#might miss a couple of days because i'm extra busy this month

[kayo-min]

BLEACH x Vamptober 2023

2 Signet Ring | 3 Wine | 4 Bat wings | 5 Van Helsing

[hils79]

Hils Watches Mysterious Lotus Casebook - Ep 24

His little pleased smile when he tells Fang Duobing to dig up the body and he just does it without question or complaint

Well, I knew the missing body parts were an important clue but I didn't have 'the guy who was chopped into pieces actually died from a snake bite' on my bingo card

It was framed!

Fashion isn't a crime, Fang Duobing (I mean in this case it was to conceal a crime but still)

Holy shit every time I think we're at the end of the case there's another twist!

"If you're going to dramatically throw yourself off a cliff please don't land on me." I love him

I think Fang Duobing is starting to love him too

I'm going to be sad when Di Feisheng gets his memories back and they stop calling him A-Fei. I've got used to it now.

Cool motive. Still murder.

Mood

Oh my god is anyone on this island not involved in shenanigans (or dead)

Someone always asks, and Li Lianhua is just waiting for it so he can show off how smart he is

Yes, roast him Fang Duobing

The irony that Di Feisheng removed a signal to his sect, because he doesn't know that's where he's from

This is the least black and white case of all the ones they've solved but okay

Someone mentioned this on one of my other posts and it's a good point. She's been in this place for two months. How has no one noticed she's missing? A princess getting kidnapped is a pretty big deal. The guy whose island it is seems pretty well informed on what's going on in the world, to know which interesting people to invite to his island each year. Surely he didn't want to risk people looking for a missing princess turning up at his door and ruining his slave mansion and opium business. It just doesn't make sense.

This is about to get awkward in multiple ways. "Hi, yes, I bailed on our engagement. Also, this is my boyfriend."

I love that whoever is voice dubbing her has changed her voice now that she's revealed herself as the princess. It's like when Prince Adam turns into He-Man and his voice suddenly becomes deeper.

He pretends he doesn't give a shit but look at him smiling at the happy ending

Right, I'm away fro the weekend to visit my sister so there will be no more liveblogs from me until Monday. I have the day off so I might be able to squeeze in a couple of extra episodes 👀

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

08.06.24 - Okay second of two days actually in the office. I am definitely going to need extra coffee today and since I won't be here on Thursday to spend my money on the food trucks I might just go to the local cafe a couple blocks away.

Work - I broke down the last of KMK's files and packed them, along with JJM's file cabinet yesterday, and started on SJC's. Today's goal is to finish breaking down SJC's filing cabinet, and then break down my cubicle (I'm going to miss my decorations, but it's just for the reno; it's only temporary.)

Background Noise - I am still busy with long (I mean very long) podcasts because I can't be 1) watching video and 2) screwing around changing a video every 20 minutes. I have to be busy with my hands and my person today.

I got through 16 videos yesterday; in part I am 'watching' the long podcasts sped up (1.5 speed) but when I go home for the day I'm trying to get off the short lists and stuff I want to watch when I'm cooking.

Study - Thought I told you I'm not doing that this week.

Extras - Tuesday, but I cleaned the bathroom last week so I get to skip this week; next week and the 27th will be the bathroom cleaning days this month. I am cooking tonight, but it's the last thing I'm cooking this week and it's super easy - Aldi sells a frozen seafood boil for $10 and I got two to split between the three of us. I don't know if I'll watch Decade this week or if I'll try something else; between the traveling and the events I don't know what time I'll have. Maybe I'll go back to the reboot of The Tick.

[acefaun]

Does anybody miss our old days ( few months ago), when we were active? When we were interacting with each other?

YES 🥺 Lord, that was the best time.

The post-Renaissance boom that might be going on under my nose? I've been thinking about how sad it is, that I've been basically non-existent on Instagram for the past couple years which I used to thrive on, and I haven't been on Tumblr in forever. 😵‍💫 But I'm slowly, very slowly working on a funny mother's day fic at least. So, ✨ we got something in progress. I'm tryna get back into it!

I'm also trying to get back into actually reading fics, because inspiration feeds inspiration, ya know? And people got nice things I've never seen. But I haven't had time to just sit and read. I've still got a fun Hobbit book I haven't been able to pick up!

But to be fair, I didn't have 2 jobs a few months ago... Now I suddenly had to pick up slack and work a morning job and run a business in the afternoon. And my banner came out nice for the business! We even have cool work tshirts now that I'm selling.

Along with those two jobs, I also got a girlfriend last month. 😚 I never thought I'd date someone with a child, but here I am. 👀 It's fine! We've been besties since high school so it seems like it was a matter of time. I was already named the nanny of the little bean so now I'm just even more part of the family. It's a nice emotional recharge when my jobs get to be too much. I suggest an emotional-recharge girlfriend for anyone in need.

She's got me started watching Hazbin Hotel with her. And I've been on a Alastor/Lucifer kick lately.

Alastor because scary deer man. Spooky radio demon. 🥴

Alastor=Deer Me=Faun Alastor=Me

And Lucifer because... Well, King of Hell, am I right? 🔥💕 Powerful King man. Sad fallen angel dude that sings beautifully and has a quirky fixation? I want.

But yes! 🥺 Once I finish all this extra business prep stuff, I hope I have more free time to be creative again. I'm writing a total of two sentences a day at this point and I'm not getting anything finished. But I have unwritten ideas and plots and that's what counts right? No? It only counts if it's posted and readable. ✨ I'll get there eventually.

Until then.... Let's just say what great fandoms we have and hope our patience can last a bit longer before our next mental breakdown! ✨

[dragonmasterhiccup]

“Oh, no, it’s fine! He uh, he actually only said a month and a half at first, but y’know.” She shrugged. “It’s a big favor, at least in my eyes, and I’ve come to actually like working in the forge, except for how hot it is, that I’ll never enjoy.”

Her eyebrow raised and she spoke with uncertainty. “Really? Tomorrow night? That soon? I mean, yeah of course, I’m just surprised you’re free.” A mischievous glint made its way to her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do it that soon? You’re probably gonna need some time to prepare, you know…”

“Well, no duh, Mom told you that regular sleep would basically get thrown out the window, didn’t she? And hey, I don’t mean to be rude, but I can tell that she’s keeping you up at night. Those eye bags could be seen from the other side of the island, for Thors sake.”

Her eyes shot wide, and she held a hand out to stop him. “Woah, woah, woah, Spitelout?! The guy who literally tried to kill me? The guy who is probably the worst person to ever set foot on this island? Him? He cracked a smile? What?!” She shook her head. “You know what? Thanks for the info, now I just have to go wipe that smile off his face.”

She shrugged lightly. “Nah, I don’t think it matters either way, even if she wasn’t your baby, she’d still be adorable.”

She chuckled. “Eh, you gotta start ‘em young, get her used to the never ending attention that she’s probably getting. She’ll be tired for a while, but I can say from experience.” She placed a hand on her chest. “She’ll get used to it,” she said, her voice playful and sarcastic as ever.

She smirked. “Well that’s good, because I was planning on tagging along anyways.” Sighing, she nodded before continuing, “Yeah, I know, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss spending time with you. And it’s like, I’m obviously not expecting to see you every second of every day, that would be weird, and I would go crazy, you know I can only tolerate your honking goose voice for so long, its just… I dunno, you have a family now, I get that, Zephyr’s amazing, and you and Astrid are busy with her, and I’m not trying to push myself into everything, again, that would be weird, and I have my own things I need to push myself into.” She let out a breathy chuckle. “I… it just feels like these past couple of months, we’ve barely spent any real time together… I, I’m sorry, I know it sounds selfish, but it’s just how I feel, I guess.”

"It won't be so bad in the winter, at least. Grump hasn't been giving you any trouble, has he?" He was mainly asking as a joke, knowing full well the Hotburple loved Danny.

Shaking his head, he grinned mischievously. "No, no, we can't wait too long, otherwise we might forget! No, the sooner the better! Besides, Astrid mentioned having you come by again soon, just to visit."

Running a hand through his hair, he asked, "Really? Is it that bad?" Forgetting Toothless wasn't with him, he went to turn to his friend. "Bud? You--oh, right." He shrugged. "I'll have to find some time to get a little extra rest, if I look as bad as you say, Gothi might whack me upside the head for not taking care of myself again."

"No need! I sent him off island to check on the tribes storehouse. He'll be gone for a week, I think. Snotlout went with him."

Laughing, he asked, "Oh, will she? You really think so?" Wrapping his arms around Zephyr, he gave a small nod. "She'll be taking on the role of Chieftess when she's old enough, so I'll have her with me a lot when I work, I think."

As they walked, his face fell hearing Danny's words.

Although, his expression briefly changed to mild offense when she said 'honking goose voice'.

"No, you're right. I've been a little busier than usual...things have changed a lot, haven't they?" Nodding, he continued. "I've missed spending time with you, too... and while I do have Astrid and Zephyr now, I'm still your brother, and I'm still here for you if you ever need me. Astrid and I are still adjusting to having Zephyr, so in the meantime, why don't we do this? Why don't all the Haddocks get together and have dinner, as a family, once or twice a week? As a start? And then, once Astrid is cleared for her normal activities again, we can spend some brother/sister time together when we can? Whatever you choose to do, but within reason."

[skiesandflowerss]

sky, i am kind of going through a writer's block and it is bothering me. do you have any ideas that i can write on? any prompts? and pov's you'd like to read that i can write? any emotion that i can write on? and fictional scene? anything? any ideas are welcomed! but of course, no pressure to come up with ideas if that'd cost you lots of energy and time. you can choose to ignore this ask as well, no problem at all. thank you. <3

and i hope you are doing well! and, also, life update. i got done with almost all of my interviews last month, so i have been very free and living these slow days without any care. it's been fun ngl but some days i get a little sad because of the lack of events in my life. anyway, next month it'd be decided which college i'd be going to for my post grad. i really really hope i get a good one! :" and i read and watched a couple of things during this free period, and they were all so good. makes me fall in love with life when i come across things that capture all my attention and make me appreciate art and the people behind it. :")

Imaaa, I don't know if i will be able to help you much here cause I haven't picked up a book to read in a while and honestly my mind is all blank these days but I do have some suggestions or lines or povs you might can write on, I hope they help you:

'You're far away,' she says, returning you to the present. 'Don't hide from me.'

You have never loved from a distance, but then you have never known love like this. You want to tell yourself, and her, that it will be OK, that nothing will change, but you don't know.

You are ending the summer, wondering how it is possible to miss someone before they have gone. There are lives moving around you but they are of little concern.

Have you ever been afraid of what lies within you, what you're capable of?

You can't live in a vacuum. And when you let people in and you make yourself vulnerable, they're able to have an effect on you. If that makes sense.'

To live with other people is to be responsible for protecting them from your moods.

It was so gorgeous that it almost felt like sadness.

Maybe I was afraid of seeing anything as absolute. I wanted to keep moving, like a stream, and I wanted to go on watching everything from a distance.

Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life.

I've always been like that—if I'm not pushed to the brink, I won't move.

What a pain I thought, wondering why everyone felt such a need for reassurance.

(Ps: these are all quotes from the books I read last year and also I read a book Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson last year which kind of gave me many ideas to write on like this book helped me write quite vividly and this book is hardly of 130 pages so I would suggest you to give it a read in your spare time, I think it will help you come out of the block)

and I'm doing fine, my exams are close so I'm not doing any extra activity which is basically reading these days but yeah and glad to hear that you are finally over your a-little-stressful-cum-eventful-days and do enjoy your mellow days and summers are here so do have a fun time attempting activities that can attract your creative brain and yes you have had quite a busy month so do relax and take care of yourself. Hoping that you get to choose your desired college and have a great time pursuing your masters. Sending you positivity, hugs and sunshine 🌻🌻🌻

(another ps: I will keep adding lines or prompts as I get time and ideas)

[timeoverload]

I had the longest day. I am so tired. I had a tough time waking up this morning but at least I had 30 minutes before I had to get ready. I don't know how I used to wake up at 3:30 or 4am every day for work. I can't do that anymore but I miss having the extra time to wake up. I feel like I'm always rushing.

Work wasn't very exciting. It was a normal Wednesday. I have so much I need to get done but I haven't really had a break from cases. I had an hour to get some stuff done at the end of the day so that was nice. I'm in the process of redoing all of the eye instruments in the storage closet that have the old labels on them. We aren't able to scan the old labels with the new system we're using so we can't use those items until they get redone. I have to repackage and sterilize them again so that they can be tracked back to the patients. There are literally hundreds of peel packs and wrapped things in there. I've only gotten the top shelf done and I've been working on it since last week. I was frustrated earlier because the other people in my department didn't have anything to do since it was a slow day for them so they were all just sitting around watching me work while I was super busy. I have so much stuff on my station right now that it's hard to do anything and I wish someone would offer to help me. They don't care. I keep begging to train other people to help but no one is listening. They think I can just handle it on my own because I always have. I won't have any cases tomorrow afternoon unless there's an add-on so my goal is to get as much done as I can. I'm tired of being stressed about it.

I was productive when I got off work. I tried to go pick up my glasses but apparently they're only open until 5 on Wednesdays so I drove all the way over there for nothing so that made me mad. I will try again tomorrow because they should be open till 7. I went to get my prescription refilled after that. I'm glad that I was wrong about having to wait to refill it because I'm going to need it tomorrow. I had to wait in line for 15 minutes at the pharmacy to pick it up but I survived. After I got my medicine I went to the store and got a ton of groceries. I had to make 3 trips to bring everything upstairs. My freezer is completely full. I bought some stuff to make salads so at least I got something healthy. I've realized that I'm not in good enough shape to try to carry everything in a basket anymore and it's nice to be able to lean on the cart so shopping isn't as painful. It's better for me to get a bunch of stuff at once instead of trying to go to the store every other day. I don't know why I did that for so long because it's stupid.

I am trying to make sure I have everything I need because I already know I'm not going to want to do anything this weekend. I still don't feel like I'm prepared but I will do my best to take care of everything else tomorrow night. I might need to pick up a couple more things. I am planning on asking to leave work at 4 tomorrow so that I can get everything done so hopefully that won't be an issue. I also haven't gotten fast food in over a month so I think I am going to get that for dinner tomorrow night. I wanted to do that tonight but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to carry more stuff inside.

I am starving so I need to make something to eat soon. I'm not sure what I want because I have a lot of options but I will figure it out. After I eat I'm going to get ready for bed and maybe try to relax for a while before I fall asleep. I don't have much else to talk about right now. I hope that tomorrow is a good day.

I hope everyone else has a good day tomorrow too!!! Thanks for listening to me. :) 💖💖💖

[musicalfanfiction99]

The Idolistic Producer ~ Chapter 5

Before we start the story I have a something to say. I am so sorry that I haven't posted in about a month I couldn't think of any ideas and was really busy. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!

You left the practice room to find another group to look to join. Let's look at Hold Hands to see what groups have openings right now. The screen flashes, pulling up a page full of idol groups and the number of people in that group, along with small notes saying how each of the members are and how everyone interacts as a whole. While you were scrolling one unit caught your eye. UNDEAD. "Well, maybe UNDEAD could possibly be a fit for me." You were so focused on your phone that you didn't notice someone was walking up behind you. "Oh? Someone wants to join the UNDEAD?" Once you heard that you froze. Who was talking to me? Are they trying to make fun of me? So many thoughts were racing through your head that you didn't know what to do. So you thought that you should calm down and ask what the mystery person was wondering. "Hello? Can I help you- Oh." You just now realized that it was the person named Rei Sakuma that stopped you in the halls the previous day. "Sorry. I thought that you were a stranger." "Oh, it's fine, miss. So you want to join UNDEAD?" "Oh, I'm just looking for a unit to join because Valkyrie half-scouted me and I denied so I'm looking for a group that interests me. I was just going to see if UNDEAD interests me. That's all." "Well, would you like to see our practice? I'm going there right now so you could come." "Sure. I need to submit a unit submission form by the end of the week anyways." He took you to the practice room where you sat through another practice, and you were instantly hooked. You saw how calm the group was and how well they worked together that you thought that they might be your best bet in finding a group that could be for you. During the break, you looked through the list of units one more time to make sure that no other groups caught your eye before you ask them if you could join. Okay, it looks like none of the the groups look interesting to me so I could ask them but what if they don't want me and I'm imposing on them or what if I ruin their relationships with eachother... While you were lost in thought someone walked over to you. "Hello Luna~ did you like my performance~ ⁠♡" "Kaka, yes it was very good. Your group has a nice dynamic too." "So will you join our unit? We have an extra opening just for you~" "Wouldn't I just get in the way of your group though? I can't work as hard as other people and I'm not as good of a singer or dancer as you guys." "It's fine. You'll be fine. You haven't picked a unit yet anyways right? You need to submit your unit submission form in by the end of the week." "Yes, you have a point. I guess I'll join. What do I need to do to join?" Right as you said that last sentence you perked up the ears of the other members. "Oho, so you're joining after all?" Rei was quite glad because he knew your sister and he knows you will do great things. "Here, these are a couple forms you need to submit to the student council and you need to fill out your unit submission form." "Alright, well I guess I'll see you in class. Thank very much for allowing me to join!" You bowed and then left the room. Okay, I finally just joined a group... It's fine right? There's just a vampire-like person, a ladies man, a short-tempered "dog", and a calm person. Yes, it'll all turn out fine...

Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 6

[zuretha-metal]

Update 8/27/23

Hey, y'all. These oast couple months have been interesting. One of my physicians is moving on to the biggest and best job, my favorite coworkers quit, and we're officially down two nurses in-clinic. Podcasts might literally be the only thing holding me together, lol.

Penumbra S5: Okay, so this season so far has just sort of... made me cry? It wasn't much of a tearful reunion in Juno, but listening to them bicker like the old days and get back to the basics (the first thing that drew me in about this show was the space noir private eye vibes) was refreshing. So refreshing, in fact, that I went back and re-listened to, "The Case of the Murderous Mask", "The Train From Nowhere" -- the end of Season 1, Season 3 in it's entirety, and then I re-listened to Season 4 just to listen to Juno and Nureyev be in love and listen to Juno pine. The lady has some big emotions, and I love him for it. As for Second Citadel, that first scene of Season 5 hits like... really hard. And I was so scared for Talfrin, but then Angelo was there. The second he swooped in and announced himself, I started sobbing. I'm glad Damien was able to be reunited and that they've learned what is happening to their world. Quanyii is a little scary right now but I think I would be too if I took a magic edible and bad tripped my way through the Mirrored Planes and gained horrible knowledge and as soon as I woke up, I found out the love of my life had gone missing and the place was getting bombed. Definitely an understandable reaction. Our little lizard kissing boquet made me cry at the end of the episode. You know why. Last season brought everyone together only for this season to send them sprawling apart to possible doom.

Desert Skies -- I didn't get to listen to much of this yet, but it is a trip. If their frozen burrito aisle didn't send me, the fact that they refer ghosts glitching and having unfinished business by using the acronym "SUB"bing has my absolutely dying. I have no idea how to explain any of this to anyone, and it's still like...weirdly well-written. It's wholesome for being so, so nuanced.

Midnight Burger -- KB got burnt out about halfway through the second season. Still, I've got about 4 new episodes the listen to, and I'm very excited. We have a chaplain at our hospital who does the same three prayers on a loop, but she prays so nice it reminds me of Effie, and I actually feel better after hers.

Batman: The Audio Adventures -- This is great to listen to. It gives me spooky noir detective vibes and also lets me simp over a man who can't eat dinner until 2:22 in the morning because he's got two occupants in his mind. These voice actors are so good, and they paint a picture of Gotham that is so immersive and interesting. I had to stop listening so my boyfriend could catch up, so I'm excited to listen to more.

Things are so busy right now as our clinic transitions to make sure we can still see patients, and also because I've accepted a position in as an extra in a dinner theater production. Our first rehearsal is tonight, so wish me luck!

My Running Favorite Podcasts List:

The Penumbra Podcast - Juno Steel mysteries. I've dipped my toes into Second Citadel, not sure if I want to sacrifice my soul for it just yet. As for Juno's stuff, I would die for every member of the Carte Blanche and the first episode still gives me chills, even on the fourth relisten.

Welcome To Night Vale - my first podcast. My favorite baby. I listened to this thing walking the mile to and from campus and the mile across the highway to work for a year. I based my marching band tech assignments in Night Vale 's school district. Go Scorpions! (The web address is floating around somewhere out there if you're interested in the Big Rico's Sell-A-Slice fundraiser for new marching band uniforms!)

Good Morning Night Vale - Great recaps of episodes and the cast are just...abolsute goblins. Very feel-good. Good for my soul, good for yours, good for the All Mighty Glow Cloud's - all hail ❤

The Two Princes - Absolutely lovely. Short, dynamic, and absolutely charming. I listened to this one a while back and don't remember much except a totally relateable main character, a cursed forest -- also lots of gayness and a flying ship. Beauty and grace.

The Orbiting Human Circus - Strange. Very Pan's Labyrinth in the realm of, "reality?" I love the music and the old-timey feel. Still picking my way through the Naughty Till New Year's collection, but I'm a sucker for the stories they bring to the table.

The Magnus Archives - I cried a bunch. Made art. It's beautiful. The only smart man in this podcast is Joshua Gillespie. Amen to my man with all the braincells who said, "Put the key in a bowl of water and freeze it." I, of course, picked all of the stupid people as my favorites and all of them are dead. Except one.

Marsfall - Just started this one. Chaos. Amazing imagery. Also ANDI - I'd die for that sweet boy. And for some reason it just makes me think of Starkid's Starship? Bc like, it's detrimental AND campy. Excellent.

[goblinofbiscuits]

Hello again! Maybe a Dave x reader where maybe y/n is Kurt’s friend and Dave likes her??

Kurt's friend

A/n: sorry this took so long, I have been focusing on my music alot more and was trying to pass school for a good solid month, I have been working on my writing again and finishing request and all of that, so hope you like it more to come

Warning: smoking, invasion of personal space

You and kurt have been friends since the beginning of nirvana, you were a musician in the same scene, had the same believes, and tastes. You personality were quite different though. You were a little more outgoing You had your shy moments yea but doesn't everybody.

Kurt's was more shy and reserved, he did have his burst of energy moments though, especially on stage, many who observed you friendship thought you two were in a relationship you were quick too shut them down though you two were friends that's it that's all.

Kurt had called you asking if you want to play a solo on one of his songs, you were suprised one because kurt didn't collaborate too often and two, cause he wasn't one for solos either. But of course you excepted, who were you to turn down a opportunity like this, so next day you packed you guitar and headed to the studio

"Kurt!"

"Y/n, hi!"

You two hugged for a moment, Kurt's become a very busy man in the last couple years so you haven't had much time to hang out

"I missed you man how are you" you said taking in his new hair, no longer a dark brown color

" I've been doing good, touring us grueling as hell though" he said sitting down lighting a cig before turning to you with a worry look and quickly going to put it out.

"Kurt I smoke Tolman, you don't have to not smoke around, I promise you my asthma stops nothing"

"I know I know, I'm just trying to be thoughtful" he said relaxing after your statement

"Well thank you that's very sweet but you don't have too" you say before ruffling his hair and going to set down you guitar case and start tuning.

As soon as you start tuning the e string, a man with long brown hair walks in with two drumsticks in hand

"Sorry I'm late, traffick was shit" he said absent mindly

" it's all good man, hey let me introduce you two, this is y/n, y/n this is dave our drummer"

"Hi" you said brightly, happy to meet a new person

"Hi" dave replied with a love struck look that you didn't quite know what emotion he was feeling

" so it's only gonna be you two working in the studio, kris is visiting his girlfriend and the main guitar and vocals are already recorded, the only job left is the solo and the Drums behind the solo" the producer chimed in

So you finished tuning threw some ideas back and forth with kurt about what the solo should sound like and got to work.

You made your way to the booth and briefly just marked your solo to dave so he can come up with the beat and extras like fills and such. You did pick up on the fact that he might be a little off his game.

Kurt had mentioned dave before, talked about how he was kinda shy in his own personal way, you had also picked up on how he spoke a lot less than the rest of the members. So you just chalked it up to you being new and unfamiliar, qnd the blush on his cheeks from the heat considering it is summer.

You and Dave started playing and it was amazing, you didn't have to more than two takes. You were so excited about how well it went that as soon as you put down your guitar you rushed to hug dave as he was standing up from his kit.

"OH shit I'm so sorry I was just really excited about how well that went that I had seem to forget that person space exists" you said pulling away once common sense kicked in

"nah it alright, I was actually mean to ask you something?" He said kind of tense

" wass up?" You said messing with your hair a bit

" would you like to go on a date friday, I really wanna get to k-know you better" dave said really nervous at this point

"I would love that umm aha here we go this is my number call me" you said grabbed a piece of paper writing your number and giving it to the musician

You said your goodbyes and set up plans to hang out with kurt, you ste up a time you were gonna see dave on Friday and head to you car feeling on top of the world

[genevievemd]

I just wanted to say that I find fascinating the storyline of those struggles between Ethan and Gen. Not because I want to see them fight of course, but when you think about it, we saw the whole issue through Gen’s eyes, and the interpretations her mind did.

So if you don’t mind, would you talk about that time, for example: in reality, how was their dynamic? They really didn’t see each other the whole day? (Ethan leaving early and coming back late), Did he check on her through texts? Was there a time when he would look for her to spend time together? Did he actually always go home super late or was it just a couple of times? What about working on sundays?  What about their sex life?

I love you for asking this question Nonny! I'm gonna break it down question by question, so it's easier for all of us lol

how was their dynamic? They really didn’t see each other the whole day? (Ethan leaving early and coming back late)

First, we must keep in mind that while to Gen it was a long time, in reality it was only 3 1/4 - 4 weeks of this. Which isn't that long when you think about it and the fact that Ethan had just become chief at the beginning of January.

For that first week of the 4, they tried really hard to see each other -- they attempted dinner (which was usually in Ethan's office) and to meet for lunch or coffee, but as time went on and Ethan got more consumed by the job those meetings during the day got less and less. So by week 4 he didn't see her at all during the day.

And he'd come home late, leave as early as he could. So they really didn't see much of each other by the end.

The was really barely any dynamic or interaction between them. (Although Ethan would cuddle up to her in bed the minute he was home and feel guilty that he'd missed her again. But Gen sleeps like the dead and had no idea. )

Did he check on her through texts?

Yes. I didn't include every text in the series because it would have been even longer. LOL but yes, he would text her. Very briefly. He could tell by the end of that month that something was wrong, because her responses got shorter.

Was there a time when he would look for her to spend time together?

In the beginning, yes. He tried very hard to make time for her -- as evident by him canceling date night but then "fixing" it by having it in his office. By the end, he'd text and she'd say no, too busy. A very Ethan-esque response and he didn't think anything of it because the team dynamic had changed and she was busy like him.

He did try, but it was very bare minimum with no extra effort.

Did he actually always go home super late or was it just a couple of times?

That first week of the 4, he tried to be home earlier, but as he got more into the roll and had more to do he was home late. Remember in book 1, he'd work until midnight some days, and that's how it was during this time. He got so consumed by work that it had become his number 1 priority.

What about working on sundays?

He worked all of them. Or at least most of the day, and so Gen would go and hang out with her sister, and a couple Sundays she was doing things with their wedding planner (meetings he was supposed to be at but bailed) and by 9 they'd both be home but not much was said or done together. G would go to bed around 10 since they worked so early the next time.

Ethan was very aware towards the end that something was wrong, but because he banked on them being okay -- because they always were -- he brushed it off and said to himself "I can talk to her later".

What about their sex life?

This might surprise you, but it was still fairly active. Gen was using it as a way to feel connected to him in a time where she felt like he was far away. It wasn't the healthiest thing to do, but it's what she did.

They weren't banging it out everyday like they usually do (aside from when its, shall we say, shark week. That is not a thing they're into -- but hers only lasts about 4 days) But they were still having sex at least 3 times a week.

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game: Restart Chapter 13 (and some Therapy Game news!)

Hello everyone! I hope you've all been well these past two months and taken care of yourselves! 💜

Before we get into our takeaways for chapter 13, I saw some news from Hinohara-sensei's Official Twitter that I would like to share with you all!

First piece of news: Therapy Game re:start volume 2 will be released on 1st June 2021! 🎉

Second: in conjunction with the release of the second volume, Sensei will have an in-person fan signing event at the Ikebukuro Animate store (animate honten) AND will have a special limited time shop featuring goods of our favourite dorks! This shop will be opened 6th-20th June! 🎉🎉

Image from Sensei's Official Twitter post! ❤️💛💜❤️

Now, what does the second piece of news mean for us not living in Japan (such as myself)? 🤔 Well, one of two things could happen:

We could see the merch on Sensei's Twitter and wish we could buy them one day 😭 OR

Animate could "potentially" release this merch for online order!

I'm not trying to get anyone's hopes up, but when I saw Animate open a special Yuri!!! on Ice shop last year, I didn't think they'd release merch online. But they did, for a very, very short period of time only! So my only hope is that they do that again for Hinohara-sensei! 🤞

Here's the special website from Sensei's twitter that has information about the fan signing event and limited time shop! It seems they'll show what merch will be available in the shop when it's all been finalised.

If I spot anymore updates about that, I'll try to post about it here! ❤️💛

Alright, down to business as usual! Let's get into our takeaways~ Thank you for being so patient with me! Life has been a little busy this year with juggling work and social life! So I really appreciate your patience! 💜

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Loving the brotherly love we see in this chapter! Warms my heart to no end! ❤️💛💜❤️

Minato, bb, you are growing up a lot! I am proud of you! 😭

Did I ever tell you guys that I really love Mito-san too? No? Well now I have ahah! He is just amazing and I love the energy he has--cool and lovable, yet smooth and sexy! Loving the domestic vibes I'm getting! 😍😍

AHHH SHIZUMA! Your smile is too pure, it's blinding! 🥰

Just couple goals from Shizuma and Minato, AND from Mito-san and Shouhei! (Why I don't call Mito-san Itsuki, I'll never know ahah I blame Shouhei! XDDD) ❤️💛💜❤️

The younger sibling moments in this chapter are so relatable! (I am that younger sibling ahahah!) 🤣🤣🤣

I honestly don't know what to think of Onodera at this point in time? 🤔

The (supposed) date time with Shizuma and Minato went from adorable anticipation to steamy relations in a split second, but not NSFW! 😲

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! Since it's been a while since the last chapter, I threw in some extra surprises in this summary, so keep reading if you want to see~  😉✨

Our chapter begins with an image of Mito-san and Minato, with Minato's cheek leaning on Mito-san's shoulder. The dialogue reads: When it seems like my overflowing emotions are about to burst from the seams, I really do yearn for this back (i.e. something familiar he can always lean on).

We see Minato spaced out on a sofa, being called by Itsuki. Itsuki tells Minato to go home if he's just going to sit there like that since he is very busy cleaning his entire home for when Shouhei moves in with him! Minato gets up, understands the situation, and helps Itsuki out.

Itsuki, knowing something has happened between Shizuma and Minato, asks Minato directly since he only goes to Itsuki's place when he is troubled, and he must be troubled by something related to Shizuma. He also says that Shizuma is worried about Minato, especially since Itsuki lied to him about Minato's whereabouts.

Minato brushes it off, saying that it's nothing big. He talks about the time when they had to drop by Shizuma's workplace, he saw a woman/Onodera (not knowing she's Shizuma's director) and that Shizuma made an very adorable face while talking to her.

Minato stops talking, so Itsuki asks if that is all to the story. Minato then says yes, so Itsuki deduces that Minato is ignoring Shizuma because he happily spoke with that woman (Onodera) and confirms with Minato, who then agrees. Itsuki blames himself for raising Minato like this and apologises to Shizuma in his inner monologue.

Minato defensively says he's told Shizuma not to do that, yet he still does. Minato's monologue says that this Shizuma--who is talking to someone unknown to him, about a story he doesn't know, in a place he doesn't know about--seems like a distant person to him.

He realises that even though he and Shizuma are together, he cannot monopolise him, and that it annoys him. So rather than tell him not to speak with others, he has chosen not to see Shizuma until he calms down. Suddenly, a handyman appears at Itsuki's home to beginning furniture installations.

Image translated from Sensei’s Twitter post here!

Minato is surprised Itsuki replaced a lot of his furniture, to which Itsuki replies: "I wonder if Shouhei-kun prefers the new ones too."  Minato says Shouhei would freeze from this "surprise" and imagines Shouhei asking how much it cost!

Itsuki, still in his happy bubble, says he wants Shouhei to also select some household furniture and accessories, so they'll go shopping together next time. Minato is happy for them since their house-moving plans are going well. Itsuki goes back to their previous topic of conversation, and says how Shizuma and Shouhei both are very charming. He recounts how Shouhei would handle different kinds of customers, from the difficult to the sad ones, how his charms and personable skills would change their mood completely, and calls him a genius who has a knack for calming customers.

Minato asks if Itsuki dislikes that, since he himself doesn't know what to think of Shizuma showing his charm and friendliness to others and that some misunderstandings would arise eventually.

Itsuki then reminds Minato that out of all the people in the world, Shizuma asked Minato to live with him, and that thought alone must've made him happy.

Minato does agree, yet it doesn't change the fact that he is unaware of what Shizuma does outside of the home. Itsuki is then suspicious that Minato and Shizuma are going to move in together too.

Minato panics, and says he just meant that from Itsuki's point of view since he's moving in with Shouhei. Just as Minato thinks he's almost let the secret slip, he gets a phone call. Itsuki tells Minato that it's Shizuma, but Minato refuses to pick it up as he is "still cleaning"--the real reason is that Minato told Shizuma he wouldn't forgive him if they speak before Minato gave the OK to talk again.

Itsuki, being the older brother, answers the phone and slides it on the desk near Minato and leaves him to talk with Shizuma, even putting it on loud speaker since Minato is preoccupied.

Shizuma is frantically trying to get a response from Minato, to which Minato responds with a simple: “What... I can hear you.” The first thing Shizuma asks is where Minato is at this present moment, fearing that he might be at a suspicious place. Minato says he isn't and is in fact in the neighbourhood doing some errands. Shizuma breathes a sigh of relief and is thankful his call finally reached Minato as no one he asked knew where Minato was, and because Shizuma was overthinking things, he was just about to go searching for him.

Minato tells him that he doesn't need to go to such lengths and make such a big fuss about it, but Shizuma tells him that he will always make a big fuss about it since it's about Minato. To avoid such a thing happening again, Shizuma tells Minato not to make him worry. Then these pages happen:

Just as their talk of their brothers' moving into together comes to an end, Shizuma gets all excited to go apartment hunting with Minato again and reminds him, not knowing that Itsuki is also listening. The Mito brothers freeze in surprise, with Itsuki soon confirming his earlier suspicions with Minato--his eyes and aura going all kira kira (i.e. sparkly). Minato tries to reprimand him for bringing it up now, but Shizuma continues on, saying he's found a few places he likes and they should start inspecting prospective apartments soon before they're overwhelmed by it all.

Minato hastily agrees to it all, and Shizuma smirks on the other end of the phone, asking Minato when they can see each other. Shizuma suggests Friday if he is too busy at the present moment, and just as Minato gives work as an excuse not to see him on that day, Itsuki jumps in and says he can go see Shizuma.

Shizuma, very surprised by the fact Itsuki overheard their conversation, says his name aloud, and Shouhei overhears him. Itsuki thanks Shizuma for letting him overhear such an adorable story featuring Shouhei. And then this happens:

Still very flustered, Minato quickly agrees to seeing Shizuma on Friday and promptly ends the call before Shizuma can even finish saying "Wait!" Itsuki happily approaches Minato and asks to hear more of their apartment hunting adventures, to which Minato replies that nothing is final yet!

We change locations, and Minato is now on the balcony scrubbing the floor. Minato recalls how he wanted to tell Itsuki about his and Shizuma's plans to move in together further down the track. He then is overjoyed at the thought that Shizuma missed him and wanted to see him. While he awaits Friday, he remembers and is embarrassed by how furious he was the last time they saw each other. He plans to start a skin routine to care for his face and to get his hair done.

Just as he thinks this, he is called out by none other than Shizuma, who is on the ground floor outside. Minato, visibly surprised, asks Shizuma why he’s here. Shizuma tells him that the shop is close to his home. Minato knows this, but is more curious as to why he is here since they just agreed to see each other on Friday. Shizuma is taken aback for a moment, before saying: 

While Minato hides away from Shizuma and quickly tries to style his hair, Itsuki overhears a ruckus on his balcony and goes to investigate. We then find out that Shouhei accompanied Shizuma. Shouhei calls out to Itsuki and asks why he didn't tell him that he was cleaning the whole house. The Ikushima brothers offer to help out with the cleaning, with Shizuma joining in because his younger brother will be under Itsuki's care soon. Itsuki happily agrees, saying that he wouldn't be able to fully clean the place if only Minato were there.

As the Ikushima brothers are getting ready to go upstairs to help, Itsuki says the brothers are indeed good, endearing people, and their charming personalities would probably make Minato and Itsuki anxious at times. Minato agrees. Itsuki then continues to say that while Shizuma and Shouhei charm those around them, the only ones who can make them smile the way they do are themselves. Minato is concerned about a possible intruder in their relationship, and Itsuki provides some brotherly advice.

We change scenes to Onodera, smoking on the clinic rooftop and thinking about Shizuma's smiling face.

We change scenes again to Minato, waiting for Shizuma at a predetermined location since it is now Friday. Happy with his new hairdo, Minato reminds himself not to get angry, to sort out the current situation they're in (i.e. Minato's one-sided anger at Shizuma), and to be calm and collected.

Shizuma then gets out of a car across the road, and looks around for Minato. Minato, who can see him very clearly, smiles happily and decides to let Shizuma look for him a little longer. A few more moments pass by, and Shizuma spots Minato and then waves happily to him. However, there is a slight problem.

Minato sees “the woman from last time” (Onodera) driving the car who then passes Shizuma his phone, with him smiling awkwardly at her. He recalls Itsuki's brotherly advice. Minato had actually asked Itsuki a follow-up question: "You say ‘just don't lose,’ but what should I actually do?" Itsuki tells him that it's something he has to figure out for himself.

Shizuma runs to Minato, apologising for making Minato wait. He explains that he was running late due to various issues, and he seemed to have dropped his phone in the car of the person who dropped him off. Before he could even tell Minato that it's his director who dropped him off, Minato says he doesn't need to say anything else and to just go out with him.

We see that Shizuma and Minato are now at a hotel, with Minato quickly pushing Shizuma onto the bed. Shizuma is annoyed at himself for letting Minato see such a scene that would cause a misunderstanding. Before heading over to the bed, Minato closes the door, turns to face Shizuma, and grins. He crawls onto the bed and immediately kisses Shizuma. He calls out Shizuma's name before asking him:

He softly pleads with Shizuma, asking for a quick response. Shizuma wonders if Minato's jealously is making him want to be held right now. He thinks Minato is really, really adorable, but also realises this isn't the right time to be thinking this. So Shizuma does tell Minato he loves him, that it's obvious he loves him very much. He apologises for causing him to worry and that he never once intended to do so. Minato cuts him off, saying that he understands and that it's okay.

Despite saying so, Shizuma notices the atmosphere is a little different than usual. Minato then tells Shizuma that he's been thinking of a way to ensure he doesn't lose Shizuma to anyone or lets anyone take him. The final page shows us this:

Again, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 📢  As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And that’s it for this chapter! 😲 Another cliffhanger here, and ngl that was a little (SFW-ish) steamy? I honestly do not know what to expect in the next chapter!! Dominant Minato?????  But I hope you enjoyed the few extra panels in this summary! 💜 My laptop struggled to keep up, so I will go back to only showing a handful of panels in future summaries. Please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

The next chapter will be in next month's Dear+, so the wait isn't too much longer! So I shall see you all next month for our next set of takeaways to find out what happens next!

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

[i-have-a-wonky-eye-too]

Who knows when... - Too soon? Part 4/?

WARNINGS: Swearing

<Part 3 <

You stared at Henry in disbelief, your mouth hung open as Henry just smiled at you. "You want me to what?"

"Come with me."

Henry had slipped back into bed after making the pair of you a cup of coffee on a rare morning he didn't get up at the crack of dawn.

You shook your head, "I... Henry, I... I can't come."

Henry let out a soft sigh. "Why can't you come? Hmm?"

"I-" You thought about what he was asking. "I can't."

"You still haven't told me why."

You sighed, "I need a job, Henry I can't just swan off for months on end... You're only asking me because you feel sorry for me." You sat back against the head board.

"No, I'm not." Henry shook his head, "I'm asking because I've been thinking about it for a while... And last night, pushed me to ask."

You frowned thinking about the night before.

You stood outside in the pouring rain, shivering from the cold as you waited for Henry to answer the door. Usually you wouldn't just turn up unannounced, especially when you knew he was busy with work, but when the taxi driver asked where to go, you gave him Henry's address.

The sound of Kal barking from somewhere in the house made you smile, hugging your thin jacket closer to you. A moment later a light was switched on before the sound of Henry telling Kal to be quiet before the door was opened.

"He- Y/N?" Henry's mouth fell open as he ran his eyes over your soaking form.

"H-Hi." You sniffled. "M'sorry, for  turning up unannounced."

Henry frowned, "No, don't be. Baby, come in." He reached out and pulled you inside. "What's happened?" He asked softly as he pulled you into his chest.

You broke down crying, hugging closer to Henry as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head, holding you as you cried. He whispered soothing words as he hugged you closer to him.

"I quit." You whispered into Henry's chest.

Henry pulled back from you, "You quit?"

You nodded and looked up at him. Your eyes full of tears and that's when Henry noticed you were crying and had been for while.

"Oh, baby," He leaned down and hugged you closer to him, resting his head on top of yours. "Why are you crying? You've wanted to do this for so long."

"I don't know what I'm going to do now."

"You said you didn't know what you were going to do now, so... Be my PA." He smiled at you.

You shook your head, "I can't, Henry."

"Why?"

"Because..." Why couldn't you go? "Don't you think you'd get sick of me? Seeing me every day." You frowned.

Henry smiled at you, placing his on top of yours. "Baby, wouldn't you rather us get annoyed with one another for being under each other's feet, than miss each other for months on end with only our phones to connect us?"

You nodded slowly, "But... What about my flat?"

"Thought you said Jess had been extra annoying these last few months? Maybe it's time to move on from there too."

It was true. Ever since you got back from your romantic Valentine's weekend with Henry she had been behaving differently towards you. Almost as if she was trying to drive you away, purposefully making your life difficult. The two of you hadn't even spoken for a few days after the way she behaved towards Kal.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! Y/N!" Jess shouted from the living room.

You quickly ran out your bedroom to find Jess pushing Kal off the sofa with a disgusted look on her face. "What? What happened?"

"Where the fuck has this thing come from?" She pointed at Kal as he walked up to you, sitting by your feet.

"He's Henry's. I'm looking after him for a few hours." You bent down in front of him. "I thought you loved dogs?" You asked, ruffling Kal's furr and making kissing faces at him.

"That, is not a dog. He's a monster," She scowled, picking up a pillow. "Look what he did to my pillow." She pointed to the drop of drool.

"Relax, would ya'. You make more mess when you eat." You joked. "Doesn't she Kal-E." You kissed his face.

"Stupid name for a dog." She muttered.

You glared up at her. "Leave him alone." You growled and stood up, "I'll take him to my room if you're gonna be such a bitch. You don't hear me complaining about the drooling blokes you bring home. At least Kal is handsome."

"He's stupid." She bent over and grabbed Kal's superman toy, scoffing as she waved it in the air, unaware of the excitement she was causing in Kal. "God, could he stroke his own ego anymore."

"Oh, stop being such a bitch, Jess." You tried to take Kal's toy but she snatched it away.

"I'm not, a bitch." She hissed.

Kal barked, trying to get his toy off Jess as he jumped up, knocking her over onto the couch.

"Ugh, get off me you little f-"

You pulled Kal back and you snatched his toy off her. "Don't be so mean to him. God," You gave Kal his toy. "I won't bring him here again. I won't put him through this again, poor soul, having to put up with you." You walked off with Kal to the your room.

"Fuck you, Y/N," Jess huffed.

"Won't it be weird, me working for you?" You whispered looking up at him.

"Is that a yes?" Henry grinned at you, playfully poking your side making you blush.

After receiving tag team pleading puppy dog looks from Henry and Kal, you agreed to be Henry's PA for his next film and move out of your little flat.

You were worried about telling Jess but Henry came with you for moarl support and held your hand as you told her. You weren't surprised when she scowled at you, and then Henry, and then glared down at Kal who seemed to have saved up all his drool just for Jess. Not wanting to waste any time sticking around, you paid the last month's rent (thanks to Henry) and pakce duo your things, and in a couple of hours you were back at Henry's.

"You don't have a lot, do you?" Henry frowned as he helped you move the last box into his house.

You shook your head. "Didn't really have the space to have a lot, did I?" You smiled at him over your shoulder as you carried your own, lighter box in.

Henry hummed, "I suppose." He grumbled. "I have a spare room," He placed the box on the ground and stood up straight, placing his hands on his hips. "Or, you can, hmm... Put your things in, my room..." He shrugged, blushing slightly as he looked down to his feet.

"Oh," You blushed biting your bottom lip. "So, we're... Living together?"

Henry's lips spread into a grin. "We might as well get used to being under each other's feet." He chuckled. "Unless, you don't want to."

You nodded your head. "I want to."

"It's not too quick?" Henry slowly  walked towards you as you shook your head. "So... You're moving in with me?" You bit you bottom back your smile. Henry grinned as he placed his hands on your waist. "So, that means we can, christen the house."

"What?"

Henry grinned bending down before you and threw you over his shoulder causing you to scream out. "We'll start with the bedroom!" He slapped your backside playfully making you squeal.

[lacharcutiere]

still [sawamura daichi]

1,6k words

previous | masterlist | next ➪

part eight of i’m gone i’m gone i’m gone miniseries. you can only put these things off for so long.

JST: japanese standard time (GMT +9). EST: eastern standard time (GMT -5). EDT: eastern daylight time (GMT -4).

tings // fluff, a little bit of angst, kinda suggestive at the end ?? // i swear this søng is abøut eating øut my best friend's pussy - cøzybøy // dm, ask or comment to be added to taglist ! minors dni.

☾𓆙𓂻

— JAPAN, SUMMER 2024.

the summer passes like this: you and daichi laughing too loudly in busy restaurants and train cars; having arms around each other in the back of taxis on the way home from clubs; making instant udon at three a.m.; walking up and down the neighborhood a hundred times; laying silently side by side and not needing to say anything. it's a routine, it's familiar—it's home.

a couple weeks before you're set to head back to new york, daichi asks you a question as you lay next to him on a blanket in your driveway, staring up at the stars.

"have you decided what your plans are after college?"

"i'm gonna come back here."

"i thought you wanted to go to grad school? you can do way better in the states, especially with a degree from columbia."

you roll onto your side so you can look at him better. "i know. but i've been away too long already. i miss you."

he gives you a little smile. "but i'm right here."

"right here is pretty fucking far from america."

"hm."

"hm."

that's the end of the conversation.

— 2 AUGUST 2024. 23:09 JST.

everything happens the exact same way it has for the past three years: he takes you to the airport. you try hard not to cry; you say your goodbyes. check-in, security, buy some candy to eat at the gate. board the plane. sixteen hours later, you're in america.

one thing was different, though.

when he said goodbye, his lips touched yours.

you don't stop thinking about it for weeks.

☾𓆙𓂻

— AUGUST TO NOVEMBER 2024.

slightly relieving is the fact that amid thesis writing and too many classes and working an internship under one of your professors (that one's nice, it even earns you enough to get a small apartment a few blocks from campus), there proves to be little time to be spent missing daichi.

you finesse your schedule to fit weekly facetimes on friday evenings (new york time) and shoot random texts back and forth about your day between classes and during meals, and without much space for anything else, it's enough. good things are worth waiting for, anyway.

— DECEMBER 2024.

but then winter sem break rolls around and there's no school so it's back to having too much lonely alone time with your thoughts. you write daichi a christmas card and drop it off at the post office. it's early this year, but oh, well.

☾𓆙𓂻

a week before christmas you receive a call from an unknown number. the phone speaker crackles when you accept the call.

“hello?”

“hey.” the voice on the other end is bright, smiley, accented. it’s tōru.

“tōru? what’s up?”

“i’m outside,” he says, “come down and meet me?”

you’re a little confused, but you decide to humor him. “uh, okay, give me a minute… do i need anything?”

“bring a coat, it’s cold out. i’ll be waiting down here.” the call ends.

a few minutes later you push through the doors of the building to be met with a brisk wind and tōru standing by a payphone, grinning.

“do you have your subway pass?”

you feel inside your pocket for it and nod.

“good,” he says. “come on, we’re in a hurry.”

“where are we going?”

“downtown.”

“ohhkay?”

he laughs. “‘s not anything you won’t like, promise.”

you follow him into the nearest subway entrance, lost in thought as you push through the barrier and step onto the train. it's only when he nudges you and says, "this is our stop," that you realize you've been looking at the ground the whole time.

tōru notices how absent you seem to be and asks, "are you okay?"

"i would be if i knew what was going on," you respond.

"yeah," he says, leading you up the stairs and into the terminal, "yeah, i think you will be."

you're in grand central. tōru asks if he can borrow your phone for a second. when he hands it back to you, he doesn't say anything, just takes you by the arm smiling widely and leads you into the fray of commuters that fill the station.

"tōru!" you groan, "can't you just tell me where we're going?"

"magnolia," he replies simply.

"we came all the way here just for coffee?"

"mhm."

"tōru!" he stops walking and turns back to you, trying and failing miserably to stop grinning for a second. "what the fuck?"

"come on," he says, "you'll like it."

"we've been here before! what's so special about—"

"you'll see."

☾𓆙𓂻

coffee in grand central is surprisingly good. it's also surprisingly expensive. ah, well, it's new york. new york has much more to offer than just overpriced cafés.

such as... this. such as a laughing man that leads a remarkably pissed-off looking girl by the arm, towards this stupidly good, stupidly overpriced café.

the pair are weaving through a stream of people, almost there, and then they're there, and the girl is looking much less agitated now. she looks somewhere between crying and wanting to run in the opposite direction. thank god, she chooses the former.

he loves you. so much.

☾𓆙𓂻

"daichi?" you mean it to be a scream but your voice cracks a little and it comes out airy.

he has the exact same look on his face that tōru's had this whole time. "hi."

"oh my god, what the fuck?"

"you said it was lonely, tōru told me maybe it would be nice for you to have a date for new year's, i had some extra money saved up. so i came."

"you— what?" you look back at tōru. "you planned this? just? last minute?"

"nah," daichi laughs, "no, i meant to come visit you for christmas a while ago. i already had tickets and everything, i was gonna tell you but then i got your card and figured it might be more fun if it were a surprise."

"oh my god." that's all you can think to say.

— CHRISTMAS 2024.

you can't even explain how good it feels to wake up and walk into the living room to find daichi asleep on your couch on christmas morning, how good it feels for it to not just be you. the whole time he's been here, though, you've forced yourself not to think about the fact that he's going back home in a week and a half, forced yourself not to do anything just yet. soon, though. just a few more months.

☾𓆙𓂻

when he wakes up, you're making coffee for the two of you.

"merry christmas," he says, wrapping one arm around your shoulders. he places a card on the counter in front of you. "open it."

its message is simple.

you do as it says.

"i, uh, haven't gotten you anything yet, but—"

"daichi," you laugh, "it's okay. and um, i may have also not been able to get you anything. also because i didn't know you'd be here."

"wait, wait, i'm not finished."

"okay?"

"what do you want to do after you're done this year of school?"

"i already told you," you say, "i'll move back home."

"no, what do you want to do? you want to go to grad school, right? continue studying here?"

"no, i just want to stop waiting." you sigh, a little frustrated. "i don't wanna have to keep putting this off, it's been—"

he cuts you off. "i'll be here."

"huh?"

"i'll be here. or wherever."

"i don't get it?"

you've always loved the way daichi's nose scrunches up when he smiles. "you're the one planning on studying more, not me. not immediately, anyway. i'll go with you."

"daichi."

"what?"

"you're fucking joking."

he laughs; you look so confused right now. "i'm not. promise."

"i don't even—"

"hey."

"hm?"

"think you can handle long-distance for five months?"

"uh—" you inhale sharply. "yeah."

"good," he says, "then we don't have to keep putting this off."

it's been five months since you last let your lips touch his. it still feels just like the first time it happened.

— 31 DECEMBER, 2023. 19:36 EST.

he tries not to let you pay for dinner, but in the end, you slip the waiter your card while daichi's in the bathroom. it's his birthday; it's your treat.

and after dinner, there's that new year's eve party that tōru's been going on about. it feels good, so good, not to be there alone. it feels good to watch the broadcast from downtown and count the seconds to midnight as daichi's arms are wrapped around you from behind. the clock reaches zero; daichi kisses you hard. you're both drunk on champagne.

you watch him smile across the room at tōru, who's got his girl on his arm. the two of them look happy, too. everything is warm.

— DEPARTURE: 3 JANUARY 2025. 08:15 EST.

daichi's asleep next to you when the alarm on his phone goes off. you'll miss not waking up next to him for the next five months, but at least that's all it will be.

he makes faces at you in the mirror as you both brush your teeth; keeps trying to tug your sweater off when you get dressed. you spend these thirty minutes laughing with him until it hurts. the two of you take the subway back to grand central; make out in a corner of the terminal while he waits for his train to jfk international to arrive.

"see you in may."

— 21 JANUARY 2025.

taglist: @sakruisin-thru @softetsurou @oligbia

[solesurvivorpaigeargot]

HOLY HELLO Sketchy friends, followers, and fans! It's that time again, time for...

SHIPPY SATURDAY!

The heck is happening here? Here's an FAQ~ Wanna support the event? Here's my Ko-fi!

That's right, it's FINALLY the last Saturday of the month... and I've decided it's high time our Quotable prompt evolved into a Dialog prompt! This is gonna work a lot like previous Quote prompts, but with an extra twist, so please make sure you read the guidelines for a valid request before sending in!

ONWARDS!

To make a VALID Shippy Saturday request, please send me the following in an ASK to my ASKBOX:

The COUPLE you'd like me to sketch up ---- OC? Heck yes! Canon? Hell yeah! All characters welcome, so long as they're from Fallout ---- OC x OC? Cool! Canon x Canon? SWEET! OC x Canon? DAMN RIGHT.

The NUMBER of the dialog snippet you'd like me to art them saying ---- Got more than one favorite? You may list up to THREE in your ask, in order of preference, to help the artist avoid repeats <3 ---- Still can't pick? Send in 'Dealer's Choice!' and the artist will pick one for you.... oooor possibly make up some fresh dialog on the spot ;3

What KIND OF RELATIONSHIP your couple has with each other ---- Romantic? Platonic? Professional? Familial? Rivals? Neighbors? Despite it's name, Shippy Saturday is about all kinds of human connections, not just the romantic ones! ---- Is your couple part of a larger OT3 or poly group? Tell me who else is part of the relationship; they probably won't get arted, but they might add their two cents to the scene from off-frame XD

IF YOU'RE SENDING IN AN OC!! ---- Send your request ask FIRST, without reference information ---- THEN send your OC's reference information to me via my Tumblr IM ---- Don't have any reference pictures, but you can type of a written description? Great! I love working from written descriptions! :D [ No, really, I do. Give them to me :D ]

After that, you can leave all the rest to me! :D [ I.e Please do not request poses or specific actions ]

Hokay? HOKAY! With all of that out of the way, let's get onto the dialog snippets! These are taken from various things I enjoy, as well as some of my own work. These quotes have been modified to gender neutral pronouns, to remove most proper nouns, and for brevity.

[ Some of these quotes have multiple speakers! That will be shown like this! "Speaker A" -- "Speaker B" ]

"Yeah, well, I'm a victim of circumstance" -- "... I thought you called it your pecker."

"Here, you look cold."

"You are so lucky I love you." -- "Damn right."

"You know the routine." -- "Yeah! WE do all the work, YOU get all the credit!"

"I want you with me, but... I'm scared." -- "Trust me. Trust me to take care of myself." -- "I trust you, it's the rest of the world I'm terrified of!"

"No breakfast?" -- "I did it yesterday-- bologna and beans, it's your turn." -- "No... It was eggs. I did eggs... over easy." -- "The hell you did! Bologna and beans, it's your turn!"

"I like the kind of person who can handle themselves... think on their feet."

"So you were ahead of me." -- "I don't know about ahead, but I've been behind you ever since you fried those mannequins."

"Don't make me say it out loud..." -- "... I can say it first, if that'll help."

"Nooooooope... five more minutes." -- "We were together all night." -- "Didn't count... I was sleepin'."

"Well, this is very serious" -- "IT IS!" -- "You, you destroyed a door." -- "Colonel, we're talking about a test on an armored vehicle, that will carry people into combat." -- "Right, but this door is property of--" -- "The shell barely penetrated the door." -- "okay, but now it's all bent out of shape. How are you gonna get it back on its hinges?" -- "I'LL BUY THE ARMY A NEW GODDAMN DOOR!"

"Sorry, I thought... I thought you were trying to buy something I'm not selling."

"I'm busy." -- "Too busy to look up?"

"You can't kill people just because you don't agree with them." -- "You see, that was the ONE point me and the doctors could never agree upon."

"Would you ever consider having a drink with an enlisted solider?" -- "Depends... does the enlisted soldier think I need one?" -- "What are they gonna do? Kick you out?"

"Thanks" -- "No problem, anytime."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up-- one day it's gonna happen to you. Someday someone is gonna ask you, who is it? And a face is gonna jump to the front of your mind, and it's gonna completely sandbag you... I can't wait to watch!"

[to a peacefully sleeping person ] -- "Good moring, Mx. ___, this is your wake-up call. Please move your ass."

"I say we run for it" -- "Running isn't a plan, runnin's what you do when a plan fails!"

"... Normal Illinois, is that on the map?" -- "Yes, Sergeant, it is." -- "... is it normal in Normal?" -- "... Uneventful, I think, is the word."

"Now-- how many brahmin does it take to make a stampede? Is it like... three or more? Is there a minimum speed?" -- "Wish a stampede up your ass."

"I don't mind being a secret of yours."

[Right after THE BIG FUCKING KISS] ".... let's not make it a year before the next one, okay?"

"If we were serious about money, we'd quit being hired hands--" -- "Handymen! We are han-dee-men." -- "Oh whatever! We'd quit this and go find some real money."

"Please... don't go where I can't follow."

"Alone is fine! I can do alone, it's worrying after them that's got me all wound up!" -- "Have you considered that's because alone is NOT FINE and you don't wanna do it anymore?" -- "---!!"

"This is not the first time you've been here." -- "We've been down this road before, that is correct." -- "Several times, in fact." -- "I hadn't been keeping count."

"And you must be ___, I've heard all about you." -- "I deny everything."

"First time I saw you? I thought to myself, that's the kind of person BRICK WALLS jump outta the way of." -- "Figured you'd be safer behind me rather than in front of me?" -- "Damn right."

"Just keep looking at that beautiful sky; that's the sky that'll be over our roof when we're done." -- "What if we don't finish the roof? Then we can look at the sky all the time."

"Yeah, well... maybe a friend is what I need right now."

"Next thing you know the Feds will be at our door; Sorry, time to move out, Eminent Domain." -- "Down honey, down."

"Even a heat-seeking missile can miss a target." -- "... you taped so many hot-plates to the test target you could fry an egg at 20 feet, and it STILL missed by a mile."

"My dear, my darling, love of my life...." -- "What do you want?"

"What I mean to say is... you make here a better place to be. For me. Easier. Does that make sense?"

"Calm down, you make it sound like a war." -- "What do you people have against being prepared?!"

"This is not just a report, it's a deadly weapon." -- "Sir, an M-16 is a deadly weapon. A report is just a pile of paper, unless you plan to inflict a lot of extremely vicious paper cuts."

"Stupid son of a bitch, knocked himself out cold..." -- "Cold my ass, he's dead."

"Y'know, in baseball, a guy who hits .400 is consider pretty damn great." -- "In baseball the losing team isn't killed by their opponents."

"Hey... I love you. Did I tell you that today?"

This post is going online at 8 PM, June 24th, 2021, US Pacific time. The askbox will open for requests until 6 PM, June 25th, 2021, US Pacific Time. Get yours in now!

Arting will begin at 9 AM tomorrow morning, see you then! :D

-Loor

[love-fireflysong]

yIt's done. It took me waaaay to long to write this piece out but between June and my computer apparently deciding to kick me in the teeth this month, the fact I made it to 5 full squares completed anyways I will gladly take as a victory! And, just fyi, this WILL be the last piece for this month. I know that there is still another four days left of June, but I am sick and tired of dealing with my keyboard so this is the last fic you're gonna see from me until I get a new laptop hopefully fairly soon. (Unless I decide that I'm desperate enough to try and write things out on my tablet of course...)

Anyways, the First Date trope was specifically requested by @jesus-hotsauce-christmas-cake when I let her know that the one she did guess (road trip) was going to be a second chapter of a twoshot. Which you still might get because I'm very likely going to be sharing the short little summary blurbs I had written down for each trope so people can very easily bully me into writing them anyways if people still wanted to read them. And even though it would be like months and months late, still post them under this bingo board because I can and I had a cool idea for what I was doing with the colours and layout before life decided to say 'NO!' in a very firm voice. (Unless of course the three lovely ladies that came up with this idea in the first place say no obviously)

Rambling over though now I promise. Chocolate Covered Confessions can be read over and AO3 of course, with the full fic also under the readmore as well.

Chocolate Covered Confessions

Trope: First Date Fandom: Until Dawn Characters: Ashley Brown, Chris Hartley Words: 8214 Rating: General (though reader beware there is some almost scandalous hand holding and a couple of scandalously public kisses. You have been warned...) Authors Notes: Oh look, more chrashley fluff. Who da thunk it? Pride month? What pride month? This is just me apparently figuring out how many different ways I can get Chris and Ash to confess their feelings. Because you only read like three of them, I still have another two waiting in the wings. Plus at least three others if you count climbing chrash lol.

Something was...weird. It wasn't something that Ashley could put her finger on just yet, but something was definitely off that was for sure. The problem of course was that she didn't even know where to start looking in the first place, because for the most part her day had been extraordinarily ordinary.

She, Chris, and Josh had planned to go and see a movie Saturday morning a few days back and then hang out the rest of the day. But seeing as they were, you know, best friends that certainly wasn't the issue. Not even close. They always made plans to do stuff like that together. And yeah, okay, so maybe Josh had 'coincidentally' texted them just before the movie started to let them know that something unavoidable had come up and he wasn't going to be able to meet up with them. And when her and Chris had brought up just waiting until a later showing when he was free, he had immediately been quick to affirm that nope, he was going to be busy the whole rest of the day actually. So the two of them could continue with their original plans and they could make it up to him another time.

While certainly suspicious, that wasn't what was wrong though. Josh had been flaking out on their plans more and more, especially when it was plans that took up an entire day. Ashley Brown wasn't stupid. No siree Bob she was not! She knew exactly what Josh was trying to do by leaving her to spend the day with Chris. Alone . And she appreciated it (she really did!), but if Chris was going to make a move then he would have done it ages and ages ago, because she sure as hell wasn't going to do it! Ashley Brown wasn't stupid, but she also wasn't exactly what you would call brave either.

Not that Chris had seemed to notice what Josh was pulling though, he had just sighed and rolled his eyes with a grumbled "fucking typical", and then the two of them had entered the theater to watch the movie. And as per their usual shtick when Josh wasn't there with them, Chris paid for the tickets while she paid for the food and drinks. Or, at least, that was how it normally went. Instead, when she had decided to take a run to the bathroom while he held their spot in the long concession line, she had come back to Chris waiting for her with the pop and popcorn already in hand. After brushing off her flustered apologies, he had explained that shortly after she had left, another cashier had popped on till so the line had gone down in half the time either had expected. And it seemed like a dick move to just wait there until she came back so he had just decided to get the food instead.

She still felt a little guilty about it honestly, even after swearing that she would get both the tickets and food next time.

And, to be completely fair to Josh, he hadn't exactly been missing out on a lot by skipping out on the movie. It wasn't a horror flick (he would never even think of skipping out on that after all) so it wasn't one that he would feel the need to make the two of them watch again with him. Which was more than fine honestly, because if she was to describe the movie in a single word, well, that word would definitely have been 'dreadful'. If she was given a few more words, then she would have easily elaborated and stated that it was 'a boring, plot-hole driven mess, with only extremely over-the-top action scenes and explosions every five minutes to carry any semblance of the extremely loosely written plot'. In other words, she had lost interest in the movie barely half an hour in, and considering that Chris had started scrolling through his phone bored, she wasn't alone in this boat either.

Still, Ashley had resolved herself to sit through this over-budgeted explosion fest if only because movie tickets were horribly expensive. Not to mention the fact that Chris had shelled out money for both the movie and the food. But then he had turned to her, asked if she was as bored to tears as he was, and once he got that confirmation, asked if she wanted to just ditch the movie entirely. And she did—she really, really did—but didn't want Chris to waste the money he had spent more. And then yet another explosion...exploded on screen, and she realized that she was wasting precious hours of her life that could be used to do something more fun and less mind-numbingly boring.

Like watching paint dry. That at least had a semi-cohesive plot.

And so the two of them had walked out, continuing to share the extra buttered popcorn between them (the movie may have been awful, but the popcorn certainly wasn't) as they left the movie theater behind and wandered into the nearby mall. That wasn't the strange thing either. The mall and subsequent window shopping had absolutely been part of their day plans after, even if those had been unexpectedly pushed forward a couple of hours.

Admittedly the art show that the mall was running in one of the empty storefronts was unexpected, but  it had been simply a nice surprise and a great way to kill time. So after paying the $2 entrance fee, the two of them had continued to share the popcorn as they looked at some of the paintings and sculptures that had been on display, giggling childishly at most of them. And okay, so one of the curators had been glaring at them( or rather, at their greasy, butter-covered fingers) the whole time, but that had just been a little rude and insulting. Not strange. And that had stopped almost the moment they had run out of popcorn, Ashley nudging him in the stomach with her elbow as she licked her fingers clean, and the two of them laughing under their breaths at the curator who had looked exceptionally much more at ease once Chris had crumpled the empty bag into a ball.

The rest of their day in the mall had just been spent following the rest of their day's plan, wandering from shop to shop and browsing at all the things that caught their eyes, and then taking a break after a few hours to have a late lunch in the food court. The two of them checked out another couple of stores, these ones to try and get some ideas for Josh's birthday in another month, before moving onto the small arcade on the top floor. As part of their deal and agreement since it had just been Josh and Chris (Ashey not joining the duo until five years later), Chris bought the tokens needed while she scouted out the various games for an empty console and claimed it until he could join her in another couple of minutes.

They spent the next hour in there, trying to beat each other or work together depending on the game in question. They almost never played a game twice before moving onto the next one, in hopes to both try as many games as possible before their self imposed hour ended and to see if they could beat their previous high scores or make it onto the leaderboard in only a single try. But as the hour came to a close, they both made their way over to their final game: one of the racing simulators scattered around the arcade. And as had been done for ten years now, played to determine which of them would be paying for the tokens next time they came.

And once the race ended, with Ashley winning by photo finish for the third time in a row (and celebrating her winning streak by maturely sticking out her tongue and doing an awkward little shimmy dance in the seat while Chris jokingly sulked and pouted), they had finally left the mall altogether and got into Chris's truck. There, he had surprised Ashley with the novel she had been eyeing in the bookstore (or at least, eyeing closer than all the rest she had picked up) and that he had somehow been able to buy without her noticing. And that certainly hadn't been weird, because it had been so exceptionally sweet of him, sweet enough that Ashley had so badly wished that she could thank him properly. But as mentioned before, Ashley Brown was a coward pure and simple, so she had just clutched the book to her chest and beamed at Chris in heartfelt thanks instead.

He may have said something in reply, but Ashley had already settled into the passenger seat and opened to the first page of the book, so she was already long gone. A fact that Chris had anticipated, if the light chuckle he had let out before starting the truck meant anything. And no, Ashley reading a book while Chris drove them to their usual game store across town was not the strange thing either. If Chris hadn't wanted her to read on the drive over and talk to him, then he never would have given her the book now of all times. He would have waited until he had dropped her off home, or not even bought the book in the first place. After over a half a decade of friendship, if anyone knew what would happen after giving Ashley Brown a new book, it was Chris Hartley.

The drive over is done quicker then she had expected, and even then Chris still hadn't let her know that they had arrived until she had finished her chapter. Yes he had certainly teased her about it the entire time, joking about how she would never find someone as understanding of her reading habits then him (he didn't know how right he was, that she didn't want to find anyone else), but the fact that he had just continued to let the music play in the truck and distracted himself on his phone was so unbearably sweet that she decided to let it lie.

The fact that Ashley and Chris hung around in the game shop comparing dice and looking at new books while wincing over the prices for nearly two hours wasn't what was off either. Hell, if anything the fact that they only spent a couple of hours there before leaving was weird! Her, Chris, and Josh could easily spend almost half a day in there flipping through comics and rolling dice to test them out, only leaving because a tired employee was forced to ask them to leave for making too much noise and taking up a table when they weren't playing anything, especially when there was a group that had been waiting for a table for close to an hour now.

Which brought Ashley to where she was right now, sitting at a sticky plastic table under the shade of a cheap umbrella while Chris had run off to get them some ice cream before dropping her off at home. Her new book was open in front of her, the pages crisp white even in the umbrella's shade, but her mind wasn't on the book anymore. A random line had a character mentioning that something had been feeling off all day ever since they woke up ('like everything had been moved three centimeters to the left, so while it all looked normal, nothing felt right anymore'), and Ashley had also realized that hey, wait a second, her day was also feeling just a little wonky too! But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. Today had just been a normal day hanging out with Chris after all. They went to see (and bailed) a movie, spent hours hanging out in the mall and at the game store, and now they were each going back home. Nothing unusual had happened, so why did it feel like something hugely monumental had been going on all day?

"Oi. Earth to Ash, you okay in there?"

A light flick to the center of Ashley's forehead has her blink in surprise, and she finds herself back into the present once again. Chris is standing next to her, carefully balancing the two cones in his right hand and his left ready to flick again if needed, and a bemused smile on his face.

"Oh, uh, sorry Chris. Got a little too into the book I think." She closes the book, not wanting to get melting ice cream all over its crisp white pages (and she really hasn't absorbed a single word for nearly ten minutes now), but Chris doesn't hand her the cone just yet.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that," Chris says as he snorts in disbelief. "I know your 'praise be to books' look, and that was not it. That was your 'head full, too many thoughts' look."

"Excuse me? What? I do not have a reading look! Or a thinking look for that matter!"

"Oh you do. You really, really do. Trust me. You may have been staring at that book but there was no way that you were reading, I would bet my own ice cream here on it." Chris brandishes his double chocolate cone at her, then seems to reconsider and switches to show off her own dipped soft serve that he still has yet to actually let her eat. "Actually, you know what? I would eat your dipped monstrosity if I'm wrong."

Ashley sighs, but she can't keep the smile from her face. "It's not that bad this time, oh my god. It's chocolate ice cream dipped in blueberry syrup. This is actually a normal combination for people who go out of their way to order more exciting cones then two scoops of chocolate." She leans forward and places her elbows on the table to support her head in her hands. "But I wanna see you do it anyway, so tell me exactly why you're so convinced that I wasn't reading."

Chris opens his mouth, but immediately closes it a second later, as though he didn't realize exactly what he had signed himself up for here until now. Ashley of course takes it as a sign of victory. "I knew it. So let's see this Chris, I wanna see you eat something that isn't—"

"When you read you get, like, super attentive." Chris's face is pink, and not looking at her but at the book on the table as he bashfully continues. "You become so drawn in to whatever you're reading that you ignore everything going on around you, because all of your attention is now on that book. Pretty sure a bomb could go off right next to you and you wouldn't even notice sometimes. And it's always so easy to tell what's happening in the book when you're reading too, cause your face is always so expressive. Like your eyes get big when something exciting or surprising happens, and when you're really enjoying whatever it is you're reading, you start giggling like a loon."

Ashley is too stunned and, quite frankly, her heart is beating too fast for her to even think of a proper response to that . She manages to squeak out a quiet little "oh, um" but Chris doesn't notice. Not when he's still babbling and not looking at her at all.

"But when you get deep in thought, you're not like that at all. All of your attention goes inward, and everything around you disappears cause all the important stuff is going on inside your head right now. Your mouth falls open just a little, sort of like you're gaping at all the information in front of you. And-and sometimes you'll mouth out what's going on inside your head as you try to fit the pieces of everything together so it's neat and tidy like a puzzle. And even though you have the, like, blankest stare imaginable, it's not empty at all if that makes any sense. Cause your eyes narrow and your forehead scrunches just the tiniest amount so you have a small little wrinkle form like right here—" with his unoccupied hand Chris points at the bridge of his nose right between his eyes "—and it's weirdly, insanely cute? But when you finally figure out the puzzle in your head, your face lights up like a kid on christmas morning and...and..." He lets his words trail off and stops awkwardly there, as though finally realizing exactly what he's been saying this entire time.

His face is almost beet red now, and Ashley is pretty sure hers is too. "Oh, uh, wow. I-I didn't realize you paid any attention to me when I was like that..."

Somehow his face only gets redder, and though he mumbles the words under his breath, Ashley can still make them out. "I'm always paying attention to you."

But not close enough attention it seems, she thinks sadly. If you did then you would have noticed something way more obvious than that. But she doesn't want to embarrass him anymore than he already is (then she already is), and she isn't sure what else she could possibly say that wouldn't be her blurting out that she likes him, so instead she pretends that she hadn't heard a single thing and wordlessly accepts the ice cream that he hands to her, accepting her defeat as she takes a small bite of the blueberry covered chocolate soft serve.

...The blueberry covered chocolate soft serve that he had bought for her. Or, you know, the ice cream he had paid for himself. Just like he had paid for everything today. Kind of like it was almost a, uh, date. Like he had taken her on a date.

Oh .

"Oh boy, let me guess: I was right and your ice cream really is a crime against taste buds?"

Ashley comes crashing back down to reality to see Chris, his face still a little red but the playful smile back on his face as he teased her. And yet, that only makes it worse as she can't help but feel the usual gymnastics routine the butterflies in her stomach perform at that particular smile, only they're a thousand times worse now that's she's realized exactly why today had felt so strange. And she can't help thinking how much everyone else would classify what was just a day hanging out with her best friend as a date. And how much she really, really wished it was one.

"Nope," she unfortunately squeaks out, and clears her throat so she can continue in a more normal tone of voice. "Nope, sorry to disappoint Chris, but the ice cream tastes fine." She takes another bite for proof (and to her credit she's not lying, it tastes more than fine). "Just, uh, realized something funny that's all." And the moment the words leave her mouth she realizes just how badly she's screwed everything up, because there is no way in any world that Chris Hartley is just going to let that comment lie.

"Funny? Oho, well now I'm interested. You mind sharing your glorious epiphany with the rest of the class Miss Brown?"

Taking another small taste of her ice cream, Ashley averts her gaze as she gives what she is kicking herself for is obviously an extremely forced laugh. "Did I say funny? I meant boring, just super boring actually."

"Well now I just want to hear it more."

"No, you don't. Trust me, you really, really don't."

Chris's brows furrow in concern. "Ash? You okay?"

She isn't, of course she isn't. She's now realized exactly what a date with Chris would be like, and it would be exactly like this. With them going to all the same place and doing the same things but she's allowed to hold his hand and kiss him when he does stupid sweet things like buying her the book she's been eyeing and talking about all day. She's never wanted something to be so true so badly in her life. And it's likely this thought in her mind that causes her to blurt out "A date." before she even realizes what she's said.

That only makes the confusion on Chris's face go deeper, which is appropriate considering she's sinking deeper and deeper into her chair in a futile effort to hide or escape as well. "What? Are you saying that you just remember what date it is today? Or that you had something you were supposed to do today instead? I'm not really following you right now Ash..."

This is perfect. It's the perfect excuse, she could laugh and say that she totally forgot what day it was and that she had an essay due pretty soon, or that she was supposed to babysit for a neighbour tonight. Anything really, the sky was quite literally the limit. And instead she just bit her lip and stared at the ice cream melting in her hand before weakly admitting "No, a, uh, date. As in, the romantic kind. I realized that today probably looks like a date to anyone else. Funny, huh?"

She's not sure how Chris would react to that. Maybe a startled laugh, and hand wave as he brushes her off. A scoff as he assures her that this definitely isn't a date, cause they're just friends and that's all they'll ever be. Whatever the reaction she expected, it was certainly not the fumbling for his ice cream as he nearly drops it in his shock, and how absolutely flustered he sounds as he trips over his own tongue. "W-what? I-I-I, uh—I mean, th-this obviously isn't—Who would even—? Wh-what would even give you the idea that we could um, possibly be on a date?"

Ashley shrugs weakly. "Isn't it obvious Chris?" She ignores his even more flustered babbling that no, he absolutely did not see what was so obvious as she continued on, still too nervous to look him in the eyes. "You've kind of paid for everything today."

"I wha—? I mean, no I haven't!"

"You kind of have, Chris. The theater?"

"You know I always pay for the tickets, and it would have just been really rude to make the line even longer!"

"The art show?"

"It was just a couple of toonies! And you saw the face of the worker there, they would have kicked us right out if they'd had to break a twenty. It was just easier."

"Lunch?"

"They-they'd had a special on for a two-person meal at that stall in the food court, and they wouldn't let each of us pay half..." he neglected to point out that Ashley could have easily paid for their lunch, and probably should have, but before she had been able to offer he'd already been swiping his debit card.

"The arcade?"

"Okay, that was my turn to buy the tokens, you know that. That one doesn't even count."

Ashley lifted her eyes from the ice cream to the book that sat menacingly and innocently all at one at the center of the table, it's pristine cover mocking her. "The book?"

"T-that was just a gift! You seemed really into it at the store and friends buy each other gifts all the time—"

There was no describing how soft and nervous her voice got as she asked the question that would put the final nail in the coffin. "The ice cream?"

"I, uh, it was just—um..." Chris let out a breath in a weak chuckle. "Shit, I guess I kind of did, huh?"

Ashley doesn't say anything, and neither does Chris, as the table goes silent. She's bracing herself  for when Chris inevitably shoots her down and confirms that it doesn't matter. That the two of them will never be anything more then friends and that she never should have hoped for anything more and by revealing this she's ruined their friendship for good—

"Hey, uh, Ash?" He sounds so nervous that it immediately takes Ashley out of her anxiety driven thoughts of doom and gloom, but she can't do anything more than just shakily nod to let him continue. "It's, uh, probably like a really, really, really stupid question but—" he takes a nervous breath "—did you want this to be a date?"

Her head immediately shoots up as she stares at him with wide eyes, her breath caught somewhere in her throat where her heart is currently lodged. She frantically rakes her eyes over Chris's face looking for any hint that he's mocking her, or playing some cruel joke on her and her feelings, but all she sees is just nervousness all over a pale, shaking face with what she thinks ( prays ) is a glimmer of undisguised hope. But it's still too much uncertainty, and she's too scared to risk it all on a mere glimmer that she is likely only imagining because she wants it so badly to be real, so she throws the question back at him instead.

"...would you have been opposed if this was actually a date?"

"Nuh uh, I asked you first."

Ashley realizes that he's just as scared at what the answer might be as she is. She wants to tell him, has wanted to tell him for years and years and years. And maybe this is the chance she's been waiting for her whole life. The two of them sitting at a sticky plastic table under the early evening sun, long forgotten ice cream melting in their hands, and she can finally tell him that she's had such a huge crush on him since she was twelve.

"Yeah." The word is less choked out than it is released. Like it's a breath of fresh air and she feels simultaneously lighter and heavier for it. "I-I think I would have liked that. I would have liked that alot."

Chris snaps his gaze up to meet hers, and the glimmer of hope that she had seen earlier has now nearly taken over his face at the disbelieving smile that's threatening to crack his face in two. "Really? I-I mean, uh, I would have been alright with the idea too. More than alright actually."

She can feel her own smile start to nervously match his, and then the first giggle breaks out. His own ecstatic laughter quickly follows her own until the two of them are both giddily laughing at the table, but too embarrassed and bashful to even look at each other now. The giggling abruptly cuts off when Chris lets out a yelp of surprise when he realizes how much of his ice cream has melted onto his hand and Ashley joins him in trying to finish off their ice cream before it's melted entirely. But there's definitely a change in the atmosphere around them now. The contentness and laid back ease that always formed between them whenever they hung out was still there, but there is a charge that hadn't been there before either. An excited anticipation that only surges higher and higher whenever Ashley shyly glances in Chris's direction to find he's looking at her with the same disbelieving smile beaming on his face.

They never say anything more about it as they both finish off the ice cream, but Ashley knows. With that little agreement, the entire day had changed. This wasn't just them hanging out as friends anymore, this was an actual, factual date now, pure and simple. So when Chris hands her a couple of extra napkins to clean herself off, she may have let her fingers brush against his for just a moment. The resulting blush and dumbstruck smile on his face when he cautiously took his hand back so he could clean up the rest of the mess on the table was oh so worth it. And when he returned from his trip to the garbage can and held out his hand as an offer to help her up from the chair, she accepted it readily.

Once she's back on her feet, the two of them drop their eyes to stare at their still clasped hands, realizing that they could easily hold hands the entire short walk back to Chris's truck if they wanted. And she does want that—horribly in fact—but it seems it's still a little too early for either of them to make that teeny tiny but monumental jump to hand holding so they let go awkwardly and slowly, letting their fingers linger against the others before letting go completely. As though giving themselves a taste of what may yet actually come to pass in the (hopefully) very near future.

The short walk back to the truck is filled with both anticipation and dread alike, but unusually silent. Ashley knows it's because she's now a buzzing ball of nervous energy, terrified that saying anything at all will shatter this dream that's apparently coming true before her eyes, but Chris is different. He looks more like he's trying to work up the courage to say or ask something, and is spending all his energy on that alone. So when he reaches out to open up the passenger side door for her, Ashley can feel her heart pick up speed when he stops with his hand on the door handle and looks at her nervously. His mouth opens and shuts a couple of times as he tries to work up the courage to say whatever it is he wants to say, and all she can do is stare at him expectantly as she struggles to hold back an excited smile.

"Hey, Ash, ca—nevermind. It's, it's stupid. Don't worry about it." A second later, he has the door opened for her and the moment she can't see his face, she lets her smile fall crestfallen. But only for a second before a polite one replaces it as thanks when he closes the door for her and continues to his side of the truck. It's fine, she supposes as she buckles herself in, while the two of them have been hanging out all day, it's only been an actual date now for barely ten minutes. And once he drops her off home in just another few short minutes it's going to be over. The fact that she even managed to get this far is franky mind blowing, so expecting anything more from her dreams would just be extremely selfish. She can't have everything she wants all at once, no matter how long she's been waiting for it.

The drive back to her place is also quiet, filled with only the droning of the radio playing in the background. Ashley's returned back to her book, but she knows that Chris knows that she's not absorbing a single word, hasn't turned a single page even. She keeps glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he nervously taps at the steering wheel, and then tightening his grasp when it looks like he's going to say something, only to return to the nervous tapping when he inevitably backs out at the last second and returns to the frantic pep talk he's likely giving himself. The air that fills the vehicle is heavy and thick with anticipation and it's taking almost everything in Ashley to not start shaking the question out of Chris at every red light they stop at.

But, eventually, they pull up in front of her place and Chris stops the truck. There's a moment where the two of them just sit there, not wanting to leave because leaving means the end, and Ashley schools her face into a cheery smile in an effort to hide as much of the disappointment as she can when she turns to face him and bid him farewell, only to have it fall to confusion when he starts fumbling at his own seatbelt.

"Chris? What are you doing?"

He struggles further at it, frustrated that the buckle's apparently decided that now is the perfect time for it to stick once again. "Trying to get this fucking thing off."

"Yeah, I figured that much. But why are you trying to take it off, you're just gonna leave right away again anyway."

He slows his fumbling as cheeks start darkening in embarrassment. "I, uh, I just thought that was something you were supposed to do after a date, walk them to their door to stay goodnight. I mean, at least I think this is a date now? And, and only if you're okay with it! I can stay in here instead if you don't want me to. I was just hoping..."

The once forced cheery smile on her face is certainly not being forced any longer, if anything she's trying not to show how much the idea of Chris walking her to her door thrills her. "N-no!" Well, so much for trying not to show how desperately she wants that. The startled look he gives her at the unexpected outburst had her trying to control her voice into something less desperate, but considering she doesn't think she's ever going tame the frantic butterflies that have been flapping around non-stop in her stomach ever since the ice cream realization, she's probably doing a terrible job of it. "I-I mean if you want to, it's completely up to you after all..."

"Cool. Cool cool cool. Just, just give me a second." He continues to struggle with his seatbelt buckle, letting out more and more agitated curses escape the longer the thing continues to stick, and Ashley is getting the feeling that if he was able, Chris would have ripped the entire thing straight out of the seat by now. Broken safety laws and ensuing repair costs be damned. The moment he finally manages to unstick the traitorous buckle it's with a cry of victory and relief so exuberant that Ashley finds herself laughing in disbelief and awe that he had wanted to walk her the short ten or so feet to her front door that badly. Thankfully, for both of them, her seatbelt unclicks easily and much more quickly in comparison, only taking another couple of seconds to grab her bag from the footwell and joining him.

The far too short walk up to her door is over before either of them realize it. One second the two of them had been standing awkwardly and nervously by the truck as she fought the urge to reach out and grab his hand, and the next they're standing just as awkwardly and nervously (if not moreso) in front of the front door. Both of them waiting for the other to say or do something to break the tension, but cleanly aware that doing so would signal the very final end of the day, and the date. In fact, just knowing that Chris doesn't want this to end just as badly as her, is what gives her the courage to look at him with a surprisingly heartfelt and soft smile.

"Today was fun."

Chris lifts his eyes from where they had been staring at the dried leaves on the doorstep to match her smile. "Yeah. It was."

"And thanks. For the movie, and everything else." Ashley raises her hand to give the new and still shiny paperback a small wave. "And, you know, the book too. Of course."

"Yeah, it was no problem. Anytime." There's something with how he says the last bit—not really emphasizing it but making it clear all the same that he means 'anytime'—that causes her face to flush giddily as she pulls her lower lip in between her teeth in a weak effort to fight back against the ecstatic smile that forms anyway. And when she sees his eyes lower just a smidge to follow the motion and the way his shoulders stiffen in reaction, Ashley very quickly also finds she's trying (much more successfully) to hold herself  back from just saying 'to hell with it' and throwing her arms around Chris so she can finally kiss him silly and until they're both breathless. But considering that she's too much of a coward to initiate something as innocent as hand holding apparently, there is absolutely no way that something as...as scandalous as kissing him on her doorstep is ever going to happen. Clearly.

And yet, she gives Chris another few seconds to try and work past that blockade in his throat, but when he still can't muster a single word, she decides to just put the both of them out of their misery. Or further into it. It's probably just the same thing really. "I guess I'll see you next time. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She turns away and puts her hand on the doorknob, and tucks the book under her arm so she can dig into her bag for keys, but is stopped when Chris's hand abruptly snakes out and wraps itself firmly around her wrist before she can reach into the bag. And it works—boy does it ever —turning back to him and the hand wrapped around her wrist as excitement just starts to bubble up inside of her.

A second later though, his brain has apparently caught up with the movement he clearly hadn't intended to make, because his face goes beet-red and he's dropped her hand so he can shove both into the pockets of his jeans. He averts his eyes so he's back to staring at the loose gravel and dried leaves under their feet.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine, Chris." Ashley tries to smile softly at him in reassurance, but it's considering she's gripping the doorknob in an almost vice-like grip in anticipation, it's likely far more eager than she would like. "What is it?"

Somehow, his face goes even redder and he blurts out the question so fast that it may as well have been one word. "CanIkissyou?!"

Immediately, Ashley's gaping at him wide-eyed and her mouth open in shock as her heart's beating so fast that she's pretty sure it's ready to burst out of her chest at any moment. "Wha—"

"I-I mean goodnight. Can I kiss you goodnight? That's what people are supposed to do on dates, right? A-a-a-and I think we agreed that this is a date now, or at least I really, really hope we did. Cause I've wanted to go on a date with you for the longest time and-and-and I didn't want Saundra or-or-or any of your neighbours to see cause I know that would just really embarrass you and me but I've been trying to ask you for the past thirty minutes now cause I've wanted to kiss you since forever but I was scared about how you would react cause I really, really, really like you Ash and I just wanna to kiss you so fucking bad right now you have no idea and—"

Ashley would like to believe that she's brave enough to throw her arms around Chris and drag him down into that searing kiss she's been dreaming about forever and ever, but she doesn't. Even with a confession that is everything she's ever wanted to hear and more. That's not to say that she doesn't want to do it—god does she want to do it—but she's so frozen in place from shock that she physically can't. So instead she just continues to gape at him as he (adorably) rambles on and on, and giggles out an elated little "okay".

His nervous rambling stops dead in its tracks, and he finally looks back up at her, nervous relief evident all over his face. "Really? I mean, are you sure? I'd understand if you didn't want to—"

" Chris ."

That immediately shifts the relief to a different kind of nervousness entirely, one of excited disbelief, but even then neither move to actually initiate this promised kiss for several seconds. Instead just staring at each other waiting for the other to be the first to move, Chris with his hands still in his jeans pockets and Ashley glued to the doorknob with her other hand frozen as it hovers over her bag. Finally, Chris is the first to slowly bend down to meet her awkwardly half turned body, and she unsteadily tries to rock herself onto the tips of her toes without losing her balance completely and falling over. And still, they both pause about an inch away from each other's faces, though whether to give the other an out if needed or just to work through the logistics of how to do this exactly without their foreheads or noses smashing into each other or Chris's glasses getting in the way is anyone's guess.

But finally, mainly due to the fact that Ashley can't lean forward anymore without falling completely on her face, Chris closes that final bit of distance and kisses her. It's a nervous brush of the lips really—a quick peck at best —but they jolt back from each other so quickly that the single action may as well have activated some hidden magnetic repel function that neither had been aware of until this moment. Both of them are staring at each other wide-eyed and breathless as the magnitude of what they had both finally managed to accomplish hit them. The kinda-sort confession and the almost hand holding meant absolutely nothing in comparison to this. Those she could have (and would most likely have) brushed off as her reading too much into innocent statements and gestures when she thought over everything that had happened today in the safety of her room later tonight. But this? This was physical proof .

Looking back, Ashley's not sure which of them moved first. One second they had been staring at each other in disbelief, stuck in the same awkward bent and leaning stature from before, and the next it's as if the magnetic attraction between them reverses its flow entirely. Chris is cupping her cheek with one hand as he kisses her in the way she always dreamed he would, his other hand slowly skating across the back of her neck so he can pull her up closer to him. The book that had once been clutched protectively under her arm was completely forgotten about—fallen to the ground with a sharp crunch as it crushed the dried leaves beneath their feet—as her arms wrapped possessively around his shoulders as she props herself as high as the tips her toes will allow her. She can still taste a hint of the chocolate from earlier on his lips, and the small part of her that isn't being blown away by all of this is wondering if he can taste the blueberry and chocolate on hers as well.

She's not sure how long the two of them stood there on her doorstep, kissing for all the world to see, but she does know that they still separate much, much too soon for her liking. Not that they fully separate of course. She may be back on the soles of her feet, but neither of them have removed themselves from the embrace itself. And with the way that Chris is lightly brushing his thumb over her cheekbone as he just stares at her with the same stupidly giddy grin she's got, Ashley would be perfectly fine if they could just stay standing like this forever.

"So..." she starts, and stops to take a moment to giggle when Chris bumps his nose into hers. "I think that was a perfectly acceptable first date if you ask me."

Chris doesn't let go of her when he leans back to consider her, the comically raised eyebrows in shock doing nothing to take away from the absolutely thrilled beam of his smile. " First date? Why Miss Brown, are you perhaps asking me out for a second one already?"

"I mean, if it's not too presumptuous of me, I suppose I am. I-if you're not opposed to it of course." She can't help the way her nervousness starts to bleed through with that last sentence, already panicking that she's somehow completely misread everything that's just happened and that maybe that kiss didn't mean as much to him as it did to her after all.

His next words completely derail those fears entirely. "Of course I'm not, I would love nothing more than to go on a second date with you. Followed by a third and fourth and even a fifth if you have the time for it."

"I mean, I'm a pretty busy girl but I think I can open up as many days in my schedule as it takes if I need to."

Before she knows it, the two of them are leaning in for another kiss when the sound of pot being dropped in the nearby kitchen through the open window jarringly brings them back to reality and the two of them let go of each other red faced and embarrassed. Oh no, how much of this had her mother heard? Or worse, saw? She wants to leave the doorstep (which is rapidly becoming her favourite place in the whole entire world) even less now, but the longer she takes the worse the excited interrogation from Saundra will be so she starts digging back into her bag to try and find her keys once again.

"I'll text you later, okay? And, maybe, we can talk some more about that second date...?"

The reply from Chris is flustered but eager. "Yeah, totally. I-I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Cool. And um, the next one's one me. The date that is. It's only fair after all."

"Yeah, right. Only fair. Totally. And, uh, your book..."

She finally finds her keys from where they had sunk to the bottom of her bag, and looks up at him and the paperback book that had fallen during their, uh, intimate embrace. "Oh! Uh, right. Thanks." She could easily leave it at that, but the last few minutes have made her bold so when she reaches out to take the book back from him, Ashley curls her fingers over his and bounces onto the balls of her feet so she can give him one last kiss on his cheek—almost the corner of his mouth really—before finally stepping back with the book and keys in her hand. "I mean it. Thanks . For everything."

"Yeah. No problem. It was my pleasure."

She lets herself have one last glimpse of the stupefied grin on his face just as he turns to walk just a little unsteadily down the path back to his truck. The only sounds being the leaves crushing underfoot and the jangle of metal as she sticks her keys into the door to finally unlock it. A sound that it quickly interrupted by not only the click of the door unlocking, but a muffled shout.

Alarmed, she turns quickly expecting to see Chris having accidentally shut his coat into the door as he is sometimes known to do when the weather gets colder, but instead watches in elated shock as he continues to keep energetically flapping his arms and fist pumping into the air and screaming what she can vaguely make out as 'yesyesyesyesYESYESYES' over and over again.

Suddenly it hits her. Despite the shy confession over ice cream, and then the much more rushed and rambled one only minutes ago, and followed by the kiss(es) that are still sending her heart into rapid fire, Ashley still hadn't believed what all the evidence had been saying. Chris liked her. He really, really liked her. Possibly as much as she liked him even! This wasn't just a one-off event that would now make things awkward between them for the rest of their lives. This was happening. They'd just had a first(!!!!) date and after Chris had kissed her goodbye, she had asked him out for a second one.

And he had accepted .

Ashley fumbled with the door and the moment she was in the house, slammed the door behind her, not even bothering to lock it. She let her bag fall from her shoulder to the floor with a soft thump and slowly slid down the door until she was sitting against it with her eyes wide and breathless. She ignored the surprised clatter coming from the kitchen as Saundra immediately dropped whatever it was she had been doing in and held up the book so she could stare at the once innocuous cover in amazement.

He had bought her this book and the ice cream because he liked her and he had gladly and excitedly accepted to go out on another date with her. And even more if he had been serious about that third date and beyond line.

And not that either would ever know it, Ashley mirrored Chris at that exact moment by placing her head into her hands and screaming as the built up joy and bliss finally exploded out of her.