#kinda surprised i didn't mix the blue and green up

[belorussiandino]

another one because i can't help myself its very fun

close up for the new one:

having fun on whiteboard :)

here are some close ups:

[nickfurysrighteye]

college au!chase davenport x fem!reader

summary: you're a college student. you go on a date with adam, the campus' fuckboy, but you didn't know he had a brother...

cw: kinda nsfw!! swearing, mentions of sex/hooking up, heavy make out in a public place, you and chase get reaaally touchy, adam's an asshole (sorry adam). that's it :)

a/n: part 2 here!! this is not what i was going for when writing another chase x reader but i thought "fuck it, chase smut"

minors do not interract!!

"y/n guess what, this guy at the party yesterday told me he saw you on campus and wanted to ask you out so i told him we're roommates and he gave me his number." your roommate says, the morning after she went to a frat party.

"wait really? what's his name?" you reply with a mix of surprise and excitement in your voice.

"adam davenport"

"oh my god that fuckboy wanted my number?!" you say, kind of disappointed. frat guys weren't really your type and adam was definitely the complete opposite of what you want in a guy. he is known on campus for two things: his parties and being a total asshole to girls.

"i don't want anything to do with him, especially after my last relationship, i don't need a guy like that."

"you don't have to date him, what you need is a rebound to forget your ex. go out with him, hook up and then leave, that's what he does anyway." your friend's plan wasn't that bad, you take it into consideration.

"to be fair, adam is kinda hot and i do need a rebound..sure i'll text him, why not."

-

adam didn't live on campus, he had a small apartment downtown his father paid for so he didn't have to live in the dorms. after a bit of texting he asked you to come over to his place. you didn't expect much from this date, your idea was to follow your roommate's plan and you made sure to look your best in order to go through with it.

"hey, come on in." adam says opening the door for you. the apartment was small but tidy. you enter the apartment and make your way into the living room, which was an open space including the kitchen. sitting at the kichen island was a brunette guy with a black long sleeve tshirt, focused writing something on his laptop. he looks away from the screen the moment he hears your voice.

"hi, I'm y/n."

"oh, he's my brother, chase. we're roommates, don't pay attention to him."

"you're in college too, chase?" you ask.

"yeah i'm a physics major." he looks at you and slightly smile, a small dimple forming on his cheek.

"no way i'm a physics major too, how come i've never seen you at the lectures?"

"getting noticed by girls is not his strong suit. why don't we go to my room, we can watch a movie." adam says quickly, trying to get you away from his brother. it was clear he wasn't supposed to be there but adam couldn't do anything about it.

instead, you get closer to chase "what are you working on?"

"i'm writing a paper on the poly-exclusion principle. it's weird, usually the girls adam brings home don't do this much talking. they aren't physics major either. " he stops writing and leans a bit onto the table to get closer to you. he looks at you with that slight smile. his eyes were like watercolors, brown blue and green swirling together, framed by the fair mauve color of the skin underneath. he wasn't getting as much sleep as he should be.

you want to reply but his beauty his mesmerizing. his ruffled brown hair, his rosy lips, his hands, which had a dash of red on the knuckles from the cold weather. you just can't look away.

"ok that's enough small talk, let's go y/n" adam interrupts your brief conversation, taking you by the arm and slowly leading you to the corridor.

"if you're going to have sex please be quiet. i have a lot of work to do." chase says loudly as the two of you walk away.

how many girls does he bring home? do i really wanna be just a number? you think as you walk into adam's room. you start to reconsider your plan, you aren't so sure you want to hook up with him anymore.

-

adam's laptop is set on the bed, a movie playing in the background. you're making out but it's not leading anywhere, too many thoughts going through your head.

"so...you wanna hook up or..?" adam pulls away from the kiss.

"uhh..i-"

adam stops you mid sentence "it's ok if you don't, but if we're not gonna do it then imma ask you to leave."

"what?" his audacity baffles you.

"yeah imma be honest, that's the only reason i asked you out so if you're not cool with that there's no reason to keep this going. i actually have another girl i gotta call-"

"oh my fucking god you cannot be serious." you stand up, hastily gather your things and head to the door.

"what? i said i was gonna be honest." adam says suprised.

"listen i knew you were famous for one night stands but jesus fucking christ have some tact!" you open the front door and leave, swinging it close behind you.

"byee! have a good night!" chase shouts, sitting in the same spot with his eyes glued to the screen. "well that's a first! she was nice."

"fuck off chase."

-

the next day you decided to spend the afternoon studying at the campus' library. you arrive later than you usually do and hope to still find a good spot. after a some wondering around you see a familiar figure sitting at a table with a laptop open. the brown haired boy from the previous night sitting at the table alone, you walk over to him.

"hey, chase, right?" you remembered his name, matter of fact you thought about him a lot after leaving adam's apartment, there's something about him that just pulls you in you can't help it.

"hey, good to see you here." he smiles again, this time showing his pearly white teeth.

"mind if i sit here with you?"

"no, not at all."

"how's the paper turning out?" you pick the the seat right across him.

"It's driving me insane, i think i spent so much time writing it I'm starting to show signs of severe sleep deprivation. how about you? what are you studying?" he rubs his tired eyes and run his fingers through his already messy hair. that boy seriously needs to sleep.

"i'm just going over some course material. I've missed a couple lectures, not that the professor knows how to teach this stuff anyway." you say as you take out your books and laptop out of your bag.

"i can help you out if you want." he leans a bit to see what material you're going to revise.

"that would be great, actually. thank you so much."

a few hours go by and now the room you're in is basically empty, the only sound filling the deep silence is the quiet mormouring of you and Chase talking. the two of you are now sitting next to eachother, not really studying, you gave that up around half an hour ago.

"by the way i'm so sorry about adam, he can be a real asshole sometimes."

"don't worry about it. if i knew he had a brother i wouldn't have gone out with him." a light chuckle leaves your mouth as you finish your sentence, then you realize the words you just pronounced. you turn your eyes upon chase and see him with his head lightly tilted, a smirk on his face and his watercolored eyes gazing at you with a glimpse of amusement. he chuckles.

"i'm sorry, that was weird. forget i said that. what i meant was adam's not my type anyway." an even worse feeling washes over you, god why can't i just shut up your thoughts are interrupted suddenly by chase's low and soft voice.

"what's your type then?" so many words fill up your thoughts but none are coming out. you stare at his lips, his soft, plum, roseate lips that had a blood colored aura in the center. you want to know what it's like to kiss them, to bite them, to feel them all over you, to feel them brush against your neck as he whispers sweet words to you.

you don't say anything, your body leans closer to him and you slowly close your eyes, all of a sudden you feel your lips meeting with chase's for a quick moment. your eyes open again and your faces are inches apart. chase places carefully a hand on your cheek and gently places his lips back on yours. he moves with such care it seems if he kisses you any harder you're going to break. he kisses you so tenderly it sends chills down your spine. he's so gentle and warm, it's like cold was the only thing your body has ever known until he touched you and heated you up.

he brushes his tongue against your lower lip and haltingly pushing it into your mouth, making your tongue swirl together. you felt your body get even hotter, your heart starts to race, his tongue felt so good you didn't want the kiss to end. his hands start to wonder down your body, feeling every curve, caressing you, studying your shape with his fingertips. his hands go down until they reach your hips, then they slowly make their way back up. he stops right underneath your breasts. your body's craving more of his touch. you need to feel him. all of him. you move one of his hand up and he cups one of your breasts squeezing it, making you moan softly into the kiss. your sweet sounding moan makes his lungs clench and cheeks burn. as he starts to lightly circle around your nipple with his thumb your hands travel up his thighs and get closer to his groin. his pants are getting tighter.

just like that chase pulls away from the kiss and moves his hands away. "we're in public, i think we went a little too far."

you laugh, "yeah i- uh, i think so." you don't care, truth be told if it were for you, you'd be bent over the table with your pants pulled down and chase pumping his dick into you. you couldn't care less about someone accidentally seeing you, you need more of his touch. you've never craved anything more than this. you need him.

"It's getting late, we should go." chase starts to gather his things. "we- uh, we should study together again...sometimes."

"yeah, sure uh...here..take this." you rip a piece of paper from your notebook, write your number on it and hand it to him. "text me, or call me or whatever you want." you pack your things.

"sure i'll see you at the lecture, goodnight." chase leaves and as he walks out of the library he looks at the small piece of paper.

"adam's gonna kill me"

-

a/n: thanks for reading <33 PART 2

[nana-mizu-shiki]

Kk. So. This isn't so much art but more a poem that I'm going to put into a fic I'm gonna make. Y'know song fics? Like that but with a poem. One I made and am going to give you the context of, I just wanna know if you guys would think a poem song fic would be cool.

The fic promt I thought of was:

What if Tim was dipped into the Lazarus Pit, but twice?????

And then I started coming up with a bunch of stuff listening to music, and I was like:

Thought Process? : Tim died in that desert. The Spleen incident didn't just leave him with a surprise surgery. It left him with glowing green eyes and half-white bangs. But of course, none of the Bats can know that, so, hair dye. Suprise, Suprise, the Pits don't bring Rage, they bring out the worst of a person. Jason? Anger. Ra's? Cruelty. Tim? Apathy. Tim's triggers? Betrayal, Abandonment, Reliance, Expectations Set For Perfection. Because. He. Has. To. Be. Perfect. Inherits Drake I. and Wayne E., slowly trying to cut ties with Gotham and The Bats, fades into the background until The Bats are too late to realize and too late to try to even stop him as he and Ra's make a deal. The deal? Cliffhanger. Up to the reader. And Worse? The Bats don't even realize as he left, taken back with The Demon Head to become his heir, and after months, training under Ra's himself, Returning to Gotham Under the alias of Shadow Shrike, civilian Tim D. W. A. G., although legally Timothy Drake-Wayne. Forever 17, hair shoulders length and bangs white, eyes permanently and mix of ice blue and mint green, flecks of Lazarus neon green passing even at simple glances of those he once called family. Dying his bangs temporarily in public, his vigilante-ism the thing that alerts the others of his return, his change. His Revival. His Death. Blah Blah Blah, Angst Confrontation Shenanigans, Details and Description of how the Pits affect Tim, how the Batfam try to reconnect and makeup, Yadda Yadda, Ends on a sorta cliffhanger thing where the reader chooses which Tim goes to as a Confrontation happens on a roof and Tim chooses between Jason, the Other Bats, Ra's, And Young-Just-Us.

Damn that was a word vomit.

Anyway, the poem is below,

Edit: I kinda realized the poem I'd really long and I'm considering putting this on Ao3 itself lol (*＞∇＜)ﾉ

👇

Green.

Abandoned and left; unthanked for,

Unthanked for?

They're ungrateful.

Green.

Lied and unapologetized to,

Left on Their own, and never recognized too.

Green.

Complete it all,

Raised to be Perfect,

Can never fall,

Always quiet and obedient,

Now Forever Indifferent.

Green.

To bring back the Bat,

Is to travel and turn,

Be ostracized and taken from,

Wings given to another,

Betrayed by those meant to be Their Brothers.

Green.

Betrayed and afraid,

Kicked out and replaced and stolen from a child,

To make a deal with The Demon Head

And to sell Their soul,

All Their worth,

All They've done,

What other choice?

What else is left?

Mentality;

Already on the brink,

Morality;

Like liquid and searching for who it obeys,

Green.

Left to die,

All alone

No longer were they meant to fly;

Sacrificing all their lives,

To help others and then left to die?

Green.

Green.

Green.

Green.

Green.

Alive.

Alive.

Alive with no care. No care at all.

Apathy pulls the teen.

Eyes and vision glowing green all because of a spleen.

Okay so I'm not done but I really want to save this, so pls let me know if you want to read more of this poem or the ideas of the fic it will go to. Thanks for reading (*^▽^)/★*☆♪*.ﾟ+ヽ(○･▽･○)ﾉﾞ +.ﾟ*

[aishnico]

#𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙁𝙁 𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙏𝙊𝙉: 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦

» summary: spending valentine’s day with your beloved one while listening the vinyl he bought for you

» word count: 1.2k

» warnings: major fluff to angst with no happy ending, grammar issues

"hey babe! i have a surprise for you," you called happily while approaching him with a small box.

"oh? is that my late birthday gift?" he asked playfully.

you rolled your eyes. "babe, you know i didn't forget your birthday. indeed, i was the first one to celebrate you."

"yeah, because we live in the same house." he got more playful.

"ugh... i just wanted to connect your birthday with today. i'm not that rich, you know. so i bought only one thing for these two days."

"hey..." he said while taking the small box away from you and putting it on the coffee table. "i'm just messing with you. you don't know how much i appreciate all the things you do for me. i love you and you only. i'm so lucky to have you." he now trapped you between his arms. he was smelling mix of cigarettes and your favorite cologne of his.

"i love you too cliffy. so, so much. and i think we are both lucky to have each other." you looked up to him and met with his sweet smile. he kissed your forehead and then gently pulled you away.

"i have a surprise for you too. wait here." while leaving the living room. making you feel excited.

after a couple of minutes, he returned with a brown paper bag. he then sat next to you.

"first, open yours." you said while grinning. he nodded and took the box from the table and started to open it.

"it's kinda heavy. babe..?" he looked at the thing inside the box. it was a bass pedal he had been looking for a while.

"babe!" he put away it and then hugged you tightly. "you don't know how much i needed this, thank you so much!" he said while hugging you tighter.

you were working hard on your job to buy this. you didn't tell him, but he already knew that. it was the best gift for both his birthday and for valentine's day.

"cliff, babe, i can't breathe-" he finally let you go but the grin on his face didn't.

"now open yours."

you took the paper bag to your lap and took out what was inside of it.

holy shit...

it was pink floyd's wish you were here vinyl.

and it was from the 1975 edition. even so, the cover of it was looking new.

you couldn't help but gasp loudly. he knew this was your favourite album of them. whenever y'all go to vinyl shops you would look for this.

"cliff, babe-"

"shh," he said while taking the vinyl from you and opening the cover of the record player. he then carefully placed the vinyl on it and placed the needle. seconds later, you heard the intro of shine on you crazy diamond. the vinyl sounded so clearly. he really did find the best for you.

you then snuggled each other. him resting his head on your head while you rest yours on his chest.

"you know, this is not the best album to listen to on valentine's day."

"then why did you place it there?"

"just wanted to make you happy."

"well then, let's just relax a little. then i promise to listen with you to motorhead, sabbath, misfits, or whatever you want."

"i'd like that." he said happily before dozing off on you. you joined him minutes later.

you both woke up at the beginning of wish you were here. looking at each other sweetly. he then suddenly got up and reached out to you. you gave him your hand not knowing what's he planning.

he dragged you a few steps from the couch. placing his arm to your waist and other is pulling your arm up. you smiled at him while placing your free hand behind his neck. burying your face in his chest.

so, so you think you can tell

heaven from hell?

blue skies from pain?

can you tell a green field

from a cold steel rain?

a smile from a veil?

do you think you can tell?

"clearly this is also not the best song to listen to on valentines day." you said breathing in his presence. your voice sounded sad. knowing the story behind this song.

"yeah... hey, what's wrong?" he asked and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

"i don't know about the other songs but, this song and shine on you crazy diamond were written to group's old band made, to the soul of the group, syd. listening to it now reminds me of him." you paused. "oh, sorry... today is supposed to be our day."

"well, i'm sorry for him, for them. i know this is not going to help but, if you don't pay attention to the lyrics, it sounds like a song to slow dancing with your partner."

you smiled. "you're right though." buried your face further on him.

how i wish, how i wish you were here

we're just two lost souls

swimming in a fishbowl

year after year

"you can't even imagine how much i love you cliff. i always gonna love you, i always gonna support you. as long as you let me, i always gonna be by your side. even if we break up in the future, i'll always wish you and to band the best."

"bold of you to assume that we're going to break up in the future." now both of his hands were on your waist. leaning his head on yours. "i swear to you, i'll never leave you and let you leave from my life. you're all i want, all i need. i love you, more than you'll ever know."

tears were continuously falling from your eyes. he gently pressed his hands on your cheeks and wiped them away with his thumbs.

"hey now, i didn't say all of this just to make you cry." he smiled at you and gently pressed his lips against yours. it was a sensual kiss. after a couple of minutes, you pulled away slowly, smiling at him.

when the last song ended he took out the vinyl carefully and placed it back to its cover.

"don't forget, only death can separate us. i promise." he said and grinned before he went to place the new vinyl on the shelf and pick the vinyl he wanted.

— october, 1986

he really kept his promise.

you didn't know when you finally accepted this to yourself.

you didn't even know if you could visit him, did you really have that strength? could your heart endure?

endless telephone calls, visits from your beloved ones, the newspapers... all of these made you weaker and weaker.

but you had to. you had to fly there and tell things you wanted to say. you had to be strong for his family, you had to be by their side. you had to support the band emotionally like they've supported you.

you finally got up from your couch, went to the bathroom to wash your messy face. after taking a deep breath you started to look for plane tickets to sweden.

running over the same old ground

what have we found?

the same old fears

wish you were here

[theredqueenandthebloodwyrm]

episode 8 Castlevania Nocturne

Episode eightttt

Like Major Spoilers

Like don't read this if you don't watch spoilers for the season 1 finale type of spoilers

I can't spell the Vampire Messiah's name. I'll admit it. Ezeb...Bathory? Captions to the rescue, it's Erzsebet.

Anyways her Sekhmet Transformation is a total glowup and I can get behind the new hair. Also that gold and black dress? Yes, just yes. And that golden chariot? Loving it!

Did the Abbott fucking forget that Isaac didn't actually kill his son??? Yeah Tera fucking tell him!

Edouard's singing!! Forget the power of love, try the power of music. Well actually they're somewhat intertwined but yknow.

Hahaha get wrecked by a turtle Drolta! Turtle attack! Or uh tortoise. Maria's animal summoning is wonderful. Shoutout to the teleporting cat too.

Olrox saving Mizrak was a nice surprise. Love his green eyed shadow form. Haha go kick their asses Olrox!

Erzsebet / Vampire Messiah's new Sekhmet design is so...so good, that is a god. A goddess who can and will kill you. Then Olrox saved Mizrak from being a suicidal knight, like seriously what were you thinking Mizrak? If Richter Fucking Belmont and his blue flames couldn't touch her, what was your basic ass sword gonna do??

She wasn't gonna kill her? I mean she planned to turn Maria into a vampire so kinda kill her but like everyone totally was thinking she was going to use Maria as a sacrificial lamb of sorts (myself included) imagine my surprise when she was like "no dumbasses, I'm giving her life" albeit vampiric life.

Gasp my heart "I don't want you to die, Mizrak."

No no no not Aunt Tera being the fucking Ram.

Huh you know I wondered how someone became a vampire in the Castlevania universe. Guess the classic drink their blood and then give them vampire blood works. Damn newbie vamps are hungry as fuck it seems.

The Abbott's face is hilarious to me, it's a look of pure terror mixed with the realization he fucked up.

ALUCARD?? ALUCARD?

Bye bye Drolta!

ALUCARD ALUCARD ALUCARD HOLY SHIT IT'S HIM

Oh how have I missed him.

What happened to his pigment though? Is it a vampire thing? Like his hair went from blonde to nearly pure white? Skin too? Has he been sleeping in a coffin for these few hundred years without moonlight? It's probably a vampire thing. Or half-vampire in his case I suppose.

I love all these characters, the animation, the music and soundtrack, the beautiful voice acting, the story and its themes. The character designs, their outfits, their glowups, their magic.

[colleenmurphy]

It all started on a very normal evening out for drinks and dinner with her newest beau, a really sweet cop from Chicago that had dreamy blue eyes and a voice that could melt her brain into her shoes.

"So here I am half way down seventh and park just on my beat when I pull up and see this little girl, pigtails in ribbons, backpack too big for her pink sneakers the works. Then it dawns on me that it's the little girl that went missing four hours ago and her parents are frantic..."

Colleen was hanging onto his every word as he sipped his tequila and water and she occasionally drank her white wine. Then she smelled it...or them, rather. A noxious blend of cloying night jasmine and sickly honey mingled with mugwort and cedar capped off by bitter ivy and icy birch. To her it was gag inducing but it soon passed.

"I pull up along side her and ask her if she's lost 'cause she was walking all determined. Kinda like you.."

Biting his lip she resisted the urge to jump him right then and there. It had been many moons since Colleen had felt this spirit in this form. She felt a blush rise high in her cheeks as she drank deeply. Her time in Endor she'd felt it strongly only to be left well into the 1700s until he popped up again. But she digressed and turned her attention again from the annoying smell and back to Bill.

"She answered me with a tiny timid yes and she had these huge green eyes that just struck me and that's what pulled me into the search. I was well out of my way and technically on a different beat entirely. But I'd found her. I introduced myself and let her wear my hat and play with the buttons a little. But I really won her over when I hand delivered her to her mom on their front porch. Made me proud of myself that day. All the shit I did in my life, over there...that was a life away from what I did to get where I am now. I helped someone. I knew I was in the right line of work."

She smiled and again her ancient heart melted. Taking his hand in hers she traced his lifeline. Good and strong mount of Venus. Unbroken.

"You're awfully affection this evening, Col."

She smiled again before leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"It's Friday, I got paid and I'm with one of my all time favorite people."

"Ya mean besides Helene?"

A throaty laugh left him as he shook out a cigarette, something Colleen didn't quite approve of but couldn't fault him on since she herself had her own hand rolled cigarettes of a different variety in her purse. She'd already lit up I the ladies room to get her nerve up to even consider asking him about taking the next step she felt was right in their relationship.

"Yes. What was what drink you were trying to get me to try?"

"Oh it was a margarita...little different than what you're used to, babe. Aren't you Miss Colly Safety usually? You sure you want to mix your wine with liquor?"

Yes, he knew her very well, almost too well. But now was her turn to surprise him.

"I'm feeling a bit wild this evening. We don't have to be up early and we're booked for the Keys tomorrow evening. Helene's going to lose her mind when she sees the rental."

He stopped playing with the raven and triple moon charm on her bracelet.

"What if I told you it wasn't a rental?"

Their waitress came back over in a cloud of spun sugar sweetness of maraschino cherries and presumably spilled cheap vodka and Jasmine.

"Anything else for you two tonight? Dave in the back he can whip up somethin' quick if you've got a drive ahead of you."

"I'll have that margarita thingy..."

"Colleen you've never said 'thingy' in your life...are you sure?"

"Yes, I've had one glass of wine and it was paired with the usual crab cake and salad."

She was logical and practical but Bill had to admit that he was surprised.

"Ok, get your pen out Tammy...a double shot of silver tequila, a shot chambourd and Gran Mariner shaken over ice and garnished with the salt sugar rim and a lime."

A slow blink and a pop of her gum gave it away that Tammy was a touch impressed and jealous of Colleen and her taste in male company. As she walked away Colleen smelled it again. This time her stomach gave a lurch.

"I'll be right back."

"Ok, but the drinks are almost here."

Dashing off as fast as her feet could carry her towards the ladies room she bolted the door and made a fumble for her Tiger's Eye.

'Helene...do you feel it? Is it what I think it is?'

Colleen had been around for a very long time and she had grown to feel that nothing could frighten her these days. Until she felt the twinge of being hunted by whatever...no, whoever was giving off that god awful stench. A twinge of brimstone mingled now until it wafted away as quickly as it had come over. She stood there clutching her Tiger's Eye and shaking out a joint in there other. Slipping it onto her necklace chain she sighed and inhaled. Giving herself a good three minutes before breathing deeply and spraying herself down lightly with whatever was in her purse. Some aquatic and airy. Perfect. Walking back out she met his eyes and he shook head slightly as he chuckled.

"Did I miss something?"

"The other waitresses think there's a skunk out back, Col."

Biting her lip to stifle an equally embarrassed and amused snicker she blushed.

"Whoops..."

"Sorry about the wait...damn skunk must be back out there again by the dumpsters. Here's your drinks and your bill. Ya'll have a wonderful night."

"Cheers, Colly baby."

"Slainte, Liam."

A clink of glasses and a few sips and Colleen was feeling positively giddy. She had sipped from the fountain of youth for the sheer fun of it ( it's slightly carbonated and a tad salty with a tinge of Mangosteen if you really want to know ) and she had the privilege of partying in wine from many courts of many kings and nothing compared to the ambrosia that had graced her palate.

"Holy shit you've never made that sound before."

Opening her eyes she gave him a worried look that shifted to a flush of self awareness and the alcohol hitting her stomach. Liquid courage was starting to hit and she touched her necklace once more.

"Maybe you will...later."

She watched his eyes widen and a wolfish glimmer take hold. If the floor could have opened up she would have thrown herself in head first as she blew him a kiss.

"I said that aloud...hollyhocks and sunflower stalks.."

Cradling her head in her hands for a second she ended up laughing at herself. For the first time in ages. With him.

"You are literally the only person that talks in flowers when they're embarrassed and I love it."

"Only when truly and deeply embarrassed. But, at least I've got a nice little in onto the next subject."

Fiddling with her straw she sipped again. This time she was surprised to find a splash of grapefruit soda hitting her tongue. It was pleasant mind setter.

"I know your feelings on marriage after your divorce with Katherine and you know how my last relationship ended with Jeremy. But what about..

Her mother's voice rang out in her head.

'Every time you look at him you get lost in his eyes. I see what was, what could be and what will be. Just ask him.'

A flurry of activity hit as door the tavern opened in a whirl wind of rain and leaves. Helene's curls sprang out as she came in searching the place.

"Hey!"

Politely walking passed a few other couple she made her way over to their booth by the fish tank.

"I hate to break this up but...I've got bad news and good news. I'm an agent of change right now. Don't know what's got my tongue but this cat showed up and now I can't shut up. I'm too honest. Oooh..tequila!"

Taking a sip she pulled a face.

"Oohh. somebody's gonna feel that in the morning."

Bill chuckled as he finished his and took Colleen's hand.

"Oh, She's been dancing with the devil's lettuce, eh? Ok, here's my shot because she won't be blunt with you. You love her and she loves you. You know her knitty gritty past when it comes to love and you know she's into kinky shit. She's wild for and about you and you her. Colleen's at that age in a witch's life where babies are on the brain. Big time. She sees you she wants babies. Specifically your babies, k? We all know how you both are about walking the aisle again and I really don't know if she can..technically. But...yes, she wants to settle down and have a home with you. Buutt...here's where it turns like mega shit bad. We're being hunted. Someone's out there looking for Col and I and we need to skedaddle on out of here before they find us. I've got Mama Murphy on the case and Pops on it. How fast can you drive or should we let Col do it?"

"The smell!"

Bill to his credit was sitting there stone silent taking it in.

"Yep. So yes, let's get paid here and get to getting 'cause whatever it is is Big Mad and Big Bad. "

Helene wandered of towards the bar to ask about a to go cup of whatever that was that she just drank.

"This is the part where you run screaming for the hills, right?"

Tears had welled up in her eyes, partially from having her bubble burst in a big way. She and everyone that she loved and cared about were being hunted by something so god awful she couldn't put a face to the smell. But it was locked away so deep that could only mean something horrible.

"No...this is where I get you and your best friend, our best of honor, to our new home a bit sooner than expected. Which is good. We'll have time to talk about turning a third guest bedroom into a nursery...or something."

She smiled as she kissed him.

"Hey lovebirds! Let's get a move on, please! Paradise awaits us!"

[thenewnio]

Finding Sunny Patch excerpt

"How dare you..."

Una suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She looked around, as if searching for something.

The sisters took notice. "What's wrong?" asked Gina.

"It's nothing, just..." Una paused to glance around more, before turning back to them. "I thought I heard a voi-"

The words died in her throat, as she seemed to stare at the sisters, a look of shock on her face. No, she was looking past them...

Gina and Georgia turned back around to see someone - or rather something - floating right in front of them.

The thing looked like a metallic octopus, with a pair of large hands on either side of itself in addition to eight flowing tentacles trailing behind it, and a face like a jack o' lantern. Its round eyes regarded them with disdain.

Strangest of all was the fact that it could speak, and it said "You're after bugs, are you? ...I'll give you bugs all right!"

The being's eyes flashed bright green. Before the girls could run, they were enveloped in a burst of light. They screamed and squeezed their eyes shut...

---

The explosion of light and sound did not go unnoticed. Many of the inhabitants of Sunny Patch saw the strange phenomenon emanating from near the Snaky Woods.

Some bugs fell over in shocked surprise. Other bugs, startled and afraid, bolted the instant it happened.

"What was that, mom?" Squirt asked his mother. He and his siblings were just about to go out to play when they heard the booming noise.

For once, Miss Flora Spider didn't know how to answer that. Neither she nor anybug else in Sunny Patch had seen or heard anything like it before.

---

When the light subsided and the girls opened their eyes, the entity was gone. Yet something was different.

"Everybody okay?" Una asked. She looked up at the others, and froze.

"Yeah," Gina replied. "What the heck was that thing-"

She gasped when she got a good look at what Georgia had become. A mint green dragonfly with large grey eyes stared back at her in surprise. She turned her head toward Una, seeing a butterfly with sapphire-blue wings. Finally looking down at herself, Gina saw she now had an eight-legged body.

Trembling, she stood up, the unfamiliar sensation of having more than four limbs making her slightly nauseous. "Wh..." she stammered in shock. "What happened to us?!"

Georgia looked herself over, then back to the other two. Her face broke out in a wide grin. "We're bugs!" she exclaimed in excitement. "That flying thingy; That must've been the Wizard of the Wood! And he turned us into bugs! This is so cool!"

"What do you mean 'cool'?! This is terrible!" Gina shot back. "My body's inside out!"

"Yeah, this is too weird," Una somewhat agreed. "Maybe we should just head back."

"Okay, first off, we can't just head back!" Gina explained. "We're tiny now! Even if we did make it home, how could we tell everybody what happened to us? We're probably too small for them to even hear us!"

"Well, that would be a problem if me and Una couldn't fly now!" Georgia pointed out hopefully. "One of us could just fly back and write something down to let everyone know we've been turned into bugs!"

"You do know how to fly, don't you?" Gina asked her sister.

Georgia looked back at her new wings. "Well..." she stuttered. "If real dragonflies can do it, so can I, right? Here goes..."

She concentrated on flapping her wings until she was hovering a good distance off the ground. "Look, I'm doing it! I'm doing it! Okay, you guys wait here for me-"

Her success was short-lived, as the shadow of a bird passed over her. Remembering the reason that birds and bugs never mix company, Georgia darted down and behind Gina with a frightened yelp. Gina looked to Una for helpful advice.

"Sorry, but..." Una apologized. "I don't think I could get back in time with these wings. I mean, I already kinda figured out how to use them, but they aren't exactly as fast as Georgie's."

Gina sighed heavily. "So we're stuck out here. Just great. Now we're another Missing 411 case."

"Well, someone's bound to notice we haven't come back," Una tried to lighten the mood. "They've gotta come out here to look for us."

"Yeah, that's how it works!" Georgia agreed. "...Right?"

The bird's cry echoed from above the girls, making them tense up.

"I'm ready to start looking for somewhere to hide now." Gina stated. The other two nodded in silent agreement.

[jyndor]

yw babes for this utter unseriousness (I changed some stuff to suit my narrative sorry)

It starts with a viral tiktok, some Churu tubes, and an extremely disrespectful cat. Pickles is gorgeous with his beautiful blue-white eyes, even if he has an attitude, and Bodhi thinks they'll be able to either find his carer or get him adopted out if they drum up some interest on social media.

Pickles is in pretty good condition and is generally well-behaved, if somewhat standoffish, and extremely food motivated. Well, Churu-motivated. He isn't micro-chipped but Jyn has a feeling he's got a home, even if it's a home with a shitty owner who didn't think to microchip their cat.

Dr. Jyn Erso isn't used to cats not liking her, and Bodhi seems to find it hilarious that finally Rogue Shelter has a cat that is absolutely spitting with rage whenever he sees her. In one tiktok, Pickles takes the Churu from Jyn but grumbles the entire time. When he has finished his treat he swats at her. Bodhi cackles from behind the camera.

"I'm usually the one getting a beating since I'm the one doing most of the trapping," he tells their increasing tiktok following in a Q+A later that week. "Jyn has a way with them that none of us, except maybe Chirrut, can replicate. So yeah, it's kinda nice to see the tables turned on her for once."

And as if on cue, Pickles the cat slow blinks at the camera.

@tennesseewhiskitty: AN ANGEL

@leia4senate: this is why I love my friends at @therogueshelter - @petdrjyn never fails a fur baby in need, even if they want her dead lol

@petdrjyn: @leia4senate love you and blocked

A clip of Pickles knocking over Jyn's favorite coffee mug on a livestream gets the attention of a mechanic from about five miles away from Rogue Shelter.

Bix pauses the stream and shouts over her shoulder to her husband. "That's Kay, isn't it?" She's already dialing up the most offline man on the planet when Brasso puts on his glasses and agrees.

/

Cassian Andor doesn't want to lose hope, but by the third week without a ping on Kay's microchip, it's hard to keep from thinking the worst. Kay isn't as old as Bee, but he's sensitive and gets overstimulated easier than almost any cat he's ever known.

Plus he's partially deaf.

But then Bix calls Kerri when she can't reach him (he's got an emergency surgery) and Kerri is in his office when he's done his shift, exhausted and sweaty.

"They've found Kay!" she exclaims. "He's alive and being a dick as usual."

Kerri pulls up a video on her phone. It's of an exhausted-looking woman scowling jealously at a beautiful Burmese mix with a pair of blue-grey eyes who is rubbing up on the man with a ponytail sitting next to her.

"Kay," Cassian croaks. "Where?"

"It's called Rogue Shelter, and it's about fifteen minutes from here."

/

Cassian opens the door to the shelter just as the largest man he has ever seen is about to lock up. "I'm here for Kay!"

Kerri smiles from behind him. "It's Pickles," she says. "And hello. Sorry for the timing, but this one just got off work. Surgery, on a rabbit."

"A guinea pig," Cassian mumbles. "Charlie."

"You're a vet?" The big man seems surprised, and Cassian tries not to read judgment in his impassive expression.

"Yes. And I swear I had Kay microchipped-"

"We didn't find anything."

Cassian pauses. "Yes, but they have been known to fail from time to time."

"What's going on?" A tall, bald man walks out through the clinic doors. He's got a cane in one hand and a file in another, and at his presence the large man rolls his eyes. Behind him is a short woman with her brown hair tied up in a disaster of a bun. After a moment he recognizes the bags under her green eyes. The woman - the vet - in the video with Kay.

"Don't make me say it." The big man looks annoyed to Cassian, but there's a fondness in his eyes as well.

The second man smiles after a moment. "I think you should confirm it for me, Baze."

"This is Pickles' owner, Dr., well-"

"Cassian Andor. Exotics vet, and I did have Kay- er Pickles- microchipped, I swear." He handed over a folder with Kay's medical information in it. The woman snatches it from Baze.

"Dr. Jyn Erso," she says, eyes on the files inside Kay's folder. "'Four years old, nine pounds three ounces, Burmese mix, partially deaf in his right ear,'" she reads aloud before finally meeting Cassian's eyes. "Let's go see if you're his people, Dr. Andor... and Mrs. Andor?"

"Oh, that's our auntie," his sister says before Cassian can respond, too focused as he is on reuniting with Kay. "I'm Kerri."

"Right," Dr. Erso nods to the back door.

When they get to the cat room, it is easy to see why Dr. Erso works at the shelter. The cats love her - well, all but one. A single, solitary set of wide eyes peer out from the highest nook (?) of the tallest cat tree in the entire room.

Kay cries like he has never before, jumping down to the floor and running over to Cassian, his tail quivering behind him. Cassian drops to his knees and smiles through the tears that he hadn't even noticed building up in his eyes, and his boy, his Kay, climbs into his lap and immediately starts purring.

"¿Dónde has estado? Espero que hayas disfrutado de tus pequeñas vacaciones, pendejo." He presses a couple of kisses to Kay's cheek. "Estoy muy enfadada contigo."

"Well, he's definitely your Kay," Dr. Erso says. He looks back at her, and though she still seems exhausted, there is a light in her eyes that he immediately recognizes.

This is not a field without its heartache. Every day he holds someone's whole world in his hands, and every day he has to be the one to end that world. And with the exotics, with the ones that are lucky enough to get to the vet in the first place, he has to be the bearer of bad news almost on an hourly basis. Because it's expensive to coax a frog back to health, because it's cruel to put a gerbil through a procedure with a 20% success rate. Because it's just a rat, or a parrot, or a snake.

But there is always the hope that maybe, maybe there will be a happy ending. He sees that hope in Dr. Erso.

/

He volunteers weekly at Rogue Shelter after bringing Kay home. Bodhi Rook, vet tech and the shelter's social media manager, begs him to bring Kay for "content" every once in a while.

"Listen mate, our followers are so happy that Kay is home. But they also want to see Jyn getting disrespected on a regular basis again."

Cassian doesn't need to bring Kay to the shelter for that, though. Jyn's at his apartment all the time - in his kitchen, in his shower, in his bed. She's got an extra set of scrubs in his drawer, a toothbrush on his sink.

And Kay... really isn't into it. Which doesn't make Cassian any less into her - Kay doesn't like most people, and besides Jyn attracts cats like honey attracts bees. She's patient and calm with them, and she scratches them in their favorite spots.

But Kay does not have a favorite spot for her to scratch because he doesn't let anyone touch him apart from Cassian and occasionally Kerri. It makes cuddling up with Jyn on the couch while watching football a bit of a challenge - the couch is Kay's preferred place to nap.

But it isn't just the couch.

"I don't want to push him out of his space," she says one night as she pulls on his old UC Davis sweatshirt. Kay glares at her from where he is laying possessively over Cassian's chest, tail swinging in his face. "He's so mad!" Kay grumbles up at her. "Seriously asshole?"

She snorts and walks out of the room. "I'm taking the couch then, you little devil!"

Cassian taps Kay's behind until he jumps off and into the apartment.

"Oww, motherfucker!" Jyn shouts from the doorway. He sits up and smiles to himself as she walks back in and keeps the door ajar, even as she reveals the scratch on her ankle.

"Let me," he says, hauling himself out of bed and grabbing the first aid kit he keeps in his closet. She raises a brow at him and lies down on the bed. When he sits beside her, she drops her foot into his lap. "He got you good."

"What's my prognosis, Dr. Andor?" Jyn whispers as he cleans off the scratch and gently presses a bandaid over it. He kisses the skin just above her ankle and smiles.

"Not a human doctor."

She pulls him up to her lips by the collar of his t-shirt, and they don't get nearly as far as they'd like before Kay comes in and settles himself at the end of the bed.

"He's come back to finish the job," Jyn says, laughing as Cassian pulls his hands out of her- his sweatshirt. She brushes her fingers through his hair. Her lips are a bit swollen and her damp hair is a mess again, but her green eyes are brighter than they were when they met. Still tired, but she's slept a bit since then.

He has too. Good sleep, restful sleep. And the days are still brutal, but there have been more good days than bad lately. It won't last forever, he knows - and this is the life he has chosen for himself. But he's got his cat again, and -

Kay just slow-blinked at Jyn.

"Did you see that?" she gasps.

"I... wow." He huffs as Kay turns his back on them both and curls up into the comforter.

"Cats, man." She laughs into his chest. "Fucking cats."

“k2-so is a cat and is stuck with jyn until his owner finds him” au

Im thinking animal shelter owned by baze and chirrut with jyn as the vet and bodhi her trainee. One day they find a lost cat who seems to have a hatred for either vets or just jyn. It turns out he belongs to private practice veterinarian cassian and this is how he learns about rogue shelters. He begins to spend more time there and each visit lends him more reasons to stay than just one. kay doesn’t find it so bad either.

They all become a family and nobody dies the end <3

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 3

Percy's POV

Confession time: I ditch Grover as soon as we get to the bus terminal.

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover is kinda freaking me out, looking at me like I am a dead man, muttering, "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be the sixth grade?"

Whenever he gets upset, Grover's bladder acts up, so I'm not surprised when, as soon as we get off the bus, he makes me promise to wait for him, then makes a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I get my suitcase, slip outside, and catch the first taxi uptown.

"East One-hundred-and-forth and First," I tell the driver.

A word about my mother, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

The only good break she ever got was meeting mine and (Y/n)'s dad.

We didn't have any memories of him, just this warm sort of glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. Our mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad; she has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told us he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom had told us. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me and my twin on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along...well, when I came home is a good example.

I walk into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe is in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blares ESPN. Chips and beer cans are strewn all over the carpet.

Hardly looking, he says around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's Mom and (Y/n)?" I wonder aloud.

"Your mom's working," he says. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

"I don't have any cash," I toll him.

"Here," comes a voice, holding out a ten to the man.

Instantly, a smile sneaks its way onto my face.

"Hey, Perc," my twin sister says with a smile.

(Y/n)'s POV

I grab my brother's suitcase and carry it into his room; I set it down on the bed.

"You wanna come sit in my room?" I ask and Percy nods, a smile still on his face.

I lead the way to my room and when I open the door, Percy sinks into my desk chair.

"Percy?" comes our mom's voice.

She opens my bedroom door.

Our mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Percy or Gabe.

"Oh, Percy," she hugs her son tightly. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas.

Percy's POV

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.

We sit together on the edge of (Y/n)'s bed. While I attack the blueberry sour strings, (Y/n) stealing a few pieces of candy from the bag, Mom runs her hand through my hair and demands to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She doesn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She doesn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? The whole time, (Y/n)'s eyes were sparkling with amusement.

I tell Mom she is smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her and (Y/n).

From the other room, Gabe yells, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

I grit my teeth.

My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

For her sake, I try to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I tell her I'm not too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convince myself. I start choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

Until that trip to the museum...

"What?" my mom asks. Her and my sister's eyes tug at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"

"No, Mom."

I feel back for lying. I want to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I think it'd sound stupid.

Mom purses her lips. Both she and (Y/n) could tell I was holding back, but neither push me.

(Y/n)'s POV

"I have a surprise for both of you," Mom says. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widen. "Montauk?"

"Three nights - same cabin."

"When?" I ask excitedly.

Mom smiles. "As soon as I get changed."

I can't believe it. Mom, Percy, and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.

Gabe appears in my doorway and growls, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

"I've got it," I offer, rising from the bed and walking out into the kitchen to make the dip for Mom.

An hour later, we are ready to leave.

Gabe takes a break from his poker game long enough to watch me and Percy lug Mom's bags to the car. He keeps griping and groaning about losing her cooking - and most importantly, his '78 Camaro - for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car, you two," he warns us as I load the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

Like we'd be the ones driving. We're twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame us.

We get into the Camero, me in the passenger's seat, and Percy in the back.

Our rental cabin is on the south shore, way out at the tip of the Long Island. It is a little pastel box with faded curtains, half-sunken into the dunes. There is always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea is too cold to swim in.

Percy and I love the place.

We'd been going there since Percy and I were babies. Our mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place she'd met mine and Percy's dad.

As we get closer to Montauk, Mom seems to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turning the color of the sea.

We arrive at the cabin, open all the cabin windows, and go through our usual cleaning routine. We walk on the beach, feed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and much on jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

I guess I should explain the blue food.

See, Gabe had once told Mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a small thing at the time. But ever since, Mom had gone out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This - alone with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like Percy.

When it gets dark, we make a fire. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom tells us stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She tells us about the books she wanted to write when she gets enough money to quit the candy shop.

Finally, it seems that Percy gets the nerve to ask about what was always on our minds when we come to Montauk - our father. Mom's eyes go all misty. I figure that she was going to tell us the same things she always said, but neither Percy and I ever got tired of hearing them.

"He was kind, Percy," Mom says. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, two. You have his black hair, you know, Percy, and you both have his green eyes."

Mom fishes a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy, (Y/n). He would be so proud."

Percy's POV

I wondered how she could say that. What's so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of the school for the sixth time in six years.

"How old were we?" I ask. "I mean . . . when he left?"

Mom watches the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

"But...he knew us as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting twins, but he never saw you two. He had to leave before you were born."

I try to square that with the fact I seem to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.

(Y/n) and I had always assumed that he had known us as babies. Mom had never said it outright, but still, we'd always felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen us . . .

I realize I feel angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resent him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry Mom. He'd left us, and now we are stuck with Smelly Gable.

"Are you sending me away again?" I ask her. "To another boarding school."

She pulls a marshmallow from the fire.

"I don't know, honey." Mom's voice is heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" I regret the words as soon as they come out of my mouth. (Y/n) bows her head, looking at the ground and Mom's eyes well with tears.

Mom takes my hand and squeezes it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I - I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

Her words remind me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy.

"Because I'm not normal," I say.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe.

"Safe from what?"

She meets my eyes, and a flood of memories comes back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me and (Y/n), some of which we'd tried to forget.

During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked us on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed (Y/n) when she'd told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.

In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.

I know I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I can't make myself tell her. I have a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I don't want that.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom says. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you two. And I just...I just can't stand to do it."

(Y/n)'s POV

"Our father wanted us to go to a special school?" I ask, a little confused.

"Not a school," she says softly. "A summer camp."

My head starts spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me and Percy be born - talk about a summer camp?

"I'm sorry, (Y/n)," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you two to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good?" Percy asks. "But if it's only a summer camp.

Mom turns towards the fire, and I know from her expression that if either of us ask her any more questions, she would start to cry.

I have a weird, vivid dream. It is storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle are trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swoops down and slashes the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse rears up and kicks at the eagle's wings. As they fight, the ground rumbles and a monstrous voice chuckles somewhere and beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I run towards them, knowing I have to stop them from killing each other, but I am running in slow motion. I know I am too late. I see the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I scream, No!

I wake with a start.

Outside, it really is storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There is no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

With the next thunderclap, my mom and Percy wake. Mom sits up, eyes wide, and says, "Hurricane."

I know that's crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seems to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I hear a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that makes my hair stand on end.

Percy's POV

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother springs out of bed in her nightgown and throws open the lock.

Grover stands framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he isn't . . . he isn't exactly Grover.

"Searching all night," he gasps. "What were you thinking?"

My mother looks at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

"Percy," she says, having to shout to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

I am frozen, looking at Grover. I can't understand what I'm seeing, and I see (Y/n) looking at my friend.

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yells. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

I am too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I am too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover doesn't have pants on - and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .

Mom looks at me sternly and talks in a tone she'd never used before, and (Y/n) flinches: "Percy. Tell me now!"

I stammer something about the old ladies at the fruit stand and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stares at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

She grabs her purse, tosses me and (Y/n) our rain jackets, and says, "Get the car. All three of you. Go!"

Grover runs for the Camero - but he isn't running, exactly. He is trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs makes sense to me. I understand how he can run so fast and still limp when he walks.

Because where his feet should be, there are no feet. There are cloven hooves.

Word Count: 3041 words

[brasskier]

Inspired by @valdomarx, @therogueheart, and that one anon, here’s a post-mountain Deaf!Jaskier story. Read it under the cut below or find it on my ao3 here.

Geralt stumbled upon Jaskier for the first time since the dragon hunt early the next spring, at a crowded market a week or two northeast of Oxenfurt. He'd stopped into town to stock up on supplies and maybe pick up a contract or two before moving along. If asked, he'd insist it was a series of hunts that brought him so close to the Academy, that he might as well follow the coin. And if he happened to run into his bard (ex-bard?), and happened to have the opportunity to apologize, and the bard happened to choose to follow him again? Well, so be it. 

He smelled Jaskier before he could see him, head perking up and eyes searching the crowd for the flash of a colorful doublet and that soft brown hair. The market was teeming, thrumming with chatter, and just as vivacious as Jaskier himself. 

"You goin' ta buy that or not?" The stall keeper asked, jarring him back to his abandoned transaction. He dropped a few coins on the stall, pocketed the herb, and disappeared without so much as a grunt. Weaving through the throngs of people, he relied on smell - on that familiar chamomile and saffron - until he finally spotted a glint of emerald green, and the strap of a lute. He watched from a distance.

Jaskier's hands were flashing about as dramatic as ever, glancing back and forth between the balding man tending the stall and another man standing beside him. His companion was as flamboyant as he was, dressed in a regal blue and arms waving about just as exaggeratedly. But then Geralt realized he couldn't hear Jaskier, which was unusual, because the bard had never in the two decades he'd known him been able to keep his voice down. The crowd was certainly cacophonous, but not that loud.

"Jaskier?" He drew a little closer and called his name tentatively. The bard didn't seem to react, carrying on with whatever he was doing. He tried again, a little louder, and then a third time, increasingly forcefully. He was getting irritated now - how dare he pretend to not hear me - and was tempted to simply move on. With a heavy sigh, he approached even further, lingering just a few paces behind him. "Jaskier?" 

"Think someone's calling you," the stall keeper announced, jerking his head in Geralt's direction, and Jaskier waved his hands again before turning to follow the man's gaze. He blanched when his eyes finally met Geralt's, mouth hung open and hands dropping to his side.

"Geralt?" He squeaked out finally, dragging a hand up to his heart. There was an unusual quality to his voice, Geralt was quick to note. Not hoarse, like he'd heard him after many a late-night performance. Just different. 

"Jaskier," he repeated, casting his gaze down to the russet dirt at his feet. 

"Gods," Jaskier breathed. "Just - melitele's tits - I just…" He trailed off, wringing his hands together. Geralt couldn’t help but think he looked like one of the stray fawns that would occasionally stumble upon his campsite and linger frozen for a few moments, cast in the firelight and trembling with fear.

"It's okay, I know." He kept his eyes trained at his feet, trying to pin down the bard’s tone. The way Jaskier produced certain sounds, dragged over his vowels, a little bit of its usual edge missing. He must be overwhelmed, Geralt concluded, but he wasn't particularly convinced. "I'm sorry." He waited patiently, uncertainly, for either his acceptance or rejection. 

"I need you to look at me," he said instead, surprising Geralt. He did as he was told, lifting his chin to face him. "Can you repeat that?" 

"I'm sorry," he reiterated. He felt frustration welling again - he got his apology, does he really need me to repeat it? - but he quickly quashed it. 

"Thank you, Geralt." He could see the emotion brimming in Jaskier's eyes. "We have a lot of catching up to do." Jaskier glanced sideways for a moment, fidgeting with one of his rings. "Perhaps we could share a drink? There's a tavern not far from here." He jerked his head to the right. Geralt grunted, and Jaskier raised an expectant eyebrow.

"Sounds good," he clarified. He was becoming increasingly convinced that Jaskier was toying with him for pleasure's sake. He knew full well how to interpret the Witcher's grunts, after all. And yet the expression drawn across his face looked impressively genuine. Humans are weird.

Jaskier uttered his thanks to the stall keeper and turned to face his companion - who'd been waiting patiently behind him - again. He wagged his hands about wordlessly, and it finally dawned on Geralt that this was not his usual theatricality - this was common sign language, and he wondered when exactly Jaskier had picked it up.

Jaskier was quiet most of the way to the tavern but seemed to perk up once they were seated - in the far back corner, Jaskier's choice. Geralt spoke first, determined to get this apology over with and behind him.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Jaskier tilted his head as he listened, chin resting on folded hands. "What I said was wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you, and…" he exhaled sharply, as if apologizing - or, more specifically, being honest and vulnerable - caused him actual pain. "The best blessing life has given me is finding you again." Jaskier's head tilted impossibly further, and then came the tears, and - fuck - did Geralt say the wrong thing?

"That's awfully sweet, Geralt," Jaskier eventually choked out, and he relaxed a little. "I'm sorry, I just--" He dragged a hand across his face. "That was so kind." He sniffled into his sleeve before finally re-righting himself. "I guess I'm just a tad sentimental." Geralt forced the best smile he could manage across his lips. "Gods, it's been so long. Go on, tell me everything you've been up to." 

"Not much," he replied between sips of ale. "I'll tell you everything later." He chided himself as soon as the words left his mouth for just assuming there might be a later. "How have you been?" 

"Hmm?" He sighed, fighting hard to keep from rolling his eyes.

"How have you been?" Jaskier seemed to spark to life again at this. 

"Oh," he said simply, pushing his hair behind his ear and chewing on his lip. "Well, I returned to Oxenfurt, taught for the winter. I just headed out, actually. I've been a bit preoccupied." He leaned in closer, stared past Geralt at the wall behind him. "I, uhh, I got sick, coming down from the mountain." Geralt hummed, drawing a slow sip of his ale. "I mean, I kinda woke up sick, but then there was the dragon and…" He rubbed his thumb against the rough wood of the table. "Well, I was a little distracted. I don't even really remember making it off the mountain, to be honest."

"I'm sorry I didn't notice." Geralt might as well get all his apologies over with at this point, he thought. Jaskier waved a hand to hush him.

"I woke up at a healer's. Apparently someone had found me not far out of town and dragged me in." He let out a shaky exhale. "He said I'd had an infection in… In my brain." Geralt watched him with a sour mix of pity and regret, unable to shake the feeling that he should've been there. The image of Jaskier, waxy pale and slumped unconscious, trembling in a stranger’s arms, burned into his mind.  "Anyway, I'm lucky I survived. But my hearing did not." Oh. Fuck. Suddenly the pieces slid into place - the sign language, the strange quality to his voice, the incessant requests for Geralt to repeat himself. 

"Fuck, Jask, I'm sorry." He rarely shortened Jaskier's name, but he knew the bard liked the nickname, and it was the least he could do for him. His mind reeled with regret. He should've been there. A random stranger shouldn't have been the one to find him and rescue him. If he'd known, he'd have never - no. No, what he did was wrong outside of the context of what'd happened next, and he was not about to qualify it. Jaskier, for his part, seemed relatively unfazed.

"Nothing you could've done about it, really," he insisted, running his finger along the rim of his glass. "The healer said I just needed to fight it off on my own." This did absolutely fuck all to ease the guilt gnawing in Geralt's gut. Questions swirled in his head - how was Jaskier going to sing or play anymore? Could he still compose even? How was he going to survive; that was how he procured coin, after all? Was he… was he happy? Did he blame Geralt?

"I know, I just… can you still sing?" This question seemed to amuse Jaskier, who laughed heartily. 

"Yes, Geralt, I can still deliver my fillingless pie." Geralt couldn't tell if he was serious or not, and while he used to be able to read his voice a little more consistently, he was unsure now and kicking himself for not making a better study of the bard's facial expressions and body language when they'd been together. 

"You know I didn't…" 

"I know. I know you didn't mean that." They sat in silence for a beat while Geralt wracked his brain for his next question.

"How? Do you sing, I mean, if you can't hear. How are you even talking to me?" He shrunk behind his tankard, suddenly embarrassed by the utter lack of tact that'd never bothered him before. 

"Well, one of the perks of teaching at a premier Academy is access to some of the finest physicians this side of Nilfgaard. I'll be honest, it took a lot of work to relearn how to sing and speak; I was mute for most of my travels back to Oxenfurt, mostly out of shame." Geralt's stomach churned, imagining Jaskier entirely and utterly silent. That wasn't the bard he knew. His Jaskier never shut up, mouth constantly running faster than a horse, always a story to tell or a song to share or a joke to crack. And certainly never worried about whether anyone else wanted or needed to hear him. Jaskier was not quiet. "But fortunately I still have a tiny bit of my hearing - on the lower end, mostly, which is good for you. Plus I have decades of muscle memory, so it wasn't so bad. And as for right now? I'm mostly lipreading, though the pitch of your voice is helpful." Geralt couldn't tell whether he was being genuine or just trying to placate him. "It's just different. Have to feel it more than hear it, which if you ask me more musicians should try."

"I'm glad," Geralt gritted out, nodding at the bartender to bring another round of ale. "That you can still sing." Jaskier beamed.

"I knew you always liked my singing," he declared triumphantly, arms folded across his chest.

"Did you already know common sign?" Geralt asked instead of retorting with something snarky; let the bard have his victory.

"A tiny bit, but the language professor at the Academy was fantastic at teaching me." Geralt closed his eyes and tried to envision the odds and ends of common sign he'd picked up over his years of travel. "I made a lot of Deaf friends; they've been so supportive of me." With a sigh, Geralt decided to give it a try.

"I know a little," he signed, tentative and deliberate. Jaskier's eyes lit up.

"You do?" He signed back, eyebrows raised and grin spread across his face. 

"Not much. I can…" His hands slowed, wracking his brain for the sign for learn. He sighed again and said it aloud instead. There he goes again, assuming Jaskier will stick around long enough to warrant learning more. Jaskier teared up again, and he cursed inwardly, wondering for what must've been the trillionth time that afternoon if he'd messed up. 

"You'd do that? For me?" Jaskier squeaked, pawing at his eyes with a hand tucked in his sleeve. 

"Of course." For a moment Jaskier looked like he might fling himself across the table and into his arms, but instead he fidgeted in his seat. 

"That's enough about me now, isn't it?" Jaskier asked, always a master at changing the topic when he grew bored with it. "Tell me about your hunts." He leaned over, fished around in his pack, and plucked out his notebook and pen. 

"First was an infestation of drowners," Geralt began, taking extra care to face Jaskier as he spoke, and pausing when he went to scribble something in his notes. They spent the next hour like this until, just as Geralt was beginning to wonder if the bard was going to force him to talk all night, Jaskier was tugged to the front of the tavern while excited patrons clamored for a performance. Jaskier obliged, as always, and Geralt watched, as always.  

When Jaskier dropped back into his seat, shuffling his lute unceremoniously to the floor beside him, Geralt expected him to bid him a hurried goodnight, get on his way, and leave. Just a nice day catching up shared between two friends (?), and decidedly not the start of their next joint adventure. But instead of any of that, Jaskier called to the bartender for another mug, busied himself fixing his hair and his doublet.

"Told you I could still sing," he said with a wink as the bartender deposited his ale on the table in front of him. "And something to eat, please," he added before returning his attention to Geralt. 

"I never doubted you," Geralt's reply came easily. It was, perhaps, the truth.

"Now then, would you say it has more or less filling now?" He leaned forward on his elbows, cheeky grin and narrowed eyes, and even Geralt could recognize the facetiousness of his words. Before Geralt could answer, he waved a hand, as if dismissing himself. "So, where were you? Something about a missing cow?" Geralt nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"So the boy told me his father would pay me, if I could find the cow. So I said, 'how much?'" He continued on with his tales, no matter how excruciatingly mundane they felt to him, until Jaskier's head dips forward and then picks back up for a third time. "Think it might be time for you to get some sleep?" He asked, and Jaskier blinked away the sleep in his eyes.

"Yeah, probably," he muttered, scrubbing at his face with one hand, the other dipping down to reach his lute. "Are you staying overnight?" He asked, and immediately flushed at the confused look he received from Geralt. "I just mean… I don't… you can't leave before I get to say hi to Roach." 

"It's too dark now. I'll get a room at the inn." Jaskier’s face lit up, and he followed him in rising to his feet. "Just have to grab Roach first," he said when they finally made it out the door and into the cool early-spring night. 

"M'kay," Jaskier hummed with a fond smile. He rested a hand on Geralt's shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning." It was a firm statement, certain and unquestioning. 

"See you then," Geralt replied, heading back to the stable where he'd docked Roach so he could bring her closer to the inn. And he, too, was certain. 

[cc-pdf]

Eclipse

Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Word count: 2400

Warnings: none

(Quirkless AU)

The fluffy haired boy had finally worked up the courage to ask you out, although he didn't tell you where you two would be going. He was so flustered when he asked you. His face was so red it looked like he was going to explode. He mixed up quite a few words too. Of course, you couldn't say no to those precious little eyes of his. If it wasn't for how bad you felt for him then you probably would've said no. You barely even knew him, but you knew it took him a lot of confidence to ask you out. Most of your friends had picked on you for saying yes.

Izuku was pretty shy and most definitely a nerd. His hair always looked like he just rolled out of bed. And, well, his fashion choices were.... okay. A couple people would pick on him sometimes, but not too often. You could tell he was pretty smart, but most of the time he seemed kinda awkward. As expected your friends would prefer you to go out with a popular boy that's on varsity teams and always pays attention to his looks. You would probably prefer that too, but you didn't want to hurt the little green haired boys feelings. You knew he was a pretty delicate boy.

A couple months ago your boyfriend had broken up with you. He had brown fluffy hair that always looked perfect and shining blue eyes. He was on the varsity football team of course too, his dad was the coach. He was nothing but perfect to you... well at least you thought. Your friend had set the two of you up at a football game several months ago in the fall. You liked him a lot especially because of how most girls were jealous you were dating him. It made you feel above everyone else. He was pretty nice but sometimes he would pick on other kids. Not harshly though. A couple months ago he had started to slowly ignore you. You took the hint and you haven't talked since. He found another girl. She was about 5'7 with beautiful long caramel hair. She had perfect skin and her body's curves were sure to make any boy swoon. Every time she walked past you could smell the sweet sent of expensive perfumes. She was any boys dream girl. The way he had just forgotten about you left a gaping hole in your heart. You're still not over him. His name just makes your stomach swirl in sickness.

Izuku Midoriya is smart enough not to go for bitchy popular girls, but he knew you were different. You were much nicer than the rest of them and he could tell you especially hated it when they picked on people like him. Sometimes it made you giggle though, which you felt wrong for doing. You didn't really act as cocky or stuck up as the rest of them either which confused him. He thought you were just absolutely stunning with that luscious h/c hair and those bright e/c eyes. During class he would always study your features in awe. He felt as if you were almost trapped in the world of popularity. He knew he could never get with someone that's friends with the populars, but he couldn't help but try.

It was a Saturday night and for the past half hour you had been working on getting ready. You were dressed in a comfy crew neck and a light colored skirt. You only had light makeup on, just some lipgloss and mascara, you didn't really need to impress the boy too much. You and your friends group chat was blowing up that night, they wouldn't stop teasing you about your little date. You ignored the messages, it annoyed you how petty they were sometimes, although you could agree with most of the things they were saying. You were startled as you heard a quiet knock on your front door.

"Sweetie! I think your somebody might be at the door!!!" Your mom said sweetly.

"Coming!" You yelled out from your room quickly finishing your mascara. You sighed and walked out of your room and to the front door. You slowly turned the door knob and opened it to the boy, as expected with his wild evergreen hair and his lazy outfit.

"Hi, y/n." He said almost shaking from nervousness.

"Hi!" You said with a smile. His cheeks were growing furiously red and he was trying his best to hide it. It made you giggle a bit.

"I'll be back Mom! Bye!!" You said as you quickly shut the door behind you.

"So, you never told me where we're going." You said trying to break the silence because you knew he was too scared to speak.

"Oh.. uh I thought we could go to one of my favorite places." He said shyly scratching the back of his neck.

"And where's that?" You asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." He said trying to hide his blushing face once again. He couldn't believe he was even talking to a girl like you.

"What's that you have?" You asked pointing to the long box in his hand. You really hoped he didn't get you a present. You already felt bad enough.

"You'll see." He said while starting to walk on the sidewalk.

"How long will it take to get there?" You questioned him.

"Only a few minutes." He said looking down at his feet.

You two silently walked along the sidewalk in the brisk night to your destination. It was pretty awkward but you dealt with it.

Finally you had arrived next to a cement wall. It didn't look too exciting. It was pretty confusing as to why he would bring you here. It looked like the outside of a dump.

"Here I'll help you over the wall." He said nervously.

"What? We're climbing that wall? I mean I don't usually scale walls on dates. You're nuts." You said sassily.

"Come on you can do it." He said trying to encourage you.

You ran up to the wall on your tip toes peering over it.

"Woah..." You said underneath your breath.

"Neat, right?" He said walking up next to you.

"What even is this place?" You said gazing over the wide field.

"It's the plane graveyard." He said trying not to sound too nerdy.

(Here's some pics if you don't know what a plane graveyard looks like. It's basically where they bring a bunch of old planes from wars and stuff.)

He grabbed your waist gently and helped you over the wall. He was trying so hard for his face not to turn extremely red. He then jumped over the wall after you. He led you over to one of the planes, stroking it as he walked by.

"This is the real history, not the stuff we see in those history books." He said studying the plane.

"Wait, are these real bullet holes?" You asked closely examining the holes in the metal. He smiled at you, he didn't know you would actually find this interesting.

"Yep!" He responded, walking over to the next plane.

He dragged his hand along the wing of the next plane as he walked towards it. You tried to too but you couldn't reach since you were just a bit shorter than him.

"The Navy found this one last year off the coast of Japan." He said looking at the wreckage.

"They did a corrosion study on it... after 40 years at the bottom of the ocean this is all it rusted." He said focusing on the front of the plane.

"Our grandparents sure knew how to make stuff." He admired the plane with only a few spots of rust.

"H- how do you know all of this stuff?" You asked looking up at him.

"Well, a pilot from 44, came back a few weeks ago to look at this. He stood here and looked at this thing the whole day..." He replied while taking a few steps back to take in the sight of the whole plane.

You looked at him in shock. You knew he was smart, but you didn't know he knew all of this.

"Hey! come on." He said jumping into the plane.

"A- are you sure we're allowed to do that." You said starting to get nervous.

"Yeah, nobody ever comes here anyways." He said waving you over.

You sighed and jumped into the seat next to him.

He opened the slim box he had been lugging around, only to see a small telescope.

"Here." He said handing it to you.

You gently took the telescope into your hands. You looked up into the dark night sky through it.

"Oh my god... look at all those mountains up there." You said fascinated while studying the bright full moon through the telescope.

"And valleys, canyons, and planes..." He trailed on.

"What's that thing up there that looks like a... star sapphire? What's that?" You said studying the different sections of the full moon.

"An asteroid hit there... it made a crack in the moon 100 times the size of the grand canyon." He said looking over at your precious face.

"And... on the right is the sea of tranquility. The first space ship from earth landed there. The day I was born..." He said looking back up at the sky.

"That's why you're so into astrology, right?" You said passing the telescope back to him.

"Astronomy." He corrected you softly.

"No, well up there it's just a future world..." He said looking into the telescope.

"By the time I'm my Dads age, people will be living there, and working. Maybe even us..." He continued on, placing the telescope on his lap looking back into the shining stars.

(Queue music. I would suggest listening to Eclipse by Pink Floyd right now.)

You looked over at him and gazed into his dark green eyes. You couldn't help feel fascinated by the way he explained those things. You weren't much of a person to be interested in space, but there was something about the way he stated these things. Were you falling for some nerd you barely even knew? You questioned yourself. It couldn't be. But nobody had ever done something like this before for you. It was a whole new feeling. For sure your old boyfriend would've never gone out of his way to do something like this, let alone even know anything about astronomy.

You two sat in silence for a few minutes gazing up at the thousands of stars in the late sky. You looked over at him and smiled a bit. He jumped a little when he realized you were looking at him.

"Oh, sorry." You said looking away.

"The moon, it looks different now... It's not as mysterious or romantic." You said playing with your hair.

"Well I'm sorry I ruined it for you." He said quietly looking down to his feet.

"You didn't ruin it, you just changed it, I guess..." You said staring into the big moon.

"You know... I had never actually studied the sky like this. Because of you, I think I have a whole different perspective on it now..." You said still admiring the different sections of the starry sky.

"What do you mean by perspective..." He asked in shock. He didn't know he would have this much of an effect on you.

"Like, I didn't know there was so much to look at... It's actually pretty interesting." You said pointing to each star trying to count them.

He gently smiled at you.

"You're different." You said.

"W- what?" He said confused.

"All of my friends think you're just some little loser. They pick at you all the time. Before this I thought you were just some random nerd that cared way too much about school." You said with a saddened expression.

"Yeah... I know." He said looking down, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're not though..." You trailed on.

"W- what do you mean?" He stuttered.

"You're actually pretty interesting. Now that I realize it... there's a lot more to you than what people say. You're pretty cool, you know." You said looking down at your feet.

"Oh, I- I didn't know you thought I was c- cool..." He said still stuttering.

"Could you ever count how many stars there are up there?" You questioned him, changing the subject.

"No." He giggled at you.

"Actually, theres supposed to be a solar eclipse happening soon... maybe we could go see it." He said turning around to look at your e/c eyes.

"That sounds pretty intriguing... How about, make it a date." You said looking over at him. You were actually pretty interested in him. He was much more than you thought before. Your friends were all wrong. Even if he is just some nerd like they all say, he really knew how to make you feel... special.

His eyes had lit up from your response.

"Uh... yeah sure." He said rushing his words while looking away trying to hide his rosy cheeks.

"Oh my gosh... it's already 9..." You said while looking down at your watch.

"Wait... that's a pretty nice watch." He said looking over to see it.

"Oh yeah... it was my grandfathers. Actually he was in the Vietnam War." You said moving your finger around the rim of your watch.

"Well, he must of been a great man." He said while jumping out of the plane onto the dirt.

You two had walked home that night, holding hands, while still studying the night sky. That night he had changed your whole perceptive on humanity. From now on you wouldn't focus on what everyone else said about someone. If you wanted to know they type of person someone was you would get to know them, not base them off of what everyone else said. Although your friends weren't thrilled by the fact you were falling for the schools so called loser, he was nothing but perfect to you. That night Izuku Midoriya had faded all of the thoughts of your old boyfriend away. He was different from the other boys... in a good way.

AAAA okay that was kind of cheesy but I hope you liked it. :)

[s1st3r]

Lol ok so I’m back for another match up because last time i paired me with Cross (which I loved btw) and now I’m curious on a matchup outside tbb so here I am. (That’s only if ur not busy of course and if U want to lol)

I’m 5’8 with short brown curly hair. I’m kinda skinny (only because i have an eating issue) with a slim structure. My eyes are a weird colour, mixed with green, blue with a orange/brown ring around the iris (no it’s not hazel). I enjoy art, listening to music, writing, crafts, and just about anything that I can create. I enjoys cities, especially at night but I do enjoy nature during the day. I love the stars, especially when it’s a clear night and the moon’s out. I’m not very confident and i tend to stutter and get lost for words, can’t always say what’s on my mind because most of the time I’m not even sure what’s going on up there. Im more of a listener than a talker, although when I get really interested in something I’ll talk for hours. Never really had a group of friends or anything, kinda was just there. The social reject or the weird one. Not that i kind of course, i like being different. I’d say I’m a curious soul with an understanding heart. Im a mix between an extrovert and a introvert. I have a horrible sleeping pattern and normally fall asleep at ridiculous times late at night or early in the morning. Sometimes I’m still awake when the sun comes up, which is funny because I’m not really a morning person. I love coffee and tea, mostly tea (earl grey). Bit of a sweet tooth. Tend to do little dances and stim when I’m happy. I like to chew things, especially when anxious, stressed or bored. i also like to snack when I’m bored. I’m pretty chill with anything and everything. Not a fan of loud noises or yelling as it sometimes scares me. And I’m a hoarder/collector, I hoard almost anything and everything.

Ok so I left this for ages because I was really stewing on it you know?

Also, how are you enjoying the Clone Wars series so far?!

ANYway.

So Cherry, my friend, even though I'm pretty set on Crosshair (non-canon Crosshair ofc) to be ur man, I think your Reg ship is...

Jesse!!

You're a sweet tooth, he's a sweetheart, and together you make a pretty sweet pair.

Ok so, here's what I'm thinking:

Jesse is much more confident in his demeanor than you tend to be, but unlike many of his other brothers, he doesn't misinterpret your shy nature as disinterest.

He actually finds it really cute when you go all shy and bashful and your blush spreads from the tip of your ears to your neck.

But he also encourages you to get out of your shell and become more comfortable. And you do.

One time, while you were hanging out in the barracks with Jesse and his brothers, you were snuggled next to him, on his bunk, back leaning against the wall. He had his arm casually slung over your shoulder. When conversation turned to your favorite topic, you couldn't help yourself as you gushed on and on. You didn't notice, but the boys all shared looks of surprise. Jesse just watched with a proud smirk.

You were comfortable; you were home.

***

I've said this once AnD I'LL sAy iT aGaiN: Jesse is a GENTLEMAN not a cocky player. So he treats you like a gem. In fact, his nickname for you is Opal because your eyes remind him of the beautiful multi-coloured gem he saw off world once.

***

Hark! Did I hear "horrible sleeping patterns"?? (I know because you're like an hour time difference ahead of me and I see you online same moment as me when it's like 12/1am my time 😂😅)

Fear not! Jesse is a walking heat pack and the moment he holds you, you're like goo in his hands (tho you'll never admit it). Sleeping gradually comes easier and easier until you no longer think twice about it when Jesse pulls you from your office and takes you to the barracks to cuddle.

Honestly, the best moments the two of you share is in silence. Whether it be you're cuddled in the dark and hear each other's steady breathing as you lightly trace his tattoo with your fingertips, or when it's you and him alone smiling softly at each other across the table in the mess hall in the early hours of sunrise/sunset sipping your earl grey or coffee.

~ Sister

[tokyoghoose]

birthday boy!

pairing: oboro shirakumo x reader

summary: baking a cake with the birthday boy :)

announcements!

happy birthday to the loml, wish you were here

fuck kurogiri lmaoooo

I just wanted to write something quick to celebrate him 🥺 just a heads up, you bought him a new pair of crocs bc its canon thaf he wears them

—————

"You know you aren't supposed to help with your own cake, right?" You snicker, watching him decide between funfetti and chocolate cake batter. He hums in reply, setting the chocolate back onto the shelf before turning to face you with one of his famous toothy grins. He drops the box into the basket with a shrug.

"And what about it? I have to make sure you do it right anyway."

His teasing makes heat go to your cheeks and you scoff, continuing to another aisle to find ingredients for cream cheese frosting (per his strange request), sprinkles, and candles.

"Yeah right. You're just gonna sit around and watch me."

"Is that such a bad thing? Maybe I just like the view."

You almost choke from his words, lightly pushing his shoulder with your own to cover the fact you're probably as red as a tomato. Even after a year of dating, you couldn't adjust to his teasing nature. But maybe that's what drew you to him in the first place. His outgoing personality and charm, leading you right to the palm of his hands.

He never took it too far, always knowing people's limits to his jokes and jabs. He's confident in his ability to befriend anyone—even someone like Aizawa Shouta. He's quite the spectacle and you're suddenly aware of how glad you are that someone somewhere took the time to craft him and bring him to earth for he's surely not of this world. And you're even more thankful that they brought him to you. You'd have to make sure to let him know that one day.

———

Honestly, you aren't sure how Oboro had managed to make baking a box mix of cake into such a challenging task. Not that you're complaining.

"Stop eating the frosting, shirakumo."

Your words have no bite to them when you glance out of the corner of your eye to see the teenager sticking his finger into the canister before popping a dollop into his mouth and staining his finger blue and green. It doesn't help that your smile gives you away, his own cheeky expression meeting your eyes when he takes another scoop.

"It tastes kinda funny, actually. I think something's wrong with it.."

You raise your brows, almost in worry when you turn to grab the container, only to be met face to chest with the cloud boy himself. He snickers, a mischievous grin crawling its way onto his features before he slowly wipes the frosting down the side of your cheek with his thumb, stopping at your bottom lip, "Here, have a taste."

The tension in the air could've been sliced by a knife as you stand there with your jaw to the floor in disbelief. What the hell did he think he just started. Oboro steps back, furrowing his brows when you start to laugh, your body shuddering with giggles without your control. It's not long before his own smile reappears when you grab the frosting container, taking a scoop with your thumb and swiping it quickly against his forehead.

"You're in for it now, baby." His boisterous laugh seems to shake the house then he takes an egg and your arm, holding you close to his chest before cracking it over your head. The yolk slides down the side of your face, leaving a trail past your closed eyes before falling to your shoulder. It's colder than you thought it'd be and it's absolutely disgusting to touch and feel in your hair. You push him away to wipe your eye, an open mouth chuckle slipping last your lips before humming and taking the cup of milk on the counter and sending it his way.

It's not long until the only sounds in the kitchen are your laughter and his and the occasional fall off food. There's flour everywhere, dusting your clothes and his bandanna, defining the crinkles in his face like clown makeup. Eggshells are cracked on the counter and there's yolk all over the floor along with milk and butter that's melted and you briefly wonder how long it'll take to clean up. The thought doesn't find you for very long however because before you can get in another good attack, Oboro has his you engulfed in his arms, pressing every ingredient you carefully aimed at him into your back.

His chest is heaving while he catches his breath, giggles coming from his parted lips before he digs his face into the crook of your neck, pressing a kiss there. You hadn't taken the time to actually look at the mess you've made of him with blue and white and yellow painting his face. He smells like vanilla, which is weird considering you didn't have any vanilla extract on hand. Had he always smelled like vanilla? As long as you could remember he only smelled slightly of fresh rain in the evening, refreshing and clean. It takes you by surprise but you welcome it, wrapping your arms around his to pull him closer.

The laughter has died down now, just the two of you swaying slightly in each other arms. It's a memory you decide to burn into your brain to hold forever. One you'll hopefully tell your future kids—not that you were thinking about marriage anytime soon, but it wouldn't be horrible to marry him. Especially when you're certain he's 'the one.' Oboro wouls probably think you sound silly saying that, laughing at you but ultimately agreeing loudly. He was never one to hide his feelings, and even if he wanted to his eyes gave him away every time.

Shirakumo presses another light kiss to your neck before you turn around in his arms, reaching up to wipe some flour off his face and that dorky smile. If anyone else were to see such a raw, soft display of affection they would think he's whipped for you, but then again it's no secret. He'd gladly yell it from the rooftop so the whole world would know. He reaches for your hands on his cheeks and squeezes gently before pressing his forehead to yours.

He tastes like spearmint and you hum in appreciation before closing your eyes. It's such an intimate act between the two of you. And for only being seventeen, you're sure you know what love is now, at this moment.

You hardly feel him trace a heart on your cheek with the sticky frosting, crinkling up your nose when he chuckles before pressing a sweet kiss to your lips. They're always on the intense side, eager to deepen the kiss to move it somewhere more comfortable, yet soft when need be.

He pulls away with a satisfied sigh, placing his forehead back to yours and biting his lower lip in anticipation while you twirl his hair between your fingers. He mutters a sweet thank you on your lips, nudging your nose with his to make your sigh:

"Happy birthday, baby."

[filypadreams]

Fleeting Touches

( Asmodeus x GN!MC)

Synopsis: Do you know what fleeting means? It means you should apreciate every moment while you can. Even if you get lost in illusions for it.

TW: Slight angst

_______________________________

The streets were full this time of the year, even with the cold weather. It was a race for most humans to get that last minute gift for that special someone.

Their children, parents, grandparents or significant others. For some reason it's tradition to get that one person a last minute present.

And that's always a disaster...

" Calvin Klein One... with bergamot, cardamom, pineapple and jasmin. Tropical? Or maybe Dolce & Gabanna Velvet Exotic Leather. Traditional and italian... also at good prices, I need to ask if they are antiallergenic! "

I spend 15 minutes on the line but get both perfumes and walk outside onto the sunny street. It's not as busy as the mall and I really should get home before it gets to close to one pm.

Today, faces are a blur to me.

" Thanks for the tip Asmo, I was sick of the strong scents of women perfumes and the always down to earth male ones~"

I cheerfully speak to myself while touching the 'tattoo' above my left breast.

It's a one-way communication system. I'm not even sure Asmodeus hears what I tell him but I sure do hear his thoughts.

" Ohhh, bootie alert at 12! No, wait! Delicious curves at 4- oohh...that's a mix at 9 o'clock~!"

I see a man, woman, I think the last one is in mid transitioning but I'm not sure.

" He'll be a beautiful man, I'm 95% sure!"

" Maybe it's a 'they'... not that you can hear me."

Though I agree, they look...handsome. With a nice physique, curly shoulder lenght hair, smooth skin as if rivalling Asmos' ... and who can resist a dark biker leather jacket?!

No, stop. Don't let the mark influence you from your mission MC!

Setting the christmas gifts.

I start running in the direction of the bus station when I collide with a tall lady, her black shades falling to the ground from her beautiful light pink sweater.

My head hurts. It felt like hitting a brick wall...or Beel.

Are my only thoughts as I scramble to pick her glasses and my shopping bag. Good thing it was well packed.

"Oh my~ I'm so sorry, I didn't notice such a beautiful face in this crowd. I was retoutching my eyeliner, huhu! Let me help~"

The lady crouches down next to me. I notice from the corner of my eyes that she is also wearing a black turtle neck... and has peach coloured hair...

" Asmo?!"

Darkness. A cold hand covers my eyes while the other takes the shades from mine and exchanges them with my bags...it seems. He whispers is my ear.

" Now, now. Don't ruin the surprise! I'm just a beautiful 'lady'. Hahaha."

And with that he dissapears. Everything seems to dissapear, as soon it gets dark and I'm sitted in my couch, replaying today's event.

It felt so real... I called him a lady.

Well... I don't think Asmodeus minds.

I walk around the tree, putting down colorfully wrapped gifts. That I went purposely to markets and malls to have wrapped!

Diavolo better play Santa and give me some grimm if I ever get an invite to Devildom, I blew most of my allowances with these!

On the blue corner I have vynil disks and office supplies. Getting stuff for Lucifer is hard.

The yellow corner... is a mess of acessories like shades and wristwatches and some jackets. Mammon needs a new one.

The orange corner was the cheapest but most difficult to prepare. I wrapped most of my otaku related rarities, in Devildom at least, and put them in a pile. Levi better apreciate my figurines!

The green pile was also simple. It's actually small with my old literature books. All from great authors and all trying to escape religious judgement so Satan might find that amusing.

I don't have a red corner, just baked goods on the table and two glasses of milk in case Santa visits.

I put purple pillows, warm robes, matresses and scarves around the tree. Belphie won't lose comfort soon.

And now finishing the pink corner.

There's the perfumes, some cosmetics I really don't get but my 'chest instinct' said to go ahead and...

" I hope he likes this fluffy bunny backpack!"

I kinda wanted the bunny for myself... but I can't.

The day went on so fast... why am I even doing this? Might as well call Solomon and offer him these so he can perform his rituals. I'll just wake up tomorrow to a full room of wasted money and a mountain of calories. An empty heart.

I caress the bunny when i hear rustling on my door. Something is playing with my wreath? I pick a knife from the dinning table.

" W-who's there?! Show yourself fiend!"

" Aww, that hurts to hear MC-chan..."

From the darkness into the light walks the same person I crashed into this morning.

" You better drop that knife before someone gets hurt..."

" How...Asmo, how are you here?! Why?!!"

Tears come to my eyes. It's been a while. A long while since I've seen any of them. Since I've had slumber parties with Asmodeus, self care sessions...

He shakes his head cleaning the few teardrops away with the back of his index finger and walks to the tree, messing with the gifts.

" Tears don't suit you well. Oh, you even got something for Barbatos... I'm slightly jealous, I thought you only thought about me~"

He starts opening his gifts.

" Wait! It's not even Christmas Eve. We need to wait until midnight at least..."

As I try to explain, his taller stature hovers over me, playing with my hair and putting a mistletoe, secure in it's knots. Wait... how is he so tall? The height difference is too abnormal.

" I'm afraid the concept of time doesn't apply in dreams, MC."

" H-huh?! Wha... the day... went on really fast. So you..."

I look down slightly dissapointed. The floor starts cracking and falling. Darkness and constelations starting to form under my feet.

" Afraid not. Christmas is not really part of our traditions, haha. Even if we had a great celebration that one time Diavolo proposed we did it with the exchange students.

I like the angel."

He points to the tree top.

" Oh, that... I was thinking of Beel and Belphie when I made the decision. It's my oldest decoration. I was thinking on putting a star this year but... I got a literal gut feeling to keep the angel."

I smirk at Asmodeus as he puts an arm around my shoulders, leaning me a little closer to him. We both apreciate the flashing lights from the tree. Even if it was fake. The rest of the room crumbles away and Asmo let's go of me to pick his gifts and stuffing them inside his new backpack.

" I know he was thinking of the only person that shines as bright as us two together.

Hmm, but you haven't been taking good care of yourself, MC-chan! Remember to follow the morning routine I gave you so your skin is almost as perfect as mine!"

" I haven't been feeling like...doing much I guess. I had a lot of work this year."

" Humans are always full of work. I mean me too.

Since RAD is closed for the 'holidays', we are back to our other jobs. Things get dirty real fast, so many pests! Maybe we can actually come visit during New Year's."

After apreciating the representation if Lilith, he turns to berate me, before picking a bottle of perfurm and examining it, followed by spraying some on while making a spin as he explains his bodyguard/demon threat exterminator job.

He must have loved it because he transforms, with a smile on his face and his horns move like pincers.

" I always found your demon form the funniest."

" ...Dear, I'm fabulous."

" Hahahahaha! Ok, but if this isn't a Diavolo, Barbatos or Lucifer' scheme... is it Belphegor's? You mentioned dreams, and it explains the constelations."

I look around, darkness being drilled by the light of many tiny stars.

" I think I see taurus... and of course he had ro include pisces. Mammon is supposed to be the greedy one, this is OUR moment!"

He huffes and crosses his arms. I chuckle and pat his back.

" So, I'm asleep at the same time as Belphie."

" It's night time in both worlds. You could say I'm an intruder. I was taking my immersive nightly bath as I prepared to get into your dreams~ I hope I didn't actually fall asleep, my poor skin!"

" How did you convince him?"

I wonder as he touches his arm and the parts of revealed skin as if to feel if something was wrong with his real body.

" Oh, well...he actually wanted to see you to! I also promised to take more cute pictures of Lucifer for him. But I don't think he admires his beauty the same way I do-"

The world trembles. Belphie must be waking up. And angry...

" Oh, dear! I must have upset him. This illusion will end soon and you'll wake up in your bed as if nothing happened. I hope you don't forget me."

Asmo walks closer and caresses my face. Kissing my forehead.

It's warm. Fleeting but I can feel his gestures. Even in a dream.

I slap his hand when I feel it sliding down my back a little too far.

" Ouch! My nail...ok, ok. I'm sorry! Won't happen again~"

He apologises when making contact with my burning stare and proceeds to act innocently after.

" It better not. I... think it will be difficult to forget you. Specially now. Make sure the others know-! Ahh!!!"

Another quake and I "conveniently" fall in his arms. I'm able to see his pixie sized wings batting in excitement.

" This is a cliché."

I mumble as Asmo wraps his arms around me.

" I need to go. I'm sure we'll see each other soon. You know I'll always be here. Literally. And I do hear you, you know?"

He pokes his mark, above my heart and pouts.

" ...I know... see you soon Asmo."

I pick his hand and kiss it.

Then I wake up. It's still the middle of the night. My room is cold.

There on my window sill are two roses. One peach and one dark pink.

The End

______________________________

Special dedicatory to: @shortnessangel

and @asmoluvsyou .

Bunny Backpack comes from: https://kawaiibabe.com/products/creepy-bun-backpack

(Curiosities: The perfumes are gender neutral, I can still link you the page where I found them.

The colour of the roses have a specific meaning. I can post the pic I got it from if you want.)

[ritchieblackless]

[Ranking Of Cozy music eras]

Well, as many of you know, Cozy did A LOT of things with many musicians and playing different styles. He appeared on at least 66 albums and counting another session work, some hidden works (Like Supertision and Ballroom Blitz) in total is nearly 90 things that he did! (that's why it took me so long, I had to listen to all again) but always one era will be better than other so... at the request of @thespiritofvexation (and I wanted to because is a excellent idea) here are the ranking of Cozy music eras.

Note: I'll try to be objective about this but also you'll get my opinion.

9. Whitesnake.

(As you can notice, Cozy's solo album is there. I put it because is in same era. I did this with all Cozy's solo albums 'cause the poor boy didn't have the time to make a proper solo career... he didn't like that very much anyway.)

Well first thing I'll highlight about this work... is the fact that his drumming is plain, so plain... for being Cozy Powell. You know, Blues rhythm, one bass drum and tomb with a little bit of cymbal... plain. But it's alright because the album needed that type of drumming (Not pun intended of course) I'm just saying that his drumming is so plain because the songs (Blues/Hard Rock) needed that, otherwise, it would have sounded a bit Rainbow-ish. Remember that Cozy was so versatile. He had a strong style but if the song needed the opposite of his style, he was going to do it.

Whitesnake era for me is not his best but LIVE. He on stage was another story. He was amazing.

Songs with Cozy's signature: Hungry For Love.

A side from Whitesnake we have his solo album which is one of his best works. Octopuss was a successful album. We have his mix between classical music and his drumming which is mind blowing. Hard Rock tracks like The Rattler, Formula One (Good one, Cozy) and Princetown and one ballad (Because he liked... a true sweetheart.) Dartmoore.

8. Michael Schenker Group.

His work here is what I like to call "Angry Drumming"

He didn't get along with Michael Schenker so they were fighting everytime. So all he did in this only album with MSG he did it angry... that's why is so good. He was "in mourning" trying to get over Rainbow so he had no better idea that making his drumming sound Rainbow-ish (I can relate) taking advantage of the situation that MSG was a heavy rock band. Not Rainbow, but still. There are a lot of Cozy's fills and Cozy's arrangements on the songs too more than Whitesnake.

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Attack Of The Mad Axeman, But I Want More and Feeling Like A Good Thing (Live). 

Now, a side from MSG we have his second solo album. Tilt have jazz-fusion songs like Cat Moves. A  rock tracks too like The Blister and Hot Rock. And with some funky thing like The Right Side with another ballad (Because he is a sweetheart) Sunset. Tilt was an anti-commercial album with a nice success. Also, the album have two “Dark” songs which are Living In A Lie and Jekyll Hyde (Inspired of course in Mr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde... Cozy’s favourite book... such a nerdy.)

7. Brian May Band.

We know how important Cozy was for Brian May’s solo career and Brian himself... (But I’ll not going to talk about this now, because I’m focused only on his drumming.)

Basically Brian told him “Be yourself, I don’t need a type of drumming” So that is what you listen when you listen those three albums... a free, happy Cozy. So powerful as always and creative. Of course Cozy had to be powerful because he was trying to cheer Brian up (He is so sweet). Believe me when I say that this is his best work in his last days! Its amazing the heavy-hand that he still had. For moments you think that you are listening Rainbow by the power of his drumming and the songs are completely stunning. 

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Cyborg, The Guv’nor, Resurrection, Rollin’ Over.

Now, his solo album. The Drums Are Back was not a successful album with bad reviews saying that Cozy was recycling himself. I personally don’t think Cozy was recycling himself, I just think that he had his own way to do songs and make albums.In spite the bad critics and no success, the album was top ten in Japan.. HA! The Drums Are Back have really groovy songs like The Drums Are Back, Legend Of The Glass Mountain (He really never got over Rainbow..). Rock songs like The Rocket and Ride To Win. And three ballads (Because he is a sweet-... well you get it) Battle Hymn, Cryin’ and Somewhere In Time.

6. Peter Green Splinter Group. 

This album is a proof of Cozy’s versatility and still young drumming. 

He and Peter Green got along really well so their chemistry was reflected in the music and live performances (Unfortunately a very few with Cozy) Yeah, the whole album is basically blues, okay? But the thing is that Cozy, no matter how slow the blues was, he would let you know that was him playing the drums.And I need to say that: HE PLAYED BLACK MAGIC WOMAN WONDERFULLY... (just that, back to the point). 

Peter didn't tell him how to play drums in Fleetwooc Mac’s songs, Cozy just did it and he did it fantastic. Also, his drumming sounded so young, so strong and with presence. Its mind blowing really because you don’t expect Cozy at the age of 50 playing strongly but he actually did. He did his drum roll thing with just one bass drum, he was still so noisy as always (I’m so sorry just this era puts me soft)  

Songs with Cozy’s signature:Homework, Going Down. 

And his solo-... oh... right... *Runs to bathroom to cry*

5. 80s Work.

 Well, time to time (For not saying always) Cozy liked to participate in his friends’s albums when he had a little free time with the band that he was in at the time. I did this 80s work section here because I cant believe that amount of things that he did while he was playing in other bands (I mean, u r for real?)...I put the most popular ones but out there are a lot of unknown Cozy works in the 80s with several bands. I just felt that his 80s works deserved a position in the ranking. This is another proof of his versatility but, with a little of his style of course. 

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Tender Babes by Jon Lord, Night Games by Graham Bonnet, Slow Dancer by Rober Plant, Believe by Tom Galley (Phenomena) Shakey Ground by Bernie Marsden, Running from The Storm by Gary Moore and well.. ETC (and many many etcs)

4. Black Sabbath

This is when Cozy turns his “Beast Mode” on.

I don’t know why, maybe because he knew what Black Sabbath was (Tony: Join my emo band.... Cozy: okay) and what it needed..? because that is his normal drumming..? (I'm sure that is his normal drumming.) But he literally blows your mind in every- fucking *wheezes* song. The three Black Sabbath albums are filled with unexpected Cozy's fills (No matter how many times you've listened to those albums, he is unexpected.) His beat is very heavy and very exact too. He was a fan of Bill Ward so I'll be not surprised if he tried to get that heaviness! (I mean, Cozy has his own heaviness but what I'm saying is that maybe Cozy wanted to make a proper Black Sabbath sound) 

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Headless Cross, The Call Of The Wild. Basically all TYR and talk about Forbidden is forbidden... (I’m joking. Is a good album too)

3.Jeff Beck/ RAK 

Well, for start I put them together because when Jeff Beck Group disbanded, the following year he signed a contract with Micky Most and RAK. So, he was a secessionist, a well-known secessionist. He was in the circle for someone who needed a powerful-jazzy style. It’s like the 80s works really (omg Cozy get a grip). He was a really demanded drummer, everyone wanted him and he eventually worked with everyone. He had a very well-known beat by that time, you easily can tell was Cozy but he also had to be more open to the different styles that he was asked to play (Basically he can’t play like him all the time). He also had some discredited stuff, like Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet (It’s so obvious) and Superstition by Steve Wonder (I know, I know that it says Stevie played everything BUT NOT IN THIS CASE DON’T BELIEVE HIM. What you hear in the song is Cozy playing.) and more like some Suzi Quatro’s songs.

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Ballroom Blitz, Superstition, Cosmic Wheels, Band Of The Salvation Army Band by Tony Ashton and Jon Lord.

Now his solo stuff: Here comes his baby, his household, his precious treasure, his (okay you get it) Dance With The Devil single. It’s a friendly instrumental which they did for a laugh but it became seriously successful... (Yes, they didn’t mean to do it but they did) Micky Most ask to Cozy if he wanted to be a single and Cozy said yes thinking that it was not going to be a big deal but *BUM* 1 Million of copies sold (Literally Cozy stayed at home two days laying looking at the ceiling because he can’t believe it) Of course they did the Dance with the devil part 2 which is Man In Black but it didn't work as well as the first one.They did Cozy Powell’s Hammer but it was kinda a fail too although the band had several tour dates. 

This is when Cozy met his lost brother (okay no) This is when Cozy tried his best to play good jazz but instead came up this.. jazz fusion-rock-weird thing. So the thing here was: Jeff didn't know how to explain Cozy what the wanted him to play and Cozy was getting mad about it (Jeff: You can do ta.. tatada tss, ts ts ta da ta... Cozy: Honestly Jeff wtf?) so he did what he thought was better for the record and Ta-Da! Rough And Ready was born. Cozy’s drumming is a bit lighter and he uses a lot the cymbals for a swing-jazz rhythm.  

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Going Down, Ice Cream Cakes, Situation, Short Business.

2. Rainbow.

(Omg Martina are you fcking crazy????) Yes I didn’t put Rainbow in the first place...A new hope for Cozy (This sounds like Star Wars movie or something)

Okay, this is one of his best eras because he was all recovered of his disappointment in music business in 1975. He literally gave up with music (poor babe) until Ritchie called him (Ritchie: Join my emo band... Cozy: okay) . He was ready and decided to show that he wasn't a poor drummer... and he did.He played all his tricks, he was so unpredictable and powerful. He actually was lead drummer (I’m not sure if that exists) He didn't played with the bass like a normal rhythm section, he played with Ritchie. Cozy live with Rainbow was so unbelievable, like the unexpected fill in Catch The Rainbow, Man On The Silver Mountain... To be honest, the first Rainbow album sounds so plain without Cozy, it’s like.. something is missing (Basically Cozy changed the band). His beat is so heavy, strong and incredible.Also his 1812 Overture which is just mind blowing. He was a happy Cozy in Rainbow, that’s why he played so brilliantly (and he was Ritchie’s goal friend... what is better than that?) Cozy did an amazing job in Rainbow... (No words...)

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Stargazer, Run with the Wolf, Mistreated (Live), Lost In Hollywood, Eyes Of The World, Gates Of Babylon, Light In The Black, All Night Long and.. all.(Literally all)

Now, his first solo work: Basically he had nostalgia for Hammer and the press still had bad relationship with Cozy saying things like “He is just Dance With The Devil and nothing more” so Cozy want to make an album so fantastic to shut them up. He called to his friends and all was ready... but they needed a bassist so Cozy took his chance and asked Jack Bruce if he can play in his album (Cozy was such a Cream/Jack fanboy.. he was almost his male crush lol.) Fortunately for Cozy, Jack said yes and they recorded it. The album had a fantastic success, extremely high success. The album had fantastic songs like Theme One (Courtesy of George Martin), The Killer, El Sid, Heidi Goes To Town and one sweet ballad (Sweetheart) The Loner (Dedicated to Jeff Beck... That is actually very cute). 

1. ELPowell

(ARE YOU JOKING?????) No, i’m not joking and i’ll tell you why. Also this is when Cozy became a prog nerd. 

The only one reason that I chose ELPowell as best Cozy music era instead of Rainbow... it’s because he stepped out of his Comfort Zone. This is the REAL proof of Cozy’s versatility. He did amazing things in Rainbow yes but in the end was rock and roll... This is different, this is progressive rock (I don’t really care about Progressive people’s discussion about 80s progressive rock... I’m talking only about Cozy) and Cozy didn’t know a THING about progressive and he still did it amazing. Of course, he took what Carl did and he simplified it to carry it to what he can do... and he did it very well. He had to learn all the ELP’s songs studying them (That’s when he accidentally listened to all elp discography and some Genesis, Yes and well... he became a nerd) He started to experiment with new percussion instruments that Carl used before.. (Like those bells that you hit them with a little hammer... no? okay) He became a KONG BOY too. He literally learned a whole new drumming style but of course with his Cozy sound. Tarkus played by Cozy is amazing, and when he is doing the Congas in From The Beginning kills me every time (That tank tee and those muscles...) and those drum solos...(Damn) they are really something else. And this is the same case of Rainbow.. he was recovering from his disappointment in Whitesnake so he was so enthusiastic about playing with Keith and Greg.  

Songs with Cozy’s signature: Touch and Go, The Score, Mars the Bringer of War. 

THIS IS THE END... GOD this took me an eternity and I explained so much i’m so sorry this is not going to happen again. This is the first and the last time that I’ll make a large post! (For my own mental health) This is so large, I didn’t mean to, sorry! Nobody will read it to the end but I don’t care... and if you do thanks very much this costed me two nights <3 (And sorry if there are any grammar errors) 

[collapsingintojupiter]

Birthday Party

So before I begin, lemme just say--

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

It's @starbucks-remy 's birthday y'all, so please go and let them know how great they are!!

I asked them what they wanted to see and they mentioned Logince and Intrulogical, so I did my best to combine a little fluff and comedy with both! (Also I've already written a couple of fics with Logince fluff in them if you want to see 'em here and here). I wrote this kinda fast cause I really wanted to give it to @starbucks-remy on their birthday, so I’m sorry if it’s not as good? I tried I promise.

Anyways, without further ado:

Characters: Logan, Remus, Roman, Virgil, Remy, and Patton.

Relationships: Kind of a smash up but I tried to include some (mostly platonic) Intrulogical and Logince, as well as a little background Moxiety (also platonic).

Warnings: Uh, there’s like one curse? Food mention. Also Remus is in it, for those of you that are triggered by him. Please tell me if there’s something else I should add.

Logan sat on the front porch with a glass of water in one hand and a calculator in the other. A chemistry book was open on his lap, and he squinted against the bright sunlight overhead as he read the next question to himself and sipped at his water. Being hydrated, if he remembered correctly, would allow him to study more efficiently by improving his mood, focus, and concentration. The sunlight also provided valuable vitamin D. Speaking of which, maybe he could call Virgil, and they could--

"Logan!" A shout from down the road dragged his attention away from his studying and Logan looked up, surprised. Someone was approaching him at a rather unsteady run, almost as if they were injured. Remus…?

"Logan!" He called again. "LOGAN!" 

Logan scrambled to his feet and threw the book aside, his heart pounding.

"What's wrong?" He shouted, running to Remus' side. "Are you hurt? Where's Roman? What happened? Is someone in danger?"

Remus stumbled to a stop and doubled over, gasping for breath. A black long-sleeved shirt hung loosely from his shoulders, matched by pants that were the most peculiar shade of green one had ever seen. Logan didn’t see any blood.

"It's…birthday… Roman...wanted...somethin' special…" Logan blinked at the other boy.

"Wait…what?"  Remus grabbed his shoulders.

"Birthday!" He shouted in Logan's face. "Roman's birthday is today!" He coughed, sucked in a deep breath, and tried again.

"I need your car." Logan blinked.

"I…you've got to be kidding me!" He stumbled over his own words, but that didn't stop him. "I...I thought someone got...got hurt or something and you just need my car!? Where's your car? What…what about Roman? Where is he? I thought he was dead or something with all your shouting!"

"Well obviously I can't go shopping with him for his birthday present now can I?"

"And your car?" Logan tried to fight off the exasperation creeping into his voice.

"I got my license revoked." Remus grinned widely.

"You what?" 

"Yeah. Apparently I'm a reckless driver or something--can we go?"

"I...I don't even know how you got a license…" Logan sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Okay, so let me get this straight--"

"--Logan, neither of us are straight." That earned Remus a sharp glare, to which he only grinned in response.

"--So it's Roman's birthday and you're trying to…?" That statement actually made Remus stop and think, which was quite worrying to see when you knew the kinds of things that happened when you let Remus think. He scrunched up his face and puffed up his cheeks, then exhaled loudly through his nose.

"Uh... birthday party…" he said finally. "Like...a surprise? For Roman?"

God help me.

Logan sighed. "You want to use my house don't you?" Remus' eyes lit up at that.

"See, I knew I could count on you!" He broke into a run towards the garage.

"Wait...I didn't…" Logan let his voice trail off and sighed again as he watched the other boy go. Then he started after Remus. Looks like I'm in charge of this now, he thought to himself. I’ll have to put off studying until tomorrow morning. There was absolutely no way Logan could let Remus create this surprise party unsupervised, as someone's house was liable to end up catching fire if he did (and yeah, he was saying that from experience).

Remus was already seated in the passenger side of the car as Logan climbed in. 

"You need to contact Remy, Virgil, and Patton right now," he told Remus as he started the car. "And put your seatbelt on. Tell the others to meet us at my place in twenty minutes. You're lucky my parents aren't home, but if we're doing this at my house this means you're agreeing to clean up afterwards. Understand?" Remus nodded and quickly pulled his phone out. 

"Good."

---

Three figures were standing on the front porch when Logan and Remus got back. One, dressed in a blue polo and wearing glasses, another with shades down and a frappe in one hand, and the third hunched over in a purple and black patch jacket. 

Remus barreled out of the car and insisted on carrying all of the bags into the house by himself--Logan had decided to pick up everything on his parents' grocery list while they were at the grocery store, so there were quite a few stacked up in the trunk. Of course, that didn't stop Remus. His arms were covered in the white plastic handles and he’d even wrapped several around his neck, despite Logan’s protests.

"You're going to choke yourself…" Logan sighed as Remus marched up the steps without heeding him, nodding to Virgil and accepting a hug from Patton as he followed.

"How'd it go?" Remy asked with a smirk, glancing up from his phone.

"We almost got arrested."

"Again?" Virgil snickered. "What happened this time?"

"THEY CHARGE WAY TOO MUCH FOR THE DONUTS!" Remus shouted over his shoulder. 

"How'd he try to steal them?" Patton asked. Logan slapped a hand over Remus' mouth before he could blurt out the answer. 

“Don’t you dare,” he hissed. He looked up at Patton. "Creatively," was all he said. He stepped past Remus and unlocked the house, leading everyone inside. "So this is a very last minute project, but I believe that we can accomplish our goal if we’re efficient at our jobs and work together." He winced as Remus roughly dumped the bags onto the kitchen counter. "Remy, let’s put you and Virgil in charge of decorating. Patton--"

"Uh, actually…" Patton cleared his throat. "Remus helped me come up with a good gift idea earlier…" Logan listened as he explained, and found himself nodding.

"Alright, you want to go take care of that, then?" Patton nodded and rushed off. "Okay, so slight plan change. Virgil, you and Remus will be in charge of the cake. Remy, I will assist you with the decorations. Any questions?" 

"Yeah. Can you kill me?"

"I'm sure you two will be fine, Virgil." Logan looked down at his watch. "We have three hours. Let's get going."

Virgil disappeared into the kitchen, muttering, and Remus pranced after him. Logan worried about it for a minute, but that was why he'd put Virgil in there with Remus. Surely he'd be able to handle him.

"Alright, so I've got some ideas. Ya think you can rig something up that'll drop confetti from overhead when you trigger it? Say, when someone opens the front door?" Remy looked back from where he was examining the walls, eyebrows raised. Logan thought about his suggestion for a moment, then nodded. 

"I'll see what I can do," he answered. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to hang up steamers and make a sign that'll hang from…probably here," Remy motioned to the ceiling and set his coffee down on the kitchen counter.

Logan set about gathering the materials he'd need for Remy's suggested confetti drop, and he was in the middle of trying to figure out what kind of tape to use when pandemonium erupted from the kitchen.

"Remus, we're trying to hurry here!" 

"Oh don't worry, I can mix it really fast!"

"REMUS NO!"

A high-pitched whirring sound came from the kitchen, and Logan and Remy burst into the room just as a cloud of flour and other ingredients exploded from the bowl. Instantly, everything within a twenty-foot radius was coated in white powder. Virgil shrieked and before Logan knew what was happening he was on top of the fridge, his hood pulled down over his face and his hands over his ears. Remus scrambled to stop the mixer, and ended up toppling the entire bowl of cake batter over onto the floor. The crash of breaking glass combined with the string of curses that came from Remus' mouth were enough to make anybody's ears ring, the mixer was still running, and how the hell did Virgil even get on top of the fridge?

Logan shook himself, then suddenly he was hurrying over towards Remus and the chaos he'd created, being careful not to step on any glass as he did so. He reached over and shut off the mixer, and the three exchanged glances over the now flour-coated kitchen.

"Huh," Remus said finally. " So that's why you're not supposed to do that." Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing a small avalanche of flour to join the rest of the disaster on the floor. 

"Go get a broom, Remus, I'll start wiping off the counters. Remy, can you get Virgil down from the fridge?"

"Oh thanks, give me that job,” Remy muttered. 

“Would you prefer wiping down the counters?”

“I would to getting bit by that bitch-ass vampire!” Logan sighed again and handed Remy the sponge. 

“Here, take this then.” Remy took the sponge and he started over to where Virgil was still sitting on top of the fridge. His hands hadn’t come away from his ears yet. Logan reached up and gently nudged his knee with one hand.

“It stopped,” he said quietly.

“Hsssssssss…” Virgil opened his eyes and glowered down at Logan. “I’m not getting down and you can’t make me. Not with that...not with Remus in here!”

“He’s not in here right now.” The other glanced up at this and seemed to consider this, but he didn’t move. 

“Look...I’ll trade with you,” Logan offered. “I’ll help Remus cook, and you can set up the confetti drop. That shouldn’t be too complicated and you won’t have to interact with him anymore, alright?” Virgil thought over the offer for a moment, then nodded slowly and slid off the top of the fridge. 

“How did you even get up there?” Remy asked as he exited the kitchen. 

“I have my ways.” The one in shades rolled his eyes and tossed the sponge to Logan, who only barely managed to catch it and got flour all over his shirt as a result. 

“Have fun.” Then Remy was gone. Logan began wiping everything down with the sponge and Remus came in a few minutes later, having finally located a broom. Somehow they managed to clean up the mess without any further incidents, and moved on to making the cake...again. There’s a reason I bought at least three boxes of cake mix, after all, Logan thought to himself with a small sigh. Once all the ingredients were in the bowl Remus moved to turn the mixer on again, but Logan stopped him before he could. 

“I don’t think so,” he grumbled. “Already had to get Virgil off the fridge once today.” “How’d he do that, by the way?”

“Who knows?” He started the mixer--slowly, this time, and soon enough they had a decent bowl full of cake batter.

“Remus, can you get me a glass pan?” He went in search of one while Logan went looking for the oil spray. 

“Can I do it?” Remus asked when they met back at the kitchen counter. How much of a mess could he cause? Logan hesitantly handed it to Remus, who promptly sprayed the oil in his own face. Okay, a lot of a mess.

“Dammit!” Remus quietly cursed and turned the nozzle, and before he knew what was happening Logan’s glasses were coated in oil, along with the rest of his face.

“Remus!”

“SHIT!”

Logan fumbled with his glasses and tried to wipe the oil off with the corner of his shirt, but he only succeeded in smearing it all over the lenses. 

“There, it’s in the pan!” Remus called. “How’d I do?”

“Remus, I can’t see.” 

“Don’t worry! I can take care of--”

“--REMY!!”

“What’s happening? Who’s on fire...Logan?” He saw his sassy friend’s blurry form enter the room, and gestured helplessly towards the green and black blob on his right. 

“Can you...stop him...get the cake in the oven...I gotta clean my glasses off now.” Logan stumbled over to the kitchen sink; Remus sounded outraged that Logan wasn’t trusting him with cake duty, and Remy was even more outraged at having been put in charge of the wildest, most chaotic human being that any of them had ever met. 

“Okay it’s in, try not to burn the house down Remus...chow.” Logan heard Remy leave as he scrubbed at his glasses with dish soap, while Remus flopped down onto the floor to watch the cake bake. Well, he probably wasn’t actually watching it bake, but as long as the house wasn’t catching fire things were going pretty good as far as Logan was concerned. He finished getting the last of the oil off of his glasses, dried them, and breathed a sigh of relief as the world came back into focus around him. It always made him nervous to not be able to see, though he’d never admit it of course.

Soon the cake was ready and the decorations had been prepared for the surprise party. Patton came back, laughed at Virgil’s wild telling of the incident in the kitchen, told Remus he’d done well for trying, and helped Logan make the frosting for the cake while Remus disappeared in order to ‘take care of Roman’s present,’ as he’d said. 

Whatever that meant.

“Got the pizza ordered?” Logan poked his head out of the kitchen once the cake was out and cooling off on the counter, directing his question at Remy.

“Hey, this bitch don’t mess around with pizza--of course I did.” Remy might’ve said more, but before he could continue Remus burst back into the house, holding a very oddly-wrapped something in his hands. 

“THE SACRIFICE HAS BEEN PREPARED!” he shrieked. Virgil flinched away from the loud noise and shook his head, while Logan and Remy raised their eyebrows and exchanged slightly worried, slightly amused glances. Remus’ wrapping skills were tragic at best, and as Patton came out of the kitchen his eyes went wide at the sight. 

“Do…do you...” he stopped himself and shook his head, retreating back into the kitchen. Logan glanced over at Remus. 

“We’re putting all the gifts on the counter over there, go ahead and add yours,” he told the other boy. Remus nodded and hurried over, adding his gift to the others that had already been stacked there. 

“You contact your brother?” Remus nodded quickly. 

“Yup!” Logan nodded, checking the room around them to ensure that all was in order. The front entryway had been transformed by Remy and Virgil’s handiwork--the confetti drop was up and ready over the doorway, set to fall when the string which had been tied to the door handle was pulled. Streamers were hung up on the walls, balloons were scattered around the low ceiling, and a large sign that said “Happy Birthday Roman!” hung from the middle, done in Remy’s handwriting of course. Virgil’s handwriting was usually illegible, Logan’s looked more like chicken scratch than the work of an actual human, Remus couldn’t spell, and Patton’s cursive was impossible to decipher in even the best situations. 

“The cake’s ready!” Patton came into the room, the cake balanced delicately in his hands. A blue, powdered sugar-coated apron hung from his shoulders and his hair was dusted white, as were his glasses. “Hey Logan--can you get the candles, please?”

“Certainly.” Logan retrieved the candles and lighter, arranging them on the cake in what he thought was a pleasing pattern. “Is Roman almost here?” he called to Remus. The other boy rushed to the window. 

“He’s coming down the street right now!” he announced. “Light the candles!”

“What did you tell your brother, anyways?” Logan asked as he flicked the lighter on. 

“I told him that you were texting him from my phone cause I got hurt and he needed to come over right away.” Patton’s eyes widened and he looked at Logan, who just shook his head. 

“It’s definitely believable,” Remy said, sipping at his Starbucks.

“How have you still not finished your coffee?”

“I bring extra.” Logan would’ve continued his questioning (like, how does one bring extra coffee and where was Remy hiding it?), but then a knock sounded at the door. He strode forward and opened it a crack. Roman was standing there, and he looked awfully worried. 

“Oh Lo, I’m so sorry about my idiot brother!” he burst out immediately, but before any more could be said Remus crashed into Logan, dragging the door open the rest of the way and yanking his brother into the house. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!” He shouted as confetti rained down on them and Remy laughed his head off in the corner and Patton tried not to drop the cake. He came over with the dessert and they all started singing happy birthday to Roman--yes, even Logan did, though he’d never admit it later. 

“Wait...wait...you’re not hurt! This was just a surprise…” Roman’s jaw dropped, and then he snapped his mouth shut. “Remus! I thought you’d killed yourself!” He dragged his brother into a hug. “You idiot! Come up with a better excuse next time, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry!” Remus said, though he was so excited that he didn’t sound sorry at all. “C’mon c’mon c’mon, we got you presents and everything!” Roman looked around at the decorations that had been put up for him, and once he was sure that his brother was okay and the anger from that had worn off he grinned like an idiot as he walked through the room. A rather illegally cute idiot as far as Logan was concerned, though of course he didn’t admit that as he ushered the others into the living room and brought in the packages. 

“So the pizza should be here in a few minutes,” he said as the others sat down, “but we thought you’d like it if you could open your presents first.” Roman looked wide-eyed at the packages that had been set out in front of them, grinning from ear to ear. He reached first for a small, neatly packaged gift that had been wrapped in purple paper, and pulled it away to reveal a pair of red headphones. Virgil smiled awkwardly at his friend, who immediately reached across the room and pulled him into a hug. 

“I hope you like it,” he said quietly. 

“Like it? Like it? LIKE IT!? I love it!” Roman set the headphones down next to him, admiring them for a moment before reaching for a tiny silver package next. 

“Now you can stop begging me to buy you coffee,” Remy grinned as Roman held up a Starbucks gift card. 

“That’s awesome, thank you Remy!” Roman cast a confused look at the third package, which was wrapped in green, then looked at his brother. Remus looked like he was about to explode from sheer excitement and chaotic energy--it was a miracle he’d managed to stay quiet for as long as he had. He reached for it and pulled off the paper, holding up a large machete with a slightly-confused-but-excited expression. 

“Remus…?” “I’ve been saving up to get us matching ones!” Remus burst out. “Now we can duel! Isn’t that gonna be awesome!?”

“Nice!” The two high-fived and Roman hugged his brother again. Patton looked at Remus and Logan and stood up. 

“Just a minute,” he said quietly. He disappeared and came back a few minutes later, and Roman’s brow crinkled in confusion. 

“A backpack? Why’s it...moving? Why does it look so heavy?” Roman reached for it as Patton gently handed it to him, and let out a squeal as he opened the top and a little golden puppy leaped out of the bag and started licking his face. 

“Oh my gosh, a puppy!” He squealed. Patton and Remus both grinned, and Logan found himself smiling a little as well. 

“Remus got permission from your parents, I got my dad’s help, and Logan picked the puppy out for you,” Patton explained. Roman reached for the little note that had been tied to the puppy’s collar, reading it out loud. 

Dear Roman,

I hope you find this gift satisfactory, your brother mentioned that you had been wanting a dog for quite some time, so we thought that we would try to make your wish a reality. His name at the shelter was Tillie, but you may name him whatever you would like.

“You...amazing...nerd…” Roman slowly set the card down, then launched himself into Logan’s arms, hugging him tight. “Thank you so much!” They were suddenly joined by Remus, and out of the corner of his eye Logan saw Patton yell something and hug Virgil. The puppy wagged his little tail and tried to climb into Roman’s lap; he let go of Logan so that he could and then hugged the pup too. Remy watched them all from the couch, shaking his head and smirking. 

“What should we name it?” Roman asked, looking around at the others. 

“Shadow,” Virgil suggested. “Or maybe like, Killer, or Demon, or--”

“Chaos! Death! Destruction! Carrion! Carcass! Vulture! Decay!” Remus shouted, bouncing with every name idea. 

“How about...Rose? Or Lily. Or Tulip. Or Dandelion. Or Daisy…” Patton tried, clearly trying to remember every flower name he’d ever heard.

“Frappe, Latte, Mocha, Capuchino, Coffee bean.” Remy yawned, pretending that he wasn’t interested in the conversation at all.

“The most popular dog names include Max, Buddy, Jack, Rocky, Bear, and Charlie,” Logan quoted. 

“You googled most popular dog names?” Remy asked with a snort.

“I’m not good with names.” Logan shrugged. “But I figured I would do my best to contribute.”

“That’s so cute,” Patton gushed. “What do you think, Roman?” Roman held up the puppy, who wagged its tail and licked his face. He giggled.

“How about...Princess?” he said. “I like that name.”

“The dog is a male though,” Logan said, a little confused. 

“Princess the Magnificent, then.” Roman laughed and set the puppy down. 

“Princey for short,” Virgil said. 

“I like that!” Roman nodded, then hugged the puppy to his chest again. “You’re so cute!” he told the puppy.

The doorbell rang. 

“Pizza’s here,” Logan announced. Roman jumped up as he stood, then hugged him again.

“Thank you so much,” he whispered, “for making this the best birthday ever.”