#look at him. look at kip. just the entire way he has the situation in his hands. ushering his mercenaries onto the competition

[the-kipsabian]

[alfgifu]

Fic analysis 11. Both a plan and a schedule

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48101221

Word count: 2,823

Chapters: 1

First posted: 24th June 2023

Summary: 

Kip Mdang has qualified as an accountant, said his farewells to the firm that trained him, and is setting up for himself in a tiny office behind the Gorjo City waterfront.

He has the job he always wanted to support the life of the tanà he always intended to be. His family and friends are proud of him, his girlfriend Ghilly is just waiting for him to propose... everything is going according to plan, and everything is on schedule.

There is no reason for him to feel the slightest bit of reserve, of wistfulness about his situation.

Response to elīkabeha's fic prompt:

Kip is quietly getting on with being an accountant tanà in the mould of Uncle Lazo. He's got his schedule. He's got his plan. Then crow crimes came out of nowhere...

NOTE: I have no plans at the moment to continue this story but would be delighted if anybody else wanted to do something with it. N+1 as the good folks say.

How and why this came about

I was bored and in bed with a fever and asked if anybody had any prompts. I knew that I didn’t have capacity to pick up another big fic (I was still wrapping up Hands to the wheel and had recently started Tenebra) but I had fun sketching this out. 

What worked and what didn’t

The balance of Kip’s memories, uncertainty about his presence, and excitement for the future ended up about right, with the sense of something that had been missed working through all of them. That’s much easier to do of course when your readers will almost all know the other way the story could have gone! Still, I’m pleased with how it came out.

I’m also pleased with the sibling banter between Kip and Vinyë. This was the first time I’d written a sibling dynamic and it flowed.

What I learned from writing it

The new thing here was bringing together the worldbuilding for the AU with the character study of a young Kip who missed his call to adventure. I definitely stretched some characterisation muscles in the process, and came back to them in different ways in various AUs written after this.

Thinking around the Gorjo City memories and dynamics also fed into later fics set there (particularly the second half of Tenebra).

I learned the Welsh word and concept hiraeth, which somebody mentioned in a comment – longing, yearning, nostalgia for a past or a home that you don’t or can’t quite know.

I also learned that, alas, posting an idea in the hopes that other people will write the story you have in mind seldom works. It seems unlikely that I’ll come back to this one now (although never say never I suppose!) If I did, the shenanigans that would ensue would involve the Astandalan army coming looking for their missing emperor. The Mdangs all rally around. Ghilly gets at least one heroic moment. I’m entirely sure where it goes from there and I don’t plan to risk finding out until I have a lot of spare time. Maybe when I retire…

[drabbles-mc]

First Impressions

Juice Ortiz x F!Reader

Request by @eversonaive​ : Could do a fic on the reader meeting Juice when he has the sign stuck to his chest only to find out later he is the club's intelligence officer lol

Part 2 can be found Here

Warnings: language, Juice being an embarrassed lil cutie

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: I loved writing this. Flustered Juice gives me life lmao. I hope it’s what you had in mind! I peppered in a couple other of our SAMCRO boys because why not?

Join my group-chat here: (X) ​

SOA Taglist: @adela-topaz-caelon​ @garbinge​ @i-just-read-stuff​ @multiyfandomgirl40​ @masterlistforimagines​ @mijop​ @chibsytelford​ @xladymacbethx​ @kkim120​ @toni9​ @everyhowlmarksthedead​ @unicornucopia-fuckers​ @mayans-sauce​ @shadow-of-wonder​ (If you want to be tagged in any of my writing please let me know! xo)

You couldn’t pretend that you weren’t surprised, and a little off-put by the scene in front of you. You looked around, wondering why you felt like you were the only one who saw what you were seeing. Everyone else was walking by, minding their own business, but you couldn’t pretend that you didn’t notice.

Crouching down, you pressed your fingers gently against the side of his neck, and you were rewarded with a fairly steady pulse. Relief flooded through you, glad you weren’t going to have to report a dead body. However, you weren’t quite sure how to handle the scene in front of you.

Gently nudging him, you tried to wake him up. He let out a soft groan but didn’t fully wake up. With a heavy sigh, you shook him a little harder but weren’t able to wake him. Pressing your lips together into a thin line, you patted the side of his face. You saw his brows furrow and twitch and you knew that he was almost awake.

“Hey,” you shook him and patted his cheek again, “you good?”

With a groan and what seemed like more effort than it should’ve taken, he slowly started to open his eyes. Part of you wanted to laugh because he seemed like he was probably going to be alright, but more than anything you were just confused.

“You alright? Looks like you’ve had…a time.”

He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at the state of himself. The fact that he didn’t seem shocked and appalled spoke volumes. With a quiet grunt, he forced himself to his feet.

“Do I have to be worried about you?” you couldn’t help but to look him up and down again. With a chuckle and a shake of his head he reassured you that he was fine, which did little to actually make you feel better, “There somewhere I should be take you?”

He laughed, “No. Don’t worry. Thank you for, uh, waking me up. Way better than getting kicked by the cops,” he shook his head.

“Small miracles,” you had to laugh.

“Yea,” he glanced down at the sign on his chest and you could tell from the look in his eyes that he was weighing the pros and cons of ripping it off right then and there, “I should go. I’m uh,” he gestured to the cardboard, “apparently late for my eight o’clock feeding.”

You smiled and shook your head, “Well that’s unfortunate.”

With a deep breath he pulled the sign from his chest and you both cringed. He cursed under his breath from the pain of it before folding it and tucking it underneath his arm. He gave you a lopsided grin and a small wave before turning and walking in the other direction away from you. You stood there, feeling like you should be offering him a shirt, or something to at least tie around his waist, but he seemed pretty unbothered by it all, so you let him go. You shook your head to yourself as you continued on your way, unable to believe what a weird day you’d already had.

A few days went by and you hadn’t forgotten about your run-in on the street that morning. It was a tough scene to forget. You didn’t want to believe that that was going to be the first and last time you ever saw him. If nothing else, you just wanted some closure on the situation, and you also wanted to know how the hell he ended up like that.

Your mind had wandered back to that situation as you stood outside your car waiting for the tow truck. You knew that your car was on its last leg to begin with, and that you should’ve set about looking for a new one some time ago, but you just kept putting it off. The thought of shopping for one, and then paying for one was overwhelming. You were paying for it in an entirely different way now, though. You knew that fixing whatever was wrong with your car was probably going to cost more than it was worth. So, to distract yourself from thinking about that, you thought about literally anything else as you sat half propped up onto your hood.

You’d gone to Teller-Morrow one other time, maybe twice, since you’d moved just outside of Charming. You didn’t remember anything about it, though—you were in and out quick for an oil change or something equally innocuous. There weren’t a whole lot of options for mechanics to begin with, let alone ones that would also tow. Plus you figured since they were local, it wouldn’t take them too long to get to you.

About twenty minutes later the tow-truck pulled up, and you were a mix of relieved and apprehensive. Two men stepped out, and your first thought was that they couldn’t have carried themselves more differently from each other if they tried. The taller one approached you, adjusting his beanie slightly as he did, while the other scampered around to start hooking the truck up to your car.

“So,” he walked up to you, a small smile on his face for a moment as he looked at you, “what seems to be the problem?”

You chuckled and shook your head as you clocked the name stitched into his work shirt, “Well, it stopped running. That’s about all I know, Opie,” you smiled at him.

He laughed, nodding his head slightly, “Sounds like a pretty serious issue, then.”

“I’d say so.”

He glanced back to make sure that your car had been hooked up alright, “You need to be dropped off somewhere, or you got a ride?”

You sighed, resting your hand on the back of your neck as you thought, “Would I be able to ride back to the shop with you guys?”

He nodded, “Sure thing. Long as you don’t mind Kip staring at you the whole time,” he gestured over to the man who was waiting by the door of the tow truck.

You laughed, “Staring I can handle.”

When they pulled into the lot at the mechanics, Opie got out and instructed Kip to take care of the rest. He looked over to you and gestured to the office, “Gemma will get you all set up. We’ll get it right on the lift and try to figure out what’s going on.”

You nodded, “Thank you, appreciate it.”

You knocked lightly on the door to the office and she called for you to come in. She got you all squared away with your paperwork to get everything started. You let her know that if it ended up being more than a certain amount to just not bother and scrap it, or to give it back and you would take care of that part yourself. You weren’t in a position to be paying more than the car was worth. There was sympathy present in her eyes as she listened to you, nodding along. You hated the feeling of pity but you couldn’t deny that you’d landed yourself into a bit of a hole.

She was walking you back out of the office, “We’ll give you a call when we’ve got some numbers for you, sweetheart.”

“Sounds good. Thank you guys so much.”

“Need us to call you a cab?”

You shook your head, “No, no I’ll be alright. Thank you though.”

You were walking across the lot, pulling out your phone as you did to try and figure out who you were going to call to come and pick you up. There was a sudden influx of noise and voices. And despite the fact that you heard it, you still didn’t look up.

The only thing that snapped you out of your thoughts was the feeling of someone’s shoulder bumping into yours. You looked up and both of you were in the middle of apologizing when your eyes met his. Neither of you could hide the shock on your faces as you took each other in.

He looked a lot different when he wasn’t coming out of a mild coma. And also when he was fully dressed with an MC kutte on. You’d missed out on the fact that he was handsome in the midst of worrying about his well-being the last time you saw him.

“Oh shit,” he laughed, “hey.”

“Uh, hey,” you couldn’t help but to stare at him, “I didn’t…expect to see you here. Or again in general, for that matter.”

Another man in a kutte appeared, draping his arm around the shoulder of the man that you were talking to, “Juicy,” he said, “who’s your friend?”

He wore his nerves on his face, “Um. She’s not, uh, she’s—”

You cut him off to save him the trouble, holding out your hand, “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he let your name roll off his tongue, “nice to meet you. I’m Jax,” he paused, looking back and forth between you and the man next to him, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, “Sorry to interrupt,” you could see that he was biting back a laugh.

“No, you’re…you’re good,” you reassured him, “Nothing to interrupt. Just, um, a little surprised by,” you gestured to the two of them and to the clubhouse behind them, “all of this.”

“Well then I gotta ask,” Jax continued to stare at Juice who seemed to be getting more and more shy by the second, “how do you know Charming’s favorite Puerto Rican Intelligence Officer?”

You couldn’t stop the laugh that slipped past your lips, “Intelligence Officer?”

Jax nodded, clapping Juice on the back as though he thought he was hyping him up, “For the club, yea. Can find out anything about anyone. Also our resident tech guy.”

You chuckled, unable to lie and say that you weren’t a little impressed, “Impressive. Guess we didn’t have time to get into all that last time we met.”

“Oh?” Jax looked back and forth between the two of you, embarrassment creeping onto Juice’s features.

“Yea, he was running a behind schedule. Had places to be.”

Jax looked over at him, “Where the hell did you have to be that could’ve been more important, bro?”

Juice ran his hands down his face, knowing that he was going to have to cop to it sooner or later, “When we met I was, um…she actually…” he shook his head, “She’s the one who woke me up the other day. Made sure I was alright.”

The entire incident had clearly already faded from Jax’s memory because he looked as lost as he had been before Juice said anything. You smiled, “I made sure he eventually made it to his eight o’clock feeding.”

Recognition flashed across Jax’s face and he laughed, “Jesus. Sorry you had to be a part of that.”

“Sure, her you’ll apologize to,” Juice rolled his eyes.

“She didn’t deserve it,” Jax chuckled and shook his head, “Well it was nice meeting you, Y/N. I’ll leave Juice to try and clean up whatever mess he might’ve made.”

He walked away from the both of you and you could head him laughing to himself as he approached the rest of the guys. You and Juice stood there facing each other, neither one of you really knowing what to say.

You broke the silence, “Won’t lie to you, Juice,” it felt nice to finally be able to address him as something, “over the past few days when I’ve been trying to think about what your life was like for it to land you in that situation, this wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“You’ve been thinkin’ about me?” he smirked.

You laughed, rolling your eyes, “You made quite the impression,” you looked him in the eyes, “I’m glad you’re alright though.”

He chuckled, “Not the worst thing they’ve ever done to me.”

You smiled and shook your head, “Well that’s a little concerning.”

“Sorry you got, uh, subjected to that,” he shook his head, “wrong place, wrong time.”

You waited for him to meet your gaze and you flashed him a smile, “I wouldn’t quite say that.”

There was a light in his eyes that was so enticing, “Right. Well. I’m glad I got a chance to make a better first impression. Sort of. Maybe,” he laughed. There were a few beats of silence before he spoke up again, “What brings you here anyway?”

You nodded towards the garage, “Car broke down.”

“Shit.”

Your laugh was a hollow, “Yea. Fucking sucks. Hoping they can fix it without bleeding me dry.”

Juice thought hard about it for a few moments, “I’ll take a look at it. I’ll see what I can do, see if I can get you a deal or something.”

“Yea?” you couldn’t hide your relief.

He nodded, “Yea. Least I could do.”

“You’d really be saving my ass.”

He laughed, “Guess that would make us even.”

You chuckled and nodded, “Guess so.”

He paused for a moment, eyes glued to the pavement, “If you want, you could, uh, you could give me your number,” he looked up at you, “and I’ll give you a call when I get it all sorted.”

You smiled, “Alright. Sounds good,” you held out your hand for his phone and quickly added your number to his contacts, “Hope to hear from you soon, Juice.”

“Juan,” he said quietly as he took the phone back from you.

“Hm?”

He looked at you, “Juan. My name is Juan.”

You smiled, “Well, then, Juan, I’ll talk to you soon,” you paused and bit back a laugh, “Try to keep yourself out of sticky situations, alright?”

“Well now at least I have you to call just in case,” he smirked.

“Won’t be able to come and get you until you fix my car,” you chuckled, “So at least be careful for a few days.”

“I think I can do that.”

“Good,” you stepped in and gave him a quick hug, “Thank you, Juan, seriously.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ll, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Looking forward to it,” you flashed him a smile before turning and continuing your way out of the parking lot.

You chanced a look back over your shoulder and saw that he was still standing there staring at you with a smile and a dreamy look on his face. You laughed and shook your head as you turned back around. There was something to be said about memorable first impressions, and something told you that you had landed yourself in an adventure when you met him. You were excited to find out what was in store.

[mercurial-madhouse]

@oldbay-on-apples asked, I wish you would write a fic where characters of your choice are spies and trying to escape a facility with the blueprints they need!

>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<

See my point of view (As someone staring back at you)

“We’re in, Haz.” 

Louis’s voice transmits through his earpiece. The tech relies on sound vibrations, picking up the resonance of Louis’s vocal cords so that, even though they can all hear him clearly, on Louis’s end his words are below a whisper. 

“Surprisingly, I can see that.” Harry scans the multiple video feeds on the screen before him. Louis, Picklock, top left; Niall, Ammunition, bottom left; Liam, Data Encryption, bottom right. 

Top right: blank. Where his feed should be. 

Louis’s face pops into Liam’s camera long enough for him to wiggle his eyebrows. All black looks so damn good on him. “How’m I supposed to know you weren’t mid-kip, old man?”

Harry tears his gaze away from Louis before his attention is compromised. Louis’s only two years older than he is and he’s been arse over tit for the footie player-turned-spy since they met years ago. But feelings cloud judgement, a potentially fatal threat too dangerous to dare in their line of work. He eyes the silver-tipped black cane leaning against the table next to him.

Current mobility status: severely limited.

“Promised Payno he wouldn’t have to babysit you alone,” he mutters without missing a beat.

Louis screws his features up then disappears from Liam’s screen, clearly shoved aside. Light glints off the camera implanted in the thin film of the eye-contact he’s wearing that’s allowing Harry to see their views. The nanotech Liam used to create it and their earpieces is too valuable to risk discovery by foreign governments. Any indication of compromise they must destroy the only lifeline Harry has to them.

Frustration tenses his muscles and tweaks the bulging disc between vertebrae L4 and L5. A lance of pain shoots up his spine. He raps a button on the keyboard. A fourth feed appears, the hijacked surveillance camera on the front gate with views of the Russian security guard manning the video booth.

Niall’s already detached from the other two. He oversees the perimeter. In complete silence he’s setting up remote-controlled explosives, the failsafe to create chaos should the other two need help during the extraction. Liam and Louis are silent. Harry watches like a video game without a controller as they scale the rear wall and infiltrate the building through the massive heating duct. 

As rogue operatives, their only link back to MI6 is a non-existent papertrail: an agent simply known as Z (probably because Q was already taken). The most dangerous jobs go to them, the ones MI6 can’t chance having connected back to the British government if the four of them are compromised on a mission.

If the window of opportunity to sneak into the Kremlin for a specific set of blueprints only known as TMH-11 weren’t closing fast, they might have waited for Harry to heal. All it’d taken was an unfortunate twist on their last mission in Bulgaria and he’d slipped a disc. He’s certain a gunshot to the back would be less painful. Louis had barely kept him on his feet to get to safety.

The silver world surrounding Louis and Liam steadies. For a few seconds Harry can see them both as they look at each other.

Liam glances at his watch. He’s spent months logging the patrols for the building and knows the timing by memory. 

“Six minutes, Tommo. No more.”

Louis nods. A breath, then they lift the ceiling grate aside. Liam finds leverage, planting his feet, gloved hands tight around the rope as Louis hovers towards the ground. The red laser lines criss-crossing the entire area as thin as trip-wires. 

Harry releases a breath when Louis’s feet touch down soundlessly, just before the tiny metal boxes all stacked like mailroom slots at a post office. The grid’s so small Louis’s got to keep his knees locked together. Even then, barely a centimetre separates him from discovery.

He works efficiently on the lock for box TMH-11, tools so tiny they make his slim fingers look even more slender. The miniscule flame of the blowtorch matches the alarm lasers in width. 

“Two minutes, eight seconds,” Liam says, tone even.

Plenty of time.

Louis is silent. He doesn’t answer when he’s concentrating. All of them know he’s heard.

The flame flares once. Louis cuts it off, pocketing the tools. He eases the door open, peering inside.

Motion on the screen catches Harry’s attention. The security guard’s feet have landed flat, squinting at the video monitor in front of him. His hand hovers over a call button, lips moving.

“Possible indeterminate error,” Harry warns. “Lou, get out now.”

Louis slides a cylinder from the box. At least a metre long, he slips it up to Liam.

“I’ve got movement,” Niall reports.

“Tommo, now,” Liam hisses.

Louis clicks the box closed. There’s no time to get the lock back into place. Footsteps fuzz through Liam and Louis’s earpieces. Pain surges through Harry’s back as he lurches forward, staring at Louis’s feed. Louis’s gaze whips over his shoulder towards the closed door of the vault.

“Lou, get out!”

Liam appears on Louis’s screen. Louis’s silent, but whatever he says to Liam with a look has Liam shaking his head.

Harry’s seen this too many times in his nightmares. They know their orders. They know what’s most important. “Lou, you still have time. Go.”

“Get that cache to Niall,” Louis whispers. He detaches the line from his back.

“Lou!” Harry shouts, in time with Liam. “Niall, code one. On my command.”

“Copy this.”

“Payno, go.” In Louis’s feed, Liam looks too far away. It’s not the distance that’s the enemy, it’s getting Louis through the grid without tripping the alarm. It’s precision that can’t be done quickly. The moment they trip the alarm the whole building goes on lockdown, cutting Liam off too.

Liam curses. Louis’s face vanishes in his screen, replaced by the cord Liam’s hauling up, then the descent of darkness as he closes the vent.

Heart racing, Harry splits his attention between Liam and Louis, anxiously tracking Liam’s progress back through the building. Louis doesn’t move except to press his forehead against the wall of metal, completely still. He can’t risk alerting the guards or sounding the alarm before Liam’s far enough out.

“Lou, he’s on the roof.” Harry doesn’t need to whisper, but his voice comes out soft anyway. “It’s only four metres to the door.”

If anyone can get out, it’s Louis. He’s as expert at slipping through tight spaces as he is at picking every lock. Harry refuses to believe he can’t find a way through these.

Louis pushes out a slow breath, loud enough for Harry to hear through the wire. “I won’t make it, Haz. You know I can’t risk it.”

Fuck. Fuck. This possibility isn’t a surprise. They’ve got hundreds of contingency plans and this one is no different. Once Liam successfully drops the cache with Niall, he’ll go back for Louis. 

“Payno, report.”

“Three minutes.”

Three minutes to get to Niall and back. A dangerous gamble.

“Think you could go a mite faster there, Payno?” Louis mutters, voice light despite the tightness.

Another man has joined the security guard. They’re pointing at one of the feeds. Harry’s heart thuds as dread washes over him, pulse pumping in his jugular. 

“Damnit, I should be—”

“Right where the fuck you are,” Louis cuts him off, an edge to his words. They soften. Something indescribable leaks into his tone and slicks Harry’s palms with sweat. “Right where you need to be, Haz.”

“I need to be with you.” The words are out before Harry can stop them, but it’s the truth. If Harry were there this wouldn’t be an issue. He should be getting Louis out while Liam runs the line. They operate in pairs for a reason.

Louis hasn’t moved at all. His control is impressive. Off the clock he’s all manic energy. On a job every move he makes is precise and carefully thought out. None of them could possibly fill his role.

“One minute,” Liam reports. He’s scaling to the roof.

Footsteps echo through the corridor behind Louis. Russian voices, too far for the mic to pick up, so the internal translator won’t work. They stop outside the door. The bleeps of a keypad.

A torpedo of terror surges into Harry’s chest and ruptures.

“Hazza—”

“Niall, now! Liam, go!”

“Haz, I’m sorry... I’m in love with you.”

Niall’s explosives detonate. Louis’s feed goes dark. Harry’s heart gets caught in the blast.

>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*< 

(Ok, I tried so hard to make this a drabble of 500 words. Then 1k. It wasn’t meant to be. This is the story the characters told me. I hope it fits the bill, love! I do enjoy me some spy AUs even though this is my first to write! Love my action and adventure!)

Have something else you’d like to see me write? Go wild! Pairing, situation, feeling… Send me an ask (anon or not) completing the sentence ‘I wish you’d write a fic where…’

Superpowers Drabble

Invisible Drabble

Only one bed (H-POV)

Only one bed (L-POV)

ABO new-omega!Louis drabble that became a fic on AO3.

[tiny-witch-cottage]

Small Fry

Kip goes out to lunch with a new little friend, Neo the tiny cat. Of course, Neo is pretty scared around norms, but he's earned a lunch at least.

Kip belongs to @smolfoxie !

1250 words

It has been such a fine afternoon so far. The weather is sunny and clear, and Kip’s meeting his new friend for lunch. A tiny white, pink, and brown calico cat called Neo, Kip found her on one of his evening walks, her hiding hole having been washed away by the rain. Since then they’d started to grow a bit closer, though Kip is quite sure she still fully believes him to be of normal size. Indeed, with his regular use of growth potions Kip is quite capable of walking the larger world on his own in a way most tinies like Neo can’t.

Neo is generally pretty nervous about going outside in broad daylight, fearing that she’ll be seen or worse by someone with ill intentions. Understanding, Kip had offered to go eat at a cool joint nearby, one with outdoor seating. As he approaches the tables, he keeps a close eye near the ground, looking for where a tiny cat like her could be hiding. He considers the alleyway, or some of the flowers perhaps, and grabs a table, one with an umbrella coming up a hole in the middle that’s well out of the way. Putting his bag down and waiting for service, his dark ringed eyes scan around under his hat brim. Kip’s ears strain, as if they could make out a cat’s pawsteps at her size at all, let alone with the ambient noise outside.

A waiter comes by and Kip orders a burger combo that comes quickly, absentmindedly reaching for his phone as if he could text the friend he’s waiting on. That’s when he notices something, the umbrella wobbling back and forth ever so slightly. Ducking his head beneath the table he sees Neo scaling the pole with a determined look. Kip reaches out with a hand to help, but Neo just keeps at it until she’s reached the surface of the table, squeezing through the hole with a look of determination. She nonetheless falls back to catch her breath for a moment after the climb, waving a little hand in greetings.

“Glad you made it!” Kip exclaims, before throwing in a joke, “What took you so long?”

Rolling over and brushing herself off, Neo looks up to him with a mock pout, “I left yesterday! It took almost the whole night just to cross the street.”

“Sounds like someone needs a ride then.” Kip notes, “Wouldn’t be hard, I hear peeps do it with tinies all the time. Just pop you in my pocket and off we go.”

Neo gets a bit visibly nervous at this, her fluffy tail flicking a bit at the strawberry pink tip as she looks down. She doesn’t say anything though, so Kip tries to defuse the situation. “Uhh… C’mon, food’s getting cold, I told you we’re sharing today.” 

This gets Neo to perk up a bit as she walks across the uneven plastic surface of the table and steps over the rim of the tray. It’s absolutely unusual for her, being so near fresh big food like this. The scent coming off everything is almost overwhelming, far better than it is when it’s being warmed up again after she’s found it discarded. As Kip makes a “help yourself” gesture while cracking open the cap of his drink and effortlessly lifting the towering bottle just for the act of taking a sip, Neo feels conflicted for choice. 

Neo looks at the burger, a brown patty and crisp, fresh vegetables between buns bigger than her bed. Yet another eye is drawn to the fries, crispy golden straws that smell rich and appetizing, glistening with oil and salt. These, she decides, would be more accessible to take a piece of and enjoy. So Neo walks over to the fry container and grabs onto one fry with both hands, pulling out the pool noodle sized fry from the great pile like firewood from a stack. When she’s pulled it out entirely, she's amazed to find the fry stretches a bit longer than her own height even.

Kip can’t deny his amusement at seeing Neo consider the food, deciding to cut off a more manageable piece of the burger for her to try as well. Seeing the positively unwieldy size of the fry she had unwittingly selected, he’s ready to cut that for her or get another as well. This is before she takes the fried strand of potato in two hands and crunches into the very end ambitiously, pushing him into an outright laugh. The laughter is lost on the tiny Neo, however, as she experiences the fresh flavor of a fried potato for her first time with wonder; the outside is crunchy and crisp while the interior is fluffy and light, it’s all filled with warmth and is nothing short of magical. Even if she’ll fail, she knows she must try to eat the whole fry.

The two chat over their lunch, Neo happily listening about Kip’s graffiti art and both telling of their explorations, albeit at different scales. Slowly but surely Neo makes progress on her fry, even if she hardly manages to get a third of it before her stomach strains under the amount of potato filling it. Kip, meanwhile, enjoys his burger and fries, easily devouring by the handful french fries the likes that Neo struggles to handle over the whole meal. 

The lunch passes mostly without incident, until at one point Kip hears a voice calling his attention from behind. Panicking, he acts on instinct and practically slams Neo into the tray with his hand to cover the tiny cat as he turns around with a start. The speaker, pointing to an overflowing table across the patio, just asks if he can use a chair and is on his way. But Neo starts to panic rapidly at the sudden pressing touch, a wall of plush warmth coming down on her without warning and crushing her against the unmoving floor of the plastic tray. The flesh of the hand is soft and doughy, but unyielding. Even with all her strength she can hardly move it at all. Breathing heavily, she can’t move against the overwhelming force as her head starts to race. She can’t hear the conversation, but a part of her lights up in recognition that Kip’s instinct, sloppy as it may have been, was to protect her like this.

First thing Kip notices with his hand over Neo is how she so cleanly fits in his palm, the little warm fluff filling his cupped hand. The second thing, of course, is that she’s holding stock still and definitely not used to being touched like this. Realizing that the danger’s passed, Kip gently slides his hand away, stroking all along Neo’s fur. “Hey, uh, sorry about that. I know you’re not great about the touching I just-” Kip’s confidence seems to visibly falter as he closes his eyes in frustration and speaks softly to not further intimidate the tiny cat. To his surprise though, he’s interrupted by a light touch himself, two tiny hands just managing to lift his index finger.

Straining with the weight, Neo puts the pointer finger on her head with a cautious smile, “I- I think you can touch, you’re okay,” She says so softly Kip can hardly hear the tiny voice, “Besides, I- um, might take you up on that ride back I think.”

Kip just smiles back at his little friend, ruffling her fur a bit with his finger.

[glenncoco4]

You Can Count On Me

A/N: Chapter 7

••••

As she waits for the car in front of her to pull ahead, Kensi basks in the warmth of the bean juice as it moves its way down her throat. She so focused on her morning joe that she doesn’t notice the lone figure standing on the curb. Her brow furrows in confusion as he steps up to the side of the car. “Oh, my god, babe, what are you doing?”

The dirty shaggy blonde flashes his partner the gross yellow caps that are surrounding his teeth, earning a cringe. “Had a little LAPD undercover field trip early this morning. Can I get a ride?”

She extends her head towards him, sniffing as the unknown smell assaults her nostrils. “Is that you?”

“I like to go method, you know that.”

“That’s really disgusting.”

“I have to be convincing and the smell is a big part of that.” He places his arm against the window sill, sending his girl a wink. “So how bout that ride?”

“I love you but I wouldn’t let you ride in my trunk smelling like that.”

“Are you serious?”

It takes everything in her not to dry heave as a new odor enters her bubble. “Serious as that smell coming from your clothes.” Shaking her head, the brunette smirks, sending him a playful wink before driving off.

“No, no. No, no. Come on, Kens!”

“Bye, cutie.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he watches the retreating taillights fill his vision, leaving him stranded on the side of the road. “This is love.”

 ••••

Later that day the junior agent listens to the older man’s theory as to which direction the missing marines may have headed, but her instincts tell her that what he’s saying isn’t necessarily true. “I’m not so sure, Major. I found SUV tracks heading in the other direction.”

The older man rolls his eyes, almost challenging the brunette. “I’m pretty sure they’re heading away from Mexico.” He dismisses the pair, focusing on his own agenda before walking over to the rest of his team. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Did I just get blown off?” She turns to her boyfriend, honestly wondering why she’s at all surprised by the Major’s reaction. 

“Like Ronald McDonald at a PETA convention.” He shakes his head, knowing if anyone can track, its one Kensi Marie Blye. Without an ounce of doubt in his eyes, Deeks looks to her. “Hey, trust your gut.”

A barely there smile rises to her lips. She sees the absolute faith he has in her shining bright in his cerulean blues. It’s calming and gives her a moment to center herself. “Looks like somebody was being dragged, which seems to fit the scenario.” She follows the trail, but stops when its clear that it goes on for miles. 

Realization hits her and she tries to bite back a smile thinking about how her partner his gonna respond to what they have to do next. “You ready to go for a little ride?”

The words leave her lips and he can’t help the smile that spreads to his face. The image of her in nothing but satin lace saying those exact same words has him in a trance.

She sees his eyes glaze over as he licks his lips. Shaking her head, she can only imagine what’s going on in his head right now. “On the bikes, Marty, on the bikes.”

“So no hot desert sex then?” He playfully pouts. 

She ignores his question, walking off towards the dirt bikes in hopes that he didn’t notice the blush rise to her cheeks.

••••

Two hours later, Kensi suddenly stops, pulling of her helmet as her partner follows. “I’ll never understand why you do this for fun.”

The corner of her mouth curls into a smile when she watches him shake his hair. The dirty clothes mixed with his sun kissed skin does things to her, a lot of things. “You look rugged, babe. Wouldn’t make you for a four-star hotel camper.”

“Kens, the last time we went on vacation you and Kip went on an ATV adventure while me and the cupcake girls stayed at the pool all day and got pedicures.” He suddenly pauses, the first string of words suddenly washing over him. “Wait, you think I look rugged?”

“Yeah, like Malibu Ken, he wasn’t anatomically correct either.”

He eyes his girlfriend, challenging her. The squawk of laughter she lets out makes his heart flutter. He’s been working on her sense of humor for 20 years now, when she thinks she’s being funny somehow it makes the situation all the better. His little weirdo. But that also doesn’t mean he can’t ‘fight’ back. “In that case, I guess I’ll just have to keep what I have to myself.”

“You wouldn’t last 10 minutes.”

“Oh you think so?”

Her eyes follow him up and down as she examines his body, bitting her bottom lip. “I guess only time will tell. Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask, are you good with me walking around the house naked tonight? It’s just these clothes are so constricting today, I need a little bit of air.”

“Uh.” He’s left frozen in the hot desert sun, well all but one part of him. She’s gonna be the death of him, but what a way to go.

••••

Dread fills her being as she watches the guy who was chasing after her partner come back on the ATV. Her heart races, thinking about how his lifeless body could be laid out alone somewhere, but before she can get too deep into her thoughts the perpetrators surround the bulldozer spraying bullets right towards the brunette and marines.

They’re so focused on those they can’t see that they miss the lone assailant approach them on their side. Just has he lifts his gun, a series of bullets hit the man from out of nowhere. 

Kensi’s brow furrows, wondering if their back up has finally arrived when out jumps her rugged looking boyfriend covered in more dirt than she remembers. She’s so angry with him for losing contact that she doesn’t even have time to take a relieving breath that he’s alive.

The detective hops over the scrap of metal, coming up beside his partner. “Did you miss me?”

“Where have you been?”

“They killed my bike.”

They crouch down even further as the bullets continue to fly, their eyes lock, trying to come up with a plan. Any plan that will get them out of this alive. 

With not much time Deeks realizes the action he needs to take to ensure the best possible outcome for their safety. “Alright, you know what? I’ll draw their fire, you make a run for the SUV.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Not really, no.”

Before she can respond he’s halfway across to the trailer spraying the men with bullets, once he’s found cover behind the old truck, Kensi makes her move as her partner covers her.

She quickly makes it to the SUV just as one of the guys loads the rocket launcher. As she’s messing with the wires, a whirling sound fills the air followed by a loud explosion. Looking up, her heart sinks once again, knowing that’s the exact same spot where her love was. “Marty.”

Giving up. That’s all she’s thinking about now as the perpetrators continue their assault. They’re outnumbered and Marty is more than likely dead. It’s hopeless. 

As she lays there in the seat of the vehicle a sudden twirling noise fills the air, to much of her relief she soon recognizes the sound. Help has arrived.

Staying down until backup has taken care of the men, Kensi takes a calming breath as a lone tear escapes her eye. God how is she going to go on with her life? How will she explain it to his mom? How will she explain it to their friends?

“Look, baby, I know you’re tired, but you can sleep when we get home.”

Her eyes go wide at the sound of the oh so familiar surfer drawl that belongs to her best friend. Before she can even process what’s going on in her head, her body is jumping out of the seat and lunging into his arms. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m okay.” He places a kiss to the top of her head. To say the explosion knocked him on his ass is a bit of an understatement. He was this close to being engulfed in flames, so close in fact that the back of his jacket is charred. So close to losing all he had with her and leaving her by herself. That thought alone, sends his mind into overdrive. 

Realizing that their coworkers could be walking up at any minute, they quickly pull apart, the aching to be close to one another radiating through their beings. Sharing a look, they center themselves and get back to the art of deception. Rushing over to the marines, the partners help load them into the chopper and take a much deserved sigh of relief. All in a days work.

••••

They finally get back to the mission later that evening to grab their things, gladly leaving their paper work for tomorrow. The pair say their goodbyes to the rest of the team before heading out to their respective vehicles, but the shaggy blonde stops her from getting into her car. “How about I pick you up from your place and we go for a ride?”

“I like the sound of that.”

Observing the area around them, the detective makes sure the coast is clear before taking hold of her hand, his thumb moving back and forth across her soft skin, bringing both of them a sliver of comfort. 

His eyes find hers, there’s so much he needs to say to her, but now is not the time. “I love you.”

She’s caught a bit off guard, not by his words, but the turmoil and sadness written in his eyes. “I love you too, Marty.”

••••

She looks across the vastness that is the ocean. The golden and pink hues that envelope the world around them is one of the most magical things that she’ll never get tired of. But the view is the last thing on her mind because something’s been off with her boyfriend for the better part of the day and then their interaction in the parking garage, has her wondering. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I-I need you to...”

“Need me to what?”

His chest rises and falls as he takes a calming breath. He’s not really sure of what he’s about to asks her...actually he is. Turning towards her, he’s met with her concerned loving mismatched eyes, and it gives him the courage to continue on. “Marry me.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Great, Marty. That’s just great. You have an entire rolodex of words and those are the ones you choose.”

“Marty. Baby. Stop.”

Taking another deep breath, he tries to gather his thoughts. 

They sit in silence for a few seconds before he finally gains his courage once again to confess what’s been at the forefront of his mind for the past couple of hours. “Kens, I love you. In some way I’ve always known that I was in love with you. You’re my best friend, the person I want to share everything with. I don’t know how you did it but that 8 year old little girl I met 20 years ago made me feel the safest I’ve ever felt in my life and she’s been doing so ever since.” He reaches for her hand, needing contact now more than ever. “I know this is sudden, but when you think about it, its really not. We know everything about each other, we’re a part each other, past, present and future. I want you to know that you can count on me for the rest of our lives. Baby, I’ll always be here loving you and being your biggest supporter. I so very much want you to be the same for me, so...Kensi Marie Blye, will you marry me?”

There are tears in her eyes, this is sudden and happening oh so fast. Her heart is racing and her thoughts are all over the place. Sliding across the old leather seat, she brings her lips to his. “I love you so much, and I want all of those things that you do, but I think I need a little time to process everything. Is that okay?”

He should’ve saw this coming. I mean they’ve only been dating for a week and this topic has never come up. His best friend is one of the most level headed people he’s ever known, so he recognizes that she needs time to process this commitment and all that comes with it. He places a reassuring kiss to her lips, a barely there smile across his face. “Of course it is. I didn’t mean to spring this all on you. It’s just what with today and the explosion, I knew I didn’t want to waste another minute.”

“And we’re not.” She assures him, if there’s one thing she knows its that life is short and there’s no promise of tomorrow, but she still needs to gather herself and her thoughts. If they’re going to do this, she needs to have a level head not be wrapped up in the near death experience of today. “We’re together. I just want you to know that no matter what, I do want everything with you. I just need some time to process everything.”

“I understand.”

She places a kiss to his lips once more before her head finds his shoulder. “I love you.”

His head finds hers as they stare out across the cliff side sunset. The tension in his body slowly releases as her fingers intertwine with his. As long as she’s still here, that’s all that matters. “I love you. I love you so much.” 

[queenofwerewolves]

Future Hope - chapter 1.5 - Practice Makes Perfect

Our heroes didnt get their powers and knew from night to day how to manage them, especially those who had physical changes to their body. Our soon-to-be heroes were all reunited in Maria's house, they had planed to spend the afternoon practing and exploring their new limits and abilities, all helping eitch other.

They decided since Griff had the biggest change, they would focus on him first. At the moment they were out in backyard, eitch one giving suggestions on what to begin first.

"Pick us all up at once with your new muscles!" Said Muffin excitedly. "That's still too light! Pick us all up plus Maria's car" Said Spike, chewing once again on a bubblegum.

"You all leave Hellride out of this!" Maria responded angrily. "That car was expensive as fuck and I refuse to go back to a life of Ubers!" She crossed her arms, indignified.

"You named your car?" Kip answered from high up a tree branch, as cats do. "I name all my belongings, what of it?" Maria answered. "And they're all cool names, too".

"Hellride? Really?" Spiked scoffed. "Because she rides fast as Hell! Look can we get back on track and find something for Griff to test his strenght?!" Maria answered nervously with a touch of embarrassment.

"Unless we find an Indiana Jones boulder for him to spin on his finger like a damn basketball we arent gonna get any damn progress!" Spike shouted back.

Maria sighed and shook her head. "I hate it when you have a point.." Griff nervously scratched the back of his head. "There must be something we can do.." He quietly mumbled out.

"I got it!" Muffin shouted, they all turned to face her. "I forgot Im a fairy! I can just poof something up!" She said excitedly. Everyone stared at her with either a confused or shocked look.

"..How... Do you FORGET that you're a fairy?!" Spike blurted out nervously. "You have fucking wings! How does one forget they have huge pink glittery wings?!"

Muffin just shrugged.

Maria smiled wide. "OK Muffin, give us something huge and heavy for Griff to use!" Muffin nodded and grabbed her wand which had a muffin on the tip. "Wand cook, beat and bake! Give us a big large and tasty cupcake!" She waved her wand and out appeared from a bunch of pink glittery smoke, a nearly two-story house tall chocolate cupcake.

"... Why a cupcake..?" Blink asked as she peeked behind her mask, in slight awe and wanting to secretly a bite out of it. "I can only make sweets!" Muffin said with a shy tone. "Im not a fighter like you guys, I only want to make people happy and eat candy!"

"That is certainly the biggest pastry I've ever seen! So large and beautiful, I bet tasty as well!" "Not to mention DIABETIC AS HELL!!! We could die from a heart attack eating that! Or worse, we could get fat! Even fatter! And become even uglier then we already are! This is too overwealming I need a nap!"

Rooko and Rooki suddenly spoke, almost taking everyone off guard on how their friend Rook is suddenly two split personalities now based on the Youtube character ENA, one is always happy while the other is always sad, and depending on the situation they can go Manic or Miserable.

"OK Griff, show us what you can do!" Maria shouted excitedly. Without missing a second, Griff bent over and gripped the edge of the massive cupcake, after struggling a bit he slowly but surely, lifted the entire thing over his head, smiling proudly.

His friends cheered and applauded proudly. Feeling satisfied, he dropped the cupcake and dusted the chocolate crumbs off his hands and fur. "Yokusei!" He shouted, and with a naruto-like smoke poof, he turned back to his human self. Maria ran and hugged him tightly, which Griff embraced and hugged back with a slight twirl.

"Griff you were amazing!!" Maria said with a proud tone, Griff slightly blushed pink at the small punk girl and her excitement. "Oh shucks, it was nothing.." He said with a shy tone.

"Well, and seems we concluded Griffin's training." Togekiss said as they took a sip of tea. "He jump twice as high as a two-story house, his punches and kicks can knock down brick walls and possibly more if we werent limited on objects to test it with, he can hear twice as much then a dog could with his ears, and his sense of smell is impecable. Truly Griff is a strong asset to our team."

"I can only train my powers at night.." Said Spooks, holding an umbrella to protect her from the sun, now that it injures her. "Muffin's power is only sweet making. Togekiss has exceptional I.Q and can see simulations in the future like Garnet in Steven Universe, along with their strong telekenisis, and Kip simply draws whatever she desires, whether alive or not and it becomes a reality... That means it's Rook's turn to show us what she can do" She finished.

"Wonderful! It's our time to shine!" "I-I-I not ready! Everyone's gonna laugh at us! I-I might piss myself in fear!" "Oh pull yourself together dear! Our friends wont laugh at us!" "How do we know that?! They're just waiting to correct us on a dumb mistake!!!"

Rook's body shook and twitched as her eyes turned to static, suddenly her entire eyes turned black with a blue iris, she turned Miserable.

"They're gonna laugh and point at our foolish selves, we're gonna be so embarrassed that we'll wish that the Earth will swallow us whole and just fucking kill us now!! Go ahead! Laugh at us and our misfortune!!!"

"ooh shit" Maria said. "can someone calm her down?"

Rook's eyes change to regular as her Miserable side went away. "No need my good Queen! We are completly fine! Now prepare to be dazzled as we show you all what we can do!" q

Rook pulled out a harry potter-like wooden wand, waved it around. "Bloom and Blossom and protect who I love! Rise my pretties, rise high and above!" Rooki shot an orange light at the grass, which made dozens of flowers bloom and grow around Spike and Blink.

"This is only one of my tricks! It's a shield that protects them from almost anything! My main weakness is fire, because while plants are beautiful, they are also sadly very, very flammable"

"Cool." Said Spike before using his bat to aggressivly hit the flowers and the vines aside so he and Blink could leave.

"M-M-My turn I guess!" Rook took hold of the wand and waved it in circles. "Razzle Dazzle Shine and Show, make their body move it low!" Rooko shot a blue light at Spooks, which made unwillingly and uncontrolably start dancing and as the spell said, make her go low.

"O-OH GOD SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP I DONT LIKE HOW MY BUTT IS MOVING THIS MUCH!!" She shouted in desperation as she made a split and moved it even lower.

"M-My deal is with music! I-It works as a way of distraction o-or hypnosis and it lasts for 30 minutes un-le-less I say otherwise! I-I know it's a sucky power!"

"OK COOL CAN I STOP DANCING PLEASE IM GETTING A CRAMP!!!" Yelled Spooks, practically begging. Rooko flicked her wand and Spooks fell on the ground, panting. "OH MY POOR HAMSTRINGS THEY ACHE!!" She yelled in utter pain, meanwhile Maria and Spike were absolutely losing it.

"O-OH GOD MY STOMACH HURTS-" Said Spike in between laughter.

"OK you guys cool it" Said Blink. "It's our turn to practice now. We're the only ones who use regular weapons." She said drawing her sword and positioning her mask back in place.

"O-OK! OK!" Maria said getting up, she pulled out a small staff and whipped it, making it stretch out wide into a full, large red and black scythe, with a rose print on the blade. Spike spun his bat and spat his gum out.

"So. Who's ass Im kicking first?" Said Spike. "Wait on second thought this might be unfair." Said Blink. "Me and Maria had blades while Spike has a bat, maybe we should-"

Before she could finish, Spike swung his bat and hit Blink sword, knocking it out of her hand before kicking her back at the ground. Blink fell back hard before she could even process what happen, dumbfounded but angry, she snarled. "Oh it's on now Motherfucker." She extended her hand and the sword flew back to her hand, as she charged towards Spike, who moved out of the way as soon as Blink swung her sword, which if he hadnt been for Maria's scythe, would have sliced her right up.

"Dude! Chill! This is a pratice!" Maria spoke as both of their blades were against eitch other. Blink hopped and flipped over her and landed on a tree branch, croutching like a ninja. She put her hands together and in a small puff of smoke and disappeared. Spike and Maria were back to back, ready to counterattack Blink, what they didnt expect was for her to attack from underground.

Buring up from the dirt, she got both of them off their feet and charged after Spike, who barely managed to regain his balance before his using bat his block Blink's sword. A back and forth of clash-clings-and-clangs between metal begun, one attacking the other but eitch blocking every attack again and again.

Spike ducked a sword slash and roundhouse kick Blink's leg, which was effective since she's practically a ninja. She backflipped back on her feet and kept attacking swiftly. But a sudden scythe blade cut in between them, stopping the fight.

"That's enough!!!" Maria shouted. "You both are gonna end up hurting yourselves or eitch other! im ending it now!!"

"Oh what the hell dude?!" Blink shouted indignified. "I was about to beat him!!" "Oh please." Answered Spike. "Was that the best you could do? Sakura could do a better job kicking my ass" He scoffed. They began to argue loudly, genuinely angry at eitch other.

"THAT"S ENOUGH!!!!" Maria shouted, making them, and everyone else look at her.

"It doesnt matter would win that fight! This was a practice and not a competition!! The point of us being a team and getting powers in the first place was for all of us to make the world a better place, but the only way that can happen is if all of us work together!! As a team!!!"

They stood in silence, listening to her talk and set them straight.

"As cheesy as that sounds, it's true!! We shouldnt fight eitch other like this, you're not just my friends, we're all friends with eitch other! We all go along well and we know that, that's why I got you all together, because no one can bond better in a team then all of us together!!!"

"... She's right." Togekiss added, walking towards them. "We all started as simple individuals with free time on a website, but we all shared common interests, we grew closer.. And suddenly like that, we all became friends.. A family, if you will."

"We take care of eitch other and look out for one another." Said Spooks.

"Just like how you all did for me.. When I almost died. Almost died because of the shit and violent world we live in." Maria said.. With a slight crack in her voice.

"You're bringing in the same violence that almost killed me.. So please.. Please stop fighting.. We're all in this together.. Right..?"

Spike and Blink dropped their weapons and hugged Maria, and everyone else joined in as well.

"You're right, we're sorry Queen." Said Spike. "We got overwhealmed and we didnt mean it. We wont fight again, because you're right." Added Blink.

"We only have eitch other in this world, and if we want to change it we have to stick together, just like you said." Spike said one more time.

"And we wont let you down.. We promise.." Griff finished, with everyone agreeing with what he said.

And so they stayed for a moment, embraced within eitch other in a group hug. A family isnt perfect, there will be disagreements, but a good bond will always overcome those disagreements, and that's what they had, a good bond.

A bond that's practically unbreakable and untaintable. A bond that will soon be ready, and fight together to make the world a better place.

A bond that will the world's Future Hope..

[imaginingsoftly]

Wedding Date Pt. 1 - Tyler Seguin

Type: strangers-enemies-lovers, series

Requested: no

Warnings: alcohol, swearing, asshole exes

A/N: I’ve been working on this for about 2 months now, and finally have enough finished to be able to share with you guys. A HUGE thank you to @tysojost for reading the first few parts and giving me incredible feedback when I got stuck! 

This is going to be somewhere around 7 parts, and I’ll release a new part once a week. Probably Thursdays.

Melissa groaned as she came to. It had been a long night, one that hadn’t ended until almost 3am, and now the sun was shining in her eyes after what had felt like an hour or two. The alcohol from last night sloshed slightly in her stomach as she reached over to grab her phone, and Melissa stilled. She would not puke. Not right now. Thankfully, her stomach settled after a few seconds of blind panic, and she finished reaching out for her phone. The screen was blindingly bright, and Melissa squinted as she stared down at the time in disbelief. Scratch that, it had only been two hours. Damn Ontario and their early sunrises. 

She was never drinking with John and his former teammates again. Sure, it had been fun to show off a bit and drink most of them under the table, but damn her stomach hurt. A cup of strong black coffee and maybe a Gatorade were a must before she did anything. There was a small shop in the lobby of the resort that would have Gatorade, she had seen it during check-in the afternoon before. The coffee, thankfully, was in the apartment. As a self-aware coffee snob she’d brought her own grounds and french press, and there was a kettle for boiling water on the stove. Good coffee would go a long way to settle her stomach, Melissa knew that from experience. 

The sky was calling Melissa’s name as she peered out the window in her room. It was cloudy, a storm likely coming on the horizon. Her ideal weather. The face looking back at her in the mirror looked a mess, leftover mascara smeared under her eyes and hair a greasy tangled nest. She would need a shower after her walk. Brushing her teeth made her feel like a new person, and Melissa slipped into a pair of shorts and a ratty sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was actually John’s, the groom for the weekend, something she’d borrowed one night after her and Kirsten got a little too drunk in the couple’s living room. Her best friend’s fiance, being the angel that he was, slept in the guest room that night when Kirsten and Melissa passed out in the master bedroom. 

Melissa sighed as she stepped into the cool morning air, relishing in how clean it smelled. She loved living in the city, loved the easy access to everything and the ability to walk everywhere, but the air quality was severely lacking. Plus, if there was one thing that Ontario did better than Virginia, it was the weather. Huntsville was cool, cool enough to wear a sweatshirt. It wouldn’t be cool enough to wear a sweatshirt in Arlington again until at least the beginning of October. 

The walk to the check in office took almost an hour there and back, but she returned with a large Gatorade and a granola bar. She downed them both on the walk back to her room. The walk had been energizing, and the sights were beautiful. Deerhurst Resort, the wedding venue, was situated on a lake and surrounded by green. It was exactly the kind of weekend escape Kirsten had been convincing her she needed for probably the last two years. 

The entire building was still silent as Melissa made her way back into the hotel room, and she began to pull things out of her suitcase for a shower. Kirsten and John hadn’t given her the chance to unpack anything the night before, instead pulling her out of the hotel room and into the party as soon as she’d set her bags down. The bathroom was fancy, way more fancy than the one she had at home, and Melissa let the water begin to heat up while she turned on some music. 

Kip Moore began shooting out of her speakers, one of his songs about drinking, and Melissa skipped that one quickly. It was too early to go down that road again. The next song was one of his softer, gentler ones about love, and she let that one play as she stepped under the water. The weekend stay was a bit more than she would spend on just herself for the weekend, even if it was for her best friend’s wedding, and she once again thanked the gods that John’s family had decided to foot the bill for everyone’s stay. She’d needed the break. 

A shower was exactly what Melissa needed, and she smiled at herself in the mirror as she smoothed acne treatment and moisturizer onto her skin. The gatorade and KIND bar had done wonders to soothe the sloshing in her stomach, and now her skin felt clean again. She was ready for the real stuff to start now, beginning with the wedding party brunch later on. 

The brunch wasn’t for a few hours, when most of the world would be up, so Melissa threw on an oversized long-sleeved t-shirt and some boyshorts rather than her dress for later. There was no need to get all dressy to go through her morning coffee ritual. 

Melissa turned up the music as she stepped out of the room and into the kitchen, singing along softly. The coffee grounds, ground before she’d left for Huntsville the day before, smelled heavenly as she held the container up to her nose. There was nothing in the world like the smell of freshly-ground coffee, especially on a morning like this.  

“You’ll have to excuse Lissa,” Melissa heard behind her suddenly, “when it comes to her morning coffee she has blinders on.” She heard Kirsten laugh as she swung around, one hand on her chest. Kirsten smirked from her spot in the living room. Her friend looked far too put together for this early in the morning, in her summer dress and sandals, the engagement ring on her finger sparkling in the sunlight. 

A tall, dark, and very handsome man stood to her left, an amused smile lighting up his face as well. Tyler Seguin. His arms were crossed, ink peeking out from underneath his long sleeve shirt in what Melissa already knew were two full sleeves. Damn her, Kirsten knew she was a sucker for tattoos. Her friend had threatened to play matchmaker this weekend, and it appeared this statue of a man would be the first attempt. 

Tyler met her eyes like he knew what she was thinking, and Melissa turned back to her coffee quickly. Better to pretend she wasn’t interested than embarrass herself. “Lissy,” Kirsten said, “this is my cousin Tyler. He wasn’t sure if he could make it this weekend, so he doesn’t have a room reserved. I put him in the extra room in here.” Of course she did. Melissa knew she was up to something when she’d been put in a two bedroom suite all alone. 

She finished putting coffee grounds in the french press before she responded. “I figured there was going to be a latecomer for that room.” It took all of her effort, but Melissa turned around with a pleasant smile on her face. “Welcome, Tyler. Glad you could make it.” His face said that he knew she was lying, but Kirsten didn’t pick up on their silent conversation. She was exclaiming about all the fun they would have together, especially as two single people at a wedding full of couples. Melissa audibly groaned, and Tyler’s lips twitched like he was holding back a laugh. 

Kirsten was still talking as she took off into the bathroom, something about drinking way too much coffee with John. “I’m surprised he’s awake,” Melissa yelled through the bathroom door, “him and his teammates did their best to drink me under the table last night.” Tyler looked confused, and she shook her head. ‘Just wait,’ she mouthed. 

He smiled for real at her mouthed words, and leaned back against the countertop casually. The movement showed off his arms even more, and Melissa bit back a groan. Kirsten hurried out of the bathroom, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, tried to outdrink you? That’s why he looked hungover as shit?” 

Melissa shrugged. “One of the guys assumed I would be a lightweight. I set out to prove otherwise. I outdrank everybody except Cameron.” 

“That’s because he’s got a foot and 100 pounds on you!” He really had been substantially bigger. Even at her 170-ish pounds he’d been almost twice her size, and he drank like it too. Although her alcohol tolerance kept up just fine, thank you very much. 

The smell of her nearly-completed coffee interrupted Melissa’s train of thought, and she turned back to the french press rather than respond. “I can’t believe you tried to outdrink a bunch of hockey players.” Tyler almost sounded impressed. “What are you, 5’0?” 5’2, actually, but who was counting, right? Melissa crunched the coffee grounds down, pouring herself a cup of perfectly-brewed coffee. 

Both Tyler and Kirsten were staring her down when she turned back around with the mug in her hand, the latter looking stunned and the former looking very interested. “It wasn’t that hard. We were drinking IPAs. I basically lived on the shit when I was dating that hipster brewery guy, remember?” 

“I try not to.” Kirsten rolled her eyes and turned to her cousin. “She dated this guy, Todd, for like a year. He was a total stereotypical hipster, stupid beard and all. He also fancied himself a brewer, even though his homemade brews sucked ass, and he drank IPA like it was water.” Tyler looked mildly disgusted, and Melissa was inclined to agree with him. “Lissa over here put up with it for way too long because she was too nice to tell him to fuck off. Right Lissy?” 

Kill her now. She turned bright red as Tyler’s amused gaze looked her way. She couldn’t even shake her head. “God, I was so happy when you broke up with him.” Kirsten, in the way she always seemed to, managed to make even the strangest of situations even stranger. Don’t just put the random cousin in the suite with the best friend, no. Tell him all about the shitty ex too.

Kirsten dismissed herself with a thinly-veiled excuse and a “see you at brunch”, and Melissa found herself alone with Tyler. They stared at each other for a moment, both taking in the awkwardness of the situation. “So, uh,” Melissa wracked her brain for something, anything really, to say to relax the situation. “Coffee?” She held up her mug, gesturing at the french press. “It’ll only take me a few minutes to make another cup. I promise I brew good coffee.” 

She began emptying out the french press without waiting for a response, so Tyler’s answer made her jump. “As long as it’s better than Todd’s homemade IPAs.” Of course he went there. It was pretty apparent him and Kirsten definitely shared the same genes. She would have made the same joke, though maybe a little meaner. After all, Kirsten had known Todd. They’d butted heads more than a few times, actually. 

Warmth spread across Melissa’s back suddenly, and she realized Tyler was right behind her. Actually he was basically on top of her, she realized as she turned around. “So I think my cousin plans on hooking us up while we’re here.” Tyler’s eyes were alight with mischief as he spoke, and Melissa didn’t get a chance to respond. “She mentioned how single you were several times, and that I needed a girlfriend. She wasn’t exactly subtle.” No, Kirsten never was. Subtlety wasn’t even a word in her vocabulary. “So I’m thinking,” Tyler said as he brushed a stray piece of hair back from her face, “we could pretend to be getting together as a way to appease her. That way she doesn’t try to set us up at the wedding. We go in together, we leave together, no more single people get shoved in our direction.” 

It was a good plan, really, and almost guaranteed to work. Kirsten would be too busy with John to realize that they weren’t all over each other physically, and the coming and leaving together would appease her. “Okay.” Melissa spoke before she really thought it through, and then it was too late. Tyler’s eyes warmed when he smiled, and Melissa tried not to acknowledge how much she liked it when that happened. 

“Okay.” His words were soft, softer than she had imagined his voice getting. “I’ll pick you up at 10:30 for brunch?” 

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Romeo. I’ll meet you in the common area at 10:30.” She began to head back into her room, done with this conversation and needing to get space before she combusted, when Tyler spoke again.

“I’ll knock on your door. If I’m your date this weekend, I’m doing it right.” His eyes were intense when she turned around, and Melissa couldn’t do anything but nod. 

_____________________________________________________________

The dress was too much for a brunch. Sure, it was pretty and they were at a fancy resort, but still. It looked more like a date dress than a brunch dress. The white linen sat loose from her shoulders, slightly tight around her chest because there was nothing she could do about that. Her chest got in the way of every loose garment. It came to slightly above mid-thigh, a little higher than she normally preferred, but Kirsten had picked out the dress. Even on that day, before the wedding brunch was planned, Kirsten had commented how perfect it was for a brunch date. A brunch for your best friend’s wedding wasn’t quite a brunch date, but close enough. 

Tyler knocked on the door as Melissa was finishing her hair, and she yelled out an answer from her seat on the floor in front of the mirror. He poked his head in and stopped short at the sight of her. “You look,” he trailed off as their eyes met in the mirror. “You look pretty damn good for a girl who drank a ton of former hockey players under the table last night.” She laughed at Tyler’s statement, and his mouth stretched into a smile. “We have like 20 minutes until we have to be there, so how about we get to know each other a little bit?” 

He moved to sit on the bed when Melissa nodded, and she tried not to notice how good he looked. He was dressed to match her, completely coincidentally, in cuffed jeans and a white linen shirt. The top couple of buttons were undone, and she could see the tattoo on his pec poking out from the gap. It was a lot to deal with. 

“I’m the oldest of four,” Melissa began to distract herself, “and one of three girls. My brother is the next oldest, and he’s my best friend. We do almost everything together. I’m an English professor at George Washington University, and I focus in Linguistics. Specifically language and gender.” Tyler looked impressed as she spoke, and Melissa tried not to preen too much. It wasn’t often that someone appeared interested in her field of study. 

While they sat in awkward silence for a moment Melissa tried to focus on her hair, but the braid she was trying to put in her hair wasn’t cooperating. “What about you?” Tyler didn’t seem to hear the question, focused in on her hands as they twisted through her hair in another attempt to form the braid. “Tyler?”

He jerked back to the present when she spoke again, and Melissa actually saw him shake his head a little bit. “Right. Started my career in Boston, plan on finishing it in Dallas. Born and raised outside of Toronto, and I have two younger siblings. Both girls.” Their eyes met in the mirror, and Melissa was struck by how nice the color of his eyes were. “Wanna trade? I’ll give you one of my sisters for your poor brother?” 

They laughed together, and she felt herself relax a ton. He wasn’t what she expected, though she wasn’t entirely sure what she had expected. “He’d take that in a heartbeat. Although he’s a diehard Caps fan, so good luck there.” Tyler grabbed his heart sarcastically as if he was in pain, and Melissa giggled into her hand. Finally her hair cooperated, and Melissa stood with a sigh. “Okay, Seguin. Let’s go brunch.” 

They walked down to the patio reserved for the wedding party and family arm in arm. She fit into his side comfortably, and Tyler held her closer than really necessary. With their white linen and white sneakers, they looked like a couple. Kirsten’s eyes were full of mischief when the pair appeared on the patio, and Melissa rolled her eyes. 

The patio itself looked like something out of a fairytale. Edison bulbs sat overhead on strings slashing across the open space, off since it was the middle of the day. She could imagine the warm glow they would paint the space with were it night, and Melissa almost wished she could come back just for the sole purpose of seeing this place lit up in the darkness. There was a vine and flower-covered brick wall on the far side of the patio, and she saw little twinkle lights sitting in the vines ready to be turned on once it got dark enough. The scent of trees and sweet flowers sat in the air, and a cool breeze came in off of the lake. Tables had been pushed together to make one long table for everyone to sit at, and just about every seat was full.

It looked like Kirsten had gotten others involved in her scheming as well, because the only spots available for them to sit at were side-by-side. Melissa swore her friend up and down when she noticed, and Tyler laughed under his breath. “She really does want to set us up, huh?” This was more than embarrassing. He didn’t ask to be set up with her, and Melissa sure as hell didn’t want Kirsten to think she needed to be set up by family just to find a date. She muttered an apology under her breath, and Tyler reached over to squeeze the hand wrapped around his arm. “It’s fine. At least if people think we’re together they’ll leave me alone.” 

The brunch was painfully long, only made easier by the short sarcastic remarks Tyler made under his breath throughout the meal. Melissa loved Kirsten, she really did, but this level of extravagant was really out of her depths. Everything on the menu was some kind of fancy shit she couldn’t pronounce, and all she wanted to do was knock back another coffee and maybe a bagel. 

“Ten bucks says Kelly leaves with Cameron tomorrow night.” Melissa snorted at Tyler’s words,  even as she fought off a shiver over his lips hovering so close to her ear. “I mean seriously,” he continued, oblivious to her body’s reaction, “she might as well just crawl into his lap at this point.” They really were sitting very closely, and Melissa was convinced she’d seen Cameron’s hand slip up Kelly’s skirt at one point. 

Tyler leaned back into his own seat again, though he kept his arm thrown across the back of Melissa’s chair. He’d gradually moved closer over the course of the meal, and now most of his words were directed at her rather than attempting to make conversation with the couple on the opposite side of the table. She’d allowed him to occupy some of her personal space, mostly because whoever set up the tables didn’t account for the size of most of the guests. Tyler was by no means the largest man in attendance, and even he was uncomfortable. This was a wedding full of former semi-professional hockey players, and they were squished into settings made for an average-sized person. 

Kirsten shot Melissa another knowing look, along with a not-so-subtle wink, and she’d had enough. It was a little bit too much, and she needed to get away from the intensity of Tyler’s proximity and Kirsten’s attention. Tyler looked up at her confused when she shot to her feet, beginning to stand himself, but Melissa shook her head. “The lack of sleep from last night is getting to me. I’m just going to head back and take a nap, catch up with you for the rehearsal tonight?”

It was a flimsy excuse, and she knew it, but Melissa needed to get away from Tyler for a minute. She needed to breathe and let herself catch up with the wild sequence of events that had been the morning. Tyler didn’t look satisfied with her explanation, but he stayed in place when she sent him a pleading look. It was alarming how well he could read her after a few hours. 

Melissa was still thinking about the concern in Tyler’s eyes as she cleared the makeup off her face, and they were the last picture her brain conjured up as she fell into a fitful sleep.

[yellow----daisy]

Hey surprise I wrote another Best Family mini fic enjoy

After the ruined wedding

Chuck and Orange went backstage, smiling and feeling oh so proud of themselves after what they had just done to the group that's been causing them so much pain for weeks, hell even months. Words couldn't express how happy Chuck was to no longer be Miro's stupid butler. Although he couldn't help but feel just a bit sorry for Kip and Penelope, since they were actually helpful and kind to him and didn't deserve their wedding to be ruined. At least they got through the I dos!

Chuck was taking off parts of the suit as he walked, when he suddenly stopped. There in front of him, stood his husband and long time friend Trent, smiling brightly with their daughter by his side. Chuck just...stared into his eyes, unsure if he should move. He didn't even notice little Verona taking no time to yell out "Daddy!!" And run to her dad and hug his legs. Chuck was snapped out of his trance as he looked down at his daughter, who was hugging him tight with the biggest smile on her face. He smiled as well as he reached down and picked her up, dropping the jacket and bowtie he had in his hands and holding her close. They both held onto each other tight, neither wanting to let go. Chuck could almost feel himself about to cry holding her like this. In fact, he did cry. Trent decided to join the party as he walked up to his husband and gently kissed him on the lips, savoring it. Chuck's lips tasted different than they had before. He couldn't describe it, but it felt as though he was kissing him for the first time again. If they weren't backstage for everyone to see and Verona and Orange weren't right there and they didn't need to actually get home, he would've kissed him longer. He probably kissed him longer than he should've anyway. He did have something big planned for him later though once they were home and Verona was asleep.

"Welcome home." He said as he pulled back, wiping away Chuck's tears.

Chuck sniffled and chuckled in response. "It's good to be home."

Verona now faced her dad, showing that she had started crying herself. "I missed you daddy." She said with a sniff.

"Hey…" Chuck immediately said, wiping some tears from her little face. "No need to cry baby. Daddy's home, and he's not leaving again. That big bad Miro would have to literally kidnap me when I least expect it to take me away again. There's nothing, and I mean nothing in this world that could take me away from you again. You got that?" Verona nodded, causing Chuck to smile in response. "Now come on, let me see that pretty smile of yours." He leaned closer to her and tried to tickle her a bit to get her to laugh. It worked.

"Stooooop!!" She called out. And he did.

"Fine fine." He gently kissed her forehead, making her giggle. She returned it with her own little kiss to Chuck's cheek.

Seeing Verona so sad made Chuck's heart break. He had a feeling she wasn't too happy with her dad gone for weeks, but he never realized just how much Miro's actions had hurt her. And there's no way Chuck was letting him get away with it. Yeah he did ruin the wedding which could be revenge enough, but after seeing this he knew he needed to do more. So much more. Stuff that was even worse than what he did tonight. Nobody hurts his precious baby and gets away with it. As soon as he could, he was going to make Miro's life hell. Not now though. Right now he just needed his family.

Trent picked up the jacket and bowtie Chuck had discarded and put it over his arm as he walked to Chuck's side and reached for his hand, Chuck taking no time to shift Verona around so he could hold it. He never thought something they do before every match he would need to do so badly, but here they were. It could just be because it's been so long, but Trent's hand felt much softer to Chuck than it ever has. He rubbed his thumb slowly back and forth over the back of his hand, wanting to hold onto this soft feeling for as long as he could.

"Come on. Let's actually get you home. I'm sure you want out of that suit asap."

"My clothes are in the locker room."

"Got it. You coming Orange?" Trent turned to his lazy friend behind them and he gave a thumbs up. Verona looked behind Chuck's back and smiled at Orange, excitingly reaching for her uncle. He smiled and walked up to her, stopping at Chuck's side as he messed with her hair, making her laugh again. She reached for his hand, wanting to hold it like her dads do, telling Orange "We can make a chain!!" Orange as well as Trent and Chuck laughed and Orange gladly held her little hand. It was odd and almost awkward considering Verona was being held by Chuck and Orange's hand was so much bigger than hers, but they made it work. Trent then began to lead the group around Daily's place and Verona began to tell Chuck and Orange all the cool stuff they missed while they were away. Cool things that happened at school, at grandma's house, with Bo, with Trent, with friends, literally anything this girl could think of she said, with Chuck and Orange encouraging her to go on as long as she wanted. This was Chuck's favorite thing after all.

Kip and Penelope tried to make the crappy situation more comfortable and home-y for Chuck for those three weeks. He really appreciated that, don't get him wrong. He considered them real good friends and were super thankful for the stuff they did for him.

Miro tried to make a fabricated new home for Chuck in his image. He did things Miro felt was more home-y, not adapting to Chuck at all. Instead, he forced Chuck to adapt to him, get him used to this "new home" instead of changing it to make him more comfortable.

Both tactics however could never compare to his real home. His real family. His home with Trent, Verona, Orange, and their two white dogs. They weren't just his home or his family, but his entire world.

[thedistantdusk]

Can you write anything with the Harry/Ron bromance? Thank you, you are helping me survive quarantine!

Thanks to @floreatcastellumposts for all her help! For once, this is only mildly inappropriate! ;)

On AO3.

Rain patters on the window of the attic, sounding angrier by the minute. For once, the exterior of the house is louder. This is quite a feat for the Burrow ever, but on an afternoon in June, it’s almost unheard of.

Harry lets out a deep breath, running his hand across his eyes. Over the past month, he’s adapted to the silence. He’s started to crave it, to consider it reassurance that everything’s on the mend. There aren’t explosions or calls for help or sobs emerging through the rubble and darkness. There’s simply quiet. Solitude. Even—

“HEY!” The door bursts open, slamming against the wall, as Ron pierces through the aforementioned solitude.

Harry just sighs and gets his glasses from the bedside table. No hope of an afternoon nap, it seems.

“Sorry, were you sleeping?” Ron deadpans, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

Harry rolls his eyes; since he and Ginny got back together, Ron and George have greatly enjoyed taking the mickey anywhere they can find it. Just yesterday, George had interrupted a perfectly good garden snog with a series of nonsensical, thinly-veiled questions (“Have you dipped your nib in ink, Harry? How was it? Please, I’m desperately curious for feedback on all nib-dipping experiences; this could be vital information for restocking a line of magical quills at the shop!”)

Now, though, the girls are off shopping; the Burrow is empty, save for the two of them. To Harry, this seems like much of the same.

“Interrupting a kip is the least of your worries, mate,” he mutters darkly, sitting up in bed. He hopes the meaning isn’t lost there. If Ron’s going to be a cock-block, he’s going to hear about it.

Ron doesn’t respond, though. Which is odd. So Harry slides on his glasses and takes in his appearance. Ron’s looming frame stands near the door, his freckles and red hair more distinctive than usual. It could be the lighting, Harry thinks; after all, it is quite gray and dim up here. Ah but no... that wouldn’t explain why he’s now awkwardly shifting in place, rubbing his palms against his jeans.

Then, Ron clears his throat — and suddenly, his face turns red instead of white. “Erm. Listen,” he starts uneasily, avoiding Harry’s eyes. “I’ve erm... I’ve got something to discuss!”

He ends with a sort of jubilant bounce on the balls of his feet, wearing a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

Harry peers back warily. If Ginny were here, she’d suss this weirdness out straight away. She’d know, just from his posturing, what Ron’s getting at. A moment later, he opens his mouth to speak again — but just as quickly, he seems to decide something or other is a bad idea, because he waves his hand and strides toward his bed with an anxious huff. As if that explains anything.

“Right,” Ron says, settling down across from Harry. “Right.”

“Right,” Harry echoes, arching an eyebrow. “You… feeling all right?”

“Mm.” Ron hunches over, his elbows on his knees, and stares at the floor.

As the seconds pass, Harry peers at Ron with a growing sense of dread. It’s rare he’s this quiet around him — and Harry doesn’t like it. It’s too reminiscent of darkness, of the times they’ve been at each other’s throats. Has Harry done anything to make him angry this time? He doesn’t think so. Ron’s been supportive, even, of his renewed relationship with Ginny. Apart from giving him shit for it.

This silence isn’t doing his head any favors, though. So Harry decides to break it.

“Listen,” Harry says uneasily. “I don’t want to pry, but—”

“—So you know Hermione and I are properly together, yeah?” Ron blurts, his words stringing together so fast they sound like a single syllable.

Harry clears his throat and tries to respond as delicately as he can. “Mate, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I think most of the castle knows you’re properly together.”

But Ron’s not on the same page. “No,” he says over a humorless chuckle, his eyes still locked on the floor. “That’s erm. That’s not what I’m getting at.”

Then what…?

Oh.

Oh no.

Harry’s stomach clenches with fear, head filling with memories that seem far more distant than a year old. He remembers Lupin’s drawn, tired eyes when he approached them in Grimmauld Place. He remembers the unflinching expression of horror and shock, the way he distanced himself from Tonks’ baby. He remembers the resigned tone in his voice, like a man marching to his own execution.

Then, of course, Harry remembers tiny little Teddy. The baby who’d charged in and changed everything. Tiny little Teddy, who is undeniably adorable… but also fuck-loads of work.

Shit. Harry desperately blinks up at Ron, pleading with the universe that he’s wrong, that he’s made a mistake in this leap of logic. But there’s nothing reassuring about what he finds. Ron’s still staring at the floor, his eyes wide and unseeing, his back hunched.

This couldn’t be... no.

Hermione’s smarter than that, isn’t she? Hell, Ron — with his six siblings — must also be smarter than that! They’d never let... something… happen.

Right?

But even as Harry tries to deny it, he knows there’s a chance — mostly because Hermione’s a right moron when her feelings get involved. Fuck. Harry’s stomach churns as the memories shift. He sees birds pecking at Ron’s hands in that abandoned classroom. He sees Hermione’s face when Ron returned to the tent last year, her eyes flaring with something unbridled and terrifying.

Best to get it over with, though. Like ripping off a plaster. If he’s going to be an uncle (the word lands like a sour rock in his stomach), he reckons he’d rather know as soon as possible.

With that, Harry clears his throat. “Erm. Ron, I’m not going to push you, but—”

“—Hermione wants to know if you want to arrange something where Ginny comes here at night and I go down there and we sleep there ok.”

Somehow, this string of words comes out even more quickly than the first, leaving Ron in a red-faced, mortified silence; Harry only understands any of it at all because he knows Ron so well, but he gives both of them time to process the exacting wording of the declaration.

After a few seconds, though, Harry’s still not sure what to make of it — and not because he didn’t understand the literal words. No… the real fear is that he’s ignored what Ron actually said and supplanted what he wanted to hear.

So Harry draws a deep breath, guarding his heart as he does. “Ok ok ok,” he says, raising his hand. “I… I need to make sure I’ve understood you correctly. You’ve only come in here to tell me that Hermione’s cooked up a shagging arrangement. Is… is that right?”

There’s another pause.

For his part, Ron only looks impressed. “Yeah mate,” he says fairly. “Sums it up.”

Oh for the love of —

Harry releases a half-laugh, half-sigh as he collapses back on the bed. Shagging! That’s all Ron was after! For fuck’s sake! Harry’s chest feels lighter, his head happier, his future brighter.

“You… seem surprised, though ” Ron notes, peering over. “What did you think—?”

Harry laughs again, cutting him off. “I thought you’d got her pregnant! I was terrified for you! Can you even imagine—”

“Nooo!” Ron says sharply. He shudders, the color draining from his face. “No,” he repeats, raising his eyebrows. “No, I cannot, so please don’t even joke about—”

“Oi, who’s joking?” Harry counters. “You’re the two who ran off to Australia and spent nights in hotels! Your mum was scandalized, by the way. It was brilliant.”

He ends with a grin, but it seems that the word Australia was a bit of a trigger; Ron’s face is now blank and happy, his mouth spread into a gormless smile as he stares at the wall above Harry’s head.

Ugh. Harry looks away. He’s glad he hasn’t volunteered his (rather unfortunate) knowledge that those two shagged before they even left the castle. Harry still can’t decide if Ginny’s ability to wheedle information out of people is a blessing or a curse, but he reckons it’s best to push the subject of Ron and Hermione’s sex life from his mind.

As if on cue, Ron sighs from his bed. Harry’s pleased to find he’s not making that weird Hermione face anymore, but he doesn’t look entirely… settled either. His expression is pensive, his arms crossed over his chest, and it takes a few more seconds for Harry to understand why — but when he does, it’s like a lightbulb goes off in his brain.

Oh.

Harry releases a deep breath of his own. Ron hasn’t said a word, but he’s certain they’re both filled with this sort of… shuddering awareness of the situation at hand. Because this is the first time they’ve broached this, isn’t it? The fact that they’re intimate now, with each other’s sisters. Harry can’t decide if that’s more comforting or repulsive — but more than anything else, he reckons it’s just... different. Nothing more, nothing less.

After all, it wasn’t long ago Harry was terrified they’d get together and leave him. But when they got together — right in front of him — Harry hadn’t been jealous or scornful; he’d been happy for them. He reckons he would’ve been chuffed, even, had they not been in the middle of a battle, but that hadn’t stopped them for long.

Then again, it also wasn’t long ago that Ron yelled at Ginny for snogging Dean. A year ago, Ron had yelled at him for snogging Ginny — mostly because he’d been concerned about his sister’s feelings. Harry hadn’t blamed him for that, not really, but he nonetheless reckons it should’ve foreshadowed Ron’s cock-block tendencies.

Another vacant smile crosses Harry’s lips. They’ve all changed, haven’t they? War changed them, to the core. Age changed them, to the core….

“Erm. But please, don’t give me details,” Ron blurts, apropos of nothing. He shivers again despite the warm afternoon. “I think I’d rather remove my fingernails with a blunt needle than hear about how much you love shagging my sister, thanks.”

Harry raises a brow. Technically speaking, Ron’s wrong in his conclusion. They haven’t… done that. Not properly, even if they’d hedged around it more times than he can count. They’ve done basically everything but shag, actually, but Harry reckons that would be more mortifying to admit than just letting it go.

Not that they aren’t ready; Harry knows they’re both ready. But through either sheer practicality (his reasoning) or misguided chivalry (Ginny’s), Harry couldn’t bear to live with himself if he took her virginity in their usual haunts of the garden or Mr Weasley’s shed.

Now, though, they’ve got… options. That Ron — of all people — has delivered on a silver platter.

Harry feels his pulse quicken at the thought as his jeans start to tighten. Aaand lovely, this is now thoroughly embarrassing. He needs a distraction, now.

So Harry loudly clears his throat and picks up the threads of their conversation. “Yeah, and I’ll trust you to do the same when it comes to Hermione. I’ve no desire to hear about—”

Ron interrupts with a wave of his hand, but when he speaks again, he’s not taking the mickey like before. “Noted,” he says firmly. “Just erm... I guess I also wanted to make sure...” He trails off, biting his lip, but seems to think better of whatever he’d started. “Nevermind, it’s stupid. Do you want to play chess?”

Harry’s not letting him off the hook that easily. “Whatever it is, mate, I’m sure it’s not the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

Ron laughs. “Yeah, and that was kind of my point, actually.” He rubs his hand on the back of his neck. When he looks at Harry again, there’s a telltale spark of reassurance shining behind his eyes. “You… erm. You know we’re still us, yeah?”

Oh.

Harry hadn’t realized he’d been that… transparent. He gnaws at the inside of his cheek. They’re together now — all four of them, which is the best possible situation. But he can’t deny there’s a lingering fear that romantic relationships, real ones, will change them forever. That he’ll lose the first friend he ever had. That they’ll finally have found the one thing they can’t talk about, even as the topic voraciously consumes both of their thoughts.

Has any of that happened, though? asks a voice in the back of his head. It sounds suspiciously like Ginny.

Harry’s lips curl into another smile as the answer comes to him.

No. No, it hasn’t.

Because at the end of the day, they’re still Harry and Ron. They’re the two prats from Gryffindor who became best friends on the Hogwarts Express and got detentions together and shared a mutual loathing of Malfoy, all as their voices cracked. They’re still Harry and Ron, who fought bitterly and pretended to hate each other and nearly vomited on each other and discussed wanking techniques.

No matter what, they’ll always be Harry and Ron. Their relationship survived Voldemort. How could Harry have thought it wouldn’t survive sex?

“Yeah, we are,” he agrees. “Just, you know...” He makes a vague hand gesture. “Taller. Wiser.”

Ron smirks, rising to stand. “Actually, I was gonna go with shagging each other’s sisters — but if you’d like to pretend you’re wiser...”

Harry chokes out a laugh. “I reckon Hermione’s still the wisest of us all, seeing how she arranged this. What time were you thinking, by the way?”

“Eleven minutes past ten,” Ron says promptly. “We reckon it’s less suspicious if it’s a bit off the hour.”

“Eleven minutes is highly specific, mate.” Harry raises his eyebrows. “Please tell me that number wasn’t in your head because of some… personal record. Or something.” He makes a face and moves to stand, too.

Ron just jerks his chin towards the door. “Do you want to play wizard’s chess? And I’m not going to dignify that with a response, by the way — but just know, you’re definitely, definitely incorrect.” His lips twitch. “As well as a total wanker.”

Ha! He’s left himself wide open!

Harry laughs and strides into the hallway, too. “Only when I think about—”

“UGH!” Ron groans dramatically as they walk downstairs, but Harry can hear the grin in his voice. “I thought we agreed never to discuss that!”

Harry spreads his palms in surrender, but doesn’t push it; Ron’s been more than understanding today, so he reckons he’ll let it slide — at least until the next time he tries to give him shit.

Then they march into the living room wearing stupid, contended grins, just as they’ve done a thousand times, for one reason or another. Then they play wizard’s chess, just as they’ve done a thousand times. Then Ron kicks Harry’s arse, just as he’s done a thousand times.

Ron pumps his fist in triumph and lets out a jubilant yelp as he resets the board — and although Harry would never admit it aloud, he’s nonetheless reached a comfortable, contented conclusion.

He’s fine with losing at wizard’s chess for the rest of his life… as long as he loses to him.

[oreoambitions]

In Which Boobs Get Kara Into Trouble

There will come a time later, when Kara is standing on the roof of Spherical Industries with a gun to her head, when she will wonder how she ever got herself into such a mess. The rain will pour and the city will roar, oblivious, far below while Kara tries to piece it all together. And it will end as it began: with a pair of brilliant green eyes and a sad smile.

Kara spies her at the hotel bar and, if she's being honest, the first thing she notices are the boobs. I mean, can you blame her? The cut of that dress is scandalous at best and the woman wearing it is a vision, truly. Kara, lingering in the doorway in her slacks and buttondown, tired and a little unkempt from a long day on her first field assignment as a junior reporter, almost forgets for a moment that she's shy and awkward and Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much. She flashes her brightest smile almost before she realizes it and, to her surprise, the woman with the boobs looks up and smiles back.

The second thing Kara notices is the older gentleman leaning in across the bar, his hand lingering on that dress somewhere just north of inappropriate as he reasserts his position at the center of the boob woman's attention. The journalist in Kara says: I wonder what their relationship to one another is. The Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much side of Kara says: I should go rescue her.

There will come a time when Kara curses the fact that she's somehow inherited that trademark Danvers penchant for heroism and trouble, but this is not that time. This is the time when Kara strolls up, one hand in her pocket, heart pounding in her ears, to flash that million dollar smile one more time and adjust her glasses. She glances dismissively at Just North of Inappropriate as she inserts herself into the situation with all the grace of a bull in a china shop.

"Sorry I'm late," she says brightly. "Just a little bit of traffic on the bridge. Shall we get a table?"

The plan, if you can really call it that, has just about formed in Kara's mind by the time she finishes speaking. There are, she assumes, roughly two possible outcomes. Either the boob woman doesn't need rescuing after all and Kara is about to suffer an incredibly humiliating encounter, or she does need rescuing and they can head to the hotel restaurant together where Kara can see her delivered safely to wherever it is she'd like to be. What actually happens is neither of those things.

"Darling," the boob woman says, a sad smile on her lips. "I was just about to call. This is Jack, the gentleman I was telling you about. Jack, this is my wife..."

It is to Kara's credit that she only hesitates for a moment. She did take an improv class for half a semester in undergrad; she's about as well prepared for a curveball like this as anyone could reasonably expect. She extends her hand and says, "Kara. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Jack replies, his eyebrows high. "Forgive me; Lena didn't mention you were coming."

Lena slides an arm around Kara's waist so casually that for one insane instant Kara wonders whether this woman has confused her for someone else. "You know how it is," Lena is saying. "Work doesn't always allow for travel; I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up."

Travel. So Kara, Wife of the Woman with the Boobs, is not supposed to be from here.

Jack fixes Kara with a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. "I hope the flight wasn't too difficult."

"Somehow it always feels shorter than I expect," Kara says, mind scrambling. Where is she supposed to have flown in from? Is this a test? Is there something she should know to say?

Jack chuckes. "Well, Metropolis to National City is a short trip compared to what you're used to, I'm sure. If you'll excuse me, I'll just let them know we'll be needing an extra place at the table."

Lena is hissing as soon as he's out of earshot. "It took you long enough, goddamnit. I called for backup an hour ago! I think he has the asset here, at the hotel. If we're lucky we can- shit. Hope!"

And just like that Lena is all smiles and warmth but for her white knuckled grip on Kara's hip. She waves to a woman lingering in the doorway and Kara finds herself tangled in pleasantries and small talk, playing the part as best she can.

Now the plan is: get out of this as soon as possible.

It becomes clear that 'as soon as possible' might be a while coming when Jack returns and the four of them are escorted not, as Kara had assumed, to the hotel restaurant, but into the elevator. Oh. They are dining at the private club on the top floor, and all at once Kara is conscious of the fact that her entire outfit is likely worth less than the average glass of wine here, that her hair is coming a little undone in the back, that she didn't put makeup on this morning because she was hoping that seeming a little more like 'one of the guys' might earn her a more favorable quote at the conference she was working this afternoon. This is trouble, and if Kara's gut is right, it's dangerous trouble at that.

The menu doesn't list prices but Kara navigates the social waters by ordering just about whatever Lena does - although she kips the salad appetizer in favor of egg rolls - and fumbles through conversation by saying as little as possible until the conversation drifts to the Kaznian refugee crisis and Kara begins to shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"Well, you know as they say in Kaznia," Jack is saying, "Without work, there is no desert."

He says the phrase in Kaznian so smoothly that it would have passed by perhaps anyone but an actual Kaznian refugee without comment. But Kara has never been the best when it comes to holding her tongue and so she corrects him almost without thinking about it. "Bez prace nejsou kolace. Without work there is no cake."

Jack raises his eyebrows, but it's Hope who comments, "Are you from Kaznia too? Is that how you two met?"

Kara is frozen, processing the implication that Lena may also be a Kaznian refugee, but Lena is already answering. "Our fathers knew one another, yes, but we actually met at a bar. It's a terribly mundane story. There I was, enduring the cumbersome attentions of some ape, and she simply swooped in for the rescue. The rest is history."

Kara almost laughs. "Really, it was love at first sight," she says. "Coming to the rescue was the least I could do. Even if I did turn out to get rather more than I'd bargained for."

Lena's smile is sugar sweet as she leans over to press a warm kiss to Kara's cheek. "I'm worth it," she promises and, mercifully, she changes the subject.

They make it most of the way through dessert before the conversation finally turns to business.

"How long are you in town?" Jack asks. "Not just for the conference, I hope."

Lena hums, noncommittal. "Maybe a few days longer. There are a few business meetings I'd like to take care of while we're here."

"Well I hope you'll save one of those meetings for me. Spherical Industries has made a breakthrough, I'm sure you've heard, and while I've obligations to the board to hear a few proposals the real prize would be a partnership with L-Corp.  We could do great things together, you and I."

A number of thoughts cross Kara's mind in quick succession.

The first: Jack's tone is so overtly predatory, so intensely suggestive, that Kara is absolutely shocked that he would speak to Lena in such a way in front of her (supposed) wife or in front of his own spouse.

The second: If Lena works for L-Corp, Kara has gotten herself into the middle of something very complicated indeed.

The third: Jack is, as Kara has suspected for the better part of an hour now, not just some rando putting his hands on a woman in a bar. He is, in fact, none other than Jack Speer, as in Spherical Industries, as in the man responsible for the conference where Kara has been working. The conference where she was hoping to hear something that might confirm a rumored breakthrough to which Jack just openly admitted. And, if Kara's sources are to be believed, Spherical Industries has gone to great length to keep the details of that breakthrough out of the hands of the authorities. Kara would give just about anything to find out why.

"You know I always have time for a few drinks with an old friend; I'm sure something can be arranged," Lena says. "It really is lovely to catch up with you both. And isn't your anniversary coming up soon?"

"One year on Sunday," Hope replies.

“Well then an early congratulations to you both.”

When dessert has been consumed, coffee sipped, and the check paid (by Spherical Industries, at Jack's insistence), it's time for the long walk to the elevator and down the hall to what is presumably Lena's room.  Jack and Hope walk them all the way, and the small talk lasts another excruciating handful of minutes while Lena fiddles with her key until, at last, Hope suggests that everyone must be tired.

Kara's mind is reeling. Jack and Hope aren't walking away and so, in order to keep up appearances, she follows Lena into the hotel room.

It's almost - almost - not a surprise when, as soon as the door shuts, Lena pulls a gun on Kara. There is still something a little inherently startling about finding herself on the wrong end of a firearm but, well, that's been looking like the almost inevitable end result of this evening for a little while here and Kara figures the best thing she can do is handle it as calmly as possible.

"Who the fuck are you," Lena demands, "and who the fuck do you work for?"

"I can ex-"

"You are definitely not the backup I called for. Are you with Edge? How did you find me?"

Kara raises her hands in the universal symbol for surrender. "I don't work for anyone," she explains. "Well, I work for CatCo, actually, but the point is, I think we might be on the same side."

Slowly, her eyes never leaving Kara's face, Lena lowers the gun and engages the safety. Kara's gaze drops to the boobs. If there has ever been a time not to be distracted by boobs it’s this moment but, well. Kara may be Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much but even she can appreciate the absolute goddess standing in front of her in a sinful dress with a loaded weapon in hand. She swallows and forces her attention back to Lena's face and to the knowing smirk that says her distraction has not gone unnoticed.

"I'm listening," Lena says.

[cannebady]

Prompt: Aziraphale and Crowley reading reviews for the bookshop

Thank you for the prompt @captainclickycat!

In hindsight, Crowley isn't sure why he set the blasted thing up to begin with. It was, more than likely (read: most definitely), the result of quite an extraordinary amount of alcohol, because all of his best (read: worst) ideas have always started that way and why would this one be any different?

This one, evidently, was him setting up an official Yelp account for A.Z. Fell & Co., Antiquarian and Unusual Books located singularly in one London, Soho. He's sure that it'd seemed like it'd be a laugh riot at the time, though he's not entirely sure why, and he's sure that his sloshed self had been perfectly positive that Aziraphale would never even find the page so honestly what did it matter?

What his sozzled brain hadn't counted on was that, for all of his long and storied existence, he'd been the architect of his own irritations and, like the best of cosmic jokes, it seems that he would continue to be for the rest of bloody eternity.

First of all, he'd truly never thought that Aziraphale would acquire, much less actually use, a mobile phone. But, here in the after of the world that shouldn't have been, it seems that stranger things have truly happened. Of course it didn't help that he'd kept suggesting that Aziraphale get one and then, had gone so far as to actually present the angel with one, fully loaded. He just hadn't counted on the angel taking the blasted thing with his bright, shiny, sea-foam eyes, to which Crowley had no functional defenses, and then take to using it like a fish to water.

The second thing, that came on the tails of learning to use his mobile, was that Aziraphale discovered that he could look up restaurants wherever they were and didn't have to count on Crowley to do so. Additionally, there were reviews he could look at that were just, "So helpful Crowley! Look at these humans, inventing something so useful. They always have been wonderfully creative." Each word was imbued with absolutely heinous amounts of love and good will and Crowley was really just the worst demon there ever was, because he was so damn charmed by Aziraphale being charmed that he didn't put two-and-two together before it stuck him upside the head like a two-by-four.

---

"Crowley", Aziraphale whispered intently while Crowley was quite comfortably napping on the back room sofa.

Crowley tried to ignore it, he really did. He was so wonderfully comfortable and it really would be a shame to wake up. However, it's been established that he has fuck-all in terms of ability to deny Aziraphale anything, so of course he took the bait.

"Yes angel?", he replied, trying to infuse demonic levels of annoyance of nonchalance (read: sleepy, part-yawn, part-soft demon noises) into his tone.

"There are reviews, for the bookshop, on the Yelp!"

It takes Crowley a minute to catch up, because he's still not used to Aziraphale having internet access or knowing what something like Yelp is. He's about to wonder aloud what customer would actually be satisfied enough with Aziraphale's customer service skills to go so far as to write a review about it, before he realizes that he's the one who set up the account in the first place and promptly forgot.

"Wha, erm, what're they saying angel?" he asks, just a bit concerned that this might all be traced back to him.

Aziraphale scrolls down to the first review and Crowley comes up to read over his shoulder.

Marci S.

Soho, London, United Kingdom

2 Stars - 25/1/2020

"I've lived in Soho for years and finally decided to go in. The shop is in complete disarray, but the selection is great. I was satisfied until I actually tried to buy a book. The shopkeeper was icy, difficult, and downright combative. I left empty-handed. Not worth it."

Crowley cringes for a second, before Aziraphale huffs.

"Well, honestly, what did she expect? Hefting a first edition Austen around like that. Am I supposed to sell that to just anyone?" And Crowley wishes he wasn't so fucking impressed by Aziraphale's lack of propriety in these situations, but here he is, smiling like a loon.

"Oh, well of course. Why would she think she could buy a book in a book shop?" He gives a patented shit-eating grin which Aziraphale returns with an eye roll so well rehearsed it'd put Liz Lemon to shame.

"What else, angel?" Crowley asks because he's a glutton for punishment and he just loves that he still gets to rile Aziraphale up. That there's still a world where he can.

"Well, ah, here's another one." Aziraphale scrolls and lands on the next review which is, somehow worse.

Peter W.

Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom

1 Star - 22/12/2019

"Ponce of a shop owner wouldn't let me look at any of the rarer books. Been looking for a first edition Wilde for my son but the pansy wouldn't even let me near, real bastard he was."

Crowley can't help himself. Aziraphale is radiating righteous anger and looking more indignant by the second and it's just too good. Crowley's practical jokes never work out this well and he didn't even need to manufacture the reviews! A.Z. Fell & Co. has a 1.7 rating overall and he knows, he just knows, that every single one of those reviews are 100% honest.

Horribly, once he starts laughing, he can't quite stop. It takes the angel a second to realize that Crowley's breathy sounds aren't commiserating sounds of support but are rather poorly held back guffaws and he pulls out his best thin lipped glare and that's it, that's the end of Crowley's self control. He starts laughing in earnest, nearly bent over at the waist and feeling tears line his eyes, when he hears a truly irritated squawk leave Aziraphale's mouth.

He tries to speak through his bouts of laughter, "Oh, hah, angel, you-," he breaks off again, "you really are a bastard though." To which he receives a thunderous look, laced with millennia of angelic righteousness, a scathing, “Do shut up”, and a fussy turn that would've been a hair flip had Aziraphale had the hair to do so.

Aziraphale is manically scrolling before he stops and the air changes. If Crowley had been less filled with mirth, or had been less self-confident, he would've felt the change in tension. He would've realized that the specific change meant that Aziraphale had found exactly what he needed and that he was about to hand Crowley's arse to him for the 99 millionth time in their very long lives. But, as it was, Crowley was feeling far too chuffed for anything so fleeting as self-awareness.

When he finally looks back to the angel, planning a bit more gloating, he sees a carefully serene, calm smile reaching back, and his blood runs ice cold. This can't possibly be good.

"Well, how about this one, then?", he says and gestures for Crowley to read what's on the screen.

Naya L.

Lambeth, London, United Kingdom

4 Stars - 13/10/2019

"Mr. Fell is actually quite nice, if a bit fussy once you get to know him. He really knows his stuff. He let me use some of his original texts for my thesis. A bit odd, though, every time I went to do a bit more work or look at a new text, there was a man completely asleep, snoring, on the sofa. Weird look about him, sunglasses while indoors (even while sleeping?) and lots of black leather, definitely dyes his hair red. Looked a bit like a washed up rock star. Maybe a friend of Mr. Fell's? Either way, the selection is fantastic even if it smells a bit odd and seems a bit dingy."

Crowley's not laughing now. It takes a moment for him to register that the "indignant squawk" he heard was actually from his own mouth rather than the angel's.

"How dare she-, a washed up-, these are Valentino!"  He yells gesturing wildly towards his own face and the sunglasses that aren’t actually there at the moment, creating more of a chaotic flapping than any recognizable gesture. And now it's the angel's turn to stifle a giggle behind a well-manicured hand. "And I do not dye my hair! It's just like this! I'm a demon, remember?"

At this, Aziraphale starts making a sound that Crowley will respectfully refer to as cackling.  Of course, this was going just too well. And he clearly needed to stop kipping on the sofa as often as he did or it'd do awful things to his carefully crafted reputation.

"Oh, my dear, that's just divine” the angel says wiping an ancient handkerchief primly under his eyes. Crowley wants to be annoyed, and he is to some extent (he'll find bloody Naya L. and give her a piece of his mind, he will), but Aziraphale is just so happy and he's a true sucker for that laugh and that smile.

"M'not washed up, m'just retired."  Through the haze of exasperation, he realizes, perhaps for the first time, that he really is. Retired, a retired demon. That’s what he is. Aziraphale seems to realize it too, because his smile morphs from snide and down right bastardly to warm so quickly it gives Crowley emotional whiplash.

"Yes, I suppose we are, dear." The angel puts down the phone and herds Crowley toward the sofa where they can get comfortable; Aziraphale seated on the far end and Crowley's head comfortably pillowed in his lap, angelic fingers carding through his (definitely, absolutely not, dyed) hair.

Were either of them to look at Aziraphale's phone screen, they'd see the review just below Naya L., which read simply:

Damian R.

Soho, London, United Kingdom

5 Stars - 10/10/2019

"Can’t remember why I went in there in the first place but there was a huge snake. Just a real big snake, all black and red and gigantic. Just sitting in the bookshop, not sure why. Nice lookin snake overall tho. Would probably go back." 

[spirit-science-blog]

Ahhh, interstellar, a simple classic movie, about a farmer his family Some dust and a transdimensional interstellar quantum gravitational space travel.

Seriously!

So the basis of this movie is that in the future, the earth has become a global dustbowl due to humanity being excessive. It’s mostly a commentary on monoculture farming, which we’ve explored in our food series. Primarily by farming the same thing on the same land over and over, you lose the majority of your nutrient base due to lack of plant diversity. You also lose your root system, making it easy for winds to pick up dirt and throw it for miles and miles. Interstellar begins with a warning - if we continue living the way we are, this could be our world.

So the film introduces us to our main characters, Cooper, or Coop for short, and his daughter Murph. Now, there’s an interesting thing in these opening scenes, where we see Murph's teacher talking to Coop about his daughter's progress in school. She remarks about how the moon landings were fake. They were entirely propaganda to fool the Soviets into pouring their resources into the space program so that the Americans could gain an advantage in the war.

It’s so exciting seeing a Hollywood movie talk about this, because of course, if you google this, there are massive conspiracies today that say the moon landing was faked. Then again, we also have ex NASA officers and astronauts who publicly have said: “Yeah, we went up there and met a bunch of aliens and it was so crazy that NASA hid it from the world, and never went back.” You can learn more about that in our Sumerian Epic series. Ultimately, you’re going to have to decide for yourself on this one, but still interesting that we even see it mentioned in Hollywood!

Now, in many storylines today, we see this narrative of the hero’s journey, which often begins with a call to adventure. Interstellar features this through these strange gravitational anomalies vibrating morse code patterns in Murph's bedroom, which Coop and Murph translate to be co-ordinated to a nearby location. They make their way there and find none other than Nasa.

In this movie, Nasa is a driving force of the plot, providing the technology and the plans to execute a journey into a magical wormhole way out near Saturn. Now, I’m not here to get into the drama and conspiracies against or for Nasa, though yes, these things exist out on the internet. Curiously, we find a spiritual lesson about this in the film itself, and we’ll come back to that soon.

In these scenes, we see the opposing mentality of the many vs. The few. Mostly, everyone these days are just concerned with farming, they’re focused on survival and just getting enough to make it through to the next season, even though their crops are slowly growing smaller and smaller. The few, on the other hand, such as Coop, exclaim, “we used to be pioneers, explorers, adventurers… not just trying to survive”. And this becomes a question we can personally ask ourselves are we pushing the boundaries of what we know, or are we just trying to get by in life?

So upon the discovery of Nasa, we learn about this wormhole, a link through the spacetime into another galaxy, where there might just be a way to save their dying species. So Coop, Anne Hathaway, and two other characters who don’t make it to the end all get in a rocketship and blast into the universe to save the human race. Bringing with them, some unique and friendly robots, and a bunch of test-tube humans that they plan on growing somewhere, and they intend that if they can, maybe they can even transport some people there.

Perhaps one of the most fundamental hidden spiritual truths of this movie is that the deeper you get into science, into the unknown, into the universe, the more mystical reality gets. We see this with the wormhole itself. The funny thing about the wormhole, though, is that it was produced using the mathematics of an actual wormhole according to General Relativity! The visual fx artists worked with renowned Physicist, Kip Thorne, and used a mathematical representation of a massive black hole, then plugged it into their VFX generator, and this is what it turned into! They even produced a scientific paper about it. So this is an actual wormhole simulation, not just a fancy visual effect.

Now, maybe this is just me - but watching the sequence of going through the wormhole felt to me like my mind was expanding. Like reality was being stretched, like more was possible than it was before. It feels to me like this was an encoded message for the audience watching the movie, implanting within us this idea of what it looks and feels like to perceive spacetime differently, getting us ready for our transcendent evolution of consciousness.

Now, on the other side of the wormhole, they have three planets to visit in hopes of finding a new home for the human race. Their first guess takes them on a short trip to Waterworld, where they go surfing and chilling in the shallow side for the equivalent time of 23 earth years. It doesn’t go so well, and returning to their ship, they’re limited on fuel. So there’s this moment where they have to decide on which of the two planets to visit next, and they better pick well.

So it’s revealed that Dr. Hathaway is in love with one of the astronauts on one of the nearby worlds, Dr. Edmund. And there’s this very rousing speech from her about following our hearts., that love is powerful - it has to mean something. Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that can transcend the dimensions of time and space. It’s an overall very moving and emotional scene, and it might even make you cry.

Now, this IS Hollywood, so OF COURSE, the man immediately takes control of the situation and steers directly towards the other guy. The legendary, the one, the only Dr. Mann.

I gave him a little hype just now because this is how Dr. Mann is portrayed in this film. He is a legend; he is the best of the best; he was the one who brought everyone together and made this mission possible And then, well, this happened.

Dr. Mann is a personification of the ordinary human consciousness and our ego. I mean, his name is Mann. He is the one who could create miraculous things, but watch how quickly that personality can turn when it is filled with fear, dread, and isolation. This is what happened with Dr. Mann - He was isolated, stranded alone on a frozen planet with nobody else for the rest of his eternity. The last time he went into cryosleep, he didn’t even set wake-up time. This isolation and the fear of not surviving caused him to lie, caused him to tell people to come to his planet because it was the one. It caused him to betray his comrades, and in arrogant defiance to the truth - got himself killed. A valuable lesson for all of us doesn’t arrogantly defy the reality, or you shall suffer horrific karmic repercussions.

With the power of persistence, determination, and undying faith in the universe and himself, coop successfully reconnects his ship to the space dock even with it exploded and spinning like mad. Herein lies another secret lesson - if we set our hearts upon doing something, and we do it well, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish!

Okay, let’s pause for a moment and reflect briefly on the events back on earth. Throughout the film, it is slowly revealed that the head of Nasa has been lying. Coop's daughter noticed that it looked like he was doing equations with two hands tied behind his back. Then it was revealed that he knew a long time ago that it would be impossible to save the human race by using science to negate gravity and lifting off into a super space station. He could not reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. Still, he convinced everyone that it was possible, and he was working on it - so that people would work on the technology and carry out the mission.

THIS is the key to the whole Nasa conspiracy thing that we mentioned earlier. Because look - there is some evidence and speculation that NASA is hiding something, but instead of throwing shade, the film reminds us this valuable lesson that even the people who are behind NASA and other giant organizations are just that - people, subject to human desires and emotions, the positive and the negative, and are easily influenced to do things, such as lie or create deceptions, out of their fears and insecurities. The Nasa chief in the movie wasn’t able to see beyond the solution to his formula, he couldn’t conceive of a quantum interdimensional answer, probably because there was nowhere for him to go and take Ayahuasca. So he fooled everyone in a way that he believed was safe.

Jumping back to another galaxy and another timeline, Coop’s new plan is to slingshot them around the wormhole and over to their last remaining planet where maybe they’ve got a shot at growing some modern humans. In the process, coop sacrifices their robot and himself to make it happen. In a scene of great wisdom, Cooper says, “to get ahead mankind has always had to give something back/let something go,” and in this case - it was him. Honestly, this was a scene of tremendous bravery and courage to let oneself die to save their species.

And this is where Interstellar becomes a mystery school for us all. Cooper falls into a massive sphere inside the black hole, which then becomes these tunnels of lines, revealed to be pockets of time. On the other side of his tracks is his daughter's bookshelf, and he connects through his radio with Tarz, his robot buddy, also trapped inside this wormhole - who explains that he is inside a three-dimensional manifestation of a 5th-dimensional timeline. It’s time represented as a physical dimension, and Cooper can manipulate gravity from inside this time matrix because gravity is the only thing besides love that can go forwards and backward in time.

Cooper realizes that the gravitational anomalies that he saw at the beginning of the movie were him all along, giving himself messages from the future. He realized that the whole time he was thinking, “wow, it was THEM who have been helping us along,” alluding to some alien species. Still, honestly, that “them” was us - it was the evolved human consciousness that became 5th-dimensional beings through conscious evolution. It sent gravitational anomalies through time to help humanity grow in the first place.

What’s especially surprising about this is that that’s EXACTLY what the channeler Bashar has been saying in his channelings for years. That who he is channeling is himself from the future who, along with the rest of humanity, has evolved to higher consciousness, and he’s sending back information from the future about human evolution and how to make it happen.

Now, here’s a fun question that the movie will not even get into…. Why did the wormhole bring him THERE? Why that moment in time? Why that location? Well, in the bigger picture of the story, it’s because his daughter was the genius who could finish the mission and get quantum gravity liftoff to their earth-tech and save humanity. However, that’s only half the reason. The other half is because of something Dr. Mann said. When you’re about to die, you push a little farther to connect with your family and live longer.” The reason he went to the bookshelf was probably just as much because that’s what his subconscious manifested for him. After all, his loved ones were what he wanted most in life. Much of his driving actions in this film were because of his love for his children. Embodying the true spirit of the word Husbandry - the original meaning of which speaks to the nurturing and supporting of everything around the masculine father figure. This film asks us - what is it we truly care most about in our heart of hearts? And to dig deep into ourselves and find out what lights us up inside.

So Cooper transmits the quantum data to his daughter through time using morse code, and then he disappears into the void and wakes up in a hospital bed. A very long time has passed since he first left home, and his daughter is now an older woman on her deathbed. But Plan A is now fulfilled, using the data Cooper was able to send through the wormhole, young Murph was able to solve the gravitational propulsion problem to get Plan A, and the massive space station where Cooper awakens, out in space.

In an absolute heart-shattering scene, she tells him to leave her, she’ll be with her new family now, and that he should be with Anne Hathaway, and start a new life on a new planet and raise a new generation of humans on a new world. I’m sorry, this whole scene made me cry.

And so, that’s what Cooper does, bringing this film to an end. But the hidden spiritual meaning here goes on. See, the foundational message of Interstellar is not what most people think - the most excellent idea conveyed here is that of human evolution. That one day, we will evolve into a higher dimensional species, capable of perceiving time fundamentally different than we are today.

However, it will take some time to get there, and it’s up to us to make it happen. Interstellar warns us - we have to learn the lessons of caring and nurturing for each other and our world if we want to have a world to live on at all. We very well could destroy ourselves with our greed and excess. In other words, we must check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

One thing Interstellar does make us feel this message takes us through large jumps in time. After Coop’s relatively short visit to the water planet (where he’s there for only several hours), the audience and Coop see both their astronaut comrade and young Murph age by 23 years. After he emerges from the black hole at the end of the film, his daughter is an older woman. These events show us viscerally that time is always passing, and compels the audience to make the most of what time they have, and show us the deep pain of missing out if we don’t seize the day, every day!.

But there is an even deeper message from this - because also if humanity destroys itself, even if we are pushed to the very brink of destruction, we can ALWAYS find our way back. All that it takes is unshakeable faith, love, and determination to see it through and do the things that are both scary and exciting.

So get out there and evolve into a multidimensional being!

Make sure to let us know what else you’d like to see a Hidden Spirituality about, and we’ll be sure to cover it soon! Peace out, and lots of love!

[looselucy]

The Broken Brother

My attempts at sleep had been fruitless, barely able to cram in a few uninterrupted hours of slumber because I was utterly unable to take my mind off Harry and his brother.

When the sun shone bright enough, I stopped even trying, admitting defeat and sulking out of bed. I headed to the kitchen and made myself a coffee, checking my phone every few minutes in the hope Harry had gotten in touch with me just to update me, let me know he was safe and that I didn’t need to worry. It likely wouldn’t have completely set my anxieties at rest, but it was bound to be better than how I was feeling then. I picked up my phone as soon as I was done making my drink, yawning as I called Louis and waited for him to answer the phone. “Morning, Alf! This is early for you? You ever seen this time of day before?” He seemed confused. “You usually wake up and fall out of bed and land straight in work.” Louis was so good at making me smile. He’d said a matter words and he didn’t even know that I needed cheering up, but it was such a natural thing. “Yeah, and that’s how I like it!” I giggled timidly. “I’m just calling to let you know I’m not gunna open up shop today.” “What? How come?” “I’ve not really slept. I dunno why, I just couldn’t get to sleep and I’m so tired. I think I’d just crash, so have yourself an impromptu day off.” “Are you sure? I can go in and run it myself if you need me to, it’s no worries.” “Thank you, but it’s okay. I know Libby is off work today too, so I’ll let you both make the most of that.” “Do you need me to bring you anything? Some kinda drug to knock you out?” “That’s okay, m’gunna try and sleep without the aid of drugs.” “That’s usually the best way.” “Yeah.” I chuckled. “Alright, wish me luck.” “Good luck! Get some kip.” “I’ll try. Speak soon.” “Bye, Alf!” After hanging up the call, I kept my phone in my hand, considering ringing Harry myself but I didn’t want to intrude or force myself back into the situation too early, before they’d had a real chance to talk and work through things as much as they could. I didn’t trust his brother, but there had to be a reason he’d shown up. There had to be a reason he wanted to see Harry. Besides, I didn’t think it was even likely Harry would be awake unless he had struggled to sleep in the way I had, which seemed likely, but if he’d been lucky enough to get some rest I didn’t want to be the one to wake him, not after such a chaotic night. As desperate as I felt, I knew I had to wait. Feeling a little lost, I sat myself down on my sofa, clutching my drink close to me like it was the only comfort I could find in those moments. I looked down to my right hand, glancing over the bruises that had formed on my knuckles, hating thinking about the reality of our situation. The fact it was his brother who’d attacked me on my birthday was fucking with my head; I wanted Harry and him to figure something out but I didn’t want that boy to be in my life at all. I didn’t want to lose Harry, yet I couldn’t grasp how things might be if they were really mending their bond. It seemed to me that there wasn’t a good outcome, something would always feel wrong no matter what. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, before there was a knock on my door. I knew it was Harry. I put my drink down and ran to the door, opening it to him as quickly as I possibly could. Even seeing him made me want to cry. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink, like he was hardly able to carry his own weight. There was a rather heavy bruise beneath his left eye which was made all the uglier by how swollen and red both eyes were, proof of his upset. He looked so deflated, defeated. I stared up to him, and it was like he couldn’t even look back at me, his eyes down on the ground, his whole body weak. “He didn’t wanna fix anything.” He eventually mumbled. “He didn’t wanna change. He didn’t wanna be a family again. He… He just wanted to steal from me.” “What?” “He came for money.” His bottom lip trembled, tears building. “He took my paintings, he just wanted money. I trusted him and he…” “Oh Harry,” I couldn’t help but cry for him. “I’m so sorry.” The second he broke, I practically jumped up to throw my arms around him, standing on my tiptoes to hold him as tightly as I possibly could. He wrapped his arms around me, hiding his face in the crook of my neck, letting it all out. My heart literally ached for him. He’d gone against his better judgement and given Jack a chance, an opportunity to prove himself and for the two of them to build something; to try again and be a family, which was something I knew Harry craved terribly, something he’d wanted since the very second they lost their father. His brother had totally abused Harry’s trust and kindness just to hurt him even more. I hadn’t believed that he would’ve been able to cause any more damage than he already had, but clearly I was wrong. Harry couldn’t contain himself, unleashing every shred of his sorrow against my skin, gripping onto me like he might collapse without my aid. I ran my fingers through his hair, my empathy so vicious I was barely able to breathe. “I’m so sorry.” I sniffled. “I’m sorry he did that to you, you don’t deserve that.” “I just wanted to fix it. I just wanted my brother back.” He wept. “I know you did, I’m so sorry.” It was as though I had hold of Harry’s entire weight, keeping him on his feet as he shattered against my body. He deserved so much more than he’d ever received. He’d been truly deprived of the sort of happiness he deserved and it pained me to think of him doing so well over the past few months only for his brother to appear and purposefully devastate the progress he’d made. “You don’t need someone like that in your life, Harry. You tried, and that’s more than most would’ve done after what he did.” Suddenly, he wrenched himself away from me in a split second, turning to slam the door shut with belligerent force, then pacing around my flat with his fists gripped down at his side. I was motionless as I watched him, the way he looked like he was going to punch something, like every inwards breath was a build up to something sinister. “Harry, please calm down. It’s okay!” “IT’S NOT OKAY, FEE! NONE OF THIS IS OKAY!” “M’sorry, I just-” I didn’t know how to handle him, what to say. There was no way I’d ever be able to even come close to understanding how he felt, so the simple fact of his brother clearly bringing nothing but malice into his life was not enough; the emotions that Harry had tied to Jack were far more complicated. And yet I wanted him to see it in black and white, even if it was temporarily in order to see him through this pain. “Has he gone?” I asked, and he nodded. “Good, then fuck him. You’re better off without him!” “But it’s my fault.” He seemed to be speaking more to himself than to me. “It’s my fucking fault because of what I did, that’s why he came back. It was all to get to me after what I did.” “You don’t deserve that, I promise. It’s not your fault.” “I made everything worse. I fucked everything up. I made him like that, I know it. He was bad before but now he’s… I’m so sorry, Fee.” “For what?” “For what he did to you!” “That’s not yours to apologise for.” I tried to approach him. “Listen to me! It’s not your fault!” “IT’S ALL MY FUCKING FAULT, ALF! ALL OF IT!” He screamed. “It’s my fault he’s like this, because instead of helping him and understanding him, I attacked him. It… It’s my fault he was here last year. He came looking for me and didn’t find me, so he…” I became speechless and sobered at the realisation of what he was doing, the way his mind was bending things and distorting them to make him feel guilt over what Jack had done to me when it was absolutely nothing to do with him, no matter what he thought. My mouth dropped open. “If it wasn’t for me-” “Don’t you dare.” I shook my head, voice quivering. “Don’t you dare twist this and feel badly about what happened.” “But-” “NO! Harry, you can’t keep blaming yourself for things that are completely out of your control!” “I just feel like I fuck everything up.” He dropped down onto the sofa and dropped his head in his hands. “I hate that you’re involved in this. I hate that he did that to you. I’m sorry.” “Don’t do this. I won’t fucking listen to it.” Being wound up was the last thing I wanted, but I couldn’t simply stand there and let him hate himself when the liability was not his to hold. “None of this is your fault. You have to accept that. I’m begging you, Harry.��� He just about nodded, unconvincing but enough, still hiding his face and crying into his shaking hands. I hoped those false notions of culpability wouldn’t withstand or breed in his mind, because I was sure he must have learnt by that point that the actions and choices of others, especially his brother, were nothing to do with him and they certainly weren’t a moral reflection of who he was or the person he’d become. “I’m so tired.” He whispered weakly. “M’just so, so tired.” I approached him, crouching myself down right ahead of him and reaching for his hand, contorting his gripped fist so I could slot my fingers between his and soften the energy emitting from his frame, my other hand reaching for his cheek, looking up to him. “Let’s go to bed.” I spoke softly. “C’mon. I might actually be able to sleep now you’re here.” He looked up to stare into my eyes. “You couldn’t sleep?” “I was worried about you.” As quickly as he’d raised his head, he dropped it, twisting our hands so he could look down to the bruises I’d acquired when I’d hit Jack. “Fuck.” He gripped his eyes close like the sight had literally stung him. “I’m sorry.” “Harry, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You have to stop apologising.” “He… He’s got in my head.” He pulled at his hair. “He’s got right in my fucking head. I dunno why I let him in. I dunno why I didn’t ring the police as soon as I found out what he did to you because now he’s right in my fucking head and I don’t know what to do.” “You need to sleep.” Was all I could think to say. “Please come to bed with me. You don’t have to process this right now. You need to get some sleep.” I’d never seen someone’s exhaustion be quite so apparent, and though I knew sleep wouldn’t extinguish that entirely, it was the best option we had available to us then. Shakily, we both got back up to our feet, keeping our hands together as we moved from one room to the other and only detaching so he could undress himself. I got into bed, waiting with the sheets lifted high until he was ready to join me, where I had my arms open ready to take him in and keep him close. He came to me, rested his head on my chest and tucked his body right against mine. I held his head in place, caressed my fingers through his hair, kissing at the top of his head, keeping as much contact as I could with him to prove that he wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t angry, that he didn’t need to feel so terribly. I just wanted to be there for him. “It’s okay.” My whisper worked as a lullaby. “I’m here, it’s okay.” It didn’t take long for him to disappear into a deep sleep, and all it took was the sound of his heavy, peaceful breathing to let me join him.

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time my eyes opened once again, blinking back to life, not necessarily feeling any better than I had. Especially when I noticed that Harry was already up, dressing himself as quietly as he could. I watched him for a while, sat at the bottom of my bed pulling his top on before dropping his head into his hands again, his shoulders hunched and his head still hectic with thoughts. I got this awful impression that he had wanted to leave without waking me. “Hi.” My voice was frail but certainly loud enough that he would hear me, and yet he didn’t reply. “You sleep okay?” “Mm.” There was a rather immediate inimical energy in the room that I couldn’t understand. I knew he was hurting, that much had been clear since the second we heard the glass shatter, but it felt different to that somehow. I got out from beneath the duvet, crawling to the bottom of the bed and sitting just behind him, leaning to kiss his shoulder, hoping he’d ease up. He didn’t. “You wanna talk?” I asked. “No. No, I wanna go home.” “Do you want-” “I wanna be on my own.” He grumbled, getting to his feet. “Oh.” I was shuddering. “Okay.” I quickly questioned how long he’d actually been awake, overthinking and doing more damage. Because that was another good thing that had accompanied Harry finally finding the strength to open up and start talking about himself, his life, his sorrow. When he dealt with it on his own, he usually found a way of hating himself, reaching conclusions that weren’t healthy for his head. Years of being on his own had brought him to this state of mind where he was always the only person there to blame. But when he spoke, when he shared what he was feeling and thinking, he gained that second perspective that he truly needed. He could stop beating himself up and thinking the worst and gain the reassurance he so desperately needed. So as much as I wanted to let him go, give him his alone time if that’s what he desired, something was telling me I needed to push a bit harder. “Harry, what’s going on?” “Nothing.” “It doesn’t seem like nothing.” “I’m allowed to want some alone time, Alfie.” “I’m not saying you’re not, but-” “Then what’s the problem?” “This is the problem, Harry!” I yelped. “We don’t do this. I know this is a shit situation, I know this is fucked up, but please don’t turn away from me again. Don’t push me out.” For months he’d been doing so much better, slowly learning to share and be himself with no shame, but it seemed to me his brother and what had happened was forcing Harry back into his shell, one that had confined and harmed him for years. I could tell it was happening because I’d been the one to see the change in him, witness him switch from one state to the next. I knew exactly what it looked like when Harry spurned care and support, I was all too familiar with it. I wanted to call it out straight away, let him know I could see what he was doing and that I was rejecting it. What was different this time around compared to how it had been the year before was the fact that Harry was extremely aware of just how well I knew him, how easily I could read him and work out what was happening in his head. He couldn’t step away from what I was saying in the way he could before, we were too close for that. He looked down to me, taking a few moments to accept my words, sighing and then nodding. “Sorry.” He grumbled. “I don’t… I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel like I’m pushing you out, but I…” “Tell me how to help and I will.” “But I don’t think you can, that’s the thing.” He exhaled wearily, sitting himself back down beside me. “I wish you could but… I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do to… make this better. I just have to accept it.” I placed my hand against the back of his neck, my fingertips playing with the tufts of his hair, so happy that he’d placed himself beside me again, how he closed his eyes as a reaction to the contact I’d made, like my touch was a rare remedy he’d been searching for. “It’s okay to hate this and struggle with it.” I told him. “Things are going to be hard for a while, but then you’ll move on. You’ll learn and you’ll reflect and be better, like you always do. That’s what you’ve always done.” “Better?” He rejected the word, dismayed at the mere implication. “I don’t feel it.” “We all have shit times and… we can all act in ways that we maybe shouldn’t, that’s normal. But it doesn’t define you. The stuff that defines you is so much more than that. You’re so caring and thoughtful and-” “I still let him in.” He turned his head to me. “Even knowing everything he did. To me. My mum. Everything he did to you. I still let him in. What kinda fucking person am I?” “A good one.” We both had tears in our eyes as I tightened my touch at the back of his neck and rested my forehead against his. “You’re so kind. I wish you could forgive yourself in the way you do other people. You’re so good and wonderful and-” “Is that really how you see me?” “I can’t word how I see you, Harry.” He twisted his body, grabbed at my waist and heaved me from my spot round to his front so that I was straddling his waist, pushing his lips against mine with such vehement strength it was like I couldn’t completely calculate what had just happened, the way he’d moved my body, everything heady and unclear. For too long he’d kept himself in a cage, reaching desperately through the bars of his sins to tease his fingertips with the hope of happiness, a freedom from certain corners of himself and his history. I still believed that Rosebury was his redemption, his chance to break the barriers that he’d built when he was a child and finally experience a life that was built around love and constructive growth rather than distress and guilt. I wouldn’t let that be tainted. I grabbed at his face and kissed him with every ounce of energy I had, my whole body and soul totally invested in every move of my mouth, every flick of my tongue.  His touch was heavy, one hand pressing at the back of my head so I couldn’t distance from him, not that I wanted to. The other stayed on my waist, coaxing my body closer. I could feel his tears against my hands, feel how his lips were still quivering, so minute and yet so obvious. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” He gasped into our kiss. It was clear that his thoughts were disordered, perplexing him. He was dismissive one minute and passionate the next, kissing me and holding me like he had no desire to ever leave my side. It had been quite some times since I’d last been so anxious to get into his head and read his mind, figure out his thoughts and truly understand how he was feeling. It wasn’t necessarily that I felt he was keeping anything from me, but more that I believed his head was currently such a divided and devastated place that he was struggling to systematise it. All I could do was prove to him that I wasn’t angry with him for choosing to forgive his brother and try to help him; it would have been hypocritical of me to feel that way given how that was one of my favourite characteristics of his. I needed to prove to him that he had no reason to hate himself; that every action he’d taken was done through love and forgiveness, this idea and moving onwards and upwards and everyone’s lives improving in the process. That was all I could do. I had to ease the kiss eventually, though it seemed he wanted nothing more than to keep his lips with mine, be purely physical for a while so he could ignore everything else. I left a few chaste kisses against his beautiful lips before I pulled away from him, lightly stroking my thumb across the bruise below his eye. “Does it hurt?” I asked quietly. “No.” “Are you sure?” “It’s fine. But my hand-” Before he could even finish talking I’d grabbed hold of his hand and brought it up towards my eyes so I could examine the injury. The bruises on my knuckles were nothing compared to the ones on his. They were almost black, crawling down his fingers and edging towards the scars and cuts on his hands that were finally starting to heal fully. He must have hit Jack after I’d left, there was no other explanation for them. I took a deep breath in, woozy over the sight. “Let me go get a bandage for you.” I got to my feet, scuttling off into the bathroom. As much as he deserved it, I didn’t like the thought of Harry hitting Jack. It was just the fact it was his brother. I couldn’t even comprehend the hatred. Their relationship should’ve never ended up being that way. And I knew that he would have hit him for my benefit. I returned a few seconds later to see him looking off to nothing, utterly lifeless, eyes fixed on one spot but blank, like they’d glazed over. I sat beside him, took his hand in mine and got to work, trying to keep my eyes on the bandages but I kept glancing up to his profile, his heartbreak unmistakeable. I’d expected physical damage from his brother, but I hadn’t quite been able to anticipate the gross amount of mental damage he was able to inflict in just a few hours. “Is that too tight?” “It’s fine.” He answered, finally tearing his eyes from that vacant spot to look down to his hand once it was done. “Thank you.” “It’s okay.” “Can I return the favour?” He was already taking the roll out of my hand before I’d nodded, hovering my hand before him so he could cover the bruising. We sat quiet for some time as he wrapped my hand up as carefully as he possibly could, my stomach still twisting, constantly feeling as though I was on the verge of tears. “It was good, by the way.” He spoke. “Huh?” I looked from my hand to him. “That punch.” He tilted his head upwards, smiled softly. “You did me proud.” I dropped my eyes again, my cheeks swelling and flushing. It felt good that he’d even been able to say that at all, and weirdly I liked the thought of him being proud of me for the way I’d hit his brother like that. Something had come over me, this animal instinct to protect him. I didn’t think being that way would ever be a natural instinct of mine, in fact I would have previously said the exact opposite. It felt different when it came to him. “We make a good team.” I said. I watched his face, seeing the smile my words had created lift and then slowly fade away. I thanked him once the bandage was in place, stretching my fingers as though that would help me accustom to the feeling. Harry kept hold of my hand, and though the bruises were hidden now it was as though he could see right through the dressing, focussing in and zoning out. Excluding the times where he’d told me his darkest secrets, his most agonising truths, I felt like I’d been lucky enough to see Harry in a good state of mind a lot of the time. Being in our village was good for him and that had been obvious since the earliest days. He’d been happy and settled and growing. Seeing him then, I imagined that was how he’d been before he came to us. Seeing him so down was largely unfamiliar to me, but I could see that it wasn’t unfamiliar to him. I hoped the progress he’d made was the type that couldn’t be lost, that in however many hours or days or weeks he’d remember where he was and how we all made him feel. He wouldn’t trap himself in this gloom, and instead he’d stumble back to the light, focus on his future rather than his past. I hoped. “Please stay.” I whispered, my gut feeling telling me he wouldn’t. “I need some time.” He answered calmly and honestly. “It’s not you, Fee-Fee. You’re amazing, but… He’s said some stuff that I really need to think about, and I need to do it on my own. I don’t wanna drag you into this any more than I already have.” “But I wanna be involved. I wanna help.” “I know you do, but… This is mine to handle. I need to figure out… what to do. I dunno if I should… try to see my mum, or if I should drop it completely. I can’t stop thinking that… I’m clinging onto something here, and I dunno if it’s right.” My brows were furrowed, nodding but tentative over his choice of words. I understood it must have been hard for him that he’d never heard back from his mum, who was reason he was in Rosebury in the first place, but I struggled hearing him saying that being there was him clinging onto something. I didn’t want to question him. I didn’t want to get my back up and make him feel any worse, that was the last thing I wanted. So I didn’t say anything about it. I let him speak. I let him say what he needed to say. “I wanna clear my head, get away for a bit.” “Away from Rosebury?” “Maybe, m’not sure. I need to think about what I want.” He told me, and I had to appreciate how upfront he was being with me. “I need to think about… everything.” “What’s got to you the most?” I asked, and he looked away from me. “What’s he said that’s really got in your head? There must be something I can help with.” I was willing to let him distance, get some space and filter through his thoughts, as long as I’d let him know that I was there for him in any way he wanted me to be. He looked like he didn’t have a clue how to answer me, looking down to the ground and breathing uneasily, his tongue curving to run across the top row of his teeth. “I…” He tried. “It’s a few things. I… I dunno.” “Is it to do with your mum?” “Mm. I… Yeah. I just… I miss her so much, but I don’t wanna interrupt her life, y’know? I wanna see her and I wanna say I’m sorry, but I need to accept that fact that… she probably doesn’t want me around. I dunno if our family is beyond that now, I don’t… I don’t know. This is why I need to think. I need time. I need to stop waiting around when I don’t even know what I’m waiting for.” He was stuck between wanting to go and find her or forgetting it all completely, accepting that things could not progress, improve or be bettered. I hoped he’d choose the first option and seek her once again, but after everything they’d been through and how terribly things had gone with his brother, I would have understood if he went with the second choice. We sat in silence for a while, and though I hated the thought of him disappearing again and going off to handle this alone, he seemed so set on it, unsure of the outcome but absolutely sure of the method. “If that’s what you think is right then… okay.” I accepted. “I hope you… figure this out.” “I hope so too.” “I just wish you felt like you could do that here with me.” He didn’t have any words of comfort for me, but I wasn’t sure anything he could have said would’ve had the ability to put my mind at ease. I was having to accept the fact that for a while there wouldn’t be ease or certainty, there was too much for him to consider. Too much had happened for it to be simple. This wasn’t water under the bridge, this was high tides caused by a storm that was tearing the bridge down. He placed his forehead against mine, brought his hand up to pinch lightly at the back of my neck. “This is something I know I’ve gotta do on my own.” He was quiet, a goodbye in his eyes that he couldn’t word correctly. “I’m… I’m sorry.” I nodded, feeling less comfortable by the second, knowing how good he was at packing up and disappearing and not reaching out. I wondered if he felt he was doing me a favour by distancing because I was now directly involved in a way I hadn’t been before. I wondered if he thought me helping would do more harm than good because of how awfully I’d handled the way his brother attacked me. I looked into his eyes, aching over the thought of him leaving, vanishing for an indefinite length of time once again. But more than anything, I really wanted to know exactly what that Jack had said to him. I really fucking wanted to know.

[atths--twice]

So this will be the last of the Year of Firsts series. It seems fitting and tomorrow will begin the next year into their lives. Hope you enjoy it! 

Faith Meets Bella 

With a new puppy in the house, it’s time for Faith to meet her playmate.

Mulder woke to the sound of whining and thought for a second it was Faith crying. Sitting up, he looked at the monitor and saw she was still sleeping and knew it could not be her. Grinning, he remembered Bella was downstairs and he quickly and carefully left the bed, closing the door behind him.

Walking quietly down the stairs, he saw her in her crate and he smiled. Once she saw him, her whining increased and she began to wag her tail. Well, more like her entire body as she could not seem to control her excitement.

“Hey now… calm down there, girl. Shh. We don’t need to wake the whole house, not just yet. Let me get your leash and I’ll let you out.” He picked up the leash and unlocked the crate, reaching for her and petting her as he clipped on the leash. “There we go. Hey, Bella. Our little ball of dark magic. Let’s head outside and take a little walk.”

He slid on his tennis shoes, grabbed a jacket, and opened the door. It was chilly outside, with the sun just coming up, and he smiled. Bella pulled at the leash, excited to be outside and he closed the door, heading down the stairs.

Stopping to let her pee, he put on his jacket, shivering as he did. Taking a deep breath, he looked at all the decorations that would need to come down soon. It had been a wonderful month and now it was time to look ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“You ready? Want to check out your new home? Come on, girl.” He gave a gentle tug to her leash and she bounded along beside him.

They walked down the driveway and to the left, heading along the property line. Bella jumped and bounced, barking with happiness. He smiled as he watched her, thinking of what Faith was going to think of her when she woke up.

Not wanting to tire her out too much, they did not walk far. As they came back up the driveway, he looked at their fence situation and realized they would need to do something about it. It was definitely not pet friendly and losing her was not an option. One night with them and he already loved her to bits.

Stopping to let her pee once more, they walked up the stairs and he sat down on the top step to pet her. She jumped over him, into his lap, onto his other side and back again. She stood on his thigh, her front paws on his chest and licked at his face. He laughed and held her close, her little body wiggling.

“Oh, Faith is going to adore you. What do you say we go see if everyone is up yet?” She licked him again, her cold nose at his neck, and he unclipped her leash, holding her in his arms.

He opened the door and heard Faith and Scully upstairs. Scully was speaking to her in a silly voice and Faith was laughing. Bella looked at him and then cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah, we need to wait. This is a big moment. She will be your playmate for the next ten or so years. You’re going to love her, I promise,” he said and stood by the stairs and called up to them. “Hey, we’re ready when you are.”

“Oh… did you hear that, Faithy? There is a surprise for you downstairs.” Mulder heard Scully say. “We’ll be down in just a minute,” she called down and he smiled.

He hung the leash on a hook by the coats but kept a hold of Bella, waiting until they came down to set her on the floor. Hearing Scully on the stairs, he turned around and smiled again, meeting Scully’s happy eyes.

“Dada!” Faith shouted and reached for him but then noticed he was holding something in his arms. Scully came closer and Faith looked at Bella inquisitively.

“Faith, this is Bella. She’s going to be part of our family now. She’s a dog and she’s very excited to meet you.” Bella wiggled, trying to get to her, and Faith looked at him and then reached out to touch Bella.

As she did, Bella licked her hand and she pulled it back in surprise. Her eyes were large as she looked at him and he smiled with a nod.

“It’s okay, honey.”

She touched her again and this time Bella was calmer, for a split second anyway, before she licked her again and Faith screamed with excitement. They all laughed and sat down on the floor, letting Bella walk around and come to Faith.

Faith sat on Scully’s lap and Bella barked and bounced around them. Faith stared at her and then stood up and Bella stopped bouncing and sat, impossibly still, as she stared up at her. Scully looked at Mulder and he raised his eyebrows at her. Faith squatted down and she and Bella were face-to-face.

“Mulder,” Scully whispered and he nodded, aware that they were witnessing something unique.

Bella stretched her head closer and very gently licked Faith’s nose, who smiled and touched Bella’s head. They stared at each other and then stood up, almost as one. Bella barked and Faith laughed, clapping her hands. As Bella began to bounce around again, Faith toddled after her babbling away.

“I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. It was like they were talking to each other or… she put a spell on her,” Mulder said, stunned as he watched them playing together.

“Who put the spell on whom though?” Scully asked, her tone just as incredulous.

“What?”

“Mulder, we’ve both noticed how animals seem to behave around her. The duck at the park, the horses at the orchard, the goat at the petting zoo,”she said and he stared at her. “What if… what if she has a way with animals?” She shrugged and he looked back at Faith, who was now chasing Bella as best as she could on unsteady feet.

“You know,” he said, thinking of something that had not crossed his mind in years. “I had a friend in school, Kip Stevens-”

“Kip?” Scully asked with a smile. “Kip and Fox… such country club names.”

“Yeah, shut up,” he said and she laughed. “Anyway, your comment made me think of him. He always had a way with animals. He lived close to us and during the summers, he would set traps and catch animals- squirrels, rabbits, snakes. There was something about him that even wild animals calmed around him. Some of the boys teased him and called him Doctor Dolittle, but I was always fascinated by his ability to do it.” Bella barked again as Faith dropped to her hands and knees and crawled after her.

“I’d say that sounds like our girl, and well, Belladonna seems to have fulfilled her namesake,” she said with a cheeky grin and he nodded.

They watched them play for a couple of more minutes, each of them struck with the beauty of the obvious friendship the two would share. Rising from the floor, they set about getting breakfast ready for everyone.

Mulder took out Bella’s food dish and filled it, setting it in front of her, and then set her water beside her. She ate hungrily, happily, and hurriedly. Taking out a couple of snacks, he told her to sit and when she did, he gave them to her. He smiled and rubbed her ears. Scooping her up, he grabbed her leash to take her outside once more before he joined them at the table.

As they ate, he told Scully about the fence situation and she looked at him with wide eyes.

“Oh, Mulder,” she said, covering her mouth. “I didn’t even think about that. Oh my God.”

“Hey, it’s something that’s needed to be done for a while now. Even without a dog, we have a little girl who should have a proper fence to keep her safe. I’ll call around… or maybe Skinner knows a guy.” He shrugged and refilled both their coffees. “Until then, we do have some things we need to do, what with Faith now walking and wanting to avoid any catastrophes.”

“Hmm… what are you thinking?”

“I’m glad you asked…”

A couple of hours later, they came home with some new items for the house. A stake for the yard with a twenty foot cable, allowing Bella to be outside without worrying if she would run away or become lost. After measuring the staircases on the porch and inside the house, they had bought four gates, two for the porch and two for inside, which would lock in place and keep both Faith and Bella safe.

They had also bought some different food for Bella and despite a look from Scully, he had added more toys, and a larger bed she would need eventually. He had picked up two, one for upstairs in their room, but she had put a stop to that plan.

“She has her crate, Mulder. She’s used to that and if you put it in our room, it will confuse her,” she had explained, and he was set to argue when she made a point he could not ignore. “Besides, I don’t want to be stared at by our dog while we’re having sex.” She had raised her eyebrows and he had set the second bed back on the shelf, unable to argue with her logic.

Coming into the house with their new items, Bella barked, standing on her hind legs, her front paws on the crate, her tail wagging. Scully set Faith down and she walked to Bella, looking in and smiling at her. As soon as she was that close, Bella calmed down and waited for Scully to open the door, coming to Faith first and licking her hand.

“I swear to God, Mulder,” Scully said as she shook her head and watched them. “It’s remarkable and almost…”

“Spooky?” he teased and she shook her head.

“For lack of a better word, yes. It is damn spooky,” she said, clipping the leash to Bella’s collar and taking her outside to pee.

Mulder picked up Faith and grabbed the stake and cable to install outside. Setting her down in the grass, he opened the package as she toddled over to Scully. Within minutes he had it screwed into the ground and clipped Bella to it, allowing her to run and play within the set length limits. While she did not seem to mind the restrictions, it bothered him.

“You know, I’m sure Alan would know about a fence guy more so than Skinner. I’ll text him,” Scully said, taking out her phone and typing quickly.

“Why would he know of one more than Skinner?” he asked, frowning at her.

“He has a house, as you know, and had to have the fence put in, so it seems more likely he would know someone.”

“I don’t remember a fence around Alan’s house.”

“Around the backyard? By the hot tub?”

“Oh, I remember the hot tub,” he said fondly and she looked him up and down.

“Yes, the hot tub was nice,” she said and he raised his eyebrows. “Very nice. But there was also a fence around the yard so I’m just putting out feelers. You can still ask Skinner. Mulder?”

“Hm? Sorry, I was just thinking about that hot tub. Goddamn, Scully.” He shook his head and let out a breath.

“Language, Mulder.” She winked and picked up Faith, kissing her cheeks and taking her inside for a nap.

Mulder tossed a ball for Bella until she, too, seemed to need a nap. He unclipped her and brought her in to sleep on the new bed they had bought, as he took out his phone to text Skinner and sat down on the couch.

“Aww, we tired them out,” Scully said, sitting beside him with a smile. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “She’s really a cute dog. The fence will be pricey I know, but if we factor it in to the next ten years at least, well…” He nodded and she sighed.

“You made a good choice with Bella. We didn’t have her at this time yesterday and it almost seems wrong that we didn’t. She’s already firmly established her place in the household. I mean, just look at that face,” he said and she laughed.

“I quite agree.”

“I’m glad they have both fallen in love with each other.”

“I put a spell on you…” Scully sang quietly. “Because you’re mine.” He laughed and she lifted her head to look at him. “Guess the version.”

“Of that song? Please… do you even know me? Annie Lennox of course, even if CCR sang it first.” She looked impressed and he raised his hands in a shrug. “Come on, at least challenge me.” He shook his head and she smiled.

“I have a challenge for you,” she said in a low sultry voice, biting her lip as she turned and straddled him, snaking her arms around his neck. “I’m not sure you can handle the task at hand, but I trust you will try your very best.” She shifted in his lap and he groaned.

“What’s the challenge?”

“Hmmm. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Scully… I can handle anything,” he said, his hands around her waist.

“Well, you think you can handle four times?” she purred and his eyes widened.

“Before she wakes up? I… I don’t know, but I’ll give it the old college try,” he said, smirking at her, as his hands began to move lower.

“Great, I’ll go get the tools.” And with that, she abruptly climbed off of his lap, leaving him stunned. “I mean those gates won’t put themselves up.” She started to walk out of the room, grinning at him over her shoulder.

“Oh, you tricky little minx,” he said, standing up and adjusting his pants. Her laughter rang in his ears, as he followed behind her, ready to do her bidding.

__________________________________________________________

I adore the thought of them finally having another dog, well more like a dog together, as Scully had one in the past. Daggoo, or the dog WE knew as such, was a cute and nice idea, but we never saw him nor any sign he lived in either of their homes, after Scully began to steal him from the animal control center.

I love that they will have this puppy and a little one simultaneously, so they can grow up together and be the very best of friends.

[vestsfriends]

Divided But United (an Andi Mack HP AU Fanfic) Chapter 3: “A Common Enemy”

Pairings: Jonah Beck/Cyrus Goodman, Andi Mack/Walker Brodsky, Buffy Driscoll/Marty, Reed/Kira, Amber Kippen/Iris, and many more to come.

Characters: Andi Mack, Jonah Beck, Cyrus Goodman, Buffy Driscoll, TJ Kippen, Amber Kippen, Walker Brodsky, CeCe Mack, Bex Mack, Bowie Quinn, Pat Driscoll, Iris, Reed, Lester, Kira, Kaitlin, Kip, Natalie, Gus, Leo, Libby, Dr. Metcalf, Coach Rez, Mr Coleman, and many original characters.

Word Count: 2578

Taglist: @andimackshitposts @pastelnightgale @dociousjonah

“Jonah?”

“Wait- huh?”

The four teens faces were absolutely dumbfounded. They all remained jaw-dropped, staring at each and every one of them with confusion written all over their faces. The silence soon became quite unbearable so Buffy took the initiative and broke it.

“You guys,” she gestured her hand over to Jonah. “He’s the guy I was telling you about yesterday, he was the dude I met outside of the Quidditch supply outlet!” Buffy enthusiastically waltzed over to where Jonah stood, punching his shoulder in a friendly way.

Andi followed after her friend, her dark copper eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight as she made her way over to Jonah with his overloaded cart of items. Andi pointed to the young owl sleeping soundly inside of its small cage. “And I met him inside of Eeylops Owl Emporium, I helped Jonah pick out his new pet owl right here.” She smiled and raised her head proudly.

Cyrus lifted his eyebrows. “Really? It’s such a weird coincidence that we all met Jonah yesterday in different parts of Diagon Alley.” The dark-haired boy shifted to face his childhood friends and add on his own story of how he met Jonah. “Remember when I told you guys last night that there was someone in Ollivanders who was able to get their wand after only just the second try?” Cyrus’ compliment made Jonah feel a light blush begin to creep onto his cheeks. The green-eyed boy started to rub his lower neck, which, fortunately, nobody seemed to notice him doing.

Andi and Buffy nodded their heads in unison, signaling Cyrus to continue. “That ‘someone’ was Jonah,” he smiled at the blushing boy who was relieved to hear that Cyrus didn’t touch on the part when Jonah’s entire face was covered in ashes. “And I was lucky enough to see him again today.” Cyrus’ eyes now remained fully on Jonah’s even after he finished his recall of their first meeting. The girls took notice of the loving gaze Cyrus was giving Jonah, but they decided to not mention it.

For Jonah, he found the current situation oddly strange, but quite beneficial on his behalf that he had already made new friends before even entering his new school. He never felt so at ease, to him it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. The few previous months leading up to the present had been beyond nerve racking for him. In past years, Jonah had a continuously rough time with making friendships and sustaining them, so he did not have that many. Yet, despite his bad luck, his parents always reassured him that he would “meet the right people” at Hogwarts. Jonah was now definite that the people standing before him fit the description perfectly.

Jonah’s trip down memory lane was cut short by Andi. “I think it was destined that we all meet,” she predicted, confident that their meetings were not just a mere coincidence. “The universe set us up so we could all be friends.”

Buffy rolled her eyes in a huff. “I think your dad is rubbing off on you too much.” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the short-haired girl. “He literally thinks everything on the planet is spiritual, including plants and inanimate objects.”

Andi shrugged, a chuckle escaping her lips. “Well, he is the professor of herbology.”

“Your dad is one of the Hogwarts professors?” Jonah asked. “Cyrus was just telling me about that earlier.”

“See, I told you, I don’t lie,” Cyrus chirped.

Jonah was opening his mouth to retaliate before all four teens heard a loud rumbling sound echoing in the distance that began to come closer and closer to the platform. A horn sounded, the volume rising quickly as it traveled on the train tracks. Jonah, Cyrus, Andi and Buffy saw a huge puff of smoke leave the smokestack before they brought their attention upon a large rusty red and gray lined express train exit through the smog. The Hogwarts Express was such an old vehicle that the paint along the sides of it were wearing away, giving the train a very filthy and chipped exterior. Nevertheless, the four soon-to-be-Hogwarts-students jumped to the front of the line before any other students could.

“We’re going to find a compartment together, right?” Jonah was a little shy to ask. He definitely did not want to mess up his words around his new friends, but he did not want to seem too clingy either.

Cyrus turned to look at Jonah. “No, we’re all going in separate cars.” He stared blankly at the anxious green-eyed boy and blinked very slowly at him before his expression altered. “Of course we’re gonna go together!” Cyrus shook his head and laughed, gripping Jonah’s shoulder. “We’d never leave you by yourself.”

“All aboard!” The conductor announced from the train.

The four teens carefully stepped onto the old fashioned train, overwhelmed with excitement that in a few hours they would be arriving at Hogwarts. They each handed their train ticket to the conductor politely, then all walked together to find a car for themselves. Any other passenger riding on the train would say that the four adolescents looked like a pack of animals, seeing as they were walking side by side as if they had been inseparable since birth.

“Here, do you guys want to bunk in this one?” Buffy pointed to a train car that was clean, and appeared to be slightly more expanded than the others, which was perfect for the four of them and all their luggage.

“Yeah, sure.” Jonah agreed as he followed Buffy’s lead.

The four friends set down their bags onto the floor of the train car and sat on the cushioned seats. Buffy sat by the window with Andi sitting silently on her right, and across from them sat Jonah, eagerly peering out the window, with Cyrus to his left. Although it didn’t seem like it from how calmly Jonah sat down, the green-eyed boy was more than delighted to have Cyrus sitting so closely to him on the cushion. And because of that, only Cyrus noticed that Jonah’s ears had turned red.

“So, guys,” Buffy broke the ice. “What Hogwarts house do you guys think you’ll get into?” She glanced upon her friends with a wild grin.

Andi replied to her friend first. “Mmm maybe Gryffindor or Ravenclaw for me.” She looked up at the ceiling deep in thought.

Cyrus nodded his approval. “I think I’ll probably get into Hufflepuff,” he wasn’t exactly sure. “I don’t think any of the other houses fit me honestly.”

Buffy, Andi, and Cyrus all turned to Jonah, who was staring intently at the dusty floor, awaiting his response. He snapped out of his thoughts and quickly apologized. “Oh, uh, I’m s-sorry,” He avoided their eyes and his attention fell on his hands, which were visibly shaking. “I don’t really know.”

“Hey,” Cyrus spoke softly, carefully inching his body closer to Jonah and placing a hand over his. “Are you alright?”

Jonah sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “I wish I was.” The boy paused before continuing, “I have really bad anxiety, so whenever I make even a small mistake, my mind freaks out.” Jonah gripped his hands tightly, as he opened his eyes again. “I just want to impress you guys but I’m just not cut-out for making friends.”

His confession seemed to simmer in the air before the other three teens registered it. Jonah turned to see a pained expression written all over Cyrus’ face. Buffy and Andi shared a glance with each other and a faint smile appeared on their lips along with a glint of solemn in their pupils.

“Jonah,” Buffy’s voice was gentle and comforting. “You don’t need to impress us, we already like you for who you are. It doesn’t matter if you have anxiety or not, everyone has their own issues that they have to deal with.”

“Hell, I used to have panic attacks too,” Cyrus chimed in, wrapping an arm around Jonah’s shoulder and pulling him closer to show his support. “I used to become a literal human waterfall, I looked so soaked.”

Jonah cracked a small smile. “Thanks you, guys.” The three teens nodded in return, their conversation now shifting back to a much lighter topic. They chatted about their home lives and caught Jonah up with all the crazy adventures Buffy, Cyrus, and Andi had experienced in their youth. They all bonded, the four of them growing closer despite only meeting Jonah the day before.

Many minutes soon passed by, the four teenagers unaware of how long they had been talking, and an announcement sounded over the speaker from the conductor. He informed the passengers on the train that the they would be arriving at Hogwarts very shortly.

Jonah immediately perked up. “Woah, has it been two hours already?” The green-eyed boy was shocked at how fast time had flown.

Buffy raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Psh, apparently. Wow, who knew that talking about our insane backstories would take so long.” Next to her, Andi held back her laughter.

“Guys, we’re literally going to be at Hogwarts in a few minutes…” Cyrus told his friends. “How are you not freaking out right now?”

Jonah patted his friends’ shoulder and chuckled. “Trust me, I am. But I’ve been ready for this moment for a long time.” He gazed off into space, starry eyed. He was recalling the time when he told everything he wanted to do at Hogwarts to his parents. The green-eyed boy sighed happily.

Suddenly, the Hogwarts express train came to a halt. The moving lands of green trees and bushes that they had seen during their trip were now gone, the only color that filled the space outside of the train was black except the dim yellow light escaping the crescent moon. It was now late evening, and the sun had long set, but the first-year students hadn’t lost any of their energy.

Andi, Cyrus, Jonah, and Buffy filed out of their compartment, following the other first year students who were exiting off of the train. They remained in a huddle, until a staff member from Hogwarts escorted the kids down a shady pathway until they came to a fleet of small boats.

The four teenagers’ attention drifted away from the sparkling lake up to the large school that stood behind it. Jonah audibly gasped, drawing in the cold air that was surrounding him.

What they saw was extraordinary, nothing like any picture they had ever seen in The Daily Prophet. Hogwarts was even bigger than they imagined, it’s pillars standing wide and tall, nearly scraping the tops of the clouds. It appeared to be illuminated from the inside, a multitude of colors beautifully bouncing off its bricks giving the school a bright exterior. The gigantic building didn’t even seem like a school, more like a castle for a royal family to live in.

The Hogwarts gatekeeper motioned the group to keep moving as the students arranged themselves into the many small boats. The four teenagers rode across the lake in silence, but occasionally grinned at one another with excitement.

~

After a short while, the boats stopped at the shore. The students were ordered back into a group as they followed the gatekeeper of Hogwarts down a twisty path to the entrance of the school. Many of the other first-year students within the group started talking quite loudly behind them, slowly separating from the rest of the group.

“Can you believe it? We’re going to be Gryffindors together, Natalie!”

“I’m going to become a seeker as a first year, just like Harry Potter!”

“We haven’t even been sorted into our houses yet-”

“Becca, you can’t be serious…”

“Hah! Like they’d pick you to be seeker, I’m the one who’s had three years of flying camp on my resume.”

Three male students that Buffy, Cyrus and Andi were unfamiliar with laughed at a student in a mocking manner. But Jonah had found something strangely familiar about the three boys.

Those were the guys from outside Eeylops Owl Emporium...

Jonah immediately felt his face constrict. He realized that the three boys must have been making fun of the girl, and despite his major anxiety, he was never a bystander when someone was being bullied.

Jonah marched straight over to the three bullies without any second thought. “Hey! Stop it, you’re making a scene for no reason. You shouldn’t make fun of other people for what they want to be.” The green-eyed boy glared at the three bullies.

A blonde-haired boy who appeared to be the leader of the three, stepped forward. “Oh yeah? Do you even know who I am, kid? I’m Reed Greyson, and you’re going to regret saying that.” His mouth formed a smug smile as he glanced down and looked over Jonah’s hand-me-down robes. “Plus, the last time I checked I didn’t take orders from a low-class child who can’t even afford decent clothes.” He high-fived his two friends while cackling.

Jonah opened his mouth to fight back before his three newly-made friends came up from behind him to back him up.

Cyrus grasped Jonah’s shoulder and stared very intensely into Reed’s eyes. “Congrats Reed, you have a lot of money, so what? Just because you’re wealthy doesn’t mean you can buy yourself a better attitude.”

Cyrus’ comeback earned many “Ooh’s” from the other students, along with a few kids laughing. Reed was not pleased in the slightest.

He walked up to Cyrus, his clean sleek shoes roughly stomping against the dirt. Nobody knew what he was planning on doing because his revenge was cut short by the gatekeeper telling the students to quit fooling around and catch up with the others.

Reed slowly backed away from Cyrus, but not before letting out a grunt and glaring daggers at him and Jonah.

Andi, Buffy, Cyrus and Jonah turned to each other after Reed and his friends walked away. Jonah buried his face in his hands.

“I can’t believe I just did that.” The green-eyed boy was angry with himself. “I haven’t even taken a step inside the school and someone already has it out for me?” Jonah groaned.

Buffy came up on Jonah’s left side. “Don’t worry dude, we will won’t let Reed touch you,” she assured him. “And if he tries, we’ll beat him up.” The curly-haired girl cracked her knuckles.

Andi and Cyrus nodded at Buffy’s claim. They were ready to defend their friend’s honor no matter the cost, as long as Jonah was okay.

Cyrus went over to Jonah’s right side. “Also, I’m pretty sure that idiot’s getting into Slytherin anyway,” he predicted. “He’s more cunning than anyone else I know. Plus for some reason all the bad people end up in Slytherin.”

“True,” Andi agreed, turning to Jonah. “So you should probably avoid any Slytherins as best as you can.” She squeezed Jonah’s shoulder once she saw the frightened look on his face.

“No need to worry, Jonah,” Buffy chuckled. “The only times when you’re going to see any Slytherins are in your classes and in the hallway.”

Jonah exhaled the breath he was holding in. “You’re right. I just hope at least one of you guys end up in the same house as me.”

Cyrus shrugged. “Well, even if we don’t, we’ll still all hang out, right?”

“Right.” The other three responded in unison.