#maya can do it and thats all i will say... grins.

[wileys-russo]

We’ve seen that Tooney and Lessi are doing an escape room on bbc.

Would it be possible for you to do a fic where the reader goes for one with alessia but a really scary one?

They can be going to the escape room as a date or as friends that have been secretly in love with each other?

jumpscare II a.russo

"hello!" you jumped as a pair of cold hands grabbed at your hips, warm lips ghosting your ear, startling you as you dropped your phone from the shock, the device thankfully landing on the soft carpet beneath your feet.

"alessia! don't do that." you exhaled shakily and smacked her on the arm, turning to face the grinning blonde who bent down to grab your phone, quick to snatch it back off of her with a roll of your eyes.

"where's tooney?" the striker asked having known ella had driven you here, glancing over your shoulder and looking around for her partner in crime. "oh hi y/n, how are you? oh i'm so good thank you for asking alessia, how are you? oh you're well, thats fantastic!" you mocked her lack of greeting sarcastically, it now being her turn to roll her eyes.

"i said hello." the striker defended with a teasing smile, pulling you into a tight hug. "no you scared me and on purpose! you know i already don't want to be here." you grumbled into her shoulder, the taller girl rubbing your back comfortingly, ella having somehow convinced a group of your team mates to do a horror themed escape room on your day off.

"it'll be fine! it's just a bit of fun." alessia assured you as the two of you pulled apart, alessia secretly wishing she didn't need to let go.

the blonde having had a mild gigantic crush on you pretty much ever since she laid eyes on you when you'd been signed at the beginning of the season a few months ago.

however she treasured your fast developing friendship much more, and had spent weeks now trying to swallow the flutter of butterflies that erupted in her stomach every time you even looked in her direction.

don't get her started on when you smiled at her, laughed at something she said or did, fell asleep on her shoulder on long bus rides, the striker swooned at the simplest of interactions with you, and it killed her that the more she tried to push down these feelings the stronger they only seemed to grow.

though somehow unbeknownst to her, you were struggling with the same problem, too fearful confessing your feelings would push the blonde away and you'd rather be her friend than nothing at all.

both your mutual pining however did not go unnoticed by your friends and team mates, almost all of whom had tried to individually encourage the both of you to just ask the other out on a date.

but both of your insistence that the other would not share your own feelings meant mary and millie having to physically wrestle ella to the ground on a number of occasions to stop her from meddling and telling the both of you of the others privately confessed feelings to try and speed up the process.

though that didn't stop ella from meddling in her own more subtle ways, and with some convincing she had roped in maya and lucia to help her, and it was safe to say it was no mere coincidence that ella had suggested this specific escape room.

it was why she had forgotten failed to mention to the two of you that each of the rooms only allowed 6 people in each, and so making sure to check your group of 8 in ahead of time, it had meant you and alessia would be in your own room, alone.

though her plan was coming along (in her mind) brilliantly smooth, it didn't take long for mary to catch on as she stood beside the younger girl, assisting checking in your group.

"tooney we told you not to meddle." the goal keeper sighed, sending the brunette a pointed look of disappointment. "oh come on mary not the mum look!" ella rolled her eyes, sending the attendant a thankful smile and calling out to the rest of your group to come over so he could explain the rules, mary wincing at the volume of her shouts and sending an apologetic smile to an older couple who looked over unimpressed.

admittedly you hadn't paid very much attention when the attendant was explaining the rules, too busied with glancing at alessia out of the corner of your eye as the blonde rested her head on her fist, freshly dyed blonde hair tied back into her usual neat ponytail.

she was dressed quite casually, clad only in a pair of black leggings and a light blue denim jacket with a grey hoodie underneath, however she somehow made them look runway worthy, the girl could wear a bin bag and you'd still stare at her with your usual love sick gaze.

what you somehow failed to miss, was that with every fleeting moment your gaze was drawn back to the attendant and away from alessia, alessias own piercing blue eyes would flicker toward you.

a soft smile settled on her face as she watched you nod along with the attendants words, chewing on your bottom lip as the blonde knew you often did when trying to concentrate, a habit she'd tried to break you out of but it was to no use.

alike to her you were also dressed quite casually, clad in a pair of ripped blue jeans and an oversized black nike jumper, alessias smile softening as she noticed you tuck your hands into the sleeves which were a few centimeters too long.

the girls eyes wandered over your form, lingering a few seconds too long on the slivers of tanned skin that peeked out from the small distressed rips on the tops of your thighs, mary having already taken the mick out of you for the choice of pants, particularly the gaping holes around your knees. the older girl mockingly assuring you if you so desperately needed some new jeans she would buy you a proper pair, millie joining in and teasing she would bring over some bug spray to kill the moths in your closet which had obviously been feasting on your clothes.

you simply shoved them at their comments with a playful roll of your eyes, the attendant walking the eight of you over to the rooms. "well, good luck girls!" mary clapped both you and alessia on the back, neither you nor alessia having heard the attendant explain that due to their numbers policy the two of you had been nominated to do a different room alone.

"what?" the two of you echoed in sync, eyebrows furrowed into a confused frown. "only six to a room so we're in here, you two in there. same rules for each room just different challenges and back stories." mary explained with a shrug, hurrying off into the door beside you after the others, it closed behind her with a gentle thud as both you and alessia looked to one another with wide eyes.

"go on girls, times started!" the attendant encouraged with a nod of his head as both your gazes flickering up to the thirty minute timer above your head, the man hurrying the two of you inside with a clap, the door closing behind you before you'd even had time to process what was happening.

"oh god i hate this already." you forced yourself to take a deep breath, eyes slowly adjusting to the dimly lit room. "jesus christ!" you jumped as the tv on the wall snapped on, an elderly man with a deep bloodied cut across his neck slowly explaining how he was one of the many residents murdered here in the asylum, kick starting the story of your room and setting into motion what your challenge was.

"we're already five minutes in we best get to it." alessia nodded to a small door which had swung open from inside the fireplace, stepping one foot inside as your anxiety escalated.

"less I really don't know if i can do this." you shook your head firmly, feet rooted to the ground as you balled your fists by your side, heart hammering in your chest as your eyes darted nervously around the room.

"you'll be fine, come on!" alessia held out her hand toward you, wiggling her ring clad fingers expectantly as you quickly shook your head, stood still where you were.

you jumped again as a loud wicked cackle sounded throughout the room, shooting over towards alessia and grabbing her hand as alessias breath hitched, a bolt of electricity shooting through her as your fingers intertwined with hers.

"hey, look at me." she squeezed your hand gently, your eyes flickering to hers which shone with obvious concern. "if you want to we can leave and just wait for the others outside, i won't make you do anything you're not comfortable with." alessia promised softly, not having realised how terrified you actually were until this very moment.

hearing the sincerity in her words your face softened and once more you swooned, memory flickering back to how excited alessia was about doing the escape room at training yesterday. and just as she didn't want you to do this if you were scared, you didn't want her to have to miss out just for your own sake.

"no it's okay, you were really looking forward to this less and i don't want to be a buzzkill. i'll be fine, i just might have to break your hand." you smiled guiltily, holding up your intertwined fingers as alessia grinned.

"we could do another one that isn't themed on a murder in a mental asylum, please don't feel you have to do this for my sake." alessia assured but you shook your head, affirming you would be okay.

"come on, we've only got twenty minutes and if tooney beats us we won't hear the end of it." you joked, alessia firmly agreeing with a laugh, the two of you making your way into the next room.

"oh fuck me dead." you mumbled to yourself, eyes widening at the statues surrounding you, your anxiety peaking as you wondered if any of them were real people which would in time jump out at you.

doing your best to swallow that fear you followed alessias lead, the two of you searching around for four small keys to unlock your next clue. you let out a scream and shot backwards as a toy doll shot out of the small wooden jewellery box you had opened, strong hands wrapping around your waist to save you from falling.

"thanks!" you exhaled nervously, skin burning where alessias hands had just touched you beneath your jumper, the blonde quick to let you go after you'd steadied yourself.

"oh got the last one!" the striker announced happily as she grabbed the key out of an abandoned dusty gumboot, unlocking the chest and wincing as it opened to be full of fake severed limbs and heads. "er that's rank." you cringed, the girl quickly snatching out your next clue and slamming the chest shut.

mumbling the clue over and over to herself her blue eyes scanned the room, brightening as she spotted what she was after, hurrying over to the book case in the corner, yanking on an encyclopedia as an alarm sounded and it split in half.

"secret door!" alessia grinned at you excitedly, and you melted at the sincere happiness in her face, grabbing her hand as she offered it to you and following her into the next room.

"how is this worse!" you whispered in shock as you stepped out from into what appeared to be a meat locker. "thank god we're not vegetarians." alessia joked playfully, trying to lighten the mood as she began to look around for your next clue.

she nearly fell over as you let out a blood curdling scream, a man with a bloodied apron, slasher mask and a chain saw jumping out from a hidden door in the wall, yelling at the both of you as he waved the chainsaw around in your direction.

quick to react alessia pulled you in behind her, an arm wrapping tightly around your torso as the man let out a loud twisted laugh and disappeared back where he had come from, the lights cutting out only leaving a faint red glow from the LED strips lining the roof.

"are you okay??" alessia asked softly, turning around and gently placing her hands either side of your face, forcing you to look at her as you nodded, pale as a sheet. "i think we should lea-" alessia started to speak until you let out a gasp and smacked her on the shoulder.

"next clue!" you managed to spit out, gently removing her hands from your face and turning her around, nudging her to look at the ceiling where there was a number of arrows made of glow sticks pointing in different directions.

"is there a wheel or a lock or something we can turn?" you wondered aloud, fumbling your way around the walls trying to find something as alessia followed your lead, crying out victoriously as she found a loose brick she was able to turn.

"left, right, down, left, up!" you recited as you hurried to her side, the blonde twisting the brick in the desired directions as a loud hiss sounded and the wall began to part.

"you did it!" alessia beamed proudly, grabbing your hand and squeezing tightly as the two of you hurried into the next room, the attendant announcing you only had ten minutes remaining.

"we're looking for the jars of tablets with these five symbols on them, then we need to place the jars in that safe over there and close it, that'll open the next door." alessia informed as her eyes scanned over the instructions on the wall, the two of you hurrying to frantically search around.

"times nearly up girls!" another actor jumped out from the door you had both just came from, this one clad in a white lab coat smeared with blood, a machette in his hand as he smacked the large knife a few times against the safe with a menancing grin and lunged at the two of you before running back the way he came.

both caught off guard you let out screams, frantically grabbing one another. though of course alessia, clumsy as ever, tripped over the book she had dropped from her grip and stumbled, falling to the floor as she tugged you with her, you landing on top of her with a soft grunt.

"sorry!" alessia apologized quickly, cheeks flushing rosy pink with embarrassment, both at her own actions and at the close proximity you were both squished into in the dimly lit room.

"i told you i needed to wrap you in bubble wrap." you teased with a soft chime of laughter, the stumble having actually helped ease your nerves, able to find amusement in the blondes consistently clumsy behaviors.

alessias heart began to hammer hard in her chest, your faces so close to one another she could count the freckles which dotted the bridge of your nose. "less." you breathed out softly, a hot blush creeping down the back of your neck as the amusement was replaced with nerves as you also registered the situation you were in.

"can i kiss you?" you blurted out suddenly, tips of your ears burning bright red as the reality of what you'd just said dawned on you. with a mortified shake of your head you tried to stand, alessias arms quick to wrap around you, tugging your body back down to press tightly against her own.

"please." the older girl almost begged, eyes frantically searching yours for any hint that you didn't mean what you'd just said. not wasting another second you closed the small gap between the two of you, pressing your lips to hers.

if alessia felt butterflies when you looked at her, the feeling of your warm lips pressed against hers sent her mind and body into a catastrophic meltdown.

her calloused hands slid up the back of your jumper, gripping at the bare skin of your back as if you could disappear at a moments notice if she didn't keep a firm enough hold on you.

right as alessia's tongue began to explore your mouth the two of you beginning to fight for control of the kiss, a loud siren sounded and you quickly pulled away, sitting up and placing hands over your ears at the intrusive noise.

alessia did the same, trying to ignore the wildfire raging away in her stomach from the kiss she had yearned over for months now.

"time's up girls." the attendant informed awkwardly over the PA, the siren cutting off as the lights turned back on and your cheeks burned bright red as you realized the position you and alessia were in.

hurrying to your feet you held out a hand, assisting her up as the two of you made your way back to the beginning, not a single sound uttered between the two of you the entire way.

you let out a breath you hadn't realized you were holding in as the two of you stepped out of the first room, quick to notice the rest of your friends waiting a few feet away chatting among themselves.

"losers! looosers!" tooney began to chant tauntingly as you and alessia joined them, wagging her finger in your faces as you smacked her away.

"arcade time girls, lets go!" maya called out over her teasing, slinging an arm over the midfielders shoulder and dragging her away from the two of you, the others following and again leaving you and alessia in only one anothers company.

"i don't really feel like the arcade. do you want to maybe go get dinner?" alessia asked quietly, nervously fiddling with her ring as your eyes widened in surprise. "as in we leave them here and we go to dinner, just the two of us?" you asked slowly, alessia nodding with a small smile.

"like a...date?" you asked again though this time much more hesitantly as you played with the sleeves of your jumper, feeling a bit like a school girl speaking to her crush for the first time on the playground.

"yeah, a date." alessia confirmed with a nervous smile, cheeks flushed rosy pink.

"yeah actually, I'd really like that less."

[hobiebrownismygod]

Miguel x Desi!Reader - Wedding Edition

Request from @shadofireshinobi!!

This was really fun to write, I hope y'all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! There's lots of good representation in there and if you've never been to a Desi wedding, you'll probably enjoy learning about it <3

Synopsis: Miguel gets invited to an Indian wedding by Pav and asks you, his neighbor and someone who doesn't really like him, to teach him how it works. The two of you end up going together and have a great time.

TW: None, just a lot of fluff <3

____________________________________________________________

"No."

"Aww, come on, don't be such a party-pooper. You'll have fun!"

Miguel squinted at his AI, an annoyed look plastered across his face. "I said no. I'm not going to a wedding, Lyla."

"You can't turn down an invitation from Pavitr! Come on, do you need me to ask him to give you the 'look' again?" Lyla asked teasingly, teleporting in front of Miguel and shoving her phone into his face, Pav's puppy-dog expression visible on the FaceTime call she had him on. "How can you say no to that face?"

"Ugh."

Miguel waved her out of his way with a grunt. "Come on uncle, I promise you'll never go to a grander wedding! These people are close friends of my auntie's and I'm telling you, they put so much effort into their parties" Pav explained, his voice emanating from the phone Lyla had refused to put down. "Its not a normal wedding. Its an Indian wedding. What would I even do there? No."

Miguel was trying to focus on the screen in front of him, tracing out the dimensional map for some new anomaly chase he'd been planning on assigning out. "Come on, I'll explain it all to you! Or even better...you could have Y/N do it" Pavitr said with a grin, tilting his head to the side as he looked at Miguel through the screen.

Miguel froze at the mention of your name, his expression softening slightly. "You invited my neighbor?" he asked Pav, an dumbstruck look on his face. "Yes. She's very nice and she told me she hasn't been to a function in a long time. Besides, Maya Auntie told me to invite all my friends." Pav responded with a sly shrug.

"Since when are the two of you friends?"

"Since I helped fix her rooftop that your battle with that anomaly ruined."

"So its settled then. Miguel, you're going, final say." Pav gave Lyla a high five through the screen.

"No-" Miguel began to argue back, but the two of them were completely convinced. He knew there would be no point in trying to turn it down at this point, as Pavitr and Lyla would most definitely succeed in forcing him to this wedding, no matter how much he objected.

You were a very out-spoken civilian who lived fairly close to the bounds of the Spider Society. Because of this, you were often affected by the fights that would happen in and out of the society, some of these leading to actual property damage. Even then, your spirts were high and you ended up getting to know a lot of the Spider-people that passed by, even becoming friends with some of them, including Pav.

As for Miguel, the two of you had a complicated relationship. Miguel tried to be nice to you but you barely tolerated him. After all, he'd built his society next to the home your family had lived in for decades. He'd actually asked you to move and even offered to relocate you but you and your family had refused. And thats when you decided that he was a jerk and that you'd try to steer away from him and his problems.

But apparently, he needed your help now.

_______________

"You want me to take you to the wedding?"

"I want you to teach me how the wedding works."

You scoffed, arms folded over your chest as you stared at the tall man standing before the frame of your front door. "And why would I do that?"

He gave you a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his head. "Because I asked nicely?" You snorted. "That's a first." He sighed, "Look Y/N, I know I haven't always been the nicest to you, but I don't have a choice in this matter and I'd rather not be embarrassed at the wedding because I don't know what to do there."

You looked at him for a moment before groaning and muttered under you breath, "Fine." You opened the door all the way to let him inside, head hung in annoyance. He looked fairly uncomfortable too, shuffling in with his fingers fidgeting.

You gestured for him to sit down at the kitchen table and you sat down in front of him, leaning back and folding your arms over your chest. "You want something to drink or...?" He shook his head, still looking a bit awkward.

"Alright. Well, before I start, what do you already know?"

"Uh...nothing."

"Nothing?" He shook his head no.

"Okay. From the beginning then."

You spent a good thirty minutes explaining the intricate details of how Hindu weddings work to him, starting with the fact that they last anywhere from 3-5 days ("I'M GOING TO BE THERE FOR FIVE DAYS?" "No, only for a couple hours each day.") and the significance of each event. Then, you moved onto the attire, and even showed him pictures of all the things the guests would wear. Women would wear colorful saris while men would wear suits or kurtas.

"Please tell me you at least have a kurta."

"What's a kurta?"

You groaned. "I'll have Pavi drop one off for you." he nodded with a slight smile, leaning forward and resting his chin on his palm as he continued to listen to you speak. You told him about the food, and how it would be vegetarian on puja days but would probably have non-vegetarian options later on. ("You can't drink blood there by the way." "I don't drink blood!")

"Now, because you're not a close friend of the bride or groom, I'm guessing you'll only be attending on the third day. That's when the main ceremony is."

"What happens in the main ceremony?"

"The actual wedding. The other days are mainly just prayer days and for mingling between the families. But remember, its not like a western ceremony where we'll all sit down while the bride gets married. It'll be very Bollywood style."

"Bollywood?" He asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"Oh my god, I have to show you before we go!" To his surprise, you grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the couch, sitting him down before you began to search for the remote. He grabbed it off the coffee table and handed it to you with a smile, a bit taken aback by your excitement. "We?" he asked, sounding a little hopeful. "Were you planning on going with someone else?"

"No, no, it's just-"

"Besides, if I bring a date I won't have to worry about all those aunties trying to get their sons married to me." You said, shaking your head slightly as you turned on the TV. He stayed silent for a moment, trying to suppress the smile from forming on his face. "So I'm your date?"

"ah, here we go" you said, putting on K3G, one of your favorite Hindi movies. As the movie played, you pointed out the actors to him going "That's Shah Rukh Khan! That's Hritik Roshan!" despite him obviously not knowing who any of those people were. He just nodded along, watching you more than he watched the movie.

____________

The day of the wedding, you were in a rush getting ready, pulling on your sari hurriedly and fixing your makeup. You were wearing a dark green sari, with heavy jewelry that took ages to put on. Your earrings were also a dark green, matching with your outfit and making your skin and hair stand out beautifully. After you finished, all you had to do was wait for Miguel to show up.

The day you'd spent with him had been really nice. In fact, you found yourself liking him a lot more than you expected, considering how much you despised him at first. You were honestly really glad that he'd asked for your help, because otherwise you'd have never got to have so much fun rewatching your favorite Bollywood movie with him.

The doorbell rang and you rushed to open it, being greeted by Miguel standing in the doorway, wearing a sleek black kurta, courtesy of Pav. He stood there awkwardly, a slight smile on his face as he looked you over. "You look nice." he said quietly, as if he was embarrassed to admit it. "You do too." you felt yourself growing silent as you stared at him. He looked better than you'd expected. This man was full of surprises.

You cleared your throat and beckoned for him to come in. After filling him in on the details, and even giving him some bangles of your own to wear, the two of you were off to Pav's dimension. The moment you entered, it was like a blow to the face. The sounds, the sights, the smells, they were all almost overpowering.

The two of you head to the wedding venue, both fairly silent. "So...you ready?" You asked him, looking up to see his slightly nervous expression. He tugged at the collar of his kurta. "Yeah. I just feel a little...out of place."

"Don't. There's going to be plenty of other non-Indians there. Hobie and Gwen are coming too." You said, flashing him a reassuring smile. "Besides, you have me."

After entering the venue, the two of you greeted Pav who was there with Gayatri, being all smiles as usual. He pointed the two of you in the direction of the rest of the crowd where you introduced yourself to some of the aunties while Miguel followed like a lost puppy. He was noticeably taller than most of the people there, so it was a lot easier for you to find him than for him to find you.

As you greeted more and more people you found yourself slipping behind the scene, helping out with moving things and passing out food and party favors. Then, because Miguel was glued to you, he joined in as well.

You couldn't help but laugh to yourself as you watched all the aunties swooning over him. He seemed like the perfect gentleman in his traditional attire and with his helping hands on. It was sweet. "It's Miguel, right? Who are you here with? Your wife?" One of the aunties asked him, inspecting his kurta. "Uh, no, I'm here with a...friend." He said quickly, seeming a bit nervous. He noticed you looking at him and flashed you a quick smile before continuing to put things away with a little horde of women following him.

After at least an hour of helping out, you felt your feet starting to cramp, and decided to do a shoe change. After changing out of your heels into more comfortable sandals, you realized your jhanjharas didn't match anymore. So of course, you gave them to Miguel. "Can you hold these for me?"

He looked at you for a moment before taking them out of your hand. "What are they?" He asked, inspecting them carefully. "They're like anklets" you replied, already hearing someone calling your name to come help out again. "hmm." he responded, continuing to turn them around in his hands, dark gaze focused on the little gems and jewels decorating the thin material.

When he came to join you, you realized he wasn't holding them anymore. You opened your mouth to ask where he'd put them but then you saw, he'd put them around his wrists. You felt a blush forming on your face at the view. They looked so small around his wrists. You shook it out of your mind and continued what you were doing.

Eventually, as the event progressed, the actual wedding started. To entertain the guests, the bride and groom began their performative dance, a classic form of entertainment that most Desi weddings have. Miguel was standing next to you, arms awkwardly folded across his chest as he watched them perform, his eyes on you the entire time. "What?" you asked, returning his eye contact with a slight smile. "Nothing. I just...wasn't expecting a dance."

You laughed softly at this and continued to enjoy the performance as more of the guests joined in, the previously choreographed number turning into a mess of random people joining in and swaying to the music. Although a bit crowded, it was a lot of fun. You could see Pav and Gayatri dancing together and even caught a glimpse of Hobie messing around with some random Desi girl. Miguel seemed to notice this too and kept glancing at you until he finally mustered up the courage to ask, "So...would you like to join in?"

You looked at him, slightly surprised. "You want to dance?" You asked, giving him a sly grin. He shrugged quickly, looking away. "Well, everyone else is doing it. Besides, you look like you wanted to join anyways." he said quietly, trying to hide the small smile forming on his face.

With a teasing eye roll, you stretched out your hand towards him which he promptly took, and the two of you melted into the crowd. He was shuffling along at first, his height making it difficult for him to blend in with the rest as well as you did, but eventually he grew more comfortable and took your hands, swaying with you to the music.

You were focusing more on the bride and groom than on him, and you barely noticed when your bangles caught on the edge of his kurta's cuffs. He laughed quietly at your embarrassed expression as you tried to pull it away. "Here, let me" He said, gently taking your hand in his and removing the bangle. While you watched, he removed the fabric from the bracelet before sliding it back onto your wrist, eyes looking directly into yours.

Even after he'd placed it on, the two of you kept your eyes on each other, unwavering until he chuckled softly and looked away. "I wasn't expecting us to get to know each other so well" He said, looking at you slyly. "Me neither" you caught your breath, clearing your throat before stepping back slightly, but he held onto your wrist. "Hey, we're not done dancing yet, are we?" he asked as he pulled you closer again, fingers intertwining with yours.

"Its a good thing you were willing to come with me. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be having this much fun" he said quietly as he timidly placed his hands onto your waist, your arms going around his neck. While the rest of the crowd danced wildly to the fast-paced music, the two of you took it slow, eye contact seeming more intense than usual. "I'm glad I took you as my date." You said with a smile.

"Anytime." he gave you a lopsided grin, shyness slowly melting away as he held you.

"Anytime?" You asked teasingly, tilting your head up at him slightly.

"Anytime."

Taglist

@therealloopylupin2099 @daydreaming-en-pointe @vileviale @s6onder @puff-hugs

[dylanmunson]

Summary: pregnant with joe quinns bubba. 

word count : 1.6k

masterlist / wattpad / request

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You and Joe had been together for just under two years when it happened. Joe was filming a scene and you were sat in the trailer feeling bloody awful. You thought you just had a tummy bug, but boy were you wrong. You sat with your head on the toilet seat, not wanting to move the sick feeling subsiding for a moment. 'Sweetheart?' you hear Joe call out, you let out a groan 'still feeling shit?' he smiles softly walking into the bathroom. 

You nod closing your eyes knowing you'll cry when you pass him the positive pregnancy test. You move it across the floor and hide in your arms 'babe' he places his hand on your back and kisses your head 'we're having a baby?' he chuckles you let out a little sob 'im sorry' you mumble, he shakes his head 'babe this is great' he grins, you frown turning to him 'your not mad?' he shakes his head 'oh god no' he grins taking your face into his hands. 'i love you' he smiles softly placing a kiss on your forehead. You sink into his touch taking in his scent, 'your really not mad?' he shakes his head, placing his forehead against yours 'nope' he grins 'i have to tell mum' he chuckles 'ca-can we wait a bit before we tell anyone' you mumble moving to sit up a bit more. 

He nods his head 'of course honey, well tell family and friends whenever your ready' you nod 'just feel like this happened at a bad time' you chuckle wiping your eyes. He shakes his head ''dont be silly sweetheart' he chuckles 'joe your in the middle of filming for stranger things' he grins 'and? well sort everything out ok' you nod, you trust this man with everything in your body. 'promise' 'promise darling' he grins kissing your lips softly. 

/////

8 weeks pregnant 

You had just had your first scan, the scan photos in your hand as you walk back onto set with Joe, he has his arm around your shoulder protectively. You had decided that since he and the rest of the cast had a week break coming up, youd all go out for dinner tonight and make your little announcement then. 

At dinner, everyones sat chatting amongst themselves when Joe stands up grinning 'i uh, i have an announcement' he chuckles everyone looking at him 'me and y/n have some really exciting news' he grins, taking your hand into his 'we're expecting' he smiles. 

'your pregnant?' 'your having a baby?' you hear everyone say, you nod, passing round one of the scan photos 'thats a very cute blob' Maya grins at you 'congrats guys' everyone following along and congratulating you both. 

/////

12weeks pregnant 

Joe was going to a premiere and of course you were his plus one. 

You were standing in your underwear in the hotel room, looking at your outfits. You groan and start crying a little, Joe walks in dropping his shirt on the floor running to you 'baby whats wrong?' he says holding your face in his hands 'nothing fits joe, im so fucking bloated' you sob 'babe' he smiles softly wiping your tears 'your not bloated' he chuckles turning you round so your facing the mirror. He wraps his arms around your ever so slightly bloated tummy 'i think thats your baby bump' he grins kissing your shoulder 'wai- what?' 'babe' he grins 'your not bloated, or fat, your pregnant' he chuckles kissing your cheek 'thats our a baby' he smiles rubbing your tummy a little. 'our sweet little baby' he grins, rocking you both side to side a little. 'baby?' you mumble placing your hands over his on your tummy. he grins kissing your shoulder again 'our baby' he mumbles into the crook of your neck. 

/////

17 weeks pregnant 

Your gender reveal party. 

You honestly werent that fussed but Millie and Sadie had convinced you to have a gender reveal, so of course you had one, but you let both girls take the lead on everything. 

So here you were standing next to Joe on the garage set, Gwydion on the drums 'ya ready?' he grins 'do it!' sadie shouts, you chuckle looking to Joe biting your bottom lip. Gwydion begins banging against the drums and you see pink powder paint lift up into the air and fall around him. 'we're having a girl' joe chuckles hugging you and spinning your around. 'a sweet little baby girl' he grins kissing your forehead 'baby girl quinn' you smile up at your boyfriend. 

/////

22 weeks pregnant 

Baby is the size of a papaya, Youve had a few scans without Joe by your side but heres here at this one, and your about to hear babies heart beat. Joe is sat on the chair next to you rubbing circles over your hand as the midwife puts the clear jel on your tummy, she finds your little bundle of joy and looks at you 'you ready to hear the heartbeat?' she smiles, you nod looking at joe. 

She plays the noise 'is it meant to sound like that?' he smiles biting his lip, 'yeah' the midwife smiles 'ill leave you both for a moment' she smiles before walking out of the room. 

'crazy right?' you chuckle, Joe nods tears forming in his eyes 'so crazy' he chuckles wiping his eyes. 'thats my baby, our baby' he grins you nod 'yeah' 'i love you so much' he chuckles placing a quick kiss to your lips before the midwife comes back into the room. 

/////

32 Weeks pregnant. 

Filming had wrapped up this week, and you knew it was a risk to fly, but the doctors had given you the all clear to do so. So here you were on a flight back to England with a sleepy joe next to you. Your half way through the flight and baby is kicking away at you. You grin though, youd rather have a baby kicking like crazy then not at all, Joe was asleep in his seat next to you, he had your hand in his so you place it on your ever growing bump. Baby girl knew when her dad was near, she'd go crazy whenever she heard his voice. You began wondering what she might look like, what kind of person she would become and all those types of things as you sit back in the seat and wait for the flight to be over. 

////

33 weeks pregnant 

You had been move for a week now and Joe was running round like crazy in between press and interviews and zoom interviews, you had both been baby shopping. He was currently in the nursery building a the nappy unit, you stand in the door way and grin 'hey handsome' he grins 'why is this so confusing' he chuckles shaking his head 'let me help' 'stay there' he groans 'ive got this, go relax sweetheart' you sigh 'but joe' 'no buts misses go' he says pointing out the door 'sir yes sir' you sigh. 

You go and lay down in bed for a bit, deciding a nap is what is best for now. 

However you woken up a little bit later, to Joe sitting next to bump, hes talking to it. 'your already so loved sweet, so so loved, me and your mum cant wait to meet you' he grins 'i might not be the best dad but im gonna try and give you everything and thats a promise, ill always be there for you, whenever whatever you need im here sweet' he mumbles placing soft kisses to your tummy, baby begins kicking and you groan slightly pretending to wake up 'nice sleep sweetheart' joe chuckles moving so his face is next to yours, you hum in response 'your gonna be an amazing dad' you smile placing a hand on his cheek, 'you heard that huh' you grin nodding 'so lucky to have you' 

////

36 weeks pregnant 

Baby had decided it was go time, she was a month early, and you were so worried. 

Joe was by your side the whole time, holding your hand and kissing your forehead, then when you heard the tiny cries of your baby girl, he broke down. He hated seeing you in pain but he told himself he couldnt cry. He wouldnt. He didnt want to see you more upset then need be, specially with all the pain you were in. But when he heard those cries he broke, the nurse placed baby on your chest and Joe looked down at both his girls 'well done sweetheart' he mumbles placing a kiss to your forehead wiping his tears, you let out a sob as you look down at your baby girl. 'dad do you wanna cut the umbilical cord?' the nurse asks, 'um sure' he chuckles 'this isnt gonna hurt them is it' he questions the nurse shakes her head as he begins cutting. 

////

1 week post birth 

Baby was coming home today, you had been discharged two days later and you hated not being able to bring baby home with you, but you and joe both went to the hospital every day and spent as long as you could with your sweet baby girl. 

Joe drove home that day so so carefully, his baby girl in her carseat in the back with you by her side. When you reached home he opened your door and helped you out before taking the carseat and taking baby inside, he placed it on the kitchen counter and took your daughter out of it, holding her close as you sat on the sofa. 

Joe then brought her over and sat with her in his arms 'so so smitten' you grin leaning your head on his shoulder, he chuckles 'im a very lucky man' he grins kissing you softly 'i love you and i love you baby girl' he grins giving your daughter a soft kiss on her forehead. 'we love you to' you grin at him. 

( @kellysimagines @ladyapplejackdnd @fancywinnerzinepasta @lillyof-thevalley @pleasantlycrazyworld )

[p0is0nvalz]

Hey can I please request a Joseph quinn x reader where the reader is also in the stranger things cast they go on vacation with the other older stranger things cast :)

i love that idea, thanks anon! sorry this took so long i had to work an extra shift today..

Warnings: afab reader, sexual tension , no skin color mentioned reader, heated makeout, mutual pining + idiots in love

Pairings: Joseph Quinn x afab!reader

Vals notes: i just want to put lipstick on him.

Vals notes V2: im not sure if this person wanted like Winona and David older or Natalia and Maya older so i just went with Natalia, Charlie, Joe and Maya (with reader and Joseph of course)

genre: fluff, suggestive

“y/n why are you naked” “i have panties on!” “Put on a bra!?” “No- its too hot! feel how much im sweating” Your and Josephs bickering caught the others attention and when they went into the airbnb living room you all were staying in for a few weeks as vacation, they saw a red Joseph and a topless y/n trying to grab Josephs hand off his eyes and on to your sweating body.

“Nat! Maya! Tell him its fine!”

You, Joseph, Joe, Maya, Natalia and Charlie all decided to go to Hawaii for a vacation after shooting stranger things 4. You 6 were very close behind scenes, so they saw the heart eyes you and Joseph gave each other so, like any good friends would do, they bet on wether you and Joseph would get together before, after, of during the trip. this would be...fun

"im going to the beach with Charlie! does anybody want to come with?" Natalia shouted, trying to get the attention of the others who were playing a very intense round of Kings In The Corner between you, Maya, Joe and Joseph "im gonna stay. but thanks for the offer" you gave the couple a small smile while the others just responded with small 'mhm's and 'me too' too focused on the game to look up.

"hah! i won!" Joseph spoke, making you more annoyed because of how much you needed wanted to win "oh yeah, luv? want a cup o' tea to shove up your arse? because i'm gonna win" you mocked his accent because the cloud of competitiveness running through your head is making it hard for you to speak without attitude "dude. not cool" he mocked your voice, faking being hurt by your words knowing it was just your competitive side.

Putting down his last card slowly and dramatically, Joseph grinned as you all collectively groaned while getting up, he still sat there thinking what he should do next, when suddenly a hand reached out to him "want to come in the pool with me? ill wear a top this time" you smiled at Joseph, the sun hitting your skin perfectly making you look like an angel "yeah, sure" he took your hand in assistance of standing up and went to get ready as you sat down by the edge of the pool kicking your feet, already having your bathing suit. Suddenly, a hand gently pushed your back, making you fall into the pool "JOSEPH QUINN I SWEAR TO GOD." you screeched as he continued laughing.

His laughter died down as soon as he saw your smirk and the grip you had on his ankles "y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n lets talk about this.." his big splash made the pool water go crazy, spilling from the sides and violently swooshing. When he got up from the water abruptly he grabbed you by your waist, picking you up from the water and squeezing you closer "Joseph.." you whispered, looking at him through your lashes.

Wrapping your arms around his neck with his hands still on your waist, you closed the small gap between each other, only pulling away because you have to breathe "i love you, joe" "i love you too, y/n" that was all you had to say to each other before going back to attack his already swollen lips, this kiss was much different that before, now filled with lust.

He pulled at the little bows you tied onto the swimsuit to connect the top together, moving from your lips down to suck at your neck and breasts "j-joe..-ah!thats.. gonna leave a mark" you tried to speak through the pleasure "shh baby, let me mark you up, yeah? make sure everyone knows you're mine?" he whispered in your ear, pushing you to the edge of the pool so only your ankles and below were in the water as Joseph situated himself between your thighs, softly kissing your thighs as he got closer to the place you really needed him, each kiss sending heat through your core as he looked up at you, making eye contact as he smiles and kisses your clit through your swimsuit.

"hey y/n have you seen Joseph? we cant find him anywhere" Joe asked, sliding the door open and your head immediately snapped back behind you "oh look i found him" you spoke sarcastically, grabbing a hand full of Josephs curly hair and dragging him to where Joe could see him "hi" Joseph grinned innocently, batting his eyelashes as if he wasn't about to attack your cunt with his tongue.

"oooo..kay well dinner is ready so.. yeah" Joes eyes widened as he noticed what was about to happen between you two and scrambled to the door. As you and Joseph made eye contact you both burst out in giggles and got out of the pool.

Everything was going normal and you wondered if you and Joseph had any time to finish what you had started until Joseph got up and gave you a note.

for y/n

meet me in my room asap ;)

-joseph<3

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

hiii :) for the song prompts could i get #11,16 & 29 for sweet pea x ex!reader who both still have feelings for each other but are too stubborn to admit it, please? 🤍

hey! i love this idea so much so i’m so excited for you to read it! thank you for requesting! also, i got a little carried away, so sorry!

lyrics: things will change they always do, but my heart will stay open for you (stay open: maya hawke)

if you dance with me, darling, if you take me home. will we talk in the morning? (will we talk?: sam fender)

the millisecond that you're away i get the loneliest feeling (give me a try: the wombats)

“I can’t believe we’re here.” You say quietly and he nods, both of you looking at the paintings on the walls and silently wishing that you were anywhere else.

“I know.” He replies, glancing at you quickly before looking straight ahead.

Somebody behinds you coughs, and you can’t quite figure out if it’s a genuine one or if they’re just trying to tell you shut you up in a polite way. Either way you roll your eyes and sit properly in your seat, however you can still feel Sweet Pea’s arm against yours, the soft material of his blazer rubbing against your bare arms making you hyper-aware that he is, in fact, here.

It’s barely been five months since you broke up, and things are still...awkward, to say the least. And it's made even more awkward by the fact that you’re sat together at Fangs and Kevin’s wedding, despite both of you trying to get them to change the seating plan and both of them telling you that they’re stressed enough with this stupid wedding and so you’ll sit on the ceiling if that’s what they tell you to do, that made the both of you shut up and accept your fate.

You’re gonna spend a day, forcing smiles and pretending to be okay with the fact that the other is right next to you, yet you can’t touch them, no matter how much you want to.

“We did it!” Kevin cheers when he pulls away from Kevin, the two of them grinning from ear to ear and holding their hands in the air. Everybody stands and claps, while they walk back down the aisle, now husband and husband and both of them looking so happy that you think they’re gonna burst.

“Congratulations.” You grin and pull them both into a tight hug, squeezing you’re two best friends and trying to convey just how excited you are for them.

“Yeah, congrats guys.” Sweet Pea adds and leans around you to hug them both. You move back awkwardly and send an uncomfortable smile to Toni who just sends you an odd thumbs up before chatting with Veronica and Betty.

“We’ll see you both at the reception right?” Kevin adds. He tries to mask the fact that he’s on edge, worrying about whether everyone is gonna turn up, with eagerness, but the smile he's giving you just looks painful.

“Of course.” You smile.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Sweet Pea adds and you give him a shy smile. His gaze lingers on your for a little longer than it probably should for ex’s and you feel his eyes trail up and down your body, focusing on the parts that you made sure were accentuated in anticipation for seeing him again.

Fangs and Kevin share a look before excusing themselves and leaving you to try and look busy while Sweet Pea does the exact opposite. You know you shouldn’t, you know it’s wrong to still be loving the attention, to be dressing just to impress him, maybe make him a little jealous, but you can’t help the fact that you love how it makes you feel. All the attention, the small touches, the way his breath fans against your neck when he leans in to say something sarcastic, or the smirk that tugs at his lips when you do something to make him laugh, either on purpose or accidental.

You may have ended five months ago, but you’re still madly in love with him, and even though he tries to deny it, he can’t say he doesn’t feel the same about you.

“How are you doing?” He asks and your surprised by his bluntness. The two of you walk in the same direction as the rest of the guests, both completely unaware as to where you are going, and so you just stumble along blindly and hope that at least somebody around you knows what’s happening.

Sweet Pea’s hand ghosts the small of your back as he lets you through the door first, and the small pause gives you a chance to think of what to say. Do you lie and say that you haven’t spent every night thinking of him, and that the fact that he’s this close is making it difficult to breathe.

“Honestly?” You ask and he nods, his expression serious and he looks genuinely concerned. “The millisecond that you’re away, I get the loneliest feeling.” You laugh bitterly and his eyebrows furrow.

“Oh.” He says and grabs your arm, letting the rest of the guests shuffle past you until it’s just you and him stood in the corridor.

“Oh?” You repeat. “Is that a bad oh?”

“No.” He shakes his head quickly. “It’s a relived oh.”

“...oh.” You say and the two of you giggle.

“Same.” He adds and you nod awkwardly.

“Do you think we made a mistake?”

“Breaking up or being together in the first place” He asks and you frown, forcing yourself to look at him. “I’m sorry things are the way they are.” He adds and your expression softens.

“I’m sorry too.” You reply and grab his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He stares at it for a few seconds before slowly pulling you closer to him and you feel your breath hitch. “Do you wanna dance tonight?” You ask, trying to change the subject in order to give you a chance to remember how to breathe.

“That depends.” He shrugs, leaning closer to you and your cheeks heat up.

“On?” You ask, trying and failing to steady your voice.

“If you dance with me darling, if you take me home...will we talk in the morning?” He asks, almost begs as his lips brush against yours and you feel yourself falling for him all over again. Your hands cup his cheeks and his grip around your waist tightens around you, and for a brief second, everything that has ever happened between you, all the fights, the tears, the make-ups, the 3am calls and the drunken nights spent together when you told yourself no more, they’re all replaced by this one kiss, and all the possibilities that it could lead to, you just need to make sure you follow the right path this time.

You pull away, desperate for breath, but also yearning for him to keep kissing you, you want him to kiss you forever, you want to be held by him for the rest of time, until you can no longer hold each other.

But then you’re reminded of what drove the two of you apart in the first place. You’re lack of communication and the fact that life had been grinding the two of you down, far too much for you to focus on one another. That sort of things kills a couple, it makes them too stressed to love and even more stressed to talk about their issues so the only thing you can do is argue, and even then, that gets exhausting quickly.

You hated who you were then, you both did. You knew neither of you were the person that the other fell in love with, and you hated the way the other one looked whenever someone said something they instantly regretted but were too stubborn to take back.

You desperately want to go back to a time where you were happy together, but can you really go through all of this again if it goes wrong? But then he looks at you, his expression full of hope and love and there’s a shy smile playing on his lips thats only reserved for you, and you know. Of course you can, he’s worth the heartbreak.

“I don’t know.” You say honestly. “We can talk, but I don’t know where it’ll lead us, I hope it’s somewhere nice, things will change, they always do, but my heart will stay open for you, no matter what.” You say honestly, it’s the only thing you can say, but his smile shows that he’s willing to try, and then he grabs you and kisses you, and you know that you will talk, and you both hope it never stops.

song lyric prompts

sweet pea masterlist

support my writing! if you'd like!

[zmayadw]

Hello to all :)

So, before I run off for the weekend and from this unberable heat to my own little personal Duskwood (by which I mean a house in the woods :D ), I promised to someone I would post the epilogue to my story by friday, and I keep my promises :)

Anyway, I wish you all to have a great weekend! Take care :)

CALL OF THE RAVEN

PART 27 - EPILOGUE

And so a year passed. One year since Hanna was found, one year since I met my wonderful friends. And one year since the most beautiful blue eyes I ever saw stopped haunting my dreams and became my reality.

It's been almost six months since I decided to move in with Jake and make Duskwood my new home. It was the easiest decision I ever made. They all became the most important people in my life, and I couldn't even imagine a day passing without beeing close to them. We shared a bond stronger than anything. They became my family, and family definitely doesn't start or end with blood.

--------------------------------------------

„You said five more minutes. Almost twenty passed!“ Jake announces from the doors. „I know, I know! I'm done!“ Turning in my chair, I just stare at him. „What? Do I look that bad?“ he asks worryingly after a moment. He was wearing black pants and a dark blue formal shirt, wich made his eyes color even more intense. That always amazed me, their color changing from greyish-blue to such an intense blue, I got lost in them so manny times. „Maya?“ His words snaped my attention back. Getting up I smile walking to him „Oh, the opposite, babe. You look very handsome.“ He smiles back. Wrapping my hands around his neck and kissing him softly first, then pulling him closer intensifying the kiss, hinting him more than clearly where I'm heading with this. He moves away raising his eyebrow „Oh, no, no, no.“ „What's a no?“ I ask, biting teasingly at my lover lip. Groaning he takes another step backwards from me „Argh, don't do this to me, angel!“ „I have no clue what you're talking about.“ I say taking a step towards him, playfully twirling a strand of hair arround my finger. „We don't have time for this!“ „Oh, well then.“ I say dissapointed and with a sigh start towards the bedrom. Passing him, I take my shirt off droping it on the floor at his feet „I suppose I'll go get ready then.“ I could feel his lustful stare following me. I barely stepped into the bedroom when his hand comes around me, pulling me to him, his other hand moving the hair from my neck. His soft lips on my skin sent tingles all over me. „You are driving me crazy.“ He whispers to my ear. „And you love it.“ I hum back. Turning me to face him he grins „But just so we're clear, you are going to explain to my sister why we were late to the wedding. And I'm dying to hear what excuse you will think of.“ Laughing I put my hands around his neck „Don't worry, babe, I can get quite creative when needed.“

„So, tell me you two, what was it that made you almost end up late for the wedding?“ Lilly was looking inquisitive at Jake and me. „Yes, Maya, please tell Lilly why we were almost late.“ Jake grins at me. Oh, he is so gonna get it for this! „There was...an emergency with my dress.“ She snorts „Right, I'm sure there was.“ Flashing her the most wonderful smile I could make „Oh, come on, Lilly, don't be like this. Hannah just got married, we should all be happy.“ „You two are impossible. I need a drink.“ She shakes her head before leaving us. „Emergency with the dress? That's the best you could think of?“ Jake raise his eyebrow at me. I grin „Shush it. It worked..kinda.“ „No it didn't.“ He laughs. „Fine, it didn't.“ I agree. „Then next time, you think of something better.“ He chuckles „Oh no, I'm not letting you make a habbit out of it.“ Turning to him with a wicked smile and going for a kiss, but stoping so close our lips barely touch „Whatever you say, babe.“ Without finishing the kiss, I slowly turn and head for the bar. „You are killing me!“ he yells after me. I turn my head and wink, just as Dan shows up next to him. „Troubles at paradise, man?“ he asks him. Jake grins, not taking his eyes off me „Quite the opposite, man, quite the opposite.“

The cool night breeze swirled arround me as I lean on the railings of the terrasse. Watching my friends looking so happy and laughing makes me smile myself. Seeing them like this, no one would ever thought that a year ago their lives turned into a nightmare. Even if the scars of the past events might not be visible to the eye, they are there, imprinted deep into each one of them. With time, they will fade more, and become just a distant memory.

The scars on my body are a different story. They will always be there, a reminder of bad days. But that's all right, I don't want to forget anyway. I want to remember, that no matter what shit life threw at me, I survived, I came out of it stronger. And no matter what might come my way next, I will be all right. They are also a reminder of all the good things that came along with them – new unbreakable friendships, and love, the purest and strongest love. Non of it would be able to exist without all the bad thats happened.

A raven perched on a tree cawed, calling for my attention. His beady black eyes curiously observed me. It's caw echoes around me again, it's sinister voice carried deep into the forest. That sound was frightening to me, sending shivers down my spine, bad memories resurfacing with it. But not this time. With a smirk I look at the bird straight in the eye „Don't waste your time with me, you don't scare me anymore.“ The raven continued to stare at me, moving it's head from one side to the other, as if searching to find just a hint of doubt in my words. Unsuccessfully. It's wings flapped, it's caws echoing as I watch it fly away, getting lost somewhere deep in the forest. „Everything all right, angel?“ Jake voice comes from the doors. With a smile I move from the railing and turn to him, call of the raven falling more silent behind me „Everything is perfect.“

-----------------------------------------------

„Finaly! I was beginning to worry.“ I almost yell in my phone. „Sorry, angel, I just stepped outside a minute ago.“ „Well that took forever. At least tell me you have good news?“ I ask impatiently. „Let me pick you up, then we'll talk.“ „Oh, no, no, no.“ I protest. „I've been waiting for hours, I can't wait anymore, I'm going crazy here!“ „All right, all right.“ He laughs. „Sooooo, what's the verdict? Is it over?“ I was so nervous to hear his answer. „It's over, angel.“ I screamed so loud from happines, scolding myself instantly for doing so in a place that I was at the moment. „Oh, babe, I'm soooo happy to hear this!“ I laugh „You haven't called back for so long, I was beginning to play the worst scenarios in my head. I know Dan said I can ask him for anything, but I doubt he would agree in helping me busting you out of jail. With a mention of it being a federal one, the chances are even slimmer. “ He chuckles „Yeah, I doubt that, too.“ „Tell me, did they agree to your demands? Is your record clean again?“ „Let me put it like this“ he says „They were more then extremely satisfied with the results they got from the informations I provided for them, that I could have asked for an island and they would say yes to it.“ I burst out laughing „Well, owning an island is a new trend these days.“ He laughs back. „Jake?“ I say serious. „What's up, angel?“ „Do you regret doing any of this? I mean, this was something you were forced to do, and honestly, I don't want you to end up hating me one day for any of this. I know I asked you that before, but still..“ „Listen to me, angel. I would do all of this the same way every time, without hesitation, through a thousand lifetimes, if in the end it would mean I get to have you.“ A tear escape my eye, more threathening to follow „Gosh, don't you get me in tears, silly! Now, come and get me, so we can go celebrate properly!“ He chuckles „All right, angel. And where are you?“ „You don't know?“ I ask surprised. „Don't tell me you stopped tracking my phone?“ „I will never do that.“ I laugh „Good, then you'll know where to pick me up. Love you.“ „Love you, too. See you soon, angel.“

I know why I decided to come to this place while nervously waiting for news from Jake. First time he brought me along, there was such calmness radiating from him, just sitting here, in the same spot I am sitting now. I never seen him being more at peace anywhere else but here. I guess I hoped coming here would do the same for me. And I was not wrong.

Collecting my stuff I stand up and look at the tombstone that I was sitting in front all this time.

Here lies Anna

A beloved daughter and mother

You will be missed forever

„Don't worry, Anna“ I smile at the tombstone throwing my backpack over my shoulder „Jake will be all right, I'll take good care of him. I promise.“

THE END

A/N: All right, so this is it, the end. I want to say a big 'thank you' to anyone who read it! :) I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it :) And honestly, I am a bit sad it ended, but we all know all things must come to an end eventually. Anyway, thak you again, much love to you all :)

[probably-writing-x]

Impossible to miss.

Arón Piper x Reader

Request by anon: heyyy could be able to write an Aron Piper imagine where him & the reader are married & they have a child & Aron has to go away for something he’s filming & it happens to fall under his child’s birthday but he surprises him & the reader at the end? I know it’s not much detail but feel free to make it your own :)

Gif is not my own

Requests are open 🤍

“So, what did they say?” You ask excitedly as Arón hangs up on the phone call.

“They want me to start filming as soon as possible,” He grins, slightly off from the excitement you’d expect.

You squeal and run up to hug him, “Thats amazing, babe! God I’m so proud of you!”

He returns the gesture but you can tell that something’s not right.

“What is it? You’re happy right? I mean you wanted that part...”

“Yeah, no, god yeah I wanted the part. But they want me to start filming next week, and I’ll be filming for at least three months, likely longer...”

“So you’ll be away for Maya’s birthday,” You return, “Thats why.”

“I can see whether they could delay filming for a few months or I c-“

“Babe, no,” You stop him, cupping his cheek, “Go whenever they need you and I’ll still celebrate her birthday with her. We can FaceTime you from the party and she’ll be able to see you, and then when you’re home we can all celebrate together again. Okay?”

“Are you sure?” He sighs, frowning a little.

You smile and kiss him quickly, “Go and be a movie star, honey.”

- - - - - -

It had now been just over a month since Arón had gone off to start filming. He’d stayed in contact every single day, made sure to text you as often as possible and call at least every other day. Sometimes he’d call so that he could see Maya, your daughter, and other times he’d call so you two could watch movies together late at night. You made it work, as you always did. But as Mayas third birthday approached, she was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that her (favourite) parent wouldn’t be there to celebrate.

“Are you excited for tomorrow baby?” You smile as you change her into her pyjamas for the night.

“Is Daddy going to come home?” She frowns, sitting down on the edge of the bed to let you dry her growing curls.

You pause with the towel over her head and sigh, “No, honey, he’s still filming. But you’ll have all of your friends there, and all of your family, and you’ll get lots of presents and you’ll be the superhero of the day, okay?”

She smiles at the idea and nods, “And I can see Daddy soon?”

“You can see him really soon,” You assure her, “And we can tell him all about your party.”

“Yeah!” She exclaims, before going on to ramble all about the plans for her party and all of the friends she’d have for the day.

It breaks your heart to hear her talk about Arón not being there. And you know it would break his heart too. But his job always came first, and you’d reminded him of that ever since the two of you first became parents. Sure, your family was important to both of you. But acting was his passion and he was in the prime of his success with his career that you couldn’t possibly let him jeapordise that. This was just the first time where it felt like you weren’t the only one affected by him not being home. And that hurt a lot more than every other time he’d been gone.

“Can I see Daddy tonight?” Maya asks as you finish drying her hair.

You see the hope in her eyes and find it impossible to dispute, “How about we call him and see if he’s free? But he might be busy darling so remember-“

“He night not pick up,” She finishes the line for you as she shuffles up to the top of yours and Arón’s bed and sits patiently waiting for him to answer the FaceTime.

You let out a breath of relief when it says it’s connecting and his face soon pops up on the screen,

“Hello girls!” He grins brightly at the sight of both of you, “This is a nice surprise!”

“Daddy!” Maya grins, jumping over your lap to stick her face right in front of the screen.

He gasps, “Isn’t it past your bedtime Maya Piper?”

She giggles, “Mummy said I could stay up later today.”

“Well Mummy is clearly a bad influence,” Arón shakes his head, “Are you all ready for tomorrow?”

Maya starts to ramble once again about her plans, stumbling over her words a few times as she speaks with such built up excitement.

“Sounds amazing sweetie, you’re going to have the best time,” Arón smiles fondly, laughing as she sticks her head in front of the camera again.

“Daddy why can’t you come home to see me?” She pouts, fiddling with the material of her onesie.

Arón frowns gently and you two make pained eye contact through the screen, “Because, Maya, I’m still busy working - you remember I told you? Daddy’s on a really big project right now and I can’t come back for a little while, but I promise you I’ll be home as soon as possible, okay?”

She nods slightly, “Pinky promise?”

Arón sticks his pinky finger toward the screen and kisses the other side of his hand, “Cross my heart.”

“Say bye to Daddy, we’ll speak to him tomorrow yeah?” You suggest, “Text me in the morning?”

“Yeah of course,” Arón encourages, “I’ll speak to you tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too Daddy!” Maya speaks up, waving at the screen and blowing kisses.

“I love both of you,” Arón looks back at you, smiling at you with that pained look where you both knew you were missing each other a little more than what felt bearable.

“Love you too, good night.”

You hang up the FaceTime and set your phone down on the side.

“How about you sleep in Mummy’s bed tonight?” You suggest to your little girl who looks at you with a bright grin.

She snuggles into the sheets and you do too, wrapping your arms around her.

“He’ll be back soon Mummy,” She mumbles through a yawn, “He pinky promised.”

You let out a breath and squeeze her a little tighter, “Yeah, soon.”

- - - - - -

The following day, you’re at the hall for Maya’s party which has been set up in her chosen theme - superheroes. She was already running around with a Batman costume on that Arón had bought her a couple of months ago. And a few of her friends were already here dressed in their own costumes too.

You’d been busy greeting people as they arrived, keeping an eye on Maya as she became engulfed by the ecstatic feeling of her own party.

“Hey (Y/n)!” Miguel calls as he and Mina walk through the door, both carrying presents, “Sorry we’re a bit late.”

“Oh, no that’s okay,” You smile, hugging him, “Thank you so much for coming.”

“Of course! I bet she’s so excited!” Mina grins, “Look at her!!”

“Yeah, she’s so happy! She really wanted Arón to be here but I think she’s distracted enough now,” You laugh, “I would try to bring her over but she hasn’t stopped playing on that bouncy castle.”

“Don’t be silly, we’ll say hi when we can,” Miguel encourages, “Here, Omar’s over there - lets go say hi.”

They walk over to where a couple of their cast mates were stood, all here to celebrate the birthday of the girl they treated as a niece.

You check up on the food and check that everybody is settling in okay to the party before actually relaxing yourself, getting a drink and walking over to mingle and talk to everybody.

You try to relax into it all, but it still feels like something is missing. Something very prominent. You should have Arón’s arm around you as you talk to your parents, or have him joke about having a second child as you talk to your friends. It felt so empty, even in a room full of people, without having him there.

Just then, as you’re about to find Maya to tell her to come and say hello to a few people, you’re stopped by an abrupt entrance at the front door. The door bursts open and someone dressed as Spider-Man is stood on the other side.

“What the f-“ You stop yourself, glancing around at everyone with evident confusion.

Miguel walks over and chuckles a little, “Who could that be?”

“I didn’t order a-“ You go to hurry forward to stop whoever this person was but Miguel holds your shoulder to keep you back.

“Don’t worry, something tells me you’ll want to see this,” He comments, nodding his head in the direction of the moving superhero.

Instantly, Maya is fascinated as she hurries over to see him, looking up at the costumes person with a bright grin.

“Spider-Man!” She exclaims, “You’re my second favourite superhero.”

The man crouches down in front of her and smiles, “Only second favourite?”

“My Daddy’s favourite is Spiderman but he’s not here,” Maya explains hurriedly.

“Well, you’ll have to tell him you met Spiderman then won’t you?” He continues, before reaching up and pulling the mask off from the back of his head. You recognise the shaven head instantly, your heart dropping at the sight.

“Daddy!” Maya squeals with more excitement than this party could ever give her.

She instantly wraps her arms around him as he lifts her into his lap and squeezes her tightly.

“Happy Birthday honey!” Arón laughs, kissing her forehead.

She pulls the costume from his body like she’s trying to make sure it really is him as she runs excitedly around to tell her friends about how her Daddy has surprised her.

You walk over and stand in front of where he was sat on the ground, just as dumbfounded yourself.

He stands up quickly and lets a smile overtake his features brightly. You let out a laugh and step to wrap your arms around him, holding him tight against you like you too were trying to convince yourself it was actually him.

You pull away momentarily to ask, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t miss it (Y/n), I couldn’t miss her birthday,” He shakes his head, “So I spoke to Miguel this morning and planned it so I could get here on time, drove the whole way back.”

You laugh again and pull him back to you, “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” He mumbles, leaning back so he can kiss your lips.

“Mummy, Daddy!” Maya pulls on the material of your trousers, “This is the best birthday ever!”

He bends down to lift her into his arm as she wraps both of her tiny arms around each of you. Your little family, reunited.

[camiddletonxox]

Adopting Blossom and Princess

Pairing - Drake Walker x Charity Middleton

Characters - Drake Walker, Charity Middleton/Walker (MC), Jonah Jackson Walker, Maya-Rose Savannah Walker (All characters belong to PB apart from Maya and Jonah)

Rating - General

Setting - This is a AU where Charity and Drake don’t live in Cordonia, and are married with children. I wanted to do the two of them as normal people.

Taglist - @drakewalkerfantasy @ao719 @princess-geek @polishchoicesfan @binny1985 @desireepow-1986 @adriansbiss @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @hatescapsicum @itscassandral @gardeningourmet @heauxplesslydevoted @thequeenofcronuts @kaavyaethanramsey @choicesolivia @waitingforalana @regencylady1810 @dailydoseofchoices @storyofmychoices @sushiharrington @sanchita012 @choicesficwriterscreations

——————————

Prompts - Day 3 August challenge Pets @choicesmonthlychallenge

Summary - Drake and Charity take their children to get some furry friends

Word Count - 1297

🐶🐱🐶🐱

It was a normal day in the household of Drake and Charity Walker, the husband and wife were preparing breakfast for their two children. 3 and a half year old Jonah Walker and almost two year old Maya-Rose Walker. Drake had done some pancakes and Charity had been cutting some strawberries and cleaning the blueberries. Charity put the fruit on the plate and she went to where they had all sauces and she found some honey. The parents had a little surprise for their children today.

“Mummy” Little Maya shouted as she ran in the kitchen, tapping her mothers leg and Charity turned round.

“Hey sweetheart, mummy and daddy are making pancakes for you and Jonah” she smiles bending down and Maya put her hand on her chest, she gave her mum a desperate look. She wanted picking up. “Maya, mummy is making breakfast, baby. We can have cuddles after pancakes” Charity assured Maya as Drake took the honey, drizzling a little over their children’s pancakes.

“Mummy, can I have milk?” Jonah asks as he runs in and Charity chuckles.

“Yes, J. Go and sit at the table in the dining room, I will bring it in” She instructs their son and he runs off and she takes Maya through, putting her in her seat before helping Drake bring the plates in. Jonah’s had been cut in little bits as had Maya’s.

“Et up you two, because we have a busy day” Drake smiles at his two children. Little Maya took her bottle of milk and she drank some milk.

“Why do we have a busy day?” Jonah asks, as he eats some pancake, and strawberry.

“Because we are going to the animal shelter and go and see what pet you two want? Mummy was thinking a puppy and maybe a rabbit” Drake explained and Jonah’s eyes lit up, he had always wanted to have a puppy to show off to his friends at school.

“Would you like that, sweetie? For us to get some pets” Charity spoke softly to their son.

“Yes please mummy, can we go now?” Jonah asks. The two parents laughed, their little boy could get super excited at times. He sometimes forgot to eat his breakfast when he was excited like that. Drake knew he got that from his mother. She was one of these people who got super excited about things.

“Eat your breakfast, Jonah. We can go after breakfast and once we are all ready” Drake told their son, a small smile on his face. He loved being a dad to their children.

“What about you, Maya? Do you want to get some furry friends?” Charity asked Maya who was more concerned with eating her pancakes. She was barely listening. Maya looked to her mum when the word furry friends came out, she tilted her head, a little grin coming on that little face of hers.

“Fuwwy fwends?” She asked, as she put more pancake in her mouth, she was so adorable. Those little eyes of hers were lit up with excitement.

“Yeah princess, what do you think?” Drake encourages and Maya looked at her parents before she looked at her pancakes.

“An cake pwease” she insists as if furry friends were not just mentioned.

“You can have one more sweetheart” Charity takes their daughters plate to cut another pancake up. Drake chuckled and he sipped his coffee,

After breakfast, the family got ready to head to the animal shelter, Jonah was bursting with excitement, he couldn’t wait to get his furry friends. Drake got his family to the animal shelter which was a few miles out the countryside where they lived. Once they arrived Charity and Drake turned to the children.

“You have to remember we aren’t the only people here so you have to be polite and listen to mummy and me ok” Drake says and they nod. They get out the car, Charity got Maya out and Drake got Jonah out. Maya happily walked with her mum, gripping on her hand, she still wasn’t majorly confident with walking around outside. They arrived at reception and they explained they had booked to see some of the animals and gave their name.

“Ahhh Mr and Mrs Walker, please follow me through. Is there a specific animal you are interested in” The guy smiles and the family follow.

“We thought a dog maybe. Maybe a puppy” Charity explained and the gentleman nodded. They walked across the site to where a beautiful little cottage looking building sat and he led them through.

“We have some beagle puppies, they are lovely little creatures and we have some Jack Russell terrier puppies” The relays to the family as a puppy stops their son in his track, it was a cute beagle. Drake stopped too as did Charity. The beagle looked up at the family, the little paws scratching at the cage.

“This one, is it a girl or boy?” Charity asks as she bent down, pointing at the puppy for Maya to see.

“”Thats our youngest puppy here, shes been with us a week, gave away by her last owner because he didnt want her and the little kitten who lived with him, poor thing. She is 14 weeks” The man explains and Jonah crawled to the puppy’s level.

“I am Jonah” He introduces himself and the small puppy scratches at the cage, her interest in Jonah clear. Charity bent down. The gentleman let the puppy out the cage and the puppy slowly went to Charity then Jonah, her tail wagging

“Does she have a name?” She inquired.

“Yes, she is called Princess” The man comments as the puppy makes her way to Drake, sniffing before wagging her tail and licking his hand. The husband and wife look at one another

“We will have her” Charity smiles as Maya pats the puppy happily. “But you said she came in with a kitten” Charity asks.

“Yes” the man says.

“Could we have a look at the kitten?” She asks and the man nods, why not? He grabs paperwork from the pen and puts the puppy back, cooing to her she has a nice home to go to, and the family follow the man, the children following their parents, hand and hand. They arrived to another little building and they went through to a office where a truly beautiful tabby was.

“She was living with Princess before they were brought here” The man explains and the children watch the cat, Maya was more excited over the cat.

“What is it baby?” Charity asks.

“Kitty” the little girl grins and puts her hand out, the kitten was intruiged. Charity lifted Maya and she looked at the cat, her eyes lit up. Charity encouraged her son to look too and he also looked excited as they look at the kitty. “This one is older than the puppy, her name is Blossom and she is 4 months, and shes friendly and playful” The man spoke.

“Do you want the kitty and puppy, you two?” Drake asked, his arm around his wife.

“Pwease daddy” Maya giggled, her hand on the cage, the cat sniffing the hand as much as she could.

“Could we adopt both Princess and Blossom?” Charity asks her husband who nodded.

“Why not, we will have both of them” Drake smiled to the gentleman who nodded. They went through the paperwork and the process before the couple arranged to pick up the new family members in the next couple days before returning to the car, going to grab some stuff for their pets.

“We have furry fwends now” Jonah giggles and his parents nod.

“We do sweetheart” Charity smiled and the two children were both giddy with excitement, ready to buy toys for Blossom and Princess.

[issabangtanfic]

[Jungkook] The Windmill House (Chapter 2)

Masterlist

Synopsis: When for once rich doesn’t rhyme with Christian Grey.

Pairing: Jungkook x OC

A/N: Feel free to submit a cover! Tell me what you think in my inbox! Enjoy!

-

“Why?” I frown, cofused, even though I know I should just shut up and thank him given the position I'm putting my company in.

“I thought you hated my vision.” I murmur. His eyes light up, and he gives me a soft smile.

“It’s all the contrary. I love your vision, Maya.” He croons, my whole body going rigid. Oh, please.

“Mi-“

“Miss Fair.” He corrects himself. I swallow.

“Then why didn’t you give me the project for your mansion?” I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Because this is much more important to me.” He counters.

“Huh.” Is all I manage to say. I don't understand his logic. I should be the last person he gives such an important project to then.

“Wanna see what it looks like?” He proposes, jerking his head towards the house. I nod, my curiosity getting the best of me. Mr Jeon leads me up the stairs to the porch. 

This house doesn’t even have a door. It’s just a big plywood board with a metal chain on each side, chains that are attached to the house by two hooks and two big locks. Mr Jeon fishes the keys out of his pocket, opening each lock. He then lifts the board effortlessly and moves it to the side to reveal the inside of this old guy.

We step in, and I discover a dark and desolated place. The left wing of the house is closed off by a door, and in front of me lay old wooden stairs that lead to the upper floor. The only point of light comes from the open room on our right, the high column where the windmill is. My feet carry me inside that room, the old wood crackling and squeaking under my heels. A stuffy smell of rotten wood invades my nostrils, and I absolutely love it. This definitly is an old guy.

The room we walk in is the living room, one of the most beautiful spaces I’ve seen in my life. The room is high, really high. Easily dwarfing the ten meters I had guessed. And it’s luminous, bathed in light by two humongous bullseye windows, making the inside look like a ship of some kind.

The furniture is covered by big white pieces of cloth, and I’m dying to uncover them. I guess the shape of a couch, two armchairs, a table and a cabinet by the windows, and a bar on the left where there are no windows.

If half of the cylindric room is covered by windows, the other half has a huge embedded bookshelf as a wall. I’ve never seen anything like this except in harry potter. A huge wall of books, easily covering half of the height of the room, and a ladder that can slide across it.

Oh wow.

At the far end of the room, there is a small metallic spiral staircase that leads to a small platform at the very top of the room, and I guess it’s the windmill maintenance area.

“So?” I hear Mr Jeon ask expectingly. 

Is this, like, his childhood home? Someone clearly has spent a lot of time here. Was it him? His parents? Windmill houses are usually found in America, and he has an American accent, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was family home. 

But it’s odd. The whole Poudlar spaceship spirit of it makes it look like some kind of… big child room. A place where you’d come to escape reality, far from the city.

“It’s…” I trail off, trying to put a word on all of my thoughts. This house speaks to me, and I can feel that it’s filled with meaningful moments and memories.

“Heavy.” I breathe, my shoulders sagging. I look up at him and watch his eyebrows slightly furrow.

“Heavy.” He repeats, looking at me intently. I shy from his gaze, focusing on these beautiful windows again. That’s when I notice the fireplace. 

“Take a look at this.” He offers, pulling my attention back to him. He strides across the room, towards the metal stairs, and grabs the wall. Thats when I notice a crank I hadn’t seen before.. He grabs it, and it must be rusty, unsurprisingly, because he has to put some strength on it to get it to spin. When he finally gets it moving, I hear the sound of heavy metal rustling. 

The sound comes from above, so I lift my eyes, and see the ceiling opening. Wow! The roof of the windmill is actually made of blinds, against glass. And as Mr Jeon turns the crank, the blinds lift up to reveal the sunny blue sky.

“Woah.” I breathe as I’m starting to get bathed in sunlight. Now that is luminous!

“That’s amazing!” I laugh in delight. This is so cool! But who the hell would’ve thought of that back then?

“And also, really strange.” I had, now that I think of it.

“You should see it in the night.” He says, pulling my eyes back down to him. He’s taking slow but confident steps towards me. I don’t answer, my eyes glued to his face. I hope he’s not going to stand too close to me.

“You can see thousands of stars. There’s not much light pollution.” He adds, still walking to me. I’m tempted to  take a step back, but that would give away my lack of composure. He stops when he’s unreasonably close to me, as if he knew it would make my heart pound in my ears.

He knows.

“You can even see Saturn, in the summer.” He finishes. I look up at him. Not knowing what to say, unable to form any decent answer to that. He smells so, fucking divine, It’s giving me a head rush.

“You in on this?” He asks softly. I manage a small nod, swallowing a big lump in my throat. The corner of his mouth curls up.

“Good.” He says, his lips twitching, refraining a grin. Good? This is anything but good. He’s trouble. Is he not going to move? 

His phone rings in his pocket, and I take the opportunity to look away and step back from him. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and looks at the caller’s ID.

“I have to take this.” He says, looking up at me. “Make yourself at home.”

I manage another small nod, and he strolls out of the room to take his call. Sighing, I place my bag on the bar and walk over to the covered furniture. I pull a cover, revealing a leather couch and also sending dust into the air.

I cough, taking a look at the fine piece of work. This could stay here. But I’m more intrigued by the  bookshelves. I cover the couch back and take my heels off, walking to the ladder. I slide it across the wall and climb to the top, grabbing a random book.

Curiosities of the sky by Garrett P. Serviss.

Astronomy. 

I put it back and grab another one.

A brief history of Time by Stephen Hawking.

Astrophysics. This place is a spaceship! I open it and find a note on the inside.

For my neutron star Jungkook. Don’t aim for the stars but for Canis Majoris. Love A-

I have no idea what this means. But at least I know Mr Jeon has lived here. And he’s keen on space science. What an actual nerd.

The squeaky floor boards announce Mr Jeon’s return way before he enters the room again. I look down at the doorway until he appears, and notice his tie is gone and the top two buttons of his shirt are undone. Yum.

His eyes land on me and widen.

“What are you doing?” He scolds, pacing towards me. 

I thought I could make myself at home!

“I’m sorry, I thought I could look around.” I stutter, surprised.

“Of course you can, but not. like this. Do you realise how high this is?” He mutters. I look down at him, realising he has to bend his neck to look at me. 

Damn, I am high. 

He could see my knickers!

“I’m scared you’ll fall.” He murmurs, holding his hand out to me, inviting me to come down. He’s scared I’ll fall? Well, he better stop making me so dizzy.

I place the book back on the shelf and proceed to step down the ladder.

“Where are your shoes?” I hear him ask from under me.

“Erm…”

“In such an old house, that’s dangerous.” He lectures.  Yeah, yeah, whatever.

I look down at him, and he’s still offering his hand. I have no choice but to take it. I decide to jump down the last step.

You could get a sh-“

“Ow!” I cry.

“Shard in your foot. Well, congratulations.” He mutters. I hop on one foot, my heel stinging painfully. I don’t know what I just landed on, but it was not a shard!

“Careful.” I hear him mutter, and suddenly I’m sent flying as he scoops me up in his arms. I gasp, wrapping my arms around his neck so I don’t fall off, but shocked this is happening. I’m in his arms, and they are strong. He has a hand on my back and the other curled around the back of my knees.

My eyes bulge out of their sockets and I feel my face heating up. I feel hot in my cheeks and my heart is racing. This is both hell and paradise.

“Let’s see.” He breathes, walking to the couch. He sets me down on it and sits on the adjacent armchair’s arm, grabbing my leg and setting my injured foot on his knee.

My face is about to explode. He takes a look at the underside of my foot.

“You’ll have to take your stockings off.” He declares, looking up at me. 

And I know. I know myself and I know, my face is bloodshot and I’m busted from miles away. Mum and Dad always tell me this will bring me troubles, blushing that hard that easily, now I know why.

I blink and swallow, not knowing what to do.

I take a minute process things. My dress is knee-length but it’s flowey, so it won’t rise up to my waist if I reach under it. If I ask him to turn around, he’ll make fun of me. I must act confident,.

Looking away from his eyes so I don’t see his reaction, I carefully reach under my dress and grab the waistline of my stockings, lifting my bum to slide them down.

When I’m past my bum and reach halfway down my thighs, his hands cover mine, and he “helps” me get the rest off without having to bend. But the way he does, it sends my body in a frenzy. He doesn’t take my stockings off, he caresses my legs, sliding his hands down on my skin and dragging the stockings with them.

Heat licks along my skin and I let out a shaky breath, shocked by his boldness but too focused on not letting it show. My stockings come off, and I exhale deeply.

His thumb strokes my ankle as he lifts up my foot, and I chew down on my lip, not wanting to make a sound. Suddenly, his phone vibrates again. 

Halle-fucking-lujah!

“I’ll take care of it.” I declare, removing my foot from his lap. “Take the call.”

He nearly yanks my foot back onto his knee.

“While you’re bleeding all over my floor?” He mutters. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not that much of an asshole.”

Not that much? So he knows he’s an arse.

“So, you’re aware that you were a arse to me yesterday?” I ask, my feverish body making me brazen. He examines my foot carefully, tugging on a shard.

“I’m... merciless, when it comes to business.” He muses, removing a shard with a sharp movement.

“Ow.”

“Sometimes it’s a quality, sometimes it a flaw and costs me a lot.” He says, pensive. This is dangerously close to an apology.

“Is that your way of saying you’re sorry?” I try.

“No it’s not.” He retorts, pulling another shard out of my foot. I scowl at him.

“Would you happen to have tweezers?” He asks casually, looking up at me and ignoring my scowl. I blink at him.

“In my bag, yes.” I indicate. When he stands, I sag against the couch, rubbing the bridge of my nose. This man is so attractive, I hate feeling like this. I know men like him.

He comes back with my tweezers.

“You went through my bag?” I ask, shocked. I thought he’d bring it to me!

“Well, that’s where the tweezers were.” He retorts, sitting back down on the armchair, ignoring my semblance of annoyance. He grabs my foot again.

“Has anyone  ever told you it’s very rude to snoop in a lady’s bag?” I mutter, readjusting my position.

“Stop moving, woman.” He mutters. Rude!

“There.” He declares, pulling out what feels like a huge chunk of wood. I hiss in pain.

“That’s a nasty cut. You’re still bleeding. I’ll see if I can find bandages somewhere.” He declares before leaving again. He comes back a few moments later with bandages and disinfectant.

He cuts a piece of bandages and pours some disinfectant on it, before bringing it to my heel. The product stings. 

“Ow!” I squeal, removing my foot from his hold.

“Maya.” He calls, grabbing my foot back. Will he stop?!

“It’s Miss Fair.” I grind out,  yanking myself out of his reach. He looks up at me, sighing deeply, his tongue briefly poking at the inside of his cheek in annoyance.

“Yeah, as soon as I get this disinfected.” He mutters. Huffing, I reluctantly give him my foot, letting him do his business and wrap it up in some bandages.

“Done.” He declares once he’s finished.

“Thank you.” I mumble, because I’m that. He places his medical equipment on the covered table.

“I guess that’s enough designing for today. Wait here.” He announces before rising and disappearing. He comes back with my bag and hands it to me. I take it and stands, and before I can even take an actual step I’m flying again.

“Jesus Christ!” I yell in surprise as he scoops me up again. What the heck? “Mr Jeon, I can walk.”

“Clumsy as you are, you might break a leg.” He mutters, casually walking towards the exit, with me in his arms. I clench my jaw.

I am the clumsy type, but this is wrong!

“I am not clumsy. You can put me down.” I try not to sound like I’m begging, but I bloody am.

“ I insist.” He retorts, stepping out of the house. Oh, how fucking perfect. He carries me over to my car, but heads for the passenger side.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Taking you home.”

I start to panic.

“I can drive, really.” I blurt out, stumbling over my own words. He sets me down in front of the passenger door.

“This is really unnecessary.” I murmur, looking up at him. 

“I don’t feel comfortable knowing you’re driving with an injured foot.” He shrugs a shoulder, narrowing his eyes at me because of the sun in his face. He looks perfect in the sun. I imagine him in shades and a V neck. Mmmh..

“Injured is a big word.” I retort. He opens in mouth and I’m not having any of this.

“And, I don’t feel comfortable with you taking me home.” I say before he can argue, reminding him he’s a client and I’m not going to cross this line with him. 

He frowns, staring at me for a moment, his face a knot of confusion. Finally, he scoffs.

“Listen to me, lady.” He admonishes. Lady?

“I know I affect you, and you should know the feeling’s mutual, but this,” He pauses, taking a small pause and knocking the air out of my lungs. “Has nothing to do with how bad I want to have sex with you.”

I mean, I knew he knew I was attracted to him. I keep making a show of myself whenever I see him, but I didn't think it would be mutual! Oh, and the way the word "sex" sounds in his mouth is filthy and filled with promises.

Oh my god, if I come home with him, he might just-

“I’m not giving you the keys.” I say sternly. His lips curl up and he seems pleased.

“I see you’re not denying it.’ He murmurs. 

Oh bloody hell!

“Oh, and I already have them.” He says, fishing them out of his pocket and holding them up. Bloody bastard!

"In." He jerks his chin.

"In not going home, I have to go to my office." I try.

"At this time?"

"Yes."

"To your office we go then. Hop in." He pipes up, unlocking my car and opening the door for me. I make a desperate attempt to snatch my keys out of his hand.

I fail, and he smirks at me.

“Cheeky.” He murmurs. “I like that.”

There’s a detonation inside me and blood rushes to my face. This is just getting worse. I thought just being around him was hard, but how am I supposed to keep calm when he teases me like this?

Huffing, I get into the car just because I can’t stand the way he looks at me. 

"I'll get the door. Don't go anywhere." He says to me before closing the door. While he’s good I take a look at myself in the rearview. I’m one messy tomato. I sag against the seat, defeated.

I groan. When will I stop being a fucking impressible? I have no fucking taste in men. Ugh.

When Mr Jeon finishes closing off the house, he gets in my mini, cramming his frame into my tiny car. he pushes the seat all the way back and still looks like a clown in a clown car.

I don’t make any remarks though, I don’t think he’d laugh at himself. he ride to my office is silent and feels like an eternity because he just had to look smoking hot while driving.

He parks in front of the office and gets out the car. I don’t wait for him to open my door for me, and I don’t even know if he was going to. I kick my shoes off and leave the there before getting off as well.

“And now on the concrete? Miss Fair, how much do you hate shoes?” He utters while circling my car.

“A lot.” I mutter.

“Here.” He says, bending to grab the back of my knees.

“That’s enough!” I squeal, swatting his hands away. Not on the bloody street! Is he mental? 

His brow furrows. I clear my throat.

“My keys, please.” I ask sternly , holding my palm up. Sighing, he hands them back to me.

“Thank you for the ride.” I say before turning on my heels.

“What about when you go home later?” He calls from behind me.

“I’ll manage.” I reply, looking over my shoulder. “Thanks for worrying.” I add before disappearing inside the building. I sigh deeply, feeling exhausted. My foot doesn’t even hurt that much.

This man is mentally exhausting. I feel more drained by an hour with him than by a full day at work. And I’ll have to see him again and again until the project is finished! What am I going to do with myself?

I make it up to my office to grab my sketchbook, and on my desk lay a bouquet of flowers. Frowning, I take a closer look, discovering a card with the white Roses. I open it, and it says:

I’m sorry. - J x

So he is sorry after all! And he sent flowers to apologize? So that’s what he meant. He said his speech about him being merciless wasn’t his way of saying sorry because he had sent a whole bouquet of flowers to my office.

When I realise my smile is reaching my ears, I pul myself back together and put the card back. I’ll deal with that tomorrow. I grab my sketch book and head back out, taking a moment to reply to my Mum’s text asking why I din’t call her after work.

Worked late today. I’ll call you when I come home. Love you lots x

While I’m sending the text, I feel my car keys being snatched from my hand.

“Ah!” I yelp, feeling myself flying again. And here I am again, in Mr Jeon’s arms, confused and nearly having a heart attack.

“Walking down the stairs with your eyes glued to you phone and an injured foot.” He mutters, walking me down the stairs. What in hell?

“It’s like you want to get hurt.” He grumbles.

“Put me down! What are you doing here?” I utter, in deep shock. He waited outside?

"Taking you home.”

“I said I was fine!”

“And I don’t want to take the risk.” He retorts, circling my car and bringing me to the passenger’s side.

“You’re taking care of a life project of mine. I don’t want you to die on me.” He explains, letting me down. I take a step back,, leaning against my car huffing and puffing.

“Pretty sure driving with a stinging foot isn’t going to kill me.” I mutter, smoothing my hair and tugging my dress down.

“Not taking the risk.” He counters, opening the door.

“Mr Jeon.” I grab the door.

“Mind your head.” He says, taking advantage of my lack of balance and pushing me down onto the seat. I groan, frustrated at him. 

It’s not like I can do much to stop him. He has the keys and he seems stubborn as heck. Grumbling to myself, I let him get in the driver’s seat and take me home. I guide him to my house, relieved when we make it in front of my home. I wait for him to join me on the pavement, and he gives me my keys back before leaning against my car.

“Did you receive my flowers?” He asks me.

Oh.

“Yes.” I reply. “They’re pretty.”

“Do you accept my apology?” He enquires, stepping in front of me, trapping me between him and my car. I swallow and nod.

“Great.” He smiles to me. 

“Now that I’m forgiven, I think we should drop the honorifics.” He proposes.

“This whole Miss Fair Mr Jeon thing is getting old.” He shrugs. Oh hell no!

“I’d rather we didn’t.” I counter.

“Why?”

“I don’t call my clients by their name.” I lie.

“Well, in case you still haven’t figured, I hope to be more than a client to you.” He replies, his tone changing, becoming low and inviting. I refrain a gasp and try to hold his smoldering gaze.

“Mr Jeon, this is highly inappropriate.” My voice is almost as quiet as a whisper.

“Yeah.” He breathes, nodding. Yeah?

Yeah, it’s inappropriate, and he knows it. What kind of excuse was that. Everything about this is inappropriate, I bet that’s why he wants to have sex with me.

“Should I give the project to Mrs Bingfield?” He proposes, tilting his head to the side. My jaw drops.

“I wouldn’t be your client.” He shrugs. I scoff. He narrows his eyes at me.

“So I guess that’s not the actual reason you won’t have sex with me.” He guesses correctly, and a shiver runs down my spine when he says ‘sex’. I’m in so much trouble.

“If you have no reasonable reason, that could mean you’re scared.” He muses. “If you tell me what you’re scared of, I’ll do my best to reassure you.”

I blink, his words echoing and bouncing in my head. 

And then I see him, really see him. 

He’s there, using his charms to pin me against my car, all cocky and arrogant, talking about how he’ll do what it takes to get me in his bed. He’s human garbage. He’s just a rich, power hungry arse who likes to seduce women. He’s playing with me.

I’m a conquest for him, a challenge.

I know that all too well, and it all comes back to me like a nasty aftertaste.

“So, whatever happens you’ll be the one to make it all. better.” I scoff.

“I’ll try.” He shrugs a shoulder. I’m such a fuck-up. He’s just plain trash, how could I have missed that. He’s hot, alright, but he just emanates with manwhore energy and now I want to throw up.

“I absolutely abhorre men like you.” I grind out in his face, using my sketchbook to poke at his chest and push him away. He takes step back, frowning deeply.

“You can keep your project. And your dick in your pants for that matter.” I mutter before pushing past him, and go home without a single look back in his direction.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

chapter 11.5 -- okay, 12, it’s chapter 12, fine, fine. I should stop trying to predict how long my chapters will be. I’m always wrong. the Fae AU keeps escaping all my predictions. it’s fine. it’s cool. 

[Beginning] [Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

It is not, as Apollo expects, the worst road trip he has ever been a part of. Trucy likes to sing along to the radio – she has a surprisingly good voice – which stops Clay from starting up his usual road trip tradition of bellowing out “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” and seeing how much he can get through before someone slaps him. Trucy claimed shotgun, as “the woman with the magic map”, meaning Apollo is shunted to the back with Ema, who upends her bag on the floor to pull from it a jumbo-sized pack of Snackoos and offer a handful to him.

“None for us?” Clay asks, pouting in the rearview mirror.

“Backseat privileges,” Ema replies.

Trucy cranks the radio up as a familiar guitar riff begins.

If it’s extortion, it works; she and Clay have not finished the first verse, Trucy’s almost-operatic interpretation running up against Clay’s off-key warbling, before Ema is shoving the Snackoos up between their seats, offering a trade of chocolates for an end to the car-vibrating force of Guilty Love.

“Not a fan?” Clay asks.

Ema groans. So does Trucy. “Don’t get me started,” Ema says.

“Yeah, please don’t,” Trucy adds.

“He’s a pretentious fuckin’ diva who—”

Trucy begins yelling out the chorus to the song over the second verse emitting from the radio.

They are all still arguing – Ema berating Clay’s taste in music while Trucy moves into an attempt to sing My Boyfriend is the Prosecution’s Witness to the tune of Guilty Love and Apollo tries to turn the volatile atmosphere anywhere else – when the song ends. Trucy shushes everyone, violently, smacking Clay on the arm and then flailing back at Ema, and turns up the radio. A DJ is in the middle of saying something.

“—announced today on their social media. While fans are disappointed, no one can say that the break-up comes as a surprise, after the sentencing of guitarist Daryan Crescend for murder in July, and the three months of, ahem, radio silence that’s followed. And earlier this week, leader singer Klavier Gavin’s brother was indicted on a second count of murder – I can’t say I blame him for maybe wanting to duck out of the spotlight. Gavin’s brother was previously charged in April, for—”

Trucy changes the channel. A commercial for a local furniture outlet doesn’t help break the awkward spell fallen over them. “Yeah,” she says, after a full minute, during which time they discover their new channel is a country music channel. “No real surprise.”

“Brother and bandmate,” Clay says quietly. “Hell of a year.”

“Hell of a six months,” Apollo says. And he was there for all of it – he was there for more of it than Klavier ever was. Klavier wasn’t there in April, not when Kristoph fell, not when any of them could have had any idea what was ahead. How much magic would surround them.

“If my older sister had been convicted of murder, I was gonna crawl into the dirt and die,” Ema says, “so I’m with the fop on that one, actually.”

There is a worrying lack of hypotheticals in the second half of Ema’s scenario. No “would have”s. Like she was where Klavier is, but the trial had a different outcome, and the frozen expression on her face, her eyes gone blank, she looks like she has caught up with her own words. Said too much. Apollo doesn’t know much about her as a person, her life before failing the forensics exam, how it was that she knew Mr Wright, but he can sympathize with that fear of having given away too much, turned the conversation down a path that should stay blocked off.

“You have a sister?” Trucy asks, turning around in her seat. “You seemed kinda ‘only-child’ to me.’ “Yeah,” Ema says quietly. “Older sister. Her name’s Lana. We don’t… talk much.”

Apollo doesn’t know why the name feels like it strikes something in his brain, the way Ema’s did when she first introduced herself.

“Oh.” Trucy visibly wilts. “Sorry.”

Ema shrugs, slumping back against her seat, her arms folded. “It happens,” she says. Her eyes are glazed over, settled in Clay’s direction. Her mouth quirks in the beginnings of a smile. “She took me to the Space Museum once, not long after it first opened.” The wistful smile has grown a little larger. “Back when I didn’t know what kind of scientist I wanted to be, so I wanted to go everywhere, and she was like ‘Ema I’m not taking you to the fucking tar pits again, how about space?’, and—” She shakes her head. “Sorry. Your jacket got me thinking. Do you work there or something?”

And that is the question that Clay most likes to be asked, that or literally anything else ever about space, and that is the end of any of them getting a word in edgewise – but while Apollo’s heard it all before, Trucy has questions galore, and Ema sits forward, slowly losing the pretense of not being enraptured.

-

They have driven for over two hours by the time Trucy directs them to pull of the highway at an exit that tells them there is nothing for them that way but another 38 miles until Kurain Village. “Is that where the Fair Folk live?” Ema asks dryly, in her voice none of the nervousness that people tend to have. Apollo hasn’t spoken much with her about magic, doesn’t know what she thinks – but, well, she knows Phoenix. That’s clue enough that caution comes secondary.

“Not really,” Trucy says. “They just named it that. It’s part of our world. Sometimes some of the fae do show up and hang around, I think – Maya tried to convince Daddy to move out here, once, apparently, but he wouldn’t leave the office.”

“Who’s Maya?” Apollo asks. Sometimes he realizes how little he knows about Phoenix’s personal life, too.

“Daddy’s friend. She’s – wait, stop! Here! Turn down this road here!”

“This is not a road,” Clay says, hunching over the steering wheel. “This is some dirt, off the road, not even in the shape of a dirt road.”

The car groans as Clay turns it off of the asphalt into the dirt. Trucy pops open the door and stands, holding herself between the door and the car roof and turning her face to the sky and the no-longer-distant mountains looming above them. She says something, muffled, and points into the trees. “We’re close,” she says, ducking back inside the car. “Let’s park and go – we’re close.”

“Park right here?” Clay asks, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

“Barely anyone comes this way,” Trucy says. “Like, one bus, except I’m not even sure if this is on its route. It’s fine.”

“I’m more worried that this is some sort of sacred ground that we’re stomping on,” Clay says, but he turns the key and then smacks his head against the top of the wheel. “How much are we going to regret just walking out there?”

“Probably we won’t,” Trucy says. She flings the door open and jumps out, stretching her arms up into the air. “C’mon already!”

“So what are we doing now?” Ema asks, crumpling the Snackoos bag back into her bag and tumbling forth from the car like a liquid spilled. “Just walking into the woods until we find treasure or a bear?”

“We do have a map.” Trucy waves it at her. “But yes. That’s what we’re doing.” She lowers the page halfway to her side and then stops, tilting her head back. “I’ve been here before,” she says. “Grandpappy and I – sometime – sometime after my mom died.” She takes a few slow steps toward the treeline, her movements uneven, as in a daze. “It was just the two of us. And we came here, and we buried—” She spins around, eyes wide, looking at all and none of them. “We buried his grimoire.”

Without another word of warning, she dashes into the woods, sending them scrambling to catch up to her. It’s colder here than in the city, though Apollo didn’t think they went up too far in elevation. Leaves thickly coat the ground; do they hide rings of flowers beneath them or do those in their magic break through? They finally reach Trucy when she, focused on her map, walks straight into a tree and takes some time to properly reorient herself.

“Do you know why here, of all places?” Apollo asks. “Is it because of the mountains, and he was…?”

He stops. Does Trucy know what her grandfather was? Phoenix didn’t say. Of course he didn’t.

“He said this is where he landed,” Trucy replies, crunching a leaf beneath her foot. “He said he fell, and this is where he landed.”

“Was he—” Clay’s sense, that question that they all know they shouldn’t ask, that question that Apollo has asked again and again anyway, wars against curiosity, against more than wanting to know – needing to know, to understand what is Trucy’s family. “Was he, erm, one of – Them?”

He can’t even bring himself to offer up one of the epithets. This close to the mountains, Apollo isn’t sure that he could bring himself to speak of them plainly like he has learned to.

“Yeah,” Trucy says. “But I’m human. Don’t worry.” She flashes a grin, one of her usual grins, but it is tempered by the speed with which is vanishes from her face again, replaced by a frown of concentration. “I think we must be close, but not quite yet.”

“Hey, Trucy?” Ema asks. She pushes a branch out of the way and it snaps back to nearly strike Clay in the face. “Not to pry, but – if your grandfather was one of the Fair Folk, are you the changeling, or was it your mother?”

Trucy stops.

“Wait,” Ema says. “Not a changeling – that’s the fae child. The human kid, the one swapped out. Is there a word for that?”

“I don’t think so,” Trucy says. She hops over a log. “I don’t think there’s a name for people like that.”

She doesn’t answer the first question. Maybe she doesn’t know, either.

“When you say you buried it,” Apollo says, aware that there is nothing subtle about this lifeline he is throwing to pull her away from questions best left avoided (am I a child stolen away, raised by the fae? Did they take me from the life I should have had?), “have we come all this way to be foiled for want of a shovel?”

“Oh fuck,” Trucy says.

“Hey!” Ema barks, her sharp rebuke the manifestation of that urge Apollo feels to scold her for that. “Language, young missy!” She folds her arms across her chest, her glare a fond one. “Where did you learn that?”

“My daddy’s a card shark,” Trucy says, countering Ema with a smug grin of her own.

“I thought he was a piano player,” Clay says.

“Only because you’ve never heard him play,” Trucy replies. “Easy mistake to make.”

“Considering it was all magic that hid the map,” Ema says, with nary a pause to acclimate everyone to the idea of throwing the conversation back past that latest sharp turn, “wouldn’t it be magic to hide it again, logically speaking?”

“Where’s the logic here?” Clay asks. Ema snaps a twig off a bush and flicks it at him. “And I mean, if it’s just covered up with some illusion, couldn’t anyone stumble into it?”

“Maybe it takes the map, too,” Apollo says. “Or maybe only a Gramarye can unveil it.”

He steps up onto a tree stump, like the extra five inches can grant him some kind of special insight or a better view in the forest of brown. Then he is falling, the wood rot giving way beneath his foot, a sharp jolt running up his leg from the twist of his foot. “Shit!”

Trucy winces. “Ouch. Poor Polly. I—”

“Apollo,” Ema says, very seriously, but somewhat muffled by her hand over her mouth. “Move. Move right now.”

“What?” He sits up, dislodging his foot from the stump, and looks about himself. The forest floor of dead leaves has cleared, as though by a strong, concentrated wind, revealing browned dead grass encased by a perfect circle of blue flowers. “Oh. Oh shit.”

Without an ounce of grace, still on his hands and knees, he scrambles and rolls his way out of the faery ring. “So according to the map,” Trucy says, and above his head Apollo hears the flutter of the paper, “I think we found it.”

“Only a Gramarye, huh,” Clay says dryly.

“That was only supposition!”

“So who’s gonna stick their hand in a rotten tree stump?” Ema asks, producing a flashlight from her bag and shining the beam down into it. “I volunteer Trucy, because she’s wearing gloves, and is our Gramarye.”

Trucy kicks up the leaves on her approach, searching for hints of another ring around the stump, more than just Apollo’s that sits adjacent to it. “If I get bit by a squirrel and get rabies and die, it’s your fault,” she says, kneeling down next to the stump and brushing her hair back to peer down into it.

“Statistically, your chance of getting rabies from a squirrel is negligible,” Ema says. “That shouldn’t be your worry.”

“What should I worry about, then?” Trucy asks. “Can you bring the light a little closer?”

“Bats, racoons, foxes, feral cats and dogs, and right now, probably non-rabies Fair Folk curses, since we’re fucking around by a ring.”

“I’m still concerned about bears,” Clay says.

“I’m not,” Ema says. “I’ve already got my plan, which is to trip you into its path.”

“General ‘you’, or me, specifically?”

“You specifically. Nothing personal, though. I just know Trucy and Apollo better than you.”

“This is way heavier than I thought,” Trucy says, falling off-balance and dropping something dark and rectangular. “Oof! Okay. Okay. We got it!” She lifts it up onto her knees, a thick book with a black cover and a character emblazoned in flowing purple script on it. “I knew I remembered this.” Her voice is quieter as she opens the book and flips through the rough-edged pages. “Grandpappy’s grimoire.” She closes the cover again, reverently, and keeps it balanced on her legs as she turns back to the stump. “Light again, please. I thought I saw something else.” Trucy has her head nearly in the hole, which can’t help her with her light situation, and she sits back and plunges her hand in again. “Yep! This is a – a funny-looking magatama?”

She holds it up, the blue stone sparkling in the flashlight beam, but also seemingly with its own interior glow, and Apollo gasps.

Three sets of eyes turn to him.

“That’s a mitamah,” he says, and to his own ears he sounds like he’s choking, but he feels like he’s choking too, and maybe the others don’t notice but he doubts it. “That’s someone’s soul.”

Trucy drops it into the leaves.

“What?” Clay looks suspicious – Trucy looks horrified. “How do you know?”

(“There’s no reason to give away your soul,” Dhurke told them, sternly, the sternest he ever got. “Never.” And then they tried to argue, to come up with reasons, because of course they did, and he hugged them both close. “You’ll make great lawyers someday, always looking for reasons and other ways, but this one – promise me. Nahyuta. Apollo.” He prodded each of them in the chest. “Don’t let someone else get their hands on your soul.”)

“The tail of it is different.” Apollo picks it up, brushing off the dirt and leaf particles that cling to it, and points to the longer, squiggling protrusion that extends from the loop. It doesn’t fully connect like a magatama, either, more like a hook than a circle.

It feels warm in his hand, humming through his fingers and up into his ears. It reminds him of the office – familiar, but disturbing, because there is no reason that it should feel so familiar and comforting.

“Could it be your grandfather’s?” Ema asks.

“Wouldn’t that mean he’s still alive?” Clay asks. “Is that possible?”

“It couldn’t be,” Apollo says. If he stares at the mitamah he thinks he can see flecks of gold within the blue, like stars on a constellation chart. “The Fair Folk don’t have souls like we do. They can’t sell them or manifest them like this.”

“Is that why they want human souls?” Ema asks.

“How do you know?” Clay repeats.

Apollo’s heart has stoppered up his throat.

“It makes them stronger,” Trucy says softly. “When they buy names, or souls, it makes their magic stronger. But this – this can’t be that.” She hugs the grimoire up to her chest. “It can’t just be that.”

“Should we just… put it back?” Ema asks. “Someone’s probably looking for it, right?”

“It’s been seven years and no one has come before us,” Apollo says. The humming isn’t as steady now, seems more like a song, and familiar, damned familiar. “No, we can’t just leave her here.”

In the silence, even the song seems to stop. “What?” Apollo asks. Their three sets of eyes are on him again, even more piercing, Trucy’s wide and Clay’s narrowed and Ema’s narrowing too.

“‘Her’?” Ema repeats. “Why ‘her’?”

“I…” Apollo swallows his heart. “I don’t know, but I… I know?”

“I don’t think you should be holding that in your bare hands,” Clay says.

But the alternative seems to be dropping her in the dirt again, and Apollo’s fingers curl tighter around the stone. He can’t do that, either. Trucy unties her scarf from around her neck and silently passes it to him, letting him wrap the stone up in the red fabric and then cradle it close again. The song thrumming in his ears ceases. “I guess we should take it to Mr Wright and ask him if he knows what to do,” Ema says. “He’ll know what to do with it. Her?”

Trucy’s gaze is unfocused, her head slowly drifting away from the horizon back toward the stump. “Trucy?” Apollo asks. “Are you okay?”

“He wouldn’t do that,” she says. “Just buy up someone’s soul all for himself. He wouldn’t. There had to be some other reason. It wasn’t just power, there had to be a good reason.”

(“There’s no reason,” Dhurke said. “Never.”)

“He gave me magic, as a gift,” Trucy says. “He was a good man.” She looks up at Apollo, blinking her blue eyes furiously. “Wasn’t he?”

-

It takes them another forty-five minutes to stumble out of the woods and find Clay’s car again. Ema makes everyone nervous talking about the odds of them stumbling across a body decomposing in the undergrowth – “I have zero desire to ever get caught up in one of your murder investigations,” Clay says, picking up a branch from the bushes and brandishing it like a baseball bat – and bears. The two of them are at least doing a good job of filling the silence left by Trucy, uncomfortably quiet, walking in a trace. Apollo tugs her by the arm out of the way of trees. He could put the mitamah in his pocket but hasn’t, has kept it held close to his chest.

The story that Phoenix spun of the Gramaryes is gnawing at him. A woman, on the bad end of a deal with Magnifi – Apollo doesn’t want to think about the possibility.

(Trucy must be thinking about the possibility, mustn’t she?)

She crawls into the back seat of the car, depositing the grimoire in the middle, and Ema makes a mad dash for the front seat, leaving Apollo to sit on the other side of the grimoire, separated by it from Trucy. The only time she speaks is to call Phoenix and ask him if he is at the office – he is, because she directs Clay to go back to the office.

It is a long, quiet ride home, some subdued conversation between Ema and Clay about their fields of science rising over the country music still on the radio. Trucy taps Apollo’s hand and beckons him to hand her the mitamah. She takes off one of her gloves and weighs it in her hand with an ever-deepening frown until she wraps it back up and passes it back to Apollo.

Ema shouts “Yellow car!” and hits Clay on the shoulder. He hits her back and tells her that she needs to specify no punch-backs next time.

-

Phoenix is sitting on the floor leaning against the couch with two notebooks and a stack of papers spread out in front of him, the coffee table shoved to the side, a pencil in his mouth and another tucked behind his ear, when they stagger into the office. Apollo is mediating an argument about the merits of Eldoon’s for a late lunch – Ema does not want to brave it, while Clay wants nothing more than to do so. Phoenix does not look up.

“Hey, Daddy,” Trucy says wearily.

His head snaps up, dislodging the pencil behind his ear. “What’s wrong?”

“You always complain about your back hurting, and now look what you’re doing.” Trucy’s words sound forced through a smile. Phoenix’s frown deepens. He watches Trucy walk past him to deposit the grimoire on his desk.

“We went looking into the envelope you gave her the other day,” Apollo says. “The real last page.”

Phoenix doesn’t look back from Trucy right away. “A full expedition team, huh?” he asks, raising one eyebrow as he looks over Ema and Clay. “Who’s this?”

“Er, oh, yeah. I’m Clay Terran. Apollo’s roommate.” Clay points with his thumb at Apollo, even though they all know there is only one Apollo that they know. “You’re Mr Wright, yeah?” He doesn’t do a good job of feigning enthusiasm.

“I know that look,” Phoenix says, standing with a wince and an audible crack of some of his joints. “That’s the ‘I’ve heard about you and it’s nothing good’ look.” He lets Clay splutter for a full two seconds before he grins crookedly and adds, “That’s fair.” Almost immediately, his expression flattens out to something stern and almost entirely foreign. “Trucy,” he calls. “What’s wrong?”

“We found my grandfather’s grimoire,” she says, sitting on the desk and holding it up, only for it to slip from her hands and crash to the floor. “And Polly has the other thing that was with it.”

Apollo unwraps the mitamah.

Has he ever seen Phoenix surprised? The man spent seven years an unbeaten poker player, and this past half-year absolutely inscrutable to Apollo’s eyes. There is nothing controlled in his reaction; his mouth falls open and his eyes go wide, turning blue immediately and staying blue, horror apparent in how they linger on the mitamah. “Oh,” he breathes. “That is – yeah.”

He reaches forward with trembling hands and scoops up the scarf spread across Apollo’s hands. He holds it cradled close, too, his free hand cupped beneath the one holding it, prepared to catch the stone should it slip, but still not having touched it with bare skin. “So,” he says. “The ‘source’ of Magnifi’s magic – that grimoire, and this soul.”

“But,” Trucy says, “that…” She stops. She chews on the inside of her cheek. Mr Hat, the wisp, is visible, bobbing frenetically around her shoulders. “It’s…” Her shoulders slump. “Do you know what to do with that, Daddy? Is there a way to know what person a soul belongs to?”

“Not from looking only at the mitamah,” Phoenix answers. His eyes still hollow blue when he turns them back to Trucy. “I am not particularly familiar with mitamahs, honestly, but I’ll look into it and see what I can do to get it back to her.” He takes the stone in one hand and offers Trucy her scarf back. “If the fae who has possession of a soul is still alive, they can just give it back – not that many are willing to, mind – but since he’s dead – well.” He shakes his head. “Thank you, though. For helping Trucy, and bringing this back.”

It’s a firm end to the conversation, not that Apollo knows what more to ask about a soul. Ema, though, is frowning, her arms crossed, her mouth twisting like she is puzzling out something. “We were gonna go get noodles at Eldoon’s,” Apollo says. “If – if you wanted to come, Trucy.”

“Oh!” She looks surprised, like she hadn’t expected to be addressed. “Um.” Her heels bounce against the desk. “Thanks, but I’m okay.”

Her hands, curled around the edge of the desk, shine red. Apollo doesn’t even need that to know she’s lying.

-

“We all agree she’s not okay, right?” Clay asks.

They were silent for a block down from the office, Ema not even complaining about losing the Eldoon’s battle. (Apollo was prepared to tell her that she didn’t have to come, but she had attached herself to them without a cursory protest.)

“Definitely not,” Ema says. “I guess she doesn’t want to believe that her grandfather was the double-dealing type of Folk – which, I’ve read the case file on his death, I’d believe that about him in a hot second. There’s nothing worse than a blackmailer like that. Also.” She plants herself firmly in the sidewalk. Apollo and Clay both bump into her. “None of us referred to the mitamah as ‘she’ or ‘her’, right? Like you were, Apollo.”

“None of us but Trucy even talked about it,” Apollo says. Clay nods. “Why?”

“Because Mr Wright did.” Ema’s forehead creases. “He said he would ‘get it back to her’. He wasn’t even touching it, was he?” Apollo shrugs. Ema shrugs too. “He knows something. More than he said.”

“He always does,” Apollo says.

They reach Eldoon’s, and Ema says that it’s weird to see the stand without a corpse attached. The look that Clay gives her makes her and Apollo both laugh. Once they have their noodles, they walk another few blocks to People Park and find a bench not far from where the noodle-stand crime scene once stood. Apollo has learned to be grateful for the mouthfuls of broth that taste of so much salt to sting. It feels a little more like safety, like salt across a doorway.

He starts to say what he’s thinking, that Trucy might be worried that the mitamah is her mother’s, or at least he is, but the words die on his tongue, shriveled by the salt. He doesn’t feel right to tell Clay and Ema about Trucy’s mother’s death, when he has no idea if Trucy knows or not. Phoenix has made him the guardian of family secrets that aren’t his and something about that feels wrong. Maybe necessary in some way, to understand the case, to understand what happened with Kristoph, but still wrong.

Instead, he helps Ema explain to Clay her earlier comments about Magnifi and blackmail. You can’t refuse, and we both know the reason why – Trucy can’t know he did that. She seemed to idolize him. What a hard way to fall.

He’ll text her tomorrow, Apollo decides. Check in, see how she’s doing.

(There’s probably someone else he should check in with, too, the events of this week all considered.)

[evelyn-fenton-blog]

Family Fuck ups.

I sit at the desk. I had hoped the palace would make chairs more comfortable than the ones at my own home, but alas any chair sat in for more than four hours is a bad chair. I suppose I should be socializing.

Maya is now my friend, Eloise is my friend, I’m supposed to be seducing Prince Nathaniel. But I want to write. There’s just no inspiration. It’s not like the first time I wrote. Not like the first time I lost.

**************Flashback time***********

It’s almost time for finals, but I couldn’t care less. All I care about is him. My childhood friend, my only friend, my first love, and my boyfriend.

I wait after school for him hiding around a vending machine, using the angles to keep me out of sight. Once he is in my sight I leap hugging him, taking him by surprise.

“I got you!” I cheer. He laughs as we hug. Then he tries to kiss me, though I was still much too young for that. So I pulled away.

The next year we stayed the same.

He aged to 18, I aged to 16. We grew up together, holding hands together, laughing together. Being together.

Then it all stopped.

It started calm.

“This is a really good poem for just Ms. Wallis’ class. Why not enter it in a contest?”

“You know I don’t really want to be a writer.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m a six.”

“It’s not that.”

“If it isn’t how come that is the only time you truly seem yourself? Why do you put in words the things you’d never say? Why do you put writing above even eating at times?”

“I don’t know. Well.. I may love writing but I love you more I just want to be with you!”

“You don’t know what you want Evey! You’re a child!”

“Yes I do I want you! If I’m such a child why are you even with me then?”

***************************************************

I lean back in the seat and look at the time.

One in the morning. It’s time to wake him.

I walk up to the royals hall. I know I shouldn’t be here but I couldn’t send a maid. Then I knock on the door and wait.

“Brooks!” I yell in a hushed voice not wanting to wake anyone.

He groggily opens the door. “What? Evelyn?”

I giggled at his appearance. He was not a very dainty sleeper. “You have bedhead. Anyways, it's time for you to help me with my next book. Get dressed.”

He looked back into his room, presumingly at a clock. “It’s 1am.”

“Yup. This way we won't get in trouble, brains work better at night, and the cold can wake you up.”

He yawns “Fine.” then grabs a sweater and closes the door.

“Where're we going?”

“We're going to escape the palace. I read on a map there's a beach by here. In short we're going exploring.”

“We should tell a guard.”

“That would take the fun out of it. If by some magic they notice we're gone we'll just say you were kind enough to take me on a walk because I couldn't sleep. Just to the gardens.”

“I'm hardly allowed to go anywhere without supervision.”

“Well, you have my supervision. Come on.” I then took his sleeve to slowly drag him along which he doesn't resist.

“Good boy. Nooowwww how do you think we should escape. The beach looks closer to the garden and there's that big woods right by it so I'm guessing there's a weak point there.”

“We are so not going in the woods.”

“And why not?”

“I could be murdered.”

“By a bunny rabbit?”

“By Hooks Heave.”

I laughed, “You'll be fine. If Hooks Heave makes an appearance I'll write in a wolf to maul him.”

“Oh, thank God. I'm so glad I have your writing to rely on regarding my life.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Are you planning on murdering me?”

“Nope this is not inspiration for Hooks Heave.”

“Damn.”

“Damn? Did you want to die?”

He grinned, “Oh no, I would never be so self deprecating.”

“Somehow I feel like that's sarcasm. Now i'm for sure going to push you into the ocean.”

“Excuse you, I am royalty and I do not take threats like that lightly. Watch yourself, peasant.” He then poked my forehead.

“Right. Dear me, now I may lose my head. All because of some cold salt water.”

“The real world is a cruel, cruel place.”

“Thats an idea for a book. Writing about the crudeness of the world. A woman falls in love with a man only to learn he's a dick then they fight and she finally storms out to leave with their 5 year old daughter. She packs a small suitcase and boards a bus out of town. As the bus leaves a giant octopus comes and crushes the town. Everyone dies but the daughter. The lesson is the world is cruel.”

“Yikes... I see why you need my help. Tsk tsk.” I thought that one was pretty good. Even when you want to escape to a nicer world, the world is not nice and will kill you if you try.

“Well I lost my past inspirations so now I'm just stuck with bad ideas but a good brain. It's a very complicated situation.” I lost him, and I lost her.

“What a tragic time. I don't know about you, but I'm partial to accuracy.”

“Yeah but I don't know what to be accurate about. Even if i took out the octopus the root of that idea sucks. My first book was a love story, the second was a murder mystery, now I need something new but all I have are octopi and hooks heave.”

“Okay, what about a coming of age story?”

“People like those, but that focuses just on one person. I'm not good at that.”

His face brightens, “A challenge!”

I sighed, why’d something I hate so much have to inspire him? “I don't even know where to start with a book like that.”

“Think of a main character.”

“Well I normally base my characters a bit on myself but I can't make it too similar ummm..okay so it's about a young girl, maybe 18. No idea what her name is.”

“Close your eyes.”

“Why?” I ask but close them.

“Just do it. Okay, what is this character like.”

“Ummm. She's a redhead, she's pretty introverted, she can be a bit aggressive and selfish too but that's because she  raised well. She likes sweets and cats.” Like you but meaner.

“What's her family like?”

“Her mother and father fight a lot. They stay together for financial reasons. For most of her youth she was neglected as they were trying to divorce but finally settled on living separately but staying married. She later had a half-sister who is much younger than her who's raised under the custody of her father who was a much nicer man than her mother as a female.”

“Does she have friends?”

“Not really. She doesn't go out much because she's scared people will hurt her like her parents did.”

“Is there a love interest in her world?”

“No men are horrible.....” A book with a female lead without a female love interest is risky. It might not sell well.

I sigh, “I guess she can have a male for awhile. But I write tragedies so it'll end with them breaking up somehow.”

“She finds herself, huh?”

“Always better to pick yourself over a man. That's the theme of my first book, not the one you were reading.” It’s what I should have done. Instead he forced me to have no choice but myself.

“Ah, but are you writing your first book?”

“Ah no. I wrote that book in 2 days, dont want a mistake like that again.” I wrote it sobbing, with a fever.

He left me. He made me pick writing over him. He broke me. I didn’t leave my home for a month afterwards. I failed all my classes, I was basically a high school dropout. All I had was a box of tissues, my laptop, my cat, and my feelings. I needed to vent it all out somehow. My first book was how.

“Think of what you want again.”

“Right. Book. New book. Book with brooks. Maybe I'll have it end with her picking her career over her boy.”

“Why can't she do both?” Right Brooks is a prince. He has time to do careers as hobbies along with his caste given duty.

“She's a three, her boyfriends a four and wanted to include her in the family. If she stayed with him she'd have to accept eventually becoming a four and no longer being able to be a writer as her career.” Make it a four. Make it seem better. Safer. Less of a risk. That way the idea of her dropping down a caste seems more possible. Instead of falling three.

“So she chooses work over love?”

“Yes. It's the wise choice. It's what will make her money and keep her afloat in a society which she is already disadvantaged in due to her gender. Because of her upbringing she is also taught to have the practical mindset that would lead her to that choice. Also she wants to make her mother happy so obviously there is no other choice for her.” It’s the choice I should have made. I should have left his ass. I should have won our relationship. Been the empowered woman. Not the deer in the headlights.

“What if she breaks past that?”

“She can't she shouldn't give up what she loves for a man. But I can't end it that way either. Even if he wasn't right for her, she's still a person. No one deserves to just live alone like that, without friends or anyone to love. Maybe she should have just settled so she wouldn't have to be alone with only a cat who would die three months later.”

“Stop writing what you're used to.”

“I don't know what else to write.”

“Do something you're not comfortable with.”

“What about a sci-fi book. I hate those so maybe I could make one I like.”

He laughs. What? I thought that was a legitimate idea. “Open your eyes.”

I open them, happy to see Brooks again. “Thank God I'm not blind. I was starting to get tired.”

“Do you have an idea of what you want to do?”

“I want to go swimming. If I go to bed I'll miss the window the brain is most creative in.”

“You should go to bed.”

“Fine. I'll walk back with you so you don't get murdered.”

“I'm so honored.”

“You should be.” I then held my arm out.

“Here you can even link arms with me that way if Hooks comes at you it'll be easier to hide behind me.”

“What if I'm Hooks?”

That stumped me for a moment. “Hmmm then I guess I deserve to be killed for being dumb enough to not notice, then lead you to a secluded area with me.”

“Let's just head back to the palace. And quickly too. I don't want the press getting the wrong idea.”

“What do you mean wrong idea? Plus I doubt there's any press out and about this late.”

“Well, it's a little weird a selected would be walking with me out here. And they're always around.”

“True but I could explain it. Writers always do crazy things. And thats creepy. Maybe I should write about journalists being aliens from hell.”

“Wouldn't be that far off. Luckily, I'm not in the papers very often.”

“Shocking, you don't want to be a drama llama and win all the attention?”

“'Drama llama'?”

“I like the rhyme, kill me. Your sister clearly shows off that even those who aren't the heir can get all the attention they need.”

He frowned and back away from me, unlinking our arms. “Are you talking about Mal?” Fuck.

“A bit? It's not a judgement just a fact that press likes the way she acts so she gets a lot of attention from them. Why does it matter?” shit.

“It sounds like you're speaking in the negative.” Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“You can't insult my sister to my face, Evelyn.” God I’m a moron.

“Right. Maybe I should not talk about your sisters at all, doesn't seem to go well.”

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn't.” We walked in silence. Great Evey, you are a master of conversation. Insult his sister to his face.

“I trust you can make it to your room from here.”

I apologize once more and leave. It seems everytime we talk I ruin it. 

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

warning, the following has mainly snarky (and possibly furious) opinions on Spirit of Justice. Reader discretion is advised.

-

alright, we’re here live with phoenix wright at temple temple 

lets see where we go.

-

aw he’s worried about maya. thank god someone is.

-

“I didn’t come all the way to khura’in to be useless”

prove it, edgey

-

oh its one of those lady gaga guards again

Lah’kee. aww cute

-

“I advise you accept the invitation”

well he can’t really decline it, miles.

Also “Lakhee” haha. at least edgeworth’s ability to mess up names is still here.

-

hm i wonder how she’s really spying on everyone. something ridiculous no doubt. 

-

oooh the ‘audience chamber’

i smell a cutscene 

-

ooh i was right

kinda

-

“this place is still as magnificent as last time”

wait what do you mean last time

it was listed as a new location in the map

-

“looks like you’re doing well”

damnit nick you made me laugh.

-

phoenix now has ‘bludgeoned by child’ to add to his list of stuff he’s survived 

-

we’ve already established that you cant get spiritual power from the orb unless you’re a medium already. come on now.

-

“For in Khura’in, only those who possess spiritual power may sit on the throne” 

uh im all for feminism and that but you might wanna open your king or queenitude to a wider and possibly more qualified range of people. 

i mean spirit mediums are awesome and all but summoning ghosts does not necessarily make you a good politician. 

-

“But the queen seems almost giddy for someone who’s husband was just murdered”

well I'm glad you told me that, phoenix, because i cannot fucking tell on her flat ass face

-

poor rayfa... she’s really grown on me. i hope she’ll be okay.

-

hmm. something just happened that i *think* should have tripped the magatama... but who cares. nothing works anymore.

-

“When it turned out Dhurke was forging evidence the people were devastated, and trust in the legal system plummeted”

anD THUS BEGAN THE DARK AGE OF THE 

NO

NO NON O NON NOOOOOO WE LEFT THAT BEHIND IN DD DO NOT BRING IT BACK.

-

“We have the divination seance, so we don’t need lawyers anymore”

yeah you also don’t need prosecutors anymore either. all you need is a judge to go “huh, looks legit” and into the slammer they go.

...and yet... and yet...

-

WHOA WHAT

SHE MOVES?!

also thats literally Morgan’s laugh but flipped. She’s evil. 

-

“it’s missing? I'm sure Dhurke had it when he went into the tomb”

why is phoenix so fucking stupid when he goes to kooraheen. its like when he sets foot on their soil his brain just drops every single shred of self preservation it once had. i mean i know he used to show evidence to blatant criminals but like, at least he had misgivings about doing it.

-

“From his odd hairstyle, may we assume him to be a relative? Perhaps, your younger brother?”

‘no, he’s my son.’

haha but in all seriousness considering Jove’s facial similarity to phoenix and the amount of shoehorned backstory for Apollo, they could pretty damn well be related.

-

wow. not only does phoenix yell EW NO HES NOT RELATED TO ME but he /also/ lets slip that he’s related to Dhurke. You know. Right in front of the queen who hates the living shit out of Dhurke.

Thanks for draining my baby’s braincells, SOJ......

-

“whats she whispering to that guard?”

oh i dunno nick maybe something about that thing you said about Apollo being related to the queen’s ARCH NEMESIS.

GOOD FUCKING LORD.

-

“That’s one swanky throne. I wouldn't mind taking a seat there myself.”

the audacity. and yet i love him for it.

“The jester and the crown. I imagine it’d make quite the interesting picture”

Ouuuch

“You know, Edgeworth, I hate to say this, but you’re absolutely right.”

he’s remembering that time he got all doe eyed over Dhurke’s mouldy jacket. 

-

why is the bazaar also a new area

we’ve been there before

-

...oh. warbaads sound like lions?? the fuck????

its a form of mimicry? to protect against predators??

when did he learn this again?!

-

oh god. of course. of course it would be Vore Machine who makes a fucking gunshot noise in the middle of a crowded area.

brilliant.

-

“since more people are joining us, ive decided to employ something that sounds like a gunshot to scare the fuck outta them!’

flawless strategy as always, dingel.

-

“What with the murder/suicide!”

he shouts with a huge grin

“Hopefully this means Tahrust’s death won’t be in vain after all”

GOD. even brain dead nick noticed it was abso-fuckin’-lutely pointless.

-

“see, i give my fellow rebels things that sound like gunshots, that will of course draw attention AWAY from them. yes, the loud noise things will definitely ward OFF the royal guards” genius.

-

“those firecrackers are more useful than i thought”

yeah because he used one on a fucking vulnerable child. maybe try it again when the actual trained police are on your tail, see how well that turns out for you. 

also fuck you Datz.

-

aw i love Rayfa and Nick’s interactions. She’s adorable and he humours her so much. It’s sweet. 

this is genuine by the way; its the highlight of the kooraheen cases for me. as i said Rayfa’s really grown on me. she was annoying at first but now it’s just kinda... cute?

-

“But hearing her all alone I... I can’t help but think of Trucy”

OW

OW

OW

OW

-

“it’s as if your brain-to-mouth filter shuts off the second you step out of the courtroom” 

oh man edge. you'd be snacking on your words if you saw his internal monologue. 

-

phoenix: men are messy. i am messy. 

-

where IS nayna...

in other news, Phoenix continues to dad at Rayfa

-

(weeping) oh god Rayfa’s so cute

please be kind to her pleaaase

-

(rayfa seems really worried for Nayna...)

yea maybe you should do something about that nick

-

Phoenix: rayfs maybe you uhh shouldnt do the divination thing i can do that

wehhh protect her nick

god she’s even feeling bad for being a brat. please just give her a hug or something, jeez;

-

i know its just a call back but how /did/ he get his hands on some J’suis Lebelle?

-

“I like my natural stress-grey very much ,thank you!”

-

“Do you suppose if I slept on it, I could see my father once more?”

OW

WHAT THE FUCK SOJ

obviously phoenix agrees with me. jesus.

-

shdgah i thought the notepad was a sandwich 

-

Huh! Inga was face-blind. who knew?

i kid, i kid. its probably related to queenbean’s magic surveillance shit 

-

hehehe everybody luuuurves edgeworth

-

Phoenix: drugs??? oh no I'm a cool kid. say no

(steals drugs)

-

n’awww. her birfday was the safe code. i guess even bad men love their daughters.

OH AND HER BABY LETTERS IN THERE TOO AHH

-

(yells) gfakgkkajafksj THERE’S AN ‘ASSASSINATION PLAN”

GOD

fake. fake fake fake. fake as fuck.

people don’t write little “my evil plan” notes to themselves. 

-

Rayfa: *sees picture of someone other than her mother holding her as a baby* MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIIIIIIIE

-

“I wonder what’s afoot?”

THE GAME, EDGEWORTH, THE GAME!!!

-

Edgeworth’s bitten by a fuckin dog and he STILL Cant manage a human emotion. good lord.

-

hmm. i know that was supposed to be comedic but the lack of visuals really kinda dampened the thing.

...plus, to choke edgeworth, the pressure would need to be applied to the front of his neck, not the back, and since the dog is on the front, it cant have choked him. it couldn’t have even pulled the “cravat” tighter because it’s not actually tied up.

(sigh) oh whatever.

-

Datz, emerging from a manhole to recruit 

-

Wow Datz sure loves to scare the shit out of children. What a class act.

“HAHA FUCK YOU KID, I HOPE YOUR DOG’S LOST FOREVER AND MAYBE DIES”

SUCH a class act.

-

“Ahlbi’s not exactly the picture of self restraint...”

phoenix he’s nine

-

“I worry about his future sometimes...”

of course you do, dad ;)

-

“You cant go trespassing like that, even if it’s for a good cause; it’s just not right!”

hey, trilogy and AJ nick would say otherwise, old man. you use to be cool. and interested in doing bad things for good ends.

-

weird haircut - friend of phoenix 

-

“a big orange spider leg” AHLBI 

he's right, but he shouldn’t say it!

-

“they were being pursued by royal guards!”

:) hey phoenix :) maybe next time dont tell the queen :) that they’re involved with her mortal enemy :) maybe :)))))

-

alright and that’s part 2 of the investigation over. apparently there’s a part 3? they sure are breaking the established time codes for cases in this game... oh well! stay tuned for the next time!

[trendingnewsb]

MIA: This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me

Maya Arulpragasam is bringing dancehall, hip-hop and grime to this years Meltdown. Is the outspoken British Sri Lankan the best argument for positive cultural appropriation?

The Guardian said that you couldnt shag to my record. As conversational openers go, MIAs beats the banal niceties of, say, Hello, how are you doing?. Its no surprise that she charges straight into a chat about why her last album was considered too confrontational for the bedroom by this paper. Its an icebreaker moulded to MIAs very own design: abrasive, compelling, underpinned by sex. Yeah, she finally concedes with a grin when I suggest we move past it, you cant have it all, can you?

Its a theme she warms up to when we talk about her edition of Meltdown at the Southbank Centre, which were ostensibly here to discuss. Usually, I wouldnt do something like this, she says, slouched under an oversized khaki coat dress. [But the organisers] were like: Hey, you can do whatever you want. Still, putting on the South Banks annual festival, curated in previous years by the likes of David Bowie, David Byrne and Patti Smith, has turned out to be a fairly arduous affair for MIA who says she doesnt do computers at the moment.

They didnt tell me it was nine days long. I thought it was a weekend. And then all my lists were, like, Well, this person wont be in London and that person is doing Glastonbury. Organising festivals is actually really complicated, she stresses. It wasnt just about dreaming something and then it appeared. Programming literally means, like, programming.

For all that Maya Arulpragasam didnt quite know what she was letting herself in for, one suspects the Southbank Centre didnt either; logistics aside, the mornings photoshoot has already been met with some flapping from the press officer made nervous by MIA climbing on the roof without safety clearance. Still, her lineup dancehall, Brooklyn hip-hop, depressive Swedish rap and Nigerian grime is perhaps the most underground the festival has seen in its 24 years. How much is she expecting to shake up its comfortable concert halls, cafe bars and conference-room spaces?

Click here to watch the video for last years Go Off.

When I was a teenager in London, I would just get a Travelcard and go somewhere, explore the city and go to weird places, she says. I would never judge the place, like, This is middle class and white. This is a white country, you dont have to spell it out to me, but there wasnt ever a limit on where I could go or what I could do.

A long, elliptical digression on London then and now follows, which takes in the optimistic multiculturalism of the 90s, Tamil house parties, empire and British identity. Its the bento box of an MIA interview: individually contained ideas that dont obviously bleed into one another and yet, overall, make a collective sense if youre prepared to go with it. Thats the key thing about MIA: you have to be willing to go with her to properly get her. Given that she still looks and sounds like a beautiful, bratty, art-school upstart and is prone to labyrinthine tangents, its easy to portray her as inarticulate or unhinged. But MIAs intelligence is instinctive rather than intellectual, and fuelled by the political.

The Mehrabian maxim that reckons that only 7% of communication is verbal is one that might best be proven by the transcript of a chat with MIA removed of all tone, attitude, context and body language. Take, for instance, her explanation of why only the future remains relevant:

As humans, we dont use our past and our history to work out the importance of what our role is in the present, she says. And if you cant use the past to define your present, then it should not be an element that holds back the future. Greece is a perfect example. More than Britain, they were brought to their knees, and not a single white country thought about saving them. And it was part of their heritage. Its where their mythology comes from or their concept of capitalism and democracy comes from. Nobody cared, everybody cared about the modern. Right?

Kim Kardashian is actually more powerful than Greece. She has more money than the whole of Greece, she continues. Therefore, thats where the power lies. If you then define it that way, then you kind of just have to live with that. And maybe whats happening in modern society: that if youre going to judge it by that, then other countries are gonna come in and define the future.

In print, its a statement that seems lacking in logic and coherence. In the moment, Im fairly sure Im able to follow her and we go on to consider how and where this future is being defined (for the record: You cant ignore the fact that China is going to be doing their thing in the next 50 years) and how Arulpragasam believes the immigration issue has become a red herring covering up a truth that can explain the American and British swing to conservative populism.

With Brexit, the idea was to get away from Europe and reinvent our identity, she says. And really, that identity was going to be American, but then they gave us Trump! So, everyone now is like, Oh shit, what is Britain? Are we going to rewind back to the 1800s? We cant. Its too late for that. So, going forward, we need a charismatic leader who then va va vooms the British identity. And we dont have that either.

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted … MIA. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/The Guide

The prime minister has called a snap election on the day we meet. Does MIA have any faith in our political system? Or in the left?

Everyone keeps going, Corbyn cant do this, but its, like, well, who else is there? she says. If people just left him alone to actually do the job and actually gave him some support, maybe hed be different. Treating him with so much contempt fighting that takes all his energy. How the fuck do you expect him to do interesting things? In any case insists the estranged daughter of a Tamil revolutionary, politicians are people who couldnt get jobs somewhere else.

MIAs politics, unwieldy and unslick though they may be, have often made her an easy target for tedious sneering in the press; the most insistent narrative is that, like Banksy, shes big on arch, subversive statement but lacks substance. Or that she is a hypocrite for making herself the poster girl for the worlds most marginalised people. And yet, shes one of the best pop stars Britain has ever produced. For all the ear-clanging experimentation of her five albums, MIA has always kept a sleeve full of pop bangers Bucky Done Gun, Paper Planes, Bad Girls, Finally that have sounded like little that came before or since her. Even if she didnt have the tunes, here is an art-school refugee Sri Lankan single mother with a visual aesthetic co-opted by everyone from Vetements to Versace who was born into political rebellion and revels in controversy. Gleefully gauche and carefree, MIA is the best argument for when cultural appropriation works. Bland singer-songstress beloved of Radio 2 playlists she isnt. So how much has the criticism bothered her?

People thinking that Im a bitch is totally unwarranted because Im not, she ays. I just had to fight for shit, and I still do. I just dont care any more. I dont know. She stops and starts. What I deal with as an artist, the media, the public persona, its a walk in the fucking park, compared to how confusing the universe really fucking is. Theres so much beauty in it and theres so much mystery, theres so much confusing shit in it. That is way more interesting to think about than why, like, Patricia hates me. You know what I mean? I laugh. Its like, Who the fuck is Patricia? and How can Patricia say this shit about me?. It just does not matter to me at all.As it is, she says shes most preoccupied with how to be a functioning grown up, an adult and a mother to an eight-year-old son (whose father Benjamin Bronfman is son to the billionaire heir of the Seagram fortune) born into immense privilege.

When the war came to an end in Sri Lanka in 2009, it actually did affect me, she explains. Everyone was, like, What the fuck does she know? Shes, like, a pop star, but that was my life. It was 50% of who I was, it was my identity. I didnt know what to do with myself. So I had a kid. Its the year the cause died, but the year my personal cause my son was born. And then, OK, I have to figure out what to do in very small parameters: I have a son, how is he going to see his grandma, am I going to make it there on Saturday? Can I make sure that I dont mess up his head by being depressed about certain things?

She struggles to reconcile her upbringing poor and living in Sri Lanka for her childhood to poor and living on a council estate in Mitcham, south London, in her adolescence with her sons. Im not very straightforward as an immigrant. That whole My kids would never see the pain that I saw; Im not like that. Im totally up for reintroducing him to the pain. I dont have any qualms about that. Her problems havent changed, she says, because of money or better circumstances. Whether Im in a mansion or a council flat, I would feel the same anxiety waking up going: I need to write this thing in a scrapbook, wheres my notepad? I would still have all those problems. I might still overcook the fish fingers. Those things are not going to magically transform because your house has changed. At the beginning I thought that money couldve saved my family. Very quickly I realised that money is not the thing.

Her conflict in wanting to being huge and commercial versus credible and ahead of the curve has been a persistent tension threaded through MIAs career. When I got into the music game, it was never an option to shut up and make lots of money. she says. To be a huge pop star, I would have to be, like, Yes, I think bombing Afghanistan was a great idea, I love our democracy and what it has achieved. I love the American flag and Im going to make a jumpsuit out of it. I just think it was important to have all of those Arab Springs, and its great and lets drink Coca-Cola. I had to do that, and do it all in a thong. Could I have done that if it meant that my mum had the nicest house in Chiswick by the river?

Click here to se the video for MIAs Bad Girls.

Does she worry about money now? If youre preaching living within your means, you have to, to some extent. But I also know that if youre someone in society that speaks out about injustice or political issues, one of the things that happens is that you get economically punished, 100%. I take that hit all the time.

The most recent, obvious example was MIA being forced to quit her headline slot at Afropunk last year, following a contentious quote in which she asked in an interview why Beyonc and Kendrick Lamar might not discuss why Muslim lives matter or Syrian lives matter. I dont regret [raising the issue], she says, with triumphant chutzpah. You saw how bad it was. And the Muslim ban didnt happen just with Trump, it was already happening under Obama. But you couldnt say that about him, you couldnt say that he introduced the Muslim ban, or banned seven different countries, or was already monitoring people, or dropped more bombs than Trump has. In truth, Obamas administration did identify the seven countries on Trumps list for additional screening measures, but it didnt bar their nationals. Shes already skipped ahead. The quantity of damage cant be quantified right now, she insists. Well have to wait the four years. After eight years of Obama, we kind of knew [his failings], but we just werent allowed to say them because he was so great. He was better than any person in Hollywood that I wouldve watched. He was really likable and just had loads of swag. That doesnt mean that you have to deny the truth, though.

This (and much more) comes moments after she tells me she has no time for opinions these days. She claims she doesnt read the news any more and that her primary sources for information are customers at the local kebab shop, taxi drivers and then sort of figuring it out. What about the state of the world? MIAs moment as an agitprop pop activist has never seemed more potent. Politics? I have no time for these things because Im so stuck in the zone. Ive become a hermit. [Meltdown] is actually giving me the chance to actually go out and meet people again. Ive gone for weeks without talking to a person, I do that happily. I tell her I dont believe her, as I suspect it would be a recipe for her to go fully barmy.

Im actually quite an extreme person, so I dont see that as madness. I see that as, like, solitude, doing a phase of solitude is not that bad. After declaring her fifth album AIM to be her final one, shes also trying to find new ways to channel her creativity. Im trying to write a film. I havent stepped into it yet because I want it to be good. Once you hit the start button you cant really stop it. She has, she tells me, the added complication of ADD to contend with. When was that diagnosed? I just have it. Dont even need diagnosis, its a waste of time, its a waste of the NHS. In truly blithe MIA style, she adds: Its just when you have too many ideas and not enough ways to get them out.

MIAs Meltdown is at the Southbank Centre, SE1, 9-18 June

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[zmayadw]

Hello :) 

It’s time for the next part :)

Thanks again to all who read it so far!

CALL OF THE RAVEN

PART 3

I woke up with the sun already out, making my eyes adjust to the light again. I checked the clock above doors. 9.45. Huh, nice, I tought, the nurse didnt lie when she said the pain meds would make me sleep better. I felt more rested today, but still pretty sore. I managed to get up and go to bathroom. I looked myself in the mirror -I looked like hell. I hoped Jessy would come today with my stuff, I needed some fixing up urgently. As I was leaving the bathroom, my phone beeped with new message. My heart jumped with excitement,only to see it was Jessy. „Hey hey, sleeping beauty, im sorry, you will have to manage without my awesomness today, but dont worry, i'm sending the next best person to keep you company! ;D Call you later ,kisses!“ I smiled as I layed back to bed. That sweet nurse from before entered my room smiling. „Good morning, hun, hope you slept well“. „I sure did, thanks.“ I replied, while she settled the food tray with breakfast on the stand. She helped me make myself comfortable in bed, and putted the tray in front of me, when a voice came from the door. „Doris! My favorite nurs!“ It was Dan, and Doris chuckled as Dan came over to the bed. „Oh my, hun, if I knew who your friend was, I would have brought you something stronger then this tea“ I laughed, while Dan made a gesture with his hands, stabing at his heart. „Awww, c'mon Doris, dont be so cruel, you know you like me!“ Doris just waved her head as she went for the door. „If this schmuck starts to bother you too much, you just yell hun.“  I smiled at her „Thanks Doris, I might just do that.“  Dan looked at me. „Is that a 'thank you' I get for coming here?“ he siad, being dramatic as Dans always is. I grinned „Ofcourse not! But its entertaining to see you all squirmy.“ „Tsk,tsk, sure, pick on poor Dan.“ He grabed a chair and sat next to the bed. „You look like shit, Maya.“  „Gee, thanks Dan, thats really what I wanted to hear.“ I said, even tho I knew he was right, I did look awful. „Hey, dont get mad at me, I just say it as it is! Luckily, Dan is here to the rescue..again.“ he said handing me my backpack. „ Jessy went through your stuff, and filled your pack with what she tought you might need the most. She said to text her later if theres anything else you need so she can bring it.“ „Thanks Dan.“ I said taking the backpack from him. „And I mean thanks, not just for this.“ Dan looked at me, and I could read a bit of worry on his face. He quickly tried to hide it „Hey, no need to thank me, I told you once before, if theres a damsel in distress, im here to help.“ „Damsel“ I snorted. „Doubt that a damsel would act so stupid as I did.“ I felt that awfull feeling of guilt taking over me again. „Look Maya, i'm really not the one to judge you here. Yes, what you did was Incredibly stupid, and lets be honest, you almost got yourself killed. When Lily called me and told me everything, I was so pissed at both of you, well you mostly, but also kinda excited that someone actualy took the matter into its own hands.“ I looked at him with awe, I didnt quite expect it. He continued „And frankly, I kinda expected something like this from you sooner or later, well at least the part of you coming to Duskwood. As I was running to my car, calling Thomas and filing him in on everything,I got really angry at you for not turning to me for help. You know I would help you no matter what, I told you that hundred of times before.“  „Yes Dan, I know you would.“ I said, even more of that guilt creeping in. „But you didnt! Then I tought, maybe afterall you didnt trust me enough as you said.“ „I did trust you, I do trust you Dan, you have to know that.“ Now even tears started forming in my eyes. „I know, Maya, its just how I felt at the time. And when I got to the mine, Thomas was already there, with this cop who was close by and responded to the call since I told Lily to inform that inspector guy. He said we should wait for backup, but stuborn as I am, I just rushed in, Thomas yelling after me, but I just kept running. Good thing they went after me, because God only knows what would happen if they didnt.“ I couldnt keep the tears anymore, and I just burst out crying. Dan got up from his chair, sat next to me on the bed, hugging me. „ As I said im not here to judge you, or make you fell more guilty. Heck, I might have done the same thing, or something worse. Things wer starting to get us really nowhere, and something happening was kinda of a kickoff for me. And im not mad at you any more Maya, just to get that out in the opet.“ „Thanks Dan, I really appriciate it.“ I barely managed through my tears. „Yeah,yeah, im awesom, I know.“ He grined at me, as i looked him with eyes full of tears. He huged me a bit tighter, and I rested my head on his shoulder. „You got me really freaking scared there in that mine, Maya. When I saw you like that..“ he paused.  „I cant say how much im sorry about all, Dan. I did more harm then good, and I betrayed all of you guys again.“ „Well, at the end, you did find Hannah, so im sure Thomas wont have that much of a grudge.“ He grined at me, handing me a tissue, wich made me relax a bit. „Yes I did. And how are our little love birds doing?“ i asked wiping the tears, as Dan moved back to the chair. „Oh, theyr fine. Thomas is not letting Hannah alone for one milisecond, wich is a bit too wooshy mooshy if you ask me.“ He mad a face of gaging. „Oh, c'mon mister tough guy, that picture Jessy sent me of you two from last night was quite mooswhy wooshy in my eyes.“ I said teasingly. „If you ever say that to anyone about me, and I mean ANYONE, i swear Maya...“ I didnt let him finish, I just grined „Dont worry, your mooshy wooshy secret is safe with me.“ „Good, good. So when are they letting you go from this shit hole?“ „Oh, come on, its not that terrible here: food is not bad, room is nice and quiet, and I have a killer wiev, what's the hurry?“ „I promised you some whiskey.“ he grined „And Jessy wont let me drink, but when you get out she wont be abel to say no.“ „ You really ARE scared of Jessy.“ I said laughing. „She might be small, but the woman is a dynamite when serious!“ I laughed so hard, the tea I just sipped when out through my nose. „Thanks Dan, I needed this.“ „Dan to the rescue.“ He smiled and winked. „Sooo...“ he starte, and I got a feeling I knew what he gonna ask me. „Did the 'hackerboy' contaced you by now?“ „His name is Jake, could you please not call him that anymore.“ I said a bit too stern maybe. „All right, all right, no need to get all serious on me now. Did 'Jake' contacted you?“  I hesitated for a brief moment before answering „No, nothing yet. And to be honest, might be better like that. I myself am not too eager for that talk .“ „Heh, I can understand that. If I was that much pissed at you back then, I dont want to imagine how much 'hac..' , sorry, Jake is pissed at you right now.“  „Well, I guess I will find out soon enough..if he still wants to talk to me at all.“  Dan putted on his serious face, but with a little grin on it „Hey, if he talks bad to you, let me know, i'll show him off!“ „Ohh, im sure you would enjoy that..maybe even to much.“ I said, him grinning even more. „But thanks, Dan, again, for everything.“ „Yeah,yeah, dont you get all wooshy mooshy on me now also.“ he said, getting up. „Well, I gotta go. You get better soon, and call if you need anything.“  „Thanks, Dan, sure will.“ I replied, and waved him goodby. Doris came shortly after Dan left, and got me off the IV, suggesting I take a shower. I grabbed the pack Jessy sent me, and went through it. I took out some underweare, clean shirt and sweatpants, grabbed the shampoons, tooth brush and paste and headed for the bathroom. The shower did feel nice, but it took me ages to finish it, since I was still quite sore. A big bruise at my ribs was still making me short breathed at the times, and all the other cuts and bruises didnt help with easing the pain either. I had a  cut on the back of my head, wich was the reason my head still throbed a lot. I brushed my teeth, looked myself in the mirror, and already could notice some color coming back to my cheeks. I got back to bed and took my phone, might aswell check those messages and emails, its not like I'm have anything smarter to do. Most emails wer not important, I answered a few I needed, and switched to messages. Most of missed calls and messages wer from the night of the incident, so not much replaying needed here. Cleo sent a message saying shes happy im ok, and she will come to visit soon. Thomas also sent a message, thanking me for everything, emphasising tho that I was reckles and how all could have ended differently, but still no grudges from his side. He was just too happy Hannah was back with him. Ofcourse, they all wished me to get well soon, and they cant wait for when I get out so we can all meet properly.I replied to both, thanking them for good wishess. Staring at my chats screen, I opened my conversation with Jake. He was offline, ofcourse. I stared at the blinking pointer on the text space, but I didnt know what to write. My head was blank, I couldnt think of anything. After few minutes I exited the chat, settling the phone aside, and turning the tv on. Maybe some movie or something will get me relaxed a bit. I switched through channels, till I found something acceptable to watch. I ajusted myself on the pillow, and before I knew, dozed off.

[zmayadw]

Evening to all :)

Time for the next part :)

Have a nice evening :)

CALL OF THE RAVEN

PART 10

I woke up with a terrible taste in my mouth. I had no clue what time was it, but the sun was out already, making me squint my eyes. I got in sitting position slowly, banging in my head intensifing with every move i made. Ugh, i'm never drinking again, i scolded myself. Squinting, I focused on the little alarm clock that was on the night stand. 10.34. Whoa, i cant remember the last time i slept this long. I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. I filled the glass with wather, rinsing my mouth a few times before gulping down two glasses. My stomach growled at it, i just hoped not to throw up .Taking a shower would be a wise thing to do, so i just threw the clothes i had off and entered the shower. The warm water felt good, i just let it pour over me for a while. I wrapped myself in the towel taking some painkillers for the headache. Getting back to the room, i dressed up, and sat on the bed. I felt a bit better, but still not enough. Coffee, i tought, thats what i need now. I got up, going for the purse i threw on the floor when i got in, searching for my phone. Shit, i cursed, it wsnt there. I checked every pocket, even Jake's hoodie, but my phone was nowhere to be found. Crap, i probably left it at a the Aurora last night, when Jessy and me wer taking pictures. Or at lest i hoped so. Well, i was going for coffee, so i could stop at the Aurora eitherway. I grabbed my backpack with drawing stuff. Who knows, i might be up for some drawing, no matter I still felt woozy from last night drinking. I putted my sneakers on, grabed my stuff and car keys. Walking wasnt an option this time, i wasnt feeling well enough for it.

When i parked my car infront of the Aurora, I saw Dan's car was still there. I smiled as i left the car, guess i wasnt the only one sleeping late today. I hoped Phil was there already, and my phone too. I entered the Aurora, relieved at the sight of Phil behind the bar. I was washed with the smell of coffee, and as i neared the bar, I pleadingly said to him, sitting on the stool „Please, please, please, tell me i'm not wrong and that is coffee i can smell.“ Phil turned arround , not noticing me when i entered. He grinned at me „You are most definitly right! Would you like some?“ „Yes, pretty please.“ I said, as i putted my hand on the bar, and leaned my head on it as on a pillow. Phil chuckled at me „Want any sugar with it? Or milk?“ „Yes, please.“ I replied, and he vanished through the storage doors. He returned with a big cup of coffe putting it infront of me. I rised my head, took the cup, taking a deep breath of its smell, before taking a big sip of it. „Thanks, Phill, you're my saviour:“ i smiled at him as i settled it back on the bar. „Here to help.“ He said, winking. „Rough night?“ he asked teasingly. „Oh, i dont know how you can be so cheerful.“ I started „I feel like a truck hit me lastnight.“ He laughed „Practice to perfection.“ „I think i would need years of practice to be even close to that kind of perfection!“ i said, making a skeptical face. He smiled at me „So, to what do i owe the pleasure?“ he asked. „Dont get me wrong, im glad to see you“ he said, that devilish spark in his eyes again „But i doubt you came just to see me.“ „You caught me.“ I said, even tho it was nice seeing him. „I was hoping that i might have left my phone here yesterday.“ He shook his head at me, crouching down searchin for a few seconds under the bar, giving me my phone as he got up. „Better be carefull next time, good thing i noticed it as you left.“ „Yay, thanks Phil, again.“ I told him, giving him a big smile. „I owe you big time! Both for the phone, and coffee.“ His phone rang then „Sorry business calling. Be right back“ he said, answering his phone and going through the storage door. I checked my phone with him gone, finding out few missed calls and messages from Jessy. She was worried i havent answered her jet, so i decided to call her while waiting for Phil. The tone barely sugested it rang when Jessy's voice boomed from the other side. „Finaly! Do you know how worried i have been? Are you allright? Where wer you? Why didnt you answer me before?“ It made me smile a bit, her worrying for me like that was so sweet. „Im sooooo sorry Jessy“ i said pleadingly „I left my phone at Aurora last night, i just got here to get it.“ Phil returned at that point, and i mouthed to him 'Jessy's' name, indicating who i was talking to. Her voice boomed again, and i moved my phone a bit from my ear, wich made Phil laugh. „Ofcourse you did! Its no wonder after all the whiskey you had! Dan is still sleeping like a log! You two really had it last night!“ „Aww, Dont be cross, Jessy.“ I started pleadingly again „I promise next time we wont over do it.“ Phil was grining at me now, and i stuck my toung at him, trying to calm Jessy down. „C'mon, you cant tell me you didnt have some fun yesterday.“ I started „I have some pictures on my phone as a proof of it.“ Phil threw his thumb up, showing me i said a good thing, and i grined at him. „Alright, i admit last night wasnt all that bad.“ Jessy started, sounding calmer now „But you're still not off the hook completly.“ „Thanks, Jessy“ i started, grining as a sign of victory to Phil. „You can scold me some more at lunch, if the deal for it still stands.“  „Ofcourse!“ Jessy cined cheerfuly from the other side „Dan will be a sleep for God knows how long, and im already bored here.“ I quickly moved my phone from the ear checking the time. „Its 12.20 now, when do you want us to meet?“. „I'll meet you around 14 at the Aurora. I doubt Phil will mind you hanging there with him till then.“ She replied, teasing me. „Somehow i think you're right.“ I said, looking at Phil with a devilysh smile. „Cya later, Jessy.“ I sadi, lovering my phone. Phil looked at me,a bit confused „Wat was that about?“ „Oh, just Jessy being Jessy.“ I told him, grining. „Fine, fine, be all mysterious.“ He teased me. „Awww, c'mon, you wouldnt find me so interesting if i was an open book.“ I told him, smiling sheepeshly. He looked at me, with that intensifing look again, making me feel heat spreading through my body „You're not wrong about that.“ Crap, what are you doing again, Maya, i scolded myself. Phil was definatly into me, and i was toying with him like this. It really wasnt my intention, i didnt want him to get the wrong impression about anything. But it felt so easy for me, talking to Phil, compared to Jake. Why does all have to be so tough and complicated with him? It feels like walking on egg shells every time im with him: dont do this, dont say that. Shit, it shouldnt be that way, should it? Was i really that much into Jake? Blah, i dont know anything anymore. I wish he would be more open with me, it would make things so much easier. I was lost in my toughts when Phil finaly snaped me back to reality „Maya? You allright?“ I looked at him, shaking my head,  to clear it from all the 'Jake' toughts. „Yeah, sorry.“ I started „Guess the coffee didnt kick in properly yet.“ Phil looked at me, and i could see he didnt really belive what i told him, but decided not to take the matter any further „If you say so.“ Was all he said. I smiled shyly at him. „Do you mind if i just hang here for an hour or so, before metting with Jessy? I dont feel up to driving back to motel, and the coffee isnt bad here either.“ I tried, smiling, waving my empty cup at him. Phil looked at me, rising one of his eyebrows, and smiled devilishly „How could i say no to a beautifull woman?“ He took my cup, winked at me vanishing through the storage doors. I could feel my cheeks flushing again, and my heart beating faster. Shit, shit, shit..

When Phil came back with another full cup of coffee i asked if its ok if I sit at one of the booths, to wich he said  fine, since he did have some work to be done. I took my stuff and coffee setteling at the booth. I had a bit over an hour before metting with Jessy, i hoped some inspiration for work might come to me. I took my stuff out of the backpack, took my sneakers off, sitting with my feet up on the booths perch. I liked drawing like that. Leaning my drawing pad on my knees i tried to focus on my work, but my toughts just kept wondering off.  I tought about Phil, sneaking glances towards the bar. He was good looking, always nice to me, even tho everyone warned me that he was a 'no good' considering women. He never showed any sign of it towards me. He was easygoing, i enjoyed his company, we definatly clicked. Then there is Jake. I was definatly drawn to him, cant deny that. When im near him, it feels like when a moth is drawn towards fire. Cant fight it, its driving me crazy. But nothing with him is easy. Its like taking one step forward, then not one, or even two, but ten steps back. Its so frustrating. And with all that had happened, i feel like all the progres we had was completly gone. My head was still too woozy for thinking of stuff like this. I setteled my drawing stuff down, taking my coffee, leaning back in the booth. Maybe Jessy would have some advice fore me. Two heads are smarter then one, or so they say. But i should definatly talk to Phil, at least try to explain things to him. I dont want him thinking im giving him some false hope here. As if he could sense my toughts, he turned around, took his coffee and walked towards me. „Mind if i join you?“ he asked, and i smiled „Ofcourse i dont. I guess my inspiration is still sleeping, so no work to be done at the moment.“ He grined „Thats good for me. I can have the pleasure of your company for some more then.“ I chuckled at that, siping some more of the coffee. But i tought again about talking with him about everything.  My face must have gotten some serious expression, 'couse Phil looked at me a bit serious, before asking „Whats bothering you, Maya? I have a feeling you want to talk to me about something.“ I looked at him, those deep eyes of his gazing intensly at me, trying to dig up my toughts. „I do.“ I admitted after a moment „But to be hones, i dont know how to start .“ „Well, just do your best.“ He said, and i started to get the feeling of a knot at my stomach again. „Allright.“ I said, but the words didnt come easy after that. „I like you, Phill.“ I said finaly after a moment of silence. He chuckled „Ok, thats a good start.“ „Ah, but that was the easy part.“ I started „Now comes the tricky one.“ I could notice him tensing a bit, like he knew where this might lead to. „Ok, go on then.“ He said. „I enjoy your company, talking to you, its so easygoing. I feel we clicked, that theres some 'spark' between us, and i know you noticed the same.“  „You're right about that.“ He replied. „But..“ i started, and Phil interupted me, sighing „Ahh, there it is, the famous 'but' part.“ „Please, Phil, just let me say what i have, then you can hate me.“ He looked at me, his face getting a soft touch „I couldnt hate you, Maya.“ „Dont say it untill im not done talking.“ I said, a bit sadness creeping to my voice. „Alright. Please, continue.“ „Ok. As i started earlier,i like you, but i dont want to get your hopes up.“ I settled my coffe on the table, my hands fidgeting with the cup. Why was this so hard? „Shit, Phil, im a complete mess at the moment.“ I started „I myself dont know what i want, and its tearing me up inside. There is someone, and i dont know where I stand with him. And i dont want to start something new, if im not a 100% sure that its the right thing, that its something i really want. With no loose ends catching up on me.“ I looked up at Phil, him still not taking his eyes off me. „Am i making any sense to you here?“ i asked, lovering my head. I really didnt want to have this conversation, but that was me being honest. All of a sudden, i could feel Phil's hand covering mine, and i looked back up at him. He still had that softness written all over his face. „I appriciate your honesty, Maya.“ He started „Now let me be honest also.“ „Ofcourse“ i said „I expect nothing less.“ „Good.“ He looked at me more serious now. „You know i like you, you said it yourself. I dont know why, but i felt drawn to you the moment i saw you. Theres something in you that makes a man bedazled by you, i cant explain it differently.“ He paused for a moment before continuing. „And i get it, you dont want to get into something half hearted. And i applaud you for that. Because, if anything was to happen between us, i wouldnt want it that way either.“ He looked at me now, his gaze intensifing again, and i started to feel that heat again. „If it was to happen“ he continued „I would prefere if you wer in it with every inch of your body and soul.“ I was mesmerized by his words. He was so open with me, the words came so easy to him. Why cant it be like this with Jake. „Allrighty, that was pretty honest there.“ I said finaly, making an aqward smile. „You wanted me to be honest.“ He said, adding „And just so you know, im not going to make it easy for you.“ He looked at me now, with that devilish spark in his eyes again. I looked at him puzzled „What do you mean by it?“ He grined at me „Its like this: i will continue to act like i did so far, and you can do the same, cause, lets face it, we both like it.“ His grin widened, and i smiled back at him. „Good, you get me. But, until i get a confirmation from you about freely taking it a step further, i will do whatever i can to maybe, just maybe, help you feel a bit less messy and steer thigs in my favore.“ „And what if it wont end as you hope it would? Can you be ok with just being my friend?“ i asked him. He looked at me for a moment, before answering. „Honestly“ he started“i cant say i wouldnt be dissapointed, a little hearth broken probably, but i would respect your choice. And yes, Maya, if that would be so, i would gladly be just your friend.“ “Thanks, Phil, i appriciate all you said.“ I told him „I was kinda affraid of having this conversation with you.“ „You, affraid? I cant belive that“ he said, teasingly „Belive me, i was scared as hell.“ I said, adding to it „But im glad we had it. I didnt want it to become aqward between us at some point.“ „Not gonna happen.“ He said, winking at me. I smiled „Shit, you know, even thou i had enough yesterday, i could actualy use a drink right now.“ Phil lughed so hard „Awww, you really did get scared. We are in a bar afterall, you just say the words and ill bring you that drink.“ He said, looking at me with one raised eyebrow. „Only if you join me“ i said, grining at him „ And if you dont tell Jessy about it.“ He got up from the booth, smiling and winking before he left for the bar „Deal!“