#maybe i should order some taco bell today

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

10 Things I Hate About You

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Reader

Word count: 3.7k

Notes: What am I doing right now?? I have THINGS TO FINISH. Also it IS established later but reader is Mexican lmao

Bobby stops the truck outside their usual coffee spot and puts the brakes on. He lays his head on the steering wheel and looks over at Chimney who’s bobbing his head along to whatever the hell he’s listening to in his AirPods 

You know what he’s not listening to? 

“Oh my god. Can you just shut up- can you please just shut up!” Eddie is seething as he stares at you across the truck from him and you roll your eyes, your arms crossed over your chest 

“That is literally so fucking childish you can’t tell me to shut up just because you don’t like what I’m saying!!” 

“Actually I can? And oh yeah I did! Shut the fuck up short stack” 

You two had been going back and forth ever since you’d gotten into the truck before the fire. 

Hen looks at Buck, giving him a “you better fix this shit” face and he sighs loudly because he’d definitely accidentally started this fight. He just wanted to know what you guys wanted him to order for lunch. 

“Hey? Are we feeling Chinese today? Maybe Mexican?” He’s got his DoorDash up as he scrolls through the restaurants 

“Chinese” you mumble as you turn the page in your book 

“Mexican” Eddie says from his seat next to you as he studies the word search Buck gave him (he couldn’t find porterhouse) 

“You have Mexican at home Eddie, go make some tacos and we’ll get Chinese” You snuggle down more into the couch and he looks at you 

“Ha-ha very funny. Just order me some tamales please” he tells Buck 

“How many do you-“

“Hey!” You look up over your book “Who said we were getting Mexican?” 

“Uh, I did? Just now?” Eddie gestures and you take your feet off the couch and sit up 

“Did we miss the whole I want Chinese?” 

“Did we miss the whole I don’t care?”

“Do you want me to make your freaking tacos? Because I will if it means that much to you”

“First of all, you’d poison them. Second of all I don’t want tacos, I want tamales. And you of all people should know I can’t just go home and make those so there” he sticks his tongue out at you and you roll your eyes 

“Buck order me orange chicken please” You bat your eyelashes sweetly and Eddie scoffs 

“They don’t have orange chicken at Catalina’s”

“You’re right! They have it at Panda Express! Which is what we’re getting. You like teriyaki right?” 

“Guys I can just-“ Buck tries to break it up but now Eddie is standing over you 

“You can’t just freaking bat your eyelashes and think you’re gonna get your way? That’s not how it works”

You’re standing up now too, it doesn’t do much, you’re only five feet

“Okay well-“ you grab a chair and drag it over to him, he holds his hand out for you and you take it before stepping onto the chair 

Safety first 

“Thank you. Anyway, You can’t use your best friend status to get your way!!” 

“Oh, and you think “trying” to be cute is going to get you your way, tiny??” 

“I am cute! First of all, and second of all, he likes me better so yeah being cute is gonna get me my way. Third of all, quit finding ways to call me short!!!” 

“Buck?!” Eddie laughs cruelly “You think Buck likes you more than me?! Oh sweetheart you’re stupider than you look”

“Eddie” Buck groans loudly (and orders himself Subway) 

“Did you just say I was stupid?!” 

“No, I said you looked stupid! But since you wanna go there…”

“Eddie Diaz you are the most-“ 

Before you can begin to curse him out the alarm bells go off, you glare at him and he smiles innocently as he grabs your hips and sets you down on the floor, Buck clocks the way his hands linger a bit longer than they should, he sees the way his fingers flex and he pulls you just a little closer

He also sees the way you look at Eddie, because there’s a fire burning within you… but not for the reason you’re pretending it is 

You two had been fighting since the moment you met. Buck remembers it like it was three months ago (because it was) You’d caught him and Eddie talking, and Eddie was talking mad shit about you. Saying a pretty little thing like you would never make it in this line of work, you were probably going to cry if you broke a nail and how would you even reach the higher stuff on the truck. You’d totally have to jump! 

You didn’t hear, however, how Eddie had used all of that to avoid Buck’s question of 

“Isn’t she the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen” 

Which brings all of you to now. No one is really sure how you got onto the topic of where Eddie could go throw himself but you’ve been spewing insults back and forth the entire ride, needling at each other 

“I will actually pay you to shut your fucking mouth,” He says unbuckling his seatbelt and looking for his wallet 

“You’re not paying me like you pay for more than your hand” 

Buck snorts and both Hen and Eddie’s heads snap to him, he slaps his hand over his mouth 

Rule number one. Never get in the middle of you two 

“Are you kidding me?!” Eddie says and Buck shakes his head fast 

“Wait, wait, wait!!!” No, I wasn’t-“

“What was her name again? Diamond Honey?” 

Bobby turns in his seat “Wait Eddie did you act-“

“Fuck no!!” 

“Hell yes!” 

“She’s lying!” Eddie stabs his finger in your direction and you giggle in your seat 

“Y/N this isn’t really a topic to be discussing-“

“It’s not true!” Eddie practically whines and Buck can’t keep the giggles back 

“I can’t fucking stand you” 

“Good thing you’re sitting”

“Oh that is-“ He lunges for you and Hen holds him back, Chimney finally pulls an AirPod out to see if you’ve stopped. Buck holds you back from pouncing on Eddie and Bobby whistles loudly, causing all of you to freeze 

“Y/N and Buck go get the coffee, Chimney and Eddie switch places. As soon as we get back you’re both on probation” 

“What?!? She star-“

“He star-“

“If you two don’t want to be fired you’ll shut up and do what I say! Now go! Everyone!” 

You and Eddie both angrily hop out of your side of the truck, and even if he wants to toss you into an abyss he helps you down

“I can do it my freaking self” You may be arguing with him, but you let him grab your hips and help you out anyway

“Yeah whatever pipsqueak, just get the damn drinks” 

“You could say please” You glare at him and he backs you up toward the truck, his chest is pressed into yours, and his hands are still on your hips

“Are you gonna make me?” 

“If you wanna fight let’s fight” you hiss at him and he pins you back against the truck fully now, his leg slotting between yours. 

“I would love nothing more than to slap that stupid look off your face, but my Tia raised a gentleman. I don’t hit women”

“What in the sexual tension” Buck mumbles under his breath as he comes around the truck. He takes a picture and sends it to Hen “Look at this shit” 

“This is all your fucking fault” you spit and he rolls his eyes 

“Now who’s the childish one?? This is your fault! You couldn’t just be normal for one day?”

“You literally started this!!!” You thrash in his arms but he holds you even tighter now

“I started this??” He scoffs and laughs “Yeah whatever helps you sleep at night Princess” 

“Don’t call me that!” You scowl and he grins widely

“Oh? Don’t call you Princess? Like the spoiled fucking brat you are??”

“Are you kidd-“

“Oh I’m sorry did I hurt the little princess feelings?” He’s talking in a baby voice now “Did I hurt the little itty bitty babies feelings?” 

You have no response to that, you’re absolutely fuming at his stupid little baby voice and his stupid smirk and Princess?! Is he fucking serious? 

He stays like that for a minute, looking down on you in a completely condescending way. You shift uncomfortably, accidentally grinding down on his leg and he raises an eyebrow. Your cheeks flush as you glare at him 

“Do you two need a room? Because my apartment is actually really close to here” Buck clears his throat and you shove Eddie away. He straightens out his jacket and scoffs 

“I wouldn’t go near her vertically challenged ass with a 10-foot pole”

“Oh yeah well I wouldn’t go near with you a 20-foot pole!” 

“Really? Because you guys were just-“

“Shut up, Buck,” You say in unison. Eddie rips the door open and trades places with Chimney and you storm into the coffee shop 

“Operation closet is a-go” Buck winks as he follows you into the coffee shop. 

True to his word, you and Eddie are stuck at the firehouse cleaning the place. Bobby says you have to work together on every task. Maybe it’ll teach you two to act like adults and work together.

It goes horribly wrong. 

Bobby nearly has an aneurysm when he comes to check on you both and Eddie is spraying you down with the hose and you’re screaming at him to stop, he’s also soaked to the bone with the empty soapy water bucket at his feet… that you clearly dumped on him. He shuts off the water and yells at you both to go get changed and then clean out the old supply closet. 

He has no idea why he went along with Buck’s stupid plan. But he’s desperate at this point. He signals Buck when he notices you both heading over 

“Ladies first” Eddie opens the door and you walk in past him, he sighs as he reaches over you and turns on the light, it just barely flickers to life, illuminating the room in a soft yellow glow 

“How do you want to do this?” You ask as you peruse the shelves and Eddie shrugs 

“I dunno maybe we can start with-“

He’s shoved further into the room and he stumbles into you, nearly knocking you both over 

“I’m sorry guys this is for your own good!! I love you!!” Buck slams the door shut and you and Eddie bang against it 

“Let us out!!!” 

“This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done!” 

“No!! Not until you two come to a truce!!! No one can stand either of you!” He shouts back through the door and you hear his feet running away

“What the fuck do we do now?” You toss your hands in the air and Eddie lays his head against the door 

“Wait him out? He can’t keep us in here forever our shift ends in six hours”

“He wants us to sit here… for six hours”

“It’s Buck, do you expect anything less?”

“I expect him to let us out!!” You shake the door handle harshly and Eddie slaps your hand away 

“Quit it before you break it!!”

“I’m not gonna break it!” 

“If you break it we’re fucked, shrimp”

“News flash, jalapeño boy! We’re already fucked!!” 

“Jalapeño boy? Are you shitting me?”

“Would you prefer enchilada brain?? Tortilla face??” 

“None of these even freaking make sense”

“They’re not supposed to!! They’re just meant to bother you” You smirk at him, your hands on your hips and he slams his fist against the door. You jump a little as he steps closer to you 

“You do realize you’re Mexican too?” 

“Yeah and,” you say a bit quieter “Look I’m the only one who can call you these things. Anyone else does, I’ll karate kick them in the face. It’s our thing! I call you names and you stand there looking stupid” you bat your eyelashes at him and he blinks slowly 

“I’m going to throw you through this door” 

“He’s not gonna let us out” Eddie has fully given up and is now sitting on an overturned bucket while you’re trying to get the door unlocked. Which in a firehouse you think would be pretty easy 

“Hey, Captain Obvious? Yeah, you maybe wanna help me out instead of sitting on your ass over there??” You turn to him glaring and he sits back against the wall, putting his hands behind his head 

“I dunno, pretty comfy here” he sighs loudly “Gettin a great view watching you struggle”

You’re a bit glad at how dark it is in here, the light went out about an hour ago, it definitely wasn’t meant to be on this long. But still, you’re glad he can’t see the way your cheeks flush at his little comment 

“Can you please stop hating me for five seconds so we can think of a way out?!” 

You rummage around in your corner of the room, sighing when all you find is an extra hose. You and Eddie had eventually taken a roll of tape from one of the bins and drawn a line across the room, you got the side with the door because he wasn’t going to keep trying anymore 

“I don’t hate you” he’s standing over you now, god he’s quiet. You look up at him, blinking slowly

“What?” Your mouth is dry, too dry in fact 

“I said, I don’t hate you. You just…. Get under my skin really really easily” 

You stand up slowly, and he takes a step forward, his chest almost touching yours. The air is sucked from the small space as his cologne invades your senses. Has he always been so… fit? And his lips? Were they always so full and pink… and downright bitable 

“I’ve never hated you Y/N. Honestly” 

“I don’t hate you either” You mumble distractedly and he looks surprised for a second before smirking 

“You just really really get under my skin” 

He puts his hand on the wall behind you, you roll your eyes and look away from him, but he gently grabs your chin, turning you back toward him 

“Wanna know somethin’?” His eyes flit down to your lips and yours do the same to his. Your eyes meet again and he leans closer, tilting his head 

“I actually think you’re really pretty” You feel his words ghost across your lips before he pulls away a little, kissing your nose instead 

“Y-you wha-what?” 

“I said-“ He kisses your forehead “I think-“ He kisses your right cheek “that you-“ he kisses your left cheek 

“Are really fuckin pretty” 

Eddie is sure he’s lost his damn mind the second he has you up against that wall, your eyes roll back as he kisses your neck and you rip his shirt open. He shrugs it off and starts working on yours next. 

It had just started as an intense make-out session. You grabbed him by the collar and smashed your lips into his, he growled against your mouth and kissed you back just as eagerly, he won that fight for dominance, wrapping his tongue around yours and sliding his hand behind your head so he didn’t kiss you right through the wall. It’s sloppy at first, all tongue and teeth, but then his other hand finds its way to your chest, cupping your breast in his hand and kneading it softly and he knows he needs you right this second when he hears the way you moan his name 

“You’re so hot when you’re mad” he whispers in your ear and you blush “Every single time you got me all worked up… I wondered if you felt the way I did” 

“And how did you feel?” 

You gasp as he bites down on your pulse point, causing your hips to jerk against his. He pulls away to look at you for a second, taking in your body underneath him. He stares at you like you’re a work of art, your heart races in your chest, and your body trembles against his. His hand comes up your bare side, enjoying the way your skin feels under his fingertips 

“Horny as fuck” 

You fumble with his belt buckle, getting it off and letting his pants drop to the ground 

“I’m not going to be gentle” He warns you, pushing your pants down over your hips. He groans frustratedly as you pump his cock in your hand teasingly, smearing the precum over his tip with your thumb. You lift your leg and he holds onto it while you drag his cock through your folds and line it up with your dripping entrance 

“I don’t want you to be” 

The wind is knocked out of you as he sets a bruising pace. He drops your leg spins you around to pin you to the wall, thrusting himself nearly all the way in, before pulling it almost all the way out. His cock pistons in and out of you and he has to slap a hand over your mouth before you shriek his name. Your eyes roll back as you moan into his hand, and he grins wickedly 

“Who knew you’d be such a slut… getting fucked in a supply closet. How easy are you?” 

You shake your head back and forth a bit trying to get him to let your mouth go and he just laughs, lifting your hips to fuck you at a deeper angle. You’re balancing on the toes of your boots as his strong arm wraps around your waist to keep you exactly where he wants you 

“Fuck that’s good” he pants heavily as he pounds into you, the wet slapping noise just makes you clench around him harder 

“So wet for me Princess, whole stations gonna hear what I’m doin' to you. Gonna hear what a dumb slut you are” 

You melt into his arms, the degrading words he uses causing your brain to short-circuit. Because fuck you didn’t know you liked that, but oh boy apparently you do 

“I knew you’d like that. Being fucked like a whore… being called Princess. Maybe that’s why I argued with you so much… because you like it when I’m mean to you, don’t you honey? You know how many times I would jerk off to the idea of you on my cock?” 

It’s like he’s reading your mind, which is great because you aren’t even in your own head right now. All you can think about is the way his hips piston in and out of you, the way he stuffs you over and over until you’re sure he’s perfectly imprinted himself in your tight cunt and no one else could ever fill that spot 

“Shit” he slows down for a minute “Holy shit do you feel that?” He takes one of your hands you’re bracing yourself with and puts it over your stomach. You feel the way he stretches into your guts, thrusting torturously slow so you can feel every single inch of him 

“O-oh my g-god” Your thighs shake and you feel your pussy clench tighter around him

“So fucking tiny” He chuckles darkly in your ear, kissing the tip of it “Jesus look at the way you’re gripping me”

“Y-you hav- thing ‘bout s-size d-don’t you?” You can barely speak with the way your body bounces on his, all the little names he’d been calling you these last three months, all the times he’d press himself against you when he was reaching something for you, or when he’d help you from the truck which was completely unnecessary. Oh it made sense now

He fucks you harder, your toes aren’t even on the ground anymore as he drills into you. He takes his shirt and hands it to you and you cry into it, trying to muffle your moans as best you can. He bites your shoulder and kisses along your neck leaving harsh love bites in his path as he tries to keep himself quiet. But you’re too good for him, too tight for him. 

You can feel his thrusts becoming sloppier and you know what’s coming 

“Don’t- ple- please don’t-“ 

He knows what you’re asking him to do and fuck you really don’t have to tell him twice 

He’s just as blissed out as you are, lost in the way you feel as you squeeze around him. He has to slap his hand over your mouth when you cum, your body writhes violently against his as he shoves his cock in you as far as he can and you feel the way he paints your walls with his hot seed. He pins you up against the wall, his cock stuffed balls deep in your aching cunt. He takes one of your hands again, putting it back on the bulge in your stomach 

“You feel that Princess?” His chest heaves against your back as you both pant together and he pulls you flush against him. He takes his hand and places it over yours, stroking it down your soft skin 

“Wanna take you home and keep it there” he kisses the back of your neck and across your shoulders softly before nuzzling his head against you 

“Take me home huh?” You’re fighting to keep your eyes open, he can hear the sleepiness in your voice. He pulls out slowly and your eyes roll back at that distinct little sucking noise 

“Mhm… if you want to” he sounds a little hesitant as he turns you around and pulls you into his arms 

“I want to” You blush and he kisses your nose 

“We done arguing?” 

“Probably not” you giggle and he rolls his eyes and kisses you softly 

“At least I know how to get you to act right” He smirks and you narrow your eyes at him playfully 

“More like I know how to get you to act right” 

“Are you joking? I just wrecked your shit” he scoffs and sets you down carefully, reaching up behind you and grabbing some clean towels to clean you up with 

“Are you joking? I’m the best you’ve ever had” you say in a sickly sweet voice while batting your eyelashes, just messing with him 

He looks up at you, wiping the cum that’s dripping between your legs. He knows you’re just joking… but 

“Can’t argue with that one sweetheart” 

[thebeeduo]

Ranboo: Do you want me to just reading random- Do you want me to just- I'm gonna just start texting you

Tubbo: Yeah, just start texting me random input on the space

Ranboo: *texts Tubbo*

Tubbo: "Microwave explode"? Yo, thank you. "This is awesome"? Ok, stop texting me now. You didn't even respond to my message I sent you this morning

Ranboo: That's 'cause I was asleep!

Tubbo: Yeah, but like.. *sigh* Maybe I should just go live on instagram

Ranboo: Eughhh!

Tubbo: What? Is that cringe?

Ranboo: Yes

Tubbo: Maybe I should just go live on TikTok

Ranboo: Ahhh! Ahhh!

Tubbo: Is that cringier? Is that- *laughs*

Ranboo: *laughs* You go "Is that cringe" to Instagram and your next one is TikTok

Tubbo: *laughs*

Ranboo: I can make fun of it 'cause that's where I was born

Tubbo: Pffft!

Ranboo: I was born there/on TikTok [?]

Tubbo: Do you ever look at someone and wonder what's going inside their head?

Ranboo: I was- I was born on TikTok [?]

Tubbo: *starts playing the piano* You gotta remember your roots

Tubbo: I want my grand piano back, electric piano is cringe

Ranboo: *coughs* [unintelligible]

Tubbo: He just- He just decides "Oh I'm going to spit my germs around the room"

Ranboo: Yep!

Tubbo: *giggles* Wow, wow. You're a bad- I suppose you're anti-vax as well while we're at it

Ranboo: I am literally- I am literally vaccinated

Tubbo: I'm not allowed to be vaccinated, leave me alone!

Ranboo: That's just a major L for you then

Tubbo: Ahhhh

Ranboo: You're/Keep on getting coughed on!

Tubbo: *starts to play the piano intensely*

Ranboo: That's what happens when you're not vaccinated, people will come up to you and cough

Tubbo: That is a terrible sentence. I despise everything about that sentence

Ranboo: *laughs*

Tubbo: *plays The Owl House theme song, then switches to City of Stars*

Ranboo: Ughhh

Tubbo: So..

Ranboo: Oh my gosh!

Tubbo: What?

Ranboo: I just found more food to order

Tubbo: Nooo! Oh my god, if I get one more Amazon box arrive at my door and it's like a 25 large sized bars of Rice Krispies treats or fucking those shitty cheese squares that you haven't even eaten I'm gonna lose it

Ranboo: It's ding dongs

Tubbo: What the fuck is a ding dong?! That sounds like slang for a dick! You're literally eating dick!

Ranboo: *laughs* I am not! Jesus Christ

Tubbo: Why!

Ranboo: That is so far from what it is

Tubbo: What is it with all this fucking BS American food! Twinkies? Oh yeah, let me just-

Ranboo: I didn't get those actually. I don't know where those came from

Tubbo: Where did the Twinkies come from!?

Ranboo: I'm gonna be entirely honest..

Tubbo: Where the fuck did they come from!?

Ranboo: ..I have no idea where those came from. I did not order- That is not what I ordered

Tubbo: Look, you've got your-you've got your Cheez-It's and your Twinkies and your fucking ding dongs. I'm gonna f- I'm gonna blow some shit up

Ranboo: Sorry, I'll make sure to order a plain cheese pizza the next time

Tubbo: Honestly, that would be so much- I'm actually- I've been really healthy. So far I've had a fruit pop for breakfast

Ranboo: That's good. I had.. *silence*

Tubbo: You haven't had breakfast yet

Ranboo: I haven't- I haven't eaten yet

Tubbo: You haven't eaten yet today, and your first meal of the day will be Taco Bell

Ranboo: No, it won't!

Tubbo: Will it not? Oh

Ranboo: Why do you think- Taco Bell doesn't even deliver here!

Tubbo: *sighs* Fair enough

Ranboo: Why would it- Why- Mkay..

Tubbo: American

Ranboo: I know that the algorithm on Amazon works too well because it was [unintelligible]

Tubbo: *starts playing City of Stars again* Oh no

Tubbo: City of staaars.. *laughs* That song- It kind of annoys me, I'll be honest

Ranboo: I'm looking at- I'm looking at the, um.. I'm looking at your- the Tubbo space hashtag and someone just sent this, like, chart of, like, eye colour but it is, like, the most low res thing that I have ever seen

Tubbo: But I don't know- I think my eyes change colour depending on what I'm wearing, I'll be honest. Is that weird? Because everyone on twitter asks me "Ah yes what is your eye colour" and I'm like "Uhh how the fuck am I supposed to know" and then

Ranboo: My eye colour is [?]

Tubbo: Then I went through a bunch of like- I went through a bunch of, uh.. like, old photos of me and they just change colour depending on how sunny it is, what I'm wearing.. like.. Yeah, so, I don't know

Ranboo: *laughs*

Tubbo: What?

Ranboo: Nothing

Tubbo: What?

Ranboo: *loudly typing* It's time to listen

Tubbo: Time to listen to what?

Ranboo: To my music, I'm just gonna listen to my music

Tubbo: You're not gonna listen to me? Listen to me. Stop dancing. Knock that off. Yo, keep your clothes on! Woah, why are you so- *laughs* sorry

Ranboo: Why do you do this!

Tubbo: 'Cause it's funny, 'cause there's no video

Ranboo: Why do you- why do you do this

Tubbo: and.. and there's no video

Ranboo: What did I- What did I ever do? Nothing

Tubbo: *laughs*

Tubbo: *reads something about chip shops?*

Tubbo: Why do people keep sending me, like, soviet bunnies as well? I don't wanna see bunnies from soviet Russia. What's with the soviet Russia bunnies?

Tubbo: Thoughts on him? Bill Cypher? Pretty fun loving lad- Why did you just mention me and write "awesome"?

Ranboo: I didn't- No, it's a response to a tweet

Tubbo: Oh

Tubbo: *sees Michael fan art* "Oink! Hello father" Oh, I see

Ranboo: Just buff Michael

Tubbo: Buff- *laughs* He went to prison from lack of parent supervision and he came out buff, oh no! Oh no! *laughs*

Ranboo: What do you mean lack of parent supervision? I'm gonna go brush my teeth

Tubbo: Oh ok.. Bye

[Video cuts directly to when Ranboo comes back]

Tubbo: Hello. You seem hollow. Your mother is here? Wait, I shouldn't have read that out. You just texted me that so I didn't read it- Ok, well.. She's here guys!

Ranboo: Ahhh! Why!

Tubbo: She's here!

Ranboo: There's a reason-

Tubbo: She's here! *laughs* Just thought I'd let you know! *laughs* She's raring to go! That's awfully exciting..

[Video cuts again to the next beeduo clip]

Tubbo: Guys, I want to- How does one get the- What is the max people that have been in a single space, like, ever?

Ranboo: I own the number two spot for that!

Tubbo: Do you? How many was it?

Ranboo: Yeah. It was during MCC, it was 36k I think

Tubbo: 36- guys, can we get 38k please?

Ranboo: *fakes being angry* Can't you let me have anything!? *laughs*

Tubbo: Wh- Ok, Mr. 100k subs, Jesus

Ranboo: I don't- I got that once

Tubbo: Twice

Ranboo: It was six times actually..

Tubbo: SIX TIMES!? Oh my god, ok..

Ranboo: Alright... Goodbye space people!

Tubbo: Bye!

Ranboo: Goodbye!

Tubbo: Bye! Leave

Ranboo: I'm leaving the U.K. actually

Tubbo: He's not

Ranboo: *laughs* I'm not.. Wouldn't that be just terrible?

Tubbo: You just said bye and left..

Ranboo: The whole time everyone thought that I was going in, like, October but then I actually just straight up just leave..

Tubbo: You wanna go home?

Ranboo: ..in the middle of August

Tubbo: You can just leave.. get out!

Ranboo: Ok..

Tubbo: Pffft

Ranboo: Bye!

Tubbo: Bye!

[Video cuts again to the next beeduo clip]

Ranboo: I'm back from the U.S.!

Tubbo: Oh, what did you forget?

Ranboo: My- my beloved locket

Tubbo: *mocks American Accent* and the AirPods *laughs*

Ranboo: Yes

Tubbo: Have you told them what you've called your AirPods? The name of them?

Ranboo: Oh yeah, no, it's because basically, right, if you put a slash and then an asterisk at the end of a word it will bleep it out, so, right, me of course being young I thought that was the funniest thing to have that. So whenever Siri said my name she would just go like "You [beep]" so I thought that was funny. So it's like beeping noise, yeah

Tubbo: Oh, I see. So is that why mine do that as well?

Ranboo: I guess so, yeah

Tubbo: Yeah

Ranboo: Yeah.. yeah..

Tubbo: I see.. So..

Ranboo: I'm gonna go now

Tubbo: Bye, again!

Ranboo: Bye! Back to the U.S. I go!

Tubbo: There's no "E" in Tubbo.. Just throwing it out there..

[inkandpen22]

Permanent Chaos (4/?)

Pairing: MGK x Female!Reader

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: mild swearing, mentions of underage drinking 

Part Summary: Sam hosts a party and Y/N makes a not-so-great acquaintance of a certain rock star.

Masterlist

Sam’s house is filled with people. I know the majority of the partiers, the rest I can recognize from whatever field of entertainment they’re in. The music is blasting over the speakers and the voices fill the remaining space.

I search around for him. I manage to find him in the family room on the couch. He’s chatting with a group of people, including Penelope. I make my way over, shuffling between bodies. When I appear out from within the crowd, Sam gleams.

“You made it!”

“I did!” I giggle.

We hug and he introduces me to the girl beside him. “Y/N, this is Cara.”

As if I don't know who Cara Delevigne is, I may be busy but I don't live on Mars. I smile at her kindly. “Nice to meet you!”

“You too! I’m a huge fan of your work on TSL!” She gushes, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

The Seasons of Life is often shortened to TSL, just a side note.

Cara’s accent is so pretty! She’s already a model then she has to have a British accent as if she wasn’t perfect enough!

“Aw, thank you so much!”

Sam slips by me. “I’m going to go get us a drink!”

"Oh wait, Sam!"

“I know what to do!” He shouts back without stopping. I should know better. With how much time we spend together, he would know my order.

“That kid,” I sigh to Penelope and Cara.

The two giggle and we go on to talk about this and that. Fun enough, Cara leaves for Paris tomorrow for a fashion show. Must be exciting to travel so often and to wear the most amazing clothes. She’s quite funny. Her personality is so vibrant and warm. I can see us being good friends.

A loud voice echoes through the house and the three of us look toward the archway to see who it’s coming from. Bodies block the view so I turn my attention back to the girls. Penelope and I discuss the photoshoot in two days and Cara talks about her experiences with Vanity Fair.

“Hey, Cara!” A voice greets behind me.

I don't turn around, but I can feel their energy hovering over me. They shuffle to stand right beside me. I glance up, but can't recognize them.

Cara stands up to hug them. “Good to see you! How are you?” She keeps him in an embrace.

“Great, great!” The guy, who’s back is to me for some reason seems familiar. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“You know Sam?” She questions as they part.

“Not really, I came with a few friends.”

I look over at Penelope for a hint as to who it could be. She shrugs and watches the two interact.

“Speaking of, have you seen him? I should say hi.” The man asks.

“He went to the kitchen to get a drink for him and Y/N.”

The man turns around and he peers down at me on the couch. I should’ve guessed it… MGK. The hair and a million tattoos should've been a dead giveaway. That bright blonde mess of a hairstyle.

“Colson, this is Y/N Voss,” Cara introduces us.

He glances down at me with a smile. “We’ve met actually,” he claims.

My head tilts, I can’t recall when we've met properly.

“Today after I performed on James’s show,” he describes, towering over me.

“Oh! Awesome!” Cara sits back down next to me.

All I can do is stare at Colson in confusion. “If you count glancing at one another from across the room once as meeting,” I reply a bit snarky.

He gives me a toothy grin and eases down onto the cushion ottoman right across from me. “It was more than one glance,” he argues.

“You would know, you’re the one that never looked away," I fire back.

Cara and Penelope exchange a glance, snicker, then leave the scene together. They offer their goodbye before giggling away. They're smart.

Colson seems to have not noticed or at least doesn’t care. He moves to take Cara's spot on the cushion next to me. “You would’ve had to been looking to have noticed that I never looked away.”

My head rolls back, with a mocking laugh. “Well aren’t you a genius!”

He rests his arm on the back of the couch behind me. “I like to think so.”

“One vodka tonic.” Sam interrupts, holding out my drink.

I take it bitterly. "Thanks."

“Sam huh?” Colson stands up and the two shake hands. “I’m Colson, nice to officially meet you, man!”

Sam treats him like an old friend which annoys the heck out of me. Colson so far has only shown his arrogance to me. “You too! Great seeing you today at the show. Your performance was amazing.”

“Thanks, your interview was hilarious!” Colson fakes charming better than some actors.

“You watched?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, I stuck around just off-camera. You two are great!”

Watching these two talk each other up is a bromance waiting to happen.

Sam gestures to me with his glass. “Y/N here is the real comedian. There’s never a dull moment with her."

“I'm sure.” Colson peers down at me with a bright smile. "We’ve only just met and she’s already sparked a debate with me.”

I narrow my eyes at Colson, what’s he trying to start?

Sam settles down on the ottoman where Colson was. “What about?” He is all for the conversation and is jumping headfirst into the tiff between us.

Colson smiles but I see the mischief in his eyes.

“It wasn’t a debate” I rise to my feet in front of the boys. “If you would excuse.” I step away from the couch a little irked.

“Oh come on now Baby, I’m only joking,” Colson calls not bothered.

“Oh no,” Sam laughs behind me. “Best not call her that or any pet names for that matter. She hates them!”

I don’t even acknowledge them on my walk out of the room. Cocky, annoying, ugh! It’s been maybe five minutes and he’s already managed to irritate me. Maybe all the things they write in the tabloids about him are true. A spoiled, arrogant, womanizing jerk. A piece of the worst parts of the industry. I'm going to go find the girls and stay far away from Colson Baker.

________________________________________

On the set of the Vanity Fair shoot, the atmosphere is lively and carefree. The theme is an 80’s vintage style and since it’s coming back the magazine is mixing old with the new. Sam and I are in an old-fashioned record store and it’s wicked! The walls are teal and remind me of an old Taco Bell. There are rows and rows of just vinyl records. My hair is teased in an 80’s rock band kind of hairstyle. 80s music has been playing on set all morning to set the mood. I'm living for it!

A lady approaches me with a huge light wash denim jacket.

“No way! I get to wear this!” I gush.

She helps me put it on and I’m dying from how awesome this shoot is.

I immediately go to Sam's trailer. “Sam! I’m rocking the denim on denim look!” I show off my high-waisted light wash denim shorts with a black bulky leather belt around my waist.

He laughs. “I appreciate the denim on denim but I have to say my favorite part is the old Bon Jovi T.”

The photographer, Adam, comes up with this brilliant idea for me to stand on the crates of records. Where the two rows in the middle of the store meet, there’s enough room for me to stand. Once I’m up there and I can find the balance in these red heels, they have Sam join me.

“Sam, grab her leg and look up at her as though you’re keeping an eye on her,” Adam instructs.

The camera flashes and between snaps, I change my facial features.

“Good! Good! Let’s get some shots from the counter!”

Sam helps me down from the crates and I hop down. We get a shot of me laying across the counter with a red sucker in my hand and Sam hovering over me. This shoot is incredibly fun and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Sam and I change outfits and Adam asks if he can get a video for the website and YouTube channel. Of course, we said yes. It’ll be a montage of an interview of us individually and then of us just messing around throughout the store with 80’s music playing in the background. Adam has me sit on an 80’s style floral couch they set up in front of a backdrop in the back room. The whole setup is very comfortable and intimate. Only us, a few lights and a camera with the radio playing. Sam is in makeup and dress for the part of the video of us being candid.

“You can sit however you like!” Adam instructs, meaning I’m sitting too formal with my posture straight and legs crossed. “Act like we’re just hanging out or something.”

I adjust myself and crisscross my legs, slouching a bit.

“Much better!” he compliments, staring down at the camera. He hits up on a stool and positions his camera on the stand. “What’s it like to be on the cover of Vanity Fair?”

“The whole experience is unreal! I remember having a subscription to Teen Vogue growing up. My friends and I loved them!”

“Would you describe your style as modern or classic?”

“Classic for sure!” I gush.

Adam snickers. “What’s your favorite decade for fashion?”

I laugh and gesture down at my outfit. “The 80’s.”

“Does anyone from the 80’s inspire your style in particular?”

I tap the tips of my fingers together and hum. “That’s a toughy! I guess I would have to say Demi Moore for the hair. Specifically, her haircut from About Last Night… that’s where I got the style for my hair actually. Another big one would be Cindy Crawford, such a fashion icon!” I could talk about fashion all day and the icons idolize.

“Heels or sneakers?”

“Depends on the occasion. Sneakers for everyday things, I could never live without my trusty Converse. Yet, I would wear heels if I’m dressing it up a bit.”

"Are you more of a girly-girl or tomboy?”

“People who know me well would say I’m a girly-girl but I also don’t mind downplaying it from time to time. I’ve gotten better lately at relaxing and no being so “on” all the time.”

“Hair up or down?”

“Half up, half down,” I wiggle my eyebrows playfully looking into the camera.

Adam chuckles behind the camera. He changes topics. “You’re from South Carolina originally...”

My heart sinks a little at the mention of home, but I hide behind a smile. “That I am.”

“You haven’t been back in almost a year, do you miss it?”

I play with the ends of my hair, examining my lap. Avoiding the camera lens. I look at anywhere but there. “If I were to miss anything about South Carolina, it would be the gorgeous landscape and southern food."

“You have three siblings, correct?” Adam asks next.

“I do, an older brother and sister, then a younger brother.” I list.

“What do they think about the show and your career?”

I nod. “They support me but the distance is hard. As you said, we haven’t all been together in almost a year.”

“Do you have any plans to go visit home soon?”

I sigh, “sadly no, my work keeps me quite busy.”

The interview goes on and we discuss how my style has evolved since I was a teen starting out in the business. I’ll admit, the topics about home and family sucked. Work and personal life are two separate jobs, my worlds can’t collide. I never bring South Carolina into it.

______________________________________________

After the shoot, I received a call from Cara when we were finishing up the photoshoot. Last night, Cara, Penelope, and I had a blast! I completely forgot about the whole tiff with Colson once I reached them in the kitchen. Since then, we’ve been three peas in a pod. While we were talking on the phone, she invited Sam and me to dinner at The Ivy.

“A small gathering of friends,” she told me and asked for us to be there by seven.

Jump ahead to now and Sam is parallel parking the car. I hop out and wait on the sidewalk for Sam to walk around. Our hands' interlock and the paparazzi take notice of us when people on the sidewalk pull out their phones.

“Y/N! SAM! SAM! OVER HERE!”

“HOW’S FILMING GOING?”

“It’s good to be back on set!” I cover my eyes with my clutch.

“YOUR INTERVIEW WITH JAMES CORDEN WAS GREAT!”

“SOCIAL BLEW UP AFTER THE INTERVIEW!”

Sam asks for the guys to make a path so we can get through without issues. He releases my hand and presses his palm to my lower back protectively.

“WE’VE ALREADY SEEN Cara AND PENELOPE GO IN!”

“A FEW PEOPLE ACTUALLY!”

“ARE YOU ALL MEETING UP?”

“Maybe, maybe not!” I look into one of the video cameras and wink.

The guy behind it gets a hoot out of my expression.

Sam and I reach the restaurant and the men let us go in unbothered.

“WE’LL LEAVE YOU ALONE TO YOUR DINNER!”

“Thanks guys, see you later!” I wave to them and their cameras shoot rapidly.

The noise dies down when we go back further into the restaurant. Sam spots Cara in the back and guides me back there. Tables are lined up in a long row and the majority of the seats are filled.

Cara, cool as a cucumber pulls me into a hug. “Hey Y/N! So glad you two could come!” She sits Sam and me across from each other near the middle. She insisted that I sit by her so we could chat. We get to talking about the Vanity Fair shoot today then she’s pulled away when another guest arrives.

The waitress comes up behind me and requests my drink order.

“I’ll have a sweet tea please.”

“We only serve unsweetened.”

I hate it when they say that. “That’s fine, thank you!” Sam eyes me and I pout about having no sweet tea.

“You realize there’s sugar right here.” He slides me the packets of sugar.

“Yes but it’s not the same. There’s sweet tea at every restaurant where I’m from and I come here boom! Sweet tea is nonexistent!”

"What’s the drink that’s carbonated?” He’s asking to be annoying because the west coast and the midwest disagree on the name.

“Pop!” I glare at him.

“That’s right! Pop! Sounds like you’re saying pot every time.” He laughs at his own joke, finding himself humorous.

“It’s soda by the way," he corrects.

“Uh uh,” I refuse to change my ways, “it’s pop.”

The empty chair next to me slides back and when I glance up to see who’s doing it, an instant headache hits my brain.

Sam greets Colson warmly with a handshake. I shoot Sam another glare. He’s acting neutral but that shouldn’t be a choice in this case. He was my friend first!

Colson removes black Ray-Bans from his face and positions them on top of his head.

“Hello Y/N.” Colson sends me one of his charming grins so many teen girls swoon over.

“Hi,” I reply, not attempting to hide my disinterest. I curve my body away from him and towards Cara, legitly giving him the cold shoulder.

The dinner goes on without a hitch surprisingly, considering the circumstances. Penelope leans down over the back of my chair to say our goodbyes.

I turn around in my chair to face her. “See ya tomorrow.”

“See ya,” she rubs her hand up and down my arm.

She and I exchange kisses on the cheek. “Love you!” We say in unison as we part.

“Later Sam!” She wiggles her fingers at him in a wave.

Sam and I stick around a while longer since Cara and I have gotten into a deep conversation about our shared love for vintage things. A conversation about our collections of records alone went on for twenty minutes. I hadn't noticed that it was just four of us now. Sam and Colson have been talking most of the dinner.

A pair of hands rest on my shoulders and steal my attention away from Cara. “Y/N, you ready to go?” Sam asks.

“We’ll head out too!” Cara announces with her sights directed behind me.

I look over my shoulder and Colson is standing beside Sam. The four of us walking out together… how convenient.

I grab my clutch, sticking close to Sam to dodge Colson.

The four of us walk toward the front of the restaurant and right when we reach the steps leading outside, Cara announces that she forgot her purse.

“I’ll be right back!” She urges us to go on without her.

The cameras waited for us as I assumed they would. They’re capturing every minute of us waiting for Cara.

I place my hand on Sam’s shoulder, “would you go help her?”

“You sure?” His eyes flicker between me and Colson.

“I’ll be fine,” I assure him and he promises he’ll only be a second.

“Go to the car so you aren’t bothered,” he refers to the paparazzi.

“I’ll walk her,” Colson offers.

Sam gives him the go-ahead as he goes off to help in the search for the purse.

I’m left with the one guy I was avoiding. I grip the keys in my hand and walk down the brick steps to the sidewalk. I hear Colson behind me and stop to address him. “I can walk myself to the car.”

He raises his arms mocking a surrender. “I don’t doubt your ability to walk, just helping out.”

“I don’t need your help,” I scoff, starting to walk again.

“I never said you did,” Colson sassily replies.

*Click* *Click* *Click*

A man runs around me to get a photo of me straight on.

“Y/N! Y/N! WALKING IN WITH SAM AND LEAVING WITH MGK, ANY EXPLANATION?”

I pause for a moment, making eye contact with the man behind the camera. Is he honestly trying to start drama? What lies are he going to sell? I’m only going to the car because Sam requested. The only reason Colson is even near me is that he’s so freaking persistent.

I push back the aggravation and force my lips into a kind smile. I can’t have a single moment of weakness. I can’t give in to my emotions like others. “Sam is helping Cara with something inside. Colson was kind enough to walk me to the car.”

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS KNOWN EACH OTHER?”

I purposefully answer quickly so Colson doesn’t even have the chance to think of a response. “Not long, we met the other day backstage at The Late Late Show. We have a lot of the same friends and had no idea!” I peek over at Colson and he gives me a knowing look. I dismiss it and go on with my charade. I will not let this jerk mess with my career.

“ANY CHANCE OF HAVING COLSON GUEST STAR ON THE SHOW?”

“That would be great!” I lie my butt off, “having more friends on set would be fun!”

“COLSON, HOW’S YOUR NEW ALBUM COMING ALONG?!”

“We’re in the recording stage right now. Should be released sometime this summer," he answers.

“FOLLOWING UP WITH A TOUR?”

“Of course!” he chuckles.

I unlock the car and move around the guys to reach the door.

“WE’LL LET YOU GUYS GO ON. ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR NIGHT!” One of them departs.

“Thank you! You too!” I wave goodbye.

Some stick behind to get a few last pictures but for the most part, they all disburse. The ones remaining, however, keep their distance.

I yank on the handle of the door and Colson holds it for me. As if he's a gentleman. I begin to climb in, prepared to yank it shut in his face.

“Friends huh?” Colson chuckles.

I turn around abruptly and check around the general area of the sidewalk for any cameras. Seems the remainder of the guys have left. I shut the door and Colson removes his hand in a rush.

“No, not friends! I only said that to please the public," I huff.

“Ouch!” he acts offended, placing his hand on his heart. “I did find it interesting that you claimed we met backstage the other day so I was right!” He chuckles, believing he caught me.

“No, no, no, no!" I shut that thought down quickly. "The only reason I made that up was that it’s not good for my image if I admit I was at a party. People tend to assume that heavy drinking and drugs occur at parties. I can’t be associate with that scene!”

“Oh, so it’s alright to lie?” He crosses his arms and snickers, glancing down the street toward the restaurant.

I roll my eyes, of course, he doesn’t understand, why would he? “You don’t get it” I scoff, dismissing him. I turn and reach for the car handle again.

“So what if you were at a party? People drink, if some have a problem with that, that’s their problem. Oh! I forgot! You're America's Sweetheart! The perfect angel princess with a spotless record,” he mocks.

I slam the car door shut, having hit my limit. I keep my voice hush. “It’s not that simple! I'm not like you! I can't be caught partying! If the country, the world, sees the truth then my image is ruined! I've been doing this since I was a teenager! I worked way too hard for far too long to lose everything over a stupid mistake!”

Colson’s face falters from his usual carefree expression to one of seriousness.

“Found it! Let’s go!” Sam announces loudly to the whole block.

I toss him the keys and glance back to Colson who stands there in a stillness I have yet to see from me. His stare makes me want to hide. I feel as though I’m under a microscope being studied.

“Toodaloo Y/N! ‘Till next time my pals!” Cara strolls down the sidewalk.

It’s evident she’s had a couple of drinks. She sways further down the sidewalk and comes to a stop once she notices Colson isn’t following.

“Later Cara!” Sam shouts over the top of the car behind me.

Colson and I stare at each other I’m guessing for different reasons. He appears lost in thought and I’m desperately trying to figure out why. If I look away, I fear he’ll break to pieces or something.

Cara pauses. “Colson? You coming?”

He holds out for a moment but finally breaks eye contact with me. "Yeah."

When I’m no longer staring into those black works of art I regain my ability to move. I hurry into the car and Sam says his goodbyes again over the top of the car. I buckle my seatbelt when he climbs in. Watching strangers walk up and down the sidewalk, I’m perfectly aware of Sam starring me down.

He pulls onto the street. “Are we gonna talk about it or are we doing silence?”

I reach over and turn up the radio.

“Of course you make your own option.” Sam watches me, waiting for some sort of explanation.

We come in at the end of a song and the next one is oh too recognizable. The classic rock sound that is a part of all of Colson’s music plays through the car speakers. His vocals enter the soundwave and I groan loudly over the music before turning off the radio.

"No music then!" I snap.

__________________________________

Masterlist

Tags: @canyoubuymetoast @bri-3530 @asil1652 @andstilltryingtofindmyself @nadia2021 @olafsidehoe @mgkobsessed @fairywriting101 @ferrell-cat @naylanae-0308 @tonystarkswife10 @alexsa5 @brocksbabyyy @stormrider505 @magnificenthumancopangel @sarcasticfangirlus @lilramencup95beech @missyviolet123 @skeleton-gxr @glitterybearllamaflap @margaritaville20 @amoresix @thysagclub

[sweetchup]

Cute Little Princess

Anonymous said: Anything with phinks please 🥺 I love this big dumb gym rat sm

Type: Phinks x Princess Reader

Au?: None (Is in the same timeline as N.E.R.D.S)

Word Count: 3,000

Warnings: Angst

Author Note: Oof you give me my boi Phinks and say anything?! Get ready my friend cause I know the perfect thing 😤👏👏. Also I used a small reference to my one of my favorite childhood shows if anyone can catch it. It’s very small though.

So today’s a Tuesday, an average taco Tuesday for mister Phinks Magcub. Well that’s what he would like to say right now.

“So Mr Magcub, you’re a wealthy businessman from the Mimbo republic?” A women says, laughing before taking a sip from from her expensive wine.

“W-why yes I am ma’am.”

Why couldn’t the boss have picked Nobunaga or even Machi for this mission? Phinks was currently stuck in the Royal Castle of the Fushi Empire. Chrollo had wanted someone to get close to the royal family in order to collect information on where their famous Dragon Eye collection was located. And of course, Shalnark, being the ass he is who was originally chosen, had to drop out at the last minute. So, Phinks had to cover for him.

Phinks is snapped out of his thoughts as the Emperor puts down his wine glass. He wipes his stubbly chin with a cloth before looking at Phinks.

“So, Mr Magcub, you said you are interested in marrying one of my daughters, if I’m correct? Which one catches your eye?” The Emperor questions, moving his hand to point at his 3 daughters. The golden robe the emperor was wearing flows in the wind from an open window as he does so.

Phinks turns to look at the girls in front of them. They were all incredibly beautiful but one had caught his eye since he first stepped into the room. It was the youngest daughter of the Fushi Emperor, (Y/n) Fushi. No one could lie that the lady was absolutely gorgeous, with locks that look like pure silk and bright diamond like eyes. She also wore a very nice light jade green and white Hanfu that made her look like a little princess. But, as much as Phinks want to choose her, he knew that the best choice for the mission would be the eldest daughter, Himiko.

“I actually like your eldest daughter, Himiko. Her long blond locks against her pink kimono really catch my eye.” Phinks says, smiling at the princess. Himiko and the middle sister giggle like crazy and whisper to each other. He’s now actually thankful that one of the old men back at Meteor City taught him proper etiquette and how to be a gentleman. Cause if he didn’t, he probably would be hanged by now.

The king chuckles at his daughter’s antics. “Well Mr. Magcub, I’m sure my daughter would love to be your bride.”

Phinks smirks to himself. What a sucker. “Please, no need for formalities, call me Phinks.”

————💥✊🏻💥————

“So, did you finally get it?” Phinks says as he leans against the windowsill. Watching the greens of the prestigious castle garden move under the moonlight gleam.

“Yeah we got it, it was pretty easy too. The Dragon Eye collection is in fact already back at the base. Also the Boss wants you back by sometime tomorrow or the day after that. So you’ll probably want to get a move on.” Nobunaga's voice says from the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. I know, I’ll be there.”

Phinks hangs up the phone and lets out a sigh. Finally, after 2 weeks stuck here, his life will go back to normal. He could finally get out of this uncomfortable green tang suit he’s been wearing. Huh? It’s you again. Phinks looks out at the window as you begin to climb the garden wall. While he’s been here, Phinks has noticed that it’s a nightly thing you do; you climb the wall, leave for hours on end and come back tired. What are you? One of the twelve dancing princesses?

He truly wonders what you go off and do. Phinks suddenly smirks to himself. Well, it is his last night here so it wouldn’t hurt to follow. Who knows maybe you're some secret stripper or lady of the night? He whistles to himself at the thought. Man that would be awesome if that is the case. He surely hopes so.

And, in a flash, Phinks is out of his bedroom, with his small bag of stuff slinged over his shoulder. After quietly jumping through the trees, he is following you down the winding streets of the capital city. It was pretty easy too since you're not wearing a cloak, after all there’s really no need for it in the first place since no one knows what the princesses look like.

You, the youngest princess of Emperor HuinYa Fushi, was slipping past people in the crowd, wearing an old Hanfu from one of the servants. Your heart is pounding as you look past the many street lanterns and open shops for the night. No matter how many times you sneak out, it nevers gets old. Afterall, you believed this sight was much more beautiful than being back at the castle. Trapped like a bird in a cage. You, honestly, just wanted to explore the world, seeing everything it has to offer. The good and the bad.

“Miss! How about a nice refreshing Bing Tanghulu? It’s only two for 25 quien.” The salesman shouts, pointing a candied strawberry skewer right at you. The man’s silliness causes you to break out in a giggle and you reach into your pocket to grab some money. Once you have the 3 silver coins needed to buy them you go to give it to the salesman.

“Here—“ “Here. She’ll take two strawberry ones and I’ll take a grape one.” You freeze as you are cut off by a man’s deep voice and an arm slinging around your shoulder. You look up as the mystery man who holds out two of the sticks to you and gasp in shock. “Phinks?!?”

“Hiyah sweetheart.” Phinks says and smirks, taking a bite out of a candied grape. You shakily grab the two sticks from him as he leads you away. How did he know you were here? Did he follow you? You look around worriedly. Wait, is your whole family at the market tonight?

“What are you doing here?!” You whisper-shout. You were probably ghostly pale from worry, though that is probably hard to see due to how dark it is out. But still, you don’t want your father to find out you're sneaking out every night. He won’t ever leave you on your own again, if he found out.

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

“W-well…” You just sigh in defeat causing Phinks to chuckle. Oh god what a mess you got into. You better hope your father and sisters aren’t actually here. You're suddenly startled as Phinks ruffle your hair.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, It’s just me. I just wanted to see where you run off to every night. Mind showing me what you do?” You bite your lip as Phinks says that. It would be fun for someone to join you for once. But… could you trust him? He might be your sister’s fiancé but they have been only engaged for 2 weeks. He’s also acting differently right now than what he is usually like. “Come on. Lead the way?”

You look up at Phinks as he pats you on the back. You guess, it wouldn’t hurt for some company for one night. Right? You giggle and grab him by the arm, dragging him down the street. “Ok! Come on then. It’ll be fun.”

Phinks smirks as he runs with you. You even looked gorgeous running through the crowds under the blurred red and yellow lanterns. He kind of wondered what it would be like running with you hand n’ hand after some sort of robbery or heist. That would be fun but oh well, at least you’re showing him what you do for fun.

————💥✊🏻💥————

This is not what Phinks expected when you said this is what you do for fun.

“Kick his ass, girl!!”

“Come on!! I bet a lot of money on that guy.”

“Hell yeah!”

There he was standing on the sidelines in an underground small stadium, watching a princess he found cute as fuck in an illegal underground fighting match. Who knew you were an enhancer as well. Phinks is knocked out of his confusion as a rumble shakes through the arena. You had just roundhouse kicked the guy out of the rink and right through a stone wall.

“And that's match! (Y/n) wins by K.O!!” The referee announces, holding up your arm. The crowd breaks out into cheers and boos. Phinks grumbles, some of the people who bet on that guy were just sore losers.

“Phinks!” Phinks looks up to see you running and leaning on the railing of the fighting floor. Damn. Phinks felt like he was melting into the floor as you came up to him. You honestly looked like his dream girl; You looked so cute with diamond shining eyes, your fragile doll-like features and your silky hair pulled out of your face. But, with you covered in sweat, bruised up a little and covered in the blood from the other guy, you also looked so hot and now ten times better than he first met you in his opinion. “W-what did you think?”

Phinks chuckles as you look nervous, waiting for his opinion. “That was awesome. Good job! I didn’t even know you knew nen.”

“Ah-h yeah. I got initiated into it after some of the older members gave me a heads up for a championship match I was supposed to take part in. I was honestly so thankful for them.” You say, remember back to about 2 years when this had all started. Wow…it had really been that long ago. Oh, wait a minute! “Phinks!”

Phinks hums in response and raises an eyebrow. You blush in embarrassment and look down, fumble with the rope like railing. You can’t believe you're about to ask this, “D-Do you wanna do a match?”

Phinks is shocked for a minute before smirking and jumping up over the rope. You light up like a kid on Christmas as soon as you see him step into the ring. “Sure sweetheart. But, I ain’t going easy on you.”

“O-ok! Hey Ref, I have a challenger!”

Phinks smiles as he watches you run off to the ref to explain the match and your challenger. Honestly, he’s positive at this point that you're his dream girl. He suddenly frowns as he realizes something.

He has to leave tonight…. crap.

“Phinks!!” Phinks looks up as you stand on the other side of the ring. “Ready?”

Phinks smiles and nods. The match bell rings signaling the fight has begun. He’ll deal with that problem once it comes. But right now, it’s his time to have fun.

————💥✊🏻💥————

“Awww man!! I can’t believe you beat me~ I for sure thought I was going to win.” You whine as you and Phinks make your way through the now dark and practically empty streets. All the lanterns were out so the only light provided was from the big full moon dropping into the horizon, though you didn’t mind since it was such a clear night out. A perfect night to watch the stars. Well, it technically would have been but you were so distracted by the fun you were having that you didn’t realize how late it is. The sun will break over the horizon any second now and you better get back to the castle.

Though that was the least of your concerns, Phinks was acting weird. He hadn’t answered you or smiled at all since you two started walking back to the castle. The only thing he did other than walk behind you and act like a puss is he kept on weirdly checking his phone every couple of seconds. Like he was waiting for something. Did something happen while you weren’t looking?

You hear a small grumble from him as he checks his phone again. That was it. You’ve had enough of his antics. You stopped dead in your tracks and turned around to face him. “Phinks! What’s the matter with you?”

Phinks blinks a couple of times before pushing past you, grumbling something under his breath. That ass! You weren’t having any of that so you grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down onto the ground. Phinks glares at you as he lands on his ass, “What the hell was that for?!��

“That’s for not listening to me! Now, what is wrong with you? I thought we had fun tonight.”

Phinks tches and mumbles, “Well it’s not like it’s ever going to happen again.”

“W-well why not?!”

“It’s just not alright!” He shouts, brushing himself off as he stands up from the dirty ground. You glare at the man in front of you, a golden hue surrounding him since the sun has just begun to rise over the horizon.

You were just so confused as he just stalks by you again. What did he mean by you two wouldn’t do this again? Of course you two could. He’s going to be around the castle for practically 3 months before he gets married to your sister. “Of course we can do this again!! We could do this every once in a while or even every night. Your marrying my sister in 3 month—“

“I’M NOT MARRYING HER!” Phinks shouts angrily, stopping in his tracks; His back facing you. You froze in place.

“W-why not… I don’t understand…”

Phinks chuckles darkly at that and he reaches to the front of his shirt, unbuttoning the collared shirt. “Of course you don’t…well I’m going to spell it out for you, sweetheart.”

With a flick of his wrist, Phinks pulls down the top half of his green tang suit down. You gasp a little as you see it. In the golden light of the sun, you see a big spider tattoo with the number 5 on it. He is…

Your throat and lips suddenly felt very dry as you attempted to speak. “Y-you’re part of the phantom troupe... So, you were after…”

“Yeah. I was after the Dragon Eye Collection this whole time. And now that we have it, I’m leaving and never coming back.”

You stood there frozen as you watched him finally turn around and walk past you. You stare at the ground unable to look at his face as he places a warm hand on your head.

“I was going to walk you back but I doubt that’s needed. So long, (y/n).”

And like that Phinks is gone. Yet you could still feel the strange warmth that his hand provided on the top of your head. You laugh for a second before hot bubbling tears cascade down your face. How strange this is. How strange it is that a man you’ve only known for two weeks has made you this happy in one night. More happy than you’ve ever been.

You curl down into your knees as you sob. It hurts. Your heart really hurts. You’ve never felt so lonely and empty before.

————💥✊🏻💥————

Phinks walks through the bamboo shoot forest outside of the capital city. He’s lost in his thoughts when suddenly his phone finally dings. He looks at it for a second before he finally chuckles.

“Too late for that now, boss.” He mumbles to himself, looking at the text written out.

Boss: Well based on what you told me, since she can take care of herself she is fine to stay, but she also can’t interfere with troupe activities. Bring her at the meeting tomorrow so the members can meet her. I’m honestly curious as to why you picked her.

It was honestly way too late. Maybe if he hadn’t told you right then and walked you back to the castle then, maybe you two would be together right now? No, it would be inevitable at that point. He would have to leave eventually and he highly doubts you would go with him. You're a princess after all and he’s just some pathetic street rat.

Phinks sighs and brushes his fingers through his hair. Man, you really drive him crazy.

“Phinks!!”

Phinks blinks as he hears a faint voice yelling in the distance.

“Phinks!”

There it is again. Wait, he recognizes that voice.

“(Y/n)!” Phinks run off in your direction as he sees you also alone in the bamboo woods with a backpack on your back. You smile, with your tears streak cheeks stretching, as you also run over to him. Clutching onto him like your life depended on it. Phinks finally smiled for the first time that morning as he heard you mumble 5 magical words into his jacket.

“Don’t leave me behind, idiot.”

Maybe, just maybe, hope wasn’t all lost for that spider.

Bonus:

“Crap another group of guards. This is the 10th search group out to look for you today.” Phinks mutters angrily, as you two hide from them in a bush. You sigh, kind of sad that you were making Phinks go through all this trouble for you.

“I’m sorry Phinks. Maybe I really should have stay—“

“Don’t you dare say that, sweetheart. Now that you're with me you aren’t ever going back.” You blink a couple of times before giggling and holding on to him tight.

“Thank you Phinks…”

.

.

.

“Hey Paul. Did you hear a giggle over there just now?”

You and Phinks freeze. Crap!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Surveys #417-419

Been slacking on posting these, so here’s like three surveys over the past few days divided up. I just don’t feel like posting them individually. Beware, it’s a long post, haha.

Do you believe that animals don’t have souls? I lean towards the idea that they, at least more complex species with actual sentience, do in some way. It's hard to imagine like, a fly having a soul, but it's a nice thought. You could NEVER convince me some don't, though, like my late dog Teddy, Sara's old chameleon Jem, and I could go on and on. Have you ever not been able to swallow pills? No, I've always been able to. If you HAD to change your first name, what would you change it to? Maybe like, Quinn. Something you don't hear a lot, for sure. Something more memorable. What are your thoughts on orange soda? Orange cream soda is BOMB. Man, been so long since I've had that stuff... Are you good with children and/or animals? Don't mean to brag, but people say I'm like a magician with animals. No matter what it is, I bond with it. Children, not so much. I'm awkward around them. Who in your life makes you smile the most? My cat, ha ha. If you were cremated, where would you want your ashes to be placed? Hm. Maybe high up in the mountains or in the Kalahari Desert. Do you plan on going to your high school’s reunion? No. I'm pretty sure I'd shatter from memories just entering the building. Would you want revenge on someone if they killed someone special to you? Or would you find it in your heart to forgive? "Forgive" my ass. They'd better get what's coming to them, even if I've gotta be the person to deliver it. Is there someone you are dying to see? More than I think anyone could possibly know. But it's probably better if I never do. Could you picture yourself getting married and having kids? Married, yes. Having kids, no. I could only picture that in one phase of my life, but like I called it: a phase. I should never be a mother, nor do I want to be one to begin with, so yeah, no kids for me. Do you like to take walks? If my legs were actually worth a shit, yes, I would, if it's in a nature-filled area. What are you listening to at this moment in time? "Thoughts & Prayers" by Motionless In White. Did you ever kiss someone with a tattoo? No. Could you say something good about the last person you kissed? She's very resilient. Why are you single? Because 1.) I'm a very unappealing example of an adult, 2.) I'm not exactly very attractive, and 3.) I'm basically a hermit, so I don't meet people. Do you get jealous if your boyfriend hugs another girl? Hypothetically, in almost any case, I wouldn't. My imaginary boyfriend can have female friends. But I'll admit if it was like, an ex-girlfriend or something and it was a seriously intense hug, I might. Is there something that happened in your past you hate talking about? Yes, but I mean, who doesn't. Have you ever been completely alone with a boy in his room? You make this sound so scandalous lmao. Yes, plenty of times. I dated a dude and briefly lived with him for three and a half years. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? No. Who was the last person that you cried in front of? I'm sure it was Mom. Is it hard for you to be “just friends” with the opposite sex? Nah. Do you remember every single person that you’ve kissed? Yeah. Do you believe that the world will actually end? Humanity, oh yeah. The planet itself, given the infinite nature of the universe, also yes. At SOME point, even if it's zillions of years down the line, Earth is gonna get fucked by something. Are you socially awkward? I am the literal avatar of "socially awkward." Would you rather watch a comedy movie or horror movie? Horror. Who is your favorite actor/actress? MARK IS A FUCKIN' ACTOR, Y'ALL. Are you satisfied with your gender? Yeah. Are you good at admitting your problems? HA! Yeah. ezpz Have you ever had a hangover? No, never been drunk to begin with. Do you know any strippers? No. How many times have you dyed your hair? I ain't counting. What is something that reminds you of your childhood? Dinosaurs. Do you think you eat healthy? I try to. I have my bad days, though. Are you sick quite often or hardly at all? My immune system is the fucking MVP. I am just about never, ever sick. Has anyone suspected you of being a different sexuality? Yes. Do you like chocolate or vanilla cake more? Chocolate, duh. Does it bother you to have blood drawn or not so much? Nah, no biggie. Has your cell phone ever rung in class? Omg no, I woulda been mortified. Have you ever tried opening your eyes under water? Yeah, as a kid. Would you rather have a cat or a dog? I prefer cats. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? Like... six times, I wanna say. What would you say is your favorite type of flower? Orchids, but I also love dahlias. I've actually noticed that I've really had a greater "thing" for flowers lately. Like don't get me wrong, I've always loved flowers very much, but I've just found myself more drawn to them than usual, especially when taking the daily hour ride to the TMS office. Do you watch Toddlers and Tiaras? FUCK no. That show disgusts and angers me so much. If someone asked you to go to war today, what would you say? Yeah, no. Funny joke. I couldn't go anyway due to mental health issues and a suicidal history. Do you own an old vintage typewriter? We used to when I was little. I have no idea what happened to it, though?? Hell, maybe we still have it somewhere, but I doubt that. Do you like or hate the smell of fish? Ew, does ANYONE like the smell of fish??? Have you ever read any of John Green’s books? I got a few pages into The Fault in Our Stars, but stopped for no real reason. I didn't not like it or anything, I was just still in my "I don't read" episode. Are you a protective person? VERY. I'm a fucking guard dog over those I love most. Are you a fan of penguins? Yeah, they're cute. I especially think emperor penguins are very majestic. Have you ever met your favorite author? I don’t have a favorite author. Did you get your mom or dad’s eyes? Neither's. I think my maternal grandpa had blue eyes, though? I'm not sure at all, though. When was the last time someone bought you flowers? Not sure. Has there ever been a murder in your town? "A" murder? Thems is rookie numbers for my neck of the woods, fella. This place is known for crime, and that includes murder. When falling asleep, do you ever feel like you stopped breathing? Well, I have seriously severe sleep apnea, so... but the diagnosis came as a surprise to me, because I never DID think this. But sure enough, did a sleep study, and in just one hour's time, I stopped breathing like what, 30 times? What's the last thing that scared the hell out of you? Stupid drivers. Do you have any life-changing plans within the next 6 months? I guess getting a job could be pretty life-changing. As of right now, how do you feel about your future? I'm very, very scared. Who is the last person you ran into unexpectedly? Hm, I dunno. Where does your grandma live? Both of mine are dead, but my paternal grandmother lived in Michigan, while my maternal one technically lived in Florida, but stayed in New York with her son's family a whole lot. I don't really know where she stayed more. Do you know how to read music? Not anymore. Does the song you’re currently listening to remind you of anyone special? Not so much the song, but the band. Motionless In White is one of his all-time favorites, so I can't listen to them without thinking of Jason. Sucks because they've been becoming one of MY favorites, too, so I listen to them a lot. If the person who has hurt you the most, said they were in love with you, would you believe them? I'd tell him he was in a love with a person who no longer exists. It's impossible for him to be in love with me now when he doesn't know how much I've changed. If Facebook made you pay would you still use it? Ha, no. Have you ever been recorded on film without your permission? Not that I know of? Tell me about your last boyfriend? He's a wonderful person. He's been there for me without fail since we became friends in high school band, and he is SO fucking funny. He's always cared a lot about me, and I care a lot about him, just not in the same way he does me. He's like my big brother. Are your parents racist? My dad definitely is. What is your least favorite subject in school? Math and economics both sucked. Have you ever been involved in a custody battle before? Almost certain no. I'm pretty sure Dad didn't fight for custody at all, but it could've been something Mom just never told me. Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I NEVER could. Do you have any siblings you neglect? .-. As a kid, did you ever go to camp? I went to Vacation Bible School, if that counts. Did your parents ever let you play in the pits of those multicolored balls? Yeah, until that big news story about a dirty needle pricking a child. Have any of your siblings ever had a crush on your significant other? Not to my knowledge. I highly doubt it. What do you usually order at Taco Bell, if you go there? Cheese quesadilla with fiesta potatoes. Rarely a pair of those cinnamon ball thingies. Ever consider a sex change? Nah. Do you eat whip cream straight out of the can? EW no. I hate the texture of whipped cream. What do you think of popcorn? Loooove. Have you ever dated any of your friends’ ex? No. Well, it's funny, Rachel (both Juan's and Jason's ex) and I are friends now, but definitely weren't at the time of us being together. Have you ever gone out with someone even though one of your friends liked that person first? If yes, did you feel bad? If no, were you tempted to? No. Would you rather be a rich musician, or a rich actor? Musician. What was the last charity you donated to? I don't recall. Did you like to collect frogspawn as a kid? I've told the "my friends and I saved hundreds of tadpoles" story enough times, so for this question, I'll just talk about when I would go fishing with Dad as a kid. Back then, if I got bored of actually fishing, I would walk along the riverbank and try to catch tadpoles and minnows in my hands. It was soooo fun to Kid Brittany. Do you walk fast or slow? I walk pretty damn slow. Can you juggle with more than two items? I can't juggle, period. Do you like jalapenos? Yeah! Do you like kiwis? Yessss, I love kiwi! Does anyone in your family go deer or bird hunting? Who is it anyway? I don't know if she still does, but my little sister used to go deer hunting with a friend.

Are you saving up for anything right now? What? Yeah, my pet snake's 40 gallon terrarium. What sort of things do you have bookmarked in your internet browser? It's quite diverse, but I think I mostly have templates for specific character profiles. Have you ever snuck in to a theater/dance/bar etc? No, I'm a good noodle. If given the chance, would you go to Ireland? Certainly! It's beautiful there. If you have a cat, does it ever “converse” with you? Oh, ABSOLUTELY. When I talk to him, he sure does try to answer me and it's the cutest thing, ha ha. Have you ever tried those electric toothbrushes? Yeah, that’s what I use. Has anyone told you that they wanted to marry you/were planning on it/etc? Yeah, guess he changed his mind. Name one of your ex’s mother’s names? Virginia. Does your favorite song have a meaning? BIG TIME. Have you ever written or received a suicide note? I've written one. .-. What is the worst thing a child has ever done to you while you were babysitting? When I was changing her diaper, she got up and ran around naked in the house. ;-; Do you own a nightgown? No. If you could get any pet right now, what would you get? i. want. my. tarantula. Have you ever actually been stuffed into a locker? No. That is just such a TV trope that I've never even heard of happening irl. Do you/did you decorate the inside of your locker at school with stuff? I only had a locker in middle school, and I believe I didn't. I didn't want one in HS. What’s the coolest thing you’ve made with Legos? I was never a Legos kid; I played with Lincoln Logs. Do you want to get pregnant right now? Fuck no, man. Or ever. Have you ever housed a friend for a long period of time because they had no place to live? No. If you have a favorite comedian, have they ever been in a movie? I don't have one, really. Are there any books you want to read? Besides the series I'm reading, I want to read The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, but idk if I'll ever get to it, really. If you have younger siblings, are you very protective of them? We don't have a close relationship, but I am nevertheless. If you have older siblings, are they very protective of you? Not really, it seems. First letter of the names of everyone you have kissed? J, T, D, S. Do you like going to school sports games? No, I hated it. When Ash was a cheerleader, Mom made me go, and I was never happy about it. Have you ever worn your boyfriend’s clothes? An ex-boyfriend's, yeah. Did you get into your mom’s makeup when you were a kid? I don't think I did? Do you want anything pierced? Ugh, a lot of places. The last time you washed your hair, did you use conditioner? I never do. Has your partner ever accused you of cheating when you actually didn’t? I've never been accused of cheating. Has anyone ever called you stuck-up? No. I'm quite the opposite. Have you been diagnosed with any mental disorders? Too many, really. What are you doing this summer? Nada. Do you still watch MTV? I never did. Have you ever spent the night with the last person you kissed? Yes. What’s the dress code for your job? Do you like it? I'm unemployed. Does your job allow piercings or tattoos? ^, and this might sound stupid, but I wouldn't work at a job that didn't. Especially tattoos. No job is stopping me from doing things that improve my self-esteem and body image, particularly when I LOATHE my body. If a little bit of art makes me feel better about myself? Nobody is stopping me. What are some trends you dislike that everyone seems to love? "Crocs. Whyyyy?" <<<< THIS. First people hated them, now they love them??? They're hideous as shit. If you got married and then got divorced, would you want to re-marry? I don't really know. How often do you use lotion? Not NEARLY enough for someone with skin as dry as mine. Do you donate your old stuff to Goodwill? If so, what was the last thing you donated? Yeah. Mom recently brought some old toys, I think? How weight conscious are you? You have no fucking idea. Rent a movie or go see one in theaters? I prefer going to a theater. I enjoy the experience. What’s the biggest personality trait turn-off for a potential partner? Probably being an explosive/volatile person. I can't with that. Would you ever go on a birth control pill? I already am to regulate my period and tame the cramps. And if I was sexually active, I absolutely would want to be on it. What's your favorite late night tv show? I don’t have one. At high school do or did you participate in Spirit Week? No. Do you have a favorite vocalist? Who? Queen's Freddie Mercury will probably always top the list. If you have a favorite photographer, can you describe their work? I don't have a favorite photographer. Surprisingly. Are sex and sexual activities something you enjoy? If it's with someone I'm in love with and am in the mood, sure. What is one aspect of your life that did not turn out as you expected? I did NOT expect to reach 25 like... *gestures at self* this. What is one thing stopping you from becoming a veterinarian? I could never handle euthanizing pets and watching the families' hearts break. How long have you lived in the house you live in? Not even a year. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? I'm definitely sadder. Especially today. Do you like Subway? I do. Have you ever seen a volcano? No. Have you ever found a spider on your bed? Yes. It's the scariest shit when one skitters across your blanket, because like, you LEAST expect it to happen in the comfort of your own bed. Are you satisfied with the way your life is right now? Not even remotely, if I'm being honest. I'm at a real low. When was the last time you ate at Burger King? Years ago, when I was a vegetarian and went there for the veggie burger. How often do you cry? lol a lot Ever had a crush on a teacher? No. Can you wire a plug? ... I don't even know what you mean by "wire a plug," so obviously no lmfao. Where were you when you got your first period? Well I think I actually *started* at school, but I noticed when I got home. Can you drive? I mean I'm capable, but I'm an incredibly anxious, overly passive, and just generally terrified driver. I'm so scared of when I finally get new glasses and therefore a new permit... but I have to get used to driving. Living where I do, public transportation is very, very limited, and I just can't have people driving me places the rest of my life. Exercise or healthy eating? I sadly hate exercising SO much. I'd rather eat healthy. Did you play Red Rover when you were a child? Yeah. Are you more attracted to men or women? This can actually vary with time, which I originally thought was weird but is apparently normal for some bisexual individuals. There are spans where I feel more sexual attraction to men, and then other times women. Has anyone ever called you rich? God no, I am so far from it. What makes you feel beautiful? Nothing. Are you considered a very sensitive person? I'm way too sensitive for my own good. Have you ever told someone you never wanted to speak to them again? Yes, my dad. I regret that letter I sent him so, so much. I honestly don't know how he can treat me with so much love after the shit I said. If you could watch any TV series right now, what would it be? I am... astonishingly behind on Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty. I know, seriously incredible. I just don't watch TV, man. It's strange, I'm into the show, of course I am, I just... don't like sitting myself in front of a television and purely watching it. I'll catch up, though. Do you grind your teeth, and if so, why do you do it? No. But it's not like people have a reason they grind their teeth... they just do. Do you feel the need to rant about anything right now? If so, go for it. I could, but I'm not going to. It'll just upset me. Do you have a friend named Nick? What’s his favourite food? My sister's husband's name is Nick, but he is definitely not my friend. I can't stand his bigoted, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, racist ass. I don't know or care what his favorite food is. What are you listening to? I'm re-watching Gab and Sinow play Resident Evil 5. People can say all they want about RE5, but I love it. Do you prefer waffles or pancakes? Waffles, but only if they're still soft enough to not be considered crunchy. I prefer them because I can put peanut butter on them, and the grooves catch the syrup instead of just absorbing it all like pancakes. Do you prefer non-diet or diet soda? I don't/can't drink diet sodas because the artificial sweetener gives me a KILLER headache. Are you craving anything right now? You guys have no idea how badly I want Taco Bell for whatever reason. Which word did you say first, mama or dada? The latter. What was your first pet’s name? So, there's three answers to this. I was born into the family while we had a collie named Trigger, but I have absolutely zero memory of her. She passed when I was too young. Our first family pet that I clearly remember was Chance, our rescued cat. My first *personal* pet was either a guinea pig named Squeak or Chinese water dragon named Shadow. I can't remember who came first. Who was your best friend in elementary? It changed with the years, but I can say the three biggies were Brianna, Kim, and Quiata. Who was your favorite teacher in high school? Probably Coach Collie. He was so wise, kind, funny... He was all-around just wonderful and taught so many life lessons. When you go to a restaurant, do you have a go-to dish? Always. What is the best part of your most ordinary day? Waking up and doing my first sweep of the Internet before I get bored outta my fucking senses. Do you read any web comics? No.

Do you drink bottled water? Yeah, but like any water, it has to be COLD. Not room temperature. Not a tad chilly. I mean cooooold. When did you last use a straw? Earlier. I have a metal straw I use to drink water with because I drink faster through a straw, and with it being water, of course I want to try to drink as much as I can when I actually choose to drink water. Have you ever tackled someone to the ground? No. Do you know anyone who lies to make themselves look more interesting? My former best friend did that. She was an online friend, so it made it easy. I finally caught on and called her out on it, and then she just totally dipped. Do you like to sing? Not that much, honestly. Like sometimes I feel like it, sure, but not frequently. Are your parents in good health? No, not really. Have you ever been a caregiver to a sick/disabled relative? No. I feel bad saying it, but I know I never could be. I could NOT clean another human being. It's one of the bajillion reasons I'm not having kids. Do you like to take naps during the day? "Like" isn't the right word. I just... need to. Most days, there is NO way I can make it 'til night without one. What movie was your favorite to see in the movie theater? Even though it was sincerely a sucky movie, I really enjoyed watching Silent Hill: Revelation because I saw the 3D version, plus the hype over my favorite franchise getting a new movie was just very exciting. Favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character? I was never into that. Ever watched The Blair Witch Project? Yes, and I positively adore it. I genuinely think it's a genius horror movie, never showing, but telling through other methods. Have a favorite AC/DC song? Probably "You Shook Me All Night Long." Are you good at selling candy for those fundraiser things? Omg nooooo I HATED doing that shit, especially when some amount of sales were like, required for whatever bullshit reason. I hate hate hate advertising to people. My parents always bought them instead. Have you ever had a crush on someone too old for you? No. Well, besides James Hetfield, ha ha. What's your favorite Dr. Suess quote? I don't know enough quotes to have one. If you were to have wings, what would you want them to look like? Dark and dragon-esque with lots of rips and tears in them... but not enough to stop me from flying, ha ha. Have you ever broken up with someone to find you want them back later? No. Has anyone ever dared you to eat a chili pepper? Did you do it? No. Have you ever tried Thai food? No. Have you ever watched Avatar? The TV show, not the movie. I've seen I think one season with Sara so far? I actually quite enjoy it. What's your cellphone's signature for text? WOW this survey is ancient. If you smoke marijuana, what is your preferred or typical method? I don't smoke it. Do you often take painkillers? I dunno about "often," but headaches to the point I take something aren't rare for me. Do you wish you were in a relationship? I mean yes, but I know it's for the better I'm not. Have you ever been to the ER? Many times. Do you ever feel guilty eating meat? I feel extremely guilty. I try not to think about it. Where have you lived for the most part of your life? Eastern NC. How old are you? 25. What are you listening to at the moment? Powerwolf came out with a new album, so I've been bingeing the shit out of some songs, ha ha. Right now it's "Blood For Blood." Do you watch WWE Raw? Ew, no. I have NEVER gotten the appeal of wrestling. Just like... why????? Do you dye your hair? Nowhere near regularly. :/ I haven't had it dyed in a very long time, and I hate it. I love colored hair. We just can't afford that expense on something so little. My hair does NOT take dye easily, so we have to have a professional do it, and that isn't exactly cheap. Have you ever lived in a different country that the one you’re living in? No. Which of your parents will you see next? I live with my mother, so. Have you fallen asleep in school? Not in class, no. In college when I would be in the library between classes, though, I've dozed before. Have you ever been hospitalized? Yes, but not for physical issues. Do you make fun of obese people? You're talking to someone who is. So obviously no, and you're a piece of fucking shit if you do. Do you have an innie or an outtie? Innie. Have you ever tried to headbang? No. Even as a metalhead, I don't get it, man. You're asking for a headache. Do you own any Converse? What do you think of them? I have a few and like them. Have you ever started a rumor? No. Have you ever been in a position of authority? I mean, I'm an admin on two sites, so I guess? Were your ancestors royalty? Yeah, I'm related to one of the Queen Victorias, I believe. I just know she had a thing for beheading people, ha ha. What do you like on your pasta/noodles? Sauce, butter, grated cheese, etc.? Just tomato sauce and meatballs, really. Who is the most ungrateful person you know? What makes them this way? My fucking ex-best friend. You could never, ever give her enough and she just... blegh. She was so fucking ungrateful for everything people did for her. It was just never enough. Do you like cherry Pepsi? I like cherry Coke. I don't like Pepsi. Have you ever held an uncommon pet before (ex: mouse, spider, snake, lizard)? I've held snakes, rats, lizards, and a tarantula. Who did you last play truth or dare with? No clue. Have you ever camped out somewhere for an event the next day? No. When were you the saddest in your life? 2016. Do you know anyone, personally, who is in an abusive relationship? Are you? No. If you have siblings, have they moved out or do they still live with you? Yeah, they've moved out. What was the most unique pet you’ve owned? I'd probably say my champagne ball python. A lot of people don't even know ball python morphs exist, so seeing her might surprise some people. Do you like Doritos? Yeah. When you buy clothes, do you always try them on first? No, but I need to learn how to... I just HATE doing it. Have you used bugspray recently? No. Do you enjoy swimming in the ocean? Yesssss. Have you ever tried to sew or knit anything? No. Has something ever happened to you that seemed like it was from a movie? Most of Jason's and my relationship felt like one. Hence why the breakup felt so sudden and just impossible. Do you find yourself to be a believer in love at first sight? Not even remotely. Is there something you want to do, that you swear you will, no matter what? Spread Teddy's ashes in Yellowstone. I promised him. Are you longing for the day that you’ll be an adult? (If you’re not already) I am an adult, and it sucks. What’s something you’ve vowed to never eat? Any meat that was hunted. Have you ever owned a diary/journal with a lock and key? I don't believe so. When you were little, what movie did you watch over and over? Mostly Disney films, like The Lion King and Finding Nemo. Are you deathly allergic to anything? No. Do you know what you want for your dream house? Nope. I honestly don't really care about having a "dream" house to begin with. I just need one that's cozy to me and gets the job done. Have you ever seen the movie The Notebook? Many, many times. It's my favorite romance movie. Have you ever used the photo editing site “Picnik”? No, not to my memory. Has an animal ever taken a strong dislike to you? Our old dog Bentley didn't like me all that much, and I didn't like him, either. Have you ever attempted to cut your own hair? No. Do you have a lucky or special coin? No. Do you love ice cream cake more than normal cake? No. Do you check your email daily? No. Is there anyone you know who’s in any way paralyzed? No. For you, do you commonly feel more jealousy or envy? Envy. Do you rely on the heads/tails flipping of a coin sometimes for decisions? No. Has a laptop ever burned your legs? Yes, actually. For a while many years ago, my old laptop left subtle burn marks on my legs. Anyone’s birthday coming up soon? My nephew's is next month. Do you like Laffy Taffy? I doooo. Are your biceps at all noticeable? Ha, no. Have you ever seen a walrus? Maybe when I went to SeaWorld as a kid? Did you ever have one of those easy bake ovens as a kid? Yup. If given the opportunity, would you ride on a camel? Sure. What flavor cake do you like for your birthday? Red velvet. Have you ever had a job you loved? Nope. Have you ever been in a building that was on fire? Yikes, no. Have you ever written a poem for someone? Two people. Have you been best friends with someone of a different race? Yes. Who is the person you are closest to that you’ve met online? Sara. What was the name of the first porcelain doll you got? I was very afraid of dolls as a kid, so I obviously didn't have one. Do you sell any products? If so, what? I mean, I'm a wannabe photographer that sells my service. Owls or peacocks? Owls. Lions or horses? Lions. Can you still fit into kid’s clothes? Hell no. What devotional do you read, if any? None. What do you make wishes on? I only ever do for the tradition of it on my birthday. I don't believe in the magic of wishes, though. Have you ever made a recipe you found in a magazine? No. Are you bitter about anything? Probably always will be. Have you ever been in a love triangle? No. How bad are your hangovers? Never had one. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, what was the cause of it? Yes. It was identified as a fracture, but a break and a fracture are technically like the same thing, so. At a skating rink, I fell and landed on my hand so the top of it nearly touched my arm, so my wrist got FUCKED. I will never, ever forget the severity of the pins and needles feeling and just the experience in general. It hurt so goddamn bad. Is this the best year of your life? Fuck no.

[fekst-fucker]

Y’all Really Wanted Crab Cakes Huh

Ok ok!! Here it is finally! I can drop my grandpa’s recipe if y’all like crab cakes, I know they’re one of my faves 😌💫

@creepy-bi-day, @the-acolytes-collection, @cryptic-writings, @maine-anon, @fuck-mcgee

“Today we’re gonna make a Boston special.” Jack grinned, swinging into your small kitchen from the hallway, “crab cakes.”

You lowered your glass from lips, raising your eyebrow skeptically at him.

“Jack, you can’t even cook an egg.” You snorted, “and you want to make crab cakes?”

“Hey, I just can’t make fried eggs. How hard can crab cakes be? Get some crab, smoosh it into a pancake, fry it.” He shrugged, and you put your face in your hands.

“Okay, one, do you know what kind of crab to use? And two, there’s a lot more ingredients than just crab.”

“Snow crab?” He guessed, and you laughed again.

“Alright, alright. The correct answer was shredded crab, I’m not cracking open a million crab legs, but you get points for naming an actual crab.”

“Give me some credit.” He snorted, “I grew up on the docks.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You teased, grabbing your wallet and standing up at the kitchen table, “let’s go, we have a lot of things to get since you don’t have anything in this damn kitchen!”

“I have eggs.” He said with a lopsided grin, and you rolled your eyes with a smile.

“Okay, we’ll need those. And you got the mayonnaise too, I guess.” His face paled.

“Mayonnaise? And crab?”

“Oh, I’m from Bahstan, I know crahb!” You mocked in a horrible accent, “yes, it helps keep it together. We also need breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, and some horseradish. Oh, and hot sauce, do you have any?”

“Uh.” He said shortly, staring at the ceiling in thought, then abruptly turned and started digging though his utensil drawer. “I have this.” He said, and brandished a Taco Bell hot sauce packet.

“You just keep your hot sauce in your utensil drawer?” You asked in amusement, and his head fell back in exasperation.

“Will it work or not?”

“It’ll be interesting. Sure, let’s try it. One packet should be fine.” You snatched it from him, setting it on the counter and fishing for his car keys in his pockets.

“I got it, I got it.” He batted your hands away, snickering, and turned back towards the door. “How long are you going to be in the store for?”

“Like ten minutes, tops.”

“Oh, like the last time it took ten minutes and I was waiting in the parking lot for almost an hour somehow?” He teased, lip pulled up into an insufferable smirk. You hit his shoulder.

“If you helped me, it’d be faster.” You let him know, bouncing down his apartment building’s steps and jumping into his car. You made him wait in the parking lot while you ran to get groceries, grumbling at the people taking up whole rows with their carts. You sank back into the passenger’s seat almost fifteen minutes later, glaring at Jack at he clicked his tongue at you and shook his head.

“Fifteen minutes. It’s never just ‘ten tops’.” He chastised, tapping his watch face.

“Shut up.” You snorted, slapping his chest lightly, “get driving. I want to try and see you fry one of these things.”

“I can fry.” He said confidently, pulling out of the parking lot, and you held back a scoff.

“Jack, last time we tried to make fries, you lit the kitchen on fire. Your stovetop looked like the Olympic torch.”

“Whatever. I could do it.” He repeated, and you just rolled your eyes.

“No, no.” You instructed once you were both in the kitchen, “chop it finer. Do you want a mouthful of parsley?”

Jack groaned in frustration, dropping the knife on the cutting board. “My mom always just used dried.”

“Sorry, Jackie, not your mom. Gimme that, you mix.” You ordered, rinsing your hands free of crab and mayo before handing him the bowl and running to chop the parsley yourself.

“When I suggested this, I thought I was gonna be teaching you.” He mumbled, and you giggled.

“You can teach me how to eat clams or something. You know you can’t cook, why’d you suggest it?”

“I dunno.” He sighed, “you always show me up with this kinda stuff.”

“Aw, poor baby.” You teased, brushing the parsley off the cutting board and into the bowl of crab meat, “least you don’t mind getting your hands dirty when you cook. That’s important.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He grumbled, hands squishing the bowl of crab meat and spices.

“That looks good.” You approved, taking away the bowl from his hands and starting to roll the crab cakes into small discs. “You turned the stove on already?”

“Yeah.” He said, jerking his hand away as a small sputter of oil hit his hand.

“Careful.” You said unhelpfully, pressing the discs into breadcrumbs to coat them. “Okay, now watch me.” You ordered, grabbing tongs to lower the crab cakes into the oil. Jack watched you flip them intently, arms folded across his chest and lip caught between his teeth in thought. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eyes, transferring the cakes to a paper towel to drain them and turning to make a second batch.

“Ow!” Jack hissed, and you turned to watch him drop a crab cake.

“Really, dude? You’re majoring in general surgery but you don’t know that food is hot after you cook it?” You teased, gently smacking his chest.

“Shut up.” He mumbled, tongue hanging out of his mouth, “they’re good.”

“Well.” You said with a smile, kissing his cheek, “now you know how to make one of your city’s specialties. Maybe you can teach me how to make Boston baked beans.”

“Whatever.” He snorted, grabbing your elbows and sliding his hands up your arms to hug you around your back, “long as I get to cook with you.”

“With me?” You snorted, pushing him on his chest, “I did everything!”

“Then let me treat you next time.” He said, pulling you into up into his waist and kissing your cheek.

“Sounds good.” You hummed, cupping his jaw, “but for now you gotta clean the kitchen.”

“You drive a tough bargain.” He clicked his tongue, but set you back down.

“Only cause I love you.” You nudged his arm.

“Yeah, yeah, love you too.” He said from the sink, kissing your temple, “thanks for dinner.”

[noona-clock]

Now or Never - Part 5

Genre: College!AU

Pairing: Jae x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: Angst, cursing

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | Words: 3,980

“Jae, please pick up,” you murmured, your voice getting more and more desperate the longer his phone rang. “Please.”

You were still in the Uber you’d ordered, only about fifteen minutes away from school... but you couldn’t wait a minute longer to talk to Jae. You didn’t care that your driver would hear all about the fight you’d just had with Kevin; you needed to talk to Jae, and you needed to talk to him now.

And then you heard his voicemail.

Your heart sank, and tears began to form in your eyes.

Once you heard the beep, you took a deep breath, willing yourself to speak clearly even though the tears were starting to stream down your cheeks now. “Jae,” you sniffed. “Please call me back. I really need to talk to you. I just had a huge fight with him, and I need my best friend. …Please.”

You didn’t care if you sounded pathetic. You needed to hear Jae’s voice, and you needed to apologize for leaving his house, and you knew it was going to weigh heavily on your mind until you did.

As the minutes ticked by, you tried not to stare at your phone and wait for Jae to call you back… but you did. 

Once you got back to your apartment on campus, the minutes of staring at your phone and waiting turned into an hour… two hours… three hours.

So, you broke down and called him again. Honestly, you couldn’t believe you’d held out for three hours.

He hadn’t told you about any plans he’d had today, and usually, the two of you talked about everything. I mean, you had just seen him yesterday.

So, why wasn’t he answering you? He’d always been able to know when you needed to talk to him, especially when it was about your boyfriend – well, maybe soon-to-be ex-boyfriend was the most accurate term.

But, still. Jae was always there for you. Through thick and thin.

You heard his voicemail yet again, and you honestly felt like throwing your phone against your bedroom wall.

Of course, if it ended up that Jae was seeing a movie with his family or something, you would feel terrible. Even more terrible than you already did.

But, as it were, you were furious and heartbroken and devastated.

After leaving him a second voicemail, you curled up in your bed, pulling the covers up over your head and letting yourself cry as much as you needed. You were losing your boyfriend, you were quite sure of that, but... were you also losing your best friend?

What would you do without Jae?

What would you do without his lame jokes that never failed to make you roll your eyes and laugh? What would you do without his random bouts of wisdom that never failed to make you put things into perspective and remember what was truly important in life? What would you do without your ‘ let's go out for Taco Bell at 1 am’ partner-in-crime?

You buried your face in your pillow, your tears staining the fabric as sobs wracked your body.

But then the sound of your ringtone pierced through the air.

You didn’t want to reach for your phone immediately, but you did. Because you were lower than low right now, and even though you were upset with Jae, you still needed to talk to him.

“Hey,” you sniffed once you answered his call.

“What’s up?” he asked, his voice a bit cold and distant.

“We had a fight. A big one and I think it might be over, and I need you.”

“…You need me? Shouldn’t you be trying to talk it out with him?”

“We did talk about it, and that’s what led to the fight. I don’t want to talk to him right now, I don’t even want to see him. Will you come back to school? Please?”

You heard him let out a sigh, and… honestly, you were kind of confused. Whenever you asked him to come over like this, he always said ‘Okay, I’ll be right there’ almost immediately.

Why was he hesitating now?

“Please, Jae,” you whispered.

You felt pathetic, but right now, you didn’t care. You needed him. You didn’t want to be alone any longer.

The first time you’d called him, Jae had genuinely missed it. His phone had been on silent, and his mom had dragged him to the grocery store so she could send him back to school with some snacks and treats.

He’d seen the notifications and listened to your voicemail in the car on the way home, letting out a soft sigh when the message ended.

“Everything okay, sweet boy?” his mom asked from the driver’s seat.

Now, Jae wasn’t usually one to talk about this kind of thing to... well, anyone, but especially not his mom.

But right now? He literally had no idea what to do. He needed advice.

“Y/N got into another fight with her stupid boyfriend, and I can’t deal with it anymore. I can’t be the one she goes crying to because he’s the biggest jerk I’ve ever known, and she’s always upset about something. I’ve tried to tell her he’s an asshole, but she won’t listen, and after what happened the other night, I just don’t think I can handle one more thing. I don’t want to.”

“Oh, my,” his mom murmured almost under her breath. “I had no idea -- I mean, I figured something was going on when you brought her over so suddenly, but -- it’s that bad?”

“Yes, mom, it’s that bad,” Jae sighed. “I don’t know why she’s stayed with him for so long.”

“Well, there could be any number of reasons. Have you asked her?”

...Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t actually come out and asked you that specific question. He had tried his hardest to get you to break up with him, and when you’d told him you wouldn’t, you’d just said you weren’t unhappy with him. As if that had been enough of a reason.

But he’d never thought to just ask “Why?” He had never thought to ask if Kevin made you happy -- because being happy and not being unhappy was not exactly the same thing.

“Is it... really my place to ask her?”

“That’s up to you, honey,” his mom answered. “You two certainly seem close enough.”

Maybe... he hadn’t ever asked you because he didn’t want to hear the answer. He didn’t want to hear if Kevin truly did make you happy. As your best friend, that’s all he really wanted for you -- to be happy.

But as your best friend who was secretly in love with you, he didn’t. He selfishly didn’t want Kevin to make you happy in any way, shape, or form. Not even a tiny bit.

“Either way,” his mom continued, interrupting his thoughts. “You should probably tell her how you feel. Nobody can read minds, and she won’t know that you feel this way unless you tell her.”

Jae knew his mom was right. He didn’t want to walk away from you -- it was the absolute last thing he wanted to do -- but... at this point, he had to.

Once he got home, he headed up to his room to start thinking of what he should say to you. He didn’t want to go in blind when he called you back because what if he ended up saying something too mean? Or what if he ended up confessing his feelings to you?

He got out a notebook from his school backpack, flipping to an empty page and jotting down some of the thoughts whirling around in his head.

In true Jae fashion, he fell asleep after a solid hour and a half of writing, and he was woken up suddenly by the sound of his phone ringing.

A strangled, startled groan left his lips as he bolted upright in his desk chair, his heart now racing as his brain tried to make sense of what was going on.

When he gathered up enough sense to reach for his phone, he saw your name on the screen.

And he almost answered... but it went to voicemail before he got the chance.

It was a good thing, though, because he wasn’t quite ready to talk to you. Almost, but not quite.

He set his phone back down and turned back to his notebook, reading over what he’d been writing before he’d fallen asleep. He started scribbling down his thoughts again, and when he heard the notification that he had a voicemail, he didn’t even glance at his phone.

Not even five minutes later, he felt confident in what he wanted to say -- what he needed to say. But... even though he felt confident, he still had to take a deep breath before calling you.

His heart was still pounding.

Your phone only rang once before you picked up, and you answered with a very tearful, “Hey.”

First of all, Jae couldn’t stand to see or hear you cry. Second of all, he knew what you were going to say, and he was dreading it. Absolutely dreading it.

So, he made his voice sound as distant as he possibly could when he replied with, “What’s up?”

“We had a fight. A big one and I think it might be over, and I need you,” you told him, your voice incredibly emotional.

The only thing was, Jae wasn’t sure if you were emotional because of Kevin or because of him. And he didn’t know which one he preferred.

“…You need me?” he asked, his brow furrowed. “Shouldn’t you be trying to talk it out with him?”

“We did talk about it, and that’s what led to the fight. I don’t want to talk to him right now, I don’t even want to see him. Will you come back to school? Please?”

And there it was. Your plea for him to come to you. He was expecting it, but it still hurt. It hurt now more than it ever had that you only wanted to see him because you and Kevin were on the outs.

He let out a sigh, bringing one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

A month ago -- heck, even two days ago -- he would’ve said ‘I’ll be there’ already. He would’ve hung up and grabbed his keys by now.

Before he could say anything, though, your soft voice cut through his thoughts.

“Please, Jae,” you whispered.

Jae closed his eyes, pressing his lips together because he knew he was about to break your heart. But he couldn’t keep doing this to himself. He couldn’t keep this to himself any longer. He had to break his silence. Like his mom had said earlier, he had to tell you how he felt, and he knew he couldn’t wait another second.

“I can’t,” he told you. “I can’t be the person you cry to when your dumbass boyfriend hurts you. Because he always hurts you. You said you think it’s over between you two? Well, good. It should’ve been over months ago, and you don’t know how frustrating it’s been for me to just sit back and watch you let him keep hurting you. You know you deserve better than him. I don’t need to tell you that, because deep down you know it. You deserve someone who will know what he’s got when he’s got it. Someone who will appreciate you for the beautiful, kind, smart, caring person you are. And I know you need someone right now, but it can’t be me. I refuse to watch you do this to yourself. It hurts me, too, did you ever think about that? Because, unlike that jerkface, I truly care about you. I love you. And all you do is use me as a pillow or a punching bag. I can’t do that anymore.”

“Jae, what –”

“When you’re ready to be brave enough to be single instead of being with some piece of trash, call me again. And I do love you, Y/N. Truly.”

He hung up before you could say anything else, and the tears he’d heard you crying were now filling up in his own eyes. He hadn’t expected to cry because he hardly ever cried. He was fairly sure he’d never cried in front of you before, not including the times you’d made him laugh until tears streamed down his cheeks.

But what he’d done just now? Being brutally honest with you after all this time, knowing he was hurting you?

It was rough.

Because he did love you. More than you knew. And he really, really hoped he hadn’t just pushed you away forever. But he knew if he ever wanted even a microscopic chance at a relationship with you, it wouldn’t be possible unless you realized everything that was wrong with this whole situation and fixed it yourself.

But… damn, he already missed you. He already wanted to call you back and tell you he was on his way to school.

You... weren’t sure what to do.

You had always gone to Jae whenever Kevin had broken your heart.

But now Jae had broken your heart. Who were you supposed to go to?

When you really thought about it -- which you did because you had literally no one else to talk to so you had no choice but to think about it on your own -- you couldn’t blame Jae. You weren’t angry at him in the least because... everything he’d said had been true.

You had relied on him too much and for entirely the wrong reasons. He was your friend not your therapist; it wasn’t his job to help you get things off your chest, and you’d been incredibly selfish and stupid to think it was.

Really, the longer you thought about it, the more surprised you were that he had lasted this long. Looking back, you had been going to Jae with your relationship problems for months. Practically a year. And he was just now telling you he wasn’t going to help you anymore?

...You didn’t deserve him.

But you were going to try your best to fix that.

Just not right now.

No, right now you were going to wallow in self-pity because your boyfriend was an asshole and your best friend wasn’t going to talk to you until you admitted your boyfriend was an asshole. To his face. And broke up with him.

The truth was, you knew you needed to break up with Kevin. You’d known it for... too long. Embarrassingly long. But every time you’d seriously considered it, one thing had stopped you from actually doing it: what if you never found someone else who wanted to be with you? What if nobody else ever loved you like that? What if Kevin was it?

Your parents had been each other’s first everything. First crush, first date, first kiss, first love, first time, first marriage. And they were certainly going to be each other’s last everything, too. They were as disgustingly and adorably in love today as they had been when you were younger and even since before you were born.

That’s what you wanted. You wanted to live happily ever after with the first boyfriend you ever had. You wanted it to be simple and easy like it had been for Hannah and Eugene. For some reason, if it didn’t turn out that way for you... it just felt like a failure.

Your mom’s first boyfriend had been The One, so your first boyfriend should be The One, too, right? What if Kevin really was The One and you broke up with him? Would that mean he actually wasn’t The One or would that mean you had found true love and tossed it aside?

And why had it taken you so long to find someone who actually wanted to date you? Did that mean you were so undateable and unattractive that only one guy in over 20 years liked you? And what did it say about you that he turned out to be an asshole?

Oh, god, this was a mess.

You were a mess.

You were somehow able to get some sleep that night, and though you’d hoped sleeping on this whole thing would help bring about some clarity... It really, really didn’t.

The next day was still full of racing, anxious thoughts and spiraling confusion. You had thought maybe you’d want to see Kevin -- to dump him -- but you still didn’t. You still didn’t want to talk to him.

The only person you wanted to see was Jae.

You knew it was a long shot, that he most likely wouldn’t come over -- or even answer you -- but... you called him anyway. You waited until after lunch when you thought he might be back at school, and you called him. Much to your surprise, he picked up after the first ring.

“Yeh,” he mumbled, and your heart started pounding at the mere sound of his voice.

“Hey, I know you’re mad, but please come over,” you said quickly. “I need to talk to you. But not like that.”

Truthfully, you were going to apologize. You were going to tell him you were sorry for treating him the way you had this past year, and you were going to beg for his forgiveness and promise you were going to try to actually deserve him.

“‘Kay,” he replied, and you jerked your head back in surprise at how easily he had accepted. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“O--okay,” you breathed. “I’ll see you then.”

He hung up without saying goodbye, but you were too focused on the fact he was actually coming over. Thank god.

Of course, you spent the entire ten or so minutes wringing your hands together nervously. You went over your apology speech in your head about thirty times, wanting to get it just right. Because Jae deserved ‘just right.’ You’d always known this, but now it was even more apparent that he was the best person you’d ever known, and he deserved the world.

When you heard a soft knock on your apartment door, you jumped a little before rushing over to open it.

Your first reaction upon opening the door and seeing his face was to smile. You were just so glad he was here, and you were hopeful that he would accept your apology and the two of you could move forward.

But your second reaction was to be very, very nervous.

Because Jae did not look happy to be here. He wasn’t smiling, he had his hands shoved in his pockets, and the first thing he said after you closed the door behind him was, “Did you break up with him?”

Oh, fuck.

“Um...” you replied with a shaky voice. “No, but --”

Jae immediately turned around and reached for the doorknob.

“No, wait!” you cried, quickly grabbing his arm and stopping him. “Jae, please. I --”

“I told you,” he said, trying to shake your grip off. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t help you. I don’t want to help you!”

He turned back around to face you, and the look in his eyes broke your heart into a million pieces.

“I know,” you choked out, already feeling a huge lump of emotion forming in your throat. “I know I need to break up with him, and I’m sorry -- I just -- I’m scared!”

“Scared of what? Scared of finally ridding yourself of that jerk dickbag who treats you like shit?!”

“No, I -- I’m scared that he’s the only one who will ever love me like that!”

Okay, this conversation was not going to plan whatsoever. You hadn’t wanted to admit that to Jae -- or anyone, really -- but there it was. No taking it back now.

“What?! That’s ridiculous,” Jae spat out.

“I don’t think it is!” you cried, feeling a tear slip out onto your cheek. “He’s the first boyfriend -- the only boyfriend I’ve ever had in my entire life! What if I’m just not loveable and what if Kevin is the only one who will --”

“I LOVE YOU!”

“I know, but --”

“No, you don’t know,” Jae interrupted, a fire in his eyes you’d honestly never seen before. “I love you like that! I’m in love with you!  And I’m not going to stand by and listen to you say that no one’s going to love you like he does because I DO!”

And he had stormed out of your apartment before you could even comprehend what he had said.

...Had that really just happened?

The whole thing had probably lasted just three or four minutes, from the time you opened the door to the time Jae slammed it shut behind him.

But those three or four minutes had changed everything.

You stood there blinking for who knows how long... and the first movement you made, the first thing you did was reach into your pocket. You slid out your phone, and you called Kevin.

For the first time in probably 24 hours, you knew without any shadow of a doubt what you needed to do.

“Hey, beautiful,” he answered. “I --”

“Can you come over?” you asked, a little surprised to hear there was absolutely no emotion in your voice. “We need to talk.”

“...Yeah,” he answered a bit hesitantly. “Yeah, sure, baby. I’ll be right there.”

Unlike the ten minutes you’d waited for Jae to arrive, the ten minutes you waited for Kevin were simply... blank. You weren’t nervous, you weren’t scared, you were just... kind of numb. Like you were on autopilot or something.

When you opened the door to let him in, he almost immediately tried to pull you in for a hug. But you avoided it, stepping back and turning your head to break eye contact.

“Baby, come on --”

“Kevin, please,” you murmured.

Kevin let out a sigh and stepped into your apartment, allowing you to close the door.

“What’s going on?” he asked with a shrug.

You truly wanted to know if he was being serious or if he was just pretending not to know that your relationship was about to end.

“I --” you began before taking a deep breath. “Kevin. We both know we can’t do this anymore. We shouldn’t do this anymore. Our relationship is not healthy, and --”

“This is because of Jae, isn’t it?” he interrupted.

“That’s why our relationship is not healthy,” you retorted with a shake of your head. “You make everything about him, and I rely on him too much. It was never just about us.”

“It could have been, but you dragged him into it.”

You were about to argue that it wasn’t true, but... it kind of was. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, Kevin was right.

“I was wondering if you would ever realize it,” he murmured with a soft chuckle.

Your brow furrowed gently at his words. “...Realize what?”

Kevin looked up, shifting his gaze to make eye contact with you. The expression on his face was one of clear ‘You’re kidding me, right?’

“Realize... that you... have feelings for him,” he replied.

And all of the wind was knocked out of your chest.

“What?” you gasped, unable to hide the absolute shock in your voice. “What are you talking about? I --”

“Yes, Y/N, you do,” Kevin urged, a smirk tugging at one corner of his lips. “You smile and laugh with him like you never did with me. Whether or not you want to admit it, you definitely have feelings for him.”

...Fuck.

Did you?

Part 6

[grandpab47]

Land not so Stolen

Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner believes the monument should “come down” but not via explosives. Blowing up giant 60-foot faces carved into the side of a mountain would, Bear Runner concedes, probably cause a bit more damage than whatever kind of unspecified damage is caused by their continued presence. Maybe we can just put a giant tarp over it. Or — here’s a better idea — to each sculpture we can affix a really big version of one of those gag glasses with noses and funny mustaches.

But the most interesting part of the belated Mount Rushmore backlash is the repeated claim that we must repent of the monument and somehow remove it because it was built on “stolen” land. Senator Tammy Duckworth also echoed this theme over the weekend, pronouncing the land “stolen” from “Native Americans,” who acquired it “during a treaty.” As so many woke Leftists tend to do, Duckwork speaks of Native Americans as if they were one homogenous and unified group. Americans stole from “Native Americans,” generally, she says. Which is like saying the British “stole land from Asians” when they occupied India. No, they were taking from Indians, not the Chinese or the Vietnamese, and the distinction is important. Indeed, Leftists would usually be the first to claim that it is racist to erase or minimize such distinctions.

Yet there is a reason why the “we stole land” crowd is hesitant to get specific on the matter of who we stole the land from. The problem is helpfully illustrated by this PBS article, which says the Black Hills were appropriated from the Lakota Sioux, who were “the original occupants of the area.” But the Lakota were the original occupants of the Black Hills in the same way that I was the first person to experience human flight when I took a plane from Baltimore to Charlotte in March. That is to say, I wasn’t. And they weren’t. Not by a long shot.

There has been a human presence in the Black Hills since prehistoric times. From that era until the US “stole” it, many groups of people fought, often quite brutally, for control of the region. Slightly more recently, the Arikara tribe moved in around the time that Columbus first sailed the ocean blue. The Cheyenne, Kiowa, Crow, and other tribes all arrived in short order to fight for their own share of the coveted mountain range. Finally, the Lakota — the alleged “original occupants” — came in the 18th century, drove all of their competitors away, and established control. It’s worth noting that, for Indian tribes, “driving competitors away” often meant violence and pillaging.

The U.S. did not take the Black Hills from its original occupants. The original occupants had long since been exiled or exterminated by other Native American tribes, who received the same treatment from the next tribe, who received it from the next, and so on. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that the U.S. took the Black Hills from the most recent tribe that had taken it from the tribe that had most recently taken it before them. This is not mere pedantry. The point is that white settlers and pioneers, by trying to claim and conquer new land, were not introducing some new horror to the continent. They were playing the same game of conquest that Indian tribes had been playing — that all people, everywhere, had been playing — since the dawn of human civilization.

It is simply absurd to treat the “theft” of land by Europeans and Americans as a unique evil for which we must repent and take down our monuments in shame. Wars of conquest had been waged in this part of the world for thousands of years before any white man graced these shores. Slavery, torture killings, rape, pillage — all of these were common features of Indian conflict. The white man jumped into that fray, he didn’t invent it. This is just how the world worked, long before air conditioning and Taco Bell and Twitter accounts.

And we certainly cannot say that white people were unique in their barbarism. Such claims are rendered absurd by even a cursory study of tribes like the Comanche, who were known to torture babies and roast captives alive; or the Iriquois, who committed a campaign of extermination against the Huron over a century before the United States was founded. As SC Gwynn explains in his book “Empire of the Summer Moon,” many Indian tribes in North America were brutal and warlike. And that is to say nothing of the Mesoamerican tribes, like the Aztecs and the Maya, who engaged in human sacrifice on a scale that is almost impossible to fathom. Archeologists are stll uncovering the endless and towering racks of skulls where the dismembered heads of the butchered victims were kept.

This doesn’t excuse the many acts of brutality committed by the Spanish, or any other group of Europeans or Americans during the 400-year clash of civilizations between the white man and the Indian, but it does underscore the need for historical context. It was a harsh and violent age, and the world was being tamed and settled by harsh and violent men. We should be thankful that we have the luxury to feel squeamish about it now.

Much has been said about the historical sins of white westerners. We have been confronting their sins for years now, and I’m sure the confrontation will continue for a while yet. But if this confrontation occurs in a vacuum, without taking into consideration the context of the time, or the brutality of the foes the westerners faced, then we will be left with the impression that white people today are the descendants of history’s great villains, and that nothing they did was justified, let alone admirable or worthy of celebration. And fostering this mistaken impression is, of course, the point. But those of us interested in truth and fairness should not go along with it.

By  Matt Walsh

[forevfangirlwrites]

I saw a post the other day about a guy from Brooklyn who saw a girl dancing on the roof of a building next to his own house and he sent her a drone with his number on it. His name is jermcohen on Instagram and he has been updating his story there. I was wondering if you could write some percabeth quarantined meet cute based on this. Btw, huge fan of your work. Can't wait for your next story!

The plus side of quarantine is rediscovering things that you forgot you had. For instance, a knock-off magic eight ball that was won at an arcade bar two years ago during his last year of college that had ended up between an old Pringles can full of candy and a clump of pens picked up from a job fair.

That and a drone.

Percy can’t believe he forgot that he actually owned one. Snatching it up, he proceeds to ask the most important question of them all, if his Uber Eats will deliver his Taco Bell before five’o’clock. Shaking it once doesn’t produce any results, and he remembers why he forgot it existed. The knock-off never gave answers on the first try. However, the second shake reveals the answer.

Don’t bet on it.

Damn. He was hungry. He shook it again, trying to think of other questions to ask: will this end soon, will he ever find love, is his cat secretly plotting against him?

Looking down, he sees the magic eight ball has landed on answer.

Undeniably.

Welp. He has no idea which question that’s for, but he’s hoping it’s not the one about his cat.

Moving on, he turns his attention to the drone. The drone that had been, for the better part of a year, sitting in the back of his closet, only used a few times before he had gotten distracted by something else.

He opens it up and takes it outside, onto the small roof of his equally small apartment building. As expected, there’s no one around, so he starts to mess with the drone.

Glancing around at the other apartment buildings, he catches a glimpse of yellow on one of the other roofs. He moves farther to get a better angle. What is that?

The better vantage point reveals a girl, on one of the neighboring roofs, clearly practicing some sort of dance routine. She’s actually pretty good and he finds himself unable to look away.

Once her song is over, she moves to get a water bottle and catches him looking at her. He feels his face flush and is about to stammer out a nervous apology when he realizes she wouldn’t be able to hear him and probably can’t tell he’s blushing.

In his moment of awkward panic, he waves.

The girl, who has a stunning shade of golden blonde hair by the way, waves back tentatively.

As if trying to prove he’s not a creep, his brain tells him to give her a thumbs up.

Great, now he looks like a creep.

Mortified and ready to run back in, he contemplates if taking his drone would slow him down.

Luckily, the girl just laughs and throws a thumbs up back, and he thinks that she must be the coolest person ever for not judging him right away.

But where do they go from here?

Realizing he should probably look away so she can keep dancing or whatever, he turns his attention to his drone and his brain helpfully supplies an insane enough idea that makes the other dumb moves he’s pulled so far seem tame.

What if he gave her his number via drone?

He wants to write it off as stupid as it is, but the magic eight ball answer looms in his head and his Taco Bells isn’t arriving anytime soon anyway.

Besides, she could just ignore him, and they’re far enough apart that even if she does ignore him, it’s fine and he’ll probably just never see her again.

Also, it’s quarantine and he’s bored out of his mind, and this and Taco Bell are the only exciting things to have happened in the past two weeks.

So he rips off a piece of paper of the front page of the instructions that only has a few non-important words, grabs a pen from his pocket and scribbles out his number, jamming it onto a small hook-like thing on the drone, hoping it’ll stay.

He glances back up to the other roof, where the girl is actually looking at him now. When she sees that he’s caught her, she gives a small wave. It strengthens his resolve.

Standing up, he picks up the controller and starts to fly the drone.

The first thing he learns is that it’s still harder to control that he thought (even after messing with it). The second thing he learns is that all his video game experience has led to this one moment.

Where he navigates a drone to give a cute girl his number who’s a roof away.

It’s a shaky flight, but somehow the drone makes it, the girl following it with her gaze and looking surprised as it lands (somewhat neatly) a few feet away from her.

Hesitantly, she steps up to it and bends down.

At that point, all he can hope is that she’s grabbing the piece of paper and not destroying his drone.

A second later she stands up, waving the paper with a big smile on her face. He won’t lie and say it doesn’t make him giddy to see that. In fact, he’s so giddy, it takes him twice as long to get the drone back to him than it did to get to her.

Just as the drone lands by his feet, he feels his phone vibrate.

Hoping to see a text from her, he’s only a little disappointed to see that it’s actually his Taco Bell that’s arrived. He picks up his drone, sends a wave back that he’s not sure she sees because she’s bent down tying her shoes or something and walks back in.

The arrival of his food takes precedence for the next ten minutes as he attempts (and fails) at eating slowly to savor it.

Maybe it’s the Taco Bell, or the excitement of seeing another face, or the knockoff magic eight ball he found, but it’s the first real good day in a long time.  

And for the first time since quarantine started that he doesn’t feel stuck in a rut, each day just barely passing by as he goes through the motions. He’s beyond grateful that he managed to force himself to actually do something today. Cleaning out his closet and ordering some food were the best decisions he’s made.

And the feeling only strengthens when he feels his phone vibrate once more.

And maybe in some weird way knockoff magic eight balls are truly magical because the text reads:

Hi from your neighbor on the roof :)

A/N: Hello and thank you so much for the prompt! I’m so so sorry it took so long, a lot of things have suddenly popped up in my life and have been pulling my attention...but I did finally get to write this! I hope you liked it! I know it’s not exactly what happened with the guy (I did look him up) but I thought I could take some creative liberties with the specifics and this is what turned out...I hope you like it nonetheless! And thank you again for your kind words (glad you enjoy my work :) and for sending in this really cool prompt!

[justahopelessssromantic]

Runaways- A Mayans MC Fanfic

Part 1 // Part 2

Part 3

*Warnings: Mentions loss of parents*

A little over a week had passed since we arrived in Santo Padre. The morning after my fight with David he made me pancakes as an apology, too proud to apologize verbally. I also received a text from EZ and since then we messaged each other off and on.

There was still a rift between my brothers but neither one of them would tell me anything about it. Conveniently they both got jobs that were during different times, David at a gun range during the day, and Nicky the night shift at a gas station, which made it much easier for them to avoid each other. When they were together on the rare occasion you could practically cut the tension with a knife. And don’t even get me started on the constant bickering over ridiculous things.

I currently didn’t have a job spending most of my time packing up some of Ms. Rosa’s stuff into boxes to be put into storage. Part of the deal of getting to live here was that we would pack up her things and fix up the house for David’s friend Raphael, that way when and if we did eventually move out the house would be ready to sell and he wouldn’t have to pay anyone to do the work.

It was late morning, almost noon, and I decided it was time to get out of the house. Changing out of the sweats and tank top I was wearing I put on a pretty little white off the shoulder sundress that had dainty little sunflowers all over it pairing it with my yellow vans. Going to my vanity I put on light makeup consisting of sunscreen, mascara, a little blush and a pink gloss on my lips. I then went into my bathroom and took the hair straightener putting loose curls into my shoulder length blonde locks. Finishing with a spritz of perfume I walked into my bedroom. I then went to my jewelry box grabbing my mother’s necklace that she always wore. It was a dainty piece of jewelry, silver, with three small birthstones representing each of her children. I then put in a pair of simple small silver hoops in my ears.

Going to the closet I grabbed my purse and swung it across my chest. Bouncing out of my room and to Nicky’s door I knocked twice.

“Come on let’s go out and enjoy some sunshine!” I said “You got five minutes to get ready!” Hearing a muffled groaning I figured he heard me and went to wait in the living room.

Thirty minutes later he was ready and we were out the door. Walking down the block we headed towards Main Street where most of the shops and businesses were.

Once we got there we stopped by Felipe’s carniceria first having finally met our actual neighbor a few days ago where he told us about his business.

“Good afternoon Felipe!” I greeted feeling so much better being out of the house.

“Buenas tardes Willow,” wiping his hands on his apron he walked up to the counter across from me. “What can I do for you today?”

Behind me Nicky was checking out the bookshelf.

“Just wanted to stop in and check out your shop. You have a very nice place here.” I looked in the display at all the different options. “But since we are here can I get you to wrap up a roast for us that David can pick up later on his way home?”

“Of course, I will have it ready when he gets here.” Looking behind me he addressed Nicky. “You should take that one home to read. It’s a good one.”

Smiling he held up the book “Yeah that would be really cool, thanks.”

Saying our farewells we exited the carniceria and continued our stroll down the street.

A couple hours had passed and we decided to stop in a small diner for some food. Sitting at a booth in the back we looked at our menus as we waited to order. On the other end of the building there were two men having a tense discussion. Both men were fairly tall and well dressed in suits. The man facing in my direction was very handsome, dark hair and a well maintained beard with just a little hint of grey. The other man whose back was to me had dirty blonde hair and seemed a little older.

“Hey earth to Will?” my brother snapped me out of my daze.

“What? Yeah sorry, what did you say?”

“Your phone is buzzing.”

Reaching into my purse I pulled it out to see EZ’s caller ID. I quickly answered hoping I wouldn’t miss him. “Hey, what’s up?”

“You have any plans tonight?”

“Um no not really, why?” Chewing on my bottom lip I waited for his response. I could hear someone faintly calling out to him on the other end.

“I was just wondering if you could take that rain check tonight? I could pick you up at six, maybe we could get something to eat if you wanted”

Replying a little too eagerly I said ,“Yeah that sounds great!”

“Great! I gotta go but I’ll see you at six.”

Smiling I hung up the phone and looked across from me to see my brother grinning.

“Stop it!” I stuck my tongue out throwing my napkin in his direction.

Chuckling he caught the napkin “Careful sis you don’t want to seem too eager.”

“Oh shut up Nicky!” I responded blushing.

—————————————————————————————————————

Back at home I jumped into the shower to prepare for my date. Scrubbing my skin and then washing my hair I turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry off. Grabbing the robe on the door I wrapped it around me and blew dry my hair. Once that was done I did my usual makeup. Going to the dresser I pulled out a baby blue wrap top with bell sleeves and then a pair of black denim shorts and black jeans.

Walking out to the living room and up to my brother on the couch I held up both pairs of bottoms. “Which do you think I should wear?”

Contemplating his answer he started to speak when the front door opened and in walked David.

“What’s going on?” he asked us.

“Will here has a date tonight,” Nicky said still looking at the options before him.

“What do you think I should wear David?” I turned presenting the options to him, “I have never been on a motorcycle before and I don’t know what you’re supposed to wear.”

“A helmet,” he replied a smug smile on his face

Laughing mockingly I said “Very funny, dad.”

David moved to join Nicky on the couch sitting on the opposite end of it.

“Seriously guys I need an opinion and unfortunately for you and me I don’t have anyone else to ask.” I gave them my best puppy dog eyes.

“Fine tell us about our options.” David gave in.

Holding up the shorts I said “There are these shorts which show off my legs really nicely or, these jeans which make my butt look great.” I finished holding up the jeans.

“Alright I’m done,” David said standing up “I am not going to help my sister decide between shorts that show off her legs or anything that apparently makes her butt look good to go on a date with some criminal.”

“He’s just in a motorcycle club! And he’s a really nice guy.” I huffed crossing my arms.

“He just got out of prison Will.” Nicky joined David

“Really? You guys have been fighting all the time but now you guys agree?” Annoyed I turned around and headed to my bedroom “I will just figure it out myself!”

Deciding on the jeans and a pair of black boots I then grabbed my leather jacket thinking it could be chilly. Taking my purse off my bed I placed it across my chest and put my mother’s necklace back on walking back out to my brothers.

“We’re sorry. You look great sis.” David said walking over and giving me a kiss on the forehead.

“Yeah you do. Just be careful okay? We don’t really know this guy.” Nicky added

“Okay, but you guys have to promise me something.” I looked at them sternly and pointed between the two. “You two gotta figure out what ever this shit is that’s been going on. I’m getting tired of it and want my family back. I don’t care how you do it, just do it.”

“Fine.” David said while Nicky just stared at his sneakers.

Satisfied I headed for the front door just as I heard a motorcycle pull up outside. Before I could open the door David grabbed my arm turning me around to look at him.

“Here. I got you something.” He pulled a small handgun from the back of his pants and put it in my bag. “Just in case. You remember how to use one?”

“Of course.” Giving one last smile I turned and left the house David standing in the doorway watching as I walked up to EZ.

EZ grinned at me as I approached his bike. Getting off he grabbed his extra helmet and handed it to me. “You look beautiful.”

Blushing I grabbed the helmet and placed it on my head. “Thank you.”

He sat back down on his bike and extended his hand to me. Taking it he guided me onto the back behind him. I timidly wrapped my arms around his waist.

“First time?” He asked looking back at me

“Is it that obvious?”

Chuckling he grabbed my arms and wrapped them around him tighter pulling me closer into his back. “Don’t be afraid to hang on. You ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Leaning my cheek against his back I held on tight.

The ride was so freeing and simple. The wind in my hair and the scent of EZ making me relax. Taking it easy he didn’t go too fast and we just enjoyed the ride and each other’s company.

Pulling up next to a food truck EZ helped me off the bike and then followed himself. I took my helmet off and he placed it onto his handlebars.

“This place has the best tacos in town.” He told me as we walked up to the window to order.

Getting our food EZ grabbed his bedroll and then taking my hand led me to a field of grass just a little ways behind where the truck was parked.

Laying his bedroll down we sat down beside each other to eat just barely not touching.

“I’m pretty sure that was the best thing I have ever tasted.” I said sighing satisfied

“I told you so.” He said turning slightly so he was facing me more. Reaching over and gently touching the stones on my necklace he admired them, “Your necklace is very pretty. Where did you get it?”

Picking it up and playing with it I replied “It was my mother’s, each stone is for her children,” pointing to the stones “the peridot is for David, the aquamarine is for me, and then the citrine is for Nicky.” I looked back at EZ smiling.

“Are you close with your mom?” EZ asked.

“I don’t really remember her. She passed away when Nicky was still a baby,” still playing with my necklace I continued, “My dad and brother would tell us about her all the time though, kept her memory alive.”

“What about your dad?”

“We were close. He was a great man and a great dad.” Moving to sit criss cross I looked at my hands in my lap.

“Was?” EZ asked gently

“He was a cop. Got killed on the job about six years ago.” I fiddled with my hands in my lap.

Compassionately placing his hand over mine settling them he said, “I’m so sorry.”

Looking up into his eyes I saw what almost looked like guilt. Grabbing his hand I gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry about your mom too. I heard what happened. How you ended up in prison.”

“So you know I killed a cop?” He asked averting his gaze from mine.

“Look at me EZ.” He did, “From what I heard it was an accident. Completely different from what happened to my dad. I would never hold that against you.”

He let out a relieved breath, “You really are an incredible woman.”

Moving over I scooted closer to him and he put his arm around me as we looked up at the night sky full of stars.

“I will never get over how beautiful this view is.” I whispered in awe.

“Yeah me either.” He said looking at me.

Feeling his gaze I groaned teasingly, “Please tell me you did not just do that.” I turned to look at him, “That was so cheesy.”

Chuckling he looked at me with adoration, “It’s true.”

Gently grabbing his face I leaned in and kissed him tenderly. Pulling back I returned his goofy smile.

“It’s getting late I should probably get back home before my brother's start worrying.”

Helping me to my feet after getting up himself EZ rolled up his bedroll and we walked back to his bike hand in hand.

Once home I got off his bike and leaned over thanking him and giving him a quick peck on the lips “I had a great time. Hopefully we can do this more often.”

“I would love that.”

Slowly walking towards my front door I turned around to find EZ doing the same on his way into Felipe’s house. Giving a smile and a wave I then entered the house leaning against the door smiling from ear to ear thinking about my amazing date with EZ.

[datingintampafails]

Chapter 26: Jake* Part Four

Starting to go Sour.

He blows me off for a couple of days, he’s feeling crappy. Regardless, we are still texting each other throughout the day about this and that, and I am continuously checking on him. Trying to be upbeat or at least funny about it. He has a dark sense of humor and has joked about probably having a tumor, as he does later say he has to see a doctor at some point to make sure he isn’t having, as he said, a “brain stem problem.”

One can assume his boos are his own dogs, but for a second I thought he was talking about me and my dog. We continue to talk, I try to figure out when I will see him again. I’m just a bit attached. 

He gives me more details the next day about more health issues. He now has to have his wisdom teeth taken out.

I ask him why he thinks I won’t like him anymore, asking if it’s because he will be grumpy. Seeing as the current pain medicine makes him disgruntled and non-communicative, this is why I assume that that would be his expectations. He says that is why.

Although we chat every day, it isn’t until Friday, when I finally have a day off work that he subtly asks me to come over. That is, he asks if I am working, which is an indicator that he wants to spend time together. I have a couple of errands to run, but I tell him I will come over after that. I beat him to his place and had to wait for him in the driveway. I was hanging out with a friend that night for dinner, so I was going to hang out until more or less my friend was ready to hang out. 

Jake* excuses himself to the bathroom, rather, he tells me rather explicitly he needs to go take a shit. I’m sitting on the couch waiting for him to be done, he’s taking a bit. My friend texts me and says she is ready so I need to go. I give him another minute or so and when he doesn’t emerge, I say I gotta go, but he doesn’t hear me. I text him “Byeee” instead and he yells out “BYE!”  from the bathroom. As I leave, I send him a kiss emoji and say that I wouldn't kiss him goodbye on the toilet, to which he responds “smart.” We talk just a little the rest of the night, as he too is over at a friend’s house.

The next day, I am going to the beach with Ethan*, as I still owe him taking photos for his dating profile(s). Jake* more or less wants me to bail, not because of the history with Ethan*, but he wants to spend time with me instead. He has a couple of friends sleeping on his couch, so despite me saying I could come to see him before and after the beach, he says no since they’re still sleeping. While I’m on the way to his from dropping Ethan* back home, Jake* tells me that he wouldn’t be available now until 5 pm. This is a little irritating given I bumped up my beach trip so I could spend more time with Jake*, but I am understanding.

While I am driving, I have Apple Carplay, so Siri is reading me the texts. He does some dirty talk, and I ask him if he’s doing it on purpose because he knows I’m using Siri to text. He then just gets silly.

Honestly, though, this is the kind of energy I’m looking for in relationships. Just good fun. I get home and take a shower, he arrives maybe half an hour before 5. I don’t remember what happened that night.

In the early morning, this is Sunday now, we have a direct conversation. 

He must have been over very briefly because I sent him a text a couple of hours later, but only said two things, got a short answer back, and I gave a one-word text back to that one-word text. Four hours after that, I let him know I was playing Among Us. He is much more involved in this conversation and asks a lot of questions and asks for me to show him how to play. I say I will show him, but I never get a chance to. We then get into a conversation about Nintendo Switch. He says he wants to get one. I let him know I just bought one.

The prime word here, I think, is “we.” This for whatever reason is a woah moment for me. He is talking about a “we.” This moment, mixed with how things start to go in the not too distant future from here, utterly confuses me, as, at this time, he is using specific language indicating he sees a future. A “we should” do this or that, indicates it is for us both. A lot of planning goes into the games we are going to buy as well, where to look, etc. 

I’ve also mentioned a few times with him that I would like our dogs all to meet, mostly so that theoretically in the future we could not leave our dogs alone and just have them together when we are staying the night, etc. I am surprised to still be getting tepid responses. 

The next day, we are hardly talking. I am making efforts, but not getting much back. He has had more dental work and is taking a lot of naps. I am starting to go back to trivia nights with friends, and I invite him to join us. 

He responds “yeah true.” The trivia ends up being canceled because of the World Series while my friends and I are there but I hang out anyway. I mention Jake* to this group of friends for the first time, as I haven’t seen them since he and I started talking. My friend says him not wanting to come to trivia is a red flag, I become a little defensive at the moment, though in the end, I tell her she was right after things ended. 

Since there is a stolen base at the world series that night, Jake* tells me that Taco Bell is gonna have free Doritos Locos Taco. This turns into him saying he will bring me lunch the next day at work. He follows through, I give him my order, then I step away from work to be with him. He ordered a crunch wrap supreme, which they had sour cream on, even though he asked without due to his dairy allergy. He is a little bummed but eats his other taco without issue. Lunch starts nice, I’m happy to see him and cozy up to him when I’m done eating. We watch an episode of Legend of Korra on his phone. 

I am touching him and laying my head on his shoulder. Suddenly he blurts out, “why do you do that,” in a rather abrasive tone. I ask him what he’s talking about. He is saying that I am fidgety, anxious, all the time. “I don’t even know I’m doing it,” I responded. We had this conversation once before, but this time he seems more irritable about it. All I am doing is stroking his arms with my finger, something I have done with other men in my past, where it has never been a problem if anything something they liked. 

“So like I’m like this,” he demonstrates, leaning over staring forward, completely still, for a few moments. “And you are like,” he demonstrates shifting a few times, jittering. I am starting to tear up a little bit. I only have a few more minutes left on my break, and I hate to leave back to work in this state. I am no longer touching him and crossing my arms in the passenger seat, watching his phone, and more or less waiting for the episode to end so I can leave. As it is time to go and I’m leaving the car, he is upbeat as if he didn’t just yell at me. He says “see you later?” and I’m caught off guard, “are we going to see each other later?” I asked. “Yeah depending on work,” he replies. “Uh okay. Talk to you later.” I return to work, still misty-eyed, still hurt by him talking to me the way he did. 

He is acting as nothing happened and is debating eating his crunch wrap, I tell him not to. He says he is wanting dinner with me and wants to take me to one of his favorites around town. One which he had sent a menu of me to before. I pick him up on the way to my house and we go get ramen. It’s delicious. He has a few drinks since I am driving. We shared some sake, it was also delicious, and I have a jello shot drink. 10/10 would go again. Afterward we go to my place. I know I am going to need to get it off my chest how I feel about earlier today, and that it hurt me. 

[mahalkitajohnnysuh]

A Tale of Two Valentines (Part I)

Although we’re four months past this occasion, I still want to share this post with you at this time that we’re searching for more love, care, and support. 

Here’s Johnny looking like the ultimate boyfriend material (well, isn’t he always?)  in this edited screenshot. This should give you a clue of what this piece is going to be about!

Mahal ko kayong lahat! :)

–––

Summary: If you saw the photo, then it should be obvious that this story was inspired by this clip that came from this video. How could I not write anything about it when it’s begging for it? 

POV: 2nd person since this is one of the first Johnny-centric fics I’ve written last year. 

Word count: 1,300 + words 

Warning: Every day is a fluffy and cheesy occasion for me, so I’m not sparing Valentine’s Day from this combo. 

–––

You could care less for Valentine’s Day. Not because you were single but because it’s overrated. People always make it seem like a day for couples when it could be a day for everyone you love – family and pets included.

As you buried yourself deeper into the comforter, you scrolled through your social media feeds and grumbled at how everyone seemed in love with one another.

You had the itch to leave a sarcastic remark on one of your friend’s posts until your phone rang. According to your screen, John was FaceTime-ing you. Do I know of a John? was the first thing in your mind until you remembered that one of your best friends, Johnny Suh, tampered with your phone the other day. Of course, he’s John, duh, you rolled your eyes at your stupidity and clicked the green call button.

“Hey,” you started, your voice still rough from the night before. You were up late drinking with your girlfriends as your celebration of Galentine’s Day (thank you, Leslie Knope).

“Hey, what are you doing?” Johnny asked, who was wearing a white shirt with a plaid coat on top. The background he was in seemed familiar, and your eyes widened when you finally recognized it.

“I’m right in front of your house, come on,” he said, taking a quick look at the background behind him. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” he then showed you the cup of coffee he was drinking, “I’ve got some coffee.”

It was his favorite – iced Americano. That drink suited him well: he’s chill as ice, and he’s more American than Korean.

“Uh, but I’m still in my pajamas, dude,” you muttered, glancing at your cupid cow-printed set.

“It’s fine, whatever,” he said with a smile, “the weather’s really great too. Come on, come out. ”

You groaned in response, slowly taking off the comforter. “Okay, I’ll be right here,” were the last words he said until he hung up.

It took you half an hour to prepare, and you felt rushed. Usually, you took an hour to an hour and a half to make yourself presentable. Since you didn’t want Johnny to wait outside that long, you decided to wear a simple dress and your favorite pair of sneakers. You had light makeup on, and you decided to let your curls loose. If you put in more effort, it might feel like you two are on a date when it’s just a simple invitation to hang out.

As you descended the stairs, you saw that he was comfortably sitting on your couch. “Who let you in?” You asked, forgetting your proper greetings.

“Uh, I let myself in. I have a copy of your house keys, remember?” he said, shaking a keychain filled with a dozen other keys. “And it was starting to warm up outside. I don’t want my outfit to go to waste.”

You rolled your eyes at his comment, and he ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish grin on his face. “Well, Mr. Suh, thank you for getting me out of my house on this fine Valentine’s day,” you curtsied.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Park, and oh,” he reached over the side table and held another cup of coffee. “This is yours.” He stood up now and handed you the warm beverage.

You took a sip and made a face. “Hey, this isn’t my usual order,” you said as you took another sip again. “I ordered Café Mocha for a change, dear. White Chocolate Mocha is too sweet.” It was his turn to roll his eyes, and you scoffed in response.

“And your choice of coffee is like drinking tar,” You eyed at his iced Americano, which was about to be empty.

“Can’t we just agree to disagree? Or else I’m going to ask you to pay for your drink.”  

You flipped the bird on him, and he just laughed. “Okay, but seriously. Let’s go. Have a walk outside with our coffee.” He offered his hand, which you took without any hesitation.

As both of you walked towards the park, you noticed other people celebrating Valentine’s Day in their special way. Some couples were outdoing each other on how they will make their partners happy, while some looked like they were having fun just in each other’s presence.

You couldn’t help but smile at these people in love. You felt your ice heart melt at the joy they were radiating. But when your mind had to remind you that you did not have a special someone, you frowned. Yeah, I’m a single lady walking at the park while drinking coffee. I’m with my best friend, who is one of the most handsome people I’ve ever met…You looked at the man walking beside you, whose facial expression you couldn’t decipher.

“Everything okay, John?” Dang, you weren’t used to calling him that.

“Yeah. It’s just that…I feel happy that everyone’s in love and all, but it had to remind me that I’m a single male.”

Both of you were thinking of the same thing, and you could only widen your eyes in response. “You know, I’ve been thinking of the same thing.”

“Seriously?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Maybe you two are destined to be best friends…or even something more.

“I mean, I am happy that the people here are all lovey-dovey, but I want some action too, you know?” You started rambling, eyes focused in front of you while your hands moved animatedly all over the place.

You didn’t see the smile forming on Johnny’s face, which could be interpreted as sheer joy or total mischief.

He cut off your babbling by grabbing your wrist that wasn’t holding your near-empty coffee. He pulled you towards him and wrapped an arm around your waist. You were about to protest, but his breathy voice got to you.

“Why don’t we pretend we’re a couple today? If you’re up to that, of course.”

You looked up at him and saw that both his cheeks and ears were red. His eyes bore into you, expecting your answer.

“Very funny, Johnny. But if you insist…well, people always thought we were a couple anyway!” You were laughing at how people assumed you two were an item since you were quite touchy with each other. Your hands slipped into his, and he squeezed it gently.

“Well, we could make it happen if we wanted to. But it looks like I’m not your type,” he pouted.

You felt your cheeks flame with his admission. If you only knew…

“Did I say who my type was? I can’t recall,” you said, eyes wandering to the clear blue sky.

“I’m just messing with you, dear,” Johnny squeezed your hand again. “How about we grab something to eat? Are you craving for something?”

You put a hand on your belly and rubbed it, hoping it will give you an answer. “How about quesadillas? Or burritos? Mexican food sounds good to me!”

“Por supuesto, mi señorita!” He replied in Spanish, making you thwack him on the shoulder. Deep inside, you swooned at how sexy he sounded whenever he spoke in another language other than English and Korean.

“Gracias! Vamos a comer, porque tengo mucha hambre,” you said, trying to stifle your laughter. It was one phrase that your aunt taught you that you will never forget, as it perfectly sums up your personality.

He wasn’t able to hold it in – he guffawed in public while still holding your hand. It took some time for you to settle down, and when you did, your hands were still intertwined.

“Taco Bell?” He asked, his tone playful.

“Yeah, I’m fine with Taco Bell.” He snickered at your answer and broke away from his hold on you. For a moment, you missed the warmth of his hand, but then it found its way around your waist.

Both of you walked towards the nearest Taco Bell, his hand on your waist and your head on his shoulder.

Now you could care more about Valentine’s Day, even if it’s just for today.

–––

FIN

[lamptracker]

due to some recent events that i might have disclosed in the gc (i honestly forgot) i’m in big cuddle thirst so could you maybe do something with cuddlebuddy haz? ps ily mom i hope you’re having a good day 💕

I do not remember you discussing that at ALL but yes, let’s do a thing

**

“Rough day?” your roommate Harrison asks you as you trudge through the door.

“What makes you think that?” you ask, trying (and failing) to sound like nothing is bothering you.

Harrison studies you for a minute. “Well, your bun is usually right on top of your head, but it seems to have decided it wants to be a hat for your left ear. You’re still wearing your work apron, which you usually leave at work. And the bottom right corner of it appears to be... singed, slightly?”

You groan as you unceremoniously pull the apron off. “We were busy, two people called off, I got yelled at least six times today, and oh! Jack was making himself a panini for his break but he forgot about it and it caught on fire, guess who happened to be standing nearby taking drive-through orders?”

“it caught on fire??”

“We got it out pretty quickly, but still. Not quite the highlight of my day.”

Harrison chuckles as he opens his arm. “We calling cuddle buddies?”

“We absolutely are.” 

The two of you have an agreement: If one of you is having a rough day, you can call on the other to cuddle with you for a bit. It’s nice: you have the supportive, physical part of a relationship without actually having to devote yourselves to a relationship.

“Then come here, yeah?”

“Can I change out of this first, maybe take a quick shower? I think I still smell like burning.”

“Thought that was your heart burning for me.”

You grab a nearby throw pillow and toss it at him; it barely misses his head. “Div. I promise I’ll be like ten minutes.”

“If it’s any longer than that I’m jumping in with you!” Harrison yells down the hallway after you. 

As you take a quick (eight minutes, you timed it) shower, you think to yourself. You and Harrison are practically dating anyway. You live together, after all. You know each other inside and out. You’re cuddle buddies, for Pete’s sake. Neither of you protest when you burst into each others’ rooms at 3am because you need someone to hold you, or you had a weird thought (two nights ago, Harrison desperately needed to discuss the etymology behind the phrase for Pete’s sake). You go out for late night Taco Bell runs, you always buy each other stuff if you’re out and it makes you think of the other one. 

Why aren’t you dating? Would it be the worst thing in the world? 

You quickly towel off and change into comfy clothes - basketball shorts and a hoodie you may or may not have stolen from Harrison. You wrap a towel around your hair and head back out to the living room, where Harrison is sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone.

“Ready for that cuddle now,” you announce as you make your way to the couch.

“That’s my hoodie,” Harrison says. “And I think those are my shorts, too!”

You shrug. “Who’s to know, really? Now, cuddle me, Osterfield. It’s been a long day.”

Harrison laughs as he tosses his phone onto the end table and you fold yourself into his arms. Sighing contentedly, you wrap your arms around his waist; he rubs a hand up and down your arm.

“I was thinking,” Harrison says softly.

“I try not to do that,” you reply. “I hear it causes brain tumors.”

“Div.” Harrison nudges you with his shoulder. “But anyway, I was thinking.”

“What about?”

“Us.”

“What about us?”

“Tom asked me today why we’re not dating.”

“Really? Why aren’t you dating Tom?”

Harrison snorts. “Wrong we, dumbass. You and me. Or I. Is it I? Anyway, this we. And, you know? I did not have a good answer for him. All I could come up with was, uhhhh.”

“Well put.”

“Shut up. Anyway, why aren’t we dating?”

“Dunno. But you know, I was thinking about that in the shower-”

“You think about me in the shower?”

“Keep it up and the next shower-related thought will be me holding your head under the water.”

Harrison laughs. “Sorry, please continue.”

“But anyway... would it be that weird? We’re practically dating anyway, only thing is we’ve never kissed.”

With that, Harrison dips his head down and presses a gentle kiss to your lips. “There we have. Now, um... what do you say? Do we take this beyond just cuddle buddies?”

“I think I need to kiss you again.”

“You what?”

“It’s for science, get down here.”

Laughing loudly this time, Harrison dips his head down; you capture your lips with his. You’ve kissed guys before, a few of them. You never quite felt a spark with them, though.

Not like you’re currently feeling with Harrison.

“So? What does science say?” Harrison asks when you part.

You think for a moment, chewing your lower lip. “Well, I’ve analyzed the data. And the data says we should give this a go.”

“Good. Because I have been in love with you for the longest time.” Harrison bends down to kiss you one more time. “What does the data say about sex?”

"You’re lucky you’re cute.” You climb out of Harrison’s lap, offering him a hand so he can pull himself off the couch.

“I am so in love with you, you know?” Harrison asks.

You smile as he folds you into his arms again. “I love you too. Now, if I’m not mistaken, we have an experiment to run.”

[wildroseofarran]

Pain, Relief, Closure || Kelly, Pete, Fletcher, Q, June, Emmanuel, Peabody, & Bridget

Fletcher: {Text to Peter Graham from Fletcher Goodman} FedEx guy swapped our shit

Pete/June: Pete was caught off guard so much by the name on his screen that he just stared at his phone for a few moments until June poked him.

"Respond!"

"What?"

"This is your chance! Respond, respond!"

"Okay! Jesus."

{Text to Fletcher} All right, I'll be over to get it in a second

{Text to Fletcher} Do I have one of yours?

Fletcher: {Text} Should have a small box of some cleaner I ordered

Fletcher held his breath and dropped his phone face-down. Enough of that. He tried to focus on - what was he doing?

Pete/June: He looked to June, who was reading over his shoulder. "Do we?"

"Maybe? I'll go look in the closet."

Sure enough, Fletcher's box of cleaner was sitting where their shipment of napkins was supposed to be.

{Text} Yeah I got it

{Text} Be across in a sec

Fletcher: Fletcher smoothed his hair, which he had allowed to grow for the last several months, longing for the length of his college years. His beard, finally trimmed, was given a feel as well. His navy blue shirt felt, collar fixed.

This didn't matter. Just shut the fuck up and make the trade.

The box was dropped on the counter. Here, he would wait, stomach contorting into knots.

Pete: Pete shrugged on his jacket and took a deep breath. This shouldn't feel as weird as it did. It wasn't like he was doing anything groundbreaking or foreign. He was just going across the street to get a package. Simple, right?

If only it felt that way.

He crossed the street, balanced the box of cleaner on his arm, and opened the door like he did this every day.

"Hey."

Fletcher: A visibly painful breath escaped as through from the pit of his stomach. No forced smile, but forced composure.

"Hey yourself."

Pete: At least he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"I believe this belongs to you." He held up the box. "You'd think after all these years he'd learn to look at the shipping labels."

Fletcher: "Yeah, well..." The Samsa swallowed. He didn't know what he had expected from this, but laying eyes on the man he'd avoided for months, to truly see him without the dull sepia of a Samantha, he might as well have been that greasy teenager injured by Marion's lies.

"Here it is." The box was given a pat.

Pete: For Pete's part, this interaction was already surpassing his wildest expectations. He didn't want there to be any hostility between them, however much reason there might be for it to exist.

"And here's yours." He set the box of cleaner down. "Sorry if it took a while, my bartender signed for the delivery this week."

Fletcher: "Kay. So..." Yeah. He would open the box to see for himself. Something, anything for him to tear his eyes away.

Pete: Silence was worse than strained conversation. He had to say something.

"So how've you been? I see you grew your hair out."

Fletcher: "I just... wanted it." Another useless clearing of his throat. "Ya look... good."

Pete: "Suits you." Pete offered a smile. Not a weird one or a forced one or a polite one, just a small, genuine smile. "Thanks. I feel pretty good. Year off to a decent start?"

Fletcher: Might as well rip the bandaid. "Gettin' married. Spring, I think."

Pete: Aaaand there went the genuine part of the smile.

“I heard.”

Fletcher: "Figured ya would."

Pete: “Small town.”

Fletcher: Enough of that. "Thanks for the box." He forced a smile and began to break down the package. He'd keep his eyes to himself.

Pete: "Sure, no problem. Thanks for mine. Oh, um, June told me to tell you that she's inviting you to dinner at her house."

Fletcher: "When?"

Pete: "She said you have a choice between Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday."

Fletcher: "Right. Guess I'll give her a text." Didn't seem right to make Peter the messenger. But now he was left with nothing else to say. He knew the answers. How was he? He was well. His sister was having a baby, and Peter was a family man. Where was MJ? Anywhere but here. But then again...

"How's um..."

Pete: "I'll let her know." June could've texted Fletcher herself, of course, but she hadn't been able to pass up the opportunity to extend this visit for these two men she loved.

Pete gave Fletcher a gently expectant look. "Yeah?"

Fletcher: "...Nah. S'nothin'. Ain't my business. Anyway, thanks." This was what he did. How obvious that he would shrink in on himself. He was out of his element. As though their intimate nights, their lapses in judgment in the back room merely a figment of fantasy, forged on some particularly lonesome evening alone with his thoughts.

Pete: So close, yet so far. A perfect portrait of their entire relationship really.

"All right, well, you know where to find me if you wanna ask." Pete balanced the box of napkins against his arm. "I'll tell June that you'll text her."

Fletcher: "Ya ain't gotta tell her anything."

Pete: His real smile made a soft return. "I know. I still will."

Fletcher: "Ya know why-" The Samsa made a bitten off sound. A protest he couldn't heed. "-why you're here n'not her."

Pete: "I'm surprised I am, but I don't really know why I am beyond you maybe wanting to say hello?"

Fletcher: "Me wantin' t'say hello?"

Pete: "That's the only reason I can think of for why I'm here instead of June."

Fletcher: "It wasn't...me."

Pete: Pete’s brow furrowed. “What wasn’t you?”

Fletcher: "Ya know it was June. You're fuckin' with me."

Pete: Pete looked genuinely confused. “June told the delivery guy to mix up the packages?”

Fletcher: "No, that you're - that you're here t'pick this up n'not her - just forget it."

Pete: “June—did June ask you to text me to come get the package?”

Fletcher: "No, I was stupid."

Pete: “You’re not.”

Fletcher: "Right." Peter would get a wave goodbye.

Pete: “...Okay then. Thanks.” He nodded to Fletcher and headed for the door.

Fletcher: Stupid, stupid, stupid. He had meant to text June. He would swear by it. Yet it had been Peter Graham -- for some fucking reason his name was still in his phone. For some reason it had been that name - and he just couldn't steady his thoughts. His tongue wagged and he was helpless. Reckless.

The box was shoved from the counter the moment the bell jingled its goodbye.

- Two Days Ago -

Kelly: Kelly white-knuckled the bathroom sink and took slow, shaky breaths in and out.

Fuck he shouldn't have come in. He should've stayed home.

The pain that had begun in his hip had radiated outward until every last bone in his body felt like it hurt and for his rotten fucking luck he was tapped out of Vicodin. It would be six weeks before he could get a refill.

Fucking opioid panic.

He had to do something. He needed something or he wasn't going to make it through the next twenty-four hours, much less the next six weeks before he could get his prescription.

Another shaky breath. "Fuck."

He limped his way out of the bathroom and looked around the bar. O'Charlie's was quiet and sketchy and filled with melancholy as usual, but what he needed wasn't there.

"Dwight! I'm taking my dinner break!"

Q: Q passed two rum fireballs to Stacey, waving her off and rolling his shoulders. This wasn't a Pete's Pub kind of night, it seemed. The younger, vibrant crowd wanted to dance, make out in the darker corners, and throw their weight around with burning stomachs as fuel. His kind of night, but he wasn't nineteen with a fake ID anymore. This was a night to get paid.

Kelly: The Brig was close enough that on a good day, Kelly could've walked and been there pretty quickly.

Or on a bad day like today, close enough that he could drive there at break-neck speed without running the risk of the cops catching him speeding.

He didn't quite bust through the door--the limp prevented that--but he zeroed in on the bar and its tender with the single-minded intensity of a man on the brink.

The crowd and the music might as well not have existed; he was only there for the man known as Q.

Kelly approached the quietest end of the bar and waited to catch Q's attention.

Q: Not much of a feat for a man on guard. A smile, creasing the ends of his mouth, slowly diminishing with every step closer to his newest patron. That sexual energy he could read with absolute literacy was nonexistent.

"You look like shit," he greeted. "The hell are you doing here?"

Kelly: He knew he looked like shit. He hadn't been sleeping well for the past month, every single micromovement he made hurt like fuck. It was exhausting being in this much pain.

"I need help," he said slowly. Emphatically. Desperately.

Q: Elbows on the counter. Q leaned forward, studying the man from head to shoulders.

"What kind of pain is it?"

Kelly: "It feels like someone stuffed my body into a trash compactor. Everything hurts."

Q: "Why haven't you been to the emergency room?"

Kelly: "I've done this dance for years and I can't get more Vicodin for weeks now can you help me or not?"

Q: "Vicodin?" He thought for a moment. "I'll get it. Before I leave. How long can you stay?"

Kelly: "Vicodin, oxy, heroin, I don't care, man. I just need something." He looked at his watch. It was a slow-ish night.

"I can stay forty-five minutes."

Q: His phone was already out. "I might have to come to you, but I'm on it." Kelly was still a new face, but he could read honesty when it was staring him in the eyes.

"Hey, what do you wanna drink? On the house."

Kelly: Thank fucking god. He just might make it through the next twenty-four hours after all.

"Triple bourbon, neat. Thanks."

Q: "You got it. Hungry at all? Fried fish tacos tonight. I'll hook you up."

Kelly: "Might as well." It was his dinner break, after all.

He eased himself onto a stool with great effort and silently begged for death.

Q: Firstly, the bourbon. Slid his way after a quick smile and word to Stacey. Kelly was none of her business, and he intended to keep it that way.

Kelly: The bourbon was downed with gratitude. He wasn't in the mood for savoring, he just needed something to take the edge off. This dull pain was so much worse than anything sharp he'd ever experienced.

Sharp pain just killed you. Dull pain made you lose your mind.

Q: Q glanced to his phone for the third time. Still nothing. Tony had to be at work. Shitty, but he'd hear back soon enough. The man was addicted to the screen.

"Want another? I'll drive ya wherever."

Kelly: "One more. Gotta get back to work after this." And he couldn't give the appearance of resuming his shift drunk off his ass, much as he wanted to be.

Q: One more, and a round of beers for a table across the bar, close to the dance floor. Nearly ten minutes and a plate of fish tacos later did his phone finally vibrate.

"Hey, he'll be here in thirty. Either you're late back or I'll come to you."

Kelly: There truly was a god. He might just have to pop into the church to light a candle in homage. "I can be late. We're not busy right now anyway."

Q: "How long have you been like this, man?"

Kelly: “Ran out of pills a few days ago. Been downhill from there.”

Q: "Want something to smoke, too? I got you covered."

Kelly: “I’d have gone down that road already if I could. Lungs are fucked.” Along with every other part of this damn body.

Q: "You have asthma or something?"

Kelly: “Inhaled smoke and hot air during a fire.”

Q: "You look like a million bucks, sweetheart." A soft pat to his shoulder. "Or you will soon."

Kelly: “I’ll settle for looking like a buck fifty if I can get some relief.”

Q: Soon. "How're the tacos?"

Kelly: "Pretty good. Better than I expected actually."

Q: "Better than I expected too," said under his breath. "It's a hit or miss here.”

Kelly: "Didn't think ya'll did food beyond fried things."

Q: "Trust me, we don't. Tried doing caprese salad once. Didn't go over well. We're not in Europe."

Kelly: "This is the wrong crowd for that. This crowd just wants Jaeger shots and bass."

Q: "Not a bad crowd, just different."

Kelly: "Sometimes it's needed." Like today. His night would be extra miserable if he was working at Pete's. He'd have to endure so much more than pain.

Q: A question spurred from somewhere within. One he kept to himself. The first, it seemed, as far as intuition with Kelly. Pocketed for later. This was not Kelly's night.

True to Q's word, a man walked in at the appointed hour. Still in his hardware polo and as tired as Kelly looked.

The man took a seat beside Kelly, smiling politely at his bartender.

"Gimmie somethin' I shouldn't drive home after drinkin'."

"You got it."

"Where is-"

Q gestured vaguely to the man by his side.

Kelly: It seemed like a hundred years passed before his salvation arrived and even in a hardware polo, he looked like a goddamn angel.

"Yeah, me. Help me."

Q: Q left them alone to discuss the details. None of which were his business. He knew his friend to be fair when sober, and his first drink was now.

Kelly: Kelly's request was simple. Probably concerning, but simple.

"I need all of the Vicodin that you have. That's not an exaggeration. You did not hear 'I want a lot of Vicodin'. I meant exactly what I said. If you don't have it, I'll take oxy. I'll take heroin. I'll take crystal fucking meth. Just please, god, give me some relief, my body hurts."

Q: A question asked of anyone with such blatant demand was if this was some kind of suicide attempt. The man was obviously in pain, but his desperation was enough to make a man shift in his seat.

"I'll give you two now, n'I wanna see ya take em." Words muttered under breath before large gulps of dark bitter beer.

Kelly: "Trust me, if I was gonna off myself, I would've done it long before tonight. Unassisted. I'll take the two and thank you for all eternity."

Q: "Hey, man, I get it." He dropped his hand with dead weight onto the counter, explaining how every other finger was held together with steel. A construction job traded for a hardware store with less pay. Such was life. He understood, but he wanted his money.

Kelly: Kelly would all but throw it at him. Probably too much, he hadn't counted it. He'd just grabbed a wad from his stash before he'd left for work, having anticipated ending up doing exactly what he was doing.

Q: Under the counter. A hot fist with two white pills tapped against his knee. Q saw to his duties, smiled when appropriate and once quite inappropriately to a woman in a blue dress and her disapproving male counterpart.

Kelly: He'd never experienced such instant mental relief. And if he had, it had been years.

Kelly swallowed the pills dry and thanked his savior.

- Present -

Fletcher: Fletcher had paced the ugly brown carpet flat. This was stupid. He was stupid. Having expected in any measure for Peter to have sent June had been reckless. His stomach had known what his head and heart couldn't bear. He'd fumbled his words. He'd made things worse. He felt sick.

And all for a man that didn't love him.

A shot glass was the last thing on his mind. Straight from the bottle of honey whiskey.

This was fine. This was the natural order of things. He was getting married. Whenever it was Marion decided to set a date. He didn't fucking know.

He stared into his half-finished bottle. He should have been himself. Take it all back and just go back to a few years ago. There were more important things on his agenda. Had to be something.

June/Kelly: "I think you're coming down with something," June said to Kelly as she put chairs on top of their respective tables. He usually did this, but he didn't look like he could lift a feather right now.

Kelly put away the last of the glasses and tried not to wince. "What makes you say that?"

"Well for one, it's usually you doing this instead of me. For two, you're all pale and sweaty and if I had to guess, you're clammy, too. I think you have a fever."

If only. "M'fine. Gonna take out the trash."

"That's okay, I can--"

Kelly shook his head. "It's fine, I got it."

It wasn't and he didn't, but he'd rather balance the trash bag and his cane than stand there looking like shit and feeling like shit.

Fletcher: Fletcher checked his watch. Still time. The shop sign was flipped closed. Door locked. The back room was thick with the stench of cigarettes. A habit he needed to rid himself. A stench others could all too easily catch.

Away with his shoe. Away with a Samantha out a hidden passageway.

Kelly: “Fucking...opioid...fucking....crisis,” Kelly muttered in between steps, adjusting his grip on the trash bag. “Fucking—do-gooder fucking—drug dealer.”

He braced himself against the dumpster and hissed out a breath. “Since when does a fucking dealer have morals, fuck’s sake.” Man was as bad as the doctor, rationing out his meds. One didn’t want him turning into a junkie and the other thought he was going to OD. Couldn’t catch a fucking break.

Should’ve bought heroin, he thought as he struggled to lift the bag into the dumpster.

He barely got it to shoulder-height before the cloud cover above him moved away and cool, ethereal light filled the alleyway.

“.....oh, fuck....”

Fletcher: Hardly any toes left. Something to keep his mind occupied. The Harrak house; the hospital; the police station; a handful of vampires, to say the least; a dangerous game of hide and seek at his mother's tiny house. One across the street.

His eyes drifted, checking each Samantha.

June/Kelly: "No no no no no, please, please! Not here, no n--AGH!"

 A sharp crack had June's head whipping around. "Kelly? Was that you?"

 "Please, PLEASE--gah!" Another crack, two, three. Kelly's legs buckled beneath him as his bones began the excruciating process of reforming. It hadn't always been this bad. It hadn't always been this hard, this unwelcome.

Now there was only pain.

 "Kelly?!" June headed for the back. "Kelly, is that you? Are you okay?"

Fletcher: Fletcher turned to face the frame covered wall. Behind it was brick, and the street, and the pub. Through the crack in the wall yet to be fixed. A single glance.

{Text to Peter} Pub NOW

June shouldn't have been there. Do-gooder sweetheart, helping a man that probably didn't deserve it. Nature could have run its course if not for this one variable.

The door slammed behind, rattling at its edges.

Pete/June: Pete's stomach twisted into knots the moment he got the notification on his phone.

{Text} What happened? What's wrong?

Fuck. He couldn't just up and leave, Graham was asleep in his lap. But what if something was really wrong?

"Goddammit."

 God, what was that horrible sound? It sounded like branches breaking or something.

Oh shit, what if Kelly's cane had broken somehow and he'd fallen? He could be trying to get back up.

June jogged the rest of the way to the back entrance. The door was still open.

"I'm coming, Kelly," she called, stepping out into the alley. "Are you okay? Are you h--holygod!"

Fletcher: A body slammed hard against the dusty brown brick of the alleyway. Fletcher bounced his shoulder from the wall into a defensive stance. A gruff man to say the least, but nothing as intimidating as the scene before him. Not yet.

"Get back inside, June."

June: June didn't seem to hear him. She was frozen to the spot, eyes wide and horrified as the animal-like mass on the concrete a few yards ahead of her shifted and writhed and made that awful cracking sound.

"I-is--that's...oh, god..."

The mass of cracking bones and torn flesh was Kelly.

Fletcher: The only defense between June and jaws. He couldn't afford to tear his attention away. If he had to intimidate her to safety so be it.

"Get inside, June! NOW!"

June/Kelly: It was hard to tell whether it was the volume of Fletcher's voice or the tone, but either way it had her scrambling back to hide just inside the door.

Her heart was going a mile a minute, breathing quick and growing more panicked with every new crack, every tortured yelp, every godawful wet sound coming from the alley.

 It was like being flayed alive. Any fluidity and ease had long ago been erased, severed when they'd severed him from the moon.

She seemed to mock him now as she forced him to change, as she punished him for their sins.

Scarred skin and fabric gave way to matted, patchy fur. Bones struggled to shift correctly, one leg seemed to atrophy and turn lame as with one last strangled cry, a dire wolf emerged where Kelly had been.

Fletcher: This was never a scenario Fletcher had prepared himself for. A bar fight; a troublesome vampire; for Peter to accidentally change. Kelly had a stench to him. Unmistakable. A viable excuse to maintain surveillance. He wondered now if he had cursed them.

Fletcher hunched his back, shoulders tight but hands loose, ready to snatch a wolf from pounce. He doubted this would end well. Never fucking did with wolves.

"Kelly!" he shouted. "Look at me. Can ya fuckin' hear me?"

June/Kelly: The wolf snarled and snapped its jaws in warning. Its eyes were feral, devoid of any understanding or acknowledgement.

 "Oh my god. Oh my god." June slipped back behind the door and squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't happening this couldn't be happening things like this didn't happen.

You're dreaming, she told herself, hugging her arms around her middle. You're dreaming this is a dream it's not real, it's not real, it can't be real!

Fletcher: A wolf like this, would he retain this memory? Carried knowledge in the same manner as a Samsa?

The sharp screech from his throat an equal warning. Hunched forward, meeting the creature at eye level. Back bowed and threatening.

June/Kelly: June's eyes flew open. That sound....that wasn't--what was that?

Steeling herself, she dared to peek around the doorframe and immediately had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. Kelly was gone. The horrible pile of flesh was gone. In its place was--holy god. That was a wolf. That was the biggest fucking wolf she'd ever seen. No no no no, th-that was--was that Kelly? He was--and Fletcher--had that sound come from Fletcher?

The wolf growled again, desperation and its fight or flight response making it take a careful step forward. The wolf wanted out. The wolf wanted the woods, wanted freedom, and Fletcher was standing between it and the way out of the alley.

It crouched and measured the space.

Fletcher: He couldn't let Kelly go. Not this deep into town. Much against his mother's wishes and against his better interest, this had become his purpose.

"Calm the fuck down."

Where the fuck was Peter?

Pete/Kelly/Emmanuel: "What's going on?" Emmanuel whisper yelled to Pete as he took the sleeping bundle that was Graham from his arms. "What happened at the pub? Where's Stella and Ryan?"

"They're at a wedding in Savannah with my parents," Pete whispered back. "I don't know what happened at the pub, I just know it's an emergency and you were on the way." He kissed his nephew's head. God love him for being such a heavy sleeper. "You sure this is okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, go. I'll look after him."

"Thanks, man, I owe you one."

"Just be careful. And call Brett if it's bad."

"I will."

Pete practically flew back down Emmanuel's walkway to his car and floored it to the pub.

{Text to Fletcher} On my way

{Text to Fletcher} Do I need to call Brett?

 There was no sign of understanding, only more snapping and snarling and slow, deliberate steps forward. Perhaps it was a warning. Perhaps it was careless. Perhaps it was both.

But all Kelly could see through the haze of pain and anger was the freedom just beyond Fletcher.

He leapt forward.

Fletcher: There were too many possibilities Fletcher couldn't allow in his escape. His back bowed, gaining height and the beginnings of chitin on his forearms. As the creature leapt, the Samsa made a grab for whatever he could. He would use his center of gravity to his advantage in an effort to bring the creature onto its side. Enough reasoning at this point.

Kelly: The leap had accounted and calculated for the height of a man; not the height of what that man was becoming before his eyes. It all happened too quickly for the wolf to make out what it was, but it didn't matter.

Balance already off, Kelly was caught by his useless back leg and hit the unforgiving concrete. Hard.

His fight was pure pain response. He scrambled to try to get away from the creature, growling and biting anywhere he could in his attempt to free himself of the threat.

Fletcher: "Fuckin' stay!" This was exactly why he fucking hated dogs. The wolf was yanked by his useless limb and pulled underneath his weight. Forearm to his face, elbow against its snapping muzzle. He'd participated in enough fights with Garou over the years to know how to deal with less than friendly jaws. Less dangerous forcing the mouth wide than trying to keep it closed.

His voice was becoming hoarse, broken by sharp clicks and screeches. "Swear t'fuckin' god, Kelly, I will put ya down if ya don't chill!"

Pete/Kelly/June: Pete couldn't have begun to guess what sort of scene was going to greet him when he arrived at the pub. Fletcher hadn't answered; he was flying blind.

Perhaps that was why he felt so unsettled as he pulled up to a still scene.

He could hear some sort of sound coming from somewhere but couldn't see the source. The lights were still on. Blinds still open. No movement inside. He couldn't tell if that was reassuring.

He got out of his car and unlocked the door as quickly as he could, immediately looking around for June and Kelly. Nothing. The cleaning supplies were still out. Only about three quarters of the chairs rested on top of their respective tables. But no June and Kelly. There was only that sound he'd heard earlier, which was louder now.

It wasn't coming from the main room. It wasn't muffled enough to be coming from upstairs. Could it be coming from backstage or one of the storage rooms? Were June and Kelly there too?

He ducked behind the bar, intending to check on each of the closets and the kitchen when he turned and saw the door to the alley wide open. And hiding just behind the frame, peeking outside, a petite figure he immediately recognized as June.

"June?" he called, startling her into turning around.

The look in her eyes slammed into Pete like a ton of bricks. Even in the low light, he could see how pale she was, how she trembled in fear.

Pete crossed to her in a second, pressing his keys into her hand and ushering her away from whatever untold horror was in the alley. "Take my car and go home, right now!"

"I--"

"NOW!"

 What came out of Kelly's mouth wasn't a growl; it couldn't even be called a howl. There wasn't enough fight in it for that, if there was any fight in him at all.

It was a scream. It was raw, exhausted anguish. The woods were so far away. He couldn't see them anymore, couldn't see anything except a haze of red that he didn't realize was blood. He could only feel pain, could only hear voices. One angry, and one that called, "Fletcher!"

Fletcher: He knew that voice. Recognized the tone and every emotion behind it. That blame which lay in his name better than anything else. He was a disgusting thing doing a disgusting job. His arms were covered in chitin. Fingers filed to sharpened points, where nail and bone and skin became a single entity. Eyes of rich amber glowing through the limited light at the Gurahl. What would be his superior, had he been anything but a Mockery.

"Help me!" he screeched.

Pete: Pete couldn't begin to name the emotions he was feeling. All he saw was Fletcher--in many ways as if the first time--and the giant, thrashing wolf he had pinned beneath him.

He rushed over, careful to avoid claws and jaws. Kelly was making a sound that was making every hair on Pete's body stand on end. "Fletch, come on, let him up. Let him up, you won, he's not fighting you!"

Fletcher: "No shit he's not fightin' me! M'not lettin' a wolf loose on this fuckin' town. I don't care how injured it is!"

Pete: "Then I'll take him with me to the woods! He won't be loose!"

Fletcher: "Move your goddamn hands n'do somethin'!"

Pete/Kelly: "Dammit, Fletcher, let him--fuck."

Pete pulled a pendant from under his shirt as he crouched beside Kelly's head.

His bartender was still making that godawful sound and trying to move from underneath Fletcher's weight, to no avail. Kelly's pain was plainly obvious when he was up and human; now it was nearly unbearable to see.

Sooner or later someone was going to hear and either come looking and call the sheriff, and then they would really have a problem on their hands.

"Kelly. Kelly! I need you to calm down." Pete pulled his necklace up over his head and clasped it in one hand while gingerly attempting to place the other on the wolf's head.

Not an easy task with Kelly just waiting to clamp his jaws down on something.

"I'm gonna make you feel better, okay?" he said as gently as he could. "I'm gonna try. It won't hurt you more, it's just green light. You ever heard of Druids? It's just some of their magic. It'll help, I promise."

He squeezed the pendant tighter, willing its magic forward.

Fletcher: "He can't fuckin' understand ya. I've tried! Don't ya think I've tried?!" But then again, maybe true breeds understood one another. He didn't fucking know. But this was somehow his fucking fault. Where would June be right now had he not bolted across the street? Peter would say she would have been fine. He was sinking into self-doubt and further paranoia.

One more snap at Peter, though, and that muzzle was going to be wrapped.

Pete/Kelly: Fletcher was right; Kelly showed no more signs of understanding Pete than he had of understanding him. At the moment it was hard to say whether that would've been the case in different circumstances, but as things stood, Kelly understood nothing and perceived everything as a threat.

That didn't mean Pete was going to stop trying, however.

"Come on, Kelly, try to think through it. You've gotta try." Pete squeezed the pendant harder. What the hell was taking it so long?! "I've almost got it, Kelly, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay, Kelly. That's your name, remember? Kelly George Rose. You've gotta understand that, you--fucking finally!"

At long last, a soft green light had begun to flow from the pendant. Pete immediately pressed it against the wolf's head, hoping the bit of magic would help calm and relieve him.

"Fletch, you have to let go of his leg. We have no chance of getting him to calm down if you don't."

Fletcher: Fletcher lifted onto one of his now amber elbows. A soft crunch of not-skin against concrete. He'd release the leg, focus almost entirely on snapping jaws and frantic claws.

"Lemme guess. France?"

Pete/Kelly: Pete shook his head, gaze trained on Kelly. "Callum's cousin."

There was a rush of something that could technically be called relief but fell far short of the mark. It wasn't really relief in the sense Pete had been hoping; it was just a bit less pain.

Kelly continued to struggle, more weakly but with the same amount of desperation.

At the very least, the screaming had stopped.

Fletcher: "Where d'ya wanna take him?" Because this alleyway shit had to end. He turned, checking for June. A sound, a scent. On guard while Peter did whatever it was he was doing.

Pete: "The woods. I have more of this magic along the riverbank. The pendant only has so much."

Fletcher: Fletcher closed his eyes. The fight against his nature in order to set himself to rights was painful as always, but an otherwise thoughtless transition.

"Help me get him up."

Pete: Thoughtless on Fletcher's part but definitely not Pete's. When this was over and done with he was going to have to take a second to process everything he was witnessing.

"Not yet. Give it another second." He didn't trust that Kelly wouldn't snap right now. Best to let the magic work a little bit. "Anyone pawn an ATV recently?"

Fletcher: "What? No. He can fit in the back of my Dart." He'd have to, torn upholstery be damned. One more idea. It had been some time since he'd looked, but, "How crowded is the attic?"

Pete: "We won't be able to get to the part of the riverbank we need to in a car. I usually hike out there on foot or walk there in bear form."

Pete's brow furrowed. "The attic? There's no magic in the attic."

Fletcher: "I don't give a fuck about magic right now, Peter. We just need him where humans can't fuckin' see. Make him walk with ya when he's got two semi-functional legs in the mornin'."

Pete: "He won't be seen by anyone if we take him to the woods. He'll be out of sight and he'll get some relief for his pain. He's not just some wolf, Fletch, I see this man every day. He works for me."

Fletcher: "Why does no one in this goddamn town have any fuckin' sense of self-preservation." A hand was thrown about. "Whatever then. Ya deal with it."

Pete: "My self doesn't need to be preserved, his does. What would putting him in the attic do that taking him to the woods wouldn't?"

Fletcher: "Uh, expose him t'fuckin' people."

Pete: "And who exactly is going to see him deep in the woods? There's more risk keeping him here. I'd be truly surprised if someone hasn't already called Brett because a wild animal was screaming in town."

Fletcher: "We're not in the fuckin' woods, Peter."

Pete: "So let's get there! And if you don't want to help me that's fine!" He could call Callum to help him. He'd be able to provide magic and possible transport.

Fletcher: "You're out of your goddamn mind." The wolf - because that's all it was in this form - was lifted in impatient arms. So goddamn ignorant and no sense of safety for himself or those in this town. Absolutely ridiculous. Pentex could have Peter's head tomorrow and it would be his own fucking fault.

But no matter the torture, he was in love with this idiot bear. If he breached the veil for anyone, it seemed, it would be in the name of half-love.

"Let's fuckin' go then."

Pete/Kelly: The wolf wasn't exactly going to go easily. Just like in his human form, any amount of movement at all sent waves of pain and discomfort all throughout his body. This amount of magic had been intended to help Pete sleep or meditate, not offer relief to a horribly injured direwolf. The most it could do was offer a calming effect.

"Since when is helping a friend being out of my mind? The goddamn woods are the safest place for him and for everyone else. He's out of sight to them, and they are to him."

Pete tried to keep the pendant pressed to Kelly's head as best he could as they started for the woods. Tried being the operative word. There was still a lot of snarling and struggling and there would no doubt be more as the magic ran out.

They just needed to get inside the tree line. They needed to get at least that far.

Fletcher: "We gotta go through fuckin' buildings, train track, homes, Peter. Homes. I don't know how this ain't gettin' through t'ya. Ya hang out with that druid way too fuckin' much."

Pete: "The hell are we, ghosts? We're not going through anything. Vampires didn't take over this place for the flurry of activity. It's nearly three a.m., there's no one out in the back streets to see what's happening."

Fletcher: "They didn't make this place an Elysium by marchin' a fuckin' werewolf through the goddamn streets just 'cause 78% of people are asleep."

Pete: "No, they did it by covering shit up which is exactly what we're doing."

Not a single major street would be taken if Pete had anything to do with it. Back streets and alleys only. Not a single streetlamp would be walked under. He wanted to take the most lowkey route possible while also doing it as quickly as possible.

Not an easy feat, but then Edenton wasn't terribly large.

Fletcher: "I'm so grateful you're such an expert now. Really, it brings me peace of mind that all my upbringing and knowledge is a goddamn lie."

Pete: Pete tried his best not to give Fletcher a snippy reply back. It would be far too easy to fall into an argument just for its own sake and they had a very pressing issue to deal with.

"Really, with the sarcasm? You telling me vampires aren't like the goddamn mob? I'm not trying to make your life hard, Fletcher, I'm trying to help Kelly."

Fletcher: "The sake of one over many." He was angry in the moment. Flabbergasted at the situation he'd allowed Peter to place them in. Pissed beyond measure that Kelly thought he could work under such condition. The man was gonna get a fair right hook in the proper moment.

"You're..." A glance at the moon. "Is it a tattoo? That necklace? Why ain't ya changed, too?"

Pete: "The many are tucked away at home right now and they're not my concern. My concern is my friend and if that really steams your clams that goddamn badly, I'll look after Kelly on my own!"

The green glow seemed dimmer. The magic was running out. Or maybe it was his own paranoia making it seem that way.

"Callum's cousin helped me. I couldn't change tonight, I'm looking after Graham."

Fletcher: "Ya do that enough you're gonna break yourself. But whatever." That was becoming the theme for everything tonight. He knew truths, but whatever. Feelings outweighed facts apparently.

Until it didn't, and a door just yards away opened with a slam. Less than a second and Fletcher was on his knees, armful or wolf and eyes caught in moonlight.

Pete: "Is there anything you're not gonna fucking jump down my throat about tonight? This is the first time I've ever done it and it'll most likely be the last. My nine year-old nephew was my only fucking reason."

He could've kept going, but the sound of that door made every drop of blood in his body run cold.

Fuckfuckfuck they needed a shadow any shadow please god don't let them look in our direction--

Fletcher: "Just don't move," he whispered. "You're fine, Peter."

Pete: Forget moving, Pete barely breathed. He motioned for Fletcher to be quiet; even that whisper sounded way too loud.

It had been a back door opening. He heard shuffling footsteps, a clinking sound followed a dull thud.

He finally let himself relax when the door slammed shut a few moments later. "Who the fuck takes out the trash at three in the morning?" he hissed, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"We're not gonna make it before the amulet runs out, we need Cal."

Fletcher: Fletcher's face could best be described as deadpan, seeing as he was the point attempting to reassure Peter. Seeing as he was the one carrying two arms' worth of unnerved wolf.

"Gee. Sure sounds like we shoulda stayed fuckin' put. Sounds like it's gonna be a crowd of us in the middle of bumfuck and exposed. Sounds like ya shoulda listened t'me."

Pete: "Absolutely not, we're not staying exposed, we're still going to the woods. I need magic to calm Kelly. And by all means, Fletcher, set him down and wash your hands of this if you want to." He pulled up Callum's name and dialed.

"You need to hear you were right? Fine, you were right and I was wrong. You know best and I should've listened to you."

Fletcher: "If only I believed anything ya ever said t'me, it might actually make me feel better."

Pete: "God, Fletcher, what do you want from me?!" Pete whisper yelled. "I am trying to do right by Kelly. Maybe it's not the best way and maybe I'm being a reckless, naive idiot but dammit I have to try! The woods are safe, he needs to be safe!"

Fletcher: "Ya ask me now?!" Plenty willing to have a whisper fight right there and then.

Carefully, he returned to his feet. "Move t'that bit a'trees. I'll scout."

Pete: "Might as well since in your infinite wisdom I can't do anything right! Jesus god, why won't he pick up?" He'd been sent to voicemail. Callum was either dead asleep or away from his phone. He dialed again.

"You can't scout with an armful of wolf, give him here." Pete propped his phone between his ear and shoulder and held out his arms for Kelly.

Fletcher: "S'three in the mornin'. His husband probably turned his phone off." Something he'd been known to do when Callum needed sleep. Something Fletcher wasn't about to reveal in its entirety.

The wolf was handed over. Almost instantly did he disappear among the shadow and branches. Off with his shoe. The one with a reasonable toe to spare.

"Don't say a fuckin' word," he hissed. The distinct and nauseating crack of bones. The tear of flesh far too easy than it should seem. Two abnormally large roaches flew away with impressive speed.

Pete: Pete took the wolf as gently as he could, careful not to jostle him too much. And although there was some protest and half-hearted struggling, Kelly remained relatively calm.

However little magic there was, it was having the intended effect.

"Your toes are really the least of my concern right now, Fletcher." Still no answer from Callum.

Pete sighed.

Fletcher: "Just sit a moment. No use wastin' energy." His eyes, still reflective in certain angles, had taken a faraway glaze.

"Where ya keep the blue roses?"

Pete: Pete didn't bother wondering how Fletcher knew about the roses he'd planted. At this point, he simply assumed Fletcher knew about everything that happened in Edenton.

"Along a secluded part of the riverbank. Off any paths."

Fletcher: A simple nod, eyes forward. Peter would have to wait through the flinches and stuttered breaths, watching a mind in multiple places simultaneously.

Pete: “It’s about a two-mile hike from Callum’s house. There’s a big rock nearby.”

Fletcher: "I know," he muttered.

Pete: “Right. Of course you do.”

Fletcher: "What's that mean?" Not a lot of fight left in his voice.

Pete: “That you know everything.”

Fletcher: "I don't."

Pete: “Probably more than anyone else in town.” His voice was quiet, void of any accusation.

Fletcher: "S'all I do. People think I'm crazy but m'just not... m'just not."

Pete: “People think everyone’s crazy.”

Fletcher: "Yeah, s'easy t'dismiss when you're not me."

Pete: “I don’t mean to dismiss it.”

Fletcher: "I bet ya don't mean a lot of things."

Pete: Pete heaved a long sigh. “They find the roses?”

Fletcher: "Almost there. Not lil Ferraris."

Pete: “Just asking.”

Pete looked down at his armful of Kelly. His eyes were closed but he wasn’t asleep. His breathing was too labored to be restful.

And the light was definitely dimmer now.

Fletcher: The path was clear. Fletcher felt at the tree and forced himself upright.

"Follow behind me, alright? Walk where I walk."

Pete: He nodded and carefully adjusted his grip on Kelly.

"Lead the way."

Fletcher: He needed something to fill the silence. "Did ya ever trust me, Peter?"

Pete: "I trust you now, Fletcher."

Fletcher: "How can ya say that n'we're walkin' this way?"

Pete: "I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you. I'd be home still, with Graham."

Fletcher: "What was trust?"

Pete: "Dropping everything and leaving my nephew with Emmanuel in the middle of the night because you texted me that something was wrong."

Fletcher: Fletcher fell into silence, chewing a wound into his lip as they continued along the path to Peter's sanctuary. The declaration of love to a leech. What a sad, pathetic life he lived.

"Do your thing. I'll... keep watch."

Pete: Pete had never been more relieved to see a blue rose in his life.

The moment he stepped into the serenity garden, more of that soft green light began to emanate from each of the roses, covering the immediate area in a soothing haze.

He lowered Kelly to the ground as delicately as possible, giving extra consideration given to the injured leg.

As for Kelly, he was too exhausted to put up much of any kind of struggle. The Druid magic couldn't quite take away all the pain, but it was lulling him into a half-asleep state.

And now that Kelly was calm and still, the extent of the damage to his body was plain to see. He looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder and left to heal poorly.

Fletcher: Fletcher looked back over his shoulder. "What kinda Garou can't heal proper? The fuck ya think happened t'him?"

Pete: "I couldn't even begin to guess," Pete sighed, settling beside Kelly's head. "He's a vet."

Fletcher: "That don't - I dunno, man. Seen wolves heal from some crazy shit. Ya felt his leg? Some unnatural shit in there."

Pete: "Could a vampire have done damage like this? Made it so he wouldn't be able to heal?"

Fletcher: "Maybe a witch. Maybe somethin' like ya. Y'all supposed t'be the manipulators of health or some shit."

Pete: "Whatever it was, they were either really pissed or really powerful. Or both."

He put his pendant back on and tucked it away again. "Stronger ones of me probably. I'm just a bear."

Fletcher: "Ya ain't ever been 'just' anything."

Pete: "Guess not. My first transformation made that clear."

Fletcher: "I shoulda smelled it on ya."

Pete: “I was a late bloomer, weak bloodline.” He shrugged.

Fletcher: "You've only dipped your toes in."

Pete: “Not much of a puddle to dip them into. What I know about being a bear I learned from my mentor.”

Fletcher: "I mean all of it. Bein' 'round Callum ain't the whole of it."

Pete: "What else am I gonna do? I come from a river guardian tribe. I guard the river and hang out with Callum on full moons."

Fletcher: "More than that, Peter. There's... so much ya don't know." You have no idea how much I worry.

Pete: “I don’t doubt that. But since I have no mentor who is like me, I make up for it by just living my life and transforming quietly and looking after the river. It’s all I can do. It’s what I’ve got to work with.”

Fletcher: "Is that what ya want? T'just... be like that?"

Pete: “I never asked to be this, Fletcher. I was human my entire life until I got sick one random day and transformed a few days later. I just want the life that I built.”

Fletcher: "Wow, ya never asked for it. Amazin'. None of us ask t'be born, Peter. Ya either adapt or ya don't."

Pete: “Well it may not seem so to you, but I think I’ve adapted pretty damn well for not having transformed until I’d been alive for over three decades.”

Fletcher: "Ya ain't been caught yet, 'cept by vampires, n'me, n'maybe a hunter."

Pete: "I was never going hide it from you, or from the vampires. Comes with the territory."

Fletcher: "What territory is that? They'll kill ya as sooner look at ya."

Pete: "The territory of living in Edenton. Even if I prevented my transformation every single full moon for the rest of my life, I can't hide it. My aura's changed. My scent has changed."

Fletcher: "Ya can stay away from em. You're not me. You're not strong enough. If Guildias' boss told him t'kill ya, he would. Ya just..."

Pete: "My life is here, Fletcher. And I've kept that life as quiet and private as I can to stay off the Prince's radar. I'm doing the best I can."

Fletcher: Fletcher could only sigh, at a loss for words that would not result in an argument or further heartbreak. Best to just turn his back and watch their path.

Pete: Fletcher didn't have to say anything more; that sigh spoke volumes. It said his best wasn't good enough, that he wasn't good enough. It said he was doing everything wrong. It said he was naive and idealistic and overemotional and irrational.

So...everything he'd gotten used to hearing about himself.

He laid his hand on Kelly's head and asked god to help them all.

Fletcher: Shouldn't that have been said for himself? Fletcher would have corrected several mistakes in that line of thought had he said them. Just a further widening gap between those unforgettable few weeks they would never share again. The further from those days, the more Fletcher convinced himself they were just a dream.

"How's he doin'?"

Pete: “I think he’s mostly okay.” Pete gave Kelly a good once over. “His breathing seems a little labored. Leg’s twitching.” He leaned in close to listen. “And he’s whining with every exhale. Probably still in a lot of pain.”

Fletcher: "Could steal somethin' from the vet's office." A partial joke with no accompanied laugh.

Pete: Pete snorted. “Vet’s offices keep morphine?”

Fletcher: "Gotta be a dog equivalent."

Pete: "He's on medication. Maybe that'll be enough once he turns back. Unless you want to risk breaking into the vet's office."

Fletcher: "I mean, we're already breakin' rules." But he took a breath. "I might have somethin'."

Pete: "Is whatever it is safe for giant wolves?"

Fletcher: "Are ya bear in all things when you're a bear?"

Pete: "Right down to scratching my back against a tree."

Fletcher: "So ya think it would hurt ya t'take some oxy?"

Pete: “I don’t know, probably. Animal systems aren’t equipped to handle heavy meds.”

Fletcher: It was all relatively new. He knew of other breeds because he had been forced for one reason or another to kill them.

For the good of his species and the security of this town.

"Stayin' here til dawn?"

Pete: Pete nodded. “Yeah. I’ll help him home when he transforms back.”

Fletcher: Fletcher solidified his stance. Arms folded like a hug.

"Alright."

Pete: “It’s okay if you don’t stay, you don’t have to. Kelly’s my responsibility.”

Fletcher: "You're mine."

Pete: “I’m here every full moon, Fletcher,” he said softly. “I’ll be okay, promise. You have a life and I don’t want to keep you from it.”

Pete: “I’m here every full moon, Fletcher,” he said softly. “I’ll be okay, promise. You have a life and I don’t want to keep you from it.”

Fletcher: "...So am I." All Peter had to go on with that faraway tone was Fletcher's back and impossibly tight shoulders.

Pete: Years of knowing about Fletcher's vigilance and somehow reminders of it still surprised him, even if it was brief. Of course Fletcher watched him on full moons. Fletcher watched everything.

Better to quit arguing and focus on Kelly. Maybe he'd text Gaetan and ask about the injuries.

Fletcher: Every day with Peter was a foot-in-mouth situation. Best to let the silence stretch between them. The whispers against his ears were making him miserable anyway.

"Fuck off," he tried to hiss. Whomever was vying for his attention tonight was particularly insistent.

Pete: Pete frowned and turned toward Fletcher's back. Who was he talking to? Was someone coming toward them?

"Is everything all right?"

Fletcher: "S'fi - S'fine." Composure. Not another argument. He was tired.

After a moment, Fletcher turned his shoulder in Peter's direction. He doubted he would remember their night together, the rain, the power outage, the embarrassment caused by the blackout. But, "Ya ever... hear anything in the dark?"

Pete: Fletcher needn't have doubted; Pete remembered every moment of the time they'd had together.

"I didn't used to, but I do now, sometimes."

Fletcher: "Anyone ever tell ya what it is?"

Pete: He nodded. "Yep, my mentor. Said it was the Veil."

Fletcher: "Dead fuckin' people?"

Pete: "Not dead. The in between."

Fletcher: "Whatever that is." He flicked at his ear, as though swiping at a fly.

Pete: "The way it was explained to me, it's the space between life and death. The spirit world where ghosts and ideas and dreams happen. That's where the voices come from."

Fletcher: "It can fuck right off," he muttered.

Pete: Pete pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the battery. There was a decent amount left.

He turned on the flashlight and set it down on a nearby rock.

Fletcher: Fletcher turned at the click of the light. Confusion tangled with caution in those gray eyes as he approached the illuminated sanctuary. He would crouch quietly, akin to the very creature they protected.

Pete: "Light helps right?" Pete asked softly. "I remember, from before."

Fletcher: "Yeah... Helps." For some indescribable reason, a verbal thank you felt like too much to give.

Pete: He nodded and offered Fletcher a smile.

"Did you know Druids can borrow light and play with it?"

Fletcher: "Heard somethin', but just sounded like a fairy tale." He'd seen things from Callum, more his cousin, but nothing he cared to disclose.

Pete: "Callum told me that he and his cousins used to make soccer balls out of light. His cousin Bronwyn still does it with her son."

Fletcher: "I..." know her. He chewed his lip. Stomach churned. "...be glad when this is over." Not what he meant to say, but the bottom line was he felt sick to his goddamn stomach near Peter.

"I just don't get this luna shit."

Pete: Pete looked up at the sky. He could just make out the moon through the canopy. "I really don't either. It's strange being controlled by something you can't touch. Something so far away."

Fletcher: "I mean, gravity," he scoffed. "Sunburn. Insanity. Love n'hate."

Pete: He hummed. "You can feel all those things all the time. You're always aware of them. The moon is just a space rock every single day of its cycle except for one, and on that one day..."

He shook his head. "It's just its position relative to us and the sun. It's math."

Fletcher: Fletcher shook his head, but then shrugged. "I mean, if that blows your mind, I'm a fuckin' cockroach. You're a goddamn bear. Callum is married t'a vampire that can explode into ash. It all means somethin' we can't see. The moon ain't just the moon. Magic n'shit."

Pete: "The second you think nothing can surprise you anymore, something does. And it's not even just magic shit, it's normal shit too. How can you be a were-roach and I be a were-bear when we've only explored five percent of the ocean? None of it makes any sense."

Fletcher: "I mean, that's "we" as ya know it. Someone probably has. Only surprise I've had the past few years have been you."

Pete: “That makes two of us. Well, three. Callum was really damn surprised too.”

Fletcher: "Oh. Yeah. The bear shit. Yeah, that's surprisin'."

Pete: Pete wanted to ask Fletcher what he'd thought Pete had meant but refrained.

He was quiet for a moment. "Do you think someone not-human has explored the ocean?"

Fletcher: "Oh, yeah," he repeated. "Heard some things. Really interestin' things."

Pete: "Any you can share to pass the time?"

Fletcher: Deep breath. "'Bout a guy, his father is... a bloodsucker. N'he lives in the ocean."

Pete: Pete blinked. "He lives in the ocean? How--well I guess he doesn't need to breathe."

Fletcher: "N'he don't gotta look like us."

Pete: "Yeah. Man, that's crazy to think about. Does he ever come out or does he just feed on fish or?"

Fletcher: "Couldn't hear too well. Think he only comes up like once in a - like a century or somethin'."

Pete: "That's....actually kind of terrifying. I'm just imagining some deep-sea creature-looking vampire emerging from the depths."

Fletcher: "Somethin' like that... was here, once. When we were little."

Pete: "He's not still here, is he? Creeping around just out of reach of the sunlight?"

Fletcher: "I don't think it was a bloodsucker. Mama wouldn't tell me."

Pete: “Something bad or just not human?”

Fletcher: "Definitely not human. The way she described it in her book was like... somethin' ya'd see in the deep."

Pete: “So terrifying, probably with transparent skin and creepy eyes and razor sharp teeth.”

Fletcher: "Loose things." He indicated to his throat, arms.

Pete: Pete shuddered. “Scarier things than any of us are at the bottom of the ocean.”

Fletcher: "N'sometimes they get out. Remember... I guess not."

Pete: “Remember what?”

Fletcher: "That week I wasn't in school. I'd spent the night with Tristan Seger, and then bounced."

Pete: “Oh yeah, I do remember that.” He remembered being jealous and upset that Fletcher would go over to Tristan’s house but not his.

“Did something come to town that week that freaked your mom out?”

Fletcher: Another one of those things he wouldn't know. "Somethin' like that. She took me huntin'."

Pete: “Normal hunting or humans killing non-humans hunting?”

Fletcher: "Non-human killin' non-human."

Pete: “Well then. Must’ve been life or death if she took you away for a whole week.”

Fletcher: "Think she just wanted t'teach me." Much more important to her than being a student in some school for humans. With valid reason.

Pete: "Well, you missed Nicholas Maurey wetting himself during reading time."

Fletcher: "Wow. I missed so much." He managed a smile.

Pete: "At that age, that was the hugest thing to ever happen. Still remember the principal stepping over the puddle."

Fletcher: "Did he ever live that down," he mused.

Pete: "Mitch Borden teases him to this day. But Mitch never matured so."

Fletcher: "Did ya... really notice? When I wasn't there."

Pete: Pete nodded. "Yeah. I did."

Fletcher: I hate how much I love you.

"Ya n - mm." He shook his head.

"I'll keep an eye on him, if ya wanna rest your eyes."

Pete: "I'll be fine," he said with a shake of his head. "Used to pulling full moon all nighters, remember?"

Fletcher: "I know what ya can do, n'I'm offerin' anyways."

Pete: "I appreciate it. Truly. I don't think my brain would let me rest."

Fletcher: Another span of silence, then, slowly turning away from the light, though remaining in its protection.

Pete: Pete alternated between staring off into space and staring at Kelly's scars. The cane his bartender had been sporting lately made perfect sense.

This wasn't just a limp, that leg looked atrophied.

"The hell happened to you, Kelly?" he asked the air.

Fletcher: Fletcher stared into space, wondering why it was he constantly threw himself into these situations. Why was it he protected this town, besides self-preservation, had to be more significant than Peter Graham.

"What happens t'all Fera? Battle."

Pete: "Seems like he never fully recovered from that one." He couldn't help but wonder what had caused this kind of damage. What had prevented Kelly from healing the way a Fera should.

He fell silent for another few long moments. Then, "One of us should talk to June."

Fletcher: "I will," said without hesitation. "But I don't think she'll wanna."

Pete: "I think she will. June makes sense of things by talking them out, alone or with someone. And she can't talk this one out alone."

Fletcher: "Nah, she's got a sense of survival."

Pete: “She was still by the door when I arrived. She didn’t run, I had to make her.”

Fletcher: "Some freeze, some frenzy, some just haul ass."

Pete: “Well, looks like she’s a freezer. Now that is. The old her probably would’ve lost her mind.”

Fletcher: "Maybe. Maybe she'll call someone n'this place'll be crawlin' with Pentex."

Pete: "This is the same woman who's kept promises she made in kindergarten. If she talks about it at all, it'll only be to one of us."

Fletcher: "Maybe should be both of us."

Pete: "Maybe. Might help her understand better."

Fletcher: "When are ya gonna tell your family?"

Pete: "I'm not."

Fletcher: "I don't get that."

Pete: "Stella's about to have a baby, my dad's nearly recovered from his accident, he and my mom are still going to therapy. They don't need to know the world the thought they lived in is a lie."

Fletcher: "Luke already knows shit."

Pete: "He hasn't told anyone either."

Fletcher: "Y'all need a damn heart-t'-heart. That shit'll separate y'all eventually."

Pete: "Or it'll tear us apart if I rip the fabric of their reality in two. Enough damage has been done to my family already."

Fletcher: "Not Luke. Ya trust me, remember? It won't break him."

Pete: "He's already broken. Every time I see him he looks more and more wasted away."

Fletcher: "He'll be alright. People are workin' t'fix him."

Pete: "He doesn't need supernatural shit on top of everything he's dealing with."

Fletcher: Deep breath. "Man, that whole separation shit's already good n'happened."

Pete: "You mean his boyfriend being murdered?"

Fletcher: "I mean the two of ya. Believe me. I know what keepin' secrets does t'relationships."

Pete: "If I know he knows, then he already knows that I know."

Fletcher: "For sayin' ya trust me, ya sure don't act like it."

Pete: "What am I gonna say that'll be any help to him, Fletch? Hey Luke, I know you're horribly, horribly depressed but to make your day, let's talk about how our pregnant sister and our parents are surrounded by vampires."

Fletcher: "More like, fuckin, 'Hey, brother, this shit ya know? ya ain't alone. I would really appreciate your company n'I want ya t'know ya can come t'me 'bout your wraith boyfriend.'"

Pete: "His what? His boyfriend is haunting him?"

Fletcher: Fletcher simply stared.

Pete: "So you watch him too every weekend. And his best friend."

Fletcher: "For twenty years. Every fuckin' vampire, hunter, breed. Every fuckin' fairy n'every goddamn witch I can find."

Pete: "How do you walk, Fletcher? Your toes are everywhere."

Fletcher: "Had t'learn. Could be worse."

Pete: "Worse than having to dedicate brain power and appendages to watching Gertrude's Elysium for two decades?"

Fletcher: "N'as reward people call me fuckin' crazy n'an asshole. A know-it-all n'paranoid." Not all was incorrect, but whatever.

Pete: "You're not. You just know too much about too many things." You must be exhausted all the time.

Fletcher: "Pentex is just next door. An ugly beige outer space buildin' in every state. Got one outside Raleigh. Works with the military. Ain't no such thing as knowin' too much."

Pete: "Knowing too much has a nasty habit of getting people killed."

Fletcher: "Why ya think I watch everyone?"

Pete: "To stay alive."

Fletcher: "N'everyone else I give a shit about."

Pete: "Talk to June. She won't tell a single soul anything."

Fletcher: "Talk t'Luke. Ya can lean on him. He needs t'lean on ya."

Pete: "I'll talk to him about it when he gets here on Thursday. This isn't a phone conversation."

Fletcher: "No, it ain't."

Pete: "Tomorrow's June's day off and she plans to stay home all day. Bring a pizza and talk to her."

Fletcher: Fletcher looked over his shoulder, stared at the wolf, stared off into space. Stared at the sky with that familiar lost gaze, and shrugged to himself.

"I shouldn't have left ya."

Pete: Pete was still gently petting Kelly's head, offering whatever comfort he could even if Kelly wasn't aware or couldn't feel it.

"It is what it is, Fletch," he said softly. "I don't hold it against you."

Fletcher: "Of all the times t'fuckin' slack."

Pete: "Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known."

Fletcher: "But I knew he was fucked."

Pete: "She didn't get her way. I'm okay. It's not your fault, Fletcher."

Fletcher: It was obvious, even in such dim lighting of the full moon, that words waited on the tip of Fletcher's tongue. Words that he knew would be meaningless.

So he shrugged again.

"Marion wants t'move t'the city."

Pete: Of course she did. Why the hell wouldn't she.

"Gonna do it?" he asked, quieter than he intended.

Fletcher: "Not really my speed, but... I'd blend in with the other crazies."

Pete: He nodded, because what else could he do.

"What about your building?"

Fletcher: "I dunno. Dunno if we will. S'just somethin' she's in my ear about."

Pete: Another nod. "Have you ever thought about it? Living in a city?"

Fletcher: "Ya know I did. Before. N'ya didn't want me to."

Pete: "No, I didn't. Wanted you to be able to be where your life and mom and home are." Where I was.

Fletcher: "Yeah..." What more could he say? "Ya know why I wanted t'leave."

Pete: "Yeah. And I was the one who ended up leaving."

Fletcher: Fletcher shrugged. Stared at the exhausted wolf.

"Ya were never with me t'begin with. What I miss?"

Pete: "Stole a few weeks before it all went to hell. The only thing I regret is hurting you."

Fletcher: "Stole," he scoffed. Nails dug into the back of his hand. His humorless laugh was broken by a "Fuck you."

Pete: "I stole them," he said to the ground. "You didn't. You did nothing to deserve what I put you through. I hurt you, and I'll be sorry for it all my life."

Fletcher: "How'd ya use me?" If this was going to be the subject, let's have it.

Pete: "You've been beating yourself up for leaving me with Victoria but I'm the one who went out that window. You deserve so much better than me. I wasn't brave enough when we were younger and I wasn't brave enough then. You deserve someone who's brave enough. You've been watching this town for two full decades, you've gotten yourself into hot water more than once to protect it and protect the people you care about. You're in hot water now with me and Kelly and you're still here when you can tell me to go fuck myself and deal with this on my own."

Fletcher: "Peter..." He had wanted an apology, but hearing any semblance of regret now felt empty. A goodbye. Just that black void in his gut he couldn't fill and never had.

"Ya could take a knife t'me right now n'I'd let ya. Told ya when ya jumped in the water ya... only did it 'cause he wasn't here. I knew." Hands rose and fell. "Ya can't be blamed."

Pete: "Yeah, I can. I can because I made choices and those choices hurt you. I deserved every bit of what happened in the woods that night. And if you had come along and decided to get a few hits in, I would've deserved that, too. I wouldn't have stopped you then and I wouldn't now. You've had to put up with so much of my bullshit and I am so goddamn sorry, Fletcher. You're not the asshole, you never were. It's always been me. And after all you've had to deal with, the only thing I want is for you to be happy. Genuinely and truly happy. Because jesus god, you've earned it."

Fletcher: A visceral heat burned its way from that void to his fingertips. A blissfully empty mind fueled on instinct. Slowly Fletcher reached for him, intent on curling rough fingers around Peter's throat.

Pete: Pete was too focused on Kelly and too caught up in his thoughts to react in time to stop Fletcher.

He braced for a hit; he expected one. He'd all but given Fletcher permission.

Fletcher: Not a strike of brute force. Only a squeeze of powerful fingers against important arteries. The command of his nearness with a simple flex of his arm. He was warm. He was Peter, as always. Being a bear didn't change much.

"Don't ever say that again. Don't ever let anyone lay a hand on ya... like that. Not ever."

Pete: There was a small, quiet part deep in Pete's mind that completely believed he deserved what Victoria had intended to do to him, and this was the first time it had ever been voiced aloud. At the very least, he deserved MJ's anger. He deserved Fletcher's, too.

And everything in his face reflected that sentiment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Fletcher: "What d'ya have t'be sorry for?" he whispered. "I got t'taste what it was like. Your mouth. Your skin. Your you. I got that. S'mine. It hurts, but everything does."

Pete: "I'm sorry that it hurts. I'm sorry that that's all I ever do to you. I want to make it better but I don't know how."

Fletcher: "Ya can't. Ya can't... be with me." Though it destroyed his spirit to finally say it. "I'll say anything hateful so it don't kill me, 'cause I know ya can't. M'not him."

Pete: Everything Pete wanted to say would only hurt them more. He wished Fletcher had come over to his house for a sleepover instead of Tristan's. He wished Fletcher had been the one to give him his first kiss under the bleachers. He wished he'd gone right up to Fletcher and asked him to prom.

So many things. None of which could be changed, all of which were painful enough to bring tears to his eyes.

"I've said so many awful shitty things to you and I didn't mean a single one. That's what I did so it wouldn't kill me. I need you to know that, even if it's too little too late."

Fletcher: "Well, s'what we do. Ain't it? What I said t'ya months ago. What I said for twenty years. What m'sayin' right now." And despite everything he'd just said, he pulled Peter that much closer. Dangerously close. Less than a mistake would crush their mouths.

Pete: Pete had made that mistake once and hurt the man he'd loved for two thirds of his life. To do so again would put him beyond all redemption.

"I know it can't be with me, but I want you to be so happy. That I did mean. You deserve it so much."

Fletcher: "It coulda been, though. N'it always will be you, Peter."

Pete: He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for that, too. If there's another me and another you in another universe, I hope he's more worthy of you than I am."

Fletcher: "What's that bloodsucker got that I ain't got?"

Pete: “I wish I knew. I wish I understood why.”

Fletcher: "When ya figure it out," he released his throat, "lemme know, so I can be a better man."

Pete: Pete gave Fletcher a sad smile. “You’re a good man, Fletcher. A far better man than I could ever hope to be. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different.”

Fletcher: "Shut up with that shit."

Pete: “I mean it. Ask June.”

Fletcher: "Ya are good."

Pete: “I’ll take your word for it.”

Fletcher: "Trust me, right?"

Pete: Another small, sad smile. “Yeah, I do.”

Fletcher: "You're the best thing I've ever met."

Pete: It took every ounce of strength he possessed to take even breaths and not break down sobbing.

He would absolutely never deserve Fletcher Goodman.

“I hope I can spend the rest of my life proving you even half right.”

Fletcher: "Ya can start by listenin' t'me next time some shit goes down. Deal?"

Pete: Pete nodded. “Deal.”

Fletcher: Fingers softly brushed against Peter's chin, and fell into his lap.

"Should keep hatin' ya in public. Ya know, reputation."

Pete: “No one would blame you. People around here care a lot about reputation.”

Fletcher: "A man is his reputation. S'why I got nothin' t'lose."

Pete: “Well, you kinda do. Emmanuel Gaia’s daughter thinks you’re secretly a pirate. So as long as you don’t disprove that you should be good.”

Fletcher: "How the hell sh - the pawn shop."

Pete: A true smile and a nod. “Gold coins are all the proof she needed.”

Fletcher: "Mm. Gold coins..."

Pete: “Everyone knows only pirates have those. Her words.”

Fletcher: "They mean more t'me now, ya know."

Pete: He nodded. “Yep. Never gonna look at one the same way.”

Fletcher: "If I gave ya anything," he smiled, wrinkles plaguing his face.

Pete: “You sure did. Gold coins, donuts. All in a new light.”

Fletcher: A growl escaped the Samsa before he could catch it. He turned back to Kelly to save face. He couldn't talk about those memories without warming his body.

Kelly: The growl stirred Kelly from his half-asleep state. Not enough to put him on high alert, just enough for him to lift his head for a moment before unceremoniously plopping it on Pete’s lap.

Fletcher: Fletcher leaned closer with his stirring. A primal reminder of his current rank amongst the three of them. A mockery of breeds, but the alpha of this mishmash nonetheless.

Thin amber antennae sprouted from his scalp. Began to feel with gentle taps at Kelly's body.

Kelly: Just beneath the calm, it would be very obvious that Kelly’s body was in distress.

His heartbeat and breathing had slowed but remained erratic. His muscles were tense. Touching the area near his leg, however softly, would elicit a whine and a whimper.

Fletcher: "Hush." His antennae were the equivalent of tiny feathers. He felt and studied and judged the mangled body.

"We're gonna carry him t'the hospital at sunrise. Say ya found him on the floor at work, passed out."

Pete: “Okay,” he said with a nod. “It’s probably for the best, he’s in no shape to just go home, even before tonight. He’s been getting worse and worse all month.”

Fletcher: "Ya didn't say anything?"

Pete: “I tried. He either ignored me or bit my head off just enough to make me back off but not enough to get himself fired. I wouldn’t have fired him but he doesn’t know that.”

Fletcher: "Well," he turned back to him, "welcome t'the family. I'm in charge."

The antennae began to recede.

Pete: “I’m his emergency contact, you know. When I hired him I asked him if he was sure he didn’t wanna make it a relative or a friend and he just stared at me.”

Fletcher: Kelly's memory was still in question. Whether he would remember the abomination preventing his escape. Either way, he was a liability.

"Maybe they did it. Not our problem. He ain't goin' anywhere."

Pete: “Nowhere but the hospital.” He began petting Kelly’s head again. “Makes me sad that if something happens to him, his boss is the only person that’ll know. One of his bosses.”

Fletcher: "Not much Charlie could do."

Pete: “Probably why he made it me, not to toot my own horn. Could’ve chosen Dwight I guess.”

Fletcher: "Ya smell like animal."

Pete: Pete nodded. “Giving me the edge over Dwight.”

Fletcher: Fletcher turned to rest his head on the opposite of Peter's lap.

Pete: That was just fine by Pete. A small moment of peace for them all was exactly what was needed.

Fletcher: "M'watchin' everything. Ya really can rest your eyes, Peter."

Pete: It felt like his eyes got itchy and grainy the moment Fletcher told him to rest them.

"Feel like we should build a fire."

Fletcher: "Build a fire?"

Pete: "For light and heat."

Fletcher: "He'll be fine. Ya can have my jacket."

Pete: "I'm okay. He just seems so frail." It was strange calling a giant friggin' wolf frail, but oh well.

Fletcher: A noncommittal noise was all he would receive. He couldn't say how he felt, except that this man had been reckless.

Pete: Pete wouldn't have disagreed. How had Kelly ended up transforming in the alley? Surely he must've know what day it was. Had he forgotten somehow? Had he used something to prevent his turning that had failed on him?

There was no way of knowing. Not right now at least.

Fletcher: Fletcher remained vigilant, despite his position. This was Peter's life, which meant more to him than the wolf sharing his lap. No sense in checking his watch when Kelly was their alarm. He would only stir when the first rays of morning poured over dark fur.

Pete/Kelly: Much as he wanted to keep watch over Kelly, Pete was just too tired. It hadn't been a particularly taxing day but the night was something else altogether. He was emotionally and spiritually exhausted.

At some point he began to doze where he sat, head occasionally lolling to the side in the brief moments where sleep won, only for him to jolt awake again.

Kelly didn't fare much better. He never fully fell asleep; just continued to drift in his the magically-induced relaxed state.

The moment the moon lost her hold on him, however, he too would startle awake as the first loud, excruciating cracks signaled his return to his human form.

Fletcher: The first crack forced Fletcher into a crouched position, wide awake and diligently on guard, waiting for whatever reaction, no matter the severity, to put this man in his place should he decide to lash out on his only protector.

Pete/Kelly: Pete wasn't quite so awake or quite so on guard, but he did try to comfort Kelly as much as he could as the cries of pain started up again.

The magic of the flowers simply wasn't enough. It was meant to soothe and comfort; only an actual Druid could've offered Kelly any significant relief but Pete wasn't entirely certain a Druid could even help right now.

Kelly rolled off of Pete's lap in an attempt to curl in on himself as his bones reformed. Fur receded, his form elongated, and slowly the howls of pain became more and more human. They became ragged, tortured sobs. Every movement hurt and with good reason.

Kelly had transformed back fully clothed, but what skin was visible was covered in horrible, nasty bruises.

Fletcher: He recognized that pain as though he could remember his deaths. Stolen memory, but unadulterated resonation.

Slowly, he approached his side. Movement quite feral. Now, they were in the recovery phase. It was time to assess.

"Kelly. Look at me."

Pete/Kelly: Bleary eyes attempted to meet Fletcher's, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. He could smell that he was in the woods and he could hear the rush of water from the river but beyond that Kelly was completely disoriented.

And then there was the matter of the bruises, which had concern plastered all over Pete's exhausted face.

They were everywhere. Shouldn't they only be in places where Fletcher had hit him or where Kelly had made contact with something? His fingers were bruised for god's sake.

"Fletcher, something's not right. Have you ever seen someone change back like this?"

Fletcher: "I see em," he sighed. "Go get his keys n'bring his truck this way. I'll ride with him in the back." Gently, Fletcher shimmied his arms underneath Kelly's weight. He expected more whining, given his current state. Maybe even a snap of that human jaw his direction.

"Go on now, Peter."

Pete/Kelly: Gentle wasn’t gently enough. Kelly had yet to form any kind of coherent word but the moment he was jostled Fletcher would be treated to more ragged cries. Even trying to struggle sent waves of sharp pain absolutely everywhere.

Meanwhile, Pete did as Fletcher asked and pulled some adrenaline out of somewhere so he could run back to the pub as quickly as his legs could take him.

Fletcher: "I hear ya," was his version of soothing. Kelly was brought to his chest and adjusted. "Gonna lift in three, two..." and up. Now was not the time to chide. He'd be talking to himself, he assumed. The man was too far gone in his agony. He couldn't be blamed for deaf ears.

Kelly: Kelly didn't have the presence of mind to even swear. He just screamed.

At least, in his mind he was screaming. In reality it was just more of the same; cries and grunts and whimpers.

He didn't really hear what the man was saying but he was aware of him. There was even a glimmer of recognition somewhere in his mind. Or was there? ....Yes. Maybe....yes? He knew who this was....right...? Right? Ri.....

Kelly's head fell back. He'd lost consciousness.

Fletcher: Fletcher walked to the nearest bit of road, where he assumed Peter would show. Just shy of the clearing, waiting by a tree for the first sign of his partner in rescue.

And with his arrival, he would motion with his elbow to the door. Kelly was traded off long enough to settle in. Still the crack of dawn, they had time to make this without being noticed.

Pete: Those gladiator workouts were finally coming in handy for more than just staying in shape.

Pete had gone back to the pub at a full run, letting that second wind do its job and propel him forward. It also helped that he didn't have a giant ass wolf to carry or any prying eyes to hide from. It was too early for anyone to be awake anyway.

He got back in record time, making quick work of retrieving Kelly's keys and cane and anything else he'd brought with him. The place was still only half shut down since Kelly and June hadn't finished closing up but that was a problem for his future self.

Back he went towards the woods, taking advantage of the early hour and driving at breakneck speed. It felt like he was racing the goddamn the sun but really he was racing every person in Edenton.

Thankfully he spotted Fletcher quickly.

"God, he feels so much heavier now," he said as he took Kelly. "I don't think we're going to be able to get away with just saying we found him."

Fletcher: "June can corroborate seein' him last n'lookin' like dog shit. S'either we take him, 'cause we are not the hands t'fix him, or you're knockin' on a druid's door at five in the mornin'. S'your call, Peter."

Pete/Kelly: Pete shook his head. "I'd ask Cal but I think this is way outside his wheelhouse. I guess if they ask we can--"

Kelly came to with a start, cutting Pete off and violently coughing up what was unmistakably blood.

Fuck.

"Fuck, okay, we gotta go. Got him?"

Fletcher: Kelly was held loosely, enough for him to move about and cough as he needed to.

"I got him. Drive." He took a breath. "Callum might be low grade, but his cousin ain't."

Pete: "It's four in New Orleans," he called as he got back in the driver's seat, not even thinking to question Fletcher's suggestion. "She can take a crack at him later, he needs medical attention but quick."

Once more taking advantage of the empty road, Pete floored it to the emergency room.

Fletcher: "That suddenly matters?" Seemed Peter was still... young. That was to be expected. Callum wasn't about to tell him everything, best friend or not.

"Easy does it, man. Don't breathe deep."

Pete/Kelly: It probably didn't in a situation like this, but Bronwyn had a kid and Pete was loath to force her to scramble like he had with Graham earlier.

Besides, there was no guarantee she'd be able to help Kelly. At least not to the extent the hospital could.

Kelly couldn't have breathed deeply if he'd wanted to, and being jostled around by his own crappy truck and crappy suspension system didn't help. If it wasn't the coughing, it was the shocks of pain after every single movement as they drove. It wasn't long before he was unconscious again.

Fletcher: Fletcher knew nothing of meditation that an ex and a best friend hadn't attempted. Considerable willpower was spent in remaining in that back bed as the truck pulled left down the long driveway to the hospital.

He could do it, he thought. Disintegrate into an intrusion of American cockroaches, scatter little by little until one remained, inconspicuous.

One steady breath. Another. Another. The simple act of remaining ached from the inside out.

Pete: Pete hoped to god that the fact that it was five in the morning meant that the emergency room would be empty as the roads. Empty and loaded with nurses.

He parked at the curb, cutting the engine and leaping out in one fluid motion.

"Okay okay, we're here." He hopped into the back. "We need--are you okay? Are you having a panic attack?"

Fletcher: Fletcher managed his best glare. The torch of mangled Garou was passed to Peter's arms.

"What are ya gonna say?"

Pete: Even though Kelly was unconscious, Pete still handled him as carefully as possible. "I'm gonna say I found him in the alley outside the pub. He looks like someone beat the hell out of him and I'm not gonna offer any theories to the contrary. Come on, let's take him inside."

He studied Fletcher for a moment. "Or would you rather wait with him while I get a nurse?"

Fletcher: His skin was burning. Palms slick with sweat. Not a smell Peter needed up his nose.

"Brett's gonna show up 'cause of this. Ya only called me t'help ya. That's it. Got it? Go get a nurse."

Pete: Pete nodded. He wouldn't push or insist or pry. If Fletcher was uncomfortable or simply didn't want to be anywhere near this, Pete wouldn't make him.

"Okay. Wait here. Once they take him inside you can slip away." He gently set Kelly down and hopped off the truck bed, running inside and shouting for help.

Fletcher: He couldn't leave. For Peter's sake. He remained by Kelly's side and wished he was religious enough to pray to anything capable of sparing him from exposure.

Pete/Peabody/Bridget: The first person Pete saw when he burst into the ER was Bridget, Peabody's girlfriend, and standing beside her was the man himself. It was Peabody who spoke first.

"What is it, what's wrong?" he asked, immediately going from relaxed to cop mode.

"It's Kelly Rose. I've got him out in the truck. He's hurt bad, he's all bruised and coughing up blood, I think he was attacked."

Pete didn't get a chance to finish speaking before Bridget was calling for whichever one of her colleagues was closest to get the doctor and a gurney.

Fletcher: Fletcher waited with Kelly's head in his lap, keeping his airways absolutely clear. He didn't know much about anything medical. Never a need for it. His assistance was pretty much what he'd seen from film.

The sight of Deputy Peabody straightened his spine.

"He passed out on the way here," he muttered.

Peabody/Bridget: Fletcher wouldn’t have to wait long. Bridget and the other staff came through the automatic doors like bats out of hell just moments after Pete had gone in. Peabody came as well, giving Fletcher a nod of acknowledgement and greeting as he opened the tailgate so the nurses could get to Kelly.

They immediately began checking vitals and attaching equipment, alternately telling each other readings and giving instructions to each other for getting Kelly out of the truck and onto the gurney.

While they worked Peabody turned to Fletcher. “The hell happened? Pete said he was attacked?”

Fletcher: Fletcher watched with his chin down, eyes to himself. This wasn't his rodeo. If he could be nothing more than an inanimate object...

To all but Peabody. He was his whole world for the next five minutes.

"Dunno. Peter banged on my door. He's a big motherfucker. Couldn't get him up on his own."

Pete/Peabody: Peabody looked back to Kelly's prone form and couldn't help grimacing at the sight of all the bruises. "Yeah, he is. Too big for one person to do that to him. Probably a group."

There was blood on Kelly's face and facial hair and down his front and far as Peabody could tell, that was all the blood there was. Surprising considering the state the poor bastard was in.

He didn't have time to ask more questions before he was asked for help in getting Kelly onto the gurney, along with Pete who had finally come out of the ER.

Fletcher: Fletcher exchanged a look with Peter when he could. As though the sight was too much to bear, he turned his back to the scene and wiped at his mouth with both hands. Not alarming or alien or stomach churning. The less his face was seen, the less he would be remembered.

Pete/Peabody: Pete offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Fletcher's discomfort was practically rolling off of him; it didn't take a lot to see how much he wanted to get out of there.

They managed to get Kelly off the truck without tossing him around too much, but that little bit of movement was enough to make him come around in a flurry of coughs and cries.

The nurses were trying to offer both care and comfort as they finally wheeled him inside, leaving Pete, Peabody, and Fletcher outside.

Peabody was the first to talk. "My shift's about to end but we need to get a report going on this. Can you stick around, Pete? Since you found him?"

Pete nodded. "Yeah, no problem. Fletch, you wanna drive Kelly's truck to his house?" And get out of Dodge?

Fletcher: Eyes darted between the two men. I see what you're doing.

"D'ya need his truck, Peabody? Otherwise I'll... do that."

Pete/Peabody: "Was he in the truck when you found him?"

Pete shook his head. "No, he was by the dumpster. Truck was parked in the lot, just easier to bring him here in it."

The deputy nodded. "All right, should be fine then. Go ahead and take it."

Fletcher: "Not gonna CSI: Vegas his truck or somethin'?"

Peabody: "Even if we had the resources for that, we'll have better luck with Kelly himself. Parker will probably look around the alley though."

Fletcher: "Right." He held his hand out to Peter. "Keys, then." Whatever it was Peabody was about to do, whatever this investigation would lead to, he wanted no part of it. Putting aside the fact that Kelly's wallet was still intact. An attack without greed as the motivation made everything stickier. He was still trying to wrap his head around a Fera that could keep his clothes on during the transformation. That was more his artificial species. So those wheels were busy turning.

Pete: Pete handed Fletcher Kelly's keys and with them, the opportunity to escape Peabody's probing questions. And Brett's too, when he finally arrived.

"I guess you can put the keys in his mailbox when you get there. Or under the mat or something. I can go get them later and keep them for him until he goes back home."

Fletcher: "Could just leave it in the parking lot, right? I can walk home."

Pete: He nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that should be fine. Gives Parker a chance to take a look at it if he wants to."

Fletcher: So, reluctantly, the keys were handed back. "Ya know...where t'find me."

Pete: "Yep. Sure you wanna walk?" It's been a long night.

Fletcher: "Yep. Yep, I'll see y'all."

The best goodbye he was going to give, waving a behind as he headed back to the road.

[this-lioness]

Weekend Review

Long, boring and mundane, as usual, but I find it relaxing.

The last two grocery orders for my Mom were only about 1/3 to 1/2 full, and I knew that wasn’t going to hold her very long.  Food is readily available in the stores, it’s just that the stores are no longer doing substitutions for out-of-stock items, so if there are six versions of a given item available online you have to hope that the one you pick is one they have in stock, otherwise you’re not getting anything at all.  Your only choice is to keep ordering and ordering and ordering or physically go into the store.  Ugh.

There’s a Grocery Outlet up the street from us, and we decided Friday afternoon would probably be less crowded than a Saturday morning, and took our chances going out.  We wore masks and gloves, to be safe, and I left most everything home -- purse, glasses, phone.  I didn’t want to have to decontaminate more than I absolutely had to.

It went pretty smoothly, all things considered.  We have a full decontamination area in the pantry now: drop cloth on the floor, rolling rack with a bleach-water solution, washable wipes, clean grocery bags and gloves.  So we bring everything in through the back gate, I spray everything down with bleach (or SimpleGreen, if we’re worried about bleach getting on it) in the pantry, let it sit, then Marc wipes it dry and transfers it either to our own cabinets or into clean bags for my Mom.  Produce gets transferred directly to the sink where it’s washed with warm, soapy water and then dried.

Is it enough?  I don’t know.  It’s certainly a whole process, which makes me feel like we’re doing some amount of good, but I suppose you can’t really know for sure right now.

Saturday morning we had our breakfast biscuit sandwiches and coffee, then packed up (what we thought was) all my Mom’s groceries and drove them over.  En route she texted me to ask for Splenda (*sigh*) and a flashlight, because Jim uses a flashlight to navigate to the bathroom at night.  By then it was too late, but it turns out we’d forgotten all her frozen items anyway, so I told her I’d bring it the next day.

Dropped everything off with her and then went to Lowes to pick up garden soil and some drainage rock.  It was still cold and cloudy out, but warm enough that we got a good hour or so of work done in the back yard -- mostly cleaning up the winter muck.

A few months ago we bought a stack of old icing buckets from a baker ($1 each!) and Marc drilled holes in the bottom and layered them with rock and soil.  He also dug up one of the original three blackberry beds which we decided to retire.  I’d planned to just toss the canes, but they were already greening up so nicely that he took the chance they could be salvaged and transferred them to three new planters.  To my surprise they don’t seem shocked at all, so we may be able to keep them going in a better location!

Marc is debating what to do with the retired bed, but we’ll probably use it to dry firewood or store things off-season.

I went over the blackberry bushes and cut off all the old winter growth and one or two dead canes.  They’re greening up beautifully, and one of them has thrown FIVE NEW CANES, two of which have sprouted in the little gap between beds.  Complete assholes.  I rocked off the gap so it is now unofficially our new third berry bed, and gave it a stern talking-to about behaving itself from now on.  I swear to God those canes grew more since just yesterday.

The raspberries are greening up, but not so vigorously.  I need the time to get them back in order, frankly -- we have to completely redo the training wire.  There’s fucking thistle everywhere, I want to scream.  The harder you try to get rid of the stuff the more aggressively it spreads.

Blueberries are greening up as well.  I acidified the soil as best I could, but we’re giving them just this year to prove themselves.  If they can’t grow berries I can’t spare the garden space, and frankly it’s just too much work trying to acidify their beds.  The blackberries and raspberries would literally kill their mother to take over that space, and I’d love to try some gooseberries or something else new and different.

I pulled last year’s baby maples from their winter bed and gave them a once-over.  They’ve got tiny little buds on them, it looks like they all made it -- a good five or six at least!  I’ve got them in the sun now, anyway, to see if we can coax them fully back to life.

After choring I cleaned litter boxes, showered, then came downstairs and completely tore the pantry apart -- mud room, cabinet pantry, and the two sides of the kitchen island where we normally keep canned goods.

We normally keep a very well-stocked pantry, but I wanted a better idea of everything we had, and it was starting to get cluttered in a way that made it hard to get everything.  I spent a good few hours -- and Marc even got into it, and was a huge help -- taking everything out, combining items, moving some bulk goods to air-tight containers, and then sorting it all back new spots.

I had a bunch on hand that was more than we needed, and offered to bring it to my Mom with her frozen stuff.  In exchange she offered us some polenta and a few frozen items that neither she nor Jim would eat.  Good trade.

I’ve run past Marc the idea of organizing his tool chest as well, which is currently a six-foot-tall column of absolute madness that I have to avert my eyes from, but it seems like that’s going to wait until tomorrow.  Ah well.

Had tacos, watched Onward (I wasn’t expecting much but I actually really liked it), played some Animal Crossing and went to bed.  Good day.

This morning Marc made chocolate chip waffles and then we popped back out again.  The plan was just to drop the groceries off at my Mom’s, but we managed to get a few other things done: brought over the old tiered planter so she can use it for herbs and annuals, and set up the frame for a raised garden bed so she can grow some veggies (with my help, no doubt).  Later this week I’ll go over and lay down some weed blocker for her and fill it with soil.  I’ve got more than enough broccoli sprouts to spare and I’m sure the same will be true with the peppers, so she’ll have that if nothing else.

Afterwards we hit Lowes again, picking up a few more bags of top soil, bird seed, and more buckets.

Today was absolutely beautiful, cloudy on-and-off but warm and good for gardening.  We did a bang up job!

Marc gathered all the old wood paneling and other crap that’s been accumulating and got it into one spot so we can call a haul-away company.  He also cleaned up most of the leaf litter from around the yard and helped me organize the little collapsible greenhouse we got for free late last year.  It’s really handy, we’re already talking about replacing it with something more permanent.

I planted some of the broccoli sprouts and put them out in the sun.  Here’s hoping!  The three onion bulbs I planted a few weeks ago were sprouting up green so I got those into a planter and plugged most of the rest of the bulbs into biodegradable containers to see if we can get them growing as well.  Onions seem complicated, but I’ll do my best.

I’ve been saving every kind of little container I could get my hands on, these past weeks, and I filled them all up with soil and got some eggplant seeds going as well.  The bell peppers are just now starting to sprout, they need a bit longer, but I think they’ll get there.  Also planted some pinto beans and cat grass.  I’ve still got some baby spinach and pumpkins to get going, but I’m holding onto those for just now.

We sorted the “guest” patio chairs off into the side yard, as we don’t really anticipate having anyone over this summer.  We can always break them out again if we need to, it’s easy enough, but right now I’ve got almost every single sunny spot dedicated to something we can grow and eat.

We’ll have tomatoes at some point, too, but I’d prefer to buy them as seedlings.  I’m already unsure just how well the current round of babies is going to do.  I’m so worried about that broccoli, but I guess at some point you have to just let it do its thing and hope for the best.

I hope everything comes up.  I’ve read everything I can, but sometimes it all gets confused and muddled, so at some point I just sort of have to... hope.  Supposedly last year’s corn should return, but man... I don’t know.  We’ll keep an eye on it.  If it hasn’t come up by the time seedlings start appearing in the store we’ll just pull them up and replant.  That was a wonderful exercise last year.

We also put out more clover seed in the front (last year’s clover is BOOMING), and spread some wildflower seeds around as well.  Marc filled up the bird feeders, hosed off the patio and set up the chairs.  We’re going to buy a better pressure washer than the old electric one we have from the old house, both for our use and so my parents don’t have to keep hiring someone to clean their siding.  That will make a big difference.

It’s amazing what a difference an afternoon of work made in the back yard -- it looks and feels so much better.  Afterwards we got showered up and changed, and then a little bit ago I made some veggie fried brown rice with steamed veggie dumplings.  A little later on I’m going to make us some sakura lattes and maybe something light to snack on for dessert.

And how are you?

[exoticcal]

Imprinted (A Michael Clifford Fic)

Word Count: 1.4k

--

Entry #1

Could you imagine

Could you imagine waking up one day laying next to the love of your life?

One that was hand picked for you by the unknown?

One that is supposed to fit you like a puzzle piece, who is suppose to love you regardless of anything else in the world?

I know I can’t.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, is born with a tattoo on their body somewhere.

The tattoo reads what your apparent soulmate would say to you when you meet them for the first time.

My mother had,

“Ma’am you dropped this!”

Tattooed on her since she was 8 years old.

My dad had,

“Oh I’m such a klutz!”

Tattooed on him when he was 10 years old.

They met 15 years later. Got married after one short year, had my older brother and I within their first 5 years of marriage.

And that’s how it usually goes.

For me? It doesn’t work out like that.

At the age of 4, I had a small tattoo of a smiley face on the palm of my hand.

Erased after one long summer.

At the age of 9, I had the words “Why is you hair that short?” plastered on my hip bone.

Gone when I decided to never cut my hair.

At the age of 13, I had “I know you think you’re ugly, but to me you’re the prettiest 8th grader I’ve ever met.” written along my collarbone.

I forced that one to disappear when I overheard the 15 year old boy get dared to say so by choosing to not say anything.

It’s not that I don’t want to find love.

It’s just that

I don’t know..

I don’t think it’s meant for me.

I don’t like the idea that at whatever age we should dedicate our lives to the person behind the tattoo.

I wasn’t ready at 4.

I wasn’t ready at 9.

And I wasn’t ready at 13.

I’m going to be 21 soon and I haven’t had a tattoo in almost 8 years. Maybe I fucked myself over. Maybe the unknown decided I was a picky, indecisive bitch that shouldn’t know the wonder that is love…

Well, I guess that’s all I have to log in for today.

Dawn told me I should start journaling about this since by everyone I’ve met so far, my “soulmate journey” is extremely unheard of.

Till next time.

-(Y/N/N)

I shut my leather bound journal and tucked it away in my nightstand, laying my head back onto my pillow.

Dawn is my best friend and even though she has had a tattoo of her own for the past 2 years and day dreams of the day she’ll meet “the one” she still for the most part is trying her best to understand my stance on the tattoo to lover business.

And like I stated in my journal entry, she told me I should journal what it’s like to being a soulmate-less human.

It’s not a hard concept to wrap your mind around, but I guess some people have a hard time believing and understanding it.

I look over at the clock on my nightstand and take note that it’s only 5:30 at night. Taking note of the time, my stomach let out the most obnoxiously loud noise to indicate that I need to eat.

Prying myself out of bed I made my way into the shared living space Dawn and I had to find her sprawled out on the couch absorb in her phone.

“Hey dude, I’m getting hungry. Would you like to grab some food with me?” I asked, sitting myself on the arm rest.

“I’m down, as long as it isn’t Taco Bell. We’ve had that two days in a row already.” I could hear the teasing tone in her voice.

“It’s a comfort fooood, okay?” I whine. “How about… Sushi?”

“Fuck yeah, let’s go.” Suddenly, my arm is being grabbed and my body is forcefully being taken to the door.

“D, can I at least put my shoes on?!”

“I mean, I guess.” The grasp she had on my wrist is released so I could slide my shoes on and a short minute later we were off to the little sushi boat restaurant.

The faint sounds of music moved through the car as Dawns shabby little Honda drives through the little college town. Scattered through the town were little shops that tourists would visit when they drive through and a movie theatre that the locals swear has the best buttered popcorn to ever exist.

My favorite little coffee shop is smack dab in the center of it all, the art inside is so lively and beautiful, it takes me out of my normal boring life sometimes. I frequented there so much that I became friends with the only barista, Sonny, the moment he would see me walk up he would start making my drink. Call me basic, but I get an iced almond milk white chocolate mocha, and every time I’d go up to order it would ALWAYS be sitting there waiting for me. Sonny became much more than the guy who makes my coffee, when I would be there he would always make small talk with me and that small talk blossomed into a caffeine induced friendship. We would talk about struggles with school, with our financial situations, our family issues and so much more. He’s also one of the only people who didn’t look at my any differently when we discussed my lack of ink.

Unfortunately, Sonny is a foreign exchange student from Germany and is moving back to help his family out. I hope whoever’s next somehow makes that little shop feel like home.

As I dwell in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that the car came to the stop and we were in front of the family owned sushi restaurant.

“Earth to (Y/N)!!” I felt Dawns warm breath fan over my left ear. “We gon get sushi, get out of the car!”

“I know, I know!” I unbuckle and follow her eager figure in.

“Booth for two please!” She requests. The waiter quietly and quickly brings us to a small booth right next to the little track of sushi that is circulating through the entire place. As we sat down, I immediately started grabbing plates that caught my eye.

“So.. what got you all up in the clouds back there?” Dawn questioned, picking one plate at a time.

“I saw the coffee shop I go to and remembered Sonny left to go back to Germany. That shit makes me sad, he made my coffee so well.” I say, stuffing the piece of sushi in my mouth.

“And he listened to all of your sorrows. He wasn’t just a barista to you, dude.” She was right, she’s known me for the past 5 years and knows that it’s hard for me to open up and make new friends.

“It’s okay to be sad, (Y/N/N).” She pouts, reaching her hand out to pat my head.

“Who said I was sad? I’m proud of him for making a decision like the one he made.” Yeah, I was sad but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. He loved his family and wanted to help them so he went back home to do so.

“Mhm..” I look over at her, to see her eyebrow quirked up which just meant she wasn’t believing me fully.

“Just shut up and eat your dead fish, D.” I say, giving her a soft kick to the leg.

She let out a small noise of discomfort before continuing the conversation, “So do you think whoever works their next will make your drink just as good as Sonny did? And be as friendly?”

I let out a sigh, “I don’t know. Hopefully. Probably not.” And with that, she just nodded and indulged in eating.

For the rest of the night all Dawn and I did was watch a movie then go to bed since we had classes in the morning. But as the night grew on, I remember that I had a paper I need to finish before my 9 am class tomorrow.

Which just means I’d have to get up extra early, go to the coffee shop to fuel up and finish the paper.

--

A/N: I’m sorry this is sooo long and drawn out. But that’s exposition babyyyy!! I’m planning on making this story have multiple parts?? I promise you it’ll get better as I get back into the groove and dive into the story more! Love u all. Muahh.

Tags: @jpgluke @gigglyirwin @mysticalhood @cashton-queen

Part 2