#im still not over grocery with a ch

[nintendont2502]

i love seeing any poll on pronunciation that uses the pronunciation of other words as reference. tumblr users learn what accents are challenge /lh

[weixuldo]

Enigma// ch 18

anakin x reader

a/n: shit man, stuff is getting tough! i really didn’t think this fic was gonna b as long as it’s becoming hahaha/ ngl even if ppl r losing interest, im still gonna continue it for me heheh- i really like this story :)

The night gets worse and worse

warnings: cursing, cannon disabled character, insecurity, alcohol abuse, emtephobia (barf and stuff…), DONT DO WHAT ANAKIN DOES PLS LORD, ableist comments

_______________________________

As it does, time went by and you tried to move on.

When school ended you moved in with Ahsoka and split rent; it was nice having your best friend around whenever you needed it, plus the two of you shared groceries so the cost of living was much more affordable than if you had gotten your own place. 

As much as you tried to remove Anakin from your mind, he just wouldn’t seem to leave so you enlisted the help of a professional. 

You would go to therapy sessions twice a week; not solely because of Anakin but he definitely was part of it.

Mainly you went to try and deal with the reality of being such a young mother and work on letting your stress out in positive ways: though on occasion you would try to gain insight on your relationship with the older man.

When the therapist asked about him, you explained all he had been through and let her know you knew some of the reasons he acted the way he did; but your therapist assured you no matter the reasons, that didn’t negate the validity of your feelings. 

The first few times you went you were skeptical; how was talking to some random person supposed to help you feel relieved and emotionally stable?

But after a few sessions, you started to see a difference in your moods and outlook on things. 

It was a few days after Anakin’s results came in that Ash told you about the visit she paid Anakin; she recapped her argument with him, his relapse, and that she made him go to the clinic, she told you that she would relay his results to you as soon as she could. 

You worried that she would be upset that you didn’t tell her that he was the father or that the two of you were together, but she brushed it off, “I kinda had a feeling, ya know?”.

You felt bad that he relapsed and was all alone, but then you remembered he was alone on his own merit, his behavior pushed those who cared most away… it wasn’t your fault. 

You didn’t know how long fertility tests usually took, but you awaited the results anxiously.

Every day you woke up hoping that maybe he would reach out or that maybe he would show up at your door, but each time you only set yourself up for disappointment. 

It had been around a week after Ahsoka told you he got the test; sure these things took some time, but he should have the results by now.

You weighed the option of just asking him flat out because you were frankly over his asshole hermit bit. 

The weather was nice and you didn’t have any responsibilities today… ok, maybe you would pay him a visit. You rested a palm on your stomach as you bent over to grab your shoes from the shoe rack; you were definitely showing much more than you were during the first trimester. 

You were about to head out when your phone began to ring; it was Ahsoka.

“Hey Ash, what's up?” you asked as you searched for your keys. 

I finally got it

“Got what?”

It took a lot of coaxing, but I finally got the results

You stopped at the door and placed your keys back onto the counter top; maybe you wouldn’t have to see him. 

y/n…he’s viable.

A weight felt like it had been lifted from your chest, now he had undeniable proof you were telling the truth the whole time- everything he said was for nothing and you were vindicated. 

“That’s amazing news'' you exclaimed into the phone; surely your friend could hear the huge smile on your face just from your voice. 

Yea, but what are you going to do now? He’s the father and now he knows it… you aren’t just going to let him back in after all he did, right?

“No Ash, He knows the truth now and if he wants this or is mature enough, he will come to me and apologize. The ball is in his court” you explained.

Atta girl

You smiled at your friend’s support, “Thanks Ahsoka” 

Anytime

The phone call ended and you went back to your room- hopefully you would be hearing an apology soon or at least hearing from him in general. 

_______________________________________

Across town Anakin sat on his couch and absentmindedly flipped through the channels on his tv; he told Ahsoka the news this morning and it drained him to make the call.

Ahsoka thanked him for getting the test and asked how he felt about the news. He answered quickly and hung up. He knew she was going to tell you and that he should tell you himself and apologize. But what would that do?

It would just solidify that he was a complete asshole- you deserved so much better. Surely you would do the same that he did to you…shut you down completely and demand you leave. 

Maker, why was he such an arrogant shit?

His half drunk mind wasn’t operating at full capacity and he was making a lot of dumb rationalizations to his problems;

You already thought he was an asshole, so why even bother telling you the news himself? 

You deserved better so he should just disappear from your life and not weigh you down.

He really nothing going for him, so fuck it- he was gonna get shitfaced. 

Soon he had made his way back to the couch with a six pack of bud lite and he cracked the first one. Cheers to the pathetic joke that was his life. He gulped them down one by one and sooner than he thought, the pack was already gone. 

He had a good buzz going and went to fetch more but when he scanned his messy fridge for the tinted glass bottles he couldn’t find any. 

“Fuck” he muttered, that was his last case. 

He groaned and slammed the fridge door shut. There was nothing here to cure his itch for alcohol, so he decided tonight would be a great night to go out and get shitfaced in public, cause why the fuck not?

He got his phone out and grabbed one of the many styluses he had scattered through the house for his convenience. He called for an uber to pick him up.

As he waited he changed into pants, a long sleeve, and his gloves- it had been awhile since he had gone out and he forgot what a hassle it was to put all of that shit on. 

By the time he was dressed and collected his wallet, the uber was there. Anakin was an experienced drinker, so even though he already had six beers packed away, he could sober up if he needed to be able to get into the bar. 

The car he rode in was a nice sedan, it was silver and looked like a new model; the problem for Anakin was getting in. All of the cars he usually rode in (yours, Ahsoka’s, Ben’s, and his own) were bigger and sat higher up, so he wasn’t used to having to crouch down to get in. 

He sighed and placed a stiff hand on the roof of the car to steady himself as he lowered himself into the car; he sat with a thud and grunted.

The driver was probably only a few years his junior- he wore big circle glasses, a patterned button down and had a clean shaven face. He looked like a pushover.

Anakin winced at the overwhelming smell of eucalyptus that entered his senses; he wondered how this guy was driving for a job like this- how would he defend himself against a potential threat? By throwing his eucalyptus at them?

Ahh, what was he doing? He was being judgmental for no reason. 

“Are you alright sir?” the man asked.

“Yea, i’m fine,” Anakin said, crossing his arms. 

The man nodded and began to drive to the bar Anakin had entered into the app. 

The bar he wanted to go to was one in the heart of the city, he didn’t want to talk to anyone tonight, but he also didn’t want to be alone; this bar was perfect for that because there were always people doing some random shit that he could eavesdrop on. 

They pulled up to the curb and the driver parked the car. Anakin thanked the man and opened the door to exit. Maker, he was getting nauseous from that fucking air freshener. 

He swung one leg out of the car and pushed himself up with his opposite hand. He stood and grabbed onto the hood of the car with his hand; that was harder than it had to be… damn these prosthetics. 

Once he was standing he shut the door just as the driver was asking if he needed any assistance.

Groups of people crowded around the entrance of the establishment. Some were old regulars whose teeth looked like they were gonna fall out from all of the substances they abused and on the other side there were a group of younger kids who were trying to figure out who was going to try out their fake ID first. 

He scoffed as he pushed through both groups to get inside. The bar was warm and smelled of weed, smoke, and liquor- relief washed over the melancholic man, this is where he would be able to forget. 

An open barstool was soon occupied by him and a bartender quickly made her way down to his seat. 

“I’ll have some of that honey bourbon I've been hearing people rave about” he said, a $10 bill folded between his fingers. 

“Alright, hun, that’s commin’ right up” the busty lady on the other side of the counter said as she grabbed the 10 from his hand, her hand lingering longer than he liked. 

Anakin could tell she was trying to flirt to get a better tip; back before you, he would have gladly indulged her game and revel in every motion she would do to purposefully push up her breasts and flirt back 5 times harder than she was… but now, he had no desire.

All he could think of when she tried to flirt was how he’d much rather be having a quiet night with you, not some bartender who didn’t give a rat’s ass about his life.

His drink was placed in front of him and the woman smiled, “here you are handsome”.

Normally that wouldn’t bother him- she was just doing her job… But tonight he just couldn’t. 

Once he thanked her, she sauntered away; Anakin raised a judgey brow as she intentionally swayed her hips back and forth. When she was finally busy with another customer he called over one of the other bartenders.

“Hey man, you think you could serve me tonight, I don’t really appreciate all of her flirting” he said as blankly as he could. 

The man cleaning glasses on the other side of the mahogany surface chuckled and nodded, “haha, yes man, no problem. She does lay it on pretty hard sometimes, I get it”.

Anakin thanked the man and continued to down drinks. 

As it got later, more and more people began showing up and it became uncomfortably hot. The music started to give him a headache and the smoke was getting thicker; he knew it was time to go when he could hardly suppress his coughing (no thanks to his fucked up lungs). 

The cool evening air felt cleaner than it ever had before as Anakin stood a few yards down from the bar. He had gotten far enough out of the way that he could still hear and see the lights from inside but no line was around him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky; the city’s light pollution hid the stars; he still liked to imagine how they’d look. 

He had no idea how much he had in that bar, but he felt like it wasn’t enough- he needed to do something crazy- he needed to interact with people. He wasn’t completely gone yet, but he was pretty drunk (even if he wouldn’t admit it). 

He stumbled down the sidewalk as he made his way to another bar, not far from where he was, that was a “no-smoking” establishment; he wouldn’t have to worry about choking on air there.

The sidewalk seemed to move as he steadied himself by placing a hand on the wall of the buildings on the way to his destination. 

He was feeling pretty good; his problems were far from his mind, instead he was focusing on getting to the bar. He finally made it and attempted to sit on the barstool that just couldn’t seem to sit still. Eventually he caught a bartender’s attention and got set up there with a 20 oz draft beer. 

This bar was crowded too, but less head-pounding music and young adults. He sipped his drink peacefully as he watched the others in the bar; there were a few couples on dates, a group of guys playing pool, and another group throwing darts. 

He downed his beer and placed the glass on the bar as he waited for more- this was definitely one way to spend his army money. 

As he waited a brown haired woman came up behind him and placed a lingering hand on his shoulder.

“Hello, you look lonely tonight, anything I could help with?”.

The lady wore a dress that was way too short and it did not flatter her body at all. She smelled of overwhelming cheap perfume and beer. He was already over it. 

“Nah, I’m just fine,” he said, attempting to wave her off.

She caught one of his gloved hands and began taking off his covering as she asked, “ooh, you have very stiff hands, must be strong-lets see..”.

She managed to get the glove halfway up his palm before he snatched his hand to his chest; “what the fuck you think you’re doing?!” he hissed.

She laughed, “You’re like a robot or somethin’ haha, I’m sure I could please you better than that plastic could, and I only require a pack of cigs after, no monetary charge” she promoted proudly. 

“Not in a million years lady” Anakin mumbled as his cup was replaced with a full one. 

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips, “well that’s alright, I didn’t really want to fuck a cripple anyways”.

At that moment Anakin had the urge to grab her by that pathetic excuse of a dress and throw her against the nearest wall, but he knew he shouldn’t.

“Fuck off”

“No wonder you look lonely, with a personality like that you must be impossible to be around” she huffed before finding the next guy to latch on to. 

He was getting drunker and her words hit a little too close to home- he needed to be more wasted. He began to find random people who would do shots with him. Soon he was blacked out and drinking with everyone. 

“ and i-its its sooo fucked, ‘cause I… I really do love her, but she… I don’t think s-she… I don’t know, WHO WANTS TO DO MORE SHOTS?!” Anakin was everywhere.

He sat at the bar and did two hurricane shots right after another (where you drink it then get water thrown in your face then the bartender slaps you across the face). He was at the point that he couldn’t even feel that-he was gone. 

Though soon after, the shots began catching up with him and he started feeling nauseous. He laid his forehead down on the bar and puked in between his legs and the counter. Some people around offered to help and the bartender got him some water; he insisted he didn’t need it but the alcohol was definitely making him dehydrated. 

Through the middle of sounds he heard a staff member say, “someone needs to get him outta here, we can’t have him in the bar like this”. 

The fuck were they saying? He was completely fine. 

Before he could tell what was happening he was being carried out of the bar and was sitting on the curb outside. Fuck, what was going on?

Everything was blurry, he felt nauseous and all he could focus on was this sharp pain in his side and the pounding headache that was plaguing him.

________________________

Anakin had no idea where he was, but he knew he didn’t feel good. He sat up and puked.

He felt a hand on his back and was about to protest when another wave of nausea hit- when would it end?

More shit happened in a blur and he eventually made it into an Uber and headed home. 

————-about two hours earlier—————

After he was thrown out of the bar downtown he was picked up by a group of frat boys who thought it would be cool to challenge a random drunk guy to a drinking contest.

In his inebriated state, Anakin went with the men (even though they basically had to carry him to the club they were going to). 

No one in their right mind would still allow Anakin to consume drinks, he was visibly not well and clearly needed to be cut off; but that wouldn’t be any fun for the frat.

They took him to a club where they frequented so the staff allowed them to do whatever the fuck they wanted. 

Anakin continued to drink and drink… and drink. 

Once he started puking again, one of the relatively kinder boys took time to ask his address and got him an uber home.

And that's where Anakin was now. 

He rested his forehead against the back window of the sedan and the driver drove quickly; he was probably worried that Anakin was going to yak in the back of his car. They arrived at Anakin’s apartment in decent time and the driver asked Anakin to leave. 

Anakin nodded and tried to get up but he couldn’t quite get his footing; the driver huffed and helped him out of the car. 

The driver helped Anakin into the house and saw some cash lying on the end table; sure, he helped Anakin inside but that didn’t mean this guy was a saint. 

Anakin leaned against the wall for support the driver swiped the cash and dashed out of the door. He had no clue what happened or what was going on, all he knew was that he felt awful and he needed to get to bed. 

He headed that way but he tripped over himself and landed on the floor with a thud.

A groan escaped him and his vision went black. 

***

a/n: more self destructive behavior… what’s new? lolll, srry the updates have been spaced out a bit, i’ve been doing a lot at work haha

taglist : @dnamht @sxoulohvn @angeelcoree @wtf-andys @httpeachesblog @katsukiswrld @jetiikote @poisonedsultana @imarimone12 @fallinlovewithevil

[sourlemons262]

Hey! I just made a little post on this but I wanted to ask you because you’re writing an amazing amazing fic about Matthew.

Do you think Stay Stay Stay (TV) suits Matthew? Every time I listen to that song it reminds me of him and it just sounds like a song someone in love with Matthew would sing.

And now I can just see Midge feeling like the girl in the song and I have a very cute mental picture of Matthew carrying Midge’s groceries and making jokes while she’s laughing and she’s vexed. And of course, they’re flirting which we all love XD

What do you think?

Heyyyy @daisymydaisycarstairs! Omg I’ve literally never had someone send me an ask about my fic before—I’m so honored and thank you for being the first one to do so! Idk how many of y’all are interested in, or have read, my fanfic, Every Saint Has a Past, Every Sinner Has a Future (ESES for short), but if you find that you care about this post in any way, shape, or form, give me some validation and heart it 🫶. I’ll try to keep the spoilers light, accordingly (pre ch. 5).

Okay, confession time: I eased you in with that super long intro to admit, rather unpleasantly, that I don’t really like Stay, Stay, Stay. 😬 Ikr I’m the worst Swifty on planet earth (/j) 😞 but it’s just too sickeningly adorable and sweet for my taste. I bring this up only to justify that this is why I never really connected that song to Matthew or his potential love interest.

However, I’ve had a few relistens to it and I agree that it would fit Midge and Matthew in many ways! For one, yes, the helmet, the banter, the groceries, the laughing is very, very Matthew. I also think Midge would be the type to throw something at his head when she’s incredibly frustrated.

But in addition to that, the whole part about “dating self-indulgent takers who took all of their problems out on [them]” really rings true for Midge when we consider the other awful prick in her life. And, in general, the whole motif of the words “Stay” in regards to Midge is important, as she unfortunately has begged for someone to “stay.” In this case, however, I can see Midge say it to him in a playful and loving way—a way that doesn’t leave her questioning if he will leave her.

Because of this, your song has (with my reluctant permission bc I’m still not the biggest SSS fan IM SORRY) has been deemed to be worthy entering the esteemed Spotify playlist! (By the way, PLEASE send song requests to add to the playlist! I will look them over and add them if they fit the story, with your opinion on how they do so, of course!)

Because this is an ESES and fanfic-related ask, I’ll include my regular tag-list. Please comment and let me know if you would like me to add or take you off this tag list (or if you’re not interested in asks like this because lord knows I can ramble for ages about the dumbest stuff).

Tag list: @soybean-official @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @tess-is-reading @lemonalienlime @bankofwildflowers @justbrainrot @akisekurahara @fangirlfreak08 @daisymydaisycarstairs @luciehercndale

[ch1lde-mora]

sdjfso hello!!! shanna's here to bother you with another request!!! because well we're [peace sign] not doing good up there in the ol' nogging umu but could i maybe get some soft ch//ya hcs with holding hands maybe,,, i want someone to hold my hand (v pls hold my hand qwq ilysm i hope you're doing well)

HII SHANNA!!! Im so sorry ur brain isnt brbrbrbr-ing,, shakes brain i hope you feel better soon!! it looks like u want poly but i’m gonna do both a la carte & poly because the brain is just feeling it rn [hearts x5] (HOLDS UR HAND ILYSM ;V; i’ve been better but still not that bad!!) thank u sm sm shanna~!! xoxo, v (edit 3 months later: ik ur probably out n about and feeling better but i wanted to get this out for you!! ur such a sweet person ty for giving me this req)

(edit, ONE YEAR AND 6 MONTHS LATER: wow i really thought i got this out and i didn’t.. Time to make things right 💪 EXTREMELY SORRY FOR THE DELAY WAAAAAH ;;)

they r in my heart forever i love these two

Poly

Childe’s definitely in the middle of you two when you all hold hands

Swings your hands back and forth and tries to walk faster, but Kaeya won’t let you guys LOL

Hums his fav snezhnayan song if you’re lucky!

Interlocks all of your fingers too

Kaeya is more chill when you guys are all together, content with just lacing fingers and walking (albeit slowly) to wherever you need to go

If childe’s not humming you guys will usually talk quietly amongst yourselves just about common things like the groceries or plans with friends later

He would never tell you, but Childe really enjoys all the simple domestic stuff you guys get to enjoy like this

Kaeya usually rubs the fingers of whoever’s hand he’s holding (in this case, Childe’s) with his thumb as you guys walk and doesn’t comment on it, mention it or expect anyone to mention it at all. It’s just something that he does

When sitting at a table, they will have you in the middle holding hands under said table

It’s really funny trying to eat/drink this way 

Because when they try to let go to actually eat you might look at them with those pleading puppy eyes just screaming “don’t let go 🥺” 

Either you’re serious about this whole hand holding thing or you’re just being a sly bitch to make this experience a whole lot more hilarious but regardless, they don’t let go and resign to eating with one hand

It’s not practical at all and I don’t see it happening very often but when you want attention, who are they to deny?

Bonus: if you’re holding both of their hands, they will feed you with their free hands 

“Need a little help? Do you perhaps have your hands full?”

(lmk if you want a one-shot format in the future because this was so fun to write)

Childe

Holds your hand anytime he cannot hold your waist, which is often

He’s always trying for some sort of physical contact, whether that be an arm over the shoulder, around the waist, yet if those are unachievable he opts to go hand in hand with you down the street

He holds your hand shopping, he holds your hand if you guys are driving and at a red light, he holds your hand up elevators or just up STAIRS IN GENERAL?

Always rationalizing his thoughts with  “What if they fall. I should keep them from falling. I should hold their hand” when in reality he just wants to be close to you

Usually holds your hand with your fingers interlaced

If you reach out to hold hands first his cheeks might go a little rosy if he wasn’t expecting it

When in an open field like a park or clearing in a forest, he will sometimes take both of your hands and just spin you and him around like he used to do with his siblings in the snow

Sometimes if it’s really hot and you guys can’t cuddle in bed, he’ll just hold your hand instead

“Don’t you always want to hold and touch things that you love? I know I do.”

Kaeya

I see Kaeya as more of a person that wants a little bit more personal space when out and about, but he wouldn’t object if you initiated first

In private he would hold your hand shamelessly, but prefers to link arms if possible

I think he would charm you and ask if you wanted to hold his hand then be surprised when you actually did it

He’s held hands tons of times before (duh) but he feels like it’s more special when it’s with the one that he loves

There’s also that feeling of doing something so simple and “first-base” with someone you love that puts butterflies in your stomach when you do it for the first time in awhile

That’s what he feels like when he feels your hand in his

Doesn’t interlace his fingers but rather just grips your hand with a firm but not too tight hold

Because of his fingerless gloves and the spikes on the wrists of them, he gets a little bit scared they might poke you

Of course, the ever confident Kaeya keeps that to himself and says nothing about it, and it literally doesn’t end up ever being an issue

If you rub his hand with your thumb, he notices and fixates on it but doesn’t mention it, thinking about it for the rest of the day when he has to eventually depart for his work

“Hm.. Perhaps we should do this more often. What do you think?”

[sarahfabray]

Opposites Attract

TAGGING ➝  Sarah Fabray, Reagan Morris-Corcoran @reaganroll

LOCATION ➝ Locked down at Table and Ice.

TIME FRAME ➝ 10/13 evening.

WARNINGS ➝ None.

SUMMARY ➝ Reagan and Sarah find a moment where they see past their differences

Reagan Morris-Corcoran

Reagan had never really known what to make of Sarah honestly. That chance meeting in a grocery store had kind of weirded her out a bit, but there was an energy to her that, if she was being totally honest with herself, kind of fascinated her. Still, that didn't mean she was super eager to be locked down with her and her new wave way of thinking, but Reagan was desperately trying to play nice considering the fact that she didn't know how long they were going to be stuck here. "Uh, so... do you drink?" Reagan offered, having eyed a bottle of whiskey behind the bar and wondering if Immy would be mad if she grabbed it (and left the appropriate compensation of course, she was a scoundrel not a thief), "Or... I dunno smoke? Any kind of vice that would be kinda fun?"

Sarah Fabray

Sarah smiled seeing Reagan was it, from the grocery store slide over to her with the whisky. She cracked a little smile at the slight dig grabbed the bottle and drank it stright. "Oh I can drink. I dont do it a lot anymore but i can handle with the best of them."

Reagan Morris-Corcoran

Reagan smirked, raising her eyebrow, "My kinda girl... guess a crisis brings out the best in everyone huh?" She took the bottle back, taking a long swig from it too as she settled in her seat, feet propped up on the table between them, "So, you're into vibrations right? Any idea if there's another big rumble headed our way?"

Sarah Fabray

Eyeing Reagan up and down and pleased to have eased some of the tention between them Sarah cracked a smile. While this may have not been what she had planned for the day she was glad for the opportunities it had brought to her. Reagan was one interesting character. She alwasy found it fastinating meeting someone who was just as agressive as she used to be and Reagan had a big chip on her sholder. Sarah got it. Life can be a cruel mistress at times. It was times like these that she was greatful for her previous life and the journey she has had. "Oh you definetly see people in a different light when we are all put under the wire. Thank you for taking charge and getting things organised back there. I think it was just what people needed." Sarah admired Reagan's head for emergencys and how she looked after all of them when this all started. They sat in silence for a moment until the drink was offered back to her and Sarah took another swig from the bottle. Chuckling at Reagan's question. "hmm you could say that. I prefer to think of it as being in tune with myself. I wish i had the power to know what was coming but unfortunately thats beyond me. But if there was im sure you would be right there to lead the way."

Reagan Morris-Corcoran

Reagan shrugged a little, never really having been good with praise. In reality, she hadn't consciously put herself forward as any kind of leader, who was she to be setting any kind of example or be telling people what they should do? She'd simply set out to ease her own anxiety and Emmy's, and if it helped anyone else along the way, well, that was just a happy coincidence, "Guess a little over a decade of being a fed comes in handy sometimes, I'm always prepared for a worst case scenario." "Damn, well there's my hopes for am early earthquake reporter dashed..." Reagan mumbled, but a grin was tugging at her lips as the bottle was passed back to her, "Is that you asking me to be your knight in shining armour? Because Loki makes a pretty great noble steed... y'know as long as no-one actually tries to ride him."

Sarah Fabray

Sarah hummed in acknowledgement and then studied Reagan's reaction for a second. She always found people like this interesting to deal with. Partly because they reminded her of her younger self. When she had a stick up her ass, a large chip on she shoulder and she would screw over anyone to get to the top. "You should accept it you know. The complement. It's actually good for you." Sarah took a moment before continuing. " Must be pretty stressful always being prepared like that."Sarah chuckled at Reagan's joke. It was actually nice to see this side of her and not the harsh exterior that had judged her before. Although Sarah knew they were on different parts of their journys It was nice for them to come to something of a mutual respect. "Well I'll never say no to a beautiful knight. Especailly one as talented as you." Sarah had always had a way with animals since her awakening. So it was no surprise when loki came and sat next to her as she stroked him. She looked up at Reagan accepting the drink and took another long slug, staring straight into her eyes. "Oh dont worry. Hes not the one i would be riding."

Reagan Morris-Corcoran

Reagan could feel Sarah studying her and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't really understand her if she was honest, after everything she'd been through, after everything she'd seen, Reagan didn't understand people like her, people that believed the universe was something that could be read and understood, predicted or made sense of. To her the whole thing was (and by that she meant her whole life) was some kind of cosmic joke. "Pfft, yeah right. Compliments are just words, and words roll right off my back these days. Good or bad, I don't really care." Reagan shrugged, "Yeah, I guess... I dunno not so much anymore. I don't really notice it, it's just something I am." She waggled her eyebrows at Sarah as she took a long swig from it, "I am both beautiful and talented, you're correct there." Reagan slid the bottle across the table, watching Loki rest his head on Sarah's knee. It was always a good sign when he just relaxed around a person, he was good at sniffing out bad and so if he approved then she knew it was okay to relax a little. Her eyebrows raised into her hairline as she met Sarah's gaze without flinching. Things had just gotten very interesting. "Oh yeah? You had another noble steed in mind?"

Sarah Fabray

Sarah watched Reagan's reaction. Studying to see how her words landed. She inwordly noted how she tried to brush off her words. "Oh you might not want to accept how they feel but the words shared by another in compelements are deep with the feelings of the other person. Filled with their feelings. Its never just words. Do all words roll off your back? It must be pretty hard to keep such a tough exterior."

Sarah let her words sink in for a moment. She began to stroke Loki's head. Smiling to see Reagan back to her confident sexually charged self. It was clear to Sarah that this was Reagan's comfort level and who was Sarah to take that away from her. accepting the bottle with another swig before placing it down and staring at Reagan with a deep look. She brushed a chuck of Reagans hair behind her ear. "Hmmm." She acknowledged. Drawring closer in."I can think of a few ways to ride." She was now just a breath away from Reagan's lips "I guess we’ll have to see if you can keep up."

Reagan Morris-Corcoran

"Is everything deep and meaningful to you?" Reagan rolled her eyes a little, even as she felt a pang in her chest. Sarah seemed to be able to read her better than anyone had in a long time, not since... not since Nik. "Nah." She shrugged, "I've always been tough. It's what made me a good agent, what makes good at security. Nothing gets past me." Reagan grinned as she sat forward, biting her lip, feeling her cockiness help push down all the other weird and complicated feelings that Sarah had brought to the fore. This she could do, sex was her thing and she was damn good at it. Still, that didn't stop the slight blush on her cheeks as Sarah's fingers brushed behind her ear. "Well I do like a girl with an imagination..." As their breaths mingled, Reagan brushed her lips lightly against Sarah's, "And a confident one. Want to see if the Manager's Office is all it's cracked up to be?"

[pixelrhys]

this has been rotating in my brain at 100 mph and my brain is also like “make this an ask blog” but i already have like 3 ask blogs i need to update orz

anyway grocery store au bc the idea is funny (and also bc i work in a grocery store. the holidays are coming up. im struggling to cope.)

i only have the gym leaders so far but i’ll draw the elite 4 eventually... and maybe some of the side characters too (like riley, cheryl, etc)

anyway here’s the rundown on the gym leaders (also bonus sona):

Roark:

- Unlike how I draw his canon counterpart (decently tall) and unlike his canon self (just having a good time :]), this guy is STRESSED and SHORT.

- applied for this position because it’s away from too much noise.

- Early 20s, autistic, and lives with his dad. Trying to find some college classes though! 

- Has good relationships with all of his coworkers.

Gardenia:

- Easily runs between departments. Floral isn’t very active anyway so it isn’t hard.

- Usually works with Cheryl and they’re BFFs.

- Seems to have a stronger relationship with Candice, Roark and Maylene.

- Mid 20s but she’s getting through it just fine (Or at least that’s what everyone else thinks).

Maylene:

- This is her first job as she just turned the appropriate working age (16).

- HATED that that was the only position she could have. Luckily they won her over with the cart gathering, as she is strong enough to push more than the others.

- Hot-headed and competitive with the other clerks.

- Good friendship with Wake and looks up to him.

Wake:

- VERY nice guy but kinda stupid. Big himbo.

- Somewhere near or in his 40s.

- Can be very loud and tends to pat people roughly on the back as a sign of affection. This often knocks people over because he’s pretty strong. Only Byron and Volkner seem to be able to take the pats well.

- Used to be a wrestler before deciding to move to something less extreme.

Fantina:

- Usually wears makeup and usually looks younger than she actually is. If anything, she’s close to middle-aged.

- Actually LOVES baking, especially little poffin-like pastries. She sometimes brings snacks for her coworkers.

- Still dramatic as hell and has dreams of being famous one day.

- Has an interest in the occult. She enjoys sharing ghost stories and Gardenia isn’t a huge fan of them.

Byron:

- Is the one who managed to help Roark get his job in the first place. Tends to be a little hard on him but only because he knows he has potential and wants him to succeed.

- Has a resting bitch face sometimes but he’s not actually that mean. Gets a little grumpy but other than that he can be cool to hang around. In his mid 40s.

- Good friends with Wake and Fantina. Fantina mostly because her station is right next to his and she tends to talk a lot.

- *hands you a piece of cheese* *hands you a piece of ham* *hands you a piece of cheese* *hands you a piece of ham* *hands you a piece of ch

Candice:

- Her job is to make sure certain items are in stock. She likes to hang out in the giant cooler in the back of the store though.

- Can be a little hyper depending on the day.

- Around her mid 20s like Gardenia.

- Is the one who is getting pins for everyone for their aprons. Not everyone has one yet but she’s working on it.

Volkner:

- Around 30 years old.

- Actually has pretty bad depression but never brings it up because he doesn’t care that much. He’s already on medication.

- Pretty repressed and aloof. Despite this, he isn’t actually a bad guy. Years of mental problems made it hard for him. He still gets along well with his coworkers, especially one of the managers (Flint, who worries about him a lot). Customers don’t seem bothered by his attitude as no one’s complained about it yet.

- Great with electronics. If the cash register breaks, he fixes it no problem. Tends to go overboard when he’s not feeling anything and causes power outages at his house.

AND SONA

Fitzgerald:

- Works in maintenance but sometimes goofs off when no one is looking. Mostly hangs out in the back with Roark or in the breakroom.

- Same age as Roark (Early 20s) and gay as hell.

- His living situation is actually pure shit. He lives in a small, messed up apartment so he never lets anyone come over. Doesn’t bring this up and avoids any questions about it.

- Strong friends with Roark and that’s about it. The others (Especially Byron) think he’s a little too annoying for their tastes (They don’t hate him though, but Byron is watching him like a hawk).

[deniigi]

I WOULD LOVE A DAVE FIC !!!

Excellent. Here’s for you and  @dudewhereismy-tardis

I am putting most of it under the cut because it is LONG

Dave (Daredevil copycat from Inimitable Verse) POV. Reminder that Dave is not his real name, but one given to him disdainfully by Wade in this verse.

Title: rises in the east

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

“Dad.”

What?

“Dad.”

What time was it?

“Your phone’s ringing,” Charlie said. “It’s the boss.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Give it here,” Dave rasped, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Mom said you’re gonna hurt your back sleepin’ on the couch,” Charlie reported as she shoved his phone into his palm.

“My couch, my rules,” Dave said. He crammed the phone to his ear. “Ansel here,” he said.

Charlie wanted to stay home and if she was a year older, Dave would have let her. But alas. The last time he’d let her stay home, she’d texted her friend Jesse who had become unspeakably jealous and had appealed to her own parents for such freedoms, and now the whole block thought that Dave recklessly abandoned his daughter when he went to the goddamn grocery store.

All that for a can of Sprite, man.

This neighborhood was off the fuckin’ charts sometimes.

Case in point: Dani standing in front of him in the lobby with her hands on her hips, telling him that he needed to wear a tighter t-shirt or to start flexing because they were losing business.

“Dani, I’m an instructor,” he reminded her. “I’m hired to do classes.”

“It’s two hours,” Dani said. “Take the damn fliers.”

But he didn’t want to?

Dani blinked at him slowly from under her headband.

 --

 Charlie was having a great time and Dave was glad for that because he was not. He was being stared at by every person in the street as if they’d never seen a dude with muscles before.

It was the shirt.

He knew it was the shirt.

And possibly his nipples. Smashing the brochures high enough against his chest to cover them wasn’t going well and the highlighter teal underarmor Dani had forced upon him left very little to the imagination here.

There wasn’t anything else to do but let the poor things live their best lives.

“Dad, gimme more,” Charlie said.

She tugged at the brochures covering what was left of his dignity.

Blessed child, who hurt you?

���Where did the others go?” he asked her.

Charlie pointed across the road to a gaggle of ladies leaning out from their stoop, smiling.

Ah.

Yes.

Them.

“Let’s try for someone who looks more like a bro,” he told his offspring.

Charlie blinked up at him.

“Why?” she asked.

Oh, baby.

“Because they’re an easy mark,” he said. “Go up and say ‘my dad can take you’ and send ‘em my way, okay?”

Charlie’s face went from confused to ready to kill instantly.

This was her game face. This was her ‘I’m gonna wreck this goalee’s teeth’ face.

Dave shouldn’t have been proud of her, really; her teachers said that she was becoming argumentative and obstinate in the classroom. But there was just something there in the fact that his kid sure as shit wasn’t no sheep that made his chest feel big, wide, and full of hot air.

“I’m on it,” Charlie said.

He gave her three brochures and let her scramble off to the other side of the sidewalk and then turned to meet the eye of a family with a father with neat hair and the beginnings of triceps peeking out from under his sleeves.

“You lookin’ for a gym, sir?” he asked.

The guy looked his way and eyed him up.

He took a flier on his way past.

 --

 “Excuse me?”

“One second, man,” Dave said, doing the rock-shuffle to keep all the fliers on the table from blowing away.

“Excuse me.”

“Hey, I said just a sec,” Dave snapped.

He turned back and found himself staring into the dark eyes of a bald man with olive skin and deep wrinkles in his forehead.

And Dave knew him.

Holy shit.

Dave knew him.

Fuck.

God.

Jesus, Lord.

“I am so sorry,” he started.

“DAD.”

Ch—Charlie?

He looked down and sure enough, holding Rudolph ‘Diamond’ De Luca’s massive bearpaw was his very own daughter. De Luca made her wiry, suntanned limbs seem like unbaked pretzels.

He was so much bigger than he’d seemed on TV all those years ago.

“This your kid?” De Luca asked.

Jesus.

“She is. I’m so sorry,” Dave said, “Did she—she didn’t bite you or anything, did she?”

“Dad,” Charlie whined. “Don’t tell ‘im that.”

“I’ll pay for whatever damage—” Dave continued.

De Luca blinked at him impossibly slowly with long dark eye lashes. He turned his face slowly back down towards Charlie.

“You sure this is your old man?” he asked.

Wh—

Wait.

What the hell did that mean?

“That’s him,” Charlie moaned. “He’s just bein’ dumb. Dad. Stop bein’ dumb. This dude’s the real deal. He’ll fight you in a heartbeat.”

Dave grabbed his child before she could cause any more damage. She made a fuss, but let go of De Luca’s mitt. Dave shoved her behind him, just in case this situation got any more tense than it needed to be.

De Luca lifted an eyebrow at that and then brought his face back up to Dave’s.

“Who’s gym?” he asked.

What?

Oh.

“Spitfire,” Dave said. “We’re, uh, just about there, on the—”

“I know where you’re about,” De Luca said.

Dave didn’t know what to say. De Luca held his eye.

Oh, god.

This wasn’t going well.

“How old are you, son?” De Luca asked.

FFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffuck.

“38,” Dave said.

“And your baby girl?” De Luca asked, gesturing with his chin down at Charlie.

“I’m 12,” Charlie told him brightly.

“Hm,” De Luca said.

He shifted his weight back and wrapped a few fingers around his chin, surveying Dave’s whole body like he was the statue of David with a knee injury.

Dave became intimately aware of his nipples again.

“Not bad,” De Luca said.

Oh, thank god.

“Thank you, sir,” Dave said. “Is there, uh, somethin’ I could help you with?”

“You got an accent,” De Luca noted.

Uh?

“A good accent,” De Luca said. “Whereabouts did you grow up?”

Oh.

Well.

Dave could actually just point to it from here. The condo was still standing, despite all building codes and actual alien invasions. At this point, the only thing that was gonna take it down were the rampant, rapidly mutating, borderline feral gangs of chickens that roamed its halls.

Not that anyone spoke about them.

No, that was inviting trouble to your doorstep.

“The chicken coop?” De Luca said.

The one and only.

“Bless you, you poor fuck.”

Yeah, that tended to be the usual reaction.

De Luca laughed.

“You’re a funny guy, uh,” he squinted at Dave’s nametag, “Ansel?”

How could a word sound so wrong in someone’s mouth?

Where had Dave’s life gone wrong that his own name sounded so foreign and distant to his ears?

“Actually,” he said, swallowing, “My uh, my friends call me ‘Dave.’”

De Luca’s head snapped right up and slowly, a grin spread across his face.

“Oh, now, that’s a good name for ya,” he said. “You look like a Davy.”

Hng.

Diamond De Luca thought he looked like a ‘Davy.’

Diamond De Luca thought he looked like a ‘Davy.’

Welp.

Time to get that birth certificate changed.

“Listen, Davy,” De Luca said casually, “Your baby girl there was tellin’ me that your boss has you out here like dancin’ monkey; is that true?”

Fffffffffff.

Technically yes?

“It’s even his day off,” Charlie whispered.

Dave wrapped a hand over her face.

“It’s fine,” he said. “It happens. Folks’ve been sick lately. I don’t normally do this kinda thing.”

De Luca’s face said that that was real cute. Real, real cute, honey.

“Well,” he said, “Let’s just say it like this. Where you work don’t gotta be where you train.”

Oh.

Was he offering--?

“If you decide to drop by, tell the guy at the desk Rudy sent you,” De Luca said. “Your kid’s real sweet, Davy. She can come too, lord knows the damn place is a daycare at this point.”

“Thank? You?” Dave stuttered.

“Don’t mention it,” De Luca said.

He left. Dave watched him waltz down the block and wave at the gals collected on the stoop at the end of it and felt a little lightheaded.

“Dad?”

Not right now, champ.

“Dad? Is he famous or somethin’?”

HHHHHHHHHHNG.

 --

 Back when Dave had been 14 and scraping the tips of his fingers into callouses on the old guitar he’d found tossed into a dumpster in the Upper West Side, he’d had to compete with the sound of the couple fighting in the apartment next door and with the radio the old man downstairs always had playing on his fire-escape window.

The old man downstairs was a real hard-ass. Always slammed a broom into the ceiling, scaring the shit out of Mom and Dad and sister and auntie. Dave had never seen him not smoking, nor had he ever seen him without suspenders.

The man was a retired plumber, apparently. And while Jim Beam was his main vice, his passion was boxing.

To the tune of chords picked out of an out-of-tune guitar, Dave had listened to tinny commentators oohing and awing over match after match, until finally, when sleep wouldn’t come one night, Dave had snuck out of the room he’d shared with Flora. He’d settled down on the living room couch, next to his old man splayed out in the recliner.

Dad had lifted his eyes slowly his way and told him that he should have been in bed.

Dave had told him that he couldn’t sleep because the couple next door was makin’ up from their daily afternoon argument and Dad had just sighed.

He’d let Dave stay up with him and the TV in the living room had fuzzed and rattled away, making sounds really familiar to Dave at that point.

Boxing was a sport that he had, up until that night, left to his father. But for the lack of anything else to talk about that wouldn’t make his dad look at him with disappointment in his eyes for all that damn music-playin’ and eyeliner, he’d asked who the guy on the screen was.

And that was how he’d learned about Diamond De Luca.

About Kenny Varga. Bert ‘The Albatross’ Kleinfeld.

But there was one guy who Dad had mentioned was his favorite rookie and, now it felt both kind of silly and surreal that the name had been spoken so casually in Dave’s home growing up.

Dad had been puttin’ money on Battlin’ Jack Murdock back when Dave had been a little kid.

He told Dave, disappointedly, after a few weeks of Dave getting up at 12:30 to come out and watch boxing with him that he’d really thought that Murdock was gonna be the next big thing.

Guy was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Dad had said, shaking his head. But wolves that got too wily got put down and Battlin’ Jack had been found in an alley, bled out in the arms of his reason for fighting.

Dad said it was a fuckin’ shame that Murdock had gone out with a slug in his head.

A fuckin’ shame, he said.

Dave didn’t remember him every saying that Murdock’s reason for fighting was a blind ten-year-old, but the thought was now merged with that memory.

That, in itself, was merged with the memory of Dave’s phone ringing one night was Addie’s name on the Caller ID. Her voice was shaking when she told Dave that the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen had just called her from an unknown number.

He had their baby.

He’d snatched her and Jesse out of the arms of two men looking for girls to be used in businesses Dave didn’t want to think about.

He’d saved them.

The devil had heard their screams when no one else had and he’d come flying out of the dark.

He’d held the girls in the light of a bodega and he’d coached Charlie through typing Addie’s number into his phone and then he’d taken it from there.

Addie was too scared to go meet the devil on her own. Mason hadn’t been around yet and so Dave had thrown on his shoes and had meet her on 46th.

The devil was on 48th, swinging his boots with both girls in his lap.

They were all singing. The devil had pretended like he didn’t know the words to Britney Spears’s ‘Toxic.’

Matt Murdock was under that mask.

Knowing that this whole time, he’d been the one dragging a stick against the fences and bricks of Hell’s Kitchen was almost impossible to digest.

And Dave had worked with him now.

He’d seen that smirk and that notorious jaw unwrapped from its red armor and that didn’t make reconciling the murdered boxer’s son with the man who’d saved his daughter any easier.

Charlie hadn’t remembered him.

She thought that Matt Murdock was a weird fuckin’ dude, and granted, he was a weird fuckin’ dude, but Dave had to say: he was grateful.

Matt Murdock not only brought home his baby, but he’d given Dave purpose in a life that had become consumed by the daily grind.

Matt Murdock had smiled in his direction, never quite into his eyes, and he’d passed along the baton with next to no fight.

Dave wasn’t him.

Dave would never be him.

Matt Murdock wasn’t just some poor murdered boxer’s blind son. He was the product of some serious poverty. Some serious violence. A whole fuckin’ cult induction, if he was to be believed. And Dave wasn’t so sure if he was always to be believed.

But he still appreciated Matt Murdock for what he’d done and what he’d made for this part of the city.

He’d made Daredevil.

And he shared that with Dave.

Dave’s own dad’s approval hadn’t felt like the honor that had come with Matt Murdock’s covered eyes and curled lip slowly relaxing as he’d lifted his face up from Dave’s knees.

He hadn’t been inspecting.

He’d been listening. Dipping his fingers into the blood in Dave’s heart and deciding if he was worth his salt.

Matt Murdock, son of Battlin’ Jack Murdock, was a product of Fogwell’s Gym in the Kitchen.

Diamond De Luca, retired heavyweight, was a product of Fogwell’s Gym.

The stars had aligned. And Dave had stood in their path.

And he wasn’t wasting the chance that they offered him.

--

Charlie was stoked to be allowed to come to the gym with him. She usually went to Jesse’s house, where Rubes would look after both girls for a few hours.

But De Luca had said that it was okay for her to come along, and so he figured, why not?

Fogwell’s was an institution in the Kitchen. All kids deserved to know their own history.

“I’m gonna fight Fogwell himself,” Charlie announced halfway down the block.

“You will not,” Dave told her. “Because I’m not tryin’ to get thrown out before we even get started here, alright?”

Charlie whined.

He ignored it.

 --

 This wasn’t the first time he’d been to the gym. Matt Murdock slipped in and out of it when he was in the city and he’d taken the whole team there once or twice. But it was different to be there in the presence of the daytime crew.

Dave felt very small in their presence.

The whole place was full of people pounding bags and swearing and shouting at kids who were tumbling all over the rows of benches set off to the side of the bags.

It was not what Dave had been expecting.

He told the guy at the front that ‘Rudy’ had recommended that he stop by and got a nod and a wave.

“He’s probably upstairs,” the receptionist said. “Go pick a bag, I’ll give him a buzz.”

 --

 Charlie refused to join the kids on the benches because apparently that was ‘only for babies, Dad.’ She wanted to hold the bag.

She was not, in one thousand years, holding the bag.

Dave wrapped her hands and let her go at it first to ‘soften it up’ for him.

De Luca caught him adjusting the demon-child’s thumbs before they ended up at the hospital again and laughed.

“Davy-boy, you made it,” he said.

Dave snapped up straight to attention.

“I did,” he said.

De Luca laughed again.

“Relax, kid,” he said. “Damn, you’re tight wound. Don’t worry, we won’t tell no one you’re sleepin’ with the enemy.”

Ahahahaha.

Please don’t.

These people were jacked. Dave was but a kickboxing instructor.

“Here, bub, lemme see what your pops has got,” De Luca said, shooing Charlie out of the way.

And this was the moment of truth.

 --

 De Luca seemed surprised when Dave finally laid off the bag. And Dave couldn’t read his expression for a million bucks.

“Uh?” he tried. “Not good?”

De Luca blinked himself back to earth.

“Oh, no,” he said. “It’s just uh, you fight a little like someone I know.”

Please don’t say a mobster.

Please don’t say a mobster.

“Kid used to live around here; name’s Matt Murdock,” De Luca said. “You know him?”

Did—

Did he know him?

QUICK. Answer the question.

You’re takin’ too long.

He’s gonna—

“S’alright if you don’t,” De Luca said. “I was just sayin’. Kid was like one of my own.”

He—

What?

“Yeah, boy fought like the devil like his daddy before ‘im,” De Luca said. “He’s the only one Fogwell lets call him ‘Grandpa.’ He’s about your age, actually. God, I’m old.”

AHAHAHAHAHA.

Please change the subject.

“You’re not that old,” Dave said. “I think I might have heard the name.”

Charlie looked up at him, baffled at the hedging.

He pleaded with her with his eyes not to say a damn word.

“Yeah, he’s somethin’, left here for San Francisco. Didn’t even say good-bye, the little shit,” De Luca sniffed. “Came back last year all ‘I’m gettin’ married’ and I swear to god, he’s picked up some kid. Just between you and me, pal, the old guard here have been talkin’, and we think that someone missed out on the sex ed talk, if you know what I’m sayin’.”

Oh.

Poor Sam.

He wasn’t even there to scream from the mountaintops that Red was a last resort for him at best.

“I’m just sayin’,” De Luca said with a shrug that spoke far more of supreme irritation than nonchalance, “He coulda just told us. I’m just sayin’.”

Any more ‘just sayin’s’ and Diamond De Luca was gonna go find a wall to bury them in.

“Did you, uh, have any feedback?” Dave blurted out as the guy started mumbling.

“Hm?”

“Feedback,” Dave repeated, waving a gloved hand at the bag.

“Oh. Yeah, loads, kid. You got all the muscles and not a damn lick of memory, here, lemme show you.”

Crisis averted.

Thank god.

 --

 D2: hey uh, DD?

SM: DAVE

S2: DAVEEEE

S3: DAVE

SM: what’s up man?

D2: nothing I was just trying to get ahold of DD?

BT: He’s trying to get Kirsten to give up her dreams of an indoor office pond rn. Can I help?

SM: I want an indoor office pond

S3: omg same

D2: uh yeah actually could you just tell him I met a guy named De Luca the other day and he might want to give him a call?

BT: de Luca?

D2: yeah

BT: okay sure thing

D2: thanks

BT: I’ll go see if I can get a word in edgewise.

SM: good fucking luck

S2: I hate fish

S3: leave this place and never return

S2: I HATE FISH

DD: WHAT

SM: oh shit that was quick

D2: oh. I was just saying that I met Diamond De Luca the other day?

SM: ?? Who’s that?

DD: oh no

S2: ??????????????

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): who the fuck is that?

DD: are you still with him?

D2: no?

D2: he caught me out fliering and invited me to Fogwell’s

D2: and when I got there he mentioned my stance was like yours and he uh

D2: got a little distracted

DD: what kind of distracted?

D2: He thinks Sam’s your bastard kid

BT: GODDAMNIT

DD: FOR FUCKS SAKE

BT: First Mrs. Jones, now this guy?? TEACH.

DD: These people have zero faith in me I swear to god.

DD: like come ON man. I did sex ed in the same class as Angie he knows I’m too catholic for that shit

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): I looked this man up and he looks like an Italian nate with less hair

SM: wh

DP (´｡✪ω✪｡´): okay you’re right he looks nothing like nate

SM: that

SM: that’s not even slightly helpful, wade, thanks not at all. Hey who’s angie?

DD: long story. Rudy’s daughter

S2: RED YOU FUCKED A BOXERS DAUGHTER?? That’s a million dollar baby man

DD: I

DD: what?

DD: no? Why would I fuck angie she’s like my sister?

S2: oh nvm

SM: 😬😬😬

S3: I am confused ❤

D2: you should probably call him, friend

DD: on it. thanks for the notice

DD: hey what’s your fuckin name again?

S2: f

S3: f

SM: f

D2: It’s Ansel

DD: Adams?

D2: not the photographer. Ansel West.

SM: WEST

S2: OMG

S3: guys don’t

SM: I BET YOURE A SUNSET DAVE

S2: YOU EVER FEEL CALLED TO THE PRAIRIE DAVE???

SM: YOU’RE A&W, DAVE!!

S2: ROOT BEER ROOT BEER

D2: ah yes. Middle school. I remember this feeling.

--

Dave laid his phone on his chest and stared back up at the ceiling.

It was never dull, this new life he’d settled into.

He said a prayer for Murdock and rolled onto his side.

It was still his goddamn couch.

 --

[elysiashelby]

In Another World - T. Shelby Imagine Ch. 3.3

Paring: (Eventual) Thomas Shelby x Aliena Welsh (OC)

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Word Count: 4, 479

WARNINGS: Cursing

Summary: Aliena Welsh has been living in the universe of the show Peaky Blinders for 7 months now. Tommy and Aliena have worked out a bargain on how he should be dealing with his PTSD. Will it help him? Or will it just make everything awkward? Also, she travels to London with Ada, but ends up making a new acquaintance. 

MASTERLIST  CHAPTER 3.2  CHAPTER 4

A/N: This chapter and 3.2 are both considered extras. You can move onto chapter 4 without really reading them. I honestly wrote chapter 4 before 3.2 and 3.3. So, that will explain why Ch. 4 is a little different. THANKS FOR READING!

“Ali, wake up.”

Instantly, me eyes opened and Tommy was there towering over me with his hand on me shoulder.

“What?” I asked, kind of annoyed.

“Get in the bed. You have about 30 more minutes before you need to get up, all right?”

All I heard was get in the bed. 

Say no more, sir, I will! 

With me feet, I launched meself into his bed and pulled the covers over me body. Me left arm and neck ached like a mother, but I was determined to go back to sleep.

Through squinted eyes, I watched him leave and once he did, I closed me eyes. 

When me eyes opened again, I checked the clock. I only had a minute left to myself. I sighed tiredly. I ruffled the front of me hair, playing with it a little bit then hauled myself up. I made up Tommy’s bed, then left. 

I opened the door to me room, went in, and immediately walked to the mirror. I looked at me bruises. There was literally like no change. I sucked on me teeth before looking away. 

‘What the kinel am I going to do now?’

I didn’t have another turtleneck dress. I huffed while shuffling through me clothes. There was absolutely nothing in me closet that would cover me neck. I picked a dress that had like a “mid-necklike.” It didn’t cover it fully, but it got most of it. 

I got down on me knees, laid flat on the ground, and then pulled out me suitcases from under the bed. I opened them both up. I rummaged to find anything that resembled scarfs, and Lady Luck was on me side today ‘cause I found a couple! 

I smiled in delight and chose the one that went best with me pale pink dress. I put it on, put back all the items I took out, and slid them underneath me bed. I got up only to take off the scarf because I had to do me hair. 

Once I was done, I went downstairs. Polly was there, drinking her morning tea. 

“G’morning, Pol.” I said while aiming for the stove.

“Mornin’, Ali.” Polly replied, “Today, I need you to go to get groceries.”

I nodded, but then it struck me. Lizzie’s been getting the groceries for John. I hummed while looking at Pol. 

I started. “So, Polly about John’s groceries...?”

“Yes?”

“Last time I got them, the house was already packed.”

“What?” She asked loudly. I heard her cup clink on the table.

“Yeah. I think John found ‘imself a woman.”

“No shit!” Polly huffed before laughing. “Finally! I mean those kids of his have been needing a mother, Ali. They can’t have just you. Besides, you’re the nanny. Oh, I hope it’s someone who won’t break his heart. Did you see her?”

I couldn’t exactly lie to her outright. I mean this woman can tell when Tommy is lying, you think I’m gonna be the exception? Nah.

I nodded. “She had short black hair and was tall. Not taller than ‘im, but way taller than me. Like way taller.”

I heard her light a match then a puff. She chuckled. “Aliena, sorry to break it to you, but everyone is taller than you. Finn will end up passing you in a year!” 

Oh, did that make her laugh!

I looked at her from the corner of me eye and made a “tch” sound. 

She walked over to me with her arms open, so she could hug me. “Oh, I’m sorry. But you have to admit it. How short are you again?”

“5 feet.” I grumbled.

“What-? What was that?”

“5 feet.” I said clearer this time, but still soft.

Pol stepped away from me and patted my head. 

“Ali, you’re only 5 feet?” Ada yelled while coming into the room. 

I groaned loudly. I whispered to myself, “For fuck’s sake!” 

“Yep, I’m only 5 feet and a quarter of an inch.” I said loudly.

A chair scraped against the floor. “Huh, how about that! I thought that you had to have been, what, 5’2. But, 5 feet, wow!”

“Yeah, shut it.” 

Ada had a smug smile. I put her food down in front of her and then Polly’s. I had to finish making me own scran. Ada and Polly were talking. I was just swaying while cooking. 

“Aliena, how would you like to have the day off?” Polly asked.

I twirled ‘round to face her. “Really?” The excitement practically dripped from me voice. 

“Yeah. You and Ada should go into the city. Have a girls day! I’ll take care of the kids today.”

Me gaze shifted to Ada. Me excitement gone. She avoided me eyes. I sighed. “Okay, then! Thanks so much, Polly!”

I was halfway done with me scran when Polly got up and put her dishes in the sink. She walked over to the both of us and rubbed our shoulders before heading off. 

I waited ‘til I heard the door slammed shut and then kicked Ada under the table. 

“Ow!”

“What the hell are you roping me into, Ada?” It’s hard to shout and whisper at the same time! She wouldn’t look at me. “Is this about Freddie?”

Her eyes practically bulged out of her head. I poked the inside of me cheek with me tongue, folded me arms, and leaned back against me chair. 

“Fuck, Ada! What do you need me for?”

“Pol has been watching me lately! She’s not falling for my stories, so I figured I’d start telling her that I want to spend days off with you. And hey, you get paid leave!” She smiled before getting up and putting her dishes in the sink. “C’mon. I’ll be with you ‘till the afternoon.”

I smoothed out me forehead, resting me elbows on the table.

I muttered. “You’re lucky that I needed to go and buy some new clothes.” I stabbed the fork in me omelet.

Ada and I took a train to London. We looked ‘round a few stores, but we were talking so much that I kept forgetting to buy clothes. True to her word, Freddie came to pick her up after we ate lunch. I was left all alone after that, sitting at a table sipping on hot chocolate. 

Yeah, don't care for coffee or tea. So, I opt for hot chocolate. Luckily, it was always cold here, so I get to feel validated!

After finishing me drink, I went back into some of the stores that Ada and I went into. I bought three new dresses that had a turtleneck. I also bought two regular dresses and a nightgown. I would have bought some undergarments, but they were just too different and difficult for me to like understand. They did have cup sizes and yeah! I'm not going to explain it. I'm gonna need Polly or Ada for that adventure. 

To be frank, walking around with no supervision was terrifying and liberating at the same time. I was deathly afraid of the possibility of a man dragging me into an alleyway and mug me or... yeah. However, it was also one of me rare moments where I'm being independent. 

I was in London on me bill!

I was walking around with me new threads when I was tapped on me shoulder. 

"Excuse me, can you help me?" The girl said with an American accent. She was absolutely beautiful despite the fact she looked absolutely bladdered.

"Ye wha?" I slipped out. 

"What?"

I shook me head and said. "Sorry, um, I said Pardon. What did you need?"

She chuckled. "Oh, okay! You know I've never heard that accent before. Where's it from?"

As I answered I started taking in her appearance with more detail. 

She had dirty blonde hair. "Liverpool. It's Liverpudlian. I can do an American accent, if you can't understand me!"

She was at least 2 to 3 inches taller than me and her eyes were blue. 

"Really! I mean you don't have to do it, but I'd love to hear it." 

She was quite thin. Her breasts were large, probably bigger than mine. Her body shape might be a pear like mine or maybe an hourglass. 

I started to talk with an American accent. "Um, I don't know what to say. So, I'll just say Hi and how are you?"

Her makeup was smeared. Her eyes resembled a raccoon's and her lipstick dragged from the corner of her lip to the middle of her cheek. She had her heels in one hand, leaving her barefoot. Her hair had previously been kept up, but it was now mostly undone. 

She giggled. "Oh my god! It's so good! Have you ever been to America? Is that why you're so good at it?"

I nodded. My analysis was over. "I lived there practically my whole life. I learned how to do this to like blend in. Kids are pretty vicious."

"Ugh! Adults too! I always get shit just because I don't have an English accent. I mean I wasn't born here, what do you expect? My dad was born here, though. We came here after my mom died and then he became an MP. So, I'm basically stuck here with no real fucking friends!"

She hummed while picking at the dirt under her fingernails. Then, she clapped and snapped her fingers. "Right! Can you help me get to the Ritz Hotel?" 

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I can help you. Follow me. You were going the wrong direction, love." 

I heard her mutter, "Fuck." 

We started walking to the Ritz. 

"So, what's your name? I'm Cassiopeia Johnson. But everyone just calls me Cassie."

"Aliena Welsh. So far my nickname has been Ali." 

"Did you have a different nickname?"

"A friend who I considered to be my best friend used to call me Rosie. She said she would know I was coming because I brought the scent of roses with me." I smiled at the thought. It was a true story. The girl who I considered to be my best friend back home gave me that nickname because I would always buy rose fragrant stuff. 

"How come she still isn't your best friend? Did you guys have a fight?"

"No, actually. It was because I moved here. It was a sudden move. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her." I pretended to be saddened as I looked down at me hands. 

Cassie put a hand on me shoulder. "Why don't you send her a letter or something?"

I shook me head before meeting her concerned gaze. "She's off becoming a nurse. I don't want to interrupt her with my drama."

She hummed and removed her hand from me shoulder. 

"So, how far are we exactly from the hotel?" Cassie asked me. 

I hummed as I wondered. "I think about 20 blocks. That's about a mile, I think."

She groaned loudly. "Fuck! God, that lame party was not worth all this." Cassie rubbed her face with one hand. 

I smiled at the sight.  

"How old are you, Ali?"

"I'm 16. I'll be turning 17 in January."

"Oh, really! How nice. I'm 17 too! I'm gonna be 18 in February. When? What day were you born? Maybe we have the same zodiac sign!"

I chuckled at her peppy attitude, I just told her me age and she forgot within a split second. "January 24th."

"This can't be real. Mine's the 10th! We're both Aquariuses. This has to be fate or something!" She clasped her hands together as if she was gonna pray. 

That's when I gave her a face. I haven’t been around this much energy in a while!

She saw and stopped. "Sorry. I had a lot to drink last night."

I shook my head. "No, you're fine. It's just been a while since I've been around someone so cheerful. And someone who is crazy about horoscopes and zodiac signs. I had another friend who was like that. She used to swear up and down that she was an Gemini even though she was actually a Aries. I think her zodiac sign was correct."

Cassie nodded and smiled. "So, do you live here in London?" Her tone was meek and she kept twisting her hands. 

"No. I live in Small Heath, Birmingham." 

"Oh…"

There was a slight silence after that. 

"Well," Cassie said, "you know where I'm staying at, so maybe if you want to chat sometime? We could?" Her face was red. 

I laughed. "Yeah, I'd love to hang out. I work almost all week, though, so that'll be hard."

"You have a job?" She asked, quite shocked might I add. 

"Yeah. My parents are dead, so I have to fend for myself. My bosses gave me a room in their house."

"That's just-! Wow! You know I always thought about teaching kids, or working in a flower shop if I ever needed to work. What is it that you do?"

"I'm a nanny-slash-maid. I take care of one of my employer's kids. I make sure they are fed, clothed, bathed. I teach them how to read and write. Then, I make sure that all my employers are fed and that the house all of us live in is clean. I don't do all of the cleaning in the house in its entirety. I get help from my female boss. Her name's Polly. Yeah, she basically splits up the work for me." While talking, I was gesturing with me hands and nodding me head a lot. 

"Are they nice?"

"Yeah. Of course, they are. They have to be nice, if they don't want spit in their food." I looked at her and stuck out me tongue. We both laughed. 

Cassie grabbed me arm and linked them together. 

When I finally managed to deliver her to the hotel, she offered me a ride home. I took her offer. I had to wait for her to get dressed properly, though. 

"So, you live here by yourself?" I shouted since she was in the shower. 

"Yeah! I come here really on the weekends, or when I don't want to be near my dad! But believe me, Angelica's room is so much bigger." Cassie shouted over the running water. 

"Who's Angelica?"

"Angelica Sallow! She's the daughter of Earl William Sallow! She's also been my friend here since I arrived. She's a nice enough girl, to be completely honest, but I don't know. She's so stuck up. She always goes on and on about never getting married. Or, the man needs to realize that he's beneath her for the relationship to work. I swear I pity the poor soul who falls for her. And God, don't even get me started on her shadow!" Cassie walked out with a towel wrapped around her body and another wrapped her hair. 

I was sitting on a lounge chair with me feet up. "Too late, love! You already started. Get on with it!"

Cassie walked to her closet. "The name is Christiana King. She is the granddaughter of a Viscount. Angelica and Christiana have been since childhood, and it's known among high society that wherever Angie goes Tina is not too far." 

I made the word "Wow" with my lips, but didn't say anything. 

"I know right." Cassie said while buttoning up her dress. "Sometimes, I get the feeling that they are more than just friends. If you get what I'm saying." 

I instantly tensed up. The next thing she says will determine if I ghost her or not. "And so what if they were?"

She shrugged. "I think it's Tina that likes Angie. But Angie is straight, she's been with a guy or two in secret. Meanwhile, Tina has never been with one! Even if they wanted to be in a relationship, they probably never could. High Society is too strict about a woman's image for them not to be married off. Or, they’ll have to be married off for political gain."

She passed. 

"That's true. Poor Tina, then."

"Yes, poor Tina. You know, I've talked more to you than anyone else these past few years. I mean it's so easy to open up to you."

I nodded as I had me head tipped back on the chair. "Well, it's easier for people to rant when it's to a stranger." No consqeunces, usually.

Cassie laughed. "Oh, come now! Don't say that! We're not strangers anymore. I've told you loads of things." She paused for a moment. "I know, it's because you haven't shared anything. How about you get something off your chest?"

I brought me head back up and faced her. I had to sit on me knees in the chair to look at her though.

We talked the whole walk too. I felt a real bond with her. I mean if we decide to stay friends, then she'll be me first one here.

 "Alright!" I said. "Let's see… Oh, well I find one of my bosses attractive."

Cassie gasped. "No way!"

"Yep! Oh, Cassie, if you'd only seen him. He is so fit! His eyes are so dreamy and his cheekbones are so defined!"

"Aliena, how old is he?"

"He's 28. We're 12 years apart."

"Huh, not too bad. By my luck, I'll never meet a decent guy and will be married to a guy three times my age."

"Eee!" I exclaimed in disgust. 

She gave me the same face. 

"Well, are you gonna pursue him?" She asked while doing her makeup. 

"I don’t want to make the first move. Plus, I'd doubt he'd even see me in that way. He's not exactly an open book, ya know. So, you have to be slow and patient with him. He's barely let me in like a month ago and we've known each for seven months now. But you know what, that makes sense. I mean the man is 28 and if we did get chummy fast, that would've been weird, to say the least."

"That's true. But can't say it would be illegal. Age of consent is 16 here."

"Maybe so, but it goes against a lot of social constructs and moral values and ethical principles of our modern society."

We both hummed. 

"Would you mind being with a 28 year old?" I asked. 

"Nope. I wouldn't even mind a 38 year old as long as he was good-looking and wealthy." She smiled at me through the mirror. 

Me mouth fell open in shock. The corners of me mouth turned into a smile. "Cassie, you're my fucking soulmate!"

We started having a big 'ol laughing fit. 

When we calmed down, I said. "But I'm still not going to do anything! I admit he's very attractive, but he is my boss. I need this job and helping him find happiness is completely fine with me."

"Aw, aren't you a saint!" Cassie exclaimed, quite sarcastically. 

"Was that sarcasm, Cassie?"

She stuck her tongue out at me. 

I scoffed playfully! “Oh, I don’t play with sarcasm!"

I leaped for her and she screamed. Let's just say the fight ended in a draw. Yeah, a nice tie!

When we finished, we went down and Cassie had her car running to take me home. I felt pity for the driver who was probably waiting for a good two hours. 

'I've done this loads of times. I've relinquished all of me troubles and secrets to a person who claims they want to be me bestest of all best friends, only for us never to contact each other again. It's disappointing, but again- I'm used to it.'

I hopped out of her car and waved her goodbye. 

"Next time, I won't go for the back of your knees!" Cassie yelled. 

"Ta' even though we both know that's a cheap shot." 

She stuck her tongue at me and I did the same. Then, she left and I watched. A weird pit in me stomach formed. 

'It sucks to get used to something so sad. I really just wanted that movie trope kind of best friend, but I never had it before. I wanted Cassie to be it. But only time will tell.'

I sighed heavily, kicking a pebble before turning around and unlocking the door. I heard the sound of shoes against the floor, but I didn't pay attention to it. 

“And where the fuck have you been?” Polly shouted.

Me eyes almost came out of me head. She was yelling at me.

“Wha-?”

“Do you realize what time it is? Do you?”

“I, uh. Innit about 8?”

“It’s 10 pm, Aliena. 10 pm!”

I pursed me lips while looking down at me shoes. “Oh…” I let out a nervous chuckle.

“Oh. All she says is ‘Oh’.”

Tommy cleared his throat. “Ali, Ada said she lost you while youse were shopping. What ‘appened?”

I looked at Ada. She was biting her nails with her gaze trained away from me. 

The little-!

I sighed, tightly closing me eyes before making up at lie. “Yeah, something caught me eye at a different shop. I just went out of the shop we were in without even realizing it. When I went back, she was already gone. Then, there was this girl who needed help with directions and I helped her out and I made a friend. She gave me a ride home.” I was switching me weight on each leg, bouncing like a divvy.

Thomas sighed. A ciggie in his hands. “There you have it, Pol. She made a friend.”

The crowd dispersed while Polly walked over to me. She put her hands on me arms. “Never run off by yourself like that again. Understand me?” She said.

I nodded. “Never again.”

Polly pulled me into her arms and hugged me. 

“Go on. Go to bed.” She pushed me towards the staircase while a hand flew to her mouth, covering it.

I did as she wanted.

I was just abar done brushing out the tangles in me hair when there was a knock on me door. 

“Come in.” I said.

The door opened ‘n Tommy walked in. I gave him a tight lipped smile.

He cleared his throat. “Are we doing this therapy thing t’night, or?”

“Yeah. Yep.” I put down me hairbrush and started walking toward him.

Tommy curtly nodded, turned ‘round, and walked into his room. 

I’m not going to lie. It was very awkward. 

Very stiffy, he sat down on his bed while I stood there, kinda just watchin’. Then, he rolled over to his side and laid down. 

Once he did, I found me same spot. I sat down at his bedside, me arms folded and resting on a sliver of space on the bed. 

I barely opened me mouth to start talking when I was rudely interrupted. 

“No. I don’t like this. Get on the bed. I can’t have you falling asleep there like last time.” 

He grabbed me arms and started pulling me into the bed. 

I reflexively snickered. “Wait! Wait.”

“What?” He asked with his beautiful, enchanting eyes staring up at me. 

I was standing on me knees on the bed, his hands still on me arms. 

“Can I be on the other side?” I asked.

He blinked rapidly. “Why?”

“I don’t like sleepin’ so close to the door. If someone comes in, you’ll die first, then me.” I shook me head as if that was the most obvious piece of information that everyone knew.

Tommy laughed. He actually laughed at me. “Yeah, whatever. Fine by me.”

He let go of me arms and started shuffling back to where he originally laid. I, on the other hand, climbed over his lap to get where I wanted. 

Once I was there, I sat criss-cross applesauce style with me hands in me lap. It was just for safety reasons. I didn’t want him to accidentally see me undies. 

A silence enveloped the room.

I huffed before deciding to start talking. “Ok! The friend I made today was a girl around my age. Her name is Cassie ‘n she’s staying at the Ritz Hotel. It’s a real classy joint. Made me feel small, but whatever. She’s really air-headed like I coulda been a thief and nicked some of her stuff, but she let me into her room without a thought. But, you know a lot of people back home always told me that I looked really innocent despite me ‘aving a resting bitch face.” 

Tommy snorted.

“It’s not funny!” I pushed him. “Kids at school wouldn’t talk to me ‘cause I intimidated them. Anyway, she told me that her dad is an MP.” His eyes darted to meet me own.

 I scoffed and pushed him again. “You liked that bit, didn’t cha? Geez. Focus on going to sleep, dummy. Close your eyes. Go on! Close them.”

Tommy scooted his body down and did as I said.

“She was really nice. I don’t know if we’ll actually be friends, though. It would be nice. We got along really well, but could’ve been fake. You never really know when people are fake until after you shared a moment with them, if that makes any sense? Yeah.”

I didn’t know what to say after that, so I started to hum for a little while. 

“Oh, I’ll try singing a song. And before you try resisting, it’s not any song that you would know. So, just shut up and listen.” 

Just then an evil thought ran across me mind.

‘I’m not gonna lie. I’m dying in the inside!’

“Happy or sad, Tommy?” Me nails were digging into me palms. I was trying so hard not to tick. It would either be a bunch of snaps or I’ll clap me hands wildly. However, I didn’t stop the grin on me face.

His eyes never opened. “Sad.” 

I instantly hated meself ‘cause the way this man said that one simple word broke me heart. 

I cleared me throat and racked me mind for a sad song. I couldn’t really decide on one, so I went with my default which was “Bitches Broken Hearts” by Billie Eilish. I went onto sing “Crazy” by Patsy Cline and “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey. Then, I sang “I’m Not The Only One” by Sam Smith, and let me tell you even though I had fun singing it- it was still embarrassing ‘cause me voice kept cracking at some of the high and low notes. 

I sang “ilomilo” by Billie Eilish. For me unexpected “final” song, I sang “The One That Got Away” by Katy Perry. 

Even though I was sure he was asleep, I still sang until it was more yawns than lyrics. The difference was that I was singing anything I wanted. Since I was already singing Katy Perry, I sang “Teenage Dream.” 

Me final song was “Boyfriend” by Best Coast. I gave up halfway, laid down, and fell asleep.

TAG LIST: @amirahiddleston​ @nemesis729​

[honeyyu]

Sold | Nct - 002

Summary: Cho Miso lives a difficult life, she works full time jobs to take care of her sick mom. One of those jobs being an secretary to the most rich man of seoul. As she tries to take care of everyhing, she goes looking for her dad who had left them for almost 5 years now. Coming into the life of her dad she was caught up by formal parties and events, her dad finally identifying her as his daughter. And before she could even realize, she was bought by a group powerful rich men who called themselves NCT to be their new secretary.

Masterlist

Genre: Smut (+slight angst?) and a little bit fluff

Warnings: None (only one swear word)

Word count: 2.4K

Notes: This chapter doesn’t contain any smut. I try to make this kinda like a real story that why I don’t go straight into the smut. Im sorry!! I think maybe in 2/3 chapters there will be some. Im just trying to introduce the nct members slowly. I hope this isn’t disappointing :/ Last thing, I think its Kims not Kim’s but Kim’s looks cooler idk why lol

The rest of the work day went by faster then I thought. None of the 3 Kim’s found out about the accident luckily. I did tell Tiffany, one of the personal assistants. She is also the one i’m close friends with, the one who gave the flowers I totally ruined. She could only laugh when I told her,” I already made copies of the most of them. So don’t worry about them finding out. I will email you the copies and you can retype the ones who aren’t there!” I couldn’t tell her how grateful I was. The most I could do for now was give her a big hug.

It was already passed workhours for me but at home I didn’t have access to a laptop or computer so I had to finish everything here. In the email Tiffany send me most of the papers were there, I mean the copies. I went through the now dried papers and got rid of the ones Tifanny copied. Now there were around twenty papers left for me to retype, and copy immediately before something would happen again.

All of the papers were about interviews or letters who needed to be send to other important companies. Before starting I looked at the clock on the wall behind Tiffany’s desk, who was out to get coffee for our bosses. The other two were busy moving from meeting to meeting together with the two other Kim’s.

The time on the clock was 4 pm. My mind wandered off for a second, thinking about what kind of food I should buy for dinner tonight. This job made me earn a fair amount of money. But most of it went to the debts we had to pay. And the hospital bills for my mom. This week she would stay with me until I had enough money to buy the hospital bills again.

“Ah I should really work on those papers.” I snapped myself back to reality upon seeing the papers I had to write before 6 because I would always have dinner at 6 with my mom but I didn’t know if I would make it this time. I was hoping on finishing a little before 6 so I could do some grocery shopping on my way home. As those thoughts ran through my mind I started working.

—

My eyes stayed focused on the screen as I was busy writing the last words of the letter. A loud sigh left my mouth when I grabbed the paper off the desk. Again, it was a letter. “From Mr. Kim To Mr Ch-“ I immediately stopped my sentence seeing the name on the paper. Mr Cho. It could be another man but I couldn’t let this go so easily. Was there an adress on it?

“Yes!” I jumped out of my chair with the paper in my hand. It would be unprofessional to ran out of the building and go to the adress. Not to forget I could lose my job if I did that. Only two papers to finish. With that mindset I typed the last papers in not more than 20 minutes.

My hands moved faster than normal. Computer off, papers in bag, chair under my desk, jacket on and card out. I didn’t have to tell anyone I was going. The 3 Kim’s couldn’t care more and Tifanny plus the other two girls were not at the office anymore.

The elevator was slower than usual. Or it was slower because I was excited to maybe find my dad again after five years. I didn’t really know the reason behind my excitement. He was the one who left us and he’s the source of our problems. Maybe I thought that if I would tell him how everything is with mom and me he would feel quilty and help us. Or maybe I just wanted answers to questions I had since the day he left us. And I knew that a small part of me wanted his money. I was embarrassed that I had these kind of thoughts but the money I wanted wouldn’t be for me, but for my mom. Every day she woke up she would look closer to death. Not that money was gonna fix the fact that she was ill or not but he could at least pay the hospital bills.

While making my way outside I looked up the adress on my phone. I was hoping badly that it wasn’t going to be a long route. My feet already gave up by seeing how long the walk was. At least one hour it said. Well if i walk my own speed it will be around forty minutes but still way too long for me to walk in heels. Only two decisions I could make. One, go home to change shoes, forget about dinner and just walk there or get a taxi. Option two it is then because I really didn’t have the time to walk.

Lucky for me a taxi just pulled to the side to let someone out of the car. Taking my chance I speed walked towards it. I was about to grab the doors handle but another hand reached for it faster. It was a young man. “Excuse me,” He muttered to me.

“Sorry sir, I was about to get into the taxi actually.” I politely said, trying not to make a scene. He blankly looked me in the eyes,” I never take a taxi so it’s really important. Now if you will excuse me, I have more urgent things to do then chit chat.” A breath came out of my mouth, sounding like a scoff. I didn’t mean to do that but he was being selfish. Like I had nothing better to do then talk to him,” Well I have something urgent to do too.” I replied but he already stepped into the vehicle.

“We can share!” He looked at me unamused. It didn’t look like he would consider sharing so I looked around for another orange car. To my suprise he left the door open and shuffled to the left to make space for me. I made a ninety degrees bow to thank him before stepping in. “Thank you. My name is Cho Miso.” I thanked him once again. The reason why I introduced myself was also a question to me. Maybe I was trying to be social. He looked at me once I introduced myself. His lips parted like he wanted to say something but he closed them again and looked outside.

Feeling a little hit awkward I gave the taxi driver the adress by showing letter.” You work there?” He asked me while typing the adress into the device,” Not really. I have to talk to the CEO of the building.” His eyebrows furrowed. That must’ve sounded really weird. “Ah, I mean I have a meeting. I work in that building,” I explained him while pointing to the building right outside the window. He nodded and asked the man next to me where he was heading. “The NCT building.” Both heads of me and the driver turned to stare at him in shock. Did he work there?

“Now you say it. I saw you on the news today! You are Kim Dongyoung!” Kim Dongyoung? Is he one of the CEO’s? Now that the driver said that, he was wearing a very expensive suit I recognized from the other CEO’s I often see in the building. I could never really understand people who paid so much for a pair of cothing but if you have the money I guess.

I missed the reaction of the man next to me but the driver started driving. He probably just nodded or ignored like how he did with me. My eyes somehow stayed glued to him. He had black hair, by what I could see long legs, beautiful brown eyes, nice lips. By the last thought I shook my head and whipped my head away from him. God what has gotten into me.

All I did for the rest of the ride was look outside the window, too embarrassed to even look at him. He also, was staring outside. Slowly the car came to halt. That wasn’t a long ride at all. Expected since its a car of course. I laughed a little by my own thoughts but quickly stopped when I saw Kim Dongyoung looking at me.

“Here is your stop miss.” I opened the door saying thank you at the same time. About to walk away I stopped myself, I have to pay. The device showed the amount of won I had to pay so I gave the man half of the bills I had in my wallet, hoping it was enough because I had to get a ride home too. “Have a nice meeting!” He flashed me a smile. I happily smiled back and pushed the door closed. Fortunately I saved myself some drama for later.

A loud sigh left my mouth as I looked at the big building infront of me. How do I even get in without getting stopped by the security. Taking a big risk I walked in. I was wearing office clothing so that was a good thing but I didn’t have an card to access. How was I gonna do this?

As aspected a muscular man stopped me,” You can’t go in miss” Quick think of something Miso! Thats right, I had the letter that had to be delivered here,” I have a meeting with Mr Cho? The letter with all of the information didn’t arrive in time so I came here personally to explain it.” I explained trying not to stutter too much and stretched out my arm with the paper in it so he could see. His eyes went over the paper. He nodded, believing my lie. Then he stepped backwards for me to enter, at the same time bowing.

I bowed back automatically and made my way to the elevator. It looked similar to the ones we had in our building. Made from glass and the floor of gold making it look chic and luxury. If this was my dads company he was very rich. While waiting for the elevator to arrive I thought about how he would look. What do I say. Should I introduce myself or hug him? Nah, he definitely know its me when he sees me so no need to introduce.

Ding! The elevator behind me made a sound, signaling it was open. I nearly ran into it, eager to meet my dad if this was his building. The glass elevator was filled with people in suit, golden watches and expensive bags. I felt a little out of place but that wasn’t important right now. Not sure what floor I had to stop at I waited till I reached the top of the building. Most of the time the important people like the CEO were on the top floor.

And I was right. When I reached top floor it looked alsmost exactly like the floor I worked at in the 3 Kim’s building. A receptionist, waiting room, conference rooms and the CEO’s office I could see way back behind everything with the name Mr Cho on a again golden name plate attached in the door. After examining I walked up to the girl behind the reception.

“Good evening, I have something to discuss with Mr Cho?” I couldn’t tell her I had a meeting because she could search it up on her computer and I would get send away. “Im sorry miss but Mr Cho is in a meeting at the moment. Would you like to wait?” Oh a meeting? Meeting always take a long time but if I had the luck that it was indeed my dad I was gonna meet then it wouldn’t hurt for me to wait a little while. “Yes I will wait, thank you.” With that I walked up to the seats where you were supposed to wait.

—

I’ve been here, waiting, for almost thirty minutes now and I was losing my patient. I was even so close to losing it that I wanted to walk into that conference room and yell at him for being so slow. Of course I couldn’t do that so my only option was waiting.

Tired of sitting in a chair for the whole time, I got up to get something to drink. When I arrived here I saw a water tap almost next to the CEO’s office.

Filling my cup, I looked around once again. The office walls of Mr Cho were from glass making it easy for me to take a glance of it. There wasn’t much interesting though. His desk was placed by the wall on the left. Infront of the desk a couple couches with a coffee table in the middle. Just like regular CEO offices that I’ve seen in my life.

But something catched my eye. There were three framed pictures on his desk, facing the couches. I couldn’t see them clearly so I walked a couple steps closer to the office.

The cup almost fell out of my hand. It was my dad on the pictures but not only him. Next to him there was a woman, around my moms age maybe younger and two kids, one boy and one girl who looked atleast five years younger than me. This was his new family. Otherwise he wouldn’t have three pictures with them on his desk.

I couldn’t accept the fact that he moved on from his first family. Harshly I threw the cup of water into the garbage can nearby me and I left the building with my hands clenced into a fist. Tears threatened to fall but he wasn’t worth it. He was living a perfect life with a perfect new family and money enough to take care of thousands people like my mom and me. He was so fucking selfish!

I took a taxi back to my house. The whole ride I looked outside the window with a furious expression. Probably making the driver uncomfortable because he turned up the radio so it wouldn’t be all silence. Arriving at the house I gave him the rest of the money I had in my wallet and he drove off after.

Grabbing my keys to enter the house my phone rang. The number on the screen didn’t ring any bell but I still anwered thinking that it maybe was someone from work who needed me.“Hello?” I asked into the phone, waiting for an answer on the other side.

“I heard you’ve been looking for me.”

<- Previous | Next ->

[livesincerely]

it’s so easy (too easy) to love you, ch. 1

Also on Ao3

00000

Davey’s just gotten out of class—literally just walked out the door—when his phone starts ringing.

“Davey,” Tony says the moment he answers, not even giving Davey time to say hello, “can you swing by the apartment real quick?”

Davey sighs. “Are you locked out of the house again?”

There’s a guilty silence. Then, “Or maybe I just wanna see you, huh? You don’t know.”

“Tony.”

“Charlie’s the one that lost the spare,” Tony capitulates immediately, there’s an indignant “Hey!” somewhere in the background, “and I left my keys in my locker ‘cause I thought Charlie had his—”

There’s a scuffle of noise, then Charlie’s voice breaks in, “—don’t listen to him Davey, I asked him before we even got on the subway if he had his keys and he said he did but he didn’t even check—”

“—well, I thought you had yours, didn’t I?—”

“—and he was twenty minutes late picking me up from band practice because he was too busy making out with Spot Conlon to come help me carry my stuff—”

“—that was supposed to be a secret you little shit!”

“—you started it!”

Davey pulls the phone away from his ear as the other side of the line descends into a mess of indistinct yelling. He thinks about trying to get their attention, but he decides to just start heading towards the apartment, muting his side of the call while he waits them out—they’ll remember him eventually.

In the meantime, Davey sends a quick text:

Tony and Charlie locked themselves out of the house again

He’s not expecting a response, but Jack must be in-between projects because he gets one almost immediately.

jc again?

And you’re going to have to get a new spare made

fuck okay i’ll take care of it. are you heading over?

I’m walking there now

ur the light of my life dave

Davey can’t help but smile at this, a soft feeling fluttering in his chest. Before he can write back, Jack sends another text:

how did ur midterm go?

I feel good about it! Def did better than I thought it would!

duh youve been living in the library all week ofc ur gonna do great. ill swing by the grocery omw home and pick up some ice cream to celebrate. do we need anything else while im there?

Get a bell pepper and some tomato paste, I’m going to make spaghetti for dinner. And we need more laundry detergent.

fuck yes im starving! can we do garlic bread too?

Come home on time and we’ll see.

u drive a hard bargain. kerian owes me a favor so he can stay late tonight lol

“Davey?” The sound of Charlie’s voice, tinny and muffled, prompts Davey to lift his phone back to his ear; it seems like he might’ve been calling Davey’s name for a while. “Are you still there?”

“I’m still here,” Davey confirms.

“So are ya comin’ or what?” Tony cuts in, ever impatient. “I’m roasting out here!”

“Well, I was thinking about leaving you to ruminate on your poor life choices,” Davey responds dryly, “but I guess I can come let you in, since you asked so nicely.”

“Thanks, Davey,” Charlie says.

“I’ll be there soon,” Davey confirms.

“Hurry, will ya? Much longer and I’m gonna get heatstroke and die,” Tony declares.

Davey rolls his eyes. “Goodbye, Tony.”

00000

When he arrives at Jack’s building some twenty minutes later, Davey finds Tony and Charlie right where he expects them: crowded together in the little bit of shade the roof’s overhang offers, wearing identical grumpy expressions that brighten immediately when they spot him approaching.

"Finally!" Tony exclaims, shooting to his feet. "What took you so long?"

“Stop losing your keys and you won’t have to wait for me,” Davey counters, slotting his key into the deadbolt and hefting open the heavy exterior door. He props it open with his hip and lets Tony and Charlie scurry past him into the AC. “You couldn’t get anyone to buzz you in?”

“Old Man Davis hasn’t gotten his hearing aid replaced yet,” Charlie explains as they climb the stairs up to the second floor, “and Mrs. Ikeda isn’t home.”

“She joined a new book club,” Tony adds. “She won’t be back till late.”

“Oh, I’ll have to ask her about it when I see her next,” Davey muses.

He gets the apartment door unlocked and the boys pile inside, tossing their backpacks down with dramatic groans of relief.  Charlie makes a beeline for his bedroom; Davey expects Tony to do the same but he takes a seat at the kitchen table instead, booting up his laptop with a couple of keystrokes.

“I’ve got a paper due in English tomorrow,” Tony explains. “Can you look it over once it’s finished? Maybe later this evening”

“Of course,” Davey replies. “What’s it on?”

“Lord of the Flies.”

Davey’s nose wrinkles up. “Oh, I hated that one. What’s the essay prompt?”

“Identify Golding’s argument about human nature as proposed in Lord of the Flies,” Tony reads off the top of the assignment outline. “Then make an argument agreeing or disagreeing with his assessment, using evidence from the text.”

Davey rolls his eyes. “Good to see that high school literature classes haven’t changed much in the last few years,” he says with a sigh. “How much have you written so far?”

“Oh, I haven’t even started it yet,” Tony casually rebuts.

“Is everything going okay?” Davey asks, frowning slightly. “If things are getting worse we can make an appointment—”

But Tony waives his concerns aside. “Nah, this is regular old procrastination, not ADHD procrastination. Like ya said, Lord of the Flies sucks ass, so I just didn’t want to write it.”

“Well, let one of us know if you start having trouble,” Davey says.

"Okay, mom,” Tony agrees, somewhat distracted. He’s already got a blank document pulled up on his laptop, a battered and thoroughly dog-eared copy of the book laying open beside him.

Davey looks at him for another moment, then he shrugs and continues making his way into the kitchen—he figures there’s no need to worry unless Racer starts actually missing assignments. And he’s right: Lord of the Flies does suck ass.

By the time Jack gets home they’re each fully entrenched in different activities: Davey’s washed a sink full of dishes and is working on drying the last few pieces of silverware, Tony is still posted up at the kitchen table, carefully hammering out a draft of his paper, and there are the familiar sounds of Charlie working through different musical scales on his oboe in the back bedroom.

“Honey, I’m home!” Jack calls jokingly as he enters. There’s a rustle of plastic and soft thunk of the front door closing behind him, then he comes around the corner into the dining room with an armful of groceries.

“Hey, Jack,” Davey greets absently. He starts rifling through the bags almost before Jack can finish putting them down. “Did you get the tomato—?”

“I got the tomato paste,” Jack says, kicking off his shoes and leaving them in the entryway with all the others, “and I picked up some more of that fancy coffee you like from the place around the corner, even though it’s expensive as all hell.”

“Don’t judge me,” Davey replies, gathering up an armful of vegetables and carrying them further into the kitchen. “You spend a semester grading 'Intro to Shakespeare' homework and tell me how much caffeine you consume.”

“I’m just saying, the rest of us schmucks drink regular coffee and do just fine,” Jack continues. “You can feed your crippling caffeine addiction just as well with Folgers and it’ll cut down on the grocery bill.”

“Watch it, Kelly,” Davey says, pointing a finger teasingly in Jack’s direction. “Smartasses don’t get dinner.”

“‘s that so?” Jack asks with a grin. “Then why the hell are we still feeding Tony?”

“I heard that,” Tony grumbles from the kitchen table.

“Yeah, you were supposed to,” Jack says, moving over to Tony and slinging an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a side hug. Tony bats at Jack’s hand but makes no real attempt to get away. Then Jack says, “So, I hear you and your brother lost another set of keys.”

Tony throws Davey a look of the deepest betrayal. “You told Jack?”

“Of course he did,” Jack says. “Someone’s gonna have to get new ones made, and it sure ain’t gonna be either half of the dynamic duo.”

“Charlie lost the spare,” Tony says, mercilessly throwing Charlie under the bus while he’s not in the room to defend himself. “And I didn’t lose my keys, I just left them in my locker.”

“Uh huh, save it for the judge,” Jack responds, ruffling Tony’s hair. “Just know if I end up having to change the deadbolt, it’s coming outta your subway money.”

“Jackie, leave Tony alone,” Davey comments mildly over Tony’s spluttering protests. “He needs to work on that paper and you’re distracting him.”

“Yeah, Jack,” Tony repeats, a little smug. “You’re distracting me.”

Davey turns to look at him, one eyebrow raised. Tony quickly busies himself with his homework.

Davey makes quick work of washing a green pepper and peeling an onion, then starts dicing both into small, neat pieces. He feels more than hears Jack sidle up behind him: the familiar weight of his gaze, the solid presence at his back. He stands there quietly, leaning against the counter-top and just watching Davey cook; unbothered, Davey leaves him be for the moment and moves to the stove, scraping the chopped vegetables off the cutting board and into a pan to start softening.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Davey glances over his shoulder at Jack and says, “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me with this? You know there’s no loitering in my kitchen.”

“Well, I’m nothin’ if not a law abidin’ citizen,” Jack drawls in answer, the corner of his mouth quirking up. He rolls up his shirt sleeves, exposing the long, muscular line of his forearms, and washes his hands in the kitchen sink. “Where do you want me?”

Davey licks his lips. “Think you can handle browning the hamburger?”

“I’m sure I can manage,” Jack responds with a smirk.

Davey steps out of the way, letting Jack take his place in front of the sauce pan while he gets a pot of water set up on a different burner, salting it so it boils faster. They settle into their familiar dinner-routine, moving around and past each other with ease as they work on getting everything ready, chattering idly all the while.

“I’ve gotta head back out this evening,” Jack says at one point, as he sets the tray of garlic bread in the oven to toast. “Johnson’s got me working a night shoot and I have to be downtown by 9.”

“How long is the session?” Davey asks. “Here, will you open this?”

“We’re scheduled for five hours, but we might get to wrap it up early if everything goes well.” Jack’s hand brushes against the small of Davey’s back and they trade places again, Davey stepping back up to the stove-top and Jack rifling around in one of the drawers for a can opener.

“Are ya spendin’ the night or are ya headin’ back to campus?”

“Depends on how much help Tony needs with his paper,” Davey replies, shaking his head. He takes the can when Jack hands it back to him and empties it into the saucepan, then gives the whole thing a good stir. “We might be at it a while.”

Jack huffs out a laugh. “Well, if you do spend the night, go ahead and take the bed. The extra blankets are in the usual place.”

Davey sets down the spoon he’s holding, crossing his arms across his chest. “Jack,” he says warningly.

“Davey,” Jack echoes back in the exact same tone of voice. In the background there’s the faint sound of Tony muttering, “Jesus, not this again.”

“Jack, I’m not gonna kick you out of your bed,” Davey says, rehashing the same old argument for what feels like the millionth time. “I’m perfectly fine taking the couch.”

“Or you could do the smart thing and just take the bed,” Jack counters as he always does. “I’m not even gonna be here to use it.”

“You’ll want an actual mattress when you get home, especially if you’re out late.” Davey argues. “I don’t even have class tomorrow, it’ll be fine.”

“If you don’t take the bed I’ll just carry you in there once I get back,” Jack says, as if that's a perfectly reasonable course of action. “So you might as well save me the trouble.”

Davey sputters. “That’s not— You can’t just— That only happened a couple of times!” he finally gets out.

"Well, actually, it's been more like four or five times," Jack says with a smirk. "But hey, who's counting?"

"That trick won't keep working," Davey grumbles, feeling the back of his neck start to heat up.

“You sleep like a fucking rock, Dave,” Jack says, rolling his eyes. “Why wouldn’t it keep working?”

“No, see, that’s exactly why I should take the couch,” Davey insists. “It’s not like the sound of you coming in will wake me up—”

Jack turns to face him. Davey cuts off, slightly startled—he hadn’t realized they were standing so close to each other.

“Just take the bed, Davey,” Jack all but orders, and those dark eyes with that low voice are a heady combination. “Please?”

Davey bites at his lower lip, suddenly flustered. “Fine,” he reluctantly concedes, hoping Jack will attribute his flushed face to the heat of the kitchen. “Just this once.”

"Thank you," Jack says with a dramatic heave of his chest, looking much too pleased with himself. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You're letting the garlic bread burn," Davey answers tartly.

"Oh shit—!"

00000

Later that evening, after they’ve all finished eating and have cleaned up, Davey, Tony, and Charlie are still gathered around the table, working on various assignments.

Davey is finishing the readings for his Monday lecture in between helping Tony finalize the exact wording of his essay. Charlie sits opposite him, working through his geometry homework and every so often there’s a huff of breath and the rubbery scratch of an eraser—Davey makes a mental note to swipe some more pencils and notebook paper from the grad lounge when he’s there next.

Davey notices the time and frowns. “Jack,” he calls out, “it’s already 7:30. If you don’t leave soon you’re gonna be late for work.”

There’s a clamor of noise from down the hall, then Jack appears, freshly showered and fumbling to put on his socks and button up a clean shirt at the same time.

“Fuck, Johnson is gonna kill me,” Jack grumbles. He pats down his pockets, then groans. “Christ, has anyone seen my—”

“Your wallet and keys are on the counter by the microwave,” Davey says, pointing. “And take a jacket, it’s supposed to rain later.”

“Great, I’m sure the models will love that,” Jack says with a groan. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get through everything without getting rained out.”

He meanders his way over to the table, peering at Charlie’s homework from over his shoulder. “If Tony is still busy and ya get stuck, text me,” Jack tells him. “I probably won't be able to answer right away, but if ya send me a picture of the problem I can probably talk ya through it between shots.”

Charlie hums his acknowledgment, still scribbling furiously. Jack turns to Tony.

“Listen to whatever Davey tells you about your paper,” he advises. “The only reason I got through undergraduate writing was ‘cause Davey proofread all my shit before I turned it in.”

“I thought I was s’pposed to always listen to Davey,” Tony says distractedly, tongue poking out between his teeth as he types.

Jack pauses, considering. “Yeah, just do that.”

“Jack—”

“Oh, and Dave cooked, so you shitheads better do the dishes, get me?”

“Jack, you’re gonna be late,” Davey cuts in firmly, holding out Jack’s jacket for him.

“Alright, I’m going,” Jack says, shrugging it on, and he finally starts making moves towards the door.

He gives Charlie one last pat on the shoulder and cuffs Tony lightly across the back of the head in a slightly rougher, but no less affectionate goodbye, which is per usual. Then he turns to Davey, tips his chin up, and kisses him right on the mouth, short and sweet.

“Lock the door behind me and don’t forget to—” Jack stops mid-sentence, then turns bright red.

“Um,” says Charlie.

“Holy shit,” says Tony.

Jack’s mouth opens and closes soundlessly. Finally, he stammers out, “I u-uh— I-I d-didn’t mean—“

Davey doesn’t respond. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to—he’s frozen in place, his mind a sudden wash of static. For a moment, they just stare at each other. Then Jack blurts, “gottagoseeyoulaterbye,” and bolts out the front door.

Davey’s not sure how long he stands there, staring blankly into space, utterly dumbfounded.

“Davey?” Charlie asks hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

There’s a strangled, choking noise. A split second later, Davey realizes it’s coming from him.

"...What just happened?"

[tk-productions]

Mystic Sisters -Ch.7 More & More

Hikari’s Pov

“Why can't you just tell me?” Yua yelled following me into my room.

“There’s nothing to tell you.” I shrugged sitting at my desk trying to ignore my sister.

“What do you mean? You were hanging out with Haru and probably talking about me.”

“I have better things to do besides talk about you. Haru walked home with me because he saw me walking alone. I wouldn't have been alone if you didn't have to stay after school. ” I said rolling my eyes at her.

“Don't sass me. Tell me what you were talking about. And I don't want you hanging out with him.” she warned.

“Yua I don't have to tell you anything. Haru and I are friends. You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with.”

“I'm not leaving until you tell me.” she replied, stomping her feet on the floor. I pushed her out of my room and into the hallway even though she protested.

“Now if you're done yelling at me I have homework that I would like to get done before dinner.” I shut the door, slamming it and walked back to my desk. I could hear Yua slam her bedroom door.

Geez what's gotten into her? I thought, sliding into my chair and opening up a box of Pocky. For some reason Yua has been moody and has taken her anger out on me every chance she gets. Yesterday she got mad because I used the last of her shampoo. Before school she was mad because I was wearing her jacket. And now she's upset because Haru walked me home from school.

“Haru you didn't have to walk me all the way home.” I said standing on the front steps.

“It wasn't a problem, it gave us a chance to talk. Plus I dont live that far.” That was true Haru only lived a couple blocks from us. Before Yua walked to where we were standing I could feel her presence.

“Why is he here?” she growled.

“He was just leaving.” I said giving Haru a look. He picked up on my signal and hurried home.

“Yua why are you acting like this? You've been getting mad at me all week for no reason.” she rolled her eyes opening the front door.

I kept trying to talk to her all week but it just ended with her getting mad at me. I started to think that I did something wrong but if I did she would tell me. Right? A few hours later I knocked on Yua’s door.

“Go away.” she said muffled from behind the door.

“Just talk to me please.” I pleaded. She opened the door and gave me a blank stare.

“Did you finally come to tell me why you were with Haru?”

“I told you earlier we walked home together. We stopped at the convenience store for ice cream but that was it.Is Haru the only one you're worried about? What about me? You know you haven't been the nicest to me lately.” I fumed.

“Hikari I don't want to talk to you right now.”

“The same way you wont talk to Haru?” I shot back.

“Why are you always bringing him up? Don't you think it weird you're still friends with my ex?”

“You're the one that keeps talking about him! You're obviously still in love with him.” I yelled.

“Hik-”

“No. Don't talk to me until you figure things out.” I walked back to my room and threw myself on my bed. I loved Yua but I hate when she acts like this. Angrily I grabbed my manga off my desk and read until mom called us down for dinner.

We ate dinner in silence besides our parents asking us a few questions here and there. I guess they picked up on our weird behavior when my dad gave a mom a look.

“Girls, is there something going on? You've been quiet.” Dad asked us. I shook my head no without making eye contact with him.

“Everything is just fine.” Yua replied, glancing over at me while angrily stabbing her chopsticks into her bowl of chicken curry. I pushed my empty plate away from me and stood up annoyed with Yua.

“I'm going to bed.” I hurried to my room before my parents could protest.

I could hear Yua go to her room a few minutes later. Maybe I could try talking to her tomorrow if she wasn’t still mad at me.

I woke up the next morning to find out that Yua had left for school without me. I guess she was really mad. I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs to the kitchen.

“Hi honey.” my mom smiled pouring herself a cup of coffee which was probably her second cup of the day. I smiled back and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

“I'll drop your duffle bag at Hisako’s house on my way to work.” she pulled me in for a bone crushing hug as I tried to take a bite of my apple.

“Mom, I'm just spending the weekend at Hisako’s. You're acting like I'm moving out.” I say muffled. She let me go and laughed.

“Have a good day and text me when you get to Hisako’s. Okay?” I nodded and told her goodbye.

It was a lonely ride on the trade without Yua. When I got to school I peeked inside her classroom only to find she wasn't there either. I saw Hisako talking with a girl and when she saw me she gave me a warm smile. She stepped outside the classroom and ran over to me.

“Have you seen Yua?” She shook her head.

“No she hasn't come in yet. Is everything okay? Is she still mad at you?” I nodded and Hisako opened her arms for a hug. I hugged her back embracing her warmth.

“You didn't walk together?”

“No.” I sighed still in Hisako’s arms while she patted my head.

“Don't worry. She’ll talk when she’s ready. You know you guys always work it out.” I knew she was right. Hisako was comforting. She always knew how to make me feel better. I looked up at Hisako smiling at her.

“Aww you're so cute.” she cooed, pinching my cheeks.

“Why are you like this?” I winned trying to break free.

“Why are you so cute?” she laughed. A group of students walked past us and Hisako pushed me off as her cheeks turned red. I looked to see who the students were and turned back to her laughing.

“Did your crush just see you cuddling me and calling me cute?” I laughed again teasing her.

“Go to class.” she rolled her eyes, walking back into class.

I didn't see Yua all day. I tried texting her but I never got a reply. She was really ignoring me. I peeked over the students looking for Yua as I waited for Hisako by the front gate of school. “She probably went home. Is she really that upset with me?” I thought to myself.

“You still havent talked to her have you?” Hisako questioned. I shook my head and she gave me a reassuring smile.

“She’ll come around eventually. Cmon lets go get snacks for our sleepover.” she said grabbing my hand.

Yua’s Pov

When I got home the first thing I did was run a bath. “This calls for extra bubbles.” I yawned while grabbing the bubble bath from the cabinet. I stepped into the tub and relaxed under the warm water. I knew Hikari was hurt because I could feel it. Mom would say it's our twintuition. Maybe that was the reason we’re so close and why this isn't one of our normal fights. I know I hurt my sister. I sighed resting my head against the cold bathroom tile. Both of my parents were at work and Hikari was at a sleepover so it was just me and my thoughts. Those were the same thoughts that kept reminding me of how I've been taking my anger out on Hikari the past week. At first I didn't know why I was so upset. I finally realized it after our fight last night.

“Why are you always bringing him up? Don't you think it weird you're still friends with my ex?”

“You're the one that keeps talking about him! You're obviously still in love with him.”

When she said that to me I didn't want to believe it but the fight kept replaying in my head last night. That's when I realized she was right. I still love Haru and it hurts that he’s pushing me away. When I saw them together yesterday I was jealous. I was jealous that they were able to talk so easily like him and I used to. I got out of the tub and wrapped myself in my robe. After getting changed I sat on my bed with my phone in my hands. My fingers kept hovering over Hikari’s contact.

Should I text her? Maybe I should call? I don't want to ruin her night. Why do I do this to myself? I groaned lying on my bed, tossing my phone to the side. Hikari wasn't the only one I needed to call right now. It was Haru. Before I could call him I was interrupted by the front door opening.

“Yua come help me with the groceries!’ mom called from downstairs.

“Im coming!”

“Mom when is Hikari coming back?” I asked putting away the vegetables.

“Sunday. Why, whats up?”

“Nothing I was just wondering.”

“Is everything okay with you two? You've been acting weird the past few days.” she stopped and turned to face me.

“No everything is fine. She wanted me to help her with some homework but I guess Hisako can help her.” I lied. She nodded, probably not believing me and went back to putting up the groceries.

I guess I have to wait until sunday to fix this.

Hikari’s pov

Hisako sat in her bed as I laid in her lap watching a movie. “How many times are you gonna make me watch this?” I yawned, growing bored.

“You know it's our tradition to watch Mean Girls during our sleepovers.”

“Yeah but do we have to watch it 5 times in one night?” I laughed looking up at her. I got off her bed and dug through my duffle bag until I pulled out two sheet masks. I turned to show her and she smiled.

“Are those the ones with green tea?” She asked joining me on the floor. I nodded handing her a mask. It was quiet besides the sound of the tv playing or the occasional giggle from Hisako.

“I missed this. We should have our sleepovers more.” I said resting my head on her shoulder. She nodded in response.

The next morning I waved to Hisako and her mom as they dropped me back off at home.

“Mom, I'm home!” I yell entering the house. No answer. I placed my keys on the entryway table and called her again. I walked into the kitchen to see Yua placing freshly baked cookies onto a tray.

“Mom had a last minute work meeting.”

“Oh.”

“Cookie?” She asked, holding the tray towards me offering a small smile.

“No thanks.” I started to walk away when she called my name.

I turned back to face her. “What? Are you gonna yell at me because I didn't take one of your cookies?” She stepped closer to me and sighed.

“No, I made those as a peace offering. I wanted to talk to you...about everything.” I studied her face for a moment before replying. I grabbed a cookie off the tray and stuffed it into my mouth.

“Well it’s gonna take a lot more than chocolate chip cookies to win me over.” I mumbled. She laughed walking out the kitchen to the living room. I followed sitting on the opposite side.

“I know I’ve been a horrible sister and i'm sorry for that. No, not just that. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. I never meant anything I said. I was mad at Haru and took it out on you. Also I was jealous. I was jealous because you were able to talk to him while I've been trying to do that for months. I don't expect you to forgive me right now but just know I'm really sorry and most importantly I love you.” Yua stared at me the whole time with glossy eyes. I knew she meant what she said. I scooted over sitting closer to her.

“You promised that you would never let a guy in the way of our relationship. You broke that promise and hurt me but I know how much Haru means to you. I'm willing to forgive you for now.” she smiled at me for the first time all week before engulfing me in a hug.

“You're my favorite sister and nothing can change that.”

“Yua I’m your only sister.” I pulled away from her. She was back to being herself.

“When we were fighting I realized you were right. I still love him. I left early for school. I wanted to talk to him and work everything out not because I was avoiding you.”

“Did you ever find him?”

“No.” I groaned leaning on the back of the couch. “I tried looking for him all day only to find out he didn't show up for school.”

“Talk to him tomorrow no matter what.”

“I will. You don't have to worry about us.” she smiled reaching for a cookie on the coffee table.

“Yua the day you saw us together we were talking about you. Haru doesn't know how to be around you anymore. He doesn't know how to talk to you. He knows when he left he hurt you and he doesn't want to do that again.” she stared back at me with a shocked expression on her face.

“I would never do anything to hurt you. You know Haru and I are friends. I was just comforting him.” Yua pulled me into another hug but this time it was tighter.

“Wow I really am a bad sister.”

“No, I understand why you were upset. Just have a little more faith in me next time. Okay?”

“This is why you can't date until you're 30.”

“Yuaaa.” I winned. She let me go and stood up from the couch.

“Fine you can date when you're 29.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“C'mon I’ll treat you to dinner. What do you want?”

“Shabu-Shabu!” I yelled excitedly.

“I should have known.”

[kokoronokuroyami]

🌟 For relationship ask meme

Disagreements:

Who is more likely to raise their voice?  Kuro. Hajime usually tries to stay calm during an argument where as Kuro is very emotion driven outside of prosecution

Who threatens to leave but never actually does? I don’t think either would be that cruel

Who actually keeps their word and leaves? Kuro might try to run away at times because he’s scared he’ll hurt Hajime but Hajime always stops them

Who trashes the house? Neither they’re clean fighters

Do either of them get physical? they grab each other’s shoulders or clothes some times but they would never deliberately try to hurt each other

How often do they argue/disagree? it’s very rare but when they happen they’re big Who is the first to apologise? flip flops

Family:

Do your muses plan on having children/or have children? they have a daughter and a son, Yume and Daisuke If so, how many children do your muses want/have? 2 Who is the favorite parent? both parents are loved dearly Who is the authoritative parent? Kuro tends to be a bit stricter but Hajime is more protective Who is more likely to allow the children to have a day off school? Hajime is very serious about the children’s education but he knows when the children need a mental health day Who lets the children indulge in sweets and junk food when the other isn’t around? Kuro pretends to be mad when they steal cookies and candy but he was young once and he and his sister did that themselves so he lets it slide. Hajime joins in on the sweet stealing 

Who turns up to extra curricular activities to support their children? Depends if they’re working on a case or not

Who goes to parent teacher interviews?

They both try to actively be a part of their children’s lives so they both attend meetings wherever possible or at least have one of them appear

Who changes the diapers? Kuro and Hajime split the baby care evenly and take turns doing diapers

Who gets up in the middle of the night to feed the baby?

Kuro doesn’t because he has more difficulty sleeping in comparison to Hajime

Who spends the most time with the children?

They both try to spend as much time with their children as possible.

Who packs their lunch boxes? They have a roster as to who’s turn it is Who gives their children ‘the talk’? Hajime has a better way with words

Who cleans up after the kids? Hajime is a bit of a neat freak so he does Who worries the most?

Kuro Who are the children more likely to learn their first swear word from? Hajime

Affection:

Who likes to cuddle? Kuro is a little cuddle monster Who is the little spoon? Kuro unless Hajime is really tired and emotional Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places? I’m not qualified to divulge that information Who struggles to keep their hands to themself? Really depends on the situations    How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable? Till the end of time

Who gives the most kisses? I like to think Hajime does while Kuro is a ball of blushes

What is their favourite non-sexual activity? Snuggling and watching movies Where is their favourite place to cuddle? On the couch Who is more likely to playfully grope the other?  I don’t…. think they would? How often do they get time to themselves? Not that often when they get their jobs and the kids but they make it work

Sleeping:

Who snores? Hajime maybe If both do, who snores the loudest? Still Hajime Do they share a bed or sleep separately? Share a bed If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart? Depends on the night. they tend to cozy up most of the time though Who talks in their sleep? Kuro is an avid sleep talker What do they wear to bed? I can’t speak of Hajime but Kuro has a wolf onesie Are either of your muses insomniacs? Kuro isn’t an insomniac but he doesn’t sleep much Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside? Hajime insisted Kuro get a prescription after he figured out he wasn’t sleeping and was endangering his and their child’s health Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side? little bit of both Who wakes up with bed hair? Both Who wakes up first? Kuro most times, Hajime really struggles with surprising him Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other? Hajime does when Kuro is sick What is their favourite sleeping position? Spooning Who hogs the sheets? Not always but it’s Kuro

Do they set an alarm each night? Hajime does Can a television be found in their bedroom? Probably not because Kuro prefers books Who has nightmares? Both but Kuro more than Hajime Who has ridiculous dreams? Hajime probably Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?  Daisuke and Yume Who makes the bed?  Both, gets done faster What time is bed time? 10:00pm at the earliest 3:00 am at the latest   Any routines/rituals before bed? Kuro has to read at least one chapter of his book Hajime has to make sure that all the windows are locked Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up? Kuro

Work:

Who is the busiest? Kuro is a workaholic Who rakes in the highest income? Kuro as he is a pretty successful prosecutor Are any of your muses unemployed? the kids because child labor laws protect them Who takes the most sick days? Kuro because he works himself sick and Hajime forces him to stay home Who is more likely to turn up late to work? Neither Who sucks up to their boss? Kuro is technically Hajime’s boss but Kuro tends to try and get on Edgeworth’s good side What are their jobs? Kuro is a prosecutor and Hajime is his detective, they tried to keep their relationships under wraps so they could work on cases together but a murder case unraveled that Who stresses the most? Kuro Do your muses enjoy or despise their careers/occupations? Kuro may be a workaholic but that’s because he loves his job and has dreams of fixing the system Are your muses financially stable? they make a decent living

Home:

Who does the washing? Kuro

Who takes out the trash? Hajime

Who does the ironing? Kuro

Who does the cooking? They take turns

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying? the kids

Who is messier?  Kuro Who leaves the toilet roll empty? Neither Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor? the kids Who forgets to flush the toilet? neither

Who is the prankster around the house? Hajime Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere? Both seem to remember

Who mows the lawn? Hajime Who answers the telephone? Kuro Who does the vacuuming? Hajime Who does the groceries? They Brocery shop Who takes the longest to shower? both if they shower together Who spends the most time in the bathroom? Neither

Miscellaneous:

Is money a problem? Not a problem as in they’re rich but they aren’t struggling either How many cars do they own? 1 but they prefer walking Do they own their home or do they rent? They own a small house, sometimes an apartment depending on the story Do they live near the coast or deep in the countryside? They’re closer to the countryside Do they live in the city or in the country?  The city Do they enjoy their surroundings? They like their home What’s their song? Hold me by Farid Momodov What do they do when they’re away from each other? Wait for the other to come back just kidding they spend time with friends and family and catch up Where did they first meet? Hope’s Peak Academy Reserve Course How did they first meet? Hajime found Kuro crying after he got picked on by bullies Who spends the most money when out shopping? Both were raised to be pretty frugal Who’s more likely to flash their assets? Not sure Who finds it amusing when the other trips over? Both stifle a laugh Any mental issues? Not in the non-despair au but Kuro does still have to deal with the trauma of his parents’ murder Who’s terrified of bugs? Neither Who kills the spiders around the house? Neither. They use the cup and paper technique Their favourite place? The park near their house Who pays the bills? it’s a team effort Do they have any fears for their future? Kuro is worried for his family’s safety as both a prosecutor and a necromancer but Hajime is his rock the entire time Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner? Hajime

Who uses up all of the hot water?  Neither Who’s the tallest? Hajime Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other? Hajime Who wanders around in their underwear? the kids Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio? Kuro when he think’s he’s alone What do they tease each other about? Hajime’s sensitive hair and Kuro’s workaholicness Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times? Neither Do they have mutual friends? Each other’s former classmates Who crushed first?  Kuro and he crushed bad Any alcohol or substance related problems? I hope not Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?  I mean Maybe Kuro? he can’t hold his liquor well Who swears the most?

Hajime

[chwesolai]

cafe girl, grocery boy | ch.9

falling for you

[masterlist]

taglist @xumingh0e​ (can’t tag @jaybeenow)

“I don’t get it.” “Get what?” “You.” He laughs, “What are you on about now?” “You make me feel all-” “Soft? Gushy?” “Never say gushy around me again,” he laughs once more, “but yeah. You make me feel something I’ve never felt before.” “Well, I can say the same thing.” She stops dead in her tracks, turning around facing him. The silence was deadly yet the two were locked in place. And then-

CHAPTER SONG: falling for you by SEVENTEEN’s Joshua & Jeonghan

here we go (SUPER FLUFFY) also apologies for the late update :(

-Y/n-

“So, you driving or I’m driving?” Seungcheol asks as we finally make it to the parking lot, as I catch my breath for a second, “Oh! OH! Y/n, I didn’t-”

Lunging over the side of my car, heaving like a dog (i hate out of shape self), “N-n-no! I-I’m fine” I nervously laugh and swallow my breath as I stand up straight, “I’ll drive.” 

“Alright! And still, are you sure you’re ok, didn’t mean to knock the wind out of you,” he sadly smiles, he feels bad dont make him feel bad y/n.

“Choi Seungcheol, I. Am. Fine,” I smile at him, “this just shows I need a personal trainer,” he smiles back at me. “I’ll hold you on that, Ms. y/n,” Seungcheol laughs as we both get into my car, please his laugh is so cute im-

“Show me the way, Mr. Seungcheol.” “Yes, of course, Ms. Y/n.” “You’re a dork,” I laugh as I start my car, “Lets go!”

-Seungcheol-

She’s so pretty, I can’t believe this is happening. “And you’re going to take a right on this next light.”

“You got it!” She nods as she begins to hum along to the song playing off her stereo, a playlist called in the clouds was playing. 

“What song is this?”

“Oh!” She didn’t even realized she was singing, my heart, “life hack by vaundy! I’ve been on this Japanese indie craze for a bit, I blame Chan, he’s always playing it in the shop,” She looks over at me, nodding my head to the music,  “You can cue up a song if you want!” I look over to her phone and she laughs, “you can do it on the screen, Seungcheol.”

Idiot. “Oh! Oh ok!” I reach over to the screen and begin typing as y/n’s car swerves a hard left.

“OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING!” Y/n screams as she continues to turn, causing us to both do a hard lean to the left, leaving me a few inches away from y/n, why is she so pretty, I’m- “Seungcheol! I am so sorry I don’t know- oh! hello,” She gets to a stoplight and turns her head to see me so close to her.

“I-i-i I’m so sorry,” I lean away fast as I feel the blood rush to flood my cheeks, “The car just- and I was picking a song and- yeah”

“You’re so cute Cheol,” I look at her as I hear that nickname come out of her mouth. Her smile slowly starts to fade, no I like the nickname I like when you say it, “Sorry! I didn’t know if it was ok with you to call you that I know Jihoon calls you that and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to call you Co-”

Coups. Never call me that, Y/n. “I like hearing you call me Cheol,” I reassure y/n since she wasn’t looking at the road and at me in panic, “Now, you’re going to miss your turn missy.”

Her smile returns and I resume queuing my song up, One and Only You by GOT7, “Would not have taken you as a kpop fan, Mr Seungcheol,” y/n says in shock as she reads the song title I typed in.

“Ah, yeah. It’s my guilty pleasure.” I just laugh to make it seem less awkward that I just admitted I like kpop to her. “I love this group! I saw GOT7 last summer with my friends,” she laughs, “Glad I know you have taste.” We both laugh as the song begins to play. 

Wow, her singing voice is even pretty, do I show that I can rap these verses? yes, yes I am. 

“OK CHEOL!” She gasps in excitement as I begin to rap along with the song, “THAT WAS SO GOOD WHAT” She glaces over at with the biggest smile ever, “I’m so inviting you to karaoke night now.”

I just laugh in response of her excitement, “the place is on your right, y/n.”

“Hm,” she nods, still smiling like crazy. This night is going so well already.

-Y/n-

That car ride was better than half the dates I’ve been on in the past year. 

I park my car in front of what looks like a fried chicken restaurant, “Ok, the owners are family friends, my parents helped them buy this place. They opened like two weeks ago, so, beware of loud screaming when we go in.” Cheol turns to me before I took off my seat belt, wow his eyes are so- FOCUS Y/N

I smile, “trust me, I know this feeling all too well, imagine trying to go eat barbecue with your best friends and the servers keep calling ‘unnie’ because apparently, your mom is their talent agent.” We both just laugh at this odd similarity we share and continued to talk about all these odd places where, apparently, our parents know the owners and we just have to smile and wave and then our conversation was rudely interrupted by my stomach growling, out. loud.

“I think we should head in,” Cheol just sweetly smiles at me, “prepare for the hyenas.” I shake my head, smiling as we both exit my car. 

Seoul was slowly lighting up for the night, when was the last time I went out on a date, this nice. “I know, this city is beautiful.” My thoughts interrupted by Seungcheol looking at me, smiling, “Moving here was the best decision I think I ever made.”

“I’d have to agree with you,” I look back at him and then go out and extend my hand. Oh god, its too early to this, you’re an idiot y/n why did- OH MY GOD HE’S HOLDING YOUR HAND MY HAND OUR FINGERS ARE INTERLOCKED OH WE”RE WALKING IN NOW OK STOP Y/N BREATHE. Cheol pushes the door open and a little bell chimes and then-

“Hi, welcome to- CHOI SEUNGCHEOL!” A host greets us, loudly, as we enter the doors, “What do I have the honor of having you dine in tonight?”

Cheol just dry-laughs, this guy is so kissing up to him right now, “Hi Hye-jeon, I’m just eating with someone, can we have the upstairs table please?” 

“Of course, for 2?”

Seungcheol nods and we walk up a spiral staircase to see a sea of tables and booths, this place is FULL of just university students, “The end booth please.”

“Of course, your waitress will be right out with you guys.” Hye-jeon places our menus and water pitcher with cups and leaves us to sit down.

“So, he’s something.” I nod my head as he walks away. Cheol just laughs as he pours us both water and then hands me my cup, “thank you.”

“Of course and him. He’s trying to be part of my parents’ business and thinks being my “friend” will help him but honestly, he’s a dumbass.” I choke on my water, laughing. “Kiss-asses should just chill like damn, it must be dark up someone’s ass for that long.”

Now it was Cheol’s turn to choke on his water, “please you’re killing me,” Cheol begins to giggle, causing people to look at us, “Sorry!” Cheol turns around and bows his head at the other people in the area. He’s so dorky, I think I’m-

“So, what should we get?” 

-

The night went by so fast and so did our food and beer. Four empty baskets of chicken. Two beer glasses, mid-way empty. 

“So, you’re telling me your parents stopped you from being an idol because they didn’t want you to live that life yet they run an entire COMPANY of idols.”

“I wish it made sense too.” I giggle while hiccuping. “Ok, missy, I think that’s enough for you.” Cheol takes away my glass from me, “Let me pay and we can walk around the area for a bit to kill the buzz, ok?”

“Hmmm,” I hum as I set my head on the window next to us.

-Seungcheol-

I pick up the check and glace over at y/n and she’s just watching the streets and lights, admiring it. She’s so precious. As I’m pulling my wallet out, y/n grabs my arm, “why is he here.” The two of us glance outside of the window and see an all too familiar looking motorcycle, “now what the fuck is his deal?”

“Hurry we can get out before he sees us,” Y/n looks at me with glossy eyes. I nod as I set cash down, writing ‘keep the change’ on the receipt, “there’s an employee exit I usually go through, come on.” I grab her hand and the two of us begin to rush out. Out of breath, she starts to laugh.

“I don’t get it.” 

“Get what?” 

“You.”

 I just laughs at her, “What are you on about now?” 

“You make me feel all-” 

“Soft? Gushy?” 

“Never say gushy around me again,” I laughs once more, “but yeah. You make me feel something I’ve never felt before.” 

“Well, I can say the same thing.” She stops dead in her tracks, turning around facing me. 

The silence was deadly yet we were locked in place. And then-

why must everything end up like this?

[era-of-new-beginnings]

The Tragic Suicide of Virgil Black Ch. 2

TW: Bullying, Panic Attack, Violence (just a punch), Minor Negligence, Self-Deprecation, Swearing, Unsympathetic Deceit and Remus.

Damien is Deceit* (This was made before the new video so I will start to use Deceit’s real name in the next chapter, but for now I don't want to have spoilers for the new video in case people haven't watched it.)

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

Okay so, Dear Journal, today had started out as a pretty normal day. Until it turned into an utter shit show! One bad thing after another and now I’m just sitting on my bedroom floor writing in this stupid thing….I guess if I’m going to do this whole tell my story thing, I should start at the beginning of the day.

Like I said, it was normal, and right on time Damien and his buds came up to me while I was walking to school.

~

Virgil was walking down the same path he does everyday, as he had learned a while ago changing paths never stopped Damien. It was almost normal when he and his goonies walked right next to him. He barely had time to react as he was shoved harshly into a fence, the metal digging into his shoulder and his head knocking on it a little. His face scrunched up in a wince before he could stop it, and he wasn’t surprised to find that they had taken his bag.

All of them reaching in and grabbing whatever they could, before throwing it to the ground. He just sighed internally as the (cliche) bullies continued. Eventually, they finally got bored, and with one final shove to him they were on their way. He crouched down gingerly and started to pick up whatever they had thrown out, which was basically everything.

Once that was done he got up and finished walking to our meet up spot with everyone else. They were all there already, Logan and Roman bickering about something and Patton trying to make sure it stayed peaceful. He sighed softly with a bit of a smile before covering it up and walking over to them.

He can see when Patton notices my presence, not only because he perks up like a dog but also because he basically slaps the other two on their chests. Virgil smirks and raises an eyebrow at Roman’s offended noises. Finally both him and Logan gives him their attention, which makes him blush and hope that his foundation covers it. “..Hey guys” He mumbled quietly, which wasn’t out of the ordinary really. His anxiety made it hard for him to talk at school at all but these three always knew how to get close to people.

After getting a chorus of responses back, the bell rings and they all go their separate ways. Except for Virgil and Patton, since they shared first period together. Something was off today though, something was wrong with Patton. Patton liked to keep up his dad like personality, and anytime they walked anywhere together Patton would make a pun or two (or few). Not only that but he had been fidgeting with the sleeves of the cardigan wrapped around his shoulders, which he only did….when he was hiding something.

Not realizing Virgil’s internal turmoil about it, Patton began to get uncomfortable with the silence and started to ramble about the first thing that popped in his mind. Which of course, had to be Winnie the Pooh. Practically regressing into a younger state of mind as if that will make him stop thinking about whatever was bothering him. Virgil had known him long enough to remember his ticks and fidgets. How to tell when he was lying, or nervous, or pretending to be happy.

The thing was, Patton hadn’t lied to them since they’d shared a night crying in each other's arms about their lives. He can feel the pressure in his chest at the thought. Why now? Why would Patton lie to him now, what was so bad he felt like he couldn't tell Virgil. He was sitting now, in a desk in his class. His class….what class was he in? He had to get out, he had to go. He stood up on shaky legs and slipped out the classroom door unnoticed.

Barely making it to the bathroom before collapsing, digging his nails into his arms, his hands moving back and forth between that and tugging (practically ripping) his hair. His chest felt constricting and everything felt wrong. There was an unknown pressure just pressing against every inch of his body. He stayed there for the rest of the period and some of the next one. He wanted to go home, but he knew his mother was at work and would yell at him for just randomly calling in.

So instead, he did the next best thing. He went to the detention teacher's class, knocking lightly on the doorframe as Mr. Sanders looked up at him. They shared a brief bit of eye contact before Mr. Sanders nodded to him and let him into the room. He took up his usual seat in the corner while Mr. Sanders called his teachers to get his assignments.

He stayed there, working silently until lunch. Part of him just wanted to stay where he was, in seclusion, away from any and all people. Especially his three crushes, they would know instantly something was wrong with him and wouldn't let up till they knew. Still, he must've scared Patton earlier by just disappearing.

So instead he just buckled up and grabbed his bag and headed out the door and through the hallway. Trying to calm himself and seem normal by the time he got to the table. Par for the course, Roman was adamantly talking about theatre like usual. Only recently had he roped Patton and Logan into it too. Virgil however had refused aadamatly, saying that he just didn't want to when the reality was he couldn't do after school things much cause he had to help out his mother and Remy.

He sat down at the table, head tilted so his hoodie would hide most of his face. He draws lightly in his sketchbook while barely listening to the conversation until he hears Roman say his name for the third time. Attention gotten, Virgil looks up at Roman’s face in confusion. He realizes that Roman had been talking to him, so he closes his sketchbook to silently say he's listening now.

Roman huffs and gestures wildly to Virgil “see? This is exactly what im talking about! He doesn't even care!” He sneers at Virgil and Virgil can feel the sharp feeling in his chest at the words. “W-what?” he asks, stuttering slightly in surprise. Roman throws his hands up, frustrated “You are stubborn as ever, ignoring me? Seriously? I get that you don't want to be in the theatre but you didn't even hear me out!”

Theatre, of course it was about the stupid fucking theatre. Virgil just sighs and shakes his head “Roman I’m not trying to ignore you, i've just had a bad day. I spaced out, I’m sorry.” And Roman just…. just barks a sharp laugh and glares “we all have bad days Virgil, that doesn't give you a right to be rude to everyone around you. You know what i think? I think that your a self-obsessed asshole! You don't think about anybody but yourself! I mean really, I knew you haven't liked me since the beginning but if you hate me so much, why didn't you just say so!”

Virgil could feel his hands shaking, whether with panic or rage was unknown for now. His shoulders were curled and risen defensively and he had gathered himself enough to glare harshly instead of bawling. He slammed his hands down on the table “of course you think that! I haven't even done anything wrong and yet your spouting nonsense! You didn't even ask why because you were so focused on insulting me and making me the bad guy. Like you always fucking do! I can't believe I ever thought that you'd changed! You are such an arrogant pompous bastard!”

He quickly stood, haphazardly shoving stuff in his backpack while the others gathered from their shock. Patton was the first to recover slightly, scrambling for words “o-okay now kiddos, both of you are spitting out some real harsh things. And over what? So why don't we just- just sit back down and talk through this minor dispute!”. Roman slammed his own hands down on the table, ignoring Patton ``Speak for yourself! You have no right to be mad at me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Virgil just growls, throws on his backpack and goes to walk away. But of course, Roman wasn't one for being ignored. So instead he grabbed Virgil's wrist before he could go any further. Virgil himself felt a spike of fear at the touch and was set instantly on edge “Let go!” he yelled viciously. But Roman only sneered back, ranting on and on, his grip tightening on Virgil's wrist anytime he struggled. Virgil snapped and yelled at him a few times but Roman just rolled his eyes and continued. Virgil was at the peak of his panic and wasn’t standing for it anymore as he teared back and punched Roman in the jaw, effectively making him let go as Virgil turns and books it out of the school and doesn't stop until he’s home.

His breaths are panicked and short and his vision was already starting to blur with sweat and tears. He manages to get to the bathroom before all but collapsing on the floor. Tearing at his hair and scratching his arms. Breathing was nonexistent and he could hear his thoughts spiral violently. Who knew if Roman would forgive him after this or if the others would take his side if he didn’t. He’d lose not only his only friends, but his three crushes. He stays there for hours and hours until he can hear the front door click, signaling that his mother is home.

Shoving himself off the floor and checking himself in the mirror (He looked dead) before fixing himself up to be presentable and going downstairs. He mumbled a quick hello to his mother before helping her with the groceries. He could see her strained smile as she thanked him. He just gives an awkward shrug before finishing putting things away, except for what they were going to use for dinner. He gets the required pans out to start cooking, him and his mom tending to switch cooking nights.

Remy isn’t home yet, but that's not unusual. He’s not even sure if his mom realizes his absence anymore. His hands tighten on the wooden spoon he's using to stir the noodles with. He reminds himself to breathe and not think like that. His mother provides for him, and that's more than enough. He's not ungrateful really, just worries sometimes that she doesn't love them.

After finishing up dinner, he sets the table and serves up the food. Pulling out his phone real quick to text Remy, although he knows that he’ll have to save him food in the fridge. If he even eats that to be honest, though if he doesn't either him or his mom can have that for lunch. They finish up their dinner in silence until his mom retires for bed after a long day and he gets a start on dishes. After those are done he trails up to his room and flops onto his bed. Sighing heavily he shifts to get comfortable and catches a glimpse of the journal on his desk. Thinking back to the reason he has it, he sighs once again and grabs the journal and a pen and starts to write.

~

Dear Journal, what the fuck is wrong with me!? This entire day was like a train wreck in slow motion and I don't even know why! I don't know what Patton's hiding from me or why. And I don't even know what made Roman blow a short fuse. Here I was starting to think he might actually like me, platonic or not, but i guess i was wrong. What do I do? Apologize to Roman or ask Patton about what he’s hiding?

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

So! What do you guys think!? Also your first real option to change the story! Apologize to Roman or ask Patton about what he’s hiding? Lemme know in the comments, the one that gets the most comments will determine the answer. Also send me asks on tumblr! @era-of-new-beginnings

[mrneighbourlove]

Monsters: Ch 2. Slithering Terror in the Dark

Klinge checked in on Miranda, who had apparently awaken. Finding her, he didn’t enter the room, simply hearing that she was a crying mess. The very young Dark Elf held onto Doctor Boveir. “Please don’t go! I don’t want to be left alone in the dark! I want my mother! Where’s my mother!!!”

"Miranda, calm down, it's not good for you to be so upset." Doctor Boveir was doing his best to soothe the poor girl. "I already told you that I won't blow out the candles, there's nothing to be afraid of. You're safe here."

“No! Monsters in the dark! Monsters! Please, please don’t go! I don’t want to be left alone. Please Mr. Boveir. P-please.” The tears streamed down her eyes as she refused to let go of him. Klinge crushed the door handle subconsciously and walked away. He brought her into this mess. He allowed her to be taken by that monster.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here, okay?" Doctor Boveir assured the terrified elf. "Look, I'm here tonight, along with three other nurses, all right? There's no monsters in the dark. Look around." He gestured to the medical bay, lit by candle light. "Now, you have multiple broken bones and you need to rest from your healing session."

Miranda sniffed, slowly letting go. “I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She tucked herself into bed, the tears only making her more tired.

"Now, now, there's no need to apologize." Doctor Boveir patted Miranda's head. "We all get scared sometimes. It's normal. Close those eyes, and try to sleep. If you need me, I'll be right here." Once the elf appeared to have drifted off into an exhausted slumber, the doctor placed another blanket on the sheets to keep her warm.

Only Miranda wasn’t talking to him. She lied in bed, staying awake for a while listening a praying she didn’t hear anything.

Doctor Boveir was doing his usual rounds and checking on patients. The darkness hid most due to the lack of light. Though Bonegrinder had his way of moving around Hyrule castle without being seen.

"Tiny snack... little elf... if you do not behave, you will lose more than just your life." Bonegrinder's voice came from within the wall behind her bed. "Would you like for the monster to go after your mother? Your friends? Eat them while you watch? You were warned not to traverse into the catacombs, but you did not listen. Tsk, tsk, stupid little elf..."

Miranda grew bug eyed, holding the sheets close to her and over her head. “No! Please. I-I’m sorry! I never should have gone near you. Please don’t hurt me or my mother. I’ll do whatever you ask. Please, please go away. Please I’m sorry.”

"Do you think apologizing is enough for what you did?" Bonegrinder scoffed. "You have alerted the undead commander to not only Bonegrinder's presence but those of the others in the catacombs. All because of your insistence when the prince ordered you to let it go... silly elf, don't you see now that the pretty prince was trying to protect you? And here, you doubted him, went behind his back to the undead tool. If he comes after Bonegrinder, those in Bonegrinder's home... then you will be the first to die, you stupid girl." The snake threatened. "Warn your commander to stay put or you will meet more monsters who Bonegrinder will gladly share your flesh with."

“No! NO! PLEASE MR BONEGRINDER!!! IM SORRY!!!” Miranda started to frantically scream and cry again. “This silly, stupid elf is yours! Please just don’t hurt me or my mother! PLEASE!!! Oh god have mercy, PLEASE!!!!!”

Doctor Boveir heard Miranda's frantic cries and rushed over to the elf.

"Miranda, Miranda, calm down! It's was just a bad dream, you're here, you're safe!" The doctor motioned for the nurses to come over to the bed as well. "There's no... no bone-monster here! There's nothing here! It was just a nightmare, there's no such thing as monsters."

“HE’S IN THE WALLS!!! OH GOD IM SORRY!!! PLEASE! I HAVE TO TELL RALNOR AND KLINGE I WAS WRONG!!! HE’S GOING TO EAT ME!!! CANT YOU HEAR HIM?!?!” Miranda frantically pushed against the doctors.

"Doctor, she must be hallucinating from the pain or the medication."

"Administer a stronger sedative and have a volunteer sit with her." Doctor Boveir ordered. "The girl is troubled mentally. We need to keep an eye on her." He then said with a frown. "And I need to have a talk with Commander Klinge about what happened. We cannot help until we know."

“NO! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE ME!” Miranda bit one of the doctors hands as she attempted to run away. “Mother! I have to see my mother!”

Seeing Klinge watching from the end of the hallway she screamed at him. “Please don’t go after him! PLEASE!!!”

Her cries of lunacy and panic practically woke the castle. Klinge was glad he was wearing a helmet, because he couldn’t bear to look her in the eye. “I’ll end him....”

"Oh good goddesses, someone sedate her, now!" Doctor Boveir had to pry the girl's mouth away from his hand and the nurse quickly gave her a shot to put her to sleep. Shaking his head, he was pissed that the girl was acting so erratic and speaking of monsters. What if she had some sort of poison in her system? What if it was a dangerous gas that she breathed? He had no answers and no idea how to treat her. "Commander Klinge!" Normally, Doctor Boveir was a calm guy and it took a lot to get him angry. "I want... no, I need some damn answers, right now! The girl is out of her mind! What happened?!"

Klinge stayed calm, a little bit of spite in his voice. “You can ask Prince Ralnor, though I’m sure he will simply tell you she’s insane. I think the King and Queen would love to know the truth as much as you.”

"... I don't have time for your mind games." The doctor dismissed Klinge's statement with a huff. "Speaking of monsters in the walls. It's bad enough the maids say the castle is haunted and now you're in on this prattle too. I don't know what this girl saw or what the devil happened when you two went into that tunnel of madness, and I have a feeling I'm not going to get a proper answer. Until she is completely better, both physically and mentally, she is not to return to her work. Is that clear?"

“And she won’t be better until I deal with her monster. You can tell the Prince, the King, and the Queen I no longer take their orders until the matter is dealt with. Now go take care of your patients doctor. Before you receive something far more strong than a bite from me.” Klinge wagged a finger of warning at the doctor before walking to Tulilaid and Kelly, who had arrived to investigate the commotion. “Captains. I have a special assignment for you.”

“Yes, Commander Klinge?”

Tulilad quickly brushed back his hair and tried to wipe off any lipstick evidence on his face that might have been left there by Kelly. Clearing his throat, he stood up straight and faced his superior. “What assignment?”

“….I need you to go on a grocery run. Cake needs a casing. Might be rats in the wall. The Queen wants to take a cruise ship out to sea.”

Kelly kept a straight face, with only a flinch of concern. This was special code used only for emergency situations. Klinge handed Tulilad as list. “I’m taking a holiday. Be good.”

Oh shit. Grocery run was a vital hush hush mission. The cake needing a casing was a VIP needing protection. Her eyes studied her surroundings. Rats meant a spy or something listening in. And the cruise ship meant taking a garrison to take someone far away from Hyrule for their own good. Klinge was really laying it on them. But it was the vacation that worried Kelly. It meant Klinge was going rogue on his own. Who knew how long. She and Tulilad had to get somewhere private and read the note.

~

The Undead filth was becoming a thorn in his side. The criminal heads, his ‘Hive’ as he called it, were bringing him multiple complaints. Evidently, this commander was declaring war on him and his brood for what happened. This was nothing new to the Anagari. Sooner or later, there would be a mistake. Then, he could take advantage of the situation. A man with revenge on his mind was liable to act irrationally. The second prince could not control the undead like a puppet, despite Bonegrinder’s insistence that he be kept on a leash. Still, it was not Ralnor’s fault that Klinge would not behave. The prince was too soft to use necromancy magic to keep the bag of rotted flesh under his thumb. So Bonegrinder waited patiently, listening and watching… until every person was in place.

As the Hive gathered, Sheer-Kahn trotted in. He was an old and ancient creature. With four hooves he walked with a clack of every step. His upper body had two powerful arms for carrying his weapons of choice, a massive sharpened club and a bow that shot arrows the size of small tortoises. His main was silvery white, with a grey body. He was a Lynel.

In times much older, he might have been King here. But Hyrule’s darkest corners now held creatures far more adaptive then him. As powerful as he was, not even he could move an immovable object. He took his place and waited patiently. Here, his code name was Hades. For if anyone sought death by angering his master, he’d send them to the Underworld.

“Sheer-Kahn… my loyal friend, my trusted warrior.” Bonegrinder motioned for the Lynel to come into his personal chambers. He had the deeper sections of the catacombs suited for living. No one under his command wanted anything more than they needed. Every need and want was catered to within reasonable request. One thing was for sure, Bonegrinder took care of those who were loyal to him. Certain areas were nothing short of luxurious, despite being underground. The Anagari took a slow inhale of his pipe and let the smoke float out of his nostrils. “The undead filth has been a thorn in our garden for quite some time now, hasn’t he?”

Sheer-Kahn nodded. “More so now that he has discovered your presence. He’s always taken care to destroy the criminal element that has been created by you, even if only unintentional and previously unknown to your presence,  simply because it is ‘the right thing to do’. Now he’s targeting the infrastructure himself.”

“He doesn’t realize that what we do effects not just our brood, but those under us, those we take care of, the rejects no one wants.” Bonegrinder’s underground empire was ran to benefit some of Hyrule’s most unfortunate. Those who had nowhere else to go, came to the Hive for a home. However, Bonegrinder ran the underground organization like a tight ship. There was no room for error. A threat to him was threat to all under his command. If Klinge wanted to play dirty, then he could do so as well. “This old snake won’t have the others suffering because of it. The three he keeps close to him… the half breed, the kid elf, and the small guard. We need to bring them here.”

“They are in the heart of the castle. That could prove to be difficult.” Sheer-Kahn took a bow. “But nothing is below me. What would you have me do?”

“If the little elf is taken… the others will follow.” Bonegrinder slithered up to Sheer-Kahn, his claws holding up the Lynel’s chin. “You are strength and might incarnate, trusted friend. Nothing you put your mind to will ever fail. Though it is not unnecessary to ask for help when it is needed.” He then gestured to the figures in the dark. “Morowa and Negasi will accompany you if you wish it?”

Sheer-Kahn thought it over. Klinge needed to be distracted and taken away from the castle. Hades’ existence could not be made publicly known to the general population, so he couldn’t enter the castle, but he could take Klinge’s attention away. “Will you listen to my plan my friend?”

“Of course.” Bonegrinder offered the Lynel a pipe while he listened. When he was done explaining, Bonegrinder smiled wildly in content.

[bastardnev]

That Guy Next Door -- Chapter 2

this chapter was supposed to be up Hours Ago why am i only able to post it now, i think im gonna start posting each chapter on here in the mornings before i go out because this is getting Ridiculous

ANYWAYS here’s the second chapter!! hope y’all enjoy it

tagging @tylerblacks @joonhobi @rivela @aliciasfox @sailor-slam-dunk @kidvoodoo @smolsammich @simulated-heat @douglas-leon-michael (lemme kno if you wanna be on my nev/moose tag list!!)

(link to ao3)

Prev.: Ch. 1 ♡

At first, Neville didn’t even realize what he was doing.

It had all started while he was sitting at his desk in the office, making a phone call to one of the higher ups and informing him of the meeting he was having later in the week. He dreaded whenever he would have to call this specific person. There was always something wrong with whatever Neville did for him — Neville would have some paperwork on his desk at 8:33 instead of 8:30 and that would be worth a lecture, he would complain that the day for a certain meeting didn’t work even though he had told Neville that it was the best time. No matter what he did or how hard he worked, nothing was ever right.

Once Neville had gotten an earful and hung up the phone twenty minutes later, he went to work correcting his latest ‘mistake’, searching for a more appropriate time. This time he was told to put the meeting on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday — God only knows what mysterious circumstances will force these plans to once again fall through. Unfortunately, that upcoming Wednesday was already full, so it was going to be put off even further. All for what? So this guy can cut out early again? Neville wished he was high enough in standing so that he could constantly leave early without any sort of punishment.

It was right as Neville was about to schedule the meeting for the following week that he found himself lost in thought. It wasn’t unusual for him to start daydreaming during work, especially when the task he was saddled with was as ridiculous as the one he was currently dealing with was, but this time was different. The subject wasn’t as typical as it usually was, not about something Wade said or what the girls did or what happened on a show he’d been watching the night before.

What does Mustafa do for a living?

Neville didn’t see anything wrong with wondering something as simple as that. Mustafa had been home a few days prior when Neville had gone to retrieve the girls’ ball, so clearly he didn’t work on Fridays. Maybe he’s a secreta-- administrative assistant too? That would explain the day off on a Friday. If this were the case, then did this mean that Mustafa worked in the same office building as him? He never recalled seeing him anywhere — perhaps he was on one of the lower floors?

No, that couldn’t be right. Mustafa had offhandedly mentioned working with children during their conversation. Neville’s job didn’t involve any children (unless you want to count his co-workers whenever the coffee machine was broken), so that theory was out.

Could he be a teacher, maybe? That seemed like a logical answer — it was a job that involved children, and since it was summertime it would explain why he wasn’t working. What school did he work for? Neville definitely would have remembered seeing him at dismissal when he went to pick Jen and Daisy up. He made a mental note to talk to the girls later that evening once he got home and see if either of them recognized him from their school.

Just as he finished that thought, however, he suddenly remembered that he had a job of his own that he needed to do. Neville hurriedly went back to working, making the almighty meeting official for next Wednesday and preparing himself for the next round of complaints that he was sure to get.

Neville pulled into the driveway of his home with a broad grin on his face. He was quite proud of himself for actually managing to avoid the rush hour traffic. He didn’t even have to leave a few minutes early — the roads were unusually clear despite the time of day. Chances are he wasn’t going to get that lucky again for quite awhile (if ever again), so he savored the moment while it lasted. And Wade didn’t think it was possible for me to actually get home at a decent time… Neville mused to himself. God, I love proving him wrong.

This moment of pride turned out to be short lived once he remembered that being home earlier meant that he was able to cook dinner that night. Son of a bitch…

It had become a running joke in the house that he was a mediocre chef at best, so he wasn’t looking forward to the teasing that he was bound to receive once he set foot in the kitchen. What should it be tonight? Neville tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he contemplated his options. Whatever he made, it had to be something so simple that not even he could mess it up (which would prove to be quite the challenge seeing as he was completely inept when it come to cooking). Wonder if I’ll be able to use the microwave without it blowing up in my face.

As he went to remove the keys from the ignition, he saw that the lights were on in Mustafa’s house. Seeing as it was around dinner time, he figured that his neighbor was probably right in the middle of cooking, and his mind began to wander again.

I wonder how good of a cook he is. He wondered if Mustafa struggled in the kitchen as much as he did. Or perhaps he was actually quite skilled? Then again, Neville was exceptionally bad — the kind of person who would burn cereal if it were possible, so someone making a halfway decent meal was still better than whatever Neville made on his best night.

Either way, Neville didn’t have time to be dwelling on what Mustafa was getting up to, and he exited the car, already planning what he would get when he and the rest of his family would inevitably end up ordering takeout.

Neville had a perfectly good backyard, so why did Daisy and Jen insist on playing out in the front of the house?

They had both assured him that they would be fine, that they would run back inside the moment they thought they saw someone acting suspicious, but Neville still wasn’t completely sold, protective parent that he was. As such, on that Friday he set up his laptop in the living room so that he could keep an eye on them.

Work was proving to be the same nonsense as always — disagreements about times, pointless conversations where the participants forgot to remove Neville from their email exchanges, the usual. Doesn’t anybody have a job that they need to do? Neville thought, taking a pretzel out of the bowl that was sitting next to his laptop on the coffee table and popping it in his mouth. Or literally anything else besides distracting me?

At one point he had gotten up to go into the kitchen to refill his glass of water. As Neville was returning to the living room, he paused in front of the window to check on the kids. Before he even realized what he was doing, his gaze shifted to the house next door, where he noticed that Mustafa was standing outside on his porch. He was looking at the mail he had gotten that day, his brow furrowing. Even from his home Neville could still clearly make out the bright colors of the tacky junk mail that he received all the time. Not even he’s safe from that bullshit, huh?

Neville watched as Mustafa’s tongue poked out from between his lips as he focused on the envelopes in his hands, a slight breeze causing a strand of his hair to fall in his face. Neville couldn’t help but find himself staring at him, wondering if he was going to fix his hair or just let it hang. He had to admit that he did look good like that…

He received another email at that moment, his laptop making the all too familiar notification sound and snapping Neville out of his little daze. What the hell am I doing? Neville shook his head, scurrying back over to the couch. There wasn’t much time left in his shift, but he still couldn’t afford to be dawdling. He had work to do and pointless office gossip to read about. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about his neighbor’s hair.

“Nev, could you do me a favor and grab me something from the grocery bag that I left by the front door?” Wade asked, standing at the stove and putting on a pot of water as he worked on that night’s dinner.

“Okay. Why didn’t you bring the bag in earlier, though?” Neville asked, standing up from the kitchen table.

“Because that was the bag that had the candy I bought for the girls in it. Jen insisted on looking through it right then and there. I never actually went back to get it.” Wade looked over his shoulder at him. “It’s got the box of spaghetti that I need.”

“Hope she wasn’t eating too many sweets before dinner… She’ll spoil her appetite.”

“God, Nev, you’re so boring sometimes.”

“Hush.”

Neville sauntered out into the hallway and spotted the brown paper bag sitting next to the front door, which was left partially open. Approaching it revealed that Jen and Daisy had once again decided on playing out on the front lawn. Neville wanted to be annoyed that they hadn’t asked for permission, but he decided to let it go and focus on what he’d been sent there to do.

He crouched down and began to dig around inside of the bag. Sure enough, there were many candy wrappers sitting inside of it. She’ll probably be too full for dinner now… Neville noted as he took one of the shiny wrappers in his hands. He shook his head and pushed them aside, finding the box of spaghetti sitting at the bottom and tugging it out.

“Whole wheat pasta?” Neville muttered under his breath as he read the label on the box. And Wade has the nerve to call me “boring”.

Neville turned to walk back to the kitchen when he suddenly stopped short in front of the window. Mustafa was in the middle of taking his garbage out to the curb. What’s he been up to all day? Neville didn’t recall seeing him leave his house at all that afternoon. Could he still be unpacking?

Neville noticed that he was wearing a hoodie — a dark green one that was entirely too big on him, no less. He couldn’t help but smile at how baggy it was on him, how he had to keep pulling up the sleeves to keep it from covering his hands. Why wouldn’t he wear something that was actually his size? And why’s he wearing a hoodie in the middle of August? It was oddly charming.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh—” Neville gasped, spinning around and finding that Wade was now standing directly behind him. “Jesus, Wade, don’t scare me like that!”

“You mean to tell me that you didn’t hear me coming? I was calling your name. You were taking an eternity, so I had to come find you.” Wade smirked. “Though now I understand why you were taking so long. You were just so lost in thought looking at the cutie next door that you didn’t even notice me.”

“Oh, wipe that look off your face, would you?” On the list of things that Neville wasn’t interested in looking at at that moment, it was the cocky expression that Wade always had on his face whenever he felt he’d been proven right. Neville turned away and went back to looking outside, focusing his attention back on what Mustafa was doing.

“And there you go again!”

“What? What am I doing that’s so wrong?”

“You keep gawking at him.”

“So?” Neville turned back around to face Wade if only to get him to shut up about his staring. “I’m just curious about Mustafa. I barely know him.”

“So why don’t you go talk to him then? Learn some more about him.”

“You know I can’t just do that. Do you have any idea how weird it would be if I randomly went over to his house and started asking him questions about his personal life? I’d rather speculate than do that. It’s less awkward that way.”

“Oh, Neville…” Wade sighed. “You’re impossible sometimes, you know that?”

“I do.” Neville handed over the box that he was still holding, pressing it against Wade’s chest. “Don’t you have cooking that you should be doing?”

Wade looked down at the box for a moment before slowly taking it from him, his gaze now focused on something outside. “So…” He began. “Let’s just say that the perfect opportunity for you and — Mustafa, you said his name was? — to talk arises. Would you take advantage of it?”

“I mean…” Neville crossed his arms, shrugging. “Yes, I suppose I would. But that won’t happen.”

“Are you sure about that? Because I think you might have a chance right now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“See for yourself.” Wade gestured to the window.

Neville furrowed his brow before turning back around, eyes widening. He was so distracted with Wade that he hadn’t been keeping an eye on the girls — they were both smiling and giggling as they shared a conversation with Mustafa about God knows what. “How long-- How long have they been talking?” Neville asked, transfixed by what he was looking at.

“Only a few minutes. They look like they’re having a pretty good time too.” Wade rested his chin on top of Neville’s head. “Maybe you should go see what’s up? Go see what they’re talking about.”

Neville chewed on his lip. He hadn’t expected that his excuse to talk to Mustafa again would sneak up on him so suddenly. What does he even say? Does he just ask what’s going on and then leave? Or does he stop to talk for a few more minutes? If he did the latter, then what would they talk about?

“Well?” Wade asked after a moment. “They look about ready to part ways. What do you say? You gonna do it or what?”

“I…” Neville said, nodding. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to go see what they’re up to.

Wade chuckled, patting his shoulder. “Go get ‘em, kid.”

Neville was left by himself in the hallway after that, Wade having retreated back into the kitchen, and he sighed. There wasn’t any backing out now, otherwise Wade would never let him hear the end of it. Well, here goes nothing…

He opened the door and went outside, heading over towards Mustafa and the kids and beginning to listen as parts of their conversation became clearer. “And she was the one who threw it!” Daisy said with a smile, pointing to her sister.

“And you were the one who made it go over the fence!” Jen insisted. “Trust me, it was all her fault.”

“Girls, are you still talking about this?” Neville asked, prompting the three of them to look at him. Neville couldn’t help but notice that the smile on Mustafa’s face had grown wider upon his arrival, and he smiled back before saying, “That was over a week ago.”

“But Mr. Mustafa should know about what Daisy did!”

“It’s your fault for throwing it!” Daisy said.

“It’s your fault for hitting it so hard!” Jen argued right back.

“Neither one of you are to blame,” Neville interrupted.

“So who’s fault is it then?”

“It’s, uh…” Neville clicked his tongue, thinking for a moment before continuing with, “My fault. I should have bought a house with a higher fence. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Both girls looked at him with frowns on their faces, though perhaps the reaction that had the biggest impact on Neville was Mustafa’s little snort. He couldn’t help but feel oddly proud knowing that he’d amused him.

“But Daddy,” Daisy said, “if you’d bought a bigger fence then you wouldn’t be able to see over it! You’re so short.”

Neville’s face went red, the sound of Mustafa laughing again causing him to grow even more embarrassed. “I’d find a way. Anyways, why don’t you two head inside and wash up? Wade’s getting dinner ready.”

“I’m not hungry,” Jen protested.

“He’s making spaghetti and meatballs.”

“...Actually? I changed my mind. I’m hungry now.” She skipped off towards the house, Daisy following close behind her.

Neville watched them go before looking at Mustafa, who was still smiling. “Uh… Kids, amiright?” He laughed a little nervously. “They just say the darndest things.”

“They’re cute, though,” Mustafa replied. “Jen looks a lot like you.”

“You think so? Everyone always says she looks more like her mother.”

“Well, I haven’t met your wife yet, so I can’t really compare.”

Neville felt himself tense up. “Actually, I’m… not married.” He scratched the back of his head, laughing a little nervously. “Not anymore, at least. We, erm, separated a few years ago.”

“Oh.” Mustafa’s eyebrows raised. “I’m sorry, I just assumed you were still together. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Don’t worry about it, you had no way of knowing.” Christ, why did Neville even bring that up in the first place? Mustafa wasn’t interested in hearing about his love life. He shouldn’t be dumping his relationship baggage on someone who was essentially a stranger.

They both fell silent. Neville was beginning to think that maybe he’d made a mistake sticking around for so long -- the conversation had become awkward, as he’d predicted. He had been given the opportunity to speak with Mustafa again, and he royally screwed it up. Way to go, Neville… You’ve really outdone yourself this time.

Mustafa cut him off his train of thought by saying, “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think you’re all that short.”

Neville laughed at that. “Gee, thanks. I don’t know why Daisy even said that.”

“I think she just likes to mess with you. It’s what kids do. I deal with kids like that all the time.”

“Oh? Do you have any of your own?”

“No, no. I work with them. I’m a teacher. First grade.”

“First grade? Oof.” Neville involuntarily shuddered. “I only have to deal with one first grader around here. I can’t imagine a whole class full of ‘em.”

“It’s fun, though. They, uh, always keep me on my toes.” Mustafa smiled a little sheepishly. “Never know what they’re gonna get up to next.”

“That’s pretty much what it’s like in my house. Just last week they were fighting over chicken tenders.” Neville clicked his tongue. “I didn’t realize that food could be so controversial.”

“Oh it definitely can be. Just this past spring two kids got into a fight over a pack of fruit snacks. In Noah’s defense they were his, but… he did say he would share them.” Mustafa shrugged. “It was a big mess.”

“Sounds like it. Y’know, I wanna say that fighting over food is a kid thing, but now that I think about it I’ve seen people in the office bust out some pretty brutal insults if it means getting the last donut.” Neville smirked. “Little did they know that while they were all fighting I snuck in and took it.”

“Ooh, sneaky!” Mustafa playfully nudged his arm. “You don’t strike me as being the type. You seem too good natured for that.”

“Pardon my language, but I can be a real bastard sometimes. Just ask Wade. He knows all about it.”

Mustafa’s brow furrowed. “Wade is…?”

“My friend. He lives downstairs, helps me with the girls sometimes. He’s a bit of a loser, but he’s a nice guy all things considered. He’s helped me through some rough times.”

“Okay, so he’s your friend.” There was a weird look on Mustafa’s face -- relief? Neville wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why? Is there something wrong with him being my friend?”

“No, definitely not! I just wanted to be one hundred percent sure that he was only your friend before… Well…”

“Well what?” Neville quirked up an eyebrow. Where’s he going with this…?

“I was just wondering… Are you free--”

“Nev!” Right before Mustafa could finish talking, Wade suddenly appeared in the front door, and both men looked at him. “I need you for a second.”

“For what?” Neville couldn’t quite place why, but he was suddenly filled with the urge to punch Wade in the face.

“I need help with dinner. Daisy keeps offering to help, but I don’t trust a six year old around a stove. Then again, you’re not much better, are you?”

“Wade!” Neville was expecting Mustafa to laugh at his expense again, but when he looked over at him he realized that he was actually staring down towards the ground, his face flushed. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Don’t take too long. You know I’m not good at fending off small children.” Wade hurried back inside, leaving Mustafa and Neville alone again.

Neville looked back at his neighbor, clearing his throat. “I’m… I’m sorry for him. He has poor timing.”

“Yeeeeah.” Mustafa laughed, though it didn’t sound like a very happy laugh. “He really does.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Uh… nothing. It’s not important.” He shook his head. “Now’s not the best time to talk about it anyway. You should probably go help Wade out before the girls beat him up.”

Neville swallowed, inexplicably sad, his mouth dry. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll, uh, see you around?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “I’ll see you, Adrian.”

Neville nodded at him before walking back towards his house. No matter how much he tried to will it away, this unusual feeling of dissatisfaction sat heavily in his stomach like a rock.