#it’ll only make since for people to mistake both of them for each other

[ello-its-slimegoat]

Redesigned my Human!Blitzø I made from last year and he still looks like a disgusting rat.

[honeipie]

ALL THAT GLITTERS

izuku midoryia x reader

synopsis: everything isn’t always as it seems

authors note: this is an old one that i just quickly finished. not proof read.

“deku look over here!”

“smile for the camera!”

“why is it that you’re leaving so early?”

izuku had his hand positioned at the small of your back. he led you through the hoard of paparazzi that was blocking your only way of escape. every time that he thought one of them was getting too close, he’d pull you in closer.

the flashes of the camera’s blinding you on your journey, but there was a moment when you finally saw a clear path. grabbing on tight to his hand, you quickly made your way towards the car leaving the paparazzi confused.

izuku got himself two strides in front of you just so he could open the car door.

always the gentleman.

you slid into the car with him following quickly after. there was a smile on your face watching as he escaped in the nick of time. laughter rang out seeing the paparazzi’s attempt to follow the now moving car down the street. you turned your body back to face the window on your side.

“that was fun”

“yeah”

a tired sigh passed your lips, but he didn’t turn to ask if you were to tired to walk when you got home. he hasn’t been doing that lately.

though to be fair, you hadn’t been doing things either. lunchboxes that used to be filled to the brim with homemade bento now sit empty and cold on the counter. the warm baths you used to fill for him after work run cold.

for the past year your relationship had changed. izuku got busier, and busier each day. this stopped those date nights you used to have at that secluded restaurant. and his night shifts ceased your light night cuddle sessions.

you had decided that if he was going to be burying himself in work, why not do the same?

volunteering had taken over most of your hours so you wouldn’t be in that big house all alone. it had filled a place in your heart that you thought you’d lost. seeing the smiles on people’s faces every time you’d give them a care package. or that laugh of children when you did something funny when you read at the hospital. and they loved you as well. a non-profit had reached out to you with a job offer.

your cheek was pressed against the leather of the car door, breathing slow and steady.

“you’re coming tomorrow right?” you asked without turning to him.

“to what exactly?” you didn’t even need to look to know that his eyes didn’t leave his phone.

“they’re opening the new wing of the hospital we’ve been working on. the one for research of rare diseases?” now you sat yourself up turning to him. he finally looked up eyes glazed over and confused.

“izuku cmon. i told you about this weeks ago. told you to put it in your calendar”

“y/n you know i’ve been busy. i told you if you had an event tell my assistant and she’ll put it in for me-“

you scoffed at his words.

“oh i’m sorry. i thought my husband, the man who lives in the same house as me, could take two fucking seconds to put something in his calendar. as if you’re not already always on your phone”

his body turned towards you. you saw the furrow of his brows and the squint in his eye.

“i don’t understand why that’s a problem? if you wanted me to come that’s all you had to do. remember what the therapist said-“

“since when do you listen to the therapist? remember when she said make time in your schedule for something other than your job?”

his pressed his lips together in a thin line. the coolness from your cheek had faded from the warm anger that was now flooding your body.

“okay, we’ve both made mistakes, and i’m sorry for mine. baby, you know i just can’t be everywhere at once”

“you could, just not for me” you mumbled under your breath “can you just go tomorrow? if it’s not for me it’ll be good pr for you”

silence, again.

“i’ll see what i can do”

“no, you won’t see what you can do. you’re going to show up with that deku smile on your face and pretend to be happy with me. i have been supportive through whatever,” you motioned between him and you “this is. i’ve went to your events, and i’ve played the picture perfect wife. now it’s your turn. because if you don’t show up i don’t know how much longer if this i can take” you pressed your two fingers against your forehead, your thumb landing on your cheek “for fucks sake.. ever since you’ve gotten that suit you’ve been on a rampage”

both of his eyebrows scrunched up as he turned to you “rampage? you mean saving the fucking city? why can’t you just be happy for me huh? i mean this is all that i’ve ever wanted you know that. so what? now you’re just deciding that because i’m a hero i’ve changed everything about myself?”

“i mean have you looked in a mirror lately? i don’t even recognize you izuku”

the car came to a rolling stop in front of the dream home he had bought for the two of you as soon as he cut his first hero check. he let out an annoyed puff of air out of his nose, head shaking “sorry i can’t slow down my life for you”

you opened your own door this time getting out without another word.

cameras flash once again to commemorate the new wing of the hospital, and yet izuku is nowhere to be found.

more questions flood in about his absence than about what good the wing will do for the community, because your life simply didn’t matter anymore.

izuku came home early evening that night. soft grunts as he leaned over to unstrap his boots and shed off the heaviest parts of his costume. his eyes settled on the hall closet you had designated just for his things. you always hated when he didn’t put his stuff in the closet where it belonged. with a sigh, he opened up the closet hanging his suit in a rather orderly fashion. it shut with a soft click which soon followed by the sound of his quiet footsteps through the house.

“baby.. i’m sorry i couldn’t make it today—“

the room was completely empty albeit the sundown rays that flowed through the huge windows you begged him for. gold ran across every surface making him squint just a little, but that wasn’t the only thing. a small shimmer of light reflected off of the countertops eventually capturing his attention. he walked closer, his steps constant and hushed. he picked up the object his face never changing.

your wedding ring.

the light shone through the diamond making fractures of light dance around the counter below. izuku’s throat went dry no matter how many times he tried to swallow and cure it.

he placed the ring back after what felt like forever moving his attention to the open patio door. every step he took felt like the same one over at over again. was he even moving at this point? when he felt the subtle heat of the fading sun he knew he had made it out. to you.

there you were. feet up on the couch hugging your knees close. there was a beer bottle in your hand. must’ve been half gone already. you turned your head to him for a split second before turning your focus back on the sunset. it was just too beautiful to ignore.

izuku rubbed one hand over his face. he opened the small fridge at the bar next to the patio taking out the same beer bottle. he sank next to you on the couch quickly cracking it open. it was just too beautiful to ignore.

[heliads]

Hi!! I miss your Derek fics so much so how’s one where you and him are in a casual relationship if yk what I mean when all of a sudden there’s a mishap that causes him to pull away and end up ghosting you because he caught feelings and is terrified of them, you still try to get in contact with him but got tired of it and that’s when Derek comes back basically begging for a chance to fix it🥺

masterlist

Derek Hale knows he’s gone too far because he’s no longer nervous waking up to hear someone else’s heartbeat next to him. Derek stays alone, always; it saves him the trouble of having to think about saving someone other than himself if he ever wakes up to another roaring inferno. Derek is good at being alone. It’s never something he’s struggled with, even as a lone wolf without a pack. He still talks to other people on occasion. It’s fine.

He’d thought it was fine. Derek had almost gotten to the point of convincing himself of it, and then he started making mistakes like entertaining himself with someone else, and by the time it occurred to him that he was long past the point of no return, there was no way he could ever end it. So he lives with it, it’s fine. Until it isn’t.

Derek Hale has never been the type to get caught up over a girl. He did it once, then swore it would never happen again. There is the idea of Derek, the lone wolf; Derek, the man with a heart colder than ice. He wouldn’t go so far as to describe himself as a womanizer, but he’s dated not one but two of the women who’ve tried to kill him and the other wolves in town, so maybe he should start thinking about raising his standards.

He did, though. That was the problem. Of all the people in this world, good and bad and outright bloodthirsty, Derek found the one woman capable of waltzing right past his best defenses and laying claim to the very organ he thought would never be bothered with again. Derek has long since assumed that, so long as it keeps beating on schedule, he’d never think about his heart unless someone was actively ripping it out of his chest, but Y/N changed that. She changed everything.

It was nothing at first. That’s what he promised himself the first time he woke up in an unfamiliar room that definitely wasn’t in his apartment complex. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he picked up on the sound of someone else breathing evenly next to him, but Y/N had woken up not long after him so they’d been able to talk things through. They’d both agreed that it was a one time thing, the result of years of rising tensions against supernaturals in Beacon Hills, and would never happen again.

The second time, Derek was no less taken aback, but a little more disappointed in himself. Usually, when he makes his word, he sticks to it for longer than a month. He’d left before she woke up that time. Didn’t stop him from crawling back, though. He can blame it on the alcohol that doesn’t affect him, the battle rush of adrenaline he’s long since learned to master. Excuses are easy. Falling is easier still.

Derek doesn’t fall, though. He won’t. Even if it kills him. Especially if it kills him. Derek can lock himself up and cut away his heart and distrust his mind until any conceivable feeling dies off from lack of oxygen. It wouldn’t be the first time. Somehow, he doubts it’ll be the last.

This is all well and good, but it doesn’t work as well as it should. Even now, blinking the last of the past night’s sleep from his eyes, Derek sits up slowly in his own bed, and the sight of Y/N there next to him isn’t surprising. Not at all. His internal alarm system stopped going off around her a long time ago. Hell, he gets more uneasy the longer he goes without seeing her instead of the other way around.

A year ago, he would have called that a mistake. Hales survive because they trust only each other. Y/N may be an ally in this eternally war-torn town, but that does not make her someone he can afford to keep around. Still, when he carefully lifts himself out of bed to avoid waking her, when she comes out of the room about half an hour later in one of his shirts, when Derek can’t quite tell where her perfume ends and his cologne begins, he wonders to himself if he hasn’t already crossed that line a very long time ago.

It doesn’t matter. None of this is real. He doesn’t make her breakfast, she doesn’t say goodbye. They just go about their lives as if the past night had never happened at all, as if none of the nights before that, all stretching out in one vast line of pale, bedsheet-white dominoes do not exist between them. You cannot topple what you do not see, and Derek’s eyes are snapped shut tight.

He’s started noticing things, though, against his better judgment. The furrows in Y/N’s brow vanish while she’s asleep, but they appear again when she looks around at her house or his in the morning and remembers something she’ll never tell him. Her shoulders always rise and pinch together right before she leaves without a word. Derek has started making himself scarce whenever she wakes up. It’s better for both of them if there’s no opportunity to stay any longer.

Most of all, Derek takes care to ensure that whatever happens at night does not affect either of them during the day. Y/N’s more closely allied with the McCall pack than whatever dregs are left of Derek’s ill-gotten attempt to seize power with his own batch of betas, but he still sees her often enough on wolf business. Derek has no doubt that Scott has caught on to the fact that they’re seeing each other, but neither of them will bring it up so long as it doesn’t become a problem.

A couple of times, Derek has felt Scott’s eyes on him like an accusation, burning holes into his shoulders whenever Y/N shows up late or seems listless during the discussions. Derek wants to throw up his hands and declare to anyone who cares to listen or blame him that he’s doing his best to make sure he isn’t the cause, but he doubts any of the younger pack members want to know that he’s specifically trimming off any stem of feeling before it takes root. He’s doing his best, at least. Surely that counts for something.

Still, he can feel their judgment like a plague, even outside of passing glimpses. When Scott McCall shows up at Derek’s door to ask for his help with a sudden hunter shootout at the hospital, Derek can still see the awareness in the back of the kid’s eyes. Y/N’s got her own thing going, Derek wants to clarify, she’s long past school-crush days just like him. They’re both adults and they can do what they please. High school sweethearts all die by hunters’ arrows. The ones who survive don’t play by the rules.

Scott will never bring it up, though, so Derek won’t, either. Instead, he just accompanies Scott to the hospital, where he slashes and stabs at anyone who tries to shoot at him. These sorts of things are becoming normal occurrences by now; Melissa McCall and the other doctors are probably sick of it, but what can you do?

Derek’s only half paying attention. He focuses enough to keep himself alive, but it’s easy to go on autopilot. The hunters will always attack, and they will always defend. Some will get hurt. They’ll heal in time to start the game over again. Nothing new.

It should be nothing new. It is, until Derek rounds a corner and he sees one of the hunters shooting at Y/N’s back. She’s distracted taking out someone else. She won’t react in time, Derek knows it, he can feel it in his bones like a bad frost, and Derek– he actually screams, a guttural shout of despair, and he hurls himself at the hunter. The gun goes flying out of the guy’s hands and into a corner of the room, blood spatters following it a second later. It’s alright again. Y/N is fine.

Y/N, actually, is staring at him in confusion. “What was that about?” She asks slowly.

Derek catches a hazy glimpse of himself in the glass panel of a nearby door and realizes that he looks mad. His eyes are wide, startled, glowing; his claws are out and dripping with gore. “He was going to shoot you,” he says, a little unsteadily, “You weren’t paying attention.”

She shakes her head slowly. “I was, Derek. His gun was empty. No more bullets left, I heard the empty barrel click a minute ago.”

Derek stares at her uncomprehendingly, and Y/N has to cross the room, pick up the fallen hunter’s weapon, and pull the trigger several times until Derek understands. She was right, no ammunition was shot. It was a complete misfire on his end, and something that he should have picked up on far before he decided to strike. If Y/N could hear that the gun was empty from across the room, Derek should have known it from where he stood.

He knows what this means, then. It means he’s making mistakes, and mistakes get you killed. They get everyone killed. Derek hasn’t made a mistake like this in a long time, because he never let anyone in, but he has now, hasn’t he? He’s known it for a long time. Y/N means far more to him than a prolonged one night stand. He has feelings for her, of a depth he couldn’t decipher if given a thousand years trapped inside his own head. Derek Hale has fallen in love, but this love will destroy him. It will make him weak.

And, fuck, Derek knows how this is going to end. How it always ends. He is a fire, consuming everything in his path; burning down his family home; choking the last breath from the lungs of anyone foolish enough to love him. If Y/N realizes that he loves her, if she does something so terrible as to love him back, she will fall before the year is out. They always do, and it will be his fault again, his fault like it was for all the others.

He moves before he knows what he’s doing. Y/N is calling after him, he thinks, but Derek is already rounding the corner and out of the hallway. Hunters in his path are killed by a wolf that might be Derek, if Derek was aware enough of what he was doing to act on anything more than animal instinct. Instead, he just keeps going like a bloodsoaked robot until Scott tells him it’s over, and then he leaves. He does not check in with the rest of the pack. He does not check in with Y/N.

In fact, he does not speak with her again. She tries texting him afterwards to see if he’s alright, and then even shows up at his door when he’s unresponsive for days, but Derek just waits silently in the confines of his apartment until she goes away. She can probably hear his heartbeat, but it doesn’t matter. This will benefit both of them. Neither Derek nor Y/N can afford an attachment like this. He’s already started slipping up in the heat of battle. Who knows what sort of deadly error he will commit next?

If he thought the McCall pack’s judgment was bad enough before, they’re downright diabolical now. He can’t speak to them without being on the receiving end of a thousand hateful stares. Every time he so much as crosses their path, you’d think he murdered their entire family. It’s unreal. Don’t they know he’s doing this for the best? 

It’s not like Derek enjoys this, anyway. It’s unnatural. He’s started waking up at odd hours of the night, reaching out for someone who isn’t there. Derek rises with the sun and stares at the empty other half of the bed. He starts to get up quietly and then remembers that there’s no one around who’s still sleeping, so he can be as loud as he pleases. It feels wrong when the floor creaks.

He’s started creeping closer to the door whenever Y/N stops by. He hovers right by the threshold, listening; he can tell by the inflections of her voice that she’s starting to give up hope, and then she stops coming. When a week goes by without a single word from her, Derek thinks that he should be pleased because he’s finally saved her from himself, but instead, all he feels is alone.

It’s not a good feeling, this. Derek thought he would be able to shake off any and all feelings for her in a matter of weeks, but even a month later, he’s still in a terrible state. Lydia starts taking pity on him, he thinks, and actually treats him like a normal human being again, which kind of makes it all worse. He doesn’t want her compassion. He wants–

He wants Y/N. Waking up alone again, hands curling into fists around empty sheets, Derek realizes the earth-shattering truth as if from a dream. He wants her. He wants her more than anything. If this is safety, Derek doesn’t want it. He hates not knowing if she’s alright. He hates thinking that he might have hurt her. If this is the cost of keeping them both alive, Derek would rather be dead.

He throws on his clothes, headed towards the door in a flash. He wakes up early, always has; if he can just get over to her place before she leaves to go to work, maybe it would be okay– maybe she would still want him– maybe he would be enough, now that he knows without a shadow of a doubt that she is for him–

Y/N doesn’t open her door at first, which is, admittedly, justified. Derek’s cheeks flush with shame remembering all the times he’d pointedly ignored her visits. However, she’s better than him, always has been, and opens the door eventually. He looks at her, breathes out at last, and says– “I miss you.”

Y/N arches a brow. “You do?”

“I do,” Derek repeats, “And I’ve been– stupid, really, and I shouldn’t have been. I know better than that.”

Y/N folds her arms across her chest. “What made you change your mind?”

“I realized I love you,” Derek says. It’s only five words, but it makes Y/N sway as if she’s been shot.

“You’re just saying that,” she whispers faintly.

Derek shakes her head. “I’m not the type to throw those words around. You know that. You know me better than anyone, Y/N. Tell me if I’m lying.”

He waits. She stares at him, but at last she nods slowly, and says, “You love me?”

“I love you,” he affirms. Then: “Can I come in?”

A ghost of a smile haunts her lips. “Always so forward, aren’t you?”

He laughs a little, actually. It surprises both of them, Derek the most. “I thought you liked that about me.”

“I do,” she admits, and steps aside to let him pass. Derek lingers by her side, he can’t help it. Moments like these were meant to be treasured. He may have messed up too many of them to count, but for once, Derek can start again. He intends to make the most of it.

teen wolf tag list: @mayfieldss, @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @rafecameronswhore, @bellabadacadabra, @watchreadfangirlrepeat, @23victoria

all tags list: @wordsarelife

[chibipeachu]

Pretty Songbird || Aleksander M.

A/N: I watched snakes and songbirds and had this ideas stuck in my head ever since i saw it last week, idk if it's gonna be a series, if you have any ideas pls tell me!!

WC: 1311 Warning: Fem!Reader, the moon summoner trope, not proof read so i take credit for mispelling or mistakes..

Alina sighed as herself and Mal walked into a busy club to get away from their pursuers.

“It should be too crowded to notice us in this crowd, just keep the hood on.” Mal whispered to Alina as they moved closer to the stage where others stood, waiting for the performer. 

���Want something?” 

Alina turned and nodded as Mal gave a quick nod before walking to the bartender.

As alina went to stand near a corner of the crowded club she bumped into another young girl. “Aww, sorry..” “Ah, i’m sorry.”  They both apologized to one another.

“It’s alright, just a throbbing but it’ll go away with a drink.” The girl brushed it off and gave alina a smile. 

“You look familiar..” Alina felt her heart drop, as the expression the girl made was of realization. “You’re her aren’t you?” Alina tensed up and lifted her hand in case she need to summon to stop the girl from doing something.

“It’s alright, your safe here, i just recommend the further booth over there if you don’t want to draw attention..” Alina followed the girls direction and saw an empty booth and nodded at her. “Thank you..?” She waited for a name.

“Y/n, i’m a performer here tonight.” She smiled and pointed towards the stage were drunks and many excited people stood waiting.

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

People whispered to one another as they noticed the brooding, darkling who was accompanied with other grisha, they all had looks of distaste on their faces as they scanned the club. 

Alesksander’s attention jumped as two women in front of him talked about the performer. 

“Is it true she can summon?” 

“Rumors say she can but was sick during her testing and got dismissed.” 

Before any of them could provide aleksander with information, a young woman, dressed in a loose blouse and what looked like the first army pants.

“Based on all the chatter I could hear from back there, I assume it’s about myself?” You grinned as you scanned the crowd.

A mixed of positive responses came from the busy club.

Aleksander noticed how each of his grisha searched the crowd.

“Aww stop it, i’m blushing!” You playfully waved to the crowd before turning to the band who waited for your sign to play.

As the band started up, you danced around the stage a bit.

“So if you don’t know, i wrote this many, many, many years ago when i was stuck as a showstopper for tow men on each side of the fold, one more then the other..” You referenced to your pants before raising an eyebrow.

Aleksander wasn’t surprised, zlatan of course wouldn’t share a summoner with anyone, especially the king and aleksander.

“Can’t take my charm,

Can’t take my humor,

Can’t take my wealth, cause it’s just a rumor.

Nothing you can take was ever with keeping.

No nothing you can take was every worthing keeping.”

As alina listened to your singing she glanced around the room and froze as she spotted aleksander and the other grisha in the club.

Alina subtly nudged mal who popped up and ushered alina through the crowd to leave quickly.

As you took a breath, you felt yourself stop for a moment, as you took note of the dark eyes of the darkling.

“Thinking you’re so fine,

Thinking you could have mine.

Thinking in control, thinking you can change me, maybe rearrange me.

Think again if that’s your goal.” 

You stomped your boots at each sentence, making the crowd cheer.

Through the small break of your singing, you held strong eye contact with the darkling, from what zlatan had told you, he was saving you from the general who had “tossed your abilities aside” those were the only words you believed from the first general, you had tried to get test when you were a teen but got reject when you said you could summon.

“Can’t take my sass,

Can’t take my talking.

You can kiss my ass,

Then keep on walking!

Nothing you can take was ever worth keeping,

Oh, nothing you can take was ever worth keeping.” You stared him down while continuing to sing.

Zoya scoffed as she followed your and aleksander’s gaze to one another. 

Aleksander looked away from you to look at the sour expression on her face.

“She’s insulting you to your face..” 

“I know..” He responded, his eyes moving back onto you which your eyes were closed as you finished the song.

“Nothing you can take from is worth dirt,

Take it cause i’d give it free, it won’t hurt.

Nothing you can take was ever worth keeping..”

As you finished the crowd cheered making you grin and gave a bow before walking to your bandmate and motioned for behind the stage before exiting, they band continued to play as you left.

Aleksander hadn’t noticed zoya rambling on how disrespectful you were, he piped up as you left the stage. “I’ll be back.” He told zoya before walking outside the club.

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

You quietly exited from the building and leaned against the building.

You were now screwed, after many blissful years away from zlatan and kirigan it had to come crashing down.

Being upset you got up and kicked the tins in the back alley of the club.

“That was quite the show..” You jumped at the general’s voice.

“General kirigan..” You greeted, walking to pick up the fallen over tins. 

“You worked under zlatan?” He questioned, making you chuckle. 

“What made it obvious? My clothes or the song?” You asked, putting the lid back on before turning to his figure.

“He rarely sent letters to the palace grounds to let us know of anything.” 

You scoffed, knowing where he was trying to lead the conversation.

“Bullshit, don’t play like you never knew about me, I stood in front of grisha testers and was denied a retest because of my ability, each test is shown in front of you, in your lap to see the newest grisha!” You walked closer to him as you went on.

“Nice try to play that card but the only words I ever believed from zlatan was that you tossed me aside.” You brushed past the darkling and went to enter the club again but was stopped by him grabbing your wrist in a tight grasp and pulling you back to face him.

“You could train in the little palace with others, be with your own kind.” He tried to convince you.

“You missed that train where I wanted to fit in with others badly, I will not be trained to replace your little sun summoner.” You ripped your wrist form his grasp and walked back into the club.

Aleksander stood by himself in the alley, shocked you had decline his offer.

After he collected himself he walked into the club to collect his grisha.

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

Weeks had passed since the incident at the club.

Aleksander hadn’t been expecting a meeting with the king, he was confused at the sudden arrangement.

“Tsar.” Aleksander greeted as he entered his war room.

“General.” King Pyotr greeted, letting aleksander step in further before continuing. 

“Is there a reason you called upon me?” Aleksander questioned.

“When you were visiting ryevost, did you happened to see this girl?” The king unfolded a drawing of the singer he had a conversation with weeks ago.

“She’s rumored to be a moon summoner, if anything, everyone’s after her. And i believe she’ll do good here in the little palace under your control.” He continued, aleksander studied the poster.

“I’ll send grisha to find her…” The king smiled and nodded in aleksander’s direction before getting up and leaving.

Once gone, aleksander picked up the paper to admire your beauty. 

“I’ll find you, songbird..” He muttered as he read over the paper.

Y/N Y/L/N  - GRISHA - WANTED BY KING PYOTR AND GENERAL KIRIGAN.

[sirbonesly]

In another world, Roach finally finds his Ghost

This is dedicated to @briarscreek who I promised some Roach rambles but instead somehow broke my writers block. It got a little out of hand, and I'm not used to writing for CoD yet, so I apologise if anyone feels out of character or if it has any mistakes.

TW: Mentions of child abuse, mentions of burns/fires, I think that's about it.

Second lieutenant Gary Sanderson climbed out of the back of the truck, adjusting the straps on his vest before helping unload the truck of equipment. Bee pushes the crate towards the edge of the truck, and Gary grabs the handle to help carry it off. They drop the crate by the others, nodding to a dark skinned soldier with a clipboard and a baseball cap. He goes to turn, wanting to help unload the last two crates, but the man grabs his shoulder with a polite smile.

“Sergeant Kyle Garrick. Captain Price wanted me to introduce you all to the base before the briefing.”

Gary stares at the man for a moment, eyes flitting over his face from behind his goggles. He knows he should be speaking right now, that his mouth should be moving behind his mask and words floating through the air. But it takes longer than is considered polite.

“Second lieutenant Gary Sanderson. Call me Roach.”

Kyle either doesn’t notice the prolonged silence or doesn’t mention it, which Gary is thankful for. They nod to each other, Kyle not bothering to salute and Gary honestly not caring. His captain, Spencer Anderson, had warned him that the 141 played fast and loose with regulations and rules. Not that he cared much for them himself, but he was glad for the warning anyways.

Sergeant Belinda Hughes, aka Bee, called out to him from where she’s dragging a crate. Gary gives Kyle another nod before leaving to help his team unload. There’s a sinking feeling in his stomach, one he hasn’t felt since his childhood, and he’s forever grateful about his mask and goggles. He’ll ignore the feeling for now, it’ll either dissipate or it’ll makes itself obvious soon enough. Either way, Gary has a briefing to go to.

~~~

Simon doesn’t like the second lieutenant. To be fair, he doesn’t like a lot of people, but the second lieutenant, Sanderson, just pokes at something in him. He’s sitting too close to Gaz, laughing too loud at Soap’s jokes, he’s too impersonal with his own soldiers. But it’s not a regular dislike. It’s like looking at a puzzle piece that almost fits, the right colour, the right shape, but just different enough to not fit.

Simon doesn’t talk to Sanderson during or after the briefing. He knows that they’ll have to interact, both of them being lieutenants, but he’s planning to keep everything short. He’ll go through the mission like every other mission, keep a closer eye on his sergeants, and then wait for the team to leave. Price told him to play nice, that this team was full of potential and had more than a few eyes on it. It wouldn’t do good to create bad blood between them.

~~~

The mission goes well, minimal injuries and a successful grab and go. Gary’s team was tasked with infiltrating the compound and grabbing several hard-drives worth of information. The 141 was on watch, being comprised of snipers. The only major injury was Gary, a shot that grazed his side, just barely missed his vest. It was a lucky shot from the guy, but one of the 141 had dispatched him barely a second later.

Bee and sergeant Antonio “Texas” Valdez need to drag Gary to the infirmary. He’s reluctant to go, not liking the idea of missing the group debrief because of a graze. But when Bee and Texas shove him towards one of the nurses, he finds that he’s not alone. Lieutenant Ghost is getting his arm stitched up, his gear gone to leave him in his jeans and shirt. Gary has to wonder how the hell Ghost beat him here, the 141 truck had pulled in behind theirs.

“Go ahead and sit down, Sanderson. One of my nurses will be by to stitch you up.”

Gary sits on the small bed across from Ghost, and he can’t help but turn over all of the information he has about the lieutenant. Ghost hadn’t given a name, just a call sign. Gary didn’t give his call sign, too busy trying to keep Bee from bullying Texas. Ghost is massive, easily one of the biggest guys he’s seen besides that one Austrian kid over at KorTac. Gary’s not small by any means, 175 centimetres and a little over 80 kilograms, he’s packing some muscle. But Ghost is nearly a head taller than him, easily twice his width, probably over 100 kilos.

They sit in silence as the nurse stitches up Ghost, another nurse coming in to start stitching up Gary. He sheds his vest and jacket, grimacing at the hole in the car-hart. The nurse guides him to lay on his side, and he ends up facing Ghost as the nurse stands behind him. He tries not to make eye contact with the lieutenant as he winces from the sharp needle. Shoot or stab him, and Gary will brush it off to get the mission done. But bring a needle to his skin and he’s practically a kid again, wincing and fidgeting and pushing down tears.

~~~

Simon had a friend when he was a kid, back before Tommy got custody of him and his parents were arrested. Living in an apartment meant Simon knew almost everyone on his floor, and that meant he was there when some short bastard moved in as his neighbour. Only a year younger than Simon, the kid latched onto him like a microfiber towel, and then grew on him like fungus.

He doesn’t remember the kid’s name, just the nickname Simon gave him. He watched the kid take a punch right to the face, watched the bully turn away laughing, and then nearly screamed when his friend jumped up with a bloody nose and a black eye like nothing happened. Simon never called him anything but “Roach” after that, liked the way he popped up to his feet no matter what.

Unless it was a needle. This kid, one who took a baseball bat to the ribs and still managed to run for gym the next day, nearly fainted when the school was doing their vaccines. 7 years old and balling his eyes out, holding Simon’s hand like it owed him money. Simon remembers telling him that needles weren’t scary, that Roach was being a wuss. But he still made Tommy take them out for ice cream after school, still gave Roach his free piece of fudge that came with the cone.

Simon looks at the second lieutenant lying on the bed, tears in the man’s eyes as the nurse stitches him up. Simon hadn’t given out his name to the visiting team, content to keep his identity a secret just for fun. He’d been the one to shoot the tango Sanderson was fighting, the one who’d been just a second too late to prevent injury. Simon had been prepared to switch his comms to their team, to the 283 frequency and let them know their second lieutenant was injured. But the man just got up, popped to his feet like it was nothing and continued with the mission.

That’s when Simon knew why he didn’t like Gary Sanderson. He was familiar. Without being able to see his face, Simon had been forced to watch mannerisms. Skittish around strangers, able to fit into a surprising amount of spaces he shouldn’t be able to fit into, and resilient as hell. He acted like a fucking roach. He acted like Simon’s best friend. The one that he watched die, missing during a fire in their apartment building, one that Simon himself barely got out of. The best friend that dropped off the face of the Earth after that, no funeral, no mention in the local paper. Just gone.

The nurse has been finished with Simon’s stitches for a long while, but the lieutenant just sits and watches this grown man cry over getting stitches, over the needle. He knows, despite his mind trying to tell him the logic, that Gary Sanderson is familiar for a reason. Tries to ignore the slim chances that Simon would get such a lucky break in his life. But it’s not him that speaks up, it was never him who made the first move during childhood.

“You gonna watch me cry, sir?”

~~~

The words have more of a bite to them than is probably respectful, but Gary is feeling a bit embarrassed at the moment. The nurse is finally done stabbing him and has moved on to bandaging him. Ghost is just watching him, and Gary takes the chance to look over the man. Wearing the short sleeved shirt, Gary can see the edges of a burn scar peaking out from the sleeve, mostly covered by the sleeve tattoo. Gary’s not judging the scar, not when half of his chest is just one large burn that creeps up his neck and jaw. But there’s something familiar about it.

There’s something familiar about the honey brown eyes of Ghost. How despite the confident air around him, Gary can see the way his shoulders are tense and his eyes dart between the stitches on Gary’s side and the tear stains on Gary’s face. Can see recognition in those honey coloured eyes.

The moment the nurse leaves, with orders for Gary to take it easy and for Ghost to be careful with his arm, the air gains tension. Or maybe it was already tense, but being alone together just brought attention to it. Because Ghost stands up as Gary turns to lay on his back, the lieutenant coming to stand next to Gary’s bedside. Officially, they’re both free to go, but neither of them move to actually leave.

"You always cry from needles?”

The question is unexpected, makes Gary tense up and grimace behind the mask. But it’s the first time he’s heard Ghost speak beyond barking orders over the comms. Gary is thankful that the bullet grazed his clean side, the unburned side. Because being asked about needles is much easier than trying to explain the burns.

“Yessir. Ever since I was a kid, couldn’t stand needles. Nearly broke my friend’s hand during school vaccinations.”

And oh dear, it must’ve been the right thing to say because Ghost tenses up like a deer in headlights. He raises a slightly shaking hand to his face, glancing over his shoulder at the closed door and the blinds pulled shut, before grabbing the back of the balaclava.

Gary can feel tears pool in his eyes as he find those familiar brown eyes again, his stomach twisting with too many feelings to decipher. Relief, surprise, anger, longing. But Gary manages to lift a very shaky hand to his goggles, pulls them up to rest on his helmet, pulls down the neck gaiter he likes to wear.

“Simon.”

“Roach.”

The names are traded, a mountain of questions being placed on each. Where have you been? What happened? How are you here? Each question hangs in the air, waiting for an explanation, needing an answer. And Simon, for the first time in his life, speaks up first with Roach.

“You died. The apartments burned down, they didn’t get you out.”

“My mum threw me out a window.”

Simon makes a pained noise that almost sounds like a laugh, a bewildered look pulling at his face. It makes the scar on his lips pull up, the upper row of teeth just barely visible through the gap of muscle. His eyebrows twist upwards and his eyes widen slightly, just like they did whenever Gary said stupid shit as a kid.

“My mum, she threw me out of the window cause the door was blocked. Landed in the dumpster outside of the building, firefighter found me after most of the ambulances left.”

“Oh.”

Simon sits down in the chair next to the infirmary bed, arms crossed over his chest as he tries to wrap his mind around the explanation. He knew Gary’s mum had loved him on some level, though it never stopped her newest boyfriend from sneaking into Gary’s room some nights. So it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that she tried to save him, but it still makes Simon want to laugh.

Simon pulls his phone out, an old thing with a cracked screen that Laswell had practically forced him to get. It’s only got a few contacts on it, Farah and Alex, some of the Los Vaqueros, Laswell herself, and his team. Jonny’s at the top, a soap bar emoji in place of a name and a star marking him as a favourite. Simon makes a new contact, putting a cockroach in the name line and marking it as a favourite before handing it over to Gary.

The second lieutenant takes the phone with a confused look, understanding flashing across his face when he sees the empty contact. He punches in his number quickly, something close to excitement starting to bubble up in his chest. He knows that this isn’t how old friends are supposed to greet each other, but Simon and Gary were never normal friends.

So, he takes a blurry and picture of his face for the contact picture and hits the save button, handing the old and busted phone back to Simon. He watches as his old friend pockets the device, his mind still trying to wrap around the situation. But Gary can adapt and survive, it’s why he earned the nickname “Roach”. His face pulls into a smirk as he looks over Simon’s shoulder, seeing a frantic looking scott arguing with a nurse.

“So… what’s going on between you and MacTavish?”

“Shut the fuck up,”

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

Hidden Flames : Chapter 12

Word Count : 3.3k

Warnings : swearing, drinking, cheating but not really?, mentions of sex (very briefly), mentions of underwear (in a jokey way), drinking games, lots of making out, ANGST

A/N : Oooh boy this one was fun to write. Kayla and I had so much fun brainstorming this chapter so we both hope you enjoy reading it just as much! Special shout out to our Mae baby who also helped brainstorm this chapter! Much love

            She didn’t know how she got here. How everything blew up so fast. How one second they were playing games and the next everything was seemingly crumbling around her. Stuck between her fake boyfriend and the man she loves. She can feel eyes on her, awaiting her next move, but she’s stuck.

            Parties weren’t Y/n’s thing. They never have been. They were more Mingi’s thing. Something he picked up in university with his new friends. Something he chose over her time and time again. While her and Yeosang stayed home, watching movies and eating an absurd amount of food. And she wished Mingi would choose her just once.

            So no, parties were not her thing. But when she tried to say no, she made the mistake of looking at Mingi’s face, and he just looked so happy, she couldn’t bring herself to say no to him. Forever her weakness : Song Mingi.

            He promised to keep it small. Invite only their friends. Hoping she’d be more comfortable if there wasn’t a house full of people. He told her Mae and Wooyoung could make anything a party, so even with a small amount of people, it’ll be fun.

            Mingi and Kayla set everything up, telling Y/n and Yeosang that everyone was coming to celebrate them, so they don’t need to lift a finger. So Y/n sat on the couch, glancing over to the kitchen where the pair were setting up food and alcohol. Whispering and giggling amongst each other. She hated that she couldn’t look away, no matter how badly her heart was hurting.

            “Focus on me.” Yeosang said, gently grabbing her face. “Look at me and no one else.” His voice was soft and comforting. It brought her a calmness she only felt with him. So she listened, her eyes tracing over every part of his face. His eyes that looked at her with adoration. His lips that spoke to her softly. His nose that he liked to press into her neck when they were cuddling, telling her she smells nice. His birthmark that she loves so much, tracing it with her fingers every chance she got.

            Yeosang glanced up to see Mingi and Kayla looking at them, both of them completely frozen as they watched. He smiled before pressing a soft kiss to Y/n’s forehead. Her eyes widened slightly at the sudden contact. And then she did something that Yeosang wasn’t expecting. She kissed him.

            Everyone was confused, sobering up quickly as everything blew up. No one knew if they should move or say anything. Mae, Wooyoung, Cassi, and Hongjoong just sat silently, exchanging confused looks, as they watched everything unfold. Mingi was staring at Y/n, Y/n was looking between Mingi and where Yeosang went. Kayla was watching to see if Y/n would follow Yeosang, but no one said anything.

            Yeosang was still walking on air by the time everyone had shown up, reliving the kiss over and over in his mind. He hadn’t stopped smiling since she kissed him. Barely leaving her side, one arm around her at all times. He noticed Mingi and Kayla staring at them more than usual, as if they couldn’t look away from the couple.

            “What do we say to playing a game?” Kayla spoke up with a smile. Everyone began to gather in the living room, listening to Kayla explain the rules. To Y/n, it just sounded like a drinking game version of the newlywed game. And by the way Kayla keeps staring at her, she wonders if it’s to try and catch her and Yeosang in a lie. She started to feel nervous, and Yeosang seemed to notice if him squeezing her hand was anything to go by. So she focused on that and decided to just trust Yeosang.

            “Everyone have a drink?” Mingi asked after all the rules were explained and everyone sat with their respective partner. “Oh kitten your cup is practically empty. Here let me get you refill.” Mingi reached for Y/n’s cup, but before he could grab it, Yeosang took it from her hands, staring Mingi right in the eyes.

            “I can get my girlfriend a refill.” Yeosang says, still not moving or looking away from Mingi. Tension filled the room as the two stared at each other. Everyone stayed silent and still, wondering what the fuck was going on. Until someone had had enough and stood up.

            “I’ll get her a refill.” Mae said, ripping the cup from Yeosang’s hands. “Men.” She said with a roll of her eyes before sauntering into the kitchen and mixing Y/n a drink. Both Mingi and Yeosang were pouting when she returned, but she really didn’t care. “Here you go baby.” Y/n thanked her.

            “Can we start the game now? I want to show all you fuckers that Mae and I are the superior couple.” Wooyoung said.

            “Oh please. You forget if you have underwear on immediately after getting dressed. You expect us to believe you remember anything about Mae?” Hongjoong teased. “Obviously Cassi and I are the superior couple. I mean, just look at us.” Cassi was sitting in his lap, one arm draped around him. Hongjoong pressed a kiss to her cheek, making her giggle.

            “Oh do you wanna go old man?” Wooyoung said, earning a playful slap from his girlfriend. “Ouch! Hey!”

            “I’m older than him you dipshit.”

            “Ah yes but look how gracefully you’ve aged bunny.” Wooyoung replied, caressing her cheek before tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “Like a fine wine you only bring out for special occasions.” Mae tried to hide her smile. “Haven’t aged a day since we met.” She rolled her eyes and mumbled suck up under her breath, but she couldn’t deny the blush dusting across her face.

            “Okay. Okay! We get it. You’re in love.” Kayla joked, throwing a chocolate at Wooyoung, who just picked it up and ate it. “If anyone were to be a superior couple, it would be the throuple that is the wifey trio. So be lucky we paired off with our men tonight.”

            “Damn right. You tell them, Kayla.” Cassi replied, blowing her and Mae a kiss.

            “The best trio to ever trio.” Mae added.

            “You know how we can figure out who the superior couple is? By playing the game.” Mingi spoke up, wrapping an arm around Kayla. “And I think we’ll all be surprised by the answer.” He added with a smirk, pressing a kiss to Kayla’s cheek, taking her by surprise, but she did her best to play it off. And Y/n tried to pretend it didn’t bother her seeing them together.

            “Okay. Everyone grab a notebook and marker from the table. Let’s get started!” Kayla announced, clapping her hands together, taking a quick glance at Yeosang, hoping to see him looking over at her and Mingi. But his attention was only on Y/n, and she was starting to wonder if she was wrong about their relationship being fake.

~

            They were well into the game, everyone getting drunker by the minute. The questions were getting progressively harder, and even the long term couples were struggling. Yet, Yeosang and Y/n have yet to get a question wrong. Mingi and Kayla were taken by surprise, wondering how they could pass with flying colours.

            Mingi was especially taken by surprise, wondering how Yeosang could know things about her that even he doesn’t know. He’s known her longer than Yeosang has. He grew up with her. All the things he learned about her past, Mingi has lived through with her. He’s known her longer, loved her longer, and yet it’s like he doesn’t know her at all.

            “Okay I think we all know who the superior couple is. We can stop.” Cassi said, looking over to Yeosang and Y/n, smiling to herself as she watched her best friend with her boyfriend. Happy to see her so happy, to see her with someone that makes her glow.

            “I would just like the record to show that bunny and I definitely came in second though.” Wooyoung spoke up. He wrapped his arms around Mae’s waist, pressing a quick kiss to her shoulder after pulling her into his lap. “I may not remember underwear 9 times out of 10, but I remember every single detail of my girlfriend.”

            “Yeah, you probably could have left out the underwear part. But the other part was cute.” Mae replied with a smile, giving her boyfriend a kiss. “Some of those questions were hard as fuck.” She added, turning back to the rest of the group.

            “The wifey trio still would have creamed all of you.” Cassi taunted.

            “I think we’d rather watch you cream a different way.” Hongjoong teased, earning a soft slap on the arm, but Cassi was giggling, so he knew she wasn’t actually upset at him.

            “Y/n and Yeosang, how the fuck do you know so much about each other when you two just started dating?” Mae asked.

            “Yeah Y/n and Yeosang. How do you know each other so well?” Kayla asked, crossing her arms across her chest, looking at them like she was accusing them of something. Mingi was sat next to her, going through the last half hour in his mind. Memorizing every answer Yeosang gave about Y/n, promising himself that he’ll never forget a single detail about her. No matter what.

            “Simple really. We’ve been friends for years.” Yeosang answered. “And we talk more than we have sex.” Mingi’s head snapped towards them when he said this. They’ve had sex? How did he not know? Then he remembered all the nights he was gone at a party. Or just out with Kayla. All the nights he left Yeosang and Y/n alone, thinking that nothing would happen between them, and now he’s lost her.

            It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go. Kayla and Mingi had everything planned, but Mingi saw his chance, and he took it. Against his better judgement. But Y/n was still standing in front of him, hesitating. Does that mean he still has a shot? “Y/n.” He spoke softly, and she looked up at him. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, the confusion, the millions of questions. “I-“ but before he could finish his love confession, he was interrupted.

            “Let’s play a classic!” Mingi spoke up. It’s been almost an hour since the last game. Almost an hour since he realized that Kayla might have had Yeosang and Y/n all wrong. Almost an hour since the voices in his head wouldn’t shut up, telling him he’s lost her for good. “Spin the bottle.” He added, holding up an empty bottle.

            This wasn’t part of the original plan. They were hoping to catch them in their lie during the first game. Call them out for getting every question wrong, but they did the opposite. As if they were perfect for each other. Made for each other. Soulmates.

            This wasn’t part of the original plan, but Mingi was drunk and upset. And he needed an excuse to kiss Y/n. Prove to her that they were meant for each other, not her and Yeosang. Prove to her that they still had the spark they did in high school, that it grew into a flame. A hidden flame, because he was still scared to tell her he loved her, but a flame, nonetheless.          

            Everyone sat in a circle, the bottle in the center. It felt so high school, but everyone was so drunk that it didn’t matter. Mae took initiative and went first. It landed on Kayla, so she crawled across the circle towards her, crawled into her lap, and kissed her, her hands gently cupping Kayla’s face. “Goddamn why doesn’t she kiss me like that?” Wooyoung asked.

            “She does.” Cassi replied, slapping him on the arm.

            “Oh yeah.” Wooyoung replied with a giggle. Cassi rolled her eyes. Mae took her spot next to Wooyoung again after she was done making out with one of her girlfriends. Kayla took her turn, watching the bottle spin and spin, hoping it would land on Yeosang. It ended up landing on Wooyoung, so she crawled across the circle towards him and gave him a quick kiss.

            “Oh come on. I’ve watched him fuck you and now you’re shy?” Mae teased, so Kayla gave him another kiss, this time more intense. “Fuck. So much better!”

            The game continued like that for a while. Everyone taking turns. Only Y/n and Yeosang were giving quick kisses, while everyone else made out with whoever the bottle landed on. Somehow, the bottle had yet to land on Mingi. So everyone decided he should give it a spin so he could finally join in on the fun.

            He knew who he wanted it to land on. Watching the bottle so intensely it was as if he was trying to control it with his mind. And it worked. When it stopped, he looked into her eyes, a shy smile on his face trying to hide his excitement. She seemed nervous, but he didn’t hesitate in getting up, pulling her to her feet, and kissing her like he’d never see her again.

            She had promised Yeosang before the game that to keep up the ruse of their relationship, they would only give quick kisses, little pecks but nothing more. But she couldn’t help herself when it came to Mingi. Melting into the kiss quickly and wrapping her arms around his neck. And suddenly it was as if the entire world disappeared and all that was left was the two of them. Mingi and Y/n. Y/n and Mingi.  

            They shared a few kisses during their short lived relationship, but none like this. In high school, they were both so nervous, so awkward. It was all pecks and sloppy make outs. But this? This was full of passion, love, longing, need. All the feelings they’ve held back, they put into this kiss.

            Yeosang could feel his heart break a little at the sight and got up from the circle and stormed off. Only then did Y/n pull away from Mingi. “What did I just do?” She asked herself, turning to follow Yeosang, but Mingi grabbed her wrist, begging her to stay with his eyes.

            “I guess I’ll go check on your boyfriend since you’re so busy with mine.” Kayla said, storming off after Yeosang. Y/n opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, turning again to follow, but Mingi stopped her again.

            “Please don’t go.” She looked up at him, then in the direction Yeosang and Kayla walked off in, back to Mingi, and then down to his hand still wrapped around her wrist. Gently, she removed his hand, but he grabbed her other wrist with his other hand. “Let me talk, Y/n. Please.”

            “We can talk later, Mingi. I have to fix things with Yeosang.” Mingi dropped his arm, allowing her to follow Yeosang. He realizes now he took too long to confess. She slipped through his fingers right in front of his eyes. He thought she’d always be there. That it would always be the two of them. But he sees now how wrong he was.

            “Why do you look like you just got rejected? It’s not like you’re in love with Y/n.” Wooyoung chuckled, clapping Mingi on the back, who just shot him a look. “Holy shit you’re in love with Y/n? Why didn’t you say something?” Mae pulled him away from Mingi, lightly smacking him on the arm, telling him to shut up.

~

            Yeosang was pacing in the backyard, trying to get the image of Mingi and Y/n out of his head. He should have known things would end up like this if they were to play spin the bottle. Should have known she would end up in Mingi’s arms.

            Their relationship was fake. Meant to make Mingi confess. He just hoped he had more time with her. To pretend everything was real, that she loved him and not Mingi. He knows he can’t make her fall in love with him, as much as he would love to do so, but when it’s just the two of them, he can pretend she does.

            He stopped pacing when he heard someone else come outside. He had hoped Y/n would follow him out, tell him she doesn’t love Mingi anymore. But this isn’t a movie. He’s not going to get the girl.

            “I’m so sorry, Yeosang.” Kayla said as she approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know why she would do something like that when she has you.”

            “I know why. And I’m fine. I just needed a minute.” He replied, brushing her hand off his shoulder. “Thanks for coming to check up on me though.” He gave her a small smile.

            “Of course. Y/n was too busy with Mingi, so I figured I should come make sure you were okay.” What did she mean by that? Were they still making out? Or worse. Did they go upstairs? “Seems like she just can’t make up her mind.” Yeosang looked towards the house, wondering what happened after he left. Did his leaving give them the perfect opportunity to go further? “What’s going through that pretty little head of yours?” Yeosang looked towards Kayla before looking back at the house and started to head back inside, but Kayla stopped him. Grabbing him by the arm, turning him around, and kissing him before she could stop herself.

            Yeosang quickly pushed her off. “What are you doing?” He asked, but her eyes were looking behind him, and she had a small smirk on her face. Y/n was standing at the door of the backyard, frozen in spot. “Pretty girl I can explain.”

            “Please do.” Y/n took a couple steps closer, crossing her arms across her chest.

            “Kayla please give us some privacy.” Yeosang asked, his gaze not leaving Y/n. Kayla was shocked at how easily Y/n had him back wrapped around her finger. And she didn’t even appreciate it. Seemingly willing to leave the second Mingi showed a little bit of interest. Whereas Kayla would kill to be in her shoes and have Yeosang all to herself.

            “See how easily I can take what’s yours?” Kayla teased as she passed Y/n, bumping her shoulder as she walked by.

            “So just because our relationship is fake you think you can kiss whoever you want?” Y/n asked. Yeosang stepped closer to her, taking her hands in his.

            “She kissed me and I pushed her off, I swear.” Y/n didn’t say anything. “Besides you started it!”

            “It was part of the game, Yeosang!”

            “Looked a little passionate to be part of a game!” He threw his hands in the air before letting his arms fall back down to his sides.

            “You thought that was passionate? I’ll show you passionate!” She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Yeosang was taken aback, but quickly returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as he could. She wrapped her arms around his neck, getting more into the kiss. Loving the way his arms felt around her, melting at the way his lips felt against hers. Every time one of them pulled away, the other would pull them back, as if they couldn’t get enough of each other.

            And on the other side of the door stood two people feeling their hearts break all over again.  

back to masterlist

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[messy-crisantemo]

Since we’ve entered a Gentan renaissance, I figured I should make a

🍉 GenTan fic recommendation list 🎴

(Edit: Now we have a Part 2!)

Note that this is a list of personal favorites based on my likes and the many (yet not all existent) fics I’ve read. They’re not put in any particular order and they’re all completed fics. I’m adding some of the tags, but not all of them since I don’t want to make this post extra long, so please read them again once you go to the Ao3 link. And finally, if anyone is anime-only, even if a fic is spoiler free, it’s likely that it’ll have some reference to Genya’s abilities or family relationships, so be careful.

That being said, we proceed!

Don’t Talk to Me by 125389, 9k

(Red Light District Arc, Canon-Typical Violence, Meet-Cute, Strangers to friends to enemies to ???, Humor, Crushes)

A second impression, a star-crossed meeting, a misunderstanding. Each was there to do his job, to keep matters strictly business, but when have things ever been that simple?

Beautifully written, fantastic humor, and just GenTan inevitably falling for each other (both romantically and literally).

To Be The Piece You Need by Gilberrts, 11k

(Alternate Universe - High School, Dialogue Heavy, Friends to Lovers)

Shinazugawa Genya's life is in a downward spiral. He has no friends, his grades are on thin ice, and he can't seem to stop outgrowing his clothes. Then, when his relationship with his brother finally hits rock bottom, Genya has a strange encounter with the sole member of the school's cooking club.

Hurt-Comfort scenario where, of course, Tanjirou is the comfort.

Rest + Recovery by aizetsus, 2k

(genya is stressed, post Swordsmith Village Arc)

Genya gets overwhelmed pretty easily. Especially when faced with a cute boy.

It wouldn’t be a GenTan rec list without our traditional, fluffy scenario of Genya pining for Tanjirou.

Cardinals by bluejelly245, 8k

(Modern AU, Wakes & Funerals, Hurt/Comfort, Conversations, Friendship/Love, Past Abuse)

Genya and his family attend the funeral wake for Tanjiro’s father, much to the younger Shinazugawa boy’s dismay. The last thing he wanted to do was spend his evening surrounded by tears and grief, but what he least expected, was to end up on Tanijro’s bedroom floor, comforting the strange boy after his loss.

Genya discovers he is a good person, so sweet despite the gloomy scenario.

loveholic by mimimimi (reiiiiii), 81k

(Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, CEO Genya, Slow Burn, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Strangers to Lovers, No Spoilers, Relationship Study)

Tanjirou lives a normal life as a university student on his last year, struggling financially to maintain a life that's not affordable anymore. On the other side, Genya is back to Japan after 17 years living overseas, ready to ruin his father's attempts to save face after several mistakes.

Both are on the edge, about to fall apart.

What will happen once their different worlds collide?

One of those fics that make you squirm under the blankets at 2am because you just can’t stop reading.

A tale of young love and starry nights by kenmagoesblep, 3k

(Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, Fix-it, Fluff and Humor, Getting together, Love Confessions, Festivals, Minor Spoilers)

The sun is already down by the time they arrive and the colorful paper lanterns bathe the streets with a faint whimsical warm glow, highlighting the easy smiles of the festival attendees and the natural glisten of the fresh food in the stalls. Their eyes immediately go to the makeshift gate made with bent bamboo, all adorned with people’s written wishes, to be sent to the heavens by the end of the night.

Genya’s handwriting is shaky but hopefully the crooked words will carry his wish just fine.

Sweet, sweet, sweet.

diet soda society by beecalm, 6k

(Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Humor, Genya makes bad life choices, Brunch, No Spoilers)

Genya knows he should just tell the truth. He got frustrated, and thought that strong words of persuasion would revive his bike from the dead. Non-judgemental as he is, Tanjiro would probably just laugh it off and walk home with a smile on his face.

“I got into a fight,” Genya lies, instead.

(or; Genya yells at his bike, lies about his ability to kick ass, and gets indoctrinated into Kamado Tanjiro’s Saturday morning brunch club.)

GenTan + friends in a super silly and funny scenario.

July by 125389, 45k

(Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Canon Compliant, Modern Setting, Reincarnation, Manga Finale Spoilers)

It could've been just another weekend, just another month, just another season passing by, but instead they made that summer theirs.

Two teens discovering love naturally and intensely. Tears were shed and hearts were healed. It might or might not be a Fix-it.

Tonight’s sky by Wild_Quetzal, 6k

(Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Hashira Training Arc, Introspection, Pining, Arguing, Light Angst, Fluff, First Dates, First Kiss, Hopeful Ending)

Tanjirou didn’t recall having watched so many people gathered before, not even when his sister and him went to Asakusa. Everything was so appealing and, at the same time, disorienting for him.

He would’ve been feeling lost if it wasn’t because Genya was beside him.

(Or, sharing a night at a festival with Genya should’ve been easy, if it wasn’t for an unexpected event and Tanjirou himself getting in the way)

Yes, we got to the self-promotion part. I’m especially proud of this one <3

And last but not least!

Todo empezó con (un beso) una despedida by Dogchasingcars, 20k

(Manga Spoilers, Post-Canon, First Kiss, Love Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Reunited and it feels so good, Family Bonding, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Lo que inicia como una breve despedida y la promesa de reunirse pronto (sellada con un beso), termina volviéndose una larga espera para volver a verse.

Because we’re not gonna leave the Spanish-speaking side of the fandom empty handed and it’s one of my favorite GenTan fics of all time. Melancólico y dulce, todo el dolor vale la pena.

[bluelocksource]

Gagamaru Gin’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible 1 & 2).

"Let’s score one more goal and turn things around." (EB1)

"Jump! Nerve transmission—my super reaction!!" (EB2)

☆ Character's colour: Silver white.

☆ Weapons:

肉弾戦 (nikudansen) = figuratively means an activity involving large amounts of physical contact, especially in sports. (EB1) Full-body spring, super reaction. (EB2)

☆ Birthday: 2nd January.

☆ Current age: 18 17 (3rd year of high school)

☆ Zodiac: Capricorn.

☆ Hometown: Wakayama prefecture.

☆ Visual acuity: 6.0

☆ Current height: 191 cm.

☆ Foot size: 30 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: ? (not aware)

☆ Blood type: O.

☆ Motto: "Natural form." (In his own theory, it means "accept the way you are and live according to your heart")

☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Yasei High School football club.

☆ Starts playing football: At age 12.

☆ Favorite food: Meat. "Especially raw meat."

☆ Disliked food: Bento from the convenience store. "Because it contains preservatives and chemical seasoning."

☆ Favorite animal: Bear. ”I’m acquainted with the local mountain bears. Do you want me to introduce you to them?”

☆ Favorite season: “I like all of them because you could see the mountains and forests’ natural beauty in each season.”

☆ Favorite football player: Gareth Bale.

☆ Favorite song: He likes listening to a band called ‘Southern All Stars’.

☆ Favorite anime: Higanjima, NARUTO, BASTARD!! – Destructive God of Darkness, Tenshi na Konamaiki (Cheeky Angel), Fire Punch, KarakuriCircus, Tekkonkinkreet, Yamikin Ushijima-kun, Gin to Kin, Dorohedoro, Dandadan, and many more.

☆ Hobby: Reading manga.

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: Bamboo. "If you don’t pluck out the bamboo shoots right away, it’ll grow quickly. And I grow mushrooms at home…. Eh.. You didn’t mean the actual thing?" (he didn’t know the question was referring to the chocolates.

☆ What goes best with rice : "Wild boar meat. The one I hunted. Let’s give it a try, everyone!”

☆ Magazine he often reads: Young Magazine, Jump, Young Jump, Big Comic Spirits, and Weekly Shonen Magazine

☆ Ideal type: Cameron Diaz.

☆ What makes him upset: Animal cruelty. "I will become your opponent."

☆ What he think his strength is: His own physical ability, eyesight and hearing.

☆ What he thinks his weakness is: Machine illiterate, and doesn’t understand people’s feelings.

☆ Best subject: P.E. (been liking it since his 5th year of elementary school).

☆ Dislike/weak subject: Other than P.E.

☆ Usual sleeping time: 8 hours. "I’m embodying the proverb: ‘A well-slept child is a well-kept child.’"

(meaning: A child who sleeps well is a sign of good health and grows up strong.)

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Young and Jump magazines.

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Hair roots. ”Because that is where wild animals’ odour lingers.”

☆ Fixation: Physical beauty (both humans and animals).

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: He’ll return the money.

☆ How he spent his holiday: Meditating in a bamboo grove and conversing with mountain animals.

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: " I’ll just zone out in the mountains."

☆ Favorite historical figure: "Osamu Tezuka. Because he was the one who started manga."

☆ If he hadn't encountered soccer, what will he be doing: "Engaging in outdoor activities. Living in nature, reading manga, doing my business, and sleeping."

☆ If he could only take one thing to a deserted island, what would it be: Manga. "I can handle survival. I love deserted islands."

☆ If he had a time machine, would he go to the past or the future: The future. "I want to know if my favorite mountain still exists in the future. If it looks like it might disappear, I’ll stop it. After all, I’m the keeper."

Last updated: 31/10/2024

* The crossed words are the changes made from twitter’s answer to the answer from Egoist Bible.

note: i want to apologize if there is any mistake!

[jmagnabo92]

Sailing to Freedom - Ch 15 - The Coming Out

@aroyallybigbangrwrb

Forgot to post to tumblr this week.

***

In light of the emails, lies and whatnot, the boys decide to come out on National Coming Out Day.

AO3

***

October 11th, 2020

They’re both pacing around the edge of the ship.  Despite their decision to come out and tell the truth about the hell they’ve been through with their photos and emails, the White House, and Monarchy trying to hold them back from being together, they’re both nervous about this.

Telling the truth about who they are and coming out to the world and even outing the fact that their relationship started because they forced to fake a friendship because of cakegate is a big thing. 

It’s throwing caution to the wind just so they can be together.  They’d taken a whole day to hash out their options, ignoring the way that they were constantly getting calls as they make their way up the coast, but still within cell range. 

Cash is nearby setting up the laptop and camera at Alex’s request.  Since Alex’s social media accounts are not controlled the same way that Henry’s accounts are, they decided that they would do a live on Alex’s Instagram to come out to the world.  It wasn’t announced (although they did tell Liam and Pez that they could ‘suggest’ to their followers that they pay attention to Alex’s Instagram – they’d left June and Bea out of it so no one could stop them), so it’ll be a surprise to everyone else, but they’re still nervous.  It’s a big deal to come out – especially worldwide – and especially when they’ve been the subjects of privacy invasion, rumors, and lies over the last few weeks, but if they don’t do this – they are letting everyone else dictate their story instead of them.

The blogs that they had Liam and Pez do weren’t enough because people could still argue that it wasn’t true as it wasn’t them saying it.  This – this would be… finally them saying yes, we’re together and we’re happy (and fuck off to the rest of the world). 

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Henry offers as they pass each other once again. 

Alex stops and grabs his hand.  “This is a decision that we made together.  Do you not want to do it?”

“I absolutely want to do this,” Henry assures him.  “But I am not concerned about my family’s reaction to this, like you are.  You’ve been fighting with them for weeks since the first photo came out and even though we both want this, there’s a part of you that is concerned that outing their obvious lies will cause your mum the election and you’ll be blamed, even though none of this is your fault.”

He's right, of course he is.  It was the main con on their (well, Alex’s) list of pros and cons for coming out today and explaining everything in their own words.  Other cons included potential trouble from the Monarchy and ruining his relationship with his mother if it does cost her the election, but the pros had outweighed the cons.

One, they were already outed maliciously by someone else (which is his mother’s fault since she’s running against the asshole that did it – though that doesn’t negate the asshole’s partial responsibility) and it’s their chance to tell the story their way.

Two, it’s their lives that are being directly impacted by the lies of the White House and the Monarchy (although oddly, it’s the White House that has been lying more than the Monarchy).  The Monarchy has been surprisingly quiet, letting the White House do all the talking, and Alex knows it’s because they’re trying to not draw attention to Henry’s activities hoping it’ll go away.

Three, they had given the White House and the Monarchy a chance to do what they wanted and were refused.

Four, they had made many attempts to get the White House and Monarchy to correct their initial mistakes only to be refused.

Five, most people didn’t believe the lies anyway.  At this point, three-quarters of the people online think the two of them are together (but confused about the dating June and Nora thing). 

Six, it’s them that would have to stay in the closet if they allowed the lies to continue, and Alex who would have to deal with the tarnished reputation until the mess gets cleared up.

And seven, this would allow them to be together as they wish.  Out in the open, proud to be together and in love, exactly as they want. 

There was a bonus that neither of them wanted to think about, but they did know that they are role models, and by being allowed to come out, it could help other LGBTQ+ people feel comfortable enough to come out themselves.  It could be a large step forward in acceptance. 

Alex lets out a breath.  “I know, I know.  I guess knowing that the Monarchy isn’t exactly supportive, and you’re rather done with them if they don’t support us is different than it is for me.”

“It is.  I’ve accepted the loss of my family if need be – although, I’ve got a feeling it’s not forever.  Bea did reach out and say that my mum is finally fighting for what’s right, again.”

Alex knows that Henry’s mom finally doing something for her kid has been a huge step forward and he strongly believes that she could convince his Gran to just suck it and accept it if they do this, but if they do this… it could cause his mom the election…

“It’s ready,” Cash says, jarring their attention to the table under the awning where he’s set up the camera aimed at the opposite couch.  The laptop is opened to Alex’s Instagram which has not stopped blowing up with notifications since the first photo release (he’s largely had the app on mute, but he can see the notification number climbing ever higher).  “Are you?”

Alex squeezes his eyes shut even as he nods.  He feels Henry squeeze his hand and pull him close to kiss his forehead. 

“We can do this, love,” Henry assures him.

“I know, and once we do… things won’t ever be the same.”

“But we don’t want them to be either, do we?”

Alex opens his eyes and smiles at him.  “Definitely not.”

He leans up on his tip toes to press a kiss to Henry’s lips before he pulls back and leads Henry to couch to get settled.  “We’re ready.”

Henry sits to his right and puts an arm around his shoulders and teases the base of his scalp and hair.  It’s as calming as ever and Alex kisses his cheek before placing his hand on Henry’s knee, which Henry covers with his free hand. 

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Cash smiles at them both and hits the button.  “And go.”

Alex smiles. 

“Hello, world, ACD here with His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Who Cares,” at this, Henry bursts out laughing, but Alex continues, “and we have some announcements for everyone in honor of National Coming Out day.”

“This might not come as quite the shock we believed it to be initially since someone had the audacity to hack into our personal private emails to one another and leak them to the world,” Henry states.  “But it’s still our announcement to make.”

“Exactly.  Those emails are absolutely true, but we’ll get into the full story of the two of us together in a minute,” Alex continues.  “We do ask if you’ve read them, to remember that they were meant to be personal and private between the two of us and to try and forget them because they weren’t meant for you, and if you haven’t read them, please don’t.  Because they are real, and it’s deeply unfair to both of us to have our private thoughts broadcast to the world.”

“However, this invasion of privacy has led us here on my ship, the SS Princess Dorothy coming to you on National Coming Out Day to tell you that I ‘Prince Henry of Wales’,” here he gives Alex a playful look, who responds with a ‘you love me’ grin, “am gay.  I’ve been gay for … well, basically since I started noticing others.  If I were straight, it would be girls.  If I were bi, it’d be both, but it’s not either of those things.  I am very happily gay.  I’ve never had any interest in women, I’m definitely not dating June, and I definitely am dating Alex.  It’s a long story that we’ll get into, but first…”

“First, I have my own announcement,” Alex states, smiling.  “I haven’t known nearly as long as Henry, although I definitely should have – it’s a long, long story, but I realized earlier this year that I am definitely bisexual and a lot of that has to do with my relationship with Henry, but I really should’ve known since high school.”

Henry laughs.  “Sometimes, it takes someone a long time to figure themselves out especially if there are outside forces impacting their desire to be in denial and not have to deal with the potential outcome of coming out because it’s not always easy –”

“– it’s not easy being forced out either –”

“– and sometimes it just needs a magical kiss to throw your whole world off-kilter,” Henry teases.

Alex gives him a look, jaw dropped, but slightly happy as he chuckles.  “I did not call it magical.”

“You spent weeks thinking about one kiss – and it made you re-evaluate everything you thought you knew despite the fact that you kind of should’ve known before then… I’d say that’s pretty magical.”

Alex laughs.  “Okay, maybe it was magical, but that’s just ‘cause it was you.”

Henry smiles and gives him a light kiss, mindful of the camera.  Alex kind of just wants to make out with him right now, but they did promise a story.

Alex clears his throat.  “We’re getting a little ahead of the story though.”

“We are,” Henry agrees.  He turns back towards the camera, and says, “As you might know if you’ve read our emails, which again, we hope you haven’t and / or forget about it if you have, you might know that the first time Alex and I met two things happened – one, I fell hopelessly in love at first sight with this man, but sadly, two, I mucked it up.  I was an absolute prick to him which started a rivalry of sorts between us.”

“It was one-sided, apparently, but I didn’t realize,” Alex admits, a slight flush on his face.  “I had thought that he hated me based off that initial interaction and internal biases, and so, even though he was – how did you put it at the wedding – exhaustively civil – to me every time after the first time, I was not the most diplomatic person when it came to interacting with Henry.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Henry teases.  “If I didn’t have a fancy of you the entire time, things might’ve been different.” 

Alex rolls his eyes.  “Anyway, I think my denial of my attraction to Henry came out in like wanting to talk to him and give him bs, not going lie, and that continued up until the wedding…”

“Yes, the wedding – a turning point for us.  See, it was an accident – the conversation before wasn’t, as Alex said – he loved to interact with me, but not always positively, so we were arguing a bit that much is true, but falling into the cake was an accident to be sure.”

“And yet, it caused some problems on both sides of the pond.”

“So, in an effort to appease the masses, it was decided that we were best friends,” Henry offers. 

Alex laughs.  “And the funny thing is, we certainly didn’t start that weekend as best friends, but a gun scare – that actually was fireworks – got us locked in a closet (which is more than a little hilarious now) where we ended up talking things out about that initial conversation and it threw things into perspective for both of us.”

“We found that it was a slight misunderstand the first time that we interacted, after finding out he heard what I said, I apologized, and understanding where he was coming from helped ease things between us and it was okay after that.  We learned that we had things in common, and maybe we could become real friends.”

“And we did,” Alex states with a grin.  There’s a part of him that still can’t believe that all he needed was a chat in a closet.  “I gave him my number so that we could arrange appearances together – which we didn’t do until after we got together, but we ended up talking all the time, and I may have been inadvertently flirting with him – I say inadvertently because I didn’t realize I was bi and so, I didn’t mean to – it wasn’t like a conscious decision –, but thinking about it, I definitely was.”

“Oh, definitely,” Henry teases.  “Which was both exciting and confusing for me, and when I found myself slightly jealous on New Year’s Eve at the party that I wasn’t supposed to attend (apparently, I was a surprise invitee to Alex), I decided to just go for it and kiss him, which was great until I thought he was a little too surprised and –”

“Fled the country without talking to me?  And then ghost me?” Alex teases, looking at him instead of the camera.  “For weeks?”

“I did not flee the country,” Henry counters, despite his slight blush.  They both know that it was exactly what Henry had done that night.  “I had to return home.”

“At a few minutes passed midnight when you had a room at the White House?”

They’re teasing, but obviously it doesn’t truly matter.  They’re both laughing.  They now knew exactly what was going on and it makes it a lot funnier. 

“Yes,” Henry lies. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Alex teases and gives him a kiss.

He could almost forget about everything else and just keep kissing him, but Cash promised not to let them get carried away and coughs.

Alex turns back to the camera.

“Anyway, I went through my whole bisexual crisis where I discovered what should’ve been obvious to me years before because it was obvious to most people in my life (seriously, I wonder what was so obvious to everyone else when I was deeply in denial), and by the time we saw each other at the State Dinner, I had a plan,” Alex states. He’d been so nervous, but so determined that night.  “I made it clear that I wanted – want to be with him, and we started dating.”

“There’re a lot of pieces to the puzzle throughout the last year, things were certain and uncertain at the same time, but the fact is – we were both in the closet (even though Alex never thought he was in the closet exactly) and people discovered that we were together along the way, and some reacted well, and some reacted not so well…”

“And so, we decided to just – sail off and enjoy being together for as long as we can in what we expected to be in peace.”  There’s a pause.  “Obviously, things haven’t been peaceful.  Not because we’re not happy together, we are, but because someone who thinks that our relationship being outed is useful to them, decided to release that initial photo of us at the DNC and then, despite wanting to come out, it was decided to lie about who we really are dating…”

Alex stops.  He doesn’t really want to call out his family, but he really fought for them to not do this – not lie, and they did anyway. 

He feels Henry squeeze his hand and pulls slightly on his hair to reassure him and he’s sure that Henry will take it from here.

“We’ve been wanting to come out, together, and we weren’t terribly happy about lying – in fact, we didn’t want to lie.  We thought it would be better not to make any statements than try to lie and come out later.  Which is why we didn’t bother hiding our affections on the rest of our trip so far, and we thought that would be enough…”

“We never imagined that someone would invade our privacy for the sake of an election or anything else, especially since we haven’t done anything wrong,” Alex interjects.  “Falling in love with someone can never be wrong.”

“Yet, they did,” Henry states, taking a deep breath and squeezing Alex’s hand.  “And we were out at sea when it happened.  Despite knowing that we wanted to come out or at least, not lie… they did.  They lied and said the emails weren’t real, but they were.  Every word.  I’ve never felt as … free talking to someone as I did in those emails to my better half, and I don’t regret a single word.  I do wish that no one else had read them, but I’m not going to deny that they are the truth.”

“Me either,” Alex states, firmly.  “I don’t regret my words.  I don’t regret being my completely normal, no filter self with Henry.  I loved those emails – they got me through some tough times, and I loved that I could look back at them and feel the same way as I did when I first read them, and now, I feel like they’re tainted, but at least I still have Henry.”

He turns and smiles at Henry, who gives him a kiss. 

“And you always will,” Henry assures him.

There’s a moment there where Alex just loses himself staring in Henry’s eyes before Cash clears his throat.

They jump, slightly.

“Right, um, anyway,” Alex says, looking back at the camera.  “That – that’s it.  We’re together, we have been since the New Year, and well, we’re going to just hang out on his ship together, hoping that people stop lying and the rest of the world stops invading our privacy.  We are together, we love each other, and we are out and proud – together.”

“Out and proud – on National Coming Out day,” Henry states with a grin.  “Congratulations to everyone else who has found the courage to come out, hopefully it was on your own terms and not someone else’s.”

“And that’s all, y’all.  See you next time.”

They both wave until Cash indicates that the live was finished and they both let out a relieved sigh. 

“That was great, guys.”

“Thanks, Cash,” Alex states, sagging slightly.  “We appreciate your support, too.”

“Always, kid.”

“But it wasn’t that long and I’m exhausted.”

“Same, dear.  Why don’t we go lay down?” Henry suggests.

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Good.”

[violetgreeneao3]

BTR Chapter 1 - The enemy of my enemy

Wonyoung was a very good girlfriend. So good, in fact, that she wanted to surprise Sunghoon before his soccer match because her Service Club meeting got out early. 

Since he was the boy’s team captain she knew he would be on the field. It was big, freshly pressed, and… empty. Her backpack hung heavily as she walked around in search of him, opening the app they used to check each other’s location (yes, they were that kind of couple), and being confused as to why he was somewhere near the bleachers. She didn’t see him so she drew closer, moments away from stepping onto the metal and announcing her presence when she heard a faint breathy sound.

”We should get going,” came a somewhat familiar voice. She’d spoken to the boy once or twice before, though at the moment his name escaped her mind’s grasp. “Coach will be looking for us.”

”Just a second,” said Sunghoon, and Wonyoung made the mistake of carefully sneaking around the back, ducking all of the support beams and rusty poles to peek her head into a dark space illuminated only by the streaks of light that shone through gaps in the seats overhead. 

She had to bite back a gasp. Surprise was the first thing she felt for a good few seconds. Watching her boyfriend of almost a year now make out with a boy from his soccer team had to be somewhere near the bottom of things she expected to see ever in her life, but low and behold, here she was staring face to face with something so humiliating.

Sunghoon’s hand slid from the boy’s neck down his body and Wonyoung had to turn away. As much as she wanted to cause a scene she knew there wasn’t a point. He wasn’t worth it. 

“Maybe you’ll have more luck than me,” she blurted, a wry satisfaction buzzing through her when they both froze in shock. She turned away with a sigh, not wanting to face them because her fake little smirk was shaky at best and unconvincing at worst. “He was never good at that sort of thing.”

”Wonyoung,” he tried distantly, but she was already pacing away across the field by the time he collected himself.

This was… not ideal. It’ll look so bad for her. She’s only a Junior so she would have to live through another entire year of this rumor looming over here. Wonyoung Jang, the Fairview High School Queen Bee, was cheated on. Swapped out for a different model, and a boy at that? The mere idea of anyone knowing mortified her, so she pledged to keep it to herself and knew deep down that Sunghoon was relieved he knew she would, too, so really there was no stakes for him. He wouldn’t feel very sorry. For some reason, that was the worst part. 

.

Yuri carefully wiped the last tear from the corner of her eye, hugging her a little tighter.

Wonyoung knew that Yuri knew something was wrong when she showed up at her doorstep, though it still took an hour or two of coaxing for her to spill what happened to the older girl. 

Now she sat in a set of Yuri’s pajamas, in Yuri’s bed, with Yuri’s arms around her. Her tears seeped into Yuri’s shirt and the only thing that grounded her aside from the warm embrace was the twinkling of fairy lights overhead. Her duvet was also quite soft, so that helped. 

“He didn’t deserve you,” she said, drawing away to hand Wonyoung a glass of water she prepared. 

“I know.” She took a gulp, taking the rest of her tears with the water, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I just can’t believe I… y’know. With him? I thought it was special.”

“Well, he’s a boy. It's never special.” Yuri reached to turn off the lights and Wonyoung couldn’t complain. “There are better people out there. Better boys, even. Try not to worry about him.”

She simply lied back with her against Yuri’s pillows and deeply appreciated the impromptu sleepover. Something disastrous may have happened if she was alone. Without Yuri to coax tears from her, she may have gone and blown up his car or lit his house on fire, her sadness always turning to rage when she didn’t know where to put it.

As per usual, Yuri held out her hands so Wonyoung didn’t have to figure it out herself.  

.

“I wanna get him back.” Wonyoung kicked at the grass as he walked through the courtyard with a scowl. She sort of ditched Gaeul for the morning to talk things out with Yuri, but Gaeul wasn’t the type to mind. “But it’s so hard when I can’t say what happened.”

”Why can’t you, again?”

“Um, because it’s embarrassing?” she states plainly, looking at Yuri instead of the route ahead because she was so dumbfounded that Yuri wasn’t getting it. That owlish look of hers said as much. “You know what people would think of me. Like, how could I have let that happen? And Sunghoon got to run around getting what he wanted while I was just the stupid girl who let him.”

”I don’t think anyone would think—”

Wonyoung stopped abruptly, her Calculus textbooks falling out of her arms when something ran into her. About the same height (maybe a little taller) but with enough muscle mass and force to make her stumble. 

“Whoops…”

Wonyoung’s instinct was to glare.

If Wonyoung was the Queen Bee of the Junior class, Yujin was the same for Seniors. Her smirk was exceptionally insufferable today, though she was sure the whole Sunghoon situation made Yujin’s smugness feel that much worse. She couldn’t bring herself to do more than huff and pick up her book, and didn't have the energy to say anything snappy when Yujin stood there with her arms crossed, clearly expecting it. 

“Where’s your dumbass boyfriend?” Yujin asked, sightseeing Yena as she left her side to take Yuri’s hand. The two of them just walked off together with nothing more than a wave. At the sight of them leaning and whispering, Yujin let out a laugh through her nose and Wonyoung rolled her eyes. “Did you finally decide to dump him?”

”Yeah, but what’s it to you?” 

“Well what happened?” Yujin looked a little more surprised than Wonyoung knew how to understand. When she didn’t reply Yujin sighed. “Well at least let me know how to bother him with it.”

“It was… a mutual thing.”

”Liar.” Yujin scanned her up and down. “You’re a mess.”

”Wha—”

”You’re wearing Yuri’s clothes and your eyes are all puffy. Makeup can’t hide everything, Wonyoung. Just tell me what happened. You know I’ll bother him with it.”

Wonyoung bit her lip, weighing her options. She hated Yujin mostly because Sunghoon did. Not that they were broken up there should have been no animosity, but hate is nothing if not a habit, and by now Yujin hated her right back. Plus, it really sucked that Yujin couldn’t be so stupid and careless and everyone still liked her, whereas Wonyoung had to do so much to curry favor. She had to get with someone like Sunghoon in the first place to make it easier, but this anxiety overwhelmed her now that news would begin to spread of their breakup. Unless she took some kind of action, most people would take Sunghoon’s side. Things would return to how they were before, with Wonyoung having a handful of friends and Sunghoon getting the rest. 

When it came to hating Yujin, Sunghoon was the real expert because he hated her for good reason. She was a girl who was better at him than soccer and knew it. His ego was bruised by her mere existence and before that meant Wonyoung was bruised by it, too, because she dated someone subpar at the sport, but now that they were a part she needed to find a way to exploit this weakness.

A weakness that stood in front of her right now, her arms crossed, hair tousled from morning practice, a faint woody smell of some perfume wafting to Wonyoung’s nose. It was strangely pleasant, not as suffocating as the Jimmy Choo Sunghoon coated himself with each morning. Something subtle, much like the teasing glint in Yujin’s eyes. 

“You really wanna know?”

”Of course,” Yujin smirked, scanning her face. “That bad, huh? Haven’t seen you this mad since I beat him at the fair.”

Wonyoung rolled her eyes, bumping shoulders with Yujin as she passed, but not without mumbling, “Bleachers after school.”

In her mind, all the pieces were clicking, disconnected parts joining together in her mind to take the shape of a plan. One that would hit Sunghoon where it hurt and rub salt in the wound at the same time. And the plan lied somewhere near the bottom of her things she would have ever expected, right there above seeing Sunghoon cheat on her with her own two eyes, because the plan involved Yujin, who she loathed only a little less than Sunghoon for reasons she could only partially describe. 

But you know what they say… the enemy of my enemy is her… something. Hopefully she’ll be able to tack a label on it after school.

NEXT Chapter 2 - Untitled

START Table of Contents

[sergeantsporks]

Writing Request:

Suddenly remembers Another Shot In Life

Takes places after the finale:

After a disastrous day in the demon realm (Hunter comes across some people who loss their palisman because of him) Hunter decides to take some days for himself in the human realm. There, Vee tries to encourage him to stay permanently, reminding him that here he could have a fresh start as she did, a place where he could just be himself without any reminders of the Golden Guard or Belos, while Hunter tries to argue against this with how he has friends on the boiling isles, promises to keep (making palisman) and life goals (School and Flyer Derby) They get into an argument, and in the process both ended up touching on some sore topics (Vee being the last basilisk and Hunter being the last grimwalker). They drop the subject and decide to just spend some time comforting each other before Hunter leaves.

Author's Note: Because of the "remembers another shot at life" line, I GROSSLY misread this as a request for a scenario set in the "Camila is Hunter's Mom Now" universe, and by the time I realized my mistake, I was in too deep to change/feasibly rewrite this. All that to say, this fic is written with the Hunter Noceda AU logic and background in mind, so Hunter's motivations, goals, and relationships are different (and Flapjack is still alive), but I tried to stick with the general concept of the plot. Sorry 'bout that.

xx

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Hunter stalled at the portal door. “I mean, I haven’t been back to the demon realm since…”

Camila stood next to him, watching the magic shift and swirl across the surface of the portal. “I know.”

“But I mean—I know it’s different now, and he’s not there, and Luz is really excited about the university, and maybe it’s time I give it a look. I can’t just stay away forever.”

“No one will make you go, Hunter.”

“I know that.” Hunter twisted his hands around each other. “Luz and Jade have been talking.”

“A dangerous combo.”

“I think Jade wants to go to the isles someday.”

Camila smiled warmly. “That sounds like her.”

“So…” Hunter shrugged helplessly. “I guess I want to be the one to show her. And Thomas, if he ever wants to come. If I can do that without Jacob hovering over our shoulders the whole time. But I definitely can’t show them around if… if I can’t even walk through the door.” He squared his shoulders, taking a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, I’m ready.”

Hunter stepped through the portal. He expected it to feel magical somehow, or at least strange, but it was just like walking out of the house into the outdoors. Maybe a slight temperature change. But nothing special.

A hand grabbed his halfway into the portal, pulling him the rest of the way in.

“Hey!” Luz said brightly, “You made it! Are you ready?”

Flapjack fluttered out of Hunter’s pocket, soaring around the room with a cheerful song. Hunter smiled watching the little bird.

“Glad to be back?” he asked. Flapjack chirped an affirmation, landing on his shoulder and nuzzling against his face.

“Eda’s already at the university,” Luz explained, holding her hand out for her own palisman, “Aaaaaand, so. There’s been a breakthrough in technology removing sigils.”

Hunter’s gut dropped. “Oh.”

“I know you don’t really… have yours… anymore…”

Hunter rubbed his wrist where the scar left by the Collector sat, blotchy and red against his skin. “Right.”

“I was just wondering if you might be interested. Does it still bother you sometimes?”

“Itches sometimes. But that might just be the…” Hunter scratched at it. “…the burn… Do you think I should get it checked out?”

“That’s up to you. It’s just in Latissa. On the way if you say yes, not a problem if you say no.”

The Collector burning the sigil off had stopped Belos’ attempt to kill him. But what if there was something deeper under the skin that he didn’t know about?

“Yeah. Let’s go. It’ll only take a minute, right?”

Hunter was used to people getting out of his way in the Isles. He was used to fearful looks of respect as he passed and citizens falling away to let him through.

But the way people moved for Luz was different. There were cheerful hellos, nods of respect, and ‘of course, go on through’s.  People cast him quizzical looks, let him through easily enough since he was with Luz, but overwhelmingly… no one knew who he was.

It didn’t feel good, per se. But it didn’t feel bad, either. He hadn’t considered that people might be angry at him for being the golden guard until the nurse at the old Latissa police station had looked at him for just a second too long and his heart started to race, but no one seemed to recognize him without his mask and cloak.

What happens if they figure it out?

But for now, he and Luz walked into the clinic without a care in the world. Or, at least, it seemed that way until Hunter saw Darius Deamonne, and everything seemed to tilt just a little out of focus, like a camera lens that was a little bit blurry, but still able to catch a picture. Luz went straight to Alador Blight, explaining the situation to him, while Darius and Hunter stood awkwardly next to each other.

Hunter broke the silence first.

“Hi, Darius.”

“G—Hunter. Glad to see you look well.”

“Oh. You too.”

More awkward silence. Hunter circled his thumbs around each other

“Camila said you helped find me. Or—well—you and Eberwolf.”

“Ah. Yes. I suppose we did.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Darius cleared his throat. “And I apologize. For my previous behavior towards you.”

“Oh.” Hunter scratched at his wrist. Darius had never been kind. He’d ignored him, mostly, and had been curt when they’d had to interact. But he’d been no worse than any other coven head in that regard.

“I don’t know how much Luz told you, but I went into Belos’ mind, along with coven heads Eberwolf and Raine, and, somehow, Luz herself. And while there, we saw some… disturbing things. Regarding the nature of your relationship with Belos.”

Hunter opened and closed his mouth without saying anything. He felt like he’d been sucker punched. He hadn’t known. Luz hadn’t gone into too much detail about what had happened on the day of unity or the days leading up to it. Sometimes he’d wondered if she was hiding something. And she might be, if she’d seen everything and was trying to keep it normal between the two of them. Not that she hadn’t known already what had happened between him and Belos, but still.

“And I like to think that if I’d figured it out in the coven, I would have reached out to you,” Darius continued, “But whatever I might have done, I know that I didn’t actually do anything to help you in reality. So I just wanted to apologize for treating you poorly, when I could have helped.”

“Oh.” Hunter chewed the inside of his cheek. How was he supposed to respond to that?  “That’s alright. I might not have run away if you had.”

Darius accepted his reply with a gracious nod and stepped back as Alador approached, holding up his sparking glove.

“It’s quick,” he promised, “And painless. Hold out your arm?”

Hunter glanced at Luz, and she gave him a quick nod. He held out his arm, Alador put the glove right where his burn was, and nothing changed at all. It didn’t itch. But he didn’t know that it had stopped forever, either.

Time will tell.

“Thank you,” he managed, and then it was back outside, to freedom and the skies with Flapjack and Luz.

Hunter swooped, twisting and doing a barrel roll in midair with a whoop. He hadn’t been able to fly in the human realm; he’d never found somewhere that he really thought was secluded enough, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it until now. He aimed Flapjack down at the ground in a steep dive, pulling up at the last second and flipping in the air.

“Nice moves.”

Hunter yelped, losing balance and falling halfway off his staff so he was clinging to the underside.

The witch next to him laughed. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you.” She waved up in the sky. “Hey, Luz!”

“Willow!”

Luz swooped down, helping Hunter upright. “Hunter, this is Willow, Willow, Hunter.”

Right. Luz had talked about her friends before, he knew who they were. Willow. Captain of her own flyer derby team (whatever that was). Plant witch. Luz’s first friend in the isles, discounting Eda and King. “Hi. Hello. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you!” Willow grinned, pulling a lazy loop-de-loop in the air. “Welcome back to the isles.”

“Thanks.”

Willow pulled ahead, skidding down in a graceful landing at a massive blue tree. Flapjack chirped excitedly to see it, fluttering out of his staff form as soon as they landed and soaring up to inspect the branches.

Hunter’s breath caught in his throat. “Is that…”

“Palistrom,” Luz confirmed, her own palisman twining around her wrist, “Eda’s dad had a seed, and since Belos is gone, we’ve been able to grow this big one, and reseed the forests!”

“Wow,” Hunter murmured. He put one hand on the tree’s thick trunk, shivering at the contact. “It’s beautiful.”

Flapjack chirped an agreement, landing back on his shoulder.

“Come on, let me give you the tour!”

Luz grabbed Hunter’s hand, tugging him through the university. She pointed out each classroom, naming the courses. There were classes for each of the original coven tracks, but there also seemed to be dozens of combination classes, for any kind of magic mixing you could imagine—classes on training your beasts and abominations to get along, safety crash courses on keeping your living plants and your potions separated, and countless others.

“Here—look.”

Hunter squinted at the sign above the door. “Human… exchange program?”

Luz bounced up and down. “We were thinking we’d start small, with people who already know. Like Jade, you know? And then, if things go well… maybe we start telling people about the demon realm?”

Hunter swayed on his feet, dizzy at the thought, although he wasn’t sure why. “Oh.”

“But I wanted to ask you first,” Luz said in a rush, “Vee, too.”

“Right,” Hunter said slowly, “Because if we tell people about the demon realm, they’ll… figure out… where Vee and I… came from…” He ran a hand through his hair, sick at the thought of some of his classmates coming here, seeing everything, seeing where he’d come from, and… “Uh,” he managed in a strangled whisper, “I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, noooo, you hate the idea—look, forget about it, we can—”

“No. No, I’ll think about it. It’s a good idea, I’m just… not sure… if I’m ready for it. And I want to talk to Vee, first.”

“Yeah. Understandable. Okay.”

Flapjack preened his feathers, nonchalantly warning Hunter that one of the university students was staring at him, and had been for the last minute or two. Hunter glanced around and saw the one Flapjack was talking about—the student had to be at least five or six years his senior, and he’d never seen their face before. The moment he locked eyes with them, they startled, then headed right towards him.

“Um—” they started apologetically, “I’m probably wrong, but… did you… by any chance… are you the golden guard?”

Flapjack turned to staff form, and Hunter took a step back, holding the weapon so that he could either fight or hop on and fly away at a moment’s notice. “Who are you?!” he demanded.

They held their hands up. “Sorry! Sorry, I, uhhhhh…” they glanced around. “I was a coven scout just half a year ago. This is… my second chance. So. I understand not wanting to be recognized, and I won’t talk to you again if you want to keep a low profile. I just… wanted to ask you something.”

Hunter glanced back at Luz, who shrugged. Maybe she had seen everything in Belos’ mind. But something about this scout felt more private. “Could you give us a second?”

She nodded, bounding down to a different platform and classroom with Stringbean’s help.

“What’s your question?”

“I… noticed you have a palisman. Um. I was just wondering—since you helped collect palisman at initiation, and since you were higher ranked, do you… do you know what happened to ours? Do you know where they were kept?”

“I…”

Memories of broken wood, of green magic spiraling upwards, of lifeless palisman tossed carelessly aside flashed through Hunter’s mind. Soul after soul devoured and destroyed, just to feed someone who should have died a long time ago. That same gloved hand gripping Flapjack tightly, ready to destroy him if Hunter stepped out of line.

Flapjack nudged Hunter’s face with a chirp, and he followed the sound and touch back to the present, one hand gently touching the palisman on his shoulder. But he couldn’t help remembering every palisman he’d given Belos—which one had been this scout’s?

“They were destroyed,” he said numbly, “I’m sorry.”

The ex-scout blinked. “What? No, that can’t be right, Lilith had hers, and you have yours, and… and you didn’t start out as heads of the coven, I—” their eyes searched Hunter’s face, flicking back and forth as if hoping he would say ‘psyche! We kept them in a secret cave, I’ll lead you to them right now!’ “They can’t be…”

“I’m sorry,” Hunter said again, “I…”

“But that’s not fair.” The words came out of the scout in a whisper, like they couldn’t quite believe it. “You got to keep your palisman. Why do you get to have one when you destroyed all of ours?” Their eyes filled with tears. “Why… why is mine… why-?”

Hunter felt sick to his stomach.

He had destroyed palisman. Had collected them from scouts, even knowing what would happen to them. Had gone out in search of more—even if he’d ultimately let those escape with Luz.

He wouldn’t trade Flapjack for anything, but that didn’t stop a cesspool of guilt from opening in his stomach. He slowly backed away from the scout.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I didn’t—I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m—"

I don’t even know whose was whose.

I just… handed them over.

Half-dazed, Hunter hopped on his staff, pushing off and leaving the scout behind. He flew high, clinging to his staff like a hug more than a proper ride.

Why did I escape?

Why did I get to keep my palisman?

He didn’t realize where he was flying, didn’t stop to steer, just let Flapjack take the lead until he soared right back into the living room, and into Camila’s arms, where he stayed, shaking like a leaf.

“Hey—Hunter, sweetheart, are you okay? Where’s Luz? Did something happen?”

“I—” Hunter squeezed his eyes shut. “Luz. She’s probably wondering where I went, I need to go back, I need to—”

“Stay,” Camila said firmly, “I’ll get her. Take a minute, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She gave him a squeeze, then let go, disappearing into the demon realm. Hunter paced anxiously in front of the door, almost certain that the scout had followed him, or something worse.

Vee fell into step next to him, pacing back and forth with him. “Bad first day, huh?”

“Mmm.” Hunter twisted the strings of his hoodie around his fingers. “It’s too soon.”

“For you?”

“For the Isles. They’re still rebuilding. Trying to figure out what to do without a coven system. And I’m… too close to Belos. Maybe if I’d been part of the rebellion, people would be willing to overlook the golden guard, but I just ran away. I ran away from him, so I’m still associated with him, and—and—I mean, I didn’tdo anything to fight back, did I? I messed up the Isles, and I didn’t even help fix it, I just ran from the problem, and—”

“Hunter. Belos was the problem. Not you.”

“Yeah, but—”

“You didn’t have to fight him. That wasn’t your job. He was hurting you, and you needed to get away.” Her face crinkled in a half-smile. “Besides, I seem to recall Luz saying that you threw a shoe at him and knocked him out cold.”

“That didn’t help anyone.” Hunter sighed. “Which is the problem. How can I just go back to the Isles now that it’s fixed, when I didn’t do anything to help fix it? It feels… wrong.”

“So don’t go back,” Vee said simply.

“What?”

“Don’t go back. No one is making you. I don’t agree that you somehow need to earn the right to go back, but if being there just makes you feel guilty, then don’t go. I thought you said you wanted to stay here in the human realm with us, anyway?”

“I do,” Hunter admitted, “But the Isles aren’t the same anymore. Now that Belos is gone… I don’t know, I never wanted to go back because he was there, and then because of the bad memories.” Hunter started to pace again. “But he’s not there anymore, and I have bad memories with him here, too, so maybe I should give it a shot? And I want to do something to help clean up the isles, Vee, I know Belos is to blame for what happened, but if people who never hurt it in the first place, like Eda, are helping fix the damage, then maybe I should help, too.”

“Wha—you didn’t even want to go this morning!” Vee sputtered, “And you came zooming back after an hour like you’d been burned! Hunter. Listen to me, Hunter. If you only want to go back because you feel obligated, because you feel like you have to make up for what you did—that’s not a good reason to go back. Just stay here. I’m not planning to go back.”

“Well, it’s different for you!”

“Oh, yeah? Belos made that draining spell off of what he learned from me. Do I need to make up for that?”

“That wasn’t your fault!”

“But you getting raised into a soldier was yours?”

“Really, Vee? Are you really going to try to insist that you getting chained up and tortured so that Belos could study your magic holds the same amount of blame as working for him? That’s what you want to say?”

“Are you really going to try to insist that you looking out for your own health and running away from Belos was worse than fighting him and getting killed?! You decided to start over here, just like I did. What’s the point in going back? Just to beat yourself up for not dying some kind of martyr? You left the Isles for a reason.”

Hunter threw his hands in the air. “It’s just—I don’t think it’s something you can understand!”

“And why not?!”

“Because there aren’t basilisks anymore!” Hunter burst out, “Maybe you really don’t want to go back, but it also isn’t really an option for you! You don’t—” he bit down on his tongue, acutely aware of how bad the next words out of his mouth would sound.

“I don’t what? I don’t belong there?!”

“Vee, I didn’t mean it in a bad—”

Vee shifted, getting taller and blonder, her ears lengthening and her eyes turning magenta. “I can pretend to be a witch just as well as you, grimwalker.”

Hunter fumbled for words, staring at her. Usually, she looked like Luz, but right now, she could be his sister.

Vee sighed, settling back to her usual form. “Neither of us belong anywhere,” she said, her voice cracking, “I just thought that we could not belong together.”

“I really didn’t mean it like that,” Hunter said in a small voice, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said tersely, “I know what you meant.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Me either. I just… I know I didn’t have a lot of options, I guess I… I don’t know. It’s not just that I think I need to help, I also want to. I want to see what the Isles turns into without him. If that makes sense.”

“It does. And I guess I know you wouldn’t be gone forever, I just… I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. Maybe I can make it a place you will want to visit.”

A tiny smile flitted across Vee’s face, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. “Well. I kinda like how you turned out without Belos controlling you. I think the Isles will turn out pretty well, too.”

[enkisstories]

The inspection took so much time that Rose's and Armitage's planned evening shopping trip had to turn into a mere windowshopping experience, because all the vendors had called it a day already.

The streets were so safe now, that the merchants could even leave merchandise outside overnight with no fear of it going missing.

Rose: "This is your doing, special investigator Hux. We maybe should stop collectively picking on Ben all the time, but I much prefer what I can see and touch over his boasting. This here is real and it feels good."

Armitage: "I never looked at it from this this angle, only ever kept track of how many criminals less were running Black Spire unchecked. It translating into more freedom and safety is a nice change of perspective!"

Armitage: "Speaking of perpectives... You need to know that I am... I thought there was no word for it, except maybe “negligence of duty”, but I've looked it up and apparently the Republic had a word for me, after all."

Rose: "Yes, it's called genocidal narcissist."

Armitage: "Oh, come, don't make fun... You're not making fun."

Rose: "Because your past is something I'll have to deal with as your partner, and that you'll have to face, after the dust has settled. It’ll fall on our feet often enough."

Armitage: *deep sigh*

Rose: "But not tonight. What's on your mind?"

Armitage: "Straight to the point, then. Sex means nothing to me. On a long list of activities it's one of the last I’d consider and if it happens, it's just not the cure all it seems to be for other people. And the idea of it being a regular thing I can’t even stomach.

So, our partnership... it won’t work out and you know me, apologizing doesn’t come easy to me, so instead... Thank you for everything, Rose. I already told Admiral Holdo of all people how you made me feel alive for probably the first time since toddlerhood, but it’s you whom I should tell that.”

Rose: "It's not as if Finn was out of the world, you know?"

Armitage: "Finn?"

Rose: "He and Poe are like a mini dyad in the Force, inseparable. But you must have noticed that they are pretty open to sharing?"

Armitage: "I only remember how Poe was undecided between Finn and me..."

Rose: "Heh, I tend to forget that you are with us only so briefly. Before Finn happened, Poe had quite a reputation in the romantic department. And Finn is helpful to a fault, that's why it was easy to mistake my admiration for his positive qualities for love."

Armitage: Is this going where I think this is? Could it really be so easy?

Rose: "Ben overexaggerated when said by the end of our Ryloth mission everyone would have slept with everyone else, but he wasn't that far off the mark. When there's peace, you'll go to Finn and Poe, when you need a cup of flour for your baking, and could go to them if I ever contracted stronger spring fever than you can deal with. But the person I want to be with in the hours that matter, that's you. The quiet hours, the busy hours, and the passionate moments when we BOTH want to give in to those feelings."

Armitage: "Why's everything always so easy for you guys?"

Rose: "As I said on Crait: We don't fight against what we hate, but for what we love. That's much stronger a motivation."

---

I didn't know that sims can talk to each other when sitting on the ground! They'll do that more often from now on.

[kasautnahn]

Hazbin Hotel x Enid Zayl (OC)

I could make some [xReader] for Hazbin Hotel or Helluva boss. Or maybe some short story requests for them 🤷🏻‍♀️ Idk, you guys let me know by commenting and liking! Here’s how I write, generally down below!

⚠️| Warning + Viewer’s Discretion -> Preview contains Gøre and mature language |⚠️

X.00 - Origin Prologue

Hell is a constant inferno. A blaze lit by chaos, destruction, and sin. When both humans and monsters reconcile as one of the same beings, no matter how different one looks or talks, each and every one of them were the same. But even in the hottest volcano, flowers bloom in the aftermath.

From screaming to the sounds of dishes breaking upon impact, and faith incoherent words, echoing in one’s mind before a faint snapping was slowly being brought to focus. A creature with five eyes and a slender body was snapping in our view, with a flashlight moving side to side. Their eyes squint as they focused merely on us, but on our current protagonist. Enid Zayl.

_________________________

“You seem to be just fine. Your vision isn’t like the patients I had before you. And your hearing isn’t affected either.” They spoke quickly before scribbling on their clipboard while Enid looked down toward her lap.

Her body felt so heavy, and from what the doctor in front of her saw, they thought she was in a matter of shock due to how silent she was. Taking a seat in front of her, their five eyes looked at her face while crossing one leg over the other.

“You should be glad that you made it out of that shit alive, y’know. Whenever those bastards come down for the yearly extermination, almost no one is left alive. Most will call you fucking stupid for even being out there in the first place, which is why you need to pay attention to the clock tower.” From what he saw in her records, she already knew about all this since she was born in hell like him.

Was it pure curiosity? Possibly. But has she learned from her mistake? From the looks of it, absolutely. And one look was all it took that she’d been through more than Hell from what he could imagine.

“Your tail will take about a few months to heal. As for your shoulder, you need to just stay still and make sure to not use your arm too much. It’ll heal in no time if you don’t use it to jack anyone off. Now get the fuck out.” They grumbled. The demonic woman stood up from where she sat, walking out of the room without another word. Leaving him to scoff and mutter something below his breath before screaming for the next patient.

The brief whispering and muttering that filled Enid’s head seemed to grow louder and louder by the minute. With a dead look on her face as she felt many eyes trail behind her as she made her way out of the busy hospital.

_________________________

What happened you may ask? We can always go back to see~

Enid was unaware of the time. Of the day. She didn’t realize that it was the day of extermination. How this demoness didn’t realize, her mind was simply buried in the tasks and responsibilities she always maintained. Take care of her mothers, and her younger siblings, and get food to cook them something delicious. And since it was early, she took it upon herself, like every day, to go out to the local stores for ingredients. With her nose buried in a list of recipes that her siblings took the time to make for her. Their way of appreciating what she does for their family, and for being the only few people in hell to be so kind-hearted.

Albeit her mother’s words about her kindness. In a place like Hell, people like her were always easy to break.

By the time she arrived at the store, it was closed down for the day. Like the many others, she went to go check on them. She thought it was strange. Maybe she was too early? But that was never the case before.

The sounds of the clock tower shook through every ring of Hell. Shaking the feet below her causing the hairs on her skin to stand on end before slowly looking up at the massive structure before her eyes widened. Her black pupils turned a neon green in pure horror to see that the countdown for the extermination was exactly zero.

“Enid!!” A small voice yelled behind her. As she turned around, the sight second youngest of her family sprinted in her direction covered in blood from head to toe.

“Thomas!?!”

“Enid, Help!! We have to get back home! Momma and- kugh-”

The demoness’ heart sank. The sight of them not even six feet away from them was struck by a white light. The surprised look on their face before the life in their eyes disappeared. Nothing replaced their pupils as their eyes rolled back and tears formed. Enid’s lips quivered from the sight of this as her hands shakily reached toward their sibling. Tears formed in her own eyes before looking up to where the light had been shot from. Yet another arrow was making its way toward her, landing an explosion directly between her and her sibling's corpse. The explosion forced Enid’s body to be thrown right through the building behind her, her sore body tucked between fragments of bricks and wood. Every part of her ached, and the ringing in her ears was loud and piercing.

“F-fuck…” Was all she managed to say, hearing her own words echo in her mind as her eyes were trying to focus on the view in front of her. Her drunken, hazy view continued to just spin as she pushed herself from the wall and fall face-first toward the ground. She could feel a stinging sensation all over her body. Her entire body twitched as she slowly fumbled and lifted her body from off the ground. Coughed up a little blood here and there, but it wasn’t anything compared to what she felt on her shoulder. A large piece of wood was struck smack dab in the middle of it- Staring at it almost made her faint. But hearing a few chuckles from the front of the building, she gritted her teeth and slowly lifted herself with a hold of the nearest counter. Trying her best to stay out of the line of sight of the incoming exorcists.

From a few feet away, two exorcists walked into the building. With dark grins on their faces as one of them where smacking their lips together in an attempt to call out to the Demoness. Like a dog calling for its dog.

“Here here, you sinful thing~ Where did you go?~” One calls out as the other chuckled and tapped their spear against the sleek floors. The sounds they made getting closer and closer to where Enid was hiding.

The two then were at arm's length to see where she had crashed and left. The blood splatter on the floor made their grins grow even more before they spilled up to search the rest of the building.

“You know~ Of all the years I’ve been tasked to do this side of Hell,” One of the angels spoke as they silently treaded around to search for the wounded fiend, “Never ONCE have I struck one through the head as I did to the one from earlier.”

“KEheh- yeah, and you have the WORST aim!” The other Angel laughs, soon having the other join in.

“Didn’t we kill some other ones that looked like that, Jonsey? In a house or whatever?”

“Oh yeah that’s right~ Bella took care of those. How they all were screaming, trynna take care of their lil momma~ they would’ve been cute if they weren’t born in Hell~”

Enid couldn’t listen to any more of this. Her heart was all she could hear. Her blood boiling all over, feeling as though her entire body was lit in flames as they continued to say aloud who they’d managed to kill so far and how they did it. The tears falling from her eyes only continued as her breathing become heavier. Where she hid, she saw one of the robes walk by. It was the one who only kept laughing- looking side to side through the shelves as he walked passed her. She needed to move out of her spot, in case he was going to circle again. Silently crawling out of her spot and into the next aisle, she made sure to stay silent. But her tail knocked over a can, causing the laughing angel to snap their body towards the sound and shoot an arrow to her tail, causing her to hiss in pain before sprinting away.

“Jonsey! Over here!” The angel called out, flying after Enid, following the slight glimpses of her wounded tail. Soon, the other angel accompanied him to the back of the store, toward the area where the employees were allowed to enter. Through hall after hall, the two then ended up in the storage room. Panting heavily as they stayed floating in one spot as they looked around the room.

“What the, where did that shitty thing go?” Jonsey seethed before being shot through the back of their head, catching the Angel beside him off guard. Just when Enid was going to fire the shotgun once again, it only clicked. There was no more ammo- Her eyes were met with the furious glare of the angel. As he flew towards her, she launched herself forward, using the horns on her head to knock the pistol from his hands before he toppled over her. Giving her a few good punches as she weakly did the same as his body forced her to stay on the ground.

Their hands soon locked onto one another in an attempt to either keep each other away from the weapon across from them with a glaring contest.

“You lucky son of a bitch.. once you’re dead I’m gonna dance on your damn rotten CORPSE and make sure to take your dead family and put them in my collection of trophies~”

The angel’s eyes flickered toward the wood that was wedged between the flesh of her shoulder before using his other hand to push and move the giant splinter, causing Enid to groan before using her free hand to uppercut their jaw.

Once the exorcist was finally off of her, she desperately crawled toward the pistol and froze to scream in pain as the angel forcibly pulled the piece of wood out from the back of her shoulder. The number of splinters she felt dig their way further into her wound was unimaginable. But her other hand managed to grab the gun without the angel noticing.

She turned to look at the Angel crawling toward her before she quickly pulled out the gun and shot him through his head. His body was still momentarily before he leaned face-first onto the cold and bloody floor. The hand that shot fired was shaking tremendously as she stared down at his lifeless body. Her eyes still poured tears before she slowly sat on her knees, raising the gun and using the handle to fuck up the head of the angel. Slamming against his skull again, and again. One blow after another, after another, until her body stopped itself. Crying from sheer panic but with little relief.

Fuck them. Fuck them all.

_________________________

Enid was now face to face with her glossy eyes gazing blankly ahead of her. Tears were still pouring out from the corner of her eyes. Her fresh wounds stung beneath the wrapped bandages. And her clothes were soaked in different mixes of blood during the extermination. She couldn’t accept the fact that the family she had left were all dead… more than dead, since she was still in Hell. But here she was. Looking down at the three graves of her loved ones. The first ones she knew to be buried in Hell’s soil. Her entire body was still, the tears welling in her eyes as her blurry vision remained on the graves. The wind blew faintly making her tears run cold.

She thought that it was funny. Funny how things always end up so badly with her. Her father left because of her, Leaving her and her pregnant mother to fend for themselves.

If her mother was here right now, she would tell her not to waste her tears on something so trivial to death. It happens to everyone eventually. Eventually. But it happened too soon.. It was stupid of her to not be careful. For not paying attention to time, for not paying attention to all the warnings. It was all her fault that they were this way. The second child, Thomas. The third, Vira. Her mother, Willow. If she wasn’t physically hurt, she’d be tearing up the grass, punching the trees around her until she couldn’t feel her hands at all. But she was succumbing to the pain in her body. The emotions that were bubbling up inside her. The feeling of what was left in her heart, however, told her that this wasn’t going to be the end of it. This won’t happen again. As long as she was still alive, you can put a stop to it. To all of this.

Days had turned into weeks. Weeks turned to months before she was healed of her injuries. Still taking it lightly, she dedicated herself to taking care of the exorcists every year. Gaining all the information money could buy on the low, and even collecting herself an arsenal of heavenly blessed weapons that were dropped by them every other year. From pistols to snipers, she had an assorted collection, and she used each one of them to clip a few angel wings one at a time.

_________________________

Why she did this, wasn’t known to her either. She couldn’t stop even if she wanted to. She got too used to it and got good at killing those bastards slowly. There were always more, so who would it hurt to kill the first one she saw?

However, since then, it had certainly been many busy decades later. Where the Radio Demon had left a large impact all throughout hell. Even through that, extermination was always in order- but as Enid continued her yearly hunting, she runs into Alistor.

But what happens next?

I very much enjoyed writing this portion of my small fan fiction story, but doing my research and continuing this story will be a bit of a hassle. HOWEVER, I’m only looking forward towards the results 💅🏼✨ I hope you all enjoyed this too, because my obsession is BACK.

[tailhitch]

Tailhitch after living among the residents of happy tree town for a while has opinions on most of them.

Flippy: getting the easy one out of the way, they’re friends. Tailhitch understands flippys pain and trauma better than just about anyone. Add in both of them being soldiers and they get along pretty well. Flippy appreciates the fact that Tailhitch, as a cybertronian is immune to anything fliqpy can do. When the autobot is around collateral can be minimized. They tend to avoid each other whenever Tailhitch uses his holoform. It reminds flippy of a friend he lost and mistakes he made.

Fliqpy: fliqpy despises Tailhitch for stopping him during his rampages, but most of what Tailhitch feels towards the rampaging monster is pity and sadness. During the few brief conversations the two have had fliqpy has admitted that he respects Tailhitch as a soldier and that it’s a shame that they’re on opposite sides. Tailhitch couldn’t help but admit that fliqpy’s “creativity” was impressive. Beyond that it’s one sided animosity.

Flaky: he/she/they are terrified of Tailhitch. Just like they’re scared of pretty much everything. Tailhitch tries to be friendly with the porcupine and give them advice on anxiety but there’s only so much he can do. Flaky has had a few positive interactions with Tailhitch and has expressed they don’t hate him. But he’s 17 feet tall and a robot. It’ll freak a lot of people out.

Nutty: Tailhitch ain’t a fan, there’s only so much his processors can take you know? He’s loud he’s way too energetic it’s annoying. Just being around the squirrel overstimulates the young autobot.

Splendid: you’d think that both being aliens who want to save people would let them get along right? Wrong. First time they met splendid tackled Tailhitch thinking he was some kind of alien invader and both started swinging. Since then they don’t speak to each other outside of “polite” greetings. (Usually just calling each other names)

Lumpy: Tailhitch does not like the moose. It seems as though he is willfully ignorant of his surroundings unless money is involved. Then he’s just a greedy jerk to everyone.

Handy: Tailhitch has no idea how the beaver does the things he does without actual hands, he’s impressed and is becoming friends with handy via the construction of a catapult.

Giggles: Tailhitch doesn’t have too many opinions on the chipmunk. She’s polite enough, and pleasant enough to be around but interests clashing makes it hard to be friends.

Cuddles: he’s a good guy but he’s always the first one to come to Tailhitch with a terrible idea that he SWEARS will be totally awesome. Outside of that they’re chill with each other.

Lammy: either there’s something wrong with her or something’s going on with that pickle. He has a hard time trusting her.

Toothy: Tailhitch doesn’t really have an opinion on toothy, he seems to be alright but the mech doesn’t hang out with the beaver too much.

Russell: Tailhitch likes Russell, he’s cool. Could just be because Tailhitch is a one piece fan, could be that Russell is just that likable who knows.

The mole: the mole freaks tailhitch out, he never speaks and somehow despite being blind he avoids being caught in the crossfire frequently.

Splendont: Tailhitch’s opinions on the red flying squirrel are much the same as his opinions on the blue flying squirrel. Not good.

Mime: Tailhitch doesn’t really have an opinion on the mime. Hes somehow even quieter than the mole, and Tailhitch isn’t sure if it’s actual mutism or just dedication to the craft. If the mime is just really dedicated to the bit even when in danger, then Tailhitch is impressed because he’s never heard the mime scream once.

Petunia: Tailhitch was a miner for most of his life, he’s a messy guy. Petunia does not appreciate this and frequently tries to make him less messy, it has yet to stick. He finds her somewhat annoying but he humors her attempts.

Sniffles: Tailhitch appreciates the presence of the anteater, they share similar interests and sniffles is even trying to find a way to send Tailhitch home, they keep spare copies of all of the notes and blue prints with Tailhitch whenever sniffles blows himself up and they have to start over. Plus he helps Tailhitch whenever his energon is low and he needs refueling.

Disco bear: he’s weird and kinda annoying but dammit Tailhitch loves music too much and getting funky is too much fun. He can appreciate a guy who lives his life with a bit of groove.

Pop and cub: Tailhitch can tell that pop loves his son very very much but he just wishes he’d pay a bit more attention to the little guy. Watching the kid die is always the most horrifying. Cub always has stars in his eyes whenever Tailhitch is around and Tailhitch does like the kid. Tailhitch occasionally babysits for pop whenever he and disco bear go out together.

Lifty and shifty: Tailhitch has gotten way too fed up with the twins and has punted them before. He’s not a fan of them.

Cro marmot: he honestly scares Tailhitch, the mole may freak him out but cro marmot scares him. How does he do the things he does? It’s weird and creepy, Tailhitch doesn’t like it.

Truffles: Tailhitch honestly forgets truffles exists sometimes. No real opinions on the guy.

[themuffin2649]

Cooking Contest!

UNFINISHED

Cooking Contest with Achier as the Judge because everybody got Bored as hell.

—————

Ellian: “Man, it’s been forever since we’ve been tasked to do anything.”

Prince: “I agree, it’s getting a little stale in here.”

Achier: “Ah, I’ve got an idea! How about we do a cooking competition.”

Ellian: sigh “If it’s a competition, then what’s the point? You’re going to win by a landslide because of how much experience you have.”

Achier: “Maybe I don’t have to be a contestant, I can be a judge.”

Prince: “Yeah, but look at the kitchen, it’s going to be way too small to host 4 people cooking

Jester: “We can split into teams of 2.”

Ellian: “Let’s not.”

Prince: “I’m taking the Phantom!”

Phantom: “Huh, don’t we roll di-”

Prince: “First come first serve.” He said, glaring at both Ellian and the Jester as he steals the Phantom from them.

Jester: “I guess you’re with me Pumpkin Pie.”

Ellian: Oh God No 😬

Achier: “It’s settled then!” You have 3 hours to present me the best dish you can produce. Go!”

The 4 then hurried into the kitchen and the storage, grabbing whatever was needed to create the finished culinary creation for the Sun.

Prince: “Ok Phantom, you look the main course, and I’ll make the dessert.”

Phantom: “But what am I supposed to cook?”

Prince: “Anything you can do best in, look in the cookbook.”

The Phantom nodded as he went over to Ellian and the Jester looking at the cookbook.

Jester: “I have the recipe for the meatloaf.”

Ellian glared at the Phantom, making sure he didn’t cut in front of him, before going over what dessert to cook.

After writing the recipe down, the Phantom then searched the cookbook for a dish both delicious, and not too high level or time consuming to cook.

However, his one mistake was over analyzing the giant cookbook for too long to find the perfect recipe.

Meanwhile, the Ellian and the Jester moved away from the other team and prepared their meal in the dining room due to tense relationships and lack of space.

Ellian: “Hmm… it says that once the dessert is finished, I lightly roast the top with a blow torch.”

Jester: He just looked at the meatloaf recipe and smiled.

(IDK what to Put here)

One the Prince was able to take the Muffins out of the oven, the Jester could finally cook his meatloaf.

(Here too)

Achier: “By the way, Jester, this meatloaf is great! But where’s Ellian?”

Jester: “……”

Achier: “umm… Jester, w-where’s Ellian?”

Prince: “he didn’t, did he?”

The Jester begins to sweat, and in return, Achier began to worry about Ellian’s well being as he stopped eating the meatloaf.

Achier: “I-I’m going to go check the dining room.”

Jester: “No!”

However, he couldn’t stop Achier from reaching the dining room, when he got in, his eyes widened at what he saw and he covered his mouth with his hand.

Achier: “Oh no…”

The kitchen was completely messy, as he saw Ellian trying to hastily clean up what looked to be the ashes of an extinguished fire along with a burnt dessert.

The Jester ran in along with the others.

Ellian: “……..please don’t tell the Creator about this.” He said, this face pleading him.

Jester: “yeah…. Who knew that tablecloth of the dining table was so flammable. Even when the blowtorch isn’t directly touching it.”

Both the Phantom and the Prince looked at each other, then back at Ellian’s defeated expression. After all, the Creator was getting creative with his punishment lately.

Achier: “Here, let me help you clean this up.” He said, walking to get some supplies.

Ellian: “Wait! You’re not going to report me to the Creator?”

Jester: “Well, he’ll only get mad if he finds out, besides, if we clean it up fast enough, it’s like it’ll never happen.”

Ellian looks down for a moment, before looking back at the two.

Ellian: “Thanks.”

(To be Filled out)

—————

[luscalucca]

Shit I’m going to miss my bus.

I mean, I know I should’ve left earlier, but I got into this conversation with one of my coworkers, and it was really nice, I didn’t really notice the time flying. Okay, that’s bullshit, I most definitely saw the time, I couldn’t stop checking the time on my phone. But still, I couldn’t just leave the conversation in the middle of it. I might be over exaggerating here, it doesn’t take that long to go down and there is still time to go down. My biggest problem is the elevator.

It is not a particularly slow elevator, it’s just… busy I guess. The whole building has what? Thirty? Forty floors? Maybe more, I never remember, I work at the 16th floor so I rarely look at what comes beyond that. I’m usually hyper focused on just getting from point A to B, so the details beyond that path is not something I think too much about, but I should probably know that since I come here almost everyday.

It’s 18:39, the bus is scheduled to arrive at 18:47. I can dash to the elevator and get there in like, 1 minute and a half at most. If I get lucky with the elevator it’ll take at most 3 minutes. Takes about 2 minutes to get to the ground floor, if I sprint from there to the bus stop I can make it. Plus, I don’t know if I should be worrying too much about actually making it to this bus. There will be a next one and I’ll have to wait anyway. So relax.

I get to the front of the elevator and press the button. There are 6 elevators in total, which should give me plenty of options. Closest one is on the 20th floor going down. Nice! Great luck. It took me only a minute from the office here, it’ll be smooth sailing now. Although it’s the time most people get off work, there should be only a couple people on this one. I made sure to get here before everyone. It 's getting here!

It goes down to the 19th, 18th, 17th and finally, 16th. No stops. Awesome. It opens the door, almost empty, just one person there. Perfect ride. They’re probably also going to the ground floor. There is nothing that will stop me now. I start heading into the elevator, I look for the button pressed, yep, ground floor. Awesome. I finally look to see the face of who will be my companion for this ride downwards. Shit.

I can’t say I didn’t wish I had more time so I didn’t need to be running so fast. But I didn’t mean to have the 3 longest goddamn minutes of my life. I didn’t gain time, it just stopped moving as it seems. We are going down, and each floor seems like it gets slower and slower. It seems like 100 years have passed and we haven’t even left the 15th floor. I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying to avoid the 3 year relationship just across the little, tiny, claustrophobic confined space you’re in.

Now. It’s not like I hate them okay? I’d be immature if I did. We ended and stopped talking. Although it hurted to end the way it did. All the mistakes and failures. And yes, I do believe it was mostly their fault. I’m not stupid enough to not think I’m without my shortcomings. But I don’t think what did or didn’t happen matters. What matters is. That is a face I did not wish to see again, anywhere.

I don’t know what it is about elevators, but when you make eye contact with someone it seems like the space disappears. Like, I’m sure this place was bigger than this when I entered all the other days I have, even when it’s crowded. Space and time folds in on itself, just to create this gigantic blank space in the corner of your eye you cannot look into otherwise it’ll just suck your whole existence in. I mean, Jesus, this is a 49… I take a good look into the amount of floors this time… 70 floors? Holy shit that’s way too many. A 70 floor building, this elevator SHOULD be bigger.

I look into every place I can, trying to both take my mind off of this place and my eyes. I look at every single corner, every single crack, every single speck of dust around this tiny room. And we are still on the 13th floor. Motherfucker. Is this thing slowing down? How much time has passed inside this? I look at my phone to check the time. It doesn’t show seconds. But it hasn’t even crossed the minute mark. This has got to be a joke. A very nice joke universe, I’ll give you that, but only if it was someone else.

I look down. Trying to find comfort in my shoes. They are a bit dirty and beat up. Haven’t changed them in a while. I chuckle to myself. I remember wearing these shoes back in High School. Not times I want to go back to, but I do look fondly on them. I had a lot of fun. I remember riding my bike to school with these exact shoes every day. I remember getting off of school with them. I remember that one time I skipped class to play volleyball with my friends wearing these shoes. I remember when at that same place we played volleyball and I took off these same shoes to play in the sand. And I remember the fucking vermin I got because I took my shoes and played in that dirty sand.

I don’t know why I’m remembering so much about shoes. I guess they are a good time waster. Possibly I can forget this situation and just go back to worrying about the bus. I remember using these shoes to walk to the lighthouse after a long bike ride with friends. Going to my friend's house to play DnD. I remember waiting in the bus stop everyday past dark even though I didn’t need to for… well… to make sure the person I’m currently avoiding could get on the bus safely. I remember laughing with them.

I remember the time, on the last day of school, where we both went to the mall near the school to buy a drink and sit by the beach drinking like a coming of age movie. We were just friends at the time. But hey, I guess seeds of love are out there? Man. I miss those times. I don’t know why. No. I do know why. Because I liked those times. They weren’t simple, but they were easy when you were there. I should really stop thinking about this. I know why I stopped thinking about these times with you.

Do they feel the same? Wow. Hold on little therapy-needing-weirdo. That’s too much to unpack right now, and a question I do not need the answer to. It would be nice though. It would, but I don’t need it. You know it would probably either be unsatisfying or plain unnecessary. I moved on far beyond the need for you haven’t I? I have. I have a lot of friends whom I love. I have a good job that makes me money. I have a good career path I’m working towards. And hobbies, a lot of them. Too many of them I think, I should really stop having so many. Nah. I like them, I’ll keep it like it is. But the point is, leave it be.

But I’ll be honest with myself for a moment here. I do miss you sometimes. For every moment, and let’s be honest, it was a lot of them, of anxiousness and complete disregard for me and those around you that I had to make sure to vouch for; there were those moments of comfort, of laughter, of calmness. I miss those. I don’t know if this is just a being single thing, but I do miss those moments. I don’t know if I miss you specifically, but I miss that feeling that I don’t know if I’ll have with someone anymore.

That kinda pisses me off and makes me sad at the same time. But I can’t help but move on. Life is about moving on I guess. I’ll not get those moments back, and I sure as hell don’t want them to be associated with you anymore, but those memories, those dirty and beat up shoes still hold the history I’ve had. And I guess I’ll leave it be that. I don’t need to know. I don’t need to see you. I thought about looking into your face once more, to see if the person I loved was still there, but I don’t think it will be. That person is only in the tainted memories that I have. And I’m okay with that. Mostly. Somewhat. I think.

I don’t know if there should be an interaction with them, or some kind of closure. I don’t think those kinds of things ever get the proper closure it deserves. But I’m fine with that. Right now I just need to get to my bus. Where are we anyway? Oh. 1st floor. That went by quickly, didn't it. Less than 3 minutes. Even better. The elevator reaches the ground floor, the door opens and I make sure to bolt out of there.

“Hey…!”

One word. A singular word coming from behind me, just getting out of the elevator. I just make a full stop because of a word? You stupid fuck. I try to think of something. Should I just ignore it? Probably. Will I? …. Will I? Why shouldn’t I? I just stand there. Motionless. I don’t think I will ignore it. But I can’t do more than this. I just went through a whole character arc there. I shouldn’t undo it. I shouldn’t.

“I… well… see you around.”

I hear the steps going away. Opposite direction. This is bullshit. This is unfair. I don’t like this. I want to scream right now. Is this the place to scream? No. I’m not going to scream. Well fuck. I don’t move. My mind is just the combination of both blank and too crowded to formulate a coherent thought. What should I make of this? This is… I don’t know. I don’t like it. I stand there for way too long. Just hoping I can come up with something. Should I respond angrily? Saddened? Stoically? Does it matter? They already went away. You already missed your chance, you idiot. Missed it. Miss. I miss. I miss y…

Shit I’m going to miss my bus.