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biggest-stupidhead · 4 years ago

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Who We Were Before (Levi x OC)

Summary: Three girls living in a society where ghouls are despised by humans. They must find out who they are in order to be with the people they love. Lust, jealousy, unrequited love. And the need to fight for what they believe in. Will they hate the CCG forever? Or will some people change their beliefs? Can they break the cycle of hatred that has been push upon them? Or are they just what everyone thinks? Monsters.

Word Count: 2.2K

When the world has labeled you a monster, you can't help but fit into that role No matter how you feel, you will always be an ant they must crush under their boot. How could she be any different? When she looks into the cracked mirror, all she can see is a ghoul. The red in her eyes is persistent as she tries to keep her hunger down. Her stomach growls angrily at her, as she looks across the way to see her neighbor closing his blinds. She thinks how easy it would be to finish him, nobody would know. He's old and has no family, he's alone. Just like her, she wonders if when people look at her they see what they see in him. Ugly, unwilling, all alone. A reject to all society holds dear. She shoves those intrusive thoughts aside and refocuses on the task at hand. She can hunt later, but now she needs to get ready for work.

Yomo usually carries some extra food on him in case of emergencies. But his food comes with a cost, a cost that she'll never hear the end of. Besides, she's not one to beg. If she's lucky Itori will let her off early and she can snag a drunk in a back alleyway. She finishes pulling on her white button down shirt and checks her appearance in the mirror. She has the same sunken eyes, the same messy mane of blonde hair. Her curls are harder to manage nowadays since she has such little strength. She really should start taking better care of herself. How can she love herself when nobody else does.

The walk to the bar is usually a lonely one but for some reason, tonight the streets are bustling and crowded. Her stomach twists painfully as the smell of human flesh wafts into her nostrils. She's so focused on controlling her hunger she doesn't see the small child in front of her. The small girl crashes into her and smiles apologetically up at her. She looks at her small frame and thinks about how easily she could crush her bones. With great self restraint she pushes past her, the child whimpers and calls out to her mother.

She reaches the bar and like always it is mostly empty, except for the usual trio that sat perched upon the barstools. At first she was apprehensive of the older male ghouls, but overtime she's come to respect them greatly. Itori stands to greet her with a wide smile, although she can see Yomo behind her with an irked expression on his face.

"You're late." Yomo quipped, setting down his wine glass harshly.

"Won't happen again." she said, shooting a cold look at Yomo. He huffed and took a sip of his blood wine, averting his gaze. As she settled behind the bar, preparing herself for a long boring shift, Uta held his glass out for a refill. She pulls out a bottle of blood wine and pops the cork, the smell washes over her and her stomach growls loudly. Uta chuckles as he tops him off, Yomo looks at her knowingly.

"When was the last time you ate?" Yomo asks with a hint of concern in his voice. She rolls her eyes and pours herself a glass to tide her over.

"Don't worry about it, I've got it under control." she says not meeting the tall ghoul's eyes. He reaches into the deep pockets of his trench coat to produce a neatly wrapped package. He slides the package across the bar without another word. She snatches the parcel and unwraps it with urgancey. Itori chuckles as the young woman scarfs down the bloody hunk of meat.

"Geez Emi take it easy, not like it's going anywhere!" Itori teases as she swirls her wine in her glass. Uta chuckles at Itori's jab and watches Emi wolf down the food, her eyes dark, irises glowing red. Yomo clicks his tongue and frowns at Emi, who was now wiping the corners of her mouth free of blood.

"Always such a lady." Uta sighs wistfully as he holds out a handkerchief for Emi. She accepts the napkin and wipes the remaining blood off her chin daintily in spite of Uta's remark. She then turns to take stock of the alcohol, even though it's rarely used, only kept in case a human patron comes through. Her pointless task is interrupted by the chime of the familiar bell. She turns to see who has entered, her eyes widening at the sight of three familiar faces. Reiner leads the trio into the small space, all of them wearing matching suits. Emi quirked a brow and smirked as they sat down a few seats away from the older ghouls.

"What brings you to this side of town?" Emi inquired as she poured them some blood wine. Emi hadn't seen the younger ghouls in some time, almost a full year now.

"What, we can't come visit our dear friend?" Reiner smirked as he accepted the glass Emi handed to him.

"Bullshit." Emi smiled at him playfully, leaning across the bar.

"You caught me." Reiner chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender.

"So what do you want?" Emi asked, her eyes roaming over the trio, they'd changed a lot.

"We have a job for you if you're interested." Annie spoke up, swirling the blood around the delicate glass.

"Depends on how dirty the work is." Emi sighed, grabbing her own glass to take a sip.

"Oh it's dirty alright." Reiner said with that same smirk that made her want to sock him in that square jaw of his.

"Not interested." The blonde says, going back over to top off Uta who has a large smile on his face as well.

"We can offer you money." Bertlot says, his eyes glued to the bar.

"What do you take me for, a prostitute?" She asks him, her cheeks turned slightly upward. Annie gives her a small chuckle, not into her games that she usually likes to play with the trio.

"Will you do it or not?" Annie asks again, more demanding than before.

"If i do, this will be the last time." she says, looking at the three.

"Fine. This will be a good send off." Bertolt says, finally meeting her eyes.

The young woman nods, and the muscular boy writes out the address she must go too. Even putting his number on the napkin. He hands it to her, she smiles to him and rips off the part with his digits.

Halfway across the dazzling city, an annual ball is commencing. Ghouls from all over have come to take part in the feast that Shuu Tsukiyama has prepared. The event is well known and very prestigious, only the richest members of the ghoul society are present. The patrons fill the balconies eagerly awaiting for the main event to begin. Two girls walk into the ring, their hands intertwined, looking eerily similar. They wore pristine white dresses, framing their delicate features. They almost looked like dolls. Everything matched, perfect carbon copies, even their masks were identical. Mainly featuring perfectly hand crafted masquerade masks that matched their dresses. Dainty lace lined the bottom of the mask, falling onto their noses, leaving the lower half of their faces exposed.

Shuu flicked his wrist to signal for the gates to be opened. The crowd cheered loudly, clapping and stomping and shaking the arena. A large man came stumbling out of the darkness, clearly he was owned by one of the patrons. He laughed at the sight of the two ghouls, knowing that he could take them easily. They looked to Shuu, who gave them an encouraging nod. The two broke apart and ran along the outskirts of the arena. The oafish man turned his head sluggishly as he tried to follow the girl's quick movements. He lashed out at the girl to his right, who easily dodged his slow attack. The other rushed in from behind and leapt up onto his broad back, wrapping her legs around his thick neck. He choked and stumbled backwards, his fat fingers clawing at the girl's creamy thighs.

The girl in front of him unleashed her blue bikaku kagune and swept him off his feet.

"No fair!" the man screamed as he threw the girl off his neck. She slid in a puddle of blood, her white dress now stained in the dark liquid. She snarled and unleashed her red and blue bikaku kagune as she rejoined her twin, the two rushing him from the front. He barely blocked the blue kaguned girl as she lashed out at his large belly. The other girl's punch landed successfully and managed to penetrate his vast stomach. The man choked on his own blood as he fell backwards. The twins stood over him, looking up at their master for his order to finish off the man. Shuu nodded proudly and the two launched into the air, their kagunes flashing in the light as they descended to administer the final blow. The crowd cheered loudly as life drained from the man's eyes, fat tear rolling off his cheeks. They intertwined their fingers once more and bowed as the audience gave them a standing ovation.

The pair retreated into the dark underbelly of the building, leaving the loud arena behind them. With an exhilarated chuckle one of the girls pulled the white wig and draped it over her arm.

"That was awesome!" She giggled as she shook the excess blood from the wig.

"It was sloppy." the other snarled as she ripped the wig off and shook out her dirty blonde hair.

"Don't be so uptight, Shuu told us to have fun with this one." she said, placing the wig on a mannequin's head sloppily.

"When you have fun you get careless, and one of these days you'll have too much and get us killed." she reprimanded, reaching to fix the wig and place her own down.

"Lighten up Addy, nobody likes a party pooper." the girl pouted as she pulled her skirt up to inspect the deep gouges that the man had left in her thigh.

"Nobody likes a corpse either, Alice." Addy lashed out, gripping her sister's wrist for her attention. The other girl pulled away as if she'd been burned.

"If I don't have fun then what's the point?" Alice scoffed, smoothing her skirt down.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten. We're in this mess because of grandma, she needs us." Addy says glaring at her sister, not knowing what solicited this behavior.

"It's always about grandma." Alice sighs as she watches some blood drip onto the floor.

"Yeah because she's sick." Addy snapped, her posture tense as she watched her sister.

"Forget about it, I need to go clean up." Alice mumbled as she marched out of the small dressing room to find some bandages. Addy sighed as she watched her disappear into the darkness before turning to inspect her appearance in the mirror.

Alice ran her fingers absentmindedly over the textured cobblestoned walls as she wandered through the basement. She froze when she noticed a dark silhouette standing outside of the bathroom. The shadow pushed off the wall when he noticed the girl's presence.

"Nice work out there." his smooth voice cut through the thick silence. She dared to take a few steps closer to the mysterious boy, thoroughly intrigued.

"Thanks..." she said carefully as she stepped into the dim light that was barely illuminating the corridor.

"Shame you're wasting your talents here." his teeth flashed as his lips peeled back in an endearing smirk. She chuckled nervously and shifted her weight a bit awkwardly.

"Where do you think they'd be more useful?" Alice asked, playing into the stranger's alluring aura.

"There's a group called Aogri, you can do whatever you want when you want to. I think you'd fit in nicely." he spoke slowly as he closed the space between them. Alice stood tall as she tried to not fall into his deep purple eyes.

"You wouldn't even have to wear those silly costumes.If you're interested meet me at the abandoned mall in the 1st ward." he said softly as he brushed a lock of her blond hair off her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat as she dipped her head to hide her blush. He chuckled and dropped his hand, much to her disappointment.

"Alice I-" Addy froze, a roll of gauze in her hand as she took in the scene before her.

"Who are you?" her voice turned hostile at the sight of the stranger.

"The name's Ayato." he replied, stepping away from Alice, who seemed to be in a daze.

"I don't care what your name is, what are you doing with my sister?" she snarled, stepping between the male and her sister protectively."

"He's just offering us a job." Alice said, snagging Addy by the back of her dress.

"I don't give a damn." Addy snarled, still looking at the boy accusingly. Ayato held his hands up in surrender as he took a few healthy steps backwards.

"You know where to find me if you change your mind." he winked at Alice before disappearing into the shadows. Addy huffed and steered Alice into the bathroom to clean her wounds.

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wigwurq · 4 years ago

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WIG REVIEW: THE HAPPIEST SEASON

You guys! I finally watched the lesbian holiday movie!! Though when I texted my mom to tell her I was finally watching this, she thought I was talking about The Prom and I laughed for a real long time about it (mainly because it will take me an even longer time to get around to hate watching that!) It already took about a month to get to this one. There is a lot to discuss here - and also one wig!

So this is the first (big budget) holiday lesbian movie, which I am very here for. However, most of the movie feels like a combination between My Best Friend’s Wedding, Meet the Parents, and The Family Stone but with lesbians. Those movies were made between 1997 and 2005 and this movie feels like it should exist somewhere in that time as well. The whole plot of the movie is basically that Kristen Stewart (Abby) has to pretend NOT to be Mackenzie Davis’s (Harper’s) long-term girlfriend for the sake of Harper’s conservative family with local political aspirations while also spending 5 days with them during Christmas. It’s a conceit that exists solely in these brand of garbage holiday rom coms but definitely one that feels bizarrely antiquated as well.

Anyway! There is only one wig in this movie which belongs to Davis, who had a vastly superior lesbian wig in that one episode of Black Mirror that made us all cry. We first see this under this hat where it should have hidden for the rest of the film!

Sadly, the next scene involves the full emergence of this wig and truly: NO. This thing is dried out, bent, and disheveled in not a cool way (Stewart’s actual hair is disheveled in a cool way, though). The entire presence of this wig bothers me because: just have her have whatever hair she has? This is not a historical recreation (that I’m aware of?) and she is not playing a real person! This feels like when SNL cast members wear wigs in sketches for similarly non-existent reasons. However, SNL wigs are vastly superior to this mess!

So anyway, Harper invites Abby to have Christmas at her parents’ house in the heat of the moment during a very romantic (?) Pittsburgh Christmas lights tour which is apparently something that exists. Abby conveniently, and completely for the sake of this plot to work (?) does not like Christmas and also is an orphan, getting rid of any possible Christmas plan conflicts. And then literally on the way to visiting Harper’s family, she is all: by the way, they don’t know you’re my girlfriend or that I’m a lesbian and you have to go along with it for sake of this movie to exist even though this is absolutely a terrible thing to ask of anyone, periodt. But we are beginning to find out that Harper’s character is as full of garbage as her wig.

So we meet the parents, who are Victor Garber, Mary Steenbergen, and also Mary Steenbergen’s iPad which vulture correctly identifies as the star of this movie AND IT IS. Especially during the end credits where we get to see all the pics the iPad takes! But I’m getting ahead of myself. The parents live in one of those cavernous houses that is definitely a mansion but tries to feel homey even though it probably has about 12 bedrooms and usually only exists in a Nancy Meyers movie. Despite its amount of bedrooms, Abby has to sleep in a basement bunker which also doubles as a well organized rubbermaid storage unit. For the rest of the movie, Abby is treated like a subhuman trash person much in the way Ben Stiller is treated in Meet the Parents and Sarah Jessica Parker is treated in The Family Stone, except they don’t also have to pretend to not be in a relationship with the family member they arrived with. This conceit becomes so degrading that you honestly wonder why these people are still together!

Abby endures scene after scene of total nonsense and still looks better than the wig on her terrible girlfriend. Which starts actually looking better in a few of these scenes but still is very much a terrible and noticeable wig which is on par with Rachel McAdams’ wig in Mean Girls in that we are constantly told that these women are gorgeous and every single time I ask “YOU MEAN WITH THAT TERRIBLE WIG ON THEIR HEADS????” I suppose this wig was “necessary” because Harper’s two sisters also have long-ish brown hair so they were going for some sort of familial consistency except one daughter has a terrible wig and the other two have hair. Also one sister is Alison Brie, who plays a harpy so awful that she starts to make Harper look palatable and one sister is Mary Holland, who also cowrote the script, and definitely wrote herself the only character who I’d like to meet in real life.

Along the way, we also meet Aubrey Plaza, who I usually hate because she is just one-note sullen, but here is actually great as Harper’s high school ex-girlfriend who Harper outted and allowed to be bullied and wow Harper - you have been terrible for decades!! Also compared to Harper, Aubrey has beautiful (real) hair, doesn’t lie to her entire family, and has actual chemistry with Abby. I very much wanted Abby to end up with Aubrey and I am not alone! Harper somehow avoids Abby for most of the time they are both staying in the same (albeit huge) house and there is even a dumb subplot about Abby being framed for shoplifting while trying to buy a gift for the parents’ very important white elephant gift exchange during their very important Christmas Eve party and I wonder if any of these people really knows what a white elephant gift is or how to exist in society? Meanwhile, as Harper reverts to being more falsely heteronormative at her parents house, I started to wonder if her wig was trying to serve a larger purpose in showing how fake this character is but: no it’s just a bad wig. Also this movie really does the impossible: it makes me care about and feel bad for Kristen Stewart!

Although I did find it highly questionable that though they are the stars of a romantic comedy, neither Kristen Stewart or Mackenzie Davis is funny AT ALL. Like not even a little! Which makes the “comedic” plight of Stewart all the more upsetting! All comedy is left to the one good daughter (Mary Holland) and also all gay men in the movie. This is mainly Abby’s bff and national (Canadian) treasure, Dan Levy and also Drag Race faves Jinxx Monsoon and Ben De-La-Creme in this one gay bar scene which is honestly truly inconceivable and except for further cementing the fact that Abby and Aubrey really should get together.

In the end, Alison Brie finds out Harper’s TERRIBLE SECRET THAT NO ONE IN 2020 COULD POSSIBLY FATHOM (that she’s a lesbian) and they have a fight in the middle of the white elephant party which reveals that all the family has been competing for years for each other’s love which is really really messed up and now I kind of hate everyone in this family. And also Harper is outed to her entire terrible family and also Ana Gasteyer (and also a room full of other randos). And she denies her lesbian truth! I recently watched Uncle Frank which is essentially everything Hillbilly Elegy wanted to be but is Shakespeare compared to that mess, and a similar scene occurs but that character bravely faces the truth - and in 1970s SOUTH CAROLINA!! I don’t know what time or space this movie thinks it exists in but it is baffling. Still, Dan Levy gives an emotional monologue about how no one can decide when anyone else is ready to come out of the closet so: FAIR. And then Harper does come out and the entire family kind gives absolutely no reaction to this until Victor Garber says it’s ok?? ABSOLUTELY AND TRULY BIZARRELY PATRIARCHAL. And then Harper and Abby get back together in the parking lot of a Love’s convenience store which is as cheesy and clunky as any garbage holiday rom com so I guess this is definitely a new holiday “classic” which I’ll probably watch 100 more times and hate Harper and her terrible wig each time about as much as I hate Laura Linney’s terrible life choices in Love, Actually. AS CONFOUNDING AS HARPER’S WIG OR THE CHOICE TO GIVE HER ONE AT ALL!

VERDICT: DOESN’T WURQ

#wigwurq #happiestseason #holidaylesbians #kristenstewart #mackenziedavis #danlevy #marysteenbergen #victorgarber #whywigtho #nope

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misskikuwrites · 5 years ago

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Simply in Love

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

The lobby of the Fairy Gym was bustling. Filled with more people than a regular exhibition match would normally draw. Excited squeals broke through the buzz of noise. Gloria shuffled through the crowd and around the throng of people to where she spied Ms Opal looking on with a smile.

"What's all this about?" Gloria asked, gaping at the people. No one had noticed her enter. The massive crowd, mainly women, young and old, were too busy amongst themselves.

"Why, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow." Ms Opal chuckled lightly. She nodded to the reception desk where Gloria spied a group of young women trying to pass the receptionist boxes of chocolates and gifts. "They're here for Bede. He's mighty popular, that one. It's like this every year."

Gloria deflated slightly. "Oh. I knew he was popular but… I didn't realise he was this popular." A pile of gifts, chocolates, flowers and teddy bears holding hearts was growing behind the desk. "What does he do with it all…? There's no way he can keep all of that."

Well. There went Gloria's plan to give Bede something. Her heart sank heavily. She'd planned on giving all her close friends a small gift of chocolates to show her love for them but with the amount Bede already got… he'd just find her gift another nuisance.

More junk to add to the pile.

Something stung deep in her chest. She clenched her hands tight.

"He donates most of it," Ms Opal said. She leant closer to Gloria with a proud smile. "Charities, orphanages, the trainer's school; he donates all of the store-bought gifts to them. They can't take anything homemade so he hands out the rest to the staff here."

"Really?" Gloria's tone lifted in surprise. She would've thought Bede would turn his nose up at the gifts as though they were junk and toss them in the trash.

"He's got a kind heart. Don't see that too often nowadays. Better not let this one get away from you." Ms Opal gave a knowing wink to Gloria who stiffened.

"Wh… What?" Gloria's face reddened. What was that supposed to mean…?

"He's waiting for you," Ms Opal said and pointed her umbrella to the door behind her. "Don't want to keep him waiting now, do you?"

Gloria nodded quickly. "Right. Thanks!" She headed off through the door with Ms Opal's insinuation ringing in her ears. It made her heart flutter oddly. Her cheeks warmed. She shook it off, steeled herself as she entered the waiting room outside the stadium proper.

Bede, already dresser in his Gym uniform, scowled at the pile of gifts on the bench in front of him. He turned a box of chocolates in his hand, studying the back.

Gloria's heart flip-flopped weirdly. She ignored it. Ignored the strange feeling that popped out of nowhere and swirled in her gut.

Was she getting sick?

"Well, look who's mister popular!" Gloria chimed, forcing the strange emotions behind her. "You're practically drowning in gifts!"

Bede gave her a side-eyed glance, his eyes lingering on her for a moment. The flutter in her chest returned.

Maybe she really was getting sick.

"What do they expect me to do with all this?" Bede huffed, scowling at the gifts as if they'd insulted him personally. "I do not understand why they waste their money on this junk every year. It's absurd to give gifts like this to a person you don't even know. It's meaningless."

"It's not meaningless to them." Gloria strode up beside Bede casually, and looked through the assortment of chocolates, cakes and sweets. "Ooh, these ones are really nice!"

"Take them if you want. I have no need for things like this."

Gloria raised an eyebrow and slipped the candy into her backpack. "Are you seriously complaining about being popular? You're kidding, right?"

Bede clicked his tongue, tossing another stuffed bear to the side, the discarded plushie landing atop a mess of other animals. "I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't want," he gestured at the cacophony of presents on the bench, "this."

"That's what you get for being loved and adored by many." Gloria shrugged. "Comes with the territory."

Though she'd never gotten this many gifts - ever. Not if she'd totalled all the presents she'd been given by fans.

"That's what I don't understand. Why are they like this to me? Why do they…?" His mouth twisted as though just thinking of the words was painful.

"Wait, are you asking why you're popular?" She almost laughed.

Bede levelled a flat look at her, daring her to laugh. Her lips twitched.

"You're popular because of what you did at the Champion's cup, when you poured your heart out in front of the crowd. Girls love that kind of passion - especially from someone who's usually so… well, the way you are normally!"

Bede met her eyes for a long second before turning back to the mountain of gifts. "And you'd know that how? Or are you saying that applies to all girls?"

Gloria's heart skipped. "Uh, well, maybe not all girls per se, just… y'know, the ones throwing presents at you. It's what I've heard, that's all."

She wasn't about to admit that he'd had a similar effect on her that day too. It was as though he'd stepped out of the darkness and into the light and she'd gotten a good look at him for the first time. A torrent of emotions had coursed through her that day - ones that confused her, ones that elated her. They were lost in the heat of battle but even now they pricked at her mind sometimes when he smiled at her. Which was rare.

It was the first time she'd doubted what she was doing. Whether it was right for her to win. It had been the determined blaze of light in Bede's eyes that spurred her forward. She knew he wouldn't have forgiven her if she'd let him win because she felt guilty.

He hated pity the most.

"Ridiculous. They don't know me. Such a waste of time, effort and money."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Don't let them know you feel that way. You'd break hearts in the thousands."

"What a horror that would be."

"All right, enough of this." Gloria tapped Bede's arm lightly. "You ready for our exhibition match?" She smiled at him and a competitive glimmer awoke in Bede's eyes.

"Of course. Who do you think you're asking?"

The match went as expected. Gloria's Froslass delivered the final blow to Bede's Hatterene with Max Phantasm, and the crowd roared to life at the explosive finale.

Bede sighed, recalling his Hatterene, and stepped into the middle of the pitch for the post-match handshake that would no doubt be plastered all over magazines and the internet the moment it happened. Gloria pumped her fists joyfully, unable to bite back her grin as she met Bede in the middle.

"Nice one," Gloria said as they shook hands. "Almost got me there with Max Flare."

"Almost is not good enough. If it weren't for you, I would be able to prove beyond doubt that I am the best…" He glanced away for a beat. "Still, I do enjoy my battles with you… to a degree."

Gloria grinned.

"Wh-What's that look for? Wipe that ridiculous grin off your face."

"Nothing," she hummed happily. "So you admit that you enjoy our battles then, huh?"

Bede's eyes narrowed. He stole back his hand. "I admit nothing. Actually, on second thought, I take that back. I do not enjoy our battles in the slightest." He whirled on his feet and stalked to the exit. Gloria followed, her grin widening.

When they returned to the waiting room the pile of gifts had risen higher.

"Hey, Bede…?"

"What?" Bede huffed, turning to face her with an expectation of another smirk on her face, another teasing lilt to her voice, and stilled when he saw her looking at the gifts. An unidentifiable expression in her eyes.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

His heart jumped. He stole a breath to calm himself and glanced away, trying to remain casual. As though his heart hadn't run away excitedly in his chest.

"That depends. Why are you asking?"

Gloria prodded one of the boxes of chocolates on top of the pile with a finger absently. "Oh, you know…"

No, he didn't.

"Well, there's this new cafe in Wyndon I've been meaning to go to and I've got tomorrow off…" She glanced at him, trying to read his expression. He was waiting for her to continue. "But, if you're busy, then I guess I could ask Hop…"

That did it.

Bede frowned. "I'm free. There are no Gym challengers tomorrow."

Gloria let out the breath she was holding and bounced on her toes eagerly. "Then, you'll go with me?"

Bede's heart stammered. He looked away hurriedly lest that giddy smile on her face cause more heat to rise up his cheeks. "I… I suppose so. If you want me to."

"Yes!" Gloria beamed. "Then, how about we meet at Wyndon station at, say, three o'clock? We can have afternoon tea there!"

"I… sure. That works for me…" Arceus, her smile was causing a dizzying heat to rush across his face. He tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"Great! Oh - make sure you wear something different! Don't want people to easily recognise us or we'll get hounded the whole afternoon!"

Bede raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Are you being serious right now?"

Her excited grin didn't waver. "It'll be like a disguise! C'mon, Bede! You don't want people following us and pasting pictures all over the tabloids, do you?" She shuddered. "Just imagine the things they'll say about us! It's worse enough the things they come up with about Hop and me…"

Bede sighed. "Fine, I'll wear something different. But I'm not going to be wearing a wig or anything ridiculous like that so don't even think about it."

"I don't want you to go that far," she giggled. His comment made her picture him trying to stuff his curly wooloo-like hair into a wig. "I want you to be able to enjoy yourself."

"Fine. Three o'clock, then?"

"Three o'clock! Don't forget it!"

Bede stared at the clock above the station, willing it to tick over faster. There was still half an hour until three o'clock. He had been waiting outside the station for a while longer.

He didn't know what possessed him to get here so early. Why he'd woken up at the crack of dawn with a swarm of excited butterfrees dancing in his stomach, why he hadn't been able to focus on anything else in the morning. His gaze had continuously fallen to the time as the morning seemed to pass achingly slow. His heart felt strangely fuzzy as if the cluster of Butterfree had all used Bug Buzz on his insides at once.

Bede tried to relax and leant back against the outside wall of the station, listening to the train depart. Crowds of people passed by without paying him any attention. Gloria's idea to dress in an outfit people wouldn't recognise him in seemed to work. For now. He'd chosen a grey, long-sleeve turtleneck, thick enough to ward off the afternoon chill, and casual black pants. He glanced at his phone for the umpteenth time, finding the time glaring at him from his phone the same as the station clock.

Twenty-five minutes to go. It was going to be a long, long wait.

Ten minutes to three o'clock, Gloria filtered out of the station with a bustle of people, glancing around to find an empty spot to wait when she saw Bede. He was looking right at her. Ten minutes early and he was already here.

Warmth flooded her face and she skipped over, brushing down the back of her high-waisted skirt habitually. She'd gone with a simple pleated black skirt, a white t-shirt with a pikachu on it, and thick black tights. She'd even changed up her bag, ditching her backpack for a black handbag. Her new flats were a bit stiff on her feet but that was far from her mind. She curled a lock of her brown hair behind her ear, excitement bubbling in her chest as she came up to Bede.

"Hey," she said, voice strangely breathy from excitement. "You're early."

Bede looked at her for a moment. His eyes flicked over choice of clothing, down to her shoes then up to her face, before turning away nonchalantly. "So are you." The cool afternoon air left his cheeks slightly pink.

"Guess I just couldn't wait," she giggled sheepishly. "I've been wanting to try this cafe for ages!"

Right. That's why she was so excited. The cafe. Gloria's mind ran on sweets, it seemed. Bede should have expected as much.

"Then let's go." Bede kicked off the wall, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Which way is it?"

Gloria beamed. "This way - it's not far!"

Bede walked in step with Gloria, noting the way she seemed to bounce as they walked. She was so obvious with her excitement it made him smile to himself. She was so simple. So easily pleased.

Not that Bede thought that was necessarily a bad thing…

He studied her out of the corner of his eyes as they walked. She smiled honestly and openly. Laughed without a care. As friendly and welcoming as she'd been from the moment they'd met. Too friendly at times; if Bede didn't know that she acted like this around everyone then he might've - possibly - entertained the thought that she had feelings for him.

He didn't allow himself to follow that train of thought. Didn't allow himself to hope. Not when there was someone infinitely closer to her than he, not when the odds were still wildly out of his favor.

Especially with the way he'd treated her in the past…

Bede shoved those thoughts down deep and followed Gloria into the cafe. A waiter greeted and directed them to a window booth, Bede using the moment to take in the warm atmosphere. Natural wood tables and plush, black couch chairs sat in neat booths around the cafe. The dark wooden floor offset the gold and white marble patterns on the walls. Large glass windows gave them a view of the street and opened up the cafe to bright natural light. A section further back displayed their collection of truffles, sweets and chocolate delights one could buy.

The waiter handed them menus and left to gather them a water jug and glasses. Bede sat comfortably on the plush couch, glancing through the menu.

"It's all dessert," he noted quickly.

"Yup!" Gloria beamed excitedly. "But it's not all chocolate, see? There's fruit cakes and sundaes and pastries and ice cream-"

"I get it, I get it." Bede raised an eyebrow at her. "Why does it matter that there's more than chocolate? Didn't you say once that you could never eat too much chocolate?"

"There's no such thing as too much chocolate!'" Gloria chimed.

"Then why is it an issue?"

"Oh, well… with all the chocolate you receive over Valentine's Day I thought you might be sick of chocolate." She shrugged lightly.

"I have no plans to consume so much as to make myself sick of it."

But… he hadn't expected her to take that into account. She'd actually thought about that?

"So? What're you going to get?" she asked. "The chocolate mousse sounds good!"

Bede skimmed through the menu and decided on a caramel and hazelnut sundae. He absently sipped his water as they waited for their desserts, letting the realisation sink in that he didn't actually mind this. Being out in public with Gloria. Amongst noisy people and a hovering waiter who would no doubt ask them how everything was going the moment they got their order. The eager, childishly impatient smile on her face somehow made sitting through all the annoyances worth it.

It was strange. How comforting he found her presence.

Gloria caught his gaze, caught him staring. "What's up?" she asked, tilting her head.

Bede leant his elbow on the counter, resting his chin in his hand to hide his rising blush and looked away. "Nothing. You're… happier than I thought you'd be about this."

"Of course I am! Who wouldn't be happy about dessert?"

He didn't understand her. How things like that made her so happy, why she had no shame in expressing it. Still… he didn't mind seeing her like that.

Gloria gasped in awe when their desserts arrived. Her chocolate mousse was set in a clear glass cylinder, a base of crunchy chocolate lining the bottom. His sundae looked like something out of an art competition with intricate swirls of caramel running over the vanilla ice cream and dusted with finely chopped hazelnuts. Two precariously balanced wafers stuck out the sides. Bede spared it no more than a glance before he grabbed his spoon and scooped out a chunk from the top.

"Ah! Wait, I haven't gotten a picture yet!" Gloria squawked, fumbling with her phone.

Bede rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" she huffed. "It looks so pretty! Well… it did before you ruined it…"

"Sorry that I want to eat the dessert that I ordered," Bede said sarcastically.

Gloria pouted. "Fine. Just let me take a picture of it now before you destroy the rest of it!"

Bede lowered his spoon, waiting incredulously until she'd finished snapping numerous pictures of their desserts.

"I'll have to send these to Marnie and Sonia!" She fiddled with her phone for a moment longer before putting it away and finally sampling her mousse. She hummed in delight, spoon hanging from her lips. "So good…!"

Bede almost laughed. He stifled it, quickly eating another spoonful of his sundae to silence the laugh bubbling in his chest at how easy it was to make her happy. Her delight was comical, her whole body relaxing in utter joy. She came down from her dessert fueled high and saw him looking at her.

"Wh-What? It tastes good!" She pouted, pulling the spoon from her mouth dramatically. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing."

"You're smirking! Same thing!"

"Last I checked they had completely separate definitions."

Gloria grumbled, eyeing Bede warily. She took another spoonful, slower this time, but couldn't stop the giddy smile growing on her face.

So simple.

Gloria flushed at his smirk. "It… It really does taste that good!"

Bede said nothing, basking in her embarrassed huff, the adorable way she puffed her cheeks and glared at him. It's hard to look intimidating with a hot blush burning her cheeks and she failed miserably.

"Fine then. Here, try it!" She shoved her spoon at him, a generous dollop of mousse on it. "Then you won't be able to argue with me when you realise it tastes so good!"

She waved her spoon in his face. The spoon that, seconds earlier, had been between her pouting lips. Bede gaped at the spoon, at Gloria, at the stubborn determination in her eyes and the challenge set behind it.

She didn't think he'd actually do it. She was calling his bluff.

Gloria began to pull her hand away and Bede snatched her wrist, taking the spoon into his mouth before she could react. He leant back, released her hand and drew his tongue languidly over his lips.

"Not bad."

He hadn't tasted a thing. Not with her gawking at him like that, not with his brain short-circuiting at his actions and causing him to swallow in a flash of heated panic.

"I-I was joking!" Gloria squeaked. "I-I was going to suggest you use your own spoon to…" she trailed off, looking away bashfully, and Bede's heart squeezed tight in his chest. He hadn't expected this reaction.

He would've regretted it if she didn't look damnably cute. He swallowed the lump stuck in his throat, finding her embarrassment strangely contagious.

"That's what you get for shoving your spoon in my face," Bede chided, trying to ease the tension, to relax the atmosphere again.

It worked. Gloria looked back at him, lips twisting into a pout.

Serves her right for flustering him so often.

"How about you sample some of mine then?" Bede offered. "As an apology."

She looked at him for a beat longer. "I'm using my own spoon."

Bede's lips twitched as he bit back a smile. "I wasn't going to suggest otherwise."

Still, she eyes him cautiously as she scooped a portion of his sundae and sampled it.

"Ooh, that's really nice!" Her eyes lit up, eyeing his sundae.

Bede tugged it closer to him. "That's all you're getting, you glutton."

Gloria scoffed as if her intentions hadn't been utterly transparent. "I know! But… if you can't finish all of it…?"

"You haven't even finished your own dessert and you're already eyeing mine? I believe you're putting the cart before the Rapidash there."

Gloria's pout returned. She grumbled into her dessert, although her sour expression didn't last long as the delightful dessert brought her cheery mood back in an instant. Bede coyly hid his smile as he ate. She really, really was so simple.

And that wasn't a bad thing.

Bede finished his dessert, much to Gloria's disappointment, and, after she insisted on paying and wouldn't take no for an answer, they meandered outside. A blanket of silence fell over them. Neither spoke for a moment.

Finally, Gloria broke the silence. "Thanks, Bede. For coming with me." She smiled at him softly, so much more gentle and warm than her giddy smiles earlier. It was different. It made Bede look away quickly.

"You're welcome." Bede slid his hands into his pockets, heart suddenly skittering around in his chest. "Why did you want to do this anyway? Why now, why today? Surely you could have chosen another day when it's less busy."

It's Valentine's Day, his mind recalled. He glanced at her. She was looking at the ground.

"Well… to be honest, I've never done anything on Valentine's Day before." She looked up, eyes trailing down the street. "And… I wanted to get you something."

Bede's heart stammered.

What?

"But then I saw all those gifts and realised I'd just be adding to it and then you seemed so unhappy with it all…" She shrugged, her smile having faded into a far-off, pensive expression. "I'd already gotten gifts for everyone else and I couldn't not get you something so... I thought of this. I hope it wasn't too much of a bother." She glanced at him now, a faint ripple of worry reflected on her eyes.

"It wasn't a bother," Bede said. Her expression pulled on his heart and he found himself speaking honestly. "I… enjoyed it. I have never spent Valentine's Day with someone either and… with you it wasn't so bad… I suppose." He cleared his throat, feeling her gaze boring into him. "I have nothing on for the rest of the afternoon so, if there was something else you wanted to do while we're here…"

"Really?!" Her gasp caught him off guard, he jumped, a spike of heat pulsing through his veins like adrenaline. She clasped her hands together excitedly. "Yes! I've been wanting to go on that forever!" She pointed down the street, Bede following the line of her finger.

"The Ferris wheel?"

"Yes!" She beamed, eyes bright and wide and mesmerising. "Can we? Please?"

Bede was speechless. Breathless. He hadn't expected her to agree to his suggestion so easily, so eagerly. His heart was in his throat.

"Sure," he managed to say without sounding like he was being strangled.

Arceus, why was this so difficult?

Gloria breathed a triumphant laugh and beckoned Bede down the street. "C'mon then!"

It was as if an invisible force, this invisible string linking them together, tugged on his heart, his mind, his body, and he followed.

"This is so exciting!" Gloria chimed as they walked along the waterfront towards the Ferris wheel. "I've never been on one before!"

"You've ridden sky taxis. Surely it can't be that different."

Gloria scoffed. "Party pooper! It's completely different!"

Bede wasn't sure that it was but he kept his mouth shut. He would indulge her for once, he thought. Since she'd gone out of her way to invite him today… he may as well.

Bede coyly paid for their tickets before Gloria could protest. She huffed but thanked him anyway, and they joined the line. It was full of couples, both young and old. Some holding hands, others with arms around each other.

It wouldn't take much to hold Gloria's hand. To close that electrifying distance between them and slip his hand into hers. His hands reflexively clenched at his sides. They stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder in the line, no more than a few centimetres between them. The afternoon air became warm, each shift of Gloria next to him so noticeable, so distracting.

He drew a deep breath when it was their turn to board, climbing into the seats, realising that they would be even closer now. Stuck with their shoulders touching lightly, barely even enough to register normally but Bede's hypersensitive skin felt a burning heat as their arms bumped. The safety bar was lowered and soon enough they began to rise.

Gloria sucked in an excited breath. Bede couldn't breathe. He desperately wanted to lean away, to extract himself from her touch, but yearned to relax against her. To pull away or sink closer. He couldn't look at her. Didn't look at her. His face felt aflame, burning like the dying light of the sun dipping slowly on the horizon, despite the trail of clouds sneaking across it over the sky.

"Bede?"

Her curious voice snapped his attention back to her, releasing him from the tense, petrifying hold of his brain. The war between his mind and his heart.

"What?" He forced his expression into something neutral. Ignored the jump of his pulse at how close their faces were when she looked at him.

"You okay? You got all spacey on me there."

He gave her a flat stare. "I did not."

She studied his face for a long moment, then another. "Okay then. But you're going to miss the view if you zone out like that again!" She relaxed slightly, leaning back and signing. Her hands cupped the rail in front of them, fingers drumming on the metal. "Oh, I can see my house from here!" She pointed, and Bede followed the motion before frowning.

"No, you can't-" he stopped after seeing the giddy expression on her face. "You are impossible."

"And you fell for it!"

Her laughter sent ripples of fuzzy warmth down his spine.

"I did not. I looked in order to see what on earth it was you thought was your house, that's all."

She continued grinning, satisfied with herself. "Sure you did."

Bede rolled his eyes, finding that he had relaxed slightly. Without realising it, without being hyper-aware of every movement or touch, they sat comfortably next to each other. And Bede began to watch Gloria. She excitedly pointed out the different landmarks they could see - most of which you could see from the ground anyway - and places she had been recently around Wyndon. She gasped excitedly as they rose higher and higher. Her legs swung beneath her like a child on a swing.

The journey to the top felt too short. Too quick, the moment too fleeting as Wyndon spread out beneath them like a blanket. The only building taller was the unmissable Rose- no, Battle Tower. Bede pulled his gaze from it before his mind wandered.

Not today.

Bede let himself absorb Gloria's excitement. Turned his attention to her, to her smile, her laughter, her joy as she spotted sky taxis taking off below. From where they were the magnificent Corviknights looked as small as Rookidee and it made her giggle.

Even when their trip around the Ferris wheel ended, neither was in much of a rush to leave. They aimlessly walked the length of the waterfront back towards the cafe, pointing out the pokemon they saw in the river.

Gloria rested her arms on the railing, looking up at the darkening sky, the mess of grey clouds painted in vivid colours overhead. The world seemed to still. Each moment lasting longer and longer as Bede joined her.

He wondered if this was what it felt to be simple. To find happiness in something so simple as standing next to her.

The silence shattered with a quiet rumble coming from Gloria. Bede blinked at her. She flushed.

"You did not hear that," she hissed. Its intended effect was lost as she couldn't meet his eyes, her cheeks turning pink.

"You're still hungry after all that sugar?"

"That was ages ago!"

It had been. But with her, time made little sense. Minutes felt like hours and hours like seconds.

Bede realised the strange ache building in his stomach was hunger. "Well, since we're already here, it wouldn't be so bad to grab dinner while we're at it."

Gloria perked up. "Ooh, good idea! There's an amazing buffet place in the hotel! It's super popular but if we're lucky we might get a spot!" She was already skipping towards the hotel. Bede fell in step beside her before she could call for him to follow.

Gloria hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said it was popular. A wave of noise assaulted them as they walked through the door, the vibrant warmth a welcome change from the rapidly cooling evening outside.

An immaculate waitress greeted them with a smile. "Table for two? There could be up to a half-hour wait if that's alright with you?"

Gloria glanced at Bede.

"That's fine," he answered, gave the waitress his name and took a seat just outside the restaurant.

"You sure?" Gloria asked as she plopped into the spot beside him. She swung her legs absently. "We could try and find another place…"

"There's a good chance they're all booked out," Bede said. "At least here we have a chance to get in."

"Oh, right. Valentine's Day."

Bede's lips quirked into a faint smile. Had she forgotten that already?

The minutes waiting passed slowly. If it hadn't been for the insistent pangs of hunger in Bede's stomach he wouldn't have minded it in the slightest. By the time his name was called, Gloria had melted over the back of the bench and resigned herself to starvation. The waitress professionally wiped the confusion on her face as Gloria shot back into a normal seating position and they were led inside to a small table by the wall. Gloria eyed the food on display hungrily as they passed.

"You're drooling," Bede said matter-of-factly.

Gloria's eyes snapped wide open and she covered her mouth quickly before realising there was nothing there. She scowled at him.

"You fell for it," he threw her words back at her and her scowl fractured as she tried to stifle a smile.

"Whatever. I'm going to fill this plate before I pass out."

She stalked off with feigned annoyance. Bede smiled to himself as she trailed away before making his way around the tables of food. It was amusing to watch Gloria flitter between tables, sighing and gasping in excitement at the different options. Bede made his way back before her and raised his eyebrows when she returned.

"I don't know what I expected, but you do realise there is more to food than just sweets, right?" Bede eyed her plate crammed full of mini croissants, mini donuts, fresh bread, a tiny ceramic bowl of custard, as well as an assortment of fruit and a stack of cookies. There might have been more beneath it, the food balanced precariously on the plate.

"I don't normally eat like this!" she protested, guarding her plate stubbornly. "It's a special treat; I'm allowed to eat what I want. Besides, I got some fruit too. That's healthy!"

"You come to a nice establishment like this and all you eat is junk…" Bede shook his head, not bothering to hide the mirth in his eyes, and started on his pasta.

"Junk I will actually enjoy, thank you very much!" Gloria huffed jokingly, biting a mini donut in half.

The stark difference between their choices of food was amusing, to say the least. Bede had gone for the creamy pasta, a selection of different salads and a still-warm loaf of bread. Well, they had that in common.

Amazingly, Gloria managed to finish her self-made pyramid of food and went back for dessert which didn't seem to be any different from her previous choice. It was a wonder how she didn't make herself sick in the process.

Delicious food and unlimited refills of tea made the time pass in a flash. Gloria sighed dramatically, exclaiming how stuffed she was, and skipped around Bede to pay before he could. She smirked as if she'd won some kind of competition as Bede rolled his eyes and they left through the lobby of the hotel.

Well, they had planned to leave. The darkness of night was alive with the roar of rain. Lightning crackled in the distance, a few beats passing before the clap of thunder reached them. The noise of the buffet had sheltered them from any hint of the storm brewing outside.

"That… wasn't in the forecast…" Gloria gaped at the wall of darkness beyond the lobby doors. "You don't think there are any sky taxis still operating, do you…?"

"Not unless they had a death wish."

"Right…" She took out her phone, searching the weather forecast in Wyndon, scrolling and frowning at the screen. "Doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon." Gloria sighed. "I'll try and see if they've got any rooms available…"

Gloria moped over to the reception desk. Bede folded his arms, trying and failing to keep the frown off his face.

This was not how he wanted the day to end.

He turned as soft footsteps approached, but Gloria wouldn't meet his eyes. "What is it?"

"They're almost fully booked," she said quietly.

"'Almost' meaning…?"

"There's one room left."

Oh.

"B-But it's okay! It's got a king bed so it should be fine!" She sounded optimistic but her voice squeaked nervously. She met his gaze for a split second before looking away.

Bede swallowed. He glanced at the rain crashing outside, drowning out his options, his protests, and he gave in with a tense sigh.

"Fine," he said, the word tight and stilted. "It's not like we have much of a choice in the matter…"

Gloria nodded stiffly. Quickly. They walked in silence to the elevators, remained in a deafening silence as they rode to the third floor, as they trudged to their room and Gloria opened it with the card key.

A single, king-sized bed awaited them. Bede's breath stole from his throat. His mouth too dry as he followed her into the room with robotic steps. Gloria, who would normally find excitement in everything, who would've gushed about the room if the situation was different, remained silent.

Bede didn't look at her. He automatically crossed to the window and drew the curtains closed. His heart surged, thumping as loud as the rain outside in his ears. He couldn't think. Couldn't bring himself to look at her, to turn towards the bed they were to share. There was no where else to sleep except the hard floor and - knowing Gloria - there was no way she'd put up with that.

"I-I'm going to have a shower," Gloria mumbled quickly and dashed into the bathroom with the hotel pyjamas bundled in her arms.

Bede sat on the edge of the bed, dropping his head into his hands and stifling a pained groan. A panicked, guttural scream that silenced in his throat. His face flooded with heat.

This was bad. Utterly, incomprehensibly bad. How was he supposed to deal with this situation? With the girl he was maddeningly in love with supposed to sleep beside him? In a hotel. On Valentine's Day.

Arceus.

This was worse than bad.

Bede jolted as the shower turned on and blood roared in his ears.

This was torture.

He stole out his phone and tried to hone his focus on the screen, on the myriad of Valentine's Day posts flooding every single social media outlet there was. Tried not to listen to the rushing water behind him, tried not to pick out any sounds behind it.

Tried, desperately, not to think of who was taking a shower less than a few metres away.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, before the shower switched off and silence again descended over the room. Bede finally felt like he could breathe again, though his chest remained tight.

He twitched involuntarily as the bathroom door clicked open.

"Bathroom's free," Gloria said, towling her long hair. She plugged the hotel's hairdryer into the wall socket near the bedside table on her side and began to dry her hair. He didn't look at her. She didn't look at him.

Bede stood and collected a set of pyjamas before opting for a shower. A blast of cold water would do him good.

When he finished his shower and left the bathroom, Gloria peered up at him from where she sat on the edge of the bed, motioning with the hairdryer.

"Want me to dry your hair?"

He froze. She looked at him innocently, the matching pyjamas she wore slightly too big for her light frame. Her gaze seemed to crackle against his skin, drawing back the sizzling heat he'd kept at bay with the frosty shower.

He ducked his head slightly, looking away. "Sure…"

She smiled gently and his heart skipped, making it impossible to think when she patted the spot on the bed beside her.

He was glad, at least, that he didn't have to face her as he sat on the bed. His whole body tensed, stiffening as if a steel rod had been inserted right down his spine, and she turned the hairdryer on. The loud hum washed out his thoughts. Made it impossible to think, to notice anything except the warm air blowing into his hair.

"Let me know if it's too hot," Gloria said, speaking up over the hairdryer and into his ear.

It took all of Bede's effort not to jump. He squeezed his eyes shut, hands clenched into fists on his lap. Breath hissed through teeth. He was aflame, scorching and searing from within as if he'd swallowed the sun.

He gasped as gentle fingers brushed his hair.

"Oh, sorry! Is it too hot?" Gloria switched the hairdryer off and Bede almost died internally.

"It's fine," he said.

"But your ears are red - are you sure it's not too hot?"

"I said, it's fine. I had a hot shower, that's all."

All lies.

Her touch had burned hotter than the mildly warm air blowing against him. He almost snapped at her to continue lest he succumb to this slow torture of waiting before she resumed drying his hair.

And her gentle touch returned.

Bede smouldered darkly beneath the soft caress of her fingers over his curly hair. Unbeknownst to him, she smiled sneakily to herself at her indulgence. His hair was softer than she'd imagined, returning to its fluffy, light state as she dried it. He hadn't commented about her touch so she continued, hoping that it seemed natural enough not to bother him.

In reality, it was all Bede could notice. Too much and not enough at the same time.

Gloria finished drying his hair as casually as she'd begun, and set the hairdryer down with a nod of satisfaction.

"There! All done. Hope that's alright!"

Bede mussed his hair absently as if he could brush her ministrations out of his mind. "Thanks."

Silence fell again as Gloria put the hairdryer away, placed her phone on the bedside table and climbed into the bed. She snuggled into the blankets and sighed happily.

Bede's heart thundered in his chest, beating painfully against his ribs as if it were about to break free and launch across the room.

"I'll switch off the lights," Bede said, more to fill the silence than anything else.

"Thanks."

He clicked off the overhead lights, the soft glow from the bedside lamp next to Gloria illuminating the room enough for Bede to make his way to the bed. He steeled himself, sucked in a tight, silent breath, and slipped into the bed as casually as he could while still remaining as far away from her as possible.

"Night, Bede."

She sounded impossibly close. Bede slammed his eyes shut. Curled onto his side away from her.

"...Night."

The light clicked off and they plunged into darkness. In the silence every sound, every sigh and shuffle of blankets, was like a Boomburst in Bede's ears. He lay as stiff as a log. Held his breath whenever she shifted. Ran through the quiz questions from his Gym in his mind again and again.

"Bede…?"

Her voice jolted him alert. A shot of lightning tingled through his body. He took a moment, took a breath, before he felt coherent enough to respond.

"What?"

"Thanks for today. I had fun."

He could hear the smile in her voice. Could picture it in the darkness as vivid and close as if he'd rolled over to face her. Would she be looking at him, dark hair fanned out against the pillow, if he turned over?

He swallowed. Made a non-committal hum in his throat as an answer.

Then decided it wasn't enough.

"So did I…"

He heard her gasp, a slight intake of air that would've missed him if it weren't for the silence.

"Thank you…" she whispered, sounding so close, too close to him, and Bede's heart betrayed him and squeezed tight. A shaky sigh left his lips, he buried his face into the pillow to stifle the sound.

He couldn't relax at all as they fell into a silence again. He began to pick up the gentle breathing behind him, rhythmic and deep.

She'd fallen asleep.

Bede sighed. Despite the heavy pull on his eyelids, sleep evaded him as his attention latched onto every shuffle, every puff of air and shifting of blankets that came from Gloria. She tossed and turned and rolled behind him. If it wasn't for the moments of calm, for the deep, restful breathing he heard, he might have assumed she was as wide awake as he was.

He huffed as she shuffled again. Here he was, lying as still and stiff as a log, while she rolled about like a pokeball on a swaying boat. Bede had resigned himself to a long, sleepless night, when a weight dropped square onto the back of his neck. He jumped as a breath of warm air dusted his skin above the collar of his pyjamas.

Gloria-?!

He shot a glance over his shoulder to see her nuzzling into his back and froze like ice as she snaked an arm around his middle and slid up behind him.

Bede stifled a scream.

Gloria curled up against his back, their bodies fitting together snuggly, and she slid a leg over his, hooking her foot around his shin.

He froze and boiled over at once. Heart stopping but blood roaring. Panic gripped him like a vice, his breath hitching high in his throat as she spooned him from behind. Her wandering hand slid under his pyjama top and he snatched her wrist with a strangled gasp at her touch, her frosty fingers burning him.

Gloria hummed deep in her chest and Bede turned to stone.

A moment passed in petrifying silence. Her rhythmic breathing returned but that was little comfort to Bede.

Forget everything that had happened up until now; This was torture.

Bede's heart drummed loud and fast and heavy in his chest. Every breath he took was controlled and slow, deliberate and careful not to wake the sleeping girl masquerading as a Komala behind him. His whole body was on fire, nerves cracking alight everywhere she touched. He was so painful aware of how warm she felt. He still held her wrist.

If he was going to put up with this slow torture all night then… he may as well indulge himself just a little.

Bede placed her previously wandering hand to his chest, resting his hand over the top of hers, and laced their fingers together.

There.

He would grant himself that and nothing more.

Bede resigned himself to his fate and listened to her breathing. It calmed him as the minutes drifted by, and it slowly, eventually, lulled him to sleep.

The first thing Bede noticed as he drifted awake, was that he was strangely warm. Something smelled sweet, like a mix of different flowers and soap, and he frowned at the scent, eyes still firmly closed, and breathed it in. He nuzzled his nose closer to the source of the smell, something soft tickling his face. He blinked his eyes open, seeing a mess of chocolate brown hair.

His other senses snapped alert and he realised with a start that it was Gloria. That she had an arm wrapped tight around his back, her face buried in his chest, one of her legs curled around his. One of Bede's hands held hers tight, their fingers still firmly linked.

Bede jolted awake as if he'd been struck by lightning.

Gloria sleepily groaned, pressing her forehead harder into his chest, and shifted. Her leg twitched around his. The hand on his back clenched into his pyjamas, grabbing and releasing the fabric as if unsure of what it was. Her hand drifted upwards, skirting a tortuous route up his spine before delving into his hair.

Bede couldn't breathe.

"Mm…?" Gloria mumbled against his chest, her brow furrowing. "Fyrian… why do you feel like… a Wooloo…?"

Fyrian. Her Cinderace.

"So… stiff…?" She nuzzled her head into his chest, or at least attempted to, before her eyes blinked open. Then widened. Gloria shot back with a start, a yelp, and a furious blush burning across her cheeks. "B-Bede?!"

She scrambled backwards across the bed and fell off the side with a shriek. Bede winced at the solid thump, took a deep breath to collect himself, and sat up. Gloria peeked over the edge of the bed.

"Was that… was I…?" She cautiously studied his expression. "Please tell me I wasn't… cuddling you…"

Bede cleared his throat. "Then I won't."

"Oh, Arceus…" Gloria dropped her forehead onto the edge of the bed with a muttered curse. "I'm so, so, so sorry! I always cuddle with my Cinderace when it's cold and I must've… um… I'm sorry!"

Bede looked away from her, the embarrassed flush on her face infecting him with it's accursed warmth.

"Would've been nice to have a warning beforehand," Bede chided. He turned away from her, stretching his legs out as an excuse not to face her. "Never thought I'd be assaulted by the Champion in my sleep."

"I'm sorry!" Gloria squeaked. "Oh, Arceus, Bede… Please don't hate me! I'll do anything…!"

Bede's face warmed at her pleading. "I don't… I don't hate you," he breathed out a bashful huff of air. "Just forget it happened. I already have."

As if he could forget what it felt like to be wrapped up in her embrace so easily.

"Really…?" Slowly, Gloria sat up, blinking earnestly at him.

It made his heart skip. "Y-Yeah." The fluttering in his chest betrayed the calm facade he tried to present. "We should get going before people start to realise we're not home."

Gloria nodded and they got ready in silence. She kept glancing at him, still unsure if she'd upset him, before taking her clothes and changing in the bathroom. They made their way to the lobby in silence, though the atmosphere around them was warm and dizzying. As casually as they could, they exited the lobby of the hotel and made their way to the waiting sky taxis.

Unsaid words hung in the air. Bede glanced at Gloria, saw her watching him, and they both looked away.

Something had shifted between them. Something confusing and different and yet strangely comforting. Their eyes met again and Gloria managed an awkward smile.

"I'll see you later, then?" she asked, the nervous pitch to her voice finally gone.

Bede nodded. He still felt warm. "Yeah. And… thanks. For yesterday. I ended up actually enjoying myself so… I suppose I wouldn't mind hanging out with you again."

She perked up, a bright smile rising on her face. "Really?"

The words caught in Bede's mouth. "I-I wouldn't have said so otherwise!"

She laughed. Bede turned away, his heart threatening to flutter away like an escaped Butterfree. She raised her hand, hailing a landing sky taxi, and gave Bede a parting smile.

"See you!"

Bede's farewell was lost in his throat at the dazzling light playing in her eyes, her smile breathtaking and ethereal in the early morning light. She was gone before Bede could make himself breathe again and scowled at himself.

Arceus. Could he be any more obvious?

Could she be any more oblivious?

Well, Bede didn't mind. Not if it meant that she kept smiling for him, not if she kept considering her a friend.

He would bury his feelings for her if it meant he could be with her. As a friend.

He never thought he ever value being someone's friend like this but with Gloria, everything was different.

And he didn't mind at all.

#bederia #dressedinpinkshipping #bede #gloria #pokemon swsh #pokemon

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summersnowy · 5 years ago

Text

A GIRL IN ME - Intro

My mum and dad got divorced when I was at a very young age around 7-8y.o. My mum re married and I was left with my dad who was I'm the military force. He was always deployed in the operation and not at home most of the time. Taking care of me was my aunt who was in her mid 30s.

I remember during my school days I was a wimpy boy who was quiet and timid.

Slender and fair and doesn't have many friends around me most of the time I was hanging around with the girls and most of the boys jeered and make fun of me because of that.. maybe they are jealous of me having good friendship with the girls...

And truly I'm well mannered doesnt talk loudly and using vulgarity or rough words so I was deem to be a sissy confront of the boys

The schooling days was a tough one for me having loneliness at home and not having someone I can trust to talk to...although i have mainly the girls friend but i know I'm not really a part of their conversation they cant share the girls things that they are gg thru...hence I cant never be a trusted friend. That's how I think...I begin wanting to be like them...have long hair that can be tied up wearing skirts, neat and tidy appearances..In fact when I'm around 6-7 y.o i start to think why I'm different from a girl and that's when I discover the difference between a girl and boy.

Questioning myself why am I not a girl why I was born a boy? I started to get curious and wanted to try wear a dress. But I was too young and who I can look forward to is my aunt..she is in her mid 30s and an attractive woman as I can see she have alot of Male friends some I often see them around with her. I would sneak into her closet and see all her clothes and lingerie. Observe her appearance and makeup, the clothes she worn...h&M, forever21, Zara all the clothes she had are so pretty and I wish I can wear them and look as pretty and attractive...So at a tender age of 8-9 I begin to explore women clothes and makeup but I only started to wear my aunt clothes when I'm around 12-13 y.o.. I dont know how I know most of the girly things but I just understand how to make up and wear bra and panties and have my Male part tucked... maybe it's thru the observation and my group of girls friend... my aunt is slim and slender so the clothes she have are mostly XS or S which i can sometime fit some are a little oversized for me but still I think I look pretty in it...😍

This lasted for a few months and which time I became bolder from just the lingerie to dress, blouse , skirt, stocking, makeup etc and my aunt ain't dumb she know someone is touching her things but kept quiet. But for me I'm clumsy and dumb I might have mess up the thing she placed in order...she know I did it every afternoon when I'm back from school and at late night during weekends when she goes out partying or holiday trips..

During this time of dressing up, I felt more and more wanting to become a girl. It a strange feeling, inside of me there seem to be girl trying to come out but the outside of me is trying to moderate the out burst knowing this is a perverted thoughts there are little knowledge of what this is all about....the only thing that I know is its abnormal...I try to read and research about it it's the age of the internet at that time but still there are limited information back then. But I learned from chatting platform talk to sister with similar issue and who are just like me I'm definitely not alone...all this topic on cross dressing, transgender m2f, ladyboy, hormone replacement therapy, Srs (sex reassignment surgery), sexuality etc

Now that I knew I'm not the odd one out I felt better. I know it's a mental disorder but I also knew that I'm an Asian and this is not acceptable in the society I'm in..all this thoughts I have need to be kept secret..its a struggle like fighting against my own self...the only time I can let out the women in me is the private time i have to dress up as a girl looking in to the mirror seeing the beautiful face in the mirror...i know it's a not right to wear my aunt's clothes but I'm still a student financially i can afford. I begin saving up but it too little to get what I wanted...

I mentioned that my aunt knew but kept mum about it. I also try my best not to dirty any of her clothes, panties but I cant help the pre cum that leaks when I see it I will clean and dry it I guess sometime I'm too muddled head...so there was this day which I thought my aunt was at work and will usually return in the late evening...after shower and drying up I step into her room and took out a set of black panties and bra..slip into the bra hooking the back of the strap skillfully as though I wear it daily and tucked my little boy peck into the panties which fits almost like it was mine.. I look into the full length mirror adjust my bra abit and pull my panties tighter so it will hold my manhood in position.. I hate my boy hair style...I took out the wig which I bought after month of saving from my drawer which I hidden it in layer of clothes like a pirate hiding his treasure chest..putting on the mid length wig and look into the mirror again...smiling at myself I look almost like any of the girls in my school. Everytime that happen I will ask myself why am I not born a real girl why is it so unfair why I need to hid and do this like a thief...telling myself I want to be a girl badly God if you hear this please turn me into a princess..of course that was how naive I was back then..I have so short time to enjoy this i need to hurry...opening up the compact powder foundation I begin applying on my face lightly and colouring my lip with a glossy mellow red lipstick...that's all I can afford but enough to brighten up my face a little to look pretty..next I slide open the closet where my aunt latest collection of clothes and took out a floral red skater dress. Slipping up the dress and zipping up the back of the dress before turning to the full length mirror..that imagine of me is what I wanted not to remember but to be let this without capturing it into by memory..At this moment I hear the footstep and clinging sound of keys..before I can react the room door open and my aunt saw me in full dress..my heart almost stopped.....Not surprise by what she saw but a little shock that someone is in her room my aunt look at me and stare for a while..my throat was choke with words feeling a gush of blood rising to my head. Shawn? Is that you?

All I did was nod and look down to the floor. Are you the one who touch my clothes and makeup? I was a little surprise to hear that but remain silent..hey Shawn you better own up else I'm going to ask you father here to see his son turn daughter. You know your father shawn you know what he will do. Aunt please dont please dont tell my dad I am sorry to touch your stuff please dont tell my dad i will do anything but please dont tell my dad about this. Then you have to tell my the truth why are you doing this. My heads was running around searching for an answer.

Should I tell my aunt my true feeling or should I just tell her a lies and promise not to do this ever again....

"Shawn look at me, Do you have anything to say about this? " she said in a calm tone. I suspect and knew you have been touch my things for several months. I didn't sound out because I thought you are only curious and will stop in a while but it obviously didn't. And I realised my birth control pills are missing a whole lot every month and that's the point I thought I need to talk to you. Are you trying to turn into a girl? Do u know what will happen if u take these pill over time? I remain silent and tears wells up in my eyes. Her tone change alittle as I didn't speak up. She Pick up her phone by her tote bag, I am going to call your dad now. Aunt! Please dont and kneel down . I'm really sorry . Dont tell me sorry I want to hear why are you doing all this. Aunt I want to be a girl and I hate being a boy..I dont look like a boy anyway but I feel happy when I'm dress up as a girl. I took the pills because I know it is female hormones and I wanted it so badly. Hearing this my aunt move towards me and held me up and lead me to the side of her bed and sat me down. Ok Shawn but birth control pill are not the right medication for this. Also your dad will probably kill you when he see you like this. But Aunt I couldn't help it I just wanted to feel happy. I am always bullied and isolated in school. My peer call me a fag, ah gua, gay all this nasty words I didn't took it to heart but it still hurt me when I'm feeling lonely and what makes me happy every day is to know that I have a private time be look like what I think I should be like..

At this point my tears was pouring and my makeup smudged my aunt place her arms around my shoulder and give me a hug. Shawn if you wanted to live like this then you have to do it the right way and all the way. You need to think about the things that will happen in the future if you take this path and dont regret it. You know it's better being a guy. Being the stronger sex you have a lots of benefit and privileges. Being female you will be the weaker sex over Male. Shawn I think you are old and mature enough to think for yourself. Aunt will be supportive in whatever decision u make but taking this path your dad will be someone you will be having tough time with. I nodded and remove the female clothes and makeup change into my boy clothes and return to my room. I lied on my bed and have a long thought.......

Scene 1

During that time, I had a online friend whom i known for a while from the picture posted on his social media he looks mature and was probably in his 40s. I have been chatting with him for quite a while exchanging picture of myself dress and he return some picture of him. I was feeling down that day my mind is floating as all this thoughts flooded my mind and I just want to stop thinking about it...after listening to my issues, he ask me to come out to have a chat. I dont really like to meet people who knows that I'm a CD but he was really a nice man from the conversation we had and he told me that he really wish to see me as a girl. I finally agree as he make me feel like I am a girl patience, loving and nice..

To be continued................

#mtf #trapgirl #m2f #mtf girl #伪娘;cdts;视频;爱爱;变装;女装子;#伪娘，女装子 #girlslikeus #cd 伪娘 #crossdresser #short story #tgender #transisbeautiful #m2f transformation

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