#if you read all this i appreciate u.
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this is just a random thought ive had in the back of my mind when i first got into yellowjackets so be nice but like. something something jackie & shauna are quinn fabray variants (to ME) and quinn is somehow a combination of jackieshauna's worst individual traits
#shauna shipman#jackie taylor#jackieshauna#this came from the glee yj tweets i looked up for funsies when i was getting into yj and ive chuckled @ the shackie quinn ones#but u know with enough time i started thinking about it way too much#i have lots of Thoughts but my thesis statement is this:#prone to being extremely harsh (on herself & others) which can lead to making the worst life decisions ever [Shauna]#+ âpretty perfect highschool queenâ whose really reliant on the (superficial) expectations of everyone/the social order [Jackie]#= quinn fabray#like if u were assigning yj girls to glee chars you can kind of slot jackieshauna in quinn for wildly different reasons#its just really funny. frankly hilarious to me. this is very niche but if it hits an audience then wooo#if j&s watched glee theyre fave character would be quinn for Very different reasons its true they told me#& shauna would be a secret hater about it lowkey because she'd assume jackie doesn't get the parts of Quinn that shauna relates to#while jackie? shes just losing her mind over every s2 faberry moment#comphet lesbian AND pregnant cheater bitch oh quinn fabray what can't you do#but yeah. yeah#if you read all this i appreciate u.#ignore the typos đ
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I love amphibia I'm really happy it exists
#this is so random LOL but ive been like going thru lots of phases where im just trying to feed into a latest interest#and when doing so i tend to look back on the stuff ive liked in the last and like.. as im scrolling thru an anne and sprig tag on tumblr#i suddenly had a realization that i havent been feeling sad about the fact that the shows been over for a while now??#idk its crazy to me instead im just having warm fuzzy feelings inside and im just#gah i do miss these goofs but i really appreciate the laughs and the love you showed me. hope u dumbasses are doing ok#also more random thoughts: the 'did hop pop just leave us' joke has been randomly playing in my head for no reason other than me remembering#season 1 and also been randomly reading gf fics and read a crossover one w amphibby and i fucking lost my shit when it reminded me abt how#they fucking played kpop in all in like thags so fucking funny to me all the time for no reason its peak silly
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Happy Christmas, Henry
#rwrb#rwrbedit#red white and royal blue#alex x henry#firstprince#userninz#userveronika#chrissiewatts#usersteen#usernuria#userclara#usermegsb#mine*#merry christmas to those who celebrate!!!!!!#this is your canon reminder that henry's holidays are no longer lonely now he is spending them with alex :')#casey's brain was massive when they wrote this letter to alex from henry#bc uuhhhhh writer henry writing alex love letters and poems is exactly what he deserves#anyway to anyone still reading this and still putting up w my gifsets then i appreciate u loads#i hope you all have an amazing christmasđ„ș
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some louis tomlinsons i never posted ^_^
#louis tomlinson#louisupdates#louisprojectstracks#lfltracks#mindofwalls#tracksintheam#usertomlinsonsource#dailytomlinson#im not Getting his likeness it's making me so insane#does it look like him?!!?!? no but if i caption it louis Then u will know#anyw these r sketches that still look kinda presentable to me#souwee if these look unfinished unpolished it's bc they are shdjdjd#vans louis & chemical formula louis were way back in 2021 (when i first became a fan)#afhf one some time in 2022#all the others were drawn in feb 2023 except the aotv one which was march 2023#aotv being. the one where he's in a suit yup#i wanna practice drawing him some more. ive been practicing when i have time (not a lot) since 2021 basically. he's become my muse kinda !#i need to work on my realismđ„Č it's the effect of never ever stanning a real person... so all ive drawn my whole life is anime&cartoons LOL#i have to draw him everyday i wanna like. devote all my free time into getting my fanart of him to look Right#you look like youd be easy to draw BITCH. if that's an insult then saying louis is hard to draw must be high praise!!!!!#ignore the fact that it may be just a skill issue on my end#if you read this far... erm... thanks! rbs are super appreciated thank you! â€ïž#my louis#liz.art
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LHFW 2024 Graphics: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
#f1#f1edit#formula 1#graphic design#lewis hamilton#lewishamiltonedit#lhfw 2024#roscoehamiltons.jpg#and with this Iâm done w the lhfw 2024 series đ„č#a compilation post w some thoughts is scheduled about an hour after this..#but if ur not following me/interested in reading all of that...#then i will take this opportunity to say thank you everyone for all of the love for this series đ i appreciate u all
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The image of Goro Akechi seeing the calling card texted to him at 1:18AM in the morning while he's standing in a conbini has been stuck in my head since I read 'as you like it' by @corviiids
#persona 5#p5#goro akechi#fanfic fanart#Please go read the fic its fantastic#You can also then appreciate the context and actual text of the calling card message in not newspaper cut out font lol#my art#ashedraws#i downloaded all the p5 fonts for this pic and now i have them all for future memes he he#if u believe me this was supposed to be a sketched meme but instead i went full ham like always kfdvndjn
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hello âstarâ for that one post about fanfic directorâs commentary, hope youâre having a lovely day
thank u so much!!! i hope ur having a wonderful day too :3 ok hmm let's go with death note this time. let's talk about they both die at the end
(obviously death cw and suicidal ideation cw as well and also it's long again.)
so this one is kind of an undignified wrestle with mortality and legacy. no big dramatic strides made in that struggle, because i think getting satisfying closure about the acceptance of your own death is sort of gauche. i prefer a running stream of consciousness where you kinda flop around in the ring and kind of come to terms with things but in a really damp and hollow and itchy way.
throughout this fic i tried to use L's narration to contrast the source of his panic with the source of light's. both of them are acting sort of out of character in the sense that neither's behaviour is really aligned with the way they act in canon, and the reason i did that is sort of as a response to their own impending deaths. nobody's going to act like themselves in that circumstance. i even have them say it outright:
âIâm not really a nihilist,â says Light. âI wonder what youâd think of me if youâd met me on a normal day.â ... [L:] âIâm not ordinarily apathetic, either, by the way.â
one very simple detail showing that contrast is this:
L closes the door without locking it. He picks a direction at random and starts walking.
...
And itâd turned out they were nearby, so now theyâre at Lightâs apartment. âI didnât think Iâd be back here today,â he tells L, sticking his key in the lock. âSorry if itâs messy.â
basically, light is in flight and L is in freeze. L doesn't bother locking his door when he leaves the house in the morning, but light does. L knows/accepts/has resolved that he won't be returning home that day. part of light still refuses to accept that, even though he leaves the house with the intention of ending his life.
i don't think it's fair to say that L's acceptance is more mature or that he's more at peace with his fate. it's more like...
so, L approaches situations with the perspective of looking at what is. he's truth-oriented. he accepts the facts of a given matter and then uses them to extrapolate what comes next. that extrapolation is really key to his character so it honestly bugs me a lot when people try to say that L is a purely logical character. he's not! he's running on intuition like 99% of the time and a lot of his extrapolations are wild and not evidence-based at all, but the reason for that is that he has an incredibly strong intuition based on how effectively he processes information. so L understands based on the phone call that he's going to die today, and there's really no point arguing around that fact. however, he can't actually figure out what his next steps are, because there are no next steps. he's going to die today.
throughout the story he struggles immensely with the fact that there is a piece of information he can't attain using the information he already has: he doesn't know when he's going to die, only that it's going to happen before midnight, and so he is completely unable to plan what he should do next, because he can't see any course of action through to its conclusion:
Two. Three. Two. Three. Four. Three. Two. L shakes his head. Canât count up. Canât count down. The numbers keep changing, but he canât find zero. âNo,â he says. Deductive reasoning, by its nature, requires premisesâin order to find a fact, you must have a fact to begin with. You cannot begin with a baseline of nothing. With no reference, there can be no inference. L keeps counting, but there is no zero, or rather, there is a zero and he doesnât know where it is. The next second could be his last, or the next, or the next, and all he can know is that at some point the ticking will stop and there is no way to orient himself to it because that point keeps moving .
this drives L crazy. that uncertainty is being represented by this incessant ticking in L's head which won't fade. ok so have you ever used a metronome? say you're counting in 4/4, so the click would play like ONE two three four ONE two three four. the rhythm is steady, but there's one emphasised beat to orient you to where you are in the measure. or, say, a ticking clock, where you can glance at it to see where you are in the 60 seconds that make up a minute. you can count down to when the next minute begins. or a timer, where you can see it counting down to zero. in L's head, he knows the ticking is counting down to the moment of his death, but he doesn't know what it's counting down to because he can't see it. he doesn't know where zero is, there's no emphasis to orient him, and he doesn't know which second he's at in the minute. he could start doing something and then die in the next three seconds, and it would be abrupt and jarring and unsatisfying, like the feeling you get when you take a breath and get winded. so he's in freeze. L accepts that he's going to die today, but he doesn't know when, and the whole time he's thinking about all the things he's never gotten to experience in his life because he's always sort of taken the concept of existence for granted. but he can't figure out how to take steps to try and check things off, because he's never actually made that list. and why make it now? because he might not get to finish them, and that's really unsatisfying. and how do you prioritise when you know you're not going to get to the end of your list and your list is infinity items long? he can't plan. he can't move. he's stuck. he panics, frozen.
light on the other hand has always had a plan for his future, and he's just watched that timeline rapidly shrink and cut all the opportunities off that he'd always been counting down towards. suddenly everything he's done up until now feels like a huge waste, because it was all a run-up to something that now doesn't exist. and he can't bear the fact that the control he'd always taken care to maintain over his life has suddenly been wrested away from him. that's why he starts the story out trying to kill himself - at the very least, he can control the when and cut the fear off.
Light swallows his mouthful of tuna and says, âIf I canât control my fate, I can at least bring it about myself.â âDoes controlling your fate matter to you?â âThatâs a stupid question,â says Light. âIf you asked me yesterday Iâd have had a hundred thousand things to say that mattered more to me than choosing how Iâd die. My options have just kind of narrowed today, thatâs all.â
L's right, though - light never would have done it. light wants to live more than he ever realised. i think light's had this moment of looking down the tunnel (hehe) and staring down his own impending death and realised he's not finished yet, but that's been taken out of his hands. he's realised that the mark he's left on the world has been so small and insignificant, and that if he dies now, that'll be all that's left of him. he's not willing to accept that. but that's the way things are. so he's in flight: run towards his own death so at least he can control the pace at which he dies? try to outrun the inevitable? try to speedrun a meaningful life to see if he can make some kind of mark before he stops existing for good?
âI don't know what we're walking to,â says Light. âI feel like I'm walking closer to myâto my ownââ âWe can stop.â âThat just means it'll happen here instead. I don't want to die here, either.â âWhere do you want to die?â âI don't,â Light says. His face crumples. âI just donât. I'm not ready to be done.â
this is my favourite part of the fic tbh. it's based on a nightmare i had once that ended up changing my entire worldview. wahoo!
not to be a wanker but to an extent this is kind of what everyone's doing, technically, walking towards what will inevitably be your death, since time only moves in one direction and all that. but unlike everyone in the real world, light can see it. he wants to walk in the other direction, but it's all around him. he can see it growing closer the more he keeps moving, and all he wants to do is stop.
âWhat do I say?â Light asks desperately. âHi, Dad. Hi, Mum.â Break. âSorry I'll never give you grandchildren. Sorry I didn't get to graduate. Sorry you'll have to bury my dreams with me. Sorry for nineteen years that came to nothing in the end. It came to nothing.â
re: light refusing to speak to his family: i think he explains himself in the fic enough, but there's also another level where i think talking to his family about it means he'd have to formulate this fact into words which is difficult when he's not really accepted it himself, and on top of that, he would need to carry his family's grief and he's just not ready to do that. there's like a weird thing about talking to people who are already grieving you. i always felt really weird about that when talking to [friends/relations] who were terminally ill. light's relationship with his mother is kind of unexplored in canon but i wanted to go into it i think because your mother is someone who holds a unique spot in your life, i think, assuming you have a good relationship with her, and there is that reported phenomenon where people who are about to die tend to call out for their mothers. i guess this might be controversial but i think it's textually supported that light really cares about his family. i dont think light is ready to look at them and see them looking at him like he's someone who's already gone, and see all the things he never got to do with/for them. i honestly dont think hed survive it
ultimately it was really important to me that light died for no reason and that he didn't really have any material impact on anything. he dies trying to save a child, but someone else saves the kid first. light didn't have to take action at all. but of course, he did
As L stares, reaching hands scoop the toddler off the street from the other side.
i think in a sense it's up to personal opinion whether light had an impact or whether his friendship with L mattered at all before he died. after all, L died like an hour later, and it's not like he had anyone to pass those memories on to. he didn't even know light's surname. the memories of their last day together only exist with each other, and now they're both gone, so did it really matter? what does it mean to matter anyway? do you have to leave a legacy? is it enough that light managed to be L's only friend in the hours before L stopped existing? probably?
It's dark now. Properly dark. It's a new moon tonight, and though the stars do their best, there's little that can cut through the blackness in its absence.
...
L stares up at the moonless sky.
...
It might have been nice to die with the moon.
ofc light's name is written with the kanji for moon. just a silly joke lol.
L's death is something that's more likely to happen when you're alone, by the way. he gets mugged because he's an easy target sitting alone on a park floor. too bad he didn't have more friends and his only friend is dead.
also, the fact that he's a detective who gets murdered in a random act of crime was sort of another nod to the futility of the whole thing that light struggles with in canon. like, work your ass off, solve crime after crime, bring people to justice, but it never ends. crime continues. so is there a point? (yes, obviously.) but that's just a return to the struggle for legacy and meaning, where it's hard not to wonder whether the thing you're doing matters if it's not permanent / if you didn't solve something for good / if you didn't leave a mark that will never fade. i dunno. i think L did enough good in his lifetime. it wasn't enough to save him, but everyone dies eventually, so maybe it doesn't really matter?
i didn't want to give either of them the dignity of a full final thought. light definitely doesn't realise what's happening in the moment before he dies because he didn't see the truck, so i think he didn't have a chance to formulate one.
L watches a look of relief cross Light's face in the split second before the truck horn blares.
L of course gets cut off mid-sentence, just like he'd implicitly feared he might - trying to check things off the list, tie things off, before he's done:
What might a good final thought be? A final sight? He wonders if he could possibly find a star before
hopefully if you read the fic you got something out of it! it is, i think, intentionally pretty hollow and futile feeling, but not in a way that's supposed to make you feel hopeless or nihilistic. well, i hope not. i think there's something really cathartic that comes with the kind of closure you get specifically from accepting that sometimes there's no closure. that's how i felt writing it, so hopefully reading it is something similar. i dunno!
#jeeeeezus#i dont expect anyone to read these in depth or at all btw im kinda just pleased to have somewhere to write my thoughts out#this ended up being more a treatise on mortality than about the fic but đŹ#it's also sufficiently about the fic... i hope#asks#death note#rookfic#thank you for asking! i appreciate it!#rookthots#i dunno if i said anything here that wasnt already in the fic really but it was still good to write it all out u know#eta: i started a thread i forgot to tie off but basically L operates in what *is*#meanwhile light operates in what *should be*#which is what cements him as an idealist vs L's realism
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Love how consistent you are. Love my daily dose of perfume birdie, itâs free seratonin
Awww shucks...
#[THANK YOU that's very sweet of you ;u;]#[Mod truly appreciates the kind words y'all say and leave in the tags ;; I read them all and place them Into My Heart]#ask#anon#art#spritzee
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Hi friends! Once again here using my Tumblr like a traditional blog where u share thoughts and updates and stuff haha.
Sorry for being gone for a bit, life was BUSY with plans and now Iâm finally back home from a little trip visiting a lovely friend of mine (photos for visual-aid of said trip đđ). God I love summer and sunshine!! âïžâșïžđđ€đ
So due to being less active, I did build up quite a bit of notification and message debt. Wanted to take a quick moment and say that unfortunately there is no shot Iâll be able to catch up on all of it in terms of responding to everything, even though I usually really like to stay on top of that; especially with tags and reblogs and comments on my posts! However, I did read and see everything that Iâve missed.
So to all of u that interacted while I was gone: the satisfaction from flustering some of you was absolutely enjoyed đ~ and on the flip side the backfire from your teasy comments has also been suffered hahaha đ. Either way you already know I love seeing interactions from you guys and Iâm just so THANKFUL TO HAVE HAD SO MANY TO CATCH UP ON đ„° sorry again I canât always be reciprocal, but please know that I adore all of you and am enjoying the heck out of being in your presences with or without direct line of conversation!
Anyway, if it wasnât clear enough by now, I think the world of u community pals and I hope you all have a day as lovely and awesome as you! (Very lovely and awesome, to clarify haha)
Stay precious đđ
#me#photo#even on vacation I didnât forget about taking pics for you guys~ đ#feet#tummy#belly#sunbathing#cece speaks#blog post#life update#seriously tho idek how to describe it butâŠ#I actually check out every blog that pops up in my notifications in any way#I know all of you by NAME pretty much :D#I know I canât always directly interact in terms of messaging#but I really do feel really familiar with yaâl <3#in the best kinda community solidarity way haha#so yes believe me when I say I appreciate u and CARE FOR REALS#even if we've never interacted before#anyway Iâm RAMBLING I NEED TO STOP MYSELF LOL#thanks for reading my life updates :D
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ALEXITHYMIA CH 3: nightmares, pepto, and fire
Roommate AU: Carmy Berzatto x Reader (R18)
ao3 link ch 1 ch 2 ch 4
Chapter Rating: M (7.9k)
Chapter Summary: Carmy can't run from how he feels anymore. His dreams, his conversations with his coworkers and friends, everything is forcing him to face reality. Upon being pushed to his limits, he will finally have to start to speak the truth.
content tags: wet dreams, repressed carmy (as per usual), self deprecation, mental illness
A/N: Carmy gets a wet dream AND a nightmare this chapter! I'm putting him through the ringer babes⊠I had a lot of fun with the drama, interactions, and imagery this time. Also fun fact, this is the end of what I refer to as "Act 1" in my notes! Act 1 consists of repressed Carmy to the max, barely even acknowledging his feelings⊠but that's gonna change after this chapter :) enjoy!
After a torturous day at work, one that makes his limbs feel like lead, Carmy is more than relieved to see the door to his apartment.Â
Surprisingly, though, it swings open without him even touching it. He's too tired to think twice about it. He steps inside, and the first thing he sees is his roommate. They're dressed exclusively in a black apron, just like they were that other night.
âHi, Carmy,â they say quietly, and their makeup is messy and dark just like that night they were trashed. He remembers how he felt the first time he saw them like that, because he feels it now. âI missed you.â
âI missed you, too,â he hears himself saying.Â
They walk up to him, and suddenly, they're on top of him. Their hands press gently against his tense shoulders. His back hits his bed, pillows under his neck.Â
âYou snooped through my stuff, didn't you?â Their hands move behind them to drop their apron, revealing skin, skin, and more skin. It goes on forever.Â
âSorry,â he mumbles half-heartedly, distracted by their nakedness.Â
âHm. I don't think you're all that sorry, butâŠthat's okay.â They drag their hand down the center of his chest, slowly, teasingly, lovingly. âI wanted you to see.â
A bottle of lube materializes in their hand.Â
âYou did?â
âI did,â they whisper. They uncap the lube with a low pop, and suddenly, their skin is shiny with it. Carmy runs his hand down their chest, squeezing, and it's slippery to the touch. âYou wanna see what I like to do with this?â
âPlease,â he whispers back, breathless, desperate for it. They smile, and it doesn't quite look like them. Heat circles in his gut nonetheless.Â
âYou're so sweet,â they say quietly. âI love that about you.â
He can't respond, not with the way they're touching him. Not that he can come up with a response to that. The pleasure is like fire under his skin, hot, alive, and painful.
âDon't say that,â he pleads, and it feels so good.Â
âWhy not? It's how I really feel about you.â
Their mouth is on his neck now. He can barely breathe. A part of him worries that there's gonna be lipstick marks he'll have to get off again, but he honestly couldn't care less. He'll go to work covered in lipstick marks if he has to.Â
âShut up,â he tries again, but it's even weaker this time.Â
I'm gonna end up hurting you, he wants to say, but he can't.
âDon't you like how good I can make you feel?â They lean up to seal their lips against his, and smoke fills his mouth. He takes it in like water. The high hits him immediately, along with the spike in pleasure.
âI'm close,â he whispers, bucking against their hand.
âMe too.â They straddle his waist then, a playful look in their eye. âI know just the thingâŠâ
Just as they go to unbutton his jeans, an alarm screams into his ear, and his eyes fly open to see his bedroom ceiling.Â
Stunned, he slams his hand down to shut up his alarm. He lays there in the silence, slowly processing everything. From the moment he woke up, his heart's been racing.
He moves to sit up, get a sip of water, and that's when he feels how sticky his boxers feel.Â
âMotherfucker,â he mutters under his breath. He doesn't even have any water on his nightstand, and he just came in his sleep for the first time since highschool. âShit.â
The shame is too much. He has to sit there for several more minutes in silence before getting himself clean.Â
There are no words to express the emotion he feels as he changes his boxers and wipes himself down. It's a strange mixture of guilt, shock, and lingering arousal. He needs to make sure he doesn't think about it at work unless he wants to walk around with an obvious bulge in his pants.Â
You need to head into work so you can stop thinking about it, he tells himself, to which he agrees.
He does his best not to think about it on his way to work, which only garners minimal success. In other words, it's a spectacular failure. It's a miracle he doesn't clock in with a poorly concealed boner, but there are other factors.Â
For one, his nausea. It crept up on him soon after waking up, and it looks like it's here to stay. It's fine, though, because he's used to his stomach being fucked. His brain is on fire and so is the rest of his bodyâjust as usual. He'll just take some pepto when he gets to work.
Except that when he reaches for it on the bathroom shelf, there is no pepto bottle. That's when he remembers the way he chugged the rest of it the week before. So the nausea remains.
When he arrives, the comments about the lipstick mark being gone is unavoidable. His irritation is also naturally unavoidable. His sour mood does him no favors. However, in a twisted sort of luck, he realizes they're behind on far too many things, and he hones in, focuses on nothing else. Everyone else is too swamped with work to keep up the teasing.Â
The lunch rush is expectedly awful, especially with the swelling tensions in the kitchen. Everyone gets through it with minimal screaming.Â
Staying busy is supposed to help. Keeping himself occupied is supposed to help, but the moment the lunch rush ends, the nausea hits him at full blast.
âYou look like shit,â Richie kindly tells him. A âfuck offâ sits on the tip of Carmy's tongue, but so does the feeling of bile, rising in his throat. âWow, you really are sick, aren't you?â He remarks at Carmy's lack of response.Â
In as little words as possible, Carmy relays to everyone he'll be in his office.Â
He keeps the lights off and the door cracked as he falls back onto his chair. The world around him seems to settle like sand. It's been a while since he's dealt with nausea this bad. He counts that as a blessing in itself.Â
The darkness and the quiet is nice. It relaxes his body. On the flipside, though, there's no noise to overpower the thoughts he's running from.Â
He closes his eyes, and he sees imprints of his dream. He feels their mouth on his neck, their voice in his ear, their hand on hisâ
Carmy slaps a hand on his forehead. Then, he sighs, dragging it slowly down his face. His stomach twists inward into itself.Â
He thinks about seeing his reflection in the mirror last night. His skin was free from the lipstick mark that everyone was relentlessly teasing him about. And yet, he was struck with a profound sense of disappointment.Â
You liked seeing it there, a voice somewhere hidden in him whispers.Â
Carmy really feels like throwing up now.Â
He settles in the darkness for a while longer until a notification lights up his screen, briefly illuminating the room with a low white light.Â
His first instinct is to groan and flip his phone face down, which he follows about halfway through until he sees the contact name.Â
The text message is from the person haunting his dreams and his waking life.Â
- hey thinking abt cooking chicken and rice tonite or something. u want some??
Just when he was able to get a break from thinking about them. Just like that, they're orbiting his brain again.Â
Visions of them jacking him off aside, he's unsure what to say. He doubts he's gonna be able to get anything down today. This isn't the first time something like this has happened on his end.
> maybe tmrw, stomach is fucked today. ill take leftovers if u make some
- oh no :( feel better man. u got medicine?
> no but its ok, ill take some after work
- but thats so far away!
He can't help but smile, even if looking at the screen isnât making his nausea any better.
> ill be ok. ill make it
Heâll make it because he has to. No one else is gonna run the place for him. Thatâs a part of what makes him stand up, take in a breath, and return to the kitchen. The other part is the familiar distant sound of arguing. He slips his phone in his back pocket, stands up, and gets back to work. No matter how begrudgingly it may be.  Â
A number of problems quickly make themselves clear to him. First, the toiletâs busted again. Two, the plumber wonât be here for another three days. Three, the cash register isnât working. Four, the meat order got delayed. Carmy doesnât even wanna start worrying about that last one yet with how awful itâs gonna be.
âWhen is Fak gonna get here?â Carmy asks Richie. Theyâre stationed at the front, taking the lack of customers while they can.
âHe said he'd be here soon.â Richie's fucking with the aforementioned cash register. Carmyâs leaning against the counter, watching him aggressively jam receipt paper into the machine out of the corner of his eye. It's refusing to print receipts again. âHe said to tell you to not get your hopes up. He's not a plumber.â
âI know, but he's got the best chance of fixing the thing.â
âI'm telling ya, if you just let me fuck around with itââ
âYou don't know how to fix a toilet by watching youtube tutorials,â Carmy mutters.
âSo you wanna have to keep going across the street to take a piss?â
âCousinâthis is my restaurant, not your goddamn apartmentââ
âAlright, then be my fuckinâ guestââ
He's so in the middle of arguing that he doesn't even hear the bell on the door ring when it opens.Â
âLook, Fak's gonna be here in a couple minutes,â Carmy says, pinching his eyebrows together, âand then you can fight it out like alphas or whatever the fuck you were saying. Okay? Godââ
When he straightens up, pushing himself off the counter and turning back towards the front, the last person he expected to see stands right in front of him.
They've got this bashful smile on their face, and their cheeks are flushed from the cold. Their hair sticks out from their beanie in a way that Carmy insists is not cute at all. Not one bit, not even the way it's messy when they yank it off.Â
He also insists to himself that the color on their cheeks doesn't remind him of his dream. Not at all. Not even a little bit. No way. No matter how much the visuals are rampaging in his brain.Â
âI was sorta worried I wasn't in the right place,â they admit.Â
âWhat're you doing here?â Carmy blurts out, even though he immediately recognizes it for how rude it is.Â
âUhââ Nerves flash across their face. They hold up a little paper bag. âSorry for just showing up, I just wanted to bring you some things.â
âNoâdon't apologize, I shouldn't have justâŠâ He trails off, unable to find the words. He studies the bag in their hand. âSorry. What did you bring?â He asks, softer this time.Â
âI know this might be a bit much,â they clarify nervously. They walk up the counter and set the bag down before him. âIt's just, you were saying that you weren't feeling well, and I was in the area doing some shoppingâŠâ
Carmy reaches inside and pulls out several things. The items reveal themselves to be a small, green bottle of papaya pills, a little bag of ginger candies, and most importantly, a bottle of bubblegum pink pepto bismol.
As he stares at the items, a tiny flower blossoms in his chest.
âYou really didn't have to get all this,â he says softly after a beat of silence. He stares at the items for a moment longer before looking up at them. There's an odd feeling in his chest.Â
âI wanted to. Seriously.â They still look oddly bashful, and it's captivating. âI mean, you helped me out a ton the other night, soâŠâ
âYou didn't owe me anything.âÂ
âThen consider it a gift.â Their smile so effortlessly dazzles him. âUnless I can't give you gifts?â
âYeahâI mean, no, youââ Carmy fails to stifle a quiet laugh at how ridiculous he sounds. They so easily fluster him. âThank you,â he says finally, remembering himself. âThis isâŠreally nice.â
âI hope it helps,â they reply, and he tells himself the color on their cheeks is still from the cold. He tells himself that they're the one that looked into his eyes first, so it's okay for him to look back. âIf you end up not liking it or needing it, though, itâs fine. Do whatever you want with it.â
âNo, I appreciate it. Thank you,â he says again.Â
They're beautiful, he thinks all of a sudden, and the thought is so potent he can't hide from it for a single second. His anxiety tells him that they're gonna hear his thoughts if he keeps thinking so loudly. The bliss of tracing his eyes over their features is worth it. He's not sure if he feels any less nauseous, staring at their darling face like this, but he can't deny he likes the way this feels. His chest aches.
Then, the obnoxious noise of someone clearing their throat reminds him that they're not alone.Â
âCousin.â Carmy's head whips around. How could he forget that Richie was right there? It's incredible how silent Richie could be when he wants to. âYou gonna introduce us?â
âShit, right, uhââ Carmy fumbles, making a hand motion with no words to match. âThis is my cousin Richie. And Richie, this is, uh, my roommate.â
Oh, how he's dreaded saying those words for reasons he will see in just a matter of seconds.Â
âSo you're the roommate!â Richie makes a big show of it, eyebrows raised in dramatic shock.Â
âYeah, that's me.â They shrug. âNice to meet you.âÂ
âLikewise. Can't believe you're roominâ with this guy,â Richie says, slapping a hand on Carmy's shoulder. It is promptly shoved off. âCarmen's not an easy guy to be around, I know.â
âOh, not at all! He's a great roommate.â Carmy feels the tips of his ears growing warm.Â
âReally?â Richie gives him a skeptical look. âWho would've guessed.â
âFuck off,â Carmy snaps, but the way he mumbles makes it lack any intensity.Â
They donât stay for long. Something about needing to run some more errands. A part of Carmy wants to keep them there somehow, although thereâs no logical reason for that. If anything, the faster theyâre out, the better. It gives Richie less time to say something scathing that ruins their perception of Carmy.Â
Not that you need any help fucking yourself over, Carmy thinks to himself distantly.Â
âWell, I hope the stuff helps.â They readjust their beanie on their head, pulling it over their ears. âIâll see you at home?âÂ
âYeah, Iâll see you,â he replies. âThanks again.âÂ
âNo problem. Bye!â
They wave to him and Richie as they leave. As soon as the bell above the door rings and theyâre out of sight, Carmy feels Richieâs eyes on him.Â
Actually, he feels a number of eyes on him.Â
He turns around to see his fellow chefs peeking over the deli counter, standing in a row like a line of matryoshka dolls. They freeze when they see him, but they donât make any move to run away. Absolutely remorseless.Â
âBack to your stations, chefs,â Carmy scolds them, but his meak words are quickly overtaken by noise.Â
âIf the two of you arenât dating, then what the fuck is this?â Richie picks up the paper bag full of medicine. âThat was some sappy shit the two of you were pulling!â
âThe two of you? What the fuck did I do?â Carmy spits back.Â
âWhat the fuck did I do,â Richie imitates, rolling his eyes. âFuckinâ goo-goo eyes over here wants to know what the fuck he was doing.â Carmy snatches the bag out of his hand.
âYou were makinâ goo-goo eyes at them,â Marcus agrees. His elbows are propped up on the glass counter.Â
âAnd if theyâre bringing you medicine, itâs serious,â Tina adds with a sly grin.Â
âThereâs nothing to be serious about,â Carmy insists. He feels like a broken record. âWeâre just friends.â
âFriends that kiss each other,â Sydney comments. âRight. Of course.âÂ
âWe donâtâIâve neverââ Heâs a tea kettle, and the lid on him is starting to rattle. âChefsââ
âCousin, loosen up already. Why you always gotta make shit so serious?â Richie throws an arm around his shoulder, but Carmy shoves it off.Â
âBecause this shit is none of your fuckinâ business. That goes for all of you!â Carmy whips around, gesturing accusingly with his hand at the line of chefs. âGet back to work! Now!â
A sad chorus of âYes, chefâ resounds, and everyone despondently trickles back to their stations. All except for Richie, who is not a chef.Â
âTheyâre obviously into you,â Richie tries, and Carmyâs glare could burn two perfect circles into his face.Â
âDrop it,â he hisses.Â
âWhyâre you always like this?â
âLike what?â
âLike a little bitch? Youâre a pussy, Carmen. Thatâs what you are. A pussyââ
âYou have no fucking clue what youâre talking about.â
âNo. Yâknow what? I actually do have a clue, because I know you, Berzatto. You act like all that shitâs above you, but itâs not. And Iâm tryinâ to do you a favorââ
âA favor? What fucking favor?âÂ
âIâm trying to help you get a fucking clue! Thatâs what! Because youâre too dense to see whatâs right in front of you!â
âRichie, I happen to be doing just fine without your help. I donât need whatever the fuck you think helping me is!â
âThen explain this to me. Explain this little thing to me, Carmen fucking Berzatto. You and Claireââ
âRichie. Donât.â
âThat couldâve been a good thing. A great thing. The two of youââ
âI told youââ
âYou were obviously into each other, and yetââ
âShut the fuck up, you piece of shit!âÂ
Thereâs a rage threatening to spew out of him, lava coursing under his skin and in his head. Richieâs looking at him like he knows heâs right, but heâs not. Heâs not right about Carmy. Heâs not right about anything. Not about any of this.Â
âFak is on the scene! What is up, guys?âÂ
With comedic (or arguably tragic) timing, Fak bursts through the front door with his heavy tool bag on one hand. Carmy and Richieâs heads both snap to him when he arrives. Fak freezes in his steps.Â
âFak,â Carmy says.Â
âFinally,â Richie mutters. âSlow ass.âÂ
âUhâŠIâm getting the impression I shouldnât be here right now. Should I be here right now?â Fak takes a step back towards the door.Â
âYes, I really need you to look at the toilet,â Carmy says. Richie is uncharacteristically quiet, but Carmy canât stand to look at him.Â
âIf you say so.â Fak shrugs. âWhatâs the damage?âÂ
âMild to severe, depending on how you look at it,â is Carmyâs dry response.Â
The rest of the day, Carmy operates on autopilot. When he finally remembers to open the bottle of pepto, nausea surges in him at the sight of it. He manages to force it down. Miraculously, the toilet gets fixed, and even more miraculously, no one mentions the roommate again. Not even Richie. Although Carmy does sense how badly he wants to bring it up again.Â
His stomach continues its incessant rampage throughout the rest of the day. Despite improving since the pepto, itâs still generally upset. This nausea leads him back to his care package again and again throughout the rest of the day.Â
The ginger candies have a sharp flavor, maybe even a bit too much, but the sharpness grounds him. It also does admittedly dim the nausea. He wonders why heâs never bothered to keep him on his person.Â
âChef?â Carmyâs cleaning his station when he hears Syd next to him. It could only be her, anywayâthe sun has set, and everyone else has gone home for the day. He perks his head up to see her concerned expression.Â
âChef,â he acknowledges back. âWhatâs wrong?â
âNothing,â she says quickly. âNothing wrong with me, I mean. I was actually wondering if, uh, you were okay?â
âMe?â The question surprises him. âUh, yeah. Iâm okay. Stomachâs better, soâŠâ
âOh, good.â She nods. âStuff your roommate gave you working?â
âYeah. It is.â He rolls the candy around on his tongue. âHand me my knife?â
âYeah.â She slides it over to him. âAnd, uh, I just wanted to sayâI donât mean to be nosy. I really donât. Earlier, everyone was just gathered over the counter, andââ
âItâs fine.â
âI just wanted to see what the commotion was aboutââ
âReally, itâs fine,â he repeats, firmly. âTheyâre just like that, anyway.â
âIâOkay. Okay.â She exhales. âItâs justâyâknow. I donât wanna be an ass. I justâŠâ
âYou werenât. Youâre not.â
âIâm justâŠwondering about one thing.â
â...Yeah?â
âWhy have you never invited them to family?â
âFamily?â This question surprises him even more than the last. âWell, familyâs forâŠfamily. Just the workers.â
âI mean, yeah. But, like, sometimes itâs not, right? Like, you let Marcusâ roommate come last week.â
âMarcus was on family anyway.â
âSure. Right. You let me bring my friend recently, though.â
âYou wanted to show her where you worked, didnât you?âÂ
âAnd Fak has family with us almost, like, all the time.â
âFak is Fak,â Carmy reasons, and Sydney canât argue with that.Â
âI donât mean to be an ass,â she repeats. âIâm just curious.â
Right, he thinks. She asked a question. Why have I never brought them to family?
Heâs never even considered it before. Bringing them to family. Itâs not a habit to bring outsiders in, for lack of better wording, but itâs not necessarily off-limits, either. He doesnât actually mind when others bring people in. He trusts them not to bring in anyone stupid. Mostly. As for himselfâŠ
Heâs never had anyone in his life to bring before. Ever.Â
âI donât know,â he answers honestly. âI guess I just never thought about it.â
âHuh.â
âWouldnât it beâŠweird?â
âWhy would it be weird?â
âI donât know,â he says again, âI justâŠI just thoughtâŠâ He sighs. âI didnât wanna deal with Richie, butâŠâ
âLittle too late for that,â Sydney notes in amusement.Â
âLittle too late,â he echoes.Â
âWell. I was just curious. Sorry if that was weird.â
âWhy would it be weird?â He jokes, imitating her from earlier.Â
âShut up,â she shoots back with a grin. âYou know what I mean.â
âItâs fine. Itâs not weird.â He pauses for a moment, thinking about Richie. âEveryone else is an ass about it. Not you, though.â
âI try.â She grins. âIâŠI think everyone just gets excited becauseâŠitâs different. Seeing you with someone else like that.â
âMm.â Carmy nods, and then pauses again. Lets it sink in. âDo IâŠâ I shouldnât ask this, he thinks, but heâs already started. Itâs too late. â...Do I act differently?â
âAround them? Yeah. A little.â
â...â Carmy straightens up, taking a step back from his station. This is starting to feel weird. Really weird. âI do?â
âKinda. You just seemâŠcalmer, I think.â Sydneyâs expression seems uncomfortable. âI dunno.â
âNo, itâs fine. It was a dumb thing to ask.â Carmyâs making the executive decision to stop talking about this. âI gotta stay and sort through some stuff in the office, but you should head out for the night.â
âWhat, canât afford to pay me overtime?â Sydney teases. Carmy rolls his eyes.Â
âPartially,â he jokes back, although itâs not much of a joke.Â
Nevertheless, it is almost 10 pm, so Sydney does indeed head out for the night. The whole place is eerily silent without anyone else there. Thereâs the sound of the rattling AC unit, noisy plumbing, and passing cars, but thereâs a distinct lack of sizzling pans, knives against cutting boards, and shouting. It just feels strange, is all.Â
Carmy barely remembers to replace the bottle of pepto in the bathroom before heading out. He puts the new bottle there on the shelf, and as he stares at it standing there, he considers putting other gifts there too.Â
He returns to his office where the small bag of ginger candies and bottle of papaya pills sits. Theyâre seated on the corner of his desk. He goes to grab them, but for some reason, he doesnât. They look like they belong there.Â
Then consider it a gift, he remembers them saying earlier. Unless I canât give you gifts? If you end up not liking it or needing it, though, itâs fine. Do whatever you want with it, he hears them saying again.
A certain possessiveness grips him then.
It was a gift, he tells himself. For me. No one else.
He decides to leave the candies and pills on his desk. Those will be just for him.Â
When he finally gets home, itâs almost 12 am. He does his best to open the door carefully, but itâs as squeaky as ever.Â
Heâs greeted with a surprising, although not unusual sight. His roommate is curled up into a sleep ball on the couch, snuggled into the pillows and blankets. The tv is playing some youtube video essay about lost media from the early 2000s. All the lights in the apartment are off, leaving the only source of illumination to be the tv screen.Â
Carmy carefully moves to turn the tv off. After he does, he turns to see if heâs woken them up. He hasnât. Theyâre still in deep sleep. Very deep sleep, rather, with how theyâre lightly snoring. Â
That familiar ache he gets in his chest when he sees them makes itself known. Itâs the ache that pulls him in, forcing him to sit on the floor next to the couch. Itâs something beyond his will that makes him gaze at their peacefully sleeping face.Â
His eyes trace their features like he was earlier when they stopped by The Beef, except this time, much more unabashedly. He takes note of the faint blemishes on their cheeks, the loose strands of hair in their face. The squish of their cheek against the pillows.Â
Cute, he thinks to himself, not for the first time, and heâs too tired to push the feeling away.Â
Youâre different around them, he hears Sydney saying. Calmer.
I donât know about that, he thinks. He absentmindedly brings a hand to brush their loose hairs out of their face. I donât know how I feel when Iâm around you.Â
A part of him wonders if he should wake them up. The part of him that wins is the part that doesnât want to disturb the peaceful look on their face. He wouldnât want to upset them.Â
He trudges into his bed instead, flopping wearily onto his mattress. Itâs been a taxing day, right down to the moment he woke up this morning. His mind and body were both in shambles, and now, heâs exhausted. Â
As he falls asleep, he distantly hopes for a dreamless night.Â
. . . . .
âWhereâs the olive oil? The panâs heated. I need to start cooking the beef.â
Carmy stands before a pristine stainless steel pan. Next to him on the counter sits stuffed beef carefully wrapped in twineâbeef braciole.Â
âGuys,â he repeats, annoyed. âGuys, have you seen the olive oil?â
He turns to see Michael and his roommate sitting at a kitchen island. Theyâre both opening cans of San Marzano tomatoes, although itâs definitely not a two person job.Â
âWe havenât seen it, Carmen,â Michael says. âAnyway, like I was sayingâyou shouldâve seen his face. Really! When I told him I couldnât work at the restaurant, itâs like I told him our dog died or something.â
âWhat I wouldnât give to see that,â his roommate remarks, snickering and shaking their head. âSuch a baby.â
Next to them, Carmy spots the bottle of olive oil. With a scowl, he snatches it.Â
âHurry up on those tomatoes, guys, Iâm gonna need it real soon,â he reminds them, irritation growing.Â
With the bottom of the pan coated in olive oil, he carefully places the beef into the pan. The sizzle is strangely whistle-like and high pitched. He inhales, searching for the smell of cooking meat and garlic, but he canât seem to smell anything at all.Â
âDid he cry?â They ask.Â
âNo, but he looked like he was going to,â Michael sneers, and the two of them are laughing again.Â
âYou wouldnât wanna work with a guy like Carmy, anyway.â
âExactly. Exactly. He doesnât really get it, yâknow. How much of a colossal fuck-up he is. I can see it in him, though. I didnât have the heart to tell him then.â
âThatâs okay. I donât blame you. He probably wouldnât have been able to handle it.â
âHe has no idea! And he thinks heâs fooling everyone so well, but the thing isââ
âHeâs not.â
âHeâs not! Heâs really not.â
âChefs, I need the tomato puree. Hand it over,â Carmy interrupts abruptly. When thereâs no response, he turns around. They havenât even opened one can of tomatoes yet. âAre you two fucking serious?â
They look at him, eyes wide, and then theyâre laughing so hard theyâre crying. Theyâre doubled over the counter, cackling and kicking their feet.Â
âYouâre too easy to fuck with, Carmen,â Michael gets out between chuckles. âYouâve always been like that.â
Carmy ignores him and reaches for a can of tomatoes.Â
âGive me the fucking can opener,â Carmy snaps.
âOh, you wonât need it,â his roommate answers.
As soon as Carmy grabs a can, it explodes in his face.
Puréed San Marzano tomatoes fill his hand and drip from his hair into his eyes. He steps back, staggered from the red explosion. Somehow it got all over him and not on anything else.
âFucking shit!â He wipes his eyes, and thatâs when he remembers the beef. He rushes back to the pan. It needs tomato purĂ©e now. He lets the splattered tomato drip from his hands into the pan, filling it with sauce. It sizzles and smells like smoke.
âI could always see you for who you really were, yâknow. I always knew,â Michael goes on. âI could always see it.â
âWhat the fuck are you talking about?â Carmy snaps. The growing anxiety in his stomach is tightening his body and ejecting the words out. âWhat the actual fuck are you talking about?â
âHeâs saying that youâre just not a good person. Thatâs all,â his roommate reasons. Carmy tries to keep his eyes focused on the beef, hastily spooning tomato over it. The panâs still filling with puree. Itâs overflowing. âYouâre just the sort of person who will never change. Once broken, always broken, yâknow what I mean?â
âIf youâre not going to help, then fucking leave!â Carmy snaps, finally. He whirls around and wipes all the cans onto the floor. They explode in glorious unison, staining the floors red. âJust get out and stop getting in my fucking way!â
âBut you donât want me to leave, do you?â
âI donât care what you do, I just need to finish thisââ
âNo, you care. You care if I like or hate you. You care if I stay or leave. You care about me, Carmy. You really care about me.â
âI donât fucking care about you. I never have, and I never will.â
The beefâs burning on the pan. Itâs all burning.
âOh, CarmyâŠâ Their arms are wrapped around his torso, squeezing him in a gentle hug. âItâs too late for you to say that sort of thing. Not anymore.â
All of a sudden, thereâs a gush of wetness that soaks through his shirt. He pulls back, and their mouth is oozing tomato puree. In an instant, Carmy knows theyâre dying.
âFuck,â Carmy curses. âFuck!â
âThis is what happens,â they say, gargling through mouthfuls of puree.
âWhy?â He asks.
âBecause itâs you,â they answer, and Carmy wakes up.
He wakes up stumbling back from the stove by someone pulling on his shirt. The stove has pots and pans filled with flaming frozen food. He can feel the blazing heat against his skin. The orange flames are flicking off the steel pans and arch towards the ceiling, reaching. As Carmy stumbles back, he falls to the floor, barely managing to steady himself with the palms of his hands.
Thereâs the familiar sound of the fire extinguisher, spraying out into the base of the fire. Propped up on his elbows, Carmy watches the fire shrink with a thumping heart. His heartbeat marches in time with the tune of the fire alarm, piercing and high-pitched throughout the apartment.Â
Carmy finally takes notes of his roommate, looking about as distressed as someone who just woke up to a fire in their own home. Their hair sticks up in several different directions as if they just woke up, which theyâŠprobably did. With a displeased grunt, they march over to the window to slam it open. The cloudy smoke compacted near the ceiling begins to trickle out.Â
âFucking hell,â they mutter under their breath, coughing from the smoke. They turn around to look at Carmy, expression twisted with stress. âDude. What was that?â
âI,â Carmy starts, but the words just wonât come. He tries to move to get up, but his legs arenât moving.Â
âCarmy. Hey.â They lean down next to him, staring him in the eyes. He still doesnât respond. âCarmen!â They snap, and he jolts.Â
âShit, Iâm sorry,â he gets out. They help him up, wrapping his hand in theirs and yanking him upwards.Â
âWe should step outside while the smoke clears.â They cough as they move to grab their coat.Â
âItâll be fine, itâll be gone in a couple minutes,â Carmy hears himself saying. Heâs met with a blank stare.Â
âSo this has happened to you before?â They open their mouth, as if theyâre about to say something else, but they shake their head. âNo, weâre not staying in here. We may smoke everyday, but this isnât good for us. Câmon.âÂ
He doesnât quite feel his body moving as he grabs his wool jacket. He doesnât feel it as he walks down the stairs, not even when he steps outside and the chilled night air whips at his face. He feels far, far away.Â
After leaving the awful song of the fire alarm, the quiet of the night is uncharacteristically loud. If he listens closely, though, he can pick out the sound of their fire alarm, distantly ringing. Or maybe thatâs just his tinnitus.Â
The clicking sound of a lighter is what recenters him. He looks to his side to see them shakily holding a lighter up to their cigarette. After a couple more sparks, the flame lights.
They take a slow pull of it before wordlessly handing it to him. An olive branch of sorts. He takes it. They let the pool of smoke sit in their mouth, and then they exhale with a heavy, heavy sigh.Â
âWhat happened back there, man?â They ask quietly. âThat wasâŠâ They sigh again. âThat scared the shit out of me,â they whisper, and thatâs what makes it all finally settle in.Â
Fuck, Carmy realizes with a pang. The realization starts in the pit of his stomach and drops lower and lower. Feeling returns to his body, and he feels cold inside and out. I really fucked up.
He can just imagine itâhim, dead on his feet, sleepwalking into the kitchen. Grabbing the frozen food out of the freezer and turning the stove on high. Cooking nonsensically with plastic-wrapped chicken breasts and frozen peas. Too fucking asleep to stop the fire from starting, to stop the fire alarm that woke up his sleeping roommate on the couch.
âI used to sleepwalk, sometimes. When I was at culinary school,â he clarifies nervously. Shame douses him, coating him evenly like oil on a pan. âOr, sleepcook, I guess.â
He passes the cigarette back to them. They take it.Â
âShit,â they mutter. âNever heard of anyone doinâ that before.âÂ
â...Yeah. Me neither.â
The two of them are silent for a while before they speak again.Â
âCarmyâwhy didnât you tell me? That youââ They laugh dryly, full of irritation. He doesnât like seeing anger on their face, hearing it in their voice. He doesnât know if heâs ever heard them sound like this before. âThat youâre prone to cooking in your sleep? Donât you think thatâs something I should know? As your roommate?â
âIâI didnât mean to hide it,â he protests, even though he did.
âWe couldâve really gotten hurt, yâknow.â
âYouâre right, I know, itâs justâit hadnât happened in so long, so I just thought that I had, that I wasâŠâ
I thought I was getting better, he wants to say, but itâs stuck in his throat. It wonât come out. As per usual, he canât get the words out.Â
It always stays the same.Â
â...â Strangely enough, their face softens. âMustâve been scary the first time.â
âWhat?â He wasnât expecting their anger to dissipate so easily.
âThe first time you caught yourself cooking your sleep. Were they all like this? With the fire and stuff?â
âYeah. All the fire and stuff,â he confirms bitterly. A beat of silence. âIâm sorry. I shouldâve told you. You shouldnât have had toâŠput out a fire I made.â
âItâs okay. I mean, itâs not okay you almost burned our place down, butâŠâ The end of the cigarette sizzles, bright and orange as they inhale. âItâs not like you did it on purpose, did you?âÂ
âOf course not,â he rushes to say, âI would neverââ
âIâm just kidding with you,â they laugh. They exchange the cigarette again. âI know you didnât.â
Impossible, Carmy thinks all of a sudden. The nicotine usually calms him, except not today. Not right now. This is impossible.
âI thought you were mad at me,â Carmy blurts out. He canât compute seeing a smile on their face right now.Â
âI am,â they say calmly.Â
âThen why? Why are youââ Thereâs static in his head, fuzz filling his mouth. âWhy arenât youâyou should beâfucking, I donât knowâwhy arenât you yelling?â
âDo you want me to be shouting at you?âÂ
âNo! I donât want that, I justâI just donât understand.â Thereâs blood rushing in his ears. âI fucked up, so justâjust get it over with already!âÂ
âIâget what over with?â
âJust tell me that Iâm a worthless piece of shit and that you were wrong for ever seeing anything good in me,â he spits out. His eyes feel hot. He doesnât know where all these words are coming from. âI know you want to say it, so just get it over with. Please.â
A moment of silence, broken by the drive by of a car.
â...Is that really how you think I see you?â
âHow could you not?â He laughs bitterly, shakes his head. Images of Michael flash in his head. âIâve just somehow managed to convince you that Iâm worth your time. I donât know how, butâŠâ Frustration surges inside of him. âBut now you know,â he says, finally.Â
So this is how it ends, he thinks to himself. I knew it couldnât last. Nothing ever lasts.Â
Weâll call it The Bear, he hears himself saying. Michael and him at Christmas. The drawing he made of the restaurant.Â
Michaelâs dead, he hears Sugar sobbing over the phone. Her voice is crackly and broken through the speakers. Please come home. Please.
You didnât even show up for your brother fuckinâ funeral, he hears Richie screaming. Your own fucking brother, Carmen! What the ever living fuck is wrong with you?
This is great, Carmy, Michael says softly to him, the gifted drawing of their restaurant in his hands. The house is on fire. There's so much fire. Thank you.
They donât say anything for a while, opting to instead smoke their cigarette and stare distantly across the street. When they finally turn to look at him, their gaze pierces him. Itâs that look that strips him bare, lays his soul out open for them to pick apart.Â
âYouâre allowed to mess up on onions,â they say.Â
â...What?â Is all he can think to reply.Â
âWhen I was drunk, you told me about how you dropped some onions.â
âNo, I remember, I justâwhy are you saying that now?â
âBecause this fire is the same.â They tap the ash off their cigarette, the gray dust shattering in the wind. âPeople make mistakes, Carmy. Itâs okay.â
âThis is a lot worse than spilling some onions,â he reasons weakly. They just shrug.Â
âObjectively speaking, sure. I canât deny that. But thatâs not really what Iâm trying to sayâŠâ They hesitate. âCan I speak plainly?â
âPlease,â Carmy begs.Â
Two cars whiz by before they speak again.Â
âI canât change how you see yourself,â they start. âIâm the same way. I think almost everyone is. I know I canât make you less hard on yourself. If anything, thatâs part of what made you into such an incredible chef.â They exhale shakily. âBut thisâŠwith meâŠI donât want it to push me away.â
â...I donât want you to get hurt,â he confesses, messily. This isnât like him, but he canât seem to stop talking. I care about you too much, he thinks painfully. Â
âItâs impossible to go through life without hurting others. LookâI consider you a friend, Carmy. A good friend. And I thought you felt the same, butâŠâ
âI do,â he interrupts urgently. âYouâre one of the closest friends I have,â he confesses, and their smile is beautiful.Â
âŠI didnât mean to say all that, he thinks, startled by himself. That was supposed to be, âI think of you as a friend, too.âÂ
âThen fuck up some onions. You donât have to be a perfect person. No one can be, and I donât want you to be. BesidesâIâm not stupid. Youâre not tricking me about anything. Iâm pretty good at making sound judgments of people.â
âI didnât mean to insinuate that you were stupid,â he says quietly.Â
âI know you didnât.â They keep being gentle, so gentle.Â
âIâŠIâm not used to this,â he admits, finally. He needs to be honest with them, regardless if saying the truth is like coughing up glass. âYou're a good person. Really good. More than I'm used to, to be honest. I thinkâŠI think a part of me doesn't wanna believe it.â
âOh.â Their pink cheeks could very well be from the cold, or from something else. âIâwell. Thank you. That's nice to hear. But, ah, do you think I have some dark alter ego or something?â
âNo, not like that. Itâs justâthereâs always another shoe, isnât there?â
âAnother shoeâŠâ They hum. âYeah. Unless there isnât.â
âThatâd be a first,â he says, and they laugh.Â
âTrue enough.â The distant sound of the train. âI'm not a perfect person, Carmy.â
âI know. I don't expect that.â
âThen stop expecting it from yourself.â
â...â He blinks, staggered by their bluntness. A million arguments begin and die on the tip of his tongue, but all of them feel as cheap as the last. He knows they're right, and there's not much room for argument there. âI'll try,â he says finally with a nod. It's all he can say.
âI say it like it's an easy thing to do. I know it's not.â Their smile is knowing, rueful. âI certainly haven't gotten over it myself.â
âYou alsoâŠ?â The implication lays silent in the air. They nod. âIâm sorry for starting a fire,â he apologizes again, because he feels like he has to. âAnd forâŠfreaking out.â
âYou are forgiven. But you donât need to apologize for, like, having emotions. Thatâs fucked up.â They let out an abrupt bark of a laugh, and it makes him laugh, too. âIs it, like, a stress thing? The sleepcooking?â
Youâre worthless, he suddenly hears a familiar voice saying. The head chef. Youâd be better off dead. You don't deserve any of this.
âUsually,â he says simply. âI canât reallyâŠpredict when itâs gonna happen, though.â
âUnfortunate. I guess itâd be too easy if you could see it coming.â They put out their cigarette on the back of their lighter, flicking off the ash. âHow are you doing now?â
âIâm fine,â he responds instantly, all on instinct. âIâmâŠbetter,â he amends, and they look happy with that. âI should be asking you that. Are you alright?â
âNot gonna lie, it was pretty scary, but Iâm okay. I can look back at it as a bonding experience.â
âA bonding experience,â Carmy mutters, half out of amusement and half out of disbelief. âI guess youâre not totally wrong.â
âNobody got hurt, right? And next time, I'll be ready.â
âThere shouldn't be a next time.â
âNo, I suppose not. But there might be, and that's okay.â
âButââ He stops. âI'm sorry.â
âI know.â They pat his back.Â
âDo you wanna come to family tomorrow?â He blurts out.Â
âHuh?â They say, which is a pretty reasonable response. âI mean, probably. What is it?â
âRight, sorry. It's, uh, a thing we do everyday at work. One of the chefs cooks dinner for everyone, and we eat together. It's a way to, ahâŠhave everyone get along, I guess.â
âOh, cool!â
âAnd I'll be the one cooking tomorrow,â he adds hastily. God, why is this so embarrassing? âSo. Yeah. If you wanna come, thenâŠâ
âYou mean I get to have your cooking? Of course I wanna come,â they reply, their expression brightening. Carmy's stomach twists inward, giddy. âOh my god, yeah. As long as it's not weird that I'm there?â
âNot weird,â he promises. âWe bring people all the time. Not too many, of course.â
Except for me, he thinks. I barely even eat family enough as it is, let alone ever bringing everyone. You're the only one.
âOkay. Okay!â They make a pleased noise, stepping excitedly in place. âThen I accept. What time should I come?â
âWe eat before opening, so come in around 2. The door should be open.â
âSounds good.â They stop then, fixing him with a puzzled, amused look. âYou're not just doing this because of what just happened, are you? Although I guess it'd be cool if you wereââ
âI'm not, I'm not. I justâŠwanted to.â He's not being very convincing. To be fair, it's only half of a lie. âBut I will. Make this up to you, I mean.â
âI'm just teasing. You donât have to, but I wonât stop you. AndâŠthanks for inviting me, I'm looking forward to it.â They yawn suddenly, eyes scrunching shut. âThink we're good to head back in now?â
âProbably, yeah.â He checks his phone. It's 1 AM. âSorry for keeping you up.â
âIt's fine, really. Besides, I did this to you the other night. And, uhâCarmy?â
â...Yeah?â
âI'm really glad you think of me as a friend,â they say, and it sounds like a confession. âI feel super lucky to have a roommate that I can call my friend, too. IâŠjust wanted to say that.Â
There are countless unspoken sentiments that Carmy wishes he had the courage, the faith to say. I didn't know how important you were going to become to me, for instance. I don't know if I can go without your company anymore. Iâm not sure if I've ever liked someone so much, and that terrifies me. I never wanted to admit how much I like you.
It's too much, far too much to say aloud, but at least, finally, he can admit it to himself.
It does not always have to stay the same.
âI feel really lucky, too,â Carmy says instead, and the words come easy, easier than they ever have before.
~
@zorrasucia
#carmen berzatto#carmy berzatto#the bear#carmen berzatto x reader#carmy berzatto x reader#the bear fx#others#carmy x reader#carmen x reader#carmy berzatto x you#carmen berzatto x you#the bear fanfiction#the bear hulu#my writing#my fics#i had this ready for the past week and i just kept forgetting to post it. that happens when u have a job lmfao#anywayyyy like i said its the end of act 1!!! carmy is gonna be happier and more open with them from here on out... at least he's gonna try#slow progress is still progress! THE SLOW BURN IS SLOW BURNING ALL OVER THE PLACE#rly excited to play arnd with these guys more... any thoughts are appreciated + thanks SO MUCH for the kind words and reads so far!!#Alexithymia fic
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it's a craving, not a crush
meet me in the bathroom (unless you're a coward) aka in between the UTM main show and after show
#wow okay this took me forever to post on tumblr#like an hour since i posted it on ao3 but still#fuck making tumblr posts for fics. me and my boys HATE it#i searched far and wide for some aesthetic photos but all of them made me cringe#anyway here's this#shoutout to sage-lights for understanding my utm vision and reading this before i posted it#additional shoutout to shesmore-shoebill for the encouragement and compassion!!#and thank you for reminding me that sometimes logistics don't have to matter too much#srsly would not have finished this without either of you#and finally thank you to the amangela gc for being there even tho i never share my fics because i am too embarrassed#appreciate u all#amangela#smosh rpf#my fics#angela giarratana#amanda lehan canto#smosh
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YOUR LITTLE GHOSTIE IS SO CUTE I JUST WANNA SQUISH ITS CHEEKS
Thank you so much!! They are very squishy!! :âą)
#thank you for loving my little guy!!#thank you everyone who sends supportive asks u are all so lovely!!!!#my inbox is very full Iâm sorry Iâm so behind on answering!! I will reply privately to some when I have time#I really appreciate all your support thank you for the kind messages!!!!#Iâm very busy and overwhelmed atm but when things settle down I will try to be more active here#thank u for sticking around!!!!#also thank you for reading my ramblings!!! if u see this u are amazing and I hope you have a great day!!!#gif#scribbles#ask
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fuck it. guys look at these goddamn edies. edie1 edie2 edie3 edie4 edie5???
i havent finished the game yet just wanted to share some of my drawings these next days : ) im on crimson flower bit. id appreciate no spoilers after that.. ty : )
#hello#anyways i love edelgard smmm YAY im putting her on a shoebox shaking it. unfollow me now tbh#i needed to share my sillies or id explode#fire emblem#fire emblem three houses#edelgard von hresvelg#fe3h edelgard#myart#fanart#digital#clip studio paint#artists on tumblr#edelgard fire emblem#bruh whats up with the edelgard tag recommendations. you know what i dont give a shit.#OH RIGHT sorry its the OCD but id also appreciate if u guys didnt like send me any fanart or whatever from three houses at least right now#i dont really want to see or read anything. at all. ty ^_^
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lark's recently-read byler fic recs
thought people could use some uplifting đ𫶠please remember to hype up your favorite fics and art and other creative work & remember there's always something new to enjoy!! browse the tag or ao3 page & give someone's work a some love!! xoxo
If Time Runs Out by @rainypebble07 (T, ongoing, 14k+) - BYLER PIRATE AU!!! đŽââ ïž i literally just discovered this one today and i'm actually obsessed. i have never seen any other pirate aus (đ€š) n i just wanna say u guys are missing out on the concept and on this fic bc i'm so invested. i'm so excited to see where this fic goes. royal mike x pirate mike is SO GOOD.
how to get your crush to believe you love him: a guide by mike wheeler by @newlesbianprideflag (T, 3/4, 11k+) - mike goes across the country to visit will at college in an attempt to confess his feelings to him. will, who has a boyfriend already and would like to think himself very over mike, thank you, is not impressed. this one deconstructs a lot of popular/fanon tropes and is really great so far!!
california show your teeth by @fireflywitch (T, 8/19, 63k+) - ok this one mayyybe only has background byler but i'm reccing it anyway bc it's one of my FAVORITE regularly updating fics maybe EVER. in early 1985, chief hopper and his average, normal family move from lenora hills, california to hawkins, indiana--the latter of which has had multiple tragedies over the past few years, to which the new chief's family may or may not be linked. LIKE WHATTTT đ go read it RN. masterpiece
All Good Dogs by @hellfiremike (T, 1/1, 3.8k) - this one actually made me cry. featuring: an EXCELLENT character study of will byers, a heartfelt examination of canon and what comes after, and chester the dog getting the attention he deserves and never got in canon đ
kiss me (try to fix it) by birthofv3nus (T, 1/1, 4k) - will has kissed every member of the party except for mike, who is, understandably, taking this news *SO* well and is not jealous about it at *ALL.* but maybe his situation is not quite as dire as he believes it to be....ugh this one was such a fun read, and you know i loveee party dynamics!!
drank my poison all alone by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 4k) - mike is going through it, and, though vecna seems to have been vanquished, maybe he's not so completely gone as everyone thinks.... this is an excellent exploration of both mike's guilt as well as his evolution as a character, and how he views himself. super in-character and super good!!
high tide came and brought you in (and i could go on and on) by silverluminoqity (T, 1/1, 8k) - MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC MOTEL FIC đ„ł or, mike and will have yet another heart to heart, and some things are revealed. this fic is just so completely heartfelt and UGH i was MELTING the ENTIRE TIME, holy SHIT. probably in my top 3 motel fics EVER tbh.
Chasing Heartlines by @cherryisgone (T, 1/2, 6k+) - i was so excited to read the first chapter of the sequel to maybe one of the best byler fantasy aus ever!! knight mike pining after prince will is something that can actually be so personal to me. i love a good mike-won't-shut-up-about-will fic. the attention to detail in this fic is actually INSANE.
#byler#byler fic recs#byler fic rec#will byers#mike wheeler#stranger things#fic recs#posts of lark#tbh i feel like this is exactly how i ought to operate my tumblr#pop on every once in a while to rec fics and then whoosh away again into the unknown#*bangs on ceiling which is the floor of byler tumblr's apartment*#READ FICS YOU COWARDS THERE'S SO MUCH GOOD SHIT OUT HERE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON#COMMUNITIES DON'T WORK UNLESS THEY'RE RECIPROCAL#SO GO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION FOR A NEW WRITER TODAY. OR FOR A WRITER YOU'VE NEVER SPOKEN TO BEFORE#go tell them how much they mean to you!!#anyways. love u all đ
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baby steps
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previous / next
start from the beginning
#a long walk home#alwh#alwh webcomic#artists on tumblr#webcomic#webcomic artist#fantasy comic#original webcomic#fantasy webcomic#original comic#wizard#light#leila#jen#thank u for the comments in the tags btw- i read and appreciate all of them!!#with that in mind apologies to the one of you that was hoping they would all travel together lol
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guysâŠ900⊠i love you all sooooo much????
is this time for an event? i could put series on holdâŠđđđ
#hatssun confesses#hatssun thingz#hatssun spoils#hatssun loves all of u guys soososososoosooo much you have no idea how much this blog means to me#i love you all like genuinely thank you for reading and appreciating my work and having fun with it i love you all#đ«¶đ«¶đ«¶đ«¶đ«¶đ«¶#<333333333
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