#im 10 seconds away from breaking out the red string im sitting here like

[gilliontidestriderchampionoftheu]

tbh the worst part is that we just dont know who is or isnt a black ops. admiral grandma didnt say "soldiers" were replaces, just that "targets" were. that could be anyone. pirates, queens, elders, random people on the street. anyone could be a fucking navy clone.

[emptycanoflizards]

Island Song

Parkner Day 1!! I didn’t actually think that I would successfully be able to publish this tonight, but here we are!! Some sort of messy ending and everything!! Much thanks to @even-dead-im-the-hero for letting me panic and ramble to them about this, and @bellaxbeatrice and @parkneroses for giving me some much needed encouragement <3

day 1: “Road work ahead?” | Word count: 2k | Avaliable on Ao3 here 

“No, sweetheart, I promise. You’re gonna love it,” Harley declared again, smiling over at Peter as he drove. “I’m just saying, the last time that you promised me that, you filled my web-shooters with silly string,” the younger replied, rolling his eyes but eventually sinking into a smile. He couldn’t help himself, he really did love everything his boyfriend did for him. “This is different. Last time, we weren’t in Hawaii, so… yeah. Big difference.” Tony and Stephen had recently decided that the life that they and Peter lived back in New York was too stressful, which lead to Tony booking them all an impromptu vacation to Hawaii. Somehow, Peter had apparently made a good enough impression on Harley’s parentals that they had decided that it was completely necessary to bring him along for the ride, and the older boy could not agree more. Two weeks on a tropical island with his boyfriend? There was literally nothing better in this world. It was only their third day on the island, but Harley had done his research and had the absolute perfect day planned. He had forced Peter out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7:30 am and told him that he urgently needed to get his swim trunks and a sweatshirt on and meet him in the car in 10 minutes. The brunet groaned and moaned but ended up doing exactly as he was instructed, and landed curled up in the passenger seat of the Jeep with three minutes to spare. Harley grinned happily as he silently drove them onto the path to their first destination. “Where are we going?” Peter asked, only six or so minutes into their drive. Harley shrugged knowingly and turned up the music before reaching over and carefully lacing their fingers together. Thirty minutes later, the Harley got off the highway and drove into a small, rundown looking artsy area, which was unusually full of cars for how early in the day it was. Peter sat up and pulled his hood down to glance at the houses that they passed and gave his boyfriend a confused look. “Unless you decided to do some charity work today, I think I’m more confused than when we left the house.” “Just wait, baby,” He said softly, driving into the parking lot of what looked like an antique mall, with less organization and more tables. The blond threw the Jeep in park and smirked over to Peter. “Okay. Get ready to have your tastebuds amazed.” Peter snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes, but as soon as he opened the door, he was shut up. Harley was obviously right. “C’mon, sugar. We got reservations for 8:10.” The two laced their fingers together again as they walked up to a small greeting area, where a plump Hawaiian lady met them. Obviously, they were outrageously busy, so the woman was stressed, but took the time to throw a kind smile at them. “The wait will be 30 minutes to an hour,” she said without thinking, busying herself with menus and silverware for another group waiting to be sat. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’ve uh... We have reservations. Under Keener, for two..” Harley said, his lips peeking into a smile as he glanced over to Peter, whose face was glowing with a light pink blush. “Oh!” she said, sounding surprised. She searched through the book and smiled when her finger found their name. “Yes yes. Come on, right over here. Corner booth alright with you?” The boys nodded contently as they followed her to a tiny booth in the far corner, right next to the window to the highway. There were plants hanging in the window, and a small fan sat in the door next to them, and the most delicious smells filled the air. Peter took a deep breath as he sat down across from Harley, who had already begun to hungerly look over the menu. “Holy shit..” The older boy whispered, whistling at all the choices. “Literally everything in here looks so good. I want everything. Think we could get everything?” Peter laughed as he looked over the options. Well, he wasn’t wrong. “We should,” he said absentmindedly, his brain preoccupied with reading the description on the red velvet pancakes. “Wait- Harley, no. Do not get everything!”Twenty minutes later, the table was filled with food of all sorts. Stacks of pancakes were in the middle, Loco Moco filled most of Harley’s side, while Peter stuck with some Kalua pork and more pancakes, this time with guava flavoring and quite possibly the best sauce either of them have ever tasted. It took them nearly an hour to make a dent in the mountain of food, even with Peter’s speedy metabolism, but it was more than okay to both of them. By the time half of the red velvet pancakes were gone, they both were stuffed. Eventually, the hefty bill was brought to them, to which Harley proudly handed Tony’s credit card back. Within minutes, they were back in the Jeep, feeling much more energized and excited for the day.The next stop was somewhat a drive away. The GPS was set for the windward side of the island, which so far was filled with tiny fruit stands, surf shops that looked like they were one hurricane away from destruction, and the most friendly people either of them could meet, which was a very welcomed change of pace as opposed to the New Yorkers that they were used to. Harley had pulled off to the side of the road only twenty minutes into their trip after Peter jokingly suggested that they needed to try coconut milk at least once on their journey. “Harley- what? No! I was kidding!” Peter called out the window of the jeep, already breaking down into giggles as he watched the blond march across the street to vender, which was guarded by a very buff Hawaiian man. If it weren’t for the man’s sudden smile, Peter would have been worried for Harley’s safety. Seconds later, he returned across the street with an armful of fresh fruit, two strange-looking saran-wrapped sushi things, and two coconuts with straws hanging out of them. “I got us some stuff for the trip,” he said triumphantly. He walked to the backseat and dumped the fruit on top of the blankets that were packed in, then motioned for Peter to come out of the car and join him. When they were both sitting on the hood of the car, Harley handed Peter a coconut and leaned his head on his shoulder. The sun was creating patterns on their legs because of the trees above them, which Peter started tracing over, causing Harley to laugh and squirm away with a squeak of “No fair, you know I’m ticklish!” Peter laughed and pulled his hand away in mock surrender, before looking down at the coconut in his hand. “So.. are you gonna drink yours first? Or me first? Or at the same time?” He asked, bringing his eyes up to meet Harley’s bright blue ones. God, the greenery around them and the sunlight above them truly did him some good. He looked absolutely breathtaking. Noticing his sudden staring, Harley ducked down and kissed him softly. Peter hummed a satisfied noise before pulling away. “Are you avoiding this?” He asked, raising an eyebrow before pointing down to the coconuts. “I don’t avoid anything,” Harley responded stubbornly, smirking and taking a long swig from the bright green straw. The reactions were almost immediate- coconut milk was being spat feet away from the Jeep, followed by a yelp of disgust, which leads to Peter nearly falling off the hood with laughter. “Do I-” the boy was cut off by his continuous laughter. “Are you still gonna make me drink mine?” “You think I’m gonna suffer alone?! Sugar, you’ve gotta down the whole thing for laughing at me like that!” Peter scoffed and shoved his boyfriend playfully. “You screamed! Like, full out screamed! Like, dropped your croissants screamed!” He responded, earning a glare, which was obviously covering a loving smile. “You drink it! See if you can not scream.” And so he did. Peter brought the identical bright green straw up to his lips and took a sip. What shocked him was the bitter-sweet taste that washed over his tongue. He turned to Harley, his brows drawing together as he took another drink. This was actually really good! “Was… was yours bad or something? Maybe the coconut rotted?” he suggested, glancing down at the other drink, mainly to dodge Harley’s confused, almost offended look. “No way. You like that? No way.” He picked up the younger boy’s drink and took a short sip, nearly gagging as soon as the liquid touched his taste buds. “Petey, I think your mouth is broken,” he stated, shaking his head as he thrust both coconuts back towards his boyfriend. Peter happily took them back, already sipping from one of the straws as Harley shook his head in mock disgust.The remainder of their morning consisted of a road trip to a secret beach Harley had found out about by talking with the Coconut Vendor Man, in which he had almost gotten them miserably lost (though, neither of them would have actually minded). The older boy was preoccupied with impressing his boyfriend with his singing to hear the GPS instructions to go left on the tiny dirt road that leads them off the highway, so they continued on. Peter was giggling loudly when Harley noticed a sign on the side of the road. “Heh.. Road work ahead? Uh, yeah. I sure hope it does,” he murmured, already giggling at his own joke as they sped on. “Harley, that says road closed ahead.” “Shit.” The car squealed to a stop as they saw said closed road, which leads to Harley showing off a very poorly executed three-point turnaround in the middle of the deserted highway. From there, they paid more attention to the voice of the GPS, which landed them in the most perfect little hide-a-way. They set up the blanket in a sandy grove, which was covered in small trees, just small enough to climb on and jump into the crystal clear water. The fruit they had collected earlier in the day sat with their sweatshirts, tank tops, and sandals under the trees until much later in the day, when they would wander up, soaking wet and cracking up laughing, to take a short refuel break. They continued their swimming, climbing, and fruit-eating routine until late into the night when the sun began to sink into the waves. Harley had built a small fire using dried out driftwood, which was what he claimed to be the one and only skill he retained from boy scouts back in elementary school before Tony adopted him. No matter where he had learned it from, Peter was simply astonished by his boyfriend’s ability. After the fire was settled, Harley opened his arms and invited Peter to come over and cuddle up in front of the newfound heat. The brunette was there without hesitation. The sun continued to set as Harley softly hummed country songs in Peter’s ears, pressing a soft kiss onto the curls on the back of his head every couple of verses. Peter’s dark eyes drifted shut as night surrounded them, the moment too relaxing for them to remain open. ‘I really could get used to this,’ he thought to himself, the combination of the fire and the waves and Harley’s sweet accent enough to slowly lull him into sleep. Only minutes later, the older boy carefully lifted him back into the car, where he wrapped the blanket gently around him and turned on his favorite album, before starting the long drive home. The windows were down as Harley got back to the hotel, letting the salty night time air mingle with Peter’s soft snoring and the echo of guitars from the radio. He looked over to his boyfriend in the passenger seat as he pulled into the driveway of their Airbnb, just taking in his messy brown hair peeking out from his own sweatshirt, the way his lips were slightly open as he slept, how peaceful his expression was, and he thought that he really might be in heaven.

[veridium]

that’s what you get

Oh boy. Oh dear. Well, we have made it to Part 14 of this wild ride, and I have realized that I am in deep, boys. I figure, what’s some more suffering to temper the sweetness with? So, here, a fresh serving of angst and emotions with a side of...sushi?

Thanks to @bitchesofostwick and her Ellinor for providing 99% of the fluff content in this episode because, poor Cass and Liv, it’s not in the cards this time...as you can tell by my selection of titles being a very particular Paramour song. 

Enjoy the somber pining, dears!

part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 // part 6 // part 7 // part 8 // part 9 // part 10 // part 11 // part 12 // part 13

-- -- -- -- -- 

Fridays are pains. Three classes, work, among other things -- they always feel like the final, difficult hurdle before the weekend rolls around. It helps to run into Ellinor in the dorm bathroom to brush teeth and dance around in pajamas until they feel some semblance of happiness. Alas, when Olivia stumbles in her black satin pajamas and finds no one there standing like George Michael from Arrested Development with a toothbrush in her mouth, it’s rather odd.

She looks at her phone. No messages -- no “got back safe” specifically. Oh no, is this when she has to turn into the woman from Kill Bill because someone snatched her best friend in the dark of the night?

-- Hey!! You make it back??? Why aren’t you up?

Ellinor: I’m good! Don’t go bananas.  

-- What?? What’s going on?

✓ Read 8:03am

She tosses the phone on the shelf below the row of mirrors and slips some Crest paste on her toothbrush. While she gets busy, Ellinor finally responds:

Ellinor: I got caught up at Cullen’s. Stayed the night instead of walked back. It was a long movie.

Bitch. Olivia nearly chokes on her spit and toothpaste build-up in her throat. No fucking way did she just get ‘caught up’ in a late movie. Ellinor was not a lingering sort of girl. She got in, got out, clean hands and all. Deliberate was her middle name.

-- OMG. YOU FOUND OUT HOW MANY LICKS IT TOOK TO GET TO THE CENTER OF HIS TOOTSIE POP DIDN’T YOU?!

Ellinor: I hate you

-- YOU DIIDDDDDD OH MY GOD

Ellinor: I DID NOT OKAY HE LET ME STAY OVER THAT IS ALL

Ellinor: goodbye, blocked

She does a little happy dance on her toes, her brush sticking out of her cheek. Finally! Now everything is getting good. Cullen will start coming around, and he won’t sulk so much. Ellinor will get some action -- some good, honest, emotionally fulfilled action -- and all will be well.

She finishes up with her preliminary morning hygiene and walks back into the hall. Her stomach tenses still as she remembers the flyer on her door, but to her pleasant surprise there’s nothing waiting for her – just her RA-crafted door decorations and a small collage of music lyrics made during a Hall social.

The day continues without a hitch, well, except for a rather hilarious texting conversation with the woman who said she would block her but hours earlier. Leaving class, she finds this hilarious string of texts for her to read:

Ellinor: omg he brought me coffee, but I already bought my own!! shit fuck what do I do

Ellinor: GOD IM SUCH A DUMBASS

Ellinor: it’s all good I did a lap around the first floor and chugged it. I’m good. This is fine.

Olivia smirks to herself walking down the stairs in her boot heels, and types back a kind response:

-- Man, you’re going to have a great time in the bathroom today aren’t you?

Ellinor: I plead the fifth.

She gets through all three classes and her work shift at the University Rec building teaching her midday barre classes. Amidst the many talents her parents groomed her for, dance was one of the very select few that stuck -- and fortunately for her, landed a good job once she got to college. The staff are all cool, with the exception of a few quirky, type A ballet divas.

A couple classes to teach, a shower in the locker rooms, and she’s out the door and back to her dorm. She doesn’t plan on seeing Ellinor when she stops in to get ready for her TA work session with Cassandra. She gets through flat ironing her hair to at least look semi-presentable, a fresh light face of makeup. For her outfit, she selects black yoga tights and a black bando with a see-through chiffon collared sleeveless shirt of the same color. No jewelry, no pomp. The last touch is slip-on sneakers.

By the time she’s putting her hair up in a ponytail, it’s 5:15pm. She’s been a bit eager to prepare for this. A thought occurs to her: it’s Friday evening. Dinner time. Why not do something kind of...nice? She jumps up and grabs her car keys, her backpack of work to do, phone, and wallet, throwing it all into her shoulder bag and heading out.

She drives to the nearest Safeway and picks up a couple plates of their pre-made deli sushi. When she’s at the checkout line she does that Mom thing and sets her bag on the counter to find her debit card. As she scrambles, though, she finds that there’s something missing from its contents that she had taken for granted was there. The flyer. No sign of it, as if it grew legs and escaped. Fuck.

The checkout staffer is looking at her like she’s gone rich girl bonkers, so she pulls out her plastic money and gets it over with. Where could it have gone? She gets in her car, and before she leaves the store parking lot, makes sure to cover her bases.

-- Hey, did you keep the flyer?

-- Ellinor: Nope. Gave it back.

She checks her time, and it’s 5:45. To her credit, Safeway is only a couple stoplights from campus. She might be a bit late, but not offensively so.

Henderson Hall is in fact to the left of quad. Trust issues blocked on that one. As she walks up the steps through the archway entrance, she can’t help but wonder if Cassandra is going to be there. She had not texted her all day, which, in their short time as friends was a custom. Cassandra was attentive to plans.

10E is on the ground floor, so it’s a matter of picking the right direction and following the wall signs down into a bundle of offices. Dimly lit in some spots (Friday night of course) but, one room bright as can be through the doorway facing her as she rounds the corner. She peaks in, leaning against the wall a bit where a sign says “TA Work Room.” It’s a somewhat large room, with two windows on the opposite wall and a small, brown love-seat down between them. On the right wall, shelves of books and small succulent plants.

Then, a desk with a desktop computer and a dark red vase on the corner full of...flowers? Cassandra, though. She’s there. And when it’s realized she is there, Olivia only has eyes for her.

“Hey…” she says, as if she has a secret to tell.

Cassandra looks up, having reclined back in her seat with her legs crossed, a paper in her lap that she had been reading. “Hey!” her eyes go bright and she straightens up. “I thought you got lost, or something. I was about to text you.”

“Nah,” Olivia giggles nervously. She steps into full view of the open doorway, bags in both hands. “I was just weighed down by precious cargo.”

Cassandra’s eyes bounce between both arms of stuff, but she lingers on the white Safeway bag. “Oh?”

“Yeah! I thought...well, I was just in town and I picked up some rations to sustain us as we survive the trenches.” She comes forward and sets her stuff down on a neighboring desk that is smaller and without a computer. She efficiently pulls out the four sushi plates and sets them in a line.

“I didn’t know if you liked sushi. If you don’t, I’ll happily eat it all.” She glances over at her with a cheerful smile, trying her best. But Cassandra looks uneasy for some reason. Going for broke on the charm, Olivia pivots on her dancer toes and tosses her some chopsticks -- another sudden throw that Cassandra catches successfully.

“So, take your pick. Spicy tuna, California roll, or Dragon roll…”

Cassandra grins politely, breaking the nervous facade. “Uh, Dragon, please.”

“Hm!” Olivia lifts a teasing brow, “Noted for future reference.” She grabs and hands her the plastic carton, the soy sauce bags sliding in the box as Cassandra takes it from her. Nothing. Just...manners.

“Thank you,” Cassandra says lastly, setting off the stack of midterms to the side. “You can use that desk, if you want. I can get you a chair from the lounge--”

“Oh, no, don’t worry, I got it,” Olivia shrugs. She’s busy arranging her stuff around, pulling out the folders of bibliographies she’ll have to sort through and pick apart like a demon. “You’re all settled in, anyways.”

“No, it’s fine, I insist.” Cassandra gets up, as if commanded like a SIMS character, and rushes out into the hall. Olivia freezes and watches her go, the light breeze she generates carrying through the fly-away strands of her hair. Geez, okay, fine. Revive chivalry single-handedly then. When she returns, it’s not with a folding chair or one of the generic sitting ones on campus, it’s a whole computer chair, complete with rolling wheels and comfortable arm rests. It looks almost better than the one she has, and as she sets it down without breaking a sweat, it makes Olivia’s temporary desk look puny almost.

“...Thanks,” Olivia mutters with a second smile. “I feel like I should have a seat belt come with it.”

Cassandra chuckles -- but it isn’t her chuckle. It’s an anxious one, the kind Olivia gives at everything. She can spot it in another person a mile away. But, as they both sit down, she doesn’t bother to ask why.

Eating the first bites of sushi, her eyes go from her paper stacks to Cassandra’s quiet eating face so much it almost makes her dizzy.  “You tired?” she broaches, ripping open another soy sauce packet for her California roll.

Cassandra shakes her shoulder as she’s mid-bite. “Yeah, a bit. I had class, and my volunteer hours at the YMCA. You?” Shit, that’s right. She volunteers teaching sports and tutoring. Stop being perfect.

“Yeah. I taught dance today...classes...nothing out of the ordinary, though.”

Cassandra looks up, and her response is immediate. “Nothing? You sure?”

Olivia almost flinches from the sudden shift in focus, and she sits up. “...Yeah…”

“You are absolutely certain?”

Olivia’s brow goes low, and she sets her chopstick hand down on the table. “Is this where you tell me I’m in that movie 50 First Dates and you’ve been having me bring you sushi every day for years?”

Cassandra purses her lips and looks down, a hint of blush in her cheeks. She then keeps eating, like the conversation suddenly doesn’t matter. Olivia wants to damn-near pick a fight, if it means getting responses and energy out of her. Exam grading or not, she’s acting funny. There’s no subtle confidence, no consideration and insightful look in her.

A couple hours pass, and the sushi has long-been eaten and tossed back in the bag it all came in. Olivia has gotten her elbows in deep with grading, about 1/2 of the way done with bibliographies. They are understandably messy and riddled with errors, of which she outlines every single one with blue pen -- a more relaxing color than the quintessential red. Cassandra is hard at work too, as is her style. She’s returned to sitting back in her chair with her legs crossed, paper in one hand and pen in the other, which she is clicking with her thumb every minute or two. At times, Olivia feels eyes on her, but she keeps focused. If Cassandra wants to say something, she says it.

At almost 8:30pm Olivia’s phone dings, and she glances over. She sees Ellinor’s name, but before she can read the message, Cassandra speaks.

“Olivia, I…”

She perks up. “Yeah?”

Cassandra is locked on her, end of her pen held close to her mouth. It almost takes what little breath she has away, the smartness of her. Her dark blue, long-sleeve sweater french-tucked into her black jeans with a slim belt on. Her somewhat narrow but toned shoulders hunched up a bit against the chair. Her tucked chin, emphasizing her keen but slightly-softened stare.

“...W-What’s up?” she looks from side-to-side, like a trap door is about to go off.

“I…” Cassandra pulls the staples pages back in order on the paper she’s on and tosses it onto the table. “I was wondering if...you were planning on telling me anything. Anything important.”

“Uh...no.”

“See…” Cassandra clicks her pen a couple times, her hands going to her lap, “I disagree.”

“You disagree?” Olivia sits back in her chair, elbows going to her armrests. “What does that mean?”

“It means I think you do have something to tell me. Or rather, should.”

“You’re right.”

Cassandra blinks, her face one of ‘oh, it was that easy?’ but things are never that easy with Olivia. She should know better than most anyone.

“Yeah. I lied when I said I preferred twizzlers. Red vines are better. I just didn’t want to partake in the discourse.”

Cassandra lays her head back, her eyes going up to the ceiling as she huffs out her nose. “Ugh, good God, I mean the flyer. The Church flyer with the writing on it!”

Olivia drops her pen and rolls back from the desk. Her vision blurs for a minute as she looks to the ground. It’s her worst nightmare realized: now it’s going to be a thing, a thing she can’t just control all by herself.

“Oh. That flyer,” she mutters, pulling her knees into her lap as she rolls her chair around to face her.  “H-how did you find out?”

Cassandra sighs, rubbing the side of her head. Giving into the talk, she sets her own pen down, and stands up to go to the door. She shuts it quietly, as if anyone would be lurking around the office at 8:30pm hoping to pick up on this sweet gossip. She comes back to her seat and leans forward onto her desk with her forearms.  

“Cullen. Apparently, you had dropped it in the library when you ran into him. He found it on the floor after you had left. He thought you’d be planning on saying something anyways.”

Cullen. That Golden Retriever-looking, best-intentions-having, Sulky-dude-bro-when-he’s-hammered, nice-guy-who-tries, shagging-her-best-friend son of a--

“Right.” She chews down on the inside of her cheek and rubs the rim of her mouth with her hands.

“I waited...for you to tell me on your own. I didn’t want it to be like this, but you seem to have had no plan to tell me even though it clearly has something to do wi--”

“With what, Cassandra?” she bites back, looking up and locking an acidic stare with her compassionate one. Silence. Awkward silence.

“...With me. I was going to say with me.” She goes sort of breathless at the end, but it’s too soft and fleeting for Olivia to care.

“That’s bold of you to assume. You clearly don’t know anything about what I’ve been through when it comes to bullying on account of my explicit behaviors.” She squirms a bit in her chair and holds her knees tighter against her chest.

“Whose fault is that? Agh,” Cassandra says bluntly while watching her, “you really should file a report. There are conduct rules for a reason, and this is at the very least sexual harassment. I looked it--”

“You looked it up?!” Olivia’s eyes go wide. “Jesus, why don’t you just file it for me then, since you seem to have it all figured out! Waiting for me to tell you, what the fuck, am I twelve or something?” She jumps up from her chair, no longer satisfied with being her equal. She goes for the couch, taking her phone with her as she lands on the corner cushion, tucking one leg under her.

“I was just--” Cassandra tries to respond before Olivia makes her move but is cut off. When Olivia sits, she resumes. “I was just trying to help. You shouldn’t have to fear going to your dorm at the end of the day or walking to classes.”

“Who says I fear any of those things?”

“So, you’re saying you are completely unmoved by this? That you see no problem with people calling you something so horrible?”

Olivia’s sharp mind goes into full debate mode. “There’s nothing wrong with being a slut, Cassandra, if it is someone’s choice to identify as such. The people who do shit like this prefer it to not be that way, so they can use it against people as an exertion of power.”

Cassandra’s eyes go a bit cold, but she remains partial to Olivia’s struggle. Clumsy, but partial. “Is...is that how you want to be treated, by a complete stranger just…invading your privacy? Olivia…” she then stands up and comes over to the couch, sitting a foot away from her. Her knees are parted broadly, but straight. Straight, straight, straight.

“What?” Olivia mumbles back, rubbing her face with her hands. “I’m not going to make this a big deal. Nothing’s happened since. It was probably just someone having a wild thought to do something horrible. That happens every day, right?”

Cassandra’s brows push together. “I’d really prefer if you told someone. For your safety.”

Olivia shakes her head. “My safety? You know what gets me about this? That you likely know who did this...or rub elbows with them. That you probably see them and talk to them in passing on Sunday and yet you think I should alert the authorities because I’m unsafe. What is that supposed to tell me of the company you keep?” She talks a big talk, but she doesn’t look at her. She keeps her gaze on her own lap, and lets the silence take hold. Then, out of nowhere, the confidence she is so tempted by returns in a cool, flat voice:

“Do you honestly think if I had any inkling as to who, I would just sit by and let you fend for yourself like I have no responsibility at all in this?” She’s outraged and foreboding in her temper. God only knows what she looked like when Cullen handed her the paper. Olivia only has the bravery to stare back at her and is humbled by the intensity. “I only hope that...that despite this...”

“What?” Olivia replies softly, but in vain. Cassandra merely sucks on her teeth. 

“Do you...” she says after a pause, “regret coming to the Church to see me?” It is a subtly heartbreaking question coming from her.

Olivia rolls around and sits with her knees bunched up again like they were in her chair, with her lower back against the side of the love seat arm rest. “I don’t. Do you regret inviting me?

Cassandra doesn’t waste a moment, before she peers at her, chin raised. “Absolutely not.”

“I do have a regret about how I acted there, though.” Up against a proverbial wall.

Cassandra’s eyes narrow a bit uneven, her head tilted. “What? How so?”

“I...” Suddenly, an impulse bares down on her, and she scoots up onto her folded knees. In a push of inertia she resolves distance between them but stops, sitting at her side, knees against the side of her thigh. 

Cassandra’s eyes go wide, but not too wide. Not surprised, but on notice. When Olivia gets that far with no objection she isn’t quite sure what to do. That’s the thing about impulses -- they didn’t come with a manual. But she wings it some more, and starts slowly leaning her face into hers. She reaches a hand and presses her palm gently against Cassandra’s cheek, guiding her to look at her head on as she closes in. She gets so close that when Cassandra’s lips part she can feel the edges of her warm breath. The brightness of the fluorescent office lighting goes dim and fades away, and Olivia’s heart is beating out of her chest. She wants that sign so bad, she wants something -- anything to give her vindication for wanting to hold onto her so closely despite all the writing on the wall telling her they’re mismatched. Cassandra’s lids flutter down, and she is frozen in place like a statue. 

Then, a hand. A hand on Olivia’s shoulder, stopping her advance with care. Olivia opens her eyes fully, and looks into hers. Seeing the shade of them, she falls back onto her folded legs.

“Olivia, I...”

“You...you don’t...”

Cassandra’s mouth opens, and she frowns, taking her hand away. “It’s not... It’s...complicated. I can ex--”

“Complicated.”

“...Yes. But...look, I’m not that good with words. But I can explain. I just...I want...”  She exhales with tension breaking her tone, her posture stiffening.

It’s no longer just Olivia’s worst nightmare realized. It’s her worst nightmare, having a worst nightmare. 

“I...I gotta go.” If she doesn’t get out of that room in a minute she’s going to crawl out of her skin. She slides herself off the couch and walks back to her work, getting to it fast with the clean-up. She tries her best not to care what Cassandra does in the meantime. If she can get out fast, it won’t sink in under her skin, like everything else Her looks, her grin, the smell of Old Spice Wolfthorn she swears is there but can’t ever bring herself to decide.

“Wait.” She glances, and sees that Cassandra stood up, but hasn’t moved from her spot otherwise.

“No. I said I couldn’t stay long. I really...I should have left a bit earlier. I have a thing…”

“You...are you--”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she shoves folders into her bag, zipping everything up with rigor. She slings the backpack on her shoulder and takes her other into her hand, grabbing for the Safeway plastic to dump out on the way. She turns around and stops, her mouth open, but no words. Cassandra has drawn closer, standing only a couple feet away now.

“Liv, I’m sorry.” Liv. She hardly ever uses her nickname. It’s always a polite, slightly formal ‘Olivia,’ even though she has made it clear time and time again ‘Liv’ is perfectly alright. Only now does she use it, and it hurts a bit. She really cares.

Olivia grins crookedly, and it pains her to do so. “No, it’s...it’s fine. I’m not mad.”

Cassandra’s expression says stop lying to me, please, but her mouth says the opposite. It gnaws at her heart. “Do...do you want me to walk you back?”

“I’ll be alright. It’s only a few minutes’ walk. Look, maybe we should, you know, take a breather. From hanging out, I mean. Just for a while. I feel like...like it’s just...” like I don’t know what you want from me.

Cassandra’s eyes narrow, in that sad kind of creasing way, and she frowns. That frown. “No, I understand. It is a busy time of the semester for me, anyway. I won’t be available much, and I don’t think you’ll be, either. Maybe, given what’s happened, it would be best for you.”

“...Yeah.” Olivia could have a whole ledger of things that people had said were ‘best for her’ over the course of her short life. But when Cassandra says it, all she can think is that being distanced from her felt like the antithesis of ‘best.’

There could be more words, but there aren’t. Cassandra nods, her hands together in front of her waist. She’s pressing on the skin above her thumb, on the side of her palm. She does that other times, and Olivia’s seen it. But only now does she see it’s a thing she does when things aren’t going well. She smiles and says thanks and heads out. The whole way her feet feel like bricks are tethered Even when she gets into her dorm, messes with keys and gets herself into her room. Turn back, go back, do it.

After dumping everything on the floor, she takes off her shirt and wipes off her makeup, before jumping on her bed to lay flat on her back. A few minutes of anxious staring up at the popcorn ceiling, and the demand to go back calms down.

Like an old, thoughtless habit already built in her psyche, she checks her phone for a ‘hope you got back safe, have a good night’ kind of message, but there’s nothing. Ironically, she wishes there is. The last messages on their thread are about the song recommendation. Fine, fuck, what could it hurt? What’s it gonna be, something about life lessons?

She pulls up her Spotify and finds her headphones -- a habit that’s foolish since she’s in her room all alone, but after the argument she instinctively clings to privacy. The song starts out with a slight upbeat rhythm, completely benign-sounding. But, then...she really listens, and the chorus hits --

If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently

Don't pretend that you don't want me

Our love ain't water under the bridge...

Nearing the end of the song she had preemptively mocked in her thoughts, her emotions she had done such a great job of suppressing are bursting at the seams. She goes from sprawled to curled in the fetal position in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t a clean escape.

But they are friends. It’s cut and dry. She should have seen this all coming. Girls like Cassandra and girls like her don’t do well together. Nothing about them says “promising,” just…just…

Knock, knock, knock.

“Olivia! You in? How was it?!”

It’s Ellinor. For some reason it only breaks Olivia’s heart more. She drags herself up off her blankets and to the door. Opening it and seeing her friend, in jeans and an old t-shirt, beautifully hardcore as ever, she sees that for all that Ellinor has to glow about, she, herself cannot relate.

“There you are! I want details, woman! And--”

Olivia can’t hold it back any longer. She bursts into tears, holding her phone to her mouth. Her headphones are still in, but the music has stopped playing.

“Shit, what happened?!” Ellinor’s face drops, and she holds her arms out. Olivia only shakes her head and steps into her embrace, pressing her head into her shoulder. Ellinor grabs her phone from her and checks the screen.

“I’m gonna kill her if she--Oh dear God, Adele?! Olivia, what have we discussed about listening to Adele so close to our cycles?!” she says as she holds her.

Olivia cries harder, her voice shrill but muffled into her shirt.”I-I fucked u-up...”

“Okay! Okay,” Ellinor responds quickly, “uh, okay, let’s...let’s finish that ice cream you have, alright?”

[iffeelscouldkill]

Good For Morale

After three and a half weeks of working on this fic and countless distractions, revisions and moments where I had to bribe myself into working on it, it’s finally finished! Here is my longest TSCOSI fic to date, and it’s all about Sana Tripathi. I love that woman.

Of course because I’m me, there’s bonus Arkady/Violet and a bit of Brian/Krejjh, but mostly it’s wall-to-wall Sana Feels and my attempts to get inside her head, understand her character and play out her relationship with Campbell. I really dig their flirty chemistry, and I’m excited to see what their relationship becomes in the podcast :D

This is set post-episode 9, and contains my very vague and bad guesses about things that could happen in episode 10. I look forward to finding out how wrong I am!

Summary: After a daring escape from the IGR, the crew of the Rumor is en route to Telemachus. Sana is preoccupied over an impending reconciliation with Campbell, trying to navigate their suddenly strained relationship, and understand her own feelings towards her old friend.

It would help if she could stop walking in on her crewmates making use of the hammock in the mess hall.

Read on AO3

It wasn’t uncommon on the Rumor to run into Brian and Krejjh being cuddly and sickeningly cute in any given part of the ship.

They spent most of their time either up in the cockpit or in their shared room, but Sana had stumbled across them in the kitchen, the engine room, the medical closet – even her own room during one infamous incident where Brian and Krejjh’s bunk was being fumigated for asteroid ticks. (Brian had apologised profusely for that one).

It wasn’t that they were into public displays of affection so much as they just couldn’t seem to help themselves, thought Sana wryly. And now they were occupying the makeshift hammock she’d constructed out of safety harnesses and string in the middle of the mess hall.

Good for morale, indeed. It wasn’t like she’d ever walked on them doing anything more than PG-rated (not like that time with Arkady’s one-night-stand on Telemachus - god, they were drunk that night), it was just – a little distracting sometimes. Especially at 6 o’clock in the morning, ship’s time, when she’d rather been hoping to eat her breakfast in peace. Sana stood there for a moment, holding her steaming bowl of congee (real congee, not the stuff from the depths of the store cupboard that Arkady sometimes tried to pass off as congee), and settled on a cheerful, “Morning, guys.” One of Krejjh’s pairs of eyes flicked towards her, and they nudged Brian to get his attention. Brian broke away from Krejjh and looked up at Sana, smiling. “Oh, hey, Captain. Didn’t expect to see you up so early.”

“I could say the same about you both,” Sana pointed out. Brian gave his signature loose shrug and a genial smile. “Krejjh’s shift just ended and I was nappin’ in the cockpit, so we both decided to come down here for a change of scene.” “This hammock really does hold weight a lot better than I would’ve expected, all things considered,” Krejjh added brightly. “The more you know!” “That is good to know,” Sana agreed dryly. “Anyway – we’ll leave to your breakfast,” Brian said, hopping up and holding out his hand to Krejjh to help them up. “Aww, but I was comfortable.” Pouting, Krejjh allowed themself to be hauled out of the hammock, keeping their hand intertwined with Brian’s as the two of them left the mess. “See you later, Cap’n!” As the door slid shut behind them, Sana looked thoughtfully at the hammock. After a moment’s indecision, she smiled to herself and sat down, then swivelled to the side and attempted to swing her legs up into the hammock. It was at that moment that the (very hot!) bowl of congee she’d balanced on her lap slid perilously and threatened to spill all over her legs – reminding Sana why she’d stopped using the hammock in the first place.

The second time it happened was only a week later. This time, it was Sana who’d been needing a change of scene. She’d been more or less cooped up in her room since they’d returned from the supply run on Thalassa. Her isolation wasn’t deliberate; she’d just been trying to prepare herself for– well. Anyway, she’d gone down to the kitchen and raided what was left of those “strange flavor” Chinese snacks Violet had bought to see what they tasted like (the rest of the crew hated them, but Sana kind of liked them) and wandered into the mess to find– It was Violet and Arkady this time, Arkady lying in the hammock with Violet propping herself up on her hands above her. She was giggling, and Arkady was looking up at her with an expression that Sana had never seen on her best friend’s face before. It was fierce, loving, and protective all at once; there was a sort of longing there, but also a having, and a wonder at the place she’d found herself, all at the same time. Sana thought that it must be what coming home looked like. The sight caused an unexpected stab of loneliness to run through her. She was beyond thrilled for her best friend, really – it was about damn time that Arkady had got her ass in gear and acted on her very obvious feelings for their resident Science Officer. The entire crew had cheered when Violet grabbed Arkady and kissed her during the Rumor’s break-neck escape from New Jupiter and the IGR. Sana was pretty sure she’d cheered loudest of all. But… It was one thing to see (and hear) Brian and Krejjh acting coupley around the ship and know that she could still knock on Arkady’s door in the dead of night sometimes and complain about the futility of romantic relationships, or get a little drunk and confess to her best friend that she was afraid of being alone, and have the two of them make a pact that they would always be there for each other. It was another thing to be reminded that she was the only one on the ship that hadn’t found someone. She began backing out of the room, but Violet must have caught the movement on the periphery of her vision. She looked up, and blushed bright red as she realised that they had an audience. “Oh! S-Sana, hi!” Arkady twisted around underneath Violet and attempted a wave, completely unselfconscious. “Hey, Captain. Look, we’re using the hammock! I can feel my morale improving already.” “Right,” said Sana distantly. She knew she sounded strained, but couldn’t quite figure out how to make her voice… not be. “That’s good. Don’t let me interrupt.” She turned and left the mess hall.

Arkady watched Sana leave, then turned to frown at Violet. “What was that about?” Violet sat back on her heels, looking concerned. “Sana has been really withdrawn lately. I feel like I’ve hardly seen her since we left Thalassa. Has she spoken to you?” Arkady shrugged as best she could in her horizontal position. “Not really.” She mentally reviewed the last several days – and then remembered the cargo that they’d picked up on Nereid.

“Oh, right. We’re due to call on Campbell in Telemachus, and it’s gonna be the first time that Sana has seen him since we skipped out on our stop to go rescue you, and then, y’know... accused him of double-crossing us. I guarantee she’s stressing about it.” “Crap,” said Violet, and Arkady fought off a smile at Violet’s mild curse words. Then again, she’d also heard her curse fluently and extremely impressively in Mandarin when Arkady came in bleeding from a gunshot wound to the side, so she supposed it was all relative. “But surely he gets it, I mean – our lives were under threat. There was no possible way to know who was after us. And Sana was just trying to protect her crew.” “Yeah, but you know Sana,” Arkady said wryly. “She takes this stuff to heart. And she and Campbell, well… they go pretty far back.” Violet nodded, biting her lip. Her mouth was red and tempting, and Arkady would have loved to wrap the intimate moment back around them and carry on, but she couldn’t leave Sana to get lost in her own head and overblown sense of responsibility. “I should go after her,” she said regretfully. “Not to ditch ya right in the middle, but...” “No, it’s fine, this is important. You should go and talk to Sana,” said Violet. She leaned down to press a quick kiss to Arkady’s mouth. “I’m not going anywhere.”

How the hell did I get so lucky? Arkady wondered, staring up at Violet. It was only when Violet asked, “What?”, her cheeks growing pink again, that she realised she’d been gazing in silence for about a minute with a dopey smile growing on her face.

“Nothing,” said Arkady hastily, scrambling out from under Violet and hopping to her feet. “Wish me luck – I’m about to go and talk about feelings.”

“You’ll live,” Violet told her drily.

Sana had only been sitting down on her bunk for a few moments when her door slid open to admit Arkady. She looked up in surprise.

“Arkady,” she said, frowning slightly. “Look, you didn’t need to come after me, Violet-”

“Is this about Campbell?” Arkady asked, wasting no time in getting to the point.

“Is what about Campbell?” Sana asked. She knew better than to play dumb with her best friend, but to have answered Arkady’s question with anything else felt like too much of an admission. That she was more preoccupied than she’d been letting on.

“You barely leaving your room, acting closed off, freaking out when you walked in on Violet and me just now. Given that you’ve walked in on me in way more compromising positions-” Arkady smirked at the memory, “I figured something else was bothering you. And we’re due to land on Telemachus in just a few days.”

Sana sighed. “Yeah, it’s been on my mind.”

“Look,” said Arkady, sitting down next to Sana. “You were doing what you thought was best for your crew. We had no other suspects! We sure as hell weren’t going to jump to ‘invisible robots in the air’ as the obvious source of our leak. Sometimes you just have to make a call – Campbell of all people should understand that. If he doesn’t, fuck ‘im. We can find other contacts.”

“I know,” said Sana. “I’m not second-guessing my decision; I know it was the right one. But Campbell isn’t just another customer. I want to fix things with him. I’m just not sure how.”

“He agreed to take our cargo from Nereid, though, right? Was he hostile when you spoke to him?”

“Not exactly.” Sana thought back to the short conversation that she’d had with Campbell not long after their flight from the IGR.

“Computer. Outside call. Sana Tripathi to Ignatius Campbell.”

“Attempting connection!” chirped ELLA, and this time, Sana just about suppressed her flinch at hearing Emily Craddock’s voice coming out of her computer. It was going to take her a little while to stop associating it with everything that had happened.

“Sana.” Campbell picked up immediately. Sana had timed the call for late evening on Telemachus, when she’d known Campbell would be available, but she was still gratified and a little relieved. “What’s happening? I heard about what happened on New Jupiter. Are you safe? Is your crew safe?”

“We’re all fine, Campbell,” Sana replied. She tried to keep the weariness from her voice, but didn’t think she’d succeeded. After a moment, she admitted, “Just tired.”

“I’m… glad to hear that,” said Campbell slowly, and there it was – the awkwardness she’d expected. Sana held back a sigh, and tried to think of what else to say. Campbell beat her to it.

“You know, you could have called. If you’d needed… anything. A hiding place. Somewhere to rest. Supplies. I… I know I said that there wasn’t much point in us talking – I said that in the heat of the moment. But you should know that you can always call.”

“I do know,” Sana told him. She might have felt uneasy about having accused Campbell of double-crossing them, but she still knew that if they’d needed a friend, or someplace to lie low, Campbell would have come through for them. “It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Campbell – but it wasn’t safe. We were on the run, and the last thing I wanted was to lead the IGR to your door.”

“Oh,” said Campbell, in a tone that Sana couldn’t identify. “I see.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you,” Sana emphasised again, because she felt that it was worth repeating. “I knew… I know that you didn’t sell us out to the IGR.”

Campbell was silent for a little while, and Sana wished that she could see his expression. Most state-of-the-art intergalactic comm systems had holotech that would allow you to view the person on the other end, but nothing about the Rumor was state-of-the-art. It hadn’t seemed like a function worth splurging on, especially as they preferred for many of their contacts not to be able to identify them.

“Okay,” Campbell said eventually. “I appreciate that. Did you manage to find the source of your leak?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it was… unexpected,” said Sana. “It’s kind of a long story to explain over a call, but… I could tell it to you in person.”

There was another pause. “Are you guys near Telemachus?”

“We’re actually just about to call in on a contact in Nereid,” said Sana. “They’ve got some cargo that I think you might be interested in.”

“Oh,” said Campbell again, a flat note in his voice. “So, this is a business call.”

“I was hoping it could be a catch-up between old friends,” Sana said cautiously.

Campbell said nothing, and Sana began to wonder if their relationship really was beyond repair. It hurt that something like this could have come between them; when you were a group of smugglers on the wrong side of the law, true friends were few and far between, but she’d never hesitated to count Campbell as one of them. He was allowed to call her Sana; most of their contacts would have been swiftly excommunicated if they’d tried. (She still called him Campbell, despite his insistences, but that was one of those friendly-banter parts of their relationship that she’d always enjoyed, and she thought he did too).

She’d met his family, and the nephews he adored; he’d met her crew. But maybe none of that mattered as much as she’d thought.

She resisted the urge to prompt Campbell or check whether the connection was still active. Finally, Campbell said, “Nereid isn’t exactly in the neighbourhood. You’d have a pretty long trek to get out here.”

Sana stiffened. “If you’d rather we didn’t make the trip-”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Campbell cut in quickly. “But you’d be going pretty far out of your way just to call in on little ol’ me. What’s the cargo?”

“Four cases of Nereien chocolates,” said Sana. “I got them at a pretty good rate.”

“Those are my favourites,” Campbell said, and she could hear the surprise in his voice. “They’re rare, too.”

“Call it a peace offering,” Sana replied.

“You don’t need to make peace with me, Sana,” said Campbell. “You never did.”

This time, it was Sana’s turn to say nothing. After a few moments, Campbell said, “Call me when you’re on the approach, and I’ll come meet you at the landing site.”

“I…” Sana had been about to say, ‘I’ll look forward to it,’ but she wasn’t sure how it would be received. She settled for, “Thank you, Campbell. I’ll be in touch. Sana Tripathy out.”

“It was hard for me to get a read on him,” Sana told Arkady. “There were a lot of awkward silences, and… I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He told me before that he wasn’t angry at me, and I believe him, but he seemed… disappointed, maybe? Or, not disappointed, but… like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I guess I can’t blame him.”

Arkady’s mouth twisted, but she said, “Honestly, I think you’re over-thinking this, Sana. If he says he’s not angry, and he’s still willing to trade with us, then what’s the issue? Things are bound to be kind of awkward, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything else going on here. You guys can clear the air in person once we land on Telemachus.”

Sana sighed. “Yeah, I know. It’s just-” She hesitated, and then forged ahead with the other thing that had been bothering her. “Remember how you said that Campbell seemed friendlier than usual, when we called him to ask for new IDs? Almost like he was… hitting on me?”

“Yeah,” said Arkady with a smirk. It faded as she put two and two together. “It seemed suspicious, combined with the fact that we didn’t know who our leak was – evidence pointed to Campbell being the source. But if he wasn’t, then…”

“Then I guess he was just… hitting on me?” Sana said uncertainly. “And I don’t really know what to make of that. You’ve always teased me about how friendly we are, about how one day I’ll ‘ride off into the sunset to grow tomatoes with Campbell’-”

“Okay, I said that one time,” said Arkady. “But in general – yeah. You guys are close. Closer than the rest of us. I’m friendly with him, and he and Krejjh have that weird spicy-food rapport, but that’s all through you. You guys are the ones who have the… connection. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t have gotten half the discounts that we did over the years if it wasn’t for you.”

“So… What do you think I should do about it?”

Arkady laughed. “The hell if I know! Shit, Sana, you remember who you’re talking to, right? Arkady ‘one night and run’ Patel? I have no idea how Violet and I are even still together.”

Sana laughed as well, and felt the knot that had settled in her chest after she’d walked in on Arkady and Violet finally begin to ease. She’s still your best friend, she thought. She’s still Arkady. She hasn’t left you.

“Don’t do yourself down,” she told Arkady. “You and Violet are great together. I know you guys will make it work.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” said Arkady drily, and Sana knew that this was her way of deflecting the conversation away from a route she wasn’t yet ready to go down. “But, back to you and Campbell.”

Sana sighed. “It’s probably a moot point, anyway. Even if he was, well, flirting with me… I’ve probably messed it all up. Nothing kills a potential romance like accusing the other person of collaborating with the IGR.”

“So, uh,” Arkady shifted uncomfortably, which Sana knew was a sign of her gearing herself up to tackle Feelings. “Is this a potential… romance? Or… was it?”

“Maybe?” Sana admitted, shrugging. She could feel herself blushing slightly. “I mean, it’s Campbell. You joking about us settling down always seemed like… a joke. But he’s – funny, and sweet, and the world’s most devoted uncle. And he’s never let us down. I didn’t think he’d sold us out because I didn’t trust him, I thought it because I know what horrors the IGR is capable of.”

“I thought it because human beings are assholes,” muttered Arkady. Sana raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay, not the point, I know. Look-” She shifted uncomfortably again, like she was sitting on hot nails, with a pained grimace to match. “If things go… well… with Campbell, and he doesn’t hate you – which I bet you now that he won’t, because it’s you – then you can decide what to do from there. Maybe try just… asking him out to dinner?”

“Ah, romantic tandem eating,” Sana joked. “What could go wrong?”

“Hey, at least Campbell’s not a Dwarnian,” said Arkady in amusement. “He’s not gonna go inviting the rest of the crew.”

“God, it’s a miracle those two ever got it together,” Sana said fondly, enjoying the temporary change of subject. “You might think you’re bad at giving love advice, but I guarantee that you’re better at it than Krejjh.”

She expected Arkady to laugh, but instead she looked thoughtful. “I think you’d be surprised, actually,” she said, but refused to elaborate, no matter how much Sana needled her.

True to his word, Campbell was there waiting for them when the Rumor touched down on Telemachus. Sana’s conversation with him on the approach had been brief, but friendly, which gave her hope. Now that she was listening for it, she thought that he sounded warmer when talking to her, compared to the way that he addressed the rest of the crew. But maybe she was reading too much into things.

He was standing a safe distance away from the landing point, one hand in his pocket. As the hatch popped open and began to lower, he raised one hand in a cheerful wave, grinning broadly.

“Well, he doesn’t look mad,” Arkady muttered to Sana. “Unless he’s planning to kill us with kindness. Also, is it just me, or is he kinda dressed up?”

Sana had been thinking the same. Campbell was wearing what looked like a black leather jacket, and a pair of dark jeans that appeared brand new – a far cry from his usual worn overcoat and patched cargo pants. He was wearing the same heavy, steel-toed work boots as ever, but she could have sworn that he’d cleaned them up a bit.

They weren’t the only ones who’d noticed. “Campbell’s looking sharp,” Brian commented cheerfully from behind her. Sana glanced over her shoulder to find him smiling expectantly at her.

“Uh, yeah, I guess he is,” she said. Krejjh looked between the two of them, obviously trying to grasp the unspoken subtext of their exchange. As Sana descended the ramp, she heard them whisper with a characteristic lack of subtlety,

“Oh! Is this a human courtship ritual?”

“Maybe, dude,” said Brian, and Sana fought off the urge to cover her face with her hand. Instead, she called out, “Hey, Campbell.”

“Sana,” he said as she came closer, and there was definitely a warmth in his voice and in his eyes that hadn’t always been there. “It’s good to see you. How was your trip? Did you have any problems at the checkpoint?”

Sana shook her head. “The credentials that you sent ahead for us worked like a charm, thanks. We probably shouldn’t hang about here for too long, but as of right now, the IGR isn’t actively on our tail.”

“Well, thank heaven for small mercies, then,” said Campbell drily. “Follow me, and we’ll get- uh, is the rest of the crew staying on the ship?”

Sana looked behind her and saw that the rest of the crew was still clustered at the top of the ramp, watching them. Krejjh was grinning madly.

“Oh, for the love of God,” Sana muttered. Obviously, someone had come up with the bright idea to give them some ‘alone time’, and they were all being fantastically unsubtle about it. “No, they’re coming,” she told Campbell, shooting Arkady a look that said Get over here, or else.

Arkady sauntered down the ramp, closely followed by Violet and Krejjh, with Brian bringing up the rear, his arms piled high with the boxes of chocolates that they’d picked up on Nereid. “Hey, Campbell. How’s it been going?”

“Pretty uneventful, apart from aiding and abetting the odd fugitive here and there,” Campbell said with a wry smile. “How about you?”

“The same. Totally uneventful,” Arkady deadpanned.

“This trip is the most exciting thing that’s happened to us all year,” Brian put in, brightly.

“Well, I can’t tell you how honoured I am,” joked Campbell, as Krejjh snickered. Campbell’s gaze landed on Violet. “And you must be the new recruit.”

“Violet Liu. It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Campbell,” said Violet politely, shaking Campbell’s hand.

“Likewise. I’d tell you to call me Ignatius, but even Sana refuses to, and I’ve known her for six years,” said Campbell ruefully. “Still, just ‘Campbell’ is fine. Anyway, as you said, Sana, we should probably keep moving – if you’ll all follow me, I’m parked nearby. It’s a five-seater, so we might have to get creative with the seating arrangements.”

“I can sit on Krejjh’s lap,” Brian offered, and Sana thought she caught a brief look of disappointment on Arkady’s face. She smirked.

Everything seemed completely normal between the six of them that evening, from the ride in Campbell’s car to going out for dinner and drinks. Campbell had a knack for picking the most unlikely hole-in-the-wall eateries that looked terrible but served almost unfairly delicious food, a different one each time.

Sana mostly sat back and observed as the others chattered and dug in, watching Campbell’s eyes crinkle as he drew Violet into conversation, watching as he pulled a bottle of hot sauce out almost unseen and passed it to Krejjh, who crowed and immediately began to empty it over everything. She watched Arkady teasing Brian over his bizarre food combinations, goading him into trying a strange-looking tropical fish that sat in the middle of the table.

At one point, she caught Krejjh looking at her enquiringly with one of their pairs of eyes, the other pair fixed on Violet as she attempted to – slightly tipsily – explain some complex biological concept. She smiled to let them know that she was fine, and quickly reapplied herself to her food.

She had a tendency to forget how astute Krejjh really was, and how much they tended to play up the ‘dumb alien who doesn’t understand human social conventions’ for effect. Maybe Arkady was onto something.

The truth was, she was enjoying just seeing her crew get the chance to take a breather. They hadn’t really stopped since their flight from the IGR, not daring to stay put for long on any one planet or moon – even once they were fairly sure that the Regime had given up pursuing them, too busy trying to contain the unfolding situation on New Jupiter.

They’d never been able to feel safe anywhere. Until now.

Thinking this, she looked up at Campbell, only to find him already watching her with a smile on his face.

When it came time to buy the next round of drinks, Sana volunteered, making her way to the bar and attempting to get the bartender’s attention. After she’d finally succeeded in making their order, she leaned on the bar – and jumped as Campbell came up next to her.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to catch you off-guard,” he said apologetically. “I called your name, but the patrons of this place’re… not the quietest.”

Sana laughed a little. “It’s fine. Guess I’m still a little on edge.”

She smiled up at him, and there was a pause. Again.

“I, uh, I thought you might want a hand carrying those drinks,” Campbell said.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” said Sana. The bartender was beginning to line the drinks up on the bar for her, still filling the enormously tall glass belonging to Krejjh, because Dwarnians processed human alcohol in very different ways (and quantities). If Sana wanted to speak to Campbell in private, now was the time.

“Listen, I-” she began at the same time as Campbell said, “I was wondering-”

“Oh, uh, you go first.”

“No, please.”

Okay then. Sana gathered her courage – ridiculous, that this should feel more intimidating than facing down the Fowleys - and asked, “Will you go to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Campbell looked momentarily surprised, then chuckled. “And here I was about to ask you how long you’re planning to dock on Telemachus, as a roundabout way of working up to the same question,” he said. “Yes. I’d love to have dinner with you, Sana.”

Sana let Campbell be the one to choose the restaurant, conceding to his more up-to-date knowledge of Telemachus and his excellent taste in eateries. The following night, sat across from Campbell in a cozy little restaurant with her mouth full of the best beef rendang she’d ever eaten, she knew she’d made the right choice.

“Campbell, this is incredible,” she enthused, not even caring that her mouth was full. Campbell laughed, digging into his own bakmi goreng.

“How do you always know such good places to eat?” Sana demanded. Campbell shrugged.

“I didn’t get where I am without knowing how to make connections, and you’d be amazed at how much more open people are to doing business after a plate of really good food,” he said. “But I’m also not gonna pay through the nose for them to get blinded on moonshine and puke it all up later that night.” Sana almost choked on her mouthful as she started to laugh. “So, I look for establishments that don’t charge too much. And mind their own business.”

“So, you’re picking up the tab for tonight, then?” Sana asked playfully.

“I figured we could haggle,” Campbell replied, deadpan, and Sana laughed again.

She’d been worried about a dinner with just the two of them becoming stilted and formal, but so far it had been anything but. Determined to avoid the clichéd “outfit crisis”, she had dressed more or less the same as she did on the ship, minus her trusty wide, yellow tool belt with its hundreds of pockets, and a few engine oil stains. She missed its reassuring weight around her hips, though she was wearing a wide black belt to make up for it, with a vest and her signature knee-high boots (or as Arkady called them, her “space pirate boots”) over a loose green blouse and neopolyfibre jeans.

Arkady had performed an exaggerated double-take when she saw Sana. “Wow, Sana, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a wrench in your pocket before,” she said with mock surprise.

“That’s not true,” said Sana lightly. “Remember when we infiltrated that ball held by Commander Grandwin on Qilin?”

“No,” said Arkady deliberately. “I don’t remember. I’ve repressed it. That corset was hideous.”

“You looked good in it.”

“I couldn’t move in it! And I had nowhere to put my weapons. I had to strap a gun to my garter.”

Violet, who had been listening in on their conversation while brewing a pot of coffee, suddenly looked very interested. “Sorry, you strapped a gun to your what?” she asked in amusement.

“Uhhh…” Arkady froze, torn between playing to her girlfriend’s clear interest and denying any recollection of the incident in question. Sana winked at Violet.

“Tell you what, after we set off from Telemachus I’ll find us a nice formal ball to go to, and Kady can give you a real-life demonstration.”

“You’re dead to me,” Arkady hissed at her. Sana waved cheerfully at her and left the kitchen.

When Campbell had seen her, the first thing he’d said was, “Is it clichéd if I say you look nice?”

Sana grinned. “A little, but sometimes clichés are good.”

She’d been expecting at least a few minutes of awkward small talk at first, but no sooner had they sat down at their rickety little table than Campbell said,

“So, you’ve met my buddy Red Gregor – was he favouring his left leg, by any chance, when you saw him?”

“Uhh…” Sana tried to cast her mind back. Most of what had happened on Elion was a blur of her breaking the speed limit while Arkady tried to coach Violet through the Carmen Gambit, but she remembered Red Gregor after a bit: a thin-faced man who looked to be half-Chinese, half-Latino, and spoke with a strong Irish twang. He had, in fact, walked with a slight limp.

“Sure, I think he said it was prosthetic?”

“It is,” Campbell confirmed. “But what’s really funny is how he got it…”

After Elion, though, it didn’t take them long to get onto the topic of the “leak” aboard the Rumor. Campbell said, “Listen, I swear I’m not bringing this up because I’m angry with you, because I’m not-”

Sana tensed, and put down her fork. “Honestly, Campbell, you have every right to be,” she said. “I… I should have trusted you more. It wasn’t that I didn’t – it was that I was afraid of what the IGR might do to get their way. If it hadn’t been for my crew, I could’ve-”

Campbell held up a hand and shook his head. “If I didn’t know by now that you’d do anything to protect your crew, I’d be a damn fool,” he said. “I got that. And maybe if I’d been more level-headed… I could’ve helped you guys in some way. I know; you said it wasn’t safe. But I’ve had some time to think about this, and it bothered me, thinking that maybe I could have done more.

“What you said, about the people I care about – my nephews – and what I’d be willing to do to protect them… You were right. I really don’t like to think about what I’d be willing to do.” Campbell’s voice wavered slightly, and he cleared his throat. “But I also know that they’re not the only ones I’d… do almost anything to keep safe.”

Sana looked at him uncertainly. Campbell shook his head.

“That came out – that wasn’t what I meant to say. Look, I know I sounded angry on our call, and I know you’ve convinced yourself it’s because you all ‘screwed me over’ and did me out of what I was owed, and that I’m somehow keeping score.” Campbell said all this not angrily, but with a quiet intensity that nevertheless made Sana a little nervous.

“But that’s not it. If I was angry, it was because this is what the IGR always does – it sows fear, paranoia, and distrust. Even among people like us. And I was angry because… because you were light years away from me, in some kind of trouble, and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do to help you.”

But I also know that they’re not the only ones I’d… do almost anything to keep safe. Campbell’s words suddenly made sense to Sana, and her mouth opened in surprise. Before she could say anything, Campbell said,

“I know you don’t think of yourself as someone who needs help or protection. And I’d never try to force it on you, but... You should know that it’s not always about favours and deals, owing someone or being owed. Sometimes, it’s just about people caring about you.”

Sana’s throat closed up, and she looked down at her mostly-finished bowl of food. The truth was that he was right; before a few weeks ago, she would have baulked at the idea of needing protection from anyone. She let Arkady watch her back, but that was different. She looked out for Arkady as much as Arkady looked out for her, even if Arkady didn’t realise it. Not all kinds of protection involved putting yourself between someone else and a bullet.

She’d always prided herself on being tough and self-sufficient. She’d built her reputation up from nothing; she had to be. She hated to be in anyone’s debt, because in her experience, you never knew when and how they might choose to collect. As a woman – above all, a brown woman – trying to make her way in a cutthroat world, she had to be that much more invincible.

But she thought about the way that Arkady had shoved her shoulder into Sana’s on the Gay Louisa to get her out of range of one of the security bots. She thought of the way, on New Jupiter, that Violet’s mouth had pressed into a line and she’d pressed Sana down into a chair with surprising strength and held her there while she treated her injury. She thought about seeing Brian wielding a gun for the first time, his face intent, and of Krejjh gunning the ship into overdrive to get all of them to safety.

Maybe she was learning that it was okay to let her friends look after her too.

“I’ve overstepped – I’m sorry,” said Campbell in a rush, and Sana looked up at him, coming back to herself. “I shouldn’t have-”

“No, you haven’t overstepped,” said Sana quietly, and he stopped. “I… think you’re right. And…” Campbell waited as she gathered her thoughts.

“And I think I understand what you were trying to tell me before,” she finished. “About not keeping score. It’s hard for me to make an exception to those rules, but… I can try.” She gave Campbell a half-smile. “I’m not used to being on the receiving end. Of having other people try to protect me. But maybe I’m beginning to get that it’s a two-way street.”

“I’m more than willing to help show you,” said Campbell, with such quiet sincerity that Sana felt herself blushing.

“Thanks.”

Sensing the need to lighten the tone a little, Campbell said jokingly, “Of course, don’t think this gets ya out of bartering the next time you have cargo to offload.”

“Why would I miss out on the chance to take advantage of your atrocious negotiating skills?” Sana returned easily. Campbell snorted in spite of himself, and then pretended to clutch at his chest as if mortally wounded.

“You’ve cut me to the quick, Captain Tripathi.”

“You were right about something else, too,” Sana said, remembering. “Not that any of us would have guessed, in a million years…”

At Campbell’s look of confusion, she explained: “On our call, you said – something like, ‘You’re flying through space. We’re light years apart, and we’re talking. Someone from three hundred years ago wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.’ You were talking about other possible explanations for our leak, and as it turned out, that was it. That was the explanation.”

Campbell raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to need something much stronger for this story, aren’t I?” he asked, gesturing to his glass of wine.

“Significantly,” Sana agreed.

They got through several glasses of a strong local spirit (it had nothing on engine-room moonshine, but was strong enough for Sana to feel its effects) as Sana told the whole story: about the swarm, Emily and Alvy’s discoveries, Thasia and the Other Violet, the way they’d pieced everything together, Violet’s Plan B, and their final confrontation and flight from the IGR. She spoke in low tones, their conversation easily drowned out by the loud chatter of the other patrons.

Campbell listened spellbound, occasionally swearing quietly (or not-so-quietly) in response to a development in the tale. He had always been a good audience – normally she and Arkady would take it in turns to tell stories about their exploits, Arkady mostly contributing sarcastic commentary at first until the moonshine loosened her up enough that she would take over narrating, Krejjh chiming in at appropriate – or inappropriate – moments with an exclamation or an oddly specific detail.

It felt strange to be telling it on her own, but enjoyable, too. When she described Violet grabbing Arkady and kissing her as they fled New Jupiter, Campbell stared at her in disbelief for several seconds and then wheezed with laughter.

“So Arkady finally found someone who can give as good as she gets?” he asked, shaking his head. “I thought I sensed… something last night, but I wasn’t sure if I was reading too much into things.”

“It can be hard to tell, with Arkady,” Sana agreed. “But honestly, I think the less she talks about it, the more it… matters.”

Eventually, the conversation reached a natural lull, and Sana realised it was almost midnight: they’d been out for almost four hours.

“Campbell…” she began, and then stopped.

“I know, it’s late,” said Campbell, recognising the double-tap on her comm that told her the time. “I guess we should call it a night.”

“Would you like to come back to the ship?” Sana asked him, feeling almost shy. It wasn’t uncommon for Campbell to walk with them back to the Rumor after a night of drinking, usually helping Brian to support Krejjh’s weight while they sang Dwarnian battle hymns with the words in the wrong order. (Or so Brian told her, anyway). But this was a little different. “Or, if you’d rather head home, we can-”

“I don’t have anywhere to be,” said Campbell with a smile. “Lead the way.”

Neither of them said anything much as they walked back to where the Rumor was docked, ducking down various side streets and doubling back on themselves just in case they were being tailed. Sana didn’t sense any immediate danger, but it would just be sloppy not to. She kept her hand within easy reach of the micro-blaster tucked just inside her vest.

The ship was dark when they approached, but Sana doubted that any of the crew was asleep just yet. She used her radio key to unlock the door, and the ramp quietly lowered down to the ground.

The lights on the Rumor were motion-activated, and Sana had always liked the way they gradually turned on when she came back to the ship at night, like they were welcoming her back. In the days when she’d been a crew of one, it had been a comfort.

Sana expected they’d find the crew gathered together in the mess hall, but as she and Campbell walked through the ship’s corridors, there was no sign of anyone. Sana was slightly suspicious – it wasn’t like any of them to go to bed this early. Surely none of them could have known that she’d bring Campbell back to the ship?

“So… When do you think was the last time you actually came on board?” she asked Campbell, to break the silence.

Campbell hummed thoughtfully. “It’s been a good three years. I see you’ve made some upgrades here and there.”

“Yeah, and we even got a new coffee maker, finally,” Sana said drily.

“Oh God, I remember that ancient old thing you used to have. Didn’t Arkady salvage it from a skip on Astraeus?”

“Something like that.” They paused outside the kitchen. “Would you… like a cup?” Sana asked.

Campbell raised one eyebrow and gave her a roguish smile. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was an invitation, Captain,” he said.

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, Campbell,” Sana said, turning away so that Campbell wouldn’t see her blush, and leading the way into the kitchen.

“Call me Ignatius,” Campbell said, unexpectedly.

Sana paused in the middle of stretching up to reach the only two (thankfully) clean cups left in the cupboard. It seemed like a small thing, but names carried a lot of meaning, a lot of weight. She’d thought long and hard about the name Sana Tripathi when she’d chosen it, after the uprising. It had represented a new start, new possibilities.

She knew that Campbell, like everyone else in their line of work, had other names that he often went by. But he’d only ever been Campbell to her.

“All right… Ignatius,” she said, trying it out. Campbell smiled at her, warm and fond.

They carried their cups of coffee into the mess hall, and Campbell raised his eyes as he caught sight of the hammock strung up on one side of the room.

“That’s also new. Are those… safety harnesses?”

“Admittedly, not my finest piece of engineering,” Sana admitted. “It was meant to be for morale.”

“Does anyone actually use it?”

Sana felt her face warm again as she considered how best to answer that question. “From time to time.”

“Can I try it out?” Campbell asked playfully.

“Sure, it should hold your weight.”

Campbell set his coffee cup down on the ground by the hammock and cautiously sat down on it, and when it didn’t give way under his weight, swung his legs up and lay down fully.

“This is actually pretty comfortable,” he said in a tone of slight surprise. “The holes are a little unnerving, but it’s a solid hammock.”

“Thanks. I really should take it apart and put the safety harnesses back, but I think the crew like it.”

“I would say ‘Who needs safety harnesses?’, but I know how Krejjh flies,” joked Campbell. “Can it hold two people?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was an invitation,” said Sana. She smirked at Campbell, and then added, “Ignatius.”

Campbell’s eyes darkened, and he sat up and reached out a hand. Sana took it, and allowed Campbell to pull her down until – with a little manoeuvring – she was lying next to him on the hammock.

Their bodies were pressed flush against each other, and Sana was sure that Campbell could feel her heart pounding against his chest. Campbell reached up and gently smoothed a piece of stray hair away from her face.

“Is this okay?” he asked in a low rumble. “Are we moving too fast?”

“This is just fine,” Sana replied, and kissed him.

Campbell’s hand came up to gently cup the back of her head as he kissed her back, sending an almost electric thrill through her. Sana extricated her hand from between them and laid it against Campbell’s cheek, kissing him more intently now, inhaling faint notes of aftershave and cologne.

By the time they broke apart, the hammock was swaying gently. Sana smiled at Campbell, feeling a little punch drunk.

“This honestly feels like it’s been… a long time coming,” she said.

“I think it has,” Campbell agreed. “Do you, uh… Should we relocate to somewhere less public?” At such close quarters, Sana could see him blushing slightly.

She thought about it, and the not insignificant chance that one of the crew – who most definitely were not asleep – could walk in on them at any moment.

“Let’s stay here for a little while longer,” she said. “I think it’s only fair that I get to have a turn.”

[101scenes]

Wanna-One Lee Daehwi - Backstage Pt. 1

✿ featuring: lee daehwi, ong seongwoo

✿ genre: fluff, drama

✿ word count: <2000

✿ summary: another performing arts showcase may have just turned into a love story to be remembered.

• you were the backstage helper of the school hall

• usually you would help out during performances

• moving props, pulling the curtains, and mainly controlling the sound system on the soundboard

• so it was no surprise that you came face-to-face with many of the performing arts teams in your school

• you had made friends with people from the string ensemble, choir, symphonic band and the drama club

• so everytime they were backstage, you would have plenty of time to make some small-talk with them, and give them pep talks as they were about to go on stage

• one week, you had to help out in another performing arts showcase in your school

• on the date of the first rehearsal, as you were setting up the sound system, you spotted the drama club entering from the side door

• “hey Y/N! there you are!”

• you spun around to see ong running towards you at unnatural speeds

 • with quick reflexes, you snatched your headphones off from your ears, placing it on the side-table, before giving him a tight hug

• he lets go, putting his arm around your shoulder 

• “how have you been? haven’t seen you since the last showcase”

• “oh i’ve been well,”

• as you directed your eyes from him, you spotted through the drama club a boy with shiny silver hair, as if he were a mermaid of some sorts

• he was smiling and laughing, slapping his friend on the back

• you couldn’t help but stare in awe at his beauty

• ong noticed and called him over

• “hey daehwi! i want to you to meet someone,”

• hearing that gave you the sudden jitters

• you became self-aware of your own outlook

• a regular maroon hoodie, matched with some blue jeans that you probably haven’t washed in 2 days and a pair of black and white sports shoes

• {oh gosh i’m a mess..}

• he came bouncing over

• “yes hyung?”

• “this is Y/N, she works backstage. we would have to work with her a lot, so be nice okay? Y/N, this is daehwi, our new member of the club.”

• daehwi nodded, and his eyes diverted to you

• “hello, im daehwi, nice to meet you!”

• you couldn’t snap yourself out of your daze staring at his amazing silver hair, and you blurted out:

• “your hair looks so cool..”

• ong heard, and immediately started giggling in a corner

• daehwi was caught off guard, and immediately looked away in shock

• it took you a few seconds to realise what you just said

• “oh mY GOD i mean- sorry ahafnrj nice to meet you too, please ignore my question”

• you said as you tugged the ends of your sleeves as hard as possible behind your back, trying to cover up your embarrassment with a slight smile

• “oh! haha its alright! i dyed it recently..”

• he trailed off as he continued to fiddle with his silver fringe

• fortunately, your little conversation was interrupted by the start of rehearsal

• “great,” you thought, “i got out of that awkward situation..”

• as rehearsal started, you quickly got to your sound and lights station and switched on the stage light, to reveal ong striding along the stage with the sassiest look you’ve ever seen

• you can’t help but laugh at the scene, switching on some dramatic music in the background

• as you look around, you see daehwi sitting behind the curtains, reading the script as he tapped his pencil on his temple with a pouty look on his face

• he must be deep in thought.. why isn’t he acting with the others?

• but you ignored that fact, and continued to queue the lights and sounds as when needed

• soon enough, you see daehwi getting up from his spot, getting ready to run onto stage

• as he ran on stage, he did an internal monologue for about 10 seconds, then ran off stage again

• and for the rest of the time, he sat in another corner, reading the script and watching all his friends act, with an occasional giggle out of his lips

• soon enough, he got up and left backstage

• you was puzzled about where he was going in the middle of rehearsal, especially when they weren’t even done with the play

• but you tried to ignore the fact again, switching on another soundtrack for the actors

• but you just could not get the fact that he was out of your sight

• you were generally quite concerned with him

• it was halfway through the rehearsal, and their stage director called for a break

• everyone stretched and pulled backstage, then ran out for a drink break

• you continued sitting at the soundboard station, whipping out your phone to check instagram

• it was filled with all your friends going to the shopping centre after school, going on dates with their significant others

• your heart sank as you felt left out and began to drift off into your dreamland

• {maybe i shouldn’t have joined the backstage crew-}

• but your thought was quickly cut off by the tap on your shoulder

• you woke up from your daydream, only to see daehwi offering you a cup of ice mocha frappe, with another in his other hand

• “hey y/n, i got you something to wake you up, must be quite lonely sitting up here by yourself,”

• still in shock from whats happening, you took the frappe from his hands

• “thank you, its nice of you to think about me,”

• you realised what you said and could have been taken in the wrong way

• you looked at him to spot his reaction, and it was him looking away while sipping on his frappe looking a bit flustered

• his cheeks turned bright red as the silence dragged on

• “y-yeah.. it’s okay, you don’t need to pay me back, my treat”

• he pulled up the other stool and sat down next to you

• you sipped on the frappe {its actually quite nice}

• “you sure?” you prompted

• “yes yes, don’t insist, my answer is always yes”

• you smiled and thanked him again

• he starts to look around on the soundboard with all the switches

• he looked like a curious puppy and he peered around each switch

• it was actually quite adorable

• “whats this?”

• he pointed at a joystick attached to the far right of the system board

• “oh its the spotlight, want to try? ong is right there”

• you pointed to ong, who stood behind the curtain with his camera mode on, checking himself out

• daehwi nodded and giggled, switching on the spotlight only to shine on ong

• ong quickly noticed

• “hey! Y/N, are you doing that??”

• ong looked surprised that the act of stroking his own ego has been spotted by others

• you two ducked under the system, only laughing at him below, frantically trying to find you

• “haha, i might have gotten you in trouble, Y/N,”

• “it’s fine, that guy probably deserved it,”

• you got back up on your stool, looking back down at ong who is still looking around 

• you cracked a smile

• however, this was noticed by daehwi

• “Y/N?”

• “yeah?”

• “um, funny question. do you.. happen to li-”

• “drama club! rehearsal is starting now!”

• daehwi seemed shocked by the announcement

• “continue,” you said

• “umm, i think ill go first haha, it’s not important anyway. see you later!”

• daehwi grabbed his frappe and quickly speed-walked out of the room, closing the door behind him

• you were curious of what he wanted to ask, but never got the chance to talk to him for the rest of the rehearsal 

• the next time you saw him was the following rehearsal

• while you were setting up, you saw familiar faces flow into the room, one by one

• unknowingly, you tried to look for the head of silver hair through the crowd of 20

• but you didn’t seem to spot him

• you spotted ong talking to a group of thespians

• you patted him on the shoulder

• he spun around and greeted you with the same joyful face he always had

• “how are you, kid?”

• you rolled your eyes

• “you are 4 months older than me, and my well-being is the least of my concerns at the moment. do you happen to know where daehwi is?”

• he looked away and did not seem too happy about your statement

• he replied with a mere “i’m not sure,”

• before he continued talking to his group 

• that was rude

• you just walked over to your station and sat down

• you felt a bit sad that he wasn’t there to talk to you

• {was it him or the frappe that actually lingers through my mind?}

• soon enough, rehearsal started

• and a few moments later, daehwi burst through the doors

• he was panting very heavily, with a concerned look on his face

• ong rolled his eyes at his entrance

• “i’m- sorry about- being late-!”

• the director just reminded him not to be late again, and asked him to place his things down backstage

• ong looked a bit smug, and muttered something under his breath

• you were a bit relieved he was here 

• {wait what? why am i caring about him so much?}

• as you switched to the next soundtrack, you heard a few knocks at the door, and daehwi enters

• “hey~ haha”

• shocked by his presence you asked him why he was here and not rehearsing

• he placed an oddly bright pink bag behind one of the tables

• “oh, i don’t have any parts in this segment, and i have nowhere else to go, sorry if im bothering you”

• “it’s okay! you are welcomed here anytime”

• you smiled, which made him rub the back of his neck, feeling a bit embarrassed

• you patted the stool next to you, ushering him to sit down as well

• the next few hours were accompanied by daehwi and his occasional banter, talking about life and asking about yours

• there were laughs and gossiping, which made you lose your focus on the script and actually missed a queue and got reprimanded by the director

• he apologised profusely but you just laughed it off saying it happens a lot with you

• the rehearsal gone past in a flash and soon enough, you were switching off the system and packing up the area

• as you was cleaning up, daehwi stood there, looking a bit bothered by something

• once you were done, you pulled your haversack over your back, ready to leave

• however, he stopped you in my tracks

• “um, Y/N, this is for you”

• he handed you the pink bag that was hidden behind the table

• “i-i hope you like it”

• shocked, your face turns red

• “why did you buy this for me?” you asked, looking pleasantly surprised

• he fiddled with his fingers and bit his lower lip

• “well i actually went to the mall to get this for you but i lost track of time and may have been the reason why i was late..” he mumbled

• you hugged him from the front, which made him a bit shocked but he embraced it by hugging back

• “thank you for going through the trouble for me”

• he flushed red as you said that, and left soon after you said your farewells

• while walking out of the backstage room, you spotted ong not too far away in front walking away

• {but the other drama club members left 20 minutes ago, why would he be here?}

• you were aware of his bad mood today so you decided not to approach him when you normally would

• once you got home, you opened up the present

• it revealed a small fluffy puppy toy, with a note accompanying it

• it read “if you are ever feeling down you can come looking for me, or maybe this puppy :)”

• you hugged the puppy dearingly and fell back onto your bed

• the performance showcase is only a few days away.. 

✿ i hope you enjoyed this one, i’ll be writing pt. 2 soon~

✿ you may also notice some pronoun errors, i’ll keep correcting them! don’t worry hah

-crmbs

[saviormysticmeme]

Well, a creppy boy started talking to me on the Tumblr chat saying weird shit and asked me to be his valentine out of the blue, so.. Yeah can I request RFA+V+Saeran reacting to that? A creep talking to MC and saying creppy stuff lol. Love ur blog 💕

Is he still bothering you? If he is PM me and his ass is grassOr if you’re just in need of a fake girlfriend/boyfriend/SO also say the word I’m there y’all don’t even know how good I look in drag

Forreal tho, if someone online is ever making you feel uncomfortable don’t be afraid to get assertive or reach out for help.

Anyways

 RFA+V+Saeran react to a Creep creepin on MC

Yoosung

Yandere Yoosung: ACTIVATED i imagine a magical girl animation sequence whenever I say that

You had shown him the messages immediately because you two were playing games on an online server together when you got random, creepy PMs from GameFreak90

‘hey there, I see you’re a high level. U must be pretty good with your hands

want 2 play a game together sometime? it doesn’t have to be online ;)

its almost valentines day you know. we can hang out. ‘

You were so uncomfortable, and it went from uncomfortable to freaked out when you asked GameFreak90 to stop messaging you and he kept going, starting to talk about all the things he’d like to do to you

Yoosung searched the guys name immediately and pulled up his profile

His hands never moved so fast

‘Hey. Quit messaging MC28. She’s a good friend of mine and you’re freaking her out. -ShootingStar’

‘fuck off’

Yoosung was not having it. He didn’t have Seven’s hacking skills, or Jumins money, or Jaehee’s wit or anything the others had

But what he did have was his games

He pulled up TeamSpeak for his LOLOL guild immediately

“Guys, I need backup for an emergency raid”

It was over in minutes

Yoosung’s guild had raided and completely emptied GameFreak90′s base

Yoosung got a string of messages immediately after

hey man what the fuck

dude give me my shit back

fine im sorry im sorry give me my shit please

dude please

Yoosung just turned his mic on and with one last request of his guild “Hey, can everyone here flag this guy for inappropriate behavior”

In about 10 mins Yoosung went to pull up GameFreak90′s profile

It had been deleted

Yoosung had the smuggest of smirks on his face

Until

“My hero” You giggled and kissed him on the cheek

He went from war hero Shooting Star to blushing, stuttering, Yoosung real quick

Jaehee

It was a slow day in the coffee shop so you were just sitting at a table playing on your phone and sipping coffee

Ding.

Huh? New message.

Ding ding ding

You had a bad feeling before even opening your Fumblr app 

When you did open the little social media site, you were met with a bunch of unwelcomed advances from some strange follower

Hey valentines is coming up and im lonely

r u lonely to?

how about u be my valentine and we can go out??

You grimaced and replied with a curt “I’m sorry but no thanks”

come on babe

dont b like that

we can have fun

Jaehee had noticed to look on your face and immediately popped to your side

“Mc is everything alright?

“Yeah..I’m just getting creepy messages from some guy on Fumblr.” You handed her the phone so she could read them and her nose crinkled in distaste almost instantly

“Well your first problem is you apologized.” 

“Huh?”

Jaehee started tapping away as she spoke “Don’t apologize for not being interested. When you apologize it makes you seem more …docile. Submissive. If these creeps think you have an ounce of shyness or even politeness in you they’ll try to exploit it.”

“o-oh.” You stammered, surprised by how irritated Jaehee suddenly seemed

“Secondly,” Her expression softened a bit with a final tap on the screen “You didn’t block him immediately” She looked to you with a smile on her face, pleased with herself for whatever she said to your Fumblr follower

She handed the phone back to you and a light blush fell across your cheeks. Jaehee never seemed to be the protector type but when it comes down to it

Baehee isn’t letting anyone bother you

ever

Zen

He’s gotten his fair share of creepy fan mail, but he understands it comes with the job

But when you get creepy mail from his followers

NO NO NO NO NO

You two have all the fan mail sent to a P.O. Box so fans don’t have your home address

One time when you went to get the batch, the two of you found a handful of letters with your name on them

“My fans must see us together all the time” Zen said as he handed the letters to you, a cautious look on his face. He was worried it was going to be some fangirl writing a mean letter about how she deserves Zen instead of you

It was much creepier

It was a bunch of letters from some guy 

‘My sister is a big fan of Zen so I have to watch TV shows with him on them all the time. One time there was a news story about him, but you were in the picture with him…’

The letters go on to say how once the writer saw you with Zen he started searching you more and claimed you two would be a perfect match. He started suggesting you break up with Zen (offering for him to date his sister) and for the two of you to get together.

…

You have to literally hold Zen back so he doesnt march to the return address and beat the shit out of sender

“Zen it’ll be such bad press do not do not do not”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT”

“YES YOU DO PLS ZEN”

20 mins later

He’s not calm, but he’s not bum rushing the door so…calm enough

“Let’s think of a reasonable way to handle this” You slump into a chair, exhausted from being the only thing standing between Zen and a physical assault charge

After a few minutes of silence

..”I have an idea.”

Zen pulled out a pad and started scribbling. “He said his sister is a fan of me? Well I’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

Zen ended up writing a very heartfelt note to the sister of the sender, explaining the situation and how uncomfortable you were feeling because of the brother. And if the sincerity of the letter wasn’t enough to get her to make her brother stop, the VIP pass to Zen’s next show was a good bribe. 

He sent it out the next morning, and a few days later you guys checked the PO box to find a letter from her apologizing profusely for her brother’s behavior and how she’d handle it. And about 10 pages of ‘thank you’s and compliments for Zen of course. 

Jumin

Elizabeth would only chase a laser pointer for so long, so you had a lot of free time whenever Jumin was at work

You were no stranger to social media sites as they were the best way to distract yourself for hours at a time until you had something entertaining to do

And you’ve gotten spam bots before, but never a human who was actually so forward enough to send you enough messages to make you a small novel

you look really nice in your profile picture

is that designer? man you got money to

you’re a rich bitch. wanna come see what its like on the other side of town?

You were appalled. 

“Leave me alone” was the best you could muster since you were in such a state of disgusted shock. 

The messages continued, and you ended up just blocking the guy. But even after that just looking at your phone made you a little nervous that you were going to see more messages from another douchebag

But nope

Same douchebag. Different site. 

why’d you block me? playing hard to get?

“How’d you find my profile?”

it’s not hard to figure it out since I saw your name on the other one ;*

You just blocked him again and put your phone down, resolving to entertain yourself with anything else that wasn’t social media.

Eventually Jumin came home, and the first thing he noticed was your phone sitting on the coffee table and a specific lack of…you.

He went into a panic for a moment before you stepped into the hall, freshly showered. 

“Oh, MC, there you are. I was worried for a second. You’re usually not far from your phone.” 

“Yeah..” You muttered. “Some guy just keeps bugging me”

What

What do you mean

What guy

How

You explain the situation to Jumin and his phone is to his ear almost immediately as he picks up yours with his free hand.

“Luciel? I’m cashing in on a favor….”

You knew immediately where this was going and you had a slight grin on your face, knowing the creep who kept messaging you wasn’t going to be bothering you or anyone else anytime soon

Seven

You don’t even waste time

The second you get the first creepy message

hey hot stuff

You hand your phone to Seven

He just looks down at the screen, and a devious smile spreads across his face

Sure he could mess with anyone he wanted, but this time he has an excuse to go all out and ruin this Creeps life.

Seven whips up a program in a matter of minutes, connects a USB from his computer to your phone, then texts the man back

‘Hey cutie…wanna see a picture? ;)’ and he attached a file 

It says the message was received and viewed, but no response was given.

“What’d you do?” You ask as Seven hands your phone back

With a big smirk on his face:

“Once he opens that file his phone is going to run through his chat logs and play back all his creepy messages  on a permanent loop on his screen. And if he has any wireless connection to his computer, say, cloud storage, it’s going to happen to his computer too. And every few minutes he’s going to get a picture of me dressed as a maid, because I have to deliver, you know?”

You give Seven a huge hug “Ugh, thank you. How will I every pay you back”

“You already did” He laughs

“Huh?”

“You’ll see” He winks and goes back to his computer.

You shrug and walk away, figuring you’d find out soon enough

And you did

The next time you opened your phone, your background was a nonstop slideshow of 707′s Greatest Crossdressing Pics

And all your app icons were selfies

And your gallery was filled with pictures of the red headed hacker

“SEEEEEEEVVVVVEEEEEENNNNNNNNN”

V

V was sitting on the couch and you were upstairs cleaning up and putzing around

Ding

V looked to see your phone light up on the table 

“MC, I think someone messaged you!” V yelled up the stairs

“Will you check it for me? It’s probably just a guest with a question about the party.” You called back 

“Sure.” And with that he opened your phone to find a rather crude picture  “What in the world”

my friend gave me ur number, thought you’d like this ;)

V was horrified that someone meant for you to open this 

‘I dont’ He typed back.

awww come on. you can tell from the pic im a good looking guy and my friend says ur cute. why dont we hang out

“No.” V glared at the number displayed at the top of the message board

playing hard to get? i like

V realized there was no reasoning with this idiot, and he thought it would be a waste of time trying to further communicate with a fool like his, so he bit down his better instinct and just sent a picture of himself glaring at the phone camera and typed “You’re talking to a man”

there was no reply for a moment

my friend said this was a girl

“I can assure I am not a female. Your friend gave you the wrong number. Go away”

There was no response but V was sure he could feel the embarrassment from the other side of the connection

With a satisfied huff he deleted the messages and number, figuring it best if you never have to worry about the situation

He also plans to find out which one of your friends would give your number to such a vulgar creep. 

Saeran

You two were watching a video on your phone when you got a sudden chat request on Kiik, a messaging app

Saeran cast a quizzical look at you and you return it with a shrug, signalling you had no clue

When you open it up theres just a bunch of weird messages

hey babe

hey

wanna be my valentine

i dont want to be lonely and i bet you dont either

we can keep each other company ;)

You didn’t even have a chance to respond before Saeran took the phone from your hand

“Fuck off” He was holding your phone so tight you thought he was gonna snap it in half

wow ur not very polite

“I said. Fuck. Off.” Saeran let out a breath that sounded like a growl

come on baby dont be like that

You could see a fire in your friend’s eyes and you knew things were about to get bad

“Send one more message and I’ll end your miserable existence, Scum.” 

“Saeran let’s just ignore it” You tried to take your phone back but he wouldn’t let go, too hyper focused on the screen. Instead he looked at you and said “He shouldn’t be talking to you this way.”

Ding

Both your eyes shot back to the screen

so you’ll come see me ;)

Whoever was on the other line had nooo clue who they were taunting

Saeran got up slowly, so slow it was a little creepy, when you looked at him you could see the gears running in his head

He walked over to his computer and started typing away, looking to the phone every now and then.

After about 20 minutes he finally came back to sit with you and handed your phone back.

“You….You good, Saeran?” You asked, surprised at how calmed he seemed.

He looked to you with a smile on his face and a glint in his eye. “I’m very good.”

You were almost worried to ask but “What’d you do?”

“Not much. But he’ll leave you alone soon enough.”

You stopped asking questions, he wouldn’t tell you the details anyways.

..

That night you were awoken to 

Dingdingdingdingding

You fumbled around in the dark and eventually opened your phone to see messages from the Kiik app

Iuwefjkgl

ahfuoieqhwf

please helpfehofejijeqiue

…..

I’m very sorry for what I said to you earlier. I will never contact you again. If I do my fingers will be broken.

You knew immediately. 

“Saeran what’d you do???” You sent the text

All you got back was “:)” 

[ihaileysenpai]

Puppet Shows

Yeah yeah, so sue me, another wild scenario has appeared!

Credit to AU ~ @thebbros

This scenario I guess is relative to me comic dubbing, only in this universe

Yeeeeeeeaaahhhh… ONWARDS!!

**BTW This happened three days before the other scenario**

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Third Person Pov ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Brothers, Bendy and Borris walked out of the small Inn within a small village.

Bendy stretched his arms above his head and let out a yawn. “So, what’s on the agenda today, bro?”

Borris took out a small notebook and read the black inked writing. “Uh, seems that we could try and get a map to the temple from a store keeper?” He suggested.

Two little kids ran past the two and down the street. Bendy and Borris watched the two run towards what seemed like a market festival or some sort.

“I’m guessing by that market, we’ll have a better chance of finding that map.” Bendy stated, looking up at Borris, who nodded in response.

"We could also catch up on our supplies! Maybe they have a sort of pain killer for the illness?” Borris muttered his last sentence, not quiet enough, since Bendy heard his words.

Bendy played it off and led his brother towards the markets.

The two wandered from booth to booth, fruits and vegetables, books, jewelry, to furniture. Borris had a happy expression on his face, as he peered at musical instruments. Bendy had a smile on his face at the sight, he knew that this would became a memory of nostalgia when his time came.

(WAY TO RUIN THE DAMN MOOD BENDY!!)

Suddenly, the sound of a loud voice caught everyone’s attention.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PUPPET SHOW IS BEGINNING! BRING YOUR CHILDREN TO ENJOY THE EVENT!” A large, rounded man shouted from on top of a crushed wooden box.

Borris looked toward his brother in a begging expression, Bendy rolled his eyes in a playful manner and the two headed toward what seemed to be the centre of the festival. A small crowd of people waiting for the performance to begin, children sat on the ground, closer to the stage for better viewing. Good thing Bendy and Borris got there before they were stuck in the back row, Bendy wouldn’t be able to see the show.

A teenaged couple approached Bendy and Borris.

"You know that your little friend can sit with the kids.” The boy said to Borris.

Bendy suddenly felt triggered at the teenaged boy’s comment. “Why you-” Bendy was ready to attack the boy, but his brother quickly interjected.

"It’s okay, my big brother isn’t exactly a kid, he can see from here perfectly fine. But thanks for the concern!” Borris explained and waved off the couple.

Bendy pouted and crossed his arms angrily. Borris chuckled at his brother’s actions.

"I guess I stand incorrect, you may not be a little kid, but you sure act childishly, Bendy.” Borris commented.

"B-behave Borris!” Bendy grumbled.

"DA DA DADA! TIME FOR THE SHOW KIDDIES!” A female voice called from behind the puppet stage.

The curtains opened and stringed wooden dolls dangled on the stage.

A little red riding hood puppet waved at the kids, “Well hi there everyone, my name is Rebecca! But my family insist that they call my Little Red Riding Hood, I don’t know why, but this red hood probably has something to do with it!” She introduced herself in a goofy voice.

The kids laughed at her attitude.

A taller female puppet bounced, to mimic walking, towards Red Riding Hood.

"Little Red Riding Hood, my precious daughter, little muffin, little girl, cinnamon roll, dolly, cupcake, darling!” The mother said in a male mimicking a woman’s voice. The children and few adults laughed, “You must give your granny these homemade ginger snap cookies! I made them myself.”

"But momma dearest, aren’t those the cookies you got from Mr Hiney?” Puppet Red Riding Hood asked her puppet mother.

The puppet mother threw a basket at her puppet daughter, “Don’t talk back to me, young lady! Now, I must go do womanly things, bye bye! If you get munched by a wolf, just yell~” The mother puppet then flew off the stage.

As the Red Riding Hood puppet picked up the basket, she bounced while singing ’ la la la la la’. Then, a wolf puppet appeared.

"Raw!” The Puppet wolf shouted.

Suddenly, the Red Riding Hood puppet began hitting the wolf with her basket.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO EAT ME?! HOW RUDE!! THAT’s A BAD WOLF! A BAD! BAD! BAD WOLF!!” The Red Riding Hood puppet shout at the puppet wolf, again beating him with her basket.

"I’m sorreh! My pops wanted me to eat ya! Stop hitting me!” The puppet wolf cried, laying on the floor of the stage.

"Well, that doesn’t give you a reason to try and eat me!”

The crowd had laughs erupting from the children and the adults, even Bendy and Borris shared a few snickers.

(Cause you’re not you when you’re hungry)

A scene pasted, where the puppet woodsman was making fun of how useless he is with cutting wood, he just broke out into song, but then the Red Riding Hood puppet slapped his with her basket and bounced off.

Now it was the scene where Red Riding Hood puppet was at her Grandma’s house, the wolf was wearing a horrible grandma costume.

Granny dearest, why do you look like a wolf?” Puppet Red Riding Hood asked the disguised granny wolf.

"Well- *cough* it’s a long story-” The granny disguised wolf puppet switched his horrible granny impersonation to his wolf voice.

Then Red Riding Hood puppet began smacking the crap out the wolf again, “DID YOU JUST EAT MY GRANNY DEAREST AND JUST TRY AND EAT ME?! HOW RUDE! THAT’S A BAD WOLF! A BAD! BAD! BAD WOLF!!” She screamed at the wolf.

"Argh! Hm, de ja vu! Anyways, IM SORREH STOP HITTING ME!!!” The wolf puppet cried.

"WHERE’S MY GRANNY DEAREST, YOU PIECE OF-”

The wolf puppet cut off Red Riding Hood Puppet, “Careful, there are kids in the audience.” He warned.

"Fourth wall breaking! Ha, classic bullshitery!” A yellow cat with brown hair with a pink streak tied in a ponytail shouted.

"Spring! You’re in the wrong AU, PJ’s Daycare was a left from Albuquerque!” Someone yelled at her.

"Shut up! I wanna see this wolf puppet burst into flames before I go!” ‘Spring’ stated, only to be dragged away by the person that yelled at her. “Gotta blast I guess!” She exclaimed.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but then turned back to the puppet show, where the wolf opened the Granny’s closet and the Granny puppet hopped out.

"Little Red Riding Hood, my precious granddaughter, doll, cupcake, sunflower, savior of all man kind, bird, kitten, Princess! Have you brought me Mr Hiney’s ginger snap cookies?” The granny puppet.

"How did you know they were Mr Hiney’s?” Red Riding Hood puppet asked her puppet granny.

"Your mother can’t cook. Period.” The granny puppet concluded and the puppet show ended.

The curtain closed and the crowd clapped at the show. From behind the puppet show, stood up the familiar red haired friend of the brothers, Hailey.

The pair walked up to her, as the crowd now abandoned the space to explore the rest of the booths.

"I don’t understand why we have to keep making fairytale parody puppet plays.” Yakko Warner whined, as he put the puppets in a crate.

Hailey offer him a smile, “It makes people laugh and smile, they enjoy getting twist versions of the stories.” She stated, “If that doesn’t satisfy you, then suck it up, Princess.”

Yakko rolled his eyes at her, then his brother, Wakko Warner popped up from the crate of puppets.

“That was a whola of fun! Although I don’t see the point of the mother.” Wakko added.

"Had an extra puppet, and you wanted to voice her. Good job on that by the way.” Hailey replied to the second oldest Warned brother.

"Yo.” Bendy greeted the trio, Borris beside him.

"Oh hey guys! You like the show? Short, I know, but with the time Mayor Eggbert have us, we improvised.” Hailey questioned.

Borris grinned and nodded his head, “Very funny, Miss Hailey!” He replied.

Bendy shrugged his shoulders. “It was alright.” He responded, “Why’d the mayor give you 10 minutes for a puppet play?” Bendy inquired.

"Something about the play being a non profit, if I knew that, I’d do my naming the countries song and dance.” Yakko commented, pulling Wakko out from the crate of puppets and placed him on the ground.

"Man is all about his money.” Wakko added.

"Hey guys, where’s Dot?” Hailey asked, noticing the lack of the Warner sister.

At the mention of her name, Bendy tensed up.

"I think she’s still trying on outfits at the girly dress boutique thing.” Wakko answered, then stuck out his tongue, “Blegh.”

Hailey ruffled his hat/hair, “At least you weren’t forced to shop with her this time.” She remarked.

"You know Hailey, if you’d like, we can go buy you something that could compliment your cuteness.” Bendy flirted.

Not understanding, Hailey shook her head, “No thanks Bendy, I have enough clothes, but maybe next time.” She answered.

Bendy felt the fist of rejection punch him in the face.

Borris snickered at the scene, although failing to conceal it.

"But I wanted to show you guys the cool booths! Wanna see them?” Hailey suggested.

Borris nodded his head in excitement, “Yes please Miss Hailey!”

Smiling brightly, Hailey waved farewell to the Warner brothers and led Bendy and Borris towards a new line of booths.

Spring Belongs to @blogthegreatrouge