#if you're not going to own the eccentricity why bother?

[cantsayidont]

In a fit of I know not what, I also watched the following:

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: Kenneth Branagh is an unlikely choice to play Agatha Christie's eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and neither his performance nor his direction brings much life to this glossy but slapdash adaptation of one of Christie's most famous books. As with the 1974 film version with Albert Finney, the star-studded cast is both a major selling point and a central weakness: Many of the big names act like they've wandered in from completely different movies, preventing the film from ever feeling of a piece. (The casting of Johnny Depp, even as the film's most detestable character, also sits ill, as does a disagreeable opening sequence set in prewar Jerusalem.) Moreover, the prominence of the stars eventually underscores the absurdity of the story's ludicrous denouement. For all its popularity, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is really one of Christie's weaker mysteries, particularly now that the real-world Lindbergh kidnapping that obviously inspired the novel has faded from the popular consciousness. As a story, EXPRESS is best served by adaptations less burdened by stunt casting, like the 1992 BBC Radio 4 dramatization, with John Moffat as Poirot. If you're mostly interested in costume porn, stick with the 1974 film, which isn't a great movie either, but has superior costume design and fine cinematography to help keep you awake through its many lulls.

DEATH ON THE NILE: Perfectly dreadful big-budget adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel gets off to a bad start with a stupid framing sequence claiming that Poirot is a heroic (and heterosexual!) WW1 veteran who grew his famous mustache to cover battle scars, and gets worse from there. The main plot remains faithful enough to the original novel to make its variances all the more distracting (without changing the fact that anyone familiar with the book or the earlier adaptations already knows the solution to the mystery!), its slick production values are badly undermined by terrible CGI inserts, and many of the stars are miscast or just plain awful (with Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, and Russell Brand particularly bad). Either the overstuffed 1978 feature version with Peter Ustinov or the 2004 David Suchet TV movie is a much better use of your time.

A HAUNTING IN VENICE: The third time's not the charm in this lavishly produced but unsatisfying reinvention of Christie's 1969 HALLOWE'EN PARTY, relocated from late-sixties England to postwar Vienna. Hercule Poirot's old friend, mystery novelist and Christie self-insert Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey, fingernails-on-chalkboard bad), lures the great detective out of retirement to attend a Halloween party in the supposedly haunted palazzo of former diva Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), where noted spiritualist Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) plans to hold a seance to contact the spirit of Drake's daughter, who recently committed suicide. The mystery itself is okay (and is so far removed from the original story as to be barely recognizable), but the gothic horror trappings seem misplaced (more Conan Doyle than Christie), Michelle Yeoh is completely wasted, some of the supporting cast is distractingly awful (like Kyle Allen as the dead girl's former fiancée), and Branagh remains wholly unconvincing as Poirot. Significantly better than its two predecessors, but that's no great achievement unless you just want to stare at the scenery, and any time you start thinking it's really not so bad, Tina Fey wanders back in to set your nerves on edge.

Why Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green are so determined to make Hercule Poirot into a bad pastiche of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey is a bigger mystery than the plots of any of these movies, but I wish they'd cut it out — or at least turn their attention in some other direction. At that, Branagh would probably make a decent Peter Wimsey: He's the right age and temperament, and Lord Peter (who IS a haunted, more-or-less hetero WW1 veteran) seems much more in line with Branagh's predilections than Poirot.

[thefreakandthehair]

(don't bother) calling me when you're sober | rating: m | wc: 1.5k

content warnings: future fic, parental alcoholism ("falling off the wagon"), past parental neglect, minor character death (i've committed wayne crimes i'm so sorry but it's not shown, just mentioned), emotional hurt/comfort, ends on a happy, hopeful note despite the tags

“My dad called.” 

Eddie walks into the room, pinched eyebrows and flared nostrils lit up by the multicolored Christmas lights they string on the tree every year, one hand balled into a fist. The reaction  wouldn’t surprise Steve so much if this happened years ago, when Al Munson was still living in the bottom of a bottle of Jack, but now? 

It’s been eighteen years since he’d gotten sober, nineteen years since his last stint at Hawkins County, and fifteen years since making a genuine attempt to right the wrongs of Eddie’s childhood and build a relationship with his son. 

Fifteen years after Eddie let him in, let him try, let him earn Eddie’s trust. 

Fifteen years is a long time and to see Eddie so vitriolic in the doorway of their apartment’s living room— hands shaking, body shaking— Steve knows something must’ve gone wrong. 

“What happened?” Steve asks, standing from the couch and meeting Eddie where he stands, holding the hand not curled tightly around itself. 

“He’s drunk. He called, and he was drunk.” 

Steve’s chest pulls tight, his heart racing. What does someone say to that? What can someone say to assuage that kind of deep anger, pain, and betrayal? His thoughts are scattered as they try to make sense of what Eddie just said, and he’s even more grateful now that Ronnie wanted a sleepover with Aunt Robin tonight. 

“Eddie, fuck. I’m so— ” Before he can finish his thought, Eddie leans back against the doorframe, ripping his hand out of Steve’s and tangling his fingers in his hair, tugging. 

“How could he? How fucking could he?!” Eddie bellows, eyes squeezed shut. “He knew! He knew that if he ever did this again, I’d be done. For good. For forever. And he did it anyways! After eighteen fucking years!” 

His eyes fly open and Steve stands still and nods him on. There are just no words to fix this, and trying for the sake of filling the silence has never served him well.

“He did it anyway! Two days before fucking Christmas, a week before the anniversary of—” He chokes and cuts himself off. 

He knows what Eddie was going to say. A week before the anniversary of Wayne’s death. It’s been on his mind, too, of course. On his mind and in their conversations over breakfast with eccentric mugs of coffee, over the tangled lights that Wayne could always figure out. The year hasn’t been the kindest to them, particularly Eddie, and Steve wants to protect Eddie as much as he can from whatever he can. 

But he can’t shield him from this. Al Munson skips to the top of his shitlist.

“That son of a bitch!” Eddie rams his fist sideways against the door jam, leaving a sharp, red mark along his pinky. “He promised, and I believed him. Why the fuck did I believe him, Steve?”

Steve takes a step closer and grabs both of Eddie’s hands, carefully soothing the angry mark. “It’s been almost twenty years, babe. Trusting him with so much time invested makes sense. Hell, I did, too.” 

“I’m— I’m in my 30s, hurt and angry about the same shit I was hurt and angry about as a fucking kid. All the nights I slept in the backseat of the car because he blew his money at the bar, all the car accidents and court appearances and jail time, all the mornings I missed school because he didn’t know what fucking day it was,” Eddie rants, stopping to take a breath before picking back up, Steve’s own heart cracking and raging the more he speaks. 

“And every time he’d get sober, he’d always promise. He’d promise it would be the last time, and it never was. Not once could he choose his fucking son and I didn’t understand it then, but now that we have Ronnie, I understand it even less. If I was sick enough to walk away from her, I’d walk my happy ass to the nearest fucking rehab. I get that it’s a disease, I get it, I get it, I get it. But I can’t— I can’t do it again. Not this time. Eighteen years just down the fucking drain because of his company’s holiday party? How can I ever believe him again? Or trust him again?” 

Eddie’s voice grows raspier, breath shallow and quick, eyes watery. “Every time this happened when I was a kid, I always had Wayne. He’s the only person who really got it, y’know? The only one who lived it with me and now, I don’t even have him. My dad’s drunk, slurring his way through who fucking knows what on the phone, and no one else can fully understand the magnitude of what that feels like for me.” 

He squeezes his eyes shut again and drops forward toward Steve, forehead on his shoulder and arms loosely hung around Steve’s waist. Steve still doesn’t have words that bandage this up, but he knows how to show his husband love in other ways. Ways that, over the years, have become a language all their own. Steve pulls him in tight, one hand near his waist, the other cradling the back of his head. Fingers slide carefully beneath the hem of Eddie’s tee-shirt and rub little, repetitive circles into the small of Eddie’s back while he cards his other hand through Eddie’s hair, scratching his scalp and holding him to his chest to feel the rhythm of Steve’s own heartbeat until his breath returns to a steady pace. 

It’s only then that Steve speaks. 

“I don’t know what to say, Ed. It’s fucked up, and if you want to me like, hit him with my car, you know I’m game.” Steve feels Eddie laugh— just a few puffs of air through his nose but it’s a laugh all the same. “But I’m here, and we’re gonna figure it out, okay? Whatever you decide to do, we’ll do it together.”

Eddie nods and lets himself be led to the couch, Steve tucking Eddie into his side and pulling the afghan up over them. 

“I never want to be what Al was to me to our daughter,” Eddie whispers, not looking away from the tree. 

“Well, you’re ahead of the game, because she’s already older than you were when he started hitting the bottle hard. And I know there’s the genetic piece to it that everyone talks about, but nurture counts for a lot of who we become, too. Shit, I owe Joyce Byers a huge thank you for being more of a parent to me than my own were because she’s probably the reason I didn’t turn out like Dick Harrington. Ronnie’s never going to have an Al Munson in her life, because you weren’t raised by Al Munson. That’s not whose legacy you’re passing down. You’re passing down love, not pain.” Steve presses a soft kiss to Eddie’s temple and feels his whole body sag into him. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Eddie’s voice is quiet now, a far cry from his earlier venomous edge. 

Silence nestles onto the couch with them, a comfortable addition, as they watch the basketball game Steve had on before Eddie told him about the phone call. Watch is a loose description, actually. They're more just looking at a moving, flashing screen. 

“My hand really hurts, by the way,” Eddie announces, holding up the hand he’d used to punch the doorjam. “That was fucking dumb.”

“Maybe a little bit, but I get it,” Steve untucks a hand from beneath the blanket and outstretches his palm. “Lemme see?”

Eddie plops his hand into Steve’s and Steve takes a look, mentally working down the check list he’s memorized from his decade plus of EMT work. No obvious breaks, nothing looks crooked, Eddie’s able to move each finger and flex his hand without severe pain. 

“If anything, it’s just gonna be bruised tomorrow. But I’ll fix it,” Steve grins and lifts Eddie’s fist to his lips, carefully kissing each knuckle and paying a little extra attention to the pinky that delivered most of the blow. 

“I’m so in love with you, Steve.” Eddie rests his temple on Steve’s shoulder. “You know that, right?” 

“I know,” Steve agrees, chest fluttering despite the circumstances. “And I’m in love with you, too. You know that, right?”

Eddie snuggles in and wraps Steve up, full koala, as though he’s trying to get as close as possible without actually cracking Steve open and climbing inside of him. 

“Definitely.”

The next morning, Aunt Robin brings Ronnie home and together, they decorate the gingerbread cookies that only vaguely look like people but are good enough to pass for a seven year old. Halfway through, Eddie’s cell phone rings and the caller I.D. reads Al. Steve watches, worried that Eddie’s going to answer in the middle of their decorating. That he’ll forget Ronnie’s having the time of her life, and that in his righteous indignation, Eddie will leave the table to go fight and argue.

There’s so much to be said, and Steve wouldn’t blame him, but he breathes a sigh of relief when Eddie simply declines the call and sets about pouring more edible glitter onto his design with a smile down at their daughter. 

[nobodynoteventherainn]

Okay, how bout head cannons for the outsiders were paired with an eccentric reader. She’s stylish and can throw outfits together, she comes from a close knit family and kind of needs someone to help them stay on track doing even simple tasks because she’ll get lost in her own little world.

Maybe separation anxiety too? Idk I feel like I wanna see them paired with just a very cutesy reader in general who can tend to depend on a strong greaser whom in this case would be in the gang we know and love.

The Outsiders x Eccentric! Reader

Darry Curtis

Darry loves your outfits- especially the more creative, unique ones

When you're putting together an outfit he'll just watch with the most adorable little love struck smile

He doesn't really understand why or how you get distracted, but he's not too bothered by it since he's used to being around day dreamers (cough cough Ponyboy)

When you get distracted, he gives you a gentle little nudge to recapture your attention

"Darlin', you alright?"

He appreciates your bond with your family and it makes him a bit wistful about his parents (in a good way)

Darry works a lot, so he feels guilty about your separation anxiety. When he gets home he makes sure to spend a bit of time with you before he makes dinner or does housework- he'll just talk to you about both of your days, maybe a bit of cuddling if he's in the right mood

Darry wraps his arms around you as soon as he's in the living room, kissing the top of your head. "C'mere, hon.. missed you.."

Sodapop Curtis

Soda loves looking at your outfits

Every morning he and Ponyboy try to guess what you'll be wearing that day (they're never right)

Soda loves your family and they love him- he can get along with anybody and doesn't mind going over to your house for holidays

When you get lost in thought, Soda just waits patiently for you to return- he just gazes at you, admiring the pensive look in your eyes and your slightly creased eyebrows. He thinks it's adorable

Honestly, Soda probably has separation anxiety too

Luckily you can come with him to the DX

He comes and picks you up every morning and during his shifts he'll glance in your direction every so often to make sure you're good

Soda finishes filling up a tank and looks over for the second time in the past five minutes to where you're sitting by the door of the convenience store with your notebook. "Hey sweet thing, ya good?"

Ponyboy Curtis

Pony really likes drawing you and your outfits, he notices all the little details

Ponyboy regards you for a second, his eyes lingering on your jewellery before commenting with a little smile. "Are those new earrings? Pretty tuff."

Pony absolutely understands when you get distracted- he does too

You'll sometimes have deep, entertaining conversations but you're equally as comfortable just sitting in silence in your own little worlds, maybe holding hands or with your head leaning on his shoulder

Pony is sometimes a bit envious of your relationship with your family, he wishes his relationship with Darry came as naturally

But he loves your family and your parents become like parent figures to him

He understands your separation anxiety and can sense when you're perturbed. He'll try to appease it with gentle touches, reassurances that he's there

Pony knows your body language thoroughly and when you open to door to your house for him, he notices the way your eyes light up and the tenseness in your muscles melts away. He lays a hand on your arm, gazing up at you reassuringly. "Hey."

Dallas Winston

Dally likes how you look in your outfits. Not even always in a sexual way- he just thinks you look pretty. He tries not to be too obvious about admiring them because he doesn't want you to know how cute he thinks you look. But occasionally you'll catch him looking

A smirk finds its way onto your face as you see Dally's eyes raking over your outfit- but his eyes flick to your face with a look adjacent to sheepishness. He speaks in a slightly defensive voice. "What, doll? Y'look good in that."

If you've been together a while and he trusts you, he might let you wear his ring

Dally doesn't get why you daydream or how you manage it with so much going on in the real world

If you get distracted while you're doing something or if he needs to get your attention, he'll give you a (harder than intended) shove. He's just not always good at being gentle

"Knock it off, dollface- you gotta pay attention-"

If he notices you daydreaming and he doesn't have to get your attention, your expression will elicit a little smirk out of him and he'll just watch you thinking

Dally doesn't understand close knit families either since he's never quite had a family besides the gang, but he respects your relationship with your family and might be willing to get to know them in a serious relationship

He secretly thinks your separation anxiety is kind of sweet- he'll definitely try to keep you with him whenever he can to alleviate it

Steve Randle

Your outfits definitely catch Steve's attention- they were probably the first thing about you that drew him in

He likes picking your jewellery for you

Steve is a bit wary of meeting your family for the first time, but he's all smiles after and he totally understands why you love them so much

Steve walks through the park with you after meeting your family, his fingers laced with yours. He mutters to you, trying to hold back his smile. "You got quite the family, sunshine."

He loves watching you get lost in your own world- the corner of his lips quirk into a little smile and he'll ruffle your hair affectionately. He's a very realist sort of guy and he thinks your daydreams are funny, in a cute sort of way. He just loves everything about you.

Steve feels the same way about your separation anxiety. He'll bring you with him to the DX and let you talk to him as much as you want while he works

He also loves to rant about what he's doing as he works on cars- showing you parts, complaining, explaining how things work.

Johnny Cade

Johnny will unashamedly stare at your outfits without even realizing

He literally thinks you're perfect. The man is down bad

He lovesss watching you daydream. He won't ever interrupt you and he always asks what you were thinking about afterwards

Johnny gazes at you with his big, dark eyes, snapping you out of your thoughts. He waits a second to make sure you're done musing, then asks in a curious and genuinely interested tone. "Hey.. what were you thinkin' 'bout this time?"

His parents suck, so he wholeheartedly will adopt your family as his own

He goes over to your house for every holiday

He has some degree of separation anxiety too- he loves being with you even if you're not talking

Like, it's so easy and comfortable to just be sitting, maybe holding hands or cuddling, and just not talking. Enjoying each other's presence

His whole face lights up when he sees you and his whole body relaxes- hands out of pockets, shoulders loose, jaw unclenched

Two-Bit Mathews

Two-Bit thinks your outfits are adorable and he likes to bother you while you're putting them together

He'll grab pieces of clothing you're laying on the bed or come up behind you and put his hands on your shoulders

You bite your lip, trying to decide which top looks better with your light blue jeans. Suddenly, you feel two hands grab your shoulders and you yelp, almost jumping out of your skin. You turn around and, of course, it's Two-Bit. Smiling like the Cheshire cat. He drawls out, "I like the blue shirt, baby."

When you daydream, his reaction depends on his mood

If he's feeling considerate, he'll just leave you be. Well, he won't bother you directly. Maybe he'll breathe really loudly and see how you react, or he'll pretend to choke

If he's in a regular mood, he'll tap you and crack a joke

"Watcha thinkin' about, sweetheart? You're dreamin' 'bout these muscles, ain't ya?"

He loves your family. He likes goofing around with them, especially if you have younger siblings

Two-Bit definitely caters to your separation anxiety and brings you everywhere with him

[heliosunny]

Yandere!Gojo x Reader

"So there's this new teacher-" Shoko barely got the words out before Gojo was gone, a blur of white hair and boundless curiosity. He didn’t have much time before his next mission, but curiosity burned brighter than any responsibility.

Sliding open the door with unnecessary flair, he called out "Y/N L/N!!!"

You froze, mid-sentence with your students, eyes widening at the sudden intrusion. Slowly, you turned. "Uh... Yes?"

"woahhhh you're h-" Before he could finish, Megumi clamped a hand over Gojo’s mouth and dragged him backward, tossing him out with a sigh. "I'm sorry.. just ignore him.."

You chuckled, nodding. “I guessed as much. He seems... eccentric.”

After that day, Gojo Satoru became little more than a ghost. He drifted through the school on occasion, but missions whisked him away to far-off places. You caught glimpses but never exchanged more than polite nods.

When Gojo returned from a mission, Yuuji greeted him with the news that made his heart sink. “She was only here for a week.”

Gojo's expression fell as he slumped into his seat. “HUHHHHH?! You’re joking.”

Yuuji patted his back sympathetically. “Sensei, it’s okay.”

Nobara, perched with her chin in her hand, shrugged. “She’s from the Fukuoka branch. And rumor says she just got a boyfriend. No chance for you, Gojo.”

Gojo glanced at her with wide, teary eyes. “Ehhhh?!”

Megumi arched a brow. “Why are you so obsessed?”

Gojo sighed dramatically. “It’s rare to meet someone that stunning. I mean—”

“You want to make a Gojo baby with her-” Nobara said bluntly.

Yuuji clamped his hand over her mouth, dragging her out. “Don’t encourage him!” Megumi followed without a word, and the three left Gojo alone, sulking.

Fukuoka, huh? He thought, lips curling into a smirk.

By the time Ichiji realized Gojo had vanished, the sorcerer was already in Fukuoka.

You browsed a small bookstore when someone barreled into you.

Gojo caught you just before you hit the ground. “Ah, sorry! Are you hurt?”

You blinked, recognizing the man immediately. “Gojo? What are you doing here?”

Before he could answer, another man appeared, placing a hand protectively on your shoulder. “Who’s this?”

Gojo’s smile barely wavered. “Her colleague.”

The man offered a handshake. “I’m her brother. Sorry, I thought you were bothering her.”

Gojo accepted the handshake with a tight smile.

Later that evening, you invited him to dinner. Gojo agreed far too quickly.

While waiting for your brother to bring the car around, you shot him a suspicious glance. “Why are you here?”

He leaned lazily against a lamppost. “Where else would I be? I didn’t get to know you, and you already left.”

The dinner passed comfortably, but when Gojo lingered at your doorstep, you shook your head. “Gojo, the higher-ups need you. Go.”

“But Y/N—”

You shut the door, leaving him standing in the cold.

In the following days, Gojo became a fixture at your side, appearing more frequently than his own students.

Your brother, less than thrilled, arranged a blind date to steer you away.

Gojo, en route to his favorite dessert shop, spotted you across the cafe with another man.

His blood boiled. Before he could think better of it, he stormed inside, yanking your hand from across the table.

“What are you doing?” you hissed.

His jaw tightened. “I should be asking you that. Who was that?”

“My date.”

“Why?” His voice dropped dangerously low.

You pulled your hand away. “Why not? You never said anything.”

Gojo’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “My feelings are obvious, Y/N.”

“You deserve someone better,” you replied softly. “Besides, dating you means dealing with the higher-ups.”

Gojo stepped closer, crowding your space. “So, that’s it? You’d rather settle for him?”

You tried to look away, but he caught your chin between his fingers, tilting your gaze up. “Y/N, you can’t run from me.”

You swallowed, pulse racing. “Gojo—”

“Satoru,” he corrected, voice soft yet commanding. “Say it. Just once.”

The words died on your tongue as he leaned down, lips brushing your ear.

“You’re mine. And I don’t let go easily.”

[dolls-self-ships]

related to my last post (on Ford's sexuality/romantic orientation)

ok, this is going to sound really stupid so please, bare in mind that I am aware that this is a fictional character and he isn't real and even alex hirsch himself said that anyway a fan might resonate with a character can be true to them. With that being said, I personally don't love the headcanon that Ford is gay. I myself am aroace, and a lot of what he seems to experience in terms of romantic relationships and his feelings on them seem to align more with my own and lots of other aroace people that I know. And idk why but fandoms and esp just the lgbtq community in general seem to be really dismissive of aroace people (some don't even consider us queer but thats another post), and idk why but it just bothers me that anytime a character in canon expresses little to no intrest in romance it becomes almost automatically fanon that said character must be gay and not know it, as if being aroace just isn't an option. Because, I feel like those are two different experiences, not completely but, different enough since one can still feel romantic attraction and one feels little to none of it. I also think it's over looked/never discussed how much of Ford's struggles with romance can also come from trauma (being ostrochized, bullied, dont even get me STARTED on it post Bill, etc.) which I also relate to, as someone who for mental health related reasons hasn't dated in years. And I've met lots of people, including men, who have struggled with the same thing. I've had my best friend suggest to me multiple times that I might be a lesbian since men seem to scare me (I've tried, I am not one) and idk I just wish there was more space in fandom to discuss how trauma and being nd or even just being on the aroace spectrum (or all 3) might affect someone's dating life instead of just coming to the conclusion of "oh he struggles with women so poor guy must not know he's gay". Not saying if you headcanon Ford as gay that you're wrong, he can literally be whatever, he's not real. I just wish I had more people that shared this point of veiw on his character with me because I resonate with those parts of his character just in different ways.

I also want to preface that it gives me the personal ick that whenever a male character is more effeminate/eccentric people think that it's an automatic precursor to them not liking women. Like, idk I really hate that it's 2024 and people still base their hcs off of that. There are (very few but they exist) straight drag queens. Femininity is not inherently connected to being attracted to men.

[arlecchno]

everything has changed (alhaitham x gn!reader)

ONE. i just wanna know you better

masterlist next

SUMMARY - alhaitham was positive that he was not worthy of anyone's love, nor was anyone worthy of his. but after bumping into you on a random wednesday morning, he was ought to be wrong in many ways. also; in which you attempt on asking alhaitham out a grand total of three times; three different ways, three different places, and three different situations, in hopes of him reciprocating your so called love— people do say that third time's the charm, right?

A/N - i have delayed this for far too long. i have maybe slept while editing this draft for around 4 times. i was supposed to post this last week. forgive me pls

“three times.”

“pardon?”

you smiled at the gray-haired man at his desk, holding up three fingers as you repeated yourself once more. “i'll only ask you out three times, and if you decline all three of them, i won't ever bother you again. you can trust me on that.”

if there's one thing about you that alhaitham could describe, it's that you are… maybe a tad bit weird.

no, scratch that, you're insanely weird.

it's silly, he thinks. you're a well-known and respected scholar slash biologist from the amurta darshan. there's no one in the akademiya who doesn't know you, not when you're widely known for your eccentric researches and experiments. no, alhaitham definitely did not look into your work profile after that little incident. and even if he did, it was purely for work purposes, he was mainly doing his duty to report about it to the higher ups, lest he craves punishment or a lecture from grand sage azar.

anyway, frankly speaking, you should be professional, at the very least. hell, you have a doctorate. the title itself should be written all over you.

so why are you speaking to him like… well, he doesn't know. like you're a fool? a desperate moron in love? whatever it is, it's anything but professional to him.

see, this all started due to that sudden incident from a few weeks ago.

nothing ever beats the rush hour in the akademiya on a wonderful wednesday morning, it seems.

as a full time worker at the prestigious institute, it was just another day for you and your overworked colleagues. however, getting errands done during this time around would be a death wish, everyone within the akademiya walls knew of that, and of course, you do too.

yet it seemed like you had just dug your own grave.

honestly— who wouldn't? you needed to head over to your lab immediately, the specimens in the crate you were currently carrying needed to be experimented on within the fifteen minute timeline you had mentally set up in your head, so it was obvious that you had no time to lose.

and to speak; the crowds in the house of daena honestly weren't that bad— maybe a little less spacious than usual, but still merely nothing for an experienced scholar like you. see, that's what you had initially thought before getting back to your private lab.

you just need to head on over to the biology section of the house of daena to retrieve a book titled ‘fungi and its extraordinary lives’, and you'll be set to continue conducting your ongoing research project. look— you did think of snatching the book way earlier before you even set out on an adventure of getting your crate of supplies, but it would've been too much work for you to go back and forth from your lab, as it was already close to the house of daena.

you figured it was best to do it on your way back instead, which, in full honesty— was not even a bad idea. it was just that things just had to escalate a whole lot differently than you had intended to.

see— your first mistake was keeping your eyes busy on your task instead of what's in front of you. which, in another sense, is what any other normal person would do. well, you know your way around the akademiya like the back of your hand. the shortcuts to aisle number thirty-six in the house of daena, the bathroom to the end of the hall on floor two, the shortest route to the archive room of the akademiya, you name it. so you thought you could just waltz your way through the library easily. again, your first mistake.

your second mistake was that you were clearly doing anything but walking, understandably so. you're well aware of the akademiya rules: no running in the institution, no careless mistakes, no idle chit chat and gossip— among many others. right, the handbooks weren't a stranger to you. there was even a point in your life where you were forced to memorise it from a to z by one of your professors because you were unfortunate enough to have unintentionally broken one of the many minuscule rules that one time, which in your opinion was quite the torture for a mere student like you back then. you may or may not still hold a grudge against the said professor.

as you were double checking your to-do list with a pencil and piece of paper on your beloved crate, you hadn't realized that you were walking towards someone. okay, maybe the correct word for your actions right now would be sprinting, but you'd hate to admit that you were in the wrong.

now, this is your last mistake. the person that is about to bump into you is not a mere scholar, whom you can't just apologize to once or a few more times and move on with your day.

next thing you knew, you collided into the person's chest that was so hard it felt you just crashed into a wall, and much to your dismay, caused you to harshly fall on the pristine floors from the impact, along with your precious, precious crate, which is now most likely a lost cause as your specimens and other important stuff you had worked so hard to look for earlier were all over you and the extravagant floors of the house of daena. disgusting, you know, but that was the least of your worries right now.

as if that wasn't already downright embarrassing enough, you're now covered in gooey fungi, you have totally made a fool out of yourself, and all eyes are currently on you, scholars and students alike whispering amongst themselves at the scene they were witnessing. a monstrosity, truly.

you were sure that you'd be the main topic of gossip for at least a week. maybe two weeks at best.

the house of daena was silent, with only the chit and chatter amongst the scholars as an exception. at first sight, you wondered why everyone would pay so much attention to you instead of continuing on with what they were doing just a fleeting second ago. surely this happens in the akademiya at least once, no?

you've made two revelations to this; one, you were so ungodly hideous that everyone just had to stare. or two, you had probably just bumped into some hot-shot akademiyan.

of course, the first thing any sane person would do is look up to the perpetrator who had cause you this much damage. (it was your fault to begin with.)

so you did.

and of course any normal person who had just been bumped into would have thought of the same thing: have every reason to be angry at the person who bumped into you, whether they were in the wrong or not.

so it was only natural that you too, had the same thought in mind.

but the second you laid your eyes on him, it's as if the whole world stopped, and you finally understand why everyone was so adamant on just standing there and whispering about your little incident instead of helping you out like any decent human being would. and the latter of your revelation was definitely on spot. you would've done a victory dance if you were in any other situation except this.

because the person you had just bump into is none other than the scribe of the akademiya, the one and only, alhaitham.

you've heard of him a few times— apparently he's quite the reserved man, yet would not hesitate to call you out on your wrongdoings or foolish mistakes. well, that's what you heard anyway; as a mere worker who is trying to make ends meet, you are in no position to judge people based on what your fellow juniors run their mouths about these days.

for as long as you've been both an alum and full-time employee at the akademiya, it's truly a wonder that you've never actually seen the scribe in person. right, that's also what you've heard people say— that the scribe can hardly be spotted, nor can he be found easily to begin with. he's never in his office, and it's not often that you'd find him within the akademiya walls; the man is anywhere but at his working place, and somehow gets away with it because he's the scribe, whose presence is not of importance unless he deems so.

and if you are granted the position to say this; it is mainly because the higher ups of the akademiya takes great pride in their respected positions, so it is not a shocker that someone with an official title like grand scribe can frequently get away with such things.

egocentric, blunt, unambitious and many more— those are the few descriptions you've heard over the past few years from scholars about the scribe.

but out of all of the mysterious things you've miraculously heard about the man, you've never seen or heard people point out how attractive he is.

how could they not? he’s got a broad frame that could actually knock the breath out of you (which in this case, quite literally did knock you down), a set of clothes that somehow just screams him, despite the fact that you know next to nothing about the guy, tuft of gray hair that bounces graciously and looks luscious enough it makes you envious how he even manages to take such great care of it, and lastly, a pair of turquoise eyes that looked like an oasis from the sumeru desert, one you could just stare into forever, ever and ever.

this man is a whole package.

it was like the gods had granted you the perfect opportunity to present yourself in front of an attractive man, like the gods have finally decided to fill a bit of colour into your hopeless romantic and workaholic life, and gave you this blessing— except for the fact that this, this might be the most embarrassing way possible in doing so.

oh how you want the ground to swallow you up right now.

after what seemed like forever (it was less than thirty seconds), the man of the hour finally speaks, startling you with his voice. “would you rather sit down there like a fool or will you stand up?” ouch. maybe it's safe to say that at least one of the things people say about him are, in fact, true.

you blinked, once, twice, before you could pick up on what what he said and hurriedly stand up, glass jars of your specimens that were previously all over you clinking to the floor a little too loud, some already having been broken and shattered, but you could care less when the man in front of you was currently glaring at you like you have committed one of the six cardinal sins.

before he could even jab you more with his next few blunt words, you decided to bow down to a complete ninety-degree and started profusely apologizing, all previous thoughts of wanting to blame everything on him for ruining your prolonged experiment were thrown out the window (again, it is your fault in the first place.)

sure, this might hurt your pride and ego, but you'd rather do this than having the possibility of listening to the scribe giving you a lifelong lecture on the basic rules of the akademiya, or yet even worse, you get sent to the grand sage and have your doctorate and title revoked for being unprofessional, unethical, or whatever nonsense grand sage azar would demote you for. call yourself dramatic and insane, but you'd rather not inflict any chances of ending up humiliated or jobless. or both.

a beat passes, and you're still mumbling out apologies, causing alhaitham to clear his throat in order to cut you off.

“you… you can stand upright now,” he said, and it takes you another few seconds before you reluctantly do as he says, and the first thing you see is him looking at you with a puzzled expression plastered on his face.

“i apologize once again, scribe. it was my fault, i wasn't looking,” you looked down as you spoke, staring at your ruined materials on the white tiles.

alhaitham all but sighs, and tells you to look where you're going next time. you couldn't help but only nod, not even glancing at him once out of embarrassment. “you are fully aware of the akademiya rules, are you not? act one-o-three; no running in the institution unless–”

“–an emergency occurs, or and if ordered to by either of the six sages, grand sage included,” you finished his sentence with the slight of an eye roll, before remembering that this was the scribe, not your annoying biology professor who countlessly had you memorise the five-hundred-page worth of akademiya rules. truthfully, there was no need for a teaching institution to have that many rules.

then, he prompts another question: “do you perhaps need any help…” he seemed to have trailed off, and you flickered your eyes to him just for a fleeting second to see what he was doing. “amurta scholar?” he finished his question as he stared at your lab coat, a small badge to your left with the amurta logo pinned on it, indicating which darshan you are from.

“uh… no– it's alright,” you say sheepishly as you quickly crouched down, already starting to pick up your glass jars and whatnot. “you should get going, scribe. you must have a lot of work to do here in the akademiya.”

alhaitham could only nod as you tell him that, not even minding the fact that you were not able to see him as of the moment. he merely tells you to watch where you're going next time and starts to walk away; which in your opinion was maybe just a tad bit rude— the least he could do was help you out. but knowing him, as per what people talk about, that'd be nigh impossible. also, you did say that you didn't need any help, so you couldn't blame him per se. honestly, if you were in his shoes you'd probably have done the same.

so you hurriedly finished cleaning up your mess and ran to your lab, all in your splattered–with–gooey–fungi glory. as you sighed behind closed doors, you prayed to the gods above that your project would go smoothly and peacefully. fingers crossed.

well, maybe after yet another exhausting trip to the avidya forest for another set of fungi, that is.

but of course, it was only wishful thinking, there's not a lot to hope for when alhaitham pretty much occupied your mind the whole day. it has even gotten to the point where your fellow juniors had to snap you out of your daydream so that you could actually focus on your research.

sure, call yourself a hopeless romantic (maybe a crazy lunatic in this case), but who wouldn't fall for him at first sight? and who the hell cares about the things scholars gossip about him? a man with that sort of pretty privilege could run over your toe and you would gracefully thank him for it.

and, point in case— alhaitham isn't that bad. okay, sure, maybe a little too blunt and too uncaring for his own good, but he is not as bad as people make him seem.

maybe you should get to know alhaitham more, right? not because you're interested in him (you are, but that could be pushed aside for now), you merely want to debunk the bad rumors about him going around (they aren't even half as bad, just highly exaggerated and overall childish) and make sure that everyone knows that alhaitham is not just the egocentric and arrogant guy people always see (he probably is just exactly that, but it's worth the try).

you firmly believe there's more to the scribe than what meets the eye.

so, you make it your mission and goal to get to know alhaitham better, even if it may be the worst idea possible.

spoilers: it absolutely is the worst idea possible.

after the minor incident you had, you tried your very best to encounter him during work hours, which honestly wasn't as challenging as you thought it was. sure, he's not around much, but after maybe a week or so of hanging around the house of daena (stalking would be the ideal word you're looking for), you finally got to know his routine— well, only for when he's around the humongous library, but that will suffice for now.

evidently, alhaitham would only visit the house of daena on wednesdays, and weirdly on saturdays, at ten in the morning sharp. for what reason you quite have no clue, but he's frequently around the linguistics section, reading a book or two about ancient runes and that sort of stuff, sometimes even seen squabbling with a certain architect from the kshahrewar darshan too. you don't know kaveh much— but apparently he's acquainted with alhaitham, of all people.

but now that you know a part of his routine, you can probably catch the opportunity to get to know him. so ever since then, you have been, quote unquote, “bumping„ into him nonstop.

the first few times you bumped into him, you had greeted him a couple of times, and after a bit of coaxing, you somehow managed to drag him into small talk. you've even gotten to the point where you're asking him when he's free— reason why? of course, you just want to take him out for a bit during lunch break to make up for the incident you two had just a few weeks ago, definitely no ulterior motives whatsoever; which unfortunately, alhaitham kept declining because he quotes that “it would be a waste of time,” and that “things should just be left in the past.”

but that clearly didn’t stop you from trying, again and again. your guardians clearly didn't raise a quitter.

one thing you did find out about alhaitham after a few conversations with him is that the man is anything but fond of small talk, which was expected. and after countless attempts on trying to get him into one, you eventually had to go on a different route to get his attention.

so, here you are now, somehow having managed to reach your way to his office— and miraculously enough, alhaitham just so happens to also be present at the time, which gives you the perfect opportunity to raise the deal that has been dying to escape from your throat.

look— there's no denying that you are here for work purposes; you were requesting for one of your documentations to be cited and reviewed, and although alhaitham is mainly responsible for documenting data regarding the akademiya and the six darshans, he offered a helping hand during one of your small talks you had successfully managed to coax out of him.

and you did come here for that, but you just couldn't help but blurt everything out.

and it doesn't really help that alhaitham is looking at you like you've submitted the worst thesis possible. you haven't even handed it to him yet.

alhaitham continues to frown. “would it not be a hassle to be asking me out that much? why would you even be interested in me?” he had asked, and he didn't bother waiting for your reply as he continued speaking. “you could use those three times right now and i'll decline all of them instantly. that way, you won't have to bother me again.”

“well aren't you quite rude, scribe,” you huffed, retracting your hand back to your side. talk about rude; you're here for the sole purpose of asking him out. “give me a chance, would you? i'm confident that you'd have changed your mind by the time i'm on my last chance,” you grinned as you quirked your eyebrows up and down, and alhaitham almost rolled his eyes as he folded his arms over his chest and leans back on his chair. almost.

“i highly doubt it,” he says.

you tucked your files closer to your chest. “have you ever heard of the saying ‘third time's the charm’, scribe?”

“i believe so, yes,” he nods, then adds: “you'll only ever hear obsessive gamblers say that sort of nonsense when they've lost their current gamble, in hopes of winning the next round.”

in an instant, your jaw drops. “are you implying that i am gambling my love life?” see, if you look closely— alhaitham was this close to smiling.

“i am just saying that there is no point in pursuing something, or someone, in this case, when you've already failed the first time, biologist,” well, now you understand why scholars say he is unambitious. “it would be a waste of time to be around me, or be with me, for that matter. i doubt that i could ever reciprocate your feelings.”

ouch. you'll probably have to double check your list of alhaitham's personality chart again.

“please?” you plead, and alhaitham stares at you for a little too long that you eventually had to break eye contact to avoid his intense gaze. “i promise you that i will never bother you again, you can trust me on that. you won't even see my face on the grounds of the akademiya.”

he looks at you confusedly. “are you not the famous biologist with fifteen awards on their name? i am bound to bump into you in the near future, in one way or another.” he says, tapping his finger on his forearm.

huh, how did he know that you have won fifteen akademiyan awards? as far as you know, this guy knows nothing about you, the fact that he had to check which darshan you are from during your incident was enough proof.

maybe you're not the only one who is interested in the other.

“that's not the point!” you groaned, rubbing your temple with your free hand. this may or may not be directed to both your thoughts and him.

okay, maybe this was a bad idea after all— alhaitham is an impossible man. you'd think that you were capable enough to break his façade, to see the true him after a bit of pestering, but nooo, you're pretty damn sure this is him. there's no such thing as a façade. he's just… alhaitham. which could either be a blessing or a curse, if you ever manage to steal his heart. that, or maybe both. but then again, it still doesn't change the fact that he is one tough nut to crack.

alhaitham sighs. “will you really leave me alone?”

“huh?”

“will you really stop bothering me once you're over with your… shenanigans?”

you blinked. then, you widen your eyes, nodding. “of course. i won't pursue you again, scribe. all i am asking is for you to lend me your time for the duration of— uh, actually, i'm not sure what i am supposed to call this,” you mumble the last few words, but still audible enough for the gray-haired man to hear.

“say, hypothetically, what would you do if i were to agree to one of your three chances of asking me out? what will you do then?”

“oh,” you shift from one foot to another, awkwardness coursing through your veins at the lack of answer you could think of at the top of your head. “i… i am not quite sure. that's for future me to worry about, i guess?”

alhaitham raises a brow, but doesn't question your uncertainty. instead, he says something else in return: “alright, then. i will indulge in your antics for as long as you'd have me as your… social experiment.”

social experiment is just an over exaggeration, right? it has to be. no rational person says it like that.

“what?”

“i'm saying that i will agree to the terms you have given me, but you will stop bothering once your chances are up. do you understand?” he enunciates his words carefully, and you almost dropped your files, right then and there.

gulping, you nod, a small grin tugging at your lips, and alhaitham already regrets his words when you say: “of course.”

well, be prepared for a rollercoaster ride.

extra note - ok guys please keep me in your thoughts and prayers 🙏 writing slump is crazy this is the first work i’ve posted in over 2 months. that is ridonkulous. hope i don’t disappear again

taglist; @isotofl @dancinghillary @heartswonder

taglist is still open!! :D

[centipedecenti]

Proud of you

(Louie x Vincent fic)

Day 34

Louie was never a sociable guy. He often tried to stay away from large crowds or bustling public areas, wanting just solitude with himself, his thoughts, and a snack or two. When invited to company dinners he just stayed silent and ate.

Nobody really understood Louie, or even bothered trying. They just saw him as the “off putting co worker that looks around the vending machine” or bring up that rumor of him eating the golden pikpik carrots when it was obviously the ravenous space bunnies.

But Louie didn't really care what people thought, he was used to being perceived differently than others, as an outcast…

So it surprised him when this new guy at work came along and flipped Louie's world completely upside down.

He was commissioned with him to go back on pnf-404 as a replacement for Olimar when he was out sick.

Vincent.

Vincent was….different, to put it bluntly, he didn't treat Louie like a weirdo, in fact, treated the man with respect, like an actual person. A friend.

It was a nice change of pace.

But Louie couldn't help but wonder why? Why was this sociable, flamboyant, and handsome hocotation spending all this energy befriending Louie of all people? It didn't make any sense to him.

Vincent was confident, loud, eccentric and a bit sassy. The complete opposite of his blonde coworker!

And yet here they are, day 34 of being commissioned together to PNF-404 and just got back into the Hocotate Freight ship after a long gruesome day at work.

“Ughh! Its so hot out there! I swear, all my hairspray totally melted off!” Vincent complained lightheartedly while stretching his aching arms from throwing pikmin nonstop.

Louie hummed in agreement, settling into the air-conditioned space ship as he took off his helmet.

“Gonna take a shower.” Louie mumbled before walking to the small cramped metallic bathroom.

“Don't waste all the hot water! Like LAST time!” Vincent chuckled loudy to himself as he walked to the bedroom, hands on his hips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Louie finally got out of the shower, with a fresh t shirt and sweatpants on, he was on his way to the kitchen for a snack, when in the corner of his eye he saw Vincent in the shared bedroom, hunched over as he stares at the Ko-Pad screen with an expression Louie hasn't seen before from the other.

Louie ambeld quietly into the bedroom, glancing over what the other hocotation was reading.

Louie's eyes widened at what he read, his brow furrowed.

“Dearest son,

I hope you're enjoying your job at Hocotate Freight, though, as your mother I knew this is the best you would've done trying to follow your dreams. If you had only listened to me, you would've been filthy rich by now! Please son, don't let your dreams keep you from reality.

Love, Mother”

Louie had a sick taste in his mouth after reading that, his expression quickly turning from confusion to anger. He couldn't believe what he was reading! Vincent was probably one of the most creative and inspiring people Louie has ever met, and here, his own mother is basically calling him a failure!

Louie admired the way Vincent could turn the skin from a bulborb into something you'd wear to a ball. He was very hard working too, well, At least more than Louie. And whether that be loading cargo, or defeating various beasts, he also always had on a big toothy smile, brighter than the cosmos.

Louie was then abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard quiet sobs from the brunette. Louie an overwhelming amount of concern and worry, reaching out a hand then quickly pulling it back when he realized he no idea how to comfort others.

Vincent clutched the Ko-Pad, tears stinging his eyes as he read the E-mail over and over again, etching those horrible words into his mind, words from his own mother.

He had to say something, anything.

“...Vincent?” The blonde spoke up, rubbing his arm nervously.

Vincent whipped his head around, big brown tearful eyes staring back at him with shock. He quickly wiped his eyes, a forced smile appearing on his lips.

“Oh! Hey, Louie..!” his eyes darted from the email to the young man before suddenly turning off the tablet.

“Uhm…are you…okay?”

Louie cautiously took a step closer, looking down at the young man.

“Oh yeah, yeah, I'm good! I'm Just Uh…checking the time..” Vincent gave a forced chuckle, trying to discreetly wipe his cheeks of the tear stains.

“You're crying.”

Louie walked over and took a seat next to his co-worker, crossing his legs. He looks down at his lap, occasionally looking at the hocotation next to him.

“What's wrong…?” He said, almost in a whisper, glancing over at the tablet.

Vincent let out a shaky sigh, gripping the fabric of his sweatpants anxiously.

“It's my mother…she's just…I just wish she had a little bit of hope in me, ya’ know? She's always so…so...judgmental in the way I live my life! Just once I would like for her to tell me she's proud of me! Just once!”

Vincent blurted out, choking back a sob as he felt his eyes get watery again.

Louie listened to the other, though his expression seemed neutral, his eyes were filled with empathy and concern for the other.

Vincent glanced up at Louie before hiding his face from him, embarrassed from his sudden outburst.

“I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over me..” The burnett muttered sheepishly, running a hand through his bangs.

“Don't be.”

Louie gingerly placed a hand on top of Vincent's free one. He had no idea Vincent was going through this, on his own too nonetheless. Vincent was always there for Louie but was Louie ever there for him?

Louie felt a pang of guilt, he had to change that.

“M’ proud of you...”

Louie admitted, his hazel eyes meeting Vincent's brown ones. His voice is gentle and tender, wanting to make sure the other knows he means every word.

He felt his chest flutter as he continued.

“Think you're amazing, actually…nice, funny, talented..”

Their fingers subconsciously slowly start to intertwine, his eyes linger on Vincent's, watching how the light from the bedroom sparkles in the Hocotations deep brown eyes. Louie never noticed how pretty his eyes were until now, almost looking like chocolate.

“Sometimes get jealous..”

A small smirk flickers on Louie's lips at the last sentence

A quiet gasp leaves Vincent's lips. This all felt so surreal. Everything the blonde said felt so genuine, so sincere. His cheeks flushed a light shade of red at the admission.

“Louie..,”

Vincent whispered in disbelief, his switching between Louie’s and their interlaced fingers.

He was in so much disbelief, he didn't realize his heart was racing when he leaned closer to the blonde, fluttering his eyes shut.

Louie cups Vincent's cheek gently as his lips meet Vincent's, closing his eyes as he pulls into a firm but gentle kiss.

Vincent kissed back, holding Louie's hand that was cupping his cheek. He takes the lead into the kiss as he realizes Louie is adorably inexperienced.

This felt so normal, so right. Vincent has always felt differently for Louie than any other typical friend. Whenever they would talk, it felt like Vincent knew him for years, he adored the way Louie would get excited over trying new recipes, eating new foods, or inviting the other to try out a dish he made, cherishing every moment with the other hocotation.

After what felt like eternity, the two young hocotation men break the kiss, both of Their faces bright red and wide-eyed.

“Wow.”

Louie spoke up, not sure what to say as he was still processing what just happened.

Vincent broke out in a laugh, holding onto Louie's shoulders while doing so. He wasn't laughing because it was funny, rather because of how happy he was…and maybe because Louie's response was pretty funny.

Louie slowly started to join Vincent in his laughing fit, softly chuckling at the absurdity of the situation.

It wasn't long until the laughter settled down, now back to the comfortable silence of the spaceship.

“I had no idea you felt that way..”

Vincent grinned shyly, lightly fixing his hair.

“Me neither..”

Louie replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“So…what does this make us?”

Vincent looked up at him with those same big brown eyes.

“What'd you wanna be..?”

Louie lightly squeezes Vincent's hand.

“Boyfriends…? If that's okay with you, I mean..”

Vincent responds, flickering his eyes from the metal floor to Louie anxiously.

Louie gives a small smile, then a nod.

“Like that..”

Vincent smiles back, his cheeks flushing red again.

“Me too..”

Vincent's mother is very ignorant.

[two-white-butterflies]

parallel lines | d. targaryen | part five

Description: An ordinary middle school teacher moves to a desolate town with her fiancee. After suffering episodes of vivid nightmares, she realizes that his uncle looks exactly like the man in her dreams.

Pairings: daemon targaryen/reader, aemond targaryen/reader

Trope: Reincarnation

series masterlist |

<< previous chapter

Man who makes a beast out of himself got nothing to lose Sold my soul long ago, nothing left to choose I'm tired, tired of singing the blues - Tired of Singing the Blues, Lana Del Rey.

"There's nothing rich people love more than free things," Jacaerys mused watching his relatives fight over freebies, some were exquisite works of art like that little Monet that his uncle brought or the jade mirror from the Ming Dynasty. "You're not going to join them," you raised an eyebrow - taking a sip of your champagne.

The younger boy stared.

"I still love my life, unfortunately." he chuckles. "We've got a very eccentric family, I hope that this isn't too new for you." Jacaerys apologized, walking you into the other room. "I don't think I know what normal is. I'm an orphan, my mother died pretty young." you admit, biting your lower lip. "Father?"

"Couldn't be more bothered to acknowledge my existence." you shrug, feeling a familiar presence behind you. "Aemond," Jacaerys greeted with hidden rigidity - the atmosphere between the both of them was tense. You were a good judge of character, and you could see that neither of them liked each other.

"Jace," your boyfriend smiled falsely.

Aemond was a shadow in his younger nephew's presence, Jacaerys the golden boy - could do no wrong. While Aemond struggled with being accepted in the school of his dreams, Jacaerys was welcomed - and he still had the nerve to decline the invitation, instead choosing to study in some stupid university in the countryside.

"It's been a while," Jace added, attempting to keep the conversation civil. "Five years? Is that how long it takes to study college?" Aemond undermined his rival. "I took a gap year," Jace turned his head in your direction, trying to put a finger on why you looked familiar.

"- toured the world, I even saw the Arc de Triomphe." the younger man smiles. Aemond says nothing in return - as if sensing the awkwardness, Jace chuckles.

"Well, I think this is my cue to say goodbye." he raised his glass, retreating into the foyer.

(Harrenhal. The Past.)

"I don't know why you keep me here. To prolong my agony?" you rasped at your older sister. Harrenhal had big rooms and soft mattresses that you could just sleep in for thousands of years. You laid in the beds in the morning, feeling tired and sucked dry of life, but in the night - you couldn't sleep.

Memories of what happened months ago came flooding back. Haunting you awake. It felt like you were standing on a pile of bodies. You turned to look at your older sister again, her eyes were once filled with warmth at the thought of you - now they were dim.

"I'll keep the windows open, if you hate your life - then jump - like that niece of yours, Helaena." she announced in a tone that wasn't sad nor happy. Your eyebrows merged into each other. Princess Helaena was dead? But you weren't bothered - you didn't know her.

A bitter chuckle escapes your mouth.

"You took my life into your own hands, to play with as you please. Now that you're tired, you want me to pretend that it was my own agency that led me here?" you argued.

"Perhaps you and I are the same." Alys responded.

"I had a dream before you were born that Aemond would come and free us, save us from our father's abuse. I know better now than to believe my visions." she turned away, slamming the door shut - leaving you alone.

Dreams were portals of the world - you could see the past, present and future in them. Alys Rivers could vividly remember the man in her dreams, his warm purple eye and long silver hair.

The Prince would come and his song will be that of Ice and Fire. From his blood would come the prince that was promised, opposite of him in temperance and demeanor - you almost wouldn't believe that they came from the same tree, but they were and the prince's breath would save them against ice.

"And when will you return, this time?" Alys leaned on the doorframe, staring at your frame that was frantically packing her bags. "Princess Rhaenyra tells that she needs my help, I can't deny her." you smiled.

"She's Queen now - and she's asking you because she needs you to fight in a war." Alys' lips turned thin at the thought of losing you. "Rumors have swirled around, they believe that she killed Harwin." she proceeded, trying to persuade you to stay.

"You told me that Larys killed our brother." you froze slightly. "I don't want you to leave, stay please - I've been dreaming about salvation. If you stay here, we'll be safe." your older sister pleaded.

"I'm never in your dreams, almost like I'm not supposed to be here. I need to save the Queen's soldiers, to ensure that she wins in this war. You tell me that her heirs are fathered by Harwin, shouldn't we protect our blood?" you inquired and your sister takes a deep breath. There was no stopping you.

"Promise me that you'll stay safe," she pleaded, handing you a small necklace that she enchanted. "I will," you promised - squeezing her shoulders as a way to show that you weren't kidding.

Like a ghost, you didn't even realize that you were sitting on the dinner table. "Columbia University is pretty hard, what did you major in again?" Rhaenyra inquires, taking a bite of her steak.

"Mathematics, it was supposed to be my pre-law course but life happened and I had to change a few things." you smiled, eyebrows merging with each other in confusion. What the hell happened? Why couldn't you remember anything before this?

"Ooh being a lawyer is the coolest. It's uncommon to see someone with Math as a pre-law, you must be really smart." Helaena adjusted her glasses and the people around you agreed. "Never in a million years did we expect that Aemond will end up with someone like you." Harwin articulated and Aemond rolls his eye.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he chuckled, trying to make it seem like a joke. "I always saw you with someone weird, like that Claire girl that does music now." Harwin quickly rebutted.

Alicent knocks on wood three times. Rhaenyra giggles, "Put some respect on that girl's name, isn't she engaged to a billionaire?" she inquired and Aemond shook his head. "They broke up." he confirmed.

"Three kids and he just throws her away like nothing."

"It is not nice to gossip," Alicent interrupts their conversation. "Gossiping is done by small-minded people." she insisted and Rhaenyra looks away. They used to be close friends, Alicent was her former-babysitter - then somehow she had an affair with her father.

"So are affairs, but none of us complain." Rhaenyra grumbled and the other woman pretended not to hear. "You're the one to talk, didn't you cheat on your ex-husband with mister hunk here?" Aegon pointed at Harwin and Daemon's eyes widened.

You know what they say - a shot of whiskey for luck, and a bottle of whiskey for disaster. "Oh my god I can't believe we're talking about this again. I didn't ruin a family and as far as anyone is concerned, Laenor was totally fine with it. Weren't you, Laenor?" Rhaenyra turned her head at Laenor's direction.

"I liked it, actually." he hummed watching the drama unfold. "Yeah cuz when you have a mistress it's alright, but when it's my father - suddenly, my mother's the fucking devil." Aegon insulted.

You took a deep breath, what were you to make of this situation.

"So you do agree, that your mother was a mistress?" Rhaenyra said smugly, Daemon bit back a chuckle. "Can we all calm down?" Harwin placed his hand in front of the siblings. "This is supposed to be my son's birthday, and we have a guest here. A little decorum would be nice." Harwin tried to decrease the tension.

"Yeah, whatever." Aegon stood up to leave. He hated his fucking life.

Shortly after Aegon's outburst, you and Aemond decided to leave. "That was the most eventful birthday party that I've ever attended." you chuckled, fastening your seatbelt.

"I can't believe that they decided to pull that shit while you were there." he complained, driving out of Rhaenyra's driveway.

"That's family, I guess." he shrugged.

"- and we're never going back." he added

next chapter >>

[nnnn99999]

I have been thinking a lot about peaceful property the past few days. One of the things I couldn't understand was why I was not bothered by Pangpang not being that mad at Home. After all, Home was the reason she almost lost her only family member, the reason her beloved brother's career was ruined. Home is responsible for pushing her and Peach to the dire circumstances they are in currently. So why is it that she was not as upset as Peach when they found out the truth about Home? And why did I not feel weird about her reaction? Because normally, I would feel a little ? pop up in my head about stuff like this. So I thought about it, and I realized, it kinda makes sense.

Pangpang and Home are similar in the way they use their loud and boisterous exterior to mask all their vulnerabilities hidden inside, desperately hoping that people will be too distracted by their eccentricities to notice their true emotions. I don't mean to say that Pangpang or Home are not weird and energetic and all that by nature, because they are. It's just that often they use their eccentric nature to hide their insecurities and discomfort. Because Home and Pangpang are so similar in this aspect, they truly get each other. Not just in a superficial "we match each other's freak" kind of way, but also in a "I see you and I kinda get why you're doing what you're doing" kind of way. Without rewatching the entire show, I can think of two instances when this bond between Pangpang and Home was shown very clearly.

The first one is when Home tells Peach about Pangpang trying to overcompensate in episode 4. It might be because I was too distracted by PeachHome being domestic when I first watched it that I breezed past this moment. But the more I think about it, the more I am fascinated by the fact that Home, a random guy that has only known Pangpang for a short time, and who has a very limited capacity for empathy, is the one who notices her behavior and goes "yeah something's up here". While her own brother, the one who is closest to her, and who should supposedly know her best, didn't think anything was off with Pangpang's behavior until Home explained it to him. And even then, Peach was not so sure about it until Pangpang finally exploded later in the episode. I have to mention again, Home does not have much empathy, even for the people he genuinely cares about. He doesn't really understand anyone, including Peach, who he is the closest to in this ragtag family. It is very difficult for Home to look at things from others' perspectives. That leads me to believe that Home relates to Pangpang a lot because he is very similar.

The second one is when Home tells Pangpang to let Peach face Chef Hong's ghost alone in episode 5. Clearly, Pangpang is not comfortable with the idea of leaving Peach alone. She experienced firsthand the trauma and guilt Peach has lived with for the past 3 years. She knows better than anyone how much Peach has suffered. And she knows how terrified Peach is in that moment. As his sister, of course she can't bear to let him face this alone. She wants to support him, she wants to be there for him. And yet, one sentence from Home is enough for her to suppress all her discomfort and leave Peach alone to deal with the whole thing by himself. The amount of trust she puts in Home, a guy she hasn't known for long, in this moment is huge. She really has no reason to put so much trust in Home, especially when it comes to her brother, unless she truly believes Home genuinely cares about Peach and wants the best for him. Let's not forget that Home is their employer, and he threatened Peach to come to this place he is clearly uncomfortable with. Yet Pangpang trusts Home enough to go along with his plan despite being uncomfortable with it.

About the part where Peach and then Pangpang find out that Home was the one who hit Peach, the focus of their conversation was off from the start. The first thing Peach said was "How could he hide this from us? Was anything he did for us even real?" (I haven't rewatched the scene, just citing from memory so this may not be his exact words but it should be close.) So Peach is upset not because Home hit him with a car and left him there, but because Home did not tell him about it. Which is crazy. This man is more concerned about the fact that Home has been hanging out with him and being nice to him not because Home actually likes Peach, but because he is compensating for his past actions out of guilt. (Peach is blinded by love that is the only explanation thank you.) And Pangpang does not see anything wrong with this direction of conversation. (She knows they are in love that is the only explanation thank you.) Her mind doesn't think for even a moment that Home is horrible person for doing what he did. Which is crazy, again. Rather she is more concerned about hearing Home's explanation before jumping to any sort of conclusion. Because she gets Home. She knows Home is not the kind of person who would randomly hit a man and leave him to die. He must have his reasons and Pangpang wants to hear them. I swear Kan is the only person who does not have a love filter on for Home. Home is a shitty person for driving irresponsibly. This should be the focus in this situation first. Then then focus can shift to maybe he is redemable but he is also shitty for hiding it from the siblings. Peach and Pangpang, my dearies, why in world would you totally skip the first part? Love truly does make you blind I guess.

Anyway, this is why I think Pangpang is not that upset with Home. She gets him, she loves him, she trusts him, and she just wants mom and dad to stop fighting and get back together. Maybe the reason I was not bothered was that the siblings themselves were not bothered 🤔.

[theworstofallpossibleworlds]

Can you please ask Brian what camera, lens and film he uses to shoot the eclipse?

This is a characteristically late response, but I'd love to get into it. I got into film photography by picking my dad's childhood brownie hawkeye off of a shelf and ever since then i've stayed pretty cheap with the hobby. I got a really good deal on a Kiev-80 a couple years ago. For those who don't know, its a 50 year old soviet camera made as an imitation of a Hasselblad (the camera we took to the moon). It's a medium format camera, so focal lengths work a little different than they do in 35mm

Medium format cameras like this take pictures that are 60mm by 60mm. Your typical 35mm camera takes 36mm by 24mm frames, so the added film sixe here means generally everything has to get bigger. The lenses i've gotten for this camera all have massive cases and can be carried with their own separate strap. The lens used for the eclipse is just... so big. oh my god. it's a mess. It's a Tair-33, with a minimum f stop of 4.5 and a focal length of 300mm (equivalent to 165mm on 35)

This model of the lens has very fun, characteristic stripes, the aperture control is all the way at the front, and easy to use. Focusing, however is slow, as the weight of everything creates quite a bit of friction. You can get one of these for about $80 bucks. Now 300mm here is not a great magnifier, so I also got a (faulty) accessory to extend the focus, bringing the lens to 600mm (330mm equivalent in 35). It also makes this camera, all put together, into The Largest Object of All Time.

squash and butter for scale

To see the difference between 300mm and 600mm, check out these photos of the regular, non-eclipsed sun at both lengths

You're probably wondering why these pictures look so weird. these lenses are don't have very effective coatings. you wouldn't believe the processes that go into coating your glasses, your camera lenses, your phone lenses. The easiest kind of picture to take is one where your subject is lit by a souce that is behind the photographer. things get complicated with backlight, creating ghosting and glare as seen above. the light bounces between the glass elements (and the dark filter used to photograph the sun is also glass, complicating it further). taking a direct photo of a light (especially the fucking SUN) leads to some pretty crazy unpredictable variables.

My camera has recently taken on a new malady too, where at low speeds, the shutter (which in this camera is a huge metal curtain sticks at the edge without totally closing. It causes these stripes at the edge of the picture. This can be frustrating if i forget, but I like having the issue. If i want a picture to look normal, to plan it out, to totally control it, I have a digital camera for that. I got into this film stuff for the eccentricities.

For the regular sun photos, I think I was shooting on Ilford FP4, which i think i stand developed in rodinal. At the eclipse, I only got through one roll of film, becasue the cloud cover was brutal, but i took those pictures on Kodak Tri-x 400 (developed normally in D-76). I did it all in Black and white because, in general, b&w negatives are pretty generous with mistakes. All the guides i could fine for solar photography were understandably written with digital cameras in mind, so I couldn't be totally sure about my math (as the camera is totally manual) or even my eye safety (as I'm using a viewfinder; my vision seems fine a month later)

the actual iris on this lens is right up in front. Tightening the aperture, especially when the extender is attached, leads to a vignetting issue, turning your pictures into a circle

once totality hits, the light changes dramatically. you can stare straght at it without glasses and not have to worry about damaging your eyes for those short minutes. so i didn't even bother with film at that stage. I just pulled out my DSLR with a cheap 500mm Samyang mirror lens made for pentax. It's very compact and very, VERY shitty. Shallow focus, really dark, ugly out-of-focus elements, focuses past inifinity, i love it. only got a couple pictures that way, and then put the camera down and enjoyed the experience

[ae-azile]

You're Invited…

Event: Tankhun Theerapanyakul's 30th Birthday Extravaganza

Theme: Roaring 20s 

Place: Hum Bar

Date: November 25th, 2022 

The digitally curated invitation arrives as a group text on Kim's phone two weeks before the date in question. When it arrives, he is strumming a tune so melancholy that it makes him feel he isn't emotionally ready to put together lyrics for it yet. Kim isn't sure why he isn't ready. Writing sad songs over the last five months has been commonplace. So common that his agent has asked him several times if he is okay. Vice is more thoughtful than his record label. His record label has only asked if he could please just write a couple of happy bops for the new album, or at least one. 

His answer to Vice?

Of course I'm okay. Why would you think otherwise?

As for his answer to his record label?

No.

Regardless, neither answer seems to please them. Not that he is used to pleasing people, at least not the people who matter to him in some capacity. It has been a habit since Ma died, likely developing as a way to rebel against and to agitate Pa, only to spread like a disease. Pa wants a guard on him? Order the guard to leave or run away if they don't obey. Pa wants him to work a mission at seventeen? Kill the shitty ally who pointed a gun to his head to make Kim comply with his demands at an event when he was thirteen, all while letting their enemy walk free. Kinn finds out the reason Kim made that decision and strongly suggests Pa add a therapist to the roster, even though Pa always said no to doing that for Khun? Make the therapist rush out of the room in tears during their first and only session, then distance himself from an extremely concerned, desperate, and apologetic Kinn.

Chay finds out Kim used him to figure out just how terrible his father is? Pretend like he isn’t bothered and leave Chay heartbroken, only to end up heartbroken himself.

While that last one left a terrible taste in his mouth, it is clearly a tactic that mostly works for him. Look at all the lonely, sad, but high-quality music he is producing. He is curating a great album for someone to play as they write a suicide note. While Kim doesn't condone that, he thinks every person should have the perfect soundtrack for any poignant life event.

Porsche: Looking forward to it! Kinn and I will go shopping for our outfits this week. 🙂

Kinn: Couple coordinated? ❤️❤️❤️

Porsche: You know it 😁❤️

Tankhun: 🤮

Kim has to agree, but keeps his own vomiting emojis to himself. 

Tay: Time and I will be there too. Happy to celebrate with you! 

Tem: I'll be there as well.

Tay: 😐

Jom: See you guys there! 

Yok: Looking forward to decorating the bar and celebrating with you, Tankhun! 🙂💜🍾🥂

Kim isn't even sure how he got Tem's, Jom's, and Yok's numbers. He probably found them and added them to his contacts when he was obsessively researching Porsche's origins on a caffeine bender. Whatever. They are in his phone now. 

Unknown Number: Okay.

Porsche: You can come, but no drinking!!!

Fuck. It's Chay's new number. 

That has Kim going from passively watching the conversation on his phone to quickly picking it up to click on the group text list and go through everyone in the chat. He has all of them saved on his phone except for two numbers and the list isn't very long. Not surprising. Tankhun went from a popular boarding school student to a traumatized, agoraphobic shut-in who cut himself off from everyone outside of the family and his bodyguards. He is only coming back to himself - or developing a new version. It is a mix of the sharp, caring, and charismatic big brother he used to have and the eccentric and over-the-top persona he put on after the kidnapping. He is both recognizable and a complete stranger, and Kim has missed him so much. 

Not that he will say that out loud. 

But maybe he can show him. He can show him that he cares and that he loves him. Kim never stopped loving either of his brothers, despite the distance he put between himself and his family. He never wanted to distance himself from Tankhun. He would have taken Tankhun with him. Kim told him they could share an apartment, even when he knew Tankhun told Kinn about why he killed one of Pa’s allies. He never blamed Tankhun for that and he still doesn't. Tankhun had just wanted Kim to get the help he was denied, even though Kim clearly doesn’t need it. Kim had wanted (and still wants) his oldest brother with him so they could get away and put all their shit behind them. 

And Tankhun wouldn't leave. So Kim left alone and he stayed that way. Alone. 

But Kim can choose not to be alone, at least for one night. He didn't realize how alone he felt, not until he came to his senses and - unfortunately - Chay came to his senses too. Maybe a party will be good for him, even though parties are never good for him. Unless he is hired to perform at one, he doesn't want to be at them. Ever. 

Apparently Chay does. Chay is going and Kim hasn't seen him in person for months. That means Kim is going too. 

Kim: Count me in. 

Tankhun: HE SPEAKS. 😱

Kim: Did you want me to ignore your invitation? 

Tankhun: Of course I didn't. I just expected you to. You better dress up in a costume.

Kim: No.

Thankhun: 🙄 Fine. Just look nice. And ACT nice. Socialize. Do not stand in a corner all night. You deserve to have fun, believe it or not. 

No. He doesn't. But he doesn't say that.

Kim: Okay.

Tankhun: …Is everything alright?

Kim stares at the text.

Kim: Why?

Tankhun: Because you are agreeing to come to a party.

Kim: I have attended parties before. It isn't that absurd of a concept.

Tankhun: Because you haven't come to the compound in months and skipped Pa's birthday dinner. 

Kim: Why would I go to that?

Tankhun: Because he faked his death so Uncle Gun would force an attack and neither of them cared if their sons were killed in their violent feud. Because our father killed his brother. Because our cousin will likely never walk again. 

Kim: Haven't you hated Vegas for years?

Tankhun: And yet I cry every time I think of how he must be feeling. Even though I hated him for years, I loved him for much longer. 

Kim: Hm.

Tankhun: Kind of like you with Pa.

Kim: It's very different, but whatever.

Tankhun: Is that why you texted me privately to accept the invite? So Pa wouldn't see your text and be more likely to come too? I seriously doubt he will come, by the way. Hum Bar doesn't seem like his thing. 

That isn't why. However, it is a plus. 

Kim: Sure. 

Tankhun: Are you actually okay? Something seems wrong.

It's a question from his agent that he regularly answers with lies. Why can't he text a lie to Tankhun? He should be able to text a one worded lie to his brother, yet his finger and thumb won't cooperate. Chay always playfully picked on him when it came to how he texted, with his left thumb and right index finger. Kim had pointed out that not all people game to the extent where using both thumbs to communicate as their go-to. Kim beat him at speed texting out the lyrics to some random song, and Chay beat him at Mortal Kombat in retaliation. 

The memory makes Kim go lie down on the couch and stare at his reflection in the dark television screen, his phone left abandoned on the coffee table. An hour later, Tankhun lets himself into his apartment and Arm makes himself scarce by going into his kitchen to make dinner for the three of them.

Kim silently wishes him luck on that front. Other than some spices in the cabinet by the stove, coffee in the pantry, and a couple of takeout containers in the fridge from who knows how many days ago, he doesn't have much else to work with. 

"Lift your head up," Tankhun says, urging him until he has enough room to sit down so that Kim's head is falling in his lap, "Let's watch a movie." 

Whatever. 

The movie in question deals with a couple gradually becoming more and more estranged. Of course it does. There is no happy ending in sight, so it is just like slowly watching tragedy unfold. Tankhun - predictably - cries his eyes out. Kim - not so predictably - cries too. But he's more subtle about it. He is actually so subtle that his brother probably doesn't even notice. 

"Kim, what's going on with you?" Tankhun murmurs sadly as Kim's shoulders shake and he soaks Tankhun's pants leg with tears.

Fine. He does notice. But Kim still doesn't respond. 

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

He needs to look good for the party. The problem is, Kim always looks good. He isn't conceited, it's just a fact. Even when he was a child, everyone talked about how beautiful he was. Ma eventually tried to redirect those types of compliments by talking about his talent and how sweet he could be. But then Ma died and Khun had to take over on that front instead. And that's a hard responsibility to hold up when you're strapped to a gurney in the infirmary and being called crazy every other month. So Kinn got to be called the new heir, Khun got to be called crazy, and Kim had been left with pretty. It's probably the most preferable out of those three possibilities anyway. 

But while Chay was likely attracted to his looks, he had been drawn in by Kim's talent. He hung off every word and piece of advice Kim gave him during their lessons. He had the courage to ask him to be his tutor. Chay looked at him with admiration and respect before he ever looked at him with hearts in his eyes, despite the pictures of Kim on his bedroom wall revealing that Chay found him at least somewhat attractive before they got close.

Chay probably tore those down. He doesn't want to look at Kim anymore. Kim knows that. If Kim were a better person, he would skip the party. It would make Chay happy, and honestly? It would be on brand for Kim. 

But maybe Kim wants to go off brand for a while. Maybe his brand of being an aloof, mysterious, and loner musician is no longer doing him or anyone else favors. Maybe he is just tired of being him. 

And maybe that's why he finds an outfit that actually complies with the roaring 20s theme. A three piece suit, complete with a stupidly expensive pocket watch. 

He feels ridiculous. He doesn't feel like himself at all. 

Good.

Except Kim got dressed too early. He doesn’t want to go back to his apartment like this. And part of him knows that once he goes back home, he may lose the gull to go back out. So maybe he will continue acting out of character. Going to Hum Bar early to help his brother decorate seems out of character. 

So that's what he does.

"Kim?" Tankhun says as soon as he comes through the doors before his eyes widen, "What are you wearing?"

Kim looks down at his clothes, "Do you want me to get clothes from my car?"

"Nope, no need," Tankhun says, then comes over to put his arms around him, "You look very nice. Handsome, actually! What do you think of my tux?"

Kim gives his oldest brother a once over. Tankhun had strayed from his own personal norm even more than Kim did. 

"It looks great," Kim tells him, causing Tankhun to beam brightly, "What do you need help with?" 

"Well," Tankhun says, glancing behind him, "Arm and I are arranging the feather bouquets. Pol and Yok are stringing the black and gold ornaments together. Why don't you put together the placemats? We'll have dinner and cake first, then the fun can really begin. Thank you for coming."

"Wouldn't miss it," Kim says, even though that would normally be a lie. Tankhun hugs him again regardless, "Happy birthday, by the way." 

Tankhun gives him a small smile, then takes a step back, "I hope it is. Now, come on! Let me introduce you to Yok."

Kim has a weird urge to let Tankhun know he knows a lot about Yok, both from Chay's fond comments about her and Kim's own research (disowned by her family, knows four languages, and has a childhood sweetheart who pointedly left the country with their son once Yok came to terms with her gender and decided to transition, which explains why she is so protective over Porsche and Chay and mothers them).

Instead, he just nods and tries to smile warmly. She seems like a nice person. She deserves warmth. She is kind to Tankhun and a very welcoming presence. Going by her interactions with his brother, Arm, and Pol, she has made friends with them. Right now, she's laughing at some joke Pol made that Kim doesn't really get but she clearly does. 

Going by how closely Khun and Arm are talking, they seem closer too. 

Weird. Although, Arm is now Khun's head guard, so maybe it isn't. Yet for some reason, watching them makes Kim feel out of place. But he snaps himself out of even attempting to analyze the situation further. Tankhun has often befriended his guards, a habit that could be heartbreaking for his brother, but beneficial because it is hard to make friends when you don’t leave the house. Maybe he is just closer to Arm than he has been to any other guard.

He feels alone. 

When Pete walks through the door, Kim is actually relieved. Because as misplaced as Kim feels, Pete has to be feeling ten times worse. 

"Pete?" Tankhun says hopefully, only having eyes for his ex-head guard as Pete cautiously walks into the bar, "You never texted back. I thought…We didn't know if…"

Pete breathes in and gives Tankhun a sad smile, "I just wanted to stop by to give you your gift and tell you happy birthday."

Tankhun nods, then glances down at the wrapped gift and cards once Pete hands them over, "You could stay, you know."

Pete just shrugs, keeping the sad smile on his face, causing Arm to step in. 

"We miss you, Pete. So much," Arm tells him, coming to stand next to Tankhun, "Why don't you just stay for dinner?"

"...I can't," Pete says eventually, "Vegas and Macau are waiting in the car." 

"...Oh," Arm says quietly, then says nothing else. What else could he say? Kim wouldn't know how to handle it. Vegas has been a sensitive topic for Tankhun for years. And after what happened, there is no way-

Tankhun lets out an unbothered sound, "That's fine! If you're worried about Macau being underage, Chay is coming too! Chay is just a year older than Macau and he needs a friend with everything going on. I am sure Macau is in a similar situation. They can chat. Get to know each other."

It's a shocking offer to hear coming out of Tankhun's mouth, even by Kim's standards. Going by Pol's and Arm's expressions, they are flabbergasted by it. But despite the thoughtfulness of the offer, Kim doesn't like it. He doesn't like the idea of competing with Macau for Chay's attention. He needs to figure out a way to talk to him, and Macau being there will give Chay a reason to ignore Kim in favor of pointedly focusing on a new potential friend. Because Chay is really great at that now. Ignoring Kim. 

It is a selfish and stupid thought. Toxic too, because Tankhun is right. Chay deserves to have friends who understand what he is going through. But Kim is tired of trying to earn Chay's attention and he doesn't want to compete with Macau. He never did. 

"Vegas is still in the car," Pete says, looking away from Tankhun. 

Tankhun purses his lips, "This place is very accessible. No steps, wide doorways. Vegas should be fine to join us."

It's an even more shocking offer than inviting Macau. But it does show how desperate Tankhun is to have Pete here.

"He…" Pete starts, still looking off to the side, "Vegas is still getting used to things. He doesn't…The wheelchair is a sensitive topic for him. It is hard enough to get him to leave the house for appointments. I was lucky to get him to agree to his therapy intake this afternoon."

"Therapy intake?" Tankhun asks, his voice a murmur, "Porsche said Vegas has been in physical therapy since waking up from his coma. He said you told him Vegas goes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays."

Pete nods, then clears his throat, "Not that kind of therapy."

Tankhun stares at him, then nods too, "Oh. That…That's good. He has probably needed that for a long time. And he probably especially needs it now."

"Probably so," Pete vaguely agrees, then glances down at the gifts, "One of those cards is from him. He…wanted to tell you happy birthday. Apologize. Get some things off his chest, I think. He had me read it to make sure it sounded okay. It's respectful. Heartfelt. Just…Make sure you read it with an open mind and when you are ready. Don't feel like you need to open it tonight. Enjoy your birthday. I know me showing up is probably stressful enough-" 

“It’s not stressful, Pete,” Tankhun says, his voice strained, “It’s appreciated. I invited you because I wanted you here. Almost everyone I invited is someone I want in attendance. Almost. But believe me, you are not the exception.”

If anyone else in the room knows who it is, they don’t comment on it. 

“Please stay?” Tankhun says, but Pete is already shaking his head, “Please?”

“...I’m sorry,” Pete tells him, his expression pained and guilty, “Maybe…Maybe I can call you soon? We can…We’ll catch up.”

Tankhun looks at Pete with teary eyes, then finally nods silently in agreement and accepts one last hug from him before Pete takes his leave.

“I just need a minute,” Tankhun mutters, then quickly walks to one of the bathrooms. Kim isn’t sure what to think when Arm only gives him two minutes before following him. A part of Kim wants to chew him out and tell him that his brother has a right to be alone if he needs it. But when Kim goes to the door to do just that, he overhears them. 

“I know,” he hears Arm murmur as Tankhun cries, “I know you wanted him to come.”

“He doesn’t even answer my texts!” Tankhun sobs, “I thought he was my friend. He was my o-only friend for so long! And he won’t even TALK to me!”

“Khun, a lot has happened,” Arm says gently, weirdly referring to his brother personally, “It’s only been a few months. We’re all still raw from everything. That includes Pete. Give him some time. I know you miss him. I miss him too.”

“This is Pa’s fault! Pa did this! I just…I don’t…”

“I know,” Arm says again when Tankhun trails off.

And as much as he wants to see if his brother is okay, Kim lets Arm handle him and goes to pull out his phone.

Kim: How are you doing?

Macau: Why?

Kim: Idk.

Macau only responds thirty minutes later.

Macau: Horrible. Better than ever. I don’t know, man. P’Pete is a fucking saint though. I don’t care if we’re Buddhists. He has earned sainthood because he is a miracle worker who is somehow making Hia happy despite the circumstances.

A minute later.

Macau: How are you doing?

Kim just presses down on Macau’s message and reacts to it with an abacus emoji. It’s the most random one he can find. He expects Macau to be confused or tell him he’s the weirdest person he has ever known. Like he did before, back when their mothers were alive and their brothers liked each other. 

Macau: That bad, huh?

Kim leaves him on read.

To read the rest of this one-shot, go to:

[zenfiii]

Haikaveh fic 🧍🏻‍♀️(implied cynonari) the first part is from a long time ago so it's not worth judging… and the second part is a bit fast but my friend asked me to do it and she just had to leave so that's why. Note, I'm using a translator for the translation! If something doesn't make sense, please let me know. Thanks!

I also warn that it's taken from a page to give ideas of fanfics, being the theme “friends to lovers, but with high school or college au”. So, yeah, that's it.

Alhaitham was trying. He was really trying. But it was impossible. His eyes always wandered to the blond more than they should (Maybe he had ADHD and that's why he couldn't stay focused in class?). No. It had to be that. It was the only thing the younger boy saw possible.

After looking away and contemplating it for a bit (he had been thinking about it for months), he decided it was a good idea to test the waters and see how Kaveh would react to it. When he finished his fleeting thought, he returned his gaze to the blond hair.

In between that, Kaveh was aware of his gaze on his neck. He felt… Nervous, perhaps? He didn't quite understand his own feelings. But he knew there was something in his friend's gaze that bothered him. Or more than annoyance, it made him feel anxious.

As a person who couldn't let things go, Kaveh thought about it. Did Alhaitham dislike him? No, at first he definitely did, but now it was impossible, wasn't it? Maybe… Did he want to say something to him? But what would Alhaitham possibly have to say to him?

As Alhaitham's self-proclaimed best friend (or just Alhaitham's only friend), he knew that if there was something he wanted to tell him, he would have already done it. So that's why his constant gaze on him confused him. The only thing he didn't have as an option was for him to look at him just because he was him.

I mean, that thought alone was stupid. Who would want to see him anyway? Kaveh continued to ramble on, trying to figure that one out. Then his mind went back to before. Maybe he did have something he wanted to tell him? Maybe he… was in love with someone and needed advice from his only friend? His mind got to that point when he saw a couple in front of him, but the mere thought made him shudder. It could actually be possible.

…

Haha.

Yeah, right. It was actually completely impossible. There was no way. Alhaitham, in love? It wasn't possible, not in this or any other timeline. Just thinking about it was like a dystopian reality. And the more he thought about it the less real it seemed to him.

Alhaitham. With partner. Formula with result ∉. Or ∄. He couldn't remember which one it was. Anyway… Haha. Hahahahahaha. Alhaitham with partner. It would be easier to look for a needle in a haystack. Or count all the strands of hair on a cat. But for Alhaitham to be romantically involved with someone, now that would be tricky. It had to be someone who would be able to be okay with the younger boy's eccentric personality, someone kind and kind-hearted…. Kaveh certainly couldn't think of anyone he knew.

And while Kaveh was still trying to decipher the meaning of that, someone called out to him from behind.

"Kaveh. Class is over and you're still with your stuff scattered on the table. Pack up before they close the door on us."

Kaveh shouted inaudibly and Alhaitham didn't miss that, letting out a small snort of amusement.

"Ah, I'm coming, I'm coming."

As Kaveh picked up, he could feel the other piercing him with his gaze, but decided not to comment on it and put his materials away awkwardly and quietly. Not long after, they were both already walking out the door in awkward silence (on Kaveh's part). He was still thinking about it… And suddenly an idea crossed his mind. Maybe, instead of having someone he liked and needed advice, he's already dating a person and wanted to talk about it?

His chest felt heavy and his heart sank a little bit. No, it wasn't possible, was it? Lately he had noticed that the other was more reluctant to touch him and pulled away every time he tried to get close, turning his face away, as if they were back to the beginning when even Alhaitham didn't want or intend to talk to him.

"Kaveh!"

The blond jumped again.

"Yes! Yeah? Tell me."

"There's someone I like."

The blond shouted inaudibly once again.

"A-ah… what? Really? It's not possible. …. I mean! Are you sure? It's not that I'm doubting your feelings, it's just…. It's hard to believe. You know what I mean, right?"

Kaveh waited patiently for the answer.

"Relax, I was a little shocked myself. But it doesn't bother me."

Kaveh relaxed but his expression was complicated.

"Really? Well, that's… not bad, best of luck with the lucky girl."

Kaveh smiled, though there was some sadness in his expression.

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow.

"Lucky girl?"

There was silence after that. Kaveh's heart was not going to take so many surprises.

"You're not serious. It's a joke, isn't it?"

The younger man looked at him for a moment before speaking again, his tone more serious.

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who would joke about these things? It's tiring enough having to talk about it, but on top of that, it seems I have to give you some kind of explanation? As my senior I thought this topic wasn't something we needed to discuss, let alone thought it would surprise you. But at least I hope it doesn't upset you, or does it? Then I couldn't keep talking to someone who thinks two men having a relationship is 'gross,' because I definitely-."

"Enough, enough! Where does all that come from?!" Kaveh sighed and brought his hand to the bridge of his nose, massaging the area. Alhaitham simply chuckled to himself.

"If I really thought all that, do you think I would be friends with Tighnari and Cyno, for example, who are a couple?"

Alhaitham shrugged.

Kaveh sighed. Again.

"Don't do that, you were clearly doing it on purpose. That aside… A boy, eh? It's fine with me, as long as you like it, I don't know why it has to bother me~."

"Really? I thought you'd be more resistant. You didn't even ask for the name."

"Should I? Even so, I don't think you'll answer me."

'And I don't want to know either.' He thought.

"How do you know?"

Kaveh cocked his head to one side.

"Would you tell me?"

"Just because it's you."

The blond's heart was on a pull. He wanted to ask him, but at the same time he didn't want to know.

"So… Who is it?"

"Who knows."

Kaveh expected it, but still clicked his tongue in annoyance. Alhaitham on the other hand laughed softly. Though the sound was always pleasant to hear, this time he was slightly more irritated than he was happy.

"Really? That wasn't funny at all!"

After that he continued complaining for a while more until they were about to separate to go home.

"Seriously… I still have to teach you some basic things….."

Alhaitham rolled his eyes, however he listened to everything the other said.

"I'll send you a picture later. He's quite handsome, so be prepared."

Kaveh frowned slightly.

"Sure, sure. We'll see about that."

Despite having mumbled the last sentence, Alhaitham was able enough to hear him, smiling.

After arriving home, Kaveh had just gotten out of the shower when a notification came on his phone. Throwing himself on the bed, he looked at the picture Alhaitham sent him.

Alhaitham: [img] Kaveh: ??? Why are you sending me a picture of me? Alhaitham: Don't you remember the conversation from before? Kaveh:. Kaveh: wwhat Kaveh: WHAT Kaveh: ALHAITHAM?!?

Alhaitham laughed before turning off his phone.

[•••]

"Kaveh."

Shivers ran up and down the blond's spine, vertebra by vertebra.

"It's been a week. How much longer are you going to ignore me?"

The other man's tone was not stern. Nor was it mildly annoyed. That was the worst of it. He sounded extremely sad.

In Kaveh's head, Alhaitham had only three tones of voice. The normal one, the annoying one, and the happy one. The normal one was monotone, as if he didn't feel like expressing emotions because it was annoying. The annoying one was kind of stern, as if everyone was an idiot, except him, of course. And the happy one… well. I'd listen to his smile. Mostly because whenever he sounded happy it was annoying him.. but it was still nice to hear.

So, now that he had unlocked a new tone of voice.. he couldn't say he was very happy with the accomplishment. In fact, he hated it. His heart ached. He didn't want to ignore it either but…. Noticing the other's silence Alhaitham's expression changed. He was hurt. Deeply grieved. But he couldn't tell him that, could he? He grabbed him by the arm, but the older man broke free of his grip.

"I'm not even asking you to reciprocate my feelings. I just want to be with you. Don't ignore me, please."

Kaveh couldn't take it anymore. He ran off, leaving the other behind. The younger one just looked at him and sighed.

[•••]

Someone knocked on his door. Wearily, he opened it.

"Guys… What are you doing here? I thought you were going to that bar downtown today."

Tighnari made his way into the apartment, and Cyno followed, waving to his friend.

"With all the alcohol you have here, this could be a bar itself."

Kaveh looked away, embarrassed.

"There aren't that many bottles either…"

Tighnari gave him a withering look, crossing his arms, visibly annoyed.

In the meantime, Cyno started collecting the bottles.

"With so many bottles you could do your next class assignment. Although making a house out of bottles might be crystal-trophic. Get it? Because bottles are made of crystal, and crystal being such a delicate material, it can make it difficult to build a functional house. That's why it can be catastrophic. I put the two words together for comic effect." (this joke makes more sense in spanish... i think)

The most impressive thing about it was the rather serious face of the shorter one. Kaveh tried to smile but ended up grimacing uncomfortably. Tighnari had his hand on a bottle, ready to hit him. The latter, however, got the message and continued to pick up silently.

Tighnari sighed, and began to help clean up as well. Kaveh closed the door and did the same. They continued cleaning until they were done, and then they sat down to talk.

"Kaveh, I think you know why we came to talk to you today, don't you?" Kaveh wanted to talk and dismiss the issue immediately, but seeing the concern on his friends' faces, he remained silent.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you two, but you need to talk and work things out. You're both…"

"You need each other."

His boyfriend finished. Tighnari didn't say anything else but clearly agreed.

"Even though you fight a lot, it's clear that you have a lot of affection for each other. Because of this argument you have taken back as if your life depended on it, and Alhaitham has become isolated again. We are worried."

Kaveh listened uncomfortably. He didn't want to admit it but they were right. He was in a sorry state and he knew it. But he didn't want to know how his best friend was doing. He felt guilty. He swallowed hard before speaking for the first time in the entire conversation.

"I'm… I'm sorry for worrying you. I didn't mean to."

Cyno closed his eyes before replying.

"We're not telling you this to make you think you're a burden. You're not. You're our friend and that's why we worry."

Kaveh had a little trouble understanding that, but he still nodded slowly.

"It's just that… Alhaitham confessed to me the other day, and I'm still not able to give him a clear answer…." Both boys were silent when they heard that. Kaveh decided to keep talking.

"At first I found it a little hard to believe, I thought it was a bad joke! But, it wasn't, and I…."

He thought for a moment about what he wanted to say.

"I really like him, too. I mean, look at him! He's handsome, smart, and he treats me very well, but.. what if things end badly after that? I don't want to… I don't want to be apart from him. I'd rather things stay the way they were than ruin everything. What if he gets tired of me after a while? What will I do then?" He wiped his tears awkwardly. "I don't want…I don't want him to go away from me…."

Kaveh had already lost his parents, and that had left him with a huge scar as a child. Every time he thought about it, he didn't want it to happen again. It couldn't happen to him again. What would he do then? He wouldn't be able to get back on his feet, he knew. Although staying that way wasn't really an option either.

When he came back to reality, his friends were already hugging him.

He decided that, for a moment, he would lean into the embrace, letting the warmth of his friends tuck him in.

Minutes passed and now Kaveh was drinking hot chocolate. His eyes and nose were red from crying. As he let his drink cool, Tighnari spoke again. "Are you feeling better?" Kaveh nodded, and he smiled. "Very well. You know, despite everything, I think you should talk to Alhaitham. I don't think he'll walk away from you even if you want him to. Remember your first fight? Even though he didn't know how to apologize properly, he was still looking for you from afar. Whether you end up as a couple or not.. I don't think you'll lose him. Alhaitham will willingly stay by your side whenever he can. You know how stubborn he can be."

Kaveh shrugged.

"I don't know… Maybe it was just coincidence."

Cyno spoke up this time.

"Coincidence or not, he still did what was in his power to look for you. In that sense, I think he's pretty honest with his feelings."

Kaveh felt his cheeks flush a little red.

"Well, if you say so….."

Tighnari stroked the blond's back in circles.

"Well, whatever it is, talk to him. Really, you need to, you can't drown your sorrows in alcohol anymore. Take it easy, but do it."

Kaveh nodded slightly. He had to do it anyway, so….

[•••]

He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't. Kaveh was moving frantically back and forth. He was panicking. He looked in the mirror for the fifth time, making sure he was still dressed up. When he did, he looked at the clock again for the twenty-fourth time. When was he going to ring the doorbell?? Alhaitham was always extremely punctual!!

Someone rang the doorbell. Kaveh stopped in his tracks. His throat went dry and his mind went blank. Apparently he remained in that state for a long time, for they rang the doorbell again. With that, he reacted and went to the doorknob.

He held his hand there for a moment before closing his eyes tightly and opening without further thought. When he opened his eyes, he was there. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Kaveh had to look away.

"Hello…"

He murmured.

"Kaveh. Hello. May I come in?"

Kaveh stepped aside and nodded.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course, come in."

Alhaitham walked in and took off his jacket. The blond took it and left it on a coat rack he had next to the door, on the wall. He stood there for a few seconds longer than he should have. His mind was in a state of panic.

But he took a deep breath and turned around.

Alhaitham was already sitting on the couch, and he looked so good….. Kaveh put his thoughts aside and sat down next to him. "Then…"

Alhaitham began. It was strange, all things considered, normally Alhaitham always had something to say.

But this time the words seemed to escape him. Kaveh then spoke, not looking at him because he felt that if he didn't he would vomit from nerves. It had been a long time since they had last spoken, about a month, and he had spent two weeks preparing for it, but deep down he knew that no exercise would do much to calm his nerves, but, still nervous and afraid, he spoke.

"Alhaitham. This… me, you like me, don't you? It's not a joke or anything, is it?"

"Of course not, I told you. I really-."

Kaveh put his hands over the other's mouth, scared of what he was about to hear.

"Yes, yes, I know! You don't need to repeat yourself, I understand, okay? You…you like me. I just wanted…I just wanted you to answer the question, no need to elaborate."

After that, he removed his hands from his mouth. Now, he looked him in the eyes and spoke to him.

"I really… I… it doesn't bother me."

Alhaitham raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

"I don't see why it should bother you how I feel."

Kaveh frowned. "You're an idiot. You know what I mean."

Alhaitham smiled in amusement, but there was some sweetness in his mouth. Kaveh forced himself to look away.

"Ahem, anyway…. I just wanted to tell you that… I'm sorry for ignoring you all this time. I…didn't know how to process it and decided it was best to walk away, when, clearly it wasn't. I was an idiot to think that not talking things out would be a good thing….."

Alhaitham nodded his head slightly.

"Clearly it wasn't a wise decision." Kaveh gave him a sidelong glance. "But I'm glad you've come to your senses."

Kaveh rolled his eyes. Alhaitham smiled.

"That means we're friends again, doesn't it?"

That question was actually asked out of longing, and Kaveh knew it, so he decided to speak.

"Well, actually… I wanted to talk about that too."

The younger boy's expression changed. It wasn't one of sadness, but something in his expression had hints of.. fear? No… it was more like anticipation.

"I, I called you here also to tell you that I don't want to be your friend…. No, rather, I can't be your friend."

Kaveh swallowed saliva. Alhaitham spoke again.

"Then you are really bothered by my feelings."

He said. Anxiety dripped from that one sentence.

"What? No, no, let me finish, will you? You still have that bad habit of thinking that everything that goes through your head is the absolute reality, huh?"

Alhaitham narrowed his eyes. As he was about to speak back, Kaveh stopped him, speaking first.

"No, no, that's enough, I didn't call you here to argue. I, I wanted to tell you. Actually. With all honesty. Uhm… I like you."

Kaveh's heart was pounding in his chest. Actually it had been doing so since the beginning of the sentence. That was why he had looked away when he said it. The silence that came after that made him nervous, but he didn't want to look.

"Kaveh."

Alhaitham called out to him. He didn't turn, but answered.

"What?"

Slowly Alhaitham cradled the blond's face in his hands, forcing his face to be in front of his. Now Kaveh had to look at him, unable to move away. It's not like he wanted to, either, of course.

"Alhaitham?"

The other didn't answer, just stroked his cheeks with his thumbs very softly, gently and steadily. Kaveh could see the way the younger one looked at him, completely smitten. Gosh, he could see the hearts forming in his eyes! But the lack of response from the other made him want to call him back. However, he couldn't. Alhaitham closed his eyes and leaned toward the other, capturing his lips with his own. Kaveh's heart skipped a beat, but even with his nerves, even with his sweaty neck and red cheeks, he kissed him back.

Actually, the kiss was a bit of a disaster. Alhaitham had never kissed anyone in his life, and Kaveh, even if he had, was now too nervous to be able to think about how to do it properly.

But perhaps that was what made it even more special. A genuine kiss, where unexpressed feelings were poured into that tender moment.

Maybe that was what they were looking for with all that. A person with whom to share the love they had inside.

Fin

Eeehh you can tell that at first I tried to make the narrator be from Alhaitham's view, but, I just can't, writing from Kaveh's side is easier bc he's my kinnie lolol. And yeah. The cyno joke…… I dunno, I tried.

[ratsoh-writes]

(Hmmmm.... because you insisted I send in a matchup, here you go. Have fun, lol! Also.. just so you're awareI don't really mind if it's platonic or not, I just want to see what you come up with.)

The Basics:

Height: 5"8

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Demisexual

Soul Trait: Kindness

Personality Type: Introvert

Love Languages: (Giving) Words of Affirmation (Receiving) Quality Time

Enjoys:

I like reading, video games, watching anything animated, and deep diving into fandoms. I adore animals of all types, so I need someone who is willing to at least tolerate pets. (Bonus if they enjoy them as much as me). This extends to the typical cats/dogs, to more "exotic/uncommon" animals like reptiles.

Dislikes:

The horror genre... just in general. (So no scary movies for me).

And spiders...

Personality:

I've got some social anxiety, so I'm easily flustered and have difficulty speaking to strangers. But once I know you I can be talkative... especially if you have the same interests as me. I'm always willing to help out a friend if they ask me, and I'm loyal to a fault. At least half of the stuff I do will probably be said or done in an overly sarcastic/dramatic way mostly because that's my sense of humor. You'll also catch me talking to myself a lot. No reason why. I guess it helps me sort out my thoughts... either that or I'm daydreaming and talking/acting it out.

Pet-Peeves:

People who don't take care of their things. Like, if you ask to borrow something, I expect you to return it in the same condition. But why wouldn't you do the same thing with your own stuff? Don't you want it to last?

People who shoot down others for enjoying something. It doesn't matter if I'm interested in the thing personally or not, if it makes someone happy I will listen to them talk about it. So it bugs me to see people tear someone else down when they just want to enjoy something.

People who ask for my opinion on something, and then blatantly ignore it. Why did you ask if you didn't want to know?

I don't mind messy people, but I prefer to keep my personal space clean and organized... so just repect that please. Don't go mess it up for no reason.

Hmmm you could work with a lot of the skellys so I had a ton of choices to choose from. After a bit of back and forth, I match you with…. FINN! Seaswap sans!

Finn is a total cutie patootie, a true sweetheart, just an all around good guy. He’s easy to talk to, friendly with every one and totally non-judgemental. Finn is great for someone a tad eccentric as he isn’t bothered at all. In fact he loves that they stay true to themselves! After all every one is a big nerd about something. Your thing is reptiles, his is collecting and coming up with scout badges. In fact.. can he borrow a snake for his scouts reptile handling badge? Don’t worry, your little baby will come pack perfectly fine, if a tad spoiled for the day lol.

Finn is a great listener. He remembers whatever his SO tells him, whether that’s tasks they need done, or just details about their wants and likes. He wants to understand his partner so he puts extra effort into keeping his metaphorical ears open.

While Finn is more of the sporty type, he does have experience with video games thanks to his brother. He doesn’t play on his own but is always down to play in groups or with a friend. He’s surprisingly good at shooters, even if he apologizes every time he kills someone lol.

One downside about finn is he’s 100% a people pleaser, and sometimes will reluctantly agree to things he really shouldn’t do. So he needs a partner who’s willing to put their foot down whenever someone is trying to take advantage of him.

[partyanimal167]

A companion fic to "Self-Indulgent," but can be mostly read on its own. A reader on AO3 asked some important follow up questions, and I was like "damn, I could write more." Plus, there's something naughty about some pinning competition between Doffy and Croc.

Decisions, decisions. Damn, a girl wouldn't mind getting used to this kind of attention, really.

You fidgeted under the lustful stare you were under-- blushing and scratching your cheek awkwardly. You were really trying to stay under the radar, but when that deep rumble summoned you to the office, you knew there was no way you were going to stay hidden.

"Fufufufu, did my princess have a good weekend?" you blushed at the comment. You had an idea why he asked that, but there was still a chance for you to play dumb though.

"Ye-yes, sir. I jus-," you were going to start some ridiculous rant about shopping and what not.

"Seems I need to pay Croc a visit; tell him to be more gentle in bed."

Your eyes grew large and shot up to meet those tinted sunglasses. You couldn't ignore the deep blush on your face, how the room suddenly grew hotter. "Excus-," you quickly shut yourself up as your boss stood up and walked around to you. He lifted your chin before caressing your bottom lip. So softly, he trailed down before tapping a darkened spot on your neck.

"It's unprofessional to come to work with a hickey, doll. Someone might get jealous." he chuckled, but you knew that could be interpreted as a warning.

You continued to blush but twirled a lock of hair and batted your eyelashes. "Oh I'm sorry, Doffy." your fingers danced on his arm. "I'll be sure to make it up to you."

He grinned and kissed your cheek. "I'm sure you will."

~~~

Even knowing that for now Crocodile just wanted you to sit pretty during business meetings and lunches, you still were reluctant about attempting to leave the generous care and protection of that notorious Donquixote. If you could play your cards right, maybe you could bask in the riches and attention of both men. Crocodile wasn't pressuring you too much about becoming an actual worker. You still had your information network and allies as well as the pirate common sense to spot a rat when necessary. You proved your value for sure, but that didn't alleviate all your problems. For instance, there wasn't really a way to work yourself out of this specific situation.

You chuckled nervously as those dark eyes peered down at you unamusingly. You had been avoiding that look for the last couple hours, but here you were. Your attention shifted as you were pulled closer to your host. "Why the long face, Croc? I'm sure the meeting wasn't that bad." Doflamingo laughed. You blushed and eyes wandered aimlessly trying to pretend to be anywhere but here.

"I normally don't mind your usual eccentric behavior, but this is a little much even for you." He drawled out--not bothering to blow his smoke far from where you two sat. "You're trying to show off."

"Fufufufu, I'm just bringing along some nice company for this fine lunch. Surely, you would do the same."

"Of course, you don't come across company as lovely as Y/N."

You nearly melted and finally allowed yourself to look up. There was something dark yet intrigued in Crocodile's eyes. You fought a shiver as your hand was brought to his lips. "It'll be my pleasure to see you home."

"She's coming-,"

"Why relax, sir, you can't have a lady waiting. I'm sure those gentlemen have a lot to talk to you about still." Crocodile immediately shut down and gestured to the group of men chatting away nearby. He lifted you up then wrapped an arm around your waist, hook lightly running along your side. "I'll be gentle with her."

...

He was not gentle with you.

You moaned as you were flipped onto your stomach and felt two fingers shoved into your cunt. Squelching rung in your ears as you gushed onto Crocodile's fingers. "I don't think that spanking did anything if you're still being a brat. I asked you a question, doll. Who's dick are you begging for every night?"

You clenched the sheets, and your hips rocked along. "Uh fuck, yours- yours, sir." you sobbed. You sunk further into your plush bed as he loomed over you.

It was not your best idea to tease Crocodile on the way to your place. He only sat and listened to your rambles about how your outfit was sent to you, limo picked you up, that everyone was captivated by your entrance, that you didn't mind feeling how strong Doflamingo felt just by sitting next to you. Once you two were inside, you were getting pushed off the floor and kissed breathlessly. Your clothes now in shreds below. "Don't go wearing another man's clothes in front of me."

Crocodile bit your ear and kept fingering you. "That's right, dear. I know you're smart. You knew what would happen if I caught you clinging to that bird. Want me to send you off to him just like his? I'm sure you wouldn't mind. Want to handle the both of us? I know how to fulfill a whore's needs."

Oh those words were tempting, but you were too distracted to go off daydreaming about a bed-breaking threesome. Crocodile smirked feeling how you clenched onto him. Suddenly, he pulled his fingers out. You groaned and slammed a fist into the mattress. "No sir, please! I wanna cum!"

"Hehe, who said you could? You hurt my feelings," he faked a painful tone. He chuckled as he sucked his fingers. "It's not nice watching you flaunt yourself in front of him. I know he's still being used in your shows." He started rubbing himself at your entrance. "I think I'm being generous with you." He let out a deep breath in order to keep himself restrained. He wanted you sobbing and begging for his dick first.

You looked up at him and panted. "Yes, so nice sir, please. I'll be good I promise."

Crocodile chuckled darkly. "Oh, I'm not that easy, love." he only gave you an inch. "I don't like sharing." he pulled back. He quieted his pant that escaped. He wanted that hot soft feeling around him, but there was still a lesson to be taught. "You like playing around with me; you'll get hurt." he gave you a little more. "Ugh, not that you'd mind I'm sure." he grunted. He slapped your thigh to try to ground himself. "Maybe you don't deserve this after all-,"

You threw yourself back and groaned feeling most of him inside. You rocked forward then back again. "Stop being mean daddy," you moaned at the fullness and didn't mind the slight drool out of your mouth. "I want it now!" you whined.

Lesson be damned at this point. Crocodile grabbed your hips and started setting a heavy pace. "Fucking brat," he bit his lip. His hair was starting to become a disheveled mess. He remained barely aware of his hook as he continued to use you to get off. You didn't want to be a good girl, then that was fine. He wasn't going to play nice anymore.

Your eyes started to roll back as he bullied your cunt. So good, so good.

"I'll make sure you remember who's pussy this is." Crocodile grinned. "I'll get it to stick in that brain of yours."

~~~

Doflamingo frowned as he watched you continue to clean tables and sweep without so much as a glance in his direction the entire night. The staff fluttered around him with the usual praises and compliments. He knew he didn't want Crocodile leaving with you those nights ago, but he couldn't have gotten out of that discussion even if he really wanted to. The sacrifices necessary for business.

He finally got you alone in his office after closing. He wished he was amused by how you fidgeted and avoided his tinted gaze. After a minute of so of silence, he lifted his head from his wrist and sighed. "Oh princess, don't give me that attitude. I have something important to tell you."

You pouted and reluctantly looked up. "I got in trouble because of you." you huffed.

Doflamingo closed his mouth then chuckled. "Because of me?" there was some amusement now.

You nodded before folding your arms and turning away. "Yes, daddy was very mean to me. So I have to be on my best behavior." you explained.

There was a spark under Doflamingo's skin from that little peek into your bedroom business. He still liked how that word rolled off your tongue though. He grinned. "I see. Well, I'm sorry princess. I have some more bad news for you though." you looked up at him confused. "I'm afraid I have to let you go. Can't have so many on the wait staff especially one that attracts so much attention."

Your heart dropped for a moment. Of course, you had considered leaving Doflamingo's shadow, but you were still putting that plan together. It was a backup really. You didn't think that you would need to go running to Crocodile so soon especially after tiptoeing between the two men. It seemed as if Crocodile was right about you being tossed to the side by Doflamingo. It sped your anxiety up knowing that there were challenges coming your way.

"Wait, Mr. Donquixote! I can't go yet- I," you stopped after his hand was held up. You turned your head slightly as the man stood before you. Even leaning onto his desk, he was still quite tall and loomed over you.

He grinned as he ran his gaze up your body. "Fufufu, no need to fret little one. I just have a more important assignment for you is all."

You processed his words for a moment before slowly nodding. "What's the assignment?"

~~~

"A spy?" Robin chuckled.

You rolled your eyes and laughed. "Oh my gosh, you're so dramatic! I'm not a spy. I'm just going to be confirming some information for him." you held up a button-up in front of yourself. "How does this look?"

Robin smiled. "Great!" You beamed before tossing it to the sales rep who was following you two around. "I can't believe Croco-san is letting you go."

"I'm not."

You simply laughed as you stood on your tippy-toes and kissed him on the cheek. "You said you were happy I wasn't going to parading around 'that bird.'" you mimicked his voice.

"That doesn't mean you get to work for him still. You work for-,"

"I," you interrupted "am a freelance worker. You agreed to that." Crocodile exhaled a puff of smoke, annoyed. "Besides, Robin-chan is going to be helping me out. It's nothing shady. It's work for the business you three own."

"It's Doflamingo; there's always something." Crocodile mumbled. He shook his head as he reached into his suit coat for his wallet. "As long as he knows who you come home to."

You did a twirl and beamed. "Yay, I have the best bosses." you joked.

Crocodile's jaw twitched. This woman...

~~~

I want to work for both of them. I want to be spoiled (crying emoji)

I don't know how much I like this add-on tbh, but thank you for reading! I hope the Crocodile fans enjoy at least. He's so yummy!

[showfallmediacameracrew]

[This post was made using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech. If you believe there's been an error and would like to end Showfall Media Text-To-Speech, please say 'End transcript'. ]

[Nonverbal input Registered as: fabric and upholstery shifting with weight, a barely perceptible huff of satisfaction as the conversation begins to be heard.] 

J: ...Just give me a second Ruth, normal seats are annoyingly difficult for me to sit in with my tail in the way. I’ll put my phone right there, to make it more comfortable for me, apologies if my lounging might make it seem as though I’m not taking this seriously. 

R: No, no, you’re totally fine. Ah. I can understand why that would be an issue. Erm. So. 

[Nonverbal input Registered as: Clearing throat from unregistered user] 

R: What are you doing out of the facility? I know you said you were looking for some sort of restaurant, but I’d imagine there’s food inside the facility too?

J: Yeah, but it’s mall food, and mall food is shit. Besides, not exactly good for a date night to eat where you live and work, and I figured food prepared at a place that knows what it's fucking doing might taste better. 

R: Wai- date?? With who? 

[Altered Pitch Registered: quieter but not a whisper.] 

R: I didn’t know demons had, like. Romance. Huh.

J: Yeah... you're going to need to like, stop believing demons are emotionless or whatever. You're aware we’re the same level of sentient beings right? Like we do a lot of the same stuff humans do, we’re just different and cooler. 

[Nonverbal input Registered: user huffs, unclear if meant to be a laugh or a sigh of botherment]

J: He’s not a demon though, he’s a normal human, kinda eccentric, but he’s my Little Bird. 

[Nonverbal input Registered: pen scratching on paper.] 

R: Fascinating--wait, that’s another thing, does he work within Showfall? And what would you say is, like, the demon to human ratio in there?

J: He used to work for Showfall, now I think he’s living in the walls or somewhere else, but maybe he’ll wanna live in the room I commandeered for myself later. Most of the people working there are human though. There are other demons of course, but not as many as you probably were thinking. 

[Nonverbal input registered: shifting fabric and a dull thump from what could be a tail as he snorts]

J: Most of them aren’t powerful at all, like Chase, just lower demons who do the jobs they're given and lack any significant powers. Isn’t that right, G’lopp? Just a weak slime demon who gets stuck to the floor because your suit was the only thing really sticky about you. 

[Nonverbal input registered: Chair scraping against wood and a startled noise]

C: … What??

R: You own a suit?

C: No??

J: It was more a costume then anything, acting and stuff. His memory has never really been the best, though that could be said for a lot of the lower demons. The suit was just a one time thing before he was put in the recent job he had before... getting here.

C: … Yeah. Uh. Something like that.

R: The demons are actors??

J: Some of them! Most are humans. The demons mostly help with the special effects if they have the power for that.  

[Altered Pitch Registered: whispered]

R: Hah! I suspected that…

[Nonverbal input registered: pen scratching again, a closer quiet rumble of a chuckle from right beside the mic speaker from the phone's user.]

R: Uhhh, okay, what’s with the whole…? Amphibious features thing? 

J: Do you know what’s the most special feature about an Axolotl, Ruth? They can heal themselves, they can lose limbs and grow them back. They can do this with even their own hearts and brains. Why wouldn’t someone, already fairly powerful, want an ability like that? It has its drawbacks, having to be submerged in water for a certain amount of time and being sure I’m never fully dry, but it’s cool. It’s fine. It’s useful for someone with my job to be able to heal from potential grievous injuries. 

[Time between last spoken words: 10 seconds broken by a loud sigh directly against the speaker mic]

J: It was...you could say, an experiment done by a... friend. We’d gotten into a rather bad fight against some powerful enemies, and the friend had recently... gained powers that allowed the alterations, of a sort. It’s a little fuzzy for me personally, I’m sure you understand, I wasn’t really awake for the decision. 

R: … No. No yeah I understand. That… You don’t seem particularly happy about it?

J: Oh I am. Axolotls are my favorite animals! It’s mostly the wings that I’m not a fan of. I can understand how you hadn't noticed.

[Nonverbal input registered: a dull thump and grunt as the registered user shifts fabric, and something light brushes across the speaker as it flopped down to the floor, shifting starting up again as registered user continues back in original position.]

J: They don’t work, they were broken during the fight. I... had a raven companion, who would become part of me and lend me his wings. He died when the wings were broken, and without his presence, they can’t be used. This sort of injury, from the being that did it, can’t be healed by normal animal means. 

R: That’s… I’m sorry about your bird. I kind of figured this was just your demon appearance, I didn’t realize it had, like. A whole backstory for all of it, I guess?

J: Heh, that’s a good word for it, yes. I did say I was a vampire first. The horns and everything else came later, I did grow more sharp teeth from the axolotl stuff, I think that amused Angus. He was uh, a werewolf friend I had at the time. He’s the one who did the Axolotl thing. 

[Time between last spoken words: 6 seconds, then an amused snort detected to be feigning wistfulness upon internal analysis.]

J: The good news about it though is I sometimes see my raven's ghost. A wonderful perk of assuming the position of the God of the Dead after killing the old one.

R: … God. Like. Like an actual God.

J: Yes. Angus only was able to save me because he took control over the domain of the God of Animals a few weeks before. You didn’t think I was calling myself a demon king because I’m a vampire, did you? I’m a demon, what humans would probably call a monster even, and I happen to be the ruler over the realm of the dead. 

R: … Wow. Wait, I… am I supposed to like, uh, address you as your majesty or something??

C: No, you don’t have to. It’s. Uh. Optional.

J: You're also not dead yet, so no. He’s right. The old gods were old enough to no longer remember their own names, and now they’re dead, along with the whole ‘your majesty’ deference bullshit thing. They didn’t even do their jobs anymore at the point we killed them, it was a whole issue, that’s why me and my friends fought them. Now death is treated like the next stage in life, like it should be. I’m perfectly content being known as the Demon King. 

R: Oh, shit, are you saying humans become demons when they die, or like-?

J: I’m saying your soul goes to the afterlife, where I will rule when I’m fully old enough to assume the title. For now, I can summon and talk to ghosts sometimes, but mostly I’m just hanging out. Seeing the life my friend Dixie thrives in. She’s the goddess of life, she’s technically still human probably. I assume she’s somewhere in a flower field at this point getting excited about bee pollination.

C: I can see why she would be. Absolutely, uh, invigorating stuff.

R: Wait, how old even are you?

[Nonverbal input registered: A brief laugh after Chase spoke, weight shifting as fabric rustles. The possible tail thumping a few more times as registered user hummed thoughtfully]

J: Oh, I’m 25. This happened around when we all were 12 or so, maybe a bit older for a few of us. I’ve got a few years until I need to actually go back to the afterlife and properly train to care for the souls. 

[Time between last spoken words: 4 seconds]

R: Is that like when your contract ends, or…

J: Contracts aren’t a thing, no one wants your soul. There’s no currency or buying shit when you're dead, and demons don’t really...claim lives I guess? Like they can say they have your soul but everyones going to my domain regardless. I’m like the Devil, I guess, if we want to choose a religion to fuck with. Except hell is also Heaven and there's ghosts and monsters and stuff just... existing. That, that’s most of what I learned in the little bit of training I got before working with Showfall. There's... probably more.

[Nonverbal input registered: Slight shifting of fabric again, moment of contemplated silence]

J: That isn't when anything ends really though, just when I’m old enough to assume responsibility and fully come into my title, I suppose. 

R: Okay, yeah, that makes sense, uhm. And- oh, I forgot to ask this one- what’s your job, at Showfall, exactly?

J: I’m a Director of Photography, a DP. I work on a camera crew, basically. Done that for five years. It’s fun, I tell people what to do, it’s sort of my own version of learning to lead and direct people to do what I want them to do. 

R: Huh. And what were you doing before then…?

J: Jumped into the afterlife after one of my friends literally turned into the moon. It took awhile to kill what literally amounted to a concept instead of a physical person. So, I guess she isn’t technically the moon. That was... that took some years. And I had to leave once everything had settled to establish my connection to the afterlife before it probably imploded or something. 

[Time between last spoken words: 6 seconds] 

R: … Wow. You’ve had, uh, quite the eventful life, huh? 

J: Yeah, which is why it’d be nice to go to a normal restaurant, and have dinner with my boyfriend. If you could give me some names of ones you know around here. You can ask me any other questions you have of course, but this seemed like a good time to ask again. 

Altered Pitch, subverbal input only heard from closeby proximity: barely a mutter]

J: Save draft, end transcript now before this gets-

[Transcript has ended. Thank you for using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech! Saving to Draft Downloads... ]

[south-sea]

i'm writing up a thing elsewhere and it kind of hit me how semi-modern and second chance shadow differ in how they interact with their Multiverse Assigned Counterpart™️.

i've talked plenty about how second chance shadow perceives and treats metal like any other living person, including things like getting him his own space/inviting him to the table for meals, etc.

but then there's semi-modern who doesn't extend a single one of those considerations to mephiles. not out of contempt or anything, it just doesn't occur to him. if mephiles doesn't ask for it, why would he do it? mephiles can't own items, doesn't really have a tangible body, is basically a ghost who's rarely around visibly—so what's the point in them having their own room or getting them things?

and it doesn't really bother them. would they like to sit at the table with the rest of team dark? sure. but they've never really thought to ask (and if they really needed to on a bad day, they'd just invite themself), and largely keep to themself anyway, so it doesn't put them out that no one offers. it doesn't occur to them any more than it doesn't occur to semi-modern.

mephiles is kind of an honorary member of team dark, but they're also more just so much semi-modern's business that omega or rouge usually don't go out of the way to interact with them if they're not already visible. maybe rogue will say good morning to empty air if semi-modern is asleep on the couch (and mephiles will phase in with a merry hello), and maybe omega will remind them they're still Real (i'm going somewhere with this, but i forget). but on all sides, everyone just minds their own business for the most part, since that's the established dynamic.

i like to think post-facility/redemption, all of team dark starts to interact with them a lot more openly in little ways like that. they see how semi-modern's treatment of mephiles changes, and follow his example. that's part of why i refer to them as 'redeemed'. before, they were just Around. post-facility, the whole of team dark knows exactly who's responsible for keeping semi-modern alive, even if none of them can even begin to fathom (and never will know) just how deep mephiles/solaris's actions go. but all the same, mephiles goes from eccentric recluse to dignified ally in their eyes. not that they weren't deserving of respect before; they just didn't exactly make themself available for it, and no one wanted to overstep what they thought was the intended vibe.

frankly it probably goes from mephiles not having a room to them having a literal (but tastefully small) shrine. like yeah hi you're living with a literal god now, faith keeps them alive. that's only natural.