#its storming sooo bad i hope i get to leave work early

[lastamericanhero]

welcome to beautiful cloud world. population: us

[cottoncandy-jester]

✨lie down darling Its time for a dream✨

Faking it (dad squad)

So basically this is what happens if the dad squad found out reader faked an orgasm before

This is of course 18+ and the reader is female

Daichi suwamura

Okay so daichi honestly was never worried about y'all sex life

Like you moan his name everytime why is he worried

It's when you and the rest of the karasuno group get drunk and play truth of dare

When it's your turn.. you're drunk off six shots of tequila and tanaka asks you to reveal your deepest secret

"okay okay! Sooo during me and daichi's fourth anniversary, we fucked and I may have totally faked it"

Wait what.

WHAT?!

Everyone else is laughing but daichi is over here having a mental breakdown

You did what?!

How many more have you faked?! Were they all fake?! Did he ever really make you cum?

It did not take long for daichi to drag you away to the nearest bathroom

You gasp when daichi pinned you against the wall his mouth attacking your neck while his hands roamed your body now gripping your hips as he ripped your panties off.

"faked an orgasm?! Damn it how many did you fake? Doesn't matter don't tell me. I'm going to fuck you against this wall and you are going to cum over and over til I know for sure you like having sex with me"

He fucked you until you couldn't think anymore, he also made sure EVERYONE heard it.

Tooru oikawa

You were having girl talk with the other managers and the topic of sex came up

They all assume he's some sex god which makes you laugh

Oikawa is honestly such a dork during sex that you couldn't help but spills beans

"honestly he was so nervous during our first time, It was so cute..though he didn't really make me.. y'know"

Oh BOY

News travelled fast and before you know it at 4am you had a pissed oikawa at your door

The loud harsh banging interrupted your sleep and you went to the door only to see oikawa standing there, your sleepy eyes trailed his body up and down and you noticed he was gripping his phone so tight his knuckles turned white, you didn't even get to speak when the male stormed inside and let's out a frustrated sigh.

"why are rumors about me being bad in bed spreading around?!"

"I dunno...maybe you have a hater, babe it's like 4am..why are you here?"

Oikawa snapped his head towards you before walking towards you anger fuming towards you before he gripped your arm tightly.

"everyone is saying you started the rumor, so tell me little cutie what the fuck have you been saying?"

Your eyes got wide as the conversation with the girls resurfaced in your head and you softly reached out to put your hands on his cheeks which made him relax but he was still clearly annoyed.

"sorry, tooru it was just one little story. Girl talk y'know and it's fine lots of people can't make their partner cum their first time you just ha-"

You were cut off by the male roughly pulling you towards your room, everytime you tried to speak oikawa would glare at you before demanding that you shut up. Once in your room he pushed you on the bed his ego clearing having dropped now that you admitted the truth.

"I am good at sex! I am Great! I just have to prove to you that you are with the best man ever"

As he spoke he started to strip before his cold glare landed on you before he crawled ontop and wrapped a hand around your throat.

"you are going to be begging me to stop making you cum once I'm done with you"

He made you tell everyone that you cummed extra hard that night, even if it was super embarrassing to say.

Tetsuro kuroo

You two were arguing

It started with him being jealous of a person at work flirting with you and it just blew up

Screams and swears shooting back at the other

Low blows were dealt

You both don't even remember what the fight was about

Then..you said it

"God you are so cocky! It's shit like that, that make me fake orgasms during sex"

He shut up after that one for sure

All he can think about was how many did you fake and how he failed as your lover

Why didn't you tell him you weren't feeling good during sex?

Kuroo remained quiet as he let his brain think, after saying it you quickly walked over and hugged him hoping he wasn't angry at you

"baby! I'm sorry I didn't mean it, I was just upset and you were just upset you forgive me yeah?"

"how many times?"

"that doe-"

"how many damn times?!"

You flinched when he forced you to look at him showing pain in his eyes and you couldn't help but be honest with him.

"only a few, during those times where I was just really sleepy that's it"

Kuroo let's out a shaky sigh before he peppered soft kisses along your neck. He was pretty hurt at the moment but he did want to make it up to you, plus make up sex was always good

"come, let's talk this out yeah?"

His tone was soft as he guided you to the bedroom thought talking wasn't the plan he had, he wanted to make you see stars and make sure he could actually make you cum.

Koutaro bokuto

Okay so maybe it wasn't a good idea to pump up bokuto's ego every time you guys have sex

All your praise makes him think he's the best in the world

But when it came time for a girls night at you and bokuto's place stuff starts to spill

You told bokuto to spend the night at akaashi or something but you didnt think he would come home

"sooo [y/n]! How is bokuto in bed?! We gotta know"

The question made you embarrassed while bokuto stood outside you guys' bedroom listening in

Yes dear wife tell them how my sex is the best in the world

"koutaro, tries his best. Sometimes he gets a little too excited and cums early so he gets too tired to finish and we end up cuddling before I can climax so I just fake it"

WHAT?!

Bokuto automatically swings the door open scaring both you and the girls

He is legit tearing up and about to sob

After, very quickly telling the girls to leave he cries into your stomach while you pet his head

"why didn't you tell me?! I would have made it all better"

"oh..kou..it's no big deal"

Your soothing which would usually work just wasn't working right now, bokuto sniffled as he looked up at you with tearful eyes, you were his baby owl and he couldnt even make you feel good?!

He couldn't believe that! No he won't accept that! Before you can respond bokuto pushed you down on the bed before starting to pull your pants and underwear off your body

"kou! W-what the hell?!"

"just let me do this please! I need to know that I can do this, I just want you to be happy with me..so..let me worship you"

You were shocked but shuddered at the feeling of soft kisses against your inner thigh, with one final sniffle bokuto was now focused on something else.

He proceeded to eat you out that night until you cummed so much that you was sobbing but by the end of it he was so happy to know that he can make you cum and of course he was more mindful about your needs.

Wakatoshi ushijima

Oh jeez

Okay so he makes it very clear that bedroom talk is off limits

What you two do in bed is your business hell you guys don't really talk about sex and spend more time just doing it

You are very tight lipped about your sex life but tendou Is a very stubborn guy

He is constantly asking you what's it like..mostly cause he wants to tease wakatoshi

After finally bothering you to the point where you wanna hit him you confess

"toshi is great okay?! I mean sure he has his moments of not really getting me there but it's good so stop asking!"

OHOHOHO HE HAS TO KNOW MORE

after explaining that wakatoshi tends to be boringly vanilla you expect him to let it go

No bitch this is tendou 'i give no fucks' satori

Proceeds to tease wakatoshi about it every chance he gets

"wow who knew you could be boring in all departments"

"sooooo, you really like it vanilla huh?"

Of course oblivious wakatoshi doesn't pay him any mind until a drunk tendou spills the beans

"guess who told me that you're boring in bedddd~ pfft she said you are so slow that it is like fucking a box"

You of course didn't say that but you were shocked to see wakatoshi at your door the next day

"did you tell tendou about our sex life?"

Well fuck.

you honestly should have expected this. You let out a shaky sigh as you merely avoided eye contact you felt pretty embarrassed and ashamed

"yeah, sorry toshi he kept bugging me about it"

"you telling him is not why I'm upset"

You were honestly shocked and looked up only to see wakatoshi's face close to yours, his eyes were intense and honestly gave you chills.

"did you say I was boring during sex? Is this true?"

"um..yeah but it's okay I mean it's still good it's just very..typical I mean we do the same stuff all the time and you just tend to be, slow"

Wakatoshi was a little shocked by your words but he calmly sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to think of what exactly he needed to do.

"then my future wife, allow me to spend the night making you feel good instead of myself, you can tell me exactly what I need to do in order to bring you to climax again and again."

And you did exactly that, he was quite obedient and even did things he never done before just so he can make you feel good.

[toffrox]

The Nico di Angelo Protection Squad

Read on Ao3

Summary:

Will must have known what Jason was doing, Jason was certain.

But at every move Jason made, Will simply took it in his stride. Sometimes he even had an understanding look in his eye like 'it's ok, I'm hitting on your little brother, I get it' or he'd back off for a little while with an easy shrug like 'whatever, I'm not relying on this one moment to make my move, I respect Nico's friend time'.

Jason wasn't sure whether to be infuriated or impressed.

He tried to explain this to Percy.

"Oh, no." Percy shook his head. "We are not backing down this easy." He grinned and held up a single golden drachma. "Time to call in an intimidation expert."

-

When rumours about Nico and Will start to spread around camp, Percy and Jason attempt to intimidate him. It doesn't go as planned.

Percy

It wasn't long after the end of the war against Gaia when the rumours started. Maybe two weeks, or three, at the most.

Even to Percy, oblivious as he usually was, they did not come as a surprise.

He was in the Athena cabin, dropping by to steal Annabeth away for a few hours, when he first heard them.

Jess and Daniel were sitting on the front steps, deep in the last couple of moves of a chess match when Percy entered the cabin. By the time he and Annabeth were leaving, they were resetting the board and gossiping idly.

"-no way they have a chance with Solace," Jess was saying. "He's totally got it bad for Nico."

"Nico?" Daniel said skeptically. "di Angelo?"

"Obviously." Jess huffed. "What other Nico is there at camp? Besides, have you seen those two together? They're as bad as-"

Annabeth tugged impatiently on Percy's hand, jerking his attention away. He threw her an incredulous glance as they stumbled across the green together, heading to the beach.

"Did you hear that?" Percy asked.

"Hear what?" said Annabeth, not looking back, still pulling him along.

"What Jess said. About Nico and Will Solace!"

"Not really. Was she saying that they need to hurry up and make out already?"

Percy spluttered in response.

"What? Are you surprised?" Annabeth shot him a look over her shoulder like, surely he couldn't be that stupid. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Well, no! Obviously not." Percy clarified. "Of course they would be adorable together. I just didn't realise it was like - camp gossip, already."

Annabeth shrugged. "The rumour mill works fast."

Percy sped up to a jog for a couple of steps so that they were walking towards the sea side by side.

"Should we be worried?" he asked.

Annabeth frowned at him, half amused, half puzzled.

"Why would we be worried?"

"I dunno, I just…" Percy scratched the back of his neck. "Nico doesn't really like being the centre of attention and like… Don't you think it's a little soon for them to be getting into a relationship?"

Annabeth barked out a laugh. "That is so none of our business, Seaweed Brain."

"What do you mean?" Percy complained. "I'm just looking out for him!"

Annabeth smirked and gave his hand another little tug. "You worry too much, Jackson. Leave the poor kid alone."

As she spoke, she reached up to tug her hair out of its ponytail, probably knowing that would distract him. It was irritatingly effective. She stopped walking for a moment to lean up and press her lips to his jaw.

Maybe she was right. He should stop worrying.

-

Except that a few days later, the worry crept back.

He and Nico were sitting at the Hades table together. Jason had already had breakfast since he'd been up early to go for a run, so it was just the two of them eating.

They were midway through the meal when a pair of Aphrodite campers breezed passed them. They were chattering excitedly, probably unaware of how loud they were being.

"Did you see them practicing archery together yesterday?" one of them was saying. "So. Cute."

"Oh my Gods, you have no idea. He is always finding excuses to ask for help in the infirmary just so they can spend more time together."

Percy watched Nico's shoulders stiffen and his eyes widen as they both realised who the Aphrodite kids were talking about.

Nico's head snapped up and he met Percy's eyes with something like panic. Percy tried to act casual, even as the blush overtook Nico's cheeks.

"It has been pretty busy in the infirmary lately." Percy blurted, attempting to absolve Nico of some of his mortification.

Instead, Nico's blush only deepened and he scowled down at his breakfast. He scoffed down the rest of his meal as hastily as he could and then stormed back to the Hades cabin without another word.

Percy's stomach sank.

-

"I just think that maybe we should talk to him, is all!" Percy was saying later that day. He was sat on one of the unused bunks in Cabin One, arms spread out in front of him as he tried to talk Jason onto his side. Jason sat on his chair, which he'd flipped around so his forearms were resting on the back.

"And say what?" Jason asked. "It's not his fault Aphrodite campers gossip."

"Duh." Percy agreed. "But like, don't you think we should be making sure that he knows that this kind of thing might freak Nico out? He probably doesn't realise that Nico's not ready for a relationship."

"Dude. What are you talking about? How do you even know that?"

"I just-" Percy sputtered helplessly. "I dunno. I just think we should say something!"

"Percy." Jason sighed. "We are not giving Will Solace a shovel talk. You are being ridiculous."

Percy huffed.

Looks like this is going to be a solo endeavour, then.

He had been so sure that Jason would be on his side.

-

Will

It was late in the summer and a slow week for camp injuries. Will pattered around the infirmary, making beds. He was the only one on duty that afternoon.

At around 3o'clock, he got an unexpected visitor.

"Oh, hey Percy." He called, smiling up at the son of Poseidon.

Percy stood in the infirmary doorway. He had a strange look on his face, like he was mad about something. His black hair was getting shaggy and his sea green eyes were darker than usual. He wore a raggedy looking camp t-shirt and swim trunks and Riptide was hanging at his waist in sword form.

Sword form? That was odd.

Will's smile turned curious.

"Hello, Will." Percy returned his greeting, oddly formal.

"How's it going?" Will asked cheerily and Percy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. There was a pause. "Are… you alright?"

He kept his tone light, waiting patiently for Percy to find his words.

"I'm fine." Percy shrugged dismissively. "I just came by to…" He glanced around the infirmary, shoulders relaxing when he found it was only the two of them. "I actually came by to talk to you about something…" Percy made his way into the room, gaining confidence. "About Nico."

"Oh."

Will felt a thrill of nerves run through him.

Not out of any kind of guilt. Instead he found himself trying not to blush at the way his heart thudded at the mention of Nico's name.

Oh Gods. Percy knew about Will's feelings for Nico. Or he'd heard the rumours and was coming here to tell him Nico wasn't interested.

The tips of Will's fingers burned with mortification at the thought.

Calm down. The rational part of his brain cut over his rapidly spiralling train of thought. If you freak out and he doesn't actually know about your massive, embarrassing crush then the fact that you're having a panic attack about it will make it super freaking obvious.

He forced his limbs to stay casual and hopped up onto the bed he had just fixed up.

"Sure." He said, voice still as breezy as he could manage. He gestured for the bed opposite him. "We can talk."

Percy kept his eyes narrowed as he glanced at the bed and then back to Will. He took a seat.

There was a long silence.

"Sooo, what about Nico did you want to talk about?" Will asked. He hoped that didn't come out too snarky.

Percy raised one eyebrow and then seemed to psych himself up. He straightened his back and adjusted his sword, looking broader than he usually did.

"Well." Percy cleared his throat. "I've been hearing some rumours about you guys."

"Right." Will said carefully. He waited for Percy to clarify. This seemed to annoy Percy a little. Will smiled, hoping to ease the tension.

"Right. And er- I guess I just wondered… if there's any truth to them? To the rumours, I mean."

Percy watched Will's face so intently that Will couldn't help but feel a silent laugh tug at the corner of his mouth.

"What rumours are you talking about exactly?" He asked, still ever so casual.

Percy looked irritated.

Ok, don't overdo it, Solace.

"If you mean the ones about us being a couple then-" Will shrugged. "We're just friends."

"Right." Percy said again. "But do you maybe wish that you were more than friends?"

Will's heart thudded.

Casual. Keep it casual.

"Sure." Will smiled. "I mean, Nico's awesome. Right?"

Percy remained suspicious. Will wasn't deterred.

"I wasn't planning on making any moves though."

"You weren't?" Percy blinked.

Will laughed. "Of course not. I don't think he'd be comfortable with that considering how much other campers have been gossiping about it." As he spoke Will raised one pointed eyebrow. Percy had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Right. Ok." He said. He nodded himself, like he was trying to reassure himself of something, then puffed himself up like he had done at the start of the conversation and put one hand on Riptide again. "Well. Good. I agree."

Will's eyes rested on Percy's sword hand for a second. He smirked.

There was another silence, in which Percy attempted to stare him down. Will just tilted his head in a question.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"Um." Percy jumped up, looking a little deflated. "Yeah. Sure. That's all."

Will grinned and jumped to his feet too.

"Ok, cool. Well, see you round, Percy." He reached out to clap Percy on the shoulder and then turned his back, heading to the infirmary storage to get another set of fresh sheets.

Once he finally he heard Percy leave behind him, he let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair.

Ok, so Percy Jackson knows about your crush on Nico di Angelo. It's not that big of a deal.

He tried to get his heartbeat under control as he snatched up a pile of linen and returned to the infirmary floor. He tried not to think about how nothing Percy said implied that Nico might feel the same way. He tried to feel relieved that at least Percy hadn't told him that Nico was sick of spending time in the infirmary.

He felt a shy smile creep onto his face as he thought about Nico. He thought about how embarrassed Nico got whenever another camper made a comment about them. He thought about the cute way his eyebrows knit together in confusion when someone complimented him. He thought about silky ink-black hair and shattered glass eyes.

He sighed wistfully into the empty infirmary.

Gods, Solace. You need to get a grip.

-

Jason

Percy barged into Cabin One, Riptide in one hand and the other hand carding through his hair in frustration.

"Impossible! He is the worst!"

Jason glanced up from where he was laying on his bunk, letting the book he was reading fall closed onto his chest.

"What?" He frowned at Percy, who was now pacing distractedly around his cabin.

Jason checked the statue of Zeus warily, hoping the sudden appearance of an enraged son of Poseidon wouldn't result in another indoor thunderstorm.

"That guy is impossible!" Percy said through gritted teeth.

"What guy? What are we talking about?" Jason asked, sitting up.

"Will Solace!" Percy cried out right at the moment he pivoted, still pacing. "I went to the infirmary to tell him he needed to quit flirting with Nico-"

"You did what?!" Jason's eyebrows flew up.

"-But then I couldn't even get the proper words out because he was so friendly and reasonable!"

Percy capped Riptide back into ballpoint pen and shoved it in his pocket, looking thoroughly pissed off that Will Solace had had the nerve to be a decent person. Jason stared at him, nonplussed.

"Percy, you do realise you sound insane right now, right?" Jason said dryly.

Percy glared at him.

"What did you even say to him?" Jason asked.

"Well I asked him if the rumours about him having a thing for Nico was true." Percy said, ignoring Jason's eye roll. "And he said yes. But then before I could say anything else he said he wasn't planning on making any moves because he knows that the rumours make Nico uncomfortable and he thinks Nico is awesome."

Jason couldn't help but smirk at the utterly disgusted look on Percy's face as he recounted Will's words. This earned him another glare from Percy.

"Hey, don't laugh!" He complained. Jason tried his best not to.

"Why don't you ask Annabeth to talk to him?" Jason suggested.

Both he and Percy knew that Annabeth was the most feared person at camp.

"She won't talk to me about it." Percy grumbled. "Says it's none of my business."

"It is none of your business." Jason agreed. Percy glared at him again.

"But she also says she doesn't need to talk to him, because she says he's smart enough not to be an idiot about a camp rumour!"

"She's right about that too." said Jason. "Look, I told you not to talk to him. Will's a nice guy. Everyone likes him. I don't get why you're so worried."

Percy's eyes narrowed.

"I'm telling you, man. This is not a good thing." He insisted. "I went in there trying to express how I was worried about Nico, and instead he just laughed at me and I looked like a total dork."

"I mean, in Will's defence, you are a total dork." Jason pointed out.

Percy simply shook his head gravely.

"You wait. This can only mean bad things for us."

-

Over the next couple of weeks, as summer wound to a close, Jason continued to be unworried both by the rumours swirling around Will and Nico, and Percy's suspicious glances.

Every time Will and Nico arrived at the dining pavilion together, prompting heads to duck together and whispers to erupt at the Apollo and Aphrodite tables. Every time Nico blushed when Will waved at him at the campfire or called to him across the green in the mornings. Jason always heard a voice in his head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Piper that said 'Will's a decent guy. And Nico can handle himself' or, 'This is cute. Nico deserves a friend like Will'.

It wasn't until after most of the summer campers had gone back to school and the Fall year-rounder season began that Jason began to see exactly where Percy was coming from.

Percy and Annabeth had returned to the city for school, both staying with Sally and Paul. Piper and Jason were staying at camp for a couple more weeks before heading out to search for Leo together.

In the quiet of the Fall season at camp, Nico and Jason had formed a daily routine together.

Jason woke up, went on a run, showered. Then he dropped by Cabin Thirteen and if Nico was awake they went to breakfast together. They trained together with the Ares cabin and whoever else wanted spar practice for most of the morning. Then lunch. Then, in the afternoon they'd split off for some kind of camp activity. Jason usually used that time to do research for his temples. Nico often hung out with Piper or helped the Athena cabin run mythology class. Lately, he'd been spending that time in the infirmary instead, helping the Apollo kids on duty.

And Will Solace was always on duty.

It was around the third or fourth day in a row that Nico arrived at dinner with Will and ate with Jason only to promptly leave the Zeus table and rejoin Will to spend the whole evening in the Apollo cabin that Jason started to realise that maybe this whole rumour thing wasn't just a rumour anymore. And that maybe Will's promise to Percy that he wasn't going to make a move had been forgotten.

Sometimes Piper noticed Jason watching the two of them walking together or planning a project on the deck of the Apollo cabin or sitting together at the campfire. She rolled her eyes at him, but never said anything.

One night, Jason was walking back to his cabin after an evening catch up with Thalia at the Iris cabin fountain when he spotted Will and Nico walking across the green together. Jason paused where he stood, in the shadow of the Hypnos cabin, so they wouldn't see him. It looked like Will was walking Nico back to his cabin for the night.

When they arrived at the steps to Cabin Thirteen, Jason noted how close together they were standing. At one point, Will reached out and put his hand on Nico's arm and Jason was shocked that Nico didn't pull back.

Nico leaned forward slightly to say something and Will tilted his head inward to listen, then threw it back in a laugh. Nico was grinning.

Jason saw Will give Nico a hug goodnight and then retreat across the green to Cabin Seven. Nico hesitated in the doorway of his cabin, watching Will leave.

Jason stood in the shadow of the Hypnos cabin, blinking dumbly for several minutes after Nico had disappeared behind the Hades cabin door.

His rational brain warred with a familiar protective instinct.

Nico seemed so smitten with Will. But why hadn't he said anything to Jason? Or talked about it with Piper, even? Why did he always change the subject whenever Will came up, even in the most innocent context?

Will clearly still had feelings for Nico, as he had confessed to Percy several weeks ago now. But why was he walking Nico home at night and inviting him to come and help in the infirmary all the time if he wasn't planning on acting on his crush?

Jason knew Nico could take care of himself. And he knew Will was a nice guy. And he knew that Nico deserved to be happy and loved.

And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that this was a risk.

'I'm telling you. This can only mean bad things.' Percy's words rang in Jason's ear.

From that moment, Jason resolved to be more attentive and more firm whenever he was around Will.

-

The next morning, Jason passed Will on his morning run. Will was just coming back from a hike with his siblings, fresh-faced and sunny as always.

As Jason passed the three Apollo kids he threw Will his best wolf-glare. Will raised his hand in a cheery wave, as if he hadn't even noticed.

-

At breakfast, Jason stared Will down across the pavilion. He was laughing and chatting with Kayla about something. He didn't look up once.

"Are you ok?" Nico asked. Jason nodded grumpily.

At the end of the meal Will jogged over and to chat with Nico. Nico's face lit up as they talked. Before he left, Will threw Jason a friendly grin.

"Hey, Jason." he said, before inviting Nico to hang in the infirmary with him that night.

-

At the next campfire, Jason made sure to be there early. He tugged Piper along to sit with Nico, taking Will's usual spot. Piper eyed him suspiciously.

When Will arrived, Jason watched him carefully, searching for a sign of disappointment that his seat had been taken.

Instead, Will barely seemed to notice. He gave Jason and Piper a breezy smile, then took up a seat beside Cecil and Connor, chatting with them. When Nico craned round to look for Will, he flashed him a quick smile too but didn't stop his conversation with the Hermes campers.

For some reason this comparative lack of attention to Nico made Jason even madder than the constant attention.

-

At Friday's head counsellor meeting, Jason was irritable. He shot down Will's admittedly good ideas for a new rota on music and archery training.

Jason could hear the pettiness in his voice as he spoke, but instead of arguing, Will just shrugged.

"Fair enough." He said easily.

Like it was no big deal at all.

-

That afternoon, Percy arrived at camp. He was planning to stay the night.

When he, Jason and Nico hit the arena to spar together, Jason noticed that Will dropped by to watch. He noticed how Will paid more attention to the matches Nico was in and cheered whenever Nico won.

Percy locked eyes with Jason at one point and Jason realised that Percy had noticed it too.

"You were totally right!" Jason said at dinner that night. Nico had left already with Will and the rest of the Apollo cabin for a music night in their cabin.

Percy looked at Jason in surprise.

"About what?"

"About Will!" Jason cried. "I've been trying to intimidate him all week because it seems like he's totally going to make a move on Nico, but it's like he's just ignoring me!"

Percy's mouth dropped open.

"I knew it!" He gasped. "See, I told you!"

"I know, I know." Jason dropped his head in his hands. "I just didn't get it when you said."

The thing was, Jason knew deep down that his actions to try and intimidate Will were immature. Especially without having talked to Nico about it. Except that Will's reaction didn't match up that way.

When Will grinned or waved at him after Jason glared or snapped, it wasn't malicious and it wasn't taunting. It wasn't ignorant either. Will must know what Jason was doing, Jason was certain. But at every move Jason made, Will simply took it in his stride. Sometimes he even had an understanding look in his eye like 'it's ok, I'm hitting on your little brother, I get it' or he'd back off for a little while with an easy shrug like 'whatever, I'm not relying on this one moment to make my move, I respect Nico's friend time'.

Jason wasn't sure whether to be infuriated or impressed.

He tried to explain this to Percy. Percy shook his head.

"Oh, no." Percy insisted. "We are not backing down this easy."

A curious gleam appeared in Percy's eyes. Determined and mischievous.

"So what do we do?" Jason asked.

Percy withdrew something from his pocket and held it up for Jason to see. It was a golden drachma. Percy grinned.

"We consult an intimidation expert."

-

Reyna

Reyna was hanging out in the Praetor's rec room when the Iris message came through.

Jason and Percy were sat on what looked like a bunk in the Poseidon cabin, their arms crossed and expressions serious.

Reyna straightened up immediately and frowned at them, alert and ready. "Hey guys. What's going on?"

"We need your advice." Percy said without preamble. Jason nodded.

"It's about Nico." Jason added.

Reyna quirked an eyebrow. Her battle instincts relaxed somewhat and she eased herself into a bean bag chair.

"Ok. I'm listening." she said.

The two boys exchanged a look, as if they hadn't thought this far ahead. After some kind of silent conversation, Jason took the lead.

"So we think that Nico might have a crush. On one of the campers here." He began.

Reyna blinked.

Ok. So that was… not what she was expecting.

Her mind ran quickly over the last couple of catch ups she'd had with Nico, scanning their interactions for new names Nico might have mentioned.

"It's Will Solace." Percy said, before she could land on that answer herself. "He's the head of the Apollo cabin."

"Right. That makes sense." Reyna said. When Jason and Percy looked at her quizzically, Reyna shrugged. "Nico never shuts up about him."

"Really?" Jason appeared momentarily distracted from his explanation of the problem. He leaned forward eagerly. "What does he say?"

Reyna narrowed her eyes at them. "Are you two trying to get gossip out of me? I didn't realise I was on the phone to two sons of Venus."

Jason and Percy exchanged highly insulted looks, which Reyna generously decided she would never mention to Piper.

"Why is Nico's crush on Will Solace a problem?" Reyna asked. "Does he not like Nico back?"

Reyna's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought. From the stuff Nico had told her about how great Will was and the time they had started spending together, it certainly didn't sound like this crush was unreciprocated. But then again, Reyna had seen Nico's memories of his crush on Percy, and those early days had been plenty filled with romantic daydreams too. She hated to think that Nico might be in for another long stint of falling for a friend who didn't love him back.

Her uncertainty didn't last long however. Percy had scoffed at her suggestion and Jason was shaking his head.

"Oh no, he likes Nico. He likes Nico a lot. If anything we have the opposite problem." He said gravely.

"Your problem is… Nico has a crush on someone… and he likes Nico back?" she said slowly.

Percy nodded. "Exactly."

Reyna found her eyebrow quirking up once more. "I don't see the issue here."

Jason rubbed his palm against his face, knocking his glances askew and looking even more frazzled by whatever it is that was worrying him.

"The issue is that Will Solace is impossible!" He cried out in exasperation. Percy nodded again and threw himself onto his back on the bunk behind them in commiseration. Reyna tried not to laugh. She was still intensely confused.

"I thought that Will was pretty popular at camp?" She said. Her own memories of Will were positive. She remembered a warm smile and expert commanding of both the Greek and Roman medics, seamlessly coordinating the end of the battle against Gaia into a healing and rescue operation. She'd spent a bit of time with Frank in the infirmary after the battle and remembered being impressed with how calm and cheerful he had been with his patients, even though he must have been dead on his feet.

She also knew that Annabeth spoke very highly of him. That and Nico practically gushed about how nice he was whenever it came up.

Percy and Jason either did not seem to have these memories, or they did have them and they were somehow making all of this worse. Percy scowled and Jason's mouth twisted in distaste.

"He is popular." Percy growled out. "Obviously. He's impossible not to like!"

"Ok, so why is that a bad thing?" Reyna asked.

"Because he's been flirting with Nico!" Jason burst out, finally getting to the heart of the problem. "And everyone at camp is like egging them on which obviously makes Nico super uncomfortable, but then when we've tried to talk to Will about it he just ends up acting all reasonable."

Reyna frowned. Again.

"Reasonable." She repeated.

"Yeah!" Percy said, as if being reasonable was the very worst thing you could be.

"So uh… What exactly did you need my help with?" Reyna questioned.

Jason scooted forwards on his chair, all business.

"We need you to help us try and intimidate him." He said, clasping his hands together.

"Intimidate him?"

"Yes." Percy said eagerly. "We need someone to get through to him. Who better than Nico's toughest and most scary friend?"

"Thanks?" Reyna quipped.

"You're welcome." Percy said sincerely.

"You guys, why would I need to intimidate someone who is universally liked and who Nico also likes?"

"Because." Jason said, shaking one finger slightly manically in the manner of someone about to explain a conspiracy theory. "Because Nico is our friend. And he's been through a lot. Especially when it comes to his crushes-" He paused here to throw Percy a look, at which Percy had the decency to look guilty, "- and Will doesn't know that. And he said that he wasn't going to make a move on Nico when he clearly is!"

"Yeah!" Percy chipped in. "And we care about him so we need to warn him that if he does anything to hurt Nico we are going to kick his ass!"

It took a lot of physical restraint for Reyna to not roll her eyes.

"Jason, Nico is just as powerful as either of you. And way more powerful than me." She said. "Couldn't he just kick Will's ass himself?"

Jason shook his head and wagged his finger at her again. "Would he, though?" he said.

Reyna's first instinct was to laugh. But then she thought about it properly.

When Nico got hurt by monsters, or by assholes like Bryce Lawrence or Octavian, then sure, his tendency was to kick some ass…

But when Nico got hurt by people he cared about, well… He tended to blame himself. If Will Solace hurt him, it didn't seem all that unlikely that Nico might convince himself that he deserved to be treated that way.

After all, that's what he had convinced himself of in the past. That's what he was still trying to un-convince himself of…

Percy and Jason must have seen the shift of attitude in her face because they were both straightening up hopefully.

"Ok." She said slowly. "Ok, I see your problem. So what's so difficult about talking to Will about it?"

Percy leaned in eagerly. "Seriously, Reyna, this guy is literally impossible to psych out. Every time we've tried he either ignores us or laughs it off. He's like a wizard." Percy shook his head with a kind of starstruck look that Reyna had only seen on him when talking about Annabeth in combat. She fought another urge to laugh.

Jason wasn't laughing. He looked at Reyna through the Iris message with startling earnestness. Reyna pictured Will Solace in her mind and tried to conjure up everything she knew about him and other people she knew like him.

"Ok." She said, deep in thought. "Ok. Let me think on it. And the next time there's a visit from Camp Half Blood, I'll help you."

-

The next visit from Camp Half Blood turned out to be only ten days later.

Reyna, Frank and Hazel stood at the entrance to Camp Jupiter ready to greet them. When Hazel cried out and ran forward to wrap Nico in a hug, Reyna's eyes zeroed in on the blond kid who stood just behind Nico.

He didn't seem as relaxed as he usually did, which Reyna took as a good sign. But it could just be that this was his first visit to a new place.

Reyna and Frank greeted Chiron and the other campers. Almost all the year rounders were here, along with Percy and Annabeth who had tagged along to have their monthly Argo II reunion.

The trip had been arranged with Chiron to show the Greeks how things worked at Camp Jupiter, so for much of the first half of the day, Reyna found herself stuck firmly in Praetor mode. She and Frank sat with Chiron, Annabeth and Grover (the East coast's designated leader figures) at the welcome feast in the mess hall. Then, they led the entire camp on a highlights tour around Camp Jupiter.

The whole time, Reyna had one eye on Nico. He was usually wedged in at either Hazel or Will's side. In both cases he seemed relaxed and happy. Reyna did not miss the stolen smiles that Will kept throwing Nico's way, or the way he almost glowed whenever Nico laughed. At one of these moments, Reyna looked up to see Jason catching her eye. He nodded gravely.

Reyna knew she should be happy to see Nico so happy. And she was. Really...

But she couldn't get Jason's words from their chat ten days ago out of her head.

She watched the way that Will bantered with Hazel over the feast, making Hazel throw her head back with laughter, utterly charmed. She watched the way this made Nico grin dopily at Will over his cup. On Nico's other side, Percy narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

It should have been funny. And honestly, Reyna really did like Will. She fully intended for them to be good friends, eventually. But she needed to have a more serious conversation with him first.

After the camp tour, Frank announced that he'd be conducting a more thorough tour of the barracks and armoury. The Ares kids eagerly agreed and Kayla bounced along at Frank's side, enquiring hopefully if he could include a swing-by of the archery range.

Reyna turned to Will then, locking eyes with Jason and sharing a knowing glance before she did so.

"Will, would you like to see our infirmary set up?" She asked.

If her overly formal tone bothered Will, he didn't show it. His eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"Definitely!" He agreed.

"I'll come." Nico piped up from beside him.

"No, Nico, you should go with Jason." Reyna said firmly. "He said he'd show the others Temple Hill."

Nico frowned. "But I've already seen Temple Hill."

Reyna scrambled for a reasonable excuse to give him.

"I uhhh, wanted your opinion on the placement of some new Underworld God shrines." Jason cut in hastily.

Nico's frown deepened. Reyna forced a fake smile which prompted him to throw her a deeply suspicious look.

"Right, well we'll meet you at the gates to the city later then!" She said in a falsely authoritative tone. Nico scowled.

Reyna turned to Will, who looked perplexed.

"Ready, Solace?"

Will, bless him, smiled at her. "Sure." He shrugged.

-

In the infirmary, Reyna found it tricky to maintain her resolve.

As Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper and of course Nico had all pointed out to her, Will Solace was infuriatingly nice.

Will's smile was like sunshine personified. Which, she supposed, he basically was.

When they arrived, Will greeted his Roman half-siblings warmly. Rather than attempt to maintain the authority he had commanded in the Camp Half Blood infirmary, he quickly shifted into a polite and inquisitive guest, asking lots of intelligent questions and complimenting their storage systems.

He was excited to meet Pranjal again, the son of Asclepius and the head of Camp Jupiter's infirmary. Pranjal explained to Reyna that Will had been told by Apollo that he shared many of the powers of Asclepius, which was quite rare for a child of Apollo.

"Had to be some benefits to completely missing out on any music or archery talents." Will quipped.

Annoyingly, Reyna suspected that even this comment was simply Will being humble. At one point when one of the Apollo legacies threw a bottle of unicorn draught over for Will to inspect, he caught it in one hand effortlessly and later threw it back across the room without even looking. His aim was perfect.

He chatted to the Apollo and Asclepius children and legacies about Apollo himself and whether anyone had heard from him. When he talked about his father, Reyna saw genuine worry and care in his eyes. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen from a demigod towards their godly parent.

When Will spoke to Reyna he was cheery and unaffected by her military posture or Praetor's regalia.

Usually Reyna liked it when campers treated her like everyone else, rather than revering her in her position. But she couldn't help but think that in this particular scenario a little reverence would have been to her advantage.

They walked up the road to New Rome together, just the two of them, and Reyna picked her moment.

"Listen, Will." She said sternly. She drew herself up to her full height and straightened her cloak. Will was walking beside her, completely at ease. His body language did not change when Reyna adjusted her tone. "I was talking to Jason over Iris message last week." She began.

"Ah, is this about Nico?" Will asked. His eyes sparkled knowingly. He reminded Reyna of one of the older legacies that ran an intro to self-defence class for new campers: always one step ahead of everyone, but never flaunting his power.

"I-" Reyna scowled at him. "Yeah. It is actually."

Will laughed, though Reyna didn't miss his blush.

"Jason's been giving me his wolf stare for like a month now. I figured he'd maybe talk to you about it." Will spoke as if he was talking about the weather, or a camp chore schedule. "It's ok." Will chuckled. "Go ahead and give me the speech."

Reyna opened and closed her mouth, then steeled her resolve, refocusing. She wasn't going to let him psych her out.

"Look, I know you're not an idiot, Solace." She said brusquely. "And neither is Percy or Jason. They know you've been messing with them."

Will had the nerve to look curious at that.

"But I am not messing around here." She pressed on. "Nico is the bravest kid I know. Possibly one of the bravest demigods ever."

She glared full force at Will, daring him to respond. Will's face remained smooth and calm.

"I agree." He said softly, eyes not leaving Reyna's face.

"He doesn't trust easily." Reyna continued. "But you, with all your healing and diplomacy, have convinced him to trust you. And, I'm not saying you're not trustworthy. Obviously, the kids at Camp Half Blood all respect you. And I'm not saying that Nico can't make his own decisions, because we both know what he'd do to us if either of us tried to suggest that to him." Here, Will let slip an amused smile, looking a little lovesick in a way that further sharpened Reyna's focus. "But Solace, listen."

She stopped walking and grabbed Will's shoulder with one hand. Will was strong but Reyna turned him around to face her easily. She took a step closer. She was taller than him, just, and used the full weight of her Praetor authority as she locked eyes with him.

"You don't understand yet how much it means to have Nico di Angelo trust you. But if you're lucky, one day you will."

Will seemed to let that sink in. He still didn't look intimidated, though he was listening intently.

"Now, I'm not telling you what to do, Solace. But I am telling you this." Reyna ramped up the ferocity in her stare, channeling her training with Lupa as best as she could. "If you do anything- if you make one move that proves to me that you're not deserving of that trust. If you make one mistake and you hurt him, then Nico won't be the only one with an intimate knowledge of the Underworld. You got that?"

Will's eyes widened as she spoke. He leaned away ever so slightly. And for one glorious moment, Reyna thought she had succeeded.

And then, that sunshine sparkle returned to his clear blue eyes.

And Will Solace laughed.

The way he was was smiling at her… He looked almost fond.

"I can see why Nico likes you." He said warmly. His arm and shoulder was relaxed in Reyna's grip.

Reyna's jaw dropped even as she tried to scowl at him.

"You think this is funny, Solace?" She growled.

Will shook his head, still laughing. "No, no, of course not." He assured her. "I believe that you'll hurt me. I just really don't think you've got anything to worry about."

He looked so sure, so innocent, so smitten with Nico. It pissed Reyna off.

She glared at him again and stuck out one foot, pushing against the back of Will's calf and knocking him off balance. He cried out but Reyna maintained her grip on his arm so he didn't tumble to the ground with too much force.

Even so, he was on the ground. He looked around, disoriented, from his newfound horizontal position. Reyna towered over him.

"I told you I wasn't messing around." She said, one hand on her dagger hilt. Will instantly raised his hands in surrender, though his smile did not waver.

"I know, I know, I believe you!" He said quickly. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, but let Reyna maintain her position standing over him. His grin slowly softened. "Listen, you're a really good friend. But I promise, I'm not messing with you."

Reyna maintained her glare. Will remained unaffected.

"Seriously, Reyna. The last thing in the world I would ever do is hurt Nico. Swear it on the Styx and everything. Or on the Tiber, or whatever body of water it is that you make oaths to over here." His mouth twitched at the joke.

Reyna's resolve was slipping, though she was still annoyed that her intimidation tactic was proving so ineffective.

Will seemed to understand her dilemma. He leaned backwards, giving Reyna even more height on him, and held out one hand in a truce.

"I'll make you a deal." He said confidently. "If I ever hurt Nico, I'll report straight to you to get what's coming to me. I'll even swing by Hazel, Percy and Jason afterwards too, as a bonus."

Infuriatingly, he winked.

Despite it all, Reyna felt her frustration reluctantly ebb away. She leant forward to clasp Will's hand, hauling him up to his feet as she did so.

"Throw in a report to Annabeth, Solace, and you've got yourself a deal." She smirked.

At that, a kind of worry passed ever so briefly over Will's face. Reyna felt a brief stab of competitiveness.

Damn you, Chase.

Before she could think on that any further, the moment had gone. Will was smiling his sunny grin at her and firmly shaking their clasped hands.

-

Later that day, Percy and Jason joined Reyna where she was sitting with a mug of her favourite hot chocolate.

"How'd it go?" Jason asked quietly. He glanced surreptitiously around them to make sure no one was watching.

Reyna let out a sigh. Together, they watched Nico and Will chatting animatedly, walking alongside a thoroughly bemused Frank Zhang.

"I think it's time we gave it up, boys." She said, finally admitting defeat. "You were right. Will Solace is impossible not to like."

[egoludes]

the language of flowers, pt i.

note: sooo, this is the first part of a little mini-series about florist!shawn because i’m v soft for boys in flower shops. big love to @harrytalkingatnormalspeed for all the inspo and @lostinshawnslight & @crown2heavy for proofreading help. <3 hope you enjoy! word count: 2.6k

yellow daffodils — to new beginnings.

The storm comes out of nowhere ---- a biting sort of rain that sends Toronto scattering. And Y/N is caught in the thick of it, her only protection a black — and entirely too small — tote zipped tight to protect what's inside. The click of her heels are lost in the downpour, but it isn’t hard to work out what they sound like moving so fast against the pavement.

Clickclick, clickclick, clickclick.

Even without hearing it, the rhythm starts to drown out the rain, an increasing reminder of how frantic her search for cover is starting to get. It’s what she deserves, she thinks, for idling so long on a side of town she doesn’t know well. Even if it was to let off steam after a difficult meeting, instinct ( and some notably dark clouds  ) had told her to get home ages ago.

But, Y/N, as stubborn as ever, had ignored every warning in favor of cups of her favorite tea and as many cookies as she could fit on her plate. A decision that had done wonders at the time — she can’t say she wouldn’t do it again — but  ultimately landed her here: stuck hoping by some miracle she’ll find a place to stay dry.

After a few more blocks, she’s still coming up empty, getting more dejected—and soaked through— as she goes. But, when she rounds what feels like the millionth corner, there it is: the beacon of hope she’s been waiting for.

Its sign is impossible to read with all the water coming down, but it’s not hard to tell that it’s a flower shop. Despite it being long past business hours, every light's clicked on, illuminating rows of yellow, pink, white in a soft glow. And though she can’t see anyone from where she is, there’s something inviting about the scene as is and she’s closing the distance just as thunder cracks overhead.

Ducking inside, Y/N is filled with so much relief, it shakes her shoulders. A bell above the door announces her presence before she has a chance to and though she knows that she ought to at least say hello, she’s more focused on her heavy clothes and how uncomfortable they are, sticking to her like this. Her free hand reaches for the end of her blazer and she gives it a squeeze, sighing at the water that drips out of her fingers.

It’ll take a miracle to wash this well enough that it doesn’t come out ruined. And when she doesn’t have a ton of business attire to begin with, she can’t help but frown — as if this day needed to get any worse.

She takes a moment to shake out the rest of her clothing, unwittingly leaving a puddle around her feet as she fusses at the soaked fabric. And she ends up so wrapped up in it, she doesn’t notice she has company until he speaks, a honey-like voice drawing her out of her thoughts. “Hey, are you alright..?"

Immediately, Y/N’s jolting up, flustered as she tries to get her bearings. “Oh — hi!”  Between his sudden appearance and well…everything else about him, he’s caught her completely off guard. Once she’s done orienting herself, she takes in the green apron tied around his waist and the name tag that’s endearingly crooked on his black t-shirt. She can’t read it from this spot across the room, but the distance doesn't mask much else about him. He's at least six feet, shoulders broad and waist tapered, and his hazel eyes watch her through a mess of brown curls that fall past his forehead. There's a gentleness to him, driven home by a smile that makes her heart skip a beat.

Maybe today isn't so bad after all.

“Hi,” he echoes, chuckling at how affected she seems to be. He hadn’t seen her around before — he's made a habit of meeting the people who work on this block — so he’s definitely intrigued, watching her and the puddle around her with his eyebrows knitted. “Running from the rain?"

She’s present enough to answer him this time, nodding as her face turns with a sheepish smile. “That obvious, hm?” There’s something about him that makes her nervous, and she can’t help the fidget that starts to settle in. It has her shifting on her feet, weight bearing left, then right, then left again; she’s mid-movement back to the right when she notices the water that’s pooled around her. Her shoulders lift in a gasp."Oh, no, -- I didn't realize I was making a mess, I'm so sorry----" She goes from flustered to frantic fast, whipping around to find something to clean up with. Not the best first impression, certainly, but she’s trying to make up for it.

“No, no worries — we like water here.” He doesn’t need to explain any more than that, but he wants to —- his head nods towards the flowers nearby. It takes a second to process that they are part of the we, but when it does, she giggles and the sound makes his cheeks flush. She's cute, he notes, briefly, fleetingly, before fishing a towel out from underneath the counter and circling it in long strides. But, instead of mopping up like she's expecting, he holds it out to her, smile widening. “There you go.”

The sight almost makes her swoon --- he’s stunning up close --- but Y/N steadies herself by eyeing his name tag instead. Shawn. She tries the syllable on her tongue when she thanks him for the towel and smiles at how it hits —- she likes it. It fits him.

“You’re very welcome,” Shawn returns in a hum, eyes flashing with something kind, “—- wouldn’t want you to get a cold.” He glances past her through the store’s front window, frowning as he does. It’s coming down hard, the winds picking up, and it’s tough to think that she’d been stuck in that, even if it had only been a couple minutes. And though he likes to get home early when he can manage it, this is something he’ll stick around for ---- his eyes dance back to her face.  “If you don’t have anywhere else to be,” he starts again, shrugging a shoulder, “you can stay as long as you’d like. Wouldn't mind the company."

He leaves the offer between them with a turn on his heel, gesturing towards the back as he goes. "Just have a couple things left to handle, so settle in wherever it looks comfy." He flashes Y/N one last smile before heading back the way he came, her eyes following him the entire time.

Worry about imposing rises anew, but Y/N's quick to press it down. This is one time she thinks it might be fair to if it means staying out of a storm this bad.

Plus, how could she turn down an offer so sweet?

////

It takes a couple hours for the storm to calm enough for her to leave. And when Y/N finally ducks into an Uber, it's to Shawn waving her off, the glow from the store surrounding him. The image of it sticks with her the entire way home, and she’s still beaming when she pads into her bedroom, peels off her mostly-dry clothes, and sinks into bed.

To say she’s curious about him is an understatement. Even after hours of talking about each other’s lives and flipping through their favorite songs to keep entertained, there’s so much she still wants to learn, wants to know.

It lands her back at his shop the next day, a tea for herself in one hand and a box of neatly wrapped cookies in the other. It’s early enough this time that there are other people in the shop ---- a mix of customers and co-workers ---- and Shawn stands a head above them all, making it easy for Y/N to spot him as she moves inside.

The bell above the door draws the attention of everyone in the room; but he’s the only one to stay locked in, eyes wide with immediate recognition. Her nerves are back full force, but she doesn’t look away — instead, she waves him over with the hand occupied by her tea.

He shrinks the distance with a smile.

“Y/N!,” he chirps the moment he’s close enough. “When I said you were welcome back any time, I didn't think it'd be so soon.” He’s only teasing, eyes full of mischief as he watches her.

"Well, I wanted to repay you for your kindness yesterday!” She holds the box out in an open palm, balancing it carefully to avoid jostling what’s inside. “They’re cookies, from my favorite cafe — crazy good."

His expression lights up at the gift, and when he scoops it out of her hands, it’s with rosy pink cheeks and a lopsided smile. "Oh, I’ve heard of this place! Can’t wait to try them ---- thanks." He's already itching to get into the box, fingers nudging at the lid's lining. But, with customers still filtering through the aisles, he'll have to wait --- he settles for keeping the box close to his chest.

Silence lays between them then, more endearing than awkward while the world moves on around them. They watch each other thoughtfully, searching for answers to questions they’re too nervous to ask.

Is it weird if I want to see you again?

Is it just me?

Do I even have a chance?

The questions get louder, but never make it out; and the silence only breaks when Y/N clears her throat, head dipping to hide a shy smile. “I, uh, have to head back to work but .. it was nice seeing you again! I really do appreciate last night.”

Shawn tries his best not to look too disappointed, tipping his head with a soft smile. “Anytime, hm? You’re always welcome back, like I said —- rain or shine. I might even give you a discount if you’re lucky.”

She’s already mid-turn when he says it, but Y/N stills fast, laughing giddily over her shoulder. “Hopefully I am!” There’s one last wave and then she’s gone, her perfume all he can smell in the room full of flowers.

////

She doesn’t need the arrangements.

In fact, she hadn’t needed any of them: not the ones the week before or the ones two weeks before that. But she had wanted to see him, so that’s as good a reason as any.

When she enters today, he’s alone, bent over the counter and a tidy stack of papers; and when he hears that bell ring, he looks up with a smile already tugging at his mouth’s corners. “Back again, eh?”

He says that every time she comes —— an inside joke if you will —— and as if on cue, Y/N rolls her eyes, snorting as she waves him off. “I don’t think that’s any way to say hi to your number one customer, Mr. Mendes.”

A playful tension sets in like clockwork after so many weeks of it. She’s moving into the rows of flowers with focus and intent and he’s got his chin in his palm, eyes tracking her every move. He never knows when she’ll show up, but it’s always a nice surprise.

Most customers are distracting, disruptive even, making a mess of the shop and the atmosphere he’s crafted in it. But, Y/N is different. She fits just right, brings more calm than chaos: and he loves times like this, when they’re alone and he can focus on her and helping her.

Though, there isn’t much he does for her anymore. She knows where to go, what she wants, and usually makes a beeline for it the moment she’s in the door.

Like now; as she moves into the far corner of the room and reaches for a familiar flower, prompting a chuckle from him; he should’ve known. “You get those a lot - the daffodils. Got someone you’re giving them to?" He's only half-joking with that question, a genuine curiosity lurking beneath the surface.

She shrugs without turning, inspecting the flowers nearby as though she’s actually considering them. “No, they’re just my favorite — it’s nice having some in my apartment. Brightens things up.”

His face is unreadable for a second, almost as though he's processing; then, there’s only tenderness, tangible in the way his fingers twitch to reach out for her. But he doesn’t act on it, not until she’s padded up to the register with the yellow daffodils in tow. Then, he hums, a hand stretched out palm-up to accept the credit card she's already fishing out. "Yeah?," he offers once he gets it, "I bet it looks really pretty." Shawn gets her rung up without looking --- taking a little off the price like always --- but he takes his time returning the card. His fingers idle over the register's touch screen, picking options at a snail's pace to give him a chance to stall.

For what, he can't exactly say, but he knows it's coming  ---- that long-awaited question. It's overdue by now, and he'll accept whatever form it comes in, if it means getting there at all. He sucks in a deep breath. "Hey," he starts finally, his hold on her card and attention tightening, "Don’t worry about picking these up anymore, hm?” Immediately, Y/N looks confused, and he can’t blame her ---- this is sudden, perplexing, and he'll only save face if he explains.

So, he does.

“I mean.. I don't mind that you come all the way out here for them, but...I could bring them to you instead...?” There's a pause here; pregnant, poignant, and paired with a hopeful smile. “Maybe...this Friday? At 8?"

It takes her a moment to register that he’s asked her out, a couple more to start reacting; but when she does, Y/N's all wide eyes and a million butterflies, and she nods so fast, she’s nearly dizzy. “Oh--- yeah, I mean -- absolutely! I'd love that...!"

The excitement on her face is reassuring and adorable all at once and Shawn tips his head back in a laugh. He’s already giddy off this, off her, and they haven’t even done anything yet. A good sign, if he's ever known one. "Awesome -- mind if I see your phone?" His fingers do nimble work putting his number in, and she can’t help but watch them, noting nicks and scars that pique her interest.  But, her thoughts settle there only briefly before he's handing her things back and reaching, instead, for the flowers.

Wrapping them doesn't take long at all; but, it gives them a couple more minutes together, which they fill, appreciatively, with busy chatter. Shawn talks about places they could go --- shows he knows of, bars he frequents. And Y/N's all ears, at least as much as she can be, being so dazed. The time goes by too quickly and, when he's done and she's got the flowers slotted between her arms, they linger, smiles playing at both of their lips.

"So..." Y/N speaks up this time, tipping her head to watch him as she rocks on her heels. "See you Friday?" It's more greeting than confirmation ---- a cheeky little way to say goodbye ---- and Shawn catches on easily, the corners of his mouth turned up as he nods.

"Friday."

With that, Y/N shuffles out, heart fluttering as she cradles the flowers close. And when her silhouette disappears past the window, Shawn breathes freely for the first time, relaxing against the counter with his own heart pounding. That went well ---- really welll ---- and he's still figuring out whether he's more relieved or ecstatic about it. Glancing over the still shop, he decides it's the latter and thumbs pensively at his bottom lip.

He’s going to need more daffodils.

[scottyjetpaxx]

Jealousy - Scott Kingery

MASTERLIST

PROMPT LIST

REQUEST HERE / ASK AWAY

LAST IMAGINE

Requested?  Y  /  N  “finally a baseball writing blog! you’re a blessing lmao 😂 can u please write a scott kingery imagine where he starts a fight because he gets jealous of one of his teammates flirting with you but it ends really fluffy and cute? tysm (ps. ur writing is sooo good. keep it up!!)”

Prompt: N/A

Warnings: Cursing

A/N: Thank you so much for the request! I hope you like it. Everyone is free to request if they want!

WC: 1,389

Dating a major league baseball player had its perks but also had its downsides. Sure, you got to go to home games for extreme discounts, and occasionally for free, but you also had to sacrifice a lot of time away from him as he went on road trips and played games.

Today was one of the team’s rare off days, and with the team in Arizona, the Fourth of July coming up and the boys having to play then, you and Scott decided to throw an early Fourth of July party. It wasn’t anything special, just a simple barbeque and swim party.

“Scott! Are you ready? People are gonna be arriving soon!” You yelled up the stairs

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a second!” He replied

You walked back to the kitchen where you were putting the finishing touches to the appetizers you had made. Moments later, you heard footsteps thundering down the steps and down the hallway before arriving in the kitchen.

“Do you have to be so loud when you walk around the house?” You asked as you faced Scott

“Sorry,” He said, giving you an apologetic smile

You rolled your eyes and shook your head before speaking “What am I gonna do with you?”

Before Scott could answer, the front door opened. Turning to look down the hall to see who it was, you quickly realized that the entire team had arrived. You quickly made your rounds as you said your hellos to all of the teammates and staff who came. The guys thanked you for your hospitality and for making all of the food that you did.

“It’s nothing really. You guys should just be concerned for the hot dogs and hamburgers. I’ve never seen Scotty work the grill before.” You teased

“Okay, I’d like to say I’m pretty good. I haven’t burned anything… yet…” Scott defended himself.

Eventually, everyone dispersed throughout the ground level of the house and the backyard. Some of the guys opted to go swimming, some helped Scott on the grill, and some stayed inside to watch a game that was on.

You, however, were in the kitchen, making sure all of the appetizers were being restocked and that the main meal food was going along well. As you labored over the stove making sure the potatoes for the potato salad weren’t going to be overcooked, you heard someone walk over to where you were.

“Whatcha doing, Y/N?” Aaron Nola asked

“Just making sure these potatoes aren’t in here for too long. What about you? What’re you up to?” You replied as you turned around to face him

“Not much. I just wanted to see if you needed any help in the kitchen.” He answered

You scanned the area, thinking if you needed any assistance with getting the food ready, “Yeah, I actually do. Do you see the bowl of pasta, the plate of cooked chicken and the mix of tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and croutons? I need you to cut up the chicken and mix everything in the bowl of pasta.”

“Alright, no problem,” he said before going over there to do what you asked

When you were positive that the potatoes were done cooking, you moved them to a large bowl and set up to prepare the potato salad right next to where Aaron was. As you mixed the ingredients together, you couldn’t help but notice that Aaron would glance at you every once in a while.

“How’s the pasta salad coming along?” You asked as you peeked your head over to see

“I mean, I think it’s going well. I could be completely wrong, though” He chuckled

“No, no. You’re doing great” You said

“Would you say I’m doing ‘egg-cellent’?” He asked and gave you a little nudge

You let out a fake laugh before glaring at him “After that bad joke, I definitely wouldn’t”

Soon enough, all of the food was ready to be served. You made the announcement to the guys, and almost like a stampede of wildebeests, the guys practically charged into the kitchen.

“Wow I did not know you guys were that hungry” You mumbled to yourself

Once you got your food, you went out to the backyard where Scott and some of the other guys were. After taking a bite of your hotdog, you let out a content hum.”

“This is actually pretty good.” You said once you swallowed

“I told you I was a master on the grill,” Scott said “But this pasta salad is incredible”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” You grumbled “And tell Aaron that. He helped me make it while I was busy with the potato salad.”

After you finished your meal, you made your way over to the pool. You sat down dipping your toes in the water, and closed your eyes, thankful to finally get some rest after working your tail off all day. You heard the sound of someone else getting in the water, which caused you to open your eyes. Looking over, you saw Aaron beside you.

“Hey, are you alright?” He asked

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired due to all of the work I’ve done today.” You told him

“Well come here, you can lean on me,” He said and wrapped his arm around you. Instinctively, you leaned into him, resting your head on him.

You tuned out all of the other noise around you as you focused on the sound of the water swishing around in the pool. There was something peaceful about being almost alone and having Aaron there to enjoy it with.

A little while later, the guys left, allowing you and Scott to clean up. But, before you two even began to clean, Scott turned to you.

“What the hell was that?” He asked

Your eyebrows furrowed “What do you mean?”

“You and Aaron! You two were together almost the entire time!”

“Can friends not hang out?” You asked

“If by ‘hang out’ you mean ‘flirting’? Absolutely not!” He said

“We weren’t flirting…” You replied

“wE werEn’T FLiRTinG” He mocked you “Then explain the fucking… the fucking…”

“The fucking what?” You asked, your voice now raising

“You fucking laughing at something that he said...”

“Scott”

“...him wrapping his arm around you by the pool…”

“Scott!”

“...and you leaning into him!”

“SCOTT!” You yelled, finally getting his attention “Listen to me! We weren’t flirting in the slightest. He told me some stupid joke that I fake laughed at. And for the whole ‘leaning on him’ thing, you have no idea how tired I am and needed a break. He let me rest on him and relax for a few minutes before the hecticness of this barbeque picked up again!”

When you finished yelling, Scott was completely silent. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words to do so.

“Now, the next time you get all pissy with me, you should get all of the information before you start yelling for no reason,” You told him and then stormed off upstairs, leaving Scott to clean up.

You took a shower and changed into your pajamas, trying to relax. Eventually, you became a little calmer than you were earlier. However, as soon as you walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, the little bit of calm that you had completely gone away. Scott was standing in the room, waiting for you.

“What do you want?” You asked, clearly letting him know he was annoyed.

“I uh, just wanted to say I’m sorry.” He said. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and getting mad over stupid things.”

Staying silent, you thought over his apology. It had been the first time that you could remember that he messed up like this.

“I accept your apology.” You told him, “You’re human, humans make mistakes. Trust me, I make a ton of them.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” He said as he got up from his seat and walked over to you. “It was an honest mistake. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

Instead of replying, you rested your arms on his shoulders and pressed your lips against his. He kissed you back, and after a few seconds, the two of you pulled apart.

“I love you” He whispered

“I love you too,”

[kpop-probably]

One and Only

iKon 8th member AU

AN: It was a little difficult to write about the smtm rounds but I think it worked out!! I hope you guys liked this i enjoyed writing it! Its pretty long and probably sucks but here it is!! (plus a little Jae and Asuka content!)

Warnings: Language,and kissing

Asuka Pov

July 2016

One and I have made it past round 6 of SMTM, he lost his diss battle to Xitsuh, while i won my battle against #Gun. I'm pacing back and forth in one of the private rooms with a beat playing working on my verse for the next round. Joon-Kyung oppa (Dok2) paired me with someone on our team. I'm nervous because this can go one of two ways. We win and both stay, or we lose and one of us goes home. At first I was hesitant about coming on the show, but now that i'm here I know that I have something to prove. Everyone has brought up the fact that Bobby, Hanbin and Mino were all on here before me, and of course they bring up the fact that i'm with YG. I sit down and try to calm my nerves and write a little, but then I get a face time call from Jun hoe. “NUNA!!” 

I don't think i'll ever get used to being yelled at endearingly by 7 boys at the same time. “Hi boys whats up?” “Chan wanted us to call you because he misses you, we all do nuna.” 

“Aww you guys i get to come back home early today after we finish shooting this episode!” Since I started filming I rarely get to see them, I come home late when everyone's asleep and I leave early before they wake up to get to get here.“Nuna you did really good on your diss battle i'm proud.” I smile at Bobby “I learned from the best.” “Thank you-” “No I meant Jiyong oppa.” He gives me a glare while all the other boys laugh. “Sooo how is Jae won holding up after last round.” But knowing how Hanbin is really close with Jae, he already knows he just wants to poke fun at me having a crush. “He's got his head up and he's looking forward to this round. Apparently he's got a song he's really proud of.” But speak of the devil and he may appear.

There's a knock on my door and when it opens Jae sticks his head through a little,“Nuna?” I roll my eyes playfully when I hear the boys start oohing and making kissing noises through the phone. “Well see you later nuna! Remember we're gonna be watching! Good luck.” With that Jinhwan hangs up the phone against the protests of the other boys. Putting my phone down I get up and go hug Jae, putting my arms around his neck, “What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be rehearsing or something?” He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer and presses his forehead against mine. “I had to come see you before I went out there. It's funny seeing you pace around and it reminds me not to be nervous” I playfully glare at him but there's still a smile, I shy away from his gaze and sit down again.

 “Are you still writing for tonight?” “Yea I've listened to the original song a thousand times, listened to myundo’s verse and still, nothing.” I sigh and throw my head onto the table. I hear him sitting down next to me, then feel his hands in my hair slightly pulling a little and I give him a puzzled look. “Hanbin told me you like that, he says it usually puts you to sleep so I thought it might relax you.” He scoots closer to me, I look up at him through my lashes and notice how close his face is to mine. He puts his forehead against mine which I’ve learned that he likes to do a lot. I see how his eyes shift from mine down to my lips and my eyes widen when he starts to lean in closer, he notices my hesitation and stops. “Can I kiss you nuna?” I freeze a little and stare at him. “I-I've never kissed anyone before..” I look down ashamed that I'm in my twenties and still so inexperienced. He puts his finger under my chin and makes me look up at him. “Nuna i'd be honored to be your first kiss, but only if you let me.” I look into his eyes nervous but nod my head yes anyway. His lips touch mine and Damn! They're soft as hell and I don't think I can get enough. He goes to put his hands on the side of my face when someone opens the door. “Asuka? It's your- oh well uh shit.” 

What the hell is Xitsuh doing in here? “I just came to tell you that they need you out there now.” He smirks before walking out of the room and I can't help but think that something bad was gonna happen.

Performance

I'm nervous as hell concerned about being eliminated and disappointing everyone that believes in me. For some reason I was blessed enough to go last in the song, Joon-Kyung (Dok2) oppa said something about “You're going last because you're my favorite, but don't tell Flowsik.” I try to feed off of the crowds energy and try not to look at the producers too much. You would think that because i'm an idol this would be easy but it's anything but. When I start rapping I take notice to the crowds increasing sound and so do the producers, especially Joon Kyung who has the biggest smile on his face.

How could it be, little me had the power to be the best B in the league yea inevitably, but could it be little me you was hecklin me now it's monotony when I regularly, look i catch wreck on recreation so I exceed all your expectations bitches aint got it in em, I kill em and then I skin em the contract was signed but I am the addendum, half a million dollars just to upgrade the car show I aint even detonate the bombs in the arsenal, so before the storm comes to calm, hope you can take the heat like Lebron   (Nicki minaj- Blazin)

I think that's the fastest i've ever rapped and the crowd absolutely ate it up. But now it's time to decide which of us was going home, despite the crowds reaction i'm still nervous because it's only up to the producers. MyunDo gets 2 fails from the producers so that means I have to get at least 3 passes from them. Illionaire gave me a pass before it was even over, then AOMG, Mad clown and Gill look like they're conflicted but give me a pass. I bend over in relief but I get up to hug my team member and wish him well. 

Flowsik comes up to me backstage and gives me a hug and spins me around. “Let me put you down I don't wanna get beat up, I hear you're someones girl now.” I smile at him knowing that Xitsuh probably told him what happened earlier, But my smile doesn't last long seeing Bewhy walk up to us “Congrats kid you surprisingly survived another day, but looks like your boy didn't.” Bewhy has had this vendetta out against me ever since I rejected his advances a month ago and it made him even more upset when he found out it was because I like Jae. I roll my eyes at his childish acts and walk away to try and find Jae Won. I knock on his team door when his team open it and see me they all smirk and walk out to give me some time with him. 

“Hey nuna” He seems oddly cheerful for someone who was just sent home. He sees the slightly confused look on my face “Nuna this isn't the first time i've been sent home and it's not gonna stop me. I'm proud that I made it this far. But this means you really have to win now.” I roll my eyes “There's no way in hell that i'm winning.” “I've seen your raps that you've written so far and they're pretty great I think you're gonna kick ass.” My eyes widen and my mouth drops realizing what he had just said “When did you look in my book?!” He smiles really big as if he's proud of himself. “That night you fell asleep in my lap, I may or may not have taken a quick peek. By the way do you know you snore a little?” I cover my face embarrassed that he had the audacity to bring it up. “Come on it's cute. Queen Asuka.” He says it in a sing song voice. Sometimes in my verses I refer to myself as that but only in moments where I'm feeling especially confident. “Stop it. I came in here to cheer you up and you're just picking on me.” I whine. “You know what would cheer me up?” He says as he comes closer to me. When he's right in front of my face the atmosphere suddenly tense, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. “What would that be? I'm here to do whatever it takes.” What the hell! Am I flirting? Is this how you flirt? I'm sure Hanbin would be better at it than me, but then again were both kind of lost causes. He presses his forehead against mine again. “Well in that case. I would like a kiss from the queen to heal my sad, sad heart.” Cheeky bastard. “Then your wish shall be granted.”

Hm, Queen Asuka, does have a nice ring to it.

[inkstainedfanfics]

A Grocery Store Saviour

Request: Omg i love your writing sooo much <3 I was thinking if you could do a story based off Michael Buble's 'Just Haven't met you Yet'. I understand if you wouldn't want to do it but thank you for your time :)

Word Count: 2,852

Pairing: Newt x Reader

Requested by Anonymous but also tagging @dont-give-a-bother @red-roses-and-stories and @caseoffics

“Next!” You call, back aching and feet sore. Work usually sucks, but today it’s a living hell. Saturdays are the normally busiest days at the grocery store but add the fact that it’s the first day of spring that’s warmer than 50 degrees, and you’ve got yourself a full store. The bustle of people weaving around one another in the narrow aisles meant that you’d been sent to clean up five separate messes and help one bawling seven-year-old find his mother. His snot covered fingers had wrapped around your own until you’d found his mother who’d immediately decided to yell at you for not bringing him sooner. People bumped into you with every turn, resulting in scowls and foul language from some particularly angry customers. You’d had to ask people to repeat themselves four different times because of the clamor and been asked because of that if it were really right for a woman to be working. On top of all that, you wore heels today so your feet want to fall off and the store’s air conditioning hardly works, meaning hot sweat drips down your back and soaks your hairline.

Despite the annoying customers and the math involved, you’re almost grateful to work at the cash register now instead of work on the floor when you hear the horrific sound of gagging nearby. Your coworker Arthur rushes past you, mop already in hand.

Raising your eyebrows at the situation, you shake your head and take stock of everything a middle-aged man in front of you sets on the counter. He wears a dark suit and a cap to hide what you assume is a balding head. He’s muttering something to himself as thick beads of sweat slide down his face, over the patches of red dotting his cheeks and forehead and collecting on his upper lip. Every time he says something, a bead flings off its place above his lip, landing on the counter in front of you.

You cringe but reach for his items and pull them closer. Flipping the page on your notepad, you begin writing the costs of everything down.

“Do you not bother to keep your customers happy here?”

You glance at him as you write down the price of a cabbage head in your notebook. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s hot as hell in here.” He wipes at his forehead with a handkerchief, frowning at you.

“We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but our air conditioner is being fixed.” You murmur, looking back at the pad to write down the cost of four potatoes.

“Sure it is. Do you not care about your customers here?”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes. “It’s not personal, sir. I apologize that you are uncomfortable, but I cannot do anything to help with situation until the air conditioner is fixed.” It takes all you have to keep your words pleasant. This man doesn’t know the first thing about discomfort. You shift in your heels, wishing you could bend down and take them off.

“You could at least make this faster. I have other errands today. Are you new? Surely you aren’t an old employee. Do you know the price of that?” His questions send a downpour of sweat onto your counter as you lift a bundle of asparagus.

“Yes, sir. It’s 12 cents a stalk.” You glance at the never-ending line of people entering the store. Woman, woman, woman with a kid, old man, woman, old couple. You pause, eyes on a man in a white shirt fidgeting with the buttons on his auburn vest. He notices your stare and smiles. It’s nervous but cute enough to earn a smile back from you. You pray that he’ll come through your line before you glance at the cash register next to you.

The man’s large order is taking longer than you’d hoped. Thankfully, Paul on the other cash register is working faster with the smaller orders, getting people out as others come in.

The man ducks to the side so he’s in your view. “Impressive, a woman that can do her job like you are.”

You grit your teeth, choosing to ignore his comment and continue working.

The man, unfortunately, doesn’t stop his insulting commentary. “Look at you: you can get a man, can’t you? You’re not one of those flapper girls, are you?”

You reach under the counter, fuming, and grab the book of prices. Its cover slams against the counter. The only sign of anger you’re allowed to show here.

“Did your mother teach you how to be a proper lady? That’s still important nowadays.”

A bit of his spit hits your cheek. You can’t help you as you wince.

He glares at you. “Evidently not.”

“Sir—“

He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a long sigh, acting like some martyr.

You just want to slap him in the face with the baguette in your hand.

“Listen, I know the culture is changing, but I know how a proper woman should act. You’ve got me, okay? I’ll take you out.”

You freeze. “Excuse me?” The bread crackles in your hand as you tighten your grip, not even aware of it as you stare at the man in disbelief.

He dabs at his face again, giving you an oily smile that reveals grimy, yellowing teeth. “Yeah, I know the perfect place for us downtown.”

You open and close your mouth several times, blown away. You’d given this man no indication that you wanted his affections, nor had you even really engaged his conversation. Damn it, why can’t one day of work go well?

“Speechless? Don’t worry, we’ll have fun. It’s a karaoke bar.”

You swallow, forcing yourself to maintain an even tone. “I think you may have misunderstood.”

“No need to be nervous.”

“No, I—“

Someone interrupts your conversation. “There you are, love.”

Both you and the customer look up. To your right, leaning against the end of the counter, is the cute man that had smiled at you in the line. Now that he’s closer, you notice a small scar that crosses the bridge of his nose, spanning the space between his shining eyes. Another groove sits above his eyebrows, and his lips are turned up in a nervous but casual smile, as though he actually knows you.

When you say nothing, he continues. “I didn’t see you at the deli counter.”

The rude customer glances back at you, and you force your mouth into motion, spitting out whatever words come to mind. “Yeah, Jeremiah moved me to the cash register because Arthur wasn’t ready to work such a busy shift. I’m better at the list and putting the math together.” Complete gibberish to anyone that knows the store.

The cute man, though, nods like he understands every word. “You finish soon, right?”

You glance at the old clock hanging on the wall as people in line grumble. “Half an hour.”

He pushes away from the counter. “Try not to stay too late today. We don’t want to miss our reservation.”

You blush. “Of course not.” You wish he wouldn’t walk away, but there he goes, stopping near the flower shop and unconcernedly peering back at you and the customer.

The customer glares at you again. “You could have said something.”

You glance at the notepad, tallying up everything you’ve written down and adding the last few items. “I’m sorry.”

The discomfort vanishes as the cute stranger keeps glancing up, making sure you’re okay.

You pack the items and rattle off the cost, stomach fluttering as the cute man disappears around a corner.

The customer wipes his forehead as he grabs the bags, scooping them up in both hands. “I think I’ll frequent other shops that care about their customers.”

You set a closed sign in front of you. Not bothering to even look at the man, you scan the store again, murmuring absentmindedly, “What a shame.”

He leaves in a huff.

You step back and untie the apron around your waist. Stuffing it under the counter, you slip through the crowd of customers, fighting your way to the aisle you saw the stranger vanish around.

To top off the lovely day, you earn two bruises on your arm as others elbow you. Still, that doesn’t stop you as you struggle through the mob.

You reach the shelf and put a hand on it, spinning around it. You skim the faces, but none of them have that messy red hair or the thin hands fiddling with something.

Your heart sinks as you weave through people with bags of flour and bunches of fruit in their hands and don’t find the man that helped you. You work your way through every aisle, ready to cry in disappointment with the day when he’s not down any of the aisles. Of course this is how it ends. Every muscle in your body wants to stop working, your feet probably have three new blisters each, and you reek of kid snot and sweat. And you can’t even thank the cute man.

Screw the world, screw this job, screw your life.

You stomp out, not caring that your shift technically hasn’t ended yet. It’s only twenty minutes early, and if you stay here, you’re going to burst into tears in front of half the town.

You push your way outside, wiping at a tear that breaks loose from your eyes. Is it so bad to want one thing? You just want a good day at work and not to return home alone with nothing but sore muscles.

You storm past the tables of the store’s outdoor café, tuning out the mumbles of onlookers. You can almost feel the stain of sweat on the back of your dress, and the glare on your face could kill someone.

Which is why you’re completely surprised when you hear someone call out to you to stop you. A voice you heard at the corner. Your hands roll up into fists.

You pause, spinning, ready to face this customer that won’t stop harassing you. Instead, you come face to face with a red-faced man with matching colored hair holding a pink flower at his side.

“Is now a bad time?”

Your eyes widen as you stutter out a “No.”

“I thought with your look that maybe you’d not want company. I mean…” He trails off at the beginning of his next sentence, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry,” you mutter. “Bad day at work.”

He quirks an eyebrow, demeanor changing when you respond without ripping his head off. “I could tell.”

You shift on your feet again to transfer the burning pain in them from your blistered heels to your toes as you eye him. He seems genuine enough, and he really is as cute as you’d thought before. Maybe even cuter now that you don’t have a creepy customer breathing down your neck and spraying his disgusting sweat on you. Plus, this man has something peeking out of his pocket that you desperately want to hold.

“Is that a bowtruckle?” You whisper, watching a tiny green leaf bob around in his vest’s small pocket.

He claps a hand over it. “No.”

You tilt your head, giving him the best puppy dog eyes you can conjure. “Can I see him? Please? I’ve never held one before.”

The man bites his lip. “His name’s Pickett.”

The tiny creature pokes his head up through the man’s fingers, watching you as you lean closer. “He’s so cute.”

“Yes, well, he said the same of you.”

You wrench your gaze to his, heart stopping. “What?”

“I, um, nothing.” He stammers a couple more times as you step back before finally spitting out a complete sentence. “I bought you this flower. As a way to, to help brighten your day.”

You want to pull him into a hug when he holds the pink tulip out to you. Its soft petals brush your fingers at the same time his hand does, causing you to blush until your face matches his hair. You want to roll your eyes at your behavior; you’re acting like you’re twelve. You’ve just met the man, no need to develop a crush on someone that’s just being nice.

The wind sends the flower swaying toward your nose so you sniff it, breathing in the fresh smell of tulip and water.

“Why?” The question comes out breathless as you spin the stem in your hand.

“I’ve had a few bad days myself.” He chuckles, holding out his hand to show you two scars and a tiny bite mark that looks fresh.

“I take it you don’t work at a grocery store.” You mumble, tilting your head to better see the scars.

He cocks his head as he laughs. “Not quite.”

“What do you do?”

“I work with creatures.”

You don’t miss the way his eyes soften when he says that. Shit. He’s sweet, kind, and passionate about his job.

You curse mentally as your heart skips a beat.

“I’m jealous. I’d love to have a job like that. Unfortunately, the only creatures I deal with are the brutes that can’t take a hint.”

He grins. “Humans are the worst kinds of beasts.”

You sigh. “It’s true.”

You both fall silent, unsure of what to say. The sun still beats down on you, but you don’t notice the sweat anymore as the man in front of you opens his mouth. Terrified he’s going to leave—he’s been the only good part of your entire week—you blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“What’s your name?”

He doesn’t flinch at your shout. “Newt. And yours?”

You introduce yourself before sucking in a deep breath and twirling the flower in your hand one more time. Courage. You need courage. At least if you mess this up, you’ll probably never see this man again.

“Would you maybe,” you begin, heart pounding against your ribs, “like to see a movie with me?”

Merlin, how do boys do this?

Genuine surprise breaks across his features. You kick yourself. Of course he doesn’t. He’s busy. A man as perfect as him probably already has someone to see movies with.

Then he answers and stops your heart.

“Very much so.”

“Really?” You breathe out, certain you’re hearing things now.

He chuckles. “Really. I could pick you up at seven tomorrow night?” He fiddles with the button on his vest again, gaze darting between you and the sidewalk.

“That—that would be great.”

He holds your gaze as he beams. “Great.”

“Great.”

You can barely breathe. A date. You have a date. With a cute guy named Newt that works with creatures every day and helps out women in public.

Holy shit.

You rattle off your address, trying to say it slowly despite the excitement slowly taking over your tone. A date. You have a date.

Newt nods once you repeat it the third time. “Lovely. At seven, then?”

“At seven works. I’ll see you then?” You wish you didn’t have to walk away yet, wish with all your heart you could stand here and talk for hours even if it meant more blisters and a sunburn on your neck.

Your heart races at his lopsided grin. “Pickett and I.”

“Shoot, less popcorn for me.”

His hand drifts to his pocket. “Pickett can be greedy. Ow!” He shakes his hand, scowling at his pocket. “Don’t deny it, you bugger. You’re the one that plucked all the seeds from the tree.” He meets your gaze again. “But he’s not the worst. The niffler can’t keep his paws to himself.”

Your jaw drops. “You have a niffler too?”

“Yes. He’s a pest.” Newt grimaces at some memory, but you can still see the fondness in even that gesture. Your heart breaks in a good way, falling in love with someone you barely know. You don’t even care that it might turn out horribly. He’s here and he’s not creepy or mean. No, he’s funny and kind and has the most endearing way of looking at you with bright eyes and a tilted head and hair the sticks up on the side.

You rub your forehead. “I have to meet him someday.”

Newt’s grin fades as he cocks his head, but comes back bit by bit. “I think he’ll love you.”

“I hope so.” You say in a near whisper as he draws closer.

The space between the two of you is quiet again, but it’s different this time. You can feel yourself drifting toward Newt, wanting to be nearer to him.

Shaking your head, you step back. You haven’t even been on a first date yet. You barely even know the man. You try to rationalize with yourself as you step back.

He may have come out of nowhere, but you’re thanking every star in the sky that he came.

The two of you exchange goodbyes with nervous laughs and jokes.

As you wave and promise to be ready at seven, you’re pretty sure there’s going to be far, far more than just one date.

[batslime]

So on Circus of the Dead ( now that I’ve actually watched it )

Content warnings ahoy for lowly-to-moderately detailed discussions of acts including rape, torture, murder, cheating, ableism, reproductive violence, cannibalism, necrophillia, and general violence. That’s right, all that in more in one clown movie! Also pretty long.

 I've talked about this briefly but as a sake of an example, even if he tortures them Pennywise isn't genuinely "evil"..... it literally exists to consume, it was created that way, it's not BETTER but humans are like day-old ants to this timelessly old entity. I don't know if I can really even find the focus on preying on mostly children since it's easier prey for it, and in nature, the young aren't spared. Because Pennywise ISN'T human, it's a primal beast that far PREDATES humanity. It only tortures them because it says it makes them taste better, and it feeds off their fears, not their bodies. It doesn't kill just to kill, and I'm kind of even on the fence about being able to call it malice. IT isn't good but I still wouldn't consider IT evil. This stuff is genuinely just its nature.

 Papa Corn from Circus of the dead is what an EVIL character is. Papa Corn kidnaps, rapes, physiologically and physically tortures people before murdering them, sodomizing their corpses, and mutilating them, or letting one of his other clown goons eat it. And he does it all gleefully, he LITERALLY gets off when meditating it, he jokes it off because he doesn't even see it as more than a day's work ( "What are you gonna DO to her?" "I'm gonna do what I always do. I'm gonna rape her, I'm gonna slit her throat, I'm gonna feed whats left to my clowns." He starts this reply out shrugging, and uses a tone talking about his plans for the day going on a walk or mowing the lawn ). 

 One thing early in the film that fades in comparison to all this but that still sticks out to me is when Don, the main character who's held hostage by Papa Corn and the clowns at the expense of his family, is backstage with them after having his seat drawn for a prize. He doesn't actually suspect anything is wrong yet, but Papa Corn already slipped in a chipper "I'm going to kill your ENTIRE family!" that the clown brushed off as a mishearing, and is putting off creepy vibes. So in his discomfort Don makes a short joke about one of the other clowns played by a little person. Papa Corn goes off on a little passive-aggressive rant at this, using language not only that would be considered "politically correct" but actual medical terms. "Ah! I see, you've made a JOKE at my coworker's expense based on the fact that he's OTHERED from you! Well, I will INFORM you that Mr. Jumbo suffers from a genetic hormonal deficiency called DWARFISM. However, his sense of humor is quite intact, so I'm sure he'll still be able to appreciate the joke." That's heavily paraphrased, but what he says here is undeniably recognizing and chastising Don for mocking somebody's disability and going to the length of teaching him about it. This is even what I'd call a very good way to point out bigotry in a way to not start a scene, had it been in earnest- because Papa's next line after Don apologizes and tells him shamefully he didn't consider how disrespectful it would be Papa says "But he's a dwarf, so who gives a flying fuck what he thinks." And then forces out a very theatrical guffaw straight into Don's face.

 Again, that bit is insignificant to all the shit that comes later in the movie ( and even some scenes beforehand ) that this character isn't "craaaaazy" or just saying and doing whatever, he's FULLY aware of right and wrong even to an extent a lot of people in our society aren't; the thing is he really DOESN'T care and really DOES find dehumanization and faking people out, misleading them to think they're safe or he's not evil, funny.

 This is kind of solidified again in a pretty early scene where he's broken into Don's house and caught his wife, Tiffany. Tiffany is screaming "let me go! I wanna go!", and Papa Corn actually puts on this calmed down facade and the panicky music stops, in a now very average tone, "Oh. You wanna go?" "Y-yeah, let me go!" "Oh. You want to go. Well, I'm feeling generous today." He actually SHOOS Tiffany away, doing so again when she glances back several times in disbelief, before abruptly screaming and running after her again. He then laughs as he waves his crotch around in her face, sticks his gloved fingers up HERS to scold her on her cheating, then slicing her neck open in the following scene. This really solidifies two things: 1, Papa Corn really does just fucking love giving his victims a tiiiny bit of hope then just yanking it away from them, and 2, the writer is SOMEHOW aware of some horror tropes and manages to challenge them in a genuinely funny way, just to be totally unconscious of all the others he shoves into the rest of the movie. 

 And what makes this a BAD character ( not a bad person, he's already that and more ) is that despite practically BOASTING all this, when his hostage who he's forced into a night of watching him do all this shoots him at the first chance when the two are finally alone and Papa Corn is about to violate another random teenage girl who got dragged into this shit at the blink of an eye, Papa Corn pulls this "you're just like me" bullshit that I hate sooo much.

 "Don. You shot me. Were you just going to leave me here to die? You tried to kill me... I'm so proud of you." Nothing makes a villain I hate more, and not in a good way, than being untouchable. I hate that he's written to still be smug and have the upper hand even after taking bullets through the chest ( and somehow lives, presumably without going to the hospital? To my further infuriation ), I hate when villains who are so PROUD of their villainy until somebody finally raises a hand against them try to use the "but I'm not that bad, because you are too". T's SO lazy, it's SO out of character, specifically for this guy who laughs in people's faces as he skins their face or watches his goons gut a pregnant woman or fuck a guy's wife's mutilated head in front of him while he talks about how she'd been cheating on him.

 Papa Corn is a villain who's a prime example of a horrible, irredeemable, inhumanly EVIL person, who does what he wants not just with no regard to others, but to revel on their agony on every level he can possibly inflict. It's far, far overdone and this makes the film cheesy and almost even LAUGHABLE despite all the awful content, but this is what makes him a good VILLAIN- somebody who IS evil, not just really doing what they were made to. 

 And then he defends himself as "not that bad, because who isn't?", which shows total incompetence on the writer's part, and that that entire concept of what's actually evil about his character has gone totally over the guy's head, that it really is just all shit that he wanted to film people doing.

 It's not the low budget, poor sound and picture quality, the admittedly ( slightly ) better than expected writing, and mostly amateur cast that makes Circus of the Dead a bad film, to me, it's all that shit. It's that all in all the "psych challenging message" here that it tries to play is that even people who admit they're evil and have fun doing it aren't ACTUALLY evil because everyday average people who do good and bad as part of their life do bad things sometimes too, but they're still going to suffer at the hands of the evil-not-evil characters BECAUSE of their wrongdoings.

 All in all, after everything I've heard about Circus of the Dead, it didn't really challenge the low expectations I had for it, nor did it challenge all the bad horror/ "mindfuck" genre tropes it set itself up for. It feels like a chore to watch with little to no reward ( Don and his whole family DO all end up dead, and the whole clown gang gets away more or less unharmed. A 2nd one is confirmed to already be written but I really hope for at least the sake of realistic forces at least one of the clowns are killed in the next one ). If I do have anything to praise, it's definitely Papa Corn's snd Pepe the mime's designs, I really do love them and it makes up for the other clowns being ass ugly and tacky. Quite a few of Papa Corn's lines really did make me laugh too, when he's not the filthy example of the lowest form of shat you can still call a man, and even admittedly when he's killing actual assholes, he is pretty funny in his total indiscreetness. 

As a sidenote though, genuinely, HUGE props to Bill Oberst Jr. for his sensational portrayal of this role. I've read a lot of reviews before seeing the film describing him as having a "switch" needed for playing Papa Corn's fickle and unpredictable sense of calm before the storm, and I agreed even just seeing the trailers, but there are some parts of the film it really feels so RAW and it kind of yanks you around in a sense. I've seen interviews with him and he's such a down to earth, proudly and happily religious guy with so much obvious humility and sense of bettering himself, it's kind of awe-striking hearing him talk about how he looked through the script and said "I NEED to play this". He's a phenomenal actor and even if not necessarily for this film I hope recognition for him skyrockets.

[survivormuxloe]

Episode #8: “hoebi hears ALL things shady...” - Tobi

Ok I’m super excited because we finally got a challenge involving something I’m good at which is aesthetics. I fucking love moodboards and I really wanna win a challenge so I’m hoping I can win this.

So I am absolutely not creative at all so this challenge is gonna be a struggle for me so love that

So Wes was just voted out. Im neutural about it. Yes wes was a number, but it wouldve done too much drama to try and save him.  Im playing my game not his. He didnt do himself any favours.

This round my target is david. He seems like someone who isnt central to everyone. So therefore I think he would easier to get votes on. Plus scott has mentioned david annoys him. So im hoping that now i can managed to pull 2 people our way to vote our david.

people sure gettin feisty..

lets start off with missus dani and mr michael the obvious f2.. like bitch if ur gonna leak things i tell u dont make it obvious!! LAMFJHFG and now dani wants to flip the script on felix bc She Doesnt Want To Do What Shes Told. like gtfo :) ugh im sick of them both i wanna blindside them so bad..

and then i might get caught leakin if this shit gets out more.. hope the vote stays at felix vs david tho bc its bye bye david :)

uhm idk wha t more to say. im done with these mercia people..

Today... the tea... is absolutely STEAMING!! so initially the plan was for david to leave bc felix also wanted to blindside him... but scott's told michael who TOLD david about it and now david knows about it so the target is switched rn... Also more tea is that dani thought she was slick and told scott that she wanted to blindside felix along with scott, david, michael, some sweyn, and said ahrre would do whatever she said... what she said also insinuated that me, mo, and felix were on the bottom of our og tribe... guess she doesn't know that hoebi hears ALL things shady... looks like im flipping off of my og tribe for a 3rd org in a row ladies

im such a fucking  mess.... but thank god i have rhys/jones/ryan pickin up the pieces and we still blindsidin.. ALMFJBG

GOD I HOPE ITS DANI THO IM DESPERATE FOR HER TO GO. and i wanna show michael u dont fucking throw me utb n get away with it.. i may be inbred but im not completely dumb n i have the social bonds to stay aMJFHBG

im so dumb like i deserve nothing good after this.

pleaseletmewinpleaseletmewinpleaseletmewinpleaseletmewinpleaseletmewin i w a n t t h i s

SO MUCH HAS BEEN GOING DOWN GUYS this tea is HOT SO since before the Wes vote, Felix, Mo, Tobi, Scooty, Ryan, Rhys and myself were planning on voting for David for the F11 vote - because he's a comp threat and seems pretty set on not flipping on OG Mercia BUT when Scooty was chit chatting with his Canute bff Michael, MICHAEL SPILLED THE BEANS and basically threw Scooty under the bus, so David found out about the plan! I had to play dumb when David asked me about it, and I told him I had no idea (and he totally fell for it >:3c), BUT Felix heard about it and went to Ryan and it became A [clap emoji] CLUSTER [clap emoji] FUCK [clap emoji x3] Scooty also got tea from Dani that she wants to flip the script on Felix with Scooty, me, David, Michael, and Ahrre (she said Ahrre would follow along with anything bc they're paranoid asf) - SO she basically layed out the Mercia tribe Dynamics and indirectly said that Mo, Felix, and Tobi were on the bottom. Which honestly we knew, but that works perfectly for us Sweyn ;) So after I cleared everything up with Felix that Scooty never spilled the beans to David and that Michael is a total snake, we were thinking about what to do next -And because David knows his name's been mentioned, we had to tread carefully. So then we thought,, why not use this paranoia to our advantage? We can make David feel like he's a target so they can possibly play an idol on him (which is a HUGE possibility) but in actuality,,, we're voting for Dani or Michael. It's pretty obvious to everyone that they're a really tight duo and it would be great if we could split them up now before they go far. Right now everyone would definitely prefer to vote Dani (and so would I) because apparently she's a possible comp threat, and also she's v messy so there's that. but if she possibly wins immunity then the vote's changing to Michael. As long as that duo breaks up then we're solid. BUT THAT'S THE TEA FOR NOW I'll try to make another confessional if my dumbass remembers to <3

So I didn’t win, which makes me sad but I did come in second place. Another good thing is that Jones won and I’m allies with Jones so I’m very happy about this. Overall I’m happy.

Hey ya boy is back now I'm gonna recap last week cause my flop ass forgot to do it as it happened. Basically I didn't win immunity which is good. Then I went take a poopoo and when I come back everyone is saying Wes, so hey guess I don't work this week, a nice change compared to the week jose went home.

As for Wes well he hadn't been the most active and I really didn't had a bond with him so that seemed as a convenient vote to me. Aparently he was also targetted cause he was one point away from winning immunity? idk how much of a factor that was but hey kids all the more of a reason to throw them early challenges.

Now talking about tribe lines I'm doing my job talking with the other guys and letting them know I'm willing to work with them. However I'm keeping my eyes on them, specially Scott who seemed to have charmed Michael and Dani in after having flipped on Malik. Add to that the connections he probably has with his OG tribe and make no mistake he could very well be in the best position in this game, which means I will probably have to take a shoot on him sooner or later.

Tobi could also be in a similar postion since the other guys saved him when they had a 4-1 tribe divition advantage, but idk how much was up to Tobi chatting them up instead of Madison being a liability, but I will also keep an eye in him.

Additionally Michael is def not fully in with the idea of staying og tribe strong, which is fair enough. But he also told me Felix told him last week he wanted david out next week, so that would basically be this week. So I'm gonna have to learn more about that, also I never knew who originally threw Wes's name out and no one seemed to know but something tells me Michael had something to do with that as well.

So all in all that's a bunch of stuff I'm gonna have to act upon while keeping a low profile, but hey lazy week was last week so it's not time to get confortable and sit around without doing anything.

sooo i came online today to some messiness lmao. apparently danielle/michael/david all found out about felix's plan, and michael went to Felix and basically threw Scott under the bus about it lmfao. and they want to pull in Ahrre + some Sweyns to flip it on Felix and uh.... yeah no afkdsf. i was able to get felix back on the right page and i think we're good to go him/Mo + Sweyns and blindside Danielle or Michael hehe, because felix thinks an idol could pop up or something idk

so the new plan is blindside miss dani.. thank god LMAOAOAA i been wantin her ass out forever and i wanna have michael stay shook bc if he thinks im gonna be loyal to him after this.. lmao

SHE SHOULDA JUST SAT THERE AND ATE HER FOOD INSTEAD OF SITTIN THERE SAYIN ‘OH I DONT WANNA DO WHAT IM TOLD’ LIKE BITCH. YES U WILL. OTHERWISE UR ASS IS GRASS. THANK U, NEXT.

Okay, so Jones won immunity. Great! Sweyn on the immunity train.

So David was the original plan. However scott went around trying to swing it to david to people who cant keep their gob shut. Michael went to tell David, and david has come full circle and started asking everyone if they had heard my name. So now The sweynians have tried to swing the vote on Dani. As its seen that her and Michael are a pair & Tobi finds Dani annoying.

So we are going to keep the facade that its still David and try to keep telling Michael its David etc and get votes on David. When in reality thats a big fat lie. And Dani should be getting votes.

So tonight the vote is very simple. To vote Ryan however the complication comes from whether or not I go with the og sweyns to blindside David in an attempt to really open the game up and have less of a tribe vs tribe dynamic. Also complicating matters is the fact scott wants me dani and David to form a voting block with Ahrre and someone else to really control this game. It seems to me that I need to really think about my decision.

they better make up their minds whether its me or ryan bc i aint agreeing to a 5th name this tribal LAMFJHFG

So all this is messy and I just start thinking, why don’t I flip like David’s a threat and it would open up the game 100% and also if it was just a case of David vs Ryan id vote ryan but I like Rhys so.

So a lot happened and now it’s rhys but I don’t want rhys I want ryan and with my crazy coo coo plan I hope that i get what I want bc that would be cute and like so unexpected and it would get the game to be opened up

im gunna fucking piss myself why are mercia SO DUMB!!! THEY WANNA SPLIT BETWEEN RYAN AND RHYS LMAOAOAOA LIKE HOW.. KILL ALL UR BONDS IDC!! ME AND JONES ARE BUSY CRYING LAUGHING BC THEYRE JUST SO FUCKING BAD AAAAAAAA

So I wake up to hear my name being throw around by my own og tribe... I love this tea soooo much... like in the end they settled for ryan but the fact that they have the audacity to put me up as an option AND THEN ask me for my vote... I have to laugh LKJHDFLJ I guess its time to flip the script!! Dani and Michael are coming up with this "genius" plan of splitting the votes between ryan and rhys because they think scott, jones, and I are with them... oh honey... they have a big storm comin... we're using this to our advantage to do a clean vote on Dani and take out one of them mofos... miss piggy gets revenge tonight

soo i came online to a whollllllle big ass mess lmao. Dani & Michael been scrambling to get out me or Rhys to save David and they have no idea they've dug themselves so far into a ditch.... it's scary knowing i'm gonna get votes but i feel confident that ppl have my back... i feel good that the Sweyns + Tobi + Felix will vote together to get Dani, and I just hope we've done a good job at making them not see it coming... but even if they do and an idol is played correctly by them, my idol 10000% is going to make an appearance hehehe

Hello here I am,, coming in clutch as the moodboard QUEEN. um,, thank god honestly. bc rn it seems like og Mercia wanted to just pick off Sweyn and I know for a fact David would've wanted to go for me first bc of Ko Chang (which btw, if you target people for past games, choke, it's a new game get over it sweaty c:) but yeah I'm glad I have immunity <3 thank god I ran a moodboard account over the summer teehee So yeah rn the Mercia group is a clusterfuck and I love it,,, I love watching the world burn yk? They really just,,, have no idea what they're doing. first they want to go for Scott, but apparenlty that's a cover and they're going for Ryan, THEN SCOTT KNOWS and they change the vote to Rhys, then they're splitting??? like??? hello????? y'all gotta make up your minds we've been planning on voting Dani out since before immunity came out. this couldn't have been easier honestly. I love this. THEN MICHAEL bless his heart I love him so fucking much but he really told me that David doesn't trust any of Sweyn and wants them out,, like,,, does he not realize,,,,,,,,,,,,,I'm from Sweyn. like,,, that makes me want to take you guys out even more. PLUS he's really digging his own grave when he says that Mo and Ahrre can do whatever they want and they don't matter like,, you don't give the people on the bottom leg room. that's really dumb I love Michael to death but he's doing this to himself rn but heres the rundown on what everyone on that side THINKS is happening - Michael, myself, Scooty, Dani and David vote for Ryan - Ryan and Rhys vote for David - and Mo, Ahrre Tobi and Felix do whatever the fuck they want/Rhys apparently. so that would be a 5/4/2 vote for Ryan. HERE'S WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING (or what I think is happening based on my sleuthing) - David Dani and Michael are voting for Ryan - Ahrre is voting for Rhys - and myself, Scooty, Ryan, Rhys, Tobi, Mo, and Felix are all voting for Dani. making it a 7/3/1 split. I really hate how cocky I sound rn but holy fuck Mercia really crumbled and I barely did anything except for keeping Sweyn/Felix/Mo/Tobi on my side. Thank god. plus with all of this info we gathered now it'll be a lot easier to pull in Ahrre so we can take out the rest of Mercia. see y'all at F10 <3

everyone in this game can stay shook sweyn is runnin this shit..

this is legit my gameplan. be a crazy ass bitch and be a mess and people will never vote ur ass cus they think ull lose in ftc LAMJFBFG

OKAY. So lets catch up on the vote.

Originally sweyn was going for David. So Scotty was trying to get on it early and get people to swing to him. He told Michael. Michael tells David. David asks all of Sweyn if we heard his name.

We all regroup, and decide Michael or Dani is the best bet. As you know, snitches get stiches. Dani is Michaels ally and I have heard some people have been annoyed with her. So Dani is our new target. We have Tobi, Felix and Mo on board supposedly.

I continue the facade and talk to Michael and Dani about the vote with David. Inorder to keep David thinking its him. Going over whos voting who and blah blah.

Apprently the others, were going to go for Ryan. However Michael told Scotty about it being Ryan, when he was supposed to. This lead to Scotty telling Dani, who told David. So now *apprently* they think Ahrre told Scotty. So now I've been told the vote has been switched to me. But it may be split between me and Ryan.

So right now, I think Dani is going home, with a few votes on me or Ryan. However keyword being THINK. This could be completly a blindside on my half. Just gotta keep fingers crossed.

Man, so tonight's tribal is gonna be crazy. I got my alliance of Felix, Michael, Danielle and myself voting for Rhys. And I'm gonna use my vote steal to steal Ahrre's vote since he considered himself the swing vote and I'm gonna vote Rhys again with it. If this plan works, Rhys goes home.

We've been telling everyone else that the vote is Ryan, so in case there's an idol being played on either Rhys or Ryan, the other one will hopefully go home.

Ok so a lot has been going on and I've got a big headache so lets just sum it all up.

1. Scott is a dangerous little fella aparently the entire Felix throwing David under the bus last week story was bs. 2. OG Sweyn are going after David. 3. David is going after rhys but he's telling me to vote ryan for some reason, I assume that's because someone leaked the ryan vote to Scott and for some reason he thinks it was me? Either way he's really risking it considering I'm not sure he even has majority, plus he's alienating my ass so I have no real reason to keep him if I survive this round.

Anyhow I'm paranoid now so wish me gl.

Danielle is voted out 7-2-2.

[survivorcostarica]

Ep. 1 - “Imagine suffering, imagine euthanizing yourself, imagine losing your will to continue on...” - Randy

i cant see pls send imitrex

i have a crush on cole, i'm in this game and virgin islands with him and i really like talking to him.  he is really genuine and easy to talk to, i feel ridiculous for admitting this but this was the first thing i thought to confess about lol

I want to shoot myself in the fucking face what is my tribe?! 

Cole is such a messy thot, Kevin is that but without being remotely good at the game, Arika and Julia are best friends IRL and 1000% will be working together. Louise is a fucking saint but that also terrifies me because I can't do shit against her without being a terrible person. At least Madison is really down to earth and chill even thought I've known her for two days and met her on Club Penguin. I don't know Bryce, Noah or the other one so they're 1000% my go to people right now.

Ohkay hi hi. My name is Bryan and I’m here to try and NOT flop at this game. Ok sooo. I’m looking at my tribe and i notice. My best friend Madison is here. Just kidding i HATE her. Or at least that’s what i will want people to think so we aren’t targeted for our friendship or whatever cuz we had BEEF in our last game. Um. Josh is also here. I was in another game with him but i didn’t really get to talk to him that much. Other than that cole and Kevin seem nice enough and are talkative so that’s good. I guess I’ll just be able to talk more with other people later.

Imagine suffering, imagine euthanizing yourself, imagine losing your will to continue on in an ORG you were last minute filled into. I literally hate this whole tribe so much, and I'm going into this game with the mindset that we are losing every single immunity and reward. When I saw the first three cast reveal posts i prayed i wasnt on the orange tribe. i actually believed and god, and asked him for forgiveness for all the sins ive committed and pleaded my case to on why i shouldnt be on this tribe. but, alas here i am. so its time to play i guess I'm not good with social game, and thats why i usually fail at survivor. I always have a good first few days, but then its just me being inactive and skirmming my way until my inevitable premerge eviction. But in this game im literally going to pull all the stops i can. I will start to set up my reputation as a good survivor player. And it starts here. Even if nobody pms me I will take this game by storm. Meaning right now its getting good with the influential such as Jay and Drew. They have a few buds on the other tribe, and working with them can only help me when we hit merge. i'm also going to keep Chrissa tight because she is just such a good ally, but its also going to be hard to protect her as she is such a shit competitor. But thats all plans let me talk about to cast Cameron: Love cameron our last org played together we made final 3, and he asked me to cut him. I will keep him under my sphere of influence especially since he said he isnt familiar with this group of players Chrissa: I also love chrissa. She can be a little annoying sometimes, but she always has good intentions. She is fiercely loyal, and thats something great to have in an ally because numbers are more important in survivor than big brother Constance: I don't like him. I want nothing to do with him. The closest association I ever had with constance was us two being on the same cast reveal post. And I'm far more than content with that interaction. He's from facebook, and that means he is going to stir the pot when there isn't any stirring necessary. He is going to make a move just to make a move, and if I cut him earlier the better. But if I can work with him, and test and experience how he plays this game. I do think it would be more entertaining Drew: I have good relations with him but really havent played an org with him. I have no intentions on backstabbing him especially in this cast. I do think he will either slide into the shadows, or emerge as the person calling the shots for this tribe. Jay: Same as Drew tbh. They're together as a duo, so anything one does the other will follow. I'm not going to beef with him Jill: I haven't met Jill before this. but she is the driest person i have pm'd in a while. Me and her are having forced small talk, but i dont want to lose connections with her yet. I'm hoping she isnt well liked or well received so she can leave. Reagan: Me and her have butted heads so many times in vls. If you wanted a fight. Its going to be between me and her i bet your hat. Sam: I dont know if he's a newbie or from a community. But me and him kicked things off really well, and I'm feeling natural chemistry with him. I'll keep him near my sphere of influence for sure. Roxy: Going against Roxy is such a stupid move. Because she's just going to waste her whole entire game trying to vote you off. She gets really bitter easily, and i dont know what the hell she's saying half of the time. I dont understand her game or her mouth so im just gonna let her be...

[12:25:40 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: dam stop tryna out do my intro  do I have to add my likes too?  tch [12:25:48 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: I like big BUTTS and I cannot lie [12:25:53 PM] Chrissa Bullard: lol [12:26:54 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: okay Ill admit idc about the size of your butt [12:27:01 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: even if you have a small butt id still potentially like u [12:27:12 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: but yall are gay so like  what can a straight gal like me do [12:27:29 PM] Chrissa Bullard: hello sam and roxy with her butt equality [12:29:22 PM] Jill: if u wanna be my friend add me and SAY hey bc i forget to add people [12:29:53 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: and I say HEY what a wonderful kinda day [12:29:54 PM] Jill: also msg me ur pronouns thanks [12:29:57 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: you can learn and work and play [12:30:26 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: my pronouns are "my lord" and "your highness" [12:30:51 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: I said I was a she cause dan didn't take me seriously even tho imma hella serious [12:30:52 PM] Cameron Bee-Culpepper (Atomic Admin): my pronouns are he/they and they are actually serious :) [12:31:02 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: oi how dare you say I aint serious [12:31:36 PM] Chrissa Bullard: your highness is serious do not get my lords pronouns wrong :P [12:31:41 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: :/ I'm the lord and the queen roxy herself [12:31:42 PM] Chrissa Bullard: seriously though [12:31:47 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: of course my pronoun is your highness [12:31:57 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: thank you ! see? chrissa gets it! [12:32:02 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: look I even have a crown as proof [12:32:07 PM] Chrissa Bullard: true [12:32:13 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: i trans-itioned from being a commoner to being a queen [12:32:51 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: also if i don't pm you its cause i avoid social interactions at all times [12:33:00 PM] Chrissa Bullard: a mood [12:33:05 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: and i haven't left  my house in 9 days [12:33:13 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: apart from an hour once to go to the gym [12:33:17 PM] 👑 Queen Roxy 👑: i haven't recovered since i take medicine. its called coffee. it helps releave the symptoms of being dead inside

My tribe is probably going to be useless. Which means that we have to turn it OUT for immunity. Randy, Roxy and I are all attempting to make flags. I have faith in Randy's abilities... roxy, not so much. But she does have a good artistic ability, so I hope she turns it out for this. We can hope. We can hope.

Blah blah blah. Confessional confessional. The immunity comp is a flag making competition. Which means i can’t really participate. The one we have so far tho is super cute!! There’s a Julia on our tribe. I have to start learning people’s names. Ugh. Too much work. 

I think like our tribe will win immunity, looking at cadejo’s scores, they seem like flops I mean that tribe is super ugly so ya know… cute is gonna devour gorgeous. Anyways Anthony is doing great at the flag I gave him the ideas, he executed them for me so everyone is great. Also i got this red KEY

I really don't like my tribe but I think I like the other tribe even less just from the few people I've encountered before or at the very least heard about. If anything though that's great for me because I have all of two or three people I remotely care about so I have no issues with taking people out.

RANDY'S FLAG LOOKS TERRIBLE! but we're going with that one anyway!!! even though its literally furry meme nonsense!!! so i hope to god i dont get targetted when we lose bc i made an effort not to be a grumpy ass beyotch!

ummm roxy said she and sam wanna align with me!! it's so early!!! I may work with Reagan bc we worked together previously I think!! Everyone else seems fine. I'm gunna msg drew and everyone else tomorrow or later and say hey I've been napping!!! Go team

I honestly think im going because peop le don't tell me anything I'm scared 

[3/28/18, 1:55:57 AM] Drew (heuse1ac): "I love y-...ughch..." [3/28/18, 1:56:05 AM] Drew (heuse1ac): Cameron 2k18 im just gonna put this here ;)

Anyway. Here's some tea. Roxy thinks I talk too much about being in the hospital. Sorry sweaty, I'm disabled, I'm gonna be in the hospital. And I have the right to talk about whatever I want. ANYWAY, Constance, the literal loml, gave me this tea so that's great. I LOVE HIM. So we made an alliance of me and drew, because drew has a "bad reputation" (sweetie, you were the one making tasteless comments night one, let's not get it twisted here!!) We talk a bunch, we have good laughs, and we head to bed. I went into this round wanting to target Roxy anyway, but she just went painted a bullseye on her back for me!

This first round felt so nostalgic to me, in the sense that being gone from these games for a while allowed me to step back and revitalize the way that I play games. In the beginning of the game, I felt an immediate connection with Cameron. He is someone who has a really nice, personable outlook as a person and I could see myself becoming really good allies and friends outside of this game. I also really enjoy Drew, Sam and Jill. Drew: I was excited to see him in this game because we just met a few days before the game started because he flirted with me a little and I thought he was a nice guy in general. I haven't had the chance of getting to know him all that well yet, though he stated to me that he will not write my name down throughout the game when we were first added to the tribe, so I hope that stays as promised. Sam: We both come from the same community but we both individually transferred to Tumblr at different points in time. I don't know him well enough to say he could be someone I stay with for the long run, but I have had a few calls with him and he seems pretty straightforward about what he wants in this game and where he wants to go. I'll leave it at that for now. Jill: She is literally everything that is me. "I'm going to see my sugar daddy," "I am eating a whole barbecque chicken pizza to myself," "I need money" I LOVE THIS CHICK! We need to align and become friends for sure because I can't see myself without her! One smaller relationship I have is with Chrissa and that will require some work on my part, both game wise and friend wise included. We had a rough past on a personal note but we are working our ways around it to become friends again on a personal level, not even on a game level. I feel like if Chrissa is able to handle herself in this game with me the way she did in Arrakis ages ago, she should be good to go with me! The people I really don't talk with or connect with right now are Jay, Roxy, Randy and Regan. - Jay just hasn't spoken a lot, but that may be subject to change? - Regan has this huge negative perception that everyone has given about her and I'm honestly not about holding past games or whatnot against anyone. If she is as crazy or as ballistic as people say she is then that will happen on it's own accord. - Randy is..Randy. I'm not really putting a whole lot here. He comes off extremely weird to me and I'm not feeling it. - Roxy and Randy both share the same trait they don't mind expressing: their messy players. I'm not one to want to play with people who are going to knowingly make things difficult for me in this game moving forward. I feel like getting out people who tend to be wildcards for my individual game will boost my ability to better know the personalities I surround myself with. Intended Target: Roxy Reason: I had a call with Sam and discussed some feelings about the challenge for the flag that had taken place. In my individual opinion, expressing the idea of putting in effort for a challenge and then doing the opposite of what you said you would do, shows a false sense of sportsmanship and that bothers me. Roxy said she would make a temporary flag as a concept, but never did and constantly said "I'm lazy, so I don't want to do it." Adding on to the reason above, I was asked if I wanted to be added to a call with Sam by Roxy as they were both speaking with each other and I said I wouldn't mind joining. We both tried asking Roxy about potential ideas for the vote off and Roxy made it clear that Regan would be too easy to get rid of. Then came the critical point of the conversation where Roxy would bring up Cameron and Drew's names, stating that Drew apparently has a bad or weird reputation in the Tumblr community of games, but this is COSTA RICA not any other game. She also stated in regards to Cameron word for word that, "I just think Cameron talks about themselves too much in the main chat, and that brings people to feel for them more, and that makes them look bad" and this was in relation to when Cameron stated he was in the hospital. I found that to be extremely bothersome because otherwise, Cameron has never talked about himself constantly or anything like that. My intentions are to pull myself, Drew, Cameron, Jill, Sam and Jay to vote out Roxy. I started the idea when I asked Sam on call blatantly and he agreed and I calmly took it by step. That's all I have folks! I hope this works out and if for some odd reason I go home first, well then it was fun while it lasted! 

Okay so I need to catch yall up on how shit can turn into bliss SO reward I literally ate shit in. i scored to lowest out of everybody in the whole cast. Making myself inferior to competition flops like Chrissa. So that wasnt really well. However my soccial game has been stepping up. Even though im lacking a little bit in the pm part of my game. I have been having good chemistry with literally everybody in the tribe chat. I have also led us in the flag immunity. So me and Cameron made a flag. And the tribe had to pick which one, and it was pretty set even. I do think the end result wouldve been the same but it was nice to see people on my side and supporting me. So then we lose the tribal flag, and im literally yeeted away from the tribe. Which is really good since with this tribal vote i wouldve been thrown under the bus. allegedely roxy has been throwing names around, and had i stayed in the tribe it might of been my name that was thrown around since it was my flag that lost. so im happy to avoid the drama of the first vote. but now that people have bonded since roxy's polarization im starting to become more outcasted. I just need go stronger for immunities and amp up my social game even more. Since ive been to the other tribe I have a feeling on whats happening. Cole is aligned with all them bitches. Literally Madison Louise are people he's played with before, and when we talked in pms he said this tribe is full of his friends. He is very safe in his tribe which is really nice. Since the League of Gays need to work together at the merge : ~)