#if you see a high speed golf cart coming your way that’s me on my villain arc

[mecub]

Today I:

Attended a funeral

Drove a golf cart at full speed (and apparently looked slightly crazed doing it)

Met like five cousins I didn’t know I have

Played with my tiny cousin for hours

I got like two hours of sleep last night

[puckinghischier]

Cart Girls & Curly Q’s

Luke Hughes x fem!reader

summary: luke has a crush on the cart girl

notes: for once, i feel like i didn’t really struggle while writing luke. this probably isn’t one of my best works, but i loved the idea and i’m so glad i was able to try to bring it to life. hope you enjoy!! happy reading! 🫶🏼

request: from my 400 follower celly - “You come here often?” “Well, I work here. So I think I’d have to say yes.” with Luke and maybe a cart girl at the golf club close to the summer lake house?

[3k]

Most of your friends absolutely hate going to work in the summertime. They hate being stuck in an office or storefront all day, no chance to enjoy the high UV and prime lake hours.

You, however, never wake up dreading your work.

During the cold, Michigan winters, you work as a bartender at your college’s local bar. You attend your classes in the morning, do your homework in the afternoon, then clock into your shifts at night. You have the routine down to a science.

During the summers, though, you found a job as the cart girl at the uppity country club closest to the large community of expensive lake houses you drive by every morning.

The tips are amazing, and getting paid to drive around in the sunshine and watch attractive men play golf all day is what you call a small piece of paradise. Not to mention you’re off by five o’clock every day, allowing time to join your friends and family out on the boat for night swims and evening rides.

Today was especially good, with it being one of the hottest days of the summer, your sales were sky high.

You’ve already had to restock your beer cooler three times this morning, and it’s barely even noon.

Your boss has really been pushing the sale of liquor, so you inform every group you pass about your buy a double, get a single shot half off deal, but nothing calls to a man more than a cold beer on a hot golf course.

Many of the men you’ve served today have given you a tip simply because you’re out working in the heat, delivering beers ‘like an angel’ one middle aged man told you, handing you an extra ten.

You just laughed and told him thank you, pocketing the cash. You always loved weekend mornings, locals and vacationers alike all over the course, upping your sales, and as a result, your tips.

As you’re leaving the club house after yet another restock, you see a group of guys that you assumed were around your age.

They were being loud, but not obnoxious, as they piled into two carts and sped their way out to the course, eager to get their game started.

You wondered when you would see them, having been told not to bother people until they’re at least on hole two. Apparently, people get mad when you try to sell them alcohol in the middle of their first stroke.

Making your way around your normal path, you start at hole eight and work your way in a circle until you get back to the clubhouse, the later holes being your big money makers. People are either celebrating their lead or mourning their loss at that point, wanting a drink either way.

You sell a few shots, making your boss happy no doubt, but run out of beers for the fourth time that day around hole sixteen. You stop and offer to each group after that, selling a few more liquor items, but were mostly told to come back when you had beer again.

Flying down the cart path, you see the same group of guys from earlier around hole seven, one out of the group flagging you down as you speed by.

You slow your cart down to a stop and they walk over to meet you, grabbing their wallets from their carts as they approach you.

“Sorry, boys, out of beer. On my way back to the clubhouse now to restock if you want to wait a few,” you tell them once they’re within ear shot, not wanting to get their hopes up.

“Well, do you have anything you can sell us? I’m getting beat pretty bad out here and need a pick me up. Don’t really care what it is,” a brunette pleaded.

You tell him about the shot deals, and he hands you his I.D., requesting a double shot of crown and ginger-ale before turning and asking his cart buddy what he wanted.

“Jack, what do you want?” he calls over to a guy that looked similar to him, thinking to yourself that they could be brothers.

He explains the discount to the other brunette, saying he’s already paid, just to pick what he wanted.

After viewing the second player’s I.D., your brother theory is confirmed by their matching last name.

Jack, you learned, asked for a simple, funnily enough, Jack and coke.

“Alright, gentlemen, anything else I can do for you?” you ask, turning to face the last member of the group.

You make eye contact with a tall, curly-headed boy, noticing the pink tone of his cheeks when you catch him staring at you.

“Anything for you, curly Q?” you ask him, taking note of how attractive he was. You always play up the flirting a little when you find a player on the course attractive, figuring it’ll help your sales while simultaneously allowing you to have a little fun.

His cheeks turn an ever-deeper shade of red when he realizes you’re talking to him, freezing up and averting his eyes. You feel a little bad for putting him on the spot, but you find his shyness endearing.

“Nah, Lukey here isn’t old enough, is he Quinny? Still got a few months till you can drink with the big bros. Isn’t that right, Luke?” the brunette named Jack slaps who you’ve now learned is Luke on the back.

You let out a chuckle, witnessing the deadly glare Luke shoots at his older brother.

“Don’t worry, they picked a cart girl that isn’t even old enough to drink, either. Won’t be able to drink the concoctions I make until next spring,” you tell him, hoping to alleviate a little of the embarrassment you caused him.

“Oh, wow,” is all he utters out, bringing out another laugh from you.

“Alright, well, I’ll let you boys get back to your game,” you tell them, walking back over to get back into your cart.

You ride off, thinking of the tall, curly brunette the whole time.

Three hours later, you’re tending the clubhouse bar.

When you came back in for restock, your boss told you it was too hot for you to keep your role as cart girl all day, insisting you switch out with one of your coworkers.

You weren’t too upset with the trade off, now in air conditioning but still getting tips from buzzed players after their game, either nursing their loss or celebrating their win.

The clubhouse gets busier as the day goes on, people dipping in for a quick cool off after playing eighteen holes in the heat.

“Hey, new body down on the end. Care to get it for me?” your co-tender, Brady, asks you, the two of you working in tandem.

You nod at him as you finish pouring the beer in your hand, walking down to the other end of the bar.

“Hey, player, what can I get for ya?” you ask the stranger, not looking up as you place a coaster in front of the patron.

“Just-Just a water, if you don’t mind,” he asks, slightly stumbling his words.

You look up to see the curly brunette, Luke, from earlier.

“Oh, it’s you. Curly Q,” you say, grabbing a glass and filling it with ice.

“Name’s Luke, actually,” he tells you, the redness from earlier returning to his cheeks.

“Yeah, I remember. Just think Curly Q fits you better,” you smirk at him, placing the glass full of water on his coaster. “I’m Y/N.”

He mumbles a small thanks, taking a sip from the glass.

“Anything else I can get for you?” you ask him, glancing down the bar to see if any new customers have sat down.

He stares at you, his eyes caught like a deer in headlights.

You wait patiently for an answer, letting out a small giggle when he just continues to stare at you.

“Alright, well I’ll let you think about your answer and be right back,” you laugh as you start to walk away.

“Wait!” Luke startles you, stopping you in your tracks. “Uhh..do you…come here often?” he stutters out, closing his eyes tightly in embarrassment as soon as the words leave his mouth.

Your eyes shine at him with amusement. “Well, I work here, so I think I’d have to say yes,” you respond, smiling.

Luke peeks one eye open at you, seeing your amused expression and sighing, letting his body sag.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I asked that,” he runs his hand through his curls nervously.

You rest your arms on the bar in front of you. “Ehh, don’t worry about it,” you tell him, scrunching your nose as you shake your head.

Luke gives you a nervous smile, sliding his water towards his body and running his finger around the rim of the glass.

“I’m sure you talk to all kinds of idiots like me when you’re serving drinks, huh?” he asks, making your face fall a bit at his defeated tone.

You stand a little straighter. “Nah, not really. Most of the idiots I talk to are just old and creepy, not my age and charming,” you tell him, finally earning a laugh from him.

His laugh was more of an amused scoff, but you already want to see the shy smile that makes its way onto his face afterwards, again.

“Yeah, cause a guy that asks you if you come to your job often is the epitome of charming,” he looks up at you.

“Well, it’s kept me here talking to you so far, hasn’t it?”

Luke blushes, making you think the man in front of you is unable to go two minutes without his face turning red.

“Yeah, I guess it has,” he casts his eyes towards his lap.

“So, Luke, you a local or here on vacation?” you ask him, glancing down at the quickly clearing stools. You know Brady is getting all of your tips right now, but you can’t bring yourself to move from your spot.

“Well, a little bit of both. Technically on vacation because I live in New Jersey now, but my parents have owned a lake house here since I was a kid, so I claim the title of a local,” you finally get him to loosen up a little, his body language relaxing. “Plus I went to U of M for a little while, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time over in Ann Arbor.”

“Ahh, a city boy,” you tease, grabbing a glass to wipe down, making it look like you’re at least partially doing your job. “Why’d you leave Ann Arbor?”

“Got a…uh…job offer in Jersey,” he tells you cryptically, eyes darting around the room.

“‘A uh…job offer?’ What are you, in the mafia?” you ask him, mimicking his words and poking fun at his nervousness at telling you about his job.

“Well, not quite,” he starts, laughing a real laugh this time, causing you to mentally record the sound and store it in your brain. “I…ahhh…I play hockey up there.”

Your eyebrows raise in surprise. “Like, professionally?”

He sinks back into his seat, looking like he wants to hide.

“Yeah. For the New Jersey Devils. My brother, Jack plays for them, too,” He tries to pass some of the attention off of himself.

“Wait, you and your brother both play in the NHL?” the impressed tone of your voice gives Luke a little boost of confidence.

“Well, both of my brothers, actually. But Quinn plays for the Canucks up in Vancouver. Jack and I are both in Jersey, though.”

You let your mouth hang open at him, not being able to hide your shock.

This earns another laugh from Luke.

“What kind of superhuman DNA do your parents possess?” you ask him.

“Not sure. We’re still being studied as we speak,” Luke leans closer, whispering like he’s telling you a secret. “The big wigs in the NHL haven’t found out yet that they grew us in test tubes in their basement.”

You let out a laugh so loud that you gain the attention of several men on the other end of the bar, slapping your hand over your mouth.

Luke leans back in his seat, a fond smile on his face as he sees your embarrassed expression.

“Hey, Y/N, you gonna come help me do your job or what?” you hear Brady yell, annoyed that he’s been working the whole bar alone for the past ten minutes.

You roll your eyes while still facing Luke, removing your hand from your mouth and turning your head to respond. “Yeah, don’t get your club all bent, I’ll be right there.”

Luke’s still smiling at you when you turn back to face him.

“Guess that’s my cue to get back to my job and quit talking to cute boys sitting at the bar, huh?” you spew, realizing what you just said a second too late.

Luke’s eyebrows shoot up, his back straightening in surprise.

You pause all movements, staring at Luke.

“Uhh…anyways, gotta go do my job. Y’know, the thing I come around often for?” you make a call back to Luke’s attempt at a line earlier, hoping it take some of the attention off of what you just said.

Luke chuckles at you. “Yeah, I need to go meet back up with my fellow lab rats, anyways,” he tells you, reaching for his wallet, placing a twenty down on the bar.

“You do realize water is free, right?” you tell him, sliding the bill back to him.

“Yeah. Figured I’d try to make up for the tips I caused you to lose, though,” he shrugs his shoulders, standing from his chair.

“Nope, I’m not taking your money. Feels like you’re just paying me for talking to you,” you tell him, holding the money out towards him and shaking it around, trying to make him take it.

Luke shakes his head at your stubbornness. “C’mon, just take it. Your coworker collected all kinds of tips while you were over here.”

“Nope,” you shake your head, leaning over and grabbing Luke’s arm, placing the money in his hand.

“I need to do something, though. I feel bad causing you to lose out on money that should’ve been yours,” he insists.

“Well, I guess I’ll let you make it up to me,” you start, watching him try to lay the money down again and shooting your arm out, preventing him from doing so. “By giving me your number,” you decide to be bold.

Luke goes still. “Uhh, y-yeah. Sure,” he snaps out of his momentary freeze, fumbling for his phone, handing it over to you.

You put your number in his phone, sending yourself a text before handing it back with a wink.

“I guess I’ll talk to you later?” Luke asks, pushing his stool in.

You nod your head yes, turning to go back to your job duties.

You turn back around after you take a few steps, seeing Luke walking away with his back turned.

“Hey, Curly Q!” you call after him, causing him to turn to look at you. “I get off at five, in case you were wondering,” you shout towards him, flashing a smirk before you walk away.

Luke smiles and shakes his head, making his way towards the other side of the clubhouse.

You watch his figure as he moves across the room, stopping to make small talk with a man, shaking his head before joining his brothers at a small table on the restaurant side of the clubhouse, picking up his menu and browsing the food selection.

You smile to yourself and go back to stacking glasses.

As you’re transferring a new stack of clean glasses to the cooler under the bar, you hear someone call your name from above you.

You stand, rattling off your typical greeting to the new customer.

“Someone named Luke asked me to give this to you,” he tells you, handing you the same twenty-dollar bill Luke had tried to hand you a few minutes prior.

You pick up the bill as the stranger walks away, looking down at it before raising your head and looking for the curly headed culprit.

You meet Luke’s eye, raising a brow at him while lifting the paper money, pointing at it.

Luke shrugs his shoulders and grins from across the room.

Months later, when you’re attending your first ever Devils game in support of your newly titled boyfriend, you watch him skate out on the ice for warm ups, making a bee-line to the seat he provided for you.

He looks at you in his Jersey, a sight he pictured from the moment he first saw you on the golf course last summer, wondering how he managed to impress the pretty cart girl he embarrassed himself with, what feels like so long ago.

Your smile took up your entire face as you waved at him, excited to finally see him play in person. He smiles back, pointing down to the ground, asking if you wanted a puck.

You nodded your head yes, watching him pick up a puck and take the cover off of a small cut out in the plexiglass separating the two of you.

When he slides the puck through the hand sized hole, you grab onto his glove, replacing the puck with a piece of paper before pushing his hand back towards him.

He looks down at his hand, confusion written all over his face. He opens his glove, looking down at his hand, his head snapping up to look at you once he realizes what you had done.

“There’s your tip, hot shot!” you shout at him through the glass, smiling in amusement, seeing the same twenty-dollar bill from the first day you met him resting in his red glove, never imagining that the nervous, bumbling boy sitting in front of you at the bar that day would make you feel like the luckiest girl in all of Michigan, and now New Jersey.

[ahtsumu]

college student!miya atsumu hc dump

pairing: gn!reader ; genre: so much fluff, headcanons/mini drabbles ; tag(s): fluff, slightly suggestive, just the underclassman years for now, based on the american college system ; wc: 1.2k

imagine college student!miya atsumu majoring in creative writing while being the starting setter on the university's NCAA D1 volleyball team. he read milk and honey by rupi kaur once and ever since then he’s been madly in love with hitting the “enter” key after typing three words and calling it poetry. his ultimate goal, however, is to play for team USA at the olympics though!

imagine college freshman!miya atsumu

longboarding across campus on the first day of class with his airpods in (now playing: rap caviar on spotify), ray-bans on, snapback over his head, and nearly falling over when he passes you on the way to your 9 am. when you stop to make sure he’s okay, his entire face goes red before he stammers out an “i’m fine, thanks” and speeds off in embarrassment, kicking himself the whole time for not even getting your name because when will he ever see you again?? but when he’s settled down in freshman seminar and looks up at the whiteboard, he sees you walk in from the corner of his eye.

spending the whole night studying the lasting effects of imperialism through the lens of feminist theory after being paired up with you for a group project. he’s sweating buckets as he walks into starbucks because he just knows you think he’s an idiot (especially after your disastrous first encounter), only to be pleasantly surprised when the first thing you say to him is, “finally gave up on the longboard?” with a cheeky grin

texting his twin osamu “pls help how do i get someone to like me”, receiving “lmao is this a joke”, then replying with “stfu i don’t wanna hu i wanna cuff”, then being spammed with wikihow links and a few articles from GQ–– none of which he thinks helps, by the way!

running into you at the nearby 7-eleven at 2 am as he stands in front of the chips (it’s cheat day and he’s studying for a midterm, c’mon), deliberating between the purple and red taki’s like it’s a matter of life and death. when you say “fuego is better” from behind, he spins around with his hand on his heart, eyes wide in shock before he grins and replies with “i didn’t take ya for a basic…” but grabs the purple bag anyway

studying under a shady tree in the quad and getting bored after finishing a couple assignments, so he texts you to see if you’re free to go over some details of your project together (you are), only to end up not getting any work done because suddenly, you’re playing an impromptu game of 20 questions and wow. he can’t stop thinking about you.

sending you excerpts of your readings with funny comments, usually just roasting the author or narrator for his inability to understand the text. the first time you send one back he’s in the locker room after practice and he grins so wide that when his teammates grab his phone and see that all you’ve sent is a screenshot followed by “this mf’s writing about pouring concrete as if it's a RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE LMFAO someone come get their man!!”, they’re like, atsumu… you good? but no, he’s not–– he’s into you to the point it hurts not to have you

inviting you to one of his games after class with his heart pounding so fast that it almost feels like he’s playing the game right now, but then you take the ticket from his hand and grin, promising that you’ll be there as a representative from the official miya atsumu fan-club. he thinks that he might just die on the spot from happiness, but then you ask if you should come with a poster of his face and that’s when he really thinks he might just combust

looking nervously for you in the stands during warmups just to make sure you’re there and playing so hard after he spots you that he breaks his personal best for service aces in one game. he actually turns around at one point in the game to look you in the eye, winking as if to say “this one’s for you.” (you blush and hope he didn’t see it. he did!)

raising up one eyebrow in class when you meet his gaze and mouthing “wanna get out of here?” just to get you flustered, except when you mouth back “sure, my dorm?” with the same mischief in your eyes, a bright red blush blooms over his cheeks–– and he suddenly finds it very hard to focus, the only thing on his mind being you and him… in your dorm…

finally asking you out to the fall ball (this year’s theme: masquerade!), showing up at your door in a black three-piece suit and white mask and thinking that there’s no way he’ll be able to work up the courage to make his move once he sees you dressed like that, except he does when he walks you back at the end of the night, kissing you right in front of your door with his heart about to leap out from his throat

imagine college sophomore!miya atsumu

in plaid sweats, hair fluffy from sleep, leaning against the kitchen counter with a bowl of lucky charms in his hands, murmuring a “mornin’ babe” with a soft smile when he sees you walk in

pulling you onto his lap on his sofa as he reads to you a poem he has to analyse for class–– “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” by e.e. cummings–– and when you ask him if he’s finally moved on from his weird obsession with enjambment, he laughs out an “as if!” and pulls up a poem he’s just written on his notes app

leaning over the court-side barriers before games for his ritual “good luck kiss” because ever since you started coming to his games in freshman year he’s only set personal record after personal record (even breaking the school record for service aces at one point)... even though his teammates and coaches all make fun of him for it

making out with you on his desk after you walk into his room in one of his team hoodies–– the one with his jersey on it–– his calloused hands running up and down your waist as he kisses you fervently because god, he can’t hold himself back when he sees you in something that claims you as his, even if he has a paper on 18th century french poetry due in two hours

tapping your shoulder as you file out of your 8 am class with a goofy grin and your coffee order in hand after you rushed out the door a few minutes late that morning (thanks to him and his stupid wandering hands)

driving you around campus on an athletic department golf cart after class because of his student athlete special privileges, giving out high-fives and aggressively shouting “hey! have a great day!” to the students and faculty you pass (all while cementing your reputation as the cutest couple on campus)

begging you to stay another night at his off-campus apartment even though you have your own dorm room because he sleeps better knowing that yes, you’re still there beside him and you haven’t left like so many other people in his life

inviting his parents to the NCAA volleyball finals. the second they see you in his jersey in the front row they rush over and hug you, introducing themselves and saying that they've heard so much about you from their little ‘tsumu that they could recognise you from anywhere. and when atsumu strides on the court with the rest of the team and sees you giggling with his parents, he thinks that he really could just marry you right then and there

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #827: Golfing (RWBY)

12:12 p.m. at Mistral's Country Club's Golf Course.......

Ruby: (Sitting on the Back of the Golf Cart While Looking Up at the Blue Skies in a Very Exhausted like Fashion) ('UGGGGGGHHHH') Why is it have to so freaking hot today? I feel I can die at any moment here!!

Oscar: (Starts Looking For his Ball He Just Hit While Holding his Golf Club Around) We'll get back to the cart as soon as I find where the ball is.... Couldn't be too far from here.

Ruby: (Turns to Oscar) How are you not as hot and exhausted as I am right now? (Starts Pouting at the Farm Boi While Pointing at Him) Did Ozpin taught you some kind of heat protection spell that I don't even know about?

Oscar: (Starts Rolling his Eyes a Bit Playfully) Trust me, Ruby. If I'd knew a spell like that would existence right now, I would've told you all about it a long time ago. But to answer to your first, real question, the heat doesn't really bother me as much as it used to. I guess being raised in a farm really does has it's quirks after all.

Ruby: I envy you and your farming life style sometimes....

Oscar: (Chuckles Lightly) I envy your lifestyle more. Enrolling to Becon to become a full fledged Huntsman like with you......It would've been nice.

Ruby: (Smiles Brightly) It would've been amazing!!~ We would've been best friends a lot earlier, do crazy missions together, I would've even taught you everything I know about the boring school life.

Oscar: (Smirks Playfully at Ruby) About how to be Chaotic Troublemaker like you were?

Ruby: (Glares at Oscar Again) Hey, I wasn't that terrible of a student!!!

Oscar: Then how come you started a Food War in the Cafeteria?

Ruby: I didn't start the whole thing! Nora did!.....Or was it Yang? I don't remember. The point is, I was a simple bystander defending my rights to eat peacefully.

Oscar: Uh-huh....

Ruby: You can "Uh-huh" me all you want, mister, but I know I'm speaking the truth! (Starts Sighing While Wiping the Sweat Off From Forehead) Anyways, can we pleeease do something else besides golf right now?

Oscar: (Turns to Ruby) You sure you wanna stop now? We only have like eight more holes to complete left.

Ruby: Yeah. I'm sure. (Slouches her Head Onto the Top of Both of her Palms) The heat is already killing me as we speak, Oscar.

Oscar: ('Sigh') Alright fine. We can always go back inside and hangout with Ms. Goodwitch the rest of the day.

Ruby: Nah. It would get boring in there real quick. And besides, I bet she's already having a lovely chat with her lady friends as we speak.

Oscar: (Place his Hand on his Chin) That is a possibility.....(Turns to Ruby) You have any ideas?

Ruby: Hmmmmm.....(Takes a Look at the Golf Kart She's Sitting on Right Now Before Smirking Mischievously) Wellllll~

A Couple of Minutes Later......

Ruby: (Excitedly Riding The Golf Kart Around the Course in Fast Speed With Oscar Sitting Next to Her) ('WOOOOOOOO!!')

Oscar: (Nervously Holding the Side Handle a BitTightly) Damnit, Ruby! Could you at least try and slowing down a little?

Ruby: No can do, Oscar!~ This is a perfect way to cool ourselves off! And don't you think it's a lot more fun to do this than playing golf under the sun all day?

Oscar: I'm more worry about the damages we'll cause than any of those things...Speaking of which...(Turns to Ruby) Do you even have driver's license?

Ruby: (Giggles Awkwardly) About that... I've..... never got the chance take the permit test....

Oscar: (Immediately Gives Ruby a Deadpinned Look on his Face) Seriously?

Ruby: Hey! Don't get moody at me, mister! I was too focused on being a Huntress at the time! And last I checked, YOU were the one who flew a Atlas Airship at Argus without flyer's permit!

Oscar: That because we were all in a do or die situation at the time. There wasn't anything else I could other than that.

Ruby: ('Sigh') Yeah. You do have point ther- (Suddenly Starts Gasping Loudly Before Putting the Golf to a Immediate Halt)

Oscar: (Confused by the Sudden Stop) What happened? Why did you stop?

Ruby: Oscar. Look...... (Points at a Small Hill in Front of Them) A-

Oscar: (Went Back to Having a Deadpinned Look) Don't tell me. You wanna try drive up to that hill with a maximum speed velocity....

Ruby: Yep.

Oscar: Knowing full well that there might be a 50/50 chance of not only getting ourselves hurt, but also getting the kart itself totaled.....

Ruby: Pretty much.

Oscar: Yet you still wanna give it a shot anyways because you're name is Ruby Rose.

Ruby: (Immediately Gives Oscar the Puppy Dog Eyes) Please?~ I promise to get the both of us out if there as soon as we start flying~

Oscar: (Stares at Ruby For a Brief Second or Two Take a Deep Breath) Bring it on.

Ruby: (Gasps Happily Before Turning Back at Front of the Grassy Road With a Determined Look on her Face) Yes sir!~

As the engine begins to roar loudly, Ruby starts driving the golf kart towards the hill quickly..... Except....the kart itself is suddenly not moving anywhere.

Ruby: What the- The engine's still on! Why are we not moving!?

Oscar: (Turns Around Only to Have his Eyes Widened a Second Later) Uhhhh, Ruby.....(Points at What is in Front of Him) I think we found our culprit.....

Ruby: (Turns Around) What is it, Osca- ('GASPS')

Much to the kids surprise, the culprit was none other than Glynda Goodwitch herself, using her wand to stop kart from moving any forward at ease.

Glynda: (Gives the Duo a Stern, Motherly Glare) Children.

Oscar: (Starting Chuckling a Bit Awkwardly While Slowly Waving at the Woman) H-Hey, Ms. Goodwitch.....

Few Minutes Later Inside the Country Club.......

Glynda: I cannot believe you two! Recklessly driving around the golf course with that kind of speed, without any supervision. What on Earth were you thinking?

Ruby: ('Sighs in Utter Defeat') We're sorry......We got so bored and hot outside that we-I mean...I thought about taking the kart for a ride.

Glynda: ('Sigh') Ruby, if that's really the case, then why didn't the both of you just come back in here and spend more time with me?

Oscar: You see, we thought about that. But.... We'd figured that you would be too busy spending time your friends some more. So we decided not to bother you at the time.

Glynda: ('Sighs Once More') I suppose I can understand where you're coming from of this....Our conversations have gotten quite longer as of late.... Regardless, I would rather have the both of you with me than seeing you two get yourselves hurt on a golf kart. I mean, seriously, do you have any idea how much that cost alone?

Ruby: Uhhhhh.....Three or....four hundred dollars?

Glynda: Thousands.

Ruby/Oscar: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) THOUSANDS!!!?

Ruby: For one stinking Golf Kart!?

Glynda: I'm afraid so. These karts are exclusively made in this Country Club for as long as I can remember. So it makes sense on why it would cost a high amount. You'd be surprise on much this membership actually cost by itself.

Oscar: You......want us to guess what the price of it too or.....

Glynda: No. That won't be necessary, Oscar. All I ask for the two of you right now is to stay here and not get into any more trouble. (Gives the Duo Another Motherly Glare) Unless you want me to inform Mr. Xiao Long and Ms. Valkyrie about the reckless actions you've made today.

Ruby: Nononononono! I-It's fine, Professor Goodwitch! You don't have tell them!

Oscar: Yeah! We'll stay out of trouble this time. Promise.

Glynda: (Stare at Oscar and Ruby For a Brief Second Before Sighing Once More) Very well. I suppose I'll take your word for it. In meantime.....(Gets Up From her Seat) Get us some refreshments. Anything you need specifically?

Ruby: Do they got anymore Chocolate Chip Cookies in this place?

Oscar: I'll just get water.

Glynda: (Simply Nodded) Done and done. I'll be right back. (Walks Away)

Ruby/Oscar: 'Kay!

Ruby: ('Sigh') Well....That was a day.

Oscar: Tell me about it.... I'm just glad we didn't any actual trouble from any from another else besides Ms. Goodwitch. Was she always this stress to you guys?

Ruby: Yeah. But we mostly asked for it. She was Ozpin right handed woman for a reason after all.

Oscar: (Chuckles Lightly) I can tell.....(Turns to Ruby) Sorry the day gotten boring for you?

Ruby: (Smiles Softly) Are you kidding? You don't need to be sorry for that. If anything, I should apologizing for dragging you into this mess in the first place.

Oscar: Don't be. I don't mind get dragging along with your antics every once and a while (Starts Blushing a Little) If anything....It made enjoy spending time with you a lot than before, you know?

Ruby: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) You really mean that?

Oscar: Of course I do. You mean a lot to me, Ruby and....I lov-(Eyes Immediately Starts Widened as His Blush Turns Bright Red) LIKE! Y-Y-Yeah! Yeah! That's what meant to say! Like! I like you, Ruby. Just....like.

Ruby: (Stares at Oscar For a Brief Second Before Giggling Softly) Oho Oscar~ (Pulls Oscar into a Loving Hug) I love you too, dumb-dumb~ Always.

Oscar: (Sighs Heavily Before Smiling Softly) Thanks.

@keyenuta

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

@albion-93

@roz-ani

@miki-13

@maripr

@oscarpineprotectionsquad

@neale-47-rwby

[merakiclosed]

The third mystery book

》Pairing: Mystery Shack Worker!Chan x Reader 

》Genre: Fluff, mystery au 

》Summary: Visiting Gravity Falls once again, you see Chan again that you have had a crush on since last summer. However, neither of you expected to find something like this...

》Word count: 1.4k

》Notes/Warnings: None. I am sorry this is so bad ahhh😅

This is part of my collab with @woozisnoots​ which is here. Make sure to check all of the writers!!! 

🦦🦦🦦🦦🦦

The baby blue sky is littered with white, puffy clouds that radiate joy, ready to travel across the atmosphere as the sun warms your skin. The forest floor is woven with ancient tree roots, speckles of light that filter through the canopy light up the familiar trail. You wonder how many hues of green there are alone in a single tree as they stretch upwards towards the light. Gravity Falls always has this magical aura surrounding it, full of mysteries ready to be discovered. It felt like a breath of fresh air compared to being in the city. It was freeing, not being bombarded by the crowded streets, nor feeling small under the buildings that tower over you. 

You know you’re at your destination when you see the two totem poles that rise from the ground, multiple designs carved into the wood. At the very top owls sit, splashed with colour that decorates them bright and bold.

The floor vibrates as the sound of screaming comes from behind you, causing you to stop your steps to turn around. The white golf cart speeds towards you, two unrecognisable people sitting in the front, waving their arms as they get closer. Your eyes widen as you run out of the way, the cart rushing past you as the two boys scream, the cart swaying side to side as they refuse to slow down, getting closer to the mystery shack before they disappear around the back. Shaking your head, you go back onto the path where the tire tracks are not indented into the mud. At least you won’t get lost now. 

As you get closer, you see the multiple wooden signs that are planted into the soil; messages such as ‘no refunds’, ‘mystery shack this way’. Your worn out shoes lead you on the path towards the familiar shack where the wooden planks hold it together and the roof sits high and pointy. 

The bell on the door rings as you step through, the old flooring creaking under your feet. A smile makes its way onto your face unconsciously as you look around at all of the souvenirs that are set up, all random and mismatched. You missed this. The inconsistency of things, how everything is so unexpected. Looking around, you find that it’s empty apart from you and you wonder if the boy from last year still works here. 

Voices are muffled by the door but you still jump when the door is swung open and the bell rings aggressively. Two boys stand there, muddy and hair windswept as they practically shout at one another, “no that was your fault!” 

“Uhm excuse me? I had to drive that stupid thing thank you very much!” 

A cough comes from the door on the other side of the shack, from next to you, “Soonyoung, Dokyeom what are you doing? Why do you look like that?” he whines, walking closer to the boys who are quite a bit taller than him. The shorter boy continues to talk whilst you make eye contact with the one with purple hair makes eye contact with you, a small smirk making its way onto his face. As you look closer at them, you begin to release that they seem vaguely familiar. Disregarding how the younger boy continues to berate them, your voice speaks without our permission, “Soonyoung? Dokyeom?”  

All three boys look at you in shock, and you can’t help but stare back at the very very familiar shorter boy, “Chan?” you question. 

Soonyoung laughs as he bound over to you, muddy footprints staining the wooden floor as he gets closer to you and shaking you by your shoulders, “Y/n!!! You came again! Has it already been one year??” his voice gets higher pitched as he speaks. In the corner of your eye you see Dokyeom follow him as he wraps his arms around, both of them inabiliying you to move, “It doesn’t feel like a year. Chan here wouldn’t stop talking about you. Oh, how I wish y/n was here. Oh why can’t she live here, or what about if I move there” Dokyeom mimics Chan's voice in your ear, his sunshine smile never leaving his face. 

Chan’s ears bloom a reddish hue as he smiles embarrassedly, waving at you. When the bell rings for the third time, all four of you watch as a short young man walks in, his black hair falling in front of his eyes. You watch as Hoshi’s eyes widen as an even wider smile makes its way onto his face as he sets his eyes on the boy that walks in. Squished in between the two boys you hear Dokyeom aggressively whisper, “Look, Hoshi I know you’re going through your boyfriend phase but calm down, you’re going to scare the poor boy away.” 

You smile awkwardly as the young boy's eyes fall on all four of you, confusion written on his face. You notice the way he lingers his eyes on Hoshi for a little longer before you're dragged along by someone holding onto your shirt, making both of the boy's arms fall from you, though they are both too busy whispering. 

Turning around, you find the suspect who dragged you away. “Sorry for that, Hoshi has a crush on the boy that walks in, Jihoon I think it is.” Chan says, whilst scratching the back of his neck, his eyes avoiding yours. 

“Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a - uh. Uhm da-walk with me?” He stutters over his words as you drown out the noise of the three behind you. A bright smile makes its way on your face at his words, you’ve had a crush on him since last year, when you came. You didn’t think you’d see him again, so of course you were going to take every chance you get. 

Nodding, you grab his fidgeting hands in yours, “I would love to go on a walk with you.”

🦦🦦🦦🦦🦦

Multiple stands line the forest floor, each with bright colours that reflect the shimmering light of the sun as it starts to set. With only a handful of people, it feels like it’s just you and Chan as you look around the fair; a pretzel in the shape of a question mark in your hand. 

A familiar face catches your eyes, “Is that gruncle stan?” you ask, pointing to where he stands next to one of the fair games, trying to encourage people to come and play. “Yeah, the game is rigged so no one can play.” You laugh a little, remembering how cheap he is.  

His hand brushes up against yours, before you grab his hand in yours, not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste. In the corner of your eye, you see his face form into shock as he looks at you and a small smile settles on his face. 

The night lights of the fair light up and you know that Chan will have to go back to his job soon. Both of you pause, to look up at the sky that sets in hues of pinks and oranges that reflect on his face, making him glow more than he did before. Losing your footing, you stumble backwards, Chan reaching out to catch you, but it’s too late before your back hits the tree behind you. A metal bang resonates throughout the forest, but you know that it definitely didn’t come from. Both of you look shocked for a second before you notice something strange on the floor next to Chan’s foot, “W-what is that?” 

Turning around he crouches down, an outline of a box now prominent and sticking slightly up from the ground, “It can’t be a door right?” you question, joining him on the floor. Chan shruggs before trying to pry it open, his fingers scratching at the edges of the outline. Spiders crawl around, hiding from the exposed light as dust rises from the hole. Reaching in, Chan picks up the singular book that lays there, a golden hand sketched onto the front and a number 3 that lies in the middle of its palm.

Slowly, he turns the pages to find diagrams and entries of creatures. Notes upon notes of supernatural beings and writings that are drawn all over the pages, when one particular page catches his eyes. “It’s hard to believe it has been 6 years since I began researching the strange and wondrous secrets of gravity falls, Oregon. Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct, I am being watched. I must hide this before he finds it. Remember - In gravity falls there is no one you can trust” 

[hoodie42069]

May I request a catra x reader where the reader tells catra that she’s pregnant and catra just dips without paying child support? 😇

Catra x Pregnant reader

I swear it’s a serious agansty fic

You and your cat wife had some shrex and what she didn’t know is that you didn’t take your anti baby vitamins. You wanted a little gremlin child that will eventually ruin your marriage with Catra.

You got the best pregnancy test anyone could get. “Preggers test.” You were so excited and hoping for a little cat gremlin. You already had names for potential kiddos, Mike Hawk for a boy. Mike as is first name and Hawk as a middle and Jenna Tolls for a girl, Jenna for a first name and Tolls as a middle name.

You got home and Catra was watching Malcolm in The Middle on the TV. You sneak off the bathroom just as the golf cart scene started playing. You took the test and you waited anxiously.

The pregger test beeps and you are pregnant. You couldn’t hold your excitement anymore. You run out just as the theme song plays.

“Catra! Catra!” You say excitedly.

Catra runs over to you and is happy that you’re happy. Aww that won’t last long.

“WHAT WHAT?” Catra asks.

“I’m PREGGERS!” You yell happily.

Catra is shooketh, she doesn’t want a child. I mean she was watching Malcolm in The Middle, she knows how fucking terrible children are.

“What? Maybe the test was wrong.” Catra nervously reposnds.

“Nope! I purposely didn’t take my anti baby vitamins anymore!” You say.

Catra stumbles and grabs onto your hoodie and pulls you closer to her. She glares into your eyes. She looks like she wants to kill someone

“Catra! Woah are you ok?” You ask.

“We need more catnip and milk!” Catra says.

Catra runs out of the house and keeps running. She fucking ran faster Karen’s run after the manager.

Catra ran to a park and ran up to some loser teenager with some oversized hoodie and acne and honestly she looked like someone who spends too much time on reddit and tumblr and is in love with Hiccup, she was on her scooter avoiding people, probably thinking of Hiccup.

“Look kid, what’s your name? And do you know where getmethefuckouttahere bus station is?” Catra asks the teenager.

“Uhh, my name is Ally. Yeah I know where it is. Why?” Ally the weirdio asks.

“I’m running from my batshit crazy wife Y/n, she’s pregnant and-“ Catra says.

“Ok I know I sometimes overshare through memes, but I’m only 17 so what do you want Karen?” Ally asks.

“I’m Catra, what are memes—never mind. I need you to let me ride with you on your scooter, take me to the bus station and I’ll give you my anti baby vitamins.” Catra says quickly.

“I don’t have a boyfriend and unless Hiccup is real I nevermind— But fine Karen. I’ll do it.“ Ally the antisocial idiot says.

Catra jumps onto her scooter and holds onto her while Ally fucking speeds down the street. Catra holds onto the minor tightly and Ally not being used to people hugging her, is uncomfortable but for some reason likes it.

They arrive at the bus station and Catra gives the vitimans to Ally and hugs her goodbye and nearly kisses her but Ally being a minor and this lady being like 20, pushes her away. Catra apologizes and Ally smiled awkwardly.

Catra buys a ticket and waved goodbye the anti social weirdo and Catra goes on her way and relaxes knowing that she’ll never have to see her bitch wife again.

Meanwhile after few hours after Catra left to get milk, you get nervous and want to see your wife again. You call the police and you say your wife went missing and Horatio Caine checks the bus station and tells you that your wife left.

You hang up the phone without saying thank you. Feel your heart sink and the tears come out of your eyes and you feel so fucking sad. Catra was just talking to you this morning saying how much she loved you.

Everything around you starts to fade and you can’t focus and you throw up. You realize Catra’s stuff is still here and you decide to keep it so you can tell your future gremlin that her other mother had button eyes was a good wife, but wasn’t ready.

A year later you need child support from her. You try to locate her but you can’t find her and you cry even more.

Meanwhile Catra is chilling in some place with a new wife and doesn’t regret a single thing.

“Fuck children!” Catra yells out.

The local priest high fives Catra agreeing with her.

Catra is happy, you’re depressed and sad and have a child you forgot to abort with you now.

Children suck.

-

A/n: if you’re wondering who “Ally” is, take a wild guess ;)

[queakenstein]

Hello Queaky! Hope you are okay in this whole corona situation! Could you do Zelink where Zelda is stubborn daughter of president and Link is her personal bodyguard??

I’m doing fine and I hope you are too!! <3 Hopefully, you enjoy this! (sorry, it took so long to get it out, I had to rewrite it because I’m an idiot.)

__________________________

The music is swelling from somewhere below as her foot touches the cold ledge beneath the window she is sitting half-way out of. It’s some kind of jazz-y number that’s sure to get the crowd moving but it’s only making her dinner want to vacate her stomach. It’s reminding her too much of the fake smiles and obscene amount of cologne use. Zelda tucks the tastefully curled hair framing her face behind her ears and shakes off the other heel. Keeping in mind that she’s about three-stories high, she quickly decides that this dress is one of the worst decisions she’s ever made.

After all, she’s plenty used to sneaking out of ‘the palace’. 

“Uh?” A voice startles her. “Seriously?”

Zelda’s head shoots up and one of those curls lands directly across her nose. “This isn’t what it looks like!” 

Link, dressed in particularly formal attire for his usual jeans and a t-shirt loving self, blinks at her and drums his fingers against the two champagne flutes in his head. “So, excuse me for asking, Princess, but what exactly is it supposed to look like?” 

“I just--” A conversation drifts up on the night air and she stops. She knows what it will look like to others if they catch her and they definitely would not think it has anything to do with her sneaking out. She slips back in as gracefully as she can given the rather well fitting dress she has on and huffs. “I wanted to bail.” Zelda crosses her arms drops her chin to her chest. “You had to go and ruin it.”

Link scoffs. “So, it’s my fault?” He downs one of the drinks in a swift motion that almost surprises her had she not seen how well the man can take a double shot. “Not fair.” Link ponders the other glass for a moment before finally handing it over to her. “My job is to keep you safe. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t complicate the whole me-paying-my-rent thing by throwing yourself out windows.”

“I wasn’t throwing myself out.” She glares, swirls the liquid around with half a mind to attempt his maneuver before telling herself it would just make her vomit. “I’ve done this plenty of times. For most of my early teens.”

“Well, you’re twenty-two now. Don’t you think it’s time you learned to use the backdoor?” He leans against the wall next to the window she’s seated on and sighs, tiredly. “Listen, I know you hate this and, honestly, I hate it for you too. It’s not right what your dad is doing--”

“Is this the part where you tell the hostage that she just needs to shut up and deal with it?” Her tone doesn’t lend itself any particular viciousness but he can tell she’s angry. “Because, I really, really don’t need you to tell me to suck it up.”

Link bobs his head forward a bit. “Yeah, you kind of do.”

“Excuse me?” Zelda’s head snaps to him and she glares. “You wanna repeat that?”

“Hey, hey, hey.” He holds his hands up. “Listen! Just for a second and let me explain.” Link points to the party going on beneath them. “His term will be ending in just a couple months. I know you hate being his beautiful, smart, charitable little darling but if you can suck it up for just a bit then you’re free.” Link shrugs. “I know you hate being the figurehead that he has made you to be and I certainly know how much you hate the pressure of the fame... but if you just let me help you through this last stretch then... maybe it won’t be so bad.” He smirks. “And maybe you don’t have to climb out windows.”

Zelda rolls her eyes. “Easy for you to say, you own everything you have. I don’t. He has them all tied up with the promise that as long as I smile and continue on being  the sweet ‘princess’ Zelda who helps her father with all of his charities, who fights the good fight for the lesser people, who is beautiful, and smart but gracefully... and certainly not anything but this pure beacon of light... That I’ll have my classes paid for and he will help me open up my sanctuary.”

“You’d do those things anyway.” Link takes her empty glass from her and sits it down next to him as he slides down the wall to sit. “It’s not like you’re a raging bitch or anything.” He chuckles.

“It’s the pressure of perfection.” She manages to plop down next to him despite the protests of her dress and lays her head against his shoulder. “I don’t mind the other stuff but I have to always watch what I do or else it’s a bad tabloid.”

“What does it matter if there’s no more terms after this?”

“His stellar record and he has businesses he’d like to set up after this.” There’s a long pause while the two sit. Music and bits of conversations from those now milling about in the back garden carry to them on the air.

“So, where were you going to go after getting down from the window?” 

“There’s some stables down the road from here. Thought I might go down and hang out with the horses.”

“In that dress?”

“The plan was to get out. Everything else would just... file in later.” 

Link snorts. “You don’t have a change of clothes or anything in your room?”

Zelda laughs. “It took three people to get me into this dress. I had planned to sneak out for a little bit then come back for the finale--”

“Smelling like a stable?”

“Shh.” She covers his mouth. “So I could say good-bye then return to my room and rip this stupid thing off.” She removes her hand and drops it in her lap.

“I can help you know?” He smiles.

Zelda half gasps and half laughs. “Did you just use a line on me? No, thanks, I can get out of it on my own--”

“That’s not what I meant.” He levels an unamused expression at her then add, “Also, rude.” Link stands and holds a hand out to help her up. “I meant that I can help you get out of here for a bit.”

“Oh.” She blushes. “H-How are you going to do that then?”

He smirks. “The backdoor.” Then yanks her up hard enough that she comes off the ground and into his arms. Though she scrowls at him, he asks with a grin. “Tell me, honestly, though... you’ve never at least... you know, thought about it?” He lifts his eyebrows and laughs.

“You’re so gross.” She laughs, a sound that rings down the hallway, and pushes his face away from hers with one hand before snagging his chin to pull it back. “Wait,” Her face darkens into a deep rosey shade, “does that mean you have?!”

“Not if you haven’t.” He replies and puts her down so he can step away. “After all, wouldn’t be a nice story if the princess starts dating her knight...”

Zelda hums. “Maybe not.” She slips her hand into his and smiles. “But, maybe... if she were to go on a... trial date with her friend then it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Well,” He squeezes her hand and let’s go. “We can talk about that after we get you through this party.” He motions for her to follow. “C’mon. One of the chefs is a friend of mine and I’m sure he will help us sneak out through the kitchen.”

“And how will we get into the kitchen without it looking super odd?” She indicates the dress she’s wearing. “Not exactly what one would wear in there.”

“Or for scaling walls but here we are.” They slip passed a group of attendees as they climb the stairs. No doubt they are all going up to the third floor balcony for all the beautiful group photo opportunities. It won’t be long before everyone beings to truly mill about the place save for the few very secure, private rooms. “We can merely say something about making sure the dessert is going well and just leave from there.”

“Why would I check that?”

“You know, you worry about everyone watching every move you make but, really, this sort of thing wouldn’t be all that weird. Aren’t you like... the co-host of this party?” He extends his elbow to her as they enter the hallway that leads into the main part of the first floor.

“You’re surprising clever sometimes, Link.” 

“I wish you’d tell me that more often.”

“Am I honestly that mean to you?”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, but you really do make this job interesting.” He glances at her out of the corner of his eye. “You know, if I were to take a very good friend out on a date... I think I would take her bowling.”

“Bowling?” She quirks an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah. Not something I think every girl who actually wears ballgowns about ten times out of the year has ever done... and I think she would have fun.” They are caught by a couple of officials which halt their progress but Zelda handles them as beautifully as she was taught. They avoid the ballroom and slip into the madhouse of the kitchen. Link’s friend spots them almost immediately and Zelda is shocked at the speed that he agrees to help them slip out. It’s as simple as them just exchanging quick cover stories and suddenly she’s out in the night air. Link approaches on of the guards playing with his phone on a golf cart and she watches as he slaps something into the man’s hand. “Come on, let’s go pet some horses.”

She climbs onto the vehicle and they’re off.  “I can’t believe it was that easy....” Dread and panic swirls in her stomach. “What if someone sees us drive off?”

“Night pictures and selfies around the property for your Nstagram.” Link smirks. “It is a beautiful night and perfect for that kind of thing.” He bumps her with his shoulder. “I think you get stuck on the big picture sometimes... and you forget to ask for help.”

She nods but refuses to agree, vocally. She likes being able to rely on herself. “How much money did you pay that man back there for this?”

“Oh, that wasn’t money.”

Zelda’s get wide. “Well... what was it?”

Link pats her head and chuckles. “Herbal medicine.”

“Link! Oh, my Goddess. You carry that on you? Don’t you know that’s illegal.” She takes a deep breath and then breathes out. “Holy fuck, how do you work for the government?”

“Because I can kill a man with my bare hands and there’s very few people in this world who can stop me without putting a bullet in my head?” Link doesn’t take his eyes off the road then scoffs. “Your father pays me good money to keep you safe, Zelda... and as much as he tries to keep your record clean... well, let’s just say that he makes a few exceptions when it comes to my employment.”

“I... I know he said you came with a stellar background and I’ve seen you fight before--Scary, by the way-- and I know he’s done some shady things... but are you telling me that one of your stipulations in your contract is that you can smoke pot?”

“Yep.” He laughs. “Also, bowling... would you be interested?”

“Still on about that?” She snorts and smiles. “Yeah, I’ve never done it before but sure... I’d love to.”

“As a date?”

She bites her lip. “Are we talking like... a romantic see where this could go kind of thing. Kind of date?”

“That’s what a date is, yeah.” He adds after a quick pause. “After all of this is over.”

“You’d wait a couple of months for one date?”

They arrive at the stable and come to a halt. Link turns to her and smiles in a very soft way. “I’ve waited a bit longer than that to ask you on one.” He takes her hand. “If you really aren’t interested in me like that then it’s fine. I’m a big boy and I’m fine hearing no.”

“I’d love to.”

“Oh!” He beams and lifts her hand up to kiss it. “Awesome.” Link slips out of the golf cart to help her down. “Now, come on, we’ll go see the horses for a bit and then hurry back.

[27emailsicantsend]

Could you possible write a dumbass trio fic where they start a band together!!

Author’s Note: This took way too freaking long for me to write and I am so sorry. I got caught up in my AU, but I’m finally getting to writing my requests, and I wanted to start with this one because you have been patiently waiting for it. :) Everything historically reference is canon to the show and based off of the show’s timeline with the Bash-Mitzvah, I’m assuming Cyrus’ birthday is in mid-May when this takes place. They’re also sophomores in high school. Also, I’m lazy and probably won’t go back and check for typo’s, so sorry if there are some. This was fun to write though, so thank you!

Dare for a Dare: A Dumba$$ Trio One Shot

Jonah

“Jonah, you have seriously come so far. You’re almost better than me dude,” Bowie said with a wink. Jonah and Bowie had just finished another practice session at the Red Rooster. When Andi’s family moved to be closer to SAVA, Jonah continued to practice guitar every day after school. It was the only outlet he had for his anxiety, so his consistent practicing became life saving for him. When Andi decided to come back to Grant to be with her friends sophomore year, Bowie took his job back and started training Jonah in many other areas of instruments. He learned guitar, improved his singing, did decent on the drums, but also got his head stuck in a tuba and his finger stuck in a flute. He decided to stick to guitar.

“I am better than you,” Jonah retorted, with a joking undertone. “I love playing so much. I wouldn’t be nearly this good if you guys hadn’t moved back”.

“We’re happy to be back too, kid,” Bowie said as he stood up and gave Jonah’s shoulder a friendly pat. “Don’t forget to put your music stand away,” Bowie called over his shoulder. 

Jonah packed up his guitar and shut the case. He knew about all of the stickers on the case, but rarely gave second thought to them. This time he decided to observe them more closely. This was Bowie’s old guitar, so they were stickers from different places he toured. There was even a worn out picture of Bex scotch-taped to the side. Jonah gave it a small smile. 

His mind couldn’t help but think about how fun Bowie’s tour days must have been. On the road with his friends, not a care in the world, playing music and making money- it felt like the dream. Jonah knew he was pretty good and a lot of musicians start around the same age as him. Jonah was typically not an impulsive person, but he knew he wasn’t going to make a living off of ultimate frisbee the rest of his life. He realized if he wanted to make his music career happen, he was going to need to start now. And even if it flopped, it would be good experience.

“Hey, Bowie!” Jonah called out.

Bowie came speed walking back into the room. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I think... I want to start a band”. As Jonah said this, he made eye contact with Bowie. Instead of being surprised, Bowie’s face widened into a massive grin.

TJ

“For the 100th time, I won’t do it,” TJ said sternly to Cyrus. The two of them were sitting in the choir room, having lunch. TJ had convinced Cyrus that it would be fun to see the view from the roof of the school. The teachers did not find it fun and put them in lunch detention. It felt like de-ja-vu from the first time they got detention together, stealing golf carts. 

“Please,” Cyrus begged. “No one will even be able to hear you”.

TJ got a mischievous look in his eye. “Dare for a Dare”.

“NO,” Cyrus immediately rejected. “I won’t. That is literally how we ended up here in the first place”. This was a game TJ invented shortly after he and Cyrus stole golf carts in eighth grade. Cyrus had been trying to work on his confidence and grow outside his safety bubble and this was an easy way to help him with that. The rules are simple: If someone is dared to do something and they do it, the other person has to take on a dare as well. Backing out after already promising Dare for a Dare makes the loser have to buy the winner Baby Taters for a month. Both boys didn’t have jobs (at least that’s what most people thought), so it would wipe either of their savings pretty quickly to lose- thus, the stakes were high.

“Fine then, I won’t do it,” TJ compromised.

“But TJ it’s almost my birthday and all I want is one rap from you,” Cyrus guilted TJ.

“My rapping days are over, Cyrus, you know that. Somehow everyone found out about my rap for Buffy,” TJ shot a glare at Cyrus, “so no, I won’t do it. Beg all you want- it’s not happening”.

Cyrus looked defeated, yet he continued to persist. “TJ, I told you I’m sorry about that. Buffy and I just thought it was really good so we made that video copying it to honor you. We weren’t trying to get the whole school to rap it to you- that was completely unintentional!”

“I told you, I won’t do it, Cy. My music days are over”. Just as TJ said this, as if fate itself had walked through the door, Jonah busted into the choir room.

“Jonah?!” Cyrus and TJ shrieked in unison from the jump-scare.

“What are you doing here?” TJ asked.

“I actually came to practice... wait, why are you guys here?”

Cyrus looked at TJ as if to say, “care to explain?” with his eyes.

TJ heaved a large breath, “Cyrus dared me to eat every lunch special at the spoon in one day, so I dared him to climb to the roof of the school with me and...”

“You got caught?” Jonah finished.

TJ and Cyrus nodded shamefully.

“Well, I’m actually kind of glad both of you are here. I am considering starting a band, but I don’t know anyone else in the school who does music”. Cyrus immediately looked at TJ and TJ shook his head ‘no’.

Jonah didn’t seem to notice so he continued. “I thought about asking Bowie, but I feel like he wouldn’t want to be in a band with a sixteen year old, so that’s when I thought that maybe I could make one of those cool layered videos. You know the ones? Where it’s me playing all of the instruments, but I layer it so it sounds like one song. I need piano and drums so I thought I would come in here and practice piano- if that’s alright with you guys”.

TJ gestured at the piano, “all yours”.

Jonah sat on the bench and pulled out some sheet music. It was printed, but looked fairly simple. He touched each key with shaky hands, pausing every few minutes to push the sheet music up with his other hand. He eventually gave up and only played the song with one hand, while holding the music consistently with the other.

TJ cut off his playing with a question, “you ok there? Looks like you’re struggling a bit”.

“I can’t keep the music up. Would one of you mind holding it for me?”

“Here, try this,” TJ said as he pulled a small silver “w” shaped item out of his bag. He slipped it over the papers, holding them perfectly in place.

“Whoa, that’s so cool- where did you get it?” Jonah asked, impressed.

“Uh... well... remember when I played piano at Andi’s Party in eighth grade? That’s because I had been taking lessons. Now I teach piano to some of the kids that used to go to the gym I worked at. So I just always have this in my bag”.

“Cyrus, did you know about this?” Jonah asked.

“Yes, but TJ doesn’t like talking about his musical abilities because of... something that happened a couple years ago, so I never told anyone”.

“Which I appreciate,” TJ said as he wrapped his arm around Cyrus’ shoulders and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. 

“I completely forgot you played piano, TJ!” Jonah exclaimed. “Why don’t you join my band? It would be so fun and we could make some amazing music”.

“I’m sorry, but no. I don’t want anyone in our school knowing I play”.

Jonah looked glum as he sat quietly for a couple of minutes with the boys. But then, inspiration struck. Jonah pulled a ski mask out of his backpack. Since it was the end of the school year, Jonah had been cleaning out his locker earlier and found a ski mask he ended up having to use for a particularly cold, windy day during the winter.

“Do you think you could play with this on?” Jonah asked.

“Erm... let me see”. TJ slipped the cotton mask over his head and went to the piano. He effortlessly began to play Moonlight Sonata. Jonah and Cyrus exchanged positive glances.

“TJ, would you like to join my band? No one will know it is you, it will give you something fun to do, and it could be really good practice to help you teach those kids”.

TJ pulled the mask off his head and ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair. “Absolutely,” he said grinning.

Marty

Buffy was sitting at Marty’s kitchen counter, watching him quietly put away dishes. He was humming to himself as he stacked each plate in neatly. He shut the door to the dishwasher and it began to whir, making a gentle steam sound.

He walked over to the counter across from Buffy and leaned over it, giving her a quick peck on the lips. “You ready to go do homework?”

“Am I ever ready?” Buffy asked un-amused. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Marty giggled to himself.

Buffy sighed as she hopped down from the stool and grabbed her backpack. They walked up to his bedroom, sat on the floor, and began to work.

About two hours later, books and papers were sprawled around them. Buffy was now laying on her stomach in Marty’s hoodie (because the AC in his house was too cold for her), and Marty was thinking carefully about a math problem. He bit his pencil eraser in concentration and began to write, humming again.

“What’s that song you keep humming?” Buffy asked.

“Huh?” Marty asked as his head snapped up from the world his head was in.

“The song? You’ve been humming it all day. It’s kinda good- I was just wondering what song it was?”

“Oh, it’s called ‘Beautiful’ by Bazzi. I’m surprised you haven’t heard it. It was pretty big a few years ago”.

“Yeah, I never have... but I’ve never even really heard you sing before. Can you sing?”

“Ah... I don’t know,” Marty replied shyly. “I never really tried”.

About two hours later, after they had all finished eating dinner, Buffy and Marty laid on the couch, cuddling. He had his arm behind her, holding her up from rolling off. She was using his chest as a pillow. He began to sing, not hum, the song from earlier quietly in her ear as he traced his fingers gently up and down her arm.

Buffy began to melt. His voice was simple and pure. It took no effort for him to sing each note on pitch and keep the sound warm. He was naturally gifted- there was no question about it. When he finished singing, Buffy sat up, twisting her head to look at him. He continued to stay laying down, but scooted his body so his back was more propped against the arm rest.

“Marty, you can sing,” she said sincerely.

“What? No. That’s not true,” Marty said, blushing and looking down.

“Marty, I’m not messing around. You can sing and you’re really good. No one has told you this before?”

“I guess I never really sing in front of people. You’re my girlfriend, so I felt comfortable. But now I feel uncomfortable,” Marty swung his legs behind Buffy so that he was sitting upright on the couch again.

“I didn’t say that to make you uncomfortable,” Buffy said, slightly annoyed. “I said it because I meant it. It’s a real talent you have and you could do so much with it”.

Marty scoffed, “like what? Join a band?”

Buffy rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. “Whatever you would like,” she said as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and laid her head down on the one closest to her.

The Band

The next day, was a beautiful Saturday with a lot of sunshine and birds chirping freely. Marty and Buffy walked hand in hand down the main street of Shadyside. They saw Jonah as they passed Red Rooster. Buffy nodded her head in the direction of the window and the two walked in.

“Hey Jonah,” Buffy said as the two sat down on the couch. He was sitting on the coffee table playing the same chord progression over and over. He seemed to keep getting stuck at the same note.

“Hey guys, how are you?” He fumbled the progression again.

“Good,” Buffy replied. “What are you up to?”

“I’m trying to get this chord progression, but I keep fumbling on the G”.

“Can I see?” Marty asked.

“Sure,” Jonah said as he gave him a suspicious look, but handed the guitar over anyway.

Marty set the guitar in his lap and played the chord perfectly. “You were holding your hand wrong. This is how you play it”. Marty showed him once again.

Buffy watched with a bewildered look in her eye. “What else do I not know about you?”

Marty shrugged casually and handed the guitar back to Jonah. Jonah tried the way Marty showed him and got the progression immediately. “Whoa! Thanks dude!” He said, beaming. “I had no idea you played guitar!”

“Neither did I,” Buffy shot back.

“Oh, it’s just a little side hobby I’ve been learning,” Marty said, nonchalant.

They all sat in silence for a moment, then Jonah asked, “hey, I know this is weird, but how would you feel about joining a band?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Marty asked.

“No, I’m dead serious,” Jonah said and the look on his face showed he meant it. “You’re really good. That’s a hard progression and you got it immediately. I’m starting a band to help with my music career and I would love another person in it”.

“Would it just be us two?” Marty asked, more interested now.

“Well, there is one other person... but he asked to remain anonymous to the general public. You’ll know who it is when you see him”.

“Marty, you should also tell Jonah you can sing”.

This time, it was Jonah’s turn to look bewildered at Marty. “You can sing too??”

“Apparently,” Marty said, unenthusiastic.

“And he’s really good,” Buffy supported him. “Sing that song you sang to me earlier”.

Marty obliged. When he finished singing, all Jonah could say was, “whoa”. 

Buffy shook her head, “I know”.

On Sunday, Marty was in the kitchen having a snack with Buffy, when he heard his doorbell ring. The band was going to have their first practice, so it must have been Jonah and the “mysterious piano player” at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Marty said, mouth full of oreos. He swung the door open and was greeted by three faces: Jonah, TJ, and Cyrus. “Hey guys! Come on in!”

The boys gave each other fist bumps and bro-hugs to greet one another (except Cyrus who insisted on gentle, long hugs from each of them). They all made their way to the kitchen. Buffy saw Cyrus and immediately began to bust up laughing. “Ok, now I know this is a joke. Cyrus does not have musical ability”.

“Hey!” Cyrus retorted offensively.

“You know it’s true,” Buffy countered.

“I know...” Cyrus said glumly.

“Actually,” Jonah said, pulling TJ in for a side-hug, “TJ is going to be our piano player. But he can’t if he gets made fun of again. You and Cyrus have to promise not to make a video mocking him again. We don’t need a ‘rapping incident’ repeated”. 

“You take the fun out of everything,” Buffy pouted.

“Buffy... I really need you to cooperate. This will be helpful for all of us, including your boyfriend,” Jonah lectured. Buffy looked over at Marty, who was standing in the most uncomfortably correct posture she had ever seen.

“Fine...,” Buffy cowered down.

“Well, let’s go make some music boys!” Jonah exclaimed.

The five of them went into Marty’s basement and began to set up. He had a keyboard, his guitar, an old drum set from when his dad was in a high school jazz band, some music recording equipment that his older sister used at times, and a old, raggedy blue couch. The boys began to set up and choose who would play what. Jonah could also play drums, so they decided that he would switch between bass and drums depending on the song. TJ took keyboard, which left Marty with lead guitar and singer. All three boys could sing, so they decided to try and alternate who was singing at times. Cyrus and Buffy laid on the couch talking and browsing their phones while they half-listened to the boys practice. The practice was rough, but they figured it was because it was their first time playing together.

“Even though it was rough, I’m really impressed. Hey, would you guys be willing to play at my birthday party? It’s two weeks from now,” Cyrus asked, hopeful.

The boys looked at each other uncomfortably for a minute and then Jonah caved, “sure”.

TJ began to panic. “What? No! We won’t be ready by then. I won’t be ready be then, especially”.

“TJ,” Jonah said sympathetically, “we have a cover for you, we have a couple weeks to practice and it’s Cyrus’ birthday. We should do it”.

“I don’t know...” TJ hesitated.

“Dare for a Dare,” Cyrus said. This peaked TJ’s interest.

Buffy shook her head, “oh no”. She hated this game.

“I’m listening,” TJ said.

“You perform at my birthday and you can dare me. You can wear the mask, exit off stage quietly, we won’t have to say anything about you playing”.

“Ok, fine,” TJ said thoughtfully. “But you have to perform a solo dance number at your birthday”.

This absolutely terrified Cyrus and the entire room could feel that.

“What if I take on a dare for him?” Marty interjected.

“What do you mean?” TJ asked.

“Exactly what I said. What if I did Dare for a Dare instead. I dare you to perform at the party and you dare me to do something”.

“I guess we could do that...” TJ agreed.

Cyrus let out a giant sigh of relief. “Oh my gosh thank you Marty I thought I was going to die,” Cyrus said in one breath.

“Ok fine. If I play... then you have to juggle five of those baseballs,” TJ said, pointing to a small stack of baseballs in the corner of the basement. 

Marty walked over and without saying a word, picked up five baseballs and juggled them flawlessly. He began to add tricks, throwing them under his leg, behind his head and even to Jonah and catching it when Jonah threw it back.

Buffy’s eyes were wide in amazement. There was nothing he couldn’t do. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said as Marty walked back over, put the baseballs in her arms and kissed her cheek.

The next week and a half was practicing every day after school. The boys began to get really in sync with each other- sounding almost flawless. They were only practicing one song, however. But for them, practicing it that much made them sound like an actual band. Buffy and Cyrus got bored after the first practice so they would hang out at Buffy’s house while the boys practiced.

Cyrus was going through Buffy’s closet, when he came across a feathered boah. He took one end and flipped it over his shoulder. “How do I look?” he asked Buffy, one arm on his hip.

“Stunning as always,” Buffy encouraged. She stood up and put a black fedorah on her head. “How am I?”

“Beautiful as always,” Cyrus parroted.

They giggled for a minute, until Cyrus looked sad. He took the boah off and placed it back on it’s hook.

“What’s up?” Buffy asked sincerely. She took the hat off and they both walked over to her bed and sat down.

“Do you think the band will actually play? I feel really bad we ruined TJ’s music career. I think he’s really talented, but because of us he wouldn’t talk about music for almost two years. I feel like he’s ashamed because of me. I didn’t even know he was still playing and teaching piano until a few months ago. I mean, how do you go that long without knowing something like that about your own boyfriend?”

“Trust me. I get it,” Buffy said, unamused.

The night of Cyrus’ birthday party all of the boys were getting ready to play backstage. Marty was warming up his voice, TJ was massaging his hands, and Jonah was tuning the strings on Marty’s guitar. Cyrus walked in and handed TJ his mask. “For you,” he said as he stood on his tiptoes to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek. TJ looked solemnly at the mask.

“So I realized, I need to introduce you, but you guys don’t have a band name,” Cyrus said.

“I guess with all of the practicing we’ve been doing, we haven’t even thought of one,” Jonah remarked.

“I mean, they might be fine without a name,” Buffy stated. She was laying in a chair with her legs draped over the edge while she picked at a chocolate chip cookie. “Like, think about it, the only reason TJ agreed to do this was because of Dare for a Dare”.

While Buffy giggled to herself, all of the boys looked at each other and shouted in unison, “DARE FOR A DARE!”

They each began to shout, “Buffy, you’re a genius!” “That’s the perfect name!” “I love it!”

Buffy wanted to be proud, but she felt more annoyed than anything that that stupid game is what became their band name.

“I love it,” Marty said as he kissed the tip of her nose.

She just smiled as she said, “yeah, yeah, yeah” and shooed him off.

Cyrus looked at his watch, “crap! It’s time! You ready?”

All of the boys hesitated to smile, but nodded that they were. Cyrus ran on stage and introduced them.

“... and now I present, Dare for a Dare!”

The boys walked out on stage. They were in a rec center that had a small performing stage. There were a ton of people at this party and it reminded them of his Bar Mitzvah. Buffy and Cyrus ran to where the crowd was as the boys began to sing. Suddenly, halfway through the song, TJ ripped off his mask, came around from the piano, mic in hand and screamed, “and this one is for the birthday boy!”

He rapped the best birthday rap Cyrus had ever heard in his life. Everyone clapped and cheered when the boys finished and all of them ran off stage. Buffy couldn’t resist herself and immediately kissed Marty the second he was next to her. Jonah ran off to talk to some friends. TJ walked over to Cyrus shyly. “How did I do?”

Cyrus’ eyes were wide. “That. Was. Perfect. I loved it!” TJ giggled a sigh of relief and hugged Cyrus. The rest of the night the band and all of their loved ones danced, laughed, and joked around together. It was the start of a beautiful era.

Requested by: @losrgeekwhatevr

[god-fucking-dammit-mizutani]

The guy goes for more cranberry juice and Koushirou notices, "No spirits?"

He laughs. "Not today." He rubs at his rich brown hair. "Took the short straw today and got saddled as the D.D."

"Pardon?"

"Designated driver," he laughs. The guy’s eyes lock onto Koushirou's neck and he looks down, too, only just remembering the gaudy lanyard. His cheeks feel even hotter, especially as the guy reaches forward and plucks the fluffy pink strap up into the air. He rubs it for a second and quirks an eyebrow.

Koushirou just wants to spend as much time with his best friend, Mimi, as he can this summer even if it means spending half of it carting her around to party after party. Falling for the hot guy who seems to keep cropping up at all said parties? Not in the plans. (But also not not in the plans).

“Miyako invited a lot of people,” Mimi informs him part way into the ride. The flat of one of her heels clicks on the carpeted floor, and Koushirou doesn’t know if she’s excited or intimidated. “It might end up being like a mini high school reunion,” she continues. 

Koushirou meets her eyes briefly before returning back to the road. There’s nothing this far out except trees and fences. He wonders the logistics of deciding to move so far away from the city that not even street lamps will accompany them home.

Mimi touches his arm gently, and he can see in his peripherals that she’s still watching him. “You remember Jyou, right?” Her tone sounds higher now, and Koushirou decides that she must be, on some level, excited. 

“Of course,” he says. A sign says they’re passing a golf course, but Koushirou doesn’t know what the speed limit out here is and, well, one of those is more important. “I haven’t seen him since graduation.”

“Me neither!” Mimi squeals. “I didn't even know he was back in Japan! But Miyako said he RSVP’d.” She puts a hand over her heart as if she’s making a pledge and Koushirou can only quirk a half smile before looking fully at the road. “Which you know means he’ll be there. Jyou never says he’s coming and doesn’t come, right? Right!” 

“Indubitably,” Koushirou adds in, unnecessarily. He checks the GPS on his phone, mounted on the drink tray and resting back against the car’s stereo system. He’s surprised the satellites are still connecting out here, but they’ve hit under the mile mark left on their journey so Koushirou reminds Mimi to keep her eyes out for the balloon assortment Miyako assured them in her invitation would be present to greet them. Instead, Mimi shakes his arm again. 

“Oh my God, wait! What was the thing he liked again? Star Treks? Or the Star Wars?” Koushirou looks at her just as they come up on a stop sign to see her wrinkle up her nose. “It had the green person who talked all funny. What was it again? Yodels?”

Koushirou titters. He’s lucky enough there’s not a line up behind them by the time he pulls his foot off the break and continues straight on. 

“God, after this week I need a shot,” Mimi moans, “once we’re inside.”

“First order of business?”

Mimi laughs. “Indubitably.” A moment later she smacks at his arm, the same bubble of energy that had tempered returning to the surface as she points to a grouping of balloons not too far from them. “Right there, Koushirou!” 

He takes the turn as easy as he can. Miyako’s driveway is, thankfully, long and accommodating for the build up of cars having already arrived before them. Some have taken to parking up fully on the lawn, but Koushirou settles for just pulling up a little off the gravel road. Mimi’s already popping open the passenger door and shucking off her heels for the inevitable walk across the grass and dirt, and he can already hear her complaining about how unfortunate it was to get a pedicure before all this. Koushirou kills the engine and waits for a moment. 

When she looks back at him, Koushirou thinks to say, “Don’t talk about the  Star Treks , Mimi.” He has to train his face to stay straight when she pulls an exaggerated pout at him and continues with, “But if it does come up, just remember to make this noise.” 

Koushirou throws back his head and lets out a gargled yowl in mimic of Chewbacca. It’s a poor imitation, he knows, but he’s honestly impressed with himself that he doesn’t double over in laughter during his show. Mimi’s lips are puckered to one side, her face very clearly showing  she isn’t as impressed. 

“Trust me,” he pushes on, keeping his lips tightly together to keep from laughing between words, “people will find it endearing.” 

“I’m already endearing,” Mimi sniffs. 

And well, “Of course you are,” Koushriou agrees. 

“Let’s go get me that shot.” Mimi smiles at him now and pulls herself out of the car, letting the passenger door slam shut. Koushirou follows suit, making sure to lock up the pink Maserati. Out of habit, he hands Mimi  back the lanyard of keys. 

Miyako is a receptive hostess from the moment she opens the door, ushering them up the main stairs after accepting their gift of the wine they’d picked up on the way over. Koushirou wonders if Jyou’s already here, and if he’s already given Miyako the lecture on buying one story homes.

“It's better for your knees!” Jyou would always tout when the subject came up. And sometimes when it didn’t. It is odd now, to feel nostalgic for it, when mostly they’d been wasting lunch hours together in the library. Koushirou wonders if Jyou will sit with him for the party, or if the years had ebbed away at his social anxieties.

Mimi, no doubt, will be the life of the party, easily inserting herself in and out of groups as she pleases. 

“Drinks are on the balcony,” he hears Miyako relay. Mimi bounces exuberantly behind her and Koushirou follows on their rear. 

Some of his shared co-workers with Miyako are already huddled together on the couch, fitting more than the recommended amount of occupants, Koushirou assumes. It makes him think of pack animals, a vain attempt to survive in an uncertain world. Koushirou just worries, because there doesn’t look to be much more furniture to sit on. He makes sure to give them a nod of acknowledgment whenever he meets one of their eyes on his way past. 

Miyako points out important information on their way, such as the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen. On the back deck Mimi rushes straight to the folding table transformed into a bar and quickly fills a shot worth of liquor into a cup, handing it off to Miyako before making another one for herself. Koushirou hurriedly fills one of the solo cups for himself with the only mixer available— the cranberry juice he'd specifically chosen at the market on more than a hunch that it’d be the only alternative to water and booze all night. It tastes tart all the way down, but Koushirou continues sipping on it anyway. 

“Congratulations,” he tells Miyako who beams back at him. Mimi whoops and the three of them share in a toast.

“It’s very lovely,” Mimi tacks on, wincing after tipping her whole shot back. “I can’t believe this back yard.”

Koushirou snorts. It is very much like Mimi, who’s backyard could fit a helicopter pad or two between the olympic sized pool with room to spare, to sound absolutely sincere.

But it is actually lovely, Koushirou has to admit. He leans against the banister and Mimi slides up to occupy the space beside him, warm and electric as her presence always is. Koushirou takes in a breath of fresh air and for a moment he can understand why Miyako would choose such an out of the way place. The yard itself is expansive, running right into a forest. A few party-goers have already made their way down to the yard, dotting the lawn with their beers in hand. A small fire is lit in one those pits Koushriou’s seen at the local hardware store, kitchen chairs set up dangerously close to the edge of it for people to sit on. 

“I might put in a pool one day,” Miyako tells them. She points at an open patch of grass and Koushirou can imagine it. "I can have a big family here," she sighs, dreamily. "One day."

“Sounds perfect,” Mimi breathes out. 

"Oh!" Miyako exclaims a minute later, hand grabbing for Mimi’s from the railing, "let me show you the closet! It's walk-in!" 

Mimi, who has  several , bounces behind her enthusiastically. She twirls on her heels at the door and comes bounding back towards Koushirou. "Before I forget," is all the warning he gets before she showers him in metal and pink— her gaudy key lanyard now sitting on his neck. Mimi winks at him. "Always looks so good on you!" 

Kouhsirou rolls his eyes. "Just go," he groans. Mimi giggles and does exactly that. 

He takes in a shaky breath the second the sliding door closes behind her heels. Barbeque wafts up from below, and Koushirou wonders if they'll be having hot dogs or skewers for dinner and he'll be able to stomach either option. 

He settles up against the banister to watch the yard below, the lanyard jingling whenever he moves. He doesn't mind the weight of it, the responsibility tethered quite literally to his neck. Koushirou just wishes Mimi's taste was less gaudy. He makes sure to grab the cranberry juice to sit with him on the ledge for now.  Just in case.

Koushirou spends a good portion of the early evening just watching the sky, already drenched in a relaxing rose-lavender shade, ignoring the people only stopping by for their drinks or dropping off another bottle of  something . Koushirou keeps his ears peeled only for Jyou, or perhaps a co-worker who might pull him into their comfortable cocoon. 

It's still bright enough out, yet the flood lights pop on just below the deck. Some of the drunk people below cheer. Koushirou lets out a soft chuckle. It's enough of a distraction that he's caught quite off guard when the sliding door clicks open with a loud, "Don't get too drunk, Hikari!"

"I'll be fine," a feminine voice monotones back. 

"Okay," the male says in a way that suggests he doesn't believe it actually will be.

Koushirou keeps his eyes trained on the fire pit below, watches through several silhouettes as it pops and fizzles. He wonders if he should find a spot at the fire and pretend to be drunkenly fascinated with it so people won't assume he's completely weird. Koushirou's body temperature had always run on the colder side, anyhow, and he thinks the light jacket he'd brought along might not be enough after all.

"But if you puke on mom's shoes again, I am not covering for you." 

Or maybe Koushirou could run back home and grab the laptop he promised Mimi he wouldn't bring, then find a comfortable corner to work in.

Koushirou hears the pop of a cap as one of them pours something to drink. The girl makes a scoffing sound in her throat. There's a pause before Koushirou hears the hissing of more liquid dropping into a cup. "I'll be fine, Taichi." 

"Sure," he says, sounding still very  unsure . "Just know I can't explain to mom why the cat's vomit smells like liquor again."

Koushirou breathes in, a vain attempt to keep from snorting out a laugh. If anything slips through, he thinks the girl's giggle is loud enough to cover it. 

"I'm going to give Takeru his drink now," she says and the door slides back closed. 

Koushiro lets out a sigh. 

"I see you’re hogging the good stuff," the same male voice says much too close and Koushirou jumps. The guy taps the jug of cranberry juice next to Koushirou. "Can I steal some from you?" 

Koushirou stares.

The guy smiles at him and lifts up his empty glass. Koushirou fills it, returning a less easy smile back. 

And that should be it, the end of their story, but the guy takes a long sip, smacks his tongue loudly and asks, "So how do you know Miyako?" After another sip he adds, "Aside from the fact that Miyako knows everyone." 

Koushirou takes a precautionary look behind him, just in case there's someone else there that this man could possibly be conversing with. The only thing behind him is an unoccupied hummingbird feeder. 

"We work together," Koushirou answers finally. "But we were also friends in high school." Sheepishly he adds, "We were in computer club together." 

He takes his own sip of juice, tipping it back. He has to refill his glass. The guy, kindly, holds Koushirou's cup when he needs two hands to hold up the carton. 

"Miyako's more of my little sister's best friend," his companion supplies when Koushirou doesn't ask. His cheeks heat up. Decorum was never his strong suit. "But you know her. She's very…" 

"Affable," Koushirou says with a nod. The guy grins back and it is a lovely smile. Koushirou looks down in the red well of liquid in his cup. 

"Right. So I guess she kind of just made herself one of my friends, too." 

The guy goes for more cranberry juice and Koushirou notices, "No spirits?" 

He laughs. "Not today." He rubs at his rich brown hair. "Took the short straw today and got saddled as the D.D."

"Pardon?"

"Designated driver," he laughs. The guy's eyes lock onto Koushirou's neck and he looks down, too, only just remembering the gaudy lanyard. His cheeks feel even hotter, especially as the guy reaches forward and plucks the fluffy pink strap up into the air. He rubs it for a second and quirks an eyebrow. 

Koushirou grabs at the part just below his fingers and jingles the keys again. This earns him a grin. "I am also the D.D. tonight."

"Right on," the guy says and clicks his cup into Koushirou's. He has enough sense to take a sip, watching the stranger before him just over the rim of his solo cup. "I was honestly getting kind of worried that it was a feather boa and I missed the dress code." 

Koushirou snorts. "I supposed I wouldn't put it past Miyako."

"Right?" 

It is far past dusk before Koushirou realizes any time has passed between their ensuing small talk. Over his companion’s shoulder the sun has disappeared, leaving a trace of green and navy blue, surrendering a clear sky to the glow of stars that twinkle kindly in the eyes of the brunet before him. 

The guy places his cup on the railing and smiles at Koushirou. “I’ve got to hit the restroom, I’ll be back.”

He leaves Koushirou with a salute and slips back inside through the sliding door. Koushirou watches him tap someone’s shoulder, and after a few gestures the guy waves in gratitude and vanishes easily into the crowd. 

Koushirou breathes out. He knows more than anyone when people excuse themselves from conversations with him they don’t usually come back, so he deposits the cranberry juice onto the bar and follows the same path back inside. His group of coworkers have still grouped themselves together on the couch. The kitchen chairs are absent . Outside, Koushirou remembers. 

He plops himself down on the carpet, out of the way of the people mingling about in the open living room. He stretches out his legs and clicks the tops of his shoes together.  No place like home. 

Aside from one group, Koushirou doesn’t really know anyone else as far as he can see. He hopes Mimi comes by and finds him soon— that maybe they can leave— or Jyou will stumble upon him. Hopefully not literally. He takes out his phone to dwindle down the time until then, but it’s no use. Not even the data will load properly out here. 

Before he can pick himself up to ask Miyako for her wifi password a now familiar voice says, “There you are, buddy!” 

Koushirou blinks up at his companion from the deck, standing now in front of him with as gracious of a smile as he had the first time they spoke. He squats down beside Koushirou and plops the half empty jug of cranberry juice between them. He beams. “I think we deserve this.”

“Indubitably,” Koushirou says. 

“That’s a good word,��� the guys laughs. He pours himself another drink and falls slowly onto his rump. He sheds his windbreaker and lets it sit between him and the wall, the jacket an almost offensive lime green color against the polished cream paint. 

Koushirou blinks again, not quite sure if he’s hallucinating the other's presence or not, but where their shoulders touch is warm and weighty and when the guy leans further into his space his hair tickles along Koushirou’s cheeks in a not so unpleasant way. “So which ones are yours?”

“Pardon?”

"Which kids are you babysitting?"

Koushirou scans every head littered about until he finally notices Mimi's bubble gum hair in a corner. "Over there," he gestures and notices, too, that Jyou has made it, the two of them immersed in their conversation by the far door frame. He thinks about waving for their attention, but decides better on it. 

 "Oh," his companion says. He points somewhere further off to the side and mentions, "Those two are some of mine." 

Across the room Koushirou spots an attractive couple quite distracted with one another, and winces. "It's like watching the mating patterns of cannibals."

Unexpectedly, his companion laughs. It's swallowed by the start of music, something heavy and loud that pulses in Kouhsirou's veins, dizzies up his anxiety further.

"High school sweethearts," the guy informs him, leaning in a little closer, speaking a little louder. "This only happens when they're drunk, I promise." He reaches for the cranberry juice and swishes around the last of its contents. "Bet I could drench them in this before they notice anything." 

Koushirou grins. "Better not. The males of that species are said to be particularly violent when provoked."

And the guy laughs. It is belly deep, and uproarious, and Koushirou cannot stop himself from joining in. 

When they settle down he thinks to ask, "So what does one do at a soiree when sober?" 

The guy moves his mouth about, looking pensive. "Collect blackmail?" 

"Too white collar." 

"We could dance? Start a trend and become heroes of the party?" 

Koushirou frowns. He purveys the living room. There's not enough open space to even entertain the idea. The last time Koushirou had danced in public was back in elementary school, when he had been cast as one of the background dancers for the school play. Rehearsals had gone well enough, but then opening night came and he swung his partner right into a fake tree and took down half the stage, screaming kids and decorations. 

As if sensing his hesitation his companion suggests, "Or we can people watch." 

"Sounds enthralling," Koushirou comments. 

"Oh it is," the guy grins. When he leans again Koushirou catches the faint scent of his cologne—something musky and earthy— just over the stench of alcohol and new carpets. He welcomes it. His companion points across the room, to a woman with a sheared bob. Koushirou thinks they're called a-lines, distinctly remembers Mimi crying about having to get one when they were twelve after the school bully spit gum in her hair. "Russian spy." 

Koushirou squints. The girl sways on her heels, nearing five inches in additional height if he's guessing correctly, missing the beat of the rhythm completely. The look in her eyes suggests she's a little bit too gone. 

"She's Japanese," Koushirou surmises and his companion titters. 

"No, no that's what she  wants you to think. She was brought up by international spies to infiltrate this country."

Koushirou stares. 

"You're supposed to make stuff up, you know?" His companion sniffs. "Like mini stories." 

"Oh." Koushirou breathes in. Imagination, is also, not one of his strong suits. "So she's not from Japan. Fictionally, speaking."

"Exactly." The guy grins. 

Koushirou's eyes fall back on the inexorable height of her heels and decides, "She stores all her gadgets in those shoes. Drives, fishing wire, cameras..."

"Holy shit, dude, your brilliant!" His companion beams at him. "Miyako knows everyone in the surrounding zipcodes, so the spy was hoping she'd be able to meet a prime minister or something here. Get access to his phone or laptop or something. But now she's too drunk on straight vodka and believes her own cover story." 

Koushirou hits head on the wall when he laughs. "You are aware she's only drunk on straight vodka because we stole the only mixer."  

The guy's face lights up, mouth gaping open like he's realized something important. "You know this means we single-handedly saved Japan with friggin' cranberry juice?" He holds up his fist towards Koushirou and it takes him much longer than he'd like to admit that he's looking for Koushirou to return it. Their fists meet in a short bump and the guy finishes it off with a soft explosion noise. 

Koushirou grins and shakes his head, turning his focus back on the main floor. Another girl catches his eyes with a similarly styled bob and so be points her out. "Think she's working with the spy?" 

The brunette laughs. "Definitely not. That's one of my kids. My little sister, actually." 

"I see." Koushirou feels his cheeks heat up. "The one who puts waste in people's shoes."

His companion laughs harder at that, his own head scraping back against the wall. "You heard that?" He finally manages to ask, wiping at his eyes. 

Koushirou doesn't know if he actually cried or not, but there's a smidgen of pride beaming in his chest for making this man laugh so deeply. He can't contain his own smile. "It was hard to not eavesdrop a little. I apologize." 

"Nah, buddy, it's fine. You'll be my witness if she tries to wheedle her way out." 

The brunet points out a group of people on the far end of the living room. "How about them?" 

Koushirou recognizes the gaggle of his co-workers, having now drunkenly abandoned their homebase to awkwardly dance in a corner out of the way. One of them, Zoe, has got her signature Staying Alive move going on. 

"Aliens," Koushirou decides. 

His companion guffaws halfway through a sip of his drink. Luckily none of the liquid drips past his chin. "Aliens?" 

"Absolutely," Koushirou asserts. "They've been studying mankind for decades now, but all of their research is outdated. See her?" He points out Zoe. "Learned that from American 70's dance programs." That part didn't really need imagination. She had told him that specifically once, at the annual christmas party. The first, and the last one, Koushirou had gone to. 

The brunet smiles tightly, in a way that reads like he's holding back something mirthful so Koushirou continues, "They see dancing as a human mating ritual, just waiting to capture the perfect specimen to entrap and take back to their planet tonight." He makes sure to catch the guy's eye before adding, in as serious of a tone he can muster, "Be careful on your way tonight." 

Koushirou takes a sip of his forgotten drink, mostly a ruse to hide the redness no doubtedly evident on his cheeks. He knows this is it, the line of  too weird , and he crossed it all too bravely. 

But the man doesn’t leave, and instead asks, “Where have you been all my drunkless nights?” 

Koushirou swallows and almost coughs on the tartness washing down his throat suddenly. “I’m sorry?” 

“Everything you say is like gold, man. I can’t compete with that.” 

“I just read a lot of science fiction… and some dissertations here and there,” Koushirou tells him discreetly. 

“Yeah?” The guy rolls his shoulders around, careful not to jostle Koushirou’s own too much. He looks settled in when he turns his full attention towards Koushirou. “Do you watch anything?” 

Koushirou doesn’t know how long they sit there, trading favorite movies and books, coming up with fake scenarios for their fellow party-goers whenever something springs to mind. He just feels that it’s far too early when the girl his companion had pointed out before comes to collect him, leaning down just enough infront of them and tucking her auburn hair behind a single ear. 

“Yamato’s not feeling well,” she says, contritely. She smiles apologetically at Koushirou and then turns back to her friend. “Do you think you could take him home now?” 

“Geez,” the guy says, huffing exasperatedly. He bounces easily to his feet and the woman follows him up, looking grateful. The brunet makes a round motion in the air with one of his fingers and tells her, “Let’s round up the troops.”

She thanks him quickly, gives Koushirou a little wave, and hurries back, presumably, to her boyfriend. 

The guy runs his hand through his hair for a moment and lets out a small hum. When he turns back on Koushirou, his face is  beaming. “Sorry, buddy, that’s my cue I guess. I’ll see you around?” 

Koushirou shoots him a smile. “I’m glad we got acquainted,” he says, and  means it, waving his companion off. He gives Koushirou a wave back, flashing a dimple-filled smile and disappearing into the crowd once more that night. 

Koushirou settles back up against the wall and breathes in. His stomach aches from far too much laughter, and quite possibly an excessive amount of cranberry juice. It feels like someone had been pinning up his lips for most of the party that his cheeks, too, ache now that his smile has subsided. 

Mimi finds him soon enough thereafter, a little wobbly on her feet, asking to go home and sleep. 

“You seemed to be getting along well with Jyou,” Koushirou mentions, remembering how they’d been huddled near each other for the majority of the party whenever he’d chance a look. Mimi laughs, but it’s a small little breath. Koushirou almost misses it over the ringing in his ears, the beat of the music still throbbing in his brain even now that they're in the comfort of Mimi's car.

Mimi leans over the divider, resting her head on his shoulder and Koushirou almost reminds her how dangerous it is to be touching the driver, but he lets the argument die on his tongue and keeps to watching the road much closer. 

“Jyou was talking about his time in America,” she tells him. Her breath this close smells sharply of liqueur and peppermint. “He’s going back, you know? To finish his studies to become a doctor. It’s a-maz-ing.” Her voice sounds sleepy, small, and Koushirou wonders if she’ll fall asleep like this, attached to his shoulder. 

“Yeah?”

“We were—” She yawns, and that, too, reeks of alcohol. It is still chilly out at night, but Koushirou cracks open the window just a tad. “We were talking about meeting up, when he moves back there.” 

Koushirou grips the steering wheel, keeps his eyes set ahead. 

“Who was,” Mimi starts. For a moment he thinks she really has fallen asleep, her sentence only half formed, before she finishes, “The guy.The one you were talking to all night?”

Koushirou checks his rearview mirror. Mimi’s eyes are closed in the reflection, but there’s a coy smile teasing on her lips. A few cars pass by them on the other side, headlights bright in Koushirou’s eyes. He has to watch the white lines to make sure he doesn’t veer off the path, mildly wracking his brain for a name. 

“I don’t know,” he finally answers. 

Mimi’s arms wrap around his forearms, hugging him tightly. She yawns again. The first sign of  real civilization crops up— the traffic light just before they cross into the thick of the city. Koushirou’s ready to sleep as well. 

“You were talking to him all night,” Mimi pushes. Out of habit Koushirou checks the clock. His stomach growls, having had nothing to eat. 

“I didn’t ask his name,” he cements. 

“Oh,” Mimi says, but it sounds like only the rush of wind. “That sucks.”

Koushirou swallows. “I suppose.”

"Maybe Miyako will know," she suggests.

Mimi’s already asleep when Koushirou pulls up to his own house. It takes some cajoling and tugging before she stands up on her own, legs wobbling like a baby deer up the stairs and finding his couch. Mimi doesn’t bother to change her clothes. Koushirou drapes the throw blanket over her. 

“Good night, Mimi,” Koushirou whispers and turns out the light. 

[curiouschild]

7. tell an embarrassing memory or story

This seems more intimidating on anon lmao but ima tell this story anyway!

Warnings: Pretty TMI. So I’ll put the story under the undercut thing. You’ve been warned. Proceed with caution friends!

Also I’m tagging @theamiableanachronism cuz I basically almost confessed this story to you anyway lol 

Here we go! (sorry this is super long)

SO!  There was one time when I was working at a camp and the schedule was we worked Sun-Fri so we only had Saturday off.

Because camp started as soon as school was over, I had to move out of my house during one of those weekends of camp. I only had Friday night til Saturday to pack everything, clean, move to the new place. Basically, I was on hyper speed mode from the time I got off until I came back to camp. 

Due to this lovely course of events, I didn’t have any time to shower. And as science will show, sometimes if one doesn’t shower, one tends to chafe. For the weekend that I moved out, I had the unpleasant experience of chafing in an area I hope never ever ever chafes again in my life because it was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced.

When I returned to camp, I was merrily doing my task of greeting the parents/campers as I did every Sunday. In order to overcome my frazzled appearance, I tried to make up for it by wearing a new sundress since there aren’t any outdoor activities on Sundays besides walking to dinner then to bed.

Things were fine. The dress kept me cool because it had a small slit that kept the air flowing, I looked nice and it all went fast as the happy little children checked in. However, towards the end of the day I could tell that I was getting rather uncomfortable south of the border. 

When the campers finally all arrived, it was dinner time and I had to hike the 2 mile stretch to the cafeteria on the other side of camp. It was apparent that the chafing was only getting worse. By the time I’m halfway passed the lake, I am waddling, doing my best to just keep going despite the pain. At some point I stepped on the hem of my dress and the slit that had only went to my knee now ripped up to my hip (thanks cheap old navy clothes!) and I’m now holding my dress together, stumbling like a lopsided elephant, and praying I find someone with a golf cart (that’s how big the camp is. We had golf carts.)

I make it to dinner, choosing to sit far away so that my dress doesn’t open up and accidentally scandalize the younglings. I make it through dinner and am ready to head to my cabin. I once again get to repeat my new style of walking as I try not to think about the very awful feeling growing between my legs as every second passes.

I’m not far from the cafeteria when the health monitor (a sophomore med student) pulls up in her golf cart and notices the way I’m walking. She lovingly insisted that she and the nurse volunteer at the health office could help me relieve some of the pain before I go to bed and offered to drive me there and back. I begrudgingly agreed.

The nurse volunteer wasn’t there when we arrived. The health monitor offered me some powder to help the burn for the time being. So I go into the bathroom and shirk off the undergarments to apply the powder. The instant it touches skin, there was a burst of iciness; a burning sensation like when you have a mint in your mouth and you drink water making your throat feel like its on the cusp of an inferno. It was like I lit myself on fire.

I run out of the bathroom, demanding WTF this girl gave me. Turns out it was medicated powder. And there was nothing I could do for like the next ten minutes because washing it off made it even worse.

I collapsed in a chair torn between sobbing and fuming when EVENTUALLY the nurse gets there and she helps me figure out what exactly I need to help soothe pain. It doesn’t take long to give me a new medicine and I end up sitting at the front desk, undergarmentless with a slit the size of Texas up my legs, waiting for the nurse to drive me to the cabin.

This is fine. All of the campers are in bed. And I’ll be driven to my cabin soon!

That was, until the junior high camp leader, one of the counselors under him, and that guy’s camper, come inside the cramped office because the kid never got his medicine.

My eyes are blotchy from tearing up. A wave of goosebumps erupt up my leg and I’m a million times more aware of the slit that i have to keep closed so that no one sees anything. Oh, and all three of them are fairly tall so they could see over the desk. I couldn’t exactly evade my exposure that easily. Ofc.

I. Wanted. To. Die.

The junior high leader smiled at me and goes, “Hey Hal, what’s up?”

I swiveled the chair I’m in so my legs face away from him as best as I can manage. I look LITERALLY ANYWHERE but at him as I mumble a “hey” back. I’m praying to God like “PLEASE DONT LET THEM SEE PLEASE DONT LET THEM SEE”

This guy kept trying to make small talk while his counselor and the camper se the nurse. The health monitor is like. Staring horrorstruck at me. And the more anxiety I experience, the more the slit unraveled. It was truly the most panicky thing I had ever felt.

In the end, I didn’t flash any of the guys and they all left the office THANK GOODNESS!

I have never experienced a chafe like that again, and I have held a strong resentment towards old navy and slit sundresses ever since.

Thanks for sending me this risky ask!

[lfthinkerwrites]

High School Teacher AU: Jason ex Machina

In the teachers' darkest hour, an unexpected hero emerges.

Author’s Notes: And that’s a wrap for now! I might come back and do oneshots in this verse at some point, but for now, I want to move on to different things.

"Attention. All teachers and faculty. Report to the front entrance immediately. This is a direct order from myself and the superintendent. That is all."

As one, the teachers and senior staff began to file out of their classes, offices and break rooms. Some, like Langstrom and Fries, walked slowly with their heads down, as if walking to an execution. Others, like Pamela, walked out defiantly, with their heads held up high. One man didn't walk at all, instead being pushed in a wheelchair by Jervis. Jonathan groaned every time the wheelchair hit a bump.

"It's your own fault you know," Jervis scolded. "You shouldn't have had all that wine, March Hare!"

"Not now, Jervis," Jonathan moaned, trying to keep himself from vomiting. "Let me die in peace."

"I don't think that's likely my old friend," Jervis muttered. They had just past the hallway that led to the principal's office, and al Ghul's shouting was loud enough to make the framed pictures on the wall shake. Jervis shuddered. "I think al Ghul may rip us apart."

"Good. By the way, do I just have a bad headache, or did you hear that explosion a few minutes ago?"

Seeing as how all of the teachers had been called away, even while there were classes still in session, the students were free to do as they pleased, some staying in their rooms to gossip, others milling about the quad, several large groups getting as close as they could to the still burning portable and taking pictures. Tim dashed through the crowd, catching up to his oldest brother and their friends at their favorite outdoor table. "What's going on?" he asked.

Barbara grimaced. "Kerr blew up the portable while Dad, Strange, al Ghul, and the school board were inside." At Tim's stricken face she quickly added, "No one's hurt, but al Ghul wants all the teachers to report out front. I'm pretty sure he's going to either fire them or start the process to transfer them."

From his spot at the bench, Duke shuddered at the memory of that class. Tim looked behind him to see Ellen and Duela looking despondent. "Our dads are going to get transferred," Ellen sulked. "We're gonna get transferred too! Why? My Dad's kind of a jerk sometimes, but he's nowhere near as bad as Kerr! He hasn't even done anything today!" Duela rubbed her shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

Tim decided not to tell Ellen the rumor he heard about her father having sex with Dr. Young in her office. "What about Kerr?"

"He got arrested," Cassandra said. "The police just took him away."

Tim stood gobsmacked for a moment, then shook his head. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day. Wait until Jason hears-" then a thought occurred to him. "Wait. Where is Jason?"

The group looked around but could see no sign of him in the quad. "Guys," Stephanie said. "I don't see Roy anywhere. When was the last time we saw either of them?"

"I saw them at lunch," Duke said. "They were talking about something in the cafeteria. When I said hi, they moved."

Dick and Barbara exchanged a look. "They wouldn't-" Barbara said.

"Yeah," Dick said. "Yeah, they would. Let's go." The group left the table and ran towards the cafeteria doors.

Strange couldn't help but smirk as al Ghul railed on about the teachers. Finally, after years of disrespect, shenanigans, and buffoonery, he'd be rid of the faculty once and for all. "Kerr, Crane, Nashton, Isley, and Dent absolutely must leave," al Ghul said. "Harris will receive a pay cut for his misbehavior, as will Tetch and Dorrance for their involvement in the incident at the football game. Young will receive an official reprimand, as will Kyle-"

"Now hold on," Bruce said with a scowl. "What has she done to deserve that? And Harvey has a daughter who goes here, you can't just transfer him out."

"So does Edward, and you're not rushing to defend him," Cobblepot pointed out. "Don't play favorites, Wayne. If you weren't prepared to see your friends be punished, you shouldn't have called us out here in the first place."

Wayne said nothing but set his jaw. al Ghul continued on, "And Quinzel! I won't have her removed, but she should get a reprimand too! Fries, Langstrom, and Goodman can remain. Now, as for new teachers-"

A knock on the office door interrupted al Ghul. "Yes?" Gordon asked.

The door opened and Kristen poked her head in. She was biting her lower lip, in an effort to keep her composure, which made Strange feel on edge. "Excuse me, Superintendent? I think you should come out to the main entrance."

al Ghul raised an eyebrow. "The teachers?"

Kristen shook her head. "No. You need to see this for yourself." She shut the door and the group inside Strange office could hear her radio the school security team. al Ghul moved towards the door, the school board following him like ducklings out of the office and down the hall towards the front entrance.

"If the faculty is getting up to any more mischief, I swear to God I'll have them arrested too," al Ghul muttered. Finally, he reached the front entrance and pushed the door open. Almost immediately, he froze, standing still in the doorway. Then Strange heard him bellow. "MY CAR! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY CAR!?" Strange and Gordon pushed their way past the school board and al Ghul to look at what he was shrieking at. What they saw made both of their jaws drop.

al Ghul's limousine was missing all four of its tires, as well as its hubcaps. al Ghul's driver was nowhere to be seen. Most of the members of the faculty had already made it outside, all of them in a state of shock or glee. al Ghul staggered forward, still sputtering in outrage. From a wheelchair, Jonathan Crane pointed at the parking spot next to the limo, just out of view from the front door. "Mr. Wayne," he drawled. "I think you'll find something of interest at your car as well." Bruce ran out the door then and the next thing Strange and Gordon heard was his bellow.

"JASON!!!"

Strange and Gordon moved to get a better look. Sure enough, Jason Todd was at that moment, removing the front right tire of Bruce's red sports car. Pulled up alongside in one of the school golf carts was his friend and partner in crime, Roy Harper. Jason quickly stood up and threw the tire into the back of the cart before jumping into the passenger seat. He turned to the stunned school board members still huddled in the doorway and raised both of his middle fingers. "You'll never take us alive, you sons of bitches! Hit the gas, Roy!"

"Roy!" Queen shouted, pushing his way through the bottleneck at the door. "Don't you dare!"

Roy decided to listen to his best friend over his foster father and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal of the golf cart. What followed was pure pandemonium. The golf cart came to life and Roy drove it past Bruce's parked car, almost running down security officers Cash and Bullock as well as a few students and teachers. Once they were clear, the golf cart picked up speed, with Bruce, Queen, Cash, and Bullock in full pursuit, Bruce yelling all the while. "JASON!!" At that moment, Jason's brothers and other friends pushed through the school board members and out the door, in time to see the awkward chase run down the parking lot.

"Guys," Duke said. "I think we're too late."

"Oh my God," Barbara groaned.

"Holy shit!" Ellen shouted.

"Go, Todd!" Duela shouted. "Be free!"

Tim turned to Dick. "So how long is Jason going to be grounded for?"

"How long is the average human lifespan?" Dick responded.

The faculty themselves had plenty to say on the matter as well. "He does know that those carts only go 20 miles an hour, doesn't he?" Jonathan drawled.

Jervis shrugged. "Well, it's only a problem if they manage to clear the-" a loud, metallic crashing noise cut Jervis off mid-sentence. "Oh, what do you know? They managed to go through the gate. They'll be on the main road now."

Jonathan cackled. "God speed, you little bastard."

al Ghul slowly turned back towards Strange and Gordon, with the angriest expression either man had ever seen. "What," he seethed. "Just happened here!?"

Neither man could form words in the face of al Ghul's fury. "Jason Todd happened superintendent," Kristen said. "And this isn't the first time. He's still currently serving detention for attempting to steal the tires off of Principal Strange's car."

"He did WHAT!? Wayne never told me of this!"

"And that's not the first time he's been in trouble," Kristen continued. "This year alone, he's filled the swimming pool with live goldfish, juggled table saws in shop class, blew up Coach Bolton's desk, and spray-painted 'Mr. Zsasz is a punk-ass bitch' on the school lockers."

al Ghul's jaw dropped. "This year-it's only October! Why hasn't he been expelled!?"

"He's Bruce Wayne's son, that's why," Pamela said. "They can get away with murder."

"Isley," Strange warned. "That's not true-"

"Actually," Kristen said. "He's not the only one of Mr. Wayne's children to act out either."

"It's true!" Harley shouted. "Last month, Dick came to school dressed in a halter top and booty shorts to protest the dress code! It took us three hours to restore order!"

"Timothy once crashed the entire school's WIFI network programming a Mexican restaurant and then trying to order a taco," Jonathan added. "The computer lab was shut down for three days."

"Last year, Cassandra sent six seniors to the nurse's office for bullying a freshman," Dorrance said. "Not that they didn't have it coming, but there were broken bones."

Dick and Tim looked like they wanted to be anywhere else at the moment, and Cassandra merely shrugged when al Ghul fixed them with a steely glare. "And Wayne does nothing to curb this behavior?"

"If he does, it doesn't seem to be working," Kristen said. "Would you like to see their disciplinary records?"

al Ghul raised a hand. "No, that won't be necessary." He took a deep breath, then turned to address the faculty. "Now that you are all assembled, I-" then his eyes narrowed. "Where are Young and Nashton!?"

"Speak of the Devil and He shall appear," Pamela pointed back at the doorway.

Edward and Penelope emerged holding hands. Penelope looked as professional as always, her clothes only slightly rumpled. Edward however, looked like he had been utterly debauched, his hair messed up, his tie and the top three buttons of his shirt missing, and a dreamy look of satisfaction on his face. Both of them were far too wrapped up in the other to notice the crowd outside or al Ghul's mangled car.

Duela nudged Ellen. "Looks like you might get a little brother or sister after all."

"Dad!" Ellen shouted. "Did you bang my guidance counselor!?"

This brought the pair back to reality. "Ellen!" Edward shouted. "What are you doing out of class?" Then he noticed the car. "Oh my. What did we miss?"

Penelope addressed Gordon. "Jason?"

"Jason," Gordon confirmed.

al Ghul grit his teeth. "Now that you are all assembled, I have an important announcement to make." The teachers and students alike fell silent. Strange felt a smirk come to his face. Todd's behavior couldn't erase the fact that the teachers were unsuited to work here. "Quite frankly, your behavior is appalling by any standard," al Ghul continued. "Many members of the school board, Mr. Wayne included, as well as Principal Strange would like to see you removed." Strange let himself grin now. Here it comes..."However," al Ghul said and Strange almost felt his heart stop. "Given the fact that Wayne and his children violate the rules with even more impunity than you do, and that Strange is utterly incapable of dealing with it, I see no reason to give either of them what they want. And frankly, I can think of no greater punishment for the lot of you than to have you stay right where you are!" A loud relieved cheer went up from the crowd and Strange's hopes died. "Oh, shut up!" al Ghul scolded. Then al Ghul barked at Strange. "Find my driver and call us a cab! Now!"

Strange clenched his fists and did his best to ignore the smug looks on the faces of the faculty. "Yes, Superintendent al Ghul." He led al Ghul back in the building and cursed every decision that led him here.

Before he went into the building, al Ghul put a hand on Gordon's shoulder. "Take the next two weeks off. You deserve it."

Gordon's face lit up. "Thank you, Superintendent al Ghul!" al Ghul gave him a nod and followed Strange. Barbara ran up to her father and gave him a hug.

The various members of the school board made their way back to their cars, Oswald giving the faculty a wave. "Until we meet again, you rascals!"

"Bye, Oswald!" Edward waved.

Penelope shook her head, then leaned up to give Edward a kiss on the cheek. "I have to get caught up on my work. Call me tonight?"

Once again, a dreamy smile came to Edward's face that made his friends and his daughter want to puke. "Yes, Darling."

Penelope smiled, then went back into the building. Edward made his ways down the steps and towards his friends. "I told you she was crazy about me," he sighed.

"Wonderful," Jonathan grumbled. "Now you'll be even more goddamn insufferable."

Edward scowled. "Bitter old crow."

"Dad," Ellen asked. "Am I gonna get a little brother or sister for my Birthday?"

Edward's face turned bright red. "Ellen!" Ellen laughed, then ran off to join her friends. Edward shook his head. "Honestly, that girl's going to get into all kinds of mischief someday."

"Like father, like daughter," Jervis said.

The three exchanged a laugh. Harley bounded over to them with a squeal, followed by the other teachers. "We did it!" she laughed, hugging Pamela. "We won! We get to stay together!"

"What about your puddin'?" Selina asked. "He's still going to jail."

Harley's face darkened. "And he deserves it, the creep! He blew up the class when there were kids inside! That's not funny!"

Pamela and Selina exchanged a smile. Things were definitely looking up.

"What about Bruce?" Harvey asked Selina.

She shrugged. "He'll live."

Neil came to the front of the crowd. "Let's sing a song!"

"Let's absolutely fucking not!" Jonathan shouted.

Neil however, would not be denied. "Everybody's got the right to some sunshine," He gestured to the crowd. "EVERYBODY!"

The teachers, except Jonathan, all joined in. "Not the sun but maybe one of its beams! One of its beams! Rich man, poor man, black or white! Pick your apple, take a bite! Everybody just hold tight to your dreams! Everybody's got the right to their dreams!"

Jonathan stubbornly folded his arms. "I hate you all so goddamn much."

[ghoul-the-crappy-artist-blog]

Miscellaneous stuff from a character discussion chat in a BNHA rp server that I'm apart of, found these gems recently and decided to share them with ya'll out of boredom, (some of these are very old btw):

Someone: "so your willing to risk your life for this? Thats noble but.. you do know there's a high chance for death right?"

Jade: "oh yeah, I know. im mainly just agreeing to this because I think I can outrun anything."

----------

Jade: is pissed off "I may smile all the time honey, but I've got a mean f*cking back hand and I'm not afraid to use it on your ugly a** :) "

----------

Jade: "if I run at them, they will most certainly catch me in their arms." runs at friend and both topple over, braking a table in the process on their way to the ground.

----------

Villian: is very confused and expected something different. "um.. what are you wearing..?"

Jade: wearing mixed matched clothes from different aesthetic genres. "it's my ass kicking outfit b*tch!"

----------

Jade: trying to sound smart but is also very tired. "steampunk is only a thing because some goths discovered the color brown."

----------

Jade: yells at bad guys "I'm 8 ounches of whoop-ass!"

----------

Jade: proceeds to scare everyone as a jump scare happens while watching a horror movie, then proceeds to get pelted with pillows.

----------

Villian: "why don't you just go down and die with diginity??"

Jade: "HA jokes on you! I don't do anything with dignity!"

----------

Jade: being forced to watch over kids and gets bored so she decides to mess with them in order to entertain herself "now remember kids, rats are the capri-suns of the vampire world!"

----------

Jade: walks into her therapists office "hello person with a degree! I'm here to tell you why I'm broken."

----------

Jade: franticly texting her classmates while unknowingly in a villains lair/villian territory "this is a mass text- DOES ANYONE KNOW WE'RE I AM?"

----------

Jade: looks at her the angery rival whos busy trying to be edgy "pff, who is this sad lost child?"

----------

Person: "hehe people love me! I'm like cupid~"

Jade: "your a whore with a bow & arrow."

----------

Person: "lol I've never seen someone so pathetic!"

Jade: "oh, did you look in a mirror?"

----------

Friend: "um.. why are you so quiet today?"

Jade: "no one plans murder out loud.."

----------

Jade: "well that was fun!"

Person: "no it wasn't, we went to jail!!"

Jade: "nah, we went to Holland. Big difference."

(If you get this reference, your amazing)

----------

Jade: "I saw a piece of shit on the ground the other day and it reminded me of you."

Iro: "yeah? Well that piece of shit probably gets more looks then your gremlin lookin' ass."

----------

Villain: "I'm gonna kill you! I'm so powerful, not even all of you combined can stop me!"

Class 1-A: "yeah um.. we don't think Jade will let us die.. let us ask her tho." looks at jade. "hey this Villain says-"

Villain: "that's not how this works-"

Jade: looking at her classmates with a super serious expression and cracking her knuckles. "No."

Class 1-A: turns back to the Villain and shrugs. "yeah, she said no."

----------

Jade: "you ever just think that.. sweet-tarts are just sour smarties..? And that rice is just boiled wheat?"

Person: "jade.. how high are you?"

Jade: "huh? Oh.. about, like 5'6."

----------

Jade: "positive words of the day: if your ever sad, just remember- Doofenshmirtz's girlfriend left him for a whale."

----------

Jade: "I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip."

Rival: "last week when someone called me weak during training; you tackled them and broke their jaw with your bare hands out of anger."

Jade: "..."

Rival: "..."

Jade: "irrelevant."

----------

Jade: "I don't know why people think driving is so hard, it's just like Mario cart except slower.. and you can't throw blue shells at people."

Parents: "okay.. that settles it, your never driving."

----------

Jade: talking to a bully "I'm only gonna say this once- DO NOT f*ck with my friends. I have watched way to many crime shows, and I know how to get away with things."

----------

Jade: "I like a nice nap, my naps can last up to 3 hours. Some call that depression- I call it nap time."

----------

Jade: "what do you mean? I'm always calm and rational with minor inconveniences!"

Friend: "you had a mental brake down yesterday when we were out of gummy worms."

Jade: "so? Their my favorite.."

----------

Jade: smirks while looking out the window.

Friend: "hm? What'cha smiling at over there Jade-"

Person: "she set the old golf course on fire to see what would burn."

Jade: filled with glee and holding back laughter. "Hehe-..everything's ablaze."

----------

Jade: is out with friends one night and parents get brung up in the conversation. "..."

Jade: looks off into the distense and into the depths of the city and raises her middle finger. "f*ck you dad."

----------

Friend: has all the sads

Jade: le gasp "don't worry! I have emotional jumper cables!"

Jade: hugs friend then locks her hands together while her arms are around them.

Friend: confused "um.. Jade, this is just a hug-.."

Jade: "yeah, but.. is it working?" smiles happily like a lil kid

Friend: "..."

Friend: "maybe.."

Jade: :D

----------

Child Jade: "i don't understand why you are scared to meet new people, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!"

Friend: "that's how you get mugged or murdered.."

Child Jade: "..hmmm... would they stab me with friendship..?"

----------

Apolaki: at the theme park "how much for the horse tornado??"

Jade: "it's called a carousel.."

Amusment Park Worker: "sir, It's not for sale."

Apolaki: quietly to himself 'I must have it..!'

----------

Person: "so you guys got kicked out of the movies? Uuh.. do i even nedd to ask why?"

Jade: "Iro and I were yelling diving scores as people were jumping of the boat in titanic."

Person: "wtf-"

Iro: "that last guy was a solid eight let me tell you."

----------

Dad: "why can't you just be normal for once??"

Jade: "oohh I don't know, why can't you be a good father for once?"

----------

Jade: "studying? Heh more like student dying! Am I right or am I right?"

Person: "um.. Jade, are you ok..?"

Jade: "nope! Ha ha.., I've been awake for 103 hours."

----------

Jade: "no no no- I'm fine, it was pretty cool! I went in there and he was all like 'Knife to meet you' and then stabbed me-"

Gin: "JADE YOU WERE STABBED- !?"

Jade: "yeah but, you don't understand- he made a PUN Gin."

----

Jade: "how to you orangize a galactic party?"

Rival: "I don't really care, but how?"

Jade: "hehe, you.. Planet !"

Rival: "get tf out.."

----------

Person: "Im like Belle because she loves books and likes people for their souls."

Jade: "I'm like Tinkerbelle because she needs attention and love or else she dies."

----------

Jade: singing "I want to see my little boy~"

Harper: walks into the room while holding up Apolaki "here he comes~!'

Jade: throwing confetti "I want to see my little boy~!"

Apolaki: *has no idea what vine is, so is very confused*

----------

Uda over text: "I miss those bro posts, bro."

Kumoji over text: "I miss your eyes, bro."

Uda: "bro.." :0

----------

Uda: "if I run and jump at Kumoji, he will most certainly catch me in his arms!" runs full speed at Kumoji

Kumoji: steps to the side to avoid it

Uda: runs into the wall "oOf

----------

Jade: "um.. what'cha got there Uda?"

Uda: standing in front of a lion that he stole from the zoo, and that he put a leash & a hat on while holding a drink "a smoothie."

----------

Jade: "I want to look like a snack this summer, but I keep f*cking eating them."

----------

Jade: "limes are the off brand warheads of the lemon world."

Kanna: "uuh yeah hey-, what the f*ck does this mean??"

----------

Child Jade: "when I become 99 pounds I want to eat 1 pound of sugar, so that I can be 1% candy!"

----------

Jade: dancing around and singing like like a Disney princess "i wish to venture in the great wide somewhere~"

Kanna: opens door "you can do that, no one's stopping you."

Jade: flops onto her bed "but not today cuz I am tired~"

----------

Person: gets a bruise or small cut "ouchies I have a boo boo! Looks like I can't do anything at all till it heals." :)

Jade: Is literally deku during the end of the training camp arc with cuts, bruises, a significant loss of blood, and two broken arms "let's do this- come at me bish."

----------

Jade: "eh whatever, I'll do whatever I want when I'm 80."

Kanna: "if your alive by 80 I DEMAND A MEDICAL EXPLAINATION"

----------

Jade: "you ever think about how.. the brain named itself?"

Kanna: sigh "its too early for this late night shit.."

----------

Uda, Gin, and Jade: finds a villain disguised as a injured civilian who looks close to death

Jade: in a monokuma voice internally: "pupupupupu~ a body has been discovered!" externally: "oh no-"

-----------

Jade: "one time I passed by Kanna in the hallway. it looked like she was eating a apple, but when I got closer, I realised.. she was eating a whole bell pepper.."

----------

Jade: puts on fancy overly bedazzled sunglasses "words can't hurt me, these shades are gucci."

----------

Jade at the end of a long school day: "goodbye everyone! I'll remember you all in therapy."

[timmyrx2000]

Dipper Steps Up: Chapter 13

Chapter Index: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Chapter 13

Chuck had a quick word as the Panthers ran to the dugout: "Guys! Two runs! Can we do this?"

A chorus of "Yeah!" came back.

Chuck shook his head. "I can't hear that! Tell me we can do this!"

At his side, Mabel raised her hand. "One! Two! Three!"

And as she swept her hand down, everyone yelled out together: "WE CAN DO THIS!"

Chuck grinned. "Jon J, step up to the plate!" But as the pitcher walked deliberately out, testing three bats before choosing one, Chuck said quietly to Dipper, "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Dipper had been sweeping the grandstand with an anxious gaze. "Uh. Nothing. Just—you know, trying to see where . . . people are sitting."

"Keep your head in the game," Chuck said, slapping him on the shoulder. "Remember that!"

Dipper settled on the bench. I'll be up after Jon J and X-man. What if I screw it all up in front of Wendy?

After the first pitch—a called strike—it took Jon J only thirty seconds to end his turn at bat, though to Dipper that dragged on like three hours.

And Jon J ended it spectacularly, with a blazing shot right down the left foul line, though it stayed in play. It bounced off the chain-link fence, the left fielder, flustered, bobbled it, lost it, and threw to the wrong place—first base, which Jon J had already left behind, and the throw was short and the baseman had to chase it—

Jon J wound up on third base, leaning over with his hands on his knees, his chest heaving for air. He had probably set a personal-best speed record with that run. The dugout went crazy.

As X-man went past, Dipper said, "Make us proud, man!"

X-man smiled and nodded as if that were all he needed. He didn't waste time, either, but smashed a hit into deep right field. The Athletics were either tired or overconfident—or maybe shaken by the Panthers' performance in the sixth. X-man stretched what might have been a single into a double, and Jon J crossed the plate and came into the dugout with everybody jumping on him and pounding his back.

Everyone except Dipper. He stepped out. Only Chuck seemed to notice him. He just said, "Head in the game, Dip. You got this."

"Head in the game," Dipper mumbled.

Sun is so hot today. Not in my eyes, though. This bat feels so heavy! And I feel like Mabel when she was in the golf cart that time—about to puke!

His hands were soggy with sweat. He rubbed dirt on them and pulled on his batting gloves, took two practice swings, and stepped into the box. The Athletics pitcher scowled at him.

This guy likes to brush you back from the plate. If he crowds me, should I jerk back in time or would it be better to be hit and take a base?

Sure enough, the first fastball whistled in—and Dipper had to step back to avoid it. "Ball!" the umpire shouted.

OK, he won't try that one on the next pitch. He doesn't have much of a curve, and he aims for the bottom third of the zone. Eye on the ball. Eye on the—

The pitcher kicked high and bent low and the ball came in right in the center of the zone, but low. Dipper tensed, judged the moment, and swung as hard as he could—

Crack!

He knew it was going into the gap, but he was already running and had no time to watch it. Round first base, and the center fielder was just coming up from the ground with the ball—Faster! He's gonna throw me out!

People were screaming. The ball was in the air, the second baseman reaching up his glove—

Dipper hit the dirt and slid into the bag—

And he heard the second baseman yell, "Shit!"

Dipper got to his feet—not even winded—and started dusting himself off. "Language," he said mildly.

The Athletics player shot him a look that could have killed. Dipper saw that X-man had scored. Tie game!

Hi-Ho, up next, made a valiant try, but managed only a pop-up to shallow left field, and the shortstop caught it. One man down.

Bobby paused on his way to the plate to look Dipper's way and give him a thumbs-up. Mabel did a fist-pump.

Something amazing happened. Dipper, standing just off second, straightened up and looked around.

And at that moment, somehow everything around him reminded him of—Gravity Falls. On a day when there was no Weirdmageddon, no chase through the woods on a golf cart, no competition between Pacifica and Mabel on the mini-golf course, no baleful ghost to conquer, no dance to make him anxious about asking Wendy for just one dance. No, not a day like that, but one of the clear late afternoons he and Mabel loved, a day to lie on their backs on soft, fresh-smelling grass and look at clouds with Wendy. A day to laugh and feel at home and loved and safe. One of those beautiful days that you hoped would go on and on and on because it was too sweet to leave behind.

Everything seemed so peaceful. The game was just a game, fun but not the be-all and end-all. And he had friends—real friends! For the first time in his life he had more than a couple of friends, and they were all right here, in California, on this hot afternoon in May, and they were feeling good.

And he knew how to make them feel even better.

That all passed in a flash, before Bobby even crouched at the plate—the catcher liked to challenge a pitcher by narrowing the strike zone—and well before the first pitch flew.

Bobby swung, the bat smacked the ball, and Dipper saw it was a hard-hit line drive to the pitcher's left, squarely between first and second, and it hit hard and started to bounce, at least a single for sure, but by that time Dipper had launched himself.

He got to third, looked over, and saw Bobby stepping back to first base, grinning. He immediately led off first, dancing, goofing. The pitcher glared at him.

Dipper led off third.

The pitcher wound up—and Bobby tagged up, then led off even more. The pitch, a strike—and Bobby took off for second. Dipper saw that the catcher was throwing to second, and he hunched down and ran faster than he had ever run in his life, even that time in the Fearamid with a monstrous Bill Cipher on his and Mabel's heels—the crowd screamed, he heard the pitcher yell in startled surprise—the catcher was reaching for the ball—Dipper went into a slide again—

And the throw was high and the catcher missed it and the ump bellowed, "Safe!"

And the scoreboard blinked to the final score: ANDERSON 10, VISITORS 11. Dipper's steal had won the game.

Before he could even get to his feet, Dipper was picked up—the cheering team hoisted him in the air and paraded him around. Above everything, Dipper could hear Mabel: "That's my brother! In your face, Athletics! That's Dipper Pines!"

The team wouldn't set him down. They carried him into the dugout. They dumped the water jug over him, making him muddy rather than dusty. Coach Waylund shook his dripping hand. "Good season, Pines," he said. "I'll look for you at tryouts in the fall. We're gonna need a team captain."

"But Chuck—" No. Chuck won't be JV next year. He'll be Varsity.

"Chuck recommended you," Coach said. He turned around, clapping his hands. "Good game, men! Next year we're gonna be number one! Now hit the showers!"

When he came out dressed, with his wet gear in his game bag, he saw Mabel talking to their mom, dad, both Grunkles—and Wendy, who yelped, "There he is!" She hugged him, took off the trapper hat, and gave him a playful noogie. "Good goin', dude! I'm gonna have to turn into a baseball fan!"

"Hey, Dipper," Mabel said, "Chuck and me are gonna ride back with Mom and Dad. Grunkle Stan will drive you home."

"Yeah," Stan said, "Poindexter an' me are gonna check into a motel for the night. Tomorrow afternoon we gotta fly back to Gravity Falls so's Wendy won't miss school on Monday. She's gonna stay with your folks tonight."

"Stanley," Grunkle Ford said, "I'd feel more secure if you'd let Wendy drive. After all, we're in a rental car—"

"Brainiac, please!" Stanley said. "She's too young to drive a rental! You gotta be like twenty-five!"

"Oh—but I let her drive my rental," Stanford said.

"Did she get caught?"

"Well, no, she's a good driver—"

"Then forget about it! Me, I can't afford any points on my license, so I'm drivin'. She'll just hafta sit in the back seat with Dipper."

Oh, that was just such bad news. Dipper couldn't help grinning like an idiot.

On the drive back, Wendy told him that Mabel had called and begged her to get there if she could. "So I talked to Stan, an' when he found out this was like a big game, he talked Stanford into coming—"

"And pickin' up the tab for the airfare! Hah!" Stan said from behind the wheel.

"And, dude, I'm so glad we did! I mean, I've never been a big baseball fan, but that was cool! Is it always this exciting?"

"This was the most exciting game I've ever been in," Dipper said truthfully.

That evening, after dinner, Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy went for another walk. As twilight came on, they rambled another trail in Piedmont Park. Wendy said, "Mabel, you gotta level with him now. You said you would."

"Yeah, I know," Mabel said. "Dipper—it's about this summer."

"You don't want to go back to Gravity Falls," Dipper said flatly. "I figured. Because of Chuck."

"What? No! Well, yeah, kinda. But listen: I just want to stay here until Chuck finishes his therapy. That'll be the last week in June. Then I'll come up to Gravity Falls for the rest of the summer. Grunkle Ford will buy an airline ticket for me. Brobro, I can't live without a trip to Gravity Falls—but Dipper, it's Chuck. I—I have a little crush on him. That's why I asked Wendy if she could come down today."

"Yeah," Wendy said. "So most of June, you'll be in Gravity Falls without Mabel. To make up for it, when you run into some crazy mystery or other and need a partner—here I am, Dip."

"You—you'd go on mystery hunts and stuff? With, uh, with me?" Dipper asked.

She shoved his shoulder playfully. "Yeah, dude! Hey, I'm no Mabel, but in a tight spot, I'm good with an axe. So until, like, the last week of June, no Mystery Twins. How about Mystery Team? I'll go with you on every—investigation? Quest? Whatever, man! It's a promise! Deal?"

"Deal!" They high-fived.

On the last Thursday evening in May, the day that final exams ended, the team presented Dipper with a trophy—a gold-colored pitcher in a wind-up pose atop a mahogany pedestal with a brass plate inscribed "DIPPER PINES / MVP /ANDERSON VS PIEDMONT/PIEDMONT 11, ANDERSON 10/MAY 17, 2014."

That was a high point, as the game had been a high point. As was Chuck's congratulating the new JV team captain for next season. As was Dad's buying copies of the newspaper with a glowing account of the game and Dipper's part in it and distributing them to everyone he knew. As was school ending early on May 30, the last day. As were a lot of things.

Still, on Saturday, May 31, the bus trip up to Gravity Falls was long and lonely with no goofy, cheerful sister next to him. Low point.

But when, late in the day, the bus stopped in downtown Gravity Falls, and a beautiful grinning redhead met him and said, "Hey, dork—need a lift to the Shack?"

And when she hugged him tight and said "Missed you so much, Dipper! Welcome back!"

Well, there's no point quite as high as that.

The End

Note from the Authors: A HUGE HUGE HUGE Thanks to BillEase for working his magic in this idea of mine. I'm no writter I can tell you guys that. What you guys enjoyed was my idea but the brunt of the work was done by BillEase. He is one of the best (if not the best) fanfiction writers I've seen. He wrote almost all of this story while I just helped him with ideas and the baseball games. Go check out Bill's stuff over at Fanfiction.net cause I swear he DOES NOT disappoint. We're not really too sure if this is the end of the story arc for this AU. Bill's got his own arc going on which is damn awesome and deserves alot of love too. If you guys got any ideas to expand this, just leave them in the comments bellow. Hope you guys enjoyed and hopefully this won't be the last fic Thanks so much again for checking this out. Please leave a comment and share with us what ya think. Share it to your friends or just simply fave this and follow Bill and I. Again, Thanks a million and we hope to see ya guys soon! Bill and Tim

[bunkershotgolf]

V1 Game App Gaining Popularity Among Amateur and Pro Golfers

From Rising LPGA Stars to Recreational Players, Data is Driving Measurable Improvement

The V1 Game mobile app from V1 Sports has been gaining significant traction in the golf world on the strength of its newest cutting-edge features - A.I. Shot Tracking, Virtual Caddie and Virtual Coach. Those features are resonating with golfers of all skill levels, including fifth-year LPGA player Dana Finkelstein, who is having her best season on tour, highlighted by a T-12 finish at the Hugel-Air Premia Los Angeles Open earlier this spring and a T-14 showing at the recent Volunteers of America Classic.

V1 Game, named “Best Apple Watch Golf App for 2021” by GolfPass.com, delivers an innovative combination of on-course GPS data plus deep-dive performance analytics – including numerous Stroke Gained categories – that help golfers understand their on-course tendencies and pinpoint the skills they need to practice most in order to improve. The app requires no external hardware or second screens to provide its A.I.-powered game improvement platform.

“V1 Game uses no hardware on your golf clubs to track your shots,” says Dallas Webster, co-developer of V1 Game. “And, it's totally unlocked for your first two rounds while the GPS capabilities stay free forever. Other technology on the market requires a $300 investment in hardware just to dip your toe into the water. Our artificial intelligence handles shot tracking and makes it intuitive and seamless, so you can focus on golf and put down your phone. Plus, V1 Game makes the data accessible and actionable, analyzing your data and telling you exactly what to work on to make the next leap in your game. Data fanatics can dive as deep as they want.”

UNDER THE HOOD V1 Game’s latest features are revolutionary. A.I. Shot Tracking uses sensors in your smartphone or Apple Watch to detect shots and automatically track your round. An Apple Watch helps V1 Game detect when you swing, marks your location, and emits a soft vibration confirming your swing detection.

“Our integration with Apple Watch obsoletes external sensors,” says Webster. “We detect swings, so you can just play. And when you replace worn-down grips, you don't have to mess with hardware.” Android watch functionality is also coming soon.

If you don't have an Apple Watch, simply start a round and keep your phone in a front or back pocket, or in the cart or golf bag. V1 Game uses the phone’s GPS and accelerometer data, to determine where and when you potentially hit a shot. You may need to do some slight post-round editing - as with every shot-tracking software on the market - by simply dragging shot locations with your finger on the hole map, in places the A.I. marked shots. You can also fine-tune the A.I., depending on if you play fast or not, to further increase its accuracy.

Virtual Caddie goes beyond anything else available, using A.I. to provide adjusted ‘Plays Like’ yardages but also building a history of how you perform from various situations based on club use, lie, distance to the hole and weather conditions. It then offers simplified insights during rounds, giving club recommendations and a quick snapshot of the data – just like a Tour caddie would – so that golfers can make the best on-course decisions. It even warns what to watch for on approach shots, based on miss tendencies from similar previous situations.

The feature-loaded Virtual Coach takes the app to yet another level. While many golf stat apps collect data and then dump it on you to figure out how to apply that to your game, Virtual Coach does the insightful heavy lifting. For instance, it plots putting performance, and uses A.I. to analyze the data and advise specifically what to work on. It displays advice, such as “Work on Approach Shots First” and “You are losing the most strokes on putts from 6-10 ft. Practice this range to improve the fastest.”

Golfers know exactly what to focus on in practice. Because the app also tracks their mistakes, Virtual Coach ‘trends’ plots to quickly see what areas of their game are improving with practice or declining from neglect. Pairing this data with a V1 instructor can further accelerate progress, especially if that teacher is armed with the V1 Coach app for instructors. This companion to V1 Game is a dynamic, data-rich system to help golf instructors and coaches manage their students’ performance data to optimize lesson content, practice plans, course management and scoring habits using the data supplied from V1 Game usage.

THIS TIME, IT’S PERSONAL In the four years since Webster began developing V1 Game with partner Ryan Hebert, he’s personally added 20 yards to his tee shots and cut his handicap by five strokes to below scratch for the first time - all while working two jobs and managing a growing family.

“It provides easy-to-digest data,” says Webster, an engineer by trade who’s now becoming a rising star as a golf tech developer and stats guru. “I didn't want to spend 45 minutes after a round to get to an understanding, so I selfishly built V1 Game to teach me what I did well and poorly, via quick and intuitive feedback. So, now, when I’m standing over a 175-yard shot, Virtual Caddie tells me I tend to miss short and left so I need to take more club and aim right. Easy and actionable. I want golfers to get answers fast and simple. And I’ve learned a ton from our users. I’m constantly in the chat room fielding questions. We take suggestions seriously, and if you have a good idea, we'll try it. If you have a pain point, we work on it. We’ve made many updates this way. We have passionate customers and I leverage them to improve the app for all. We're listening.”

TOUR-PROVEN TECHNOLOGY V1 Game is not just for amateur golfers. LPGA and Symetra Tour pros, including Finkelstein, Marisa Messana, Janet Mao and Vicky Hurst have also begun relying on it. Those tours don’t currently provide Strokes Gained data, so V1 Game is becoming a valuable tool in the hands of its early adapters.

“I love how simple it is,” says Finkelstein. “And I’ve already made a putter change after the app showed how poor my stats are with speed control and 40-foot-plus putts. It’s also showing a positive trend in how my stat tracking from driving and approach shots have drastically improved. That's really cool to see. It's nice to see all of the hard work I put in this offseason starting to pay off.”

Adds Messana: “It’s very helpful for my practice sessions, because I'm all about high performance, knowing myself and my tendencies. V1 Game explicitly says what I need to work on in order to close those performance gaps. People can tell me I’m not making enough birdies, so I therefore need to sink more putts. But really what I learned in V1 Game was that my proximity stats were not where they should be, in order to give myself those birdie opportunities. In other words, it wasn't really my putting, but rather my proximity to the hole on my approaches that I needed to improve. The Strokes Gained insights in V1 Game have already changed my game.”

Strokes Gained is the coveted stat that essentially lets you know how your game compares to other golfers of any skill level you set as a baseline. It helps any golfer. In fact, golfers shooting 100 will likely benefit the most from it because it makes their weaknesses obvious to inform practice sessions.

NEW FEATURES COMING IN HOT

Webster is out to make the V1 Game app even more intuitive. One recent update: As soon a score is entered, the shots graphically populate before one’s eyes. Another fresh feature is Friends Mode, in which golfers and their buddies can link their rounds when they start playing. This allows friends to share a live scorecard between each other and see everyone’s shots tracked on one screen.

V1 Game’s success is another testament to the visionary leadership of V1 Sports CEO Bryan Finnerty, an entrepreneur and former goalkeeper for the Detroit Rockers professional indoor soccer team. Finnerty has led the charge to improve V1 Sports’ technology, sales, service, support and product offerings. New offerings under his guidance include V1 Game, expanding into V1 Baseball, adding the V1 Pressure Mat product and education series. All the while, he’s helped make the V1 Golf and V1 Pro platforms the most commonly used video analysis platforms in golf.

"It’s easy for me to get excited about V1 Sports' vision and the convergence of sports and technology because the root motivation for our work should always be 'Does it make playing the sport more fun?'" he says. "Breaking the four-minute mile. Dunking from the top of the key. The first guy who bent a soccer ball around a wall into a goal. The Pele bicycle kick. I still get chills thinking of all those things because I remember being introduced to them as a kid. Today, with our core products V1 Golf, V1 Golf Plus, V1 Pro and now V1 Game, the market is telling us our vision, to have become more and more consumer-facing over the past five years, truly resonates.”

CONVENIENT PRICING MODEL Par: $1.99/month or $19.99/year – includes 40,000+ golf courses in the V1 Game directory, Accurate GPS Distances, Simple Shot Tracking, Breadcrumbs/Auto Shot Detection

Birdie: $5.99/month or $59.99/year – includes 40,000+ golf courses in the V1 Game directory, Accurate GPS Distances, Simple Shot Tracking, Breadcrumbs/Auto Shot Detection, Strokes Gained Data, DIY Golf Stats

Eagle: $11.99/month or $119.99/year – includes 40,000+ golf courses in the V1 Game directory, Accurate GPS Distances, Simple Shot Tracking, Breadcrumbs/Auto Shot Detection, Strokes Gained Data, DIY Golf Stats, Virtual Coach, Virtual Caddie

V1 Game is a perfect complement to V1’s current line of video analysis software and mobile apps, including the V1 Golf and V1 Pro mobile apps which allow golfers and coaches to conduct online video lessons with advanced feedback including voice-over, telestration and side-by-side swing analysis.

Visit https://v1sports.com/athletes/v1-game-app/ to learn more.

[hakelelius91]

best auto insurance in illinois

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best auto insurance in illinois

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[golfnomad]

A Mad Dash to Mesquite

This weekend, a friend and I made what has become an annual trip to Southern Nevada. Normally, we just stay around Vegas for 2-3 days, but we decided to venture a bit further this year. That was partly for me, since there’s only one public course in Vegas that I have left to play and it wasn’t quite in our budget. Hint, it rhymes with Schmadow Creek.

On Saturday, we drove up to Mesquite and stayed the night there. On Sunday, we drove home after stopping in Henderson for a round at Revere Golf Club (Concord). I’ve already reviewed that course on the blog, so this post will just focus on the two Mesquite courses we played...

Oasis Golf Club (The Canyons Course) • Mesquite, NV • 11/11/17

Oasis has two courses and I hadn’t played either of them prior to this trip. To me, they’ve always seemed a bit overpriced and deals aren’t usually easy to find like they are at the other comparable mid-level Mesquite courses (considering Wolf Creek as the one and only “top-level” course in town and the rest being quality B players). 

Fortunately, my friend was looking around awhile back and found an oddly inexpensive tee time for The Canyons Course at Oasis. It was only around $40, even though most everything else in town this time of year is quite expensive. We went ahead and booked the 9:30 time at that price. When he checked later, all times around us went up to $125. Not sure why that price was so low when we booked it, but we felt like we got away with something. The pro shop guys didn’t bat an eye when we checked in and paid the balance, however, so I guess it’s wasn’t that outrageous.

We figured it would be busy there on a Saturday of a holiday weekend, but it really wasn’t. They sent us off as a twosome a little ahead of our tee time. We did catch up to other groups pretty quickly and waited on most holes, but the total pace was nice around four hours. 

We were considering asking about a replay on The Palmer Course, but we heard them announcing a shotgun start over on that course as we were finishing on the 18th of ours. So that idea went quickly out the window, but we still made the most of our time as you’ll see later.

The Canyons Course was designed by Dave Druzisky. The setting is kind of weird as it works through some really cool canyon areas while also working through a residential community and some streets. It seems a lot of holes would have a beautiful rugged canyon hillside on one side of the fairway and then houses or a street along the other. There is a lot of driving between some holes and you are often traveling along and across the streets. You definitely don’t get the “secluded” canyon setting here like you do at some of Mesquite’s other courses. The streets especially take away from the overall experience on this course. 

If you focus on just the layout, The Canyons Course offers an enjoyable design. The front nine is definitely more interesting with some good changes in elevation and fun holes like the tricky dogleg left par-4 6th. This hole plays around the corner of a rocky hillside and then water runs up the right side as you near the green. 

The back nine has a few memorable holes, but I found the front more engaging and distinctive overall. 

I will commend The Canyons Course for having a really strong collection of par-3s. All four offer something a little different. The 4th hole is probable the best of the bunch with a severely elevated tee and a nice view. The 7th is more flat as you play over a large water hazard. 

The 9th is an odd one that I think I enjoyed much more than my friend. It also features a very elevated tee. A creek crosses back and forth on the way down to the hill and the green is guarded by kind of a moat that circles almost all the way around. It is an awkward and semi-blind tee shot from the back blue tees, but I found it to be a fun and challenging hole.

Lastly, the 17th features another big drop from the tee to the green surrounded by the canyon walls.

One of the more interesting moments on the course happens on the par-4 14th. It’s a very straightforward hole, but it is actually bisected by the Nevada/Arizona state line. It seemed we were close to the border when we got to this tee box, so I looked at a satellite map on my phone. At least according to that, the state line runs almost perfectly down the center of the fairway. The hole was tucked on the left portion of the green (technically in AZ if the map is accurate). It was the first time I’ve ever had to putt across state lines and I got a real kick out of that!

The course was in solid, albeit unspectacular, condition for this time of year. It’s about what I've come to expect in Southern Nevada on all but some of the more high-end courses. The tee boxes were fine. The fairways looked better from a distance than up close as the overseed didn't completely fill in. It was kind of thin in some areas and fluffy in others, but mostly decent enough. The rough is semi-dormant bermuda. It was cut way down and easy to hit from. I was in one bunker and it was prototypical NV crunchy, coarse desert sand with some pebbles. The greens were in good shape. They were firm, yet receptive on well-struck shots, rolling smooth at medium/slow speeds. I really wish they were a bit faster, though. 

To me, The Canyons Course falls in a clear 4th place in Mesquite behind Wolf Creek, Conestoga and Falcon Ridge. The only other courses I haven’t played in town are The Palmer Course and Casablanca, so I don’t know how it will rank when I finish up my Mesquite list (hopefully next year). If we hadn’t found such a good deal, I wouldn’t have enjoyed Oasis as much. However, for the price we paid it was a good experience. Just don’t set your expectations too high for conditions in Southern Nevada’s shoulder season. The prices go way up, but you won’t get Palm Springs like post-overseed conditions unless you play some of the upper-tier courses. We could see parts of Wolf Creek from Oasis and it looked incredible. That’s one I still want to go back and play again!

Some pictures from Oasis Golf Club (The Canyons Course) (11/11/17):

The Palmer Course was never part of the original plan, but a quicker-than-expected round on Canyons made it worth considering until we learned they were having an afternoon members tournament on that side. So, we went ahead with our original plan for the late afternoon round...

Coyote Willows Golf Course • Mesquite, NV • 11/11/17

Coyote Willows is the course that not many people outside of Mesquite residents know about. It’s understandable because it’s just a 9-hole course and it’s not meant to compete with the likes of Wolf Creek, Oasis or Conestoga. It really is just a locals course. 

Still, I wanted to play it and check it off my Southern Nevada list. We headed over there and it wasn’t very busy at all when we arrived. We paid $25 to play 9 holes with a cart. That’s certainly quite steep for what you get here, but I guess it’s technically a “value” in Mesquite this time of year when golf rates are really jacked up.

Coyote Willows is a par-35 regulation layout that seems like it has undergone some routing changes in recent years (and may still be in transition). New owners just took over the course in September and their website says more renovations will be forthcoming. Some online sources show a scorecard with a total par of 32 for Coyote Willows, so it would appear some big changes have already taken place. Some of the signage throughout the course (mainly the rock signs on the tee boxes) are way off in terms of yardage, so those are best ignored for now.

The terrain at Coyote Willows is very flat. The course would seem like a good one to walk this time of year, but parts of the course are very spread out and it would be a pain, especially a long walk down the street between holes 2 and 3.

Overall, this course reminded me more of what I’ve played in Yuma rather than what I’ve experienced in Mesquite. It’s a pretty basic design surrounded by a few homes and some desert scrub brush and trees along the outer edges. The holes are pretty wide open and very forgiving, and there’s not much visual definition from tee to green on most holes. 

Still, it’s a solid course and much better than I would have expected. There are some water hazards in play and the setting is pleasant with sweeping desert vistas in every direction. 

The highlight holes here are the 8th and 9th. The 8th is a short par-4 with a ton of water in play. There’s a hazard that runs up the right side and then cuts across what is essentially a peninsula green. The drawings on the scorecard are crude at best and it’s hard to see what the hole does when standing on the tee, so be careful here if it’s your first time. If you can’t fly your drives 290+, then lay up!

The 9th is a real treat as a finisher and it’s a par-3 unlike any other I can recall. A small creek zig-zags back and forth all the way from the tee to the green and the forward tee boxes are interspersed amongst the curves. Some tall reeds and tall tufts of pampas grass line the water and make it a semi-blind shot to the green. The green itself is two-tiered with a large shelf in the middle and it is protected on all sides. I wish I had a drone with me to show the aerial view of the hole because the ground-level shots from the tees don’t really do it justice. The view from behind the green with the sun setting did turn out pretty sweet, though!

Coyote Willows was in okay shape for a course of this caliber. The tee boxes were a bit beat up, but okay enough. The fairways had been overseeded, but were still quite firm and thin. Some holes were nicer than others. The rough was more of a hodge podge with mostly dormant, shaved-down rough, some dead hardpan spots and some more decent grass around the greens. I wasn't in any bunkers. The greens were in good shape, though rolling at pretty slow speeds. 

This is certainly not a destination course and it probably shouldn’t be in the plans for most people planning their Mesquite golf trips. However, it’s a good course for locals to enjoy at a lower price and it’s not a bad one to throw in if you want to get an extra nine holes in. I love that they advertise themselves as “the best 9-hole course in Mesquite.” So what if they’re the only 9-hole course in Mesquite (unless you want to count Beaver Dam across the border in Arizona)!

Some pictures from Coyote Willows Golf Course (11/11/17):