#jay seemed to very confident in long distance working

[piperslovebot]

Jeia + looks of love (pt 10)

[en-dazedafterdark]

PAIRINGS: coworker!jungwon x reader

GENRE: smut, pwp, very little plot tbh, fwb??

WARNINGS: fingering, semi-public sex, unprotected sex, handjob, kinda mean dom jungwon

Morning meetings were the least favourite part of your day. You fought back a persistent yawn that threatened to escape, disguising it with a swift sip of the steaming coffee you held tightly in one hand. The aroma of the dark roast momentarily invigorated your senses, but you knew it would only be a temporary respite from the drowsiness that clung to you like a stubborn shadow.

“You look like hell.” Sunoo commented as you sat down next to him at the meeting table. 

You rolled your eyes at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Sunoo grinned, his eyes gleaming mischievously. “Well someone has to knock you down a peg. But seriously, you look awful, did you not sleep last night?” 

“Oh I’m sure Y/N must’ve had a very long night last night.” The voice that replied was tinged with amusement and you flushed as Jungwon sat down in the seat next to you. 

He flashed a smile at you that may have seemed innocent to anyone else but you knew exactly what he had been alluding to with his seemingly innocent comment. Memories of the past night flashed into your mind and you shifted restlessly in your seat. 

“Did Jay give you reports to finish at the last minute again?” Sunoo asked obliviously. “I can’t believe you had to deal with his horrible time management skills again.”

You chuckled nervously, glad that Sunoo had missed the meaning behind what Jungwon had said. “Yeah, I was up all night finishing those.” You lied. 

“I’m sure it must’ve been very hard.” Jungwon gave you a look of mock sympathy. You could feel the heat rising in your cheeks as Jungwon's playful gaze lingered on you. The memories of the night before were definitely not work-related, and you were grateful that Sunoo was entirely oblivious to the hidden implications behind Jungwon's teasing.

You were saved from replying when the team leader, Jay walked in. 

“I know no one wants to be here, least of all me. So let’s get this done as fast as we can so we can all go back to pretending we’re working in our cubicles, ok?”

The laughter that followed Jay’s words were clearly forced. Sunoo leaned towards you, whispering in your ear. “I can’t believe I have to pretend Jay is funny this early in the morning.”

You stifled a laugh at his words, disguising the little sound you made as a cough. Thankfully no one seemed to notice and the meeting moved on without any interruptions. Despite how tired you were, you were fully focused on the meeting… until you felt a leg graze yours under the table. 

Your heart skipped a beat as you felt the subtle touch of Jungwon's leg against yours under the table. Your initial instinct was to withdraw but when you looked over at Jungwon, you saw the small smile on his face. 

He was definitely up to something. 

Trying to maintain your composure, you shifted slightly in your seat hoping to create some distance between your legs and his. But Jungwon seemed determined to play his game.

When he brushed his legs against yours for a second time you shot him a warning look. “Stop it.” You hissed at him. 

He looked at you innocently as he repeated the action once more. You fought back the shiver that rushed through you at the touch.“Stop what?” 

His playful smile grew wider, clearly enjoying the flustered state he had put you in. He moved his legs away and for a minute, you felt relieved that he had finally stopped. Until you felt a hand sneaking up your thighs. 

You stifled a yelp, glancing over to see Jay's eyes scanning the room. You forced your breathing to remain steady, trying to act as if everything was completely normal.

Jungwon seemed unaffected, nodding along with whatever Jay was now going on about as his fingers moved up your thighs and under your skirt. You held his gaze as his fingers lightly brushed your inner thighs, daring him to move any further. A tiny smile formed at his lips as his hand continued its ascent under your skirt, the pad of his fingers teasing you through your underwear. 

Your heart was beating out of your chest as you struggled to keep up with the conversation with the rest of the team.

“What do you think about that Y/N?” Jay suddenly asked and you panicked. You had barely been paying attention to what he had been saying thanks to Jungwon. You could feel the heat in your cheeks as you tried to form a coherent reply.

Jungwon was enjoying this, you could tell from the small smirk on his face. He slowly brushed a finger across your covered mound as you tried to respond, drawing a gasp from you that managed to have Jay look at you in concern.

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

You forced a shaky smile as everyone’s attention suddenly turned to you. Jungwon didn’t seem to mind. His teasing only increased as his fingers pushed the hem of your underwear aside to stroke your already embarrassingly wet cunt. Your eyes were fixed on the table, unable to look at any of them as you felt Jungwon's fingers trace circles against your clit.

Jay didn't seem to notice the change in Jungwon's behaviour, still looking at you in concern. You drew in a shaky breath. "I-I'm fine," You replied shakily. "Sorry I just feel a bit under the weather."

He didn't seem convinced, but thankfully seemed to drop the subject. You were grateful when he continued his speech and everyone else lost interest in you. Jungwon seemed to have a hold of your undivided attention though, his fingers slowly slipping between your folds to circle around your clit.

“So wet already.” Jungwon said under his breath. He had moved closer so he was speaking right into your ear. He was so close that you could smell the scent of him mixed with the smell of your perfume that had been worn the night before. The thought of Jungwon smelling like you had your pussy drip even more. 

You clenched your thighs together, trapping his fingers between them. He seemed to be enjoying the power he had over you, but you were determined to maintain control. You were about to release your thighs when his fingers suddenly thrust deep inside you, causing you to choke back a gasp.

Jay looked at you in concern once more. "You really don't look well. Maybe you should go home for the day."

You quickly shook your head, knowing that if you left you wouldn't be coming back to work. "No, I'm fine really. I can get through this."

You did your best to ignore Jungwon, whose fingers were thrusting deep inside you, fucking you slowly while the rest of the meeting was going on.

“Keep quiet if you don’t want them to notice what I'm doing to you." He said quietly into your ear, his breath warm against your skin. You nodded, biting your lip to stop the moan from slipping from you.

Jungwon chuckled. "Good girl."

He seemed to be enjoying himself as his fingers continued to fuck you. The feeling of his fingers inside you combined with the risk of being discovered was quickly bringing you to the edge of your orgasm.

He must've sensed that you were getting close, withdrawing his fingers to slowly circle your clit, teasing you as you struggled to keep yourself from crying out.

"Keep your head up and act natural, ok? Everyone will notice if you're too busy staring at the table and whimpering like that.” He warned quietly.

You drew in a deep breath, forcing yourself to maintain your composure as he continued toying with you, the sensations he was causing making your mind go blank.

His finger circled your clit once more and you had to bite back a moan. Your face felt flushed as you struggled to focus on the meeting, which you knew had to be over soon. You glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that only 5 minutes remained.

You prayed that they would end soon, hoping that Jungwon would finally give you a release that you needed so desperately. You could feel your thighs clenching around his hand, his fingers moving inside you and you knew that it would only be a matter of time before you came undone.

He must've sensed your urgency too, because he began fucking you once more, his fingers thrusting hard inside you. Your breath hitched and you had to bite your lip to stop a whimper from escaping your throat.

The fingers of his free hand were resting lightly against your leg and you reached down to cover his hand with yours.

"Come for me." He said softly and you felt a small shudder course through you. His words were all you needed to push you over the edge, your orgasm ripping through you as you struggled to remain quiet.

You clamped your thighs tight around his hand, feeling the first wave of pleasure crash over you and you clenched your fists tightly to stop your fingers from gripping the table. You fought back a moan as his fingers continued to move inside you, drawing out every last bit of pleasure that he could.

You struggled to keep yourself together as he slowly withdrew his fingers, pulling your underwear back into place as you looked at the clock. Only 1 minute remained.

You tried to compose yourself as you felt Jungwon's fingers lightly brush your thighs. He seemed to be taking pleasure in knowing that you were so disheveled, the evidence of his touch clearly visible on you.

He moved his hands back under the table and you struggled to keep a neutral expression as you saw him clean his fingers with his napkin.

“Are you really fine, Y/N? You look a little flushed, do you want me to help you to your desk?” Sunoo asked as soon as the meeting concluded. 

You shook your head. "No, I'm ok. Really. Just a little tired."

"Are you sure?" He sounded worried. "I could escort you back to your desk if you need some water, or even if you want to rest in the break room."

"I'll be fine, thanks Sunoo." You gave him a small smile as you got up. You could feel everyone's eyes on you as you made your way to the exit and you tried your best to act normal. Sunoo seemed convinced that you were fine, giving you one last concerned look before leaving. The rest of the team followed suit until it was only you, Jungwon and Jay.

"Do you feel better?" Jay asked. "You don't look so hot."

You nodded. "I'm better, thanks. It was just a slight headache."

Jay seemed to be satisfied with your explanation and he too left the meeting room. You looked over at Jungwon.

"Don't say a word." You warned him as you began to leave the meeting room. 

His laughter followed you down the hallway as you made your way to your desk.

"Are you still here?"

You looked up to see Jungwon standing at the door of your office, his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

You had been working for hours on some new design concepts that the company had requested and you were glad to finally be getting some rest.

"Yeah." You replied. "I was just finishing up. What are you doing here? Don't you usually leave early?"

He shrugged, moving inside after closing the door behind him and leaning against the edge of your desk. "I stayed back to finish up some work."

You nodded and tried to focus back on your screen, but it was impossible with Jungwon so close to you. You could still feel the effects of his teasing from that morning lingering in your body and it was becoming hard to ignore the sensations that were coursing through you. The rest of the office was almost empty, and the only people left were those who worked late every night. 

"So... about this morning..." You began.

"What about this morning?" He looked up at you, a small smirk on his lips. "Do you want to tell me how much of an asshole I am?"

You blushed. "Well, I don't know that you're an asshole, but you weren’t exactly paying attention to the meeting today."

"I could say the same about you. You were barely able to answer anything at all." He smirked.

"That's because I was..." You paused as you realised how lame your excuse would sound.

"Yes?"

You shrugged. "I was distracted."

His smile grew wider as he sat back on your desk. "Distracted? What kind of distraction?"

You knew what he was doing, but you weren't going to give in so easily. "You know what kind of distraction."

He looked at you for a long moment, his eyes moving over you. His expression had suddenly changed and you realised how close he was to you. You could see every detail of his features, the sharp edges of his jaw and the tiny mole on his cheek. His eyes were dark and you could see his desire in them.

He moved towards you, one hand slowly lifting to cup your cheek. He leaned closer and you could feel your breath catch in your throat as he stopped inches from your face. His lips were so close that you could feel the warmth radiating off his skin.

You struggled to keep your eyes open, afraid that if you closed them even for a second you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from kissing him. His fingers were lightly brushing your skin as he tilted your head towards him, his thumb tracing your bottom lip. Your lips parted as he drew closer and you felt his thumb slide against your tongue. You let out a soft sigh at the sensation and you heard him chuckle.

"Distracted?" He whispered as he looked into your eyes.

You nodded slowly, biting down gently on his thumb as he brushed it over your lip once more. His eyes darkened as you took his thumb in your mouth, sucking on it lightly as you met his gaze.

He drew his thumb out of your mouth with a low groan. You were about to ask him what was wrong when he kissed you. You gasped into the kiss as his tongue brushed yours, the familiar taste of him filling your senses as he slid his tongue into your mouth.

He cupped your cheek with one hand, his thumb brushing against your skin. His other hand moved to your waist, pulling you towards him as you kissed hungrily. The kiss was just as hot and intense as it had been the night before. You moaned into his mouth as he nipped your bottom lip.

Your arms moved to wrap around his neck as you climbed onto your desk, sitting beside him so you could get a better look at him. You could hear someone walking past your desk, their footsteps echoing as you heard a door open and close. Jungwon must have noticed your concern because he kissed you again, his fingers moving to tangle in your hair.

His hand was moving slowly over your thigh, your skirt riding higher and higher until you felt his fingertips brushing against your bare skin.

"You're driving me crazy." He whispered against your mouth. "Do you have any idea how much I've thought about you these past few days? How much I want to fuck you right now?"

His fingers brushed against the crotch of your underwear and you bit your lip, moaning softly into his mouth. You could feel your arousal growing, a slow ache settling between your thighs.

Jungwon chuckled. "You're so wet for me already."

He hooked a finger under your underwear, pulling it down to your knees, using his other hand to rub your wet folds.

You whimpered at the touch, wanting to feel his finger inside you. He teased you with just the tip of his finger for what felt like hours, his touches light and teasing.

"Jungwon..." You whispered, feeling impatient. "Please."

"Please what?" He looked up at you and you could see the challenge in his eyes.

"Stop teasing me." You whined as his fingers moved away from your sensitive flesh.

"I'm not teasing you."

"Yes, you are."

He smirked and shook his head. "No. I'm simply enjoying the view."

You pouted at him. "You're the worst."

He chuckled as his fingers began to move against your inner thigh, drawing little circles. You bit your lip as his fingers drew closer to your core, your anticipation growing.

"What if someone comes in?" You whispered, your words sounding strained.

He looked up at you. "Then I'll give them a show."

You could see the mischief in his eyes and you knew that he would make good on his promise. You sucked in a breath as his fingers brushed against your sex, your arousal coating his finger. He slowly began to push his finger inside you, causing you to let out a low moan.

You could feel yourself growing wetter with each thrust of his finger and you let out a low moan when his thumb pressed down on your clit. Your hips bucked forward as Jungwon began to move his finger faster, thrusting it into you as he rubbed your clit with his thumb.

"Do you want more?" He whispered against your mouth and you nodded, your voice lost in your moans.

"Use your words, baby."

You felt him thrust his finger hard inside you and you clenched around him.

"More. Please, I need more."

He chuckled. "Good girl."

You felt him slip a second finger inside you, thrusting them into your core as you moaned softly. His fingers were moving faster and harder now and you were barely able to form a coherent thought as the pressure grew between your thighs.

"I'm going to come..." You gasped out, your thighs trembling with the need to feel your release. Jungwon slowed his movements down and you let out a frustrated moan.

"What are you doing?" You whined, not sure if you could take much more of the teasing.

"Not yet." He replied with a smirk. "Not until I hear you beg for my cock."

You gaped at him. "What?"

"You heard me."

Your mouth opened to argue, but no sound came out. You could feel your face burning with embarrassment, but the sensation of his fingers inside you was making it impossible for you to think straight. You looked into his eyes, the dark orbs full of desire as he smirked at you.

"Please, Jungwon. I need it so badly. I'll do anything." You knew it was the desperation talking, but you didn't care.

"Anything?" He moved his hand away from your cunt and you bit back a whimper at the loss.

"Anything." You promised.

He seemed satisfied and he moved off the desk. You could see the bulge in his pants and you watched as he slowly undid his belt. Your eyes followed his movements as he unbuttoned his pants, slipping the zipper down and slowly pulling down his boxers. His cock sprung free, already hard and leaking at the tip. You let out a low moan at the sight.

"You want it?" Jungwon asked, slowly stroking his cock with his hand.

You nodded, unable to tear your eyes from him. You let out a soft whimper, wanting him so badly you thought you might cry.

Jungwon moved back towards the desk, pulling your legs around him so that your centre was lined up with his cock. You reached down, stroking him gently as he groaned.

"You're such a tease." He groaned, looking down at you as you bit your lip.

You smirked at him, feeling more confident now that you had him where you wanted him. You slowly stroked him, enjoying the sounds that he made as you moved your hand up and down the length of his cock. You could feel the wetness between your thighs, your arousal coating his length as you stroked him.

You guided him into your centre, the tip of his cock sliding against your wet flesh. You gasped as he pushed deeper inside you, feeling your walls stretch to accommodate him.

He began to move slowly, his thrusts gentle as he let out a low moan.

"You feel so fucking good." He whispered, his hips moving faster. "God, I can't get enough of you."

His hands were resting on your waist, his grip tight as he began to thrust into you harder. His cock was hitting every sensitive spot inside you and you let out a low cry as he quickened his movements.

"Jungwon, wait. We have to be quiet." You warned him, knowing that the last thing you needed was someone walking in and catching you with your co-worker's cock inside you.

"I can be quiet, sweetheart," He chuckled, moving faster. “But can you?”

You struggled to remain silent, biting your lip hard as his movements caused a delicious friction between your legs. Your thighs were trembling as he slammed into you, the pleasure building up with each thrust. He leaned forward, his lips brushing your neck as he kissed you softly. His pace was slowing and you knew that he was trying to be gentle, but you didn't want him to be. You wanted him to fuck you hard.

"Harder." You moaned into his ear. "Fuck me harder."

You felt him growl against your skin, his hand gripping your thigh as he began to fuck you harder. His cock slammed into you and you couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped you as your head fell back. He kissed you hungrily, his hands moving to your breasts as he squeezed them through your blouse. His fingers found the buttons, unbuttoning them as he slid his hand inside your bra. You could feel your orgasm building as he pinched your nipple, moaning into his mouth as you moved your hips to meet his thrusts.

“Quiet, sweetheart. We don’t want everyone staying back to hear how much of a slut you are, do we?” He felt your cunt clench tightly around him at his words and he groaned. “Fuck, you like being called a slut don’t you?” 

He slipped his hand under your skirt, his finger brushing against your clit as he fucked you. You moaned loudly, knowing that you were going to come at any moment.

“J-Jungwon, I-I’m”, You could barely speak, mind going blank as his thick cock reached places inside you that had you seeing stars. 

Jungwon moved faster, his thumb circling your clit as your orgasm approached. His thrusts became harder and more desperate as you came, his cock thrusting into you hard. You struggled to keep yourself silent as you came hard around him, the sensation of your release making you shudder.

He continued to move slowly, riding out your orgasm until he was sure you were done. He slipped out of you, stroking himself as he watched you come down from your high.

"I wish I had a camera," He groaned, biting his lip as he began to stroke himself faster. “You look so fucking gorgeous when you come.”

You moved closer to him, wrapping your hand around his cock and you began to stroke him faster. You could feel his pre-cum coating your palm and you watched him as he groaned, his head falling back. He bit his lip hard, his hips thrusting into your hand. He groaned your name as he came, his warm liquid coating your hand.

You slowly let go of him, using your thumb to gather some of the come on your hand. You lifted it to your mouth, sucking on your thumb as Jungwon watched. He groaned as you cleaned off your hand, leaning down to kiss you. You could still taste the sweetness of his release on your tongue as you kissed him hungrily, your hands roaming over his chest and grabbing onto his tie desperately. 

He pulled away slowly, pressing his forehead against yours.

"That was amazing." He whispered, kissing you softly.

You smiled. "It was."

You could see that he wanted to say something else, but he remained silent. You climbed off the desk and he fixed his clothes, sliding his fingers through his hair as he looked down at you.

You tried to tidy yourself up, doing your best to look presentable and to not look like you were just fucked by Jungwon on your desk.

"So... uh... I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" You asked, trying to sound nonchalant even though you felt like you were about to burst.

Jungwon smiled at you and you swore you could feel the room heating up.

"Tomorrow?" He replied. "I can't wait."

You rolled your eyes at him. "That's not what I meant."

"I know, I'm just playing with you." He smirked, walking to the door. "I'll see you later."

He disappeared through the door and you let out a long sigh, shaking your head as you tried to process everything that had happened. You saw your phone light up on the table with a message and you took it up to see a message from Sunoo.

Sunoo: r u two done fucking now

You blushed at his message, still reeling from what had happened.

You: what??

Sunoo: you and Jungwon were clearly busy. i came near your office and heard noises. what's going on?

You: nothing! we weren't doing anything. he was just helping me with work

Sunoo: oh sure... sure... I don't believe you

You: what's that supposed to mean?

Sunoo: if you two aren't fucking, then what was that noise?

You: we were... uh... yelling at each other

Sunoo: sure... that's why he sounded like he was fucking you so hard

You: seriously sunoo, shut up

Sunoo: okay fine... I'll drop it... for now.

You rolled your eyes, knowing that there was no way you could escape from his teasing now. He was going to hound you until he got his answer and you weren't going to be able to lie to him anymore.

You let out another long sigh, still feeling the high from your orgasm as you began to clear up your desk. You knew you were in for a long night of insistent questioning from Sunoo and you had a feeling you weren't going to get much work done tonight.

[hwnglx]

oo i just saw your enha and lessera reading, it’s so interesting!! if you have some time could you do a similar reading for enha and ive? they’re my ults!! 🫂

what do enhypen and ive think about each other?

based on tarot. i do not know these idols personally. energies are always changing. what i say is NOT straight fact. pls take it with a grain of salt!

enhypen > ive

heeseung devil, 6ofw, 6ofsw&empr+char phew, what a start? i keep hearing "arrogant" for him. thinks they're complacent, big-headed.. like they let fame get to their head too much. there might've been a member he found very beautiful and actively approached, but has since moved on from. jay 2ofw, aceofc, 7ofw doesn't seem too close to them, but there might've been opportunities for him to grow closer, that didn't develop much. thinks they have strong and opinionated personalities jake 9ofc, 5ofw, 4ofp&knofc thinks they're very confident and proud people who have a lot of things going well for them, but also have a lot of suitors, and aren't that easy to get close to. might've flirted with some of them sunghoon herm, 5ofc, queofwrx, 10ofp, sun&kingofp thinks they're a very career-oriented and financially stable group, believes they could go on for a long time. some regrets and unwanted distance he's feeling, might've tried to get in contact with one of them more but didn't succeed sunoo temp, death, empr, queofw his thoughts on ive are very balanced and chill, nothing crazy or outstanding. the energy is sweet though, he sees them as beautiful and strong women, who have transitioned a lot over the years. (getting the feeling that getting along with girls comes to sunoo very naturally. i bet he has many girls he's friends with. i can see him gossiping with them a lot lmao) jungwon tower, justice&kingofsw, 3ofp&hangm very strictly "business and no feelings" here. sees them as colleagues. thinks there's a sense of unpredictability to them niki 9ofc, world similarly to jake, sees them as a very fulfilled and successful group, who are aware of their worth. also very wellrounded and capable of various things

in general, i'm getting a lot of respect for their achievements and overall their work. personally, they seem to think they're a group of successful girls who know what they want and what they are, and who aren't necessarily the most friendly, more distant and closed off. more invested in their own world, don't care about engaging with them. very unbothered vibe, in a "we're just doing our own thing and killing it, what about you?" type of way.

ive > enhypen

gaeul aceofw, 6ofc, 8ofw thinks they're very creative and ambitious. might share some fond memories with some of them and still talk from time to time, some nostalgia here yujin 9ofc, 4ofp, 5ofsw&3ofc thinks they're confident and proud of their achievements, but overly uptight and careful. like they care too much about what others think? i keep seeing her think "lol chill and let lose a little" rei 2ofp, 5ofp, 6ofw thinks they have a lot going on, busy all the time. also respects them for coming out stronger and successful after going through some tough times wonyoung temp, 3ofwrx&aceofprx always gives me this vibe she doesn't concern herself with anyone else, in a positive manner. like she respects everyone, very peaceful. still might think they don't really have established stable foundations to go very far, like they keep missing opportunities, and are still shaky. liz 4ofw, 7ofw+3ofsw, fool, aceofc sees them as this happy and carefree group of boys, very bright and positive energy for her. but also thinks they get defensive and feel attacked and hurt pretty easily, like they're overly sensitive in her eyes. leeseo 9ofp, aceofw, hier&moon+fool thinks they're financially sufficient, independent and very creative guys. they have a lot of potential, but are somehow blocked in their freedom.. like they stick to the rulebook a lot, don't take many risks. she believes they could get even higher if they went out the box a little more.

[kamiimiya]

TEEHEE 1, 3, 5, and 7 with kokonoi hajime >:D

THANK YOU LOVEBUG I APPRECIATE YOU SOSOSOSO MUCH ♡

ask game here

♡ If you have one, what's your ship name?

kokomiya !! just a silly basic little shipname cuz those are the ones i'm used to in most fandoms and i'm simply not creative enough to think of something unique and funny.

i honestly like the tag misconceptions more than i do the ship name, because i Thought about that for a little while even though its kinda basic so it doesn't even really seem like i did much thinking. but for a long time we didn't like each other, he thought i was wayyy too nice and just going to be used by everyone around me ( deadass projecting but go off koko dearest ) and i couldn't understand why he has such a grudge against me. we understand each other a little bit too well in some regards, despite each of us being on the opposite ends of The Horrors. sometimes he mentions that i would understand inupi more than i understand him, and he just doesn't understand why i'd choose someone like him when it's so obvious that he had the capability to hurt others. he's so blinded by his lack of self worth and inability to truly understand other people's depths that there's just a lot of miscommunication between the two of us for a really long time.

♡ What song would you duet for some chaotic late night karaoke?

umbrella by rihanna. is it because of that one scene with inupi where koko was hiding behind the umbrella and trying his best to act confident even when he was losing it a little bit ? yeah. maybe. who cares. it's also a BITCHING song and you can't look me in the eyes and tell me he doesn't know it by heart. and to be very clear, i'm not saying he's gonna be jay z and i'm rihanna. we alternate lines like how god intended. i will step out of the spotlight this one time and let him have the last little bit with the last few lines because i feel like he needs them a little bit. maybe it would do his psyche some good who knows.

in the tune of rihanna, also s&m is a very good choice. my minds eye can see him swaying his hips and doing a little dance and dammit he's feeling himself. gonna do that silly debby ryan thing where he pushes his hair behind his ears trying to be hot but its kokonoi hajime so it just works idk how to explain it. first verse is his and he'll sing it alone, i'll just sing the background vocals. we alternate the lines of the chorus & sing the post chorus ' come on, come on, come on ' part together at the same time. second verse is mine. if you see him blushing at the mention of whips and chains no for the love of god you do not.

♡ If you were dogs, what breeds would you be?

so he's definitely going to be something like a doodle or a golden doodle. something that looks pretty but actually may not be the best pets. i lived in a house with golden doodles and let me tell you they were wild and rowdy if not trained right and also practically impossible to kennel train at any point in time, and maybe it was just the dogs that the person had but they had the worst separation anxiety i've ever seen in dogs, and that's pretty much just koko. if you look at them from a distance you think that they're pretty and fancy looking and then you spend more than a minute in the same room with them and you realize that they're actually a handful, and i love koko for that.

for myself, i don't really have an in depth answer. i like pomeranians and also i too have a bark wayyy bigger than my entire bodyweight. they're like 3 apples tall and mostly fur, and have one of those super annoying barks that just simply don't shut up ever, and i'd like to think that's me going on and on and on about stuff that no one objectively really cares about. they're also extroverted but can get aggressive with dogs much bigger than their own size. and yeah that honestly just checks out with me i will body check a dog 4x my size because i don't like the way that it didn't look at me.

♡ Describe how your f/o smells, be absurdly specific.

oh boy he's expensive but also depressed. you can tell he's having one of those days where he just can't be half assed with anything because the cologne he wears will be sprayed so much that you can't smell anything else. he chooses savage from dior because it's one of those colognes that covers up everything else with just a little bit sprayed, but he'll still overspray it to the point it almost chokes you with the scent of it. if he's not wearing any cologne ( rare, but not impossible. i just have to catch him at the right time ) he probably smells like a mix between his lotion he wears and his body wash / exfoliant. he shops at bath and body works for lotions because he likes the deals and also has a thing for their candles.

if he's out doing ' business ' i think honestly he sweats wayyy more than he likes to let on especially since most uniforms are a jacket of some kind and they're actively fighting most of the time, so he has to use a pretty strong deodorant to hide it. definitely carries deodorant with him and he's so shameless about it. he definitely hops into the shower the moment he's home though.

sometimes, though, he smells like blood and a housefire, with the smell of smoke so thoroughly coated in his hair and blood underneath his fingernails, and i can't mention it because it's really not the important part going on right now. sometimes i just gotta pull him into the shower and wash his hair for him really well and fix dinner for him without mentioning it. tears or worried words from either one of us may break the fragile thread hanging on and it's just not worth it. i know he's okay, he knows that he's safe. it's,,, important that the nights we're together stay as normal for him as possible, especially on nights like those.

and anyways so i - ( gets shot )

[jonnnysuh]

AHHHH!!! i was smiling so much reading your reply. so so wholesome. 🥺🥺thank you for being so detailed (and taking 2 hours omg)!

when it comes to svt, vernon and mingyu make so much sense to me after considering your ratings series. i don’t bias vernon, but he was the first svt member i was introduced to, and he totally caught my attention. i was immediately intrigued and wanted to know more, and i feel the same way as you do about his voice!! my long distanced friend and i have zoom sessions to watch svt in the soop, and i always find myself saying how cool vernon is. he’s so unapologetically himself, and i find myself genuinely interested in him. he radiates being down to earth and dependable. i also think how secure he seems to be with himself would make people feel so comfortable around him. i also find his quieter moments endearing. i think i relate myself to him the most actually

mingyu is someone i want to bias, but i physically can’t let myself lol. i admire him so much though. not only do i love his ability to take what his members throw at him, but there is such a sense of security i feel. he’s endearing as hell. i love his passion for photography. definitely fits giant teddy bear. the clumsiness is just :,) ahhh love love love. also i saw this video on twitter that makes my head spin. (i wanted to link the video but it’s gone!!! i should’ve screen recorded it. basically he was opening a bottle of beer and the caption was something about how he’d look out for you/protect you at a party and i��)

ok seungkwan!! this man is one of my biases eek! i’ll echo everything you said and add his INSANE vocals. the conversation he had with chan during in the soop made my heart melt.

my svt biases have shifted so much, but i currently bias seungkwan, seokmin, seungcheol, and jeonghan. hoshi is creeping in these days though too

got7!!! i love that we both started stanning around the same time. i also found them in june of 2020. i bias jay b as well, but my heart also flutters regularly over jinyoung and mark. jay b is an exceptional leader and that alone reflects so many of his positive/admirable attributes. you are is my favorite got7 song, and i couldn’t stop listening to it when i first discovered the track. insane insane. i feel like he radiates a quiet confidence. physically… *deep breath* woah. i would wear so many things i’ve seen him in too lol. i remember watching a video where he talked about having books stacked up all over his place and that was a !!!! moment for me. i think a common thread with my biases is that they’re all people i would love to have a conversation with, hear about their perspectives, and ask questions to. they’re people i think i could learn from, and the lessons range from being more carefree to being kinder to myself/trusting myself 

mark is so lovable. his duality is insane as well, and i love how present he allows himself to be. he’s a very considerate being. i think that is seen through things you mentioned: remembering details, making people comfortable. for me with nct, there are four members i would say i bias, probably to varying degrees, but i always come back to jaehyun, taeyong, yuta, and haechan (most recent addition). i’m drawn to all of their auras (idk how well that can be felt or known through a screen, but we must work with what we’ve got lol). there’s a sincerity i feel, especially with jaehyun. they’re all incredibly talented too (obv), but haechan continues to take my breath away. i’ve found myself watching videos where his dancing is analyzed, and his body lines(?) are gorgeous. i also love how unique his voice is. i’ve never heard another like it, and you immediately know it’s him. i also genuinely find haechan really interesting. i admire his ability to be carefree and physically/verbally open with his love for his members, but videos i’ve watched reflect strongly of his intelligence and wit. honorable mentions for johnny and ten. (nct is my newest group. i’ve probably been a fan for around a year, but i’ve found myself much more immersed in them as of recently, so i feel a bit nervous writing this much bc i’m still ~observing)

bts: yoongi, hoseok, jungkook (i call this bias line a triangle bc my “focus” can shift a lot between the three) 

blackpink: jisoo

txt: yeonjun

i cannot claim an ult group… i go back and forth between bts and svt, but i currently feel more connected to svt

p.s. also i’m going to have to take some time to work my way through all the links. i def know some of these i have not seen based on your descriptions, but i’m so excited. seriously thank you sm for taking the time to answer so diligently <3

Hello hello S (yes I took a peep into your about me oop). Sorry I took a week to reply, I've been busy but I was genuinely trying to make some time to sit down and get back to answer you. I hope I didn't make u wait too long </3 pls don't hate me 😭😭

I think it's interesting how we see Vernon really similarly. It's a good indication of how strong his character is despite being one of the ones that would rather be in the background. He has some really great qualities! Which aspects do you relate to with him? Eeeeeep his voiceeee. I like how he always talks like he's in the process of thinking,,, it's very cute.

omgggg i just looked up "mingyu beer" and is it this? If it is i'm literally gonna go to bed devastated bc why is he like this ((Imma need to touch grass real quick even tho it's winter </3)) . Sometimes Mingyu does too much LMAO,, like I get what the boys mean when they clown this man and say he acts cute on purpose,, also I hate how it works on me anyways. Like I am truly just a simpleminded girl. Whyyy won't you let yourself bias him??? He's out here waiting for u

I can't believe I forgot to mention Seungkwan's voice,,, you're absolutely correct. It makes me sad how he's often left out of the conversation when people talk about the best vocals in kpop :-((( like he deserves to be recognized more.

What do you love most about DK, S Coups, Jeonghan and Hoshi? I swear to god it's impossible as a Carat to have only one bias. I will say generally I love the chemistry they all have with one another,, like I have never seen it be blatantly awkward between any members and that's such a huge testament to their respect and love for one another *cries*. I feel u with the Hoshi creeping in stuff,,, like I find this man so adorable even tho he doesn't try to be,, he's just so entertaining LMAO. I also feel like Hoshi is someone I could be friends with irl,, the type of friendship where we're equally as annoying as one another so it cancels out.

"i think a common thread with my biases is that they’re all people i would love to have a conversation with, hear about their perspectives, and ask questions to." Yesssssss this 100% resonates with me. I feel like I can learn a thing or two about life from these people, and to spend even an hour to pick their brains would be an hour well spent. You Are is an A++++ song,, like even though I can't naturally understand the majority of it, the sentiment is definitely felt and u can understand the significance they carry for one another.

(I forgot to add I'm lowkey also attached to Mark bc he's Canadian LMAOOO) I'm fascinated with how your NCT biases are like a mixture of personalities. I agree Haechan's voice is so distinct,,, I always say to myself that it's like reminiscent of something from the 90s (Backstreet boys??? NSYNC??? Idk i'm a '00 baby but still) AND I CAN DEF AGREE WITH YOU WITH HOW HE DANCES. HE IS SO SMOOTH AND FLUID AHHHH IT'S SO NICE TO WATCH. You biasing Haechan makes sense to me bc his outward affection and loudness is similar to Seungkwan,, just like how Jaehyun's sincerity kind of reminds me of Vernon. btw have u seen Yuta's tattoo???? imma pass out rn

I don't know much about BTS ((actually I lowkey know more than I should for some reason i have no idea why)) but I think J-Hope's lil "I'm your hope, you're my hope, I'm J-Hope" is super fun LMAOOOOO. Jisoo is so pretty!! I also don't know much about Blackpink other than the fact that Jisoo said "I'm not scary" when James C*rden shot fruit at them. My knowledge is v random. I saw Yeonjun's lil "I ain't ever been with a baddie" dance and.... .. . I will say I felt itty bitty baby feelings maybe. Possibly?? This man owns tiktok at this point. He is the CEO. Give him his coin.

Thank you for sending this in and I seriously hope I didn't disappoint you by taking a bit to answer. I hope you have the bestest day and u feel like you're prepared to take on whatever's ahead of u <3 Pls lmk what u thought of the videos I linked LMAOOOO I hope they're not too weird

[fishylife]

Street Dance of China, Season 4, Episode 4

- I’ve had issues with Tumblr not saving my posts again v.v I’ll just save often and hope that that does the trick.

- Latrice and Ibuki reenacting HB’s performance haha. From the behind the scenes clips I’ve seen, Ibuki does speak English, so I like to think they are now friends :D

- Hilty & Bosch have known each other since they were six years old T_T That’s cuuuute. Apparently they don’t get into arguments a lot because they always keep a distance between them XD Good strategy.

- San’er’s performance was great! He definitely brings the entertainment in his creativity (including incorporating a story line), but he doesn’t forget about the technical parts of dancing (the popping).

- Bouboo cheering on Rochka when he challenged Jianyan :P

- This spinning move he did was neat

- 不咋地 is going to be the recurring inside joke between Yibo, Rochka, and Bouboo ^^;;

- Yixing singing the SDOC theme song again XD With his super low energy voice XD

- Yibo was tipping the bench which was why Yixing and Henry were like, rocking back and forth at the same pace lol.

- Admittedly George vs. C-Lil was kind of rough. George tried to include Chinese elements in his performance, but he was injured, so he couldn’t really showcase them, and the latter part of his performance became just a typical contemporary dance. C-Lil’s performance was alright, but I think the judges were expecting something more impressive. While break dancing is very impressive to watch, I am starting to see the limitations of it, because if a dancer is not impressive, they are just kind of mediocre. George and C-Lil weren’t able to bring anything superbly impressive, which I think it was difficult for them to vote. Yibo abstained, and C-Lil got two votes, so C-Lil advanced.

- Zyko was incredible as always. It fascinates me how he’s mostly performed with these ballad type songs that don’t really have a beat. Also his flexibility is insane. I’m glad he got through with four votes because we need to see him more.

- I really liked Chika’s performance! I feel like women’s dancing is sometimes a bit limited in the mainstream because people just expect them to look sexy. It isn’t as much the case on this show because all of the ladies on this show are dancers and not idols or pop stars. But anyway, I just love seeing women dance without their bodies being sexualized. Chika’s dance showcased not only control over her body, but POWER. I loved her big movements. Compare the power that she shows vs. the power that say, Ibuki shows. Ibuki is a much smaller lady and it shows in her proportions, so how she expresses power looks different from how Chika expresses power, and Chika’s is the sort of power that I’ve really looked forward to seeing.

- Rochka fanboys over everybody, I love it. Keep spreading the love, dude.

- Ok, Xiaoji’s performance was pretty entertaining. I am not kidding when I say my jaw dropped, at the same time that all the captains went OH SNAP. But this guy definitely has charisma and stage presence. His confidence made up for his lack of ability to improvise XD I was CACKLING when this guy thought the song was done and Yibo was like “bro there’s more” and Xiaoji had to come up with something to end it off lol. I wouldn’t say his challenge was as good as Xiaohai’s, mostly because he hadn’t memorized the music like Xiaohai did. In terms of technical stuff, his performance did seem more impressive than Lai Wei’er’s, but he also did less “stuff” (like, there were a lot of pauses in his dance probably because he didn’t now the music). But Xiaoji’s was definitely more entertaining, though that may just be because of who he is and not his dancing. (By the way, Xiaoji’s real name is 林森. I thought the name 林木森 was just a joke because of how much wood was in it. I never guessed that someone would name their kid 林森 X’D Guess his 八字 indicated that he had a weakness in wood or something lol)

- Have some laughing captains, it’s good for the soul.

- Acky-san acknowledged that he’s probably not going to beat the younger dancers in terms of technique, so what he brought instead was style. The “robot” style of popping is pretty old, but no one else has done it in this competition probably because it’s so old school, and he definitely delivered in a way that only he could.

- Henry singing Frere Jacques with the French contingent X’D

- Thoughts on Han Yu vs. Boris. I can imagine what Han Yu was going for in his original performance, but I don’t think it worked. I don’t have the vocabulary to explain it, but basically the way his performance was choreographed just didn’t really impress. As Yibo mentioned, Boris was impressive in his dance to Han Yu’s music, but his dancing didn’t suit the song as much as Han Yu’s did. So the original dance + challenge was a matter of impressiveness vs. whether the dancing suited the music. Han Yu shone in the battle. I think he seemed a lot more impressive when back in a hip hop sort of groove, music that has a lot of major beats, compared to the piano music that was less grand an epic. As for Boris, I think that seeing a few of his performances in succession showed that his toolbox is a little limited in comparison to Han Yu. It hate to see Boris go because I loved his battle against Zyko but alas. I also wanted him to stay because he’s one of the few non-Chinese contestants who speak Mandarin relatively well. He had no issues speaking in Mandarin with most of the Chinese people on set. The ending was hilarious, when he was asked whether he had any last words, and Boris was like “well, I’m literally going to see these guys in two seconds when I’m back in the audience, I’m not dying” lmao.

- I don’t know how I feel about how the show has decided to deal with the last 29 contestants, of which three would be chosen to join the 49 dancers advancing. They’re competing fairly with the other contestants that haven’t performed yet, but they’re at a disadvantage compared to the previous contestants that were judged individually. For example, what if the fourth best dancer was better than a dancer that had already entered the 49? It would only be fair if the judges were allowed to take out people from the 46 contestants that had passed. It would’ve been a bigger problem if there were still a lot of big names to go though. Most of the best dancers have already secured a spot for themselves, so I think that’s why I’m not like, the most perturbed.

- I was low key waiting for Xiao Jie’s performance because his audition performance during episode 1 was so amusing. I thought his individual performance was fun! He managed to add some creativity and story telling (Chinese dude getting drunk) but also showcase some of his specialty skills (locking).

- I forgot to mention this before, but it amuses me that so the editing team will so diligently put in a “don’t try this at home” warning message whenever a dancer does a dangerous move haha.

- So the captains are doing a dance battle for the reborn event, but I’m not really sure how this is all gonna work. I’m digging Yixing’s look for the battle btw.

- Anyway, pre-battle hugs for all.

- KRUMPMASTER. Also I think he did some of the routine that he did back in Season 3.

- Not gonna lie, I wasn’t super impressed with Han Geng’s first dance but his second dance was pretty hype.

- Lol Yibo feels most comfortable challenging Yixing during his battles. He did move where he dropped onto his back right after Yixing did it (i.e. being like you can do it but I can do it better). Based on what I saw of season 3, I think Yibo would call out Yixing in his performances then too.

- Yixing was definitely heavy on the krump side, though I actually thought his first performance was really interesting because there was barely any krump in that one. He mostly stuck to other elements. As we got through the other rounds, he became more krump heavy, and I think he lost a bit in terms of variety there.

- The thing about Han Geng is that he’s no longer as athletic, so he relies more on power and control, but he needs to make sure he does the right moves that showcase that.

- I think Yibo impressed me the most. He had a lot of variety in his arsenal and he was very entertaining. He is also quite athletic, so as long as he can imagine it, I think he can do it haha.

- As others mentioned, Henry was extremely creative. He used a lot of dance moves to show a certain action, like tugging a rope or playing pool and such.

- Anyway, big hugs.

- Baby needs a nap.

- Yibo won the most points in the four rounds of the battle. This hug with Han Geng is uwu. Anyway, Tony Gogo mentioned that Yibo interpreted the music very well.

- Of course, Tony Gogo as well as the Gogo brothers praised Yixing for his krumping energy

- Philip said that Han Geng had a really good ear, and that was how he was able to take advantage of the best moments to unleash certain dances.

- The five contestants that were saved were A-wei, Boris, George, JC Jun, and Kelo & Uwa. I definitely think the editors purposely showed us more clips of them so that we’d grow attached lol. The only one of these five that I don’t quite remember is A-wei though. Anyway, very pleased that Boris is back haha.

- Pouty boi

- Yibo, Henry, Han Geng, and Ibuki getting really into 煞科 lol.

- I think next episode is going to have some team performances, which I think will be fun. Some of these teams are STACKED.

- Previews for Hot pot!

- They were talking about songs they listened to in their childhood. Han Geng started singing a song about an Office Black Cat? XD I’m guessing it’s a cartoon haha. Yibo listened to Leehom Wang and Jay Chou. Henry mentioned that he looked up to Leehom because he was also an overseas Chinese, plus he played a lot of instruments (just like Henry). As expected, Yixing looked up to Jay Chou (after all, Jay Chou was one of the earliest artists to popularize using Chinese elements in pop songs). Yixing said he also liked Leehom Wang, JJ Lin, and Khalil Fong (I legit have not heard the name 方大同 in a long time so that took me by surprise lol).

- Yibo mentioned Li Ronghao and Yixing was like OH WAIT YEAH HIM TOO. We know from Idol Producer that Yixing and Li Ronghao are bros haha. The captain says “不榮藝 組合” which pronounced the same as “不容易 組合” which is something like “unlikely duo,” except the the 榮 is from Li Ronghao’s name and the 藝 is from Zhang Yixing’s name lol.

- The robot spilled all the tea! Bad bot!

- I think they later played a listening game that Henry kept losing? lol

[shinobis-of-ninjago-au]

Shinobis of Ninjago

Pilot 1: Way of the Ninja

Prologue (Pilot 1, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), Pilot 2, Episode 1

Ignacia was known for the beautiful rice fields and small villages that dotted the region. Perhaps one of the most popular stores to visit was nothing more than a tiny weapons-smith shop run by two teenagers. It was about a mile outside of the nearest town, but the journey was worth it for the beautiful handcrafted weapons. The store was very traditional, only hammers, chisels, and other simple tools were used to make the products.

The shop was run by siblings, both under the age of fifteen. The eldest, a red-headed girl who was known for her temper, was the age of fourteen and was responsible for supplying for their small family.

Her brother, a thirteen year old boy, was a magnificent mechanic. If it was broken, he could fix it. From cars to toasters to computers, he knew his way around machines.

Today was a quiet day for the blacksmith shop. It was days like this that the siblings loved. They would work for hours on orders and fill up the stock. The girl was bent over an anvil, hammering a piece of steel. She had been at it for a while now, perhaps an hour.

She lifted up the sword she was creating and plunged it into the barrel of water behind her. The steam barreled up as she held it there before dissipating. She pulled the sword up in the air triumphantly before sighing, her confident stance dropping. The metal had cracked, meaning she had to start over again.

The boy looked up from where he was working on a outboard motor for a boat, wiping sweat from his brow. "Lo hiciste demasiado rápido, Skylor. Ten paciencia, si papá todavía estuviera aquí, diría--" ('You made it too quickly, Skylor. Be patient, if father was still here he'd say–')

"Lo sé, lo sé. 'No importa cuántos materiales tengas, la experiencia no es algo que aprendas de la noche a la mañana'. Eso puede funcionar para ti, Jay, pero voy a ser un mejor herrero que papá." ('I know, I know. 'No matter how many materials you have, experience isn't something you learn over night'. That may work for you, Jay, but I'm gonna be a better swordsmith than dad ever was.')

Skylor had been so caught up in her failed sword, she hadn't noticed a woman enter the shop. She caught the attention of the siblings when she spoke.

"Your metal is loud and heavy, useful to slow one down, useless in the art if stealth." They looked to the figure standing next to a display of helmets they kept next to the door. Her white robes were spotless and she had a wide-brimmed straw hat pulled down over her face. She tilted her head curiously. "All tools for a samurai. But nothing for a ninja?"

"Ninja?" Skylor scoffed, putting down the sword and quickly switching to Ninjargon. "You're a long way from finding a ninja in these parts, old woman. And the shop is called 'Four Weapons' not 'for browsing', either buy something or go peddle your insults somewhere else."

The woman looked up at the redhead, revealing shining grey eyes and a wrinkled face. "Too bad, thought I'd find something special here." She said as she exited the shop.

Jay made a motion with his hands for Skylor to do something. They needed good reviews if they wanted to keep putting dinner on the table.

Skylor ran to the back of the store and returned a few seconds later with a sword in her arms. "If it's something special you're looking for, let me show you-" She trailed off, looking for the woman who had been roaming the store.

"Qué es?" ('What is it?')

"Ella era sólo--olvídalo." ('She was just–forget it.') Skylor said, returning the engraved katana to the back of the store.

—————————————————————

The sun was just beginning to set as the rice farmers finished filling their last buckets of the day. On the horizon purple and black clouds formed, racing towards the town. The farmers looked up with curiosity, as there wasn't supposed to be a storm until later this week. Large vehicles soon came into view, the designs far from anything the people of Ignacia were used to. They stopped a kilometer away from the blacksmith shop.

They seemed to be humans at first glance, but underneath all the armour they wore, you could see rib bones, in fact, you could only see bones. They were skeletons, with piercing red pupils in their eye sockets.

"Oh, let me go first! Please, oh, please! I'm dying to go down there!" One of the skeletons in the largest vehicle pleaded.

"You nit-wit you're already dead! Try to control yourself in front of Mistress Samukai!" Another snapped. She cleared her throat and turned to the largest skeleton. "Uhh, with all do respect, Mistress... last time you did say I could go first." She added sheepishly.

Samukai was by-far the biggest skeleton of the army, piercings and scars visible on her bony face. Thick armour was draped over purple and black robes. She frowned at her Top Generals' antics but soon smirked. "Sorry girls, this one's mine. Just remember what we're after, and find that map!" She put one of her arms forward, signaling the drivers to advance on the small shop in the distance.

The villagers shouted as they climbed out of the wet rice fields, some holding sickles or scythes. The small crowd ran at the fast approaching army of skeletons, trying to scare them off. This was one of the best crop years they've had in a while, they didn't want anything to ruin it. Samukai shouted at the group. The simple action made all the villagers retreat to the river or fields.

The small army raced on toward the blacksmith shop, stopping in the front yard and ripping up the gardens the siblings kept such good care of.

"¿Qué son ellos?" ('What are they?') Jay whispered, handing his sister the sword she had asked for.

"No lo sé," ('I don't know,') Skylor said, slipping on a helmet. She led Jay to the cellar under the store, making sure he was hidden behind rice barrels. The siblings embraced each other, promising the other that they would be safe. Skylor brushed his hair out of his face, and pressed their foreheads together; an Ignacian gesture. "Quédate aquí." ('Stay here.') She climbed the stairs and hid behind Jay's workbench.

The creatures didn't seem to be interested in weapons or money, they seemed to be searching for something. Skylor watched as two moved towards the display of katanas they kept outside, close to where she was hiding. They knocked over the stand, disappointed when they didn't find what they were looking for. The creatures started to move closer to Jay's workbench, unaware of the young girl hiding behind it. They each had a baton made of bone in hand, but their grips were loose. Skylor realized this and used the opportunity to sweep the legs out from underneath the two. The skeletons laid on the ground, stunned, barely even noticing when the girl drove her sword into their skulls.

The sound of bones clattering to the ground must have alerted the rest of the army, because Skylor soon found herself surrounded by more skeletons. They formed a circle around her, weapons at the ready. Using what little knowledge of weapon techniques she knew, she defended herself, even managing to take down a few opponents. She soon learned that if you hit them in the back, legs, or rib cage hard enough, they fall to the ground useless.

A loud thud caught her attention. She kicked one in the legs and turned around, blanching when she saw what was behind her. Jay stood there, a gardening hoe in hand and a skeleton laying at his feet.

Skylor's surprised expression soon turned to worry and anger. "¡Pensé que te había dicho que te quedaras atrás! ¡No te involucrarás en esto!" ('I thought I told you to stay back! You are not getting involved in this!') She shouted.

"De ninguna manera voy a dejar que solo tú te diviertas." ('No way am I letting only you have fun.') Jay smirked, leaving no room for argument as he took down another skeleton.

During the fight, the siblings must have gotten separated, but Skylor always made sure she had Jay in her line of sight. She took note of him fighting on the path that led to their shop, holding his own against a few skeletons.

Feeling a presence behind her, Skylor turned. There stood a skeleton, maybe six or seven feet tall, with four arms, each holding a curved dagger. Skylor started slowly walking backwards, the skeleton matching her pace and moving forward.

Before she could comprehend what was happening, the skeleton was running forward, swinging her four daggers at the girl. Unable to counter, Skylor was pushed backwards. With one final hit, Skylor was sent flying backwards, slamming into one of the cherry trees.

Groaning in pain, Skylor looked up from her spot in the dirt. Though her vision was blurry, she could make out a tall figure walking towards her. What Skylor saw next, she was unsure of, for there was no possible way that a miniature golden tornado took down a skeleton.

The tall figure from before, the skeleton, spoke. "Sensei Mystake, your spinjitzu looks rusty!"

The golden tornado slowly spun to a stop, revealing a figure dressed in white and a wide-brimmed straw hat. The woman–Mystake– placed her bamboo staff on the ground, "Nothing like bone to sharpen it's edge, Samukai."

Samukai glared at the woman, furious that she stopped the battle between her and the redhead. Samukai glanced at her previous opponent struggling to stand at the base of the tree, then Mystake, debating which she should take care of first before she spotted something behind the white-clad woman. Chuckling darkly, she threw her four daggers. Mystake turned, watching as the blades hit the supports of the water tower positioned outside of the shop.

In a flash, the bright gold cyclone appeared and was moving rapidly towards Skylor. The tornado picked up the girl, moving her and itself out of the way. As soon as is appeared it was gone, Mystake standing in its place, hovering over Skylor. The water tower came down with a large crash, sending a wave of water washing over the yard.

Samukai used this distraction to retreat back to her large vehicle, calling the rest of her army back as well. She was handed a rolled up piece of parchment by her top generals as she settled into her seat. "Lady Misako says take the boy!" Samukai shouted. A skeleton in the back of the vehicle readied a claw-like hand made of bone. It was fired and it soared through the air before closing around Jay. The look of terror on his face as he was pulled back to the army was the most pain Skylor had felt in her short fourteen years of life. He screamed out her name, as she did his.

The army wasted no time leaving the weapons-smith shop, taking Jay along with it. Skylor tried to follow, running after the vehicles. The pain in her head soon became too much to bear and she fell to the ground, crying in pain, anger, and grief.

At the sound of footfalls behind her, she whipped around, wishing that she hadn't as another jolt of pain shot through her head. In front of her stood the woman who had come into the shop earlier, the one who had turned into a golden tornado.

Skylor glared at her, trying to stand up. Once she was on her feet, she pointed an accusing finger at Mystake. "You could have done something! You could've used your spiny-whatever!" The woman opened her mouth to speak. "But you did nothing. Because of you my brother is gone!" Skylor looked around the soaked, teared up yard, walking over towards the cherry trees. She picked up her sword, pushing past Mystake. "I'm going to get my brother back."

"Where they go, a mortal cannot." Skylor stopped in her tracks and turned back to the old woman who was shaking her head. "That was Samukai, Queen of the Underworld. And if it's true that she is carrying out orders for Lady Misako, Then I fear things are far worse than I had ever thought."

"Lady Misako? Underworld? What's going on?" Skylor demanded, trying to convince her pounding headache to go away. "What do we have that's so important to them? And why would they take my brother!?"

"What's so important? How about everything in Ninjago itself!" Mystake snapped. She gestured for Skylor to take a seat on the bench outside of the shop. It was there for the rice farmers when they would have lunch. The farmers and the siblings were very close, close enough that Skylor and Jay would occasionally make lunch for the farmers that stopped by. Skylor settled into place on the wooden bench, looking uneasy.

"Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master, by using the eight Weapons of Spinjitzu. The Scythe of Quakes, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shurikens of Ice, the Sword of Fire, the Staff of Illusions, the Trident of Water, the Whip of Technology, and the Sai of Absorption. Weapons so powerful, no one can handle even four at once."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the story backwards and forwards. Four of the weapons were destroyed in the final battle to differentiate good from evil and save Ninjago. What's the point?"

"But that is only half the story. Maybe if you listen for once, you would hear what others have to say. It might prove useful in the future." Mystake cleared her throat, continuing the story. "When she passed away, her two daughters swore to protect the four remaining weapons. But the oldest was consumed by darkness and wanted to possess them. A battle between sisters broke out, and the oldest was struck down and banished to the Underworld. Peace returned and the younger sister hid the weapons. But knowing her older sister's relentless ambition for power, she placed a guardian to watch over each weapon. And for fear of her own demise, a map for a honest man to hide.

"That honest man was your father. The older sister is Lady Misako. And I need to find those weapons before she does." Mystake finished, turning back towards Skylor.

"You're the younger sister," Skylor realized. "So you came looking for the map in order to stop your sister." Her expression changed to anger. "The one who took my brother."

"No," Mystake shook her head. "I came here for something greater." She placed her staff of Skylor's shoulder. "You."

Mystake turned away from her, pacing in thought. "As my sister cannot enter this realm, she must have struck a deal with Samukai. If she were to collect the four remaining weapons, I would not be able to stop her again. But you! The absorption grows throughout you; the ability to borrow another's power for a limited time. I will train you to harness it, use it, and become a spinjitzu master!" She tapped her staff on Skylor's shoulder with every word.

Skylor pushed the stick away. "I'm flattered. But nothing is stopping me from saving Jay. I am not getting involved in your sibling rivalry." She stood, grabbing her sword and pushing past Mystake.

"How do you expect to rescue your brother from the clutches of one of Ninjago's strongest armies? I do not think that concussion will fare you well."

Skylor's shoulders slumped as she turned back towards the old woman. "If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. Especially since you let him get captured."

"If you want to get your brother back, you must control the power inside. Only when you become a Spinjutsu Master, will you be able to face Lady Misako."

"I don't care about Misako. If it means I get my brother back, when do we start?"

[bpro-cardstories]

Tomohisa Kitakado SSR

2019 ー Performance [実演]

“Fufu, I am looking forward to it. But KiLLER KiNG’s『Sexiness』......  I wonder what it will look like?”

『Event: The Wizarding Academy (02nd - 09th October 2019)』

Part 1

Tsubasa: ‘Excuse me, I brought Kitakado-san with me.’

Yashamaru: ‘Thanks, Tsubasa-chan. Sorry for taking your time, Tomo as well.’

Tomohisa: ‘No. But, it’s rare to be called out alone. Did something happen?’ 

Yashamaru: ‘Wrong, it’s not such a serious topic. I just thought of a good idea and only wanted to quickly tell you!’

Tomohisa (chuckles): ‘A good idea?’

Yashamaru: ‘Ufufu, that’s right. Before that, do you remember the flower artist Jay with whom you released the collaborated MV? It has a really good reputation, even until now~♪. It’s because you guys worked hard to convey your image to Jay-san.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘Aah…… That time was difficult. It’s quite a memory. The sunset I went to shoot with Ryuji and Tsubasa….. was unbelievably beautiful.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Yes. The time with the both of you as well….. The sun that sets in the sea and the rising moon perfectly match the image of decadence and regeneration, which is truly impressive.’ 

Yashamaru: ‘Right, exactly as you said!!’

Tomohisa & Tsubasa: ‘Eh?’

Yashamaru: ‘This time KiLLER KiNG wants to place more emphasis on the MV image of the new song. And I thought wouldn’t Tomo be perfect as the director!’

Tomohisa (perplexed): ‘Me….. as the director?’

Yashamaru: ‘『The sun dyes the ocean with its own colour, both when it sets and when it rises.』The image you came up with was definitely the key to that MV. Don’t you think it’s great to have a place where you exhibit this excellent sense more? It’s a waste to leave it like this.’ 

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘To have Yashamaru-san tell me this, I feel deeply inspired.’

Tomohisa: ‘But, because I don’t have any filming skills, I can’t easily accept this. Even if I study, I don’t know how long it would take…..’ 

Yashamaru: ‘Oーh, so series. That’s fine! There will be as many technical professionals as you want on the location. I have a high opinion of your sense. It’s not Tomo’s job to be the filmmaker. Tell the actors and staff the image you have in mind as accurately as possible.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘The image I have in mind……’ 

Yashamaru: ‘Exactly, well, for now, listen to the song. And if nothing comes to your mind, then it’s fine to pass this time.’ 

They are listening to the song. 

Tomohisa: ‘.......!’

Tsubasa: ‘Wah….. very cool, such a mature song. It is unlike KiLLER KiNG, in a good sense.’ 

Yashamaru: ‘True. I want to show a new side of the boys.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘.........’ 

Tsubasa: ‘......... Kitakado-san, are you fine?’

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘Yeah…. Perhaps it’s fine to have dark elements for this song.’

Tsubasa: ‘!’

Tomohisa: ‘The confrontation of good and evil or the fear that people have….. I wonder if it’s interesting to compare it to a fable?’

Yashamaru (winks): ‘Ufufu, I wasn’t wrong, after all! Which means, it’s decided, Tomo ♪. I’m looking forward to it.’ ___________

ーBack at the mansion. In the lobby.ー

Tomohisa: ‘.........’

(Kitakado-san…… Since before he’s been frowning the whole time. In addition to being busy, serving as the director for another group’s MV is a burden, after allーー)

Tomohisa: ‘.....『Gloomy』. No, 『Sexiness』, hm.’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh?’

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘It’s the theme of the MV. To bring out the new charm of KiLLER KiNG, I’ve been thinking about which would be good the whole time…..’

Tsubasa: ‘Kitakado-san…… Were you not worried about accepting the role of the director?’

Tomohisa: ‘Oh, could it be that I made you worry about that?’

Tomohisa: ‘I was certainly confused at first, but the moment I heard the song, the image overflowed in my head…… I’m very excited right now. More than anything, I’m greatly honored to be able to receive such an opportunity.’   

Tsubasa: ‘If that is the case, I am happy to hear that…….! Because I love the works Kitakado-san produces, I wondered if it is not difficult while thinking that I want to see it……’ 

Tomohisa: ‘Thanks, Tsubasa. When you say so, I become even more motivated.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, I am looking forward to it. But KiLLER KiNG’s『Sexiness』......  I wonder what it will look like?’

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘That’s the fun about the photo shoot, hm? KiLLER KiNG’s vividness with their cuteness is a big attraction. But they also display a sexy and mature look sometimes. If you can bring it out well, you may have a fascinating music video that mixes cute and sexy.’

Tsubasa: ‘Cute and sexy….. The balance between both is quite difficult.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘It’s fine. I plan to get the appropriate advice from experts.’   

Tsubasa: ‘Experts you say?’

Tomohisa: ‘Exactly, the road of the professional.’

Part 2

ーThe day of the MV filming.ー

Ryuji: ‘Andーー Why was I called again?’

Tomohisa: ‘Because Ryuji is the best idol who has both cuteness and sexiness, and can perfectly express both of them. On this occasion, I want to show an example as we move on with the filming in accordance with the situation.’ 

KiLLER KiNG: ‘We will be in your care!’

Akane: ‘It’s a little bit embarrassing to be produced by a friend, but I’m happy! I want to make it good, so don’t hold back!’

Ryuji: ‘No, having such expectations is troubling…..’ 

Tomohisa: ‘It’s fine, if you show us the usual Ryuji for the sake of our cute junior group, please?’

Ryuji (bashful): ‘Tomo…. Geez, can’t be helped then.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘Fufu, thanks.’

Tsubasa: ‘Kitakado-san, the camera setup seems to be finished. The test can start at any time.’

Tomohisa: ‘Thanks, Tsubasa. Alright everyone, shall we start?’

Tomohisa: ‘Ryuji will lie down on the bed over there. Mister cameraman, please shoot from the front, diagonally on the right side. From there, it feels like you’re moving closer….’

Tomohisa: ‘Ryuji, slightly raise your gaze. And then….. Can you look at the camera provocatively for me?’

Ryuji: ‘Like this?’

Haruhi (blushing): ‘Wah…..! My heart just skipped a beat.’

Yuduki: ‘Hm…. Is that maybe the so-called『Sexiness』?’

Tomohisa: ‘As I thought of Ryuji. It’s a shame that I can’t show this to our fans. I wonder if we can’t use this footage for something else?’

Ryuji: ‘Yes, yes. Enough of me, aren’t KiLLER KiNG the mains here?’

Tomohisa: ‘Yeah, you’re right. Then first is…. Shall we start with Akane?’

Akane: ‘Eh, with me!? O-Okay…..’

Akane: ‘Uhm, lying down, and with a flirtatious glance….. Like this?’

Tomohisa: ‘The restless expression is cute I think, perhaps you need to be a little bit calmer…..?’

Akane: ‘L-Like this?’

Tomohisa: ‘Hm….. Should we try to imagine the situation concretely? For example, let’s say you have a loved one in front of you, who did everything that they could do to come to see you. You want to make everything your own right now, don’t want anybody to touch them. When remembering such a fierce emotion, what kind of look will Akane send this person?'

Akane (shyly): ‘I-I don’t know…..! What is this situation!?’

Miroku: ‘You’re too bashful, Akane.’

Akane: ‘Uuh, I mean…. I’m probably not suited for this…..’ 

Haruhi: ‘Miss stylist, I’m borrowing the flowers here~.’

Haruhi: ‘Look, look, Akane! I’m sure it’s this kind of feeling! I’m going to eat you up, sweet kitten ♪.’

Yuduki: ‘Why are you holding a rose in your mouth….?’

Miroku: ‘Haruhi, it just looks like a joke.’

Haruhi: ‘Eeh, it can’t be! Even though I was so confident!’

Tomohisa: ‘It’s better to not make many complicated things so that the atmosphere might come up. Since it’s a MV this time, there are no lines. So above all, the『Gaze』becomes the core of the sex appeal.’

Tomohisa: ‘Provocative, hot, and run with sweetness…. I know. Tsubasa, could help me for a bit?’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh….. I?’

Part 3

Tomohisa: ‘Then, Tsubasa stands here…. Can you stand next to the camera?’

Tsubasa: ‘Y-Yes.’

Tomohisa: ‘It might still be too high of a hurdle to regard the camera as your beloved person.’

Tomohisa (winks): ‘For the time being, why don’t you try to act, thinking of Tsubasa as your dear lover?’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh!?’

Miroku: ‘Eh?’

Tomohisa: ‘Eh?’

Akane: ‘W-W-Wait, Tomo! Aren’t you raising the bar!?’

Miroku: ‘Agreed. Besides, it also troubles Tsubasa.’

Tomohisa: ‘..... Why?’

Haruhi: ‘Wah, such pure eyes....! As expected of Kitakado-san, the prince….’

Yuduki: ‘Haru, and are you impressed….?’

Tomohisa: ‘...... I see. Explaining it just with words is hard to understand. Should I try to put it into practice?’

Tsubasa: ‘.......! K-Kitakado-san…..?’

Before she can realize what is happening, Tomohisa already closes the distance between them.

Tomohisa: ‘Hmm. Your embarrassed face also is quite charming, Tsubasa. Come one, raise your head. Look me in the eyes and show me more of….. my unknown Tsubasa.’

Tsubasa: ‘.......!’

Yuduki (blushing) & Haruhi: ‘......!’

Miroku (blushing): ‘As I thought, that’s…..’

Akane: ‘It’s impossible for me~~!!’

Tomohisa: ‘Is it too hard perhaps? I thought because there’s a partner, it’s easy to put in emotions…..’ 

Ryuji: ‘It’s not that.’

Tomohisa (perplexed): ‘Ryuji?’

Ryuji: ‘Everyone should have understood by now what Tomo wants. After this, it’s just about switching. How about you shoot one by one? They are all professionals, so if they decide on their feelings, they can do it.’ 

Tomohisa (smiles): You’re right….. That might be the case. Let’s shoot individually then.’

Ryuji: ‘When that’s finished, you will shoot outside, right? That seems to be difficult, so isn’t it fine to make more time in advance.’ 

Yuduki: ‘Ehm…. With this machine, we can make it rain.’

Tomohisa: ‘Yes. To bring out『Sexiness』gloominess and sadness are necessary. When I expanded the image, I really wanted to include rain. I thought it would be difficult because I needed a huge amount of equipment, but I’m glad I got the OK from Yashamaru-san and the others.’

Tsubasa: ‘When I heard Kitakado-san’s enthusiastic presentation, I thought it was absolutely necessary. That is why I wanted everyone to listen as well.’ 

Akane: ‘I see….! It’s the scene Tomo is fixated on.’ 

Tomohisa (winks): ‘Yes. While you’re hit by the rain, you think of your beloved person and stand still in pain….. I want to shoot a scene that touches the heart. I’m sure it will turn into a beautiful movie. I’m looking forward to it.’

Part 4 

ーIn the Gandara office.ー

Tomohisa: ‘It’s incomplete footage that I connected roughly…. What do you think?’

Tsubasa: ‘It is wonderful. At first, it has a cute atmosphere that gives off the feeling of KiLLER KiNG, but…. Their suggestive gazes gradually draw me into a different world and make my heart throb. The rain scene as well is an impressive end. Because Kitakado-san’s performance in the test filming was really fantastic, I was wondering if you would come out of the screen for a moment….. I was expecting it a bit.’

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘Haha, thanks. But since it’s KiLLER KiNG’s MV, I mustn’t intrude.’

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, you are right. I am sorry.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘When the shooting of the connecting image scenes is over, the editing is left afterward, if I am not wrong.’ 

Tomohisa (worried): ‘Yes….. That’s what I was planning to do.’

Tsubasa: ‘Did something happen?’

Tomohisa: ‘Tono’s look worries me a little. The footage just now was sexy plenty enough but…. I have the feeling that there is more fitting『Sexiness』to Tonoーー’ ________________

ーIn a library.ー

Tomohisa: ‘I’m sorry for asking unreasonable things as in wanting to do an additional shooting.’

Tsubasa: ‘No, everyone has the same feelings because they all want to produce something good. I am glad the schedule allows it. Besides, the concept of showing Miroku-kun with『Intellectual Sexiness』...... is a really charming idea.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘I should rather say that Tono possesses a mysterious aura that’s detached from the real world. A well-trained body is sexy as well, but isn’t it better to focus on that instead as it gives off a fresh feeling is what I thought.’

Miroku: ‘I was surprised at the new setting. The scattered pieces seem to become one….’ 

Tomohisa: ‘I aimed at making a collage-like movie, so I didn’t expect that I’m able to compose a story from it.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘The other unit members were characters in Miroku-kun’s open book…. I think that this is a very interesting structure.’

Tomohisa: ‘The rest is whether it can be expressed well in the movie. Tono, shall we start filming right away?’

Miroku: ‘Yes.’

Tomohisa: ‘Look in the camera and smile. With the image like a god who controls everything in this world….’ 

Miroku: ‘.......’

Tomohisa: ‘...... Very good. As expected, this one is sexier.’ ________________

ーIn the meeting room.ー

Tsubasa: ‘The inserted footage has come out pretty well.’

Tomohisa: ‘You’re right. It took a considerable time for the staff…. I’m  really grateful that I was allowed to be so particular.’

Tomohisa: ‘Cool, cute, a gap that’s different to the usual tone…. Everyone in KiLLER KiNG is charming, so the people who will watch the MV will enjoy it by that alone.’ 

Tomohisa: ‘But….. as I moved on with the work, I wanted to tell more than just those four. I wondered if I can’t, by including the story, make a movie with depth from multiple angles….. Wouldn’t it resonate with the fans’ hearts in this way.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘I think that the staff is also seriously facing this project because those emotions are definitely being conveyed.’

Tomohisa (laughs): ‘Yes…. If that’s so, then I’m happy. For everyone who is helping us, I need to produce the best MV.’

Part 5

ーKiLLER KiNG’s room.ー

Haruhi: ‘Ooh…..! The MV’s so absolutely cool! Ah, look! My face!! Isn’t it super handsome!?’

Akane: ‘Yep, yep! When you complete things, it must feel like this, right…..! It kind of doesn’t look like us!’

Yuduki: ‘The movie looks like a really beautiful…. artwork.’

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, everyone is quite excited.’

Tomohisa: ‘It looks like it’s to your liking which I’m happy about.’ 

Miroku: ‘It’s a type of work that’s different from our MVs so far. Even the storyline is appealing….’ 

Miroku: ‘..........’

Tomohisa: ‘...... Tono? Does something concern you?’

Miroku: ‘No, not something that concerns me.’

Tomohisa: ‘Don’t hold back. There’s still room for discussion.’

Miroku (surprised): ‘Kitakado-san……’

Miroku: ‘..... Uhm, in that movie I’m watching and controlling the three from the outside  but if it’s possible I feel like wanting to put in another surprise…..What do you think about the last twist of me, who is supposed to rule, actually being part of the story, for example?’

Akane: ‘In other words, Miroku too is merely a character in a book that someone is reading…. or so?’

Miroku: ‘Yeah.’

Tomohisa: ‘I see….. That’s interesting. Tono, who is entranced by the omnipotence, is yet in the palm of someone’s hand. God, the creator of the story, is in the position to play around with such great things….’ 

Yuduki: ‘It’s a little bit scary….’ 

Akane: ‘But this thrilling feeling might be great maybe!’

Tomohisa: ‘Yeah, it emanates a more fascinating atmosphere. It depends on the negotiations, but if it’s possible, I want to include this. However, there’s also the problem regarding the casting choice…..’

Akane: ‘There’s no need to worry about this.’

Miroku (smiles): ‘Of course, it will be Kitakado-san.’

Tomohisa: ‘Eh?’

Haruhi: ‘Agreeーd! During the filming too it felt like Kitakado-san did as he liked with us!’

Yuduki: ‘You’re perfect for the role of the god.’

Tomohisa (worried): ‘But as I thought…. If I appear, I will only be in your way.’ 

Haruhi: ‘Ehh!? It’s going to be a super cool MV I think.’

Akane: ‘Or does the image not fit Tomo’s?’

Tomohisa: ‘That’s…..’ 

Tsubasa: ‘If you are not against it, why don’t you try it out? It is a work that you made with such a determination. It would be a waste to not take the challenge. If the image does not match, then let us talk about it together.’ 

Tomohisa (smiles): ‘Tsubasa…..’ 

Akane: ‘You don’t need to worry about it this much, okay? Tomo’s the one who understands this MV the best, after all!’ 

Tomohisa: ‘..... You’re right. I’ll give it a try.’

Akane: ‘Ehehe, that’s how it should be!’

Haruhi: ‘I wonder what the costume will look like~?’

Yuduki: ‘As expected, a god or a writer…..’ 

Miroku: ‘If we go with that setting, then going with a god may be better.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu. Everyone is acting so lively.’

Tomohisa: ‘True. I’m also having lots of fun. I think it’s a happy thing to share the feeling of wanting to produce something great and create one work in this way.’ 

Tomohisa (winks): ‘.... I’m sorry to have caused you trouble again with the schedule. I’ll be counting on you again, Tsubasa.’

Tsubasa: ‘Please leave it to me. This is my job, after all!’ 

END

[sergeanttpoliteness]

Spiderverse Gwen x Reader where The reader is out as les/bi/pan whatever and Gwen is scared to tell her she likes her?

 AND➝  Gwen is ready to start letting people back into her life after the events of Spiderverse. MJ, aware of Gwen trying to open her social circle, tells her about a nice girl from her apartment building and brings the reader along at their next band practice to introduce her. Gwen sets eyes on her and is VEEEERY attracted to this VEEEERY pretty girl.  In Gwen’s bisexual distress, she starts rambling nervously, and probably says something embarrassing about herself. MJ saves them from an awkward situation and starts band practice, Gwen doesn’t see reader outside of school again after that, but Gwen shamelessly stares at her during class. Gwen starts to overthink the situation and gets worried she blew her chance. Later, there’s a situation that she as Spider-Gwen saves reader from. Reader is minorly hurt but SG has to go before she can help reader as authorities arrive. Feeling guilty, her spider sense leads SG to the reader’s apartment, she goes to check on her that night. Confident with her mask on, she strikes up a conversation, compliments her and even drops a bit of a flirty remark about reader before taking her leave. I didnt know where to go from there I’m new to requesting so I hope this isn’t too long but I hope that’ll be enough to get the ball rolling? -🍀

deeply sorry it took me so long to get to these again! i changed a few things, but it’s pretty much still the same idea. i hope the nonnie who requested this finds it and doesn’t think i ignored them :( ily, y’all deserve better.

——-

➹she plays bass➹(spider-gwen x fem!reader)

That feeling when there’s a cute girl who plays bass in your band and you don’t know what the hell to do about it.

Gwen needs help figuring out her feelings. Like, immediately.

word count: 11.6k (oops i did it again)

a/n: i’m sorry this new fic is the size of the bible like the last one, i’ll try to make the next one shorter lmaooo. but it’s what my fave girl deserves due to the unacceptable lack of stories about her on this site. plus, i swear that once you read it it’s so much shorter than it seems. i’m hoping i can post at least one more story before the end of the year, but if i don’t, happy holidays and new year ! y’all were the best part about my 2019 :) hope whoever is reading this has a lovely week. mwah.

warnings: violence, guns, swearing.

——-

She played bass. 

You played bass, to be more specific. And Mary Jane Watson took satisfaction in believing that she was nice. More than simply ‘just nice’ on good days, even. Being the most courteous person was a duty she considered to be hers ever since she was six-years-old and accompanied that girl who always seemed to be left behind in the playground, and years later, in high school when she punched a creep hassling one of her bandmates. Last but most certainly not least, Betty Brant, bass guitar player of the Mary Janes, slipped and fell backwards one unfortunate evening, and she shot out her left arm behind her to break the fall and save her ice cream from hitting the ground. Good news: her ice cream did not hit the ground. Bad news, however, her left hand did— in an odd, twisted position. Needless to say, Betty Brant now had a broken wrist.

At first glance, they’re all unrelated events, stars belonging to separate constellations, and they would have remained so— undisturbed, simply coexisting in the same sky. That was, until Gwen came into the picture and drew a line connecting the bright flecks when she opened her mouth.

In the moment that she admitted to MJ that the idea of meeting new people sounded more appealing each day, she scribbled down the equation in her bandmate’s brain and hit ‘solve’. The redhead’s face lit up, putting to shame a Christmas tree as that sense of responsibility called for her attention. Immediately, she felt obligated to make the Nobel Peace prize-worthy move of texting her neighbor she just met, who also played the bass, to join them on the coming Saturday for band practice. That night, as she prepared to go to sleep, Em Jay cracked an accomplished smile at the reflection in her mirror.

However, two weeks had passed since your first practice with the Mary Janes, and MJ’s pride dove off from where it sat on her shoulder as she observed from afar with furrowed brows how Gwen so fucking blatantly ignored you after you tried to give her a high five. 

“What the hell was that?!” She hissed at Glory who stood beside her, cringing as you awkwardly dropped your hand and turned away from Gwen. Sighing, MJ rubbed her face with sheer desperation— a rather drastically different action from her naïve smile many nights ago. “I put an opportunity right on her fucking lap to make a friend, and she can’t act like a nice normal human being!”

Glory bit the inside of her cheek, sporting her own grimace. “I dunno, maybe they’ll click soon—”

“It’s been two weeks, Glory!” MJ whined. She crossed her arms across her chest, eyes narrowing into concentrated slits, and her gaze returned to an oblivious Gwen who shot at your back what she thought in her mind was a discreet glance. “I can’t let this fail. I gotta step in.” Glory raised a brow.

“Or you could just, you know, let them get to know each other at their own pace?“ 

“That’s dumb.”

Glory opened her mouth but gave up immediately, seeing MJ’s persistence as a lost cause she, in all honesty, did not want to waste any energy battling against that day. “Follow my lead,” MJ elbowed her, winking before she caught Gwen’s and your attention. “Who wants pizza? I do, and so does Glory. You guys want to go out and eat?“ 

“I don’t really feel like going out.”

“Glory, what the fuck?” MJ said under her breath, but later shook her head, a smile stretching across her face. “It’s fine! We’ll just go get it and we can eat here." 

Glory frowned. "But—”

“I mean, sure. I’m definitely in the mood for pizza.” You shrugged, the corner of your mouth lifting upwards. Gwen, however, eyed Glory with suspicion, who in return flashed her an apologetic smile. MJ clapped her hands together, cheering.

“Great!” She grabbed Glory’s hand and dragged her out of the room, glancing back at the two other girls. “We’ll be back in fifteen!”

Not even five seconds passed after they closed the door before you jumped off the couch and muttered to Gwen that you were going to the bathroom, an action that Gwen chose not to spend any time analyzing for her own sanity; but even if she had decided to, the ringing of her phone would’ve interrupted her nonetheless. After she took out her phone and saw MJ’s contact name, she let out the longest sigh in her entire seventeen years of living.

“Couldn’t you have just called for the pizza?” She went straight to the point— no greeting or anything, which left MJ stumped for three seconds, and surprised she had caught onto what was going on in record time.

“No, otherwise my plan wouldn’t have worked. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“What plan and why am I welcome?”

MJ scoffed. “I’m giving you another chance to talk to Y/N, seeing as you completely blew every other one you had.” Gwen perked one eyebrow, confused.

“How come?”

“She tried to give you a high-five and you left her hanging, Gwendolyn.” She said with an obvious tone. “And that’s just one example of many.”

Gwen sat straight, her eyes growing wide. “Wait, I did?”

“Yes, you fucking idiot!” Gwen shut her eyes closed, covering her face with her hand. “How did you not notice, it’s so painfully obvious she’s trying to be your friend but you’ve gained the award of dickhead of the day.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, although let out an amused huff of air through her nose. “Did Glory agree to this little plan of yours?”

MJ took a moment of silence. “No, but her opinion doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Yeah, I bet she didn’t, because it’s fucking stupid, Mary Jane.”

“Em Jay.” 

“You called me Gwendolyn.”

“Whatever,” MJ grumbled, “you asked for this, Gwen. Be thankful, ‘cause I’m really tryin’ here.”

Gwen heard you flush the toilet, and not too long after, the sound of the faucet running. “Hell, okay, fine.” She whispered into the phone. “She’s coming, I have to go.” Before MJ could utter a word, she ended the call right as you walked out of the bathroom and flashed her a tight-lipped smile. You sat back down on the couch, an obvious distance between you two. More time passed while you hunched over your cellphone and Gwen eyed you sideways, gripping her hands together in between her knees, her heart speeding up each time she dared to speak up, and her face heating up albeit she hadn’t directed a word at you yet.

She cleared her throat. “So!” 

You made eye contact with her and she felt obligated to flash you a nervous smile after the silence continued. Eventually, the corner of your mouth lifted upwards. “So what?” You questioned, curious. Gwen’s smile gradually fell. She should’ve contemplated what she was going to say first before she spoke. 

“…What’s your favorite pizza topping?” Gwen hit herself mentally. There literally was no excuse for why she was acting like this— hell, she herself couldn’t even find one. But, on the bright side (however, perhaps not so much for Gwen), whilst the girl was sure this was an agonizing and slow death from embarrassment, your amused grin widened with her visible anxiety.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of options.” You shrugged, your attention moving back to your device. Gwen considered leaving you alone, seeing as this conversation very obviously wasn’t going anywhere, but that option disintegrated as soon as she imagined Em Jay intentionally delaying her arrival with Glory and the pizza so she could take full advantage of her ‘chance’, which she was ninety-nine percent sure was the case. 

“I really like pepperoni.” She blurted out. Your eyes momentarily traveled up to Gwen and you pursed your lips, nodding slowly.

“Cool.”

My God, you really were not collaborating even an ounce— it was a reach, but it was as if you were voluntarily trying to make this as difficult and socially traumatizing for Gwen as possible. Gwen scratched her head, searching for more conversation ideas, but her brain remained as empty as a desert in the middle of nowhere, except for the one tumbleweed happily rolling along its way which was her last idea, and the main purpose of this sad conversation.

“I’m really sorry for that high-five you tried to give me earlier,” Gwen muttered, incapable of looking at you straight in the eye for long. “Em Jay just told me about it.” 

Finally, you tore your concentration away from your phone and focused on Gwen. You didn’t know whether it was the seriousness of her voice combined with the absurdity of the sentence, but you found yourself struggling to hold back your giggles. Gwen’s eyebrows twisted with puzzlement as she saw your blushing cheeks and you biting your lip hard, your shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

“That’s… adorable. It’s alright. It happens to all of us, I guess.” You laughed out. In Gwen’s never-ending humiliation, she couldn’t discern your expression from simple amusement or judgment. 

Gwen stuttered, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Okay, cool. I-I just didn’t want you to think that I hated you or something like that.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I did not.” 

“Good. Because I don’t. Obviously.” She continued, forcing out a chuckle. “I really don’t.”

You smiled hesitantly. “Again… don’t worry, I get it—”

“I just, I wasn’t paying attention to you.” Gwen clarified but closed her mouth immediately, regret drying her throat. You pressed your lips into a straight line. “But I don’t mean that in a rude way, hah. I’m always looking at you.” She dug herself deeper and her eyes grew wide, a tense cough fleeing past her lips after you raised your brows.

“I mean, no, I’m not always looking at you, like, staring, but like, looking forward to whatever you have to say…?” She talked slowly, questioning her own words. “Why would I look at you, anyway?” Ah, fuck, that’s not what she meant.

Your expression transformed into an offended look and she rushed to correct herself. “No! I mean— you’re, like, very, very pretty, don’t get me wrong.” She let out a frustrated sigh, “Again, I don’t mean that in a weird way, I just—”

“Okay! I get it.” You stopped her and stood up, pointing at your phone. “I have to go, it’s pretty late, so I won’t be able to eat with you guys, but, uh… thanks anyway. Maybe next time.” You explained, uncomfortable. You both dubiously gestured goodbye to each other before you nearly ran out of the door. 

From then on, Gwen kind of wanted to hide in her room for the rest of her life, or at least from you; but sadly, she couldn’t do either. She could’ve moved on and just let it be a memory she could laugh about in the future, but she couldn’t hide what had happened to MJ— she retold her and Glory the encounter, and the trauma returned as Glory burst out laughing right in her face and Em Jay simply stared at her like a disappointed mother. Again, she really was determined to forget the whole ordeal, but later in the evening, when all she wanted to do was plop down on her bed and call it a night after another day of patrol, she answered her landline only for her ears to be attacked with MJ’s pleas for her to go fix things since ‘she was so embarrassed for her she literally couldn’t go to sleep’. Gwen hung up on her.

As she originally had intended before MJ disrupted her night, Gwen jumped onto her bed and rolled onto her back, promising in her head that she’d take off her suit in a minute. She stared up at the ceiling for longer than a minute, thinking about MJ’s words. What was the point in going to apologize to you again, anyway? Gwen wasn’t going to do it simply to please her. MJ could gladly go and shove her microphone up her—

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Gwen said to herself as she stood outside your school building. She looked down at her watch. She could’ve been doing so much right then. Someone was probably getting murdered, or a robbery was going on, and she had homework to finish, but she was wasting her time waiting in front of a school like the creep of the block. However, she thought she might as well stick to it in the instant that students began to swarm out of the entrance doors.

She considered leaving. It was her first thought when she ultimately saw you walking amongst the crowd, talking to your friends. You hadn’t noticed her. It wouldn’t make a difference if she spun and ran out of there, like a scared child fleeing from the monster living in her closet. You turned your gaze away from your friend whilst laughing, and similar to the demon (no offense) peeking through the slit in between the closet doors, you found yourself staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

There was no going back.

Gwen breathed in profoundly and flashed you a sheepish smile, waving weakly with her shoulders raised. She watched you say goodbye to your friends before you hesitantly approached her, your eyebrow lifted in a questioning manner. “Gwen?” 

“Yup. That’s me, hah…” She moved her hair away from her face after the wind disheveled it, brushing it behind her ear as she avoided your eyes. “I know you’re wondering—”

“What you’re doing here? Yes, yes I am.” You said, the humor distinctive in your voice, but Gwen scrunched up her nose, shaking her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not… stalking you,” She laughed nervously and stopped herself before history repeated itself. “I would’ve texted you, but my phone…” Now has a bullet hole. “Broke. Em Jay told me I could meet you here.”

You folded your arms across your chest, shifting your weight to one leg. “Well, I’m here, you’re here, so what’s up? Did you want to continue talking about how you don’t pay attention to me?” You joked, tilting your head. 

Gwen winced slightly, cringing. “Actually, no.”

“Okay, good.”

“I came here to apologize. A real apology this time.”

You let your arms drop by your sides, interested and waiting for what she had to say. “I was really awkward. Painfully awkward, and I made you uncomfortable. So, I was hoping that we could maybe… start over again?” She held out her hand.

You briefly glanced down at it before glancing back up at her biting her lip anxiously. You giggled, nodding. “You’re so dramatic, dude.”

You shook her hand.

“So… we’re good?”

You smiled. “We’re good.” Gwen grinned back, her tooth gap having a peculiar effect in your stomach. She peeked at her watch a second time with the intent of leaving; but before she could say goodbye, you adjusted your backpack straps and spoke up. “Actually… now that you’re here, how about we go get something to eat?” 

Gwen blinked, her finger coming up to point at her chest. “M-me? And you?” You agreed with your head, laughing.

“Obviously, you dummy. I don’t see anyone else here.” You playfully punched her arm and she looked down at the spot, her eyes narrowed.

Ah, well. There was no going back.

If there was one thing, one enemy that constantly played with Gwen’s sanity, time was a top-three candidate which popped into her head immediately. Popped wasn’t perhaps even the correct word, for it remained there everlastingly as a nagging fear— a deafening, continuous tick-tock reminding her of how little, or what a painstaking amount of time she had in her hands, and all the things she could or could not do during it. Being Spider-Woman, pages and pages of school work, the Mary Janes, Mary Jane and Gwen’s duty to answer her messages the moment she received them, her aspirations, her dad— it messed with her brain, tangled all the connections into an indestructible knot she could purely helplessly stare at. But when she read the time and realized how late it had become, the panic merely bubbled and spread in her chest. Rather you laughed and she felt the necessity to look away from the numbers to focus on you, despite the tick-tock still present and blaring like a tsunami alert in her ears.

You sat facing her in the restaurant booth, smirking as you bit into a french fry. “You know, I gotta say, you impressed me quite a lot with your drumming.” Gwen bashfully moved a piece of lettuce around her plate, propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She shrugged, smiling at you. You maintained your gaze on her for a moment until you shook yourself out of your odd trance, lowering your head.

“Thanks for hanging out with me. I was tired of hanging out with myself, you know?”

Gwen furrowed her brows, adamant on fixing her look on the most boring stray lettuce ever. “Why? You’re a fun person.”

“Really? ‘Cause it doesn’t seem like that’s what you think about me.” You teased her, masking the undeniable bit of hurt. 

Gwen’s finger’s movements came to a halt and she placed her hands on the table, leaning towards you. “What?! What do you mean?”

“Alright, then what do you really think about me?” You put your elbows on the hard surface and mimicked Gwen, a crooked smile adorning your features. Gwen bit her lip in thought, raising one shoulder.

“You’re cool.” She said simply, trying to appear nonchalant. An ‘oof’ slipped past your lips and you clutched onto your chest, dramatizing the insulted expression.

“That’s it? Just cool? I’m a bit hurt.” 

Gwen rolled her eyes, laughing. “What else do you want me to say?” 

“I dunno, last time you said I was— and I quote— ‘very, very pretty’” You recalled, using air quotes. Gwen scratched her eyebrow, left blank on what to reply because— oh, yeah right— she did, in fact, say that. 

The smugness lingered on your face as you waited for her to break down and repeat herself, but she composed herself and cleared her throat. “Hey, it’s not fair if you’re the only one asking questions! Being interviewed is hard work, you know.” She raised her hands defensively, her eyebrows lifted. You immediately caught onto what she was doing and pointed an accusing finger at her.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Well, where’s the fun in knowing all the answers to the universe?”

You had to agree. But you leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, accidentally (or was it?) nudging her leg with your foot. “I don’t know. I like honesty.” 

Oh dear, Gwen narrowed her eyes, her chest throbbing. “Hey—” The both of you jumped and looked at the source of the greeting— neither of you knew when exactly, but the waiter stood there with a polite smile, holding three menus close to his stomach. “Just letting y’all know that since Valentine’s Day is coming up, the milkshakes are on discount for couples.” Gwen leaned far away from the table, from you, and let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Oh, no, we’re not—”

“Oh, great!” You exclaimed and grabbed Gwen’s hand. “Do you want to share one, babe?” 

Gwen froze, her shoulders and the hand you clutched onto tense, prickling at your touch. You looked at her attentively, and your lovey-dovey eyes left her stunned, grabbed onto her voice and trapped it in her throat— intimidated her. She had to give it to you, though, your acting could fool anyone or leave anyone wondering…especially her.

Seeing as the seconds continued to pass and she never replied, you chose to take it as a sign that she was following you and you glanced up at the waiter. “We’d like a vanilla milkshake, please.” You smiled. 

Following the waiter’s departure, Gwen looked at you surprised. “I thought you liked honesty?” She laughed in disbelief, pretending to judge you intensely. You innocently picked up another fry, hiding your growing beam.

“Hey, I’m not gonna turn down a discount.”

Gwen giggled, shaking her head. “Fair enough. But you’re crazy.”

“But you still love me, right babe?” You smirked and lifted your connected hands. When Gwen realized she hadn’t let go yet, she first thought about pulling away. But she didn’t. Instead, she timidly squeezed your hand, forcing out a scoff.

“Right. Of course, babe.” 

Finally, you unclasped your hands and Gwen’s hand slowly curled into a fist as she considered something. “Hey, where are you headed after this?” She rushed out. You tilted your head.

“Home. Why?”

She swallowed her nerves, thinking about dismissing her own question and shrugging it off. She had to get back home as well, after all.

But she didn’t want to yet.

“Can I walk you back?”

The walk back to your place dragged on for longer than usual, and you both pretended to act shocked, as if it’d been a glitch in the matrix and time ticked away slower than normal; but in the back of your heads, the two of you knew it’d been no accident, that you weren’t too engulfed into your conversation enough that you ended up taking the long way back home without noticing. Perhaps the two of you wandered longer, slowed down your pace much more than necessary— clung onto the moon and kept it in its place in the sky with your excuses so the night would stay, last as much as you wanted it to. Your efforts were partly successful, but of course, it had to come to an end eventually. 

Your meetings didn’t, though. No, they were just getting started.

On Valentine’s Day, you might have taken advantage of another discount for couples, but no one really needed to know that. After that day and after Gwen finally got a new phone (it took her a few days to tell her dad, since she knew he wouldn’t be the happiest once he heard how her phone got destroyed in the first place), you sent her a message which she couldn’t deny made her insides feel a type of way: ‘If you ever need a fake date, don’t hesitate in calling me’. 

And a winky face. She couldn’t forget the winky face.

But, in all truth, neither of you needed a ‘fake date’ as a reason to see each other. Every once in awhile, Thursday and Saturday after band practice, the two of you would abandon the girls and simply hang out. It didn’t matter where— sometimes you didn’t even have a place in mind, but somehow, gladly for your brain fearing rejection, Gwen would agree nonetheless. She didn’t think much about it until one afternoon, once you were done telling a bad joke that embarrassingly enough made her laugh, she realized she hadn’t checked the time. Not once.

During band practice, MJ and Glory noted that something had changed. Mainly because they soon realized they hadn’t witnessed any new embarrassing events between you two for them to laugh at behind your backs in a while, but your peeks at each other weren’t fearful anymore. They were now… something which they couldn’t place their finger on, but it was different enough for them to share a look and raise their eyebrows. Naturally, it didn’t take long before Em Jay had to jam herself into your affairs and asked you what you thought about Gwen, using as a justification that you had gotten a month and a half to get to know the band. 

If Gwen could’ve gotten the opportunity to travel back in time to step in and prevent Em Jay from getting close to you with her blabbering mouth, she would’ve taken it immediately.

“When were you going to tell me you two fucking knew each other?!” MJ’s shriek hurt Gwen’s ears and left her speechless for a few moments after she walked into the room. Then, she succeeded in processing her question through her brain, and her face was now considerably paler than before.

“Hello to you too?” 

MJ glared at her and walked away from her. While she moved around the many cables on the floor with her foot, Gwen dropped her backpack near the door, eyeing her. “How do you know?”

“I talked to Y/N.” She simply responded. Gwen huffed, unbelieving, and crossed her arms. 

“And why did you talk to her?”

MJ gave her an obvious look. “Because, uh, she’s my bandmate? And my friend?” Gwen rolled her eyes and crouched down to take her drumsticks from her bag; meanwhile, Em Jay wasn’t over the topic yet. “I can’t believe you kept that from me. Unbelievable. I’m the only one who knows about your little spider secret!” She threw her hands in the air, as if her attitude wasn’t already dramatic enough. Gwen looked up at her with squinted eyes.

“Because you found out on accident. Did you also tell her about that?” She scoffed, standing up. Em Jay followed her to the drums, pursing her lips.

“No. She wouldn’t believe me anyway. But in my defense, Glory and Betty never do either, so you’ve literally got nothing to worry about.” 

Gwen sat down on the drum stool. “We met last year, but we never became friends, though. We’re just acquaintances, I’m sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Em Jay shrugged, her expression unchanging. “Yeah, I guess. Now I’m embarrassed for you again, though. You have to apologize to her.” 

Gwen’s mouth hung slightly open. “I already apologized twice! Why would I do it again?!”

“You acted as if you didn’t know her when you first met! Like, who does that?” However, before Gwen could explain herself, you and Glory walked through the door, carrying your instruments plus a milkshake in your hand.

“Sup.” Glory nodded her head at the two girls. MJ shot finger guns at her and you walked up to Gwen before you stretched out your arm, holding the milkshake up to her face. 

Gwen quirked a brow. “What’s this?”

“I got you a milkshake, babe.” You joked, smirking. Gwen’s cheeks and ears reddened and she hesitantly accepted it, her mouth twitching. “Since we haven’t had the chance to hang out in a while.”

MJ and Glory shared another of their looks, the one with which they telepathically communicated with. After you left Gwen, MJ kneeled down beside her, grinning knowingly. 

“She told me she thinks you’re great, dude. Do whatever you want with that information.”

Gwen chose not to do anything with it. At least not for now. 

Summer break came along to free Gwen from the suffocating hold school had around her neck, and more importantly, to give her time to focus on patrolling, the Mary Janes, and, well, you. Texting you in the morning, texting you at noon, texting you in the afternoon after she managed to stop a robbery at Junction Boulevard, texting you at night; and she couldn’t forget, of course, spending time with you whenever you could. How could she forget? It seemed almost impossible now, for you had implemented yourself into her routine, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint in what moment. She didn’t even come upon the realization until you left the state for a week, and she found herself waiting for your texts.

However, once you returned and the band reunited, Em Jay wasted no time and suggested having a ‘girl’s night’ at her place, claiming it wasn’t because she ‘missed you all, or anything, but for band-bonding’. She sent you and Gwen to the store to buy snacks (and, unsurprisingly for Gwen, winked at Glory as you two walked out of the door), and right now you both stood in front of the freezers, Gwen observing you as you put all your concentration, your tongue poking out of your mouth, on combining two sodas into an empty water bottle. Gwen gagged dramatically, laughter escaping her throat nonetheless. “That’s fucking gross, man.” She grimaced while you giggled maniacally.

The new beverage fizzled and you analyzed it closely, your eyes following the bubbles dancing in the liquid. “I can’t believe they sell bacon and ranch dressing soda here. This place is nuts.”

“And you’re mixing them together.”

“You could say I’m a scientist.”

Gwen scoffed at your statement, a grin lingering on her face. You sniffed the soda, and held it up to her face. “Do you want to try it?”

Gwen pushed the bottle away with her finger, wrinkling her nose. “You could have me at gunpoint and I still wouldn’t try it.”

You pouted, screwing the cap closed. “Okay, your loss, I guess. I’ll have it here just in case you change your mind.” You waved the bottle and placed it on a shelf before you kneeled down to inspect the bags of marshmallows. Gwen shook her head, her smile reaching her eyes.

“Trust me, I won’t.”

You picked up a bag, eyeing her sideways. “You know what?” You stole back her attention and she hummed, tilting her head. “You’re my favorite member in the band.”

Gwen’s face softened, although she wondered if she was crazy, or if her hands were all of a sudden clammy. “Me? Your… your favorite?” She asked, her voice small. You looked down, hoping she couldn’t see your timid expression.

“Yeah. I mean, no offense to Em Jay or Glory— they’re both awesome, but… I really like you, Gwen Stacy.” You shared eye contact, the corner of your mouth quirking up.

Gwen searched for something to distract herself with, and wound up snatching a random bag of gummies and pretending to read the ingredients. “Are you just trying to get me to pay for all of this?” She joked, gesturing to the casket of food. You let out a dramatic sigh, grumpily looking away from her.

“Aw, man, you caught me.” You made a sad face, but it was fleeting. “…But, no. I mean it. For real.”

Gwen bit her lip, her face the shade of the cherry candy in her hands. “Yeah, well… you’re pretty cool as well, Y/N L/N.” She copied you, shrugging. You groaned in annoyance, staring heavenward.

“Don’t give me that ‘you’re cool’ bullshit again.” You warned, mocking her voice and she giggled, placing the candy back in its place.

“What? It’s the truth!”

“Is that really all you think of me?” You feigned disappointment, playing with her. 

No. Most definitely not. Gwen had grown to form many opinions about you other than solely ‘just cool’. Her thoughts varied. Sometimes she liked the way you made her laugh so effortlessly. Other times she couldn’t wrap her head around how, with you, the concept of time was both nonexistent and eternal, a concept you took its meaning away from, for it became irrelevant. She loved how you played bass, and how you gave it a voice, personified it into a dancing body that mesmerized her. She liked the way the corners of your eyes crinkled when you smiled, and how you tilted your head sometimes when you were confused like a puppy. She liked your way of talking, your hair, how you dressed, your posture, your face and the flaws in your skin. 

Maybe she really liked you. And that scared her.

When she didn’t answer, you gave up and stood up, stretching your legs. “Okay, at least I’m glad you think I’m cool. It’s what I’d expect from my fake girlfriend.” You winked at her playfully, but she wasn’t fully paying attention now. “Okay, last question, though—”

Gwen sighed, her shoulders dropping. “What now?” You moved your arms behind your back, drawing a circle with the tip of your shoe on the floor.

“You never answered if you really think that I’m pretty.”

Gwen almost choked. She thought she had escaped that question months ago. Without thinking, her gaze landed on the soda hybrid sitting on the shelf and she grabbed it. You didn’t know what was happening in front of you until Gwen was sputtering after taking a big gulp of the drink. “What the fuck?! Why did you do that!” You gasped, your eyes wide and the laughter daring to climb up your throat.

Gwen stuck her tongue out and coughed, her face scrunching up with regret. “If I drink the soda then I don’t have to answer the question.” You couldn’t believe she was willing to do anything instead of giving you an answer.

You doubled over, cackling and holding your stomach. “Since when is that a rule?!”

“Since now.”

For the record, Gwen did think you were pretty. Very, very pretty.

As time went by, Gwen couldn’t help but stare during practice. Stare at your fingers, sliding down and up the neck with ease; your head, nodding along to the music, lost in it enough that you didn’t notice the obvious ogling from her part. And your face. She tried focusing on it most of the time, but it resulted a lot more difficult than she originally expected. You either moved it too much whilst you played, or you faced away from her since—well— she did play the drums. 

There was also the third reason. The unsettling burn in her chest that sped up her breathing if her mind went too far, which occurred if she thought about you too much. Too deeply. But, God, did she try, and God, did she take advantage of every time you looked back at her, because you inexplicably dissolved that uneasiness in her.

Late at night, with your blankets wrapped around you tightly, you stared at your phone screen, mindlessly scrolling and double-tapping every picture you came upon. Not a minute passed before you opened a conversation, however, perhaps for the fourth time— not that it was anyone’s business, anyway— awaiting for another text. Gwen’s text, to be more specific. You didn’t want to come off as obsessive, but it had been an hour and thirteen minutes yet she hadn’t responded, and you… were missing her? You shook your head. Well. There was a possibility that you were. Maybe, you couldn’t get her off your mind, and maybe, you wished you could simply think about her and she’d integrate right there in your bedroom—

A knock on the window disrupted your train of thought, and as if on cue, a notification rang from your phone. ‘It’s me’, you read. Gwen had sent the message. “What the fuck?” You muttered, confused. Needing to see it for yourself, you jumped out of your bed and ran to your window before you unlatched the window lock and slid it open. 

Of course, as the text message said, it was indeed Gwen, in your fire escape, and not a prank she elaborated to scare the life out of you. “Hi.” Was all she said. You tilted your head, your brows knitted together.

“Hi? Is that all you’re going to say?”

She thought for a second. “…How are you?” 

“What are you doing in my fire escape?”

“I got locked out of my house.” She shrugged. 

You let out a huff of air in disbelief, moving out of the way so she could climb inside. As she threw one leg over the sill, you placed your hands on your hips, shaking your head. “You get locked out of your house, and the first place that comes to your mind is my place?” You questioned, amused. Yet again, Gwen raised and dropped her shoulders. You went to close the window, but not before glancing out, imagining all the struggle she must’ve gone through to lower the ladder and then climb up five stories. “And how the hell did you even get all the way up here?” You muttered to yourself, but Gwen heard it.

“It’s a fire escape, my dear. They’re there to, you know, get out of the building so you don’t die if there’s a fire?”

You rolled your eyes and sat down on your bed. “Okay, just be quiet, ‘cause I don’t think my family would be very happy about having an unexpected visitor this late.” Guilt sculpted Gwen’s countenance.

“I mean… I can leave if you want—”

“No.” You said quickly, too fast for your liking, actually. You cleared your throat and smiled, patting the area beside you. “No, it’s alright. You can stay however long you want. They don’t have to find out.” You waggled your eyebrows jokingly. She was grateful the sole lamp rested on your bedside table, far away from you and its amber touch embracing you alone, for she didn’t need you seeing the blood rapidly rushing to her warm face. 

Gwen sat down where you motioned her to, although kept some distance, and squeezed her hands resting on her lap together. “Thanks… it’ll just be a while. My dad had an emergency, and I really don’t know when he’ll be back, so…” She explained and popped her mouth after her sentence died out. You nodded understandingly, shuffling somewhat closer to her.

“I’m glad you came here. I wouldn’t want you staying out there and freezing to death. Plus, I was pretty bored.”

Gwen raised a brow. “Bored? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” 

You scoffed with a faint smile. “Shut up, hypocrite. You were out so late that you got left out of your house.”

“I was busy!”

“Doing what? Selling drugs?”

“Maybe. You’ll never know.”

You began to fan yourself. “Ooh, a drug lord, so hot.”

Gwen scrunched up her nose, giving you a judgemental look. “Is that what turns you on? Drug lords?”

“Nah, that’s not quite it…” You glanced at her out of the corner of your eye before your gaze shifted to your lap, your fingers playing with the hem of your shirt.

Gwen didn’t know whether she was reaching— but oh. She didn’t know what courage the universe granted her, either, for she then focused on her nails and pretended to be uninterested. “Huh, then what does turn you on?” Your eyebrows almost reached your hairline in surprise, but you quickly composed yourself. 

“Why do you want to know?” You asked, leaning closer to her. She shrugged one shoulder.

“I mean, you never know. What if a friend of mine wanted to ask you out?”

You bit your lip. “Depends. Is she cute?”

“I never specified their gender. And it’s theoretical.” She cleared up, raising one finger. You laughed, moving even closer to her.

“Well, then, I really like blue eyes.”

“…Really?” Her shy voice made your organs jump, which you didn’t know if it was normal or a serious medical condition you should get checked out. You hummed, holding yourself up with your arms behind you. “They’re cool, I guess.” Again, she tried to sound as if she didn’t care, or as if your comment didn’t make her as happy as it secretly did.

“Short hair is also pretty cute.” You added. “Especially if it’s a cool hairstyle.”

“A cool… a cool hairstyle, huh? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen now knew how frustrated you felt when she avoided your questions. “What about you?” You looked at her, insecurity threatening to overpower your current confidence.

“Oh. I don’t know. Musicians are hot.” She showed you a crooked smile. You wanted to squeal, embarrassingly enough.

“Do you like bass guitar players?” A bold move, indeed. Gwen faked entering deep into thought.

“…Eh, I think drummers are hotter.” 

You shoved her playfully, laughing. “Rude!” 

“Hey, you asked what I liked.” You both giggled, struggling to keep your noises down, but eventually, your laughter dissipated and she played with her fingers. “But bass players are pretty cute, too.”

You gulped, Gwen’s shoulder touching yours spiking your nerves. “Yeah, well, I agree that drummers are cute, too.” 

You both glanced down at each other’s lips, holding your breaths. However, before you could do anything, Gwen got to her feet. “You should try getting some sleep. I don’t want you being sleep deprived because of me.” She laughed nervously, taking off her sneakers. 

Disappointment invaded your brain, but admittedly, your eyes did feel a lot heavier than before. “What are you gonna do?” You questioned, remembering her situation. You definitely were more worried than her, who was unfazed.

“I’ll just wait I guess.”

“You should catch some Z’s as well.”

Gwen didn’t argue. She climbed into bed with you, although insisted she didn’t need any covers or blankets since she was just going to take a nap. After that, you couldn’t resist the sleep threatening to spread through your system and you passed out. It felt like minutes passed at most, until you were suddenly gently shaken awake. 

You fought to open your eyes before you squinted and looked up at whoever had woken you up. Slowly, the indistinguishable figure transformed into Gwen’s apologetic smile dimly lit by your bedside lamp. 

“Hey, sleepyhead.” 

You groaned, rubbing your bleary eyes and sitting up. “What time is it?” You croaked out. Gwen squinted to discern the numbers in her watch.

“Two in the morning.” 

“Two in the morning?!” She nodded, laughing quietly. “Do you have to go?” You would’ve been embarrassed by the heartbreak in your voice, but you were too out of it to dwell on it.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, you can go back to sleep. I just wanted to let you know.” 

You didn’t quite process what was going on until you saw her backing away to the window. Suddenly fully awake, your eyes widened and you threw your covers off of you. “What are you doing?” 

Gwen opened the window and glanced back at you, lifting a brow. “Leaving?” 

You yawned, shaking your finger at her. “No, no, no—” You rubbed your eye and laughed at her. “How about I lead you out of the door like a normal person?” 

Gwen blushed, slowly closing the window. “Ah, well, I guess that’s an option.”

“I don’t want to wake anyone up, though, so just stay quiet, alright?” Gwen simply nodded and you wrapped your hand around her wrist, guiding her towards your bedroom door. You opened it as silently as you could, holding your breath, almost afraid that if you breathed, the entire house would be blown away. There’s only darkness, but you walked into it unbothered, while Gwen followed you like a loyal animal. Now that her sight was gone, she fully took in your touch as your soft hold tugged on her arm. You suddenly stopped and she mimicked you, patiently waiting for the sound of the unlocking of the door. However, all she picked up was the shuffling of your feet before you held in your breath. Then, she felt your other hand grab hers.

“Gwen?” You asked quietly, your voice so timid the darkness and the silence could’ve easily engulfed it. Without the view of your face, your skin against hers seemed too much, nearly unbearable. 

“…Y-Yeah?”

“Can you see me?”

She shook her head, until she recalled that if she couldn’t see you, neither could you see her and the gesture was nothing more than useless. “Not really.”

“Okay. Cool.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

You giggled, and it didn’t knock over the walls, but it most definitely almost did her body.  “No. Do you want me to?”

“Eh… no, thanks.”

“Ok, dork.” You chuckled, but it instantly came to an end. Your breathing wasn’t steady anymore— it trembled, sounded heavy. Then, out of nowhere: “If I kiss you, are you going to run away?”

Gwen just blinked. Despite the darkness, white dots exploded in her vision. “W-what?” Her voice almost failed her.

“Can I kiss you?”

In the room, there was nothing more. It was just your nervous breaths, your loud fridge, and Gwen’s heart. Her heart at full volume, pumping fast, doing its best to keep her awake, sane, on her feet. It was just you and her. Solely you, your gentle hands, and her. She blinked again.

“Okay.”

Your touch disappeared but then reappeared on her cheek, and absentmindedly, she placed her hand over yours. Your thumb, shaking, searched for her mouth, until it successfully brushed against her lips. Gwen gulped, her skin tingling as your breath fanned over it.

It was just you, her, and your lips. Your lips and her own.

You both remained with your eyes closed after your lips lost contact, although it didn’t make a difference in any way. But Gwen’s eyelids fluttered open, and a beam began to blossom.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill me.”

You kissed her a second time before she left. 

It would be a criminal understatement to say that Gwen freaked out after she arrived back home. When she made the decision to start letting new friends into her life for good at the beginning of the year as another New Year’s resolution, she took a gigantic step. She then spoke to MJ, which was a leap in itself, and you joined the band. She stumbled, balanced herself on one foot at the edge for a while, but eventually, she managed to jump to the third step once she waited outside your school and apologized to you. She was convinced that would be it; the final and toughest stride, because if she managed to get past through all the previous ones, then it had to mean she was ready, right? 

She was just finding out she was wrong, though.

The plan was to make a friend. A friend and nothing more nor nothing less. However, without being fully conscious of it, she continued to sprint up the stairs, past what her original intention was. And now, as she stared so far up at the next colossal step— at the feelings that kept growing for you, at your kiss, at you— she felt herself tipping backwards. There was no way she could climb that. She’d only slip and plummet down to her death.

Somehow, though, when you two agreed on meeting up at an arcade two days later, she decided she might as well go for it. 

Gwen eyed the time for what she felt was the millionth time that day and her mask muffled the groan that followed. She had at least thirty minutes left of patrol and— she knew it was a dramatic statement— she didn’t know if she would be able to make it through them. I could call it a day earlier, she thought. It had been the most uneventful day lacking any major criminal activity, after all: all she did was help a little kid get back to his father and stop the usual theft, but other than that, she spent the day swinging around and even had the time to take a picture with a fan. 

Her phone began to vibrate. You were calling her. “Hey… you…kid…” She cringed. How was she supposed to greet you from now on? Things weren’t the same. 

She heard you snort at her hello. “Hi. Just wanted to tell you that I’m on my way.”

Gwen’s brows snapped together and she checked the time one more time. “Already? You’re early.”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get started earlier so I don’t have to walk back home too late, but also so I can beat your ass and get more tickets than you.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Not really, because I already know I’m gonna win.”

“Don’t sound so confident,” Gwen smiled and lied down on her back, staring up at the sky. “But if you do win, you better get me a prize.”

“Why would I get the loser a prize? I’m gonna get myself something cool and big and rub it in your face.” 

Gwen scoffed but giggled nonetheless. All of a sudden, you went dead silent and she sat up, perking her ears for any further noise. “Y/N? Are you still there?”

It took you a few seconds to answer. “I just heard something weird.”

Gwen’s face drained of color and she jumped up, the tingling present in the back of her head. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Get out of there. Now. Find somewhere that’s crowded.”

“Don’t be so paranoid. I bet it’s nothing. Could you imagine if I, like, got murdered, though?” You laughed nervously, trying to ease both of your nerves but Gwen’s sting in her head was only strengthening. “How tragic. Anyway—” 

Your voice halted. A distant strangled cry left the speaker. “Y/N?!” Gwen called for your attention, frantic, her heart nearly breaking out of her chest. Something was not right.

“Hold on.”

It was all you said before you ended the call. She wasted no time nor hesitated— she ran to the end of the rooftop and jumped off, shooting a web. She swung as fast as she could, to the point where her aim nearly missed a building. Her thoughts were rushed, hectic, created the worst scenarios so vivid the bile began to make her way up her throat and she had to blink the dampness of her eyes away.

Hiding behind a dumpster nearing the end of an alleyway, you held your phone up to your ear, your legs aching from the speed with which you ran away. You could barely breathe. It was just a messy attempt of ragged breaths that despite how hard you tried to make them quiet, you simply couldn’t. “Please hurry up.”

“We’re trying to get there as fast as we can, miss. Are you hurt?”

“N-No, I’m fi—” A loud bang shook the dumpster next to you and you involuntarily yelped in fear. Your hand flew up to cover your mouth, but it was too late. 

The woman and the man who chased you quickly found you, and the guy gripped your arm, yanking you out of your hiding spot. “What the fuck did you see?!” He spat in your face, holding you trapped against his body with his arm choking your neck. “Tell us or you’re fucking dead, hear me?!”

You sputtered and your fingernails scratched his arm, trying to get him off of you. When you realized you weren’t getting anywhere, your eyes flickered down to your hand. You blindly moved it up to his face, and once you grazed his eyelashes, you dug your fingers into his eye with all your strength. 

He cried out and let go of you. Without thinking, you spun around and went in to punch whatever area of his face you hoped your hit landed on. But he recovered quickly and caught your fist in mid-air. All you could do was stare at him in horror. You didn’t quite process what was coming at you until he struck your eye. 

“Bad move, kid.” The woman said and you glanced up at her with watery eyes, shielding the throbbing left side of your face. She took out her gun, pointed it at you, and your heart dropped. 

You had lost all hope, until a ‘thwip!’ echoed in between the walls.

Out of nowhere, a web stuck to the barrel of the gun and, in the blink of an eye, snatched it from the woman’s grasp. Spider-Gwen came into your blurry vision before she spun the gun and smacked it onto the stranger’s head. 

She stumbled backwards, grasping her head. Meanwhile, Gwen shot two webs at the wall behind the older girl. Holding onto the strings tightly, she pushed herself off the ground and knocked her down with a kick at her jaw. As she webbed her to the wall, her eyes suddenly widened. She swiftly ducked under, dodging a punch coming from the man behind her. Crouching down, she swiped her leg under him and sent him down. 

After he fell on the ground, Gwen towered over him, her fists shaking with fury. As soon as he opened his eyes, she drew her arm back and smashed her knuckles into his nose, a painful crack resonating clear and loud. 

She panted loudly, her chest rising and falling quickly as she trapped the now unconscious man’s hand to the gravel. She continued to observe him, her lip twitching, the sirens approaching in the background, until she heard a dry sob behind her. She looked back, only to see you backed up into the corner, hugging yourself.

Gwen ran up to you and kneeled down in front of you, holding your hand. “H-Hey, hey, you’re okay now.” She shushed you, her hand almost coming up to your cheek until she stopped herself. She wanted to stay with you and ask more questions, but two police cars parked themselves at the start of the alleyway. Her heart screamed at her not to. It cursed at her, begged for her feet not to move. However, she looked down at you one last moment and she shot a web up at the sky, zipping out of there.

She watched over you for an hour and a half as you talked to the police, and then when the paramedics attended you. She couldn’t stay long, though, since you furrowed your brows and then glanced up, your sight focusing on her. She instantly hid away, deciding that it’d be best if she just waited at your apartment.

Gwen tried telling herself that you were now fine. She saw you there, not missing a limb or anything, breathing and alive. But despite that, she couldn’t rest in peace. The image of you in the corner— your entire body shaking, your rough appearance, the tears that abandoned your eyes. Broken. It wouldn’t fuck off despite how many times she told it to. 

She couldn’t help but recall Peter Parker’s face as she shakily held his corpse in her arms. And then she remembered why she had given up on letting anyone get close to her in the first place.

She had lost track of how long she’d been staring at your window. The window which she climbed through just three nights ago when she got locked out of her place. The night your warm smile greeted her. The night you first kissed her. The night that, perhaps if it hadn’t occurred— if she hadn’t forgotten to take her key with her, or she had left her window open, if she had gone to Em Jay’s, Glory’s, or even Betty’s place instead of yours— if she hadn’t been in the picture, you wouldn’t be in the situation that you were in now. 

Because of her, you could’ve lost your life.

She’d texted you— as Gwen— asking if you were alright. It didn’t help that you straight up lied and said that you weren’t feeling alright so you decided to skip the night. At last, the light turned on in your room and she snapped out of a trance. It didn’t take long before she was trying to look through your window as discreetly as she could, her heart starting yet again with its running when she made out your silhouette. It moved around the room, until it stopped in front of the window. To her nightmare, your figure grew bigger as it came closer and closer, and opened the window. When she saw your face, her insides twisted.

You nearly screamed as soon as you saw Spider-Woman outside your window. You jumped back. It was the Spider-Woman. Unbelieving, you blinked at her— a bad idea, you then realized, considering your bruised eye. 

“…Spider-Woman?”

“Uh, hi there.”

You touched your head, closing your eyes. Maybe the blow you received was worse than you thought. “Am I hallucinating?” 

Gwen laughed weakly. “Nope. I’m very real right now.”

“Oh, okay.” You stared at her, disoriented, a million questions running through your brain. “Can I— can I ask what you are doing here?” You chose to ask first. 

“I, uh, wanted to check up on you after the incident that happened earlier. I didn’t really have time to say anything.” It wasn’t fully a lie. You nodded slowly, tilting your head.

“How’d you know where I live?”

She couldn’t judge you for asking so many questions, but God, coming up with a lie on the spot was turning out to be problematic for her. “Uh… spider-sense?”

She tried.

You were yet more perplexed. “Spider what?”

“It’s a thing… I have…” She tapped her head. Again, it wasn’t a full-blown lie. Thankfully, you didn’t continue budging and instead hummed, nervously playing with the hem of your shirt. “You don’t have to answer— only if you want to talk about it, but…what happened?” She asked quietly, afraid of your reaction. Your body went rigid and you hesitated. 

“I was going to meet up with a girl I like when I heard and then saw someone getting beaten to death.” Her white eye lenses grew big. “The two out of the three people doing it saw me and began to chase me. I tried to hide, but they eventually caught up to me.” You whispered.

Her fingers touched her mouth. “Oh God… I’m so… I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”

You raised a brow. “…What do you mean? You saved me.”

“But I…” Gwen choked up and you furrowed your brows. She checked her watch, her body so weak she was surprised she was standing up. “I have to go. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You don’t deserve it.”

Before you could reply, she scurried away from your window and leaped off the fire escape. You watched as she swung away and eventually disappeared, feeling hazy and more puzzled than ever.

After she thought she had gotten far away enough, Gwen dropped down on a random rooftop, stumbling and falling to her knees. She felt trapped inside the mask. Almost as if it were stuck, permanently sewn to her skin, and if she tried to rip it off, she’d tear every last inch of skin off with it. She was the mask. She was Spider-Woman, and would forever be. It’s a responsibility she was doomed with for eternity unless she lost a fucking limb or her own life, and there’s nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t simply walk away, or dispose of all the criminals and villains, all the calamities and traps hurled at her which sent her defenseless body flying, hurting it, along with everyone else in the way. Everyone else like Peter. Peter and now you. 

Her trembling hand ripped off her mask, her wet face nearly freezing as the wind attacked her skin. She took out her phone and searched for your contact, wiping her nose with her gloves. “Hey…” She typed, but stopped. Keep going, she urged herself. Just fucking write. Her thumb hung above the keyboard, her teary eyes fixed on the cursor blinking, taunting her. 

“If you don’t do this, I’m going to hate you for the rest of my fucking life, Gwen.” She hissed at herself and hiccuped after. It didn’t matter if you hated her. It had to be done.

You inspected with a frown at your bruised eye in the mirror, your fingers ghosting over the swollen skin. But your grimace vanished and a faint grin took over your features when you received a message and read Gwen’s name. Rapidly, you opened the text, the overwhelming heaviness burning in your chest immediately flickering out.

It was only temporary, though.

Gwen read the message one last time, and her heart dropped down to her stomach the instant she saw you had opened it. Her own words repeated themselves in her head, slashing her skin with regret, mercilessly cutting her heart apart into unfixable bits.

“I’ve been thinking lately, and I think it’d be best if we’re just bandmates. You’re cool, so I hope that there are no hard feelings between us.”

She turned off her phone and closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. Somehow, she still hated herself.

You didn’t reply. Not a word, no phone call. Nothing. You explained to MJ and Glory what had happened and missed band practice for a week, saying you wanted your eye to heal as much as possible. You never told Gwen anything, though. The girls were in charge of doing it, and she had to act surprised and repress the regret that stabbed at her. Glory was shocked she wasn’t the first to find out and she questioned her about it, but Gwen solely shrugged and forced out a laugh when MJ joked that getting hurt was a curse running for bassists in the band. 

The week had finally passed by and you came to Thursday rehearsal. You still greeted Glory with your secret handshake and MJ with the usual hug, as enthusiastic as always. But you ignored Gwen, and she didn’t fight against it. She had now made a promise to herself she couldn’t break. 

You’d been practicing for an hour longer than usual, stuck on the same song since Em Jay would stop in the midst of it and insist that you started over again. Everyone knew who was— or, to be more correct— were the culprits, but no one dared to speak up. MJ broke away from the mic, rubbing her face in frustration, and raised her fist in the air to end the playing. “Okay, that sucked. Yet again. But it’s okay, let’s start over from the top.”

Glory let her fingers run down the keyboard, creating what you could say was the loveliest catastrophe of a melody, and sighed. “Em Jay, I think we should take a break—”

“No, no, no, we’ll get it right this time. Let��s just get it over with, okay?” No one agreed, but she continued nonetheless. “One, two, three!”

You began again. At first, no one was messing up, and Em Jay’s hope returned. However, a minute into the song, both the drums and the bass went their own ways and invented their own pace, and MJ turned around, her hands on her hips. “I didn’t want to say it, but you two really need to get your shit together.” She pointed at Gwen and then at you. 

Gwen glanced at you. “Y/N’s a bit late.” You opened your mouth in disbelief and faced her.

“You’re going way too fucking fast!”

“No, that’s the right tempo.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Uh, yeah, it is.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Since when?”

“Since always!” Gwen exclaimed, sharing your scowl. “I’m the one who’s been here since the beginning, I think I know better.” 

You couldn’t keep your mouth shut any longer.

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know shit, okay?!” You yelled at her, taking an intimidating step closer to her. When MJ noticed Gwen gripping her drumsticks hard, she tried to intervene.

“Guys—”

“Leave it, Mary Jane.” Gwen warned her, her face stern, and MJ stared at her, expressionless.

“It’s Em Jay.”

“I don’t fucking care!” 

“Yeah, you very clearly don’t, huh?” You said, laughing without humor and stepping even closer to Gwen. “You don’t know shit, and you don’t give a shit about anyone. It’s scary how you pretend to care about someone, but you don’t. You just fucking use them to keep yourself entertained for a while, until you get bored and then decide to leave.” You were now right in front of her, and you pointed an accusing finger into her face. Gwen tensed her jaw, fighting hard against the wetness of her eyes.

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, don’t fucking lie, Gwen.” You glared at her, shaking your head. “Don’t act like I don’t know you.”

You both shared eye contact for a few moments, and as Gwen began to blink hard, you scoffed and took a step back. “Whatever.” You muttered and turned away. “I think I’m done for the day.”

The room stayed dead silent while you packed your things up. Glory and Em Jay communicated with each other through their gazes, both equally as confused, but Gwen stuck her sight to the floor, her lip trembling as she curled her hand so tightly around the drumstick it snapped. You slammed the door shut, and Em Jay cleared her throat, biting her nails. 

“What the fuck just happened?” MJ and Glory moved their stares to Gwen. “Gwen?”

Gwen rubbed her eye, sighing. “What?” She mumbled. MJ approached her slowly, frowning.

“You got something to tell us?”

Gwen shrugged. “Maybe.” Glory raised her brows. “I messed up long ago.”

“She seems too mad for it to have been long ago.” MJ laughed nervously, but Gwen wasn’t taking any of it anymore. She stood up and pulled her hair, groaning.

“God, Em Jay, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just fucking stopped trying so hard to make our friendship work. You don’t even care about me making friends, you just wanted to feel good about yourself for helping poor little me!” She shouted, nudging MJ with her drumsticks. Em Jay remained quiet, visibly hurt, and hugging herself.

“Gwen.” Glory repeated, her strict voice shocking both Gwen and MJ. “I think you hurt someone. And I think you owe them an apology.” 

Gwen took a moment to breathe, and that was when she realized what she had done. She looked at MJ and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “I’m sorry, Em Jay. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. Thank you for trying. I should’ve tried harder as well.” She whispered sadly.

The corner of MJ’s mouth quirked upwards, and gripped her hand back. “Thanks. But I think you’ve got one more apology left.”

It felt like February all over again. Back when MJ called her to tell her the same thing, and one day later, Gwen waited outside your school. However, this time, she knew she had to apologize for real. For the correct reason.

Gwen let her drumsticks fall to the floor and she jumped over the cables. Speeding out of the door, she hoped she still had the chance to catch up to you and hadn’t lost you again. To her relief, you were at the end of the corridor, in front of the opening elevator doors when she called out your name. Your ears perked up, but your expression hardened when you saw her running up to you. “Y/N, listen—”

“Fuck off.” You laughed and moved to get into the elevator, but Gwen grabbed your arm and spun you around. 

“No!” You stared at her, shocked. “N-No, I’m not going to… fuck off. Not this time.” Her eyes were big, begging. 

You clutched her wrist and pulled her hand away from you. “I think it’s too little too late, Gwen. I’ve had enough.”

“I made a mistake.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Just let me talk, please.”

“No.” You shushed her, breathing heavily. “Let me talk, okay? Let me tell you about this little mistake of yours. Not only did you act as if you didn’t know me months ago and said we were never friends when I joined the band, but you acted as if you hadn’t already done this. You played with my feelings. Not once, but apparently fucking twice! And you didn’t even apologize!” 

Your voice broke as you finally let out your repressed feelings, and you hated yourself for it. You despised yourself for still listening to her, for still caring about her.

You left Gwen speechless. “You wanted to talk, and now I’m giving you the chance. Say something.” You begged, prepared to be let down. But she looked up at you and let out a shaky sigh, sniffing.

“I don’t… I don’t know. I thought I liked you a year ago when we first met. I really did. The feelings were there, b-but…”

“If you never liked me, then why’d you come back?” You asked, broken-hearted. It hurt Gwen to see how much pain she had caused you, all because she was too much of a coward to own up to her feelings. 

“That’s the thing.” She breathed out, shrugging. “Maybe I do.”

Your face softened. “What?”

“Don’t make me explain it, please.”

“You have to.”

“I can’t.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, groaning. “For fuck’s sake.” Gwen shook her head and her shoulders began to shake.

“I can’t…”

“Why not—”

“Because it scares me!” She cried out, a sob finally breaking free from her system. You frowned.

“Why?”

“B-Because…” She wiped her nose, struggling to spit it out. “I really like you. I really do. And I don’t know if I’m ready for something like that. I can’t lose you.”

You gently grabbed her shoulder, while your other hand held her chin. “I’m not going to run away from you. I’m here.”

It wasn’t as simple as that. “I can’t.” She said again, even if she didn’t want to let go of your touch. You bit your lip.

“You can’t or you don’t want to?” 

She didn’t know what to answer. Your hand slowly sneaked down to hold hers, and you looked at her for permission, your expectations not as high. But she clutched your hand hard. “You can do it, Gwen. You can’t spend the rest of your life like this. If you do, you will lose everyone.” You smiled sadly. You quieted down, pondering, but eventually, you breathed out and closed your eyes. “I really like you, too. I always did. And if I have to wait, it’s okay. Just… don’t disappear again, okay?”

Gwen analyzed your face. She wondered what you must have looked like that night back when you kissed her. And since she hadn’t done anything right before, she wondered whether she could try again. 

In a second, she squeezed her eyes shut and pecked your lips. You were caught off guard as your fingers came up to touch your mouth. “Nah, you’re right. I think it’s about damn time.” She bit back her smile.

She took the big step.

[talesfromlissom]

First Time for Everything

(Lol, since it's Halloween. I decided to use my old au ‘Down on Cherry Lane.’. It was ultimately cancelled due to schoolwork and the motivation to do it slipping away, but either way. The idea itself was pretty cool. I decided to take that, and sort of do a civilian au, cause civilian au’s make me w e a k.

Anyways, in this, Cole is a highschooler. No elemental powers or anything. Also the reader is a werewolf. GOD I LOVE WEREWOLVES)

The first time you had been in a relationship was in your freshman year of high school. 

It wasn’t the best. Given that it was with a guy named Chad. And he wasn’t the best person to date either. He partied constantly, never texted or called you back, made fun of your interests, and was an overall asshole. So it was no surprise when he outed you to the entire school. 

It was the anger that came first, as you quickly became the laughing stock of the school. Words and things were thrown, sure, your friends didn’t disown you, but you could tell that the guys you were friends with kept their distance. 

It took about a month for it to die down, and it was no surprise when you figured out why. Another person was outed, a girl this time. She was head of the girl’s football team, most people just whispered about her, since they all knew she could, and would, beat their asses, for lack of a better term. 

Nya, that was her name. Through her, you were invited to an exclusive club, Ninjago. It wasn’t really an actual ‘club’ per say. It was more of a group that gathered together after school almost every day, doing whatever. It helped that the nephew of the principal and the son of the vice principal ran it. It was compiled of different kinds of people. People you saw get bullied in the locker room, the ones that sat in the back of the class and said nothing, the ones who answered all the questions. 

The ones failing all their classes, the ones in detention all the time, the teachers pets, it seemed that all the people who didn’t fit into a specific category, since that’s the only thing people cared about in high school, were here. So here you were. 

And then you met Cole, and things seemed to fall into place. You linked up quickly, enchanting phone numbers within the first week of meeting each other. It was almost a year since your friendship began, and two more before you and him both realized your feelings for each other. Finally, all homecoming was when you confessed. 

But that seemed to all come crashing down as well. 

                                                              _

Rushing through the forest and into the open street, still clutching your bleeding shoulder, you ran into the gas station, heart pounding. You turned to the forest, seeing the yellow eyes staring directly back at you.

A shiver went down your spine. 

“Hey, uh you-” A pause. 

Your eyes widen.

“(Y/N)? Holy crap, what happened!” The recognizable voice of Jay asked. “Jesus, did you get attacked by a bear or something?” 

“Something like that.” You reply, leaning into Jay’s hold. “You got any pain killers?”

Jay nods. “O-of course I do! I-I keep them for Nya, just-just uhm…” He leads you behind the counter, sitting you down on the chair in the corner near the cash register. 

“Just-just stay here okay? I’ll be right back, promise!” 

He rushes off, and into the back room. You lean your head against the wall, sighing through your nose, and shutting your eyes slightly. 

The room starts to spin in your vision when it snaps open, and the lights seem brighter than before. Voices are muffled, you hear clattering, but that soon fades when your vision turns black. 

                                                              _

You wake again with a nurse hovering over you, dabbing a wet washcloth on your forehead. You groan and turn your head to him. 

He comforts you, asking if you feel any pain, the usual nurse whatnot. 

You answer no to all those questions. And you’re surprised frankly, that you feel no pain in your shoulder anymore. 

The nurse walks to the door, and you fall asleep again.

                                                              _

Cole is the first visitor, accompanied by your parents. They bombard you with questions, your father cries. Your mother hugs you tight, and Cole litters your face with kisses. 

“What happened?”

You shrug, not bothering to sit up, despite how much you want too. “I...dunno...I was closing up the store when...I heard this panting behind me, saw this...big ugly wolf motherfu-” 

“(Y/N), language.” Your mother hisses. “I’ll put soap in your mouth for that.” She chuckles. 

You roll your eyes. “It uh..jumped at me, attacked me..chased me into the woods, bit me, and then I found the gas station and ran into Jay.”

“And thank god you did, that boy did an amazing job of stabilizing you,” Your father begins. “That boy should be a doctor when he grows up.”

“Jay’s dating someone who’s..uh..injury prone,” Cole mutters, and you laugh, thinking of the numerous times Jay’s had to patch up Nya. “it comes with experience.”

He turns back to you, clutching your hand.

“You’re..doing okay though..right?”

You nod slowly. “Yeah, m’ fine.” 

“That’s good..that’s real good.” 

                                                              _

By the time you are discharged, you already feel stress pilling on you. 

You return to school, looks being shot towards your direction, with whispers filling the hall. News has already spread of your attack. The shoulder doesn’t hurt, there’s scaring there, teeth marks, but it's so light against your skin it’s barely noticeable. 

But no, it’s the anxiety that fills your gut as the days grow on, but it becomes worse when you have no idea what’s happening. 

“(Y/N)?” 

Your snapped from your thoughts when you hear Cole’s voice as clear as daylight cut through your endless thinking. His hand is on your arm, soft. It feels so soft, and he smells so good.

“Are you wearing new cologne?” You hum, grinning slightly. You blink. That’s surely some new confidence. Even Cole seems surprised. 

“I don’t...wear cologne.” Cole says softly. 

“Oh.” You simply say, hearing the final bell go off in the distance, you shake your head. Has the bell always been this loud? 

“So uh, you doing anything tonight?” Cole asks. “It's Halloween, and Jay and the others are heading to Kai’s place to go trick or treating. Wanna come, we might egg Mr.Overlord’s house for the third year in a row. Zane’s gonna join this time.” 

You pause. It had completely slipped from your mind that today was Halloween. 

“I..don’t...I think I’ll stay home tonight.” You say. “I’ve haven’t been feeling well today.” 

Cole looks you up and down. “Alright, I’ll tell them, but..if you need anything just call me, okay?” He peppers a kiss on your cheek. 

“Bye.” 

You give a small wave, gathering your things in your backpack and swinging it over your shoulder. 

                                                             _

You figured your parents wouldn’t be home, since your mother takes the night shift, and your father was chaperoning for your little sister’s Halloween dance. And you brother is probably hanging with his friends and egging a house. Who knows, maybe Cole and his friends will meet them along the way. Despite the fact that Lloyd and your brother, Morro, don’t like each other very much. Cole somehow makes everyone get along with each other. 

So here you are, staring at the ceiling, and tossing and turning. You're sweaty, and you’ve been sweaty for a long time. Your window is open, with cool night air coming through it, and you hear laughter outside, trick or treaters most likely. 

Still, your shirt sticks to your chest and back. Slowly you sit up, your skin itches. 

You take a deep breath, another one, and another one, why is the room spinning. 

Your heart is pounding inside your skull, and your head hurts so much. You attempt to get up and out of the bed, but pain immediately fills your chest, gasping and sputtering, you attempt to grab your phone, only to roll off the bed. The pain comes next, almost as if your entire body is on fire, cracking noises fill your mind, and god you don’t know what’s happening, your brain is on autodrive at this point. Barely even registering your screams that are erupting from your mouth. 

You feel yourself curl in on yourself, skin splitting, blood falling onto the floor, the shirt you're wearing rips, before you realize that your fingernails have turned to claws, and even those hurt like hell. 

A voice cuts through your pain, and the thoughts swarming your head.

“Hello?” The voice sounds muffled, almost like it's underwater. “(Y/N)? I brought you some food, your favorite!” 

You scream again, hearing something clatter in the background. 

                                                           _

Cole’s feet thundered up the stairs, before he comes to your bedroom, hearing grunts and splitting, and noises he’s only heard in the movies. 

“(Y/N)?” He whispers, as the room goes silent. 

The door opens slowly, creaking filling his ears, as well as huffs. 

Cole’s eyes widen, staring at the writhing form on the floor. However, it’s head snaps towards him, yellow eyes fiery with rage and pure blood lust. 

Cole drops the bag of food, backing towards the stairs as the black mass creeps towards him. 

His lower lip quivers, and there was no way in hell that he was going to stay for much longer. His brain kept screaming at him to run, to do something other than sit there and stare at the thing. 

It howls, and runs at him, and Cole shrieks as he misses the top step, tripping and falling down the stairs. 

He ends up on the hardwood floor, he aches slightly, but he doesn’t feel anything broken or sprained. The thing jumps down from the top of the stairs, and it's at that moment, that his brain decides to work. 

He scrambles to his feet, sprinting towards the back door and throwing it open. He sees your backyard, toys and gardening tools scattered across it like you were in the middle of it. 

He hops over the garden, and towards the picket fence, almost hopping over it. 

He pulls himself up and over, just as he feels hot breath on his ankle. 

He falls onto the ground face first. Dirt in his mouth, and he tastes blood on his tongue. 

He climbs to his feet, taking off again, hearing huffs and growling behind him. He doesn’t bother to look back, at least until he’s in a public place. 

Bursting into the main street, sweaty, and lip bleeding, he does get a few strange looks. But most are just nods, they must assume he’s wearing a Halloween costume. 

He whips around towards the forest. He sees the eyes, god he sees them, but whatever that thing is, it isn’t following him through the crowd. Maybe he can make it back to his car?

No. Nobody really trick or treats on your street, most people on your street have young children. So the adults are usually trick or treating with their kids instead. 

He fishes through his coat pocket. But he finds nothing. Where was his phone? 

He hears something fall onto the pavement. 

His eyes widened. His phone, slobbery, bloody, slightly cracked. But the eyes hover right over it. He tenses, feels fear travel from his brain and down to his feet. 

He grits his teeth and turns his back to the thing. 

                                                         _

By now, he’s just walking down the street, trying to find the most crowded streets, and turning around immediately if he sees only one or two people. It’s twelve o’clock now, and he feels like bursting into tears as he sees even the most popular streets practically deserted. 

He’s travelling behind a group of teenagers, not from his school, so thankfully they don’t recognize or take any pictures of him. 

His hands are shoved into the pockets of his pants, partially to stop them from shaking so much. He’s still sweaty, knows that he can’t walk home from here, and knows that that thing is still after him. But why? Why him of all people? 

He couldn’t defend himself against that animal-like creature, Wu never taught him how to do that either. 

His phone is gone, he probably lost it when he fell down the stairs. Which is how that creature got it in the first place. But he lost track of it by now. Not that he’d bother trying to go back there anyways.

He doesn’t even realize he’s completely alone before the group ahead of him takes a turn into a house, and hears them being scolded by a woman before the door is shut and locked. 

Cole gulps, hearing nothing but wind around him. A few cars roll by, headlights bright, brighter than he knew they were. His heart is pounding, and he feels his mouth become dry, drier than it was before that is. 

He gulps, and begins to walk down the street, a chill running down his back. So far, he hears nothing. No chatter, no cars, no panting in the distance. 

He lets out a screech when a hand falls onto his shoulder. Whipping around, Cole punches the figure as hard as he can. 

They in turn, cry out. 

“OW! Cole what the hell!” 

Cole’s eyes widened. 

“Skylor? What are you-”

“Yeah, it's me dipshit, what are you doing all the way out here, we’ve been looking all over for you!” 

Cole stares. “What do you mean?”

“Neighbors heard screaming at (Y/N)’s house almost two hours ago, and they saw you enter the house but when you didn’t come out they feared for the worst, they called the cops and everything. Me and the others have been searching the entire town for you, your phone was found absolutely destroyed, what...what happened.” 

Cole looks towards the ground. 

“I...I don’t...I don’t know! I-I went to (Y/N)’s house and this-this thing it was all...all bloody and violent, it chased me out and tried to attack me I think! Hell, it even tried to use my phone to lure me back towards it!”

Skylor raises an eyebrow. “Was it human?”

“N-no! God no! It-shit-I-I didn’t get a good look at it.” 

Skylor nods her head. “Alright, c’mon. Let’s go to my car and I’ll take you to my place, okay?” 

                                                             _

When Cole wakes up in the morning, he’s covered by a thick fleece blanket. He feels someone poke him in the cheek, and he groans, batting the hand away. Before the smell of cologne hits him that is.

His head lifts up. 

“Kai?” Cole asks. 

Kai grins. “Hey there, it seems you and I had the same idea.” He says. “I went over to Skylor’s place after we egged all those houses.” 

Cole doesn’t reply.

“I-I already told Skylor everything-”

“I know, in...all honesty it sounds like a wolf..or a...a bear got into (Y/N)’s house, but that-that’s impossible.”

“Well, he...he was complaining about not feeling well,” Cole wonders. “Maybe..maybe he forgot to lock a door, or maybe he left a door open?” 

Kai shakes his head. “That..doesn’t sound like (Y/N)...but it...might’ve happened,” He turns to Cole. “how are you holdin’ up?”

“Fine,” Cole replies. “Just fine. Little uh...scared to go out at night...but...yeah.” 

“That’s good, your..uh..dad is here by the way.” 

Cole groans. “Why?”

“Uh, cause he’s your dad?” Kai pauses. “Although, he’s really pissed, told Skylor he doesn’t want you to go anywhere after school anymore.”

Cole groans. “Ah, he’ll be over it in a day or two.” Cole replies. “I just...hope that (Y/N)’s at school tomorrow.” 

Kai shakes his head. 

“Hope so too, maybe he got scared and went somewhere else?” Kai says, as Cole gets up and stretches. “He’ll probably show up tomorrow, or call you later.” 

“Yeah, I hope so.” 

                                                  ──•~❉+❉~•──

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[everlarkficexchange]

I Choose You

Written by: @wendywobbles

Prompt 51: Katniss E, the Valedictorian of Panem High school, is perfect in all fields of life. And that is the crush of awkward, average in studies, not so popular, never had a girlfriend, often bullied Peeta M. Not only does she have a very popular friend circle but also a handsome, popular boyfriend Gale H. Will she even want to be his friend? Is his crush doomed to fail? Eventual Everlark) [submitted by @white-dandelion-seeds]

AN: I hope I did your prompt proud. The title comes from a Sara Bareilles song that I love.

——————————————-

Peeta Mellark walked quietly in the door and leaned against the wall at the school assembly. He hated these things. Being trapped here for an hour while Principal Trinket droned on and on about what was coming up in the next semester was hell.

They had just returned from their autumn break and Peeta was counting the days down until this last year of school was finished. His experience in Panem 12th Region school had been long, dull and miserable.

Not for the first time he wondered if his dad had lived how his life would have turned out. Would he have been a popular jock with lots of friends and confidence instead of a feeling like a ghost in these hallways? He hoped college would be different. As far as he knew none of the dicks from his year would be attending Capitol U.

He had no idea what Trinket was talking about but he became aware the second the speaker changed……Katniss Everdeen was at the podium and saying hello to everyone. Instantly he paid attention.

Katniss Everdeen was in Peeta Mellark’s eyes the most perfect woman to ever walk the earth. She had long dark hair, clear olive skin and grey eyes.

She was a distance runner for the Panem 12th Region Athletics team. She trained hard , Peeta knew this because he had often seen her running in the early hours of the morning when it was his early shift at the Bakery or sometimes he would see her on the trails when he was out running she always had a smile and wave for him as they passed.

Her grades were always high, again Peeta knew this was down to hard work and not just luck.

Sometimes he would see her at the library when he was hiding out avoiding Cato and the other Jays and his maths whizz brother Leon had been tutoring her since last year.

She has a quiet confidence, and strength that just drew people to her and had a wide circle of friends but would make time for everyone whether it was a quick hello or a longer more in-depth chat. It was no wonder when she ran for student council she was elected president.

With a confident smile the object of Peeta’s affection began to speak

“Hi all! Hope everyone had a wonderful break, I know I did. Principal Trinket has given me a few minutes of the assembly today to talk about our Winter Formal. This year we are looking to do something a bit different and we are hoping that you guys will help us come up with a theme. This is the last 12th Region dance some of us will attend and we would love to make this something a bit special, but right now our ideas aren’t hitting the mark and I know that there are so many talented and creative individuals here so we’d love to hear from you.”

She looked behind her and Annie Cresta, her Vice President, handed her a cardboard box covered in silver paper. She held it up for all to see

“Okay, I know this probably looks a bit basic but this box will be left in library until next Friday. If you have an idea put it in. We will then post the suggestions online and then we can vote for our favourite. Easy right? I can’t wait to see what people come up with.”

“Thanks for listening and don’t forget Friday is the big Game against D13’s Coin Cavaliers and once again the 12th Region’s very own Mockingjays are out to destroy them. Show you school spirit by wearing black and orange. Go Jays!”

All around Peeta students began to cheer, he just rolled his eyes and slipped quietly away.

*********

For the rest of the day school was buzzing with excitement for the game and Katniss announcement. Peeta was glad when his final class was over and headed to his locker to collect his bag.

“Hey Bread Boy” called Johanna Mason, a short shaved head girl that somehow had become one of Peeta’s closest and dearest friends

“Yes Jo?”

“So are you making any suggestions for the Winter Formal? I’ve got mine in – Roller Disco with night vision goggles. Great, huh?”

“Seriously Jo? I mean while I can certainly appreciate the theme, how exactly would a person fund all those glasses……” he smiled.

“I’m the ideas woman, the reality is her ladyship and her minions area of work…speaking of which. Anyway I gotta go, see you later handsome “ and with that Jo sprinted away.

Peeta looked up and saw Katniss Everdeen walking down the corridor. She was carrying an armful of books, a bag and a bottle of water, had an apple wedged in her mouth and her shoe lace was beginning to open on her ever present black Cons. Peeta was thinking how this looked like an accident waiting to happen when Katniss reached up to take the apple out of her mouth, stepped on her now undone shoe lace and tripped herself up sending everything flying.

“Katniss! Oh my god are you okay?” Peeta was by her side in a flash and quickly helped her right herself.

Surprisingly she burst out laughing “Oh my god! I can’t believe that just happened. Thanks Peeta, I’m ok.” He started to help her pick up her stuff when Gale Hawthorne appeared.

“Katniss? What happened? You ok?” concern was all over his features.

“Fine, fine I tripped Peeta was just helping me collect my stuff.”

Gale nodded but proceeded to take the books Peeta had in his arms “Well I’m here now. Mellark you can …go do whatever it is you do. I got this.”

Peeta felt his face flame but kept his mouth shut previous experience had thought him that answering back to people like Gale usually ended up badly for people like Peeta.

“Sure. Whatever” he mumbled and moved to step away.

Katniss meanwhile shot Gale a glance that would have felled a lesser man, but Peeta imagined as Katniss’ boyfriend Gale was probably used to her looks so he just ignored her.(Imagine being able to ignore Katniss thought Peeta)

“Thanks again Peeta. Hey before you go, do you have the details of the English assignment? I can’t find where I wrote it down.”

“Sure, hold on” Peeta rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a notebook. He pulled out a sheet and copied the details onto the paper for her.

“Ummm here you go” he said handing it over.

“Katniss? Are you ready I’ll carry this stuff to your car” huffed Gale.

“Go ahead I’ll be right there. I just want to check something with Peeta” She called without looking at Gale.

“I’ll wait.”

“Dunderhead” muttered Katniss under her breath so that only Peeta could hear her, keeping her voice low she began to speak “Um I was wondering if you were going to submit any ideas for the dance. When we were kids I remember you always had a great imagination.”

Peeta blinked and stared and Katniss “Um no. I don’t….I mean I’m not interested in that kinda thing you know. I’ve never even been to a school dance.”

“Oh…right. Sorry I just, I guess I’ll see you in class or something.” Katniss seemed embarrassed and Peeta wanted to die. This was how he spoke to the girl of his dreams….Leon was right he was an idiot.

As she turned to walk away he called after her “Wait! I may not have an idea but um I’m pretty good at art and design maybe,I mean if you needed it, I could help you guys work on pulling it altogether?” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“That would be fantastic! I know you’re headed to Capitol U next year to begin a Fine Art Degree so absolutely we would love your help.” Katniss smile was a mile wide as she said all this.

“Ok. Well keep me posted. Oh and Katniss you should probably tie your shoelace” Peeta smiled and her and began to walk away. It was only as he turned the corner he realised something. He had never mentioned getting into Capitol U …how had Katniss known that?

********

“So what did you need from Mellark?” asked Gale.

“Gale you were standing right there when I was talking to him - English homework and he’s offered to help with the dance.” said Katniss taking her bag from Gale. She reached down to grab the apple that she dropped and popped it in a bin as she walked by.

“Help how? Loser never goes to anything school related.”

“So? What has that got to do with anything? And he’s not a loser. Look Gale we need help with this dance and I’m happy to have someone like Peeta come on board-“

Gale cut her off “ Ooh I get it now, you get the nerdy runt to do all the work and you take the credit.”

“Shut up Gale. When have I EVER treated anyone like that? I can’t believe you would even think I would do that.”

“Oh relax, it’s High School not the real world.”

Sometimes Katniss goody two shoes attitude really annoyed Gale. Kill or be killed that was Gale’s motto(not literally of course) but sometimes you had to be ruthless on and off the field.

“Let me make it up too you… how about a movie?”

“Can’t I have to get home to help dad. I’ll round up the gang maybe we can all go see something on Saturday?”

Frustrated Gale rolled his eyes before responding “Katniss I meant …..”

Katniss knew exactly what he meant and after going out a few times two years ago, Katniss wasn’t going down that road again, Gale however still thought they were perfect for each other and was always trying to get her to agree to a date.

Katniss blundered on pretending not to have heard him “It’ll be a fun way for everyone to relax after Friday’s game. I’ll text everyone later unless you want to do it?”

Gale clenched his jaw frustrated at Katniss he wanted to say something more when his phone rang. It was Cato.

“I’m late for practice. Talk to you later” and Gale took off running towards the sports field.

A grateful Katniss watched Gale sprint away, glad of the reprieve from his hints and outright declarations that they would make the perfect couple.

She hopped into her car and got ready to head home, when out of the corner of her eye she saw the hunched figure of Peeta Mellark walking out and heading towards town, she watched him til he was out of sight.

There was something about Peeta that made Katniss want to get to know him better but the blue eyed blond boy kept himself to himself. She had has crush on him since the first day of school when he drew her a picture of her teddy bear.

She smiled recalling how upset she was being separated from her bear and was missing him something terrible on her first day. Seeing her tears Peeta had marched up to her pencil in hand and asked her what he looked like and under her guidance had drawn a pretty good depiction of Snowball Abernathy.

Katniss still had the drawing; her dad had laminated it years go and she used it as book mark. The bear was also still knocking around, slightly bedraggled, more grey then white these day but still loved.

She sighed remembering a time when they were younger and Peeta was much more open. It all changed when his dad died though he seemed to retreat from childhood.

********

Katniss knew from Peeta’s older brother Leon that it hadn’t been easy after Mr M had died.

She had met Leon when her parents hired him to help her with her maths. Leon was like a skinnier less good looking Peeta. He was in college locally hoping to be a teacher and he loved maths and tutored a few kids.

As Katniss and he worked together they became more friendly.He was kind and funny and talkative.

When Katniss got accepted to Capitol U to study Engineering she was overjoyed and then Leon told her Peeta had been accepted to CU too.

“That’s amazing! What program? I wonder if we’ll run into each other. That would be cool.” Katniss gushed. She was practically vibrating at this piece of news.

And had completely forgotten who she was talking too. She couldn’t stop the blush that crept up her face.

Leon felt a grin spreading over his face “Careful Everdeen or I might think you have a crush on my baby brother……oh my god you do!!!”

That was a few weeks ago and Leon kept encouraging her to talk to Peeta and teasing her that if she let the year pass without saying anything he would tell Peeta before graduation.

Katniss knew though her secret was safe. Leon was very protective of Peeta, and from what Leon had told her-and what she knew from the past herself and gossip- the death of Mr Mellark had hit the whole family hard.

The oldest Mellark brother Sean had taken over running the place full time (this had always been the plan but the death of Sean Snr meant things moved a lot quicker). He quit full time college and moved home.

Leon and Peeta helped out but right after her husband died Mrs Mellark seemed to “disappear” leaving Sean 20, Leon 16 and Peeta 13 to carry on.

The older boys tried to stay on top of everything.- the house, the business, school even dealing with their mom- but their home life was chaotic following in the weeks following their fathers death.

It was a lot to cope with, and they tried to do it all without any help - scared that if they let people know what was going on their family would be further torn apart.

Katniss remembered when Peeta came to school in the same hoodie for 5 days –not really a big deal but Cato Snow grabbed this and began to tease Peeta.

“Hey Smellark. Don’t you have any CLEAN clothes?”

His goons soon joined in for weeks whenever they could get Peeta alone they went at him, they pushed him, squirted hand sanitizer on him, threw water on him.

Some of the other kids tried to tell Cato to stop but no one wanted to make themselves a target so most just ignored what was going on. Katniss did too, and the memory still pained her.

It all came to a head one Monday afternoon Peeta finally snapped and swung at Cato. Peeta may have been quiet and smaller then the others but in the past number of weeks a fire had raged in him.

This particular Monday Cato had decided that Peeta needed a hair cut and got Tom Marvel and Derek Blight to hold him down and started to hack at Peeta’s hair.

It was the final straw for Peeta, to this day no one knows exactly how he did it but Peeta got loose and punched Cato busting his nose, the sight of the blood caused Marvel to flee. Blight wasn’t quick enough and Peeta managed to leave him with a black eye. Peeta picked up his bag and left the school vowing to never return.

While this was going on, an anonymous tip off was left with a children’s care charity begging them to check on the Mellark’s. A young case worker Finnick Odair took the call and hearing how distressed the girl in the end of the call was decided to make a house call.

He met a shaken, tattered Peeta at the house on the front step.

“Hey kid? You ok?”

And for the first time since his dad died and the bullying began Peeta cried and his story just tumbled out

Finnick met with the rest of the family. Mrs. Mellark was very obviously depressed, the boys were grieving but had no time to process everything that was happening as they desperately tried to keep things going. A decision was made to contact Mrs Mellark mother, Sae.

She arrived in a day and scolded her grandsons for not calling her sooner and hugged the life out of them.

She sought out her daughter and held her close as she wept and wept.

Then the five of them sat on the sofa together and Sae told Finnick she was sticking around for as long as was needed and he helped her to find the help her family needed.

Peeta however refused to talk about what had happened and wouldn’t confirm the bullying. He hoped by keeping his mouth shut Cato would leave him alone. (It hadn’t. Although Cato no longer actively sought him out he still tormented him)

When Peeta returned to school a few days later people seemed to give him a wide berth the story of his Hulk like anger had scared people. It made him sad.

When he went to his locker he found a bag there and inside was a paper dandelion, a packet of coloring pencils and notebook.

Peeta was confused and wary but the yellow flower was the first thing he remembered seeing in color; since his dad died life had just been grey. He smiled, just a small one but somehow this flower made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time -hope.

********

On Friday the school was buzzing. Peeta had on a black tee shirt and orange cons showing his school spirit.

He had noticed Katniss that morning in her black skinny jeans, a Jays orange jersey, black oversized cardigan, in her braided hair there was an orange ribbon and on her feet a pair of orange cons. He smiled when he saw them.

He was just slipping to class when she called him

“Hey Peeta! Look we’re foot twins.” She bounded over to him and stood toe to toe with him. His heart was pounding.

She pulled out her phone “Can I take a picture?” and she aimed her camera down before clicking a few snaps.

“I think yours look better” she smiled and looked up at him, suddenly aware how close she was to him.

“I’m sorry Peeta I’m such and space invader” she stepped back “like I was saying yours look better, they have that lived in Cons look, mine are brand new they need breaking in. I’m gonna put this on Instagram, want me to tag you?”

“Why? Why would you tag me? I mean we’re not exactly friends, besides I don’t think Gale or his friends would appreciate any part of me appearing on your feed. I have to go Katniss.” Peeta smiled sadly and walked away.

Katniss couldn’t understand what she had said or done but she quickly deleted the post.

********

When the dance committee opened the silver box they found a good deal of papers, half though were filled with utter rubbish- crude drawing, bits of gum wrapped in the paper and some downright dangerous suggestions -roller skating with night vision goggles???

The most surprising thing was that even though the students had been given free reign most were standard dance ideas. According to Delly Cartwright this was because despite claims to want to express themselves and be individuals most teenagers just wanted to blend in and follow the herd, and in the end there were only five familiar themes to choose from.

1. Winter Wonderland/Snow Ball /Yule Ball

2. Once Upon a Time(Fairytales and stories)

3. Enchanted Forest or Magical Garden

4. Candy land

5. Masquerade Ball

Students were just handed a ballot paper and asked to vote for their favourite and with the result revealed at the following weeks assembly.

The winning theme in the end was the Enchanted Forest, and Katniss was secretly thrilled. Now the theme was picked it was time for the hard work to begin, and time to see if Peeta was ready to join the dance committee.

********

Peeta and Jo were sitting on one of the benches outside the school when Katniss walked over.

“Hey” she called

Peeta waved, Jo gave a nod.

“Peeta, if that offer to help out with the dance is still on the table the dance committee is meeting tomorrow after school to get things moving. I was wondering if you’d like to come along and get an idea of budget, how we can pull off the theme and if we can actually make something out of nothing” Katniss joked.

“I don’t know Katniss-“ but before he could finish Jo interrupted

“He’ll be there. What time and can I help too? My dad owns the forest out past Turn 4. He might be able to help with some stuff for decoration.”

“Ok, well we be in Room 17 from about 4 pm and Jo it would be great to have more help. I’ll leave you guys to it then. Bye”

As she walked away she missed the glare Peeta threw at Jo and the grin that spread across her face.

“What? You have been crazy about her for years. Now’s you chance to woo her” grinned Jo

“She has a scary boyfriend or did you forget that? A boyfriend who has no issue with beating a guy like me and might I add he has the connections to dispose of me where no one can find me.” He muttered darkly

“I dunno I know what people say but, I don’t think they are a couple….. anyway never mind that it’ll be at least one fun memory we’ll have of going to this place before we head to Capitol.”

********

Over the next few weeks Peeta’s life and routine took on a different one. The initial meeting of the dance committee had been nerve wracking but the other members, along with Katniss made him and Jo feel very welcome.

Peeta was wary at first but there was no punchline, he wasn’t a joke to anyone and surprisingly he started to enjoy the meetings.

The other members Annie Cresta, Thom Dalton, Brian Turner or Beetee as he was known, Delly Cartwright and Cecelia Hubert were a mixed but fun group.

“Hey Peeta, can you take a look at this?” Katniss called

“What’s up?” he asked.

“This…. I think I did it wrong…..it looks..” they two of them tilted their heads looking at the mess in front of them Katniss was supposed to be making centre pieces from twigs adorned with lights, and flowers.

“I think you’ve glued things on upside down, it’s okay we’ll fix it” he tried not to laugh. Katniss was the least crafty person he had ever met.

“I like the arch way, you’ve made it look really spectacular, it will make the entrance look so special. You have really helped us to set the theme, you and Jo.”

“Well you know us art nerds” Peeta mumbled as he undid some of Katniss handiwork.

“I don’t….but I’d like too” Katniss whispered in a low voice.

Peeta didn’t dare to look at her but kept going with what he was doing. He wasn’t sure what to say. He took a deep breath and prepared to ask her what she meant when suddenly the door burst open and there stood Gale, Cato and the other Jays players.

Gale was wearing what looked like doctors scrubs while the others were dressed in tacky sexy nurse outfits that no nurse in their right mind could wear and work in.

“Hey Katniss”

Peeta would swear he felt Katniss stiffen beside him, then she took a deep breath and turned to look(along with the rest of the room)

Gale unravelled his sign which said “I’m no doctor but it appears you’re suffering from DATELESSNESS. My suggestion is…..” meanwhile the rest held up signs that read “A date with Gale?” And “What more could you want?” And “A dose of Vitamin G!”

“No!” she shouted and the laughter and shouts of the Jays stopped.

“Just no! I told you this last night, the night before. You NEVER listen to me? I don’t want to date you or even go to the dance with you. I’ve tried being polite but it’s gotten me no where, please leave me alone and stop this. I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t want to be. Just stop”

“You selfish b-“ Gale started towards Katniss but Peeta stepped in front of her.

“I wouldn’t take another step or utter another word Hawthorne. Just take your guys and go. Or would you like me to call Miss Trinket?” Peeta’s voice was low and calm. Thom and Beetee had stood up too and walked towards Katniss and Peeta.

“Or what Smellark?” spat Gale.

“Funny, real funny but I think after 4 years you guys could have gotten a bit more creative with your insults. Cato, why don’t you take Gale and the guys and leave. Katniss has refused Gale’s offer, there is nothing else to be said.”

In the crowd of guys a few looked angry but others just looked confused about what had gone on. Had Gale really been hassling Katniss? He made it sound like she had wanted this big fuss but what if she hadn’t? The team started to move away and soon the room was cleared.

“Umm thanks guys…now where were we?”

“Hey Everdeen, I thought that guy was your boyfriend?” asked Jo confused by what had happened.

“Nope. Never was, never will be. He’s never been my type” Katniss smiled

“Interesting…..and would you type maybe be a little less male perhaps?” teased Jo much to the amusement of the others

“Sorry Jo, I’m not into girls, but I do know that Delly happens to think you are real cute.” And with a shocked squeak from Delly the whole committee burst into giggles.

Once everyone had settled down Katniss walked over to Peeta.

“Hey Peeta? Thanks for what you did for me with Gale. I don’t know why he has to act like that you know?”

“Katniss it’s ok really. I’ll walk you to your car after we’re done here if you want? In case he’s still around.”

“Thanks, but I should be ok. Right I better get these to Annie.” She nodded her head at the closed box in her hands that she had picked up from somewhere.

“What’s in it?

“Flowers! I may not be much good at making centerpieces but if you need a paper flower I’m your girl” she grinned as she said this “open the box and have a look.”

Peeta’s stomach dropped when he opened the box there were daisies, roses and right at the top yellow dandelions like the one given to him all those years ago.

“Peeta? Are you ok?” a worried Katniss asked.

“Yeah. Sorry just zoned out. These are really pretty. I better get back to the trees.”

Peeta worked quietly for rest of the hour to trying to figure out why Katniss had given him the flower all those years ago and the pencils and notebook which became his companions. In the notebook he drew his fears, his hopes covering every page and when it was full his mom bought him a new one. Even now he always had a notebook in his bag.

“Peeta? Can I give you a lift home?” asked Katniss Peeta startled at her voice he looked around and was slightly shocked to see they were the last people there. He hadn’t heard the others leave.

“Ok.” He shrugged and gathered up his stuff.

“Katniss? Can I ask you something?” Peeta was nervous but he needed to know why she did what she did.

“Sure.” She nodded

“After…. the Cato incident there was a paper flower and art stuff left in my locker. Did you do that?”

He watched her hands tighten around the steering wheel and she took a deep breath before she answered.

“Yes. I just wanted to give you something nice you know. Those guys were so mean and the rest of us should’ve done more, told the teachers. I watched you almost disappear and I hated that the light in your eyes dimmed so much. Your family was going through so much.”

“You were just a kid Katniss,it’s ok. Really. We got help. As a family we’ve survived. What else could you have done?” He reached over and put his hand on hers, it was awkward in the car but he wanted -no needed- her to know that he was ok.

“Your flower gave me hope, gave my life some color at a time when I had none. Thank you for seeing me, at a time when I felt no one did.”

“I always saw you Peeta.” She was looking at him now Peeta wanted to look away her gaze was almost too intense.

“You’re a painter. You’re a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You are the noisiest walker I have ever heard. And you always double-knot your shoelaces.”

“I know these things because I’ve always watched you and yes I know that’s crazy and I sound like a stalker but I need you to know this because we’re going away to college soon and I would like to at least be your friend but what I really want is to know you better and Leon knows and he told me that if I didn’t tell you I liked you he would.”

“Slow down… what?”

“I like you. A lot. Your stupid brother found out and has been teasing me. He said he would tell you before I could especially since we’re going to be at the same college next year. If you just want a friend that’s fine but I would really like to go on a date so you could get to know me…. and then…..well who knows….”

“Okay.”

“Okay like let’s go on a date or like I’m going to get out of car and run away?”

“The first one.”

**********

And so they had their first date 2 nights later.

And their first kiss that night too.

Peeta asked Katniss to be his girlfriend on their third date.

They went to their dance together and danced under the canopy of trees and flowers they had helped create.

They had their first fight when Peeta struggled to understand what a girl like Katniss saw in him. He questioned why? He kept expecting things to fall apart and doubted what they had was real.

Eventually his mom took him aside and told him that his problems were bigger then him and a professional would be better placed to help him.

“You deserve happiness Peeta,let us help you find it.”

He started seeing Dr Aurelius with Katniss, his family and friends supporting him every step of the way.

He told Katniss he loved her one evening when they were in her parent’s house. They were watching a stupid movie and she was laughing. He watched her eyes crinkle, her chuckles ringing in the air as she sat there in a panda onesie and he blurted it out.

She smiled at him and throwing her arms around his neck she told him the same, placing tiny kisses all over his face.

And then they graduated. The one person who didn’t was Cato Snow who was expelled following a positive drug test and several reports of bullying.

Gale never spoke to Katniss again.

A few of the Mockingjays team had apologized for their part in the dance proposal telling Katniss they had believed Gale when he told them that it was her idea.

Neither wanted to go to the end of year dance, instead they went with some of their friends to a small cabin by a lake and had a quiet celebration.

And later, in the quiet of the night after they had spent time having their own private celebration. Katniss sang to Peeta

Let the bough break, let it come down crashing

Let the sun fade out to a dark sky

I can’t say I’d even notice it was absent

‘Cause I could live by the light in your eyes

I’ll unfold before you

Would have strung together

The very first words of a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose you

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose you

I choose you, yeah

There was a time when I would have believed them

If they told me that you could not come true

Just love’s illusion

But then you found me

And everything changed

And I believe in something again

My whole heart

Will be yours forever

This is a beautiful start

To a lifelong love letter

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose You

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose You

I choose You

We are not perfect we’ll learn from our mistakes

And as long as it takes I will prove my love to you

I am not scared of the elements I am underprepared,

But I am willing

And even better

I get to be the other half of you

Tell the world that we finally got it all right

I choose You, yeah

I will become yours and you will become mine

I choose You

I choose You

I choose You

She had just finished and Peeta was about to say something when Johanna shouted.

“Seriously?? It was bad enough listening to you two screwing each other senseless now I have to hear you sing?! Keep this up and you’ll have to find a new roommate!”

After their laughter subsided Peeta turned to Katniss and whispering quietly he said.

“I choose you too. Always.”

[thebachelordiaries]

Clare seeks HIMBO: ‘The Bachelorette’ cast first impressions

The Covid-19 pandemic has been rough for the entire world, but Bachelor Nation faced some dark days too. Going eight months without a single new episode from The Bachelor franchise is something I would really like to not relive.

Fortunately, those dark days are over. Clare’s season has me sucked back in. 

The quality of this image is atrocious.

Most of these men—presuming they followed CDC’s social distancing guidelines— haven’t seen a woman in months, are touch deprived, possibly unemployed and contemplating moving back to their hometown while stalking the housing market on Zillow. Everyone’s desperate. That makes for some pretty good TV.

This season features men ranging from ages 26 to 41. We’ve got a boy band manager, a grooming specialist, several men who look like they masturbate in front of full length mirrors and even more who probably want me to join their MLM pyramid scheme. 

I’ve never been more ready to roast a bunch of men who have nightmares about going bald. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since March.

Let’s go:

AJ, 28, Software sales

AJ is the kind of guy who writes “Looking for the Pam to my Jim <3″ on his Bumble profile. His bio is generic and probably not reflective of who he is as a person. If I were Clare I’d swipe left.

Ben, 29, Army ranger veteran

“Ben's favorite indulgence is an ice bath.“ Well then.

Alexa, play “Run” by AWOLNATION.

Bennett, 36, Wealth management consultant

Bennett’s profile is the biggest red flag I’ve ever seen. This man says he is the total package but hasn’t always been "this successful and good looking.” But wait, there’s more: “According to Bennett, his high school girlfriend is the only girl he's ever had to work for.“

Can someone tell me what NYC neighborhood he lives in so I can blacklist it?

Blake M1, 31, Male grooming specialist

Blake’s just another stereotypical “29th round draft pick who sat on the bench of the practice team before getting cut, but claims he left the sport due to an injury on his own accord.” 

Blake M2, 29, Wildlife manager

This Blake is an outdoorsy Canadian who seems pretty genuine and cool. Unfortunately, he has the face of someone who’d get sent home on night one. I hope I’m wrong.

Brandon, 28, Real Estate Agent

Just another boring hot person. Nothing to see here.

Brendan, 30, Commercial roofer

Brandan, not to be confused for Brandon, “loves some good true crime, working out and hanging out with his friends.” I can’t even make fun of this man. We have the exact same interests. 

Chasen, 31, IT account executive

The Winklevoss twins are actually triplets and Chasen is their long lost brother. But more seriously, have you ever seen someone who looks more like their name than this man?

Chris, 27, Landscape design salesman

“Chris hopes to find a woman who is sharp and witty but also easygoing.” Chris, sweetheart, have you met Clare? Easygoing...? There’s still time back out of this before it’s too late.

Dale, 31, Former pro football wide receiver

Dale aggressively screams “Bachelor material.” I’d say he’s auditioning for that role but Matt James already scooped it up. Better luck next year, Daley.

Demar, 26, Spin cycling instructor

Demar is a “very popular spin instructor in Scottsdale and says he can get on that bike and spin to any beat thrown his way.” Imagine how many trophy wives Demar has f*cked? 

Eazy, 29, Sports marketing agent

Eazy is very similar to Dale on paper. Except his name is Eazy so he automatically loses that battle.

Ed, 33, Health care salesman

“Ed is looking to find a woman who has natural beauty without looking overly fake.” Ed deserves to die alone.

Garin, 34, Professor of Journalism

Garin’s bio is giving me hubby material vibes. And maybe a little bit of a “gets eliminated on night one” vibe too.

Ivan, 28, Aeronautical Engineer

Ivan, what are you doing here? We’re in a recession. Please go back to your normal job before it’s too late. 

Jason, 31, Former pro football linemen

“He is a former NFL offensive lineman who, after suffering too many concussions on the field, decided to prioritize his health and change the direction of his life.” A big, brawny HIMBO with CTE? I feel like he’s Clare’s type.

Jay, 29, Fitness director

There are too many things about Jay that I dislike and I’m trying to keep this brief. Jay says “it's time to take a break from worrying about others and focus on himself instead.” I am willing to bet money that this man has never made a woman c*m.

Jeremy, 40, Banker

Jeremy is the oldest contestant ever to come on "The Bachelorette,” which may seem like a monuments accomplishment but he’s literally only one year older than Clare. 

He also “hates Instagram models, both male and female,” so he should have a lot of fun here.

Joe, 36, Anesthesiologist

Before I even saw his profession and location, I thought Joe looked like a doctor I’d find on a NYC dating app...and...uh...I probably did see him on there now that I think about it.

Anyway, this man has apparently been through seven stages of hell while on the front lines fighting Covid-19 in NYC so I definitely think he deserves to find love. Someone marry him please.

Jordan C, 26, Software account executive

I can already tell Jordan is going to get the “I’m young but mature” edit which means he’s probably not going to be good TV.

Too bad someone a tad younger (like Tayshia) wasn’t the Bachelorette. I feel like they’d make a cute couple.

Jordan M., 30, Cyber security engineer

I was going to say something mean but Jordan’s into cyber security and I don’t want my blog to be deactivated, so never mind. Cast photos are historically bad so I’m sure he looks much better in real life.

Kenny, 39, Boy band manager

I could go for the obvious drags regarding this man’s profession (or his sh*tty chest tattoo, or his suspiciously boyish face relative to his age), but I like to think I’m more clever than that. 

I’d like to take this time to talk about men, who are obviously difficult people, who rant and rave about how they want an “easygoing” woman. Look into the mirror, bud. No, not the one you use to jerk off to your reflection; the mirror that looks into your soul. Out of respect for the rest of humankind, have some self-awareness. Or maybe just see a therapist.

Mike, 38, Digital media advisor

Mike is seemingly a decent catch, but I can’t help but wonder why he’s still single or how he never (accidentally or on purpose) impregnated a woman in his 38 years of life. 

And now that I’m thinking about it, do any of these men have children? I have yet to see any mention of it in their bios. But there are eight men left to review, so there’s still time.

Page, 37, Chef

I spoke too soon. Page is a father! He also hates football! I’m a fan of this man. I was initially going to drag him for his name and say that Page is not a real name. PAIGE is a real name. PAGE is a piece of paper. I’m allowed to say this because we have the same name except mine is spelled the correct way. Based on my (mostly positive) review of his cast bio, I have decided not to hold his name against him.

Riley, 30, Long Island City

Riley, once married with children, would like to go on a family vacation that consists of touring every single MLB stadium in the country. If i were his wife, I would simply never give this man children.

Robby, 30, Insurance broker

No more Robbys on The Bachelorette. Society has evolved past its need for more Robbys.

This Robby described his dream woman as: “Incredibly athletic and able to throw back a few beers with him after a day of hiking. She has a sweet personality and won't mind that he spends his Sundays on the golf course.”

Someone please give this man a sex doll. He just wants a hole.

Tyler C., 27, Lawyer

“Tyler C. is a badass lawyer who says he is a businessman by day and a cowboy by night.” How does that make him a lawyer? Does this mean he’s into cosplay? I’m confused.

Tyler S., 36, Music manager

Tyler makes an honorable living off riding his brother’s dick success as a country singer. “He just LOVES his job!” Uh yeah, I would too if I had a low-show, high-paying job off the merits of nepotism. It’s the American dream.

Yosef, 30, Medical device salesman

Another dad! He’s totally going to pull the “girl dad” narrative. That saying is kind of sexist to me but the masses generally eat it up, so I’m fairly confident Yosef will get the "sweet guy” edit he’s looking for.

Zac C., 36, Addiction specialist

“He loves Philadelphia sports and dreams of sharing a Philly Cheesesteak with his future wife while watching the Eagles win a Super Bowl.” This man is so South Jersey it hurts. 

On a more serious note, I don’t think anyone in recent history has spoken openly about their personal struggle with addiction on this show, so I hope Zac gets a chance to tell his story. 

Zach J., 37, Cleaning service owner

Zach is seemingly obsessed with Clare already and hopes to introduce her to his mom as his fiancée. Since Zach watched Clare on Juan Pablo’s season, you’d think he’d know that Clare would first meet his mom during the final four hometown dates. Assuming he makes it that far. My prediction is that he won’t.

Final thoughts

After eight long months Bachelor Mondays are back!!!

Uhh....wait.

Actually, we now have the less-exciting Bachelor Tuesdays. Yeah, it definitely doesn’t have the same ring to it. But I’ll take anything at this point.

Here are my final predictions:

First impression rose: Dale. It just looks like he can turn on the bullsh*t charm

Final rose: Jason. Clare wants a HIMBO I just know it.

Bachelor: nobody (Matt James is The Bachelor)

Most likely to get engaged on Bachelor in Paradise: Blake M2

Most likely to get canceled online: Bennett

Most likely to get sent home night one but deserve better: Chris

Who are your favorite men cast on this season?

[nomimits7]

Cold Phoenix |5|

Title: Cold Phoenix

Pairing: FBI BTS x Gang/mafia member (named) reader

Genre: Mission au, FBI au, Gang au

Warnings: Angst, manipulation, riddles (sorry), betrayal

Summary: Being born as the Taboo child between the good and the bad of this world, Zebah grew up believing she was just another one of the stolen. But just like the moon that needs the sun to shine, seven FBI agents enter her life with the promise of freedom. Before long Zebah realizes she is just another pawn in the game of Mafia vs. FBI. Will Zebah ever learn to trust the seven men that betrayed her to get what they wanted? Will she ever believe the truth behind her own birth? Or will Zebah fall alongside her family that lied to her from the start?

A/N: This story is told in the third person. Try to guess who the narrator is! Also this is my first time writing in this style. Please do tell me what you think. Should I keep to it or not?? The bold words are flashbacks of past scenes. The normal words are what the narrator tells.

Part 4 

*-*

All she could gather from the profiles was names and sometimes roles too but that was it. No trace of these people could be found anywhere else. It was like they never existed. Well, seeing that they did have three very high-profile hackers on their side it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But Zebah didn’t know that, did she?

Destruct was the leader. W.H, Sunny, and Jay were their tech guys while A.D, Moon, and T.A were more the field guys. Even I have to admit their names made no sense, but at that point, that was all Zebah had. The leader, Destruct wanted to meet again, alone, and she still had to solve their riddles. Yet, Zebah felt somewhat hopeful that maybe they would just be the light she needed. They sure had captivated her with how…odd their request to meet came to her. A colorful box filled with feathers and a very particular reference to their first encounter.

‘Wings are made to fly’

The seven had full confidence that Zebah would take this opportunity to escape her life. But before they could meet her again, her birthdate finally rang a bell. A mutual feeling of guilt swept through the group as they realized the truth behind Zebah, yet they still had a mission to get through. Feelings would have to come afterward. Zebah’s day of birth was the day one of the most promising FBI agents went missing. She was pregnant with her first child, but after her disappearance, her memory was almost wiped away. Like she never existed. And that is how the puzzle pieces started to make sense to the seven.

Even though her birthday had a direct link to the disappearance of agent S.U.N. they still didn’t know how these two events linked to each other. All they knew was that somewhere, something did not add up.  

“It’s good seeing you again Zebah. We were wondering if you caught on to our messages or not. Seems like you have by the looks of it. Now tell us about the past you know so we know where to begin correcting some of your memories. Then we’ll get to our little deal” Destruct spoke as they all settled around the table. Dimples on full display as his platinum white hair fell over his eyes. And… was that an undercut?

Somehow Zebah had agreed to meet them again in secret, maybe it was curiosity due to the way they invited her. They were currently on a boat of some sort, a little way offshore. If they were to try and kill her now, there would be little no way of escaping. She knew how to swim but the distance and temperature of the water would not count in her favour. She somehow even found herself trusting them more than her own family back at the base. Something about the way they kept on speaking in riddles intrigued her, you know? It kept her on her toes.

“Well, I was taken when I was very young. I grew up alongside the other stolen children. I have a set of skills but little knowledge of the outside world. My training started when I was five years old and haven’t stopped since. Our mafia or gang works on a strike system. Get three strikes and you simply just disappear. I still have yet to gain my first strike. I thought I would get one after a mission I was in charge of turned south, but I think the mother of our leader secretly likes me cause she helped me get away with most things.” Zebah said while her gaze darted across the room.

It all made sense once they knew her side of the information. But they weren’t going to disclose it to her, yet. They first wanted to get the info they needed to lock the big boss up for good. But for that to happen they needed to come clean without physically revealing who they truly were.

“Well, that clarifies some of the information we managed to dig up. But before we give you your past we’ll need something in return” a slightly amused A.D said as he closely watcher her reaction. He was enjoying this way too much for an FBI agent.

“W-what do you want in return?” Zebah hesitantly asked as her gaze finally met theirs. She was scared. Scared to betray the only family she knew. Yes, they weren’t always loving or caring and would definitely not hesitate to but a bullet in her head. But they were still family…

“Information. We need you to bring us something to use against Phoenix. Something good enough to not only ruin their name but put them behind bars for a very, very long time” W.H said slowly, carefully taking in her features. She was almost as beautiful as him, almost.

“Who are you really? And why me?” Zebah asked as her heartbeat sped up. All her life she has been nothing more than a chest piece at the disposal of the big boss of Phoenix. Unfortunately, a little irritating voice in the back of her head told her that she’ll always be another soldier moving at the king’s command. Be it the white king or the black king, it wouldn’t matter as long as she played her part. If she managed to fail, the king would just command another piece to take her place. In reality, she was only useful when she obeys.

Part 6 

A/N: I honestly donno why I keep updating. Anywho... double update? 

[werewolfdays]

Touch prompt #8 please!

8. to protect:

“Why use trail cams?” I asked as I tightened the straps of one on a tree, “I mean, it’s not like Ivan can’t afford some fancy security. He’s definitely invested a lot into the Lodge itself.” 

Jayde always moaned and complained whenever she had to replace the trail cameras around the Lodge’s property, so I figured I would join her this time around. No one liked doing this particular job. I suppose it was pretty tedious. Jayde and I have spent the majority of the day replacing two dozen trail cameras scattered around certain points along the perimeter that were considered blind spots for patrols. 

We used an off road jeep to make things go faster, but the process became a little mind numbing. Drive, park, set up cameras, go back to the jeep, drive, park, set up cameras… I didn’t even notice evening was approaching until it was getting more difficult for me to see. 

“Well,” Jayde started to answer patiently, half distracted by activating another camera, “For more than a few reasons, actually. These cameras are built to be out in the elements and they last a long time without any maintenance. They’re camouflaged. It’s cheaper and less conspicuous to be buying them. They’re motion activated so we don’t have to comb through hours and hours of footage if we need to. And these ones in particular give us alerts when they’ve caught something.” 

“Those are all pretty solid reasons.” I said and accepted the newly activated camera she handed me. 

She shrugged, “Sometimes you don’t need fancy equipment. Just functional.”

The two of us trudged quite a distance away from the last one, making sure that the cameras were all evenly spaced out. Now that I was aware of the approaching darkness, it seemed to consume the dense forest a lot quicker, the clusters of branches soaking up the blackness of night. It was noticeably darker once we arrived at the next point. I fished into my pack for a handheld flashlight, glancing at Jayde enviously as she went to work on activating a camera without any difficulty seeing the mechanics. 

“This isn’t the worst date night.” I remarked while I waited for her to finish with the camera and hand it to me. 

Jayde snorted, “I suppose. Could definitely be a bit more romantic though.” 

I leaned my shoulder against the trunk of a tree and sported a smirk, “What isn’t romantic about setting up trail cameras with your werewolf girlfriend in the middle of the woods?” 

Her amused grin drifted up towards me for a moment, “There is a nice ambience.” 

“And we’re doing an activity together.” 

“Sure. Even if it’s not exactly the activity I’d prefer doing on a date night.” Jayde’s eyes flashed up again to shoot me a wink. 

My cheeks grew hot at the hidden meaning she was hinting at. “I’m sure you can wait a little longer for that. We’re almost done.” 

The forest grew pitch black by the time we headed to our last tree. The flashlight in my hand was the only thing that allowed me to see at all, and even then I would get slightly tripped up by the occasional root or rock. Jayde remained close and alert for me, her gaze shifting over our surroundings with meticulous focus. I really had no clue how she could sense anything in that seemingly endless darkness, but I was grateful for it. The woods can be kind of creepy at night sometimes. Especially this close to the property line where Jayde would patrol for threats. 

I struggled a little more than necessary when attaching the last trail cam to the tree, trying to juggle the flashlight in my hand while connecting the straps. It took me a little too long to realize I had an extra pair of hands with Jayde here. I rolled my eyes at myself, holding the camera in place with one hand and holding the flashlight out towards Jayde with the other. 

“Can you hold this for me?” I asked with a brief glance over my shoulder. My grip on the camera wasn’t as secure as I intended, it started to slip out of place and I brought my other hand back to catch it, but that just made everything jumbled up in my arms. “Crap. Jay, I could really use a hand here.” 

“Nadya.” Jayde said. 

My name came out of her mouth in an extremely tense whisper. A warning exhaled under her breath. I didn’t even need to see her for that to put me on high alert in just under a second flat. My head turned towards her and the first thing I saw were her glittering amber wolf eyes staring out into the darkness. She was looking outwards from the property line, her entire body still, every muscle coiled and ready. 

“Come here.” Jayde commanded quietly, “Turn your light off.” 

I obviously couldn’t sense whatever she was sensing, I couldn’t even hear anything out there in the night. Nevertheless I did what I was told, knowing without any doubt that if Jayde was certain something was out there, then something was out there. Turning off the flashlight would get rid of one of the only senses I had that would help me in this situation, but I felt confident with Jayde having my back. Once darkness engulfed us, I slowly lowered the trail camera down on the ground and took careful steps towards the shape in the dark I knew was Jayde. 

As soon as I got to her, Jayde held out an arm in front of me like a shield. Her hand rested on my hip, the protective touch easing my nerves, and she slowly pushed me behind her while her gaze remained firmly locked on whatever she sensed lurking in the cover of trees and night. I held onto her arm, peering over her shoulder to try and find any glimpse of movement at all, but there was nothing my human senses could pick up on, which was frustrating. 

“What’s out there?” I whispered, only loud enough for Jayde to hear. 

She didn’t answer me, only stood as still as a sentinel and waited. Her muscles were so rigid that it felt like the hand gripping her upper arm was holding on to stone. I couldn’t see her face, so I focused once more on the curtain of black before us. The longer I stared, the more I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, swirls of shadow swaying back and forth while my eyes desperately searched for anything. I even thought I could see vague pinpricks of light. 

Then I started to think that it wasn’t an illusion of night. Two pinpricks seemed to be getting closer, traveling low to the ground. A snap of a twig confirmed this was no figment of my imagination. With its cover now blown, the strange wolf released a low rumbling growl that raised all the hairs on the back of my neck as it continued to stalk closer. 

The wolf got within twenty feet before Jayde finally let out her own menacing warning, “Not a step closer.”  

They halted at her words, but didn’t stop their challenging grumble. My eyes had adjusted enough to make out the shape of the predator, to see that this wolf was not on the small side. Apart from the glowing yellow eyes and the flash of white teeth, I couldn’t make out the color of their coat, but it had to be dark to blend in so well with their surroundings. 

“Leave. You want in, then I suggest you come back with a better attitude.” Jayde stated with slow and commanding words. 

The wolf didn’t seem impressed by Jayde’s display of authority. In fact, their growls seemed to become deeper and more threatening and they started to pace back and forth like an animal trapped in a cage. They didn’t advance just yet, but this behavior made me think they were looking for an opening. My heart started to race. 

“When I tell you to go to the jeep, you run.” Jayde ordered under her breath at me. 

I gripped her tighter in an unwillingness to leave her side, but I wasn’t sure how I could match a massive werewolf, in their wolf form, in the middle of the night. There were even doubts bouncing around in my head at Jayde’s chances. She was a strong and capable fighter in both of her forms, but this beast had fangs and claws, whereas she was stuck without hers right now. We stupidly left the only gun we had in the jeep. The long day of work made us careless. Maybe this wolf had been stalking us all day, waiting for this exact opportunity. 

There was no time to ponder a defensive plan because the wolf decided to strike. The black mass of snarling teeth and fur sprang forward so fast that their glowing yellow eyes became a blur. 

“Go!” Jayde shouted at me, shoving me away from her and preparing to meet the hostile beast. 

I scrambled away on instinct, but the image of Jayde getting torn apart by this rogue wolf popped into my mind and the terror of it made my limbs turn into lead. Then I realized I wouldn’t have gotten very far anyway, because when I turned around, I saw the large werewolf gunning straight for me. 

It felt like my heart completely stopped. Jayde couldn’t get to the wolf before it got to me, I didn’t even have the time to cry out. The massive beast slammed into my body, taking me down and knocking all of the wind out of my lungs once my back impacted with earth. I was nearly crushed under their weight. 

Was this it? I thought. At the very least, a bite was guaranteed. There was nothing to stop the wolf from tearing into me. All they would need is a second to do it and I would be totally helpless for exactly that long while Jayde rushed to get to me. 

All I saw was a snarling mess of razor sharp teeth baring down towards my throat. I shut my eyes, bracing for the moment they clamped down. But I didn’t feel any pain. Only heard the loud clack of snapping jaws next to my ear with a short rush of wind. My eyes suddenly opened in confusion, thinking that they somehow missed their mark, but then I saw the satisfied expression on the werewolf. They weren’t trying to kill me or turn me. They were trying to scare me. 

That’s when Jayde got to us. She used all of her strength to tackle the giant wolf off of me and engage in a vicious attack. While she might not be in her wolf form, she still delivered a bone breaking right hook straight into the wolf’s face. They yelped and flinched away from her, trying to shake off the blow. Her own furious snarls echoed into the woods as she went for another devastating attack. The element of surprise was her advantage, but only for a few moments. I could see that the enemy werewolf was about to gain the upper hand. They managed to strike with a swipe of their claws, ripping through Jayde’s jacket and knocking her off balance. The opportunity was used to pin her down.  

“Jay!” I called out hoarsely, still struggling to regain even basic breath. 

I couldn’t just lie here and do nothing. There had to be something around that could help me. Somehow the flashlight was still in my grasp, but that was too small to be a useful weapon. After oxygen finally returned to my lungs, I turned it on to desperately look around. Maybe a rock or a big enough stick would help. Then my beam shone over the backpack we left by the tree and I remembered the hunting knife we had. It wasn’t as ideal as a gun, but it was certainly better than nothing.  

I shakily got to my feet and rushed toward it, hoping that Jayde would be able to hold out for a few more seconds. My hands scrambled inside the pack until my fingers finally wrapped around the handle of the blade. I pulled it out, discarding the sheath, and directed my flashlight over to the battling tangle a few yards away from me. It was impossible to tell if Jayde had been hurt, but the dark brown wolf was big enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally stabbing her. 

I ran at them, wasting no time in raising my arm and bringing the knife down on the back of the werewolf that had my girlfriend pinned. The blade sunk more than halfway in and the wolf let out a high pitched whine, recoiling away from us. I pulled the knife free and firmly placed myself between Jayde and our assailant once they made their retreat. 

“Stay back!” I yelled, glaring at them. 

They glared right back at me in both contempt and surprise, clearly not expecting me to injure them at all. 

Jayde sprang up behind me. I almost turned around to check on her condition, but I knew I should never take my eyes off of an enemy. She carefully took the knife out of my hand and stepped in front of me once more, breathing hard and full of rage. 

“That all you got?” She challenged. 

A human chuckle sounded from within the trees and a man stepped into view, holding his hands up casually, “Okay, okay, we’ve had our fun.” 

It was hard to make out any details of his face, but he was a fairly tall man. Possibly not that much older than I was because his voice sounded mature, yet still somewhat young. He carried himself confidently, surprisingly laid back despite the tense scene. I frowned as his shoulders still shook with laughter, not understanding how any of this was funny. More puzzling was when he waved his hand and the wolf that just attacked us backed off. 

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Jayde’s voice shook with fury at the revelation that this assault seemed to be a big joke of some kind.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. After what you pulled at Miranda’s gathering, you honestly didn’t think nobody would come and test the might of a new alpha.” He mocked and took a nonchalant step forward, “You’re lucky I didn’t tell Bruce to bite your little human. I only wanted to mess with you a bit.” 

Jayde held a protective hand out over me again, her palm resting flat against my abdomen to make sure I stayed where I was. I could tell she would not budge from her place in front of me this time. 

“Let me make something extremely clear to you.” She used the same tone with this man as she had when warning the wolf, and I actually saw his smile start to fade, “No one threatens her. I don’t give a shit if it’s just a joke. Anyone that hurts her or scares her, whatever the fuck, will answer to me.” 

The stranger’s laugh grew slightly nervous at her intensity. Bruce, the werewolf I stabbed, was lying down in the dirt and whimpering, trying to reach the wound on his back to nurse. I almost volunteered to look at it, but I couldn’t imagine Jayde would let me anywhere near these two. I wasn’t exactly eager to get close to the massive wolf that nearly tore my throat out either. 

“Look, maybe it was a bit… much... to toy with your mate like that. No hard feelings, alright? Why don’t I buy you two a drink at the Lodge and we’ll have a good laugh about it?”

Jayde didn’t seem swayed by that lackluster apology, “You’re not going to the Lodge. I won’t allow it.” 

The stranger scoffed and stood up straighter. I gathered this man was an alpha in his own right, though I didn’t recognize him at all. He had to be from a lesser known pack. “I have permission to enter from Ivan Cortez himself. You have no say.” 

“I do have a say.” Jayde growled, “Ivan gave me the authority to remove individuals who display violence on these grounds unprovoked. Which means I get to tell you to promptly fuck off.” 

He snarled quietly, pulling a phone out of his pocket and going to dial a number, “We’ll see about that.” 

“Go ahead. Call Ivan and tell him I say you’re not allowed in.” The alpha hesitated at her words, sensing more to them just like I did, “I don’t care if he clears you. You take one step over that line, it won’t end well for you.” 

After a long moment of pondering his chances, he lowered the phone and placed it back in his pocket. 

“Apologize to her.” Jayde added in a curt command. 

Even in the dark, I could see the stranger scowl, but I sensed his attention drift over to me, “I apologize for any offense or any injury I’ve caused. Please forgive me. It won’t happen again.” 

I gave an accepting nod, “Maybe you’ll find a better sense of humor in the future.” 

“Maybe. You two have a good night.” He said while backing away. The stranger motioned for his pack member to follow and the injured wolf hobbled along after his alpha. Jayde must have done more damage to him than I previously thought, there’s no way my stab wound alone was causing him to limp like that. 

Once they disappeared back into the woods, Jayde fully turned to face me. Her expression became one of concern as her hands ran over my body to assess any potential injuries on me. I doubted I would have anything more than some bruising later, but Jayde still looked frantic. 

“Are you okay?” Her golden eyes searched me as thoroughly as her hands did. 

“I’m fine, Jay, I’m okay.” I quickly reassured her, trying to use my flashlight for my own inspection. 

There was some blood splattered in her clothes where Bruce’s claws made contact, but not too much. Hopefully they were shallow cuts. Either way, I wanted to get her back home and to the clinic. 

“He didn’t bite you? He didn’t draw any blood?” She gently cupped my face and scanned my features. 

“No. I’m okay.” I repeated confidently. 

Jayde pulled me into such a fierce embrace, burying her face into the crook of my neck. She took in a deep breath to inhale my scent, and released through a long sigh that allowed her tense body to soften. I held her too, feeling just how terrifying it must have been for her to see that wolf take me down, and I let relief wash over me in the safety of her arms. 

“Are you okay?” 

She nodded against me, “Just some scratches, it’s nothing.” 

We pulled back enough to look at each other again. Jayde’s eyes no longer had the glow of her wolf and her hand came up to rest on the side of my neck, her warm palm against my pulse like she needed to feel the steady beat of my heart against her skin. Her thumb brushed my jawline and I was overcome with the comfort of her contact, tilting my head forward until our foreheads lightly bumped together. 

“That stupid motherfucker...” She cursed under her breath while shaking her head, “I’m so sorry.” 

“We were expecting something like this to happen. It definitely wasn’t okay, but it could have been worse.” I told her. She was still tense, so I leaned in. 

The kiss I pressed to her lips was gentle, yet reassuring, wanting to make sure she was positive that I was fine. She melted into me even more when she kissed back, causing me to smile a little against her mouth. I kept it brief, giving her one more peck before pulling away from her. 

 “Let’s set that last camera up and get out of here. I wanna go home.” 

“So do I.” She murmured. 

But Jayde wasn’t fully satiated yet. Her other hand came up to mirror the one cupping the side of my neck and she leaned in to give me a deeper kiss than I had given her. This one was more intimate than the last, pulling me in and anchoring me to her, banishing any lingering fear from both of us. A warm emotion replaced it, pooling in my chest like a sunrise, and making me feel completely safe again, even in the darkness that surrounded us.

Her lips made one more soft stroke against mine and then Jayde slowly broke away from me, walking back to the tree where the trail camera was left and strapping it on the trunk.

[mysticalrunawayprincess]

All He Wanted

Posting chapter 4 here because someone requested it so, here you go!! xxxx

Chapter 4: Bull By The Horns

Cherry stared in disbelief at Jay's sullen form standing before her. Hands trembling on the door frame as she held the door open, chest heaving.

They both stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity,  Cherry's look of incredulity matched by Jay's look of surly determination.  

"Can I come in?" Jay asked quietly.

                              ***********************************************

Jay pulled up outside the building, and sat for a while just thinking. He knew that seeing Cherry was going to be  hard, he just didn't know it was going to be this hard.

When she had left him standing there, watching her walk away from him and out of his life, she had done so without any real explanation.

"We can't do this..."

Jay had chalked it up to them living different lives in different  countries, but if he was honest; that still didn't quite answer the  question for him. Something in his gut told him there was more to it  than that, and if Cherry had just been any other girl he may not have  cared; he would have just moved on to the next.

But she wasn't just any other girl; she was the woman that made him happy, scared and excited all at once. The woman that made him feel like a kid on Christmas morning every time he woke up to her or saw her name come up on his phone.

He  needed to know why she had left him after things were going so good between them.

And as he got out of his car, walked into the building and took the elevator to the 20th floor, he promised himself he wouldn't leave without an answer.

                           ***********************************************

They'd been standing in her kitchen for 10 minutes now, not saying anything.

Jay fixing Cherry with an intense look and Cherry trying to avoid his gaze.

He had noticed earlier that her hair was different than the last time he saw her; curly braids now fell over her left shoulder, instead of her usual twist outs or pineapple buns.

He could smell her scent, even at this distance; vanilla with a hint of coconut.

"Natalie's going to be here soon." Cherry blurted out into the deafening silence.

Her panic had been at critical levels since she had opened her door.

What is he doing here? How did he know where I was staying?

Jay chuckled humourlessly. "No, she's not."

Still in his all black attire from earlier, no baseball cap though and the tattoos on his left arm now covered by the black hoodie he was wearing. His nose piercing twinkling in the ambient lighting as he spoke, light glinting off of his soft lips.

Cherry's head snapped back to him. "What do you mean?" She questioned, a panic of a different kind setting in.

Though Jay was literally standing in the doorway, and she against the opposite wall, in her panicked mind things seemed a whole lot closer.

Jay sighed and took a step toward Cherry, meeting her eye making her take an involuntary step back in return, her back now completely against the wall.

"Cherry, we need to talk."

He looked weary, like something was weighing him down. Jay's usually  twinkling deep brown eyes were now pensive, his face fixed into an intense  stare making Cherry squirm under his gaze, looking at the floor as her mind frantically scrambled for something to say.  

Though she was in an emotional turmoil; Cherry could not deny how good he looked, even with the pained annoyance that was painted on his face, his eyebrows arched in expectation as he waited for an answer.

"I..." Cherry started.

Jay was still in his all black attire from earlier, no baseball cap though and the tattoos on his left arm now covered by the black hoodie he was wearing. His nose piercing twinkled in the ambient lighting as he spoke, light glinting off of his soft lips.

He could hear the hesitation in her usually-confident tone, could  practically see the cogwheels in her mind turning as she scrambled for  an answer to both placate and get rid of him.

But he wouldn't be dismissed so easily.

"Jay... I'm sorry..." Cherry whispered weakly, a single tear escaping down her cheek. "I... I didn't mean to hurt you... I just... I didn't think we could -"

Jay cut her off with a kiss, catching them both off guard, his hands cupping her face as his lips met hers, his emotions taking hold of his actions for a brief moment. The passion and the longing being communicated loud and clear.

Cherry's brain immediately went blank, unable to process anything else except the feel of Jay's lips on hers.

It was a feeling she had been missing - craving - for far too long.

His soft lips.

His soft warm hands.

His smell.

The feel of his firm body against her.

All of it was melting her and her resolve to the core.

It had to stop.

                             ***********************************************

The very first time Cherry first saw Jay... she knew she was attracted to him.

She could tell by the way her stomach filled with with nervous butterflies, the kind of butterflies you get when going down a rollercoaster or opening a heartfelt gift.

He had a warm yet slightly goofy demeanour about him, quick to laugh and even quicker to smile.

Sat in one of those office chairs, idly spinning back and forth as he joked with one of his artists. No cap on his head, his jet black curtained hair gently falling into his eyes as he laughed, his nose piercing sparkling in the glow from the overhead spotlights.

A full sleeve of tattoos on his left arm in which he held a phone, and a compass tattoo behind the ear, stark contrasts to his easy-going and lighthearted character.

Though Cherry hadn't been too familiar with Jay, she had heard little things here and there. She was aware he had achieved a lot and had set a new tone for the Korean music scene.

But as he wasn't the objective of her visit, Cherry didn't plan on paying him any more mind than necessary.

Her whole reason for being in Korea was a 'working holiday' - that is, she got an email from a friend inviting her to come and visit and so, after making a list of all the STEM facilities in Korea and surrounding Asia, she accepted and booked her tickets.

Cherry was not there to get familiar with anyone.

But when she first met eyes with Jay, the familiarity was already evident on both ends. His voice was a melody her heart danced to and every time he spoke it skipped beats.

Though, they hid it well; brief yet polite hellos, a quick introduction followed by light impersonal group chatter, leaving no room for intimate conversation.

However, that didn't last long.

Raw attraction can never be fought, only deferred.

Something they would both come to learn and appreciate.

                            ***********************************************

Gathering every ounce of determination she could muster, Cherry pushed him away, shaking her head almost as if she were trying to shake the feelings out of her head. "No, Jay..." She whispered. "We can't... I can't..."

"Why?" His tone had hardened considerably now, the sharpness of his jaw accentuated by his teeth set on edge.

Feeling Cherry push him away had hurt Jay, badly. But though it hurt, he kept stoical; he didn't come here to let one half-assed push keep him away from what he came for.

He stepped back leaning against the opposite wall again, lifting his foot to rest back on the wall behind him and crossing his arms, fixing Cherry with a hard stare that made her wince.

She had never seen this Jay before; his gaze burning with a simmering anger as he stood regarding her like a tiger ready to pounce.

Cherry swallowed thickly, remembering Jay's plus one earlier as her face settled into one of flimsy defiance, her lower lip quivvering ever so slightly.

"Why do you care? You got over it pretty quickly," she laughed humourlessly, a feeble attempt at making light of the situation but still bowing her head quickly to hide the hurt.

Now it was Jay's turn to swallow.

"You left." He said harshly.

"I did." Said Cherry closing her eyes against the accusation, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jay had wanted to add, "Didn't I mean anything to you?"  but he didn't dare sacrifice anymore of his pride.

Cherry stood in silence as she watched Jay regarding her with such smouldering rage. His eyes, though in shadow from his hair falling into his face, shone with such ferocity they practically glowed.

Cherry took in a breath, shaky with uncertainty.

She didn't want to say something that could exacerbate things in any way.

"We were moving too fast," she offered lamely.

"Bullshit!" Jay spat, his body trembling with anger.

His voice, though spoken in a low tone, nonetheless dripped with venomous enmity that Cherry could feel all the way to the pit of her stomach.

Had they been moving too fast? Probably.

But it had been at a pace, and in a direction they both were mutually being pulled in.

So she was going to have to do a lot better than that.

                             ***********************************************

The first night he had met her, she had come to the office. Not on any official business, but as a friend of a friend of someone Jarv knew.

Cherry walked in, and it was as if the air left the room.

Her hair was worn in a twist out that she had piled on top of her head in a messy pineapple, with a white silk scarf as a headband. With her  melodious laugh and mellifluous tone, Jay immediately thought of the singing muses in Hercules.

Her warm smile, and easy-going nature belied the font of intelligence beneath. Her Korean wasn't good (but then this was her first time being here), and her personable countenance meant she had no shortage of volunteer teachers in the office.

After a slightly awkward hello, Jay had kind of just sat back and watched, observing her behaviours and mannerisms.

The way Cherry tilted her head when in conversation.

The way her face lit up as she turned her face to laugh.

Her grace.

Her quiet confidence, even in a room of strangers in a foreign land.

And then he had gotten to talk to her.

Really talk.

After coming back from the bathroom to find her seat taken, Cherry  took the only available seat next to Jay.

As the group conversation was already on music, through their seperately voiced opinions they fell into their own private conversation, getting into a lively debate on which year was the best for RnB and hip-hop, and paying hommage to the blues singers of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

They didn't get to talk for long, Cherry (and her friend) had only come by to meet Jarv for dinner, but as his session had run a little late, they sat and chatted with everyone while they waited.

Jay himself was supposed to be working. He had only meant to casually partake in the conversation so as not to be rude.

But after Cherry walked in, he found himself subconciously pushing his responsibilities to the side, at the promise of being in her prescence just a little bit longer.

And, all things withstanding; it was a decision he was still yet to regret.

                            ***********************************************

"Cherry, I let you in. I didn't force you, I didn't buy you; you wanted to be there just as much as I wanted you there." Said Jay, in the same hard tone, nostrils flaring. "You didn't tell me we were 'moving too fast' when I gave you the passcode to my home; the place where I live."

He paused here, letting that fact sink in; she literally had unfettered access to his private domain.

Not even any of the AOMG/H1gher guys besides Chase had been to Jay's home before, making Cherry's rapid admittance all the more siginificant and indictive of the deep relationship that had been blossoming between them.

"And I didn't tell you we were 'moving too fast', when I skipped out on performing at HipHop Playa so I could spend time with you in Thailand."

Cherry's head had been bowed as Jay spoke, each point he was making needling her in ways she didn't want to handle.

When Jay mentioned Thailand she involuntarily looked up, her cheeks damp with the tears she had been silently shedding as Jay continued on his emotional tirade.

Thailand had been a trip of a life time, and it had been completely spontaneous. Brought on by a combination of Cherry leaving to go back home, the hard work she had been putting in and Jay's desire to make a positive impact while also giving himself to time to be with her and only her before he had to say goodbye.

They both remembered that trip; her of the feeling when he told her to pack a bag, and he of the look on her face when she realised he had planned something special.

Jay should have been perfoming with some of the boys, promoting their latest single, but since he'd already perfomed it twice on national televison with them, and since it was 4 days before Cherry was leaving for home, he decided he needed to take that time to make sure she would come back to him.

Bringing up a trip she had never asked him for was a little unfair, but Jay wasn't trying to throw it in her face; he was  just showing her how inadequate her pitiful reasonings were.

"And now, you want to tell me we're moving too fast?" He finished in a dangerously low tone.

Cherry chewed her lip anxiously as she tearfully gazed up at him. She didn't know what to say, and it was written all over her face.

She was stuck.

After avoiding and practically ignoring her for the whole day, even going to lengths to skip out on a meeting that had been 6 weeks in the making, here Jay was; in her house demanding answers from her.

Though he hadn't touched, spoken to or about her in almost 6 months, Jay had daydreamed this moment over and over every single day since she had left.

What he would say to her, what she would say to him, how they would reconcile and how everything would again be right in his world.

But looking at her now, her cheeks streaked with silvery tears, nervous angst etched onto every feature of that same beautiful face that had haunted Jay's conscious and subconscious thoughts for a whole year, he now realised that this situation was not going to play out in the way he had hoped.

The thought sobered him and he sighed, stepping towards Cherry again, his pent up anger now spent.

Though the frustration still remained, he had softened considerably.

Reaching for her, he wrapped her in a warm hug; a protective blanket Cherry had been missing for longer than she cared to admit.

The last time he had held her like this, she had crushed his heart - and hers.

His arms enveloped around her as he gently rocked her side to side as her tears fell.

Jay was never a person who could be angry for long; he simply wasn't built like that. It took a lot to get him angry to begin with, and even then he would rather walk away, choosing instead to be calm rather than explode.

Him confronting Cherry in this way was so out of character for him, but at the same time it felt necessary. He hadn't been able to get over her no matter what or who he did.

And judging by the way Cherry clung to him, burying her face in his chest; the feeling was mutual.

As he listened to her heartfelt soft cries, he realised he didn't care about the Why anymore; all he cared about was this moment, the chance after so long to have her in his arms again, where she wasn't pushing him away or trying to put up a wall.

Where she leaned on him the same way she always did in the short time they had gotten close to each other; counting on him to protect her from whatever it was out there. Outside of them.

Jay looked down at her; at her long eyelashes wet with tears, her nose red and sniffling. He could feel her trembling against him, and the feeling he had about something being not right about the way she had left intensified.

Jay opened his mouth to speak soothing words which he thought might coax her into a level of comfortability that would allow him to get the answers he was loooking for. And present him with an opportunity to talk her off the existential ledge she seemed to be committing to clinging to.

Until a shrill sound split the still air with its cacaphony, causing them both to jump out of each other's arms and look towards the bedroom, where Cherry's phone continued to ring, and ring, and ring, and ring.

[artificialqueens]

The Goode Case, 9/14 (Jaida/Jan) - Juno

Chapter Summary: Who is lying to Jaida: Brita or Jackie? Meanwhile, Jaida must help Widow face her grief, and her own spectre.

(A/N: Hi all! I hope you enjoy part nine. Thank you for your continued support!)

6.56PM

Brita’s shoulders tensed up suddenly, looking cautiously at the door. Jaida turned to see why.

Crystal was holding the door for Aiden, both of them looking calmer than they had earlier, but they were too far away from the door to catch them. Brita turned back to her wine sharply, while Jaida watched the two of them slowly amble to the bar.

“Oh, so you were messaging Aiden as well, were you?” Jaida smirked.

“Not about coming here,” Brita muttered, her voice hitching with nerves.

Jaida watched as Aiden’s eyes flicked over to the three of them for a split second, before flicking back to Vanessa behind the bar. Crystal was leaning on the bar, pointing at one of the drinks behind it.

Jaida leaned towards Brita. “She looked.”

“She did?”

“Yep.”

“Does you think that mean she’s interested?”

“How the hell am I meant to know that? Ask Jackie, she’s the mind reader.”

“Maybe we should put work aside and just go sit with them,” Jackie suggested.

“Too late,” Jaida muttered, as Crystal and Aiden approached them.

“Hi.” Crystal waved to the three of them crowded in their single seat, giving them a small smile. “Look, this is a bit weird, but … can we sit in the seats here? There’s no other free booths.” Crystal motioned to the spare row of seats.

“Uh, sure,” Brita motioned, and the two students slid into it.

“Thanks,” Crystal nodded. She turned to Jackie. “You called me earlier, is there – is there an update on Gigi?”

“No – “ Jackie leaned a little nearer, and Crystal did too. “But we’re organising an investigation tomorrow, at the house again. Hopefully it can give us more information than yesterday. Can you come? In the afternoon? We may need your …”

“You can see spirits,” Jaida continued, to clarify, “and we could always use more people who can do that!”

“If it will help Gigi, I’ll do anything!” Crystal nodded fervently. “And Aiden too?”

Jackie’s glance flicked to Aiden, lingering a second too long. Jaida felt Jackie stiffen next to her.

“Alright. But no one else, please.” Jackie chewed her bottom lip. “I will send you a message when we know the time.”

Jaida’s phone was ringing, this time with a work tone, but an unknown number. She stepped out of the booth and walked over to the back door, which was a little quieter.

“This is Hall.”

“Hall, this is Lake, from Forensics. How are you?”

“I’m –“

“Great to hear it.” Darienne Lake, Forensics team leader, was well-known for not beating around the bush with pleasantries. “Listen, I can’t get in touch with your case leader, so you will have to do. Sniffer dogs haven’t been able to find anything more than what we’ve already reported from the weekend. No evidence that Georgina went past the guest house.”

“Didn’t you mention this to Brita when she went down earlier?”

“What? No. We did see her, but she just parked up and went into the old guest house for a bit.”

“But – didn’t your guys call her down for something? A lead?”

“We’ve had no leads, Hall. Why would we call her if we’ve had no leads? Look, we’re putting it on email for her as well. Let her know if you hear from her before, will you?”

Darienne disconnected the call without another word, leaving Jaida to frown at her phone.

Brita hadn’t mentioned she’d been to the house. All Jackie had said was that she’d been to Northfield for a lead, but now Lake was saying she hadn’t even called her down. Lake was straight-talking, and Jaida knew she wouldn’t lie.

She had to ask Brita about it.

Jaida looked back at the table. Crystal and Aiden sat opposite Brita and Jackie, looking like the conversation was relaxing around them; even Jackie was starting to appear less tense. How was Jaida meant to approach this?

Crystal eventually picked up her purse and took Aiden’s hand, leading her to the bathrooms. Perfect.

Sliding back into the booth opposite, Jaida cleared her throat.

“Brita, that was Lake from Forensics. You know Lake, right? Tells it how she sees it?”

“How could I not know her?” Brita chuckled.

“She’s going to send you an email from their work today. No leads.”

“Oh, alright.” Brita nodded, chewing her lip.

“None at all.”

“Alright, fine.”

“Nothing all day.”

“What are you trying to say?” Brita muttered.

“You went to the house.”

“You went to the house?” Jackie repeated. “Brita! Why didn’t you tell us? We should have gone with you! You can’t be going alone! Look what happened earlier today, and that was with three of us!”

“I just forgot my torch there,” Brita replied smoothly, patting her bag. “Nothing major. And – ow! – stop trying to read my mind! Why do you think I’m lying?”

“You could have just told Jackie you’d left it, and not that you’d heard from Forensics,” Jaida pointed out. “No big deal. But Lake was just on the phone to me, and she said she hadn’t even called you!”

Brita sighed. “What is wrong with you two? I thought we were working together on this!”

“We are working together! Come on, Brita, you’re being a bit evasive now,” Jackie reasoned, reaching for her arm. “We just want you to be honest with us.”

There was a short silence, until Brita turned in the booth to face Jackie.

“Alright,” she said, “go ahead. Read my mind. Then you can see that all I wanted was the torch. And nothing else happened.”

“Are you sure?”

“We should –“ Brita motioned to the back yard, which was quiet and empty, and Jackie nodded. They slid out of the booth, leaving Jaida alone in the booth with her thoughts.

Crystal and Aiden came back from the bathroom shortly afterwards, looking out the window at Jackie and Brita as they passed.

“Hi, Detective Hall.” Crystal gave another nervous wave.

“Call me Jaida. Now that we’re all doing psychic shit together it might be best to be familiar.”

“Psychic shit,” Aiden muttered, and for the first time since Jaida had seen her, started sniggering.

“So, Jaida,” Crystal said, peering up at her, “have you – I mean, have you seen ghosts for long?”

Jaida cocked an eyebrow. Aiden’s eyes darted between them both.

“I’ve seen them all my life,” Crystal continued. “I have a big family, which means lots of grandparents, great-grandparents who die when you’re young. The first time I saw my great-aunt Rosalia in my room, I thought I was going nuts! So did my mom. She took me for some baptism thing at my church!”

“Really?” Jaida cried.

“Yeah, my mom is very superstitious. Thought it was the devil! She came round eventually. But at first it was so scary to see them all.”

“Oh.”

Jaida wasn’t quite sure how to react to this. In Crystal she’d found – an equal? A confidant, maybe? And for once she didn’t know what to say. Other people around her seemed to be far more open, more comfortable with these truths than Jaida herself was.

She turned to Aiden, hoping to change the subject. “And you don’t, like, teleport or some shit do you?”

Aiden just shook her head quickly, averting her eyes to look into her glass of coke, her shoulders becoming stiff. Crystal gave her a nudge, but Aiden just shook her head again.

“Alright,” Jaida said, “you don’t have to say.”

Brita was striding back inside, having left Jackie out in the garden; and reached for her purse, which was on the seat next to Jaida.

“Jaida, I’m going now.”

“What?” Jaida exclaimed. “Why?”

“Just –“ Brita hissed, motioning to the front door, and Jaida followed Brita out there, both slipping under one of the umbrellas in the bar next door to avoid the rain, which was still coming down. Brita settled a little, but Jaida could see her face was a little red, and her eyes staring at a point in the distance as she spoke.

“I think I’m moving Jackie off the case tomorrow. She’s becoming a liability.”

“What?” Jaida cried. “Liability? I have no idea what you’re talking about now.”

“She hit me, Jai!” Brita motioned to her cheek, and Jaida could sure enough see finger marks in the redness. “Slapped me right across my face! I was just trying to talk to her!”

“She slapped you? Why? That doesn’t sound like Jackie.”

“I don’t know, she’s gone nuts!” Brita’s voice was tense, nervous, her hands jittery in her lap. “I think the whole – ghosts, telepathic stuff – it’s all gotten to her a bit. I think she needs an office role for now. We’ll find Gigi’s body alone.” Brita forced a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Jaida swallowed when Brita said body. “You really think she’s dead?”

“I don’t know what else she can be, sis.” Brita shook her head sadly. “Listen, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m gonna go home. Get some rest. Think about what to do about Jackie.”

Jaida went back into Vanjie’s, which was starting to heave with people, struggling to get at the bar for Happy Hour. At the same booth, Crystal was still in place, with Aiden opposite her, her eyes on her coke, while Jackie sat, dazed, next to Aiden. She grabbed Jackie’s hand and pulled her from the booth, moving away from the bemused students.

“Jackie,” Jaida hissed. “You slapped Brita?”

“What? Did she say that?” Jackie frowned. “Why would she say that?”

“I don’t know, Jackie,” Jaida put her hands on her hips. “But I saw her face, and there was a mark on it! What the hell is wrong with everyone today?” Jaida cried. “Am I the only normal person left?”

Jackie shook her head. “I didn’t though! I was just trying to connect with her, but I don’t – I mean, I didn’t hit her!”

“Did she hit herself then? Did someone else walk up and hit her?” Jaida snapped.

“Jai, you can’t possibly believe that I did that!”

Jaida hoisted up her bag over her shoulder. “Honestly, Jackie, I don’t know what to believe. I’m going home. I’ve had enough already.”

“Jaida!”

But Jaida didn’t look back. She made her way out of the bar and into the torrential rain.

7.50PM

The bus ride seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. Jaida’s thoughts spiralled in her mind, from Brita’s grim acceptance that the case was now a hunt for a body; to Jackie’s startled denial of the accusation of hitting her team leader. But there was no reason Brita should lie about that too. Plus, she had the mark on her face! One of them was lying.

And then Brita’s strange revelation that she had returned, alone to the house. Forgetting her torch was a feasible enough reason to return there, but what had prompted Brita to lie about that? Was she lying about being slapped as well? How had the red mark appeared on her face if she was?

Things were getting stranger and stranger, and Jaida hated it. She felt as if everything was happening around her, with her powerless to control any of it. The paranormal stuff was bad enough to get used to, but all the uncertainty surrounding this case and her team was starting to mess with her mind.   

When Jaida got indoors finally, the room was dark, curtains drawn, but the room didn’t feel empty. Switching on the light, she found Widow was sprawled on the couch, one shoe on and one off, staring at Jaida, her eyes glassy. A bottle of red wine sat on the floor, empty and laid on one side.

This was bad. Really bad.

“Widow, what are you doing sitting in the dark?”

“Thinking.” She barely moved. Even her lips didn’t seem to move.

“Have you had any more than that bottle?”

“I had – the whole bottle?” Widow turned slowly to the ground, then made a nonplussed face. “Huh. I had the whole bottle.”

“You hate alcohol. You said yourself it made you do crazy shit, it tore your family apart. You swore off it last year.”

“Do you blame me?” Widow’s voice was slow and bitter.

Jaida shook her head. “No, I don’t, of course not.”

Jaida was a little uneasy, but she came and sat at the edge of the couch to see how Widow would react; to her relief, Widow moved her feet and carefully, slowly sat herself upright. Although her eyes were a little vacant, Widow didn’t actually seem too drunk.

“What’s on your mind?”

But Widow laughed with surprising energy. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.”

“She does. And you do.”

Jaida shuffled over on the couch to wrap her arms around Widow, who leaned into Jaida’s side. Widow was much shorter than Jaida, and her chin just about reached Jaida’s shoulder.

“I miss her,” Widow breathed against her shoulder, slurring her words slightly. Jaida could feel Widow’s heart racing, and the heat of her body as the alcohol pulsed through her. Her lips were black, stained by the wine she’d drunk, her eyes bloodshot, pupils wide.

Jaida squeezed her a little harder, and that was when the spirit appeared.

Lank hair, skin ashen, most definitely not of this world. Her dead eyes rested on Widow, not on Jaida. Her arms were stiff, gruesome in their bloodied mess, and she stood in the corner as she always did, motionless.

Jaida, emboldened by her work that day, had a thought come to her out of nowhere.

“What was her name?” Jaida’s voice was breaking, and she half-expected Widow to run away immediately; trying to make Widow talk about anything personal was like trying to milk a wall. But Widow just shivered, the alcohol loosening her tongue and her mind.

“Tori. Victoria.”

Jaida swallowed as the figure in the corner took an uneasy step towards them. She forced herself to stay calm.

“How – how long had you been friends?”

“Oh God,” Widow shuddered again, “since … kindergarten. Yeah.”

“Were you in school together all – all your lives?”

“Yeah, all the same classes until – I left for college and she didn’t.”

Widow was shaking, but Jaida focused on the figure in the corner, now emerging, taking another step towards Widow, and another, seeming to glide towards them, becoming more and more real.

Stay calm. Widow needs this.

“When did you last see her?” Jaida asked.

Widow was shaking with grief. “July. When I went to KC and we went to that show. She –“ Widow stopped, the veneer of drunken blankness creeping over her eyes, but she blinked and carried on. “She had on this stupid shirt, this stupid pink shirt, and she wanted me to swap, but I didn’t, cause she – she’s like a size ten, and I’m a fourteen …”

Widow’s voice died as she started to sob into Jaida’s shoulder, the spirit close enough to touch. Now that she was so close, Jaida saw her grey face was lined with sadness; her hair was more dark brown than black; and her hollow eyes swam with tears.

She was reaching for them both, and Jaida’s fear was fading again, turning to empathy.

“… and she ripped the fucking shirt taking it off, if you can believe it, and I – I had this stupid idea to share the shirt I had with her, it was too big for me …” Widow wiped her eyes furiously. “So – we both put our heads in the head hole, and had one arm each, like we were fucking ten years old or something!”

The noise coming from Widow was still sobs, but now laughter mingled into it.

The woman behind them both reached a hand and rested it, ever so gently, on Jaida’s hands, clasped at Widow’s shoulder.

Jaida jolted in worry, but she just felt a spreading warmth through her body, like an open fire on a winter day, making the hairs on her arms stand on end. She exhaled, unaware she had been holding her breath, and lifted a hand to the woman, but she moved her own hand to Widow’s arm, where it gently rested.

“I really didn’t want to think about her,” Widow whispered, her words still slightly slurred, “but it’s – it’s not so bad, talking about her. Remembering her. Actually, Jai, I think you’re the first person to ask me anything about her.”

“You just threw yourself into painting and shit, instead of thinking about her,” Jaida agreed.

“She was my best friend growing up,” Widow finally leaned away from Jaida, wiping her eyes again, “I got so many memories of her. She was amazing.”

“You got any pictures?”

“Sure, how long have you got?” Widow exclaimed, rubbing her eyes and grabbing her phone from the coffee table, flicking the screen open.

Jaida glanced up at the spectre, her face becoming more relaxed, the lines around her seeming to blur, as she faded into the air, disappearing from Jaida’s sight – Jaida knowing somehow that she was fading for good, her goal – to make Widow open up about her – accomplished.

Widow sniffed, tears falling onto the screen as she hurriedly wiped them off. “This was us at the show in July. In my big ass shirt.” She managed a laugh. “It was ruined the next day.”

The picture was Widow and the figure that Jaida had seen, this time in life, her head squashed by the shirt’s head hole next to Widow’s, the logo on the shirt stretched ridiculously across their chests. One of each of their arms was through the arm holes of the shirt.

Widow’s head was thrown to the side, her black curls dancing around her face, frozen in a laugh that Jaida could hear from just looking at the picture. Her friend – Tori – had a bottle of Corona in her hand and was kicking her leg on front of Widow, her face a picture of joy.

Jaida had never seen Widow so happy.

9.34PM

Jaida’s phone was ringing, a friend tone, but she looked down at Jackie’s number and groaned.

“Go away,” she hissed at the phone, as the tone faded.

Jackie: Jaida please pick up, please don’t ignore me

Jaida:What do you want

Jackie:It’s better if we speak, not message

Jaida rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to speak. Her two colleagues were both acting bizarrely and she just wanted a rest. She didn’t reply to Jackie’s message, and Jackie didn’t send her another.

Her phone buzzed again, thankfully not Jackie this time.

Dahlia: ok my mom is on shift tomorrow so I can come at like 3?? X

Jaida: I will let Brita know. Thanks Dahl you’re amazing xx

Dahlia: btw you never told me about Heidi and her date x

Jaida:I met her, she seems nice xx

Dahlia:oh good, Rock did the cards for the first time and I think she had one wrong x

She picked up her phone again and brought up Brita’s contact, with the selfie they had taken as their screenshot.

Jaida: Brit Brittany Bit

Brita: what’s up Jai x

Jaida: Dahlia is good for tomorrow at 3pm x

That was all that needed to be said. Brita was acting just as strangely as Jackie. With a start, Jaida’s eyes fell on her bag, and she realised that she had forgotten to pass Brita the book. Oh well, it could wait until tomorrow.

Her phone sounded again. Why was everyone trying to get in touch with her right now? Jaida expected it to be Brita again, but her stomach leapt to her throat when she saw the message.

Jan: hey gorg. I got Friday evening off shift. Can’t wait to see you at six! X

Jaida: Can’t wait either Jan. See you Friday xx

Jaida wrapped her braids for the night and got into bed, allowing her thoughts to turn to Jan, conjuring her image in her mind, adding in details here and there; her voice, her eyes, her lips …