#its like wow! i knew a bunch of these in high school

[huginsmemory]

I think whats so compelling about Sanji is that he's so terribly self conscious about being masculine that anything that performs masculinity better than him (ie, Zoro, obliviously, minus the women-fucking part), or skews masculinity, is a threat to him. Which makes him rampantly homophobic and transphobic. And as he also believes masculinity needs to be focused around being horny for women makes him also rampantly misogynistic cause he can't actually see women past them being a sexual object. Anyways it all culminates in you the audience being fairly certain that this man cannot be straight due to this terribly obvious fragility around his masculinity, and that if he ever got dicked down, it might solve all these issues.

[13eyond13]

actually stunned by how gay The Beatles has been all this time and I just never knew

[ornii]

Bitterly Beautiful, Part 3

Part 3: “Do You See what I see?”

"Let's assess this situation, shall we? There's Bag over my head for, whatever reason. My wrists tied tight enough to cut off circulation, and no idea if I'm going to live or die. Wednesday is probably upset I somehow didn't see this coming, as Corny as that was."

(Y/n) and Wednesday sit side by side in chairs, bound by rope and Bagged. Their bags are removed. They're still within the library, surrounded by masked and cloaked individuals.

"Hmmm, what's the best response, a cry for help? A plead for a deal? Perhaps I'll yell at them to let us go, oh! I have it!" He thinks and spoke up.

"Just a word of advice before you guys do another kidnapping, it's pretty offensive to put a bag over the head of a guy who can't see to begin with. Be better." He says, and one of the members steps up.

"Who dares breach our inner sanctum?" They say.

"You can take the mask off, Bianca." Wednesday said, and Bianca removes her mask.

"Ah, I knew that voice had a distinct bitchy tone."

"And just like that, my hopes were dashed against the rocks of bitter disappointment. My foe was no psychotic killer. More like a bunch of high school clowns." Wednesday thought. "Wait, I preferred you with it on."

"How did you get down here?"

"I tracked the watermark to the Poe statue." Wednesday said.

"Then I solved the riddle to get in here." (Y/n) chimes in.

"Wait, there's a riddle? I thought we just snapped twice." One member asks.

"Wow, this is probably the least threatening group of Kidnappers i have ever seen, it's not many I've seen but still."

"Well, aren't you the brightest in the bunch?"

"The Nightshades are an elite social club." Bianca said, and Xavier steps up, revealing he himself is also one with Ajax and others. "Emphasis on elite."

"We have roof parties, campouts, the occasional midnight skinny-dip."

"And Yoko's an amateur mixologist. She makes a killer virgin mojito. It can get pretty wild."

"Wow. Do you guys even have a bedtime?" Wednesday said. "Last I heard, the Nightshades had been disbanded."

"Yeah, the group kind of lost its charter 30 years ago after some normie kid died." Xavier adds in.

"But we have a lot of wealthy alumni, so Weems looks the other way as long as nobody makes any waves." Yoko said.

"Someone like Rowan?" Wednesday asked.

"We booted that loser last semester. Question is, what are we gonna do with them? Only members are allowed in this library." One asks, and Xavier steps up next to them.

"I say we invite them to pledge. They're both legacies, Especially (Y/n), son of King Buarainech, the last leader of the Fomorians."

"After the crap they pulled in the Poe Cup, there's no way in hell. We talk about not making waves? She's a tsunami and he's just a thunderstorm brewing."

"Just because I beat you at your own game? Let me save you the trouble. I'm not interested in joining." Wednesday said.

"You're seriously turning us down?" One asks.

"Can you believe it?" Wednesday responds coldly.

"Untie her."

"I freed myself five minutes ago." Wednesday stands up, showing her untied rope.

"It's amateurs like you who give kidnapping a bad name. Anyway when you're done with toying with the Bootleg Secret Society (Y/n), I'll be waiting." Wednesday left, they stood there, looking a bit dumb, only the silence to be halted off by laughing. (Y/n)'s subsequently.

"That girl.. she's a force of nature.." he says smiling, he sighs eventually and cracks his neck.

"As much as I'd enjoy the parties and Skinny dipping, I'd rather do that by myself than a bunch of rich elitism bearing assholes, so...Go dtuga gaotha Sídhe saor m'anam."

A gust hits his bindings and unties him, he stands up and dusts himself off. He heads upstairs, leaving the elite looking even more dumbfounded.

"There were so many threads to my investigation, I could weave a burial shroud. I still have no idea how Rowan mysteriously rose from the dead. Or why that monster is prowling the woods. But right now, nothing intrigues me more than this book. If I'm going to be responsible for Nevermore's demise, the question is, why am I sharing this apocalypse with a pilgrim?"

The Next Morning Rose Like an undead zombie , early and still. Students stand in the courtyard to gather for what Principal Weems has to say, (Y/n) arrives as Enid drags him along out of bed.

"All students will report for their volunteer jobs at 10:00 a.m. sharp, followed by a community lunch at 1:00. As you know, this year Outreach Day culminates in a very special event, the dedication of a new memorial statue in the town square, which will also include performances by Nevermore students." She begins, while (Y/n) and Enid catch up.

"So, what's the deets between you and Wednesday?" She asks, her interest in his relationships was, off putting a bit.

"I.. haven't a faintest clue what you mean." He says acting dumb

"You can't play dumb, your best asset is that you're insanely Smart and like, Super Hot. Like a tragic poet. But seriously everyone sees you prowling around with her." Enid says, and has a hint of jealousy in her voice. "We haven't been spending as much time together." She says and he lets out a soft sigh.

"I know, sorry about that, I'm just showing her the ropes and, admittedly she isn't as bad as i thought she would have been. She can be absolutely terrifying but I mean who can't? You can be pretty scary when the Kittys claws come out." He says, which is reassuring to Enid.

"Well, at least I know I'm not losing my Bestie." She says warmly and takes his hand. Wednesday tilts her attention towards it, watching.

"Of course not, we can hang out after Outreach day. I'll smooth everything over with Ajax for you too, he's not as, cloud minded as i thought." He says, they're approached by another school member and handed Pamphlets, Enid opens hers and squeaks a bit.

"Yes! Yes! I got Pilgrim World. I have natural people skills and a love of performing, so it's kind of the obvi choice." She says, he hands her his and she checks it. "You got it too! This is perfect! All we need is Wednesday—"

As if speaking the Devils name and she appears, Wednesday approaches them as she’s watching their very... friendly, interaction.

"Wednesday, What'd you get?" Enid asks.

"Uriah's Heap, whatever that is." She replies.

"Ew. It's this weird, creepy antique store." Enid explains, (Y/n) taps his cane on the ground.

"It actually had some pretty neat stuff, it's where I got my cane, You'll love it though." He said, they're shuttled to Jericho, they depart off the bus and to their respective locations, but Wednesday approaches Enid with an offer.

"Enid. Switch volunteer assignments."

"What? No. Uriah's Heap is definitely not my bag."

"It's an emergency. I need to check out Pilgrim World." Wednesday says, and Enid frowns at her.

"You know you can go a day without (Y/n), it's toxic to get so dependent on someone." Enid says, trying to help Wednesday, who was actually a bit stunned by that. Her jaw locks and she stiffens up a bit, keeping her emotions in check but internally boiling at the thought of her and (Y/n), Together? Perhaps it's anger, Perhaps it's embarrassment, perhaps it's wanting. Wednesday, as usual, shoves her emotions down deep and calms herself.

"(Y/n) and I work a professional relationship to investigate something, nothing more. Nothing less." Wednesday said through her gritting teeth. Enid just sighs.

"Denial is the first Symptom, of Love Struck-itis." Enid says, much to the annoyance of Wednesday

"Why would I agree to spend the entire day at some dumpy emporium of crapola?" She said, and Wednesday offers her a very enticing offer.

"Because Ajax is volunteering there. Thing sneaked a peek at his assignment. But if you're not interested..."

"No! Oh my God, thank you. You're the best!" Enid takes it and runs off, Wednesday heads to pilgrim World with an awaiting (Y/n) he turns to Wednesday, sending the dread approaching.

"Hey, want to take a Pilgrim group photo?" He Says Smiling, which Wednesday just stares daggers at him.

"Guess not." He says shrugging. They're interrupted by a woman dressed as such a pilgrim.

"Good morrow, my young Nevermore kin. I am Mistress Arlene. A real OC..." she begins, which confuses most. "Original colonist. Now prithee, put your cell phones on vibrate and make haste, for you are about to travel back in time to the year of our Lord 1625, to Jericho's first pilgrim settlement. Yonder. Behold, the meeting house. Inside is a collection of artifacts related to Jericho's most beloved and pious founder, Joseph Crackstone. And beyond is our privy, America's first gender-neutral restroom."

"I haveth a query." Wednesday chirps up from the ground, standing by the wayside with (Y/n), who feigned interest.

"Pray, be quick, child." She replies.

"In the meeting house, which of Joseph Crackstone's artifacts are on display?"

"It is truly a treasure trove, including original farm tools, tableware, even the Crackstone family chamber pot."

"Riveting" (Y/n) said sarcastically.

"I volunteer to work in there." Wednesday says.

"Pray, no. That exhibit is being renovated. Today, thou will all be working at the beating heart of Pilgrim World." She says and Leads them to a building, with a sign (Y/n) looks up towards.

"...So, what does it say?" He asks Wednesday.

"I'm not your personal eyes." She says with her cold classic demeanor.

"Please?" He asks, turning up his cuteness, which just makes Wednesday want to vomit. She scoffs.

"Only to make you stop making those faces, it says "Ye Olde Fudgery"..More like ye olde diabetes in a box."

"Volunteers, prick up thine ears. Fudge is the lifeblood of our humble community. And samples equal sales, so grab a uniform and a box and make our forefathers proud." The woman hands the two uniforms of that of ancient pilgrims. The two look at them and take them, reluctantly the two dress as pilgrims and prepare to serve the people, Wednesday, being as creepy as she usually is, prepares blocks of fudge and speaks in fluent German.

"Enjoy your "authentic" pilgrim fudge made with cacao beans procured by the oppressed indigenous people of the Amazon. All proceeds go to uphold this pathetic whitewashing of American history. Also, fudge wasn't invented for another 258 years. Any takers?" She says offering to the German tourists, who do not take it, she takes this opportunity to walk off, and find her partner in crime, which (Y/n) was using a knife to, with scary precision, cut blocks of Fudge into tiny squares, he halts as he sensed Wednesday. Her lack of Heartbeat and Cold aura was easily detectable.

"So, enjoying Tormenting Tourists?" He said and jams the knife into the table, she stands there.

"Come with me, there is something we need to investigate."

"Hm, I thought you were flying solo." He said, "You know, no friends and that." He said and Wednesday looks at him, no hesitation in her eyes.

"As Annoying, egotistical, overbearing and as much of a nuisance as you are, you're valuable to the investigation." She says, he smiles and walks over to her, and with no fear in his heart, pats her head, which causes her to scowl at him.

"Thanks Shortie... okay, lead away." He says, they sneak away as (Y/n) follows.

"So, besides you hating everything about me, why do you tag me along?"

"You remind me of my brother, sans the desire to strangle him every waking moment. Now follow me. I need to know more about this Crackstone. We have a meeting house to break into." she says and they get to a door, Wednesday, using a hairpin picks the lock and the door opens, they slowly open it and peer inside, they step in and close themselves in to investigate the old museum, which has glass displays of items back from that time, even a statue of Crackstone.

"My grandmother once told me secrets are like zombies... they never truly die. I'm not sure what secret Crackstone is hiding, but I have a strange feeling the answers to my future lie in the past." Wednesday says, the two look around, his hands slide across something, it's indented, he can make out words.

"The Old Meeting House, 1625. Wednesday.." he says, she walks over to see it.

"(Y/n), this is the girl I've seen . She's even holding the same book. That black one she had outside Crackstone's crypt." Wednesday says, they turn around and (Y/n) turns around to a display case. Wednesday peers into it.

"This is the book! Codex Umbrarum. That's Latin for "Book of Shadows." She says, she opens the case and picks it up, flipping through it, which the pages are blank.

"They're Blank, the pages."

"Hm.. sounds like my kind of book." (Y/n) said.

"It's a fake. I don't know who Etsy is, but I doubt she was an outcast settler." Wednesday said, (Y/n) folds his arms.

"Cheap Props then, where the real one?" He asks, before the door bursts open.

"Just what the fudge are you two doing in here?" She said, glaring at the two.

"Mistress Arlene. How now?" Wednesday said.

"How now, indeed. I proclaimed the meeting house is under repair. I know thoust heard me."

"mistress, We're simply dying to learn more about Crackstone." (Y/n) says trying to Wesel his way out of it,

"Yes, and this display case was already open."

"That book's a replica."

"You don't say." Wednesday said sarcastically.

"The original was stolen last month during the two o'clock witch trial."

"It was probably the only authentic thing you have in here, yet you still charge $29.95 a ticket?"

"Hold thy tongue. I'm reassigning you both. To fudge-churning duty." She said to them, (Y/n) shrugs.

"Fine."

"The original meeting house, the one in that painting, where is it?" Wednesday asks, and the Mistress finally drops her Gimmick.

"How the hell should I know? I only moved here from Scottsdale in April." She says, and sends them off to churning, which they easily escape from as well, changing attire, the two head off to the cafe.

"So, were leaving again?"

"I deserted it while my sanity was still intact." Wednesday said, "Okay, then what are we here for?" He asks.

"I'm actually here for Tyler."

"Tyler? You mean the Normie working there, why talk to him?" He asks, and Wednesday cuts him down.

"Who I speak to is my business." she says; they stop at the door and (Y/n) just scoffs, "Fine, do what you need to do then, I'll be waiting." He says, "Outside." He sits at a bench, not wanting to go in. Wednesday enters to find Tyler and Xavier.

"Want the usual?" Tyler asks approaching.

"And some help. You know the original pilgrim meeting house, the one from the 1600s? You know if it's still around?" Wednesday pulls out a map of Jericho and places it upon a table.

"What's left is out in Cobham Woods, but it's pretty much a ruin."

"Show me." She said, and he put his finger on the map.

"Uh... There, but, look, it's kind of sketchy. Squatters and meth heads use that place as a crash pad. My dad has it cleared out every couple weeks. What's this about?"

"Nothing."

"You're becoming obsessed with this monster in the woods thing."

"Would you rather I develop an obsession with horses and boy bands? Thank you for the help."

"Hey, listen, the ruins are kind of tricky to find. I could take you this afternoon. My shift ends at 2:00." Tyler ask, Wednesday does consider it, "Principal Weems would hang, draw and quarter me if I miss the big statue dedication. And as enticing as that sounds, I'd prefer to keep a low profile. Besides, I know my way around the great outdoors."

"Don't tell me you were a Girl Scout."

"I could eat Girl Scouts for breakfast. I have an uncle who went to prison for that." She says before leaving, she exits the Cafe where (Y/n) continues to sit, listening to the wind rolls along the sky. He feels someone stand in front of him, but he ignores her.

"Ready?"

"..." he began to ignore Thrace raven haired girl.

"You haven't gone deaf as well? You'd be useless at that point."

"No, I have not." He replies, Wednesday frowns slightly.

"You’d do your best to Cheer up, your smile is your only appeasing feature." She says, he scoffs at it but laughs.

"God aren't you just the charmer." He says before standing up.

"Okay, where to Short stuff." He asks, and (Y/n) and Wednesday leave, trudging through the forest, their journey comes to An end, finally entering a rundown burned down, building. Thing exits Wednesday backpack to assist searching.

"So, how do you know that you're going to destroy Nevermore exactly?" (Y/n) asks.

"A vision I had, from what I understand my, mother had them as well." Wednesday explains, but the two find nothing.

"Hm, empty..." he says.

"I was expecting more too."

Who "you talking to, little girl?" A man says. The two turn around to an obviously homeless man, long beard and disheveled look.

"Use "little" and "girl" to address me again and I can't guarantee your safety."

"This is my place. Get out!" The man yells, Wednesday turns left to (Y/n), "(Y/n), a hand here?" She says he sighs and walks over and picks up a leaf, he crushes the leaves into a dust.

"Go dtuga Do Bhrionglóidí Oíche Uafásach Ifrinn ar ceal." He says calmly and blows them in the man's face, he tries to swat it away, before all he sees is Fire, his arms; legs, hair all ablaze, he screams and runs out of the place. But to Wednesday, (Y/n) simply blew clumps of crushed leaves into his face and he ran away.

"What did you just do?" She asks.

"I put a hex on him, making him believe he's on fire. Good thing about being a Fomorian is you learn how to curse people at a young age."

"Curses? Hexes? You must Teach me that."

"I'm not teaching you how to curse people, if I did you'd just curse anyone that's a minor inconvenience to you to death." He says, "Anyway. Can't you just touch something and a vision occurs?"

"No, I can't just touch something. My visions seem to happen spontaneously." Wednesday says.

"Okay... why not ask your Mom? If she had visions before." (Y/n) says, and Thing agrees:

"I would rather dye my hair pink than ask my mother for advice."

"Sounds like you just don't want to try." He says, which raises the ire of Miss Addams.

"Oh, you want me to prove it to you?" She says and begins to touch things.

"No. Nothing. Ah, I bet this will give us some real insight." She holds up a Taco Bell bag and shakes it at (Y/n) who folds his arms.

"Well jokes on you, i can't read that anyway." He says smugly, Wednesdays scoffs at him and walks back to the gate.

"My visions are about as predictable as shark attacks." She says and touches the door; her body looks like it was struck by lightning, she stiffens like a corpse in Rigor Mortis. (Y/n) quickly rushes to her before she falls on the ground; and he holds her, like the Corpse of a Bride.

"Wednesday? Wednesday can you hear me? Thing! What's happening?!" He yells; Thing makes motions but (Y/n) shakes his head.

"I know I know!" He yells; and a storm begins to brew.

"We gotta get out of here, I hope you're okay Wednesday." He says as he walks with her in his arms, her vision was much more vivid; this time she was in a completely different place, watching a mob of pilgrims surround a woman.

"Burn her! Burn her!"

"Devil spawn! Devil spawn!"

"Beast! Witch! Repent! Begone! Witch!"

"Stand aside!" A voice bellows through the crowd, adorned with fire and pitchforks, they split like the Red Sea to the founding father, Joseph Crackstone.

"Goody Addams! You have been judged before God and found guilty. You are a witch, a sorceress, Lucifer's mistress herself. For your sins, you will burn this night, and suffer the flames of eternal hellfire." He says, and they cheer, Goody looks at him. As her resemblance to Wednesday was uncanny; besides the blonde hair, she was picture perfect.

"I am innocent. It is you, Joseph Crackstone, that should be tried. We were here before you, living in harmony with nature and the native folk. But you have stolen our land. You have slaughtered the innocent. You have robbed us of our peaceful spirit. You are the true monster. All of you!" she yells, and he laughs at her falsehoods.

"You are abominations in the Devil's grip! I will not stop till I have expunged this New World of every outcast. Godless creatures! Set it ablaze!" He yells, they drag Goody to a building and toss her inside and locks her within. Wednesday follows and sees Goody look around, and she sees someone, a man who looks eerily similar to (Y/n) she rushes to his side.

"Cianán! Cianán!" She says, his weary head looks up, but it was obvious from the dark rings around his eyes, something happened. She grasps his wrists.

"There's no time, my Love. Leave me. Save yourself. He's chained us all to the floor." He says, Goody sees the bindings upon his wrist. "Crackstone, he laid black tar upon my eyes, I cannot see any more." His heartbroken Irish accent whispered sadness into her ears.

"I shan't leave without you." Goody grasps him, holding him so desperately. Her hands raise and gently grasp the sides of his chin. Tears flow solemnly down her cheeks.

"I shall only be a burden, Please. My Sweet Goody, Run. Run as fast as you can. You are our only hope." He said, his hands rose and gently took her wrists, She leaned into his face and laid her lips upon his, a long kiss of farewells, he whispers gently into her ears.

"I mBás, beidh grá agam duit i gcónaí" 

And Goody leaves, escaping as flames dance along the building. Even now she's longing for the embrace of her love, Wednesday watches their kiss and departure, but smoke begins to fill her lungs, and she finds herself surrounded in the dark, mist swoons the ground and Goody runs up to her:

"He won't stop until he's killed us all! He's here." She runs, and Wednesday turns around to Crackstone staring her down.

"There will be no escape for you!" He yells and trips her up, she falls back and awakens from her vision, she lies on the ground, wet. She sits up to see herself not within the broken down building, but a small bear cave and a lit fire next to her body to attempt to warm her up, it was (Y/n) who was also wet.

"Back?" He asks, Wednesday stood up and looked around.

"Rainfall, had to drag my Corpse Bride to safely... that's you." He said, "Thing helped." He adds in, thing is sitting next to (Y/n) on the back of his palm. He can feel the slight shiver on her body and he tosses another piece of wood into the flames.

"You're shivering, Cmon sit." He says and Wednesday opens her mouth to speak.

"Look, before you say anything, just shut up and let me help you. It's not wrong to ask people for help, and if you think I'm somehow a threat then you're probably as blind as I am." He says, Wednesday stares at him, but then slowly obliges and sits next to him, warming herself in the flames.

"So, saw anything in your Vision?" He asks.

"The girl from my visions. Her name is Goody Addams, and I believe she's my ancestor from 400 years ago." she explains, the rain pours, but Wednesdays focus was on the shadow that rushes past the entrance. Wednesday gives chase and (Y/n) stands up.

"W-Wednesday? Wednesday!" He yells, he runs after her, barely able to keep up. He finally reaches her as she's kneeling down.

"What are you looking at?" He says. And She stands up and turns to him.

"The monster is human. Its tracks turned from monster prints to human ones." She explains, (Y/n) kneels down and feels only water.

"Hm.. that's just water to me. I can't smell anything the waters washed the scent away... your visions, When did they start?"

"About a year ago. When they happen, it feels like I'm touching live wire. I usually enjoy that sensation."

"Yeah, but you can't control it and that freaks you out, doesn't it?" He says, "What could you possibly know about me?" Wednesday said.

"You like to be in control of everything, your life, your feelings, so when something comes in that changes it, you push it away, out of the fear of something you can't control. You're a force of nature... it's terrifying and, at the same time, I can't keep my.. heh, eyes off of it." He says, tuning his attention to Wednesday, there was silence between them, a slight bloom of emotion came from Wednesday, but she quickly buried those feelings.

"Anyway, your visions seem, erratic, I don't think we can trust them."

"I saw Joseph Crackstone in front of me as clearly as I'm seeing you now. He gathered all the outcasts in the meeting house and burned them alive."

"It was 400 years ago, what does that have to do with you?"

"Rowan's drawing. Crackstone was standing in the quad."

" it sounds like You're creating a story in your head and using visions to back it up. They're telling you what you want to see.

"Are you mansplaining my power?"

"Is me saving you from a creepy old man "Man-Saving" or is that just me doing my job? All I'm saying is that you can't rely on things you can't always be sure of." He said.

"I believe Rowan was right. Something bad is going to happen, and I need to stop it. Starting with that monster. Whoever it is."

Wednesday and (Y/n) finally reach Nevermore and Wednesday poses a question.

"You Speak Gaelic." She says.

"Gaelic Irish, Yes."

"When I was having my vision, someone said something I want you to Translate: "I mBás, beidh grá agam duit i gcónaí" Wednesday Said, relaying the words Goodys lover one said to her, (Y/n) takes these words and seemingly processes them in his head, his hard ass demeanor slowly fades.

"If my translation is correct, and it usually is... the person said. "In Death, I will love you always." He says, meaning the final words Cianán said to his lover Goody, is that even in his death he will love her in the after life. Wednesday begins to consider things much, drastically. Could history be repeating itself? And could the Man talking to her end up dying for her? For his Love? Will She end up falling for him and watching him suffer a miserable death all the same?

"Hello? Earth to Wednesday?" He asks, she finally looks at him and he asks again.

"Who said it? The message." He asks, and Wednesday kept her deadpan expression.

"I don't know, I couldn't make out their face." She replies, (Y/n) shrugs and decides to trust he, as scary as that was, the end of the is slowly rolling in and students arrive at the heart of Jericho for the celebration, stufende gather and specifically for the music presentation. (Y/n) and Wednesday walk together towards the gather.

"I thought nothing scared me, but that was before I stared into the eyes of Joseph Crackstone. I don't believe in heaven or hell. But I do believe in revenge. I usually serve it warm with a side of pain, but I've never faced an adversary cast in bronze"

(Y/n) sits down, and Enid scoots over to be next to him, he smiles and they watch and or listen to the Mayor as he stands before a podium, a statue and outdoor fountain combination, made of striking bronze.

"Thank you. It is my honor to celebrate our town's history and Jericho's noble forefather, Joseph Crackstone. Now, he believed that with a happy heart and an open ear, there was nothing our town couldn't achieve. So together as one, our community and our friends at Nevermore Academy, we've built a monument to celebrate his memory. Now, may the spirit of Joseph Crackstone be memorialized for eternity." The Mayor Says, and the class begins to do a rendition of "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac, A Water Like liquid begins move within it, splitting out like said fountain. (Y/n)'s nose crinkles up.

"Enid..do you smell that?"

"No, is it my breath?" She asks panicked, "I was really close to Ajax and I hope it didn't—"

"No, you're fine, it's odd it smells like—"

Before his nose could discover the origin of the scent, a flash of burning heat washed over him like a fuming blanket. He couldn't make it out perfectly but he could easily tell that the statue was burning. Students ran, teachers and adults struggled to understand what was going on. What cut though most of the screaming was music, (Y/n) tried to understand where it was coming from, and he eventually did as the harrowing strings of Vivaldi's "Winter" bellows from the side, he can only imagine that's it's coming from one person. Wednesday Addams, and it all slowly began to piece together who was behind this, while it couldn't be proven. (Y/n) wasn't the only person to figure this all out. Weems, who dragged Wednesday into her office was more than upset, she was enthralled with rage.

"That was a disaster. The mayor is furious! I've lost count of the angry phone calls, emails, and people in the town, alumni and parents. They want answers and so do I."

"I would lead the inquisition, but I left my thumbscrews and rack at home."

"Miss Addams... you're already on thin ice. Wafer-thin ice. I swear on my late scorpion's soul, my hands are clean." she said, which is only partly true. As the only "Hand" involved was Thing.

"I may not have hard evidence, but I see you. You're a trouble magnet." Weems glares at the child, who stands up, literally for herself.

LIf trouble means standing up to lies, decades of discrimination, centuries of treating outcasts like second-class citizens or worse..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jericho. Why does this town even have an Outreach Day? Don't you know its real history with outcasts? The actual story of Joseph Crackstone?" Wednesdays asks, and Weems frowns, admittedly nodding.

"I do. To an extent."

"Then why be complicit in its cover up? Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

"That's where you and I differ. Where you see doom, I see opportunity. Maybe this is a chance to rewrite the wrongs, to start a new chapter in the normie-outcast relations."

"Nothing has changed since Crackstone. They still hate us. Only now they sugarcoat it with platitudes and smiles. If you're unwilling to fight for truth—"

"You don't think I want the truth? Of course I do. But the world isn't always black and white. There are shades of gray. Maybe for you.

"But it's either they write our story or we do. You can't have it both ways."

"...You're exhausting." Weems sighs, but Wednesday hasn't moved an inch.

"I know."

"..Goodnight, Miss Addams. But you should know... I don't tire easily." Weems says, before Wednesday is excused back to her room. Wednesday types on her vintage Typewriter, as on the other side of the room Enid was trying on clothes, as (Y/n) was sitting on her bed, helping her choose. Enid shows different styles one of a pot heirs of colors.

"Too much?" She asks.

"So glad I have my date with Ajax tonight. Get my mind off that trainwreck of an afternoon. I literally think I have PTSD. I didn't even get to do my dance routine."

"Wow, What a tragedy." (Y/n) says.

"What kind of twisted psycho would want to sabotage such a life-affirming event?" Enid asks, (Y/n) slyly smirks and shrugs.

"You're going to be late." (y/n) says as she gets dressed, Enid gives him a reassuring hug.

"Wish me luck."

"If he breaks your heart I'll curse him and his family for all eternity." He says and Enid leaves, (Y/n) and Wednesday are alone together. He lets out a sigh and turns to face her.

"So, gonna Just act like you didn't Blow the statue up?" He says as he approaches her, she continues to type. "Weems was pretty ticked off, angriest I've seen her in a while. So I have to ask, why?" He says. Wednesday continues to type, not paying attention to him.

"To Send a message, I don't believe in mandatory volunteer work, sugar-coated history, or happy endings, but most of all... I don't believe in coincidences. To paraphrase Agatha Christie, one coincidence is just a coincidence, two are a clue....and three are proof. Rowan's drawing of me and Crackstone happens sometime in the future. Goody Addams' warnings about Crackstone were in the past. And the monster is here in the present. Three coincidences that I know are connected. That monster could be anyone. The sheriff thinks they only exist behind the walls of this school. The truth is, there are monsters everywhere. And sometimes the monsters we least suspect are the most dangerous. They don't need teeth and claws to terrify. They hide in the shadows until no one is looking. And then they strike. But I'm looking now. And I won't stop until I find the truth." She says euch such intensity, she truly believes in herself and her words, and (Y/n) feels, confidence in that.

“I mean I get that you want to figure this all out, but you have to be more careful. And try and play nice with others.” He said.

"And if I don't?" Wednesday said, still working and tapping.

"Then I'll be forced to... Hmm. punish you." He said, and he could hear Wednesday scoff dryly.

"What could a blind warlock possible do to—" she says, before Wednesdays face freezes up like ice, her entire body stuff, and she just stares forward. She felt the warm arms and body of (Y/n) as he snuck up behind her for a soft hug. Wednesday had never been hugged, her intimidation was more than enough to keep most people away, but then again, (Y/n) really isn't "Most People".

“See? I know your weakness, Human interaction.” he laughed for a moment, before he can even say her name; Wednesday had him pinned down on the ground, full Mount with a pair of sharp pointed scissors aimed at him, she gripped them hard, and with her other hand she tightly grasped his shirt. Despite her petite form and body she was surprisingly well built and versatile.

"Tell me why, I shouldn't kill you.. Right now." Wednesday voice had no emotion, cold and for most to hear would be absolutely terrifying. But (Y/n) just laughed a bit, his focus was on her, even if he couldn't see.

"I told you I could get you, you know when we got captured by that Society, I told them that you.. Wednesday are a force of nature, and.. it's amazing. You're amazing.." He says, which somehow cools her boiling rage and for the first time in her life Wednesday Addams, is embarrassed; and the tiniest hint of red was on her pale skin, she stands up, getting off of him and tosses her scissors down near his neck.

"Leave, Now." She says, she turns around and he just stands up, Chuckling.

"Okay, okay, sorry for upsetting you... I'll see you tomorrow?" He asks. Hopeful.

"....I'll consider it." She replies and he smiles a bit wider.

"Well..be seeing you, Miss Addams." He said as he leaves the room, letting Wednesday have a shaky sigh. She looks at her hands, and clenches them, wondering one thing.

"What is this.. odd feeling in her heart?"

[inventors-fair]

How the Story Goes: This Week's Winners ~

Our champions this week are @curiooftheheart, @izzet-always-r-versus-u, and @squeezyboi!

@curiooftheheart — Guildpact Ascension (Maze’s End)

This may come as a shock to some people, but in my personal MTG history, Maze’s End was my first “bad” set. And I got a booster box of it with a friend in high school. So...yeesh. All the same, it’s a relief to see the culmination of the set in a major way, i.e. with a card that’s pretty awesome. Mechanically, I won’t call it ‘self-explanatory,’ but I will say that it’s pretty easy to tell what kind of deck it wants to see itself in, and that two-color goodstuff is indeed still good. I would personally word the middle ability slightly differently but your modern sensibilities are definitely stronger than mine because I was thinking of Future Sight as precedent—and they fixed the oracle text! Wow.

All the same, this card’s a pretty iron-clad representation of Jace’s grasp as the Living Guildpact. It’s a mono-blue card, yeah, but it’s how Jace interacts with Ravnica, and the best ways for him to bring the guilds together. He sees everything (ability 1), he has a magical ability to summon the guilds as he sees them (ability 2), and the bringing-together of the guilds creates that much more power in the best way Jace knows how (ability 3). So yeah! It’s pretty darn great. Someone’ll have a fun time with Niv-Mizzet Reborn Gates EDH and this.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — From Out of Eternity (Invasion of New Phyrexia)

I’m astounded at how clean this card is. If Battles didn’t exist and there were a bunch of weird mechanics that were in its place, this would be the perfect representation of Zhalfir’s return and the battlefield’s representation of that massive incoming. Teferi who? The phasing, the explosive combat, the implications of the attack, all of it is easy to grok and easy to connect. The flavor text’s simplicity does exactly what it wants to and the name is absolutely kick-ass.

As soon as I saw this card, I knew it was a great example of how to do simplicity well. At the very least this can be played on the end step to make something unblockable, but it prevents clogged board states, it changes the way combat works if you want to declare some shenanigans then phase them, it’s a card you pick and then build around without having to force UW control, it stops boardwipes and sweepers—and it requires you to have the army in order to really pull it out, and that’s something this card makes the player want to do. It’s just so easy without being overpowered or convoluted. It’s Zhalfirin and climactic in a way that MOM wishes it could’ve been.

@squeezyboi — Attack of the Mage Hunters // Professor’s Protection (Mage Hunter’s Onslaught)

I looked at my notes, then at this card, then back at my notes, and then here again, and I found myself realizing that yes indeed, this is exactly the kind of assignment I was thinking of. You took a story moment, moved it out of time, and used a future mechanic to that moment to retell it from the opposite perspective. Like, what more can one ask for? Battles aren’t quite supported on MSE, I don’t think, hence the lack of a mockup (sorry!) but all the same, I find myself hard-pressed to find criticism aside from the fact that the text might be kinda cramped.

I really like the anti-wizard sweep as well as the cool anti-Mage Hunter’s Onslaught that happens on the flip side. That professorial quote almost makes Lorehold cool again! ... I kid, Quintorius does that already. He’s a nice lad. Casting spells to weaken the siege feels awesome, and getting to a point where you’re overwhelming the board is pretty awesome. Exiling to get spirits without having to worry about getting burned out? Heck yeah. Spoils of the Vault is too far a combo for the flipside to matter too much and nobody’s going to Thoracle that, anyway. If they’re not playing burn, you get to just make your army, after having swept them away, and then the school is safe once more. Fantastic job bringing this out of the woodwork. Quite unexpected.

Woo! Runners-up and commentary to follow. —@abelzumi

[arecipeforfeels]

Got high and decided I’m watching ca:tws so be ready for incoherence:

Marvel movies used to MEAN SOMETHING

They did however always live in the pocket of the military

I don’t care I would eat this movie if I could

They were so insane for it and they had to do civil war as the worlds worst no homo ever

HE DOESNT HAVE ANYONE AROUND THAT SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE COS HES LOST IN TIME

THE WHOLE MOVIE IS HIM BEING UNSUCCESSFULLY SET UP ON DATES

I hate everything

I also am not immune to an action sequence and some fun music….

Also it is very impressive how violent they can make these movies and completely get away with it if there’s no blood splatter

Bad guys r French, more at 10

I took a kickboxing class in like 2013 bc I thought black widow was hot and wanted to also be hot

(Sidenote, I also played basketball for five years bc of high school musical. I have never had an original thought in my life)

FIGHT SCENE NUMBER TWOOOOO

This is an iconic one cos it’s the one where he puts his shield on his back to fight for Even Footing (and also ON VA VOIR U WILL ALWAYS B FAMOUS)

people went so bonkers for that

Tag urself Im the giant harddrive

Okay goofiest admission ever: in this movie there’s a bunch of time spent in this one big building that’s supposedly located in dc. But it’s got this big giant atrium with a huge high steel and glass ceiling, and at some point during this movie someone hits it or crashes through it or shoots it. And every time I hear the words “glass ceiling” I think of this fuckin movie

CHEKHOVS ELEVATOR

“Wow yayyyyyyy war machiiiiiiime!! For sEcUriTy”

US Army wet dream while still trying to keep Cap there as a voice of reason

It’s a fascinating dichotomy

Air and spase! Museum (great night at the museum 3 reference)

Also I cannot believe he goes to his own fuckin exhibit

...actually upon reflection I too would go to my own exhibit

The endgame revisionism of him going back in time is soooooo stupid she does not exist to me

It’s such character assassination of everyone involved

(I don’t care, I say caringly, as I care deeply)

I also had (had??) a massive crush on Hailey atwell

Robert Redford is here

Weird joke about Algerians and the French

THERE IS AN ACTUAL COMPELLING CONVERSATION ABOUT PTSD

This movie is also a Chevy ad

Also I remember seeing the big SUVs in this movie and being like “damn those are tanks” they are also nothing compared to what’s out there now

This movie also feels so much more grounded in actual life

Like we talk abt all the CGI coming in later movies, this one feels gritty in comparison, on simply a mechanical level

Speed tour of dc

We have reached the civilian casualty stage of the movie

I can’t imagine how much money Samuel L Jackson has made off these movies

THE CAR FLIP SHOT W BUCKY IIIIIIIIII (editors note: this is where the coherence begins to go downhill. You can sense the trend)

god this movie

THE SHIELD CATCH IM EATING MY SHOES

Elevator scene lets fuckin goooooooooo

Let’s GOOOOOOOO

the tension build is so good

Everyone say thank u Steve rogers for breaking the glass ceiling

This movie is also an apple ad…2014

GUY WHO FULLY HITS ON STEVE AT THE APPLE STORE

Look the fuckin Natasha Steve bromance in this is lovely

Buddy comedy

I will say this was such a moment for the MCU, the hydra reveal

Esp cos like agents of shield was in its heyday etc etc

2014 sure was a time

This man [Toby Jones] has been so comically typecast forever

OPERATION PAPERCLIP CASUAL NAMEDROP

god

This is so fascinating to me Bc it’s like “Here is how we revisionize the United States’ history of interfering in coups etc etc it was bad guys in the government doing it etc etc”

“What we need to to is get back to the good government”

Sam Wilson the man that you are

Bucky shows up at any time in this fucking movie and I start barking

I am also always thinking of the “we shot him in ze legs” vine

This is my Roman Empire

“I knew him” oooouuuuugggHHHH

RIP Stan Lee

Bucky yeets a guy into a jet engine and by god does he look good doing it

This stupid movie (editors’s note: caught in a miasma of 2014)

[braxien12]

YuRise - Assassin AU

How hard can it be to kill 5 teenagers?

Word Count: 2,648

Rise felt like the specimen on the lab tables they had to dissect back in middle school as her client circled around her like a lion would a gisselle. But instead of being intimidating, it was really annoying. She felt like she was being sized up by a hunched-over stickman.

“So you’re the best assassin they have in employment, huh.” He gave her the elevator eye again, but he stopped circling her. “Never would’ve thought they’d send the famous teeny-bopper Risette. Man, what a shocker!”

Hearing this creepy, slouched over sleaze call her Risette made bile crawl up her throat, but she swallowed it down along with the list of long-ranging insults she wanted to hurl at him. Risette isn’t who she is anymore. After this last job, she’s leaving the life, no matter how difficult.

Her organization pumps out the best idols in Japan, and each idol goes through intense training to ensure they produce top records and make people smile across the country and even the world. What many people don’t know is that idols also go through rigorous training to kill without being caught, fulfill their clients orders no matter how disturbing or gruesome, and bring in money no matter how bloody.

It’s an existence she wants no part in anymore. Standing on that stage, hearing everyone calling a name that wasn’t her own…

She couldn’t take it anymore.

“What? The screeching canary finally sang its last tune?”

This mission may end with a different dead body than expected.

“Where is your payment? All requesters must be met with the money upfront.” Rise made sure to keep her voice flat to not give the jester any edge.

“Wow. Somebody fell out the wrong side of the cage this morning.” Her expression didn’t give an inch. “Fine, fine. No sense of humor. Your agency has received the payment.”

He must want a group kill. If the requestor wants more than one person killed they have to give the money straight to the company rather than the assassin. Group kills were messier, more factors to mess up the kills and a higher chance of collateral damage.

“Who do you want me to kill?”

“Straight to the point, huh. I bet you’re great at children’s parties.” He reached for the inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out a photo. In the photo was a group of six people sitting together at a food court, each looking like they were in high school. They were all eating and some were in mid laughter when the photo was taken. They overall looked like they were having a good time.

She’s jealous. They looked like an ordinary group of friends. What could they have done for this person to want them dead?

“They call themselves “The Investigation Team”. The bunch of brats go around solving mysteries like some knock-off Scooby-Doo gang. It makes me want to vomit.”

Ahh. They must’ve investigated too closely. She couldn’t count on both hands how many lives she took just because someone was sticking their nose too far into other people’s business. “Do you want them all dead?”

“Why else would they all be in the picture? Kill them all and any more that enter their little group, but I have a special request. This one-” Using his other hand, he pointed to one of the people in the photo: the teen’s silver hair was cut in a bob and amidst the table of seemingly chaotic screaming and laughing, he was drinking from the straw of his drink, watching the scene with a weird calmness, as if he was watching a movie.

“This one’s death is mandatory. Kill him first.”

“Yes sir. Are there any preferences of how you want him to die?”

The client shrugged. “Surprise me. Just make sure it’s slow and painful.”

“Yes sir.”

Coming back to the small town of Yasoinaba after having toured many different big cities and staying in some herself was like a breath of fresh air. It felt nice to return to a place where everyone was so friendly and personal. Inaba was so small that everyone knew each other’s business in seconds. It was warming compared to the coldness of the big cities. It reminded her of a younger Rise, who even though was shy still had a kind innocence to her.

Now Risette follows her everywhere.

“I heard that Rise just arrived in Inaba like yesterday.”

“Seriously! I wonder where she could be now!”

“What is she’s in Junes with us right now at this very moment?”

If they only knew.

Rise pulled the rim of her floppy sun hat lower over her face. Even with her aviator shades, the more skin covered up, the better.

She only came to Junes for some light shopping. A couple clothes, maybe a gift for her grandma, but then a couple became a few and a few shortly became five bags.

If being famous did anything, it definitely fueled her love of shopping. When she was little, she would watch the stars walking the red carpet on the TV and admire their beautiful and sparkly clothes. Shy, little Rise, sitting in her parent’s living room, could only dream of wearing clothes like that. When the idol competition came around and she found out she won, she thought her life would change for the better. Now she’s not so sure.

But now that she has the money to buy those fabulous clothes, she was going to buy them.

Rise was looking at a pair of shoes when she got a shiver down her spine. Someone was following her. As an idol she was used to being followed around, but as a trained assassin she also learned how to avoid them.

First thing’s first: she needed to lose them in the crowd. In training, one of the first lessons she learned was how to memorize her surroundings. She’s on the second floor. Junes has two elevators(it probably only has one but for the sake of this story we’re gonna say it has two). The first elevator was out of the question; it was too close-by and too easy to get to. To get to the second elevator, she’d have to round the entire floor and cut through the large clothing store.

The second floor it is.

She made extra care to keep her shades straight and keep her hat down over her head as she maneuvered through crowds of people. Worst case scenario: they fall off and she causes a rampage. It would make for an excellent distraction, but she honestly didn’t feel like being manhandled or being crowded today. It had to be a last case scenario.

When she made it to the large clothing store she made sure to stick to the smaller, narrower corners: every tight squeeze between the clothes racks, the aisles of the shoe racks, between the dressing rooms. The elevator was in sight. She couldn’t feel the person following her anymore, but she still wasn’t sure what they looked like to be certain. It would be best if she just hurried up and left.

She watched as the red numbers ticked down and it opened to her floor. Rise released the breath she was holding in as he stepped aboard. She made it without anyone recognizing her. She even managed to find a pretty gift for her grandma. She couldn’t wait to give it to her. She started to rummage through the bags as the elevator doors started to close.

A foot weighed itself in between the doors.

Rise backed against the metal wall as the door opened again and her assailant stepped forward. She recognized him. The bowl cut hairstyle was a dead give away. This was the boy she was tasked to kill brutally. Did he know she was sent to kill him? Did he come to finish her off first before she got to him and his friends? Her hand was sneaky when she eased it behind her back as she clutched her weapon in the hidden pocket of her dress.

Her phone was dangling in front of her face from his hands.

“You dropped this.”

“Huh?” Did he seriously chase her around the second floor just to return her phone

She was flabbergasted. She snatched it from his hand.

“Why didn’t you say so a whole lot sooner!”

“My bad. I’m sorry about that,” he apologized. She had just begun to regain her barings when he stopped and looked back.

“Oh, and that strap looks pretty tasty,” he said before the elevator door closed behind him.

What’s wrong with this guy?

The news of her arrival in Inaba striked faster than she thought it would, but it wasn’t unexpected. The flow of information was not something to underestimate. She has no idea how they found out she was working with her grandma at Marukyu. 

Inaba is a sleepy town. No restaurant or stores besides Junes has ever had such an influx of customers at the same time except maybe on holidays. Now people were lining up by the tens outside of Marukyu, and most of them were definitely not here to buy tofu.

She felt bad for her grandma. She didn’t need all of this commotion that she’s brought her. But her grandmother said she didn’t mind. She admitted to being more worried for her than herself, like the sweet lady she was.

However, the ruckus did have a bright side.

It brought her closer to her targets. And thanks to the ruckus, she was looking at three of them right now.

When she heard of “The Investigation Team”, the first word that came to mind was nosy. She had no idea they went to this extent. What were they investigating anyway?

“Wait if that’s…, then who is…” That was her cue.

She turned around to face “The Investigation Team”.

Huh. They looked different face-to-face than from a polaroid picture. The false blonde walked up to the counter while the brunette gawked in place behind him.

“Uh, are you Rise?”

“Yeah. What do you want?” She had no energy to play the preppy idol today. At her dulled tone, the brunette sobered up and ended up looking confused. He must know who she is.

“Are you really Rise! Wait, no that’s not what I- uh. Tofu, please.” He definitely knew who she was.

“What kind?”

“Uh," he hesitated. He shot his friend with a withering look. "Psst. Kanji! Order something!"

"Why me? You said ganmodoki a few minutes ago." The brawny man huffed. "Two orders of Tofu and this guy wants ganmodoki."

“Okay.” She went about preparing their order. She could hear them whispering behind her. Maybe she’s just tired. She wasn’t tired, not the sleepy kind anyway.

“Rise, can you get that pot for me from that top shelf? The ladder is in the back!”

“Hai!”

Sizing the two of them up, the fake blonde would definitely be a problem. Judging by his build and his straight-to-the-point way of speaking, he would definitely be a problem. But the brunete seems to be an easy target. He was obviously a big fan of hers and a little too girl crazy himself. It would be an easy kill if she managed to get him alone by himself.

Or maybe even close enough…

Lesson 2: Seduction. A little slip of the foot should work.

“Ah!” Her foot ‘slipped’.

“Woah!”

“Dude she’s falling!”

She never hit the ground. She had a smile of triumph before she opened her eyes and saw who her savior was.

Gray eyes met her instead of brown.

“It’s you!”

“That is my name.”

She scrambled out of his arms. The teen stood up like nothing happened, aloof and calm as if he just walked into a normal working day in a restaurant with a waitress fixing the food.

Where did he come from? Why didn’t he come in with his friends? She asked these questions to herself while brushing off her apron.

“Are you all right?” The bowl-haired boy asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.”

She could practically hear the implosion behind them.

“Why did she just said “it’s you”? Have they already met before?”

‘Woah! Senpai is the man!”

“Oh, Rise! Are you okay?” She didn’t know her grandma had seen her fall.

"I'm okay." The boy reached around her and grabbed the pot for her from the top shelf. He gave it to her grandma. "Here you go ma'am."

"Thank you. Such a kind young man."

Great. Now her grandma is taking a liking to him. Rise sighed. It should be fine. This was gonna be the only time they'd meet.

"Rise, have you noticed anything strange since you've been back?"

After helping her grandma close up, she left out for some fresh air. It was late enough where everyone was mostly home by now. 

“The Midnight Channel, huh?” It’s been a few hours since The Investigation Team left the tofu shop to warn her. She remembered watching a channel like that the first night she had arrived, but she thought it was just some prank, a parody someone put together that somehow made it to TV. It wouldn’t be the first time.

But a murderer on the loose, a magicial TV channel that only appears at midnight. Just what has her client gotten her into?

No. It was just the start of her mission. She hasn’t even been here for a week yet. It was too early to say she was up to her neck, but a higher bonus was definitely going to be demanded for leaving out important information.

“Hey, is that Risette?!”

Shit.

“That has to be her! Let’s go ask for an autograph!”

Shit.

She took off. She could hear running footsteps behind her. It wasn’t enough to be a stampede, but it had to be more than six people. Too much attention. She couldn’t go back home with them on her tail, but she had nowhere else to go. She’d have to lose them then camp out somewhere until they leave.

Lesson 3: Always have an exit.

She could cut across the bushing coming up. Or maybe she could cut through an alley and duck into a building until the people chasing her give up and go home, but that may cause more of a hassle. The bushes were the best solution.

She made a beeline for the tall bushes in front of the sidewalk when…

“Ah!”

Her arm was tugged, and she was pulled along.

“Shh. This way.”

“Wha? Is that you?”

“That is my name.”

“You already said that!”

He laughed at that, his voice still low to not alert their chasers. “This way.”

As a small mountain town, once you got out of the neighborhoods the rest was pretty much foliage and highway depending on the direction you went. In the direction they were going she could hear moving water. 

“The Samegawa flood plains?”

“I found this spot a few weeks after I moved her. They shouldn’t think to come down here.” The “spot” was the grassy expanse down the hill and off the main road. 

Wait? Moved?

“You just moved here?”

“Yeah. A few weeks ago,” he answered her. He started walking towards the water while Rise stood still stuck in her contemplations.

He just moved here! Just what has he done in a few weeks to get someone to kill him so badly? As an assassin, questions were not something you asked. Whatever they wanted you just went with it, no matter how disgusting or random it was. It was how Rise climbed the ropes so quickly. She caught on fast and she flawlessly did as she was told. No questions asked.

So why was this one boy making her question so much?

“Just make sure it’s slow and painful.”

Just who is he?

[aks3raao1]

Y'all, I finished watching Aggretsuko season 4 and I must say-

THIS WAS SO GOOD WHAT THE HECK-

I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS MUCH HAIDA CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OMGGGGGG SBWBDHWJDJWJJE AAAHHHHHH IloveHaidaeventhoughhe'sadumbass,shootme

Haida corruption/redemption arc was smth I never knew I needed...

Also, I have this desperate urge to make Haida x Himuro fanart and to redraw the scenes of them together but make it gayer- BUT I SUCK AT DRAWING MALE CHARACTERS-

Eh, I'll try anyway some time next week maybe- THEN I'LL POST IT HERE!!! But ima make them more human than animal bc that seems easier than drawing dog and wolf faces- (and I just rlly like drawing hair)

Also, yes, I am aware that Haida x Himuro is a toxic ship. But so is soukoku. You can't come at me otherwise y'all r just hypocrites (no hate on soukoku tho, I love that ship snebdhejjde)

I'm kinda disappointed that there's no Haida x Himuro (Shipname(?): Haimuro) works but there's a bunch of Anai x readers on wattpad- SOMEONE GIVE MY SHIP SOME LOVE!!

Me realizing how many toxic ships I have: ...ok, I might have a problem but at least I hate the idea of abusive seme x way-too-forgiving uke

Also, another thing, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DON'T APPRECIATE AGGRETSUKO AS MUCH AS OTHER ANIMES- LIKE, THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS AMAZING AND EVEN THO IT MAINLY TAKES PLACE IN AN OFFICE, IN AN ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, AND IS MOSTLY ON THE TOPIC OF "When will Retsuko get a bf" AND "When will Haida ask Retsuko out", IT'S STILL FUCKING GOOD AND LOW KEY HAS SOME OF THE BEST ANIME MOMENTS SBBEHDJEJJEHEUEJDIWIE

It's a bit slow but I see that as the show taking its time to run the course which is smth most shows lack. It does a good job of spacing everything out and I think each character has their own season if I'm not mistaken (it's been a while since I binged this anime, give me a break) and the relationship dynamics are very realistic, albeit certain moments that are mostly there for comedy reasons. And I love how this anime doesn't make characters monologue in every episode, we get to see more on how they feel and draw the conclusions ourselves. It's also very relatable imo

Also, the characters are all very unique and I absolutely adore how some vibes are first "oml I hate them" and then, once we go through their arc, it becomes "wow, I actually like them". And then the relationships with the character gradually change as well! It sometimes feels like I'm watching Izuku and Katsuki's character development in motion but they start becoming friends a bit quicker

The only real complaints I have is how most of the story was centred around romance and that would be most of the conversation up till season 4. Season 4 and 3 had a decent amount of that but the other seasons felt loaded with it- But I must say, I'm kinda glad that it wasn't the average high school talk thing that usually happens amongst female characters (do some creators REALLY think that's all teenaged girls talk about?). I find it nice how it would sometimes be backed up with reasons (albeit pretty stupid ones).

I would complain abt how I wish some characters were more like Haida in terms of writing (like yk, hinting at their insecurities) but it's not much of a big deal considering the time they took to organise a bunch of these characters- I just think the side characters needed more emotional attention if that makes sense...

And yeah, that's my opinion on this anime-

[finnyboywolfhard]

Kiss It, Make It Better

Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader 

summary: Y/N craves smoking with someone new, so who better than Steve Harrington. 

A/N: this is based solely on the ‘it’s only marijuana’ line in season three bc i am in love with stoner!Steve 

warnings: drugs <3, cursing, fluff 

word count: 2.4k 

Y/N and Dustin had the routine since Y/N got her license, that once a month they would have a sibling drive, in which they would drive around with the sole intent of getting caught up with one another. Given all the shit they had been through over the past few years, it naturally became their own special form of therapy. The Events of Starcourt on the Fourth of July and the days prior were once again weighing heavily on the two during their first drive since.

“What was it like being drugged?” Dustin asked, his curiosity weaving its way into his voice.

“Weird. It kinda felt like everything was the best thing ever, but it also came at the worst time. It was also weird that it was with Steve Harrington and Robin.”

“Is it like weed?”

“Is it like what?” Y/N knew the answer, it was no, but she had no idea why her little brother was deciding to ask her that in that exact moment.

“When you guys were drugged, I kept asking Steve if he did drugs, and he said that he only did marijuana. I wanted to know if they were comparable. So, is it like weed?”

“First off Dusty, you don’t ‘do’ marijuana, you smoke it. And secondly, I’m not answering that question, you can save that query for Steve.” Steve. Y/N had a lot of thoughts about him, it was interesting to hear about him from the rumors in high school in comparison to how she saw him act regularly. And ever since she started smoking to calm herself down, she has craved smoking with someone other than Robin, maybe Steve was worth a shot.

“Speaking of Steve, he said he might be over a lot over the next few nights while his parents are away, just so you know.”

“Oh? Is he coming tonight?”

“No, not tonight. He isn’t off work till 9 and mom doesn’t want him coming an hour before my dumbass bedtime— I still don’t get why she just NOW gave me a bedtime while you don’t even have a curfew.” Her brother started rambling, but all she could pay attention to was that he was going to be home alone tonight. Would it be that crazy of her to show up after all the trauma they had been through over the past 3 years?

“It’s because I’m legally an adult, so she’s treating me as such, and you’re just going into high school, she wants you to be safe. But okay, guess we’ll just have to see him soon.” The two drove around for a while longer before returning home. As the hours in between past, Y/N glanced towards her bookshelf, in which held a hidden stash of weed. She could always tell her mom she was just going to Robin’s, she would never try to prevent Y/N from seeing Robin.

She walked toward the bookshelf with soft footing, and with a gentle touch she plucked the hard covered book from the shelf. Inside lay two pre rolled joints she bought from her dealer and some bud Murray had snuck her after Hopper’s memorial. She snapped the book closed and tossed the book gently onto her bed. She put on a zip up hoodie and packed a fake sleepover bag. The books spine crackled gently as the cover was opened just enough for her to grab the pre-rolls out and into her pocket.

With backpack slung over her shoulders and her hands tucked securely in her pockets, Y/N strolled casually into the living room where her mother sat, as the minutes ticked quicker and quicker past 9:30–he was definitely home by now.

“Hey mom! Inhope you don’t mind but I’m gonna head over to Robin’s.”

“Oh! Did she call? I didn’t even hear the phone!”

“Oh no! She didn’t!” Y/N let in a gulp, she didn’t think this through. “She asked me a few days ago to come over tonight if I wanted to, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go until a little bit ago.”

“Ah, sounds like you, Do you wanna call her before you head over?” Claudia stood from her seat and began moving and motioning towards the phone.

“No!’ Y/N shrieked at her mother, who turned confusedly towards her. “Her mom goes to bed early and I told her that if I was gonna come it would be between 9 and 10, she assumes I’m coming, but I do really gotta get going.” Y/N glanced nervously at the clock, it was getting later and later and there comes a time where it’s a little uncomfortable to show up. Claudia glanced to the clock as well.

“Okay Y/N/N, you better get going.”

“Bye mom—“

“—Drive safe, be careful, I love you.”

“I love you too mom.” Y/N said as she practically ran to her car. She turned her car on and began the drive towards his house, not even thinking twice about where she was going until the car came to a park in his driveway.

“Shit!” Y/N yelled at herself. She yelled at herself for being weird and for showing up unannounced. She calmed herself down by saying, “who wouldn’t want someone showing up with free weed? Don’t overthink it.” She pulled in a complete, deep breath and walked hesitantly to the door. Three knocks sounded off the door, her breath fluttering ever so slightly as she let her hand fall to her side. Footsteps could be heard from the opposite side of the door, stepping closer and closer by the second. The doorknob turned and Y/N’s attention snapped up to meet the gaze of the boy at large.

“Hey Y/N, what’re you doing here?” Steve asked delightfully surprised. Her hand reached inside her pocket to pull one of the two joints. She lifted it from her pockets to where he could see it.

“Got a light?” She asked with a smirk.

After finding a lighter, the two made their way to his backyard. They sat parallel to one another in their chaise chairs. Y/N flicked the lighter a few times before sparking up the first joint of the night. She pulled a large huff in and held it as she passed the joint to Steve. He took in a long drag, holding the joint in front of him to inspect it after he hit it. A few seconds after Y/N had released her hit, Steve started coughing a bunch.

“Jesus Y/N, where the hell did you get this?” Steve said through the gasps for air.

“Good shit, huh?” Y/N joked as she inhaled another hit. The two fell into a rhythm of passing it back and forth as conversation allowed itself to flood the air.

“So what made you come here Y/N?” Steve pondered towards the girl.

“Dusty started asking me about when we were drugged, and apparently you told him you smoked weed. And, as much as I love Robin, I need someone new to smoke with, and you’re not AWFUL to hang out with.” Y/N explained, with sarcasm dripping from the last sentence.

“Wow, I feel so touched. Truly, I feel like the luckiest man alive. THE Y/N Henderson chose ME to smoke with. Best day of my life.” Steve rambled on, matching the sarcastic tone Y/N started with. The two laughed for a bit together, before Y/N spoke through the giggles.

“I am sorry for just showing up, I just didn’t know how to ask.”

“What? Am I that scary?”

“You’re THE King Steve, you’re the coolest, hottest guy at Hawkins. I was so intimidated by your male wiles. I am begging at your feet Steve Harrington.” Y/N mocked other girls she had witnessed in Hawkins. “No you’re not scary, I just couldn’t bring myself to say ‘Hey Steve, want to do some drugs with me?’ on our family phone, it didn’t feel right.” Steve let out a chuckle and a ‘fair enough’. It fell silent for a moment as the joint had its final hits taken from it.

“Why haven’t we hung out before? I mean away from all the traumatizing shit.” Steve asked slowly as he let himself sink down into the chair.

“Different friend groups before it all and then after and during it all, I didn’t and don’t want to impede on you and Dustin’s time. Plus neither of us have asked each other anyway.”

“That’s not true, I invited you to the movies that one day you stopped into scoops alone.”

“Yeah after I had already told you I was babysitting that night, you didn’t even ask to reschedule.”

“Yes I absolutely—didn’t. I didn’t.” Steve said, confidence dissipating. Y/N couldn’t help but focus to each small feature of his face one by one. Sure, she had looked at him but she never looked at him. He really was beautiful.

Jokes and stories were told between the two, laughter and exaggerated stories filled the bubble they put themselves in. In those moments, there was no one else in the world but Steve and Y/N.

“And that’s how Mike Wheeler broke his finger in our backyard.” Y/N let out through a fit of giggles. Steve clutched his stomach as he let himself fall back into the chair from the gut busting laughter Y/N had sent him into. As he got more comfortable, he glanced down at his watch. His eyes bulged at the time.

“Holy shit.” He said flustered, eyes never leaving the watch face.

“What? What time is it?”

“It’s almost 2 A.M.”

“Oh damn…” Y/N said, a dangerously fun smile finding its way to her face. Her hand reached towards the second joint in her pocket. “So this would be of no interest to you?” Steve’s squinted eyes opened just a peep. He let out a long whine.

“I think I’m too high to even move…but that looks so good.” Y/N looked between him and the joint. She noticed space for her to sit on the edge of his chair, and placed herself there. She placed the joint between her lips and gave it a light, waiting for the rolling paper burn down to the weed. From between her lips, she pulled the joint between her fingers and held it gently up to his. He took in a pull, never once releasing eye contact. With each consecutive hit, the distance between them drew closer and closer, eventually leaving their faces merely inches apart. Her fingers were so far back on the joint, they grazed his lips as he took in one of the final hits. Her fingers tingled from his touch. She glanced towards his eyes, his meeting hers already. The air around them went still and quiet. Their eyes were locked on each other, contact never wavering as their bodies moved towards one another like a magnet. His eyes stayed put on hers as his voice fell in the air.

“Give me one more.” Her hand lifted lightly and placed itself at his lips once more. The joint glowed a bright red as he inhaled the smoke. Y/N was so enraptured by his beauty, she didn’t notice the joint burning down to a nub. She watched as a cloud of smoke was blown from his lips and into the sky, before the heat had finally reached her touch.

“Son of a bitch!” She exclaimed as she dropped the roach to the ground. She lifted her fingers to her mouth, attempting to ease the burning feeling. The burn wasn’t bad, just a little redness but it didn’t hurt any less.

“Hey, let me see it.” Steve’s tone was much gentler now as he lifted her hand into his own. He raised her gently by her wrist to examine the burnt fingers. He delicately placed the burnt fingers to his lips and gave them a tiny little kiss.

“Kiss it, make it better.” He whispered, just barely audible to her ears. That’s what was so shocking about Steve, his heart was so filled with love and care. He did his best to make everyone feel protected, even if his popular guy persona overshadowed it at times.

“How are you so perfect?” Her voice came out quietly. Slowly, he lifted his head to look at her once more and without much thought, he closed the distance. The kiss was gentle and loving, but clearly stoked by passion. His lips upturned into a smile. She leaned back and traced her fingers across her lips. Just to make sure she didn’t imagine it, she pulled the boy towards her by the collar and planted one more kiss on him—and she noted that he kissed back with the same fervor.

“I have a crush on you Steve Harrington.” She said, hiding her blushing face from the boy. He turned her face towards him as he confessed,

“I’ve had a crush on you for like 3 months.”

“You have?”

“Yeah.” He said, his thumb gently grazing her cheek.

“Why?”

“Dustin talks about you enough, and I—uh I remembered all the times you’ve kicked ass over the past few years and it just kinda…happened. Who wouldn’t want someone as smart, badass, and beautiful as you?” He rambled our haphazardly, a blush forming across his cheeks as well.

“Steve…”

“Oh god, that was embarrassing, am I blushing? I feel like I’m blushing. fuck me.” Steve started rambling.

“Hey! It’s not embarrassing, it’s cute.” Y/N explained, but it didn’t seem to help. An idea flashed in her mind. “Oh no! You are so embarrassing, I am embarrassed. Ew, guess I

I’ll just have to close my eyes! I hope that embarrassing Steve Harrington doesn’t kiss me!” The sarcastic tone from earlier returning once more. A chuckle bubbled past Steve’s lips. He once more laid one on her, this time—a little bit more passionate than the past.

Y/N nuzzled herself into Steve’s side on the small beach chair they were on. The air sat comfortably still in that moment, the two reeling from the overwhelming emotions they had just felt. Quiet giggles pierce the air as Y/N studies her fingers.

“It worked.” She said matter of factly.

“What worked?”

“After you kissed it, I haven’t thought about it since. You made it better.” Y/N spoke melodically. Steve planted a kiss to the top of her head and pulled her closer in to him.

“Kiss it, make it better.” He repeated once more.

[blessednereid]

Pity the Living

Daniel Sharman x Reader Series

A/N: The Much Requested, and By Requested, I mean @rogershoe wanted me to write this, MY DANIEL SHARMAN FANFICTION!!!!!! The character that Y/N plays is based on my OC for FTWD and is not an actual character in FTWD. Basic Premise of the setting for this chapter is that they're in high-school/ secondary school. But for the majority of the story(minus flashbacks) it's set in 2016/17 when s3 of FTWD was filmed.

Story Summary: When (Y/N) (L/N) reunites with a high-school friend on the set of the job she's been working on for the past 2-3 years, not only is she excited to work with the guy who inspired her to go into acting, but to hear about what he's done since she's seen him. But the more they talk, the more she realizes, this reunion is not going the way she had planned.

CW: Cursing? brief mention of alcohol, anxiety, mentions of food, fake dagger, fake blood, bets,

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Career Day

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Most of the students around you were chorusing to the tune of your school anthem, but not you. You had heard the melody and sung it almost a million times. Whether you were exaggerating or not, not even you knew. Instead, you were whispering and laughing with one of your best friends, Daniel Sharman.

You met Daniel when you first came to the school. You didn't know many people. You didn't even know yourself in this place. It was a completely foreign experience, but he stuck by your side and showed you around.

Since then, you had made friends, joined the swim team, learned your way around the school without ending up in the boys' restrooms instead of the girls' ones. Despite not needing Daniel to show you around anymore, he still provided plenty of comedic support and pick-me-ups and was a great mate all around.

Your teacher had just finished introducing all the parents who were presenting at career day. The assignment being after the presentations were finished, you were supposed to think about what you wanted to be in the future. You had no idea what you wanted to be. But of course… Daniel did.

"An actor."

"An actor?" he nodded. "Like Macbeth?"

"No, Macbeth is a character. An actor is a person who plays the character."

"Why an actor?"

"Dunno. Just seems right."

You frowned. "Huh, that's nice. Knowing what you want to be."

"You could always try acting. It's worth a shot."

"Hah, if I ever tried acting, it would probably be when I'm old, senile, and look like Betty White."

"Oh, come on. You're a great actress!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Sharman?" you gasped.

"Just that you tell fibs and stories as if they were the truth. That's all acting is."

"I DO NOT!"

"How did you convince your mum that your dog jumped onto the table and ate the cake without making any noise last weekend, then?" You opened your mouth to speak before closing it.

"Cat got your tongue?" he teased.

"Shut up, Sharman."

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L/N Residence

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You and Daniel were both swimming in the pool in your backyard when Daniel asked you the question.

"Did you think about it?"

Still floating, you asked, "About what?"

"Acting."

You laughed incredulously. "You were serious?"

"Of course I was." He swam closer to you and pulled your leg down, making you flop around and splash water.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Was just trying to get your attention," he remarked innocently.

You coughed. "You had it."

"Picture this," he waved you off. "Us, on the red carpet-"

"Who's red carpet?"

"Does it matter? We'll be each other's dates anyways."

"Why is that?" you asked.

"Because we're best friends."

"What if one of us has a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

He shrugged. "Ok, whatever. We're on the red carpet separately. It's both of ours red carpet-"

"So, does that mean we're in a movie together?"

"Yes, Y/N," he muttered exasperatedly.

"But that's impossible?"

"Why do you say that?"

You leaned closer to his ear. "BECAUSE I'M NOT BECOMING AN ACTOR."

He jumped away from you, proceeding to splash you with water.

"Mark my words. I know talent when I see it."

You sighed. "Could this just be you not wanting to be lonely in the acting world?"

He jutted his lip and spoke in a whiny voice. "Maybe…"

You laughed before splashing a giant wave of water at him. While he still had water in his eyes, you dove under and pulled him down.

He flailed around before his head popped up, and he calmed down.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"PAYBACK, SHARMAN!"

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Announcement

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The intercom gave a heavy buzz, and static-y noises ran amok over the building before a voice actually came through the speakers.

"Hello, Teachers, Students, and Faculty. Welcome back to school. We hope that you all enjoyed your holidays and got the rest you needed to pay attention in class today," the last part was passive. Your principal gave more announcements for clubs and sports around the school, such as upcoming games or reminders for students to buy the school yearbook.

You were nodding along interested, or looking for interest really when something caught your best friend's attention.

"The school will also be hosting its first-ever play, Romeo and Juliet. Interested people should report to the music room before the end of the week to receive information."

You saw Daniel's eyes widen only moments before he spoke up. "Hey," he waved at you. "You should audition!"

"Daniel, are you insane?"

He chuckled, "No, but I think you'd like it."

You tried arguing, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. "You're the one who said you didn't know what you wanted to do after you graduated. Doing this cannot hurt."

"Yeah, it can't hurt until I trip on my costumes and break my neck!"

"That rarely ever happens," he said exasperatedly. "Ok, how about this? You audition, and if you end up getting a role and actually doing the play, I'll give you fifty pounds."

You squinted. "Do you even have fifty pounds to give me?"

"Do you even have to ask," he feigned shock in the accusation? You gave a sour face before he truthfully answered. "Fine, I don't have it now. But I will by the time the play comes around."

"What do I get just for auditioning?"

"I'll convince my mum to make that cake you like."

"Fine."

"BUT!" he exclaimed. "You have to audition for Juliet."

"You're kidding?"

He laughed. "No, I'm not. You have to audition for Juliet."

"I hate you," you mumbled before sighing a whispered 'fine.'

He gave a toothy smile. "Then we have a deal."

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Auditions

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You reluctantly walked onto the stage, Daniel's widening grin so visible in the audience. He said that he only put his name on the audition sheet so he could watch the auditions. He would've already been gone by the time it was his turn.

"Hello, My name is Y/n L/n, and I am auditioning for Juliet," your lips pressing into a straight line after saying the sentence.

You stammered through your first few lines. "Sh-Shall I speak ill of him— that is my husband?" You said with a laugh.

"Ah," you paused and clicked your tongue. "Poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name… When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?"

You said your following line in an accusatory manner. "But wherefore, villain... didst thou kill my cousin?" you said, though your voice squealed trying to pronounce 'didst.' "That villain cousin would have killed my husband."

"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!" Your voice rose and fell several octaves. "Your tributary drops belong to woe, Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy." Fake tears spring to your eyes, your voice cracked, and you began slowly falling against an invisible wall.

You looked down at your paper for what to say next. "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband. All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?" You wiped your cheeks dramatically.

"Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death, That murd'red me. I would forget it fain;" your lips quivered, and you sucked in deep, heaving breaths before speaking your line.

"But O, it presses to my memory. Like damnèd guilty deeds to sinners' minds! 'Tybalt is dead, and Romeo--banishèd!" You shouted.

You stood back up in a startling jump, and with a proud smile, you said triumphantly, "And Scene!"

The directors and some students in the audience, especially Daniel, gave a round of applause before the director dismissed you.

You took the steps to the stage and sat next to Daniel as the director called the next student to audition.

"You were amazing! The director might as well have given you the role right then and there."

You laughed, "Hang on, charmer. There were a bunch of Juliet's who literally said that entire thing so… fluently. I stammered through the whole thing."

"But you showed more emotion than anyone else. You only had a week to prepare. The actual show will be like child's play."

"They want people who can memorize and recite. The emotion can be added later, but it's worth nothing if they forget their lines."

"There is such a thing called improvising for a reason," he reassured.

"Who in their right, bloody minds wants to improvise Shakespeare?"

He turned his head and chuckled before waving a five-pound note in front of your face. "Here, I got to go before they call me, but you earned this at least."

"Five pounds for being forced to audition for a stupid play so you can prove a point? Wow, you must really fancy me, huh, Sharman?" you said sarcastically.

"Goodbye, L/n," he whispered before sneaking out the back door of the auditorium.

"Alright, next up. Daniel Sharman!" The director shouted your friend's name a few more times before giving up.

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Headmasters Office

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A week after your audition, you were called to the headmasters' office. Thus is the cause of the curious looks from your classmates. Oohs and Aahs flooded your ears as you grabbed your bag and headed out the door to the front of the school.

When you got to the front of the building and went into the headmasters' office, you saw the Theatre director, Ms Parker, standing behind the desk. "Headmaster Leo allowed me to use his office to do this. Isn't that cool?"

Ms Parker was one of the younger teachers in school. She was twenty-four, and this was her first year teaching after receiving her bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in music production. A fact she could astoundingly ramble about for fifteen minutes. As proven at the auditions.

"I didn't want to call you to the theatre room. That would be too predictable, correct?" You'd come to realize she was a very eccentric woman. "I have called you in here to inform you that you have been selected to perform in this year's play of Romeo and Juliet."

A wave of shock coursed through your body, and you were sure it reflected on your face. "Are you sure?"

"Darling, I'm positive!- your audition was totally spectacular! So brilliant-in fact- that I am completely sure in my choice to make you our female lead- Juliet!"

"What!" Your eyes widened into a blank stare. Your thoughts were running rampant in your mind. You thought that performing on the stage would be a breeze when you weren't the lead.

"Ms Parker, I didn't actually want the part of Juliet! It's just that my friend dared me to audition for Juliet! Is there no way I can get a smaller part? I'm no Juliet. The show would be ruined," you rambled.

The directors' facial expressions softened, "Darling, you are the only choice. None of the other people who auditioned can even compare to the amount of passion you produced in that audition. I am determined to have you as our Juliet."

You whimpered out an "Ok." Professors had a strange way of convincing you to do extra credit assignments or things that aren't necessary.

"We have a chemistry read for you and a few of our other choices for Romeo after school today. Do you need to contact a parent to let them know where you'll be?"

"Uh, yes, please."

After you made your call, you walked back to your classroom with shaky hands. The class period was almost over, but you had to tell Daniel that you had gotten a part in the show. Not just any part- THE PART!

You shuffled into the classroom reluctantly. All eyes were on you as every student had assumed you'd been in trouble. Either suspended, expelled, or told your parents were going to have a sit-down with the headmaster.

You took your seat next to Daniel before taking out a piece of paper and writing out a note, encompassing the words, "I got the part!"

You slid the sheet discreetly onto his desk. When he read it, his eyes widened, and he quietly moved his hands toward yours, beckoning for a high five.

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First Rehearsal

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After the chemistry read, the role of Romeo was given to a kid named James Mercer-Allen got the part. Though it was more because the directors were starting to become tired.

The next day was the first rehearsal. Swimming season was last semester, so there was no clash in schedules with the play.

"Alright, this rehearsal is to get acquainted with the stage, your fellow actors, and directors," she insisted. "Now, let's introduce ourselves. Can our Romeo please stand up?"

James stood up and gave a brief introduction. You were called on next. You stated your name, "I was on the swim team last semester, and I'm in my thirteenth year. I hope I can do this role justice."

More students stood up to introduce themselves. The entire process took more than thirty minutes.

The next thing to happen was that the rest of the students were called to recite lines for various roles. The only parts that had been cast preliminarily were Romeo and Juliet.

You and James had sat on the wooden stools unless there was a scene going on that needed Romeo and/or Juliet.

By the end of the first rehearsal, the majority of the speaking roles were cast. You went home exhausted but not expecting the conversation that waited for you.

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The Talk

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"We're moving?" you shouted at your parents from your seat across from them in the sitting room. "What do you mean we're moving."

"Honey, your dad got a job in the states, so we have to move," your mother argued.

"But what about school? No school will take me in the middle of the year, and it's my last year of secondary school. I don't want to spend the rest of my last year knowing nobody."

Your dad, the man of the hour, spoke up. "Dear, we're moving at the end of the year. After school ends."

"But- What about Uni?"

"You said you were taking a sabbatical year!"

"Yes, so I could intern in London!"

"Can't you intern in California?" Your mother whined.

"We're going to California? It's the furthest state?"

Your dad attempted to reassure you but failed. "Darling, it won't be that bad. Maybe you'll like it there more than you like it here!"

"I could never like anywhere more than I like it here!"

You agreed to go to your room and spent the rest of the day there. Later on, after you finished moping, you ringed up your closest friends to tell them you were moving. You did that until you were so tired you fell asleep on the phone with Sarah before you even called Daniel.

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Confrontation

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"Why am I hearing from everyone besides you that you're moving?" Daniel appeared out of thin air behind you, and the accusation was an assault on your conscience.

You could lie and tell him that you wanted to reveal that to him in person, or you could just tell him the truth- say you fell asleep. Mix-and-Match? You ended up just telling the truth. "I fell asleep when I was making some of my other calls. I was going to tell you, I swear!"

"Why didn't you call me first. I'm your best friend?"

"That's why! It was too hard. I kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off because I didn't want to tell you, I don't want it to be true, and telling you of all people would make it feel real."

"Why can't you stay for Uni?"

"I already told my parents I was taking a gap year. I didn't apply to any colleges."

"Crap!" he sighed. "Ok, well, we're going to have to make the most of it. And! You're getting a going away party!"

"Daniel, I don't need-"

"No debate! You are getting a going away party!"

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Opening Night

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Four months later, after all the rehearsals and memorizations of lines. After much running around the entire film department, it was finally opening night, and your nerves were shot.

You were scrambling all morning to find everything you needed. All your costumes were at the school, but you still needed to bring your black leotard, skin-coloured tights, and wear your hair in an up-do style.

You decided to do your skincare routine, but your panic got the best of you, and you forgot what every single product was used for.

Daniel came over and helped you get ready but found you practically hyperventilating.

Your parents drove you both to the theatre, and when Ms Parker told you that Daniel couldn't be backstage, you promptly told her that he was your emotional support. After much arguing, she finally let him backstage.

Around an hour before showtime, the director told Daniel that he had to go wait in the audience if he already bought his ticket or that he had to go do it now.

Before he left, he gave you a pep-talk. "Hey, so one time, I was in this play, and the idea was that I was expelled, and there was a piece of paper I had to give my 'mother,' but I lost it. So we had to improvise, but I couldn't find the paper, and I felt horrible. So just know, even if you forget your lines, you must improvise, and remember, it still probably won't compare to the embarrassment I felt that day. So you can laugh at my humiliation. "

You chuckled, "I will. Ok, go before you get in trouble."

"Ok, me, our parents and all your friends will be in the front row. I've already reserved the entire row. I brought a whole bag of jackets just for that reason!"

"You can't do that," you said in between cackles.

"For you, I'll do anything," he grinned.

A few hours later and the show was almost done. "What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end," you wept.

"O, churl! Drunk all and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to die with thine restorative." You leaned over James and let your hair fall to the side of your head to cover your face. You pulled back without actually kissing James.

"Thy lips are warm."

A whispery voice came from offstage, "Which way?" The cue for you to take the poison, which was actually cranberry juice.

"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" You grabbed the dagger and brought it near your chest. "This is thy sheath;" you drew the fake knife back three inches from your chest and stabbed it to where the bag of more cranberry juice was and punctured the bag. 'Blood' soaked through your dress. "There rust, and let me die." You fell dramatically onto the altar and waited for the scene to end as the crowd cheered.

After the show, you dashed into the crowd where your friends and family waited for you. Ovations and Applauses were passed, lauded boxes of chocolates and gorgeous roses were given.

When you got to Daniel, he practically tackled you with a hug. "I actually thought you died for a split second. The blood looked so real."

"Daniel, most people don't bleed that fast, do they?"

"I don't know but fear kicked in, and I couldn't make sense of anything."

You grinned and almost went to your parents before Daniel grabbed your arm. "You don't have a date to the Leavers ball, do you?"

"No, I don't. Why?"

He sighed. "Well, I was thinking that you could go with me. I don't have a date either."

You squinted, thinking there was some ulterior motive behind his actions. "Ok, I'll go with you if you give me the money you owe me before then."

"It's right here," he smiled.

Your face scrunched up, but you reluctantly agreed. You only had a month of school left, and you might as well spend it having fun with your friends.

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

The Leavers Ball and the Getaway Party

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

You were dressed in a light blue, pleated, Mikado prom dress that cut off at mid-thigh. You had black wedges on your feet and a black pearl-beaded bracelet on your arm.

You were wearing a half-up, half-down style that framed your face and a silver necklace with a circle-shaped diamond.

You were sitting in the parlour when Daniel rang the doorbell. He was ten minutes late.

"Sorry," he said when your dad answered it. "I know I'm late. I was picking up Kat and James."

Kat and James were your and Daniel's respective friends who'd started last year after you and Daniel introduced them.

"Hi," you popped out of the shadows. "Alright, Mom, Dad, we're late, so we're just going to get goi-"

"Wait! I have to take pictures! Go get Kat and James."

"No, Mom. No pictures!"

"It's only right. I just want a few. We can take it outside."

You sighed but reluctantly caved into your mother's will.

The four of you took pictures outside of Daniel's Jeep Wrangler. You took ones with silly faces, just girls, just boys, and ones with all four of you before your parents allowed you to leave.

You were forty minutes late, and the ball was already in full swing by the time you got there.

You got on the dance floor immediately because one of your favourite songs was playing, but the DJ switched the song as soon as you found a decent spot. It was a slow song. You chuckled, and Daniel put his hands on your waist.

"Well, this is awkward."

A few minutes later, Daniel posed an interesting question.

"Did you know that I had a crush on you when you first came to school?"

"Uh, you stammered. "No, I didn't know that."

"Yeah, I did. It was short, though. Surface-level."

"Oh," you said. "Should I take offence to that?"

"What?" His eyes widened in realization with what he said. "No, that's not what I meant. You have an amazing personality. I just meant that… I just meant I like you more as a friend than to ruin that with any of those feelings."

"Oh, ok. You wouldn't have, though."

"I wouldn't?"

"No, everyone needs an ego boost every once in a while."

"Haha!"

"And besides, I've had feelings for you at one point too. But it was very cliche, so I tried to shake it as hard as I could."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "And did you?"

"Like I said, as hard as I could. If it's still there somewhere, it's buried very deep, so much so that I was embarrassed."

"Embarrassed to like me?"

"I mean embarrassed to try and make my life seem like some movie."

"Oh, well, if you did, it would've just made you that much better as an actress. Speaking of that, would you consider acting in the least?"

"Maybe, now that I'm leaving, it's basically the last thing I have to connect me to you."

"No," he said, pointing to your bracelet. "You have that."

You had forgotten that it was Daniel who gave it to you, but the realization brought a smile to your face. "Oh yeah, I'll never take it off."

Later on, long before the ball ended, you saw many of your friends leaving.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Daniel approached you.

"Where is everyone going?"

He wriggled his eyebrows. "Afterparty!"

"But it's not over?"

"Quit being a party popper and just come with us, L/N!"

You gave in, something you did a lot, and you all started driving. When you got there, you realized you were at Daniel's house.

"The afterparty is at your house?" you asked.

"Well…" James answered.

Kat joined in. "It's really an afterparty!"

"This is your going away party!" Daniel finished.

"But I'm not going away for another month."

"Well, now you have an entire month for people to give you gifts and stuff, and you don't have to worry about the party!" He reasoned.

"But why did it have to be after the Leavers ball?"

"Because you're already in a dress, and it has to be a surprise! Surprise!" Kat exclaimed.

"Alright, fine!"

The entire night you partied and danced, and though you didn't drink alcohol, plentiful amounts of pop and mocktails were passed around. The music was a delight to your ears with all your favourite songs. There were chips and pizza with all your favourite toppings.

"This party is awesome!"

Daniel grinned. "Well, I am an amazing party planner if I do say so myself."

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

Airport

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

Daniel's parents drove your family to the airport. Your parents had sold the car. Your dad would return in a week to close a deal on the house. Everything was official, and now you were leaving.

You got out of the car, and the tears forcefully began to fall.

"I'm really gonna miss you, jerk," you said disdainfully to Daniel.

He chuckled. "I'm going to miss you more."

"Impossible!"

He wiped the fallen tear from your eye, and for a moment, you could see every single multi-coloured speck in his eyes and noticed how sometimes they looked blue, and at others, they looked grey or green.

You noticed the curvature of his smile and the chisel of his jawline.You saw the hurt in his eyes that said, 'why do you have to go? You're killing me,' and wanted to never move from that position.

He continued to rub the tears that fell onto your cheek, and the sad moment was as sheltered as it could be. You felt safe with him, in his arms, just looking at his face and being reminded of how he comforted you in a place that felt as familiar as Oz felt to Dorothy.

"What am I gonna do without you?" you whispered.

"Get at least one acting job, get an assistant and an agent, I'll do the same thing, and then either one of us has our assistants reach out to our agents, so we get back in touch in case we ever lose touch."

He sounded so grave that you couldn't help but laugh. "That's assuming I do become an actress, Daniel."

"You're right," he whined. "But don't forget me."

"I promise."

And you tried to keep that promise. Throughout your first year, you interned at UCLA, working in the lab. You then applied to go to school there, and you still tried to keep Daniel in your mind. Maintaining a social life on campus combined with schoolwork already wasn't easy. However, you still wouldn't let yourself forget your best friend.

It wasn't until you entered your senior year and you were about to graduate that he started to wane in your memories. The things you did together became obsolete as new friends and memories replaced the old. The things he taught you were thrown out to make space for the new lessons you learned each day.

Even when you did become an actress, you never really remembered why you decided to. You remembered that your friend pushed you to do that play, but it was almost ten years ago, and for the life of you, you couldn't remember his name.

But you did do it, first as an extra, then a body double, and then you started getting l roles on smaller shows. But your big break was getting a quasi-lead role on the spin-off of a big television show, The Walking Dead. For two years, you enjoyed going to conventions and playing the complex character, Valeria Bishop, and you thought you had it all figured out.

But life has a funny way of coming full circle and throwing you a curveball that knows you off course and changes your life.

[retrogradedreaming]

UHHHH maybe,, you could write a little thing for reki making the sk8 fam tea? and kaoru thinking hes gonna have to pretend he likes it but then "oh wait reki can actually make tea what-"

just bc this has been living in my head for awhile sdkljfs

(capt-snoozles)

It turns out I am completely incapable of writing ANYTHING short, so have a full one shot type thing, I guess. I hope it's okay that I kinda borrowed headcanons from you and @that-was-anticlimactic for Reki with TS at a couple of small moments in the fic?

----

It used to be Kaoru alone who visited Kojiro’s restaurant when it was closed on Mondays. But since the start of winter break, Sia la Luce had become much livelier now that Reki, Langa, and Miya weren’t in school all day, and Shadow came when his days off lined up right. If Kaoru were being honest, it took some time to get used to the space no longer being only his and Kojiro’s, but he’d grown to like how their group came together like this.

The afternoons were the quietest part of these days. Kojiro took these opportunities to try out new recipes on them, leaving everyone contentedly full and pleasantly sleepy. Today, Langa had actually fallen asleep in the booth, and Reki sat beside Kaoru at the counter, playing with a tiny skateboard and making soft sounds like a small motor. Shadow and Miya sat at a table across the room, arguing over whether clown or cat makeup looked cooler while Kojiro finished cleaning. Kaoru let himself sink into the lull, Reki’s noises and that of the skateboard wheels on the counter an almost comforting presence beside him. And yet, one thing was missing, keeping him from truly relaxing.

“Seems like a good afternoon for tea,” Kojiro said, as if reading his mind as he appeared out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “You want me to make some?”

“Absolutely not,” Kaoru scoffed. “People who microwave their tea should be arrested.”

“There’s no way you can tell the difference,” Kojiro said, defensive. “Hot water is hot water.”

“Only an uncultured pig would believe that,” Kaoru snapped. He was about to stand, to tell Kojiro he’d make the tea himself like he always inevitably had to, when Reki all but leaped from his seat, skateboard abandoned for the moment.

“I’ll make it!” he offered, and the way his face lit up meant that Kaoru took too long to say not to bother. By the time he’d found his words, Reki had already bounded around the counter and into the kitchen, and Kojiro didn’t even try to stop him. Before Kaoru could tell Kojiro to stop him, Reki called out to Kojiro, asking about the industrial stove, and soon, Kojiro was not only allowing Reki to make the tea, but encouraging him.

Kaoru supposed this was a step up from Kojiro’s microwave technique, but if Kaoru were likely to trust anyone other than himself to make a decent cup of tea, it wouldn’t be Reki. The idea that he’d wanted his tea made well and was unlikely to receive it as such set him on edge. As he listened to the water boil and the conversation continued around him, he found himself wrapping a strand of his hair around his finger and tugging, letting it go, and repeating the process until his scalp hurt. He didn’t even notice that Langa had woken up until he appeared beside Kaoru and spoke.

“What’s Reki doing?” he asked.

“Making tea,” Kaoru said, doing his best not to appear so anxious about something so small.

Langa peered over the edge of the counter to where Kojiro and Reki were talking in the kitchen, and then turned back to Kaoru. “I like how he makes it. I never liked it before I met him.”

Kaoru hummed a halfhearted response. He doubted that Langa’s standards were very high, given that he’d grown up in Canada. He’d likely had tea often enough, given that his mother was Japanese, but Kaoru knew from experience that plenty of people even here in Okinawa had no idea how to brew a proper cup. It was about timing, knowing how hot to make the water, how long to steep the leaves, and so many people rushed the process—or worse, forgot about it and steeped too long—that Kaoru preferred to make his own.

He couldn’t help but envision Reki handing him a bitter cup, or one that tasted like little more than hot leaf juice. He grimaced at the idea of having to drink it and pretend he liked it, suffering all the while. He would have to wait until he was home later to make something better for himself.

He was still trying to think of a polite way to decline the tea he’d obviously wanted when Reki came out bearing a tray of steaming cups and began making the rounds through the restaurant. Reki handed the first one to Langa, who accepted it, smiling softly up at Reki. Langa sipped the tea immediately, only to flinch and draw it away after the first sip.

Not promising, Kaoru thought. If he’d boiled the water, it was ruined, even if it was something as simple as green tea. And yet, Langa only took another sip while Reki looked on approvingly.

“It’s good,” Langa finally proclaimed, and Reki glowed as if he’d received praise from the emperor himself. Reki moved on, handing Kaoru his cup.

“Thank you,” Kaoru said, accepting it with both hands. Fortunately, Reki moved on to Shadow and Miya without waiting for Kaoru to try it, which meant that he didn’t know Kaoru only held onto it without making a move to taste it. If nothing else, he could enjoy the warmth that crawled from his fingertips all the way to his elbows.

Neither Miya nor Shadow hesitated in drinking theirs, though Kaoru couldn’t imagine they cared much how it tasted, as long as it was hot. And yet, as he watched, the two of them looked just as pleased as Langa when they tried it.

“Oh wow, the slime makes good tea,” Miya pronounced, hugging the cup close to him like a space heater.

“Damn, this is pretty good,” Shadow said, drinking deeply and draining half the cup. “How’d you even learn to make it like this?”

Reki shrugged, taking up his own cup, the last on the tray. He set the tray down on the counter and took the empty seat beside Langa. “I dunno, I guess I just picked it up over the years. It’s kinda like making skateboards, y’know? You have to figure out how all the parts fit together, and if you do it wrong, the tea doesn’t taste right.”

Kaoru looked up at him from the murky depths of his tea, brows raised. When it came to making tea, the analogy was rather profound, and Kaoru couldn’t argue it. Reki was right—tea was about the sum of its parts, the pieces fitting together perfectly. And as with building skateboards, the person making it had to know exactly how to combine each piece to create the whole.

“That doesn’t make any sense, but whatever,” Shadow said, taking another sip. “All I care about is that it doesn’t suck.”

“How come you’ve never made us tea before?” Miya asked, eyes trained on the Switch he’d pulled from his pocket now that he’d abandoned his conversation with Shadow.

“I don’t really have the patience for it,” Reki said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s kinda like, if I don’t wanna put in the time to do it right, why bother?”

While everyone was wrapped up in conversation, Kaoru finally chanced a discreet sip. If it was as bad as he’d expected, he could school his expression appropriately while they were all distracted. Perhaps he could even get away without having to lie about how good it was. And yet, when the tea touched his tongue, he paused.

It wasn’t too hot.

It wasn’t too weak or too strong.

It wasn’t too bitter and the leaves didn’t taste as though they’d been burnt.

It was, as far as Kaoru was concerned, some of the best tea he’d had outside his own home. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words to say so. He sipped it again, just to make sure he hadn’t deluded himself based on everyone else’s praise. Sure enough, it was almost more delicious the second time.

“You surprised?” Kojiro murmured at his ear, his own cup dangling from his fingertips. Kaoru jumped, nearly spilling his tea. When he turned to face him, Kojiro’s lips quirked in a smug grin, and he raised one brow meaningfully. Kaoru shot him a hard glower in return, a silent command to keep his mouth shut before Kaoru turned back to Reki.

“It’s delicious,” Kaoru said, and it wasn’t forced in the least. “I’m impressed.”

Reki, who had already immersed himself in talking to Langa, gaped at Kaoru, one of his hoodie strings falling from between his teeth. Then, he flashed a wide grin. “Glad you like it!”

“Have you ever practiced tea ceremony?” Kaoru asked, reluctantly setting his tea down on the counter.

“Nah, my parents let me try it once when I was younger, but I kept messing up the steps,” Reki said. “It’s not really fun when people get mad at you for doing it wrong.”

“I studied it for some time,” Kaoru said, remembering how the order felt comforting, how the amount of concentration it required gave his anxious mind something to focus on, how the simple yet refined aesthetic felt like clearing his head. In recent years, he didn’t have time for it with his calligraphy business, but a part of him missed it. “It’s quite a bit different from drinking tea like this, but if you wanted to, perhaps we could do a...modified version of it. Something less formal with everyone here.”

Reki’s eyes brightened, and he looked to Langa, who only seemed to share his enthusiasm. “It sounds fun, yeah! A lot better than getting yelled at by a bunch of old people because ‘tradition.’”

“I’d say so,” Kaoru said, and they devolved into talking about their favorite teas and the best ways to brew them. Kaoru couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to someone who actually understood that tea was an art even more than it was a drink. But Reki did, and when the rest of the group finally left, leaving Kaoru and Kojiro alone in the restaurant to clean up, Kojiro nudged him with an elbow.

“You didn’t think Reki could make tea like that, did you?” he said, the words teasing but too close to Kaoru’s own thoughts for comfort.

“Shut up or I’ll leave you here to wash dishes alone,” Kaoru quipped, even as he accepted the next cup to dry. “I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised.”

“I knew you would be,” Kojiro said as he dried his hands and stretched.

“Anything is better than microwaved tea,” Kaoru said. And although it was true, he couldn’t help but look forward to the next Monday, and the last before the kids started school again.

[peachhcs]

Love Languages Pt. 2

Pairing: Luke Patterson x reader

Summary: Pt.2 to Luke asking you what Love Languages are

Warnings: talk of drinking and cheating but that’s it

Word Count: 1.6k

Here is part two that you all have been asking for! I deeply apologize for how long it took me to get this up, school is really kicking my butt. I have a bunch of people asking to be on my taglist and I’m currently in the works of making one so comment or reblog or something telling me you want to be on my taglist! Make sure you specifiy for my series or for small blurbs/oneshots like this or both! 

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback! I love the comments and y’all are so amazing! 

I’m not sure if this will have a part 3?? but let me know if you want one haha. I won’t be tagging anyone in this because my tags got lost in my notifications, so if you want to be tagged again, make sure you read above! :)

PART 1

* * *

You didn’t mean to avoid Luke, it just kind of happened. Junior Year was no joke and it felt like every night and every weekend you had piles of homework to get done, so you sort of drifted from going to Julie’s house everyday. She didn’t mind, she understood just as much and kept you updated on how the band was doing. However, you still felt guilty for avoiding the boys. You were worried that Luke would think he scared you away by touching you, but you were feeling the exact opposite. You wanted to explore more and find out more but here you were, in your room at 12am trying to finish this nagging essay that was due in 8 hours. 

You felt your eyelids growing heavy but you shook your head, trying to keep yourself awake. The 3 monster drinks on your nightstand said enough about how much you were trying to keep yourself awake. You had 2 paragraphs left but you knew you were at a losing battle with yourself. The way your eyes were just glazing over at this point and rereading the same sentence over and over was becoming a very evident indication that you needed sleep. Before you could even think about quitting for the night, there was a noise from the side of your room and a grunt. Your eyes quickly darted over to where the noise came from and there stood Luke with that magenta pull over that you really liked. 

“Luke?” His eyes quickly darted over to you, clearly surprised to still see you awake.

“Y/n..hey..” He started and you pushed your laptop away to give him your full attention. 

“What are you..doing here?..” You weren’t really sure why he was here and you felt a small bit of tension in the room from avoiding him for the past few weeks. 

“I uh..came to see you..” His voice was small and you pushed your eyebrows together in confusion. 

“At 12 in the morning?..” You knew ghosts didn’t really sleep but it was still a strange sight to see Luke in your bedroom this late at night. 

“Yup..” He trails off and pushes his glance down to the floor. You raised your eyebrow, knowing he wasn’t telling you the whole truth. You two were still best friends after all, so you could read him like an open book. 

“Luke, seriously. What are you doing here?” You ask trying to push an answer out of him. He finally meets your gaze again and you see his small expression on his face.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” 

You blinked a few times at his bluntness. This time you were the one to avoid his gaze. You picked at your fingernails slightly, knowing Luke was watching you and waiting for an answer. 

“I don't mean too.. School’s been tough and stuff.” You say cringing at how lame that sounded even though it was true. Luke stayed silent for a moment, trying to decide if you were lying to him or not. You avoided his eyes and kept your glance locked on the floor. 

“Did I do something wrong? Did I overstep by touching you? I didn’t mean to scare you or anything..” Luke trails off and you frown. You quickly shake your head to tell him no.

“No, no, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just been really swamped with homework..” You grimace to yourself for coming back to your really lame excuse. You watch as Luke steps a little closer, testing the waters. When you don’t object to him moving closer, he takes a slow seat on your bed beside you. 

“You look tired..” He points out, gently reaching to touch your cheek. It warms both of your bodies as your skin makes contact. His hands were..warm..and comforting. You weren’t sure what you expected but it definitely wasn't this. Who knew ghosts were warm? 

“I told you I’ve been swamped with homework.” You chuckle and this time Luke chuckles along with you. He gently pulls his hand away and folds them into his lap. You stare down at your feet for a few moments trying to figure out what to say next. This felt like completely new territory the two of you were exploring and by the energy and growing tension in the room; this was a little bit scary. 

“Do you think you know..why we can..touch?” You ask hesitantly. Julie was filling you in here and there at school, but it wasn’t much and they didn’t seem to come up with anything as to why you had the “powers” too. 

“No..it’s still all confusing. We think Julie’s mom has something to do with us being connected to Julie but we don’t know about you.” Luke says, side eyeing you and you weren’t sure if that was a hint for you to talk about your past or not.  

You didn’t really open up about your past. No one had ever really asked so you never really talked. Julie knew a little bit, she knew that your mom and dad fought a lot and you didn’t like being at home that much, but that was about it. You didn’t talk about it further than that, so when you could feel Luke trying to dig into your past more, you shrugged. 

“My parents don’t talk much about stuff. I don’t know.” You say, keeping it short and simple. Luke frowns a little at your answer, but he knows not to push so he doesn’t. The two of you sit in more silence beside one another. You picked at your finger nails while Luke’s eyes travelled around your room. 

“I ran out on my mom. She didn’t believe in my dream and though dropping out of high school was the worst possible idea. We got into a fight and I ran out. That was the last time I saw her face to face. I died before I could make amends with her.” You glance at Luke, surprised at his openness. Even though you guys were best friends, talking about stuff like this was kind of off limits. The memory hurt too much so you never talked about at home, parent problems. 

“Wow..I’m sorry. That must have been hard on both of you.” You admit and Luke nods.

“It was, but Julie helped me make amends with them last year.” Luke smiles a little and you smile too. You knew his little story was a play to get you to start talking so you took in a little breath. 

“My dad cheated on my mom a few years ago with..a few other women. My mom keeps trying to make excuses for him to keep him around. They fight a lot because my dad doesn’t want to stay but my mom keeps pushing it. They’re both pretty heavy drinkers, too. It’s not a very good mix.” You explain. It felt weird to say it out loud, but it also felt nice to talk about it with someone.

“I’m really sorry, Y/n. I can’t imagine how difficult that is.” Luke empathizes but you only shrug. 

“It’s a good thing Julie let’s me come over so much. She’s been there for me for it all and I really love her for that.” You say, smiling at the thought of Julie’s friendship. You really couldn’t ask for a better best friend to get through it all. 

“Yeah, Julie’s really great. She does it all.” Luke laughs and you nod in agreement. More silence fills in between you two but it was comfortable silence. This time you lean your head on Luke’s shoulder and he pulls his arm around you to bring you closer. You could feel the tension slowly fading away. Sometimes all it took was one meaningful conversation to break the barrier. 

“Oh yeah, I saw these on my way over here and I thought you might like them.” Luke smiles and you watch as he digs into his pocket before pulling out a small bouquet of those pretty Aster flowers. You sit up a little, instantly recognizing them. They were your grandma’s favorite before she passed away when you were little. 

“Asters?” You ask and Luke glances at you a little surprised.

“Is that what they’re called? They’re really pretty.” Luke smiles and hands them to you. You smile, smelling them and instantly getting that fresh scent of your grandma’s house. 

“They are very pretty. Thank you.” You smile warmly and Luke smiles again. 

“Yeah, you’re welcome. They just reminded me of you.” Luke says and you chuckle. That was something your grandma had said to you a lot. 

“You should probably get going. It’s getting late and the boys are probably wondering where you are.” You chuckle, glancing at how much later it had gotten and you still had to wake up for school the next morning. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll see you at Julie’s tomorrow?” Luke stands up and sends you a hopeful glance. You chuckle and nod a yes. 

“Yeah, see you there, Patterson.” Luke smiles at your response. You watch as he hesitates to leave for a moment and you’re about to question him when in one quick motion he plants a kiss on your cheek before poofing out. 

You sit there, a little stunned, before allowing a small blush to creep its way onto your cheeks. You got up to put your flowers in your little vase on your desk. It added a nice touch to your room. If Luke hadn’t come in to make you more alert, you would have missed it. On your desk by the vase was a small piece of paper with writing on it. Upon examining it further, it was one of the last notes your grandma had written to you before she passed away. You thought you had lost that somewhere in your numerous papers, but there it was, front and center on your desk. 

I will be with you, today, tomorrow, and forever. You just have to look for the signs - Grandma 

[petri808]

Nalu Yakuza Au *cover art by @jmoart214 💜

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |

The tit for tat game was well known to both of their top confidants and lieutenants because it had been going on ever since Natsu and Lucy broke up. Plus, it was hard to get around such knowledge considering most of them came from the same neighborhoods. These intrigues ebbed and flowed like waves. Months could pass by without any interactions between the two, at other times they’d go back and forth continuously until one of them finally gave up, and on the odd occasion ended in a huge fight that led to another round of ignoring each other. Up until now, it had been kind of amusing to watch them torture each other because it was better than a drama shows on television. But that didn’t mean Natsu, and Lucy’s friends didn’t worry about one or both being truly hurt one day because of it.

“It’s fine,” Natsu rolled his eyes as Gray chastised him after the soapland incident. The two men were at Natsu’s home after work hours and supposed to be relaxing. But clearly his friend didn’t want to drop the subject. “What’s the big deal?”

“Dude, you let yourself be blindfolded in a public space! Have you forgotten what kind of business we’re in? What if it had been an assassin instead?”

“Oh, that’s just ridiculous. We’re talking about Lucy’s company, and I trust their security measures because she has just as much to lose if a hit took place there.”

“Still, you should be more careful, at least take a bodyguard with you…”

Natsu’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. “And what, so they can watch the show? We got any voyeurs on the payroll? Cause I can’t think of anyone here who’d wanna see another guy getting his balls fondled!”

Gray ran a hand down his face. “So not the mental image I wanted. You’re missing the point.” He sighed. “Natsu you are the head of this clan, and your safety is my top priority.”

“I get it, I get it,” Natsu drawled.

“And frankly,” Gray continued, “you’ve become distracted by her lately.”

“Tch! No, I haven’t!”

“Yeah, you are. You think I haven’t noticed? I know you drive by her place sometimes. I know you’ve followed her to that coffee shop she likes to frequent. But ever since her employee was robbed, things have escalated again.”

“You’re imagining things and apparently spying on me. I’m just keeping an eye on the competition.”

“Watching over you is my job! That’s not spying.” Gray crossed his arms. “And oh, it’s no doubt that you’re keeping an eye on her. That’s why you went to Katsunuma’s party and to soapland too. The problem is you’re getting sloppy and sloppy gets people killed.”

Natsu groaned. “Are you done yet? We’re supposed to be enjoying the baseball game, not psychoanalyzing my life.”

“Almost.” Gray placed a hand on his friends’ knee and leaned in. “Natsu, you’ve been chasing that tail since high school, just lock her down and convince her to work together already.”

Natsu snorted a laugh. “Gray we all grew up together, so what in all these years makes you think that’s a possibility? You know damn well Lucy’s not a woman you can control without her consent.” Natsu knew that, and frankly he loved that part of her. In fact, it made him even more fired up whenever he thought about it, just like a treasure you don’t just find but must win at the end of a game. “I’ll find a way, some day.”

“Well until that day arrives, could you promise me you’ll be more cautious?”

“Fine, fine,” Natsu waved his hand. “I’ll back off of Lucy for now.”

“Good.” Gray relaxed back onto his recliner thinking the drama was over.

“However, there is a new guy I want surveillance placed on.”

“Who?”

“The bartender from the party.”

Gray groaned. “Seriously? Why? He’s just a bartender!”

“I don’t trust him.”

“Was he spiking the drinks or something? Dealing drugs at the party?”

“Maybe.”

Gray huffed. “You really gonna try that? Do I look like an idiot? This is just straight jealousy talking.”

“I don’t care! I want someone to dig up what they can on the guy!”

“No, what you wanna know is if he fucked Lucy that night!”

Natsu jumped up with his fists clenched. “Fuck you!”

“Fuck you too!” Gray stood up and matched his boss’s energy. “Unless you give me a damn good reason to check into him, I’m not wasting my guy’s time! You might be the boss, but don’t you fucking forget who you’re talking to! I’m not some punk off the streets!”

Realizing he was taking things too far, Natsu sat back down. “Sorry.”

Gray sighed and plopped back down too. “I only joined because you asked me to and you’re my best friend, then I helped you build this new empire, so I’m just as invested in protecting it as you are. But Natsu, personal emotions have led to the downfall of many in this business, and as a friend, I’ll check you any time I think you’re going to far.”

“You’re right…” Natsu sighed too. “She just gets me so worked up.”

“Don’t I know it,” Gray laughed, but stopped when Natsu glared at him. “Sorry, it slipped out.”

“But I swear, there’s something suspicious about him. When he saw me, I thought he just reacted because he thought I was Lucy’s boyfriend or something, but the more I think about it, he might have recognized me.”

“Well, that wouldn’t necessarily be suspicious either.”

“True. But the look in his eyes just made me wonder.”

“Alright…” Gray groaned, “if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll have someone do some digging. So, you said he has orange hair and glasses, and the name on his tag was Loke?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s an unusual name, shouldn’t be too hard to check on.”

Over the course of a couple of weeks, Gray sent out feelers for any information on this Loke guy. Katsunuma junior gave them their first small lead that the bartender had worked the party through a local food catering company. That catering company was a legitimate business who had both full-time staff as well as independent contractors brought in per event as needed. Loke had been one of the latter. From there Gray obtained a last name, de Lioncourt.

According to his sources at the local precinct, Loke de Lioncourt had no rap sheet, no prior dealings with police, and for all they knew was an average citizen. The man’s Line blog profile listed him as a 28-year-old, Japanese/French American, model and bartender, and it was filled with pictures from events, parties, as well as many gorgeous women— none of which contained Lucy. But as Gray trolled through the man’s feed, he did come across one person he recognized and passed the information along to Natsu.

“Wow, she’s in a bunch of photos,” Natsu mumbled as he scrolled through the blog.

“Well, considering Cana’s reputation are you surprised. Parties and alcohol are the two things that woman lives for.” Gray laughed. “Now see, this makes sense to me. Lucy and him, not so much.”

“Tch… still pisses me off he even tried.”

“Lucy’s a free woman, she can go out with whoever she wants to.”

“We’ll see about that,” Natsu mumbled low.

“What was that?” Gray asked with a raised brow.

“Nothing.”

“Better be nothing, cause this is a dead end. He’s just a flirty bartender. It’s how they make tips.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Natsu sat back in his chair. “So, back to business. What this I heard about some missing stock?”

“Oh, right. One of the warehouse clerks noticed a shortage, but when I checked with Yura, he said the books were fine. I had him show it to me, and it appears the numbers were just inverted by accident. So, instead of 185 kilos, it’s supposed to be 158 kilos.”

“Did you talk to the clerk again? Does he have any history of messing up like this?”

“Nah, he’s one of our better clerks.”

“Just keep an eye on it.”

“Sure thing, boss. By the way, have you seen Gajeel today?” Gray questioned. “I haven’t seen him.”

“He called me this morning said he wasn’t feeling well, thinks he ate something bad for dinner last night.”

“Tch, seriously? Thought he had an iron stomach?”

Natsu shrugged. “Must’a been some bad sushi or something. We ain’t got much happening today, so it’s fine. Anything else? I got some stuff I need to finish.”

Gray tapped his chin. “Just a reminder you have an appointment with our tech guy dropping by later this week to go over some upgrades on the system.”

“Like I’m supposed to know anything about that stuff, it’s what I pay him for.”

“You still gotta approve it,” Gray shrugged and took his leave.

Once the man was completely out of the office, Natsu opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a nondescript box he’d hidden inside. He grinned to himself. It was time to make another special delivery. Even though he’d told Gray he was backing off the whole Lucy and Loke subject, there was no way he was gonna let it slide. Natsu didn’t care if the man seemed legit, and he wasn’t the first nor would probably be the last that he’d eventually scared away. And besides, being a Yakuza boss had a lot of down times too, easily filled with having a little fun.

Today’s little care package was being sent to Lucy by a courier service and Natsu just had to drop it off to the delivery company. Just a normal company like Kuroneko Yamato so it wouldn’t rouse too many suspicions. It was turning into a fun game for him just coming up with ideas of what he could do to rile Lucy up or irritate this Loke guy. Natsu chuckled to himself. So far, his favorite prank was a box of small sized condoms and a bottle of enhancement pills that he’d had delivered to Loke while on the job at another party. He’d even snuck in to watch it delivered, gaining a good laugh when the man took a peek in the box and frowned at its contents.

It was childish, but Natsu didn’t care. Every day for two weeks now, something new was sent to Loke. Random gifts like children’s candy to a toy gun, a big bottle of lubricant wrapped in a bow, a week’s worth of meals sent for lunch one day, even an empty box with rocks inside it just to drive the man crazy wondering who in the world was sending them. Lucy too wasn’t immune to his pranks, though hers had a different feel to them. Flowers with no note attached. Tickets to a canceled show he made up. A supposed dinner invite from Loke that wasn’t real— okay that was to test her, but she didn’t fall for it. And today’s little care package fit right into his prank scheme.

Natsu dropped off the package at a Kuroneko Yamato office with the address instructions already filled out and paid the company’s employee extra to keep their mouths shut. ‘She’s gonna kill me one day,’ he laughed to himself as he rode back to his office. ‘If it’s suffocation by her boobs it wouldn’t be a bad way to go!’

“Anymore stops sir?” The driver asked Natsu.

“Nope. Back to the office.”

He looked at his watch. The package should be arriving at Lucy’s office within the hour. Give or take another to open it, and by 4pm he would be receiving another phone call. Maybe he won’t answer it. Oh, that would piss her off even more! ‘Well, if she’d just take the hint...’

The afternoon was supposed to be mellow at headquarters that day. No shipments, and no appointments. But when Natsu got back, another general in the organization named Jellal Fernandez came to his office to inform him of a problem. One of the new local restaurants in their territory was refusing to cooperate and he wanted to know how Natsu wanted it handled. They were right in the middle of discussing it, when Natsu’s office door flew open with a loud bang!

In stomped Lucy who immediately threw a box at his head, causing Natsu to duck and Jellal to pull his gun.

“Don’t!” Natsu screamed at his general and motioned for him to stand down, to which the man complied. “Do you have a death wish Lucy!”

“Get. Out.” She snapped at the general. “Get out! This is between me and your boss!”

Jellal looked to Natsu, who nodded his head to scram. “I got this, don’t worry.” The man holstered his gun and left, but Natsu could see he’d stayed right outside of the now closed door.

“I take it you didn’t like the gift,” Natsu pretended to stay calm.

“Gee, me throwing it at you give you that impression? I know it’s you sending all these damn deliveries to me and Loke. That needs to stop now!”

He crossed his arms and scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Play dumb all you want. Just stop! Why are you even doing this?!”

“Take a guess,” he sneered back.

“I could’ve sworn we were adults now, but apparently I’m the only one who grew up. Stay out of my love life Natsu!”

“So, you admit you’re sleeping with the guy!”

“That’s none of your damn business! I can fuck whoever I want!”

“Not as long as I’m alive,” Natsu growled back.

Lucy crossed her arms. “That could be arranged.”

“Is that a threat?!”

“Yes! If you don’t stay out of my love life!”

“A woman shouldn’t be sleepi—”

“Don’t you finish that sentence!” Lucy grabbed a stapler that was within reach and chucked it at Natsu’s head. “Stop trying to control me!”

“Are you crazy?!”

At that moment, Gray barged into the room. He’d heard the screaming from the other side of the office, and when he got close enough to see Jellal standing outside the door, he became alarmed. Why would a general leave Natsu vulnerable! The man told him their boss told him to leave, but as the sounds inside escalated, Gray couldn’t wait anymore.

“Stop it!!” Gray got between them. “What are you two doing! Lucy you shouldn’t be here!”

“Then tell your damn boss to leave me the fuck alone!” Lucy spat back. “Ask him how he’s been harassing Loke and me!”

Gray turned to his boss with a groan. “Natsu, we talked about this!”

“Tell Gray what you been doing!” Lucy pressed. “Show him the stupid packages you send!”

“What packages?” Gray looked to Lucy, then repeated the question as he stared at his boss. “What packages?”

“Tch,” Natsu crossed his arms, “it’s not even that bad.”

Lucy stomped over to where the box fell and picked it up, pulling the contents out. “Bullshit!” She snapped as she held up a very racy, red nightie with flame prints, a pair of fluffy handcuffs, and a large dildo. “See this shit?!” Lucy shook the floppy latex toy at Gray before chucking it to the ground again. “He includes messages too,” then handed the man a folded piece of paper.

Gray read it aloud, “to make up for what playboy lacks. Had it custom made to my size wink wink. Ugh, seriously man,” he tossed the letter.

Natsu shrugged. “I was just having fun.”

“This is the yakuza, not a daycare!” Gray snaps. “I’m not here to babysit the boss so he stops harassing the competition! There’s more important business to worry about!”

“That’s right listen to Gray,” Lucy sneered.

Gray turned to her. “Oh, you ain’t innocent either, so don’t even try it. You both do things to purposely rile the other up and get mad when there’s consequences. Stop it!” He looked back and forth between the two. “Just stop it already!”

Natsu and Lucy looked away from the man with scowls on their faces. Neither wanted to admit he was right.

“Jellal,” Gray called out. When the man entered, he instructed him to escort Lucy out of there. “Next time, just call me instead. It’s best you two just stay away from each other. Got it?!”

“Yeah,” Lucy grumped.

“Got it?!” Gray questioned his boss.

“Yeah,” Natsu mumbled.

“Fucking like high school,” Gray ran a hand down his face in irritation. “You two need therapy.”

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 1 - Meeting the Team

This was it.  She was excited.  No excited wasn’t the word.  Terrified? Yeah, that was closer.  Marinette was about to step into the Young Justice base for the first time and meet her new teammates.  What if they don’t like her?  What if they don’t let her join the team?  What if they let her join the team but they exclude her?  What if they get mad at her because she won’t expose her identity and they think she doesn’t trust them?  What if she messes up and she ends up getting someone killed?  What if she gets one of her teammates killed? What if she gets someone else killed? What if… No!  

She wasn’t going to do that.  She wasn’t the same 14 year old girl who spiraled into anxiety-induced, worst-case-scenario, death spirals.  She was 17 now.  She was in her final year of school before college, nearly an adult, legally, she was an adult.  She was the Guardian.  She was a hero.  She was already in a prestigious internship with one of the biggest names in fashion.  She was working with the Justice League, well Young Justice, but that was better because there wasn’t as much of a time commitment, which was really good because she didn’t have much to spare… where was she going with this? Right!  She was smart.  She was competent.  She was confident(ish).  She was… standing outside the zeta tube opening staring at it like an idiot, and she was going to be late.  

She took a deep breath and ran her free hand over the costume she wasn’t quite used to yet, trying to find comfort in the feeling and focus her mind.  She could do this.  She may no longer be able to be Ladybug for secrecy reasons, but Ladybug wasn’t her only option.  She was Chimera now and Chimera was not linked back to the miraculous.  So this new and completely un-miraculous affiliated hero definitely wasn’t unifying the fox and horse miraculous.  Chimera was a separate and unmiraculous hero.  She was a new heroic entity; a powerful amalgamation of divergent parts; an illusion, who uses illusions; a dream that can never be captured.   Chimera was just another magical hero working in the background.

Gone was the flashy, bright suit of a central hero.  She was a shadow now and her suit reflected her new role.  The base of the suit was a brown so dark, it almost looked black.  Her knee-high boots and gloves that reached to midway up her bicep were both black, meeting with the brown core of the suit with a strip of deep orange.  Her mask was the same dark brown color with deep orange at the corners.    She no longer had her yoyo, but in its place was a rope that responded to her like her yoyo did.  Her flute across her back completed her weaponry.

She was still a hero, just not a miraculous one, as far as anyone else knew. She was still protecting people for now, she just wasn’t on the front lines anymore.  She was still protecting the miraculous and would for the rest of her life.  And she was still… standing outside the Zeta tube opening, staring.

She closed her eyes, and walked through the portal.  Before she let out her breath, she could feel a difference in the air around her.  She heard a digital voice say “Recognize Chimera B12.”  She opened one eye tentatively and jumped back with a quiet squeak when she saw Batman standing on the other side giving her an amused smile next to Black Canary and a red figure.  

Black Canary stepped forward, “Welcome to Mount Justice, Chimera.  You’ve already met Batman.  This is Red Tornado.  He supervises the cave here.” Chimera nodded to him but before she could say anything Black Canary continued speaking.  “We are very excited to have you here.  While you are training and on missions, this will be your home.  I know you have an apartment near your internship, but if you ever want to get away, you are always welcome to stay here whenever and however long you want to.” Her voice was warm and welcoming.  She leaned over and lowered her voice, “lead lined walls and no bugs or cameras allowed in the personal rooms in case you want to drop your transformation while you are here.”  She gave her a nod and started walking, motioning to Chimera to follow her.

“As discussed before, your team knows nothing about you.  What you choose to disclose is your decision.  Only Batman and I know anything more.  The team is used to people hiding their identities so there is no pressure to give your personal identity.  I mean, there might be teasing, but you are under absolutely no obligation to divulge and they will respect that.  Especially since Robin is under the same requirement.”  

They entered into a small sitting area that appeared to be their common room. The first thing she noticed was a kitchen that was almost as nice as her parents’ kitchen in the bakery and significantly bigger.  She let out a quiet “Wow” without even noticing she had done it.  She would have to try that out as soon as she was able to get back to it.

“Pretty nice, huh?” She heard from behind her.  She whirled around and finally noticed the other half of the room were a few couches and chairs were clustered in front of a television.  More significantly, there was a red headed boy talking to her, standing in front of four other teens.  They were looking at her with uncertainty and a slight bit of curiosity except the red headed boy who looked excited to meet her, and the larger black haired boy who looked a bit hostile.

“Uh, yeah.  It’s… um, a really nice kitchen.  It looks… really professional.”  She stammered, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice.

The red head smiled brightly at her.  “Only the best for the Justice League.”

“Alright team, it’s nice to see your smiling faces.” Black Canary started with more than a hint of sarcasm.  “I would like to introduce you to your new team member.  This is Chimera.”  Chimera gave an awkward wave to the Young Justice members.  “She was recruited by the Justice League.  Her identity is secret and will stay that way, am I clear?” She stared at each of the team members one at a time.  “Good. She is here under an outside deal so she may not always be available for missions, but she will be here whenever she can be.”

The red head raised his hand. “Wally, you don’t have to raise your hand.” Batman said tiredly.

“What is the outside deal?  What does that even mean?”

“It means something else brought her to our vicinity and she is only available to us because of that.  The details of the deal are not important.  Only that she is a hero on your team and every bit as dedicated to the team as the rest of you.”

“How is she as dedicated if she can’t commit to being here?” Artemis snarked quietly to Superboy.

“We all have outside lives that demand our attention.  There are times I can’t go out with the Justice League.  One of the others cover for me.  Are you suggesting I am not committed to the Justice League?” Batman stared harshly at her.

“No, sir.” Artemis shrunk back.

“I’m sorry, I have school and… other obligations, but I promise I will give you as much time and attention as I can spare without going insane.  Learned that the hard way.” She looked down as she muttered the last part under her breath.  She quickly looked back up hoping nobody heard her.  Everyone seemed to have the same expressions on their faces except Superboy who was giving her a quizzical look.  “I am committed to the team.  I want to be here, I promise.  Um… here, I brought macarons!”  She said with forced cheeriness, attempting to placate their suspicions and hostility. She opened the lid to the box of macarons she had brought with her.

Chimera’s hair blew back as Wally rushed forward.  He had already grabbed three macarons before she even saw him move. “These are delicious!  Where did you get them?”

“Thank you.  I made them. I like to bake.”  She smiled broadly at him.

Wally stared at her with his jaw open, the macaron close to falling out of his mouth. “Marry me.” He said dreamily.

Chimera giggled at him.  “How about I use the only-the-best kitchen to make something else for you a bit later instead?”

Wally gave her a bright grin.  “That will work.”  He looked at the rest of the macarons longingly then back at his teammates.  “Uh…. These are absolutely terrible and you shouldn’t have to be subjected to them.  I’ll just finish these off so you don’t have to.”  He reached back toward the box but Chimera closed the lid and raised an amused brow at him.

“Move over,” Robin pushed Wally to the side.  “Thank you Chimera.  That was sweet of you.”  He took a bite and looked back up at her with a smile.  “Hey, Wally was right.  These are delicious.  Artemis, Kaldur, Superboy, get over here and try these.”

Kaldur and Artemis came over, Artemis shoving Wally again for no apparent reason. Superboy stayed where he had been and continued to eye her suspiciously.  Wally looked at them with a pout.  “Hey!  Leave some for me.”

“You’ve already had a bunch.  The rest of us get some too.” Artemis rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I have a fast metabolism.  I need to eat.” Wally whined.

“Thank you… I’m sorry, I didn’t get any of your names.” Chimera said apologetically.

“Tall, blonde, and hostile is Artemis.  Tall, blonde, and aloof is Kaldur.  Tall, dark, and broody back there is Superboy.  You already met Wally, aka Kid Flash.  And I’m Robin.”  Robin gave her a charming smile and shook her hand.

She gave them all a brilliant smile.  “It is nice to meet you all.  I’m really excited to work with you.”  Wally smiled broadly at her and gave a lovesick sigh.  Artemis groaned and turned away.

Kaldur moved forward and extended his hand to her, “Welcome to the team.”

She shook his hand and gave him a warm smile.  “Thank you.”

“Okay, now that everyone has introduced themselves, let’s get to the training area.  I’m interested to see how Chimera’s powers work with the rest of yours.”  Black Canary announced.

“The training area is just this way,” Robin said with a suave smile, sweeping his arm out toward the direction they were supposed to move.

“Thanks,” Chimera smiled anxiously at him.

Wally came up on the other side of her and bumped his shoulder gently into hers.  “Don’t worry, we’ll take it easy on you.” He said with a wink.

Chimera looked at him blank faced for a few seconds before throwing him a sassy grin.  “It’s not me I’m worried about, speedy.”

“Oh no, Speedy was someone else.” Artemis threw in, moving past the group.

“You’re kidding.” Chimera stared at her.

“Nope.” Artemis responded popping the p.  “A whole different hero.  Not even fast either.  Makes no sense.”

“Good to know.” Chimera nodded absentmindedly.

“Oh, she can never meet Speedy.” Wally looked at the other heroes with wide eyes.

“Is he that bad?” Chimera asked, concern seeping into her eyes.

Artemis turned back to her and grinned wickedly, “No, he’s afraid you’ll start dating him.”

“Ahh.  I don’t date teammates so, don’t worry.”  Chimera reassured Wally with a clap on his back.  Artemis barely contained the chuckles that were fighting to spill out.

Wally gave her a distressed look, “But, teammates are great.  They are supportive and understand you… They’re… They’re the ideal dating material.”

“You make some interesting points.” She nodded as though contemplating his words.  “Luckily, you have very pretty and interesting teammates, four at least from what I can see.  So you have a wealth of dating material at your disposal.”  Chimera gave him a wink and walked ahead of him.  Artemis cackled loudly and threw her arm over Chimera’s shoulders, walking along with her.  “I think I’m going to like having you here.”

Chimera smiled at her.  “Good.  I hope so.”

Black Canary gave them a serious look and stood in the middle of the sparring area as the team lined up around the edges.  “Let’s get started.  This is an exhibition sparring match.  We want to see what you can do and what your teammates can do and see how you can mesh.”

“You don’t know what she can do?” Kaldur asked.

“I know. It’s you I’m concerned about.  You’re going to be working with her and leading her. You need to know what she can do. So, Chimera?  Go full force.  We want to know what to plan for in the field.”  Black Canary commanded.

Chimera looked at her unsure.  “Full force?  Are you sure? I don’t want to… That can be really dangerous.”

Black Canary nodded in understanding.  “I get that, but I assure you it will be fine.  We just need to see where you are in your skills, so we need you to give it your all.”

Chimera eyes got even bigger, “I’m not going to kill someone to prove a point.  I can do a demonstration instead.”

The rest of the team looked at her insulted.  Robin finally spoke up to scoff at her.  “We can take it.  We’ve dealt with worse.  Don’t worry.”

Ladybug looked back at him with wide eyes.  “It isn’t… I don’t think I’m a better fighter than you.  I’m positive you all have better training than I do, especially since I don’t have any, it’s just… I’ve brought down the Eiffel Tower with one hit before.  Thank god for miraculous ladybugs.  But you all look a bit more…” she struggled for an appropriate word to finish her thought, “…vulnerable.  I really don’t want to hurt any of you.”  She shot him a pleading look.

Superboy stepped forward with a determined look on his face. “Then try me.  I’m less…” he paused as if thinking, “what was that word you used… Vulnerable.”

She looked at him uncertain then looked over to Black Canary, taking note of her stern expression.  She nodded and stepped onto the mat.  “I’ll make it work.” Chimera offered uncertainly.

They faced each other for a few moments before settling into a fighting stance.  When she was ready, Chimera nodded to Superboy.  He rushed at her and extended his arm at the last second to deliver a haymaker punch.  Chimera bent backwards and twirled in a semi-circle so she was standing behind him and kicked him in the butt, sending him sprawling on the floor.  He got up and glared at her.  He rushed her again, this time aiming for her waist so she couldn’t duck under him.  She stared at him coming at her like a deer in headlights.  Superboy got a smug glint in his eye as he closed in on her.  At the last second, Chimera jumped up and rolled down his back, landing on her feet behind him, the wide eyed expression long gone.

“We need you to try, Chimera.  We need you to actually fight, not just dodge.”  Batman stated sternly.

Chimera looked over to him to nod at the instruction. The momentary distraction was enough for Superboy to land a hard hit to her stomach.  The force of the impact sent her flying across the mat.  The team winced and groaned in sympathy as she hit a wall with a hard thump.  Superboy moved over to her to check on her but stopped half way to her.   Chimera stood up and cocked her head to the side, examining Superboy.  She raised her brow and asked calmly, “So… super strength.  Invulnerability?”

He nodded at her.  “Okay then.”  She smirked at him, walking back to the central area of the room.  “Let’s do this.”  He smiled slightly and nodded.  She immediately launched herself at him, catching him by surprise.  She punched him hard enough to send him across the room in the opposite direction.  He slid toward the wall but was able to regain enough control to use the wall as a springboard to launch himself back at her.  She saw him coming and twisted at the last second, using his momentum against him to push him off balance.  He recovered quicker than she expected and swept her legs out from under her. She used her momentum to turn the fall into a flip, leading to a series of flips and twists taking her away from him, giving her some space to think.

They circled around each other trying to plan their next move.  Suddenly Chimera stopped and looked like she just realized something.  “Oh I forgot.  I’m supposed to be showing my skills…” she started innocently.  Superboy took advantage of her apparent distraction to jump at her again but that was the moment she had been waiting for.  “Voyage” she whispered and created a portal behind her. She stepped out of the way at the last possible second, sending Superboy through the portal at full speed.  The portal ended close to the rock wall on the other side of the room.  Superboy almost slammed into the wall with his full force but she had left him enough room to bounce back off the wall and launch himself back through the portal and back in front of her, throwing a punch toward her sternum that she was just barely able to twist away from, rolling along his arm until she was in the perfect position to elbow him in the back of his head.  He grunted and turned back toward her, circling around her again.

“Full force, Chimera,” Black Canary chastised her.

“Not going to make him bleed on purpose for a game, Ms. Canary.” Chimera responded, still focused on Superboy.  “Besides, we’re not done yet.”  She turned to Superboy, “Right?”  He nodded at her, an amused glint in his eyes.  “I haven’t even showed off all my skills yet.”

“Well, let’s see those skills you keep talking about.” Superboy taunted her.

“If you say so Superboy.” She smirked at him then frowned.  “I don’t appreciate that your actual name is the name I would have called you to taunt you.  You’re making my job harder.”

He frowned at her, the amused look that had been in his eyes dropping.  “So sorry my name is an inconvenience.  You can call me The Weapon like my makers did if you prefer.”

Chimera stood up straight, fidgeting and frowning at him.  “That’s… really?” She looked around to the other heroes.  They all nodded solemnly.

She looked back at him with softer eyes.  “What do you want to be called?” She asked in a kind tone.

“I… Superboy.”  He said stiffly, not exactly sure how to respond to the shift in atmosphere.

Chimera nodded and gave him a warm smile.  “Superboy it is.  No nicknames unless you approve of them.”

“As heartwarming as this is, you are supposed to be sparring.” Black Canary reminded them.

“Right,” Chimera said shook her head to refocus herself. “Sorry.”  She whispered “Mirage,” bringing her flute up to her lips.  As soon as the notes were heard, a dozen replicas of her appeared and began running around the circle.  Superboy tried to scan them but they all looked identical even with his infrared vision.  He stilled to listen for a heartbeat or breathing, but he couldn’t detect it in any of them.  He looked around wildly.  It was a sea of dark brown and bright orange.  He nodded to himself calculating the possibilities.  Most likely she managed to split herself.  So either they are all fully sentient or there is a central figure controlling them.  He’d have to hope for the latter.

His eyes flicked to one of the figures running at him.  The figure jumped into a flying kick.  He dodged out of the way and rolled to his feet, looking around again for the next attack. He didn’t wait long.  Another figure ducked low to sweep his feet.  He jumped over her but felt a sharp pain in his side as one of the replicas body checked him with enough force to knock him into the far wall.  

Superboy shook his head to clear it.  When he took more than a few seconds to recover, the replicas looked at him concerned.  One of them finally moved forward and asked “Are you okay to continue?”  

He stared at the replica for a few moments before nodding.  “We’re not done yet.”  All the replicas smiled at him and moved into new positions, waiting for him to indicate he was ready.  As soon as he nodded two replicas moved to attack him, one went high, one went for his legs.  He lunged for the one going high, jumping over the one going for his legs.  As soon as he reached her, she disappeared.  Not meeting the resistance he had expected, the force of the lunge caused him to lay out flat on the floor.  He grunted and jumped up before any of the replicas could attack again.  

As soon as he was up he looked around with a grin. “Mirage,” he repeated.  They were all an illusion.  He just had to find the real one.  Two attacked him again.  He hit one causing it to disappear but the other one hit him with her flute, knocking him to the side.  He shook his head again and turned back to them and backed away, giving himself space. He just had to find the one. There had to be an indication of which one was the real one.  He couldn’t use his infrared vision or hearing.  Maybe there was something about them.  He stared at them as they circled around each other.  There!  There was one with a different shade of orange, the shade Chimera had before the match. All the replicas had bright orange but the real Chimera had deep orange accents.  

He kept his eyes moving so she wouldn’t know he’d made her.  He moved forward toward one of the replicas moving to punch her.  Chimera attacked from the side again, coming at him before he could touch the replica and make it disappear.  He grinned to himself.  At the last second, he changed his trajectory and sent another haymaker toward her.  He jerked back in pain as the replica he had been moving toward originally made contact, knocking the air out of his lungs. He grunted in anger and confusion as a rope was tied around him, pinning down his arms.  His legs were swept out from under him causing him to land hard. He trashed with all his strength as he felt her tying his legs too.  He kept thrashing against the rope, but no matter how hard he pushed and pulled, the rope showed no indication of weakening.  

After a few moments of him pointlessly struggling, Black Canary walked over and declared Chimera the winner.  She smiled excitedly at Chimera.  “Now we know what we’re working with and we can plan how to incorporate your skills into missions and approaches to your training.”

Chimera nodded in understanding and looked over to the team who were still watching her in various degrees of surprise.  Kaldur nodded in approval.  Wally and Artemis stared at her in shock.  Robin was pointing and laughing at Superboy.  Chimera glowered at him and turned back to Superboy, releasing the rope so he could get up.  

As soon as he was freed, Superboy jumped up and rubbed his arms, glaring at the floor.  Chimera smiled nervously in his direction, but he refused to look at her and had turned his body away from her.  She sighed and looked down too, shifting nervously.  After a few moments, she started gathering up the rope to tie it back around her waist.  She furrowed her brows at the sound of Robin still laughing, which seemed to upset Superboy even more.  She narrowed her eyes at him and whipped the rope out in his direction.  It snapped a few inches away from his face with a crack so loud it reverberated throughout the cave.  Robin jumped away awkwardly and fell backwards, landing on his butt.

Superboy looked from Robin to her.  He let out a small laugh and gave her a smile. Chimera took it as a good sign and smiled back at him.  “That was a lot of fun.  You are really good at picking up on details, otherwise that color trick wouldn’t have worked.” Her voice was soft, like she was addressing a scared child.

He nodded at her and quietly said, “Thanks. It was fun.”

“Does that mean we can do it again sometime?  I need practice sparring and I’m usually afraid I’ll hurt someone when I’m in the suit and when I’m not, it isn’t as effective. I mean, helpful still, but not as effective.”  He stared at her for a few seconds but finally nodded at her.

“That was a pretty good introduction but it’s getting late now.  I think it’s time to call it a night.  Red Tornado, can you take Chimera to the room she will be using so she can recharge?” Black Canary asked.

When Chimera returned a few minutes later, the group smiled at her and gave their goodbyes.  They made plans for everyone to return the next day for more training.  One by one, they all left through the Zeta tubes except for Superboy.  Chimera looked at him confused.  “Are you not leaving too?”

“No.” He stated coldly.

“Why not?  I mean… if you don’t mind me asking.” She stammered out.

“Because I live here.” He grumbled back at her.

“Alone?” She gasped.

“With Red Tornado.” He corrected defiantly.

“But no other… people? In this big, empty, cold place?” She looked out over the cave, the empty, cold, inhospitable place he was going to call home.

“I like being alone.”  He stated in an annoyed voice.

Something that looked like anger flashed across her face transforming into a determined look before she smoothed it out and gave him a cheeky grin.  “That’s a shame.”  

He narrowed his eyes looking at her suspiciously, “Why is that?”

“I’m moving in.”  Her smile grew bigger.

He furrowed his brow and frowned, “What?”

“I’m moving in.  I have school and, uh… stuff during the day, but I’ll be here in the mornings and at night, most weekends.” She nodded at him.  “It will be like a sleepover every night… except we’ll be sleeping in separate rooms.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, unsure how to react. “Whatever,” he grunted walking back toward the residence area.  “Dinner is usually in like 30 minutes.” He called over his shoulder.  She smiled in his direction.  It wasn’t a warm welcome but it was better than nothing.  

“Are you sure about this?  It isn’t required for you to live here.  Most of the members don’t.” Black Canary reassured her.

“That’s why I’m doing it.  I’ve already had one teammate who had to live essentially alone and isolated in a big, empty space.  He hated it.  It messes with your self-worth and your ability to interact with other people, no matter how badly you want to.  It scrapes away at your humanity.  I couldn’t really do anything for his living situation, but I can do something for Superboy.”

“It will make keeping your identity more difficult.” Batman warned her softly.

“I know, but he’s my teammate.  I won’t abandon him.  And I need a friend here too.  I’ll be all alone otherwise, so… it will be mutually beneficial… I hope.”  She added tentatively.

Batman and Black Canary shared an approving look with each other and turned back to her.  “Okay.  Let us or Red Tornado know if you need anything.  We really think you are going to fit in amazingly with this team.”

Chimera smiled at them and shifted slightly to look out over the rest of the cave.  “I think so, too.”

Chapter 2

[echoghost1]

Out Of This World (And Into The Next)

Word Count: 6,062

For: @theaxolotkween & @rayghosts/@ghostsray

Summary: What if when Danny first fought the Lunch Lady ghost she actually noticed how young he was. What if she didn't know he was more than just another ghost? What if when she commented on how underweight he was, she decided to help him?

You can read on AO3 or down below the cut

“Don't you see?” The lunch lady screamed as she holds Danny upsidedown by just his ankle, “This is why you need meat! You're skin and bones!” She holds him up higher and really looks at him before addressing him directly in her calmer tone, “When was the last time you ate anything?”

“Uh,” Danny started intelligently as he tried to ignore how odd it was that all the blood wasn’t rushing to his head, “This morning?”

It must be a ghost thing. If he could float then gravity wasn’t really affecting him the same.

“Yeah, I had cereal.” he nods, then adds to himself as an afterthought, “Didn’t finish it though.”

“What?! You didn’t! What about lunch then? It’s past noon!”

“Well this is my lunch hour,” he shrugged, “and I was about to eat, but uh,” he couldn’t help the wince as he finished, “then you showed up?”

She gasped and immediately let go of him.

He dropped about a foot before he flipped in the air and floated back upward right side up.

“Well, that simply will not do!” She looked over him with an expression that Danny wasn’t sure if it was pity or concern. He’d seen Jazz make that face at him a lot, that was for sure.

“Here, eat this!” she said as she shoved a piece of cake straight into his mouth.

With no other choice but to accept, he swallowed it. He wiped his lips for the remaining frosting with his thumb as the flavor of the cake made itself known. It was probably the best piece of cake he had ever had in his life. “Wow, that was delicious!”

He eagerly licked his fingers clean before looking back at her, “Do you have more?”

She smiled, “Certainly child. Right this way.” she held out her arm and gestured him to follow her.

They floated over to the back wall and she opened the door to the walk-in freezer. Only when she opened it, it wasn’t a freezer on the inside. It was the ghost zone.

He stopped in his tracks as he felt the chill from the freezer portal slowly edge its way towards him.

She turned back holding her hand out to him but stopped when she noticed his reaction, “What’s the matter, dear? Aren’t you coming?”

“I,” he hesitated slowly shaking his head, “I can’t go in there.”

She stared at him for a moment before a look of realization crossed her face, “Have you never crossed into the veil before?”

He assumed she meant the ghost zone so he shook his head no.

“Really? Odd, you feel just like it.”

He wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he didn’t say anything.

She smiled again and floated closer to him, “You haven’t been a ghost for very long, have you?”

He didn’t see the point in lying, so he didn’t. “It’s only been a month.”

She was close enough to gently run the back of her finger down his cheek, “And yet you’re so fully-formed? Even without crossing? You must have a very strong will.”

He was so confused right now. Not even five minutes ago they were throwing punches and now she was comforting him? Were all ghosts this weird?

“Is your family still around?”

“Yeah.”

“Do they know you’re still here?”

“Of course they do! I live with them,” he answered totally perplexed as to what she was asking him. It seemed like there was some meaning that he just wasn’t understanding.

She gasped, “You’re haunting them?”

His hands sprung up on instinct and he waved them around trying to get rid of that line of thinking completely. “No, no, no! I can’t be haunting them! I’m not a ghost.”

She raised an eyebrow and floated back just a hair to completely get him in her view, “Hate to break it to you, Sugar, but,” she gestured to all of him or more importantly the fact that he was glowing and floating and looked exactly like a ghost right now.

He closed his eyes and sighed. “I mean I am right now, but not all the time!”

She pulled him into a hug, “It’s okay, Sweetheart. I know it’s confusing. Especially with how young you are.” she leaned back and examined his face with that same Jazz-face she had made earlier, “You had an accident? It happened fast, didn’t it?”

How did she know that?

“Where was your family?”

He looked down towards his boots and rubbed his arm, “Jazz was upstairs. In her room, I think?”

“And your parents?”

He tried to think back to that day. It was only a month ago, but some of the details were a little fuzzy.

Had his parents just gone upstairs or were they out that day? Hadn’t they just tried to turn it on? No, it was a few days after that, right? Had he been alone or were Sam and Tucker there?

His head started to hurt as he tried to remember. It was like someone had taken an egg beater to his brains and scrambled them.

The lunch lady ghost pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back soothingly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. I wasn’t sure how much you knew. Or how much you could handle.”

He pulled back, resting his hands on her broad shoulders, “Do you know?” he was so confused right now.

She smiled gently, “No honey, we only just met today.”

“Oh yeah,” he knew that.

He grimaced as the throbbing from his headache flared up. As if he was going to forget about that anytime soon. He rubbed his fist into his forehead trying to soothe the ache.

He thought he heard someone calling to him but he couldn’t focus.

“Why don’t we get you something to eat. That should make that nasty headache go away.” she patted him on the back and pushed him back down towards her shoulder.

The coolness of her body felt so nice that he closed his eyes and hummed in contentment.

“That’s right, just relax,” she whispered.

He could feel her move, the gentle sway as she floated was at just the right rhythm for him to let himself drift off to sleep.

He hadn’t even realized he was that tired until then.

Being a ghost was exhausting.

===============================================

Danny opened his eyes and was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling. It was very high and the plain white paint was interrupted with large wooden cross beams.

He sat up immediately and floated a couple of inches off the bed. He looked down and found he was still in his ghost form.

He had never woken up that way before.

He looked back at the bed. It had a blue metal frame with one side that arched up along the wall, it reminded him of the bed he’d use whenever he’d visit his grandmother’s house. He had to think for a moment but then remembered what it was called, a daybed.

Why was he sleeping on a daybed?

“I’m supposed to be at school!”

He flew towards the door, but hesitated before he grasped the handle. He slowly reached out and tried to phase his hand through the door.

His hand just ran into the door as if he was solid. But he could feel that tingly feeling in his hand which meant he was using his power.

So why wasn’t it working?

He shrugged and went to open the door normally.

It opened.

He peered out and saw a short empty hall. The brickwork that was in the room he had woken up in, carried out into the hall as well.

There was a familiar scent wafting towards him and floated silently into the room at the end of the hall.

“Grilled Cheese?” he asked softly.

In front of a large flattop grill, like the kind in restaurants, was the Lunch Lady ghost and she was in fact, making a bunch of grilled cheese sandwiches. He looked around the room and found no one else there. Why was she making so many?

She turned to face him and smiled, “Well hello there Sweetpea. You feeling any better after your nap?”

“Uh, yeah?”

And he did. His headache had gone away. Although he was still really confused. Was this where she lived?

It looked like a studio loft apartment and an industrial kitchen had a baby. Weird, but it did fit her.

“Good to hear. You hungry? Lunch is just about ready.”

“Yeah okay.”

If he had slept wouldn’t it be time for dinner?

She put a couple of sandwiches on a plate for him, they were cut into triangles. “Milk?” she asked as she pushed the plate across the counter towards him.

He climbed up onto the barstool and just agreed to that too.

Why not? He couldn’t think of a reason not to. Besides he was hungry.

“Are you expecting anyone else?” he asked as he carefully picked up the hot triangle of cheesy goodness.

“No.” She set a large glass of milk down for him. Much larger than he would have poured for himself.

“Okay.”

This was so weird.

She didn’t think he was going to eat all of those, did she? There had to be at least ten sandwiches on the grill. She already gave him two to start with.

It felt like she was trying to fatten him up.

He really hoped this didn’t turn out to be some Hanzel and Gretel situation.

He took his bite and once again was overwhelmed by just how amazing her food was. It wasn’t just that it was perfectly grilled crispy bread, or that the cheese was just the right kind that it got stringy as he pulled it apart, it even had thin slices of lightly browned deli meats. The first one had ham but the next one was chicken.

Before he could even think to stop himself he had cleared his plate and downed half the milk.

She smiled and filled his plate again. “Don’t be shy now, have as much as you like.”

And he did.

After several minutes he finally pushed the plate away. If he even so much as thought about food, he’d explode.

He groaned and leaned back in the chair. It was so good, but his eyes must have been bigger than his stomach.

“Aw come here, you cute little bean,” she said as she floated around the counter and picked him up to place over her shoulder like he was a little kid.

“Hey!” he protested weakly while still feeling lethargic.

She ignored him and started to pat his back.

He hoped she wasn’t doing what he thought she was doing.

And did she get taller or something, because he didn’t think he was that much smaller than her.

Before he could fully process the situation he burped.

“Ah, that’s a good boy.”

Oh my god, she was doing that!?

He squirmed in her arms. He was not about to be treated like a baby. Absolutely not!

“Hey now, stop that.” she lightly scolded as if he wasn’t any threat to her at all.

Then again, he hadn’t been doing very well in their fight at the school.

“You,” he burped again, “stop it!”

He did not like this one bit. Even if burps made his tummy hurt less.

Wait, did he just think the word tummy?

He meant stomach. He was a big boy, he was supposed to use big boy words.

Wait, no!

“What are you doing to me?!” his voice came out a lot squeakier than he wanted. It was higher pitched than it was this morning too.

“I’m not doing anything,” and the look on her face showed she was telling the truth.

He looked down at his hands. They were so little now.

Somehow, he's gotten younger.

“Why am I little?” he said and his voice sounded even tinier.

She rested him against her hip, seeing as he was now about half his age, and smoothed back his hair, “that’s just what the veil does to some folks. It helps you learn about being a ghost I think. It’s easier to start from the beginning and all that.”

She walked away from the kitchen and back towards the room he had started in.

His room.

“Now I think after all that excitement, we best get you to bed.”

“But I’m not tired,” he said with a betraying yawn.

Or at least he hadn’t been a minute ago.

She tucked him in and kissed his forehead. “Sweet dreams, Cupcake.”

“Night night,” he mumbled already falling asleep.

===============================================

The next time he woke up he was much too small to get out of bed on his own. Or at least he didn’t want to risk it. The bed was very tall and he didn’t want to fall down.

“Ready for lunch?” she asked as she picked him up, “I made spaghetti.”

“Sketti!” he cheered and clapped. If her cheesy sandwiches were yummy he’d bet her noodles were just as good.

For just a moment as she set him in his high chair he thought it was a little odd that they were having lunch again.

Maybe it was always lunchtime here?

He forgot the thought the second she handed him his sippy cup. Apple juice was his favorite!

He was halfway through his second plate of spaghetti when he got bored and decided he’d rather play with the floppy noodles instead.

“Oh okay, I think it’s time for Nanna to just take that away now,” Nanna said as she did just that.

He pouted but then pulled his foot up through the hole in his chair just to see if he could.

He could! Fun!

The buckle was looser than it was before, despite his full tummy.

Nanna turned around and gasped, “Oh you’re getting sauce everywhere!” he floated up out of the chair as she approached, his legs disappeared into a tail as he moved.

He looked down at his new tail in awe.

Then immediately stuck the tip of it into his mouth just to see what it felt like.

He didn’t like it.

Nanna chuckled and plucked him out of the air like an apple from a tree. She cleaned up his face and hands. And feet! As soon as he figured out how to make them come back.

“Alright, beddy-bye time.”

He flinched. The last time he went sleep he got little. If he went sleep again would he keep getting tiny? What if he got so little Nanna couldn’t see him?

He burst into tears and started bawling.

“Oh? Oh no! What’s wrong?”

But he couldn’t answer her. He was much too upset. Also, what were words? He didn’t know how to.

She rocked him in her arms and did her best to soothe him.

He started to get sleepy from the motion but that just launched him right back into hysterics.

“Are you scared to go to sleep?”

He rubbed the tears and the sleep out of his eyes as best he could as he nodded.

“Oh pumpkin, you’ll be okay.”

He shook his head.

“No? Why not?”

He slowly clapped his hands together once, to show getting small. Then he said, “poof.”

She blinked a couple of times then nodded in understanding, “You’re not going to get any smaller. I think you’re done. Now we get to see you grow up again.”

His eyes went wide with surprise.

“Yeah, you’ll be big. And even better, we get to find out what you love the very most.”

He didn’t really understand that last part. What could he love more than Nanna? He hugged her so she would know.

===============================================

He was just staring out the window when she came in to check on him.

The window didn’t use to be there, but sometimes things like that happened. Nanna could change the size of the things in the kitchen to whatever she needed them to be. Whatever food she wanted to cook she always had the ingredients.

He hadn’t been able to change anything before, but he was older now.

“What’s out there?” he asked as he gazed at the swirling green void. There wasn’t much to see, but there had to be something else right?

“Come on, Sweetiepie, it’s time for lunch.”

He sighed and followed her out. “Can I go outside after lunch?” he asked as he sat at the counter. He was happy he was finally big enough to sit on the tall chairs. He liked being able to kick his legs while he sat.

“I don’t know, you’re still so young.”

“But Nanna! I’m seven now! Isn’t that big enough?”

“You were fourteen when I brought you home.”

He scrunched up his nose as he pouted. It’s not his fault being here turned him into a baby and he had to grow up again.

“No more pouting.” she chided as she pinched his chubby cheek affectionately.

He sighed and wondered if Boxy was going to come over again. The Box Ghost didn’t visit all the time, but he was fun to play with when he did. Maybe Boxy would let him go outside.

He just wanted to know what was out there.

===============================================

When he was eleven, Nanna tried to help him find what she called, his Spark. The thing that he loved the most.

He still wasn’t sure what that meant.

“What’s your Spark?” he asked while he was stirring the batter for the cookies.

“Why that would be lunch of course.” she ruffled his fluffy white hair, “And you’re a close second.”

“So other people aren’t Sparks?”

She sprinkled in the chocolate chips as he continued to stir, “I think they can be sometimes, but that’s pretty rare. Sparks form around ideas or things. I don’t think it’s very healthy to have one for another person.”

He just stared into the batter as the chips slowly sank into the thick creamy dough. Something about it looked familiar.

“How do I know what my Spark is?”

“It’s hard to say. It’s different for everybody. For me, I knew right away. I always had a passion for cooking, and lunch was always my favorite meal of the day.”

She pulled out the baking sheet, set it next to the bowl, and handed him a spoon to scoop out portions.

“Basically, there’s something for you out there that fills you with joy and wonder and purpose. Something so wonderful and amazing that you want to do it every day, or you want to always have it with you. Maybe even start a collection of the thing.”

“Like how Boxy is with boxes?”

“Exactly!” she smiled happy that he was starting to understand.

“But how will I know what I like if all I know is here?” he dropped his cookie dough ball onto the sheet and looked up to the kitchen window.

There was a window in every room now. Always ready for him to see into the void of green.

It was never enough.

“Do you think this has anything to do with the windows?”

Nanna stopped, looked up, and just stared at the nearest window. It almost seemed like she hadn’t noticed it before now.

She hummed thoughtfully, “You know, you might be on to something.”

He perked up, floating high enough to be eye level, his tail swishing in excitement, “You think so?!”

“Maybe we can go out for a picnic the next time Box Ghost stops by.”

He flipped in the air as he clapped.

He couldn’t wait.

===============================================

It took much longer than he would have liked for Boxy to finally show up again. He hoped it wasn’t on purpose.

Nanna packed the biggest basket for their picnic that he had ever seen and Boxy carried the checkered picnic blanket.

Nanna told him he had to stay close, but she didn’t make him hold her hand the whole time so that was nice.

He was twelve now so he was old enough to know how to stay close and not get distracted.

Even if there was just so much to look at. Mostly everything was green outside of Nanna’s house, but sometimes there were bands of darker or even light greens. Occasionally they would pass by purple doors.

Nanna made sure he knew what her door looked like before they headed out into the abyss.

“If you get lost you just head home okay. You just go inside and wait for me.”

He nodded as he memorized her door. It was purple, like all the others, but it didn’t have a handle. It was the kind that just swung open when you pushed it. Whether you were on the inside or the outside, it always swung outward. The bottom third of the door was metallic and shiny enough for him to see his own reflection. Above that was a little circular window, like a porthole on a ship.

He wasn’t sure why that made him smile.

Once she was confident that he could recognize the door they made their way out.

They flew for a while amongst the endless green sky until they came across a doorway. He hesitated for just a moment. The frame looked familiar. Very familiar.

“Are you sure it’s safe to go in there?” he asked as he hovered closer to Nanna.

“Of course, Dumpling. It’s the most stable gateway.”

He knew that.

“Did you want me, the Box Ghost, to go first and scare off any nasty humans?”

Danny nodded and took the wrapped-up picnic blanket from Boxy and hugged it to his chest.

Boxy came back after a few minutes, his head the only thing poking back on their side of the portal, “The Box Ghost has found no one!”

The trio flew out of the portal and straight up through the house until they were outside.

The air felt so different here and he didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed the difference sooner. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky above. It was pitch black and he could barely make out a few twinkling stars. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face when he saw the crescent moon above.

How could he not smile when it smiled at him first? He wasn’t sure if it was a waxing or waning crescent.

He paused and wondered if this was it. Was this his Spark?

He followed Nanna and Boxy to the park and they had a lovely time with food that was delicious, as always.

He couldn’t keep his eyes from drifting up to the sky whenever there was a lull in the conversation.

“What’s on your mind, Honey?” Nanna asked as she packed up the last of the, now empty, food containers.

“I found my Spark,” he said in barely a whisper, eyes still trained on the sky above.

===============================================

Now that he had found his Spark it felt like everything was moving so fast. His powers came to him more easily. The outfit that he always wore changed to better suit his Spark. He found new things that only he could do.

He loved every second of it.

Then before he knew it, he was fourteen again.

“I think you’re ready now,” Nanna said after a particularly quiet lunch.

“You think so?” he floated out of his seat and helped her with the dishes.

She set the plate down on the counter and took his gloved hand in hers, “Yes my little explorer. You were made to roam.”

He was beyond excited but he had spent so much time with Nanna that he knew he’d miss her, “How about I leave after lunch tomorrow?”

===============================================

He floated in the basement invisibly. He had meant to just pass through, but the room hadn’t been empty.

He just floated there and watched her work.

She was completely oblivious to his presence.

He hadn’t thought of her once while he’d been away.

He had to smother himself when he audibly gasped at the realization.

She flinched and looked around. She never looked to where he was floating.

He was about to just float back inside the portal, about to just call the whole thing off and go back to Nanna’s.

He was, but she shut the portal doors before he could slip back through.

She reached for her hood and slipped the red-tinted goggles over her eyes.

He flew away before she could do anything else.

He found himself in the park. The same one he had found his Spark in.

He looked up to the bright sunny sky. It wasn’t as lovely as the night sky, but it had its own charm.

He floated up and sat in the nearest tree as he tried to decide what to do from here.

Nanna said it wasn’t good to linger. She said not to haunt people. Not to cling to the living.

But that was his mom.

He looked down at his white gloves and wondered if he could still do it. He wouldn’t go back if he couldn’t.

===============================================

He could.

He wasn’t sure why though. This ability had nothing to do with his Spark. It made no sense

Unless he was right before and he wasn’t just a ghost? But wouldn’t Nanna know that?

He stood on the front steps of his childhood home and hesitated. His hand raised to knock on the door, but it was his house wasn’t it? Maybe he should just walk in?

But how long had he been gone?

He should have checked that first.

He dropped his hand and turned around trying to think of the best way to figure that out while also trying to remember what day it was when he left.

The door opened behind him and the person stopped mid-word to gasp, “Danny?”

He turned and felt like a deer in the headlights.

His sister.

God, he hadn’t thought about her either.

He was a terrible brother. A horrible son.

He should have never come here.

She hugged him and all his thoughts stopped.

“Danny, where have you been?” she pulled him tighter before pulling back to really look at him. Checking to see if he was hurt.

His eyes started to water, which was not something he wanted. He didn’t want to cry in front of his sister and he definitely didn’t want to do it on the front steps where anyone could walk by and see him.

“Oh, it’s okay! Come here,” she pulled him into the house and he didn’t resist.

He was too busy trying to keep all the liquid in his face to stay in its proper places.

They sat on the couch but she didn’t let him go. It was like she was afraid that he’d disappear if she wasn’t touching him.

That was a silly thing to think. He could disappear anytime he liked. Human contact had nothing to do with his ability to be perceived by the human eye.

Seeing his normally level-headed sister have such an irrational thought helped him calm down a bit.

“When Sam and Tucker told everyone that you’d been taken yesterday I never expected you to just appear on the doorstep.”

His mouth dropped open slightly but he couldn’t find his voice. Yesterday? He had an existential crisis, was taken in by a nice ghost grandma, figured out the point of his continued existence. Oh and had regressed into a baby and grown-up again, in only one day?!

“How?” the word was so soft Jazz didn’t even notice.

She just kept on talking, “I mean the weird story about a meat monster spiriting you away was definitely original, but obviously not believable. Well not believable to anyone but mom and dad of course.” she looked him over again with a more critical eye, “Where were you anyway? Did you try to run away again?”

He didn’t know how to answer her. He wasn’t sure if he should lie, tell the truth, maybe even just let her believe whatever it was that she wanted to believe.

He just hugged her again. His face burrowed into her shoulder all he could think to do was say he was sorry. So he did.

Over and over and over again.

Was he sorry for disappearing or for being a ghost? He didn’t know. Maybe it was both.

He didn’t know if it was just a coincidence or if he had been crying loud enough, but his parents were soon there too and everyone was hugging him tightly.

His breaths came in shuddering gasps and it took him several minutes before he could calm down again. Everything just felt so much. He felt so warm and alive.

He still didn’t know what to tell his family about why he disappeared. Or what he really was.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to tell them.

When they finally asked he said he didn’t know. He just acted like he didn’t remember anything at all.

He was saving the true story for his friends.

===============================================

He had to wait until the weekend because his parents refused to let him go to school until they figured out who had taken him.

But he couldn’t tell them now. They’d hurt Nanna.

They might hurt him too.

He remembers the stories his mom used to tell. The ones about changelings. How angry she would look just thinking about them.

He was just glad all the tests she tried didn’t tell her he was different. That as far as she was concerned he was human.

The tests only proved that he was the original.

I guess it was nice that she didn’t assume the worst.

He was sitting on his bed with his blankets purposely fluffed up around him. He needed to hide the fact that he wasn’t actually touching the bed, that he was floating a few inches above it.

He was always floating at Nanna’s and it just felt weird not to.

There was a tentative knock on his door and he flew over and silently landed before opening it.

His friends instantly tackled him with affection. The trio was on the ground in a tangle of limbs and apologies.

Once they finally stopped talking over each other and untangled themselves, Danny closed the door as they each took their favorite seats. Tucker in his computer chair and Sam on the windowsill.

Danny took his spot on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. It had been over a week and he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain what happened. He still had a hard time figuring out how he had spent so long away in such a small window of time.

“So do you really not remember or is that just what you’re telling your folks?” Sam asked as she kept her eyes trained on him. It was like she was looking for any hint at all for the truth.

“It’s hard to explain.” he started simply.

“Just start at the beginning. What happened after the lunch lady napped you?” Tucker prepped as he anxiously fidgeted in the desk chair enough to wobble it.

“I fell asleep? And when I woke up Nanna was making lunch.” he couldn’t help the fond smile, “She always makes the best lunches. She only makes lunch. It’s only ever lunch. Good though.”

“Nanna?” Tucker asked as he shared his confused look with Sam.

“Yeah. that’s just what I call her. I don’t think that’s her name.”

“Okay? But why call her that?”

“Because she’s my Nanna?” he tilted his head to the side and realized that this was already getting hard to explain and he hadn’t even gotten to the weird stuff yet.

“Like your grandma?” Tucker asked like he was grasping at straws.

“Yeah!” Danny pointed excitedly at Tucker, glad to have a word for it. “She’s my ghost grandma!”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“She literally kidnapped you.”

“No, she didn’t kidnap me. She just took me home with her.”

“Did you want to go home with her?” Sam asked slowly like he was a toddler again.

He did a quick check and he was in fact still a teenager. “It was more like I was abruptly adopted.”

“Is that a thing?” Tucker asked with the most incredulous look.

“Yeah, it’s a ghost thing. Nanna says that older ghosts can adopt any child ghosts, or in my case, baby ghost, that they come across. Luckily, I’m a teenager now! Again?” he put a finger to his lips as he thought about whether or not it would be ‘again’ or not.

Tucker snickered, “Hold on, you’re a baby ghost?”

“Former baby. I’m done with that now.” he sighed and looked away as he mumbled to himself, “I’m so glad that’s over.”

“Excuse me, what?” Sam exclaimed wide-eyed.

He chuckled nervously, “Remember when I said it was hard to explain. That’s what I meant.”

“Wait, hold up.” Tucker stood up from his perched on the edge of his seat position and started to pace, “Are you saying that you were a literal ghost baby or???”

Danny winced and visibly leaned away from his friends, “yeah… it was super weird. Also,” his shoulders were nearly touching his ears with how much he was trying to edge away from the conversation, but knowing he just needed to tell them already, “I think I was gone longer than a day.”

“WHAT?!”

Oh boy, he had a lot of explaining to do.

===============================================

After a very long and snack-filled conversation later, it finally seemed like that they were all up to speed on what had happened to Danny.

“Man, I wish I could have seen you’re baby form.” Tucker chuckled as he set his chip bowl aside.

“Why? It was just me, but littler?” then he suddenly remembered that his ghost form had changed after he found his Spark. “Oh, that’s right! I got an upgrade! Wanna see?”

“Yeah, man!” Tucker said at the same time Sam said, “Of course!”

Danny smiled and transformed.

Both his friends just gasped as they looked at him.

And then they kept staring.

His smile faltered and he bit his lip.

Sam gasped again and shot up to point right at him, “Fangs!”

Well, that wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. Also, hold on?

He ran a curious tongue over his teeth and yeah she was right, his teeth were a bit sharper now. “That was probably from all the meat I ate.”

“Also you’re green,” Tucker added helpfully.

He floated over to his mirror and just stared at himself. Nanna didn’t have any mirrors and he never really thought to check.

His skin was green but much paler than Nanna’s was. He also had bright glowing freckles dusting across his nose and cheeks. It didn’t take much looking to see the constellations they could make. His hair was still white but now it moved like it was being blown in a soft breeze, or maybe it was more like he was underwater?

No! It moved like solar flares! Strands arcing and bending as if he was being affected by cosmic winds.

He smiled and saw his fangs. They weren’t too sharp or scary looking, thankfully. They looked more like slightly dramatic canines than true fangs. He’d seen a few actors with teeth like this so it wasn’t too inhuman.

But he was literally green and glowed so he wasn’t sure why he was worried about that.

Although he was surprised that no one had noticed that he was not as skinny as he was before. He’d gained, as Nanna would say, a healthy amount of weight. Then again, he did wear pretty baggy clothes. He supposed it would be easy enough to overlook that they weren’t exactly loose anymore. And his face still looked the same when he was human, he’d always had chubby cheeks.

Besides, that wasn’t even the best part. The best part was his outfit. Which his friends so rudely hadn’t mentioned yet.

The suit he wore wasn’t so clingy and form-fitting anymore. It was puffier and looked like the ones he’d seen in pictures. Except his was cooler because it had stars on it.

He was an astronaut. Just like he had always wanted to be.

[julie-thefatones]

Ghost of You || Luke x Reader || Part 2

Hello Everyone! Welcome to part 2 of my First FanFic...... If you would like to Read Part 1 click here 💜 But thank you so much to everyone who liked and read the first part... I hope you all like the second part just as much! Okaaaaayyyyyy im gonna go work on Part 3! thank you guys bye :) (Updated- Part three now posted here)

A/N: Your best friends with Julie, since the stamp was removed from the boys they are able to be seen by lifers at choice and can touch lifers at choice, but are still ghosts. You and Luke grow closer and closer starting to go from friends to more than that and everyone starts to notice, it just takes a little longer for you two to figure it out.

WordCount: 3,316

As you and Luke made your way back to the High School you guys didn't say a word, both of you not really understanding what just happened back at your spot by the lake, You were so confused, because Luke is just a friend, and he's your best friends band mate.... which made it even more complicated with the feelings you were currently feeling.... whatever happened back there felt more than just friendship, You shake your head to get that thought out of it, *no* you thought to your self *Luke is just a friend* you could only imagine what was going on in Lukes mind right now, what was he thinking, you thought, looking down at yours and Lukes hands entwined with one another's..... he probably doesn't think anything, you looked up at his face and then turned away the second you saw him start to look at you back. *What is he thinking about!* you thought to your self, you cant help but feel frustrated, Luke must have felt your frustration because you felt his hand tighten around yours "Hey, Y/N.... are you okay?" Luke asked you with real concern in his voice, You look back at him, widening your eyes "Me? oh yeah! just thinking about what I missed in algebra today... Mr. Berty is gonna be Pissed" You said with a nervous chuckle, Luke chuckled along with you " Well, just tell him an emergency came up!! like ya girly thing came" Luke said smiling at you, and you laughed "My girly thing? You mean my period?" You said nudging his shoulder with yours, teasing him, he scrunched his whole face "ahaha yeah! I just always feel so weird saying it" he said still scrunching his face, and you both laugh while simultaneously inching a little closer together as you walked.

As you approached the school, you looked at Luke and saw his eyes get bigger with excitement, confused you looked in the direction he was looking at, you looked all around, still confused and then looked back at Luke "Luke? why are you so excited right now?" you asked him with a slight chuckle, you just couldn't help but laugh with how cute his face was, how excited he was, he then looked at you "Y/N, do you see what I see?" he said with so much excitement, motioning towards the direction of the school, and you look over still not seeing anything, and looking back at Luke "No, I really don't" you responded, he then rolled his eyes, and nudged your shoulder "The gym door is open" he said excited, and the motioning over to the field where there were a bunch of student playing soccer "They are all at practice, which means!..." Luke continued, his eyes widening and motioning them back and forth from you to the door, you, still slightly confused to why he was so excited "What? we should sign up for soccer, because im not very good at it.... you might be good at it!! are you good at it?" You replied, now wondering if he was good at soccer, causing a confused look on your face, Luke rolled his eyes again "Yes I am good at it, but thats not the point! the point is!! EMPTY GYM!!!" he said so excited, he hopped forward dragging you along with him running towards the door "Luke! why is an empty gym so exciting?" you asked while running, as you approached door you out of breath and him being totally fine since he's dead, He continued to smile, and dragged you through the doors "Because Y/N! its an empty gym!" He laughed causing a slight echo "You can do all kinds of stuff... like this!" he said looking at you with a flirtatious glance and then did the most effortless body roll you ever seen anyone do ever! you majorly impressed by Luke and his skills, also notice your heart beating a million miles a minute... but you just let it slide.... it didnt mean anything, you just got done running across a field which is longer than you have ran since you had to do the pacer test in middle school. You looked at Luke and smiled and then clapped your hands slowly together "Wow I was almost impressed Patterson!" you said with sarcasm in you voice, just to tease him a little because you were very impressed, did his arms look more muscular than before? you thought to your self looking at his arms through his sleeveless Rush tee, Luke laughed cutting you off mid thought "Almost impressed? C'mon! you were so impressed by the way your mouth was hanging wide open Y/L/N" He said moving closer to you, until before you knew it he had you in his arms swinging you around, both of you laughing "Luke!!!! put me down you dork!" you laughed, he didnt listen instead he swung you over his shoulder "Not until you admit you were impressed!" he said in a teasing tone, and you knew he wouldn't let you down until you admitted it, but you also were not one to give in so easily "Never!!!" You screamed causing Luke to laugh creating the biggest smile on his face "Alright then! I guess we are going to be here for a while Y/N" Luke said confidently causing you to smile because you didnt mind the thought actually, but he doesn't have to know that "I guess we are Patterson" you replied in the most confident voice you could manage trying not to laugh, just hanging upside from his shoulder.

15 minutes or so had passed and you were still hanging from Luke shoulder in the Gym, except now you two were hiding in the corner because the gym class came back in. You looking at your phone, and whispering to Luke "Hey! there's a 5:00 showing of that movie, you still wanna go" you could feel his little bounce of excitement "Yes!" he whispered back "you even need to ask! is it just gonna be me and you or did you wanna invite the whole gang" he whispered, you sat there thinking for a minute, you would love to just have it be you and Luke but you also don't want to cause any rifts with Julie, she is your best friend after all and she has been wanting to see this movie for a while, its all she talked about for a week straight "we better invite everyone, we don't want them to think we don't care about them" you whispered, you could feel the sudden shift in Lukes mood, *was he disappointed?* you wondered to yourself "Yeah your right... ill tell the boys" he whispered, you could feel him playing with your shoe laces on your shoes, just twiddling them around in his fingers "Hey Y/N, we should sit next to each other though, ya know just because then we can make fun of it, in case it turns out bad" he whispered with a nervous type of laughter, causing you to smile, you whispered a chuckle, slapping his butt in a rhythm to your words "Of course you dork! duh" you whispered, you felt him bounce in excitement again, then rubbing your calf "Y/N, has the blood started rushing to your head yet?" he whispered to you with a teasing tone causing you to roll your eyes, the blood rushed to your head a while ago but you weren't gonna let that cause you to loose, so you slapped his butt once more "No! you might as well give up Patterson" you whispered with same kind of teasing tone, Luke now slapping your butt in a playful response "Never!" he whispered.

You and Luke had spent around 30 minutes just hiding in the gym with you slung over his shoulder, until Luke finally put you down in defeat. Now you were walking to Julies house with her now that school was over "Where were you most the day today Y/N?" Julie asked you truly confused, *oh crap* you thought to yourself, how are you going to explain your self... you don't want to admit you were hanging out with Luke all day but you also don't want to lie to your best friend, shifting your eyes from your nervous twiddling hands to your best friends confused face "Well, ya know here and there" you replied hoping that would be it and you both would move onto a different subject, Julie laughed "Okay! what are you hiding from me girl! you know you cant keep a secret from me ... now spill" she said but now with excitement and intrigue as to where you were.... *oh just tell her!* you thought to your self "Alright!!! I was hanging out with Luke" You laughed, now super nervous to your best friends response to you getting so close to her band mate, it also felt really nice to get that off your chest "Really?" Julie laughed "What did you guys do all day?" She asked, still laughing, your eyes widening with relief that she wasn't freaking out "Oh, we hung out in the gym, I was trying to win a bet, which I did!" you laughed, with a confident voice feeling proud of your self for the victory, Julie laughed with you "Oh! at 5:00 we are all gonna go see that movie you have been dying to see! you wanna come?" you asked Julie with excitement, Julie laughed "Duh!!!! im there" she said punching your arm playfully.

You and Julie got to the movies a little earlier then the rest of the gang to get the tickets and get in line for snacks, soon Flynn came in and joined you guys in line "Hey girls!!" She said with her usual Flynn excitement and flare "Hey Flynn!" Julie said with a smile and a fist bump, you smiled too "hey girl!" you said giving her a small hug "Where are the guys?" Flynn asked looking around noticing you and Julie were standing in line alone "Oh they should be here any minute" Julie said casually, her being used to them showing up late to places...

As you guys guys waited You just fiddled with a stuffed animal that was for sale sitting on one of the shelves that they have by the line area, enticing people to shop while they wait.. it was just a small stuffed animal, a panda in fact, holding a little heart that said the words I adore you you kind of smiled at it, due to how cute it was, just spacing off playing with its ears while Julie and Flynn went on about something that Nick did in Biology class due to Julies huge crush on him. You felt a brush of air sweep behind you and then "What you doing!" whispered in your ear from behind scaring the crap out of you causing you to drop the Panda, turning and punching the the thing that scared you right in the arm, wasn't long until you noticed it was Luke, who was now holding his arm "Ouch! thats the kind of welcome I get Y/N!" he said teasingly, still holding his arm "You know this is the second time you have punched me today, im starting to think you don't like me or something.... that hurts" he said now smirking with the same teasing tone, you guys locked eyes, you were trying to find the right words to say but were struggling, getting lost in his green eyes, but then found your way back as he looked down at the ground at your now dropped panda "Is this your little guy" Luke says picking the panda off the ground and messing with the ears the same way you were "Its cute!" he said smiling and now motioning it toward you moving its limbs like it was alive, you smiled and pushed the panda down in a playful way in order to see Lukes face "No, its not my panda! he is cute though" you laughed, Luke smiled at you and then looked down at the panda in his hands "So you do think he is cute? well at least I know your type now! a little odd but alright" he said still teasing you, causing you to roll your eyes "Do you want me to punch you again" you said now teasing him "Hey Y/N! Luke! can you guys stop flirting for 5 seconds so we can order our food and go, the movie is gonna start in like 10 minutes" Alex yelled over to us from the front of the snack bar with Julie and Flynn. You turn to Luke and see his face turn a certain shade of red "Dude, we are not flirting! excuse me for being social" Luke laughed while skipping forward, but grabbing your hand to come along with him, Alex rolled his eyes "Yeah, okay! whatever you say pal" Alex said sarcastically patting Luke on his shoulder, You looked around "Where is Reggie?" You asked confused to where he was, Alex nodded his head in the direction of the arcade where Reggie had his head resting on the glass of a claw machine in defeat, using his pointer finger to caress the glass next to the toy he wanted, you and Luke shared a look and laughed in reaction to him "Hey Reg! buddy! its okay, we can try again after the movie!" Luke yelled to Reggie causing Reggie to sigh and look at the toy "Ill be back for you little buddy" Reggie whispered to the toy, causing us all to burst into laughter, in that moment you noticed, just like earlier today... Luke never let go of your hand after dragging you with him, right now you both were holding hands.... your eyes widened.... *me and Luke are holding hands* you thought to your self *Doesnt mean anything! nope* you said to yourself looking down at your hands intertwined with one another, Luke must have felt your wandering eyes because in that moment he squeezed your hand tighter.

As you sat in the movie next to Luke as planned before in the gym you kept looking down at your hand which was still holding Lukes like it was so natural to him, the way your fingers were interlocked with his and how his thumb just subtly massaged the outer part of your thumb.... it felt nice... you glanced up at Lukes face as he was watching the movie, you never noticed how beautiful his smile was, like this dude had a seriously amazingly beautiful smile, you just sat there looking at him laugh at the movie.... he must had felt your stare because in that moment he looked over at you, still not dropping his smile, in fact it grew bigger than before but with a softer touch, he leaned in next your ear "What? is there something on my face?" he whispered, while taking his free hand wiping his mouth, you just chuckled "oh yeah!! there is, its a mess oh my gosh" you whispered back in a teasing tone, putting your hand on his cheek as if to wipe something, and then you looked him straight in the eyes with a smirk "Oh no, that was just your face, my bad" you whispered with the same teasing tone, as Lukes smile turned into a gasp, that was some how still a smile "Ouch, that hurt Y/L/N it really did" he whispered with a slight chuckle, you laughed in a whisper "Uh huh sure it did" you whispered while softly tapping his face, like a small slap before removing your hand from his face, in that moment he squeezed your had tighter again, but this time as if he was happy he still had your other hand..... *That doesn't mean anything, its all in good fun!* you thought to your self..... you looked over to your left at your best friend who was watching the movie, you don't know why but you felt slightly relieved she didnt really notice the interaction you and Luke just shared, until she leaned over to your ear with a handful of popcorn "What was that?" she whispered with a slight laugh, you looked at her with a shy smile, "What was what?" you whispered back, trying to avoid the topic, because you and Luke were just friends and you knew she was gonna ask If it was something more "Is there something going on between you and Luke?" she whispered, but this time in serious tone due to actual sincere curiosity "What do you mean by something going on? I mean we hang out alot" you whispered back, telling the whole truth, thats all it was after all, Julie looks at you and tilts her head with wide eyes as if she were saying really and then motioned her eyes over to yours and Lukes hands that were still tangled together, in which you looked at too and looked back in a swift movement "Oh, thats nothing, we just do that! I don't know why... we just do" you whispered, in a slightly rushed nervous tone, because you really didnt know how to explain that..... you didnt even know your self, Julie raised her eyebrows "uh huh....whatever you say girl" she whispered back, you just chuckle in response not really knowing what to say, in that same moment you see Reggie and Alex passing a note down the line of seats until it reached you and on the top it read To: Y/N and Luke... Julie scrunched her eyebrows together confused, you shrug your shoulders and lean over to Luke "Hey we got a note from Reggie and Alex?" you whispered in confusion, in which Luke looks down at the note and then over to Reggie and Alex who have their eyes plastered to the screen as if they were actually paying attention to the movie, casually eating there popcorn... Luke then looks back at the note and the up at you "What do you think they want?" Luke whispered with a slight laugh, "I don't know" you whispered with a laugh, you and Luke share a look, both quickly shrugging your shoulders and opening the note both using the only free hands you have, when you get the note open Luke reads aloud still in a whisper "So when are you two gonna get a room? because ya know there are people here, Love Alex and Reggie" Luke face then went from a smile into his grumpy Luke face, which he rarely ever makes, you both just look over at Alex and Reggie again who are now looking at you both and laughing

silently to each other which causes you to chuckle as well, Luke looks at you surprised your laughing, but then softens his face at how funny you think it is, Luke starts chuckling too and then sits back in his seat continuing to watch the movie *what were Julie, Alex, and Reggie talking about though? there's absolutely nothing going on between me and Luke.... ugh at least Flynn hasn't said anything* you thought to yourself, you sit back in your seat too, now drowning in your thoughts of confusion....... *Oh boy* you thought to yourself, you then glanced at Luke who felt your look and turned to you "I know im hot Y/N, but you did pay to see the movie... you should probably Watch it instead of me" Luke Whispered to you in a teasing tone and a smirk "Oh! I also have something for you" he whispered in such a cute soft tone, it made your stomach feel weird, *what the heck was that* you thought to yourself putting your free hand on your stomach and then you knew what it was *Butterflies*

[cades-outsider]

Hawk X Reader

Warnings? Partying! Violence! Hawk being well even more of an a**! Mentions of sex! CHEATING! Crying! Fake dating! Language!

Poison Love

Your phone ringing breaks you out of your humble nap you were taking after being in school all day. You groan, wondering who could possibly be calling you during your sleeping session.

Grabbing your phone from beside your bed you turn it over seeing the time being 5:00 pm, only had two hours of sleep. You had hoped for at least three hours of a beautiful nap but you knew it wouldn’t happen without any distractions.

Answering the phone, not even bothering to see who the caller ID belonged to you groaned "hello?" You ask in a husky voice because of your lovely nap you took.

"Hey Y/n! I’m having a party tonight at 6 can you come?" Moon asks excitedly through the phone, smiling you nod even though she can’t see it.

"Of course Moon! I’ll be there!" You exclaim excitedly, knowing you could never say no to Moon.

"Thanks Y/n, it’s going to be fun!" She squeals, you already knowing she is most likely jumping up and down of excitement.

Ending the call you slowly get out of bed, only having an hour to get ready. Picking out your favorite red dress you walk into the bathroom touching up your hair and outfits.

By the time you finished getting ready it was already 5:40 meaning you had enough time to drive to Moons without being late.

On the way to Moons house you get a call from Robby, pressing answer you put it on speaker keeping your eyes on the road because safe driving kids.

"Hey Robby" You say taking a left.

"Y/n hey, I need your help" Robby says as his voice fills with worry.

"Yeah? What’s wrong?" You ask curiously, worried for your friend.

"I need your help for picking out something for Sam for her birthday tomorrow, since you’re her best friend and know more about her" He asks curiously, hoping you would say yes.

"Of course!-" You sigh thanking that he wasn’t hurt, or wanted you to hide a dead body- which you totally would.... not do for him "-I’m on my way to Moons house for a party she’s having so how about we say hello and then we can leave together to pick her something up?" You suggest.

"Yeah! You are a life savor Y/n" Robby says releasing a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

You chuckle "I’m just looking out for my friends" you say pulling up in Moons drive way seeing half the kids from the school already with drinks and diving in the pool.

"Thank you!" He says before hanging up, grabbing your purse, you get out of your car before walking up to moon who is already talking and drinking with a bunch of girls from school.

Thats what you loved about Moon, she wasn’t mean or disliked by half of the school like Yasmin was. "Y/n!" Moon yells running towards you, spilling some of her drink in the red solo cup while doing so.

"Moon!" You say excitedly as you run to her with open arms, pulling her into a warming hug.

Letting go moon starts to explain where everything is "drinks are on the table over there, and food is inside in the kitchen" she explains as she kissed your cheek and runs off.

"Have fun!" Moon yells before running back to the girls she was previously talking to.

Walking around you find Hawk, your boyfriend laughing with some of his friends "hey babe" you say walking up to him.

Hawk turns around noticing your sweet voice "hello love" he says with a small smile as he pecks your lips and wraps you in a tight hug.

He keeps his arm wrapped around you until you both part your ways getting caught up in either talking to friends or laughing and play fighting.

Not to much time goes by before Robby turns up to the party grabbing his skateboard as he walks over to you. "Y/n! Hey, are you ready to go?" He asks from your previous conversation before.

"Yeah! Let me just text Eli real quick letting him know where I went!" You say with a smile on your face as you send a message to Hawk, telling him where you were going to be and what you were doing.

Meanwhile Tory has been watching you like a hawk waiting for you to get in the right situation so she could tell Eli that she caught you cheating so she could break you both up.

It’s not that she didn’t like you, she just thought of you as a threat as if you were trying to get Hawk to join the good side again. Of course it would be nice for you to have your Eli back but you couldn’t make him do anything. You would have to love and except who he is now and be honest with him.

Tory watches as you and Robby walks over to your call getting in and driving off together. This is what she wanted and now she finally has at least something to tell Hawk and get him to turn against you.

"So the mall?" You ask as you drive down the road off of Moons street.

"That’s the plan" Robby runs his hands on his pants nervously.

"What am I gonna say?" He asks nervously as he bites at his nail.

"Hey stop that" you demand slapping his hand from his mouth.

He sighs in defeat, "just tell her how you feel from the bottom of your heart" you suggest shrugging your shoulders.

"Here practice on me, think of me as if I was Sam" you say as you stop at a red light and turn to Robby.

"Okay.... Y/n L- I uh Samantha LaRusso I am completely and utterly in love with everything about you" he says seriously as you both stare at each others piercing eyes.

It was like gravity was pushing you two together as your faces got closer together, lips almost touching before you tear away turning back to the light which was now green causing you to press the gas.

"Okay so, that was good!" You stop for a moment "-what are you thinking about getting her?" You ask curiously.

"Uh I-" Robby clears his throat "-I don’t know, I want to get her something she doesn’t have and has always wanted but never bought" he says nervously messing with his fingers.

"Okay, I know she was talking to me about wanting a necklace. What’s your budget?" You ask as your mind keeps flooding back to almost kissing Robby.

"75 bucks...." Robby mumbles.

"Okay that perfect!" You say as you take a left before finding a place to park at the West Valley Mall.

Meanwhile at back at Moon's, "are you sure?" Eli asks as he feels his heart break at what he had just heard Tory tell him.

She told him that his girlfriend, the love of his life was kissing Robby and they left together looking as if they were hooking up.

"Yeah, I’m sorry dude..." Tory says 'sincerely' as she pulls a sad face.

Hawk turns around as he takes a deep breath, taking in this new information "you saw them, locking lips one on one?" He asks not wanting to believe it.

"Yeah, dude! They were going full on out!" Tory yells defensively.

"Well then how about we get back at her?" Eli smirks mischievously even though he could feel his heart breaking at the new found 'information'.

"What are you suggesting?" Tory asks with a small smirk.

"Sleep with me"

<><><><><><><>

"Here it is!" You squeal as you show Robby the beautiful necklace Sam had been having her eye on for a while now.

"Wow it’s beautiful" Robby says mesmerized.

"I know! She’ll love it!" You say happily.

"Uh how much is this?" Robby asks the cashier who walks over to us.

"You’re in luck! This is the last one, and it’s 50% off today!" She says cheeringly.

"The price was originally 69.99$ but since its 50% off today it will be 35.86$" She says pulling the stand out of the glass box.

"We’ll take it!" Robby says with a smile.

"Great! I’ll have it ready for you, would you like to pick which necklace box?" She asks walking over to the register as we follow.

"Sure..... that one" Robby says pointing to a black necklace box with gold around the edge and a rose one of Sams favorite flowers in the middle, all in gold.

"Wow, she’s one lucky girl" The lady says with a small cheeky wink as she rings it up.

"Thank you!" We both say in sync as she hands us the bag and receipt.

"Back to the party?" You ask curiously.

"I’m pretty tired, what time is it?" Robby asks as his brows furrow.

"Um- it can’t be to late-" you say grabbing your phone out, eyes widening at the time "-crap it’s eight o’clock already?!" You say confused, as it only had felt like a couple minutes.

Your face contorts as you see that Hawk hadn’t replied to your message or even read it.

As if on whether you get a message from Aisha "I’m so sorry Y/n..." it reads as she sends a picture of a naked Tory and Hawk making out in Moons bed.

Your heart breaks as your eyes become glossy, no. You weren’t going to cry over just any boy.... but he wasn’t just any boy he was what you felt as the love of your life.

"What is it Y/n?" Robby asks concerned as he noticed your whole mood change.

"Look" you say handing over your phone to Robby letting him see the picture.

"Oh my god... I’m so sorry, Y/n" he says as his heart breaks, how could anyone ever cheat or hurt someone as beautiful as you.

He hands your phone over to you exiting out of the picture so you didn’t have to see it "it’s not your fault" you say sniffling.

You take your phone from his hands, both your hands touch each others and you make eye contact. Looking back down you send a reply to Eli "it’s over, we’re over" you hit send as you shut your phone off.

"I did it" you reply as tears you couldn’t stop rolled down your cheek.

"Hey it’s okay come here" He says pulling you into a tight hug letting your tears fall out of his shoulder.

Using one hand he turns up the radio to which as if on cue one of your favorites 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder' starts playing softly in the background.

Slowly you lift up your head, making eye contact with Robby as you both lean in once again. It felt right, you had always had a huge crush on him ever since high school and even some in high school. But you never told him in fear of him not liking you back.

Suddenly Robby’s lips press against yours as the soft music plays in the background.

You both pull away "I’m- I’m sorry Y/! I didn’t mean to take adva-" you cut him off.

"Hey- it’s okay Robby, I’ve been meaning to tell you something anyways" you say as you become hesitant not wanting to ruin your friendship.

"I used to really like you before high school, I had the biggest crush on you even sometime in high school" you say bashfully as you sit yourself up back in your seat.

"Really?!- i thought it was just me!" He yells, eyes wide.

"What?" You say confused.

"Yeah, Y/n I- you were my first love, even though I would NOT tell you in fear of a big fat slap in the face... oh and rejection" Robby says as a small blush appears on his face.

"Wow- who knows, if one of us told each other than we would most definitely be together right now" you say feeling your heart burst at the thought.

"But we can’t- can we?" He asks confused.

"Well, you like Sam and I don’t want to get between that and I.... I have Eli to worry about" you sigh.

"Okay, friends" Robby says hopefully.

"Always Keene" you smile.

"That kiss was amazing though, it kinda gave me the clarity I needed" You chuckle.

"Me too, Y/n. Thank you for... all of it tonight" He says bashfully.

"Of course anytime-" you stop feeling something wrong with that sentence "- well not k-" this time Robby interrupts you.

"I know what you mean" he chuckles.

"Hey, I know Sams not going to be at school because of a trip her dads supposed to take her on so how about we pretend to be together and see if we can get Hawk to speak up?" Robby suggests.

"That sounds- like a bada*s idea!" You chuckle causing Robby to laugh.

"It’s settled than.... girlfriend" He says with a small smirk.

"Alright boyfriend" you laugh.

Soon comfortable silence was all you heard as you dropped Robby off and drove yourself home, not even an hour later and you were home laying in your bed trying to get comfortable. You think about what tomorrow holds and you can’t help but be excited at Robby’s idea.

<><><><><>

Groaning you roll over to your alarm going off to which you hit stop, soon remembering what today holds. Getting up and in a new pair of clean clothes you do your daily routine and head off to school.

Entering the building you look over to see Hawk on one side of the hallway talking and laughing with his friends and in that moment your heart broke even more. The next hallway held Robby who waved at you excitedly as a boyfriend would normally do.

"Hey babe" Robby says pecking your cheek, catching the eye of Hawks friends who point you both out to Hawk.

Hawk turns around and immediately sees red as he sees both you and Robby laughing and smiling. Deciding to do something about it he walks up to you both, demandingly.

"What the f*ck are you doing with my girlfriend?" He asks angrily.

You turn around "your girlfriend?-" you yell walking up to his face "-I wasn’t the one f*cking Tori while your girlfriend was helping a friend out, so I am not your girlfriend" you say just as angry as him.

"Oh yeah? You call helping someone out by sucking their d*ck" He smirks crossing his arms.

"So what I kissed Robby? At least I had the decency to break up with you while I did" you scoff.

"Wait you what?" He says taking a step back.

"Look at your phone a*shat" you say rolling your eyes.

Eli furrows his brows before grabbing his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and finding your messages. His face twists into a bundle of emotions, first confused, then sad, and now guilty.

"Y/n, I did not know I am so sorry" He says as his voice cracks in between.

"Yeah well sorry doesn’t cut it, you were f*cking Tori in Moon's bed for crying out loud!" You yell causing Moon to spark up.

"What?" She shrieked running over to Hawk.

"My bed?" She asked not even giving him a chance to answer him before slapping him straight across the face.

"That was velvet!" Moon yells as Hawk holds his now red; and probably stinging cheek.

"I’m sorry okay Y/n, I- Tory told me that she caught you and Robby kissing and leaving together saying that she heard that you two were going to do more than that" He says angry at himself and Tory.

You scoff shaking your head "did you really expect me to believe that?" You ask bitterly.

"Tory, did you make this up tell me NOW!" Hawk yells out the last part causing me to jump along with the other students- wait- other students.

Just then I notice a circle around us full of students recording, some even had popcorn.... even some teachers were watching while eating.

Tory steps up, head held high "yes I did, and i proudly say that. She was a threat and needed to be gone" She says smirking.

"How was she a threat?!" Hawk yells now walking up to Tory and getting in her face.

"She was changing you into a goodie two shoes!" Tory yells defensively.

"You better be glad I don’t want to fight anyone physically right now" Eli growled.

"See! That’s what I’m talking about, if I had to sleep with you to get you two away from each other I did it!" She yells throwing her hands up in the air.

"Eli can we talk in private?" You ask sincerely.

Hawks back un-tenses as he turns to you, nodding. You grab his hand and lead him into a janitors closet, turning the light on "Eli, why did you do it?" You ask looking down.

"I-I wanted to get back at you, my heart shattered once Tory told me what she did and we’ll I wanted to make you feel like I did" he admits as he starts tearing up, finally breaking.

"I’m sorry" he whimpers. You pull him into a hug, now releasing your tears as you both cry on each others shoulders.

"Can you forgive me?" Eli whimpers out.

"I can’t forgive you just yet, but with time i will" you say.

"I love you and I’ll wait for you Y/n" He mumbles into your neck as his cry’s become harder.

"I guess we just have a Poison Love"

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Thank you @peachymelon69 for requesting I hope you love it!