinating that your living space seems to uniquely reflect you. I’m Candace, by the way. Candace Miranae.”

“Oh. I forgot introductions! I’m Olive! It’s so nice to meet you. And thank you!” Olive beamed. “I’ve done my best with it. It’s nothing fancy, but it should see me through the years at school here.” Candace nodded sagely, “Sometimes we do what we must. You are one of my fellow students then? I don’t think I saw you at school today.” Olive gave a wry smile at this, “Well, this is a school for the talented and gifted, and my mother always told me I was lacking in talent so I’d have to make up the lack with a lot of hard work. I had my nose to the grindstone reading the first chapters of the books they handed out for the various subjects.”

Candace suddenly remembered that one of the things listed in the packet of papers that Benjamin had printed out for her had been a list of books and the classes they were associated with. Which, in her daydreaming, she’d neglected to go pick up from the main school office. He’d told her exactly where to find them, and she’d forgotten all about it. She looked back at Olive, “Oh. I’m afraid I was so excited to meet my fellow students today I completely forgot to even pick up my books. And the class president was so nice about printing me out a copy of the list and telling me where to find them, too.” She looked mildly chagrinned. “Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to catch up. I DO have a lot of talent, it’s why my great aunt Tabitha wanted so much for me to attend this school after all.”

“I wonder, if I hang out with you enough, maybe some of the talent will rub off?” Olive grinned, and then intoned, “I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind.” Not recognizing the quote, Candace was about to take offense when Olive continued, “You met Benjamin? He is nice, isn’t he? He helped me get my books too,” Olive gushed, “He even helped me find the books on Edgar Allan Poe in the library.” There was a brief silent pause as she fell silent again and then Candace, seething, DID take offense, “You think you’re better than me just because I forgot to collect my books? Don’t think he likes you just because he helped you. He probably helps -everyone- because it’s part of his JOB as class president!”

Olive actually took a step back, and raised her hands in a conciliatory manner. “I didn’t mean what you seem to think, it’s just a quote that came to mind by my favorite author...” Candace cut her off, “It’s been a very difficult couple of days, what with attending aunt Tabitha’s funeral yesterday morning, moving to a new place, trying to remember all the requirements I’m under! I think forgetting a few things is perfectly natural!” Olive backed off a few more steps, but remained silent this time. Candace glared at her, but after several moments, she was astonished that rather than getting angry at her, Olive seemed to be merely waiting for her to calm down with a concerned look on her face.

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

It Takes A Village Chapter 10

Chris Evans X Pregnant!Daughter!Reader

Series Master List

Series summary: You find out that your pregnant. After being kicked out of your mom's house you go to live full time with your Dad who you only saw once every few months. Will he react badly to you being a mom at such a young age?  

Chapter Summary: you announce your pregnancy on Instagram and start rethinking everything.

Series Warnings: swearing, fighting with a parent, teen pregnancy, speak of abortion.

Chapter Warnings: teen pregnancy mentions puking

You had been on the couch watching Peter pan but now your morning sickness kicked in. You were home from school today due to it being a half-day, your dad was at the store. So you were home alone and throwing up in the toilet with Dodger staring at you concerned while he whimpered. Once you were done you washed your face and brushed your teeth before you went back to the couch to finish the movie. After you posted the photo showing you were home there were rumors as to why. A few gruesome ones, like your mom died, (in all different ways) and a few normal less gruesome ones, such as your dad was able to get full custody of you.You ignored them you were planning on sharing the real reason tomorrow.

"Sweet-pea! I'm home!" You heard your dad say when he entered the house a few bags of groceries in his hands.

"Hey dad!" You said looking over the couch to look at him.

"Hey you okay? Seeing all those rumors?" He asked from the kitchen as he began putting everything away. You got up and walked in.

"Yeah haven't been on social media much since I got out of school I've been watching movies. And I think I have some baby names." You told him excitedly as you began to help him.

"What happened to not picking a names until you knew the genders?" He asked smirking at you.

"Don't worry one of them are after you." You said. He looked at you smiling silently begging you to continue. "No! You don't get to know! But I'll tell you the middle name ideas I have." You said.

"Continue." He smiled at you.

"Okay, so Christopher and Scott are the middle names if I have boys." You said continuing putting away the groceries.

"Okay what about the girl names?" He asked.

"Maxine, and of course the basic white girl middle name of Anne." You said giggling.

"Basic white girl name?" He shook his head at you but you could see the small smile on his face. "The other one is cute though." He said.

"I know!" You told him smiling.

"And Scott will also be happy will one of those names... He's been telling me how you were definitely going to name your baby after him." He explained, you giggled.

"Because I already told him." You said giggling.

"Sweet-pea how could you tell him first! I'm your dad!" He feigned offense before you both laughed. "But really those are great middle names. Especially the first one you said." He smirked at you. "Okay I'm going to make dinner you can get a movie set up for us to watch okay Bubba?" He asked.

"Okay. What movie?" You asked him.

"You pick bubba." You nodded leaving the kitchen Dodger following.

----

You stood in front of the mirror looking down at you baby bump, phone in hand. Unbeknownst to your dad you were doing this. He was outside with Dodger and you told him you were doing your homework. Of course he'd know that was a lie once this photo goes around. You faced your camera to the mirror the bump was clear from your side you took the photo. You went onto Instagram, a bunch of notifications from your last post filing in. You clicked the new post, you picked your photo before writing a brief caption that said:

"As my last post has cause many questions maybe this with clear some things up. Two new Evans are due in November. I prefer not to go into detail about anything about me being home or about the babies or their father, I just prefer the media and my dad's fans stay out of it. I hope you all can respect that."

You hesitated reading over the caption as many times as possible. Before setting your phone down not posting the picture. You sighed sitting on your bed. You looked back at your phone grabbing it and turning the comments for the post off before quickly clicking it then going down stairs and outside where Chris sat.

"Dad I posted a photo of my baby bump everyone knows." You sat next him sighing. He looked down at you. He pulled you into his side giving you a reassuring smile.

"I told you not to post anything bubs." He mumbled. "Has anyone said anything yet?"

"I turned the comments off..." You mumbled into his shirt.

"That was a good idea. You gotta show me how to do that Bubba." He leaned over kissing the top of your head.

You giggled. "Okay old man." His phone dinged and he looked at it and sighed.

"Well your post is getting attention. Sebastian and Mackie and asking if it's true." He showed you his phone.

"Ooh call'em I want to say hi." You sat up leaning your head on his shoulder. He chuckled shaking his head before face timing them.

"Hey lil Evans!" Mackie said seeing you. "Are you pulling a late April fools prank or was that post real?" He asked.

"It was real... I forgot you guys follow me." You said.

"Your gonna be mom aren't you like 10?" Sebastian asked, slightly teasingly. "Wait... We're you not gonna tell us if we didn't see that post?"

"I'm 15. And before you ask any questions about the babies, I'm having twins, the dad knows, he doesn't want them, I'm 12 weeks along I don't know the genders, and... I think that's all.. Oh and that's why I live with dad, and no I'd tell you eventually, probably next time I saw you and you met the babies." You rambled.

"Who is the dad?" Sebastian asked.

"Jake." You mumbled.

"And your good with this? Two new babies in your house?" Anthony asked Chris.

"We already talked 4 weeks ago when I found out." Chris said.

"You've known for four weeks and didn't tell us Y/n I thought I was your favorite uncle?" Sebastian pouted at you thought the screen.

"Hey I thought I was your favorite uncle!" Anthony said.

"Why do I need to have a favorite?"

"I'll be the babies favorite uncle." Anthony said

"With all of the people I've told about the babies you guys are definitely the most chill about it." You muttered before looking at your phone eyes widening at how many people have already liked the post already. And the press was probably already writing about it.

"Okay bye guys we'll talk to you later." Your dad said before hanging up the face time.

"I think I made a mistake I shouldn't have posted it, dad!! I shouldn't even be a mom now I'm putting my kids into the media! Dad, I had the privilege of not being in the media often since I lived in texas no one is gonna go there and try to take photos rednecks would shoot em! My kids have to live where ever you are because I'm a minor! I'm so dumb! I should've kept it a secret." You rested your head on his shoulder as you rambled. He sighed not knowing how to calm you down so he just looked down at you rubbing your shoulder. "Oh not to mention what is someone from town sees that! They'll all know and show Jake or mom! My kids won't even have their father! Only a mom. I can't take care of the babies I can't even drive! What am I going to do take them to school on a bicycle?" Your rambling continued.

"Bubba... You'll be able to drive when they start going to school besides you have me. Don't worry about town. Or the press." He said. To be honest those were thought he's been having it was why he didn't want you to tell the press. You grew up in a small town in texas with a whole bunch of rednecks even if the paparazzi found out where you lived the town would've chased them away, not because they liked you but because rednecks are crazy. If you still lived there press would be a lot less of a problem. And for the whole, your kids won't have a father thing he knew even if their dad wouldn't be there he would be the best male role model he can for them. But he also noticed that if you weren't at school or work you were always busying your mind, with homework or reading you barely read before. He could only assume it was because of the breakup and being kicked out. Just a way for you not to think of them. Dodger ran over licking your hand as you continued your rant to your dad.

"Shh, bubba." He cooed softly as your rant ended. "I told you, you're not going to be alone. I'll be there to help you the whole way."

Taglist: @toastisgood @coldmuffinpartycloud @thevelvetseries @uniquebeautyqueen

[kyotakumrau]

2020.12.21 The World You Live In at Zepp Tokyo, 2nd event report

Fujieda again started with greetings, introduced himself and Takabayashi and then asked for applause for the band members.

And we got quite a surprise!

Kaoru and Toshiya came on stage!

Thus making Tokyo the only place where band members changed for each slot/session. As much as I'd love to see Kyo again I was happy as my friend only went to Tokyo and she's Toshiya's fan😊

F: please introduce yourself.

Kaoru: you already did lol. I'm Kaoru.

T: I'm Toshiya.

F: the last video you just watched was different from other sessions. The trailer for the concert film screenings that will start from February. It's something only you know right now. As you can imagine from the title it will be something similar to this, with the band members coming for the talk after.

K talked a bit about the situation as well.

T: it's still difficult to hold concerts, but this is something we can do. So I hope you will look forward to it.

Next F started the 'merch items introduction corner', he passed the items to the members.

K: I was watching the 1st slot and we talked about them in Osaka, too. (he talked more about the items and what members said)

F: yes, everything can fit in the pouch so it's a very useful item. You can buy all merch items and put then in the pouch and take home like that. Let's look at Toshiya's big pick key chains (he pronunced that very carefully😂)

They talked about members signs and company logos when suddenly K requested to have to lights in the venue set brighter so he could see everyone.

After that F announced they wil start with questions from the fans, passed the part of papers to others, but K gave his to F saying it's better if he chooses.

T: ok, I have a good one! 'It was Die's birthday yesterday, did you send him a birthday message? And are there any memorable presents you've received in the past?'

T: I got a bicycle. I was really happy at first, but then it was stolen from the parking area.

F: when was it?

T (I didn't catch it but from the context it must have been quite early on in their career)

F: during the tour?

T: yeah, we were always giving each other something for our birthdays, every year, but as years passed it got more difficult to choose something good and we then just stopped.

F: how about you, K?

K: I got a Mickey Mouse, about this size (he showed us with his hand, about 1m tall).

F: 'how do you deal with feeling tired?'

K: I go for a massage.

F: only during the tour?

K: anytime.

F: when the most? When writing songs?

K (laughing): but we're always writing songs

T: for me it's sauna.

F: do you often go when just staying at home?

T: for example after the gym

Ta: 'what did you eat most often during the stay at home period?'

K: ...what did I eat, what about you, Tooru?

Ta: sausages.

The whole venue kinda rotfled 🤣🤣🤣

F: that's cute😆

Ta: it's something I can usually only eat at home.

K: ...something I was really into...(still thinking)....(thinking)

F: for me it was Jiro-ken ramen.

T: at home?! So you weren't really staying at home?

F: I gained some weight after the overseas tour. I started to diet then, and one day a week, a cheat day, I could eat whatever I wanted. My cheat choice was Jiro, either at the restaurants or to take away.

K: ...what was it for me...

F: maybe nabe you talked about before? (in Osaka)

K wasn't impressed 😆

T: canned mackerel for me.

F: for when you drink etc? No, just like that?

They all laughed here a bit.

Suddenly K jumped in with a new topic.

K: in Osaka you talked about the theme behind Kyo's outfit, you said it was pink but he pointed his green hair as the main point.

F: that was difficult.

K: tbh I also thought the main idea was pink (he also talked about Kyo's use of Kansai dialect)

T: 'what were you able to do after becoming an adult?'

F: there's a lot of food people start eating when they grow up.

T: food topic again? 😆

F: for example for me it was raisins.

T: as I get older I can drink more. When we just debuted I couldn't drink at all.

F: drinking wine?

T: おっさんだから・'cause I'm an old guy.

K started talking about the food he couldn't handle when he was small but the next question kinda made me forget it 😅

' 'wet cat food is actually quite good, have you ever tried?'

F: I have a cat and sometimes when I give my cat wet food some will get on my fingers. I'd just lick it. You know some of it, the mackerel or tuna, it looks so good.

T: please send me a video when you eat cat food next time.

😂

(but to be fair most of canned cat food in Japan is 100% fish🤷‍♀️)

K: 'when you can tour again what local specialities do you want to eat?'

F: motsunabe in Fukuoka

T: miso type?

F: of course (if not Shinya would kill him)

K: what did you eat in Sendai?

F: bento

K: in Nagoya?

F: nothing special

T: we had normal bento, but it was miso katsu (Nagoya's style cutlet)

F: but if it's not in a restaurant it's not the same. Anything you want to eat, T?

T: Beki soba from Niigata.

F: have you tried it before?

T: when we went there on a tour, I really like soba.

They talked but more about food, tare katsu, okonomiyaki from Hiro and Jiro again.

T: is Jiro really that good?

F: 😍

K: I've tried it before, but it's (just) okay.

F: it's all about how the noodles taste (type of flour etc)

(more food talk, choosing between salt and tare options)

K: 'what's your favorite onigiri (rice ball)?'

F: how about you, K?

K: I don't eat onigiri.

T: Me also, but if I have to choose it's sujiko/salted salmon roe.

K (about not eating onigiri much): right, you only eat soba.

T then told us the story how much he loved salmon roe even as a child. When he was quite small he went shopping to the local supermarket with his grandmother. When he saw salmon roe in the shop he just started eating it directly from the shelf/container. Of course when his grandmother and supermarket staff found out it got very noisy, but because he was so young it was forgiven.

(back to onigiri topic)

Ta: salmon for me.

F: oh that is nice, I love the most tamago-kake-gohan rice ball (TKG is a very simple, traditional Japanese breakfast dish - just rice with a raw egg eaten with soy sauce, sometimes other toppings), the Newdays chain is selling them

K: the chain operates only in this area, no?

F explained that there are Newdays in other places too, fe Sendai. He also really got into explaining all pros incl the tasty gooey filling inside of the rice ball.

K (imitating F) oh that's nice 😂

F: 'it got so cold recently, what's your favourite season?'

T: spring or fall, I don't hate winter but I definitely don't like summer.

K: fall. (he said as this year wasn't too cold he could go out a bit during breaks)

F: so 2~3 weeks ago was your fav time.

K: here in Tokyo at least.

F: 'as we're staying home much more now do you have a recommended tv series or a channel?' (not just a movie)

K: Cobra kai.

F: ah, you tweeted about it.

K: it will be on Netflix next month, the 3rd season.

K talked about The Karate Kid (Japanese title 'Best Kid').

F: I don't know it.

Ta: me too.

K (shocked): you're serious???

T: I know, of course.

F: 'Best Kid'? 'Best Fit?'

T: just stop it🙃

F: how about your recommendation, T?

T: The BOYS on Prime.

K: I haven't seen it, but it seems interesting.

T: it is! I also like BOSCH. I'm just watching like after work and so on.

After that K talked about how cinema with the capacity reduced by half was nice because you could put your bag on the seat next to you etc, but recently came back to the full house (Demon Slayer did that...)

F: 'how do you feel being in front of people first time in a while?'

T: I'm sorry it has to be done this way

F: don't say that😆

(missed K's reply)

T: it's tiring to be in front of people.

F: but we do it in an interesting way.

T: yeah.

T: 'what's your favourite game? Even including older ones like famicon?'

K: games?

T: Spelunker on Amicon😆

T/K in agreement: where you die so quickly

K: PS5 is so popular, I didn't win.

F: it seems Kyo won once but the information he submitted had a mistake.

K: I applied for Sony's lottery and Big Camera's.

F: you don't want PS5, T?

T: recently I don't play.

K: what about the... what was it Tsushima?

They all reacted with 'ah'

F: what kind of game is it?

K: don't ask me😅 but it looks interesting.

T: it seems to be very popular abroad.

F: 'what's your favourite way to eat ozoni?'

(A new year soup with rice cakes)

Ta: the soy sauce based soup, with grilled mochi.

F: but what ingredients do you add?

K: isn't that way too detailed??

Ta (tries): spring onion etc

K listed grilled mochi, spinach, carrot etc. Then he told us about his family tradition to properly make rice cakes for New year, pounding was so loud even if you wanted to watch tv, you couldn't. But then they had enough for a month.

T: soy sauce style.

F: with miso or?

T: I said soy sauce.

F: what ingredients?

T: rice cakes, spinach, and what is that... (he started to make circles with his hand) ...?

F: naruto?

T (yeah that/nods)

F: in my family we do soy sauce, rice cakes, carrot, fish cakes etc.

K (ignoring F comment that they should finish now, in a teasing way): what about osechi, which dishes do you like?

F: konbu maki or kurikinton.

K: how about you, T?

T: that egg dish that is kinda like this (he gestured the shape again)?

Ta: tatemaki?

F: datemaki!

T: I think it's datemaki.

K: I like that beef roll with carrot and green beans inside (its 牛肉の八幡巻き)

F (making very dreamy face): Aaaaaaah that😍 green beans are so good.

F: ok, thank you all.

K: what about Tooru (Ta)?

F: it's time, sorry.

Last comments.

Toshiya: thank you all for gathering here despite the COVID situation. It's difficult to do concerts now so we tried doing film screenings. In difficult times like this it's not only about the band members, there's our staff and also the venues. I'd love to play concerts again, please wait for us.

Kaoru: it is a difficult situation to share my personal opinion... if we can't do the concerts in a way everyone can enjoy... enjoy, it will affect our relationship of mutual trust. I think this (COVID) situation will continue for some time still, so I think it's better to go with the film screening events. But we will keep checking the situation. Please stay healthy and I hope all of you will come to watch it.

[aerinsfables]

Flower Shop AU, part 3

See part 2 here.

——

Monday morning found Bracken back at the shop again. He normally had Sundays and Mondays off, but the sister who worked with him and their mother had had a conflict that day and asked him to cover her shift. “Besides,” she’d reasoned, “You’re always there, anyway.”

He’d made to protest that, despite her comments, he did in fact have a social life (not an entirely truthful statement), but then he saw her excited face and remembered that she was planning to surprise her girlfriend with a lunchtime marriage proposal, so he ultimately smiled and told her he’d be happy to take her shift if she promised to bring his soon-to-be sister-in-law over that night for dinner.

Today’s list of tasks included signing for a delivery of several different types of lilies, making some general “have a good day” and “I love you” bouquets for passersby who might wish to stop inside and pick up some flowers for their friend or significant other during the day, put together a special birthday order to be delivered tomorrow, purchase more flowers which would be needed for a couple of large arrangements that had been ordered for an upcoming funeral, call a few customers to let them know their orders were ready to pick up, and of course, more corsages and boutonnières for the coming weekend. His father would be arriving later that morning to assist, but Bracken always opened the shop, so he’d be on his own for another two or three hours.

Bracken took a peek into one of the refrigeration units inside the shop and pulled out two vases with arranged flowers and colorful ribbons. He placed those on top of the front counter and returned twice more to pull out a total of four additional vases, all of which he placed on the countertop. His trained and careful eye examined each of the arrangements to check for droopy buds, wilting leaves or other problems, but he found none; his mother had assembled these particular arrangements, and her work was flawless as usual. He called the first customer to let them know their order was ready to be picked up, and was midway through dialing the second customer’s phone number when a flurry of motion caught his eye and caused him to turn his attention to the street outside. The shop itself was located alongside a relatively busy street which usually experienced a lot of pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic, but Bracken’s jaw dropped when he saw what had managed to pull him out of his work mindset.

Kendra. She was being pulled by a taller man - a bit roughly, Bracken noted, and also very obviously against her will - from the cafe across the street toward a car which had been parked not far from the very flower shop where Bracken was located.

Well. That wasn’t going to stand.

He was out the door in a flash, without bothering to lock up. Kendra looked like she was in trouble, and although he still didn’t really know her, he’d be damned if he sat back and witnessed anyone being forced to go anywhere or do anything against their will.

“You think that was funny?!” Bracken heard the man yell at her. “You leave those crazy ass flowers on my doorstep, then ghost me all weekend?! What the hell is your problem?!”

“Leave me alone!” she cried as she struggled to break free of his hold on her. “Stop!”

Run faster.

“Hey! Kendra!” Bracken called as he ran. His hail grabbed the attention of both parties, and he managed to intercept them before they made it all the way to what Bracken figured was the man’s car.

“Get lost,” the man told him.

“Let me go!” Kendra shouted, tears streaming down her face.

Bracken placed his hands on top of Kendra’s arm, then pried the man’s hand off of her and set her free. “The lady wishes for you to leave her alone,” he said simply. The man, who had dark, curly hair and what would probably have been handsome features if his face weren’t contorted in rage, yanked his hand out of Bracken’s grasp and moved to take hold of Kendra again. Bracken stepped between them, effectively blocking the man’s access to Kendra with his own body. “Excuse me,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but it’s time for you to leave.”

“I told you to get lost,” the man positively seethed. He looked like he was going to hit Bracken, who was prepared to defend himself, when another man suddenly dashed in front of Bracken and knocked Kendra’s assailant to the ground. Bracken knew the newcomer - his name was Warren, and he and his brother owned the cafe across the street.

“Who the hell do you think you are, dragging Kendra around like a ragdoll?!” Warren yelled. “I warned you. I straight up warned you. Get out of here. If you know what’s good for you, you will never come around here again. Got it?!”

The man on the ground held a hand to his cheek. Bracken could see a bruise already forming below his eye. “You’re psychotic,” he said to Warren.

“And you’re an astounding piece of trash. If I hear about you hurting Kendra ever again, you’ll be buried trash. Have I made myself clear?” Warren’s face was flushed, and his fists quivered with what Bracken recognized as barely-concealed rage.

Bracken turned toward Kendra, whose cheeks were wet from continued tears and who also cradled her arm - the one the man had grabbed - in front of her. “Are you injured?” he asked as gently as he could.

She shook her head no.

“Do me a favor and get her out of here, Bracken,” Warren said, his eyes trained on the guy who was still lying on the ground. “I’m going to stand here and make sure this loser leaves.”

A small crowd of people were gathering to watch the show, and Bracken agreed that it would be best to remove Kendra from the situation. With a careful hand, he lightly touched her back and gestured toward the flower shop. “Would you like to come inside for a moment?” he asked.

Kendra didn’t verbally respond, but she let him guide her away from the scene and into the store. Bracken led her into the back room, the one he and his family primarily used to store their tools and miscellaneous supplies (vases, plastic wrappings, ribbons, the die-cut machine and materials, shears and scissors, etc.) and pulled out a chair for her to sit on. He then retrieved a couple of water bottles from the refrigerator in that room and passed one to her. She accepted it, but didn’t say anything, and continued to weep.

Concern flooded Bracken’s brain. He didn’t know who that guy had been, but after witnessing the altercation outside, he could understand why Kendra wasn’t in a condition to speak at the moment. “May I see your arm?” he asked.

Kendra hesitated, then stretched her arm out in front of her. It was red around her wrist, and looked tender. He wouldn’t be surprised if bruises started to form later. “It looks alright,” he stated. “I don’t have any ice, unfortunately, but I do have another chilled water bottle I can offer you, if you’d like to use it as a cold compress for now.”

“Th-th-thank y-you,” she gasped as she tried to control her sobs.

His heart went out to her. Was it inappropriate for him to hug her? Probably. She didn’t know him! And he was positive that he was making her feel awkward while he just stood there and watched her cry. He placed a tentative hand on her upper arm. “Would you like to have some time by yourself?”

She gave an emphatic nod at that question.

Bracken withdrew his hand and said, “You’re safe here. Stay as long as you need to. I can order in lunch for the both of us, later, if you’d like. My father will be here in a couple of hours, but I can tell him to leave you alone.” He cast his gaze around the room and found a few boxes of tissues, opened one, and set it down on a countertop near Kendra. “For you,” he said. “I’ll be right outside this door, making phone calls and otherwise managing the front. Feel free to call for me if you need anything.”

A shaky “thank you” was received, and he pulled the door shut as he exited. Later, when she’d calmed down, perhaps he’d ask her some of the questions which were bouncing around in his mind. Who was that guy? Did she want to press charges? Get a restraining order? Was her house safe from him? What had she been doing around this area?

Not that he was upset she’d been right outside - he was actually glad for that. He had no idea how she knew Warren, and couldn’t have predicted his involvement, but at the very least, Bracken was glad to have been able to help in some way.

Speaking of Warren. His entrance into the store caused the little bells at the front to ring. Bracken greeted him and said, “She’s safe, she’s in the back room here,” and pointed to the door behind him. “She wanted some privacy.”

“Thanks for your help out there,” Warren said. “That piece of shit finally fled the scene after he screamed some more. Dumbass thinks he can hurt Kendra. She’ll be staying with me, at least until he’s no longer a threat. Idiot.”

“I’m glad she has someone like you to help her,” Bracken replied. “Her wrist, where she was being pulled around, may start to bruise later. I didn’t notice any other injuries, thankfully.”

Warren placed a hand on Bracken’s shoulder. “Seriously,” he reiterated. “Thank you for your help. If you hadn’t intervened…” he trailed off. “You gave me the extra few seconds I needed in order to jump over some customers and get out there. Thanks again.”

“It was no trouble,” Bracken said. “I couldn’t watch that happen and not do something about it. Kendra doesn’t deserve that treatment. No one does.”

“It was trouble, but I’m grateful you were there.” Warren removed his hand. “Is it okay if I go see her?”

“Be my guest,” Bracken replied. “If you know her well, I really think she could use a hug.”

“That girl is my honorary baby sister,” he said. “She’ll get as many hugs as she wants, and then I’m taking her to my house where she’ll get all the comfort food she could ever need, along with the TV remote. I’ll give her the rest of the week off, if she wants.”

“She works for you?” Bracken asked, unprepared for that particular realization. She worked across the street?

“Yeah,” Warren said. “That douchebag showed up and took hold of her right when she was walking in for her shift. Busiest time of the day. She didn’t even make it to the front door.” He looked at the door behind Bracken again, who caught his cue.

“Go right inside,” Bracken told him. “Stay as long as you’d like.”

“Thanks again,” Warren repeated. “Seriously. Thank you.”

It wasn’t much longer before Warren and Kendra exited the flower shop, with the former shielding the latter from view. Bracken bid them both farewell, and best wishes, then resumed making phone calls to his customers.

Later that afternoon, shortly before Bracken left for the day, an email popped into the store’s mailbox. He recognized it as an answer to one of the surveys they always sent out after someone picked up their order. This one was from Kendra.

A five-star ranking, accompanied by the simple words, Thank you.

He broke protocol and responded back to her. You’re welcome. Please be safe.

—————

Read part 4 here!

[dragonseattofu]

School Days (TWEWY Fanfiction)

Summary

As the gang prepares for the annual school cultural festival, Shiki's not hiding in Eri's shadow anymore, and other people are starting to take notice. At the same time, Neku learns that the line between more than friends yet less than lovers is starting to blur.

Notes:

So to try and somewhat contribute to the very smol neshiki twewy fandom, I wrote this self-indulgent piece. It might come off as OOC, but at the end of the day I hope it’s enjoyable to at least one person out there (even if that’s just me). Dedicated to @altorav​ and @trashcan-of-a, in their efforts to show the world how wholesome neshiki is, you’ve inspired me. I hope you like it! (Plus we needed some fluff post episode 3 angst).

Preview:

It was that time of year again, the annual school cultural festival. A time of ostentatious costumes, overly enthusiastic maid/butler cafe hosts/hostesses, and even more unnecessary social interactions that Neku would rather just avoid school all together.

What a drag, the teen thought as he drowned out his classmate’s debate on what theme they should do.

Looking at the window from his seat, Neku was grateful he listened to his mother this morning and grabbed an umbrella. The cumulus clouds hung low, their edges tinged grey.

“Okay everyone, that’s it for today. Make sure to sign up for your roles before the end of the day!”

Pulled out of his reverie by chairs scratching against the worn linoleum and erupting chatter, Neku stood up from his seat and walked over to the bespeckled girl two rows down.

“You weren’t paying attention, were you?” The petite girl asked before he even got out his greeting.

He picked at one of his spiked out strands of hair, “is it that obvious? Festivals are such a bore.”

“They are not! And this year we have Beat and Eri to celebrate it with. Even Rhyme’s coming! It’s going to be fun!” She was really enthusiastic about this, and not the false happiness she tried to pull during their time in the Reaper’s Game, but genuine excitement. He couldn’t help but mirror her smile.

“Yeah well, what are we even doing?” He turned his attention to the board and shuttered.

“Seriously? A play … Cinderella? Cliche much? Yep, this is going to be torture.”

“Oh come on, it’s not going to be that bad! Eri and I are going to be in charge of costumes, you could help us—“

“Hey Sakuraba!” Yuji shouted from the front of the classroom, “thanks for signing up for props and set, man! We’ll have a meeting after classes in the auditorium at 3!”

Neku looked at the class president as if he had sprouted reaper wings, “what the?”

“You signed up for set-up?” Shiki asked him, getting up with her books and supplies all gathered neatly in her bag.

“Hell no, who signed me up?”

“I did.” A streak of pink wandered over to the pair. Before the young boy could protest the predicament she put him in, the girl placed her arm around Shiki’s shoulders protectively.

“I found some of your sketches in Shiki’s notebook and I figured you’d be really good at making the sets. Plus, this way you can walk Shiki home after school when it gets late. Kill two birds with one stone, right? Eri ended her explanation with a wink, much to Neku’s chagrin.

Just as quickly as Eri appeared, in a blink she was gone, yelling over her shoulder, “see you later guys! Shiki, let’s get started on the costume designs after school today!”

“Come back here Pinkie!” The boy hissed at her retreating shadow.

Shiki laughed at their antics. She grasped Neku’s fist he was shaking at her best friend gently and smiled at him before repeating, “hey, it’ll be fun, okay?”

A slight pause and resigned sigh were her only responses.

“This never reaches my mother’s ears. I’ll never hear the end of it.” He threatens, knowing full well that Shiki and his mother had each other's numbers saved as favorites.

~~~~~

Reluctantly, Neku made his way to the auditorium after school. To his surprise, he learned that the play was going to be a parody of sorts, a “Cinderella in Shibuya” story. The sets would be modeled after iconic spots in their neighborhood, one of which would be inspired by CAT’s mural in Udagawa! Even though Neku was still sulking in his seat for having to stay after school, he didn’t hate the concept.

“So gang, we’ll need a couple of supplies to start with constructing the sets and painting them.” Yuji started speaking as he walked up the steps leading to the stage.

“Takeda-sensei mentioned that we have some spray paints left over that we could use to save on budget.” Taking a seat at the edge of the stage, the class president looked into the crowd of faces and asked, “Has anyone used spray paints before?”

The answer was quite clear from the deafening silence. Neku could just sit quietly in his seat, admire the ugly clock above the stage, ticking away at the wasted minutes he could be spending with his friends if he wasn’t stuck here…

Or he could take a page out of Mr. H’s book and expand his world. Push his horizons out as far as they'll go. If Shiki was trying to overcome her insecurities and expand her world beyond Eri’s, then maybe he should too. Plus, he could use the practice.

“... I have,” Neku hesitantly muttered, not used to voluntarily bringing attention to himself. The room suddenly felt ten degrees warmer as all the eyes in the auditorium turned to him.

Yuji’s surprised expression was replaced with a huge grin, “Sweet man, thanks for volunteering! You good with the Udagawa set? It’s the only one that would look wild spray painted.”

Like he needed to ask, “yeah.”

“Cool!” Yuji said, “now let’s move on to the Hachiko set. Anyone good with sculpting?”

The remainder of the meeting was spent dividing up the work. They’d start assembling the sets tomorrow, and painting would start in a couple of weeks depending on how long it took to build everything. Satisfied that he could finally go home and relax, Neku sauntered out of the auditorium, flipping open his phone to see if he had any messages. None from Shiki, huh, I wonder if she went home already?

He didn’t get a chance to dwell on why he thought of Shiki just now because he spotted the girl in question sitting outside under one of the awnings at the main entrance.

“What are you still doing here?” Neku asked, slowly approaching the brunette. Shiki turned to the sound of her name, recognition dawning in her eyes and she waved at him.

“Eri forgot she had a doctor’s appointment today, so she had to leave right after classes. I had to stay late with Mina and Ai for the costume supply list, and I wasn’t sure if you had left already.” Shiki looked up at the sky, watching the rain fall around the bench she was sitting on. “I’m waiting for the storm to let up before heading home.”

He had to stop himself from admiring her, she looked stunning surrounded by the falling rain, the setting sun reflecting off of the droplets that shimmered like jewels falling from the sky around her.

“You forgot your umbrella didn’t you?” He asked, seeing her flinch at the accusation confirmed his suspicions. With a sheepish smile, she nodded.

Neku pulled out the folded umbrella from his knapsack and opened it up, leaving room on his left. “Let’s go?”

“Yeah,” she replied, getting up to join her companion as the sounds of two pairs of footsteps splashing in a nearby puddle reverberated off the school buildings.

After a couple of blocks of comfortable silence, Shiki asked, “So how did your meeting go?”

He adjusted the umbrella before muttering, “Boring.”

“Oh.” Shiki wasn’t entirely surprised. The festival seemed like more of a nuisance to him.

“... The play’s going to be a parody in Shibuya?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it interesting? Eri and I decided to do a fusion of victorian punk for the costumes!” Neku could practically see the stars shining in her eyes, “fairytale gold with midnight navy, flowing dresses with chains and netting! It’s going to look awesome —“

So enthusiastic about the creations in her mind, Shiki didn’t see that she stepped into the bicycle lane beside her, with a cyclist approaching at an alarming speed. Neku tossed the umbrella from his left hand to his right and grabbed Shiki’s shoulder from behind, pulling her into his chest in one swift motion. Not a second later did the wind pick up next to the two teens, the bicyclist flipping the middle finger as he passed them.

“Watch where you’re going!” Neku shouted.

“You watch it kid!”

As his senses started the return to normal from the brush of danger, Neku asked Shiki if she was alright. He didn’t move away from her, only bringing the umbrella over to shield the rain that started to drip on his hand holding her shoulder. The rhythmic pattering of droplets hitting the umbrella slowed her heartbeat enough to reply.

“Yeah, a little shaken though. Thanks for the save,” Shiki said, their eyes meeting. The proximity of their faces caused their already flushed cheeks to redden a deeper hue, both quickly turning away in embarrassment. Shiki reluctantly removed her hands from his chest, and with a little hesitation, Neku released his hold on her.

Confined to the edges of his seemingly small umbrella, Neku cleared his throat and offered the girl his arm, “I-I think you should hold on to me, you know, in case I need to save you again.”

This time she pouted, “I saved you a couple of times too, you know,” Shiki commented, her nose held high defiantly. Without hesitation, she accepted the arm that extended out to her, cheeks dusted pink from frustration because he was teasing her, and that she was holding onto the person she may or may not have feelings for. With their arms now linked, the two continued their walk home as the rain started to get heavier.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be sure to thank Piggy when I see him next time.”

“Ugh, gosh Neku, Mr. Mew is a cat!” She pulled the black stuffed animal out of her bag and shoved him in the boy’s face for good measure.

“Hey there Piggy, thanks for saving me back in the UG. Think you can save me from your master’s death glare?” Neku chuckled while guiding Shiki across the street. She was getting more annoyed with him by the second, but he couldn’t help himself. As they waited for the crossing signal to change, Neku took the time to admire the way she crinkles her nose when she’s arguing with him, and how she tightens her grip on his arm when they can proceed across the street. He’s staring too long at her, he realizes and he blushes because may or may not have feelings for her.

They were dancing around where they stood with each other for months now. Definitely more than friends, but a little less than lovers. Neku couldn’t deny that if he ever would be with someone, it would be Shiki, but they were both still learning how to be themselves. That was more important than being branded as something they weren’t yet ready for just to satisfy other people. Shiki was important to Neku, and vice versa because they were partners, and if anything was going to happen beyond that, would just happen on its own. Right now, Neku enjoyed having Shiki this close to him, talking about what the next couple of weeks would be like as they walked home together, and that was good enough for him.

~~~~~

A couple of days had passed since the shared umbrella incident, and yet again, Neku found himself staying after school, moving one of the newly constructed sets into the west wing of the auditorium. It wouldn’t be long before he could take the massive blank mural outside and start spray painting the design he had been ruminating on. With the last of the sets neatly tucked away, Neku silently nodded at Yuji to signal his leave, before picking up his things and heading out. The fluorescent “20:35” shined on his phone as he tapped it to life, lighting up the shadowed hallway as he walked further into the school.

Neku heard her voice on his way to the classroom. He knew she was probably still working, oftentimes the last person in her group to leave, but what surprised him was the presence of another, more masculine voice in response to her quiry.

“Most people don’t know about that collection, it sold out within a couple of hours after release.”

“Wow, did you manage to get anything? Oh, lift your neck a little higher.”

“Sure thing.” There was a pause and Neku took the opportunity to peer into the classroom through the silt in the door. He could see Shiki standing on a stool, intently working on the collar of their classmate’s costume. The voice belonged to Hiroshi Minaru. He was casted as the prince in their festival play, and it looked like most of his costume was complete, sans a couple details Neku knew Shiki would never overlook. She was so deep in thought that her face was barely inches from the boy’s neck. “It was a bloodbath at 5 in the morning, but I grabbed the limited edition mint polo before this other dude and I thought I was going to die!”

Neku heard Shiki giggle, and he subconsciously clenched his fists. He felt like he shouldn’t be there, eavesdropping on her. With another guy… She’s clearly still busy, and it’s not like they had planned to leave together. He debated whether he should just go, make up an excuse as to why he didn’t wait. He felt uncomfortable, and he didn’t know why.

“All done! How does it feel, too constricting?”

“No, It’s perfect Misaki-chan, you’re so amazing with a needle and thread! You really have a talent for sewing.”

“Thanks,” she said bashfully, “now, give me a good turn!”

The boy took a step back and spun around, his cape flowing around him, “how do I look?” He put his hand to his chin, and smirked at her with a lifted brow.

“Like a dashing prince charming.” Shiki replied with a friendly smile, the ones Neku had seen time and time again.

“I’m really glad we got to work together like this for the festival, it’s nice to talk to someone about fashion with an eye for clothes making.”

“Yeah, me too. Most of the time it’s just Eri and I…” Shiki looked down, steadying herself to step down from the stool. Hiroshi offered her a hand, which she gladly took.

“M-Maybe ... sometime I could show you some photos of my Mus Rattus collection?” Hiroshi said, looking up at her from below, their faces mere centimeters away.

The pair made eye contact and the next thing Neku knew, he saw her pitch forward.

“Misaki-chan!” “Shiki!”

Thankfully, she landed on her feet, still holding Hiroshi’s hand. Both heads turned to the door that was forcibly ripped open, leaving the orange haired teen standing alone, concern written on his face.

“Shiki, are you okay?” Neku asked, walking toward the pair. He saw her slide her hand out of Hiroshi’s as she redirected her attention to him.

“Yeah, a little shaken but I’m alright.” She turned to Hiroshi, “Thanks for catching my fall Hiroshi-kun.”

“No problem Misaki-chan. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she beamed at Neku, “while you’re here, what do you think?” She asked, gesturing toward Hiroshi, to which their classmate posed with a smile.

After a second or two, “I think I see a button loose.”

“WHAT, where?!” She scurried to Hiroshi, who stiffened at the sudden scrutiny.

“...made you look…”

“Neku, jeez!” Shiki puffed her cheeks. He just smiled as she attacked him with a series of punches to the arm.

Clearing his throat, Hiroshi excused himself. It was quite late already, and he felt like he was intruding on what seemed to be a private moment.

“See you later, Misaki-chan, Sakuraba-kun.”

A comfortable silence soon fell upon them. Shiki moved to gather her belongings, tidying up her projects neatly to be continued tomorrow.

“Let’s go?” She asked, holding her bag behind her back.

He nodded as she walked out of the classroom, shutting the light, and closing the door behind them.

~~~~~

The evening air whistled in his ear, a chill nipping at his nose. The weather was getting colder, the days shorter, and staying in school longer for the festival meant commuting home when the sun was either gone or disappearing beyond the horizon. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck in a feeble attempt to fight the shivers moving up his spine. He looked at Shiki to see how she was fairing.

He saw that her cheeks were pink, from the cold or something else he didn’t know. He moved to look at her eyes, surprised when his eyes locked onto hers. Shortly after both teens looked away in different directions, a little more flushed than before.

“So Hiroshi-kun’s costume is coming together really well. The gold accents Eri wanted really worked out better than I imagined,” Shiki said.

“That’s because you brought it to life.”

Shiki looked at him with wide eyes. Neku’s always been blunt to a “T,” never sugarcoating his thoughts regardless if they were well-received or not. When he says things like this, Shiki can’t help but feel elated. He believed in her and her abilities, it was just a simple truth.

“Thanks Neku.”

She heard a muffled mhmm from his scarf.

A couple steps later, “... what were you and Hiroshi talking about?”

She gave him a thoughtful look. “Hiroshi-kun is really into Mus Rattus’ recent fall collection. Some of the pieces had some pretty neat fabrics and we started talking about textiles and fashion. I didn’t know there would be someone else that liked fashion as much as Eri and I.”

Neku grunted a reply. Realizing that he was a few steps ahead of her, Shiki quickened her pace to match his.

“Is something … bothering you?” Shiki questioned the boy, subconsciously giving him the doe-eyed look he found both irritating and endearing.

Neku felt agitated; more so frustrated because he didn’t exactly know why he was agitated. Flashbacks from that rainy day came to mind, Shiki holding onto his arm under a shared umbrella, walking home side by side, more closely than before. The memories made him feel warm and excited. Then he remembered the princely-dressed Hiroshi holding Shiki’s hand as if she was his princess he had come to rescue, and he grunted in displeasure. He came to a stop, trying to sort out his emotions. It showed on his face enough for Shiki to raise an eyebrow in concern.

“Let me in,” Shiki said quietly, “trust me?” She placed a hand on his arm delicately.

It’s not that he didn’t trust her, it was more like he didn’t trust what would come out of his mouth coherently. He looked at her hands, and with great care, took her hands into his own, slightly larger ones.

“I … ugh … want to … hold your hands.” Neku mummered, so low and into his scarf she barely caught it. But after a couple of months of getting to know her partner, she knew how to really listen when he verbally or wordlessly communicated something.

Not exactly sure where this was coming from, Shiki just replied with the first thing that came to mind, “I want to hold your hands too,” she said with a soft smile.

That was a good sign, right? Neku was nervous, but an excited kind of nervous. They were going into a very delicate topic, one that they had been carefully tiptoeing around since they came back to the RG. He didn’t know if he was ready to take the next steps, but now’s a better time than never he reasoned. He slowly realized that he didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Can we talk about…this, us?” He said, looking down at their joined hands, giving hers a light squeeze.

A pregnant pause ascended, and Neku didn’t realize he was holding this breath before he heard her speak.

“Well, I like hanging out with you, being with just you.” She closed her eyes in thought, “and I like when you walk me home.” She gestured to their hands, “this is nice too, I would like to do this more often.”

Shiki opened one eye to gauge her companion’s reaction and took a leap of faith, “I guess I’ve kind of had feelings for you for a while now, since the first time you saw me in the RG, the real me. I was super embarrassed when you told me that I was prettier than Eri. I thought you were just trying to cheer me up so that Beat and Rhyme wouldn't worry, but then I remembered that you don’t say needless things, that you really believed it, so I started to believe it too.”

Looking him straight in the eyes, Shiki continued, “I like the way you make me feel, like I’m a better person than I think I am, and I want to be the person that you see in me…”

He still hadn’t uttered a word, slowly processing what he was hoping wasn’t a dream. His silence continued and Shiki was beginning to lose her nerve, “and you should say something now because this is super embarrassing with you just looking at me like that!” Gosh, she wanted to pry her hands away so she can bury her face in them!

So the feeling was mutual all along, Neku thought, and he couldn’t stop the goofiest smile that emerged on his face.

“Well … you were my entry fee,” he replied, trying to look everywhere but her. Neku had told Shiki and the gang about his three week experience immediately after they returned to the RG. He was so apologetic for dragging her back into the game again that he didn’t see her embarrassment about what being his entry fee really meant. If he didn’t want to dwell on it, neither would she. However his comment had greater weight now, and she blushed knowing what he was implying, but she still wasn’t satisfied.

“Geez, I just gave you a whole monologue! I want something more than that. Say it!”

“Alright, alright, geez stalker don’t get your undies in a bunch,” he chuckled, and with a little bit more confidence said, “Shiki, I like you too.”

It felt like a veil had lifted, like the metaphoric waltz they were dancing finally concluded and they just stood there, hand in hand. Neku swore he heard music in his ears, the Shibuya’s metropolitan sounds harmonizing with Shiki’s melody into a rhapsody only he could hear. One day he would tell her about it, her song that was playing in his mind when she told him that she liked him. But for today he would just burn her smile into his memory, the smile she had when he told her that he liked her.

Neku didn’t know what the near future would hold, neither of them doing well under the pressure of their friends that had been right about them this whole time, but he wanted to do this right, and take it slow. For now, all he just wanted was to be with her, and hold her hand a little longer.

“Let’s take the long way home, through the park?” Neku suggested, bringing her knuckles to his lips.

“Y-yeah.” She stuttered as he boldly gave them a chaste kiss.

So into their own world, hands laced together, setting a different course home, did the young couple not realize the chuckle in the wind at the bet he just won on who would confess first.

[jar-full-of-pixel-hearts]

The Improv Show

Request by imvibin69

Maybe a Ben x reader where the reader and Ben use to do improv during college but run into eachother at an improv competition a few years later realizing how amazing they worked together and how they missed eachother.

---

Ben Schwartz x Reader

A/N : Thank you for you request ! I know that you ask for a competition but the charity show was a better fit for the idea so I hope you don’t mind. Really sorry for taking so long too, I wasn’t sure if you wanted a romantic situation or a  friendship kind of miss each other so I kind of do both. I hope you will like it and let me know !

* English is not my first language, I tried really hard to correct myself but, I hope you will excuse me if some mistakes are still there. —-

You didn’t know what you were thinking when you had agreed to perform in the charity event of your friend. In fact, yes you know. You hadn’t been able to say no to his begging eyes and the confession he made you of being scared to not be able to bring enough people and at least one celebrity. You had first tried to make him realize that you hadn’t improved since college, that you will probably be too rusty. But, he had brushed it off, replying that it was like riding a bicycle. You never forget how to do it, even if you tried.

It’s then how you had ended up that night, standing on a corner in a warm room with a bunch of people you don't know in a small theater in Los Angeles. Sometimes,in the little river au face, you thought to recognize some minor and more big celebrities . Like this guy with the strawberry blond hair that you swear had seen on a Netflix Billboard on the side of the boulevard. Wait, Is that Tina Fey ?

Closing your eyes, taking some deep breath, you suddenly heard a voice you could easily recognize everywhere.

“ So it’s true, he really succeeded to make you perform again” The familiar voice tells, clearly amused.

Opening your eyes, discovering the tall stature of  Ben in front of you, you couldn't resist at the large smile who suddenly bloomed on your lips.

“ As I can see, you still dress yourself like a teen or a six years old going to a birthday party” You joke, giving a look at his Disney graphic t-shirt, flannel shirt, jeans and sneaker combo.

"Oh come on, you love that look !" He joked, turning on himself, doing one of his little dance.

" On my nephew it looks great yes " You laugh, making the few steps you need to insert yourself between the open arms he was standing open to hug you.

You and Ben had this kind of friendship who could have quickly turned to love, but hadn't happened because of life in general. If you were single, he had a girlfriend, if he turned single, summer was there and you came back home. At your return, you were the one with a boyfriend.

It sometimes leads to some weird and awkward situation. Like that time when during an improvement, you had to kiss and Ben's girlfriend shouted at him after the show because he never smiles like that after he kissed her.

And then, college ended and you both took different ways. Of course, at first you tried to keep contact, but it quickly became difficult to hang out, both busy with your life.

“ You know, you just cost me a  twenty, I had bet that you didn’t come, but here you are “  He said, releasing you of his hug.

“ Yes, here I am. And you deserve to lose that money if you bet against me Schwartz.” You joke smiling.

“ It’s good to see you again. You look stunning. “

“ Thank you, you look good too. L.A fit you mister Big Star. I saw Sonic, I love it. You did such a great job“

“ Oh please, no, don’t call me that...I’m glad that you like the movie. They let me try to do the SEGA, they didn’t take it for the movie but it was awesome !”

“ Please, every performer has to go to the side of the stage where they will be separate in two group, the show will start in ten minutes.Good show” A woman loudly tells, directing people out of the room.

“ Are you ready ? “ Ben asked. “ I think so…” You reply, trying to calm the knock on your stomach.

“ You will be great, come on, I will be there “

“ Oh ! and this is suppose to help me ? “ You laugh, following the group.

“ It always did, no ?” He laughed.

---

As the show was ending, the clapping and cheering of the crowd sending sparks of joy and adrenaline into your veins. You gave a look to Ben, a huge grin on his face, waving. You never realize how much you have missed all this before.

Your brain running to find a quick idea or a funny reply, the incroyable bond you have with Ben and the facility you understand the idea of each other. The laughs filling the room.

“ That was incredible! You didn’t lost your touch ! “ Ben exclaimed as you came back into the small room to take your coat and bag.

“ I agree, I didn’t think I missed that that much. You were so natural and funny ! “ You smile.

“ I miss so much doing improv with you, all these crazy ideas we had ! “

“ I know, I miss it too. But it’s okay, I understand that Thomas and you are made for each other. A bromance that even Mario Kart hadn’t broken, that’s rare ! “ You joke.

Thomas had entered the life of Ben few years before you lost contact, even if you didn’t interact much, you remember him as a eccentric, fun and polite guy.

" True, it almost broke us.” Ben replied, laughing at the memory of that famous game of Mario Kart.

" You had cheated by letting that banana just before the finish line ! “ You shout, laughing, putting on your jacket.

“ It was a brilliant technique, really legit “ He argued, keeping the exit door open.

“ No it’s isn’t”

“ Then take your revenge. “ Ben suddenly proposed.

“ What ? “ You asked, surprise.

“ If you don’t have anything to do, we could go to my house to get your revenge. “ He said.“ If your boyfriend didn’t wait for you of course…”

“ I don’t have a boyfriend right now…” You confessed.

“ Aren’t we going to disturb your girlfriend if we come home to play video games at this hour? “

“ I don’t have a girlfriend,so that should be cool” He replied, an adorable smile on his face.

Butterflies flying now freely in your stomach as the fact that you were, for once, both free at the same times. Opening the many possibilities. You look briefly away, before coming back to your senses.

“ I will take King Boo “ You simply tell, a playful smile on your lips

“ Let me guess, you will take Donkey Kong ?” 

Laughing, Ben's smile becomes even bigger.

“ Yes, like always. It’s good to be back like before you know…” He said.

“ Yes it is...but I hope this time we never let go on each others”

“ I swear. “

“ I swear “ You promise too.

As you were walking to his car, bumping into each other, joking. You thanked your friend to push you to do this and gave you the chance that Ben and you didn’t take in college.  

—

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—

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[starttheanarchy]

@thehandsomeasshole from x

Jack did smile at the little sass she threw his way, despite himself. “Well, empty, those things weigh nearly five tonnes. So, nice try. I guess.” He chose to ignore her initial comment about using the loaders for their designed purpose. There was not enough patience in Jack’s body to unpack all of that right now.

“Oh, the vaults are definitely a curse. But, once you get the ball rolling around here, there’s not really anything anyone can do to stop it.” Jack shrugged lightly, scanning through the first four pages while he spoke, “You just… gotta do what you can before another idiot comes along and screws everything up even worse than you did.”

“Nah, you’re right. Princess made me feel a little icky. How about… I- I’ll get back to you, I’ll think of something real good.” he laughed lightly, beginning to scribble down some notes on the papers before he continued.

“You sure as hell act like ‘em, you and your bandit buddies. Just exactly how many things or people have you killed since you got to Pandora? Hey, look, I’ll even give wildlife a pass cause- Well, you could kill a hundred skags one day and the next day there’d be two hundred more. Let’s just focus on people. Maybe you’re not running around screaming about meat bicycles, and maybe it is a little rude of me, but it’s also correct. You just don’t wanna admit it.”

“The people who are still decent in this universe are few and far, kid. In my entire life, I’ve only met two people who were truly selfless.” One’s dead and the other’s… worse. “But, you do realise that if it wasn’t me up here, it’d just be someone else? Hell, Dahl and Atlas would still be plowing through planets like they’re big balls of paper and slaughtering everyone in their way while going off about fighting for those planets’ freedoms and peace.”

“Ooh, I love tyrant! Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Always considered myself more notorious, than anything else.” The sharp, almost humorous-sounding edge to his voice gave the impression he was teasing her, “Kid, it’s nothin’ I haven’t heard before. You really think I’m gonna be kicking it anytime soon, anyway? Nah. Nope, not happening! I got way too much to do.”

Jack’s brows knitted together and slowly raised in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Sure, maybe she didn’t care, he’d just never had a person who hated him ask for his side of the story before.

He decided not to express his shock.

“So, I’d been working on Helios since it launched, I was, uh-… A- a programming and engineering specialist for Hyperion for ten, fifteen years, maybe. I was in charge of most of the construction, getting together schematic proposals to give to my bosses, all that kinda shit.”

“The first time I met Lilith and Roland was when Dahl decided they wanted to massacre all the workers on Helios and take it over. They… They didn’t discriminate. If you worked for Hyperion, they’d gun you down without even batting an eye. They killed so many of the workers up here, I knew them all personally. We- we didn’t even have a real military then, for God’s sake! They shot workers out of the sky when they were trying to evacuate. That was the level of murderous psychopaths we were trying to deal with. We defended as best as we could, but even the freaking loaders weren’t weaponised yet, I had like… Six hours to get them into a position to defend themselves, and you bet your ass I did it. I guess that actually answers your earlier question, too. I used them for a job they weren’t made for out of necessity, the damn Lost Legion shot at them when they were running away, too. Assholes.”

“I managed to get the vault hunter’s I’d hired down to Elpis in a moonshot, think you’ve met a couple of them. They got to Concordia thanks to-” Shit. He hadn’t actually thought about Janey in a while. He’d ask Athena how they were both doing, but she’d probably curb stop his head before he could even say hello. “-uh, this mechanic. They asked Lilith and Roland to help cause, y'know, Dahl had stuck a jamming signal somewhere on that moon and I couldn’t work Helios’s defences until it was shut off. They knew people on Helios were dying, and they said no.”

“They only started to help when their lives were in immediate danger and Dahl got control of the moonshot laser and start firing away at Elpis. I really did trust 'em to help us, y'know? Like they promised they would.”

“I guess they kinda did. We managed to get control of the laser again and… They blew it up. They nearly took the whole space station down just because they didn’t want Hyperion having it. That stupid laser could’ve saved Pandora, you know. It could’ve- The blasts were so concentrated we could’ve wiped out an entire bandit settlement and their nice neighbours next door would’ve barely felt the ground tremble. I’d worked so hard on that laser. You have any idea how hard it was to make? How much progress they destroyed when they blew that damn thing up? A lot! A whole, freaking lot and-… Sorry. Off topic. Uh…”

He made a small noise, “Oh, yeah. Anyway, after that it was just a rush trying to get to the vault before anyone else did. Dahl was already there, but after what happened with those two I wouldn’t have been surprised if they got to the vault first just so we couldn’t.”

“But, we did. My vault hunters took care of the- The Empyrean Sentinel, I think they called it. Big bastard, more human than the other vault monsters. Freaky stuff.”

“So, the Sentinel was dead, and we finally got to the vault relic. It looked like… Nothing. Very underwhelming. Just a weird little floating vault symbol. I decided to touch it and-…” Jack went quiet for a while, his knuckles growing white with how tightly he was gripping the armrests of his chair, “And I saw… everything.”

He felt sick even talking about it. The pit in his stomach growing deeper and he knew if he didn’t stop soon he’d fall into a full blown breakdown. So, he took a shaky breath in and continued.

“Wasn’t long after that when Lilith made her grand entrance. She destroyed the relic and- blasted the fuck out of my face. You ever had your face branded by some freaky eridian technology? It sucks. Real bad.”

He let his head drop back, and he rubbed his eyes, “So, there’s my side. Think I can quit my day job and become a professional story teller?” Though he tried to make a joke, the fire in his voice seemed to have dissipated. He just sounded… tired.

A rumbling high pitched cry of a living creature, the soft hum of a laser heating up. Before the spiderant can fully leave the ground in its attempt to launch itself at the red head, a quick shot from the head of DT turns it into ash. Moments later the large floating torso of a robot moves its way over to where the rest of the spiderants are and begins clearing the area with ease. "To be fair DT is a floating robot, I should get props for him being able to lift anything over a tonne at all." Is all she can say as she watches her creation be used not exactly for what she had originally intended.

A noise of agreement left her as she nodded her head, this was a mess that she was playing catch up on. Every step revealed a new and sometimes old issues or problems, and untold horrors that would explain some of the residents insanity.

"Oh so what am I suppose to not fight back and die? Self-defense is a thing." She keeps her lips tight on the actual number of people, she knows it is higher then she ever wanted.

Another reason to the countless hours she was stuck away while the others rested. But that is a mental spiral that no one has seen yet even herself, and Gaige wasn't going to break that record.

"Do you realize that it doesn't matter who, I would still be here. I would cause just as much chaos even if it was Maliwan or Torgue, the company doesn't matter, it is the enormity of the actions that are taking place that I have a grievance against. So once I am done with this, I got a whole check list to work through."

A small tsk as her eyes roll once more, she could already feel the odd ache from rolling them too often. But to want the title of tyrant why trying to claim being a hero? And he was calling her a hypocrite, the gall. But then there is silence after her offer. It is enough to get her to move forwards, the area now clear of deadly wildlife, and to sit down on top one of the ridges. And she could hear him begin in her ear, truly starting fro the beginning.

Her hand goes to her vault buckle, slipping it off and clicking it open to show a hidden system of her own design. A small holoscreen flickered to life above it and she began to take notes, to be able to keep her questions to herself and not interrupt. But before she could really take much, she had to slowly turn her eyes back to that giant floating H as he began to talk about the first real blood shed the station ever saw. No one deserved that kind of fate, let alone those who can't even fight back. And she could understand why loaders were used for what they are, even if there had been enough time to design something new.

Through out the whole story she let out the occasional hum or tsk in reaction, but also to let the man on the other side of the echo understand she was still listening.

A mechanic on Concordia? Something to ask others later on, there couldn't be many considering the lack of them on Pandora. As well as to ask on the reason why for the initial no considering at that point the vault hunters as far as she was aware had no issues with Hyperion, let alone Jack.

And she was torn on the laser because she could understand the pain of such handwork just ripped away. And she had a vague idea on how challenging it was with the laser that rested inside DT's head. But at the same time, she would never want anyone to have a laser of that magnitude considering if it could do that to a bandit settlement. Well it would only be a few tweaks away from being able to glass planets.

She paused in her notes when he mentioned seeing everything, it was hard to believe but there was something in his voice that made her believe he certainly saw something he shouldn't have. Gaige was going to have to go back onto that one on a different day since she could tell that right now was a horrible time to do so. And even as he talked about what Lilith did and the reason why he wore a mask, she could head just how this was not the cocky Jack from earlier.

This was a person who was done but still going. Something that it seemed being near Pandora did to people.

"Well I would say quit your day job regardless and stop all this without anymore murder. But we both know we are too far in to be willing to stop." A small click as she closed the cover on the buckle to once more hide away her person little holounit that stored information that she kept only for herself. The notes saved for review for another day. "I do have questions, but you sound..... Rough. Would you rather a topic change? Or just end this call? I do have things to do, and I'm sure you have plenty of ill placed paper work to finish."

[themirrorvisitor-translations]

The Memory of Babel (by Christelle Dabos) - Chapter 5 - The Taxi (english translation)

Proofread by @veryberryfresh

[Chapters masterpost] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 6]

Ophelia had followed along the rails with all the strength she had. Drenched with sweat, covered in scratches and out of breath, her lungs were on fire. After a bridge and a few streets, the railroad branched off. Which branch had the streetcar taken? Where had it gone? She looked in every direction, looking for an indication. There were only townsmen, city buses, taxis, bicycles, animals and automatons going about in a dizzying mess. When she pushed her glasses up her nose, Ophelia felt weak. The entire neighborhood appeared as an enormous staircase, each of its steps was a new street full of people and gardens.

Despite the excitement, Ophelia felt more alone than ever. How was she going to find her scarf? How would she find Thorn? How could she have believed for one second that she was ready to go on such a quest on her own? Aunt Rosaline, Archibald, Gail and Fox had all advised her to wait a little before rushing in, but she had only listened to her impatience.

"Please," she called a taxi. "I'm looking for the streetcar coming from the market."

She was talking to the driver, but she realized, when he lowered its faceless head toward her, that it was a mannequin. Its passenger, dozing in the backseat, answered in its place in a sleepy voice :

"You should ask your question to a guide, young girl."

"A guide ?"

The passenger opened an eye, and her nose, in which a ring was sparkling, suddenly breathed in the air as if she was trying to smell Ophelia from a distance.

"A public signalization guide. You will find one at each intersection. And since you are clearly not from here, I will give you a piece of advice : dress properly."

Ophelia watched the taxi drive off. Her little grey dress was not new, but it was not as if she was going about naked. She saw, in the middle of the intersection, a big automaton statue whose eight arms were each pointing in different directions : it had to be the public signalization guide.

"Um…the streetcar depot ?" Ophelia asked.

As she was not getting any answer, she noticed a winder, similar to one on a music box, incorporated in the statue's pedestal. She freed the mechanism from the plants invading it and turned it several times.

"ASK ME A QUESTION," declared the statue.

"The market's streetcar terminus ?"

"LUCK FAVORS THE BRAVE."

"Lost and found office ?"

"A GOOD DAY STARTS WITH A GOOD NIGHT."

"The 21st interfamilial Exposition."

"A BIRD IN HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH."

"Thank you anyway."

Ophelia leaned against the pedestal, discouraged. Her only possessions were now Thorn's watch and the old postcard. She had no identity papers, no change of clothes and her poor scarf was now on her own in an unknown town.

What if someone found her bag ? Wondered Ophelia, furiously rubbing her eyelids. What if that someone were to hand it over Pollux' family guard ? What if God heard that an animated scarf had been located on Babel ?

She had barely arrived and Ophelia already felt like she had compromised all her chances.

"If I go by your reaction, I guess the experience was disappointing."

She put her glasses back in place, surprised at hearing a human voice talk to her. A teenage boy was sitting just in front of her, leaning against a sculpted wooden chair, under the shade of a parasol. The brilliant white of his clothes brought out the bronze tone of his skin. He emanated a strangeness that Ophelia had trouble defining. In truth, he would look more in his element in a tea shop than in the middle of the streets. He was observing Ophelia with such curiosity that he was not paying any mind to the stream of passers-by around him.

"The public global positioning system," he explained, pointing to the automaton-statue. "You have to give him the exact address, or it won't understand you. And no offence, miss, but I think your accent is a bit too strong for it."

The teenage boy was speaking with Babel's characteristic accent, which was a mix of musicality and dignity. Everything about him was soft: his doe eyes, his long silky black hair, the fine angles of his face, even the satin fabric of his clothes. Ophelia was probably older than him but , at this moment, she felt like a kid in front of him.

"I lost my bag and my papers," she said in a hoarse voice that she was not proud of. "I don't know what to do. It is my first time coming to Babel."

The teenager awkwardly turned around on his chair and Ophelia was again struck by this indefinable strangeness emanating from him.

"Take this boulevard, walk along it until the end and cross the bridge," he said pointing eastward. "From there, you'll see a very big building like a lighthouse : once you've seen it, you won't be able to get lost."

"And what is this building exactly ?"

The teenager smiled.

"It is Babel's Memorial. That's where the 21st interfamilial Exposition took place. That's what you were asking the guide, isn't it ? _Sorry, miss, _I couldn't help but listen. My father says that curiosity is a 'nice flaw', but I always tend to meddle in other people's business. And I tend to talk too much too," he confessed apologetically. "I got it from my father. About your bag, I am convinced you'll find it soon. Honesty is a civil duty on Babel."

Ophelia was overwhelmed with gratitude. This young man had given her all her bravery back.

"Thank you, sir."

"Ambrose. Without the sir, miss."

"O… Eulalia. Thank you, Ambrose."

"Good luck, miss."

He hesitated, as if he wanted to add something but changed his mind. Ophelia crossed the intersection against the current of passers-by and the outraged exclamation of cyclists and taxi, but she couldn't help looking back. She had the sensation of having missed an important detail. She understood what it was when she saw Ambrose painstakingly maneuver his chair.

It was a wheelchair. And it was stuck in the cobblestones.

Ophelia immediately walked back, provoking a new wave of discontentment, and pushed with all her weight on the chair to free its wheel. Ambrose raised surprised eyes toward her, assuming that she had already been far.

"It's ridiculous," he said with an embarrassed smile. "I always get stuck. That's why I'll never be a good taxi."

"A taxi ?"

"A taxi, miss. It's anything with wheels that can take a passenger. You don't have those where you are from ?"

As Ophelia was evasively shaking her head, Ambrose was looking at her with curiosity.

"I helped you. You helped me. We are friends."

This declaration was so spontaneous that Ophelia couldn't help shaking the hand he handed out to her. It was at this precise moment she knew where the teenager's strangeness was coming from : he had a left arm instead of a right one, a right arm instead of a left one. And judging by the incongruous angle of his slippers, his legs were inverted too. It was the most unusual handicap Ophelia had ever seen - it was as if Ambrose had been the victim of a mirror accident too.

"If you'll let me be your driver, Miss Eulalia, hop on !"

He turned a crank on his chair, the cogs producing a long rattling. Ophelia clumsily climbed on the back footboard and almost fell off of it as soon as Ambrose released the brakes, propelling the chair forward. She felt every single one of the road's cobblestones pass under her. Several times, she had to climb down and free the wheels from the holes in the road, as Ambrose rewinded the springs of his chair with the crank. The big parasol, which was not fixed well on the chair, squeaked noisily with every gust of wind, covering Ambrose's sweet voice who was making conversation. It was a pretty uncomfortable trip, but Ophelia stopped thinking about it the second the chair rolled onto a bridge between two Arks and Ambrose pointed at something in the distance with his inverted hand.

Between the infinity of the sky and the cloud sea, an enormous spiral tower, topped with a glass dome, was standing on a floating island barely large enough to welcome it ; an entire wing of the building was standing over the void, but the architectural balance was so perfect that the ensemble was holding strong against all odds.

"Babel's Memorial," commented Ambrose. "It is our oldest monument, half of it dates back from the old world. The saying says that all of humanity's memory lies there."

"Humanity's memory," thought Ophelia. Just thinking that Thorn may have been there, she felt a drum beating in her chest. She leaned over the back of the chair to make herself heard from Ambrose from whom she could only see dark undulating hair.

"Half of it only ?"

"A part of the tower collapsed during the Rupture, but it was rebuilt by LUX centuries ago. I like the Memorial, you can find thousands of books here ! I love books, don't you ? I could spend my days reading, on any subject. I tried to write one once, but I'm as bad a writer as I'm a taxi, I always loose myself in digressions. Don't think that the Memorial is just an old dusty library, Miss Eulalia. It is at the peak of modernity with family archives, transcendius and phantopneumatics ! All that thanks to LUX."

Ophelia had not the slightest idea of what family archives, transcendius and phantopneumatics were, but the word "LUX" reminded her of something. She remembered then that it was the one printed on all the advertisement posters on the streetcar.

"And a headless soldier," she asked. "Is there one ?"

Ambrose pulled up the crank in a stiff move, hitting the brake so briskly that Ophelia hit her head against his.

"You should not use this word in public, miss," he whispered, casting her a surprised look above his shoulder. "I don't know about where you are from, but here we have an Index."

"An Index ?"

"The vocabulum prohibitorum Index. The list of every words that is forbidden to be pronounced out loud. Everything that has something to do with… you know." Ambrose signaled for Ophelia to lean more so he could whisper in her ear. "The war."

Ophelia contracted all her muscles. Apparently, the taboos instituted by God were enforced on Babel too.

"I suppose that you mean the old statue, at the Memorial's entrance," continued Ambrose in a lighter tone, restarting his wheelchair. "It is as old as the site."

"And how do we go there ?"

"In birdcar, miss." And before she could ask what a birdcar was, he kept going : "But if you want to visit the Memorial or get your bag back, you'll have to change. They'll not let you enter anywhere in this outfit."

"I don't understand," said Ophelia, frowning. "Why is my dress problematic ?"

Ambrose burst out laughing.

"I'm inviting you to my place, miss! There is a couple things I need to explain to you."

Ambrose's house looked nothing like what Ophelia was expecting from a taxi driver's house. The wheelchair rolled up a portico, water lily ponds flanking its columns. The more they entered the domain, the more the street's noises and smells seemed far away. A battalion of mannequins, in the servant's livery, came to meet them and opened the high doors of the house. The freshness inside made Ophelia sigh with happiness; the skin of her neck, free thanks to her new haircut, was burning.

She got off the footboard, and laid a baffled look on the atrium. Statues and automatons, marble tables and telephony machines, climbing plants and electric lamps were mingling in a singular assortment of antique dignity and modern technology. This place summed up on its own the anachronistic vibes of the entire city.

"You live here ?"

"Me and my father. Especially me, actually. My father is rarely home."

Saying this, Ambrose pointed to a full-length portrait on the main wall. It represented a man with long white hair and small pink glasses behind which sparkled eyes full of mischief.

"It's Lazarus, the famous Arks-trotter," Ophelia recognized. "This man is your father ? I met him once."

"I'm not surprised. Everyone knows my father and my father knows everyone."

She noted that there was more melancholy than pride in the smile Ambrose threw at the portrait. It could not be easy to find your place in a life as full as the one of that father.

"And you don't have any other parents here ?"

"No parents, no friends. None that is not an automaton."

Ophelia observed the mechanical butlers that were busy trying to take, rather clumsily, the parasol off from the wheelchair. She tried to imagine herself growing up in the middle of these faceless bodies, whose stomach sometimes let go of a "CONSISTENCY IS THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUES" or a "THE TOAST ALWAYS FALL ON THE BUTTERED SIDE."

"I told my father that the proverbs were not of the best effect," Ambrose sighed. "But he is headstrong."

"He is the inventor of the city's automatons ?" Ophelia was surprised. "I knew that he sold them, but i didn't know that he conceived them."

"He is a Powerless, but he is a genius nonetheless. My father earned his citizen status thanks to his merits."

"Your family is probably very important."

Ambrose frowned, as if he had trouble understanding Ophelia.

"My father is the one who is important, and yet, he is far from being as important as the Lords of LUX. But why would I be ? I did not manage to prove my usefulness to the city. I am taken care of."

He said this with a shame that was clearly implying how dishonoring it was. He rolled his chair between the indoor columns and, with a forced cheerfulness, kept talking without catching his breath, as if he wanted his voice to fill all the big empty spaces in his house.

"Before being a taxi, I tried all kind of small jobs that always ended by a failure. I am not a manual person, you see. Even tapping on a typewriter is atrociously complex for me. I always thought that, if I had been a Son of Pollux, I would at least have had an overdeveloped sense. If, right now, a genie were to ask me what I wanted to be, I would answer without any hesitation: a Visionary ! It has to be fascinating to be able to see germs with your naked eyes, don't you think ? Or an Acoustic. It is extraordinary what you can learn about the world around you just thanks to ultrasounds. Even to be an Olfactive, a Tactile or a Gustative would have been great. But no, I had to end up with inverted hands. My father keeps telling me that my mere existence makes me really important for the city. He is the only one to think that."

As Ophelia was following behind Ambrose, a bit dazed by all the talking, she understood less and less that society in which  it was frowned upon to provide for your child's needs, and where no one paid attention to a young girl going alone to a young boy's house. It seemed that neither the Pole, nor Anima or her textbooks had actually prepared her for Babel. This world operated on rules she knew nothing of.

This feeling turned into certainty when Ambrose introduced her into an elegant walk-in closet and opened the sculpted shutters of the wardrobes, all adapted for his wheelchair.

Every piece of clothing, perfectly folded, was as white as the one he was wearing.

"What you have to understand, Miss Eulalia, is that here people are exactly as they seem. We have, in the same way we have civil and criminal codes, a very strict dress code. My father and I, for example, are bound by law to wear white. It is the powerless' power. Are you a Powerless ?"

"Um… I am an animist. An eighth animist," added Ophelia with a thought for the fake identity papers she had lost.

"An eighth ? With a family power that diluted, you can wear white too. You are skinny, but I am not tall either. My clothes will fit you."

"Because it would be less shocking for me to wear men's clothes ?"

Ambrose, in the process of unfolding a long white tunic, looked taken aback when he raised his eyes toward Ophelia, before flashing her a smirk.

"Excuse me, I am not like my father, who knows the habits and customs of other Arks. We don't make a difference between genders here. I guess that back home men don't wear the same clothing as you ?"

Ophelia had to restrain herself to not imagine Thorn in a small grey dress.

"No, indeed, they don't."

"It's interesting. Anyway, Miss Eulalia, the biggest issue with your dress is that its model is not in our dress code. To disrespect this code in public is interpreted as an act of provocation. This is, of course, very ill-advised."

Ophelia raised her eyebrows. She would have never imagined that this antiquity, buttoned from ankles to chin, would one day make her look like a bad girl.

"The clothes vary according to age, profession and civil status," pursued Ambrose, looking through his wardrobes. "The citizens don't wear the same colors as the non-citizens for example."

"The non-citizens," repeated Ophelia, who remembered reading about it in her geography textbook. "They are the ones who live in Babel, but are not descendants of Pollux ?"

"It is not correct anymore," said Ambrose with an indulgent smile. "The Sons of Pollux are systematically citizens. They can vote, elect and be elected. But it is also possible to become a citizen through merit, like my father. It is the case since Babel has contracted trade alliances with other Arks. You probably noticed in the streets, there are a lot of different families living here : Florans, Totemists, Cyclopeans, Alchemists and Heliopolitans ! The Powerless," he added that last part from the tip of his lips. "We are the 'Wards of Helen'. Since Lady Helen had never been able to have descendants, she became the assigned godmother to anyone who is not a Son of Pollux. She will be yours for as long as you'll stay in Babel."

Ophelia sure hoped not. The last time she had been a family spirit's pupil, it had almost cost her her life.

"Back to the clothing," said Ambrose, plunging back in his wardrobe. "You need to understand that each ornament, each piece of jewelry, each accessory adds layers to this very precise meaning. It is a language of its own ! If your stay in Babel has to last, I recommend that you master it perfectly to avoid misunderstandings. Be careful, the dress code police regularly execute inspections."

Ophelia, who had always worn the first clothes she could grab,  will have to provide serious efforts if she wanted to blend in.

"And what happens if you dress differently than what is in the code ?"

"You have to pay a fine to the city. The bigger the infraction, the bigger the fine."

She knocked down the pile of clothes Ambrose had gathered in her arms. It was sad to see that, even without inverted hands, she was the clumsiest of them both.

"Stay at my home for tonight," suggested the taxi driver, seeing the  light go down through the windows. "We'll go looking for your bag first thing tomorrow morning."

"And the Memorial ? Wouldn't it be possible to go today ?"

Ambrose's eyes widened, the white of it striking against the dark of his skin.

"It will be close by the time we go there. This place looks important to you. What are you looking for exactly ?"

"It's personal."

Ophelia blamed herself for her impulsivity when she saw Ambrose's smile disappear.

"Sorry for my indiscretion. Please follow me, miss, you probably want to freshen up and rest. Are you hungry ? Would you agree to share my table ?"

Ophelia picked up the clothes strewn across the floor, and then raised her glasses toward the chair, already rolling to the door in a mechanical purr.

"Ambrose ?"

"Miss ?"

"Why are helping you me ?"

The wheelchair stopped briskly, screeching in the checkered marble, but Ambrose did not turn around. From where she was standing, Ophelia could see his inverted hands clench on the armrests.

"Because you are not an automaton."

[Chapter 6]

[shyly-yours]

not too obvious

notes: was inspired by a reddit snapshot. it’s really quite adorable.

---

“Quick, let me hold your hand!”

“Sora, I’m eating lunch--”

“I only have five minutes to feel everybody’s hand before I have to make my next delivery!”

Lea put down his chopsticks inside the Cheeto’s bag he was holding. He wasn’t five anymore and did not appreciate cheesy powder clinging to his clean hands. “First, gross. Second, do I even--hey!”

Sora took Lea’s free hand and interlaced their fingers in a firm hold for several seconds. The hungry man learned the best tactic to any Sora brand shenanigans was to let it play out, and then bail when it looked like government enforcement got involved. “I would say you should buy me dinner first, but I kind of think Riku would have a problem with his boyfriend of four years taking out his ex-lover on a date.”

“No, this isn’t right either,” Sora mumbled and then sighed while letting Lea go. “I’ve held at least a hundred hands today and none of them are right!”

Shaking out his released digits, Lea set down his Cheeto’s, leaned forward on the table they were currently occupying, placed his elbows on the surface, and put his head onto his folded hands. “Well, if we’re doing hand counts now--instead of bodies--I can positively say you’ve actually one upped me for once. I’m so proud of you.”

“I’ve done Kairi, Ventus, Roxas, Terra, and Xehanort--”

“Maybe, check, check, check, and what the fuck.”

“--and none of them feel right.” Sora ruffled his spikes as he sighed. “Why are you the only one here? I was hoping to feel Isa’s hand before he left for band practice. Did he leave already?!”

“It’s a holiday, dumbass. How did you even get in here? The shop isn’t open--waaait, did you make copies of the key I gave you years back?”

“There’s no time for questions, Lea! It’s imperative you tell me where Isa is!!”

“I’m not telling you where my other half is if you’re just going to molest him like you did me.”

“What?! I did NOT--”

“Sora? What are you doing here?” Namine’s sweet voice asked from the break room doorway. “Doesn’t Riku have a show tonight? You’re usually with him when he does.”

“Let me hold your hand!”

----

There was a talent show at a convention Sora took Riku to that one time. They were dressed as popular video game characters that Riku had no clue about, but he would do just about anything for Sora (well, okay, he would do anything for Sora), and they received positive comments everywhere they went. Therefore, it was easy for Sora to persuade Riku into a duet to “give the people what they want”. It was a wonderful memory Riku cherished very much. 

He has to remind himself that Sora didn’t orchestrate Riku being discovered by an attending talent agency representative. Riku thought it was a joke at first--he was a good singer, but he didn’t think it would necessitate things like recording contracts or publicity interviews. He wasn’t so far gone into stardom that he needed a bodyguard to protect him from invading paparazzi. He was in that sweet spot of having gained enough notoriety to be recognized once or twice while buying toilet paper with his cute boyfriend at the local supermarket. 

It’s just... most of the good things to happen in Riku’s life are usually associated with Sora. It took him a while to recognize self sabotage and learning to take time-outs when haunting thoughts resurfaced before old habits reverted him back to a person Riku didn’t like. Sora met him at this stage in his life--a chapter where Riku looked at gift horses in the mouth and manipulated the situation into a disaster before anybody else could ruin it. Despite fading into a toxic shell, Sora remained his friend, eventually a best friend, and coaxed Riku back “into the light” where Sora knew he belonged. Such a genuine person deserved somebody who didn’t occasionally hiccup, right?

��So when are you planning on asking him?”

Riku and Kairi sat side-by-side on the edge of the amphitheater stage. “You don’t think it’s too soon to ask him to marry me?”

Kairi shoved Riku’s shoulder with hers and said in a disbelieving tone, “Are you seriously asking my opinion about whether or not you should ask Sora, our impulsive and reckless and dearly beloved Sora who you have been dating and living with for a while now--”

“Only because I was getting evicted!”

“--who, might I also add, has been deeply in love with you since the day you two first met--”

“You just said he’s impulsive and reckless. I don’t know if I’ve been complimented or insulted.”

“--and whether or not you should marry him?”

Kairi stared.

“...the jury’s still out?”

And then smacked Riku upside the head.

----

What’s fascinating about the world of Sora is that he inherently knows when the time is right. His mother always told him to follow his heart when it came to the facts of life and making tough choices. Leaving Destiny Islands behind was an internal struggle, but a necessary change as Sora felt the universe calling him elsewhere. He made new friends, reunited with other adventuring islanders, and eventually landed in the energetic hubbub of Radiant Garden.

This is where he met Riku, one of the adventuring islanders Sora was surprised existed (although now he knows better than think he was the first to venture away from Destiny Islands). It wasn’t obvious then, but Sora’s heart knew Riku would always be a part of his life. Now to find the correct hand measurement for the ring he wanted to buy to further cement Riku’s permanency in his world.

“I’m really exhausted trying to find Cinderella’s shoe--”

“We made a list of code words, Sora, and you’re still sticking to this one?!”

“--and I’m not going to give up until I find the right hand, but Aqua I’m really starting to freak out here. LOOK OUT I’M COMING THROUGH!”

Sora threw his cellphone into the bicycle basket in order to put both of his hands onto the handlebars for better swerve control. Exclamations and shocked shouts were hollered in his direction both from walking pedestrians and his mobile. Sora was never meant to multitask at any capacity no matter his stubbornness to improve his lack of skill. Riku said Sora must have been born under a new moon to have been inhibited with so much chaos. 

“SORA! What’s happening?!”

Out of harms way and coming up to his final destination, Sora plucked his cell out of the basket and resumed his conversation. “Sorry, Aqua! Yen Sid’s Bao buns have been really popular today and he called me in to help with deliveries before Riku’s concert tonight!”

Aqua sighed in disapproval. “I really wish you wouldn’t talk and drive, Sora.”

“It hasn’t been that bad today! I only crashed once and it was smooth sailing up until just a minute ago.”

“So let’s reset the accident calendar to ‘zero days since last incident’, shall we?”

“Can we focus on what’s really important right now?”

“Oh! You mean you don’t want to discuss the state of your health and well-being? Because I have a mountain of evidence that says there should have been an intervention weeks ago.”

It was Sora’s turn to sigh. “Okay, I hear you Aqua! I need to take better care of myself! No need to mother hen me into an early grave.”

“I love you, Sora, but how does that even make sense?”

“Listen,” Sora grabbed the last take-out bag, walked up to the townhouse front door, and knocked. “I haven’t found a hand that resembles Riku’s and if I don’t get the ring size for the jeweler soon, tonight will be ruined. Well, not ruined-ruined because Riku is perfect and wonderful and his show is going to be GREAT but, like, I want to be married to him already, Aqua!”

The last part of Sora’s tirade came out whiny and the person who answered his knock heard every single syllable. “Um...”

“Oh! Hello, my name’s Sora and I’m your delivery service today! Oh behalf of Heavenly Buns we thank you for your order!”

“I thought you were joking when you said that was the name of Yen Sid’s restaurant,” Aqua mumbled to herself.

The patron smiled at Sora’s enthusiasm. “Awesome! I paid over the app already, but, um, give me a sec to get get you a tip.”

Already on the edge of despair from time’s harsh reality, Sora glanced at his wristwatch (anniversary gift) and said, “It’s totally okay! Your thanks is enough!”

“No, no, no, I have my wallet nearby. I used to work as a pizza delivery guy and I know how hard this job can be,” the customer said. He grabbed his food and left to find the aforementioned wallet leaving Sora to awkwardly stand on his doorstep.

“It’s nice to know there’s still decent people around,” his phone crackled. 

Biting his lip nervously, Sora sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, I’m really anxious about getting his ring in time and, well...”

“I’m listening.”

“...him saying yes.”

Sora couldn’t see her, but Aqua has been his confident throughout this excursion and he knew she was softly smiling. “Sora... do you want me to list all of the reasons why he is going to say yes to you like Kairi? Or do you want me to sprout endless quips like Lea until you finally get it knocked into your brain?”

“Um, how about some mother henning like Aqua?” It was Sora’s worst kept secret that he gravitated towards his friends that had strong maternal qualities when he had an episode. It was his quiet way of remembering his mother who passed two years earlier.

Sora heard a change of background noise and the click of a door shutting. He imagined Aqua stepped outside of her house as she tended to do that to better focus on serious conversations. “I may not have known you two from the beginning of your relationship, but I rarely see a person look at you the way Riku does every time you’re both in the same room together, Sora. You might not notice, but Riku is always making sure you’re comfortable first before he takes care of his own needs. He’s a dependable young man that cherishes the heart you have given him and he will always protect it from harm. It actually makes me jealous you found somebody that compatible in midst of your uncontrollable life.”

Rubbing at his eyes, Sora released a surprised laugh. Shakily, he said, “Riku worked hard to become the person he is now. He just needed somebody to believe in him to start creating the future he has now. I mean, he’s going to the next biggest pop star, Aqua! I can’t let him be tied down with me when his career hasn’t even started yet!”

“You’re doing it again, Sora.”

“...doing what?”

“Not believing in you. He won’t say no because he suddenly has a new life ahead of him. He’ll only say no if this isn’t something you want. Which, by the way ding-dong, are you already forgetting how passionate you were about wanting to be ‘married to him already’?”

“But what if he doesn’t want this?!”

“Then you will come to my place and we will hash it out over some moscato while Kairi and Lea wreak hell upon his person until he see’s sense again.”

“I don’t want him forced into marrying me, Aqua! That’s got to be illegal in several countries if not all of them!”

A throat cleared behind Sora. “Uh,” it was the customer back with the promised munny. “That sounds like a really interesting conversation you got going on there, buddy.”

Sora turned red in embarrassment. “Well, uh...” in for a penny, in for a pound. “Just, y’know, having an internal crisis about whether or not my almost famous boyfriend wants to settle down with,” Sora paused and gestured to himself, “this.”

Caught in the moment with this exchange of words, Sora barely heard Aqua on his phone, “I know you just didn’t call yourself a ‘this’. That is the equivalent of ‘it’ and you are worth so much more than that.”

The client clearly had no idea what to do. “Oh, well, um, good luck with that?” He shoved his fistful of munny at Sora. “And here! Thank you again for the delivery!”

Sora looked at the patron’s outstretched hand and froze.

“...Are you... are you okay?”

“Can I hold your hand?”

“...What?”

“Your hand! Can I hold it just for a quick second, please? I promise this isn’t for something weird--well, it’s a weird request, yes I know, because you don’t know me--well, you kind of do because I told you my name, but I don’t know yours! What’s your name? WAIT, that’s not important right now!  Please help me propose to my boyfriend who I love very much?!” Sora looked at the guy with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster. Considering the emotional rollercoaster he has been through recently it didn’t take much effort on his part.

The guy’s eyes widened as he considered calling for help. “Look, can you please just take the munny and go? My buns are getting cold.”

“I’ll pay for your dinner if you just hold my hand for a few seconds, sir, and I promise you’ll never see or hear from me again! Unless you wanna be friends!!”

“...Okay, I guess?”

Relieved, Sora set his phone down onto the townhouse banister and reached for his wallet to pull out munny. Elsewhere, Aqua facepalmed in exasperation. Sora was a sweet kid, truly, but his eccentric approach to life is why Lea purchased the accident calendar to go next to the tally marks of how many new friends Sora makes in a week. Sometimes their group makes bets.

Aqua smiled when she heard Sora’s shout of excitement on the other end of the line (and casually overlooked the distressed sound from the ex-pizza man).

----

note: part one of two...?