#matt literally gets to nerd out talking about cars

[ninyard]

🌻🌻🤍

one time andrew is having some problem with his car and mentions it to neil in front of matt and matt knows literally anything and everything to do with cars so he offers to take a look. he ends up knowing exactly what the problem is and how to fix it, so him and andrew spend a couple days over the course of a week doing different things for the car; going to a mechanic to order in parts, matt checks the whole thing over in case anything else needs a service, and then matt talks andrew through what exactly he’s doing to fix the problem. andrew’s loves cars but is less knowledgeable about the mechanics side of things, but he hangs on to every word that leaves matt’s mouth, in case it’s information he’ll need to use again. matt shows him how to do something and then gets him to try it. they fix it pretty quickly, and andrew thanks him by throwing him the keys for a couple hours afterwards and tells him it’ll never happen again. (he’s not entirely serious, but he does spend those few hours anxiously waiting for matt to come back)

[strawberrystrangers]

Do you think JJ would constantly stay over at readers house bc he feels safe there compared to his own??

🦋anon

I love this!! I also kind of love the idea of the reader having accepting parents too bc that scene with Kiara’s hurt hurt!!

This literally just became a “please let JJ have a win with a girlfriend’s family who actually loves him” write-up…

Yeah he loved the independence that the chateau gave him, but your house had the company and it had the warmth of family. Your parents have stern rules about bedroom etiquette but they’ve practically given him the spare room whenever.

He definitely swings by after altercations with his dad; he’s been walking the street for hours trying to get the courage to ask if he can see you (& he does this every time, even after the 50th visit) because his insecurity is so deeply rooted in feeling like a burden (fuck you, Luke) to everyone.

So when he says he should go, because he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome, you’re always responding to it with “please stay” and not a “you can stay if you want” knowing he needs the clarifying reassurance that you want him there.

You’ll ask your parents downstairs if he can stay, and they’re always happy to say yes.

Your dad will talk to him in the kitchen while he’s making the dinner, and JJ helps with his experience from his summer jobs in the golf club kitchen. Your dad will never fail to find out how bad the altercation was, and give gentle advice and care and love and reassurance to jj, emphasising that he’s always welcome and never alone. Your dad is basically the Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting to Matt Damon. Your dad will hug him for as long as JJ needs it and there’s a few shared tears between them.

At dinner, your parents are always so interested in what JJ’s been up to—and when he divulges about the gold and his adventures, they believe him and want to hear more. They always make him feel like they see potential in him and that he’s not destined to be like his father & that his name isn’t tainted with a pre-made future.

JJ will talk mechanics with your mum, she’ll ask him if he knows what’s up with their car and he’ll go on this whole nerd talk about it.

He’ll help clean up: he washes the dishes and you dry them while your parents sit at the table still, sipping beer or martinis.

The recurring thought they always have, and the recurring thing they’ll always tell JJ is: “you have the kindest soul who has found it’s other half in our daughter” and they always make it clear that they’d rather him with you—a Pogue with gentleness—than the boys who attempt to butter them up—Kooks with misogynistic views.

[camaro-and-smokes]

A Shot for Life

Warnings: no warnings New tags: sexting

Chapter 12: I've been in love before

Summary: The week after the date, waiting for the next one, couldn't have gone slower for neither of them. Luckily, something both of them had anticipated to happen on the second date took place before that - almost by accident…

Read on AO3 >>

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SUNDAY, AFTER THE DATE

Steve walked to his car that was parked on the curb, grinning ear to ear the whole way.

The way Billy had reached out to him just before he’d turned away was all Steve needed to know of how the date had gone. It made all his insecurities ease a bit—the age difference, different life stages, the long time he’d been out of the market…

Okay, he knew he was a catch. Many had made that clear to him over the years. But Billy was so much more than he could’ve ever hoped to find—talented, smart, young and gorgeous—it did make him feel a little bit inadequate. Billy could get literally anyone and yet he was interested in him. It made his heart race with an exhilaration he hadn’t felt in years.

His AMG was the only one on the street that defied the light from the sinking sun with its matte blue color—it always stood out, just like it was meant to do. The car had been the only one he’d cared for in addition to his cameras for so long, and now he felt a bit conflicted as that easy balance was suddenly tipped over.

He slid into the driver’s seat and closed the door, cocooning himself from the outside world. As he pressed the start button, the engine roared to life, the familiar vibrations thrumming through his body.

He allowed his mind to wander a bit as the car idled, replaying each precious moment of the date. The way Billy’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed. The hesitant way he’d put the phone on the table with his other hand rather than letting go of Steve’s. The depth of understanding in Billy’s gaze as they talked about everything.

Steve’s lips curved into a soft smile as he realized that everything between them had only gotten stronger from what it had been in the Bahamas. The feeling was all brand new—and scared the shit out of him.

As he pulled out onto the bustling New York streets, he couldn’t help but marvel at the unexpected turn his life had taken. Just a mere week ago, he had been focused solely on his career, his heart guarded and his emotions locked away. Now, with the promise of something real and beautiful, he dared to hope for more.

As he soon waited in an unfortunate but not at all surprising long line at the red lights, he decided to call Eddie.

“Hey, Steve, my man. What’s up?” Eddie’s voice filled the car.

Steve grinned, unable to contain his excitement. “Just left from a date.”

“Okay, wow, you really didn’t wait,” Eddie said, laughing. “Did you call him straight away when you left here yesterday?”

“Texted him when I got home. Then next time I looked at the clock, it was almost 3:30 in the morning.” Steve chuckled. “And even now, the owner of the café had to throw us out after four hours because they closed for the day.”

Eddie laughed. “Sounds like the date went exactly as hoped.”

“It was incredible. He’s just…we both had felt it, the what I told you about. I’m…quite lost for words right now.”

“Look at you, getting all smitten!” Eddie teased, his tone laced with genuine affection. “I’m happy for you, man. It’s about time you found someone who can keep up with your photography nerd talk.”

Steve chuckled, his cheeks warming at the gentle ribbing. “You’re one to talk, Mr. Guitar Magazine of the year five years in a row . But seriously, there’s just something about him. I can’t really pinpoint what, but can’t wait to find out.”

“You so deserve to be happy. Just don’t let that brilliant mind of yours over-think it.”

Steve sighed, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. “Yeah, I hear you. It’s just…I can’t help but to think how long it’s been. And he’s so young and I’m…He could get anyone, and he wants me.”

“Dude, don’t question yourself so much. Sure, you have an age difference, but it doesn’t have to be a problem. It only becomes one if you let it. Besides, it sounds like he’s just as smitten as you are. No one would listen to you jargon your way through some random photograph in a magazine unless they were interested.”

Steve could hear the amusement in Eddie’s voice. “Oh ha ha,” he replied, but couldn’t keep a grin from tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re welcome,” Eddie laughed. “So, give me details.”

As Steve launched into a detailed account of the date, his voice tinged with excitement and disbelief, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Sharing his joy with Eddie, knowing that he had someone who supported him unconditionally, made the deeper connection with Billy feel all the more real and precious.

When the call with Eddie ended, Steve found himself alone with his thoughts once more, only the purr of the engine as his companion as he drove the car to the underground garage of his building. His mind drifted to next Saturday and the upcoming date, a flurry of emotions swirling within him. Anticipation ran through his veins, electric and all-consuming, as he pictured Billy looking at him with that brilliant smile across his face.

Steve’s heartbeat quickened at the thought of seeing Billy in the intimate setting of his own apartment. The prospect of getting to be with Billy, truly just the two of them and losing themselves in each other’s presence, sent a shiver down his spine.

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough.

+++

Billy closed the apartment door with a gentle click, leaning back against it as a contented sigh escaped his lips. The lingering warmth of Steve’s touch still tingled on his skin, their date playing in his mind like a cherished film reel. He wanted to savor every moment, to etch each shared laugh and meaningful glance into his heart.

Heather was sitting on the couch in the tiny nook they called the living room in the corridor of their apartment. She glanced up from the magazine splayed across her lap, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” she teased, tossing the glossy pages aside. She patted the couch cushion beside her. “Get your sweet little butt over here and dish, honey. I want to hear everything.”

Billy crossed the space in quick strides, still dazed from the date. He sank into the plush brown couch, feeling like he was floating. “It was…incredible,” Billy breathed dreamily. “Steve is…exactly as amazing as I’ve always imagined him to be. Talented and experienced and— GOD —he’s so hot! We met at this small café that was also a second-hand bookstore, and it was the coziest place ever. And we talked for hours.” He chuckled. “The owner had to basically kick us out.”

“So…did you exchange fluids?”

Billy leaned his head on the backrest of the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why do you have to be so crass?” he groaned.

Heather cackled. “Because someone needs to keep your feet on the ground, loverboy, and Max isn’t here. So, did you?”

“No. He was a gentleman. We just held hands.”

Heather raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. “Ooh, getting handsy on the first date? Sounds like this Steve guy doesn’t waste any time.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Billy insisted, his cheeks flushing. “It was…intimate. He showed me some photos from the shoot and our hands brushed and…” He paused, lost in the memory for a moment. “He looks at me like I’m the only person in the world,” he said quietly. “And he actually listens to every word I say, like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever heard.”

Heather’s expression softened. “You really got it bad, don’t you?”

Billy knew he was falling fast and hard. “Yeah, I do,” he admitted. “I’m still not sure what he sees in me, though.”

“Oh, I have an idea what he sees in you,” Heather teased.

“Oh c’mon, don’t start again with that,” Billy groaned, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

“Oh c’mon yourself. He’s a big-shot photographer who could get anyone, and he chooses an up-and-coming model who’s 20 years younger than him.”

Billy’s brow furrowed as he looked at her. “I know you think he has some kind of ulterior motive, but that’s not who he is.”

“I’m just saying it seems a little suspicious.” Heather shrugged, her tone casual but her gaze sharp. “Who knows, maybe he’s trying to get in your pants and later tell you it’ll FuRtHeR yOuR cArEeR. And when you then tell him no, he’ll blackmail you into a relationship anyway.”

Billy bristled at the suggestion, his defenses rising like a shield. “Right. Well, you always think the worst of people first.” Yet, he couldn’t help but to think if there were any signs in Steve’s behavior that would suggest what Heather said. But all he could see was the genuine warmth in Steve’s eyes and hear the sincerity in his words. “He’s never said anything about advancing my career. Well, except given me bragging rights of being photographed by him, but that’s it. He really is interested in me, not just my looks.”

Heather held up her hands in a placating gesture, her expression softening. “Hey, I’m not trying to rain on your parade.” She sighed, her voice tinged with concern. “Seems you’re falling hard for this guy and you’re a big boy but…I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I know. He’s just…after all the dickheads, it’s refreshing to go on a date with someone who isn’t in a rush to get inside me.”

“So…when were you planning on letting him do that?” Heather deadpanned.

Billy flushed. “Um…”

“Oh god,” she said and her laughter bubbled out, filling the room. “Second date?”

Billy wanted to sink between the cushions. “Maybe…” he replied with a tiny voice, feeling his cheeks heating.

“Ok, so you’re not putting out on the first date, but the second is fine. Got it,” Heather stated sarcastically.

Billy playfully swatted her arm. “Hey! I wouldn’t put out at all if he was a dickhead! He’s nice!”

“And he has a big dick, right?”

Billy shook his head and took a pillow, hiding his face in it. His voice was muffled by the pillow. “I think so.”

Heather cackled. “You have any proof?”

Billy nodded at the pillow, then threw it away and looked at her. “Sure. He was wearing these linen slacks one day on the set and…” He sighed, not believing that here he was, once again, explaining to her how his size kink contributed to his decisions. “They really didn’t hide that much. He’s, uh…hung.”

“Alright,” Heather said with a satisfied grin. “I bet you had a hard time concentrating that day, am I right?”

“Oh god, you have no idea.”

Heather chortled. “No wonder you’re eager to get to his bed. Do you think he has a lot of experience?”

“Well…He’s known not to date, so at least he doesn’t have hundreds of partners if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Yeah, well, okay, that too. But he’s had a lot of time to explore. Probably at least a few more partners than what you’ve had. He probably knows what he likes and is eager to teach you…” Heather teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Billy stood up, feeling his cheeks burning. “I’m so not having that conversation with you, or I can’t look him in the eyes.”

Heather cackled. “Just remember, if he breaks your heart, I’ll break his face,” she hollered after him.

“Deal!” Billy shouted over his shoulder on his way to his room.

MONDAY

Steve stared at the computer screen, the cursor blinking accusingly on the empty email he was supposed to write. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, frozen, as his mind yet again wandered back to the previous day’s date.

“Focus, dammit,” he muttered under his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, trying to dislodge the distracting thoughts. He needed to write this email now, to get it out of the way and agree on the thing with the recipient, he couldn’t push it any further.

So, he forced himself to type a few lines, but after that he found his gaze drifting to his phone laying on the desk next to the screen. His heart fluttered with anticipation, hoping to see Billy’s name light up the screen.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he chided himself. “He’s at work, on some fitting. He won’t have time to think of you.” Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder if Billy was thinking about him. Was he reliving their easy conversation and chemistry, too?

Steve’s fingers itched to pick up the phone and send a casual message. Something witty yet flirty to make Billy smile. He started mentally composing a text, then stopped himself. “Stop it. Now,” he huffed, standing up, and took the phone to the kitchen to remove the temptation.

Being able to focus on the task at hand once again, he finally managed to compose the message and hit send. Immediately, his thoughts went back to the phone and the message to Billy.

Okay, you can now drop this lovesick teenager act , he told himself. But as he did, he felt a helpless smile tugging at his lips. Because underneath the anxiety and uncertainty, a bright kernel of happiness glowed. Billy had awakened something in him—a zest for life, a joyful abandon that Steve thought he’d lost long ago.

TUESDAY

The fitting room and the Givenchy HQ buzzed with activity, a whirlwind of luxurious fabrics and gleaming accessories. Billy sat perched on a velvet ottoman, surrounded by racks of brand new haute couture creations that would make any fashion enthusiast weak at the knees. Yet, despite the opulence enveloping him, his mind wandered to a different luxury—Steve’s warm eyes and gentle touch.

“Billy? Did you hear what I said about the runway walk?” Margaret’s voice cut through his reverie.

Billy blinked, suddenly aware that he’d completely missed his manager’s question. “I’m sorry, what was that?” he asked, a flush creeping up his neck.

Margaret sighed, her exasperation tinged with concern. “Darling, I know this is all very exciting and you have a lot on your mind right now, but you need to stay focused. This campaign could make your career.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Billy nodded, running a hand over his face. If you only knew what kinds of things I have on my mind, he thought, and a smile tucked the corners of his lips upward. He cleared his throat. “I’ll try to concentrate, got it.”

As a stylist approached with an armful of tailored jackets, he tried to shake off thoughts of Steve. But even as he slipped his arms into a sleek black blazer and the stylist needled the coat to match his measures, he couldn’t help but wonder what Steve’s hands would feel like running along the expensive fabric.

“Christ,” Billy muttered under his breath. “Get it together.”

“Huh?” the stylist asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Uh, nothing. The jacket fits perfectly,” Billy replied quickly, cringing at the fact that again he’d spoken his thoughts out loud. He really needed to get a grip.

As he moved through the fittings, he made a real effort to engage and to be present in the moment. He stood in front of mirrors for hours on end, bored as hell, but still managed to crack a few jokes with the styling team. But beneath it all, Steve’s presence lingered in his mind.

During a brief lull, as Margaret conferred with the Givenchy team, Billy looked at his reflection in a full-length mirror. The man looking back at him was undeniably stunning in the tailored suit—but all he could think about was how Steve would capture this moment through his lens. It cracked a smile on his face. To have Steve shoot the backstage rush of a show with him in it…he’d love to have that happen one day.

He sighed. Future . He was already thinking about the future with Steve . It was scary to have such big thoughts stemming from something that was barely a week old.

WEDNESDAY

Steve was standing in the middle of his studio, planning the order of the LA exhibition photo canvases that finally had arrived. Or he was supposed to be. Instead, his head was far away, with Billy and his well-toned body.

Robin walked through the door with the last of the canvases, huffing. “These things are heavy. You could’ve helped a little with the last ones as well.”

Steve blinked and found himself staring at the portrait of the praying mantis. “Uh, sorry. I got, eh…caught in thinking about the order.” He attempted a casual shrug, but the telltale flush creeping up his neck gave him away.

Robin rolled her eyes that sparkled with mischief. “Uh-huh, sure. And I suppose that dopey grin has nothing to do with a certain blond bombshell?”

Steve couldn’t help but chortle at Robin’s astute observation. She could always read him like an open book. With a sigh of resignation, he walked to her and took the canvases, a boyish grin tugging at his lips. “Okay, you got me. Thank you for bringing these up.” Steve’s voice softened, his eyes taking on a dreamy quality. “It’s just…amazing. I know I keep using big words about it, but I don’t know how else to describe it.”

Robin stood next to him, giving an appreciative glance at the canvases in front of them. Then she nudged Steve’s side with her elbow. “I have never seen you this smitten before. It’s kind of cute.”

Steve’s smile faltered slightly, a flicker of apprehension crossing his features. “It’s exciting, but also terrifying. His career is just taking off. What if I mess it up for him? Make him look like he’s a gold-digger, just using me as a stepping stone. And me as a horny old man who is just after a great piece of ass. That would be hardly professional of me.”

Robin’s tone was gentle but firm. “Well, those are things you need to consider by yourself. You know how I feel about it, but it’s your life.”

Steve sighed. “Yes, I know.” He glanced at her. “Should we get to work on these?”

After they were done and the final order for the exhibition decided, they sat down in the kitchen for some light lunch.

“So, are you gonna see him again?” Robin asked.

Steve nodded, a determined glint in his eye. “Yeah, we have a date on Saturday.”

A teasing grin spread across Robin’s face. “What’s your plan for it?”

Steve chuckled and felt a blush creeping up his neck. “Well, I’m cooking us dinner and just…spending time together.”

Robin arched her brow. “Just spending time together?”

Steve shook his head and squeezed his eyes closed, earning a laugh from Robin. “Guilty as charged. We’re both adults. But if he doesn’t want to, then I’m fine with that, too.”

“Listen,” Robin said with a soft smile. “Even though I don’t agree with you…I’m happy that you found someone. It was about time, you know, for you to get some.”

“HEY!”

THURSDAY

The marketing team’s conference room at the ad agency buzzed with activity as sleek presentations flashed across the wall-mounted screen. Billy sat at the long table, his fingers drumming an erratic rhythm on the polished surface. Gavin’s voice faded into a distant hum as Billy’s mind drifted. Steve hadn’t been able to join this meeting because of some other work, so Billy kept thinking about the sweet messages he’d exchanged with Steve over the week.

How Steve wanted to hear about his day and how he was interested in even the small details that Billy mentioned about the things he’d done. Even through texts, Steve was present, giving Billy his undivided attention. The guys Billy had previously dated, if you could call the situationships that had barely lasted a few months dating , had never been that interested. Never been as serious about him as Steve.

“Billy, since Steve couldn’t make it to the meeting, do you remember what you talked with him about the concept of these photos?” Gavin asked, showing the photos on the screen Billy had contributed his ideas to.

The question snapped Billy to reality. “Oh, uh…” Billy fumbled, his cheeks flushing. “We talked about…” He tried desperately to remember what they’d specifically talked about. Then it hit him. “Angles. I said that the photos could be taken from other angles, so he said he’d try the low angle if the weather conditions allowed it. The rest is all Steve.”

“Alright,” Gavin said, nodding his head and jotting down notes. “I’ll check it with Steve once more, then.”

As the discussion continued, Billy’s gaze kept darting to his phone, nestled face-down on the table. His leg bounced impatiently under the desk.

Unable to resist any longer, Billy discreetly slid his phone into his lap. His heart raced as he saw a new message from Steve.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it to the meeting. I hope it isn’t as boring as mine was. Would’ve rather been there with you.”

A small smile played on Billy’s lips, warmth spreading through his chest. He quickly typed back, “It’s boring as hell. Be glad you’re not here.”

Margaret nudged Billy’s arm. “Hey, you should pay attention. Remember why we’re here.”

Startled, Billy looked up, hoping his flushed face wasn’t too obvious, and put down his phone. “Sorry.”

As he tried to concentrate once more, his mind raced between the campaign strategies, his input in it, and the thrill of Steve’s messages. He felt like he was being pulled in two directions, his career ambitions clashing with his growing desire for Steve. It was clearly becoming a problem he’d have to find a solution to or everything he’d built before meeting Steve would go down the drain.

He had two choices to ease the pressure—out of which he knew the one he’d take on Saturday.

FRIDAY

Billy collapsed onto his bed, exhaustion from the day’s events washing over him. It had been the first day all week he could make it to the gym for a proper workout and he was spent.

His phone dinged at the nightstand, and he reached to it to see who it was. Well, he guessed who it was, but still his heart raced as he saw Steve’s name illuminated on the screen. The time at the top of the screen read 11:23 pm, and their date was tomorrow evening, but sleep was the furthest thing from his mind.

“Finally done for the day. How was yours?” Steve wrote.

Billy grinned, fingers flying across the keyboard. “Had all my shoe fittings today and half of what they’d planned for me didn’t fit. My toes will fall off if I have to walk in those monstrosities for more than a minute on a runway.”

“Ouch. Is there something I can do to make the pain go away?”

Billy’s eyebrows rose slowly. Was Steve offering what he thought he was? “You could distract me.”

“Oh? How?”

Billy let out a laugh. Sweet, sweet Steve, always so chivalrous. A bit oblivious too, but Billy could grant him that. Being sweet was why Billy was interested in him in the first place. “Can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Me neither. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”

“Oh Steve, come on,” Billy said out loud, amused. He’d have to take a lead on this, apparently. He typed, “I keep thinking about what it’d be like to be alone with you.”

Steve took a deep breath as he read Billy’s message. He’d jerked off every night to the mere memory of Billy in that tight t-shirt and the even tighter jeans he’d been wearing at the date. They’d hugged his ass so perfectly as he’d walked towards the subway station, and Steve had wanted to squeeze that ass and take a bite of those perfect globes. He still did. Hoped he could do both tomorrow.

For a moment he wondered if he should keep acting as if he didn’t know what Billy meant—oh, he knew, he wasn’t born yesterday—and leave the tension to build until tomorrow evening. Or…

“Me too, but we’ll see each other tomorrow,” he finally typed, grinning.

Billy groaned and dropped the phone on the bed, burying his face in his hands. Did he really have to wait until tomorrow…His thought was cut short by another message from Steve.

“I’m really looking forward to finding out what kind of dessert you’ll bring.”

Billy’s heart skipped a beat at Steve’s reply. The man was such a tease. God. “Dessert, huh? What would you like?”

Steve had to adjust his position on the bed to lean more to the headboard when he read the message. With a shaky breath, he typed, “You.”

Billy’s eyes widened as he read Steve’s message, and his cock twitched. He wondered for a while if their preferences matched. They hadn’t talked about that stuff yet. Everything had been too new for it. Until now. He didn’t mind being one or the other, but the other one was more satisfying to him. “How do you want me?”

“Naked on my bed, splayed in front of me,” Steve typed a reply, biting his lip. They were finally getting over just the friendly banter and casual messages, and Steve waited for Billy’s answer with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. His heart pounded in his chest as his phone vibrated again in his hand. The response was just as he’d hoped:

“If I’d do that, what would happen?”

Steve’s dick hardened at Billy’s direct response. He could envision Billy, naked and beautiful on his bed, hands outstretched, a lustful invitation on his face. Steve’s fingers trembled as he typed his reply. “I’d crawl on you and kiss you slowly. Savor your taste,” Steve wrote.

Billy’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he read Steve’s words, imagining his touch. He felt his body respond instinctively, his cock hardening and aching for release. “I’d run my fingers through your hair and kiss you back, let your tongue wander in my mouth, nip at your lip.” He could practically feel Steve’s lips on his own, their tongues dancing together as their bodies pressed against each other.

Steve took a deep breath, heat pooling in his abdomen. “I’d kiss my way down your neck and your chest, run my hands on your body, tracing every curve and contour of you.”

“You’re making me hard, you know that, don’t you?” Billy typed, unable to contain himself.

“It’s what I’m aiming for,” Steve replied. “You asked me to distract you. I’m just catering to your needs.”

“Fuuuck,” Billy groaned quietly. Yes, he’d asked for it, and Steve was certainly delivering. The man was going to be the end of him. Might as well…“Please,” he typed back. “I wanna see it. Show me.”

Steve was sweating. He’d done nothing like this, sexting for one and taking a dick pic for another. Nervous, he pulled down his briefs enough to release his now fully hard cock. He tried to take a photo from several angles, then realizing that the photographer in him had just gotten the better of him. So, he just made sure his face was in the corner of the next shot so Billy would see it was him, fixed the color balance a little and sent it immediately to ensure he wouldn’t chicken out. Then he typed another message, “Your turn.”

Steve suddenly going quiet made Billy wonder if he’d asked too much too soon. He was already typing a message to tell Steve he didn’t have to show it if he didn’t want to, when a message from Steve came through.

Billy’s jaw quite literally dropped. The first thing that drew his attention was that Steve was hairy. Everywhere. Billy usually didn’t like that much hair, but when it was on Steve, he’d take it a thousand times. And his hair wasn’t the only thing that was getting gray. His chest hair was all salt and pepper as well. Billy wanted to bury his face into that mat of hair, feel it on his face.

Then his eyes wandered lower and he grinned as he saw Steve’s dick. He had guessed correctly, Steve was huge.

Since Billy knew Steve’s hands were large, it gave him a good idea how big the dick Steve was holding actually was—and it was impressive: longer than average, but not too much, and thick. Briefly Billy wondered what being dicked down with that would feel like and then all he could think about was that he couldn’t wait to find out. “I like my men with big cocks. Can’t wait to have you inside me.”

Steve groaned, squeezing the base of his dick as he imagined himself being buried inside Billy. And if the thought wasn’t enough, another message came through with a selfie. It was taken from high up: Billy was looking up at the camera with a teasing grin, his dick in his hand. 

He was far more gorgeous naked than Steve could’ve ever imagined. Sunkissed skin all the way, tight abs and an Adonis belt that lead into dark blond curls in the base of his erect dick. It wasn’t as big as his, but still Steve couldn’t wait to get his mouth on it. His breathing grew shallower as he thought that he might be able to do that tomorrow. Then he realized that based on what was happening right now, it was very likely he’d get to do just that. He couldn’t wait to get Billy to himself. “I’ve jerked off to the thought of you all week,” he confessed. “You just gave me a hell of a lot more material.”

Billy let out a frustrated sigh. “Don’t know if I can take it all in 🫦 it’s gonna stretch me to my limits.”

“It’s going to be tight,” Steve replied, groaning as he typed.

The thought of being stretched by Steve’s cock sent shivers down Billy’s spine. “I’ll love it.”

Steve’s breathing grew shallower as he replied, “Can’t stop thinking about the sounds you’ll make when I take you with it. The way you’ll beg for more.”

Billy was on fire. “Want you to fuck me from behind, grab my neck and breathe hard in my ear,” he typed.

Steve pumped his dick at a faster pace, imagining it moving in and out of Billy’s perfect ass. “I’ll tell you how well you’re taking me while I keep pounding into you.”

Billy moaned softly, his hand stroking his aching cock as he read Steve’s message. “Yeah, want you to take control.”

Steve’s heart raced as he typed, “I’ll take my time with you, savor every moment. Tease you until you’re begging for release.”

Billy groaned, trying to keep his voice down. He was already achingly close and didn’t want to wake Heather, who was asleep on the other side of the paper-thin wall. “Please, I’m so close already.”

“I’ll come inside you, coat your insides with my cum and push you over the edge,” Steve texted, feeling his insides burning. He put the phone down to jerk at the mental image, and it took just a few strokes for him to come hard over his abs.

Billy’s breath hitched as he read the message. Steve was perfect. He could almost feel Steve’s monster of a dick fucking him hard. At that thought, with a few quick strokes, he came in his hand with an orgasm so intense that it left him breathless.

After a while, Billy’s phone pinged again with Steve’s message.

“Was that good for you?”

Billy smiled. “Yeah. Really can’t wait for tomorrow. What kind of topping do you want on the dessert?”

“Me, preferably.”

Billy chortled. “Hey, I was trying to ask a serious question!”

“No, you weren’t 😈”

Billy laughed. “Ok, I’ll take your offer 😉 Good night 💗”

Steve stared at the ceiling after he’d wished Billy good night. He was slowly starting to believe in himself again, that maybe he was worthy of being loved. That what had happened to him a lifetime ago didn’t have to define him anymore.

[aliasimagines]

It Was You All Along // Dave Lizewski

requested by a lovely anon 💕

Can u write dave x fem!reader where reader Always had a crush on him but he kinda ignored reader bc of Katie but then someone popular asks reader out and he gets jealous and y/n dresses up super hot and he realizes he fucked up

word count: 1809

a/n: i hope this is close enough! ❤️ (i couldn't think of a different title but this one reminds me of Agatha All Along xd)

"Hey, Dave! My folks are gone for the weekend and I thought we could have an X-men watch party. Wanna come?" 

"Sorry I can't, I'm hanging out with Katie." 

"Again?" you ask a bit louder than intended,causing a few people to look at you in the hallway. You continue with a lower voice "Aren't you like, tired of all the lying? Like, what if she finds out that you're not actually gay, hm? Cause you know she will, eventually." 

"Why do you care so much?!" Dave says, clearly frustrated. 

You raise an eyebrow. 

"Oh why would I? Maybe because we have been best friends since diapers, you stupid asshole!" you say not caring if some students hear you or not, anymore. "But you know what, you are right. I shouldn't care. Go play pretend with Katie but don't come to me, crying when you end up getting your heart broken." 

"Don't worry, I won't." he snaps back. And you turn around and leave but not before flipping him off. You felt the angry tears rolling down your cheeks as you zigzagged between the chattering teenagers. 

You couldn’t  believe how Dave could be so blind! He only had eyes for Miss Perfect. Whom by the way, is a real bitch and would go back to ignoring Dave or calling him a freak if it wasn’t for his little gay act. 

Somehow you made your way over to the restroom and locked yourself into one of the booths.

Dave couldn’t even see you as a potential “love-interest”. Eventhough you were the one who always were there for him, you were always there when he called, running to him like a lost puppy. And he couldn’t even care less. And you hate him for it. But you hate yourself more for still liking him. 

It’s not like you can do something about it, if you could, you would have. But that’s not how it works, so you are just crying your guts out on the toilet trying not to think about Dave.

In all honesty, you have no idea how you made it through the day. You almost cried during biology but you caught yourself after a few lonely tears. You could feel Dave’s gaze on you but there was no way you would look at him. As soon as the last bell rang you were out of school, hurring past Tod and Marty, not being in the mood for them either.

The next day wasn’t any different, you didn’t hang with Dave, Tod and Marty like you normally do. You didn’t sit with them at lunch, instead walked over to the only empty table you saw and placed your tray there. You mounched on your food, completely unaware of your surroundings until you hear the chair next to you being pulled out. You look up to see Matthew Greendale, resident hottie of the school sit next to you. 

"Hey, sorry, it's not a problem if I sit here, right?" he asks. You eyed him suspiciously. 

"No, it's fine." 

It's fine?! You mentally scold yourself. You never even spoke to this guy, outside of literature in first year. Why would he sit next to you? 

"I didn't want to sit with all the other "popular jocks" he answered you unspoken question while taking a bite of his canteen-hamburger. “They’re fun and everything but it’s nice to get away from them sometimes.”

You think of your friends who are sitting a few tables away and you can’t help but agree with Matthew.

“Yeah, I feel you.” you say without thinking.

“Hey..We used to sit next to each other in freshman year, didn’t we? It’s y/n ,right?” 

You nod with a smile, honestly being surprised that he remembers you.

“Yeah!”

“I haven’t really seen you around a lot. But when I do you are always hanging with those comic book nerds.”

“Hey! Comics are great.”

He puts his hands up in a defense.

“Oh no! I didn’t mean it as an insult. Some comics are good, my little brother made read one last month. It was actually great.”

“What comic was it?”

“Oh, uhm..It was about some kind of blind dude in a devil costume.”

“Daredevil?” you ask with a giggle.

“Yes, that one!” he laughs too.

The two of you continue talking until the end of lunch break. He is surprisingly fun to talk to and he even offers to walk you to your next class after lunch. You had such a good time you didn’t even think about Dave, heck, you didn’t even notice him literally glaring daggers into Matthew.

“What’s up with you, dude?” Tod asks snapping Dave out of it. 

“Yeah, Dave. What the shit is going on with you and Y/N?” Marty asks too.

Dave forrows is eyebrows. Yes, what the shit is going on with the two of you? Every since yesterday's 'fight' with you he can't stop thinking. About how he spends most, if not all of his time either with being Kick-Ass or, rather with Katie. It used to be different. He spent every second with you and he just threw you away so he could maybe get laid. And sure, Katie may be hot as fuck but she is.. Well, she is not you. 

"We had a fight, yesterday. I.. And she was right." he explains with a grimace. "But why the fuck is that Greendale asshole is with her?" 

"You jealous or something, dude?" 

"Wha- Of course I am not jealous! Why would I be? You guys are nuts." 

Jealous… The word rolled around in his mouth like a new flavored milkshake he never tasted before. 

Could he be… Jealous? He never thought of you that way, you were always his best friend. Just that. But.. The more he thinks about it the more he can't stop that twist like feeling in his stomach. 

That night he can't focus on crime fighting. All his thoughts are tied to you. Whether he likes it or not, memories of you keep popping up in his mind. How didn't he notice your beautiful smile before? And your laugh? It's like a beautiful melody. And… Gosh! When did he become such a sappy teenager? Oh and another thing.. He kept trying to think of something else, anything else like Katie for example but he doesn't care anymore! 

Dave goes home early with a frustrated growl. The remaining hours of the night he spends with tossing and turning and daydreaming instead of sleeping. 

(the next afternoon, Atomic Comics) 

Dave bangs his head against the wood table once again. A tired groan leaves his lips when he hears Tod almost choking on his iced coffee. 

"What the tunk, Tod?" Marty and Dave ask almost at the same time. The dirty blonde haired boy keeps pointing outside the huge window that they are sitting next to at Atomic Comics. 

"Is that fucking y/n?!" 

Now all three of them look outside the shop and see you, all dressed up nad seemingly waiting for someone. 

"Holy fuck!" Dave whispers. He stares at you, with his mouth a gap before jumping up from the booth they were sitting at and rushing outside the store. 

"Y/n! Y/-" he yells almost tripping on thin air. 

"Dave?" you question, quickly turning towards him. Damn, you missed him. No! Yeah, you did… "What do you want?" 

"What do I- What, can't I talk to you?" 

"If you wanted to talk you would have in these past days!" you say. Yes, you might have missed him, but it's not like you're gonna show it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am waiting for my date to show up." 

"Your.. Your what, now?!" 

"My date" 

"You can't go on a date!" 

"And why is that, Lizewski?" 

"Lizewski? Really, you're calling me by my surname? Are we in such a bad place right now?" 

"I don't know, you tell me. Are you going to tell me what i can and can't do, hm?" 

"I didn't mean it like that. I just…" 

"What, it's fine when you say it but when I do it with you about Katie I'm the bad friend?" 

"No,it's just-" 

"Sorry. Matt's here." you point to the street across the road where you saw the boy walk towards you. "I gotta go." 

You start walking away but Dave grabs your wrist. 

"Please, don't." he mumbles. 

"Why not?" you snap at him but your expressions soften upon your eyes land on his saddened face. 

"I- because I don't want you with him. O-or anyone." 

You raise an eyebrow. 

"What?" 

He took a deep breath before looking around. Matt was waiting patiently by the traffic light so he could cross the road. Dave quickly began explaining. 

"You were right. About Katie. I was such a dickhead, I am so sorry, y/n. I am sorry for ignoring you over her and and.." from the corner of his eye he sees the traffic light turn green. "Shit! I don't want you to go out with Greendale cause I.. Because I like you. Like really fucking like you. And oh my god you look so fucking hot in this outfit, not that you're not always hot but holy shit. I know we are just friends and you don't think of me that way but I ju-"

"Oh my god! Do you ever shut up?" you yell before pressing your lips to his. Dave stumbled back a little, but quickly recovered and kissed back. Your hands cupped his face and his hands grabbed your waist in response. You both tilled your heads, deepening the kiss earning loud knocking from Marty and Tod as they watched the whole scene through the window. Not that you noticed any of it. You didn't hear the passing by car honk at you nor the yells or whistles. You also did not notice Matthew walking away with a sad smile after seeing the two of you. Your touches intertwine and you're pretty sure you heard Dave moan slightly which causes you to giggle into the kiss. You both pull away gasping for air. You look down at your shoes, hoping to hide your flushed cheeks. Dave scratches his back and looks around nervously only to see his two idiotic friends making kissy faces. He lifts his middle finger for them before clearing his throat. 

"So.. Khm.. I guess you like me too?" 

You let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, I do." you say looking at him with a smile.

"That's.. Fuck. That's great." he replied genuinely happy. "Wanna get out of here?" 

You nod and you take off. You take Dave's hand and he intertwines your fingers with a smile. Maybe he is truly a superhero. He helps people and he gets the girl of his dreams. The happy ending. 

Dave Lizewski taglist : @sethcohenluvr @your-hispanichufflepuff

[pocketsedition]

aftg as cliche high school au

i got bored and was wondering how the foxes would work in american high school stereotypes and now i’m here so. yeah ignore it if it sucks <3

neil would of course be the popular-kid-who-doesn’t-wanna-be-popular

depending on who you are he could either be really nice to you or the biggest fucking asshole

he’s on the cross country team as well as soccer w kevin (duh)

he mainly hangs out w other ‘popular kids’ like matt allison seth dan and occasionally the vixens but like only because his group knows them

he also vibes with renee occasionally

andrew would be the quiet kid who’s actually an asshole especially to teachers and reads during class is that a stereotype? i think so

he’s also probably a gamer kid and he wears a bunch of rings yes youll see

i’ll get more about him later

aaron is that kid in biology who’s got an A+ throughout the whole class and it annoys the shit out of everyone because that shouldn’t be possible

kevin is a jock. yes he is

he plays soccer and does cross country (can you do those both at the same time) (i’m not a sports person)

(let’s say yes for the sake of this)

he’s also one of those history nerd kids 

you know who i’m talking about

nicky is a theater kid and he can actually sing really well

he just never stops

he knows he’s good at singing but it’s annoying walking out of math every day hearing a random song

seth and matt are both jocks and best friends (besides neil) but there are significant differences about them

yes they both were highlighters during middle school but that’s besides the point

seth is one of those kids who during gym is always like “dOnT bE a sOrE LoSeR” whenever your team loses but when his team loses he’s a pissbaby talking about how you cheated and just e w 

he also has pot brownies in the middle of class

he probably asks you for answers for the homework too

matt just vibes and probably accidentally hits the volleyball too hard but everyone loves him anyway

he absolutely sucks at most classes and will absolutely be like “ohHHH thank youu :D” when you help him like literally the puppy eyes give you no choice but to help him

allison is the regina. fuckin george of school

but like if you guys end up sitting together during chemistry and you aren’t a complete dickhead to her she’ll probably give you candy or just whatever she has on her

renee is quiet girl whos actually got good grades and popular girl (allison) highkey has a crush on her

dan is like middle ground like shes a sports girl

but shell willingly hang out with both quiet kids and popular kids

overall really nice

OKAYOKAY NOW

neil ended up getting set up with one of the vixens marisa

(i think that was that girl who neil took to the banquet and was like "why do i need your number" to ?)

anyways he keeps trying to be like "no." over and over but she simply Wont Have It

and then next thing you know hes running for homecoming king and hes this close to breaking his own arm to get out of it

so now. he has to find an outfit

meanwhile Quiet Goth™ andrew minyard and his twin brother aaron have their dad who has a fashion business (mom died in a catastrophic car crash)

and everyone knows this so theyre always asking for like. help and discounts and shit

he says no to all of them

except neil whos in need of an outfit and

very very pretty

like uhh who gave you the r i g h t to have that awkward smile ???

and those t h i g h s ?

so andrews like "eh whatever sure"

yes yes yes yes

and. they end up getting kind of close ?

it kind of astounds everyone

aaron hates it he has calculus with neil and neil has the audacity to be so good at math and just so happens to be the only person andrew helps ?

seth is confused because andrews the only person he cant beat in a good one v one of exy

but also andrew buys a bunch of pot brownies from him and ???? he doesnt know why bc he doesnt even look high most of the time

he gives them to security guards as bribery so he can keep his knives on him during school

and now neils just friends w him ????

and its going well

"so you don't wanna be popular" "...yeah" "then dont"

neil retorts with:

"so your telling me your dad runs a fashion business and you wear all black"

they go back and forth for like half an hour

andrew starts trying to teach neil how to play videogames

neil fucking sucks but he doesnt really care because andrews nice

and actually helping neil pick out his outfit is a fucking pain because he so pretty picky

andrew dies

anyways

neil starts opening up about how he doesnt actually like marisa and andrews like "tell her"

"i hav she just doesnt. listen >:("

andrew offers to but neil knows about the frog knives (yes the frog knives) and hes like hah nice try

they still have nights on the roof and cigarettes and secrets shared

so everything happens and it finally gets to marisas head that neil doesnt wanna go to homecoming (with her. that is)

its like 4 days before homecoming and he jsut snaps

"yaknow i get it—"

she ends up crying but neil doesnt care at this point shes finally off his back

lets face it he would not care that man has zero morals

and so its homecoming night and neils this close to simply Not Going

but matt and seth are on the football team and they have their game and he spent hours looking for a suit

so he goes to the game and he hangs out with the upperclassmen

deliberately avoids the team because theres ways vixens nearby and he cant deal with marisa rn

so he hangs out

he sees aaron in the stands and asks if andrews around aaron just shrugs

useless

and the games over matts team wins yay !!!

everyones happy

now its time for the dance

neils dreading it

he goes and tries to avoid the general public because Ew People

and he sees andrew hiding from the noise in a hallway with no people

theyre quiet until neil follows andrew out to the back of the school and to the middle of the empty soccer field

"you werent at the game"

andrew shrugs "i didnt care about the game"

"and you care about the dance?"

"aaron doesnt have his own car"

"mhm"

andrew rolls his eyes

its quiet and neils just looking at andrew

he kinda had a realization the other night with matts help

andrew simply stares back

"yes or no"

"yes"

kith :)

the school doesnt notice they’re a thing until andrew shows up to school one day wearing what may or may not be one of those wrist. sweatband thingies

im dumb i forgot what theyre called

and neil always has one of andrews rings on him and hes always fidgeting with it

anyways i might write a fic who knows not me❤️

[booksfromblackwood]

Is anyone still around in this fandom? If so, I thought I’d post the first chapter of an old fic that I re-wrote last year! Let me know if anyone’s still around, and if you’d be interested in reading more! Hope everyone reading this has a great day! :)

Han has left the chat.

Three Days Before The Disappearance

.Sam.Giddings. added josh_wash, ashleeeeey, xXGamerChrisXx, TheOriginalMatt, HanButterfly, BethWash, Mike_Munroe, EmilyD_, and _Jess.Riley_ to the chat.

.Sam.Giddings. named the chat Info For Tomorrow.

.Sam.Giddings.: Hey guys! Just to keep everyone updated on our travel plans for tomorrow! I know it's going to be a long day for everyone so it's vital we stick to the plan and stay in our groups where possible!

ashleeeeey: Okie-doodle!!

TheOriginalMatt: How are you so organised, Sam? You're a lifesaver!

HanButterfly: Hi!!

BethWash: trust sam to be more prepared than those of us organising the trip lol

xXGamerChrisXx: Since when was 'okie-doodle' a thing?

EmilyD_: Thanks Sam x

xXGamerChrisXx: And thanks so much, sam!

.Sam.Giddings.: So quick reminder of everyone's groups:

_Jess.Riley_: I'm stoked!!

ashleeeeey: That's rich coming from someone whose username is xXGamerChrisXx! :P

.Sam.Giddings.: Ash, Chris, Matt, and myself will start the journey first tomorrow morning.

xXGamerChrisXx: You wound me!

Mike_Munroe: Thanks for the plan, Sam!

TheOriginalMatt: Excited to see everyone tomorrow! This is going to be a killer weekend for sure!!

.Sam.Giddings.: Em, Mike, and Jess, you guys are next.

ashleeeeey: You're so dramatic!! XD

Mike_Munroe: Team Two here we go!!

xXGamerChrisXx: Made you smile, though! ;-)

josh_wash: what about us

.Sam.Giddings.: I'm just getting to that!

ashleeeeey: True :)

xXGamerChrisXx: You guys are already there and are therefore irrelevant! :P

.Sam.Giddings.: Han, Beth, and Josh, you guys are there already!

josh_wash: thanks cochise i feel so appreciated

BethWash: lol thanks chris

Mike_Munroe: So, what are we all up to?

BethWash: i found cake

xXGamerChrisXx: Browsing reddit like a nerd XD

ashleeeeey: Listening to Sam's rundown of tomorrow unlike sOmE pEoPlE *coughcoughChris*

EmilyD_: Honestly just packing my final things with Jess. Mike's mostly watching the TV.

xXGamerChrisXx: :-(

.Sam.Giddings.: So, tonight we should all make sure our bags are packed and that we have our passports and tickets ready!! Set your alarms for the right times (depending on your group) and make sure to sleep early too (especially if you're in my group since tomorrow will be an early start for us)!

ashleeeeey: :)

TheOriginalMatt: 5am gang where we AT?

HanButterfly: Beth where are you rn? Because I want some of that cake!!

.Sam.Giddings.: So Team One (myself, Chris, Ash, and Matt), we need to be up by 5:00am and be ready by 5:30am for the taxi to the airport!! Matt and Chris, yours is going to be at Chris' place at 5:24 for some reason so make sure to be ready!!

BethWash: the lodge kitchen bcos where else would there be cake han lol

.Sam.Giddings.: We'll meet up at the airport when we arrive! Once we re-group, we'll check in, probably eat some breakfast whilst we wait, and then catch the 8:30 plane!!

TheOriginalMatt: Sweet!

ashleeeeey: Can't wait! :)

josh_wash: yo matt you surviving the puns

.Sam.Giddings.: Team Two - you guys don't have to be up until around 9:00am since your taxi is at 9:20 and then your plane is at 11:30!

HanButterfly: Josh would you like me to save you some cake before we eat it all? :)

EmilyD_: We'll need a little longer than 20 minutes to all get ready but sure x

TheOriginalMatt: Just about! Myself and Chris have mostly been playing on his PS4 so I've been distracting myself with that! XD

josh_wash: yes please!

josh_wash: i feel for ya bro, a whole evening with chris' puns can prove fatal

josh_wash: you die of cringe

Mike_Munroe: Poor ol' Chris XD

.Sam.Giddings.: Once we arrive and get our bags, we need to catch the 2:30pm train and then the 4:20 bus! After that we have to take the 5:40 bus (I sent you guys screenshots of the route yesterday) and get off at Blackwood Pines ready for our hike up the mountain (with a little help from the cable car, of course)!

xXGamerChrisXx: I'm being BULLIED guys :(

ashleeeeey: Aw, poor Chris! :P

josh_wash: jk XD

TheOriginalMatt: I like how Sam's still here typing all we need to know whilst we're talking about cake and puns XD

.Sam.Giddings.: Team Two, you guys need to catch either the 5:30pm or the 6:00pm train depending on when your stuff arrives. After that you'll need to get the 7:50 bus and then the 8:40 bus to Blackwood Pines (you have to specify you want it to stop there or the driver won't stop) before you head up. Remember to lock the cable car station once you get in, Mike!

josh_wash: oh gosh tHE CAKE

Mike_Munroe: Gotcha' Sam!

HanButterfly: No worries, Josh! I managed to save most of it from Beth!

BethWash: rip my chance at a third slice of cake

_Jess.Riley_: Really, thanks Sam! We're all packed and ready to go! Xx

HanButterfly: It's really going to be such an awesome weekend! I can't wait :D

ashleeeeey: Thank you so much for inviting me! I've never been on something like this before!! :D

TheOriginalMatt: Yeah, thank you so much guys! I can't wait either, Han!!

.Sam.Giddings.: Have we got rooms sorted out for the lodge, guys?

BethWash: ash take the plans away from sam so she can have time to relax lol

EmilyD_: I'm with Mike in the room away from everyone like agreed right x

ashleeeeey: I'm trying but she won't let me! XD

HanButterfly: I mean if needs be we can sort out rooms once we're here! If not maybe we just sort out the first night rooms since it'll be fairly late when everyone arrives and then we can adjust them as needed as the trip goes on!

BethWash: lol poor sam will be up all night organising at this rate

.Sam.Giddings.: Sounds good, Han!

Mike_Munroe: Great idea, Hannah!

BethWash: em, yours and mike's room (upstairs guest) may not be ready first night so is it possible for you to share a room with jess til we get a chance to sort it out tomorrow?

EmilyD_: That's fine, hon. Thank you again for the trip and for letting us use the upstairs guest room x

josh_wash: how about for the first night emily and jess share beth's room and then beth sam and han go in hannah's room

josh_wash: mike can go to the small room downstairs if he's alright w/ that and matt can room w/ me

xXGamerChrisXx: Yo dude you forgot ash

ashleeeeey: It's alright, Chris! I can find somewhere!

EmilyD_: Ash you're honestly lovely but I'd kinda' like to be with either Jess or Mike if that's alright xx

ashleeeeey: No problem, Emily! I wouldn't want to intrude! :)

EmilyD_: Knew you'd understand xx

josh_wash: why dont you and ash share a room cochise

xXGamerChrisXx: I thought I was rooming with you and matt?

josh_wash: bro please just think for a minute here

ashleeeeey: I'm not sure.

xXGamerChrisXx: Beth, han, and sam, is there any room with you guys?

ashleeeeey: I'm really sorry to be a bother!!

.Sam.Giddings.: Of course you can room with us, Ash! We'd love to have you with us! :)

BethWash: im with sam

HanButterfly: Of course!!

xXGamerChrisXx: Thank you to the only valid washington kids right now!

josh_wash: -_-

xXGamerChrisXx: I see what you're doing, josh. ha ha, we've had our laugh, now please stop before this weekend.

Mike_Munroe: Rough subject, huh?

josh_wash: bro chill you know i was just joking

ashleeeeey: I'm really sorry!! Please don't get upset with each other!

xXGamerChrisXx: No ash it's alright! i promise i'm not actually mad! :-)

josh_wash: he acts mad over text to get his point across but he literally just sits there with a blank expression irl XD

TheOriginalMatt: Is Sam still there, Ash? Haven't heard from her in a while!

TheOriginalMatt: Gotta check up on my plane buddy for tomorrow!!

_Jess.Riley_: Did you guys get window seats or middle isle seats? I got a middle isle and the others got a window!

BethWash: she hasn't drowned in her notes has she lol

TheOriginalMatt: We got two sets of window seats! Though I don't know which of us is actually going to be at the window and which one will be window isle!

ashleeeeey: She's just brushing her teeth! Her mom came in and brought us a load of vegan snacks for the trip tomorrow and now I'm even more excited!!

ashleeeeey: Speaking of which, I'm probably going to head to sleep in a minute! Though I'm not sure how much I'll actually get since I'm so excited!!! :)

xXGamerChrisXx: Sleep well, ash. see you in the morning :-)

ashleeeeey: Night, Chris :)

ashleeeeey has left the chat.

_Jess.Riley_: Well that was cute!

xXGamerChrisXx: People say goodnight to eachother! that's a normal human interaction!

_Jess.Riley_: You know full well it's cute when it's you two

.Sam.Giddings.: Ash told me she logged out so I came to say goodnight!

josh_wash: w/ jess on this one bro

HanButterfly: Goodnight, Sam!

BethWash: night sam!

josh_wash: dont let the bedbugs bite!

TheOriginalMatt: See you bright and early tomorrow!!

.Sam.Giddings.: See you at the airport/lodge, guys!

xXGamerChrisXx: Night!

.Sam.Giddings. has left the chat.

BethWash: its cute because you like eachother chris

xXGamerChrisXx has left the chat.

HanButterfly: Aww, don't tease the poor guy!

TheOriginalMatt: Chris says goodnight, as do I! Can't wait to see you all tomorrow!

BethWash: night guys!

TheOriginalMatt has left the chat.

josh_wash: night!

Mike_Munroe: Make sure to save me a slice of that cake, Han! I gtg!

Mike_Munroe has left the chat.

HanButterfly: Goodnight Mike :)

EmilyD_: We'd best be off too. See you all in the morning.

_Jess.Riley_: Night x

EmilyD_ has left the chat.

BethWash: night

HanButterfly: Goodnight x

josh_wash: night xxxxxxyzqvp

_Jess.Riley_: Ha ha, very funny. Get that one from Chris?

josh_wash: lol night

_Jess.Riley_ has left the chat.

BethWash: PLEASE can i have some more cake, han?

josh_wash: you guys can literally just talk if you wanted

HanButterfly: Nope! Gotta' save some for Mike~

BethWash: you wont shut up about that for the rest of the evening now, will you?

BethWash: lol

HanButterfly: :P

josh_wash: you guys gossip in the kitchen

josh_wash: imma head to bed

BethWash: night bro

HanButterfly: Sleep well!

josh_wash has left the chat.

BethWash: please?

HanButterfly: No :P

BethWash: ugh night sis

HanButterfly: Night, Beth! XD

BethWash has left the chat.

HanButterfly has left the chat.

[akegatacchi]

Sense8 AU!aftg

In the honor of absolutlynothing I’ve decided to put out there one of the many au I have on my phone and archive it there

Big shout out to @a-m-peengoo and @bluesuederose for participating in this mess with genius lines and always be there to bear my 36 ideas per hour. We did a masterpiece girls.

Here we go it’s gonna be long

The cluster:

Kevin: Nomi. He’s just a fuckin hacker who’s running away from his family (riko). When he’s bored, he spends nights crashing the Pentagon system for fun, and makes every screen in the White House play Best Exy Actions Compilation (the longest and hardest part is choosing one compilation to play).

Dan: Will. One of them have to keep them under control. Plus, Dan with a gun i can’t even-

Matt: Riley. Soft, blue strand of hair, a heart of gold, maternal. As a DJ. Yes. SO SOFT (he still knows how to box)

Allison: Capheus. Listen. Imagine Allison in high heels, skin tight leather pants, driving a bus. Also, a F1 pilot champion who can drive anything (even if it’s the first time)

Andrew: Wolfgang. Duh. Do I need to explain myself. Just think abt him saying “This is Berlin. Those are my people. And we go to our knees for no one”.Boy he does NOT like this situation, at all. Will keep the others out with sheer willpower and no blockers. The cluster’s deadliest weapon. PLUS HELLO???? ANDREW IN A PASTEL PINK BOMBER SHOOTING ON A HELICOPTER WITH A BAZOOKA????

Aaron: Felix? Sorta? not a senseate but a great doctor. Senses bullshit and when someone is in Andrew’s body real quick  (Andrew: says more than 2 sentences and is pleasant. Aaron:.....who’s that bitch where is my brother) . Later helps to manufacture blockers.

Neil: Kala. A pharmacist that uses his skill for arson and may or may not be running away from mafia/family matter and currently hiding in India. Him saying “Bring it, bitch” to Riko is my sexuality and Andrew’s. Can create explosives from a Fanta can and spices I mean it’s already canon in aftg. (plus andreil would work even better bc technically Neil can’t even touch Andrew for real)

Nicky: Lito. The drama, the sass. Also the scene where he discovers the Twinyard in Germany are his cousins would be hilarious. The scene where Lito seduces the nurse but with Nicky (“engaging into heterosexual activity? me????”) or the scene where Lito screams in the museum but with Nicky

Erik as Hernando. That’s it that’s the post.

Renee: Sun. I mean, a korean fighter lady in prison trying to be a better person and had a silent bffs relationship with a german gangster? Come on. Also. Allison in a bus and Renee doing art martials stuff. 

Riko: whispers i guess he can eat Allison’s high heels

Now the ~scenes~ (it’s just shitposting):

Aaron, on the verge on several break downs: wait so you have like … DJ Blue Matt and F1 pilot Allison Reynolds in your head? since when? ANDREW SINCE WHE-

*

Neil: what’s a better use of a multiple thousands dollars education than precise arson?????

*

Aaron: why does your boyfriend always end up burning things up?

Andrew: he lits up my heart as well

Aaron: FOR FUCK SAKE

*

Kevin, shocked and betrayed: is there a better sport than exy?

Aaron and Allison: YEAH A REALLY GOOD CAR RACE

*

Allison: you’re - you’re like the spirit of Lucy Liu. In Charlie’s Angels. I watch it once a day. Renee:.....that’s sweet actually :) 

*

Neil: does a molotov cocktail

Matt: I tHoUgHt yOu wErE a PhArMaCiSt

Neil: Yes? That’s PHYSICS

Matt: no that’s ARSON NEIL

Alternative:

Kevin: breaks into the Pentagon virtually

Neil: breaks into the Pentagon physically

Matt, again: i thought you were a PHARMACIST!!!! Neil: Yes I am??? That’s irrelevant

*

A senseate sibling, escaping, grabbing a vehicle at random: someone knows how to drive that?

Allison, in stilettos : no, but I sure will soon

*

Just Allison driving Renee around to fight people

*

Everytime someone mocks a senseate sibling Neil or Nicky shows up to roast them. Sometimes they do it both at the same time. It’s apocalyptic. The sass. The drama. 

They can also bullshit their way out of any situation. Neil is such a smooth liar and Nicky is just ridiculous. The FBI agent charged to arrest them somehow ends up crying abt childhood trauma while hugging a teddy bear.

Neil, caught in the act of making a string of explosives by the FBI guy: uuuuuuh….Nicky?

Nicky, currently dealing with a white mom in retail: somehow convince the FBI to buy christmas lights

(Yes Nicky works in retail bc his family cut ties with him but he hopes to be an actor.ON BROADWAY)

(From retail to actor to cluster negotiator real quick)

A  fuckin moron to Allison: a hottie like you driving a bus? what is this, hooker on wheels?

Neil: please let me have this one

Allison: seats back and enjoys Neil roasting him

Nicky: brings the popcorn

Nicky, to the FBI guy: You can’t arrest me Daryl I’m your long lost little brother

The FBI guy, a white man: My name is not Daryl Neil: THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE

The FBI guy, texting Neil (don’t ask): I guess I’m still in love with my ex

Nicky: aaaaaw we have to help this sweetheart

Neil: do you want me to burn his current boyfriend’s car, buddy?

(Nicky: DON’T REMIND HIM THAT HE’S SUPPOSED TO ARREST US)

*

A fuckin homophobe: ready to get your ass kicked, faggot?

Andrew: appears through Nicky

Nicky, smiling: fuck yeah, baby 

*

Andrew, between two bazooka shot, to Neil:  we’re nothing

*

Nicky, through Andrew, all cheery: Hi!!!! :D

(Aaron jumps like a scared cat)

*

Andrew: ready to kill ppl for mafia business

All the senseate siblings in the back minus Renee, eating popcorn and enjoying the show: Kick ass, Drew!

*

Andrew, on the hospital bed: has an emotional moment with Aaron

Aaron: sir or ma'am, idk who you are but it’s family only, I will ask you, as his doctor, to leave my brother’s body

*

Aaron: Andrew is2g if you’re making psychic love to that fuckin red hair rn i will-

*

Andrew each time a senseate is hurt: Aaron it’s for you

(Just Aaron doing med tutorials for a whole cluster while Andrew repeats it with a bored tone to everyone)

(Aaron, sighs: it is Neil again? Just let him bleed for a few minutes)

*

Neil, making bomb with kitchen stuff: If it means losing you then no

Andrew, falling in love: oh

*

Bad guy: You have no weapon, blondie!

Allison, with Renee and Dan behind her: Think again, sweetheart

*

They made a little “honorary cluster member” badge to Aaron (he does not cry STFU NEIL)

*

Dan and Neil both knows by heart the laws of different countries…..for very different reasons.

*

Luther: humiliates Nicky once again

Renee: calmly breaks his hand at dinner while smiling like an angel, all the while stopping Andrew from killing him with the other hand

*

Neil, a pharmacist: blowing shit up and arson

Aaron, a doctor, watching him: yk what hold my beer I know several ways to stop a man’s heart

*

The whole “You don’t know how to use a gun” “No, but you do” with andreil or matt and dan

*

Just Drew and Renee kicking some mafia asses together as buddies

(While Neil blows some shit up in the background and Allison/Nicky cheer)

*

Matt has the perfect ear too

Him and Kevin are the remote operation/communication team but one day all the fighters/criminals of the cluster are busy so they both start to fight as well and fuck they are good at it

Nicky: I expected this from Biceps Matt but Kevin??? You can land a kick like that???

Kevin, outraged: I WENT TO THE EXY OLYMPICS WHEN I WAS 16

*

Speaking of Kevin, they all call him “nerd” or “einstein”

Allison: so the nerd can fight uh

*

Aaron, counting down on his fingers: so you have F1 Pilot Superstar Allison Reynolds, former gold medalist and tech genius Kevin Day, a human diapason, a multilingual arsonist, World no.1 Taekwondo Champion Renee Walker, a cop, an actor…..what are you there for??

Andrew, literally a mafia king:....ice cream and crime?

*

Neil to Andrew, after the whole debacle with his father is out: You did know there were mafia out of Germany too, right?

Andrew: I can’t even have that for myself fuck this family

*

Dan, every time before each “mission”: okay guys I know we need to do it but I’d like to remind ALL of you *looks pointly at Neil and Andrew* it’s STILL illegal and morally dubious

Neil: …….like I said to Nicky, irrelevant *without missing a beat blows up the entire building and puts on stolen Gucci shades*

Alternative:

Neil: ok saint theresa why were you the one to suggest we explode Riko’s brain off then

Dan: ...don’t turn the conversation around me it’s about you

*

Allison “guess we’re detourning a place next” Reynolds and Kevin “It’s not that hard to pilot” Day

(Kevin: But why are you on a plane to Russia? I thought you were in India last time?

Neil:....don’t ask)

*

Aaron to Andrew, where they are trapped and betrayed: your boyfriend wouldn’t happen to know how to poison a whole room with gaz?

Neil: I was born for this moment

(Andrew: just bc you’re my brother doesn’t mean you have the right to dirty talk my boyfriend)

*

Andrew: be gay, do crime and eat ice cream

Nicky: AND BLOW NEIL’S D-

*

(before they know abt Neil’s past, when Andrew is angsty bc he caught feelings)

Andrew: You  shouldn’t get close to me, it’s dangerous, i’m mafia

Neil: oh haven’t you heard-

*

Jeremy, bouncing out of nowhere: Hey Kev ! Love how you BI-nary code ahah have you heard of the ARCHIPELAGO 

*

Neil, sipping tea: so my father is the Butcher

Matt:  okokokok coolcoolcoolcool yk what arson doesn’t sound like a bad idea after all

*

(this one is not funny sorry) but Neil taking over each time someone is hurt bc he is used to deal with it

“Give the pain to me”

*

Andrew and Aaron like to fuck around a lot with the whole sensate stuff (since only one of them is a sensate)

Bad guy: only one of you is a sensate, which one is it?

Twinyard, in a perfect and flat tone: try to guess

A bad guy is spying on Andrew and waiting to kill him in Germany, via a cam, thinking he’s safe BUT SUPRISE MOTHERFUCKER it was aaron dressed as Andrew in a mafia meeting and now you have to deal with a 5 feet tall mafia boy

*

For real tho they are a little protective of the normal doctor who heal them every time (yes even Neil but don’t tell him) so you bet something like that happens one day:

Aaron: comes home from work angry

Andrew, cleaning up blood or counting money: whassup shithead?

Aaron: There’s this older doctor he’s great and all but he’s a fuckin asshole to me he belittles me everyday bc i’m young and we lost a patient today bc he rathers humiliate me than let me save him 

Andrew, a dangerous glint in his eyes and a whole cluster behind him: oh?

Kevin, opens his computer and digs up dirt on him: give me a sec

Allison: I can roll over him with my truck

Neil: there is so many ways to mix two meds and kills him ON ACCIDENT

Dan: let’s see how he deals in prison

Nicky: oh this is going to be fun

Kevin, reciting facts like he’s reading a grocery list: so yeah he smuggles meds from the hospital so local drug dealers, illegally sells meds for himself on the black market, does tax evasion, is friend with a local senator and both of them are involved with minors….i have already several reservation at X hotel btw and cases of work harassment on nurses and interns, threats to others older doctors in serve, and OH. OH. We have a spanking kink on our hands too.

Every members of the cluster, turning to Nicky and Neil:....go wild

Nicky, giggling: not that’s it’s a shame when it’s consensual but not here so - let’s start with the spanking :D

Neil: Can I make him cry

No violence is used but the doctor is found on the floor drowning in his own tears after a few minutes and after an hour he’s resigned and leaving the country

Andrew was dressed as Aaron for that (that being: smuggling Neil and Nicky into the hospital to meet the doctor through him)  and sends him a selfie of a 5 feet surgeon and the man crying on the floor 

It’s their best memory as a family (Aaron hates Neil a little less after that)

Neil to Nicky: why did you stop me from pushing towards suicide??? He’s gonna do that in another country

(Kevin: no if I can help it)

Nicky: bc we don’t do that to people!

Neil, Andrew, Aaron, Allison:...........right

Neil: killing even indirectly is no good but destroying their life and humiliating them publically is good?

Nicky: YES!

Matt and Dan: WAIT NO

(Allison: don’t brother Neil you’ll just hurt your head)

(Neil, close to tears: but...but...but arson?? Andrew, with knives out: alright fuckers who broke his heart?)

*

Matt and Dan bc they’re fuckin weak to Neil: ITS OK BUDDY ARSON IS GOOD

*

I have to end on this note:

Storyline wise, Neil would have make the perfect Wolfgang too….if Wolfgang was a twink.

[amphii-writes]

Haikyuu boys as songs on my spotify playlists P. 5, (Other characters + girls)

Warning, songs contain talk about: violence, sex and drugs.

Yuji Terushima: Pussy Talk by City Girls (feat. Doja Cat)

You know damn well that Terushima-san is a fuckboy, not saying that's immediately horrible i'm just stating facts. He might look like he gets bitches but he's for sure a virgin. He likes any song that gives  him confidence, so when he hears pussy talk he goes all out, i mean this grown ass man dances.

Suguru Daisho: Molly by Mindless Self Indulgence

Was this one self indulgent? Yeah. Daisho-san gives me punk vibes and like,,, awooga. He for sure likes songs that get him pumped up before games and Molly is exactly the song to do that. Even with his breakup from Mika he seems to be insanely persistent and probably is one of those guys who unironically says “I still see her shadows in my room.” which pains me a bit to think about.

Kiyoomi Sakusa: Devil Town by Cavetown

Sakusa-san gives me a “divorced parents” vibe, and as someone who has divorced parents I will defend this on a hill and die for it. The song itself isn’t overwhelming, so I think he likes it because it's almost a calm pain to him. And, with my head cannon that he has divorced parents, it fits even better.

Shinsuke Kita: Saturn Suv by Fredo Disco

Sweet farmer boy needs sweet sonG- wow I haven’t expressed my love for Kita-san ever on this website and that thought physically pains me tbh. He’s so sweet, so that's why I picked this bittersweet bop for him. It’s chill and almost controlling like he is, but not a bad controlling, more of a “guys-please-my-mom-is-home” controlling. 10/10 would recommend this song.

Aran Ojiro: Washing Machine Heart by Mitsuki

You might be wondering why I picked such a song for Mr. Man himself, but hear me out: He likes sad songs. Just like I've mentioned with many other soft boys before, he enjoys listening to sad songs even when he's not sad which I respect because,,, same here dude.

ON that note, I chose the washing machine heart because of how adult it sounded. Not in the sexual sense, but just in the “grown-up heartbreak” sense.

Atsumu Miya: Asshole by Hooligan Chase

This physically pained me to find on my playlist and so I deleted it immediately after finding it. ‘Tsumu-san gives me massive cishet man energy and that isn’t exactly good to think about. He reminds me of a frat boy named Jake who’s favorite thing is to fuck the holes in the wall that he punched. Doesn’t mean I hate Atsumu-san though! Actually, I find him and his brother very relatable and enjoy how they fight because me and my siblings did that kinda thing.

Osamu Miya: Lotta True Crime by Penelope Scott

Anyways, ‘Samu-san here gives me the energy that he binges true crime shows often with the team, ‘Tsumu probably calls Osamu a serial killer and gross and well,,, everything else you can fill in. The song itself is bitter and sarcastic, just like he can be and personally I find it super catchy (well, I enjoy all of Penelope's songs) and sad. The image of Osamu-san listening to true crime podcasts while getting stoned in his later years brings tears of joy to my face.

Rintaro Suna: As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese

A sad song for a boy who for sure has at least some sort of mental illness (I say that as someone who has mental illnesses). I believe that Suna-san has depression due to how burnt out he constantly is. As someone who again loves sad songs, I feel like he would just constantly have one on in his headphones. Give this man some therapy and a break.

Korai Hoshiumi: Verbatim by Mother Mother

Lil man really whipped out the energy when we first met him- he low-key scared me because I saw him and thought that he’d be quiet and sweet but oh boy was I wrong. I was also a little stuck on a song for him so I had to consult the Hoshiumi kinnies and they came up with Verbatim, which is on my playlist. Thank you, Hoshiumi kinnies, thank you. If you are a Hoshiumi kinnie, you are iconic and i appreciate you!

Takanobu Aone: Mr. Loverman by Ricky Montgomery

Wow anyways this song makes my aone kinnie go brr. Like completely brr. Aone-san gives me a soft indie, hot cup of tea, sweaters, knitting, and baking vibes. You may see him as a scary giant but I see him as a very big polar bear who needs a hug! He probably relates to the song because of how everyone views him as the Iron Wall and not a person, just the longing to feel loved and appreciated by someone is the main reason he’d relate so much. I would also bake brownies with Aone-san any day.

Kenji Futakuchi: Hayloft by Mother Mother

Our edgy king here for sure is a bastard. He’s cocky, funny, and sly with his rude comments causing me to think of an intense song for him. Hayloft is also an absolute banger of a song, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he had it be Date Tech’s theme song for the time being. I think that he’d also go to mother mother concerts and just be so confused, like if he went to an american mother mother concert he’d be looking at everyone there and just “woah” you also can’t tell me he wouldn’t want an alt S.O.

Kanji Koganegawa: Pretty Rave Girl by S3RL

Wow, me and Koganegawa-san here seem to have the exact same taste in music! When I hear pretty rave girls I go ape. I mean I shake my hands in front of my face because of the happy simulation! It’s such a cute song and the crunch is sooo perfect. I can see Koganegawa being into hyperpop and hardcore music like sewerslvt and SugarCrash! Like tendou-san and lev-san. He for sure sings the song when he gets up in the morning and blasts it in his car! The cute wholesome love song makes his heart go brr, and mine does too!

Ittetsu Takaeda: Breezeblocks by Alt-J

Man would listen to this and go full English teacher like the nerd he is, but then again I don't blame him because I honestly do too! This song was an old hyper-fixation of mine and so when I think of Takaeda, I think of Breezeblocks. All the literary devices and how the song itself is formed to create the perfect horrifying story of murder and cleaning up the crime scene all while talking about their lover is bone-chilling and I think Takaeda-san understands how messed up the song is but just really enjoys the cover that the love aspect almost is. Like when I first listened to Breezeblocks I thought it was a song about a lover leaving the singer, not the singer killing someone(possibly his lover) and covering it up all while thinking about his S.O. dark but great song, 10/10 childhood would be ruined again.

Keishin Ukai: Scotty Doesn’t Know by Lustra

Ah yes, Ukai here is punk and we all know it; and as someone who sees Ukai and gets many mixed feelings, I say we talk about highschool ukai. He mentioned that he didn’t get good grades when he was younger. Keishin-san reminds me of someone who got high instead of doing schoolwork, which like same but bro c’mon you gotta balance the zoot. Keishin-san also reminds me of a crust punk in the sense of how he acts: he’s super cool and if you're wrong he isn’t afraid to tell you you're wrong. He also gives me the vibes that he’d call out TERF’s on the streets and save girls from being harassed/assaulted. An absolute king if I say so myself.

Saeko Tanaka: Girls In Bikinis by Poppy

Ah yes, a bicon in her full beauty! Saeko for sure would be one hell of a partier and she for sure has had some drunken kisses with cute girls. And, we have to remember she is a tanaka, ryunosuke is literally her brother. Of course, simp runs in their veins, and god, what I would do for her to just give me a thumbs up or any positive affirmation. Oh and she for sure kicks TERF’s in the shins with Ukai-san. Someone get her a monster and a crown because she’s the queen :)

Akiteru Tsukishima: Boys Will Be Bugs by Cavetown

As Akiteru-san here has struggled with self esteem before and not wanting to let people down, I saw BWBB and instantly understood why it stands out to me so much when I think about him. The song itself is about giving into harmful stereotypes because that's how the world and people see you. Boys are often seen as people who aren’t allowed to have feelings due to toxic masculinity and I think that the reason he lied to his brother could’ve been influenced by that.

Kiyoko Shimizu: Sweet Hibiscus Tea by Penelope Scott

Sweet hibiscus tea is one hell of a song for people who don’t feel like enough, and that's exactly how Kiyoko-san feels. I can see her for sure feeling like an outsider to her own life. So many people look up to her and she doesn’t know why, her low self-esteem is something that I've come to understand after watching Haikyuu. Give her some tanaka and she’ll be fine.

Hitoka Yachi: Oblivion by Grimes

Our favorite ball of anxiety for sure is scared about walking home, she has a great reason to be anyways! What’s scarier than being kidnapped? Nothing tbh, shits horrifying (I say as someone who was indeed almost kidnapped). Yachi always thinks that the worst will happen and prepares for it, but then again I can’t blame her.

[vagrantblvrd]

Can I get some Freewood love with the not!fic prompts?

Friend, omg, yes!

I was thinking about various ideas for these two and was blanking on something that didn’t fizzle out after the first bit?

But I woke up to snow this morning (we usually don’t see a lot of it where I live) and I was like !!!

Because, look, okay. Those snowed in fic tropes that often go hand in hand with a ~remote cabin?

But also I’ve been thinking a lot about bounty hunter-y AUs lately. (I blame all the cheesy movies/tv shows I grew up on).

SO.

FAHC-ish AU where Ryan starts out as this bounty hunter-ish guy. Works with Michael after there was a Situation that amounts to your typical buddy cop kind of deal?

(Loose cannon/idiot Ryan who ended up in the business after some shenanigans that’s part of his Tragic Backstory and somewhat less of a loose cannon Michael who was just tracking down this asshole who owed him money and got dragged into the whole thing and realized he wasn’t bad at it/kind of liked the work? And then like. They started a business together because that’s what happened in a lot of those terribad movies/tv shows I watched I guess?)

ANYWAY.

Bounty hunter Ryan who’s gaining a reputation for being a creepy bastard – that sense of humor of his and jokes that don’t land right with certain audiences. Also, doesn’t talk a lot on jobs because as Michael’s pointed out flubbing his words makes him look like a dumbass? (More of one, anyway.)

So he channels the Cool Guys from terribad 80s movies and such when he’s working, and there was that time the masks came into play because Bigger Baddies and it was a panic!moment and there was a mask kiosk right there, it’s not like he fucking planned it, Michael. (Being the nerd he is, though, he immediately gravitated towards the skull mask and now it’s part of his aesthetic. Because reasons.)

Michael’s back in Los Santos dealing with paperwork and recovering from their last job – took a nasty spill off a low roof and sprained his ankle/fractured something/whatever works as a legit Plot Reason for him not going with Ryan on this latest job.

Hacker who got into stuff he shouldn’t have – businessman or politician or other Upstanding Citizen who has all these Rumors floating around them that went to Ryan and Michael about their problem.

Offering them a shit-ton of money to bring this hacker in, no questions asked and all. Best not to, really, because the little weasel is just full of lies and would say anything to save their skin. Honestly, just trust the businessman/politician explicitly and ignore the hacker’s lies and it’ll all be fine.

(Yeah, not sketchy at all, but the guy’s got some muscle-bound goons with him and they’re definitely the kind who’d have no problems killing a couple of nobodies like Ryan and Michael and what pleasure it will be to do business with them, yes indeedy)

Anyway.

Of course this asshole hacker is Gavin and of course he went digging into stuff he shouldn’t have and oh, God, he should have taken Dan up on the offer to visit him earlier.

Now he’s being chased all over the place by this lunatic in the leather jacket and nothing he does seems to slow him down for long.

Traps and lies and doubling back and hiding and whatever else that ends up with them up in the mountains somehow? Gavin running to this little town – supposed to be able to find a small airport nearby and a plane he could ~borrow to put some space between himself and all these bastards in Los Santos only to find out it was all in vain.

The plane he was told about rusting away, bullet holes all along the fuselage and ripping through one wing and he doesn’t know what happened here, but it can’t have been pleasant.

And then Ryan showing up, all Scary Spooky with his stupid everything (no mask because it really was a one time thing, why won’t you drop it, Michael?) and the piece of junk car Gavin stole to get out there and this ridiculous ~chase up a winding mountain road.

Up high enough for there to be snow, a light dusting of it on the ground and too focused on not dying to notice the storm about to hit, and anyway, anyway.

The car dies halfway up the mountain and Gavin makes a go of it on foot for a bit. Remembers seeing a cabin or such on a map he looked at way earlier, or maybe a gas station attendant mentioned it at some point, whichever.

He gets a fair distance away, Ryan bitching as he gives chase and at the start of this whole merry chase Gavin was !!! but as things went on and Ryan stumbled/fumbled along behind him grumbling and complaining and such he’s more ??? because who the hell is this guy?

Not like the other people this businessman/politician sent after him – those were more likely to just kill him and bring his body in, real unpleasant bastards, but this guy?

Gavin doesn’t even know.

They’ve had those intense face-to-face confrontations that could have gone Badly a time or two, always interrupted by some unsuspecting passerby or stray jumping out of hiding to startle them enough for Gavin to slip away.

Just enough for Gavin to wonder if maybe this one won’t put a bullet in him so he can’t run – one of the others tried that and thank God Gavin stopped by an Ammu-nation before hand to grab some body armor under his clothes or he’d be very, very dead, wouldn’t he?

Make him curious, because for all the inconveniences and such Gavin tosses his way, all the angry yelling and bitching and complaining Gavin catches wind of? He hasn’t decided to hell with it and shot Gavin when he had the chance. (Or worse, because wow there are all these ways he could have killed Gavin by now.)

Anyhow, Gavin’s still running, yes, but he’s not flat-out terrified the way he was at the start. All the traps and whatever else he threw at Ryan intending to slow him down, but no real concern about any injuries that might be inflicted in the process.

Now Gavin finds himself dismissing things that might do serious damage to Ryan even if means Gavin could actually escape. (Stupid, stupid, stupid, because no way to know if he’s right about Ryan or if he’s just looking to collect on a bigger payday for bringing Gavin in alive, but yes.)

And then!

In their run through the woods or whatever is taking place, Gavin has to cross this rickety bridge over a river and is terrified the whole time it’ll give way under his weight, but by some miracle it doesn’t. He gets across just fine, and is almost out of sight when Ryan comes charging across, and of course that’s when the damn thing gives up the ghost.

Gavin pulled up short by Ryan’s startled yelp, turning around just in time to see him swept away by the current and almost, almost taking the opportunity to get the hell away.

But, no.

Because of course he damns himself for being an idiot, a fool, and runs along the river bank after Ryan. Keeps track of him as he pelts along until there’s a safe(ish) spot for him to fish Ryan out, pull him to solid ground.

Ryan who’s been doing his best not to drown, trying to remember all the things you’re supposed to do in that kind of situation and certain he’s going to die out here and Michael will bitch about how fucking stupid he was for the rest of his life, because of course he would.

And then there are hands grabbing at him and he’s being pulled out of the water and onto land and he gets a glimpse of a too-familiar face (annoying as hell and goddamn Ryan hates the little shit so much) before he passes out.

Wakes up who knows how much later in this dusty, rickety old cabin in the middle of nowhere freezing his ass off and also kind of without the clothes he was wearing earlier?

Musty blanket and jacket he doesn’t recognize thrown over him and someone (with an accent) muttering to themselves as they struggle to start a fire and what the hell happened?

He must say something or make too much noise while getting his bearings because the hacker whips around clutching a sad little book of matches in his hand and looking like a trapped animal as he watches Ryan nervously.

“Ah, hello,” the hacker says with this awkward little laugh. “You’re awake?”

And then, you know.

Ryan finding out the hacker dragged Ryan all the way up here just as the snowstorm hit and did what he could to warm him up. Was just starting to work at getting a fire started to warm things up faster when Ryan woke up and looks like they’re going to be stuck up here for a while, you know?Ryan half-frozen and clearly in no shape to hike down the mountain even if the storm wasn’t shaping up to be a bastard of a storm. (Supposed to last a couple of days, dump a significant amount of snow and no one in their right might would be out in it.)

And Gavin is still staring at him warily, keeps out of arm’s reach and skittish as hell and with the flickering light from the lantern Gavin managed to light Ryan can see how tired he looks?

Exhausted and run ragged (literally) and just as beat up after the last however long he’s been on the run. (Way before Ryan and Michael got pulled into things, that’s for damn sure.)

“Oh,” Gavin says, and fishes Ryan’s phone out of his pocket. “Michael wanted you to call him back when you woke up.”

Which.

What.

Gavin shrugs and explains that after he ~borrowed Ryan’s phone off him earlier that day, the day before in one of their face-to-face confrontations Michael called it expecting to get Ryan.

Turns out he’d been doing some Investigating, talked to a hacker buddy of a friend of his (Matt and Jeremy, respectively) and found out the asshole businessman/politician who hired them didn’t tell them everything.

That oh, hey, maybe it would be a good idea to keep Gavin alive and meet back in Los Santos somewhere to discuss what their next move was because they’re pretty much guaranteed to end up dead if they don’t. (The businessman/politician intending to double-cross them and either get them thrown in jail or outright killed rather than risk loose threads and such. What with that being the case with all the others they sent after Gavin and just. Yeah.)

And of course Gavin was like, ??? and talked to Michael about things and they’ve got this truce/understanding thing going on and Michael telling him Ryan’s a stubborn fuck and it might take a while for him to come around. (Also, don’t let the idiot die if at all possible.)

Gavin wary of a trap, but also this tiny grain of hope maybe things wouldn’t end with him dead, and then the bridge and the river and that moment of hesitation he feels guilty/ashamed of as he hands back Ryan’s phone.

Battery’s almost dead and there’s a sliver of a signal up this high/remote location, but the fact Gavin gave it back is…promising?

Not exactly trust but pretty damn close, and Ryan calls Michael and isn’t sure if the asshole hears him or what, but he tells him about their current situation and a place they could meet in a few days before it completely cuts off/dies and then, well.

Then it’s him and Gavin and this cabin in the middle of nowhere and ALL the huddling for warmth and sharing stories and FEELINGs.

Soft looks when Gavin falls asleep somewhere in there, exhausted as hell and the kind of trust/nothing left to do so in Ryan’s presence after everything they’ve been through.

Usual romcom stuff and when the weather clears and they make their way down the mountain to meet up with Gavin run into some baddies and have to fight their way free.

Another day or so to get to the meeting spot with Michael – small town nearby and this abandoned gas station or something like that on the outskirts.

So of course the asshole businessman/politician and his musclebound goons show up. There’s all these veiled/not-so-veiled threats thrown Ryan’s way when it’s obvious he Knows Too Much.

But maybe, the asshole says. There’s a way out of this for Ryan, because the asshole businessman/politician could use resourceful people like Ryan and Michael. Just let him have Gavin and keep his secrets and he and Michael could be looking at a lucrative job offer, if Ryan knows what he means.

Gavin getting all twitchy and fidgety because it’s a good deal, and really, they’re not friends, him and Ryan and Ryan would get to live. (He wouldn’t blame Ryan at all for accepting the offer, maybe tells him with this odd little smile it’s a good deal, you know? Ryan would be a fool to turn it down.)

Ryan watching Gavin who won’t meet his eyes and of course he’s going to tell the asshole businessman/politician to go to hell – even if he hadn’t caught feelings for Gavin he would have – but Gavin seems to think he won’t, and that’s just.

Ryan doesn’t know, really, because one of the goons gets impatient and goes for Gavin and Ryan just reacts – no conscious thought to it at all – and the goon’s on the ground howling about the knife in his leg and Ryan sweeping Gavin behind him before the shooting starts.

They get pinned down and have that Intense Eye Contact Moment where they’re sure they’re about to die and ~confess their love?

But that’s when Michael and Jeremy barrel on in, driving one of Jeremy’s ridiculous Rimmy Tim-ified vehicles and maybe hitting a goon or two along the way.

More shooting and yelling, but this time the odds are more in Ryan and Gavin’s favor and by the time the smoke clears the asshole businessman/politician’s escaped and the goons he left behind are super dead.

Also, the realization they’re all fucked now, because the asshole businessman/politician is definitely going to spin things to make them the villains of the story and him as the Upstanding Citizen most people know him as and, wow, okay, not cool?

But whatever because Ryan and Gavin are being totally obvious about their mutual feelings to the point Jeremy who doesn’t even know them can see it. (And he’s an idiot, as Michael can attest to. Like. Christ, it took forever for Jeremy to realize Michael was flirting with him and they were living together for months before the asshole caught on to the fact they were dating??? Like fucking Christ, what is Michael’s life???)

They end up having to ~go underground in Los Santos to avoid being murderized by various peoples, and people think they’re just another gang/crew in the city so why the hell not live it up, or something.

Hitting back at the businessman/politician by going after his ~unsavory allies and from the outside it looks like any other criminal squabbles, you know?

Rimmy Tim was a joke, but it becomes Jeremy’s Thing. Mogar happens when Michael picks up the leather jacket with the snarling wolf’s head at a thrift shop and someone asks him a dumb question and things go from there.

Gavin is just. He makes the most of being a little shit, and everyone despairs of the day he and Matt meet properly because oh, God, no.

Ryan embraces the stupid skull mask because Michael still won’t leave it alone (and also keeps people from recognizing him). Gavin’s the one with the idea for the face paint, some stupid joke that suddenly wasn’t one day.

(And oh God. Gavin being the one to do his face paint that first time, before they got their shit together and the intimacy of being that close to one another and touching Ryan’s face? Getting him to turn his head for a better angle to work with using a light press of his fingers and sudden  awareness of everything about something like that and FEELINGS and maybe, maybe, that’s the first time they kiss?

OR.

Some awkward throat clearing and eyes being averted with all the !!! of realizing the oh, no he’s hot thing is NOT going to go away anytime soon, what do???)

At some point Geoff and Jack and the people they stole away from Burnie and the Roosters happen and they join forces because wouldn’t you know it? Part of the reason Geoff and Jack and everyone they brought with them are even in Los Santos has to do with the asshole businessman/politician.

Bastard making a grab for Rooster-held territory and/or interests to the point they felt they needed more of a presence in the city, which is where the Fake AH Crew comes in.

And then just.

A lot of shenanigans and assholes getting along too fucking well for anyone’s peace of mind?

Also, also.

Ryan and Gavin finally getting their shit together and smooching the fuck out of each other. (Maybe there’s one close call too many, or Pretend Married for a job, or just. Absent-minded kiss and then the !!! and following panic before they’re like.

WAIT.

Realize they’re basically an old married couple at this point and are like >:((((((((((((( at all the time they wasted when they could have been smooching and so on instead and decide to make up for it.

(The others go from being amused to exasperated to annoyed as fuck in quick succession because goddamn they’re the worst, okay. Sappy motherfuckers who are also assholes and do what they can to make everyone’s life a misery, sometimes even intentionally.)

[wereallsaloonaticshere]

I love having characters discuss media they like / characterization-through-fandom so maybe have A Boy of choice discuss their favorite movie and everyone else reacts?

Okay so this isn’t very good, but I guess I like how I wrote Eduardo. Basically teenage Eduardo, Jon and Mark lowkey larp as their old west ancestors, Eduardo Juan and Marco, while waiting at a park for Edd Tom and Matt to come larping as their respective ancestors, Edward Thompson and Matthew.

Critique is welcomed but idk why you’d wanna do that with this piece lmao.

Word count: roughly 1,400. 

~

“Barbie and the Diamond Castle,” Juan said, biting into his very authentically old west McDonald’s Mcdouble. 

Eduardo’s laughs quickly turned to wheezing coughs. “God, Jon, what’re you, my niece?” 

“Who?” Juan looked at him expectedly.

“Fine, Juan.” Eduardo said, “why’d you choose the most feminine movie out there? Not enough reasons to not have sex with you yet?”

“I just really like it, okay?” Juan said, “the animation’s really cute, the songs are nice, and I watched it at least once a month until I was seven.” 

“Jesus you’re gayer than me.” Marco said.

“Haha, I think my parents are still waiting for me to come out,” Juan laughed.

“What’s your favorite scene from the movie?”

“I’m sorry are we seriously talking about fucking Barbie movies now?” Eduardo said, “this is supposed to be a stake out.”

“We had to listen to you play Mindless Self Indulgence the entire car ride here, so shut your mouth.” 

“What are you talking about? I had my earbuds in.”

“You were blasting it.”

“Oh, that’s why your mother kept looking at me weird through the front view mirror.” Eduardo said, “that sucks.”

“It’s okay, I think she’s come to terms with the fact that I’m friends with exclusively delinquents.”

“Hey!” 

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

“That’s mean, Mark. O. M-Marco.”

“Hypocrite.” Eduardo said.

“Anyways,” Marco rolled his eyes, “what about Barbie and her castle and your obsession with them both?”

“I don’t like it anymore! Just when I was a kid,” Juan said. “And it wasn’t her castle, they were actually really poor, they just had to travel to the castle to save a girl trapped in a mirror and the concept of music.” 

“...Huh?” Eduardo said.

“I don’t remember the plot very well, but I think that’s about it.”

“Huh. Sounds like something my niece would actually like.” Eduardo said, “they wear dresses in those movies, right?”

“Yeah of course, it’s Disney.”

“Can you text me a picture of the main girl? I’ll draw her in the dress and give it to her on her birthday.” 

“Aw, how sweet! Sure.” Juan, the infamous old west bandit, got out his phone and texted Eduardo the main girls.

“When are Edd, Tom and Matt supposed to come, anyways?” Marco asked, “my mom’s picking us up in a couple of hours.”

“Shut up Mark, they’ll be here,” Eduardo said, looking out across the grass and duck pond. 

“How do you know?” Juan asked, collecting the group's trash to throw away. “You said Edd has bad handwriting, maybe you read it wrong.”

“I didn’t read it wrong! Trust me, they’ll be here. They’re fuckin’ nerds and their ancestors were these cool action hero guys, of course they’ll wanna larp as them!”

“I thought you said they weren’t cool at all?” Juan asked, “and that their ancestors were gay or something?” 

“Of course they’re not actually cool!” Eduardo said, “but they sure thought they were, so I’m just explaining their train of thought.”

“Couldn’t we just larp as our ancestors?” Juan asked, “it would be fun, and a lot less stressful.”

“I thought that’s what we were doing?” Marco asked, tugging at his cheap brown bandanna Juan had found at Walmart the day before.

“I mean, I guess, but it’s not really authentic if we keep talking about Barbie and cars.”

“Then stop talking about fucking Barbie, problem solved,” Eduardo said. “Now make use of that second pair of binoculars, I think I see their car.” 

“Fine.”

“...I wonder if Marco was gay.” Marco said, watching the ducks sleep.

“What d'ya mean?” Eduardo asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Obviously I know there were quite a few gay people in the old west, it’s just funny to think about. How different of a life he would’ve led.”

“I found a photo of him kissing a guy on google.” Juan said, getting out his phone to find it again.

“Really?” Eduardo turned to face him, the car having driven past the parking lot. “How?”

“I remember hearing Edd talk about how that detective’s diary was really gay and thought about if that made Marco’s ancestor gay, to.” 

“Well not everyone in my ancestral line was gay, you know.”

“Yeah but the detective looked a lot like Edd, and Marco looked a lot like you, so I figured it only made sense to check. Here.” Juan handed Marco his phone. “It doesn’t say who the guy is.”

“Wait, so are you saying you think Edd’s gay?” Eduardo lit up and put his fingers together like a pyramid, “oh that’s interesting.” 

“What, are you planning on outing him to the school or something?” Marco asked. 

“No, of course not!” Eduardo said, “I just think it’d be something to bring up.”

“What does that even mean?” 

“Come on, he’s bullied you for being gay before!”

“That was a year ago, and that doesn’t mean he deserves the same treatment!”

“Mark-”

“Marco.”

“-Mark,” he glared at Juan, “just drop it, okay? If they don’t show up we won’t be able to catch them being idiots, so we’ll have to find some other way to do it!”

“Why do we need to? Have you ever considered that maybe if you stopped picking fights with them they’d leave us alone?” 

“Me?! They’re the ones that pick fights with us!” Eduardo slammed his fist down on the table, making the old wood wobble, “don’t you remember when we were in English and they told the teachers we were the ones that started that knife fight, when really it was them? Or when they were throwing knives at each other, and then stashed them in my locker when they heard a teacher coming? Or when that girl got stabbed-”

“Look, I get it, they suck, but at some point we become just as bad as them.” Marco reasoned. 

“...”

An alarm went off in Marco’s pocket.

“Hey, it’s almost 7. We should be packing up.” 

Eduardo sighed, “...fine.”

Juan threw away their trash as they were walking back to the parking lot. Marco took his bandanna off and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Are you able to eat dinner at my place?” Mark asked.

“You sure your parents would want me over again?”

“What are you talking about? Of course. Why not?”

“I don’t know, I just got the impression I annoyed them last time.”

“You didn’t. So, can you come?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t think to ask my parents.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yeah sure.” Eduardo got out his phone and texted his mom. 

“I won’t be able to come, my grandma’s over and dad’s making stew.” Juan said.

“Oh, nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

The ducks walked out of their way as they passed.

 {i really am just writing the most boring shit rn, huh? I mean i guess its realistic.}

 “Okay I can go, she said to be home by 10.” Eduardo put his phone away.

“Excellent.”

“Your dad isn’t gonna gril me about colleges again, is he?”

“Hey, if I have to deal with it then so do you.” Mark smirked. 

“It’s just annoying to hear him talk about all these engineering colleges.” He rolled his eyes, “as if I want to drive myself insane with those classes.”

“He’s only doing it because he wants you to have a nice job.”

“...I can have a nice job as a painter too.” Eduardo said, but the bite was gone.

 {my moms getting mcdonalds i cant wait im so hungry its literally 10pm} {its 1230 now and btw i loved it}

 “It’s your choice.”

“Have you decided what college you want to attend yet, Marco-Mark?” Jon asked.

Eduardo chuckled.

“I’m not sure yet. I might become an english teacher, or a librarian.”

“Huh. Nice.” Jon said. “I kinda wanna be a photographer, but I know there isn’t a lot of 

{and then I gave up}

[pftones3482]

Good Vibes

Commission for @kriss-the-writing-nerd. Ugh, sorry this took so long. It was a lot of fun to write, though! 

Klance/hunay/shallura/krolivan (is that their ship name cause it should be) ahoy. Under a cut for length.

~~

They floated for a long time in front of the glowing, purple light in front of them, lion tails swishing aimlessly in the void of space as they all drifted closer to one another without meaning to.  

“What is it?” Pidge finally asked.

Allura shook her head, squinting at the light. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Coran?”

Coran shook his head, twisting the corners of his mustache. He had an uneasy look on his face. “Not a wink, Princess. Perhaps Krolia?”

“I’ll wake her up,” Shiro offered, ducking from the cockpit and into the cargo hold, where Krolia had been sleeping off her portion of watch. He returned mere seconds later with the still somewhat sleepy Galra in tow, her gaze alert but her jaw splitting in a yawn. It froze when she saw the light in front of them.  

“By Antok,” she muttered, leaning over Keith’s seat and staring in awe at the light. “I haven’t seen one of these in...ages.”  

“You know what it is, then?” Coran clarified.

Krolia nodded once. “Yes. It is not harmful to us. You must fly through it.”  

Hunk frowned. “Through it? We could just go around it though, right? It ends a couple hundred feet up.”

A smile quirked at the edges of Krolia’s lips. “It seems that way, yes. But this field is impossible to bypass. Frankly I’m amazed you haven’t come across it before.”

“What is it?” Lance asked, lifting an eyebrow.  

“The Blades call it “The Light of Peace.” It’s a literal term; when you travel through it, you see what would most bring you complete peace.”

Everyone relaxed. “That’s not bad, then,” Pidge said, a small smile on her face. “I’d...probably see my mom and dad and Matt, right?”

Krolia pressed her lips into a thin line. “Potentially. However, The Light often shows people things that they aren’t expecting. So you may expect your parents or Matt, or perhaps what you really need to feel most at peace is just a long nap. There is no telling what you will see. Any of you.”

“Well...that’s still not a bad thing,” Keith reasoned, shrugging. “We just go through and come out, right?”  

Krolia’s nose wrinkled this time. “Yes, but you will all see each other’s needs.”

That made everyone shut up for a moment, and then Romelle spoke, her voice hesitant. “Well if we can’t avoid it...we don’t really have a choice then, do we?”

“Romelle is right,” Shiro agreed, nodding. “We’ll go through. Whatever you see of each other, whatever happens...everyone stays respectful. Krolia, is there any order to whose we see first?”

Krolia tilted her head. “Yes. Generally, whoever is first in the group to enter. You will not see anything until everyone is in the light, though.”  

“I’ll go first,” Allura volunteered. Her cheeks were a bit flushed. “I...Coran and myself...I can probably imagine what we will both see.”  

She lifted a hand and squeezed Coran’s reassuringly, and then man nodded. Pidge tilted her head. “I’ll go next,” she murmured, glancing towards Kosmo, who had taken to sleeping in her lion, as it was quietest. “Just me and the dog, right?”

They all slowly piped up, verbally drawing straws. Keith, Shiro, and Krolia, being in the largest lion, would bring up the flank so that they could keep an eye out for safety purposes until everyone was in.  

Allura’s grip tightened on Blue’s controls and Pidge swerved Green up to drift just behind her. Everyone else fell into line, Hunk after Pidge and Lance and Romelle following.  

For a minute or two, everyone was silent. The purple light slid over everyone and, true to Krolia’s word, no one saw anything but the light and each other as they pulled forwards.  

The moment Black’s tail curled into the light, however, everyone’s visions went white.

~~

Coran.  

A man with dark skin and twinkling silver eyes turned and tucked a flower behind Coran’s ear, his lips curled up in a laugh. A toddler with pointy ears and bright orange hair clung to his hips, trills of “Daddy!” reaching everyone’s ears. Her mouth was wide with a smile, and there were grass stains on her knees.  

Another child, slightly older, played in the distance, zooming rocket sounds falling from his mouth as he swerved a miniature Castle of Lions around the heavens. His hair was dark and curly, eyes glistening oceans, and he was wearing a cardboard paladin suit.  

They were on Earth, or at least, what looked to be Earth, if Earth were made up of only the tidbits the paladins had given him. They sat in the grass, but an ocean lapped on their left. Clouds drifted through the sky, sprinkling water every so often.  

On another rise, in plain view, sat the paladins, laughing and shoving at each other, no longer in uniform. The lions sat behind them, guarding and silent, and chuckled rumbles filtered over the land as Hunk started a food fight.  

A hand settled on Coran’s shoulder and he turned, finding a much older man standing there, orange hair grayed to almost silver, hints of the pumpkin color sparkling here and there. The wrinkles around his eyes were kind, and he nodded to the castle ship in the boy’s hand.  

“You did well, Coran. I forgive you for blowing up my ship.”  

~~

The stabbing feeling in the gut startled everyone as they slipped from the vision, blinking and wide eyed. Everyone instantly turned to the feed from the blue lion, where Allura had twisted back in her seat and was holding Coran’s hand tightly.  

The man’s other hand was pressed to his mouth, and they could all see the trembling of his shoulders. Allura’s words were gentle, soft, and no one had time to join in, because the next wave rolled over them.

~~

Allura.  

“And here is my favorite juniberry field!” Allura exclaimed, spinning in a circle of flowers.  

The paladins watched her in amusement as she took Romelle’s hand and dragged her into the field, her gaze bright. “You have been missing out,” she laughed.  

Romelle snorted, looking around the land with awe. “I can see that,” she agreed. “Altea really is quite lovely.”  

“Isn’t it? I’m so glad you could all be here to see it,” Allura said, turning to the paladins with a small smile. “I cannot wait to see Earth now that you have gotten to see my home.”

“Allura!”

She turned to find her mother leaning out the door of the palace, waving a hand. “Come along! Your father has prepared dinner for you all!”

“Coming mother!”

Allura skipped over to the paladins, wrapping a tight arm around Pidge and lacing her fingers through Shiro’s human hand with ease. He drew it up to his lips and pressed a quick kiss to her skin.  

“Come on!” she said. “My father makes the most amazing Baked Termasin. It is simply to die for.”

Hunk lifted an eyebrow. “Think he’d give me the recipe?”

Allura laughed. “Only if you could actually find Termasin on Earth. It cannot be substituted.”

~~

“We’ll have a moment of reprieve,” Krolia said as the vision faded. “Since there was a gap between the blue lion entering and the green lion. Pidge, be ready at any moment. It will feel very real to you.”  

Pidge nodded seriously, but everyone was looking at Allura, who had her face, flaming red, buried in her hands. Shiro shifted awkwardly in the black lion, his cheeks pink. His mouth opened, and then closed, and then Lance spoke.  

“We said no judgement,” he said, his voice soft and calm. He looked incredibly at ease with what they had all just seen.  

Shiro’s shoulders seemed to relax and he nodded firmly. “Absolutely,” he agreed, tone gentle.  

Allura peeked up through her fingers and managed a weak smile.  

~~

Pidge

“Come oooonnnn, Pidge,” Matt teased, dragging her by the hand to the convention center. ”Your paladin outfit is totally going to blow the competition away!”  

“Matt, I AM a paladin! I can’t just enter the costume contest, that’s cheating!”

“The others are doing it!”

Pidge glanced over his shoulder and snorted at the sight of the other paladins, also dressed in their armor, standing around and chatting while they waited for the siblings. She glanced back at the car and waved at her parents with a roll of her eyes. “If I don’t come back, it’s ‘cause Matt killed me with embarrassment!” she shouted to them.

Sam gave her a very cheeky thumbs up and they sped off before Pidge could protest further. As they got closer, the group noticed her and started calling out, yelling teasing jaunts that spurred her on further.  

“Our first Comic Con after we save the freaking planet and I’m an attraction,” Pidge grumbled, crossing her arms. There was no fire to her words, only mirth, and Matt laughed.  

His eyes twinkled in the sunlight as he shook his head and shoved her the last few feet to her friends. “Come on, Pidgeon, you’ll have fun.”  

“Where are you going?” Pidge demanded.  

Matt winked. “Oh come on, you didn’t think I’d come here in jeans, did you? I’ll be right back!”

He jogged off and Shiro shook his head. “He’s definitely dressing up as a rebel from Star Wars.”  

Pidge guffawed. “Oh my god, he so is,” she realized.  

Lance grinned, cheeky, and slung his arm around Keith’s shoulders. “We should have all brought our own Star Wars costumes just to fuck with him.”  

“Language, Lance,” Shiro scolded, though his face quivered with a grin of his own.  

Lance stuck his tongue out and Pidge laughed, looking up at the convention center. “I guess if we’re our own attraction, we should probably go inside,” she mused.  

“This will either end badly, or we’ll get mobbed,” Hunk said.  

“Hunk, neither of those things are good,” Allura pointed out.  

“You’re right.”  

~~

Kosmo

Keith was smiling.  

Hunk squatted next to Kosmo, scratching him behind the ears in the best spot and feeding him something tasty. His tail flipped with excitement.  

Keith was smiling more. Hugging Shiro. Hugging Lance. His mom.  

Lance was laying against his flank, talking out loud and pointing at the stars. Kosmo couldn’t understand him, much, but he could feel the happiness radiating off the boy.  

“What about Kosmo?”  

“I like the name Kosmo!”  

Kosmo liked the name Kosmo, too. It was a good name.  

Pidge put her glasses on his nose. He couldn’t see, but that was okay. She was laughing.  

Keith was smiling.  

~~

The flash passed, and Pidge turned to look at Kosmo, eyes wide. The dog looked at her expectantly, letting out a soft woof, and she chuckled, reaching out and scratching the dog’s head. “Guess he told you his name, Keith.”  

Keith scoffed, though his face was soft. “You guys totally influenced him.”  

~~

Hunk

The sun rose over the Balmera with a burst of orange and yellow, and Hunk’s mother gasped in delight, covering her heart with her hands and letting out a soft sigh of delight. Hunk’s father hummed in approval and wrapped his arm around the woman, a smile on his lips.  

Hunk grinned at their reaction and turned to Shay with a laugh. “I told you they’d like it.”

Shay smiled, eyes flicking to Hunk’s parents and then back to Hunk, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “Yes, I suppose you did. I am glad they like it. Do you?”  

Hunk’s smile softened. “Of course I do, you know I do.”

“And the others?”

They glanced back at the lions, waiting patiently. The other paladins were tiny specks up on the shoulders and maws of their ships, only the colors of their armor differentiating them. Allura and Shiro stood shoulder to shoulder, Pidge seated a bit of a way from them on Green. Kosmo was curled around her hip, and Romelle sat next to them.  

Keith and Lance were sitting on Red’s nose, pressed side to side, Lance leaning in close to presumably say something. Coran stood behind them on the top of Red’s head, a respectful amount of space between him and Krolia.  

“I think they do, too,” Hunk promised, turning back to the girl.  

Shay hummed and leaned against him, her arm curling around his shoulders.  

~~

“Hunk, you player!” Lance teased.  

Hunk squawked, sinking in his seat. “I thought we said no judgement!”

“We did,” Allura said, glaring at Lance.  

Lance lifted his hands, cheeks a bit pink. “Hey man, no judgement. You and Shay? Total couple goals.”  

“We’re next,” Romelle noted, her voice soft. “Unless the cow-”

~~

Kaltenecker

Green. So much green. Everywhere.  

Pretty flowers. They tasted like honey.  

A blur of colors, mice. Running up to her nose.  

They squeaked. Happy sounds.  

Friends.

~~

Everyone blinked and Hunk snorted, shaking his head. “Figures the cow would have the easiest time being at peace.”  

“To be fair, she is in a giant war ship right now,” Pidge pointed out. “I’m sure she wants nothing more than to not be in space.”  

“Relatable.”  

`~~

Romelle  

“Romelle! Mother says it’s time for supper!” Bandor called out from the door of their house.  

Romelle turned to Allura and Coran, her eyes twinkling. The wind around them billowed her skirts, lifted her hair around her shoulders. The light drifted across the hills surrounding them, bathing the Alteans in a soft light. “I cannot wait for my father and mother to meet you. Father has always talked of the ancient Alteans with a fondness.”  

Coran chuckled, settling a hand on Romelle’s shoulder. “I’m sure I can tell him all about ancient Altea, if he’d like. I have some fantastic stories from my days of youth!”

Allura winced. “Perhaps...perhaps leave those out of your tellings.”  

“Why ever would I do that?”

Romelle giggled and took Allura’s hand tugging her towards the hut. ”I’m sure father would love to hear of all the eccentricities you indulged in, Coran. And Allura, my mother is a seamstress. I’m sure she’d love to hear of the royal clothing you wore.”  

“Of course,” Allura laughed. “I would very much be happy to describe them to her.”  

The grass tickled their feet and ankles as they walked, and, just before they got inside, Romelle turned back. “Will the paladins be joining us?”  

“In a matter of time,” Coran said with a nod.

Romelle clasped her hands together, eyes twinkling in delight. “Wonderful! I’ll go tell Bandor to add more place settings!”  

~~

Romelle frowned as the light faded, tears streaking her cheeks. “That felt so...short, compared to the others.”  

Lance reached over and squeezed her wrist reassuringly. His mouth was set in a thin line as he prepared for his own vision. Krolia spoke up after a moment of silence, answering the implied question. “The less you need to feel peace, the shorter the vision.”

Romelle sighed, looking away, and let her hand slip into Lance’s so that she could return the reassurance.  

~~

Lance

Lindy wound her arms tight around Lance’s neck, her pigtails billowing in the wind as they watched the sunrise from the top of Red’s nose. “Uncle Lance?”  

“Yeah baby?”  

“Can I drive Red someday?”  

Lance spluttered a laugh, twisting to plaster a kiss to his niece’s cheek. She squealed in disgust, bouncing away, and Lance kept a careful hand on her hip to keep her from falling off the edge. “You better be able to reach the floor with your feet, first, silly.”  

Lindy pouted but accepted the answer, and Lance stood, scooping her into his arms and descending into Red’s cockpit and out of the lion all together. She clung to his jacket, breath warm against Lance’s neck, and when Lance stepped outside he handed her off to his brother. “You’ll be home for lunch?” he asked, shifting Lindy to his hip.  

“Absolutely. I’ve got something to do first, though. Mind if I bring some guests?”  

“Go for it,” Marco chuckled. “I’m sure Mama is preparing extra in anticipation of that.”  

“Thanks, man.”

Marco waved and trudged off with his daughter, leaving Lance to rock on his heels and stick his hands in his pockets, staring out at the surf and at the rising sun. The sky was plastered in vibrant pinks, yellows, and oranges, dusting the clouds with rose gold and looking more like a painting than real life.  

“If you stare at the sun too long your eyes will burn.”  

Lance snorted and tossed a look at Keith as the young man stepped over, his nose wrinkling as the sand shifted under him. “Shut up, Keith.”  

Keith stuck his tongue out and stopped next to Lance, their shoulders bumping. Behind him were Pidge, Hunk, Romelle, and Allura, splashing through the surf with a very wet and slobbery Kosmo, who appeared to love the ocean almost as much as Lance. Krolia and Coran watched from the shore, and Lance could see Shiro sneaking up behind Allura from under the water, a grin on his face.  

“You know, Shiro really is just a teenager in an adult body,” Lance mused, watching as Allura was tackled and Shiro immediately got punched in the face.

Keith, also watching the scene, choked on a laugh. “God, you have no idea. You know my hover bike?”

“Yeah?”  

“He taught me to ride it.”  

Lance nodded, humming. “Ah. That explains...pretty much everything, actually.”  

Keith chuckled and looked back to the sunrise. His hand stretched over to Lance’s, and their fingers twined together without hassle, Lance’s thumb rubbing soothing circles over Keith’s knuckles. “Seriously though, you should stop staring at the sun. You’ll go blind.”  

“You’re not my mother.”  

“Thank god for that,” Keith snickered, pressing a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek.  

~~

Dead silence.  

Lance was gone from his screen, and so was Romelle, Red seemingly on auto pilot, so everyone instead turned to Keith, whose face was bright pink. Pidge lifted a slow eyebrow. “Okay, uh...?”

“No judgement,” Romelle snapped, appearing on screen again. Her eyes were flashing more violently than anyone had ever seen prior. Her gaze shifted to Keith, and the harshness faded a little. “No judgement.”  

Keith swallowed and nodded.

~~

Krolia

“You lived...here?” Kolivan asked, his nose wrinkling as he took in the forlorn shack in front of him.  

Krolia, in jeans and a t-shirt, huffed and shoved at his arm, a playful grin on her face. “Shut it! Not like many other people would have taken in a quiznaking alien, and you know it!”  

Kolivan rolled his eyes but glanced to her, his smile softening. “I’m glad he did take you in. It was noble of him.”  

Krolia grumbled but nodded, ducking her head. “Yes. It was. According to Keith, he was a very noble person.”

“Seems Keith gets it from both sides, then.”  

Keith, as if he had been summoned, popped his head from inside the cabin, a grin on his face. “Mom! Kolivan! Come on, you’re going to love this card game! It’s right up your alley! All sarcasm and violence!”

Krolia snorted and shook her head, taking Kolivan’s hand and leading him into the shack, where the paladins and Coran were gathered about the floor, all of them with a set of seven white cards in their hands.  

Pidge was leaning over to Coran, Romelle, and Allura, pointing between the white cards and the black cards on the floor and explaining the rules. Lance was attempting to sneak a peek at Keith’s cards, left on the table, but Keith dove in and swatted him off before he could.  

Keith scooted over and patted the floor next to him and Krolia smiled, sinking to the ground next to him and tugging Kolivan down with her. Hunk appeared from the kitchen with a massive platter of nachos and settled down next to Allura, handing around the plate as Krolia drew her set of cards.  

“All right, explain the rules.”

~~

“Mom, you flirt,” Keith teased, though his cheeks were still pink.  

“You know, all I’m getting from all of these visions is that everyone wants something to eat,” Allura laughed.  

~~

Shiro  

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said, voice soft. “I’m sorry that you...that you had to go through all of this without me.”  

Adam sighed and ran a tired hand over his eyes, glasses pushed to his forehead. ”Takashi, I...when I thought you were dead...that was the hardest time of my life. The last three years, knowing you were alive? It gave me some time...gave me some time to think.”  

“Me too,” Shiro murmured. He sighed, shoulders slumping, and looked away, rubbing his jaw. “Adam, I don’t...we can’t go back. To where we were. I’ve had a lot of time, most of that time fighting for my life, and I’ve grown.”  

“I know,” Adam said. His voice was careful, but his eyes were knowing. “Plus it’s...it’s not me anymore, is it?”  

Shiro glanced over his shoulder at the paladins, who were excitedly showing Coran and Allura around the Garrison. Allura looked up mid-laugh, caught him watching, and waved cheerfully. He waved back, tentative, and then turned back to Adam, who was eyeing the interaction with a soft sadness. “It’s not,” Shiro admitted.  

Adam took a breath and Shiro reached out, dusting a hand across his cheek. “It was, once,” he promised. “And I know it was for you to me, too. But if you’re telling me that after almost five years without me, you didn’t find someone else?”  

Adam’s shoulders dropped and he nodded, slow. Shiro let out a shaky sigh. “Then I hope you’re happy. I am. I want you to be, too.”  

“Thank you, Takashi. I am. And I’m glad you are.”  

Shiro nodded once, and then pulled Adam in for a tight hug.

~~

Shiro shuddered as the vision left, pressing a hand to his mouth. Krolia’s hand settled on his shoulder and Keith’s on his hand, and the knot in his chest loosened a little.  

“I didn’t know you and Officer West were...”

“Your gaydar is seriously broken, Hunk,” Lance grumbled, and everyone jumped, no one having seen him return to his seat.  

Hunk huffed and threw his hands up. “Apparently!”  

“Last one,” Krolia announced.

~~

Keith

The doors to the castle pool slid open and Keith stepped inside, promptly getting smacked in the face with a beach ball.  

“Sorry Keith!” Pidge cackled, racing past him and scooping up the ball before flinging herself back into the pool.  

“You’re definitely not!” he snapped back, laughing as he rubbed his head.  

“Yo, emo! Come join us!” Lance shouted from the deep end.  

Keith flipped him off and dropped his towel on the chair next to his mother, tugging his shirt off and throwing it down as well. ”Sure you don’t want to get in?” he asked.  

Krolia lifted a slow eyebrow. “And get tackled by 100 soaking wet pounds of Kosmo? I think not.”  

Keith hummed, glancing around the Altean pool for his dog and spotting him paddling next to Hunk. “Understandable. HEY KOSMO!”

The dog woofed and vanished from the pool. Keith side stepped rapidly, running for the pool and flinging himself in just as an outraged Krolia got a face full of wet space wolf. “YOU’RE GROUNDED, YOUNG MAN!”  

Keith whooped and hit the water with a flurry of bubbles. It had only taken the simple press of a button to flip the pool around, though Coran and Allura were confused about why they couldn’t all just walk up the walls and get into the pool that way. It took a lot of explaining to convince them that humans could not spider walk up the walls of anything, let alone a slick tiled pool wall.  

He popped up next to Lance, giving him a toothy grin, and Lance smirked back, nodding to Coran, floating nearby on a blow-up raft. “Thinking what I’m thinking?”  

“We’re gonna get murdered by his mustache?”  

“Oh totally.”  

“Let’s.”

They dove in sync and swam for the underside of the raft, Lance jerking up with his chin and floating just under it. He held up three fingers, brought them down slowly, and the moment his pointer went down, he and Keith shoved up as hard as they could.  

Coran was sent flying into the water with a yelp and Lance and Keith broke through the surface, bumping into one another and laughing as Coran came up, cursing in Altean, his mustache drooping.  

“If you die, I’m not saving you!” Allura called out.  

Shiro promptly dropped in on her, grabbing her by the shoulders and dunking her underwater. Lance burst into a new set of giggles, grabbing Keith’s hand and paddling them to the edge of the pool tile.  

Coran climbed from the water, mustache streaming, and shot them both a glare. “You will NOT hear the end of this,” he growled.  

Keith saluted and Lance shot him a set of finger guns before turning back to Keith. “Think he means it?”  

Keith snorted and ducked in, pressing a soft kiss to Lance’s lips. “Probably. We’re gonna die tonight.”  

“Well shit.”  

~~

The field ended, the light fading behind them before the vision was totally gone, and the cockpits of all five lions were silent.  

“Okay, my gaydar is SERIOUSLY broken!” Hunk yelped, spinning in his chair.  

Lance’s face was bright red, hands covering his eyes, and Keith was a similar mirror image. Allura and Shiro were both blushing, refusing to meet each other's gaze. Krolia coughed.  

“That was...certainly a learning experience for all of us,” she managed.  

“YOU KISSED ME!” Lance spluttered, whipping up and pointing accusingly at Keith.  

“UM, SO DID YOU!?”

“YEAH, BUT MINE WAS ON THE CHEEK!”  

“IT STILL COUNTS!”  

“Hang on,” Pidge said, interrupting the gay crisis going on in over half the lions. Everyone froze, looking to her, and she frowned, glancing at Allura’s lion. “We saw Kaltenecker’s and Kosmo’s visions. How come we didn’t see the mice?”  

Everyone turned their gaze on the mice, standing silently on Allura’s shoulders. “That’s a...good point,” Shiro said, brows furrowing.  

Platt squeaked and Allura burst into laughter, shaking her head. “Platt says they’re happy with what they all have. Except they want more food.”  

“Apparently we all do,” Pidge said with a snort.  

Coran coughed into his fist. “I suggest we set up camp for the night. It seems there are some...things...that some of us need to discuss with each other.”

“Where’s the nearest body of water?” Lance groaned.  

“Do NOT.”  

[madam-lit-nerd]

OK BUUUUUUUT I don’t have enough high school Destiel in my life lately, so here...HAVE SOME HIGH SCHOOL DESTIEL!

So Dean transfers to Central High School at the start of his junior year, brand new and handsome with the sharp jawline and bright green eyes, and oh-so-mysterious with those brooding stares and leather jacket.

Cas, on the other hand, has been in the county’s school system since pre-school—same classes with the same kids for so many years. There’s nothing mysterious in the least about his wide gummy smiles and bulky sweater vests, always paired with askew glasses and perpetual bed head. Which, on some people would be sloppy, but on him, it’s all kind of...adorable.

Right off the bat, Dean���s earning quite a bit of attention from guys and girls alike, all staring at him with desire or glaring with jealousy. There are, of course, a few people who immediately try to ingratiate themselves to him, but he‘s met these kinds before—they always try to wiggle their way in, bathe in that new-kid spotlight with their too-bright smiles and too-loud voices.

And yet, between all the first-day, back-to-school outfits and makeup and hairstyles, all the flirtatious smiles and overt greetings...there’s one person who stands out to oh-so-cool, mysterious Dean Winchester: the disheveled kid with the gummy smile who grins at him from three lockers away and quickly tosses out, “I’m Cas. Lemme know if you need anything!” before rushing off to his next class.

A friendly interaction that’s not too overbearing is exactly what Dean needs, and he finds himself glancing over at that locker throughout the day, hoping for another moment. Turns out that, even though he never quite catches Cas at his locker, he does see him when he walks into the last class of the day (physics).

Cas already has several other students around him, laughing and joking as they discuss their summers, but as soon as Cas sees Dean, he pats the desk behind him in invitation. Dean smiles gratefully as he settles his long frame into the small desk, surprised yet grateful for the unexpected show of friendship.

They fall into conversation easily, almost as if they’ve been friends for years. But as Dean watches Cas interact with the other students who walk into the room, he realizes that this is just who Cas is, how he actswith pretty much everyone. He’s awkward and dorky, sure, but endearingly so.

Dean finds himself admitting that he’s kind of into music and maybe it’d be fun to be involved in a band of some kind. Cas smiles widely and tells him about Chuck and his band that meet in Practice Room C almost every day after school.

“They’re no Zep,” he admits with a little chuckle, “but they’re the only band we have here at Central.”

Dean blushes and says that he’ll check them out, earning another blinding smile from Cas.

After the final bell of the day, Cas walks with Dean back to their locker block, still as easy and engaging as ever. Dean can’t help but marvel at how many people pause to bid Cas goodbye, everyone from freshmen to seniors, top-rung athletes to low-rung nerds. And Cas is just as friendly and open with each and every one of them.

Once they’ve gathered their books, Cas points Dean in the direction of the practice rooms before heading off to his own Monday-afternoon club (something about recycling, from what Dean catches). Dean does find the practice rooms and the aforementioned Chuck, along with his fellow band members Gabriel and Cain and Crowley. He hears them before he sees them, and he’s surprised at how good they are.

He doesn’t know what to expect when he knocks on the door—in fact he’s pretty surprised that he actually works up the nerve to do so—but Chuck’s already heard from Cas, and immediately invites Dean to sing along with them for the afternoon. By the end of the rehearsal, they’re blending like they’ve been doing this for years, and Dean’s got himself a vocal spot with Aborted Apocalypse.

When Dean spots Cas in the hallway the next morning, disheveled and adorable in yet another bulky sweater, he tries to thank him, but Cas just waves him off with a simple “That’s what friends do.”

And, from what Dean observes over the next weeks, Cas is just as generous with...well, pretty much everyone.

First it’s the giant football player Gordon who runs up and scoops Cas into a giant bear hug bc he finally earned a B in his history class, all thanks to Cas tutoring him in his one free hour.

Then it’s the sketchy guy Sid who usually hangs out behind the gym celebrating April 20 every fucking day, shuffling up to Cas to mutter that he’s “got the stuff in his car.” At first Dean’s taken aback, bc he can’t help but wonder if Cas, well...but then it turns out that “the stuff” is the Tupperware containers that Cas used to pack a bunch of meals when he learned that Sid’s mom was in the hospital for surgery.

Then it‘s Bela sauntering up to inform Cas that their usual girls night at the movies will need to be moved to Friday instead of Saturday bc she’s been asked out on a date.

Then it’s Becky, a freshman who stumbles up sobbing bc her junior boyfriend broke up with her to ask Bela out on a date.

Then it’s some random sophomore asking Cas for a hug and a piece of chocolate bc they failed their world history quiz. Then the frickin school counselor stops by to ask Cas to sit in on an appointment with one of his friends (a term that literally applies to the entire school, as far as Cas is concerned).

And Cas—sweet, adorkable Cas who’s involved in so many extra clubs and volunteer groups on top of all this—just takes it all in stride. Dean can’t even begin to guess when the guy studies or does his homework, but he passes in all the homework that’s due and he aces all his quizzes (at least the ones that Dean grades).

When Dean finally asks Cas how he does it, how he manages to look out for so many people while still taking care of himself, Cas just shrugs and says something about “mom friend” before offering Dean one of the cookies he’d baked over the weekend.

It’s at this exact moment that Dean realizes that he’s falling for Cas. Pretty fucking hard. It doesn’t help that they’re spending more and more time together: studying for physics, hanging out at each other’s houses, binge watching Dr. Sexy, volunteering for events with the animal shelter (Cas’s idea). Cas will even sit in on the band’s rehearsals some afternoons and hum along as Dean flashes him funny faces and flirtatious winks.

And yeah, Dean tries dropping hints here and there, flirting and gentle teasing—everything that’s worked for him in the past. But, Cas seems oblivious? Honestly, truly oblivious. Whenever Dean flirts and tries to compliment his eyes or hair, Cas deflects and makes a joke instead. The couple of times that Dean asks Cas out, it’s misinterpreted as just . . . hanging out. It’s incredibly frustrating, to say the least.

But there are so many hints that maybe Cas does like Dean back? Like the way he always smiles so openly at Dean, with his entire face lighting up every time they’re in the same room. The way he goes out of his way to talk to him and spend time with him, no matte how many other people are vying for his attention. How he attends the band’s gigs once they start playing local venues...He even befriends Sam (which is a huge deal for Dean) bc they’re both in GSA. Which, that certainly sparked Dean’s interest when he heard, but Sam had to admit that he didn’t actually know if Cas was into guys, or just an ally.

It isn’t until Bela sweeps into an Aborted Apocalypse rehearsal on a Tuesday afternoon in November and shoves her perfectly manicured nail into Dean’s chest to ask, “Why the hell haven’t you made a move on Cas?” Which surprises Dean, bc he knew that Bela and Cas were close (an unlikely pairing, given...well, them. Apparently it went back to freshman year with Cas helping Bela through some family stuff) but he didn’t know that she’d take such an active role in trying to get them together.

He offers his entire list of excuses, from “Cas is the same with me as he is with everyone else” to “I don’t even know if he’s into guys.” Bela just rolls her eyes at every single one.

It’s only when she says, “You both can make up as many excuses as you want, but everyone can see how you’re into each other!” that Dean begins to consider the possibility that Cas might actually want him back.

But he still has to be sure. “Everyone can see?” he asks around the ball in his throat. Bela nods slowly, like she’s dealing with an idiot, and as Dean looks around, he can see the rest of the guys nodding along too, all with shit-eating grins. Well, fuck.

It’s then that he has to admit that none of his usual tricks have worked. And Cas is just so fucking friendly with everybody. Dean can’t believe he, of all people, is special to Cas.

Bela just rolls her eyes and drags Dean from the room to another empty practice room. She levels Dean with a stern glare as she threatens to “disembowel you slowly with my pinky nail if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, ever.” And then she tells him about Brady.

Apparently, Cas is gay, but his last boyfriend Brady (some dickwad who attends another school across town) spent the entire relationship actively convincing Cas that they shouldn’t ever break up because no one else would ever want him. And then when they did break-up, Brady blasted Cas on all the social sites, and at one point, even vandalized Cas’s car, spray-painting derogatory, hateful slurs across every surface. So Cas is understandably hesitant about starting a new relationship because of how Brady treated him.

But, the biggest reason he won’t let himself show interest in Dean is he still believes what Brady said. Regardless of how many people love and accept him at school and at home, there’s still a tiny part that thinks that he isn’t good enough. When Dean scoffs in anger and disbelief, Bela arches a brow and spells it out: unless Dean makes it super obvious that he’s into Cas like that...well, Cas will never make that leap on his own.

As Dean is just about to head back next door, Bela calls out, “He loves the Beatles, you know.”

Dean smirks back at her, “Give me some credit, Bela.”

That weekend, when Cas arrives at the little coffee shop the guys are playing (with Bela in tow), Dean makes sure to stop at their table before the show and compliment Cas on his new button-down. When Cas smiles up at him, blushing so prettily as he murmurs his thanks, Dean can’t help but brush his fingers over the back of Cas’s hand, sharing a long, soft smile before his giddiness carries him back up to the stage.

They start with their usual set—a couple songs that the guys had written before Dean joined, a song they’d all written together, a couple popular covers—all songs that Cas has heard before. But then, the last song before the break, Dean smiles right down at Cas as he says, “This next song is for my amazing best friend, who’s loved and appreciated by so many people...including me,” he glances down shyly as he admits, “Cas, there’s no one else I could sing this to.” He looks right back up into Cas’s shocked blue gaze, “No one else who I’d want to hold my hand.”

He nods to the guys behind him, and the bass line starts to thrum as Dean sings the first, low lines:

“Yeah, I’ll tell you something. I think you’ll understand, when I say that something: I wanna hold your hand. I wanna hold your hand. I wanna hold your hand.”

The tempo picks up as the others join in. “Oh please, say to me...you’ll let me be your man. And please, say to me, you’ll let me hold your hand. Now let me hold your hand. I wanna hold your hand.”

Cas’s cheeks burn a bright red, but he can’t seem to tear his gaze away from Dean—from his sincere eyes and kind smile—and Dean can’t bring himself to look away either. Everyone else, everything else, fades away. It’s just him and Cas as he sings the bridge.

“And when I touch you, I feel happy inside. It’s such a feeling that my love... I can’t hide...I can’t hide...I can’t hide.”

As Dean sings through the final chorus, he can see it in Cas’s face—the realization and certainty that Dean is singing this just for him.

When the song ends, Dean still can’t tear his eyes away from Cas. Chuck announces a short break, but it’s all background noise to Dean as he hops down from the stage and returns to his best friend. Their shy smiles match as Dean reaches down to intertwine their fingers together. Cas slowly stands and pulls Dean into a tight hug with his free hand, unwilling to release the hands held between them.

“I really do, you know,” Dean murmurs into Cas’s ear.

Cas pulls back just enough to let Dean really see his eyes. “I know. I’ve hoped, for so long, but I just...I couldn’t tell.”

Dean scoffs. “You couldn’t tell? You, who spends so much time looking out for other people—“

Cas rolls his eyes. “Yes, the mom friend.”

“Why do you keep calling it that?” Dean wonders, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Because that’s what I am,” Cas insists. “And no one wants to date the mom.”

Dean arches a brow. “Ever heard of Stacy’s Mom? Or MILFs? Or Mrs. Robinson? Or—“

Cas cuts him off with, “I get it, I get it.” He chuckles, brushing his nose against Dean’s. “I still don’t understand it, but I get it.”

Dean’s eyes drop to Cas’s mouth. “And you get me.”

“I do?” Cas can’t help but tease, but Dean chooses to respond with something that will erase all doubts. His lips meet Cas’s, somehow gentle and fervent and kind and sincere, each giving and taking at the same time.

When they finally part, to the sound of people clapping and cheering, Dean glances down at Bela and nods once. “Thank you.”

Cas looks down at her, his eyebrows arched in surprise. “This was you?” Bela just shrugs as she looks back down at her phone with a bored expression, “I was just so sick and tired of the eye-fucking.”

Years down the road, when Dean and Aborted Apocalypse have hit it big, Cas will use his sparse free time (you know, between his full-time job as a social worker and his classes to earn his second masters degree) to go see Dean and the others perform whenever they’re nearby. And every time Cas is at one of their shows, they play another Beatles song. But they never actually circle back around to “I Want to Hold your Hand” until the night Dean pulls Cas onstage to drop to one knee and ask him if he’ll hold his hand for the rest of their lives.

So I’ve kind of had this idea floating around in the back of my head for a while now (you know, high school nerds falling in love over music). I mean, I’d heard through the grape vine that Jensen could sing, but it wasn’t until I saw this video that I realized I had to write something with musician Dean. The song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was originally sung by the Beatles, but the version I picture Dean singing here is closer to this slow version from the Across the Universe soundtrack. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! As always, please like and share, as that is the lifeblood for us authors on here. Ok, byeeee!

[hellotinywonder]

(re)Generation 2018: meet your heroes.

DAY THE FIRST, Wednesday:

Snow. Darnit.  I’m going delay my trip a day.

DAY TWO, Thursday:

I got up at 5:30a, trekked down to my conveniently already-packed car through the snow, but the streets were clear, and I began my drive westward and northward. Dawn over snowy mountains is spectacular.

I visited with puppeteer friends in Richmond, saw their local makerspace, and hung out with an old friend from my touring days and her new dog, Dave, a rescued sweetheart from Puerto Rico.

DAY THREE, Friday:

Off to DC, with literally NO traffic. I had brunch with the incredible JoJo (Burlesque Poetess), who is a Doctor Who nerd of equal or greater value, and extended bandfamily from ten years ago.  It’s been so great to reconnect and talk art and ideas and nerdy references. And how we engage with the universe, and how sometimes the universe engages right back.

After brunch I headed to visit my friend Matt and his wife.  It was great.  I met Matt a few years ago at a convention, all because I had PuppetCapaldi with me, Matt used to write and draw for Doctor Who comics, and has since become one of my closest art friends and advisors and person to send random texts to in a crisis.  Good people, but this is the first time we’ve hung out in person since our initial meeting.  It was great.  A few hours later I was off to Baltimore.

It took 3 hours. Which didn’t mean much to me, as I don’t drive DC to Baltimore often.  But yes… I later learned it should be a 45 min trip. I parked eventually and made my way to the hotel for ReGen.  I knew only one person going in, and I promptly sought him out: Drew Meyer.  I snuck into the back of his panel (it’s worth mentioning that I met Drew the same day I met Matt, and PuppetCapaldi did those introductions too) and tried to use context clues to make out what it was about.  I got as far as Drew referring to the Tardis as “sort of like a windowless van”, when I abandoned that notion and decided I’d just make a note of it, so I could mock him in my end of trip summary… like… now.

After touching base, and handing off my puppet suitcase (Drew was storing it onsite so I could attend the March for Our Lives the next day without needing to worry about a giant rolly-bag and crowds) I caught Irene Richard coming out of the panel she had just hosted with Rachel Talalay.  I feel like I’ve known Irene for years, I think it’s how decidedly New Yorker she is, but this was our first time actually meeting.  We hit it off, as I knew we would, and then by some twist of awkwardness and fate, I was standing at a table with Rachel Talalay admiring a scribbled storyboard movement sketch.  I love things like that.  Process-peeks. I realized I didn’t have anything to say to Rachel (aside from the whole: You’re awesome, inspiring, and your eye is fantastic), which is bothersome, because I’m a fairly interesting person at times, and I want to learn so much from her, she’s a powerhouse in the industry I am just starting to dabble in, and am always keeping an eye on.  I didn’t have any puppets with me to reinforce that I make stuff, etc.  That’s fine, there was a whole weekend ahead.

I skipped out to dinner with Drew and his friend Brent, and shortly after went home to my friend’s house, where there was a party.

The party, I won’t get into too much, but I walked in and it was like knowing everyone.  They were activists, peers, they had a prison letter writing campaign going on in the dining room.  I had such a wonderful time meeting everyone, it was a completely unexpected bonus.  I miss my punkrock anarcho activist friends. Good to see organization like that in Baltimore.  I slept in a room with multiple accordions.  Perfection.  Thank you Jonathan for your hospitality and your excellence.

DAY what is it now? Four? FOUR, Saturday:

I got up early, mostly because I had been and would be antsy about giving my panel on puppet and prop-making that night.  No one else in the house is up, and I need coffee and to get to the March.

I get a Lyft to town, remembering seeing a Starbucks a block or two away from the hotel. I’m traveling with just a little backpack and my travel mug as my puppets are stored at Drew’s so I get out and head off to it.  *Normally I’d avoid Starbucks and hit up a local cafe, but the Baltimore Harbour is rather commercialized I couldn’t find an indie place to scope out.  I was not alone in this…

I walk in, an amalgamation of bleary-eyes and nerves, and to my left I see a familiar figure and hear a voice, and at first I dismiss it, as I don’t quite place it- holy damnit.  It’s Peter Capaldi. ***Now, I am going to stop you here.  Peter Capaldi is a big deal to me.  I met him last year, PuppetCapaldi in tow, and some friends got me to make a 24 hour comic about it. (It’s here https://tinyurl.com/y9cfma2t) worth a read, and it’s flipping cute, and I might reference it once or twice more.***

He’s talking with Rachel. I make my way past them, because they are having a conversation and the day is young, and I am about to go shake my fist at government, and I need coffee and… While I’m waiting in line, they finish their conversation and get up. Fine, universe, I might as well, I wanted to reconnect with Rachel anyway, so I do.  I say hello, I explain that this is a very bizarre and rather delightful start to my day at least. Rachel introduces me, Peter shakes my hand. “I’m Peter.” “Valerie.” We talk for a short while. Peter grabs my travel mug and inquires about my Scottish flag sticker with EU stars super-imposed. I explain that, while I am not from the UK, I’ve kept up on Brexit and I talk about meeting with the remainers outside of Westminster, and when I was in Glasgow- Glasgow?  Oh yes, and then I point to the sticker next to it, which is a map of one of my favourite cities in the world: Glasgow (my travel mug is adorned in stickers from places I’ve been recently, namely Glasgow and Berlin, and Tokyo…) Peter doesn’t quite recognize it, so I point out The Clyde, and it clicks. “Oh!”  He says, then we start to talk about Glasgow.  It’s brilliant.  He points to a place on the map and shows us: “I have a flat right around here.”  I show him where I stayed, across from Kelvingrove. “Oh, that’s the West Side.”  He’s right, but I act jokingly incensed.  Glasgow, Glasgow, Glasgow, and then it’s time to go.  We say our goodbyes.  And they are on their way and I will see them later and…. I need coffee.

I walk back to the hotel a few minutes later (to set eyes on puppets, make sure everyone’s all set, and tuck them away at the Pixel Who booth, who have lovingly adopted us for the weekend), glowing.  It occurs to me I just got to talk to Peter Capaldi about Glasgow.  Not Doctor Who, not The Thick of It, not Puppets, just Glasgow, a city we have a mutual fondness for.  This is somehow the best thing ever.

Okay, get your head together, Valerie.  It’s time to go to the March.  So I do, it’s about 4 blocks away, an easy walk and the whole time I’m overwhelmed with what today might end up being like. The March is indescribable.  I went to the local Baltimore version, knowing DC would be too much to contend with if I am to teach a puppet workshop that evening, but I believe it was worth stepping out wherever and being counted in the hundreds of thousands of people demanding better gun control in the US.  Kids are on the microphone, empowered by their peers, and finding their voice, and demanding their safety, and I’m already just emotionally dilated and I begin to cry. It was such a powerful morning.

After a couple hours, I’m starting to fade.  I leave the March, return to the hotel, get some food and grab my date, a 3 year old, beat to hell, semi-retired PuppetCapaldi.  He is the goshdarn belle of the ball when it comes to conventions like these, especially when Peter is present. We go to a panel interview of Peter.  As he’s my aforementioned ArtHero, I am terribly interested in what he has to say, but I don’t care as much about meta Doctor Who information unless it’s fun anecdotes of monsters and puppetry, of which there are a couple.  The only thing I am interested in him answering related to Doctor Who is what was it like to make something like this in the world of Brexit or Trump, or how does Doctor Who intersect with our current reality, because sometimes it seems to offer direct commentary, and Saturday (with the March) was just a particularly important day.  A sort of: did Doctor Who, the franchise, feel it has a duty of care, with how it couches its viewpoint in media, etc.  I never got to ask that question, but someone asked one similar. His answer was lovely, talking about how ultimately Doctor Who is being made for kids, and giving them the globalist (universalist) perspective of The Doctor will help shape their thinking and the world as they inherit it.  That world leaders should be afraid, because Doctor Who is communicating with the generations that will replace them. It wasn’t quite the question I had, but it was close enough.  Thank you, whoever asked it.  I looked for her after (she had blue wristlets), but never found her.

I ran into Rachel again after this, and donated to WhoAgainstGuns and got a lovely postcard of the (now dismantled) Tardis interior, which I love, a set I desperately wish I could have seen, could have been on, and I did try.  She signed it to me. “To Valerie from Starbucks” and we talked about how we both ended up there that morning for lack of other options.  I apologized for bothering them, but there was no need.  It also caught me offguard to be remembered. That’s a long time problem for myself.  I’ve written about it many times before.  I am getting accustomed to the concept that people do in fact have object permanence when dealing with me.  It’s nice to be remembered.

I’m about to go get our little family photo taken, when Michelle Gomez passes by and sees PuppetCapaldi she makes “the face” as I have come to call it. “Whaaaaarghourgh!”  She yells as she’s rushed by.  I make a note to find her later.  She made the “I know that guy!” face, and I think she wants a picture with it.

I am currently, in present as-I-write-this day, realizing how darn wordy I am.  I’ll try to condense. We have our photo taken.  Peter puts together that I am me.  The woman from this morning, but also that we have met before, once he sees the puppets.  I let him play with the finger puppet, and before I know it we’re looking into the monitor (THEY HAVE A MONITOR, BLESS YOU!) and I’m talking about finding focus, etc.  A photo is taken of me adjusting Peter’s arm while he stares down the camera, and then one where I look at the camera but he, and all puppets present, are focused on the monitor. Both are super adorable.

We’re removing puppets, etc and Peter says “You made all these, yes?”  Oh yes.  Someone prompts me and I mention the puppet I brought that is loosely based on Armando Iannucci, not that anyone would recognize it.  “I would recognize him”  Peter says. “Bring him by and show me.”  So, that’s that.  I’m off.  A bit thrilled that I’m getting a reputation as the puppet lady.  I mean, I’m certainly working at it, but attaining it is an altogether different feeling.

I’m sitting outside in the hallway playing with two little girls who were there for photos and talking to them about puppets and Sesame Street, and that sort of thing, when Peter and his folks pass us.  The girls and I (and PuppetCapaldi) wave at them, and I continue to pack my photo into my Spacejunk sketchbook and then I’m alone in the hall.  I head for the elevators and as I turn the corner I walk into the most wonderful scene:

Young Theo Tidemann (who I did not know at the time) has just started playing ukulele at Peter’s request, while we’re all waiting for elevators. Theo starts “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.”  It’s wonderful.  It’s sweet. It’s about to get even better.  Peter starts to sing along, then slowly we all do.  A bunch of strangers, singing in impromptu harmony.  It’s so magical. Singalongs are like my religion.  That metaphysical energy of communion through song?  It’s transcendent to me.  Early on I realized that I was in a perfect moment, and I thought of this kid I was about to meet, and he deserved a video of this. So I juggled my puppets a bit and took some poor quality video with my phone, it pans up and fades out, and it doesn’t matter. It’s the perfect moment, and we can rewatch it anytime.  (It’s on @hellotinywonder’s instagram… https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgt7jO8Ar25/ and BBC-A put it in an article about Doctor Who’s Day recently) Other things happen that day.  I get a moment with Michelle, she takes a photo with PuppetCapaldi, but I’ve never seen it since.  I am still looking for it.  It’s a great exchange, though. Showing someone your art because they are excited about it.  I’m pretty proud of that. I play ukulele in a room of other ukulele people… it’s ukubiquitous!

I sit in a dark corner and just breath a bit. I end up talking about puppets with the custodial staff, and it’s one of the most delightful conversations of the weekend. Throughout, I am adrift.

PUPPET PANEL!  It went WELL!  Kathy O’Shea David helped out and brought her army of puppets as well, I would go on, but really, it was mostly just me talking about puppets, how to build, what to use, asking questions, answering questions, and corralling  a puppet petting zoo.  Unexpected hit of the posse was Kyle the Fish! Everyone loves Kyle, I demonstrated my feelings on ventriloquism with him (when using a puppet, in my opinion, moving your mouth doesn’t matter, if your focus on the puppet is correct, and your manipulation is believable and you hit your lipsync, people will just accept it.) As I started to put puppets away, when my panel was over I looked up and saw Kyle, some kid was manipulating his mouth, and it was so moving.  I make reference puppets like I do fanart, to expose people to the other stuff I do. Do you like PuppetCapaldi?  He’s a portrait puppet, a skill I possess, and can do for anyone! Do you like this Rick from Rick and Morty? He has moving eyes, a mech I designed, and also use over here… People fell in love with Kyle, who is my very own intellectual property, and that meant the world to me.

At some point, I and my puppet rolly-bag float away to bed.

DAY I FORGET, IT’S THE LAST ONE, Sunday

I drive myself in this time, so I can scoot off when I’m done. Puppets stay in the car, with the exception of PuppetCapaldi, my date, and Armando, who I debate quietly… I mean, he’s janky, he’s not quite right, he’s not a portrait puppet, he’s just *based* on Armando Iannucci… do I want to show a piece to Peter that I don’t fully stand behind?  I’ll decide later.  I stuff him into my travel tote which I realize then is my tote from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.  I sigh. I am the biggest nerd ever, even when I don’t mean to be.

I have Coffee with the Creators.  This is delightful.  I get to pick some people’s brains, and let others just tell me about what they do.  I am thrilled to get to speak more with Simon Fraser, a comic book artist for Doctor Who, I swear, I do collect them as friends, it seems. I also get to meet Steve Gostelow whose table I’d been eyeing throughout, but we missed eachother.  He was a monster maker, and sculptor, and having a materials and process geekout was fantastic.

There’s a moment when Rachel is about to come to our table, and she has to get up and leave, we make this brief sort of eye contact and I realize as she’s headed out, that it’s fine.  We’ll catch up later, that is such a strange and wonderful feeling.  She tells me later she had to run up and get her photo taken with the three Doctors.  Adorable.  Flipping Adorable.  I will see her again in a little over a month, and that is spectacular.

I am walking around the con, taking it all in and Peter and his small group walk by, I’m talking with my new fellow blue-haired early 30’s lady friend Gale at Nightengale Needles, and I look up and see him.  I have nothing to say to him so I resort to my clown communication skills and make a friendly, but decidedly silly face.

It is returned.

This is a professional milestone, in my book.

Later I am in the vendor area, and I meet up with Simon Fraser and his family.  We talk a bit more, he likes PuppetCapaldi (really, that puppet handled nearly all my introductions, it’s great).  I am looking through his portfolio of work for sale, mostly because what he is selling is traditional blue pencil and ink, and I like just looking at people’s work, understanding how they develop a peice.  Then I see the page.  It’s 4 vertical panels of Osgood throwing her scarf to a falling Twelfth Doctor.  She saves him.  He is appreciative and grumpy.  She looks like me. I’ve seen this page, I’m told it’s from a Free Comic Book Day issue, from Titan, I assume.  I was eyeing a wallet made out of it on Etsy, I love it.  I love the composition, the dynamics, the SHELOOKSLIKEMEness of it all.  And here it is.  Waiting for me.

I rarely buy things at conventions, but this page has been in my mind for almost a year? And I love it, and now it’s mine. And in some strange cosmic organization, it was always mine.

On my way out I touched base again with Steve Gostelow.  I show him my “Celastic: Do It Old School!” button.  While he didn’t use Celastic, he still appreciates it. We talk a bit more maker shop and it’s wonderful.

Okay, the last line for meet and greet and autographs.  As I said in my comic, these are the people PuppetCapaldi was made for.  We had time, and I struck up conversations with all the lovely people around me, especially this woman, Michelle, who gave me a clif bar.  Smart folks.  I showed her the comic, which gave her a bit of context into what was about to happen.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting an 8x10 glossy photo signed, but that is not where I am at.  When people set down what they would like to have signed, I pulled out my do-not-lose-me-orange A4 #Spacejunk notebook and open to a random page.  That is what I want signed.

When I’m about to meet Peter, again, I take off PuppetCapaldi, that’s not what this is about. The woman in front of me is having her Missing DoSAC Files book (one of my favourite books ever) signed “by Malcolm”.  Peter pens a short, furious, and F-laden diatribe for her. She thanks him and wishes him a happy birthday. “Ah yes!” He says. “Thank you.” He goes on to sign a photo she had in her collection of signables. “You know, I’ll be 60,” he starts, “and when you’re 60 the government gives you a little pass.  And I can take all the buses and trains for free.” The public transit junkie in me is thrilled. It’s always nice to have common geekery with the people you look up to.

Oh, then it’s my turn. Okay, then. I try to briefly and calmly (everything is madness around me) explain that I am here to ask him for some advice, or encouragement, that I, and many like-minded friends of mine are all at these weird professional empasses, and I look up to him, and have for some time, even this puppet has gotten me work out in the big crazy world of TV and Film.  He smiles and grabs a blue sharpie (which I realize I had secretly hoped he’d use blue, despite the several black, silver, and gold sharpies on the table).

“Shall I make it out to you?” “Sure.”  I say, (I mean, fair is fair, I’ll share the advice, but this is my letter, sorry kids.) “...I’m Valerie.” I continue. “I know.” He says and continues to write.

I’m again caught off guard at this display of object permanence. This hero of mine knows me.  Knows my work…

He is writing, but stops. “Have you got your Armando with you?”

Ulp.  More object permanence.

“Well, I mean, yes, but it’s not quite-” “I want to see it!” He puts the pen down. He’s written something about stars aligning.

I dig Armando out, explaining that he’s only *based* on him, for a show I’m building… I slip my hand through the secret hole in the sleeve, and lift the puppet’s head.

Peter makes what I have described earlier as “the face”.

He gasps, giggles, then buries his face in his hands. Armando looks around a little frantic, and a little jangly, scratches his head.  Peter lifts his head, locks eyes with me, locks eyes with the puppet, and devolves into laughing.  “It’s *so* like him!”  he says.  “I need to show this to him.” His handler takes our photo together.  Peter explains “this one is special, this is for a friend of mine.”  A woman who I guess knows Iannucci’s likeness also gets it and now she’s laughing.

“I’m going to send this to him!” Peter tells me while his friend takes the photo, “He’ll love it!”

Peter sits back down, again telling me how much Puppet Armando is like Proper Armando and recomences writing. He just keeps going, we’ve stopped talking, and it’s rather quiet, surrounded by the din of the convention. Sharpie on paper, scratching.

Someone behind me taps me on the shoulder and checks to see if I am doing okay. I tell them I am fine, and I am. I am perfect.

He’s stopped mid-sentence, and is just writing “work” over and over in the margins.

He finishes.  Having filled the page, which is adorable. “There. Is that alright?”  He asks.  I tell him it is. And I thank him. “Good luck.”  he says, handing it up to me.  “And have fun.” (I will.)

“You are very talented.”

All of this means so incredibly much to me, I don’t think I can properly explain. I thank him again and look up. The rest of the world races back into my consciousness.  Michelle, my new friend from the line, is only a little bit crying.  “Are you crying?”  I ask.  “Maybe!”  She says. And I realize she is, because she gets it.  Because she read a silly little comic about this weirdo art girl who is just collecting advice, inspiration, and encouragement from the people she looks up to, and somehow today it’s coming together perfectly. 

Empathy Abounds.

Peter and I say good-bye, and I’m off to put Armando away more properly.

(Oh, I also scurry back to the table to pick up Armando’s eyebrow which fell off.  Peter looks up and I hold the eyebrow up to my own and it all registers.  Such a puppeteer move, you guys.)

After that it’s just a farewell fanfare finale.  I say goodbye to everyone and then I am off.  Completely rejuvenated artistically, emotionally, professionally… I can’t describe it all, and I’ve been doing nothing but describing it all for seven pages of a google doc!

I drive through the evening and end up in Staunton, VA, just as the sunset turns to night, to stay with my friend before heading home the next day.  We order Chinese, as she’s also just come back from performing and we are prolevel ladies that deserve a night in.  We’re talking about art, and Fringe festivals, my weekend, and hers, it’s great to continue this creative thread outside of my Baltimore adventure. I open my fortune cookie, which says: “Watch for a stranger to soon become a friend.” That’s sort of how I’ve been living my life, as of late. We make more tea.

Pan Up.

Fade Out.

[yerabearmum]

Finally got around to watching season 7 and HOOOO BOY do I have a lot to say

“he’s the youngest pilot ever to lead a mission into space” I think you forgot to mention ‘professional gay disaster’

Shiro looking at Keith, who is staring morosely out the window: he so obviously needs a hug but he would also glare a hole through my face if I come within ten feet of him how can I show this child love

DO YOU SEE LANCE'S LITTLE SWOOPY HAIRCUT

why is Little Lance’s voice deeper than Big Lance’s

“the emo kid’s doing it!” of course he is what more would you expect from the kid who never talks and openly but silently hates your guts

how does this twelve-year-old know how to drive in the first place

Kieth:*steals a car*

Me: PROTECT HIM

shiro doesn’t even look upset he’s just concerned and impressed

lance is so done with science in general

hello my name is takashi shirogane and welcome to my ted talk

Romelle’s hand gestures fill my soul with warmth

Coran is literally just Space Steve Irwin

Coran’s intimidation methods are #fierce

if that’s seriously how you used to wrangle yelmores then is it really any wonder why Alfor is dead

“like you, lance” an hour of adoring silence for this sibling relationship

how much you wanna bet Shiro is aware of everything around him and his only thought is “listen baby bro I already came back from death once why do you fear that I can’t do it again”

Keith yawns like a gay queen

I aspire the be the same level of zen as the recorder guy in the background

just remember that keith was and still is just as much of a showoff as Lance

Hunk’s expression when James says the only reason Keith is there is Shiro ‘james srsly are you trying to die”

“is that what mommy and daddy told you before-” MY MOMMA NEVER TOLD ME SHIT

there is exactly -.0002% chance of me ever getting over the gorgeous indigo color of Keith’s eyes they’re like tiny emo galaxies

consider: Homelle is such a wholesome hufflepuff ship

Lance Saves All Our Asses Again and It Goes Completely Unmentioned Afterwards Again: a novel by nobody because Lance gets as much recognition as a piece of bra lint

Pidgeot shaking a water drop off her head like a tiny woodland nerd sprite is my new reason for existing

my smol children just got smoler

Shiro looks like some kind of Gaydiana Jones on that hover thing

it’s probably just the anime eyes but it seriously looks like Little Keith is wearing eyeliner

shiro zooming off the cliff is like me trying outrun the overwhelming weight of existence

bby keith in the sunset is Hiro Hamada minus the tooth gap and personal healt- oh no wait that would be Shiro. shiro is baymax. floofy boi= marshmallow bun. WHERE DO THE CONSPIRACIES END.

honey you’re like twenty-two and a very bad liar

Admiral Sonda is just Sam Holt as a woman

literally the gayest gay breakup they could get away with. I applaud you

how dare they use the most underappreciated character as literal bait 

ah, i see rescuers down under made an appearance in the timespace of a single frame

why do the yelmores sound like Chewie

the phonotonium bubbles are bringin back memories of the Newtcase scene

that moment when you realize what he means by “you can’t do this to me again” and you feel your will to live crumble into Satan’s coffee grounds

the way that Lance says “ready to charge up the lions?” reminds me so much of that time in Eureka when Zane was like “ready to smash some unstable atoms together at the speed of light?” 

I can’t remember a single time that Lance looked happier or more excited about life in general that he does in the intro and... oh, look, there goes my heart. falling to the floor. shattering on the concrete. again. look at it go.

Coran honey they are standing right next to each other does it look like Cosmo is eating her

road trip humor

darling child do you honestly believe that this lion is going to let some random-ass person sit down and drive it

HE'S LONELYYYYYY

What the everloving fuck is wrong with the Altean alphabet

Hunk's selfies are so precious

"No. Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. Can't do this." BIG MOOD OKAY

ALLURA HAS FUCKING SUPER STRENGTH

yes thank you for that recap Lance we had not yet noticed the difficulty of our situation

"super dangerous it's perfect" yeah me too hon me too

will the little PEW PEW sounds ever cease to amuse me? the answer is no

Kosmo+Krolia is the ultimate kickass mom team

WAIT WHAT I THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE JAWS WOULDN’T OPEN

guys come on have a little faith in him

I, too, sometimes narrate my life inside my head

Kosmo: oh I’m sorry I’ve been a wee bit BUSY DYING

so apparently Kaltinecker is just a generic name for space cows? I don’t like this

“who are you?” *Mushu voice, unfurls wings* “your worst nightmare”

Axca is just “whoop I kicked your ass mY bAd”

“Indeed I was, but now I am your savior.”

why is Ezor so lovable

“we’re going to have to use a more extreme approach” *pulls out silly string threateningly* “start talking”

Hunk looks so offended when they’re picking who to torture

Ezor would be perfect for one of those Garnier Fructis commercials where they pick stuff up with their hair

Can we talk about Lance and Pidge's sibling relationship? I think as much as they complain, they both really miss having that close kind of relationship. Pidge has Matt, of course, but he's not exactly open to talk anytime they want. This leaves Pidge and Lance to fall back on each other. Lance grew up in a big family, and probably also a very tight-knit one. So whether he realizes it or not, he depends on those kinds of connections, with stupid little arguments and support. I think that sibling connection is the one thing that really keeps them grounded when nothing else can.

Oh! And the other thing: This first occurred to me during the "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER" scene, because Lance is the first one to react protectively. Sure, the other's are protective of Pidge, but it's different for Lance because he reacts in such a 'big brother' sort of way. Again, Lance comes from a really big family, so playing the big brother role is second nature to him, and I love that it's such a huge part of his character to be protective.

*S&M plays every time Axca is onscreen*

Coran doing the Office Look

Coran: the lions are weak, we’ll end up right back here

Axca: then perish

I think the guard is already overwhelmed enough, what with having his quiznack handed to him by a couple of mice

Takashi honey does he look okay

why does Zethrid just sound like a guy trying and failing to do a girly voice

so apparently Axca has a type and that type is guys with ‘flippity hair’

Pidge’s smolness is a weapon in and of itself

when did Lance become the right-hand man I like this arrangement

“Can we just fight?” is the pg equivalent of “I’M GAY BITCH”

Ezor’s... head thing makes her look like Space Rapunzel

she was *Star Wars voice* seduced by the dark side of the force

do they seriously expect us to believe that there’s just an alien named Bob

‘intergalactic goofballs” is the most accurate description yet

“c’mere keith” WIVEL WIVEL WHIRL

“I... uhhh” is the most artist thing I have ever heard

do the creators just stuff cookies in their mouths and say random stuff to come up with alien words

WHY DIDN’T THEY GUESS KOSMO IS LOOKS MORE LIKE KOSMO THAN A LION

princess Lance is playing this game the right way don’t you yell at him

Keith’s voice when he says “windy cave?”

”the dumb one” bitch you’re the one who’s dead so who’s really the dumb one here

Bob please stop hurting my son his self-esteem is already fragile enough

Is he beautiful? Absolutely. Is he dumb? ABSOLUTELY NOT STOP HURTING HIM

One of these days Lance will straight up dab and on that day I will die of joy

Allura is literally picking up Hunk and I love it

now Allura’s asking the really big questions. I mean, what are any of us doing here. We’re just specks of dirt floating on the vast tissue of time

Pidge is trying so hard to look like she couldn’t care less and I’ve never related to anything more

She looks so smug whacking the camera

KEITH HAS OFFICIALLY ADOPTED SHIRO’S PROUD SPACE DAD FACE

Lance’s face when he’s talking about his little crush on Keith

CAN YOU TWO GET ANY GAYER

I just want Coran to get to earth and be Dumbledore in a play

I like the end music it’s so dancey and disco but not cringy

In the course of two seconds Coran goes from the Lorax to a ginger version of the guy from Ratatouille

KoSmO ThE dElIvErY wOlF

was that for real an alien dick joke

I like how both my gay sons have marks on their faces. Shiro has a scar, Keith has a Galra mark. What’s next? Lance with airbender tattoos? I hope not.

that is legit just a watermelon with tusks

oh Merlin no that’s even worse please go back to the watermelon

zippity zap your neck goes snap

don’t you love it when female characters literally glow with power? because I do

that was such an Avengers moment

Chat Noir would be proud of you, Hunk

Shiro is a savage

THE FACT THAT KEITH THOUGHT HE HAD TO EXPLAIN WHAT FLIGHT FORMATION EXERCISES ARE

the paladins adopting ‘quiznack’ into their casual cussing vocabulary is what I live for

if “something will come to kill us any minute now” is a good thing, you have severely low standards

oh yes lovely they’re having group hallucinations of space bats

OHHHHHHHHHHH YES BRING ON THE QUESTIONING OF EXISTENCE I NEED THIS ANGST

Hunk stubbornly refusing to sound off is so relatable like my stubbornness also drives all those around me slowly insane

HUNK IS LITERALLY SHOOTING A GIANT RAY OF SUNSHINE BECAUSE HE IS ACTUALLY A GIANT RAY OF SUNSHINE

Hunk being shocked by being shown any form of value and appreciation crushes my heart this boy needs to be loved

that enthusiastic “YEAH!” is what sleep deprived happiness sounds like

I like to imagine the voice actors practicing dramatic anime screaming while they drive to work and now I can’t breathe cuz I’m laughing too hard

WAIT WHAT I THOUGHT THE ENTIRE PROBLEM HERE WAS THAT THE LIONS WEREN’T CHARGED ENOUGH TO FORM VOLTRON

Keith and Lance’s bayards make giant magic wings that’s some serious soulmate shit right there

really you’re not gonna shoot it first to check if it’s real? after that whole space monster thing? you’re just gonna zoom toward it? hon c’mon

and of course the creators had to ask themselves “How can we best ruin this moment of joy? THE GALRA INVASION”

Colleen Holt is a force of nature and the living embodiment of “don’t fuck with me I’ve got the power of God and anime on my side”

Iverson: here’s what we know

Me: YOU FOOL YOU KNOW NOTHING

Sammy’s not having none of your shit so shut it before he tapes it

DO YOU SEE COLLEEN’S FACE I DON’T WANT LIFE ANYMORE

oh jeez they’re lined up by height that’s adorable

I like how this clearly takes place in a fairly distant future, but robots aren’t doing everything like people seem to think they would. The evident majority of labor is still done by people, like engineers and flight directors.

BITCH IT’LL BE YOUR WAR WHEN THE GALRA ARE ON YOUR DOORSTEP DO YOU REALLY WANNA WAIT UNITL THEN 

I’VE ONLY HAD COLLEEN FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES BUT IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER THIS SHOW WOULD BE DEAD TO ME

If they’d shown Keith’s recording it would’ve been like “Hey, it’s me. *with Kosmo sprawled across his lap, panting loudly. Lance is snickering quietly behind the camera* I don’t exactly, uh... have family on earth. But I’m Keith, the Garrison’s number one discipline problem. I wear the title proudly, but I still just wanted to... apologize, kind of, to pretty much every authority figure at the Garrison for making your life living hell. Yeah.”

“but everything changed when the Galra invaded”

does Kinkade ever speak? I kinda want him to be mute. A disabled fighter pilot would be the coolest thing

Veronica is such a badass 

aw man he spoke 

I can’t wait for when Krolia comes back to earth everyone’s gonna be like “oh fUCK A GALRA SHOOT IT DOWN” and then Keith walks out with his arms up like “HOLD IT THEY’RE WITH US” *Krolia steps out* “everybody say hi to my mom”

“Don’t miss” oh yeah I just thought I’d let them go this would be a great way to let Sandac know we’re here

THE SMALLEST PIDGEOT

oh my Merlin they have a dog

oh what a soft moment

what was with that dramatic look between Keith and Griffin? I mean I know this is Keith we’re talking about but there’s no way they held a grudge that long over a disagreement when they were... what? Eleven?

Allura is rocking that Garrison uniform

“Allura, you’re a genius!” yeah sweetie I know

OH MY MERLIN MY TWO ANGELS ARE HUGGING DO YOU SEE KEITH’S FACE

that’s going to electrocute him 

HOLY QUIZNACK SHE HAD A BALMERA CRYSTAL ON HER FOREHEAD THE WHOLE TIME

 Shiro’s hair floof looks less like a bird now and more like a dead bush

WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS ALLURALANCE COMING FROM THE STARS GAVE NO WARNING OF THIS I DO NOT ACCEPT

Veronica is officially one of my faves

Kaltinecker is just like “oh this is happening now”

SMUSH

I still can’t believe they got the particle barrier up in the first place

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THE FACT THAT LANCE IS THE FIRST PERSON KEITH CALLS FOR

ohhhh look it’s launching somethings going good- wait never mind  WHY ALWAYS THIS

Leifstoder is adorable

CAN YOU ANIMATE SOMETHING ELSE 

Griffin has the voice of an angel

Shiro’s floating arm kind of ruins the dramatic hero effect of the doors opening into the light of battle

should the beams from the zyphorge canons be that pretty

I know Sendac is an ass and he deserves to die but I have to admire his dedication

NOW I’M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEFALLIN

my major problem here is that, a) how is Shiro alive? he has no helmet, no oxygen tank. all the air should be sucked right out of his lungs. He should be dead, and b) NO HUMAN BEING CAN JUST BARREL THROUGH EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE UNPROTECTED LIKE THAT THE THERMOSPHERE IS LIKE 5OO KELVIN SHIRO SHOULD BE A CHARRED PILE OF BONES

we will remember this as the Battle of the Floating Arms

“Victory or de-” *Keith, falling fiercely from the sky* DEATH

aaaaaaaaaand the victory is short-lived

oh I missed this when is the last time they dedicated an entire episode to just fighting a giant-ass robot

KAWAII ANIME PLANCE

so what is this now? Dark matter? Dark quintessence?

Coran: but Voltron!

Shiro: bitch we are voltron

SoMeBoDy’S gOnNa DiEeE

is there anything I hate more than watching my children accept that they are about to die? My burning hatred for Severus Snape comes very close but no there is not

MATT HAS... I DUNNO WHAT IS THAT? A BOYFRIEND? A GIRLFRIEND? HE’S HOLDING SOMEBODY’S HAND AND HE LOOKS FABULOUS 

how much you wanna bet that when Haggar disappeared she took over Lotor’s little Altean colony and now she’s using them for the robots

[thelastlesbean]

okay but imagine this

buzzfeed unsolved au where Neil is hell bent on proving ghosts are real and Andrew is Sceptical™ 

You’d think Neil wouldn’t believe but boy does he do

Like this kid has so many ghost stories from his time on the road like that one time he saw his toothbrush float in the air in the middle of the night before dropping to the floor 

or that time in Germany where they were in this old ass house from like 1400-something and he swears he saw someone walk in and out of his room with the door closed (Mary very quickly moved them after that for other reasons) 

then there’s also that one time in the Millport lockerroom when he saw a kid put on old soccer clothes before noticing him and disappearing into nothingness

Ghosts are real okay and he wants Andrew to stop giving him that Look whenever he tells the foxes one of his ghost stories 

So yeah one time when they’re on a lay over Neil is like oh yeah not too far away from this airport there’s a house that’s haunted - scared the crap out of me back then

Allison is the one who convinces the others to go because she’s curious and had her own encounter her first month at PSU (there was a girl murdered in the girl’s dorm 20 years before and Allison swears she saw the girl standing at the feet of her bed a bunch of times ok) 

Allison isn’t the only one. Even Aaron kind of sort of believes (granted he was drugged up when he saw,,,, something butttt) 

So yeah they rent a car and make the like 30 minute trip to the house

its completely empty but Neil just walks up to it like he owns the place 

Nicky and Matt both jump at every sound, much to the amusement of the others 

Andrew just walks around bored and eventually finds a good spot to smoke 

Alive people already bore him enough he doesn’t really feel the need to find out if ghosts are real 

But then Neil is there and he’s talking about all the encounters he had in this particular house and damnnnn Andrew hates him so much 

(especially the way he crinkles up his nose, laughs at Matt being a Scared Baby and how alive he looks) 

(plus Neil not talking about exy??? always a bonus in Andrew’s book) 

So he kind of just continues walking around with Neil when his cigarette is finished

followed by the other foxes

they make so much noise that even if they could find proof it would be lost in their messiness 

Needless to say that at the end Andrew is Not Convinced™ 

Neil seems to give up and they go back to the airport 

Except...

Two weeks later Neil drags him along to another supposedly haunted house

This time they only bring Nicky and Kevin (who, the history nerd he is, would definitely love to know whether or not ghosts are real and if you can ask them questions abt the time they lived in bc IMagINe that Unique Perspective) 

Even Neil is looking at him odd but he’s not bothered okay (I live for history nerd Kevin so much u dont even know) he’s excited let him live 

This time Neil is Prepared

He has the noise radio frequency thing, flashlight, sensors, etc

he knows that even if Andrew doesn’t believe in ghosts he does believe in science so like lets get some mothereffing proof 

Nicky records the whole thing 

The house is old from like the 1800s and “supposedly” built on a mass grave or some other spooky shit like that 

All throughout the house there are places people have said they’ve encountered ghosts 

Like some dude who killed his wife and then himself

A shrieking lady who lost her child 

An unrelated child searching for her mom 

like There’s some scary shit and even some video evidence floating around that looks relatively convincing so Neil figures if not here nowhere 

They spend the night in the house (its abandoned and probably a health hazard but lets be real if the mob literally threatened to kill you your bar of i should stay away from the thing is high) 

Nicky is annoyingly scared of his own shadow the whole time 

At some point its super quiet while they walk around the house when Kevin lets out a shriek so loud they all jump (even Andrew who sends him a deathglare and no this is totally not getting to him okay thank you very much) 

they put sensors all throughout the house and sleep in supposedly the most haunted spot: the hallway 

There’s all sorts of shit happening but it all could have a totally normal explanation like

there’s a creaking up the stairs that sounds like someone is shuffling around 

to which andrew answers its an old af house 

the sensors constantly blink

but there are also a bunch of rats which are very much alive 

on the radio frequency thing it sounds like someone says drew look behind you in a soft womanly voice

(Nicky is Freaking Out after that but honestly there’s nothing behind Andrew sooooo) 

but really wasn’t it proven that if you want to hear something you’ll most definitely hear it??? 

Anyway while the others have difficulty sleeping Andrew sleeps like a baby for once

the irony of this is not lost on him 

In the morning everyone is still alive and they decide to go 

Andrew waits in the car, smoking a cigarette while the others pack up 

Nicky and Kevin both come running out the house after a few minutes 

Both look like they saw a ghost

Andrew sticks up a finger “I haven’t seen it so I don’t want to hear it”

Instead he waits for his idiot to come out

Who does at a calm pace with the bag of stuff in hand 

After dropping the bag in the back and sitting down next to Andrew he grins 

“Figures you’re not there when something actually happens” 

“Better luck next time” 

He thinks that maybe thats finally it buttt 

A week later Nicky interviews him about his experience

Because “apparently” it made a good video that he’s posting on youtube so he just wanted all perspectives 

Andrew just stares him down blankly until he leaves 

Three days later Nicky pushes his computer almost up his nose

apparently the video has been gaining traction (they sadly and very unsurprisingly did not get whatever happened at the end of the trip on tape) 

People want more and come with all kinds of places for them to go to 

Surprisingly to everyone Andrew actually agrees

(mostly because of how alive it makes Neil) 

It becomes a whole web series called Unsolved Hauntings: Exy Style

Bonus: one time Kevin gets spooked by a sound so bad he automatically throws the exy ball he was holding for stress relief and hits Andrew in the back of his head. Andrews death glare is by far the scariest thing of the whole web series and no one is sure how Kevin survived

Read part two here

[pjbehindthesun]

chapter 4: acoustics and interruptions

Saturday, June 23rd, 1990

“Wait, where am I going??” Lucy squints over the wheel of her Corolla.

“Straight, straight, it’s just at the end of the block…” I do my best not to laugh at her, honestly, the girl has the world’s worst sense of direction. She could get lost in a paper bag with a map and a flashlight. “Ooh, ooh, park here, park HERE!” I shout, pointing to an upcoming parallel parking spot. Honestly we could have walked here too, but Lucy thought it was too far and she was nervous about the neighborhood.

My friend somehow works her car into the space, and I somehow occupy myself with something terribly interesting outside the car window to avoid laughing at the Morse code-like taps against bumpers and curbs that ensue in the process. “Hey, we made it! Will you relax now? Why are you so worked up anyway?”

“I’m just nervous! You’re not?? God, Cora, we saw them back in February, he’s like a legitimate rock star!”

“And also a legitimate pest.”

“But seriously, he’s so intimidating-looking…”

“Nah, you’ll see, he’s like… he’s like this big, lovable older brother you never wanted.”

“Well, it’s too bad Alex couldn’t come tonight to meet your brother…” she raises an eyebrow at me as she shuts off the car.

Yeah. Too bad. She knows me too well. Chris and Alex would have gotten along like cats and dogs, which is so stupid, because there’s absolutely no reason for Alex to be jealous. Chris is married! But Alex always gives me a hard time about guy friends. It’s just easier not to have them, usually, but Chris has been pretty persistent. I smile inwardly. I’m actually kind of relieved Alex decided to go out with the guys instead, but I can’t admit that, not even to Lucy. “Yeah, too bad, he just wasn’t feeling up to it tonight, poor guy.”

We walk under the overpass and along the brick wall to the door of the Off Ramp and make our way inside, where we are instantly greeted by the loud, sludgy chords of the opening band, so heavy that I can feel the air in my lungs shaking with the beat. Tad, I think Chris said? I’m way too short to see much of anything through the crowd, but they sound amazing. My Chucks stick slightly to the floor and the air smells thickly of beer and smoke, and it makes me grin ear to ear. School hasn’t left me with a lot of spare time to explore the music scene out here yet, but I missed the hell out of divey clubs like this one. I nudge Lucy and we head over to the bar. I squeeze past a pretty English girl with long, curly dark hair who’s even shorter than me and deep in conversation with some guy about acoustics in outer space. I have to will my not-so-inner science nerd not to barge into their conversation, so instead I flag down the bartender and check on my friend. Lucy is her usual willowy, tall, beautiful, unassuming self tonight in a cute floral dress and white Keds, fidgeting nervously next to me. Meanwhile, I might get mistaken for a roadie any second in a white T-shirt and old jeans that are literally acid-washed from a lab accident last fall. In my defense, I did spend the whole day in the lab, and at least I put on a shirt that doesn’t have soil stains on it.

The band wraps up their last song just as the bartender comes back with our beers. I look around for Chris, futilely, of course… even trying to lean up on the bar edge is not exactly helping my vertically challenged vantage point…

“CORAAAAAAA!” And suddenly my field of vision is obscured by a crazy tangle of black curls as a shirtless guy sweeps me off my feet and parks me on the bar itself. “You made it!”

“Hi to you too, Chris,” I grin lazily, as if this is a totally normal human interaction, mostly because Lucy’s jaw is on the floor and it’s hilarious to see her all shaken up. The bar is tall, putting me above eye level with Chris. I rest my hands on his shoulders and squint at him through his curtain of hair with mock concern… “say, did you get shorter or something?”

“You wish, baby bear.” He turns around and gestures to a group of guys over by the stage, who descend on us. “Guys! This is Cora!” He picks me up like I weigh nothing at all and whirls me around, setting me down on my feet in front of this newly arrived wall of musicians. “And you are?” he asks Lucy, who’s looking dazed as I introduce them and Chris shakes her hand.

“Matt, Kim, Ben – Cora, these guys are my posse – guys, this is Cora, the girl I was telling you about! And this is Lucy!” Another guy, one I actually recognize, nudges his way to the front of the pack to figure out the source of Chris’s commotion. “And this is Jeff” – he points to my neighbor, and I can’t help grinning as Lucy turns bright red – “and oh hey, Stoney!” he bellows as he flags down another tall, slender guy to come join us. Fuck, is everyone in Seattle tall but me? I feel like a Hobbit.

“Stone, just Stone,” the guy corrects with an eye roll in Chris’s direction, before looking back at me. “Nice to meet you, Cora,” Stone says in a lazy voice. “Chris has been talking about you nonstop for like two weeks. Had to see if you live up to the legend he’s told us,” he smirks down at me and flips his long brown hair over his shoulder. Based on the “dude, seriously?” look he just got from Jeff, I can tell that it’s not unusual for him to try to make people uncomfortable, so I fire back.

“The legend? Oh no, Chris, you told them about the tourists we killed and ate on the trail? That was supposed to be our little secret,” I say innocently, licking my fingers and picking my teeth. Lucy’s looks like she’s about to implode from embarrassment. Jeff’s smiling at her and Chris is hanging back, watching the scene, grinning like Satan himself.

Stone sputters with laughter. “Careful, I hear those tourists will go straight to your ass, very fattening.” Jeff tears his eyes off Lucy long enough to scowl at Stone and punch him in the shoulder.

“What the fuck, man?” Jeff glances sideways at me and then back to his friend. Aww. Defending the lady. I try not to roll my eyes. Bless his heart.

“Beats all these skin-and-bones Seattle boys, like a bunch of plants that have been kept in the dark,” I poke Stone hard in his skinny chest and pull a scowl. He blinks down at me with big doe eyes, and for a split second I can see he’s stumped for words. Time to ease up, I just met the guy.

“So you’ve been hearing about me for weeks, huh? What’s this moron been telling you?” I nod in Chris’s direction and try a gentle smile, more to make Jeff and Lucy feel at ease than anything else, although it seems like they don’t need my help because they’ve already turned away from us and are chatting in an appallingly cute and wholesome manner.

Chris is the one who answers. “Just that you’re a sexy soil scientist who’s going to save the world from pollution… and forest fires.” I shoot Chris a dirty look that makes him chuckle. “Ok, ok, I know when I’m not wanted… might as well go play a show!” He winks, rounds up his band, and makes toward the stage.

With Jeff and Lucy flirting animatedly over at the bar, I’m left with Stone, who raises an insolent eyebrow.

“So, sexy soil scientist… tell me about these sexy soils…”

My eyes roll so hard I fear I’ve maybe pulled a muscle. “Chris is unreal. Honestly, I study dirt and it’s the least fucking sexy thing imaginable, he just said it to piss me off.” The snap in my voice surprises even me, and I can tell it surprises Stone too. The poor guy blinks down at me with a stunned look on his face. How could he know I spent my entire Saturday in the lab troubleshooting an ancient ion chromatograph that will be waiting for me tomorrow, just as obstinate in its refusal to give me data as it was when I first got to the lab this morning. Or that my advisor is absolutely no help and there’s no one else around in the department I can even ask. Or that the lab fridge was out of beer so I couldn’t even day-drink my way through the two hours on hold with tech support because even they didn’t know what to tell me. Okay, enough moping, time to recover before this poor guy thinks you’re a total psycho.

“Sorry. Long day. I just don’t want to talk about work. Surely you don’t like to talk shop when you’re not… uh, doing whatever it is you do?” I give him what I hope is an encouraging smile.

“I’m a musician, I play guitar,” he says laconically, looking around at nothing in particular but clearly endeavoring to seem cool.

He’s got an affected manner, which usually makes me want to run screaming, but he’s not very good at it. Just below the surface you can see he’s a dorky, awkward kid (takes one to know one), so his pretension just makes me laugh. “Oh, sorry, so I guess you’re still at the shop then. What’s the name of your band?”

“In between bands at the moment. I had this one band with Jeff for a while but that, uhm, ended in March, so I’m kind of just writing songs on my own right now, or with a friend here and there, just trying to figure things out.”

“Oh, yeah?” I was about to ask more about the kinds of songs he’s writing, or what happened with the old band, but before I can say anything else, the crowd starts screaming and I hear the first notes of Hands All Over, my favorite song from the cassette I picked up at the show at the Moore.

Stone and I are both quickly absorbed watching the show, or what I can see of it from here. Chris really is amazing. I can see what Lucy finds kind of terrifying, maybe, with his black cargo shorts and huge boots, and that brutalizing, scorched-earth voice. But it’s beautiful, too. A voice that can sing while screaming. A voice that sounds like the terror of a plane crash, but also a voice that somehow manages to put the whole thing gently back on the runway in one piece. And then there are his lyrics. These intensely heavy songs laced with frighteningly fragile thoughts. I’ve never heard another singer like him.

“I think he’s possessed,” Stone whispers in my ear, as if reading my mind. I look up at him and he widens his eyes and gasps in mock horror.

“Maybe, but you never met a nicer demon,” and we share a smile before turning back to watch the show.

Stone and I watch the rest of the set together over our beers, cracking jokes occasionally but mostly just enjoying the music. When the show’s over, he motions his head to the rear exit and produces a little glass pipe from his pocket. I grin and trail after him as he heads over.

We sit down on the curb outside the club. “So Stone’s not just a clever name, huh?”

“I don’t have to take this abuse, new girl. Do you want the pot or don’t you?” I bite my lip to tamp down the smile and nod.

“So how long have you lived here?” he asks as he packs the bowl with a furtive glance around.

I chuckle at the ground. “Is it that obvious?”

“Y’all ain’t from around here, are ya?” He smirks off into the distance, doing possibly the world’s worst imitation of a Southern accent before taking a hit and passing me the pipe.

“Ha! Something tells me you don’t get out of Seattle much. And no, I’m not from here. Asheville North Carolina, originally. I moved here a year ago.”

“For school, Chris said? Didn’t get enough book learning back in the hollers?” His words are barbed but the smile that accompanies them is welcoming, disarming, as if to say don’t listen to me, I know I’m full of shit, I’m just playing around, please play along.

“Welllll I started to have my doubts after they taught us in 3rd grade that Jefferson Davis rode a pterodactyl to victory in every major American war…” I say, stretching out what little drawl I still have as far as it’ll go before I hit the pipe.

He chuckles. “Yeah. I think you belong out here with us.” It’s an odd thing to say to someone you’ve just met, so I look up to try and catch his meaning, but he’s still looking away, scanning the street. Not big on eye contact, this guy.

“Well it beats the sticks, at least. You grew up here, I take it?”

“Born and raised.”

“Always wanted to be a musician?”

“Yeah. Always. I went to art school and I have unrepentant hippies for parents, so there was never much hope.”

“Hippies, huh?”

“What, the name didn’t give it away?” He rolls his eyes and glances over with a small smile.

“I like it. Earthy. Grounded. Solid.” I can’t pun with a straight face to save my life. Or maybe the weed’s kicking in already. I stifle a giggle.

“Says the professional dirt worshipper!” he laughs.

“Unabashedly.” I hold my hands up like I’ve been caught robbing a bank, shuffling my sneakers on the pavement. “Honestly I’ve seen people worship stupider shit.”

“Well you’re not wrong there. Probably more of us could stand to find something like god out in the woods. Maybe we’d take better care of things that way.”

“Oh, a fellow tree-hugger then?” I grin.

“Afraid so.” He finally flicks his eyes up to mine with a serious expression. And his eyes are striking. Olive green, with eyelashes most girls would probably kill for.

“Yeah, well, Alex thinks I’m wasting my time in school for anything related to the environment, thinks we all just need to focus on getting the fuck to Mars so we don’t have to worry about conservation. Says the damage is already done, so why should our generation have to fix everyone else’s mistakes?”

“And who is this Alex? Some kind of Nobel laureate, clearly.”

“Oh, Alex is my boyfriend.” Hadn’t I mentioned him already?

“Huh,” is all Stone says. Evidently not. The pause that follows is uncomfortable after the steady rhythm we’d fallen into.

“He moved out with me from Asheville,” I say. Why I am answering a question Stone didn’t ask? Why did he clam up?

“So this Cletus fella, he’s not in graduate school with you?”

“Alex! And no. We met during the first week of college. He’s a programmer, and he’s brilliant.”

“I’ll bet he is. And how long have you and Jimbob been a'courtin’?” The momentary thaw seems to have vanished and he’s back to teasing me. I pull a face and elbow him in the ribs.

“ALEX. Five years now.” Stone raises his eyebrows and nods down at the curb. “So tell me about your glamorous guitarist life,” I ask, figuring it’s time for a change of subject. “You had a band?”

“Yeah. Me and Jeff did. Guitar and bass,” he points at his chest and then vaguely back at the club. “Mother Love Bone, maybe you’d heard of us?” he says, passing the pipe back without looking up.

I shake my head and take another hit. “Sorry. You forget I’m still pretty new here. What happened, why the past tense?”

“We uh, lost our singer,” he says quietly. “Couple of months back. Overdose.”

Gone is the imperviousness. The sarcasm. The insouciance. What’s left is an awkward kid sitting on a curb, boring a hole into the ground with his stare, cradling a raw wound. That I have just rubbed salt into with my blundering curiosity.

“Fuck… fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. I mean, you didn’t know, it’s okay.” He recovers his bearings a little. “Not okay that it happened, obviously, but it’s okay that you asked.”

I figure silence is my best bet right now, because what can I say? After a little while, Stone goes on.

“Andy. Andy Wood. He was our singer. And a really good friend. He… Jeff and I are still promoting the stuff we did as a group before he died. We put all this work in for two years on this album, so we’re trying to show that to people now. And trying to figure out what comes next, if anything. I’ve been playing guitar with this guy Mike, and he wants the three of us to pull something together, but I don’t fucking know.” He kills the rest of the bowl and taps out the ashes on the curb before stowing the pipe back in his pocket.

“Will it still be Mother Love Bone, or something else?”

“I think we would all need it to be something else. It’s hard, we’ve had people ask us about keeping the band going, sending us tapes of weird Andy tributes… I have no idea how –”

Stone is abruptly cut off by a pair of wasted guys who stumble outside and almost trip over us. “Watch where the fuck you’re going, would you?” I grumble. One of them gapes down at me.

“Hey, girl… your hair’s so red…”

“You’re quick.” My voice is level, but Stone’s watching me carefully like he’s unsure whether he should speak up or not.

“So baby, does the carpet match the drapes?” his friend slurs.

Stone’s mouth flies open, but before he can say anything, I respond in complete deadpan, “it’s tile.”

“What the fuck… god, whatever, these fuckin’ weird chicks, dude…” the guys stumble off into the night as Stone dissolves in hysterics on the curb next to me.

“That was great! Wait a second, did he think I was a chick?” he manages to gasp out between laughs.

“And you find that more offensive than what he thought about me??” I tease.

“Hell yes, I am as macho as they fuckin’ come.”

“My mistake, Stoner.” We’re still cracking up like a couple of fucking potheads when another pair comes tumbling out of the door, but this time I’m the one gaping as I see Lucy pulling a beaming Jeff by the hand out behind the club.

“See, that’s better,” she’s giggling, “we can actually hear each other out –”

Then she and Jeff notice us and shout, “Cora!” and “Stone!” at the same time, and he and I break down laughing all over again.

“Shit, they’re fucking high,” Jeff laughs. “You save us any?”

“Didn’t know you were coming out to sample the night air, otherwise we would have,” I’m grinning so broadly at Lucy that my cheeks hurt. She bites her lip sheepishly and mumbles something about it being too loud inside to hear.

“I bet. Stone, let’s give these guys some peace and quiet,” I say as we get up from our spot on the curb. Lucy’s stammering apologetic nonsense for no good reason at all, but Jeff’s smiling like an idiot.

“Oh yeah, carry on, children,” Stone purrs before following me inside.

***

Cora grabs me by the hand and pulls me back towards the bar. “WE NEED BEER!” she hollers over the din. I’m not arguing with that.

The club hasn’t emptied at all, but for a tiny little person, she cuts through the crowd like a knife. She drops my hand to flag down the bartender and puts down $2 just as I’m trying to get my wallet out of my back pocket.

“No, let me get it –”

She cuts me off. “Your macho is showing again. Come on, let me pay you back” she mouths the last three words “for the pot.”

“If you insist.”

“You bet your ass,” she hands me a bottle and smiles at me with those big, sparkling dark brown eyes. I wish she wasn’t so pretty. And unavailable. And hilarious, and kind, and warm. And unavailable. 

“So do you and Billy-Bob – OW” I clutch my shoulder where she’s just punched me “– fine, Alex, do you guys live around here?”

“Yeah, we live on the same floor as Jeff, he didn’t tell you?”

Oh hell, it’s that Alex? This poor girl. I had no idea Cora was Jeff’s neighbor, but I’ve heard a fucking earful about Alex. “No, uh, he didn’t.” No need to tell her what he has actually told me, then.

“And what do you think of our fair city?”

She finishes a swig of beer and says, “not much at all yet, I don’t get out a lot.”

“But you’ve lived here a whole year?”

“Yeah, but I work a lot, and I go to Alaska every summer, and –”

I’m just cutting her off to ask what the hell she goes to Alaska for when Mike materializes out of the crowd and slumps against my shoulder.

“Heyyy Stone,” he slurs with a big dopey grin, and Cora smiles back with a quick bite of her lip.

“Friend of yours?” she asks with raised eyebrows.

“Mike, Cora. Cora, Mike. Cora, Mike is a guitar genius and a stinky drunk. Mike, Cora is a nerdy redneck and a friend of Chris’s.”

Mike garbles something about how any friend of Chris’s is a friend of his, much to Cora’s amusement, just as Chris appears over Cora’s shoulder with his arm around Susan.

“Looks like we got a drinker,” he says with a gentle smile. “You good, Cready?”

Mike hiccups and gives a thumbs up.

“How are you guys getting home?” Susan frowns. “You all look a little south of sober.”

“I left my car at Jeff’s place, we were gonna walk back in a little bit.” Whenever Jeff’s done putting the moves on Lucy, I guess.

Cora pipes up. “Oh, we drove, Lucy and me, I bet she’s still sober. Wanna ride?”

“Thanks, friendofChris’s,” Mike mumbles drowsily, still leaning heavily on me.

“You and Lucy?”

“Yeah, she lives in our building. Keep up, Stoner,” she winks at me. “Let me go find her.” She ducks off into the crowd, leaving me to support Mike and catch up with Chris about the tour they’re about to go on.

A few minutes later, she reappears with the two lovebirds in tow, and I notice they’re holding hands.

“I found your bassist,” she says with a sly smile.

“Fuck yes,” muses the drunk on my shoulder.

“Former bassist,” I roll my eyes and Jeff uses his free hand to flip me off with a lazy smile. “Lucy,“ I go on, “would you take pity on a bunch of drunks and give us a ride, please?”

“Of course,” she says with a smile, but she’s looking at Jeff when she says it. These two are so sweet it’s nauseating.

We say our goodbyes to Chris and Susan and make our way out to Lucy’s beat-up Corolla. I unload an almost-passed out Mike into one back seat before heading around the car to get in on the other side. Jeff’s lining up behind me, but Cora cuts in front of both of us.

“You’re the tallest, Jeff, I can’t let you squish back here! You should sit up front.” She sounds sincere, but there’s something in her face that loudly broadcasts mischief. Jeff just shrugs, clearly not willing to argue with anything that puts him closer to Lucy, and Cora tucks herself into the middle and pats the vacant seat impatiently. “You’re bossy, Red,” I laugh as I climb in.

“You’re ungrateful, Stoner.”

“God, you two are like an old married couple already,” Jeff grumbles from the front seat as Lucy brings the ancient car to life.

I breathe a sigh of relief as we pull into the parking lot of their apartment building. Lucy’s a very sweet girl, but I almost feel like we would have been safer with one of the drunks at the wheel. I hate to use the fucking stereotype, but she legitimately is one of the worst drivers I’ve ever seen.

On the other hand, I spent the entire car ride crammed in next to Cora and having a fabulous time bickering with her relentlessly about the music on the radio. As we wave goodnight to Lucy on the 3rd floor and Cora on the 4th, I already miss the way her hair smells and the way she talks with her hands and the way she swats at me when she’s annoyed and the way she gets my humor and the way she makes me feel like we’re the only ones around for miles. So, it’s not all bad.