#instead of going. ok cool. i like lemonade more

[000marie198]

Wow ...

Incredibly great franchise and characters. Aweful fandom

[moonstruckme]

I am clean from sh for about 6 months now (yay me) and lately, idk why, I’ve just kinda been struggling with accepting my scars and the fact that I’ll have them probably forever and your writing is really comforting and actually helps, so I wanted to ask if u could maybe write something with Spencer helping reader feel ok with having them on reader‘s thighs?

totally understand that that’s a touchy topic and if u don’t wanna write it, I also completely get it, thanks anyway for even reading this xxx

Ahh yay you!!! Congrats baby, and thank you for requesting <3

cw: past self harm, some nudity that's really not sexual but they joke about it a bit

Spencer Reid x fem!reader ♡ 1.3k words

You’re sweltering. D.C. doesn’t usually get very warm, but for the last week you’ve been on a streak of record-breaking temperatures that’s made your clothes stick to your skin and has caused even your perpetually chilled boyfriend to refrain from putting on his cardigan until he gets inside his work each morning. Just walking between your car and various air conditioned buildings is enough to make you consider moving to the Arctic. 

“Oh my god,” you groan, flopping inelegantly down on the bed to peel your jeans off. “Can we turn the A/C down to sixty, please?” 

“Let’s start with seventy,” Spencer negotiates. You hear his footsteps stop halfway down the hall as he adjusts the monitor. “I think we still have some lemonade left, if you want some.”

“Ugh, yes.” You tear your jeans off your ankles with enough force to nearly send them flying across the room and sigh blissfully as the A/C kicks on. 

You change out of your sweaty shirt too, going for your pajamas despite it being hours from darkness falling. You have no plans to go out into that hellscape again until tomorrow. You hesitate over a pair of pajama shorts before slipping on loose pants instead, not quite as cool but still light enough to allow some air flow. 

“I love you,” you tell Spencer when he passes you your lemonade as you come into the living room, sitting beside him on the couch. Ice clinks inside your glass, which is already forming little beads of condensation. You have the urge to rub it on your face. “I mean, unconditionally, but especially right now.” 

“I’ll take it,” he jokes back, tilting his head back so his face is in the path of the A/C vent. When he looks up, he finds you pinching up the fabric of your pants around your knees, trying to create a pathway for the air to move up your legs. “Why are you wearing those?”

You know what he’s asking you, and you intentionally misunderstand. “I felt like it was pajama time. No way am I going outside again today.” 

“Right, but aren’t you warm?” Spencer tilts his head. He looks like a particularly cunning puppy, brown eyes soft and inquisitive.

“A little,” you admit. 

“Then why not wear something shorter?” 

“That’s awfully forward of you.” You do your best to give him a smile. It doesn’t stick around long in the face of your boyfriend’s serious expression, increasingly worried. “Maybe I don’t feel like parading my legs around for you.” 

You can see the cogs turning in Spencer’s brain, and the usually fascinating process is suddenly almost painful to watch. You know he’s thinking of what you refusing to wear shorts used to mean, how nobody ever thought anything of it because, again, D.C. doesn’t tend to get very warm. How evasive you were about it then, too. An uncomfortable weight settles in your stomach. 

“Is there a reason you don’t want them out?” he asks, and his voice is gentle but his gaze is unflinching. 

You try to hold it as you shake your head. “I’m still clean.” The words seem to take more air than they should. Your guilt and embarrassment are enough to choke on. “I promise.” 

Spencer nods. “I believe you.” 

His eyes don’t so much as twitch down to your covered thighs. Relief like a cool breeze passes through you. It’s no small thing, his trust in you. Not after you’d gone so far out of your way to hide the evidence of your hurt from him before. 

“But it’s still related to that, isn’t it?” He lifts his glass, taking a sip before wiping the corner of his mouth. You almost smile, picturing your boyfriend in an interrogation room asking questions with this same gentle tone and wide open, curious expression. You don’t think Spencer could ever be harsh. 

“Yeah,” you say. What felt like something private and humiliating a minute before you suddenly want to share with him. Spencer tends to have that effect on you; he makes divulging your most gut-twisting secrets feel natural and easy. “My scars just haven’t gone away. I don’t really want to see them.” 

Spencer’s mouth pinches. “You know they won’t ever fully go away, right?” 

“Yeah.” You sigh, but it doesn’t feel like letting anything out. “I know.” 

“They will probably fade, though.” His fingers circle your ankle loosely, calluses skimming softly over your achilles tendon. “Is it that you don’t want to see them, or you don’t want me to?” 

You rub your lips together. Shrug. “Both, I guess.” 

He tilts his head. Like your answer is expected, but nonetheless perplexing. “I don’t care if I see them,” he says. His hand coasts up your leg, over the fabric of your pants, until he grasps it by your knee. “Can I?” 

You nod. You know he’d let it go if you said no, but it’s not worth begrudging him. “Sure.” 

Spencer brings both hands to the fabric at your hips, and you lift your bum up off the couch as he pulls downwards. Your legs are happy to breathe, the cool air coming out of the vent even nicer than you’d thought it would be. Spencer keeps going until your pajama pants are balled up underneath your feet. 

“You really were hot,” he says. It’s neither teasing nor gloating, a simple statement of fact. His fingers come to rest at your ankle again, and it’s the only kind of warmth you’ll allow. “Is it actually worth it?” 

You look down at your thighs. Your skin feels better than it had covered up, but it’s also a physical reminder of things you’d rather forget. “I don’t know,” you reply. 

“I understand why you don’t like them,” Spencer says. When you look up, you expect him to be as stuck on your scars as you are, but he’s looking at your face. His stare is calm and unmoving, like they don’t command his attention the way they do yours. “But I think they may be with you for a while. It might help to start trying to get used to them.” 

You blow out a breath. “I want to.” 

“I know,” he says. Easily, the way he’d said I believe you. And you think that he probably does know. Spencer has things from his past he can’t fully leave behind, too. 

His forefinger moves slowly up and down the back of your ankle, an absentminded gesture for him and a comfort for you. Slowly, his eyes dip down to your legs. You fight the urge to squirm and hide. 

“You know,” he muses, “there’s actually one thing I sort of like about seeing them.” 

Your top lip starts to curl automatically, your brows pulling together. “What?” 

“Just, that they’re old.” Spencer seems not to have noticed your reaction. His gaze is contemplative. “I mean, it’s not that I’m looking for them all the time or anything, but it’s nice to see them and know there aren’t going to be any new ones. These ones will fade, and then that will be it.” 

Something new clogs your throat. It’s just as heavy as before, but far kinder. 

Spencer looks up at you. He looks sheepish, the corner of his mouth uptilted self-consciously. “Sorry, it’s a weird line of thinking. I don’t want you to think I’m always checking on them.”

“No,” you swallow, “I get it. That’s nice, Spence.” 

He shrugs. “It’s the truth.” 

You could almost laugh. He makes things so simple. “I’ll change into shorts.” 

“You don’t have to,” he says. “If you’re already cooling off.” 

“Oh, yeah?” You keep your voice light, grinning at him as you shuffle over to straddle his lap. His fingers brush over a couple of the lines on your thigh as he brings them around your back, and the sensation doesn’t make you feel as shuddery as usual. You hug him with your arms around his neck. “You’re cool with me just staying like this then? No pants?” 

“Not if you don’t want to wear them,” he says agreeably. 

You laugh and hug him harder. “Thanks,” you tell him sincerely. 

Spencer only makes a soft dismissive sound as he hugs you back. 

[vivisols]

what’s the fizzyfaz theory

OK SO! THE FIZZYFAZ THEORY... THERES A LOT OF THINGS CONNECTED TO FIZZYFAZ. LIKE. A LOT A LOT. NOW I MEAN IT WHEN I SAY BE PREPARED BECAUSE THIS IS. A LOT LMAO

in fnaf security breach there are cans of fizzyfaz that you can collect right? theres also this message that goes along with them!

interestingly enough, this message mentions grape, lemonade, and cherry fizzyfaz. however, while you can get grape fizzyfaz in game, you cant actually get plain lemonade or cherry. there's only orange, sour lime, pink lemonade, as well as grape, which is strange. theyre mentioned in the message, so where did normal lemonade and cherry go? well before we get to that, lets take a look at the fizzyfaz flavors that we can actually get in game!

quite obviously glamrock branded! for freddy, we have orange, for monty, we have sour lime, for chica, we have pink lemonade, and for roxy we have grape.

considering what we know about the glamrocks, we can start to deduce what each flavor might mean about each bandmate personality wise, as its obvious that theres some tie in with their marketed personalities.

(the rest of it is under the cut for everyones sanity)

freddy makes sense as orange because he's sweet and mellow. monty makes sense as sour lime because he's more of a rebellious cool guy. chica makes sense as pink lemonade because she's also sweet, though she's even moreso than freddy is. and roxy makes sense as grape because she's cool and different like monty, though she is be shown to be sweet at times (as in with Cassie in ruin)

these four flavors seem pretty normal right? theyre obviously color/flavor coded to each member of the glamrocks. however the actual flavors that were chosen in game have always stuck out to me for one reason.

THEYRE ALL CITRUS EXCEPT FOR GRAPE. lemon, lime, and orange are all citrus fruits. strange, right?

now you could always argue that it is fazbear is making these things, and that it's cheapest to produce like idk. a base citrus flavor and then add the additional flavors accordingly. but then why is roxy's and ONLY Roxy's grape flavored instead of being another citrus? grape is a pretty weird flavor to pair with 3 citrus flavors. hold on to that for now.

plus, roxy has another connection with distinct and stand-out fizzyfaz flavors. she specifically has an advertisement for her own type of limited edition cola flavor.

no other animatronic has advertising in game for any limited edition flavors. just roxy which really peaked my interest! wouldn't they do a promo with every glamrock? ok well, maybe since its limited edition the other glamrocks' special flavor runs have already ended and hers just wrapped up/is about to.

but wait, theres even more to do with roxy and fizzyfaz.

in help wanted 2 in the staff bot food prep mini games for el chips and the kitchen, you can serve four flavors of soda. orange, sour lime, pink lemonade, and.... sodaroni. aka not grape fizzyfaz.

ISNT THAT WEIRD??? not to mention how specifically in the theater version of food prep, theres no fizzyfaz at all. instead, we can serve exotic beverage, dj music man's techno-cooler, chicachug, and.... sodaroni again.

isn't that weird? the theater is also an interesting choice for the final food prep level to take place in considering that it's clearly not the most popular attraction, as well as the fact that we're in a whole mall with multiple food stands. you can argue that it's also one of the few places with a kitchen, but i believe that this choice was made on purpose for a different reason.

after all, who is tied to the theater as well as the only character to actually talk about fizzyfaz in game?

thats right.

THE DAYCARE ATTENDANT.

I mean i was gonna tie them to this somehow! the connection is obvious!!

like… theres a soda dispenser in the ACTUAL DAYCARE ITSELF.

theres also numerous ones outside and in the theater lobby. interesting, right? so much soda promo in the daycare area, yet they dont even serve the main soda brand of fizzyfaz in the theater food prep level... how interesting.

and now for something ive seen literally no one talk about. in the theater basement theres a room with the purple stars painted on the walls outside. inside that room, sitting on a filing cabinet under gold balloons that spell out ‘5TAR’ as well as a sundrop poster, theres ANOTHER soda dispenser. yet instead of one of the fancy digital ones, it's just a simple soda dispenser like we see in the kitchen above.

interesting choice for a soda dispenser location, right? there aren’t any others in the theater basement. just this one.

let’s take a look at this room. specifically the vanity.

there’s a flower pot, a trophy, some makeup brushes, and interestingly enough, a whole nail polish stand with a variety of colors. the uniqueness of this whole room makes me think that it’s meant to stand out. not to mention the fact that there’s a connected bathroom with two stalls in it. after all, the other rooms are just standard dressing rooms.

maybe i’m just reaching here, but i think that this was a theater staff break room, as well as some kind of animatronic prep room for sun and moon’s performances. they used to be the theater bot, after all.

so sun and moon have obviously been around for a while, as evident by all the wear and tear they have. plus in the tales from the pizzaplex books the daycare is mentioned to be an attraction that was built later on. it wasn’t there when the pizzaplex first opened.

but the theater was.

and since the out of place soda dispenser was in a room in the theater basement, there’s a chance that it served fizzyfaz.

cherry fizzyfaz.

i may just be grasping at straws here, but cherry… kind of fits the DCA really well. i mean, it isn’t a citrus fruit like the glamrocks (minus Roxy) have. sun has red and yellow pants, moon has red eyes, and they both have red ribbons with two bells around their wrists. the overall theater is pretty red too.

besides the overall red coloring of the theater and the red on the DCA, the cherry flavoring would fit sun and moon pretty well too! cherries can be either sweet or sour, and are often a balanced mix of both, which would be a nice tie in to sun and moon’s good and evil double act in the theater!

so when the daycare got built and sun and moon were transferred over from the theater, the cherry flavor likely got pulled or discontinued. probably because the theater wasn't as popular as fazbear wanted it to be. and thus in help wanted 2 in their food prep minigame, there was no fizzyfaz. they lost fizzyfaz privileges from management when they were moved to the daycare LMAO

and there we have it. sun and moon are the probable answer for who the cherry fizzyfaz flavor belonged to.

but what about lemonade fizzyfaz?

well, lemonade has a much easier answer. it’s a citrus flavor too, of course. and every bowling alley i’ve ever been to has served an abundance of lemonade lmao

so YEAHHH it’s probably Glamrock Bonnie’s flavor. i mean, he's got a yellow star on his chest, a yellow bass, and yellow sunglasses. plus blue is the opposite of yellow...

though... personality wise, we know basically nothing about the guy other than he was maybe probably laid back considering how bonnie is in fazbear and friends. and lemonade is a pretty chill drink. i mean glamrock bonnie also died and was possessing all the wet floor bots or stuff in ruin and like theyre yellow too or something idk....

with this lineup the band would still have 3/4 citrus flavors, with... two lemonades. interestingly. and tbh i think that the majority of citrus is potentially the most important factor in this theory.

i mean freddy, chica, and bonnie are the OGs. the MAIN THREE from fnaf 1 days. so ofc they'd all be similar flavors (even if there are two lemonades... no idea what fazbear would have been cooking with that one lol) and yeah, foxy is an OG too, but he wasn't actually part of the main band until later on lol

yet in security breach, we don't get a glamrock foxy. we get roxanne wolf, who is an entirely new character, so it makes sense for her to not have a similarly citrus flavor.

grape is the only one mentioned in the message that you can actually get in game. and if the lemonade and cherry have been discontinued since bonnie was decommissioned and sun and moon were moved from the daycare to the theater, then...

it's clearly been a while. and if it's been a while and there's still grape fizzyfaz, which would make no sense for foxy to have (as the statue of him in kids cove is nowhere near purple) then roxy has been around for a while. and if she's been around since the dca was in the theater, then she never replaced foxy!!!! wild and crazy am I right

and yes! you could also argue the opposite and that bonnie's flavor was cherry while the dca's flavor was lemonade, which likely makes more sense.

the DCA has yellow as both sun and moon, with sun's overall coloring and his pants and stuff, and the stars on moon's pants and the bells on both of their wrists. and lemonade can be sweet or sour. like their act. and fazbear pulled it because nobody really cared about the theater or just plain lemonade fizzyfaz as opposed to the cool pink lemonade chica had.

plus bonnie is more red than yellow, with his reddish-pink jumpsuit and his red eyes. and cherry could maybe work for him? again, we barely know anything about his personality... then when he got decommissioned, they replaced his unique cherry flavor with another citrus to cut costs.

though we really have no way of telling which was the real flavors for each of them or if they even were flavors that were produced at all!! after all, the message says 'COPY FOR APPROVAL', so lemonade and cherry might have been scrapped all together....

this is all just speculation from yours truly, since im such a big flavored drink fan and i really want more people to talk about the fizzyfaz... ,:3c

and now onto my next theory, which is that the DCA is the real one have to killed glamrock bonnie...

[honey-crypt]

Hi, could I please request reactions to a Farmer with a tick? The best way I could describe it is imagine them making a random noise and scrunching like they got shocked.

a/n: i’ll do both the bachelors & bachelorettes since you didn’t specify, enjoy!

★ the sdv bachelors & bachelorettes’ reaction to the farmer with a tic ★

you’re spending time with one of stardew valley’s most eligible singles on your farm. the two of you are joining some refreshing homemade lemonade when suddenly you tic, a full body shiver accompanied with a head jerk and a “woo!” sound. your guest reacts as so:

abigail

★ she has her own tics so she’s not surprised at all when yours goes off

★ however, this causes a chain reaction where your tic sets off her tic and so on, it’s actually quite funny

★ it takes a good few minutes of you two setting off one another’s tics before it finally subdues

alex

★ bro is very confused and a tad bit startled by your tic

★ “uhhhh what was that? are you ok??”

★ after you explain to him about your tic, he gives you a thumbs up and has more lemonade

elliott

★ he has met a few folks in his old home that had tics like yours

★ continues on his business of chatting with you after your tic stops

★ he reassures you that he’s not “turned off” by your tic but instead acknowledges it as just a part of your “lovely self”

emily

★ she has a tic of her own but yours doesn’t set hers off, thankfully

★ “oh, i didn’t know you have a tic, too!”

★ the two of you have a nice conversation about it and find solace in one another for understanding the experience of having a tic

haley

★ she’s not fazed too much because emily has a tic

★ however, it still catches her off guard because yours is much louder than emily’s

★ does her best to reassure you that she’s not upset at your tic and it’s a bit awkward but ultimately she gets her point across

harvey

★ “oh! farmer, do you have tourette’s?”

★ the doctor in him kicks into high gear

★ tries to give you more lemonade to cool off because he’s worried that he overwhelmed you somehow and that’s why your tic went off

leah

★ didn’t realize your tic went off until you apologized to her for it

★ she dismisses your worries with a smile and explains how she had gotten used to tics because her little brother had one

★ “never apologize for who you are!”

maru

★ like harvey, she’s aware of tics from a purely medical standpoint

★ asks if you’re okay and if you need anything in the event you’re overwhelmed or experiencing a stressor

★ doesn’t really make a big deal out of it

sam

★ bro has stars in his eyes because you tic just like him!!!

★ his doesn’t go off because of yours but he starts rambling about how you both have almost identical tics

★ he’s just a happy guy who thinks you’re neat with your tic

sebastian

★ no reaction, not fazed at all

★ both sam and abigail have tics so he’s very used to it, they’re almost second nature to him

★ kinda gives you a pat on the shoulder and continues drinking his lemonade

shane

★ “what the fuck???”

★ he looks at you like a demon just possessed you

★ relaxes after you explain but he’s still kinda startled and needs time to process what just happened

penny

★ “oh my!”

★ she’s taken aback by your tic but doesn’t freak out or anything, vincent talks about sam’s tics after all

★ she gives you a smile and states that she’s here if you need anything, since tics can worsen when a person’s stressed

[elliotts-pocket-crab]

I posted 1,831 times in 2022

That's 1,134 more posts than 2021!

203 posts created (11%)

1,628 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@user-mimi

@dewwydelcra

@cheese-farm

@stardewcowboy

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I tagged 194 of my posts in 2022

#stardew valley shane - 42 posts

#stardew valley elliott - 41 posts

#stardew valley hcs - 37 posts

#elliott stardew valley - 31 posts

#stardew valley harvey - 29 posts

#stardew valley emily - 29 posts

#stardew elliott - 29 posts

#sdv elliott - 28 posts

#stardew sebastian - 26 posts

#stardew valley haley - 25 posts

Longest Tag: 107 characters

#elliott pls come read me the stories yourself instead so i can pretend it wasnt my plan all along to cuddle

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Elliott headcannons cus hes my babygirl

His favorite color is wine red and he'll give you a whole speech on why its such a great color because of the passion and emotion associated with it (him and leah have super serious discussions about colors for whatever reason at the saloon when they're tipsy)

(MILDLY NSFW ONE!) he will nearly lose his balance and collapse if you grab his hips to bring him closer

He read pride and prejudice as a teen (like 15,16) and switched up his whole aesthetic forever and based everything around being a romantic and elegant prince charming

He has a diary and he's so fucking extra that he only uses a fancy expensive fountain pen to write in it. He bulk buys ink cartridges. Just to keep up his aesthetic.

I've said this before but i think smooth operator by sade is his favorite song

M'boy can flirt back and forth all day but he's so touch starved that he'll be a whole other person if you kiss him or something

He watches soap operas and shitily produced indie romance movies

265 notes - Posted September 9, 2022

#4

Okay I’ve got another one. Headcanons for how the candidates would react to seeing the farmer getting hot and sweaty for the first time? (While working of course 😉) Causing them to get flustered while farmer is confused. 😂😌

I wanted to draw a little visual comic for this scenario but I can't fucking draw so if anyone wants to draw this as well as my other hc scenarios PLEASE DO!

Ok ladies first!!

Haley: the farmer would be clueless per usual, thinking 'oh no, Haley probably thinks I'm all gross right now!' But she silently adores your work effort and watches you swing your scythe and cut down your wheat. She thinks you're so strong and gazes at you from afar on the porch stuck in a shameless daydream about you. She'll make you lemonade as an excuse to come closer.

Emily: she'd openly tell you she likes your "natural smell", assuring you that it's a good smell. You think it's kinda strange, but you're glad she doesn't mind. She loves to see you focused and in action. Try not to act weirded out if she just comes up, wraps her arms around your neck and takes a big ol whiff

Abigail: 'that's so... hot...' she's completely riled up by seeing you like this! Her face would be burning red! Don't be surprised if she asks you randomly tonight if you want kids or not.

Leah: she likes to watch you chop down trees. She compares it to how she makes her sculptures and how very different it is. Her work is about being delicate with the wood and yours is about chopping and swinging. When you walk up to her afterwards she tries to play it cool and not let you know how hot she thought you looked

Maru: she adores seeing you so enamored in your work! It's more in a romantic and wholesome way though, she'll stop by and bring you a wet towel and dab it on your face in the hot summer, then she'll kiss your forehead

Penny: penny is the most flustered, her heart's pounding like crazy and if you try to talk to her she'll be a stuttering mess. Somehow the farmer doesn't see what's going on.

Da boys:

Shane: he's so attracted, like after seeing you working up a sweat he'll be in the best mood. Marnie will ask him what's got him in such a good mood. He'll give you a peck on your sweaty cheek but try not to look too uncool. He's resisting the farmer-loving urge to scoop you up and give you a million kisses

Elliot: seeing you like that will encourage him to throw you a surprise romantic dinner on any given day. You're his motivation to work harder on his book, once you start working he's compelled to do the same.

Harvey: there's nothing he loves more than watching you be so strong. He loves his strong farmer, and it seriously gets him going. He's super embarrassed about fantasizing about you like this, but its hard to think of anything else when he sees you like that. He's one of those people whos constantly nervous that someone can read their dirty thoughts in public and just hopes you arent a mind reader.

Sebastian: all he can think of is how attracted to you he is and how much he hopes he's not blushing. He thinks it's too embarrassing to blush and doesn't like to show it, so he's constantly flipping his hair into his face and pushing it away so you can't see his expression

Sam: he'll try to distract you in a way that distracts him from how hot you look. "Hey look at this skate trick!" While you're trying to pick your tomatoes so he doesn't allow his face to start looking like a tomato

Alex: openly flirting with you telling you how hot you look. He doesn't go too far, not as far as he'd like to go, just some sweet little comments here and there

278 notes - Posted May 15, 2022

#3

I love emily and her little skateboarder doodle she drew on the message😭❤️

379 notes - Posted October 29, 2022

#2

Why did i come up with this at 4am

713 notes - Posted August 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

717 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[meganuzlockediary]

Diamond! Victory Road!

7th April

Ok Victory road was no where near as harrowing as I thought. I just took my time planned for each trainer and sloowly made my way through. The old man with the empoleon and tentacruel was scary there is a massive hole in my team in that I need an electric type move. Its really annoying that infernape doesn't learn thunderpunch this gen. Still not too much of an issue.

So then I start the grind. I Fly and surf around the sinnoh region collecting anything that might be useful. Mostly tms. I even go to the safari zone and catch like 30 croagunk to try and get a black sludge! Happy to suceed despite the time it took.

Then after grinding a lot in victory road. Getting bored and rare candying the rest I move forward to challenge Barry

At this point all my pokemon are near the level cap of 63 all being at 62 so this is a good first test to check all my pokemon are ready.

He starts with staraptor I go gastrodon. One Icebeam to remove him. Roserade is next so I switch to infernape who has a chesto berry inc ase of grass whistle. He goes for poison jab instead which does get the poison crippling me for the rest of the fight. Fortunately a flamethrower is enought o remove roserade and a focus blast is enough to remove Empoleon (I'm going special with this one). Unfortunately I'm now a little low. I dont wanna risk a miss with focus blast so switch into mothim expecting earthquake. He of course goes for crunch instead so I take a hefty chunk of damage but I use the bought time to chip away at snorlax until mothim is suuuper low. I switch back into gastrodon as at this point none of Barry's team mates pose a threat finish off the snorlax with earthquake, then the heracross and rapidash with surf for the win. Not too bad so far.

The league will be the real challenge and I really am expecting to lose some here. The aim is to have as many as possible before cynthia and not to wipe. This may be the end. Here is the team

Scruff the Mothim

Set up to be a special attacker with decent speed. He's honestly the sacrifice Mon if needed able to get some chip damage and has protect for stalling. He will be useful against Lucian once Mr. Mimes thunderbolt is gone.

Moves: Protect, Psychic, Bug Buzz and Air slash

Stench the Skuntank

A defensive tank and second answer to Lucian. I had trouble deciding what he would be about but I'm honestly really exciited to use him. I Just need to keep him away from fighting and ground type moves. With aftermath he may also be an answer to Garchomp in a sacrifice play. We will see.

Moves: Night slash, Poison Jab, Toxic, Screech/Dig

Cherry the Cherrim

My main answer to Bertha but honestly will probably be subbed in for gastrodon. I have never used one so I do not know how she will fair but she needs to last as long as possible. She is 100% a support mon either making infernape insane or setting up with leech seed.

Moves: Leech seed, Sunny day, Giga drain, HP Psychic/Protect.

Egg shell the Blissey

Massive special wall considered bannable in most nuzlockes but I'm not fussed. She is very necessary. She is currently running a complete stall set I will be Switching out tms to give her as much coverage as possible. I only have 2 sitrus berries but they will be her item of choice as leftovers is locked behind the post game for obvious reasons.

Moves: Toxic, Soft boiled, light screen, Chargebeam/Ice beam/whatever is needed

Lemonade the Gastrodon

Honestly has been the MVP of this run. So goddamn tanky with enough sttack and Sp.atk to dish out whatever he gets. Honestly this is my only answer to garchomp. I wish he was a little more defensive but this is the best I can get.

Moves: Recover, Ice beam, Surf, Earthquake.

Wukong the Infernape

Such a cool pokemon. I have never actually used infernape in a play through this has been great. Obviously its hard because every move comes with a price with him hence why I am going for the calm mind special set on him. With a zoom lens his accuracy is raised just a little but its better than flare blitz and close combat which are just so risky.

Moves: Flamethrower/fireblast, Focus blast, HP water/other tms, Calm Mind

Hopefully this team will be enough to take me through I am obviously nervous. Cynthia is a monster. But fingers crossed.

[antique-ring]

Macaque x Reader

(Gender Neutral Reader)

Warnings??? Reader being a little creeped out, author being rusty, author not knowing how to format on tumblr

"Shit Shit shit shit shit-" The narration isn't wasting its time to count how many times you've said that stupid word. But you get the picture. Oh, wait you don't, we're only a few sentences in... My bad.

You decided to leave with MK to get snacks, to make sure he didn't blow his whole paycheck on overpriced foods. It was nice of him to get everyone something, even though you're not sure how he knew what Tang wanted when Pigsy had cut him off.

"Hey, (y/n) what did you want to drink?" You had told him three times already what you wanted. "A water bottle..." Arguably the easiest thing to remember... But he didn't. If it wasn't happening to you, it would've been funny.

"And a lemonade," MK told the cashier. They looked at you with their eyes blown wide and you just nod side to side. They got the message and rung up your water bottle instead. "Ok, that total is going to be 955.68¥," The Cashier said. "How many snacks did you get!?" You scolded him.

He laughs nervously has he hands them the money. "HOW DO YOU HAVE THAT MUCH SPENDING MONEY?"

MK practically ignores you as the cashier comes back with a pile of food. He picks up everything and buries his face in said snacks. The cashier gives you a look and plops the water bottle on the counter. You do that awkward half-smile and follow behind MK with your drink.

"Ummm where is everyone?" You had come back to a practically empty theatre, only being populated by the "Mayor", the Puppeteer, and MK. You sat next to him and he shrugs his shoulders. "Guess they got bored" MK seemed too mesmerized by this cool purple lantern thingy to think about your missing friends.

"The hero and the warrior were like the sun and the moon.

Their light a protective glow on the world.

together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them

Either of the celestial realms or on earth

As time went on, the hero attained power beyond comprehension

As the hero's light grew, so did his shadow

and soon, the warrior was cast in that shadow

In the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the hero"

The story was interesting to say the least. You would ponder all of it's messages, but you still have friends that disappeared. You turned to MK and he seemed pretty messed up by the story. What was going on?

You glance over at the puppeteer and find him smirking. Well, that smirk quickly fell to a rested frown.

"Hey why don't we get out of here and call the others?" You suggest. Mk stays silent but nods. He pulls out his phone and starts dialing Mei, but he also leaves you to clean up his pile of snacks. You sigh and go to finish your water bottle.

"One of our staff members can get that for you." A voiced came from behind you. You gasp and turn around to find the hooded Puppeteer. He's more unsettling up close... "Ummm Thanks I guess." You take a step back for him to only take a step with you.

"Have you and the kid been friends for long?" Oh this guy is definitely up to something.

"Yeah!" You lied. You had been hired shortly after that Demon bull incident to fill in for MK as a delivery driver when he's trying to save the world. You loved being in this group but you were way underpowered compared to the rest of them.

He grabs your hand before you realized what was happening and raises it. "Surely such companion of the Monkey kid has a strong skill set." Shit... "Eh heh yup." You tried taking another step back but quickly realized he still has a hold of your hand. "Well I should catch up to MK now." He kissed your hand. He freaking kissed it. You yank it from him and he smiles while you wipe it off the back of your shirt. Don't know if he somehow has magic curse hand kisses or whatever. For all you know that how your friends disapeared.

"I do hope I can see you again, Darling." His smile somehow got wider.

You give him the same smile you gave the cashier and then book it. Don't care if he can tell you're freaked out, he probably figured that out already. You make it out the front door and find MK. "Any luck?" You ask. He frowns and shakes his head no.

"Hey MK I think-" "I think I'm just gonna head home." He cut you off.

"Oh." You both stand there in silence for a moment before he starts walking off without another word.

I look back at the building and just shiver. Any thinking needed to be done far away from this establishment. You head home, trying to call everyone that was with you. NOTHING!

"Do I even bother going in for work at this point?!" You screamed into your pillow.

"Merw?" Mo jumped up onto your bed, pulling you out of your funk. For the sake of plot convenience, Sandy was out of town and you were petsitting.

"you're right Mo." What was he right about? Who knows? But you had to get to work.

You quickly make it to the restaurant to find MK. He looks depressed as ever. "Hey man, what did that play do to you?" You asked worryingly. "I don't know... I just really related to the warrior in that story." He replied. Oh so it's abandonment issues. If you were a psycoligist you'd sit him down and make him talk about it, but you were no such thing. You in fact, were a stupid twenty something year old.

"Hey, why don't you just ask him how it ends after the show today?" You suggest, forgetting that he's probably the reason your friends are missing. He lit up just a smidge, which was good enough for you. "I'll even buy you boba." You added. You make it back to the theatre and tell him to go in without you. But something was weird, this guy that seemed awfully like the "mayor" was making your drinks today. Without fail he kept messing up somewhere in the process and would have to start over. Like at one point he had someone come over and fix the machine that shakes it.

When he finally hands you your drinks, you're sure the play is already over. But sure, MK has to ask the Puppeteer what happened to the warrior.

You open the door to see MK throw a punch and the Monkey King? "MK!?" You shout but he doesn't seem to hear you. "WHOAH BUD! You've been working out?" He seemed to be taunting the poor kid. "You pack a bigger punch than I remember" "I don't think that's The Monkey King..." You whisper to yourself. "NO No no no... It's you... MACAQUE!" MK shouts.

The disguise falls and reveals a black-furred monkey dude! "HAHA The one and only!"

"No one told me The Monkey King had an evil doppelganger." You mutter to yourself.

"So why so glum? I've noticed lately that you've been looking a little DOWN!" He slammed Mk's head into the bench!

You run over to the pair, but the pure aura Macaque is giving off is keeping you from reaching them-Like its a violent wind. It was hard to hear what they're saying with all the wind, but you saw the shadows on the walls move around the room unnaturally. "Shit Shit Shit Shit...." You start shouting as MK gets thrashed around by the evil monkey man.

"Oh did you just realize they were just missing? Classic hero maneuver! Maybe it's just me, but these guys don't look too happy being left in the shadows of the great Monkie Kid."

Evil monkey man, Macaque whips out that cool-looking purple lantern. That's definitely where your friends were, you should've known. Tang's shadow was the first to attack MK. But your eyes quickly fell onto the lantern, you saw three differnt and odd lights coming through it. They conviently matched your friend's color schemes, so you were sure of it. Maybe if you could get close enough to break it.

What?is he gonna hold their souls hostage or something?

NOPE NOPE NOPE! EVIL SHADOW VERSIONS OF YOUR FRIENDS CAME OUT OF THE LANTERN! The wind calmed as they came off the wall and you nearly stumble forward with the change.

You only get to take one step when Macaque appears right in front of you. "I didn't forget about you, Darling." You froze. He oozed intimidation, but god he had to call you a pet name. You could feel yourself become flustered.

"Unlike heroes, I don't forget people easily... Especially you." He was close enough as it was, but he took another step towards you. You take another slow step backward with him.

"So what do you do on this little team? Are you a master of martial arts? Posses some mighty sword or-" "I make noodles part-time at the shop and fill in for delivery driver when MK is trying to save the world." Your word vomiting threw him off but he quickly recovered.

"So darling..." The name-calling made you take another step back, and which he responded by taking another step toward you. You gulp and take several more steps back and hit a wall like an idiot and he has you cornered. "So Darling, if I decided I needed bait in the future, you can't put up a fight?" He smiled real wide and raised his hand to the left side of your head and leaned against the wall.

Every time you thought he couldn't get more in your personal space, he managed to do so. He leaned into your face, you simply cover your face with your hands so you wouldn't have to look him in the eye. He's scary, tall, handsome, and calling you pet names... probably going to need and see the doctor after this... If you get out of here alive, or without getting kidnapped... He did threaten to do that...

"Awww c'mon Darling, don't be so shy~" He teased. You let out a quiet squeak, and he chuckled.

He finally backed up, well not exactly, he stopped leaning against the wall. "C'mon! I can't believe you didn't realize this was me! Shadows are kinda my thing!" Oh he was too busy tormenting you, he forgot he originally meant to torment MK.

MK on the other other hand was tired of getting his butt kicked by his friends and his eyes started glowing a gold color. Quickly, the room flooded with the same gold color and the shadow were gone. He threw himself with his staff at Macaque and was going at it with all his might.

Not that you thought MK couldn't handle this on his own, but you decided to go for the lantern while Macaque was distracted.

Ummm... So you actually thought MK could handle it, since no one except him or The Monkey King could pick up that awesome staff, but Macaque flipping caught it! WHAT!?

"You know... You really are that bit too much like him. But... It's good to see there's some potential." You grabbed that lantern quickly and jumped back.

Macaque laughed, "Go ahead Darling, see if you can break it." He turned to you, still having MK suspended.

You hoped he was bluffing and threw it on the ground. BUNK! It didn't shatter!

"What did you do to our friends!?" You screamed.

Macaque sighed and threw MK into nearby benches. He stalked over to the lantern and scooped it up. "They're fine." He crushed it with no effort and the lights rushed out, materializing into your friends.

"See, no harm no foul. Now, I never got your name... Unless you want me to keep calling your Darling." He said, leaning into your personal space. "(Y-Y/N)"

"OoOoooOooh. (Y/N), I do like the sound of that over Darling. Though I still like calling you that as well." That stupid shit eating grin was on his face.

But Macaque heard MK getting up from his crashpile and swiftly left out the back door. Leaving you confused and flustered and like kinda scared cause he knows your name and where you work like you should have told him where you live at that point and like that's not really safe your mother raised you better than this and and and and and and

you were pulled back into reality by a hug from the group. Everyone is safe and ok... Physically. Yeah no, you and MK and kinda traumatized from this experience. Your heart isn't really made for this.

Like was he flirting with your or was he messing with you? Like what? I mean he wasn't flirting with anyone else, but you also seem like an easy target.

MK runs after Macaque and you stay with the others to make sure they're fully alright.

Mr.Evil Monkey Man Macaque.... Kinda handsome idk if you're gonna see him again maybe that would be cool idk you were just thinking about it.

Only will be nice if you've grown used to being near-death situation, then maybe you can get over the pet names

I didn’t know how to end this… so sorry. I was thinking about continuing this for the other episodes he appears in after this.

I’ve come out of fan fiction writing retirement to write this and I’m not sure how to format on tumblr so pls forgive me (◞‸◟；)

Part 2

[jrvanfleet]

Pool Daze - j.t.k

NSFW 18+ MINORS, DNI!!

pairing: jake x f. reader

content warning: some drinking, fingering, unprotected sex (don’t do it y’all fr!), temperature play (ice, ice, baby!), praise k!nk, slight orgasm denial, edging, just overall whore behavior ok y’all know the vibeee ;)

word count: 3.3k

summary: you spend a summer afternoon in the pool with Jake before he leaves for another leg of touring.

——————

Tennessee summers are no joke. It’s the third week that you’ve endured constant sunny days that heat up the concrete and humidity that makes the hairs stick to the back of your neck. The only positive thing about the heat was the fact that the house you had recently moved into with your boyfriend Jake had a very private backyard with a pool.

You spend every free moment you can alternating between dipping in the water and basking in the sun chair just at the pool’s edge. On days like today, the sun shines down from a cloudless sky and a consistent breeze keeps you from finding solace back in the air conditioning, making you content to stretch out with a new book. During the hotter days, Jake usually spends his time in the home studio, writing up new melodies and recording bits of arrangements to show the guys at their office, but you know he’s decided to join you as you hear the back door open and glance up to see him in a pair of red swim trunks with two drinks in hand.

Setting the drinks on the small table beside you, he leans down to plant a kiss on your forehead.

“How’s the book?”

You hum at the feeling of his soft lips on your skin, tilting your face towards him to give him a proper kiss.

“A little slow,” you say onto his lips, “but I just started it, so hopefully it’ll pick up.”

He kisses you softly once more before straightening and to grab one of the drinks he brought with him. With a grandiose flourish of his free hand, he extends the glass towards you with a bow.

“I have brought m’lady a refreshment.” He tries and fails to contain his smirk as he looks up at you through his lashes. You giggle at his theatrics, taking the glass from his hand.

“Why thank you sir, I was quite parched.” you say, mirroring his false British accent. You can’t help but hold up your drink to admire his handiwork. “What did you make?” You rotate the glass to see the raspberries that settled at the bottom.

“A ‘raspberry lemonade vodka spritzer’, or at least that’s what the recipe I found said it was. I used those raspberries we got at the farmer’s market yesterday.” You look up at him to find him smiling softly down at you. Taking a sip, you savor the cold tartness of the drink and let out a soft moan of satisfaction.

“Baby, I don’t know if I can let you go back on the road next week,” you say to him as he raises an eyebrow and takes a sip from his own drink, “I think you’re gonna have to stay home and make me cocktails and kiss me instead.”

He laughs, leaning in to do just that.

“That’s very tempting, sugar.”

Pulling away much too soon for your liking, he sets his drink down and begins undoing the two buttons that hold his loose black shirt together.

“You gonna get in too?” he asks over his shoulder as he steps into the pool.

“Sure, gimme a sec to finish this chapter.” You try to focus on the words on the page, but you can’t help but steal glances up at Jake as he wades deeper into the water and dunks himself under, becoming fully submerged. He comes up for air and you admire the way the water travels in rivulets down his chest and arms. Suddenly, the breeze doesn’t seem as cool as before.

You watch him as he pushes back his wet hair with both hands, tipping his head back towards the sun. His skin is golden from days spent hiking when he was out on tour and you can see the veins in his hands that trail up his forearms, making your heart beat a little faster.

Book thoroughly forgotten, you stand up from your chair and grab both drinks, bringing them to the edge of the pool before stepping in yourself. The water sends a shock over your overheated skin, making you shiver. Luckily, you reach him in a few easy strides, the water only coming up past your belly button. His hands immediately reach to grip your hips as he pulls you to him.

“Hi,” he mutters into your hair, your arms wrapping around his neck in a loose hug.

His hands trail from your hips, up your sides, and back down in one long languid stroke while you stand there, enjoying each other’s company. You tighten your arms to pull him nearer and breathe in his scent. He smells of the woods with a hint of cigar smoke, a particular pairing that makes you lightheaded and your knees weak. His scent is grounding and safe. But it’s also extremely attractive. You don’t even care that he’s dripping wet as you bury your face into his neck and hold him close.

You smile as his hands begin to wander away from your sides and hips, drifting around your ass and grabbing a handful.

“I really like this suit on you.” he says, kneading your flesh. Your face warms with the compliment as your body hums under his touch. He grabs shamelessly at you, pulling you firmly against him so that you can feel him beginning to harden between you. Your lips leave a soft trail of kisses up his neck and his hum of encouragement makes you softly bite at the skin of his jaw. Jake has no intention of taking things slow as his hands move lower and he lifts you up so that your legs are wrapped around his waist.

His lips find your own and it feels as if it’s the first time you’ve ever kissed, not the twentieth time today. You could spend forever kissing him. When he’s away on tour you miss him like crazy, the FaceTimes and phone calls nothing in comparison to his real presence. You only have three more days of this bliss before he’s back on the road, sharing his talent and beautiful soul with thousands of people. You will yourself to stay in the moment as his tongue enters your mouth. His lips are passionate and confident against your own, claiming you under the late July sun. You let out a soft moan as he takes your bottom lip between his teeth and pulls.

He releases you for only a second and his full lips are suddenly trailing over your cheek to your ear. His breath is uneven against you but you feel his smirk against the shell of your ear as he whispers, “Hold your breath.”

He barely gives you a second to process his demand before his grip tightens on your thighs and he’s dunking you both under the water. Your arms cling to him on instinct as your head goes under. Luckily, the shock of the movement makes you take a gasping breath in and you hold it as your head goes under. The two of you are only fully submerged for less than a second, but you still come up sputtering for air.

��Jake!” you smack his wet chest, his grip never wavering on your legs that are wrapped around him. The sound of his laugh washes away any frustration you might have had as he continues his assault of kisses along your jaw.

“I just wanted to get you as wet as I can,” he murmurs against your neck and suddenly everything else in the world doesn’t matter. You’re fully focused on him as your blood heats up at the intention behind his words. His fingers start their wandering once more, coasting over your ass and hips to play with the strings holding your bathing suit together. You can tell that he wants more, his fingers tugging on the strings but never fully untying them. You want more too. You want all of it. All of him.

Your thighs clench around his hips as he begins to move. He wades through the shallow water until he reaches the three smooth steps that lead out of the pool. You think he’s going to carry you out and back into the house to finish what he started, but he gently sets you on the steps and unhooks one of your legs to hover above you.

Your hands trace the small rivers of water that run down his neck and he closes his eyes, taking in the feeling of your fingers on his skin. His touch wanders, continuing to tease the strings of your swimsuit, but two can play at that game. You don’t waste any time dragging your fingers down his chest and delicious stomach to the waistband of his red swim trunks. Your touch is featherlight as you tease him. His breath hitches as you trace his growing bulge over his swimsuit. You love the way you can make him react with such small actions. He is fully focused on your movement as your hand dips underneath his waistband and you grip him lightly.

He’s holding his breath, eyes trained on the movement of your hand, watching it stroke him out of view under his shorts. You lean up to kiss a vein that begins bulging in his neck at his lack of oxygen as you fall into a steady rhythm.

“Breathe, baby,” you whisper to him and your grip tightens at his base, encouraging him to break from his trance. His breath comes out in a jagged hiss as his gaze breaks away to meet yours. Fire burns behind his irises and it looks like he wants to devour you right there. You wouldn’t mind that. His hips jerk to meet the motions of your hand and soon he’s grinding into you, his piercing stare never leaving your own. Both of your breathing is ragged as he drops his forehead to yours.

He only breaks the eye contact as you twist your fist around him, causing more friction. His eyebrows scrunch together and his eyes squeeze close as he lets out a series of curses all in one erratic breath.

“Sugar, I’m not going to last much longer.” His voice comes out in a gasp, lips coming down to leave wet, open-mouthed kisses along your throat. “Let me touch you first.” Though his voice shakes, his hands are sure as he grips your hips. His fingers tangle in your swimsuit bottoms in silent question.

“Yes,” you answer, your voice just as breathless as his. His hips still jerk with the motion of your hand as he yanks the fabric off of you. The soft browns of his eyes burn hotter at the sight of you, exposed for him, only covered by a shallow blanket of water.

Almost reluctantly, he grips the arm that is connected to him, stilling it and pulling it away from him with a kiss to your wrist.

“We’ll get back to that, don't you worry,” he mumbles as his attention is focuses right back to you.

Your body shakes with need as his hands grip your thighs once more and your lips connect in a hungry kiss.

“I’m– going– to– miss– you– so– much,” you say between jagged gasps from the feeling of his lips dragging down your throat and chest and his thumbs rubbing taunting circles over your inner thighs.

“Don’t think about that right now,” he breathes against your covered breast, using his teeth to drag your bathing suit top down to reiterate his point. “Be with me, here. Now.”

Though you nod fervently, he can tell your anxiety still lingers, worrying about the future time you’ll have to spend apart.

“Look at me.” His demand has your heart stuttering and you gaze immediately meeting his own. His eyes never leave yours as his head dips slightly, his tongue dragging from the bottom swell of your breast to the peak of your nipple. You fight the urge to let your eyes roll back at the feeling, his gaze too intoxicating to break. The corners of his lips lift in a sly grin at your discipline as he wraps his mouth around your nipple and sucks. Hard. Your hand shoots into his hair involuntarily, gripping him to you as a loud moan escapes you.

“Good girl,” he praises, trailing his kisses across your chest to focus on the other breast. You don’t know how it’s possible for your skin to heat up more than it already is, but it feels as if you’re about to burst into flame under his touch. Though he’s laser-focused on your chest, his hands still tease your thighs and hips underneath the water, gradually edging closer to where you really want him.

You shift your hips under him urging his hands along as they massage swirls into your skin. His hum of approval has you grinning while he brings his fingers to your core, stroking delicately. The world finally quiets, your thoughts taking a back seat while your brain short circuits from the pleasure. All you know is Jake and his deliciously rough fingers.

His fingers circle your entrance, teasing you as you squirm.

“Jake,” you moan.

“Shh, sugar, I know.” His voice is strained as he watches you under him, completely at his mercy. Finally he sinks a finger into you, just to his first knuckle, giving you what you want but not nearly enough. Your groan of frustration is cut off with a sharp gasp as he retreats and pushes his finger back into you, this time as far as it can go. Back and forth he goes, coaxing you through your pleasure and adding a finger until he fills you up fully.

You grip onto him, one hand digging into his bicep, the other still tangled in his hair. His fingers find an easy and confident pace, massaging your front wall while his thumb lightly teases your clit. Your breath leaves you in a mixture of gasps and moans while he works over you.

“Keep going baby,” you moan as he rubs on your clit in just the right way. You can feel yourself nearing that edge of bliss, just a few more strokes and you’ll be there–

“Wait.” His words startle you and your eyes snap down to lock with his once again. He smirks up at you, stopping the motion of his fingers, much to your frustration. You’re practically shaking with need but you try to take a deep steading breath and lean back against the slick tile of the pool while he reaches over and grabs one of the cocktails from the edge.

“Really?” you sigh exasperatedly, “You stopped because you wanted a drink?”

He doesn’t answer, but instead smirks again and takes a long sip, draining the liquid until nothing but ice and raspberries are left at the bottom. You scoff and lean your head all the way back, closing your eyes and trying to cool the heat still flowing through your sensitive body. You feel Jake move back over you, his palms dragging up the outsides of your thighs in teasing apology. Trying to breathe through his playful touch you keep your eyes closed. You don’t see what he’s doing until his fingers find your clit once more. Only it’s not his fingers that touch you. Your eyes pop open and you gasp at the feeling of the ice cube against your oversensitive flesh.

“OHMYGOD,” you squeal, your hips jerking away from him on instinct but his other hand anticipates the movement and grips your hip to keep you there. The temperature of the ice against you is almost too much and you shake with the force of the pleasurable surprise.

“You’re doing so good baby,” Jake rasps into your ear. “Keep taking it.” He massages the melting ice into you while leaving kisses up and down your throat and over your ear. You moan at his words and the relief as the ice disappears from between his fingers. He continues to rub into you, slowly warming you back up. You can barely get a full breath down and you can tell that he’s not unaffected by this as his free hand reaches down to adjust himself in his trunks.

You let out a shaky laugh at the explosion of feeling from the contrast of temperature on your skin which turns into a moan as Jake continues stroking you with calloused fingers.

“Again?” he asks timidly as if he hadn’t just blown your mind. Though the temperature was a shock at first, you were unbelievably turned on in the aftermath. You nod, unable to form words and he moves over you once again to reach into the empty glass.

“I want you to watch.” His voice is like gravel as he takes his free hand and grips the underside of your knee and pulls your legs apart as far as they can go, giving you both an unobstructed view. Your eyes are wide, trained fully on his hand and he smirks at the pink flush that stains your cheeks.

You can’t hold in the high pitched moan that escapes you from the first moment the ice connects with your skin. You watch as he drags the ice cube over your folds and pushes it onto your clit once again. Completely mesmerized and lost in pleasure, you buck into him, urging him to give you more. His hand leaves its grip on your knee and those familiar two fingers sink back into you easily.

You both moan loudly as your inner walls begin to spasm around his fingers, your orgasm finally crashing into you in an overwhelming wave of pleasure.

Your high is longer and more intense than you’ve ever experienced and as soon as the ice melts from the heat of you, Jake removes his hands, yanks his shorts down and pushes into you in one fluid motion. His hips jerk frantically as you continue to pulse around him. His moans and whimpers at the feeling of you only keep your high going as a second orgasm washes over you. Your fingers grip the wet hair at the base of his neck as he, too, reaches his peak, shooting you full with a loud groan.

It takes you both a few moments to come down from the euphoria, words completely lost to you. Your heavy breath mingles as he pulls out of you and you lightly kiss his temple, still wet from your little dunk in the water. His eyes are closed in exhaustion, but that doesn’t stop him from rubbing loving circles into your sides, soothing you.

Your chest rises and falls as you watch the clouds high in the sky above. The breeze is welcome as it washes over your bodies, cooling you and drying the water and sweat clinging to your skin.

“When you miss me, I want you to think about that,” he whispers after his breath evens out a bit.

“How will I get anything done? I’ll just be hot and bothered every minute of the day.” You smile down at the way he huffs a rough chuckle against you. You can’t help but drag your fingers through his hair earning a half-hearted groan.

“That sounds like a ‘you problem’ sugar,” he replies, squeezing your hips lightly.

You smile, soaking up the moments you have with him until you shift under his body, reality coming back to you and the feeling of the tile no longer comfortable against your exposed skin.

“Baby, let’s get out. I need you to show me if your cocktail skills are as good as your snack-making skills.” You push lightly against his shoulders as he reluctantly sits up and scoots off your body.

He leans up and kisses you tenderly.

“Anything you want.”

——————

A.N: hello my fellow whores :) I hope you enjoyed this very *wet* Jake fic… I know I did :) JGR and I have some more fic ideas cookin and we’re so happy you’re enjoying what we’ve written so far!

I hope you’re having a great day and I hope this didn’t make you too weak in the knees so you’re able to continue with that email to your boss or whatever (seriously, get back to work)

As always, Love and Light to you all <3

[luimagines]

Hi! I have a request, but first i wanna say your writing is absolutely amazing! The length + amount of time you put into these prompts is insanely good. Now! Onto the request, how would the boys react to a reader from a more modern era? Maybe a more modernized hyrule or our current point in time?

Masterlist

Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm happy to see the response even if this blog is still relatively new.

I hope I do your prompt justice.

I probably could have done a headcanon list but I was hit with inspiration.

I also might have given Reader some backstory.

Scenario below the cut! It’s long, take caution.

It was a cool night, but you didn't mind. Your bed was warm, the WiFi was fast and even if it was three AM on a school night, you managed to keep yourself giggling with cat videos and blursed memes until the words and colors merged.

A night well spent.

But it led to questionable decisions.

Even if the shredded cheese in the fridge was beginning to seem a more and more enticing snack, your body was tempted to succumb to slumber.

Until a large purple light encompassed the entirety of your window.

Something was in your backyard.

Aliens. Your tired brain supplies and you sprint to the glass and push away the curtains. Is this it? Is this where I'm kidnapped and never seen or heard from again?

You pull out your phone and open up the camera.

"Pics or it didn't happen." You remind yourself and snap a few before showing your face.

What you see isn't what you're expecting. Instead of a flying saucer in the sky beaming down a laser or a weird pear shaped space craft on top of the grass, there's a single panel of glowing light, swirling with black accents that creeps in a circular motion.

"Cheese and crackers...." You gasp and begin to blatantly stare at it with no regard to whether something may be coming out of it.

You wait and nothing happens.

You wait some more and nothing happens.

You spend an hour watching this portal that has appeared out of nowhere, waiting for something to happen, willing for something to happen. But you get nothing.

The unknown stares right back at you, unblinking and unchanged.

Go through it. A voice tells you. What if there's something on the other side?

"I'm going to die." You gulp and take a deep breath.

Who else gets a chance like this? The voice talks again. This could be a grand step towards a more modern society. A whole new world could be on the other side, waiting, reaching out, calling to humanity!

You think you a see a shadow move behind the portal and out of sight but it’s gone before you can even process it.

"Should I call the police?" You step away from the window, ignoring the thoughts, the voice- you're too tired to know if it's your own any more. What's the plan? How does one go about something like this?

Where’s your sense of adventure? Pack a bag and go! What if it goes away?

That last thought seems to get through to your tired brain and for a reason beyond your understanding, it latches onto it.

Now you’re excited.

You run to the closet and take out your old backpack. It used to be for school but it was fancier since it was the only one you could get. The bag had a replaceable water bag with a plastic straw connected through the back of it and the straps have just worn down enough to where they’re actually comfortable. It doubled as a hiking backpack and came with its own insulated lunch box that clasped on the back of it.

It’ll finally serve its purpose.

You quickly roll up your favorite blanket and strap it in tightly beneath the lunch box. You’re quick to take out two extra outfits and pack them as well as change out of your pajamas.

Ok. What would you need? You don’t know where you’d be going so this has to a catch all kind of deal.

You pack away your swiss army knife first for good measure. A solar powered charger for your phone and an extra pair of socks follow suit even after you’ve picked out the extra clothes.

You take out the water bag and run to fill it all the way to max capacity as you think of any other necessities.

You’d need food. You have a small jar of peanut butter and granola bars that can fit in the lunch box. You can bring your extra water bottle and put in the side pockets of the backpack, and maybe bring some of those powered flavor packets your brother loves so much. You think he has lemonade and some green tea ones.

Those would be great. He won’t mind, hopefully.

You let the bag overfill momentarily before running back to shove it in your bag. with the lid screwed tight.

Next you run to the kitchen, grabbing the first things that you thought of already and begin to look around for more.

You grab an unopened pack of beef jerky, a bag of veggie sticks and a half eaten bag of dried mangos.

During your search you grab the water bottle and fill that too.

You return to your room with your bounty and begin to carefully put everything in the box. With some more deliberation, you run back to the kitchen and make yourself a quick sandwich, eat it, make another one and pack that as well.

You look out side the window and the portal is still there.

The sun is beginning to rise now so you’re trying to go as fast as you can, unless you want to neighbors to think something is going on.

Even if it is.

You’re about to leave but in a stroke of brilliance, you run to pack sunscreen and bug spray as well. You see a small first aid pack that was bought recently for when you would take your family vacation but you reason that it might one of the most important things you’d have if you got hurt.

Into the bag it goes.

You grab your hoodie before you leave the door, wrap it around your waist and pocket your phone, your headphones and your wallet.

You feel immediately under packed when you step outside and see the portal up close.

It’s weirdly triangle shaped, you think and step closer.

You reach your hand out and try to touch it. It feels as if you put your hand through a humidifier but it’s not wet. It’s misty and cold but not necessarily unpleasant.

An idea hits you right before you take your first step through.

You pull up one of the earlier photo’s you took and send it to your friend’s group chat. It showed up in my backyard. I decided to make a bad late night decision and I’m going through. If you never hear from me again, I want you all to fight over my electronics. Winner takes all. Godspeed.

And you step through.

You had first assumed that it would merely take you tot he other side but very quickly realize that you have to walk through it.

The first part still had a little light but with time, it got darker. So dark that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face.

You kept walking.

As fast as the light disappeared, it came back and you stepped into the light of an open field, right in front of one, two, three, four, nine males that had appeared to be traveling towards you or rather, towards the portal.

The portal disappears in the process.

“Oh so we didn’t have to go through it! We had to gain another member!” One of them yells. “Would have been nice to know before we packed everything up!”

“Ho boy, where am I?” You ask and tighten your grip on your backpack. Why didn’t I bring a weapon?

They all had long tunics and swords on their backs. Old fashioned leather boots and hand bracers were the norm in this group and you realized very quickly that your jeans and t-shirt had wildly missed the memo.

“Dang, I didn’t think I’d walk into a LARP group. Sorry about that.” You sheepishly smile. “I had no idea where the portal was going to take me. But if you would be so kind-”

“Wait, what’s LARP?” One of them speaks up. He was a dirty blond and somewhere in the middle of the group height wise. He wore a white cape like thing with blue designs on the back but you didn’t recognize the symbol.

“Live Action Role Play?” You tilt your head. “It’s why you’re all dressed like that? Right?”

“This is just our clothes.” What appears to be the youngest bounces up to you. “What are you wearing?”

“First I could grab in my closet.” You admit and look down on it. It’s one of your comfiest shirts and best looking pants. You’re a little proud of yourself for finding those in the dark.

“Weird.”

“We’re heroes. We’re all named Link.” Cape guy speaks up again. “Is it safe to assume that you’re in the same boat?”

“Heroes?” Your eyebrows furrow together. “I’m not a hero and my name’s not Link.”

You’re quick to tell them your name and you watch as the confusion covers their faces. “My brother’s name is Link though if that helps anything.”

“Oh we needed him!” The youngest groans and it instantly irks you.

“What would you need with a five year old?” You deadpan and cross your arms. 

The information stuns the group.

“The portal showed up in the middle of the night and I’m the one that went through it. I’m pretty sure I was the only awake to even see it. Are you telling me that it was for my little brother?” You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t a little pissed. “My baby brother was supposed to go through it? He was asleep! He’s five. What kind of logic is that?!”

“Well...” The biggest and oldest of them runs a hand over his face. You think he has some cool tattoos and sick scar going across his eye but he looks about as angry as you feel, so you don’t say anything. “It appears the gods truly do not care for the hero’s maturity, only his existence.”

“Ok...What’s with all this hero talk?” You bite back. “What did... Where am I?”

“Hyrule.” The second with cool face tattoos speaks up. He’s got a large fur pelt around his shoulders and you have to tighten your grip against your backpack again to keep from reaching out to touch it.

Even so you feel yourself deadpan even more. “Hyrule? Like the ancient empire? The one that collapsed more than two thousand years ago? That Hyrule?”

You’re inclined to not believe them and write all of them off as crazy... but you also walked through a portal. And your grandma did say that magic existed in the strangest forms.

They all share looks of concern and some begin to murmur quietly amongst themselves but you’re too far gone to even notice.

“Did I time travel?” The idea hits you like a bus and you feel your eyes widen as you stare beyond the group. You quickly take our your phone and unlock it.

No signal.

“Is that a type of Sheikah slate?” Someone asks you.

“I don’t know what that is.” You reply automatically. “Wait, hold on, what year is it?”

“Why don’t you tell us what year you’re from and we can start from there?” The darkest brunette of the group speaks up.

“202x PC” You say robotically, not really processing the world around you anymore.

“That’s...” The blond with a long blue scarf speaks up with a slight hiss. “...Beyond any of our timelines. You see, we all come from different worlds and eras of Hyrule’s history.”

“I don’t think you’re the farthest down anymore, Wild.”

“This would then make them my successor, right?”

“It would make their brother your successor.” Someone amends. “I think they just jumped in his place.”

“Leave my brother alone.” You snap back into the present, pocketing your [hone again. “Ok, you know what, screw it. I don’t know what you’d want my brother for but I’m here now. I’d gladly take his place if it means he gets to stay home!”

“Hey.” A boy with pink hair stalks up to you looking a little more serious than you’d like.

“Nice hair dude, way to defy the gender norms.” You smirk a little before genuinely grinning, hoping to quell the tension. “What product do you use? It looks like Artic Fox but not every place sells their brand.”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about but what happened to Ganon in your world? How have you been handling it?” He snaps and places his hands on his hips.

“Ganon? Like my old principle? That’s a name I haven’t heard in forever.” You’re confused again. “Last I heard he joined the police force only to be reassigned out of state. I don’t know what’s happening with him. Kinda hope he gets fired though. He’s not a bad guy but he’s not someone you’d want in that kind of position of power, you know.”

“Police force?”

You blinked and look them all over. They look very medieval. “Oh... You don’t have that...”

You begin to think about your history lessons and what they might be familiar with if they’re telling the truth about being from Hyrule.

“Ya’ll got knights?”

Many, almost all of them nod, a few with face of despair already on them before you finish speaking.

“It’s kind of like that. Mixed with a towns guard position... kinda. They enforce laws... at least they’re supposed to but the whole system is flawed and racist and really needs to be dismantled for the abuse of power that they have-”

“Abuse? Of power?” You have their attention again.

“It’s stupid and it won’t really make any sense if I try to explain because I doubt you have anything similar but it’s basically a group of people given the right to treat the public in anyway they like for their own benefit because they have no one telling them that they can’t.” You groan and slowly begin to feel your lack of sleep catch up to you. 

You slowly reach to behind you and sit down on the dirt, looking at all of them. “Mr. Dragmire wasn’t like...Demise or anything but he was a huge jerk. No one liked him. He liked me though. I remember that. I was the envy of the whole school because I somehow got on his good side while everyone else wants to strangle him. I think he was transferred for some misdemeanor or something like that... like he might have been throwing hands with someone he wasn’t supposed to. I never heard all the details. I didn’t really care for it when it happened either. I’m pretty sure he lost that fight though. The dude looked like a blast of wind could have knocked him over let alone someone’s knuckle sandwich.”

“I would love to hear more about this.” The youngest sits next to you with a large grin on his face. His eyes are bright and his body language reminds you of your cousin Zelda. You instantly think they’d get along like a house on fire. “What are your monsters like?”

“Monsters?” You tilt your head. “Be a little more specific bud, it depends on where you’re from.”

“You have that many?!”

“It depends on if you believe they’re real or not.”

“Speaking of monsters, can you fight?” The shortest walks up to you. You like that his tunic is stitched up with multiple colors and designs. It gives it personality, you think. “Do you have a weapon you’re more comfortable with?”

The question throws you off your rhythm and you don’t fight your wince. “What would happen if I say that I do not, in fact, have any sort of weapon on me?”

“I wouldn’t believe you.” Pink guy speaks up again. “That pack is huge, there has to be something in there.”

“It’s food, water and extra clothes my guy.” You lean back against said backpack since it won’t let you lay down with it still on. “Not a lot of space for anything else. I’m pretty good at hand to hand combat though. Karate’s a good way to fight out stress.” 

“Your bag’s not magic?”

“Why the hell would it be magic? ...Are you trying to tell me magic actually exists?” You raise an eyebrow as your eyes begin to close against your will. “I know my grandma said it does but I thought she meant like fairies and shadow demons.. and bigfoot. Can’t forget him, he’s the real MVP... You know...Children’s bedtime stories and stuff like that, it’s not real. But like magic magic? Magic items and the like? Find me Tinkerbell and I’ll show you Neverland, that’s what I say.”

“Are you serious?”

“Second star to the right, straight on till morning.” You respond.

There’s a moment of silence as the group in front of you processes your words. It’s hard to tell their reaction since you’re not looking at them but you no longer have the energy to do anything else.

“Are you falling asleep right now?” It’s the one they called Wild.

“I...” You try to open your eyes. They don’t budge. “I haven’t slept in nearly 20 hours... I think. I might have past 24 hours a while ago actually. Portal showed up at like four in the morning... I had to get up at six and I didn’t sleep at all before then.”

More silence.

“Great another one.” Someone scoffs.

You snort.

“Why did we pack up camp again?”

“No one kill me.” You say right before you lose consciousness. “Please and thank you.”

“They’re doomed.”

“Have some faith Vet. They stepped in for their little brother. That has to mean something?”

“They’re in for a rude awakening, and that’s all I have to say about it.”

[themonotonysyndrome]

REDACTED verse - Movie marathon? Hell yeah!

Prompt: Any Fandom | Any Pairing | "I got us matching shirts!"

Word Count: 1,027

Author/Team: LadyMonotone

Fandom/Original: Redacted ASMR (Asher/Babe)

Rating: G

Triggers: NA

Summary: After a busy work week, Babe suggests they do something fun on the weekend. Asher has just the idea. 

ConCrit: Y

I realised that I’ve never wrote a oneshot for Asher & Babe. Let’s fix that!

-

"Hey, welcome home Babe. Are you - shit, is everything OK? You look pale!" 

Asher stops himself when his Mate steps into their apartment, looking like they're seconds away from collapsing. So he hurries over to support them. Babe throws him a tired yet grateful smile and lets Asher takes their bag from their shoulders. 

"I'm OK, Asher. I'm just... exhausted. It's been a long day." Babe reluctantly admits and allows Asher to gently pull them on the couch so they can rest their feet.

Asher's eyebrows furrow in distress at the state of his Mate. They're exhausted, probably starving (he doesn't know if Babe has eaten anything other than the breakfast they had together today. He silently cursed himself for not calling to check up on them) and emotionally drained. He hates it. 

"You've been having a long week, Babe." Asher gently corrects them. When Babe rests their head on his shoulder, he hugs them tightly as if to shield them from the world. Babe snuggles deeper into his embrace. "You've been going out for work early morning and coming back late at night, every day. Sometimes even later than me. I'm just... I'm worried about you, Babe." 

"I'm sorry, Ash." Babe sleepily reply. They yawn and continue with a weary sigh, "Work has been crazy lately, but today was our last deadline, so next week should be a bit calmer. Hopefully." 

Asher beams and rubs their arm comfortingly. "Hell yeah, that's great to hear, Babe! Is there anything I can do to help you tonight? I made some avocado Caprese wraps, chickpea salad sandwiches and a cold chicken salad for dinner. Oh! We also have some lemonade in the fridge; squeeze 'em myself this morning too. You're up for it?" 

Before Babe could say anything, the hunger that had been on the edges of their mind now made itself known with a vocal reminder - both Babe and Asher startle when they heard their stomach growl loudly. 

Babe chuckles sheepishly. "Food sounds fantastic right now." They pause. "Hey, Ash?" 

"Hmm?" 

"We both have been working hard lately. How about we do something this weekend? I think we both badly need a break." 

Asher's eyes lit up at his Mate's suggestion, mind already racing with ideas. "Oh, yes! We should totally do something fun tomorrow! But you also need to rest up, Babe." 

Babe hums thoughtfully. "Well, I'm happy as long as we can do something together. It feels like I rarely get to see you nowadays..." 

Heart twisted in pain at his Mate's quiet admission, Asher kisses the top of Babe's head. "Same here, Babe. It sucks being adults, eh?" 

They snicker and remain on the couch to cuddle for a few more minutes before Babe's stomach growls again. While Babe excuses themselves for the bathroom, Asher makes himself busy by serving their dinner. He cheers when Babe re-appear wearing their pyjamas and with colours back in their complexion. It looks like the hot shower did them a world of good. "There's my, Babe! Come on, come on - let's eat! You're going to love the avocado Caprese wraps, I promise!" He declares after ushering Babe towards the chair beside his. 

Babe glances at their meals with a knowing smirk as they help themselves with a plate of wraps and some salad. "Interesting spread, Asher. All the things that don't require the stove." 

"You know it." Asher shoots his Mate a wink and grabs his own plate. Throughout their meal, Asher and Babe entertain one another about the possibilities of what they could do at the weekends. Babe offers to play Halo with Asher, which nearly makes him leap from his chair in joy but instead, something dawn on him. 

"I got it! Wait here, Babe!" Asher suddenly shouts, eyes wide with glee. His body practically vibrates with excitement as he abandons his food and runs towards their bedroom. 

Leaving Babe frozen in their seat with a fork halfway into their mouth. When they hear rummaging sounds coming from the room, Babe slowly resumes eating; their eyes glued to the bedroom door. 

When Asher burst out of the room, he's proudly holding up two t-shirts. "Ta-da! What do you think, Babe!?" 

Babe takes their time in chewing their food, swallow before replying, "Uh, think of what, Ash?" They ask sceptically. 

Asher is more than happy to explain his plan. "OK, here me out, Babe. Since October is just around the corner, do you know what that means?" 

"Uh, our bill for the heaters would increase?" 

"OK, yeah, I guess you're right on that one - hey, are you teasing me?" 

Babe laughs. "Only because it's so easy to do so." At Asher's puppy pout expression, Babe hurries to amend themselves while still supporting a fond smile on their face, "I'm sorry, Ash. What were you trying to say?" 

Asher perks up once more and flaps the t-shirts. "October means Halloween, Babe! So that means we're having a movie marathon all weekend tomorrow; the Fear Street Trilogy, the classics like Hellraiser, and uh, I guess we can give Malignant a shot too." 

A horror movie marathon? Well, Babe always wanted to watch Midsommar but work always get in the way. "We definitely have to give Malignant a try. But what's with the t-shirts?" 

"I bought these last week. Check it out, Babe!" Asher unfolds one of the shirts to display the front side. It wrote 'He's my trick' with an arrow pointing to the right, which Asher then showed the other shirt that wrote, 'They're my treat' with an arrow pointing to the left. "I got us matching shirts! Don't they look cool!? We have to wear them for our movie marathon tomorrow!" Here, Asher suddenly realises something judging by his shit-eating grin. "We can wear them to David's place on Halloween and watch him try not to die inside." 

Goofy matching shirts. That's so Asher that Babe can't help but fall helplessly in love with him all over again. 

Babe also can't help laughing their guts out at his 'prank' against the Alpha. "I'm in favour of David staring at our shirts in utter disgust. Let's do it, Asher!" 

[0risha]

“AWAKE.”

» PAIRING : atsumu x fem!reader

» SUMMARY : atsumu, who’s nothing like his chef brother fails at making yakitori. 

» TAGS : fluff, reader has box braids....

NOTES : this has been marinating in my drafts for weeks now but yeah... here ya go. hope you enjoy!

When your eyelids tense and the rays of the sun peek out from the blinds of your bedroom, the indulging scent of yakitori causes a surge of happiness to shoot through your veins. A dopey smile is plastered on your face as you remove your bonnet from your head, braids sitting messily atop your shoulders. 

Who wouldn't like to wake up to grilled chicken? 

Unfortunately, your indulgence is short-lived because a thought hits you square in the chest.

Atsumu can't cook.

And as soon as your thoughts transition so does the scent of chicken. Your nose scrunches up from the faint, acrid smell of burning meat.

“Atsumu freaking Miya!” You shout, hastily pulling the sheet from your body and springing up from the soft mattress. Your bare feet pad urgently along with the cool tile of the hallway. You get no answer but you enter the kitchen to find a complete, utter mess.

The gallon of soy sauce you had recently bought was less than half empty. You weren’t an expert at cooking yakitori but you didn’t need that much? Your eyes widen after catching sight of the empty bottle of your very expensive mirin sweet rice wine. Hands twitching by your sides as you follow a trail of what seems to be brown sugar to the sliding patio door that leads to your backyard. 

Out of anger, you slide the door open, voice readied to yell at Atsumu till your throat was hoarse, and send him on a shopping spree to the farthest and most expensive food market. But you’re instead met with a head of bright orange. All the anger dissipates from your body as it’s displaced with confusion. 

“Eh, who are you?” You study his wide-eyed expression which looks equally as confused as yours. 

“Oh, hello. I’m Shoyo!” He smiles and your tempted to shield your eyes in term of how bright it is. Familiar name, familiar face...

“Y-y/n!” You swivel to see Atsumu standing in front of a smoking grill. Your eyes flit from his to see two other figures also surrounding the grill. 

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing?” you ask, stepping away from Shoyo. The burning smell getting stronger and stronger.

"Making yakitori!" he says enthusiastically. Trying his best to coax you out of anger. He had good intentions, wanting to surprise you with one of your favorite foods on a day that you decided to sleep in. You had been working really hard lately but he had let it slip while on the phone with Bokuto —he had an annoying habit in which he talked about you at the most unreasonable times— and so, Bokuto had mistaken him for a good cook just because his brother was.

"Putting that aside." You grit, giving him a glare that sends a shiver down his spine. "Who are they?" you whisper, trying to be considerate but you fail miserably because you're one hundred percent sure that they all had heard you.

"My teammates," he deadpans. You pout and turn bashfully. In all honesty, you never really paid attention to the rest of the Jackals, only him.

"I uh- I knew they looked familiar," you humph and Atsumu raises an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Whatever," you turn the situation around. "Thought we promised that you wouldn't try to cook. " You move to the grill to see more than a dozen charred pieces of meat.

Your eye twitches in frustration. "Were you all standing in front of the grill the entire time?" you question and they all innocently nod. "Then how the...?" You squint, rubbing the middle of your forehead as you feel the approaching signs of a headache.

"Well, in all honesty, I tried to tell him it was on the verge of burning but he didn’t listen.” You turn to the sound of a muffled voice.

Okay, you recognized him. Atsumu had mentioned a curly-haired spiker that wore masks ninety percent of the time and hated uncleanliness. 

“You’re not serious,” you grunt. Grabbing the pair of tongs from Atsumu’s hand and moving the charred meat to a paper plate. “Where are the scallions?”

“I’m not supposed to put it on after?”

“Y—” you try. “You don’t read recipes?” You grab a bowl of uncooked chicken from the backyard table. “You don’t have a chef brother?” 

“Didn’t wanna ask him,” Atsumu whines, towering over your figure as he watches you put the chicken on a skewer.

“So instead of making a simple phone call, you decided to waste all of my food?” 

“Not a waste, It’s simple trial and error.” You whip around to stare at him with a bewildered look. 

“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll learn eventually.”

“This was your first and last chance,” You declare.

“Hey.. uh—Shoyo?” A head of orange turns to you. “Can you get me eight scallions, they’re in the basket on the kitchen counter.”

“Okay!” He dashes to the patio door.

“And...” 

“Sakusa.”

“Sakusa, can you grab the jar of ginger and garlic paste in the right upper cupboard?”

“Why?”

“It’s your fault for letting him burn the chicken,” you chide. His eyebrows furrow at that. 

"It's not, but fine.” When he walks away you hear something alongside the words, I hope your kitchen is clean.

“Wait! Wait! What about me?” You turn to a figure with silver spiky hair, his large yellow eyes peering at you. He’s adorable.

“Just uh... you see that table.” You point. “Just set them up for me.” He immediately scrambles to do just that.

“So...” Atsumu looks down at you, his dirty blonde hair shadowing his forehead. “Do you not love me anymore?”

“Who said that?” you whisper. 

“I know that look,” he says with a humph. 

“What look?” You furrow your eyebrows. “That look you get when you see something adorable.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” You maneuver your way around him to grab the scallions Shoyo brings to you, giving him a smile in thanks. From the corner of your eye, you see Atsumu clutch his chest, feigning hurt. You roll your eyes at his antics. 

“I’ll love you even more if you go make drinks.” 

“Of course! Anything for my—” He stops when he sees your attention is no longer on him. Only focused on the jar of paste Sakusa hands to you. His lip downturns as he walks towards the patio door and closes it as he enters. 

“Is he okay?” Sakusa asks, brows furrowed as he stares, dumbfounded. 

“Is who ok—” Your voice trails off as you see Atsumu, his head leaning against the patio door as he shakes his head with a somber expression. 

You cover your mouth with your hand as you try your best to stifle your laughter. Atsumu turns to you, shakes his head once more, and walks away from view. 

“Sakusa.” You turn. “Do you know how to make yakitori?” He nods with a slight scowl. Though, you’re sure it’s just how his face normally is. 

“Can you, you know….” You trail off, waving to the skewered chicken. “I already did everything you just have to grill them.” He nods again and takes his place in front of the grill.

“Thank you!” You wave. Turning to walk towards the patio door, and enter the kitchen. You see Atsumu perk up while he scrummages through the refrigerator. But he doesn’t say a thing. 

“What are you making?” You take a seat on the cool counter. 

“Lemonade,” he grumbles, a pout on his lips as he places a lemon in a lemon juicer. Your eyes zoom in on his arms. Catching on, he turns away from you. 

“Wha—are you mad at me?” You huff, arms crossed. A beat of silence passes by. “I’ll help you if you talk to me.” Another beat of silence. 

“You don’t want my help?” You sniffle, a cloud of gloom clouding you. 

“W-wait I never said that.” Atsumu scrambles towards you to grasp your shoulders in consolation. “I-’m sorry, I just—" He blinks when he sees you stifling a giggle. 

“Now, that I finally have your attention.” He turns away from you but you wrap your arms around his neck. “I apologize for being mean to you this morning.” He hums with a nod.

“Although, you kinda deserved it.” You detach yourself from his embrace. But before you can back away, Atsumu grabs your jaw to pull you into a kiss. 

“Wait!” You back away. “I didn’t even brush my teeth!” You sputter out, his offended expression turning into one with understanding. 

“Oh, yeah. Go do that.” You roll your eyes and punch him in the shoulder. “Shut up.”

“Don’t think you're off the hook, we’re going to the food market today.” You trudge up the stairs.

“The close one, right?”

“No.”

“Wait why— that cashier lady always looks at me like she’s in love with me!” He runs after you. 

You turn towards him. “It’s your fault for being so hot, you know.” You pat his head. Though, you regret it when his brown eyes shimmer. “Do you really mean that?” He rubs the back of his neck and shuffles back and forth. “Well, if you put it like that, I’ll go everywhere you go.” He confesses, bashfully. 

With a sigh, you close the bathroom door on his face.

back to m.list

[lesbianklance]

• hunk and lance running a lemonade stand together when they're about, say ten

• hunk suggests they set up the stand in front lance's house

• but lance insits it'd be better to set up in front of hunk's for reasons..

• hunk's mom is willing to help them set up

• lance and hunk make a sign with poster board and markers

• it gets taped on the front of a folding table hunk's mom gets from the garage

• they get a jar for the change they collect

• a couple of folding chairs, also from the garage

• hunk's mom washes and cuts the lemons in half

• lance and hunk do the rest

• they squeeze the lemons

• pour the juice in the pitcher

• measure out the sugar and water

• stir it all together

• add ice cubes so it stays cool under the hot summer sun

• they have another pitcher full of lemonade in the fridge for whenever the other runs out

• and they have a taste test of course

• hunk and lance bring everything outside, along with some plastic cups to pour it in

• hunk's mom stays nearby just in case

• lance's siblings along with his mother are the first customers

• embarrassing the shit out of lance as always like the good family they are

• thankfully for lance they don't stick around too long

• but pictures were taken

• things run smoothly after that

• no one could really resist to little boys at their lemonade stand being like:

• "hi! how are you doing? would you like some of our lemonade? we made it ourselves! :)"

• business dies after a bit but hunk and lance don't mind

• they're busy discussing what they should buy with the money they've earned

• not far from the stand are keith and shiro

• they were walking home from the store since their car has been giving then problems

• keith hated it

• the store wasn't that far from the house at all

• but he wasn't in the mood to be under the sun, let alone going to the store

• he's been complaining about being thirsty for the past few minutes

• so when the lemonade stand comes into view, shiro points it out

• keith agrees, taking it back as he recognized the one's running it

• shiro ignores his protests, grabbing hold of keith's shoulder with his free hand as he tried speed walking past the stand

• lance's friendly "lemonade stand boy" smile is turned upside down

• hunk: hi :) would you like some-

• keith: i don't have any money

• shiro: *sets a quarter down in keith's hand* now you do

• lance: sorry, but we don't give out lemonade to people with mullets

• hunk nudges lance for that one, urging him to pour keith a cup

• he sighs dramatically, doing as he's told

• keith just awkwardly stands there, setting the quarter in the jar before kicking a pebble around on the sidewalk

• lance then hands keith the cup of lemonade, drawing back almost immediately as their fingers touch

• while this is happening, hunk is getting lemonade for shiro as well

• they both thank the two before walking off

• keith talking small sips of his lemonade, taking a quick glance over his shoulder

• he sees lance looking back at him and they both snap their heads the other way

• talk about awkward

• as the lemonade stand comes to an end

• they get their money counted, coming up with the total of ten dollars

• they decide to save the money they earned since they'd earned less than what they expected

• they start brainstorming other small business ideas

• hunk saying that it'd be fun to open up a bakery

• more so in the future

• lance is up with the idea

• but for now, they would just be in charge of lemonade stands

ok ok so i might make another part to this so like, the idea i have for this accidental au thing i have going on would be like: they all know each other from school which is where the whole rivalry thing comes up and say years later after the stand, hunk actually has his own little bakery, lance works for him to support his buddy then one day keith shows up and i'm sure you could tell where i'm going with this

lowkey inspired by fanart i've seen for the bakery bit- might be better if this was a fic instead of hc's. there's obviously stuff like this already our there, but it just seems fun. idk what i'm doing yet- sorry for rambling on about this asfsjhd my asks just keep getting longer too, holy shit

— 🌙 moon anon

THIS IS SO CUTE OMG SJDHSJDHSKD

i did not expect keith and shiro appearing ngl sjdhsjd

lance's "sorry we dont sell lemonade to people with mullets" I HATE HIM SO MUCH WJDWJDHSJS (affectionate)

what if lance tried to spit in keith's cup while he wasn't looking and hunk stopped him wjhdjshd

childhood friends hunk and lance that later on start a business tho is such a cute idea i love them sm ekhdshdb🥺

@cluelesslesbian we have been blessed once again

[knuffled]

Just Practice - Chapter 15

this is the most important chapter in the story so far since chapter seven, so i hope you enjoy this! if you could drop a comment and/or reblog to support all the hard work, it would mean a lot to me! 

here’s the ao3 link

The first thing that greeted Annabeth when she stepped out of her car was the sound of crashing waves and the smell of sea salt carried on a gentle breeze. She leaned against the side of her car and drank in the view of the ocean, relishing in the way the wind tousled her hair. The beach was packed with families and college students on spring break, and for good reason. It was late March, and the weather was absolutely perfect outside. The sand was pleasantly warm between her toes, and seagulls cawed overhead in a clear blue sky.

Coming to the beach for spring break had been Rachel’s idea. Her father owned a villa not far from the shore, and she had offered to let them all stay there overnight. It was exactly what Annabeth needed after the past month and a half. After Percy’s victory at state, Annabeth had been absolutely swamped with school work. Nearly every week there was some new project deadline, essay to turn in, or exam to study for, and by the time finals rolled around, Annabeth found herself running on fumes. She hadn’t realized how bad it was until she came home after her final exam and promptly passed the fuck out in her room only to wake up the following afternoon, seventeen hours later.

Annabeth gave herself some time to just stand barefoot in the sand until Piper texted her, informing her that she and Jason were setting up camp further down the beach where it was more secluded. Taking that as her cue to move, Annabeth leisurely made her way down the beach and found Piper and Jason a few minutes later, trying to set up a beach umbrella. The umbrella was an ancient red and white striped monstrosity that looked like it had seen better days. Annabeth watched her friends struggle for a while, amused by how frustrated they were getting when the base of the umbrella slipped in the sand, until Piper noticed her and scowled.

“Are you just gonna stand there and watch or do you plan on helping out?” Piper huffed.

“But you were doing oh so well without me,” Annabeth said innocently. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way or anything.”

Jason put a hand on Piper’s shoulder before she could snap and offered Annabeth a tired smile. “We could really use your help, Annabeth.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely.”

Piper muttered something foul under her breath, but Annabeth couldn’t help grinning anyways before she went to help Jason. It took longer than she would have liked, but eventually the three of them managed to get the umbrella to stay in place, just as Hazel, Frank, and Leo arrived.

Leo pointed at the umbrella and said, “That thing looks like it came straight out of the fifties.”

“Shut it, Valdez,” Piper snapped. “We just spent nearly twenty minutes trying to get that fucker to stay still.”

Leo held his palms up in surrender. “Ok, apologies. Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I get it. It’s cool.”

“That wasn’t an invitation to keep talking,” Piper warned.

Leo pantomimed zipping his lips, making Annabeth grin. Rolling her eyes, Hazel unzipped her backpack and handed each of them a bottle of homemade lemonade.

“Hopefully, it’s still cold and all the ice didn’t melt,” Hazel said.

Piper took a sip and moaned, “Hazel, you’re a goddamn lifesaver.”

“Don’t make noises like that in public,” Annabeth quipped.

Although she wanted to glare at Annabeth, Piper spotted Rachel and Percy further down the beach and called out to them instead. Annabeth’s heart suddenly began pounding harder in her chest, and she found herself involuntarily searching for him over her shoulder. They had barely talked or even seen each other since State, so she had expected to be more excited to see him, but she found herself strangely nervous instead. The nervousness only grew worse for some reason when Percy noticed her and sent her a warm smile.

“Sorry we’re late,” Percy said. “Rache forgot something so we had to drive back to her place.”

“Let’s not sweat the details,” Rachel said, waving her hand dismissively. “Now, I don’t know about you all, but I am dying to get into the water. Anyone know where the changing rooms are?”

“I saw some on the way here,” Hazel said. “Annabeth, did you want to join us?”

Annabeth cleared her throat and shook her head. “Uh, no, I’m wearing my swimsuit under my clothes already.”

With that, Hazel nodded and left with Rachel for the changing rooms. The boys went down to the water, but Percy stayed behind since he had brought some beach towels with him. He spread them beneath the umbrella so they wouldn’t have to sit on the sand. Piper left a short while later once she was done applying some sunscreen, leaving Annabeth and Percy alone. Annabeth borrowed Piper’s sunscreen as an excuse to leave after Percy did, but he plopped down beside her with a sigh instead.

Annabeth couldn’t help sneaking a quick sidelong glance at him. He looked good, really good. His unzipped black sweatshirt billowed in the breeze and stood in sharp contrast to the white shirt he wore underneath. There was a relaxed, easy smile on his face, and his sun-kissed skin made him look positively radiant.

“Hey, stranger,” Percy said, derailing her thoughts. “Haven’t seen you in a hot minute.”

Annabeth tucked her hair behind her reddening ears and said, “Y-Yeah, not since State, I think.”

“Glad to see you’re still in one piece,” Percy said.

Annabeth breathed a laugh. “Not entirely sure about that.”

Percy cocked his head to the side and studied her. “You do look a little worse for the wear.”

“Rude.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Percy asked, raising an eyebrow. “I distinctly remember warning you not to take three AP courses your senior year, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

Annabeth scowled and said, “You don’t have to sound so smug about it.”

Percy laughed and leaned back on his elbows. “And what would be the fun in that? It’s not every day that you get to tell Annabeth Chase that you told her so.”

“Someone sure sounds awfully pleased with himself.”

“Oh, believe me, I am,” Percy said, grinning. “But I do suppose I can cut you some slack. You know, considering how we’re at the beach and all.”

“How magnanimous of you,” Annabeth deadpanned.

Percy made a show of clapping mildly. “Oh, well done. That sounded like an SAT word.”

Annabeth barked a laugh despite herself and shoved him, but that only made his grin widen. She was relieved to feel the awkwardness dissipating between them, but her respite was short lived because Percy suddenly removed his shirt and tossed it on the towel beside her.

“W-What are you doing? Why are you taking off your clothes?” Annabeth stammered, unable to hide the panic in her voice.

Percy looked at her like she had sprouted a second head. “It’s kind of hard to go swimming when you still have your clothes on.”

Annabeth looked away to hide the fact that her face was turning pink. “I know that! But can’t you go change in the changing rooms?”

Percy blinked in surprise and said, “Oh, sorry. You’ve seen me do this like a hundred times, so I didn’t think that you’d mind.”

He was right. She had seen him shirtless more times than she could count, so why was she suddenly being so weird about it? She needed to get a fucking grip. And yet, it was everything she could do not to stare shamelessly at him. Christ, at this proximity, the scent of his cologne was inescapable, and it only served to make her feel even more flustered.

“Annabeth, are you okay? You’ve been acting really strange,” Percy said.

“I-I’m fine,” Annabeth squeaked. “Just tired.”

“Alright, try not to push yourself,” Percy said, standing up. “I’m gonna head down to the water now. Let me know if you need anything.”

Annabeth nodded, still refusing to look at him. It was only after he was gone that she stopped holding her breath. She screwed her eyes shut and buried her face in her hands. What the fuck was she doing? Why was she acting so weird? All her feelings seemed to contradict one another. She felt a bizarre mix of exhilaration and anxiety, like thousands of butterflies fluttering about in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes were drawn to Percy even though she couldn’t bear to look at him. There was definitely something wrong with her.

Annabeth took a deep breath and forced herself to stand up and head down to the water. For now, she resolved herself to just make the most of her time at the beach instead of wallowing in her own awkwardness. Nevertheless, she did make a point of avoiding where Percy was to give herself a breather. However, in her momentary lapse of concentration, Piper snuck up on her and tackled her into the sea, sending salt water rushing up her nose.

She surfaced sputtering and discombobulated only to find Piper laughing uproariously behind her. Annabeth chased after her in a murderous rage, but Piper quickly retreated to the sea and put some distance between them. Piper had always been the better swimmer, so it took a few minutes before Annabeth finally caught her, but once she did, Annabeth dunked her underwater for a full minute as payback.

Eventually, Rachel and Hazel returned from the changing rooms and joined them in the water as well. They all splashed around together for a few hours under the midday sun, and Annabeth forgot all about how awkward she felt around Percy.

They broke for lunch after that and settled on a shack that sold burgers further up the beach. Unfortunately, the only vegetarian option on the menu was fries, so Piper had to drive herself to a nearby Taco Bell. Annabeth couldn’t help feeling sorry for her when Piper returned twenty minutes later, absolutely livid, because the rest of them had already finished eating.

“I can’t fucking believe there are still restaurants in this day and age that don’t have vegetarian options,” Piper fumed.

“Remind me to buy some stuff for dinner tonight so you don’t have to do this again,” Rachel said, yawning.

“How far away is your villa again?” Frank asked.

“Just a fifteen minute drive or so,” Rachel said, finishing her salad. “We’ve got a firepit out back, so we can have a bonfire tonight! We can make smores and everything.”

“Dibs on lighting the bonfire,” Leo said quickly.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” Piper said vehemently.

“C’mon, I promise I’ll keep it under control this time, Pipes,” Leo pleaded.

“The last time you were in charge of the bonfire, you nearly burned my fucking house down,” Piper snapped.

“That was like three years ago!”

“It was at my birthday last June.”

“I’ll handle the fire, Leo,” Jason interrupted. “You can help me out if you’d like.”

Leo sank in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. “You guys are no fun.”

“A bonfire sounds nice,” Frank said, ignoring him.

“Yeah, it’ll be chill,” Rachel said, nodding. “We’ll have a section of the beach all to ourselves. I think my dad probably has some alcohol stashed away somewhere in the house.”

“Percy, watch over us and make sure we don’t do anything stupid,” Piper said, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

Percy gave her a wary look. “I don’t recall volunteering to be a babysitter.”

“But you’re the only one here that doesn’t drink,” Piper protested. “Pretty please?”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Buttering me up isn’t going to work, you know.”

“Annabeth, help me convince your boyfriend,” Piper whined.

Annabeth paused mid-drink and looked between them. “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one that’ll get black-out drunk and try to like hunt for mermaids or something.”

That got a laugh out of everyone, much to Piper’s chagrin.

After they finished eating, they returned to their spot under the umbrella. Hazel and Frank went back to laze around in the water while Rachel and Leo decided to go build sandcastles on the beach. The rest of them sat under the umbrella and talked amongst themselves for a while, but eventually Jason left for the bathroom. Percy joined him because he said he had spotted a shop selling snow cones on the way here, leaving Annabeth alone with Piper.

Once they were out of earshot, Piper turned to Annabeth with a wolfish grin. “Lovin’ the swimsuit, babe.”

“This is hardly anything special,” Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. She was just wearing a plain black two piece she’d found at Target the summer before.

Piper raised an eyebrow and said, “Percy certainly seemed to think it was. Boy couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

Annabeth blinked in surprise. Piper had to be trolling her. Sure, she had felt his eyes on her a few times, but that didn’t mean anything.

“You’re obviously fucking with me.”

“I’m being serious,” Piper laughed. “You look hot, Annababe.”

Annabeth looked down at her swimsuit and felt her face heat up. She didn’t really think she was much to look at honestly. It wasn’t like she had low self-esteem or anything, but her body had always been more of an instrument to her than a source of beauty. If you asked her, the only things she really had going for her were her height and the slender, toned physique that she had built over years of running long distance. Beyond that, Annabeth thought she was rather plain.

“Thanks,” Annabeth mumbled.

“You’re welcome,” Piper said, stifling a yawn. “I wonder what’s taking him so long.”

Annabeth shielded her eyes from the sun and scanned the beach for Percy, but she didn’t see him anywhere. Instead of sitting around and getting stuck in her thoughts, Annabeth decided to take her mind off things and search for him instead.

She stood up and brushed the sand off her thighs and said, “I’m gonna go look for him.”

“Ok, stay safe,” Piper said. “I think I’m going to take a nap.”

Annabeth nodded and made her way back in the direction of the parking lot. Percy had said that the snow cone shop was on the other end, but he still should have gotten back by now. Maybe he was having trouble carrying all those snow cones by himself or perhaps the line was really long. She made it all the way to the shop without running into Percy, and she couldn’t see him standing in line either.

She scanned the surrounding area for him without much luck and almost gave up on her search when she spotted the familiar outline of his back. He was cradling a carton of snow cones in his arms and talking to two college aged girls. Annabeth took a step forward, trepidation filling her chest. She couldn’t make out the look on his face because his back was turned towards her, but she thought she caught a glimpse of a polite, confused smile on his face, like he wasn’t entirely sure why the girls were talking to him.

Annabeth balled her hands in fists at her sides and clenched her jaw. It was obvious by the way the girls laughed sycophantically and twirled their hair, practically thrusting their tits in his face, that they were hitting on him. What did the idiot think would happen if he was gonna waltz around the beach shirtless like that?

She had half a mind to go over and interrupt them, but for some reason she found herself rooted in place. Annabeth wasn’t sure why she disliked them so much, but the more she thought about it, the less reason she realized she had to interfere. Percy wasn’t actually her boyfriend after all. Besides, he was free to leave at any time, but he hadn’t which probably meant he wanted to be there. In any case, it was none of her business to step in.

And yet, she couldn’t force herself to simply turn on her heels and leave either.

But then one of the girls, a haughty looking redhead, started tugging on his forearm insistently. Percy made a small show of resistance, enough to show he wasn’t interested, but apparently they didn’t seem to pick up on that because the other girl decided to help her friend by tugging Percy’s other arm.

Annabeth moved without realizing what she was doing and pulled Percy against her chest. A possessive thrill rushed through her when the look of discomfort on his face gave way to relief once he saw her.

She positioned herself in front of Percy and glared at the girls. “What’s going on here?”

The redhead’s eyes flashed with irritation, but she forced herself to muster a saccharine smile. “Oh, we were just inviting him to come have some drinks with us.”

“Can’t you see he’s clearly uncomfortable?” Annabeth asked. “I’m guessing he even told you he doesn’t drink too.”

The girls exchanged looks with each other. “I mean, he was obviously joking about that.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “Or maybe you just don’t know how to take no for an answer.”

The girls recoiled like they had been slapped across the face. Annabeth took the opportunity to whisper to Percy that they were leaving and led him away by the hand before the girls could react. The girls protested behind them, but the only thing Annabeth could focus on was the feeling of Percy’s hand in hers. Blood pounded in Annabeth’s ears, and something simmered in her veins like magma. It took her a while to realize that Percy was calling out for her to stop.

“Annabeth, slow down,” Percy said. “You’re hurting me.”

Annabeth dropped his wrist like she’d been burned and looked away. “Sorry.”

Percy set the snow cones down and rubbed his wrist. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sur-”

“I said I’m fine,” Annabeth snapped.

Her tone was harsh enough to prove she was lying, but she couldn’t help it. Something dark smoldered in the pit of her stomach, making her restless. She didn’t know what it was, but the sensation was intolerable and she wanted it to stop.

Percy put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to face him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Annabeth balled her hands into fists and stared at her feet. “I-I don’t know. I’m just- I don’t know, I feel really weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just hated it, seeing the way they were clinging on to you,” Annabeth said tightly. “Why didn’t you just leave? It was like you wanted them to fawn all over you.”

“I tried but they wouldn’t let me leave.”

Annabeth met his eyes for the first time. “If you really wanted to leave, they wouldn’t have been able to stop you.”

Percy blinked in surprise and furrowed his brow. “Are you- are you jealous?”

Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest, and her face began to prickle. “I-I don’t know. I just didn’t like it.”

Percy’s lips tugged upwards involuntarily in a smile, making Annabeth even angrier. “What’s so funny?”

Percy hid his smile behind his hand. “Oh, um, nothing. Sorry. I just wanted to say that you didn’t have anything to worry about. They were making me super uncomfortable.”

Annabeth pursed her lips and said, “I find that kind of hard to believe.”

“Annabeth, come on, you could tell that they were creeping the fuck out of me from a mile away,” Percy said exasperatedly.

That was enough to coax a smile out of her. “You mean you didn’t like getting eye fucked by total strangers?”

Percy gave her an incredulous look and said, “You know, having tried it, I can’t really say it’s for me.”

“Yeah?” Annabeth asked, grinning.

“Yes,” Percy said flatly. “Besides, I already have a lovely fake-girlfriend willing to save me when I’m a damsel in distress.”

Annabeth’s heart skipped a beat. “Sounds like a real catch.”

“Oh, she most definitely is.”

Annabeth knew that Percy had meant it as a joke, but it made her heart squeeze a little in her chest all the same. She turned away before her face turned red and fought the ridiculous urge to smile. Christ, she needed to get ahold of herself.

“You good?” Percy asked carefully.

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah.”

“We should get going then,” Percy said. “The snow cones are starting to melt.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t be rude to the guy that bought you a strawberry-rhubarb snow cone.”

“A thousand apologies, your majesty.”

Percy hummed happily to himself. “That’s more like it.”

:::

After sunset, they finally left the beach and made for Rachel’s villa. The villa was massive, easily twice the size of Annabeth’s house, and designed in a Spanish style. Annabeth took a moment to admire the terracotta tiled roof, and the large windows that allowed for a generous view of the Pacific. The villa had six separate bedrooms, which she personally found a bit excessive, but it proved to be for the best since there were eight of them. After Rachel took a room for herself, the rest of them drew straws to determine who would have a room to themselves, and Annabeth somehow managed to win.

Annabeth’s first course of action after dropping off her luggage was to shower. She didn’t like having to shower after spending so much time in the ocean since it made her skin all dry and wrinkly, but it was still a relief to finally wash off all the sand that had stuck to her all day. Unfortunately, Annabeth had been forced to pack in a hurry, so she could only change into what she worn earlier that morning. She had only brought a single change of clothes with her and that was for tomorrow.

She took some time to admire her room while she towel-dried her hair. It wasn’t particularly large, but it was tastefully decorated. A large queen bed sat in the center of the room, flanked by a small cherry wood drawer. Sheer linen curtains framed a tall window that looked out over the ocean. Annabeth leaned against the open window sill and drank in the view of the Pacific. The full moon hung directly overhead and cast its pale, diffused reflection onto the dark water below.

Just as she finished drying her hair, there was a knock at her door. Percy peered into her room, fiddling with the zipper on his sweatshirt.

“Hey, ready to go? I think Jason and Leo are getting the fire started.”

Annabeth set her towel aside and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The bonfire was nearly fully lit by the time they arrived. Jason sat atop one of the four logs circling the pit and kept a watchful eye on the flames. Off to the side, Frank was helping Leo dump some charcoal into the mouth of an expensive looking barbeque grill. Rachel and Hazel chatted to themselves and cut meat and vegetables at the outdoor kitchen countertop. Piper was the only one that appeared to be missing.

Percy noticed that Frank and Leo were having trouble and went over to help them with the grill, leaving Annabeth alone. She didn’t want to be the only one twiddling her thumbs so she figured she would go and help Rachel and Hazel.

“Need any help?” Annabeth asked them.

Hazel shook her head. “No thanks. We are pretty much done here, but we appreciate the offer.”

“Besides, not sure how much I trust you in the kitchen with a knife,” Rachel teased.

“I’m not completely hopeless. I made Percy chicken soup when he got sick, and he said it was pretty good,” Annabeth protested.

Rachel laughed and said, “You could literally make Percy drink poison, and he’d tell you it was delicious if you were the one that made it.”

Blood rushed to Annabeth’s face, making Rachel laugh even harder. She patted Annabeth’s shoulder benevolently and said, “Trust me. It’s for your own good, Chase.”

Annabeth shrugged her off and sat on one of the logs with a scowl. “Where’s Piper?”

“Rachel forgot to get her ingredients, so she had to go buy herself dinner again, the poor girl,” Hazel said.

Rachel looked repentant enough for Annabeth to feel sorry for her, so Annabeth tried to comfort her by saying, “She’s probably more than happy to have Taco Bell twice in one day.”

Annabeth started when someone swatted the back of her head. She turned and looked up with a frown to see Piper standing behind her, holding a burrito.

“Heard that, asshole.”

“You’re literally eating a burrito right now,” Annabeth muttered.

Piper’s face turned pink. “It’s from Chipotle! You can tell by the size!”

“Wow, someone’s getting adventurous,” Annabeth deadpanned.

Piper sat down at the log across from her, beside Jason, and narrowed her eyes. “Bite me.”

Annabeth was interrupted by Leo before she could respond. He skipped over to them with a manic grin and said, “We finally got the grill working!”

“You’re not gonna accidentally blow us up or anything right?” Piper asked dubiously.

“Pipes, charcoal can’t explode,” Leo said flatly. “I know you’re a vegetarian and all, but that’s literally second grade science class.”

“You can never be too sure when it comes to you,” Piper sniffed.

Leo rolled his eyes and waltzed over to Hazel and Rachel. “Looks like you’re almost done! I’ll start taking things over to the grill to get started.”

“Frank, make sure you keep an eye on him!” Hazel shouted when Leo took a plateful of meat and vegetables with him.

Rachel declared to the group that she would go find where her father had stashed his alcohol and returned a short while later with an assortment of liquor and a tray full of glasses. They all poured themselves drinks, apart from Percy, and sat around the fire.

Annabeth had helped herself to some fancy looking bourbon, mainly because she had never tried it before. Her first sip made her throat burn and forced her to cough. Percy gave her a worried look, but she ignored him and took another sip. Once she got over how strong it was, she had to admit that the bourbon was really good. It didn’t take long for that familiar warmth to spread through her body and soften the harsh edges of the world around her.

It took some time for the food to arrive, but it was well worth the wait. Frank had found an array of spices in the kitchen pantry to season the meat with, so even the smell was incredible. After an exhausting day at the beach, they all practically inhaled their food. Piper finished her food first since she had a head start and set up a smores station for dessert. It wasn’t long before they were fighting for spots to roast their marshmallows on the fire.

Later, Rachel disappeared inside the villa and returned with an acoustic guitar. She strummed a few chords and started singing softly, the sound of waves and the crackling fire providing an ambient backdrop. At first, she sang on her own and they were content to listen, but as they got more drunk and uninhibited, they would join in whenever she played a tune they recognized. Barring Frank and Piper, the rest of them were practically tone-deaf, so it sounded so bad that it would send them all into fits of laughter.

It was at times like this that Annabeth was struck by just how lucky she was to have such good friends. She didn’t have many good things in her life, but this was one of them and it wouldn’t last forever. There was no telling where they would all be in a years time or if they would ever be this close again, but that didn’t make her feel sad. Instead, an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude surged through her veins, compelling her to drink in every moment and seat it into her memory so that she would never forget.

But through it all, Annabeth found her eyes drawn to the boy sitting beside her the most. She unconsciously pulled herself closer to Percy over the course of the night and luxuriated in the way their elbows knocked together, a reminder that he was there. Annabeth would catch herself staring at him and the way the flames lit up his laughing face, making him all look every bit as invincible as she felt. At some point, she caught his hand and tangled his fingers between her own, and when he squeezed her hand, she smiled so hard it hurt.

As the night wore on, more of them left, unable to stay awake any longer, until eventually Percy and Annabeth were the only one remaining. The quietness was welcome change after all the noise they had been making, but it was hard not to fall asleep the sound of the rolling waves. Annabeth struggled to keep her drooping eyes open, but Percy looked perfectly fine, probably because he was the only one who hadn’t drank.

“You should go get some sleep,” Percy murmured. “Look like you’re gonna pass out.”

Annabeth hummed and rested her head on his shoulder. “Don’t want to.”

“If you’re expecting me to carry you, you’re going to be sorely mistaken,” Percy said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re too heavy.”

If she had the energy, Annabeth would have scowled. “Rude.”

Percy grinned and looked out over the ocean with a pensive, almost melancholy look. Annabeth poked his cheek with her finger to get him to look at her.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Percy said. “About everything, I guess.”

“Hmm, deep.”

Percy laughed and said, “Alright, smarty pants, I was thinking about the future and my friends and you.”

“Then why do you look so sad?” Annabeth asked, sitting up straighter.

Percy blinked in surprise and said, “I look sad?”

Annabeth nodded and pressed a finger to his brow. “You’re giving yourself wrinkles, like you always do when you’re upset.”

There was a pause before Percy said, “Remember earlier when you saved me from those college girls?”

“What about it?”

Percy stared up at the sky and smiled bitterly. “I never imagined you would ever get jealous over me.”

Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but Annabeth found herself saying, “Neither did I.”

Percy turned to her with wide eyes, making her frown. “What?”

“I, uh, wasn’t expecting you to answer seriously.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and nudged him affectionately. “I’m taking this seriously because you are.”

Percy smiled softly and said, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, you dork,” Annabeth said fondly. “Honestly, since when did you become the serious, responsible out of the two of us. What ever happened to the kid that caught frogs during recess and put worms in Nancy Bobofit’s locker?”

Percy laughed and said, “Well, one of us had to grow up, so I figured it might as well be me.”

Annabeth half-heartedly jabbed him with her elbow. “Jerk.”

“You’ve grown up a lot too,” Percy said. “You just don’t realize it.”

“Yeah, how so?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’ve learned to temper yourself. When you were younger, it was like fire ran through your veins. You acted like the world and everything were promised to you, not out of some sense of arrogance, but like it was your birthright. I remember how you used to argue with the teachers and stuff in front of the whole class because it never occurred to you that there were people you shouldn’t pick fights with. I was always kind of in of awe of how stupidly brave you were. I still am,” Percy said, softly.

A lump formed in Annabeth’s throat. Percy was right, about everything, but that wasn’t what was getting to her. It was the fact that his words were a testament to the fact that he had been there with her since the beginning. He had seen her as a bossy, bratty little seven year old and had stuck by her side all the way till now.

“We have been through a lot together, haven’t we?” Annabeth asked thickly.

The tender look in Percy’s eyes made her heart squeeze a little in her chest. “Yeah, we have.”

Annabeth screwed her eyes shut, unable to look at him. She didn’t want this to end, but the moment was beginning to get too much for her, so she stood up suddenly.

“Alright, enough with all the sappiness,” Annabeth said. “Race you to the beach?”

Without waiting for him to respond, Annabeth took off for the water’s edge, running as hard as she could. Percy started a moment later, humoring her like always, and quickly made up the distance. If it wasn’t for the sand and the fact that she was super drunk, Annabeth would have won, but it wasn’t long before Percy caught up to her and slung her over his shoulder. Annabeth shrieked and pounded on his back.

“You better not dump me in the water, you asshole!” Annabeth yelled.

Percy ignored her and sped towards the water, making her fear for the worst. She braced herself for impact, but it never came. Instead, he set her down onto dry sand and grinned down at her. Annabeth scowled and stood up, dusting the sand off her shorts, watching as he rolled up his shorts and waded further into the water. The encroaching tide was cold enough to make her jump when it tickled her toes, but Percy seemed perfectly fine going knee deep into it.

The moonlight streamed down on him, illuminating half his face with its pale glow. Wind rustled his hair and billowed through his clothes as he stared out at the horizon. Under the moonlight, he seemed to age backwards and actually look his eighteen years - the hard lines of worry on his brow smoothened, and the tightness and frustration in his jaws released. There was something about his pale figure standing in the inky sea that made him look so beautiful and true that it made it hard for her to breathe. It reminded her of how Piper had said she had fallen for Jason, how he had seemed to glow, and she couldn’t help feeling like she understood exactly what Piper had meant.

Percy noticed her looking and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Annabeth balled her hands into fists at her side. She wasn’t ready to say it. Not yet. “N-Nothing.”

Percy didn’t look convinced, but he shrugged all the same. Annabeth stared down at her feet so that she wouldn’t be forced to look at him, but her heart pounded in her chest urgently. She started when Percy draped his sweatshirt over her shoulders and stepped past her. It was warm, and it smelled like him.

“I’m gonna head inside,” Percy said softly. “Don’t stay out for too long, okay?”

Annabeth nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Percy lingered there for a moment longer before leaving. Annabeth waited till she heard him enter the villa before she collapsed down on the sand and hugged her knees to her chest. An explanation for her actions and feelings today were finally starting to dawn on her, which sent equal parts terror and exhilaration coursing through her as she stared up at the moon. Her inability to look at him conflicting with her desire never to leave him, the nervousness and exhilaration, the jealousy - all of it pointed to one thing. She was just having a hard time accepting it.

Whenever Annabeth had imagined falling in love, she had expected it to strike her like a bolt of lightning, illuminating her with a sudden, arresting, all-consuming knowledge.

She hadn’t ever imagined that it would be like this: soft and gentle, like an unfolding discovery, the way the petals unfurled when a flower bloomed. And yet, just as sure, just as certain.

Annabeth buried her face in her hands. Try as she might, she couldn’t deny it any longer.

Fuck.

She was in love with him, wasn’t she? She was in love with Percy Jackson.

[official-weasley]

Love, William (Bill Weasley x OC) - Chapter 2

WARNINGS: bad parenting, Bill being awkward, Fred, George and Charlie being the best siblings 🤭

Chapter 2 - Bill's Surprise

“Did you pack your books?”

“What books?” Theodora asked her mother, puzzled.

“For school.” Mrs. Cork sighed.

“Why would I need my school books for the summer?” Theodora frowned. “I am coming back home before the school year starts.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to revise a little.” Mrs. Cork crossed her arms on her chest.

“Mum, I’m doing fine at school.” Theodora tried hard not to roll her eyes.

She got 6 O.W.L.s in her fifth year and she passed all her classes with better marks than she expected and her mother was still nagging her. She is comparing her youngest to her eldest too much. Theodora’s brother was the best in his year in every class and he’s getting a promotion at work.

Theodora has been home for 14 days and it’s all her mother talks about. Theodora found out about the promotion before anyone else because Eric wrote to her the second he got the news.

As much as she’s happy for him, that much her mother is getting on her nerves for it. She might be 17 but Mrs. Cork still acts as if she’s 11 and is hoping Theodora might follow her brother’s footsteps or at least go back to her dream when she was a second-year – becoming a Curse Breaker.

Theodora still remembers the conversation she had with her mother last year when she told her that she is not joining Eric in America nor going to work for the Wizarding Bank. She was mustering the courage to tell her she changed her mind for a week before sitting her down and to say that her mother was disappointed in her decision was an understatement.

Theodora knew she isn’t going to support her new career choice but she didn’t care. She found her passion and she is going to follow it. Dad did the same – an inspired Magizoologist trying to write a book about all magical creatures in Asia. And what did her mother do when he told her about his journey? She filed for divorce instead of supporting him.

The only thing Theodora and Eric have of their dad now is his monthly letters and a few pictures per year as their mother doesn't even allow him to visit.

Theodora used to ask herself why Eric didn’t take an Auror job here in England. Why go all the way across the Atlantic? Now that she saw her mother in her true form – being alone with her ever since Eric finished school – she understood that he wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

“You can always do better.” Mrs. Cork pursed her lips, watching her daughter’s every move while she was putting clothes in her trunk.

“I’ll take the books if it’ll make you happy.” Theodora tried her hardest to keep her voice casual.

The last thing she needed was for her mother to change her mind and her being stuck in this house with her because of it.

“Molly will write to me every week to let me know how you are behaving. You be nice while you’re there and don’t you dare step out of line.” Mrs. Cork raised her voice.

“Ok, mum.” Theodora bowed her head.

She couldn’t wait to spend the Summer at the Burrow with her best friends and their siblings. Mrs. Weasley is strict but at least she is a loving mum.

Theodora didn’t even bother to wait and see if her mother is going to hug her. She took the trunk outside, took her jacket off the hanger just in case there would be a chilly summer night, and turned to the door where her mother stood, her arms still crossed on her chest.

If Theodora didn’t know any better, she would say that she was judging her. She hated how her mother watched her every movement and thanked Godric – for what seemed the tenth time this morning – that the twins convinced her to spend the summer at the Burrow.

“Well, bye.” Theodora waved awkwardly, not knowing what else to do.

Her mother gave a small nod and after a sigh, Theodora apparated to her summer destination.

—

“What’s wrong?”

The second Theodora appeared in front of the Burrow the twins came out of the house. She was half an hour late and they have been looking through the window, awaiting her arrival.

Fred took her trunk without even asking, taking it inside, while George stayed behind, his hand on her shoulder, waiting for her to answer his question.

“Thank you.” Was all she said, pulling George into a tight hug.

At first, it seemed like a good idea but when she felt her eyes burn, ready to release the tears, she quickly pulled away. She didn’t want to cry in front of him.

She only did so once, when she broke up with her boyfriend last year, and the second a tear ran down her cheek, Fred and George had their wands ready, prepared to hex the hell out of the boy who broke her heart.

“That bad, huh?” George put his hands on her shoulders and lowered his head to look her in the eyes.

“You have no idea.” Theodora shook her head. “She’s insane. No wonder dad left.”

“Whoa, what happened?” Fred said from the doorway. “Did she give you a hard time again?” He frowned.

Theodora only nodded. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to talk about it.

“Come on, let’s get you in. Mum just made lemonade and we can talk about it in our room.” Fred grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

He swung his hand, inviting her inside. The second she stepped through the door, she started to feel better. The whole house smelled like roast beef and baked potatoes. If her mother allowed her, she would be here all the time and probably only go home when Eric would come to visit from America.

“Theodora, dear. Welcome back!” Before she could take another step Molly welcomed her with one of her famous embraces. “Arthur and I were just discussing this morning when was the last time you were here.”

“The summer after our second year.” Theodora smiled widely.

Mrs. Weasley made her feel so welcomed that she already felt better.

“She was only here once, mum,” Fred added.

“You have to come more often, dear. You might just be the only person to keep these two in line.” Mrs. Weasley put her hands on her hips and looked at the twins.

Theodora giggled upon seeing the irritated expression on Fred and George’s faces.

“Where’s your trunk?” Their mum asked after looking for it on the floor.

“I already took it to our room,” Fred answered for her.

“Your room?” Molly frowned. “Don’t even think about it! Theodora will stay with Ginny.”

“Oh, come on, mum!” George whined. “You know we’re only friends. We’re just going to work,” he bit his tongue at the last second as he forgot that their mum had no idea what the trio had in store for this summer, “on stuff.”

“You know the rules, George.” Molly raised her voice. “She is sleeping in Ginny’s room and that’s final.” With that, she turned on her heel and returned to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, we’ll sneak you in our room when she goes to sleep,” Fred whispered to Theodora, making her giggle.

Before she could even ask where the others are, she was dragged into the twins’ room.

“We have about three hours before supper and we need your help.” George sat on the floor.

Theodora was surprised he found a spot that wasn’t covered with their products, prototypes, wrappers, or parts.

“What’s on your mind?” Theodora pushed a big box with Boxing Telescopes away so she could sit down next to George.

“We have been trying for days to make the Screaming Yo-yo stop screaming.” Fred sighed and opened the drawer of his desk.

“Isn’t that the point?” Theodora chuckled.

“The yo-yo is supposed to scream when you release it but stop once it’s wrapped up again,” George explained.

“Didn’t we already fix this?” Theodora tried to remember.

They have been working and developing so many new products over the past year that some of them have been a blur for Theodora. She remembers all too well getting punched by one of those telescopes in the box. She remembers how happy they were when their Smoke Pastille finally had the right thickness of the smoke.

With Arthur’s help, without him even knowing about it, they perfected the Electric Shock Shake and she could swear the yo-yo already gave them trouble.

“We fixed the fact that it doesn’t fall apart once you roll it up and down twice.” Fred rubbed his chin.

“But now it doesn’t stop screaming even if one puts it down.” George frowned, now holding one in his hand.

“Can we do a timed Silencing Charm?” Theodora thought out loud.

“Explain,” the twins said together, sitting closer to her.

“Well, we want the yo-yo only to scream once unrolled, right?” They both nodded. “So all we would have to do is put a Silencing Charm on it in a way that it mutes the screaming when the string rolls back up.”

Theodora didn’t know what to make of their faces. Fred was staring at her, his eyes wide open. George’s eyes switched between her and the yo-yo in his hand, forgetting how to close his mouth.

“That’s brilliant.” The twins said in unison.

“So you know how to do it?” Theodora sounded impressed.

“Nah,” George swung his hand, “we’ll ask Bill after dinner. He’s good with Charms.”

“Let me try.” Theodora took the yo-yo out of George’s hand.

She would rather spend an entire night trying to fix the product on her own than work with Bill on it. She knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate enough around him to pull anything off.

Theodora has been nervous for days now, knowing Bill is coming home. She hated feeling this way but she couldn’t help it either. She kept wondering how Bill looks like now and if he is as sweet as she remembers him being.

Last night, before coming here, she couldn’t stop thinking about him and she tried figuring out why was she so hooked on the eldest Weasley. Was it because he looked so cool in his leather jacket or because he was a Curse Breaker? Was it because he was cute or simply because he was so much older than her?

No matter how much she tried beating her head around it, she couldn’t figure it out, which only made her more nervous.

—

“Blimey, Theo, you did it!” George gasped when they tried spinning the yo-yo for what seemed like the 100th time.

Their ears were hurting and their eyes were burning not taking a break since they started. After trying the Silencing Charm more times they could count and casting it on different parts of the yo-yo, Theodora’s last attempt did the trick.

“Dinner!” They heard Molly shout from downstairs.

Theodora put her hands over her face, trying to close her eyes for a few seconds. She didn’t want to come down looking like a mummy.

“Race you downstairs!” George laughed and hastily opened the door.

“Child,” Fred said with a smile on his face and ran after his brother.

Theodora did the same and they pushed each other on their way down, all trying to get to the kitchen first. Because of Fred’s hand over his face, George didn’t see Theodora move in front of him and he stumbled across her leg and started rolling down the stairs.

Panicking, he grabbed his brother by the shirt and pulled him with him. Fred didn’t want to be the only one falling so he put his hand around Theodora and they landed at the bottom of the stairs as if a bowling ball hit the pins.

One look at one another and they all started laughing. They tried getting up but their legs were somehow tangled and instead of trying harder they only laughed louder.

“Idiots.” A familiar voice made Theodora look up.

“Charlie!” She exclaimed.

Charlie who was leaning on a pillar next to the stairs pushed himself away, took a step closer, and offered Theodora a hand to help her get up.

“I will ask you again, why are you friends with these two?” He asked, pointing at the twins.

“They grew on me.” Theodora shrugged her shoulders playfully before giving Charlie a hug.

“I missed you, Theo. When are you coming to visit me in Romania?” Charlie grinned.

“Back off, Charlie, she’s our friend.” Fred teased his older brother.

“Hi.” The four of them turned around to see Bill standing in the doorway.

Theodora’s heart started beating faster. All her hope that her silly crush on Bill ended was diminished within seconds. She has been mentally preparing to see Bill again, but she was not ready at all for what she was looking at.

Bill’s hair was in a loose ponytail, gracefully falling over his shoulder. He had a fang earring and his left eyebrow was halved. He was wearing a different leather jacket then she remembered, along with black jeans, and were those leather boots?

She opened her mouth to say something but with her heart in her throat she couldn’t even sigh.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Bill said politely.

His gentle smile weakened her knees and suddenly the idea of spending the entire summer alone with her mother didn’t seem that bad. How will she be able to be around him for 2 whole months? She knew herself too well to know she won’t have the strength to do it.

Bill took a step toward her and offered his hand to shake. Theodora shook her head, trying to focus but got confused. Did Bill not remember her?

Her heart sank. Even if she wanted to she couldn’t deny that if that was the case, it hurt. She might not have been at the Burrow for years but is she that unmemorable?

Her palms were sweaty due to how nervous she was, so she wiped them in her jeans before extending her hand at Bill, not knowing what else to do. It’s better she goes along with it, pretending that she doesn’t know who he is either than making a fool out of herself by mocking him how he doesn’t remember her.

Before their hands could come together into a handshake, Fred put his fingers around her wrist, taking her hand away.

“Bill, have you fallen off a pyramid? Don’t you remember Theo?” He looked at his eldest brother with a raised brow.

“Theodora?” Bill sounded astounded.

He blinked at her a few times, his eyes scanning her from head to toe.

Theodora looked at the other three Weasley brothers, not knowing what to do or say. Charlie was biting his lip, red in the face trying hard not to burst out laughing. Fred slammed his hand against his forehead and George’s eyes were filling with tears as he too, was trying to keep his mouth closed. If she was completely honest, she had no idea what exactly was happening.

“Hey.” She waved awkwardly at Bill.

“You...you’ve changed,” Bill mumbled, still completely awestruck, realizing the girl he is looking at isn’t 13 anymore.

“Thanks.” Theodora couldn’t get rid of the puzzled expression on her face.

“I...I mean...you...you’re all grown up.” Bill breathed.

He was acting as if it was strange that she is now taller, more developed and her hair is longer. Bill couldn’t believe how much she changed. She was barely a teenager when he last saw her and he remembers how passionate she was about Curse Breaking asking him different questions for days.

He loved answering every single one of them because she reminded him so much of Charlie when he was talking about dragons.

This hairdo was better than the bangs and the bob she had back then. She was cuter with longer hair, beautiful even. Bill tried to remember if she was really the same age as his two younger brothers. Standing next to them, she looked at least two years older than them. She wasn’t a girl anymore, she was a grown-up woman.

Charlie and the twins couldn’t hold in the laughter anymore and were now standing behind Theodora gasping for air. They couldn’t believe Bill didn’t recognize her. The last time Charlie saw her was also that summer that she stayed over but he didn’t have trouble remembering who she was.

“Are you going to say you recognized her at once?” Bill rolled his eyes, annoyed that they were making fun out of him.

“Yes! I don’t know what you were looking at.” Charlie came closer to Bill and put his arm around his shoulder.

“I...” Bill’s jaw dropped, scanning Theodora with his eyes again. “Oh, shut up.”

“I can’t believe you actually wanted to introduce yourself to her.” Fred was clutching at his stomach, still laughing.

“And you used your special charming smile on her too!” George added.

“I did not!” Bill tried defending himself, his face red as a tomato.

“Oh, you totally did.” Charlie joined in on the teasing.

Bill shook his shoulders, making Charlie’s arm fall off them. Why did he decide to spend half of his summer at home was beyond him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, Theodora.” He turned to her, looking embarrassed.

“It’s okay.” She chuckled. “It happens.”

She still didn’t know what to think of it. It can’t be a good thing that he didn’t remember her at all. But then again why should she care, Bill was too cool and too old for her anyway. She is just being silly.

“How did you know who she was?” Bill turned to Charlie.

“She joined the Quidditch team when I was in my seventh year. One of the best Chasers I had a chance to play with.” He grinned at Theodora.

That compliment meant a lot to her. Even though she didn’t plan to pursue Quidditch professionally she still loved the sport and she couldn’t wait for the tournament.

“Oh, Charlie that reminds me...” This was her chance to stir the conversation in a different direction. This whole fiasco has been awkward enough as it was, she didn’t want to be reminded once more that Bill was completely clueless about who she was. “...I apologize for not answering your last letter. I knew you were going to be at the Burrow.”

“No problem, Theo.” Charlie swung his hand, letting her know she shouldn’t worry about it.

“You two send each other letters?” Fred and George said together. “You didn’t tell them?” Charlie giggled.

This was all too amusing to him and just reminded him more how much he missed hanging out with his siblings.

“I thought you knew.” Theodora frowned at the twins. “I open all his letters in front of you every time.”

“You sign your name as Charles when you write to her?” Fred chortled.

“You’re the one who came up with the fire-breathing toffees?” George’s mouth fell open.

They knew all about Theodora’s letters to Charles but since their older brother always signed the letters to them as Charlie, they thought Theodora either had an uncle or a pen pal with the same name.

Bill was the big brother, the one they were supposed to fear, the one who was in charge when mum and dad weren’t home, the one who got mad at them. Charlie was the big brother that secretly sneaked cookies into their room even when mum said that they ate too many already. He was the brother that lied for them when he was still a Prefect at school and never deducted any points because of their shenanigans.

The second George connected the dots, remembering when Theodora gave them the brilliant idea about the fire-breathing toffees and she said that Charlie came up with them, he was beyond surprised.

“Honestly,” George turned his head to his twin, “we should’ve figured that one out.”

Fred simply shrugged in reply. It didn’t matter. Their brother came up with one of the best products they’ve made in months and he kept their idea — of opening a joke shop once they finish school — from mum.

Besides, the twins knew how much talking to Charlie meant to Theodora. Her brother was often on missions, where the letters couldn’t reach him so she was lucky if she got a letter or two per month. Corresponding with Charlie on a weekly basis made her miss her brother less and if that made their best friend’s day better they are willing to share their sibling with her.

“Are you still playing?” Bill turned to Theodora the second they sat down at the table.

“Yeah and hopefully next year as well.” Theodora grinned, happy to see Bill expressing interest in her.

“You should have seen her, Charlie!” Fred said with his mouth full.

“She scored half of the goals at the last game!” George added.

“You showed talent from the start and I was happy I decided to put you on the team,” Charlie said proudly.

“Are you going to play Quidditch after school or are you still interested in Curse Breaking?” Bill asked.

Theodora didn’t know in which direction to turn. She was still blushing from the compliment Charlie gave her but she wanted to talk to Bill more than anyone.

“Why are you asking, William?” Fred said in a mocking voice before Theodora could answer.

“Want her all for yourself in Egypt, huh?” George joined in.

The twins started laughing, George almost suffocating on a piece of potato, when Charlie started whistling and winking at his older brother. Theodora tried not to giggle.

This was all too amusing to her and she couldn’t help but wish that their entire summer would be like this. Hopefully, not teasing Bill as much as he was rather uncomfortable – sitting next to her – but them being together and having fun. This was just what she needed after spending 14 days alone with her mother.

“Can’t I even ask her a question without you being gits?” Bill ran a hand over his face, ready to leave the kitchen.

“Sit back down, William, and eat your dinner.” Molly pointed a fork at her eldest and with a sigh, he sat back down.

“Are you kids excited about the Weasley Quidditch Tournament?” Bill has never been so grateful for his father to speak during dinner.

“Yes!” The twins jumped in their seats.

“Charlie will be our Seeker,” Fred said proudly.

“We’re the Beaters.” George followed.

“Well, Theo has to be one of our Chasers. There’s no arguing about that.” Charlie grinned at Theodora.

“Will you allow Ginny to play, mum?” George turned to his mother, making puppy eyes.

“I suppose so.” Molly sighed. “We’ll all be there to watch, so it’s fine.”

Everyone turned to Ginny, who was quietly playing with a piece of meat on her plate. She looked up when she heard her mum say that she could play and her cheeks turned scarlet. She couldn’t believe it! She’ll be allowed to play at the tournament? Along with all of her brothers?

She started shaking in her seat as Charlie, who was sitting next to her, put his arm around her, giggling to see how excited his little sister was.

“So, Ron’s going to be the Keeper then?” Mr. Weasley questioned.

“Of course, who else!” Ron lifted his head proudly.

Most of the times the Weasley siblings were playing Quidditch in their backyard, Ron played as a Keeper and he was getting rather good at it too. Of course, he couldn’t deny that if Theodora was on the opposite team he would feel too intimidated to play.

He attended most friendly matches and every cup game since his friend Harry made the team and he saw how amazing Theodora is with scoring goals. The Gryffindor team wouldn’t have won the cup this year if it wasn’t for her.

“Brilliant, we just need one more Chaser.” Fred clapped his hands together.

“Are you playing?” Theodora turned to Bill.

“Of course!” Bill blurted out.

He wasn’t planning on it but seeing how excited Theodora was, asking him if he will be on their team, he wanted to join at once. He was a bit rusty and hasn’t used a broom in a long time – exploring tombs and pyramids doesn’t exactly need flying experience.

Suddenly, he was very grateful for coming home earlier and not just for the game as he initially planned. He could use some flying lessons from Charlie and a few hours of practice. Hopefully, Theodora won’t be around while he embarrasses himself on the broom.

But on the second hand, why should he care what she thinks of him?

“Are you sure you’ll be able to play?” Charlie whispered to Bill.

“Yeah, why not?” Bill leaned to him.

“Will you be able to play alongside Theo if you already can’t take your eyes off her?”

At those words, Bill turned his head to his brother, frowning. Charlie winked at him and nodded his head at Theodora.

“Oh, bugger off, will you,” Bill muttered, trying not to look at her again, but no matter how hard he tried, his eyes kept escaping to her for the rest of the evening.

[subtract-me-from-your-heart]

Alright yall it's time to bake a cake for Jay! He's old like me now. I figured I'd post a step by step because I'm trying something a little experimental based on a nifty cake I saw on instagram:

I don't really do cheesecake so I asked Jay what flavors he wanted and he voted for banana and strawberry. So this is going to be a Strawberry Banana Lemonade Cake! Time for ADHD baking with Sin.

Step one is to make the cake!! Here's what you need:

The box mix called for 3 eggs, 1/2 c of oil and 1 c water. I'm doctoring it and doing 4 eggs, 1/2 c of melted butter, and whole milk instead of water. I also like to add almond extract to my "vanilla" cakes because it makes it taste amazing. Most people will say to "be sparing" with almond extract but fuck those people.

Turn on some Coheed and Cambria and preheat your oven to 350°F. Prep your baking pans.

I also just realized I need to soften 1 1/2 c butter for my buttercream so lemme go ahead and get that out lmao.

Ok back to pan prep. Butter and flour was good enough for my Granny, and it's good enough for me. I've never had a cake stick using this method.

Two 9" baking pans ready to go!

My biggest tips for melting butter include cutting it is into cubes and microwaving on 30% heat for a minute at a time til it's all nice and liquidy. Also, cover your bowl or whatever it's in unless you want to have to clean that up later. I am very smart and have definitely never made that mistake.

Throw it all together and mix. I smelled the box mix and it seemed very sad so I added some vanilla on top of the almond extract and it tastes goooood.

Normally I weigh the bowl and try to get an even amount in both pans using a food scale. Today I forgot to do that! So we're doing our best out here. Fortunately for me somehow my baking pans weigh exactly the same so I was able to get roughly 455g in each pan.

Into the oven! I had to dig the instructions out of the trash lmao. 350°F for 30 minutes and we'll see where we're at after that.

While those are baking, time to prep some other components. I went ahead and washed my mixing bowl for later because I am not a fancy person and only have the one. Also cubed my butter for the buttercream and set it aside.

TIME TO MAKE A STRAWBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP!!

I stole this recipe off of Pinterest (Strawberry Simple Syrup Recipe). It's basically 2 cups of strawberries (I'm using frozen), 2 cups of sugar, and 2 cups of water. I added a teeny tiny splash of lemon juice... because of course I did! Lemon tends to just kind of brighten up and make the strawberries taste more strawberry... strawberry-y. As long as you don't overdo it.

Side note holy balls the cakes smell SO GOOD.

The recipe said to smash the strawberries with a spoon but I got frustrated very quickly and broke out the potato masher. Works great.

CAKES ARE DONE!

Just gonna let those bitches cool for a bit. And also turn off the oven because it's hotter than hell outside!

Halfway through with the strawberries and they look like a fruity stew.

I've learned over the years that getting a still-warm cake out of a pan is much easier than a fully cooled one so here we go.

Other than being weirdly browned, they look great lol. Also don't mind the crackers in the background. Sometimes you need a snack when baking.

Time to strain some strawberry soup! I have a very technical straining method:

It turned out so pretty and red!

Alrighty. I can't do much now til the cakes and the syrup both cool down a bit. See you in part 2!

[keltonwrites]

I'm not sure if that's a good thing

“Well you’re definitely the first.” This past week, we screened-in the eastern facing porch on the side of the cabin. The porch slopes to the South, with the brick-on-dirt floor crumbling in that direction as well until it reaches uneven slabs of stone acting as steps down to the “yard” below. A mixed material retaining wall wraps beneath the steps to the south facing garage, holding up one corner of the narrow deck on the front of the house. The deck, in the heat of a high altitude summer, droops off the house like it’s daydreaming about the winter snow’s embrace. It’s safe to sit on, though I would not recommend leaning on the railing.

The side porch takes the brunt of the wind. Our wooden rocking chairs have been rocked some 20 feet into the yard more than once in the two months we lived here. In the myriad of threats we heard about the weather, most people included the wind. We all know how I feel about this ongoing weather intimidation tactic. I asked, “what speed are the gusts?” “Oh, they get up to 70 miles per hour on some days.” This was the first quantifiable piece of weather information someone had offered — an actual number we could react to with data and our historical personal experiences of various weather events. And our reaction was: uhhhh…. OK???? Look, I get it. No one’s preaching the skin benefits of -20 degree wind gusts at 70 mph, building snow drifts against your house in the span of minutes that Cooper could die in. I am not going to pretend that’s pleasant. But 70 mph? Any wind I’ve driven faster than does not intimidate me. I used to rally the horses at 12 years old in winds over 70mph to get them in the barn before the latest tornado whipped through. I helped shutter the resort in the BVI as the Category 5 hurricane rolled in. Even in Topanga, 70 mile per hour gusts were not uncommon in Santa Ana events. We had our single pane windows shatter more than once from debris in the wind. We taped cardboard up and went to sleep. That “70 mph” was all I needed to hear to confirm our next project: we were going to build a catio for these cats, and we were going to do it on the pre-existing porch structure to save time and money. We spent a week framing out the structure. We had to carve into the logs of the house to embed the wood supports for the framing.

And from there, every piece of wood was custom carved and cut to fit around the existing timber supports. The existing porch was so wildly uneven that there are gaps between each piece of old wood and the new framing. Our plan is to mix all the wood chips from the project with mortar/chinking and stuff the gaps — a good solution for the log cabin look. We built a plywood pony wall up to 28 inches from the interior of the porch, which gives a height of ~4-5ft from the exterior ground below. It’s capped with a 2x6” railing for even the fluffiest of cats to find a perch. The exterior will be wrapped with corrugated metal that we’ll quick-age to match the metal that wraps the bottom of the cabin. On the interior of the porch, we’ll use shiplap to hide the framing.

The screens themselves can withstand winds up to 120 mph, but to-be-determined if they can hold the weight of a growing maniac cat who has already tried to climb them. In the event the screens succumb to cat (or wind or snow or neighbor judgment) we’ll reinforce with metal mesh. We’re going to maintain this screen porch regardless of what the screen is. We had the pleasure of running into one of our more industrious neighbors the other day, and Ben asked him, “hey we’re building a screen porch. Is this a terrible idea?” He laughed. “Well you’re definitely the first.” But he liked it. Great way to diminish wind into the house. Simple way to regulate the temperature with massive south-facing windows. And indeed a practical outdoor safe haven for cats in predator territory. Just because you’re the first doesn’t mean you’re foolish — just foolhardy. There’s plenty of that here. This town has the typical mountain town’s truncated version of a colonizers’ history: “established 1881.” But it was plenty established prior to that by the Uncompahgre Band of the Ute Nation, removed by the U.S. Army on September 7, 1881, nearly 140 years ago. The government relocated the Uncompahgre Ute People to Utah, and one year after the Ute were forcibly removed from their ancestral land, San Miguel County split off from Ouray County and was made its own political subdivision in the newly-formed State of Colorado. In 1879, the ore-laden valley already had 50 people living in it, with a new narrow gauge railway only 2 miles away. By 1885, it was a town of 200 people. There was a hotel, a couple saloons, a pool hall. Winters were treacherous; the valley was and is prone to avalanches. But where there’s gold, there’s gumption. The power needed to run the stamp mill to process ore drove innovation. Timber was scarce at such high elevations, so a wood powered steam mill wouldn’t cut it. But the San Miguel River just a few miles down from the mine looked promising. Thus began the development and construction of the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant. It was a hit. In fact, it was so successful that the Ames Plant led to the adoption of alternating currents at Niagara Falls and eventually to being adopted worldwide as a viable power solution. The plant remains, but the gold rush obviously didn’t. By 1940, the U.S. Census declared this little town I call home as tied for the lowest population in the country: 2 people. By 1960, it was one of four incorporated towns in the U.S. with no residents. But the joke was on the Census — the town’s single resident was just out of town the day the census came through. 1960 population: 1. By 1980 the population grew to 38, 69 in 1990, and about 180 now. (Plus 51 dogs according to the town’s website.) With modern amenities, it’s easier to be here. Studded snow tires, satellite internet, solar panels, instant coffee. No matter the hardships, there’s the reality of the present. In the 1880s, as the town boomed, the Ouray Times declared, “it will be at no distant day a far more pretentious town than it is now.” That day hasn’t exactly arrived, but I guess it depends on what you consider pretentious. I don’t think the town claims any airs of excellence beyond what’s true. In fact, the town hardly claims anything at all. There’s no sign indicating it’s even here. There’s just the old side and the new side. The new side, the Eastern half, was drawn out in the early 1990s, some 100 years later, and is separated from the Old Town by an avalanche zone—preserved open space for hiking in the summer, preserved open space for surviving in the winter. The town forbids short-term rentals, no one has a fence, dogs roam free, and all the houses have that cabin look to them. A boulder nests in a grove near a trailhead in the center of town with a plaque paying respect to the Utes who called this valley home. There’s no industry here. No businesses allowed. If you want a $7 latte, you can drive the 14 miles required to get it, assuming there’s not an avalanche blocking your path. You can, however, buy a pink lemonade in a

solo cup at the permanent lemonade stand run by the local feral child mafia. Crystals (rocks) can be purchased for an additional cost. We bought one, hoping to buy favor at the same time. The town plan has a few guiding principles, and it’s all in the name of preservation. We must preserve: 1 - the quiet atmosphere 2 - the rustic character 3 - the natural setting

And finally: 4 - protect the health and wellbeing of the people here No snowmobiles, no ATVs, no drones. In fact, the only sign of the outside world here are the passers-through. When you take the dirt road through town to the end, you enter National Forest, and you can hike over the pass saddle at nearly 12,000 feet before descending down the other side into Silverton. The pass road climbs rutted through an aspen forest before scaling across a scree field and then lurching over to the other side. Every day, it seems like 30 or so Texans and Arizonans in lifted and loud Jeeps with unused mods climb over this mountain in the comfort of their air conditioning, simply to drive down the other side. You could hike it, ride it, run it, and ski it, but they don’t. They rev their engines, kicking up dust in a town of feral children and roaming dogs, staring at us instead of waving. I’ve lived here for two months and look how salty I am. I’ll fit in yet. But today, there is a temperature that whispers of perfect trails and the dwindling of ogglers driving 35 in a 15. It’s already snowed in the mountains we see from our kitchen. Today, like a dedication to the Septembers of our youth, you can feel a chill in the air. A temperature akin to pencils and sweaters and reinventing yourself. A temperature that doesn’t exactly sing “screen porch” but could if you had the right slippers on. That’s what I did this morning: put my slippers on and sat there in the cool mountain morning air, thinking about the cemetery behind our house, about the Ute tribe, about the miners, about the mailman who died on Christmas in 1875 on the pass, about the 5 people who died in avalanches here just last year, about the people in their cars on their phones driving through, and all the people who’s very first question to us was, “so are you gonna live here part-time or full-time?” Maybe it will be a hard place to live. But at least we’ll have a screen porch.

Every week I'm writing about moving to log cabin in a small town at 10,000 feet. Subscribe here for free: tinyletter.com/keltonwrites