#matt is future long haired trunks

[hunterguyveriv]

Voltron Halloween Wrap Party

This is my Keith Month story for @keithmonth prompt Halloween which also developed into a slight Kacxa story. I came up with the idea of a Voltron Legendary Defender Halloween-Wrap party. In which “characters” dress up in costumes and have a gathering to celebrate the series. I hope you enjoy it as I enjoyed writing it. Some of the characters are dressed up as characters from series I liked growing up and series I liked now, whereas others represent characters as references to other series and movies and characters I feel they would actually dress up as. 

Voice: Come on! It is almost 11:30! We were supposed to meet everyone an hour and a half ago!

Pidge dressed up as Hiccup from the upcoming How to Train Your Dragon movie, was leaning against a wall next to a closed door. She had her arms crossed tapping her pointer and middle finger against her black scaled armor. She even had a plushie Toothless perched on her shoulder.

Pidge turned her hand and looked at a holographic time display on her armor. The Halloween Voltron-Wrap party started at 9:30. She had received a text that her brother, Shiro, and Keith were going to arrive at various times around 9:25. Most of the cast had arrived around 8:30 and mingled. Only ones yet to arrive were Pidge and her roommate.

Voice: NO! I look stupid in this outfit! And what is the point of this bust armor and codpiece?!

Pidge lightly hit her head against the wall releasing an exasperated sigh a few times.

Pidge: It's a Halloween costume!

Voice: But I am practically naked! And why do I need a glowing rock in my hand and a sword!

Pidge: Because the character does! Do you want to grab his attention?! It will be a good counterbalance to his outfit!

Voice: I DO! But I don’t want anyone else’s! And I don't even know what he is wearing!

Pidge: That is kind of the point of costumes, to grab everyone’s attention, especially the one you are interested in!

Voice: What if he hates it? Or think it’s too...whats the word slutty?

Pidge: First: he won’t think that of you, and second: have you met him? Have you seen his anime collection? He’s going to love it!

Pidge heard a growl come from the bathroom and metallic stepping towards the door moved to the living room to watch her roommate come out of the bathroom. Pidge watched as her friend cautiously walked into the living room, her arm over her breasts and left hand over the cod-piece which also ran between her butt cheeks to connect to the body armor in the back.

Pidge’s eyes widened and mouth gaped open a little making her roommate stop walking and blush. Quick metal clanking from the nervous steps of her metal heals which also seemed to have blades in them. She felt a little uneasy under Pidge’s inspection.

Her roomie, wasn’t wrong when she said she felt naked. She was dressed up as Masane Amaha from one of his favorite series. She had the breast armor, the codpiece which had a blade in it. On top of her skin-tight alloy boots from the knees all the way down to the toe of the boots as a long razor-like blade that ended in a tip. Her left leg was covered to just above the left knee, whereas the right literally when up to her hip connecting to the body armor. Her right arm was covered in armor with a glowing red gem in the top and a retractable katana-like blade. On her left a skin-tight grey armor-like gauntlet to just cover her wrist.

Her breasts were covered from the side to just her nipples in what seemed to be clawed hands connecting to the body armor. She had a light shoulder pad o the left shoulder and what looked to be a massive curved blade on the space between her neck and right moderately padded shoulder and curved downwards towards her right breast.

The armor completely covered her back, sides (as previously described) except her left side which stopped at her left hip. She wasn't happy that the majority of exposed skin was from her neck down to her breasts, stomach, waist, leading down to her pubic region that the cod-piece barely covered. But the lack of frontal armor also showed off some of her scars. Something her race considered to be something intimate and personal between mates.

All that was left of her outfit was to put in her special contacts, make-up, and wig. Contacts that turned her sclera pitch black and iris a glowing orangeish-yellow color. Her wig was a mixture of bright and dark reds that went to her mid-back and flared into different directions. And makeup that would have made her cheeks almost similar to his mother’s, but then went down in a nearly straight line at her neck and slightly curve again towards her chest.

Pidge: Wow… he is going to love it!

Voice: I hope so. This outfit is so embarrassing!

Pidge: Don't’ worry about it. He will love it. Just don't be surprised if he wants you to wear it more after tonight.

Voice: I don't even know what he is wearing.

Pidge: That's the point, but trust me, you will know him when you see him.

Nearly everyone had arrived on time. Shiro dressed as the character Batou from Ghost in the Shell. He had his hair trimmed to a spikey mussed style and had specially made eye prosthetics made. He wore tactical multi-pocketed army green pants, military boots, a white tank top and tee-shirt, and leather jacket.

He arrived with Matt who being the anime nerd he was, was dressed as the long-haired version of Future Trunks and his fiance. Sporting a cropped jean jacket, black tank-top, and torn baggy jeans with yellow boots. His fiance wore a military style trench coat that had a red star in a yellow circle on the right arm. She also wore tactical boots and green fatigue pants visible where the coat stopped. She had ad typical gun belt on, with black leather gloves.  

Lance arrived with his sister and the Alteans. He had grown a little mustache and wore a black and white pinstripe suit. His hair was slicked back with grease, modeling his looks after Gomez Adams. He walked in with Allura’s arm looped through his.

His sister Veronica was going for a Selene from Underworld look. She was wearing a black latex catsuit with a black corset with intricate patterns that looked Celtic in origin even her leather trench coat had the same intricate Celtic like patterns on it. She straightened and dyed her hair black. She wore leather boots that went halfway up her thighs having various buckles down the sides.

Allura was dressed as Storm. She wore the black leather suit from the movies, something she loved more than the tacky silver jumpsuit from the cartoons and old comics. She saw some friends and broke away from Lance’s arm and went to greet them.

Romelle dressed as Sailor Moon and broke away from the group when she saw Shiro’s stunt double Sven leaving Lance with Coran who was dressed as Michael Myers. Like Shiro, he was dressed up as a Ghost in the Shell character, but Togusa in tac-gear. She eagerly walked up to him a blush on her face, as he smiled at her.

Coran, dressed as Michael Myers, left the siblings to go talk to Alfor wearing a Black Knight outfit that had what looked like a head of a swine with tusks in red on the front. He even had the patterned blood spurt hoses for his legs and arms. Zarkon was no surprise dressed as Darth Vader and Honerva was dressed as Elvira. They were laughing it up at exploits and adventures they have done and been on. Even Allura’s mother made an appearance and was catching up with Honerva like bantering sisters. But Allura’s mother just couldn’t step out of being proper, so she wore a dress a queen from the middle ages.

Lance saw Hunk and Shay and said something to his sister before going to them. To an untrained eye, Hunk would have looked out of place. Being he was wearing regular clothes, a hat ball cap that said “Giver,” a tight flannel sleeveless shirt, and overalls over the shirt. He even had a fake mustache and beard. But what gave it away that it was a costume was he had fake blood spray on the front of his overalls, flannel shirt, and washed blood on his arms. His girlfriend Shay was dressed in a forest green gee that had gold embroidery and pants that were a sandy tan color. She had a square in a circle pendant around her neck and yellow arm wraps.

Next to arrive was Kolivan, he for a second time since filming started had a smile on his face. He was dressed up as a Jedi. The production staff thought it was best because of his skills and how he carried himself. Followed by Krolia and Keith’s father Trever Hawkings. They were still beaming with love for each other, proudly wearing their wedding bands now that the series was over.

Krolia was dressed as Laura Croft, she sported the aqua blue tank top, dark brown hiking shorts, a pair of thigh strapped holsters to her legs and hiking boots. Trevor was dressed up as Indiana Jones, with the expedition khakis, boots, and shirt. He wore a belt on his side with a whip attached to it, along with the hat and jacket. Before mingling with others Krolia noticed a pair of pink glowing eyes.

He watched from the roof via a skylight as Lotor arrived dressed as Riff-Raff from the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show. With him was Macidus who was dressed as the Scream-Ghost, Zethrid, and Narti who were dressed up as a Godzilla and a furry kaiju. He also saw Ezor was wearing an outfit that looked Asian in origin, based on her outfit and how acrobatic she naturally was he deduced her character was from that Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Sendak was dressed as a Terminator and Dayak were dressed in a black one-piece skintight robe from the waist up to her hat which was 2 curved points that looked like dragon horns.

He also saw Nyma, Beezer, Rolo, and Olia arrive. They were dressed as their favorite characters. Nyma was dressed as a female predator. Rolo as Daryl Dixon, he couldn't help but smile thinking “suits him.” Beezer was made to look like R2D2 and Olia as a werewolf.

He saw Hira dressed as a character from a sequel series to that Avatar series. Trayling was dressed as Vincent Price. Even Slav who was running the decorations and DJaying was dressed up. He smiled as his wolf dressed as the kaiju Angilas and Laika dressed as King Caesar was playing tug-of-war with some Sentry props. He saw various “Galra secondaries” like Thace, Ulaz, and others mingle with some of the actresses who played female Galra in the series.

Next to pile into the reserved dance hall was the Garrison group. Iverson was dressed as the DOOM-Slayer, Sam Holt was dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Colleen was dressed as a character name Aina from a Gundam series. James was dressed in a Star Trek uniform from The Wrath of Khan” to the beginning portion of “Generations”, Ina was C3PO, Nadia was wearing a sleeveless one-piece bodysuit with body paint on her arms to look like robotic arms, brown boots that went up to her knees, fake blood smeared in a line on her cheeks, and her hair cut to a “bob-cut” style. Kinkade who Nadia was attached to, caught his eye. He was dressed up as Blade, from the buzz cut and fake tribal tattoos to the black leather trenchcoat, sword, throwing spikes, and blades, down to his vest, black tactical pants, boots, and sunglasses.

The last to join the festivities were Voltron Alumni from the previous series. A feisty 23-year-old redhead by the name of Larmina who was dressed as Scarlet in black tactical gear and a crossbow holstered to her side. Vince who was dressed in the typical college student costume of Raphael the ninja turtle. And Daniel who was dressed as David Tennant’s Doctor from Doctor Who.

He sighed not seeing who he wanted to see and walked out of view of the skylight. He slowly made his way down the stairs outside the building and slipped into the building. He disconnected the tubes leading from his chest to his helmet before entering the kitchen. V’repit-Sal was catering the event and was barking out orders to his under-chefs. He grabbed a few samples and left the kitchen. He went and sat down in a dark corner turning the light up eyes off and sulking ate the food he took.

What he didn’t know was Pidge finally joint the party with her roomie, Acxa. When he saw still in the darkness, he was spellbound by her outfit. He couldn't help but stare at her, like most of the other men and some of the women. Some that were jealous, others that were spellbound like he was. He saw that she was looking for someone but had a disappointed look on her face. She went and started mingling with some of the castmates she grew to call friends over the last 2 years.

Voice: Well, go on. Go say hello to her.

Keith nearly jumped out of his costume hearing Pidge’s voice. He couldn't see her under her black armor, but he could tell she had a shit eating grin under that helmet. The two chatted briefly before Pidge told him she is really out of her comfort zone wearing the outfit. After Pidge left him to go mingle with the others, Keith sighed before putting his helmet back.

He sat there looking at her before turning the pink almond-shaped eyes on again. He could see her increasingly get uncomfortable. He stood up and slowly started walking out of the darkness. Everyone actually stopped what they were doing and looked at the blue armored being with black under it walk. Each step he made had a soft metallic “clinking” sound.

As he walked up to Acxa everyone was wondering who this person was with great confidence. Everyone except 3 people and a wolf who was busy playing with his new friend. Pidge went to meet up with Hunk and Lance with a cocky smirk on her face as everyone was admiring the suit she helped make.

Hunk: What character is that?

Shay: I do not know. But it looks like a mean character.

Lance: Who is that and who made it?!

Pidge: I helped make it, and it is a character from Guyver. This happens to be the movie 1994 movie version of the character Guyver-I.

Lance: Never heard of it.

Pidge: Not surprising with you Lance. Considering you like the most assinine anime that is on TV, that has no real substance to it.

Lance scowled at her.

Hunk: But who is it?

Pidge: Isn't it obvious?

Acxa seemed a little uneasy under the emotionless pink glowing almond eyes. Even covered up her chest, most of her scars, and the pubic region as she looked at the armored person before her. The armor was a deep aqua blue with black coils underneath it. The armor had an organic appearance to it but yet looked metallic. It had what looked like cracks in it that looked part of the armor itself.

Keith: Happy Halloween, Acxa.

Acxa: Keith!

Keith: Excellent Witchblade.

Acxa started to blush, and hug him a little tighter.

Acxa whispering: Thanks.

People saw her eyes go from uneasy to recognizing the voice and giving him a hug and him wrapping his arms around her. They could see her start to relax again, which was the biggest indicator on who it was.

Hunk: Is that Keith?! No way!

Pidge: I know right? Who knew he had a taste for obscure anime!

Krolia smiled seeing the scene and even gave a slight nod to the DJ. He switched the song from “Werewolves of London” to a version of a rock song that was just strings and piano. She felt a left hand touch her left shoulder and a right arm wrap around her waist gently which prompted her to put her own on them as his scent surrounded her. The 2 proud parents watched on gleaming at their son and the woman he was hugging.

Keith and Acxa continued to dance and be each other’s company. Even as the night progressed to early morning and the owners and producers of the Voltron series made it known that they had a couple of announcements to make Keith and Acxa remained each other’s company. The first announcement was to tell everyone that when the party ended and the December premiere party the series “Voltron Legendary Defender” was officially over.

The announcement brought a rather somber tone to the room. Everyone had poured blood sweat and tears into the show and now it was over. Far too soon for some, but it was the end of the series. It prompted a somber clapping cheering from everyone. But that announcement wasn’t the only announcement.

When everything calmed down it was revealed that there were 2 spin-off series and a sequel series in the works which lead to the third announcement. The last and final announcement from the owners and producers was there were plans for a Voltron movie in which start production in 2023 for a 2024 release to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Voltron.

Everyone in the room erupted in a cheer that reverberated outside. As he embraced Acxa, who sat on his lap leaning and nuzzling against him he was content. For once in so many years, this was turning out to be the best Halloween ever and that didn't want it to end, was the single thought going through Keith’s head.

[americasass91]

Baby Fever

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone is well! This little fic is for the amazingly talented @buckyownsmylife​ 2k/Birthday Challenge! Which the theme for it was breeding kink. Which how could I not participate in that? Breeding kink just happens to be one of the biggest kinks I have(and i don’t even want kids, go figure) So I looked through my Masterlist and realized I didn’t have a breeding kink fic with Steve. Well, I can’t say that anymore!

Thank you for hosting this challenge you lovely, beautiful human! And congrats on the 2k!! You deserve that and so much more! I hope everyone enjoys!

Rating: Explicit (duh, it’s a breeding kink fic)

Words: 2.8k

Warnings: breeding kink(again, duh), Professor!Steve(I feel like he’s a warning all by himself, language, age gap, unprotected sex(I mean, it’s kind of implied but I’ll put the warning anyway)

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“How long do we have to stay at this thing?”

You help can’t but roll your eyes at your husband of 4 months. “I told you I’m not sure. It’s my niece’s 1st birthday party. You could’ve stayed home you know.”

Steve pulls up to your sister’s house and parks among the other vehicles in the front yard. “Yeah and give them even more reasons to hate me? No thanks.”

See, Steve wasn’t your family’s favorite person. It all has to do with the fact that he’s 10 years older than you and how you guys met, which was during your freshman year of college. You were the innocent student and he was your history professor.

The attraction was instant and very mutual between you two. But dating students at this particular university was frowned upon and Steve could have lost his job. So, you admired each other from afar….that is until the semester was over. You went to visit him in his office after your last class and he eagerly bent you over his desk and ruined you for any other future man you may have.

Well, that was 6 years ago now. Your family of course didn’t approve and thought he was just taking advantage of a young, naive student. Your mom was the first to come around when she noticed a change in your demeanor and how happy he made you. She talked some sense into your dad and he eventually backed off as well.  

It took until Steve put a ring on your finger for your sister to accept him. Although you know her and her friends still judged you two. You could tell by the looks you guys always got whenever around them. You learned to not let it bother you. Steve was amazing. He was attentive, caring, and he loved you with everything he had. The only flaw he had was that he didn’t want kids.

It almost made you consider not marrying him. You had always wanted kids. But, in the end you realized you wanted Steve for the rest of your life more than a baby. But he did adopt a kitten with you. So it’s a win, win.

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He gets out of the car and grabs the gift out of the trunk. You had gotten her an outfit that says ‘My aunt is cooler than your aunt’ and various toys that she would enjoy. Plus, being the book editor you were, you couldn’t not get her a book. So, you got her the very first Harry Potter book. When Steve saw you wrapping it with a questioning look, you told him it was never too early to start a child’s transition into being a Potterhead.

You skipped excitedly next to Steve as you made your way to the front door. He couldn’t help but chuckle at your enthusiasm. “You excited or something, sweetheart?”

After ringing the doorbell, you turn towards him. “Of course I am! I love my little niece!”

Truth was, you knew you were never going to have a baby of your own. So you poured all of your love and joy for a baby into your niece.

You’re pulled from your thoughts when your brother-in-law, Matt, answers the door.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rogers! Glad you made it! Come on in!” He ushers you 2 inside, helping you both hang your coats up in the hall closet. He then points to the obvious gift table. “You can just set that down there, Steve. And if you’d like, me and a bunch of the other husbands are downstairs in the basement watching the game. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

Steve looks at you, silently asking for permission. You give him a quick pecking the lips. “Go have fun. Just make sure to come back up for food and presents.”

As Steve heads downstairs with Matt, you can’t help but take in all the decorations. Little Miss Lindsey just happens to currently be obsessed with The Little Mermaid. So of course the theme is under the sea. Your sister really went all out. Streamers, balloons, and even mermaid figurines were everywhere. There’s even mermaid confetti on the tables.

You head in search of your sister and the birthday girl, one of which you find in the kitchen. “Hey sis! Need any help?”

Your sister, Rachel, turns from the hot dog sauce she’s stirring on the stove and gives you a big hug. “Oh, thank god you’re here! Can you grab the vegetable tray and potato salad out of the fridge and put them on that table over there?”

“Sure! Where’s Linds?” You ask as you grab the requested items out of the fridge.

Your sister returns to the sauce on the stove. “She’s still napping. I should be getting her up soon. Where’s Steve? He stay home? I know this isn’t really his thing.”

You take the plastic wrap off the potato salad and sit it amongst the smorgasbord of other food on the table. “Of course he’s here. He’s down in the basement with the other men.”

You sister lets out a sigh. “Yeah, I told Matt they could only watch until everybody got here. Ah, shit. I think I hear Lindsey crying.”

“I’ll get her!” Quickly jumping at the chance to see her.

“You sure? That would be great! The outfit I want her to wear is on the changing table. And can you do her hair up in the bow, too?”

“You got it!” You make your way down the hall towards Lindsey’s room, her crying getting louder. You open the door and see her sitting up in her crib. Her crying quiets the moment she sees you. She gets a big ole smile on her face and reaches out for you. “Hi, sweet girl! How is the birthday girl today?” You pick her up and give her a big hug. “How about we get you changed into your party outfit?” She just coos back at you in response.

You push her outfit aside and lay her down on the changing table. Quickly realizing she’s wet, you give her a fresh diaper. She attempts to ‘help’ as you try to change her into her party outfit. Which after it’s on her, she looks like a little mermaid. You quickly brush her hair and pull as much of it as you can into a ponytail on the top of her head and add the matching bow. You stand back a little from her and clap your hands. “What a pretty girl! Are you ready to join your party?” You pick her up and turn around to head out of the room. You’re surprised to see your husband standing in the doorway.

“Hey, I thought you were watching the game?” He shrugs his shoulders and walks towards you two. “I missed you.” He tickles Lindsey’s side, causing her to giggle. “Happy Birthday, little one.” You can’t help but feel your heart warm. That always happens anytime your husband interacts with a baby.

“I was just helping Rachel out by getting her ready. She seemed a little frazzled in the kitchen.” You turn your attention back to Lindsey. “Come on, sweet girl. Let’s go join your mommy in the kitchen!”

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The next hour goes by in a blur. You weren’t really paying attention to anyone else. All of yours on Lindsey. The only food she seemed to want was what was on your plate. You didn’t mind sharing. Then she got to ‘smash’ her cake. Which for Lindsey it meant taking delicate little bites from said cake, mostly of the icing. She did still manage to get it all down the front of her though. But that’s okay, Rachel of course had a back up outfit ready.

You had just polished off your hot dog when Rachel walked back into the room with a now clean Lindsey. Steve grabbed yours and his plates to go dispose of.

Rachel sat on the floor with Lindsey who immediately started crawling towards you. “I think you’re gonna have to join us, sis.”

You can tell it’s hurting Rachel’s feelings a little that Lindsey is so attached to you today. Nevertheless, you join them on the floor, placing Lindsey in your lap. “Ready to open presents, sweet girl?”

Rachel turns to Matt. “Honey, could you start handing out the presents please?”

He nods and goes to grab the first of many presents. He sits it down in front of Lindsey who immediately goes for the tissue paper. She doesn’t even seem to care about the present in the bag. You laugh and try to get her attention on the gift inside.

You look up and see everyone laughing at the birthday girl who only wants the tissue paper. You notice Steve towards the back of the crowd, only he’s not laughing. He’s giving you a look. You’ve seen that look before. It instantly sends a shiver down your spine and makes your panties wet. He wants you.

You try to give him a stern look. He shouldn’t be looking at you like that in the middle of your niece’s party. He puts his hands up in surrender.

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After taking almost 2 hours to open the rest of the gifts, Lindsey was a sleepy girl. You were sitting on the couch with Lindsey cuddled up into your chest. You were gently rocking her back and forth. You look over at your sister who was cleaning up the mess from the presents.

“I can go put her down for a nap, Rach. I don’t mind.”

“Thanks, sis. You seem to be her favorite person today so she’d probably scream if I tried to do it. Matt! Could you get a bottle ready for Lindsey so my sister can put her down for her nap?”

A few minutes later he comes out with the bottle and hands it to you.

You stand up and look over at Steve. “I shouldn’t be too long. Did you want to head out of here after I put her down? I know you still have those papers to grade.”

He nods. “Yeah, if you don’t mind. Thanks, sweetheart.”

You squeeze his bicep as you pass by him. “Of course not. Like I said, this shouldn’t take too long.” You glance at Lindsey and notice she’s having trouble keeping her eyes open.

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Just like you predicted, it only took Lindsey about 15 minutes to fall asleep. You take one last glance at her, your heart tugging a little, knowing you’ll never have one of your own.

You quietly close the door and don’t even take 2 steps before the door across the hall opens to reveal Steve. You look at him in confusion. “Babe? Why are you in the laundry room?”

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he grabs your arm and pulls you into the room with him. He makes sure to shut the door behind him.

“Steve, what are you doing? I thought we were leaving?”

He pushes you to the front of the washing machine and presses himself up against you, immediately making you feel how hard he is. “Need you, baby.” He reaches around and starts undoing your jeans.

You start pushing his hands away and try to turn around. His hold on your waist tightens, stopping you.

“Steve, we are not doing this here. You can wait until we get home.”

You are suddenly pushed until your front is resting on the top of the washing machine, Steve covering his body with yours. He lets out a low growl in your ear. “This” he presses his bulge more firmly against your ass “is your fault. So, you’re going to help me with it.”

You turn your head to the side as he pushes your jeans over the curve of your ass. “Me? What the fuck did I do? I haven’t even really talked to you today. Been with Lindsey all day.”

He fastens his pace in removing his own jeans, only lowering them enough to free his aching cock. He lands a smack to your panty covered ass. “Exactly. Made me so hard watching you with the baby. Made me think what it’d be like if we had one. What you’d look like swelled with my kid. Knew I had to have you.”

You managed to push him back far enough to stand up straight and turn around to face him. “Steve, I’m not going to let you fuck me in my sister’s laundry room.” He launches at you, trapping your body between his and the washing machine. “It’s cute that you think you’re in charge. Now, I’m going to fuck a baby into you. And I can either do that here or I’ll take you out in the living room where everyone is and bend you over there.”

Fuck. These panties are officially fucked. Still, you have questions. “I thought you didn’t want kids, Steve? Plus I’m on the pill.”

His face turns soft for a second. He cups your cheek in his left hand. “I didn’t think I did. But seeing you with her today? Now that’s all I want, all I can think about. You with our baby. You’d be the best mother. And you’ll just stop taking your pill. Starting today. We’ll keep trying until it takes. Is this something you’re even still wanting?”

You grab onto his wrist and push your cheek against his palm. “Of course it is.” You turn back around and bend over the washer. You lower your panties to your knees and shake your ass in his direction. “Well? What are you waiting for? Fuck a baby into me, Steve.”

He growls and closes the distance between you. He grabs the base of his cock and rubs the tip through your dripping folds. “Don’t have time to stretch you out first, sweetheart. And I’m really worked up, so this will probably be quick.”

You push back against him, eager to get him inside you already. “Don’t care. Just please, fuck me Professor Rogers.” You knew that’d get him.

“Fuck.” Is the only warning you get before he buries himself in you to the hilt. He just gets his hand over your mouth before your moan escapes your throat.

He only gives you a second to adjust to his size before he starts a bruising pace. After a few thrusts, he removes his hand from your mouth and smacks your ass. He feels you clench around him. “Yeah? You like when your professor fucks you?”

You quickly nod your head. “Yeah. You fuck me so good. Need your cum. Need you to fill me up.”

Steve quickens his pace even more if that’s possible. He moves his left hand off your hip and moves it around you to find your clit. He presses quick circles against it. “Need you to cum first, sweetheart. Need to feel you squeeze me.”

You start pushing back to meet his thrusts. You can feel the coil inside you ready to snap. You just need a little something more.

Steve leans over you and starts pressing kisses up your spine, his pace never faltering. Once he reaches your shoulder, he bites down lightly. He moves his mouth next to your ear. “Come on, sweetheart. Cum for your professor. Then I’ll fill you up nice and full, get you pregnant. Cum for me, Y/N.”

You press your face into the crook of your elbow to muffle your scream as you cum undone on his cock. Your orgasm triggers his. He cums with a quiet shout as he fills you full of his spend, some of it leaking out around him. He gives a few more shallow thrusts before stopping and catching his breath.

He rubs his hands up and down your back. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

You turn your head so you can look at him. “Mmm, i’m great.” You can’t help but let out a little giggle, feeling drunk on sex.

Steve smiles down at you and moves his hand until it’s resting on your lower stomach. “I hope it worked.” He slowly pulls out and watches as his cum starts leaking out of your pussy. He quickly scoops it up and pushes it back inside, causing a whimper to escape your lips. “Sorry, sweetheart. Can’t let any of it go to waste.”

Once he’s sure he’s got it all, he quickly pulls your panties back into place. He stands you up and turns you around to press a sweet kiss to your lips. “I love you so much, thank you for being mine.”

You give him a big smile. “I love you, too. And thank you for picking me.” You bend down to pull up your jeans, Steve mirroring your actions. Once you’re both redressed, you wrap your arms around his neck and press a firm kiss to his lips.

“Now, let’s hurry up and get home. Want you to fill me up again.” You give him a wink and turn to head out the door. “You coming?”

He smirks as he starts following you out. “Oh, I will be.”

Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18​ @drabblewithfrannybarnes​ @harrysthiccthighss​ @lllols @patzammit​ @quxxnxfhxll​ @bluemusickid​ @wanderinglunarnights​ 

Steve Taglist: @donutloverxo

[2manyfandoms2count]

I love you (not) - Chapter 6

Aaaand we're back on the main fic! I am very proud to announce that I managed to fit an AU in here without it being weird (I think). It was really fun to write! Feel free to ask me more about that universe if you feel like it :) Hope you enjoy!

@marichatmay

First | Previous | AO3 | Next

---

Chapter 6: In which we change worlds but it makes sense, I promise

“Princess!”

Marinette stirred in her sleep as she heard the call and the distinct sound of curtains opening. She felt the morning’s soft light warm her face and sighed contently.

“Princess Marinette, you need to wake up! Today’s the day!” The feminine voice called again, closer, this time.

Her eyes flew open and she sat up, feeling her heartbeat quicken with excitement.

“Oh Tikki, you won’t believe how well I slept!” She jumped out of her canopy bed, her white nightdress flowing in her wake as she rushed towards her handmaiden, who stared out of the window. “I really thought I wouldn’t sleep a wink, but really, the herbal tea you gave me worked wonders!"

“I’m glad to hear it! It worked well on Chat Noir, too, apparently. I ran into Plagg, his squire, in the kitchen earlier.”

“Good,” Marinette sighed with relief.

“Come on, now, we need to get you ready!” Tikki took her hand and led her to her dressing table. “How are you feeling about your engagement day?” She asked as she started brushing the princess’ hair.

“Very good. I’m very happy about the outcome of yesterday’s rounds - I know I’m not supposed to have favourites within the contestants but…” Marinette paused, hesitating to say anymore. It wasn’t a matter of trust (she’d known Tikki long enough that the two had become close friends, despite the rank difference); she was just unwilling to criticise the way things were too soon.

“You have every right to be, your Highness. The Joust of Valour explores your suitors’ ability to protect you, but there’s more to marriage than just that. It’s good that you feel comfortable with the two final contestants.” Her handmaiden smiled warmly, starting to braid her hair. “If I may, does your Highness have a soft spot for one contestant in particular? I could pass the message to the relevant people, maybe it would give him some extra luck for today…”

“I don’t, Tikki,” the young lady said firmly. It wasn’t a lie; she’d asked herself who she’d rather see emerge victorious of the tournament as she fell asleep the previous night, but she hadn’t reached a solid conclusion. It was better this way, really. Whatever the outcome, she wouldn’t be disappointed. “Anyway, you said Chat Noir was doing well?...”

Tikki repressed a smile, and told her what she knew.

---

Marinette proudly walked up to her place in the stands, her arm linked to her father’s.

For once, she would be the one sitting front and center of the Royal Balcony, relegating her parents, the King and Queen of the Croissant Kingdom, to the back of the stall with their guest. Neither King Tom or Queen Sabine seemed to mind, though; both were beaming as they waved to the crowd that had travelled for the event. Their cheers lifted the princess’ spirits so much that even the stern figure of King Gabriel of the Butterfly Kingdom failed to make her mood waver. Maybe this was what growing up felt like.

“Mesdames et Messieurs!” The voice of the announcer boomed over the ambient noise. “Welcome to the final round of the Joust of Valour! The joust will soon commence. Sparring for the heart of our beloved Princess Marinette, having victoriously arisen from all their duels, are Prince Adrien from the Butterfly Kingdom, and our local Knight Chat Noir!”

The crowd roared as the two men came forward, leading their horses.

Prince Adrien’s silver armour glistened in the sunlight, and so did his smile as his gaze met hers. Her heart skipped a beat. Her crush on him, which she’d developed during one of their first encounters as children, really hadn’t faded much over the years, despite what her friend, the Duchess Alya, had told her.

On the other hand, Chat Noir’s appearance was a lot starker. His whole armour was black, matte, the whole hint of colour being his forest green spear. There was something radiant about him, though, in the way his tousled blond hair danced in the breeze, in the way his green eyes sparkled with laughter and mischief as he approached the stands, that drew her to him. He’d been at her side for years, valiantly working with her when she’d been taken hostage by one of the Papillon’s sbires. They’d brilliantly defeated him, earning him his knighthood at the age of only fifteen, and a place in her personal guard. Despite her father’s warnings that Marinette shouldn’t meddle with the Papillon’s affairs, Chat Noir still managed to get her involved. They were a team.

“I hope I’ll be up to the challenge, dearest Marinette,” Adrien squeezed the hand she presented to him; she squeezed it back and smiled as she watched him head towards his noble steed.

“My Lady Princess,” Chat Noir bowed reverently before her, “please accept this rose as a token of my affection.” He pulled a pink rose out of seemingly thin air and presented it to her. The crowd gasped delightedly. Then, delicately taking her hand, he pressed a kiss to the back of it with a wink; Marinette felt herself blush.

“Thank you, Chat Noir,” she barely managed to enunciate.

He bowed again, and went to ready himself.

Marinette looked at the rose, and noticed there was a piece of paper wrapped around the stem, maintained by a thorn. She made the most of everybody’s attention on the contestants to unravel it.

My dearest Lady Princess,

I’m sorry.

Love you always, CN

“Princess Marinette will now announce the beginning of the joust!” The announcer declared, startling her as she tried to understand what Chat Noir had meant by his message. She rapidly shoved it in her pocket and stood up uneasily, hoping all the eyes trained on her wouldn’t detect her fluster.

“Best of luck, gentlemen! May the best man win!”

The two horses set off towards each other, spurred on by their riders. The contestants’ spears crashed against each other’s shield, unsettling them a little. Both knights trotted to the end of the track and prepared to set off again.

The crowd oohed and aahed during the next rounds, both men barely wavering at the other’s assaults. Marinette held her breath each time, anxiously awaiting the outcome, only to let out a relieved sigh when neither fell.

Then, as the two men were about to set off again for the thirteenth time, Marinette saw Chat Noir’s helmet turn briefly towards her, and she felt her stomach drop. She didn’t need to see his face to know what was about to happen. The rose slipped out from her fingers as she realised what the note had meant.

As the knight and the prince came up to each other at full speed, Prince Adrien’s jousting spear collided violently with Chat Noir’s chest, and the latter fell to the ground with a deafening clank .

The crowd erupted in clamour as Adrien started to tour the track at a low trot, a victorious smile on his lips. Finally reaching the royal stand, he elegantly jumped off and extended a hand towards her.

“I’m truly honoured to be your future husband, your Royal Highness.”

He kissed her hand before guiding her out of the stand and helped her up to ride his horse with him. She smiled the whole time, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

Those were looking for Chat Noir.

---

In the middle of the boisterous banquet, Marinette felt like she couldn’t breathe anymore. She had to get out of the hall, before her plastered smile broke, and she exposed her true feelings.

She excused herself, reassuring Prince Adrien that it must have been her prolonged time in the sun and her unusual mead consumption, and made her way to her quarters.

There, she rapidly grabbed a cloak from her trunk and sneaked out, head hung low until she’d exited the castle’s gates.

She started running. Her legs carried her as her mind raced, as her tear-ducts gave way to her tears.

She hadn’t thought the joust’s outcome would mean so much to her. She thought she’d be happy, whatever happened on the track. But as much as she’d dreamed of this match… It just didn’t feel right.

She tripped and fell to her knees, out of breath, and recognised her surroundings. The clearing had been where Chat and her had been taken hostage, and where Chat took her to practise fencing when he knew no one was looking.

A rustling sound startled her and she put her hands up defensively, although she didn’t feel like getting up.

“Hi, Princess,” Chat Noir emerged from the trees, carrying a bag. “I couldn’t find you in your room, but I figured you’d be here.”

“You had no right to sacrifice yourself like that,” she sobbed, her hands dropping to her knees.

“You know you’ll be much happier with Prince Adrien, Princess.” He smiled sadly. “You two are meant to be - you’d already be betrothed to him, were it not for the Kingdom’s Joust of Valour.”

“You don’t know what would make me happier,” she angrily wiped the tears from her eyes.

“You know I’d do anything for you, my Marinette.” He rushed to her side and cupped her cheek.

“Then run away with me.” She looked straight into his eyes.

“Why?” He whispered, his face inching closer to hers.

“Because Prince Adrien might have my hand…” She started, her breath hitching as she computed their proximity. “... But you have my heart.” Her eyes fluttered shut as she closed the distance between them and…

BIP-BIP-BIP-BIP

Marinette woke up with a start as her alarm clock started blaring. Her heart raced in her chest at the already fleeting memory of her dream. She caught her disappointment at not having witnessed the outcome, and covered her face with her hands. She felt like she was burning up.

She was so confused. The dream had been so out of place. So unexpected. What did it mean? She didn’t love Chat Noir! And she definitely didn’t want to run away with him. How absurd.

She only had a week to hold out for, she thought as she got dressed. It wouldn’t come soon enough.

She didn't know if her heart would survive another trick of her brain.

[anna-justice]

Bulletproof -  Brettsey

Summary: When a routine call goes sideways, Sylvie is caught in the crossfire.

Warnings: Mentions of blood and gore, gun violence…

Requested: No

…

Matt sat in the waiting room of Med, his turn out coat abandoned in the chair next to him. The energy in the room was hectic, chaotic even. Not too far away, Severide sat with his arm wrapped around a panicked Stella. Herrmann was asking the desk nurse for updates every five seconds accompanied by Cruz while Ritter and Gallo shared a hushed conversation. Mouch was seated next to Chief Boden, both of them sharing the sae far off look. All of firehouse 51’s second shift was there, waiting anxiously.

As Matt watched his friends and colleagues worry, all he could think was that all of this was his fault.

…

3 hours earlier

…

Sylvie sat at the common room dining table with Cruz, they were discussing his ideas for future marketing for the slammigan. She listened intently, she had been a part of the project since the beginning.

They were interrupted by the bells ringing, “Truck 81, Engine 51, Squad 3, Ambulance 61. Multi-vehicle accident. East Main and Mulwood.” Everyone sprung into action, heading to the rigs. Mullins, her most recent partner, was already in the driver's seat when Sylvie arrived, so she jumped in and they followed squad 3 to the accident.

When they arrived the scene was buzzing. There were people everywhere, some from involved cars, others just trying to find out what was going on. Matt scanned the damage, assessing in his head. His focus was immediately pulled to a car with the entire front folded in on itself. He motioned for Severide to follow him. There was a victim in the drivers seat that was unconscious and had a gushing head wound, they needed to get him out as soon as possible.

Sylvie watched her captain’s next move, trying to guess if would need her assistance or not. Assuming her duties as PIC, she had instructed Mullins to check on the victims from the fender bender at the back of the crash, they just had a few scrapes and bruises that she knew she could handle on her own.

Matt turned to Severide, “We aren’t going to be able to get him out of the front.”

Severide nodded and turned to Cruz, instructing him to garb Brett and a backboard.

Matt reached the back of the SUV, lifting the trunk. When he opened it he found duffle bags, duffle bags full of money. “Severide! We’ve got a situation…” He said, turning around. But before he could even realize what was going on, a blur of blonde hair rushed in front of him. There was a loud pop and the figure in front of him screamed, falling back.

“Brett!” Someone called and Matt jumped into action, the initial shock wearing off. He lowered Sylvie gently to the ground, “Mullins get over here!” Everyone was rushing around him, but his focus was entirely on her. The bottom left corner of her shirt was dark red and Matt quickly discarded his dirty gloves to apply pressure.

He checked her pulse and felt a slow thud against his fingers. At least she was alive. “Sylvie?” He asked in a panicked voice. “Mullins! Help!” He screamed, unaware that she was already nearing them.

There were other paramedics as well and Matt was pulled away, forced to watch her bleed from afar. After what seemed like forever, they had her stabilized enough to move. Matt followed them, insisting that he ride with her. Once they pulled away from the scene, he wrapped his hand around hers and fought back the tears. Matt wasn’t usually an emotional guy, but Sylvie Brett, the woman he had been in love with for months, was shot.

…

Matt’s knee bounced as he waited. He still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. All he knew is that Sylvie was shot and he froze. He was rendered useless, he couldn’t move. Hell, he could barely breathe. He watched her bleed from the bullet that she had taken for him.

It wasn’t hard to put together. Obviously the victim that they were trying to get to had been involved in a robbery, but he wasn’t expecting there to be a second guilty party. Matt had found the money, Matt called Severide over, Matt was the one with the gun pointed at him. But Sylvie jumped in front of him.

When Hallie died he would have traded places with her in a heartbeat, to save her. When Gabby was a candidate, he was terrified every call of him coming out of whatever building was burning and her not. He would give anything to go back in time and make sure that Sylvie was far away from the danger that he didn’t even know was coming. He saved people, it was his thing, but she had saved him and now she could possibly pay for it with her life.

Herrmann walked back to the group looking defeated, he had struck out on finding any new information once again. He sat down next to Matt, leaning forward onto his knees so they were at the same eye level. “It wasn’t your fault.” He said.

Matt clenched his jaw, Herrmann said that like he hadn’t spent the last three hours trying to convince himself. However, every time he comes back to the same conclusion: the bullet in Sylvie’s stomach was meant for him. Despite his internal feelings, Matt nodded, wanting to spare himself the continued conversation.

It wasn’t a secret that he loved the thrill of fire fighting, everyday was different and everyday brought a new challenge, but he had fallen into a pattern of expecting the next day to arrive. You would think that at this point he wouldn’t assume that everyone would make it home everyday, but Matt and his foolish optimism forgot that some days. Today was a terrible reminder of that and he was convinced that if Sylvie didn’t make it, that his world would in fact stop turning. If there was no Sylvie, there was no tomorrow.

The realization hit him like an 18-wheeler. He had spent the last few months waiting for the right moment to tell her, ever since she came back to Chicago. There were so many times that he almost did: Cruz’s wedding, the night that she opened the letter from her birth mother, the day he drove her to Rockford. But everytime he convinced himself it was too soon and that he didn’t need that dropped on her on top of everything else, especially now that Julie was gone.

Maybe it was selfish or inconsiderate, but Matt vowed to himself that he was going to tell her the next time that he got the chance. If he got the chance.

Several agonizingly long hours later, he looked up to see Dr. Halstead walking towards him. He stood immediately. “Hey guys,”Will sighed out, glancing at all the anxious looking firefighters. “Sylvie is going to be fine, they removed the bullet with little complication. She’s been sleeping off the anesthetic for a few hours now and Matt, she’s asking to see you.” He explained. Matt’s head shot up at the sound of his name. “You can follow me.”

Without hesitation, Matt followed Will to her room, shamelessly rushing inside. He stopped at the sight in front of him, there were tubes coming out of her arm and several monitors attached to her. She gave him a week smile, “You’re okay.” She said.

Sylvie let out a breath when she saw him, he was fine. Even though she was very aware of the fact that she kept him from getting shot, she had no clue what happened after she passed out just a few moments later.

“Yeah Sylvie, I’m fine.” He scoffed, moving to stand by her side. “What were you thinking?”

Sylvie shrugged to the best of her ability, “He was going to shoot you.”

Matt shook his head and grabbed her hand, “He shot you. Sylvie you could’ve--”

“But I didn’t.” She said, squeezing his hand. “Look at me Matt,” She ordered and Matt looked at her, eyes glassy. Sylvie’s heart leaped out of her chest his broken expression. “I’m fine.”

“If you had-I would never have been able to forgive myself.” He admitted, gripping her hand for dear life. “Please, next time let me take it.” Sylvie laughed, “Contrary to popular belief, you aren’t bulletproof, Matt Casey.”

Matt smiled, and leaned to run his fingers through her hair. “Neither are you, Sylvie Brett.”

“I don’t know, I think I handled it pretty well.” Matt laughed along with her brushed his thumb over her cheek.

Sylvie’s breath caught in her throat at his actions. She realized that taking a bullet for the man you loved was probably not the most effective way to convey your feelings, but she was praying that it worked. “I need you to promise me that you will never do anything that stupid again.”

Sylvie sighed, taking a leap of faith. “I will never promise not to protect you if I can.”

Matt’s heart skipped a beat at her words and his eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips. Throwing caution to the win he leaned down to press his lips to hers, it was gentle ad perfect and better than anything he could ever have imagined. He pulled away slowly, beaming at her eyes fluttering open. “Did that convince you?” He smirked.

Sylvie cinched her eyebrows together, “I don’t know, I might need a little more persuasion.” Matt oblige, lowering his lips to hers again, this time with a little more passion. Sylvie reached up and threaded her fingers in his hair and Matt sat on her bed to steady himself, his hand resting on her cheek. When they finally came up for air, Matt leaned his forehead against hers. He reached up and pressed s chaste kiss to it before sitting up. “If I knew getting shot was what it was going to take to get you to kiss me, I would’ve gotten Halstead to hit me with a through and through a long time ago.” She joked.

Matt chuckled but shit her a fake glare, “No, never ever again, I can’t take it.” Their gazes locked once again and Matt uttered the three words that he had been thinking for months now. ���I love you, Sylvie.”

Sylvie grinned and reached up, pulling him down to her. “I love you too.” She said, before kissing him with everything she had in her. Which wasn’t much, she had taken a bullet for him and she was sure that he was never going to let her forget it.

…

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing Brettsey, so tell me what you think! I love them together so much and I cannot wait for season 9. Thank you for reading!

[dameronsgalaxygal]

I’ve Been Waiting For You - Chapter 2: I Have a Dream

series masterlist

Pairing: modern!poe x reader

Warnings: Mentions of a past abusive relationship, language, mentions of vomit.

Word Count: 2633

Song Link: I Have a Dream

A/N: Don’t forget to listen to the song! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist & feedback is always appreciated!

Summary: After getting to Florida, you decide wether you want to relax and settle in, or if you want to get straight to meeting people and kickstart your new life. 

The flight seemed to go by faster than you had expected. Maybe because you had kept yourself occupied by writing the entire time.

You had no idea what you wanted to do with your life. You loved reading and writing, which is why you became an English major. You also loved music. Which is why you became a music minor. You often wrote song lyrics in your journal. Songs that would never be published or even heard. But, it gave you an escape when you were in your relationship with Kyle. You allowed your mind to relax and just write.

So that’s what you did on your flight. You wrote about the pros and cons about moving to Florida. You wrote a list of things you would do, places you would go, jobs you were interested in. You even wrote your feelings toward Kyle. All bad feelings, of course.

A tear escaped your eyes as your past washed over you. You weren’t sure when you would be able to heal from what Kyle put you through. It was going to take a really long time, you knew that much. It hurt more knowing you had been keeping what he had done to you a secret. Rey knew most of what had happened, but not all of it. You couldn’t find the courage to tell her. To tell anyone. You thought of maybe looking for a therapist, someone who wouldn’t judge you, someone who didn’t know, when you got to Florida. No. Then Rey will ask and I will have to tell her.

You needed someone to talk to. But who? For now your thoughts, feelings and emotions stayed within that matte blue notebook you carried nearly everywhere.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when the captain came back onto the intercom.

“Alright everyone, we will be landing in about twenty minutes. Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for landing. My co-captain and I want to thank you for choosing Yavin Airlines, and we hope to see you again soon. Enjoy your stay, or welcome back, to Miami!” He said enthusiastically.

You sighed softly to yourself, finishing up your writing before closing your notebook and placing it in your carry on and putting the tray table up.

You looked out the window as the plane descended, taking in the beautiful skyline and beaches. You smiled softly to yourself. This was about to be your new home, your new future. While it was scary, you couldn’t help but be a little bit excited to start over.

After finally landing, you gathered your carryon items and waited to exit the plane. As you neared the exit, you smiled and thanked the flight attendants and captain, who were standing right outside the cockpit.

You must have been distracted by how undeniably handsome the pilot was that you didn’t realize your jacket had fallen from around your waist.

As you exited the plane, you heard someone call behind you.

“Excuse me, Miss?”

You turned around quickly to see the captain walking towards you with your jacket. “You dropped this.”

You didn’t know why, but your cheeks turned bright pink. “Thank you.” You smiled softly before taking your jacket back.

“No problem”. He smiled back.

You probably stared at him for a good ten seconds before finally speaking. “Um, have a good one”. You turned back around to leave.

“You too!” You heard him call.

You quickly wrapped your jacket around your waist and made your way to baggage claim. Maybe it was because you were embarrassed, or maybe it was because a very beautiful man approached you, but your cheeks remained flushed. Maybe it was both.

After gathering your bags, you headed outside to see Rey in her small blue sedan. She smiled wide when she saw you, getting out of the car and running around the car to hug you.

You dropped your bags and pulled her into a hug, your eyes immediately forming tears. “I missed you so much”.

“I missed you too.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.” You whispered softly.

“You’re welcome.” She hugged you tighter. “Come on, let’s go”. She helped you put your bags in the trunk.

Rey's apartment wasn’t very far from the airport. You two talked about how school was going for her, her new job at Resistance Tech Co., and how she had just found Connie was moving out to live with her boyfriend, which meant that you had an entire room to yourself. She mentioned that if you weren’t coming, she would have been pissed at Connie for telling them the day before she left, but you had decided to come at a convenient time. However, it also meant you were going to have to pay more money for rent. You would worry about finding a job later. Right now you just wanted to settle in.

Her apartment wasn’t too small. It had three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. It wasn’t huge, but it was homely. You dropped your bags into Connie’s old room, which was now yours, before heading back into the living room.  

“Y/N, this is Rose.” Rey introduced you to her roommate. She was short with dark hair and she was smiling wide.

“Hi.” You stuck your hand out to shake hers, but she pulled you into a hug which took you by surprise.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I know this was very last minute, but we are going to have so much fun!” She stated.

You laughed softly before pulling away and running your hand through your hair.

“Yeah, sorry for so little notice. I just really had to get out of New York. It was getting...old” You struggled for the word at first.

“I completely get it! You know, when I lived in-”

“Alright, Rose. I’m sure Y/N is exhausted from her flight, so let’s let her rest, yeah?” Rey cut Rose off.

“Right! Sorry.” She smiled. “I’m going to get ready for Finn's party.” She turned and trutted to her room.

“You’re going to a party tonight?” You asked nervously as you and Rey walked into your bedroom.

“Yeah. It’s one of my coworkers birthday tonight and his roommate is throwing him a surprise party. I would ask if you wanted to come but I assumed you were tired.” Rey responded.

You nodded. “Yeah. Yeah I think I’ll stay here. Maybe decorate the room and just get settled in. Unpack and stuff.” You were a bit uneasy about going to a big gathering and meeting people right away, so you thought it would be best to just relax at your new home for a while.

“Sounds good. Here’s your key, by the way” She handed it to you and you placed it on the desk. Rent is paid off for the next two months, but starting then we’re gonna need you to pay. Food is in the kitchen. Feel free to watch TV. The AC is by my room. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be in my room getting ready, so I’ll be here for another hour or so.” She smiled and went to leave the room.

You nodded and smiled back before going to your bags to unpack.

As you pulled your notebook from your carry on bag, you sighed softly before throwing it on the desk. You thought about all of the negative thoughts that spiraled your mind during your flight. You opened it, reading some of your notes.

Did he mean what he said? Of course he did. I am nothing to him.

You slammed it shut before putting it into one of the desk drawers. It hit you that staying home alone tonight probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Besides, this was a time to start fresh. You didn’t want to continue dwelling on Kyle. It wasn’t going to get you anywhere. Your dream was to forget about your past and to let yourself be you. Not like this was going to happen overnight, but if you stayed back, you felt that this would become a habit and that you wouldn’t find yourself being happy anytime soon.

You headed towards Rey’s room before knocking on her door softly.

“Come in!”

You opened her door and saw her standing in front of her mirror examining herself. She was wearing a red blouse and skinny jeans with a black belt.

“You look nice”. You smiled at her.

“Thank you! You never know who could be at these things, you know?” She smirked.

You laughed slightly. “Right. Hey, um, I was actually wondering if it was okay that I did tag along.”

Rey glanced at you. “Yeah of course. You sure you aren’t too tired?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Also I just don’t really want to be alone tonight.”

She nodded in understanding. “We’re leaving in about fifteen minutes”.

“Okay, just let me know.” You walked back into your room and changed into a pair of black leggings and a pink blouse. You threw on your jean jacket and converse before heading into the living room to see Rose and Rey.

“Ready?” Rey asked with a smile.

“Yep.” You smiled back before heading out.

When you got to Finn's place, you were a bit nervous. You didn’t know anyone and that scared you a bit. You weren’t sure what these people would be like, and you don’t know what you would do or how you would react if someone tried to make a move on you.

You were starting to think this was a bad idea.

No. I’ll be okay. Rey is here. If I feel unsafe, I’ll let her know. It’s just gonna take time for me to feel okay again, you reassured yourself before walking inside with your new roommates.

There were a lot of people. You gulped as you looked around, staying closely behind Rey.

Rey guided you through the home. “I need to find Poe and let him know we’re here so he can tell Finn to come home.”

Poe. You had heard that name before, but you brushed it off.

Their apartment was bigger, and way nicer, than Rey’s. Whoever Poe and Finn were, they had a lot of money.

“Poe!” Rey rose her arm to catch the man's attention.

Wow. The young man was beautiful. You felt as though you had seen him before, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, anxiety still rushing through you due to all of the people surrounding you.

“Finally you’re here. Snap has been stalling with Finn for thirty minutes.” He approached your group, sighing. He looked down at his phone and texted someone something before looking back up and smiling. He looked at you and cocked his eyebrow slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met”.

“Poe, this is my cousin Y/N. She just moved in with me from New York.” She gestured to you.

“Hi” You smiled nervously.

“Poe Dameron”. He reached a hand out to shake yours.

You were hesitant but then it hit you. Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain Poe Dameron speaking…

You shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry, this is a really random question, but are you a pilot?”

He smirked. “I am! I fly for Yavin Airlines.”

You chuckled lightly. “I’m pretty sure I was on your flight from New York today.”

He chuckled back before he realized. “That’s right, you dropped your jacket.”

Your face completely heat up. Before you could reply to him, the sound of a door unlocking was heard.

“Everyone hide!” Poe whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Chaos emerged as people quickly found a hiding place and Rey pulled you behind a wall.

Suddenly two men entered and everyone jumped to reveal themselves. “SURPRISE!”

“Shit!” One of the two men, who you assumed was Finn, yelped.

Everyone started laughing and wished Finn a happy birthday. You were introduced to Finn and Snap, who you also remembered was the co-pilot of your flight earlier, and then the party began.

You clung to Rey like a child since you didn’t really know anyone, her introducing you to her friends and coworkers. Rey and Finn were both technical engineers at a computer company called Resistance Tech, and they both attended the University of Miami as graduate students. You couldn’t help but wonder how an engineering student became roommates with a pilot, but you kept the question to yourself.

“So what made you want to move here?” Poe had approached you from behind and it made you jump. You turned to face him and were taken aback once again by his good looks.

“Oh..I..um...I just kinda got sick of the big city lifestyle.” You smiled softly.

He nodded. “I mean, you know Miami is kind of the same. Big city and all.” He teased.

You blushed. “Yeah, well, I just wanted to see what was so special about Miami. Rey loves it, so I wanted to try it.”

“Got it. Can I get you a drink?”

You spent the rest of the evening sitting on the couch talking to Poe. Your anxiety seemed to go away and your muscles weren’t as tense. He was really easy to talk to, and he was funny as hell. You learned that he was 26 and that he became a pilot when he was 22. You could tell that he loved flying just by the way he would talk about it, and it made you feel warm inside. It made you feel nice knowing that it was possible to feel joy. Something you had never really felt before.

“What about you? What do you do?” He took a sip of his beer.

Your smile faded. “Well, I just graduated from NYU with an English major. I don’t really know what I want to do yet.” Your hands played with your red solo cup you were holding.

“Well if you are looking for some part time work, my aunt owns a bookstore down by the beach. It’s good hours and decent pay. I can put in a good word for you if you’d like” He said.

Your eyes lit up with hope. “That would actually be really nice. Thank you.”

He smiled, “Of course.” He pulled out his phone before scrolling through it and handing it to you. “If you wanted to put your number...I’ll text you her information.”

You hesitated, gulping softly before taking his phone and typing your number. You had no reason to be afraid of Poe. He was sweet, already helping you find a job, wanting to get to know you instead of taking you straight to bed. This was new to you.

You handed it back to him with a thank you before Rey approached you. “Hey, Y/N, we should head out. Rose is-”

“Rose is fine!!” Rose was stumbling through the house, definitely wasted.

Rey rolled her eyes. “We should go before Rose barfs all over the carpet.”

You chuckled lightly before turning back to Poe and standing up. “Thank you again. It was really nice to meet you. I’ll see you around.”

He nodded, reaching out for another handshake, “You too, Y/N”.

You smiled at him before shaking his hand once again. You headed out, wishing Finn a happy birthday again, and then helping Rey put Rose in the car.

You left the party feeling way better than you had felt when you had arrived. You couldn’t help but keep a small smile on your face the whole ride home, even with Rey having to pull over to allow Rose to throw up.

Maybe there really is good in people. Maybe things would be okay after all.

taglist <open>: @twomoonstwosuns @writingforhoursonend  @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol @lanatheawesome @darksideofclarke @fanfiction-trashpile @fantasticcopeaglepasta @rewritingstarrs @softly-sad

[let-me-write-shit]

Like We Used To: 14

A/N: Next Chapter starts the interviews! If there’s any questions you might want to be asked, or if there’s something you’d like me to incorporate in any of the future chapters, let me know! I love hearing from you! 

I’m gonna try to put up the next chapter later tonight, so make it quick!! :) :) 

PLEASE don’t forget to like/reblog/message me if you like it. It’s suuuuper helpful

[CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS CHAPTERS]

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this,” Elizabeth shifted in the passenger seat of Harry’s car, staring out at the streets of London.

It was nearly 10 AM and the two were on their way to the airport to travel to LA for a week for some promotional interviews for Harry’s upcoming performance in New York next month before a new album is released. Somehow Harry and Judy managed to gang up on Elizabeth. He even got Kate to call her in the middle of her honeymoon to convince Elizabeth to go. So Thursday and Friday were spent finishing up as much work as she could get done, visiting the office to tie up any loose ends and let her staff know that she would be out of town for a bit, and spending her free time relaxing with Harry.

Harry seemed to be spending his free time either watching movies, writing emails, on phone calls, or, what Elizabeth assumed, writing new songs. By the end of the week it was pretty much tradition to end the day sharing a sleeve of oreos and going on a late night walk around town. Luckily her neighborhood wasn’t too busy so no one was hardly ever outside to notice them. At least there was no buzz in the tabloids on Harry’s whereabouts since his appearance at the club the previous weekend.

“Well, with the help of Judy I can be pretty persuasive,” Harry grinned at her, turning into a gated lot. A small plane was parked in the middle of a huge runway with a couple people standing around the bottom of the stairs and a few other cars parked around it. Harry must have noticed Elizabeth’s uneasiness as he parked the car because he squeezed her hand and whispered, “Don’t be nervous, it’ll be fine. I already warned my manager that you’d be tagging along and the band is excited to meet you.”

Elizabeth nodded and the two of them stepped out of the car, letting the wind whip her hair around, clutching onto her purse and laptop bag that hung around her shoulder. Harry walked beside her, his hand on the small of her back, leading her over towards two men and one woman, handing his car keys to one of the men. They all greeted Harry with high-fives and hugs before smiling at Elizabeth.

Harry started the introductions, “Elizabeth this is Jeffrey, my manager,” he introduced the man he gave his keys to and continued, “Lisa does videography and photography whenever we travel, and Kenneth is my bodyguard. We keep him around whenever we travel for work, but usually he’ll only be with us when we’re at interviews and such.”

“Very nice to meet you,” Lisa smiled sweetly, shaking Elizabeth’s hand and earning a nod from Kenneth.

“So you’re Harry’s old school friend, are you?” Jeffrey asked, and joked, “I heard he practically bullied you into coming?”

Elizabeth let out a small chuckle, “Yeah, he just keeps nagging you until you say yes!”

“I know the feeling,” Jeffrey nodded as they all laughed, “Handsome boy, but dead annoying. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you company whenever Harry’s preoccupied. I bet we’re more fun than him anyways.”

“Excuse me, I take offence to that,” Harry jested.

“As you should,” Jeffrey said before looking between the both of them, “So you’ve both got your passports with ya, then? Great. Go on up, then. Everyone’s in there waiting.”

Harry nodded and led Elizabeth towards the steps of the private airplane, almost reaching for her hand before she lightly pushed it away, unsure of what them holding hands might look like. He didn’t seem too phased by that and continued on up. Harmonious shouting occurred as the two walked further onto the plane. Harry gestured for her to sit in the window seat while introducing her to his backing band members Mitch, Sarah, Adam, Ny, and Charlotte. Elicabeth’s worry of what Harry’s friends’ and crew would think of her started to disappear as they got to talking. 

An airport worker came to load the bags from Harry’s trunk to the airplane before taking his car away and within thirty minutes they were ready for takeoff. Airplane safety instructions were given and as soon as they were in the air Jeffrey gave everyone the rundown. It would be an eleven and a half hour flight. They would arrive in LA at nearly 3 PM their time. Immediately from landing they would head straight to hotel check-in where they got free reign for the rest of the night, though they were given ‘strong suggestions’ to make it an early night as they had to be up by 6 AM to head to their first performance at a news station. The performance wouldn’t be until 8 AM, but they needed to get their equipment set up and rehearse.

“So, wait, did they get me my own hotel room, or….?” Elizabeth whispered to Harry, not wanting the others to hear.

He whispered back, “No, I have a house in LA, so you’ll be coming with me there. Everyone else has a hotel room. Except Sarah and Mitch share a room. They’re dating.”

Elizabeth nodded, understandingly, before Adam spoke, smiling, “So, Harry didn’t tell us much. Just that you two were friends since you were fourteen? Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth confirmed, “Knew him before all of this….” she looked around at the airplane.

“Wow,” Adam nodded, “And was he a little shit back then, too?”

“Excuse me,” Harry interrupted, “Little shit? Watch your tone, sir. I’m a big shit. A big, masculine shit, thank you very much.”

They all continued to banter for a bit, making Elizabeth relax. They were all given lunch, but it didn’t take long before everyone started doing their own thing. Sarah and Mitch cuddled up and watched a movie, Adam and Ny started scrolling through their phones, Harry was talking with Jeffrey, and Charlotte fell asleep. Elizabeth used the time to get even more work done so that she could be completely free tomorrow. By 7 hours into the flight everyone seemed to take Charlotte’s lead and went to bed. 

It felt like seconds before Elizabeth was being shaken awake. She fluttered her eyes open, immediately looking out the window to notice their descent before looking over at Harry who was grinning at her. His hair was disheveled and a red mark was bright on his cheek from where he fell asleep on his wrist, clearly haven been just woken up.

“We’re getting ready to land,” his groggy voice drawled.

Elizabeth looked around to see most everyone else stirring awake and Mitch glancing between Harry and outside. He didn’t speak much, but when he did he was really sweet and very funny. She looked around sheepishly, unsure of what to do when they exited the plane as everyone was kind of unloading their things and going over details on when and where they would be meeting in the morning. Eventually an SUV pulled up and a man got out, waiting patiently. Jeffrey directed him to Harry and Elizabeth’s luggage and he began loading up the car.

Harry broke away from the group who all shouted a “see you later” at him and Elizabeth before the two of them slid into the SUV.

“You alright?” Harry asked her.

Elizabeth smiled coyly, “Yeah they’re all nicer than I thought they’d be. Was just a bit overwhelmed. I think I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I even came. And it’s so hot here, what the hell? It’s October in a few days' time!”

The car started off and Harry laughed, “We’re not in England anymore, that’s for sure. You get used to it, though,” he reassured before asking, “So I was just talking with Mitch about him and Sarah coming over tonight to chill out with us if that’s okay?”

Elizabeth shrugged, “Yeah, sure, why not? It’s not my house.”

“What do you say we grab some dinner first? It’s only 3:30, but I was thinking once we get back to my place we could get our stuff settled and then go out and grab something to eat?”

“Will people not notice you eating out with a random girl?”

“I’m not too worried about it, honestly,” Harry smiled, “What, do you not want to be seen with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be seen with you. It’s just...we’re still trying to figure this whole thing out and I don’t want it to then be made into a big deal for you.”

Harry smiled, “I’ll be fine, love. It’s just dinner.”

Her heart fluttered a bit. When they got to Harry’s house, Elizabeth looked around in awe. It was, for all intents and purposes, a mansion. Sleek and modern, it had four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Who needs six bathrooms?! It even had a heated outdoor pool and hot tub. There wasn’t much in the way of decoration, but she figured it’s probably because he’s just a guy and he spends more time in England, anyway. 

She followed Harry with her luggage up to Harry’s room and dropped them in the corner. He decided to take a quick shower while she got situated, touching up her makeup and unloading some of her clothes. She had been in the middle of a text to Matt when Harry walked out of the bathroom. A towel was wrapped around his waist, his water glistened on his skin and his hair looked like a wet mop.

“You can’t just come in here lookin like that,” she motioned vaguely at him, sitting up on his bed.

“It’s my bedroom!” he retorted, ruffling his hair, “Am I making you nervous?”

Elizabeth groaned, “Don’t do this to me. I’m starving! I can’t think straight on an empty stomach.”

He laughed, dropping his towel, exposing himself, before pulling on a pair of briefs, “You know, I’m starting to think you’re just using me for my body.”

“I definitely am just using you for your body!” Elizabeth joked, “You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

“None at all.”

It was 5:30 by the time they were ready to get dinner. There was a chinese food place not too far from his house that they decided they wanted to eat at. It wasn’t too fancy, so Elizabeth didn’t bother changing her clothes before heading over there. Parking was horrendous in LA, so they had to park a block away, but luckily the restaurant wasn’t too crazy for a Saturday night. He informed her that most people in LA either postmated their food, or ate later in the evening. 

The staff did recognize him, so they were able to get a seat at a booth towards the back. Dinner was fantastic. They were able to sneak a few quick hand-holds in before finishing up. On the way to the car they heard a few people shout Harry’s name at a distance, but he didn’t seem to pay any mind to it as he took her hand and led her to the car. While driving out of the lot, though, she noticed a man with a camera on the corner snapping a few pictures of his car.

“Harry?” she questioned, slightly concerned.

“Yeah, I see him,” he acknowledged, biting his cheek.

She decided to drop it and they continued back to Harry’s house. 

Mitch and Sarah had arrived a little after 8 PM after the sun had set. The four of them took some wine and a pack of oreos to Harry’s seating area beside the pool in the back, Mitch and Sarah on a couch across from Elizabeth and Harry, and got to know Elizabeth some more while music played softly over his house speakers. They had asked about the friendship with Harry when they were younger, told stories of their childhood, and talked about their current lives. Harry and Elizabeth shared a sleeve of oreos, again, joking about it with his bandmates before putting it away. She felt like they could really open up to them, like they were forming a real friendship.

“I can’t believe you almost got into a fight with her ex boyfriend!” Sarah put a hand on her cheek, “Good on you, though. He sounds like a creep, no offence.”

“None taken,” Elizabeth nodded, taking a sip from her glass of wine, “It was a long time coming.”

“It must be nice to still have close friends from when you were just children,” Mitch commented and turned to Harry, “Do you feel like you missed out? I mean, I know you said you had lost touch for a while, but….?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah. But I’m just glad to be back in it now. That’s why I practically forced her to come with me. I didn’t want to have a repeat of last time.”

Mitch and Sarah nodded in silence, but the stare Mitch gave seemed almost like he was peering into their soul. He finally spoke again, “Alright, so you two are dating then, or?”

Elizabeth glanced at Harry seeing a shocked smile form on his face, “Uhm...no. We’re not officially dating yet.”

“What does that even mean?” Sarah grinned, furrowing her eyebrows at the two of them.

Harry cleared his throat, “Jesus, with the interrogation tonight. It means that we’re enjoying each other’s company and elevating our friendship slowly.”

“You sure do have a way with words, don’t you?” Elizabeth laughed. “I’m just...not ready to have that official label yet, so for now I’m just a ‘friend’..”

Mitch nodded, “I understand. You just need to dip your toe into this world first.”

“Exactly!”

They spent a little more time talking until the song ‘Comethru’ by Jeremy Zuker started playing on the speakers.

“Oh, I love this song!” Elizabeth exclaimed, swaying in her seat. 

Harry looked over at her with a smile before standing up and offering his hand for a dance. Elizabeth looked at it hesitantly, and slightly embarrassed, taking a peak at Mitch and Sarah. They smiled kindly at her and Harry, so Elizabeth took this as a sign that it was okay and took his hand. He led her a few feet over towards the pool a bit more before turning to her, draping her free hand on his shoulder before wrapping an arm around her waist, still holding onto her other hand. She relaxed her head into Harry’s chest as the two swayed. In seconds Mitch and Sarah joined them, dancing under the stars.

The next, more upbeat song began to play and Mitch turned to them, “Oh, Harry, that reminds me. I had a few more ideas for those songs we were working on if I can show you real quick?”

Harry nervously switched footing, breaking apart from Elizabeth, “Uh, yeah. Let’s just go into the office,” he looked hesitantly at the girls, “Are you two okay for a bit?”

“I think we can manage,” Elizabeth snorted, making Sarah laugh.

KEEP READING

[my-one-true-l]

hello! since im going crazy in this quarantine and i just got nostalgic over a pic i took on a beach — may i request some beach day with the boys?

Hello Dearest Alex!!!

This is so much fun! I’m sorry it took me so long to answer!

L is in it for the sno-cones. He doesn’t want to swim or do anything beachy. (IDK about anyone else, but the beach near where I live you can get sno-cones & slushies).

He hides under a beach umbrella like a vampire trying to avoid the sun and sits on a towel so his feet are still in the sand.

He’s overly invested in a crab that’s making his way across the beach and back to the water.

Near is still in his jammies. With his fair skin, he burns so easily and wants to minimize the amount of sun exposure.

He’s also wearing SPF 100 on his face and a floppy hat to protect him from the sun. (He knows what he looks like, he just doesn’t think he should miss out because of a sunburn).

He spends the entire day building a sandcastle. It’s truly incredible, complete with a turret and a moat.

Matt gets the cutest sun freckles across his nose and shoulders.

Mello’s got his hair pulled back into a ponytail, strutting along the sand in his swim trunks, rosary dangling against his chest, sun reflecting off his scars. He’s turning heads in a good way and he knows it.

BB looks like a Greek god with the tan he’s already rockin’. (It’s going to take a lot of foundation/staying out of the sun for him to ever match L’s complexion in the future.)

As far as BB’s concerned, it’s a competition over who gets checked out more, him or Mello. (Mello has no idea BB is thinking this).

Matt, Mello, and BB somehow get into a game of three-on-three volleyball against some arrogant jerks that think they’re awesome. (Let’s be honest, we know it was probably B that got them involved.)

They win of course. Between Mello and BB being aggressive guys that need to win and Matt who likes to kick ass at games regardless of it being video games or not, the other guys didn’t stand a chance against them.

Sadly, the north facing side of Near’s sand castle was a casualty when Mello stomped it “by accident” when he went after the ball.

Near knows it wasn’t an accident and spends a decent amount of time repairing the damage and glaring at Mello.

L just sits back, 6 sno-cones in and is glad he cared more about a crab’s journey to the ocean than acting like any of his “successors”.

This was so much fun! Thank you for sending it to me. I might have to write something based off it!

[darlinrogue]

Matt Hardy

For me because I can’t write an actual analysis 

I-Con (ˈīˌkän) noun

1. One who is the object of great attention and devotion; an idol

2. A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something

3. An entity that will not die

4. A being or force that is stronger than death

5. MATT HARDY

The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City was a scene set in Adam Page’s dreams. The stage had hosted acts like Brittney Spears, Avenged Sevenfold, David Bowie, Paramore, All Time Low, Guns N’ Roses, Korn, Iron Maiden, and two farm boys from the rural south who somehow sneaked in before the curtain fell. The wrestling fans in t-shirts, jeans, and bawdy signs, didn’t match the elegant balconies they crowded. The ring was a jagged piece of metallic architecture placed on an old warn, wood floor. Adam Page, twenty-two years old, settled in the far corner with his heart in his throat and his childhood idol adjacent to him. The microphone lifted to Matt Hardy’s lips like he intended to speak. At that moment as Matt Hardy looked over the crowd, it was like a fantasy. Something he spun-up while he bounced on the trampoline with his sister and begged her to let him try the Twist of Fate one more time.

In the 1970 census, a few years before his birth, Matt Hardy’s hometown of Cameron, North Carolina had a whopping population of 204 individuals. In 1990, when Matt and his brother Jeff were mimicking the moves they learned off TV on the trampoline, the population was an impressive 215. Cameron was a small town in the heart of tobacco country, Virginia and Carolina being one of the few places in the United States to grow the desired plant. Running down to the coast, once out of the foothills of the Appalachians and Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina was flat and balmy. Unlike the dense red clay of the Piedmont region, the soil was silty and perfect for farming. Matt probably never saw more than a few inches of snow a Winter. A few hours to the East and he’d stand at the edge of the Atlantic. Along the cat’s claw thin barrier Islands, he’d watch the waves wash over white sand. Hear the whispers of shipwrecks the vicious coast of North Carolina claimed.

A stupid kid like Adam Page, eyeballs glued to the TV screen as WWF played Monday Night Raw or later Smackdown, heard these stories of the Hardy Boyz and looked at his own life. Aaron's Creek, Virginia, made Cameron look like a metropolis. Adam’s hometown was so small it didn’t even deserve a Wikipedia page. His family had deep roots in Virginia because it was a state for lovers. His father also raised tobacco and Adam grew-up amongst the viridian fields, laid out for acres around the house he grew up in. There wasn’t a lot of money for Christmas most years and Adam knew more about the intricacies of cattle farming than he sometimes cared to admit to his classmates. Yet, while his best friends extolled the Hardys for their daredevil stunts, ladders, and chairs. Adam idolized them because they were a proof of concept. That it was possible for a hard-working, farm working, Virgin-lina boy, to grow-up and be hot shit.

In 2013, Adam was starting to warm-up, with a brand new Ring of Honor contract and some neon green trunks. At Final Battle, the crown jewel event of the promotion he just signed-to, Adam had no choice but to laugh as Matt Hardy was almost booed out of the arena the moment he got a mic in his hand. It made Adam feel like a hero. Of the two, the audience preferred Adam Page to Matt Hardy, just incredible. Of course, Matt Hardy, the iconic, was a manipulative and arrogant son of a bitch, who claimed more than was his to take. Never meet your heroes, they say, and when Adam met his, he was kind of a dick. Yet, when Matt Hardy clasped his hand and gave him a firm handshake, that felt like a small victory. An inner ten-year-old in Adam promised to never wash it again.

It was also a statement. A statement that even if Matt Hardy thought he was better than this everybody, he still had to treat Adam with some measure of respect. Never once did Adam allow the stars in his eyes to blind him. There was no point in fighting a legend if it was only half the legend— Adam was going to get all of Matt Hardy, or nothing. So, he slapped Matt Hardy across the cheek and dragged out the old champion.

A year later, when Adam worked under Hardy’s personal brand, OMEGA, Matt would talk up the youthful Adam Page. Call him the future of wrestling, with his impressive moonsaults, clever counters, fearless attitude, and ‘never say die’ mentality. It was a good showing that night. Adam showed a lot of heart. Surely, he impressed someone upstairs— but he didn’t win. And Adam didn’t know what the point of having ‘heart’ was if he couldn’t win with it. Having ‘heart’ is the wrestling equivalent of a participation trophy.

In the Hammerstein Ballroom though, in 2013, a Twist of Fate would plant Adam on his head and the match would end at seven minutes and twenty seconds. That same night, just a couple of months after their New Japan debut, the Young Bucks defeated ACH and TaDarius Thomas. In due course, the Jacksons would join the Bullet Club with one Kenny Omega. Next month, Jimmy Jacobs, Roderick Strong, and BJ Whitmer formed the Decade, then called Adam out in the same breath, all for daring to dream bigger than the East Coast that Ring of Honor frequented. That night, in New York City, in the heart of Manhattan, the Hammerstein ballroom became a pivoting point for Adam’s life. Matt Hardy was Adam’s first breakpoint.

Through the course of 2014, Adam followed Matt’s invitation into OMEGA and crisscrossed central Carolina in search of his next break. Alongside his then tag-partner, Corey Hollis, Adam wrestled one more match in the ring with Matt Hardy. With the addition of his equally strange brother: Jeff Hardy. An eight-man tag where for a  bizarre moment Adam was in the corner with the Hardy Boyz. Twenty years on from WWF ladder matches and the two men, closer to forty than thirty, could still go. Go with the speed and intensity of their youth. With the reckless abandon that defined their careers. These were the type of guys who looked at a wrestling ring and asked, “ you know what needs ?” Then answered: “More hardware.” Watching Matt Hardy, Adam learned when to slow, when to hasten, when to wait, when to press the advantage. Little tricks of the trade. He absorbed all of it like a sponge and held it tight to his chest. Treasure and gold to spend a little farther down the road.

Adam learned that Matt Hardy ran equal parts hot and cold. He was a little off, in a way that wasn’t healthy, but Adam blamed that on a history of concussions and injuries. Arrogant but in a way that was condescending and so he was always willing to groom a newbie to greatness. In fact, Matt Hardy took great pride in taking some young kid and making them a ‘star.’ In a way, every OMEGA recruit was some pet project of Matt or Jeff Hardy. No better way to pat yourself on the back than to make someone. It was never about the protege, though, it was about Matt Hardy. It was about his ego trip, to be able to say—

‘Look what I did for Adam Page.’

And he could cash in his ‘good person’ chip for the week.

Oh, and how Adam knows how it goes. Like, a favorite catchy tune.

BJ Whitmer ruffled his hair and a stupid twenty-four-year-old, hoping for approval, construed it as affectionate. Unaware that the gesture was more like the way a man polishes the rearview window of his new SUV. Yeah, he likes the vehicle, it’s expensive, he’s invested a lot, and he’d get really pissed if someone keyed the paint, but it was nothing but an object. A thing that he owns. A possession to be used and thrown away when it was no longer interesting. Adam was a good boy though and he’d do anything to be wanted, needed, useful. Even pick-up a chair and go against his better nature. The waves of frustration, internal conflict his own actions created, broke him until all that was left was a defensive, angry man biting at any hand that came too close. So, Adam no longer recognized who he was in the mirror. BJ Whitmer didn’t want to see ROH Champion Adam Page, he just wanted someone to carry his bags.

Falling in line with Cody was like falling into an old groove, well worn and well-trodden. When Cody handed that chair to Adam, he knew exactly what to do with it. How to hold Kenny fast and to twist his head so he’d see his incoming braining. Years ago Adam had been wounded and he had never healed. The blood festered and boiled, a slit through his throat hemorrhaging down his bruised chest. Cody stuck his finger in Adam’s festering resentment and anxiety, dug out his trachea. Weaponized Adam’s unspoken fear that Kenny Omega thought he was better than Adam Page and he was using Adam like BJ did two years ago. When Kenny ripped the US title from Adam’s hands and handed it back to Jay White —who he thought they all hated anyway— it was like a slap in the face. That was his moment, Cody declared, he ruined, he stole it. It took a couple of drop kicks from Kota Ibushi and a V-trigger he couldn’t technically remember, for Adam to realize he’d been played. Cody brought Adam no closer to his moment and Adam had ruined his closest friendships. All for a stupid belt.

Kenny never remarked on all of it, probably because he thought Adam too pitiful to deserve admonishment. Or, that his loyalty could be bartered for with games of Mario Tennis. So long as Adam stayed in line and kept his mouth shut, they were fine. Or, maybe Kenny was more forgiving than Adam gave him credit for. That was too much logic for his brain to handle these days, though.

His family once owned a gentle Paso Fino gelding. A sweet boy with soft brown flanks and soulful black eyes. While riding with his father Adam asked if he could cross a field with the horse, if the Paso Fino would canter. Could he persuade this gentle creature to do such a thing? His father chuckled and waxed, “of course you can, he aims to please.” And sure enough, Adam and the Paso Fino flew across the field, in the long smooth gait of the breed. It was beautiful and for a second it was like they shared a mind, but he wished his father never said those words to him. Because every so often, “he aims to please,” applies better to Adam than the horse.

FTR put a bit in Adam’s mouth and led him by the bridle for three months. Somehow their inevitable betrayal came as a shock. It had just been that drinking and joking with Kenny was nice, but the tension in the EVP room was like poison. While the Bucks sat easy, Adam was dying, and FTR, in their caring familiarity was like a breath of fresh air. He wished he could’ve been there for Kenny but he had been there for Kenny and didn’t he deserve a chance to unwind? Unwork the knife from his gut and enjoy an evening with old friends? Stupid, stupid, stupid, so stupid, so blind, so eager to please, that he’d trade real friends for fake friends. FTR played Adam’s fragile ego like a fiddle and left him in the aftermath of his own decisions. Alone and with just Kenny, who no longer wanted anything to do with him.

And after all those lessons, it was painful to realize that Adam Page was just another trinket for the Young Bucks to marvel over. A living, breathing camera stand to film BTE bits and then do the complex editing, giving a polish to the final product. That was the deal, he understood and agreed to it walking into the Bullet Club. He was to be the problem solver. The replacement big guy now that Gallows was gone. Adam beats up the enemies of the Bullet Club and he stays out of the title shot picture, good deal.  A jobber they can hand a trio belt to and smirk over because the Bucks are such good guys. Adam really thought they were his friends and Adam wished he could say he used the Bucks like he used BJ but he never loved BJ like he loved Matt and Nick. It was the first time he was ever happy being a prop but it still hurt, especially the outrage in their eyes when he started thinking for himself.

How dare he become a tag-team champion when that’s what they wanted?

That was the deal though with Matt and Nick, that he stayed out of the way. Adam violated the terms and their friendship crumbled around the broken covenant.

Kenny though, out of all of these betrayals and losses which had left Adam numb to the idea that he was better off alone—

Kenny fucking hurt.

Some of the ideas lacked foundation. Some floated in the bottoms of bottles of whiskey. Some were inklings from years of standing behind a man he was never going to beat. Most of them made Adam feel like an asshole. The ideas went along the tune of:

That Adam was a shitty replacement for Kota Ibushi, the golden lover trapped on the other side of the pacific. When he was in Japan and had unwedged his head from his ass, Adam liked Kota. Kota was brilliant, a true star, and he understood, totally, why Kenny loved him. There was nothing personal or even resentful in this uninspired realization. It wasn’t jealousy. It was the truth and it was a truth Adam had to bear when Kenny let him collapse in the middle of the ring at All Out. Kota Ibushi could win a G1. Become the intercontinental and IWGP heavyweight champion all in one night. Adam couldn’t even beat Chris Jericho. Kota Ibushi was the God of wrestling and Adam Page was the dirty sinner kicked down to the dust where he belonged.

That Adam was a useful tool for Kenny. Just good enough in the ring to carry a tag-team when Kenny was at the far end of a losing streak. A good bolt of confidence, standing on the shoulders of a younger guy. Before he launched off and took the world title belt he so rightfully deserved. The gleam in Don Callis’ eye when Adam shook his hand told him that this was all part of the plan. Adam was written into the script and hit every line he was supposed to. Adam wondered if he was chosen because he was volatile and insecure, and Callis knew that would just push Kenny away. Away and towards Don Callis, and his machinations. Don used Kenny and Kenny used Adam— maybe, it was just Don all along.

That Adam was a pretty thing Kenny could flirt with. Soft, yielding, supportive, loyal, and eager to put his energy towards someone willing to take it. Like a fucking dog, or something. Hope told him there was something to the way Kenny murmured ‘cowboy’ to him in their private moments. That Kenny’s interest went beyond physical and a desire to be topped by a handsome guy like Page. The bitter reality, the pessimist and realist in him, told him it was hollow, fake, that he was being played again. Damnit, though, if he wouldn’t take those crumbs. Because he couldn’t say ‘no’ to Kenny when he smiled. Because he loves Kenny and he can't stop loving Kenny.  

He truly was eager to please.

“Well, it’s okay. You can’t be number one forever anyway, right? Sometimes you gotta take a back seat, and I don’t mind taking a back seat, if it’s to you, buddy.” And Kenny had smiled and nudged his elbow, and Adam hadn’t thought about it as he fiddled with his silly little action figure. When Adam thought back on that interview and thought back on all his twisted thoughts about Kenny, he had almost broken down crying. Because he didn’t know what was true. Kenny was high-up there in his mind and Adam wasn’t sure he could ever shoot him down.

The second Adam Page snatched the title from Jay White’s hands he had known the truth. The light had shone in his eyes and he had flinched. He realized the cost of fame and fortune. The crossroads he stood at, paralyzed in fear and trembling to make a choice. Maybe, he was grateful when Jay defeated him and he could return to the darkness. However, the taste, the warmth of the light, the way his chest swelled and his heart rose, pure, innocent, like a child seeing his first snow, was addicting. Adam knew that he had to step out of the shadows. Out from behind Kenny, Cody, and the Bucks, or he would perish there in the dark. They were never going to turn around and dredge him out of the abyss.

Adam had never realized there was a choice, though: his friends or his soul. And he wonders how many times those friends had made it. How many times the Bucks chose some merch sales over him. How many times Kenny chose a title over him. He knows Cody had chosen his ego over him. Was there a balance? Someplace where you can stand in the light and have those you love with you? For flashes of moments, he sees it, in the Golden Elite, or when the Bucks flanked Kenny in the ring. The balance was called love and it could overcome all trials, or so he’s told. It could mediate the choice between yourself and others.

Yet, Adam knows he’s chosen wrong once or twice, already. So, he’s not sure that kinda love is for him.

John Silvers was on one knee, hand extended, with a goofy grin that Adam had come to appreciate. For the first time in a year, he had felt light and free. It had been nice to exist in a bubble of appreciation and warmth. Yet, there was no room to wiggle, and like a caged, fearful animal, Adam lashed-out. The wording got to him, on the following night when he was thinking about it. He said: ‘I can’t,’ and not ‘I won’t.’ Like, he was physically incapable of saying ‘yes,’ and yet the Dark Order seemed to think ‘no’ was an impossibility. How did they get so screwed-up?

Friendships come with obligations and Adam was aware he’d been shirking his. Not because he felt entitled but because he wasn’t sure he could bear the weight. That he wouldn’t take a stumbling step and collapse on his fractured bones. And that would just be a different kind of a disappointment for the Dark Order than just hearing ‘no’ right out the gate. It’d be his failure with the Bucks and Kenny all over again. Anna was right, Adam had to move on, so they could move on, and maybe it left him bitter that he couldn’t utter an apology, but that’s how things shake-out these days.

The Bucks didn’t want his apology either.

And now, that brought him back to Matt.

Matt Hardy reappeared like a literal ghost in the Summer and Adam still wasn’t sure if the whole Damascus thing was a bit or not. Just that while he sat in a warm bath, water up to his knees and bubbles floating around his elbows, he looked up Benjamin Franklin on his phone. “Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.” Given that Adam Page’s passion since childhood was professional wrestling and throwing his delicate body through tables, none of that resonated with him. And he wasn’t sure if Matt meant he really was the reincarnation of a founding father, or if it was just an apt comparison, but something about the phrase:

‘Join or Die.’

Felt like the story of his life.

Adam’s father kept records of all the songs he listened to when he was growing up. On a rare lazy Sunday, he’d put on the vinyl and let it spin so the music filled the house. Marty Robbins sang of quick finger rangers with big irons on their hips. Waylon Jennings and Lee Greenwood, dreamed of something lost, something mournful, as they rode alone. There was a cost to independence, and beneath the wide brim hat were tired, dark eyes, haunted by those the cowboy left behind. He rode into town looking for a lost love or a home, or just some water for his horse. He’d leave as soon as the plot finished and the town was saved but while the townsfolk rejoiced their salvation, the hero slipped from the jubilee. He was looking for a place he belonged and this was not it, and Adam wondered if he kept looking because there was no place he belonged.

After Dynamite, he took shots in his living room with his dogs laid over his legs and he thought about his wording. ‘I can’t,’ he told John, because, reasons he couldn’t justify in front of an audience of five thousand. So, it seemed fitting that this odd friendship he developed, with another group looking to use him and throw away, began with Matt Hardy. Began when he eliminated the iconic legend from the ring and ended with Matt Hardy, in the ring, begging Adam not to change in the hallway.

Adam didn’t believe a single word Matt said.

He didn’t believe he was a good person who deserved to be happy. He didn’t believe that the Dark Order was awkward — it was, and that’s why he wept with whiskey last week. He didn’t believe that there were no strings attached. He didn’t believe that Matt’s intentions were good or genuine, or even kind. Hell, he never believed John Silver when he called Adam handsome and amazing because that kinda flattery was useless.

He did believe that Matt was going to use him. He did believe that when Matt Hardy brought down the other shoe it was going to hurt like hell. He did believe that by this point, Adam was so calloused, scarred, and numb, that the pain wouldn’t even register. He did believe that he was so desperate, alone, and miserable, that he’ll take any bone thrown at him. He did believe that whatever plan Matt Hardy cooked-up for him was going to end up with him back in the dirt. He did believe that he no longer cared enough about himself to care. He did believe that all he wanted was a place to hang his hat and to lace his boots.

He did believe Tony Schiavone when he said, “you should take him up on that.”

Because, shit, who wants to change by catering?

[the-beastslayers-queen]

Magic and Moonlight: Chapter 24

Here I am with chapter 24. Tagging: @queenofthearchitect @biforbecky2belts @balorsbitxh @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @mox-made-me-do-it @sassyspacedust @afauss2009 @calwitch and @never-sawft-princess If you want to be tagged, hit my inbox. Enjoy!

My feud with Colby was going great. Kane has been hounding him at every turn and I was enjoying every second of it. Despite our feuding, Colby and I still rode together between venues. But today were on our flight to get started on the European tour before Survivor Series. Since Colby and I were feuding, we were on the same tour and heading to Dublin, Ireland for the first stop. Our plane had just touched down and Colby and I were waiting for our luggage.

“Are you excited for this tour,” Colby asked as he grabbed our bags from the luggage claim belt.

“I am,” I smiled as I took my bags from him before lacing our fingers together to go to bus queue where we’d be gathering with other superstars on our tour team, “I didn’t get to enjoy the last tour since I was out pregnant with Tyler.”

“You’ll have a blast I promise,” he smiled as we joined back up with Cesaro and several other stars from the locker room, “Do you have a match during the first show?”

“Yeah I’m going against Naomi,” I replied, “I heard you have a street fight with Kane. You’re going to do great.”

The show was well under way and I had already had my match, which I won. I was now on the stage, mic in hand, and Colby was in the ring. I was going to tear Colby apart before his title defense against Kane in his street fight.

“Seth, you really are carrying the company on your back,” I chuckled a little, “Because it clearly is so easy that a simple idiot like you has been able to stay champion from sheer dumb luck and cheap tactics. I don’t think you deserve to be the top guy of the company. And Kane is going to fix all of that tonight.”

With that, Kane entered the arena and took to the ring. He dominated the match for quite a while. Soon Colby had him set up to take a huge spot they had planned before we made the trip to Dublin.

Colby was on the top rope and Kane stood on the middle rope. Colby went to do a sunset flip, a move he has done hundreds of times without an issue. But this one ended up differently. When came down behind Kane, his foot hit the matt wrong and he collapsed hard. Colby had to use the ropes to stand back up. He somehow was able to pick up Kane and send him through the table set up in the middle of the ring.

Colby continued on through his match, even landed the pedigree to finish the match and got the pin. He stayed curled up on the matt as the ref handed him his title back as the trainers and doctors came into the arena to check on him. I opted to stay back in gorilla so they could attend to Colby to make sure he was okay. I could tell he wasn’t.

A trainer slung Colby’s arm over his shoulder and helped him to the back. The moment Colby got to the back I took his title as he was led further into the backstage area to the trainer’s room. I stayed with him in the ring, just watching helplessly as the trainers checked over his knee.

“Alright, so we’re going to need you to get to the hospital in Cardiff to get checked out,” the head trainer said as he got Colby a pair of crutches, “Until we know what’s going on, ice your knee and don’t put any weight on your right leg.”

“Thanks guys,” Colby thanked the men as he got up from the table and I led him out of the room, “Let’s go get a shower and head to the hotel for the night.”

Colby and I found out that he had nearly completely destroyed his knee. Colby had torn his ACL, MCL, and the meniscus of his right knee. Colby was sent back to the States and down to Birmingham, Alabama to get surgery to repair the damage. This left me alone on the tour. I was not allowed to join him on his trip back home.

“All alone again I see,” I looked up from my plate as I was sitting in catering before Raw would air, “No loverboy to look after you.”

“Dean,” I sneered at him, “Come to make easy picking of me. I have no time to deal with you.”

I went into his mind and gave him aneurysms over and over as his rapid healing mended the damage I was causing him, giving him a very painful headache. Roman came over to comfort him as I stopped his suffering.

“Try to attack me again and I will turn your fur inside out,” I threatened as I walked out of catering.

Tonight, I was going to be relinquishing Colby’s title on his behalf as a way to call a truce between us. I knew this would more than likely cause Colby to be removed from the Authority when he returns, but everything was up in the air at the moment. All I knew was that I would have to end my relationship with the Authority eventually.

“Sorry I’m late, Stephanie,” I greeted her as I entered the ring, holding Colby’s title against my shoulder, “I had to find Seth’s title.”

“That’s okay,” she replied, “I can’t blame him for wanting to hide the title. But seeing as he will be unable to defend his title for the foreseeable future, he has to relinquish it. So with a vacant title, we will have a tournament and the final round will be held during Survivor Series, where a new champion will be crowned.”

Roman ended up winning the WWE title at Survivor Series and tonight was the Raw after Survivor Series and I was going to make my break from the Authority tonight. I was now nowhere closer to getting my hands on Morrigan and I had no use to work with the Helmsleys anymore.

“Roman we want you to join with us,” Stephanie proposed to the big Samoan, “We could help you stay atop the mountain and stay champion for a very long reign.”

“You can’t be serious,” I interrupted as I came out of gorilla, “The moment you get a new champion, you completely forget about Seth. He didn’t get injured on purpose. I will not stick around to watch you burn me out of the Authority too.”

“Then so be it, Casey,” Stephanie looked at me, “Consider yourself out. You interrupt any of our plans, and I will see you punished in any way I see fit.”

I decided to get into the ring and I slapped her. I was not going to make this easy for her to just ignore me. I was going to be a thorn in her side on behalf of Colby as he stayed at home with Tyler while he worked on recovering from his injury.

“Casey,” Hunter yelled at me as Stephanie cowered behind him, “Consider yourself suspended for the next thirty days. Now get out of my ring!”

I smirked as Roman wound up for a Superman punch. Hunter followed my gaze and turned towards Roman, leading to Roman hitting him right on the jaw. I high fived Roman, making it known I had made peace with him. I climbed out of the ring and made my way backstage.

I went into my locker room and I checked my phone to find that I had a missed call from Colby. I called him back immediately as I began to pack up my things to get out of the arena for the night before getting on the first plane out to Davenport to return home to my two favorite men.

“Hey Thea thanks for calling me back,” Colby greeted me, “I was watching you in the ring and I am so proud of you. That slap was great. I think I saw Steph’s head spin.”

“I had to do right by you,” I replied, “Even if we were feuding. Anyway, seeing as I’m suspended, I’m going to be getting on the next flight home in the morning. And then I’ll be home with my two favorite boys.”

“I can’t wait to have you home,” he laughed, “Then I don’t need to have my mom over every day to help me with Tyler and baby me all day.”

“You do know that I will baby you when I get home, right,” I asked him.

“It’s different when it’s coming from girlfriend and not my mother,” he countered, “I feel like I’m six-years-old again.”

“Don’t worry,” I chuckled, “I’ll be home very soon. But for now, I’m going to let you go so I can go find my rental car and get to hotel so I can get some sleep before my flight tomorrow. I love you, Colby.”

“I love you too, Thea,” he replied, “Stay safe and I’ll see when you land.”

I finally landed in Davenport and I was so excited to be reunited with Colby. I missed him ever since he had to stay home due to his injury. I hadn’t be away from for this long since before Tyler was born, even then he was able to visit me nearly every week before tours would start.

I dragged my bags behind me as I went over to the carpool lanes where I was going to be meeting up with my mom to get a ride home. Holly opted to stay at mine and Colby’s place to help look after Colby and Tyler before I got home and I would take over.

“Hi mom,” I greeted my mom with a hug as I got to her car, “Thank you for coming to pick me up from the airport.”

“Not a problem, Thea,” my mom kissed my forehead before taking my bags and loaded them into her trunk, “Now let’s get you home. I’m sure Colby will be happy to see you again.”

The ride home was quick and I was happy to see that my boys were in the living room to greet me. Colby was standing, using his crutches to stand as he held onto Tyler. I immediately took Tyler into my arms and earned giggles and coos from my little boy.

“Welcome home, babe,” Colby hobbled over to me and planted a kiss in my hair as I held Tyler between us, “We both missed you terribly.”

“I can imagine,” I hummed as I set Tyler down to let him crawl around on the floor before I wrapped my arms around Colby’s waist, “How are you holding up?”

“He’s been a moaning pain in the butt all week,” Holly called as she came out of the kitchen, “Welcome home Thea. How was your flight?”

“Mom really,” Colby groaned, “Ignore her, that’s what I do.”

“That’s why I have to do this all the time,” Holly pinched him on his bicep and earned a whimper out of Colby, “I’m going to head home. If you need anything, Thea, give me a call.”

And like that, she was out the door. I helped Colby over to the couch and propped his leg up on the coffee table to get him comfortable before I tucked into his side on the couch. I hummed as I basked in the feeling of being home at last.

“So what do you want to do,” I asked Colby as he wrapped his arms around me.

“I just want to relax and maybe watch a few movies with you,” he replied, “I’m exhausted from not being able to sleep due to the pain in my knee.”

“Do you want me to heal your knee,” I asked him, “That way you won’t be in so much pain.”

“No,” he replied, “I’m more than willing to let my knee heal the normal way. I like having a chance to be at home for a while. I get to finally be home with my son.”

“That’s fair,” I replied, “At least let me ease some of your pain okay.”

I channeled a calming aura into the room, aiming to ease his pain. I set the aura to linger through the entire house and to stay around without draining me of my energy. It was an advanced spell I picked up from taking care of my own bumps and bruises from being in the ring.

“Now,” I got up from the couch to grab Colby’s Xbox controller and the TV remote, “How about you pick out a movie and I will make us something to eat.”

[altean-plance-au]

The Wedding

In celebration of breaking 1000 followers, we decided to treat you all to a glimpse of the future. As AdminRue said we are in awe and humbled so many of you want to keep up with this AU. We hope you continue to enjoy following us and look forward to continuing to grow this AU.

The Wedding

Various shuttles arrived at the lake in the forest. A platform was floating in the lake but connected to the shore. On the platform was seating as well as the altar.

Guests from all backgrounds stepped out of the shuttles and were lead to their seats.

King Alfor and Coran went to greet the rulers of Daibazaal and their son.

“Zarkon, Honerva, Lotor,” King Alfor greeted. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“We are pleased to be invited,” Zarkon replied. “Though I am surprised the wedding would be here and not at the capital.”

“That was at the request of the bride and groom,” Alfor replied. “They wanted it held here so two of their close friends could be present. Speaking of which here comes one now.”

A large creature rose out of the lake.

“What is that?” Zarkon demanded.

“That is the Gombash,” Coran explained. “Don’t worry, he’s a peaceful creature. Unless of course he senses you having malicious intent in which case he will kill you where you stand.”

Zarkon looked at the Gombash with fear and uncertainty until Honerva gave him a reassuring pat on the arm.

“It’s fine dear.”

The three went to their seats. Lotor suddenly felt a light tugging on his hair. As he turned he saw a small Altean girl.

“Hi I’m Nadia,” The girl said brightly.

“Prince Lotor, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lotor replied.

“You have really nice hair.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I braid it for you?”

“Er….”

Lotor was thankfully spared having to give an answer when the Nadia was called back by her mother.

“Nadia! Get back here!”

“Ok, bye Prince Lotor.”

As the girl left Honerva commented. “I think you’d look good with a braid.”

Lotor could only give his mother a half-hearted glare.

Keith and Krolia sat nearby seat watching the everything going on.

“Thank you for bringing me along,” Krolia said to her son.

“The invitation allowed for a plus one,” Keith answered. “There’s no one else I’d want to bring.”

“True,” Krolia developed a sly grin. “Though you know, it might have been a good opportunity to bring a date.”

“Mom!”

“Just saying.”

As Alfor was at the Altar going over the notes of the ceremony Blaytz approached and gave the king a hearty pat on the back.

“Today’s the big day, and to think you’re now well on your way to having grandkids.”

“Blaytz, it’s my niece, not my daughter, getting married today.”

“Oh,” Blaytz replied. He then gave Alfor another hard pat on the back. “Well that means you’re well on your way to having grand nephews and nieces.”

“Indeed.”

In a nearby tent Lance was putting the final touches to his outfit. It was a suit of armour but far more impressive than his normal attire. Not only was it more intricately made and bore his family crest and the metal was gleaming. He attached his clock and gave himself a final look over as Hunk let out a whistle of approval.

“Not gonna lie buddy,” He said. “You’ve never looked better.”

“Come on Hunk, you know I look good in anything.”

“Really? How about that time you lost that bet and had to wear that Snargle herder outfit?”

“Alright,” Lance conceded. “I look good in most things.”

“Though Hunk’s not wrong little brother,” Luis said. “You’ve never looked better.”

Lance smiled as the men present nodded in agreement. It was no surprise that Hunk was chosen to be best man. Filling out the ranks of Groomsmen were his two brothers Luis and Marco as well as Matt.

“Alright you’re ready,” Hunk declare. “Now before go out there I want you to remember three things. I love you, I’m proud of you and if you screw this up I’ll never forgive.”

“Love you too,” Lance replied as they gave each other a hug.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Everyone turned and saw Shiro enter the tent. “Just wanted to make sure you were almost ready. We’re starting soon.”

“Shiro!” Lance exclaimed. “How do I look?”

“Really good. Though there is one thing missing.”

“Really? What?”

“This.” Shiro pulled out a small box. He opened it to reveal a medal.

“Is that…?”

“Lance McClain, You have served Altea and the Crown diligently and nobly. You have upheld the principles this world is found on and are an example for others to aspire to. As your Captain I could not be prouder. In recognition of your continued service and valor, It is my honour to present you with the Star of Mefral.”

Lance was dumbfounded as Shiro pinned the medal on to the breastplate of his armour.

“There will be a formal ceremony for it later on but I thought it would only be right that you get to wear it on your wedding day.”

“Wow, Shiro this is amazing, thank you,” Lance stated. “Though is it wrong to say this is only the second best thing to be happening to me today.”

Shiro smirked as he gave Lance a pat on the shoulder. “There’d be something wrong with you if that wasn’t your response. Now all of you finish up. The last thing we want is to make this man late for his own wedding.

Once they all were prepared they stepped out and headed to the altar. As Lance walked up aisle he got various hugs and handshakes (in the case of Blaytz a high five) from the people he walked passed. He lingered with his parents, hugging them tightly as they told him how proud they were.

As he made it to the Altar, he turned his attention towards the Gombash.

“Gommy! I’m glad you could make it.”

Gommy trilled happily as he leaned in to briefly nuzzle Lance.

“Alright then,” Lance declared. “Razzle Dazzle Time!”

[hr]

The under the shade of the Father Tree, the female party was set up in a tent doing the final preparations.

“There, finished,” Veronica stated as she put down the makeup brush. “Take a look.”

Pidge stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore an elegant flowing emerald dress. Atop her head was a tiara more detailed than her usual one.

“You look amazing,” Allura commented.

“She had better,” Veronica stated. “Lance would never let me hear the end of it if I got the makeup wrong.”

For the bridal party Allura was Maid of honour with the positions of bridesmaids going her cousin Mia as well as Lances sisters Veronica and Rachel. Pidge’s mother and father entered the tent.

“Pidge you look amazing,” Samuel stated.

“Thanks Dad.” Pidge replied.

“How do you feel?” Colleen asked.

“Good,” Pidge replied, when Colleen raised a skeptical eyebrow Pidge amended. “Absolutely terrified but I love Lance and want to be with him.”

Colleen smiled as she gave her daughter a hug.

Finally the bridal party was all prepared but before they left Pidge asked for a moment to do one last thing.

She walked up to Father Tree and placed a hand on the trunk. Her markings glowed as she connected with the ancient tree.  

“So what do you think old timer, am I doing the right thing?”

In reply there was a low rumble and the sensation of the ground shifting beneath her. Suddenly two roots shot out from either side of Pidge. The roots then ran along ground, creating a path that was clearly heading towards the lake. The flowers then burst out of the roots to decorate the path.

“Well,” Pidge commented. “I can’t argue with that.”

There were more than a few gasps of surprise as two roots grew out from the forest. The roots ran up the either side of the aisle, stopping just short of the altar before beautiful flowers burst out of the roots.

“You think this is Pidge’s handiwork?” Hunk asked.

“Actually I think it might be an old timer giving his blessing,” He bent down to give one the roots a pat. “Thanks Pappy.”

The root wrapped around Lances hand and squeezed lightly before releasing it. Lance stood back up and got into position as the music started. Everyone in the audience got their feet as the bridal party entered from forest.

Pidge lead the way, her flowing green dressing glowing with golden symbols. Allura carried the train as they exited the forest but released it as they got to the platform. The audience looked on in awe as Pidge walked up the aisle. Lance looked on in unbridled joyed.

The bride arrived at the altar and as she clasped hands with the groom the two became lost in each others eyes.

Hunk meanwhile had become misty-eyed and muttering to himself to “keep it together”.

Coran on the other hand was bawling his eyes out.

King Alfor allowed the couple a brief moment before he began the ceremony.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Lance and Katie in holy matrimony. which is an honorable estate. This is not an institution that they have decided to enter lightly but out of their love and devotion for each other.Ifany one can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

At that moment the Gombash raised himself to his full height and glared down at the audience.

“Although you may have to answer to him,” King Alfor added dryly.

This earned a chuckle from the audience, some more nervous than the rest. When it was clear no one was going to object, the Gombash settled back down.

“The union two souls is a moment great joy and celebration. It is with great pleasure that I now ask you two take these vows.”

“Lance, do you take Katie as your wife? To love and cherish for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Katie, do you take Lance as your husband? To love and cherish for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Then it is my honour, as ruler of Altea, to now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

As Lance and Pidge kissed, the audience erupted in applause.

[kittyaugust]

Drarryland: Just another night at the Hotel Ritz

Title: Just another night at the Hotel Ritz Author/Artist: @kittyaugust Rating: G Word Count/Parameters: 710 (max was 859) Prompt:  Drarry + taking a relaxing weekend getaway. Choose either 1) Not established relationship + unexpected company -OR- 2) Established relationship + unexpected activities. Word count 859 maximum - story must include a hotel porter/resort clerk who totally ships it. Summary: Max has worked at the Ritz Hotel Edinburgh for three months when his favourite couple ever come to stay.

Max has worked at the Ritz Hotel Edinburgh for three months when his favourite couple ever come to stay. They arrive at just after 8pm on a Thursday with no reservation and an energy he can't help but love.

"Camping!" says the darker of the two as they enter the large foyer, loud enough that Max can hear him across the lobby. "Why would you, of all people, take me, of all people, camping?"

"I was being thoughtful," says the taller blond. There's something about the tone, despite the extremely posh accent, that shows that blondie knows he fucked up big time but isn't quite ready to admit it yet.

"Thoughtful?" says the brunet as they approach the counter across the marble tiles. "I've had enough camping to last a lifetime and you know it."

"I was appreciating your primitive roots."

Okay, the casual racism might be a bit much but the blond is supermodel gorgeous and the part-indian guy looks utterly besotted even as they bicker, so Max decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and decides this is just one of those long-term-couple things that no one else is meant to understand, let alone able to.

"Primitive?" He sounds about as offended and slightly horrified as Max might hope.

"Muggles like camping!" says the blond, defensively.

Definitely a weird couple thing, Max has never heard that word before. It's kind of sweet once you realise it's all part of their thing. They must be goths or something, because they're dressed really strangely too. The blond is wearing something so designer that it was probably never meant to leave a catwalk.

"I don't!" says the hot but short one. He's dragging an old-fashioned trunk that seems lighter than it should be and he has leaves in his hair. "I hate camping. I have had more than enough camping for one lifetime, thank you very much."

Max wonders how long the leaves have been there, considering the hotel is in the middle of Edinburgh it must have been a while. He is pretty sure the guy is wearing a dressing gown, a nice one but still.

"Harry!" says the blond, in that long suffering tone of a partner who knows this last ditch effort may not work but is willing to try. "I am..." he sniffs as if it pains him, "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to be 'insensitive'"

Max can hear the quote marks, and so can the man apparently called Harry but also apparently Harry likes the blond guy enough to renege, just a little.

Harry sighs and rolls his eyes at the blond in a way that may spell future forgiveness, then turns an absolutely winning smile on Max. Not totally forgiven then. He's got a scar on his face, Max notices. A zig-zag lightning bolt of a thing. It manages to just add to the whole a rugged kind of handsomeness thing he has going on. Max manages not to swoon.

"Hi, we need a room for the weekend. I know it's late notice, but my husband decided to try take us camping and I can't start to tell you why that was a bad idea without making our anniversary even worse."

"It was meant to be romantic!" the blond mutters, plaintively. Both Max and Harry ignore him.

Max is suddenly glad that the AirNZ crew booking got cancelled last minute, because he can genuinely offer them their pick of a house room or a suite despite the late notice.

"We'll take the suite," says Harry, giving Max another smile that makes him want to melt. "Draco can afford it."

Apparently he can. The posh blond one, Draco, weird name, hands over a matte black credit card from a private bank so exclusive that Max has never heard of it. It works when Max puts through the one-thousand pound hold for incidentals and Draco doesn't even blink when signing for the room.

Harry takes the key card when Max hands it over and sweeps away toward the elevators.

Draco muttering "And he says I'm the dramatic one!" is the last thing Max hears before he hands back the credit card and both men disappear into the elevator, still bickering and holding hands.

[sphinxsmuses-archived]

All my favorite guy characters!

Warning, this is very long. lol I’ve started this back in high school 14 years ago and have been adding to it ever since. I thought it would be fun to share here and show what things I’m into (fandom wise)

Teen Titans Aqualad Kid Flash Prince of Tennis Kaoru Kaido Tezuka Kunimitsu Shuusuke Fuji Shinji Ibu Ryoma Echizen (Only in the anime...) Eiji Kikumaru That one guy with the red long headband thing.. lol Tales of Symphonia Kratos Aurion Genis Sage Yuan IGPX Immortal Grand Prix Takeshi River Cunningham s-CRY-ed Ryuhou Asuka Tachibana Demon Diary Eclipse Fushigi Yuugi Chichiri Cardcaptors Lee Syaoran Eriol Yue Full Metal Alchemist Roy Mustang Envy Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio Eagle .Hack Balmung Bith the black Elk Moonstone Haseo Ovan Silabus Endrance Kuhn

Zoids Jack Sisco Raven Sonic Knuckles Megaman Chaud Protoman Zero Slayers Zelgadis Metal Gear Solid Master Otacon Raiden Tekken Lee Shaoran Jin Kazuma Hwoarang Naruto Kabuto Kakashi Sasuke Zabuza Kiba Super Smash Brothers Brawl Marth Ike Pit Toon Link Link Lucas Phantom Brave Ash Yugioh Bakura (Yami and Regular) Seto Kaiba Yami Yugi Valon/Varon Teen Pegasus Zane Truesdale/Ryu Marufuji (Yugioh GX) Mr. Banner and Pharoah (Yugioh GX) Bastion Misawa/Daichi Misawa (Yugioh GX) Syrus Truesdale/Sho Marufuji (sort of a cute thing...XD Yugioh GX) Atticus Rhodes/Fubuki Tenjione (Yugioh GX) The Gambler (lol Yugioh GX) Astir Pheonix/Edo Pheonix (GX) Jesse Anderson/Johan Anderson (GX) Yubel Jesse/Yubel Johan (GX) Jim 'Crocodile' Cook (GX) Adrian Gecko/Amon Garam (GX) Jaden Yuki/Judai Yuki (GX) (Especially season 4 Jaden. XD) Supreme King Jaden AKA Haou Judai (GX) (without his armor aka fanart lol) Yusei (5Ds) Jack Atlas (5Ds) Kalin/Kiryu (5Ds) Crow (5Ds) Gundam Wing Quetra Duo Maxwell Heero Yuy Cheng Outlaw Star Jim Hawking Gene Starwind Pirates of the Carribean Will Turner Final Fantasy Cloud(Final Fantasy 7) Vincent(FF7) Sephiroth(FF7) Reno(FF7) Irvine(FF8) Seifer(FF8) Squall Leonhart(FF8) Zidane Tribal (FF9) Auron(FFX) Balthier!!!! (FFXII) Genesis (Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core) Zack (Crisis Core) Snow (FFXIII)

Noctis (FFXV)

Prompto (FFXV)

Ignis (FFXV)

Rurouni Kenshin Sanosuke Rurouni Kenshin Aoshi Yu Yu Hakashu Hiei Jin Karasu Teen Koenma Kurama Shishiwakamaru Kuronue Kingdom Hearts Riku Zexion (from Kingdom Hearts chain of memories) Axel Demyx Luxord Marluxia Xemnas Xigbar Roxas Saix Ven Wild ARMS 3 Jet Enduro Clive Winslet Janus Cascade Matrix Neo Lord of the rings Pippin Took Merry Brandybuck Legolas Greenleaf Celebs Clay Aiken Ty Pennington Ashley Parker Angel Orlando Bloom Steve Bryn Teddy Greiger Ryan Seacrest Harry Potter Draco Malfoy Fred and George Weasley Cedric James Potter Sirius (when he was younger) Code Lyoko Odd Ulrich William Witch Hunter Robin Michael Wolf's Rain Hige Kiba Toboe One Piece Zolo (or Zoro) Shanks Ace Peacemaker Susumu Yamazaki Suzu Kitamura Getbackers Ban D.N.Angel Dark Satoshi Hiwatari Krad Daisuke Shaman King Ren or Len Yoh Horohoro or Trey Zeke Dragonball Z Android 17 Teen Trunks Supreme Kai Older Goten Vegeta Digimon Matt Henry Kouji Ken or Digimon Emperor Teen Izzy Mummymon Inuyasha Miroku Tokyo Mew Mew or Mew Mew Power Keiichiro (Known as Wesley on Mew Mew Power) Ryou (In Mew Mew Power he's known as Elliot..) Kish (known as Dren on Mew Mew Power) Fruits Basket Kyo Hatsuharu Yuki Vice president of the Student Council (can't remember name.. XD) Momiji Samurai Champloo Mugen Star Ocean Till the end of time Albel Nox Cliff Fittir Fayte Leingod Soul Calibur Maxi (with blonde hair) Kilik Raphael Kaleido Star Ken Yuri E's otherwise Eiji Yuuki Kai Shen-lon Saiyuki Sanzo Spirited Away Haku Angelic Layer Ouji Final Fantasy Unlimited Kaze Chrono Crusade Chrono (both demon and normal) Wish Koryu Kokuyo Bleach Ichigo Ichimaru Gin Captain Aizen Juvenile Orion Kaname Kusakabe Isshin Shiba Ultra Maniac Tetsushi Kaji Hiroki Tsujiai Yuta Kirishima Kare Kano His and Her circumstances Asaba Hideaki Full Moon O Sagashite Takuto Eichi Twinkle star sprites (A Mame32 or Dreamcast game) Griffon Tsubasa Resevior Chronicles Fai Kurogane Kamui Subaru Kimihiro Watanuki The Gorillaz 2-D X-men (any X-men) Nightcrawler Gambit W.I.T.C.H. Caleb Hands Off Youta Star Wars Obi-wan Kenobi (younger one don't ask..XD) Howl's moving castle Howl Xiaolin Showdown Raimundo Chase Young Galaxy Angel Takuto Lester Trigun Wolfwood Legato Alice 19th Kyo Frei Dragon Knights Thatz Kai-long Rath Lord Lykouleon Dream Saga Takaomi (Dream World/After Stage) Keima (Dream World) Vampire Game Darres Hume Illsade Pokemon Mewtwo Gary Brawly Morty Koga Tracy Aaron (or Riley or whatever xD) Legend of Dragoon Dartz Blonde haired King dude(can't remember name, starts with an L) Jet Set Radio Future Yo-yo Beat Corn (Tab) Final Fantasy Advent Children Cloud Vincent Reno Kadaj Devil May Cry Dante Xenosaga Kevin Chaos Tony Animal Crossing Aziz Sky high Stretchy dude (can't remember name..XD) Ouran High School Host Club Tamaki Suoh The Hitachin Twins Hunny Mori Kyoya Nekozawa Eragon Eragon Starfox Falco Lombardi Leon Powalski Wolf O' Donnell Storm Hawks Finn Aerrow Stork Code Geass Lelouch Suzaku Pheonix Wright Edgeworth Diego (Pheonix Wright 3) Godot (Phoenix Wright 3) Solty Rei Yuto Eureka 7 Holland The World Ends With You Joshua Beat Sho Minamimoto Kariya Prince Neku Mushi Shi Ginko Heroes Hiro Nakamura Peter Petrelli Fairy Tail Gray Loki Soul Eater Soul Evans Death the kid Kill la Kill Sanageyama League of Legends Azir Malzahar Ekko Fate Series Archer (From Fate Stay Night) Lancer (From Fate Zero and Stay Night) Gilgamesh

Yona of the Dawn

Hak

God Eater

Soma

Lindow

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans

Orga Itsuka

Assassination Classroom

Karma

A Certain Magical Index/Railgun

Accelerator (I don’t know why. lol)

Karneval

Yogi

Gareki

Hirato

Magi:

Alibaba

Jafar

Sinbad

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

Mikoshiba

Seven Deadly Sins

King

Ban

Meliodas

Kamisama Kiss

Tomoe

My Hero Academia

Iida

Aizawa (Eraserhead)

Bungou Stray Dogs

Dazai

Cavalier of the Abyss

Regis Nex

Ninoorut Noah

Persona

Joker

Yosuke

Akihiko Sanada

Nier Automata

9S

Adam

[atomicjuniper]

Here’s the fic I wrote for the @aftgexchange for @dysfunctional-college-roommates! One of the summer options was Foxes go to a waterpark and well...I guess I sort of set them in the waterpark I go to with my friends every summer and...I kind of wrote more than I expected to? Anyway it’s 7k now (sorry!) and I had a lot of fun but it’s unbetaed. How did this happen, I ask myself, when I couldn’t think of a title. I’ll probably clean it up and post it to Ao3 one day or something but for now I hope you like it!

Neil felt hot just looking at Andrew. It was eighty-five degrees outside. Pushing higher as the afternoon approached, and they’d just gotten off a bus full of athletes. Also, Andrew allowed Neil to share headphones with him while their arms pressed together the entire trip, so there was a less uncomfortable warmth growing inside of Neil’s chest.

Even so Andrew persisted in his usual dark attire despite the heat. Though Neil was quick to notice that the all-black outfits were one-by-one being replaced with navy blues and lower hues of the color spectrum. He gained more contentment out of that than this waterpark trip they’d somehow all been talked into ever could.

           “Thirty dollars each?!” said Kevin, “Coach, you’re aware we could get at least some new equipment with this instead?”

           Wymack dragged his gaze from the money in his hands and yet another form to sign to meet Kevin’s. The worker at the booth made a face Neil knows well: the realization of how thin the glass protecting you is.

           “Would you rather take the children’s prices instead?” Wymack asked, “Cause knowing our lot it wouldn’t take much to convince them.”

           Neil glanced up at the numbers above the worker’s head, wondering if he could get away with saying he was under eighteen, but found that for once the children’s prices at this rinkey-dink waterpark were much higher than the adults. It was a small attraction in the more rural parts of the area. Keeping track of what was out the window on the ride up proved they were surrounded by woods, mountains, and Hooters restaurants for a good mile. Now they were all at the entrance sign, the park’s title reading The Land of Make Believe. It stared at and mocked all of them almost as bad as their opposing fans. Neil wished he could say they were all in, at worst, the middle of nowhere, at best a pocket dimension where this wasn’t actually happening. But he in fact knew the town they were in was actually named Hope.

           “What’s his problem? That’s around the same price as an IMAX movie.” Matt whispered to Dan. Dan nodded. She seemed the most prepared for the trip, with a colorful beach bag, sunglasses perched in her hair, and a rolled up towel. Abby was the last to exit the bus with a cooler and her nursing essentials.

           “Do we get a sympathy discount if we bring up one of our teammates died?” Nicky whispered to Aaron. His t-shirt read Wild By Nature.

           “Don’t know if you mean currently or the near future but I’m so down for either one.” said Aaron. The physical trait separating him from Andrew today was the purple swim trunks from the team’s late-night Wal-Mart run. They had flowers on them, but they were minimalist graphics, so it was acceptable. Andrew on the other hand had dark camo pants on to prove how much he was NOT swimming.

           Allison heard the joke they made but merely squeezed her eyes shut in reaction. The strap of her bikini was sticking out through the neck of her top. She already had tan lines this early in the summer.

           Neil let out a breath and did his best for the warmth still cradling in his chest to not leave with it. He stared at Andrew’s profile as if to gather extra energy. Andrew was instead staring at the No Smoking sign like a disgruntled ex. At least his actual disgruntled ex served him alcohol.

“Um,” the ticket taker said, looking over Wymack and in the team’s direction, “Your shirt…”

Every Fox looked down. Then they followed the line of sight of the person behind the glass and realized they were referring to Nicky.

           “Is it not appropriate?” Nicky asked.

           “Um, I’m not really sure.” The poor kid looked nervous. It made Neil thankful he never had to take a summer job. Never had to deal with a streamline of people. “There are children here, but I’m not certain if they would get it. I’d change just to be sure.”

           “Oh, well if you insist,” Nicky removed his shirt, being certain to sway his athletic body from side to side as he pulled it over his head. He tossed back his hair and dropped the shirt onto the dirt. “Right what it says on the tin, right?”

           Aaron and Andrew knew no one ever assumed their relation to Nicky on first glance, but if there was a way to annul it right then and there they’d take it.

           “Is my shirt okay?” asked Matt. His shirt read Human Mermaid.

           “Um, I’m pretty sure it is,” said the worker, “It might even be more appropriate.”

           They were all given colorful waterproof bands (orange, appropriately) over their wrists. After the money was settled they moved past the sign and into the park. When they were all in front a water gun target game Wymack clapped his hands.

“Well!” Wymack said, “It seems that you maggots have been reprimanded before your very first steps into the park. Your one and only job to your coach is to exceed my expectations, but with you people making the attempt would be miles above what I expect from you to begin with.”

           “You can say that again,” said Kevin, eying the rest of the Foxes. His shirt was a white tee with an orange pawprint on the back.

           “Don’t act like you’re above them. You’re associated with monsters too, remember?” Wymack sent a pointed look to Nicky and Aaron, the closest “monsters” in proximity to him.

           “Aw, don’t look at us like that, Coach!” said Nicky, “Only four of us are monsters! Four-ninths is…dangit why didn’t we bring an electronic calculator to a waterpark!”

           Neil, the math major, wondered which one of them wasn’t being factored in as a monster, how much easier this would be if they still had ten players on the team, and drew the conclusion that he didn’t want to be involved.

           “I nominate slicing Kevin into a fraction!” cried Allison.

           “Hello? Adult authority speaking?” said Wymack, “I nominate that we, as a group effort, venture further than the goddamn Food Lion without involving bodily injury or committing a felony for once?”

           “Only ‘or’, Coach?” asked Andrew, “That’s leaving lot of room for error.”

           The team tried not to laugh at Andrew’s joke. Neil began to notice Andrew looked and sounded tired. He had the urge to say something or reach out for his hand but it had to wait.

“Aren’t there some guidelines we should be going over, David?” Abby asked.

           “Please.” said Wymack, “Guys, it’s hot today. We have a nurse for a reason. Get in the water and try to cool off. If that’s not your thing, just keep hydrated. We have drinks in the cooler if you for whatever reason can’t buy anything. Also, you have our numbers, in case of emergency keep your phones with you at all times. At. All. Times.” Wymack and in fact the whole team was glancing at Neil, for some strange reason. “Is there anything else?” Wymack turned to Abby for confirmation.

           “Sunscreen?”

           “Alright. Sunscreen. Put it on. Just because the only time half of you ever go outside is during practice doesn’t mean you can soak it all up in one afternoon. Also no running near the pool, no eating a half hour before entering the water, yadda yadda blah blah. What else am I missing?”

           Abby looked hesitant to say the next one. “Group assignments?”

           None of the Foxes were really speaking before this, only becoming bored with the precautions, but they all perked up at that and it somehow became more hushed.

“Look, we’re assigning groups.” said Wymack, “Before you start groaning you don’t have to follow it to the tee, you can mix and match however you please, but ultimately we don’t want anybody getting separated and ending up on their own.  There are nine of you so it’s gonna be groups of three.”

           There were yet to be moans from the Foxes. That would wait until which groups were announced. For one thing Neil, judging by what they’ve been through, precautions never hurt. And as much as he wanted to stay with Andrew he would be comfortable with any of the choices as long as it wasn’t Aaron.

           “Kevin, Neil, and Andrew. You’re some of the few Andrew won’t kill on sight and overall seem to at least tolerate one another.”’

           “Debatable.” said Kevin. He went ignored.

“Matt, Allison, and Renee.” Allison and Renee shrugged. No one seemed to have a problem with that for a moment. Until the thought fell on Dan.

           “Wait, so-”

           “Dan, Nicky, and the other Minyard.”

           “I have a name?” said Aaron.

           “Coach…” said Dan.

           “Hey, don’t be that way,” said Nicky, “We don’t bite!”

           Wymack approached closer to their side of the group. “I don’t want any trouble today,” he said, “In fact, don’t bother me at all unless it’s an absolute emergency. All I want is to not be bothered and sharing a beer with Patchy the fucking Pirate. I’m ready, indeed. Are we good?”

           Half the foxes gave a half-hearted yessir. Nicky, Renee, and Allison could be seen exchanging money through hands.

           “What bet is this one?”

           “You just made a SpongeBob reference, sir.” said Renee,

           “Coach, I’m disappointed in you!” said Matt, “I took you for a Simpsons man and now I’m out the price of admission!”

           Though Neil knew human spontaneous human combustion was near impossible for him to witness, he was almost convinced by Wymack’s face. “Look if any of you injure yourselves call Abby and not me.”

           And with that the group began to disperse. Dan, Aaron, and Nicky headed towards the pool, Matt, Allison, and Renee went to the waterslide area, Kevin walked within sight to check a map, but Andrew still stayed still and looked more bored than ever. Neil’s fingers brushed against Andrew’s knuckles.

           “It’s cool,” said Neil, “I don’t want to go swimming either. I mean, I kind of don’t have an option…” Neil gestured to his body. He was showing more skin than Andrew today, with the sleeves of his PSU shirt reaching over his shoulders but leaving a gap of skin leading to his armbands. His shorts were past his knees and left only parts most of his leg hair covered up anyway. He even decided to wear sandals instead of sneakers.

           Andrew made his first movement by glaring at Neil’s face. He pulled his hands away and shoved them into his pockets.

“I’m going to get something to eat.” said Andrew.

“But I might go get a key and throw my stuff in a locker first.” Andrew ignored him and kept on walking, “Hey! What happened to ‘stay in groups’?”

           “He doesn’t seem to be listening so far,” Andrew gestured his head to Kevin, “It’s only twenty feet away. You’re not gonna get eaten by a shark in five minutes, are you?”

           Neil considered the possibilities.

           “Okay. You go ahead,” said Neil, but Andrew gave a salute and already halfway gone, “You’re such a weirdo why do we hang out!”

           The last line he called out a bit too loud, attracting heads of vacationing families to look his way. The anxiety spiked up in Neil and he immediately ran for the lockers.

Dan Wilds lowered her sunglasses from her hair to her over her eyes. She placed her hands behind her head and eased out the tension out of the rest of her muscles, laid back on a long chair in the row of them beside the pool. Sunlight was pressing on her bare legs and shoulders. Children ran past her into the shallow pool.

Behind the dark layer before her eyes she could see Nicky dicking around on a large pirate ship in the pool meant for children. Dan put it off for now, as long as he was in her line of sight. The problem was Aaron hadn’t come out of the changing rooms yet. Abby pulled a drink out of the cooler between their chairs and placed its condensation on her forehead. Dan reminded herself to keep an eye out, but for now there were no worries.

At least it wasn’t, until a tall shadow blocked her sun. Dan did her best not to react.

“Aren’t we supposed to be adults?” Kevin asked.

Out of all the questions Kevin Day has asked Dan this one felt the least confrontational or rhetorical. Though his words were still wrapped in an undercurrent of aggression.

“Legally speaking, yes.” said Dan

“Then why are we at a theme park designed for children?” She turned her head to the side to avoid his gaze and shadow.

“It’s a family park and we’re a family,” said Dan, “Also this one was the closest and had the least crowds.”

“And the traffic for the beach crowds?” said Abby, “Yikes.”

           “And aren’t you supposed to be with Neil and Andrew right now?”

           “I just got a key for my locker,” said Kevin, “Besides, they’re adults they can handle – well they should be able to handle themselves. Theoretically.” His face turned away from Dan to the water momentarily, as if the thoughts raced through his mind. Then he looked back, “I mean, is that a ‘vacation’ to you? Sending unstable people out in public so you have to look after them more than usual? Instead of being home and doing what’s required?”

Dan sighed. Kevin seemed to be another forming cloud on her day so far, “You didn’t have to come, Kevin.”

           “And what would you have said then? You wouldn’t have complained about it?”

Dan threw up her hands in defeat. “Day, shouldn’t the point of fighting for your life be, I don’t know, to live?”

Kevin pinched above his nose. He breathed in, then breathed out. “If you need a waterslide to keep your heart rate up then there are other problems with your life.” Kevin gestured to the myriad of spongy attractions like oyster slides and jellyfish fountains and crocodile floats. “Snakes? Crocodiles? Jellyfish? Dart frogs? They don’t intend to keep me alive. Do you know what pirates were, Wilds? They weren’t child friendly. Which shouldn’t even be relevant because, as I seem to have remind you people again and again, we’re not children.”

It was a shame Dan’s shady eye-role was shaded by her shades. “You brought alcohol, didn’t you?”

“Look at the keychain to my locker, Wilds, it’s shaped like a surf board. And you expect me not to drink?”

Abby covered her ears. “I’m not hearing this.”

“For what it’s worth I didn’t drink any of it yet.” said Kevin. “It’s, what, one in the afternoon? I’m not that terrible.”

“So he says.” said Dan.

“I didn’t hear any of that either.” said Abby.

At that moment Matt passed by the three of them. He had a towel around his neck, wearing still sporting his Human Mermaid shirt but in bathing trunks now (they were cloud themed).

           “How’s my Number One doing today?” Dan immediately sat up in her seat.

           “I’m good so far. I’m good.”

           “Well that’s good cause nobody deserves a day to themselves better than you.” Dan beamed, and Kevin suddenly felt like the conversation had be dropped.

           “If you wouldn’t mind, can you put some sunscreen on the back of my shoulders?” Matt nodded and she handed him her bag. She looked back at where Kevin was standing. “Kevin, relax. Maybe you don’t want to go down a waterslide or sunbathe by the pool but it doesn’t hurt to just breathe for a second. Do what you want to do and rest.”

           Kevin looked around as if he wasn’t quite certain how to do that. “I’m going back.”

           As Matt looked thought Dan’s beach bag he placed some of her keys by her foot.

           “Oh wow, it is shaped like a surf board.” said Dan.

“Alright: betting time,” said Allison, “Who’s punching who in the face today?”

           “My money’s on somebody getting kicked in the groin.” said Matt. The group of guys Allison had attracted around them laughed.

“That’s oddly specific, Boyd,” said Allison, “Not wise to measure the amount of groin-kickage in the US by America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

The guys laughed what Allison said. They tended to laugh at everything she said.

“I’m not measuring anything on anything.” said Matt, “Just seeing a year-worth of pent-up aggression from wanting to see justice while wanting to avoid a red card.”

“I dunno. I guess it depends on how much you hate the guy,” said one of the guys close to Allison’s arms, “Your teammates get riled up easily?”

Matt and Allison chuckled at that.

They were all waiting on a long line for the Lazy River. After time passed Allison, her slim bathing suit showing off her muscular psyche naturally attracted other guys at the waterpark. Matt was directly at Allison’s side, but somehow Renee had gotten shuffled towards the edge of their group.

Renee grinned anyway. She’d been on the outlier of the conversation. “It doesn’t hurt to think outside the box,” she said, “But from my experiences of fighting Foxes, I’m putting money on taking advantage of their surroundings.”

Allison laughed, “You’re so right. I’m just imagining Kevin smacking Neil upside the head with one of the waterslide tubes or a floating crocodile.”

All the guys laughed but Matt’s was the strongest. Loud and hardy. Renee laid back further on the fence and smoothed her hands over her cover-up.

“You’re right, that is an amusing image,” said Renee, “But that’s not what I was considering when thinking of a waterpark.”

Matt and Allison thought on her words for a moment, and as they did their laughter died down. “You don’t mean…if they try to drown someone?” Allison asked.

“You can’t drown in shallow water!” said one of the guys. They were still laughing, since they were never involved.

Renee stood on her toes to look over the gate to see the attendees laying on tubes on water in motion, “That’s the pirate’s cove. I’d estimate the Lazy River is roughly five feet.”

“Dang, that’s stone cold, Walker,” said Matt, “So, if I’m understanding correctly, I’m putting your money on ‘one of the boys finally snaps and are never seen again’?”

“I didn’t mean drowning. I meant using the water as a tactical advantage.”

“Like drowning.” said Allison.

“I meant like standing your ground in a familiar environment.”

“Like when you’re drowning someone.” said Matt.

“Woah,” said one of the bros, “That’s like that scene in The Matrix and shit? Y’know, the third one? Where they fight in the rain and all that? And all, like, the clones are staring at them? But nobody drowns. It’s their souls that’s drowned. But the clones are supposed to be like…like…us.”

One of the guys groaned, “Nobody here cares about your philosophical musings, Lathan.”

Renee considered herself to be social, but would never quite know how to respond to that. “The bottom line is, I’m putting in fifteen.”

“Done deal.” Renee leaned in very far to shake Allison’s hand.

All the boys that weren’t Matt exchanged glances with one another. “Um, what exact sport do you play again?”

“Exy.” said Allison.

“Woah, isn’t that a rough sport for you?” One guy turned to Renee, “And especially for you?”

Renee offered him a polite grin, “It’s sweet for you to worry about me. But I’m the goalie, so I suppose that helps. Keeps me from all those nasty hits.”

Allison laid back on the fence. “Fuck that,” she said, “It’s a unisex sport so there’s more than one gender of player. Simple as that.”

“Yeah, girl power!” said a guy.

“On that note,” said Matt, “Our team captain is a girl.”

“Woah, lucky!” one of the guys said, and Renee noticed Matt didn’t mention his relation to her.

“Does that ever get awkward?” one of them asked.

Allison and Matt wanted to tell them no, but there was no good way or easy answer. Good thing they were close to the end of the line by that point.

“Well, it was nice meeting you boys!” said Allison, “I’d like to hang out with my friends now, if you don’t mind.” Allison was already backing away to the steps leading to the river.

“No, no, it’s all good!” a guy said, “It okay if some of us have your number though?”

“Oh, yeah, okay, sure. But I don’t have my phone with me? Maybe later.”

“Okay. After the ride maybe?”

“Uh, yeah definitely maybe!”

Renee grabbed a two-seater tube to share with Allison. Matt grabbed a two-seater one just for himself, due to his height. Allison laid back beside Renee, dipping her feet in the water as they drifted afloat.

Allison sighed. “Filling the void, right?”

“Filling the void.” said Renee. “That’s why the world is filled with lots of people.”

“You said it.”

Neil turned the key to lock the door shut. The moment he stepped away from the locker he felt lighter and anxious, though that could have been from being on his own with other people at the moment. He wasn’t certain if the children with their parents were glancing his way but he had difficulty stopping himself from thinking that they were. So he found his way outside as fast as he could. Neil distracted himself but putting the new temporary key on his keyring.

The sun was out and warm. He was noticing the positives of this place so far. The waterpark was filled with families but as long as you avoided the waterslides there were little to no crowds. The more open space compared to more populated amusement parks which gave him room to breathe.

He looked at the map that Kevin was reading before. This place seemed to be an assortment of waterslides, a series of water-based things like the river, carnival rides and games he’s outgrown, and a hayride leading to a petting zoo.

When Neil returned he found Andrew and Kevin near the carnival games. Kevin was giving a shot at the Can a Tin-Can! game, currently smashing a pyramid of cans with a baseball. The medium-sized plush shark he won was tossed on the wooden picnic table directly behind him where Andrew was sitting. There was a large stuffed dolphin and starfish seated next to Andrew’s cheesy fries. Andrew was resting his head over his folded arms.  

Neil set down his water and phone and cautiously sat down across from Andrew. From here Neil could see Andrew’s eyes were closed.

The team had known about the waterpark trip for a few weeks now, but hadn’t considered, oh right, preparation, until the night before. Most of them spent the previous night on an emergency trip to the store to grab the essentials. Then they did regular shopping. It was past midnight. Andrew was the one who drove. Neil considered why Andrew was more tired than the rest of them, since he waited at the doors until they left and everything he needed was on a list he gave to Neil. Maybe it was just the usual lack of sleep. Neil could relate to that.

Kevin tossed a stuffed eel among the pile. Neil considered the idea of tucking the shark into Andrew’s folded arms but he knew he was already tucked away with his knives and Neil would like to keep his own arms for next season.

“Keep eyeing me while I’m sleeping and you’ll lose your sight privileges.” said Andrew. The stuffed shark had nothing on the real thing.

Neil’s head jolted up from his hand. “How could you tell?”

“You’re predictable.”

Neil sighed, then shrugged. “The consequences of a personality, I suppose.”

Andrew mumbled something but it was softened by his arm and exhaustion. Neil thought it almost sounded like a threat, but of course with Andrew everything does.

“Goddamnit!” Kevin yelled. He was at a game called Frog Bog. In the booth there was a pool with rotating lily pads in it. He apparently was required to launch rubber frogs onto the pads by placing them on a mini-catapult and slamming it with a hammer. Judging by his reaction and lack of frog plush Kevin had yet to succeed at this. There was a frustration burning in the way Kevin put his hand on his chin and looked like he was fully prepared to scold the frog on its life choices.

Neil stood up and assessed what was in front of him. Kevin had been succeeding at strength and aim based games thus far, ones benefited from his Exy skills, but this one was centered more around timing and trajectory. His experience would also help here but, of course, the carnival game was likely rigged too. He watched at Kevin paid for his next try (What happened to buying equipment, Kevin? Neil wants to say but doesn’t) and was given another rubber frog. The frog looked like it had been launched from a catapult all summer; beaten to hell and as slimy as a real frog.

Kevin folded the frog onto the catapult and slammed the hammer down. The frog flew so high it missed the pool entirely.

“I’ll try.” said Neil. Kevin shoved the hammer in his hands. Neil paid for his try and was handed a frog. Kevin and the other employee watched as Neil looked from the catapult to the frog to the Lilly pad to the hammer to figure out some plan.

“Hey, isn’t that they Candy Cane forest over there?” Neil shouted, pointing in a random direction.

The moment the employee glanced away Neil gripped the frog with his bare hands (it felt gross) and chucked it at the lily pad. It was a direct hit, but then bounced right off into the water.

The employee turned back to look at Neil. “Dude, don’t act like you’re the first one to try that stunt.”

Neil became frustrated but felt no need to try again. “What’s even the point?” he asked,

“He says after he loses,” said Kevin, “Spoken like a true coward.”

“What are you going to do with all of these toys anyway?”

“Charity, probably. I mean, fish are really popular with kids. After that fish movie. Finding Elmo or whatever.”

Neil wouldn’t know what movie that was, and would imagine that there would be quite a few fish in movies, but judging by the employee’s reaction it must be something mainstream. He instead moved on to the next booth over, Can a Tin-Can!, and paid for a turn. Neil told himself he’d try earnestly and honestly this time. He lobbed the ball at the cans as hard as he could.

It missed. It bounced off the wall. Neil ducked and knew by the sound it must’ve hit a person. And he knew that there was only one person in the vicinity it could have hit.

So much for honesty.

Neil was afraid to look. He felt bad as he turned back around

Andrew must have either fallen asleep or just became startled in the same way he is when he wakes up. It had been a long time since Neil saw that look on him.

Everyone there pointed to Neil as the culprit.

“I…Andrew…,” said Neil.

“You have thirty seconds left to live.” said Andrew.

“Andrew it was an accident! You know I’d never do that to you on purpose-”

“Twenty-four, twenty-two, twenty, eighteen…”

Neil bolted for it. He dashed past the games, rides, and families and headed for any open space. But strangely enough, for the first time while running off-court, he wasn’t afraid. Perhaps it was due to it being Andrew and the knowledge he would never truly bring harm to him. He felt a grin forming as he found a building with a door, ran up the stairs, and waited for Andrew to find him to see what would happen. Hiding without the danger, now that was something new.

Aaron didn’t want to be here. There were children yelling and crying outside the dressing room. Said dressing room was had a bamboo hut theme. He was wearing swim trunks that he knew he would only wear once. Every now and again he’d hear a different scream, a distant scream, likely from the waterslides he was certain were a hazard of some kind, even if he had yet to go anywhere near them. He stared at the lock. It looked like the lock to a bathroom stall. It was the only barrier between him and out there.

Katelyn had been sending him texts. He knows because they were exchanging them during the bus ride. She was giving him the details of the mall trip she was going on with her friends. Occasionally she’d send a pic asking his opinion on what she was wearing. Now his phone is in a locker so it wouldn’t get wet. She likely wasn’t sending anything now since she knew about this “trip”, but still.

Aaron unlocked the door and walked out. It led out to the Pirate’s Cove, a pool that had a lot of space but the water only went up to your calves. There was a large pirate ship in the middle. There were a lot of children here, especially in this section, but looking further Aaron did notice the packs of college and high school kids hanging around. He spotted Boyd, Walker, and Reynolds around that area, surprise surprise. The college kids were loud and, even from this distance, pretty obnoxious, but they weren’t screaming. The children in Aaron’s vicinity had no problem screaming. He’s glad he isn’t a kid anymore, for a lot of reasons.

He stepped in the water. It was cold at first. He moved around to cool off his feet and find something to do. There were a lot of floats in the water meant to be “fun”. A few crocodiles and whales, a slide shaped like an open oyster. It was a bit creative, he supposed. Just as Aaron began to take in his surroundings, a gush of water sprayed his back. The water was cold.

Turning around, of course, was his cousin on the pirate ship. Nicky was manning a watergun attached to the wall. He let out a laugh to congratulate himself on his perfect aim and timing. There was a line of small children behind him clamoring to use the watergun. Nicky is supposed to be the oldest on the team.

For a split second Aaron was furious enough to run up the ship and throw Nicky overboard, shallow waters and fake crocodiles be damned. But no, if he did that people would notice. Then they���d get “concerned”. Then they’d intervene. It would stop being fun. Aaron didn’t have the energy for that. So let out one grunt and sulked off to another part of the pool.

Aaron found a jellyfish-shaped shower next to the oyster slide. He went under it just to cool off the rest of his body. When he was under the water the screaming children became blocked out for a mere moment. He walked out and sat down in the water. It covered his legs and lapped at his elbows. The sun shined over Aaron’s shoulders. He breathed. This was more like it.

And then there was this damned kid. Not a screaming kid, just a damned one. He was on the oyster slide going down and around again and again, hogging his turn from the other kids. Even when the other kids try to reason with him he wouldn’t stop.

Oh, he doesn’t remind me of anyone. Aaron thought. But he made an attempt to tune it out. He focused on the cool water and his own surroundings. He thought about calling Katelyn before he got on the bus, and then again when he got home. Before he could close his eyes he saw a sudden movement in his peripheral vision. It was a grown man making a beeline to the slide and the other kids. Aaron tensed up, then told himself he was projecting again.

He went for the kid, presumably his father. Oh good someone else, an authority figure, is solving this problem. Swell. Aaron tried to separate himself from the problem once again. But then he heard screaming. It wasn’t a child this time.

The presumed father was yelling at the kid in a way Aaron deeply recognized. Aaron tried eying the lifeguard, but she didn’t seem to notice what was happening. The only option left was for Aaron to tell himself that it wasn’t his problem. It wasn’t his problem. But then the guy grabbed the kid by his shirt and that’s when he had to do something. Aaron got up from the water.

Aaron considered decking the guy, but that thought brought a flash of Andrew’s former pills and unnatural smile, so no, he’s not doing that today.

“Hey!” Aaron yelled, “What’s your problem?”

The anger and words get mixed together. Something about how this isn’t Aaron’s business because this is not his kid. Then it turns into and argument, a shouting match, he heard a whistle being blown at him and now the lifeguard takes notice.

And then Nicky’s there to break it up. Nicky’s asking what the problem is. The alarm bells went off in Aaron’s head. Why does Nicky always try to get involved.

So Aaron just. Shoved the guy. Shoved him because he could. Just like this guy grabbed his kid by the shirt because he could.  

Nicky ran up to Dan. “Um, we have a bit of a problem-”

Dan held her hand up to Nicky. She held up five fingers, then counted each one down individually until reaching one. Dan took a breath.

“Alrighty,” she said, “Go ahead. Lay it on me.”

For once in a long time, Andrew thinks he’s actually going to kill Neil.  When Kevin called Neil’s phone, it rang from the table they were sitting at before. Kevin isn’t as good at deciphering Andrew’s subtleties as others are, but there was no doubt to him Andrew looked distressed.

“This is absolutely nothing like last time,” Kevin told Andrew, “He’s probably safe and he didn’t run. He’s just being an idiot. But he knows you that’s not what you meant. He knows that above everyone.”

           “Thirty seconds.” Andrew muttered to himself. Then Andrew was the one who ran. He had been searching in the most plausible location Neil could have made it to. When he couldn’t find him there he looked everywhere else.

           It turned out Neil hadn’t gotten far at all. He was in a castle meant for plays for small children, where Andrew had already looked, but he hadn’t realized there was a second floor. When he checked for a second time Neil is just standing there, chatting with one of the employees.

The moment their eyes meet Neil ran again, and he had the audacity laugh while running. On one hand something resembling relief settled within Andrew. On the other, he’s chasing down Neil in the middle of the goddamn heat when he knows he can’t catch up. Andrew is this close to killing him.

Something solid smacked the back of Neil’s head. “Ow!” he looked down and saw his cell phone on the ground. He thought it was in his pocket but apartently it wasn’t. “You almost broke my phone, Andrew-”

           Andrew stormed over to Neil until he was cornered at the barn. He slammed one arm on the wall at Neil’s side.

           “You never let anything be simple, do you?” said Andrew, “Do you think this is a game? I have a mental map of this goddamn park now. What am I supposed to do with the knowledge that the Candy Cane Forest is next to the Tilt-a Whirl and the Frog Hopper? I have to live with that for the rest of my life now and it’s your fucking fault.”

Neil couldn’t stop himself from grinning at Andrew’s words even as his back touched the wall. An alert lit up in his mind how Andrew could corner him at any time but it wasn’t an alarm.

“Um, this was genuinely my bad, Andrew,” said Neil, “I really thought I had my phone on me but I guess I left it somewhere?”

           “I gave you too much time.” Andrew said. Questions were the only things he dodged willingly, “I won’t be so generous next time. Your thirty seconds has been cut down to five.”

           “There’s a next time? I thought you said you were gonna kill me.” said Neil

           “Oh, Neil, of course I am,” Andrew ran a finger down Neil’s chin. There was still an opening at Neil’s side but instead of running he shivered at the touch, “Let me count the ways,” Andrew’s fingers were firm yet tickled Neil’s skin as they ran down his neck. His hand spread out and sank down until his palm pressed over Neil’s windpipe. Neil could feel his pulse pumping under Andrew’s skin. “So many options to choose from. But only one opportunity. It needs to be satisfying.”

           “I never took you for the romantic type.”

Andrew squinted his eyes in disgust. His hand slid down to Neil’s chest and his face hovered closer. “You’re going to shut up now.”

When their noses touched Neil’s smile shrank down and his eyes closed.

“I’m going to shut up now…” Andrew groaned at that.

“Yes or no?” His lips brushed against Neil’s when he spoke.

“God yes…” Andrew’s lips slammed hard against Neil’s for such insolence. After a few good minutes of a warm buzz Andrew’s own Razr ™ phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Aaron.

            yr pet ran away to the barn. leav him whr he belongs

           Andrew rubbed Neil’s thigh to keep him quiet as he texted back.

           Thinkin abt it

           Found him btw. Thx.

“Well, gang, what’s the damage toll today?” Wymack asked. He had a new pair of sunglasses with the price tag still hanging off it.

           “Neil got lost in the park.” said Matt

           Wymack threw his hands up. He appeared to be about to make a joke, but then backtracked.

           “Neil, what the hell? Did something happen?”

           “I’m alright now!” Neil emphasized, “It’s not a big deal anymore!”

“Off to a great start.” said Wymack.

“Aaron nearly got sued for throwing a grown man in a kiddie pool.” said Nicky.

“Will you stop exaggerating shit for drama?!” Aaron said to Nicky, “He ‘threatened’ it but it was empty. It’s dealt with now It isn’t going to become a problem.”

           Wymack rubbed his temples, “Anything else anyone needs to report?”

           “I decapitated a rubber frog with a mallet,” said Kevin, “but the thing was falling apart anyway, so I blame that on poor maintenance and not my superior tactical strategy.”

           “Of course, Kevin. And what were you saying about damage to our equipment?”

           “They can’t fine us for their own incompetence, Coach.”

           “Let’s hope they don’t, Kevin. Let’s hope they don’t.” Wymack turned to the third group, “What about you three? Get in any legal trouble at the waterpark today?”

Matt and Allison had their backs turned to the group at the moment, in a heated debate with Renee.

           “See? He didn’t technically drown anybody.” said Allison.

           “Once again, I didn’t say drown. I a tactical advantage.” said Renee

           “But does it count as tactics if he’s just submerged?” asked Matt, “Was his head under the water? How long was he under? Did he cough at any time? Yo Nicky, you were a witness weren’t you? We need you to testify!”

           “Hey!” said Wymack, “We’re trying to leave here!”

           “I scored the digits of four guys and one girl,” said Allison, “I’ll likely never use them, but hey, you never know for a rainy day.”

           “I made twenty dollars while enjoying myself,” said Renee, “Thank you, Aaron.”

           Aaron had no idea what part he had in this and didn’t intend to ask.

           “Wait!” said Allison, “What about the Neil bets?!”

           “Oh yeah,” said Renee, “Make that fifty dollars.”

           “Wait, Neil, you didn’t sustain any bodily injuries, did you?” asked Nicky, “Cause even if it’s a tiny papercut that’s thirty right there.”

“’Neil Bets’?” Neil asked, even if he had a large suspicion of what those entailed.

           “Yeah, obvious things you do. Like when you say ‘I’m fine’ or don’t know a movie reference or wear mismatched clothes. It’s like taking a shot, but with money.”

           “I feel like I should feel something about that,” said Neil, “but I mostly don’t care.”

           “Finally, he gets it.” said Andrew.

           “I need a vacation from this vacation,” said Wymack.

 “It looks like you survived.” Matt said to Dan, “How you holding up?”

           Dan breathed in and out. “Well, I did get some sun. I got dragged into a few incidents for a few minutes but they pretty much cleared up by the time I got there. Overall it was okay.”

           Matt handed a plush frog plush over to Dan.

           “You won this?”

           “Maybe, maybe not.”

           “Aw, it’s soft! It’ll make a great pillow on the ride back. You’re the best.”

           When Matt hugged Dan, careful around her shoulders, he could have almost sworn he witnessed a green glow hovering above the chess tattoo eying him. Kevin Day, semi-professional sports player, professional celebrity, aspiring Olympian, survivor, would not stoop so low to start a war over stolen carnival prizes. Despite how earned they were. But he would make sure Matt would be miserable when the end of August hit.

Neil purchased ten temporary tattoos from the gift shop at Andrew’s request.

           “Punishment for what you put me through today.” Andrew said.

           “Andrew, they’re like less than fifty cents each.” said Neil.  That almost seemed like a challenge so Andrew grabbed two Super Soakers off the wall and dumped them at Neil’s feet.

           As they waited for the bus to arrive Neil wet the sponge for the tattoos with his water bottle. They picked a ship for Neil’s neck and skull for Andrew’s cheek.

           “You better not fuck up my beautiful face.” said Andrew.

           “It’s called a temporary tattoo for a reason.” said Neil.

           “Your hair is temporary. You’d have a problem if I ripped that out the wrong way.”

           “Always violence with you.”

           “Yeah? Neil, I’m getting a skull on my face.”

           Neil laughed. “A skull tattoo on your face is less violent. More…a cry for help.”

           “Face tattoos are a cry for help in general.” Andrew said loud enough for the words to reach Kevin. He got no response but Neil saw Kevin glance in their direction.

           When Andrew pulled the white strip off Neil asked him how it looked. “Stupid and fake. Fits you perfect.”

Neil removed the square from Andrew’s cheek. The skull had a rose near it’s chin. Neil found it a little endearing. “It’s not as serious as it thinks it is. Fits you perfect.”

            Andrew shoved Neil on the shoulder for that.

When the bus arrived they sat next to each other. Neil kept using the sponge to keep Andrew’s face cool.  

           “You want me to play music on the way back?” Neil asked. He wasn’t certain if he’d get the same answer as he did on the ride up here but he was willing to try.

           “Do whatever you want. But I’m gonna fall asleep halfway through.”

           Neil grinned. “Oh good. That means I can play whatever I want.”

           “Fuck off.” Neil placed an earbud in his left ear then delicately did the same for Andrew.

By the time it moved Andrew was already nodding off from the mixture of exhaustion and running and his latest bout of almost-feeing.

           “Neil?”

           “Yeah?”

           “It’s a yes for my shoulders tonight.” said Andrew.

           Neil understood. As Andrew looked out the window and began to doze off Neil lowered his head on his shoulder. Looking at Andrew, his Andrew’s skin felt cooler to the touch even through he never went in the water. It must be contagious.

As the bus moved on and the scenery passed Neil found his eyes closing too.

[onemuseleft]

Untitled Voltron fluff, 1/1, PG, Gen

Summary: It may or may not be Lance’s birthday back on Earth, but the paladins need a reason to celebrate.

@kurowrites wanted Voltron fluff, and it was Lance’s birthday last week, so the two combined in my head. 

“Huh,” Hunk said. “We've been here for what? Almost six months?”

Allura leaned forward. “I don't know how long a month is, but you've been here for approximately two hundred quintants."

"Yeah, that's about six months," Pidge said. "Why? Is that significant?"

"Well, if we've been here for six months, that means it's nearly the end of summer back on Earth."

Keith didn't look up from his book, the same battered collection of bound papers the Paladins had been passing back and forth amongst themselves for months. As Allura understood it, it was a fictional tale of a band of supernatural, blood-drinking creatures who masqueraded as human children in order to attend a primary education facility. Hunk had gotten very defensive about why he had been carrying it around in his pocket. "I'm not exactly sweating the back-to-school vibes, man."

"Of course you aren't, drop-out." Lance was lying on the opposite side of the couch with his head in Hunk's lap and his feet in Shiro's, both arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. He was still unusually pale, even after nearly ten hours in the healing tube, and his teammates were coddling him shamelessly.

"Technically we're all drop-outs," Pidge said.

"My mom is going to kill me," Hunk said. "Then she'll kill you," he added, poking Lance gently in one shoulder and ignoring his scowl. "Then she'll ground us both and your mom will just nod with that look she gets and it's not too late to surrender to the Galra, right?"

"If you surrender, I'll ground you," Shiro said.

"Man. Your 'Hunk I am disappointed in you' face is almost as good as my mom's." Hunk sighed. "I can't win for losing."

"We could still die in combat," Lance said without opening his eyes. His words were a little breathy and Allura thought he must be about to fall asleep. She debated whether it was worth trying to bundle him off to his own room before that happened, but neither Hunk nor Shiro seemed particularly alarmed at the prospect of being trapped there while he napped.

"If you die in combat, I'll still ground you," Shiro said. He gripped one of Lance's ankles and shook his leg gently. "Which means the next time you throw yourself headfirst at an exploding warship, you're on KP duty for a month."

Lance cracked one eyelid open just enough to give Shiro an exasperated glance. "It's not a suicide run if I don't die."

"Vote," Shiro said. "Everyone who thought that was a suicide run, raise your hand."

The entire team obediently put a hand up in the air, including Coran and Allura. Pidge raised both. "It was stupid, whatever it was," Keith said, one hand dutifully held up while the other held his book open in his lap.

Hunk rolled his eyes and held Lance down with a hand pressed against his forehead when he would have risen to the bait.

"You're outvoted," Shiro said. "KP duty. Don't pull a stunt like that again."

Lance groaned. "Unappreciated in my own time."

"Awww, we appreciate you." Coran leaned over the back of the couch to give Lance a toothy grin. "We appreciate how hard you'd be to replace if you got yourself blown to smithereens in combat. Blue Paladins don't grow on trees, you know."

"It took ten thousand years to find the five of you," Allura said. "We couldn't afford to wait that long again. You should all appreciate how essential you are to the resistance."

Shiro and Keith both straightened their spines and squared their shoulders, while Hunk ducked his head bashfully, and Pidge gave her a shy, proud smile. Lance turned his head against Hunk's thigh so he could look at her, his mouth carved in a reluctant smile. "I will admit," Lance said, "the lions seem to know what they were about when they picked this motley crew."

Hunk snickered. "Oh my god, dude, can you imagine if it had been Carter Beauregard out there in the desert with us that night? Can you imagine forming Voltron with him?"

"Okay, one: I'd actually surrender to the Galra before I let Beau-be-wrong poke around in my head-hole," Lance said. Pidge made a gagging sound from her place on the floor and even Keith was nodding in agreement. "And two: it never would have happened because if he'd stayed assigned to our team, he'd have just gone to Pizza Shack for the team bonding night and we'd still be on earth. Which would probably be enslaved, or just flat-out destroyed after the Galra made off with Blue."

"See?" Pidge said. "My lack of team spirit saved all our lives. Suck it, pep squad."

"Don't lie to the team man," Hunk said. "We'd have never invited Beau-be-wrong to Pizza Shack."

"Who's Carter Beau-be-wrong?" Shiro asked.

Lance made a terribly rude sound and Hunk made a gesture as if he were attempting to snap a tree trunk in half with his bare hands. Even Keith looked up from his book long enough to roll his eyes.

"He was the comm spec originally assigned to work with Lance and Hunk." Pidge adjusted her glasses, an expression of angelic innocence gracing her features. "Somehow he got reassigned at the last minute and I got placed on the team."

"Somehow," Shiro said dryly.

Keith lowered his book. "Wait, so you deliberately picked those two?"

Lance's eyes narrowed into a glare and Hunk planted his hand back on the Blue Paladin's forehead to hold him in place. The look he shot Keith was not especially affectionate. "Thanks a lot, dude."

Keith flushed pink and fumbled with his book. "I didn't - that's not what I was-"

"I needed a team that wasn't going to be dangerous," Pidge said. "I had zero Garrison training, remember? And I was trying to hide my identity. Hunk and Lance both had a reputation for being pretty easy-going, and neither one of them was a hard-ass who'd come down on me for every little protocol slip-up I made."

"Like saluting with the wrong hand," Lance said.

"Oh shut up," Pidge said.

"It seems to me you made the right call," Shiro said. "We all ended up on the team we were meant to be on." He grinned and shook Lance's ankle again. "Even if it took a little work to get us there at the same time."

Pidge grinned. "We were a pretty good team even then. I mean, we crashed all the time but the blame was pretty evenly spread."

"Vomit," Lance said in a booming, puffed up voice, "is not an approved lubricant."

Hunk shuddered. "I still hear his voice in my dreams."

Lance hummed and rolled onto his side, one arm hooked under Hunk's knee. His eyes were drifting shut again, and he didn't react when Shiro patted one of his legs. "Give it another six months," he said, and his words were definitely slurring a little. "You'll forget all about him." He sighed a little, body going boneless. "You'll forget everyone."

There was a moment of silence as the humans all looked sad and tired. Allura bit her lip, not sure what to say. "Is there a significance to six months?"

Hunk shrugged. He rested one big hand on top of Lance's head, fingers petting his hair. Lance didn't stir in the slightest. "Not really? I mean, it's a long time, obviously, but mostly I just remembered it was going to be Lance’s birthday soon." He tilted his head to the side. "Or, well, maybe? It's within the vicinity of possibly being his birthday soon. I think we missed it, actually."

"I wish we'd known.” Shiro's voice was warm and when Allura glanced over he was smiling in a particularly fond way. “It would have been good to have a reason to celebrate."

Hunk shrugged. "It's hard to keep track of time, honestly. I don't know if Lance has even noticed - he hasn't said anything, anyway."

"Lance miss an opportunity to celebrate his own existence?" Keith asked. "He definitely didn't notice then."

"Yeah, or he misses his family and friends so much he didn't want to think about it." Pidge shrugged. "I know that's how I felt about it. With Dad and Matt gone, and my Mom on Earth alone... It felt wrong to make a big deal out of it."

"What's a birthday?" Coran asked. "I'm assuming no one needs me to break out my old child-birthing equipment?"

"No," Shiro and Pidge said in nearly identical tones. "No," Shiro added, "that is absolutely not necessary. What equipment would you even - you know what, don't tell me."

"Birthdays," Pidge said, "are the yearly anniversary of the day you were born. So, for example, I was born on April third. So April third is my birthday."

"We had a similar tradition on Altea," Allura said. "At certain milestones in our lives we would engage in meditation and contemplation of what we had achieved in our lives and to determine our path to the future."

"Hmm, yeah. We mostly ate cake and exchanged gifts."

"So how old are you guys now?" Shiro asked. "I assume you guys are mostly the same age as Keith?"

"Lance and I are eighteen? Ish?" Hunk said. "Depending on the exact translation of time here versus on Earth, but yeah. I turned eighteen before we left Earth. Safe bet Lance is close, if he isn’t already."

"Pidge Gunderson is also eighteen," Pidge said with a grin. "Katie Holt is sixteen, though."

They both turned to look at Keith, who shrugged. "I was already eighteen when I ran into you guys out in the desert. My next birthday's not till the winter."

"We should do something," Shiro said. "Eighteen's a big occasion. I know Hunk missed out, and I at least missed Keith's birthday last year."

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I threw one hell of a party in my shack in the desert. All the cool kids were there."

"That explains why Lance wasn't invited," Hunk said in a heavy whisper. Pidge giggled and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Are we really going to throw ourselves a birthday party?" Keith asked. "I mean... don't get me wrong, Shiro, but that's kind of pathetic."

"So throw it for Lance," Coran suggested. "His is the only one currently occurring. And he's asleep so he won't even be able to argue about it."

Four sets of Paladin eyes settled on their sleeping teammate.

Hunk grinned. "Oh, Lance loves surprise parties."

Pidge grinned. "Shiro, I will pay you every penny I have if you implement birthday spankings."

Shiro smiled at her. "One: You don't have any money. Two: That would be wildly inappropriate for a team leader. Three: Your birthday will come again, young lady. Do you really want to start that precedent?"

Pidge sighed in exasperation. "Kill joy."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Allura said. "It sounds like a perfect reason to celebrate. We could all use something to cheer us up a little." It could be a good team bonding opportunity as well, but she held that part back. They all tended to roll her eyes when she said the b-word.

"I've got some recipes I've been meaning to whip up," Hunk said. "I could put out a real spread."

Pidge bounced on her knees. "Oh, and I've got something that would make a really good present."

Keith shrugged. "I could decorate?"

Shiro cleared his throat. “All right. If we want this to stay a surprise we should reconvene after we get Lance back to his room. Say, twenty minutes?”

Keith and Pidge disappeared with Coran, and Hunk coaxed Lance awake and dragged him off toward their rooms, one arm slung over his shoulders to steady him. Shiro watched them go with an expression Allura had seen on him a dozen times before when one had had a close call. If she'd ever had any doubt that he was the true leader of Voltron, that look had long since erased it. No one else would care for and protect the paladins as he would.

“Is there anything Coran and I should know?” She stood to stand by his side. “It sounds like the eighteenth birthday is a significant milestone in your culture?”

“It's mostly a legal milestone,” Shiro said. He had one hand on his hip and stretched his prosthetic arm behind him, rolling his shoulder. “EarthGov considers you legally an adult at eighteen.”

She had known they were young, so it didn't come as a great surprise to learn they were only just now coming into their adulthood. “Is there a ceremony? A traditional gift?”

Shiro hummed. “Not really? Different cultures celebrate differently, of course, and some families have their own traditions. Mostly it's like Pidge said. We eat some cake, sing a little song, and the birthday kid blows out some candles.”

“It sounds delightful. I'm looking forward to being able to participate in one of your cultural celebrations.” Allura shook her hair back from her face, nearly dislodging one of the mice as it scurried up her sleeve. She caught it in one palm and lifted it up to her shoulder.

“We’ll have to do the same for you and Coran when your birthdays roll around,” Shiro said. He was smiling easily, arms resting on the back of the couch, legs crossed. She quite liked the easy way his mouth curved up in these moments between battle, when it was just them, just their team. Shiro the Black Paladin was an extraordinary man, of course, but Allura thought privately that she liked this Shiro even better. He was a different man when the Galra were far away and his crew was safe.

“I don’t know that I know when my birthday is, to be honest.” Allura sat down opposite him and smoothed her skirt over her knees. “I know the year, of course, and it was in the winter. But we don’t place much importance on the exact day. As young children we’ll mark the end of the first season, the turn of a calendar year, starting our studies, reaching physical maturity and reaching independence, but those are quietly acknowledged within the family.” She shrugged. “Beyond that, it’s rare to mark regular anniversaries except for large milestones. My father did throw a gala for my tenth anniversary, and again for my fifteenth, but that was a bit extravagant,” she added quickly. “Most people would have a private family celebration, but the royalty often keeps traditions long after the rest of the population has lost interest.” She sighed. “And of course, the war was at its height, so the gala helped distract people and give them something to celebrate.”

“I’m trying to picture little ten-year-old Allura at a gala,” Shiro said. He was smiling widely, his eyes crinkling at the corners in the way she liked. “You must have been cute.”

Allura laughed. “I’m told I was quite charming at that age, but not even the royal family would throw a gala for such a young child. No, if I recall correctly, that anniversary was marked mostly by a sledding expedition down the north slope of the palace gardens.” She smiled, the memory bringing back a swell of fondness. “Coran steered me straight through some ornamental hedges and we ended up hiding in the kitchens while my mother calmed the gardener. One of the cooks brought us spiced cider and finger foods and we all ate dinner sitting on the floor of my father’s study.” It struck her for at least the thousandth time that it was all gone - the palace, her father’s study, the indulgent cook and the elaborate ornamental hedges. Her mother’s sweet voice and her father’s kind eyes. Of all her memories, only Coran remained.

Her chest grew tight and she blinked back the heat from her eyes before she could turn this moment into something bittersweet. “That young, it’s rare to do anything elaborate.”

Shiro was watching her with dark, knowing eyes his mouth twisted with a sympathy she knew contained no trace of pity. “I thought you said for your tenth anniversary there was a gala?” he asked.

“Oh, well, yes. But that wasn’t my tenth year.” His brow furrowed a little and she shrugged. “Remember, we don’t really celebrate the years, just the landmarks, so if we were going to celebrate an age instead of an event, it would be a milestone anniversary.”

“Okay,” Shiro said slowly. “So your tenth anniversary was when you were…”

“One hundred years old,” she finished. “Very few people marked such anniversaries, but as I said, the royal family often kept to old traditions. So every ten years or so there would be a celebration of some sort or another. I believe you call that span of time a decapod?”

Shiro’s eyes crinkled a little more. “Something like that. So you’re more than a hundred and fifty years old?”

“Rather a bit more than that. Of course,” she added. “Why, how old did you think I was?”

Shiro flushed a little, skin turning delightfully pink across his cheeks and nose. It most certainly did not make Allura’s stomach go all fluttery. What a stupid biological reaction. “I had assumed you were about my age, I guess.”

“How old are you?” she asked. She too had assumed they were somewhat of an age, but the way Shiro was acting she’d obviously misjudged.

“Twenty-three,” Shiro said.

“Oh, well that’s not so different as all that,” Allura said.

“Years,” Shiro said. “I’m twenty-three years old. Not decapods.”

Allura blinked at him. “You’re what?”

“Twenty-three years old.” Shiro’s smile shifted, became the tiny little curve of his lips that he wore when one of the paladins had done something foolish that didn’t warrant scolding.

“That’s- You’re-” Allura bit her lip. “But your years are significantly longer than Altean years, surely?”

“Not so much, actually.” Coran had returned from the kitchen at some point and stood leaning against the wall just inside the doorway. He twirled his mustache around one finger. “From what Number Five and I have discussed, I believe the standard Earth year to be approximately five-sixths the length of an Altean year.”

“But that makes you even younger!” Allura stared at Shiro, thoughts whirling in her head. “But that means… The paladins. They are eighteen years old?”

“More or less,” Shiro said. “Except Pidge, of course.”

“They’re children,” she said. “I have-” She sought out Coran’s gaze and found him watching her with a resigned sort of sympathy. Coran had known, she realized. Coran had known exactly how young the new paladins of Voltron were, had understood long before today what they had done. “Coran.”

“Now, Princess, they aren’t as young as all that,” Coran said gently. “Shiro is an adult by their reckoning, and the others as well, or very nearly so. They don’t live quite so long as we do, I’m afraid, so they cram all their childhood into just one or two decapheebs.”

“Yes,” she said, tongue strangely thick in her mouth. “Of course you’re right. Shiro, I didn’t mean to imply-”

“No apology is needed,” Shiro said. “And no offense was taken. I think this is just one of those cultural differences that pops up every now and then.”

Like how the paladins had found it so strange that the Alteans’ did not have a word that meant cousin, or the fact that she’d had to gently explain to Hunk that he was declaring his intentions to court Coran by bringing him breakfast in bed when he was sick, or the time that Shiro had threatened to rip off all four of the Miscketallian ambassador’s hands because Miscketallians had no concept of personal space.

But none of those had involved sending soldiers who hadn’t even seen their second anniversary off to war. On Altea she’d be imprisoned, tried for war crimes, stripped of her rank and titles.

But the paladins were not Alteans and this was hardly the first time she’d met members of a race that lived shorter lifespans than her own. The Olkari lived only a few decades and one of them had been a paladin of Voltron for more than thirty years, so this was hardly an unprecedented situation. It was only new to her, because she had never had to be the one to give the order before.

“Coran’s right, you know.” Shiro’s voice was calm and steady and Allura found herself clinging to it mentally as she tried to adjust her view of the world. “It’s not fair to hold us to your standards. Our species are very different in some ways. But just because an eighteen-year-old Altean would be a child, doesn’t make it true for a human.”

“You call them children all the time,” she said.

“Not where they can hear me,” he said. He grinned, quick and fond. “Well, not unless I’m trying to get them to behave.”

She shook her head. “I’ve been so hard on them.”

“And you’ll continue to be. You’re not a soft-touch, Allura. Not about Voltron, anyway. Or the war. And you shouldn’t be.” He leaned forward so he could rest his elbows on his knees. “This is a war against a madman who would gladly wipe out entire species to get what he wants. Right now the only people who can stop him happen to be very brave, very inexperienced and very young. And it’s hard to send them out there, believe me, I know. But they aren’t children anymore and we can’t take back the trust that we’ve placed on their shoulders. It wouldn’t be fair to them, or to the billions of people who suddenly have hope again now that Voltron’s back.”

She smiled, and it felt tight but honest. “I thought the inspirational speeches were my territory.”

His cheeks went a little pink again. “What can I say, you’re rubbing off on me.”

“I apologize for my overreaction. I should not have assumed.” She exhaled heavily and smoother her hands over her skirt again. “I have the utmost faith in each of you, no matter your relative ages.”

Shiro grinned. “And I’ll remind them of that the next time you scold us for being unprofessional or weaker than an Altean toddler.”

“Well you are,” she said loftily, refusing to smile when he laughed. “Alright, enough of this. I’ve embarrassed myself quite enough, I think. Let’s get this party planned, shall we?”

****

It ended up taking three weeks to get the party planned to everyone’s (Hunk’s) satisfaction, though a ten-day long detour to help a Scaradosian mining colony deal with some pirates didn’t exactly speed things along. Lance still had no idea what they were planning and was growing increasingly baffled by the way conversation frequently came to an abrupt halt whenever he walked into a room. He was starting to sulk about it, and Allura was briefly concerned, but Shiro had explained the concept of a surprise party and sworn her to secrecy. He had made sure they did a better job of hiding their plans from Lance, though, which helped avoid additional sulking.

“We’re certain they’re adults on their world?” she asked Coran under her breath and he’d laughed so hard he had to pretend he was coughing to avoid Shiro’s glare.

Meanwhile Pidge was busy creating gifts - Shiro had made her promise nothing explosive, but Allura suspected there was quite a bit too much leeway left in there for someone as creative as their Pidge - and she had overheard Keith in an intense conversation with Shiro and Coran about what color balloons would be considered appropriate and whether they should match the lions. (“Black isn’t very festive,” Shiro said.)

Hunk had taken his responsibility as cake baker quite seriously and had spent days perfecting his secret recipe, though after he forced each of them to sample a dozen different versions of it, Allura wasn’t entirely sure it could be considered a secret any longer. Lance in particular found himself on the receiving end of Hunk’s culinary efforts, presented with various slices of cake and a glowering, flour-covered Hunk. If nothing else, it seemed to distract him from what the others were getting up to.

The kitchen only caught on fire once and if Lance and Keith started a snowball fight out of the fire retardant foam, well, at least they seemed to be enjoying themselves rather than using it as an excuse to fight. They inevitably teamed up against Shiro, who refused to fight back until Pidge ambushed him from behind and shoved an entire armful of the foam down the back of his pants, at which point he promptly annihilated all three of them, sparing only Hunk who was waving around a kitchen towel that was still slightly on fire and bemoaning the fact that his icing was indistinguishable from the foam.

“Leave it for Coran?” Pidge asked and Allura and Shiro had had to march all four of them back into the kitchen to clean up.

Beyond that, the party itself went off quite well, at least as far as Allura was able to judge. Keith’s decorations were colorful, though she couldn’t testify to their appropriateness (there were, at least, no black balloons, so it seemed he and Shiro had reached an agreement on that aspect). Hunk’s cake was the size of a small shuttlecraft and decorated with brightly colored frosting; set on the table around it were three wrapped packages that Pidge had produced, each one labeled with a name. Shiro had enlisted Coran’s help to have the holo display proclaim “Happy Birthday, Hunk, Keith and Lance!” (the order of the names had varied from one day to the next until Allura realized that whoever had tried Shiro’s patience the most recently was reassigned to third place, at which point she insisted it be in alphabetical order. Shiro had appeared sheepish, but unrepentant.)

Lance, dragged in by an enthusiastic Coran, took one look at the room and immediately went all soft-eyed and pink-cheeked. “You sneaky jerks,” he said, and his eyes were starting to get watery but his voice was pleased and he was smiling.

Pidge was jumping up and down on the couch chanting “presents!” over and over again. Hunk had Keith in a hug that looked a little bit like a headlock, but Keith seemed to be fine with it. Shiro clapped Lance on the back and drew him further into the room. “Alright, birthday boys. Let’s open some presents before Pidge ruins the couch.”

Lance got even more teary-eyed over the small music player Pidge had built for him, and Hunk practically vibrated with joy when presented with some sort of miniature gas torch that was somehow involved in food preparation.

“Humans have the strangest appetites,” Allura murmured to Coran, who nodded emphatically.

Shiro confiscated the portable grenade launcher Pidge had made for Keith. “What did I say about explosives? We had a deal.”

“The launcher doesn’t explode, Shiro,” Pidge said in the tones one would use with a  very small child. “I didn’t make him any grenades, he’ll have to go find those himself. In the locked cabinet at the back of my workshop, next to the Rover 3.4 prototype.”

She flashed Keith a thumbs up behind Shiro’s back that the black paladin clearly pretended not to notice, and all four paladins exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Allura sighed and made a mental note to find some extra training or chores for them the following day.

She leaned against Coran’s shoulder, just a bit, the way she used to when she was younger. “What would my father have done with them?”

“He’d trust the lions, I have no doubt of it at all.” Coran smiled down at her. “And he’d worry, and regret the sacrifice of youth, and work twice as hard to see peace in our lifetime.”

“Peace in their lifetime,” Allura said. She felt the pressure in her chest ease somewhat and if her throat was tight, her voice did not shake. “I will not accept otherwise. We will have peace in their lifetime even if I have to throttle Zarkon to death with my own two hands.”

“I’ve not the slightest doubt you will make it happen, Princess.” Coran nudged her with an elbow. “Now come on, I think it’s time to serenade them, and I’ve been rehearsing for quintants!”

“Oh, well, we can’t miss that,” Alllura said weakly.

Across the room Pidge was jumping on the couch again, and Keith and Lance were wrestling, each trying to shove the other’s face into the cake while Hunk stood over them and threatened them with a very large knife. Shiro was sitting on the couch, arms hooked over the back and legs stretched out in front of him, apparently unconcerned about Pidge flinging herself back and forth across him.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Coran,” she said loud enough to cut through their nonsense. “But I thought this was an adulthood celebration, not a daycare.”

“Ah, Princess,” Coran said in a dramatic voice. “What could you expect? They are basically infants, after all.”

She caught Shiro’s eye for an instant, just to make sure, and he was smiling at her.

Then Pidge jumped off the couch and shoved a plateful of cake in Allura’s face.

“Food fight!” the green paladin bellowed and her teammates cheered as Coran dragged Allura down behind the couch.

On the far side of the room Shiro was snapping orders for cake cutting and setting up Lance and Keith to initiate a barrage while Pidge and Hunk sliced and plated. Lance and Keith were already bickering over who would score the most hits. Pidge and Hunk were betting on whether Allura or Coran would kick their butts first.

Coran gave her a wicked grin.

“No reason we have to sacrifice all of their youth,” Allura said cheerfully. “This is technically combat practice anyway, if you think about it.”

He huffed. “Well, let’s just hope they don’t remember the grenade launcher.”

From over the back of the couch they could hear Shiro’s exasperated shout. “Pidge, what did I just say about explosives?”

“If we retreat now we might live long enough to see our own birthdays,” Coran said.

“Nonsense.” Allura gave him her best conspiratorial smile. “If we can avoid getting sniped by Lance, I bet we can drop him headfirst into the cake. Keith might not even try to stop us once he realizes.”

“If we surrendered now I bet we could eat that cake.”

“Oh come now, Coran.” Allura reached up, snagged a piece of cake out of the air and pounced up to return fire. “Act your age!”

[newstfionline]

The Autonomous Selfie Drone Is Here. Is Society Ready for It?

By Farhad Manjoo, NY Times, Feb. 13, 2018

It’s 2035, the Second American Civil War has been won by the other side, and you find yourself in a heap of trouble with Attorney General Logan Paul. (The future is very troubling.) He has dispatched an all-seeing eye-in-the-sky to tail you, an agile flying machine equipped with 13 cameras and a top speed of 25 miles per hour.

The drone knows your face, your gait and your clothing. It hovers persistently behind your back, moving when you move, stopping when you stop, resisting every effort to shake it. You run into the woods, but you still can’t lose it.

So now what? Clip this article and save it as a guide for surviving our airborne future. In a woodsy park in San Francisco last week, I had an encounter with just such a self-flying drone, and I found only one trick for escape. Hint: It involved the indignity of repeatedly running around a tree.

As the hapless chump in its cross hairs, I will tell you this: Being tailed by a 13-eyed flying machine has a way of focusing the mind.

The drone chasing me, the R1, was created by a start-up called Skydio; it sells for $2,499 and will begin shipping to customers in two to three weeks, the company says. It is the closest thing to a fully autonomous drone you can buy today.

Autonomous drones have long been hyped, but until recently they’ve been little more than that. The technology in Skydio’s machine suggests a new turn. Drones that fly themselves--whether following people for outdoor self-photography, which is Skydio’s intended use, or for longer-range applications like delivery, monitoring and surveillance--are coming faster than you think.

They’re likely to get much cheaper, smaller and more capable. They’re going to be everywhere, probably sooner than we can all adjust to them.

Most consumer drones rely on some degree of automation in flight. DJI, the Chinese drone company that commands much of the market, makes several drones that can avoid obstacles and track subjects.

But these features tend to be less than perfect, working best in mostly open areas. Just about every drone on the market requires a pilot.

“Our view is that almost all of the use cases for drones would be better with autonomy,” said Adam Bry, Skydio’s chief executive.

Skydio was founded by Mr. Bry and Abe Bachrach--who met as graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later started Google’s drone program, Project Wing--along with Matt Donahoe, an interface designer.

Skydio’s basic goal was a drone that requires no pilot. When you launch the R1 using a smartphone app, you have your subject stand in front of the drone, then tap that person on the screen--now it’s locked on. You can also select one of several “cinematic modes,” which specify the direction from which the drone will try to record its subject. (It can even predict your path and stay ahead of you to shoot a selfie from the front.)

After takeoff, it’s hands off. The drone operates independently. In the eight-minute flight I saw--through a wooded trail sparsely populated with runners and dogs--the R1 followed its target with eerie determination, avoiding every obstacle as naturally as an experienced human pilot might, and never requiring help. It lost its subject--me--only once, but I had to really work to make that happen.

How do you lose an R1 that has been told to follow you? Here’s what worked for me: Find a tree. Run around it very precisely, just fast enough to stay exactly opposite the drone, so the tree trunk blocks its view of you for seconds at a time. Do it just right and the bird will lose you, stopping in its tracks, confused.

But I don’t imagine this trick will work for long.

[rafguinabroad-blog]

March - May 2017

One of the reasons I missed out writing the blog for the last couple of months, is that there really isn’t much to write about, all I do is sit at home writing, playing computer games, reading and masturbating*.

As to the writing, my word count is:

Relative Ties – 60,000 Words (vampires and revenge) Apprentice – 30,000 Words magic and war) Librarian – 12,000 Words (sequel to Librarian,) Playboy Cop – 21,000 Words (playboy solves crime – shit title, I need a better one) Orcs – 17,000 Words (orcs join humans and go to war, everyone dies) Sapphire – 2000 Words (outline/plot only – female sheriffs’ deputy and white supremists)

Part of the problem is there is so much on the internet, especially addictive content like Facebook; I’m in my mid-fifties and am addicted to the crap that’s on there. I am also job hunting, and to date have applied for over twenty jobs. These range from forklift driver, courier, office manager, and office assistant, and haven’t had a single reply.

It’s quite dispiriting. Some of the employment agencies have a counter on the web-page when you apply for a job. This means you can see how many other people have applied for the position, one of them was up to 167, and most are hovering around the one hundred mark.

I am hoping to use my remaining Enhanced Learning Credits to do a HGV course, we’ll see how that pans out; it also means these coming weeks will be filled with the Highway Code and Hazard Perception practice.

Myself, Matt, Marc, Pat, Ashley, and Matty, spent the other Saturday at the Cambridge CAMRA beer festival. My first impression was that it was organised by a bunch of Doolally** monkeys who had problems organising a piss up in a .... oh wait! When we arrived, we spent 10 minutes queuing, got to the end of said queue, and discovered that we were in the CAMRA Members only queue. There was no sign or any information that we were in the privileged line, until we got to the part where we had to pay.

We then had to go to the end of the queue snaking in from the opposite side, and requeue for another 10 bloody minutes. This may not sound a lot, but when you have already had a shit load of coffee, water and beer, and your bladder is the size of an under developed orange, those extra 10 minutes are quite emotional.

Anyway, once we were in, CAMRA redeemed themselves with good overall organisation, and a superb selection of beers and food vendors. For those of you who don’t know how a beer festival works, the first thing you do is buy a one-pint beer glass.

This glass is marked up with measurements at the one-third, one-half and one pint marks, so when you womble up to the counter you can order those sizes, this helps prevent you only ordering pints all day and getting totally smashed.

There were approx. 216 beers, ciders, and meads. There was also a stand with wine, which I didn’t taste. To give you an example of how seriously the Brits take their drinking, here is a selection of my favourite beer names taken from the Cambridge Beer Festival website: • Twisted 7.0% • Lavender Honey 3.7% (with real lavender added) • Milk Shake 5.6% • Mariana Trench 5.3% • Black Pig 4.2% • True Blue 3.9% • Henry Tudor 5.0% • Death or Glory 7.2% • Strawberry Sundae 4.5% • Lonely Snake Citra & Simcoe 3.5% • Repetitive Strain Injury 5.6% • Brainstorm 4.0% • Slightly Foxed 3.8% • Ginger Panther 3.7% (this one made me think of Craig – but replace the Panther with a Sloth) • Dark Side of the Moo 7.0% • Chocolate Orange Stout 6.7% • Marcus Aurelius 7.5% (apparently it’s an Imperial Roman Stout) • Spiffing Wheeze 3.9% • Horny Goat 4.8% • Crispy Pig 4.0% • Prince of Denmark 7.5% • Fallen Angel 4.2% • Visions of Heresy 5.7% • Hand of Doom 8.2% • New Balls Please 3.7% • Mad Monk 4.8% • Back Sack & Quack 4.2% • Scream If You Want To Go Faster 8.1% • Smooth Hoperator 4.0% • Fall of Man 6.0% • Hot Dog Chilli Stout 5.0% (Just enough chillis to produce a pleasant aftertaste) • Bitter Invention of Satan 8.6%

Remember, these are beers or ciders, and all of them are handmade with love and affection. I enjoyed drinking them, not only for the taste, but also so I could walk up to the counter, hand over my glass, and say “New balls please.” Or “May I have Visions of Heresy please.” The other good thing about the day, was I was not the largest person there, not by a long way, in fact some of the women could have easily dominated me.

Matt and I had a most fantastic handmade pizza, which was made in front of us for lunch, and although it was slightly expensive, it was worth it. The only downside to the day was that my back had given way the week before, so I was in the most terrible pain. I was alright when I was walking, but struggled with sitting down. So the rest of the lads decided to show their caring side, and we walked the couple of miles back to the train station, and had bit of a pub crawl on the way back.

Marc held his 48th Birthday in his back garden, and he and I did a BBQ. For those of you who are unaware, Marc has a bar and a reasonable sized hot tub in his back garden, and as the weather was okay, most of us had a good time.

The only two creepy events of the evening were; Marc seemed determined to get me in the hot tub with him – I fought him off bravely; and I spent 20 minutes using a rolled-up towel to gently flick the bottom of a 6 year old girl in a swimsuit as she ran back and forth daring me. All present seemed comfortable with it. But I suspect that come my trial, it’ll be used as evidence against me.

Anyway, moving on. I’m currently looking for love, or just good old sex, on Tinder, and my age range is 45 – 60; apparently, it’s wrong of me to put 16 – 25 – who knew! One thing I have noticed is that a large number of women around my age, post pictures of their dogs, cats, horses, etc, instead of themselves. Why, do they think I’ll find the pets sexy?

How am I as a middle aged-to-old man, supposed to know if I can love you, or mate with you, in a loving and non-kinky way, when all I can see is a picture of a parrot, a pussy, pug or poodle, are the women subconsciously sending out a message as to what they think they look like? If so, they need to be seeing a psychiatrist, not looking for rejection or perverts on tinder.

Every couple of months I get my haircut by a gentleman of Brazilian descent, and the other day as I was sitting in the chair all tucked in, I couldn't help but notice that, a) he wasn't wearing underpants, and b) he was quite well endowed. Imagine if you will somebody walking around you in a tight circle, occasionally brushing your arm, with a small snake wiggling around in his pants. It was the closest I've been to sex in years, even if it was with the wrong gender.

Envisage if you will, a snake charmer whose snake is hiding in his pants and swaying gently from side to side, and it occasionally brushes up against you like a cat, or rather a snake, behaving in a non-threatening manner.

A few blogs ago I queried why manufacturers made deodorant that was good for 48, 72, or 96 hours. Since I have stopped working, quite often I'll not bother showering every day, and my record is three days. In other words, the manufacturers make deodorant for the unemployed. And I suspect it's not because we're all skint, it's because we either can't be bothered or we lose track of time.

The other week Whilst in Norwich, I went to Jacamo to get some t-shirts for myself, and when Marc found out I was going, he asked me to pick up a couple of things for him. He wanted sleeveless t-shirts, and when I questioned him about his poor choice, he told me that sleeveless was the correct dress code for the gym. Now, to be honest, I’ve seen him wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, and trust me the correct dress code for him at any time, never mind in the gym, is a burqa and gimp mask.

Julie and Pat came round the other day for dinner, and as she walked in, the first thing Julie asked was “Jim can I use your Spermy keyboard?” Great! How well she knows me. First thing she saw when she sat down at the desk was a pubic hair, I swear it wasn’t, she insists it was; I did however, strongly suggest that once she’d finished, she wash her hands thoroughly.

A few weeks ago, Craig suddenly out of the blue asked me if my mobile was a Samsung Galaxy S6, and when I confirmed it was, he said did you know they're all wireless charging - it must be true because his mum said so. After mocking him for 5 mins, we drove to the only place we knew with wireless charging points - McDonald's, and arrived there at nine o’clock at night.

We bet a McDonald's meal on it. I was right, when we put the phone on the recharge pad nothing happened; however, Craig had more faith in his mum than McDonald's technology, and went and tried a different recharge point. Bastard phone started recharging, so we stayed and Craig tried to eat his own bodyweight.

Quote of the month:

Quote: All the Islamists from Saudi Arabia are wasabi. *** Corrected quote: All the Islamists from Saudi Arabia are Wahhabi.

How do you know that your friends are following the Slimming World diet? They turn up at your house for a dinner party, and bring Best Of Both (BOB) milk because they want to be healthy when they have their obligatory cup of tea or coffee. They also quiz you on the ingredients used in the making of the meal, and then spoil it by having four or five cookies along with their coffee!

Myself, Marc and Pat are on one of our diets again. We’ll eat healthily, but also cut out all booze for June – let’s see how that goes and who crumbles first. Marc’s trying to turn it into a competition, and is giving me daily updates as to his weight, food, and toilet schedule – and people say nothing exciting happens in my world!

That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll get a job and have something interesting to talk about in future. Jim

*Five, the record is still five, and I’m not going to lie, I thought my dick was going to drop off by the end. **To 'lose one′s mind'/an idiot or, Temporarily deranged or feeble-minded. ***Wasabi'ist – someone who loves hot Japanese condiments.