#its now 2am and i have class in the morning

[sshadesims]

So I just installed reshade

[obeythebutler]

Hey, I'm glad to see you back!

I'd like to request "having a water balloon fight in their own backyard" with Leviathan, or "both waking up in the middle of the night and going on an adventure to find the perfect snack" with Belphegor please.

Whichever one you find the easiest to write. ^_^

Humans primarily sleep at night.

To recharge for the day ahead, ensure that new memories are consolidated in the brain and to rest and repair cells.

Belphegor sleeps because his sin compels him to.

Effects of such an extended sleep schedule hasn't been studied yet in demons. You think. There are simply too many books in RAD's library for you to conduct a research project, and nor have you stumbled upon any such scientific papers yet. But it is evident that all those extra hours of slumber have had a positive effect on the demon's memory. You had watched him use the RAD-issued Devildom History Textbook, 671th revised edition as a pillow before his test during second period in class. Your own two eyes can testify that he had not studied; and yet he had scored full marks.

Osmosis; he had told you with a snarky grin.

You roll around in your bed, the movement effective in stirring the demon from his sleep. Belphegor pokes out from the mountain of blankets like a cranky cat being awoken: bedhead glory and all. Gapes at you for a moment or two and groans when you stare back.

"Stop staring at me like that. You're creeping me out."

"But I can't sleep," You counter, nudging yourself closer until your forehead touches his shoulder, and you burrow further into it. "And you always are awake at random hours in the night."

You hear him sigh. Once. Twice. Then a hand stretches out to reach for the D.D.D. on the table.

"You're right," He whispers, voice heavy with sleep. "And now we're both awake together."

“What to do then?”

“I don’t want to get up.”

"Me neither."

"Mhm."

It takes three minutes for you to blurt out the words: “I’m feeling hungry for a snack though.”

"Beel might already be in the kitchen," He states, resting his head under his arm. "And Lucifer is awake at this time."

"Blegh."

"What do you want to eat?"

"Uh-"

Fifteen minutes later, you and Belphie stand in front of the establishment.

"It's closed."

Belphegor mutters with dejection at the closed sign in front of him. The always open 6/13 is closed. Under repair, the notice glued on the door states.

All that walking for nothing.

You check your D.D.D. "Let's try Uncle Demon. You and Beel often frequent it for donoughts, right?"

"Yes, but I don't want something sweet right now."

"Savoury?"

"Yes."

Belphegor rubs his eyes. "Cafe Lament has revised its working hours from 10 to 11pm to being open till 2am in the night."

"How'd you know that?"

"Beel told me."

An Ignis Owl hoots in the distance, breaking the quiet. You are reminded to look at the time. "We have," You bend down to tie your shoelaces, "Exactly twenty-five minutes before it closes."

"Shit." He says. "Better hurry."'

Countless times Lucifer has had to drag his brother downstairs to the dining table. Innumerable instances have occurred where one of the brothers had to carry Belphegor to whatever destination they were after in that moment. Many a times he fell asleep in your lap.

And now he's grabbing your hand and making a run for it.

The wind roars in your ears as you scuttle along with him. His face is determined, hair tousled by the wind, breath coming out in huffs.

You know he'll be exhausted by the end of it all, eyes droopy and breath slowed. He's so much like a cat sometimes, getting brief bursts of hyperactivity in the night, then settling down near you for a nap.

Lucifer hasn't started blowing up your D.D.D., which means the ruse of pillows arranged like two bodies sleeping has worked. Or that the demon has decided to plop down on his pile of paperwork face-first in exhaustion. Beelzebub has gone back to sleep. You'll get a snack packed for him too, hand it over in the morning.

Later, when both of your cravings have been satiated, and the clock will strike three, you and Belphegor will make it back to the house, the gates opening quietly. They're old iron gates, and usually they would screech, but the House knows the mannerisms of its inhabitants: when to be loud and when to be silent.

You know you're going to wake up late, but midnight adventures like these don't come often.

For now, you're content sleeping with your demon in the attic.

[soobnny]

meet odd — han jisung.

trope. acquaintances to lovers. college au. u live in the same apartment floor. fluff.

synopsis. you get to know han jisung under strange circumstances or alternatively “we live in the same floor and the room between ours always has really loud sex so now we’re both in the main lounge at 2am… do you want this last bit of ice cream?”

word count. 2.3k

warnings. mentions of sex (from the apartment neighbor), cursing

note. hello hello! another skz fic hihi send an ask if u wanna be added to my skz perma taglist :’) i hope u enjoy this silly little story

part 2

There are a lot of things you love about your apartment – the free water and electricity bill, how it's walking distance from your school, the really cold study lounge, and the cat that frequents your small balcony.

For its price, you really couldn’t ask for anything more. The cheap monthly pay goes perfectly with your very strict budget as a broke college student. So, truly, you couldn’t ask for anything more.

Actually, maybe you could.

Within all the great qualities your apartment has to offer, there lies one really, really big setback. The apartment right next to yours and your painfully thin walls. The amount of times it has fucked you up in the head after a long day of classes and exams are immeasurable.

Cue the soft banging of your head against your wall and the pillow around your ears to block out the noises, serene smiling as you greet her the next day as you walk out of the apartment together to head to your early morning classes.

The months before she moved, your apartment had been the safest haven to retreat to – where you could stare at the ceiling after a long day, finish your school work quietly before getting comfortable in your bed, and rewatch a show you’d seen a million times before sleeping to prepare for another battle in your university.

Now, your armor is faltering, and the number of hours of your sleep is decreasing gradually fast. Each night was just repetitive banging of her bed’s headboard against the wall between your apartment rooms and obnoxious moans.

You honestly wouldn’t have minded if they weren’t so fucking loud about it.

And if they didn’t go at it until the crack of dawn.

You hate to be told to be grateful. There’s a clear border for when you’re valid to feel frustration over your situation – when you’re allowed to be ungrateful for the downcast of your neighbor in your life.

Because of your predicament, you’ve found multiple alternatives to aid you in overcoming this temporary challenge. There’s a pair of noise canceling headphones on your nightstand that you begrudgingly used your savings up on to purchase, and you’d been a constant visitor in Seungmin’s dorms.

However, you can only go for so long before you start displaying lower back pains from Seungmin’s old and fucked up couch. His roommate, Jeongin, doesn’t help much either when he enjoys talking your ears off as he does anything but study for his classes.

This is what your new living situation is like. You live off Seungmin’s dying couch and the random stabs of pain on your lower back, your apartment neighbor having the time of her life, and the newly formed bags under your eyes.

You’ve definitely thought about marching up to her room and talking to her about it. But what the hell were you supposed to say? It isn’t exactly the easiest thing to confront people about their sex life.

That’s how you find yourself retreating from your apartment at the ass crack of dawn to sit at the main lounge for a bit, defeated with slumped shoulders and heavy eyes.

They can’t go on for much longer, right? You just had to wait at the main lounge for a few more minutes and you could go back to the comfort of your own bed.

“Good morning.” There’s laughter in the voice of the only other person lounging on the couches of your lobby, legs crossed with a tub of ice cream in his hands.

You recognize him as Han Jisung – the other apartment situated right next to your sex addict neighbor. You’ve only really seen him a few times, in the elevator, leaving for the gym as you come back from school, and you’ve only really shared a brief exchange of hi’s and hello’s. Seeing him in a hoodie and sweatpants with glasses on has your stomach doing a summersault.

He is so painfully handsome, jumping straight out of his hot-boy-with-humor trope.

As soon as your eyes meet, the two of you laugh so loudly and so hysterically. You just know. You know why he’s here at 2am with his tub of ice cream. He’s at the main lounge for the exact same reason you are, and something about that feels so humanizing and funny to you.

There’s a shared understanding in your crinkled eyes and cracked smiles and heavy panting from laughing too hard at your predicament. You don’t care that you look crazy with your messy hair from tossing and turning from your bed all night. Nothing looks or sounds crazy to Jisung.

He’s scooting over the couch to leave the space next to him for you, his hand dropping down to pat the spot so you can sit right next to him.

You’re quick to walk over and sit next to him, and he gives you a smile, fingers drumming over the arm of the sofa with his thigh pressed up against yours slightly that makes your heart beat erratically.

“Want some?” His round boba eyes look at yours as he nudges the tub of ice cream in front of you, twisting his body so he can face you better.

The scent of his cologne is holding you ransom.

None of this feels real, but you swear you can’t be making this shit up. You can’t be making up pretty Han Jisung with his slightly long and a bit disheveled hair and his puffed out cheeks as he chews on his ice cream.

Staring down at his offer, you go over your choices. Although, when someone offers up free ice cream at 2am when you need comfort the most, you don’t think there’s really a need to go over your invisible choices. There’s an obvious answer – the one you take as you grab a spoonful of his ice cream and stuff it in your mouth.

You close your eyes at the cold sensation, a smile creeping up on your face instantly. You’re the happiest you’ve been today already, in this moment, eating ice cream with the boy with worn out converse and the sweetest laugh.

“How have you been coping?”

Jisung knows exactly what you’re talking about, and he finds it hilarious how you’re labeling his response to your shared neighbor as ‘coping mechanisms’. His lips twitch up as he rolls his head back to rest on the cushions.

“You can only go so far with noise canceling headphones.”

“I know right!” Your face lights up as you take another spoonful of ice cream, nodding your head in agreement.

“I tried staying with a friend for a bit, but I’m tired of living off protein shakes and cuddling on the same bed. A double sized bed cannot fit me and Changbin.” He shivers as he recounts his experiences with the boy.

“Changbin as in Seo Changbin from the Music and Performing Arts department?”

“Yeah! Binnie! How do you know him?” Your question makes the smile on his face brighter.

“My friend Seungmin knows him. I’m definitely telling him you shaded his love for protein shakes and that you hate cuddling with him.”

“I don’t hate cuddling with him!” Jisung defends himself, shaking his head aggressively. “I would cuddle with him on a bigger bed.”

“Dude…” He laughs.

Something about how he has experienced the same struggles you have is a little haunting, but also comforting. To know you’re not the only one who has gone through the mockery of begging to stay at a friend’s or purchasing those stupid overpriced headphones.

“Wanna… uh, nevermind.”

“Hm?”

Jisung isn’t the most straightforward person in the world, but something about the way you’re looking at him with wide, curious eyes is intoxicating, and it gives him enough courage to continue talking.

Clearing his throat, he repeats. “Wanna go out for a bit?”

Han Jisung’s voice is very deep and very convincing at 2 in the morning.

“They’re not gonna be done soon?”

He studies your hopeful features and pats your shoulder in comfort. “I don’t wanna ruin your small ray of hope, but they were going at it until 4am last night.”

Grimacing, you drop your head in defeat. “If that’s the case, then let’s go.”

That’s how you find yourselves at a creepy, run-down convenience store near your apartment, purchasing more ice cream and looking through the stalls for anything to buy.

“Hey, Hannie!” You call out to him at the back of the store, and he comes padding over with a splash of giddiness in his heart at the nickname you give him.

His friends have called him that a million times, but it sounds different coming from you. It sounds so natural, like you were always meant to say it.

He bites down his lip to prevent himself from smiling further. His heart flutters at the possibility of you being a constant in his life. Hannie, Hannie, Hannie. It slips out of your mouth so easily that he wonders if the universe purposely gave you two that neighbor for this specific moment.

For him to meet you at the main lounge and invite you to the convenience store (and into his life in the process).

Is this what those stupid male leads feel like in those romantic comedies he binge watched with Changbin?

Jisung used to think it was absolutely ridiculous to meet someone and form an entire life with them in their head, but he finds himself doing the same in all his hypocrisy.

When he arrives to where you’re standing, he watches in amusement as you spend the next few minutes trying your hand at a run-down claw machine – desperately aiming for the pompompurin keychain.

First, you play with eyes of determination and careful movements, and then you’re smashing at the buttons in frustration.

Pretty, he thinks.

He can’t help but swoon at the sight of you with an oversized hoodie, smashing at the claw machine with your eyes half open and your lips pouted in defeat.

“Want me to try?”

You’re aware that claw machines were always faulty and deceiving, but you allow Jisung to try and win the keychain that’s probably cheaper to buy than the amount of money you’ve inserted in the coin slot to play the game.

With the plastic bag of ice cream and candy on his left hand, he uses his right hand to control the stick so he can angle the claw the way he needs it. Leaning forward, he focuses on getting the keychain you’ve been aiming for, pressing the red button after a few seconds of pushing it around.

His lips twitch in a smile when he sees the claw land exactly where he needs it to be, and he sneaks a glance at your anticipating face – heart speeding up at the sight.

“Oh my god. And you got the one I wanted?!” Jisung crouches down to grab the keychain from the prize slot before handing it to you and it immediately finds its home on the zipper of your wallet.

He has a proud smile on his face when he sees you hugging your wallet to your chest with a newfound happiness brightening your features. Even the convenience store lady is impressed at how he was able to get anything from that claw machine at all.

Maybe that’s what the graveyard shift does to you. It tires you out so much that you find someone winning at the claw machine game fun.

With an ice popsicle on your hand and your wallet with your new favorite keychain on the other, you and Jisung start to make your way back to your apartment. It was getting late, and they have to be done by now.

There’s a few moments of peace before you hear Jisung audibly trying to suppress his laughter. He’s trying not to giggle, and you know exactly why.

Your jaw drops, hitting him on his upper arm before sulking.

He doesn’t even need to tell you for you to know he’s laughing at your ice cream eating skills (your popsicle’s already melting and you’ve desperately been trying to finish it before it dissipates for the past few seconds).

There’s a taunting smile on his face as he apologizes. “I’m sorryyy.” He drawls the last syllable, bumping his shoulder with yours.

“You just look so cute.”

Something ricochets in your stomach the moment he says that, and you really hope he can’t hear your heart racing over his obnoxious giggling.

Jisung doesn’t know where he got the confidence to say that aloud. He’s also hoping the streetlights are dim enough for you not to notice the redness on the tip of his ears.

When you arrive, you immediately recognize the boy hurriedly rushing out of the apartment as your neighbor’s boyfriend. And when he speeds past the pair of you with a sheepish and shy smile on his face, you immediately make eye contact with Jisung.

Another fit of laughter breaks out.

And as you laugh and giggle over the poor boy’s obvious embarrassment, your eyes drift over towards Jisung, your newfound friend and how his eyes glint with genuine happiness and how he feels so comfortable to be with.

Similarly, Jisung finds himself mirroring your gaze. Somehow, he feels that starting today, things are definitely going to change between the two of you and the possible shift of your interactions into something more constant makes his heart flutter.

Before today, Han Jisung was just another boy who lived on the same floor as you, who you shared a few small pleasantries with. However, as the pair of you walk back to your rooms with your plastic bags of popsicle and candy wrappers and the hint of laughter still bubbling in your throats, you can tell that this moment right now with him feels like the beginning of something wonderful.

You hate to be told to be grateful, but in the stupidity of your own reflection, you are. For what – you’re starting to think it has something to do with the boy next to you.

[the-guilty-writer]

Crave and Courage

Request from anon: If its no pressure ofcc could you do Reid x Daughter!reader who has been struggling with addition (i imagine drvgs but anything works ig) and she is trying to get clean but shes been having a hard day and he finds her in the kitchen at like 2am crying with a bottle of … in front of her??

Spencer Reid x daughter!reader

Summary: Spencer comes home from a case to find you torn between crave and courage.

A/N: Hopefully this is what you were thinking!

CW: reader is addicted to pain medication, talks about addiction, craving, reader has a breakdown

---

Your story sounded like one that had been heard a million times before: someone goes in for a relatively simple surgery, you go home with a bottle of prescription pain medication, and the feeling you got from the pills was too hard to resist.

The reason your story was different was because you had Spencer Reid for a father. He was a profiler, but he’d struggled with addiction as well. It didn’t take long for him to put the pieces together and help you get back on your feet… sort of.

Nothing was truly that simple.

You still struggled with craving relief from the pressures of life, even if that relief was temporary. You were three months clean, but it was still hard. Spencer had explained that it was hard. He’d rattled off facts and statistics and plans to you. But all of that was easier said than done.

Your dad had been out of town for a week now to work a case across the country. It was harder to stay clean while he wasn’t around, but you’d done it. It didn’t feel good, but you were proud of yourself none-the-less. You knew the pride would soon override the want for just one little-

No. You’d almost made it to four months now. You weren’t going to let that fall through now. Hopefully your dad would be home soon. It would be easier once he was home.

But the day was slowly getting worse. Little inconveniences annoyed you in the morning and the problems grew throughout the day. Some kid pushed you over during gym class, a bad grade on an assignment, something in your lunchbox exploded making everything inedible, a pop quiz you were sure you failed, being late to your class after being locked out of your locker, getting after school detention because you were late to class, getting hit with spitballs throughout detention, being late to the metro stop, having to walk the long way home around construction, finding out through social media that your friends had all gone to see your favorite movie without you, finding out through social media that they had also gone to your favorite restaurant without you, teachers sending emails to ask why you’d been a star student before and now you were close to failing, being unable to concentrate on your homework because of all the noise clouding your head.

That’s how you ended up on the kitchen floor, your hands threaded through your hair on the verge of pulling it out. The bottle was on the tile. The pills inside weren’t your normal craving- they were leftover from when your dad got shot in the knee years ago. They were expired for sure, but when you’d gone through the cabinet in a frenzied search for anything to help you escape, that’s all there was that would fit the bill.

But as soon as you’d read your dad’s name you’d crumbled to the floor- torn between having to confess that you’d given into the craving and the need to feel nothing for just a little while. The sound of pills against plastic triggered your tears when the bottle hit the tile. All you could do was cry silent tears and hope that the agitation you were feeling about everything would exhaust you enough that you’d fall asleep before you had the chance to make a decision.

Spencer walked into the apartment, exhausted from the case and thankful for the silence of the late night. Like usual, you left on the dim lamp in the living area, but unusually you had also left on the lights in the kitchen. He walked over to turn them off. That’s when he heard you, softly crying.

He rushed into the kitchen and the sight before him caused him to freeze: you were curled up with your eyes shut tight, hands pulling at your hair, body trembling, and an old pill bottle turned on its side on the floor. The first thing he did was pick up the bottle to read what it was. When he did, his heart sank. How could he have forgotten to get rid of these? He didn’t forget anything.

With the bottle back on the counter, he knelt to the floor and put his hands gently on your wrists, seeing that your nails had dug into your scalp. “Shhhh-” he cooed. “It’s just me. You’re okay. It’s okay.”

“Dad-” As soon as you realized it was him, you threw yourself into his arms. He gripped you in a hug so tight you thought he might cut off your circulation, but you didn’t care. “I didn’t take any, dad. I wanted to so badly, but I didn’t.”

Spencer rocked you back and forth as if you were a child again, placing a kiss on the top of your head. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I didn’t get rid of those.”

“I’m sorry I almost gave in-” you started sobbing. Your dad rubbed your back. “I almost-”

“But you didn’t.” A tear escaped his eye. “You didn’t and that’s what matters. You’re so strong, (Y/N). So, so strong.”

“I don’t feel strong,” you managed to choke out.

“Most of the strongest people don’t,” Spencer said quietly. “But they are anyway.”

[srjlvr]

,, SLAP ME IF IM WRONG BUT THE EARTH IS FLAT ’’ — KSN (김선우)

IN WHICH sunoo’s failed attempts of awfully trying to rizz you up actually worked out for him.

student!sunoo X Femstudent!reader | genre classmates to lovers , he fell first but she fell harder , fluff ! | warnings second hand embarrassment(lots of failed attempts of flirting) | wc 0.8k+ | not proofread | ✎ ᝰ (‘a note from jo’) . i tried falling asleep i really did, but its like 2am already and i give up

“morning y/n!” a familiar voice called your name.

ah of course! it was your favorite admirer, kim sunoo.

you and sunoo have actually been friends for a good amount of time, you know him ever since you can remember.

“morning sunoo!” you smiled.

he then handed you your favorite drink, “hope you’ll enjoy this! think of me when you drink it”

the atmosphere became heavy, your friends at the back smiled awkwardly while you nodded, “thank you”

“y/n you gotta tell him his flirting skills are awful,” one of your friends pleaded after he left “it hurts to watch it”

“why? it’s kind of cute” you looked at the drink.

on the back of the drink there was a cute little handwritten note, ‘you look familiar! didn’t we take classes together? i could’ve sworn we had chemistry ;)’

you chuckled to yourself and opened the drink.

you and sunoo are sharing most of your classes together, he usually sits next to his friends and just passes you cute notes with pick up lines and cute drawings that he drew.

today however, he took the seat next to your usual seat.

you walked up to him with a confused expression, “why are you—“

“i actually just wanted to ask you if you’re playing nintendo”

“sometimes when my friends do i—“ “because i think wii look good together” he cut you off.

you awkwardly giggled, “oh um—”

“i’ll go now! niki and jungwon are calling me” he frowned and went to his friends, leaving you dumbfounded and speechless.

you looked over your friends and saw they were trying their best not to cry out of embarrassment.

you however, already fell for his charms “he’s cute” you stick out your tongue at them and laughed.

“i think you should go on a date,” one of your friends suddenly spoke after shoving a spoon full of rice in her mouth, “its quite obvious that he’s crushing on you”

“yeah! and his attempts of rizzing you up are quite awkward” another one added.

lunch times are your favorite thing in this school. you and your friends sit together and gossip about everyone.

today, the gossip topic was you and sunoo, it had been like that a lot lately.

“it’s adorable to see him try, i think it’s attractive” you shrug, your friends almost choked on her food, “your taste in men is weird”

“i dont think so, it’s just sunoo that interest me”

“y/n” your friend held your hand, “you’d make a cute couple together”

the conversation kept on going until it was time for you to go back to your classes.

“y/n! let’s pass by the convenience store today, i need to get some things” sunoo passed by your desk before the class started.

you and sunoo walk home together everyday, his house is extremely close to yours, that explains the good friendship you both have since childhood and the biggest crush he’s having on you—you both are in each other’s asses 24/7.

“can’t you do that alone?” you whined lazily.

he then shook his head, “it’s too boring to do this alone, besides i know you enjoy my company”

“fine, but you’d have to buy me some gummies”

“how was your day today?” he asked on your way back home.

“sunoo, you were with me the whole day” you giggled, “you already know how was my day today”

he nodded, “i know, i just wanna hear it from you”

you took a moment to look at his face, he was looking around, smiling and admiring the view.

you never really noticed his face moles and how breathtaking he is, sunoo was always attractive in your eyes, but something about that moment made you feel something different about him.

“y/n are you okay?” sunoo chuckled, “yeah yeah i was just thinking about something”

“as i was saying, don’t you think it’s a bit weird?” he asked.

“hm? yeah”

“right? like why would you need—y/n you’re not listening to me” he whined after noticing you were zoning out.

“sorry! im just tired” you awkwardly giggled.

“let’s just go in” he let you in the store and got after you.

after a few little shoppings you got out and continued your way with your new gummies.

you were happily snacking on them while sunoo glanced at you.

“y/n” he called, “hm?”

“slap me if i’m wrong, but the earth is flat”

“ok” you shrugged and slapped him, he quickly held his cheek and looked at you in disbelief, “why would you do that?”

“you asked me to slap you if you’re wrong!”

“no i—“ he sighed, “i meant to say ‘kiss me’”

he held his forehead in frustration, “oh i’m sorry” you removed his hand and rubbed his cheek, “that must hurt”

“let me redo it” he prepared himself, “kiss me if i’m wrong but—“

“let’s just go on a date” you cut him off.

“what?”

“let’s go on a date, me and you, tomorrow after school” you repeat what you said.

“huh?” he tilt his head.

“life without you is like a broken pencil,” you smiled, “totally pointless”

“that was a good one,” he giggled, “but no one’s better than the original”

“have we met? because you look a lot like my next girlfriend”

[queen-of-the-grapefruits]

I keep seeing posts of people saying Buddy is going to talk to Helio when he's dead and will hopefully be more sympathetic to Kristen when he comes back. Buddy isn't going to speak with Helio though. I think he Might ask to. If he asks he will be denied and if he doesn't ask it won't be offered. He will be faced with the fact that he is insignificant, Helio doesn't care who he is or if he lives or dies, and the only person Helio would take time to talk to would be his chosen one. Buddy may come back either disillusioned with helio because of this, or possibly resentful of Kristin for having Helios attention and throwing it away.

That's just how I see it though. I doesn't make sense to me that helio would bother talking to buddy. I mean the circumstances of his talk with Kristin were abnormal anyway. She was full dead but 'it wasn't her time' and she's be going back, she's his chosen, and she specifically asked for him to answer her question (pretty sure thers more around it but its 2am and I'm tired and I have a morning class so I can't right now). Buddy is not being himself back/being sent back because it's not his time. He's not a chosen. There is absolutely nothing special about him.

[blubushie]

Tell us about Vegas?

YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE [BUSHMAN GUSSIED UP] ROUTE!

A TALE OF HIGH-ROLLERS

Warnings: Absolutely none! This a fun story. :]

So in November of 2021 (yes, a month before the Pig Incident) I went back to the US to see my family for a bit. I came back loaded with cash as a peace offering for my family (it didn't work) and so I left and went up to Oregon with a mate of mine for a few days to relax, recoup, and discuss work.

This went (mostly) ok minus a brief blue between us (I say "brief" but he's Still Mad About It, in my defence it was not my fault) and I left for Las Vegas, somewhere I hadn't been since I was very young. I got a flight out there and lounged for a bit and made my way to the only place I know would have me, a historical casino that's very popular (but not as much as it used to be.)

I went in the first night with $20k to blow away. I was upset because of the fight with my parents, further upset by the blue I had with my mate, and I wanted to be a little reckless and a little 20 and enjoy life for a week before I had to leave.

I have a quick meal in town at the Peppermill (incredible place), do some drinking there, then stop by Dream Exotics, rent out a 488 Ferrari, and head for the casino where I end up getting a cheap room.

It's $1500 per 24 hours, I had it for 3 days.

I head downstairs to the tables, sorta keep to myself and eventually I get to come up and play. If any of the you have read my fic, the scene in chapter 9 where Jess and Mundy play poker? Those were my winning hands. So we do a couple rounds.

Something that I didn't know, since I don't make a habit of high-profile gambling, or high-stakes gambling, is that casinos will comp you if they think you're rich. You put down a lot of money and they worship you. They'll spend top dollar on you in the hopes that you lose it all. It's fucking predatory, but it works. What's $20k spent on a gambler if he loses out $60k to you? That's still a $40k profit, and casinos are in the business of betting and winning.

They bet on the wrong bloke. I came in with $2k to piss away and bet $1500 first game. Lost it. Bet the last $500 and got it all back plus $2k more. Wagered that $2k, kept it and gained $1500 more. Bet the $1500, lost that. This repeated, maybe 12 rounds and until 2am, until I decided I'd had my fun and walked out with my $2k plus $6500 richer than I went in.

I'm an addict of one thing--alcohol. I am not a gambling addict. I know when to stop. I stopped. Everything after this was the casino wagering money on me in the hopes I'd come back down to the tables with more cash and lose it all.

I go back to my room. When I get there there's a bloke in a suit waiting for me and he says that the casino's "impressed" and has decided to comp my room and is upgrading me to a second-class suite, free of charge.

Who'm I to say no?

I get my shit and go with him. The suite's incredible. Spa Tower--a fucking two story suite with a spiral staircase, and it comes with a private chef! We're gonna call him C for Chef.

So I get there, set up, stare at this giant fucking bed, and wonder what kinda mess I just got myself into because everything has its price. I didn't get much sleep. Most of my time was spent cleaning my rifle very nervously as a soothing mechanism and muttering about "Oh we're really in for it now, Winnie."

But! I'm here for work. I want work. I love work!

So I finally head to bed around 4am, get a few hours of sleep, and dismiss the chef when he comes in the morning. He insists on making me something and I tip him $50 for some eggs and bacon.

We don't talk much, he's quiet and nervous and I remember where exactly I am and it occurs to me that maybe most people aren't exactly nice to him.

He comes around again for lunch--I don't remember what it was, think it was a panini--and dinner. Dinner was very very very good salmon. He's still not talking much, we mostly ignore each other, but I make him a martini as a courtesy and he seems to warm up a little.

(The suite has a wet bar and you can bet I drank practically all of that $700-worth of booze in it. This is when I first got into making cocktails, and I still enjoy making cocktails today. Thank god for fake IDs.)

Third day comes around, and this is when I get my arse in gear. I am in Vegas in a very high-profile casino. I'm playing with the big boys now and it's time I fucking act like it instead of hiding away in here. I've got impressions to make. I phone the front desk, as to speak to the hotel organiser, we get to talking and at my request he sets me up with a private barber and private tailor. Excellent. This will work. Chef comes in and makes brekkie (potato hash with eggs and chopped bacon) while I'm on the horn with the tailor and giving him the measurements I remember from the last time I had a suit tailored (for court, yay).

I tell the tailor to meet me at 6pm (giving 2hr for suit adjustments) and that I want something black and blue and very formal. I want to look like money. I ring the barber and tell him to come at 4pm, which gives us an hour to get my hair fixed before dinnie (because a mullet is NOT going to cut it here). I tell the cook to take off lunch, I'll meet him back here at 5pm for dinnie. I get dressed and dip.

Spend all day out on the town, seeing the sights and walking the strip and drinking for The Nerves. I head to Dream Exotics and rent out the Ferrari for another 2 days.

I don't get lunch on accounting for big dinnie. Eventually I get back to the casino, valet takes the car, and I head back to my suite.

4pm rolls around and 5 till, I hear a knock at the door. Scramble down the spiral staircase and make my way to the door. Answer it. There's my barber. He's short, very unassuming, older than me by about two decades, scrawny but with bony fingers that show he's been a barber for a long time. He has Those Kinds Of Hands--the kinds of hands that only people who work intricately with their fingers get; hairdressers, barbers, tailors, seamsters, artists, pianists... Wiry knuckles. You get it.

So I let him in and show him around the place. He comes inside and I ask to see his bag. We go through it. It's everything you'd expect. Ok, you're clear, I'll show you the bathroom. We head upstairs. Fifteen minutes later he's drawing the water up in the shower (yay detachable nozzles) and I'm trying my best to avoid looking in the mirror. And this blokes look at me and says my hair looks very thick. And that he likes this, because it means he doesn't have to use volumiser since my hair already has volume.

And then he says "You have hair like a woman's." There's a pause. "I mean that as a compliment." Thanks I guess?

I'm sitting on the edge of the tub and looking out the window and wondering why the fuck I even put this plan in action to start with when he asks me what I'm thinking. You know, in terms of style. And I say honestly, I don't know. Listen, I've got a meeting tonight, I know you should sleep on a fresh haircut but I'm a bit pinched for time. I have to look professional. I have to look good.

He looks at me, seems to have this eureka moment, and we get started. "I've got you." So I take my shirt off cuz it's just gonna get wet if I don't, my hair gets washed, and we head downstairs to the bar. I'm sat in a barstool we pulled from the bar at the eating bar in the kitchen and he gets to cutting.

And because this was pre-stroke I had a Texan accent at the time. So my barber, who I'm gonna call B, he gets curious and asks if I'm a Texas highroller. I tell him I'm a highroller but I'm not from Texas. A guessing game starts. I'll give you a $100 tip if you can guess where I'm from. The cunt guesses South Africa before he guesses Australia. Do I look South African to you? "No, you look like a cowboy." Pssh.

Eventually he guesses Australia. Ding ding ding, we have a winner. So we move on and chatter for a bit about this that and the other, he blows my hair to get the cuttings off but air dried hair is Special so we decide we'll let it air dry. Eventually C gets there, I let him in, and he makes us some steak and potatoes (FUCKING INCREDIBLE) and my hair dries as we all eat. This is the only time I've ever eaten wagyu steak. This shit was A5. Holy fuck the marbling. Melts in your mouth, absolutely incredible.

While all three of us are eating, I pitch the game to the chef. Barber and I are giggling as he thinks. His first guess is Oklahoma, because "Texas is too obvious." Buzzer. He guesses a couple of times. Gets them all wrong. He keeps guessing and he ends up getting a little red-faced in his frustration so I say if he can just guess the country I'll give it to him. He guesses South Africa. "That's what I said," goes B.

"Why South Africa? B guessed it too."

"There's a lot of rich white people in South Africa."

Fair. The game continues.

C names practiclly every European nation there is and then some. He names Canada, he names France and I wrinkle my nose. He names Spain. No. "You look Spanish." My mum's Portuguese?

To hand it to him, my freshly cut hair was drying, I was sitting at the dinner table shirtless and actually eating my steak with a knife AND fork, looking a bit professional despite my state of dress, and drinking a bottle of 1970-something Macallan off the spout. Plus I was freshly de-mulleted. I wasn't exactly the shining example of Aussie. More "American cowboy plucked fresh off the ranch."

But I get bored of the game eventually and I'd finished eating, so I say I'll give him the letter. Starts with an A.

"Aus-"

Yessss…

"-trian?"

NO!

His reasoning is that I'm drinking Macallan off spout for the past hour, it's not affecting me at all yet, and Germanics have a high booze tolerance?

"You know who else has a high booze tolerance? The drunkest nation on the planet."

C is confused.

"He means Australians," chimes B.

"Australians?" C looks at me. "You mean…" He grabs his knife, kinda points it at me but in the faux-threatening way. "'Now that's a knoife' kind?"

Sigh. "Yeah. Aussie."

"So where are you from? Sydney? Where's your accent? Have you ever seen a kangaroo?"

"Are you from Melbourne?" asks B. It's a good guess--there's a lotta rich people in M*lbourne.

"Someplace you never heard of."

The topic drops.

We yarn for a while longer about nothing in particular, mostly about food. I find out that B spent some time in Italy and really loves Italian food, C's favourite food to cook is Italian, they hit it off and I'm sitting in silence as I listen. Not in the third wheel kinda way, but in the intrigued kinda way. They're having a conversation that I'm glad to be a part of. It's interesting.

I make a mental note to have C cook me something Italian for dinner tomorrow.

B decides it's time for the dry cut, so we head back to the kitchen bar (I bring my whikky) and C goes about cleaning up the kish. He's humming as he tidies and eventually he looks over at me and goes "So nowhere Australia?"

"Woop woop, yeah."

"How'd you end up here? With the suite and us? How'd you make it?"

There's a hope in his eyes that's kinda sad. In that childish "I wanna be like him one day" kinda way. He thinks I'm something to aspire to be like. Sad.

"Cattle baron's son?" asks B. He's polite about it. There's no implications there. It's an honest question. He wants to know if I came into money or if I was born into it.

"Nah. Just know the right people."

Topic drops again.

It hits 6:30 and I say goodnight to C, tell him I'll see him in the morning, and he leaves. B is just finishing up with the last trims on my beard--he did a fucking excellent job, made my sideburns sharp and my beard looked perfect--when T gets there. We brush me off, he blows my hair and face and shoulders and chest, and he rubs up my face with an aloe-free aftershave before blotting it try. I get up and let T in and I can see the look on his face when he realises I am in fact as short as I said I was. Kinda funny!

B gets to watch, very amusedly, as T tries to get the bushman into a custom-tailored suit. T thought I was very strange at my initial refusal to wear undergarments (autism no like), but he insists that he can retailor the suit and reuse it for someone else if I do wear underclothes, so I agree and put on some trunks and an undershirt.

The suit was a little loose since this was the start of summer in Australia and I was down quite a few kilos. So some last-minute adjustments have to be made.

After an hour it strikes 7:45 and I'm now fully dressed in this suit. It's tight at the wrists in a way I don't like, but it's a pearl-buttoned jacket, pearl-buttoned dress shirt, pearl cufflinks, and black silk bowtie. I look good.

Black sleek suit, blue velvet lapel, all the pearl accents and everything else? I'm looking good. I get a little blue velvet handkerchief that goes in my breast pocket. I look built for a wedding. Or making connections.

Best $2k worth of clothing I ever spent. Except maybe the $150 I spent for my hat. But still. I'm rocking this shit.

So T is adding the finishing touches, tightening hems and adding little folds on the inside that you can't even really see so that the suit fits me just perfectly, and B is chuckling about this. I glare at him. He stops chuckling about it. Very amusing. T hands me my sunnies and explains that the piss-yellow of the sunnies compliments the black and blue nicely despite the contrast. And I might not be much an artist, but I am a colours bloke, and I can see it. I can understand it. Makes sense. I put them on.

B wets my hair a little, breaks out some hair gel and rubs it on his hands, styles my bangs over to one side, makes some quip about how I should've let him clip the sideburns, and the two fellas back up to get a good look at me. I Am Nervous.

T makes a comment about my hair, B agrees and walks up and fucks with my bangs until a little piece of them dangles at my forehead over my widow's peak instead of combed to the side like the rest. I cock my brow at him but then he steps back and dries his hands and puts them on his hips.

They're not saying anything.

"…How do I look?"

T asks B if he has a mirror. No no no, no mirrors, just tell me.

"Like a million dollars."

Aces.

I pay them, thank them for their time, agree to return the suit to T at the end of the week, and get on my way after they leave. Get my knife in my jacket pocket and my revolver in the other, head downstairs to the lobby, then get the lift down to the subfloors. I flash my card to the bouncer and when I walk in the smell of smoke hits me. In this casino you are not allowed to smoke inside. The highroller floors are an exception to this rule.

I get a glass of champagne off a waitress' tray and find my way to the bar and I sit there for a bit and start yarning with the bartender. The night's quiet, there's not many people in. Most are out at dinner. It didn't get lively until 10pm, and that's when the real fun started. I played a few more games, won $1500, went back to the bar to drink and people watch and wait. Work as usual.

And that's about it. Ended up walking away with a job that night and it was fun! I met people! I socialised! I didn't make an idiot of myself! Yaaay good impressions!

[chososcamgirl]

HIHIHI SIGMA ALPHA IYA‼️🤗 SOOO ERMM SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR TWO DAYS… I HAVE A LOT OF TESTS THIS WEEK SO I GOT RLLY BUSY 😢😢 I HOPE YR HAVING A VERY SIGMA DAY 🔥🔥 IM GONNA TRY AND MAKE THIS CHECKUP RLLY FIRE TO MAKE UP FOR THE PAST TWO DAYSS

ITS OKAY POOPIE I COULD NEVER BE MAD AT U 🤗💗‼️ WERE BOTH IN THIS TG.. we are A PACK… I HOPE YOUVE BEEN TAKING GOOD BREAKS THO‼️ BEING BUSY IS SO DRAINING SO MAKE SURE TO GET LOADS OF REST TOOO 🐺🙏💪

OKOK SOOO I GOT MY TEST RESULT BACK AND I ACTUALLY KINDA COOKED⁉️⁉️ I CANT BELIEVE I DIDNT FAIL 😭😭 GLAD THO CUS THAT MEANS MY GRADES ARE STILL UP 🆙🔥💪 IM TRYING TO WORK ON A SLEEP SCHED BUT ITS SO HARDD 😢 BUT I HOPE YOUVE GOTTEN MORE SLEEP + STOPPED ACHING

ORNENRNDNF I HAVE PLANS TO DRIVE TO THE MALL WITH SOME FRIENDS AND IM SO EXCITED SINCE ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I WENT TO A MALL (had to restrict myself because of my HORRIBLE spending habits.. 😪😪) IM SO HAPPY WHBEBENEJEEN 💪🐺‼️🔥🤗🤗

ITS ALMOSY SJAP WEEKEND… IM SO PUMPED… KINDA SCARED THESE CHAPTERS R GONNA CRUSH ME… IYA IF WE HOOKED UP WITH SUKUNA.. 😡 HE ENEBSBENEBDB WERE GETTING INNNN THE PLOTTT IM SO EXCITEDD FOR THIS SJAP WEEKENDSDD 💪🤗🔥

THESE PAST TWO DAYS WERE NOT SKIBIDI IM LIKE BARLEY MAKING IT THRU BUT HOPEFULLY TMRW WILL BE SIGMA SINCE I HAVE PLANS WITH FRIENDS‼️🤗 I ACIDENTALLY FELL ASLEEP IN A CLASS AND MY TEACHER TOLD MY MOM WHICH RESULTED ME GETRING MY GYATT BEATEN 😢😢 I NEED TO MAKE SURE IM LOCKED IN FOR REAL REAL NOW CUS MY TEACHER IS OUT HERE TO GETTTTTT MY ASSSSS 😖😖😣😫😔😰 AND ALSO I THINK I HABE AN INGROWN TOENAIL OR SMTHING CUS LIKE IT LOWK HURT ASF BUT IT DONT LOOK LIKE IT.. MY FRIENDS WERE POINTING OUT HOW I WAS WALKING WEIRD AND JTS CUS IT HURTS LIKE HELL EVERY STEP 💔💔😩😩 SEND TIPS FOR HOW TO TREAT JT CHAT‼️🔥 I SWEARRR ITS GONNA BE THE DEATH OF MEEE 😢😢

+ ITS TECHINCALLY OCT.4 HERE (2AM) BUTTT ITS CLOSE ENOUGH TO OCT.3RD AND GUESS WHAG DAY IT WAS…. NATIONAL BF DAY (I found out thru all the stories my friends/mutuals were posting 💔) so happy national bfs day toge 😍🥰😘 PLEASE I NEED HIM SO BADDDD

M-m-mahiTOE…? *I utter in disbelief* n-no… this can’t be… iya…. How could you do this to me…. Why….?? *runs away sonbing* 😔😔 not very sigma… (OK TBHHHH.. UNDERSTANDABLE BUT I FUCKING HAtE THAT HO 😡😡😡 I’ll make an exception for you tho iya 🥰🥰😘😘💗💗

OK IK U LIVE WITH THE KANGAROOS BUT HAVE U SEEN THE ELECTION STICKER THIS YESR??? LMAO I LOVE IT SO MUCH CUS WHY IS IT LITERALLY A PIC OF MY FACE??? IF U HAVENT SEEN IT HERE https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/style/michigan-i-voted-sticker-werewolf.html THATS THE LINK TO AN ARTICLE ABT IT BUT JUST LOOK AT THE PICTURE I DONT LIVE IN MICHIGAN BUT I WISH I DID SO I COULD GET THE STICKER 💔

ATOD ANSWERRRR… lowk……. Lighting McQueen 🤗🤤 OR THE BLUE MNM… THEY COULD GET ITTT 😍🤤

OKOKOK QOTD UHH A RANDOM HOT TAKE U HAVE SRY THIS ONES BORING IM TIRED ASF AND HAVE MY LAST EXAM TOMORROW ‼️‼️🔥 WISH ME LUCK + GN (morning for u. 😘)

LOVE U LOTS SIGMA 🤗‼️🐺🙏

-🐺

HI ALPHA!!! 🐺

this is the ask from friday or thursday i believe… but i saw ur other one SO DW IM ANSWERING BOTH😈 ITS OKAY!! don’t feel pressured to send one in every day bc i know it can be a lot but just know ur asks are always appreciated and ily <3

YES i’ve been working for the last 4 days opening and closing basically and it’s so customer orientated like ARGHHSH my body is just exhausted BUT I HOPE UR DOING WELL TOO!! the pack must stick together🙂‍↕️‼️

YESSS I KNEW U ATE… the power of the pack manifested together to make you cook🔥🔥 also omg me and u both have horrible spending habits… i leave my room and i drop $300 on random shit but even if i stay in my room i just go online shopping which is SO BAD like ive spent $5000 in the last two months…. oops!

YAY FOR SJAP WEEKEND!!! NAUR ur teacher is a OPP fr like hello there was no need to tell ur mum😒😒 also THE INGROWN RAIL HELP i hope it heals soon i’ve never had one before so i don’t know the pain💔 SEND REMEDIES CHAT‼️‼️ also i hope the weekend is better for u alpha and i’ll use the power of the pack to manifest next week is better too <3 LMFAO HAPPY NATIONAL BOYFRIENDS DAY TOGE

yes mahito… he is my guilty pleasure in a way… IDK HES JUST SO… idk i can’t explain it.. forgive me pls🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ LMFAO THE STICKER HELP😭 NO I LOVE IT I WANT IT PLS

AOTD‼️ my hot take is that lychees taste bad🙇‍♀️ IM SORRY THEYRE JUST SO GROSS😭 LMK URS ALPHA!! ILY🫵🫵

[magpie-sherlock]

i live for life.

i live for the way the sun comes through my window in the morning, traveling through my suncatcher and spreading rainbows on all the things i put in here to make it finally, maybe feel like home.

i live for the little kid who laughs as she plays a game in karate, even though when she first started she was so shy she wouldn't even touch the punching bag i held out for her until the very end of class.

i live for my russian teacher, who knew me for five minutes and decided to dedicate her time to teaching a nervous teenager how to speak a foreign language.

i live for the boy i dated who complimented my legs while i was ranting about getting dress coded for wearing shorts on a day i was finally feeling confident, who's messing his life up somewhere far away now. i hope he turns out alright.

i live for the time my friend told me he's not even sure i exist, further adding evidence to the fact i might be some sort of cryptid or celestial being or something. you decide.

i live for the friends who drag me kicking and screaming into their friend groups, who are crazy and who show me so much love. i would do anything for them.

i live for my online friends, who saw me and thought i was cool. who tell me about their problems. i always listen, because dammit, these people deserve the best. i'll do anything for them too.

i live for the crows that always seem to follow me on my walks, for the birds i hear at 2am when i finally go to sleep. why the fuck are you still awake you lovely weirdos?

i live for the girl who tapped on my shoulder during lunch one day to compliment my dress, and when i turned around, said, "oh my gosh your eyes are so pretty." she was pretty too.

i live for the people who thought i was weird, who excluded me when i tried to make "normal" friends. for the people who judge me for my bullshit.

i live for the art i draw. for the art i see. for all the sketchbooks and wips and leetle doodles my friends have felt comfortable enough to show me. they're all beautiful. if someone gives me a drawing, i tape it to my wall. there are so many.

i live for the music i hear. every lyric sung. every note played. every single song i listen to and sing and obsess over. the earworms that drive me mad at all hours of the day.

i live for plants. those little fuckers grow everywhere. i wonder what would happen if we tried to plant one on mars. it would probably die, but fuck, it would try to grow. half the grass outside is dead right now. but there are flowers. dandelions. clovers. roses.

i live for animals. watching a dog chase its tail. watching a cat as it tries to catch a laser. a snake slithering across the arena while i'm trying to ride a horse. horses are majestic.

i live for people. everyone has a wonderful soul, and a wonderful brain, all encased in a fleshbag with other little bags inside of it. the human body is fucking crazy man. it all works together to make an individual. all 8 million people on this earth are their own individual. no-one is completely the same as someone else. isn't that crazy?!

i live for rocks. shiny ones, dull ones. geodes are pretty. i also like sliced rocks. diamonds are formed through millions of years of pressure and heat. emeralds are so pretty; they're the rarest.

i live for every single thing on this planet. every little thing that makes up one big thing. there are bad things. it hurts my heart. some days, i don't want to get up. but i'm alive. God decided i get to wake up today, so i'm going to do it. i'm going to get up and do something. even if that something is get some water, put on my flower crown, and sit back down. because there are so many things here, so many people. so many souls, constantly changing this world for the better. simply by being themselves.

I LIVE. FOR LIFE. FOR EVERYTHING.

[kiryoutann]

I shall return to ur asks in the morning once i have a clearer and not sleep deprived mind about the latest chapter BUT YOUR IMPECCABLE TIMING. I just finished editing a 40 minute video for my class and its nearly 2am and im so stressed from finals but reading ur latest chapter truly gave me a break. I mean, not really because of the pain.. BUT i enjoyed it so much thank u for taking the time to write such a wonderful story

OKAY GET SOME REST NOW!! come back to me in the morning and GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS BB!❤️❤️ GET SOME SLEEP!!!!!!!!

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

"Numbered" Fic Titles Masterlist

2am (ao3) - cthink calum/ashton N/R, 1k

Summary: Calum can’t sleep.

That is, unless he’s with Ashton.

3 A.M. - @daydadahlias​ (cornflowerblue (daydadahlias)) michael/luke M, 4k

Summary: Five times Michael accidentally meets Luke in the bathroom and the one time he meets him there on purpose.

3 Cheers for Sweet Revenge (ao3) - gnamjoon michael/luke, calum/ashton T, 9k

Summary: Erm, it’s me. Your upstairs neighbour, and apparently nightly supplier of audio porn. I just wanted to apologise for what has now been SIX MONTHS (you could’ve said something earlier!!) of a bad sleep cycle. So, sorry. To express this, I have decided (or rather, my roommate Ashton, who is currently looking over my shoulder and is incredibly pissed off that I don’t listen to him when he complains about the noise level, has decided) that I owe you a night of super-loudness. Just please, wait until exams are over and I have a chance to buy sound-proof headphones. Luke

Or, the one where Michael and Calum live below Ashton and Luke, the latter of which has really loud sex on weeknights, when Michael needs to study. Also, Biceps are Calum’s kryptonite

5 Seconds (ao3) - insideimasadrainbow michael/ashton, luke/calum T, 18k

Summary: “If your name is on their list, you’re already dead.” That’s the warning message about 5 Seconds, a well known group of anonymous killers who make themselves known each year for the Purge. While the world fears these killers, David Hood remains focused on his security systems business that has celebrities such as Beyonce, Adele, and Ellen DeGeneres paying big bucks for it. Due to his lack of research and knowledge on 5 Seconds, David is oblivious to how the band of killers work off a list and has no idea that his name is has made it on there for the 4th annual Purge

5 Times (ao3) - Cornelia_Love luke/ashton, michael/calum G, 2k

Summary: 5 times the boys said they would date each other and the one time they actually did.

1990 (ao3) - orphan_account luke/ashton M, 13k

Summary:

“I don’t like guys, Luke” Ashton whispered tentatively against the blonde’s pulsing throat. “But you like me?” the younger boy muttered back, his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes slipping closed in anticipation. “Yes, I like you a lot.”

Or the one where two working-class boys from Manchester fall in love, but will society’s perception of ‘normal’ stop them from being together?

20/20 (ao3) - nothingliketherain (39_killer_queen) michael/ashton T, 9k

Summary: 5 times Ashton is affected by Michael in glasses + 1 time Michael is

30,000 Feet in the Air (ao3) - antisocialhood michael/luke E, 3k

Summary: Luke teases and Michael strikes back.

Court Five - takemymoneycth luke/ashton, michael/calum E, 21k

Summary: A story in which a young college tennis player maybe likes his new coach a little too much.

Eighteen (ao3) - boomercal luke/ashton E, 56k

Summary: Eighteen-year-old Luke is done putting up with his father and brothers so he takes his father’s Corvette and credit card to track down Ashton Irwin. Who graduated a few years ahead of him and has a reputation for smoking, drinking and sleeping around; surely he’ll be enough to make his dad meet his demands… right?

Five Golden Rules of Submission (ao3) - shesagoodgirl calum/ashton E, 3k

Summary: soo, thank you to kittenmichael for the lovely idea. thank you to calum for being a filthy exhibitionist. and thank you to ashton for being ready to dom calum when you need him.

if my wall clock tells me that it’s 4 in the morning i’ll give it hell (ao3) - crankgameplays luke/ashton N/R, 1k

Summary: basically writer!ashton with a small case of lukesomnia and artstudent!luke who also cant sleep and he draws ashton a lot okay its not his fault the boy has such a nice face, he /has/ to draw it.

Number One (ao3) - iCheeseYou (EHkook) michael/luke T, 3k

Summary: Michael hasn’t seen his musician of a best friend in a year since he left for a world tour.

One Foot In The Gutter (ao3) - pommedhappy michael/ashton T, 2k

Summary: Ashton sighs, questioning his decision for a second before knocking on the door.

The thing is Michael is sad, has been for a few weeks, and Ashton can’t take it anymore. It’s not hard to understand that Michael is quite depressed right now and wants to be alone, but the way he keeps isolating himself from the rest of the band really starts to worry Ashton. That’s how he came up with a plan, in order to get Michael out of this dark place the younger boy keeps going.

It’s probably the worst decision he never took, but at this point he’s ready to try and do anything in his power to make his friend feel better.

one look and i’m enchanted (ao3) - jbhmalum michael/calum T, 1k

Summary: “Stop looking at me,” Michael grumbles, arms crossed and a pout on his face. Calum knows very well he’s not asking for safety reasons, which makes another teasing smile breakout on his face. “But you’re so cute,” he says, laughing at Michael’s disapproving noise. Michael hates being called cute. “I swear, you’re the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

OR Michael now has to wear glasses. He hates it, so of course Calum teases him about it.

Scene 14 - @daydadahlias (cornflowerblue (daydadahlias)) luke/ashton, michael/crystal, roy/calum, kaykay/sierra E, 128k

Summary: It’s one of the first lessons you learn. There’s a difference between performing and acting.

Actors are intellectuals; they’re poets with their expression and the way their voices hit the air. Performers, by comparison, are children, ignorant and too bright for their own good. No one wants to admit to being only a performer. If you’re anyone worth anything, you want to be an actor.

And Luke is not an actor, but Ashton is.

Or, the one where Luke hates Ashton but has to pretend to be in love with him for five months for his acting final except for the fact that maybe he isn’t pretending anymore.

Symphony No. 4 in F Major (ao3) - orphan_account michael/luke T, 9k

Summary: What happens when Michael Clifford, esteemed member of the New York Philharmonic, meets Luke Hemmings, punk-pop rockstar?

The 5 Times Calum Ran Into a Nameless Guy at a Bar, and The One Time He Wasn’t So Nameless (ao3) - awfuldaycupcake calum/ashton N/R, 7k

Summary: The one where Calum keeps seeing Ashton in bars, but doesn’t even know his name

two can play that game (but you win me every time) (ao3) - galacticsugar luke/calum T, 10k

Summary: When Calum tells people he works at IKEA, people tend to respond enthusiastically. Some of them joke, did you have to learn Swedish?, or make a crack about the meatballs. Some of them ask how many marriages he’s seen end amongst the aisles. Basically, everyone turns into a comedian the moment Calum mentions his job.

Two, Two, Four (ao3) - cashcakeplz ot4 N/R, 9k

Summary: “So, let me get this straight. You…want to have a foursome…tonight?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at Calum.

or the one where Calum and Luke seduce their boys into a foursome.

[ive-got-the-issues]

i was in my uber and he was still asking me why i couldnt go home with him. It's past 2am, its valentine's days now, i feel like that wouldve been weird. Its not like he didnt remember it was now valentine's day bc the dj said it several times. Once i got home i was sending him pics, he took long to respond so i eventually went to bed. He had class in the morning. He hit me up around 9am that he had a lot of fun with me but wished i wouldve gone over. Eventually he asked me again to go over, i could've... but i didnt want to do that with my fiancé waiting for me at home on valentine's day. The next week i was off an extra day and home alone. I invited Beats over but he said he had a massive headache, he said he wouldve invited me over but his dad had just gotten home. I hit him up a few weeks later telling him id be home alone this past friday, he said he'd go over if he didnt have plans. I was at my friends house just WAITING for him to message me. I got home around 11:45 and asked if plans popped up, he said he forgot and asked for my address. I immediately jumped in the shower, picked lingerie and did my make up. He left me on delivered. My dumbass waited and waited. By 2am i gave up. I havent seen him bc i was off of work and now he is. I bet he's going to be short with me when i see him. To top it off, i noticed on thursday morning he removed me off of snapchat, the day before he was suppose to come over. I wonder why he removed me. Im so embarrassed and feel stupid 🙃

[storytimewithnova]

Enchanted

🎶There I was again tonight Forcing laughter, faking smiles Same old tired, lonely place🎶 

Sho’s Pov

This is so boring the same old faces same old places and i am here faking smiles and forcing laughter Then my brother yelled at me

Oikawa:sis did you here me i said i have a friend coming to join us

🎶Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy Vanished when I saw your face

Shona's thoughts 💭 great another person to irritate me Not like i am going to get along with them anyway 

The door opened then in walked Someone with blonde hair and a gorgeous smile i have ever seen suddenly it felt like it was just the two of us in the room everyone else seem to vanish when i saw your face

Sho:🎶 All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you🎶

I watched his eyes trying to read them and 🎶 Your eyes whispered🎶

xx:🎶 Have we met?🎶

🎶 Cross the room your silhouette Starts to make its way to me The playful conversation starts🎶

xx:well hello lil red 

Sho:Dumb blonde 

xx:now come on Lil red that is not my name

Sho:and lil red is not mine 

xx:it’s a cute nickname okay tell me your name and i will tell you mine 

Sho:Oikawa Shona

Atsumu:Miya atsumu you are adorable lil red 

🎶 Counter all your quick remarks Like passing notes in secrecy🎶

I tucked a note in his pocket as he went to get his wallet he found and said 

📝: Hey this is Shona aka Lil red I went home early but if you want to talk more here is my number see you in class dumb blonde 

Atsumu smirked and text her

Atsumu:📲hey Lil Red 

Sho:📱dumb blonde

Atsumu:📱ouch please call me something else like my name 

Sho:📱 fine Atsu did you need something 

Atsumu behind the screen 😳😳😳

Sho:📱 if not i will say this now and don’t let this go to your head 😒

Atsumu:📱what do you want to say Lil red

Sho:🎶 And it was enchanting to meet you All I can say is, I was enchanted to meet you🎶 see you in the morning Atsu 

Atsumu:see you Lil Red 

The next day they met at school and went to all their classes together and she even went to watch him play volleyball then he walked home 

🎶 This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew🎶

Sho:🎶 I was enchanted to meet you🎶

As she was singing Atsumu listened to her and he was mesmerising by her 

Time skip ⏭ 2AM

Sho messaged atsumu

Sho:🎶The lingering question kept me up 2 AM, who do you love?🎶

Atsumu:Lil red?

Sho:🎶 And now I'm pacing back and forth Wishing you were at my door I'd open up and you would say, 🎶

Atsumu:🗣"Hey"

Atsumu ran to the Oikawa residence

Sho:🎶It was enchanting to meet you All I know is, I was enchanted to meet you🎶

Atsumu:😳

Sho:🎶This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home🎶

Atsumu:i noticed that when i walked you home

Sho:🎶 I'll spend forever wondering if you knew That this night is flawless, don't you let it go🎶

Atsumu:not happening Lil Red 

Sho:🎶 I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you🎶

Atsumu’s thoughts💭 damn i have known this girl for a week and she has become my weakness 

Sho:🎶 This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again🎶

Atsumu💭 so Lil red feels the same damn i am glad i met her

Sho:🎶 These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon I was enchanted to meet you🎶

Atsumu:same Lil red same 

Sho:☺️🎶 Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you🎶

Atsumu was still running he is nearly there 

Sho:🎶 Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you🎶

Atsumu was quite at the moment 

Sho:🎶 This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew This night is flawless, don't you let it go🎶

Atsumu rounded the corner to sho’s house he was out of breathe 

Sho:🎶 I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you🎶

Atsumu:🎶 Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you🎶 sho open the door 

Sho:huh? 

Sho opened the door to see  atsumu out of Breathe

Atsumu:hey Lil Red 

He then kissed her and finished What he was saying

Atsumu:I love you Lil red have since i saw you at the Bar would you like to be my Girlfriend 

Sho:omg yes 

Sho kissed him

Time skip ⏭ to when they got married and they have a family of their own apart of her is happy Tooru dragged her to that bar now other wise she would never have met her husband

[greer-writing]

Saturday 2/11/2023

METhis one might be long, and it might be hard. 

Do you ever do something... you feel like its the right thing for you... you knew it wasn’t really ethical but you did it anyways, because it felt good? I miss those days the only thing that sucked is the fact that those days were always followed with regret.. To me it was worth it though, in the end at least. Honestly, I miss it daily it kills me.... I miss sneaking around, doing things I normally wouldn’t do... and as I grow in my mental health journey I realize all the things I did where because of mania... uncontrolled emotions and feelings.I got off by walking up those two flights of stairs. I got off by his friend walking in on us. I got off on late night pizza trips and early morning starbuck runs. I got off on the fact that I mattered more than anything else... even if it was a fling, of a FWB situation. I remember driving at 2am to come see you, I actually loved you.. I left things with you that where important to me, clothes and jewelry... What gets me though is the fact that even with you there where red flags... Tons of them. I ignored them for a reason, I acted color blind for a reason. My life was a chaotic mess and I thrived on that shit... I even bragged about it to an extent. Even caught in the act i would do nothing but laugh in the face of my accuser and keep being the person i was being. 

I am no longer that person but i will not lie when I say I think about it often... I don’t have to deal with the regret, shame, and abuse.... but it’s also what made me ME at the time. Now that I am no longer that person, I’m not entirely sure who I am. I think that is where I got stuck.... finding that happy medium of happy and not stuck. Honestly....Being with Raenen was the largest mistake of my life, but every person I cheated on him with was not. It was all a lesson within that class of my life. Raenen was the teacher and all these people who interfered where other students. That is the only way I know to look at the whole thing...... I don’t regret it. I might have hated the teacher but I sure as fuck got a long with most to all of my class mates. That is such a WEIRD metaphor but here we are.. making all the sense. It was also incredibly exhausting, having to hide everything and cover every single track. Meh. I am honestly just glad its over and I found the girl that doesn’t want to be that person again.... no matter how much I miss the adrenaline. 

Glad I found her.

-K

[chososcamgirl]

HI SIGMA ALPHA IYAAAA HRUUU??? PRETTY SURE ITS MORNING FOR U.. SOOOOO… RISE AND GRIND‼️💪 U ALR KNOW THE DRILL POOPOO😈 I DIDNT FIND MY AIRPODS… BUTTTTT TODAY I WAS IN CLASS AND THIS GIRL DREW ME LIKE OMFGG IM SO SKIBIDI AND SHE MADE ME LOOK SO PRETTYYYY I WAS SO HONORED AND I SWEARRRRR I WAS ABT TO START BARKING AND SIGMAING ON THE SPOTT!!! HOPE UR HAVING AN ALPHATASTIC MEORNING GANG🙏��TELL ME ABT THE MALL 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ ALSOOO UPDATEEE I STARTED HAVING SMALL CONVOS WITH PPL WHICH IS IMPROVEMENT (introverted/mysterious/nonchalant gang 😔😔) BUT LIKEEE SHOULD I REMAIN MY NONCHALANT OR START SHOWING MY ALPHA SELF IDKKK I DONT WANNA SCARE OFF THESE BETAS… anyway have fun eating with the koalas gangly gang (HOW DO U FEEL ABOUT THE DAILY(?) YAPS/CHECK-INS I LOVEEEEE DOING THEM BUT ILL REMAIN A SILENT NON YAPPER IF U THINK I YAP TOO MUCH..) heh.. feeling like revealing my identity soon… (maybe… perchance…. By DMs…. Idk gang should I remain the sigma alpha anon…?) ANYWAYYY TELL ME ABT UR DAYYYYY 😈💗💪

-🐺

HI ALPHA !!!!!🐺🐺

i am just going thru my asks now bc i literally had NO time this morning and during work (i am so tired i went to bed at 2am and woke up at 6:30 kill me)

NAURR i hope the airpods turn him soon💔💔 AWW that’s so cute that she drew u wtf how sweet that is totally sigma🙏 omg the mall w my bff was so fun we went shopping and i only spent like under $200 this time which i am proud of and then we got the cutest photobooth pics but it felt so short and i miss her already </3 YAYY so proud of u for stepping out of ur comfort zone (dw ur still mysterious and nonchalant) LMFAOOO i think u should gradually show ur alpha side… oh! thanks.. will do… (I LOVE THE DAILY YAPS AND CHECK INS THEY MAKE MY DAY HONESTLY I LOVE YOU ALPHA) if u want to reveal ur identity trust i will keep it a secret… (TAKE UR TIME!!) TY ALPHA ILY!!!

[scover-va]

Hex polycule (Bryce, Rust, Lazarus, Chandrelle) thoughts?????

*cracks knuckles* hcs time babey! All under the cut bc it's a long post

Lazarus and Chandrelle were obviously the first ones in the polycule to catch feelings since they've been friends the longest, liking each other during SoL but neither actually properly doing anything about it

Since Chandrelle and Bryce were at the inn the longest though, they had plenty of time to bond. Nothing romantic, but boredom led to them opening up to each other about a lot, both of them disguising it as just casual chatter when it's like "Yeah aha I punched my grandma while trying to punch Irving and now she's permanently injured" "Oh cool Irving tried to fucking murder me"

Rust is the third one to come to the inn, and Bryce is making plenty of attempts to talk to the poor guy, despite Rust being a huge weirdo. Chandrelle wanted to stay out of it, but Bryce kept insisting the three of them sit together to chat

Then when Lazarus finally comes along, things are. A little awkward between him and Chandrelle for a bit. Understandable, given what happened the last time they saw each other

Bryce has heard plenty about Lazarus though, and welcomes him with open arms, happily introducing himself. And once again, as the extrovert, Bryce has Lazarus sit with the trio

Though with things still weird with Laz and Chan, Bryce decides that it'd be best if Laz sits with Rust to keep him company, since neither Laz nor Rust have a super high social battery. So basically Bryce accidentally got all the seating arrangements set up bc adding on, FPP and SWK had no tables to sit at, only left with the bar

So Laz and Rust chat a bit when they're both feeling up for it. Rust can't remember much thanks to the mind control serum, and Lazarus has a lot of repressed memories thanks to trauma, so most chats are about simpler things. Favourite foods, fighting techniques, stuff like that. Rust ends up learning a lot about sword terminology

Post game, Laz and Chandrelle finally properly talk about everything that happened, since everyone can now go anywhere they please again. Small argument, but it's more of just Lazarus having no one else to get angry at now that Irving's dead

They kinda sorta awkwardly hug it out, but none of their prior hugs have been super duper comfortable anyways thanks to Chandrelle's people issues anyways, so it feels more like home than Lazarus would care to admit

Meanwhile, with the MC serum wearing off, Bryce is helping Rust with his Rocky issues. The bonding leads to Rust developing feelings, not that he's emotionally stable enough to acknowledge that nor act out on it

Bryce also does his best to bond more with Laz, having been curious about him for quite some time now. Laz is a bit confused by all the questions, but answers them the best to his ability.

Bryce pretty much starts setting up proper time for him to hang out with the three of them. He drags Chandrelle into cooking/baking with him ("Maybe it could help with your anger issues?" "I don't fucking have anger issues!"), he and Lazarus work out together (nothing intense or anything, just simple stuff), and basically just having a book club type thing with Rust (Which also leads to them figuring out that Rust very badly needs fuckin glasses)

Sometimes the hangouts overlap. Rust will help Bryce and Chandrelle cook, Lazarus will invite Chandrelle to work out with him and Bryce, and Lazarus will go sit with Bryce and Rust so he can read with them.

Lazarus accidentally tells Bryce and Rust during reading time that he's had a long-time crush on his best friend, which even an idiot could figure out is Chandrelle, and Bryce encourages him to go for it. Well then lazarus starts talking abt how he'd feel bad, because he doesnt wanna leave Bryce and Rust for Chandrelle

Which also serves as an accidental confession to the both of them

It takes a lot of talking about it, especially since Rust's still a bit emotionally stunted and Lazarus is very, very new to romance despite the long time crush, but it basically becomes a case of "Let's go kidnap Chandrelle into the newly formed polycule"

Chandrelle's a lil hesitant at first, being even more emotionally stunted than Rust, so they all agree to take it slowly. Small dates, like going out for walks or Bryce cooking everyone dinner, stuff like that. They slowly ease into more romantic stuff

It takes Rust and Chandrelle the longest out of everyone to start doing anything romantic, both from a lack of a close bond and also emotional constipation.

Bryce convinces them to hang out more, so they do. Rust gets to learn more about Chandrelle's magic, though he doesn't really understand it at all, no matter how many times Chandrelle explains it to him

Luckily, she's moronsexual. Exhibit A: Lazarus

They basically only end up properly getting together because they both start accidentally talking about emotional stuff without realizing. And it was like "...Ah okay guess we can kiss or whatever :/"

They take turns with who's on the outside and who's on the inside of cuddle piles. Though the most frequent order is Rust > Bryce > Lazarus > Chandrelle

Lazarus also isn't invited to help out in the kitchen. Hes mistaken salt for sugar and vice versa at least ten times each. He burnt an oven mitt by placing it directly on top of a hot stove ring. He accidentally knocked over a beer bottle right into a hot, greasy pan. He didn't take offence to being kicked out.

Chandrelle has made it her life mission to get Rust to shave. She's failing.

And finally, they all use a weighted blanket when they're cuddling. Rust likes the extra pressure because he got used to sleeping in heavy armour, Bryce just likes being warm, Lazarus has the neurodivergent crave to get his bones crushed, and Chandrelle needs to be kept down so she doesnt have a complex kick in and try to run off