#my friends literally don’t have to deal with this their like yeah my favorite band is releasing 2 albums this year

[pyr0cue]

And yeah no one will ever really get it but those who get it. I’ll never be able to explain how it felt for the impossible to come true when mcr announced that they were reuniting and how much that changed my worldview. No one will ever get exactly how I felt at 12 and at my lowest point and getting one thing to live for in a way everyone said would never ever happen. Like haha yeah this band is an idea but I’m dead serious. This band is an idea and it’s a message that has shaped me for a long time in a way that is deeply embarrassing and extremely liberating and yeah. My chemical romance forever

[abeautylives]

Imperfect Moments - Chapter One

a/n: This is my first intentional series, I hope you love it 🥹 I don’t have a posting schedule in mind but I do have several chapters already locked and loaded.

Series Masterlist

pairing: Jakexfemale!reader

word count: 1.4k this chapter

series summary: You’re in love with your best friend. His twin brother hates you. Or does he?

warnings: none this chapter aside from a little language

jake_gvf just posted a photo

The notification appears and you flick it away.

Jake’s updates are the rarest and yet they irritate you the most. Josh had convinced you to follow everyone in the band, to “keep up with us when we’re gone,” and you’d done it simply because he’d asked. On the off chance that he’s posted a picture including his twin, you decide to open the app.

So pretentious. Bitch, you’re not a pirate.

Lame.

You leave the comment, knowing he’ll never see it.

When your phone starts ringing in your hands, you can’t help but smile as your favorite picture of Josh’s face graces the screen.

“Joshua, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You’ve really done it now, darling,” your heart rate picks up at the nickname, “Jake’s pissed.”

“Pissed about what?” You’re actually confused. You haven’t seen or even been in the same state as Jake in weeks. You rarely speak to him.

“Your little comment on his picture. Oh, he’s completely up in arms over it, throwing an actual tantrum! They call me the dramatic one.” Josh’s laughter is infectious and you join in happily, until what he’s saying sinks in.

“Wait, how did he even see that? He reads his own Instagram comments?” You didn’t think they took much control over that kind of thing, and you definitely didn’t think yours would stand out amongst the flood of fans drooling over him.

“Jacob takes his work on social media very seriously Y/N,” his tone is stern until a giggle comes over the line. He’s joking, but you’re chewing over your bottom lip, still concerned that your comment had even blipped on Jake’s radar.

“Y/N? You there?”

Shaken out of your contemplation, you fix a smile onto your lips that Josh can’t see. “Yeah! Sorry, sorry you have to deal with that. He’s so annoying.”

“No, this is great. I love it when you get under his skin, the entertainment is free. I do need to go though, just wanted to say thank you for making me laugh from afar.”

“Pleased to be of service,” you chuckle, proud of yourself for earning the praise of the older twin. “When do you get back?”

“Hmm, I think we’ll be home next week. Maybe Friday? I’ll let you know, we can go out!”

“Sounds good, I miss you already,” it slips out, but you mean it.

“We haven’t been gone that long! I’ve gotta go darling, talk soon!”

“Yeah, talk soon. Bye J-“

He’s already hung up.

You’re not sure why you’ve never clicked with Jake when it had been instant with his literal carbon copy, he’d immediately seemed to dislike you after your first meeting. You figure it’s probably because he’s too pretty for his own good and unfortunately, he knows it.

Josh is pretty like that too, unbelievably so, but it’s almost like he has no idea. You love that about him. You love everything about him. You might be in love with him.

He’s completely oblivious.

It’s hard to not develop a crush on Josh. You’re sure that anyone who’s ever interacted with him walks away a little bit in love, and you interact with him more than most but in over a year, he’s never given you the impression that he feels anything more than platonic affection for you.

Stupidly, that hasn’t stopped you from letting your world revolve around him.

Over a thousand miles away, reclined against the pillows of his claimed bed in the hotel room he’s currently sharing with his brother, Jake is staring at his phone. Fuming.

“What the fuck is her problem?”

“Who?” Josh can’t help but poke the bear.

“Your little friend, where does she get off calling me lame? Like she doesn’t know who the fuck I am.” Jake’s a humble guy, normally. Or at least he thinks he is.

“And who the fuck are you, Jake, hm? I quite enjoy that she doesn’t like you.”

“What you quite enjoy is that she only likes you. You love the attention, it’s sort of pathetic.” He doesn’t mean it, not really, but the friendship between you and his brother grates on his nerves in a way he won’t bother explaining. “You know she’s into you, right?”

“Y/N?! No, it’s not like that with us.”

“Josh, it’s not like that with you. She never leaves you alone. She likes you, it’s disturbingly obvious.”

“To who?” He seems genuinely surprised by this revelation, eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

“You’re an idiot,” Jake mutters it under his breath as he deletes your comment under his post and then promptly drops the conversation.

The following week, the guys got back into town on Friday, just as Josh had thought. And he had called you, just as he said he would. What he failed to do however, was tell you that all of his brothers would be joining you when he suggested you go out.

When you walked up to the table expecting to find Josh with his beaming smile and head full of curls, only to be met with three beaming smiles and one distinct sneer, the disappointment settled deep in your belly. Rather than allow it to show, you greeted them cheerily.

“Fancy seeing all of you here! How was Florida?”

They each stand to offer you a hug, Sam giving you a friendly kiss on the cheek before dragging Danny to the bar with him to order a round. When Josh wraps his arms around you, you return the gesture and hold onto him for longer than you should. You really did miss him, but your reunion is soured by the look of displeasure on Jake’s face. Unfortunately, it’s directed at you and your eyes have found his over Josh's shoulder. You maintain the eye contact as the embrace comes to an end.

“Jacob.”

“Y/N.”

“Well look at the two of you, it’s been thirty seconds and you haven’t cursed at or spit on each other yet!” Josh truly does find your distaste for one another entertaining, it’s puzzling to him but he enjoys trying to figure it out.

“The night is still young. I need a drink.” Jake finally stands and bumps your shoulder with his as he makes his way across the room where the others are waiting at the bar.

“I can’t believe you guys have the same DNA. He’s such an asshole,” you huff out as you rub the spot on your shoulder that Jake had touched. Josh simply laughs.

Most interactions you have with Jake end with you telling one of his brothers he’s an asshole. He’s never actually touched you though, not since the handshake you shared when you first met. His body’s contact with yours leaves you feeling off-balance and irritated, and you eventually call the night early after confirming with Josh that the two of you will get together soon.

Josh turns from you when you leave his side, sips his drink and keeps talking with Sam.

Jake watches your back until you’ve left the building.

The thing about Jake that no one knows, not even his twin, is that he’s jealous. Jealous of your easy friendship, envious of the attention you’re constantly showering his brother with.

When you’d been introduced he’d been pleased to finally meet you, but the sheer amount of time you spent with Josh quickly became excessive. While the world had literally shut down, he’d watched you cling to his brother in a time where contact with other people had become so limited.

The part that bothers him is that he envies what Josh refuses to realize is there. Josh doesn’t appreciate what you have to offer, and it makes him feel like he’s not allowed to. Not allowed to indulge in your presence, not allowed to admire you. So he’s gotten to know you from a distance, overhearing phone conversations and eavesdropping when you’re in their home. Occasionally he’ll join the two of you but keeps his communication with you scarce, or nonexistent.

Which is fine. He can handle that, except he’s seen what’s going on behind your eyes every time you let them linger on Josh’s face. He can feel it radiating from you if he gets too close. Somewhere along the way, you’d developed feelings for his brother.

And he wishes they had been for him.

Therefore, he acts like he can’t stand you. In turn, he knows you hate him because of it.

Taglist:

@lightmylove-gvf @spicedandicedtea @weneedsomehealing123 @milkgemini @why-ami-on-here

Please let me know if you’d like to be added ❤️

[cherryfairytwist]

RickFic Ch6. Girls Night

(Tags: +18 minors DNI/substance use/drinking/violence/manipulation/sexual situations implied)

—- HELLO —-

—- INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE MEMORY CLUSTER #6 —-

—-PULLING UP EARLIEST ASSISTED MEMORY RECORDS —-

—- NARRATION SIMULATING NOW —-

Astrid lay scrawled out on Summer’s bedroom floor right at the foot of her bed, the girls had all drank a little and were listening to snake jazz on Summer’s music player. Both Summer and Jessica lay on top of the bed with their heads hanging off the end above Astrid while Nancy sat in her favorite spot on a bean bag just to the side of them. 

“I know you showed us Snake Jazz a while ago but it’s still such a banger.” Jessica said smiling up at the ceiling. 

“Yeah Grandpa and Morty seem to have gotten over it, but I keep wanting to listen sometimes. They normally over do it and get sick of things way too fast.” Summer said also staring up at the ceiling. 

“So I guess that’s means snakes have recording studios in space…?” Nancy awkwardly joked while leaned back on the bean bag. 

“Well… yeah. Duh. How else would we be hearing this…?” Jessica stated. 

“I bet they look cute in little jazz bands performing.” Astrid said with a laugh, having already seen a snake jazz performance live.

“Oh totally. But I heard they were kind of dicks from Morty.” Summer snorted craning her neck back to look down at Astrid on the floor. 

“So…. The last few times you’ve been over I noticed you and Rick talking in the garage. Is he being pushy? I had a feeling grandpa was going to keep making a big deal out of stupid stuff.” She asked Astrid. 

“He just wants to make sure I’m not like a possible danger.” Astrid said reassuringly. 

“Oh shit! That’s right you went on an adventure with them right?!” Jessica sat up on the bed and turned around to look at Astrid. 

“You guys would never believe what a fucking beast Astrid is! It’s literally driving Rick nuts.” Summer said with an enthusiastic grin. 

“Not going to lie… it is pretty funny how upset he gets. But… he mentioned something about Tammy last time…? I don’t think I’ve heard what happened…?” Astrid said while sitting up and also waiting for Summer to fill her in. 

“Oh Tammy…. Yeah, Summer what did happen to Tammy..?” Nancy asked seemingly also out of the loop. 

“I didn’t tell you..? Oh right…I forget Jessica was the only one I told the whole story to. Honestly it was a lot to process at the time. I think I was still in shock about it for a while. Like I thought she was all our best friend for real.” Summer explained with a hint of hurt in her voice. 

“Tell them! It’s so insane what happened you guys like holy shit.” Jessica insisted. 

All the girls then sat up and scooted closed to the edge of the bed where Summer began to tell them the details. Astrid felt a slight sting of guilt as the story started to sink in. 

“So like… okay, Astrid you didn’t really see much of Tammy because all this went down before you started coming to hang out. She was like all our best friends. Well we thought she was. She turned out to be an undercover agent for the Galactic Federation.” She paused. 

“Like Summer told me, she ended up trying to ambush them at her own wedding!” Jessica blurted out. 

“Wait her wedding…? To that bird guy that’s friends with your grandpa?” Nancy asked trying to piece together info she heard in passing. 

“Yeah.. so neither of you were around when Tammy had gotten engaged to my grandpa Rick’s best friend, Birdperson…. it was kind of weird the whole age gap thing but I tried to be a supportive best friend you know..?” Summer started to ramble on.

“Yeah but like turns out she wasn’t even a high school student anyways!” Jessica inserted again. 

“We all showed up for the wedding and once they were in the middle of it she just pulled a gun and a bunch of Federation bugs just surrounded the place trying to arrest us.” Summer sighed and fell back on her bed defeated. 

Astrid shifted awkwardly on the floor thinking about how painfully similar her situation might be to the topic. Nancy also seemed to shift awkwardly in her seat, 

“So… was she an alien….? Or just a regular person but part of the Federation…?” She asked. 

“Uhg! NANCY! I don’t know!” Summer snapped back. 

Nancy recoiled and got quiet. Summer looked up from the bed and frowned feeling guilty, 

“Sorry Nancy, I just …really don’t know what the fuck is up with Tammy. She lied the whole time. How should I know?” She looked over to the liquor bottle she had stolen from Rick on her desk and pointed at it. 

“Here.” Astrid reached over and picked it up, she then handed the bottle over to Summer. 

“Well good thing you got out of it! And didn’t you say Tammy stopped hunting your family now?” Jessica asked optimistically. 

“Yeah. Apparently the new bug leaders don’t mess with Rick so he won’t mess with them. But I think Space mom still is fighting against the federation. So…I’m sure they fight all the time.” She said plainly, clearly tired of the topic already. 

She took a few swigs of the bottle and passed it to Jessica. 

“Okay… fuck this depressing shit! Let’s get the vibe back! Come on Nancy, have some!” Jessica then pushed the bottle into Nancy’s hand.

Nancy hesitated but changed her mind after seeing how sad Summer looked. She took a swig and her face made a disgusted look. 

“WOO! NANCY!!” All of them shouted in surprise. 

“Okay let’s get some good vibes cranked up!” Summer said trying to hype herself up. 

She got up and walked over to the music player to change the music, changing it to one of her favorite current radio songs. 

“Hell yeah! I love Megan the Stallion!” She yelled. 

All the girls started to get up dancing around the room and passing the bottle back and forth. After a few more swigs Astrid felt like she needed a breather, 

“I’ll be RIIIIGHT back y’all! I gotta go piss.” She said trying sound playful. 

“Don’t fall in!” Summer called to her as she slipped out into the hallway. 

Once in the hallway alone Astrid took a deep breath. She started to feel the guilt of her identity weigh down even harder. She briefly debated the idea of telling Summer the truth but ultimately shook it out of her thoughts again. There was no way telling any of the Smiths would be a good idea. She grappled around in her jacket and pulled out her bowl and lighter. She then silently snuck downstairs and out the den sliding door to the backyard. She sparked up and took a deep hit. If she couldn’t be honest at least she could be high. She exhaled another puff of smoke and felt her eyes get dry. The song “I Can’t Escape Myself” by The Sound played in her earbuds. She stood there looking out at the yard thinking about the situation. If she just kept up the act she was playing maybe things would turn out fine. They all had awareness she wasn’t quite normal. She could continue to micro-dose them with information. That way she wouldn’t be lying right? They could just slowly get to know the real her? But until when? Until she finally got the order to go after Rick? Until the order was given for a new mission elsewhere? She rubbed her face in frustration. Astrid had rarely come across situations that made her want to blow her cover. 

“Fuck I should have just stayed out of it..” she whispered to no one in particular. 

A loud clanging came from the garage and she snapped back into alertness. The distant yelling of Rick from the garage signaled to Astrid that he and Morty had returned from their duo mission. Astrid quickly put out her pipe and snuck back through the house quietly up to Summer’s room again. Before entering, Astrid waited outside the door to see if she could hear anything being said. She stood with her back against the wall, one ear towards the room and one towards the top of the staircase. 

“Haha! Omg! Brad was totally hitting on you in gym class!! SHUT UPPP ITS OBVIOUS!” Jessica screeched from inside the room. 

“Y-you know Rick, y-you can’t keep doing that type of shit and always expecting it to work!!” Morty also shouted in frustration at Rick from downstairs. 

“C-come on MORTY!! It worked didn’t it?!” He demanded back. 

“D-did you have an aneurism!? WE ALMOST DIED!!” Morty screamed back as he started to storm over to the stairs. 

Astrid having heard enough, opened the room door and joined the girls again. She walked in just as Nancy was wrestling Jessica back for her phone. 

“No don’t!!” Nancy pleaded to Jessica. 

“WHAT?! He’s never going to make a move if you never talk to him!!” Jessica playfully yanked the phone back and continued to text something into the phone. 

Astrid snorted and sat down on the bed next to Summer who was clearly buzzed at this point, laughing at the girls bickering. 

“You know what? This is the perfect time to play some truth or dare.” Summer wiggled her eyebrows while an evil smile curled around on her face. 

“Noooo!” Nancy pleaded. 

“YES!” Summer and Jessica pressed. 

They both pulled Nancy back down onto the beanbag while they situated themselves on either side of her on the floor. Summer then looked up at Astrid and patted the ground indicating for her to join them on the floor. 

Right as Astrid walked over she heard a very delayed creak from the stairs. She instantly knew by then Morty should be in his room by now unless he had stopped to listen in on the girls. She then heard his footsteps quickly pass the door to his room followed by a loud slam of his door shutting. Astrid wanted to laugh but kept it to herself as she joined the girls back on the floor. 

“Okay we can all go in a circle asking the other group members what they’d choose. So like I’ll ask all three of you which you choose, I’ll come up with something for each of you and then it’s the next person’s turn to ask.” She said with mischievous intent. 

“Please you guys….! Don’t make it too bad…” Nancy insisted again but more defeated this time. 

“Uhg fine. I’ll start you off with an easy round Nancy but you better get with it as we play longer!” Summer said rolling her eyes.

“So you three choose! Truth or dare?!” Summer asked arching her eyebrows. 

“Dare!” Jessica said confidently. 

“Truth!” Nancy said covering her face with her hands. 

“Dare.” Astrid said calmly. 

“Ooo, great start! Jessica, I dare you to message Thomas and tell him your waisted! Nancy… oh! NANCY DO YOU LIKE BRAD?! Yes or no?!” Summer screeched. 

Jessica giggled and proceeded to text Thomas exactly as Summer instructed. Nancy’s face quickly turned red as she kept her hands glued to her face. 

“I… umm… I don’t know….. I guess he is pretty cute…” Nancy struggled to let out. 

“GOD WE KNEW IT!” Jessica and Summer both chimed in. 

Everyone proceeded to pass the bottle around again. Just as they were all settling down again Astrid heard a small creak coming from the hall near Morty’s room. He must have gotten curious about the game the girls were playing. But then Astrid’s attention was quickly snapped back to the girls as Summer set her sights on Astrid.

“Okay Astrid. I…. Umm.. DARE you to go snatch another liquor bottle from Rick’s garage without being caught!” She blurted out.

“Uh…you sure? Won’t your grandad get pissed at you if he finds out…?” Astrid checked before getting up to go through with it. 

“Um… yeah. It’ll be fine! If he catches you and gets super mad just blame me. He’ll get annoyed but he knows we’re just having a bit of fun. Worst case scenario he’ll make me do chores for him for a week.” She thought through for a second. 

Astrid got up and rolled her eyes at the door for a second, not wanting to cause more problems causing Rick to dislike her. But she looked over and saw Summer’s curious face. Astrid wondered if this was some kind of test with a deeper meaning. If it was, then of course she had to get on Summer’s good side. That way, no matter how much Rick wanted to bitch about Astrid coming on missions, it wouldn’t matter because Summer and Morty would still want her around. 

“Umm okay….! But y’all need to keep being loud up here so he doesn’t suspect anything weird is going on.” She said trying to cover her reluctance. 

“Yeah yeah! We got it! We will play the next round and you can just catch up once you get back!” Jessica reassured. 

Astrid then turned and opened the door quietly, hearing a shuffling in the hallway, she assumed it was Morty. She closed the door behind her and stood silent for a second until the girls all started chatting loudly again. She looked over towards Morty’s door which she noticed was ajar. She knew this would be the perfect opportunity to get in good with him as well by making him feel included. She knew he wouldn’t question her weird behavior if she didn’t question his. 

“Morty!” She whispered, “I know you’re there, come out for a second.” 

Morty quickly popped his head out shyly with wide eyes expecting to be made fun of. Astrid motioned to him silently to come closer. 

“H-hey Astrid… uh.. I swear I wasn’t like-….” He tried to explain himself but was cut off.

“Morty would you do me a solid and help me with this dare?” She asked plainly and unbothered by his obvious spying. 

“Oh! Uh… yeah! Of course! W-what do y-you need me to do…?” He said now enthusiastic after not being made fun of. 

“Okay so I know this might be asking a lot… but Summer dared me to snatch a bottle from your grandad. Could you maybe distract him away from the garage just long enough for me to get in and out?” Astrid asked in hopes of Morty playing into her plan. 

Morty rubbed his neck awkwardly while thinking and then looked up at Astrid. “Y-yeah… I think I could do that. How long do you need..?” 

“Hmm.. he has those beers in his mini fridge right…? Where does he keep the liquor bottles?” She thought about how long it might take her to find said items. 

“Oh uh, he has some under his work bench in the shelves sometimes… he has a whole liquor room under the garage in the basement lab but you’d need the code for that….” He said hesitantly. 

“Wait…. There is an underground lab under the garage….?” Astrid’s curiosity was peeked, she wanted to grin but acted as if it was no big deal. “Wait- of course he does. Why am I even surprised?” She said waving away the new information. 

“Look, don’t worry about that.” She quickly said to Morty to keep him from feeling uneasy. “I’m not going to ask for the codes. Just distract him long enough for me to check the shelves and we’re good.” She said making up her mind. 

“Okay! I-I got you!” Morty said confidently before rushing down the stairs. 

Astrid quickly followed behind him hiding against the wall in the dining room to wait. 

She heard Morty open the garage door and call out for Rick. But instead of his voice coming from the garage it came from a different part of the house Astrid hadn’t been before. 

“M-Morty! I’m in my room.” He shouted from down the hall. 

Morty quickly ran in the direction of his Grandfather through the dining room, giving a determined nod to Astrid as he passed her. Astrid then slinked over to the garage quickly leaving the door slightly cracked behind her. She went over to Rick’s work bench and started opening shelves. She spotted a single liquor bottle that had fallen over behind a few nondescript boxes and containers of sci-fi junk. She snatched it and closed all the shelves behind her. She pulled it up and noticed the bottle was already half empty. She sighed and decided it would have to do. Astrid then walked over to the door and listened to hear what might be on the other side. She heard Morty stuttering trying to grab Rick’s attention as footsteps got closer to the door. She quickly holds her breath while pressed up against the shelf next to the door, trying to make herself as flat as possible. With a quick jolt the door sprung open and Rick stomped through into the garage right over to his work bench. Morty caught a glimpse of Astrid as he scuffled in behind Rick. His eyes went wide but Astrid held a finger to her lips indicating for Morty to keep quiet and calm. He quickly nodded and rushed over to the other side of Rick near his work bench striking up a loud and distracting conversation. Astrid slipped out quickly just as she heard the two of them start to bicker over the mission they had just gone on. Something about Seahorses and how the men got pregnant…. She shook her head and rushed back up the staircase to Summer’s room. Once inside she presented the bottle to the three girls with an awkward grin. 

“Aww only half…? Eh that’s grandpa for you.” Summer said after being met with the sight. 

“Yeah… honestly Summer, I get that those dares might be fun for you guys but.. I don’t know… I feel like I’m a little too old to be doing stuff like that if you don’t mind.” Astrid said playing with her hair casually in hopes of guiding Summer away from giving her immature dares. 

“Oh right…. Uh sorry Astrid. Sometimes I forget you probably don’t want to do those kinds of things cause they’re stupid…” she said embraced. 

“Hey! It’s okay! Just keep in mind it’s a little weird for me, technically I’m kind of a teacher so I don’t know…. Maybe I’ll stick to truth more in the next few rounds.” 

“Yeah okay! If you do pick dare I’ll think about something more fitting next time.” Summer said feeling more relaxed now that Astrid seemed chill about it.

The girls all continued on with their game. Astrid mostly stuck to choosing “truth” in hopes of not being asked to mess with Rick’s stuff again. But this too quickly made her stick to giving vague information about herself. Such as: 

“First crush!?” Nancy asked shyly. 

“Um… a boy in the same program as me. He gave me my listening earbuds…. He got me really into music I guess you could say….?” Astrid struggled to admit without giving too much information. 

“Program? Like as in when you went to school..?” Summer asked confused. 

“Uh… yeah. Our schooling…” Astrid squeezed out a little white lie that wasn’t exactly inaccurate. 

After a few more rounds of chugging from the bottle and the girls started to get real spicy with their questions. Suddenly it was Astrid’s turn to answer another question truthfully. 

“Who was your last relationship or fling? And how was it?!” Jessica giggled asking Astrid. 

All the girls looked at her curiously wanting to know more about the mysterious life of Astrid. 

“Well… I’m not sure what to call it exactly… “ she awkwardly pondered still feeling the sting of the past situation. 

A creak was heard outside the door of Summer’s room in the hall, Astrid instantly knew Morty had been listening the whole time. She rubbed her face in frustration and decided to get it over with. 

“I guess it was more of a fling…. She was my ex co-worker… Reagan. My agency sent me to partner with their company and so I guess some of her office buddies kind of thought it would be funny to meddle with our relationship… things just got sticky I guess. It’s like weird trying to explain all that… but basically it ended off confusing.” Astrid said while looking up at the ceiling thinking about it. 

“Agency…? Company…? What did you do-?” Nancy asked before being interrupted by Summer.

“YIKES….I totally hear you. You know… that’s honestly how I felt after me and Ethan’s relationship. It just got so messy and confusing… I mean we were both younger and I guess what’s how teen relationships go…?“ Summer rambled on not paying attention in an attempt to relate to Astrid. 

“I remember that! Honestly Summer you were way too good for him anyway. He was kind of a loser.” Jessica input. 

“So I guess it’s my turn to ask you all Truth or Dare?” Astrid hurriedly asked hoping Nancy’s questions would be forgotten about. 

“Okay since we’ve been doing a lot of dares already I guess I’ll choose truth this time!” Summer answered. 

“Not me, I want another Dare!” Jessica quickly replied.

“Um…. I guess since Astrid did a dare she didn’t want to do earlier I’ll choose dare too…” Nancy said having a bit of courage. 

“Oooooo!!” All the girls cooed at her proudly. 

“Okay okay! Hmm… Jessica I dare you to tell us who you have a crush on.” Astrid said thinking of something that seemed pretty simple. 

“Well… I’ve already told Summer but I think her dad Jerry is kinda hot-“ Jessica said in a suggestive tone before Summer interrupted her with a scream. 

“EWWW STOP JESSICA NO!!” She screamed while shoving two pillows against her ears in disgust. 

“Ewww…..!” Both Astrid and Nancy chimed in. 

“Oh whatever!! Obviously both your two moms seem to like him for the same reasons!!” Jessica huffed. 

“Yeah but like….. they’re all adults! You’re way too young!” Astrid said slapping her hand against her forehead in disbelief. 

“Uhg come on! Like… I know that! Calm down old lady!” Jessica defensively joked back at Astrid. 

“Hey! I’m not that old……! I’m probably only a little younger than Jerry!” Astrid laughed while wiggling her eyebrows at Jessica. 

All the girls erupted into laughter as Jessica snatched one of the pillows from Summer. She then playfully started hitting all of them with it. While the laughter died down. Astrid quickly took a peek at the bedroom door and noticed a little shadow underneath it in the hallway. Like she had thought, Morty must have been quietly listening in still.  

“Hey Nancy, I dare you to like a photo on Brad’s instagram. You know his insta don’t you?!” She said with a laugh, thinking about how silly this was. 

“Wait…. What if he thinks I’m creeping on him??” She asked looking back embarrassed. 

“Nancy! Brad has already flirted with you! If he wonders how you found his insta just say it popped up on you recommend accounts.” Summer snickered. 

The girls all silently waited and watched Nancy go to his profile on her phone and like the most recent picture of him backpacking on a hiking trail. 

“See! That wasn’t so bad! Okay let’s keep playing.” Jessica said while turning back to Astrid.

“Anyway…. Okay uh Truth for you right..?” Astrid turned to Summer and asked. 

“Yeah! Ask me anything!” Summer said with a smile. 

“Hmm…. Well…” Astrid thought for a second wondering what she might want to know. “So I’ve kind of figured out the situation between your moms and dad… so then what’s the deal with Rick? Do you have a grandmother…? Are they like divorced or something? I’ve never seen her around…” Astrid asked curiously. 

“Oh grandma…? Honestly I’m not really sure what the back story is…..other than her passing away.” Summer replied. 

“Oh gosh… sorry I didn’t mean to bring up a sore topic….” Astrid said remorsefully. 

“No don’t even sweat! I never knew her. She passed before I was born, I never heard much about it from the family. But it is odd though… even in other dimensions it seems none of the other Ricks have wives either…? I’m sure that’s more secret Rick lore or something.” She said casually wondering. 

“Hu.. weird.” Astrid also pondered. 

“But granddad is always having like raunchy ass flings, believe me. He’s  literally such a dog!” Summer laughed really hard while continuing the conversation. 

“Oh really? I’m guessing he hooks up with a bunch of Alien girls?” Jessica also asked seeming surprised. 

“Not just ladies! Grandpa is like super gay. He’s probably hooked up with every and any type of alien gender that’s even out there! He’s messed with like… aliens, mutants, animal people, planets… uh even a hive mind…” Summer started to list off the ones she knew about. 

“A hive mind…?” Astrid asked suddenly feeling a memory of her own tingling in the back of her head. 

“Oh yeah… um a hive mind is like a thing that takes over multiple brains of alien species kind of… and then they all share a mind and it can communicate and function through all of them…? It would make more sense if you met one I guess… but yeah anyway he hooked up with a hive mind called Unity.” She continued to try and explain. 

“Unity..?” Astrid muttered to herself shocked. 

“Yeah he was such a a dick to it too! Unity was so nice and grandpa just kept using it. Morty and I brought up how wack things were and then things quickly fell apart between them I guess.” Summer continued to go more into details about the failed relationship, however Astrid had already tuned out of the conversation after hearing the name “Unity” . 

Astrid grimaced as an old memory of hers surfaced. Astrid was no longer in Summer’s room with the girls. They now stood stairing down at the metal floor of the agency’s transportation ship as it neared a planet somewhere in space.

“We’re nearing the drop off point!” The ship pilot  shouted back to Astrid as large sliding doors opened at the back of the ship. 

“Got it!” Astrid shouted back and tapped their ear communicator to open a channel to their then handler. 

“I’m nearing the sight.” Astrid copied. 

“Good.” A voice replied through the ear piece. 

“Remember, you’re trying to find out what happened to all our missing agents at the cargo outpost we set up there a few months ago. Keep your cover as a tourist in the village. Keep alert and get back in a timely manner if possible. Make sure to give me updates. I know this is one of your first solo missions, don’t think this is an opportunity to slack off. Do what you need to do to gain trust and information but try to do it as efficiently as possible. If I haven’t heard from you by tomorrow with an update we’ll send in the squad.” The voice ordered. 

“Understood.” Astrid replied before turning the communication button off on their ear piece. 

“Okay we’re at the drop sight! Get going!!” Shouted the pilot. 

“See ya later!” Astrid shouted as they ran toward the open doors at the back of the ship. 

Cueing up one of their favorite alien songs, one their fellow agent Jax had shown them, in their earpiece. Right as the song started to play Astrid leapt from the ship and went soaring down towards the planet through the atmosphere. Their heart raced in excitement for the new mission. They shifted to form black bird like wings once they neared the ground. They then glided on past some simple but beautiful terrain into a forest off to the side of the village. Astrid then gabbed hold of a branch as their wings shifted back into their person. They used the branch to flip themselves and then land on the ground. They looked back up at the sky watching the ship disappear back out past the atmosphere. 

“Astrid?” Summer called again. 

Astrid’s vision focused back on Summer’s face, “Oh, ha! Sorry I zoned out there for a second.” She laughed. 

“We were wondering what was going on.” Jessica said with a smile. 

“You getting tired? I mean it is getting late. Do y’all just want to watch a movie downstairs like last time until we want to go to bed?” Summer asked also getting tired. 

Astrid looked out the window and was surprised to see it was now pitch black outside. She rubbed her head and face while standing up to stretch. The girls all did a variation of the same thing before heading downstairs towards the living room. They all got comfortable in various spots on the couch as Summer flicked on the Tv and changed through various channels. Astrid started to drift back into a daze thinking about that past mission of hers just as Morty came downstairs to try and join them. The siblings started to argue about what to watch. 

“Report!?” The voice demanded in Astrid’s ear piece. 

Astrid jolted up awake from a bed in the local village’s inn. They looked around the room to get their bearings before answering. They quickly recounted what had transpired the previous night. They had gotten roped into partying with the locals and seemed to have made a few new “friendships” as well. 

“I was welcomed into the village as a tourist. The people seemed to have already been celebrating some type of occasion when I showed up. However most of the villagers I interacted with were not sober so I wasn’t able to get solid intel. I was able to get a few names of villagers to further question who might know more about the outpost and previous “tourists” that have come before me. I’ll be perusing that today.” Astrid quickly informed their handler. 

“Good. Keep at it. Report back tomorrow morning.” The voice stated. 

“Understood.” Astrid said as they clicked the earpiece off. 

“Tell him Astrid!!” Summer yelled frustratedly at her. 

“Um….” Astrid snapped back to the present and looked at Summer who had put Morty in a headlock in front of the Tv while the other girls laughed. 

“H-hey!! Stop it Summer!! OW!” Morty squirmed trying to get away. 

“God Morty. Least you could do is not be rude. You’re crashing our girls night.” Jessica snorted. 

“I-I just wanted to watch movies too!” He scrambled to defend himself. 

“Yeah but don’t come in here trying to tell us what we should watch then! If you want to join then shut up and watch!” Summer teased as she let go of Morty and shoved him into the arm chair next to the couch. 

“Yeah I really wanted to watch this movie!” Nancy perked up looking at the screen. 

Astrid shifted on the couch taking in the moment. Summer sat back down on the couch and cued up what looked to be a romance movie. Morty then let out an annoyed sigh before being shushed at angrily by the girls. 

Astrid leaned her head against her hand on the arm rest of the couch trying to pay attention, but that quickly faded. 

“Oh uh…. Gross! I’m so sorry!” The village bar tender said sympathetically to Astrid. “Gosh I’m so sorry about that… some of our regulars get a little too plastered sometimes….here I’ll get you a towel!” He said as he ran to the back room. 

Astrid sat at the bar wiping what looked like vomit off the side of their face and shoulder. They looked down on the ground where a random local laid unconscious on the ground next to them. Moments ago, said local had grabbed Astrid, pried their mouth open, and proceeded to try and vomit into their mouth. Obviously Astrid instantly knocked him unconscious before anything got in. Astrid lifted up their glass and took a swig. They had seen weird shit before but never had someone try to vomit into their mouth like that. 

“Here! Also… next drink is on the house! I hope that’s good compensation after this weird.. misunderstanding.” The bar tender returned and handed Astrid a towel. 

“Uh yeah.. sure. Does this guy do that often…?” Astrid asked while poking the local on the floor with their shoe. 

The bar tender filled up Astrid’s glass again ignoring the question, “You must have an insane liver! You’ve been knocking these back for hours!” He said with a jovial laugh. 

“You think so? If you’d believe it, I actually just started drinking for the first time a few months ago.” Astrid laughed and slammed the drink back quickly. 

“Ahhhh! A real hearty lass!!” Cheered another local coming into the bar with some friends. 

The small group of alien locals all surrounded Astrid at the bar ordering drinks. Astrid noted that there seemed to be three ladies and four men in the group, all smiles and grins, exuding warm and friendly energy. Astrid then remembered these aliens where the ones who had made Astrid join in on the party the night they had landed on planet. 

“Oh hey you guys! Remember me from the other night? You all were so drunk I won’t take it personal if you don’t.” Astrid beamed. 

“Oh that’s right! Hello hon!” One of the women greeted sweetly. 

“You’re not from around here right…? I don’t think we’ve seen you around before other than last night!” Another of the women asked curiously. 

“That’s right! I’m just popping by the planet on my way to visit a friend. I heard some friends of mine came through here a while ago though. I was wondering if any of you might have seen them?” Astrid asked sweetly. 

“Hmm I don’t reckon we have! Then again you might want to go ask Jillion down at the docks. He takes care of boat transport and fishin!” The main gentleman answered heartily. 

“Thanks! I’ll go ask him.” Astrid said setting their glass down and pulling out their wallet. 

“Hey wait! The party just started friend! Why don’t you join us for a few rounds?! We just got here!” One of the other guys chimed in. 

“Well….I…” Astrid hesitated but didn’t want to seem rude. 

“Don’t worry about it! Jillion comes around the bar a little later anyways!” The third woman said with smile. 

“Well, okay. Show me what you got!” Astrid said with a grin. 

Astrid shifted on the couch and looked over to see Summer wiping tears off her face. She then looked over to see the other girls, even Morty, were also all crying while watching the Tv. The main love interest was in the protagonist’s arms dying. Astrid snorted not taking it seriously at all and looked back at the kitchen. 

“Hey Summer, can I snag a soda from the fridge?” Astrid asked. 

“Sure. *sob* oh gosh this movie is so romantic…” She trailed off still glued to the movie. 

Astrid got up and went into the dark kitchen. The kids had turned the lights off for a more “immersive” movie experience. Once alone Astrid sighed while glancing at the garage door. 

“I guess we have a lot more in common than I thought Sanchez….” Astrid murmured to herself while opening the fridge thinking about Unity. 

Astrid thought back to when things really started to get weird on that planet. A couple of days had come and gone in a blur. The towns people sure seemed to like partying. Every morning Astrid would wake up hung over practically forgetting most of the company they had kept while there. This lead to Astrid hooking up with a few of them. After not being able to locate the person called “Jillion” multiple days in a row, Astrid continued on with their report.

“I’m starting to notice a strange pattern with the town’s people. I think I’m on to something.” Astrid concluded to their handler. 

“Fine. But hurry it up. The Agency isn’t going to like how long this is taking. Give me something useful by tomorrow morning or I’m coming in to assist on the mission.” The voice ordered. 

“Understood.” Astrid replied like usual. 

After hanging up Astrid pieced together bits of information they had gathered from their past few drunken days. It was always the same. Astrid would wake up, give their report and head into town to get breakfast. After wandering around town for a bit in an attempt to snoop, they would always be intercepted by town’s members seemingly welcoming Astrid to join them in celebration. For what celebration? The answer would always be vague. Like: “good harvest”, “a beautiful day”, a “great bounty” after a hunt, so on and so on. Astrid would then always end up at the bar plastered with the same group of “friends”.  Which then normally lead to a quick drunken hook up. But then Astrid had another one of the locals try to vomit in their mouth again last night. Astrid jolted out of bed and rushed to the Inn room window. 

“Why would two different individuals try to vomit in my mouth….? The bar tender acted embarrassed for me but what did he say it was when he offered me a free drink….? A… misunderstanding….? Misunderstanding of what..?” Astrid rubbed their temples. 

Astrid even started to remember how in some conversation with individuals they seemed to know things that had never been talked about between the two of them. Astrid pondered this harder. It wasn’t like mind reading, it’s not like they knew things Astrid had never said before. But it was like they knew things Astrid had spoken about with other towns members about. How did they all do that? How could they discuss Astrid while right in front of them? Then a blurry memory of the hook up they had last night surfaced, remembering it made Astrid uneasy. They remembered being in the local’s bedroom and looking at some type of forest animal just watching them in the middle of sex. But any time eye contact was made the creature would always look away or continue on with munching on leaves. But the eye contact felt too sentient for Astrid’s liking. An eerie feeling creeped down Astrid’s spine. 

The day had come and gone, it was already night time again and Astrid had been chumming it up with the usual group of villager “friends”. Except this time Astrid had been cleverly making sure all of them had been drinking so much that they must have been black out drunk by now. Astrid would make sure none of the friends noticed when pouring any alcohol from their glass into others’. However the bar tender seemed to keep asking Astrid if they wanted another drink. A bit too often… Astrid then pretended to be too drunk to stand while trying to get up to go to the bathroom. Motioning to the bartender for help knowing the friends were all to trashed to stand themselves. The bar tender left from behind the bar and let Astrid lean on him as they hobbled around the corner behind the bar to the bathrooms. 

“Ha!! Thanks…. I’m s-sorry I’m such a m-mess.. I’m sure y-you have to do this toooo much w-with how rowdy your crowd gets!” Astrid blubbered on with a shy smile. 

“It’s no problem really…. You’re pretty cute…It’s been a while since I’ve seen strangers come in to town… I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself here with us.” He said nervously still helping her down the hall. 

“Awww you’re sweet… all of you are sooooo sweeeet!” Astrid giggled and stumbled a bit causing them to bump up against the wall. 

“I’m actually pretty surprised… you didn’t even drink that much tonight compared to other nights.. but you seem so hammered. Did we really wear you down finally?” He joked awkwardly.  

“Oh you noticed…?” Astrid drunkenly looked up at him with sad eyes. “You see… I’m not actually on vacation…” Astrid said in a pained voice. 

He looked down at them in worried surprise. “Wait… then why are you here? You’re not looking for your friends?” He asked searching Astrid’s face. 

“No.. you see.. I- I’m looking for my partner… we had just gotten m-married but she came here for work and then never- never came back…” Astrid started to sob. 

Astrid continued to sob while looking up at him and noticed a huge look of guilt written across his face. They then shoved their face into his chest and sobbed some more. He patted Astrid’s head and mumbled, 

“I’m so sorry hon…” he said continuing to hold on. “Here, let’s get you some tissues from the bathroom.” He pulled her into the restroom and sat them down on a side table next to a vase with flowers in it. 

Astrid took the tissues he handed them and blotted their eyes. They then looked up to see that the bathroom door had just shut behind the two of them. 

“Oh I was meaning to ask…. W-Why did you think I was looking for my friends…?” Astrid asked still sobbing a little. 

“Oh I uh… must have overheard you in the bar the other day talking about it.” He said casually. 

“R-right.. duh..” Astrid said putting their hands in their face. 

“Hey hey! Don’t cry…” he said putting his fingers under their chin and pulling their face up close to his. 

He looked down at Astrid with sad eyes as well. Astrid met his gaze with large hurt eyes. 

“I don’t know why I keep fucking up…. But I wished I could make that pain go away….” He muttered softly to them. 

“Oh by vomiting in my mouth?” Astrid said stone cold sober, their eyes switching to cold reptilian looking slits. 

“W-what the…what are you?!” He recoiled away slamming into the opposite bathroom wall. 

Astrid heard a few glasses shatter from the main bar area right after his reaction. 

Astrid lunged at him, pinning him tightly against the wall by his throat. They let out a laugh and got up close in his face, many of their teeth turned sharp and animal like. 

“Nice try.” Astrid said with a smile before knocking him unconscious. 

Astrid quickly picked up the flower vase and smashed it on the floor next to him. They shifted back to how they looked before and proceeded to stumble out of the bathroom still pretending to be drunk. 

“Let’s see where this goes…” Astrid mumbled to themself with a hunch before coming back into the main section of the bar. 

“Uh- um help!! I w-was stumbling and the b-bar tender had a vase h-hit him on the h-head…!” She breathed out harshly still keeping up the act. 

Astrid looked up to be met with the sight of everyone in the bar staring back terrified not wanting to move a single inch closer. Instantly Astrid realized they all knew what had actually happened in the bathroom so they dropped the act. They’re eyes changing to demonic black pools. They then snatched the nearest person in the bar by their hair. In a flash they held a laser gun to the hostage’s head and looked at the crowd with a smile. 

“Wait!!” They all said panicked in eerie unison. 

Astrid stood there for a second and thought about something they had learned in passing at the Agency, a life form known as a hive mind. But in all honesty Astrid had never considered they might actually meet one in real life so soon into their first few missions. 

“Oh so this is what this is….. you’re a hive mind…?” They asked it. 

“Yes.” They all answered back scared. 

“So you’re the reason our agents went missing…?” Astrid asked curiously. 

“Yes… I did not realize your agency would send in a being like you….” One of the women in the crowd stepped forward and answered. 

“Well you got our attention alright.” Astrid said while quickly tapping the button on their ear piece. 

“Reporting. Seems like the whole town is infested with a hive mind.” Astrid reported to their handler. 

“No! Please!” The whole group in the bar lunged at Astrid. 

A shot rang out and the hostage fell to the floor dead, the whole crowd grimaced in pain for a second as the handler’s reply came back over the earpiece, 

“Exterminate it.” The voice ordered. 

“Understood.” Astrid said with a wicked smile as a full on bar fight broke out between themself and the hive mind.. 

“M-Morty!!” Rick shouted drunkenly from the garage causing Astrid to snap out of it. 

She closed the fridge quickly after picking up a sprite. Morty then entered the kitchen and looked at Astrid in the dark, 

“Y-You okay Astrid…?” He asked a little weirded out seeing the look on her face while just standing alone in the kitchen. 

“Oops ya caught me zoning out again, my bad.” She said with a smile. 

“Ha- n-no worries… I’m just going to uh…” he said awkwardly scooting by her towards the garage. 

“Sorry, excuse me.” Astrid said moving out of the way for him and then returning back into the den. 

Once arriving she saw the movie credits were rolling and the girls were rubbing their eyes from tears.

“That was heart breaking.” Nancy said with a sniff as she was curled up in a ball. 

“That made me so sad I just want to go to bed now!” Jessica sobbed out. 

“Uhg me too!” Summer sniffled and rubbed her nose. 

“Aww you all going to retreat so soon?” Astrid asked while sitting back down on the couch. 

“Honestly… yeah I think I’m going to go lay down…” Nancy said defeated while leaving to go upstairs. 

“I’m ganna go check on her.” Jessica said before getting up to leave as well. 

“I’m guessing you’re having a second wind? Your night owl status creeping back up?” Summer said trying to joke to make herself feel better. 

“How’d you know?” Astrid asked while playfully arching her eyebrow at Summer. 

“Well.. definitely feel free to hang out and watch whatever you want…sorry if the movie wasn’t really your thing… you seemed pretty bored.” She replied. 

“Eh don’t worry about it. I’ve just had my fair share of heartbreaks so I’m not as fazed by sad romance I guess.” Astrid said just as another memory surfaced. 

“P-please! Don’t kill me..! I’ll do whatever you want!! Please!” The last living villagers gasped out as Astrid proceeded to choke her to death in the bar. 

Everyone had quickly been slaughtered by Astrid within minutes after being given the order to exterminate. They sighed looking down at the lady, they had to make sure this was the only one left. So Astrid let go and tossed the woman against the bar hard, causing her back and head to make a loud cracking noise. 

“Ah!!” She screamed out in pain. 

Astrid quickly grabbed a fork with one hand and the woman’s throat with their other hand. They pressed them painfully against the bar top, making the lady gasp for air. 

“Tell me, is there any of yourself left in the village?” Astrid asked calmly as if asking about the weather. 

“I thought we were becoming friends…!” She whimpered out. 

“I’m sure that’s what you wanted me to think.” Astrid said emotionlessly pressing the dull fork up to her neck. 

“No! It’s true I tried to assimilate you.. twice…. But after that I realized I couldn’t!! All of tonight I was trying to figure out a way to tell you so I tried to get you drunk.. I was nervous you might freak out!” She insisted. 

“Tell me if there is anyone else left first. Then I’ll humor your charade.” They replied plainly pressing down with the fork already creating bruises on her neck. 

The hive mind host wheezed as tears fell down her face, “p-please! Please….. it’s just this host and the unconscious one in the bathroom. Please hear me out!” She grimaced. 

Astrid dragged her to the bathroom and threw her against one of the stalls. They then locked the door behind them. The woman host coward against the stall coverings her face. Astrid crouched over the unconscious male host on the floor holding out the dull fork above him.

“Okay let’s see how earnest you are.” Astrid looked up at the woman with a grin. “So where is the rest of you?” They asked while slamming the fork down through the male host’s hand. 

The woman screamed out it pain as the male also let out an unconscious yelp and whimper. 

“I’m sorry!! I’m sorry! Please…..!” She gasped. 

Astrid tilted their head up and waited. Astrid’s black emotionless eyes staring through the woman. She looked up at them, eyes full of tears. 

“There is a few more of me sleeping in a hidden cellar in town… some of them are probably your fellow agents! I kept them hidden while you were here!” She insisted. 

“Ah so there it is. You’re going to try to blackmail me into getting them back from your assimilation is that it?” Astrid annoyedly grinned back. 

“No….” She looked down at her feet. “I’ll bring them to you… I’ll reverse the assimilation.” 

“You know that’s not going to be enough. I need all of the other yous. Even the non agent ones.” Astrid smiled back sarcastically. 

“I know… you can have them. I won’t hide them from you anymore… I know you need to prove you fully got rid of me in town…. But please just let one host slip away…. Please?” She crawled forward a little towards Astrid keeping her head down. 

“You really think I’m going to fall for this?” Astrid laughed. “My Agency told me to exterminate the hive mind. Not to extract my fellow agents.”  They replied plainly with a casual look. 

The woman host started to shake in fear, “please… I’m new to being a hive… I didn’t even know there was anything outside of myself and random organisms…. I didn’t even know there were beings besides my own species that couldn’t be assimilated… “ she begged. 

“Well I guess natural selection has brought you to me then.” Astrid said playfully. 

“I remember! I remember all the things you said when you were drunk…. I saw how sad you were.. something horrible happened to you Astrid! That’s why I wanted to make it go away by having you assimilate… I could have made all of it stop!” She sobbed. 

Something felt like it was cracking inside Astrid, what did she even mean by that….? Sad? Sad about what…? Something horrible..? What the hell was she going on about? But that cracking started to feel more painful. 

“What do you know?!” They stood up, “You’ve never even known pain until this night!” Astrid roared back, smashing the male’s skull under their heel. 

“Aaahhhh!!!” The lady wailed in agony. 

“Come on, you’re going to let me clean up your mess!” Astrid dragged her out of the bathroom and out of the bar. 

“I’m sorry to hear that….” Summer said with an awkward sigh. “But thanks for wanting to hang out still. I’m glad we’re becoming good friends.” Summer said with a smile. 

Astrid felt a slight pain in her heart after hearing Summer say that, “I’m glad we are friends too Summer.” She smiled back. 

“Also sorry if Morty or Grandpa get loud or annoying… they tend to be night owls too. Just come up and hang out in the room and do whatever you want if they start being too much. The girls and I are heavily sleepers so you won’t bug us like those nimrods do in the garage.” Summer stated. 

“Okay I’ll keep that in mind!” Astrid whispered back playfully. 

“Night!” Summer jokingly whispered back to her. 

“Night!” Astrid copied. 

She then slouched back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling after Summer left. 

She nervously hummed to herself softly while recounted the last part of the mission from forever ago.

“Any more sweet lies you want to tell me in hopes I’ll let you go?” Astrid turned back to look at the woman host on the ground. 

The woman looked up at Astrid’s arm that had transformed into a blade, dripping with blood. She looked on behind their legs and saw scattered dead bodies and the house with a hidden cellar was on fire. 

“No. I just want to get some things off my chest before you kill me…” she said tiredly from the pain or losing all the other hosts. 

“Ohh. Do tell.” Astrid grinned. 

“I never personally felt what falling in love was like…. I just could remember through my various hosts what love had felt like to them.” She stated. 

“Ah so your the sentimental type.” Astrid joked. 

“Yeah.. I guess I am… even through your new to drinking you sure don’t seem new to killing…I’m guessing you’ve done this whole rodeo too many times by now…” she stated again. 

“Yep. I’ve seen all the tricks life forms try to pull when wanting to survive.” They admitted. 

“There is one thing I want to experience before I die.” She said struggling to stand up in front of Astrid. 

“Oh yeah?” Astrid grinned anticipating it was going to be a tactic they’d already seen before. 

“Kissing someone I have feelings for.” She said softly as she grabbed Astrid’s hand and pulled in towards them. 

As their lips met, Astrid’s eyes went wide in surprise. Just as they were about to pull away they noticed their arm wasn’t moving like normal. They looked down to see the woman had shoved their blade arm right through her abdomen. 

“Wait- No!” Astrid breathed out in shock feeling as if they had been tricked somehow. 

“Ha! I guess I win….I pulled a trick you haven’t seen before.” She whispered while collapsing into the ground. 

“No! ….no! No this isn’t how it was supposed to….” Astrid clumsily grabbed at her to keep her head from dropping.

“I’m glad I got to meet you Astrid.” She said weakly. 

“Your name!! What’s your name..?!” Astrid started to tear up. “Or does your species do that kind of thing…?” Astrid shook the woman awake. 

“I’m Unity…” she replied faintly before slipping into unconsciousness. 

When she woke, she saw Astrid sitting next to her on the inn bed. She patted her stomach in surprise realizing she wasn’t dead and that there wasn’t even a scar left. 

“I’m alive-?” She questioned before she felt a gun pressed to the side of her head. 

“You’re going to leave far away from here. If you ever assimilate another agency member you better kill them and then run far FAR away from where you found them. If I ever catch wind that you’re causing issues for me again I will destroy you. No amount of space will hide you from my grasp.” Astrid looked at her with red glowing eyes. 

“But if you’re letting me live why can’t I see you sometime-?” She earnestly asked before being cut off. 

“Don’t you get it?! I never want to see your faces again. You’ll only cause me problems. If I even hear a rumor about you surfacing near me I will hunt you down and put and end to this clear mistake I am making now.” They hissed. 

“Astrid… I want to be with you really….” She teared up. 

“I don’t care. I’m leaving. You’re leaving. We will act like none of this ever happened.” They said standing up and going to the door. 

“Astrid….please..” Unity asked one more time. 

“I’m sorry.” Astrid replied before disappearing. 

Astrid looked up from the couch just as Morty ran from the kitchen back upstairs muttering to himself angrily, 

“I can’t fucking believe this… stupid old man.” He said storming to his bedroom followed by a loud slam of his door. 

“M-Morty…! Come on….morty!” A tipsy Rick stumbled into the den holding a bottle. 

“Had enough already…?” Astrid joked craning her head back to look at him. 

“Oh it’s y-you.” He mumbled and swayed back and forth a little in the kitchen doorway. 

“Y-yeah it’s me.” She mocked copying his drunken speech. 

“H-hey! I…. I don’t have to t-take this!” He said annoyed turning to leave. 

“Wait. I’m just fucking with you. Want to smoke…? It’ll probably make you feel better.” Astrid asked pulling out her bowl. 

Rick whipped his head around making that puckered face while scrunching his eyebrows at her. He then turned back around, 

“T-this some kind of joke o-or…?” He asked suspiciously. 

Astrid rolled her eyes and got up, sliding the patio doors open and motioned for him to come outside.

“Come on old man, not everything is a trap.” She said with a grumpy tone while sparking up. 

“Y-yeah yeah. Fine.” He said while stumbling outside to join her. 

She passed him the bowl and he clumsily tried to light it. She then snatched the lighter from him and sparked it instead. 

“I’m not a baby…. T-thanks through..*COUGH*” he tried defending himself but started to cough profusely. 

He hit the bowl a few more times and then swayed a little and stumbled back, sitting himself in one of the lawn chairs. He stared up at the sky quizzically then back at Astrid. 

“H-hey… this isn’t Earth w-weed…!” He whispered at her loudly now starting to feeling it. 

“Oops ya caught me.” Astrid said sarcastically lighting up the bowl. 

—- PART SIX COMPLETED —- 

—- SHUTTING DOWN —-

—- GOODBYE —-

[bex2313]

lololol at my job, I get lots of cold calls from salesmen trying to talk to my boss. My boss literally pays me to not have to talk to them, but I get a lot of repeat callers, and have become almost friendly with some of them. Then I thought--"MAKE IT JUKE" and it wouldn't get out of my head so lol here you go. 😊

“Covington Corp, this is Julie!” 

“Hey Julie, it’s Luke Patterson, from Star Records. How are you doing?” 

Julie felt her annoyance at the phone call fade away at the voice of her favorite cold caller. “Luke, you know I know where you’re from, right? You don’t have to introduce yourself every time.”

Luke laughed on the other end of the phone. “It’s company policy. We always introduce ourselves with the company name. And for us lowly assistants, our boss’s name. But that one’s more flexible.” 

“I see. Well how are you doing, Luke? The great city of Chicago treating you well?” 

“Yeah, yeah, things are good. I’ve pretty much readjusted to the cold after so long away, which is good, because it’s cold for like seventy-five percent of the year.” 

“I guess that’s a good thing, then. Have you guys gotten any snow yet? My Tia posted a picture of a snowman on Instagram last week while she was visiting her stepson David in Boston.” 

“Nah, not yet, anyway, but Mom says she thinks it’s coming.” There was a hint of worry in his voice. 

“How is your mom? Last time you called, you said she was supposed to be out of the cast on her right leg and getting ready for surgery on her left. Is that still going on?”

"Yeah, she’s out of the cast and doing PT and stuff. And they're talking about scheduling her other surgery. But it's gonna be a few months, so she can really PT well on her right before her left is in a cast." He sighed. "I don't regret coming home to help out for a while, because Mom needs me, ya know? And I love her. But it's hard being away from LA, away from my best friends and the city that I love and worked so hard to make it to and put down roots in." 

Julie nodded. "That makes sense." She looped her fingers through the coiled phone cord. "But LA will still be here when you get back, and I know your parents are grateful that you're home to help while things are so tough. Besides," she chuckled, "if you hadn't gotten that temp job, you never would have ended up chatting with a mad woman in LA once a month trying to get my boss to consider some deal." 

"That’s true. You make it all worth it, Jules!" He teased, but even though she knew he was kidding, Julie felt a fluttering in her belly that told her how much she wished that was true. 

"Well let's change the subject. You heard from your boys lately?" 

“Yeah, actually!” Julie loved the way his whole voice brightened at the mention of his friends. She could almost picture the joy on his face, except for the fact that she had no idea what he looked like. Damn his dislike of Instagram. “Reggie and Bobby scored us an invite to this talent manager’s open mic event, and Alex sent a pic from his six-month anniversary date with Willie. I think they’re all doing really good.” 

“I’m glad to hear it, Luke!” she answered warmly. 

"Now you, please tell me all about the best city in the world. Give me all the news from LA." 

Julie grinned. "It’s LA. Traffic's a nightmare and there are celebrities all over the place. Flynn is convinced she saw Olivia Rodrigo at her favorite coffee shop. We went to another open mic at Eats and Beats a couple weeks ago, and there were some really solid acts. There was one band, Triple Deck Lost, that was pretty good. They had a really grungy, punk vibe that reminded me of bands my mom used to listen to." 

"No way!!! Alex was at that open mic!! That's what he and Willie did for their anniversary!! Willie loved that band!” 

"Oh my gosh! I was in the same room as one of your boys and had no idea! That's wild!" 

"Man, I wish you guys had known. You would totally be friends if you ever met. Alex is great!" Luke sounded wistful and even a bit homesick, so Julie tried to cheer him up. 

"Well think of it this way, when your mom's all healed up and you move back to LA, we'll all get together and meet for real. And then Alex and I will be friends and it'll be great." Just then, she heard the elevator ding, and she immediately shifted into a more professional tone. “Give me just one minute, Mr. Patterson, and I’ll see if anyone in our marketing department is available to assist you.” She pretended to put the call on hold just as her terrifying boss passed her desk. 

“Hold all my calls, Janie. I’m going to lunch.” He glided through the fancy lobby and out onto the sidewalk, and only when the glass doors closed behind him did she let out her breath. 

“Was that him? I don’t think I’d ever heard his voice before,” Luke commented. “He sounds mean. Also, how does he not know your name? Haven’t you worked there for like, three years?” 

Julie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but he never bothers learning the names of receptionists. At least he got the right first letter. He called Carrie Misty for a month.”

“Well, while we’re on the subject of Mr. Covington, I wanted to schedule an appointment with him for Lila Harrison.” 

Julie sighed. “I know your boss is desperate to make this deal, but you know I can’t put you on his calendar.” 

“I suspected as much,” he answered, not sounding even a little put off. “But Lila’s doing her annual visit to Valley Dreams Management next week and told me to see if Covington might be interested in letting her buy him lunch.”

“I can ask when he gets back,” Julie answered doubtfully as she wrote down the information in her message book. “Any particular day?” 

“We’ll be there Monday til Thursday evening, and she doesn’t have anything set in her calendar yet, so whenever would be most convenient for him.” 

“Okay, I’ll pass the message along…” Julie looked around. The other receptionist was at lunch, and the office manager’s door was closed. She was definitely alone. “But Luke. You’ve been calling this office for months and Caleb is never available to talk to you or to schedule an appointment.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Julie could hear the smile in his voice.

“Has it occurred to you that there might be a reason for that?”

“It has. Has it occurred to you that there might be a reason I keep calling anyway?” 

“And what might that be, Rockstar?” she asked, feeling foolish for the spark of hope that had suddenly burst to life in her chest. 

There was a long pause, and then she heard him clear his throat. "Jules. Lila's bringing me with her on this trip to LA next week. I think she knows how much I miss that city, plus apparently when she's not on maternity leave, Melinda always takes these trips with her. Anyway, I'm finally gonna be back in town, if only for the week, and I thought maybe… I mean, it could be cool if… would you want to get coffee or something with me?" 

Julie was speechless. She had been expecting another six months at least before they could meet in person, so she wasn’t prepared for his invitation. 

“Uh, Jules, you still there?” 

“Oh my gosh, yes, I’m here, sorry. And, yeah, I would love to get coffee with you!” 

Luke let out a nervous laugh. “Cool. Can I give you my number and you can text me and we’ll make plans?” 

At that exact moment, the front door opened and the COO walked in. “Of course, Mr. Patterson. What is the best number for me to reach you at?” she said in her practiced professional voice. 

Luke laughed. “I assume someone else just walked in?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” 

“Well, I’ll let you go, but my number is 773-555-4357.” 

“The last four were 4357?” she clarified. 

“That’s it!”

“Perfect, I will get back to you as soon as I get a chance to look at the calendar. I hope you have a pleasant day!” 

“Bye, Jules!” 

She hung up the phone just as Mr. Dante stepped into the elevator. She immediately pulled out her phone and sent a text to the number she had scrawled on her wrist. 

310-555-4639: Hi Luke, this is Julie Molina!

773-555-4357: doesn’t seem like you had time for more than a quick look at your calendar. sure you’re ready to make plans? 😉

310-555-4639: Lol yep! I’m free every day next week.  Just let me know what works for you!

[glendover]

OH MY GOD?? I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR OCS!!! I LOVE THAT PREMISE SO MUCH!! HUMANS HELPING OUT GHOSTS IS ONE OF MY TOP FAVORITE TROPES OF ALL TIMES

ahhh omg okay,, I’m literally so excited so sorry if I’m gonna rant a lot 😭

I’m also tagging @parkeryangs bc you commented on the post and wanted to know more.

Okay, so the first story is about Felix Bentley and Isaac Milton and they live in this small town located in the mountains. A bit of a backstory on these two:

felix was bullied in school bc he’s trans and Isaac was bullied bc his grandpa supposedly killed his three brothers and now Isaac lives in the villa where his grandpa apparently hid the bodies. So they are both outsiders and start to befriend each other. Also they are obsessed with this card game that’s like dnd meets yugioh (kind of) (actually Isaac was the one obsessed with it but he kinda dragged felix into it).

Fast forward a few years the boys come back from college and open a record store until the day where they get the notification that they got the job at the graveyard and that from now on the have to take the graveyard shift there. Felix is not amused™️! But he goes bc Isaac does and by god Felix knows he can’t let that boy go there on his own.

So at first they thought that they just had to watch over the graves and light candles and make sure that no one vandalizes the cemetery, but soon they find out they actually have to guard the ghosts and stop them from leaving the cemetery to haunt the people in the town for revenge and well fulfill their last wishes.

Good thing, that they have magic that helps them to guard the ghosts, right? Right????

Now some facts about the boys:

Felix:

Isaac gave him the name

recently had top surgery (he’s not on T and doesn’t want to be)

He stool Isaac’s hoodies to hide his chest and still does it out of habit (and bc he has a major crush on Isaac but no one is allowed to know so pssssst!!!)

he’s the Spiritfarer in the card game they play: that means he’s a spell caster and can make deals with ghosts

He gets the aux in Isaac’s car bc his music taste is superior

Isaac:

kinda emo, kinda loud

he’s blind on his right eye

he always packs an extra hoodie for Felix

apparently his family owns the graveyard????

in the card game he is the ghost king: he can rule and judge over the ghosts, he’s also a good swordsman

Man never shuts up, he’s probably ranting about something to Felix right now

used to have a crush on Felix, but he’s over that now, he’s totally chill, absolutely not insane about his best friend, totally cool and collected yeah idk what you are talking about

And the second story that takes place in the same town in about Rocky (they/he), Checkers, Halvor and Fluffkins (Leo). This is the story about Rocky and Checkers who ran away to find the lead singer of their fav rock/punk band Kill Switch that disbanded in the 90s under mysterious circumstances.

I haven’t fully developed their story yet but!!!!

Halvor is the lead singer of that band and he kinda takes in Rocky and Checkers. Oh and on the run Rocky and Checkers actually kill a man, that apparently happened. Also Halvor becomes something like their dad. And Fluffkins (Leo) is Halvor’s cat which was actually named Leo but Checkers deemed the name as boring and renamed him to Fluffkins (Fluffkins also imprinted on Rocky so good luck with that).

Halvor also kisses a demon when they work together with Felix and Isaac. Halvor in general is the bi king we all deserve to have in our lives!!!

Yeah that’s kinda all, I don’t wanna rant to much but do ask questions if you have any or want to know more!!

[lemonandlime22]

Part 10 Randomly Generated incorrect Quotes ( Twisted Wonderland I First years) ✨double the quotes✨ (one was changed)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epel: Oh man, you have any shaving cream? Grim: No, I don't like the way that it tastes. Epel: Wait... you eat shaving cream? Grim: No. Why would I eat it if I don't like the taste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuu: It’s impossible to make a sentence without using the letter a. Epel: Despite your thinking, it is quite possible, yet difficult, to form one without the specific letter. Here’s one more to further disprove your theory. Ace: Fuck you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grim: How are you today? Yuu: Please don’t make me think about my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ace: How did you break your leg? Jack: Do you see those porch stairs? Ace: Yes. Jack: I didn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grim, setting down a card: Ace of spades. Deuce, pulling out an Uno card: +4. Epel, pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you! Sebek, trembling: What are we playing?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuu: I lost my fish, can you help me find it? Grim, cooking the fish: What? I couldn't hear you, please speak up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epel: There's no way they like me back. Ace: Yuu would throw themself in front of a moving car for you. Epel: Yuu would throw themself in front of a moving car for fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grim: We need a way to lure in new customers? Sebek: Maybe we could have some fun, interactive events! Epel: Jack bath water. Jack: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuu: I don’t think the therapist is supposed to say ‘wow’ that many times during their first session with a client, but here we are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deuce: I'm not that stupid! Sebek: Deuce, you literally ate the wax from a babybel. Deuce: GRIM TOLD ME IT WAS EDIBLE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epel: Hey Jack? Jack: Yeah? Epel: What's your favorite color of the alphabet? True or false? Jack: Jack: ...What.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grim, on a random band name generator: Oooo! They Might Be Depressed Horses! That about sums up my friend group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grim, at the slightest provocation: I came into this earth screaming and covered in someone else's blood and and I'm not afraid to leave the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ace: Epel is taking credit for Yuu's work, getting them to deal with everything, and making fun of them! You know what they sounds like? Jack: You? Ace: No, I meant... You know Yuu. In spite of being clever and sarcastic, they’re also... fragile and weird and they have trouble fitting in. And Epel is taking advantage of their weakness! You know what that’s called? Jack: A Ace? Ace: ...Yeah, but I’m the only one who should be allowed to do that, okay?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Crocoduel

When you stop and think about it, this episode is really just the world's most intense custody battle.

Let's get into the thirteenth (chronologically the twelfth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Crocoduel

We start off with the band Kitty Section (composed of Luka, his timid sister Juleka, her “best friend” Rose, and Ivan) performing a concert for the super amazing Zoe and all the peons beneath her greatness (Alya, Alix, Nino, and Mylene). Luka notes its been a while since Marinette came to the Liberty. Because I guess even the show wants to forget the events of “Sole Crusher”.

Luka is still upset that Marinette hasn't wanted to be around him since their breakup, so after he walks away, the others scheme to force them to spend time together.

Yep, even though they promised to back off in “Gang of Secrets”, Marinette's friends are once again trying to meddle in Marinette's personal life as well as Luka's this time. Because it's not like they can understand how hard it is for two exes to remain friends after a breakup and give them their space, right? They plan to invite Marinette to Luka and Juleka's birthday party while reminding the audience that they're twins.

YES. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TWINS. ASTRUC HAS NEVER SAID OTHERWISE OR CONTRADICTED THIS STATEMENT IN THE PAST.

LUKA WAS NEVER TWO YEARS OLDER THAN JULEKA, JUST LIKE THERE WAS NEVER A WAR IN BA SING SE.

In all seriousness, I do feel like I was a little hard on Astruc for this. Compared to other things he's made canon on Twitter, this is fairly minor, and we only knew Luka was the older brother at first through a tweet. And considering the other retcon we'll see in the very next scene, this isn't as big of a deal as I made it initially.

Alya invites Marinette to the party, but she easily deduces that it's a trap. Alya then tries to convince Marinette to talk to Luka.

Uh... since when? When did Marinette lose all romantic feelings for Luka? The whole point of the breakup in “Truth” was to show that she couldn't pursue a romantic relationship with Luka because of her duties as Ladybug. She never showed any signs of not loving him, which made the breakup all the more tragic. Yeah, “Mr. Pigeon 72” was an excuse for her to go back to loving Adrien because the writers don't know how to write anything else, but it didn't mean she stopped loving Luka. You know, it's almost like the writers want to make sure the audience knows Lukanette will never happen and the sacred Love Square is the only way Marinette will ever feel love for someone else.

Alya still forces Marinette to go, making her ask Juleka if Luka won't be there. Some people have gone down on Marinette for this, but she does later acknowledge how wrong this was to ask, and apologizes to Juleka for trying to force her to do something she didn't want to do. If only Marinette's friends learned the same lesson.

Juleka goes to tell Luka about the party, but hesitates to tell Luka he can't go there. While he knows Juleka is hiding something, Luka is distracted by the sudden arrival of his father who he loves despite abandoning him for his entire life, Jagged Stone. However, Luka and Juleka's mother, the anarchy-loving Anarka isn't happy that much like his sperm when the condom broke, Jagged came in without her permission.

At the day of the party, Marinette panics as soon as she sees Luka, who in turn realizes she didn't want to see him. Rather than comfort Juleka who just ran away crying, the others comfort Luka, preventing him from being akumatized by Shadowmoth, though he still keeps his Akuma around just to be safe. Marinette apologizes to Juleka before Shadowmoth can akumatize her too (even though she got a Magical Charm in “Guiltrip” so it wouldn't work either way). Then Shadowmoth tries to akumatize one of the guests as they find out Jagged (who just arrived) is Luka's father, but since they're dumb teenagers who don't know Jagged was winning awards and being celebrated as a rock icon while Anarka was working two jobs and struggling to make enough money for rent, they think it's awesome. Very confusing day for Shadowmoth, isn't it?

Marinette also finds out Jagged is Juleka's father and finds out Juleka worries Jagged loves Luka more since they share more interests, which she thinks is true when Jagged gives Luka a guitar case and instructs her to not tell his sister. Marinette tries to call out Jagged for neglecting Juleka over Luka even though Jagged was more of a father to his pet crocodile than either of his biological children, but it's obviously a gift for Juleka, the first bass guitar Jagged ever owned, which calms her down. Funny how nobody acknowledges how Jagged practically abandoned his family, isn't it? Sure, it looks like he's trying to make up for it, but he just acts like he's always been Luka and Juleka's dad and they don't have any problems with their father literally never being in their lives until now.

Jagged's gift to Luka is a record of the first record he made in his band with Anarka before they broke up, Crododuel, but Anarka is naturally pissed he wants to give that to Luka. Jagged and Anarka argue over which one was the Yoko Ono in their relationship while they both grab the record, which Shadowmoth uses to akumatize the two as it breaks, turning them back into Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock respectively, Shadowmoth labeling them as Crocoduel.

Unlike the other team Akumas like the Punishers or the Gang of Secrets, Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock care more about fighting each other than working together, and they see getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous as a competition to help prove who was right in their argument. It's a pretty interesting gimmick, though I don't get how Shadowmoth thinks this will help him and not ignore Ladybug and Cat Noir while they fight.

Alya provides a distraction to help Marinette transform, and after we get Adrien's single scene to remind the audience he's still a main character, he transforms into Cat Noir. The two heroes give chase, but then Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock decide to take their fight to above the clouds.

Yeah, it's not like you have a form that specifically allows you two to fly, right?

All they had to say was that Marinette was still making more potions for that form, and it would have been better than ignoring the fact that they can fly.

Much like the hotel room during the night Luka and Juleka were conceived, the crossfire from Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock's fight starts to damage the area around them. Ladybug and Cat Noir get Luka and Juleka to safety, and Luka tells them about what's happening, while Ladybug spouts the lesson about people needing to talk even though they don't love each other anymore, reflecting the situation the writers retconned her into learning.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a roll of scotch tape, and comes up with an idea that involves Juleka. She takes her away into an alleyway and gives her the Tiger Miraculous. The tiger Kwami, Roarr, demands Juleka show some courage, so Juleka yells in her face. Unfortunately, as much as I want to show this scene, the subs I got don't really match up, so I can't really give some screenshots of it. So I guess you can watch this scene from Full Metal Jacket instead to get the gist of things.

So Juleka takes the Tiger Miraculous and transforms into Purple Tigress.

I think the suit has a pretty good design. I like the striped pattern with the gold highlights around the black stripes, and think the color scheme is visually pleasing, especially the hair. I wouldn't call it one of my favorite hero suits, but I still like the way it looks.

Cat Noir launches Ladybug and Purple Tigress into the air where they split up to steal both halves of the record, but when they break them, no Akuma comes out. It turns out that since the record was broken while Jagged and Anarka were akumatized, they need to put it together again before breaking it in order to free the Akuma.

Purple Tigresse goes to distract Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock with her power, Collision, which she uses to KNOCK CAPTAIN HARDROCK'S SHIP ABOVE THE CLOUDS, TAKING GUITAR VILLAIN WITH HER.

Why the hell did it take four seasons to break this Miraculous out if it gives the user the ability to go Super Saiyan on the enemy? I think Cat Noir's expression after seeing the power in action says it all.

Cat Noir Cataclysms the record (because a record is just so hard to break without using the power of destruction, isn't it?), Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything, Jagged and Anarka somehow weren't killed by their own daughter, the three heroes pound it, and Ladybug gives two Magical Charms to Jagged and Anarka.

Back at the Liberty, Juleka tells the two to forget what caused them to break up and just apologize while they ignore the past, proving the writers really don't get how hard it is to move on from tough events in life. And despite building it up for the entire episode, Marinette and Luka talk in the final thirty seconds of the episode and just agree to be friends, meaning once again, Luka was sidelined in what should have been a focus episode for him.

Aside from the way Jagged and Anarka's relationship was portrayed coupled with the retcons surrounding Luka, this episode was alright in my opinion. Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock are some of my favorite Akumas, so I thought it was nice to see them again, even if we didn't get to see their powers at full potential. I also thought this was a really good episode for Juleka, as I felt like the hero debut really helped her grow as a person and didn't just feel like she was given a Miraculous because the plot said so. She wanted to help her parents, and using the Tiger gave her the courage to symbolically speak out while potentially launching them into the stratosphere.

But the biggest problem to me has to be the way Jagged is portrayed in the episode. Just like with “Truth”, the idea of Jagged being a terrible parent is just swept under the rug and everyone just accepts the fact that Jagged is Luka and Juleka's dad very well. Despite the idea leading to some interesting drama in a show that's no stranger to family drama, they don't really do much with the whole “Jagged abandoning Anarka” thing. Aside from a brief interaction between Luka and Jagged while the former was akumatized into Truth, nobody is really angry at Jagged. Nobody really feels angry at Jagged for what he did, despite the drama being the main focus behind the episode that also had the Lukanette breakup. You would think this would at least lead to some tension between his family, but nothing really comes from it other than an argument that was pretty much played for laughs. But considering this show has a history of teaching kids to love their parents no matter how cruel they are to them, I'm not entirely surprised.

Overall, it's just a decent, albeit forgettable episode. If the writing with Jagged was different, it could have been a lot better in my opinion.

[adorethedistance]

All Day Affair - Charlie Gillespie x Reader (18+)

JATP Masterlist - Valentine’s Masterlist

Warnings: 18+ Smut, swearing, light embarrassment (minors DNI)

Words: 2757

Summary: A rough night before leads to a slow morning after, causing you and Charlie to be late to Valentine’s brunch plans. All is forgiven and all is forgotten when he makes it up to you in the best way he can.

A/n: This weekend has not at all gone the way I’d thought/hoped it would and so I apologize for the slow churning of fics lately but I promise I am working on some much requested fics. On a lighter note, here is my contribution to the Valentine’s Day

My eyes groggily flutter open when I hear my phone rapidly buzzing on the bedside table. Charlie’s arm is draped over my exposed midriff, no doubt a position of his own doing. As I go to move his arm off my bare skin, he holds onto me tighter groaning an incoherent string of words. I attempt to grab the maniacally buzzing device with my eyes still closed. I’m incapacitated via Charlie’s hold on my waist, and thus, all I feel under my flattened hand against the cool surface are the discarded condom wrappers from last night.

“Charlie,” I scold, still not fully awake. He knowingly loosens his grip, allowing me to sit up and it isn’t until I’m upright and Charlie’s arm drops into my lap that I realize I’m completely naked under his t-shirt. My phone has not stopped vibrating like crazy much to my dismay. Haphazardly grabbing it off the nightstand, I wait for my eyes to adjust before I read the time.

11:26.

“SHIT. Charlie! Charlie, we’re late!” I try and shake him awake. He whines miserably,

“Mmmmm, what?”

“It’s 11:26, we’re late!”

The messages are from Owen and Savannah, both of whom we were supposed to be meeting for brunch at 11. While Charlie and I wanted Valentine’s Day plans alone, we also wanted to spend time with our friends whom we love dearly. Since the original plan was for the two of us to have the evening all to ourselves, we agreed on having brunch to start the day off well. Look how that turned out for us. I scramble out of bed, and I nearly hit the floor as my legs give out from under me. Luckily, Charlie was right behind me and was able to catch me in time.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just sore.”

“Yessss.” I fake slap his chest before we resume in the chaos, frantically throwing on decent outfits. I toss Charlie one of his band shirts turned muscle tees after hopping into a pair of jeans. Once dressed, I run to the bathroom and pass a brush through my hair in a frenzy before I begin brushing my teeth at lightning speed. Charlie appears beside me to brush his own teeth, and I’m practically sprinting out of the bathroom as he does.

“Don’t forget to fix your hair!” My legs nearly give out once more as I struggle to slip on my favorite pair of sneakers. Once I’m upright again, and stable, I grab both of our wallets and the keys to the house and car and shove them into my bag. Together we bolt out the door and clamber into Charlie’s orange Subaru.

In a nice contrast to all the rushing around we’ve done this morning, Charlie drives at a regular speed; thankfully, we make it to the restaurant in one piece. As soon as he puts the car in park the two of us run to the entrance to see our friends waiting at an outdoor table on the patio. Charlie and I finally made it, albeit a tad out of breath.

“Charlie, Y/n, nice of you to finally join us.”

“11:44 on the dot. Not your latest arrival, but an honorable mention,” Savannah jeers, waving me over to sit beside her.

“What happened this time?”

“Overslept. My usual alarm didn’t go off, I must’ve forgotten to turn it on last night.”

“Classic.” I’m distracted from Owen’s teasing when Savannah’s humorous smile drops. She’s looking at me with an emotion I can’t distinguish.

“You okay?” She simply nods and then pushes her chair back.

“I need to pee and you do too. Come on, Y/n.” And without allowing me to reply, she has me up out of the chair and briskly walking toward the bathroom. It isn’t until we’re outside the single stall that I noticed she grabbed my bag from the back of my chair. Once she’s locked us both in the room, she looks at me with wide eyes and a suppressed smile.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s this?” She answers my question with a question, before using her left index finger to poke the right side of my neck.

“Ow!” My face drops once I realize. Brushing past her, I move to stand in front of the bathroom mirror, inspecting the assemblage of love bites all over my neck area. Savannah merely giggles at the realization before opening my bag.

“You don’t have a sponge, so we’re gonna have to use our fingers.” I turn around to look at her, not through the mirror and find a bottle of full-coverage concealer in her hands.

“How did that get in there?”

“I put it in there last week after you had to spend the whole day adjusting your shirt around your collar bones to hide more of these.” She gives a vague gesture to the marks on my neck and begins applying the makeup.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“And you are unbelievable. That was literally last week, and you’re already marked up again. Don’t you and Charlie ever just make love? Does it always have to be ‘ravage one another’s body’?”

“I mean, occasionally. I don’t know, sweet and tender isn’t really our thing.”

“Clearly.” Savannah steps back to survey her work, “Okay, you’re covered but be careful because I didn’t pack setting spray.”

“I am forever indebted to you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. It’s Owen that you should pray doesn’t notice.”

“God, you’re right.”

“If I were solely judging by his hair, I’d have guessed you guys went at it this morning and not last night.”

“Shit, he’s probably marked up, too.”

“Well, I didn’t bring him concealer, and you two are not the same shade soooo… sorry.” I shake my head dismissively as I hold the bathroom door open for her behind me.

“Better him than me.”

“How was it though? You told me you’d text me updates.”

“Yeah, and then I didn’t set an alarm. But no, it was… so good. I’m like, sore.”

“Okay, we’re entering TMI territory so let’s find something to talk about before we’re back within earshot.”

“What are your Valentine’s plans for the rest of the day?”

“I might get frozen yogurt and watch a movie, haven’t really decided. I would ask what you and Charlie are doing, but based on this morning, I think I can guess.”

Just as Savannah and I did, the two boys fall silent once we approach the table; when the four of us are settled, I take a quick glance over the menu, as if I’m unsure of what I want.

“Okay, in the spirit of St. Valentine, let’s talk love. Tell us about your first kiss, Y/n.” Savannah eyes me, already knowing the horrendous story. I deadpan,

“No.”

“Wait, I’m actually curious. I don’t think I know this story.” Charlie leans forward in his seat, placing his forearms on the table in front of him.

“See what you’ve done?” Savannah merely shrugs and takes a smug sip from her water glass. “No, I’m not doing this. Why don’t you tell us about your first kiss, Sav?”

“I asked you first.”

“Fine, be that way. Charlie, tell us about your first kiss.”

“Well, I don’t know I-”

“Come on, what’s ‘love-master’ Charlie’s origin story?” Owen teasingly pats Charlie on the back, and the four of us all fall under a shocked silence at the sound of Charlie hissing in pain. My lips part in surprise but quickly press shut in a moment’s realization.

“You okay?” Don’t do it, Owen.

“Yeah, I’m fine just-”

“Oh my god.” Upon patting Charlie’s back, the fabric of his shirt moved out of the way to reveal a conglomerate of scratches across the surface of his sun-kissed skin. Owen laughs out in disbelief before poking one of the scratches again, causing Charlie to smack his hand away.

“Holy shit, did you get mauled by a bear?” Owen then gasps in a realization that I’d pray he wouldn’t have, and he begins to laugh even harder. “That good, huh Y/n?” My face heats up a million degrees and I cover my face with one hand as a desperate defense mechanism.

“It’s not a big deal, Owen.” Thank god, Savannah’s come to the rescue. “They just got a head start on Valentine’s Day is all.”

“Okay, can we please change the subject?” I plead as I’ve already had enough of their laughter. Charlie gives me a look that is both apologetic and embarrassed and I let out an exaggerated sigh as a response.

The rest of our brunch date is still a good time minus the occasional interjectory joke about my and Charlie’s romantic all-day-affair yesterday. Our foursome disassembles, already planning the next group outing post-Valentine’s intimacy.

“That was absolutely humiliating,” I state, buckling my seatbelt in the passenger's side as Charlie begins pulling out of the parking spot.

“You want me to be gentler next time?” Charlie asks sincerely and extends his right hand over the center console to rub a comforting circle on top of my thigh over the fabric of my jeans. The gesture pulls the warmth in my heart and the butterflies in my stomach a little lower.

“...No,” I admit shyly. The confession elicits a small, cocky chuckle from Charlie. He then gives me an affirming squeeze before tracing the seam along my inner thigh in a way that is too sensual to mistake his intentions.

The entire car ride home, the feeling of Charlie’s fingertips ghosting up my leg makes my heart beat a little faster and ignites a subtle heat where I wish he’d trail his hand up to. I’m sure my desire is apparent to Charlie but he doesn’t say anything about it. When we get back to our home, I stick the key in the lock and open the front door but freeze as I feel Charlie pressing into my entire backside. He leans down to playfully bite part of my earlobe as his hands come to rest on my hips.

“You said you didn’t want me to be gentle?” All of my senses are clouded by dense arousal so all I can do is nod. He airily laughs, a warm breath dusting the surface of my skin and I shudder involuntarily. “Go inside.”

After closing the door behind us, Charlie shoves me up against it, his hand behind my head to prevent me from actually getting hurt. He kisses my lips forcefully but doesn’t linger, and instead trails down the column of my throat. The kisses are rough in between small bites of affection, surely leaving more marks that I’ll have to wake up early to cover tomorrow. Or just not go anywhere. After this, it’s looking like the latter.

“You want me to rough you up a little bit? Huh?”

“Yes.” The love bites Charlie’s leaving behind become harsher on my skin, as he trails further down my neck, across my collarbones. “Charlie, can we…?”

“Can we what? Tell me what you want.”

“Please-“

“Please what? Use your words.”

“Please, fuck me.”

“Your wish is my command.” And with that Charlie pulls me into the bedroom, stealing kisses in between steps. Charlie moves to sit me on the bed but as he grabs me by the hips, I maneuver to switch places and push him down onto the bed. He looks at me with a mix of surprise and excitement, taking the hand that pushed him between his own. I smile delicately when Charlie presses a gentle kiss to my knuckles. That is the last trace of softness.

The two of us begin stripping out of our brunch clothes as fast as we can. It’s as if we’re running out of time. We’re both almost fully naked but before I can get my panties off Charlie’s lips are back on mine. His movements are swift, kiss after kiss is filled with an unrivaled lust that is glorious.

Crawling onto the bed, Charlie stays close behind, never allowing any loss of contact between us. I recover to a sitting position and Charlie wraps his arm under my stomach and presses a line of kisses across my shoulder blades.

“Can I take you like this?” He asks earnestly, running his hands over the vast expanse of my bare skin. I choke out a desperate plea and my breathing softens once I feel the absence of Charlie’s touch on my body. When I turn around I see him searching the room like a madman.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t find any more condoms. I think we used them all last night.”

“What? We only used three.”

“I don’t know! Maybe I dropped some?”

“Fuck it. Charlie if I’m not getting absolutely rawed in the next ten seconds I will walk out that door.” He doesn’t need any more encouragement than that and is back on the bed. Charlie grabs both sides of my face to bring me in for a long passionate kiss before taking his place behind me. His warm hands fall from my face to my waist, gripping the skin slightly.

Charlie sits back on his heels and moves my body back to hover over his. He runs a sensual path with his fingers down the sides of my body and slips one down through the growing wetness between my legs. Tracing the arousal over my quivering clit. The anticipation of the moment has heightened my sensitivity and as a result, I let out a whine. My whimpering continues when I feel him run the tip of his erection through the wetness. As I open my mouth to nag him for moving so slow, Charlie slams his entire length inside of me at once, causing me to cry out in pleasure. I can tell it feels incredible for him too by the way he’s gripping my hips. If he didn’t leave bruises yesterday, he definitely will today.

It doesn’t take long for him to figure out a tempo that’s comfortable for the both of us and my labored panting fills the room. Charlie lets out a groan followed by a laugh because we could both feel the physical reaction I had to the noise he had let out. Wrapping his right arm across my stomach, Charlie reaches the left up to grab my tits, and roughly bite another hickey on my shoulder. He uses his right arm to pull my body into his own torso, and shifting his hips he makes a few adjustments. Charlie shifts one more time and when he thrusts back into me I cry out so loud surely our neighbors will put in a noise complaint.

“There we go,” he grunts to himself, but our proximity allows me to hear. Repeatedly thrusting into that spot, my eyes flutter closed in pleasure. Charlie resumes leaving harsh, lingering kisses, and love bites down the side of my neck, moaning into them in ecstasy. As I feel my heat begin to pulse, Charlie knows I’m close and tries to grab my attention.

“Hey, hey. Look at me.” I will my eyes open and turn to look. The pleasure of his movements is so overwhelming that in between moans and shallow breaths, I find myself leaning my head back to rest on his bare shoulder. “I want you to look at me as you come undone.”

“Okay.” I swallow hard from how dry my mouth is from panting so hard for so long. Each next thrust is measured and the sound of our labored breathing and pleasured moans fill the electrified air.

“Charlie.”

“I’m close. Where do you want-”

“Just stay inside.”

“You sure?” Before I can give a coherent response my orgasm tears through me like a wildfire. I’m doing my best not to scream and what comes out is a mix between a strangled cry and a deep, guttural groan. Adding to my ecstasy, Charlie reaches down to trace tiny circles over my clit and I feel tears of overstimulation prick the length of my lower lash line. While Charlie fucks me through my high, I feel his movements stutter and the familiar twitch before he relaxes his hold on my body. The two of us collapse back onto the bed in a symphony of gasps and bliss-fueled laughter.

“Happy Valentine's Day,” he says behind a smile.

“I love you. That was the first time I’ve forgone condoms…” I state to the ceiling in a moment’s realization, “How do I get this out of me?”

***

A/n: I really am so sorry about the slow churn of writing. I’ve gotten busy with classes and though I knew this was coming I’m still upset that I can’t spend more time writing. On top of that being in a block has been really rough but it’ll pass with time I hope :)

Taglist: @caitsymichelle13​ @kaitlyn2907​ @itz-jas​ @crybabyddl​ @kcd15​ @kinda-really-lost​ @calamitykaty​ @morganayennefertyrell​ @n0wornever​ @dream-a-little-bigger-x​ @mrstodorooki @vicesvsvirturesfanfic @curlybrownhairedboys​ @amazinggracy​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @asdfghjkl-fanfics​ @ghostlygreenbean​ @juliefromaustralia @merceret​ @jemimah-b99​ @ifilwtmfc​ @thesweetestsinner​ @imsydneywalker​ @lovesanimals​ @thebloodthirstyvampress​ @bumbleberry-pie​ @losers-club6​ @tefilovesreading​ @dmcfarland1​@joynerxmercer @kexrtiz​ @talk-on-the-street​ @phantompogues​ @konciousdreamer​ @sunsetcurvej​ @warmnesss0ul​

[softyoongiionly]

Talk to Me in Korean (Advanced Edition)

Your boyfriend’s English is basically better than yours at this point.

After an amazing birthday, he decides to use his newfound skills to get ahead and begin planning next years celebration.

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Genre: established relationship au, domestic au, idol! jk, this is a part three to my other talk to me in korean installments but they don’t have to be read in order :)

A/N: Hiiii I’m back??? Hopefully??? This past month has been ROUGH (but like 2020 am I rite?) so I’ve been having a ton of writers block but as always, Jungkook has a way of pulling me out of all of the that. I’m sorry this is like my 50000th domestic jk story in a row ok??? I CANT HELP IT, ITS HIS FAULT. okiii anyway I love you, it’s 3am- this is unedited and im so sleepy. I love you again. 

Warnings: smut (18+ only plz), more so dirty talking than anything but stillll 

Fresh coffee.  

It’s the first thing Jungkook smells when his eyes peek open.  

His flush against the white cotton of the pillow that still holds the scent of your shampoo.  

He literally can’t help the grin that erupts onto his lips as he remembers exactly how the night before played out.  

As he remembers exactly where he is.  

He remembers that his members had organized a surprise dinner for his birthday party which included the finest selection of meat, veggies and various other side dishes money could buy.  

Not to mention, they ended the evening the introduction of a giant banana milk themed cake.  

Despite stuffing himself till near immobilization as well as being surrounded by his best friends, nothing could have prepared him for his final gift: you.  

The boys had flown you in from out of town and organized for your arrival in the middle of the party.  

Jungkook may have shed a few tears as nothing could have made him happier than seeing his beautiful girlfriend pushing through the doors of the venue.  

Once the boys had gone to home, Jungkook had taken you up to his room to finish off the evening with birthday sex.  

Predictable? Maybe.

Did either of you care? Absolutely not.  

It had been 3 months since the two of you had seen each other and he was nothing short of desperate for your touch.  

Now however, he’s experiencing a different kind of bliss as the smell of bacon begins to waft in through his cracked bedroom door.  

His smile broadens as he realizes very quickly that the same beautiful woman who had made his birthday so special had woken up early to make him breakfast.  

He cannot begin to imagine how lucky he is but, he plans on using his day off to show you how much he appreciates you.  

In a million different ways...

Running a hand through the raven locks on his head, he pushes himself to a sitting position. Upon doing so, he notices the faint red marks over the valleys and curves of his stomach whilst simultaneously feeling a hint of pain across the middle of his back. He smirks to himself and curiously runs the tips of his fingers over the aggravated flesh of his stomach.  

What a night...

He finally stands up, moving his body in every necessary direction to stretch out the soreness in his muscles before taking note of his current attire.  

Given the events of last night, it surprised him that he had even managed to pull on the pair of white boxer-briefs that currently adorned his figure. He assumed he had fallen asleep naked.  

Jungkook experiences a pivotal moment then, completely on his own.  

He realizes that he doesn’t want to put anything else on.  

To some people, this wouldn’t be a big deal but to Jungkook, its everything.  

When he first travelled to Seoul, he was too shy to remove his shirt in front of his hyungs, let a lone strut around the dorm in his boxers.  

But with you, he’s finally starting to realize that not only is he comfortable with you but, he has a massive desire to express that to you.  

He wants you to have parts of him that no one else has.  

He wants you to know that you’re the only one who gets him this way.  

Without the fancy clothes, the layers of makeup, the band aids on his tattoos, the carefully scripted words and persona...

That you alone have all of him.  

He chuckles to himself, running a hand through his hair once again as he picks on himself for making such a big deal out of something so small.

But he knows that you’d get it and that quickly squashes any of his desire to make fun of himself.  

As he approaches his bedroom door, he feels the ghost of nerves directly in the pit of his stomach.  

Why was he nervous? You’ve literally seen him naked before.

He’s been inside of you more times than he can count so why was he overthinking going out to greet his girlfriend in his boxers?

He rolls his eyes at himself, “Because you’re weird, that’s why...” He mutters to himself before finally pushing open the door.  

His kitchen is off to the left, slightly tucked behind a bit of wall and he is annoyed with the layout of his apartment because he is getting in the way of immediately seeing your pretty face.  

When he does see you however, it’s entirely worth the wait.  

You’ve got a portable speaker set up a safe distance away from your work station emitting a bit of soothing music throughout the kitchen along with a pot of fresh coffee on the island with his favorite Iron Man mug sitting right next to it, awaiting his arrival. There’s a few pans on the stovetop sizzling with various breakfast items that Jungkook doesn’t care to notice at first because his eyes are far too concerned with you.  

And boy does he desperately wish that this was his daily life...

Your wear minimal clothing as well but there are fuzzy socks on your feet and a bit of bedhead adorning your crown and that’s really all that he needs to see to conclude that you are the most fantastic thing to ever grace the planet.  

“G’morning...” He nearly mumbles, placing a hand on the counter.

He ensures his voice is soft enough not to startle you and thankfully his presence emits nothing more but a smile from your lips.

You turn towards him with the same smile, eyes raking over his body shamelessly before returning his greeting, “Good morning birthday boy. Did you sleep ok?”

He chuckles lightly, his head cocking to the side in confusion, “My birthday was...yesterday yeah?”

Your smile grows at his question as you make your way over to the sleepy man before you.

“It was.” You concede and as you near his figure, you slide your hands around his waist, “But I wasn’t with you the whole day so, I’m trying to make up for lost time.”

Immediately, he grins boyishly his capable hands sliding up your body to pull you flush against his.

“But you already gave me so many presents...” He insists, leaning towards your lips, “Remember last night?”

You take a moment to admire how good his English has gotten and silently applaud him for managing to lead such an incredibly busy life and learn a second language all at the same time. You try your best not to vocalize your praise to often though because you know how shy it makes him.  

Before you can answer, he presses his lips to yours, humming gently in his throat and promptly smiling into your mouth.  

As you indulge in him for a moment your fingers gently brush the tan skin across his back. Your touch sends a shiver up your boyfriends back which then gives you no choice but to return the smile present in your kiss.

“Duh...” You murmur which prompts a delighted chuckle to escape his mouth, “How could I forget? You were like superman last night with all that stamina...”

Your observation causes your boyfriend to frown playfully as he points to the mug sitting atop the counter.

“Not superman- Iron Man.” He insists, still holding you close, the warmth of his presence infecting you.  

With a snort, you pull back slightly to catch the glint in his eyes, “I don’t know how me comparing you to Ironman would make much sense babe but, if you want to be Iron Man then how am I to deny you?”

Jungkook smirks, already satisfied with his response before he’s even uttered it.

“I’m like Iron Man because he is a machine...” He wiggles his brows at you, “...and so am I.”

After the look of incredulity that crosses your face, you have no choice but to laugh, leaning slightly away from him to indicate that you have to head back to your breakfast before it burns.

“Alright fair enough-” You concede, still giggling a bit as his grip tightens on your body, his own beautiful smile still present on his mouth, “I gotta finish cooking, or else we’re gonna have burnt bacon for breakfast.”

He shrugs, unimpressed as he uses his inhuman strength to hug you tighter,  “Bacon is bacon.”

This prompts more laughter as he reluctantly walks to the stove with you, your body still encased in his grip.

“I can’t cook with your mega muscles constricting my arms-” You point out, craning your neck slightly to try and meet his gaze, a ghost of a smile on your lips, which is still locked onto a mixture of mischief and joy.

With a furrowed brow he leans in slowly before pecking your lips quickly and finally releasing you, “What is constricting?”

His question is asked from near the coffee pot, his hands gingerly moving his mug closer to him.

He is VERY careful with this particular mug.

“Constricting is like when you squeeze something really really tight-” You explain softly, taking the now well-done strips of bacon out of the pan before laying them on some paper towels.

He’s pouring himself a cup of coffee, his eyes narrowed in focus as he nods, “Ohhh ok- you mean like how snakes do?”

“Yeah exactly!” You smile brightly, turning towards him with encouragement on your face, “that’s why we call certain kinds of snakes constrictors because that’s how they kill their pray. Honestly, it wasn’t the best word choice on my part because, people definitely use the word squeeze more but-”

He shakes his head then, his eyes still focusing on preparing his cup of coffee, “It doesn’t matter- you taught me another new word without even trying to.” He assures you before a cocky smirk comes across his face, “I bet I know more words than Namjoon-hyung now...”

His comment makes you laugh as his competitiveness is something you adore despite the fact that you don’t fully understand it.

“Oh for sure, you probably know more words than I do honestly, with how often you practice.”  

Jungkook smiles broadens at your praise, his eyes finally flitting up towards you, “Probably.”

He laughs along with you now, the sound of your giggling sending warmth into his heart as he brings the mug to his lips.

“You’re a brat.” You point out simply, still smiling because you literally do nothing else with this kid as you begin to fry up the last batch of bacon.

Suddenly, you feel his presence behind you, his strong arms wrapping around your waist whilst his nose burrows playfully into your neck, “Noooo an angel.”

Snorting again, you pretend his lips near such a sensitive area doesn’t affect you as you continue with your current task, “An angel? What on Earth would make you think that?”

Your teasing prompts a bout of snickering to leave his lips as he hugs you tighter to him, the soft scent of his hair sending a wave of comfort through you.

“You call me a good boy all the time...”

Although his comment is meant to be innocent, the way he intentionally lowers his tone causes your thighs to press together.

“I do,” You admit, trying to keep it together as you crack a few eggs into an awaiting pan, “I don’t know if that makes you an angel though.”

Jungkook senses the change in your voice and rather then shy away from the direction the conversation is heading, he decides to go with it.  

“That’s true-” He murmurs and it’s then you can feel the smirk against the curve of your neck, “Especially since you only call me that when I’m making you cum huh?”

This causes your eyes to grow wide and given that your flirtatious boyfriend is staring at you already, there is no way for you to hide it.

So instead you play along, enjoying this new side of him more than you care to admit.

“Exactly.” You mutter, giggling to yourself as you feel a bit of heat on your cheeks, “Go set the table or something- you're going to make me burn the kitchen down.”

With a cheeky giggle, he seems satisfied with his mission to fluster you, placing a kiss to your cheek and rushing off to do as you’ve asked him to.

Breakfast passes without any more of Jungkook’s reckless behavior and you’re thankful for it because, you sincerely doubt that you’d be able to focus on your plate when you have a foul-mouthed buffet sitting across from you.

Jungkook insists on helping you clean up whilst also reminding you once again that his birthday was yesterday and that he doesn’t want any more special treatment.

All he wants is to be with you today.

You honor his request by sitting up a massive mountain of pillows and blankets in his living room and situating yourselves in front of his flat screen.

With the curtains closed and the scent of Jungkook’s sea breeze candle wafting throughout the room, the two of you begin watching a movie together.  

However, halfway through the movie, the plans begin to morph into something else entirely.

Armed with newly found confidence, your boyfriend begins kissing you, his hands making their way towards your hips.

The pace of your breathing picks up rather quickly when he suckles your bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling against the swollen flesh.

“For my birthday- next year...” He whispers into your mouth, eyes fluttering open as he nudges your nose, “I want to kiss you all day.”

His request causes you to smile, your hands slowly sliding up his neck to tuck into the hair at the back of his head, “Whatever you want.”

Your response causes his eyes to sparkle with mischief once more, delighted at how willing you are to give him whatever he wants, “Oh- it’s whatever I want hm? Just like that?”

The way he’s speaking to you makes you a little light headed and rather than try to reign back his bout of authority, you decide to run with it, “Just like that.”

Your response is spoken into his mouth, the kiss between you breaking so he can maneuver you onto your back. For a moment, he braces his hands on either side of your head, his perfect body hovering over you, with only the long strands of his hair and the thin silver chains around his neck reaching for you.  

“What if-” He grins before grinding his hips against you, the swollen bit of his boxers rubbing against your clothed core, “I wanted to be in here all day? Would you let me?”

Through the waves of pleasure, your eyes squeeze shut for a moment before you nod, your fingers beginning to wander up the outsides of his forearms.

“Whatever you want...”

His grin is stable but the pace of his breathing is quickening, indicating his excitement.

He wants more out of this conversation though and decides to press you further.  

“Would you let me put my face down there all day too? You wouldn’t have to cook for me if you did...” He points out before his grin morphs into a smirk as he leans down towards your lips, “I’d get full off your pussy wouldn’t I?”

The switch in languages also indicates his level of arousal as his mentioned before that English is far more difficult when he’s wrapped up in his emotions or in this case, his desires.  

Using your nails, you lightly tickle your way up to shoulders tugging playfully to see if he’ll come to lay down on you fully but he doesn’t budge. He merely chuckles and grinds against you once again.

“Patience...” He parrots a phrase that you often utter to him when roles are reversed in the bedroom and the glimmer in his eyes informs you that he is eating up your reaction to him.

“But I want you...” You whine to him, hoping his thing for hearing you speak his language will be enough to break his resolve but he isn’t ready to give in just yet.

“That’s too bad jagiya, I’m not finish planning my birthday just yet.” Jungkook whines mockingly in return, the innocent curls framing his face contradicting his salacious demeanor, “I want to know how many marks you’d leave on me- maybeeeeee...” He draws out the word as his teeth tuck into his bottom lip, “25? One for every year of my birthday?”

Since attempting to tug him down didn’t work out, you decide to wrap your legs around his waist to further some sort of contact between you two.  

“Twenty five? Your stylists would kill me...” You point out giggling, pushing your now damp panties against the swell of his length beneath his boxers.  

Rather cockily, Jungkook snorts and leans down once again to brush his lips over yours, “I don’t give a fuck what the noonas say, they know how to cover me up and, even if they can’t- people are just gonna have to deal with it.” Another smirk forms on his mouth before he sucks your bottom lip between his teeth, “it would be really hard for them if they fired me don’t you think?”

You gotta admit, his new found attitude is turning you on. It’s not like Jungkook to be so cocky, despite the way some people may think and although you know for a fact that he’s putting it on for you, you have no problem sucking it up anyway.  

“Definitely. BigHit would have hell to pay...” You concede, your words slightly muffled due to the current location of your bottom lip. Once more your hands tangle their way into his hair and you take advantage of this position to kiss him, hoping that will be enough to convince him to drop the teasing.  

He kisses you back with enthusiasm, his lower body relaxing slightly as more and more of him presses against you.  

“You’re wet.”  He whispers, his eyes still closed whilst he continues to peck at your bottom lip, “Are you ready for my dick now?”  

With his inquiry, he grinds against you once more, sending a shiver of pleasure up your spine.  Your surprised that he spoke the second sentence in English as he usually would have switched fully to Korean at this point.  

“Namjoon’s really been rubbing off on you lately...”  

This insignificant comment lights a fire in Jungkook’s chest and prompts him to quickly pin your wrists above your head. His features hold a bit of disapproval but, mostly they hold that competitive look that is so uniquely Jungkook.  

That “I’m going to win just to show you how good I am” kind of look.

“Why does everyone assume that Namjoon is the most perverted huh? Just cause he talks about it the most? He writes a few dirty lyrics and talks about porn and suddenly he’s the only one who wants to fuck? Jagiya- do you want to know why I look so distracted all the time?” He giggles in an almost maniacal fashion, a dark smirk prominent on his lips as he cocks his head, “It’s because I’m usually thinking about fucking you. Everyone always thinks I’m so shy- so innocent, but you’d let them know huh jagi?  You’d let them know how fucking dirty I am wouldn’t you? I don’t think ARMY could handle it if they knew the truth...” Jungkook offers that same type of laughter once again before kissing you once more, “Now answer my question- are you ready for my dick now?”

His words and behavior stun you a little bit but mostly it just sends more arousal to your core and ruins your odds of putting these pair of panties back on when the two of you are done.  

“Yes sir...” You giggle, saluting him playfully as you wrap your legs around his waist again, “I’m so ready for you- please? Can I have it?”  

Your pleas work immediately on your boyfriend, who is already struggling with his level of arousal and before you know it, he is fucking both you of you into orgasmic bliss.  

It’s over too quickly but it’s the kind of fuck that you know it going to prompt a round two.

Or maybe even a round three or four if you’re lucky...

Jungkook’s head is on your chest now, his arms hugging you tightly to his body, his post-orgasmic glow riding him of any of his previously cocky attitude.  

“I like this.” He murmurs, licking his chapped lips and nuzzling between your breasts.

You smile fondly down at him, “Cuddling?”

He shakes his head, his eyes beginning to flutter shut, “Not just cuddling- but you, being here, at my house with me.”

With a kiss to his forehead, you use your free hand to brush his hair from his eyes, “I like being here with you too.”

There is a bit of color that finds it’s way to Jungkook’s cheeks as he utters a suggestion, “You should stay here with me. I will move my stuff around for you...”

It’s such a simple notion and yet it nearly moves you to tears but before you’re able to breach the topic further, his eyes fully close as he relaxes his weight completely.  

Without clarity regarding whether or not he can hear you, you utter your response into his hair,

“Sounds good, roomie.”

[spencersstrawberryjello]

Treat People With Kindness (The BAU)

Summary: Garcia gets Reid into Harry Styles and everyone subsequently loses their minds over it.

Content: Honestly just funny I’m not sure what to call it

MC’s name/pronouns: No alternate main character, just Spencer.

Word Count: 1706

A/N: This whole fic was inspired by the fact that a fan gave Matthew Gray Gubler a Treat People With Kindness pin, which then sparked my friend Emily and I to theorize that Spencer Reid would absolutely be a Harry Styles stan. So yeah, this is literally just the product of one fan interaction lmao

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

“I got a good feelin’.”

“... What’s he doing?” Emily leaned over and whispered to JJ, who just shook her head.

“I’m just takin’ it all in.”

“Ok, what happened to Reid?” Morgan joined them, and they both shrugged, watching Spencer walk through the doors of the office. 

“Floatin’ up and dreamin’.”

“You know, maybe I need to add him to my drug test list too.” Hotch had stepped out of his office, trying to hide his grin as they saw Spencer making his way to his desk, headphones in and practically dancing over to his seat, mouthing every word of the song he was listening to. He plopped down in it with a little spin, opening a file on his desk without ever taking his headphones out. 

“Try ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” Emily laughed, and JJ broke away from their group, heading over to his desk. 

“Hey Spence,” She rested her arms on the divide between his desk and Emily’s, tapping on it to get his attention. 

“Maybe we can find a place to feel good.”

“Spence!” She tapped his arm this time, and he practically jumped out of his skin, turning to face her.

“And we can treat -”

He quickly tore the headphones out of his ears, setting them down on his desk and looking up at her, clearing his throat.

“Sorry. I was listening to something.” He gestured to the headphones still connected to his phone, as if that wasn’t already obvious. 

“Yeah, I noticed,” JJ laughed.

“Do we have a case?” 

“Nothing yet, you’re good.” She tried fruitlessly to hide her grin, and he gave her a strange look.

“Ok…”

“So,” She plopped down in Emily’s chair, rolling it over to sit near him, “What were you listening to?”

“Oh!” His face lit up, and he grabbed his phone, holding it out for her to see. She put the headphones in her ears, hearing the final moments of the song he’d been jamming to.

“And we can treat people with kindness, find a place to feel good.”

“Harry Styles?” JJ laughed incredulously, handing him back his phone. 

“You’ve heard of him?” He asked, taking the phone and sitting it back on his desk and turning back to her.

“I’m pretty sure most people have heard of him, Spence.”

“Ok, well, I hadn’t. But on Saturday I was speaking at the University of Mary Washington with Rossi, and one of the girls gave me this, after the lecture,” He grabbed his bag off the back of the chair, pointing to a round pin clipped on the strap. It was enamel, with light pink on the inside and a red rose in the center, encircled by the phrase “Treat People With Kindness” in black lettering. “And you know, naturally I thought it was a good message so I put it on my bag and I thought that was all it was. But then I ran into Garcia.”

“Oh god.”

“I was walking in yesterday and she saw it and kind of freaked out a little bit, and pulled me into her office and played me the song - the one you just listened to - and it was amazing and so I told her I thought it was amazing, which made her freak out even more and then you called with a case so I left, only to receive a a YouTube playlist a few hours later that she told me I had to watch every video on or she’d stop printing the case files for me.”

“You know she loves you too much to actually do that, right?”

“I mean, the odds were low, but I wasn’t going to risk it. Either way, I sort of listened to every single song on Fine Line and Self-Titled in one night and also a whole bunch of interviews that she sent me and he’s really funny and his music is great and the moral of the story is I kind of love him.”

JJ sent back in her chair, dumbfounded. “Dude… you mean to tell me Garcia made you a Harry Styles fan?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“I - Penelope!” JJ left without another word, making her way into Garcia’s office. Spencer just shrugged, returning to the file he was looking at - and his music - as Garcia spun to face JJ.

“Jennifer, my love, to what do I owe the pleasure? New case?” She asked. JJ just shook her head.

“You broke Reid.”

“I did not break Reid!” She defended with a grin. “I merely helped him reach his true form.”

“He willingly used technology, and he came into the office today practically dancing to Treat People With Kindness. So yes, you did break Reid.”

“JJ, dear,” Garcia got up from her chair, taking JJ’s hands in the doorway, “Do you remember when Reid got that adorable little shaggy haircut?”

“Despite the fact that he changes his hair like every month, yes, I do.”

“And do you remember what Hotch said?”

She thought for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock. “You did all of this… because of the boyband joke?”

“Like I said: true form.” Garcia returned to her chair, spinning around with a laugh. “In my defense, I didn’t know he was going to get a Harry Styles pin. I just took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. I already failed at teaching him to worship Lady Gaga, I could not miss another chance to try and pull him out of the dark ages.”

“You are ridiculous, you know that?”

“That’s why you love me!” 

JJ laughed, leaving Garcia’s office and heading up to hers, ruffling Spencer’s hair on her way by.

“You should grow your hair out again.”

“You think so?” He reached up and fussed with his hair, just as Garcia emerged into the main room. 

“Spencer Reid, my beautiful boy genius, did you do what I asked?”

“Garcia, I figured out how to download music to my phone because of you. So yes, I did what you asked.”

“You are officially my new favorite person.”

“Hang on, what is this all about?” Emily asked. Garcia grinned, hardly able to contain her excitement. 

“I’m finally bringing the lovely Dr. Reid here into the 21st Century.”

“Penelope,” Emily raised an eyebrow at her, “What did you do?”

“Garcia thinks she did something revolutionary by getting me into Harry Styles’ music,” Spencer clarified. Emily immediately clapped her hand over her mouth, about to respond before Derek piped up from his desk.

“Oh, she converted you too?”

“‘Too’ - you mean to tell me that you, Derek Morgan, are a Harry Styles fan?” Emily was looking between the three of them now, practically in shock. Derek just laughed, holding up his hands.

“What can I say, the guy’s got an incredible voice.”

“And the make up of his songs is so interesting as well; I mean, when you look at the music he’s produced in the last few years in comparison to what he performed while he was a part of One Direction -”

“Oh my god please tell me you’ve also listened to One Direction,” Emily said, laughing when Spencer nodded. 

“I don’t understand why you guys are making such a big deal out of this. He’s a singer, it’s not like he doesn’t have fans,” He defended. 

“Reid, two months ago you didn’t even know who Lady Gaga was. This is kind of a big deal.”

“Conference room in five,” JJ walked through the group, heading upstairs as everyone else got up to follow her. 

“Do not think I am dropping this,” Emily pointed at Derek and Spencer before jogging to catch up with JJ. Derek laughed, falling in step with Reid. 

“So, what all did Garcia make you watch?”

“Oh, just a bunch of interviews. I did some of my own reading though -”

“Of course you did.”

“- and what I found really interesting was One Direction’s actual rise to fame. Because the thing is, they didn’t even win X-Factor. They came in third, and yet they became the most famous group to come from that season of the show. In Forever Young - their book - they talked about their time on X-Factor, but it was so strange to me because their first album - Up All Night, that came out not even a full year after they finished the X-Factor live tour - sold 4.5 million copies within the first year. And they just kept growing… Morgan why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” They’d walked into the conference room by now, sitting down next to each other at the table while Derek tried to stop himself from laughing, looking at Reid in disbelief, “You read their book?”

“And their Wikipedia page - I told you I did my own reading!”

“You said you did some of your own reading, you didn’t say you’d memorized everything about their career!”

“Eidetic memory, remember?” He tapped his forehead, and Derek rolled his eyes.

“You never let me forget. I’m assuming you know everything about their solo careers as well?”

“Well I got into Harry’s stuff first, but I ended up reading all of theirs since I didn’t have anything else to do last night. It’s just so interesting to think about what One Direction’s situation reveals about human nature and celebrity culture. I mean, a lot of their fans are dictionary definition erotomaniacs, and yet -”

“I shouldn’t even be surprised that you read this all in one night.”

“Like I said: didn’t have anything else to do.”

“As much as I’m glad you boys are bonding, we have more important things to worry about than Reid’s newfound love for a British boy band,” JJ interrupted.

“Niall Horan’s actually Irish -”

“Spence. The case.” She pulled up the photos on the screen, and Spencer nodded, opening the case file in front of him as JJ began to review everything they needed to know. She finally closed out, and Hotch grabbed his tablet and rose from the table. 

“Alright, wheels up in thirty.”

Everyone nodded, gathering up their things and vacating the room. Spencer and Derek trailed out after everyone, Spencer picking up the conversation as soon as JJ finished. 

“You know, I’m considering learning how to knit - there’s this cardigan that Harry wore...”

[ifmywishescametrue]

WAIT I DIDNT KNOW YOU SHIPPED SAMTONY TOO!!! another oneeee #13 "I saw you looking at it last time we were in the store together, so I got it for you." for samtony

samtony is a very pure ship 😌 thank you for sending a prompt, and I hope you like it!

It starts on a perfectly average Tuesday morning.

“Why do I do this to myself?” Sam pants out, folding himself in half with his hands on his knees. “Every damn time I say it's the last time, and every damn time here we are again.”

Bucky claps a hand on his back and almost knocks him over with one touch. “Maybe you're a masochist, Sammy.”

Sam feebly flips him off, walking off the elevator on jelly legs. “I told you not to call me that.”

“You let Tony call you that,” Bucky points out, following him towards the kitchen.

"I actually like him. We're friends."

“That's offensive. I'm literally your best friend. Your favorite person. The Abbott to your Costello. The Tom to your Jerry. The Lucy to your Ethel.”

Sam snorts, “You're not even my favorite hundred year old man in this building. Also, if anyone’s the Lucy here, it’s me.”

Bucky scoffs, but whatever retort he had coming cuts off when they enter the kitchen. “Oh, damn, are those banana pancakes?”

He reaches for one on the top of the stack, and Tony slaps his hand away with the spatula. “Where are your manners, Barnes?”

“You’ve got like ten there,” Bucky whines. “Why can’t I have one?”

“You can have one when it’s your turn.”

Bucky gives him a dramatic pout that has no effect, and Sam laughs at the scene as he collapses into the stool next to Nat at the peninsula. She gives him a raised eyebrow and a quirked lip at the complete lack of grace.

Tony flits through the kitchen, exchanging lighthearted quips with Bucky as he goes. He has on an apron that Clint gave him at Christmas last year, covered in snowflakes and purple hearts with arrows through them in a mimicry of an ugly Christmas sweater pattern. Underneath it is a t-shirt dotted with Captain America shields, and the sweatpants have a cartoon version of the War Machine suit on the thigh. As usual, all of the colors clash.

A mug of coffee is placed in front of Sam with a small smile before Tony returns to the stove, and Sam is still drinking the first sip when he comes back with a plate of pancakes for him, topped with just the right amount of syrup and a dollop of whipped cream. Tony’s gone again before he can even finish saying thank you.

“Why is it his turn before me?” Bucky complains, and Sam laughs again through his first mouthful at how petulant he sounds.

“I like him the best,” Tony says, sending a wink Sam’s way. “And they’re for him, anyway. Your favorite, right?”

Sam’s eyes widen a bit in surprise. He doesn’t remember telling him that. “Uh, yeah, they are. How’d you know that?”

Tony shrugs, “I pay attention.”

He hands Bucky a plate of pancakes with another jab at his lack of patience, and the moment passes as quickly as it came, but it keeps happening after that.

Tony pays attention to him.

Maybe it was happening all along, before that morning with the pancakes, but just too subtle for Sam to take notice at first. Now that he has, though, he sees it all the time.

The next is just a few days later, when Tony knocks on his door holding a small, nondescript black box.

“What’s this for?” Sam asks, taking it from Tony’s hand. He doesn’t get an answer before he opens the lid to a simple, leather-banded watch. It’s nothing overtly expensive, nothing that screams ‘gift from a billionaire,’ but it is exactly something Sam would have chosen for himself.

“I saw you looking at it last time we were in the store together, so I got it for you,” Tony says simply. “Figured it would go well with that suit Pepper picked for you for the gala tomorrow night.”

Later, Sam will realize that Pepper had nothing to do with the suit choice that fit him perfectly, but for now he runs a thumb over the dark brown leather and says, “Yeah, it will. Thanks, Tony.”

“No problem,” Tony replies, and he lingers in the doorway for a while longer, lower lip between his teeth. Sam is about to ask if there was something else he came here for when Tony claps his hands together and says, “Well, I should get going. Workshop things to do and all that. I’ll see you at dinner.”

He disappears quickly, and that becomes part of it, too. Never dwelling on it when he does something just for Sam. Fleeing if he can, but sometimes staying when that’s what Sam needs instead.

“You look exhausted,” Tony says, and Sam manages a grumble from where he’s slumped on the living room couch, rubbing a hand over his bruised abdomen.

The mission took longer than either him or Bucky expected, and the fights were more intense. It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out type of deal. Infiltrate the base, take out the lower level minions, and apprehend the leaders. But the intel wasn’t as accurate as they were hoping, and there were nearly double the number of enemies than predicted. No major injuries for either of them, but he’ll be sore for at least a few days. Bucky’s cuts and bruises healed on the way home.

Sam doesn’t notice that Tony left until he comes back with ice wrapped in a kitchen towel. He places the ice right on the worst spot over his ribs, holding it there until Sam replaces his hand with his own.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Tony remarks. “You should probably head up to bed. You’ll feel even worse if you fall asleep here, trust me on that one.”

It’s somewhere past midnight, Sam knows, but even with how tired his body is, his mind is still wide awake. The mission replays in his mind. Every faulty move, every chance to do better, every little detail both good and bad.

Sam shakes his head, “Not ready for bed yet.”

Tony takes the seat next to him, leaving an inch of space between them. “J, turn on the Saints game from yesterday.”

Sam smiles a little and asks, “Do you even like football?”

“It’s not the worst sport,” Tony replies vaguely. He settles back into the cushions and pulls the blanket off the back of the couch to cover them both.

“Yeah, what’s the best?”

Completely serious, Tony says, “Ping pong.”

Sam laughs, “That’s not a real sport. Pick something else.”

“Of course it’s real. It’s in the Olympics and everything,” Tony grins. “Give me one good reason it’s not a sport.”

“Alright, fine, maybe it’s real, but there’s no way it’s your favorite.”

Tony shrugs, “It’s entertaining sometimes. The professionals get really into it. There’s an awful lot of grunting involved.”

They stay up for a while longer, talking about nothing of importance, and Tony slowly shifts closer to him until that bit of distance is gone. His arm presses up against him, and Sam starts to have a hard time keeping his eyes open, it seems only natural to rest his head against Tony’s shoulder.

“You can go to bed,” Sam murmurs. “You don’t have to stay here with me.”

“I don’t mind,” Tony whispers back.

Sam does regret it a bit when he wakes up on the couch in the morning with a sore back, but there’s a fresh mug of coffee already waiting for him on the table, still warm and exactly how he likes it, and he smiles to himself anyway. That night is a shift to something different, and he knows it right away.

He starts to pay more attention to Tony’s interactions with everyone else, just in case he’s part of the rule and not the exception. Generosity is one of Tony’s best traits, but even so it tends to extend even further to him. More personal and frequent.

“So there’s this place in Brooklyn that claims to have the most authentic cajun cuisine outside of New Orleans. Want to come with me? Tell me if it’s true?”

It isn’t true, and Tony comes to him the next day with another one, until they’re on a quest together to find one that doesn’t make Sam miss home after just one bite. It takes them all over the city and into Jersey once or twice, and Sam doesn’t point out that Tony doesn’t even seem to like crawfish, no matter where it comes from. He doesn’t want it to be over if he does.

“This is pretty close,” Sam says. He thinks it might be place number eleven, but he lost count a while back. “Could use a little more spice, but at least they didn’t try to add their own spin to it.”

Tony’s watery eyes widen. “This isn’t spicy enough for you?”

Sam grins and shakes his head. “Remind me to bring you with me the next time I go home. You won’t know what hit you.”

Tony’s face does something complicated at that, before it settles on a soft smile. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

Sam fully gets it then, what exactly it all means, but he doesn’t quite know what he wants to do about it yet. Tony has taken up residence in a place in his heart that he wasn’t sure was capable of opening up anymore. He did it so easily, sneaking in like a thief in the night and catching Sam unaware.

Now the sound of Tony’s laugh makes his stomach flip. He seeks it out, telling him stupid stories and jokes to make it happen more. He stares a little too much to catch glimpses of his smile, and now he can see just how often Tony looks back.

It isn’t subtle anymore, this thing between them. Lingering looks, too long touches, and every quiet gesture all build up. Bucky teases him and Natasha gives him knowing looks. Steve tells him that he hopes they make each other happy, and Sam doesn’t tell him that nothing has happened between them like that. They’re still just friends, and they don’t talk about what any of it means.

“Do you want to see a movie with me tonight? There’s that weird one with the killer robots playing downtown,” Sam suggests, and neither of them say anything when Tony slips his hand into his in the darkness of the theater. It goes unmentioned, too, when Sam holds tight after Tony almost lets go when they reach the sidewalk afterwards.

It’s another late night when the last piece finally falls into place.

Sam is nursing bruised ribs again after another mission that turned a little sideways through no one’s fault. He’s still sweaty, dirt under his fingernails and dried blood caked around a shallow cut on his cheek, but Sam still asks JARVIS in the elevator to take him to wherever Tony is. It isn’t as surprising as it should be that Tony is waiting for him on the edge of Sam’s bed.

He stands there patiently while Tony looks him over, and he looks his fill in return. It’s strange how days away from him feel longer now. His balance is off center until Tony is around to set him right again.

“I missed you,” Sam murmurs, and Tony smiles softly.

“You were only gone a couple of days,” he points out, but Sam knows now that it’s his way of saying that he missed him just as much.

Normally, Sam would let it move on from here. Tony would lead him into the bathroom, gently clean up his scrapes, and click his tongue at every bruise. It would end with them on the couch, Sam’s head in Tony’s lap or vice versa, depending on what mood it takes. Sometimes he wants to hold Tony and remember that he survived another fight so he could come home to this, and sometimes he needs to be held to forget about everything else that was lost along the way.

But tonight he reaches out to grasp Tony’s hip, and he draws him in a little closer. The room is dimly lit, and each shadow on Tony’s face is accentuated. Sam can’t remember quite the first time he looked at him and thought the word ‘beautiful,’ but it’s all he’s thinking now.

“You love me,” Sam says. “For a long time now, right?”

Tony nods, and he wraps his arms around Sam’s waist, careful not to hold too tight. “You caught up eventually. Didn’t take as long as I thought it would.”

Sam smiles, cupping Tony’s face in one palm and stroking his thumb across his cheekbone. “How long were you expecting?”

“Maybe never,” Tony admits. “I would’ve kept trying, though.”

“Stay with me tonight?” Sam asks, because nothing more needs to be said for now. They both already know.

“How about every night?”

Sam leans in slowly, murmuring against his lips, “Sounds like a plan.”

[wolviecore]

The lack of bad boy Archie fics is appalling. Here's some headcanos about how I think Archie would've turned out if Mary and Fred shared custody but Mary raised him in Chicago:

Mary and him actually get along well, but mostly because Mary let's him do whatever, whenever he wants ( no shade to Mary but she's not, like... The most active parent)

Archie and Fred not having that much contact? Angst time, but Archie thinks his dad pretty much forgot about him to start his new family in Riverdale with some " juvenile biker gang leader and his own son" which, Archie would've found beyond cool otherwise, but yeah, no. Fred is mostly his backup call for when he needs someone to bail him out that week if Mary isn't available

Archie dyeing his hair black because he thinks it looks more intimidating. Also because KJ Apa with dark hair is a blessing to mankid

ARCHIE WITH TATTOOS

ARCHIE WITH A TONGUE PIERCING

He gets arrested every other week, and Mary has just about had enough, so he proposes him a deal: Either he goes to military school, or he goes to live with his dad for a full year without a single incident occurring.

And hey, it's Riverdale, right? Nothing ever interesting happens in good old boring Riverdale :)))

Fred and FP being thrilled, because well,- maybe this is Fred's chance to reconnect with his son, who's wild and rebellious and just a bit of a delinquent sure, but his son all the same; And it could also be FP's chance to finally meet his step-kid, for Jug to meet his step-brother

Except Archie arrives, and, " hey so let's not get on eachothers' nerves- I'm most likely going to be gone at night and come back in the morning, so you won't see that much of me. You don't bother me I don't bother you, cool? Cool."

Fred calls Mary in the middle of the night when Archie comes home black and blue and half drunk. " Oh, just wait till Saturday. That's the real deal."

Archie avoiding Jug at first because well, - the kid is soft; And he doesn't really want to be responsible because something happened to him while he was following Archie around like a cute puppy

Jug being sad because his cool older brother doesn't seem to like him? A Jug raised by Fred, on the northside would be the softest thing ever okay?

Archie being soft only for his sunshine baby brother and sunshine dad you love to see it

Archie getting into so.many.damn.fights

Angry carrot determined to fight everything with a pulse due to raging anger issues and teenage angst

Archie dragging Jug to parties with him, - " come on, don't be a pussy" " how exactly is comparing me to a cat supposed to motivate me to go with you?"

Archie being like "wtf who raised this kid. Better just keep him close to me and do everything in my power to protect him because I'm that annoyed at him and this whole situation"

Just- cinnamon roll beanie wearing nerd solving cases with his punk rock, ' fuck around and find out' feral older brother, you love to see it

Archie is. A city boy, right? This Northside vs Southside stuff would make no sense AND amuse him to hell and back. " I really couldn't give less of a fuck who wins, I'm just here to attack people and I'm honestly having such a good time rn"

Archie thinks its so unfair that Jug gets to date a giant serpent guy with the worst scowl he's ever seen, but he's not allowed to have a weed farm and has a curfew. " this house is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE "

Can't have shit in Riverdale smh

And it literally works with ANY pairing because bad boy Archie would be smooth as all fuck- just one flirty look from the devil red Cadillac he's very proud of and the riverdale "good kids" are putty in his hands

Barchie: Archie can basically smell the nerves pouring off this pretty blonde girl as he shows him around.

" You ever smoked?" "...I burned myself with a hair curler once?" Archie laughing, taking a drag out of his cigarette and sharing shotgun kisses after getting the green light

Betty chokes in the middle of it and he laughs at her but he IS endeared

Varchie: Veronica isn't exactly a "good kid" per se, but trouble recognizes trouble and Archie really wants to do bad things to her.

She steals his car one day on a dare and he laughs about it because she's ridiculously meticulous about driving laws. " Safety is important!" "Yeah, for the weak. I could take you for a rela drive, when this towns asleep. Though I guess daddy wouldn't like that, would he?"

Archosie: This would be my favorite dynamic with bad boy Archie because first of all, they'd bond over " love is fake, just ask my parents" and escaping through music. Archie thinks Josie is stuck up and overly serious while Josie thinks Archie is a clown who IS talented but not as dedicated as her and the Cats

Enemies to friends to lovers and just,- getting on eachother's nerves as much as their minds

Archie being petty after he didn't get the band audition and drawing graffiti on the town's hall. Josie knows he did it but doesn't snitch because she thinks the drawings were funny

She retaliates by filling his car with dick confetti. " Joke's on you, I'm into that shit"

Josie is the one person besides Jug and Fred whom he apologizes to when he messes up, Steve Harrington style

Archie serenading her during class with inappropriate songs because he likes seeing her flustered

[razorblade180]

Interdimensional Moms pt3

Part 2 right here! <-

Team RWBY continue their interesting chat about their respective worlds. After the emotional roller coaster that was Weiss’s, a bit of light hearted stories would be welcomed.

Yang:Okay, does anyone have some real feel good things to talk about for their world? Just run of the mill pleasant life?

Ruby:Guess I’m going last....

Yang:Oh no!

Weiss:We’ll circle back to you then. Blake, I guess you’re up.

Blake:Wouldn’t you want calmer stuff at the end?

Yang:Blake, I would very much like to go at least ten minutes without wanting to cry.

Blake:Hmmmm I can guarantee you like...six I think.

Yang:I’ll take it! Blake Belladonna, tell me about a world where you and Jaune Arc are happily married. How did such stars align?

Blake:You make it sound crazy?

Weiss:Blake, there’s list of people I could see you with. Now I’m not saying Jaune couldn’t be one of them, but he’d have to fight his way up that list.

Blake:You...that’s kinda fair. It’s a bit hard to explain really. It happened back at Beacon initially, or our bonding did. Some days his team was busy and I didn’t tag along for the crazy antics you three wanted to do all the time, so we occasionally bumped into each by circumstances. He’d go to the library for a book, I’d do training and he was there, or sometimes he’d knock on our door and not realize I was the only one around.

Weiss:Was he trying to sing to me?

Blake:That plan did show up at our a few times, yes. One of those times I asked him out of nowhere to sing the song anyways because I just had to know if it was any good. Hehe, it wasn’t sonically pleasing at times, but you could tell it was genuine. Eventually though...he just sort of gave up on you. It was actually a little sad to see, even you thought so. It was strange. Jaune was definitely stumbling through his flirting and it came off as childish, yet the day he gave up, it was easy to see his heart was breaking a bit. Like all his insecurities ate even the faux confidence away.

Yang:Ma’am, it has barely been three minutes and I’m getting sad about thinking of Jaune being sad.

Weiss:Yeah don’t tell me I broke his heart!

Blake:Whoops, sorry. It’s important though. Jaune kinda kept to himself a little more after that. He still chatted pretty regularly but it was easy to tell he dived more in studies as a way to keep his head clear, which lead to us being on a project together. I was the only person in our friend group that wouldn’t actively try to make him open up about how he feeling. At first I thought it was a bit rude when he told me that, but I didn’t room to talk when it comes to socializing.

Yang:One more time for the people in the back.

Ruby:I’m the back.

Blake:*smirks* I was very against socializing about my feelings at Beacon.

Ruby:Yeah you were.

Weiss:I couldn’t even ask if you slept well without a lukewarm answer sometimes.

Blake:I’m better now. That’s all that matters. Romance and feeling love is a personal thing and talking about it is uncomfortable. I think we both recognized that in each other during our project. Trouble is, there’s only so many conversation starters and small talk subjects. Talking only about the project was dry and eventually all the facts a person could say about themselves ran out. Favorite food, color, hobbies, etc. We eventually had to dig a little deeper into those topics. To our surprise, we actually more in common than we thought when it came to how we felt about certain pieces of literature and music.

Ruby:Awwww, bonding over smut.

Blake:*red* It wasn’t all adult literature! Some were poems and stuff. Even when the project ended, we began being less formal around each other and hanging out. We went to the bookstores we mentioned and he even got us tickets to bands I liked. It...it was nice. I never really got to have just a normal teenage experience before without it being political. He always felt bad about being average compared to everyone but average was so foreign to me that I welcomed it. I liked having a normal time out. It was a thing we all took for granted. Especially when Beacon fell.

Yang:Yeah, that probably put a real bind on your relationship.

Blake:Actually....we technically never officially started to date.

Ruby:What? You courted each other all of Beacon.

Weiss:Ruby, who the heck says courted? I’m a Schnee and even I have never used the word courted.

Ruby:Hush, I read a lot of bed time stories to a five year old.

Blake:We were a bit shaky on labels. Me for obvious reasons. As for Jaune, it’s really true about what they say about guys when they get heart broken.

Yang: “Never again.”

Blake:Hehehe, it’s funny to look back at it but he’ll tell you it’s a bit cringy. He was so on gaurd. I could tell all the time when he was mentally telling himself to not be excited whenever we hung out or I complimented him.

Ruby:Hey it takes guts to shift feelings to a teammate of your first crush. That could blow up in your face.

Blake:Yeah...about that. *looks at Yang* you...were another reason why nothing was official. You uhhh, we actually had some jumbled up emotions.

Weiss:*sarcastic gasp* You and Yang, liking each other? Who could’ve seen that coming?

Yang:Was it mutual or...

Blake:Very mutual. Also...intimate at times.

Yang:*red* Oh....yeah. Yeah that tracks.

Blake:That jumbled mess was only more confusing after you got hurt trying to rescue me from Adam. Meeting up with-

Ruby:Question, so was Sun just not on your radar?

Blake:Sun? We’re just friends. He’s cute and I’m glad he was there for me when I needed help but things between us were always pretty calm. I think he noticed how confused I was with other people in my life and chose to not add to it.

Ruby:Bless him. Please continue.

Blake:Learning about Salem and reconnecting with you all was a lot. I’d really been out of the loop and my Yang and I were on....shaky ground.

Yang:That’s what happens when you leave someone who’s been left their entire life.

Blake:Sigh...yeah. It was a trying time, but not with JNPR. It’s funny, Oscar and I also hit it off quite well from the jump. I think we were both glad to have each other learn on the craziness at once. Even with readjusting, Jaune and I fell back into a groove naturally. Instead of doing average things we day dreamed of the things we did. Once again we become this little slice of simple life in this crazy adventure. Still didn’t date.

Weiss:What is this, a slow burn!?

Yang:Weiss, you literally didn’t date your Jaune until Atlas.

Weiss:There’s a difference. I didn’t make any heart eyes at him until around Atlas. I say I may have been a little quick. These two were “courting” for over a year at this point.

Ruby:Stop making fun of me!

Blake:Well anyways, I wouldn’t say much was too eventful in terms of romance with world destroying things happening. Salem, she was way too much to deal with. Every move age did was calculated and unrelenting. Keeping our head above water wasn’t easy. In fact, it was boarder line impossible. Yang and I barely beat Adam after all.

Yang:How’d you two feel about that?

Blake:Relieved. Huge weight off my mind, and yet...a piece of me still wishes things never got so dire. At least now I know that in another world, things aren’t.

Ruby:Sounds like your world was put through their paces? You survived though.

Blake:Not conventionally. I gotta say, hearing the ages and how you beat Salem so far makes me feel more than a little embarrassed. To be frank, we didn’t have this grand battle that involved the entire world making a final stand. We had Atlas, and then we had Haven. With their might and a plan to gain more time, we managed to seal Salem in a vault.

Yang:*chokes on water* Y- cough what!?

Ruby:You put her in a vault!?

Weiss:Thah sounds harder than a last stand honestly.

Blake:No matter what way we looked at things, we just weren’t ready for her, so we locked her away until we were. Two years on constant defense from her followers and grimm until Ruby had trained enough to use her silver eyes and we were all strong enough.

Ruby:Two years!? How old was I then?

Blake:Twenty I believe.

Weiss:Hey, you beat mine by a year.

Yang:Not mine, I think we either tied or just narrowly beat yours by like a year. Honestly it hard to keep track of birthdays and stuff.

Ruby:Wow. No offense to myself, but that’s a little disappointing. I guess being the same person really doesn’t mean we were all at the same level.

Blake:Hey, my Ruby put everything she had into saving the world. There wasn’t a second she wasn’t trying her best to defend it!

Ruby:My point exactly. If that was her at her absolute best then by all accounts, she doesn’t hold a candle to me; at least back then anyways. But I have no reason to believe she would be at my level now.

Yang:Okay little miss prideful, care to tell us when you saved the-

Ruby:Seventeen.

The reaper took a long swig of coffee while the others processed that information. It took a her a couple of seconds to realize she may be acting just a tad bit arrogant.

Ruby:Uhh, sorry. I think I was tooting my own horn a bit there.

Weiss:Seventeen....why so soon?

Yang:Why? Don’t you mean how?

Blake:That’s....almost unbelievable.

Ruby:Really? I don’t think so. I’ll dive into it when it’s my turn but for now all I really gotta say is people needed help, and I was going to answer those cries. I bet your Ruby had a similar urgency in her, but for some reason or another just had different limitations. I got hurt a lot as a kid. Maybe an injury did more damage in one universe than another? Who can say?

Blake:I...wouldn’t know. Odd, I know if my Ruby heard this, then she’d probably be more than a little upset. Saving lives is still what she’s all about. I know when she put everything she had into fighting Salem when the day came. All that training paid off. Her skills were polished and her silver eyes eradicated the grimm essence in Salem.

Ruby:Wait, she’s not dead?

Blake:No. Salem roams Remnant with Oz keeping an eye on her until one day she can finally grasp the lesson the gods wanted her to have.

Yang:That uhhh sounds risky.

Weiss:Yet oddly okay?

Blake:Funny, my Weiss said that too. Those two get checked on in secret. Can’t be too careful. With Salem beaten though, Remnant entered a state of...let’s call it average chaos. All in all, it’s way more peaceful but you know, people will be people. Downside about a secret war is you don’t get the unity of the masses. Atlas and Haven working together was still a great step in the right direction though.

Yang:Woah, I’m a little jealous. My world felt like a race against the clock. The pressure either broke you or made you harder than diamond, with most people crushing under it.

Weiss:Yeah. The tension and meet of extremes I had on the frontlines was beyond imagination. The unity was great, but to feel it on the battlefield against the odds was feeling with way too much adrenaline and stress. Can’t say I enjoyed it. I simply lived through it.

Blake:Well it isn’t like I had a walk in the park. But I guess in comparison, my experience was a tad more mellow. Still, people were lost and hurt. Oscar isn’t himself anymore, don’t have Penny, former classmates and a few enemies turned allies fell in battle. Family.... it took a bunch to get the plan of containing, then it took a lot more to do it. In a way though, the two years of training is time I can’t regret. It tested bonds, strengthening and reestablishing others.

Ruby:I take it since love couldn’t bloom on the battlefield, it bloomed in the training yards?

Blake:*red* You can say that. That’s when Jaune and I got serious. *frowning* But.....

Yang:We fell apart?

Blake:Yeah. I didn’t learn my lesson well enough the first time about the potential problems of dating a partner. Only difference this time was I felt like I was the one being cruel. We had gotten into arguments and apologized more than once. Your fear of being left and my own insecurities just kept butting heads. I’d cry, you’d cry, our friends would be concerned. Then the day came where you put it all on the line. You confessed genuinely how much you loved me and how you felt a bit jealous when it came to Jaune. I had never seen you look so vulnerable; letting your gaurd completely down. And though a piece of me loved you and wanted you in my life for ever....this sense of genuine comfort Jaune gave was something I want-needed for so long. So I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I broke your heart. I hurt you again.

Yang:Sigh....*leans back in chair* Okay, let’s see how well I know myself. My eyes went red automatically, followed by tears. I lashed out at you angrily out of pain and embarrassment until I was probably blue in the face. But to take make things worse, somebody probably overheard. No matter who it was, I yelled at them too for trying to calm me down and then I eventually run off leaving everyone unhappy. A good old meltdown. Sound about right?

Blake:To the letter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so distraught.

Yang:Of course not, I’ve never been in love before meeting you. I....did a similar thing with my Blake over the stupid Adam shit. *covers face* of all the things to be similar, it had to be my temper. Please tell me our team didn’t suffer too harshly?

Blake:The good thing about two years of training was it didn’t have to be together all the time. Team RWBY didn’t fall apart, but it didn’t feel comfortable either. Outside of missions, the four of us didn’t hang out as much. It was three at the most. Nobody pinned blame on me or Yang for it but it was obvious.

Ruby:I mean how can you blame someone for feeling sad or not in love with someone? Pointing fingers doesn’t do anything. However, I bet missions were rough.

Blake:Bumblebee was shelved. We did any other team up we could. When push came to shove, Yang and I did put feelings aside. Neither of us wanted our feelings to get anyone killed. That’s probably what kept us connected for awhile, especially with Salem. I don’t think we questioned each other when it came to watching one another’s back. Slowly, our relationship got a bit better. Until....we stopped speaking to each other altogether about a couple years later.

Yang:Wait, why!?

Blake:I got pregnant.

The three listeners’ faces scrunched up and they let in a sharp breath like they just got cut. No one had considered that bombshell.

Blake:Marriage was rough enough. Having Jaune’s kid and starting a family just...cut deep I guess. You didn’t make a scene or anything if that’s what you’re worried about. One day you told me “I just can’t do this” and exited my life. I wanted to keep you close to me, but you wanted to be closer. That was a thing I couldn’t do. Hehe, I can’t tell you how weird it is talking to you like this again.

Yang:So that’s it!? We just don’t see each other at all!?

Blake:Certain events and celebrations have us in the same room, but that’s all. Ruby is the only thing that regularly links us, but she’s busy living life too.

Ruby:Is it a good life?

Blake:The best. You’re the huntress you always wanted to be and a hero to many.

Ruby:*smiles* Really? That’s good. May she ride that high for as long as she can. Though I bet she wished she had a special someone to share that with.

Blake:Huh? Oh, you married Weiss.

Weiss:*red* What!?

Ruby:Aye, nice.

Weiss:Weren’t you upset about thinking of other people with Jaune besides you!?

Ruby:Yeah, but I won’t deny if I am going to be with someone that isn’t him, I’m very happy it’s the other special person in my life. I mean come on, the only reason we don’t get weird in your universe is because I married your brother and you already invited my sister.

Weiss:I mean...it’s mainly the brother portion. The second part...

Ruby:Weiss, that’s weird.

Yang:Eh...

Ruby:IT’S WEIRD! YOU CANNOT TELL ME OTHERWISE!

Yang:*sips coffee* Eh.

Blake:Anyways, Weiss, you’re running your company. The Schnee Dust Company was scrubbed top to bottom to remove as much corruption as possible. No department was overlooked. In times of money, there’s a notable decrease in how much the company used to make.

Weiss:Gee, I wonder if that’s because the other me is doing oh let me guess, paying all their workers and not cutting corners in safety?

Blake:The SDC people approval has gone up considerably, just so you know that too. Turns out people like it when the company they buy from have good morals.

Weiss:Am I happy though? I make time for my social life and hu- I mean wife?

Blake:Yea, you’re happy. In a way I think we’re all happy, but....

Yang:We’d be happier if we were all happy together? Yeah, that’s how it works. You’re only as happy as the most miserable person in a family or group; if you all care about each other that is. Ugh, I wanna punch the other me. I get how she feels but it’s fucking immature to just ignore years of teamwork and family. At the end of the day, team RWBY is a family! Can’t believe I’d runaway from it instead of figuring out...I don’t know! Something!

Blake:*small smile* Well if you feel that way then there’s no reason to believe she doesn’t. My Yang just struggles with it more I guess, but I hope she can come around one day. Not really for my sake, but for her own peace of mind. As well as Lucas’s.

Ruby:Lucas? Your son I take it?

Blake:Mmhmm. My strong and lazy young man. He got his father’s hair but my eyes and ears. I can’t think of a person who warms my heart quite like him. He acts uninterested in a lot of things, but his heart is so big.

Weiss:Ah, so he’s just you?

Blake:More or less hehe. Though I’d say I was passionate about things all my life. Lucas will sleep all day if he could and doesn’t like going out without a reason.

Weiss:Still sounds like you if I’m being honest. Teenager?

Blake:Seventeen, almost eighteen.

Yang:You said he’s need peace of mind too? I’m not...hostile towards him am I?

Blake:No, not by a long shot. On the occasions you two have meant, you were polite. It’s just he knows why you don’t visit or talk to me. That’s rough, knowing your parent’s closest friend stopped being apart of their life because you were born. I think sometimes he believes it’s actually his fault.

Yang:I really, really want to meet this other me and have a few words. She needs to know she isn’t trying hard enough. I’m proof.

Ruby:Yeah, but you’re only well off because the person that helped you get over Blake, was Jaune. Yeah she still can find love, but who that person will be would be uncharted territory for everyone.

Blake:Also I’m not entirely sure exactly if my Yang is even bi like you.

Yang:Sigh....

Weiss:Love.

Blake:Huh?

Weiss:As long as a person shows your Yang genuine love and a place in their heart where she’ll remain forever, Yang would fall for them. They just have to make it a point to make her feel like they’ll stay. Yangs are softies like that.

Yang:Wow, you an expert on me and all the versions of me now?

Weiss:No, you’re just a bleeding heart that’s super emotional. Let me guess, you fell for Jaune the moment you realized just how relaxed and vulnerable you could allow yourself to be around him.

Yang:*red*.......he holds me when I’m overwhelmed.

RWB:Awwww

Yang:Shut up! Blake, take the heat off me.

Blake:Not too much more. Lucas is a smart kid who generally stays out of trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds him. Mainly because of his semblance.

Ruby:Don’t tell me...

Blake:No no, it’s not bad luck like your uncle, but Lucas can’t always control it so their similar in that regard. Premonitions, that’s his semblance.

Weiss:Like...the future? You child can see the future?!

Blake:Yeah. *sips drink* it’s terrible.

Ruby:What? That sounds so handy! Man, if I could someone fighting me before it happened, I’d be a monster on the battlefield.

Blake:Lucas isn’t a fighter. Well, he’s not aspiring to fight. He can fight, pretty dang well in fact.; but randomly seeing the future is not a gift. Imagine picking up a book and you suddenly know the ending, or watching a movie and you start seeing the middle of it right after you press play?

Yang:Ahhh, that’s why he’s lazy and unmotivated. His semblance is massive spoiler alert. Half the fun of new things is not knowing what will happen.

Ruby:Oof, you have a point. I’d be paranoid to no end.

Blake:To a point, he was. Ever since he was ten. Disasters happen at the drop of a hat. Lucas isn’t the kind of person to watch bad things unfold, so whenever it was possible or even if it was risky, he’d do whatever he could to prevent said disaster. But.....there’s only so much anyone person can do. There’s only so much information he sees. The constant strain and guilt that came from failing ate him up. The. There’s the incidents he’s seen that didn’t show him how it began or how it will end. *rubbing her hands* It’s bad...

Weiss:Hey, I...I’ve noticed your hands and frankly even your face are a bit....slim. Your skin isn’t as colorful as I’m used to either. Almost like it’s regaining color.

Blake:Hehehe.......I guess you were bound to notice of all people.

Weiss:Of course. I may not run a a company in my world but I keep tabs on my brother and have had my fair share of visits to a doctor. Why wouldn’t I notice.

Yang:So can we talk as if there are people who have no clue what’s going on?

Weiss:Blake has had one of two things happen to her. She’s either worked way too hard to the point she’s not taking care of her health, or she’s fallen very ill and her body is still recovering.

Blake:Yeah, it’s more of the second one, but probably because of the first one as well. Forwarding equality, I was overzealous with it. One day Lucas just started shaking and crying when he was twelve and I couldn’t understand why. Turns out he kept seeing me bedridden and unconscious without a reason. Day in and day out he simply cried and tried his best to get another premonition to learn more, but couldn’t. A week later I started feeling a little dizzy, and then blacked out after vomiting. At first I thought maybe I had the flu or something. Nope, a tumor.

Weiss:What?

Ruby:Blake!?

Yang:Oh shit, are you-

Blake:Perfectly fine! *smiles* I’m fine. Liver cancer, but it was caught early. No more tumor what so ever, but the meds and the entire process was really draining. Got sicker a couple of times. Not once did I feel like I was dying necessarily, more like...slipping? I felt myself getting drained. The whole time Lucas was so scared; blaming himself for not preventing this or knowing how to fix it. Though simply knowing he saw me like was a warning most people wish they got. I know I said seeing the future is terrible, but the scariest part through all of this was not knowing how it ended. Choosing medicine, doctors, surgery possibilities, it made me crack under pressure a little. I think he noticed that. I wasn’t sure if I picking an option that lead me dying or getting better. The stress alone may have killed me. Ever since then Lucas hasn’t been so outgoing.

Ruby:....

Weiss:....

Yang....It was already said, but there was no way this wasn’t going to get sad was there?

Blake:Take it from me, there’s joy in pain. So many people came to visit me when I was recovering. Even Yang dropped by for a bit. After I got out, I don’t think Lucas ever hugged me so hard. Jaune tried to stay calm through the whole ordeal but it was rough for him too. He was all but spent emotionally when I came home.

Weiss:I’m surprised Lucas didn’t become an older brother.

Blake:The last thing a recovering patient needs is a pregnancy, but as far as missing me goes...

Ruby:You can stop right there with that tangent.

Yang:We’ll talk about that in private. I wouldn’t mind that story.

Blake:*playfully rolls eyes* These days I try not to over do things. I’ve only officially been deemed completely cured for about a year. I can feel that I’m still not entirely up to strength. It’s fine though. It gives me an excuse for Lucas to dote on me a little. He’s a mama’s boy at heart. My biggest worries these days is peeling him out of this shell his semblance had put him in. At the very least I want him to smile like he used to and find away to live in moment when possible. His entire life is ahead of him. Hopefully he doesn’t see all of it.

Ruby:I guess too much of anything really is bad. Knowledge included. I hope things work out.

Yang:Me too. A happy life is something you definitely earned.

Blake:Thanks. That seriously means a lot, which is why I made sure to not end this on a sour note.

The happy faunus pulled out her scroll to scroll through pictures and her friends eyes lit up. The first one was a beach photo. This Jaune was different from what they were used to. He let his hair grow a little bit longer and the back went down his neck, but it was definitely still him. This jaune was pretty toned and went for a lean look than bulky like Weiss’s, but a tad slimmer. On his shoulders was an adorable toddler with wide amber eyes and big blonde cat ears. Both men were enjoying the sunset on the waves.

The next photo was more recent with Blake right in the middle of hopping into Lucas’s arms. Weiss noticed the girl still had on the hospital bracelet. She must’ve just gotten cleared. Lucas had grown like a weed. He was now roughly Jaune’s height. His hair was messy and looked like Jaune’s in his younger years. Also like his father, Lucas was jacked! His sleeveless purple shirt should off his biceps as they wrapped around Blake’s torso for a hug. His baggy purple shorts had black and gold trim through the seams and the shorts stopped right below his knees; but showed of his well defined calves. A smile of pure joy and what could’ve been a few tears were visible as he looked lovingly at his mother. It warmed all of the ladies hearts. Still, the girls also could tell under his eyes were a little dark. Lucas must’ve been very tired.

The final picture had to be the most recent. It was Blake and Lucas sparring. Both looked at each other with excitement and ease as their wooden blades clashed. Their clothes mirrored one another by being black and white kimonos. They even wore the traditional shoes and everything.

Weiss:Yeah, that’s your kid.

Blake:Damn right. Unfortunately that makes him a little too stubborn. But I guess that’s okay. Without a doubt, someone’s gonna break through that shell of his.

Yang:Oh? It sounds like you already know who?

Blake:Well....I have a hunch.

xxxxx

RING! RING! RING! Lucas’s scroll chirped, in the middle of the night. The boy let out a long, agitated groan of sleepiness as he rolled over in bed; reaching for his scroll on the nightstand to answer.

Lucas:Hello?

???:Did you know you are mathematically more likely to choke on a hotdog than get attacked by a shark?

Lucas:....Serenity, who gave you my number?

Serenity:Your parents, and it’s Serendipity!

Lucas:Too many syllables. Also a bit ironic given who you are. With the way you act though, my name for you is better.

Serenity:Ooooo so we’re moving on to pet names? How forward of you.

Lucas:Five seconds before I hang up. Three...two-

Serenity:You’re late! You promised to guide me around the beach at twelve. That’s now.

Lucas:.....P.M. Twelve P.M. Serenity. Why in the world would I mean midnight!?

Serenity:It’s romantic and personal. Nobody else is around. I thought you were trying to use that Belladonna magic on me by acting all cool and aloof in the moonlight.

Lucas:.....

Lucas:Please delete my number.

Serenity:Not on your life, my whiskered bodyguard!

Lucas:Don’t have whiskers-

Serenity:If you don’t wanna move that butt of yours to hang out with a pretty girl in a floppy hat and sundress with a bikini underneath, that’s your loss. I’m still going for a dip.

Lucas:Do not go in the water when nobody is around.

Serenity:Pfft, I’m a strong swimmer.

Lucas:Sharks.

Serenity:It’s more dangerous to eat a hotdog.

Lucas:Sharks feed at night.

Serenity:Are you trying to tell me the statistics aren’t as reliable just because it’s nighttime.

Lucas:That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Serenity:Then you better move your butt just in case. Either you get a snack or the sharks do. Either way, I get attention.

Lucas:Difference is one wants to eat you.

Serenity:My goodness Lucas, oh brazen of you.

Lucas:......

Lucas:Tell the sharks I said hi.

Serenity:Okay! Byyyyyyeeeee! *hangs up*

Lucas:(She’ll be fine.)

..........

Lucas:*putting on shoes* This is bullshit. Who thinks midnight!? *walking down stairs* Can’t have a peaceful day or night....

Jaune:*watching tv* Hey Lucas, going some-

Lucas:I’m giving out your phone number to a homeless man the first chance I get! *walks out door*

Jaune:.....(Whatever gets you outside more.)

It took about fifteen minutes of aggressive walking for Lucas to wrap around to the back of his house towards their section of the beach. Where Serenity walked around humming and collecting seashells without a care in the world.

Lucas:The next shell you grab will have a crab in it.

Serenity:Huh? Oh hey you’re finally-ahhhh! Ow ow ow ow ow ow!

Lucas:Should’ve listened.

Serenity:Have a better warning!!!! It won’t let go!

Lucas:Pull it off.

Serenity:That’s hurt!!! Lucas, help!

Lucas:Fine, if you delete my number.

Serenity:*sniffling* Stop being mean!!! This really hurts, it’s breaking the skin. Isn’t a young and pretty girl’s tears payment enough!? I thought you were getting paid to-

Lucas:Oh my goodness! Okay, just shush. I’m too sleepy for this.

Serenity:You’re mean when you’re sleepy. At least your waking up voice sounds handsome though.

Lucas:Please....stop. Stop everything. *removing crab* Happy?

Serenity:No, you’re not happy. Also my finger is bleeding.

Lucas:Yep, looks like you can’t go swimming now for real.

Serenity:Eh, I lied anyways. I’m not getting in that water. There are sharks in that watery grave.

Lucas:So. Why. Did. You. Wake. Me. Up?

Serenity:....*red* I...don’t really, have friends here. Besides you. Umm *points to pail and shovels* sandcastles?

Lucas:*inhales*......I’ll get the water.

Serenity:*smiles* Yes! I’ll delete your number later.

Lucas:*red* You....can keep it of you really want.

Serenity:....Kek, okay Mr. Tsundere

Lucas:You can remove the next crab alone.

Serenity:Don’t joke like that! That was a joke, right?

Lucas:Welp that pail isn’t gonna fill itself. *leaves*

Serenity:What!? Lucas!!! You were joking right!? Right!? *looking around the sand* you’re a lousy bodyguard!

Lucas:Good, fire me.

Serenity:I...you....ugh!

Lucas:Cheer up, I’m happy now after all. *smiles*

Serenity:*pouting* This is why I’m a dog person.

[emf005]

Cramps

James Sirius Potter x Female! reader

Warnings: Puberty, James being the cutest thing ever, pain, couple cuss words for pizzaz(Maybe)

:readmore:

“Oi! Y/L/N!” You smiled as you saw the one and only James Sirius Potter strutting up the hallway with his band of trouble makers behind him. Most of them were his family, but a few were unrelated family members(Very Very close friends.)

“Oi! Potter!” You called back teasingly.

“Having a bad hair day today?” He smirked, looking you up and down. You rolled your eyes and touched your crappily put in braid. It may have looked like it, but you weren’t having a bad hair day. You were just crap at doing hair.

“Nope. Having a hard time coming up with insults? Am I too perfect for the James Potter to insult me?” You joked. You always took the teasing light heartedly. You listened to this song over the summer called Sarcasm. It was pretty good. But one of the lines that stood out to you were “Sticks and stones can break my bones but anything you say will only fuel my lungs”. It wasn't like you let him get to you before this, but you had only rarely hit him back with a come back. Now, you always threw one back.

“Ha! Perfect? You? Those two words shouldn’t be in a sentence together, Y/L/N.”

“You’re right,” you nodded, leaving him confused. You strode off down the hall with a swing in your hips. “Perfect is too dull of a word to describe me, Sweetheart!” You called over your shoulder with a wink. You disappeared behind the corner as you heard his friends laughing.

They knew you were light hearted about it. You were actually pretty close with a few of them. But James was competitive in everything. And for some reason he had chosen you to be his muse for picking on. You didn’t know why, nor did you actually care. You always liked a bit of banter, especially around this time of the month. And no, you weren;t a werewolf (Though you would gladly take that over having your period)

See, all periods come with their… side effects. Hormones bounce crazily off the walls and make some moody. Some get cramps. Some get both. Some break out and others(A very few minority) just have it without anything to think about. You had it worse than anyone.

Cramps. That may have been all you got, but they were so bad that walking, breathing, talking, or even moving could be impossible. You were once nearly paralyzed for a whole week and a half. You only moved to go to the bathroom. Your mom had to actually feed you. You were a very active person, you can only imagine how insane that made you.

Madame Pomfrey, your great Grandmother and god mother because that woman is a queen, always took care of you during these times and often threw things at you because you weren’t taking good enough care of yourself. You loved the woman dearly, but wow could she yell at you.

You watched James and his crew head down to the quidditch pitch for practice while you skipped down to Hagrid's. You loved to play quidditch but never wanted to play on the team. You knew you weren’t good enough for that and you would rather have just messed around with some friends.

“Hey Hagrid!” You said happily and plopped down by a pumpkin. He turned around from tending his garden and smiled at you.

“ ‘ello, Y/N. How ‘er you today?”

“Alright I guess. How about you? Any new creatures come crawling around?”

“Not yet. But I suspect they’ll show up soon.”

“Need any help?”

“You know where the tools are.” You hopped up, but not too fast because.. Well.. you know, and grabbed a pair of gloves and shoved them in your pocket in case he let you tend to the Biting thorns again. You had a knack for everything Herbology and Magical creates. You were Professor Longbottom and Hargrid’s favorite student, you knew it. I mean, you definitely were, no doubt.

About three hours later you started to get a stabbing pain in your lower stomach, losing your breath for a moment.

Shit

“Hey, Hagrid, I think I’m going to clean up before dinner. I only have a few minutes and I doubt anyone wants to be sitting next to my smelly butt.” You laughed, the stabbing getting worse.

“I’ll see ya there, Y/N! Thanks fer tha help!”

“Anytime!” You jogged away from him and a relaxing Fang so you could visit your great gran. Well, she wasn’t technically related to you. She was a close friend of your grandmother’s. They had gone to school together and been (And still were) closer than sisters. You grew up with her and she had become very over protective of you.

You waltzed into the hospital wing with a smile on your face. You were used to the stabbing pains. You had a very high pain tolerance, I mean, you had to.

“Gran!” You yelled out, not even flinching when you felt another annoying stab.

Madame Pomfrey came walking over to you with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You haven’t come to see me all week. Does this mean that you have finally come to your senses?”

“Oh, you make such a big deal out of everything. I barely have felt anything so far, and plus it's only Wednesday, perhaps I was just busy.” She gave you a knowing look. She always knew. You didn’t know how, but she always did. “Well, anyhow, I was helping Hagrid and the stabs were a bit worse than normal. Got anything that’ll just subside that?”

“I have the potion you should've been taking since the beginning of the week, young lady.”

“It's nothing major, Gran. Just something small. I don’t need the whole nine yards.” She sighed. You were the only person who she would give into.

“Fine, but don't come crying to me when you are hurting so badly that you can't move.” She was about to walk away when the doors banged open. You two looked over and saw James and his crew walking in. Madame Pomfrey sighed. “What is it now, Mr. Potter?”

“Don’t know I-”

“Fell off your broom and landed wrong while you were trying to do some wicked trick. I know. Set him on the table. I’ll be there in a-”

“I have to take a shower, Madame Pomfrey. I’ll come back later. Feel better, James! Hi guys!” You waved at them all and jogged off, ignoring your gran calling after you. Oh, yeah, another thing about you. You really didn’t like attention. You also didn’t like the fact that there was someone in more need of help than you and you were getting the help first. James needed more help than you did, you would just come back later… You thought you would.

You had planned to go back after dinner, but you didn’t. A friend asked you with help on the Divination homework. You decided to go the next day. Asked to help first years. Friday? No. Dueling club and extra studying. Before you knew it, it was Saturday and you were in so much pain. But you just kept going.

You were headed down to the quidditch pitch to watch Lysander and a few of his buddies play against Albus and Scorpius and a few of their friends. It was just a scrimmage, nothing major, but they all liked to have an audience. And since they all knew and liked you, they asked if you wanted to join. What you didn’t count on was James being there.

“Well well well. Look who we got here?” You looked over to see James, alone, walking over to you.

“Hey, James.” You said a bit weakly and short of breath.

“You alright?” You just nodded. He seemed to get more concerned. “Are you sure? You don’t look so good?” You laughed.

“Yeah well, I have my good days and my bad ones,” you joked, thinking he was teasing you again. He wasn't.

“Y/N. Stop for a second.” You did and turned to him.

“Are you sure you're alright? You look really pale and tired.”

“I’m fine. I promise.” You smiled and continued down to the pitch with him besides you. That's when the worst one you have had in a while hit you with full force, knock every ounce of wind out of you.

You collapsed and held your stomach, trying to take deep breaths like you had taught yourself to do.

“Y/N!” You felt a hand on your back and another on your arm.” What's wrong? What happened?”

“N-nothing. I’m-Ah!” You collapsed completely to your knees. The throbbing hurt so bad. It was like someone was digging a knife in you and just twirling it around.

“Obviously something. What can I do?”

“Take-take me to-to Gran. Please.”

“Gran, who's Gran?”

“Sorry. Madam Pomfrey.” He nodded and helped you up, putting an arm around you to keep you up.

“You're explaining that to me later.” You laughed, which only made it worse. “Can you walk faster? You're getting paler by the second.”

“This is… as fast… as I can… go.”

“Here,” he moved in front of you and bent down. “Get on my beck, it’ll be faster, alright?”

“James you really don’t have-”

“I want to. Come on.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and he, carefully, hoisted you up. He quickly walked to the hospital wing, being cautious as to not bump you around too much. “Madame Pomfrey!” He yelled when he banged the doors open like he always does. A dramatic entrance for a dramatic boy. You heard the oh so familiar sigh.

“What did you do this time, James?” She walked around the corner and saw you on James' back, her eyes widened in horror and she quickly moved into action. “Put her down here,” she opened up a section and he set you down carefully. She quickly ran away and started to gather stuff. James stood beside your bed and stared at you oddly.

“What?”

“What happened? You seemed fine the other day. Are you sick or-”

“I’m really fine, it's just.. Um… girl stuff?” His eyes widened in understanding (Not horror).

“OH! Oh Merlin, are you ok? What do you need, like literally anything?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“It's just cramps,” you shrugged, confused by his reactions. Normally anything under the topic of puberty or periods boys were off running. Even your own brothers.

“Not just cramps, young lady.” Your gran scolded and walked in, holding a bottle of the potion you were supposed to be taking. It really didn’t do much. And it tasted horrible. “These are getting worse as you get older.” You glanced at James.

“Ok. You don’t have to be talking about this with him here. No offence.” He just shrugged.

“You have to start taking this seriously!”

“Gran, I do! I was just busy!”

"You came in and then you left without taking it, telling me you would be back!”

“I got side tracked! And James was in more pain than I was!” Your voice was horse and it was getting harder to talk and breathe. She handed you the potion and you chugged it.

“You left because of me?” James asked. You swallowed the rest of the foul tasting liquid.

“You needed her attention. And then someone needed help on homework and it just” you coughed, making your stomach knot again. “Got out of hand.”

“Thank you for bringing her up, Mr. Potter. You can leave.”

“But-”

“She needs her rest.”

“Tell the boys I’m sorry I missed the game.” He hesitated but nodded and left. Your Gran scolded you for a few moments before she left and told you to get some sleep, which you did.

The next day your friends visited you and you ignored the pains. They weren’t as bad as yesterday’s, but they were still pretty bad.

Soon they left and that just left you sitting hour after hour. You were still awake when it was one in the morning and you heard footsteps coming towards your bed. You figured it was your gran coming to check on you so you shut your eyes and pretended to be asleep.

They set something on the table and you opened your eyes seeing James.

“James?” He was startled and jumped a bit. He looked down at you with guilt on his face.

“Sorry,” He whispered. “Did I wake you?” You sat up slowly.

“No. I’ve been up. Kind of hard to sleep.” You moved over and motioned for him to sit, which he did.

“Cause of the…”

“Cramps?”

“Yes.”

“Yep. You know, you’re a lot cooler with this stuff than a lot of boys your age are.”

“I never understood that. I mean, it's something that happens. Why do guys have to be so weird about it? Plus my little sister goes through it so…”

“That's right! Your sister’s Lily.”

“Yeah. She gets pretty bad cramps too, but not as bad as you, I think.”

“No one gets them as bad as me, which I’m grateful for.”

“So the potion doesn't really work?”

“Takes a bit of the edge off, but other than that? No.”

“I’m sorry.” You just shrugged and shifted. “Is there anything I can do to help?” You smiled.

“You’re sweet, James. But, I’m afraid not.”

“Well, I do know one thing I can do.”

“What?” He grabbed whatever he had sat on the bedside table and set it on your lap. It was a basket full of chocolates. Your eyes lit up at the sight.

“Holy Merlin! Where did you get all this?”

“I have my ways. I remember Lily said chocolate always makes her feel better so I figured it would help you too.”

“Wow. James! Thank you! Can I…”

“No. Absolutely not. I just brought it down here so that it can stare you in the face. You aren’t allowed to eat one piece of it.” You smirked at him and didn;t reach for a piece, just to see what he would do. “Oh my go, I was joking.” You laughed.

“I know I know!” You grabbed two pieces and handed one to him. He looked at it and then back up at you before taking it. You opened your piece quickly and bit into it. “Eat! Come on, you are stayen for a bit aren’t ya?”

“Why would you want me to?”

“Because you're my friend.”

“Why would you consider me that?”

“Because you helped me out a lot and you gave me food. We also talk all the time. Why? You don’t want to be friends?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to be mine.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve bullied you countless times.”

“That was just playful banter. I've seen you bully people. You were just teasing me.” He stared down at the candy.

“But still…”

“James, listen. I want to be your friend. If you don’t want to be mine I guess that's alright, but I've always wanted to be your friend.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You seem really cool. And you are really nice. I've seen you with your siblings and your friends and have always been kinda jealous. I've never really had that," you shrugged and took another bite from your chocolate bar.

"You have all sorts of friends, though."

"Yeah but I'm kind of the replaceable friend. And then my family is a bucket load of insane. So I guess I’m sort of jealous. Like this.” you motioned to the chocolate and at him. “I have been having this happen since first year and my friends come in once to check on me unless they need help on something. I guess it's kind of childish, but-”

“No.” You looked at him, a bit shocked at his tone. “That's not childish at all! How are they your friends if you’re in pain and they don’t come to see you unless they need something?”

“James, it's not that big of a deal. I have a high pain tolerance and plus I have gran worrying over me.”

“Oh please explain that to me. You're her granddaughter?”

“Well, sort of. Great granddaughter, and honorary. Her and my grandma were as close as sisters when they went to Hogwarts and stayed that way throughout life. And when I lost my great gran and both my nans, she stepped up. Very over protective of me.” He smirked and leaned on his legs.

“I’d say. ‘Get out, Potter. I appreciate you bringing her up but I don’t want you here.” he mimicked her voice, and not too terribly. You started to laugh, making your stomach knot in protest. You groaned and fell back on your bed. “Oh! Sorry. Do you need another pillow? More blankets? Chocolate?” You smiled gratefully at him.

“No. Just gotta wait it out. Thank you though.” You smiled at him gratefully and you two talked until you fell asleep. He smiled, finding it odd how much he actually liked you. Every “conversation” he had he always enjoyed. Always enjoyed your banter in the halls and in class, but he had never actually talked to you before.

He stood up and pulled the blanket over you more so that your shoulders and arms were covered. He put the chocolate on the bedside table and brushed the wrappers off of the bed so that it wasn’t a mess when you woke up in the morning.

He then snuck out of the infirmary and back into his dorm room. James was surprised to see that his last thought before falling asleep was of you and hoping you felt better. He really hadn’t realized how much fun you were.

You weren’t in classes that day. Madame Pomfrey seemed to be punishing you and kept you in bed, bringing you meals from the great hall while you survived on James’ chocolate. You were reading over your notes when someone cleared their throat. You looked up, chocolate half in your mouth, to see James standing with a plate and his school bag.

“Hi James! Back already?” He laughed and sat down where he had sat the other day.

“You weren’t in class or the great hall. Wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“That's sweet. Thank you. I’m feeling lots better, but Gran won’t let me go to classes yet. She wants to monitor me and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

He slid the plate of food and your face lit up. Sweets and meats, your favorite.

“Figured you would be hungry.”

“Starved! Yet again, thank you.”

“It's what friends do,” he said with a nod. You smiled happily. Friends. You had finally made it to friends with James Sirius Potter. “I also brought notes. In case you wanted to copy them.” He pulled his notes from his bag and handed them to you. You grabbed it and started to flip through the surprisingly clean and crisp notes. This boy took better notes than you do. That was unexpected.

“Thank you, James! I was a bit worried I was going to be overrun again.” He shrugged and stole a swipe of Mashed Potatoes off your plate. You smirked at him but didn’t say anything.

He sat and talked to you while you ate and then helped you with homework when you set your plate aside and started to work on notes.

“Here. Like this.” He moved next to you up by the head board and held your wrist, showing you the proper hand motions for DADA. You tried to focus on the correction and not your burning cheeks.

Damn hormones.

“There you go. Now try it without a helping hand.” You shoved him and laughed.

“That was terrible!” He smiled crookedly, fixing his glasses.

“Yeah, but you laughed.’ You bit your lip and shook your head.

“You, sir, are utterly ridiculous.”

“Oh, I’m sir now.” He joked, settling back by your feet. You kicked his leg lightly. “OW! OH MERLIN SHE KICKED ME! I THINK MY LEGS COMING OFF!” He fell to the ground dramatically causing you to burst out from laughter and your stomach to continue to knot up over and over, but you couldn’t stop. He was twitching dramatically on the ground like a dork.

Madam Pomfrey came over and tapped her foot agitatedly.

“This is no place for fooling around, Mr.Potter. Either stay and behave or leave.” She turned and cast you a glance before walking away. You two burst out laughing when you heard her door shut. He popped back up onto the bed.

“So, what have you been up to? I've caught you up on all you’ve missed.” You just shrugged.

“Studying. It's really all I can do. She won’t even let me stand up.”

“Well that's no fun. You haven’t even been outside?”

“Nope. Her one rule is stay in the bed. Not allowed to stand, unless it's to go to the bathroom, which has to be the one in this room.”

“Why so specific.”

“Second year I went to the restroom, on the fourth floor on the other side of the castle.” James chuckled and looked over his shoulder.

“Well, how about we make her get even more specific?”

“What did you have in mind?” He snuck over to where the wheel chairs were and rode it over. A wide grin spread across your face.

“Your carriage awaits.” You laughed and quickly hopped in. He then ran, pushing you in front of him. You two ran through the castle laughing like mad people.

“What's this?” Fred asked, a smirk on his face as he and Erinie Longbottom came out of the great hall.

“Never thought I’d see you two get along, let alone laughing.”

“Mischief is mischief.” James shrugged and stood up on the back of the wheelchair.

“Madame Pomfrey has forbidden me from walking.” You explained. “James just wanted to get me into some trouble.” Ernie looked at the wheel chair, a slow grin spreading on his face.

“Why don’t we all get into some trouble then.” He cast a spell on the wheels on the wheel chair before making three more appear. “Now, you can control it on your own and so can we.” He sat down in his and went zooming off. You, Fred, and James watched with smiles on your faces. They quickly sat into theirs and the three of you chased after Ernie. Who knew you would become such quick friends with James and that would leave you to get into a bit of mayhem with him.

You four raced down the halls but all stopped abruptly by a tapping of a foot. You all looked up to see Madame Pomfrey standing there with her arms folded across her chest. You swore under your breath.

“Madame Pomfrey!” Ernie squeaked and fell out of his chair. “Uh, we didn’t see you there?” You shook your head at the lame excuse.

“Madame Pomfrey I-”

“You, with me, now.” You sighed and rolled after her. Waving bye to the boys. They waved back and watched you go.

“So.” Fred said with a smirk on his face. “Finally come to your senses?”

“Shut up.” James muttered, feeling a bit guilty that you were the only one who got into trouble. It had been his idea after all.

“I told you that it wasn’t a smart idea to get out of your bed!” Your gran scolded as she wheeled you into the Hospital wing.

“Technically you said I wasn’t allowed to stand up unless it was to use the restroom. I was not standing up, I was sitting down. And what's the big deal? I’m fine! It's almost over anyhow!” She groaned in frustration. “Gran, I’m in 5th year. I think I can make decisions for myself now.” She looked at you for a moment before sighing.

“Alright. But, you have to promise me, when you start to get bad you will come straight-Oh!” You hugged her tight around the waist and she patted your head.

“Thank you, Gran.”

“Yes yes. And you should be careful around that Potter boy.”

“Which one?” You asked cheekily.

“Now don’t you get cheeky on my young lady. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t you go falling in love with him. I’ve actually had girls come in because they said that he broke their heart. Like his name sakes,” she shook her head and walked away leaving you thinking.

You wouldn’t get a crush on James, would you? I mean, sure he was tall and cute and a dork with an adorable personality that kind of made your heart flutter. But that didn’t mean you- You smacked your head.

“Dammit. How could I have let that happen?” You muttered to yourself. You silently cursed your gran. You had been blissfully unaware and now you were very much aware that you had a tiny crush on James Sirius Potter. This ought to go over well.

Xx

Over the years you had only grown closer to James and his friends. Mostly James though. It was rare not to see you two together. You both would jam pack your schedules so you would have each other in classes. You knew he did it because of your cramps and how you didn’t really discuss it with anybody or like to bring it up. So when they got too bad and you couldn’t go to classes he would bring you your notes and help you study, like you didn;t help each other study any how. But now, now it was all going to change. You had passed your last year at Hogwarts and were now lying on your couch in pain. You had taken the potion your gran had sent you but the potion had seemed to do less and less over the years while James had done more and more.

You had a pile of letters in the corner that he had sent you. You two had sent back and forth non-stop, both of you now having your own separate apartments that were, sadly, not very close to each other. Of course, you could just apparate to the others house but you wouldn’t really do that on a daily basis, sadly.

You had sent him a letter the other day and found it weird you hadn’t gotten one in response yet, but you weren;t the most important thing in his life, sadly. As you and James had grown more attached, your crush on him had grown and grown and grown. Being away from him for so long, This was your first month, and knowing that you weren’t going back on September first to see him and your other friends was killing you. How could people live without knowing if they would ever go back to Hogwarts? It may sound cheesy and a bit cliche, but it was and forever will be your home.

There was a knock on the door as another wave hit you and now you had to stand up and pretend you were alright. You looked at your empty chocolate bag, you really should’ve stocked up after the last time.

You opened the door and leaned heavily on it as you looked up into the familiar glass covered eyes.

“James!?” He beamed happily.

“Miss me that much? We’ve only been out of school for about a month.” You chuckled and shook your head.

“You’re such a dork. What are you doing here?” He held up a abox.

“Figured you would have forgotten to restock since Hogwarts, like you always do.”

“How do you remember these things? And why would you want to?” You opened the door and let him in. He strode in and looked around your apartment. He wasn’t familiar with it yet.He set it down on the kitchen counter and jumped up onto it to look around the place, nodding in approval.

“Nice place.”

“You say that everytime you come over.” You said sarcastically as you grabbed the jacket you had thrown on the floor after work. It caused your stomach to cramp and you were stuck for a second because you were trying to breathe.

“Ok, couch, now.” James said, grabbing your arms and leading you over to the couch, setting you down and taking your jacket.

“James, you really don’t have to-”

“Yeah I do. Stay.” He left your side and went to the box. “Did you take the potion?”

“Yeah. Did nothing as usual.” You whined, he sat back down and opened the box, pulling out two candy bars and handing you one, like he always did, and keeping one for himself.

“Sorry, kid.”

“I am like a week younger than you!”

“A month and a half,” he corrected. You glared and bit into your chocolate, making him laugh and look around your apartment until his eyes landed on a moving picture you had put up. It was from the first year you two became friends. He walked over to it and took it off the wall. “You still have this?” You smiled.

“Of course! That was the first Weasley Summer I had! It was the best summer of my life!” You laughed lightly smiling at the memory of James trying to get you on a broom. And then you had crashed into four trees until you semi-got the hang of that.

“Didn’t you get a concussion from that summer?”

“Don’t know, wouldn’t let anyone check.” You laughed, your stomach cramping again, but not as bad as usual. He smiled and hung it back on the wall. He sat back down next to you.

“How've you been, though? You always sound like you're doing great in your letters.”

“It's been alright. Adult life isn’t terrible and my job’s pretty fun. I've been thinking about getting a dog.”

“Really?” He asked excitedly.

“Yep, and I was going to name it Sirius.” His face turned disappointed.

“You know, I brought you chocolate, you can at least be a bit nicer to me.” you giggled.

“I’m joking, I'm joking. But yeah. I do want a dog.”

“Get lonely up here already?”

“Definitely. How are you? You seem like you are having a good time in your letters. Var hopping every weekend.”

“You can join us. We’d love to have you hang with us.” You shrugged.

“Well, definitely not this weekend.”

“No, definitely not. Though you look like you could use a bottle of fire whiskey.”

“I need two.” He laughed and put his arm around your shoulders, you rested your head on his shoulder.

“I felt ya there.”

The rest of the night, James hung out with you. Chocolate and talking and radio and, when you were feeling up to it, he made you dance with him because he’s the biggest jerk in the world.

It was now near midnight and you two were on the couch listening to old muggle records because why not. You were half asleep on James’ chest. He was playing with your hair and humming along to the song. It was a familiar position for you two. Madame Pomfrey had once caught you two like this, though James had been the only one awake. She had looked at him and then at you back in sixth year.

“Be careful there, Mr. Potter. I do not want her getting hurt.” And then she turned and left. He had planned on telling you that morning, but the thought that he would hurt you in any way had kept him from saying anything. But now… Now he couldn't help it. The smell of your shampoo and the way you smelt like chocolate and… and he couldn't help it. This had been the most fun he had had since Hogwarts had left out. All because he was with you.

“Y/N?” He whispered, just in case you were asleep. He knew how hard it was for you to actually fall asleep when you got these cramps.

You hummed in response. Half asleep, but not completely. He took a breath.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

You hummed again.

“I love you.” He didn’t get a response this time and thought you had fallen asleep. He was a bit relieved that you hadn’t heard. The other part was a bit disappointed.

“What?”

Shit.

“I-I love you.”

You sat up and looked him in the eye. He knew this look. You were trying to detect a lie, he let you look. And boy, did you take your time.

“You-You do?”

“I do. I get it if you don’t in return but I just had to-” You grabbed his collar and pressed his lips to your quickly. His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly kissed you back. You pulled apart and both of you were smiling messes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” You said, biting your lip.

“Seriously?” He pulled back from you with wide eyes. You nodded nervously. “How long?”

“The first time you helped me, I guess. And I wouldn’t have even realized it if Gran hadn’t said anything to me.”

“You’re joking.” You shook your head.” He kissed you again, taking you by surprise.

“Why? How long for you?”

“End of fifth. I was going to tell you in sixth but…”

“But what?” You looked at him. “James…”

“Your Gran scared me.”

“What did she do?” You sighed.

“Nothing!”

“James, I am too tired, what?”

“She just told me not to hurt you.” You frowned and looked at your hands.

“And you planned to?”

“No! No no no no.” He pulled your face up to his and smiled. “I was scared that I might. I got scared that I would be the reason you were in pain. I didn’t want that. I didn’t even want to think that I would be the reason for that. So, I thought it was better to not do anything but be there for you.” You stared at him for a moment and bit your lip, thinking over and being completely touched. And you believed him. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I-I was scared.” You rested your head on his shoulder to hide your face, embarrassed that your feelings had been reciprocated this whole time.

“Of what?”

You muttered something that he didn’t catch.

“Come on, I spilled my heart out to you, your turn.”

“That I’d lose the best friend I've ever had.” You muttered a bit louder. He heard this and couldn’t help the soft smile that spread across his face. He pulled you onto him and leaned against the arm of the sofa so you were on top of him. You looked at him, confused. You head was on his chest again and your eyes were fluttering shut again.

“You’re not going to lose me, Y/N.” He said with a smile. You smiled into his chest and wanted to say something but your mind was already powering down. You felt his lips press against your hair. “You won’t ever lose me. Good night, Y/N.” You murmured an incoherent goodnight, but he got the point and smiled before falling himself.

You woke up in the morning to smell the most wonderful smell you ever had smelt before… Bacon.

You groaned and sat up, a bit confused as to why you were smelling bacon. You thought it was just your mind at first and your mind wandered back to the dream you had had of James. You wished it were true. The kiss seemed so real, so perfect. You pushed yourself off the couch and your foot hit a box. Your eyes widened immediately. You opened it and saw a group of empty chocolate wrappers.

Oh no…

You turned around quickly and saw James’ back in your kitchen over the stove. Then you heard the sizzle of food cooking on your unused stove, since you were a wreck in the kitchen. ANd then you heard James’ humming. That wasn;t an illusion.

“James?” He turned around and smiled.

“About time you woke up. I thought you were dead for a little while there.” You pushed yourself off the couch and stumbled into the kitchen. “Coffee in the cup.” You looked down to a steaming cup.

“I’m not so convinced yet.” He chuckled and slid the food onto two separate plates handing one to you. “I didn’t even know that worked.” You muttered looking at the stove.

“Figured. You can’t cook to save your life.”

You threw a piece of bacon at him, which he gladly ate.

“Did you stay all night?” You asked half way through breakfast.

“I figured we should talk this morning.” You nodded and bit your lip. So it did happen.

“Right so we… kissed.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah.” The silence turned awkward.

“Ok, I’m just going to say it, then. I don’t know how much you remember but everything I said, I meant. I really do like you, Y/N.” You bit your lip and smiled.

“I-I think I remember enough to know that I have told you the same. And I-I meant it to.”

“Really?”

“Really, James. I meant it all and I really do like you alot.” You smiled. And he let out a sigh and collapsed into his chair.

“That is a huge relief.”

“Tell me about it. So what do we do now? What happens?”

“I think I'll ask you out.”

“And I obviously would say yes.”

“And then we go to a… quidditch game?”

“And I’d buy the snacks after arguing with you about money.”

“Right. And then I would completely sweep you off your feet when I book the stadium for afterwards and teach you how to ride more.”

“Of course, unless I blow you away with my mad skills.” He beamed.

“Which is very possible with the way you ride.” You laughed.

“So when would this hypothetical date take place?”

“Saturday at six?”

“I think I could be there. If you were to ask me, of course.”

“Well maybe I’m getting there.”

“Maybe you should hurry up before we spend another three years without each other.”

“Y/N, would you go out with me?”

“Yes.” You said smiling. He returned your smile with a crooked one of his own.

“Then I’ll pick you up here, and I am buying the snacks.”

“James you are no-pop-James Potter you get back here!” You yelled to the open air laughing as your best friend-boyfriend- apperated from your apartment.

You bit your lip and leaned on your hand.

You got a date with the boy you loved. And who would’ve thought it would all be because of a terrible time dealing with cramps?

[genshin-hours]

Hello dear! May I please have a Hunter and Survivor match-up please? Also if you'd like i'd be more than happy to match you with a hunter and survivor as well! Anyways, I love your blog and your writing! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

Zodiac sign: Leo sun, Aries moon, Leo rising

Personality Type: ENTP

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Straight (For now might be bi but i'm going with straight)

I'm 5'4 and I have a very tiny body frame so i'm extremely petite and pretty small. I'm not very curvy and I literally have the body of a cereal box...lol but its fine because I have nice hips and thighs. I have thick brown hair that goes down to my back and it gets tangled pretty easily but its kinda fluffy. I have brown eyes and tiny freckles all over my face and body. I also have a very strong grunge style, like Flannels, band t-shirts, combat boots, leather jackets etc. But i'd also always enjoy a nice oversized sweatshirt or hoodie with a pair of skinny, ripped jeans and some converses or something along those lines.

For my personality.....this is where things get interesting. At first people find me very intimidating due to my resting bitch face and cold exterior but I promise i'm not like that ALL the time. When you get to know me, i'm goofy and about everything that comes out of my mouth is sarcasm or some dry humored joke. I'm also that one friend in a group where they literally will do the stupidest shit ever like for an example one time it was super dark outside and my other friend was there, while I was trying to climb a tree and I failed and fell out of the tree, and landed on my back. I got straight up after that somehow it didn't hurt.....like at all? But yeah i'm super reckless and sometimes people have to save me from myself if you get what I mean. I also have a very strong "I don't give a fuck" attitude and I will not hesitate to stick up for myself or my friends....like i'm the type of person where if someone glares at me, i'll glare right back.

I have bad anxiety and I can be very self destructive. This is where my feisty, stubborn, hardheaded side comes in. If I want something then i'll fight for it even if it hurts me and i'll get into a bad cycle of putting myself down and trying to do better even if I did great the first time but I always push myself too far and other people have to stop me because I usually can't see it when its happening. I also cover my emotions up and I have a lot of trouble talking about whats bothering me or what problems i'm having emotionally so I put up a wall and I act tough, or happy and sometimes i'll be the exact opposite but I try to hide it.Weird things about me: I've grown up in the south all my life so sometimes when I talk a few words they'll come out sounding WAYYY more country and southern then I wanted, I don't have an accent but sometimes my words just come out that way. Sometimes in the middle of the night you can find me just staring at a wall or something because I can't go to sleep.....I have trouble sleeping.....

Things I like: I love swimming (I was on a swim team for about 9 years), I love horror movies, I like rain and the sounds of thunderstorms because its calming to me, I also love the smell of rain, I like cloudy days, cooking, listening to 80's and 90's rock but mainly 90's because 90's is the best, My favorite bands are Bush, Audioslave, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkoln Park, Pearl jam but i'm pretty open to anything.

Things I dislike: Spiders.......I will scream if I see a spider.

hello! tysm for requesting, love! and you can of course :) ty for the offer btw, that would be lovely! also I hope you have a wonderful day/night as well <3 hopefully you enjoy all these hcs, dear ♡

I ship you with....

joseph desaulnier

so, I think joseph would really like you :>

joseph is one of the shorter hunters, so you being very small makes him lowkey excited

he loves letting you rest in his lap. he marvels at how small you are and how cute you look!!!

joseph gets the whole resting bitch face thing. he is told quite often that he has a bad case of rbf lmao

he also thinks your hair is really pretty, and if you're alright with it, he will offer to help brush/comb it for you or even style it. he is surprisingly good with hair. his hair isn't just fluffy and silky on its own, you know.

also joseph is pretty good at keeping you from doing like absolutely crazy stuff. he will make sure you don't get hurt, but the second he think you might he's gonna be yelling at you in french to stop or running to try and protect you from falling

and if you do get hurt, he is the first to provide you first aid. the whole time he is blushing and cursing under his breath. he is surprised by how bold and reckless you can be.

he loves your spirit and enthusiasm, but for the love of god, please be more careful

also, joseph loves your dry humor. he laughs at all your jokes. even if you're in matches and he is supposed to be serious

joseph also has a pretty "idgaf" attitude, so you guys will get along well. he is willing to fight for something he believes in too.

joseph isn't the best with emotions either, but this gives you both an opportunity to work together at it.

you both agree to come together and share what you're comfortable with to try and figure things out. tbh he is more likely to provide you with advice rather than consolation.

he thinks your accent is really cute, and teases you for it sometimes. but he actually thinks it's adorable.

also he will help you fall asleep by stroking your hair, reading to you, laying by you, etc. he is very comforting surprisingly

joseph is also probably scared of spiders but he will toughen up to get rid of them if you need him to.

(if the spider is scary enough though, you'll be hearing swearing in french and seeing another hunter coming to deal with it lmao)

I also ship you with luca balsa!

luca and you would be cute together!

he thinks your height is adorable, and he likes how small you are when you stand together

you're not too much shorter than him (only 3 inches or so) but it's really cute to him that he can lift you up and stuff or you can sit in front of him and he can lean on you.

he likes to be alone usually when working, though he wouldn't mind if you were to lay on his bed or sit on his lap while he works, but he needs you to stay safe so you're wearing a heavy coat and safety gear lmao

he thinks your style and rbf are adorable. you're not intimidating to him, so he thinks it's funny

luca also enjoys your humor, and he finds it relatable. he always laughs at your jokes, even if you make them at bad times

luca has similar habits to you though, which makes it easy for him to spot them in you and stop you quickly before things get bad

he himself is pretty reckless at times, but, he will admit, he is a hypocrite and panics when you do something dangerous, but turns around and works with dangerous equipment

you're both not the best with emotions, but he does his best to help you. he might not be the best at consoling you, but he will do what he can to make you feel better in his own way

he might tinker with stuff to improve it for you, or try to give you helpful advice

luca would think horror movies are super neat, but he analyzes them fast, and knows all the twists and turns. he still jumps though

he likes your accent and thinks it's pretty cool! he doesn't hear many southern accents, so he finds yours very neat and soothing to listen to

luca will take the time to help you fall asleep if you can't. he has some trouble falling asleep too, so don't be surprised if he accidentally passes out on top of you once you're asleep.

he isn't a fan of lightning and thunder, but some gentle rain and pretty clouds are lovely in his opinion :)

luca is also an entp, so you two would have plenty of lively debates lmao

[elizabeth-mitchells]

FS prompt :) Deena's like lesbian catnip for every closeted girl within a 50 mile radius. She's completely oblivious, too. Sam, however, is pretty amused by it... and completely not jealous (ok, maybe a little jealous).

Sam Fraser was not a jealous person.

But every person has a limit.

It seems that every day there is a new girl attracted to Deena. Even if Deena is oblivious to all of it, Sam isn't. She might get a tiny little bit jealous sometimes.

Read on AO3

Shadyside was a relatively small town. And not the kindest one at that either. Gossip traveled fast in Shadyside. It didn’t come as a surprise that most people that were at least remotely aware of Deena’s existence also knew she was a lesbian. Something else that didn’t come as a surprise to anyone but Sam, was that the same couldn’t be said about her. Usually, people were shocked to find out Sam was a lesbian. Most of the time she didn’t mind, but there were only so many times she could stand being called Deena’s “best friend” when they were literally holding hands. One woman once had the nerve to call them sisters, and Kate swore she would never stop making fun of them for it.

Sam didn’t mind that random strangers didn’t recognize her immediately as Deena’s girlfriend. But then… well, there were other kinds of people.

It was impressive, really, the number of closeted girls that lived in Shadyside and neighboring towns. Even more impressive was the way they all seemed to possess a sixth sense to know where to find Deena, and a fantastic talent to completely ignore Sam’s presence. Sam didn’t blame them… entirely. She understood them. She had been in their place. Eyes hopelessly following every move of Deena, overthinking everything she said and the way she walked, paralyzed by fear at times and ready to risk it all for one girl the rest of the time. But Sam did take the risk, and she did it first , so all those girls had no right to even hope Deena would notice them because Deena was already taken and… Sam Fraser was not a jealous person, she liked to tell herself.

Deena, at least, seemed to be completely oblivious of the flock of star-struck girls that chased her wherever she went. She seemed to be the only one who didn’t notice though.

One day, the two of them were together at B Dalton’s, the bookstore. Deena decided to take a break from lovingly making fun of Sam’s taste in horror books above everything else and started wandering a different aisle of the store. It was a slow day though, the shop was far from crowded with only a couple of clients there. So, Sam started gathering all her patience the minute she heard someone say, “Oh! Hi! You, um, you’re Deena, right?”

Sam kept her distance because she was totally not a jealous person. She was just amused. She couldn’t avoid overhearing the entire conversation though. The girl asked for book recommendations and Deena literally listed Sam’s favorites books. The girl tried to talk to her about romance books and Deena flat out said she wasn’t interested in them. It was almost tragic.

When they made their way to the register, Heather managed to hold back her laughter enough to playfully purse her lips and bat her eyelashes at Deena and say, “Would you give me a book recommendation too?” Sam laughed, rolled her eyes, and held Deena’s hand just a little tighter on their way out of the store.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” Sam replied in a high-pitched tone that wasn’t very convincing. “That’s adorable, actually.”

Josh nodded, and the two of them continued to stand there awkwardly beside Deena’s car. They were watching as two of Josh’s classmates tried their absolute hardest to make Deena fall madly in love with them during a two-minute conversation in the school’s parking lot.

“No, I don’t think I’d be a good drum teacher, honestly,” Deena was saying. She shrugged, she had her hands buried in the jacket’s pockets, she looked like she was trying to disappear into it. “My hair? Uh, I just… use shampoo, I guess?”

Sam chuckled. She wasn’t jealous at all. If anything she admired the younger girls making an attempt when they didn’t stand a chance. Besides, she was the one who knew Deena’s entire haircare routine. Her respect for them was abruptly cut short when the girls managed to pull Deena’s hands off her jacket to compare their hands’ sizes. A second later, both girls and Deena were jumping in place, startled by the sudden and too loud sound of the car’s horn. Sam didn’t even try to hide her sly smile.

Sam swore again and again that she wasn’t a jealous person. But was it too much to ask that they could go to the store without Deena being hit on by hopeless girls?

This time it was a new cashier. To make things worse, for Sam at least, Simon was training the new girl, and definitely having a little too much fun with the scene in front of him.

“You make really good choices,” the lovestruck cashier was complimenting a truly unimpressive assortment of groceries on discount. “I could give you some recommendations if you’d like.”

“Yeah sure,” Deena mumbled, completely unaware of what she was agreeing to. She wasn’t even looking at the girl, she had all her focus on the bills in her hands, trying to make the math about how much she had left.

A step beside Deena, Sam was standing there, not completely frowning, but…

“This is for you,” Simon said, passing Sam a plastic bag. “For all that jealousy on your face.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she told him, snatching the bag off his hands.

She wasn’t jealous, she really wasn’t. She had no reason to be. She was the one carrying Deena’s groceries back to the car and kissing her in every red light on their way home. Plus, nobody needed to find out that from that moment on, Sam would make them stall or hurry up their shopping depending on which cashier was available.

Sam didn’t even want to use the J word again. That was a feeling she simply didn’t experience. But she could get a little annoyed, right? She could have some questions. Like how was it possible that another one of the cheerleaders hadn’t noticed she was dating Deena? Why on Earth would Kate introduce her to Deena? Could Deena really be that oblivious?

“Don’t be jealous, Samantha,” Kate said.

“Don’t call me that,” Sam replied. “And I’m not jealous! That is just sad.” She gestured in the general direction of the cheerleader twirling her hair on her finger in front of Deena.

“It worked for you though,” Kate noted. Then she reached out to hold Sam back from marching forward to reclaim her girlfriend. “Calm down, Sam. That girl could drop her skirt right then and there and Deena wouldn’t notice. She only has eyes for you. It’s gross.”

A small smile appeared on Sam's face. “I’m going to let that one fall during our next routine,” she said.

Kate threw her head back laughing. Then she was merciful enough to drag away the other cheerleader before Deena had to repeat again that “It’s actually cold tonight so no, I’m not hot in my uniform.” As much as it bothered her, Sam definitely agreed with that other girl about Deena in her uniform.

Sam Fraser was not a jealous person. She repeated that like a mantra so often, and she restrained herself from acting jealous so faithfully, all because she knew that someday someone would cross the line. Of course it would be someone from Sunnyvale.

It was another football match in Sunnyvale. Sam and Deena had a routine, a plan that never failed them, to meet behind the bleachers when nobody would notice. One time Sam arrived a little late and there was already a Sunnyvale cheerleader trying to get Deena all to herself.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sam whispered to herself as she observed the scene from a safe distance away.

Deena was taking a step back from the girl invading her personal space. “Oh. Hey,” Deena cleared her throat. As much as she was known for a somewhat ruthless personality, she’d never known quite how to turn a girl away from her. “I’m, uh, actually waiting for someone.”

“You sure you weren’t waiting for me?” the Sunnyvaler insisted, stepping even closer.

Deena laughed awkwardly and took off her band hat to hold it between them as a sort of shield. The hat, of course, ended up falling to the ground. The stranger leaned down to pick it up, surely planning to pull off some great move that would totally sweep the Shadyside drummer off her lesbian feet. Of course, she didn’t expect to look up and find said Shadysider’s girlfriend standing there with a grin too treacherous for an otherwise very sweet face.

“Thank you so much,” Sam told her, taking the hat off the girl’s hands. “You can leave now.”

Sam didn’t wait for an answer before turning around and slowly but confidently pushing her girlfriend backward until Deena’s back hit the wall. Sam started kissing Deena without sparing a single second to check if the other girl had walked away at all.

After a moment of gladly accepting Sam’s fierce kisses, Deena’s brain caught up with what had just happened and she pulled back. “Whoa, Sam, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, quickly diving back for another kiss.

“ Sam. ”

After Deena pulled back a second time, Sam scoffed. “I’m sorry, did you want to invite her?”

They knew each other well enough to know what was going on and how to deal with it. Deena knew exactly when to be concerned about her girlfriend’s temper and when to smirk at her and further push her buttons. “Sam,” Deena said her name softly and held her even closer, smiling at the precious frown on Sam’s face. “Are you… jealous?”

“You know what?” Sam sighed deeply, melting in Deena’s arms. “Yeah, a little.”

Deen chuckled adoringly, and placed a small kiss on the corner of Sam’s lips. “You don’t have to be.”

“I know,” Sam interrupted her. She was back to smiling brightly, genuinely. They were back to feeling like they were the only two people in the town, the only people in the entire world. “Just kiss me again so I can be sure,” Sam whispered the playful request, closing the gap between them once more, enjoying the way she could feel Deena smiling as they kissed.