#it was used and I haven’t watched it yet so hopefully the discs work

[snorvus]

I now have it on DVD

[one-leaf-grimoire]

“triad”

Chapter 8: the septad

In this chapter you can find discussion of fate, the Tree of Qliphoth, and... a moth goddess?!

AO3 link

Dear Lyra,

I’m sorry for being so out of touch lately. To be fair, it wasn’t entirely my fault, since this recent incident basically halted all mail movement around the kingdom. However, I got your most recent letter today, and I’m so glad that you and the others are safe! And it seems the town suffered minimal damage, and you were able to take down the one attacker all together. 

Anyway… I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now. I would have invited you all to my coronation, but it was all over so fast, there was hardly time to plan a trip. Plus, the castle and capitol is still in shambles, so it wouldn’t have been fun. Don’t worry- I’m alright, with many friends and advisors by my side. I’ll have time to be sad once the situation has stabilized, whenever that will be.

Please write back soon. I miss you.

Love…

My pen pauses above the page before I sign my name.

Should I tell her… about the baby?

After a moment, I move again. My name appears, then is quickly concealed as I fold the letter up. 

“Are you almost done?” Marx pokes his head into my office, just in time to see me press my finger into a disc of wax and start to heat it up. “Oh, you are. You wanted to head out soon, right?”

“Right!” I watch the wax melt, then shake the excess off of my finger. “As soon as you send this off, I want to leave.” I grab one of the seals sitting on the desk, the official seal of the Wizard King, and press it into the wax. “Hopefully this won’t take long… they either have the information I need or they don’t.”

I stand up, holding the sealed letter out for him to take. Marx quickly receives it, waves his hand, and sends out a signal. Within seconds, a small portal appears at his side; belonging to one of our many postal mages downstairs. He throws the letter inside, and that’s that. “There we are. Now, where’s Adeline?”

“She’s delivering orders to the squads,” I tell him, motioning for him to follow me out of the office and down the hall. “She’ll be back soon, we’ll probably run into her on our way out.”

“Oh, good!” Marx smiles a little, his eyes narrowing. “You know, I’m sorry for being so hesitant about her… she ended up being very efficient and hard-working. Although, I can’t blame her-” He glances over at the back of my head. “She’s devoted to you entirely… as far as she’s concerned, you saved her life.”

“Well, that’s what a good leader should do, right? Find talent, in unexpected places, and bring it into the light.” 

That’s what Julius would have done, anyway.

Just as I predicted, we run into Adeline a few minutes later. She skids to a stop in front of us, out of breath from her previous chore, but a big smile appears on her face as she spots us. “Your majesty! And- Marx!” She quickly bows her head out of respect. “I’ve completed the task you gave me!”

“Please, no more your majesty! I like you enough that you can call me by my real name.” Adeline looks up in time to see me shoot her a little wink. “Thanks for doing that, now come on!”

Adeline quickly joins my side, and before long the three of us reach an open window. Marx immediately winces. “Oh no… you can’t possibly-”

“It’s the quickest way! Come on!” I grab his hand and hold the other out to Adeline. “Hold on tight, alright? It’ll just last a couple seconds.”

Her eyes widen, but she nods quickly and takes my arm. Without another moment passing, I turn back towards the window.

“Flame Creation Magic: Sun God’s Leap.”

Tiny wings burst to life around my elbows and ankles, fluttering delicately but with more power than ever before. This is my only flight spell, and when paired with my time acceleration, there’s no way to travel any faster. 

“Here we go!”

I push off the ground, and the three of us shoot off out of the window. Marx and Adeline both hold on tighter, Adeline letting out a little scream of surprise. Land and air courses past our bodies, faster and faster, the feeling so familiar. I can remember it… just like it was yesterday. The first time Julius showed me his power… I was going to be late coming back to the base, and he just swept me up and- in a moment, we were there.

Those simple days… what I wouldn’t give to have them back. When my biggest worry was whether or not Julius liked me back. 

Because… of course he did. It was so obvious, even back then… we were meant to be together.

A few seconds later, we crash down to earth, a little less elegantly than usual since I have two passengers. The moment I let go, Marx stumbles away, extremely dizzy, but Adeline keeps clutching at me, stunned and dazed by the experience. “W-W-Wow…” she stutters, blinking owilishly. “That was… really… cool…”

“Ah, thanks-” I cut myself off when I realize just how… close she is. Adeline is a good few inches taller than me, and having her pressed against me like this. “Ah- er- Adeline-” I feel my ears start to heat up. “Do you think you could-”

“OH! Sorry!” She lets go and steps back, seemingly back to normal. “Thanks for the ride… now…” She turns to look around. We’re standing outside a small town, a very humble town in the middle of nowhere. This place is close to the border with the Heart Kingdom, the land fertile and rich with natural mana. This is where the remnants of the Simulcian race live… where my family lives. “This is the place?”

“It sure is.” I suck in a breath, a little worried about what was to come. “Now.. don’t be frightened by them. They’re going to be nosy, and they don’t really understand personal space,” I explain as we start to walk. “They’re all brothers and sisters, making them my aunts and uncles.”

“Right… and, what exactly do we need from them again?” Adeline asks.

“They could have information about the Devils- don’t you remember that big lecture I gave you about it yesterday?”

Adeline laughs nervously. “Oh, right… ah, to be honest, there was so much information, and I’m sure I forgot some of it-”

“Nevermind, I’ll tell you later.” She’s honest though, at least…. I sigh heavily.  About most things. I can’t help but remember our first meeting, that look of surprise on her face, and those words-

“Your eyes…”

Well, if she was off-put by these eyes of mine, then she’s got a big shock coming…

“OH! LOOK! IT’s OUR NIECE!”

And… here they are.

A small crowd of people run up to us as we reach the town. All of them look a bit like me, with slightly varying shades of hair. However, all of them seem to be about my age, and all of them have the same, empty black irises. When they were united into Septads, those eyes glowed an eerie blueish white. “Hey guys… long time no see?”

A few pairs of hands immediately grab my arms, just like I anticipated, and start to drag me away, all chatting all at once.

“A visit from our Wizard King!”

“The first Foreign Wizard King!”

“This is a great victory for the Simulcians!”

“The first non-human Wizard King!”

“We’ll have to build a statue of you next!”

Luckily, they ignore Adeline and Marx, who jog behind us. Adeline looks a bit worried about me, but Marx is used to this by now. “Hmm? Statue?” I repeat, still trying to get used to this newfound hospitality. 

“Oh, right! Come look at our most recent project!” one of my uncles says excitedly. “We had to put it on hold after the attack, but it still looks great so far!”

Huh? I wonder what it might be-

We turn the corner to enter the “town square,” and the hands finally release me. “Don’t run off like that!” Marx scolds, hurrying up to my side with Adeline. What? It’s not like I had a choice! I almost respond, but Adeline catches my attention when her eyes widen. “W-what is that supposed to be?”

Hmm? I turn to follow her gaze, finally spotting the unfinished statue in the middle of the square. It’s made of wood, part of it painted dark blue, but it looks like it’s been on hold for a long time. I recognized the figure immediately. “Oh… this is your deity, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” an aunt answers in unison with a few others. “Aren’t they beautiful! Simulcia, in all her glory…”

The populace of the Clover Kingdom tends to believe in God. Churches and convents are located in almost every town, and most people worship in their own homes. My mother made me and my cousins go to church every week, but I never really absorbed any of it. Maybe I was trying to emulate my father, who never joined us for worship. Little did I know, even he must have had some underlying allegiance to… her. 

If the concept of God is ridiculous to me, then it’s even harder for me to believe in Simulcia. According to my family, she was a giant woman who took the form of a moth. Parts of that are evident on the statue; her inhuman face, her tall, feathered antennae. She had wings, too, but they haven’t gotten around to carving those yet. Her two giant eyes are painted black. The finishing touches are her marks, seven of them, carved into her palms, her knees, her stomach, her heart, and finally, her forehead. Apparently she broke into seven parts upon her death, and is the “mother” of all Simulcians. I’m not exactly sure how accurate all this is…

“A… a pagan god?!” I look over to see Adeline staring at the statue again, looking very distrubed. “You didn’t tell me they were pagans!”

“Pagan?” I repeat, for some reason finding this kind of funny. “Adeline, it’s fine… they’ve been worshipping that goddess longer than the Kingdom worshipped their God.”

“I know… but-” Adeline finally looks over at me. “Their?”

“Ah, You know, I don’t believe in God or that thing- I mean, Simulcia. So what does that make me?”

Adeline opens her mouth to answer, but she can’t. She’s probably lived a very sheltered life... I chuckle before turning to my family once again. “Well, if it isn’t too much trouble, may we stay for lunch.”

“Of course!!! We’ve got plenty of potatoes!”

“Oh… great!”

The Simulcian Colony works day in and day out, using all their mana to produce nutritious crops… mainly potatoes. The crops get sent out to poor areas, so the operation is going full throttle now more than any other time. The potatoes are good, I can’t deny it, but they taste earthy, almost tangy. But they’re moist and rich in mana, so I don’t complain when it’s the only thing I’m served at lunch. The whole town is extremely communal, so everyone is gathered here to eat. There’s about 40 of them living here, all chatting together in small circles as I sit down with Adeline and Marx to eat.

“With respect, we didn’t come here to socialize-” Marx reminds me, glancing around, clearly a little uncomfortable.

“I know, I know, I’m going to ask right now,” I whisper, turning to smile at some of my aunts as they suddenly come and sit down near us. “Hi! So, about this visit-”

“Is this about the Curse in the Heart Kingdom?” one of them cuts me off, already chewing a mouthful of food.

I blink, a little stunned by the quick response. “Kind of… wait, how do you even know about that?”

The aunts share a little look, holding back a chuckle. “You didn’t feel it? My, your human genes are really strong, aren’t they?”

Huh? I repress a frown, a familiar sense of unease permeating my heart. Marx gulps quietly, and Adeline stares at me like I’ve grown another head. They had to bring it up now, didn’t they? Ah- I clear my throat. “So, Simulcians can sense Devil Curses?”

They all nod in unison. “Yes! We just know it’s there, not anything else though.”

“Oh, well…”

I quickly explain the situation to them: the Attack in six months, the Devil Megicula’s link to the Heart Kingdom, and Zagred’s reaction to me. “Hmm… a link between SImulcians and Devils…?” One of my aunts taps her chin as she thinks, her eyes not betraying her inner thoughts. “Well… we wouldn’t know anything about that off the tops of our heads. That would be ancient knowledge… because the last time we would have contacted Devils is during the last opening of the Tree.”

The phrase catches my attention. “Tree? What Tree?”

“The Tree! The Tree of Qliphoth!” Even the name sends an unpleasant shiver down my back. “It was millenia ago… but the channel between this world and the underworld was opened, and Devils reigned destruction upon the Earth!” My other aunts nod along in unison. “However, I don’t think our history went back that far… we didn’t move to our island until after… huh…” Her brow furrows in concentration as I stare in shock, not sure what to make of this new information. The Tree of Qliphoth… that sounds bad. How come I’ve never heard of it before? If Devils really reigned destruction upon the world, that should be big news… unless it was so long ago that it was erased from written memory… and yet…

“So…” I catch the attention of my aunts once I speak again. “You knew that… you’re able to subconsciously delve into Simulcian history, right?” I smile a little, feeling hopeful. “If you remembered something about the Tree, then Simulcians must have been around during its opening, right?”

To my surprise, they shake their heads. “Not necessarily… I thought you would understand by now.” My aunt motions out the door, towards the time square. “Our power comes from our shared consciousness… her consciousness. She broke herself apart, but she still exists in us. In you.” She reaches out and grabs my shoulder. “Your Dyad… a Dyad concentrates the entire consciousness into two people. She was a goddess of fate, and her power concentrated fate into you and Julius…” Her voice trails off as she feels me tense up at the mention of that name. “I’m sorry-”

“No, no, it’s fine!” I shake my head and give her a smile. “Tell me more… do you think I could tap into that history?”

“Maybe…” Her eyes light up. “Maybe, if you get into a Septad, you can uncover the information you seek!”

Uh oh- The last time I entered a Septad, it didn’t end well… You probably remember. Well, if it’s the easiest way to get information…

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

I feel someone tug on my sleeve, and I look down to see Adeline looking up at me with concern. “Um… I don’t really understand what any of you are talking about, but… uh… is this… safe?”

… oh, Adeline… I don’t have any idea.

“Yeah, sure!” I give her a thumbs up. “I’ve done it before, don’t worry!”

Well, that’s not a lie.

Adeline’s worry melts into a smile. A very… cute smile.

She was worried about me…

“Good! I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

My aunts take my hand and drag me away. The rest of them have already stood up, clearing an area in the middle of the room. Six women already stand there, as if they knew what we meant to do. I recognize them immediately- they’re the six Simulcians that I was forced to synchronize with, to form a Septad. Just seeing them, and being close to them… I feel a spark of mana in my forehead, as if it yearned to be together with someone again… anyone. 

“...hi…” I laugh awkwardly as I shed my cloak and pull out my Grimoire. “Can I do it? So I can break it when we’re done.” I don’t expect to get trapped again, but I’m not taking any chances.

The six of them nod all at once, giving me identical smiles. These six were together for years, and now they operate like they’re all one unit. “Ok… let’s go then.”

My Grimoire floats up, and I utter the spell.

“Dyad magic… Septad Creation!”

All at once, our marks start to glow, and I feel the mana start to cycle around. Faster and faster, so fast that it seems to inhabit us all at once. It’s not nearly as powerful as a Dyad, but I still have to plant my feet into the ground and will my hands to keep from shaking. The other's eyes start to glow a whitish-blue, the same light overtaking my own vision. The room melts away, and then-

Darkness.

This place… is really the mind of an ancient goddess? I don’t get it… so she really did exist?

...are you here?

There’s not even a whisper of a soul left. Just an empty mind, pinned here against the tides of time and space, entrusted to a doomed race of people.

But… are there memories here?

The earth quakes, and I feel the bond start to slip.

What?! Already! I’m not that weak, I should be able to last longer than this!

FInally, the tremor stops. 

Good… now… someone…

Show me a Devil.

I’m not sure what I expected to see, but a scene finally fades in. I look around, spotting the setting sun over the mountains to the west. There’s buildings close by, familiar buildings.

This is… Raque?

But, there aren’t any devils here! This is modern day… I need something farther back in time! So-

I’m cut off as I hear a familiar voice.

“Look at it… the sea… it’s so beautiful.”

I turn towards the source, and spot two people sitting in the sand, staring out at the dark waves. The blackness of the water, so deep and mysterious, so cold… just like their identical black eyes.

This is… this…

It’s the Dyad. My grandparents. They sit here, hand in hand, staring at the sea.

What is this… are they supposed to be the Devils? Or is this something completely unrelated-

“Oh! Look!”

My grandmother’s gaze is caught by something to her right. She points, and both my and grandpa look.

“I see…”

A moth flits towards them, riding the sea breeze with delicate grace.

“That’s it then… it’s her.”

A moth… 

Simulcia?

The moth continues its slow approach.

“So… that’s it, then.”

My grandpa’s words echo in my ears. The scene melts away once again.

“Our fate.”

The void begins to shake once again. I try and reach out to the others as they tremble away from me, farther and farther, stretching our link so far it might snap.

Wait! What’s wrong? Why is this hurting you?

I can’t reach them. They disappear, and a blinding light shoots through my body.

I don’t understand… what was that supposed to mean?

I blink, and I’m back in the room with everyone. I almost fall over once my consciousness is restored, but Marx and Adeline catch me. “Oh god! Are you alright?”

“Huh? Yeah!” I nod vaguely in response to Adeline’s question. “I don’t get it though, I…”

My voice trails off as I spot the other six women. 

All of them have fallen to the ground, crumpled into little heaps. And each one of them holds their face in their hands, tears and sobs flowing freely.

I watch in silence, my mind reeling from this sudden turn of events.

Wait… so… the reason the bond was broken was because they were being hurt… not me? But why? 

One of them lets out a shriek, and inhuman, emotionless scream.

Why… w-why…

I know what they saw within me. They saw the void: a deep, insurmountable gap, one that I’m slowly but surely sinking into. A darkness deeper than any on this earth, a cold more piercing than a thousand knives. 

But… I don’t see it.

As long as I keep my sight fixed on the light above… as long as I keep moving forward… I will drag myself out.

So… for now… I won’t look down.

It takes a while for things to settle down, so we just sit awkwardly until the others stop crying and return to normal. “I’m sorry… we ruined that bond,” one of them says, glancing over at me. “I don’t even remember what was so sad… but all at once, I felt like I couldn’t breathe at all.”

“Oh… I-I’m sorry… I don’t know what that was either.” I smile awkwardly and glance at Marx, who still is staring at the ground with a pained expression on his face. Adeline still looks confused. “Well… I guess we shouldn’t try again?”

“I mean, we probably can.” Another one sits up to look at me. “But… we could all feel it; the storm of emotions inside you. You need to learn to quell that storm, to travel to its eye… only within that calm will we be able to fully sink into our consciousnesses.”

I feel a pang of anger. “Quell my storm? I don’t know about that, I think I’ve been handling everything pretty well, considering the circumstances, right Marx?”

There’s no answer. “Marx?” I look over to see him looking like he’s a deer in the headlights. FInally, he shrugs. Great… “ANYWAY- how am I supposed to do that any more than I already am?”

“Meditation!” one of my uncles pipes up. “If you do a little every day, you should be able to clear your subconscious before entering the Septad.”

“Ooh! I meditate all the time!” I look over as Adeline of all people speaks up. “I can teach you, I know I can!”

For some reason, that idea makes me a bit nervous. “Oh…. okay. Well-” I cross my arms and scowl. “I don’t know if it’ll be any help. It kept showing me a scene from just a few years ago, I need something from back when the Tree of Qliphoth was being opened!”

A few of the Simulcians exchange glances before looking at me again. “That might be impossible… you see, no matter how hard we try, it’s still her mind. She only shows us memories she deems important to us.”

“Important to us?! WHy- AH!” My bottled up frustration suddenly bursts out, for just a moment. I ball up my fists under my robe as I keep talking. “I don’t know whether to believe any of this shit anyway… I mean, it all sounds good, but really? A moth goddess is telling me that my grandparents’s little love scene is more important than the DEVILS?!”

My uncle shrugs. “I don’t make the rules… but the sooner you go back, with a clear mind, the sooner it will all be answered.”

I feel a hand on my arm, and once again it’s Adeline, giving me a calming smile. “I got this, okay? When I’m done with you, you’ll be able to do this with no problem!”

…

“You can do this! I know you can. You’re the strongest person I know, after all!”

For some reason, her words do the impossible. I feel a strange… peace within me. For a brief moment, the void ceases to scare me.

“...ok. I’ll do it.” 

I let out a deep sigh before looking back at my family. “Thank you… we’ll be back soon, is that okay?”

“Of course!” They all answer at once, a little enthusiastic. “We can’t wait to see you again!”

“Good!” I manage to smile. “Marx, Adeline… lets go.”

We leave soon after, but those brief moments within the Septad still stick with me. One sentence in particular circles my mind, the soothing, accepting tones of my grandmother’s voice springing up more and more questions in its wake.

“That’s it then… our fate.”

Next time! Chapter 9: the long night. Adeline begins her crash course in meditation, but derails it when she starts talking about the stars. Maybe... maybe there IS something special about her. :)

[cyberramblings]

Kingdom Hearts BBS, DDD Blind Thoughts

Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and earlier titles in the series. Also warning that I have insomnia and these are utter ramblings on the last 24 hours of blindly binging the Kingdom Hearts series as a total newcomer to the series. Haven’t played three yet and just started Dream Drop Distance. With that warning.....

Birth by Sleep was a ton of fun. We ended up needing to grind a little to make Aqua playable, but that ended up forcing me to learn the game mechanics much deeper, and even my friends leveled up their playing of the game! It was really cool to unlock some of the high tier spells like Triple Firaga and Thundaga Shot, although I do wish we had gotten to chance to unlock even more. I should remember how much more fun the game was after some internet research.

It was very satisfying to unlock the true ending so easily. We had only missed 2 of the 12 required Xehanort Reports. The 2 we needed involved grinding the arena for maybe an hour total and then 5 minutes of finding a treasure chest. We were then able to roll smoothly from Aqua’s finish into the final episode.

Aqua’s fight against Braig was laughable easy, but the final fight against Vanitas/Ventus was slightly tougher. The real challenge was fighting Terra/Xehanort but then the REAL challenge was phase 2 of that fight. I got them all on the first try! It was a really enjoyable flex of my gaming skills in front of the friends.

From a story standpoint, Birth By Sleep had my favorite story of any KH game so far, by a huge margin. I liked certain elements of the KH2 ending (Riku and Sora teaming up, Kairi’s keyblade) but BBS has been the only game where I had any sense of purpose or desire to see how it ends. They did a great job of having each of the 3 routes reveal new information even if played out of order (Xehanort taking over Terra, Vanitas having Sora’s face, Aqua taking care of comatose Ventus).

Obviously it helps to have Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill join the cast, plus Aqua’s VA absolutely dominates every scene she’s in. Terra’s VA reminds me a lot of Leon’s monotone edgy boy voice acting (David Boreanaz or otherwise). Of course Ventus shares a VA with Roxas, but the twist of Vanitas being Haley Joel Osmont is really great because he sounds so much older. I think it would have been easier to predict that twist if I had recently heard more of HJO’s Sora voice in Dream Drop Distance or KH3.

Aqua is, of course, the great standout character from BBS. From the start, we got attached to her because of her known prevalence in KH3 on top of her cool design, Arrow voice actress, and the fact that we could finally play a girl (plus one with more human proportions than Kairi). It worked out really well how we saved her for last and had to kind of unlock the secrets of her play style by finally mastering the various gameplay systems.

I much prefer the command deck system compared to the gameplay of KH2. To be fair, these are the only two KH games I’ve beaten. I’ve only barely touched KH1 and Chain of Memories. I felt like BBS did a good job of fusing the action gameplay of KH2 with the (potentially) satisfying deck building of CoM.

Re: Coded is a fucking mess. I might actually go back and play it on a DS emulator just to see the gameplay, but god damn the story is a flimsy excuse for a retread. I almost wish we had skipped it entirely, but just watching the opening and ending worked out pretty well. In the end, it’s literally just “Mickey is gonna give Sora the memories of all the other protagonists” which is badass but probably going to be mentioned again before being relevant. I will say that the ending with Riku and Sora being summoned by Yen Sid for the mark of mastery test is fucking badass and elicited quite the reaction from all three of us. The series is finally starting to have that feeling of “the stakes are high and I want to see what happens with these characters”.

This was expressed most fully in the intro to Dream Drop Distance. Step 1: invoke Disney Magic with a silhouette of magician Mickey. Step 2: Orchestral Simple and Clean. Step 3: use entirely new cinematic footage instead of splicing together an AMB. Step 4: show every keyblade wielder standing side by side. Apparently that’s enough to make me actually cry. We all got very excited by this intro, so it was a bit of a let down to start the game and be seemingly replaying KH1 again.

Of course that’s not the whole game, but I’m still not sure what the whole game is. Riku and Sora have to...wake the seven sleeping worlds to earn their mark of mastery? Are they dreaming all of this, or what? Seeing The World Ends With You was cute for like a second before realizing that I know almost nothing about it. Flowmotion is similarly kinda neat at first but quickly becomes annoying, but maybe it will grow on me with time.

Speaking of fun at first but quickly annoying: Dream Eaters. The Pokémon-esque system seems like a time waster that’s perfect for 3DS but maybe not so much for our tourist play through. The Dream Eater designs are cute when they’re on your team, but strike me as a bit annoying when fighting the same ones over and over. Heartless and Nobodies felt more generic, but that made them feel a little less repetitive to fight over and over. I see the same god damn rainbow colored Panda every god damn fight. To be fair, I think each world randomly contains certain types of Dream Eaters every time you visit it.

Speaking of Worlds, I’m not really looking forward to Hunchback of Notre Dame or Pinocchio world, but at least they’re new worlds instead of retreading Halloween Town, Agrabah, Olympus, Neverland for the millionth time. What I am looking forward to is The Grid from Tron Legacy! I don’t think we’ve seen any Disney world that specifically spotlight a sequel to a Disney world we’ve already seen. We revisit Halloween Town, Agrabah, Beast’s Castle, Olympus, Atlantica but only for some minor follow-up fluff. The Tron world in KH2 meant a lot to me having just seen the film. The Lightcycle combat could’ve been a little more true to the original, but the visuals were so faithful plus having Tron’s actual actor was so fucking cool. Sora and gang getting Tron outfits was so cool too. Also would’ve liked to have a disc fight, but the Sark/MCP fight was spot on. Hopefully we can get both of more in DDD!

It’s a perfect excuse to revisit The Grid since Legacy looks so different from the original. Now, The Grid is not a true world in KH2 but instead part of Hollow Bastion’s computer system. I’m curious if The Grid in DDD is a sleeping world or something that exists within another world, or if it is somehow connected to the KH2 Tron world (which would get real weird real quick if that version of the Grid is a copy of the original, but Legacy is supposed to be set in The Grid 30 years later).

Oh, I like that DDD has the command deck system but I don’t like the pets, I don’t like the link system, I don’t like reality shift, and I don’t like flowmotion. It just seems like BBS with all the RPG features crammed into the pet system with a bunch of gimmick infused into the combat system. Admittedly, gimmick is one of the biggest strengths of the KH franchise, but flowmotion just seems silly. Perhaps I’ll like it more when I get used to it and potentially get to customize the moves.

I’m not sure yet how I feel about the drop system, but I do like getting to play as Riku. I think multiple protagonists is a smart way to stretch the assets and tell 2 stories per world. I rather enjoyed the way Aqua, Terra, and Ventus interacted with some of the Disney worlds. Hopefully we get something similar in some of these worlds.

The dive mini game is definitely gimmicky nonsense clearly designed for the 3DS. In general though, all the games in these collections look great and feel great. I suppose that is why Days, Coded, and Back Cover are cutscenes: to keep the average quality of gameplay roughly somewhere in between KH1 and 2 between all the titles. In fact, I think KH1 is easily the worst feeling out of all the ones thus far. I’ve always complained about KH hopping between systems, but now I can’t really complain about that anymore. My complaint still stands about the games being overly complicated. Plus, the games are clearly taking themselves way too seriously, but that’s very clearly part of the charm.

Really, I suppose the games aren’t that complicated if you heavily condense Chain of Memories, cut out Coded, and try not to think too hard about the phone games. Then it just becomes: Sora defeats the heartless, Sora defeats the nobodies, Roxas backstory, Aqua/Terra/Ventus, training/prep montage, then KH3. Oh, and try to forget that somehow the upcoming rhythm game is canon.

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2020 - April

April was a strange reading month for me, on the one hand I read 10 books which is double my average 5-6 books a month! On the other I completely failed to read my OWLs Magical Readathon tbr... I did manage to read books that worked for the prompts but they weren’t the books I meant to read. Oops!

(Once again I haven’t proof read this and I’ll just apologise in advance for any mistakes, I’m lazy...)

OWLS Magical Reathon: Hogwarts Professor (what subject I specialise in will depend on the NEWTS...)

Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #6, Witches #1)

OWLS: History of Magic

I loved reading Wyrd Sisters, it was so much fun! Pratchett retold Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the witches view point, but with his usual satirical twist. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick shine through the narrative, offering a no nonsense, ridiculous, and lovable take on witchcraft (or headology) as worked to protect Lancre from Duke and Duchess Felmet after they assassinated King Verence.

The Shakespeare references, puns, and reworkings in this book was sublime! I had a great time picking them out and watching as the acting company performed the most ridiculous versions of Shakespeare’s greatest works. I adored the witches - which was a bit surprising. I’d gone into this thinking I’d dislike the Witches sub-series after reading Equal Rites a couple of years ago (to this day it is my least favourite Discworld book...) However, Granny Weatherwax is a very different character here and the story is so separate from the narrative in Equal Rites that I refuse to see this book as the second installment in the Wtiches sub-series. I’d highly recommed reading Wyrd Sisters, and it would be a fantastic place to start with Pratchett if you like retellings and/or Shakespeare!

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon, trans. by J.R.R. Tolkien

OWLS: Potions

I enjoyed this translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tolkien’s style and tone suits this style of poetry (would you call it epic? It’s more of a romance...) Tolkien brought the story in Sir Gawain to life for me, in a way I’ve never experienced in other versions I’ve read. I fell in love with this simple tale from Arthurian Legend, which I’ve never done before... It’s beautiful, simple, and captivating. I would highly recommend reading this edition if you’re interested in Sir Gawain. 

The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #27, Rincewind and the Wizards #7)

OWLs: Astronomy

This is a book of two halves for me. The story itself is a bit too simple for my tastes... We see Cohen the Barbarian (the only Discworld character I actually hate) heading towards the Hub to return fire to the gods, however, Ankh-Morpork sends a party afte him to prevent him from destroying the Disc. This party was hilarious: Rincewind, the Librarian, Leonard of Quirrm, and Captain Carrot Ironfounderson all confined to a tiny ‘spaceship’... This was not a combination of characters I ever expected to see and their personalities, particularly Carrot and Rincewind, created several spectacularly ridiculous moments I loved! But the plot itself wasn’t great, I was expecting a bit more from Pratchett at this stage in in the Discworld.

However, the artwork in this book was stunning! It worked so well to elevate the story, I couldn’t help but love it... If the artwork hadn’t been included this book would have been a lot weaker... It’s hard to rate the book because of this, but I did really enjoy it (and hopefully this will be the last time I have to read about Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde.) Also, look up Rincewind as The Scream, it’s brilliant!

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

OWLs: Arithmancy

I usually don’t read essays for pleasure, nonfiction has been relegated to academic pursuits for the last 5ish years... Yet, this classic (I’m calling it a classic, everyone should read it) essay from Adichie was incredibly powerful. It emphasised the importance of feminism to non-western/European women and highlighted how important and beneficial feminism is for everyone. It’s a really important piece for people to read and I’d highly recommend finding the audiobook, or a reading, done by Adichie as her passion for the subject shines through her words.

Beren and Luthien - J.R.R. Tolkien (Middle Earth)

OWLs: Transfiguration

I ADORED Beren and Luthien, it was the best book I’ve read all month. I was expecting to dislike this book because of it’s formatting. It’s told through several fragmentary versions of Beren’ and Luthien’s romance that at Tolkien wrote throughout his life. Christopher Tolkien edited together 5 or 6 (maybe?) manuscripts along with his own commentary, introduction, and parts of the Earendil story to give us a fleshed out picture of Tolkien’s greatest romance. Unlike The Fall of Gondolin, which I read earlier this year, the format worked beautifully for Beren and Luthien, probably because the different versions that have survived were incredibly different and more complete.

I was feeling a bit so-so about this collection until we started seeing the Lay of Leithian (sp?) woven in between a few prose versions of the tale. The verse in the Lay of Leithian was gorgeous, it was beautiful, etherial, and passionate. I actually cried reading a few sections from it, such as the end of Felagund’s part in the tale. It was such a shame Tolkien never finished the Lay as it probably would have been his best work within the Middle Earth legend. It was captivating and the poetry suited the tone and style of Beren and Luthien’s story. The verse would have made the final acts of Luthien in the Halls of Mados exquisite, poignant, and heartbreakingly tragic.

I cannot love this book more - it might be my favourite in Middle Earth, knocking The Silmarillion off the top spot... But, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for everyone. If you’re a Tolkien fanatic then I’d consider this a must read, it contains Tolkien’s most beautiful writing along with his most tragic romance! If you’re only mildly interested in Middle Earth then I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.

The Children of Earth and Sky - Guy Gavriel Kay

OWLs: Charms

The Children of Earth and Sky was an incredibly read, it’s a powerful but understated historical fantasy set in a world based on (I presume) renaissance Italy and the Ottoman Empire at its height. There’s not a vast amount of story here, however, the character work, world building, and thematic discussion around history, religion, the ability of an individual to change the fate of nations, corruption of power, and so much more, was stunning. It was a beautiful study of characters and cultures, which was complimented by Kay’s sumptuous writing style. This was a gorgeous read! 

My biggest criticism is for the romances, Kay had 4 main characters - two men and two women - and rather predictably they ended up in relationships by the end of the novel... The relationship between Danica and Marin did make more sense to me by the end of the book than the relationship between Leonora and Pero. However, both were a bit instalove-y and could have done with more development.

Nevertheless, I’d highly recommend this book! It would be an excellent read for people who aren’t fantasy fans as the fantastical elements are minor. The focus is on the historical influences, themes, and character development. It’s an excellent standalone fantasy book and I’m excited to read more of Kay’s work in the future.

The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare

OWLs: Divination

Most of what I could say about The Merchant of Venice has already been said before. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is incredibly problematic (I haven’t got the time or energy to go into why, but there are literally thousands of books, essays and blogposts about this, go forth and read if you want more details), the relationship between Portia and Bassanio makes NO sense, and I cannot believe that ending means anyone is going to be happy...

However, this play has a certain charm that I loved. I couldn’t help but like the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio, Portia and Nerissa are darlings, and I had fun reading the wacky plotline and (yet more) crossdressing shenanigans going on in here! I think most of my enjoyment came from the RSC version I watch alongside the play (currently availbale on Marquee TV). Either way, I’m happy to have read the play AT LAST and be one play closer to my goal of reading every Shakespeare play!

Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb (Farseer #1, Realm of the Elderlings #1)

OWLs: Defence Against the Dark Arts

We all know how I feel about Robin Hobb and the Realm of the Elderlings. I adore this world, Fitz and the Fool are (probably) the best written characters in fantasy and two of my all time favourites! I reread this for the Elderlingalong (that I somehow missed...), which gave me the perfect excuse to pick up the new 25th Anniversary edition with the GORGEOUS illustrations from Magali Villeneuve. I had a wonderful time rereading this and if you’re a fan of Hobb and you haven’t seen the work this book already you MUST get your hands on it ASAP. 

Non-OWLs books

The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time #12)

I wrote WAY to much to include it on this long list of books... I’ll post my thoughts on The Gathering Storm separately. 

Conclusion of my ramblings: I really liked it, there were flaws in Sanderson’s writing and treatment of some characters (Mat in particular), however, it was a really good installment in the series! Sanderson really impressed me and I’m slightly nervous and very excited to read the last two books in the series!

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #1)

I’ve already put up a lot of my thoughts on my latest read of The Fellowship of the Ring here. I really loved rereading this book (as I always do), I had a lot of new thoughts, and I gained a new appreciation of Boromir and Tolkien’s poetry. My annotation reread will continue in the near future with The Two Towers - I just need to clear a few urgent reads off my shelves first!

Currently Reading

Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend

Buddy read book! I’ve actually finished this at time of posting but I’m trying to give an accurate view of my April reading!

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers

I was supposed to read this for Arithmancy, but I didn’t get round to it... I’ve also finished this one early this month.

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Another buddy read with @towerofleeza​! We’re not the best at reading this at the same time (sorry dear!) but I think we’re both loving it, I certainly am!

Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett

I couldn’t help myself I needed more of the Witches! I’ve also finished this one at time of posting this and enjoyed it.

[timehealsfanfictionbka]

Time Heals.....Chapter Forty

“Bajan Girl.”

Robyn smiled as she pressed speaker on her work phone, “Yes Christopher.”

“What you doing?”

“Working. You?”

“Planning a vacation.”

“Vacation? To where?”

“To wherever you want to go.”

“What?”

“So the girls told me that you normally take off work between Christmas and New Years and I was thinking for our first one as a family we should travel.”

“But who said I wanted to travel with you?”

“Keep playing and I’ma show up at your office and teach you a lesson.”

“Don’t tempt me, Baby.”

“You bad.”

“You like it.”

“I do but seriously, we should travel together. It doesn’t even have to be for a long time, just a few days.”

“I mean it is kind of early for something like this.”

“We’ll have the girls there to keep it very PG but I think it’d be good to get away from here for a while. If going away together seems too big of a deal, just forget it.”

“No, I just need to get out of my head a little bit. I think Italy would be good.”

“Italy? That’s unexpected.”

“Honestly, I've just always wanted to go and since you offering-”

“I’m down for that, you don’t have to explain.”

“I do think Italy might be a little adult for the girls though.”

“So you want it to be me and you?”

“If you want.”

“Baby Girl, I very much want.”

Robyn giggled, “what else you doing today?”

“Relaxing. It’s a Friday and the girls have a sleepover this weekend.”

“I completely forgot about that.”

“I figured. We should have a sleepover too.”

“Why? We aren’t gonna sleep.”

“Oh so that’s what we doing.”

Robyn laughed, “stop it.”

“Seriously, I want you to come see my room. All my furniture came and the pool table did too.”

“I will come over if you will teach me how to play pool.”

“And what I gotta do for you to stay?”

“I don’t know. Depends on you.’

“You gonna give me that kind of power?”

“I trust you.”

“Now that’s a woman after my own heart. How’s work going?”

“It’s going ok. I blocked off some time this morning to work and things have moved pretty smoothly. Then again it is a Friday, half the office isn’t here.”

“So why are you?”

“I like the peace and quiet. Most people here have a four day week except for the executives and me.”

“Are you allowed to cut out early?”

“Are you asking me to play hooky with you?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Can you leave early?”

“Yea,. So is that a yes?”

“I didn’t drive today so you’re gonna have to pick me up.”

“I will be there, lunch in hand.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. I’ll be there in a little bit. Finish up what you can and we’ll leave when I get there.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Don’t do that.”

Robyn laughed, “see you in a little while then.”

“Yup. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

They hung up.  Robyn looked over at the clock on her wall and dialed her boss’s extension. After a few moments, he picked up, “hello?”

“Hey Mr. Roberts.”

“Ms. Fenty, how are you?”

“I’m doing well and yourself?”

“I’m good. How can I help you?”

“I was wondering if I could leave a little early. I’m finishing out the Alnum report and was thinking of leaving after that.”

“That’s fine with me. Was wondering when you were gonna start taking advantage of your executive privileges.”

“Not much waiting at home to be leaving early especially with my daughters in school all day.”

“So there’s a reason now?”

“Possibly.”

Mr. Roberts chuckled, “hopefully we get to meet him someday. Are you attending the office Christmas party?”

“My usual check in will be happening.”

“Maybe you can bring your significant other this year.”

“I will make the suggestion.”

“Good. Enjoy your weekend, Ms. Fenty.”

“Thank you. You as well.”

Robyn hung up the phone and returned her attention to the report on her computer screen.

  Chris walked as quietly as he could as he noticed that Robyn’s office door was open. He smiled as he watched her flip through a large binder and highlight something on a few pages. He carefully leaned against the door frame before knocking on the wall, “you not working too hard are you?”

Robyn looked and laughed, “no, I’m not. You got here fast.”

She got up and went over to hug him then pecked his lips, “I wasn’t expecting you for another thirty minutes.”

“I wouldn’t make you wait that long. I would’ve been here sooner but I got you something to eat,” he replied as he lifted up a large brown bag, “in the mood for barbecue?”

“Oh you remembered. Babe,” Robyn cooed softly.

Chris smiled as he grabbed her hand and they went to sit on her couch, “I was surprised the place was still open but I figured you’d like it.”

“I love it. I haven’t been there in forever.”

“Why?”

“Just never had the time besides they’re normally closed when I get off work.”

“Oh. Well, I figured we’d eat here so it doesn’t get cold.”

“That’s fine. I have some plates and stuff we can use since they usually pack everything in catering pans. Was your boss ok with you leaving early?”

“She was fine with it. I think you really charmed her at that museum gala, she asks about you all the time.”

“Really? She really is a beautiful woman. Is she married?”

“Divorced but I’ve seen a couple men come to see her at the office sometimes. Probably dating around.”

“That’s good.”

“And your boss?”

“He was ok with it. Kind of happy I’m actually using some of my time, I guess.”

“You really never take off?”

“Nope. Every once in a while, I’ll work from home but I’m never not working. Even if I miss a day, I’ll come in on the weekend to catch up.”

“You don’t think that’s a bit much. You don’t wanna burn yourself out.”

“No but I’m not that worried about it. Alright Baby Daddy, what did you bring me to eat?”

“Ribs, collard greens, mac n cheese, chicken and cornbread.”

“All my favorites. I just might keep you around.”

“I always knew I could get you with food”

“And keep me with – never mind.”

Chris raised his brow and Robyn laughed, “just because you laughed, I know you were gonna say what I think you were gonna say. And you talk about me.”

“I at least have the decency to not say it.”

“Whatever Ms. Fenty.”

“So, did you set up your furniture or they just delivered?”

“Everything is set up. I did get that California King Mahogany bed you suggested.”

“Have you slept in it yet?”

“Waiting on you.”

“Christopher.”

“I will not sleep in that bed until we break in it and I don’t mean sex wise even though I’m not opposed to the idea.”

Robyn laughed, “why you being so stubborn about this?”

“Because it signifies a new start and I want you to be there for it. I’ve already put whatever clothes you have at my house in the closet now I just need you to put your stamp on the place and everything will be complete.”

“You sure do have a way with words.”

“And other things.”

“And other things. Speaking of other things, this trip to Italy we were discussing earlier.”

“I have a travel agent on standby so it depends on what you want to do. They have small villas for rent or we could do a hotel suite, which might be a bit more convenient but not as private.”

“If we do this trip alone, we’re gonna have to do a trip with the girls too.”

“Already thought about it. We should go to Disney, I think they’d love it.”

“Disney Land or Disney World?”

“Whichever one they want. I might have to concede on some things since they’re not going to Italy with us.”

“They are gonna be so spoiled.”

“It’s a vacation, that’s the time to spoil them. We’ve been through a lot in the last year or so.”

“That’s true. So I’m thinking we do a hotel suite especially since it’s our first time going.”

Chris pulled out his phone and pulled up the notepad, “so hotel suite. Do you wanna plan some things to do or just wing it?”

“I think we should wing it. We might get there and not want to do anything but relax. I think we should keep our options open.”

“Great. How many days?”

“Five should be good.”

“Business or First?’

“Business.”

“Interesting, definitely would’ve pegged you for First Class.”

“Never really liked first class for some reason.”

“Eh, that’s understandable. I’ll send my agent this information and we’ll see what we get back.”

“We can split it 50/50.”

“We’re not splitting anything 50/50. My treat and I’m not arguing about it either.”

“Well excuse me.”

“You’re excused.”

Robyn scoffed and pushed his shoulder, “you getting too comfortable telling me what to do.”

“It’s for your own good. This is a relationship, I am not letting you pay for any part of our vacation. It was my idea so it’s my treat.”

“And if I had suggested it, would you let me pay?”

“Nope.”

“Chris.”

“What? You should’ve known the answer to that. Even as children did I ever let you pay for anything?”

“No. Even on your birthday, you’d slip money in my bag for however much you thought the gift costs.”

“I take care of you even though I know you can take care of yourself. It works for us, ok?”

“It’s not ok but I’m not gonna argue with you about it.”

“Thank you. Now eat up so I can get you out of here and we can play pool.”

“You never did tell me about your random thought that led to the pool table.”

“It’s not important. Eat, Ms. Fenty.”

“I’m eating. I’m eating.”

Chris smiled over at her as he gently squeezed her leg, “I love you, you know that.”

“I know.”

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

 “You sure you wanna play pool in that?” Chris asked as he gave her outfit a once over. She was still dressed in her skirt suit and heels from work.

“It’s fine. I’ll just take my jacket off.”

“Ok.”

She walked around to the back of the room and grabbed a pool stick and the chalk square off the rack, “you had this room set up pretty quickly. I wasn’t expecting all of this.”

He had also brought a multi-game table that transformed into air hockey and other games with removable tops.

“Well I did want it to be a game room and you can’t just have pool in here. I would’ve gotten an arcade game but I thought it would be too much besides a lot of them come in disc form and can be used with one of the game consoles I got.”

“Where you been hiding all this stuff anyway? Nice TV too.”

“Thanks. It was still packed up in the garage.”

“Oh. So how do we start?”

Chris grabbed the pool triangle, set it in the bottom third of the table and organized the pool balls inside. Once that was done, he grabbed a pool stick and stood beside Robyn, “you wanna try and break?”

“You can do it.”

“Ok, once I do, whichever goes in the pocket first is mine.”

“Ok.”

He rolled the pool triangle a bit before removing it from the table and placing the cue ball down. Getting into position, he leaned over and hit the cue ball with force, knocking two solid-colored balls into the right corner pocket, “I’m solid. You’re stripes. If you make a shot, you continue until you miss one then it’s the other person’s turn.”

He leaned over and hit the cue ball again at a 45-degree angle, it spun and hit a striped ball, it skidded to a stop right before it hit the middle pocket. Chris scoffed, “it's your turn, Robs.”

“Ok, how do I do this?”

“Now this is why I suggested you change clothes. Is your skirt tight?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Ok. So come stand in front of me, I’m gonna adjust your body positioning a little.”

Robyn moved to stand in front of him and Chris shifted her hips a bit, “Now bend over slightly, you might have to step back a little further to compensate for the heels.”

Robyn bent forward and Chris pressed his hand against her stomach to stop her when he felt she was appropriately positioned. He then shifted her legs to widen a bit so her back was straight and not arched, “you comfortable?”

“I’m good.”

“Ok, now place your pool stick near the white cue ball, you must hit that ball first for your shot to count, ok?”

“Yup.”

“Now which ball do you want to hit?”

She gestured the striped ball that was already in the mouth of the middle pocket.

“I want you to turn your body to face that ball but keep the same positioning. Wide stance. Straight back.”

“Ok,” Robyn moved a bit, “Am I good?”

“Perfect. Now you can take your shot. Just use a little bit of force, it’s not a far distance to the pocket and you wanna keep the cue ball on the table. Just tap it enough to hit the striped ball in.”

Robyn cocked the pool stick back a bit then pushed forward, tapping the cue ball. It hit the striped ball causing it to fall into the pocket. She stood up and pecked his lips, “how was that?”

“That was perfect. You’re a quick study.”

“I got a good teacher.”

“Thank you. It’s your turn again. How about we try something a bit more difficult?”

“Let’s do it.”

Robyn watched as he walked around the table looking for a more difficult shot. He stopped at the right corner pocket, “how about we try to hit that one into the left corner pocket opposite of me?”

Robyn scrunched up her face, “I don’t know, that seems a bit too advanced.”

“You can do it. I have faith in you.”

She laughed as she walked over to him, “Ok but if I miss, I still get another turn.”

“You have my word.”

“Ok, show me how to do this.”

Chris pressed his hand to his chin then leaned down to get eye level with the table. Robyn leaned back to look at his butt, “you gaining some weight, Christopher?”

“Muscle. Not fat.”

“Your ass looks nice.”

Chris popped up, “Robyn.”

She laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “I just saying you got a nice butt.”

“Don’t start being weird.”

“I’m not being weird, I’m just saying you have a nice butt. There’s nothing weird about that.”

“Uh huh.”

“Look, you lucky I just said and didn’t just smack your ass, I was thinking about doing that.”

“Stop it and pay attention.”

“Then stop bendig over in front of me.”

“You are not gonna start treating me like a bitch in here. Flirting all aggressive and shit.”

Robyn laughed, “I haven’t started flirting yet but I can.”

“No.”

“You scared of me, Christopher?”

“I am not scared of anything or anybody.”

Robyn lifted her brow, “you sure?”

“Positive.”

“You willing to bet on it?”

“I don’t have to. We’re supposed to be playing pool.”

“Well, I wanna play something else.”

“And what’s that?”

“Foreplay.”

Chris turned to look at her as she set the pool stick on the table, “you know I didn’t bring you home early for this?’

“I know but I also know we were gonna get to this point eventually so why not just speed things up”

Chris smirked, “well since you in such a confident mood, let’s see what you got.”

“Is this a competition because you know I can make you nut hard and fast?”

“You can try.”

Robyn chuckled, “you’re funny.”

“And you’re horny.”

“You got that right.”

Robyn leaned down to take off her shoes but Chris stopped her, “Nah, leave them on but you can get rid of everything else.”

Robyn unzipped her black Chanel skirt and tugged her white silk peasant blouse out of it as the skirt fell to the floor. Her shirt hem skimmed the top of her thighs as she leaned against the pool table, “you taking anything off?”

Chris pulled his cashmere sweater over his head then pulled off the t-shirt he was wearing underneath, tossing both onto the pool table. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants but stopped before pulling them down. Robyn pouted, “why’d you stop?”

“I want you to finish.”

Robyn smiled as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. She walked over to him and pressed against his front, “you sure about that?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. How tall are your heels?”

“4.5 inches. Why?’

“Just wondering. I like them.”

“Thanks. I have a red pair too, you should see them some time.”

“Oh, I plan to but first-” Chris leaned forward to kiss her as he felt her body’s warmth through his dress pants. He could feel his dick hardening so he knows she felt it too. Robyn pulled back and then squatted down, placing her face level with his pelvis, “maybe we should let him come out and play.” She pulled down his pants then ran her fingernail along his hardened member that was being held in place by his underwear, “why do you always wear boxer briefs?”

“If I didn’t, he’d be sitting and rubbing against my thigh all day. Not a comfortable feeling.”

“Hmph, you’d probably give everybody in your office an eyeful too.”

“That is true.”

She smiled up at him as she gingerly pulled his underwear down. Chris toed off his shoes and kicked his pants and underwear to the side, “you gonna finish undressing?”

“In a minute. I want to do something first.”

She ran her nails along the thick vein on the underside of his appendage and giggled when the muscle jumped. “You’re sensitive. I like that,” she whispered as she started tracing the minor veins underneath the skin. Chris gripped the side of the pool table and bit down on his lip. She held it in her open palm and weighed it a bit, “it’s heavy. You ever measure it?”

“11 and a half.”

“Oooh.”

“Robyn, why are you playing with me?”

“Both times we had sex was manic and crazy, I never really got to look at it but it’s really pretty. Nice even color. Weighty and thick. Damn near perfect, I think.”

“Do I get to look at you too?”

“If you want. I told you I wanted foreplay, never mentioned intercourse.”

“Foreplay for how long?”

“Depends on how long you can hold out.”

“You wanna test it?”

“That’s what I asked for. Can I continue my fun, please?”

Chris chuckled, “have at it.”

She closed her hand around it and started stroking him gently, stopping her hand right underneath the head. It was a slight, barely noticeable darker color than the shaft but it was smooth and heavy as well. Her strokes got faster as he got harder and started to notice his hips lift a bit from the pool table. She kept going until she saw that first spurt of pre-cum start to fall on her forearm. Her eyes shifted up as her mouth opened and she took him into her mouth.

“Holy Shh…” He gritted out as she immediately gripped him with the tightest mouth suction he had ever felt. She took him out of her mouth with a pop before taking in a deep breath and slipping him back in. He swore he could feel the back of her throat and not once did she start to gag. Robyn’s other hand slid between her legs and she rubbed her clit. She started moaning, the vibrations in her throat tingling the head of his appendage and Chris banged on the pool table. He didn’t want to cum in her mouth but he also didn’t want her to think he was surrendering. Considering how spontaneous their last sexual excursions were, foreplay had never happened between them. A part of him was glad because apparently Robyn was dangerous with her mouth.

“Robs,” he murmured, “you gotta stop.”

She shook her head, the head of his dick hit both sides of her mouth and he groaned.

“Robs, you gotta stop. Don’t make me make you.”

She shifted her eyes back up to him and glared. Before she could blink, Chris grabbed her under both arms and sat her on the pool table. His dick slapped against his thigh as it forced from her mouth and rebounded to standing up straight.

“I told you about playing with me.”

“I wasn’t playing, Christopher. You’re ruining my fun.”

“You were having a bit too much fun by yourself to suit me.”

“Whatever.”

“Take your shirt off.”

“You do it.”

“I’m gonna rip it.”

“And you’re gonna pay for it.”

“Fine.”

He gripped the middle of her cleavage and pulled the shirt open at the buttoned seam. He fell off her shoulders and Robyn tugged her arms out of the sleeve, “that was a hundred dollar shirt”

“So. Lay back.”

“No.”

Chris raised his brow as he shoved the remaining balls of the table and gently pushed her back for her to lay flat, “why you gotta be so damn difficult?”

“Why are you taking so long to subdue me?”

“Oh, that’s how it is.”

“Exactly how it is.”

Chris grabbed her legs and tugged her down until her butt hit the raised lip of the pool table. He looked between her legs then up at her face, “no panties?”

“Crotch-less.”

Chris gave her a look of mild disbelief and Robyn laughed, “stop being stupid. It’s not that surprising.”

“What? I’m shocked.”

“Chris.”

He leaned up and kissed her lips, setting her legs onto his shoulders. With his hands now free, he unclasped the front clasp of her bra, the lacy piece of clothing fell away from and Robyn lifted her arms out of the straps, “I’m still mad you got rid of your piercings.”

“You can pay for them to be re-pierced because that’s the only way it’s gonna happen.”

“Can I watch?”

“Yes, you can. Freak.”

Chris chuckled as he moved to suck her nipple into his mouth. Robyn groaned as she felt his tongue flicker over her skin. He spent a few more moments on her left breast before placing a kiss on her ribcage and moving to her right. He felt her squirm a bit more, “you’re sensitive.”

“And you play too much.”

“How you want foreplay but rushing me through it?”

“Because you’re torturing me and I can’t just pick you up like you did me.”

Chris laughed then kissed her, “I wanna treasure this. Just bare with me.”

“If I don’t come apart first.”

“I’ll put you back together,” he replied with a wink.

He moved his hands to pull her underwear off. He tossed the scrap of lace behind him and spread her legs as wide as they could go. He slid his finger down the middle of her lips and she gasped. She was soaking wet. Chris held her lips open as his thumb strummed her clit. Her hips lifted and Chris pressed them back down using his forearms on her thighs. He leaned down and licked from the bottom to her clit with flat of his tongue. Robyn hissed loudly as she dragged her nails against the velvet top of the pool table, “Oh God.”

“You like that?”

“Again.”

Chris did it again and Robyn moaned loudly. He did another two times and her legs quivered. Chris slurped the wetness that was coming out even as he felt Robyn pushing on his shoulders. He stood up as his fingers continued playing in her wetness, “you know what, Babe?”

“What?”

“You got a pretty pussy.”

Robyn giggled, “you know what, Babe?”

“What?”

“I’d rather you’d keep eating it than look at it.”

“Well then, hold on.”

[elijahrosefanclub]

Just imagine Elijah proposing to Isaiah at midnigh (at new years)

tHE LONG-AWAITED RESPONSE TO THIS PROMPT (which i love and think is super cute): it got a little long so i’m putting in a cut but here it is on ao3!

my new year’s resolution is you (2k words)

New Year’s Eve is probably Eli’s favorite day of the year, in all honesty, and there’s a very simple reason why. For at least six hours, every year, usually around midnight, he is pretty much guaranteed no bullshit. Everyone is busy partying and drinking, and while that might cause problems for the LAPD, it is so out of Eli’s jurisdiction. And that means that New Year’s Eve is the one night a year when Eli is not awake to see the clock tick over from 11:59 to 12:00. In fact, it’s the one night a year when he always gets over six hours of sleep.

It’s fucking fantastic.

There’s a yearly Vindicators party, and his routine is that he goes when it’s early, when the party is just starting and all the snacks are still well stocked, and he has precisely one glass of champagne and then leaves and is generally in bed by ten PM.

Once he and Isaiah had moved in together, she’d changed her own routine a bit— for the last couple of years, she’s always been home by midnight. At one point, he had asked why, and she’d responded that this way, she gets to start the new year with him even if they’re both sleeping. Actually, especially if they’re both sleeping, because hopefully that’ll be a sign of how the new year is going to go.

(It’s a running half-joke between them, how little they each sleep. Isaiah always gets caught up in one thing or another, and Eli finds it hard to step away from Mission Control even when he’s personally vetted the entire night shift and found them competent. Half-joke because they know it’ll catch up to them eventually, but that day hasn’t arrived yet and it might not arrive until retirement. So for now, they’re fine.)

It’s been eight minutes since Isaiah texted that she was on her way back. Normally, Eli wouldn’t have seen the text— it’s about eleven-forty, and usually he charges his phone at night in the kitchen to avoid sitting in bed watching security feeds of Mission Control on his phone. (There’s a landline in the bedroom in case someone actually needs to contact him at night and by some miracle he’s not already at work.) But tonight, he is ready and waiting. Isaiah should be back by eleven-fifty, and then he only has ten minutes to kill until midnight.

He wants it to be obvious that he’s still awake, because Isaiah’s years as a super mean that her fight-or-flight response is very well developed and tends toward ‘fight’. So surprises are bad. To that end, he’s made sure that the lights are on and there’s some music playing. 

He is ready.

Unfortunately, now it’s 11:43, and he has a lot of time in which to do nothing. And he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little nervous— well, not nervous, per se. More like, he’s anticipatory. And also nervous because unknowns, no matter how probable a certain outcome is, always make him nervous.

Sometimes Eli wonders why he decided to go into managing superheroes instead of, like, accounting.

Regardless, he is here now, and he’d rather be here than in the financial department of some faceless corporation, so here he’ll stay.

But he’s going to make some hot chocolate. 

There is a right way, a wrong way, and a desperate way to make hot chocolate. The right way is on the stove with actual chocolate and milk. The wrong way is with chocolate syrup. The desperate way is with cocoa powder or a hot chocolate mix. Eli doesn’t disapprove of the desperate way, not really, but he avoids it when he can. That’s why it’s called the desperate way.

That’s also why he’s melting chocolate discs in a double boiler at 11:48 PM. Eli likes hot chocolate because he doesn’t like sweetened coffee or tea, but he needs something to fill the void of 'dessert beverages’, and over the years hot chocolate has become his go-to drink when he doesn’t need caffeine and herbal tea just isn’t cutting it.

Besides, it would be presumptuous to open a bottle of champagne now. And it would go flat.

He’s just started pouring in the milk when he hears a key in the lock and the front door swings open. It’s 11:51. And it takes everything in Eli to not immediately stop what he’s doing and freeze like he’s just been caught red-handed stealing. 

Okay, so he’s a little more nervous than he thought he was. Whatever. He can deal.

He keeps pouring the milk, focusing intensely on the stove, and looks up once he hears Isaiah’s footsteps stop in the doorway to the kitchen. “How was the party?”

She’s leaning on the doorframe, her green scarf still around her neck, smiling in the sort of way that makes Eli think (correctly, because he’s spent a lot of time seeing how her face changes) that she doesn’t know she’s doing it. “It was good. I was worried that Elliot might feel awkward since he hasn’t been with us for very long, but I think he’s found his niche on the team. Also, he can seriously hold his liquor.”

“There is pretty much nothing that would surprise me less,” Eli says drily. “Nothing blew up?”

Isaiah laughs and steps away from the doorframe. “No, we save that for when you’re around.” She approaches the stove and puts her chin on Eli’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. “So what are you doing up so late? Ooh, hot chocolate." 

"Well, I haven’t been awake for midnight on New Year’s Eve since before we met. I figured it would be nice to actually stay up with you. And the hot chocolate is… it’s honestly just because.”

“Hmm.” She’s silent for a few moments, and then she says, “Are you distracting yourself so you don’t obsess about whether anything’s happening in LA that might need the Vindicators?”

“That’s entirely possible?” Which it is, technically. Even if Eli has never been less focused on the Vindicators than he is at the present moment. He can let Isaiah think that’s why he’s making hot chocolate at almost midnight.

She shifts a little bit and he feels a kiss on his jaw. “I understand that. But if anything happens, Tanis will probably know before you do.”

“What? Why?”

“Her phone isn’t fifteen feet away from her and she has the same news alerts set up that you do.”

That’s fair. 

The chocolate and milk look pretty evenly mixed at this point, so Eli turns off the stove. “How long until midnight?”

“It’s 11:56.”

Okay. Four minutes to kill. He can do this.

He turns around to grab mugs from the cabinet, but Isaiah’s already pulling two down from the top shelf, and some neuron fires in Eli’s brain to remind him that the ring is still tucked behind his ties in the bedroom and he has four minutes and he somehow has to get it and bring it back here without Isaiah noticing.

Hmm.

He carefully pours the hot chocolate from the pot into the mugs (no matter how careful he is about it, it’s still probably the scariest thing he does regularly, including walking into the super training facility without checking to see if anyone is practicing projectile warfare), sets the pot back down on the stove and covers it, hands one mug to Isaiah, and says, “I’ll be right back, I’m going to grab a sweater.”

Problem solved. Also, the extra layer of the sweater means that it’ll be harder for Isaiah to tell immediately if he has anything in his pockets.

On his way out of the kitchen, he checks his phone where it’s charging on the counter. 11:58. Okay. Cutting it a little close, but he can do this. 

Eli tries very hard not to visibly speedwalk out of the kitchen, but once he’s safely in the hallway, he jogs as quietly as he can into the bedroom, grabs the first sweater he sees, tosses it over his arm, pulls out the ring and stuffs it in his pocket, and then heads back down the hallway to the kitchen while putting the sweater on.

When he returns, Isaiah is studiously covering her hot chocolate with marshmallows, and she says, “We’ve got like thirty seconds until midnight. Ready?”

“So ready.” In more ways than one.

He grabs his hot chocolate and sets it down next to hers, and like he thought, she’s got a clock pulled up on her phone counting down the seconds until midnight. Twenty seconds. 

Wow. Fucking years, and now all he’s got is twenty seconds. The anticipation honestly might kill him. (But that would be an incredibly stupid way to die, and above all things, Eli abhors dying in stupid ways.)

Fifteen.

He has to time this right if he wants to do it at exactly midnight. This is something Eli has known all along, but now his brain is positively yelling it. Did he mention he should have gone into accounting or something boring like that? 

Whatever. Still worth being here, now, even if, as he has definitely mentioned, he is fucking nervous as fuck.

Ten. Countdown time.

Nine. Okay, single digits. Getting closer.

Eight. Eli casually takes the most minute sip of his hot chocolate just for something to do with his hands.

Seven. He puts the mug back down on the counter.

Six. Shitshitshitshit.

Five. It’ll only take him about a second to kneel, but he definitely needs to get the ring out of his pocket first.

Four. Which he does, carefully holding it to his side out of Isaiah’s sight. He can’t quite work out how to open the box one-handed, but that’s okay, he’ll figure it out— 

Three. No more time to think about it.

Two. He turns a bit so his knee won’t slam into the cabinet underneath the counter.

One. He kneels.

It’s such a simple motion— just kneeling. When it comes down to it, there’s not a lot to be stressed about. He does this to tie his shoes. But the thing that makes it different, that makes it something that’s important, is the ring box in his hand that opened so easily that he can hardly remember doing it, can hardly remember anything about the past few minutes except that they all seemed to go by so fast compared to the eternity of thoughts passing through his brain in what must only be a second, because then the clock ticks down to Zero and Isaiah turns and sees empty space where he was standing next to her, and then looks down, and—

He can see the moment of comprehension on her face, the instant her mouth drops open the tiniest bit and her eyes begin to shine and he hasn’t even said anything before she’s dropped to the floor too and she’s saying “Yes, yes,” over and over and is it really the new year? Because it feels like time has stopped right now, like his heart is waiting in breathless anticipation for the next chance it has to beat, and it still feels like a daze, not like a dream because he is too viscerally here. The little details are popping out at him like they never have before— Isaiah still hasn’t taken her scarf off and the end trails on the floor, but she doesn’t care, because that’s an old scarf that has been through the years with her, and he can feel every single point where the velvet of the ring box makes contact with his hand, and when he takes the ring— gold, slim, beautiful without being ostentatious— out of the box and hands it to her so she can put it on, he feels the cold relief of the metal, how it warms up almost instantly when he touches it, and he can hardly believe this is happening but at the same time it feels like it was fated to happen, like it couldn’t not happen. 

But instead of saying all that, because he’s not sure he could make it make sense out loud even if he wanted it to, he says, “I love you so much,” and then he says, “Happy New Year.”

[murdockquills]

come a little bit closer

aaaaa i decided to take some interesting starters i found and write up little stardevil drabbles !!! (i apologize i can’t add a ‘read more’ break on mobile ughhhh)

starter: ❛ I know I’m deceiving myself, but I prefer to deceive myself. I desperately need to believe such pure joy is still possible. ❜

summary: peter quill, who is stuck paying a debt and working at a bar while on planet-arrest in NYC, gets a little visit from matt murdock after closing hours

peter is based off the comics. matt is based off mcu. but can be read as any interpretation!

—————————

“I know I’m deceiving myself, but I prefer to deceive myself,” Matthew said, nursing the last drops of yet another Old Fashioned, battered and bloody knuckles tossing back his glass one more time before resting it on the bar. “I desperately... need to believe such pure joy is still possible.” The hint of a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth, twitching in that thoughtful way Matt Murdock had a habit of doing.

With a sigh, Peter leaned across the wooden counter between them, moving his hand to wrap gently around the man’s, a hand which he was no stranger to holding at this point. But whatever was happening between the two of them was still new, still raw. Even from behind Matt’s tinted glasses, he could tell there were conflicting emotions in his dark eyes. Obviously a lot was on his mind for him to have dropped into the bar tonight, after running around in the suit and mask for a few hours. Peter offered a small, comforting smile, whether or not his partner could tell. He hoped the way his thumb carefully grazed Matthew’s bruised knuckles communicated his intent well enough.

Peter spoke lightly, trying to dissolve the heavy mood into something more palatable, “Are you saying you haven’t felt that at any point between us? Pure joy?”

Matthew chuckled softly. “No, it’s not that, I’m just..... I’m just not sure if I believe it’s really happening. I don’t know what I believe these days.” He shook his head slightly, lips falling back into a contemplative smirk. Letting his hand fall away from the empty glass, he turned it over to curl his fingers around Peter’s, reciprocating his affection. “A spaceman falls out of the sky, ends up in my courtroom, and suddenly everything I thought I knew about my universe has changed.”

“Hopefully for the better,” Peter commented with a cheeky grin, gently pulling his hand away to take Matt’s glass and stow it away into the rack for the dishwasher. He wiped his hands on the bar rag pulled from his back pocket before setting it on the counter and leaning close to speak to the man again. “At any rate, I believe that you and I should get outta here. I’ve got my work cut out for me if you still don’t know how to be happy yet, Murdock.”

Matt couldn’t help but smile genuinely, knowing Peter only called him by his last name when he was playing around. Still, he was right. He didn’t know how to let himself just be happy for once. As Peter came around to his side of the bar, he got off his stool and moved to put his jacket back on while approaching the door, his walking cane folded in hand. Peter ushered him forward with a hand on his back, only to stop once he was about to open the door.

“Actually, juuuust a second, I almost forgot something,” Peter said, grasping Matt’s arms firmly for a moment to indicate that he should stay put. Matthew obliged, a slightly puzzled expression on his face upon hearing his partner cross to the complete opposite side of the room. Then he heard it — the click. Followed by the whirring of a mechanism as it dropped a small vinyl disc into the slot, waiting for the needle to drop on it. The jukebox.

In a little cafe, just the other side of the border

She was just sitting there givin' me looks, that made my mouth water....

“Peter —“ Matt started, with a bit of exasperation, knowing what was likely coming next. But he couldn’t hide the way his mouth curved upwards in anticipation as the music started. “I’m really not in the —“

“Ah ah ah, you’re gonna miss the best part,” Pete chastised, excitedly bounding back over to where the man stood stiffly and taking him by the hand. He hurriedly pulled the jacket and the cane from his partner’s grasp and set them on a table, dragging a begrudging Matthew into an open space.

...And I knew, yes I knew I should leave when I heard her say, yeah...

Peter coerced his partner into a dance, grabbing Matt by the waist and pulling him in close. He sang along coyly, “Come a little bit closer, you’re my kind of man, so big and so strong — Come a little bit closer, I’m all alone and the night is so long!” He watched as the brunette’s handsome face scrunched up in a laugh, the softness of it juxtaposed against the cuts and dried blood that littered his skin. It filled his heart to the brim, making him laugh like that. Lifting whatever he could of that dark shadow that loomed over the lawyer’s life.

The alcohol in Matthew’s veins made him loosen up quicker than normal, falling into a rhythm with Peter’s dancing footsteps without much coercion as he was turned and spun and shifted around. Despite the ache in his tired muscles, it was a welcome release of the tension he had been carrying all day. Suddenly, Matt tripped up the blonde’s ankle with his foot, causing the taller man to fall into his strong arms with a slight yelp. Peter was surprised to find himself being dipped to the music. Even more surprised to find Matthew’s lips to his own. He put a hand to his stubbled cheek and accepted it graciously.

“Careful there, Matt,” Peter said with a smirk, his hazel eyes searching his partner’s face. “I might think I actually convinced you of believing in something.”

“I believe,” Matthew started, lifting his counterpart back upright and holding him around the waist. “You’re my kind of man. So big, and so strong.”

Dare he even consider the weight that felt lifted from his shoulders to be actual joy — pure and unscathed.

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - #HAPPYBIRTHDAYMARKTUAN

Previous Chapter: Video Call Word Count: 2,396 Summary: It’s Mark birthday and of course they wanna spend it with the sisters when they have the time to do so.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

we’re getting there. just give it time lol anyways, this is where my chapters started getting short because i wanted to write for each birthdays and september just had so many birthdays within it. lol so yeah, i got a bit burnted out or whatever. anyways, um, that was his real hashtag, too that year of 2016. but yeah happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

"It's funny how ahgases got a lot done for Mark's birthday compare to the others." Serena commented while scrolling through her laptop in the living room as Melanie was sitting on the couch watching TV. "What do you mean?" Melanie asked not looking at her sister as Serena replied. "Someone made a joke about it having to do with land, air, and water." Serena scrolled back up to explained. "Um, Korea did the bus thing, then in the states they flew some stuff in the air, and in Thailand they had it shown on a boat. It's pretty crazy." Serena admired IGOT7's dedication. "They even donated a lot of money in his name to some charity in Thailand as well."

"That's how they are." Melanie laughed as she faced Serena. "Make me noodles." Serena rolled her eyes while shutting off her laptop. "Do it yourself." "You're headed to the kitchen right now to make food for yourself anyways." "Yeah, make food for me, not you." Serena stuck her tongue out at her sister while standing up and stretching her limbs. "I don't want noodles. Been eating that for the last few days already. Have to see what's in the fridge. I haven't gone grocery shopping since we came back from Jeju." Melanie followed after her sister towards the kitchen. "I knew I should have stopped by the supermarket on Friday when I came here."

Serena opened her fridge, but saw nothing of interest and closed it with a sigh. "Let's go food shopping then." Serena looked at Melanie. "I'm tired of take out, too." Melanie rolled her eyes while giving in. "Fine, but you're driving." "Of course. Let's go." "Not like this." Melanie motioned with her hand at herself as she was wearing shorts and a tank top with no makeup while Serena rolled her eyes also doing the same gesture. "I'm the same way. Who are we gonna impress at the market, huh?" "Shit, I don't know, but I hate getting stared at." "Whatever." Serena dismissed as Melanie went to her room to get ready and Serena sighed. "This sucks."

~~~~~~~

"Y'know, if I knew we were gonna run errands, too I would have just taken the bus and given you the car." Serena complained as she and Melanie rode the elevator to the fifth floor while Melanie smiled. "That's why I didn't tell you anything." "This bish." Melanie laughed as the sisters exited the elevators and noticed that a group of men were outside Serena's apartment door. "There goes my mood." Serena frowend as Melanie elbowed her. "Be nice." "Don't you guys have something else better to do than hang around someone else's door when yours is just a few doors down." Serena sarcastically told the group of seven as they smiled at the duo with Melanie greeting them warmly like always compare to her sister. "Hey! What's up?"

"There you are." Yugyeom smiled upon seeing the sisters walk up with bags of things. "Let us help." Jackson offered as he, Jaebeom, and Mark took the bags from the girls with Serena feeling awkward about it, but didn't show it. "Thanks." She opened her door as the group trudge inside. "Don't you guys have some other things to do or maybe a late night schedule to go to?" Serena checked her wall clock for the time. "It's like a few minutes past seven even though it's a Sunday." She remembered something when her eyes landed on Mark shortly afterwards. "Ah. It's also Mark's birthday." "Happy birthday, Mark." Melanie exclaimed with a smile as she held out a small container of vanilla cake with strawberries and chocolate drizzle on top.

"Thank you, Chaewon noona." Mark grinned as he accepted the offered dessert. "Since you're here I could give you your birthday gift, too." Serena said as she went to her room and returned with a medium-sized brown box as the group had settled themselves within the living room. "I still see this has become a routine of sorts." Serena muttered as she eyed the idol group while Melanie grinned. "The boys insisted on staying because they don't have anything to do since it's Mark's birthday." "Mmhmm, right." Serena mumbled before looking at Mark. "You should like it if you haven't seen them yet." Serena handed the box over to Mark as he smiled at her. "I'm sure I'll love it. Thanks, Jyongri noona." "You're welcome, Mark, and happy birthday."

Mark grinned once he opened his gift to reveal a collection of horror DVDs. "APT. Crimson Peak. Darkness Falls. Ju-On: The Grudge one and two. Loner. Shutter. Shutter Island. The Eye. The Orphanage. The Skeleton Key." He looked at Serena with even wider smile. "I've heard some of these, but never got the chance to watch them. Thanks." "Welcome and now you can watch any of them any time whenever you get the free time to do so." Serena smiled at him as Mark smirked at some of his members. "How about we watch one of them now?" "No! Why would you want to watch something so scary, Mark hyung?" Youngjae whined with a vigorous shake of his head before nodding his head. "Let's just watch something else."

"I agree." BamBam nodded. "Guys, it's Mark hyung's birthday." Jinyoung reasoned. "If he wants to watch a horror movie, then we're going to watch a horror movie." "Can we leave the lights on?" Jackson suggested as Serena shook her head. "That'll ruin the fun." "How is that fun?" "It sets the mood and makes it much more suspenseful." "Don't mind her, Jackson. Unnie likes watching suspenseful movies in the dark with the volume turned up high. She's weird like that." Melanie laughed before casting her eyes onto her sister. "Right?" "Yup, totally." Serena laughed as she turned her attention on to the bags still left in the living room.

"You guys do what you wanna do. I'm going to put these away." Serena went to do that as half of the boys wanted to watch one of the horror films while the other half wanted to watch something else. Melanie went to help Seena as she didn't want to bother with the boys' indecisiveness. After the duo put away their things they returned to the living room to see that the idols went with Mark's birthday wish as they saw the birthday boy inserting the disc into the player. "I'm surprised you can operate my entertainment system, too." Serena teased as Mark grinned back at her. "It wasn't all that hard once I figured out which remote went with what console over time since visiting more often." "Yeah, way too many times." "You know you love my company." "Says you."

"This one's good." Serena said upon seeing the opening credits as Youngjae faced her hopefully. "Could you tell us how it ends then?" "No." Everyone chuckled as Jaebeom patted the younger man's back. "You'll be fine." "There's popcorn to keep you occupy and probably distracted." Melanie stated as she placed two bowls onto the table. "One's caramel and the other is cheese." "Ohh, cheese." Jackson grinned taking a handful with Yugyeom doing the same, but for the caramel. "Thanks." The idols thanked her while munching on the snacks. "Welcome." Melanie smiled while she held onto her own personal bowl of both flavors and sat on the floor as the boys returned their attention to the film. Serena switched off the lights leaving on one for Youngjae and joined the group even though she's already seen it.

~~~~~~~

Somehow during the first fifteen minutes of watching the film, Youngjae and BamBam had snuck off with Melanie to the kitchen to watch something else on Melanie's iPad mini. Melanie grew bored of the film, but wasn't interested in this type of genre in general. Serena grew sleepy a few minutes later and tried her best to stay awake for the sake of it being Mark's birthday. She gave in a few minutes later as she quietly made her way to her room knowing full well that she would be call in to work earlier than expected. That left the group of five to finish the movie, but Jackson slowly joined the trio in the kitchen where he discovered the group eating ice cream without him.

The quartet in the living room turned their attention towards the direction of the kitchen as Jackson's loud voice could be heard telling Melanie that he wanted whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top of his ice cream bowl before the bowl itself went crashing to the floor in pieces. This instantly woke up Serena from her slumber as she rushed towards the kitchen to see what had happened with the quartet in tow. "Seriously?" She groaned upon seeing the mess without glasses or contacts on. "This is why we can't have nice things." Serena rubbed at her eyes as she made to clean up the mess, but Melanie told her not to bother and to go back to bed. "I got it, unnie. Just go back to bed. I know you have work later."

"You have school. Don't you?" Serena countered, but let her sister do her thing anyways. "Yeah, but it's later in the day." Melanie explained as she tried her best to sweep up all of the ceramic shards with Jackson trying to clean up the melted ice cream. "Be careful, Jackson." Melanie firmly told the idol as she noticed him wiping the floor. "Don't need you getting one of those things stuck in your hands." "Thanks, noona, but don't worry. I'm being super careful." Jackson assured the female as he finished what he was doing without any harm. "See." He showed Melanie his hands with a smile as she rolled her eyes. "Now sit down and I'll do your ice cream bowl for you."

"Can I have one, too?" Yugyeom asked as Melanie smiled. "Sure. Anyone else?" She looked at the other three expectantly as they all raised their arms a second later. "Alright. I'll scoop you all a bowl, but you guys can top it off with whatever you guys want." Melanie laughed with a shake of her head as she began with Jackson's bowl first. Serena let out a yawn while using her hand to cover it as she glanced at the idols who filled up her kitchen along with her sister in it. "Y'all know the drill so I'm not repeating myself." She pointed a finger at all of them while continuing to speak. "I don't want to wake up to anymore broken things. I don't have the time to replace them since it took me forever to replace the sofa."

"You're not gonna join us?" Mark asked once he noticed Serena was leaving and she faced him with a tired smile. "No, sorry. Although I know it's your birthday." Serena ran a hand through her hair. "I would rather sleep. I become super grumpy and irritated if I don't get in some good sleep." She gave them a small wave. "You guys have a good night and enjoy the ice cream. Don't bother Chaewon too much. I can't be responsible for her if she does anything to you guys while I'm asleep." She chuckled mischievously as Melanie rolled her eyes. "I'm not like you." "Sure." "Good night." She waved one last time with GOT7 wishing her a good night before returning to her room.

"Noona." BamBam called as Melanie was now working on a bowl for Jaebeom. "What?" "What's your passcode?" "Why?" "It locked me out." "You shouldn't have messed with it, hmm?" BamBam rubbed his neck nervous. "I accidentally pressed the wrong button while eating my ice cream." "Yeah, sure. How about we all just go back to the living room and finish the movie." She suggested as she finished the last bowl and handed it to Jinyoung. "I forgot about the movie." Mark laughed sheepishly after topping his ice cream bowl with various items and returning back to the living room with Jinyoung and Yugyeom following after once they were done topping their own bowls.

"Can we not?" Youngjae pleaded as Melanie laughed while putting away the bucket of ice cream. "It's just a movie, Youngjae." She told him before looking at the idol. "We can turn on more lights if you want." "Okay." He let out in a defeated tone with BamBam and Jackson accompanying the male to the living room while leaving Jaebeom and Melanie behind. "So noona," Jaebum began, "Sorry about Jackson breaking Jyongri noona's bowl." Melanie dismissed him as she was topping off her own bowl of ice cream. "It's fine. Accidents happen." "But I know the table must have not come cheap compare to the bowl." "True, but it's all good."

She smiled at him once she was doing topping off her ice cream bowl while she motioned with her head towards the living room. "Let's head on over." "Can't we hang out here and talk?" Jaebeom suggested instead as Melanie shrugged. "If you want to." She eyed the male. "Although it's Mark's birthday." Jaebeom sighed. "It is his birthday." He shrugged with a soft sigh. "Alright, let's join the others." He gave in as Melanie laughed at his behavior. "Why do you sound so disappointed?" Jaebeom seemed alarmed, but quickly recovered. "I wanted to eat my ice cream in peace." Melanie laughed at his response. "It's a horror film, JB. I don't think there's peace when three of your members are easily scared." "I know, Chaewon noona. I know."

The two returned to the living room to finish watching APT although Jackson, Youngjae, and BamBam kept making noises throughout the whole thing. After the movie was over Melanie called it a night She didn't want to be responsible if the boys missed their schedules. "Again, Mark, happy birthday." She said as she cast him a small smile. "Sorry about unnie." "Thanks, noona, and it's fine. It happens." He said with a small smile. "Tell, Jyongri noona, bye from us." "Will do." Melanie smiled at him before walking them towards the door. "Stay safe guys and good luck with the rest of your activities." "Thank you." GOT7 told her as Jaebeom was the last to linger to wish her a good night which made her giddy for some reason. "Good night, noona." "Good night, JB. Take care." "You, too."

[fanatic-scribe]

A Bottle and Some Cards

Chapter 1/?

Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Word count: 2,484/2,484

Ao3: Here

Characters: Donatello (main), Casey Jones (main), everyone else

Pairing: Donatello/Casey Jones

Warnings: Aged-Up Character, Drinking Games, Slow Burn (kinda)

Ch 1 / / Ch2 (coming soon) / /

Summary:

Ethanol is the intoxicating part of alcohol and its molecules are so small that they can actually pass into the gaps between brain cells. There it can interfere with the neurotransmitters that enable all the brain’s activities. If you drink fast, alcohol will start to flood the brain. Alcohol affects parts of the brain responsible for self-control. And that is why Donatello did all this dumb shit to himself.

A/N: Just something fun I made for the hell of it. There may be other pairings in this but Idk yet.

This work will be tagged with #B&C tmnt

Chapter 1: Salt and Lime

“Pussy.” Mikey huffed at Casey as the human chugged down his cup of beer. Casey stuck out his middle finger as he drank.

“I’d say sensible,” Donnie chimed in, “the dare said to ‘drink a concoction of whatever the opponent makes using whatever they can find in the kitchen.’”

“Yeah so?” The other’s looked at him dumbfounded. Flashes of Mikey’s bizarre “food” concoctions from when he was a young chief, and them too worried to crush his dreams, flash in their minds.

Taking turns they began to reminisce of his old creations. The ‘Squid Oatmeal Pizza.’ that Raph still swears he saw an eye on. But, as Donnie pointed out at the time, “It could be a raisin. You know, from the the...oatmeal...part?” at least that's what the boys keep telling themselves. They ate the entire pizza that night.

And who could forget the ‘Apple Pizza Pie Suprise’ with ‘All the wonders of both pies together with a twist!’ Poor April, who had not yet tried his creations and was too late to hear the turtle’s warnings, found the twist quickly after chewing on the bite only once. The brother’s had watched helplessly as their best friend’s soul left her body to the depths of hell. The pizza part of this creation was a classic Mikey order that she has seen only once; double anchovies, roasted garlic, chocolate, cappuccino pizza. The only thing that had stopped her from spitting it out before Mikey had walked away was the shock of the taste, it had paralyzed her. All she could do was open her mouth to let the food fall onto her plate and push it directly into the trash next to her. None of the brothers could blame her. She remembers her bite having a certain pop to it that she tried many years to forget.

‘Asian cowboy fusion calzone dude!’ Is what had gotten Karai. By this point, Mikey was a better cook, he would make odd foods for himself all the time still but no one had told Karai. She took a small bite that Mikey offered her but immediately spit it out, much to the turtle’s amusement as he was laughing. She found out later that to Mikey “cowboy” meant beans and s’mores and “Asian” meant teriyaki sauce, ginger, and shrimp. Karai learned an important lesson that day, never trust Mikey’s original cooking.

“And that was all him being nice and trying to cook.” Casey added pouring himself another cup of beer, “This would be him making something bad for my dare.” Everyone shuttered thinking about the horrors that could have been. Except for one bubbly laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right dude.” Mikey took a drink from his cup, “I get creative when I’m drunk so I probably would have killed you.” They all chuckled at this, everyone would have rather drunk.

They loved their weekends together because they got to do this, have fun and laugh. April was in college and spent a lot of time studying, even if she came to the lair at least four times a week. Casey wasn’t in college but he had a job at his local ice arena, he helped teach young kids hockey and did general cleaning and maintenance, that kept him pretty busy. Karai was always busy, over the time she took over the Foot Clan had reclaimed their good name but she was still having to deal with certain people still loyal to Shredder or mob bosses who saw her as an easy hit. Even if they were busy they still would try to gather together every weekend to relax and half fun together. This Friday night, with alcohol already clouding their minds, they were playing Truth, Dare or Drink.

Leaning forward Casey took hold of the bottle and spun it, still leaning forward he plucked up a dare card not looking at the words yet. “Wow, Casey Jones picked dare.” Donnie chaffed, “Did not see that one coming.” Casey smiled cheerfully at the turtle with wide eyes, gap teeth, and a middle finger on both hands. There was a chuckle at their banter, Donnie had become comfortable with it and often looked forward to his time with Casey. They had truly become good friends.

As the sound rolling of glass slowly dulled so did everyone’s voice until both were silent. The neck of the bottle pointing, if a bit vaguely, at Donnie. Mikey oohed with excitement like Casey Mikey enjoyed movement rather than talking so he always preferred dares. Hopefully, this dare won’t be a drink instead.

Dramatically, Casey lifted his arm to point at the turtle, “Donatello! The cards dare you to,” He lifted the card up to read aloud, “do a body shot off your opponent.” There was a chorus of laughs and oos from everyone as Donnie shook his head.

“No, no. I’m not doing that. I’ll drink.” Everyone turned to boo him. “BOOO!” he answered.

“Donnie you haven’t done one dare!”

“Mikey, I’ve only gotten one other dare.”

“AND YOU DIDN’T DO IT!” Mikey was having a hard time trying to understand what Donnie didn’t get about this very simple topic. Just before Donnie could say anything Raph leaned forward from his spot on the couch interjecting their argument.

“Hey come on, it's fine. This is Donnie’s choice.” He paused for a second taking a drink from his cup as everyone looked surprised. He smirked as he pulled the cup away, “And he’s choosing to be a fucking killjoy.” There were a few laughs as Donnie just rolled his eyes, he reached for his cup leaning forward from his spot on the floor.

A hand reached out and stopped his wrist, he followed the hand up to April who had walked over to him from her seat next to Karai. She was crouched down sitting on her heels, he ninja training with the other girls must be going great, he had not even heard her move. “Look, Donnie,” He’s heard that tone of voice before, “if you don’t want to do this that’s fine but you had two easy dares. Just have fun no one will make fun of you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Did you see us make fun of anyone else?” Thinking back Donnie could remember everyone laughing at crazy antics but then just more celebrating all together. When Leo had to let Raph draw on his face with a sharpie everyone was laughing, even Leo now sporting a lovely penis across his forehead among other drawings.

Donnie sighed, might as well give the people what they want, “Alright fine I’ll do it.” he said throwing his hands up. Before he could even stand up Casey and Mikey had already hoped up and started moving to the kitchen laughing and cheering. As everyone else stood and made their way to the kitchen Casey was sitting on the table, legs dangling over the sides, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it to the side. Bent over the open fridge Mikey was looking for the tequila Casey had brought over with the beer. The salt and lime already in his hands as Mikey grabbed the chilled bottle and placed the items on the table. Soon the rest of the group joined them at the table just as Casey began to pull his shirt over his head.

Donatello couldn’t help but see how the human had really grown into his frame, as a scientist observes an animal grow and mature. His muscles were more defined from when he was a gangly kid, his abdomen had the defined lines of muscle. His hips made a V just before his pants, this was accented further due to a small patch of hair leading from his belly button to bellow his pants. Donnie realized this felt different than observing and animal grow and mature, ‘Must be the alcohol.’ he thought to himself, because what else could it be? A shout from Mikey quickly shook him from his trance. “Dude, what the hell!”

“What?!”

“What the fuck is on your nipples?!”

The turtle’s had seen Casey shirtless before but something had changed. Now there was a visible bar of metal going through each nub where there hadn’t been last time. “Oh yeah,” Casey chuckled looking at his chest, “I got my nipples pierced.”

“Well, that part is obvious!” Shouted Raph, “When did you do this?”

“A little after the tongue at a shop.” Raph had known about the tongue. They had gotten their tongue piercing done together by Slash. Sure it may have been a ‘teenage at home piercing’ but it was straight and healed up just fine, that was almost a solid year and a half ago. Donnie rolled his eyes as he got to work cutting the lime, being very careful as he could feel his body sway.

“It’s just body modification, lots of humans do it.” Even though his words were indifferent his eye’s lingered on Casey’s chest, a slight amount of dark hair contrasted with the sparkling silver rings. There was something fascinating about it that just drew in Donnie’s attention, they suited Casey.

“Dude, it’s so weird looking!” Mikey reached forward and poked at the human’s nipple. Normally Casey was cool with being randomly touched by Mikey, especially in a party situation like this. However, as soon as he pressed down on Casey the turtle had his hand pushed away as Casey scooted away on the table with a nervous hum, laugh. He had reached up to covering his nipple with his hand and other arm held up to keep Mikey at a distance.

“Whoa! Ok!” There was still a chuckle with his words, “Hey Mikey lets not touch my nipples ok.” There was a questioning look in his eyes as well as everyone else, Casey shrugged, “They made my nipple more sensitive than I'm used too.” There was a slight pinkness in his cheeks as everyone briefly discussed this new topic. Donatello could feel his face heat up as well, ‘Must be from the alcohol.’ he thought.

Raph snatched the lime slice Donnie had cut and ran the fruit next to Casey’s belly button and poured salt over it, the crystals clung to the lime juice on his skin. After much debate, the group decided to pour the shot into the dip made by Casey’s pronounced collar bone when he leaned his head back. It wasn’t enough to fit an entire shot and he wasn’t allowed to move or he would pour the tequila but it made the body shot feel more authentic, whatever that means. Casey complained slightly about the cold fruit and liquor but no one really cared enough to change anything, besides it was already too late to change anything. So Casey just sat there, neck stretched back, leaning on one arm with a lime slice in his mouth waiting on a certain purple-clad turtle.

Donnie stepped between the human's legs a bit reluctantly, they looked at each other, well as best they could without Casey moving his head.  Donnie with his arms crossed, he waited for Casey to back out because surely he would by this point. But he just sat there, lime sticking out of his gap teeth surrounded by a shit-eating grin, Donnie couldn’t let that grin win. After a few more still, silent seconds Donnie took a breath and bent down.

Donatello’s rough tongue ran over the area of salt on the human’s stomach, he could feel Casey tense slightly under his tongue, he could feel the soft, warm skin as it contracted against muscle. Donnie ran over the slight dip were his abs were more defined, he couldn’t taste the human over the tart lime and salt but some animalistic part of him wanted to. Some inner part of his brain wanted to bite the human. Vaguely in the distance, he could hear hoots of encouragement but they were drowned out by the sound of hot blood rushing to his head. Still, they pulled him back to the task at hand, already forgetting his primal thought.

As Donnie stood he rested his hands on either side of Casey on the table, he leaned forward and touched his lips to the human’s collar bone and the tequila. Donnie could have sworn he heard Casey’s breath hitch over the chorus of cheers when his tongue lightly ran over the soft alcohol wet skin. With a loud, almost comically, disruptive slurp Donnie had swallowed the alcohol, it burned his throat but the salt helped.

Moving on, he leaned forward to take the lime from the other’s mouth, he bit down and pulled only to be met with resistance. Casey held onto the lime with a smirk forcing Donnie to play a game of tug o’ war for the lime, very annoying.

The turtle looked up to glare at Casey only to find black eyes already looking at him and it felt like time had frozen. Donnie wondered if he had ever looked at Casey’s eyes. Donnie thought that he had eyes like the deepest water, black and bottomless pools of onyx trying to pull the turtle in. For a moment he thought he could explore those eyes for hours trying to find their end and never get tired.

Snapped out of his daze by Casey letting go of the lime causing Donnie to stumble back from his own tugging. This earned a chuckle from the group followed by pats on his shell and congratulations. Smiling and laughing with everyone he couldn’t help but feel his heart beat faster and harder in his chest. He glanced over at Casey and saw him putting his shirt back on and laughing with Raph about how he jumped off the table and almost fall.

Everyone was using this time to talk about what had been happening in the game and to grab more snacks and drinks. Also to pet Ice Cream Kitty, like a lot. A few people cried. Petting Ice Cream Kitty is serious business. Donnie was pouring bags of snacks into different bowls when his eye’s drifted to Casey once or twice, looking for something. He was standing in front of the open freezer having just put whipped cream on the sugary cat, he then tipped his head back to fill his mouth with whipped cream. Donnie watched as his long neck stretched back, Donnie remembered how soft his skin felt against the harsh salt taste. A more animalistic part of his brain said something but it was muffled in the back of his mind.

“Don, you ok?” April’s voice pulled him out of his daze and he realized he has spilled quite a few pretzels.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine just lost focus.” He smiled and worked to clean up the spilled pretzels. Why was he so fascinated by Casey?

‘Must be from the alcohol.’ he thought.

Notes:

Hope you liked it! I know nothing happened yet. Bummer. Well, the next chapter will be coming soon! Sometime next week Maybe

[nelvana]

In which they travel to the cave of the earth

First: In which the human is transformed Next: In which they explore the cave of the earth Previous: In which they volunteer for a rescue

    “I’m really proud of you, Nel,” Keahi hummed, leaning into zir partner’s side.

    “Proud of me? Why? Just because I volunteered our team to go to Magma Cavern?” Nelvana questioned, but smiled regardless and ruffled Keahi’s head feathers.

    “There’s more to it than that, you silly!” Keahi giggled, “you went and spoke up in a crowd for us! You don’t like doing that!”

    “It was certainly quite bold of you,” Tsuki added.

    “Oh guys…” Nelvana’s face heated up underneath her headgear. “…it isn’t a big deal…”

    “Well, I can’t speak for Tsuki, but I wouldn’t have done it. I figured Keahi would be the one to announce… anything, really,” Alex told her, “you’ve grown a lot here.”

    “Stop it…” Nelvana whined, burying her muzzle in her scarf.

    Keahi laughed at zir partner’s fluster, “fine, fine… Let’s get preparing then!”

    “How far away is Magma Cavern then? We’ll need to bring enough supplies for the travel and the dungeon,” Tsuki asked.

    “Looks like another expedition on our hands here. Team Recovery were gone for days, but they are slow… We’ll be traveling for about a day, at least,” Alex answered, “do you think there will be a storage statue too? We can optimize our bag space if we just have to prepare for the travel.”

    “I’m not sure… I guess we can ask Kangaskhan about that! Let’s go check, we should have extra apples, oran berries, and seeds there anyway that might come in handy,” Keahi replied.

    “Sounds like a good start,” Nelvana said through her scarf, having not lifted her head yet.

    Making their way to Kangaskhan’s stand, the motherly normal-type looked up at the quartet arriving and warmly greeted them as usual.

    “Hello there! I figure you’re here to prepare for that mission of your’s?” Kangaskhan greeted, leaning over the counter to properly look down at the group.

    “Yes! But also, do you have a statue out by Magma Cavern?” Keahi responded, hopping over.

    “Ah, I believe I do… Team Recovery used it, now that I think about it, it’s right outside the dungeon, I presume,” Kangaskhan answered, glancing back at something hidden in the shadows behind the stand.

    “Alright, good… we can use that then, and just prepare for the journey itself now,” Alex murmured, shifting the weight of the bag so he could hold it up and look inside.

    “We don’t have to deal with the extreme climates like last time, plus our estimation is just a day’s travel… so hopefully we will have everything we’ll need already stored up,” Nelvana commented.

    “Ah, we still have flamethrower in here, we should store that,” Alex blurted out, pulling out the cracked disc from the bag. “Oh, and brick break too.”

    “I don’t usually store TMs, but I’ll make an exception for you. Just know that the storage system can’t support them properly, it just damages them to the point that even recycle can’t save them. So, if you leave these with me, you’ll have to come back here to get them,” Kangaskhan told them, placing a hand on the two discs.

    “That’s alright, we shouldn’t need them right now. Just takes up space in the bag,” Alex replied, sliding the discs closer to the normal-type.

    “How much food will you two need?” Nelvana asked, looking back over at Keahi and Tsuki.

    “Oh, I… I’m not sure, some apples, I guess?” Keahi murmured, “wait, why are you asking just us two?”

    “Because Nel and I could go the entire trip without eating, if we had to,” Alex answered in a low tone. “We won’t do that, it’s foolish when we have the supplies to be able to eat, but you two will need to eat more than we will because your bodies are used to having to eat more.”

    “Well… we have lots of space in our bag, why don’t we just pack like we did last time?” Keahi questioned, hesitantly skipping past what the grovyle had said.

    “Last time we had different times, more statues, and one less traveler with us,” Alex responded.

    “Look, let’s not complicate things here.” Nelvana stiffened, raising her hands slightly. “I was just asking, so we could have an idea of how much food to bring out. I know what I need, and Alex has the bag so I assumed he would pack for himself. We’ll be travelling and then fighting, not terribly unlike last expedition, but still… I guess what I’m saying, is that this time we’ll want to take more snacks instead of full meals with us.”

    “Oh, that makes sense!” Keahi exclaimed, “you know I like fruits, and plain seeds. That should do me for snacks. We’ll be going for a day… so a few apples? Would prefer bananas, to be honest, but we still haven’t found any during missions yet…”

    “You have mostly apples for food in storage, correct? I shall be fine with those as well, I suppose just give me the same amount as Keahi then,” Tsuki hummed.

    “Let’s just carry ten with us, total, and call it good, okay?” Nelvana suggested.

    Everyone nodded in agreement, seeing no problems with this estimation, and Kangaskhan passed him the fruit, which he carefully stuffed into the satchel.

    “If I may give you a suggestion,” Kangaskhan began, “taking trail mix with you is always a good idea.”

    “Trail mix?” Tsuki repeated, looking to her teammates to see if this was just another local thing.

    Kangaskhan nodded, “if you’d like, I could prepare a few sacks for you four, my treat. It’s just nuts, seeds, and chocolate mixed together in a small bag for snacking on.”

    “You’d do that for us?” Nelvana questioned, “we really owe you a lot at this point…” she chuckled nervously.

    “You owe me nothing,” Kangaskhan assured her, “I am more than willing to do favors for free, especially for such a kind group such as you,” she continued, “if it sets your mind as ease though, consider how you’re about to risk yourselves to save the rest of us from the disasters. Consider your aide payment enough for me.”

    “I… okay, thanks,” Nelvana sighed.

    Tsuki smiled, “yes, thank you very much, mom-“

    The absol froze in place, registering what she had called Kangaskhan just too late to take it back. Her mouth gaped open and shut, trying to gather up a way to save face. However, Kangaskhan didn’t look nearly as stressed by this as Tsuki did, in fact, she looked rather touched, her smile growing and her eyes welling up with a short of joy only the parentally sort could have.

    “You… do you see me as, as a motherly figure to you?” Kangaskhan asked gently.

    Tsuki looked down to the ground, but nodded slightly.

    Kangaskhan chuckled softly, reaching out to the absol to rest a hand atop her head, “don’t look so ashamed about it, I’m not upset. In fact, this is happy news to me, to hear someone else seeing me in this light. You may call me mom, if that will make you happy too.”

    Tsuki stayed silent for a few more moments, her expression morphing into one of surprise, and then of an emotional joyfulness.

    “That… that would make me happy. Thank you, mom…” Tsuki gasped, nuzzling her head into the large pokemon’s palm. “I’ve never had a mom before…” she whispered, closing her eyes to take in this friendly touch.

    Nelvana smiled at this interaction, but an ache she couldn’t pinpoint found its way into her chest. She swallowed, doing her best to push away this strange feeling. Glancing over at Alex, she observed an odd gleam in his eyes. His mouth was open ever so slightly, and his gaze held a sort of longing that Nelvana recognized but couldn’t remember. The grovyle finally turned away, looking back towards the center of town. Nelvana let out a sigh, gingerly placing her hand on his arm to support him, like she had done back when they had visited Keahi’s family.

    “Aw, that’s so sweet!” Keahi squealed.

    “Indeed…” Alex whispered, his voice sounding far-away. “However, we should get back to work.”

    Kangaskhan sat back again, “yes, I suppose you should. There is much for you to do, isn’t there? Is there anything else you’d like to store or take out?”

    “I don’t think so… if we forgot something, we’ll just have to do that when we come back for the mix!” Keahi chirped.

    Kangaskhan nodded, “it’s a very brave thing of you to choose to do this, especially after seeing how well it went before… I wish you all the best,” she said, “also, if you’d like more advice, I believe the kecleons have been down to Magma Cavern before. They should have more tips for you.”

    “Okay, thanks again, we’ll see you later,” Nelvana hummed, turning to leave with a wave.

    “You two alright?” Keahi asked, bounding over to Nelvana and Alex. “I noticed you looked a bit distant there…”

    “Just… just missing family, I guess,” Nelvana murmured, “it’s weird, I can’t even remember them, but I miss them.”

    Alex said nothing, simply watching the others, expressionless. Nelvana left her hand on his arm, and gently rubbed it with her thumb to try and translate more meaning than she could think to say right now. Despite not saying anything to him, he let his coldness melt and gave her a small smile to assure her that he would be alright. She lowered her hand, hoping her efforts had been enough for now.

    “Oh… alright, you’ll be okay though, right?” Keahi replied, approaching more. “Both of you,” zie added.

    Alex let out a sigh, “yeah, don’t worry about it.”

    They continued back up to the Kecleon Shop, Tsuki walking with more bounce than ever. The brothers were cleaning up after accidentally messing up their organization during the rush, but they noticed the quartet approach and waved them over.

    “Good to see you again, Galaxy. Thank you for your help before, there’s only so much the two of us can do,” Green-Kecleon greeted, bowing slightly to the group.

    “Thank you too! I doubt our supplies would have been enough for this… incident,” Keahi replied.

    “Speaking of, do we need to pay you for those…?” Nelvana asked.

    Both brothers shook their heads hurriedly, Green-Kecleon even waving away the idea with his hands.

    “No, no, not at all. This was a service to the community, and to other teams,” he insisted, “we donated our supplies to assist Team Recovery. No payment needed for that.”

    “If there’s anything we value above business in this shop, it’s the lives of others,” Purple-Kecleon added, “no one should have to die if there is the remedy sitting a few feet away.”

    “But, uh, if you find anything valuable in Magma Cavern, feel free to keep us in mind. We haven’t been there in a very long time, but there are some nice items laying about if you know where to look…” Green-Kecleon chuckled, leaning onto the counter.

    Keahi laughed, “okay then, we’ll keep that in mind. We always come back from missions with something anyway that we don’t need.”

    “On that subject though, do you have any advice for Magma Cavern? You two seem to be the only ones around here who have been there. And completed the dungeon, at least,” Alex said.

    “Ah, knew you’d get to that. While you were talking to Kangaskhan, we went and found our old map…” Purple-Kecleon paused to bring out the mentioned map, which, similarly to the map Blaziken had given them in their last expedition, was marked with notes for the areas. “You may borrow it if you’d like, but we’d like to have it back afterwards, if nothing but for the memories.”

    “Thank you, this should at least help us get there,” Alex responded, accepting the map and studying it for a few moments before passing it off to Nelvana to hold and look over as well.

    “And, despite the name, there are only two fire-type species we’ve seen in that dungeon. Magmar and magcargo. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t many, because they show up quite frequently. Just letting you know that rock and grounders will be perhaps more so,” Purple-Kecleon added.

    “Works better for us anyway, Nel’s our only real fire counter right now,” Alex replied.

    “You have dig,” Keahi pointed out.

    “Yes, but if I get hit with that typing, I’m going to take it harsher than any of you,” Alex countered.

    “Anyway,” Nelvana interrupted, “thank you for your help, is there anything else we should know that would be useful?”

    “Hm… let’s see,” Green-Kecleon muttered, tapping his chin. “The journey is straightforward, and seeing as you’re a bunch of young, fast individuals, it should be around a day’s travel, depending on how often you rest up,” he began.

    “That matches our estimation,” Tsuki commented.

    “Good estimation there then,” Purple-Kecleon replied.

    Green-Kecleon cleared his throat, “despite the name, Magma Cavern doesn’t have much magma around it. You’ll see some outside the dungeon, I believe, and in some pits, but nothing extreme. You’ll be thankful to hear that that makes it cooler than Mt Blaze. However, it does make it terribly dark down there. You’d be best taking a light with you.”

    “Or a lighter!” Keahi chirped, puffing out zir chest proudly and letting a flicker of flame escape zir beak.

    Green-Kecleon laughed, “or that! You’re enjoying that flamethrower TM then, hm? My brother’s great with those.”

    His brother smirked at the compliment, “why thank you, I do my best, of course. Orbs too, you know.”

    “Yes, we know,” Alex sighed, “is that it, then?”

    “I think so, yes. I’m afraid Groudon wasn’t awake the last time we were there, so we have no advice for that,” Purple-Kecleon said.

    Tsuki nodded, “so we’ve heard, but we’ll do our best regardless,” she replied, “thank you for the advice, should we head off then?”

    “Well, we should wait for Kangaskhan to get that trail mix ready. Then… maybe? Are we ready?” Keahi responded, shaking zir feathers and tilting zir head to the side.

    Nelvana paused to think, and her teammates, recognizing the expression, waited patiently for her to give her opinion on this, “I think so. We should head out as soon as possible then, right?” She looked up to the sky. “It’s nearly noon, so it would be good to make some ground before the end of the day.”

    Alex nodded in agreement, “right… Hey, Tsuki, you sensing anything about this mission?”

    Tsuki paused, not expecting the question, “I… no, I’m sorry. It’s been getting harder to pick out dangers when the big disaster, the meteor, is so strong, so close… That’s likely why it took so long for me to realize about this morning, until a few minutes before, and we had to rush.”

    Alex blinked, something seeming to click in his mind, “what day is it today?”

    “What… day? Hm… I’m not actually sure! I know we’re close to my birthday, but I think that’s still about two weeks away,” Keahi responded, “why’d you ask?”

    “I need to know,” Alex insisted, ignoring Keahi’s question.

    Nelvana felt her stomach flop at this turn of events, anxiety jumping at the uneasiness of her partner, and at memories she still didn’t have back. They were nearing the end of summer, weren’t they? Did that mean…

    “I believe we’re nearly two moons after the summer solstice,” Tsuki answered.

    Nelvana exchanged a look with Alex, the both of them looking more than simply uneasy.

    “In calendar days?” Alex hissed.

    “If the summer solstice is June twenty-first, and we’re nearly two months after it…” Nelvana whispered.

    “Calendar days?” Keahi repeated, “guys, what’s wrong?”

    “The meteor hits at eleven pm on the twenty-first of August! We need to know the date today!” Alex snapped.

    Keahi stepped back, startled by the sudden harshness, but didn’t reply, understanding the seriousness of this subject. Tsuki was staring at the ground, but now looked up, meeting Alex’s gaze.

    “By your calendar days, it’s the nineteenthtoday,” she told them.

    Alex swallowed his breath, his eyes wide as he took in this information. Finally, he turned away from Pokemon Square, and the rest of the team.

    “We’ve wasted too much time. We have to leave, now,” Alex ordered.

    Keahi jumped, “but what about-“

    “Grab it, and then catch up with the rest of us. But we have to get hurrying. The sooner we rescue Team A.C.T., the sooner the teleport gem can be made,” Alex responded, and then left town without another word.

    Nelvana stepped towards where Alex went, but hesitated and glanced back at her confused teammates.

    “Go with him, we’ll catch up soon,” Tsuki told her.

    Nelvana nodded, wanting to say more but feeling rushed by her partner, and hurried off. Keahi watched her leave before heading back to Kangaskhan Storage with Tsuki to collect the last snacks.

    Alex slowed down after being reminded to keep pace, but was noticeably still high-strung after remembering that question and receiving that answer. While waiting for the other two to catch up, they discussed the mission, and where to go from here. Both of them were nervous at the idea of failing just because of not getting the teleport gem in time, but talking about it seemed to help for the time being. However, Alex changed topics when Keahi and Tsuki returned, and Nelvana decided respect that for the time being and join into the next conversation point. Deep down, she knew that the subject would return and she didn’t want to keep the others in the dark about this.

    Their journey brought them up the path that took them to Mt. Blaze and the Frosty Forest, however they went off more west than that direction, and never caught sight of those dungeons from their last expedition on this trip.

    Conversation quickly shifted to battle and dungeon tactics for this mission. The map they had been given had some notes about the Magma Cavern dungeon, namely the floors and what pokemon could be found on them. It had 26 dungeons, the longest dungeon they had been in by far. Like the kecleons had told them before, the notes told them about the residential dungeon pokemon, which lacked as many fire-types as one might expect with a dungeon named like this. As well, it was written that there were monster houses from floors eight to twenty.

    Alex, who could recall more about the fight against the illusion of Groudon that he and Nelvana had apparently gone up against in the future, gave tips about the legendry’s moves and strategies, repeating how it wasn’t the actual Groudon, but was likely very close. It was stressed that the ability drought would be useful for Keahi, and himself to a smaller degree. They also brought up the move ancient power, which had a small chance to grant Groudon an advantage. If that were to happen… No one liked the sound of that, but there was nothing much they would be able to do to prevent that chance from succeeding. They were just to be warned, like with the monster houses.

    The walk was an easy one, the ground, while not terribly walked on, wasn’t harmful to one’s feet, and the path itself didn’t go up any steep hills. However, it was also a long one. Like they had done before, they didn’t stop to eat lunch, and continued right through the afternoon. Nelvana’s prediction about having to just snack was strengthened as Alex’s haste pushed the group forward.

    After hours of hiking and chatting amongst each other, the sun began setting. They did not stop, however. In fact, even after the sun set, no one seemed to have expressed the idea of stopping to rest. The quartet had gone quiet after some comments about the stars, but everyone could tell there was still more for everyone to say.

    Finally, Keahi spoke.

    “Shouldn’t we rest for the night? We’ll need the energy for the dungeon tomorrow.”

    Alex shook his head, sparing the torchic a glance over his shoulder, “no, we need to keep going. We can’t spare that kind of time. We should be able to make it to Magma Cavern,” he told zim, “besides, you’re the only one that can’t keep going throughout the night.”

    “But… resting is important Alex, and did you actually ask if the others are okay with this? You aren’t the leader here,” Keahi responded.

    Alex finally paused, turning around to look at the others, his face hardened but otherwise expressionless. Keahi met his gaze with zir own, giving him a tired glare. Nelvana watched them carefully, mentally trying to predict how the grovyle would respond, and how she should. Tsuki sat on her haunches, taking advantage of this break, still eyeing the situation carefully should she need to step in.

    “I know I’m not the leader,” Alex sighed, “but we can keep going, and we should. We-“

    The ground rumbled beneath them, the entire world seeming to be shaken back and forth like a maraca. This force nearly sending Keahi to the dirt, but zie caught themselves before falling over. Team Galaxy had frozen in the path as the earthquake roared around them.

    Tsuki crouched low to the ground, trying to cover her head with her forepaws, as if that would stop this natural disaster. Nelvana dug her claws into the ground, holding her arms out stiffly out to the side for balance, her tail only moved to help support Keahi behind her. Alex crouched as well, however not nearly as low as the absol.

    This earthquake continued longer than any that any of them could remember, it almost felt like anticipation for the world to simply crumble apart around them.

    They weren’t that far off from the truth.

    “Fissure!” Keahi shrieked, spinning to look in the distance behind them, before turning back to the team. “Run!”

    While no one could see the fissure that Keahi had called out, they weren’t taking any chances and ran further down the path, trying not to stumble from the unstable ground. Even after the earthquake settled down, they kept running on adrenaline for another good minute to ensure their safety from the possible fissure.

    Finally slowing back down to a more reasonable pace for travelling, Alex only acknowledged the earlier conversation for one more comment.

    “If we don’t defeat Groudon soon enough, they will tear this world apart before the meteor even gets a chance,” he said without looking back at the others.

    Keahi blinked, and looked down at the path that had turned rockier during the sprint. Tsuki, beside zim, shook of her fur and leaned her head down to the torchic.

    “If you get tired, you may ride on my back for a bit,” she offered.

    Keahi ended up taking Tsuki up on this offer a few hours later, when zir shorter legs paired with exhaustion from simply walking for hours on end caught up to zim. The torchic nestled into the absol’s thick neck fur and rested there for much of the remaining journey.

    Silence seemed to suit the nighttime well, conversation drying out quickly after the earthquake.

    Another half hour after Keahi had had to take a break, sitting on Tsuki’s back instead of walking, conversation picked up again, finally hitting the topic of the meteor.

    Alex expressed distaste on the topic, repeating the plan to stop the impact of the disaster, and the dangerous consequences of failure. He would blame something or another for the tight squeeze for time, changing from it being Alakazam’s fault for not getting the teleport gem done sooner, or being their own fault for spending so much time on the house, or even his own fault for not keeping track of the date.

    Nelvana did her best to stay rational about this, trying to convince the others and herself that this could still be done with time to spare, however her partner’s pessimistic attitude along with her own tiredness seemed to be weighing her down, so she didn’t speak that much.

    Tsuki remained patient and calm, asking questions about plans and the timing of this all. She stayed strong with her questioning until they were answered, and then let the topic simmer away to silence again.

    Keahi hadn’t slept yet, zie might have given up walking but zie was determined to stay up with the others. Regardless, zie didn’t have much input aside from a few short comments here and there.

    Scenery changed from open plains to empty dirt land to warm rocks under their feet. Larger rocks were stacked around the trail, colors ranging from a dusty rust to a sun-baked orange, their warmer shades warped in from the shadows of the night. Above, the sky was a cold contrast to the ground they walked on, the only light from the stars glittering in a sea of dark space.

    “How much farther do you think we have to go…?” Keahi asked after the topic of the dark future dwindled away again and was replaced by silence.

    “We should be nearly there,” Nelvana assured zim, despite not truly knowing the answer to the question. “We’ve covered a lot of ground today… and yesterday, I guess. We’ve certainly passed midnight by now…” she added.

    To provide a more exact answer for Keahi, Alex pulled out the map again and examined it. Even with it being the dead of night, he still seemed to hold next to no trouble studying it. After a few moments, he stuffed the map away again, doing all this without pausing from walking.

    “We still will have a few hours to go,” he told them.

    Keahi let out an exaggerated sigh, “do we still have some trail mix? I’m hungry.”

    “You haven’t even been walking,” Alex commented, but brought out their last baggie of trail mix and tossed it over his shoulder for the torchic.

    “I still have a stomach,” Keahi hissed back, already opening up the baggie and eating the healthy mix inside.

    “Was that our last trail mix bag?” Nelvana asked.

    “Yeah, it was,” Alex answered.

    “I can share with you, if you want!” Keahi offered.

      Nelvana hesitated, about to politely deny the offer, but she changed her mind and ended up taking out a pinch of nuts and seeds anyway. Tsuki also took some of this share, but Alex did not. He had eaten an apple a couple hours back, and seemed to be calling that good for awhile.

    Finally, finally, they spotted a cave in the distance, down the hill they had walked up. The path clearly lead down to the mouth of this natural structure. This cave seemed to glow in the night, its namesake finally showing by the lava that oozed down the sides of the walls, pooling slowly out of the way of the entrance. About a meter or so away, stood a stone statue, the Kangaskhan Statue.

    Keahi hopped down from Tsuki, scurrying over to get a closer look at the outside of the dungeon. Tsuki stepped closer as well, and Team Galaxy took a long pause to watch Magma Cavern and its warm appearance standing out in the dark night.

    “We made it!” Keahi exclaimed, “and the sun hasn’t even risen yet! How’s that for good time?”

    “Huh, it looks awfully small from out here. Obviously, it’s bigger on the inside and goes underground, but still…” Nelvana commented, “that lava looks… kinda slow, it must be cooler than average. At least that means it won’t be a problem when we go in. And it looks pretty from here.”

    Tsuki nodded in agreement, “indeed…”

    “Either way, we shouldn’t camp too close to it, just in case. Should we rest here then?” Keahi hummed, shaking zir feathers.

    “We should head in,” Alex responded.

    Keahi stiffened, “what? We can’t go in! We need to rest first! We’ve been walking all day and night, in case you forgot.”

    “I didn’t forget. I also didn’t forget that we’re pressed for time right now,” Alex hissed, turning to face Keahi. “We don’t have time for breaks.”

    “We also don’t have time for recklessly running into danger unprepared physically!” Keahi countered.

    “We can handle this,” Alex insisted, “if you don’t want to go now, I’m still going.”

    “Are you insane?” Keahi snapped, “that’s basically asking for a death wish! It might not have many different fire-types there, but there will feel like a lot if you go in alone! What happens when you run into a monster house, huh?”

    “We’ll all be dead if we don’t keep going!” Alex yelled.

    “Stop!”

    Nelvana felt like caving into herself, she clutched her club tightly in her right hand, and having reached up to tensely grab one of the spikes at the side of her skull with her left. She was digging her claws into the ground, and her face was scrunched up in a stressed expression. Tsuki had stepped back beside the cubone, and she stood stiffly with her fur bristled.

    “Stop fighting… please,” Nelvana pleaded.

    Keahi’s angered expression melted away, “oh, Nel, we’re sorry-“

    “No, don’t… don’t make this about me, okay?” Nelvana sighed, “let’s just try to think about this rationally, okay?” When no one else said anything, she continued. “It’s early morning on the twentieth, and the meteor will hit late at night on the twenty-first. We nearly have two days left, and we need to beat Groudon, rescue Team A.C.T., let Alakazam finish the teleport gem, and then get Rayquaza to get rid of the meteor before then,” she stated, “A complete rest should be about eight hours… This is a twenty-six-floor dungeon, so based on how long it took us to complete other dungeons… we’ll be in there for a few hours. We teleport back, rest again, and by then it would be…” She paused to think, relaxing her limbs slightly and rubbing her forehead. “Morning on the twenty-first. We would still have plenty of time to complete another dungeon and possibly fight another legendary.”

    “Oh, thank Arceus,” Keahi sighed.

    “That’s… good to hear, thank you,” Alex murmured, visibly relaxing.

    “However,” Nelvana added, “if we get defeated, there is no coming back from that. It’s too much lost time.”

    Alex chuckled drily, “alright, I get it. We’ll rest up.”

    “Thank you,” Nelvana replied.

    “Okay, now you two should apologize to each other,” Tsuki responded, and when she was met by confused glances by both the torchic and the grovyle, she decided to elaborate. “From my experience, even if both parties of an argument think they have settled things, they could still feel tense with one another. Apologizing helps clear the air,” she told them, “and try not to tack on excuses to your apologies, hm?”

    “Oh… that makes sense,” Keahi agreed, and then looked up at Alex again. “I’m sorry for yelling, this is obviously really stressful for you.”

    “I’m… I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have tried to push everyone so much,” Alex apologized.

    “Are we good now…?” Nelvana asked, “I really hate to see you argue…”

    Keahi smiled, “yeah, and sorry for stressing you. We’re all tired… and we forced you, and Tsuki, to put on a strong face to power through the tension,” zie said, “let’s get some rest.”

    The surrounding area was empty aside from the stones, so Team Galaxy ended up finding a comfortable spot off the path in the rocks to curl up together in.

    “I’ll keep an eye on the time, I still shouldn’t have to need to sleep yet,” Tsuki informed them quietly.

    Keahi fell asleep quickly, exhaustion overtaking zim. However, as usual, despite her tiredness, Nelvana found trouble going to sleep right away.

    “¿xǝl∀ 'ʎǝH” Nelvana whispered.

    Alex blinked, but rolled over to make eye contact with the cubone, silently prompting her to go on.

    “¿noʎ ʇ,uǝɹɐ 'pǝɹɐɔs ǝɹ,noʎ ˙˙˙ǝɹ,no⅄” Nelvana asked, still speaking in her native tongue.

    Alex chuckled softly, “˙˙˙ɥɐǝ⅄” he admitted.

    “˙sıɥʇ op uɐɔ ǝʍ ʞuıɥʇ ʎllɐǝɹ I ˙˙˙ʇnᙠ ˙ʍou ǝlıɥʍɐ ɹoɟ pǝɹɐɔs uǝǝq ǝʌ,I ˙ooʇ ǝW” Nelvana continued.

    “˙˙˙ɥɐǝ⅄” Alex repeated in agreement.

    “˙noʎ ɟo pnoɹd ǝq plnoʍ sʇuǝɹɐd ɹno⅄ ¿xǝl∀ pu∀” Nelvana said.

    Alex blinked, and then exhaled, “thanks. Let’s try sleeping now, okay?”

    “Okay. Goodnight,” Nelvana replied.

[finderskeepersff]

1.

Applying lipgloss to my lips “Mia, do you think this is too much?” Turning to Mia as she laid out on my bed, we have been best friends since we was in diapers. We sisters, a sister I have always wanted anyways “erm, bitch” is the only thing she said like speak up “you going to eat thanksgiving dinner at your man’ house and that thigh high slit, whew chile! You going to make his daddy choke on his greens, but I like it. I mean your makeup is not too much, it’s subtle. But girl, I wouldn’t be eating anything. Just you” she pointed at me which made me scream laughing “you got me there, but I got this from Fashionnova so I wasn’t sure if it would go, I don’t care anyways. Jordan has been ignoring me and then calls up saying come to my place. Mother said she is fine, going to drop her off at my auntie house and then I will go” looking back at the mirror, making sure my bun is tightly done on my head “you know that little nigga irritates me, he just seems smug. Like Ivy and I was saying, it’s just odd that he allows you to be serving bottles like some hoe” I gasped “but I’m not, I’m just serving. I get paid well thanks” I pointed at her “you told me some nigga got angry because you wouldn’t give him the time of day, I worry about you friend. I know cause your momma out of work for a while you doing your best” I sighed out “I’m trying to do my best, I just needed a second job and that was it. Few hours at night, that helps to make sure this house never leaves us Mia. Ever since my mother had that fall, slipped her back disc it’s been hard. She just needs to gather herself and then we will be all ok” Mia cooed out “I understand, I just feel like nobody deserves my girl. You too fine to be doing all that” waving Mia off, she worries about me too much.

Maybe this suede green coloured dress is a bit much but it’s me, I can do it and I love dressing up “Leyton, please be ready. We need to leave” my twelve year old brother, much to my surprise not even his daddy wants to know. I don’t understand men, they just never want to take reponsability “I’m helping mom” turning the corner into the kitchen “awww you helped her into the wheelchair, thank you” kissing his cheek “my daughter, look at you!” My mom said in utter shock “my baby you too good for these men, you look like me when I was young and didn’t break my back” my mom looks all emotional “sweetie, I will be back in action soon. Just need to rest this back” smiling at my mom, she just needs to rest her back and get the physio done, she can walk but very slowly, so pushing her in the wheelchair is best “it’s ok mom, take your time. Your job is still there for you right” I kind of doubt it, she is a nurse and that job is hard work but I need to keep positive for her “you think? I don’t think so, they may need to put me in admin, that’s what my manger said anyways Sofia but I have been working there fifteen years Mia, are you ok baby?” My mother loves her like her own “you are a hardworking woman Grace” she is, my beautiful mother.

Blinking at my brother several times as he continues to climb from the back to the front of my car “so you couldn’t just step out of the door and just walk a few steps and get in normally? Or was that just too normal for you” he chuckled “I like climbing” he shrugged “let me stick my foot up your ass, don’t be doing that again. Anyways, hopefully traffic ain’t bad in Newark, people should have traveled yesterday” I am praying they have, can’t be dealing with traffic today “Sofia, can I ask you of something?” This is the moment where Leyton asks for something and I say no “sure” putting the car engine on “I really need some new sneakers” smiling at him “so do I” i retorted “but you bought a new dress, I really want some new Nike sneakers, Christmas present please!!” Side eying him “whatever” he can forget that because I done already decided I’m getting him a console game thing he wants “stop being mean to me and get it me please” who does this boy think he is “trust me, I’m not. Just relax and let us have a nice thanksgiving” he already stressing about Christmas.

Stepping inside my auntie’ house, here goes my perverted uncle. Look like he hasn’t seen leg in a while “come on in, heard you ain’t staying?” My auntie said “she is having it with her new man, even though I haven’t met him. She seems happy” my mother speaking on my behalf “Aunt Ann, my mother is just speaking too much. We just still at that get to know each other stage so don’t let my mother fool you” it’s been like what, three months so she needs to relax “oh Grace, you crazy woman. Let her live but Sofia, please no sex yet” this is why I am glad I am not going to be here because this is too much “anyways, I am out of here and I hope you are all proud of yourselves for scaring me away” my auntie laughed and so did my mother “I mean call me if you need anything ok mom?” I better get going “talking about no sex yet, auntie please” waving her off, she is a crazy woman please.

I am so nervous about meeting Jordan’ family, I’m actually shocked he wanted me to come, I’m not sure why but ok. I feel I am slightly overdressed but I got to make a good impression, hopefully they like me and hopefully this is the right house. It’s a nice family home anyways, I am impressed by it. Jordan’ car and another car parked outside the garage, I would say the home is about a five bedroom, it’s a nice neighbourhood too. Taking in a deep breath, I can do this. Lifting my hand up ready to knock until I see the doorbell, ok let me press that instead. Once I pressed the doorbell my stomach just dropped, I am nervous because like I am not a bad person but what if they don’t like me after my cousin and their brother, like that has nothing to do with me. I barely get on with ole girl, I live in Newark and she lives in Harlem so only god knows how she got her ass around Brooklyn, I am impressed that they have a nice home in Brooklyn “I’ll get it!” Oh god, a female voice. Stepping back a little, the door got dragged open and appeared a girl, I assumed it would be their mother but it was not, the girl is pretty and you can tell it’s their sister “hello” she said “hi, I’m Sofia” she let an oh “Jordan!! It’s for you!” She screamed out “I’m Jasmine, come in and wow. I love the dress” instantly, I know I’m going to like her “thank you” I beamed.

Jordan’ eyes widened, he’s impressed by me and I feel all giddy inside “you look so good, come on in. This is my sister Jasmine, come and see my mom and pops” Jordan grabbed my hand “yes she is so sweet your sister” god I am so nervous about meeting his parents, is this too soon because I mean it’s been three months, I am not sure at all “mom, dad. This is Sofia, Sofia this is the main man Carnell and the main lady Monique” both parents are still fresh faced, they must have started off young “nice to meet you Mr Warren” shaking his hand “call me Carnell but nice to meet you too” out of no where Monique hugged me, it was random “you are so pretty, you are too good for him and call me Monique. Don’t mind me, I’m doing the cooking and then looking after my grand baby” the child is here, so the lazy bitch couldn’t take care of it herself “thank you so much and honestly, now I know where your kids get all the good looks from” it wasn’t as bad as it seems, they are very nice people.

“One Rolex watch, One gold Cuban chain, Two diamond stud earrings and thirty two dollars in cash, car keys and house key” the officer passed me the very things I entered this place with, it’s a weird feeling to have “my cellphone?” I questioned “what cellphone?” He said confused, I chuckled “aight, whatever” let me just get out of here “stay out of trouble Mr Warren, don’t want to see your face again” grabbing the bags from the counter “trust me, feeling is mutual with that” the officer escorting me grabbed my arm “this way to freedom then” I didn’t think I would have ever felt the feeling of wearing these clothes on my body, I took in a few breath’s walking the halls of this place, I don’t know what is to come and I don’t know what will happen to me next now that I am out. I had a steady flow, steady life, I really didn’t have trouble and I just wonder if I will have the same friends. Three years in this place, I began to become used to the system, the people, the bed, the food. Being out here, I’m on my own not even a word from the people I knew, if all else fails I can always come back “stand here” the guy said to me “there is someone waiting out these gates, I need you to walk straight, the guards out there will open the gates” Nodding my head, the officer opened the door “good luck out there” taking in a deep breath as I stepped out, it’s a very different feeling for when I step outside to get some air when I was locked up, this feels like freedom.

It’s a long walk of getting to the gate, just walking by the guards outside “good luck out there” again, hearing those words. The gate slowly opened, this is it. This is my time to get the fuck out of here and start grinding, I lost out in doing this for three years and now I’m twenty eight “my nigga!” My smile grew “Myles, my man” walking out of the gates “no way, Keeis. Fuck out of here, and Kyle. Y’all really here” I couldn’t help but hug Myles “good to see you out, I told the boys. We got to be here when he does, they came out” hitting Myles’ back as I hugged him, this means so much to me “I appreciate it, it’s been a hard three years” walking over to Keeis to dap him “you got muscles now nigga, you ain’t skinny anymore C” I laughed “Kyle, big man. It’s been ages, you still fat though” Kyle put a finger up at me “thanksgiving freedom, now I don’t know what to do with myself. I am out, I appreciate y’all coming out because you didn’t have too. You all have families to be with me” Keeis waved me off “you’re family” least some family came out, not my real ones though “so we have a lot of shit to catch up on but for now, y’all need to go and enjoy thanksgiving” I feel bad, they missing out just to see me “we do and Cassius, I know you would do that same for me. We wanted to be here so don’t forget that” smiling at Kyle saying that.

Staring out of the window of Myles’ car, it’s nice to be out. I get to see the world again, well New York mostly anyways, being in there and being with people that did worse shit than me was a struggle. It’s just one of those things where I had to be bad just to stay alive and it worked and I’m here, my main goal is to get Jordan back. His hate for me is so pure “I don’t even feel like going home, do I even have one” I said to Myles “you do and your mother wants you back, so does Carnell. They was just upset you went there, any parent would. It’s whatever though, we in Brooklyn. Shit happens and we have to live by how we can, we have to be in gangs to live. You just don’t expect your own family to turn on you though” taking in a deep and then sighing out “Myles, the boy will never understand how hurt I am. I thought it was a mistake, he got in trouble himself. If I knew I wouldn’t have took it for him. I only knew when you told me and then on top of that he fucked the girl I was not with but fucked with, now he’s twisting shit on me. I honestly think I’m gonna murder him” Myles laughed “just go home, relax with your family first ok? Don’t act out yet you need to spend some time with your mother and father first” Myles is not wrong “it’s a beautiful day, you’re out and it’s thanksgiving. I know you will be your mother’ gift she wants back” look at Myles being corny, he trying to make me feel better.

Staring at my family home, nothing has changed at all “weird to be back?” Myles asked “I thought I would have got longer, you know the system don’t like black men. I didn’t think I would have got three years, maybe more. It’s a blessing that I am out. I guess I better go and face them” looking over at Myles “yes and just remain calm with Jordan, move in silence. He’s a traitor remember that, he will be now thinking on what to do so just make him squirm and we will catch up. Niggas are going to be so happy you back, honestly” dapping Myles, I am blessed to be out “I am going to try and be good. Lay low for a while, I went through a lot of shit when I was in there. The guards constantly beating my ass for shit, I met B and Zed there. They be out soon but, nobody liked me. People heard of me and shit, I just want to be good but I don’t know how to be. I’ll try my best but let me get in and face the music of my family. Thank you for coming out” opening the car door “good seeing you” getting out of the car, I’m just glad to be home.

Walking up the drive ever so slowly, I feel happy in a way. It does depend on if my family are happy to see me actually, I can see my car is still around. Pulling my key out from my pocket, staring down at the key and wondering if this thing will work still “mhmmm” placing the key in the door, if it don’t work I will be hurt hurt because that means my family deadass don’t want me at all. Turning the key and hearing it unlock “bingo” I said to myself, pushing the door open. Not a single thing as changed in this place, that makes me happy because I thought everything would be different but that is not the case at all. Home sweet home, stepping inside the home and closing the door behind me but made sure not to bang it, I want to sneak in and surprise them. Taking in a deep breath as I walked through the hallway and followed the voices all the way into the dining room, I stood and watched on at the chatter of my family in high spirits having their meal. Seeing my beautiful mom and my sister, she grown as shit. They all ok, and this random ass child but they good “nice to know everyone gets along” the room became abruptly silent “Cassius?” Jasmine was the first to say, the sound of the chair scrapping against the marble flooring “oh my god! Cass!” Jasmine ran at me “Jasmine” dropping the clear bag to the ground, catching my sister as she jumped on me “oh my god! Cassius, you’re back. I have missed you so much big brother” Jasmine wrapped her arms around my neck so tight “I missed my baby sister too, you ain’t small no more though” Jasmine jumped down “you have gone so big, muscles!? What the hell” my sister said in shock, I laughed “the last time I saw you, you left this house. That was the last time Cassius and look at you” my mom is ever so emotional “I know and trust me, I am going to get the person that snitched on me” hugging my mom “you really back Cassius” hugging my mother close.

My mother moved back, she sniffled wiping her tears “I am back now, you don’t need to worry. I know what happened, I promise you mom. I am here to stay, stop crying. But surprise, I am back” looking behind my mom and at my dad “I knew when I named you Cassius you would be trouble, you really are” I busted out laughing “why you playing like that dad, you know you love me” dapping my dad but he dragged me into a hug “I am glad you are out, I was just more disappointed you was in there” nodding my head “I get it but I’m back now” my mom rubbed my back “best present ever, I am just so happy. It’s complete, my boys and daughter” Josiah hugged me “good seeing you out bro, you shaved too. Looking like a baby” patting his back “yeah, I wanted to come back looking how I did when I left the home” stepping back from the hug “I am so happy you are back, Cass. We have so much to catch up on too” Jordan didn’t get up, he remained sat next to some female “so is there a spot for me?” I didn’t think I would get this kind of love from my family “you can take my seat baby, come!” my mom said, shaking my head “no, I will sit here. Next to Jasmine, just need a plate. You got paper plates now? We doing that? Even I didn’t get that being locked away” my mom waved me off “just sit down” walking around the table “is this your chain and stuff?” my sister said behind me “it is” pulling a chair back “Jordan” I said, I didn’t want to touch him like that “Cassius” sitting down on the chair, my eyes laid on the female sat next to him. She stared ahead, not even a look my way but from where I sat she has beautiful lips. She finally turned to look at me, a pair of arched eyebrows, her delicate cupid bow shaped lips shimmering under the lights “who are you?” I don’t care, I want to ask “none of your business” Jordan said “listen, I know you are a little bitch and act like one but don’t. So what is your name?” A set of dazzling, angel-white teeth gleamed, she smiled “uh, Sofia” she can speak but wow, she has hazel eyes. Licking my lips, she for real stepped out like this, I mean I am all here for some side boob because I ain’t seen those in years. Nodding my head “please be quiet, let us have a nice meal please” let me be good, my mother has said it now “for you” as I smiled at Jordan, let the games begin.

[thewallofmilessimpson]

Seems like Miles lives in fantasy land, everyone is a POS, except for Miles of course

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonSun, Mar 25, 2018 at 5:58 PMHello Kevin, I had my back surgery thursday and I’m better. I was able to stand up friday with a lot of difficulty so they let me come home. I’m still sore but I’m much better and home. I’m going to Covington next week and buy a new mattress. I have a Tempur-pedic memory foam top dollar one but I’m tired of it. It’s hard for me to turn over. It doesn’t give like a regular mattress. The hospital bed I was in was a killer. A hospital staff woman ask me before I left how was the nursing staff and I told her excellent but you couldn’t give me that bed for free. My weak ass I can’t roll over to my right and barely to my left. The best example I can give is it feels to me like I’m laying in a ditch or apiece of 2’ diameter pipe so if I try to roll right or left I’m trying to roll up the side of a concave angle. Sheila fell and fractured her femur bone and is walking with a walker and using my manual wheelchair. She’s still taking care of pos Rita’s kids. Rita has total control over Sheila even monitor’s her phone calls. It’s freaking crazy weird and sad. Tom Benson died. I hope his wife doesn’t move the Saints. She seams to be a money loving woman and may do it for more money. More money more money more money! Later brother man I’m going to chill horizonal for a while. Miles On Mar 17, 2018, at 10:03 AM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > I saw this in a magazine and thought of you. > > All the Best! > > Contrary to ordinary there is nothing like a dream to create the future! > > Kevin Stratton > Roatan Island Real Estate - Owner/Broker > johnst13@yahoo.com > Office: 011-504-2445-4168 > Cell: 011-504-9922-5638 > www.roatanislandrealestate.com > www.guanajasales.com > * Member of NAR > * Member Roatan Real Estate Association >  and Canabirh Association of Honduras > * Owner of Roatan Island Home Inspections >  for Construction and Home Inspections > * Fiberglass Swimming Pools<Ask Miles.jpg>

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonThu, Mar 29, 2018 at 10:23 AMHey Kevin, I really don’t know what they used but I don’t think it was a laser. Surgeon’s can do amazing things with the human body. They will heal you or kill you one. I still talk like a frog from the thing they stick down your throat when they knock you out but my back is still doing good so I’m happy. The rain has arrived. Probably rain most of the day. I like to smoke and fuck on rainy days. Will only do one today but as soon as I win the power ball the pussy will come. I have two gators in the pond now. A 6 or 7 footer and a 3 footer. Both won’t come close enough for me to shoot them. A friend is bringing over some gumbo. Talk to ya later Amigo. Miles On Mar 26, 2018, at 11:29 AM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > Good morning Miles > > Glad to hear your back surgery went good. What did they do? Not the laser one I was asking about. > Wow not being able to turn over to get out of bed is going to be a problem sooner than later. Do you think > you can work on getting that strength back so you can do it by yourself? Or there is a powered machine > that can pick you up and swing you over kind of like the ones you see to get you into a pool. You know > you don't want to go into a nursing home. A home nurse coming by twice a day to help you out during > the times she stops by. No coffee in a nursing home would drive you crazy. It would to me too. I hope a > new harder mattress would help you get out of bed by yourself. So you can push off easier. > Wow Shelia can really fuckup when she try's.  And that daughter of her's running her is so crazy that > I almost feel sorry for her but not much at all. > I heard that Benson died but that was to be expected. I'll bet his wife sells the team and the new owner > might move the team to who ever pays the most. Maybe someone like Jazy and his wife Beyonce and > P'didy or Drew Breese. Or the Mannings? Still working on my roof and trying to sell properties to keep the > work going. Sorry but got to run. I hope you keep getting better! > > > All the very best my friend! > > k

Miles SimpsonHey Kevin, I haven’t written in a while because it’s the same olds shit around here. No news to tell. The gumbo I mention a friend brought was chicken and sausage. He had a big pot and rice he even brought a new pack of Glad 1 Qt plastic containers and put up 7 Qt’s in my freezer while I was eating a Qt. His name is Kevin also. He’s really a buddy to my nephew but a friend to me too. I only see him when he comes fishing. You said you might build a motorcycle garage. Grandpaw built one for his HondaMon, Apr 9, 2018 at 3:27 PM

Miles Simpson <simp2172@bellsouth.net>To:Kevin StrattonWed, Apr 11, 2018 at 1:15 PMHi Kevin, Yup that’s what they did to me. I had a bulging disc putting pressure on my nerve. When I was getting the steroid shots in my back the doctor’s assistant looked at my mri last year and said I didn’t need surgery. The surgeon said after the surgery my disc was worse than what showed up on the mri. I’m soooooooo glad I had the surgery at least so far. Sue’s brother Wayne came over last week and we smoked 40 lbs of chicken quarters. We did 20 lbs then took them off and put on another 20. The last batch only took 2 hours since the smoker was already up to temp. We then vacuum sealed them and he took 10 lbs and Karen my house cleaner took 10 and I kept 20 lbs. The dam quarters come off giant chickens! Ten lb bag has 9 quarters! The last ones I smoked were the same way. I gave Sheila $4,000 monday the 9th. The 8th was one year since Mom died. Three years ago I bought Sheila a $3,000 lawn mower. Two years ago I gave her $3,000 for a down payment for a car she’s about to lose now for being 2 months late on her note. Now $4,000 cash. Enough is enough! That’s $10K in three years. She feels and looks like the walking dead. She has no help to help her keep the place up. Rita has NEVER mowed the yard or even tried to. I wish I had the strength to beat her up but I don't! Pelican’s play their last game tonight against the Spurs. It’s a big game towards the rankings for the playoffs. Later, Miles On Apr 9, 2018, at 4:45 PM, Kevin Stratton <johnst13@yahoo.com> wrote: > Wow that was a surgery to watch. Was that exactly what they did to you? Did you have a chipped broken piece of bone off a vertebrata like in the video? > Sorry I can not be there to help you get around and make it easier on you just living in the house. I am working on being able to come if you ever really need me to. > As I sure wish I lived closer right now. I need to finish the work on my house and not run broke doing it. So I have to keep earning and not retiring as yet like I wanted to when I hit 66. I will be 68 next week on the 13th. Yep Friday the 13th this time. And hopefully no bad luck for me as I sure don't need any at this time. I would like to taste the gumbo . Even chicken and sausage sounds good to me as I miss Louisiana cooking like that and crawfish boils. Nothing like that here. I need a good gumbo recipe as I can follow directions pretty good as I do most of the good cooking here at home now. I just made a pot of shrimp and hot Italian sausage with Alfredo sauce with noodles. It has allot of other ingredients to make it a bigger pot to make it for more people and freeze some. > The roof is completely done and we are enclosing the outside walls to get them ready for new windows in the next week or so. > I was out walking a parcel of land 5.5 acres with the owner from Colorado. He is looking to buy a 1.25 acres along side his property to help get a access > out to a main road. Right now his 5.5 acres is land locked with no access. They are asking a arm and leg for the 1.25 acres as it has 165 foot of beachfront > which we are always running out of on a island as they are not making anymore beachfront in the best area. !0 years ago he bought the 5.5 acres for $550,000 > and they are asking at this time $670,000 for the 1.25 acres right next to him and they started at $735,000. We are still trying to get the seller down in price. But > part of this deal is the seller has to get a road to the property and he still need a old family member to give him access to get to his 1.25 acres as part of this deal to make it happen but they are holding up saying they have not determined the cost of getting the road through and paying off the relative to let it happen as we want > a deeded recorded access to make it fit our needs. Both parcels of land will be worth something like $2,000,000 when it is finished and it works out. My buyer that I have been working with for 10 years or so has big bucks. He owns the largest outfitting store in Steamboat Springs Colorado for skiing and like a Bass Pro outfitter or a Cabela's. > What are you going to do for your sister? Anything? I know you do not want to. And she would be back for more no matter how much you give her. > I still have my fingers crossed for you to win the power-ball. I hope the Saints get a good draft and then pickup a couple of good older players in free agent market. > And build a good team for Drew's last couple of years and make a real run for the Superbowl again one more time. I still try and catch as many NBA games as possible. > And the playoffs start on the 14th of this month. I still have not picked a team to win as yet but I think it wont be the Toronto Raptors even if they are the number 1 one seed at this time. > > Write you again soon and keep getting better! > > k > Contrary to ordinary there is nothing like a dream to create the future! > > Kevin Stratton > Roatan Island Real Estate - Owner/Broker > johnst13@yahoo.com > Office: 011-504-2445-4168 > Cell: 011-504-9922-5638 > www.roatanislandrealestate.com > www.guanajasales.com > * Member of NAR > * Member Roatan Real Estate Association >  and Canabirh Association of Honduras > * Owner of Roatan Island Home Inspections >  for Construction and Home Inspections > * Fiberglass Swimming Pools<Ask Miles.jpg>

[imagine-that-one-thing]

Styles Towers. || 10

Authors Note: Hello!! To celebrate the coming of a New Year, here is a New Chapter on Styles Towers. I am so excited to have finally managed to write this chapter and hopefully, I can keep it constant with my updating. No promised though. Happy New Year, as wel leave 2017 I hope you all have a lovely start to 2018. Be careful, my lovelies and gave fun ringing in the year! XX 

Thank you to my lovely BETA @lostinreality014 for helping me quite a lot with this series, if you get a chance please read her Niall Blurb, very fluffy and sweet. Also check out @haroldsflowerchild new series.

Rated M for Mature audiences.

Don’t forget the other links: The first book, Styles & Co, can be found on WattPad, HERE. And can be found on Tumblr HERE. Styles & Co. || Extras.

You can find my blurb Master list HERE

                                          || My Office. ||

Before we knew it, snow is settling outside and formulating a perfect blanket in our backyard, Logan and Harry have half a relationship— well, they don’t ignore each other as much— they have conversations every now and again; it’s November, I have regained access to the business with the strict orders of Harry; I am not permitted to spend too much time working, the second I yawn, Niall or Harry send me home. Oh, and I’m six months pregnant. While Harry has been on partial leave with the business due to the downfall, Niall has been interim CEO and with the go-ahead from Harry, bumped me up to Chief administrative officer. To sum up, what I do besides staying out of Harry’s way when he is pissed off at work, I manage daily administrative operations. I am part of the top executive team reporting directly to the CEO. At times, I find it hard to look at Harry with a straight face and say, ‘boss.’

Harry gave Logan the money he needed to pay off Charles, that was quite the dinner conversation we had. Harry came clean and informed me that his brother, Logan needed 125,000 pounds to pay off his debt and Harry managed to come up with it. I didn't ask too many questions, I trusted his judgment. He mumbled something about being responsible… Apparently, Logan had turned to Harry and Harry quite literally told him to fuck off. I guess deep down Harry does have some concern for his brother, even if he attempts to come off as a hard ass who despises him. I have attempted to convince Harry to bury the hatchet, but we aren’t quite there yet. He still has that bit of hatred in him, whether that be for Logan or their Father, I do not know. 

The audit for the business has been a bit of a hell-bent ride, the business accounts have been frozen for the last three months but besides from that, everything has been relatively well… As well as can be. I had thought this rollercoaster ride with the business would put a strain on Harry and I since he doesn't have an outlet to relieve his stress and anger, but to my surprise he has been calm. He does what he can around the office without stepping his boundaries and has been doing his physical therapy.

You could say things are going as smooth as expected.

At three in the morning when the birds have yet to wake and commence to chirping their favourite song and the sun hasn’t peaked from its resting place, I discover myself gracefully making my way around the penthouse in an attempt to tire myself enough to go to sleep.

I rest down at the small counter and open Harry’s laptop and log in on my account, deciding that I may as well put my time to good use while I am awake and apparently rather active. I read a few emails and reply to them, despite the ungodly hour before I unintentionally click the stocks section. “Damnit,” I grumble to myself as the screen shifts black before the stocks pop up and my screen is lit with essentially green streaks while the news of the stocks operates across the bottom of my screen. For a moment, I am astonished that there is so much green across my screen a positive outcome I hadn’t expected, at least not so soon.

—

I make my way downstairs to Harry’s office areas in an attempt to tire myself a little bit. When we stay here, I have made a habit of just roaming the main business floor at night. I have managed to find it soothing, for what reason I do not know. 

Sometimes if Harry doesn’t discover me missing by the time I come down here, I sneak into his office and relax in his leather chair while facing the window. The city is so impressive at night when it is meant to be sleeping… It is even more beautiful to watch the town turn from a darkened ghost town with the night sky washing a heather-purple to a busy city as the sun begins to rise and the afternoon sky becomes a cocktail-blue. There is just something about chords of soft light spearing down from above and through the large pane windows that is calming and peaceful. Now, since it is winter, the gravel-grey skies are bare, bleak and depressing.

I’m surprised when I discover Niall hunkered in his office, the door open with the light on. I peer in and he immediately looks up and flashes me a smile. His mariner-blue eyes peer at me and his laptop constantly they’re a-gleam with delight and the vigour of youth. They are soft, Irish eyes that always swim with delight no matter what ungodly hour it is. “Elise, why hello. What are you doing up at this hour?” He questions and my eyes instantly take notice of the moon that is shining brightly outside like a ghostly-silver disc in the sky.

His office views differently to Harry’s, it’s a varied scenery to see at this hour.

I step closer to his desk and give him a small smile. “I can’t sleep and Harry’s out like a light so can’t keep me entertained,” I notify Niall and he chuckles. “I saw the stocks increased, what’s going on?” I challenge, a bit on edge about the stats that I accidentally came across on Harry’s laptop. I am still learning my way around the business world and the stock market, to say the least, it is one hell of a learning process.

Niall clears his throat and flashes me a bright smile. “Well, in short terms, I’m out of a job.”

I cock my head to the side, “What do you mean?” The last time Niall thought he was out of a job was when Harry threatened to fire him when Harry was pissed off that he was stuck at home and not able to do business.

We don’t let Harry live that day down.

With a gregarious personality and a galactic smile he speaks, “As of three fifteen, Harry got his business back, I am no longer the interim CEO.” Niall informs me, “I am demoted, sadly. But this is great for you two.”

I stare at Niall for a moment, unsure of whether he is screwing with me or not. He has screwed with me a little bit over the last few months, he has this humorous side to him that he reveals every now and again and I haven’t managed to figure out when he is using it against me. “Elise, why do you look like you’re plotting my death in a very nonchalant way?”

“Are you screwing with me, Horan?”

“No,” he shakes his head, “I am serious. Harry is back as CEO”

***

I make my way back upstairs to the Penthouse not bothering to be quiet as I let the door close behind me.

“Harry, Harry wake up,” I benevolently wake him and force him out of his slumber. He lets out a groan as his arm moves and he buries himself further in his pillow. “Harry, babe.. wake up.” I tenderly nudge his arm and he lets out another grunt.

“Leave me alone,” he grumbles in a somnolent voice.

I call his name repeatedly, shaking him with a little more force. His enrapturing, loam-grey eyes flutter open and he promptly swallows, “what.. what’s wrong? Are you okay?” He hurriedly sits up, “is it the baby? What’s wrong?” He’s very expeditious with his words as his voice is deep and laced with sleep.

“I’m fine, the stocks just went up,” I inform him in an attempt to express what exactly has occurred.

He grows silent for a moment as he rubs his eyes, “you woke me for the fucking stock market? I thought you were going into early labour or some shit,” Harry murmurs lamentably as he leans his back against the headboard and crosses his arms over his chest. “Unless you’re in labour or something, I’m going back to fucking sleep, I don’t care.” Harry drowsily and grumpily mumbles as he wiggles onto his back and pulls forcibly at his covers.

“Harry, get up.” I huff and tug at the blankets, causing him to sit up again, “I’m in labour,” I roll my eyes in frustration.

“Don’t fuck with me,” he grumbles into his pillow, “don’t be the boy that cries wolf.”  

I heavily sigh, becoming frustrated with him. “Harry, the stock is up.”

“Elise, shhh.”

“Harry, get the fuck up,” I benevolently tug on his arm. “We need to go downstairs. Get up.” I instruct, completely drawing the covers off of him, exposing him. His eyes fly open and he huffs heavily as he nonchalantly sits up and rubs his eyes.

I wander my way to the door and he gradually follows me with a confused expression painted across his lips, “what the fuck are we doing?” His voice is hoarse from being asleep, his hand yet again rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He pads through the room like a panther in slow-mo.

I grab his hand. “You’re coming with me.”

“That sounds so damn sexy, but baby, I’m tired.”

I flick my eyes to glare over at him before I roll my eyes a-flicker with curiosity over a genial smile. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he realises that our troubles are over and that he has his pride and joy back.

“Good to know you’re still perverted when you’re half asleep,” I mutter and he glances at me with a-glow with love and he flashes me an amiable smile.

I have to say that I am rather pleased that after all these years together that he still flirts with me. I love it.

I lure him downstairs and force him into Niall office where Niall grins as he glances up at the two of us.

“The fuck am I doing here?” Harry demands with a yawn and Niall begins to laugh, seeming unable to control himself.

“Nice attire and that hair, real turn on, lad.” Niall winks as he gestures to Harry who looks like he’s a bit of a mess. A pair of sweatpants, a wrinkled t-shirt and his usually lush, mother lode-brown hair he usually grooms so carefully has a rippling quality and is all over the place from being asleep.He has a mannish, designer stubble that I quite find to be a turn on. Quite the different appearance compared to what Niall is used to recognizing. Niall is used to a suit and tie of some sort and a very well groomed Harry.

I shoot Niall a glower and he immediately seizes his lips into a narrow line and stops chuckling. It isn't the first time I have shot him a glare and he has subsequently shut up relatively quick. I don't know what it is, when I give Harry the scowl he just rolls his eyes and laughs, when Niall is on the receiving end of my glare, Niall readjusts his tone and behaviour.

I am not quite sure if he's deathly afraid of me or if he is deathly afraid of what Harry will do if he makes a wrong move with me.

Harry sighs as he stretches his back and arms out, a few cracks in his bones sounds and sends shivers down my back. “Again, what the hell am I doing here?” he demands while crossing his arms over his chest, not too amused with either Niall or me.

Niall leans back in his chair in the same manly manner Harry does, “Congratulations, Harry. You’re the CEO again.” Niall informs Harry, “you’re now my boss again.”

He snarls to himself before frowning at Niall. “I’ve always been your boss you little twerp.” His derring-do personality and bass voice is a big part of his ambitious character and it never seizes to diminish when he is tired and a bit of a cocky prick.

“Harry, the stocks rose... You’re back.” I state for what feels like the hundredth time.

I was hoping Niall could get through to him since Harry’s tired ass is a bit slow and not functioning.

His voice is mellifluous as it leaves his lips. “No fucking way. You’re lying,” he gasps, finally clicking on what we’ve been trying to tell his sleepy self.

Niall gestures towards his laptop that is open to the stock exchange, “No, I’m serious... saw it fo’ myself. Look.” … “I’m out of a job. The stocks are up which means you’re back and the board can’t hold anything over you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Harry,” I gently nudge him for his use of language, he needs to watch his language before our child comes out stringing cuss words before it can even read.

Harry clears his throat and rolls his tired eyes, “sorry, bloody rubbish.”

“You’re CEO again.” Niall chuckles as he watches me huff in frustration.

Harry grows silent for a moment as he stares at Niall in disbelief. His eyes became a-glow with love and he flashes me an amiable smile. “I’m back!” His voice is like bottled thunder, a measure of his vitality. I stare into his enrapturing, loam-grey eyes and it is like Spring has arrived. Spring is merriment. It’s a fizzy tonic, like a leisurely overflowing bottle of bubbling pleasure. You know that bubbly, delightful feeling you exhibit when you take that first fresh breath of spring air? That is what I swear I feel when I gaze into his eyes— his nautical-grey eyes shine as clear as a summer brook.

He eased about the room with a balletic grace before placing his arms around me in a light manner, his arms curling around my waist, drawing me closer to him. “Congratulations, you have the business back.”

“We have it back.” Harry whispers, leaning down and kissing me tenderly.

“You do all the work, I just sit and look pretty,” I chuckle, wrapping my arms around his figure.

He shakes his head, “Nonsense,” he kisses my forehead affectionately.

Niall clears his throat, “can you two get a room…. That isn’t my office,”

Harry shoots Niall a glare and Niall in return gives him his lambent, meltwater-blue eyes that were a-dazzle with wonder with a friendly smile.

“Hey Niall, very kindly, fuck off.” Harry grins, “Go home.”

“Please, spare my office its innocence.” Niall sighs as he closes the lid of his laptop.

Harry rolls his eyes, “my office?” Harry caresses his lips to my ear and I let out a stifled laugh while considerately stretching away and swatting his chest ever so benevolently.

[pidgezero-one]

does using a blogging site for #pastebinmonday defeat the purpose? who cares

speedrun PBs:

overall this has been a great year for me. i didn't meet all the goals i set at the start of the year, but some of them i became less invested in while developing others.

i achieved top 300 in super mario kart, which is a big deal for me considering the level of competition in that game developed over 19 years. pretty proud of that, and i know i have so much more potential to climb.

i'm pretty happy i got a bunch of people to run crystal caves for a while. i talk a lot of shit about my runs but my WR is actually not that bad. i think with the route i'm using i can save half a minute at most. i'll get it soon.

i got a time i'm somewhat happy with in smrpg any% and took a hiatus from that category. i started running smrpg most of the stuff and it quickly became bar none my favourite thing to speedrun. i almost have my time under 4 and a half hours, currently sitting at 4:31:56. that's wild considering how good i thought my 4:47 was, lol. i'm having so much fun improving my times and finding time saves and helping flesh out the route and all that. i also had fun routing Beat Culex and am going to return to working on that category soon. think it'll always be my favourite game.

dkc2 is hard but i'm enjoying learning it.

i'm very happy with my mario land 2 time. submitting to agdq for the first time and not seeing a wall of red was neat even if it is a lottery. i was only a backup runner but i know that my time being decent allowed for that. i'll grind this game again soon.

i dunno if im gonna return to EB pajama. i really liked the all sanctuaries routing, and it's obsolete now. we'll see.

current plans:

i haven't streamed much this week because i'm having capture card issues =( so instead i've been doing the following:

-uninstalling drivers from device manager and reinstalling over and over

-trying old drivers

-attempting to test in amarec, which crashes, bc the native software also crashes

-testing from usb ubuntu, which wouldn't load and started hanging when i tried to manually run casper

-testing from usb linux mint which worked, but i don't wanna change OSes

-forcefully installing an obsolete windows 7 update to bypass a sha256 error

-bricking my OS with the above step, unable to boot to command line or use system restore from repair disc

-taking the drive out of my laptop and using an old win7 install on a 3rd hard drive to copy my files on the dead drive to an empty partition on the laptop drive

-the copy operation froze up so i made a backup instead

-was able to unbrick my OS after all and deleted the backup

-deleting the empty partition and attempted to fresh install windows 7 on it

-turns out my optical drive isnt reading discs at all which explains why i couldnt run startup repair

-made a boot usb of windows 7

-saved an image of my OS to the empty partition

-reinstalled windows 7 on my drive

-swapped the pcie slots of my cap card and usb card

-tried very old drivers to flash the card which also hung when i let it run overnight

-card somehow flashed itself successfully after i uninstalled the drivers

-upgrading to windows 10 which i left running while i go to work

so yeah... this is an adventure lol. as soon as i can restore my OS i'll get back to streaming, speedrun calendar coding, and drawing your emotes

luckily there's plenty of stuff i can stream that doesn't need a capture card! until i can get game capture working again, i will likely be streaming the following:

-return to the Crystal Caves 1 any% grind! my standing WR has about 30 seconds of mistakes in it. would like to get that 22.

-maybe i'll pick up CC1 any% cheat codes... /maybe/

-got lots of smrpg science to do. i'm planning on documenting every timed hit in the game. i might stream this casually

-speaking of smrpg science, i'm planning on rerouting the Beat Culex category to skip pandorite, i might stream that too since i can do it mostly with web tools

offline i'll practice dkc2 and mario kart.

other speedrun stuff:

rpg limit break 2017 was a huge turning point in my "career". i'm very grateful i had that opportunity and did a good enough job with it. to this day i still have ppl contacting me on twitter to say how much they enjoyed my run. that's cool. i will be submitting smrpg most of the stuff to 2018.

doing a billion marathons was great. i love to entertain, i love to perform, despite being mildly antisocial irl lol. got to meet a lot of amazing people that way and have no regrets.

thank you everyone for the support this year, it makes it a lot more fun. it's still wild to me that ppl actively wanna watch me play video games

i don't know what marathons i'll be going to next year.

smash stuff:

i miss you guys so much you have no idea

good personal stuff:

holy crap guys i got really thin, im not sure if 160lbs is a good goal anymore. if i see my ribcage protrude too much more i'll stop lol

i'm still reeling from friday. if you don't know what happened friday, read this thread: https://twitter.com/pidgezero_one/status/941905358259408897 i love my friends so much and i'm very very lucky to have you guys in my life... i dont even have the words for what i was feeling during and after that

in case it wasn't obvious enough from that thread and also this https://twitter.com/pidgezero_one/status/942742039158018048, grats to everyone who suspected that i'm in love with mishrak! unfortunately i dont have a prize 4 u. but this is definitely why i've been in higher spirits lately, lol

is it too soon to fall for somebody again after my last relationship only ended 3 months ago? idk. you can't really control at what time someone amazing shows up in your life and steals your heart. but that's why the option of taking things slow is there. anyway he's great and i'm really really happy. this is also why idk what marathons i'll be going to in 2018 yet :)

selling all that stuff helped me a ton financially. debt escape will be soon hopefully.

im gonna start resuming language lessons soon. time to stop being lazy.

i put a bag of frozen shrimp and a canister of lawrys salt in my lunchbox today rofl

bad personal stuff:

i'm still hurting over losing my best friend. it's been almost 5 months now. i miss him so much every day. i never got any closure or real understanding, so i'm doing everything i have to do to not let it consume me anymore. this means i've left some of your discords and i'm sorry about that. i just wanted my life back and to not be overwhelmed with anxiety all the time. but i'm trying harder to just focus on the friends i have who never left my side and make me feel cared about and made me keep my head above water when i wanted to sink. thank you and i'm sorry i was absent and unreliable for a long time. i feel like i took the people who care about me for granted and i'm just trying to do better.

[stacks-reviews]

New Releases 11/7/17

Happy New Release Day!

In Books --Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Volume 4 by Haruko Kumota “After Sukeroku’s expulsion, Kikuhiko’s path to stardom seems clear, but the idea of inheriting the Yakumo name is a cold comfort. Sukeroku, disgraced, makes the heartbreaking decision to put his art aside and take responsibility for his new relationship with Miyokichi. As years pass and distance grows, Kikuhiko decides it’s up to him to bring his friend back to the theater. His determination takes him to the country, where Sukeroku now lives with his spirited young daughter. Kikuhiko is ready to stay as long as he needs to convince Sukeroku, but old wounds may come back to haunt them both.”

I haven’t had a chance to pick up volume 3 yet because we did not get a copy in where I work. And I haven’t had a chance to order it yet either. 

--Fantastic Beasts Illustrated Edition When I first head about this illustrated edition I thought it was going to be of the movie Fantastic Beasts so I wasn’t very interested in this one. But it turns out it is for all of the creatures mentioned throughout the HP universe. Now I really want this one. Just not sure when I’ll be able to.

--My Hero Academia Volume 10 by Kohei Horikoshi “The League of Villains has kidnapped Bakugo, and the resulting negative publicity has thrown U.A. into a huge uproar. With the public’s trust in heroes threatened, the faculty convenes to figure out what to do. But Midoriya and the students of Class 1-A have plans of their own - an operation to rescue Bakugo that could get them thrown out of school.”

Picking up right where volume 9 ended. Midoriya and his crew try to take back Bakugo but fail. And a few pro heroes are lost in the conflict. After their recovery in the hospital some of Class 1-A devise a plan to legally (meaning without using their powers) to try and save Bakugo. Which sounds like a bad idea all around. 

It’s a really good volume that ends on an evil cliffhanger. I need volume 11 but that won’t be out till 2/6/18.

--Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks “Gaelan Starfire is a careful, quiet, simple farmer. He’s also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he’s worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fit for obscurity.

When Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world’s finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan and crime lord Gwinvere Kirena what he finds may destroy everything he’s ever believed in.”

I HAVE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT. I love Brent Week’s Night Angel Trilogy so when I heard there was a prequel novella I was pretty excited. Until I noticed it was ebook only; after a brief limited printing run that I found out much later on. But after waiting and waiting, it is back in print. Right when I was about to break down and buy it digitally. I am ecstatic to finally have it to go with the others. Now I just wish I had the trilogy in hardcover. I just have them in the mass market paperback box set. 

It includes the novella Perfect Shadow and a Night Angel short called I, Night Angel. 

--Renegades by Marissa Meyer “The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies - humans with extraordinary abilities - who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice - and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.“

From the author of the Lunar Chronicles series comes a new series. I really like the Lunar Chronicles. I recommend it a lot at work. Though I still need to finish it. Cress (book 3) has been sitting on my shelf for a little while but I’ve been trying to focus on the arcs I have. And have been failing. Anyway, I really like her other series and am excited to try out a new series by her.

--Twinkle Star Volume 4 by Natsuki Takaya “The second semester of school is starting, and Chihiro's kinder attitude toward Sakuya is making her heart race! When he recommends her a book to read, she's positively overjoyed. But on the way home from a night of stargazing with the Star Appreciation Club, Chihiro suddenly approaches her! What does he want to talk about...?”

After this just one more volume of this series should remain. I still haven’t had time to go past volume 1 of this series. I’ve had to put a lot of series on hold while I tried to cut back during the second half of this year. I will pick it back up again someday. Hopefully by next year.

In Movies/TV Shows --Cheer Boys “Catch an exciting new take on the high-flying team sport, inspired by a real all-male squad in Japan. When Haruki Bando and his friend Kazuma leave judo martial arts, no one would have guessed they would turn to cheerleading! Rocking the college campus with a killer routine, these amateurs manage to draw in a crowd and enough new members to compete in regionals.”

I started streaming this on Funimation during its season. I watched about half before I got into another gaming kick and haven’t picked it up again yet. I did like what I saw of it but it probably isn’t my favorite sports series. But I think it is still worth checking out. 

--Project Ito: Genocidal Organ “In Genocidal Organ, while developed countries rely on advanced surveillance to free them from the threat of terrorism, other nations are plagued by genocide within their own borders. Strangely, these massacres all link back to one American by the name of John Paul. Special agent Clavis Shepherd is sent to capture the target, but nothing can prepare this soldier—or the world—for the truth behind humanity’s darkness.”

The third and final Project Ito film. At least for now. I have been waiting on this one ever since the films were announced. I did watch Empire of Corpses and enjoyed it. Though I need to rewatch it soon because when I first watched it I was exhausted from work and kept having to rewind cause I kept nodding off for a few minutes at a time. I finally picked up Harmony a few months back but haven’t had time to start it yet.

--Revolutionary Girl Utena Set 2 “Utena and Anthy have become close during their time as roommates. So when Anthy casually mentions she has a brother, Utena can’t help but feel shocked. She thought she knew Anthy, but the longer she and Anthy are friends, the more she discovers she doesn’t know. What other secrets could Anthy be keeping? However, Utena won’t have time to dwell upon such matters. A new group of duelists has emerged from the shadows. These new challengers wear black rose signets and also seek revolution, but their methods are different than those of Ohtori’s Student Council. They don’t wish to possess Rose Bride. They are want kill her.”

Set 2 of the 20th Anniversary is now out. Contains episodes 13-24 of this great series. I have only seen it once all the way through. It is one of those series that you’ll have to watch over and over to get all the references and to catch all the imagery it contains. 

--Westworld S1 “Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, explore a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged without consequence.”

Season 1 of this series is out today. I don’t have the channel that it is on so I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet. I’ve heard nothing but great things about so I can’t wait to try it out sometime. Though I would like to watch the movie it is based on before I try out the show. I have heard the soundtrack before because we used to have it as an in-store-play where I work. It is an awesome soundtrack. It was a staff favorite and we played it a lot.

--Your Name “Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives until they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This occurrence happens randomly, and they must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection by leaving notes for one another until they wish to finally meet. But something stronger than distance may keep them apart.”

Was very disappointed when this came out in theaters because it never came anywhere close to where I live. I don’t think it played anywhere in my state for that matter. I did pick up a copy because I want to know if it really is worth the hype. I haven’t watched it yet because I decided to wait till my friend and I could get together to watch it together. 

There is a standard version (DVD and a combo pack) as well as an LE. The LE, “contains two-piece double-sided collectible chipboard box with rainbow holographic finish.” Like what they did for Death Parade’s LE. Which both are nice but makes me nervous that it would fall out if I picked it up wrong. It also comes with a 60 page art booklet, an art digipack, and a two disc OST. The second OST is shorter. It has five songs; if I remember correctly, that are sung in English by RADWIMPS.

[rafecameron]

You Don’t Know How Lovely You Are (Robbaery).

Part One of the All That You Are Is All That I’ll Ever Need Series.

I would like to dedicate this to @goodqueenalys because I’ve wanted to write for Robbaery for a while now but if she hadn’t come to me to talk about them I probably never would have actually written this, so thank you for that motivation!

Robb goes round to his sisters to collect his laptop from her but is distracted when he meets her new friend, Margaery.

It was cold and raining but Robb didn’t see the point in taking his car when Sansa only lived five minutes from him, so he braved the weather. He pulled his hood down low over his head as he took a quick walk round the block to where Sansa’s apartment was. He’d lent her his laptop last week and she’d finally finished with it. Robb didn’t really need it back instantly, but he was off work and he was bored of being stuck inside so he used this as an excuse to go out and talk to someone that wasn't his dog, seeing as Jon was in a bad mood - he’d had yet another argument with his girlfriend, Robb never wanted to get involved as he usually always agreed with Ygritte’s side.

Once outside the apartment block Robb buzzed Sansa’s number multiple times until she finally opened the door for him. He hurried inside out of the rain, it had grown heavier while he was walking and the wet had seeped through his supposedly waterproof jacket and his hair was dripping. He ran his hand through his hair and squeezed the water out as he made his way to the third floor, knocking on number 15.

He heard fumbling from inside the apartment and Sansa’s cheerful laugh, she was grinning as she opened the door and invited him in.

“Oh you’re soaking!” She pulls him in by the arm and shuts the door behind him, “Do you want a towel for your hair? Take your jacket off I’ll put it on the radiator.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I wasn’t going to stay. I was just coming for my laptop.” He tells her as he looks over his shoulder at her while walking into the living room area.

Sansa’s apartment was very…Sansa. There were pictures of family and friends all along the hallway walls, there was a bookcase full of girly dvd’s and books and the couches were adorned with plush fluffy cushions to match the white fluffy rug on the floor.

“Oh please stay! You can’t go back out there in this rain! And your laptop will get wet anyway. I’ll make you a hot drink.” Sansa continues on trying to tug his jacket off his shoulders as he walked.

“No it’s fine really, I-“ Robb pauses when he notices someone else in the room. A girl around Sansa’s age was sat on the couch, she looked over at the sound of his voice and gave him a friendly smile. Her long brunette hair hung in soft waves over her shoulders and her blue eyes shone as she smiled, “Uh, okay. I can stay for a drink.” Robb decides and finally allows Sansa to pull his jacket off and hang it over the radiator.

“Good!” Sansa smiles and pushes him towards the couch, “Your laptops in my room I will get it in a bit. This is Margaery, she works with me she’s not long moved here. Do you want a drink, Marg?” Sansa asks as she heads over to the kitchen.

“Please!” Margaery replies with her kind smile, she looks round at Robb and he feels his breath hitch in his throat, “So, you’re Robb?” She asks, “Sansa’s told me about all of her siblings, I’m happy to meet you.”

“Uh yeah, I’m Robb.” He nods, mentally kicking himself at how stupid that sounded, “So you work with Sansa? How long have you been in town?”

“Just a month.” Margaery says as she straightens out her skirt, it was a pale blue colour which matched her eyes perfectly, “It’s lovely here and Sansa’s been so kind! I’m lucky to have made a friend so soon.”

“Yeah Sansa’s nothing if not kind.” Robb agrees, “What were you doing before I rudely interrupted?”

Margaery grins and bows her head slightly, letting out a soft ethereal laugh, “Talking about you actually.” She admits, “Sansa mentioned borrowing your laptop so I was asking about you.”

“Oh!” Robb laughs, “I’m sorry to have interrupted what I’m sure was a wonderful conversation then.” He jokes, “I’m sure she’s over exaggerated everything.”

“I have not!” Sansa butts in as she comes back into the room juggling three mugs in her hands, “I told her you were kind and thoughtful and funny and generous, and I meant it all!” She places the mugs down on the place mats, “Don’t try and argue with me on this.”

Robb raises his hands in surrender and smiles, “Alright, alright. Well seeing as the subject of your last conversation is now in the room I guess we’ll have to find something else to talk about.”

“Well it’s raining and cold. It’s the perfect cuddling under blankets and watching movies kind of day!” Sansa squeals and jumps up, pulling the throws off of the opposite couch and passing them to Robb and Margaery, “Sorry Robb but I only have girly movies. Will 10 Things I Hate About You be okay?”

Robb rolls his eyes as he sorts out the blankets, “Yeah yeah whatever.” He says.

He originally hadn’t planned on staying but seeing Margaery had changed his mind. She was absolutely gorgeous and Robb had to admit he was smitten, if he got the chance to get to know her better he was definitely going to take it. He knew she must be nice, because Sansa wouldn’t be friends with anyone bitchy and horrible, so he had hope she was as kind as she looked.

Sansa faffed around with the dvd player, finally getting it to work she pushed the disc inside and grabbed the remote. She joined them on the couch sitting on the other side of Robb and pulling a blanket up under her chin.

“We haven’t done this since we were kids!” Sansa grins, “You always used to get to pick the movies. Your favourite, what was it? Aladdin?” When Robb nods she lets out a laugh, “I can recite that whole movie by heart from the amount of times you made me watch that!”

“Hey it’s a good movie!” Robb huffs as he crosses his arms over the blanket, “Better than this shit anyway.”

Robb wouldn’t admit it of course but he actually quite liked the movie Sansa had picked. Robb had nothing against sitting and watching chick flicks, but he wouldn’t admit that!

Robb sat watching quietly, knowing Sansa would scold him if he spoke while she was trying to listen, God forbid she missed part of a movie she had seen a thousand times before. So Robb took his chances to chat to Margaery anytime Sansa paused to movie to leave the room for various reasons, usually to replenish their drinks and snacks.

Margaery definitely seemed nice and just as interested to speak to him as he was to speak to her, at least he hoped that was the case and he wasn’t just imagining things. Robb never was the best at speaking to girls, especially not girls that looked like Margaery, but tonight he found the short conversations they managed to have seemed to just flow naturally.

He learnt that she was from down south and that she had a brother that would be coming to visit in the up coming weeks along with her grandmother, whom she seemed to admire a lot. She liked flowers, especially receiving them as a surprise, her favourite ice cream was strawberry and she absolutely adored french bulldogs.

Robb told her about his dog Grey Wind and she insisted on meeting him one day, which Robb gladly agreed to. He told her about his job and his interests and although they didn’t seem to have all that much in common they seemed to find a lot to talk about.

After Robb had sat though three movies he decided he really should leave now. He didn’t mind watching one chick flick but if he had to sit and watch high schoolers fall in love one more time he’d go crazy.

“Really I should be going too.” Margaery states as she stands from her place, “I still need to sort out the guest room for Loras.”

“Robb can walk you home.” Sansa tells her without giving him much of a choice, not that he’d say no anyway, “She doesn’t live that far away, be a gentleman.” she grins and grabs his coat for him before getting Margaery’s too.

“I wouldn’t say no.” Robb laughs pulling his jacket over his arms, he was thankful it had stopped raining and he guessed sticking around for most of the afternoon had worked in his favour.

After multiple goodbyes and Sansa fussing over them both they finally made it outside and onto the street. Margaery pulled her coat tight around her while Robb shoved his hands into his pockets, Margaery insisted she would be fine walking alone but Robb said Sansa would kill him if he let her do that, so he walked her the four blocks home.

“You really didn’t need to walk me.” Margaery says once they stop outside her house, “But thank you, it was very kind.”

“My life wouldn’t have been worth living if I hadn’t, but I wanted to.” He chuckles, “It was nice meeting you, and getting to know you. Perhaps I could see you again?” He asks hopefully.

Margaery grins and nods, “I’d love to see you again Robb. You’re just as Sansa described, though she never mentioned you were so handsome.”

Robb laughs lightly, feeling himself blush and hoped it wasn’t noticeable, “Thanks. Uh, how about this weekend? I could take you on a date?”

Margaery nods her head again, “Sounds wonderful, I’ll give you my number.”

They exchange numbers and Robb promises to ring her with plans, he’d have to ask Jon for help on that one, he never was good at planning dates and wooing girls.

As they said goodbye Margaery tiptoed up and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek, leaving a pleasing tingling feeling where her lips had touched. His whole way home he couldn’t stop thinking about her, about her smile, her voice, her laugh. He didn’t know what Sansa would think to him going on a date with her new friend but right now he didn’t care, he had a date with the most gorgeous girl he’d ever met and he wanted to focus on not ruining it.

Robb hangs his jacket up in the hallway and finds Jon sat on the couch with their dogs curled up by his feet, he was watching some show about fixing up motorbikes that he seemed to love so much - Robb could never understand why.

“You took your time.” Jon states dragging his eyes from the sleek black bike on the screen up to where Robb was stood, “Where’s your laptop?”

Robb furrows his brows, at first wondering what Jon was talking about before suddenly realising he’d forgotten to get it from Sansa’s room. “Oh fuck sake.” Robb groans, dropping down into the arm chair as Jon laughs at him, “I’ll get it tomorrow.” Robb had been too preoccupied thinking about Margaery to remember to pick it up, but at least he had another excuse to go round to Sansa’s, perhaps Margaery would be there again.